I feel sorry for those stranded and fleeing their homes, but also for those having to pronounce what I thought was either a seizure or keyboard failure: Eyjafjallajokull
But when they want "unprecedented levels of realism" in a training scenario against real people, why not use real people? Outside of the odd practice with live ammo it doesn't like there's even good reason to simply invent a better non-lethal training weapon. It's probably cheaper and suffers none of a robot's shortcomings with terrain......like, say, Daleks and their pre-2009 arch nemesis: stairs.
Unless there's a reason where you wouldn't simply want more soldiers/police/etc. practicing as the other faction?
I mean it's not like someone's life is ever put in jeaopardy by minor software glitches, especially in hospitals....on a side note, Googling "IT disasters" leads to some very interesting results.
I've been down that road. It's a good idea until you have a hundred people calling-in trying to hum the error to you. What's worse is you can't debug because they're tone-deaf:)
Seriously though, it sounds like you want a system that can record the error for your debugging purposes later-on without the user needing to remember a number of color. Why not just log the error in a system file, or better yet have it send a quick message to a central logger/email that you can check? Then you can be as technical with the data as needed and know the entirety of a problem before they call for a blue square.
Also, for self-debugging make sure you keep reported errors to simple, broad categories, ie: blue = file error, yellow = network error, etc.. The barrier for calling you with errors is when a phone call is less effort than thinking for themselves, and while there'll always be a group who aren't capable of the latter there'll be an equal number who can associate yellow with "unplugged network cable". This applies to sending people to help files as well, they won't look if it's easier to call you so it's a wasted popup.
There's no global dumb-people-breeding conspiracy and every one of these kids has the ability for higher learning. The sad fact is there's a growing percentage that's never had to try in an education system where no-one fails.
Why learn proper english when the alternative nets you the same result and more free time?
Depending on the client you most certainly could the first time, it's the next time it breaks they'll go somewhere else. And with any luck they'll tell their friends:)
Did anyone think for a second this wasn't a thinly veiled: "hey, why don't you spend your stimulus budget on IP infrastructure?"
But that's how it works in North America: publicly funded, privately managed. Federal money will (hopefully) create a public, reliable, IP network that brings one connection to the home we use to choose our content (phone, tv, media) providers. Maybe now we'll get our internet up to the level of a developed country like, say, South Korea... or a better part of Europe.
As a Slashdot user I'd jump on this right away, but not blindly. Now is the perfect time to educate people about options and freedom that come with common carrier laws, and make sure those come attached to any build-out funds.
Same reason there's no direct flights to Cuba. If Gary is found to be owing a bazillionty dollars to the MPAA and doesn't pay then TSA cavity searches will be the least of his concerns next time he crosses the border.
I have a strong feeling this is also a way to leverage support for ACTA (international DMCA) in Canada. With enough fingers pointing at us and our yarrrr Piratey ways the hope is MPs will give support to this life-changing copyright law.
I always figured the final system would require a series of specific thoughts before entering "read" mode, kinda like a login/logoff to the keyboard once your hands no longer serve that purpose.
Not so concerned right now though. Reading letters only means only the dirty thoughts you literally spell out will be displayed. All those "wish I was playing WOW" (or other 15 second occurrences) won't make it into the email to your boss since our brain uses a mesh of stimuli and and language to convey thoughts. A wicked first step though even if it's only letters.
I always pictured reading thoughts was comparing the output of a black box with a dataset of known values. But if many unknowns mean chicken, what happens if they got chicken wrong?
This isn't a jail policy, they can't imprison you on allegations yet.
Unfortunately they can kick you off the internet for a period of time by allegation alone. You know, that little novelty some of us run hobbies off of, or maybe send the occasional "electronic" letter to our hip friends in other cities through Prodigy.
Let's get real about this. Internet for many people is an integrated part of daily life, you wouldn't cut power or phones from people who allegedly do bad things with it without proving guilt first (or in the rare case preventing immediate harm to someone else). This isn't any different; sure I can survive just fine without internet or power (for a while), but the consequences to my life and livelihood would be apparent pretty quickly.
Worse yet, the authority for removing essential services has an established track record for casting really big nets. The American cousin of the CRIA uses big lawsuits to make up for inadequacies like a city-bound guy with a Hummer... We already have enough issues in this country with a self-governed federal police force, thank-you. Let's sort those bumps out before putting law in the hands of the private sector.
This is about evolving an image from generic features to a specific person by having the viewer rate a series of generated faces from best-to-worst matching.
Not that this is any better. At best it's leading a witness because it promotes guessing, at worst I feed source imagery of stereotypical "bad guys" and voila: every Snidley Whiplash lookalike in the country is running for the hills.
The article outlines how this could be bad for Networks who cash in weather you watch the ad or not
They have ads there too? Sunny and a 50% chance of Cialis?
