I actually scored 7 out of 8 just by looking at the pictures. There are subtle clues that can give you a good idea about whether these sites are trustworthy. Some things that come to mind are:
Advertising - is it from a reputable company or another untrustworthy site? What is the ratio of advertising to content? I would be suspicious of a site that had a lot of advertising and very little content. Generally, sites with legitimate advertisers are getting income that way, and don't have to trick visitors.
Option to buy - if a site is legitimately selling something, they can afford to give you some freebies without any ulterior motives (other than encouraging you to come back as a paying customer).
The "depth" of the site - sites that have links for things like support, about, FAQs, contact information, and forums are more likely to be authentic. Obviously, checking out the content of forums, thoroughly browsing the site, and following some of the links will give you a better idea of whether you should trust it or not. Also, sites that appear to have very little content other than the free downloads reflect a minimum effort on the part of the webmaster and are probably not trustworthy.
The look and feel of the site - this one is a little hard to quantify. Some sites just look "professional" and others don't. It's kind of like being able to walk into an unfamiliar store and get a sense of whether it is a legitimate business, or someone looking to rip you off. I think one thing that influences me is the navigation structure of the site, and how easy it is to get from one area of the site to another. Of course, there are plenty of trustworthy sites with bad navigation, but like I mentioned in the "depth" part, sites that are not trustworthy usually don't have much (if any) navigation structure. Another thing is the gaudiness factor - if everything on the page is animated, blinking, or obnoxiously bright colors, I would be less inclined to trust it.
It is possible to judge a book by its cover, but it takes a sharp eye. Obviously, it's best to err on the side of caution and consider sites to be untrustworthy if you're not sure about them.
I got some interesting results testing it on various documentation texts.
I tested it on a background information chapter about firewalls from our reference guide, and it gave it a 94.7% chance of being authentic. The style was mainly descriptive, so I guess it could be considered similar to a scientific paper. The chapter was written and edited by several different people.
I also tested it on a how-to chapter from our online help, which was written entirely by me. It got rated with a 97.8% chance of being authentic. It was written in an instructional style, so I don't think it was that similar to a scientific paper.
On the other hand, I tested it on some marketing material from this page (I omitted the table because of formatting issues), and it was rated as inauthentic with only a 36.7% chance of being authentic text. I guess theoretically we could replace our marketing department with robots, and nobody would notice the difference.
I think open source clothing would be distributed in the form of patterns, and maybe pre-cut fabric. It would be up to you to compile it into a shirt/pants/whatever yourself. Leaves more room for tweaking that way. Like the shirt, but think a pocket would enhance it? By all means, add one, and share your pattern with the community. I suppose there could also be some off-the-rack versions for people who are not up to the challenge of sewing their own clothes.
I know that I find myself rather irritated when I hear the whine of a monitor or TV (bad capacitors). Many people can't hear the sound at all without it being pointed out, but it is something that drives me crazy. In the case of devices that have been ready to go due to caps, I myself may not hear anything but at times I could swear I *felt* the damn thing going...
It's always been the same for me, too. When I was a kid, I tried to explain what I "heard" (I felt it more than I heard it) to my mom when the computer monitor was on, and she had no idea what I was talking about. I've also noticed a similar sensation near the entrance to jewelry stores at the mall - does anybody have any idea what that could be?
All too often, software that is great in concept gets overlooked because the interface is clumsy, ugly or intimidating. The same applies to people: you may be brilliantly talented, but if you show up for an interview or meeting looking like you've spent the night in a dumpster, it's not going to make a good impression. Regardless of whether it should or not, appearance matters. Making the effort to be nicely dressed and nicely groomed is seen as a sign of respect and professionalism. If you want to game the system, you have to figure out how it works first. Women have known how to dress for effect for longer than history can record. Time for men to catch up.
But can it detect fap-fap-fap-fap-fap motion?
Perhaps it will usher in a new era of pr0n?
Obviously you would have to wear this on the idle hand. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to see your pr0n. (Should I be worried that I think about these things?)
"Many other" applications also include: not getting laid.
Depends what kind of partner you're hoping to attract. Something like this may be just the thing to get a geek girl to spend more time with you (if only to check out your cool new toy). From there, it's just a matter of recognizing the opportunity and playing your cards right. Think of it as a non-verbal geek pick-up line. It sure beats "you look lovely by the light of the CRT".
