No way...
Are people's liberties going to be trampled that bad? Would we have to explain every single infraction? "The truck was on my arse so I had to speed up" or "I swerved into the bus lane to miss the dog". The possibilities are endless. And that's just for having legitimate excuses for every time you "break the law". What's scarier is that this is even a possibility. This just paves the way to have video cameras mounted in every car "to ensure your personal safety" or whatever. Kinda frightening if you ask me.
Do Carnegie Mellon. Expensive and you'll bust your ass just to make a "B", but wow is it worth it. No coasting through classes here. And it actually does have a little pull out in the real world (even though right now everyone is probably saying "Mellon? Like in 'Back to School'?"). But...the thing I got most out of it, you'll make some damn good friends as you're all staying up late trying to survive.
And then you got Pitt and a couple other nearby schools to go to/recruit chicks when you have ten minutes for a social life.
Actually, we have fun at work with all the viruses and worms. I have my TiBook at home and don't really care about anything (obviously). Here at work I'm using Windows. Every time an email comes in, me or my officemate will read the subject name and who it's from and then try to guess what the contents are. "Generic Viagara" is a common one. Then if there's an attachment, try to guess if it's a.pif or.scr. You should try it. And then go home, hop on your Mac, and be productive again.
A 20 year span of time now seems to cover much more technology and social changes than that same time span in the past. 20 years of social, political, technological, and economic change back in the 1700s was negligible. 20 years today is like a century or so of change. Hence, who's to say what will happen in 20 years. I'm thinking of just 10 years ago and how much has changed. 20 years...I think we could have people up there. Without a doubt. Globalization is in full effect and if it's not one of the current "superpowers", then someone else will do it.
The body (both human and animal) is much more complex and sensitive than most people give credit for. There are reasons horses and dogs and such will go nuts before earthquakes. It's not because they are magic, but because they can sense it coming. Let's not forget, we have five senses that we know of. The pressure will be one of them (touch).
Unfortunately, over the years we have come to rely less and less on our own natural abilities to sense things. Our sense of vision isn't nearly as strong as years ago. And if it goes, get glasses. Smell? Our noses are being bombarded by smells every day, but more importantly we don't rely on it to protect us from a nearby predator. Same with our sense of hearing. We care more about music than the rustling in the bushes.
And this is all simply us adapting AWAY from being sensitive. You'll find some people are sensitive and in tune with their body. And being in tune, listening to your body and what it says, will have you feeling things others can't.
Good freakin' googly? When will people start taking responsibility for their actions? This is absolutely nuts. So TEXT is killing it? I never thought of telling someone a movie sucked.
Wait...maybe we can use this to OUR advantage. We can say we're only getting bad movies now because Hollywood stopped trying to make good ones since we now text people.
I think I'll start banging my head against the wall and blame Home Depot for not telling me that's a bad idea.
And smash my schlong under the toilet seat repeatedly in Wendy's and blame them for not warning me.
Hmmm...I'm looking at my stapler here...no "do not staple your eyeballs shut" warning...hold on a minute.
Of course we have the "music sales are down because MP3s"...it must be. The new music ROCKS!
Ok...I'm done. But I would like some feedback. Please tell me I'm not the only one thinking like this.
I agree. Life is about choices, and unfortunately some choices lead to situations that don't necessarily work out. But...when backed into a corner, people, like animals, will do things they normally wouldn't do. When it comes to survival, you go on basic survival instincts and search for food and shelter and don't always care how you get them, as long as you do.
And unfortunately, in today's society, NOTHING is our fault anymore, remember? My kid is bad? Oh, it's the school's fault. I burned myself on hot coffee? That's McDonald's fault for not telling me hot coffee is hot. Sad...but true.
And to this, the homeless shall reply "screw that. I'll steal my food. I really don't have anything else to lose. I've lost my house. My family. My dignity. If I'm having to go to a shelter, it's not much more to dig through a dumpster or steal it from someone". And thus the once proud worker turns to a life of crime.
