The reason it didn't fully catch on was laziness and English speakers' arrogance (continuing to this day)
Just for the record, the reason many English speakers (particularly in the US) don't learn other languages has absolutely nothing to do with arrogance. The real causes of the problem are ignorance, opportunity and priority. Here in the US, almost any business transaction a person is interested in, and almost every opportunity for entertainment is conducted in English. There is no "in your face" need to learn another language, and therefore the vast majority of the population is simply ignorant of the real world benefits to be gained from doing so. Furthermore, since much of the population speaks only English, there are limited opportunities to practice other languages. Almost every student has to take a foreign language in high school, but do not continue trying to learn whatever language they choose because of the limited opportunity for practice. And finally, people here are extremely busy all the time. For most adults, learning another language gets prioritized below many other things.
For what it's worth, the increase ingin the Hispanic population here in the US is having an impact. More people who speak English natively are taking an interest in learning Spanish? Why? Because suddenly there is an obvious business benefit (catering to the immigrants who are not yet comfortable speaking English), and there's a much larger pool of people to practice speaking with.
I think I've pointed this out before, but are you aware that this pronunciation, which is by metathesis, is considered somewhat acceptable? I cringe every time I hear it pronounced that way, but it's apparently not terribly uncommon even among scientists. I went to school with a very bright political science major who pronounced it that way, and it drove me crazy every time he did it. Although I haven't kept in touch with him, I'm pretty sure he would hate President Bush and everything Bush stands for. I'm almost willing to bet that he's been trying to change his own pronunciation since Bush got into office.
It is completely technically feasible for this system to need to be enabled in order for it to work. For example, with BMW Assist, BMW's OnStat-like service, equipment is physically disabled in the car if the user does not subscribe to a service.
I completely agree with your post, but I think the issue was that the system would always be "enabled". However, the owner would have to give their permission for the shutdown procedure to be used, which would generally be in the case of a stolen vehicle. The problem is that the OnStar policy allows for compliance with law enforcement (which is pretty much required), and thus would allow police to order shut-down of your vehicle for nebulous reasons. If that were to happen, though, there'd be a nice log of the incident and who requested the shutdown that you could make available to the public. The big problem that still persists is one of hacking. If the system is installed and enabled by default (as the article seems to imply), somebody will probably eventually find a way to hack it. It's possible that we'll see countermeasures in place by then.
Re:It doesn't "remotely shut down vehicles"
on
Stalling Cars Via OnStar
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Once it is "assumed" you have one then it becomes worth it for people to hack it.
And then there will be a sizable market for services to disable the system....
Wait, if the time dimension morphs into a fourth space dimension, why can't he just travel here? He can at least catch the end of the movie. Oh wait, no, he's on the OTHER side. I suppose he can't get here from there.
In another post a few minutes ago I explained the amazing Phylum Foraminifera fossil record. [slashdot.org]
Can you point me towards any published research on the Foraminifera fossil record? I'm actually quite interested in seeing what has been discerned about the changes in the organisms from some of the oldest samples to some of the most recent.
when i was in grammar school, they had this program for gifted students...
The private school I went to had programs like that as well. Even the public school I attended for high school was experimenting with some accelerated programs. For example, my freshman-year math class combined algebra and trigonometry into the same year. I thought it was a good idea, but I think I heard that the school canceled the program a year or two later. I'm not sure why, though -- maybe something about parents complaining over the amount of homework the kids had. Whiners.;) Anyway, in the case of the 14-yr-old PhD student, do you think such a program would have helped? I mean, think about it. If you're 14 and you're in a PhD program, you've already been through six years equivalent of college. That means this kid was probably doing algebra and chemistry at the age of six or something like that. I don't know of any gifted programs that can handle such advanced students. The only choices I can think of are 1-1 tutoring (very expensive for higher education levels) and homeschooling (which would also be difficult at higher education levels). Developmentally, I'd really worry about the kid, though. He either totally misses childhood altogether and doesn't care, which leaves him completely unable to relate to or understand other people and their background. Or, he turns into this fantastic overachiever that commits suicide the first time he encounters failure because he can't handle it. Very disturbing -- I'm not sure what the answer is.
