That Canada had its federal election last week. I voted by putting a big X on a paper ballot, using a plain old pencil. By the time I woke up the next morning, all results were finalized and we had our government. A few ridings will be recounted, but it won't affect the overall result.
While it's true that the USA has 10 times our population, I still don't understand why so much money, time, and stress is being spent on electronic voting machines. Technology is NOT a solution to every problem, and in many cases it overcomplicates a classic, tried and tested method.
How would you feel if you spent hundreds of dollars on a robot that buttered your toast, only to find that it took more time to fill up the butter reservoir and clean the machine than it did to butter your toast in the first place?
Move to Toronto if: 1) You have money 2) You enjoy money 3) You like hearing people talk about money
Move to Montreal if: 1) For you, money is secondary to living 2) You speak at least a bit of French 3) You like looking at gorgeous women 4) You enjoy a good party 5) You aren't offended by stripclubs, prostitutes, foul language, or loud noises... 6) You want to see diversity and eccentricity, not conformity and safety
"Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose" - Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster from "Me and Bobby McGee" (popularized by the late, great Janis Joplin)
There's magic in acting: controling your every emotion to become someone you're not, and then making other people believe it. That's art man. What they're trying to do sounds to me like trying to replace a Picasso with a fractal image. No magic
While you're right to a point, that shouldn't devalue this machinima. The greater variety we have in cinema these days, the better. I'm bored of blockbuster explosions and teary-eyed period pieces. I'd like to see a movie of a type that I've never ever seen before, and here it is! We shouldn't be posting negative comments just because of the spin they put on it "all artificial". Rather, we should be happy that another form of art is gaining popularity.
Art is, like most things, in the eye of the beholder. I consider fractal images some of the most beautiful art I've ever seen. Just because they're based on equations, and not human choices, doesn't make it not art. Nobody would argue that snowflakes aren't beautiful..
So let's stop flaming this thing, and be happy that people are putting effort into new frontiers. Long live variety!
I love your sig. Two nerdy pastimes rolled into one quote.
(Been spending all day at work listening to Live Phish albums, preparing for the great summer show!)
Follow the link in the parent
on
Shrek 2 How-To
·
· Score: 1
For anyone who hasn't done so, I urge you to follow the link in the parent post. I honestly thought it must be a joke when I saw the intro page, even the font screams Finding Nemo!
How do companies get away with this? Legally I guess they just to make it sufficiently differnet, but from a moral perspective this is just sad. The characters look far more human than fishy. I think I may deliberately not see this movie to protest the fact that they couldn't come up with an original style.
Three cheers Pixar, but also three cheers to whomever makes a good, original movie these days!
I would be surprised if a great number of slashdotters haven't read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maitenance" by Robet Pirsig. The book is about many things, but most of it boils down to the subject of "quality". That is, when two pieces of rhetoric are placed side by side, how does a human being determine which one is of the better quality? The fact is, there are so many factors that go into determining this, it almost becomes a philosophical question. If student A and student B both write papers on the same subject, using the same source material, and are both competent writers, what is the difference in the end results? One is going to be of a higher quality than the other for probably non-quantifiable reasons.
"In a sense... it's the student's choice of Quality that defines him. People differ about Quality, not because Quality is different, but because people are different in terms of experience.... if two people had identical a priori analogues they would see Quality identically every time."
I'm not sure I've made my point very well, but the fact is we can't have computers grading exams. That's very frightening for the education system. Teachers need to be more involved with their students, not less. And how, as an English teacher, would I be able to tell the differences between four students when they all score 5/6 on a computer graded essay? It's ridiculous.
Everyone needs to place more value on our teachers, it's insulting to suggest a computer can take their place.
This is not surprising, but it is depressing. I know that every one of you reading this comment has seen the Luke vs. Vader lightsaber fight in Ep6. It was classic, I would almost call it artful. The lighting, the music, the overall mood was just fantatsic moviemaking.
