The virus may mutate into a form resistant to the enzyme in the future but it would then no longer be the same virus strain, the virus would have to start all over again and it may not even succeed. There is no reason why other 'cured' viruses like smallpox & polio couldn't have mutated and beat their cures (although influenza does mututate more than small pox) but they didn't and now the world is free of them.
If proven effective in the real world then it is still a cure, saying otherwise is like saying "Why bother trying to cure the disease, everyone is going to die someday".
You do realize that makes you a bitching wanna-be nerd, right?
Not really, I'm stating about who the website is now primarily aimed at, it doesn't mean that 100% of people who view the webiste are bitching wanna-be nerds, just the target audience.
Thats because nowadays Slashdot is a mainstream bitching site for wanna-be nerds. The real nerds no longer visit Slashdot as they don't enjoy just reading constant politics, legal and "in-other-news" stories. Seriously, how long since Linux kernel patches have even been mentioned on Slashdot?
I bet most the people who read Slashdot now don't even know what the Linux kernel is, let alone how to modify it!
This isn't the first report to note mental health benefits from knowing another language, there have been many studies done on the matter, I remember recently reading a report which showed bilingualism (along with ambidexterity among other things) helps prevent/delay Alzheimers.
While on the face of it, the various studies would seem to imply that programming languages help in this way, I doubt they are quite as beneficial as a natural language due (among other things) to the comparatively minuscule vocabulary and grammatical flexibility that programming languages generally use.
The general indications are though that all brain usage assists to ward off mental health degeneration however so the good news for Slashdotters is that just being a nerd helps in itself!
A Wiki is not a database in any way shape or form! A Wiki might make use of a database but it doesn't have to, it might just be a collection of text files. Same goes for all the version control tools you talk about.
You even contradict yourself throughout your post, first you say it's a database then you say it's a database frontend (they're not the same thing you know) and finally you say a Wiki is a collection of tools that are commonly seen on existing wiki sites.
In reality, if you look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki you'll see that actually "a wiki is a website that allows the visitors themselves to easily add, remove, and otherwise edit and change available content, and typically without the need for registration."
The definition in shows 1) a Wiki is in no way a database and 2) how ridiculous it would be for the intellegance community......actually a wiki based system could be quite good, a quick entry regarding a certain ex-girlfriend and I can get the CIA to take her out as an international terrorist!
American intelligence agencies are now looking to Wiki solutions for sharing intelligence, and it's far superior to any previous databases.
Right, so a concept which has been around for a few years is instantly judged superior to a data storage method which has proved the most successful for several decades. Hasn't the U.S. government learned anything from the millions its wasted on I.T. projects? New computer system projects always sound good at the start, it's 5 years and many millions of dollars down the line that matters. No where in the article can I see anything which prevents the wiki system from failing miserably any less than a database system, it'll just be slightly less organised (and therefor useful) if it does actually work.
Perhaps UK intelligence agencies will follow America's lead and do the same?
Maybe. Except that the proposed U.K. database has nothing to do with "intelligence agencies" and everything todo with the U.K. government's massive healthcare, social security and tax departments. Sounds to me like someone didn't bother to RTFA.
At least make the thing look respectable when pulling up to Home Depot.
I don't think the words "respectable" and "Home Depot" belong in the same sentence. When your driving back home with several 10 ft pieces of lumber poking out the back and tins of paint everywhere, the car's bodywork will be the least of your style worries.
The clock implies that for 53 years now we have been "minutes away from total world destruction". To me that's not metaphorical, it's plain exaggeration. Why 7 minutes? Why not 7 seconds? The entire system is without any scientific basis yet it is presented with precise and fluctuating figures as if it was based on real research.
It's this sort of crap that scares the idiot majority into supporting wars "in the name of peace" (as all wars always are) in the first place.
Right.. So if we nuke the entire planet and render every living species extinct then we're really just helping natural selection play its course?
Give me a break. This species killed off by overfishing and overuse of the river by motor boats. If similar extinctions happen among the many other threatened species due to human overpopulation and lack of ecological responsibility than the world will be a lot less amazing a place and the "oh it's just natural selection" argument will seem pretty flat.
the system is far, far too complex to just do some sums, draw a big black line at the bottom, and say "Well, that's it for civilization. We're screwed!"
That's not really at all what the majority scientific consensus is though. That is applying your own conclusion to the evidence noted by the vast majority of scientific opinion. Also the majority of scientific opinion does not believe that "anthropogenic global warming is 30% responsible for the global warming trend", you are simply taking the upper boundary of one study and stating it as a scientific consensus.
I agree that many of the ideas (predominately coming from politicians) to try drastically cut green-house gas emissions whilst totally neglecting the underlying problem of a lack of general conservation are loony though.
I'm not the global warming denial zealot you speak of, but I am certainly suspicious of any group that regards consensus as truth, and ridicules anyone that tries to present scientific contrary arguments.
