Your son is not a prodigy. At "nearly 2" he's about ready for playing "What sound does this animal make?" games. With you though, not with some electronic babysitter.
This question is nonsensical. Come back in 3 years, and we can talk.
Look up Justin Chi on Youtube.
At age 2 he was using a remote control flight simulator and actually flying properly. By age 3 he was flying real large sized and powerful remote control helis and doing stunts that most adult pilots never master.
Flying an RC plane or heli is not easy. Don't be misled if you've never done it - it takes a lot more skill than say operating a remote control car. One little mistake and your expensive plane or heli is broken and scattered in pieces.
We under-estimate what kids can do. Think about how easily children pick up a language compared to adults. We actually learn some things more easily as children. I'm not saying you should definitely push each child to achieve early. In fact I don't think you should push them at that age. Let them do what they find fun. However holding them back with pre-conceived notions that they shouldn't be doing anything at all is also bone headed.
You can argue Justin Chi is a prodigy. I personally think that while he has some aptitude he was just nudged in the right direction by his parents. (How hard and how good it is for him is a different matter). If his parents had said "he's just a baby, wait till he's 5" he wouldn't have learnt a damn thing.
But hey, if you don't like what I'm saying, go ahead adopt your attitude, then wonder why Chinese school and college kids do better than yours.
Can't a parachute be strapped on the front or something? This guy made it across without being harmed, but I would hardly refer to such an activity as safe. No redundancy = not safe.
1. Solar power This sounds a lot like the 50s and 60s sci-fi where every little gadget is nuclear powered. Not going to happen. I can imagine more and more portable devices switching to solar, but I think it will be closer to 10-15 years before it becomes widespread.
Phones need to much power to run off solar, but could be trickle charged with a solar charger. However that's not ideal for a device that sits in pockets and handbags and office buildings with little natural light.
2. DNA testing Could happen, but I don't think it will be a common practice in 5 years time.
I hope you're right. I fear it will be misused far more than it will be used for good purpose.
3. Voice input Speech to text is still pretty bad. Some examples of problems it still struggles with are handling different accents, background noise. I think instead of voice input we will see a lot more touch-screen interfaces similar to the Nintendo DS and iPhone. Keyboard + mouse will still rule the desktop.
URLs in particular are awful. They don't spell the way they sound. Imagine how long it would take to fill out a form with voice compared to typing if you have a decent typing rate.
4. Robot shop assistants Sounds far too annoying and expensive for the retailers to catch on. Also what's the point of having a robot if a human then has to go and get the item(s) suggested by it? Why not have the human make the suggestions as is currently done?
What is happening is self serve. You scan the items yourself and are monitored. Sales assistants replaced with body guards. The "robots" are nothing more than scanners attached to weighing scales to help ensure you're not stealing product.
5. Memory aids I doubt people's behavior will change so much in 5 years that everything we do will be recorded. I think we are heading that way, but I'd allow longer than 5 years for it to become mainstream. I'd also suggest that a lot of work still needs to be done with how data is stored, organized, searched etc. for this to become useful. There's no point in having everything recorded if you aren't able to find the information you need at a later date.
The problem isn't recording. (A voice recorder would do that just fine for a lot of tasks). It's recall and providing the information at the appropriate time. Ignoring the privacy implications of having every action recorded this technology is going to require AI to be useful.
Solar tech? Seriously? For something that sits in my pocket??? And women tend to keep in handbags. Oh I can imagine it now....a conversation with my wife when I get home will begin with "Sorry honey, I forgot to put my mobile on the window sill at work and it ran out of charge. Actually our area is moving in a couple of years and there won't be as much natural light so even that won't be an option.
I had to check the date to make sure it wasn't April fools.
- The only way this would work is if you could get written agreement from your old company that they wouldn't sue. Perhaps they'd be interested for a cut of the profits?
- If you have that kind of coding talent why not spend the same effort on a new product that doesn't compete. All you need is a decent product idea and the willingness to develop it right and continue improving it.
Games like World of Warcraft don't (necessarily) make people socially isolated--they are actually the way a particular person may socialize!
It's not the same as face to face social contact, and it does not require the same skills or provide the same rewards. Body language isn't learnt on WoW. (Guestures by your avatar do NOT count). You don't learn to control your posture, your emotion, where your eyes look when you're talking to someone etc.
Online gaming and making friends that way is great, but it's not a substitute for getting out into the world and learning how to enjoying having a chat face to face with someone that potentially doesn't have the same narrow interest as yourself.