Or she just noticed her internet connection was slow, took her PC in, and the tech monkeys replaced her hard drive for no reason.
I agree that that's certainly a possibility, but it really throws a light of suspicion on her when taken along with the other evidence. Most of the time, the tech monkeys would have just reformatted the existing hard drive. Plus, the plaintiff produced evidence that she wasn't a completely clueless user when it comes to computers. Although, I'm not sure I agree with the standard they used to argue that....
i remember reading a story about a 14 year old (i don't remember the exact age, but he was too young to drive) going for his phd. that's just messed up. this 14 year old will not adjust properly to real life.
I agree that forcing the younger students to deal with an older student is probably a bad idea. However, in the case of this 14 year old, his obviously higher intelligence was probably going to make it difficult to adjust to "real life". I'm not sure that going to the University for his PhD at that age would make it any worse. As you mentioned later on, maybe some sort of gifted program for kids who have completed their schooling early would be better.
and i want to know where you're getting this idea that adults who try to improve their education are seen in a negative light.
Yeah, I wonder about this too. Personally, I have a great deal of respect for an adult who chooses to go back to school, particularly those who do so to complete the basic education that they never finished. It takes a _lot_ of determination for someone who works a full time job to focus enough to earn their HS diploma at the same time.
Better yet, just stop forcing those kids to attend. It shouldn't come as a surprise that you'll have a better learning environment if the only students there are the ones who want to learn.
And for those kids who do not attend? What happens to them? What do you do when they are adults and cannot support themselves? Not saying you are wrong, but I'm curious is to what the rest of your game plan is.
I'd like to know what all proof they had they she indeed made it available.
The article gives most of that. It was a case involving Kazaa, so they were able to see a shared directory of music and associate it with an IP address and "username". Although the article doesn't say, I would assume that her ISP gave the henchmen^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hinvestigators the contact information for the IP address. What is particularly damning is that witnesses state that she replaced her hard drive two weeks after the investigation turned up the copyright infringement. It sure looks as if she was guilty. The evidence isn't enough to earn her a criminal conviction, but it's sure enough for a civil trial.
In the "scientific" sense, theories are all one has.
Not even remotely true. We have axioms, laws, hypotheses, experiments, observations and conclusions among other things. Why would one be opposed to a teacher having to inform the students that they are discussing a theory? Just because it's a politically charged issue? Don't you find some value in a student knowing the difference?
So tell me, are you, out of ignorance, repeating the tired Creationist/IDer canard of the etymological fallacy, or is this an intentional attempt to distort what the word means in scientific terms?
I intentionally mentioned "in the scientific sense" to avoid etymological arguments because "theory" as conventionally used has a much weaker meaning. Clearly the Theory of Evolution carries a lot more weight than that. So either you couldn't figure that out, or you're just dying to find an argument when there isn't one to be had. If it's the latter, I would recommend joining a debate team. I think you'll find it ultimately more rewarding.
The rest of your post is clearly just a regurtitation of some bullshit you read from AiG or DI.
Since I haven't ever bothered to read either, nor have I had any at-length conversations with supporters of them, you're just flat out wrong. Do you always jump to such conclusions?
BD+ was one of their main selling point to the studios. If it fails it can't be fixed, and they could lose studio support.
All in favor of calling a moratorium on cracking BD+ say "aye"! If we convince the studios that BD+ is better, we'll end the "format wars" a lot quicker. Once we only have one viable format, we can always end the moratorium.
Evolution is just a theory! I live in Kansas and my teacher was forced to tell me that!
