Yeah, the Dune series as whole was a good idea gone bad. Which is what happens much too often in sci-fi (and fantasy as well).
I find that a lot of stories, become series when they never should have. A good story is often dragged kicking and screaming into a shitty series. (Robert Jordan anyone?)
Short and sweet should be the name of the game. I really liked the Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series until I got bored (about book 7 -- there was no end in sight). The first few Dragonlance books were great, so were the first few foundation books. Now I refuse to read anything past a trilogy. If you can't get to the point in 3 books, its not worth anyone's time. It just becomes the author's self-indulgence.
And the worst is the constant attempt to rework things to death. Let the reader and author, speculate a little about the history and the future. Its much more fun that way. A lot people get upset at the SW prequels because it destroys their concepts of how the history was played out, ruining the fun.
your comments on Terry Pratchett doing artwork made
me think of this:
"I think I would like to go into modelling. Of course, I don't know how to do it, and wouldn't be any good at it if I did, so I'm going to employ someone to walk the catwalks on my behalf. It would still be me, of course...
-- Terry learns Naomi Campbell has written a book. (Terry Pratchett, alt.fan.pratchett)
I have a feeling that Terry would be amused to be put into the same thought as Britney and L.Ron Hubbard...
Well if what you do on the property you own, happens to have drastic effects on property you don't own, are you implying that you can still do whatever you want?
Maybe one day you'll get a neighbor who dumps his sewer waste into his backyward. No problem its his, he can do whatever he wants with it. But its too bad when that run off gets into your basement, eh?
Probably the most evil and wonderful thing of programming in *nix environments.
I am going to get this book because it covers make
in the begining. I have always had trouble getting my makefiles to work properly in the few instances of linux programming that I have done. And even then
I copied an existing one and adjusted it to my needs.
I suppose the "there is only 1 makefile" saying exists for a reason...
Sure there are a lot of "cruddy non-updated open source projects on Sourceforge", but I myself would
love it if musicians were free to get together and play what they want with whom they want and create truly great music.
At the moment, if you are a pro musician, you're probably signed to someone, and so you have to do what they say. You can't get together with someone you met at a concert and do a project together unless your label approves it (which is unlikely). That was why even Eric Clapton and George Harrison played under psuedonyms(sp?) on for each others labels, so as not to infringe on the labels that owned their works.
Not every musician needs to give away their music, but I bet a fair amount would. It would sure lead to some great stuff. The cream would rise to the top (just like OSS) and we would all be beter for it.
If music artists started their own OS projects.
Imagine a world where music was free, to make, to listen to, to change.
I remember reading/using an official music book that had the all the songs ever recorded by Stan Rogers (a Canadian folk musician). In his forward, he said feel free to learn these songs, and play them as you want, in the great tradition of folk music. He even ended with if you find a better way to play them, let me know.
I hope the OSS model does in fact become common-place in other parts of culture and public works.
Where do you draw line between something that is
artificially intelligent (capable of creative/logical reasoning) and something that has awareness/conciousness?
How do you tell the difference? Simply asking it wouldn't seem to be enough (or is it?), although we take each others conciousness and sense of self for granted.
Why are they so excited about a location that is over 100 miles from their nearest constituent company (IBM)?
Does it matter how far you are away now things
like distributed systems, video conference calls and such are making the distance less and less of a practical issue.
If you don't collect licensces for your patent immediately, (i.e. within a reasonbale time frame)
why do you get to do it years later (after everyone started using because it was free and efficient)?
Shouldn't your patent expire if you don't do anything to collect on it?
My new investment strategy is going to be patents. It certainly seems to be the only thing worth any money besides real estate. Surely there are patents sitting around that you can invest by buying them...
I would hate to think of the that anytime you purchase a good or service, that your personal information will be sold to spam houses.
The whole concept of advertising right now is getting absolutely ridiculous. It seems now that the onus is on us as consumers to pay attention to all advertisments, rather than the advertising to attract us by being clever, funny what have you.
Simply by being a possible consumer, the advertiser somehow got the right to harrass me.
