I seem to remember hearing about a previous bombing of the World Trade Center. A van filled with explosives and containers of cyanide (which was destroyed by the heat of the explosion rather than spreading through the building was blown up in the parking garage. That pretty clearly labeled the World Trade Center as a target. So, by your reasoning, the people who died on September the 11th 2001 in the plane attacks deserved it as well. So do people who live in flood plains and die in floods. Or the people who live in earthquake prone regions and die in earthquakes, or the people who live in crime-ridden cites and die in robberies. Sorry, I don't buy it.
You're response is so innane it doesn't ever deserve a reply, but here goes anyway:
The WTC was not an obvious military target except to those who chose to make it, so nullfies that argument right off. As far as the rest of your argument, yes of course anyone who chooses to live in dangerous areas deserves his fate.
Really, think about it for a moment:
"Ohhh, looky, a live volcano! I think I'll build my house on it's side!"
It's pretty much something we got in our genes - you can't really argue with that - OK, the 2 snipers who volunteered to be dropped in a death trap in order to save their mate's lifes - now that more heroic, but fighting for your own is pretty much instinct - unless you're a tad bit suicidal or sumtink
Not entirely true. Ever hear of "fight or flight?" It is the one mysteries of human response leaders of armed forces have wanted to unravel since the beginning of time.
The fact is that some of us can overcome our fears, stand up to death and face it eye-to-eye, while others run for they're lives.
Yeah, write off a multimillion dolar movie..
on
Collateral Damage
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
...just because Katz can't figure out it was made before 9/11. Yes, it may seem lame after the event but it was made before the event while we all slumbered peacefully in our false sense of security. Including you, Katz.
To hold a pre 9/11 movie to post 9/11 standards is just plain stupid.
Should it have been released? That's up to the viewer to decide. As far as the studio's concerned it was a business decision. "Do we not release it and lose our investment, or release it and, maybe, recoup some of our money?" Business, plain and simple.
I haven't seen the movie, and I probably won't. The whole premise is as lame a Katz presents it. It's not because the movie is out of touch for it's time, but because we are the ones who are no longer in touch with that genre.
Your argument only carries if there was a real competition for resources. I doubt there was.
I think it is a trait of Homo Sapiens to defeat any and all perceived competition. It is for this reason that our species triumphed, why we continue to rail against each other, and why conflict will continue until superior thought processes win out, what ever they may be.
It also means homogenization of the species and ultimately a stagnation of evolution, barring a catastrophic event.
I don't buy your argument as you present it. "Little room at the top?" There are a thousand fold more Homo Sapiens on this planet than what were there when the species wiped out the competition. At that time there was enough room for all.
It is inherent in our species to defeat competition, however it is perceived. That is a conceit that will, aside from catastrophe, ensure little evolution.
I don't mean to infer that that humans are immune to evolution, just that the kind of evolution mentioned in the article is impossible for our species.
Yes, human evolution can and will occur, most likely along the path you describe. But there will be no major shift. It will be a slow process, even on evolutionary terms. You won't find humans suddenly sprouting six fingers because five is no longer enough.
Evolution is part of life's process, it goes on regardless of human conceit.
Ummm, no. There was once on this planet several species of humans living concurrently. Homo Sapiens destroyed all competing species (unless you subscribe to the Bigfoot theory).
It is Homo Sapiens' drive ('conceit' in your terms) that won out.
There is little chance of any major evolution for us unless we colonize other worlds and evolve there to adapt to that specific environment. That or we so polute our own environment that it takes extroadinary measures to adapt.
It is still unaceptable to me that the community's ultimate goal is to play catch up. That is utterly ludicrous. It is a no-win situation under all circumstances. If your best intent is to only follow the lead, when do you ever get ahead?
