Another, more recent, thing adding to this is policies like No Child Left Behind. It sounds like a great idea and a good way to motivate schools to concentrate on making sure kids are learning what they need to learn. Unfortunately, the sad reality is it simply causes schools to lower their standards such that ANY kid will pass.
A friend of my mother's is a teacher in the public school system in Georgia. The state of education in GA is not great to begin with, but still. This teacher has actually been informed that she cannot fail a student as long as the student shows up for class. Regardless of whether he or she does the work or falls asleep, as long as the student is present, they pass. Otherwise, the school loses funding.
Sadly, the poor performance of public school tends to widen the class gap. Public schools perform poorly so those who can afford to send their children to expensive private schools. Those kids get what's regarded as a better education at K-12, which gives them a better chance to get in to what is regarded as a better University. Graduating gives them a shot at a better paying job, and the cycle begins anew.
This is not to say that most of these kids don't deserve the acceptance to a better Uni (most.. I'd bet everyone knows someone who probably didn't deserve it), or that even a kid from a poor school can't get in to a good university; they can. But at the same time, I had someone from the admissions office at a highly regarded University in North Carolina once tell me that a 4.0GPA from one of the local public schools was regarded with less merit than a 3.2 from one of the local private schools. Whether this type of evaluation is general practice, I cannot say, as I've only heard from one person at one university.
And if she's not educated, you can educate her. I bought my wife a diamond ring when we got engaged because I knew that's what she wanted and I didn't want to go down the whole path of explaining why, exactly, I don't like buying diamonds.
Sometime later she was considering purchasing a diamond necklace and earring set to wear with an evening gown. I gathered some information on diamond mining and the diamond trade and simply asked her to read it before she bought anything. She read it and decided she no longer wanted to purchase any diamonds.
Most people with a social conscience agree once they learn what goes on to get a diamond in to a Zales.
Dude... nothing like taking a statement out of context. The full sentence was a company that does virtually nothing, other than advertise, through the news media.
In case we're still unclear here, the statement was not that IBM does virutally nothing in R&D, but that IBM does virtually nothing, other than advertise, via the news media. What did you, stop reading the post after you hit the word "nothing?"
So, let's review. In order for the nice, user-friendly autoconfiguration stuff to work, you have to first edit an/etc file. On a different machine than the one you're trying to s set up. You have to read the comments in configuration file to know that you need to do this ubn the first place.
Does anyone actually think this is actually gonna happen?
Better question: Does anyone actually think this is real?
Let me see if I understand this... IBM, a company that does virtually nothing, other than advertise, through the news media, issues an "Open Letter" to a fierce rival via what appears to be a small-time Linux news site.
I'm not sure if the Baboochi story is a really cute tale about pacifism (proper spelling optional), or if it's a really screwed up tale of what happens when you try to be nice to people who don't appreciate it...
Either way.. I suppose it's an interesting concept... and they are kind of cute...
I agree that's not a terrible idea, but no company is going to use that method unless they have a monopoly on the market. Unless you're a utility company and/or the only game in town, you care greatly about upset customers because if you don't make them happy, they're going to go somewhere else, and you lose revenue.
That being the case, especially with technology companies (e.g. IBM, Dell, et al), the method you've laid out is the exact opposite of reality. The more pissed off you are about your computer or the support, the more concerned they are about making you happy. They don't want negative word of mouth, and god forbid you get surveyed by PC World when they're doing their service and support report card, potentially lowering the company's prospective grade. In the long run, that could impact earnings. And in an economy where your stock price can live and die by the quarterly statement... some companies will do pretty much anything to keep you happy.
As if taking live calls in a helpdesk weren't bad enough already, now they want to ensure the caller hits maximum frustration and anger before we let them talk to a real person. Great. That'll make everyone's jobs much easier. Oh, and I'm sure it'll increase customer satisfaction as well.
"Our interpretation is that he's apologizing to the general public," Jimmy Kuo, research fellow at anti-virus software maker Network Associates Technology Inc., said Friday. "Our guess is that someone is paying him to write this thing."
Jesus, ya-fuckin-think? What was it? When he said "sorry" or "I'm just doing my job?"