What's the point of having a telephone, if I am going to be getting the ringing equivalent of pop-up windows? It's bad enough with telemarketers. Screw it, if any one needs to reach me, send me a damn letter (email's worse!), if its important enough for me to know it can wait a week sheesh...
I new this patent stuff reminded me of somthing....
"My father would womanize, he would drink, he would make outrageous claims, like he invented the question mark. Sometimes, he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy - the sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament" -- Dr. Evil
This type of thing may be out there already,
but it would be great to have system to link the CVS
like control with bug submission, so checking out
files will also give you the set of submitted bugs related to those files.
Of course a strict bug submission policy would be required to make this possible, but surely something like this could be done?
An added benefit would be clearer bug submissions which would help development to no end...
... -"I am here in antarctica talking to
Dr. Bull, of the CowboyNeal Institute of Elementary Physics. Dr. Bull, how is it that you were able to discover such a difficult element in a locale with such harsh conditions."
- "Well, CoyboyNealium is only producable in the right conditions of thousands and thousands of clicking mice in a locale full of penguins..."
I, personally, can't wait to see B.G. doing that dance when the faucet blows off the tap, a lone hand stands between the geyser of water and the sweet sweet air of freedom.
Slashdot Mirror
IIRC I think that chessmaster 1000 also had this feature that brought a dummy financial statement on F9
useful to say the least. The big stuff makes good software but its the little things that make a program great.
I am sure that there are four elephants in the mix somewhere there...
Yeah, the Dune series as whole was a good idea gone bad. Which is what happens much too often in sci-fi (and fantasy as well).
I find that a lot of stories, become series when they never should have. A good story is often dragged kicking and screaming into a shitty series. (Robert Jordan anyone?)
Short and sweet should be the name of the game. I really liked the Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series until I got bored (about book 7 -- there was no end in sight). The first few Dragonlance books were great, so were the first few foundation books. Now I refuse to read anything past a trilogy. If you can't get to the point in 3 books, its not worth anyone's time. It just becomes the author's self-indulgence.
And the worst is the constant attempt to rework things to death. Let the reader and author, speculate a little about the history and the future. Its much more fun that way. A lot people get upset at the SW prequels because it destroys their concepts of how the history was played out, ruining the fun.
end rant here->
your comments on Terry Pratchett doing artwork made me think of this:
"I think I would like to go into modelling. Of course, I don't know how to do it, and wouldn't be any good at it if I did, so I'm going to employ someone to walk the catwalks on my behalf. It would still be me, of course...
-- Terry learns Naomi Campbell has written a book. (Terry Pratchett, alt.fan.pratchett)
I have a feeling that Terry would be amused to be put into the same thought as Britney and L.Ron Hubbard...
Well if what you do on the property you own, happens to have drastic effects on property you don't own, are you implying that you can still do whatever you want?
Maybe one day you'll get a neighbor who dumps his sewer waste into his backyward. No problem its his, he can do whatever he wants with it. But its too bad when that run off gets into your basement, eh?
tough shit I guess...
Probably the most evil and wonderful thing of programming in *nix environments.
I am going to get this book because it covers make in the begining. I have always had trouble getting my makefiles to work properly in the few instances of linux programming that I have done. And even then I copied an existing one and adjusted it to my needs.
I suppose the "there is only 1 makefile" saying exists for a reason...
Soon we will have transformer type vehicules that I have dreamed about
Of course, if these machines could be hacked, just imagine all the fun and mayhem that could be caused...
"Soldier, look at your tank, that's not camoflauge!"
soldier turns and reads on the now hot pink armour: "you've been H4x0red by Cowboy Neal"
Not to mention that herion is a depressant(like booze and pain killers) and cocaine a stimulant (like nicotine and amphetamines(sp?)).
Sure there are a lot of "cruddy non-updated open source projects on Sourceforge", but I myself would love it if musicians were free to get together and play what they want with whom they want and create truly great music.
At the moment, if you are a pro musician, you're probably signed to someone, and so you have to do what they say. You can't get together with someone you met at a concert and do a project together unless your label approves it (which is unlikely). That was why even Eric Clapton and George Harrison played under psuedonyms(sp?) on for each others labels, so as not to infringe on the labels that owned their works.