The whole thing that keeps Windows in front of Linux is that barely anyone in the community can see past their nose. Success is not a matter of "Look, we can do it just as well," It is solely based on "We do more, and do it better." It is not enough to entice users of other OS's because they can use their favorite apps on either OS, but that the "killer app" they want to use is only available on the OS of substance.
In no way do I demean the valiant efforts of the contributors to the community, but to make the immediate goal one of breaking even instead of keeping the focus beyond the leader, it is impossible to gain the advantage. This is something I think the "evil empire" understands more than we do.
Exactly my feelings. This incesssant desire to chase the dragon's tail instead of forging past it and leave it behind continues to baffle me. As much as I hate the over used term "innovate" - where is the innovation in the Linux community?
What happens to "free" OS's when corporate greed^H^H^H^H^H financing (the so-called saviour) takes over? Corporations traditionally gut anything not making money - what's to become of the carcass?
When I first saw the picture and read "presure sensors" I thought the poles were like those martial arts exersise poles. If my martial arts friend saw it, I know he'd think the same and have one (or both) of those poles kicked clean out of its pad and smashing into the far wall. There goes the warranty!
All you really do is kick air and break beams between them (I know there is a "break wind" joke in there, but I can't think of it right now.
Besides, it wouldn't take long for a lazy bum (like me) to figure out how to just stand there and pass my hands between the appropriate beams at just the right times. Purpose defeated.
OTOH, If they were to devise a real pole you could actually kick and punch -- That would be something!
Copper is actually too soft a metal to be used as a weapon.
Considering several casts were made from the blade for testing, and that some were used to successfully chop wood, its not beyond the possiblilty that is was used as a tool, although its extensive use for something like that would require frequent sharpening
On the other hand, the edge would keep longer if it were used for the occaisional hack into soft flesh, and could be quite effective.
Now that evidence shows he was in some kind of conflict supports the idea that it could have been a weapon.
I do not discount the possibility that it was merely ceremonial, but to own something as useful as that for merely decorative purposes, and not have a "real" one handy for every-day use doesn't make sense.
You know, If he was really a warrior, that copper axe of his would make much more sense as a weapon than for something to chop wood as many currently think.
Uhh.. no. Motorola 6809 processor. The heart of the CoCo. And, yes it blew the sh*t out of every processor on the market at the time for computing power. The Rockwell nee Commodore nee MOS 6502 blew the sh*t out of everything for speed. All the serious arcade games were based on the 6502 (some even had one CPU per CRT color gun in color games)
Well, I can't argue with most of your comment. You obviously had more patience than I with the TI. I pretty much lost interest when I found out about it's built-in limitations
I will address the TMS9918 problem. Yes, you are right, it was never supported on the motherboard. I never claimed it was. I was, however, involved in a development project that required video overlay. The chip of choice was the TMS9918 because it was the only one on the market that even claimed the ability. A great deal of engineering went into trying to make it work. It wasn't until after much communcation with TI and TI realized enough of a demand that they finally released an updated version that the overlay and genlock actually worked. If you managed to get it to work on a TI-99/4A then you must have gotten one late in the game that had the updated chip. It was my understanding that the TI-99/4A was no longer being sold when the update was released.
I think they were originally sold for $400. I bought mine for $200. It wasn't until they realized these things just weren't catching on that they sold them for the cut-rate $99.
The video overlay feature in the TMS9918 never worked until an updated version was released well after the TI-99/4A was long dead.
Additionally, although the TMS9900 was a 16 bit processor in an 8 bit world, The TI-99/4A was a pig in that, as you said, the 16k "stock" RAM was attached to the video controller; the CPU had no direct access to it. All memory I/O was through a port on the video controller.
On top of that, the cartridges and the built in BASIC ROM were all serial ROMS, accessed only a bit at a time.
Further, the scratch memory and all expansion peripherals were choked down to 8 bit wide access.
It could have been a really cool machine if it hadn't been so horribly cobbled by it's design.
