Yup. More over, a lot of students never did a simple cost vs benefits analysis. I know doctors leaving school who have to live with their parents because they can't afford their loans, and probably never will be able to. Some even signed on for those debt forgiveness programs, where they go work with the under privileged for 10 years to get their debt wiped out, earning pennies while they're at it. They spent 8+ years getting their degrees, then are spending another 10+ years earning nothing much, so by the time they're 36 they haven't even gotten a real financial start on their life.
It's insanity. I don't blame the non-bankruptcy part of the equation, but rather the "guaranteed" loan part. If the government is guaranteeing funds flowing directly to colleges with no consequences, of course colleges are going to keep spending more and more and more. Why wouldn't they? Meanwhile, it's the dumbass kids whose lives are ground to dust in the process.
No shit, they got themselves saddled with crippling debt to begin with. I'll grant you, it's hardly fair to prey upon these kids, but they are adults technically. I wouldn't dream of depriving them of the consequences of their actions.
In the early 1900s there was a scientist who believed we had already figured everything out, we just had to sort out the details now.
That sentiment was ridiculous then and it's ridiculous now. If the idea flow seems to be slowing, it's not because we're running out of them. Rather, it's because society's problems are maturing. I guarantee a brand new class of need shows up, the ideas will flow faster than ever before.
Uh....because that's not the goal with government. Departments which make up our governments have an overriding goal; increase their budget. HR is the single largest expense for most departments, so it makes sense that's where they focus their efforts ( increasing head count regardless of need ).
Of course most government employees are union, which further exasperates this trend as you simply can't have one person doing another person's job. No lies; wasn't allowed to empty a trash can because my job classification didn't include it. So it had to sit there and be full for a week when I could have taken it down the hall in 2 minutes ( 2 minutes I had because there wasn't any work for me to currently do ).
That's government, and some large businesses. They don't want to reduce head count, they want to get their budget increased and approved.
Marking the start of a critical sales period that's expected to bring in billions for the telecom giant, workers are calling out AT&T's pay cuts for its retail employees and the company's rampant outsourcing and offshoring that undermine their job security and ability to provide quality customer service,
They do know who they're working for, right? AT&T is worse than Comcast when it comes to customer service.
I can understand regular media using the term "fast" to classify broadband characteristics, but as a tech site can't we do better? The term "speed" doesn't really make sense, especially when applied to bandwidth ( as is the case here ).
Using the same definition, a minivan full of thumb drives is "fast" in that it can deliver gigabytes of bandwidth, but I don't know that anyone would actually want to use such a connection.
An internet connection can be measured by 3 main metrics; latency, bandwidth and reliability ( well, and media if you want to get technical ). Perhaps we could start using that here?
It's refreshing to see people who will readily admit when they're wrong, since they're looking for the truth, not to prove a point.
That's always what I fall back two when people compare science to a religion: religion relies on faith - sticking to your beliefs no matter the evidence presented. Science will readily toss out everything they know and start over if something is proven to be wrong.
While accurate, the problem today is that many "scientists" aren't actually "scientists" in the sense that they can accept fault. They are, in essence, treating science like a religion, complete with the dogma.
To a certain extent this has always been a problem in science. Those "famous" scientific feuds are proof of that ( static universe vs big bag springs to mind ). However, lately this seems to have ramped up to insane levels. I attribute this to the internet, actually; instant communication enables idiots to feel like experts, amplifying the underlying problems to record levels.
And before anyone says it; yes, politics have always, unfortunately, meddled in science. Big tobacco and oil are prominent examples, but do any of us really trust "scientific" studies financed by the food industry?
So while your statement is factually true, people have muddied the water quite a bit ( as they always do ).
Mic, a website aimed at millennials, used to employ 40 writers and editors producing articles on topics like "celebrating beauty" and "strong women." Ten were let go this month, with most in the revamped newsroom of 63 now focused on making videos for places like Facebook.
