I'm replying to this entire conversation. My original comment (now moderated as "troll") did not mean to create a religion v atheist "debate". Trust me, I have no interest in such things on slashdot.
I was simply expressing my desire for Torvalds to expand further upon his reading habits (or lack thereof). As I said previously, Torvalds states he can think of no books that greatly influenced or "changed" his world view. I wonder if this is because he's well read and nothing's "stuck out" to him, or if reading just isn't of value to him. Even a list of "programming books" that he references often would have been helpful...
Again, my intention isn't to spur a religious discussion. It sucks that I did. Oh well.
If you come up with a good website idea, then it'll probably let you do backend (java/c/python/sql/etc) stuff as well as UI/website stuff (obj-c, etc).
As for quick money...well...come up with some dumb or simple $1 iphone app that everyone will love.
Paul is a flaming idiot. He's taken bits and pieces of economic theory and moulded them to comport with his own agenda. Economic theory has the benefit of peer review and scientific method. Paul eschews all of that. His routine is to take the first two or three concepts from some economic theory and veer sharply in the direction of whatever point he wants to make (logical connectives be damned). When he's most honest, he's just 150 years out of date; when he's most dishonest he's just completely out of touch with reality.
He's actually worse than Romney in that respect. Romney's just flat out lying and no one knows his agenda. Presumably, Romney might be amendable to rational thought if he were to ever be in power. Ron Paul, on the other hand, is genuinely far out in right field. He's so far gone the stadium lights can't even locate him. Only Paul knows where he is at any given moment, and you can bet that's where he intends to stay.
You're all wrong. The candidate who wins is solely determined by the candidate who's most angry and energetic. See, the news pundits and US citizens can't be damned to pay attention to things like words and sentences anymore. Instead they just react like cats or dogs to the relevant tones of speech (but in reverse).
They did it with Romney v Obama and they did it again with Biden v Ryan.
Perhaps they just wanted to see what his current platform was by viewing their wall.
Also, it's routine for people to "challenge" the choices of others when those choices are apparently strong and rigid. Maybe some liberals "like" conservative topics/people as a way to show their friends that they've considered those topics/people.
If he'd said "The God Delusion" by Dawkins you might have a point in what you said, but since he was talking about "The Selfish Gene", which doesn't talk about gods or religion at all, but is very illuminating about how life works and why creatures do what they do, the point is just at the top of your cap.
Yeah, it's still only one book/author. I'd like MOAR references for books he doesn't define as "mostly forgettable".
The real crux is that he said he can't think of any books that really made a difference to his world view:
I read a fair amount, but I have to admit that for me reading tends to be about escapism, and books to me are mostly forgettable
Really, I'm just curious how wide/broadly read he is. No ding on atheism or Dawkins implied. Linus is one really interesting person in current times, and if he's painfully centered on his field then that's relevant.
He loves to point out (correctly) that the internet is full of morons, but he does seem narrowly focused on CS. I was hoping his reading list would be more enlightening. I was looking for some philosophers (other than Dawkins) or even math. Math, because it's close to my heart and I could respect it. Philosophy because it is my heart, and genuinely broadens my world view. Like that Socrates quote: "the unquestioned life is hardly worth living."
I reject the Dawkins mention on the grounds that Linus is already known to be an atheist. It's like a christian telling you they read the bible.
His is the kind of false analogy that sounds plausible so long as you don't analyse it at all.
Scientific journals *are* science. There really isn't a cheap substitute for peer review. Consider the source of peer reviewed articles: scientists! Their labor and expertise are, by definition, not cheap!
Personally I value my liberal arts college degree and I think my employer does as well. I can communicate better with customers and I now understand much more of the world now than I did in high school (when I thought I knew everything).
Liberal arts degree, 'eh? Your comment's great, but there's one too many "now"s in this sentence! XD
I agree with your point. The other commentators have a groupthink that "EVs only relocate the pollution". While likely true in the short term, it's *possibly* wrong in the long term (which is far better than oil/gas burning cars).
One possible unintended consequence to taxing pollution is that the government will become dependent on the tax revenue. Which may well cause the government to encourage pollution blocking manufacturer's efforts to reduce pollution.
Wrong.
Governments tend to spend whatever they're going to spend, irrespective of whatever they take-in as income. Dependence on a specific revenue generating tax? Ridiculous.
By context, I could suspect you're an avid science fiction reader, but who knows? It's clear to me that your interests aren't purely technical since you do neat things like the FIRST robotics competition. (Sure, that's a technological event, but I've seen you interact at them - you're there to inspire kids more than anything else.)
I'm particularly interested to learn if you've read any philosophy, and whom?
See, in the US, something is considered legal until it is outlawed. Contrast this with the Spanish system, where everything is outlawed until it is legalized.
And apparently this guy was part of the US government at some point? "former U.S. Register of Copyrights"
please substitute Fox News with "CNN" or "MSNBC" and ask yourself if your vitriol would be just the same.