Backward compatibility is great, but.. how difficult would it be to get developers to jump onboard for the new console? If you can create games for the old console and appeal to the market for both the Xbox and the Xbox 2, where's the real advantage (other than power) of creating a game that will only work on the Xbox 2? Sony ran in to a similar issue early in the life of the Playstation 2, as I recall. On the other hand, down the line, that worked out rather well, since the PS2 has a huge library and to this day you can still buy PS1 games at Wal-Mart, which stopped selling N64 games long ago.
Of course it exceeded 60 pages. After they used double-line spacing to make it look like there's a lot of information. Maybe they're hoping Blue's lawyers won't have time to read more than sixty whole pages!
... idiot(s) who is (are) leaking internal information and screenshots of internal web sites gets fired. Whoever you are, I hope you did that BEFORE you signed your BCG for the new year.
Hm. To me, the battlebot thing seems to be an example of "sharpening the saw". Kind of like a baseball player taking batting practice - it doesn't score any runs, but it will later. Does literary deconstructionism serve as practice for writers?
Actually, yes. Whether writing fiction or poetry or.. well, pretty much anything, I suppose, you have to be careful how you present your ideas or stories or words, so as to (if it is your desire) limit the available interpretations.
One of the challenges writing short stories or poetry, for example, is to write it in such a way as to impart to the reader your interpretation, what you want it to mean, and what you want the reader to get from it. This can be extremely difficult to do.
By picking apart other works and comparing your results to the results of others who have done the same, you get an insight as to what types of meaning different people will find in certain writing types, styles and manner presentation. This helps you anticipate some possible interpretations and avoid them.
The competition is played at a downtown game centre with a live audience, big screens and two commentators. It is televised by a cable TV network.
And I thought it was bad the day I turned on ESPN2, only to see the exciting Scrabble championship being televised, complete with commentators.
Even better, now, instead of actually playing a video game myself, I can turn on the TV and watch someone else play a game! From this day forward I will live vicariously through professional video gamers.
Oi, yeah. I've worked on projects like that. In a related story, the amount and quality of//comments I add to my own code increased significantly after the first such project.
Comments usually aren't much, but jeez.. they're certainly better than nothing at all.
And this is partly why I refuse to buy anything from Amazon.com. It really kills me that we periodically see these "Stupid Patent" stories from Amazon.com yet people are still constantly linking to amazon to buy in their comments.
For god's sake, pay an extra few bucks to avoid supporting this crap. Get off your duff and visit a local bookstore.
Even better are the people who try to plug a PS2 mouse in to an S-Video out port, but can't figure out A: Why the pin layout keeps it from connecting and B: why the mouse doesn't work once they MAKE it connect.
Slashdot Mirror
So.. they like to drive around on little scooters and say "Ciao..."
A friend of my mother's is a teacher in the public school system in Georgia. The state of education in GA is not great to begin with, but still. This teacher has actually been informed that she cannot fail a student as long as the student shows up for class. Regardless of whether he or she does the work or falls asleep, as long as the student is present, they pass. Otherwise, the school loses funding.
Sadly, the poor performance of public school tends to widen the class gap. Public schools perform poorly so those who can afford to send their children to expensive private schools. Those kids get what's regarded as a better education at K-12, which gives them a better chance to get in to what is regarded as a better University. Graduating gives them a shot at a better paying job, and the cycle begins anew.
This is not to say that most of these kids don't deserve the acceptance to a better Uni (most.. I'd bet everyone knows someone who probably didn't deserve it), or that even a kid from a poor school can't get in to a good university; they can. But at the same time, I had someone from the admissions office at a highly regarded University in North Carolina once tell me that a 4.0GPA from one of the local public schools was regarded with less merit than a 3.2 from one of the local private schools. Whether this type of evaluation is general practice, I cannot say, as I've only heard from one person at one university.
Sometime later she was considering purchasing a diamond necklace and earring set to wear with an evening gown. I gathered some information on diamond mining and the diamond trade and simply asked her to read it before she bought anything. She read it and decided she no longer wanted to purchase any diamonds.
