What most people don't tell you about the SETI@home project is that there are far more people processing the data than there is data to process. Most of the packets you're downloading to scan have been scanned dozens of times already--there just isn't enough data to justify all that computing power.
...replace those annoying fast food employees? I was thinking the other day about how I really wish I could just press buttons at McDonalds for my food and have robots hand it to me. It's not as though that food requires a chef to prepare it, or a human touch to garnish it just so.
I just figure I have a better chance of understanding an electronically modulated voice on that drive-thru speaker than a mumbling teenager.
The point of robots is to handle shit jobs below the intellect of humans, right?
I've grown so accustomed to highspeed access that broadband is almost a "necessity" for me; I'd consider cutting the stream of crap on cable television before I'd dump my cable modem.
That said, I can imagine that for many users, high speed access is a frivolity. Let's face it: you need a high speed connection mainly for gaming, porn, and overwrought sites with lots of graphics.
You could probably get by with a regular modem (and, hell, a text browser), if you actually wanted the Internet just for information.
These aren't specifically about making CS fun again, but they do shed some light on those vast existential issues that haunt intelligent people:
"Man's Search for Meaning," by Viktor Frankl, a good general book on figuring out what your purpose is in the world.
"The Tao of Pooh," a book that's got good insights, sometimes expressed a little simplistically.
"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," by Robert Pirsig, a book that discusses what it means to really DO things, and do them well, often against the opposition of society.
I wish I'd read any of those books when I was at your junction in life.
I interviewed once wearing a long-sleeve buttoned shirt and slacks (but no tie), and the interviewer actually said at the end of the interview, "My final question is this: why did you choose to come here dressed in business casual instead of a suit?"
I retorted, "Because I want to be hired for my skills and not my costume."
I left offended, but two hours later, they called back with an offer which I promptly declined.
My thinking on the matter is this: every company I've ever worked for that had a strict dress code and other draconian rules failed miserably. I consider it a matter of job security to interview at places that tolerate some measure of comfortable dress and behavior.
By all means, eliminate the toe-picking, crotch-scratching, snot-slurping sociopaths, but more is accomplished out of a suit than in one.
Will's Law of Suits: Wear a suit when you want to look like work is getting done. Take one off when you plan to actually do some.
Read Harlan Ellison's "Along the Scenic Route" for a description of this technology in action--mostly to enrage other drivers and challenge them to duels.
Still, I think there IS a need for a text system to communicate on the highway. Sometimes there are complex reasons the other drivers are idiots, reasons that can't be summarized with, say, a hand gesture.
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What most people don't tell you about the SETI@home project is that there are far more people processing the data than there is data to process. Most of the packets you're downloading to scan have been scanned dozens of times already--there just isn't enough data to justify all that computing power.
Now, if we built more radio telescopes...
...replace those annoying fast food employees? I was thinking the other day about how I really wish I could just press buttons at McDonalds for my food and have robots hand it to me. It's not as though that food requires a chef to prepare it, or a human touch to garnish it just so.
I just figure I have a better chance of understanding an electronically modulated voice on that drive-thru speaker than a mumbling teenager.
The point of robots is to handle shit jobs below the intellect of humans, right?
I've grown so accustomed to highspeed access that broadband is almost a "necessity" for me; I'd consider cutting the stream of crap on cable television before I'd dump my cable modem.
That said, I can imagine that for many users, high speed access is a frivolity. Let's face it: you need a high speed connection mainly for gaming, porn, and overwrought sites with lots of graphics.
You could probably get by with a regular modem (and, hell, a text browser), if you actually wanted the Internet just for information.
These aren't specifically about making CS fun again, but they do shed some light on those vast existential issues that haunt intelligent people:
"Man's Search for Meaning," by Viktor Frankl, a good general book on figuring out what your purpose is in the world.
"The Tao of Pooh," a book that's got good insights, sometimes expressed a little simplistically.
"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," by Robert Pirsig, a book that discusses what it means to really DO things, and do them well, often against the opposition of society.
I wish I'd read any of those books when I was at your junction in life.
I interviewed once wearing a long-sleeve buttoned shirt and slacks (but no tie), and the interviewer actually said at the end of the interview, "My final question is this: why did you choose to come here dressed in business casual instead of a suit?"
I retorted, "Because I want to be hired for my skills and not my costume."
I left offended, but two hours later, they called back with an offer which I promptly declined.
My thinking on the matter is this: every company I've ever worked for that had a strict dress code and other draconian rules failed miserably. I consider it a matter of job security to interview at places that tolerate some measure of comfortable dress and behavior.
By all means, eliminate the toe-picking, crotch-scratching, snot-slurping sociopaths, but more is accomplished out of a suit than in one.
Will's Law of Suits: Wear a suit when you want to look like work is getting done. Take one off when you plan to actually do some.
Read Harlan Ellison's "Along the Scenic Route" for a description of this technology in action--mostly to enrage other drivers and challenge them to duels. Still, I think there IS a need for a text system to communicate on the highway. Sometimes there are complex reasons the other drivers are idiots, reasons that can't be summarized with, say, a hand gesture.