While this might be true for arts students, I disagree that it's an overall affliction to humanities students.
I have a history degree. The upper-level classes I took to get this degree required basic statistics skills (analysis of things like immigration patterns or ethnic trends in a given community, for example -- history's "only a bunch of dates" at the lower levels). I imagine the same is true for people in programs like psychology or any other research or data-gathering intensive disciplines.
Now, I can see where other degree programs can avoid math and reasoning (music majors, for example), but lumping all humanities students into this catagory is really unfair.
This is another example of American government's actions being fuelled by a desire to help American businesses to the detriment of individual freedom, similar to the DCMA.
Wow, that's wildly inaccurate. I mean, you're astoundingly off-base.
You're just as free to sit down and work on a patch for the Linux kernal today as you were yesterday; the only difference right now is that the NSA has decided not to work on it with you.
When you think about it, the government's only real job is to defend the rights and freedoms of its citizens. Among those freedoms, at least here in America, is the right to start a business and engage in free enterprise. Therefore, when the government interferes with free enterprise, it's interfering with the rights of its citizens.
You can't have it both ways. The same laws that protect Microsoft's ability to sell software protect your right to give it away.
How else are television broadcasters supposed to cover their costs?
Let me be blunt: that's really not my problem.
If the networks can no longer afford their existing business model, they'll just have to adapt. I have no patience or sympathy for industries who, because they can't adapt, try to stop all progress.
Besides, if you were to examine my list of list of shows to be recorded, you'd notice they're almost all on HBO...
If you are waiting for cheaper/newer/faster/better technologies to come out, you'll never buy it...
While that's true, there is a breaking point for all prices.
For example, right now I'm looking at an iiyama visionmaster pro17 that I paid $600 for almost five years ago (and thought, BTW, that I was getting quite the deal). I think the prices for LCD screens in general are high now, but I *really* want one so I can buy a nice desk and unclutter a bit. Even so, if it looks like there's a price war on the horizen, I'll wait.
I was literally about to order a $1500 20 inch Dell flat panel today -- I was just logging into my bank to be sure my paycheck was deposited in another window when I popped over to/. and saw this.
IMO, your order is wrong. Linux has become more attractive to the sort of people who play games like NWN, and in recognition of that Bioware is bringing support to the platform.
If they didn't think they could at least recoup the price of porting the client, they would and should not port the game to our platform.
In an unrelated but still game-oriented vein: Has anyone else noticed that Civ3 under WineX, while "working" is so slow that it's unplayible? I'd have thought a Althlon 1.2 ghz with a gig of RAM would have been enough...
i think privacy in the home and on personal property is important, but privacy on public grounds (airports, roads) should yield to safety and fairness.
Well, that's a really fine line there, isn't it?
I believe that you don't have an expectation of privacy in a public area. If I'm sitting in a public park, I should expect that someone else might overhear what I'm saying (and that they might be a law enforcement official). If I'm in my car on a public street, I should expect that a cop could look in and see the 10 kilos of black tar heroine on my passenger seat.
There's a line here, however. I should likewise not expect to be arbitrarily stopped and searched in a public place. For example, yesterday I was sitting at a sushi place eating lunch and reading a copy of a book about the crusades. Should a cop be able to search me or my bag? Is that fact that I'm reading a book called "Holy War" in public overwhelm my fourth amendment rights? Of course not.
A further problem is that you'll have people argue that flying is a privilage, and therefore they can suspend or seriously modify your rights while in transit. I disagree with this concept as well; this sort of thinking implies that, unless you walk everywhere, your rights are subject to forfit. I believe you shouldn't have to give up your rights to function as a "normal" member or society.
Side note: You should read the book I mentioned,
Holy War by Karen Armstrong, if you think a historical understanding of Islam/Western conflict might be remotely useful to you.
As much as it might seem shady, the reality here is that Microsoft is just acting like a business -- trying to find ways to get around spending processes to get their products into new areas. If they were passing up the opportunities like this, I (were I a stockholder) would be screaming for the head of the sales dept.
The ones who ought to be ashamed here are the New Orleans officals who are trying to sidestep the processes set up to discourage, well, this sort of thing. They may be following the letter of the law, but they're blatently violating the spirit.
And what are the best legal methods for kicking the RIAA where it hurts?
