Here, here. The parent post is a bit crass in language but spot on in philosophical outlook. I'm don't see why it was modded down.
Sure, productivity and practicality is great for where you need it, but we live for other things as well. Perl is dead useful for lots of things. It's also the language that got me caught up and interested in programming. Plus, it's just fun to sometimes be able to write up a quick script and not have to worry about variable typing, array overruns or the other assorted nit picky stuff necessary to other languages.
I think this quote from Stallman's essay might help clear this up:
``Free software'' is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of ``free'' as in ``free speech,'' not as in ``free beer.''
I work part time at a place where I am one of two employees and the boss is not around quite often. The other employee and I don't interact that much. To make matters worse I went to part time when the economy tanked so I was also doing web work from home.
While I have lots of freedom at work it was starting to drive me crazy. Ultimately my answer was to keep working part time and to go back to school to get a more formal education in programming. It's great being in school again--even the math classes that I hated in high school--and being among other people who are also interested in programming is great fun. We'll see if I still feel that way by the time I get my degree.:-)
What does being liberal have to do with this? Would it be any different if a weak minded conservative came up with it? Aside from the fact that we be obligated to send death squads to other countries, I mean.
As a matter of fact, things have gotten so automated that a pilot friend of mine told me that the flight crew of the future will consist of only one pilot and a dog. The pilot's job is to feed the dog. The dog's job is to keep the pilot from touching anything.
I wish I had mod points for the parent post. Microsoft is making money by trying to control something that can't really be controlled perfectly, namely software. I remember Apple being described in derisive terms not too long ago as a hardware company. It seems to me that hardware is the only thing you can realistically manage. Regular software will be pirated and heavily DRMed software is a headache, but shiny new, cool hardware with accompanying software that works well is a good bet. It can't be copied too easily and people like buying tangible things that they can show off to friends.
It wasn't really meant to be a jab at Israel. I'm quite aware of the Israeli side of things. The majority of US foreign aid goes to two countries, Israel and--surprise--Saudi Arabia. The rest pales. By the way, that's US foreign aid, not US foreign military aid.
I wonder about that bit concerning 3/4 of the money gets spent in the US. Not being an economist it's hard for me to see why the money needs to go outside the country first at all....
You might be surprised at just how much access to funding they do have. Check this out. Think of this technology as a a sort of return on American taxpayer dollars. That we'll have to pay for.:-)
Perhaps, but the funny thing is that I notice lots of non "bums" (which I assume to mean street dwellers) using shopping carts to wheel their purchases home in the nearby neighborhood where they then leave them. They are a bigger problem than the street people.
Also, there is a grocery store near me that has a shopping cart system that is supposed to prevent people from taking the carts off premise. Around one of the wheels there is a shroud that houses some kind of brake and when the cart goes beyond the electronic perimeter these brakes lock up, making it nearly impossible to push. I'm not sure how well the system works. They can't be cheap either but I can see that the goal is to save money by keeping the carts on the premises to avoid having to pay money to someone to bring them back.
My point is, if there is an advantage to be made in the purchase of these new high-tech carts the information they are gathering about the users must be quite valuable to them.
Look where most shopping carts end up at some point: In the alley behind my place or in the corner of a parking lot, bent in on the side from some SUV. There's a whole mini-industry dedicated to picking these things up from the far-flung places they end up.
If store owners are going to shell out for carts like this it tells me that the information they get in return must be very, very valuable.
Indeed. This San Diego company claims nothing less than the patent on internet commerce. They started by suing dozens of small businesses with the apparent goal of getting a $5000 settlement.
Tim Beere, owner of DeBrand Fine Chocolates, refused to settle and started a group whose purpose is to fight this. It looks like they're making headway, but it would be nice to see some of the bigger players in e-commerce kick in to crush this thing. So far, it's a bunch of small players refusing to be extorted who are bearing the brunt of the battle.
That's not what GIA is about. It's about collecting snippets of information here and there about our government officials so that we can build up a database that can be searched to reveal patterns of suspicious behavior.
Just because one wants to keep a sharp eye on the government doesn't make one a nutcase.
This company is also making good progress toward affordable solar energy. They have a roll-to-roll process that starts with a roll of raw stock at one end and at the other end you get a roll of amorphous thin film solar cell stock.
Instead of pushing for this sort of draconian system why don't you save yourself some time and trouble and move to a country where it's already like that? Saudi Arabia comes to mind....
"If this has affected the way in which third parties interact with our service, it is merely a byproduct of our efforts to implement preventative measures to protect our users from potential spammers," Yahoo spokeswoman Mary Osako said.
Well, irregardless she shouldn't have used the word "preventative." Don't misunderestimate me, I'm sure it gives the sentence an impactful feeling but it seemed unnecessary.