I -love- math and science, but if you give me the choice between hanging out with a bunch of kids that are interested in math or playing video games, the choice is obvious.
Then, with respect, you don't love math and science. For me I'd opt for a mix, because I do love math and science, and because video games are limited and eventually bore me to tears where the universe is full of infinite variety.
You can't blame the games for your own laziness and/or lack of passion.
One reason...It use to be that these people could join a club and usually a "geeky" one: A Chess club, a remote control aircraft club, a rocketry club, a science club, an electronics club. These kinds of organisations are disappearing and the activities are being labelled as dangerous or complete social death to get involved in, leaving a void which is being filled with idle gaming.
Your musical ability Is sure to wisk you merrily From this shallow pool of genes For with music like that my friend, you'll never get laid, You'll never get laid.
How do you think residents would respond in your area? "The house is rattling, there's a tremendous roaring sound, I can feel reverberations through my body, and there's a bright glow on the horizon...meh, my WoW character is about to level up. I'll worry about it later." Somehow I'm guessing not.
How do you see a glow on the horizon from the basement? Webcam?
I am sure that friend was not allowed to do a lot of other things. Sorry, you are on call, that means you are not able to go to a restaurant or movie. Tough luck. Talk to you employer for compensation.
That's fantastic. You think your "right" to watch a movie or eat at a restaurant is more important than the right of those who sacrifice their leisure to fulfil a role in society to still have some semblance of normality.
The doctors I know all turn off their phone during the movie. OTOH they also send text messages to each other during operations, where mere mortals are not even allowed to turn on their phone. (Yes, during the operation.)...and this is something you endorse or find acceptable??? There are very few if any situations where this should ever be permitted.
If those people do not like it, take a job that does not require you to be on call. I should not suffer from your career choice.
Well if enough of these people make a career choice that means there are less doctors etc. you will suffer and possibly die. The main problem I have with that is that so would others.
If a person is being a schmuck with their phone at a theatre, cinema, or restaurant, they should simply be ejected. Just as someone who behaves in any other inappropriate manner should be ejected. Having a phone on vibrate and going outside to answer it (or even briefly answering and walking out to continue the conversation) IF it's an urgent situation (like an on call event) is no big deal. Some idiot with zero etiquette chatting to their sister/boyfriend/cousin with complete disregard for people should be treated like any other disruptive person. The problem isn't the phone. If you catch someone masturbating in a theatre do you propose we castrate all theatre goers??? No you deal with that individual's socially unacceptable behaviour.
People shouldn't have to give up their right to use a phone appropriately just because you don't want a 10 second interuption of your movie. Stop being so damn self centred.
The right way to do it is always serve pre-made sandwiches first. Less waste. Everyone gets something slightly stale in slow periods but no one gets really stale hours old crud.
They can and do kill people. And if this is allowed to continue, more and more people are going to die. On both sides.
Yes, but by minimizing the killing they're maintaining their support base. Instead of the indiscriminate kill, rape, pillage, plunder of the traditional pirate that's bad news for all involved, they're making the case that they may be beneficial to have around for some groups. Now, the truth is they're after money and indifferent to life, but they're not stupid about it. They're creating a fluffy feel good image for their piracy.
My plan only addresses the short term issue: The piracy. That has to be dealt with immediately. Unchecked piracy will only result in the loss of more lives and cause economic problems on a world-wide scale.
I agree.
Dealing with the political issues in Somalia is a more complex issue that lacks an immediate solution.
Nuke them from space. It's the only way to be sure.
I kid! I kid!
I'm all for finding a peaceful solution if one can be arrived at.
It may be possible to incapacitate rather than kill them. An unpowered boat sitting in the middle of the ocean isn't a good bargaining platform and they may surrender willingly. Then there's non-lethal force. Gas them. Taser them. Tranqulize them.
If you follow the flowchart, you only serve pre-made sandwiches during busy periods. So if you're the first in line for dinner after that evening lull, you're going to get the oldest stalest sandwich.
Slashdot Mirror
Your son is not a prodigy. At "nearly 2" he's about ready for playing "What sound does this animal make?" games. With you though, not with some electronic babysitter.
This question is nonsensical. Come back in 3 years, and we can talk.
Look up Justin Chi on Youtube.
At age 2 he was using a remote control flight simulator and actually flying properly.
By age 3 he was flying real large sized and powerful remote control helis and doing stunts that most adult pilots never master.
Flying an RC plane or heli is not easy. Don't be misled if you've never done it - it takes a lot more skill than say operating a remote control car. One little mistake and your expensive plane or heli is broken and scattered in pieces.
