Flamebait? Really? Come on people. I kind of wish I hadn't used up the mod points I had this morning now. Maybe it was the lack of sarcasm tags that confused some people. Or maybe I'm missing something, but I think you were just making a humorous statement pointing out how a lot of people think the OLPC is God's gift to computing and will solve all of the world's problems within the next generation. It's a cool idea, and seems to be working pretty well, but a lot of people may be looking at this one through rose-colored glasses.
Of course, if you really were just being an ass, then flame on my good man.
Again, original author would mean both in a collaborative work. As for next of kin, I'll pose a hypothetical to you:
If you worked for McDonalds and happened to die in your home, would McDonalds be obligated to continue paying your next of kin your salary for the next 90 years? Why should copyright be considered any differently than a salary from McDonalds? See how silly that argument is for copyright?
This isn't quite the same. If you work at McDonalds and die at your home, McDonalds is not obligated to continue paying your salary. But the X other employees of the McDonalds you work at don't get your annual_salary/X. That situation is more similar to what the post you replied to was indicating. If two authors co-write a book and one dies before the other, it makes sense to me that the dead author's estate, or someone designated in the author's will, should continue getting his royalties. The fact that one author is dead should not lessen in any way his contribution to the original work.
"There is only 1 thing that brining a human to mars achieves, and thats a story."
Except for that sentence, I pretty much agree with you. There could be any number of things gained by sending humans to Mars. We could develop new techniques related to long distance space flight. We could develop a better understanding of the long term effects on humans of space flight. And those are just the first two things I could think of. As someone else pointed out, think of all the things we have now as a product of NASA and it's past space exploration. Who knows what researching and planning for a manned mission to another planet could produce? While we may not need men on mars, there may be benefits we can't imagine now that could be discovered by putting them there.
Of course, there is nothing saying the same advancements couldn't be achieved through private citizens/corporations doing the same thing. NASA and the US Government don't have a monopoly on innovation.
But where do we draw the line? How far do we bend over backwards to give in to the terrorist demands? I don't believe for a minute that if terrorist groups see us give in to their demands, they'll stop and say "Thanks so much for doing what we asked. We'll leave you alone for good now." What will probably happen is Al Qaeda or some other terrorist group will see us meet their demands and realize all they have to do is figure out how to kill a few thousand, or maybe even only a few hundred, American citizens, issue a set of demands, and sit back and wait for us to fall all over ourselves trying to meet them. Then another terrorist group, or perhaps the same one again, begins to see a pattern in our behavior and begins planning another attack.
And I also disagree with your point e. Terrorist groups aren't out to eliminate all other terrorist groups, especially those inspired by a religion or ideology. I've never met the man, but I doubt Bin Laden wants to be Supreme Terrorist Overlord of the World. Many of these terrorist groups would make natural allies with their hatred of a certain religion or religious sect, form of government, specific country, etc. In fact, some of the only times I can think of terrorists competing with each other is when they try and claim responsibility for something. You might see 3 or 4 groups all saying they blew the same thing up. That's about it.
You have to be careful with this statement though. In large corporate environments this is probably the case. However, in a smaller company, for instance the one I work for now, the person who looks at the resumes first started out here in the tech department and has a very strong technical background. A lot of small companies would tend toward this end of the spectrum because it doesn't make sense to have an HR person when the various managers can handle the HR tasks themselves.
Personally, I'd rather throw out oddball questions that most people won't expect from a manager and see if they actually know how to do what they claim they can -- or can at least think through the process
I've had a couple of interviews like that when I was applying for a co-op job in college. One interview was for a tech support over-the-phone job and they presented me with a few scenarios and asked me to talk through them as if the interviewer were the customer. Another interview for a system admin job (might have been database admin) they guy just started asking me random questions. "Why are manhole covers round?" "If I gave you a barometer and asked you to find the height of that building over there using the barometer, how would you do it?" Weird stuff like that. It wasn't until after the interview that I realized what was going on. He was trying to evaluate my critical thinking skills and my ability to think on my feet.
