A lot of people believe that the US health care system is free market. It is not. 50% of all health care dollars are spent by the government. The government runs 5 socialized health care systems: medicare, medicaid, military hospitals, VA hospitals, and the indian hospitals. The rest is heavily regulated from top to bottom. It might be only 10% free market. Most of the problems with it are attributable to government interference.
Remember our wounded soldiers the government abandoned at Walter Reed Hospital? Look forward to plenty of that with the government running your health care.
What Thomas Edison did was invent a working, useful lightbulb, not a laboratory curiosity. Edison solved all the technical problems with it. That means he gets the credit.
I suggest becoming a lumberjack. Or something exciting, a lion tamer.
Ask Jeeves - been there, done that, failed
on
The Virtual Teacher
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
"Ask Jeeves" tried to do this and failed miserably. What hope does this have? Researchers still cannot even write acceptable language translation software, and this would be far beyond that.
Teachers love these gadgets because it relieves them from having to make an effort to teach. Students love them because it relieves them from having to make an effort to learn.
But learning requires work and effort. There's no shortcut.
Re:It's not just Sci-Fi channel; it's the market,
on
The Sci-Fi Movie Stigma
·
· Score: 2, Funny
"One of the reasons I tend to agree with the parent on Sci-Fi being part of the problem here is that they still translate these movies into several different languages, and distribute them all over the world; an explosion and a scantily-clad starlet are essentially the same in any language or culture, so it's easier to sell those films (to Sci-Fi and to the foreign markets) when they're simplistic, "four-color" 90-minute packages, instead of complex 2001-esque masterpieces."
It couldn't have been that hard to translate 2001, as it had what, 2 minutes of dialog in it?
The reason they garner no respect is that one group of people is forced to pay for the system that another group of people are forced to submit to. This is never going to be a recipe for respect for any of the parties involved.
"So, maybe this new antiseptic, all-digital approach isn't right, but who are any of us to sit here and say that it is worse than the status quo for education in this country? Do you have a better idea?"
Yes. Get the government entirely out of education. Free market.
My entire life I've watched an endless parade of politicians getting elected on platforms to fix government schools. There's lots of finger pointing, debate, new programs, back to basics programs, rivers of cash spent, and nothing ever improves.
I'm quite confident in my prediction that any school system run by the government cannot produce better results. You just watch - this one will fail like all the others.
I have to laugh at this. The reason public schools are mediocre and produce lousy results is that they are a socialist system. That's what socialist systems produce. There is no fixing it. Superficially modelling a socialist school after a free market business won't work because the two operate under entirely different incentives.
What's especially funny is the notion that laptops and smartboards are going to magically improve learning.
My prediction is they'll quietly bury this experiment after 5 or 6 years of failure.
"To talk about the inventor persevering in the face of corporate pressure is silly. This isn't a David vs. Goliath story. The inventor was a patent attorney that tried to bludgeon power tool companies with a 250+ page patent, and he could have sold his concept on day one if he hadn't been quite as greedy. There was no shortage of companies looking for competitive advantage in the power tool industry, which has been pretty stagnant of late."
The inventor is also clearly aware that the way to get rich is to get a law requiring the use of his invention to which he holds the monopoly. If he was so concerned about safety, he'd license it for token fees only.
"But, as it stands, nobody has a case if he tries to sue the manufacturer because he cut off his finger. But put an auto-brake on the saw, and every time it fails the manufacturer and insurance company have a dismemberment case to settle."
It's worse than that. If a manufacturer adds a new safety device, that means they are "admitting" that all their previously sold saws are unsafe, and that becomes an incredible liability for them.
"One major loss to them was hearing losses. The addition of a few minor changes could have nearly silenced the factory."
For a few cents you can buy earplugs at the drugstore. No need to beg your employer to do something. If you lose your hearing, there's nobody to blame but yourself.
