The mantra of the self-defeated pessimist. It's the people who realize that everything useful has not been done to whom we owe most of the technologies we enjoy today, and will enjoy in the future. (The rest being owed to accidental discovery, which is a particularly rare event in software).
I think it's just that our expectations increase as the years go by. Pretty much every company I've ever had a problem with has taken steps to make things right, with the possible exception of Comcast. When we got charged wrong, we get a gift certificate for free pizza. When I called to find out why I wasn't getting some channels in HD (the idiot who signed me up failed to mention that the "HD Package" didn't include the Sunday Ticket channels), they upgraded me for free. (Sure, it should be included in the first place, but it's my responsibility to know what I'm buying, and their responsibility to explain it. They screwed up, they made it right). Microsoft lost the 360 I had to send in for warranty repair.. I couldn't prove anything beyond "I shipped a box to you, which may not have had anything in it, but it was delivered," but they still made good.
Now granted, all of these things were sparked by some sort of product defect or incompetence, but in general, things are much more reliable and cheaper than they used to be (which is masked somewhat by inflation). I can't remember the last time I saw an LCD with a dead pixel, the last time I had a power outage that wasn't due to a natural disaster, the last time my removable media "wore out" with proper handling. Think about how often floppy disks used to just fail. Or tapes.
For the most part, we're victims of our own success. We take more things for granted, and ever smaller anomalies take up a disproportionate part of our attention. What it actually means is that things are better -- much better -- than they used to be, but thanks to the rapid acclimatization of the human psyche, we just see more and more problems everywhere. They're problems that have always existed, we just never noticed them before because we had more important things to worry about.
I've seen very little evidence to suggest that people make rational decisions most of the time, or even a substantial portion of the time. Given that, I think it's also safe to say that people will never have access to all information, because people who HAVE that information may not make rational decisions regarding its disclosure. Further, there are many occasions when withholding information IS the rational course of action, especially when the cost of disclosure is higher than the possible penalties for withholding. (Steve Jobs health, anyone? If Jobs is sick, a rational decision would be to deny, or present a plausible alternative to cancer, until someone else could prove their mettle and Jobs departure is no longer seen as a game ender.)
Finally, since we make no exceptions, we assume that the biggest players will also make rational, calculated decisions, because they have the most to lose. We ignore that they also have the most to gain by taking big risks, that their decisions might be personally beneficial while devastating to everyone else in the fund, and that they may not have the same information as everyone else. (Ironically, we often assume they have more information than everyone else, which is a direct contradiction of our 2nd assumption).
I can't disagree with Taleb's conclusion that the only rational course of action for an individual is to assume that other people will behave irrationally, and place your bets accordingly. You bet in favor of large, unpredictable events, and lose a little money every day that they don't happen, but rake in huge sums when prices shift dramatically. Unfortunately, this is only possible if you have enough cash to work with that the margins and years of continuous losses don't kill you.
I'll be honest, I don't relish the idea of long, dark and cold winters.
There's only one thing that would make me relish that idea, and that's if I were somehow magically surrounded by millions and millions of Swedish chicks. If only such a place existed...
Forgive me for promoting an MS product on/., but I think the MS Wireless Desktop 7000 or 8000 should have made the running. The 7000, which is basically the same without the back lighting, has been very reliable for me though. The built-in "trackpad" is great, and the fact that it's bluetooth means I can actually control the PC from the other side of the room, instead of the 3-6 feet of most wireless solutions. The keyboard is rather minimalist, but I like that, and it has the requisite media control keys. It has room to improve -- I don't see the point of the touch-sensitive function keys for example, and the layout of the delete and start keys is questionable -- but I'm very satisfied with it overall. I like the design better than the diNovo, as well as the price, and I'll be using it until I see a convincing reason to change.
I've heard some complaints about the 8000 with backlit keys, where the paint rubs off the otherwise clear keys after heavy use, and makes it impossible to see which letter is which, but obviously that's not an issue on the 7000, and I've noticed no fade after 2 years (though I did manage to break a key off when I dropped the keyboard). I've got more pressing things to spend $100 on than replacing the entire keyboard for 1 (still functional, though missing) key, otherwise I'd buy another one in a heartbeat.
I'd guess that even people who don't enjoy violent games still have fantasies of violence. They recognize them as inappropriate and/or undesirable to act upon, but the thought of going into a violent rampage still crosses the mind of most perfectly healthy people.
I have no idea whether or not most people have fantasies of sex with minors, and I'm guessing most people would never admit it even if they did. Regardless, I trust that people with such fantasies can exercise the same restraint as everyone else.
Imagination should not, and practically cannot, be a crime. Crossing the line, or actively planning and conspiring to cross the line, is.