We under-estimate what kids can do. Think about how easily children pick up a language compared to adults. We actually learn some things more easily as children. I'm not saying you should definitely push each child to achieve early. In fact I don't think you should push them at that age. Let them do what they find fun. However holding them back with pre-conceived notions that they shouldn't be doing anything at all is also bone headed.
You can argue Justin Chi is a prodigy. I personally think that while he has some aptitude he was just nudged in the right direction by his parents. (How hard and how good it is for him is a different matter). If his parents had said "he's just a baby, wait till he's 5" he wouldn't have learnt a damn thing.
But hey, if you don't like what I'm saying, go ahead adopt your attitude, then wonder why Chinese school and college kids do better than yours.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_II_of_Russia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_the_Great
http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/bios/b2ivanIV.htm
I vote for Peter the Great. His painting looks friendly and we all know how important image is in a copyright Czar.
You have artificial lights in your pocket or handbag?
My phone only sees the light of day when I'm actually using it, which might be an average of 10 minutes a day.
...with stories like this...
Can't a parachute be strapped on the front or something? This guy made it across without being harmed, but I would hardly refer to such an activity as safe. No redundancy = not safe.
1. Solar power
This sounds a lot like the 50s and 60s sci-fi where every little gadget is nuclear powered. Not going to happen. I can imagine more and more portable devices switching to solar, but I think it will be closer to 10-15 years before it becomes widespread.
Phones need to much power to run off solar, but could be trickle charged with a solar charger. However that's not ideal for a device that sits in pockets and handbags and office buildings with little natural light.
2. DNA testing
Could happen, but I don't think it will be a common practice in 5 years time.
I hope you're right. I fear it will be misused far more than it will be used for good purpose.
3. Voice input
Speech to text is still pretty bad. Some examples of problems it still struggles with are handling different accents, background noise. I think instead of voice input we will see a lot more touch-screen interfaces similar to the Nintendo DS and iPhone. Keyboard + mouse will still rule the desktop.
URLs in particular are awful. They don't spell the way they sound. Imagine how long it would take to fill out a form with voice compared to typing if you have a decent typing rate.
4. Robot shop assistants
Sounds far too annoying and expensive for the retailers to catch on. Also what's the point of having a robot if a human then has to go and get the item(s) suggested by it? Why not have the human make the suggestions as is currently done?
What is happening is self serve. You scan the items yourself and are monitored. Sales assistants replaced with body guards. The "robots" are nothing more than scanners attached to weighing scales to help ensure you're not stealing product.
5. Memory aids
I doubt people's behavior will change so much in 5 years that everything we do will be recorded. I think we are heading that way, but I'd allow longer than 5 years for it to become mainstream. I'd also suggest that a lot of work still needs to be done with how data is stored, organized, searched etc. for this to become useful. There's no point in having everything recorded if you aren't able to find the information you need at a later date.
The problem isn't recording. (A voice recorder would do that just fine for a lot of tasks). It's recall and providing the information at the appropriate time. Ignoring the privacy implications of having every action recorded this technology is going to require AI to be useful.
Solar tech? Seriously? For something that sits in my pocket??? And women tend to keep in handbags. Oh I can imagine it now....a conversation with my wife when I get home will begin with "Sorry honey, I forgot to put my mobile on the window sill at work and it ran out of charge. Actually our area is moving in a couple of years and there won't be as much natural light so even that won't be an option.
I had to check the date to make sure it wasn't April fools.
No phone home. Here I get swweeeeeeeeettts. *sticks up a bony middle finger*
I do it all the time with coworkers
How do you expect us to take you seriously if you admit regularly having sex with cow orkers?
Argh! Zombies!!!!! They're bound to be after brains! Well they'll find none here! Take that you evil zombies.
- The only way this would work is if you could get written agreement from your old company that they wouldn't sue. Perhaps they'd be interested for a cut of the profits?
- If you have that kind of coding talent why not spend the same effort on a new product that doesn't compete. All you need is a decent product idea and the willingness to develop it right and continue improving it.
Games like World of Warcraft don't (necessarily) make people socially isolated--they are actually the way a particular person may socialize!
It's not the same as face to face social contact, and it does not require the same skills or provide the same rewards. Body language isn't learnt on WoW. (Guestures by your avatar do NOT count). You don't learn to control your posture, your emotion, where your eyes look when you're talking to someone etc.
Online gaming and making friends that way is great, but it's not a substitute for getting out into the world and learning how to enjoying having a chat face to face with someone that potentially doesn't have the same narrow interest as yourself.
