No, I would never read a Stephen King book. Good guess. He's a hack.
Again, I am not an elitist. You have completely misunderstood me. Elitist are smug in their high-brow world they manufacture. I am simply happiest doing things few others do. There is no smugness there. Hell, you can even join me. when it gets crowded, I'll simply move on and leave the crowd. I don't want you to say "Oh, look at me". I'd rather you didn't notice or say anything if you do.
Finally, I am not part of the masses. Of course, that only works for so long. Sooner or later people are going to start doing what I now do in droves. That will be a sad day. Until then, life is good.
Doesn't say anything about programming only I come to Slashdot for the programming threads. The HP stuff just got me mildly curious.
I state an opinion; you respond with malice. The experience DOES get spoiled by mass consumption. That is my opinion. You feel different. Should I retort with profanity, too? Does everyone have to subscribe to your notion of what is and is not enjoyable.
If you ever do happen to make into one of my new-found circles, I hope to hell you have the decency not to turn it into a commodity.
I'm sorry do not you agree. That's fine with me. I would wager many feel as I do: Crowds ruin things.
I maintain that turning certain literature into a mere commodity DOES cheapen it because "for me" it cheapens the experience. I genuinely crave to be apart from the herd. I actively seek out things different and special. That's not a character flaw or even something I want to impress upon you; it's just me. Of course, these arguments are for adult literature. Hell, just look at Slashdot! This place is moving away from its original flavor because of its popularity. We are discussing kids books and not programming. What does that say?
My main argument was: Harry Potter is for kids, not the Slashdot community. I am stunned this topic merits any discussion.
Closed minded? No. Elitist? Call me independent. Imagine a quiet, back-woods lake you stumble upon. Now imagine months later when someone happens to follow you on that back road by accident and is joined a few weeks later by 200 of their friends and the lake becomes a 80-decibel rave and trash strewn mess. Then someone comes to you one day and says "Hey, you should check out this new lake everyone goes to." Listening to someone say "That Golem dude was sooo bitchin in that new movie" grates upon my soul in the same manner.
Harry Potter is entertainment for the immature masses. Most of those readers are also children. Those two points make the series' Slashdot-worthiness pretty low. Slashdot readers tend to not follow the herd. Reading about Harry Potter is indeed following the herd.
Even though the HHGTTG and the LOTR reached a sad peak among the masses, there was a time when "we" could savor it before the dim intellect of the general population began to bask in the film-inspired media glow it gained later. For that reason I never mention those shining pearls I have since found, lest they end up discussed by mouth breathers everywhere: Discover them yourself then guard it. But Potter? There is nothing there but juvenile spells and kids coming to terms with growing into young adults.
Slashdot needs a thread about Potter like we need to discuss NASCAR or Lattes.
The pharmaco can be guilty of violating the DMCA if they can be shown to have puzzled out the inner workings of a virus Nature has created then circumvent it for monetary gain.
You are fucked anyway. Would the pharma companies really let this thing live? There is more money to be made controlling the disease with a daily regiment of drugs.
This will either mysteriously disappear or cost $50K / dose.
Let Africa concentrate on clean water, stable government, and a controllable birth rate. Internet access is the least of their problems. Hell, look what happened when the Nigerians got it.
Yeah but the error-handling in First Life just plain blows. I'm waiting for the service pack where you can save your game before doing something stupid.
And let's not forget the debt we owe them for the anal probes that today's proctology enjoys. Most former alien abductees will testify to the genius of their probes.
Splices, especially crimp-connectors can cause hot spots, voltage drops, impedance mis-match...
It's very instructive to use a time-domain reflectometer to see just how electrically bad a splice can get. Of course less-demanding applications will get by just fine. I am just looking at the situation from a purists standpoint.
BTW, I own an iPod mini. Yes, the battery seriously needs replacing at this point in its life but there is no way I am going to go through the hassle of replacing it. That really helped me decide against any more Apple iPods for a while.
If the iPhone is unsubsidized and costs $500+, why does AT&T demand a 2-year contract? Wouldn't that be more palatable if the carrier was fronting some of the cost?
I can't wait for the day when contracts for cell phones go away. Can you imagine your local carrier for your land line telling you they required a 2-year contract before you could switch long-distance carriers? If I do *anything* with my Verizon phone, it comes with a demand for a new contract. Where is consumer protection?
Why are there so many sites devoted to diagnosing and fixing iPod issues? I recently had to turn to one myself when my iPod stopped playing iTunes-purchased music.
Perfection?
I am amazed at how many seemingly educated people worship at any alter, whether MS or Apple. Stop drinking the cool-aid, guys.
I am not so certain you (or the moderator) quite received the gist of what I was conveying.