No, the vitriol wouldn't be the same (though it would be horrible for any network). Fox News has been the media arm of the Republican party for as long as Fox has been on cable. It has a decade long history of pushing Republican-approved propaganda. All of its past offenses and lies add up. It's easier to be MORE outraged at Fox, all other things equal, because Fox has been doing this for longer than anybody else.
Some might argue that CNN has been around longer than Fox and should be held to account for its years of "liberal bias". I disagree. CNN's bias (if it exists) has never been as extreme (truly outrageous) as Fox News' bias. It would be outrageous if CNN showed something like this, but that outrage wouldn't be added onto over a decade of journalistic abuse.
Yes!!! Create git repos of all those various parts on some central git server. Create backups of those repos periodically, like a sane person...
Git really doesn't require a ton of understanding to "just start using git" competently. It's not going to trash whatever you have in place; it's mathematically proven to *not* lose data.
Also, freaking set up a dev server already! (That's like 2 machines, or a private, 3rd party git repo (bitbucket is what I use) and a dedicated test/dev machine).
Can all programmers raise milk cattle, teach elementary students, properly certify the general medical needs of a patient, manage a retail store, sell commercial real estate, design and print professional-grade advertisements, safely drive an 18-wheeler truck, AND captain a fishing boat?
Not everything in the world requires implementing algorithms in computer languages nor benefits from being automated. The human world is much larger than any one of it's professional disciplines (obviously), and the human world is tiny in comparison to the world that encompasses it and the universe even more.
The deficit...so much populist misunderstanding about the difference between public and private debt. The worst part is politicians willingly feed (aren't aware of?) the important difference between private and public debt.
Uhh, figure the 16 gig mini iPad will be the same price as a 32 gig iPod Touch.
Where it fits better is in my hand than an iphone or ipod touch. Sorry, they're just too small for me to comfortably use for what they're capable of doing.
What we're missing is force fields. I think that's how holodecks are supposed to work - holograms bordered by force fields.
It's supposed to be a "mix" of force fields, holographs, and actual energy to matter conversion, IIRC. Perhaps holographs/force fields to simulate distance and open spaces, with actual matter for the close up stuff. So a holographic person is like computer controlled meat-puppet.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm replying to this entire conversation. My original comment (now moderated as "troll") did not mean to create a religion v atheist "debate". Trust me, I have no interest in such things on slashdot.
I was simply expressing my desire for Torvalds to expand further upon his reading habits (or lack thereof). As I said previously, Torvalds states he can think of no books that greatly influenced or "changed" his world view. I wonder if this is because he's well read and nothing's "stuck out" to him, or if reading just isn't of value to him. Even a list of "programming books" that he references often would have been helpful...
Again, my intention isn't to spur a religious discussion. It sucks that I did. Oh well.
If you come up with a good website idea, then it'll probably let you do backend (java/c/python/sql/etc) stuff as well as UI/website stuff (obj-c, etc).
As for quick money...well...come up with some dumb or simple $1 iphone app that everyone will love.
Paul is a flaming idiot. He's taken bits and pieces of economic theory and moulded them to comport with his own agenda. Economic theory has the benefit of peer review and scientific method. Paul eschews all of that. His routine is to take the first two or three concepts from some economic theory and veer sharply in the direction of whatever point he wants to make (logical connectives be damned). When he's most honest, he's just 150 years out of date; when he's most dishonest he's just completely out of touch with reality.
He's actually worse than Romney in that respect. Romney's just flat out lying and no one knows his agenda. Presumably, Romney might be amendable to rational thought if he were to ever be in power. Ron Paul, on the other hand, is genuinely far out in right field. He's so far gone the stadium lights can't even locate him. Only Paul knows where he is at any given moment, and you can bet that's where he intends to stay.
You're all wrong. The candidate who wins is solely determined by the candidate who's most angry and energetic. See, the news pundits and US citizens can't be damned to pay attention to things like words and sentences anymore. Instead they just react like cats or dogs to the relevant tones of speech (but in reverse).
They did it with Romney v Obama and they did it again with Biden v Ryan.
Perhaps they just wanted to see what his current platform was by viewing their wall.
Also, it's routine for people to "challenge" the choices of others when those choices are apparently strong and rigid. Maybe some liberals "like" conservative topics/people as a way to show their friends that they've considered those topics/people.
If he'd said "The God Delusion" by Dawkins you might have a point in what you said, but since he was talking about "The Selfish Gene", which doesn't talk about gods or religion at all, but is very illuminating about how life works and why creatures do what they do, the point is just at the top of your cap.
Yeah, it's still only one book/author. I'd like MOAR references for books he doesn't define as "mostly forgettable".
The real crux is that he said he can't think of any books that really made a difference to his world view:
I read a fair amount, but I have to admit that for me reading tends to be about escapism, and books to me are mostly forgettable
Really, I'm just curious how wide/broadly read he is. No ding on atheism or Dawkins implied. Linus is one really interesting person in current times, and if he's painfully centered on his field then that's relevant.
