THe second Idea, that the world around you is fake, Has also been done a few times in sci-fi, though not as often as the AI thing. However it is based (stolen) on one of Socrates thought experiments, and for the geeks of the world, it is also not a new concept. But for all the non-geeks, and proto-geeks out there, this is world-shattering strangeness.
I don't think you can assume that all geeks have read Socrates. I haven't (although I am familiar with the Cave of Shadows bit), and I bet that many geeks still in HS haven't read it either. (I may be biased, since my HS sucked. Perhaps most people do have exposure in HS.)
Ok, I just read the Allegory of the Cave. It doesn't really seem to address the concept of reality being based only on perceptions so much as persecution of those who have seen beyond the shadows. So, I don't think it's really all that applicable to the Matrix. Although it does kind of touch on the question of the true nature of reality, that's not the main point.
Anyway, I don't think you should assume that all geeks would be familiar with the allegory. And, the Matrix made the fact that all you have are your perceptions much more tangible. It clearly demonstrated that reality (for you) is really only what you percieve.
You might as well run the RC5 stuff at the same time. The Seti@Home client is such a pig (on my box anyway), that I had to set it to run only in screensaver mode. So, the rest of the time, RC5 can be cracking away.
The company I used to work for started out really good. I came in as a summer-intern. I worked there for 3 summers and winter breaks. Then I decided to leave school, and go to work full-time.
At first, it was basically the same job (end user support, which I really love. Yeah, they are dumb, but it's not their job to be smart about it. I just like helping people.) as when I was an intern. I had no real responsibility, other than to fix the problems that came up, roll out new machines, and some basic administration stuff. I didn't "own" any projects.
I also was given a pretty good raise when that time rolled around (not much really, but good compared to the others).
Then, the upper management changed. They basically became very focused on tracking every minute of our time. I resented this.
I'm pretty smart (if I do say so myself), and I was good at my job. You would have been hard pressed to find a user who didn't have something nice to say about me. Definitely in comparison to other people there. So, when they started expecting me to work at full-tilt for the same pay (basically getting more work from me for free), I got a little pissed. I could easily do as much work in 4 hours as most of the others did in 8. Also, new hires, (who were less skilled/experienced than me) were coming on at my salary. So, the raise that I got ended up really just being a cost-of-living type increase.
Then they started requiring that we carry our Nextel phones at all times. 24-7. We didn't get paid for this, but we had to be available at all times. Not to mention the actual "on-call" pager that we passed around 1 week at a time.
Anyway, I realized they were treating all of us as components in a machine. Basically they put a lot of checks in place so they could see how much time the "components" were working. I can see this being an effective management strategy. You could definitely min-max your salary-paid for work-done. But it doesn't account for varying people's skills, and it doesn't treat people as people.
So, I left. If they replaced me, they probably got someone who wasn't as good, who they are probably paying the same salary. Their loss.
In a way, it was kind of good that it turned to shit, because I didn't feel bad about leaving (since they gave me a job w/o a college degree, and the summer job).
Well, it depends on your encoder, as well as your CDROM drive. My old CDrom had serious problems trying to pull the audio data off. I got pops and such. Since I got my Aopen 40x, I usually rip the audio off at about 7-8x.
I also bought the Xing encoder (sorry, I use windows). It was/totally/ worth it. That sucker is fast as heck. It usually encodes at around 5-6x, so my total throughput is (very) roughly 3-4x, from disc to mp3.
I'm using a PII-233 w/128ram (I don't think the ram is that big a deal though.)
Bladenc was about.3-.5x, so it was slower than realtime, and that was on my friend's box, which is about 2x as fast as mine. I really think it's worth spending $20 for Xing's encoder, if you're planning to rip a lot of CDs. I am pretty sure they don't have an encoder for Linux, but you guys should be able to write a fast one anyway....
With the graphics nowadays it's gettting pretty fucking real enough.
Ok, so now who is having the problem distinguishing between reality and make-believe?
Looking real is not the same as being real. At all. Good God, man! Do you think that the events that occur in movies are real because they look real (they even have real people in them) ?
These games should be restricted from children
Many stores do restrict them. But, this doesn't stop the kids from getting them. Christ, when I first started playing with computers and BBSs, my main mission was to leech as much pr0n as possible. That's what (some) kids do. Fortuneately, my parents had provided a clear understanding of their moral beliefs, so I had a very solid framework to interpret things in.
It all comes down to the parents/family environment. If parents let their kids play games, and don't ever talk to them about them, problems can occur. The games are not the cause, they're just the trigger.
Basically, I think you are approaching the problem from the wrong end. You're looking at the details, and not seeing the big picture. I think people do this a lot, simply because the details are easier to pin down and control. But they don't affect the root of the problem.
If the root is still there, it will just flower again in a different set of details.
I can definitely see taking a pager on a camping trip. If someone in your family is in a car wreck (or equivalent), I would think you'd want to be at their side, instead of oblivious in the woods.
