My objection to Dawkins principles is that he suggests that all theories of god should be rejected without any critical assessment.
"The God Delusion" is exactly that. A critical assessment of the "God" theory.
So if a theory of god appears tomorrow which conforms to scientific principles (I'm not saying it will - I am merely hypothesizing) then we must reject it because it refers to supernatural beings.
Dawkins says the exact opposite of this in "The God Delusion" several times, and refers not to the certainty that there is no god, but rather the unlikelihood that there is a god.
In an earlier post, you implied that you read the book, but if you did I'm not sure you paid much attention.
It's hacker, okay? Hacker. When someone is able to write code to get a computer to do something awesomely good, that person is a hacker. When someone manages to get a computer to do something is awesomely evil, that's also a hacker. If someone builds a spice rack for Gandhi, or a spice rack for Stalin, they're still both carpenters. Trying to frontload the term with your own moral judgment is just a little too newspeak for me.
The Internet interprets censorship as damage...
on
Censoring a Number
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· Score: 1
Trent Reznor is the only true member of NIN. He records everything himself, and only has a band for live shows.
This is a myth.
It's true, Trent Reznor is the leader/owner etc. of the band "Nine Inch Nails", but on every album he has worked with other musicians in the studio. On Pretty Hate Machine he worked with Chris Vrenna and Flood, if you don't believe me, go find some of the embarrassing early demos before that album came out. Broken included Vrenna again as well as Martin Atkins on drums. Downward Spiral included Vrenna as well, and Charlie Clouser's influence on the album's sound is undeniable. And so on and so forth. Even when talking in interviews about the recording process, he speaks in plural, "we" did this and "we" did that.
It's kind of crazy how this tall tale has spun him into some kind of industrial metal "John Henry".
I don't mean to disparage what you're doing. I'm a freelancer myself and I love to see people going for it on their own, so good on you and I wish you continued success. But keep in mind you're doing web work for grad students. That's pretty different from doing development for a large corporation, law firm, nonprofit, or otherwise churning business entity.
I may be dealing with a generation gap in a sense - most of the people I provide services to are a good bit older than I am. But even if they do use email all the time, have blackberries/treos, etc. they still want face-time or at least phone time to initiate most things, especially if it's large scale. Sometimes small projects get done over email, but it's almost always repeat or add-on work. This might be different if I was working for a person who grew up with or puts more clout in the technology.
There has to be some kind of interactive contact. Phone is okay. Face to face is best. But in my experience and those with whom I work, nothing is ever initiated, negotiated, and settled over email. Trying to do so kills potential projects. Switching over to phone or face-to-face always increases the chance of success.
For those of us who party *and* work, having a party on Saturday (Oct 28) works a little smarter than having one a Tuesday (Oct 31). I mean, when was the last time you want to a Christmas party on Christmas?
So, yeah, I'm partying tonight. Probably won't be bringing to this album, though... Nerdcore rap is scarier than my Pyramidhead costume.
Agreed, Schelmphfer. Bands with that much clout making less than an unknown like me who actually pays for his own CDs and promotion and such? That just doesn't sound right. I mean, promotion is a big part of that, but that's used to sell physical CDs as well. I can't see it cutting into digital, which is almost pure profit, all that much.
And.64 a song is pretty damn nice. When I sell a physical CD I make about $4 in profit. When someone buys my whole album on iTunes, it's closer to $9. And if a little company like CDBaby can get songs onto iTunes in the same search results and same format as the majors, there's no good reason in my eyes the artists on those labels shouldn't be making more.
...but I use CDBaby.com to sell my music on iTunes. I actually make more money per song than I would per song per physical CD sold, which is how it should be. I also get paid per play on subscription services. And while that's just a fraction of a cent, it does tend to add up if someone likes a CD and listens to it often.
I chalk this one up to major labels just being bloated and greedy.
