This article reminds me of the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. The premise is that visitors come to Earth because they are shocked by our wars and, upon observation of human space flight, become concerned that we might spread war throughout the universe.
The visitors explain that they have ended war on their planet by turning over civil authority to robots which are programmed to recognise violence and automatically come to the defense of the victim of any violent crime. They explain that they have turned over said authority to the robots in such a way that they cannot reclaim that authority.
Turned off by the idea of giving up control, our leaders rejected the visitors' proposal to bring the robots to Earth. In the end, the visitor leaves with a stern warning that humanity spreading war into interplanetary space would result in the Earth being reduced to a burning cinder.
Not only are we missing a -1, Stupid mod tool, we are also missing a -1, bad grammar mod tool.
Additionally, my ordeals convince my peers that free software isn't worth the trouble.
Actually, I sometimes feel that this is the number one symptom of the obstacles that OSS/free software face. Multiple times, I have been labeled a nut for wanting to us Linux/OSS. I had a roommate in the dorms once who insisted that I would be "happier" using Windows.
As far as experience moving labs from Windows to OSS, I have never moved an entire "lab" so-to-speak to Linux, but it is my experience that in the past three or so years since I was introduced to Linux, it has made big inroads into becoming easier to install and use. The hardware support is definitely better. I remember when I first tried Linux, support for USB mice was still experimental.
These days, migrations from Windows to Linux have been relatively smoothe. I've had great success moving a fileserver from a Windows NT workstation to a less-used Linux box. Usually, it will eventually go down because of a power outage - so I recently purchased a UPS.
The bottom line is, I think that the problem of colleages who drag their feet on using Linux/OSS will be reduced as major distros become increasingly easy to setup and operate and hardware support improves.
Actually, one thing that I hadn't anticipated was that an article about an asteroid report would prompt me to post a comment, which would be modded up, raising my karma from 'good' to 'excellent.'
Slashdot is still a game; we just stopped keeping score.
Everyone's talking about an asteroid slamming into the Atlantic Ocean. It's 2 AM and I honestly am not going to RTFA before I crash tonight, but it seems strange that they always consider the idea of the asteroid slamming directly into the surface.
There are many distinct ways that the asteroid could hit. I imagine that after you determine if, when, and where it impacts the Earth, the next most important thing to know to weigh the consequences would be at what angle and trajectory it hits at. I imagine it would be quite different if it hit at a 1/16 * Pi angle and streaked across the sea than it would be if it hit orthogonal ( right angle ) to the surface.
Also, I imagine the rotation of the asteroid could be a major factor, as well as its shape and composition.
There is a question in this funny volume that addresses this subject. I don't have the book at hand, but it goes like this: If you had the choice, and no one could ever know that you had the choice, would you allow the United States to sink into the ocean 500 years after your death in exchange for an ATM card that can remove money from any ATM without taking money from your account.
Unfortunately, the person who modded my post interesting won't be replying to your question because Slashdot rules do not allow you to post and mod in the same discussion. I sure didn't think that it was funny when it happened. The more I think about it, the more insidious I think that virus is. Imagine that a boot sector virus trashed my Linux machine before it even began to boot!
Actually, I've been a savy computer user for some time now, IMHO. However, I had a laptop computer totally scrwed up by the 'ravage' boot sector virus. It's a virus that replicates itself on the boot sector of floppy disks, inserting itself right in front of that code that displays the message
Non-system disk or disk error Replace disk and press any key when ready.
I was caught totally off guard on that one, but I don't think that it indicates a user = id10t problem on my part.
The mandatory registration will automatically register you for the New York Times. Then, Internet Explorer will automatically remember your registration ID and password. Oh yeah, maybe mandatory registration will automatically sign you up for MS Passport as well.
Heck, it reminds me of the Dilbert cartoon where an "InstalSHIELD" type program displays the message "Install Wizard is now placing orders for products you will probably need... Found your credit card number..."
Image blocking/disabling is now more flexible and users can "view image" to see blocked or not loaded images.
I have an idea for image blocking. Now that Mozilla uses a statistical technique to identify spam, presumable with some sort of set of words to begin the database before it is trained with our spam messages, perhaps we could apply some sort of guessing technique for image blocking.
A central database of crap ( read Doubleclick.net ) images could be maintained. Images could be checked against the database and then blocked or allowed based on that. Perhaps the domain that the images come from could be taken into account as well.
As I read through the comments, I realized that it's starting to seem that we need a new tag line for Best Buy. We've replaced "Where do you want to go today?" with "This is where we will tell you to go." What could we use instead of "Turn on the fun." to lampoon Best Buy. I don't think that it would be "Turn on the MSN."
All this talk about odd computers reminds me of one that they stopped making some time back. It was the Bill Clinton computer. It has a "3 1/2 inch floppy and no memory.
If you want to complain about the states accepting MS's settlement offer, I would bring to mind the fact that many lawsuits are filed in the hope that they will be settled by the defendant to offset legal expenses and PR problems.
I have heard that on average, Walmart is sued twice a day, for example. I imagine that many of those who sue Walmart hope to get a few thousand dollars "go away money" to settle and avoid legal expenses.
Just try to imagine a Beowulf cluster of these! What kind of networking topology and cabling would it use. The NAT is performed by a ROTO-ROUTER, a la User Friendly.
I previously read about a scheme for forcing you to look at pop-ups. I think that the way it works is it checks to see if the server gets a request for the images in the pop-up window directly after the page loads. I did a Google search, and found that I read about it here.
