How I wish it were not so. Gobalism seems good at killing all kinds of things.
I'm not certain that breeding restrictions are the only/best way to combat this problem, but it probably wouldn't hurt. I work in a poor suburb in my town, and I see more children with with their own children than anywhere else in the metro area. People bring far too many children into exactly the kind of life that doesn't need more children.
I really would love to know what sucked about the TV rendering (besides cutting edge BBC "special" effects).
I think Dent Arthur Dent was played really well and the jokes well timed. I still prefer the books (and to my shame, have never heard the radio version).
I agree with you to a certain extent, there are always other jobs to go to (maybe it involves maintaining sparkling ceramic fecal depositories, or driving other people around in a yellow vehicle and charging by the mile), but for many (I suspect most) people, starting a company is NOT an option.
The vast majority of business startups fail within the first 5 years. If you have just mortgaged your house on that bet - what do you do next?
Starting a business involves a lot more than having the skill and the will (you still gotta pay the bills).
It's getting to the point where almost everything I have was made in a Chinese prison
I have exactly the same problem. Although I am not a poor man, I still cannot afford to spend $100 on a shirt made here in Australia under Australian working conditions. That is, if I could even find such a piece of apparel.
That's not even counting the toaster, the modem, the TV... the list goes on.
If the employees are treated poorly they should quit. That's how capitalism works
Yeah, that is how capitalism works, and poor treatment of workers shouldn't be tolerated (by the consumers, or by the workers). But if you need a job, and jobs are hard to find, what do you do?
Back in the Old Days(TM) there were groups called Unions, groups of workers who decided they had been fucked by the bosses for long enough, and it was time to get some fairness.
People in my country fought and died for a fair go in the workplace, but recent government policy involving workplace agreements and enterprise bargaining have severely damaged the rights of workers.
If they are treating their employees poorly who cares?
That kind of attitude is exactly why those in power are able to continue exploiting people in the third world (and the second, and the first).
I suppose it's not right that i'm more irritated about the new-age whackos who think fractals really *MEAN* something than the guy who invented the Mandelbrot set is.
Now I've got a nice little quote of The Man Himself telling them all they're f-ing idiots.
I get irritated by new-age whackos as much as the next man ("Goddess on Board" bumper sticker anyone?) but I do not feel it is reasonable to claim that seeing something signifigant within fractals makes one a "new-age whacko". What's more, just because Benoit Mandelbrot believes a certain thing, does not make it so.
"A:There is no single rule that governs the use of geometry. I don't think that one exists."
So he believes something different to someone else. I'm pretty sure that covers all humanity.
He may be a brilliant man, but he is still just a man. And men are fallible.
I never did this myself, although my dad did (probably when I was about 10 y.o.). He tied up our Amstrad C6128 home computer for about 10 hours at a stretch to achieve similar results.
I wish I could say it was something more than a pretty picture to me at the time.
I now appreciate the beauty of these forms and their importance in the structure and the Way of things, though the mathematics is still beyond my reach.
... is the mantra I use to protect my bank account from my lust for shiny new gear.
The last shiny widget I acquired was my SonyEricsson T610. Unfortunately, I allowed myself to be suckered into a two-year contract (which I am only halfway through) for the pleasure of owning it. The "ooh, shiny!" effect wore off after about a week, and I find I almost never use any of the new features on it (ie: my old rubber Nokia would do the same job).
My Palm m500 does the job, and is an essential tool at work, and with the new ones being so expensive (and I think/hope/pray I learned my lesson from the T610) - that does not need replacement. Although Bluetooth would be nice so I could read Slashdot through it on the sales floor whilst looking busy.
PC upgrade hell - is PC upgrade hell. I want to play some of the latest cool games, but I can wait two years until the game is $5, and the requisite hardware is maybe $50.
Overall, I think the article was quite insightful in addressing the issue of upgrade/update/replace, and offered some good suggestions.
Not an entirely new idea though, as I have heard political activist/ex-punk rocker Jello Biafra suggest a very similar idea, which he calls the "Camcorder Truth Jihad". His idea was that with increased availability of these types of technologies, comes the opportunity for everyone to "become the media".
The tech suggested in the article is more advanced than what Mr. Biafra was thinking of, but he suggested this some years ago (and he is a self-confessed technophobe). Still, this is an interesting new take on a not-so-new idea.
Something is wrong here
on
Flying By Brain
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Despite finding this technology exciting, I also find myself feeling quite disturbed by it.
There are certainly some amazing opportunities here to learn about how brains work, and no doubt this could help us in building better interfaces for cybernetic implants.
I just feel very uncomfortable with this kind of experimentation. It is my understanding that given enough complexity, any system has the potential to become self-aware. This plate has 25,000 neurons in a roughly two-dimensonal matrix (from the Wired article), so it's probably not even as smart as a bug so far (I am just guessing about this, does anyone have figures to compare this to?), but given enough space and time, might it not become sentient?
