Most people think in terms of emotions, the equality of individuals, rights, etc.
Engineers think about society as if it were a machine that needs fixing (and given our overpopulation, pollution, ugly modern lifestyles, boring architecture, slavish jobs, etc. they may have a point). They are thinking of the long term consequences of our actions.
Unfortunately, this kind of thinking terrifies 99% of the population who never want to be told what to do, or that what they're doing (buying SUVs, having 11 illiterate grubby children) is wrong. They want to think about their karmic pleasures, like who they're having sex with, what they're buying, who thinks they are pretty on myspace, etc.
If your ideas are demonized by 99% of a population, your only recourse is to be a terrorist or extreme ideologue.
* Ted Kaczynski (advanced mathematics) * William Pierce (physics degree from Rice U) * David Myatt (IT guru) * Joseph Goebbels (PhD in philosophy)
MusOpen has a great idea and I am glad to see them pursuing it. Since I've started buying classical music, I've found I'm getting more enjoyment per work than I ever did with popular music.
Before MusOpen, there was the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra's giveaway of 10 symphonies:
Third world countries tend to be run by juntas, warlords, oligarchs and strongmen. They're like having the Mafia, except as your official government.
If you want to get anything done in these countries, you make nice with them. Either that, or you have to overthrow them.
This is why the CIA is routinely in bed with horrible people -- these horrible people run the horrible countries where they need to get things done.
Western businesses have taken a massive beating in Russia because everything is corrupt (Russia, as a country with minimal rule of law and an average IQ of 96, qualifies as third-world). They've started to play ball because short of that invasion, it's the only option.
In this case, while Microsoft is doing evil, it's also a necessary evil if they want to do business in Russia.
If you were waiting for the version of Firefox that takes advantage of your new ATI or Nvidia GPU. If you've got Windows 7, you'll want to check out the latest Firefox 4 beta.
What kind of illiterate wrote this mess? If I ever find myself homeless and down to my last rock, I know where to apply for work.
Each philosophy (including all religions) thinks it is the right one.
Two or more cannot coexist in the same space.
People have the right to be intolerant... because without intolerance, they allow themselves to be assimilated.
RackSpace made a stupid error by getting involved in a political issue. Now people will expect more webhosts to do this, and they will waste many more hours trying to figure out what is and is not "hate speech."
Remember, if you're criticizing a majority (whites, Christians, Jews/Judaism, conservatives, men, heterosexuals) it's OK, but if you're criticizing a minority (African-Americans, Muslims/Islam, homosexuals, polyamorists) it's a "hate crime" (NewSpeak for unsanctioned thought).
1. Brazil has few content producers, so stands to lose nothing economically. American, European, Japanese and Indian companies will. 2. In many parts of Brazil, rule of law does not exist, so legalizing what will happen inevitably is not much of a loss. 3. Brazil is a third world country that faces many problems. Keeping these positive headlines rolling distracts from the appalling corruption, dysfunctional public services, disease, pollution and neglect that plagues the country.
I love much of Brazil -- who can't like Sepultura, Evil, and Sarcofago? I ask you -- but I think we should be honest with ourselves about this situation.
One problem with our post-internet world is that people think writing like this, which spoon-feeds you tiny bits of information, is superior to condensed but slightly more complex writing:
But with USB 3.0, even though the plug looks the same, the cable has extra wires. Because of this, it will not work in a 2.0 port. The edge of a USB 3.0 plug is colored blue so you know it's a 3.0. The USB 3.0 cable has nine wires, compared with the five in a USB 2.0 cable, even though it's the same thickness.
Likewise, the end of the cable that connects to a USB device, such as a printer or external drive, is also different from the old USB 2.0 connector. Because of this, you can't use USB 3.0 cables to connect USB 2.0 devices. Also, if your drive, scanner, printer, camera, or whatever is a USB 3.0 device, then you must use a 3.0 cable.
On the plus side, you will be able to plug USB 3.0 devices and cables into the USB 2.0 ports on your current computer, but you won't get the speed advantage.
