Personally I am upset that politicians think that welfare, tax reform, and social security are more important then the advancement of our society.
Well, it's simple: if you're relatively wealthy and healthy it's easy for you to think about "greater" ideas such as self-improvement and improvement of society. If any one of the former two are missing, then they will become your priority. And in US, and specially in the rest of the world, there are many people with health and wealth issues. I'm not saying politicians should stay away from scientific advancement, but the role of government should be to making sure the less fortunate in our society could take care of themselves. Let well-to-do people invest in science instead.
Well, if they don't want it, can I have it? I only have one tree in the back so it would be nice to tie a hammock to.
You would use it as a tree??? I don't think its' shape would be appropriate for this. However all those solar cells would be a great power generator. Still have to find a use for all those mirrors though...
Funny as it sounds, I don't think that would be happening often, if ever. Most birds don't have enough weight to trigger a mine, and also the shape of their feet distributes the weight differently. A walking mammal on the other hand...
But at least no one has to be ashamed of their internet connection anymore...
Or how about this pickup line:
"Hey, why don't you go home with me. I have better internet connection than editor at slashdot. You know, THE slashdot..."
Levi Strauss used to make the best jeans on the planet. They employed many US workers, and you could buy a pair and wear them for 20 years. They now make NOTHING, and are nothing more than a relabeller of crappy asian knockoffs that wear out in a few dozen wearings. This is due mainly from pressure from their largest buyer, Wal*Mart.
If Levi Strauss did care about quality of their product, they should NEVER sell their stuff at WalMart in the first place.
This is really simple: WalMart is targeting cheap stuff, stuff for everyday use. There is certainly a huge market for cheap everyday stuff, but that is not everything. When I want a quality product, I don't go to WalMart; I go there to buy cheap disposable stuff. Any name brand associated with WalMart will fit in this category.
For example, in the United States 73.1 percent of men use the Internet compared to 69 percent of woman.
Ok, let's see: 69% of woman uses the internet. She puts the head into it, she must use her arms, and I would guess the main body part (chest and hips included). So what's left? The legs! Yes, the legs are out of internet for the woman.
Just wonder how they did calculate the number. Is it mass or volume?
Yes, and I'm sure that you could tell us a lot about using the energy of crystals and the amazing powers of homeopathic medicine..
I agree the grandparent is way out of line with his statement, but I wouldn't disregard homeopathy that easily.
For many years western medicine did not recognize, and either ignored or laughed at any "alternative" medical treatments. This has changed though, check Harvard's Osher Institute
Just think how homeopathic cures came by: most likely people in the past discovered that certain things helped cure sick people. They might not necessarily understand why, and there were no easy ways to explain it, but as long as certain treatments helped, they were used. Today's science doesn't understand a lot of these things either, but just because it doesn't, it doesn't mean they are worthless. There is something to it, and one day science will help us understand what. I still consider our sciences, specially human sciences like medicine, psychology, etc., in just a beginner phase. There is still A LOT to learn about ourselves.
Normally I don't read @ -1, nor do I reply to AC posts, but this is a very interesting topic, and what you said is a common myth I've seen repeated too many times:
Without going into positive or negative aspects of eating meat, you can't deny biological facts. Human body WAS (I would say "IS", but you used past tense) designed to eat meat. Ever looked at your teeth? If humans were designed to be vegetarians, our teeth structure would be different. Some teeth exist only so we can process meat. Check with any dentist if you don't believe me.
But other than that, yeah, I'm with you. It was a really dumb way to look for a leak.
So out of curiosity: how do you look for a leak on a space station? If following smoke (which is nothing else but colored gas), or drink is considered stupid, how do you do it? Are there sensors around the hull spread in a matrix (not the movie, math) type of way that looks for any irregularities in material?
I would think that after they narrowed down to which module is leaking, spraying some kind of colored gas from the inside wouldn't be that bad idea. See if the gas is "sticking" anywhere as opposed to randomly floating around.
It depends which side of the wall you're on. Sucks for the astronauts, blows for mission control.
This statement is simply true (as opposed to funny). Sucking and blowing are descriptions of the same event but looked from 2 different reference points. Physics comes to mind, you know, push-pull, boat moving away from the land - or land moving away from the boat...
But yes, in this context there is definitely something funny about this statement, can't define what though...
Aah, but you see, letter "p" in Cyrillics (which Russians use) is pronounced as Western "r", so your "mip" is actually "mir".