Right. But odds are, if the person hiring has never heard of the certifying body then they're going to be a little skeptical. And I would hope that a person hiring for an IT position would at least be familiar with the major certifying bodies. I also realize that may be a very naive thought.
I'd also like to point out that sometimes certifications aren't for you or your employer, but for your clients. Some of our clients require certain certifications because, as has been discussed, this is the simplest way to make sure they've got somebody screwing around on their network that knows enough about how it works to pass a test. Granted, there are probably a lot of people out there with more knowledge in a given area than the people actually certified in it, but how do you know who that is?
I'm kind of indifferent about certifications. I've done some by choice and some because it was strongly suggested. The ones by choice were done because I wanted to learn the material and I figured if I was going to do it anyway, I might as well get something out of it. And the ones I did at the urging of management were justifiable in their own way.
DON'T!!!! Read the book first that is. You then run the risk of being one of these people who complains about this favorite line or that great joke being left out in the movie.
Personally, I think you've got a better chance of enjoying both the book and the movie if you see the movie first, then read the book.
Take this as you will. I read the book first and still enjoyed the movie. I would have liked to see the leopard joke and I think the beginning was a little rushed, but I still enjoyed it.
So if you are going in demanding that they make a retelling of the book, then yes, you are better off staying at home.
After watching the movie, I was thoroughly conflicted. I enjoyed it, as a movie. As a retelling of the book, it left much to be desired. Once I accepted it for what it was, another retelling of a thoroughly amusing story, I was much happier.
Oh, and was it just me or did the Vogons look like the Sheyangs from Farscape.
not necessarily. someone mentioned earlier that some motorolla phones play this wonderfully annoying sound effect when you turn your phone off.
that's probably the one thing i hate about my phone. apparently someone involved in the design process decided that everyone in the room would like to know that you've just turned your phone off. can someone explain to me how that makes any sense?
I am no authority on these types of things but as a person who works in the as a contractor in the IT field, that $3.5 million is probably a long-term contract. At least I hope it was for more than just building the site.
"Finally, a web page for the younger kids probably isn't that great an idea. Most probably aren't familiar with the Internet, and a web page is much more static than a game. Add to that the fact that most probably can't read very well, and you have a recipe for failure. Remember to keep things as visually oriented as possible."
I would have to disagree. I was working just yesterday in a primary school and the kids in the classroom I was in (most likely about 1st grade or so) were browsing the web and reading just fine. And these kids were on the low end of the range being considered for this presentation.
Yes, the Bill of Rights is part of the Constitution. That's what an amendment does. However, the purpose of the Bill of Rights was to prevent the government from infringing on some basic rights that all humans had, by virtue of their being humans.
Slashdot Mirror
Of course, if you really were just being an ass, then flame on my good man.
"There is only 1 thing that brining a human to mars achieves, and thats a story."
Except for that sentence, I pretty much agree with you. There could be any number of things gained by sending humans to Mars. We could develop new techniques related to long distance space flight. We could develop a better understanding of the long term effects on humans of space flight. And those are just the first two things I could think of. As someone else pointed out, think of all the things we have now as a product of NASA and it's past space exploration. Who knows what researching and planning for a manned mission to another planet could produce? While we may not need men on mars, there may be benefits we can't imagine now that could be discovered by putting them there.
Of course, there is nothing saying the same advancements couldn't be achieved through private citizens/corporations doing the same thing. NASA and the US Government don't have a monopoly on innovation.
