1.You are more likely to die in an auto accident, statistically, if you have a little red Italian sports car parked in your garage.
2. You are more likely to die earlier, statistically, if you chain-smoke cigarettes.
3. You are more likely to die, kill someone else, or kill yourself, statistically, if you own a gun;
and most importantly,
4. I am probably subsidizing all that risky gun-owning, sports-car driving, chain smoking activity through higher taxes, higher insurance premiums, etc., to the tune of 35% of my gross income. And I'm not very happy about it.
Specifically, Foundation and Earth is where the zeroth law really makes sense. Not to blow the plot for you, but a robot that can read all human minds in the Galaxy kinda needs a Zeroth law to function...
Why does a project with huge cost overruns and questionable scientific merit (ISS) get funding while another project with demonstrable research value (SSC) get cut - mid stride?
Simple. ISS contract largesse is spread over all 50 states; something like the Superconducting SuperCollider has to be built in one place - and the pols don't care about the science, they care about the largesse.
Not for $40 billion: best guesses by the administration put the tab around 200 billion - and do you think the administration is going to over-estimate the cost?
"I have no problem with people using the operating system, but need to make it clear that I own the code and that they have a license to use it in their business. They may at their discretion hire others to modify the code, but would still be required to pay their maintenance contract and be prohibited from reselling it or using it to run an additional business."
Either information wants to be free, or it doesn't. You can't have it both ways.
'Universal Metaphor' - it doesn't sound like X. It's deeper than that.
It sounds like Esperanto... and we know where that ended up: a movie starring William Shatner yelling in pig latin. (And I don't mean Star Trek: The Motion Picture).
..except for the nearly full Moon. However, during the 'peak' Leonid period (3:30am - until daybreak) there are a number of other fine sights in the sky, many observable with good binoculars or a medium-size telescope:
1. Saturn's upper pole is currently pointed in our direction, which means you can see more of the rings right now than we will for many years to come.
2. Jupiter will also be high enough in the sky for a good view. The Galilean moons are breathtaking. On November 18th, viewers in the northern hemisphere will be able to see Ganymede occult Io for about 3 minutes - this kind of event is only possible to view from earth once every six years or so!
3. The Pleiades, also known as 'Subaru' or 'Seven Sisters', among other names. Very young, bright stars forming from gas disturbed in a supernova. With moderately powered binocs or a small telescope, one can see that the 'seven sisters' are just the brightest of hundreds of stars in an open cluster. An extended-exposure astrophotograph will show the clouds of bluish gas and dust still surrounding the stars.
4. My favorite - Orion, and the Great Orion Nebula. For viewers in the mid-northern latitudes, look for 3 stars in a straight diagonal line, almost due south at 3:00 am and about 2/3 elevated from the horizon to the zenith. Below those three stars (Orion's Belt) you should be able to find two dimmer stars in a vertical line (Orion's Sword) with a fuzzy patch in between (in darker areas). Good binoculars or a small scope will show one of the most beautiful sights in the sky!
So even if the Leonids crap out, there will still be things to see! Get that old telescope out and see what you can find!
They'll need their wage slaves in Washington to outlaw a million competing technologies; for instance, how about 802.11 WAPs with T1's in every neighborhood? If the cable restrictions get too intense/expensive, the data (and bandwidth subscriptions) will just go around them.
'Anything you can make for $100, we can make for $40,'
I heard Olin King, former CEO of SCI Systems, Inc., say something to that effect about 25 years ago - and they made it to the Fortune 500 on just that kind of attitude.
Unfortunately, there were no karaoke hostesses in Huntsville, AL., at that time.
One can make a valid point that all airlines beneift from huge government subsidies on a general basis; however, as far as the 9/11 airline bailouts go, Southwest was one of the few airlines making money before 9/11 and to my knowledge is the only major making money after; I don't believe they availed themselves of the bailout loans this time.
Without DRM, will Office XI (or whatever the next version of Office for the Mac is called) run on it? Is Microsoft intending to take the 'Palladium' concept to all its products?
WP Office has a halfway-decent competitor to Access/Works in Quattro Pro. If Corel was still selling/supporting the Linux port of WP2000, I'd be pointing my organization in that direction in our next upgrade... unfortunately, the problem with Star / Open Office, KOffice, etc., is the lack of a good low-end database solution with a cute GUI front end and a quick learning curve. Even the Microsoft developer zealots hate Access - it breaks all the MS OOP 'rules' - but the idiot end users can set up their functional DB apps with little or no support. In my opinion, this is the thing that keeps the current crop of open source suites from going mainstream. If I am wrong - if there is an acceptable open source alternative to Access out there, that really computer-challenged people can get along with - please let me know.
