I had an issue with my daughter when she was 3 months old, and as part of the doctor's investigation, they found she had an inverted chromosome which ended up having nothing to do with her problem.
The amazing thing is, the geneticist couldn't tell me anything about this particular inversion, as neither she or any of her colleagues had ever seen it before.
I used the internet to search various databases and papers, and came up with a single paper that had been written in Europe a few years back that studied a family that had the very same inversion. I was the one who brought this paper to the geneticist's attention (rather than the other way around), after which we were able to confidently set aside the genetic findings as a red herring. This was a case of the patient knowing more than the doctor!!!
While I agree with the spirit of this posting, I believe my story shows that there are no absolutes here. When used intellectually, given the right inputs, it is a very valuable tool!
Perhaps some of those techies who are out of work should look at moving to Canada to find jobs, especially the more remote parts of the country.
For quite a few years in the late 90's, and early 2000's, all we heard about was the "Brain Drain" as Canada's top talent rushed to the USA to get these increadible 6-figure dream jobs.
Perhaps it's time for the Brain Drain to work in reverse. If you're willing to move to small-town Canada, there are probably tons of jobs waiting for you - you just need to be willing to make a major relocation. Go check out the east-coast of Canada (Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, etc) and I bet you'll find plenty of stuff. This link might be a good starting place to find Canadian jobs.
I guess the main difference is that with the bigger issues such as Linux vs MS, there is a lot of knowledge out there that allows people to understand the perspective in which the posting takes place.
For something like this Everquest article, that background knowledge may not exist, thereby influencing in a less responsible way.
I'm glad to see a posting like this. Though I havn't played EverQuest, I earlier expressed my concern about the fact that this obviously one-sided opinion was posted in the first place.
Thank you for giving the uninformed reader a snippet from the other side of the story.
I'm quite suprised this article was posted at all.
While Mr. Sanftenberg has written a very compelling piece as to why Everquest is the bane of gamers everywhere, it is the single opinion of a single person, who from what I can see, does not have any credentials besides his own (obviously bitter) experience playing the game.
With the reach and influence of slashdot, do those who decide what to post ask themselves "should we post this"? Note that I have never played, nor do I ever plan to play Everquest, however, I feel that without posting an opposing view, Slashdot has obviously taken an editorial stance on this issue that could influence a large community. I have noticed this type of article being posted more often of late, which leads me to wonder what direction/. is moving in. What happens when/. posts an article that is against something that is truely a good thing, but because of the contributors skewed (and unprofessional) view of things, and this site's influence, the result is overly negative in the real world?
Some responsability or accountability should be taken when deciding what articles to post, and when they are completely based on one person's views (especially one as bitter as Mr. Sanftenberg), some effort should be made to ensure the other side of the story is posted, so that the reader can see the entire picture! Otherwise, the article should not be posted at all!
Moderators rate people's comments, but perhaps Moderators, or the general readership of/. should be able to rate the post itself, and whether it is appropriate to be on/. at all.
Slashdot Mirror
The amazing thing is, the geneticist couldn't tell me anything about this particular inversion, as neither she or any of her colleagues had ever seen it before.
I used the internet to search various databases and papers, and came up with a single paper that had been written in Europe a few years back that studied a family that had the very same inversion. I was the one who brought this paper to the geneticist's attention (rather than the other way around), after which we were able to confidently set aside the genetic findings as a red herring. This was a case of the patient knowing more than the doctor!!!
While I agree with the spirit of this posting, I believe my story shows that there are no absolutes here. When used intellectually, given the right inputs, it is a very valuable tool!
-Lokatana
For quite a few years in the late 90's, and early 2000's, all we heard about was the "Brain Drain" as Canada's top talent rushed to the USA to get these increadible 6-figure dream jobs.
Perhaps it's time for the Brain Drain to work in reverse. If you're willing to move to small-town Canada, there are probably tons of jobs waiting for you - you just need to be willing to make a major relocation. Go check out the east-coast of Canada (Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, etc) and I bet you'll find plenty of stuff. This link might be a good starting place to find Canadian jobs.
-Lokatana
Seee this comment.
For something like this Everquest article, that background knowledge may not exist, thereby influencing in a less responsible way.
Does that make sense?
-Lokatana
Thank you for giving the uninformed reader a snippet from the other side of the story.
-Lokatana
While Mr. Sanftenberg has written a very compelling piece as to why Everquest is the bane of gamers everywhere, it is the single opinion of a single person, who from what I can see, does not have any credentials besides his own (obviously bitter) experience playing the game.
With the reach and influence of slashdot, do those who decide what to post ask themselves "should we post this"? Note that I have never played, nor do I ever plan to play Everquest, however, I feel that without posting an opposing view, Slashdot has obviously taken an editorial stance on this issue that could influence a large community. I have noticed this type of article being posted more often of late, which leads me to wonder what direction /. is moving in. What happens when /. posts an article that is against something that is truely a good thing, but because of the contributors skewed (and unprofessional) view of things, and this site's influence, the result is overly negative in the real world?
Some responsability or accountability should be taken when deciding what articles to post, and when they are completely based on one person's views (especially one as bitter as Mr. Sanftenberg), some effort should be made to ensure the other side of the story is posted, so that the reader can see the entire picture! Otherwise, the article should not be posted at all!
Moderators rate people's comments, but perhaps Moderators, or the general readership of /. should be able to rate the post itself, and whether it is appropriate to be on /. at all.
-Lokatana
The story just hit CNN. Click Here.
-Lokatana
The story hit CNN at 9:41 EST. http://www.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/12/27/human.cloning /index.html
-Lokatana