And nothing of value was lost.
I really do hate videos though; won't watch them. They're a waste of time for me, as I am able to read and comprehend faster than any video can present the information.
This is made worse by the fact that folks who make the video seem intent on wasting even more time with intros and other cruft before getting to the subject.
Maybe initially. When it begins to impact them they'll care. Someone hack the thermostat and ran your AC bill up to 1000 bucks for the month? Suddenly security becomes quite the consideration.
Given the impact connected discrete peripherals can have on people, I fully expect this nonchalance towards security to be a phase. A very very short phase.
The problem is definitely multi-vectored. While the readers certainly suck, the registers themselves add a significant amount of overhead to the process. It honestly seems that the newer the register, the longer it takes to create a transaction and process a payment.
Hell, I'm not even talking about how long it takes the customer to figure out which end of the card to put in, when to take it out, ect...that's usually so much worse.
We ( the US ) "upgraded" to chip technology, and now a transaction which took 2 seconds before takes almost a minute now. The situation is exasperated by the software "upgrades" at the registers which make them run slower now than they did 10 years ago ( they were fast back then ). The situation is so bad at some stores that I've started carrying cash again because of how long a digital transaction takes.
1) Corrupt officials don't like using traceable payment methods? I'm SHOCKED!
2) We have to admit the possibility that the payment methods really do suck. 10 years ago the states had card swiping at the register, right? Quick, easy, efficient. Faster than cash OR checks, it was really the ideal solution ( except for the security ).
Then we "upgraded", and now it's faster to use cash and, often, checks. Chip transactions take forever, and that's only compounded by modern machines which run SLOWER than the software/hardware we had a decade ago.
So it's entirely within the realm of possibility that the shit we saddled them with really is horrible.
Mind you, I'm referring to humanity as a group, not as an individual. Once you see the strings, it's kinda hard to go back to believing in the tooth fairy, as it were.
The article is stumbling on to something that goes far beyond the latest news cycle. We're a tribal species, and until somewhat recently our survival depended on forming cohesive bonds with like minded individuals. In the past, that was our tribe; we would cleave to the opinion of the group in an effort to ensure our survival.
Those of you with a sharp eye might notice this leaves little room for independent thought or free will. You aren't wrong.
In modern times those behaviors still exist, but they're expressed differently. As our communication technology has advanced it has allowed us to form these tribal bonds with people who are otherwise physically distant, but because of the distance we do not get the constant feedback we'd otherwise get from an in-person association. The end result is an almost obsessive need to stalk friends and family online.
You'll note, danger doesn't really enter into it except as an amorphous "force" driving the need for socialization.
Us cord cutters aren't looking to retain all the crap we weren't watching anyway, so the article seems kinda moot.
To those of you thinking about cutting the cord, let me give you some advice; you don't need to waste your days glued to the TV. You can actually, you know, go outside if you're bored.
Well, "trolling the left" has certainly provoked a response. Not just from the left, either - from the business community, from the vast majority of Republican politicians, and from many of Trump's historically more loyal supporters. Apparently, making excuses for Nazis pisses off a lot of people. This week has cost Trump dearly in terms of poll numbers, business support, conservative media support, party support, and even forced his hand on firing Bannon.
I'd say the left doesn't really need to do "their side" any favors - Trump is doing more for them right now than they could ever do on their own.
I was hoping someone would post this, as it illustrates nicely what I'm talking about. When did make any excuses for Nazis or white supremacists?
Oh, and by all reports, Bannon put in his resignation weeks ago.
I partake in politics in the way connoisseurs do a new restaurant; I enjoy the experience, even when I'm ingesting something vile. That makes any online political discussion difficult for me as most folks can't handle my unique perspective; it doesn't fit in any box they understand.
That said.
Yes, absolutely love watching him twist his own party, the democrats and the media around his finger. His value-creation process has been particularly interesting for me to watch, but I suspect most folks won't really understand what I mean by that.