How many clueless imbecile (but successful) sales reps have I supported with their precious contact databases built in the bastard Works db or in Access? Too many to recall.
Perhaps it's all the time spent watching NFL (shudder) - but how can you say American cuisine is 'dumbing down?' How can you say people don't care about what they eat? Yes, 'Colonel McBurger Pizza Taco' has sold leventy-zillion 'value meal deals', but paralleling that is an equally rapid increase in the quality and variety of food (both in restaurants and groceries). I offer the following examples of how American food is anything but 'dumbing down':
1. The post-Prohibition recovery of American viticulture, and the general improvement of wine quality in general; (no more Ripple!)
2. I can buy morels, prosciutto, tomatillos, good bread, taro root, radicchio, and organ meats in my local grocery store;
3. 'Asian Cuisine' no longer implies Mai-Tai's with little umbrellas served in a coconut shell;
4. The Food Network;
5. Williams-Sonoma is in every metro area of 100,000 or more, it seems. Yes, it's pretentious and expensive - but it's there.
6. Microbreweries.
'Dumbed down'? No. American cuisine is now at its most brilliant - and it's getting better.
Slashdot Mirror
Report that elderly people are 50% more likely to commit suicide when they own a gun. - this one from a suicide-prevention research project at a university. Not involved in the gun / anti gun debate.
.
Report showing a positive correlation between handgun ownership and prevalence of suicide, homicide, and injuries / deaths of children. This one by Harvard School of Public Health, Injury Control Research Center
The list goes on... but the data is pretty clear:
1.You are more likely to die in an auto accident, statistically, if you have a little red Italian sports car parked in your garage.
2. You are more likely to die earlier, statistically, if you chain-smoke cigarettes.
3. You are more likely to die, kill someone else, or kill yourself, statistically, if you own a gun;
and most importantly,
4. I am probably subsidizing all that risky gun-owning, sports-car driving, chain smoking activity through higher taxes, higher insurance premiums, etc., to the tune of 35% of my gross income. And I'm not very happy about it.
Because in his ideal future, everything, every program, every show time and episode, is pay-per-view.
Specifically, Foundation and Earth is where the zeroth law really makes sense. Not to blow the plot for you, but a robot that can read all human minds in the Galaxy kinda needs a Zeroth law to function...
Why does a project with huge cost overruns and questionable scientific merit (ISS) get funding while another project with demonstrable research value (SSC) get cut - mid stride?
Simple. ISS contract largesse is spread over all 50 states; something like the Superconducting SuperCollider has to be built in one place - and the pols don't care about the science, they care about the largesse.
wage war on iraq ...
Not for $40 billion: best guesses by the administration put the tab around 200 billion - and do you think the administration is going to over-estimate the cost?
What if Linus' 8/25/1991 announcement included:
"I have no problem with people using the operating system, but need to make it clear that I own the code and that they have a license to use it in their business. They may at their discretion hire others to modify the code, but would still be required to pay their maintenance contract and be prohibited from reselling it or using it to run an additional business."
Either information wants to be free, or it doesn't. You can't have it both ways.
"This is not the library you are looking for. Move along."
'Universal Metaphor' - it doesn't sound like X. It's deeper than that.
It sounds like Esperanto... and we know where that ended up: a movie starring William Shatner yelling in pig latin. (And I don't mean Star Trek: The Motion Picture).
..except for the nearly full Moon. However, during the 'peak' Leonid period (3:30am - until daybreak) there are a number of other fine sights in the sky, many observable with good binoculars or a medium-size telescope:
1. Saturn's upper pole is currently pointed in our direction, which means you can see more of the rings right now than we will for many years to come.
2. Jupiter will also be high enough in the sky for a good view. The Galilean moons are breathtaking. On November 18th, viewers in the northern hemisphere will be able to see Ganymede occult Io for about 3 minutes - this kind of event is only possible to view from earth once every six years or so!
3. The Pleiades, also known as 'Subaru' or 'Seven Sisters', among other names. Very young, bright stars forming from gas disturbed in a supernova. With moderately powered binocs or a small telescope, one can see that the 'seven sisters' are just the brightest of hundreds of stars in an open cluster. An extended-exposure astrophotograph will show the clouds of bluish gas and dust still surrounding the stars.