That was the hardest thing for me about going to Burning Man. The total lack of contact with the outside world. I've seen what can happen if you don't keep in touch. And I don't want that to happen to me.
I don't get it. Why do people insist on being reachable at all hours of the day? I prefer my privacy.
Well, that's just it. You have your preferences, others have theirs. I like that my friends are able to get a hold of me when I'm out at bars, and meet me somewhere. I like being able to be contacted in event of an emergency. I like that people don't have to call several different numbers to talk to me.
You control who has your cell number. Sure, it may leak out through friends, but that's usually ok. I'm not sure I'd want it on my business card, but if it's there, *shrug*. You can always let voicemail get it. You don't lose any privacy due to having a cell phone. You may lose some peace of mind due to it ringing...but you can turn the ringer off.
I just reread your post. I think the main reason you don't understand why people like having cell phones, pagers, etc., is that you don't have a clear idea of what it is like to lead a lifestyle other than your own. I am simply not at home that much. If I want to see my friends other than at planned meetings, I need to be reachable.
For me (and many others) cell phones are a godsend. For you, a curse. To each his own.
That always bothered me about Terminator 2. It wasn't until Arnold actually pushed John out of harms way that you had any idea that he was "good." But, in all the trailers, and the interviews, you find out that Arnold is the good guy.
It didn't really spoil the movie, but it would have been very cool to be surprised.
Good things can't last forever.
on
Saving MST3K
·
· Score: 1
If they put it out on DVD, they could have multiple tracks of audio. Perhaps the pure audio from the movie, (why not?), perhaps different jokes (XXX, clean).
What's the target market for the two Shuttle designs? Do they even have expansion slots? What motherboards can they use? I'm a bit unimpressed by the info available on the site....
I dropped out of college to start working. In looking back, I'm glad I had the college experience that I did (friends, drinking, what-have-you). But if you only look at it financially, it wasn't worth it.
Slashdot Mirror
You are the man. If I were a moderator, I would up your score.
(Plus, I have to give you props for a gopher based URL).
THe second Idea, that the world around you is fake, Has also been done a few times in sci-fi, though not as often as the AI thing. However it is based (stolen) on one of Socrates thought experiments, and for the geeks of the world, it is also not a new concept. But for all the non-geeks, and proto-geeks out there, this is world-shattering strangeness.
I don't think you can assume that all geeks have read Socrates. I haven't (although I am familiar with the Cave of Shadows bit), and I bet that many geeks still in HS haven't read it either. (I may be biased, since my HS sucked. Perhaps most people do have exposure in HS.)
Ok, I just read the Allegory of the Cave. It doesn't really seem to address the concept of reality being based only on perceptions so much as persecution of those who have seen beyond the shadows. So, I don't think it's really all that applicable to the Matrix. Although it does kind of touch on the question of the true nature of reality, that's not the main point.
Anyway, I don't think you should assume that all geeks would be familiar with the allegory. And, the Matrix made the fact that all you have are your perceptions much more tangible. It clearly demonstrated that reality (for you) is really only what you percieve.
To quote White Zombie (and Blade Runner):
"I am the Nexus One. I want more life fucker, I ain't done."
I wonder now what impact this will have on Richard Seed's infertility work...
You have to be kidding. Dick Seed?
It wasn't a whole car, it was the "shell" of one. Also, it was the R2D2 dome.
They always do that. That's the point of a good hack. Although, I think the donuts may have been intended as kidding, rather than a treat.
You might as well run the RC5 stuff at the same time. The Seti@Home client is such a pig (on my box anyway), that I had to set it to run only in screensaver mode. So, the rest of the time, RC5 can be cracking away.
Jordan
Dude, you have no idea how Real Genius scarred me for life. :)
Jordan
The company I used to work for started out really good. I came in as a summer-intern. I worked there for 3 summers and winter breaks. Then I decided to leave school, and go to work full-time.
At first, it was basically the same job (end user support, which I really love. Yeah, they are dumb, but it's not their job to be smart about it. I just like helping people.) as when I was an intern. I had no real responsibility, other than to fix the problems that came up, roll out new machines, and some basic administration stuff. I didn't "own" any projects.
I also was given a pretty good raise when that time rolled around (not much really, but good compared to the others).
Then, the upper management changed. They basically became very focused on tracking every minute of our time. I resented this.
I'm pretty smart (if I do say so myself), and I was good at my job. You would have been hard pressed to find a user who didn't have something nice to say about me. Definitely in comparison to other people there. So, when they started expecting me to work at full-tilt for the same pay (basically getting more work from me for free), I got a little pissed. I could easily do as much work in 4 hours as most of the others did in 8. Also, new hires, (who were less skilled/experienced than me) were coming on at my salary. So, the raise that I got ended up really just being a cost-of-living type increase.
