so that beige box sitting next to you is 'artistic'?
i did 'mods' on cars when i was younger, now i do mods on my pc. it's not all that different. for me at least, it's more about stepping away from the monitor and doing something with my hands--it may look like crap to you, but i think the mods look pretty damn nice. if nothing else, i get to play around with powertools and enjoy some sunshine. can't beat that, since i stare at a monitor 5 days of the week.
and no, i didn't RTFA because it was/.ed, but i'd bet that a majority of mods don't take place in a factory, they take place in someone's garage or front porch. try it sometime, you may actually enjoy cutting into something you spent a ton of money on.
As I read the posts here, it strikes me that now is no different, it's just a different group that the public hears. The scientists, poets, playwrights of earlier times were the celebrities of that era. They were looked up to and listened to. That's why so much of that history is tied to political leanings.
Just as the celebrities of our time are just as outspoken. Actors, actresses, musicians--their comments on Bush, Iraq, Blair.
It's just a different era and those that have the public's ear are not those same 'lofty' thinkers as they were then. Torvalds, Gates, or Jobs might have political leanings you've never even thought of, but it'll probably never make it to the press. It's just not what the public wants anymore.
I've mentioned this offhandedly before, but the reason I think that Neal Stephenson is amazing is because of what he is currently doing. He's gone from a 'eco-terrorist' to a cyberpunk writer. Then he took it a step further and became a New York Times Bestselling Author writing straight fiction.
He's made a transition from scifi to fiction, but carried the tech along with it. 50 years from now, there's only going to be a few authors from this genre (scifi) that will still be read, and I believe that Stephenson will be one of those. He can tell a story, when he gets down to it. Why do people still read Phillip K. Dick? Why are there now movies being made from his stories? Because he can tell a story, in the end. Why is Stephenson still being posted here? Because his stories are good. He might get a bit bogged down in the details, but he's a great storyteller and that's why I'll start 'The Confusion' tomorrow and I can't wait for the 3rd part of trilogy. He's had some time to develop his skill, I'm guessing that the entire trilogy and 'Cryptonomicon' taken as a whole, will tell an entirely diffent story, taken altogether.
2. Create soccer playing robots. 3. ???? 4. Profit!...No, that doesn't seem to work.
In Soviet Russia, the robot uses you as the soccer ball...No, that doesn't either.
These are not the robots you're looking for...Nope.
Oh, I got it. I for one welcome our new soccer robot overlords.
Re:Bruce Sterlings previous work has been weak
on
The Zenith Angle
·
· Score: 1
I'll be honest, I haven't read Schismatrix or Holy Fire (I've picked them up many a time), but, by that point, I was already discouraged with Sterling and I didn't feel like wasting my money. He also reminds me of Greg Bear (but on a tech slant). I enjoy reading both Sterling and Bear, but I just don't think they've got the ability to tell a Good story. They both have amazing ideas, they just don't capitalize on them.
But hey, that's just me. I enjoy any writer that can tell a story and make me think for a second. Robert Charles Wilson is amazing because he can tell a story, but I don't think his ideas are there. I just want people to read, I love books and I love when people take a second out of their lives to think about something. At least they'll have a good argument in the meantime.
Re:Parallel to William Gibson
on
The Zenith Angle
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
No, I disagree. Gibson may not like tech, but he at least has the foresight to see where it's going. I received 'Pattern Recognition' as a gift and I was blown away. Granted, the googling crap was cliche, but a story based around a video being released anonymously over the web, complete with watermarks. That's such a brilliant story for us.
I have an English degree and I work in IT. I've written a few scifi stories myself, but some of Gibson's stories absolutely floor me--especially for someone that didn't even use a computer at the time he was writing these stories. I've read a few of Sterling's books, and I haven't gotten much out of them. If nothing else, he's playing on topics that have already been used. The whole idea of scifi (and fiction) is to create a story that makes one think. I read to escape the crap that happens on a day-to-day basis, not to hear the same story/idea I heard earlier in my office.
Re:Bruce Sterlings previous work has been weak
on
The Zenith Angle
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
I agree. Oh course, Gibson will remain supreme, but i think that Pat Cadigan is another author worthy of reading. She (yes, she's a female) is a great storyteller and her use of 'porn' in her stories is quite interesting.
And we have all read Neal Stephenson, and I think his move to more of a fiction-based story is quite interesting. Since 'Cryptonomicon', he's basically telling a normal story with a bunch of tech/crpyto stuff thrown in.
I always thought Sterling was a bit weak in his storytelling and writing skills. Even 'The Difference Engine' was a struggle for me to make it through. Stephenson's psuedonym, Stephen Bury, reminds me of Sterling, but with a much better writing ability.
Enjoy.
If it's anything like Sterling's, 'Distraction'...
on
The Zenith Angle
·
· Score: 1
Then it will be bad. Very bad. Terribly bad.
(Did that fact that he used that same sentence every 3 pages drive anyone else insane?)
