Don't get me wrong, I dig Janis Ian and her stand on this issue, but geez, can't we find some news that's actually NEW?
First, let me state that I, too, agree with Ian and her position. But every time I see something about her speaking out against the RIAA and state of music industry today I'm wondering if anyone else in the industry is speaking out as well or is it just her? I'm guessing the reason she's in the news so much about this issue is that she's the most vocal but does anyone know if anyone else is making any noise about this too? Honestly, I'm not sure how much of an influence Janis Ian has among everyday people today. If some big name person (read: talentless but popular contemporary act) were to start making some of these same points, perhaps someone other than the faithful would start listening.
Again, I'm not slamming Janis Ian or slashdot for posting this. I'm just wondering if anyone is adding their voice to hers. Because, if not, I'm afraid it's not going to do much good.
Yeah, I have to agree that these Ask Slashdot questions are getting worse and worse. In a comment I made to a previous Ask Slashdot, I suggested that the forum should be reserved for questions that stimulate a large amount of discussion on issues that do not have any obvious answers. I really don't understand what criteria the slashdot editors use to determine whether to post an Ask Slashdot submission or not. Every so often there is a really good Ask Slashdot question so I don't want to filter this out from my preferences. But part of me gets annoyed with people posting crap Ask Slashdot questions even if I have the sense not to read them.
I've seen journalists and students asking questions here along the lines of "please do my investigation for me" and this gets accepted. Then we have these people who think they've developed some new ingenious algorithm but haven't bothered to have ANYONE look at their work. I realize my post is starting to ramble at this point so I think I'll end with one request that I pray the slashdot editors will read and consider: please tighten up the criteria for what gets accepted as an Ask Slashdot question. So many of these questions are simply the result of laziness on the part of the submitter. My earlier post (that I linked to above) is one suggestion for what Ask Slashdot questions should be like. I welcome other people's ideas as well.
Some have speculated that it could be nudged into a permanent Earth orbit where it could be studied at greater length.
Uh, wouldn't that screw up the tidal system?
Yeah, but so what? Our species has a track record of fucking up the environment for the sake of profit. At least now we'd be fucking up the environment for the sake of science.
I'm assuming you're having trouble differentiating between seeing a an object in the air you can't describe, and some redneck that says aliens implanted a mind control device in his dog.
Well, okay, if you want to get really picky about symantics then I'll point to your post and state that everyone can differentiate between an object in the sky and an uneducated human being. But what you meant to say is that I'm confusing a Unidentified Flying Object and an alien spacecraft.
What I am really guilty of is using "UFO sighting" and "UFO reporting" interchangably (well, that and misspelling sighting in my original post). My comment about people being idiots is reserved for those who, upon seeing something unusual in the sky, immediately run off and notify the authorities. They are really the ones who confuse a UFO with alien spacecraft -- not me. The only reason these people are reporting something unusual is because they think it is important. People are lazy. They aren't going to go to the trouble of telling the police "Hey, I saw this thing and I don't know if it's important or not." Those that take the time/effort of reporting lights or saucer shaped objects in the sky have already largely convinced themselves that it's alien in origin in spite of no evidence whatsoever.
I don't see how *anyone* could not be distracted by a computer quoting shakespeare at him while he's trying to concentrate. How is this fair, or within the rules?
At least the computer didn't replay a soundfile of William Shatner doing Shakespeare from his landmark album "The Transformed Man". Now that really would have been unfair!
I am in no way a chess master (or even a decent player) but even I know that there is an advantage to playing white.
Yeah, bascially if you're black while playing chess you run the risk of racist cops coming up to you and harrasing you (asking to see your ID, being told to 'move along', and so forth). It tends to break your concentration.
Last time I was there they had two B-2 Stealth Bombers parked near the runway. Seeing one of those things from the back, I am convinced they are the cause of 95% of saucer-shaped ufo sightings in the last 20 years.
Actually the cause of 95% of UFO sighthings is that people are fucking idiots.