So what do we have to follow this up? Fighting on lava surf boards? That's just stupid. I wish I could say it more eloquently, but it's just. plain. stupid. The original movies exhibited a certain amount of class, but now it's just drivel. I cannot possibly get excited or emotionally involved in a battle when I'm laughing at the implausability of the entire affair. It's the same reason that the huge battle at the end of Ep2 sucked so hard: there was too much going on, it was too fancy, and it was there just for the sake of coolness.
Minimalist direction and set design can convey so much more emotion and plot than overblown, busy looking CG riddled garbage. Of course I'll see this movie, but I'm going into it knowing I'll be laughing at, rather than actually caring for, the characters.
I'm not angry at George Lucas, he has a right to make the movie he saw in his head. I just rather pity him. Growing old should make someone more mature, not less.
Energy requirements, among other things...
on
Diamond Age Approaching?
·
· Score: 5, Informative
First of all, I'd like to point out the article doesn't make any mention of the substantive amount of energy one of these molecular assemblers would undoubtedly require. If I understand the science even remotely, will it not take energy to break and form atomic bonds that are not naturally occuring? I understand chemical means can be used, but those chemicals need to be manufactured as well. Ignoring such a huge part of the problem doesn't give this article much credibility. Does it matter how far we push technology if we don't have the means to power it?
Aside from that, I can't say I'm overly impressed by the source of the article. The CRN FAQ doesn't inspire much confidence. The two directors have a single undergrad degree between them. I appreciate their enthusiasm in promoting the discussion of nanotechnology and its implications, but I think I'd take it a bit more seriously from a more credible source.
It was an interesting read, but sounded more like wishful thinking from a sci-fi fan than from someone who has a grasp of all the issues that factor into such a huge leap forward for technology.
Phish lets you do things a number of ways. You can buy a taper's ticket, which allows you access to the taper's section. Here you'll see a sea of microphones and DAT recorders. This is for the real phans, the sound quality isn't great.
The second option is Live Phish. You can download shows roughly 24 hours after they've performed. Both MP3 and FLAC available (though FLAC is a bit more expensive, due to bandwidth). Each show is recorded directly from the soundboard mix, also comes with a setlist and cover to print off.
It's a great service, and it's being widely used by Phish fans, and personally I'd LOVE to see this for every show I go to (Bowie on his latest reality tour... A CD of that would've been gold). So this latest scheme is nothing new, but kind of overcomplicates the issue. But this is definitely the way of the future.
Two robots speak to each other, without a human around, and all of a sudden come to the realization that they neither is human, but both are alike.
I don't believe one robot will realize its individuality until faced with the fact that it has peers. The point at which it understands that its peers are different that its "masters" is a dangerous knife edge...
THere is evidence to show that the poles are reversed from a previous point in history
Plenty of evidence in fact, magnetic pole reversal is a widely accepted phenomena. Not only are we in a "mini ice age" but we're also in the tail end of a magnetic reversal, as the field has been declining in strength (due to fluctuations in the uniformity of the field). We're actually a few hundred million years past due, according to calculated averages.
Not that magnetic reversal has anything to do with climate, of course. But you're right at least in stating that things on Earth change, and we have to remember that a lifetime is less than a grain of sand on a beach (if you see what I mean).
How is this a YRO story? None of us have the right to rip and crack a commercial game release. The only right here, is that of the developers to do something about it, which apparently... they just did.
Class releases have been around for years, I'm amazed it took this long for them to get shut down (at least, temporarily).
While I do read/. everyday, and I am very aware that the general relevant population doesn't think much of Enterprise, I have to respectfully disagree. Take last night's new episode as an example: Archer attacked and stormed a totally innocent ship because he needed their warp coil; T-Pol turns out to be a drug addict! These are things that NEVER would have happend on the original Trek or on TNG. The writers are finally writing morally fallible characters, and I for one am thrilled.
That said, a prequel has MUCH more potential to be good than another sequel. They can have the Klingons be evil again (who wouldn't want that?). Technology wouldn't be as advanced, which makes easy-outs of plot points harder to resolve, and hence more interesting. The federation isn't as strong, which also opens up more complex plot possibilities.