Trump is an artful marketeer. He ranks right up there with P.T. Barnum for great hype.
By all accounts, P.T. Barnum was a fantastic marketer. You have to admit some success, as here it is almost 200 years later and you know his name well enough to compare him to Trump.
Winning the primary, then Whitehouse against what would otherwise be called a "shoe in" candidate. The economy, kinda, but more concrete would be supreme court appointment and reduced immigration.
Mind you, I'm not saying these are good or bad, merely that they're accomplishments.
More fun has been his work against the media and in working towards replacing ACA. Sure, these are fuzzier accomplishments. You may even question if they count at all given he "failed" to overturn ACA. However, look at what was accomplished; prior to Trump ACA was seen as Obama's signature legislation. Now you routinely hear the left talking about how to fix it ( and as a small business owner, let me tell you; it absolutely needs to be fixed ).
I thought Trump was a joke at first, but now that I've been watching him for a while I can appreciate how masterfully he manipulates the media and public. If you love or hate the man, put aside your bias for a bit and you'll start to see it too.
Given Trump's successes thus far, can his behavior truly be said to be a problem? Mind you, I ask this question as a neutral party; I have an equally low opinion of all politicians and, in general, public leaders.
Hell, he wasn't even wrong in his comments about who was contributing to the violence. It was tone deaf, perhaps, but not wrong. He's not even wrong about the statues and their relationship to history. If anyone were to ask my opinion of his tactics, instead of calling his behavior crazy, I would suggest that it seems he's specifically trolling the left to provoke a disproportionate response.
And it's working.
So Trump a problem? Only to those who already hate him, perhaps, but they aren't doing "their side" any favors by allowing him to further provoke them.
Slashdot Mirror
Yup. More over, a lot of students never did a simple cost vs benefits analysis. I know doctors leaving school who have to live with their parents because they can't afford their loans, and probably never will be able to. Some even signed on for those debt forgiveness programs, where they go work with the under privileged for 10 years to get their debt wiped out, earning pennies while they're at it. They spent 8+ years getting their degrees, then are spending another 10+ years earning nothing much, so by the time they're 36 they haven't even gotten a real financial start on their life.
It's insanity. I don't blame the non-bankruptcy part of the equation, but rather the "guaranteed" loan part. If the government is guaranteeing funds flowing directly to colleges with no consequences, of course colleges are going to keep spending more and more and more. Why wouldn't they? Meanwhile, it's the dumbass kids whose lives are ground to dust in the process.
They're unable to come to a logical conclusion.
No shit, they got themselves saddled with crippling debt to begin with. I'll grant you, it's hardly fair to prey upon these kids, but they are adults technically. I wouldn't dream of depriving them of the consequences of their actions.
In the early 1900s there was a scientist who believed we had already figured everything out, we just had to sort out the details now.
That sentiment was ridiculous then and it's ridiculous now. If the idea flow seems to be slowing, it's not because we're running out of them. Rather, it's because society's problems are maturing. I guarantee a brand new class of need shows up, the ideas will flow faster than ever before.
Uh....because that's not the goal with government. Departments which make up our governments have an overriding goal; increase their budget. HR is the single largest expense for most departments, so it makes sense that's where they focus their efforts ( increasing head count regardless of need ).
Of course most government employees are union, which further exasperates this trend as you simply can't have one person doing another person's job. No lies; wasn't allowed to empty a trash can because my job classification didn't include it. So it had to sit there and be full for a week when I could have taken it down the hall in 2 minutes ( 2 minutes I had because there wasn't any work for me to currently do ).
That's government, and some large businesses. They don't want to reduce head count, they want to get their budget increased and approved.
Marking the start of a critical sales period that's expected to bring in billions for the telecom giant, workers are calling out AT&T's pay cuts for its retail employees and the company's rampant outsourcing and offshoring that undermine their job security and ability to provide quality customer service,
They do know who they're working for, right? AT&T is worse than Comcast when it comes to customer service.