I think TwistedSpring is right on in asking this question. I'm always explaining what a firewall, spyware, or Anti-Virus software is. The internet has become commonplace, grandparents are using email, it's become another form of media.
But as it grows, there is also more risk. I think that educating the new users is mandatory. I oftentimes find myself saying, "it's not as safe as it was, but here's some sites to look at to protect your computer." The average joe looks to his 'geek buddy in the office' to point him in the right direction when his pc keeps shutting down because he's got the blaster worm. my speil of zonealarm, spybot, and norton is at least enough to keep them going. i honestly think that as more and more people are introduced to the web, the more it can grow.
granted, i'm tired of cleaning viruses and malware off of pc's, but maybe if i keep harping on computer protection, eventually joe sixpack will listen and when his buddy says his computer's acting strange, he'll say, 'do you have anti-virus software on it?'
It seems a bit obvious why he's carrying that much in cash, especially in 20s. He obviously wears his tinfoil hat all the time, so he probably runs a magnet over every credit/check/library/business card he gets and never uses them. A lot of places won't take bills over $20 so if he carries 20s, he's fine.
Exactly. ESR isn't a n00b, but it seems that everytime someone has a question, even if it's not a question a newbie would ask, the only respone you get is 'read the man pages', 'n00b', et al. Jeez, do you wonder why users have such a hard time switching over to linux? Not everyone wants to run a server. Not everyone wants to have a firewall equivalent to fort knox. Some of us just want a choice.
I'm broke, i like technology--computers and electronics. I like to figure things out and I'm good at these things. But when I get stuck and I've done as much research as I can to find a solution, i don't need a bunch of 'read the man pages' responses when I ask a question. Believe me, I've looked there. That was probably the first place i looked.
Sometimes you've got to help a few people along before you get to where you're wanting to go.
As I see it, even if M$ were forced to remove WMP from the install CD, it would be listed as a 'Critical update' when you went to Windows Update. I recently did a clean install of Windows and WMP 9.1 was included as a critical update. Anyone common user would automatically install it.
I work at a small company which offers a customer support line. Our president has recently suggested recording an extension that, when a customer begins to use profanity/abusive language, states that, 'Here at XYZ company, we do not appreciate such language. Please respect our Customer Service Representatives and use appropriate language. Thank you!" Then transfers them back to the call queue.
We later decided that it would only infuriate the customer more, but what a great way to get to get a little revenge in the 'smile while speaking' world.
I can see that you've got your MBA degrees, fine, but your post rather frightens me.
will make us a better, truer, purer race of people
That statement worries me--sounds a bit too nazi-ish. i enjoy diversity, i enjoy the fact that not everyone sees things from the same side of the fence.
Granted, this might be a bit OT. I was more responding to this post and the *apparent* knowledge that just because they've got more than an undergraduate degree to hang on their wall they understand that the world consists of many different people.
most addiction is based on ritual. i've found that substituting that 'ritual' for something similar is the best starting point.
your mind (and your body) are used to a certain way things proceed. if you get up and pour a cup of coffee, pour a glass of oj instead. if you get to work and immediately go to the coffee pot, substitute a cup of water instead.
i decided to kick caffeine after i realized how jittery i was, you've set the date, now you just have to stick to it. sometimes you have to 'fool' your body by performing similar actions. a can of fruit juice instead of a coke, a cup of water instead of a cup of coffee.
step back in moderation. 4 cups of coffee in the morning? just drink one. 3 cokes in the afternoon? one at lunch. eventually getting to none.
the headaches will come. just ride them out, or look for a pain reliever that doesn't have caffeine (alot of them do). but give it 4 or 5 days and they'll be gone. believe me, i know.
and just know that afterwards, you wake up in the morning wore awake than you ever had before and falling asleep is just as easy. good luck!
Fubar hit it on the head. the economy sucks, IT balked, anyone who didn't decide to graduate with a CS or MIS degree got canned. i've been busting ass between delivering pizzas, tech support, and developing small business websites just to make the ends meet.
and the don't always justify the .
anyone can escape--it just takes someone dedicated to make it.
Slashdot Mirror
so that beige box sitting next to you is 'artistic'?
/.ed, but i'd bet that a majority of mods don't take place in a factory, they take place in someone's garage or front porch. try it sometime, you may actually enjoy cutting into something you spent a ton of money on.
i did 'mods' on cars when i was younger, now i do mods on my pc. it's not all that different. for me at least, it's more about stepping away from the monitor and doing something with my hands--it may look like crap to you, but i think the mods look pretty damn nice. if nothing else, i get to play around with powertools and enjoy some sunshine. can't beat that, since i stare at a monitor 5 days of the week.
and no, i didn't RTFA because it was
Clicky Link
For future reference, use the Your Link NameExample:
As I read the posts here, it strikes me that now is no different, it's just a different group that the public hears. The scientists, poets, playwrights of earlier times were the celebrities of that era. They were looked up to and listened to. That's why so much of that history is tied to political leanings.