I don't know if this is still true (the last time I used AOL was about '94), but once you started using the free hours, AOL needed a credit card number. Just in case you, uh, go over the limit. What they didn't tell you is that if you did go over the limit, you wouldn't be notified; they just quietly started billing you.
Ah, gees, I feel so sorry for you. C'mon! This company is giving you free internet access and now you expect/demand them to send you a curtousy message when you're approaching the magic 1000 hours? I don't see why they are under any obligation to provide this warning service to you. Sure, it would be awfully sweet of them to do so. But, seriously, you should be able to determine after A FEW HOURS if you like the service or not! If you're trying to play some kind of game of getting as close to 1000 hours without going over then I would argue you're really taking advantage of them. Go ahead and do that if you want to 'stick it to the man' but don't be upset when the company doesn't provide warning services to allow you to screw them over more effectively. Gees, how hard is it to write down a log of how many hours on a piece of paper by the computer so you can keep track of this yourself? Accept some responsibility for your actions.
Looking through the comments here I see a lot of "heh-heh, let's stick it to AOL" messages. Why do people hate AOL? Does anyone have a LEGITIMATE REASON for hating them? And I mean something more important than "I don't like getting those disks in the mail". There are lots of evil entities out there in the tech world. Does AOL really deserve to be place side by side with Microsoft et. al in the Technology Hall of Shame? AOL has been responsible for helping millions of people discover the internet.
I'm not sure why someone modded this as Funny because I think zensmile makes good points. It costs a lot to go to the movies and the experience is inferior to what I can have in my home. Here's a few more additions to the list:
5. Sticky floors
6. Six or seven trailers before the show starts
7. No control over sound, picture quality, environmental conditions
8. Just too many people in general
If the film industry starts hurting for business, they can start to work on making the theater a more enjoyable experience. Until then, I'm just going to wait a few months and get a better experience at a better price in my own place.
at the middle of the galaxy was some calm looking planet with a grey-haired guy that Sybok is looking for. Thanks for bringing up horrible memories of ST:V!
And thank you for bringing up horrible memories of ST:V! He was a poor excuse for a Vulcan. Me, I like my Vulcans slim, busty and wearing skin-tight clothing, yes-siree!
I have to agree that lumping porn in with spam (which no one likes) and hate sites is really uncalled for. If some college girl wants to put herself through school by selling access to naked pictures of herself and I want to engage in a little bit of sexual escapism by looking at those pictures, I don't see how society has been harmed in any way. I know that some people object to porn because it is dominated and controlled by some seedy men. But I would argue that the explosion of internet pornography has actually empowered women working in the adult industries to have more control over their careers. Certainly Danni Ashe has succeeded beyond her wildest dreams. The women can instantly become managers and distributors of their own content and do not have to 'pay' men (either with money or some other compensation) to break into or maintain a presence in the adult world. Several porn stars have curled up with a book and taught themselves to become their own webmasters so they don't have to rely on anyone else. I think this is a positive development.
I wonder if Mr. Cerf has given any thought to the role of the internet is changing pornography or whether he just hates porn in any form.
Adults can go to jail for assault, kids can't if they're under 17 and don't commit a serious enough one. BIG difference.
If you reread my comment, and even yours (!), you'll see that we were originally discussing petty crimes such as "pickpockets, harassment, graffiti, and other crime" so I'm not sure why you are bringing up assult all of the sudden. But even so, I think you are thinking too much about this. You are (I'm assuming) a logical, rational human being. Children and petty criminals tend not to be logical people. You ever ask a kid why they just did something wrong and they respond "I dunno" They just do things on the spur of the moment and don't think about the consequences. And criminals usually think they won't get caught, even if the security camera sees them. If you want real deterernce, I don't think there is any substitute for an authority figure to be right there, ready to take control of the situation. I think the proliferation of surveillance cameras is not such a big help to reducing crime as it is for making people think law enforcement is doing their job.
