You tell 'em. I'd much rather discuss topics like which heatsink/fan is best for cooling my processor, and the new FF game, and the latest Mac update; who gives a shit about stuff that happens out there in the Big Blue Room?
As a slightly off-topic aside, my grandfather still gets a bill every month from the phone company for rental of his telephone. He says he's called the phone company several times to ask them where to return it to, but they don't even know.
That's because you've never developed control software for satellites or embedded software for pacemakers or air traffic control software
Once the requirements are set for software of that sort, the requirements DO NOT change, not even a little. Each individual requirement has a number, and when the project has been implemented, each and every requirement has to be there.
And these are not always small projects, they are quite often very large - depending on your definition of large, I suppose.
cocktail parties? I think this is a case of culture clash. You stand around in these cocktail parties and talk about European history ("boy, that war of the Roses sure was crazy, am I right! golly! And don't get me started on the crusades") and talk trash about boorish video game program programmers and their tunnel vision educations and meanwhile Digipen students congregate at LAN parties and occasionally talk about 3D rendering and magic the gathering cards or something.
There's really no point in being condescending, both groups are equally narrowminded. Don't kid yourself.
I'm not familiar with this Malthusian. I'm not even that familiar with this issue, my opinions are derived entirely from what I do know - a bit of history and a bit of engineering.
as for the "thinly veiled racism", go fuck yourself. Let's face it, that's a thinly veiled attempt to turn this into good guy/bad guy. If you don't agree with me I'm a racist. Give me a fucking break. Asshole.
As for the rest, well, distributing food is not a trivial problem. Populations have to be able to provide for themselves more locally than that.
A more realistic and long term solution is redistributing populations. Or, rather, populations redistributing themselves.
Anyway, your "there's more than enough food in the world for everybody" comment shows that you're not thinking this issue in a logical long-term fashion. Turns out this world is divided into things called "continents" separated by very large "oceans," and it also turns out that over time populations grow, especially if well-nourished and under-educated.
Now for a minor nitpick: genetic engineering of food has the potential to solve or at least lessen the ongoing starvation of millions (while we continue to worry about whether we should upgrade to the latest video card...).
As an engineer, I'm always troubled when people think you can solve (or lessen) mass starvation by simply feeding the people who are starving. In parts of Africa and India there are more people than the local agriculture can support. As soon as you start bringing food in they start making babies like crazy and before long you've reached your equilibrium state again of too many people not enough food. The solution is fewer people, not more food. (Not much of a solution, admittedly)
The British tried to solve mass starvation (mass starvation is so uncivilized!) by throwing food at it in India back in (I think) the 1800's - it didn't turn out well.
A better comparison is C to Java. In the old testament you had to be careful about garbage pointers and deallocating memory and platform interoperability and committing various other sins, but in the Java you just give your sins over to Jesus and all will be forgiven.
some people are tighter with their money. When I was in HS, books cost about the same as they do now, but I was making $4.25/hour. After taxes, I'd have to work about 8 hours bagging groceries to buy a hard cover book.
Even now that I make a lot more than that, all my money disappears into rent, college loans, 401k, and saving for a downpayment for a house, so even now I can't justify purchasing a hardcover. (Unless it's something by George R. R. Martin)
It's the only way to get Saddam to do what we need him to do. For the same reason that "mutually assured destruction" never actually led to mutual destruction, our hammering on the drums of war, will not lead to actual war with Iraq. The only way to get him to do what we tell him to is if we are 100% willing to go to war if he does not. Therefore he will do what we tell him to and we will not go to war.
The thing about you west coast liberals (am I inaccurate in this assumption?) is that you have this strange crazy unrealistic view of the world. you say things like "the president is an oil baron." Think about things a bit, my friend, the world is not all black and white, good guys and bad guys, and republicans aren't all self-righteous right-wingers who have sold their souls to big oil and big business.
are you the same mandi that sends me those e-mails that say "i'm hot for you! click here to see pictures of me naked"? If so, there's something wrong with the link, it always takes me to a page with lots of pop-ups where they want me to pay a bunch of money.
Bah. The free market solves all problems when it comes to things like this. It's a buyers' market? That's because you have nothing of value to sell. If you did, the free market would be your friend.
The problem, in general, that I think you are referring to is artists who have one great idea and sell it for almost nothing. The people they sell it to milk it for all it's worth and toss the artist aside. The artist has used up his one great idea and spends the rest of his days crying about how the record company/comic book company/movie company screwed him over. Should we feel sorry for this artist? Perhaps. Should we change the laws to prevent things like this from happening? Definitely not. He had his one great idea and he sold it for less than it was worth. Tough luck.
It's too bad there's no Mod option "Dumbass" because that's what the parent thread here deserves.
Seriously, Stan Lee made a contract goof - or, more accurately his lawyer/negotiator/agent did. We don't need more laws and regulations to "correct" (such laws and regulations always over-correct) the situation, we need artists to be less stupid. Rather than being outraged, the public should learn from Stan Lee's mistake.
