Yet we still pay exhorbitant amounts of money to go to the movies, or to a baseball game, or to buy Nikes, or....
Just give them the money! The Simpsons' are icons. They give me something to help me forget that Monday's coming around the corner.
Um, doesn't anyone remember that his first public proof of Fermat's Last Theorem contained a huge, embarrassing mistake? But because he was respected, nobody criticized him. But some young Swedish girl makes an error, and everyone is on her back? Give me a break.
If you would accept "repulsive" or "offensive" as definitions of obscene, then I'm certain that you'd find people who'd rank the NRA right up there with beastiality or child porn. I know I'm one of them. On a similar note, there are people who wouldn't find your average porn site (Playboy, etc) obscene. I'm one of those people, too. It's all a matter of opinion. De gustibus.
innovation \In`no*va"tion\, n. [L. innovatio; cf. F. innovation.] 1. The act of introducing something new. 2. A change effected by innovating.
In no dictionary did I find "breaking compliance with well-established standards" as a definition of innovation. Verisign must not have included research in their operating budget this year. Go figure.
I'd mod your post funny if I could. But I'm not just talking about breaking, neccessarily. What about installing drivers and such? Granted, I *gasp* haven't ran Linux for quite some time (and I can't wait to do so again), but if things are done the same way, installing packages is not nearly as easy on Linux as on Windows. Then again, software doesn't break as much on Linux as on windows...
While I agree that Linux may not be far behind on the usability scale, there are two important points that need to be made. First, Linux is way more difficult to install than Windows XP. The point is moot on a preinstalled system, granted, but it's still valid. Second, it's easier for the average user to obtain help with a problem. Chances are, the kid next door can fix XP, but not Linux. Address these two issues, however, and we might be on to something.
Yeah, but is that because of bad tech policy, or bad management? If the app writers went out of business in 2000, maybe it's time to upgrade. Regardless, sometimes taking a chance on a critical update is worth it in the long run, as we're seeing now. Unfortunately, you happened to draw the short straw one day. Good luck on your job search. They probably didn't deserve you anyway.
"Egarter matched the knife to the hand and found a deep gash on the hand that had been missed in previous studies. He then found another cut on the left hand and bruises on the torso, as if Otzi had been beaten."
The article also shows the advancement in forensic analysis. What do they mean they missed a DEEP GASH on his hand? C'mon, guys. Eyeglasses were invented in Italy. Use them.
"The satellite earthquake forecast shows low to normal risk, with no critical crustal stresses or infrared signatures around the San Andreas fault."
Critical Crustal Stresses? Did that make anyone else laugh out loud? "Today's CCS Index has been brought to you by your good friends at Entenmann's. Experiencing Critical Crustal Stress? Satisfy your craving with Entenmann's Ultimate Crumb Cake, available now at your neighborhood supermarket."
"The planet does not revolve around the US. There are many places where earthquakes are a major part of everyday life."
You are absolutely correct. The problem is that this article is coming from NASA, and last I checked, NASA is a US government agency. So, we'll be using our resources and spending our money to develop a technology that we'll probably be nice enough to let the rest of the world use. So read about the San Andreas fault and say thank you.
I need to learn how to write? Um...okay. I happen to know a thing or two about the subject, but that's beside the point. I wrote a rant. Rants, by definition, don't have to be coherent. I'm, not writing a letter to the New York Times, now, am I?
Oh, and by the way, lead oxide is very real. Salt water will rust lead. Why don't you go and read a book. You might learn something.
I read something that made me laugh out loud. The sad thing about it is that it really wasn't very funny at all. Here it is, taken from an article on CNN.com:
"If voters do agree to recall [California Governor] Davis, a candidate needs only a plurality of votes to win. Schwarzenegger leads the long list of hopefuls, with 42 percent of poll respondents saying there is a good chance they would vote for him."
"Also in Schwarzenegger's favor is that 72 percent of respondents think his campaign should be taken seriously. More than half -- 52 percent -- say he would do a better job than a career politician."
The problem isn't that every other country (save perhaps England) hates us - the problem is that we hate ourselves. We stand up and rally behind our government, rah, rah, freedom of speech, support our troops, fuck Iraq, 9/11, recall the guv'ner, Freedom Fries, gay marriage. Mr. Bush you can kiss my ass.
