We know, but there are so many people out there that think either "GMO = HCFS" or "GMO = Unhealthy" or, my favorite, "GMO = Monsanto" as if they were the only company that uses GMO techniques.
As a biotech graduate, I get very tired of the hysterical drivel we hear about GMOs (OK, for those who are too damn lazy to Google it: genetically modified organisms). It's as if the last thing we want is an informed debate.
But the same people still expect to reap the benefit of GMOs, from new drugs for treatment of disease to the sweeteners in their diet Coke.
If I recall right (and strongly paraphrasing), Gandhi's solution to the atomic threat was to allow yourself to be nuked so that the children of the "victor" would express enough horror at the methods that they would reject the philosophy used for the strike
Trouble is, the history books tend to be written by the victors.
...Although occasionally, due to lack of notoriety or some such, the lesson isn't completely learned until the next generation reads it in their history books...
And given that so many people increasingly do not read at all (except in gobbets of 140 characters), I don't hold out much hope that their attention span will accommodate a book of any length.
But someone has to start. And if you move your business away from the crap companies, they won't even notice. But if a thousand people like you do it, they'll start to notice.
Trouble is, far too many large companies are so arrogant, they stick to their "Fuck You!" line until their business goes to the wall. There was notorious case here in Australia recently, where Vodafone lost over 550,000 customers in less than 6 months.
The tweet shown with TFA simply says "Don't fly with British Airways. Their customer service is horrendous".
Not only is this entirely plausible, on the basis of anecdotal evidence, but any attempt to sue him for libel for such an innocuous comment would be doomed to ignominious failure.
He is perfectly at liberty to express his dissatisfaction with their service. If BA doesn't like it, they can always try pulling up their game.
And for what it's worth, a shitlist is as just as useful as a recommendation. As every corporation knows, a satisfied customer might tell a couple of people, but a dissatisfied customer will tell at least ten.
I used to maintain a shitlist (LG electronics goods are at the top), but now I check reviews before I buy. I'll sometimes accept one negative review in 10 as an outlier, but 3 or more is usually enough of a flag to tell me to look elsewhere.
I've never used Droidwall, but you can block Google with just a few entries in your/etc/hosts file (just like on any other Linux box) just as easily, and without having to run any other services.
That said, the no calculator bias is a bit off in my opinion - it's all grand to know it well enough to scratchpad it, but in the real world you will be working problems that you *need* a calculator for.
You're missing the point (or maybe I didn't make it clear enough), which was that for education in mathematics, calculators have a tendency to (at best) waste time, or (at worst) become a crutch that actually gets in the way of learning.
Outside maths education, I totally agree that some form of calculator is usually essential these days.
Now if someone could explain the attraction of reverse polish notation... (No, don't, really.)
OK, I won't, except to say that if you do any mental arithmetic at all, or any kind of calculation on paper, you are most probably already using RPN instinctively.
Thanks for the (interesting and scary) link - but that isn't quite what that article says. According to that article, Facebook is compiling shadow profiles of signed-up users to accumulate information they expressly did not add to their public profile, such as phone numbers and email addresses. (And who knows what else...)
Another reason not to do Facebook, though, so I won't. I do maintain an interest, however, because my wife is an active FB user, on the grounds that she says she never posts anything that could be useful for any kind of miscreant. She is not a techie, though, and I have trouble explaining to her that it isn't as simple as that.
...skype has been updated repeatedly...They were clearly aiming at forcing more Skype chatting, more potential paid calling...
I used to find having chat integrated with Skype quite useful, and I don't really have a problem with modestly priced calls. I've had a skype account for many years (long before MS took it over), and on the whole have been reasonably satisfied with it, despite the tardiness with which the Linux client was typically maintained.
Over the last year or so, however, I have found Skype almost totally unusable, which, given that I still have lots of credit left over from when it worked OK, is a PITA. Chat still works, but calls are so bogged down by latency, I have to give up. OK, my connection is not good (read piss-poor), but I can run a SIP call over it with no problem at all, and that's what I have to do.
Nevertheless, the HP48 (for all its beauty in terms of positive key action, keypad kayout and of course RPN) is a slow beast. I've never owned a TI-83, but my TI-89 is *much* faster for just about any serious calculation. Pity the build quality sucks.
...The best calculator for education (IMO) is none at all. I'm not writing this as a luddite (or not entirely): I own an HP48G+ and a TI-89, and I'll admit that they are a useful means to take the gruntwork out of a lot of calculations (especially the TI-89 with its capacity for symbolic differentiation and integration).
