I have made it my personal crusade to vanquish the evil monster known as DISCOVER CARD. I am college student and Ihave recieve no less than 12 different discover card applications in the mail this year. Plus all of the people on campus and the evil telemarketing minions.
My solutions to the problem:
1) Big Black Marker. Use it to write "DON'T SEND ME MORE JUNK YOU STUPID BASTARDS" on the application and then send it back in their envelope. Being creative is always approved. We've sent them dirty pictures, other companies applications. I sent them a bill one time. It's a jolly good time.
2) Waste time on the phone. Telemarketers can stay in business because they can call so many people each hour. If everyone take 10-15 they can only make 4-6 calls each hour. If everyone did this, then they would never get to the idiots who actually think a 25% + Prime Rate credit card is a good deal. 15 minutes is really easy to waste with a telemarketer. I usually pass the phone around the dorm. Most of my floors gets to talk to the guy. Or you can read a book to them. But most importantly, talk to the supervisor! Not only do you waste one telemarkets time, you waste a bosses time. And the boss gets paid more.
Nope. If the earth was in a circular orbit there could theoretically be a planet on the other side of the sun that existed and wouldn't be observable from earth. But the Earth's orbit isn't circular, it's eliptical. (It's really close to circular, but not quite.)
Some would then say, "well, it's just directly opposite on the ellipse. But that doesn't happen either because the planet spends a lot more time on the far side from the sun than it does in the part of the orbit closer to the sun.
For a better explination check out <a href="http://zebu.uoregon.edu/textbook/planets.htm "> this.</a>
I can't imagine the amount of insight these researchers have shown. My father gave me half my genetic makeup and he gave me my last name. How could there ever be a correlation?
While this seems to be minorly useful at first, I kinda doubt broad application of it. Let's say a crime happens in Fargo, ND and genetic evidence is left at the scene. Now the police use there genetic info/surname data base to find out that the last name is either anderson or johnson (probably). In just the Fargo phone book, there are over 5 pages of anderson's and johnson's (not to mention the andersen's and johnsen's and the jonsen's... etc). And then to try to use this in a larger city... I don't think so. You need to have a subject in mind. And if you have a subject in mind, what's the point of correlating it with a database. Just go get a sample from the suspect.
Why didn't the original story link to these stories. Wouldn't that be the best way to get the information out? Why not help alleviate the problem, rather than just bitch?
Did anyone notice that in the great list of censored stuff, there was nothing pointing to sources of valid data? If these stories are so earth shattering you would think they would have links all over to sources that tell the story. I have a hard time swallowing anything given in only two paragraphs from one source. Are these people censoring the works because they only provide the limited information?
And some of the awards are just plain ignorance. The story about sapce was jsut plain dumb. Sending up space probes with plutonium fuel is not a weapon, let alone a weapon of mass destruction. As for the company that was playing "substandard" wages, does this really mean anything. Wouldn't the standard wage be an average of sorts were some are higher and some are lower? Standard wage is a pretty subjective term.
For a site that claims to promote open flows of information and making sure everyone gets the whole story, they sure seemed to turn a blind eye to the huge holes the "censored journalists" left in there stories. Alternet seems to promote allegations as truth as much or more than any regular news site.
The reports only tell the mass of the planets. It doesn't say anything about there composition, so it is not necessarily a "gas giant", just a planet with a large mass. The densities of palntes vaires quite a bit. Saturn has density of less than 1. It's plausable that there could be dense planets also.
I think that one of prime ways the human has has defined itself, is by unbounded curiosity. Every time a new discovery is made, it prompts many more questions than it answers. No matter how thorough of a job a researcher does, there is always that fundamental question, "Well yeah, but if.... ".
The theory of everything is a misnomer. There will always be more to know and people who what to find out. Who would have thought in the 1700's that things like fiber optics could even exist? Who knows what discovery is right in front of our noses, and is going revolutionize the way the world works? Combine revolutionary advances and the sheer satisfaction gained from learning something new, and the curiosity of our species will not wither away and die. On the contrary, the thirst for knowledge is entirely unquenchable and our curiosity infinte
Excellent... now instead of having to download a whole new client, I can just get my illegal stuff off the web without leaving my comforts of my IE5 web browser!