Sheffield is much better known, I think, in the short SF field. Check out Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine if you're interested in trying short SciFi. Short Sci Fi is a great way to discover excellent authors and then read some of their longer novels.
Anyway, there are a lot more great SF authors out there than Bester and Egan - Dan Simmons, Robert Reed, Alastair Reynolds, Michael Swanwick, Allen Steele (though I suggest sticking to Steele's short stories, his novels are just political dogma disguised as SF), George R. R. Martin (Martin was well known in the Sci Fi field long before his current fantasy popularity) - plus the obvious Big Names - Orson Scott Card, Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, I could go on forever. If only there were more time to read...
High Bridge is just outside Wilmore, KY (also known as Bumfuck, Nowhere), I used to live there. High Bridge is a train bridge, and it used to be the highest in the country - when it was dedicated, the president at the time attended (Reagan? I dunno, before my time). It's a popular place to engage in miscellaneous redneck behaviours, I myself once launched a toy car off High Bridge, after fitting it with a model rocket engine. It's also a popular place to get drunk and jump, or get drunk and take a piss, whatever the local rednecks can think of.
Sounds to me like this Rowland guy can't win in your book. He's an idiot for wanting to outsource and he's an idiot for not outsourcing? Let me guess, he belongs to the opposite political party as you, one that doesn't pander to unions?
digital cable blows. when I had it, the channels that were digital would get blocky whenever there was too much action on the screen. Add to that the crappy user interface - can't "erase" channels - i.e. make them not appear when I'm channel surfing with the channel+ and channel- buttons - and the menu system just sucks, adverts that show up in the menu, the cable company spamming me with stupid messages (a little message icon appears in the upper corner that won't go away until I look at their stupid message, usually about exciting new features which turn out to be downgrades), and, worst of all, the fact that you can only change channels through the box (i.e. the only way to tape That 70's show is to tune the box to FOX and leave it on - want to tape Enterprise and Friends while you're out of town? Yeah, right.), not to mention the price premium. digital cable blows, vote with your $$$ and don't buy it.
Heh. The Linux vs Microsft thing reminds me of the relationship we have wtih the French. Did you know 'ricans is their slur for us? And yet, when was the last time you thought about the French? When you ate some French Fries? When you dipped a potato chip in french onion dip? When you ate some french toast? When you put some French's mustard on your burger? When you frenched-kissed a girl?
Nope, you probably didn't even think of the French then. Just like Bill Gates isn't thinking about any of us.
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You tell 'em. I'd much rather discuss topics like which heatsink/fan is best for cooling my processor, and the new FF game, and the latest Mac update; who gives a shit about stuff that happens out there in the Big Blue Room?
As a slightly off-topic aside, my grandfather still gets a bill every month from the phone company for rental of his telephone. He says he's called the phone company several times to ask them where to return it to, but they don't even know.
That's because you've never developed control software for satellites or embedded software for pacemakers or air traffic control software
Once the requirements are set for software of that sort, the requirements DO NOT change, not even a little. Each individual requirement has a number, and when the project has been implemented, each and every requirement has to be there.
And these are not always small projects, they are quite often very large - depending on your definition of large, I suppose.
cocktail parties? I think this is a case of culture clash. You stand around in these cocktail parties and talk about European history ("boy, that war of the Roses sure was crazy, am I right! golly! And don't get me started on the crusades") and talk trash about boorish video game program programmers and their tunnel vision educations and meanwhile Digipen students congregate at LAN parties and occasionally talk about 3D rendering and magic the gathering cards or something.
There's really no point in being condescending, both groups are equally narrowminded. Don't kid yourself.
I'm not familiar with this Malthusian. I'm not even that familiar with this issue, my opinions are derived entirely from what I do know - a bit of history and a bit of engineering.
as for the "thinly veiled racism", go fuck yourself. Let's face it, that's a thinly veiled attempt to turn this into good guy/bad guy. If you don't agree with me I'm a racist. Give me a fucking break. Asshole.
As for the rest, well, distributing food is not a trivial problem. Populations have to be able to provide for themselves more locally than that.
A more realistic and long term solution is redistributing populations. Or, rather, populations redistributing themselves.
Anyway, your "there's more than enough food in the world for everybody" comment shows that you're not thinking this issue in a logical long-term fashion. Turns out this world is divided into things called "continents" separated by very large "oceans," and it also turns out that over time populations grow, especially if well-nourished and under-educated.
overall, you make some great points.
Now for a minor nitpick:
genetic engineering of food has the potential to solve or at least lessen the ongoing starvation of millions (while we continue to worry about whether we should upgrade to the latest video card...).
As an engineer, I'm always troubled when people think you can solve (or lessen) mass starvation by simply feeding the people who are starving. In parts of Africa and India there are more people than the local agriculture can support. As soon as you start bringing food in they start making babies like crazy and before long you've reached your equilibrium state again of too many people not enough food. The solution is fewer people, not more food. (Not much of a solution, admittedly)
The British tried to solve mass starvation (mass starvation is so uncivilized!) by throwing food at it in India back in (I think) the 1800's - it didn't turn out well.