We love to be lied to. It's our nature. We follow our politicians like we follow our movie stars, making every attempt to discern the real from the Hollywood. The problem is, it's all bullshit. On the election trail, we're reeled in - hook, line and rusty sinker - to the promise of lower taxes, no terrorism, better healthcare, more jobs. Hah. These are the same lying candidates who, by rite, lie to us once elected. The difference is, once they're elected, we don't accept the lies -- even if it's the same crap we bought to get them elected in the first place! We fiercely debate the competency of our elected officials without considering the competency of ourselves.
We, as a country, need to step back and take a good look at what we have become. Turn off the news and recycle the newspaper. It's time we had a better choice of news sources. When Fox News is the most liberal news source the general public is offered, you know it's time for reform. It's this conservative propoganda we're fed that may very well get Kindergarten Cop elected governor of the fifth largest economy in the world (trailing the rest of the US, Japan, Gremany, and the UK). What was that sound? Was that your head exploding? I thought so. We live in a country where we can make a circus out of the ailing economy of a single state while completely ignoring the massive deficit our own elected President has plunged our economy into.
But that's the difference between us and the rest of the world. We have a Hollywood. We also have the most successful (read: largest stable) democracy in the world. The problem is that we can't, or perhaps don't want to, distinguish between the two.
"The simspsons was geared a lot towards children usually, where I always felt Futurama was more for adults (Any one remember the death by snu-snu joke in the amazon woman episode?)"
I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. One of the things that I like most about the Simpsons is that the show seems to have evolved (read: grown) with its audience. When I watch the first few seasons, those that were aired in my pre-teen/teen years, I can see how easily I related to them then -- they were geared more towards children. But the show became more sophisticated, IMHO, as the seasons progressed. Well, maybe not "sophisticated" per se, but definitely more adult insofar as the humor is concerned. Futurama, as much as I love the show, seems to have peaked too early, as if there was never much room to grow. With that said, I will miss Fry and Bender dearly, but until the Simpsons are through, I really don't care.
Sure, they'll learn the principals of programming, but they'll never move beyond that.
And I almost forgot . . . If I remember properly, Linus Torvalds never would have started Linux if it wasn't for the proprietary systems they were teaching in school. The "principles" are all you really need to get started. Nobody taught Einstein relativity -- he did that himself building upon principles laid out before him.
What about schools that teach QBasic? Or MS Visual C++/Basic/Java/C#/whatever? Isn't that the same thing? Besides, the programming can be done in C on the XGameStation. C is C, whether it be on the XGameStation, a PC, a Mac, whatever. The XGameStation is no more "proprietary" than any other system they may program on.
Who cares about software base, etc. This is meant as a project. It's this same attitude that makes it impossible for me to run to Radio Shack every time I need a component when I have the urge to build something. Yes, there are other alternatives that may be better, like modding a C64 or whatever, but it's still a neat idea. Especially for educational purposes. For $99 you can have everything you need to build your own gaming console and make your own games? Complete with documentation? When I was in school, I spent more than that on crappy programming textbooks every semester. If you want to get students to enjoy their programming classes, instead of teaching them ways to optimize their "Hello, World!" code, teach them that stuff on the XGameStation. I know I would have enjoyed school more.
I can't wait for the new XGameStation category to show up on sourceforge/freshmeat/download.com. Maybe now it the time for companies like RedHat to come out with their own gaming accessories. They'll just have to be careful, though... SCO will probably find a way to sue them, too.
I agree, this interview is outstanding. I like this the best, something that you don't hear too often:
One thing's certain. If I knew the answers, I'd be even more insufferable than I am now.
Not only does he acknowledge that he wrote a bunch, but he knows that he doesn't know everything. That's refreshing around here. He admits that things change, and what he says isn't the be-all-end-all of ideas. But, perhaps, the most refreshing thing in the interview is that he didn't answer a single question with "42." Now that's something new!
Slashdot Mirror
What about sixdegrees? Or TheSpark?
format c:
I remember reading somewhere that this same mutated gene also rendered people resistant to the plague. Time to dig up the article.
I believe we already had the discussion that .999...=1.