"Why not just change the corporate law: instead of stockholders voting for the board of directors, let the workforce vote for the board of directors, one person one vote?"
Because then nobody would invest money in the company. No money, no company. If you don't believe that, I suggest you try to start such a company.
'While your account information may be personal to you, these records constitute business records that are owned by AT&T. As such, AT&T may disclose such records to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process.'
In other words, their "privacy" policy is they can do whatever they please without limit with your information.
And on this point, I agree: if I buy a security product that claims "secure file storage", and I find out that they implement this single-DES encryption -- and espeicially if my data is compromised as a result -- the vendor should be liable. They made a false claim!
Making a false claim is already actionable - it's called fraud. No additional regulations are required.
... that all possible emergencies are anticipated by the programmers. They aren't, and probably even most aren't. Emergencies, by their very nature, are unique, unforeseen, and unintended. You need a pilot with judgement to get out of it. For a recent example, remember the Sioux City crash? The engine failure took out the hydraulic systems and the flight controls. The pilot, though, was able to regain control by manipulating engine thrusts.
If a computer had been in charge, computers have no intelligence, no judgement, and no creativity. All dead is the inevitable result.
I went to Coverity's web site. There isn't much useful information there about what it does, but there is lots of vague hype and attempts to get you to register. But what turned me off was their website hijacked the 'back' button so you couldn't leave their site.
There is a solution that doesn't need a broadcast flag. Music companies can license a special "radio-edit" version of the song for broadcast use that has one or more of the following characteristics:
has the beginning and end chopped off, or overdubbed with a voice like "this is the new song from FooBar!"
has a small bit of hiss and distortion added
is a shorter version
has reduced dynamic range
That would be enough for people who like the music to want to buy the CD. After all, what radio really is is advertising for the song and for the concerts. So treat it that way.
The same can apply to TV shows. Ever notice that an episode of Seinfeld is really only 22 minutes long? Have a "broadcast version" that is shorter, has advertisements on the bottom, etc. Have a dvd version that is longer, uncut, and no embedded ads. Everyone wins.
You'll find a more thorough treatment of this in "Titan" by Chernow. None of it justifies Rockefeller being a "monster", furthermore, the Standard Oil days in 1914 were a thing of the past, and Sr. had retired - Rockefeller Jr. was running the company.
Even the wikipedia article talks about Jr, not Sr. They are different people.
Slashdot Mirror
...for the illusion of 'free' health care.
A lot of people believe that the US health care system is free market. It is not. 50% of all health care dollars are spent by the government. The government runs 5 socialized health care systems: medicare, medicaid, military hospitals, VA hospitals, and the indian hospitals. The rest is heavily regulated from top to bottom. It might be only 10% free market. Most of the problems with it are attributable to government interference.
Remember our wounded soldiers the government abandoned at Walter Reed Hospital? Look forward to plenty of that with the government running your health care.
What Thomas Edison did was invent a working, useful lightbulb, not a laboratory curiosity. Edison solved all the technical problems with it. That means he gets the credit.
... will solve your problems. It even works on the flashing "12:00" on your VCR.
Hopefully, these will clear things up: http://www.jumpstation.ca/recroom/comedy/python/li on.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMOmB1q8W4Y
I suggest becoming a lumberjack. Or something exciting, a lion tamer.
"Ask Jeeves" tried to do this and failed miserably. What hope does this have? Researchers still cannot even write acceptable language translation software, and this would be far beyond that.
Teachers love these gadgets because it relieves them from having to make an effort to teach. Students love them because it relieves them from having to make an effort to learn.
But learning requires work and effort. There's no shortcut.
"One of the reasons I tend to agree with the parent on Sci-Fi being part of the problem here is that they still translate these movies into several different languages, and distribute them all over the world; an explosion and a scantily-clad starlet are essentially the same in any language or culture, so it's easier to sell those films (to Sci-Fi and to the foreign markets) when they're simplistic, "four-color" 90-minute packages, instead of complex 2001-esque masterpieces."