A better comparison is C to Java. In the old testament you had to be careful about garbage pointers and deallocating memory and platform interoperability and committing various other sins, but in the Java you just give your sins over to Jesus and all will be forgiven.
The 700 Club is great. I love the 700 Club News segment, it rivals Fox News for unbiased reporting.
I think you need to install a plugin package called P.A.T.I.E.N.C.E.
some people are tighter with their money. When I was in HS, books cost about the same as they do now, but I was making $4.25/hour. After taxes, I'd have to work about 8 hours bagging groceries to buy a hard cover book.
Even now that I make a lot more than that, all my money disappears into rent, college loans, 401k, and saving for a downpayment for a house, so even now I can't justify purchasing a hardcover. (Unless it's something by George R. R. Martin)
It's called a bluff. Ever played poker?
It's the only way to get Saddam to do what we need him to do. For the same reason that "mutually assured destruction" never actually led to mutual destruction, our hammering on the drums of war, will not lead to actual war with Iraq. The only way to get him to do what we tell him to is if we are 100% willing to go to war if he does not. Therefore he will do what we tell him to and we will not go to war.
The thing about you west coast liberals (am I inaccurate in this assumption?) is that you have this strange crazy unrealistic view of the world. you say things like "the president is an oil baron." Think about things a bit, my friend, the world is not all black and white, good guys and bad guys, and republicans aren't all self-righteous right-wingers who have sold their souls to big oil and big business.
are you the same mandi that sends me those e-mails that say "i'm hot for you! click here to see pictures of me naked"? If so, there's something wrong with the link, it always takes me to a page with lots of pop-ups where they want me to pay a bunch of money.
Bah. The free market solves all problems when it comes to things like this. It's a buyers' market? That's because you have nothing of value to sell. If you did, the free market would be your friend.
The problem, in general, that I think you are referring to is artists who have one great idea and sell it for almost nothing. The people they sell it to milk it for all it's worth and toss the artist aside. The artist has used up his one great idea and spends the rest of his days crying about how the record company/comic book company/movie company screwed him over. Should we feel sorry for this artist? Perhaps. Should we change the laws to prevent things like this from happening? Definitely not. He had his one great idea and he sold it for less than it was worth. Tough luck.
It's too bad there's no Mod option "Dumbass" because that's what the parent thread here deserves.
Seriously, Stan Lee made a contract goof - or, more accurately his lawyer/negotiator/agent did. We don't need more laws and regulations to "correct" (such laws and regulations always over-correct) the situation, we need artists to be less stupid. Rather than being outraged, the public should learn from Stan Lee's mistake.
Sheffield is much better known, I think, in the short SF field. Check out Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine if you're interested in trying short SciFi. Short Sci Fi is a great way to discover excellent authors and then read some of their longer novels.
Anyway, there are a lot more great SF authors out there than Bester and Egan - Dan Simmons, Robert Reed, Alastair Reynolds, Michael Swanwick, Allen Steele (though I suggest sticking to Steele's short stories, his novels are just political dogma disguised as SF), George R. R. Martin (Martin was well known in the Sci Fi field long before his current fantasy popularity) - plus the obvious Big Names - Orson Scott Card, Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, I could go on forever. If only there were more time to read...
High Bridge is just outside Wilmore, KY (also known as Bumfuck, Nowhere), I used to live there. High Bridge is a train bridge, and it used to be the highest in the country - when it was dedicated, the president at the time attended (Reagan? I dunno, before my time). It's a popular place to engage in miscellaneous redneck behaviours, I myself once launched a toy car off High Bridge, after fitting it with a model rocket engine. It's also a popular place to get drunk and jump, or get drunk and take a piss, whatever the local rednecks can think of.
Golly.
Sounds to me like this Rowland guy can't win in your book. He's an idiot for wanting to outsource and he's an idiot for not outsourcing? Let me guess, he belongs to the opposite political party as you, one that doesn't pander to unions?
digital cable blows. when I had it, the channels that were digital would get blocky whenever there was too much action on the screen. Add to that the crappy user interface - can't "erase" channels - i.e. make them not appear when I'm channel surfing with the channel+ and channel- buttons - and the menu system just sucks, adverts that show up in the menu, the cable company spamming me with stupid messages (a little message icon appears in the upper corner that won't go away until I look at their stupid message, usually about exciting new features which turn out to be downgrades), and, worst of all, the fact that you can only change channels through the box (i.e. the only way to tape That 70's show is to tune the box to FOX and leave it on - want to tape Enterprise and Friends while you're out of town? Yeah, right.), not to mention the price premium. digital cable blows, vote with your $$$ and don't buy it.
Go get 'em killer.
hey, easy now, you're talking about the guy who wrote The Postman.
You probably live in Nevada or something where there isn't a professional team within a few thousand miles.
Just like grandpa always said: "you can call a dog a cat, but you can't make it meow."
How can I get in touch with this "friend" of yours?
Nope, you probably didn't even think of the French then. Just like Bill Gates isn't thinking about any of us.
by larry bagina
Larry, do you happen to have a sister named Alotta? Perhaps a brother named Harry? Or a brother named Fillmore?