Most people with a social conscience agree once they learn what goes on to get a diamond in to a Zales.
In case we're still unclear here, the statement was not that IBM does virutally nothing in R&D, but that IBM does virtually nothing, other than advertise, via the news media. What did you, stop reading the post after you hit the word "nothing?"
He got so pissed he couldn't type straight!
Better question: Does anyone actually think this is real?
Let me see if I understand this... IBM, a company that does virtually nothing, other than advertise, through the news media, issues an "Open Letter" to a fierce rival via what appears to be a small-time Linux news site.
Oh yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
Either way.. I suppose it's an interesting concept... and they are kind of cute...
That being the case, especially with technology companies (e.g. IBM, Dell, et al), the method you've laid out is the exact opposite of reality. The more pissed off you are about your computer or the support, the more concerned they are about making you happy. They don't want negative word of mouth, and god forbid you get surveyed by PC World when they're doing their service and support report card, potentially lowering the company's prospective grade. In the long run, that could impact earnings. And in an economy where your stock price can live and die by the quarterly statement... some companies will do pretty much anything to keep you happy.
As if taking live calls in a helpdesk weren't bad enough already, now they want to ensure the caller hits maximum frustration and anger before we let them talk to a real person. Great. That'll make everyone's jobs much easier. Oh, and I'm sure it'll increase customer satisfaction as well.
Jesus, ya-fuckin-think? What was it? When he said "sorry" or "I'm just doing my job?"
I agree. If Halo 2 gets pushed back to, say, launch with the Xbox 2, requiring an Xbox 2 to play, I'll be pissed.
Backward compatibility is great, but.. how difficult would it be to get developers to jump onboard for the new console? If you can create games for the old console and appeal to the market for both the Xbox and the Xbox 2, where's the real advantage (other than power) of creating a game that will only work on the Xbox 2? Sony ran in to a similar issue early in the life of the Playstation 2, as I recall. On the other hand, down the line, that worked out rather well, since the PS2 has a huge library and to this day you can still buy PS1 games at Wal-Mart, which stopped selling N64 games long ago.
(After getting blown to tiny pieces)
"You asshole!...
"... Hey did you see my t-shirt?"
Got it. Thanks for explaining.
Of course it exceeded 60 pages. After they used double-line spacing to make it look like there's a lot of information. Maybe they're hoping Blue's lawyers won't have time to read more than sixty whole pages!
What does "admitted pro hac vice" mean?
... idiot(s) who is (are) leaking internal information and screenshots of internal web sites gets fired. Whoever you are, I hope you did that BEFORE you signed your BCG for the new year.
okay, that was hilarious. I can't mod it cos i've already posted in this forum, but.. yeah.. made me laugh.
Actually, yes. Whether writing fiction or poetry or.. well, pretty much anything, I suppose, you have to be careful how you present your ideas or stories or words, so as to (if it is your desire) limit the available interpretations.
One of the challenges writing short stories or poetry, for example, is to write it in such a way as to impart to the reader your interpretation, what you want it to mean, and what you want the reader to get from it. This can be extremely difficult to do.
By picking apart other works and comparing your results to the results of others who have done the same, you get an insight as to what types of meaning different people will find in certain writing types, styles and manner presentation. This helps you anticipate some possible interpretations and avoid them.
Wow.. Interesting reading.
Thanks much.. I wasn't familiar with FISA either.. Woo, am now though.
What exactly is the FIFA court? The only context of "FIFA" I'm familiar with is soccer...
And I thought it was bad the day I turned on ESPN2, only to see the exciting Scrabble championship being televised, complete with commentators.
Even better, now, instead of actually playing a video game myself, I can turn on the TV and watch someone else play a game! From this day forward I will live vicariously through professional video gamers.
Comments usually aren't much, but jeez.. they're certainly better than nothing at all.
For god's sake, pay an extra few bucks to avoid supporting this crap. Get off your duff and visit a local bookstore.
Even better are the people who try to plug a PS2 mouse in to an S-Video out port, but can't figure out A: Why the pin layout keeps it from connecting and B: why the mouse doesn't work once they MAKE it connect.