Sorry to burst your bubble, but 1 is not a prime number. Niether is zero. Occationally, some texts will (incorrectly) refer to 1 as prime, but in the most strict sense, it is not prime because 1 is not greater than 1.
What's wrong with traditional books? Why does the tried-and-true method have to be replaced? I personally really enjoy books. I think the idea of selling the book in a digital form is wonderful. What I don't understand, is why abandon the print media too?
The articles on fatbrain are quite interesting too and I think there is alot of promise in the kind of publishing, but why should it replace the old methods? In such a free and open community, why can't both exist?
provolt ----- Pround supporter of the million node LAN party on the Washinton Mall.
Deside stuff by a slashdot poll? Um....hello? I don't mean this as a flame, but do you look at the results of the slashdot polls? The non-sensical answers generally get 15% or more of the vote. I don't think that is a very viable option for making important desicions.
Besides, I'm know most people who didn't vote for that winning answer wouldn't be very apt to fight for it. I know I would. Why fight for something you dont' believe strongly in. What if somehow I get lots of people to vote for puting telescreens in every building in America, so we can be watched and cataloged by the government. Would slashdot fight for that? According to your system they should.
I remember in my policital science class, the one thing the founding fathers wanted to avoid as much as a monarchy was a pure democracy. Mob rule is bad.
$50 for a reactive vision processing system? Couple that with a cheap (or free) reliable operating system, and cheap networking that has lots of addresses (IPv6), and you could put watching devices on every street corner, heck in every house (you know, for the safety of the children!).
Why would this be done? What purpose would it serve?
slightly offtopic: If you are fearing the Orwellian nightmare, then I think you can relax. 1984 and the like were books written about the Soviet Union, not our world today. There are far too many ways for people to communicate and get information out that simply weren't present in Orwell's day. And that is exactly why we do not have to fear it.
You can find more information about the chip at http://www.eetimes.com/news/97/9 71news/vision.html. This tells a little more of how the chip actually works. provolt "I joined the giant collective brain and all I got was this lousy post.
I love the "lightmill" trickets you can occationaly buy at novelity shops. They are relfective on one side and flat black on the otherside. The idea is that you set it in the sun and the light pressure will make it spin. They do usually spin.... the wrong way. The light just heats up the flat black surface and the air pressure makes is spin.
Still it's fun to impress peopole who aren't thinking very clearyly.
Light Propulsion is pretty sweet. Anyone else remember the Lightcraft? RPI was using lasers to launch small metal objects in the air. The priniciple is a little different here: Light used to heat and propell the craft from a distance, but it's still pretty cool.
Trying to compare owning slaves to pirating CD absolutely ludicrous. It is not our moral obligation to pirate music. Slaves were human beings who had been forced into serving others. Music is not human.
If you really would like to push the slave issue, think abou this: Slavery was wrong because people put other people into service without permission or compensation. By pirating CD's you are using someone elses work without their permisson and without compensating the artist for it.
Abolitionists also worked through the system to change it. (At least until they were forced not to). They elected abolitionist senators and representatives, and then an abolitionist president. It was only when the slave oweners decided to go out side the system, did we have real problems.
In a day and age when color isn't supposed to matter and everyone is the same, why is this program (and numerous other ones like it) targeted at minorities? What about the white kid who had a poor education?
Everyday I find it harder to support programs like affirmative action. Since when did a level playing field mean equal numbers? When color isn't supposed to matter, why do minorities bring it up?
Is it any wonder that Texas Instruments is promoting smaller electronic devices? By saying that they see the future was being wireless web bases, they are putting people in the mind frame to want that type of product.
It's really more of a subtle way of advertising their products and getting people to see their vision of the future. They are simply creating demand for products which are easy extentions of their core business and technical knowledge.
But, hey I'm all for a wireless DSL line running to my 1GHz palmtop! --------- provolt HP for me.