I think this is the best announcement for Trek fans in years. Nemesis was simply awful, and I'd hate to see the Data v2 re-learning how to paint, play violin, or some such garbage. Old can sometimes be new again!
Too many Gates bashing posts here, on the basis of software for schools (as opposed to cash). To that end... I'm sure most of you have heard of this foundation, but perhaps your OS choice colours your view of the man. The fact is that these two have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to very worthy causes. A very important point was made by another poster in this thread who noted that MS is not just Bill Gates, but rather the thousands of shareholders that own the company.
So this "money" going to California schools may not make you feel warm and fuzzy, but follow the following...
I'm sure many/.'ers are aware of this, but the fact that the Hindenburg was filled with Hydrogen had very little to do with the disaster. The problem was the coating of the balloon, which was highly flammable and susceptible to static buildup (someone provide more details if possible). Add in the metal frame, and as soon as a small spark erupted it arced across the whole balloon and the rest is history.
Hydrogen is pretty safe, if you know what you're doing. But a good point the Hindenburg can teach us is that all elements of a system must be inspected with respect to each other, in order for something to be truly safe.
So you waste your batteries, don't use the phone, can't get service... But feel compelled to point out that you never turn it off? What good can that do?
I'm personally not scared of mobiles on planes, but breaking the rules just because you feel like it doesn't really benefit anyone.
In addition to how good a conductor of heat it is (the fact sheet doesn't say) what about its electrical conductivity? They only say it is "water-like" and don't really get into detail on physical properties aside from boiling point. If one can build a totally sealed cooling system for a PC it would obviously have to have zero conductivity. One would still need a pump to move this substance in and out of the case, and the substance would have to have low heat retention for it to be useful at all... None of these things are really covered in the whitepaper.
That said, this is a very clever invention. They'll have no problem marketing something that can be so easily demonstrated to have such remarkable properties.
I do understand the point the parent is making. We are restricted in what we can watch, but why is that? Because unless the government steps in to regulate what flows into our country, we'll end up watching ONLY american TV and listening ONLY to American music. And unfortunately you can't blame that entirely on the Canadian people, you can blame that on resources. Canadian broadcasters simply do not have the money to advertise like American ones can, we need government assistance just to put out a half-hour sitcom once per week! I cheer for the Canadian Content laws, they give an industry with much less money a bit more room to fight.
What do you think would happen if Canadians were allowed to access American satellite networks? All Canadian satellite providers would be out of business! They simply cannot compete with the raw financial power of our southern counterparts. Laws like this keep Canada Canada, slowly the seemingly inevitable process of Americanization (yes, that's a z, not an s).
You call it oppression, I call it good governance of a country who's culture is constantly in peril. Money rules, and in case you hadn't noticed, the USA has a helluva lot of it.
There is one great way to get the music you want, pay less, still have all the packaging and liner notes, and not give any money to the RIAA. They're called used CD shops. Just around the corner, I can buy 4 CD's for $20. Sure it's not the newest, most popular music, but I still find stuff that interests me. If I get an early release of a still popular band, I may be inclined to go to HMV to buy their new album. It's true that used CD's don't give money back to the artist, but they still contribute to their overall exposure. Wait, isn't this like P2P? Only difference is the government still makes taxes of the used CD sale.
Those of you who say you have stopped buying CD's because that supports the RIAA are missing the point. Keep buying CD's, just buy them used. Once you're bored of them, or if they ended up being albums you couldn't stand, sell them back to another used store. The artists still get exposure, which will increase ticket sales, more people at concerts mean more T-Shirt sales, and since this is how artists make money today anyhow, it's a win win situation. And the RIAA never sees a cent.
I'm never going to stop buying CD's. There are just too many good ones, and having a burnt copy, or a digital playlist just doesn't compare to cover-art, liner notes, and the satisfaction of adding to your collection.
Slashdot Mirror
That Canada had its federal election last week. I voted by putting a big X on a paper ballot, using a plain old pencil. By the time I woke up the next morning, all results were finalized and we had our government. A few ridings will be recounted, but it won't affect the overall result.
