>I'm left wondering how the generation of today manage to communicate with each other
The absence of punctuation, poor spelling and bad grammar don't mean that people cannot communicate. It doesn't even mean they miss-interpret meaning. What it does do is demand the reader establish the context from which the meaning can be established.
But thats a dangerous path, since one cannot always expect to be able to generate a sufficient context.
I'm all for improving these skills rather than allowing them to slide. My own skills are poor but I'm working on improving them. And with books like "Eats Shoots & Leaves" around, I'm actually having quite a bit of fun doing it.
I follow your argument, but overall I would disagree.
for example:
>It is still your choice whether to participate in the transaction.
I dont think that point applies here. In a given population, some are subscribers, and some not. The ones who are subscribers are the product. People may leave, people may join, but overall there is a (large) group of subscribers, and it is that mass of subscribers that are being marketed to the advertisers.
And regarding quality viewing - ah, don't get me started!
>In my opinion their parent company Murdoch's News Corp. is a bunch rich bastards who couldn't care less about their customers.
This comes up time & time again. You have to remember, you are *not* the customer. You are the product. The customer is the companies buying advertising space.
I also watched an interview on the BBC where another group of researchers pointed out that these results *may* be because the onset of deterioration is more easy to spot in educated people, simply because they have 'further to fall' so to speak.
The actual rate of decline, they claimed, is no different.
Simply that the vast majority of users will use Windows defaults.
You would be surprised how dim some crooks can be, like thinking that swallowing a sim card will destroy the data. Or even snapping it in two - might break the bond pad connections, but not the die. Easy to fix.
I just received a letter today from my daughters school (in the UK). Mandarin is going on the *mandatory* curriculum next year.
To quote the headmistress, "Students who speak both English and Chinese will be the future executives"
Although my industry, telecoms manufacturing, is being eroded by China, I'm in complete agreement with the move. If nothing else my daughter will experience a culture radically different to her own. In my day we learnt french, the langauge of a culture 30 miles away.
How much is slashdot getting paid for these 'reviews?'
I'm not playing flame bite, I'm just getting a little bored of the 'oh look what a lovely book' articles. Come on guys, if I want ads with my content I'll watch TV, or remove the 1" strip of tape at the top of my monitor:o)
I remember the first programming language I learnt. Cobal. The only programming book in the library. Wrote programs on paper. They probably all worked:o)
Then assembly on the Acorn System 1, my first computer.
I still have the computer, but sadly lost the construction manual and programming guide. Would love to hear from anyone who has copies. A5 sized, silver cover, acorn logo on front. about 25 years old...
But equally back in those days ( I has the same experience ) we had no Internet; Understand came from moth-eaten books out of the library with obscure impossible to purchase parts. I may remember romantically my first computer was a 6502 with 7 segment led, but finding information on how to do anything with it was next to impossible.
I'd rather be a kid now than then!
ok, I still am a kid, but I no longer live with my parents:o)
The Apple/Next fiasco is well documented and I dont think you should use it as a historical yardstick here.
It does make a great read though. Life really is stranger than fiction sometimes, and Steve Jobs has a way of making it so.
My mother-in-law has a rather unusual claim to fame. At a dinner with Steve Jobs once ( my father-in-law used to work for Apple, ) Steve asked her if she used the Apple-II her husband had been given.
"Oh no, I just dust it", she said.
I'd have loved to have been a fly on the wall there:o)
Slashdot Mirror
that a "certain sensitive name" wasn't simply
e
or there would be *real* trouble.
Sorry about the pun :o)
>I'm left wondering how the generation of today manage to communicate with each other
The absence of punctuation, poor spelling and bad grammar don't mean that people cannot communicate. It doesn't even mean they miss-interpret meaning. What it does do is demand the reader establish the context from which the meaning can be established.
But thats a dangerous path, since one cannot always expect to be able to generate a sufficient context.
I'm all for improving these skills rather than allowing them to slide. My own skills are poor but I'm working on improving them. And with books like "Eats Shoots & Leaves" around, I'm actually having quite a bit of fun doing it.
I follow your argument, but overall I would disagree.
for example:
>It is still your choice whether to participate in the transaction.
I dont think that point applies here. In a given population, some are subscribers, and some not. The ones who are subscribers are the product. People may leave, people may join, but overall there is a (large) group of subscribers, and it is that mass of subscribers that are being marketed to the advertisers.
And regarding quality viewing - ah, don't get me started!
>In my opinion their parent company Murdoch's News Corp. is a bunch rich bastards who couldn't care less about their customers.
This comes up time & time again. You have to remember, you are *not* the customer. You are the product. The customer is the companies buying advertising space.