My contention is that any calculator often tends to become a crutch that actually gets in the way of learning, in the sense that it effectively encourages the student to spit out the "answer", when the point is to understand how it is obtained.
When I studied first-year maths at Uni, most of my fellow-students never even got to grips with the fundamental theorem of calculus, which of course means that for the entirety of the course, they were parroting little mini-formulae without really understanding how it fitted together. And using any calculator to find points of inflexion on a curve is just a big time-waster when you can scribble them with a pencil much faster than you can punch the keys.
Getting back to my earlier remarks about gruntwork, though, my best choice for this - if only it existed- would be a TI-89 that does RPN (with the nice clicky keys and the big "Enter" button exactly under the index finger). Fat chance...
I think this guy has managed to use the word "nigger" in his posting more times than it is used in Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn".
Mark Twain, however, was a damn fine writer. It's just a pity they "make" kids read his books in schools - it takes the fun out of them (and they are fun), and usually kills off any inclination to visit them in any later, more receptive frame of mind.
Nevertheless, it will be a long time before a 65-ton road train is allowed on the roads without a human driver in charge. Computers may indeed be able to react quickly to changing conditions (except when they insist on saying "Are you sure? Click OK to continue... Are you really, really sure?...) but they don't have common sense or experience, and nobody will trust them.
Anyone who has driven heavy haulage will know that the amount of driver input that goes into driving those things is vastly more than is required to drive a car.
Slashdot Mirror
We know, but there are so many people out there that think either "GMO = HCFS" or "GMO = Unhealthy" or, my favorite, "GMO = Monsanto" as if they were the only company that uses GMO techniques.
As a biotech graduate, I get very tired of the hysterical drivel we hear about GMOs (OK, for those who are too damn lazy to Google it: genetically modified organisms). It's as if the last thing we want is an informed debate.
But the same people still expect to reap the benefit of GMOs, from new drugs for treatment of disease to the sweeteners in their diet Coke.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights...
...in which case you'll have no difficulty in believing in the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus.
If I recall right (and strongly paraphrasing), Gandhi's solution to the atomic threat was to allow yourself to be nuked so that the children of the "victor" would express enough horror at the methods that they would reject the philosophy used for the strike
Trouble is, the history books tend to be written by the victors.
...Although occasionally, due to lack of notoriety or some such, the lesson isn't completely learned until the next generation reads it in their history books...
And given that so many people increasingly do not read at all (except in gobbets of 140 characters), I don't hold out much hope that their attention span will accommodate a book of any length.
Indeed this is common practice, but it doesn't help when airlines change the rules when they share planes.
But please, stay out of Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq...
...because in all likelihood you will be blown to bits by an American.
Seems as if the race to the bottom is near completion
is most likely premature.
The bottom just never stays put.
Ask me in 87 years' time.
But someone has to start. And if you move your business away from the crap companies, they won't even notice. But if a thousand people like you do it, they'll start to notice.
Trouble is, far too many large companies are so arrogant, they stick to their "Fuck You!" line until their business goes to the wall. There was notorious case here in Australia recently, where Vodafone lost over 550,000 customers in less than 6 months.
I've been told that theft and wilful damage to luggage is not a rare thing in that industry.
I personally know 9 professional musicians who have had musical instruments smashed or seriously damaged by Qantas, and here's another one that happened just a few days ago.
The tweet shown with TFA simply says "Don't fly with British Airways. Their customer service is horrendous".
Not only is this entirely plausible, on the basis of anecdotal evidence, but any attempt to sue him for libel for such an innocuous comment would be doomed to ignominious failure.
He is perfectly at liberty to express his dissatisfaction with their service. If BA doesn't like it, they can always try pulling up their game.
And for what it's worth, a shitlist is as just as useful as a recommendation. As every corporation knows, a satisfied customer might tell a couple of people, but a dissatisfied customer will tell at least ten.
I used to maintain a shitlist (LG electronics goods are at the top), but now I check reviews before I buy. I'll sometimes accept one negative review in 10 as an outlier, but 3 or more is usually enough of a flag to tell me to look elsewhere.
I've never used Droidwall, but you can block Google with just a few entries in your /etc/hosts file (just like on any other Linux box) just as easily, and without having to run any other services.
What are these sand carriers and how can I get my hands on one?
I have one in my yard. It's called a wheelbarrow. So far, I've found it a bit awkward to manage my apps, but you never know...