I can understand regular media using the term "fast" to classify broadband characteristics, but as a tech site can't we do better? The term "speed" doesn't really make sense, especially when applied to bandwidth ( as is the case here ).
Using the same definition, a minivan full of thumb drives is "fast" in that it can deliver gigabytes of bandwidth, but I don't know that anyone would actually want to use such a connection.
An internet connection can be measured by 3 main metrics; latency, bandwidth and reliability ( well, and media if you want to get technical ). Perhaps we could start using that here?
Light speed's still a thing, right? Lemon Party is still ours, at least for a couple more years.
Just read that if you pass it through a standard SSL cypher, FRB121102 actually spells something out!
Let's see...g...o...a..t..s...e...wait
It's refreshing to see people who will readily admit when they're wrong, since they're looking for the truth, not to prove a point.
That's always what I fall back two when people compare science to a religion: religion relies on faith - sticking to your beliefs no matter the evidence presented. Science will readily toss out everything they know and start over if something is proven to be wrong.
While accurate, the problem today is that many "scientists" aren't actually "scientists" in the sense that they can accept fault. They are, in essence, treating science like a religion, complete with the dogma.
To a certain extent this has always been a problem in science. Those "famous" scientific feuds are proof of that ( static universe vs big bag springs to mind ). However, lately this seems to have ramped up to insane levels. I attribute this to the internet, actually; instant communication enables idiots to feel like experts, amplifying the underlying problems to record levels.
And before anyone says it; yes, politics have always, unfortunately, meddled in science. Big tobacco and oil are prominent examples, but do any of us really trust "scientific" studies financed by the food industry?
So while your statement is factually true, people have muddied the water quite a bit ( as they always do ).
Mic, a website aimed at millennials, used to employ 40 writers and editors producing articles on topics like "celebrating beauty" and "strong women." Ten were let go this month, with most in the revamped newsroom of 63 now focused on making videos for places like Facebook.
And nothing of value was lost.
I really do hate videos though; won't watch them. They're a waste of time for me, as I am able to read and comprehend faster than any video can present the information.
This is made worse by the fact that folks who make the video seem intent on wasting even more time with intros and other cruft before getting to the subject.
Maybe initially. When it begins to impact them they'll care. Someone hack the thermostat and ran your AC bill up to 1000 bucks for the month? Suddenly security becomes quite the consideration.
Given the impact connected discrete peripherals can have on people, I fully expect this nonchalance towards security to be a phase. A very very short phase.
Central CA.
The problem is definitely multi-vectored. While the readers certainly suck, the registers themselves add a significant amount of overhead to the process. It honestly seems that the newer the register, the longer it takes to create a transaction and process a payment.
Hell, I'm not even talking about how long it takes the customer to figure out which end of the card to put in, when to take it out, ect...that's usually so much worse.
We ( the US ) "upgraded" to chip technology, and now a transaction which took 2 seconds before takes almost a minute now. The situation is exasperated by the software "upgrades" at the registers which make them run slower now than they did 10 years ago ( they were fast back then ). The situation is so bad at some stores that I've started carrying cash again because of how long a digital transaction takes.
Maybe these Afgan folks are on to something here.
1) Corrupt officials don't like using traceable payment methods? I'm SHOCKED!
2) We have to admit the possibility that the payment methods really do suck. 10 years ago the states had card swiping at the register, right? Quick, easy, efficient. Faster than cash OR checks, it was really the ideal solution ( except for the security ).
Then we "upgraded", and now it's faster to use cash and, often, checks. Chip transactions take forever, and that's only compounded by modern machines which run SLOWER than the software/hardware we had a decade ago.
So it's entirely within the realm of possibility that the shit we saddled them with really is horrible.
Mind you, I'm referring to humanity as a group, not as an individual. Once you see the strings, it's kinda hard to go back to believing in the tooth fairy, as it were.