I hate it, but it's true.
I also watched an interview on the BBC where another group of researchers pointed out that these results *may* be because the onset of deterioration is more easy to spot in educated people, simply because they have 'further to fall' so to speak.
The actual rate of decline, they claimed, is no different.
Simply that the vast majority of users will use Windows defaults.
You would be surprised how dim some crooks can be, like thinking that swallowing a sim card will destroy the data. Or even snapping it in two - might break the bond pad connections, but not the die. Easy to fix.
Bought as a kit in 1979, still have it.
Great machine!
>Isn't this a burden on the poor? Don't the richer people pay a lot less relative to their income?
:o)
When did you last see TV programming for the rich?
TV Programming is for the masses. Thats us poor folk.
Did you know it's cheaper to go to the opera in Covent Garden than go to a football match? Mad eh.
Business administration isn't the sole activity on the curriculum :o)
I just received a letter today from my daughters school (in the UK). Mandarin is going on the *mandatory* curriculum next year.
To quote the headmistress, "Students who speak both English and Chinese will be the future executives"
Although my industry, telecoms manufacturing, is being eroded by China, I'm in complete agreement with the move. If nothing else my daughter will experience a culture radically different to her own. In my day we learnt french, the langauge of a culture 30 miles away.
Interesting times ahead for the next generation.
Slightly off-topic but I thought I'd share it.
There are some nice add-ons for POV-Ray that generate Lego parts, so you can play with them in a virtual environment.
eg
http://www.ldraw.org/
>I wonder if you get marked as "online" whenever you check your Mail on mail.google.com...
I hope not. I prefer fewer chances of people 'knowing' I am online, so I can pretend to have 'only just read their email'.
This does seem to be rather familar, doesn't it?
:o)
A slashdot book review
A comment saying "Amazon has it cheaper than BN"
How much is slashdot getting paid for these 'reviews?'
I'm not playing flame bite, I'm just getting a little bored of the 'oh look what a lovely book' articles. Come on guys, if I want ads with my content I'll watch TV, or remove the 1" strip of tape at the top of my monitor
Ah, the good old days :o)
:o)
I remember the first programming language I learnt. Cobal. The only programming book in the library. Wrote programs on paper. They probably all worked
Then assembly on the Acorn System 1, my first computer.
I still have the computer, but sadly lost the construction manual and programming guide. Would love to hear from anyone who has copies. A5 sized, silver cover, acorn logo on front. about 25 years old...
But equally back in those days ( I has the same experience ) we had no Internet; Understand came from moth-eaten books out of the library with obscure impossible to purchase parts. I may remember romantically my first computer was a 6502 with 7 segment led, but finding information on how to do anything with it was next to impossible.
:o)
I'd rather be a kid now than then!
ok, I still am a kid, but I no longer live with my parents
> Is this simply a court's overreaction to a scumbag pedophile?
Who cares. Let the scumbag become someones bitch in jail for the rest of his life.
Only last week NASA were saying that of the 18,000 objects orbitting the Earth, 40% were man-made and it was time to think about a clean up.
:o)
Maybe they should give their old clothes to charity rather than just chucking them out into the yard
I'm looking forward to the
:o)
'Ride round India in a campervan for a month without washing' one.
Many of us were hippies once, when we had hair
The Apple/Next fiasco is well documented and I dont think you should use it as a historical yardstick here.
:o)
It does make a great read though. Life really is stranger than fiction sometimes, and Steve Jobs has a way of making it so.
My mother-in-law has a rather unusual claim to fame. At a dinner with Steve Jobs once ( my father-in-law used to work for Apple, ) Steve asked her if she used the Apple-II her husband had been given.
"Oh no, I just dust it", she said.
I'd have loved to have been a fly on the wall there
I would have thought that the miss-spelt domain names of heavily used sites would be more valuable. But then, who miss-spells sex?
To fit that title on the cover.
>Do you think it could be just your own expectations projected onto what you actually see?
:o)
Isn't that exactly what statistics are about?
I dont it's the case, but I'll try an analysis on past stories, if I can.
Curious that a discussion of the GPL should bring out so many annoymous cowards.
I wonder why?
Must do some stats some day on proportion of AC comments verses subject matter.
Anyone else noticed a correlation?
"Up until now, personal computer designs seemed to be based on the issues of processing speed or performance rather than the user's convenience."
Yea right. DRM gives me convenience eh?
But it will probably give some far-east outfit an idea for a $50 Mini-ITC case. Thanks guys!
>Cell is going to enable PS3 developers to create movie-quality game
hum...
more like:
Rumours and hype about playstation 3 intended to reduce sales of Xbox 360.
nothing to see here...