I've been watching a lot of various movies and TV series recently and every time a character says something pious about "constitutional rights" there is a reply along the lines: this is a matter of national security and you have no rights or you are charged under terrorist laws and you have no rights. No lawyer, no phone call, no keeping the mouth shut, no fair trial,...
FTFY.
As far as I can see, the public should be pretty much educated about that by now.
Me. I pay 15€/month for 100Mbps down 10Mbps up over fiber in east Europe country. Another 6€ for TV and phone delivered on the same connection. The rest of the life here sucks, but that internet connection is great.
Novices can for the first time actually do usable filtering without knowing arcane programs and switches. A simple "journalctl -b -p err"
I'm not a novice and the grep switches and regular expressions are ingrained in my brain for years already. Learning another tool to do the same thing is just waste of my time and energy.
P.S. how is "-b -p err" less arcane then grep command line options or/etc/syslog.conf syntax?
I read slashdot since '96 approximately. This story about abusing Unicode to vandalize the page with characters that control LTR/RTL feels to me like story about Yetty. Many talk about it, nobody has seen it. You link to comment that links to comment that talks about comment explaining that somewhere this was abused 12 years ago. Give it up. Allow characters that are allowed on any news site in English language and call it a day. It's not that hard.
You're being too kind on the Slashdot beta by just calling it "annoying". It's much, much worse than that. It's pure and total shit.
Excuse me, why do you go to that beta.slashdot.org site at all? I saw it once when it was announced and I never went there again. I'm logged in and I don't get the javascript-heavy design either. For me the slashdot looks almost the same as it looked 15 years ago (1, 2. Perhaps with rounded corners on story titles.
She did something that requires skill, knowledge and she did it for fun and interest. How often do you see that? I don't. If you do, share the story. We are eager to know.
On the other hand I'm meeting developers that are dug in in their niche for last 15 years and have no desire to find out what happened in IT in the meantime. They develop windows only software but would be lost in Windows 8 and have no idea how to filter EventLog where their log messages are. The don't care how C98 differs from C++0x or how they could replace their data structures with STL (and halve the code in the process). They join a team that works o client-server software, but don't bother to learn what TCP handhsake is, what IPv6 is, what latency is, or where the f*cking server is. They grab a library for encryption and don't bother to randomize IV. They develop software that does graphics, but have no idea what OpenGL is or what DirectX can do.
Because they are frozen in time. It was good enough 15 years ago, and so it should be good enough now. They are not interested. They don't follow what's happening in IT. And you know what? It works for them. Because 1) management has no clue and 2) when something bad happens, they have "someone" who solves the issue - someone who spends evenings and weekends learning new stuff.
While I like your post and stance, I have to say something: I live in a country of about 5 million people. From that it is estimated that about 400 000 are gypsies. And it is estimated that at about 100% of them are on unemployment benefits and social welfare (which is a significant cost for the state). But those are just estimates. We are not allowed to track the race or ethnicity by law here and so we don't know any of that for sure. We don't know how many schools need to have teachers speaking their language, we don't know how many social workers we need or what health care issues they have. We don't know what crime rate is related to them, or what is the literacy rate. We don't know the fertility and mortality rates are so we don't know if the problem grows or shrinks, etc. etc. The country on the other hand receives hundreds of millions of euro from European Union to support those that are in disadvantage due their ethnicity and prejudice - and we don't know if that money was spent efficiently or whether it was blatantly "misplaced" at advantage of some corrupted bureaucrats...
So on one hand: yes, the dangers of misusing such data is big - as the history taught us (I mean right here in this very country - which is actually the reason for the tracking ban). On the other hand not having that data causes real problems to the whole society.
My nirvana is that every single website does not require me to log in at all. Ok perhaps 1% of them really need to - such as... internet banking and utility providers. Everybody else just uses it to track me (no, thanks), or customize the page for me (no, I want to give a link to a friend and have him see the same page I see), or create sites that are not needed in first place (such as web mail, facebook,...).
As a citizen of a country that has 5 parties in parliament with one (left) having majority and 4 (right) having minority I'm pretty sure that getting more parties does not solve anything. In my opinion the solution lies in educating the public. Btw, that is on the same level of hopelessness as getting rid of two party system in US.