We're not kindergartners. Try:
With USB 3.0, even though the plug looks the same, the cable has nine wires instead of five. Because of this, it will not work in a 2.0 port, and you can't use USB 3.0 cables to connect USB 2.0 devices. You can use USB 3.0 cables to connect to USB 2.0 ports, but you will get no speed advantage.
If your device is USB 3.0, however, you must use a USB 3.0 cable. The edge of a USB 3.0 plug is colored blue so you know it's a 3.0.
'They're about five years behind where they need to be.'
These days, anyone that industry likes is an "expert."
College works best when it functions as (a) a qualification program and (b) a general, background, theoretical and broad study of the subject matter.
Qualification in this case means that you go to college to endure an extended test that ultimately shows how dedicated and intelligent you were. Made it through four years of Harvard? You're pretty good, usually.
A general background means that you study the theory and a broad survey of the topic, so that you understand the underlying issues and the basic methods of addressing them.
I don't think it makes sense to teach specifics in college, except vocational colleges like community colleges. That's the kind of stuff you learn on your first few jobs anyway, and it's so rapidly changing that trying to get college to teach it is a moving target no one will hit.
This is an excellent development as it further legitimizes the idea that:
(a) African-Americans are a separate group that should not be assimilated; (b) African-Americans have their own culture, values and heritage that is distinct from the majority; (c) African-Americans are best treated as a self-governing cultural community within the political entity "USA".
In other words, it's a step forward for true African-American autonomy, and an implicit recognition of Pan-Nationalism.
All those ads, Examiner.com payments, "send paypal donation" buttons, etc. have been untaxed income for a long time. All that's happening now is that states are awakening and correcting the balance.
Asking for a business license so that you can publish content and be paid for it is not an unfair thing. In fact, it's fair to those who want to sell hot dogs instead, and also have to get licensed as a result.
The USA is facing a silent wave of corruption, eroding our institutions from within. Normally, I'd disparage alarmist panic, but in this case, I think it's legitimate because it's rising along with the other symptoms of a nation decaying to third-world levels of disorganization:
My man Plato/Socrates noted this cycle of decaying civilizations in Greece long ago: when they start going downhill, it's a path through third-world levels of disorganization and dysfunction that allows tyrants to take power.
The point isn't the mechanics of the genome, but understanding the process of thought itself and emulating it.
P.Z. Myers has always been an idiot, but now he's really stepped into the zone of being one of those pricks from high school who was always dense but thought he was the bee's knees because he had political opinions the teachers liked to hear.
"I'm sorry, our computers are down." (Reality: our employees are playing NET TREK and DUNGEON on a Friday afternoon.)
2000s:
"I'm sorry, our computer has a trojan." (Reality: our employees finally found an "unused" machine to surf porn, got loaded up with Russian malware, and now it's nobody's fault.)
People love "reasons" that are really justifications, like calling someone a pedophile or a racist. It doesn't matter if it's true. The herd's so afraid of being associated with child porn or racism that they freak out and ostracize the person. That way, you don't have to censor them or jail them. You can just socially isolate them, which in turn bankrupts them as their business or job prospects collapse. It's 100% effective.
You think Virgin Killers is bad? Try that Blind Faith album they don't stock in stores anymore even though it has Eric Clapton on it:
Genetics means "out of your control" and touches on some raw nerve issues, so there's a lot of throwing around of "statistical" information and unrealistic mental models.
For example of statistical confusion:
New research shows that at least 10 percent of genes in the human population can vary in the number of copies of DNA sequences they contain--a finding that alters current thinking that the DNA of any two humans is 99.9 percent similar in content and identity.
I don't know why anyone would put any real data into a service like Facebook.
It's a large, profit-driven, high-margin corporation. You wouldn't tell McDonald's or Coca-Cola what your interests are, where you live, YOUR POLITICAL OPINIONS, who your parents are and who you want to date, would you?