Yet we still pay exhorbitant amounts of money to go to the movies, or to a baseball game, or to buy Nikes, or.... Just give them the money! The Simpsons' are icons. They give me something to help me forget that Monday's coming around the corner.
Um, doesn't anyone remember that his first public proof of Fermat's Last Theorem contained a huge, embarrassing mistake? But because he was respected, nobody criticized him. But some young Swedish girl makes an error, and everyone is on her back? Give me a break.
If you would accept "repulsive" or "offensive" as definitions of obscene, then I'm certain that you'd find people who'd rank the NRA right up there with beastiality or child porn. I know I'm one of them. On a similar note, there are people who wouldn't find your average porn site (Playboy, etc) obscene. I'm one of those people, too. It's all a matter of opinion. De gustibus.
innovation \In`no*va"tion\, n. [L. innovatio; cf. F. innovation.] 1. The act of introducing something new. 2. A change effected by innovating.
In no dictionary did I find "breaking compliance with well-established standards" as a definition of innovation. Verisign must not have included research in their operating budget this year. Go figure.
I'd mod your post funny if I could. But I'm not just talking about breaking, neccessarily. What about installing drivers and such? Granted, I *gasp* haven't ran Linux for quite some time (and I can't wait to do so again), but if things are done the same way, installing packages is not nearly as easy on Linux as on Windows. Then again, software doesn't break as much on Linux as on windows...
While I agree that Linux may not be far behind on the usability scale, there are two important points that need to be made. First, Linux is way more difficult to install than Windows XP. The point is moot on a preinstalled system, granted, but it's still valid. Second, it's easier for the average user to obtain help with a problem. Chances are, the kid next door can fix XP, but not Linux. Address these two issues, however, and we might be on to something.
"Now you know why I'm unemployed."
Yeah, but is that because of bad tech policy, or bad management? If the app writers went out of business in 2000, maybe it's time to upgrade. Regardless, sometimes taking a chance on a critical update is worth it in the long run, as we're seeing now. Unfortunately, you happened to draw the short straw one day. Good luck on your job search. They probably didn't deserve you anyway.
"Egarter matched the knife to the hand and found a deep gash on the hand that had been missed in previous studies. He then found another cut on the left hand and bruises on the torso, as if Otzi had been beaten."
The article also shows the advancement in forensic analysis. What do they mean they missed a DEEP GASH on his hand? C'mon, guys. Eyeglasses were invented in Italy. Use them.
Why don't we just elect Otzi governor of California?
I wonder if similar technology can be used to predict impending volcanic activity?
"The satellite earthquake forecast shows low to normal risk, with no critical crustal stresses or infrared signatures around the San Andreas fault."
Critical Crustal Stresses? Did that make anyone else laugh out loud? "Today's CCS Index has been brought to you by your good friends at Entenmann's. Experiencing Critical Crustal Stress? Satisfy your craving with Entenmann's Ultimate Crumb Cake, available now at your neighborhood supermarket."
"The planet does not revolve around the US. There are many places where earthquakes are a major part of everyday life."
You are absolutely correct. The problem is that this article is coming from NASA, and last I checked, NASA is a US government agency. So, we'll be using our resources and spending our money to develop a technology that we'll probably be nice enough to let the rest of the world use. So read about the San Andreas fault and say thank you.
I need to learn how to write? Um...okay. I happen to know a thing or two about the subject, but that's beside the point. I wrote a rant. Rants, by definition, don't have to be coherent. I'm, not writing a letter to the New York Times, now, am I?
Oh, and by the way, lead oxide is very real. Salt water will rust lead. Why don't you go and read a book. You might learn something.
I read something that made me laugh out loud. The sad thing about it is that it really wasn't very funny at all. Here it is, taken from an article on CNN.com:
"If voters do agree to recall [California Governor] Davis, a candidate needs only a plurality of votes to win. Schwarzenegger leads the long list of hopefuls, with 42 percent of poll respondents saying there is a good chance they would vote for him."
"Also in Schwarzenegger's favor is that 72 percent of respondents think his campaign should be taken seriously. More than half -- 52 percent -- say he would do a better job than a career politician."