While it's true that the USA has 10 times our population, I still don't understand why so much money, time, and stress is being spent on electronic voting machines. Technology is NOT a solution to every problem, and in many cases it overcomplicates a classic, tried and tested method.
How would you feel if you spent hundreds of dollars on a robot that buttered your toast, only to find that it took more time to fill up the butter reservoir and clean the machine than it did to butter your toast in the first place?
As a Canadian who has lived in both cities:
Move to Toronto if:
1) You have money
2) You enjoy money
3) You like hearing people talk about money
Move to Montreal if:
1) For you, money is secondary to living
2) You speak at least a bit of French
3) You like looking at gorgeous women
4) You enjoy a good party
5) You aren't offended by stripclubs, prostitutes, foul language, or loud noises...
6) You want to see diversity and eccentricity, not conformity and safety
It's pretty obvious which one I'd choose...
"Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose"
- Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster
from "Me and Bobby McGee"
(popularized by the late, great Janis Joplin)
There's magic in acting: controling your every emotion to become someone you're not, and then making other people believe it. That's art man. What they're trying to do sounds to me like trying to replace a Picasso with a fractal image. No magic
While you're right to a point, that shouldn't devalue this machinima. The greater variety we have in cinema these days, the better. I'm bored of blockbuster explosions and teary-eyed period pieces. I'd like to see a movie of a type that I've never ever seen before, and here it is! We shouldn't be posting negative comments just because of the spin they put on it "all artificial". Rather, we should be happy that another form of art is gaining popularity.
Art is, like most things, in the eye of the beholder. I consider fractal images some of the most beautiful art I've ever seen. Just because they're based on equations, and not human choices, doesn't make it not art. Nobody would argue that snowflakes aren't beautiful..
So let's stop flaming this thing, and be happy that people are putting effort into new frontiers. Long live variety!
Or you can always just wait until she goes to bed to start playing
Yeah, right. I tried this once or twice. It really makes a woman feel sexy to go to bed alone while you're up in the soft glow of the monitor...
(and no, don't wake her up when you're done)
I love your sig. Two nerdy pastimes rolled into one quote.
(Been spending all day at work listening to Live Phish albums, preparing for the great summer show!)
For anyone who hasn't done so, I urge you to follow the link in the parent post. I honestly thought it must be a joke when I saw the intro page, even the font screams Finding Nemo!
How do companies get away with this? Legally I guess they just to make it sufficiently differnet, but from a moral perspective this is just sad. The characters look far more human than fishy. I think I may deliberately not see this movie to protest the fact that they couldn't come up with an original style.
Three cheers Pixar, but also three cheers to whomever makes a good, original movie these days!
I would be surprised if a great number of slashdotters haven't read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maitenance" by Robet Pirsig. The book is about many things, but most of it boils down to the subject of "quality". That is, when two pieces of rhetoric are placed side by side, how does a human being determine which one is of the better quality? The fact is, there are so many factors that go into determining this, it almost becomes a philosophical question. If student A and student B both write papers on the same subject, using the same source material, and are both competent writers, what is the difference in the end results? One is going to be of a higher quality than the other for probably non-quantifiable reasons.
... it's the student's choice of Quality that defines him. People differ about Quality, not because Quality is different, but because people are different in terms of experience. ... if two people had identical a priori analogues they would see Quality identically every time."
"In a sense
I'm not sure I've made my point very well, but the fact is we can't have computers grading exams. That's very frightening for the education system. Teachers need to be more involved with their students, not less. And how, as an English teacher, would I be able to tell the differences between four students when they all score 5/6 on a computer graded essay? It's ridiculous.
Everyone needs to place more value on our teachers, it's insulting to suggest a computer can take their place.
This is not surprising, but it is depressing. I know that every one of you reading this comment has seen the Luke vs. Vader lightsaber fight in Ep6. It was classic, I would almost call it artful. The lighting, the music, the overall mood was just fantatsic moviemaking.
