I am a Christian, and was a co-founding member of my High School's Fellowship Club. I am most certainly not against religion, especially Christianity.
I am against fundamentalism, whether it be Christian Fundamentalism or Muslim Fundamentalism. I am against cultures of exclusion rather than inclusion. I am a member of the Church of Love, not the Church of Law.
So, in terms of cures for futureshock and education: teaching people how to think (beginning with Critical Thinking as early possible, at least as early as highschool) should be preferred to memorizing facts. Likewise, teaching people to be flexible in their thought processes by using exercises where they must write multiple papers about a controversy. Presenting multiple points of view would teach them to see other sides of an issue, as well as teaching rhetoric.
Quantum Mechanics is *not* a "house of cards", but rather is the most precise model our species has generated to date. As you move away from Physics the complexity of the systems under study can be problematic. Still, I'm not comfortable with the generalization: "like a house of cards, just like all science".
Speaking of "Utter crap" I've got to call bullshit here. Two things:
1) In your libertarian view of the marketplace (and the view of a few others before you) you forget the incredible delta$ to acquire a new customer compared to the delta$ to hold on to a old customer. Saying that they have the "right" to damn well do whatever they want is like saying, "I'm the CEO, and if I say burn the factory to the ground, then burn it to the ground". Your board of directors will have your butt.
2) It isn't *really* "Their site, their forum, their goal, and their prerogative." Rather, it belongs to the stockholders. Everything they do has to be done with their responsibility to the stockholders in mind. Alienating customers is not going to maximize shareholder wealth.
Agreed that once I realized it existed Navigator kicks ass, just wish I'd stumbled across it sooner. For all those people complaining that Free Software should be innovating rather than merely copying MS's mistakes, the Navigator is a perfect example of extending functionality. That, and of course LaTeX support.
It really is a two-edged sword, keeping the interface closed as they have. If Apple had 30% marketshare, it might make sense. Looking at about 5% each for Apple and Linux it seems Apple would benefit from a policy of inclusion. I know people who would consider an Apple laptop if they thought they could get Free Software to run. Imagine if it really was a no-brainer.
Exactly. I was thrilled the day I discovered Gnumeric could save as TeX. It creates standalone files that work with/input{filename.tex} and it just plain works. I find I'm moving more and more towards using LaTeX and either printing the documents or distribuing PDFs for everything that leaves my desk. Increased support for LaTeX is sure at the top of my interest list:-)
I've gotten tired of trying to help people who can't make Word documents look like they want at my University, and have started installing OpenOffice for them instead. It is simpler for the uninitiated to make a document that looks like what they are told they need to turn in. The right tool for the job, and all that, I just don't see any sense in the decision making process at work these days.
Practice whatever religion you wish. Just don't force that religion into our politics or schools. Fundamentalism is a form of futureshock. The cure isn't to embrace groupthink.
I had the same problem in MIS last semester. The lecture was so simplified and mistaken: Crimes were confused with civil actions, due process considerations was not addressed, the whole thing was reduced to a "do" and "don't do" list that wasn't related to actually legality. I spoke to the prof after class and was told that in order to make a complex subject understandable to the majority of the undergraduates in the class, she had to simplify things to the point that her statements were incorrect, but got the point across better than trying to use the actual facts could. I didn't know what to say to that.
CAMPBELL v. ACUFF-ROSE MUSIC, INC., ___ U.S. ___ (1994) [ Footnote 17 ]
We note in passing that 2 Live Crew need not label its whole album, or even this song, a parody in order to claim fair use protection, nor should 2 Live Crew be penalized for this being its first parodic essay. Parody serves its goals whether labeled or not, and there is no reason to require parody to state the obvious, (or even the reasonably perceived).
The expectation of privacy exception means that the school reserves the right to monitor activity on their net. However, this doesn't mean that information regarding students (however tracked) can be given out without consent to anyone not listed in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Schools are as afraid of FERPA as health practitioners are of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Actually if they release information to the police they are in violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). FERPA lists exactly to whom information may be given, and the courts *are* on the list, and the police are *not*. So even the police would need a court warrent to protect the University from a Federal prosecutor.
Additionally, what's the motivation for organizations (schools or ISPs) to fight for privacy versus just rolling over? I'm glad you asked. We went over this in my SysAdmin class and my MIS class last semester. It is called the
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education. ...
Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student's education record. However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the following parties or under the following conditions (34 CFR 99.31):
School officials with legitimate educational interest;
Other schools to which a student is transferring;
Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes;
Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student;
Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school;
Accrediting organizations;
To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena;
Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies; and
State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific State law.