I know you meant that as a jab at Intelligent Design, but Evolution (as is traditionally discussed) is indeed in the scientific sense just a theory. It is a logical explanation that can be tested. Remember that we are talking about evolution on a macro-scale. I think only the most dimwitted people would deny that organisms evolve or adapt at a micro-level. You can actually watch and see that happen. Fruit flies are a really good example of adaptability that can be watched. However, on a macro scale (over millions of years), we have only a bunch of dots of evidence that seem to be connected (and thus fit the model); the amount of evidence required to prove Evolution beyond any reasonable doubt makes that task nearly insurmountable. And in that respect, those who call for requiring to make it clear to students that Evolution is a theory are correct in doing so, even if some may disagree with their motives. It's very important for students to come to an understanding that there is a difference between the incontrovertible fact that 2 + 2 = 4, and the likelihood that birds are one branch of an evolutionary path from a distinct group of dinosaurs. One is intrinsically true, whereas the other has some exceptionally convincing evidence, but too many alternative possibilities to be solidly provable without a time machine and a very dedicated research team. Students need to know the difference.
Why not just use a SIP service that offers cheap (or flatrate) calls to Europe.
Thanks for the suggestion. I think there's a few problems -- 1. That service is provided in Europe. I'm not sure that I would be able to obtain the service in the US. 2. My whole phone solution is VoIP. Using the solution you provided, I would probably have to have a separate phone system for calls to Europe. My wife would freak out. 3. Even if #2 isn't true, it's imperative that I have E-911 service at my house. I doubt going with a European option would provide me with this.
At any rate, it remains an interesting "backup" solution should Vonage go under before I can find something better.
A license for each audio track, that's the solution Sony.
You know what, I personally have no problem with paying again for each and every new copy of a song. But if that's the case, the CD is no longer worth any near what they are charging for it. If I have to pay for each copy, I want to be able to buy CDs for $1 each. Individual songs should cost ten cents. Because that's about all they are worth if I have to buy multiple copies. Oh, and I want a law (or contract) requiring Sony to make available new copies of all old music. When my old CD gets too scratched up to work, I want to be able to buy a replacement. And in doing so, I would thank Sony personally for providing the funding for my music backup solution. And finally, Sony needs to provide a service that allows me to assemble various tracks from multiple CDs into a new customized CD. For that service they can charge a little more... say $1.50 total.
Sony, are you sure you're ready to go down this road? By accusing your _average_ customer of being a pirate, you are either pushing them to become what you are calling them, or you are devaluing your own product significantly. I would personally like to recommend that you train a certain lawyer to ask whether or not we'd like fries with that and send her packing.
Public easements are declared explicitly in property deeds and titles.
But does the public easement apply to the installation of private lines? For example, given that I have a public easement at the end of my lawn for telephone, cable and water lines, could my neighbor, without getting my permission, decide to carefully run a buried drainage system along that same easement so that the lower half of his property doesn't turn into a pond during heavy rain? Somehow, I doubt it.
Clearly, the current business model is not enough to satisfy eBay in light of how much the company spent on Skype. And the reason is simple. Even though Skype has done a very good job of getting users to download its software client, most people who use the service do so to make free Skype-to-Skype phone calls.
Don't be too hasty. There are two avenues that open up huge potential for revenue:
Corporate presence. I know several large companies that informally use Skype. For security purposes, they would probably be willing to pay for internally operated Skype networks and collaboration software add-ons. There's a huge potential there. The large company that I work for has black-listed Skype from our computers because Skype is very tight-lipped on the protocols and "phone home" cases that are used by the application. Opening up some of the "secrets" to potential customers and supporting intranet-only implementations of the software open up a revenue stream.
Vonage replacement. With yet another loss in patent lawsuits for Vonage, the future is looking bleak for them. My cable company keeps sending me offers for VoIP, but frankly the thing that has kept me from switching is the much higher rate schedule for international calls. I need 5 cents per minute or less to Europe. Skype could either provide a hardware-based client to replace Vonage installations, or partner with cable companies to provide reasonable rates for long distance. Furthermore, they could start providing video conferencing capabilities.
In short, there is a HUGE untapped market out there. If EBay would stop trying to milk their investment and would start investing more into it, they could really get some substantial returns.