I know your concerns. For years I was drinking diet coke. More and more and more. I'd go through case after case, just pouring it down my throat. I was having heart palpitations (aspartame), I ate everything in sight and was gaining weight (aspartame, an appetite stimulant, ironically enough), and I kept having to "up my dose" to stay level. I got to the point where, one day, by noon, I'd had four two-liter bottles and I still wasn't at 100%. I realized something was wrong.
So I went cold turkey. For three agonizing weeks I weaned myself off of the foul stuff. I couldn't stay up past 3pm. I was shaking, sweating, the headaches were unbearable. It's a good thing I was working at a startup where I could keep my own hours.
Finally things seemed to level out, but I wasn't happy with my mental energy level. I switched to coffee. At that point, just plain old Maxwell House. Boy, what a difference that made. And I wasn't having any of those other ill effects. I lost weight, my alertness improved, my heart settled down...
Now I get good beans from Trader Joe's and grind them myself for use in a really good Krups coffee maker. I put just a tiny bit of organic sugar in each cup, which I have only one in the morning, and one in the afternoon. I've been at this for about seven years now and I've rarely upped my intake, usually only for especially hectic deadlines. And I can tell you that missing a few days of coffee is nowhere *near* as bad as missing a few days of diet coke.
Do yourself a favor. Just get used to brewing some good coffee.
The earnings were off of what was expected due to an adjustment to taxes that made them have to pay in more. It wasn't anything to do with their performance which, except for those taxes, was above expectations.
So, if these take off, will we be top-clicking and bottom-clicking? Or maybe we'll renamed it index-clicking, middle-clicking and ring-clicking? Or maybe we'll just still call it left and right vestigially, sort of like the way we still click on 3.5 inch floppy icons to save files to other media...
It's the way things were and they way they should have stayed. p2p has been a huge mistake, finally giving authorities and companies good reasons to invade the net, attempt to control it, and even put rootkits on our media to "protect" it.
Small affinity groups always have and always will be more successful at this type of activity than the general public, even when "competition" from the public draws attention, making it difficult for everyone.
Here is the case I remember most. I think I remember a couple of others, but it was a while back and it's a blur.
It's unsavory stuff, to be sure, the guy was taking nude pictures of a 9 year old. But they used the presence of PGP on his computer in the case against him, even though they never said they found any relevant encrypted files.
...I think we all know what the message is here: Encrypt your personal files, go to jail for 90 days.
More and more, according to law enforcement, encryption is considered only a tool of criminals. There have been a few cases like this in the US where a suspect's use of PGP or other common encryption has been used against him in court, even though no specific evidence was found encrypted.
I was thinking the same thing. Viewsonic's site conspicuously doesn't say. I'm guessing it's 6 bit, which is not such a bad thing, seeing as it's aimed at gamers. Still a shame, though.
...yeah, why can't I cure cancer? I mean, we know it's caused by *cells* and it's in the *body*. Why hasn't science made a pill to cure it yet?
Seriously, I haven't consumed a more ignorant piece of media since the last time I watched the O'Reilly Factor.
Information isn't that simple, mister Dvorak. How are you going to tell a computer to do you want it to do when you haven't even defined it? And when you do try to define it, it's so nebulous as to be irrelevant.
You want to be able to do something skillful while lacking skills? And at the same time, you criticize programs that try to lead you through the process? That sounds pretty "rinky dink" to me.
In line with the above poster, web is the way to go for beginning programming. Just stick to one platform; dealing with cross browser compatibility issues won't help you learn programming basics. I like Firefox, it has a great little js console.
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My objection to Dawkins principles is that he suggests that all theories of god should be rejected without any critical assessment.
"The God Delusion" is exactly that. A critical assessment of the "God" theory.
So if a theory of god appears tomorrow which conforms to scientific principles (I'm not saying it will - I am merely hypothesizing) then we must reject it because it refers to supernatural beings.
Dawkins says the exact opposite of this in "The God Delusion" several times, and refers not to the certainty that there is no god, but rather the unlikelihood that there is a god.
In an earlier post, you implied that you read the book, but if you did I'm not sure you paid much attention.
