This of course comes as a surprise to noone under the 5'5" mark.
What's funny, or perhaps expected, is that tall people are, as a rule, blissfully unaware of the advantages their height affords them. They bitch about trivialities like fitting into movie seats while attractice girls fling themselves at them and they command undue attention in a conference room.
And if one of us shortish people brings it up, we're told we have a "Napolean complex", as if they even know what that means apart from that Napolean was also kind of short.
There's a good reason why people like to think we'll remain smarter than computers: it's the last thing machines haven't beaten us at.
Machines can fly, move faster, lift more, work faster, and are even quite good in the sack.
The only thing left in which we humans can claim superiority is "smarts". So naturally people are going to have a strong emotional reaction when challenged in this last domain. Hell it happens every time we're challenged by machines, but this last domain is going to be the worst.
Progress is inevitable and there will be some crying, but eventually people will be glad for their intelligent computers that help them get more done in the day, the same as they are glad for their car(rocketpack) when they drive(fly) to work.
Did the NYC blackout ruin everything? no, they fixed it, will patch the system and move on.
Was it regrettable? yes
Did it endanger our infrastructure? please.
People only 100 miles away from the blackout's edge lived their days normally.
As for "the interruption of a satellite" becoming a major issue, I fail to see how this is becomming a problem. It happened about a week ago didn't it? I'm still here. I could still buy food that morning.
In fact, this article is just flat out wrong. As our global infrastructure develops we will become MORE resistant to isolated incidents of damage, not less. Information structures route around damage, they don't amplify it. The blackouts were a special case of aging and obsolete equipment pushed beyond its tolerances. Now that problems have emerged, they will be addressed in a cycle of refit that has existed since the dawn of civilization.
This article is bullshit fearmongering in an attempt to capitalize on recent events to drum up readership.
The amount of money required to do this would be vast, vast enough that were it spent on humanitarian aims instead it would have a 100% chance of preventing millions of deaths *every year* here on earth.
This science coverage is always the worst kind of journalism.
Everytime a reporter writes up a story about something as mundane as a run of the mill scientific lecture, they have to hype the living hell out of it, as if they've just witnessed Newton giving the first public presentation of his ideas about gravity.
And a fine job calling psychologists bean-counters and the typographists "humanist". (and an *especially* fine job using the instead of they in para 5! It's not like writing correctly is your *job* or anything, and for the atypi too! jesus)
Well here's one for the budding genius to consider: the word scrambling data directly contradicts the phoneme assembly theory he mentions as being supported by the data.
Check out the Wiki entry for Global Cooling to see why most of us think CW is bunk.
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_cooling
Turns out the temperature was on a cold trend since the 1945's. And guess what, scientists thought that this might be the result of pollution (stating the opinions in a guarded manner and the environmentalists and politically motivated grabbed the ball and ran with it).
So now the temperature is warming and we're being told that pollution is causing it and the same batch of uninformed environmentalists are screaming about it.
Take comfort in history, humankind has lived through far worse than this with less technology and we didn't cause the climate changes then either.
I hate it when people get self righteous about enforcing their "laid-back" lifestyle on someone else.
Maybe these people are under a severe deadline crunch and need to get some work done. Maybe they are blind and use ebook readers to get through books when they want to relax.
Don't underestimate what a few sensors wired to a well tuned dynamic control system can do. Look at the Segway for example. It can balance in ways that a human cannot.
Our neural systems are very good at coordinating a huge array of muscles to work together well especially adaptively in new situations, but we really can't compete with computers when it comes to balance.
Noone said it's not legal. It's just not a nice way to treat customers. It gives them motivation to leave licenses behind.
In 10 years, we might be saying that the BSA was the worst thing that ever happened to Microsoft and the primary reason that Linux attained desktop market dominance in the corporate world.
Your insight into the scientific process is amazing. Spend millions of dollars on multi-year research projects and then when it works *keep it quiet*. That policy is sure to reap rich rewards for the successful labs.
Slashdot Mirror
How does gibberish like this get modded up as insightful? The poster has no idea what the word statistics even means.
This of course comes as a surprise to noone under the 5'5" mark.
What's funny, or perhaps expected, is that tall people are, as a rule, blissfully unaware of the advantages their height affords them. They bitch about trivialities like fitting into movie seats while attractice girls fling themselves at them and they command undue attention in a conference room.
And if one of us shortish people brings it up, we're told we have a "Napolean complex", as if they even know what that means apart from that Napolean was also kind of short.
There's a good reason why people like to think we'll remain smarter than computers: it's the last thing machines haven't beaten us at.
Machines can fly, move faster, lift more, work faster, and are even quite good in the sack.
The only thing left in which we humans can claim superiority is "smarts". So naturally people are going to have a strong emotional reaction when challenged in this last domain. Hell it happens every time we're challenged by machines, but this last domain is going to be the worst.
Progress is inevitable and there will be some crying, but eventually people will be glad for their intelligent computers that help them get more done in the day, the same as they are glad for their car(rocketpack) when they drive(fly) to work.