But where do we draw the line? How far do we bend over backwards to give in to the terrorist demands? I don't believe for a minute that if terrorist groups see us give in to their demands, they'll stop and say "Thanks so much for doing what we asked. We'll leave you alone for good now." What will probably happen is Al Qaeda or some other terrorist group will see us meet their demands and realize all they have to do is figure out how to kill a few thousand, or maybe even only a few hundred, American citizens, issue a set of demands, and sit back and wait for us to fall all over ourselves trying to meet them. Then another terrorist group, or perhaps the same one again, begins to see a pattern in our behavior and begins planning another attack. And I also disagree with your point e. Terrorist groups aren't out to eliminate all other terrorist groups, especially those inspired by a religion or ideology. I've never met the man, but I doubt Bin Laden wants to be Supreme Terrorist Overlord of the World. Many of these terrorist groups would make natural allies with their hatred of a certain religion or religious sect, form of government, specific country, etc. In fact, some of the only times I can think of terrorists competing with each other is when they try and claim responsibility for something. You might see 3 or 4 groups all saying they blew the same thing up. That's about it.
You have to be careful with this statement though. In large corporate environments this is probably the case. However, in a smaller company, for instance the one I work for now, the person who looks at the resumes first started out here in the tech department and has a very strong technical background. A lot of small companies would tend toward this end of the spectrum because it doesn't make sense to have an HR person when the various managers can handle the HR tasks themselves.
I've had a couple of interviews like that when I was applying for a co-op job in college. One interview was for a tech support over-the-phone job and they presented me with a few scenarios and asked me to talk through them as if the interviewer were the customer. Another interview for a system admin job (might have been database admin) they guy just started asking me random questions. "Why are manhole covers round?" "If I gave you a barometer and asked you to find the height of that building over there using the barometer, how would you do it?" Weird stuff like that. It wasn't until after the interview that I realized what was going on. He was trying to evaluate my critical thinking skills and my ability to think on my feet.
I'd also like to point out that sometimes certifications aren't for you or your employer, but for your clients. Some of our clients require certain certifications because, as has been discussed, this is the simplest way to make sure they've got somebody screwing around on their network that knows enough about how it works to pass a test. Granted, there are probably a lot of people out there with more knowledge in a given area than the people actually certified in it, but how do you know who that is?
I'm kind of indifferent about certifications. I've done some by choice and some because it was strongly suggested. The ones by choice were done because I wanted to learn the material and I figured if I was going to do it anyway, I might as well get something out of it. And the ones I did at the urging of management were justifiable in their own way.
Personally, I think you've got a better chance of enjoying both the book and the movie if you see the movie first, then read the book.
Take this as you will. I read the book first and still enjoyed the movie. I would have liked to see the leopard joke and I think the beginning was a little rushed, but I still enjoyed it.
After watching the movie, I was thoroughly conflicted. I enjoyed it, as a movie. As a retelling of the book, it left much to be desired. Once I accepted it for what it was, another retelling of a thoroughly amusing story, I was much happier.
Oh, and was it just me or did the Vogons look like the Sheyangs from Farscape.
Preview only works if you actually read your post.
Sweet! No I can post as the infamous "Anonymous Coward."
I'll take it!
not necessarily. someone mentioned earlier that some motorolla phones play this wonderfully annoying sound effect when you turn your phone off. that's probably the one thing i hate about my phone. apparently someone involved in the design process decided that everyone in the room would like to know that you've just turned your phone off. can someone explain to me how that makes any sense?
I am no authority on these types of things but as a person who works in the as a contractor in the IT field, that $3.5 million is probably a long-term contract. At least I hope it was for more than just building the site.
Must Consult Someone Else
I would have to disagree. I was working just yesterday in a primary school and the kids in the classroom I was in (most likely about 1st grade or so) were browsing the web and reading just fine. And these kids were on the low end of the range being considered for this presentation.
I've always been pleased with gdivx player. You should be able to get it here
I think what he meant was if the Samba team wins, then they have just proven in a legal sense that the GPL is invalid.
9th?
Yes, the Bill of Rights is part of the Constitution. That's what an amendment does. However, the purpose of the Bill of Rights was to prevent the government from infringing on some basic rights that all humans had, by virtue of their being humans.
How about the tv show "Speed Racer"