I would also like to add that your argument reflects biology in the sense of bacteria and other lower forms of life quite well, however, it does not quite work for people. There is no need for us to fill up every corner of the world huddling together in poverty if our intellect tells us it is going to result in a terrible life for us and our children (Should we decide we want them...choices, remember?).
Less people is already the trend of educated people. "Biology" is not making many "demands" on that portion of the world in the sense you subscribe to. To equate us as predestined breeding machines paints people as poverty-bound sexual lemmings. Large parts of the under-developed world DO operate in this manner but we can change it.
Exploration on the scale of interstellar travel is not going to happen so long as most of our resources are wasted on the evils of social strife or figuring out how to feed too many people.
I am frightened of runaway population growth, true. Perhaps it is a result of living in Southern California and the half-a-State long conurbation of biomass focused on coming out on top at the expense of others.
I believe what the Author was conveying was there had to be a compelling, economic reason for colonizing the Gobi and the North Atlantic. Sure, it can be done but it is not done. Since colonizing interplanetary space is much harder, there must be a proportionally compelling reason to do so. Arguments like "The existence of the Human species depends on it" are not very convincing or even important to the majority of people. Most of us want to get "more than the next guy"; altruistic feelings for the species is kinda of a fantasy at this point.
My personal opinion is we need to concentrate on having LESS people in the Universe rather than spreading out. We could solve a lot of social and economic problems with curbing population and make a lot of people happier rather than pour much of the planet's wealth into colonizing the nearest star. Yes, I am curious and like the idea of exploration. But I don't believe we are ever going to the Stars in large numbers, if at all. Just being real guys. I more than anyone would like future developments in physics to render the Author's arguments moot.
Soccer mom don't give a shit about gas milage [sic] when it comes to protecting their babies
Actually, soccer moms don't give a shit about anything at all, including other people on the road. Soccers moms are one of the greatest hazards out there. I ride a motorcycle and have fortunately lived through many a near-miss from lane changing soccer moms in full battle armor and cell phone.
Slashdot Mirror
Still, Slashdot readers remain a very small segment of the population. But that's not why I'm here.
Cheers, Tim.
No, I would never read a Stephen King book. Good guess. He's a hack.
Again, I am not an elitist. You have completely misunderstood me. Elitist are smug in their high-brow world they manufacture. I am simply happiest doing things few others do. There is no smugness there. Hell, you can even join me. when it gets crowded, I'll simply move on and leave the crowd. I don't want you to say "Oh, look at me". I'd rather you didn't notice or say anything if you do.
Finally, I am not part of the masses. Of course, that only works for so long. Sooner or later people are going to start doing what I now do in droves. That will be a sad day. Until then, life is good.
Doesn't say anything about programming only
I come to Slashdot for the programming threads. The HP stuff just got me mildly curious.
Stunning. Yes, that was absolutely brilliant.
I state an opinion; you respond with malice. The experience DOES get spoiled by mass consumption. That is my opinion. You feel different. Should I retort with profanity, too? Does everyone have to subscribe to your notion of what is and is not enjoyable.
If you ever do happen to make into one of my new-found circles, I hope to hell you have the decency not to turn it into a commodity.
I'm sorry do not you agree. That's fine with me. I would wager many feel as I do: Crowds ruin things.
I maintain that turning certain literature into a mere commodity DOES cheapen it because "for me" it cheapens the experience. I genuinely crave to be apart from the herd. I actively seek out things different and special. That's not a character flaw or even something I want to impress upon you; it's just me. Of course, these arguments are for adult literature. Hell, just look at Slashdot! This place is moving away from its original flavor because of its popularity. We are discussing kids books and not programming. What does that say?
My main argument was: Harry Potter is for kids, not the Slashdot community. I am stunned this topic merits any discussion.
Closed minded? No. Elitist? Call me independent. Imagine a quiet, back-woods lake you stumble upon. Now imagine months later when someone happens to follow you on that back road by accident and is joined a few weeks later by 200 of their friends and the lake becomes a 80-decibel rave and trash strewn mess. Then someone comes to you one day and says "Hey, you should check out this new lake everyone goes to." Listening to someone say "That Golem dude was sooo bitchin in that new movie" grates upon my soul in the same manner.
Here are my thoughts:
Harry Potter is entertainment for the immature masses. Most of those readers are also children. Those two points make the series' Slashdot-worthiness pretty low. Slashdot readers tend to not follow the herd. Reading about Harry Potter is indeed following the herd.
Even though the HHGTTG and the LOTR reached a sad peak among the masses, there was a time when "we" could savor it before the dim intellect of the general population began to bask in the film-inspired media glow it gained later. For that reason I never mention those shining pearls I have since found, lest they end up discussed by mouth breathers everywhere: Discover them yourself then guard it. But Potter? There is nothing there but juvenile spells and kids coming to terms with growing into young adults.
Slashdot needs a thread about Potter like we need to discuss NASCAR or Lattes.