Read "Diet for a New America" by John Robbins for an interesting view on this (and all sorts of other diet-related issues). He contends that all the hormones we're feeding our dairy cattle as well as meat animals are contributing to earlier puberty (he was citing 8 year-olds developing breasts, etc.).
I haven't read the book, but that sounds about right to me. For a few months in 2001, my husband and I lived in Austin, TX. I grew up in the USA, eating and drinking the same food as most Americans. He's lived in Finland his whole life, where the use of hormones and antibiotics in dairy cattle and meat animals is prohibited. In the few months that we were consuming dairy products (and meat, in my husband's case), he sprouted tiny hairs all over his back. Once we came back to Finland and stopped drinking American milk, they went away. We always make sure to buy organic dairy products whenever we visit the USA now.
I've also heard of lots of other factors being cited as contributing to early puberty in girls - everything from the phytoestrogens in soy products, to the prolonged absence of a father at home during childhood. Our bodies really do work in mysterious ways.
Happened to me too. In the grand scheme of things, I don't even think I hit puberty all that early, but I was one of the first in my class to mature. Suddenly, I was getting attention from the opposite sex that I was not the slightest bit prepared to deal with. It made me so uncomfortable that I became anorexic because I was desperate to stop maturing and keep my little girl body. I didn't understand what was happening to me, and I didn't have anybody to help guide me through it.
I also think that in our modern, technological society, we take our bodies for granted and don't give much thought to how they work. We tend to forget how much our biology influences our actions (often in ways that are not obvious). I recently got a demonstration of this when I started a new job. I noticed that I felt very competitive with the other women in the office. At the same time, I found myself subconsciously evaluating the attractiveness of the men around me. When I spent a few days distracted by what seemed to me like the intoxicating scent a visiting employee's cologne, I started wondering what on earth was happening to me. It was like going through puberty all over again. Then it finally dawned on me: my daughter weaned last summer, and my body was telling me it was time to look for a mate and have another baby. I was basically a victim of my own hormones.
So yes, I do think this is an appropriate topic for/. Biology is a science after all, and human biology in particular is an area that is not as widely understood as it could be.
Slashdot Mirror
I actually scored 7 out of 8 just by looking at the pictures. There are subtle clues that can give you a good idea about whether these sites are trustworthy. Some things that come to mind are:
Advertising - is it from a reputable company or another untrustworthy site? What is the ratio of advertising to content? I would be suspicious of a site that had a lot of advertising and very little content. Generally, sites with legitimate advertisers are getting income that way, and don't have to trick visitors.
Option to buy - if a site is legitimately selling something, they can afford to give you some freebies without any ulterior motives (other than encouraging you to come back as a paying customer).
The "depth" of the site - sites that have links for things like support, about, FAQs, contact information, and forums are more likely to be authentic. Obviously, checking out the content of forums, thoroughly browsing the site, and following some of the links will give you a better idea of whether you should trust it or not. Also, sites that appear to have very little content other than the free downloads reflect a minimum effort on the part of the webmaster and are probably not trustworthy.
The look and feel of the site - this one is a little hard to quantify. Some sites just look "professional" and others don't. It's kind of like being able to walk into an unfamiliar store and get a sense of whether it is a legitimate business, or someone looking to rip you off. I think one thing that influences me is the navigation structure of the site, and how easy it is to get from one area of the site to another. Of course, there are plenty of trustworthy sites with bad navigation, but like I mentioned in the "depth" part, sites that are not trustworthy usually don't have much (if any) navigation structure. Another thing is the gaudiness factor - if everything on the page is animated, blinking, or obnoxiously bright colors, I would be less inclined to trust it.
It is possible to judge a book by its cover, but it takes a sharp eye. Obviously, it's best to err on the side of caution and consider sites to be untrustworthy if you're not sure about them.
I tested it on the text from the Time Cube index page, and it was rated as AUTHENTIC with a 95.3% chance of being an authentic paper.
I got some interesting results testing it on various documentation texts.
I tested it on a background information chapter about firewalls from our reference guide, and it gave it a 94.7% chance of being authentic. The style was mainly descriptive, so I guess it could be considered similar to a scientific paper. The chapter was written and edited by several different people.
I also tested it on a how-to chapter from our online help, which was written entirely by me. It got rated with a 97.8% chance of being authentic. It was written in an instructional style, so I don't think it was that similar to a scientific paper.