Then they started requiring that we carry our Nextel phones at all times. 24-7. We didn't get paid for this, but we had to be available at all times. Not to mention the actual "on-call" pager that we passed around 1 week at a time.
Anyway, I realized they were treating all of us as components in a machine. Basically they put a lot of checks in place so they could see how much time the "components" were working. I can see this being an effective management strategy. You could definitely min-max your salary-paid for work-done. But it doesn't account for varying people's skills, and it doesn't treat people as people.
So, I left. If they replaced me, they probably got someone who wasn't as good, who they are probably paying the same salary. Their loss.
In a way, it was kind of good that it turned to shit, because I didn't feel bad about leaving (since they gave me a job w/o a college degree, and the summer job).
(Rant mode off)
Jordan
Well, it depends on your encoder, as well as your CDROM drive. My old CDrom had serious problems trying to pull the audio data off. I got pops and such. Since I got my Aopen 40x, I usually rip the audio off at about 7-8x.
/totally/ worth it. That sucker is fast as heck. It usually encodes at around 5-6x, so my total throughput is (very) roughly 3-4x, from disc to mp3.
.3-.5x, so it was slower than realtime, and that was on my friend's box, which is about 2x as fast as mine. I really think it's worth spending $20 for Xing's encoder, if you're planning to rip a lot of CDs. I am pretty sure they don't have an encoder for Linux, but you guys should be able to write a fast one anyway....
I also bought the Xing encoder (sorry, I use windows). It was
I'm using a PII-233 w/128ram (I don't think the ram is that big a deal though.)
Bladenc was about
Jordan
Don't forget:
Nitrous
K
LSD
Smack
GHB
and many others....
I know (different) people who've done them all....
With the graphics nowadays it's gettting pretty fucking real enough.
Ok, so now who is having the problem distinguishing between reality and make-believe?
Looking real is not the same as being real. At all. Good God, man! Do you think that the events that occur in movies are real because they look real (they even have real people in them) ?
These games should be restricted from children
Many stores do restrict them. But, this doesn't stop the kids from getting them. Christ, when I first started playing with computers and BBSs, my main mission was to leech as much pr0n as possible. That's what (some) kids do. Fortuneately, my parents had provided a clear understanding of their moral beliefs, so I had a very solid framework to interpret things in.
It all comes down to the parents/family environment. If parents let their kids play games, and don't ever talk to them about them, problems can occur. The games are not the cause, they're just the trigger.
Basically, I think you are approaching the problem from the wrong end. You're looking at the details, and not seeing the big picture. I think people do this a lot, simply because the details are easier to pin down and control. But they don't affect the root of the problem.
If the root is still there, it will just flower again in a different set of details.
I can definitely see taking a pager on a camping trip. If someone in your family is in a car wreck (or equivalent), I would think you'd want to be at their side, instead of oblivious in the woods.
That was the hardest thing for me about going to Burning Man. The total lack of contact with the outside world. I've seen what can happen if you don't keep in touch. And I don't want that to happen to me.
I don't get it. Why do people insist on being reachable at all hours of the day? I prefer my privacy.
Well, that's just it. You have your preferences, others have theirs. I like that my friends are able to get a hold of me when I'm out at bars, and meet me somewhere. I like being able to be contacted in event of an emergency. I like that people don't have to call several different numbers to talk to me.
You control who has your cell number. Sure, it may leak out through friends, but that's usually ok. I'm not sure I'd want it on my business card, but if it's there, *shrug*. You can always let voicemail get it. You don't lose any privacy due to having a cell phone. You may lose some peace of mind due to it ringing...but you can turn the ringer off.
I just reread your post. I think the main reason you don't understand why people like having cell phones, pagers, etc., is that you don't have a clear idea of what it is like to lead a lifestyle other than your own. I am simply not at home that much. If I want to see my friends other than at planned meetings, I need to be reachable.
For me (and many others) cell phones are a godsend. For you, a curse. To each his own.
That always bothered me about Terminator 2. It wasn't until Arnold actually pushed John out of harms way that you had any idea that he was "good." But, in all the trailers, and the interviews, you find out that Arnold is the good guy.
It didn't really spoil the movie, but it would have been very cool to be surprised.
If they put it out on DVD, they could have multiple tracks of audio. Perhaps the pure audio from the movie, (why not?), perhaps different jokes (XXX, clean).
That would be cool.
Jordan
Is it slashdotted already? I couldn't get in....
What's the target market for the two Shuttle designs? Do they even have expansion slots? What motherboards can they use? I'm a bit unimpressed by the info available on the site....
Jordan
Not according to the StarWars.com site. They say it might, but there is not guarantee.
I dropped out of college to start working. In looking back, I'm glad I had the college experience that I did (friends, drinking, what-have-you). But if you only look at it financially, it wasn't worth it.
So I'm glad I went, and I'm glad I quit.
Jordan