I work in a residence hall and this proposal would be a nightmare to enforce. At my school we have escort and guest hours. During most of the day we can roam freely between buildings. During escort hours everyone that does not live in the building must be escorted by someone who does. After 2:00am, only residents are allowed in the building.
Those are the rules, but they are CONSTANTLY broken, and extremely hard to enforce.To try to enforce something like what is being proposed would take huge amounts of staff, or it would simply be broken routinely.
HP calculators Pros: - RPN is extremely efficient once you get used to it - less multiple level menus... (ie, if you have to use a menu, you don't have to use other menu to get that one) - more widely used professionally - expandedable.... expansion cards offer highly speciallized and useful software for engineers, surveyors, physicist, chemists, etc.... - non RPM mode available (on the 49G)
Cons: - it take a week to get the hang of RPN - no "pretty-print"
TI calculators Pros: - widely used in schools, so there are more of them around on campuses - usually considered easier to learn to use (I disupute this) - "pretty-print" makes it easier to understand. Cons: - somewhat inefficient to use (especially the 89 and 92) - mostly caused by the having very few commands directly available from the keyboard without going through multiple menus - symbolic manipulations don't teach how to do it and make people reliant on the calculator - less widely used in science/engineering related professions ---------- Personal experience with the HP 48GX and the TI-89.
Just a background note on me, I am an Electrical Engineering student and have work the past two summer for a Civil Engineering Firm.
I love the HP 48GX. I can't find a better calculator anywhere. THe most useful functions are right on the keyboard. I have found the HP to be far, far more efficient than any non-RPN calculator. Yes, it did take me a week or two to really get the hang of it, but it was well worth it. While I do homework with my friends (who all own TI-89's) they are constantly asking "where is this function" or "how do I do this." The answer usually involves many menus. Much cursing generally follows because they can't find where they misplaced the parenthesis.
As for in the business side of it, I think my boss summed it up best, "If you're gonna buy a calculator, buy an HP." I never saw anyone use a TI there.
As for the Symbolic manipulation, I think this a almost a bad feature for math classes. The people in pre-calc (and maybe even calc I) and below, shouldn't even need to use a graphing calculator. Yes it makes the class easy, but when you move to the higher levels, you need the understanding of what was going on. I even look a basic arthemetic, for proof of this. Ask people today to multiplyor add two number together and unless both are single digits, everyone reaches for a calculator. When doing symbolic manipulations, the HP-49G steps through the process, so the student can learn how to do it. It still does it for the person, but it is a little better. And that's why I don't think the symbolic features are that wonderful
My recommendation of what to buy: engineering/science related majors: HP48GX
people who feel they need symbolic manipulation and don't like RPN: HP49G
professionals: I woudl say the HP48GX, but I'm only in college, so ask your boss.:-)
When the founding fathers wrote the constitution, they truly intended for free speech at that time and in the future. However, at that point in time there was a societal constraint that prevented people from taking about extremely vulgar and inappropriate material. Also, the sick people who think they need to speak and show ever vulgar act they can think of to other people, had no way to send their incidious garbage to others. Our founding father could not even fathom a world liek we have today. Thats why the constitution was given flexiblity. So it could adapt to the future world. Censorware is not an attack on the constitution. It stems from the constitution's flexiblity when it comes to unforseen matters.
The situtation in Holland, Michigan where the town may vote for censorship on the equipment they pay for, is totally supported under the constitution.
I would tend to disagree with the sentiments that people don't want to learn. Most people do, but I know when I was learning, I looked at every man page I could find, but I needed to ask questions because I didn't know which manual to read. You can't expect someone new to know of every possible command on the machine.
Using "man -k" can help, but it isn't perfect.
I don't think moving toward the "press-one-button-and-it-will-do-everything" type of computing is necessary, but helping newbies get the basics down shouldn't be looked down upon.
Slashdot Mirror
I have made it my personal crusade to vanquish the evil monster known as DISCOVER CARD. I am college student and Ihave recieve no less than 12 different discover card applications in the mail this year. Plus all of the people on campus and the evil telemarketing minions.
