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User: Vlion

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Comments · 91

  1. hahah on Americans Read Fewer Books · · Score: 1

    I like to read. I retain probably 60% of what I've read on average. With liberal arts crap, thats about 90%. With theorem-heacy math stuff, its about 30%. With most fiction, oh...70% or so, depending on the book. I read fast, and it takes a truly bad author or a philosopher to bore me- its very difficult for me to lose interest in a book. Overall, I can do 500+ fiction/history pages a day if I want to. How can I do this? Its simple- I was homeschooled, and didn't have a TV until I was 13. I was often bored, and my parents encouraged my reading. Also, I had good teaching in reading. Most people I speak to were poorly taught how to read, which makes reading an effort for them, whereas people that have been taught well can read with pleasure. Its a natural effect of the MTV generation. If you enjoy Punk'd and Viva la Bam, you probably won't enjoy reading much(too much thinking). And MTV only does it for the money, which means that lots of people watch those shows. XD But then again, many people like learning. Its natural selection...the "durr"s and the badly taught and the people who dislike education sink into Mickey Dees, and those who enjoy education rise to the top of their chosen area, be it a trade or more intellectual areas. Yup. I've just ranted. =)

  2. wow on Mars Rovers Alive Until 2005? · · Score: 1, Interesting

    That is good engineering!

    Kodos to the designers !

  3. hm on SpaceshipOne's Control Problem Fixed · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Interesting.
    Good to see it getting fixed. =)

  4. Re:Can you say, "augmented reality?" on Sneak Preview Of Vernor Vinge's Next Book · · Score: 1

    whoops, forgot to think of this one.

    Try LE Modesitte.

    Quite serious, quite good.
    A little depressing at times though.

    I'm following his Corean Chronicles- it seems to be the current series.

  5. Re:Can you say, "augmented reality?" on Sneak Preview Of Vernor Vinge's Next Book · · Score: 1

    Timothy Zahn is a great author.
    I'm more a fan of his less plausible works like the Conquors(spelling!) trilogy, but he has done several more serious works lately.

  6. wooo on Sneak Preview Of Vernor Vinge's Next Book · · Score: 1

    That is a good story. I recommend checking it out. It even sounds partially plausible. ;)

  7. Re:good for this Steve guy on DoD team nears Security Validation of OpenSSL · · Score: 1

    oops. I'll be better next time.

    I'll make a new work- bloaterment.
    Goverment that auto-bloats. ^_^

  8. Re:Upon us? on Is The 6-Month Product Cycle Upon Us? · · Score: 2

    That is interesting. ..lack of ability to look forward to better things beacuse you have all the better things...

    Facinating, as Mr. Spock would say.

  9. Re:iPod on New Generation of MP3 Players, New Features · · Score: 1

    Exactly.
    I've got about 5 or so hours of mp3s on my computer that I listen to regularly.
    I'll probably try and get a few more soon, because I've kinda worn these out, but hey, I don't need $GAZILLION mp3s. I'm content with a few hours worth.

    Y'know ?

  10. good for this Steve guy on DoD team nears Security Validation of OpenSSL · · Score: 3, Insightful

    He is working on saving the US government money. Wish there were more guys like him in the US gov. For non-US readers : The US government has issues of spending bloat. They spend way too much on stuff. Us taxpayers don't like that. X_X

  11. Re:lol on Custom DVDs & Players For Academy Members · · Score: 1

    *twitch*
    I almost have a knee-jerk response that says...

    Bring it on!

    of course, not like I'm going to get my hands on such a disc, bust still...*grin*

  12. Re:The difference between Windows and Linux bundli on Linux Users Are Spoiled · · Score: 1

    [nit]

    I WANT the movie to fill the screen.

    I do. not. want. 1/3 of my screen going to waste diplaying black pixels.
    Sorry.

  13. Re:Get ready Mozilla developers. on Dept. of Homeland Security Says to Stop Using IE · · Score: 1

    yay!
    Time to solidify firefox !!

    Now feel the P-O-W-E-R of open source!

    *grin*

  14. wow on 13 Energy Drinks In 3 Sessions · · Score: 1

    wow.
    He musta been some kinda messed up the morning after he finished that.

  15. No. on Privacy in the Woods? · · Score: 1
    No, no, and no.

    Lets just say that I don't want to be tracked like a
    robot everywhere I go. Keep your trackers out of my woods.

    Sheesh, next thing you know, you will have the 2-way video
    cameras in your room and the daily hate...

  16. RMS on MIT's Stata Center Dedicated · · Score: 0, Troll

    Urk.
    Stallman may have written the GPL, which says something about knowing how to hire a good lawyer and work with him.
    He certainly needs to learn how to deal with reality.
    If I was Stallmann, I have put some of those whine-points into firing the architect. Its a eyesore. A complete bloody eyesore!

  17. yay on The First-Ever Installfest in Egypt · · Score: 1
    This is just a generic coolness !

    It would be nice to see if it could be mirrored*wink*
    here in the US.

