Dude... no one's job is an *end*. It's a way to make money, spend some time being creative, and develop a few skills while putting yourself in a position where you can *enjoy* the wealth you've acquired. Why else would people retire and travel? If your view was the predominant one, people would work until they died, no?
Dude... you don't speak for everyone. My specific job may not be an end, but my work certainly is. And don't you think it should be? Does it make sense to spend a quarter of your time (40+ divided by 168) doing something that you don't want to do for the sake of doing it? And as for enjoying the fruits of one's labors - why would you wait until you're old before enjoying them? I've been enjoying the wealth I've acquired, modest though it may be, throughout my adult life. You can't take it with you, you know.
If you're designing bridges for a living, should you still be taking the time to learn about mechanical engineering, and the properties of metals? After all, there are "higher" concepts to consider like traffic flow, and wheelchair accessibility, and the social effects of the bridge's aesthetics, no? So why bother learning about the nuts-and-bolts details? The "best" bridge builder isn't the one who makes the sturdiest bridge in the shortest time using the least material, he's the one who picks the prettiest color paint, right?
What I mean to say is: Black boxes are a fact of life. We simply cannot, as individuals, know everything.
You can be a perfectly good programmer, and not know what's in a great many black boxes.
You can be a perfectly good scientist, and now know what's in a great many black boxes.
That's no excuse for not learning everything you possibly can about those "black boxes", and about as many of them as possible. If you don't, the other guy who did will be eating your lunch.
My experience with regard to paid 15 minute breaks is the same as the grandparent's and none of those involved a union. Most of the companies I've seen just do it because, and this is just speculation, making people keep track of every time they go to the bathroom is horribly demoralizing and would lead to them losing talent.
No, they do it because it's the law. (At least in New York, anyway.)
No. When I was in high school I worked at a Friendly's restaurant. My 15-minute breaks (every 4 hours) were paid, the 30-minute lunch break was not. The same when I worked at a non-union job in a warehouse over the summer during my college years. (The warehouse floor was unionized - Teamsters - but the admin jobs were non-union, and everybody got the same deal regarding breaks.)
You've had three Honda's and they've only lasted for 75K, 120K and 90K and you still keep buying them? Those numbers translate to (approx) 45,000, 72,000 and 54,000 miles.
What makes you think he wasn't talking about miles in the first place? Especially since he talks about oil changes every 3K? (I'm sure he wasn't changing the oil every 3000 kilometers...)
Why not biodiesel, which works in all current diesel engines, and is much easier, cheaper and energy efficient (compared to ethanol) to produce?
Is this true for all crops, or just corn? In Brazil, for instance, they get their ethanol from sugar cane. Also, what are we supposed to do, scrap all the gasoline-powered cars (which constitute the vast majority in the US) that can't burn biodiesel?
Is it really their histories? Considering that even their parents' and grandparents' generations weren't in power when most of those wars were started?
Well, then, do I get to disavow the actions of the Bush Administration, since I didn't vote for them, and I was against the (second) war in Iraq from the beginning, rather than waffling on it like nearly all of Congress?
Besides, "b-b-b-but so-and-so did it first" doesn't excuse bad behavior.
No, it doesn't. But it does mean that folks from those other countries could be a little less strident and self-righteous in their condemnation of the US, considering their own histories.
It was posted by someone else in another post. You'll note that even without computer controls they were able to design their system to retard timing in the even the ethanol tank went dry. In the end, the problem that lead to the ceasing of production was, apparently, sociological. People were to lazy/annoyed to bother keeping the second tank full.
Wow, and with all this complicated hardware they managed to get a whopping one horsepower per cube. Yeah, let's get all over this, immediately.
Cars already have two reservoirs of water - the windscreen water and the radiator.
Um, neither of those contain pure water, at least not in my car. The windscreen "water" is blue (antifreezes, solvents, etc.) and the radiator "water" is pink (VW G12 coolant).
I've always felt companies moving abroad was pretty much a form of treason.
What kind of hyper-nationalistic, anti-capitalist claptrap is that? Nobody's allowed to move anywhere? What about companies that are moving to the US, like Honda, Toyota etc.? Are they traitors to Japan? Should we kick them out? Money, and businesses, move where it makes sense for them to move. If you don't like the idea of US corporations moving out of the US, maybe you should ask yourself why they feel the need to move, i.e. what factors have made the US an inhospitable place for them to be.
You mean, as in the old joke: One Soviet tank commander runs into a fellow tanker in a cafe in Paris. As they're waiting for their tea to arrive, the one asks the other, "so by the way, who won the air war?"
Controlling the skies is all well and good, but as the US Army is unfortunately (re-)learning right now, smart bombs and satellites can't hold ground, or win hearts and minds.
Finally, if thinking of coming to Canada and have a criminal conviction, contact the Canadian consulate nearest you. They can tell you wether your offence is serious or not. I suggest you fax, write, or go in person since they rarely answer phone calls.