C'mon...the SSN thing alone is nuts. First off...if I went homeless, I'm doing it because I'm broke, destitute, and can't function in society (either by choice or forced) anymore. I'm NOT going to give out my SSN to be tracked. Take my student loans and debts and choke on them while I disappear in my meager existence. Second, what if I simply don't have one or don't remember it? THEN what do we do? Seriously? I could be an illegal alien, never got one...who knows.
And then the other issues. Like I want to stand in line and get my blood drawn for HIV tests and such? I just want food and shelter damnit.
What is this for? Who thought it was a good idea? And just WHAT is the good idea? Tracking? Tracking for what?
I find it intriguing and interesting, even a bit exciting that they not only want to go to Mars, but that they want to build a base and a nuclear plant up there to power it. But the article (I know, I'm one of those weird people that actually reads the articles every now and then) was severely lacking in info. WHY do they want to go? For the mere "race" aspect? For research? In the article itself it states "the Red Planet is extremely inhospitable" and then also says how they want a permanent station there. That is a LOT of time, money, and resources for something trivial...yet they don't even mention what their main reason for all this is. Hmmm...anyone have any insights? Everyone excited and ready to see what this will be about in our lifetime?
It still cracks me up when people say "Apple is dead" or "Apple is dying". How can a company that has been turning out profits for quarter after consecutive quarter be "dead"? A company that continues to set standards in the industry be labeled as "dead" is silly to me.
I know this analogy is overused, but is BMW dead? Because they sure don't command 95% of the industry. Poor BMW.
Apple as a niche player? Fine. If you want the best machine for doing your video work or whatnot, you know where to go. You won't find me running to my local Ford dealership for a high performance racing machine that I plan on racing in the circuits. I'll get my "niche" Panoz or Ferrari. Then again, if I feel like "downgrading", I guess I could always get an eMac.
Dead. They're not dead people. They're a company that is alive and well. No they don't own the "market", but just because McDonald's sells more fries than anyone else doesn't make them better either. They are alive and well, still doing R&D, still innovating, still giving shareholders value for their stock.
So does this mean that in another 3 weeks they will be announcing their new G6 processor developments?
Nah. But now that we know IBM is making the chip, that there IS a G5, we can all start speculating on WHEN the G6 will come out, if it will be 128-bit IBM/AMD joint venture, and if the beleaguered company can survive until then without the education market.
I see a lot of different issues and expectations here. On the fact-for-fact level, I guess technically Apple is right by having to refund the users. Yes, they made a promise and no, they did not live up to it. I don't have one of the G3s in question but I can see how people would be upset by that. Hell, I'm still pissed because I bought the 500 MHz TiBook when it was first announced but wasn't available with a CD burner. Then they had a special offer for a free burner if you ordered your 'puter between a certain set of dates and the bastards (oops, did I say that out loud?) claimed I wasn't eligible.
So yes, they were wrong. BUT...compared to almost all other companies out there (not even just in the computing industry), they treat their customers better and live up to more of their promises than the rest of the world. I can't see Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, Chevrolet, Trek, Siemens, etc having the same "we'll deliver what we promise" attitude.
All this rambling is to point out that Apple users have come to expect much more from the company and they get it. When something doesn't work 100% (and what DOES work 100% as promised in this world?), they bitch and moan.
Yes...Apple only lived up to 95% of their promise and they're paying. But quitcherbitchin' people 'cause you're still getting 50% more sanity than you would elsewhere.
Well we all know that the olfactory senses are involved in both smell and taste. Hence, your odour is related to flavour, unless you're flavor gives you a bad odor. Or something.
Here's something interesting to ponder. Way back in the day (oh, you know, a few centuries ago), life didn't change much. You didn't have all these technological and social advances that you have now. Coupled with the fact the average life expectancy could be a mere 30 years, one would pretty much see the exact same thing for his entire life.
Zoom to the 20th century. We see advances every year now. Hell, just think of when we (oh damn, did I just date myself?) had the Atari 2600 and we thought we were the shit. Now the PS2 and XBox blowing all that to hell and back...and every kid has one. Cars. Planes. Anything electronic. Compare it to ten years ago and you laugh. And now we're living three times longer.
