yo werd up dogz, y ru saying dis wack shiznit about noo inglish? damn u... i think talkig like dis be cool... and it be evolved, word. lolol
(Yes, I agree with you. This was me proving your point by mixing some very real examples of "evolved" English: AOLspeak and "ebonics"... along with some good old-fashioned misspelling.)
I'd love to see you trying to program with the "Microsoft HyperVoice Control 2020".
"POUNDSIGN include SPACE main LESSTHAN SPELL-IT S T D I O DOT H END-SPELL-IT GREATERTHAN, CR CR
main OPENPAREN CLOSEPAREN, CR
OPENCURLY
SPACE SPACE for... (computer displays "4") OTHER-for... (computer displays "four")
OTHER-for... (computer displays "For")
LOWERCASE-IT (computer changes "For" to "for") OPENPAREN SEMICOLON SEMICOLON CLOSEPAREN, CR
SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE OPENCURLY, CR
SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPELL-IT P R I N T F END-SPELL-IT SPACE OPENPAREN QUOTATION Hello CAPITALIZED-world EXCLAMATIONPOINT BACKSLASH n QUOTATION CLOSEPAREN SEMICOLON, CR
SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE CLOSECURLY, CR
CLOSECURLY
I don't think your little masturbatory fantasy applies to me. 'Specially since JessLeah is short for JESSICA Leah. Not everyone on SlashDot is male-- not even everyone you disagree with.
Oh well. Your mileage may vary; I'll stand by my stereotypes. In addition, please consult your English book; I believe I am in the right. And if not, okay, I made a mistake... why, then, are you grilling ME over the coals rather than the Neanderthals who can't tell the difference between "it's" and "its", or between "your", "you're" and (shudder) "ur"? Maybe because I dared to say something you disagree with?
So I suppose "CPU", "hard drive", "processor" and "modem" are all now synonyms for "computer", eh? After all, MANY MANY MANY people use them to mean just that.
...regarding the word "hacker". As many of us here know, the term "hacker" does not mean "computer criminal", as the mainstream press continually connote or denote it. I've often heard the defense that "well, once 99% of people start using a given word in a particular sense, that becomes a/the 'correct' meaning." By this logic, the millions of people who point at their computer (the box with the power supply, optical drive(s), floppy drive(s), hard drive(s), PCI/AGP/ISA card(s), etc. in it) and call it a "CPU", or a "processor", or a "hard drive"-- or even a "modem"-- are correct. They're not, nor are the people who think that "hacker" means "cyber-criminal".
I'd say that perhaps 99% of lay-people would, if shown a computer sans monitor, keyboard and mouse, call it either "a CPU", "a processor" or "a hard drive", and a few will call it "a modem" or "some computer thingy". This does not make these terms correct.
"Hacker" will never mean "computer criminal", no matter how many ignorant journalists and non-techies take it as such.
I am most definitely a hacker. I am most definitely not someone who breaks into systems, creates or uses exploits, makes viruses, etc. etc. etc.
What you just said is the "geek perspective" on things, and I agree with that.
However, do NOT underestimate the desire that "average Joes" have to be free of keyboards.
When you're a blue-collar factory worker with a dumpy crappy Compaq running Windows XP Home and connecting to the Internet through AOL, and you can type all of 5 words per minute on a GOOD day by hunting and pecking, the one thing you want the MOST is to be able to talk to the thing. I predict that in the future, keyboards will ONLY be used by programmers (as we're virtually the only ones who need to type funky things like "printf("Hello, World\n");" that would be a RIDICULOUS pain to input with voice), and they will cost a huge amount. Also, it is likely that they will only work with Windows. KEYBOARDS ARE GOING TO BECOME EXTREMELY RARE, and hence EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE, since most people CAN'T type faster than they can talk.
The governments of the world are clearly not going to do anything REAL to stem the tide of spam.
I vote for an internationally organized collection of vigilantes, who could organize by location into lynch mobs to PHYSICALLY BEAT THE EVER-LOVING CRAP out of spammers.
I'm being dead serious. When the "authorities" don't do a bloody thing, maybe it's time for us to take the authority for ourselves!
Most ISPs (and I would imagine Satellite ISPs are no different) operate wholly on scripts. If you deviate from what is accepted on those scripts, you're not supported. In most cases, simply running anything other than Windows or (occasionally) Mac OS/Mac OS X is enough to lose your support.
I had an ISP once who wouldn't even help me out when the link went completely down and the DSL modem couldn't even sync... because I ran Linux. They begged and pleaded with me, "Do you have a Windows machine you can use?"...
Given that things like this are the norm, do you honestly expect some guy in a truck with a Debian box to get support?
