Everyone expects everyone to be better than it is. "If only..." has become the starting phrase for many a musing on games, programs, books, movies, cars, girlfriends, boyfriends, wives, husbands, houses, pets, plastic models, ad infinitum.
If people would just realize that what you have right now is the best that it can be in this moment, then we would have a better world. In actuality, Satisfaction == Reality / Expectation. Expect less and your satisfaction will be higher.
The best articles on Wikipedia cite multiple sources and are concerned with multiple aspects of the topic at hand.
The best use of those articles is as a pointer to their original sources. When I was in school, I used old term papers and theses as a guide to find good research materials.
If you can't find the underlying research on your own, Wikipedia is a good choice. I've purchased several books because they were cited as sources.
Worst Internet omen: Home Shopping Channel joins the Internet.
It's interesting to note that the impending eCommerce boom would be considered a "worst omen."
Then, later on...
Commerce on the Internet. Whether it's junk e-mail or inappropriate postings to your favorite Usenet group, commercial ventures are here to stay and are finding the Internet a pretty pleasant place to do business. The good news is that we're the pioneers of this medium and we get to help sculpt it into something we like. The bad news is that some people just aren't listening. Can you really get rich quick, after all?
Now, twelve years on, did we actually get to "sculpt it into something we like" or did the Internet just take on a life of it's own and evolve into the entity that we now have? Also, the answer to the last question in the quote is "Yes...but you can also go broke quick."
I'll take this away from software and say that it really depends on the situation. Must I really decide between 15 different types of bran cereal, 20 types of toilet paper, 5 bathroom cleansers or 25 versions Office? Okay, the last one was back to software again.
Just because we can produce multiple types of this-or-that doesn't mean we must.
Citizens cannot be required to take part in the political process, and they are free to express their dissatisfaction by not participating. But without the lifeblood of citizen action, democracy will begin to weaken. Citizens of democratic societies have the opportunity to join a host of private organizations, associations, and volunteer groups. Many of these are concerned with issues of public policy, yet few are controlled or financed by the government. The right of individuals to associate freely and to organize themselves into different sorts of nongovernmental groups is fundamental to democracy. When people of common interests band together, their voices can be heard and their chances of influencing the political debate increased. As Alexis de Tocqueville, the great 19th-century French political observer, wrote, "There are no countries in which associations are more needed to prevent the despotism of faction or the arbitrary power of a prince than those which are democratically constituted."
Funny that you should mention Disturbed, since the song that is getting the most airplay is Land of Confusion, a cover of a twenty-year-old Phil Collins song (and not a bad cover, btw). They just fall into the "everything old is new again" category.
That said, I can't name songs for most of the new artists out there (I have Dream, Floyd, and Rush on my iPod), but I can appreciate the latest Rob Zombie (or Tool, or Godsmack).
As is in the case in so many of these situations, this list has just piqued my interest more. I've read many of these novels but now I just have more in my reading list.
The question is: are video games and consumer electronics the result or cause of a sedentary lifestyle?
When I was a kid in the early 70s, all we had to do was play outside (other than "rainy day" boardgames). Then, I got a little older and found, gasp, D&D. You can bet that I started staying in more often.
This was a case of the game causing the lifestyle. However, that was the 70s. Because of the vagaries of "modern" times, with children required to spend more time indoors, have we just adjusted to the location of play?
The idea of cocooning has been well discussed over the last 15 or so years. It was only inevitable that it apply to children as well.
I'm much removed from the social networking sites such as FaceBook (by time) and MySpace (by desire) but it seemed to me that the main advantage of FaceBook was that it was a relatively safe place for HS and College students to meet and interact.
Now, with the addition of millions of potential users, it seems (as others have said) that the site should become MyFaceBook.
Why can't site operators (even those that pay millions for established market share) realize that they can make a reasonable profit within niche markets? That was the entire purpose behind the original "Virtual Community" concept of the late 90s. People can belong to multiple niches and can receive targeted messages based on the site they are currently visiting.
I could keep moaning and bitching, but it would just lead to a rant...
Their laptops carry software that assesses how quickly they're learning the lesson. If they get it, they'll dive deeper into the subject. If not, they get remedial help.
This method is called Mastery Learning and was proposed, iirc, in the 70s. At least it was an established learning theory by 1981 when I first discovered it.
It's an interesting proposition, but very difficult to carry out in practice as, in the worst-case scenario, you could have an entire school at different levels.
"...a learning process modeled on Microsoft's management techniques."
Based on these techniques, when can student's expect to graduate? Do they have to go through Beta year as a junior, then become a Release Candidate in their senior year?
The problem is, with Microsoft's track record, they'll have seniors that stick around for years. What happens when MS decides to change its techniques? "Sorry...you have to go back through four years of school to remain compatible."
I may be the only one, but the in reading the small "mini posting," I thought it said Druids on the ISS.
Now, I'm not knocking Druids, but I'm certainly not convinced about their effectiveness on the ISS. Sure, certain of their kind can heal and shapeshift but they are hardly useful skills in this situation.
To be fair, many of the phone systems of the 80s couldn't handle touchtone dialing. My parent's phone had to use an adapter to plug the RJ-11 into the old style, four prong jack. IIRC, it wasn't until the late 80s that they could get tone service, and they are 15 miles south of a major metro area. They still use the same phone with a Tone/Pulse switch.