Er, don't buy music from recording labels? The best way to express your disapproval towards any business or group of businesses is to not buy their stuff.
Of course, as we've seen (bnet vs. Warcraft 3, MPAA vs. LOTR DVD), sticking to your principles is pretty tough. For example, I bought the new Linkin Park CD because I'm against the RIAA and, as it turns out, a hippocrite.
Think of all the poor horsies that would be turned into Elmer's if these criminal 'auto enthusists' got there way.
Of course, that should be "their way". Lordy, you'd think I was trying out to be a/. editor. My sincere apologies to my third-grade english teacher at Maywood Elementary School in Monona, WI for the mix-up.
In other news, congress has passed the DMTA (digital millenium transit act), which will force people to continue using horses for transportation despite the fact that a faster and more effective format, known as an "automobiles", has been available for some time.
"We can't make money on cars," said a representative of the Harness Makers Association of America (HMAA), "so they should be illegal. Think of all the poor horsies that would be turned into Elmer's if these criminal 'auto enthusists' got there way."
Politicians hailed the passing of the DMTA as a "strong step towards halting all progress and keeping the world exactly as it is. After all, change is scary!"
Maybe you could take a scan of someones retina and use it to generate a long ID number. Then, that number would be used to indentify you to a national database.
To buy gas, you'd use your card and verify your identity using a retinal scanner (hey, ten years ago, gas pumps didn't have card readers, either). Since your ID number is derived from your retinal pattern, it'd warn if one or the other didn't match up.
Of course, this doesn't save you from having someone coldcock you and stuff your head up to the scanner Metal Gear Solid-style, but nothing's perfect.
While I've only ridden BART to work for about two months now, I've found that having a book handy is a far better way to spend time than staring off into space.
I just wish there were some pager or something you could wear which would vibrate when you got to your stop; I'm one of those people who can get so lost in a book that I'll occassionally miss my stop.
I think you hit the nail on the head -- it'd be pretty easy to vandalize any sort of screen that anyone might install (the NY subways are cleaner than they used to be, but that's not saying a whole lot).
This, on the other hand, would be much more challenging to put out of action. Whether or not that's a good thing depends on how you feel about omnipresent advertising.
Hm, has anyone else noticed that just about every post in this discussion has been modded down (*way* down) as "Offtopic"?
Might I point out that we're discussing the way in which the story we're discussing was presented, and how the method of presentation effects the overall point of the thread. I daresay this isn't offtopic by any stretch of the imagination, especially since the actual *topic* is somewhat up to debate.
Of course, I also find it weird that a swarm of moderators would come on and all decide to systematically mod all of the posts "Offtopic" in the twenty minutes since I last checked out this thread, but I've never been one for conspiricy theories.
Does it really matter if he puts it in the body or in the threads? You're still free to comment on it either way, and even if he did post to the thread, he probably would just make a statement, not a discussion.
Except this way we end up with a mess of threads will different parent "replies" rather than a single neat thread for interested parties to follow. Suddenly, a majority of the discussion is about Michael's POV rather than O'Reilly's (more deserving, IMO) article.
Really, there's no good reason for Michael to make his observations in the actual story unless he (a) can't post in the forum to to some policy or (b) he is trying to place himself above the fray, were he'll be more sure of being read. immune to moderation and free from any cohesive replies (and, incidently, from having to defend his statement).
Is there some reason why you can't just post the article and then, if you have some comments about it, follow up with a post like the rest of us peons?
I mean, that would allow us to post replies and maybe discuss your position. Instead, we're sort of left with you commenting from on high. Then again, I notice that the/. editors almost never post unless it's to clear up something about/. itself (is that some sort of policy?).
Still, I think you should come join the rest of us if you want to editorialize.
Re:Photos of M$ booth...
on
LWCE Wrapup
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· Score: 2, Interesting
My friend actually talked to some of them while they were showing off some term emulator or some BS like that - he asked them if they knew what a linux system call was, and some basic, basic questions about the linux kernel... blank stares. Nothing. Nada. Not that we were surprised.
(sighs, rubs head)
And we wonder how the Linux community gets the reputation of being a bunch of arrogant, unapproachible assholes.