Re:Best examples of heresy I can think of
on
What You Can't Say
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· Score: 1
Use the word "yacht" when setting up a word problem, and poor kids don't do as well on it as rich kids do.
Well, use the words like "weed" or "crackpot" and it should even the odds pretty well...
Re:Best examples of heresy I can think of
on
What You Can't Say
·
· Score: 1
... that's why my best friend when I was in college was a journalism major instead of a physics major.
But you see, if your friend was really into physics, as opposed to journalism, she would take that regardless of what she was told. If nothing less, just to prove them (whoever told her) wrong.
What kind of protection does that debit card give you?
There are debit cards that work like a credit card. You don't use any PIN, you say "credit" if the cashier asks you. So from the store point of view it is just a regular credit card. But instead of a credit line, it is linked to your bank account.
Citibank has them, I use it all the time. Best of both worlds I would say.
Y'know, if I was smart enough to work out how to help people fight cancer, the last thing on my mind would be how to patent the technique. I'd want to help as many people as possible.
But you see, it costs a lot to do a research. Someone has to pay. Either the company itself makes a profit, or it has to be subsidized by a government, donations, etc.
If you're a researcher at some company, the company pays you to do the research. In other words they invest in you. They do expect some kind of return though. If you're on your own, what are you living off then?
What ever happened to research for the good of mankind, and academic recognition?
Monetary incentive is very powerful motivator for research work. The article mentions this work was done in a period of over 20 years. During this whole time the researcher didn't even know if he will succeed and certainly not when.
Bear also in mind that once a way of doing a certain thing is discovered, production of that thing can be usually done very cheaply. So to prevent "hawk" companies, which would just snatch a freshly published idea, and mass product it cheaply, we have a patent system. This gives a chance for the research company to recuperate its costs, and make some profit. Some of the profit will go into further research, so don't say it's just greediness. And a patent doesn't last forever, once it expires, everyone is free to utilize the idea freely.
Viagra was designed and developed in a research effort that was originally looking for anti-hypertension drugs... ...curious side effect...
Parent's post is informative, but grandparent's post is still a good joke. Of course no one concentrated on an impotency drug while there are so many serious illnesses around (cancer, alzheimer, parkinson, etc.). But it still sounds funny the way it was worded.
If Disney has it's way, not only won't region codes be removed, but if you try to play a disc in a player for a different region, it'll self destruct.
What will self-destruct? The disc? The player? The viewer? All three?
The way I read Disney will self destruct:
If Disney has it's way, not only won't region codes be removed, but if you try to play a disc in a player for a different region, it [
Disney]'ll self destruct.
Another small computer is cool, but is it really especially newsworthy?
Yes it is. There's a difference between a PDA (which you compared it to) and actual computer (desktop or laptop). The first PDAs failed because they were trying to be small computers with all the features. Palm realized this is not the way to go and created palm pilots as add ons to computers instead. That meant simple but stable interface, excellent battery life, etc. A palm owner was expected to have a desktop or laptop as his main computer, and use a PDA on the side, syncing the data whenever necessary.
The article however mentions actual computer with it's own OS, various ports, etc. but in a very small form factor. This is not a PDA. You connect it to a monitor, keyboard, printer, ethernet, whatever, before you start working on it.
Yes, the OS might not be very stable, only available in various Asian languages, but remember it's a first model. There will be upgrades and improvements. The fact that it is a full blown computer in such a form factor is however newsworthy.
...we will send up mining robots to develop the required infrastructure.
That was actually my question after reading the article: why not send robots first? I would guess robots are much more radiation tolerant than humans (still some protection is required to protect its electronics). Even if heavy materials are required (mentioned lead or concrete), several robot missions can transport enough of this material to build a base. Once it's ready then put a human mission.
Check here.
Although it's used for fetching data tapes instead of books, the principle is very similar. I've seen it in action, it's very fast and accurate. The system is very helpful for scientists. Let's say a scientist wants to see results of an experiment on a given date; he just plugs this info into the program, robot gets the proper tape, loads it into the reader, and the scientist can view the results. The whole process only takes seconds. Compare it to older scenario where the scientist had to check out the tapes manually from the depository. If the tape was misfiled it would be almost impossible to find it. Robot, on the other hand, always puts it back on the right place.
Slashdot Mirror
Personally I am upset that politicians think that welfare, tax reform, and social security are more important then the advancement of our society.