So what do we have to follow this up? Fighting on lava surf boards? That's just stupid. I wish I could say it more eloquently, but it's just. plain. stupid. The original movies exhibited a certain amount of class, but now it's just drivel. I cannot possibly get excited or emotionally involved in a battle when I'm laughing at the implausability of the entire affair. It's the same reason that the huge battle at the end of Ep2 sucked so hard: there was too much going on, it was too fancy, and it was there just for the sake of coolness.
Minimalist direction and set design can convey so much more emotion and plot than overblown, busy looking CG riddled garbage. Of course I'll see this movie, but I'm going into it knowing I'll be laughing at, rather than actually caring for, the characters.
I'm not angry at George Lucas, he has a right to make the movie he saw in his head. I just rather pity him. Growing old should make someone more mature, not less.
First of all, I'd like to point out the article doesn't make any mention of the substantive amount of energy one of these molecular assemblers would undoubtedly require. If I understand the science even remotely, will it not take energy to break and form atomic bonds that are not naturally occuring? I understand chemical means can be used, but those chemicals need to be manufactured as well. Ignoring such a huge part of the problem doesn't give this article much credibility. Does it matter how far we push technology if we don't have the means to power it?
Aside from that, I can't say I'm overly impressed by the source of the article. The CRN FAQ doesn't inspire much confidence. The two directors have a single undergrad degree between them. I appreciate their enthusiasm in promoting the discussion of nanotechnology and its implications, but I think I'd take it a bit more seriously from a more credible source.
It was an interesting read, but sounded more like wishful thinking from a sci-fi fan than from someone who has a grasp of all the issues that factor into such a huge leap forward for technology.
Phish lets you do things a number of ways. You can buy a taper's ticket, which allows you access to the taper's section. Here you'll see a sea of microphones and DAT recorders. This is for the real phans, the sound quality isn't great.
The second option is Live Phish. You can download shows roughly 24 hours after they've performed. Both MP3 and FLAC available (though FLAC is a bit more expensive, due to bandwidth). Each show is recorded directly from the soundboard mix, also comes with a setlist and cover to print off.
It's a great service, and it's being widely used by Phish fans, and personally I'd LOVE to see this for every show I go to (Bowie on his latest reality tour... A CD of that would've been gold). So this latest scheme is nothing new, but kind of overcomplicates the issue. But this is definitely the way of the future.
Two robots speak to each other, without a human around, and all of a sudden come to the realization that they neither is human, but both are alike.
I don't believe one robot will realize its individuality until faced with the fact that it has peers. The point at which it understands that its peers are different that its "masters" is a dangerous knife edge...
The inexplicable increase in the number of stoned seagulls in the OpenOffice userbase...
Maybe it'll finally move out of it's parent's basement...
THere is evidence to show that the poles are reversed from a previous point in history
Plenty of evidence in fact, magnetic pole reversal is a widely accepted phenomena. Not only are we in a "mini ice age" but we're also in the tail end of a magnetic reversal, as the field has been declining in strength (due to fluctuations in the uniformity of the field). We're actually a few hundred million years past due, according to calculated averages.
Not that magnetic reversal has anything to do with climate, of course. But you're right at least in stating that things on Earth change, and we have to remember that a lifetime is less than a grain of sand on a beach (if you see what I mean).
How is this a YRO story? None of us have the right to rip and crack a commercial game release. The only right here, is that of the developers to do something about it, which apparently... they just did.
Class releases have been around for years, I'm amazed it took this long for them to get shut down (at least, temporarily).
While I do read /. everyday, and I am very aware that the general relevant population doesn't think much of Enterprise, I have to respectfully disagree. Take last night's new episode as an example: Archer attacked and stormed a totally innocent ship because he needed their warp coil; T-Pol turns out to be a drug addict! These are things that NEVER would have happend on the original Trek or on TNG. The writers are finally writing morally fallible characters, and I for one am thrilled.
That said, a prequel has MUCH more potential to be good than another sequel. They can have the Klingons be evil again (who wouldn't want that?). Technology wouldn't be as advanced, which makes easy-outs of plot points harder to resolve, and hence more interesting. The federation isn't as strong, which also opens up more complex plot possibilities.