The article is stumbling on to something that goes far beyond the latest news cycle. We're a tribal species, and until somewhat recently our survival depended on forming cohesive bonds with like minded individuals. In the past, that was our tribe; we would cleave to the opinion of the group in an effort to ensure our survival.
Those of you with a sharp eye might notice this leaves little room for independent thought or free will. You aren't wrong.
In modern times those behaviors still exist, but they're expressed differently. As our communication technology has advanced it has allowed us to form these tribal bonds with people who are otherwise physically distant, but because of the distance we do not get the constant feedback we'd otherwise get from an in-person association. The end result is an almost obsessive need to stalk friends and family online.
You'll note, danger doesn't really enter into it except as an amorphous "force" driving the need for socialization.
Get it together!
That's what you get for getting up before noon.
Us cord cutters aren't looking to retain all the crap we weren't watching anyway, so the article seems kinda moot.
To those of you thinking about cutting the cord, let me give you some advice; you don't need to waste your days glued to the TV. You can actually, you know, go outside if you're bored.
I doubt there are many Republicans who feel good about what Trump is doing to the party.
Suits me just fine. The more chaos induced in our government, the happier I am.
Well, "trolling the left" has certainly provoked a response. Not just from the left, either - from the business community, from the vast majority of Republican politicians, and from many of Trump's historically more loyal supporters. Apparently, making excuses for Nazis pisses off a lot of people. This week has cost Trump dearly in terms of poll numbers, business support, conservative media support, party support, and even forced his hand on firing Bannon.
I'd say the left doesn't really need to do "their side" any favors - Trump is doing more for them right now than they could ever do on their own.
I was hoping someone would post this, as it illustrates nicely what I'm talking about. When did make any excuses for Nazis or white supremacists?
Oh, and by all reports, Bannon put in his resignation weeks ago.
I partake in politics in the way connoisseurs do a new restaurant; I enjoy the experience, even when I'm ingesting something vile. That makes any online political discussion difficult for me as most folks can't handle my unique perspective; it doesn't fit in any box they understand.
That said.
Yes, absolutely love watching him twist his own party, the democrats and the media around his finger. His value-creation process has been particularly interesting for me to watch, but I suspect most folks won't really understand what I mean by that.
Trump is an artful marketeer. He ranks right up there with P.T. Barnum for great hype.
By all accounts, P.T. Barnum was a fantastic marketer. You have to admit some success, as here it is almost 200 years later and you know his name well enough to compare him to Trump.
The comparison to Trump is apt.
Winning the primary, then Whitehouse against what would otherwise be called a "shoe in" candidate. The economy, kinda, but more concrete would be supreme court appointment and reduced immigration.
Mind you, I'm not saying these are good or bad, merely that they're accomplishments.
More fun has been his work against the media and in working towards replacing ACA. Sure, these are fuzzier accomplishments. You may even question if they count at all given he "failed" to overturn ACA. However, look at what was accomplished; prior to Trump ACA was seen as Obama's signature legislation. Now you routinely hear the left talking about how to fix it ( and as a small business owner, let me tell you; it absolutely needs to be fixed ).
I thought Trump was a joke at first, but now that I've been watching him for a while I can appreciate how masterfully he manipulates the media and public. If you love or hate the man, put aside your bias for a bit and you'll start to see it too.
Given Trump's successes thus far, can his behavior truly be said to be a problem? Mind you, I ask this question as a neutral party; I have an equally low opinion of all politicians and, in general, public leaders.
Hell, he wasn't even wrong in his comments about who was contributing to the violence. It was tone deaf, perhaps, but not wrong. He's not even wrong about the statues and their relationship to history. If anyone were to ask my opinion of his tactics, instead of calling his behavior crazy, I would suggest that it seems he's specifically trolling the left to provoke a disproportionate response.
And it's working.
So Trump a problem? Only to those who already hate him, perhaps, but they aren't doing "their side" any favors by allowing him to further provoke them.