The pharmaco can be guilty of violating the DMCA if they can be shown to have puzzled out the inner workings of a virus Nature has created then circumvent it for monetary gain.
You are fucked anyway. Would the pharma companies really let this thing live? There is more money to be made controlling the disease with a daily regiment of drugs.
This will either mysteriously disappear or cost $50K / dose.
Well there IS a fair bit of that. You left out beer drinking, too.
Let Africa concentrate on clean water, stable government, and a controllable birth rate. Internet access is the least of their problems. Hell, look what happened when the Nigerians got it.
They require extensive hand holding, are reluctant to change and think they are better than they are
Are you discussing the CS degree or the personality of some people you have met in the past?
Yeah but the error-handling in First Life just plain blows. I'm waiting for the service pack where you can save your game before doing something stupid.
Right,
At least with prostitution up-front you know you're getting fucked. With politicians, its more like date rape.
These aren't services. It's another attempt to fully realize the pay-forever model.
I don't know whether to embrace it or hate it. This more than anything could actually hasten the adoption of OSS.
And let's not forget the debt we owe them for the anal probes that today's proctology enjoys. Most former alien abductees will testify to the genius of their probes.
Weaksauce?
Is that you Shkapsky?
Splices, especially crimp-connectors can cause hot spots, voltage drops, impedance mis-match...
It's very instructive to use a time-domain reflectometer to see just how electrically bad a splice can get. Of course less-demanding applications will get by just fine. I am just looking at the situation from a purists standpoint.
BTW, I own an iPod mini. Yes, the battery seriously needs replacing at this point in its life but there is no way I am going to go through the hassle of replacing it. That really helped me decide against any more Apple iPods for a while.
Which makes me ask this question:
If the iPhone is unsubsidized and costs $500+, why does AT&T demand a 2-year contract? Wouldn't that be more palatable if the carrier was fronting some of the cost?
I can't wait for the day when contracts for cell phones go away. Can you imagine your local carrier for your land line telling you they required a 2-year contract before you could switch long-distance carriers? If I do *anything* with my Verizon phone, it comes with a demand for a new contract. Where is consumer protection?
Have another sip of that kool-aid. Mmm, wasn't that delicious?
the fact that you don't know the difference between greater-than and less-than
Could be time for a code review...
Why are there so many sites devoted to diagnosing and fixing iPod issues? I recently had to turn to one myself when my iPod stopped playing iTunes-purchased music.
Perfection?
I am amazed at how many seemingly educated people worship at any alter, whether MS or Apple. Stop drinking the cool-aid, guys.
Eh, Guvna? What what?
I am not so certain you (or the moderator) quite received the gist of what I was conveying.
I would also like to add that your argument reflects biology in the sense of bacteria and other lower forms of life quite well, however, it does not quite work for people. There is no need for us to fill up every corner of the world huddling together in poverty if our intellect tells us it is going to result in a terrible life for us and our children (Should we decide we want them...choices, remember?).
Less people is already the trend of educated people. "Biology" is not making many "demands" on that portion of the world in the sense you subscribe to. To equate us as predestined breeding machines paints people as poverty-bound sexual lemmings. Large parts of the under-developed world DO operate in this manner but we can change it.
Exploration on the scale of interstellar travel is not going to happen so long as most of our resources are wasted on the evils of social strife or figuring out how to feed too many people.
I am frightened of runaway population growth, true. Perhaps it is a result of living in Southern California and the half-a-State long conurbation of biomass focused on coming out on top at the expense of others.
I believe what the Author was conveying was there had to be a compelling, economic reason for colonizing the Gobi and the North Atlantic. Sure, it can be done but it is not done. Since colonizing interplanetary space is much harder, there must be a proportionally compelling reason to do so. Arguments like "The existence of the Human species depends on it" are not very convincing or even important to the majority of people. Most of us want to get "more than the next guy"; altruistic feelings for the species is kinda of a fantasy at this point.
My personal opinion is we need to concentrate on having LESS people in the Universe rather than spreading out. We could solve a lot of social and economic problems with curbing population and make a lot of people happier rather than pour much of the planet's wealth into colonizing the nearest star. Yes, I am curious and like the idea of exploration. But I don't believe we are ever going to the Stars in large numbers, if at all. Just being real guys. I more than anyone would like future developments in physics to render the Author's arguments moot.
Puerto Rico is a US territory and without us going into political talk, we are rightful US Citizens by birth
You don't pay taxes (at least to the our Federal Government) or vote.
Soccer mom don't give a shit about gas milage [sic] when it comes to protecting their babies
Actually, soccer moms don't give a shit about anything at all, including other people on the road. Soccers moms are one of the greatest hazards out there. I ride a motorcycle and have fortunately lived through many a near-miss from lane changing soccer moms in full battle armor and cell phone.