Amazing accomplishment. If I were the person who pulled this off, I'd send a long letter to the CEO of my ISP, telling them what people can do with "unsupported" setups. Not like it'd make much of a difference. The only way ISPs can find enough "qualified" techs is if the only "qualification" is "can read from a script and follow simple orders".
Let's put this in context. Millions of Indians-- more than the entire population of the United States-- live in poverty. (Just because Fortune 500 corporations are outsourcing stuff there doesn't mean India is some sort of wonderful, prosperous Democratic playground. Jobs are outsourced to India because it's cheap.) And we're worried about which Yahoo! Groups they can read there? Many Indians are worried about how they'll feed their children next month.
So instead of ranting and raving on SlashDot about freedom of speech, write a letter to the appropriate ambassadors-- and then go and donate to a charity that helps poor Indians. It'll be more productive, and you'll help solve two problems, not just one.
1) Anyone is guilty until proven innocent.
2) All criminals are now suspected of terrorism until proven otherwise.
3) Anyone related to a suspected criminal is now suspected of terrorism until proven otherwise.
4) Anyone who's friends with a suspected criminal is now suspected of terrorism until proven otherwise.
5) Anyone who's ever talked to a suspected criminal is now suspected of terrorism until proven otherwise.
6) You are probably a terrorist. Turn yourself into your local DHS, FBI or CIA office immediately. You do not have the right to remain silent. Anything you say, and anything you do NOT say, will be used against you.
...don't try this at home. Theobroma cacao (chocolate) is a highly dangerous substance with known stimulant effects. It is also highly addictive and should be used with extreme caution. Overdose can cause morbid obesity, sluggishness, and death. Only qualified experts should handle this dangerous reagent at home.
I am experienced at handling this most hazardous material. Please wrap it carefully in a heatproof container, and mail it to me. It will be disposed of properly. (burp)
First of all, even if you don't believe that a given company's ideas are "unique", chances are far better than not that they DO. Amazon.com probably honestly believes that "one-click shopping" is a unique idea, and that they deserved their patent on it. And you can bet your buttons that every programmer, managers and janitor who worked on that project signed NDAs out the wazoo.
As the SCO debacle should amply demonstrate, today's corporate culture is not about who's doing what uniquely, or even who "owns" what, but who can best convince/bribe a judge and/or jury. The business plans for many corps seem to be "Try to make money the old-fashioned way (i.e. selling useful products and/or services), and if that fails, sue somebody." To do that, you need reams and reams of paperwork, both to demonstrate that you were "duly diligent" in covering your butt (this is where the NDAs come in) and to document every little thing you've done. (Hence taking minutes of meetings, keeping archives of email, and other time-consuming corporate activities).
On a gamer forum, mentioning a '486 would get you laughed out in about ten seconds.
On a non-technical forum, mentioning a '486 would get a bunch of (the digital equivalents of) blank stares.
On SlashDot, only a couple of people think it's anything out of the ordinary...
It would seem that the Internet has a wide variety of computing cultures;)
...when at this very moment, the most important (IMHO) issue Linux faces is the very real threat of being rendered illegal via SCO?
Articles which trumpet how nice Linux is (and it IS nice for many things) are much like articles talking about how best to play DVDs under Linux-- they tend to ignore the frightening and (IMHO) immoral legalities surrounding such things. It is still illegal to play a (store-bought, DVD-encrypted... which means 99% of mainstream movies) DVD under Linux, as there is no licensed CSS decryptor for desktop Linux systems. And pretty soon, it may very well be illegal to use Linux without paying some outrageous "tax" to SCO. The fact that there are so many Linux advocates out there but the SCO fiasco is still going on (and no one pays attention to other Linux legalities, like the lack of a legal DVD player) is frightening. You or I might not care about the moronic decisions judges and congresspeople make, but I guarantee that businesses do. The greatest obstacle to the mainstream acceptance of Linux is not technical-- it's legal. (The second greatest obstacle is social... the gap between Linux development culture and "desktop user" culture. But that's another story for another day...)
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yo werd up dogz, y ru saying dis wack shiznit about noo inglish? damn u... i think talkig like dis be cool... and it be evolved, word. lolol
(Yes, I agree with you. This was me proving your point by mixing some very real examples of "evolved" English: AOLspeak and "ebonics"... along with some good old-fashioned misspelling.)
I like how you completely, totally ignored the very real counterexample I give, regarding computer/CPU/hard drive/modem/etc. confusion...
That was how you'd type the following:
I'd love to see you trying to program with the "Microsoft HyperVoice Control 2020".