It's hacker, okay? Hacker. When someone is able to write code to get a computer to do something awesomely good, that person is a hacker. When someone manages to get a computer to do something is awesomely evil, that's also a hacker. If someone builds a spice rack for Gandhi, or a spice rack for Stalin, they're still both carpenters. Trying to frontload the term with your own moral judgment is just a little too newspeak for me.
...and routes around it.
-- John Gilmore
Trent Reznor is the only true member of NIN. He records everything himself, and only has a band for live shows.
This is a myth.
It's true, Trent Reznor is the leader/owner etc. of the band "Nine Inch Nails", but on every album he has worked with other musicians in the studio. On Pretty Hate Machine he worked with Chris Vrenna and Flood, if you don't believe me, go find some of the embarrassing early demos before that album came out. Broken included Vrenna again as well as Martin Atkins on drums. Downward Spiral included Vrenna as well, and Charlie Clouser's influence on the album's sound is undeniable. And so on and so forth. Even when talking in interviews about the recording process, he speaks in plural, "we" did this and "we" did that.
It's kind of crazy how this tall tale has spun him into some kind of industrial metal "John Henry".
I don't mean to disparage what you're doing. I'm a freelancer myself and I love to see people going for it on their own, so good on you and I wish you continued success. But keep in mind you're doing web work for grad students. That's pretty different from doing development for a large corporation, law firm, nonprofit, or otherwise churning business entity.
I may be dealing with a generation gap in a sense - most of the people I provide services to are a good bit older than I am. But even if they do use email all the time, have blackberries/treos, etc. they still want face-time or at least phone time to initiate most things, especially if it's large scale. Sometimes small projects get done over email, but it's almost always repeat or add-on work. This might be different if I was working for a person who grew up with or puts more clout in the technology.
This is my personal email axiom.
Nothing Ever Happens Over Email.
There has to be some kind of interactive contact. Phone is okay. Face to face is best. But in my experience and those with whom I work, nothing is ever initiated, negotiated, and settled over email. Trying to do so kills potential projects. Switching over to phone or face-to-face always increases the chance of success.
For those of us who party *and* work, having a party on Saturday (Oct 28) works a little smarter than having one a Tuesday (Oct 31). I mean, when was the last time you want to a Christmas party on Christmas?
So, yeah, I'm partying tonight. Probably won't be bringing to this album, though... Nerdcore rap is scarier than my Pyramidhead costume.
Agreed, Schelmphfer. Bands with that much clout making less than an unknown like me who actually pays for his own CDs and promotion and such? That just doesn't sound right. I mean, promotion is a big part of that, but that's used to sell physical CDs as well. I can't see it cutting into digital, which is almost pure profit, all that much.
.64 a song is pretty damn nice. When I sell a physical CD I make about $4 in profit. When someone buys my whole album on iTunes, it's closer to $9. And if a little company like CDBaby can get songs onto iTunes in the same search results and same format as the majors, there's no good reason in my eyes the artists on those labels shouldn't be making more.
And
...but I use CDBaby.com to sell my music on iTunes. I actually make more money per song than I would per song per physical CD sold, which is how it should be. I also get paid per play on subscription services. And while that's just a fraction of a cent, it does tend to add up if someone likes a CD and listens to it often.
I chalk this one up to major labels just being bloated and greedy.
...for TWC customers in Columbus, OH. I have a free account with them. I use it for testing.
They did notify me, however, that if I don't cancel AOL before I switch providers, they will begin to charge my account. Ahh, AOL...
I know your concerns. For years I was drinking diet coke. More and more and more. I'd go through case after case, just pouring it down my throat. I was having heart palpitations (aspartame), I ate everything in sight and was gaining weight (aspartame, an appetite stimulant, ironically enough), and I kept having to "up my dose" to stay level. I got to the point where, one day, by noon, I'd had four two-liter bottles and I still wasn't at 100%. I realized something was wrong.