I myself think it would be kind of scary to live to be a couple centuries old when life changes every three years (and will probably be every year in 50 years or so). Maybe growing to be 100 back in the 1600s would be cool...you'd see a couple changes...but now...it's just a scary thought.
Techies, Slashdotters, and voting
on
The "Techie" Vote?
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
I was trying to figure out the significance of this all. I know ever since I started checking Slashdot every day I've become a bit more vocal and interested in politics. I asked myself why. I've got a little experience with the military, I've got a pretty decent education, but why did I wait?
I don't really think it's an issue of "techies", but more of "techies that care". Not just any clock-punching techie is going to be vocal on Slashdot (or any other "organization") and be interested in how this legislation will affect that privacy, how this bill will help Company A and screw Company B and how it all affects us and our economy. This transcends all groups though, not just techies. Your random worker at Kmart may care about gun laws a bit, but it's the member of the NRA that will follow the bills and legislations and try to have their voices heard. Same with your random citizen watching the war on TV as compared to someone with a family member in service...they've got more interest and thus are more apt to be vocal and take part in politics.
I think the techies are getting more coverage now though because it's finally socially acceptable to be a geek and know how to configure mom's computer after a crash. Computers are such a part of modern society and not just for the geeks anymore. It's easier to let it all out, speak your mind, and not be shunned.
Slashdot Mirror
No way... Are people's liberties going to be trampled that bad? Would we have to explain every single infraction? "The truck was on my arse so I had to speed up" or "I swerved into the bus lane to miss the dog". The possibilities are endless. And that's just for having legitimate excuses for every time you "break the law". What's scarier is that this is even a possibility. This just paves the way to have video cameras mounted in every car "to ensure your personal safety" or whatever. Kinda frightening if you ask me.
Do Carnegie Mellon. Expensive and you'll bust your ass just to make a "B", but wow is it worth it. No coasting through classes here. And it actually does have a little pull out in the real world (even though right now everyone is probably saying "Mellon? Like in 'Back to School'?"). But...the thing I got most out of it, you'll make some damn good friends as you're all staying up late trying to survive.
And then you got Pitt and a couple other nearby schools to go to/recruit chicks when you have ten minutes for a social life.
Actually, we have fun at work with all the viruses and worms. I have my TiBook at home and don't really care about anything (obviously). Here at work I'm using Windows. Every time an email comes in, me or my officemate will read the subject name and who it's from and then try to guess what the contents are. "Generic Viagara" is a common one. Then if there's an attachment, try to guess if it's a .pif or .scr. You should try it. And then go home, hop on your Mac, and be productive again.
A 20 year span of time now seems to cover much more technology and social changes than that same time span in the past. 20 years of social, political, technological, and economic change back in the 1700s was negligible. 20 years today is like a century or so of change. Hence, who's to say what will happen in 20 years. I'm thinking of just 10 years ago and how much has changed. 20 years...I think we could have people up there. Without a doubt. Globalization is in full effect and if it's not one of the current "superpowers", then someone else will do it.
Oh trust me, I've looked. I can find a few here and there on the Net, but they want me to buy it. Bastards! I thought sex was free...
"Whip me now". Heh heh...
The body (both human and animal) is much more complex and sensitive than most people give credit for. There are reasons horses and dogs and such will go nuts before earthquakes. It's not because they are magic, but because they can sense it coming. Let's not forget, we have five senses that we know of. The pressure will be one of them (touch).
Unfortunately, over the years we have come to rely less and less on our own natural abilities to sense things. Our sense of vision isn't nearly as strong as years ago. And if it goes, get glasses. Smell? Our noses are being bombarded by smells every day, but more importantly we don't rely on it to protect us from a nearby predator. Same with our sense of hearing. We care more about music than the rustling in the bushes.
And this is all simply us adapting AWAY from being sensitive. You'll find some people are sensitive and in tune with their body. And being in tune, listening to your body and what it says, will have you feeling things others can't.
Now THERE was a game. Any word if there will be an OS X version?
Use the Jack Daniels bottle!
Ok...that was cool as shit. I want one (well I want a big house, enough money to build it, some time...).