It just might be possible that smart people are not evenly distributed throughout the country.
And the fact that more people are buying/using air conditioners makes the problem even worse.
Basically, extreme weather conditions around the world could easily cause distributed and coincident problems like this.
Did the NYC blackout ruin everything? no, they fixed it, will patch the system and move on.
Was it regrettable? yes
Did it endanger our infrastructure? please.
People only 100 miles away from the blackout's edge lived their days normally.
As for "the interruption of a satellite" becoming a major issue, I fail to see how this is becomming a problem. It happened about a week ago didn't it? I'm still here. I could still buy food that morning.
In fact, this article is just flat out wrong. As our global infrastructure develops we will become MORE resistant to isolated incidents of damage, not less. Information structures route around damage, they don't amplify it. The blackouts were a special case of aging and obsolete equipment pushed beyond its tolerances. Now that problems have emerged, they will be addressed in a cycle of refit that has existed since the dawn of civilization.
This article is bullshit fearmongering in an attempt to capitalize on recent events to drum up readership.
Oh to have your life where filling out frequent shopper cards is a primary of significant entertainment.
And here I am cursed with a life full of outdoor thrills, wine with good friends, excellent movies and various degrees of romantic entanglement.
I really have been missing out on the good things. Thank you for opening my eyes.
The amount of money required to do this would be vast, vast enough that were it spent on humanitarian aims instead it would have a 100% chance of preventing millions of deaths *every year* here on earth.
Sounds like a better gamble to me.
This science coverage is always the worst kind of journalism.
Everytime a reporter writes up a story about something as mundane as a run of the mill scientific lecture, they have to hype the living hell out of it, as if they've just witnessed Newton giving the first public presentation of his ideas about gravity.
And a fine job calling psychologists bean-counters and the typographists "humanist". (and an *especially* fine job using the instead of they in para 5! It's not like writing correctly is your *job* or anything, and for the atypi too! jesus)
Well here's one for the budding genius to consider: the word scrambling data directly contradicts the phoneme assembly theory he mentions as being supported by the data.
By not wasting time RTFA on /.
Ok, so say I'm trying to organize a high school reunion, and I email old classmates and try to sell them tickets to said event?
Mark my words, someone, somewhere, will use this law in an unintended manner for personal gain. It's the American way.
If I email an old classmate out of the blue, and they happen to live in CA, it could cost me $1000 if they're desperate for money?
Check out the Wiki entry for Global Cooling to see why most of us think CW is bunk.
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_cooling
Turns out the temperature was on a cold trend since the 1945's. And guess what, scientists thought that this might be the result of pollution (stating the opinions in a guarded manner and the environmentalists and politically motivated grabbed the ball and ran with it).
So now the temperature is warming and we're being told that pollution is causing it and the same batch of uninformed environmentalists are screaming about it.
Take comfort in history, humankind has lived through far worse than this with less technology and we didn't cause the climate changes then either.
Scientists, it turns out, are smart.
Consequently, there are people who's job is to do just this.
Check out Charles River Labs.
Yes that would be hilarious.
I'd laugh every day about it....
*sigh*
I could do the same with oil bubbles floating on water and a toothpick. Didn't know I was creating life, wow.
What's the title you put in front of your name to designate deity status?
Wrsot... ieda... eevr!
I hate it when people get self righteous about enforcing their "laid-back" lifestyle on someone else.
Maybe these people are under a severe deadline crunch and need to get some work done. Maybe they are blind and use ebook readers to get through books when they want to relax.
Not that it's any of your business really.
How about some sort of "RIAA-free" sticker that could be put on the cases of independent label CD's in music shops?
Oh wait, there aren't any. Nevermind.
read the actual site and not the news article for an update.
to squeeze something "/. postable" out of garbage.
And he didn't do a very good job.
For those of you smarting from that lack of funny, I suggest somethingawful's comedy goldmines.
Well it does seem to have foot sensors.
Don't underestimate what a few sensors wired to a well tuned dynamic control system can do. Look at the Segway for example. It can balance in ways that a human cannot.
Our neural systems are very good at coordinating a huge array of muscles to work together well especially adaptively in new situations, but we really can't compete with computers when it comes to balance.
A Unix guru from 10 years ago would find modern Linux systems fairly easy to use and would certainly "recognize" it.
Strange thing, people generally expect things to change more than they do over 10 years.
Noone said it's not legal. It's just not a nice way to treat customers. It gives them motivation to leave licenses behind.
In 10 years, we might be saying that the BSA was the worst thing that ever happened to Microsoft and the primary reason that Linux attained desktop market dominance in the corporate world.
Hey a man can dream can't he?
Your insight into the scientific process is amazing. Spend millions of dollars on multi-year research projects and then when it works *keep it quiet*. That policy is sure to reap rich rewards for the successful labs.
Obviously you haven't been out in the real world for a few years.
Battery powered wheelchairs are EVERYWHERE.
So apparently the handicapped community doesn't share your outdated skepticism.
Hell, even people who don't *need* them are buying these battery powered carts for thousands of dollars.