That said, the no calculator bias is a bit off in my opinion - it's all grand to know it well enough to scratchpad it, but in the real world you will be working problems that you *need* a calculator for.
You're missing the point (or maybe I didn't make it clear enough), which was that for education in mathematics, calculators have a tendency to (at best) waste time, or (at worst) become a crutch that actually gets in the way of learning.
Outside maths education, I totally agree that some form of calculator is usually essential these days.
Now if someone could explain the attraction of reverse polish notation ... (No, don't, really.)
OK, I won't, except to say that if you do any mental arithmetic at all, or any kind of calculation on paper, you are most probably already using RPN instinctively.
It's probably preferable to use the loopback interface 127.0.0.1 rather than 0.0.0.0.
Thanks for the (interesting and scary) link - but that isn't quite what that article says. According to that article, Facebook is compiling shadow profiles of signed-up users to accumulate information they expressly did not add to their public profile, such as phone numbers and email addresses. (And who knows what else...)
Another reason not to do Facebook, though, so I won't. I do maintain an interest, however, because my wife is an active FB user, on the grounds that she says she never posts anything that could be useful for any kind of miscreant. She is not a techie, though, and I have trouble explaining to her that it isn't as simple as that.
...skype has been updated repeatedly...They were clearly aiming at forcing more Skype chatting, more potential paid calling...
I used to find having chat integrated with Skype quite useful, and I don't really have a problem with modestly priced calls. I've had a skype account for many years (long before MS took it over), and on the whole have been reasonably satisfied with it, despite the tardiness with which the Linux client was typically maintained.
Over the last year or so, however, I have found Skype almost totally unusable, which, given that I still have lots of credit left over from when it worked OK, is a PITA. Chat still works, but calls are so bogged down by latency, I have to give up. OK, my connection is not good (read piss-poor), but I can run a SIP call over it with no problem at all, and that's what I have to do.
HP 48 were better.
Were?
Nevertheless, the HP48 (for all its beauty in terms of positive key action, keypad kayout and of course RPN) is a slow beast. I've never owned a TI-83, but my TI-89 is *much* faster for just about any serious calculation. Pity the build quality sucks.
...The best calculator for education (IMO) is none at all. I'm not writing this as a luddite (or not entirely): I own an HP48G+ and a TI-89, and I'll admit that they are a useful means to take the gruntwork out of a lot of calculations (especially the TI-89 with its capacity for symbolic differentiation and integration).
My contention is that any calculator often tends to become a crutch that actually gets in the way of learning, in the sense that it effectively encourages the student to spit out the "answer", when the point is to understand how it is obtained.
When I studied first-year maths at Uni, most of my fellow-students never even got to grips with the fundamental theorem of calculus, which of course means that for the entirety of the course, they were parroting little mini-formulae without really understanding how it fitted together. And using any calculator to find points of inflexion on a curve is just a big time-waster when you can scribble them with a pencil much faster than you can punch the keys.
Getting back to my earlier remarks about gruntwork, though, my best choice for this - if only it existed- would be a TI-89 that does RPN (with the nice clicky keys and the big "Enter" button exactly under the index finger). Fat chance...
I think this guy has managed to use the word "nigger" in his posting more times than it is used in Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn".
Mark Twain, however, was a damn fine writer. It's just a pity they "make" kids read his books in schools - it takes the fun out of them (and they are fun), and usually kills off any inclination to visit them in any later, more receptive frame of mind.
Luxury! I can remember when we were the primordial ooze, and we went to work on an 'andful of smelly sulphurous compounds...
I've lost track of what the substitutionary word "'Murkin" or '"Merka" is even supposed to be making fun of any more.
The OED definition of merkin is "counterfeit hair for women's privy parts".
HTH...
Nevertheless, it will be a long time before a 65-ton road train is allowed on the roads without a human driver in charge. Computers may indeed be able to react quickly to changing conditions (except when they insist on saying "Are you sure? Click OK to continue... Are you really, really sure?...) but they don't have common sense or experience, and nobody will trust them.
Anyone who has driven heavy haulage will know that the amount of driver input that goes into driving those things is vastly more than is required to drive a car.
Sounds like _you_ need to have a conversation with your 12 gauge then.
If he wants to blow his brains out, he'll need to be a good shot.
Excrement! I never heard of queef before. However, I don't think I'll mention it to my wife. A bit of a showstopper, that...
95% of the crowd here would give up a body part to sleep with her.
Sleeping is easy enough without having to become an amputee.