But...would we in the US get in trouble for building such thing? "It could be used to train terrorists". Life used to be fun...
Good freakin' googly? When will people start taking responsibility for their actions? This is absolutely nuts. So TEXT is killing it? I never thought of telling someone a movie sucked.
Wait...maybe we can use this to OUR advantage. We can say we're only getting bad movies now because Hollywood stopped trying to make good ones since we now text people.
I think I'll start banging my head against the wall and blame Home Depot for not telling me that's a bad idea.
And smash my schlong under the toilet seat repeatedly in Wendy's and blame them for not warning me.
Hmmm...I'm looking at my stapler here...no "do not staple your eyeballs shut" warning...hold on a minute.
Of course we have the "music sales are down because MP3s"...it must be. The new music ROCKS!
Ok...I'm done. But I would like some feedback. Please tell me I'm not the only one thinking like this.
I agree. Life is about choices, and unfortunately some choices lead to situations that don't necessarily work out. But...when backed into a corner, people, like animals, will do things they normally wouldn't do. When it comes to survival, you go on basic survival instincts and search for food and shelter and don't always care how you get them, as long as you do.
And unfortunately, in today's society, NOTHING is our fault anymore, remember? My kid is bad? Oh, it's the school's fault. I burned myself on hot coffee? That's McDonald's fault for not telling me hot coffee is hot. Sad...but true.
And to this, the homeless shall reply "screw that. I'll steal my food. I really don't have anything else to lose. I've lost my house. My family. My dignity. If I'm having to go to a shelter, it's not much more to dig through a dumpster or steal it from someone". And thus the once proud worker turns to a life of crime.
Just one scenario that comes to mind.
C'mon...the SSN thing alone is nuts. First off...if I went homeless, I'm doing it because I'm broke, destitute, and can't function in society (either by choice or forced) anymore. I'm NOT going to give out my SSN to be tracked. Take my student loans and debts and choke on them while I disappear in my meager existence. Second, what if I simply don't have one or don't remember it? THEN what do we do? Seriously? I could be an illegal alien, never got one...who knows.
And then the other issues. Like I want to stand in line and get my blood drawn for HIV tests and such? I just want food and shelter damnit.
What is this for? Who thought it was a good idea? And just WHAT is the good idea? Tracking? Tracking for what?
How funny. SCO has 1 million and three lines of my code. I'm not going to show you though.
Stay tuned. I'll let you know tomorrow (or whenever SCO changes their tune) how many lines of my code they have.
Something strange is happening at Microsoft ...
IE development ended (sort of)
Outlook express development ended
Service packs under long delay
Let's not forget:
MS with their new Open Source lab
MS dropping IE for Mac (completely)
MS and SCO
MS snagging Virtual PC
Criminy...there was another that raised my brow but I didn't have my morning stuff yet...
I find it intriguing and interesting, even a bit exciting that they not only want to go to Mars, but that they want to build a base and a nuclear plant up there to power it. But the article (I know, I'm one of those weird people that actually reads the articles every now and then) was severely lacking in info. WHY do they want to go? For the mere "race" aspect? For research? In the article itself it states "the Red Planet is extremely inhospitable" and then also says how they want a permanent station there. That is a LOT of time, money, and resources for something trivial...yet they don't even mention what their main reason for all this is. Hmmm...anyone have any insights? Everyone excited and ready to see what this will be about in our lifetime?
It still cracks me up when people say "Apple is dead" or "Apple is dying". How can a company that has been turning out profits for quarter after consecutive quarter be "dead"? A company that continues to set standards in the industry be labeled as "dead" is silly to me.
I know this analogy is overused, but is BMW dead? Because they sure don't command 95% of the industry. Poor BMW.
Apple as a niche player? Fine. If you want the best machine for doing your video work or whatnot, you know where to go. You won't find me running to my local Ford dealership for a high performance racing machine that I plan on racing in the circuits. I'll get my "niche" Panoz or Ferrari. Then again, if I feel like "downgrading", I guess I could always get an eMac.