You're welcome to your opinion, but I think if someone is going to pick your pocket a video camera is not going to make them think twice about it.
Hell, just think what damage Saddam could do to orbiting US spy satellites if he had a half-decent laser and some idea of where to aim it.
I know you're joking but, seriously, it's not very hard to figure out the orbits of most of the satellites. I think the real problem would be accounting for atmospheric distortion and getting the timing correct. You'd have to calculate the amount of refraction that the beam is going to undergo. And remember that these satellites are flying around in orbit pretty damn fast. You have to get pretty much a precise hit into the optics of a fast-moving target (even if you do know its trajectory) to do some damage. I think it'd be one shot in a million.
I ride the buses here as well and am strongly in favor of the cameras, as a means of fighting pickpockets, harassment, graffiti, and other crime.
An example where these cameras are NOT having any measureable deterent value can be found here where bullies on school buses still physically beat other students knowing full well they are being videotaped. I'm not sure there is a huge difference between child-aged bullies and adult petty criminals...
You should hand out CDs to everyone you meet. If anyone asks what your costume is supposed to be, just tell them you are a music pirate. Just make sure you don't run into someone dressed as Hilary Rosen...
As much as this means to me, I've got little need nor room for such a thing.
At the risk of looking like a sentimental wimp, I suggest that you reconsider your decision to part with it. It is, and will always be, a reminder of your grandfather. Now, if you never liked the old guy, you should dump it. But if you would like a permanent reminder of him, this meteroite is a unique tribute. Although you may not have any particular "need" for it now, you may regret your decision to part with this unusual family heirloom 10, 20, 30+ years down the line. And every time someone comes to your house and sees it, they will ask you about it. That will give you the opportunity to pause and remember your grandfather, if only for a second.
It's your choice but I encourage you to try to think beyond your immediate needs and consider the long-term effects of your decision. Once it's gone, it's gone for good.
GMD
Yes, how could WE possibly name YOUR degree?
on
A Name for My Major?
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
If you "designed a degree" which combines these three fields, then you probably should have had some idea as to a common thread between these three disciplines that made the combination worthy of a degree.
Quite right and kudos to Phaid for making a serious response to the question at hand. The original question starts as follows:
I am finishing up a seven-year BS in a degree program that I designed but can't come up with a name for. Going through my school's interdisciplinary studies department, I designed a degree that combines physics, botany, and computer programming. The degree is great and I love what I study. The only problem is that I need to come up with a title for it and am stumped. So, of course, I'm turning to slashdot for suggestions.
So you turn to Slashdot? Jimminy Fucking Cricket, Man! First of all, if you're the one who "designed the degree" than you are really the best person to name it. Second, you certainly don't give us enough information to come up with a name for you. You spent 7 years studying all this and didn't come up with a name? The fact that you now want someone to "give you the answer" so you can copy it down on your diploma doesn't fill me with confidence that your degree is anything more than a triple major.
If, on the other hand, you just took a bunch of unrelated courses because you happen to like them, and talked your advisors into letting you combine them into a degree, then your inability to articulate that combination into a single phrase simply serves to explain exactly what you did.
I couldn't have said it better myself. But at the risk of being modded Troll or Flamebait, I wanted to state my opinion that if you are asking someone else to name the degree that you supposedly designed, then you really need to give some serious thought as to whether you truly understood what you did. And I'm not talking about if you understood the classwork: I'm talking about did you have any idea of what you were doing when you "designed" this degree?
While MIT is an adequate school for physics or janitorial supply ordering procedures (though CalTech is really the best for both), without fail the worst programmers I see came from MIT.
I really hate seeing comments like this on slashdot. In what way are MIT grads terrible programmers? Dammit, give us some specifics, Man! I see so many of these fucking posts here:
"I am an expert for reasons X, Y, and Z. In my experience, thing Q sucks. End of message."
So we're just supposed to assume that your opinion will jive with ours? If you're going to make a sweeping statement like "MIT programmers suck" then you should at least tell us why you think they are poor. What exactly are they poor at (initial planning, writing efficient code, commenting/documenting)?
