There's a big difference between being called "childish" and being called "child-like". The latter is very often an enormous compliment.
As a mother, I strive to be child-like, to view the world with a fresh and open mind, like my son does.
As a physicist, I must say super-string theory is about the dullest theory I've ever encountered.. It lacks the simple beauty of relativity and I wish I could find a way to discredit it for once and for all and stop the madness.
I found the author's remarks complimentary. Literary elitists may fail to appreciate Tolkein, but geeks, in their child-LIKE fascination, can see the merit in suspending cynicism and indulging their imaginations.
Don't be so sensitive.. not everything is as it seems, not every theory in physics is wonderfully imaginative, but the ones which are, such as relativity, are usually the result of a child-like willingness to cast aside accepted views.
You can already IRC from almost anywhere if your phone/pager has an email or SMS client. It's not perfect, but it works and it's free. Too bad my provider(rhymes with horizon)'s email service is so poor.
It's a bit late to add a comment here and hope anyone will read it, but I have to.
... without the incentive of making money, most of the software innovations that exist today would have never been born.
That 's garbage. It's clear by now that there are a plethora of individuals interested in writing software for the sake of coding, or to create a tool that will get work done more quickly, or for recognition, or any of a number of reasons besides lining their pockets.
I thought the source for Windows began as someone's pet project. If you look around you'll find that most of the real innovations in software development have been the result of University researchers and hobbyists. People looking to get rich too often develop shoddy products which don't work the way they are supposed to, and cater to the masses at the expense of creativity and true innovation.
Software development is no different than any other field, the people who enjoy it the most are also likely to be the best at it, and those people would probably be willing to do it for free. I'd rather go to a doctor that had chosen the medical profession because they were interested in it and liked treating people than because they wanted to get rich.
If anything, the cancer on our society is one which has apparantly infected Mr, Ballmer and yourself, of greed and materialism, believing that money is more important than all else.
Sometimes I play the Who Wants To Be a Millionaire "Enhanced TV" Game with my son, and we've noticed that the same people win, night after night, which seems to be amazing considering the odds. Well, this would certainly explain why. Prizes are awarded to game winners, and that type of cheating would certainly be unethical, maybe even illegal.
In any case, I can forsee other situations like this arising as Television becomes increasingly interactive.
this is obviously a conspiracy. "They" don't want "Us" to know the truth.
But, seriously, this sounds like the unfortunately named canali, incorrectly translated from Italian, causing general histeria among people who believed that Martians must be bulding all those canals.
There already are services which let people send Instant Messages through ICQ and AIM to SMS or email clients or WAP browsers on cell phones and vice versa, such as trancell. I'm sure AIM will have it's own solutions soon as well.
McConnell seems to be attempting to simultaneously embrace the alien abduction crowd and hard scienctists, a very difficult task.
Most astronomers don't appreciate Stonehenge conspiracy theories, and most Roswell believers don't appreciate the real science behind SETI.
In the end, you would have to educate the masses as to the unlikelihood of intergalactic travel, the slim chance of intelligent/civilized life and the odds that we're essentially attempting to talk to butterflies, or even that we are the butterflies, with no way of understanding and of little significance to any aliens.
But, alas, anal probes are so much more relatable. Call it a religion for some, but if you're attempting to win the respect of the Scientific Community, it's probably better not to cater to the fanaticism.
Slashdot Mirror
There's a big difference between being called "childish" and being called "child-like". The latter is very often an enormous compliment.
As a mother, I strive to be child-like, to view the world with a fresh and open mind, like my son does.
As a physicist, I must say super-string theory is about the dullest theory I've ever encountered.. It lacks the simple beauty of relativity and I wish I could find a way to discredit it for once and for all and stop the madness.
I found the author's remarks complimentary. Literary elitists may fail to appreciate Tolkein, but geeks, in their child-LIKE fascination, can see the merit in suspending cynicism and indulging their imaginations.
Don't be so sensitive.. not everything is as it seems, not every theory in physics is wonderfully imaginative, but the ones which are, such as relativity, are usually the result of a child-like willingness to cast aside accepted views.
You can already IRC from almost anywhere if your phone/pager has an email or SMS client. It's not perfect, but it works and it's free. Too bad my provider(rhymes with horizon)'s email service is so poor.
It's a bit late to add a comment here and hope anyone will read it, but I have to.
... without the incentive of making money, most of the software innovations that exist today would have never been born.
That 's garbage. It's clear by now that there are a plethora of individuals interested in writing software for the sake of coding, or to create a tool that will get work done more quickly, or for recognition, or any of a number of reasons besides lining their pockets.
I thought the source for Windows began as someone's pet project. If you look around you'll find that most of the real innovations in software development have been the result of University researchers and hobbyists. People looking to get rich too often develop shoddy products which don't work the way they are supposed to, and cater to the masses at the expense of creativity and true innovation.
Software development is no different than any other field, the people who enjoy it the most are also likely to be the best at it, and those people would probably be willing to do it for free. I'd rather go to a doctor that had chosen the medical profession because they were interested in it and liked treating people than because they wanted to get rich.
If anything, the cancer on our society is one which has apparantly infected Mr, Ballmer and yourself, of greed and materialism, believing that money is more important than all else.
Here's one problem I can think of:
Sometimes I play the Who Wants To Be a Millionaire "Enhanced TV" Game with my son, and we've noticed that the same people win, night after night, which seems to be amazing considering the odds. Well, this would certainly explain why. Prizes are awarded to game winners, and that type of cheating would certainly be unethical, maybe even illegal.
In any case, I can forsee other situations like this arising as Television becomes increasingly interactive.
this is obviously a conspiracy. "They" don't want "Us" to know the truth.
But, seriously, this sounds like the unfortunately named canali, incorrectly translated from Italian, causing general histeria among people who believed that Martians must be bulding all those canals.
It led to some good science fiction, however.
There already are services which let people send Instant Messages through ICQ and AIM to SMS or email clients or WAP browsers on cell phones and vice versa, such as trancell. I'm sure AIM will have it's own solutions soon as well.
McConnell seems to be attempting to simultaneously embrace the alien abduction crowd and hard scienctists, a very difficult task.
Most astronomers don't appreciate Stonehenge conspiracy theories, and most Roswell believers don't appreciate the real science behind SETI.
In the end, you would have to educate the masses as to the unlikelihood of intergalactic travel, the slim chance of intelligent/civilized life and the odds that we're essentially attempting to talk to butterflies, or even that we are the butterflies, with no way of understanding and of little significance to any aliens.
But, alas, anal probes are so much more relatable. Call it a religion for some, but if you're attempting to win the respect of the Scientific Community, it's probably better not to cater to the fanaticism.
SDF has been free since 1989. That's the longest running free service that I know of.