In the CMYK standard printing process, the ink markings superimpose
This is partially true as I understand it. When the ink is layed down the screens for the four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) are not aligned perfectly. They are offset so many degrees apart and a printer could tell you the optimum settings to avoid moire patterns. Perhaps this could have something to do with it.
Your syllogism doesn't hold up. All kinds of smart people believe weird things. See page 279 in Michael Shermer's book for a look at why smart people believe weird things. For instance, Ronald and Nancy Reagan regularly used psychic readings to aid them in decision making.
OK, so I couldn't really come up with a great example of "smart."
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It's just human nature. Douglas Adams wrote in "Last Chance to See" that he would glady spend an hour working on a way to save himself ten minutes on the computer.
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What's the big deal? These guys sound like everyday, ordinary CEOs to me.
Sure, productivity and practicality is great for where you need it, but we live for other things as well. Perl is dead useful for lots of things. It's also the language that got me caught up and interested in programming. Plus, it's just fun to sometimes be able to write up a quick script and not have to worry about variable typing, array overruns or the other assorted nit picky stuff necessary to other languages.
While I have lots of freedom at work it was starting to drive me crazy. Ultimately my answer was to keep working part time and to go back to school to get a more formal education in programming. It's great being in school again--even the math classes that I hated in high school--and being among other people who are also interested in programming is great fun. We'll see if I still feel that way by the time I get my degree. :-)
What does being liberal have to do with this? Would it be any different if a weak minded conservative came up with it? Aside from the fact that we be obligated to send death squads to other countries, I mean.
It's a good thing Microsoft isn't in the bridge building business. That last 10% would be a killer.
Well, I guess I have to ask...can I borrow your car?
As a matter of fact, things have gotten so automated that a pilot friend of mine told me that the flight crew of the future will consist of only one pilot and a dog. The pilot's job is to feed the dog. The dog's job is to keep the pilot from touching anything.
I wish I had mod points for the parent post. Microsoft is making money by trying to control something that can't really be controlled perfectly, namely software. I remember Apple being described in derisive terms not too long ago as a hardware company. It seems to me that hardware is the only thing you can realistically manage. Regular software will be pirated and heavily DRMed software is a headache, but shiny new, cool hardware with accompanying software that works well is a good bet. It can't be copied too easily and people like buying tangible things that they can show off to friends.
If there was a high enough setting it might even be able to repel mobs of looting CEOs.
I think you meant to say water vapor ware....
I wonder about that bit concerning 3/4 of the money gets spent in the US. Not being an economist it's hard for me to see why the money needs to go outside the country first at all....
You might be surprised at just how much access to funding they do have. Check this out. Think of this technology as a a sort of return on American taxpayer dollars. That we'll have to pay for. :-)
I know. Personally I've got 50 years--60 tops--left and then it's all over.
Also, there is a grocery store near me that has a shopping cart system that is supposed to prevent people from taking the carts off premise. Around one of the wheels there is a shroud that houses some kind of brake and when the cart goes beyond the electronic perimeter these brakes lock up, making it nearly impossible to push. I'm not sure how well the system works. They can't be cheap either but I can see that the goal is to save money by keeping the carts on the premises to avoid having to pay money to someone to bring them back.
My point is, if there is an advantage to be made in the purchase of these new high-tech carts the information they are gathering about the users must be quite valuable to them.
If store owners are going to shell out for carts like this it tells me that the information they get in return must be very, very valuable.
Indeed. This San Diego company claims nothing less than the patent on internet commerce. They started by suing dozens of small businesses with the apparent goal of getting a $5000 settlement.
Tim Beere, owner of DeBrand Fine Chocolates, refused to settle and started a group whose purpose is to fight this. It looks like they're making headway, but it would be nice to see some of the bigger players in e-commerce kick in to crush this thing. So far, it's a bunch of small players refusing to be extorted who are bearing the brunt of the battle.
Just because one wants to keep a sharp eye on the government doesn't make one a nutcase.
Instead of pushing for this sort of draconian system why don't you save yourself some time and trouble and move to a country where it's already like that? Saudi Arabia comes to mind....
Well, irregardless she shouldn't have used the word "preventative." Don't misunderestimate me, I'm sure it gives the sentence an impactful feeling but it seemed unnecessary.
This is partially true as I understand it. When the ink is layed down the screens for the four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) are not aligned perfectly. They are offset so many degrees apart and a printer could tell you the optimum settings to avoid moire patterns. Perhaps this could have something to do with it.
OK, so I couldn't really come up with a great example of "smart."
It's just human nature. Douglas Adams wrote in "Last Chance to See" that he would glady spend an hour working on a way to save himself ten minutes on the computer.
Knatch.