Nah, I think I'll just take the opportunity to visit some interesting new place here in the States. I wonder how many other Americans will do the same...
it is not true that Canada will turn someone away for a single minor offence 30 years ago. Only serious offences will make someone inadmissible to Canada. There is a very specific scale used to determine how serious a criminal offence is. First of all, the seriousness of the crime in your home country doesn't matter. We have to equate the offence to a CANADIAN law. For example, DUI's are routine and brushed off in the USA, whereas inn Canada you can get up to 5 years in prison for a 2nd or 3rd DUI.
And this is precisely what makes this new policy more restrictive to Americans trying to enter Canada, vs. Canadians trying to enter the US.
But... What happens when your neighbor's house built of this stuff catches fire? Sure, it's not something that happens often on the time scale of an individual, but when you consider the number of buildings as a whole, buildings burning down happens pretty damn often...
Not nearly as often as PCs get thrown into landfills...
While methane releases CO2, it still decreases our reliance on foreign oil sources. I think de-funding terrorism is higher on most Americans to-do lists than stopping Global Warming. You can argue whether these priorities are out of wack, but I'm sure this is the way most will see it.
If we could end our reliance on the Middle East altogether, we could cut our defense budget by half (if not more) and invest the money in environmental research.
...meanwhile they're threatening to sue every Linux user in the world for allegedly violating their IP. I'm glad a major bastion of the industry like MS is leading the way by putting forth a sensible, consistent viewpoint about patents and copyrights...
Instead of a ban, let's create an economic pressure. Tax the incadescent light bulbs, so that they are significantly more expensive than compact fluorescents, and use the money for conservation.
Why something so narrow and specific as a tax on light bulbs? Why not simply impose an electricity tax of N cents per kWh? That should get people to conserve, and not only by switching to CFLs, but also by buying more efficient appliances, using less air conditioning, replacing CRTs with LCDs, etc.
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Dude... no one's job is an *end*. It's a way to make money, spend some time being creative, and develop a few skills while putting yourself in a position where you can *enjoy* the wealth you've acquired. Why else would people retire and travel? If your view was the predominant one, people would work until they died, no?
Dude... you don't speak for everyone. My specific job may not be an end, but my work certainly is. And don't you think it should be? Does it make sense to spend a quarter of your time (40+ divided by 168) doing something that you don't want to do for the sake of doing it? And as for enjoying the fruits of one's labors - why would you wait until you're old before enjoying them? I've been enjoying the wealth I've acquired, modest though it may be, throughout my adult life. You can't take it with you, you know.
If you're designing bridges for a living, should you still be taking the time to learn about mechanical engineering, and the properties of metals? After all, there are "higher" concepts to consider like traffic flow, and wheelchair accessibility, and the social effects of the bridge's aesthetics, no? So why bother learning about the nuts-and-bolts details? The "best" bridge builder isn't the one who makes the sturdiest bridge in the shortest time using the least material, he's the one who picks the prettiest color paint, right?
Yes; Your response is quite fair.
What I mean to say is: Black boxes are a fact of life. We simply cannot, as individuals, know everything.
You can be a perfectly good programmer, and not know what's in a great many black boxes.
You can be a perfectly good scientist, and now know what's in a great many black boxes.
That's no excuse for not learning everything you possibly can about those "black boxes", and about as many of them as possible. If you don't, the other guy who did will be eating your lunch.
Roll to see if I get drunk!
What benefits could a union possibly bring?
Well, they could bankrupt the software industry the way they have the US auto industry, but I'm not sure I'd call that a "benefit", exactly.
My experience with regard to paid 15 minute breaks is the same as the grandparent's and none of those involved a union. Most of the companies I've seen just do it because, and this is just speculation, making people keep track of every time they go to the bathroom is horribly demoralizing and would lead to them losing talent.
No, they do it because it's the law. (At least in New York, anyway.)
Did every one of those jobs have a labor union?
No. When I was in high school I worked at a Friendly's restaurant. My 15-minute breaks (every 4 hours) were paid, the 30-minute lunch break was not. The same when I worked at a non-union job in a warehouse over the summer during my college years. (The warehouse floor was unionized - Teamsters - but the admin jobs were non-union, and everybody got the same deal regarding breaks.)
You've had three Honda's and they've only lasted for 75K, 120K and 90K and you still keep buying them? Those numbers translate to (approx) 45,000, 72,000 and 54,000 miles.
What makes you think he wasn't talking about miles in the first place? Especially since he talks about oil changes every 3K? (I'm sure he wasn't changing the oil every 3000 kilometers...)
Why not biodiesel, which works in all current diesel engines, and is much easier, cheaper and energy efficient (compared to ethanol) to produce?
Is this true for all crops, or just corn? In Brazil, for instance, they get their ethanol from sugar cane. Also, what are we supposed to do, scrap all the gasoline-powered cars (which constitute the vast majority in the US) that can't burn biodiesel?