Most crime is not preventable by anyone other than the (potential) perpetrator. In most cases, the only thing society can do is deal with the aftermath. Given that, it makes sense to have voluntary programs that people can enter if they believe they may be unable to restrain themselves, be it for violence, sexual crime (which is just a subset of violence anyway), addictions, or anything else where it's more expensive or impossible to clean up the mess or undo the damage.
Did you even read my post? I play games. My wife plays games. My kids play games. Run, Spot, run.
None of us find that the Wii caters to the type of games we like, and we're a pretty diverse group.
The Wii is immersive compared to what? Certainly not the other platforms on the market. We all find the controller to be an unwieldy gimmick, and the games that cater to it feel gimmicky as well. Games that *don't* cater to it are available on other platforms, often with more content and better quality. The Wii has that Sideshow Bob feel to it, like a horse tapping out math, or the woman getting sawed in half. It gets a lot of Ooohs and Ahhhs, and word of mouth spreads, but at the end of the day there's not much substance.
Software, hardware, insurance, construction, textiles, toys & games, film, television, publishing, porn.. Payday lenders and pawn brokers. Retail, food service & bars, casinos, liquor stores, grocery stores. The "hospitality" industry, firearms industry, furniture, carpet, and tool manufacturing. Aftermarket car parts, car washes. Service industries like car repair, landscaping, plumbing, heating & cooling, and carpet cleaning.
It's very possible for an industry to exist without direct government support, and even in the face of government opposition. Illicit drugs, prostitution, and illegal gambling are still alive and well despite the efforts of government.
It might not be the biggest, but it could definitely stand to lose a few pounds. Ba dum dum.
But seriously, the evaporative cooling effects and shielding of increased cloud cover would more than offset the greenhouse effects.. at least, according to their model. And unlike CO2, water tends to precipitate out of the atmosphere rather than hang around for decades.
"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." - Sherlock Holmes
If we have proof that there were no ships there at the time, then ships were not the cause. If the only remaining explanation is sabotage, then it was sabotage.
Wait, wait.. I haven't heard anyone eliminate the possibility of sharks, lasers, or some villainous combination thereof. And that's not even beginning to account for causes of extraterrestrial origin.
The idea that private industry could survive without ever receiving help from the government is ridiculous.
Of course it can. Plenty of private industries function without government assistance. There's nothing to stop a private investor from putting up the capital to create a domestic battery industry, and nothing to keep that industry from becoming profitable in the long term, even if it's in the red for a few years. It's possible, and it's how many businesses operate.
That's really beside the point anyway. The question is whether government can help create new industries, and whether it's in our collective best interest that they do. That's the discussion.
That's funny.. the overwhelming majority of cars built by foreign automakers are shipped to the US in driveable form, and most of those companies are doing just fine, especially the Japanese makers. Yes, some of their plants are in the US, but those plants produce a minority of vehicles, and exist more for the tax breaks and subsidies than any direct cost savings. They're more of a conciliatory gesture to keep in the good graces of lawmakers who keep tariffs low.
Meanwhile the Unholy Trinity of US car manufacturers, with their products built on US-made AC Delco, Mopar, and Motorcraft craponents, is about to implode.
It's not really that inefficient to ship fully assembled vehicles, and adds very little to the cost when done in bulk. My own car cost me under $2000 to ship across the Pacific when I moved back to the states, with fuel prices near their peak, and I'm not exactly a frequent-shipper with the economies of scale that go along with that. For companies that can charter entire freighters, the cost probably adds a few hundred dollars per vehicle, tops. Marine and rail shipping in general are very cost efficient forms of transportation, and getting better with larger ships and more fuel efficient propulsion. Sure, you have to distribute the cars to dealers around the country, which becomes less efficient, but that's a factor regardless of whether your US point of distribution is Detroit or the Port of Los Angeles.
Wild turkey actually tastes like shit and has very little, and very tough meat. All the hormone doping, antibiotic-pumping, genetic vegetable engineering, and so forth exists for one reason, and one reason only: It works. It makes delicious goddamn food, and I'll take it any day over some overpriced worm-ridden apples from Whole Foods.
There's nothing pretty about eating or digestion.. it's an inefficient, disgusting, slimy, unholy marriage of bacterial and chemical processes that keep our meatbags alive, and always ends with the discharge of biohazardous material. Might as well make the best of it and eat something that tastes good.
Slashdot Mirror
I've never had a problem with my car breaking, probably because it brakes quite well.
everything useful has already been done
The mantra of the self-defeated pessimist. It's the people who realize that everything useful has not been done to whom we owe most of the technologies we enjoy today, and will enjoy in the future. (The rest being owed to accidental discovery, which is a particularly rare event in software).
Does your mind also replace "er" with "y"? Seriousler?