So I went cold turkey. For three agonizing weeks I weaned myself off of the foul stuff. I couldn't stay up past 3pm. I was shaking, sweating, the headaches were unbearable. It's a good thing I was working at a startup where I could keep my own hours.
Finally things seemed to level out, but I wasn't happy with my mental energy level. I switched to coffee. At that point, just plain old Maxwell House. Boy, what a difference that made. And I wasn't having any of those other ill effects. I lost weight, my alertness improved, my heart settled down...
Now I get good beans from Trader Joe's and grind them myself for use in a really good Krups coffee maker. I put just a tiny bit of organic sugar in each cup, which I have only one in the morning, and one in the afternoon. I've been at this for about seven years now and I've rarely upped my intake, usually only for especially hectic deadlines. And I can tell you that missing a few days of coffee is nowhere *near* as bad as missing a few days of diet coke.
Do yourself a favor. Just get used to brewing some good coffee.
The earnings were off of what was expected due to an adjustment to taxes that made them have to pay in more. It wasn't anything to do with their performance which, except for those taxes, was above expectations.
They've got no reason to start coughing up info.
So, if these take off, will we be top-clicking and bottom-clicking? Or maybe we'll renamed it index-clicking, middle-clicking and ring-clicking? Or maybe we'll just still call it left and right vestigially, sort of like the way we still click on 3.5 inch floppy icons to save files to other media...
*boggle*
More "keeping up with the hackers" nonsense. How about we just leave nothing permitted that we don't already know is legit?
There's money to be made in treating cancer, but not curing it. And this is the IT equivalent.
With what, water pressure?
*grumblegrumble*
My old philips Nino was a rare, custom made Pentium III model. Yup, the sticker made it faster.
It's the way things were and they way they should have stayed. p2p has been a huge mistake, finally giving authorities and companies good reasons to invade the net, attempt to control it, and even put rootkits on our media to "protect" it.
Small affinity groups always have and always will be more successful at this type of activity than the general public, even when "competition" from the public draws attention, making it difficult for everyone.
Honestly, I love watching p2p networks fall.
Here is the case I remember most. I think I remember a couple of others, but it was a while back and it's a blur.
It's unsavory stuff, to be sure, the guy was taking nude pictures of a 9 year old. But they used the presence of PGP on his computer in the case against him, even though they never said they found any relevant encrypted files.
...I think we all know what the message is here: Encrypt your personal files, go to jail for 90 days.
More and more, according to law enforcement, encryption is considered only a tool of criminals. There have been a few cases like this in the US where a suspect's use of PGP or other common encryption has been used against him in court, even though no specific evidence was found encrypted.
...or didn't you know that, submitter?
pfft.
For my part, I've been moving away from Linux and more and more onto OS X because I'm tired of needing to treat having a working computer as a hobby.
You have completely nailed it right there. Much respect.
Yeah, because we all know nobody would want to both play games and use photoshop.
Do you have some sort of mental block against recognizing niche products?
If you wanted to play games (seriously) and use photoshop (seriously), you wouldn't get this monitor.
I was thinking the same thing. Viewsonic's site conspicuously doesn't say. I'm guessing it's 6 bit, which is not such a bad thing, seeing as it's aimed at gamers. Still a shame, though.
...yeah, why can't I cure cancer? I mean, we know it's caused by *cells* and it's in the *body*. Why hasn't science made a pill to cure it yet?
Seriously, I haven't consumed a more ignorant piece of media since the last time I watched the O'Reilly Factor.
Information isn't that simple, mister Dvorak. How are you going to tell a computer to do you want it to do when you haven't even defined it? And when you do try to define it, it's so nebulous as to be irrelevant.
You want to be able to do something skillful while lacking skills? And at the same time, you criticize programs that try to lead you through the process? That sounds pretty "rinky dink" to me.
In line with the above poster, web is the way to go for beginning programming. Just stick to one platform; dealing with cross browser compatibility issues won't help you learn programming basics. I like Firefox, it has a great little js console.