People die in extreme heat because their homes are not well ventilated. Not necessarily because of lack of air conditioning.
Here in Chicago, it was mostly elderly people living alone who left their windows closed that one summer in 94 when 400 people died from a heat wave.
But when I go visit my relatives in rural Philippines, I see people toughing it out in just-as-humid heat. Even The difference is their homes are better ventilated and they make do with electric fans and a shade (or a swim in the sea).
The guy has a point. It's not a necessity. There is an alternative to air conditioning. Whereas there isn't an alternative to food, oxygen, and heat in extreme cold climates.
I heard it on public radio over the weekend, too. It was a quiz item on the (funny) news quiz show "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!". They even played a soundbite of the 7-year-old explaining why his sister didn't want to be included in the patent.
This economy has affected me hard. What indulgence did I practically throw out the window immediately? CD purchases. Where I once bought CD's at a rate of one a week, I'm now down to two CD's over the past 6 months. And one of those CD's was a gift I got for someone else.
Each day, when the light began to fade, he marked the spot and started searching for a motel. Next morning he backtracked to the marker and resumed the trip, which took six days.
It could be that it was the next day and he went back to the same location, but accidentally marked it one mile ahead of what it should have been and let it start clicking away.
There are a lot of good films out there. We just don't hear about them.
Here's a good flick, Monster's Ball. Perhaps you've heard of this one. There was much ballyhoo about the film last year from news that there's a naked Halle Berry scene, but that aside, it's filled with excellent acting (especially from Berry).
Oddly enough I really haven't heard much of the film since then. Just rave reviews via word of mouth from friends who've seen it and, of course, the above-referenced column by Roger Ebert.
Re:Maybe Jobs is onto something......
on
iMac LCD Impostors
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· Score: 0
The new iMac runs all of my current software. *nix and OS X software.
If I were to get a Profile, on the other hand.... Well, I guess one can get Linux to run on that thing. Then I'll have some current software to run.
(Shortly after I got my TiBook, last May, I took it with me on a transcontinental flight. Each way, I got pretty stewardesses striking up conversations with me, wanting to know what kind of computer I had. So, it's not just a twit-magnet.)
There's a Pulitzer Prize-winning piece done by the L.A. Times on Michael Greene and his questionable dealings. The series of articles is available on the Pulitzer site.
Also, any of you living in Chicago may want to tune into to an excellent radio talk show called Sound Opinions. It's aired weekly on WXRT (93.1 FM), Tuesday nights from 10pm-midnight, hosted by rock critics from the Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune.
Anyway, they interviewed Michael Greene a few months back, and he hung up on them when they brought up the L.A. Times piece. Since last Tuesday was the first show after the Grammys, they spent the first 30 or so ripping on the Grammys. In particular, they talked about Michael Greene and replayed a clip of when Michael Greene hung up on him.
It doesn't look like the archives have been updated to include this week's show, but check back later.
Re:Sure, it was started by the DoD, but...
on
Collateral Damage
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· Score: 0
No. If you don't like it here. First see if you can change it. If it's a hopeless cause, then leave.
And if you do manage to get your way, suggest to people like Zed2K to consider applying their logic to their new plight.
It seems a little strange that with all of the United State's [sic] vast control of a corner of the World's Intelligence Market that we wouldn't know about this meeting.
There are limits to US intelligence in other countries, particularly Somalia. One need only see the blunders made by the U.S. military in afghanistan. Like the recent raid that appears to have killed "friendly" Afghan forces.
It is not like we were implanted on this planet, you know...
We and whatever we do is still part of natural evolution.
So, are you saying that just because a relative of yours was infected with a curable form of cancer that you let her go untreated? After all, it's a natural process of survival of the fittest?
We as a species are capable of both destroying and saving many species here on earth. If we allow ourselves to continue to kill biodiversity, we will continue down the road of extinction ourselves.
How many mob films were there before "The Godfather"? "The Godfather" created the genre of mob films.
LOTR was a great movie. But does it stand against "The Godfather" ten years from now in terms of great cinema? My bets would be on "The Godfather".
29 years after "The Godfather" was made, people still revere it highly, its "new-car smell" long past. Will we be throwing in the same level of praises for LOTR? I predict its stature will diminish considerably to a level perhaps above "Star Wars", where many of us feel "Star Wars" was a nice film, but you gotta admit the acting was a little campy. Right now, I think LOTR is leagues above "Star Wars" in terms of its acting, but when Star Wars came out I thought it was the greatest movie ever made.
So, let's see in ten years or so whether LOTR will stand the test of time. Maybe then, it will be considered, deservedly, the greatest fantasy movie ever made. And then someone will challenge that with:
You have got to be kidding. Firstly, how many supposedly excellent "fantasy" movies have there been? COUNTLESS. How many TV series "fantasy" shows have been praised and given accolades because of their authentic portrayal of their original books? Dozens.