In a manner of speaking, yes. At least, that's what the whole meta-moderation process is about. People get to go back after the fact and rate the performance of the moderators. Those who, in the public consensus, perform poorly will be given less opportunities to moderate. So, there is no immediate screening, but over time the buffoons get weeded out.;)
Gotta wonder how greypoopon got a score of 3 for being so far off base, yet you only got a one.
What's fantastically amazing is that I was modded as "interesting" and "insightful". I was being deliberately obtuse when I responded to your statement for the sake of humor. There was just enough ambiguity in it (even when taken in context) to be mildly amusing. I actually agreed with what you wrote, but I had to think about it for a second to realize that you meant pre-University. I thought others would get a smile out of my quip. Apparently, some of the moderators needed a second cup of coffee.
Yeah, I knew what you meant. It's just that even with the context, there was just enough ambiguity to make it mildly amusing, so I jumped on it. I'm glad you got a chance to clarify, and I totally agree with you. Although, I'm not completely sure that it's the system (as built) itself that is at fault so much as it is the way we are running it. I'm seeing people graduate from high school with no ability to write properly or spell properly, and no way to think critically. Yet I know the schools _teach_ these skills. They just don't force you to _learn_ them in order to graduate. It would have been completely impossible for me to graduate with the low level of knowledge that students require today in order to earn their diploma. When I was in school, people got held back when they did not demonstrate sufficient knowledge in what they were supposed to be learning. Does that not happen anymore? It doesn't seem like it. Perhaps the schools are too afraid of litigation.
How do you figure that?... So part of this money that Lenovo is getting now from customers goes straight toward repaying the loans for the initial purchase. In other words, if you buy Thinkpads now, you're still paying off IBM in part.
I assume you're questioning my statement "Not it is _all_ going to Lenovo." OK, maybe it's not all going to Lenovo, but unless Lenovo borrowed the money from IBM to buy the brand from IBM, then none of it is going to IBM. The question is, from where did Lenovo borrow the money (if they had to borrow any at all)? I'm willing to bet it was some organization in China.
Slashdot Mirror
Just for the record, the reason many English speakers (particularly in the US) don't learn other languages has absolutely nothing to do with arrogance. The real causes of the problem are ignorance, opportunity and priority. Here in the US, almost any business transaction a person is interested in, and almost every opportunity for entertainment is conducted in English. There is no "in your face" need to learn another language, and therefore the vast majority of the population is simply ignorant of the real world benefits to be gained from doing so. Furthermore, since much of the population speaks only English, there are limited opportunities to practice other languages. Almost every student has to take a foreign language in high school, but do not continue trying to learn whatever language they choose because of the limited opportunity for practice. And finally, people here are extremely busy all the time. For most adults, learning another language gets prioritized below many other things.
For what it's worth, the increase ingin the Hispanic population here in the US is having an impact. More people who speak English natively are taking an interest in learning Spanish? Why? Because suddenly there is an obvious business benefit (catering to the immigrants who are not yet comfortable speaking English), and there's a much larger pool of people to practice speaking with.
I think I've pointed this out before, but are you aware that this pronunciation, which is by metathesis, is considered somewhat acceptable? I cringe every time I hear it pronounced that way, but it's apparently not terribly uncommon even among scientists. I went to school with a very bright political science major who pronounced it that way, and it drove me crazy every time he did it. Although I haven't kept in touch with him, I'm pretty sure he would hate President Bush and everything Bush stands for. I'm almost willing to bet that he's been trying to change his own pronunciation since Bush got into office.
I completely agree with your post, but I think the issue was that the system would always be "enabled". However, the owner would have to give their permission for the shutdown procedure to be used, which would generally be in the case of a stolen vehicle. The problem is that the OnStar policy allows for compliance with law enforcement (which is pretty much required), and thus would allow police to order shut-down of your vehicle for nebulous reasons. If that were to happen, though, there'd be a nice log of the incident and who requested the shutdown that you could make available to the public. The big problem that still persists is one of hacking. If the system is installed and enabled by default (as the article seems to imply), somebody will probably eventually find a way to hack it. It's possible that we'll see countermeasures in place by then.