No, but very recently (in geographic time) there was a man (Ed Leedskalnin) who single handedly built an entire home from massive blocks of coral here in Florida (Coral Castle). It took him twenty years to complete, but he never let anyone see him at work. He claimed he used the same techniques used to build the pyramids, but of all the times people tried to spy on him through the years never once had anyone reported seeing kites.
But then there are the "borderline" users. A friend of a friend was exasperated enough with m$ garbage she decided to take the plunge and cross over from the dark side.
She did a default install of RedHat. After hearing so much hype about Linux, she must have expected a wondrously colorful world full of new and exciting experiences to open up before her, but that isn't what happened, at least in her eyes.
I'm not sure which version of RedHat she installed, but I'm pretty sure is was an earlier version that used Gnome as the default desktop.
She was terribly disappointed with her experience because "RedHat looks too much like Windows." She added "I'm going to try another distribution."
God, if that's the way she feels about Gnome, wait 'till she sees KDE!
The problem is that this was someone who could have been won over, but she wasn't because everyone in the Linux community is too busy chasing m$'s tail.
Where is our innovation? When do we take the lead? Where is the killer app that takes the world by storm that the Linux community "innovated"? Why are we so absorbed with m$ "compatability?"
World domination will not be won by following m$'s wake with an office clone, but by leading the world into new territory. The m$ killer app will be one that is so sexy, so enticing, so irresistible that no one will want to be without it. There will be little to no cross platform compatability.
Slashdot Mirror
I seem to remember hearing about a previous bombing of the World Trade Center. A van filled with explosives and containers of cyanide (which was destroyed by the heat of the explosion rather than spreading through the building was blown up in the parking garage. That pretty clearly labeled the World Trade Center as a target. So, by your reasoning, the people who died on September the 11th 2001 in the plane attacks deserved it as well. So do people who live in flood plains and die in floods. Or the people who live in earthquake prone regions and die in earthquakes, or the people who live in crime-ridden cites and die in robberies. Sorry, I don't buy it.
You're response is so innane it doesn't ever deserve a reply, but here goes anyway:
The WTC was not an obvious military target except to those who chose to make it, so nullfies that argument right off. As far as the rest of your argument, yes of course anyone who chooses to live in dangerous areas deserves his fate.
Really, think about it for a moment:
"Ohhh, looky, a live volcano! I think I'll build my house on it's side!"
Now if that isn't spot on intelligence.
It's pretty much something we got in our genes - you can't really argue with that - OK, the 2 snipers who volunteered to be dropped in a death trap in order to save their mate's lifes - now that more heroic, but fighting for your own is pretty much instinct - unless you're a tad bit suicidal or sumtink
Not entirely true. Ever hear of "fight or flight?" It is the one mysteries of human response leaders of armed forces have wanted to unravel since the beginning of time.
The fact is that some of us can overcome our fears, stand up to death and face it eye-to-eye, while others run for they're lives.
...just because Katz can't figure out it was made before 9/11. Yes, it may seem lame after the event but it was made before the event while we all slumbered peacefully in our false sense of security. Including you, Katz.
To hold a pre 9/11 movie to post 9/11 standards is just plain stupid.
Should it have been released? That's up to the viewer to decide. As far as the studio's concerned it was a business decision. "Do we not release it and lose our investment, or release it and, maybe, recoup some of our money?" Business, plain and simple.
I haven't seen the movie, and I probably won't. The whole premise is as lame a Katz presents it. It's not because the movie is out of touch for it's time, but because we are the ones who are no longer in touch with that genre.
Your argument only carries if there was a real competition for resources. I doubt there was.
I think it is a trait of Homo Sapiens to defeat any and all perceived competition. It is for this reason that our species triumphed, why we continue to rail against each other, and why conflict will continue until superior thought processes win out, what ever they may be.
It also means homogenization of the species and ultimately a stagnation of evolution, barring a catastrophic event.