No you are obviously not one of the global warming denial zealot I speak of. The ones I speak of are the ones which every time a related story appears on slashdot immediately comment on how all the well grounded theories and research are wrong and instead the latest FOX news crackpot theory on an increase in energy being reflected towards Earth from Jupiter - or something else based on virtually no evidence and contradicting much evidence - is actually responsible. Fundamentally speaking, to me, the zealots are the ones approaching what is a scientific discussion with a view which is obviously biased from the outset.
I agree that consensus shouldn't be viewed as a truth, but that is mainly because truth itself should be viewed as completely artificial and subjective concept whenever speaking outside of the realm of mathematics.
There is a slight difference in the academic and scientific quality between the reports appearing in major scientific journals that note the correlation between record high levels of CO2 in the atmosphere and increasing global temperatures, compared to the sort of "research" that appears on Fox news.
The story appeared on "Fox news" in the USA, and references a story appearing in the British newspaper "Daily Telegraph", both of those news organisations are known to be the main global warming deniers in each of those countries. They both love running sensationalist, unscientific articles in order to discredit the real scientific research going on.
Yes but then again Slashdot is a website for nerds, not concerned home owners.
Personally I'm getting a little sick and tired of all the mainstream stories on Slashdot lately, if I wanted to read such I'd visit cnn.com!
How does protecting your house in winter effect nerds? True nerds don't own a house, they live in their parents basement or possibly an abandoned factory they have kitted out with latest high-tech hacking equipment!
I would of thought most Slashdotters would prefer to protect their home with either a few Tesla coils or Prism towers. A Mammoth tank left behind can be advisable when your away base-raping however the airfield should normally be able to take care of any surprise threats.
"heh, didnt know you brits played football. always took you for rugby people."
Uh, yea we do. Not only did we invent the game but the FA premier league is the most watched and most lucrative sporting league in the world (according to numerous sources including http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FA_Premier_League).
So we do all waste a hell of a lot of our time and cash playing and watching it....doesn't seem to stop the national team from being crap though:(
I remember seeing a tatty Madden 2002 box sit on the 'discounted' shelf at a local games shop. Not sure if it ever sold but it was on the shelf for like 3 years. Neadless to say, on my way home from work today I stopped by the store and Madden was no where to be seen (I live in the U.K.).
right, 500 million unique users? I'm surprised they didn't claim to still be the world's most popular search engine, surely they would with those figures.
I really don't understand where the money goes for the annual sports game like FIFA ## & Madden ## (although I've not actually played Madden). The graphics and gameplay show only extremely minor improvements year on year, yet they claim development costs of many millions.
Slashdot Mirror
The virus may mutate into a form resistant to the enzyme in the future but it would then no longer be the same virus strain, the virus would have to start all over again and it may not even succeed. There is no reason why other 'cured' viruses like smallpox & polio couldn't have mutated and beat their cures (although influenza does mututate more than small pox) but they didn't and now the world is free of them.
If proven effective in the real world then it is still a cure, saying otherwise is like saying "Why bother trying to cure the disease, everyone is going to die someday".
Mine is against the cruel and unethical use of computers in pharmaceutical research.
Not really, I'm stating about who the website is now primarily aimed at, it doesn't mean that 100% of people who view the webiste are bitching wanna-be nerds, just the target audience.
Thats because nowadays Slashdot is a mainstream bitching site for wanna-be nerds. The real nerds no longer visit Slashdot as they don't enjoy just reading constant politics, legal and "in-other-news" stories. Seriously, how long since Linux kernel patches have even been mentioned on Slashdot?
I bet most the people who read Slashdot now don't even know what the Linux kernel is, let alone how to modify it!
This isn't the first report to note mental health benefits from knowing another language, there have been many studies done on the matter, I remember recently reading a report which showed bilingualism (along with ambidexterity among other things) helps prevent/delay Alzheimers.
While on the face of it, the various studies would seem to imply that programming languages help in this way, I doubt they are quite as beneficial as a natural language due (among other things) to the comparatively minuscule vocabulary and grammatical flexibility that programming languages generally use.
The general indications are though that all brain usage assists to ward off mental health degeneration however so the good news for Slashdotters is that just being a nerd helps in itself!
Or how about just "Woman dies from drinking too much water" as that is actually what the story is about.
A Wiki is not a database in any way shape or form! A Wiki might make use of a database but it doesn't have to, it might just be a collection of text files. Same goes for all the version control tools you talk about.
...actually a wiki based system could be quite good, a quick entry regarding a certain ex-girlfriend and I can get the CIA to take her out as an international terrorist!
You even contradict yourself throughout your post, first you say it's a database then you say it's a database frontend (they're not the same thing you know) and finally you say a Wiki is a collection of tools that are commonly seen on existing wiki sites.
In reality, if you look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki you'll see that actually "a wiki is a website that allows the visitors themselves to easily add, remove, and otherwise edit and change available content, and typically without the need for registration."
The definition in shows 1) a Wiki is in no way a database and 2) how ridiculous it would be for the intellegance community...