My solutions to the problem:
1) Big Black Marker. Use it to write "DON'T SEND ME MORE JUNK YOU STUPID BASTARDS" on the application and then send it back in their envelope. Being creative is always approved. We've sent them dirty pictures, other companies applications. I sent them a bill one time. It's a jolly good time.
2) Waste time on the phone. Telemarketers can stay in business because they can call so many people each hour. If everyone take 10-15 they can only make 4-6 calls each hour. If everyone did this, then they would never get to the idiots who actually think a 25% + Prime Rate credit card is a good deal. 15 minutes is really easy to waste with a telemarketer. I usually pass the phone around the dorm. Most of my floors gets to talk to the guy. Or you can read a book to them. But most importantly, talk to the supervisor! Not only do you waste one telemarkets time, you waste a bosses time. And the boss gets paid more.
provolt
Nope. If the earth was in a circular orbit there could theoretically be a planet on the other side of the sun that existed and wouldn't be observable from earth. But the Earth's orbit isn't circular, it's eliptical. (It's really close to circular, but not quite.)
Some would then say, "well, it's just directly opposite on the ellipse. But that doesn't happen either because the planet spends a lot more time on the far side from the sun than it does in the part of the orbit closer to the sun.
For a better explination check out <a href="http://zebu.uoregon.edu/textbook/planets.ht
provolt
I can't imagine the amount of insight these researchers have shown. My father gave me half my genetic makeup and he gave me my last name. How could there ever be a correlation?
While this seems to be minorly useful at first, I kinda doubt broad application of it. Let's say a crime happens in Fargo, ND and genetic evidence is left at the scene. Now the police use there genetic info/surname data base to find out that the last name is either anderson or johnson (probably). In just the Fargo phone book, there are over 5 pages of anderson's and johnson's (not to mention the andersen's and johnsen's and the jonsen's... etc). And then to try to use this in a larger city... I don't think so. You need to have a subject in mind. And if you have a subject in mind, what's the point of correlating it with a database. Just go get a sample from the suspect.
My 2 cents.
provolt
gogeek.org
Why didn't the original story link to these stories. Wouldn't that be the best way to get the information out? Why not help alleviate the problem, rather than just bitch?
provolt
Did anyone notice that in the great list of censored stuff, there was nothing pointing to sources of valid data? If these stories are so earth shattering you would think they would have links all over to sources that tell the story. I have a hard time swallowing anything given in only two paragraphs from one source. Are these people censoring the works because they only provide the limited information?
And some of the awards are just plain ignorance. The story about sapce was jsut plain dumb. Sending up space probes with plutonium fuel is not a weapon, let alone a weapon of mass destruction. As for the company that was playing "substandard" wages, does this really mean anything. Wouldn't the standard wage be an average of sorts were some are higher and some are lower? Standard wage is a pretty subjective term.
For a site that claims to promote open flows of information and making sure everyone gets the whole story, they sure seemed to turn a blind eye to the huge holes the "censored journalists" left in there stories. Alternet seems to promote allegations as truth as much or more than any regular news site.
The reports only tell the mass of the planets. It doesn't say anything about there composition, so it is not necessarily a "gas giant", just a planet with a large mass. The densities of palntes vaires quite a bit. Saturn has density of less than 1. It's plausable that there could be dense planets also.
provolt
I think that one of prime ways the human has has defined itself, is by unbounded curiosity. Every time a new discovery is made, it prompts many more questions than it answers. No matter how thorough of a job a researcher does, there is always that fundamental question, "Well yeah, but if.... ".
The theory of everything is a misnomer. There will always be more to know and people who what to find out. Who would have thought in the 1700's that things like fiber optics could even exist? Who knows what discovery is right in front of our noses, and is going revolutionize the way the world works? Combine revolutionary advances and the sheer satisfaction gained from learning something new, and the curiosity of our species will not wither away and die. On the contrary, the thirst for knowledge is entirely unquenchable and our curiosity infinte
Excellent... now instead of having to download a whole new client, I can just get my illegal stuff off the web without leaving my comforts of my IE5 web browser!
Sweet!