And then there's B.D. Wong or something like that. Seen him in a bunch of movies and tv shows. He's the priest on the HBO series "Oz". And was one of the wedding coordinators in Steve Martin's "Father of the Bride" movies. And I've seen him do small roles in a host of others movies. (I'm too lazy to look his name up on imdb.
Nor was he in St. Elmo's Fire. I think you're thinking about Judd Nelson. Matt Dillon was in The Outsiders, Rumble Fish, My Bodyguard, and slew of other decent 80's movies....and a whole lot more bad ones.
Well, think of it this way. You see a 4-year-old who's got big feet and is half a foot taller than the other 4-year-olds around him.
You have a pretty good idea the kid's gonna be pretty big by the time he's in high school. But do you know at what point the kid will hit his growth spurt? Is he on it already?
Will it be next week? No clue. But you know it's gonna happen.
I grew up in Japan from the late 70's through the 80's. There was a Lawson near the international school I went to (Canadian Academy, YO!). And I gotta say their onigiris never disappointed. After-school snacks usually included a katsuo onigiri with a Japanese sports drink. (Strange names, but they were usually better-tasting than Gatorade.)
I think you're right, people are gettting into programming for the money, which is bad for development in the long wrong.
You guys take on such an elitist attitude, it's disgusting. How can you make such a sweeping statement like that? Did you actually talk to your classmates and see the dollar signs in their eyes?
Did it ever occur to you that not everyone is able to afford the time or the finances to program on their own time? Did it ever occur to you that some of these guys may have had to GET A JOB first before being able to go back to school and pursue their dream to work with computers like their uncle, cousin, or whomever they admire does?
(I'm not one of these guys, but I know a few who are. Some may not be cut out for it, ultimately, but they will realize this as they go through the steps to finishing their degree.)
Not everyone is in it purely for the money. If they were, then a good portion of them will surely fail before they get there.
Why does someone have the right to express the idea that it is ok to kill children and yet if I present the opposite opinion it is attacked as somehow being wrong to express?
I don't think you were being attacked for your views, but rather you were corrected because you misinterpreted Katz's remarks.
Or maybe we misinterpreted your comment:
I believe that the entire argument you make about freedoms is a smokescreen to try and reduce my freedom to speak by twisted emotional blackmail.
...because it sure sounded like you were attacking Katz for sharing the same views with Singer. We're telling you no, that's not what he's saying.
And also, who's saying that you're wrong to express your opinions? They're just disagreeing with you. They're not telling you to shut up. ...then again, w/ all your whining.:)
US Digital Cell Phone services aren't so great.
on
Wireless Video Phone
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· Score: 2
There're a lot of questions about whether this video phone thing is practical enough to own. I think the more immediate question is if it'll ever make it to the U.S.
The U.S. is just so pitifully behind in their digital cell phone services. Anyone ever try travelling around the U.S. with one? Whatever network you choose, it's far from all-encompassing. Now head over to Europe or Asia, and see just how much better their phones work. And how many more things you can do w/ it (pay bills, text-message, etc.).
And the accessories that are available to phone users. Like the bland outer casings for them Nokia phones that are marketed here PALE in comparison to the smorgasbord of designs you can get in - of all places - the Philippines. (You'd be surprised at just how many people in this poly-island country have cell phones. And text-messaging is now part of the youth culture there.)
Also a beef I have w/ the U.S. digital cell phone services is if you wanna switch companies, you have to buy a freakin' new phone for it. Because the phone you'd been using was meant to be used for just that one cell phone company. This explains why there're no longer long-term contracts like they had w/ the analog phones. This is how they getcha!
Check this article out. It's entitled Why your cell phone stinks from TIME. They blame the standards wars (CDMA, PCS, GSM) of years past to why the U.S. is behind.
It's called "David Duchovny Why Won't You Love Me?" It's pretty funny. And they play it on some of the radio stations here in Chicago. Dunno who sings it, though.
I think your attitude will change about documentation when you inherit a project with a poorly written spec sheet, uncommented code, and hard-coded values in the program (my situation when I started in my current job).
Sure, it's no big deal when it's just you doing the coding, etc. Now try looking through some of the programs you wrote 5 years ago (in high school?) and figure out what you were doing. Even better, have someone look through your recent code and have THEM try to add a feature to it just from their looking at your code.
That's when good documentation becomes invaluable.
What your teachers are trying to do is have you get used to this process early in YOUR development as a good engineer, so that it's a mere force of habit once you start doing this professionally. It will not only help you, but also your co-workers and those who will eventually inherit your code.
Slashdot Mirror
People die in extreme heat because their homes are not well ventilated. Not necessarily because of lack of air conditioning.