4. My favorite - Orion, and the Great Orion Nebula. For viewers in the mid-northern latitudes, look for 3 stars in a straight diagonal line, almost due south at 3:00 am and about 2/3 elevated from the horizon to the zenith. Below those three stars (Orion's Belt) you should be able to find two dimmer stars in a vertical line (Orion's Sword) with a fuzzy patch in between (in darker areas). Good binoculars or a small scope will show one of the most beautiful sights in the sky!
So even if the Leonids crap out, there will still be things to see! Get that old telescope out and see what you can find!
They'll need their wage slaves in Washington to outlaw a million competing technologies; for instance, how about 802.11 WAPs with T1's in every neighborhood? If the cable restrictions get too intense/expensive, the data (and bandwidth subscriptions) will just go around them.
Humans use 83 percent of Earth's surface, but only 10 percent of their own brains.
'Anything you can make for $100, we can make for $40,'
I heard Olin King, former CEO of SCI Systems, Inc., say something to that effect about 25 years ago - and they made it to the Fortune 500 on just that kind of attitude.
Unfortunately, there were no karaoke hostesses in Huntsville, AL., at that time.
RealTek!
Register.com will be sure to send you a fake invoice, so don't worry.
One can make a valid point that all airlines beneift from huge government subsidies on a general basis; however, as far as the 9/11 airline bailouts go, Southwest was one of the few airlines making money before 9/11 and to my knowledge is the only major making money after; I don't believe they availed themselves of the bailout loans this time.
Personally, when I saw 'Kroupware' all I could think of was that hand towel I threw over my shoulder when burping the baby...
Without DRM, will Office XI (or whatever the next version of Office for the Mac is called) run on it? Is Microsoft intending to take the 'Palladium' concept to all its products?
Yeah, I grew up 2 miles from here and here, and now live 10 miles from here and here, so going to KSFC doesn't really get the ol' motor started.
Especially for a honeymoon. Who the hell goes to Albequerque on their honeymoon?
"The winning prize is a trip for two to Kennedy Space Center."
Second Prize is a trip for four.
Sorry, up too late last night.
It's not the word processor, it's the database.
WP Office has a halfway-decent competitor to Access/Works in Quattro Pro. If Corel was still selling/supporting the Linux port of WP2000, I'd be pointing my organization in that direction in our next upgrade... unfortunately, the problem with Star / Open Office, KOffice, etc., is the lack of a good low-end database solution with a cute GUI front end and a quick learning curve. Even the Microsoft developer zealots hate Access - it breaks all the MS OOP 'rules' - but the idiot end users can set up their functional DB apps with little or no support. In my opinion, this is the thing that keeps the current crop of open source suites from going mainstream. If I am wrong - if there is an acceptable open source alternative to Access out there, that really computer-challenged people can get along with - please let me know.
How many clueless imbecile (but successful) sales reps have I supported with their precious contact databases built in the bastard Works db or in Access? Too many to recall.
Oh no! Beta!
-- Snake inspects his haul, ``Itchy and Scratchy: The Movie'' (episode 9F03)
"Procure software on its merits, not through categorical preferences "
Change 'procure software' to 'hire an employee' and see how far that gets you with the US Gubmint.
Perhaps it's all the time spent watching NFL (shudder) - but how can you say American cuisine is 'dumbing down?' How can you say people don't care about what they eat? Yes, 'Colonel McBurger Pizza Taco' has sold leventy-zillion 'value meal deals', but paralleling that is an equally rapid increase in the quality and variety of food (both in restaurants and groceries). I offer the following examples of how American food is anything but 'dumbing down':
1. The post-Prohibition recovery of American viticulture, and the general improvement of wine quality in general; (no more Ripple!)
2. I can buy morels, prosciutto, tomatillos, good bread, taro root, radicchio, and organ meats in my local grocery store;
3. 'Asian Cuisine' no longer implies Mai-Tai's with little umbrellas served in a coconut shell;
4. The Food Network;
5. Williams-Sonoma is in every metro area of 100,000 or more, it seems. Yes, it's pretentious and expensive - but it's there.
6. Microbreweries.
'Dumbed down'? No. American cuisine is now at its most brilliant - and it's getting better.
Last week it was Wal-Mart and Linux...
OK, who's next?