The problem isn't that every other country (save perhaps England) hates us - the problem is that we hate ourselves. We stand up and rally behind our government, rah, rah, freedom of speech, support our troops, fuck Iraq, 9/11, recall the guv'ner, Freedom Fries, gay marriage. Mr. Bush you can kiss my ass.
We love to be lied to. It's our nature. We follow our politicians like we follow our movie stars, making every attempt to discern the real from the Hollywood. The problem is, it's all bullshit. On the election trail, we're reeled in - hook, line and rusty sinker - to the promise of lower taxes, no terrorism, better healthcare, more jobs. Hah. These are the same lying candidates who, by rite, lie to us once elected. The difference is, once they're elected, we don't accept the lies -- even if it's the same crap we bought to get them elected in the first place! We fiercely debate the competency of our elected officials without considering the competency of ourselves.
We, as a country, need to step back and take a good look at what we have become. Turn off the news and recycle the newspaper. It's time we had a better choice of news sources. When Fox News is the most liberal news source the general public is offered, you know it's time for reform. It's this conservative propoganda we're fed that may very well get Kindergarten Cop elected governor of the fifth largest economy in the world (trailing the rest of the US, Japan, Gremany, and the UK). What was that sound? Was that your head exploding? I thought so. We live in a country where we can make a circus out of the ailing economy of a single state while completely ignoring the massive deficit our own elected President has plunged our economy into.
But that's the difference between us and the rest of the world. We have a Hollywood. We also have the most successful (read: largest stable) democracy in the world. The problem is that we can't, or perhaps don't want to, distinguish between the two.
"The simspsons was geared a lot towards children usually, where I always felt Futurama was more for adults (Any one remember the death by snu-snu joke in the amazon woman episode?)"
I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. One of the things that I like most about the Simpsons is that the show seems to have evolved (read: grown) with its audience. When I watch the first few seasons, those that were aired in my pre-teen/teen years, I can see how easily I related to them then -- they were geared more towards children. But the show became more sophisticated, IMHO, as the seasons progressed. Well, maybe not "sophisticated" per se, but definitely more adult insofar as the humor is concerned. Futurama, as much as I love the show, seems to have peaked too early, as if there was never much room to grow. With that said, I will miss Fry and Bender dearly, but until the Simpsons are through, I really don't care.
Sure, they'll learn the principals of programming, but they'll never move beyond that.
And I almost forgot . . . If I remember properly, Linus Torvalds never would have started Linux if it wasn't for the proprietary systems they were teaching in school. The "principles" are all you really need to get started. Nobody taught Einstein relativity -- he did that himself building upon principles laid out before him.
What about schools that teach QBasic? Or MS Visual C++/Basic/Java/C#/whatever? Isn't that the same thing? Besides, the programming can be done in C on the XGameStation. C is C, whether it be on the XGameStation, a PC, a Mac, whatever. The XGameStation is no more "proprietary" than any other system they may program on.
Who cares about software base, etc. This is meant as a project. It's this same attitude that makes it impossible for me to run to Radio Shack every time I need a component when I have the urge to build something. Yes, there are other alternatives that may be better, like modding a C64 or whatever, but it's still a neat idea. Especially for educational purposes. For $99 you can have everything you need to build your own gaming console and make your own games? Complete with documentation? When I was in school, I spent more than that on crappy programming textbooks every semester. If you want to get students to enjoy their programming classes, instead of teaching them ways to optimize their "Hello, World!" code, teach them that stuff on the XGameStation. I know I would have enjoyed school more.
I can't wait for the new XGameStation category to show up on sourceforge/freshmeat/download.com. Maybe now it the time for companies like RedHat to come out with their own gaming accessories. They'll just have to be careful, though... SCO will probably find a way to sue them, too.
I agree, this interview is outstanding. I like this the best, something that you don't hear too often:
One thing's certain. If I knew the answers, I'd be even more insufferable than I am now.
Not only does he acknowledge that he wrote a bunch, but he knows that he doesn't know everything. That's refreshing around here. He admits that things change, and what he says isn't the be-all-end-all of ideas. But, perhaps, the most refreshing thing in the interview is that he didn't answer a single question with "42." Now that's something new!
Can I moderate the interview -1: Annoying?