And then there will be a sizable market for services to disable the system....
Wait, if the time dimension morphs into a fourth space dimension, why can't he just travel here? He can at least catch the end of the movie. Oh wait, no, he's on the OTHER side. I suppose he can't get here from there.
Can you point me towards any published research on the Foraminifera fossil record? I'm actually quite interested in seeing what has been discerned about the changes in the organisms from some of the oldest samples to some of the most recent.
The private school I went to had programs like that as well. Even the public school I attended for high school was experimenting with some accelerated programs. For example, my freshman-year math class combined algebra and trigonometry into the same year. I thought it was a good idea, but I think I heard that the school canceled the program a year or two later. I'm not sure why, though -- maybe something about parents complaining over the amount of homework the kids had. Whiners.
I agree that that's certainly a possibility, but it really throws a light of suspicion on her when taken along with the other evidence. Most of the time, the tech monkeys would have just reformatted the existing hard drive. Plus, the plaintiff produced evidence that she wasn't a completely clueless user when it comes to computers. Although, I'm not sure I agree with the standard they used to argue that....
I agree that forcing the younger students to deal with an older student is probably a bad idea. However, in the case of this 14 year old, his obviously higher intelligence was probably going to make it difficult to adjust to "real life". I'm not sure that going to the University for his PhD at that age would make it any worse. As you mentioned later on, maybe some sort of gifted program for kids who have completed their schooling early would be better.
Yeah, I wonder about this too. Personally, I have a great deal of respect for an adult who chooses to go back to school, particularly those who do so to complete the basic education that they never finished. It takes a _lot_ of determination for someone who works a full time job to focus enough to earn their HS diploma at the same time.
And for those kids who do not attend? What happens to them? What do you do when they are adults and cannot support themselves? Not saying you are wrong, but I'm curious is to what the rest of your game plan is.
The article gives most of that. It was a case involving Kazaa, so they were able to see a shared directory of music and associate it with an IP address and "username". Although the article doesn't say, I would assume that her ISP gave the henchmen^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hinvestigators the contact information for the IP address. What is particularly damning is that witnesses state that she replaced her hard drive two weeks after the investigation turned up the copyright infringement. It sure looks as if she was guilty. The evidence isn't enough to earn her a criminal conviction, but it's sure enough for a civil trial.
Not even remotely true. We have axioms, laws, hypotheses, experiments, observations and conclusions among other things. Why would one be opposed to a teacher having to inform the students that they are discussing a theory? Just because it's a politically charged issue? Don't you find some value in a student knowing the difference?
I intentionally mentioned "in the scientific sense" to avoid etymological arguments because "theory" as conventionally used has a much weaker meaning. Clearly the Theory of Evolution carries a lot more weight than that. So either you couldn't figure that out, or you're just dying to find an argument when there isn't one to be had. If it's the latter, I would recommend joining a debate team. I think you'll find it ultimately more rewarding.
Since I haven't ever bothered to read either, nor have I had any at-length conversations with supporters of them, you're just flat out wrong. Do you always jump to such conclusions?
All in favor of calling a moratorium on cracking BD+ say "aye"! If we convince the studios that BD+ is better, we'll end the "format wars" a lot quicker. Once we only have one viable format, we can always end the moratorium.
...welcome our standardized future cyborg overlords.
Resistance is futile.