I think this is the best announcement for Trek fans in years. Nemesis was simply awful, and I'd hate to see the Data v2 re-learning how to paint, play violin, or some such garbage. Old can sometimes be new again!
Too many Gates bashing posts here, on the basis of software for schools (as opposed to cash). To that end... I'm sure most of you have heard of this foundation, but perhaps your OS choice colours your view of the man. The fact is that these two have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to very worthy causes. A very important point was made by another poster in this thread who noted that MS is not just Bill Gates, but rather the thousands of shareholders that own the company.
So this "money" going to California schools may not make you feel warm and fuzzy, but follow the following...
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
And learn that Bill != Evil (at least, not always)
I'm sure many /.'ers are aware of this, but the fact that the Hindenburg was filled with Hydrogen had very little to do with the disaster. The problem was the coating of the balloon, which was highly flammable and susceptible to static buildup (someone provide more details if possible). Add in the metal frame, and as soon as a small spark erupted it arced across the whole balloon and the rest is history.
Hydrogen is pretty safe, if you know what you're doing. But a good point the Hindenburg can teach us is that all elements of a system must be inspected with respect to each other, in order for something to be truly safe.
So you waste your batteries, don't use the phone, can't get service... But feel compelled to point out that you never turn it off? What good can that do?
I'm personally not scared of mobiles on planes, but breaking the rules just because you feel like it doesn't really benefit anyone.
Hephastus hasn't been used (I don't think)
You've obviously never heard of the planet Vulcan... duh.
In addition to how good a conductor of heat it is (the fact sheet doesn't say) what about its electrical conductivity? They only say it is "water-like" and don't really get into detail on physical properties aside from boiling point. If one can build a totally sealed cooling system for a PC it would obviously have to have zero conductivity. One would still need a pump to move this substance in and out of the case, and the substance would have to have low heat retention for it to be useful at all... None of these things are really covered in the whitepaper.
That said, this is a very clever invention. They'll have no problem marketing something that can be so easily demonstrated to have such remarkable properties.
I feel sorry for the pigeon who needs to be hashed on the other end to check if it's the same one... that's gotta hurt.
A bit off-topic, but bear with me.
I do understand the point the parent is making. We are restricted in what we can watch, but why is that? Because unless the government steps in to regulate what flows into our country, we'll end up watching ONLY american TV and listening ONLY to American music. And unfortunately you can't blame that entirely on the Canadian people, you can blame that on resources. Canadian broadcasters simply do not have the money to advertise like American ones can, we need government assistance just to put out a half-hour sitcom once per week! I cheer for the Canadian Content laws, they give an industry with much less money a bit more room to fight.
What do you think would happen if Canadians were allowed to access American satellite networks? All Canadian satellite providers would be out of business! They simply cannot compete with the raw financial power of our southern counterparts. Laws like this keep Canada Canada, slowly the seemingly inevitable process of Americanization (yes, that's a z, not an s).
You call it oppression, I call it good governance of a country who's culture is constantly in peril. Money rules, and in case you hadn't noticed, the USA has a helluva lot of it.
There is one great way to get the music you want, pay less, still have all the packaging and liner notes, and not give any money to the RIAA. They're called used CD shops. Just around the corner, I can buy 4 CD's for $20. Sure it's not the newest, most popular music, but I still find stuff that interests me. If I get an early release of a still popular band, I may be inclined to go to HMV to buy their new album. It's true that used CD's don't give money back to the artist, but they still contribute to their overall exposure. Wait, isn't this like P2P? Only difference is the government still makes taxes of the used CD sale.
Those of you who say you have stopped buying CD's because that supports the RIAA are missing the point. Keep buying CD's, just buy them used. Once you're bored of them, or if they ended up being albums you couldn't stand, sell them back to another used store. The artists still get exposure, which will increase ticket sales, more people at concerts mean more T-Shirt sales, and since this is how artists make money today anyhow, it's a win win situation. And the RIAA never sees a cent.
I'm never going to stop buying CD's. There are just too many good ones, and having a burnt copy, or a digital playlist just doesn't compare to cover-art, liner notes, and the satisfaction of adding to your collection.