On the other hand, I tested it on some marketing material from this page (I omitted the table because of formatting issues), and it was rated as inauthentic with only a 36.7% chance of being authentic text. I guess theoretically we could replace our marketing department with robots, and nobody would notice the difference.
I think open source clothing would be distributed in the form of patterns, and maybe pre-cut fabric. It would be up to you to compile it into a shirt/pants/whatever yourself. Leaves more room for tweaking that way. Like the shirt, but think a pocket would enhance it? By all means, add one, and share your pattern with the community. I suppose there could also be some off-the-rack versions for people who are not up to the challenge of sewing their own clothes.
I know that I find myself rather irritated when I hear the whine of a monitor or TV (bad capacitors). Many people can't hear the sound at all without it being pointed out, but it is something that drives me crazy. In the case of devices that have been ready to go due to caps, I myself may not hear anything but at times I could swear I *felt* the damn thing going...
It's always been the same for me, too. When I was a kid, I tried to explain what I "heard" (I felt it more than I heard it) to my mom when the computer monitor was on, and she had no idea what I was talking about. I've also noticed a similar sensation near the entrance to jewelry stores at the mall - does anybody have any idea what that could be?
All too often, software that is great in concept gets overlooked because the interface is clumsy, ugly or intimidating. The same applies to people: you may be brilliantly talented, but if you show up for an interview or meeting looking like you've spent the night in a dumpster, it's not going to make a good impression. Regardless of whether it should or not, appearance matters. Making the effort to be nicely dressed and nicely groomed is seen as a sign of respect and professionalism. If you want to game the system, you have to figure out how it works first. Women have known how to dress for effect for longer than history can record. Time for men to catch up.
Perhaps it will usher in a new era of pr0n?
Obviously you would have to wear this on the idle hand. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to see your pr0n. (Should I be worried that I think about these things?)
Depends what kind of partner you're hoping to attract. Something like this may be just the thing to get a geek girl to spend more time with you (if only to check out your cool new toy). From there, it's just a matter of recognizing the opportunity and playing your cards right. Think of it as a non-verbal geek pick-up line. It sure beats "you look lovely by the light of the CRT".
Read "Diet for a New America" by John Robbins for an interesting view on this (and all sorts of other diet-related issues). He contends that all the hormones we're feeding our dairy cattle as well as meat animals are contributing to earlier puberty (he was citing 8 year-olds developing breasts, etc.).
I haven't read the book, but that sounds about right to me. For a few months in 2001, my husband and I lived in Austin, TX. I grew up in the USA, eating and drinking the same food as most Americans. He's lived in Finland his whole life, where the use of hormones and antibiotics in dairy cattle and meat animals is prohibited. In the few months that we were consuming dairy products (and meat, in my husband's case), he sprouted tiny hairs all over his back. Once we came back to Finland and stopped drinking American milk, they went away. We always make sure to buy organic dairy products whenever we visit the USA now.
I've also heard of lots of other factors being cited as contributing to early puberty in girls - everything from the phytoestrogens in soy products, to the prolonged absence of a father at home during childhood. Our bodies really do work in mysterious ways.
Happened to me too. In the grand scheme of things, I don't even think I hit puberty all that early, but I was one of the first in my class to mature. Suddenly, I was getting attention from the opposite sex that I was not the slightest bit prepared to deal with. It made me so uncomfortable that I became anorexic because I was desperate to stop maturing and keep my little girl body. I didn't understand what was happening to me, and I didn't have anybody to help guide me through it.
/. Biology is a science after all, and human biology in particular is an area that is not as widely understood as it could be.
I also think that in our modern, technological society, we take our bodies for granted and don't give much thought to how they work. We tend to forget how much our biology influences our actions (often in ways that are not obvious). I recently got a demonstration of this when I started a new job. I noticed that I felt very competitive with the other women in the office. At the same time, I found myself subconsciously evaluating the attractiveness of the men around me. When I spent a few days distracted by what seemed to me like the intoxicating scent a visiting employee's cologne, I started wondering what on earth was happening to me. It was like going through puberty all over again. Then it finally dawned on me: my daughter weaned last summer, and my body was telling me it was time to look for a mate and have another baby. I was basically a victim of my own hormones.
So yes, I do think this is an appropriate topic for