I know you meant that as a jab at Intelligent Design, but Evolution (as is traditionally discussed) is indeed in the scientific sense just a theory. It is a logical explanation that can be tested. Remember that we are talking about evolution on a macro-scale. I think only the most dimwitted people would deny that organisms evolve or adapt at a micro-level. You can actually watch and see that happen. Fruit flies are a really good example of adaptability that can be watched. However, on a macro scale (over millions of years), we have only a bunch of dots of evidence that seem to be connected (and thus fit the model); the amount of evidence required to prove Evolution beyond any reasonable doubt makes that task nearly insurmountable. And in that respect, those who call for requiring to make it clear to students that Evolution is a theory are correct in doing so, even if some may disagree with their motives. It's very important for students to come to an understanding that there is a difference between the incontrovertible fact that 2 + 2 = 4, and the likelihood that birds are one branch of an evolutionary path from a distinct group of dinosaurs. One is intrinsically true, whereas the other has some exceptionally convincing evidence, but too many alternative possibilities to be solidly provable without a time machine and a very dedicated research team. Students need to know the difference.
Thanks for the suggestion. I think there's a few problems -- 1. That service is provided in Europe. I'm not sure that I would be able to obtain the service in the US. 2. My whole phone solution is VoIP. Using the solution you provided, I would probably have to have a separate phone system for calls to Europe. My wife would freak out. 3. Even if #2 isn't true, it's imperative that I have E-911 service at my house. I doubt going with a European option would provide me with this.
At any rate, it remains an interesting "backup" solution should Vonage go under before I can find something better.
You know what, I personally have no problem with paying again for each and every new copy of a song. But if that's the case, the CD is no longer worth any near what they are charging for it. If I have to pay for each copy, I want to be able to buy CDs for $1 each. Individual songs should cost ten cents. Because that's about all they are worth if I have to buy multiple copies. Oh, and I want a law (or contract) requiring Sony to make available new copies of all old music. When my old CD gets too scratched up to work, I want to be able to buy a replacement. And in doing so, I would thank Sony personally for providing the funding for my music backup solution. And finally, Sony needs to provide a service that allows me to assemble various tracks from multiple CDs into a new customized CD. For that service they can charge a little more... say $1.50 total.
Sony, are you sure you're ready to go down this road? By accusing your _average_ customer of being a pirate, you are either pushing them to become what you are calling them, or you are devaluing your own product significantly. I would personally like to recommend that you train a certain lawyer to ask whether or not we'd like fries with that and send her packing.
But does the public easement apply to the installation of private lines? For example, given that I have a public easement at the end of my lawn for telephone, cable and water lines, could my neighbor, without getting my permission, decide to carefully run a buried drainage system along that same easement so that the lower half of his property doesn't turn into a pond during heavy rain? Somehow, I doubt it.
Don't be too hasty. There are two avenues that open up huge potential for revenue:
In short, there is a HUGE untapped market out there. If EBay would stop trying to milk their investment and would start investing more into it, they could really get some substantial returns.
In a manner of speaking, yes. At least, that's what the whole meta-moderation process is about. People get to go back after the fact and rate the performance of the moderators. Those who, in the public consensus, perform poorly will be given less opportunities to moderate. So, there is no immediate screening, but over time the buffoons get weeded out.
And next time I'll pay more attention which person I'm replying to.
Yeah, I knew what you meant. It's just that even with the context, there was just enough ambiguity to make it mildly amusing, so I jumped on it. I'm glad you got a chance to clarify, and I totally agree with you. Although, I'm not completely sure that it's the system (as built) itself that is at fault so much as it is the way we are running it. I'm seeing people graduate from high school with no ability to write properly or spell properly, and no way to think critically. Yet I know the schools _teach_ these skills. They just don't force you to _learn_ them in order to graduate. It would have been completely impossible for me to graduate with the low level of knowledge that students require today in order to earn their diploma. When I was in school, people got held back when they did not demonstrate sufficient knowledge in what they were supposed to be learning. Does that not happen anymore? It doesn't seem like it. Perhaps the schools are too afraid of litigation.
I assume you're questioning my statement "Not it is _all_ going to Lenovo." OK, maybe it's not all going to Lenovo, but unless Lenovo borrowed the money from IBM to buy the brand from IBM, then none of it is going to IBM. The question is, from where did Lenovo borrow the money (if they had to borrow any at all)? I'm willing to bet it was some organization in China.
Ah yes, that explains why so many foreign students are coming here to study....