"POUNDSIGN include SPACE main LESSTHAN SPELL-IT S T D I O DOT H END-SPELL-IT GREATERTHAN, CR CR
main OPENPAREN CLOSEPAREN, CR
OPENCURLY
SPACE SPACE for... (computer displays "4") OTHER-for... (computer displays "four") OTHER-for... (computer displays "For") LOWERCASE-IT (computer changes "For" to "for") OPENPAREN SEMICOLON SEMICOLON CLOSEPAREN, CR
SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE OPENCURLY, CR
SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPELL-IT P R I N T F END-SPELL-IT SPACE OPENPAREN QUOTATION Hello CAPITALIZED-world EXCLAMATIONPOINT BACKSLASH n QUOTATION CLOSEPAREN SEMICOLON, CR
SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE CLOSECURLY, CR
CLOSECURLY
They call their computer "emodium"? Or their modem?
I don't think your little masturbatory fantasy applies to me. 'Specially since JessLeah is short for JESSICA Leah. Not everyone on SlashDot is male-- not even everyone you disagree with.
Oh well. Your mileage may vary; I'll stand by my stereotypes. In addition, please consult your English book; I believe I am in the right. And if not, okay, I made a mistake... why, then, are you grilling ME over the coals rather than the Neanderthals who can't tell the difference between "it's" and "its", or between "your", "you're" and (shudder) "ur"? Maybe because I dared to say something you disagree with?
So I suppose "CPU", "hard drive", "processor" and "modem" are all now synonyms for "computer", eh? After all, MANY MANY MANY people use them to mean just that.
What in the name of Fuck are ridiculous trolls like you doing on a technical site anyhow? Go back to your NFL game, cretin.
...regarding the word "hacker". As many of us here know, the term "hacker" does not mean "computer criminal", as the mainstream press continually connote or denote it. I've often heard the defense that "well, once 99% of people start using a given word in a particular sense, that becomes a/the 'correct' meaning." By this logic, the millions of people who point at their computer (the box with the power supply, optical drive(s), floppy drive(s), hard drive(s), PCI/AGP/ISA card(s), etc. in it) and call it a "CPU", or a "processor", or a "hard drive"-- or even a "modem"-- are correct. They're not, nor are the people who think that "hacker" means "cyber-criminal".
I'd say that perhaps 99% of lay-people would, if shown a computer sans monitor, keyboard and mouse, call it either "a CPU", "a processor" or "a hard drive", and a few will call it "a modem" or "some computer thingy". This does not make these terms correct.
"Hacker" will never mean "computer criminal", no matter how many ignorant journalists and non-techies take it as such.
I am most definitely a hacker. I am most definitely not someone who breaks into systems, creates or uses exploits, makes viruses, etc. etc. etc.
What you just said is the "geek perspective" on things, and I agree with that.
However, do NOT underestimate the desire that "average Joes" have to be free of keyboards.
When you're a blue-collar factory worker with a dumpy crappy Compaq running Windows XP Home and connecting to the Internet through AOL, and you can type all of 5 words per minute on a GOOD day by hunting and pecking, the one thing you want the MOST is to be able to talk to the thing. I predict that in the future, keyboards will ONLY be used by programmers (as we're virtually the only ones who need to type funky things like "printf("Hello, World\n");" that would be a RIDICULOUS pain to input with voice), and they will cost a huge amount. Also, it is likely that they will only work with Windows. KEYBOARDS ARE GOING TO BECOME EXTREMELY RARE, and hence EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE, since most people CAN'T type faster than they can talk.
Then again, I would also very much like to see flying cars, true AI, useful nanotechnology, and practical fusion reactors.
All of which, of course, are things that we've been promised for years/decades are "right around the corner", yet always fail to materialize.
They were saying we'd all be in flying cars now in the 1960s... where's my aero-Ford?
What does "genetically annealed" mean? All I can guess is, umm, my Dad's name is Neal, so I guess I'm "genetically anNealed"?
The governments of the world are clearly not going to do anything REAL to stem the tide of spam.
I vote for an internationally organized collection of vigilantes, who could organize by location into lynch mobs to PHYSICALLY BEAT THE EVER-LOVING CRAP out of spammers.
I'm being dead serious. When the "authorities" don't do a bloody thing, maybe it's time for us to take the authority for ourselves!
I would find it VERY funny if someone 0wns the billboard, and it shows up on the BBC reading "ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US"...
Most ISPs (and I would imagine Satellite ISPs are no different) operate wholly on scripts. If you deviate from what is accepted on those scripts, you're not supported. In most cases, simply running anything other than Windows or (occasionally) Mac OS/Mac OS X is enough to lose your support.
I had an ISP once who wouldn't even help me out when the link went completely down and the DSL modem couldn't even sync... because I ran Linux. They begged and pleaded with me, "Do you have a Windows machine you can use?"...
Given that things like this are the norm, do you honestly expect some guy in a truck with a Debian box to get support?