I wonder when this arms race for our eyeballs will peak. I'm not angry with targeted ads, overall it makes for a smarter consumer when after a generation or two we learn to identify market-speak at the cost of the last company to the block's poorly-spent campaign. In the mean time there's a greater likelihood I'll chance across something that is actually valuable to me, or a funny Geico ad:)
I've been following this and there's really no difference to what telco/cablecos are doing right now. It's all spin factor you see:
"We're adding* protective measures* to ensure your regular* internet use* remains at high level of quality you've come to expect from Bellusawtron."
* at at additional $1.99/mo to your bill * that prevent legitimate technology use that might be used for criminal/copyright infringrment purposes... like your computer * Checking your @Bellusawtron.com email and browsing the telco/cableco news potal * Which is 3-4 times per week for less than 30 minutes per session
Simply put, nothing's changed. Companies are now required to provide the spin letters they've been doing for years. Service is being fundamentally limited, but in a way that a majority of users won't understand relates to the message sent.
The funny/sad part is the fiber market has both improved and dropped in price tremendously with competition where I'm from, but just you try getting above a 1mbit connection to your home, or even a 1mbit who's QoS doesn't go to crap when you hit 60% usage.
Why would they care? Just make billing for data more enticing and you earn the same $$$ and shed the responsibility for quality voice communication. It means supporting less types of traffic over their network once voice and messaging are all done via IP.
Plus it also passes the buck on responsibility. If AT&T's just a data carrier it's really easy to blame Skype when your call sounds like you're in a blender in a tin can. Not that your Telco has ever tried blaming someone else when their connection was at fault:P
I totally agree. They're indestructible, most minor problems are serviceable by you if you have a screwdriver and 10 minutes, and the only reason you'll ever get rid of it is to save space.
I got my mom's LaserJet series II when I went to University. She bought it new. It's survived moves, college parties, and me learning to repair an ink cartridge.
It's replacement is the office printer. I'd still have it as backup if I didn't have a wife desiring a clean garage, sadly her multifunction capabilities have far outpaced those of the printer.
Slashdot Mirror
I feel sorry for those stranded and fleeing their homes, but also for those having to pronounce what I thought was either a seizure or keyboard failure: Eyjafjallajokull
-Matt
So do we need unions or goons? On the outside they both sound like good ideas :)
-Matt
But when they want "unprecedented levels of realism" in a training scenario against real people, why not use real people? Outside of the odd practice with live ammo it doesn't like there's even good reason to simply invent a better non-lethal training weapon. It's probably cheaper and suffers none of a robot's shortcomings with terrain... ...like, say, Daleks and their pre-2009 arch nemesis: stairs.
Unless there's a reason where you wouldn't simply want more soldiers/police/etc. practicing as the other faction?
-Matt
It's not like anything bad's ever happened when critical systems are rolled-out untested, unprepared, or irresposibly.
I mean it's not like someone's life is ever put in jeaopardy by minor software glitches, especially in hospitals. ...on a side note, Googling "IT disasters" leads to some very interesting results.
-Matt
I've been down that road. It's a good idea until you have a hundred people calling-in trying to hum the error to you. What's worse is you can't debug because they're tone-deaf :)
Seriously though, it sounds like you want a system that can record the error for your debugging purposes later-on without the user needing to remember a number of color. Why not just log the error in a system file, or better yet have it send a quick message to a central logger/email that you can check? Then you can be as technical with the data as needed and know the entirety of a problem before they call for a blue square.
Also, for self-debugging make sure you keep reported errors to simple, broad categories, ie: blue = file error, yellow = network error, etc.. The barrier for calling you with errors is when a phone call is less effort than thinking for themselves, and while there'll always be a group who aren't capable of the latter there'll be an equal number who can associate yellow with "unplugged network cable". This applies to sending people to help files as well, they won't look if it's easier to call you so it's a wasted popup.
Hope this helps,
-Matt
This is virtualization... Imagine someone Imagining a beowulf cluster of those!
-Matt
This XKCD comic was made just for you.
There's no global dumb-people-breeding conspiracy and every one of these kids has the ability for higher learning. The sad fact is there's a growing percentage that's never had to try in an education system where no-one fails.
Why learn proper english when the alternative nets you the same result and more free time?
-Matt
Depending on the client you most certainly could the first time, it's the next time it breaks they'll go somewhere else. And with any luck they'll tell their friends :)
-Matt
You sir underestimate the power of reproduction.
Thank god, finally there's time for WoW!
You're correct, males do tend to generate more sperm than females...
-Matt
Thousands of years of wars fought because of skin tone or beliefs when really we could have done it over +/- 1/2 tsp.
Is this leading to porn actors trying to subjugate the rest of us as the inferior race?
Afghanistan hasn't gone anywhere in 3 invasions. It's the invaders who are doomed.
Kinda feels like Monty Python's black knight. Sure you've cut his limbs off, but he'll bite you in the kneecaps until you fall.
Did anyone think for a second this wasn't a thinly veiled: "hey, why don't you spend your stimulus budget on IP infrastructure?"
But that's how it works in North America: publicly funded, privately managed. Federal money will (hopefully) create a public, reliable, IP network that brings one connection to the home we use to choose our content (phone, tv, media) providers. Maybe now we'll get our internet up to the level of a developed country like, say, South Korea... or a better part of Europe.