I think it's just that our expectations increase as the years go by. Pretty much every company I've ever had a problem with has taken steps to make things right, with the possible exception of Comcast. When we got charged wrong, we get a gift certificate for free pizza. When I called to find out why I wasn't getting some channels in HD (the idiot who signed me up failed to mention that the "HD Package" didn't include the Sunday Ticket channels), they upgraded me for free. (Sure, it should be included in the first place, but it's my responsibility to know what I'm buying, and their responsibility to explain it. They screwed up, they made it right). Microsoft lost the 360 I had to send in for warranty repair.. I couldn't prove anything beyond "I shipped a box to you, which may not have had anything in it, but it was delivered," but they still made good.
Now granted, all of these things were sparked by some sort of product defect or incompetence, but in general, things are much more reliable and cheaper than they used to be (which is masked somewhat by inflation). I can't remember the last time I saw an LCD with a dead pixel, the last time I had a power outage that wasn't due to a natural disaster, the last time my removable media "wore out" with proper handling. Think about how often floppy disks used to just fail. Or tapes.
For the most part, we're victims of our own success. We take more things for granted, and ever smaller anomalies take up a disproportionate part of our attention. What it actually means is that things are better -- much better -- than they used to be, but thanks to the rapid acclimatization of the human psyche, we just see more and more problems everywhere. They're problems that have always existed, we just never noticed them before because we had more important things to worry about.
Earlier today I black hatted some files on a private tracker, and now I'm trying to white hat them, at least until my ratio is grey.
Well that, plus the world's going to end in 2012.
I've seen very little evidence to suggest that people make rational decisions most of the time, or even a substantial portion of the time. Given that, I think it's also safe to say that people will never have access to all information, because people who HAVE that information may not make rational decisions regarding its disclosure. Further, there are many occasions when withholding information IS the rational course of action, especially when the cost of disclosure is higher than the possible penalties for withholding. (Steve Jobs health, anyone? If Jobs is sick, a rational decision would be to deny, or present a plausible alternative to cancer, until someone else could prove their mettle and Jobs departure is no longer seen as a game ender.)
Finally, since we make no exceptions, we assume that the biggest players will also make rational, calculated decisions, because they have the most to lose. We ignore that they also have the most to gain by taking big risks, that their decisions might be personally beneficial while devastating to everyone else in the fund, and that they may not have the same information as everyone else. (Ironically, we often assume they have more information than everyone else, which is a direct contradiction of our 2nd assumption).
I can't disagree with Taleb's conclusion that the only rational course of action for an individual is to assume that other people will behave irrationally, and place your bets accordingly. You bet in favor of large, unpredictable events, and lose a little money every day that they don't happen, but rake in huge sums when prices shift dramatically. Unfortunately, this is only possible if you have enough cash to work with that the margins and years of continuous losses don't kill you.
Though supposedly welcoming and accepting, it views races like the Ferengi with distrust and even disdain.
And with good reason!! Those ugly swindling bastards would sell their own mothers if it would turn a profit.
For values inside the RDF, the field strength is unchanged.
A stronger Yen means they're making LESS Yen by selling at the same price USD.
I'll be honest, I don't relish the idea of long, dark and cold winters.
There's only one thing that would make me relish that idea, and that's if I were somehow magically surrounded by millions and millions of Swedish chicks. If only such a place existed...
Right, but not for both/all players.
Also that was WOPR's conclusion, not Dr. Falken's.
Forgive me for promoting an MS product on /., but I think the MS Wireless Desktop 7000 or 8000 should have made the running. The 7000, which is basically the same without the back lighting, has been very reliable for me though. The built-in "trackpad" is great, and the fact that it's bluetooth means I can actually control the PC from the other side of the room, instead of the 3-6 feet of most wireless solutions. The keyboard is rather minimalist, but I like that, and it has the requisite media control keys. It has room to improve -- I don't see the point of the touch-sensitive function keys for example, and the layout of the delete and start keys is questionable -- but I'm very satisfied with it overall. I like the design better than the diNovo, as well as the price, and I'll be using it until I see a convincing reason to change.
I've heard some complaints about the 8000 with backlit keys, where the paint rubs off the otherwise clear keys after heavy use, and makes it impossible to see which letter is which, but obviously that's not an issue on the 7000, and I've noticed no fade after 2 years (though I did manage to break a key off when I dropped the keyboard). I've got more pressing things to spend $100 on than replacing the entire keyboard for 1 (still functional, though missing) key, otherwise I'd buy another one in a heartbeat.
I'd guess that even people who don't enjoy violent games still have fantasies of violence. They recognize them as inappropriate and/or undesirable to act upon, but the thought of going into a violent rampage still crosses the mind of most perfectly healthy people.