I don't buy your argument as you present it. "Little room at the top?" There are a thousand fold more Homo Sapiens on this planet than what were there when the species wiped out the competition. At that time there was enough room for all.
It is inherent in our species to defeat competition, however it is perceived. That is a conceit that will, aside from catastrophe, ensure little evolution.
I don't mean to infer that that humans are immune to evolution, just that the kind of evolution mentioned in the article is impossible for our species.
Yes, human evolution can and will occur, most likely along the path you describe. But there will be no major shift. It will be a slow process, even on evolutionary terms. You won't find humans suddenly sprouting six fingers because five is no longer enough.
Evolution is part of life's process, it goes on regardless of human conceit.
Ummm, no. There was once on this planet several species of humans living concurrently. Homo Sapiens destroyed all competing species (unless you subscribe to the Bigfoot theory).
It is Homo Sapiens' drive ('conceit' in your terms) that won out.
There is little chance of any major evolution for us unless we colonize other worlds and evolve there to adapt to that specific environment. That or we so polute our own environment that it takes extroadinary measures to adapt.
I don't buy it. I grew up on the real thing; solid metal. Legos were cheesy crap play toys against an honest-to-god Erector Set.
Why, in my day, you were measured by the amout of metal you owned. Erector and Tonka were it. Everything else was cheap garbage.
Not yet. It is falling without thrusters or any way to move itself. Only time will tell it's exact trajectory.
Oh, great. Time to dust off the old SkyLab Detector hat.
It is still unaceptable to me that the community's ultimate goal is to play catch up. That is utterly ludicrous. It is a no-win situation under all circumstances. If your best intent is to only follow the lead, when do you ever get ahead?
The whole thing that keeps Windows in front of Linux is that barely anyone in the community can see past their nose. Success is not a matter of "Look, we can do it just as well," It is solely based on "We do more, and do it better." It is not enough to entice users of other OS's because they can use their favorite apps on either OS, but that the "killer app" they want to use is only available on the OS of substance.
In no way do I demean the valiant efforts of the contributors to the community, but to make the immediate goal one of breaking even instead of keeping the focus beyond the leader, it is impossible to gain the advantage. This is something I think the "evil empire" understands more than we do.
Exactly my feelings. This incesssant desire to chase the dragon's tail instead of forging past it and leave it behind continues to baffle me. As much as I hate the over used term "innovate" - where is the innovation in the Linux community?
You cannot win by following, only by leading.
What happens to "free" OS's when corporate greed^H^H^H^H^H financing (the so-called saviour) takes over? Corporations traditionally gut anything not making money - what's to become of the carcass?
All you do punch and kick air. Blehhh.
When I first saw the picture and read "presure sensors" I thought the poles were like those martial arts exersise poles. If my martial arts friend saw it, I know he'd think the same and have one (or both) of those poles kicked clean out of its pad and smashing into the far wall. There goes the warranty!
All you really do is kick air and break beams between them (I know there is a "break wind" joke in there, but I can't think of it right now.
Besides, it wouldn't take long for a lazy bum (like me) to figure out how to just stand there and pass my hands between the appropriate beams at just the right times. Purpose defeated.
OTOH, If they were to devise a real pole you could actually kick and punch -- That would be something!
---
Copper is actually too soft a metal to be used as a weapon.
Considering several casts were made from the blade for testing, and that some were used to successfully chop wood, its not beyond the possiblilty that is was used as a tool, although its extensive use for something like that would require frequent sharpening
On the other hand, the edge would keep longer if it were used for the occaisional hack into soft flesh, and could be quite effective.
Now that evidence shows he was in some kind of conflict supports the idea that it could have been a weapon.
I do not discount the possibility that it was merely ceremonial, but to own something as useful as that for merely decorative purposes, and not have a "real" one handy for every-day use doesn't make sense.
---
You know, If he was really a warrior, that copper axe of his would make much more sense as a weapon than for something to chop wood as many currently think.