I don't know if PhysicsGenius is a troll or not, but I see an awful lot of messages written in this same style. People, please, when posting a message giving us your opinion, try to explain exactly what your opinion is. Big sweeping statements don't help any of us.
WSJ: Compact disc shipments fell 7% in the first six months of this year. The recording industry says its data show consumers who download music from the Internet are purchasing fewer CDs
And in this time of unprecented economic growth, prosperity and consumer confidence, theres no other explanation for that, right?
I was pretty disappointed that Fanning replied "It may be hurting the music industry at this point..." instead of pointing out that six months is not a large enough amount of time to gauge the real effect of p2p networks. That may be obvious to Slashdotters but Average Joes (and Janes, don't want to be sexiest now...) might be tempted to take the RIAA's word that p2p is obviously to blame.
Fanning also misses a prime opportunity to explain that the "proposed legislation in Washington that would excuse the industry from antihacking laws" is essentially giving RIAA the freedom to engage in cyberterrorism. He, instead, just makes a bland "it won't work" statement and leaves it at that.
It really upsets me that someone who was on the forefront of p2p networking and is now giving an opportunity to speak to the masses via newspaper completely wastes this opportunity to explain the pro-p2p viewpoint to everyone. If we don't start getting some big name people to clearly and coherently explain to everyone why p2p is not necessarily evil, the public may well indeed support the RIAA's tatics simply because they haven't thought deeply enough about the problem.
Slashdot Mirror
Don't get me wrong, I dig Janis Ian and her stand on this issue, but geez, can't we find some news that's actually NEW?
First, let me state that I, too, agree with Ian and her position. But every time I see something about her speaking out against the RIAA and state of music industry today I'm wondering if anyone else in the industry is speaking out as well or is it just her? I'm guessing the reason she's in the news so much about this issue is that she's the most vocal but does anyone know if anyone else is making any noise about this too? Honestly, I'm not sure how much of an influence Janis Ian has among everyday people today. If some big name person (read: talentless but popular contemporary act) were to start making some of these same points, perhaps someone other than the faithful would start listening.
Again, I'm not slamming Janis Ian or slashdot for posting this. I'm just wondering if anyone is adding their voice to hers. Because, if not, I'm afraid it's not going to do much good.
GMD
Yeah, I have to agree that these Ask Slashdot questions are getting worse and worse. In a comment I made to a previous Ask Slashdot, I suggested that the forum should be reserved for questions that stimulate a large amount of discussion on issues that do not have any obvious answers. I really don't understand what criteria the slashdot editors use to determine whether to post an Ask Slashdot submission or not. Every so often there is a really good Ask Slashdot question so I don't want to filter this out from my preferences. But part of me gets annoyed with people posting crap Ask Slashdot questions even if I have the sense not to read them.
I've seen journalists and students asking questions here along the lines of "please do my investigation for me" and this gets accepted. Then we have these people who think they've developed some new ingenious algorithm but haven't bothered to have ANYONE look at their work. I realize my post is starting to ramble at this point so I think I'll end with one request that I pray the slashdot editors will read and consider: please tighten up the criteria for what gets accepted as an Ask Slashdot question. So many of these questions are simply the result of laziness on the part of the submitter. My earlier post (that I linked to above) is one suggestion for what Ask Slashdot questions should be like. I welcome other people's ideas as well.
GMD
Some have speculated that it could be nudged into a permanent Earth orbit where it could be studied at greater length.
Uh, wouldn't that screw up the tidal system?
Yeah, but so what? Our species has a track record of fucking up the environment for the sake of profit. At least now we'd be fucking up the environment for the sake of science.
Yes, I'm kidding people. Sheesh...
GMD
They found my secret asteroid base! Now I'll have to move it again before I can continue my plans to take over the world!
You should know by now that all your secret asteroid base are belong to us!