Well, it's simple: if you're relatively wealthy and healthy it's easy for you to think about "greater" ideas such as self-improvement and improvement of society. If any one of the former two are missing, then they will become your priority. And in US, and specially in the rest of the world, there are many people with health and wealth issues. I'm not saying politicians should stay away from scientific advancement, but the role of government should be to making sure the less fortunate in our society could take care of themselves. Let well-to-do people invest in science instead.
Well, if they don't want it, can I have it? I only have one tree in the back so it would be nice to tie a hammock to.
You would use it as a tree??? I don't think its' shape would be appropriate for this. However all those solar cells would be a great power generator. Still have to find a use for all those mirrors though...
if a bird explodes, you found a mine
Funny as it sounds, I don't think that would be happening often, if ever. Most birds don't have enough weight to trigger a mine, and also the shape of their feet distributes the weight differently. A walking mammal on the other hand...
But at least no one has to be ashamed of their internet connection anymore...
Or how about this pickup line:
"Hey, why don't you go home with me. I have better internet connection than editor at slashdot. You know, THE slashdot..."
Levi Strauss used to make the best jeans on the planet. They employed many US workers, and you could buy a pair and wear them for 20 years. They now make NOTHING, and are nothing more than a relabeller of crappy asian knockoffs that wear out in a few dozen wearings. This is due mainly from pressure from their largest buyer, Wal*Mart.
If Levi Strauss did care about quality of their product, they should NEVER sell their stuff at WalMart in the first place.
This is really simple: WalMart is targeting cheap stuff, stuff for everyday use. There is certainly a huge market for cheap everyday stuff, but that is not everything. When I want a quality product, I don't go to WalMart; I go there to buy cheap disposable stuff. Any name brand associated with WalMart will fit in this category.
If Macs appeal to the feminine side of the world and homosexual males does that mean that lesbians like PC's???
There's one flaw with your logic: you're assuming that lesbians are not feminine by nature.
For example, in the United States 73.1 percent of men use the Internet compared to 69 percent of woman.
Ok, let's see: 69% of woman uses the internet. She puts the head into it, she must use her arms, and I would guess the main body part (chest and hips included). So what's left? The legs! Yes, the legs are out of internet for the woman.
Just wonder how they did calculate the number. Is it mass or volume?
All of the rooms that I have computers in also have TVs in them, and I always have a TV on in the background when I'm on the computer.
Hmmm... Having the TV on and actually watching it is not the same.
What, those people were low on the come-when-you-yawn neurotransmitter?
If anyone knows what that is, I'd be interested (although my problem is the opposite of that).
You mean you start yawning when you come?
Yes, and I'm sure that you could tell us a lot about using the energy of crystals and the amazing powers of homeopathic medicine..
I agree the grandparent is way out of line with his statement, but I wouldn't disregard homeopathy that easily.
For many years western medicine did not recognize, and either ignored or laughed at any "alternative" medical treatments. This has changed though, check Harvard's Osher Institute
Just think how homeopathic cures came by: most likely people in the past discovered that certain things helped cure sick people. They might not necessarily understand why, and there were no easy ways to explain it, but as long as certain treatments helped, they were used. Today's science doesn't understand a lot of these things either, but just because it doesn't, it doesn't mean they are worthless. There is something to it, and one day science will help us understand what. I still consider our sciences, specially human sciences like medicine, psychology, etc., in just a beginner phase. There is still A LOT to learn about ourselves.
The human body was not designed to eat meat...
Normally I don't read @ -1, nor do I reply to AC posts, but this is a very interesting topic, and what you said is a common myth I've seen repeated too many times:
Without going into positive or negative aspects of eating meat, you can't deny biological facts. Human body WAS (I would say "IS", but you used past tense) designed to eat meat. Ever looked at your teeth? If humans were designed to be vegetarians, our teeth structure would be different. Some teeth exist only so we can process meat. Check with any dentist if you don't believe me.
Newton Ate Mercury (Score:5, Funny)
Another typical example when a true statement is considered as funny by people unaware of its truthfulness.
But other than that, yeah, I'm with you. It was a really dumb way to look for a leak.
So out of curiosity: how do you look for a leak on a space station? If following smoke (which is nothing else but colored gas), or drink is considered stupid, how do you do it? Are there sensors around the hull spread in a matrix (not the movie, math) type of way that looks for any irregularities in material?
I would think that after they narrowed down to which module is leaking, spraying some kind of colored gas from the inside wouldn't be that bad idea. See if the gas is "sticking" anywhere as opposed to randomly floating around.