It couldn't have been that hard to translate 2001, as it had what, 2 minutes of dialog in it?
"Bill Gates would make a terrible President of the United States. Do we really need another Warren Harding or Calvin Coolidge?"
Under Coolidge, we had peace and prosperity. Sounds like the kind of President we really need.
The reason they garner no respect is that one group of people is forced to pay for the system that another group of people are forced to submit to. This is never going to be a recipe for respect for any of the parties involved.
".NET is a java knock-off"
Java is a knock-off of the UCSD P-system.
"So, maybe this new antiseptic, all-digital approach isn't right, but who are any of us to sit here and say that it is worse than the status quo for education in this country? Do you have a better idea?" Yes. Get the government entirely out of education. Free market. My entire life I've watched an endless parade of politicians getting elected on platforms to fix government schools. There's lots of finger pointing, debate, new programs, back to basics programs, rivers of cash spent, and nothing ever improves. I'm quite confident in my prediction that any school system run by the government cannot produce better results. You just watch - this one will fail like all the others.
Smartboards and laptops have a useful life of 50 years? LOL!!!
I have to laugh at this. The reason public schools are mediocre and produce lousy results is that they are a socialist system. That's what socialist systems produce. There is no fixing it. Superficially modelling a socialist school after a free market business won't work because the two operate under entirely different incentives.
What's especially funny is the notion that laptops and smartboards are going to magically improve learning.
My prediction is they'll quietly bury this experiment after 5 or 6 years of failure.
"To talk about the inventor persevering in the face of corporate pressure is silly. This isn't a David vs. Goliath story. The inventor was a patent attorney that tried to bludgeon power tool companies with a 250+ page patent, and he could have sold his concept on day one if he hadn't been quite as greedy. There was no shortage of companies looking for competitive advantage in the power tool industry, which has been pretty stagnant of late." The inventor is also clearly aware that the way to get rich is to get a law requiring the use of his invention to which he holds the monopoly. If he was so concerned about safety, he'd license it for token fees only.
"But, as it stands, nobody has a case if he tries to sue the manufacturer because he cut off his finger. But put an auto-brake on the saw, and every time it fails the manufacturer and insurance company have a dismemberment case to settle." It's worse than that. If a manufacturer adds a new safety device, that means they are "admitting" that all their previously sold saws are unsafe, and that becomes an incredible liability for them.
"One major loss to them was hearing losses. The addition of a few minor changes could have nearly silenced the factory."
For a few cents you can buy earplugs at the drugstore. No need to beg your employer to do something. If you lose your hearing, there's nobody to blame but yourself.
"Why not just change the corporate law: instead of stockholders voting for the board of directors, let the workforce vote for the board of directors, one person one vote?"
Because then nobody would invest money in the company. No money, no company. If you don't believe that, I suggest you try to start such a company.
In other words, their "privacy" policy is they can do whatever they please without limit with your information.
Making a false claim is already actionable - it's called fraud. No additional regulations are required.
If a computer had been in charge, computers have no intelligence, no judgement, and no creativity. All dead is the inevitable result.
Does this one support CDTEXT? Or is it full of useless features?
Why do companies think that is a good idea?
That would be enough for people who like the music to want to buy the CD. After all, what radio really is is advertising for the song and for the concerts. So treat it that way.
The same can apply to TV shows. Ever notice that an episode of Seinfeld is really only 22 minutes long? Have a "broadcast version" that is shorter, has advertisements on the bottom, etc. Have a dvd version that is longer, uncut, and no embedded ads. Everyone wins.
You'll find a more thorough treatment of this in "Titan" by Chernow. None of it justifies Rockefeller being a "monster", furthermore, the Standard Oil days in 1914 were a thing of the past, and Sr. had retired - Rockefeller Jr. was running the company. Even the wikipedia article talks about Jr, not Sr. They are different people.