Do you know C.S. Lewis? In case you don't, let me offer a brief character-sketch. Envisage (if you can) a man who combines the face and figure of a hog-reeve or earth-stopper with the mind and thought of a Desert Father of the fifth century, preoccupied with meditations of inelegant theological obscenity; a powerful mind warped by erudite philistinism, blackened by systematic bigotry, and directed by a positive detestation of such profane frivolities as art, literature, and (of course) poetry; a purple-faced bachelor and misogynist, living alone in rooms of inconceivable hideousness, secretly consuming vast quantities of his favorite dish--beefsteak-and-kidney pudding; periodically trembling at the mere apprehension of a feminine footfall; and all the while distilling his morbid and illiberal thoughts into volumes of best-selling prurient religiosity and such reactionary nihilism as is indicated by the gleeful title, The Abolition of Man. Such is C.S. Lewis, whom Magdalen College have now put up to recapture their lost monopoly of the Chair of Poetry. --Hugh Trevor-Roper
well...yes, it should. But it doesn't happen that way.
Orin Hatch is a case in point. If 60 million people download music, I'd be willing to bet that if the people voted for decriminalization of music sharing it would pass.
Do you think it will ever happen? NO. EVER.
There's not a representative or senator today who will take the other side and say the people should be allowed to download music if they want to. I'm not claiming the courts would accept this, but thats how "the people" would vote. But representatives can talk about destroying our computers with impugnity! This is not government for the people, by the people - this is government from the top down, by feudal decree. we don't matter in the least, and elections are just held to appease us.
Good point. I just had this image in my head of a map with little red dots moving everywhere representing nodes on an ad hoc network...that would be so awsome!
there are probably enough trucks in any metropolitan area to sustain a connection. Certainly, if you drive around LA you'll run into a few trucks ever couple of blocks, making deliveries. if every one of these trucks had a wireless access card, a blanket of wireless coverage would decend accross the city....
Ummm...ever hear of renewable resources? we need not EVER run out of anything - the sun will go on providing us with free (as in beer) energy for billions of years. If we use solar energy, organic crops, bionic fuels, etc... we could stay on this plant for as long as there is a planet.
although, i guess, thats almost as wisftful as moving off the planet - neither will ever happen.
The problem is, where do we go and how do we get there?
The planets around us are mostly uninhabitable. We need some place with water and an atmosphere, and even mars, the topic of much speculation, doesn't really have much water on it.
The closest system is light-years away. Our technology is still barely able to get is into orbit and back. And it doesn't look like anyone is taking any of this seriously - we'd much rather spend billions on weapons research then on the space elevator (which is think is the first step to utilizing the resources of space).
I think we had better stick to more realistic measures here on earth then wistfully dream of a life in space.
actually, the new wave in education is software that teaches without the teacher. I regularly work with "accelerated reader" and "a+" from advanced learning systems.
the kids come into the room, sit in front of a screen, and the screen takes them through all they need to learn with music and funny graphics. at the end of the day a teacher collects reports on all the students from the server and sees how they did...
i think a lot of it is good. i mean, i still remember how happy i was printing out that math blaster certificate. i am just worried about schools going too far. the computer is no replacement for a qualified teacher...
The Scavenger Hunt is by far the greatest part of the University of Chicago. The classes are too hard, the people, concieted, and the courses, nothing whatsoever to do with the real world.
but scav hunt is fun, attracts interesting people, and its PRACTICAL - something not to be found at this university!
I recently signed up for SBC DSL in Chicago (SBC Ameritech). (self-install)
they sent me a CD full of crap, and stupidly, i decided to go through with running it. it actually had a flash installer!
long story short, the broadjump client wouldn't even install, but there were no options to choose what to install and what not to install. when the installer crashed, and when i actually had to go into safe mode to bood my win2k, i called tech support to complain and a nice woman told me to get rid of the crap and keep only EnterNet (dynamic IP sux)
So...if tech support told me this, i'm guessing its not crucial for me to have all their crap on my computer even through its installed automatically.
Slashdot Mirror
Like this one?
That already exists - try any MUD, text-based or graphical.
well...yes, it should. But it doesn't happen that way.
Orin Hatch is a case in point. If 60 million people download music, I'd be willing to bet that if the people voted for decriminalization of music sharing it would pass.
Do you think it will ever happen? NO. EVER.
There's not a representative or senator today who will take the other side and say the people should be allowed to download music if they want to. I'm not claiming the courts would accept this, but thats how "the people" would vote. But representatives can talk about destroying our computers with impugnity! This is not government for the people, by the people - this is government from the top down, by feudal decree. we don't matter in the least, and elections are just held to appease us.
Thats just my theory, I could be wrong...
OH MY GOD!
Good point. I just had this image in my head of a map with little red dots moving everywhere representing nodes on an ad hoc network...that would be so awsome!
there are probably enough trucks in any metropolitan area to sustain a connection. Certainly, if you drive around LA you'll run into a few trucks ever couple of blocks, making deliveries. if every one of these trucks had a wireless access card, a blanket of wireless coverage would decend accross the city....
Ummm...ever hear of renewable resources? we need not EVER run out of anything - the sun will go on providing us with free (as in beer) energy for billions of years. If we use solar energy, organic crops, bionic fuels, etc... we could stay on this plant for as long as there is a planet. although, i guess, thats almost as wisftful as moving off the planet - neither will ever happen.
The problem is, where do we go and how do we get there? The planets around us are mostly uninhabitable. We need some place with water and an atmosphere, and even mars, the topic of much speculation, doesn't really have much water on it. The closest system is light-years away. Our technology is still barely able to get is into orbit and back. And it doesn't look like anyone is taking any of this seriously - we'd much rather spend billions on weapons research then on the space elevator (which is think is the first step to utilizing the resources of space). I think we had better stick to more realistic measures here on earth then wistfully dream of a life in space.
Thank you! AT least an anonymous coward can recognize the anti-federalist intent of the second amendment.
celestia works perfectly fine in windows, too. haven't tried the *nix version, but its there. everyone needs to download this. its amazing!!!
actually, the new wave in education is software that teaches without the teacher. I regularly work with "accelerated reader" and "a+" from advanced learning systems. the kids come into the room, sit in front of a screen, and the screen takes them through all they need to learn with music and funny graphics. at the end of the day a teacher collects reports on all the students from the server and sees how they did... i think a lot of it is good. i mean, i still remember how happy i was printing out that math blaster certificate. i am just worried about schools going too far. the computer is no replacement for a qualified teacher...
The Scavenger Hunt is by far the greatest part of the University of Chicago. The classes are too hard, the people, concieted, and the courses, nothing whatsoever to do with the real world. but scav hunt is fun, attracts interesting people, and its PRACTICAL - something not to be found at this university!
I recently signed up for SBC DSL in Chicago (SBC Ameritech). (self-install) they sent me a CD full of crap, and stupidly, i decided to go through with running it. it actually had a flash installer! long story short, the broadjump client wouldn't even install, but there were no options to choose what to install and what not to install. when the installer crashed, and when i actually had to go into safe mode to bood my win2k, i called tech support to complain and a nice woman told me to get rid of the crap and keep only EnterNet (dynamic IP sux) So...if tech support told me this, i'm guessing its not crucial for me to have all their crap on my computer even through its installed automatically.