He loves to point out (correctly) that the internet is full of morons, but he does seem narrowly focused on CS. I was hoping his reading list would be more enlightening. I was looking for some philosophers (other than Dawkins) or even math. Math, because it's close to my heart and I could respect it. Philosophy because it is my heart, and genuinely broadens my world view. Like that Socrates quote: "the unquestioned life is hardly worth living."
I reject the Dawkins mention on the grounds that Linus is already known to be an atheist. It's like a christian telling you they read the bible.
I would gladly pay a yearly stipend for an "all I can handle" subscription to academic, peer reviewed articles.
The question is...how many people are like me? I don't know...
His is the kind of false analogy that sounds plausible so long as you don't analyse it at all.
Scientific journals *are* science. There really isn't a cheap substitute for peer review. Consider the source of peer reviewed articles: scientists! Their labor and expertise are, by definition, not cheap!
Personally I value my liberal arts college degree and I think my employer does as well. I can communicate better with customers and I now understand much more of the world now than I did in high school (when I thought I knew everything).
Liberal arts degree, 'eh? Your comment's great, but there's one too many "now"s in this sentence! XD
Individual states in the US are not fiscally autonomous. States observe constrained abilities to raise capital; the US Federal government does not.
A single purpose two-year search is stupid.
Progress isn't progress unless it's 100% devoted, perfect, without any possible critiques?
This is interesting progress, it shouldn't be called "stupid". Not even if you were Edwin Hubble himself.
I agree with your point. The other commentators have a groupthink that "EVs only relocate the pollution". While likely true in the short term, it's *possibly* wrong in the long term (which is far better than oil/gas burning cars).
One possible unintended consequence to taxing pollution is that the government will become dependent on the tax revenue. Which may well cause the government to encourage pollution blocking manufacturer's efforts to reduce pollution.
Wrong.
Governments tend to spend whatever they're going to spend, irrespective of whatever they take-in as income. Dependence on a specific revenue generating tax? Ridiculous.
By context, I could suspect you're an avid science fiction reader, but who knows? It's clear to me that your interests aren't purely technical since you do neat things like the FIRST robotics competition. (Sure, that's a technological event, but I've seen you interact at them - you're there to inspire kids more than anything else.)
I'm particularly interested to learn if you've read any philosophy, and whom?
See, in the US, something is considered legal until it is outlawed. Contrast this with the Spanish system, where everything is outlawed until it is legalized.
And apparently this guy was part of the US government at some point? "former U.S. Register of Copyrights"
please substitute Fox News with "CNN" or "MSNBC" and ask yourself if your vitriol would be just the same.
No, the vitriol wouldn't be the same (though it would be horrible for any network). Fox News has been the media arm of the Republican party for as long as Fox has been on cable. It has a decade long history of pushing Republican-approved propaganda. All of its past offenses and lies add up. It's easier to be MORE outraged at Fox, all other things equal, because Fox has been doing this for longer than anybody else.
Some might argue that CNN has been around longer than Fox and should be held to account for its years of "liberal bias". I disagree. CNN's bias (if it exists) has never been as extreme (truly outrageous) as Fox News' bias. It would be outrageous if CNN showed something like this, but that outrage wouldn't be added onto over a decade of journalistic abuse.
The guy's a better gaff machine that Joe Biden ever could be (Romney, that is).
Yep! This just doesn't make sense. Google continues to be *the example* against anything and all things "cloud".
git
Yes!!! Create git repos of all those various parts on some central git server. Create backups of those repos periodically, like a sane person...
Git really doesn't require a ton of understanding to "just start using git" competently. It's not going to trash whatever you have in place; it's mathematically proven to *not* lose data.
Also, freaking set up a dev server already! (That's like 2 machines, or a private, 3rd party git repo (bitbucket is what I use) and a dedicated test/dev machine).
Can all programmers raise milk cattle, teach elementary students, properly certify the general medical needs of a patient, manage a retail store, sell commercial real estate, design and print professional-grade advertisements, safely drive an 18-wheeler truck, AND captain a fishing boat?
Not everything in the world requires implementing algorithms in computer languages nor benefits from being automated. The human world is much larger than any one of it's professional disciplines (obviously), and the human world is tiny in comparison to the world that encompasses it and the universe even more.
The deficit...so much populist misunderstanding about the difference between public and private debt. The worst part is politicians willingly feed (aren't aware of?) the important difference between private and public debt.
Read up on Keynesian economics.
Uhh, figure the 16 gig mini iPad will be the same price as a 32 gig iPod Touch.
Where it fits better is in my hand than an iphone or ipod touch. Sorry, they're just too small for me to comfortably use for what they're capable of doing.
On the grounds that I want a mini iPad and they didn't announce it yet.
SCORN!
What we're missing is force fields. I think that's how holodecks are supposed to work - holograms bordered by force fields.
It's supposed to be a "mix" of force fields, holographs, and actual energy to matter conversion, IIRC. Perhaps holographs/force fields to simulate distance and open spaces, with actual matter for the close up stuff. So a holographic person is like computer controlled meat-puppet.