I think part of his point is that this is the kind of thing/.ers dig as the way out of poverty, while ignoring our own complicity in the structures that perpetuate it.
That all seems reasonable, but agents are *limited* to those rules of thumb (at least in the models discussed in the article). They won't second-guess themselves, for example.
The author of the article goes out of his way to note that agent-based modelling does NOT predict human society. At the moment, it's used to create analogous models of certain specific traits. The difference (that is not modelled) between an agent in these simulations and an individual in society is that the individual is (allegedly) rational: s/he has the ability to reason about the surrounding and make decisions appropriately, while agents follow extremely simple rulesets.
That said, it's still a pretty cool field. Check out http://www.swarm.org for a GPLed agent-based modelling package.
...which begs the question, to whom are the puzzles meaningless? Does everyone have to defer to someone else's judgement about whether their work has meaning?
Back to the main debate, Hardy used to argue that pure math like number theory has no relevance in the applied world, but coding theory is a highly applied branch of mathematics whose roots lie in number theory that didn't have an application when it was developed. Hell, Reed-Solomon codes are solvable by a method that Ramanujan developed, with no "applied" motivation, 50 years before the codes were invented. So who are you or I to say that the pursuit of pure mathematical knowledge is insane?
For details (ad nauseum), see:
Levinson, N. 'Coding Theory -- a couterexample to G.H. Hardy's conception of applied mathematics', 1970.
That's the standard law-enforcement argument that you're making - the only people who need privacy are those who are involved in illegal activities, so the act of ensuring one's communication is private should be outlawed.
But the fact remains that in most democracies, citizens have the right to communicate without police eavesdropping - hence the requirement (here) for a court-order to institute a wiretap.
And on a lighter note, if the "death threats to world leaders" aren't in plaintext at somepoint, they aren't very threatening!
Anybody who's been using Freeamp for the last several betas probably knows about Relatable...their former idea was to check out your MP3 collection and suggest similar music from it. Whether you like that idea or not (I don't), or this new licensing, it's still a pretty cool technology.
Tee hee hee. If I wanted to have a conversation about the blindingly self-evident, I'd spend the weekend with my parents. I can't believe that you respond to this drivel.
What's your point here - that the worst excesses of a market economy aren't a problem, because markets are a place of business only, where ethics don't factor in?
The poster of this Ask Slashdot clearly feels differently - he wants his involvement in the economy to be in a manner that promotes human rights rather than trampling them.
Concerning your last paragraph: of course, as soon as we get all third world nations are up to wage, safty, etc levels of today's united states, other forms of explotation will be considered horribly unethical (and probably called sweatshops as a metaphor)
Do you mean that it's pointless to fight against what is wrong, since there will always be something else that is wrong? This self-satisfied pseudo-analysis might satisfy you, but not everyone has divorced their actions from their beliefs.
I could go on - the sentence "of course, as soon as we get all third world nations are up to wage" is a goldmine as well ("we" have implemented systems that perpetuate sweatshops - it's utterly incorrect to assume that "we" can or will change them), but what's the point? Ignorance about how one's purchases can dehumanise workers may be excusable, but pride in willful ignorance is disgusting.
You're right that Pong wasn't released for the 2600, but lots of variations were. Video Olympics is what's in the Atari upstairs right now, and games 1-4 of that are almost exact Pong clones.
'Though my favorite from the Olympics is Pong Hockey. Oh, baby!
Brian
Re:One Downside: Mutual Exclusivity
on
X On OSX Now Free
·
· Score: 1
I'd call this a bit more than a "tiny trick;" it is more than a small matter that you need to quit the MacOS GUI.
That means that you can't, at least not with XFree86-for-Darwin, run MacOS apps concurrently with X-based applications.
Hey, you can't run MacOS apps on Darwin anyway, XFree or not. It's the BSD core of OSX, without the MacOS compatability or GUI.
In any case, on a full version of OSX, the article says you *can* run MacOS apps concurrently with X apps, since the X ones show up in a VNC window (see the previous VNC threads)...
Try reading more than the first line of the article before complaining.
Let us say Microsoft does sue Linux for NTFS support.
"Sue Linux"? Heh...I doubt if the kernel has any hooks to deal with litigation...POSIX certainly doesn't require them.
I can see it in "make config" now...Do you want to enable countersuits (Y/N)?
Let me first point out that the French un-employment rate, while perhaps dropping, is still at least twice the US rate...
You know that the American unemployment rate is measured differently than many other countries', right? And that comparing unemployment rates *between* countries isn't usually much of an indication of the employment situation?...IIRC, when adjusted to use the same criteria, the French and American rates are about 10% apart.
Unless this issue were forced through the Government, employers would pay the same amount.