Sorry to burst your bubble, but 1 is not a prime number. Niether is zero. Occationally, some texts will (incorrectly) refer to 1 as prime, but in the most strict sense, it is not prime because 1 is not greater than 1.
For more info check out this:
http://www.encyclopedia.com/article s/09415.html
provolt
What's wrong with traditional books? Why does the tried-and-true method have to be replaced? I personally really enjoy books. I think the idea of selling the book in a digital form is wonderful. What I don't understand, is why abandon the print media too?
The articles on fatbrain are quite interesting too and I think there is alot of promise in the kind of publishing, but why should it replace the old methods? In such a free and open community, why can't both exist?
provolt
-----
Pround supporter of the million node LAN party on the Washinton Mall.
Deside stuff by a slashdot poll? Um....hello? I don't mean this as a flame, but do you look at the results of the slashdot polls? The non-sensical answers generally get 15% or more of the vote. I don't think that is a very viable option for making important desicions.
Besides, I'm know most people who didn't vote for that winning answer wouldn't be very apt to fight for it. I know I would. Why fight for something you dont' believe strongly in. What if somehow I get lots of people to vote for puting telescreens in every building in America, so we can be watched and cataloged by the government. Would slashdot fight for that? According to your system they should.
I remember in my policital science class, the one thing the founding fathers wanted to avoid as much as a monarchy was a pure democracy. Mob rule is bad.
Ok... this is starting to ramble...
$50 for a reactive vision processing system? Couple that with a cheap (or free) reliable operating system, and cheap networking that has lots of addresses (IPv6), and you could put watching devices on every street corner, heck in every house (you know, for the safety of the children!).
Why would this be done? What purpose would it serve?
slightly offtopic:
If you are fearing the Orwellian nightmare, then I think you can relax. 1984 and the like were books written about the Soviet Union, not our world today. There are far too many ways for people to communicate and get information out that simply weren't present in Orwell's day. And that is exactly why we do not have to fear it.
provolt
You can find more information about the chip at http://www.eetimes.com/news/97/9 71news/vision.html. This tells a little more of how the chip actually works. provolt "I joined the giant collective brain and all I got was this lousy post.
I love the "lightmill" trickets you can occationaly buy at novelity shops. They are relfective on one side and flat black on the otherside. The idea is that you set it in the sun and the light pressure will make it spin. They do usually spin.... the wrong way. The light just heats up the flat black surface and the air pressure makes is spin.
Still it's fun to impress peopole who aren't thinking very clearyly.
provolt
Go Geek. Rule the World. gogeek.org
Light Propulsion is pretty sweet. Anyone else remember the Lightcraft? RPI was using lasers to launch small metal objects in the air. The priniciple is a little different here: Light used to heat and propell the craft from a distance, but it's still pretty cool.
Links:
The Lightcraft Site. (Though this seems to be down right now).
CNN Coverage
ABC Coverage
provolt
Go Geek. Rule the World. gogeek.org
Trying to compare owning slaves to pirating CD absolutely ludicrous. It is not our moral obligation to pirate music. Slaves were human beings who had been forced into serving others. Music is not human.
If you really would like to push the slave issue, think abou this: Slavery was wrong because people put other people into service without permission or compensation. By pirating CD's you are using someone elses work without their permisson and without compensating the artist for it.
Abolitionists also worked through the system to change it. (At least until they were forced not to). They elected abolitionist senators and representatives, and then an abolitionist president. It was only when the slave oweners decided to go out side the system, did we have real problems.
provolt
Go Geek. Rule the World. gogeek.org
In a day and age when color isn't supposed to matter and everyone is the same, why is this program (and numerous other ones like it) targeted at minorities? What about the white kid who had a poor education?
Everyday I find it harder to support programs like affirmative action. Since when did a level playing field mean equal numbers? When color isn't supposed to matter, why do minorities bring it up?
provolt
Is it any wonder that Texas Instruments is promoting smaller electronic devices? By saying that they see the future was being wireless web bases, they are putting people in the mind frame to want that type of product.
It's really more of a subtle way of advertising their products and getting people to see their vision of the future. They are simply creating demand for products which are easy extentions of their core business and technical knowledge.