Likewise here. The city cops jurisdiction ends and the state police (campus security) begins at the campus. We have several streets that run through our campus. City cops can't give traffic tickets within the boundaries of our jurisdiction, although they can stop the car and call our people (who will write the ticket based on the word of the city cop). Both the city cop and the campus security person have to go court for that one ticket, though.
Universities are required by federal law to protect students records. Requesting that an IP # be identified with a given student would be like requesting that a Social Security number, or a phone number, or an address, or a class schedule, etc..., be associated with a given student. ISPs are under no such federal obligation. That makes a real difference.
But we both have to realize that some goods/services wouldn't be sold at all if not for price discrimination. It raises revenues when used properly: many business plans wouldn't be profitable at all, if not for price discrimination.
Well, "I am only an egg", and I'll bow to the generalization. I would suggest that it might not be that DVDs require price discrimination to be sold at all, though. In terms of banning the practice, it is already illegal within the jurisdiction of the United States.
I'm fond of octave since Numerical Analysis II was taught using MatLab and familiarity = user-friendliness. I use Atlas to tune the NetLib BLAS and LAPack libs, which octave will also use. Maxima has become my Mathematica replacement. I especially like that I can insert Maxima statements into emacs.tex files, and have them evaluated and converted to latex in place. Gnumeric is my spreadsheet since it can export to.tex files suitable for \input(filename.tex}. And there is an R-gnumeric interface I'd like to play with to stimulate my learning of R. Since I've become an MBA student gretl (the GNU Regression, Econometrics and Time-series Library) looks interesting and useful, and it also has an R interface. Our Chem dept runs MPQC on a linux cluster, and I keep almost doing work with the Prof whose baby that is. (When I was a Physics Grad student I hustled to get Computational Physics accepted as a viable research topic, unsucessfully..., but parallel methods for PDEs, and the dispersion equation, of all things, almost got some attention). NetLib has Parallel Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms (PBLAS) that I'd like to try to install on the cluster. Debian has an r-cran-rmpi package (and our cluster and our chemists are MPI-centric, for sure!):
GNU R package interfacing MPI libraries for distributed computing
This CRAN package provides an interface to the MPI (Message-Passing Interface) API. It also provides an interactive R slave environment in which distributed statistical computing can be carried out.
PARI/GP was an interesting program that left me realizing how little math I really know. GAP - Groups, Algorithms, Programming - "a System for Computational Discrete Algebra", looks interesting, and yes there is a ParGap...it would be fun installing it if I could find someone here who'd care.
Agreed that security is another area where Rock Solid Stability is central. I should have seen that. But I won't ever really "get" what you mean re: "That includes user-facing interfaces since the cost of retraining staff can be significant." I tend to change window mangers (Ion default, Gnome, WindowMaker, KDE, XFCE, Enlightenment) just to change the scenery. I'll run kpdf or xpdf instead of gpdf just because they *do* look different. I accept that people like the UI to remain the same only because I see Mac and Windows people proclaiming the benefits, but my acceptence is tinged in disbelief. I have to wonder, do these people drive the same exact path to the grocery store every time?
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"anti-religion preaching"?
I am a Christian, and was a co-founding member of my High School's Fellowship Club. I am most certainly not against religion, especially Christianity.
I am against fundamentalism, whether it be Christian Fundamentalism or Muslim Fundamentalism. I am against cultures of exclusion rather than inclusion. I am a member of the Church of Love, not the Church of Law.
So, in terms of cures for futureshock and education: teaching people how to think (beginning with Critical Thinking as early possible, at least as early as highschool) should be preferred to memorizing facts. Likewise, teaching people to be flexible in their thought processes by using exercises where they must write multiple papers about a controversy. Presenting multiple points of view would teach them to see other sides of an issue, as well as teaching rhetoric.
Quantum Mechanics is *not* a "house of cards", but rather is the most precise model our species has generated to date. As you move away from Physics the complexity of the systems under study can be problematic. Still, I'm not comfortable with the generalization: "like a house of cards, just like all science".
Maybe because they currently use this software doing the things that they do? If it isn't available easily, then they aren't so interested.
Wouldn't use of "anywayz" then be for the redneck geek crowd?
Gotta admit calling someone "scum", followed by "liar and copyright infringer" doesn't have the same emotional impact. It is even almost funny.
To the Anon Coward whose code was inappropriately copied, you have my sympathy.
Speaking of "Utter crap" I've got to call bullshit here. Two things:
1) In your libertarian view of the marketplace (and the view of a few others before you) you forget the incredible delta$ to acquire a new customer compared to the delta$ to hold on to a old customer. Saying that they have the "right" to damn well do whatever they want is like saying, "I'm the CEO, and if I say burn the factory to the ground, then burn it to the ground". Your board of directors will have your butt.