Guess what? This issue was forced through the government. And you know what that means.:)
I like Lars' quote in the article that Metallica doesn't want their music "traded like a commodity, instead of the art that it is." LOL...I guess that doesn't apply to their record company, eh? I can just see Warner only making a single press of one of their albums available. "We aren't in it for the money, we're in it for the art."
I've already got the whole thing off Napster and it isn't even out yet. It's good to see the big boys wading in and trying to stop this threat to their entire industry's source of income.
If you're such a big fan, then why do even care about them going after Napster? You've already bought all their albums, right? Oh, well, I guess that you should shut up then.
If you see such a problem with Napster, why are you using it to grab entire albums? Oh well, I guess you should shut up then.
More rationally: the recording industry made similar claims about the threat to their its survival when AM radio became popular in the 30s. But it soon became their biggest marketing tool. Maybe something similar is happening with Napster: I know that I've bought more CDs as a result of downloading MP3s. Whtether this is true for everybody or even most people, I wouldn't even guess, but (back to the parallel) there were always some people taping songs off the radio anyway.
In any case, I suspect most people who listen to a lot of music would willingly pay the artist royalties. The problem is that that amounts to around a dollar an album. The rest goes into marketing, manufacturing, and record company profits. With a more direct form of distribution (a la Napster), those should all be gone (well, I can only hope that I won't have to see anymore bloody Jessica Simpson ads...)
You know, despite your total idiocy, you may have a point. Our current copywrite laws can't last much longer.
Speaking of idiocy, the word is copyright. As in the right to copy. Not as in writing a copy. Sheesh.
coil notebooks (the paper kind)
on
Laptop Exams?
·
· Score: 1
Cliff thinks that coilbooks are obsolete now? Personally, I'll take a clipboard and looseleaf to class any day over my laptop....they certainly aren't obsolete. And hopefully never will be - $2 of paper and pens is far more flexible (durable, reliable, etc) than a $2000 laptop.
Technology for it's own sake is trash. Use it when it provides a better solution.
Slashdot Mirror
I think part of his point is that this is the kind of thing /.ers dig as the way out of poverty, while ignoring our own complicity in the structures that perpetuate it.
That all seems reasonable, but agents are *limited* to those rules of thumb (at least in the models discussed in the article). They won't second-guess themselves, for example.
The author of the article goes out of his way to note that agent-based modelling does NOT predict human society. At the moment, it's used to create analogous models of certain specific traits. The difference (that is not modelled) between an agent in these simulations and an individual in society is that the individual is (allegedly) rational: s/he has the ability to reason about the surrounding and make decisions appropriately, while agents follow extremely simple rulesets.
That said, it's still a pretty cool field. Check out http://www.swarm.org for a GPLed agent-based modelling package.
Can't speak for anyone else, but I am.
...which begs the question, to whom are the puzzles meaningless? Does everyone have to defer to someone else's judgement about whether their work has meaning?
Back to the main debate, Hardy used to argue that pure math like number theory has no relevance in the applied world, but coding theory is a highly applied branch of mathematics whose roots lie in number theory that didn't have an application when it was developed. Hell, Reed-Solomon codes are solvable by a method that Ramanujan developed, with no "applied" motivation, 50 years before the codes were invented. So who are you or I to say that the pursuit of pure mathematical knowledge is insane?
For details (ad nauseum), see:
Levinson, N. 'Coding Theory -- a couterexample to G.H. Hardy's conception of applied mathematics', 1970.
I don't have the journal title handy...
That's the standard law-enforcement argument that you're making - the only people who need privacy are those who are involved in illegal activities, so the act of ensuring one's communication is private should be outlawed.
But the fact remains that in most democracies, citizens have the right to communicate without police eavesdropping - hence the requirement (here) for a court-order to institute a wiretap.
And on a lighter note, if the "death threats to world leaders" aren't in plaintext at somepoint, they aren't very threatening!
\bmg
LOL,funny as hell! Wish I had mod points...
Anybody who's been using Freeamp for the last several betas probably knows about Relatable...their former idea was to check out your MP3 collection and suggest similar music from it. Whether you like that idea or not (I don't), or this new licensing, it's still a pretty cool technology.
\bmg.
trade with a backward country is aid
:)
Heh, Canada is undeniably charitable to the States then.
"the Red Grissom"? Gimme a break. American political discourse was all learned from certain Senate Subcommittees.
/. in the first place?
What attracted people like #442009 to
Have you been taking a few too many drugs, me lad?
you caught me. yes i have.
Come to think of it, I can't believe I respond to this drivel. And the tags - wow. Nice work.
Tee hee hee. If I wanted to have a conversation about the blindingly self-evident, I'd spend the weekend with my parents. I can't believe that you respond to this drivel.