I have no idea whether or not most people have fantasies of sex with minors, and I'm guessing most people would never admit it even if they did. Regardless, I trust that people with such fantasies can exercise the same restraint as everyone else.
Imagination should not, and practically cannot, be a crime. Crossing the line, or actively planning and conspiring to cross the line, is.
Most crime is not preventable by anyone other than the (potential) perpetrator. In most cases, the only thing society can do is deal with the aftermath. Given that, it makes sense to have voluntary programs that people can enter if they believe they may be unable to restrain themselves, be it for violence, sexual crime (which is just a subset of violence anyway), addictions, or anything else where it's more expensive or impossible to clean up the mess or undo the damage.
Kane would tell you, but he's not Abel.
Did you even read my post? I play games. My wife plays games. My kids play games. Run, Spot, run.
None of us find that the Wii caters to the type of games we like, and we're a pretty diverse group.
The Wii is immersive compared to what? Certainly not the other platforms on the market. We all find the controller to be an unwieldy gimmick, and the games that cater to it feel gimmicky as well. Games that *don't* cater to it are available on other platforms, often with more content and better quality. The Wii has that Sideshow Bob feel to it, like a horse tapping out math, or the woman getting sawed in half. It gets a lot of Ooohs and Ahhhs, and word of mouth spreads, but at the end of the day there's not much substance.
Software, hardware, insurance, construction, textiles, toys & games, film, television, publishing, porn.. Payday lenders and pawn brokers. Retail, food service & bars, casinos, liquor stores, grocery stores. The "hospitality" industry, firearms industry, furniture, carpet, and tool manufacturing. Aftermarket car parts, car washes. Service industries like car repair, landscaping, plumbing, heating & cooling, and carpet cleaning.
It's very possible for an industry to exist without direct government support, and even in the face of government opposition. Illicit drugs, prostitution, and illegal gambling are still alive and well despite the efforts of government.
It might not be the biggest, but it could definitely stand to lose a few pounds. Ba dum dum.
But seriously, the evaporative cooling effects and shielding of increased cloud cover would more than offset the greenhouse effects.. at least, according to their model. And unlike CO2, water tends to precipitate out of the atmosphere rather than hang around for decades.
Give them a break.. so they misspelled pubic. Does that really detract from the ambiguity of the headline?
At least since the Year of Commodore on the Deathbed, if not longer.
Wait, wait.. I haven't heard anyone eliminate the possibility of sharks, lasers, or some villainous combination thereof. And that's not even beginning to account for causes of extraterrestrial origin.
The idea that private industry could survive without ever receiving help from the government is ridiculous.
Of course it can. Plenty of private industries function without government assistance. There's nothing to stop a private investor from putting up the capital to create a domestic battery industry, and nothing to keep that industry from becoming profitable in the long term, even if it's in the red for a few years. It's possible, and it's how many businesses operate.
That's really beside the point anyway. The question is whether government can help create new industries, and whether it's in our collective best interest that they do. That's the discussion.
Revalue the USD by removing two zeros. Hey, it worked for Zimbabwe. Sort of.
That's funny.. the overwhelming majority of cars built by foreign automakers are shipped to the US in driveable form, and most of those companies are doing just fine, especially the Japanese makers. Yes, some of their plants are in the US, but those plants produce a minority of vehicles, and exist more for the tax breaks and subsidies than any direct cost savings. They're more of a conciliatory gesture to keep in the good graces of lawmakers who keep tariffs low.
Meanwhile the Unholy Trinity of US car manufacturers, with their products built on US-made AC Delco, Mopar, and Motorcraft craponents, is about to implode.
It's not really that inefficient to ship fully assembled vehicles, and adds very little to the cost when done in bulk. My own car cost me under $2000 to ship across the Pacific when I moved back to the states, with fuel prices near their peak, and I'm not exactly a frequent-shipper with the economies of scale that go along with that. For companies that can charter entire freighters, the cost probably adds a few hundred dollars per vehicle, tops. Marine and rail shipping in general are very cost efficient forms of transportation, and getting better with larger ships and more fuel efficient propulsion. Sure, you have to distribute the cars to dealers around the country, which becomes less efficient, but that's a factor regardless of whether your US point of distribution is Detroit or the Port of Los Angeles.
Wild turkey actually tastes like shit and has very little, and very tough meat. All the hormone doping, antibiotic-pumping, genetic vegetable engineering, and so forth exists for one reason, and one reason only: It works. It makes delicious goddamn food, and I'll take it any day over some overpriced worm-ridden apples from Whole Foods.
There's nothing pretty about eating or digestion.. it's an inefficient, disgusting, slimy, unholy marriage of bacterial and chemical processes that keep our meatbags alive, and always ends with the discharge of biohazardous material. Might as well make the best of it and eat something that tastes good.