Stay anonymous. Fill in entertaining bullshit when they ask you personal questions. They think I'm a gay Black Christian Libertarian who wants legal pot and likes chinchillas.
Life fills a space defined by its environment
on
Did Sea Life Arise Twice?
·
· Score: 4, Informative
Life creates itself to fit a niche, through a trial-and-error process called natural selection.
1. Does this mean life could arise twice, in similar form? Yes, and in fact there's evidence for parallel evolution:
2. Does this mean that life on other planets arises identically or near-identically to our own, or that the origin of life on earth comes from elsewhere? Possibly:
Basically, life adapting to similar conditions in different areas would have a similar "blueprint" although possibly different DNA reflecting a different route to that end.
It's design is not encoded in the genome: what's in the genome is a collection of molecular tools wrapped up in bits of conditional logic, the regulatory part of the genome, that makes cells responsive to interactions with a complex environment.
Its design not "it's design."
If you're telling me you're an authority on this topic, you should be able to speak English well enough not to make these basic errors.
Further, you're making a semantic argument: "encoded in the genome" versus "a result of the emergent reactions caused by what's encoded in the genome" is a trivial distinction.
This isn't the first time P.Z. Myers has convinced me he's incompetent. His political columns are even more chock-full of grammatical and logical errors, including blatant logical fallacies.
tl;dr Hurd was a goofus and tried to get intimate with a subordinate but backed off when it went nowhere, and probably did nothing illegal or immoral to Jodie Fischer or HP; the board just wanted to avoid publicity.
1. Set up really popular new big thing! 2. Have 500 million morons congregate. 3. They do ??? which is important because ??? 4. Sell ads for products they probably don't purchase because they're just goofing off on the internet because they're too broke to go do something fun instead. 5. ??? 6. Profit!
Slashdot Mirror
Most people think in terms of emotions, the equality of individuals, rights, etc.
Engineers think about society as if it were a machine that needs fixing (and given our overpopulation, pollution, ugly modern lifestyles, boring architecture, slavish jobs, etc. they may have a point). They are thinking of the long term consequences of our actions.
Unfortunately, this kind of thinking terrifies 99% of the population who never want to be told what to do, or that what they're doing (buying SUVs, having 11 illiterate grubby children) is wrong. They want to think about their karmic pleasures, like who they're having sex with, what they're buying, who thinks they are pretty on myspace, etc.
If your ideas are demonized by 99% of a population, your only recourse is to be a terrorist or extreme ideologue.
* Ted Kaczynski (advanced mathematics)
* William Pierce (physics degree from Rice U)
* David Myatt (IT guru)
* Joseph Goebbels (PhD in philosophy)
And doubtless many more.
MusOpen has a great idea and I am glad to see them pursuing it. Since I've started buying classical music, I've found I'm getting more enjoyment per work than I ever did with popular music.
Before MusOpen, there was the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra's giveaway of 10 symphonies:
http://kco.radio4.nl/index.php?lang=en
http://www.concertgebouworkest.nl/page.ocl?pageid=109&lang=en
My favorites are the Schubert, Saint-Saens, Bruckner and Beethoven.
Third world countries tend to be run by juntas, warlords, oligarchs and strongmen. They're like having the Mafia, except as your official government.
If you want to get anything done in these countries, you make nice with them. Either that, or you have to overthrow them.
This is why the CIA is routinely in bed with horrible people -- these horrible people run the horrible countries where they need to get things done.
Western businesses have taken a massive beating in Russia because everything is corrupt (Russia, as a country with minimal rule of law and an average IQ of 96, qualifies as third-world). They've started to play ball because short of that invasion, it's the only option.
In this case, while Microsoft is doing evil, it's also a necessary evil if they want to do business in Russia.
From the Tom's Hardware article:
What kind of illiterate wrote this mess? If I ever find myself homeless and down to my last rock, I know where to apply for work.
Each philosophy (including all religions) thinks it is the right one.
Two or more cannot coexist in the same space.
People have the right to be intolerant... because without intolerance, they allow themselves to be assimilated.