I know it's a little off topic, but how do you put angle-brackets in your post without Slashdot trying to interpret them as HTML? I've always wanted to do my own fake HTML/XML in my posts, but I never could make it work.
Slashdot Mirror
The visitors explain that they have ended war on their planet by turning over civil authority to robots which are programmed to recognise violence and automatically come to the defense of the victim of any violent crime. They explain that they have turned over said authority to the robots in such a way that they cannot reclaim that authority.
Turned off by the idea of giving up control, our leaders rejected the visitors' proposal to bring the robots to Earth. In the end, the visitor leaves with a stern warning that humanity spreading war into interplanetary space would result in the Earth being reduced to a burning cinder.
Not only are we missing a -1, Stupid mod tool, we are also missing a -1, bad grammar mod tool.
Actually, I sometimes feel that this is the number one symptom of the obstacles that OSS/free software face. Multiple times, I have been labeled a nut for wanting to us Linux/OSS. I had a roommate in the dorms once who insisted that I would be "happier" using Windows.
As far as experience moving labs from Windows to OSS, I have never moved an entire "lab" so-to-speak to Linux, but it is my experience that in the past three or so years since I was introduced to Linux, it has made big inroads into becoming easier to install and use. The hardware support is definitely better. I remember when I first tried Linux, support for USB mice was still experimental.
These days, migrations from Windows to Linux have been relatively smoothe. I've had great success moving a fileserver from a Windows NT workstation to a less-used Linux box. Usually, it will eventually go down because of a power outage - so I recently purchased a UPS.
The bottom line is, I think that the problem of colleages who drag their feet on using Linux/OSS will be reduced as major distros become increasingly easy to setup and operate and hardware support improves.
Actually, what I was hoping for was that we could put mod points on these cards. It would give a whole new meaning to 'arma-whoring,' now wouldn't it?
How about a scale for the call of nature? GET OUT MY WAY NOW!!! IT'S A CODE RED.
Actually, in that light, solar power could be thought of as the world's first source of fusion power.
Slashdot is still a game; we just stopped keeping score.
There are many distinct ways that the asteroid could hit. I imagine that after you determine if, when, and where it impacts the Earth, the next most important thing to know to weigh the consequences would be at what angle and trajectory it hits at. I imagine it would be quite different if it hit at a 1/16 * Pi angle and streaked across the sea than it would be if it hit orthogonal ( right angle ) to the surface.
Also, I imagine the rotation of the asteroid could be a major factor, as well as its shape and composition.
Don't even think about it, you fscking Canadians.
I believe that the first weapon we get in that adventure is not a shotgun - It's a crowbar. That game had some creepy aliens.
can you imagine setting up a cluster of these in a ripple design for an undergrad CS class?
Actually, what you needed is some helium baloons to really make your applications fly!
Unfortunately, the person who modded my post interesting won't be replying to your question because Slashdot rules do not allow you to post and mod in the same discussion. I sure didn't think that it was funny when it happened. The more I think about it, the more insidious I think that virus is. Imagine that a boot sector virus trashed my Linux machine before it even began to boot!
Non-system disk or disk error
Replace disk and press any key when ready.
I was caught totally off guard on that one, but I don't think that it indicates a user = id10t problem on my part.
Heck, it reminds me of the Dilbert cartoon where an "InstalSHIELD" type program displays the message "Install Wizard is now placing orders for products you will probably need... Found your credit card number..."
I have an idea for image blocking. Now that Mozilla uses a statistical technique to identify spam, presumable with some sort of set of words to begin the database before it is trained with our spam messages, perhaps we could apply some sort of guessing technique for image blocking.
A central database of crap ( read Doubleclick.net ) images could be maintained. Images could be checked against the database and then blocked or allowed based on that. Perhaps the domain that the images come from could be taken into account as well.
No, beat him with a thorn whip, fashioning sharpies from AOL CDs
As I read through the comments, I realized that it's starting to seem that we need a new tag line for Best Buy. We've replaced "Where do you want to go today?" with "This is where we will tell you to go." What could we use instead of "Turn on the fun." to lampoon Best Buy. I don't think that it would be "Turn on the MSN."
All this talk about odd computers reminds me of one that they stopped making some time back. It was the Bill Clinton computer. It has a "3 1/2 inch floppy and no memory.
I have heard that on average, Walmart is sued twice a day, for example. I imagine that many of those who sue Walmart hope to get a few thousand dollars "go away money" to settle and avoid legal expenses.
Is that a ZEN in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
Just try to imagine a Beowulf cluster of these! What kind of networking topology and cabling would it use. The NAT is performed by a ROTO-ROUTER, a la User Friendly.
I previously read about a scheme for forcing you to look at pop-ups. I think that the way it works is it checks to see if the server gets a request for the images in the pop-up window directly after the page loads. I did a Google search, and found that I read about it here.
No, it's
Intrusive 286
Intrusive 386
Intrusive 3.0
Intrusive 3.1
Intrusive 95
Intrusive 95 OEMSR1
Intrusive 98
Intrusive 98SE
Intrusive ME
Intrusive 2000
Intrusive XP
XP stands for eXtra Penetrating.
ALT+F4
I know it's a little off topic, but how do you put angle-brackets in your post without Slashdot trying to interpret them as HTML? I've always wanted to do my own fake HTML/XML in my posts, but I never could make it work.