It is surprising how many thinks that money by itself has a value. It doesn't, the value comes from the things you can buy from it.
Value to who? To the employee? What should the employer consider that when negotiating my salary? If all I value is caviar, Lamborghini, private jet, poker (and hookers) and I don't care about working at charity on weekends - should the employer pay me enough to satisfy my needs for stuff I consider worthy? And if all I want is meditation, he can pay me peanuts?
I thought that the employer pays for the work delivered. Not for what is the monetary value of things that I want.
If you hit the Windows key on the keyboard and type it will instantly find any document or program.
Over here the start menu takes half a second just to show up after I press the Win key (and the disk rattles a lot). But could live with that. What I can't live with is that, for example, "gpedit.msc" is not found until I fully type it in. It literally appears the moment I hit "c". Instant search my ass.
How is anyone supposed to know that moving the mouse cursor to the top right corner does something special
It is shown in the animation played while the OS installs. You know - shortly after you start the installation and go to the kitchen to get the coffee. No, I did not see it first three times either;-)
I completed 7 courses and intend to do several more. My scores are above 80% in all of them. My experience is following (in no particular order):
There are people from all backgrounds and ages. The youngest that I've seen is 11, the oldest... probably somewhere around 70. If you expect the audience to be the same age demography as classic face-to-face school, then you are wrong. That, of course, translates to different self-discipline and overall approach.
The quality of the course varies wildly. From excellent courses with fast pace, great explanations, good communication all the way down to bad video/sound quality, amateurish edit, no communication, insufficient explanations,...
People are not used to communicate in a discussion forum. Many (80%?) do not join the forums at all. Those that do, don't know how to describe the problem. How to search for solution in the forum or on the web. How to let everybody else to know about the solution they've found. Etc, etc.
Every student is very grateful for having the chance. Course criticism if often down-modded regardless of substance;-)
Unrealistic expectations. The most popular thread on some "intro to Android" course has title "Anyone else dreaming of getting rich from apps?" with students left and right talking about how they dream to be next Zuckerberg. How they are going to write a game or medical app without any prior CS experience etc.
As several others pointed out - many people just join and see whether they like the course or not. There is no harm in doing that, so why not?
Many people are not self-motivated enough - I've seen a a course where after 12 weeks of lectures and another 8 weeks (with Christmas holidays included) of no course activity at all, people asked for more time because they did not had enough time to complete the course.
My view is: it's a resource that is available at minimal cost. I'm going to use it as long as it lasts. If I know about the topic enough to help others, then I'm going to help them too. It's more useful than posting on slashdot;-)
Btw, some interesting statistics on completion/enrollment rate can be found here
FTFY.
As far as I can see, the public should be pretty much educated about that by now.
If the sum of my savings exceeds the sum of my loans, then: yes, depreciation is a bad thing for me. Am I doing it wrong by having no loans?
Was there ever a problem to find a greater fool? AFAIK, there is no shortage in that area.
Me. I pay 15€/month for 100Mbps down 10Mbps up over fiber in east Europe country. Another 6€ for TV and phone delivered on the same connection. The rest of the life here sucks, but that internet connection is great.
Yeah, and suddenly there is a crater everywhere ...
I'm not a novice and the grep switches and regular expressions are ingrained in my brain for years already. Learning another tool to do the same thing is just waste of my time and energy.
P.S. how is "-b -p err" less arcane then grep command line options or /etc/syslog.conf syntax?
I read slashdot since '96 approximately. This story about abusing Unicode to vandalize the page with characters that control LTR/RTL feels to me like story about Yetty. Many talk about it, nobody has seen it. You link to comment that links to comment that talks about comment explaining that somewhere this was abused 12 years ago. Give it up. Allow characters that are allowed on any news site in English language and call it a day. It's not that hard.
Excuse me, why do you go to that beta.slashdot.org site at all? I saw it once when it was announced and I never went there again. I'm logged in and I don't get the javascript-heavy design either. For me the slashdot looks almost the same as it looked 15 years ago (1, 2. Perhaps with rounded corners on story titles.