I -love- math and science, but if you give me the choice between hanging out with a bunch of kids that are interested in math or playing video games, the choice is obvious.
Then, with respect, you don't love math and science. For me I'd opt for a mix, because I do love math and science, and because video games are limited and eventually bore me to tears where the universe is full of infinite variety.
You can't blame the games for your own laziness and/or lack of passion.
One reason...It use to be that these people could join a club and usually a "geeky" one: A Chess club, a remote control aircraft club, a rocketry club, a science club, an electronics club. These kinds of organisations are disappearing and the activities are being labelled as dangerous or complete social death to get involved in, leaving a void which is being filled with idle gaming.
Everyone uses git nowadays, but who uses ar? ... I think .deb does.
My mistake. I should have said Git-tar. (Git-bzip2 just doesn't quite fit).
I have written a song for you too:
Your musical ability
Is sure to wisk you merrily
From this shallow pool of genes
For with music like that my friend,
you'll never get laid,
You'll never get laid.
(Git-ar solo)
Actually, you sound like you'd do better at the Department of Homeland Security.
What a pity there's no department of homeland trolls.
How do you think residents would respond in your area? "The house is rattling, there's a tremendous roaring sound, I can feel reverberations through my body, and there's a bright glow on the horizon...meh, my WoW character is about to level up. I'll worry about it later." Somehow I'm guessing not.
How do you see a glow on the horizon from the basement? Webcam?
I am sure that friend was not allowed to do a lot of other things. Sorry, you are on call, that means you are not able to go to a restaurant or movie. Tough luck. Talk to you employer for compensation.
That's fantastic. You think your "right" to watch a movie or eat at a restaurant is more important than the right of those who sacrifice their leisure to fulfil a role in society to still have some semblance of normality.
The doctors I know all turn off their phone during the movie. OTOH they also send text messages to each other during operations, where mere mortals are not even allowed to turn on their phone. (Yes, during the operation.) ...and this is something you endorse or find acceptable??? There are very few if any situations where this should ever be permitted.
If those people do not like it, take a job that does not require you to be on call. I should not suffer from your career choice.
Well if enough of these people make a career choice that means there are less doctors etc. you will suffer and possibly die. The main problem I have with that is that so would others.
If a person is being a schmuck with their phone at a theatre, cinema, or restaurant, they should simply be ejected. Just as someone who behaves in any other inappropriate manner should be ejected. Having a phone on vibrate and going outside to answer it (or even briefly answering and walking out to continue the conversation) IF it's an urgent situation (like an on call event) is no big deal. Some idiot with zero etiquette chatting to their sister/boyfriend/cousin with complete disregard for people should be treated like any other disruptive person. The problem isn't the phone. If you catch someone masturbating in a theatre do you propose we castrate all theatre goers??? No you deal with that individual's socially unacceptable behaviour.
People shouldn't have to give up their right to use a phone appropriately just because you don't want a 10 second interuption of your movie. Stop being so damn self centred.
That's 'cos eating still trumps talking for most people.
How many people are going to sit there yakking while their food goes cold? Not too many
Who says they're mutually exclusive? You just have to talk with your mouth full. ;-)
The right way to do it is always serve pre-made sandwiches first. Less waste. Everyone gets something slightly stale in slow periods but no one gets really stale hours old crud.
They can and do kill people. And if this is allowed to continue, more and more people are going to die. On both sides.
Yes, but by minimizing the killing they're maintaining their support base. Instead of the indiscriminate kill, rape, pillage, plunder of the traditional pirate that's bad news for all involved, they're making the case that they may be beneficial to have around for some groups. Now, the truth is they're after money and indifferent to life, but they're not stupid about it. They're creating a fluffy feel good image for their piracy.
My plan only addresses the short term issue: The piracy. That has to be dealt with immediately. Unchecked piracy will only result in the loss of more lives and cause economic problems on a world-wide scale.
I agree.
Dealing with the political issues in Somalia is a more complex issue that lacks an immediate solution.
Nuke them from space. It's the only way to be sure.
I kid! I kid!
I'm all for finding a peaceful solution if one can be arrived at.
It may be possible to incapacitate rather than kill them. An unpowered boat sitting in the middle of the ocean isn't a good bargaining platform and they may surrender willingly. Then there's non-lethal force. Gas them. Taser them. Tranqulize them.
What humourless inbred moron modded that as troll?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_your_base_are_belong_to_us#Game_transcript
If you follow the flowchart, you only serve pre-made sandwiches during busy periods. So if you're the first in line for dinner after that evening lull, you're going to get the oldest stalest sandwich.