I'll see your rotary phone and raise you the fake rotary phone with touchtone buttons where the holes are supposed to be. Talk about completely and utterly useless.
I wasn't going to delve into Flight 93 since it was OT. However, if you actually watch the video (it's a frame-by-frame security video) you can definitely tell that there is not a plane in the view. Also, in one frame (conspiracy theorists take note), it look like an ALCM is heading for the building.
Slashdot Mirror
Hey...it's just a Zen thing.
No. What I'm saying is that the world would be better if people would stop thinking that they will be happier if this or that happened.
This expression is some of the best code I've seen in my life.
Why thank you. [bows]
Everyone expects everyone to be better than it is. "If only..." has become the starting phrase for many a musing on games, programs, books, movies, cars, girlfriends, boyfriends, wives, husbands, houses, pets, plastic models, ad infinitum. If people would just realize that what you have right now is the best that it can be in this moment, then we would have a better world. In actuality, Satisfaction == Reality / Expectation. Expect less and your satisfaction will be higher.
ST: TNG - Chain of Command - David Warner was great as the Cardassian, Gul Madred.
When you read the entire version it sounds just as insane!
The best articles on Wikipedia cite multiple sources and are concerned with multiple aspects of the topic at hand.
The best use of those articles is as a pointer to their original sources. When I was in school, I used old term papers and theses as a guide to find good research materials.
If you can't find the underlying research on your own, Wikipedia is a good choice. I've purchased several books because they were cited as sources.
Then, later on...
Now, twelve years on, did we actually get to "sculpt it into something we like" or did the Internet just take on a life of it's own and evolve into the entity that we now have? Also, the answer to the last question in the quote is "Yes...but you can also go broke quick."
Indiana Jones with a glowing red eye?
...nothing to see here. Please move along.
I'll take this away from software and say that it really depends on the situation. Must I really decide between 15 different types of bran cereal, 20 types of toilet paper, 5 bathroom cleansers or 25 versions Office? Okay, the last one was back to software again.
Just because we can produce multiple types of this-or-that doesn't mean we must.
Funny that you should mention Disturbed, since the song that is getting the most airplay is Land of Confusion, a cover of a twenty-year-old Phil Collins song (and not a bad cover, btw). They just fall into the "everything old is new again" category.
That said, I can't name songs for most of the new artists out there (I have Dream, Floyd, and Rush on my iPod), but I can appreciate the latest Rob Zombie (or Tool, or Godsmack).
As is in the case in so many of these situations, this list has just piqued my interest more. I've read many of these novels but now I just have more in my reading list.
The question is: are video games and consumer electronics the result or cause of a sedentary lifestyle?
When I was a kid in the early 70s, all we had to do was play outside (other than "rainy day" boardgames). Then, I got a little older and found, gasp, D&D. You can bet that I started staying in more often.
This was a case of the game causing the lifestyle. However, that was the 70s. Because of the vagaries of "modern" times, with children required to spend more time indoors, have we just adjusted to the location of play?
The idea of cocooning has been well discussed over the last 15 or so years. It was only inevitable that it apply to children as well.
I'm much removed from the social networking sites such as FaceBook (by time) and MySpace (by desire) but it seemed to me that the main advantage of FaceBook was that it was a relatively safe place for HS and College students to meet and interact.
Now, with the addition of millions of potential users, it seems (as others have said) that the site should become MyFaceBook.
Why can't site operators (even those that pay millions for established market share) realize that they can make a reasonable profit within niche markets? That was the entire purpose behind the original "Virtual Community" concept of the late 90s. People can belong to multiple niches and can receive targeted messages based on the site they are currently visiting.
I could keep moaning and bitching, but it would just lead to a rant...
Their laptops carry software that assesses how quickly they're learning the lesson. If they get it, they'll dive deeper into the subject. If not, they get remedial help.
This method is called Mastery Learning and was proposed, iirc, in the 70s. At least it was an established learning theory by 1981 when I first discovered it.
It's an interesting proposition, but very difficult to carry out in practice as, in the worst-case scenario, you could have an entire school at different levels.
Or, more to the point, when they learn to proofread their own work. Nice catch, btw.
"...a learning process modeled on Microsoft's management techniques."
Based on these techniques, when can student's expect to graduate? Do they have to go through Beta year as a junior, then become a Release Candidate in their senior year?
The problem is, with Microsoft's track record, they'll have seniors that stick around for years. What happens when MS decides to change its techniques? "Sorry...you have to go back through four years of school to remain compatible."
Touché
I may be the only one, but the in reading the small "mini posting," I thought it said Druids on the ISS.
Now, I'm not knocking Druids, but I'm certainly not convinced about their effectiveness on the ISS. Sure, certain of their kind can heal and shapeshift but they are hardly useful skills in this situation.
To be fair, many of the phone systems of the 80s couldn't handle touchtone dialing. My parent's phone had to use an adapter to plug the RJ-11 into the old style, four prong jack. IIRC, it wasn't until the late 80s that they could get tone service, and they are 15 miles south of a major metro area. They still use the same phone with a Tone/Pulse switch.
I'll see your rotary phone and raise you the fake rotary phone with touchtone buttons where the holes are supposed to be. Talk about completely and utterly useless.
I wasn't going to delve into Flight 93 since it was OT. However, if you actually watch the video (it's a frame-by-frame security video) you can definitely tell that there is not a plane in the view. Also, in one frame (conspiracy theorists take note), it look like an ALCM is heading for the building.