She did something that requires skill, knowledge and she did it for fun and interest. How often do you see that? I don't. If you do, share the story. We are eager to know.
On the other hand I'm meeting developers that are dug in in their niche for last 15 years and have no desire to find out what happened in IT in the meantime. They develop windows only software but would be lost in Windows 8 and have no idea how to filter EventLog where their log messages are. The don't care how C98 differs from C++0x or how they could replace their data structures with STL (and halve the code in the process). They join a team that works o client-server software, but don't bother to learn what TCP handhsake is, what IPv6 is, what latency is, or where the f*cking server is. They grab a library for encryption and don't bother to randomize IV. They develop software that does graphics, but have no idea what OpenGL is or what DirectX can do.
Because they are frozen in time. It was good enough 15 years ago, and so it should be good enough now. They are not interested. They don't follow what's happening in IT. And you know what? It works for them. Because 1) management has no clue and 2) when something bad happens, they have "someone" who solves the issue - someone who spends evenings and weekends learning new stuff.
I'm volunteering to test this theory. Where do I sign up?
It's easy to be anti-American nowadays. And for good reasons.
You should then rush to update wikipedia: The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America.
Excuse me, do you live in that country that I talked about? What is the basis for your opinion?
While I like your post and stance, I have to say something: I live in a country of about 5 million people. From that it is estimated that about 400 000 are gypsies. And it is estimated that at about 100% of them are on unemployment benefits and social welfare (which is a significant cost for the state). But those are just estimates. We are not allowed to track the race or ethnicity by law here and so we don't know any of that for sure. We don't know how many schools need to have teachers speaking their language, we don't know how many social workers we need or what health care issues they have. We don't know what crime rate is related to them, or what is the literacy rate. We don't know the fertility and mortality rates are so we don't know if the problem grows or shrinks, etc. etc. The country on the other hand receives hundreds of millions of euro from European Union to support those that are in disadvantage due their ethnicity and prejudice - and we don't know if that money was spent efficiently or whether it was blatantly "misplaced" at advantage of some corrupted bureaucrats ...
So on one hand: yes, the dangers of misusing such data is big - as the history taught us (I mean right here in this very country - which is actually the reason for the tracking ban). On the other hand not having that data causes real problems to the whole society.
And you are the proof that I don't really have to.
My nirvana is that every single website does not require me to log in at all. Ok perhaps 1% of them really need to - such as ... internet banking and utility providers. Everybody else just uses it to track me (no, thanks), or customize the page for me (no, I want to give a link to a friend and have him see the same page I see), or create sites that are not needed in first place (such as web mail, facebook, ...).
As a citizen of a country that has 5 parties in parliament with one (left) having majority and 4 (right) having minority I'm pretty sure that getting more parties does not solve anything. In my opinion the solution lies in educating the public. Btw, that is on the same level of hopelessness as getting rid of two party system in US.
Value to who? To the employee? What should the employer consider that when negotiating my salary? If all I value is caviar, Lamborghini, private jet, poker (and hookers) and I don't care about working at charity on weekends - should the employer pay me enough to satisfy my needs for stuff I consider worthy? And if all I want is meditation, he can pay me peanuts?
I thought that the employer pays for the work delivered. Not for what is the monetary value of things that I want.
Over here the start menu takes half a second just to show up after I press the Win key (and the disk rattles a lot). But could live with that. What I can't live with is that, for example, "gpedit.msc" is not found until I fully type it in. It literally appears the moment I hit "c". Instant search my ass.
It is shown in the animation played while the OS installs. You know - shortly after you start the installation and go to the kitchen to get the coffee. No, I did not see it first three times either ;-)
Get a new wallet.
1 2 3
I completed 7 courses and intend to do several more. My scores are above 80% in all of them. My experience is following (in no particular order):
My view is: it's a resource that is available at minimal cost. I'm going to use it as long as it lasts. If I know about the topic enough to help others, then I'm going to help them too. It's more useful than posting on slashdot ;-)
Btw, some interesting statistics on completion/enrollment rate can be found here
I have a bookmark to one of my earliest posts on the Internet - from 20th of Nov 1995 (I was wrong in that post :-) ). The bookmark still works today.