  18. Re:meh Gentoo on Gentoo Linux Musings · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Let's be blunt: the default grub setup doesn't work with my machine. I couldn't get it to work. The local gentoo guru couldn't get it to work. We tried two installs, at which point I gave up and found a somewhat more functioning distro.

    My conclusion was that I had a broken source of grub given to me with gentoo.

    I don't feel like having to deal with a system that makes me do every last bit of effort.
    If I did, I would do LFS. Before you flame me into the ground here, let me tell you I have a text-only(Without any X installed) Debian box right next to my Windows/Drake machine.

    I use it in my daily routine. I'm not afraid of a CLI.

    Alright?

    oh- friendly advice:
    Don't ever resort to ad hominem attacks, dude.
    They usually backfire. :-)

  19. meh Gentoo on Gentoo Linux Musings · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Pros of Gentoo:
    Customizability.
    Speed.
    Perfect for that old system you want to keep using.
    If you are clustering, it probably would be the way to go.
    Easy to update.

    Cons of Gentoo:
    Installation- un-believably frustrating.
    Ever even seen Red Hat's system? Its SIMPLE and it WORKS. RH and Mandrake both can get my system to boot with grub on first install and boot, but nooooo, not Gentoo.
    Too tweak-heavy.

    I'm sorry. Gentoo is a great special-purpose distro. If it wants to go mainstream, it must have a better install system.
    Go take a look at woody's(Debian) installer, and compare with the Gentoo install scheme.
    Gentoo installations are crap.

    I've done Gentoo, Debian, Red Hat 8, and Mandrake 10 installs.
    Gentoo is the most difficult to install.

  20. Re:Proper rebuttals to the DoJ on ACLU Sues FBI Over ISP Records · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Part of the problem is that the status of non-citizens seems to be legally hazy with respect to their rights. Not that it should be, but it is, and the DoJ et al are exploiting that to the maximum.

    "Why do we still have this president again?"

    Because he won the electoral vote, which trumps popular vote. Which, if you don't like, go be a lobbyist in D.C.
    Just be glad that Slick Willy wasn't in office. He would have done jack squat about the Two Towers except make soothing noises.

  21. good on ACLU Sues FBI Over ISP Records · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I think that this is a good move.
    It is unfortunate that the P.A. even was passed.

    I spent some time studying the US constitution this semester, and although I havn't looked at the P.A., I suspect that it breaches the writ of habeus corpus in the US constitution.(Its not even in an amendment- its in the original document)

    Writ of Habeus Coprpus: A summons to a gaoler demanding that they present themselves and their prisoner to the judge, so that the gaoler can give an account of why the prisoner is being held.

  22. AGGGGAAAGGGG on Social Contract Amendment May Bump Sarge To 2005 · · Score: 0, Insightful
    Argh. Woody has kernel 2.2.20 and gcc 2.x I'm sorry, but we need the next Debian.

    I run a debian testing system next to my windows system. My windows sys dual-boots to 'drake 10rc3, but drake is crap-
    the ethernet is crazy flaky and dont ask about sound.

    I've been waiting for the next debian-installer so I could get debian
    on my higher-end machine in a stable manner.

    I don't have time to wait around while they smoke pipe dreams about their free morals.
    I move out of the dorms in 3 weeks, and away from a decent internet connection. They say they need 8 months to rewrite debian.

    I am sorry, we need Debian 4.0 now not when kernel 2.8 comes out, metaphorically speaking.
    They can release 4.1-free eventually, but if the Debian project can't get their butt in motion, they will fade and die,
    with Gentoo taking over the position of organic Linux distro.

    I like debian, but its release cycle is slower than a dead slug in solid concrete,
    and this just excaberates the problem.

  23. d'oh on California Grills Diebold Over E-Voting Foul-Ups · · Score: 1

    What the bloody crap! That is just wrong. Would someone kindly put Diebold out of business, please?

  24. cool on Samba 3 By Example · · Score: 1

    I'll have to read it sometime- I could really use samba.

  25. good mix of books and computers on Making Science and Math Kid Friendly? · · Score: 1

    I think books in general are better than computers for most learning. I print out most articles that I like, for instance.

    I'm not sure how you mean by kid-friendly.
    Math is a difficult and tedious subject.(I enjoy it)
    Its an exercise in abstract logic.
    Kids don't want to go to school and do the mental drudgery- they want to go play with their friends. I only got serious about school when I was 16 or so- now I'm going to be a senior in college next year(just to show I'm not completely worthless).

    Raw knowledge is usually boring. This hold true up into college.
    The onus is on the instructor, I think.

    Can the teacher present it in a manner that insures that most of the class will have 70+% retention of the material?

    Naturally, the next goal is to make this as painless as possible for both teacher and class.

    I'm spectacularly unexcited about curricula that do not have a book-centric focus. There is probably a way to have a mostly computer curriculum that works very well.
    I don't think it's here yet.

    Glancing at what Shodor provides in the math arena, I suspect you are being too visual and cutesy. But I'm not a really visual learner. These exercises would probably work better for a very visual person.

    Also: why are you doing elementry stats for 5th grade? Are they expected to have mastered arithmatic? :)