Amazing accomplishment. If I were the person who pulled this off, I'd send a long letter to the CEO of my ISP, telling them what people can do with "unsupported" setups. Not like it'd make much of a difference. The only way ISPs can find enough "qualified" techs is if the only "qualification" is "can read from a script and follow simple orders".
...the Linux kernel will have googlefs support. It will be marked (EXPERIMENTAL), though, and will only run on 10,000-node Babelfish clusters...
Let's put this in context. Millions of Indians-- more than the entire population of the United States-- live in poverty. (Just because Fortune 500 corporations are outsourcing stuff there doesn't mean India is some sort of wonderful, prosperous Democratic playground. Jobs are outsourced to India because it's cheap.) And we're worried about which Yahoo! Groups they can read there? Many Indians are worried about how they'll feed their children next month.
So instead of ranting and raving on SlashDot about freedom of speech, write a letter to the appropriate ambassadors-- and then go and donate to a charity that helps poor Indians. It'll be more productive, and you'll help solve two problems, not just one.
1) Anyone is guilty until proven innocent.
2) All criminals are now suspected of terrorism until proven otherwise.
3) Anyone related to a suspected criminal is now suspected of terrorism until proven otherwise.
4) Anyone who's friends with a suspected criminal is now suspected of terrorism until proven otherwise.
5) Anyone who's ever talked to a suspected criminal is now suspected of terrorism until proven otherwise.
6) You are probably a terrorist. Turn yourself into your local DHS, FBI or CIA office immediately. You do not have the right to remain silent. Anything you say, and anything you do NOT say, will be used against you.
...don't try this at home. Theobroma cacao (chocolate) is a highly dangerous substance with known stimulant effects. It is also highly addictive and should be used with extreme caution. Overdose can cause morbid obesity, sluggishness, and death. Only qualified experts should handle this dangerous reagent at home.
I am experienced at handling this most hazardous material. Please wrap it carefully in a heatproof container, and mail it to me. It will be disposed of properly. (burp)
First of all, even if you don't believe that a given company's ideas are "unique", chances are far better than not that they DO. Amazon.com probably honestly believes that "one-click shopping" is a unique idea, and that they deserved their patent on it. And you can bet your buttons that every programmer, managers and janitor who worked on that project signed NDAs out the wazoo.
As the SCO debacle should amply demonstrate, today's corporate culture is not about who's doing what uniquely, or even who "owns" what, but who can best convince/bribe a judge and/or jury. The business plans for many corps seem to be "Try to make money the old-fashioned way (i.e. selling useful products and/or services), and if that fails, sue somebody." To do that, you need reams and reams of paperwork, both to demonstrate that you were "duly diligent" in covering your butt (this is where the NDAs come in) and to document every little thing you've done. (Hence taking minutes of meetings, keeping archives of email, and other time-consuming corporate activities).
On a gamer forum, mentioning a '486 would get you laughed out in about ten seconds.
;)
On a non-technical forum, mentioning a '486 would get a bunch of (the digital equivalents of) blank stares.
On SlashDot, only a couple of people think it's anything out of the ordinary...
It would seem that the Internet has a wide variety of computing cultures
...when at this very moment, the most important (IMHO) issue Linux faces is the very real threat of being rendered illegal via SCO?
Articles which trumpet how nice Linux is (and it IS nice for many things) are much like articles talking about how best to play DVDs under Linux-- they tend to ignore the frightening and (IMHO) immoral legalities surrounding such things. It is still illegal to play a (store-bought, DVD-encrypted... which means 99% of mainstream movies) DVD under Linux, as there is no licensed CSS decryptor for desktop Linux systems. And pretty soon, it may very well be illegal to use Linux without paying some outrageous "tax" to SCO. The fact that there are so many Linux advocates out there but the SCO fiasco is still going on (and no one pays attention to other Linux legalities, like the lack of a legal DVD player) is frightening. You or I might not care about the moronic decisions judges and congresspeople make, but I guarantee that businesses do. The greatest obstacle to the mainstream acceptance of Linux is not technical-- it's legal. (The second greatest obstacle is social... the gap between Linux development culture and "desktop user" culture. But that's another story for another day...)
http://euvolution.com/articles/differences.html :
"Flynn [35], in a survey covering 14 countries, has shown that the average IQ test score has significantly increased in recent years."
[35.] J. R. Flynn, Psychol. Bull. 101, 171 (1987).
http://euvolution.com/articles/differences.html :
"Flynn [35], in a survey covering 14 countries, has shown that the average IQ test score has significantly increased in recent years."
[35.] J. R. Flynn, Psychol. Bull. 101, 171 (1987).
Nice to see that classic SlashDot maturity and willingness to think outside the box...