Slashdot Mirror
That is all.
...I really would like a new pair of shoes, can you help me?
our bionic dolphin masters.
That is, I eat pies and pasties for breakfast. And I exaggerated, I weigh in at around 52kg after dinner.
Smoke more weed, I've heard from reputable scienticians that it's good against Glaucoma.
Bugger me with a fish fork! That weighs as much as I do!
How I wish it were not so. Gobalism seems good at killing all kinds of things.
I'm not certain that breeding restrictions are the only/best way to combat this problem, but it probably wouldn't hurt. I work in a poor suburb in my town, and I see more children with with their own children than anywhere else in the metro area. People bring far too many children into exactly the kind of life that doesn't need more children.
I think Dent Arthur Dent was played really well and the jokes well timed. I still prefer the books (and to my shame, have never heard the radio version).
Oh, you uh...
OK then.
The vast majority of business startups fail within the first 5 years. If you have just mortgaged your house on that bet - what do you do next?
Starting a business involves a lot more than having the skill and the will (you still gotta pay the bills).
I have exactly the same problem. Although I am not a poor man, I still cannot afford to spend $100 on a shirt made here in Australia under Australian working conditions. That is, if I could even find such a piece of apparel.
That's not even counting the toaster, the modem, the TV ... the list goes on.
Do you work for EA's Ministry of Truth?
Yeah, that is how capitalism works, and poor treatment of workers shouldn't be tolerated (by the consumers, or by the workers). But if you need a job, and jobs are hard to find, what do you do?
Back in the Old Days(TM) there were groups called Unions, groups of workers who decided they had been fucked by the bosses for long enough, and it was time to get some fairness.
People in my country fought and died for a fair go in the workplace, but recent government policy involving workplace agreements and enterprise bargaining have severely damaged the rights of workers.
If they are treating their employees poorly who cares?
That kind of attitude is exactly why those in power are able to continue exploiting people in the third world (and the second, and the first).
Now I've got a nice little quote of The Man Himself telling them all they're f-ing idiots.
I get irritated by new-age whackos as much as the next man ("Goddess on Board" bumper sticker anyone?) but I do not feel it is reasonable to claim that seeing something signifigant within fractals makes one a "new-age whacko". What's more, just because Benoit Mandelbrot believes a certain thing, does not make it so.
"A:There is no single rule that governs the use of geometry. I don't think that one exists."
So he believes something different to someone else. I'm pretty sure that covers all humanity. He may be a brilliant man, but he is still just a man. And men are fallible.
I wish I could say it was something more than a pretty picture to me at the time.
I now appreciate the beauty of these forms and their importance in the structure and the Way of things, though the mathematics is still beyond my reach.
The last shiny widget I acquired was my SonyEricsson T610. Unfortunately, I allowed myself to be suckered into a two-year contract (which I am only halfway through) for the pleasure of owning it. The "ooh, shiny!" effect wore off after about a week, and I find I almost never use any of the new features on it (ie: my old rubber Nokia would do the same job).
My Palm m500 does the job, and is an essential tool at work, and with the new ones being so expensive (and I think/hope/pray I learned my lesson from the T610) - that does not need replacement. Although Bluetooth would be nice so I could read Slashdot through it on the sales floor whilst looking busy.
PC upgrade hell - is PC upgrade hell. I want to play some of the latest cool games, but I can wait two years until the game is $5, and the requisite hardware is maybe $50.
Overall, I think the article was quite insightful in addressing the issue of upgrade/update/replace, and offered some good suggestions.
No more fecking toys!
Not an entirely new idea though, as I have heard political activist/ex-punk rocker Jello Biafra suggest a very similar idea, which he calls the "Camcorder Truth Jihad". His idea was that with increased availability of these types of technologies, comes the opportunity for everyone to "become the media".
The tech suggested in the article is more advanced than what Mr. Biafra was thinking of, but he suggested this some years ago (and he is a self-confessed technophobe). Still, this is an interesting new take on a not-so-new idea.
There are certainly some amazing opportunities here to learn about how brains work, and no doubt this could help us in building better interfaces for cybernetic implants.
I just feel very uncomfortable with this kind of experimentation. It is my understanding that given enough complexity, any system has the potential to become self-aware. This plate has 25,000 neurons in a roughly two-dimensonal matrix (from the Wired article), so it's probably not even as smart as a bug so far (I am just guessing about this, does anyone have figures to compare this to?), but given enough space and time, might it not become sentient?
This reminds me of a similar experiment involving a fish brain controlling a robot. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1043001.stm
Then again - maybe I am being squeamish for no reason. After all, if your entire existence was flying imaginary planes, maybe that wouldn't be so bad.