GMDI'm assuming you're having trouble differentiating between seeing a an object in the air you can't describe, and some redneck that says aliens implanted a mind control device in his dog.
Well, okay, if you want to get really picky about symantics then I'll point to your post and state that everyone can differentiate between an object in the sky and an uneducated human being. But what you meant to say is that I'm confusing a Unidentified Flying Object and an alien spacecraft.
What I am really guilty of is using "UFO sighting" and "UFO reporting" interchangably (well, that and misspelling sighting in my original post). My comment about people being idiots is reserved for those who, upon seeing something unusual in the sky, immediately run off and notify the authorities. They are really the ones who confuse a UFO with alien spacecraft -- not me. The only reason these people are reporting something unusual is because they think it is important. People are lazy. They aren't going to go to the trouble of telling the police "Hey, I saw this thing and I don't know if it's important or not." Those that take the time/effort of reporting lights or saucer shaped objects in the sky have already largely convinced themselves that it's alien in origin in spite of no evidence whatsoever.
GMD
I don't see how *anyone* could not be distracted by a computer quoting shakespeare at him while he's trying to concentrate. How is this fair, or within the rules?
At least the computer didn't replay a soundfile of William Shatner doing Shakespeare from his landmark album "The Transformed Man". Now that really would have been unfair!
GMD
I am in no way a chess master (or even a decent player) but even I know that there is an advantage to playing white.
Yeah, bascially if you're black while playing chess you run the risk of racist cops coming up to you and harrasing you (asking to see your ID, being told to 'move along', and so forth). It tends to break your concentration.
GMD
Last time I was there they had two B-2 Stealth Bombers parked near the runway. Seeing one of those things from the back, I am convinced they are the cause of 95% of saucer-shaped ufo sightings in the last 20 years.
Actually the cause of 95% of UFO sighthings is that people are fucking idiots.
GMD
I've heard more stories about strippers playing with his "lobes" than I care to.
And you call yourself a NERD! No self-respecting geek could get enough Star Trek related erotic stories! Sheesh...
GMD
I don't know if this is still true (the last time I used AOL was about '94), but once you started using the free hours, AOL needed a credit card number. Just in case you, uh, go over the limit. What they didn't tell you is that if you did go over the limit, you wouldn't be notified; they just quietly started billing you.
Ah, gees, I feel so sorry for you. C'mon! This company is giving you free internet access and now you expect/demand them to send you a curtousy message when you're approaching the magic 1000 hours? I don't see why they are under any obligation to provide this warning service to you. Sure, it would be awfully sweet of them to do so. But, seriously, you should be able to determine after A FEW HOURS if you like the service or not! If you're trying to play some kind of game of getting as close to 1000 hours without going over then I would argue you're really taking advantage of them. Go ahead and do that if you want to 'stick it to the man' but don't be upset when the company doesn't provide warning services to allow you to screw them over more effectively. Gees, how hard is it to write down a log of how many hours on a piece of paper by the computer so you can keep track of this yourself? Accept some responsibility for your actions.
Looking through the comments here I see a lot of "heh-heh, let's stick it to AOL" messages. Why do people hate AOL? Does anyone have a LEGITIMATE REASON for hating them? And I mean something more important than "I don't like getting those disks in the mail". There are lots of evil entities out there in the tech world. Does AOL really deserve to be place side by side with Microsoft et. al in the Technology Hall of Shame? AOL has been responsible for helping millions of people discover the internet.
GMD
I'm not sure why someone modded this as Funny because I think zensmile makes good points. It costs a lot to go to the movies and the experience is inferior to what I can have in my home. Here's a few more additions to the list:
5. Sticky floors6. Six or seven trailers before the show starts
7. No control over sound, picture quality, environmental conditions
8. Just too many people in general
If the film industry starts hurting for business, they can start to work on making the theater a more enjoyable experience. Until then, I'm just going to wait a few months and get a better experience at a better price in my own place.