As a Slashdot user I'd jump on this right away, but not blindly. Now is the perfect time to educate people about options and freedom that come with common carrier laws, and make sure those come attached to any build-out funds.
-Matt
Same reason there's no direct flights to Cuba. If Gary is found to be owing a bazillionty dollars to the MPAA and doesn't pay then TSA cavity searches will be the least of his concerns next time he crosses the border.
I have a strong feeling this is also a way to leverage support for ACTA (international DMCA) in Canada. With enough fingers pointing at us and our yarrrr Piratey ways the hope is MPs will give support to this life-changing copyright law.
-Matt
I always figured the final system would require a series of specific thoughts before entering "read" mode, kinda like a login/logoff to the keyboard once your hands no longer serve that purpose.
Not so concerned right now though. Reading letters only means only the dirty thoughts you literally spell out will be displayed. All those "wish I was playing WOW" (or other 15 second occurrences) won't make it into the email to your boss since our brain uses a mesh of stimuli and and language to convey thoughts. A wicked first step though even if it's only letters.
I always pictured reading thoughts was comparing the output of a black box with a dataset of known values. But if many unknowns mean chicken, what happens if they got chicken wrong?
-Matt
I already thought Twitter required more filtering between brain and keyboard, but now this?
Then again, who on Slashdot hasn't at least once dreamed about hands-free typing.
-Matt
This isn't a jail policy, they can't imprison you on allegations yet.
Unfortunately they can kick you off the internet for a period of time by allegation alone. You know, that little novelty some of us run hobbies off of, or maybe send the occasional "electronic" letter to our hip friends in other cities through Prodigy.
Let's get real about this. Internet for many people is an integrated part of daily life, you wouldn't cut power or phones from people who allegedly do bad things with it without proving guilt first (or in the rare case preventing immediate harm to someone else). This isn't any different; sure I can survive just fine without internet or power (for a while), but the consequences to my life and livelihood would be apparent pretty quickly.
Worse yet, the authority for removing essential services has an established track record for casting really big nets. The American cousin of the CRIA uses big lawsuits to make up for inadequacies like a city-bound guy with a Hummer... We already have enough issues in this country with a self-governed federal police force, thank-you. Let's sort those bumps out before putting law in the hands of the private sector.
-Matt
This is about evolving an image from generic features to a specific person by having the viewer rate a series of generated faces from best-to-worst matching.
Not that this is any better. At best it's leading a witness because it promotes guessing, at worst I feed source imagery of stereotypical "bad guys" and voila: every Snidley Whiplash lookalike in the country is running for the hills.
-Matt
Touche good sir, touche
The article outlines how this could be bad for Networks who cash in weather you watch the ad or not
They have ads there too? Sunny and a 50% chance of Cialis?
I wonder when this arms race for our eyeballs will peak. I'm not angry with targeted ads, overall it makes for a smarter consumer when after a generation or two we learn to identify market-speak at the cost of the last company to the block's poorly-spent campaign. In the mean time there's a greater likelihood I'll chance across something that is actually valuable to me, or a funny Geico ad :)
-Matt
I've been following this and there's really no difference to what telco/cablecos are doing right now. It's all spin factor you see:
"We're adding* protective measures* to ensure your regular* internet use* remains at high level of quality you've come to expect from Bellusawtron."
* at at additional $1.99/mo to your bill
* that prevent legitimate technology use that might be used for criminal/copyright infringrment purposes... like your computer
* Checking your @Bellusawtron.com email and browsing the telco/cableco news potal
* Which is 3-4 times per week for less than 30 minutes per session
Simply put, nothing's changed. Companies are now required to provide the spin letters they've been doing for years. Service is being fundamentally limited, but in a way that a majority of users won't understand relates to the message sent.
The funny/sad part is the fiber market has both improved and dropped in price tremendously with competition where I'm from, but just you try getting above a 1mbit connection to your home, or even a 1mbit who's QoS doesn't go to crap when you hit 60% usage.
-Matt
Why would they care? Just make billing for data more enticing and you earn the same $$$ and shed the responsibility for quality voice communication. It means supporting less types of traffic over their network once voice and messaging are all done via IP.
Plus it also passes the buck on responsibility. If AT&T's just a data carrier it's really easy to blame Skype when your call sounds like you're in a blender in a tin can. Not that your Telco has ever tried blaming someone else when their connection was at fault :P
-Matt
The only place where 3 months of exercise implies 89 days of dev work. :)
-Matt
I totally agree. They're indestructible, most minor problems are serviceable by you if you have a screwdriver and 10 minutes, and the only reason you'll ever get rid of it is to save space.
I got my mom's LaserJet series II when I went to University. She bought it new. It's survived moves, college parties, and me learning to repair an ink cartridge.
It's replacement is the office printer. I'd still have it as backup if I didn't have a wife desiring a clean garage, sadly her multifunction capabilities have far outpaced those of the printer.
-Matt