---
Rockwell 6809 processor
Uhh.. no. Motorola 6809 processor. The heart of the CoCo. And, yes it blew the sh*t out of every processor on the market at the time for computing power. The Rockwell nee Commodore nee MOS 6502 blew the sh*t out of everything for speed.
All the serious arcade games were based on the 6502 (some even had one CPU per CRT color gun in color games)
---
Well, I can't argue with most of your comment. You obviously had more patience than I with the TI. I pretty much lost interest when I found out about it's built-in limitations
I will address the TMS9918 problem. Yes, you are right, it was never supported on the motherboard. I never claimed it was. I was, however, involved in a development project that required video overlay. The chip of choice was the TMS9918 because it was the only one on the market that even claimed the ability. A great deal of engineering went into trying to make it work. It wasn't until after much communcation with TI and TI realized enough of a demand that they finally released an updated version that the overlay and genlock actually worked. If you managed to get it to work on a TI-99/4A then you must have gotten one late in the game that had the updated chip.
It was my understanding that the TI-99/4A was no longer being sold when the update was released.
---
You are close:
I think they were originally sold for $400. I bought mine for $200. It wasn't until they realized these things just weren't catching on that they sold them for the cut-rate $99.
The video overlay feature in the TMS9918 never worked until an updated version was released well after the TI-99/4A was long dead.
Additionally, although the TMS9900 was a 16 bit processor in an 8 bit world, The TI-99/4A was a pig in that, as you said, the 16k "stock" RAM was attached to the video controller; the CPU had no direct access to it. All memory I/O was through a port on the video controller.
On top of that, the cartridges and the built in BASIC ROM were all serial ROMS, accessed only a bit at a time.
Further, the scratch memory and all expansion peripherals were choked down to 8 bit wide access.
It could have been a really cool machine if it hadn't been so horribly cobbled by it's design.
---
What else would you expect? It is in Microsoft's best interest to lure all operating systems into its fold.
"Welcome to my parlour," said the Spider to the Fly.
---
here's a link to support yer argument ;)
:)
And here's the "Official" site:
Coral Castle
---
True, but there are plenty of hieroglyphs depicting people wearing makeup.
---
No, but very recently (in geographic time) there was a man (Ed Leedskalnin) who single handedly built an entire home from massive blocks of coral here in Florida (Coral Castle). It took him twenty years to complete, but he never let anyone see him at work. He claimed he used the same techniques used to build the pyramids, but of all the times people tried to spy on him through the years never once had anyone reported seeing kites.
---
There are no hierglyphs depicting kites
nice try though.
---
But then there are the "borderline" users. A friend of a friend was exasperated enough with m$ garbage she decided to take the plunge and cross over from the dark side.
She did a default install of RedHat. After hearing so much hype about Linux, she must have expected a wondrously colorful world full of new and exciting experiences to open up before her, but that isn't what happened, at least in her eyes.
I'm not sure which version of RedHat she installed, but I'm pretty sure is was an earlier version that used Gnome as the default desktop.
She was terribly disappointed with her experience because "RedHat looks too much like Windows." She added "I'm going to try another distribution."
God, if that's the way she feels about Gnome, wait 'till she sees KDE!
The problem is that this was someone who could have been won over, but she wasn't because everyone in the Linux community is too busy chasing m$'s tail.
Where is our innovation? When do we take the lead? Where is the killer app that takes the world by storm that the Linux community "innovated"? Why are we so absorbed with m$ "compatability?"
World domination will not be won by following m$'s wake with an office clone, but by leading the world into new territory. The m$ killer app will be one that is so sexy, so enticing, so irresistible that no one will want to be without it. There will be little to no cross platform compatability.
"You want this, get Linux!"
---
For fortune and for all time:
"We were the hackers of those days," said Richard Goldberg, now 77, one of the original Fortran team members.
Could it get any better than that?
---