Here in Chicago, it was mostly elderly people living alone who left their windows closed that one summer in 94 when 400 people died from a heat wave.
But when I go visit my relatives in rural Philippines, I see people toughing it out in just-as-humid heat. Even The difference is their homes are better ventilated and they make do with electric fans and a shade (or a swim in the sea).
The guy has a point. It's not a necessity. There is an alternative to air conditioning. Whereas there isn't an alternative to food, oxygen, and heat in extreme cold climates.
Crucify me, but I really don't have a problem with Katz. I may disagree with him half the time, but I don't abhor him.
Actually, the rage his posts elicit puzzle me. But I guess I'm just more mellow than your average slashdotter....
I heard it on public radio over the weekend, too. It was a quiz item on the (funny) news quiz show "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!". They even played a soundbite of the 7-year-old explaining why his sister didn't want to be included in the patent.
Here's a Real Audio clip of the entire show.
This story was covered on NPR over the weekend with a fluff/human interest angle. Sorry, couldn't find it in their archives.
This economy has affected me hard. What indulgence did I practically throw out the window immediately? CD purchases. Where I once bought CD's at a rate of one a week, I'm now down to two CD's over the past 6 months.
And one of those CD's was a gift I got for someone else.
If you read his bio, it says:
Each day, when the light began to fade, he marked the spot and started searching for a motel. Next morning he backtracked to the marker and resumed the trip, which took six days.
It could be that it was the next day and he went back to the same location, but accidentally marked it one mile ahead of what it should have been and let it start clicking away.
There are a lot of good films out there. We just don't hear about them.
Here's a good flick, Monster's Ball. Perhaps you've heard of this one. There was much ballyhoo about the film last year from news that there's a naked Halle Berry scene, but that aside, it's filled with excellent acting (especially from Berry).
Oddly enough I really haven't heard much of the film since then. Just rave reviews via word of mouth from friends who've seen it and, of course, the above-referenced column by Roger Ebert.
The new iMac runs all of my current software. *nix and OS X software.
If I were to get a Profile, on the other hand....
Well, I guess one can get Linux to run on that thing. Then I'll have some current software to run.
(Shortly after I got my TiBook, last May, I took it with me on a transcontinental flight. Each way, I got pretty stewardesses striking up conversations with me, wanting to know what kind of computer I had. So, it's not just a twit-magnet.)
There's a Pulitzer Prize-winning piece done by the L.A. Times on Michael Greene and his questionable dealings. The series of articles is available on the Pulitzer site.
Also, any of you living in Chicago may want to tune into to an excellent radio talk show called Sound Opinions. It's aired weekly on WXRT (93.1 FM), Tuesday nights from 10pm-midnight, hosted by rock critics from the Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune.
Anyway, they interviewed Michael Greene a few months back, and he hung up on them when they brought up the L.A. Times piece. Since last Tuesday was the first show after the Grammys, they spent the first 30 or so ripping on the Grammys. In particular, they talked about Michael Greene and replayed a clip of when Michael Greene hung up on him.
It doesn't look like the archives have been updated to include this week's show, but check back later.
No. If you don't like it here. First see if you can change it. If it's a hopeless cause, then leave.
And if you do manage to get your way, suggest to people like Zed2K to consider applying their logic to their new plight.
It seems a little strange that with all of the United State's [sic] vast control of a corner of the World's Intelligence Market that we wouldn't know about this meeting.
There are limits to US intelligence in other countries, particularly Somalia. One need only see the blunders made by the U.S. military in afghanistan. Like the recent raid that appears to have killed "friendly" Afghan forces.
It is not like we were implanted on this planet, you know ...
We and whatever we do is still part of natural evolution.
So, are you saying that just because a relative of yours was infected with a curable form of cancer that you let her go untreated? After all, it's a natural process of survival of the fittest?
We as a species are capable of both destroying and saving many species here on earth. If we allow ourselves to continue to kill biodiversity, we will continue down the road of extinction ourselves.
How many mob films were there before "The Godfather"? "The Godfather" created the genre of mob films.
LOTR was a great movie. But does it stand against "The Godfather" ten years from now in terms of great cinema? My bets would be on "The Godfather".
29 years after "The Godfather" was made, people still revere it highly, its "new-car smell" long past. Will we be throwing in the same level of praises for LOTR? I predict its stature will diminish considerably to a level perhaps above "Star Wars", where many of us feel "Star Wars" was a nice film, but you gotta admit the acting was a little campy. Right now, I think LOTR is leagues above "Star Wars" in terms of its acting, but when Star Wars came out I thought it was the greatest movie ever made.