But, hey I'm all for a wireless DSL line running to my 1GHz palmtop!
---------
provolt
HP for me.
I work in a residence hall and this proposal would be a nightmare to enforce. At my school we have escort and guest hours. During most of the day we can roam freely between buildings. During escort hours everyone that does not live in the building must be escorted by someone who does. After 2:00am, only residents are allowed in the building.
Those are the rules, but they are CONSTANTLY broken, and extremely hard to enforce.To try to enforce something like what is being proposed would take huge amounts of staff, or it would simply be broken routinely.
-------
provolt
HP calculators
:-)
Pros:
- RPN is extremely efficient once you get used to it
- less multiple level menus... (ie, if you have to use a menu, you don't have to use other menu to get that one)
- more widely used professionally
- expandedable.... expansion cards offer highly speciallized and useful software for engineers, surveyors, physicist, chemists, etc....
- non RPM mode available (on the 49G)
Cons:
- it take a week to get the hang of RPN
- no "pretty-print"
TI calculators
Pros:
- widely used in schools, so there are more of them around on campuses
- usually considered easier to learn to use (I disupute this)
- "pretty-print" makes it easier to understand.
Cons:
- somewhat inefficient to use (especially the 89 and 92) - mostly caused by the having very few commands directly available from the keyboard without going through multiple menus
- symbolic manipulations don't teach how to do it and make people reliant on the calculator
- less widely used in science/engineering related professions
----------
Personal experience with the HP 48GX and the TI-89.
Just a background note on me, I am an Electrical Engineering student and have work the past two summer for a Civil Engineering Firm.
I love the HP 48GX. I can't find a better calculator anywhere. THe most useful functions are right on the keyboard. I have found the HP to be far, far more efficient than any non-RPN calculator. Yes, it did take me a week or two to really get the hang of it, but it was well worth it. While I do homework with my friends (who all own TI-89's) they are constantly asking "where is this function" or "how do I do this." The answer usually involves many menus. Much cursing generally follows because they can't find where they misplaced the parenthesis.
As for in the business side of it, I think my boss summed it up best, "If you're gonna buy a calculator, buy an HP." I never saw anyone use a TI there.
As for the Symbolic manipulation, I think this a almost a bad feature for math classes. The people in pre-calc (and maybe even calc I) and below, shouldn't even need to use a graphing calculator. Yes it makes the class easy, but when you move to the higher levels, you need the understanding of what was going on. I even look a basic arthemetic, for proof of this. Ask people today to multiplyor add two number together and unless both are single digits, everyone reaches for a calculator. When doing symbolic manipulations, the HP-49G steps through the process, so the student can learn how to do it. It still does it for the person, but it is a little better. And that's why I don't think the symbolic features are that wonderful
My recommendation of what to buy:
engineering/science related majors: HP48GX
people who feel they need symbolic manipulation and don't like RPN: HP49G
professionals: I woudl say the HP48GX, but I'm only in college, so ask your boss.
------
provolt
Just a thought.....
When the founding fathers wrote the constitution, they truly intended for free speech at that time and in the future. However, at that point in time there was a societal constraint that prevented people from taking about extremely vulgar and inappropriate material. Also, the sick people who think they need to speak and show ever vulgar act they can think of to other people, had no way to send their incidious garbage to others. Our founding father could not even fathom a world liek we have today. Thats why the constitution was given flexiblity. So it could adapt to the future world. Censorware is not an attack on the constitution. It stems from the constitution's flexiblity when it comes to unforseen matters.
The situtation in Holland, Michigan where the town may vote for censorship on the equipment they pay for, is totally supported under the constitution.
.... just my two cents....
-------
provolt
I would tend to disagree with the sentiments that people don't want to learn. Most people do, but I know when I was learning, I looked at every man page I could find, but I needed to ask questions because I didn't know which manual to read. You can't expect someone new to know of every possible command on the machine.
Using "man -k" can help, but it isn't perfect.
I don't think moving toward the "press-one-button-and-it-will-do-everything" type of computing is necessary, but helping newbies get the basics down shouldn't be looked down upon.
provolt