This is about as clever as the guy I knew in college who would go to Radio Shack and harrass the poor sobs working there for minimum wage about various electronic parts. He'd come out with a superior-looking smirk on his face, complaining that he had questions and *they* didn't have answers, as if the Radio Shack register monkeys should all have graduate degrees in EE.
I share the general feeling of unease at Microsoft's new attitude towards Linux (worry about a predator most when it's smiling at you), but harrassing the poor saps at their booth is akin to bothering your local Blockbuster clerk because you hate the MPAA.
Besides that, you shouldn't be so quick to trivialize MS. Remember, they can bring unimaginable resources to bear in a very short time, and just because they *haven't yet* come up with a way to crush, poison or outmode OSS doesn't mean that they *won't*.
Can you explain why you like UF (and I understand that we can't always explain why we like what we like)? I've seen "UF sux" and "UF rulz" posts, but no elaboration from the "rulz" camp.
Slashdot Mirror
I have a history degree. The upper-level classes I took to get this degree required basic statistics skills (analysis of things like immigration patterns or ethnic trends in a given community, for example -- history's "only a bunch of dates" at the lower levels). I imagine the same is true for people in programs like psychology or any other research or data-gathering intensive disciplines.
Now, I can see where other degree programs can avoid math and reasoning (music majors, for example), but lumping all humanities students into this catagory is really unfair.
Wow, that's wildly inaccurate. I mean, you're astoundingly off-base.
You're just as free to sit down and work on a patch for the Linux kernal today as you were yesterday; the only difference right now is that the NSA has decided not to work on it with you.
When you think about it, the government's only real job is to defend the rights and freedoms of its citizens. Among those freedoms, at least here in America, is the right to start a business and engage in free enterprise. Therefore, when the government interferes with free enterprise, it's interfering with the rights of its citizens.
You can't have it both ways. The same laws that protect Microsoft's ability to sell software protect your right to give it away.
Are you being sarcastic, or have you just not caught any of the TV shows produced in the last twenty years?
Let me be blunt: that's really not my problem.
If the networks can no longer afford their existing business model, they'll just have to adapt. I have no patience or sympathy for industries who, because they can't adapt, try to stop all progress.
Besides, if you were to examine my list of list of shows to be recorded, you'd notice they're almost all on HBO...
While that's true, there is a breaking point for all prices.
For example, right now I'm looking at an iiyama visionmaster pro17 that I paid $600 for almost five years ago (and thought, BTW, that I was getting quite the deal). I think the prices for LCD screens in general are high now, but I *really* want one so I can buy a nice desk and unclutter a bit. Even so, if it looks like there's a price war on the horizen, I'll wait.
Well, think I'll wait, then.
If they didn't think they could at least recoup the price of porting the client, they would and should not port the game to our platform.
In an unrelated but still game-oriented vein: Has anyone else noticed that Civ3 under WineX, while "working" is so slow that it's unplayible? I'd have thought a Althlon 1.2 ghz with a gig of RAM would have been enough...
Well, that's a really fine line there, isn't it?
I believe that you don't have an expectation of privacy in a public area. If I'm sitting in a public park, I should expect that someone else might overhear what I'm saying (and that they might be a law enforcement official). If I'm in my car on a public street, I should expect that a cop could look in and see the 10 kilos of black tar heroine on my passenger seat.
There's a line here, however. I should likewise not expect to be arbitrarily stopped and searched in a public place. For example, yesterday I was sitting at a sushi place eating lunch and reading a copy of a book about the crusades. Should a cop be able to search me or my bag? Is that fact that I'm reading a book called "Holy War" in public overwhelm my fourth amendment rights? Of course not.
A further problem is that you'll have people argue that flying is a privilage, and therefore they can suspend or seriously modify your rights while in transit. I disagree with this concept as well; this sort of thinking implies that, unless you walk everywhere, your rights are subject to forfit. I believe you shouldn't have to give up your rights to function as a "normal" member or society.
Side note: You should read the book I mentioned, Holy War by Karen Armstrong, if you think a historical understanding of Islam/Western conflict might be remotely useful to you.
Hey, terrorists don't want to wait around some crappy airport listening to Muzac versions of Queen's Greatest Hits any more than you do.