So, let's see in ten years or so whether LOTR will stand the test of time. Maybe then, it will be considered, deservedly, the greatest fantasy movie ever made. And then someone will challenge that with:
You have got to be kidding. Firstly, how many supposedly excellent "fantasy" movies have there been? COUNTLESS. How many TV series "fantasy" shows have been praised and given accolades because of their authentic portrayal of their original books? Dozens.
There's the guy on ER who played the exchange student on 16 Candles.... One second while I find his name on imdb.
Ah, here it is. Gedde Watanabe.
And then there's B.D. Wong or something like that. Seen him in a bunch of movies and tv shows. He's the priest on the HBO series "Oz". And was one of the wedding coordinators in Steve Martin's "Father of the Bride" movies. And I've seen him do small roles in a host of others movies. (I'm too lazy to look his name up on imdb.
Nor was he in St. Elmo's Fire. I think you're thinking about Judd Nelson. Matt Dillon was in The Outsiders, Rumble Fish, My Bodyguard, and slew of other decent 80's movies. ...and a whole lot more bad ones.
How'bout just ignoring his articles?
Is that so hard to do?
Well, think of it this way. You see a 4-year-old who's got big feet and is half a foot taller than the other 4-year-olds around him.
You have a pretty good idea the kid's gonna be pretty big by the time he's in high school. But do you know at what point the kid will hit his growth spurt? Is he on it already?
Will it be next week? No clue. But you know it's gonna happen.
I grew up in Japan from the late 70's through the 80's. There was a Lawson near the international school I went to (Canadian Academy, YO!). And I gotta say their onigiris never disappointed. After-school snacks usually included a katsuo onigiri with a Japanese sports drink. (Strange names, but they were usually better-tasting than Gatorade.)
You guys take on such an elitist attitude, it's disgusting. How can you make such a sweeping statement like that? Did you actually talk to your classmates and see the dollar signs in their eyes?
Did it ever occur to you that not everyone is able to afford the time or the finances to program on their own time? Did it ever occur to you that some of these guys may have had to GET A JOB first before being able to go back to school and pursue their dream to work with computers like their uncle, cousin, or whomever they admire does? (I'm not one of these guys, but I know a few who are. Some may not be cut out for it, ultimately, but they will realize this as they go through the steps to finishing their degree.)
Not everyone is in it purely for the money. If they were, then a good portion of them will surely fail before they get there.
I don't think you were being attacked for your views, but rather you were corrected because you misinterpreted Katz's remarks.
Or maybe we misinterpreted your comment:
I believe that the entire argument you make about freedoms is a smokescreen to try and reduce my freedom to speak by twisted emotional blackmail.
...because it sure sounded like you were attacking Katz for sharing the same views with Singer. We're telling you no, that's not what he's saying.
And also, who's saying that you're wrong to express your opinions? They're just disagreeing with you. They're not telling you to shut up. :)
...then again, w/ all your whining.
The U.S. is just so pitifully behind in their digital cell phone services. Anyone ever try travelling around the U.S. with one? Whatever network you choose, it's far from all-encompassing. Now head over to Europe or Asia, and see just how much better their phones work. And how many more things you can do w/ it (pay bills, text-message, etc.).
And the accessories that are available to phone users. Like the bland outer casings for them Nokia phones that are marketed here PALE in comparison to the smorgasbord of designs you can get in - of all places - the Philippines. (You'd be surprised at just how many people in this poly-island country have cell phones. And text-messaging is now part of the youth culture there.)
Also a beef I have w/ the U.S. digital cell phone services is if you wanna switch companies, you have to buy a freakin' new phone for it. Because the phone you'd been using was meant to be used for just that one cell phone company. This explains why there're no longer long-term contracts like they had w/ the analog phones. This is how they getcha!
Check this article out. It's entitled Why your cell phone stinks from TIME. They blame the standards wars (CDMA, PCS, GSM) of years past to why the U.S. is behind.
It's called "David Duchovny Why Won't You Love Me?" It's pretty funny. And they play it on some of the radio stations here in Chicago. Dunno who sings it, though.
Forgive my ignorance for I have been on a /. hiatus. When was /. bought?
If you're not willing to take account for your opinions, then you deserved to be moderated to a pulp. :)
I think your attitude will change about documentation when you inherit a project with a poorly written spec sheet, uncommented code, and hard-coded values in the program (my situation when I started in my current job).
Sure, it's no big deal when it's just you doing the coding, etc. Now try looking through some of the programs you wrote 5 years ago (in high school?) and figure out what you were doing. Even better, have someone look through your recent code and have THEM try to add a feature to it just from their looking at your code.
That's when good documentation becomes invaluable.
What your teachers are trying to do is have you get used to this process early in YOUR development as a good engineer, so that it's a mere force of habit once you start doing this professionally. It will not only help you, but also your co-workers and those who will eventually inherit your code.
How do you spell "Rhymes"?