GMD
at the middle of the galaxy was some calm looking planet with a grey-haired guy that Sybok is looking for. Thanks for bringing up horrible memories of ST:V!
And thank you for bringing up horrible memories of ST:V! He was a poor excuse for a Vulcan. Me, I like my Vulcans slim, busty and wearing skin-tight clothing, yes-siree!
GMD
It's pretty easy to see that the author is a heavy follower of the KISS philosophy.
You mean he wants to rock and roll all nite and code every day? Sweet!
KISS rulez, Man!
GMD
Whats wrong with porn?
I have to agree that lumping porn in with spam (which no one likes) and hate sites is really uncalled for. If some college girl wants to put herself through school by selling access to naked pictures of herself and I want to engage in a little bit of sexual escapism by looking at those pictures, I don't see how society has been harmed in any way. I know that some people object to porn because it is dominated and controlled by some seedy men. But I would argue that the explosion of internet pornography has actually empowered women working in the adult industries to have more control over their careers. Certainly Danni Ashe has succeeded beyond her wildest dreams. The women can instantly become managers and distributors of their own content and do not have to 'pay' men (either with money or some other compensation) to break into or maintain a presence in the adult world. Several porn stars have curled up with a book and taught themselves to become their own webmasters so they don't have to rely on anyone else. I think this is a positive development.
I wonder if Mr. Cerf has given any thought to the role of the internet is changing pornography or whether he just hates porn in any form.
GMD
Someone told me about it, but I can't seem to find it. I would really be interested in it.
Is this "someone" a reliable person? Have you seen a picture of it? Does this "someone" have others who can back up his claim?
Needless to say, if no one here on slashdot says they've heard of such a thing I think chances are pretty good that it doesn't exist.
GMDAdults can go to jail for assault, kids can't if they're under 17 and don't commit a serious enough one. BIG difference.
If you reread my comment, and even yours (!), you'll see that we were originally discussing petty crimes such as "pickpockets, harassment, graffiti, and other crime" so I'm not sure why you are bringing up assult all of the sudden. But even so, I think you are thinking too much about this. You are (I'm assuming) a logical, rational human being. Children and petty criminals tend not to be logical people. You ever ask a kid why they just did something wrong and they respond "I dunno" They just do things on the spur of the moment and don't think about the consequences. And criminals usually think they won't get caught, even if the security camera sees them. If you want real deterernce, I don't think there is any substitute for an authority figure to be right there, ready to take control of the situation. I think the proliferation of surveillance cameras is not such a big help to reducing crime as it is for making people think law enforcement is doing their job.
You're welcome to your opinion, but I think if someone is going to pick your pocket a video camera is not going to make them think twice about it.
GMD
Hell, just think what damage Saddam could do to orbiting US spy satellites if he had a half-decent laser and some idea of where to aim it.
I know you're joking but, seriously, it's not very hard to figure out the orbits of most of the satellites. I think the real problem would be accounting for atmospheric distortion and getting the timing correct. You'd have to calculate the amount of refraction that the beam is going to undergo. And remember that these satellites are flying around in orbit pretty damn fast. You have to get pretty much a precise hit into the optics of a fast-moving target (even if you do know its trajectory) to do some damage. I think it'd be one shot in a million.
GMD
I ride the buses here as well and am strongly in favor of the cameras, as a means of fighting pickpockets, harassment, graffiti, and other crime.
An example where these cameras are NOT having any measureable deterent value can be found here where bullies on school buses still physically beat other students knowing full well they are being videotaped. I'm not sure there is a huge difference between child-aged bullies and adult petty criminals...
GMD
You should hand out CDs to everyone you meet. If anyone asks what your costume is supposed to be, just tell them you are a music pirate. Just make sure you don't run into someone dressed as Hilary Rosen...
GMDAs much as this means to me, I've got little need nor room for such a thing.