Not every musician needs to give away their music, but I bet a fair amount would. It would sure lead to some great stuff. The cream would rise to the top (just like OSS) and we would all be beter for it.
If music artists started their own OS projects. Imagine a world where music was free, to make, to listen to, to change.
I remember reading/using an official music book that had the all the songs ever recorded by Stan Rogers (a Canadian folk musician). In his forward, he said feel free to learn these songs, and play them as you want, in the great tradition of folk music. He even ended with if you find a better way to play them, let me know.
I hope the OSS model does in fact become common-place in other parts of culture and public works.
Where do you draw line between something that is artificially intelligent (capable of creative/logical reasoning) and something that has awareness/conciousness?
How do you tell the difference? Simply asking it wouldn't seem to be enough (or is it?), although we take each others conciousness and sense of self for granted.
....because technology geeks have no need for distractions like "oceans", "beaches" and "bars"
I wouldn't want my research monkeys running around a beach scaring the fish...
Why are they so excited about a location that is over 100 miles from their nearest constituent company (IBM)?
Does it matter how far you are away now things like distributed systems, video conference calls and such are making the distance less and less of a practical issue.
If you don't collect licensces for your patent immediately, (i.e. within a reasonbale time frame) why do you get to do it years later (after everyone started using because it was free and efficient)?
Shouldn't your patent expire if you don't do anything to collect on it?
My new investment strategy is going to be patents. It certainly seems to be the only thing worth any money besides real estate. Surely there are patents sitting around that you can invest by buying them...
Oh, I just realized that I didn't leave you my forwarding address.
Please send all that mail to:
Mr. I.M. Asucker c\o The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500
I would hate to think of the that anytime you purchase a good or service, that your personal information will be sold to spam houses.
The whole concept of advertising right now is getting absolutely ridiculous. It seems now that the onus is on us as consumers to pay attention to all advertisments, rather than the advertising to attract us by being clever, funny what have you. Simply by being a possible consumer, the advertiser somehow got the right to harrass me.
What's the point of having a telephone, if I am going to be getting the ringing equivalent of pop-up windows? It's bad enough with telemarketers.
Screw it, if any one needs to reach me, send me a damn letter (email's worse!), if its important enough for me to know it can wait a week sheesh...
The Edingburgh Fringe Festival is a fantastic place to show these sketches.
My only wish is that there is a lumberjack in a dress, a dead parot, a minister with a walking problem and someone called "Bwian" in the skits
complain to Terry Pratchett, unfortunately I can't fit his name in too....
then I go around saying:
" My 12 inches packs a Terabyte! Want an upload?"
but I do have an argument that RECREATIONAL coitus is a derivative of procreational coitus....
after all there is no prior art!
I in fact own the the Patent#696969: Procreational Coitus and its Derivatives
Please send me all relevant materials such as videos and pictures for review and to ensure that you are not infriging on this patent.
sorry....I just had too...
incidently I also own the Token Sex On Slashdot Idiot Post Patent...
I new this patent stuff reminded me of somthing....
"My father would womanize, he would drink, he would make outrageous claims, like he invented the question mark. Sometimes, he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy - the sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament"
-- Dr. Evil
This type of thing may be out there already, but it would be great to have system to link the CVS like control with bug submission, so checking out files will also give you the set of submitted bugs related to those files.
Of course a strict bug submission policy would be required to make this possible, but surely something like this could be done?
An added benefit would be clearer bug submissions which would help development to no end...
-"I am here in antarctica talking to Dr. Bull, of the CowboyNeal Institute of Elementary Physics.
Dr. Bull, how is it that you were able to discover such a difficult element in a locale with such harsh conditions."
- "Well, CoyboyNealium is only producable in the right conditions of thousands and thousands of clicking mice in a locale full of penguins..."
I, personally, can't wait to see B.G. doing that dance when the faucet blows off the tap, a lone hand stands between the geyser of water and the sweet sweet air of freedom.