RackSpace made a stupid error by getting involved in a political issue. Now people will expect more webhosts to do this, and they will waste many more hours trying to figure out what is and is not "hate speech."
Remember, if you're criticizing a majority (whites, Christians, Jews/Judaism, conservatives, men, heterosexuals) it's OK, but if you're criticizing a minority (African-Americans, Muslims/Islam, homosexuals, polyamorists) it's a "hate crime" (NewSpeak for unsanctioned thought).
They forgot to mention a few details:
1. Brazil has few content producers, so stands to lose nothing economically. American, European, Japanese and Indian companies will.
2. In many parts of Brazil, rule of law does not exist, so legalizing what will happen inevitably is not much of a loss.
3. Brazil is a third world country that faces many problems. Keeping these positive headlines rolling distracts from the appalling corruption, dysfunctional public services, disease, pollution and neglect that plagues the country.
I love much of Brazil -- who can't like Sepultura, Evil, and Sarcofago? I ask you -- but I think we should be honest with ourselves about this situation.
One problem with our post-internet world is that people think writing like this, which spoon-feeds you tiny bits of information, is superior to condensed but slightly more complex writing:
We're not kindergartners. Try:
These days, anyone that industry likes is an "expert."
College works best when it functions as (a) a qualification program and (b) a general, background, theoretical and broad study of the subject matter.
Qualification in this case means that you go to college to endure an extended test that ultimately shows how dedicated and intelligent you were. Made it through four years of Harvard? You're pretty good, usually.
A general background means that you study the theory and a broad survey of the topic, so that you understand the underlying issues and the basic methods of addressing them.
I don't think it makes sense to teach specifics in college, except vocational colleges like community colleges. That's the kind of stuff you learn on your first few jobs anyway, and it's so rapidly changing that trying to get college to teach it is a moving target no one will hit.
This is an excellent development as it further legitimizes the idea that:
(a) African-Americans are a separate group that should not be assimilated;
(b) African-Americans have their own culture, values and heritage that is distinct from the majority;
(c) African-Americans are best treated as a self-governing cultural community within the political entity "USA".
In other words, it's a step forward for true African-American autonomy, and an implicit recognition of Pan-Nationalism.
All those ads, Examiner.com payments, "send paypal donation" buttons, etc. have been untaxed income for a long time. All that's happening now is that states are awakening and correcting the balance.
Asking for a business license so that you can publish content and be paid for it is not an unfair thing. In fact, it's fair to those who want to sell hot dogs instead, and also have to get licensed as a result.
I don't believe Blagojevich was innocent. I think he was found not guilty. But he's not alone.
This article from 2009 illustrates what I mean:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5B74AI20091208
The USA is facing a silent wave of corruption, eroding our institutions from within. Normally, I'd disparage alarmist panic, but in this case, I think it's legitimate because it's rising along with the other symptoms of a nation decaying to third-world levels of disorganization:
* Oligarchy
* Corruption
* Debt
* Crime
* Urban decay
My man Plato/Socrates noted this cycle of decaying civilizations in Greece long ago: when they start going downhill, it's a path through third-world levels of disorganization and dysfunction that allows tyrants to take power.
Speeding does not necessarily equal bad driving.
If anything, speeding is a subset of bad driving -- for people who are already bad drivers.
You need to lobby your local government to more heavily regulate/test drivers.
There is no technological solution that can take the place of that.
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1757102&cid=33280252
The point isn't the mechanics of the genome, but understanding the process of thought itself and emulating it.
P.Z. Myers has always been an idiot, but now he's really stepped into the zone of being one of those pricks from high school who was always dense but thought he was the bee's knees because he had political opinions the teachers liked to hear.
1970s:
"I'm sorry, our computers are down." (Reality: our employees are playing NET TREK and DUNGEON on a Friday afternoon.)
2000s:
"I'm sorry, our computer has a trojan." (Reality: our employees finally found an "unused" machine to surf porn, got loaded up with Russian malware, and now it's nobody's fault.)