At the risk of looking like a sentimental wimp, I suggest that you reconsider your decision to part with it. It is, and will always be, a reminder of your grandfather. Now, if you never liked the old guy, you should dump it. But if you would like a permanent reminder of him, this meteroite is a unique tribute. Although you may not have any particular "need" for it now, you may regret your decision to part with this unusual family heirloom 10, 20, 30+ years down the line. And every time someone comes to your house and sees it, they will ask you about it. That will give you the opportunity to pause and remember your grandfather, if only for a second.
It's your choice but I encourage you to try to think beyond your immediate needs and consider the long-term effects of your decision. Once it's gone, it's gone for good.
GMD
If you "designed a degree" which combines these three fields, then you probably should have had some idea as to a common thread between these three disciplines that made the combination worthy of a degree.
Quite right and kudos to Phaid for making a serious response to the question at hand. The original question starts as follows:
So you turn to Slashdot? Jimminy Fucking Cricket, Man! First of all, if you're the one who "designed the degree" than you are really the best person to name it. Second, you certainly don't give us enough information to come up with a name for you. You spent 7 years studying all this and didn't come up with a name? The fact that you now want someone to "give you the answer" so you can copy it down on your diploma doesn't fill me with confidence that your degree is anything more than a triple major.
If, on the other hand, you just took a bunch of unrelated courses because you happen to like them, and talked your advisors into letting you combine them into a degree, then your inability to articulate that combination into a single phrase simply serves to explain exactly what you did.
I couldn't have said it better myself. But at the risk of being modded Troll or Flamebait, I wanted to state my opinion that if you are asking someone else to name the degree that you supposedly designed, then you really need to give some serious thought as to whether you truly understood what you did. And I'm not talking about if you understood the classwork: I'm talking about did you have any idea of what you were doing when you "designed" this degree?
GMD
They invariably want to use Microsoft products
Okay, you've convinced me! :)
GMD
While MIT is an adequate school for physics or janitorial supply ordering procedures (though CalTech is really the best for both), without fail the worst programmers I see came from MIT.
I really hate seeing comments like this on slashdot. In what way are MIT grads terrible programmers? Dammit, give us some specifics, Man! I see so many of these fucking posts here:
"I am an expert for reasons X, Y, and Z. In my experience, thing Q sucks. End of message."
So we're just supposed to assume that your opinion will jive with ours? If you're going to make a sweeping statement like "MIT programmers suck" then you should at least tell us why you think they are poor. What exactly are they poor at (initial planning, writing efficient code, commenting/documenting)?
I don't know if PhysicsGenius is a troll or not, but I see an awful lot of messages written in this same style. People, please, when posting a message giving us your opinion, try to explain exactly what your opinion is. Big sweeping statements don't help any of us.
GMD
WSJ: Compact disc shipments fell 7% in the first six months of this year. The recording industry says its data show consumers who download music from the Internet are purchasing fewer CDs
And in this time of unprecented economic growth, prosperity and consumer confidence, theres no other explanation for that, right?
I was pretty disappointed that Fanning replied "It may be hurting the music industry at this point ..." instead of pointing out that six months is not a large enough amount of time to gauge the real effect of p2p networks. That may be obvious to Slashdotters but Average Joes (and Janes, don't want to be sexiest now...) might be tempted to take the RIAA's word that p2p is obviously to blame.
Fanning also misses a prime opportunity to explain that the "proposed legislation in Washington that would excuse the industry from antihacking laws" is essentially giving RIAA the freedom to engage in cyberterrorism. He, instead, just makes a bland "it won't work" statement and leaves it at that.
It really upsets me that someone who was on the forefront of p2p networking and is now giving an opportunity to speak to the masses via newspaper completely wastes this opportunity to explain the pro-p2p viewpoint to everyone. If we don't start getting some big name people to clearly and coherently explain to everyone why p2p is not necessarily evil, the public may well indeed support the RIAA's tatics simply because they haven't thought deeply enough about the problem.
GMD
The three questions were actually superpositions of the 100, so you wouldn't know what they were until you observed them on the test ;)
Yeah, and every time you re-read the problem, it would change on you!
GMD