It depends which side of the wall you're on. Sucks for the astronauts, blows for mission control.
This statement is simply true (as opposed to funny). Sucking and blowing are descriptions of the same event but looked from 2 different reference points. Physics comes to mind, you know, push-pull, boat moving away from the land - or land moving away from the boat...
But yes, in this context there is definitely something funny about this statement, can't define what though...
Actually mir means world, mip means peace.
Aah, but you see, letter "p" in Cyrillics (which Russians use) is pronounced as Western "r", so your "mip" is actually "mir".
Use the word "yacht" when setting up a word problem, and poor kids don't do as well on it as rich kids do.
Well, use the words like "weed" or "crackpot" and it should even the odds pretty well...
... that's why my best friend when I was in college was a journalism major instead of a physics major.
But you see, if your friend was really into physics, as opposed to journalism, she would take that regardless of what she was told. If nothing less, just to prove them (whoever told her) wrong.
What kind of protection does that debit card give you?
There are debit cards that work like a credit card. You don't use any PIN, you say "credit" if the cashier asks you. So from the store point of view it is just a regular credit card. But instead of a credit line, it is linked to your bank account.
Citibank has them, I use it all the time. Best of both worlds I would say.
Y'know, if I was smart enough to work out how to help people fight cancer, the last thing on my mind would be how to patent the technique. I'd want to help as many people as possible.
But you see, it costs a lot to do a research. Someone has to pay. Either the company itself makes a profit, or it has to be subsidized by a government, donations, etc.
If you're a researcher at some company, the company pays you to do the research. In other words they invest in you. They do expect some kind of return though. If you're on your own, what are you living off then?
What ever happened to research for the good of mankind, and academic recognition?
Monetary incentive is very powerful motivator for research work. The article mentions this work was done in a period of over 20 years. During this whole time the researcher didn't even know if he will succeed and certainly not when.
Bear also in mind that once a way of doing a certain thing is discovered, production of that thing can be usually done very cheaply. So to prevent "hawk" companies, which would just snatch a freshly published idea, and mass product it cheaply, we have a patent system. This gives a chance for the research company to recuperate its costs, and make some profit. Some of the profit will go into further research, so don't say it's just greediness. And a patent doesn't last forever, once it expires, everyone is free to utilize the idea freely.
Priorities?
...curious side effect...
Viagra was designed and developed in a research effort that was originally looking for anti-hypertension drugs...
Parent's post is informative, but grandparent's post is still a good joke. Of course no one concentrated on an impotency drug while there are so many serious illnesses around (cancer, alzheimer, parkinson, etc.). But it still sounds funny the way it was worded.
What will self-destruct? The disc? The player? The viewer? All three?
The way I read Disney will self destruct:
Kind of funny though...
Another small computer is cool, but is it really especially newsworthy?
Yes it is. There's a difference between a PDA (which you compared it to) and actual computer (desktop or laptop). The first PDAs failed because they were trying to be small computers with all the features. Palm realized this is not the way to go and created palm pilots as add ons to computers instead. That meant simple but stable interface, excellent battery life, etc. A palm owner was expected to have a desktop or laptop as his main computer, and use a PDA on the side, syncing the data whenever necessary.
The article however mentions actual computer with it's own OS, various ports, etc. but in a very small form factor. This is not a PDA. You connect it to a monitor, keyboard, printer, ethernet, whatever, before you start working on it.
Yes, the OS might not be very stable, only available in various Asian languages, but remember it's a first model. There will be upgrades and improvements. The fact that it is a full blown computer in such a form factor is however newsworthy.
...we will send up mining robots to develop the required infrastructure.
That was actually my question after reading the article: why not send robots first? I would guess robots are much more radiation tolerant than humans (still some protection is required to protect its electronics). Even if heavy materials are required (mentioned lead or concrete), several robot missions can transport enough of this material to build a base. Once it's ready then put a human mission.
Check here.
Although it's used for fetching data tapes instead of books, the principle is very similar. I've seen it in action, it's very fast and accurate. The system is very helpful for scientists. Let's say a scientist wants to see results of an experiment on a given date; he just plugs this info into the program, robot gets the proper tape, loads it into the reader, and the scientist can view the results. The whole process only takes seconds. Compare it to older scenario where the scientist had to check out the tapes manually from the depository. If the tape was misfiled it would be almost impossible to find it. Robot, on the other hand, always puts it back on the right place.