People love "reasons" that are really justifications, like calling someone a pedophile or a racist. It doesn't matter if it's true. The herd's so afraid of being associated with child porn or racism that they freak out and ostracize the person. That way, you don't have to censor them or jail them. You can just socially isolate them, which in turn bankrupts them as their business or job prospects collapse. It's 100% effective.
You think Virgin Killers is bad? Try that Blind Faith album they don't stock in stores anymore even though it has Eric Clapton on it:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51F4qeGnsXL._SS500_.jpg [NSFW!]
Genetics means "out of your control" and touches on some raw nerve issues, so there's a lot of throwing around of "statistical" information and unrealistic mental models.
For example of statistical confusion:
New research shows that at least 10 percent of genes in the human population can vary in the number of copies of DNA sequences they contain--a finding that alters current thinking that the DNA of any two humans is 99.9 percent similar in content and identity.
http://www.hhmi.org/news/scherer20061123.html
And broken mental models:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewontin's_Fallacy
Until our knowledge improves, you're going to see more "politicization" of DNA-related science.
I thought those were gasses.
< FWEET! >
Apropos of this:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/7951269/Young-will-have-to-change-names-to-escape-cyber-past-warns-Googles-Eric-Schmidt.html
I don't know why anyone would put any real data into a service like Facebook.
It's a large, profit-driven, high-margin corporation. You wouldn't tell McDonald's or Coca-Cola what your interests are, where you live, YOUR POLITICAL OPINIONS, who your parents are and who you want to date, would you?
Stay anonymous. Fill in entertaining bullshit when they ask you personal questions. They think I'm a gay Black Christian Libertarian who wants legal pot and likes chinchillas.
Life creates itself to fit a niche, through a trial-and-error process called natural selection.
1. Does this mean life could arise twice, in similar form? Yes, and in fact there's evidence for parallel evolution:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100225214757.htm
2. Does this mean that life on other planets arises identically or near-identically to our own, or that the origin of life on earth comes from elsewhere? Possibly:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panspermia
Basically, life adapting to similar conditions in different areas would have a similar "blueprint" although possibly different DNA reflecting a different route to that end.
Its design not "it's design."
If you're telling me you're an authority on this topic, you should be able to speak English well enough not to make these basic errors.
Further, you're making a semantic argument: "encoded in the genome" versus "a result of the emergent reactions caused by what's encoded in the genome" is a trivial distinction.
This isn't the first time P.Z. Myers has convinced me he's incompetent. His political columns are even more chock-full of grammatical and logical errors, including blatant logical fallacies.
This article summarizes it well but I'd have to quote more than "fair use" allows:
http://gawker.com/5609386/heres-the-real-reason-hp-ceo-mark-hurd-was-fired
tl;dr Hurd was a goofus and tried to get intimate with a subordinate but backed off when it went nowhere, and probably did nothing illegal or immoral to Jodie Fischer or HP; the board just wanted to avoid publicity.
This bill is another bone thrown to special interests. Like the others, we're all expected to subsidize a dying industry.
Some libertarians may be extremists, but the free market is a better regulator.
Government of good intentions results in votes being covertly up for sale covertly, while the free market operates above ground.
Like the Salvation Army suing us for a graphic with the words "Satanic Army" on a parody Salvation Army logo.
What were they afraid of, that Satan would literally repossess their copyright?
1. Set up really popular new big thing!
2. Have 500 million morons congregate.
3. They do ??? which is important because ???
4. Sell ads for products they probably don't purchase because they're just goofing off on the internet because they're too broke to go do something fun instead.
5. ???
6. Profit!
Good idea:
For the people who can read newspapers, there's the full story loaded with factual detail.
For the rest, there's a blog-style two-paragraph campy tongue-in-cheek story that's easy to read.
He can charge money for the real content, then have his editorial staff of college hipsters convert it into a blog for $8/hour.
Smart, this guy -- he's good at spotting markets and catering to them. I doubt he holds any of the opinions featured in his newspapers.