Right, so a concept which has been around for a few years is instantly judged superior to a data storage method which has proved the most successful for several decades. Hasn't the U.S. government learned anything from the millions its wasted on I.T. projects? New computer system projects always sound good at the start, it's 5 years and many millions of dollars down the line that matters. No where in the article can I see anything which prevents the wiki system from failing miserably any less than a database system, it'll just be slightly less organised (and therefor useful) if it does actually work.
Maybe. Except that the proposed U.K. database has nothing to do with "intelligence agencies" and everything todo with the U.K. government's massive healthcare, social security and tax departments. Sounds to me like someone didn't bother to RTFA.
I don't think the words "respectable" and "Home Depot" belong in the same sentence. When your driving back home with several 10 ft pieces of lumber poking out the back and tins of paint everywhere, the car's bodywork will be the least of your style worries.
The clock implies that for 53 years now we have been "minutes away from total world destruction". To me that's not metaphorical, it's plain exaggeration. Why 7 minutes? Why not 7 seconds? The entire system is without any scientific basis yet it is presented with precise and fluctuating figures as if it was based on real research.
It's this sort of crap that scares the idiot majority into supporting wars "in the name of peace" (as all wars always are) in the first place.
So basically your saying that the weather is getting weirder, which is exactly what the parent post concluded.
...he just doesn't remember!
Right.. So if we nuke the entire planet and render every living species extinct then we're really just helping natural selection play its course?
Give me a break. This species killed off by overfishing and overuse of the river by motor boats. If similar extinctions happen among the many other threatened species due to human overpopulation and lack of ecological responsibility than the world will be a lot less amazing a place and the "oh it's just natural selection" argument will seem pretty flat.
That's not really at all what the majority scientific consensus is though. That is applying your own conclusion to the evidence noted by the vast majority of scientific opinion. Also the majority of scientific opinion does not believe that "anthropogenic global warming is 30% responsible for the global warming trend", you are simply taking the upper boundary of one study and stating it as a scientific consensus.
I agree that many of the ideas (predominately coming from politicians) to try drastically cut green-house gas emissions whilst totally neglecting the underlying problem of a lack of general conservation are loony though.
Oh but don't you know their slogan:
"We Report, You Decide"
The line sends me into hysterics every time I hear it!
I wouldn't be surprised if it was in fact Heinrich Himmler who first thought of it!
No you are obviously not one of the global warming denial zealot I speak of. The ones I speak of are the ones which every time a related story appears on slashdot immediately comment on how all the well grounded theories and research are wrong and instead the latest FOX news crackpot theory on an increase in energy being reflected towards Earth from Jupiter - or something else based on virtually no evidence and contradicting much evidence - is actually responsible. Fundamentally speaking, to me, the zealots are the ones approaching what is a scientific discussion with a view which is obviously biased from the outset.
I agree that consensus shouldn't be viewed as a truth, but that is mainly because truth itself should be viewed as completely artificial and subjective concept whenever speaking outside of the realm of mathematics.
There is a slight difference in the academic and scientific quality between the reports appearing in major scientific journals that note the correlation between record high levels of CO2 in the atmosphere and increasing global temperatures, compared to the sort of "research" that appears on Fox news.
The story appeared on "Fox news" in the USA, and references a story appearing in the British newspaper "Daily Telegraph", both of those news organisations are known to be the main global warming deniers in each of those countries. They both love running sensationalist, unscientific articles in order to discredit the real scientific research going on.
Ahh another global warming story.
Await the dozens of posts by global warming denial zealots on why this is all natural and actually good news.
Yes but then again Slashdot is a website for nerds, not concerned home owners.
Personally I'm getting a little sick and tired of all the mainstream stories on Slashdot lately, if I wanted to read such I'd visit cnn.com!
How does protecting your house in winter effect nerds? True nerds don't own a house, they live in their parents basement or possibly an abandoned factory they have kitted out with latest high-tech hacking equipment!
I would of thought most Slashdotters would prefer to protect their home with either a few Tesla coils or Prism towers. A Mammoth tank left behind can be advisable when your away base-raping however the airfield should normally be able to take care of any surprise threats.
People always get it wrong when it comes to the 2nd Amendment:
http://thatvideosite.com/view/1835.html
"heh, didnt know you brits played football. always took you for rugby people."
...doesn't seem to stop the national team from being crap though :(
Uh, yea we do. Not only did we invent the game but the FA premier league is the most watched and most lucrative sporting league in the world (according to numerous sources including http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FA_Premier_League).
So we do all waste a hell of a lot of our time and cash playing and watching it.
I don't think it is even sold in Europe!
I remember seeing a tatty Madden 2002 box sit on the 'discounted' shelf at a local games shop. Not sure if it ever sold but it was on the shelf for like 3 years. Neadless to say, on my way home from work today I stopped by the store and Madden was no where to be seen (I live in the U.K.).
right, 500 million unique users? I'm surprised they didn't claim to still be the world's most popular search engine, surely they would with those figures.
I really don't understand where the money goes for the annual sports game like FIFA ## & Madden ## (although I've not actually played Madden). The graphics and gameplay show only extremely minor improvements year on year, yet they claim development costs of many millions.
So where does the money actually go?