As much as it might seem shady, the reality here is that Microsoft is just acting like a business -- trying to find ways to get around spending processes to get their products into new areas. If they were passing up the opportunities like this, I (were I a stockholder) would be screaming for the head of the sales dept.
The ones who ought to be ashamed here are the New Orleans officals who are trying to sidestep the processes set up to discourage, well, this sort of thing. They may be following the letter of the law, but they're blatently violating the spirit.
It's up to the voters to punish them.
Er, don't buy music from recording labels? The best way to express your disapproval towards any business or group of businesses is to not buy their stuff.
Of course, as we've seen (bnet vs. Warcraft 3, MPAA vs. LOTR DVD), sticking to your principles is pretty tough. For example, I bought the new Linkin Park CD because I'm against the RIAA and, as it turns out, a hippocrite.
4) Stop time.
Of course, that should be "their way". Lordy, you'd think I was trying out to be a /. editor. My sincere apologies to my third-grade english teacher at Maywood Elementary School in Monona, WI for the mix-up.
"We can't make money on cars," said a representative of the Harness Makers Association of America (HMAA), "so they should be illegal. Think of all the poor horsies that would be turned into Elmer's if these criminal 'auto enthusists' got there way."
Politicians hailed the passing of the DMTA as a "strong step towards halting all progress and keeping the world exactly as it is. After all, change is scary!"
To buy gas, you'd use your card and verify your identity using a retinal scanner (hey, ten years ago, gas pumps didn't have card readers, either). Since your ID number is derived from your retinal pattern, it'd warn if one or the other didn't match up.
Of course, this doesn't save you from having someone coldcock you and stuff your head up to the scanner Metal Gear Solid-style, but nothing's perfect.
That's why I close my eyes when I drive. Thank God for my Excursion and the custom rambar on the front.
I just wish there were some pager or something you could wear which would vibrate when you got to your stop; I'm one of those people who can get so lost in a book that I'll occassionally miss my stop.
This, on the other hand, would be much more challenging to put out of action. Whether or not that's a good thing depends on how you feel about omnipresent advertising.
Might I point out that we're discussing the way in which the story we're discussing was presented, and how the method of presentation effects the overall point of the thread. I daresay this isn't offtopic by any stretch of the imagination, especially since the actual *topic* is somewhat up to debate.
Of course, I also find it weird that a swarm of moderators would come on and all decide to systematically mod all of the posts "Offtopic" in the twenty minutes since I last checked out this thread, but I've never been one for conspiricy theories.
Yeah, along with whoever discovered and reported the problem. Now that's scary.
Except this way we end up with a mess of threads will different parent "replies" rather than a single neat thread for interested parties to follow. Suddenly, a majority of the discussion is about Michael's POV rather than O'Reilly's (more deserving, IMO) article.
Really, there's no good reason for Michael to make his observations in the actual story unless he (a) can't post in the forum to to some policy or (b) he is trying to place himself above the fray, were he'll be more sure of being read. immune to moderation and free from any cohesive replies (and, incidently, from having to defend his statement).
I mean, that would allow us to post replies and maybe discuss your position. Instead, we're sort of left with you commenting from on high. Then again, I notice that the /. editors almost never post unless it's to clear up something about /. itself (is that some sort of policy?).
Still, I think you should come join the rest of us if you want to editorialize.
(sighs, rubs head)
And we wonder how the Linux community gets the reputation of being a bunch of arrogant, unapproachible assholes.
This is about as clever as the guy I knew in college who would go to Radio Shack and harrass the poor sobs working there for minimum wage about various electronic parts. He'd come out with a superior-looking smirk on his face, complaining that he had questions and *they* didn't have answers, as if the Radio Shack register monkeys should all have graduate degrees in EE.
I share the general feeling of unease at Microsoft's new attitude towards Linux (worry about a predator most when it's smiling at you), but harrassing the poor saps at their booth is akin to bothering your local Blockbuster clerk because you hate the MPAA.
Besides that, you shouldn't be so quick to trivialize MS. Remember, they can bring unimaginable resources to bear in a very short time, and just because they *haven't yet* come up with a way to crush, poison or outmode OSS doesn't mean that they *won't*.
Can you explain why you like UF (and I understand that we can't always explain why we like what we like)? I've seen "UF sux" and "UF rulz" posts, but no elaboration from the "rulz" camp.