2) It isn't *really* "Their site, their forum, their goal, and their prerogative." Rather, it belongs to the stockholders. Everything they do has to be done with their responsibility to the stockholders in mind. Alienating customers is not going to maximize shareholder wealth.
Agreed that once I realized it existed Navigator kicks ass, just wish I'd stumbled across it sooner. For all those people complaining that Free Software should be innovating rather than merely copying MS's mistakes, the Navigator is a perfect example of extending functionality. That, and of course LaTeX support.
Agreed that the equation editor is *way* better in OpenOffice, and likewise LaTeX support if you want to do anything serious.
It really is a two-edged sword, keeping the interface closed as they have. If Apple had 30% marketshare, it might make sense. Looking at about 5% each for Apple and Linux it seems Apple would benefit from a policy of inclusion. I know people who would consider an Apple laptop if they thought they could get Free Software to run. Imagine if it really was a no-brainer.
Exactly. I was thrilled the day I discovered Gnumeric could save as TeX. It creates standalone files that work with /input{filename.tex} and it just plain works. I find I'm moving more and more towards using LaTeX and either printing the documents or distribuing PDFs for everything that leaves my desk. Increased support for LaTeX is sure at the top of my interest list :-)
It's called "LaTeX", and it caught on pretty well in some circles ;-)
I've gotten tired of trying to help people who can't make Word documents look like they want at my University, and have started installing OpenOffice for them instead. It is simpler for the uninitiated to make a document that looks like what they are told they need to turn in. The right tool for the job, and all that, I just don't see any sense in the decision making process at work these days.
Practice whatever religion you wish. Just don't force that religion into our politics or schools. Fundamentalism is a form of futureshock. The cure isn't to embrace groupthink.
It not, however, the GPL:
*ding* *ding* *ding*
This just in:
Cooperation deemed uncompetitive!
I had the same problem in MIS last semester. The lecture was so simplified and mistaken: Crimes were confused with civil actions, due process considerations was not addressed, the whole thing was reduced to a "do" and "don't do" list that wasn't related to actually legality. I spoke to the prof after class and was told that in order to make a complex subject understandable to the majority of the undergraduates in the class, she had to simplify things to the point that her statements were incorrect, but got the point across better than trying to use the actual facts could. I didn't know what to say to that.
CAMPBELL v. ACUFF-ROSE MUSIC, INC., ___ U.S. ___ (1994) [ Footnote 17 ]
The expectation of privacy exception means that the school reserves the right to monitor activity on their net. However, this doesn't mean that information regarding students (however tracked) can be given out without consent to anyone not listed in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Schools are as afraid of FERPA as health practitioners are of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Actually if they release information to the police they are in violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). FERPA lists exactly to whom information may be given, and the courts *are* on the list, and the police are *not*. So even the police would need a court warrent to protect the University from a Federal prosecutor.
I'm glad you asked. We went over this in my SysAdmin class and my MIS class last semester. It is called the
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
Likewise here. The city cops jurisdiction ends and the state police (campus security) begins at the campus. We have several streets that run through our campus. City cops can't give traffic tickets within the boundaries of our jurisdiction, although they can stop the car and call our people (who will write the ticket based on the word of the city cop). Both the city cop and the campus security person have to go court for that one ticket, though.
Universities are required by federal law to protect students records. Requesting that an IP # be identified with a given student would be like requesting that a Social Security number, or a phone number, or an address, or a class schedule, etc..., be associated with a given student. ISPs are under no such federal obligation. That makes a real difference.
But we both have to realize that some goods/services wouldn't be sold at all if not for price discrimination. It raises revenues when used properly: many business plans wouldn't be profitable at all, if not for price discrimination.
Well, "I am only an egg", and I'll bow to the generalization. I would suggest that it might not be that DVDs require price discrimination to be sold at all, though. In terms of banning the practice, it is already illegal within the jurisdiction of the United States.
Agreed that security is another area where Rock Solid Stability is central. I should have seen that. But I won't ever really "get" what you mean re: "That includes user-facing interfaces since the cost of retraining staff can be significant." I tend to change window mangers (Ion default, Gnome, WindowMaker, KDE, XFCE, Enlightenment) just to change the scenery. I'll run kpdf or xpdf instead of gpdf just because they *do* look different. I accept that people like the UI to remain the same only because I see Mac and Windows people proclaiming the benefits, but my acceptence is tinged in disbelief. I have to wonder, do these people drive the same exact path to the grocery store every time?