Is it really their histories? Considering that even their parents' and grandparents' generations weren't in power when most of those wars were started?
Well, then, do I get to disavow the actions of the Bush Administration, since I didn't vote for them, and I was against the (second) war in Iraq from the beginning, rather than waffling on it like nearly all of Congress?
Besides, "b-b-b-but so-and-so did it first" doesn't excuse bad behavior.
No, it doesn't. But it does mean that folks from those other countries could be a little less strident and self-righteous in their condemnation of the US, considering their own histories.
another tool for imperialist USA to oppress the world with.
Yes, that's right. Cower in fear as we oppress the world with our cell phones of doom!!!!! Idiot.
You make a lot of good points, especially about using water rather than ethanol. You might find this interesting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldsmobile_V8_engine
It was posted by someone else in another post. You'll note that even without computer controls they were able to design their system to retard timing in the even the ethanol tank went dry. In the end, the problem that lead to the ceasing of production was, apparently, sociological. People were to lazy/annoyed to bother keeping the second tank full.
Wow, and with all this complicated hardware they managed to get a whopping one horsepower per cube. Yeah, let's get all over this, immediately.
Cars already have two reservoirs of water - the windscreen water and the radiator.
Um, neither of those contain pure water, at least not in my car. The windscreen "water" is blue (antifreezes, solvents, etc.) and the radiator "water" is pink (VW G12 coolant).
I've always felt companies moving abroad was pretty much a form of treason.
What kind of hyper-nationalistic, anti-capitalist claptrap is that? Nobody's allowed to move anywhere? What about companies that are moving to the US, like Honda, Toyota etc.? Are they traitors to Japan? Should we kick them out? Money, and businesses, move where it makes sense for them to move. If you don't like the idea of US corporations moving out of the US, maybe you should ask yourself why they feel the need to move, i.e. what factors have made the US an inhospitable place for them to be.
UAE is hardly perfect, but the US, UK and everyhwhere else has its issues as well.
Yes, we do. Legalized slavery, however, is not among them.
Space war will be the new air war.
You mean, as in the old joke: One Soviet tank commander runs into a fellow tanker in a cafe in Paris. As they're waiting for their tea to arrive, the one asks the other, "so by the way, who won the air war?"
Controlling the skies is all well and good, but as the US Army is unfortunately (re-)learning right now, smart bombs and satellites can't hold ground, or win hearts and minds.
Finally, if thinking of coming to Canada and have a criminal conviction, contact the Canadian consulate nearest you. They can tell you wether your offence is serious or not. I suggest you fax, write, or go in person since they rarely answer phone calls.
Nah, I think I'll just take the opportunity to visit some interesting new place here in the States. I wonder how many other Americans will do the same...
it is not true that Canada will turn someone away for a single minor offence 30 years ago. Only serious offences will make someone inadmissible to Canada. There is a very specific scale used to determine how serious a criminal offence is. First of all, the seriousness of the crime in your home country doesn't matter. We have to equate the offence to a CANADIAN law. For example, DUI's are routine and brushed off in the USA, whereas inn Canada you can get up to 5 years in prison for a 2nd or 3rd DUI.
And this is precisely what makes this new policy more restrictive to Americans trying to enter Canada, vs. Canadians trying to enter the US.
But... What happens when your neighbor's house built of this stuff catches fire? Sure, it's not something that happens often on the time scale of an individual, but when you consider the number of buildings as a whole, buildings burning down happens pretty damn often...
Not nearly as often as PCs get thrown into landfills...
Wok, ball point pen, chewing gum... yeah, that's a death ray.
Wok, a froze chicken and duct tape, that's a satellite dish.
Wimps. McGyver would never start with an item as large and expensive as a wok. He'd make one out of dirty socks, tin foil, and ear wax.
While methane releases CO2, it still decreases our reliance on foreign oil sources. I think de-funding terrorism is higher on most Americans to-do lists than stopping Global Warming. You can argue whether these priorities are out of wack, but I'm sure this is the way most will see it.
If we could end our reliance on the Middle East altogether, we could cut our defense budget by half (if not more) and invest the money in environmental research.
Then again, maybe we wouldn't be in Iraq if many of the people making the decisions don't even know where that is...
Why? It certainly didn't stop George Bush.
...meanwhile they're threatening to sue every Linux user in the world for allegedly violating their IP. I'm glad a major bastion of the industry like MS is leading the way by putting forth a sensible, consistent viewpoint about patents and copyrights...
Instead of a ban, let's create an economic pressure. Tax the incadescent light bulbs, so that they are significantly more expensive than compact fluorescents, and use the money for conservation.
Why something so narrow and specific as a tax on light bulbs? Why not simply impose an electricity tax of N cents per kWh? That should get people to conserve, and not only by switching to CFLs, but also by buying more efficient appliances, using less air conditioning, replacing CRTs with LCDs, etc.