Searching for Creed? You're a glutton for punishment.
What's your point here - that the worst excesses of a market economy aren't a problem, because markets are a place of business only, where ethics don't factor in?
The poster of this Ask Slashdot clearly feels differently - he wants his involvement in the economy to be in a manner that promotes human rights rather than trampling them.
Concerning your last paragraph:
of course, as soon as we get all third world nations are up to wage, safty, etc levels of today's united states, other forms of explotation will be considered horribly unethical (and probably called sweatshops as a metaphor)
Do you mean that it's pointless to fight against what is wrong, since there will always be something else that is wrong? This self-satisfied pseudo-analysis might satisfy you, but not everyone has divorced their actions from their beliefs.
I could go on - the sentence "of course, as soon as we get all third world nations are up to wage" is a goldmine as well ("we" have implemented systems that perpetuate sweatshops - it's utterly incorrect to assume that "we" can or will change them), but what's the point? Ignorance about how one's purchases can dehumanise workers may be excusable, but pride in willful ignorance is disgusting.
Vive la consumerism.
You're right that Pong wasn't released for the 2600, but lots of variations were. Video Olympics is what's in the Atari upstairs right now, and games 1-4 of that are almost exact Pong clones.
'Though my favorite from the Olympics is Pong Hockey. Oh, baby!
Brian
I'd call this a bit more than a "tiny trick;" it is more than a small matter that you need to quit the MacOS GUI.
That means that you can't, at least not with XFree86-for-Darwin, run MacOS apps concurrently with X-based applications.
Hey, you can't run MacOS apps on Darwin anyway, XFree or not. It's the BSD core of OSX, without the MacOS compatability or GUI.
In any case, on a full version of OSX, the article says you *can* run MacOS apps concurrently with X apps, since the X ones show up in a VNC window (see the previous VNC threads)...
Try reading more than the first line of the article before complaining.
Brian
Let us say Microsoft does sue Linux for NTFS support.
"Sue Linux"? Heh...I doubt if the kernel has any hooks to deal with litigation...POSIX certainly doesn't require them.
I can see it in "make config" now...Do you want to enable countersuits (Y/N)?
Goo
"All we are is dust in the wind..." -- Kansas, Dust in the Wind
:)
but:
"We're all gonna be dirt in the ground..." -- Tom Waits, Dirt in the Ground
sorry.
Let me first point out that the French un-employment rate, while perhaps dropping, is still at least twice the US rate...
...IIRC, when adjusted to use the same criteria, the French and American rates are about 10% apart.
You know that the American unemployment rate is measured differently than many other countries', right? And that comparing unemployment rates *between* countries isn't usually much of an indication of the employment situation?
Unless this issue were forced through the Government, employers would pay the same amount. Guess what? This issue was forced through the government. And you know what that means. :)
I like Lars' quote in the article that Metallica doesn't want their music "traded like a commodity, instead of the art that it is." LOL...I guess that doesn't apply to their record company, eh? I can just see Warner only making a single press of one of their albums available. "We aren't in it for the money, we're in it for the art."
I've already got the whole thing off Napster and it isn't even out yet. It's good to see the big boys wading in and trying to stop this threat to their entire industry's source of income.
If you're such a big fan, then why do even care about them going after Napster? You've already bought all their albums, right? Oh, well, I guess that you should shut up then.
If you see such a problem with Napster, why are you using it to grab entire albums? Oh well, I guess you should shut up then.
More rationally: the recording industry made similar claims about the threat to their its survival when AM radio became popular in the 30s. But it soon became their biggest marketing tool. Maybe something similar is happening with Napster: I know that I've bought more CDs as a result of downloading MP3s. Whtether this is true for everybody or even most people, I wouldn't even guess, but (back to the parallel) there were always some people taping songs off the radio anyway.
In any case, I suspect most people who listen to a lot of music would willingly pay the artist royalties. The problem is that that amounts to around a dollar an album. The rest goes into marketing, manufacturing, and record company profits. With a more direct form of distribution (a la Napster), those should all be gone (well, I can only hope that I won't have to see anymore bloody Jessica Simpson ads...)
\Brian
You know, despite your total idiocy, you may have a point. Our current copywrite laws can't last much longer.
Speaking of idiocy, the word is copyright. As in the right to copy. Not as in writing a copy.
Sheesh.
Cliff thinks that coilbooks are obsolete now? Personally, I'll take a clipboard and looseleaf to class any day over my laptop....they certainly aren't obsolete. And hopefully never will be - $2 of paper and pens is far more flexible (durable, reliable, etc) than a $2000 laptop.
Technology for it's own sake is trash. Use it when it provides a better solution.