Dead. They're not dead people. They're a company that is alive and well. No they don't own the "market", but just because McDonald's sells more fries than anyone else doesn't make them better either. They are alive and well, still doing R&D, still innovating, still giving shareholders value for their stock.
So does this mean that in another 3 weeks they will be announcing their new G6 processor developments?
Nah. But now that we know IBM is making the chip, that there IS a G5, we can all start speculating on WHEN the G6 will come out, if it will be 128-bit IBM/AMD joint venture, and if the beleaguered company can survive until then without the education market.
I see a lot of different issues and expectations here. On the fact-for-fact level, I guess technically Apple is right by having to refund the users. Yes, they made a promise and no, they did not live up to it. I don't have one of the G3s in question but I can see how people would be upset by that. Hell, I'm still pissed because I bought the 500 MHz TiBook when it was first announced but wasn't available with a CD burner. Then they had a special offer for a free burner if you ordered your 'puter between a certain set of dates and the bastards (oops, did I say that out loud?) claimed I wasn't eligible.
So yes, they were wrong. BUT...compared to almost all other companies out there (not even just in the computing industry), they treat their customers better and live up to more of their promises than the rest of the world. I can't see Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, Chevrolet, Trek, Siemens, etc having the same "we'll deliver what we promise" attitude.
All this rambling is to point out that Apple users have come to expect much more from the company and they get it. When something doesn't work 100% (and what DOES work 100% as promised in this world?), they bitch and moan.
Yes...Apple only lived up to 95% of their promise and they're paying. But quitcherbitchin' people 'cause you're still getting 50% more sanity than you would elsewhere.
On a purely scientific level, it IS pretty fascinating.
Given that there are hoards of people that would love to use this to hurt, maim, and kill others is just plain scary.
'One gram of fully charged hafnium isomer could store more energy than 50 kilograms of TNT.'
That's just scary. Way scary.
Well we all know that the olfactory senses are involved in both smell and taste. Hence, your odour is related to flavour, unless you're flavor gives you a bad odor. Or something.
Oh great...let's perpetuate the myth that geeks smell bad. You bastards!
It would be fun to be a buff geek though. "You talkin' to me?"
I guess it depends on where you're from. I think MTV would rather have it be "Osbourne". Instead of him bitching about the dogs, he'd eat 'em.
Here's something interesting to ponder. Way back in the day (oh, you know, a few centuries ago), life didn't change much. You didn't have all these technological and social advances that you have now. Coupled with the fact the average life expectancy could be a mere 30 years, one would pretty much see the exact same thing for his entire life.
Zoom to the 20th century. We see advances every year now. Hell, just think of when we (oh damn, did I just date myself?) had the Atari 2600 and we thought we were the shit. Now the PS2 and XBox blowing all that to hell and back...and every kid has one. Cars. Planes. Anything electronic. Compare it to ten years ago and you laugh. And now we're living three times longer.
I myself think it would be kind of scary to live to be a couple centuries old when life changes every three years (and will probably be every year in 50 years or so). Maybe growing to be 100 back in the 1600s would be cool...you'd see a couple changes...but now...it's just a scary thought.
I was trying to figure out the significance of this all. I know ever since I started checking Slashdot every day I've become a bit more vocal and interested in politics. I asked myself why. I've got a little experience with the military, I've got a pretty decent education, but why did I wait?
I don't really think it's an issue of "techies", but more of "techies that care". Not just any clock-punching techie is going to be vocal on Slashdot (or any other "organization") and be interested in how this legislation will affect that privacy, how this bill will help Company A and screw Company B and how it all affects us and our economy. This transcends all groups though, not just techies. Your random worker at Kmart may care about gun laws a bit, but it's the member of the NRA that will follow the bills and legislations and try to have their voices heard. Same with your random citizen watching the war on TV as compared to someone with a family member in service...they've got more interest and thus are more apt to be vocal and take part in politics.
I think the techies are getting more coverage now though because it's finally socially acceptable to be a geek and know how to configure mom's computer after a crash. Computers are such a part of modern society and not just for the geeks anymore. It's easier to let it all out, speak your mind, and not be shunned.