Just as the celebrities of our time are just as outspoken. Actors, actresses, musicians--their comments on Bush, Iraq, Blair.
It's just a different era and those that have the public's ear are not those same 'lofty' thinkers as they were then. Torvalds, Gates, or Jobs might have political leanings you've never even thought of, but it'll probably never make it to the press. It's just not what the public wants anymore.
I've mentioned this offhandedly before, but the reason I think that Neal Stephenson is amazing is because of what he is currently doing. He's gone from a 'eco-terrorist' to a cyberpunk writer. Then he took it a step further and became a New York Times Bestselling Author writing straight fiction.
He's made a transition from scifi to fiction, but carried the tech along with it. 50 years from now, there's only going to be a few authors from this genre (scifi) that will still be read, and I believe that Stephenson will be one of those. He can tell a story, when he gets down to it. Why do people still read Phillip K. Dick? Why are there now movies being made from his stories? Because he can tell a story, in the end. Why is Stephenson still being posted here? Because his stories are good. He might get a bit bogged down in the details, but he's a great storyteller and that's why I'll start 'The Confusion' tomorrow and I can't wait for the 3rd part of trilogy. He's had some time to develop his skill, I'm guessing that the entire trilogy and 'Cryptonomicon' taken as a whole, will tell an entirely diffent story, taken altogether.
Just my thoughts...
Let's see...
2. Create soccer playing robots.
3. ????
4. Profit!...No, that doesn't seem to work.
In Soviet Russia, the robot uses you as the soccer ball...No, that doesn't either.
These are not the robots you're looking for...Nope.
Oh, I got it. I for one welcome our new soccer robot overlords.
I'll be honest, I haven't read Schismatrix or Holy Fire (I've picked them up many a time), but, by that point, I was already discouraged with Sterling and I didn't feel like wasting my money. He also reminds me of Greg Bear (but on a tech slant). I enjoy reading both Sterling and Bear, but I just don't think they've got the ability to tell a Good story. They both have amazing ideas, they just don't capitalize on them.
But hey, that's just me. I enjoy any writer that can tell a story and make me think for a second. Robert Charles Wilson is amazing because he can tell a story, but I don't think his ideas are there. I just want people to read, I love books and I love when people take a second out of their lives to think about something. At least they'll have a good argument in the meantime.
No, I disagree. Gibson may not like tech, but he at least has the foresight to see where it's going. I received 'Pattern Recognition' as a gift and I was blown away. Granted, the googling crap was cliche, but a story based around a video being released anonymously over the web, complete with watermarks. That's such a brilliant story for us.
I have an English degree and I work in IT. I've written a few scifi stories myself, but some of Gibson's stories absolutely floor me--especially for someone that didn't even use a computer at the time he was writing these stories. I've read a few of Sterling's books, and I haven't gotten much out of them. If nothing else, he's playing on topics that have already been used. The whole idea of scifi (and fiction) is to create a story that makes one think. I read to escape the crap that happens on a day-to-day basis, not to hear the same story/idea I heard earlier in my office.
I agree. Oh course, Gibson will remain supreme, but i think that Pat Cadigan is another author worthy of reading. She (yes, she's a female) is a great storyteller and her use of 'porn' in her stories is quite interesting.
And we have all read Neal Stephenson, and I think his move to more of a fiction-based story is quite interesting. Since 'Cryptonomicon', he's basically telling a normal story with a bunch of tech/crpyto stuff thrown in.
I always thought Sterling was a bit weak in his storytelling and writing skills. Even 'The Difference Engine' was a struggle for me to make it through. Stephenson's psuedonym, Stephen Bury, reminds me of Sterling, but with a much better writing ability.
Enjoy.
Then it will be bad. Very bad. Terribly bad.
(Did that fact that he used that same sentence every 3 pages drive anyone else insane?)
I think TwistedSpring is right on in asking this question. I'm always explaining what a firewall, spyware, or Anti-Virus software is. The internet has become commonplace, grandparents are using email, it's become another form of media.
But as it grows, there is also more risk. I think that educating the new users is mandatory. I oftentimes find myself saying, "it's not as safe as it was, but here's some sites to look at to protect your computer." The average joe looks to his 'geek buddy in the office' to point him in the right direction when his pc keeps shutting down because he's got the blaster worm. my speil of zonealarm, spybot, and norton is at least enough to keep them going. i honestly think that as more and more people are introduced to the web, the more it can grow.
granted, i'm tired of cleaning viruses and malware off of pc's, but maybe if i keep harping on computer protection, eventually joe sixpack will listen and when his buddy says his computer's acting strange, he'll say, 'do you have anti-virus software on it?'
wait. the super solenoid in the evas?
wow, i thought that was only in NGE.
It seems a bit obvious why he's carrying that much in cash, especially in 20s. He obviously wears his tinfoil hat all the time, so he probably runs a magnet over every credit/check/library/business card he gets and never uses them. A lot of places won't take bills over $20 so if he carries 20s, he's fine.
Conspiracy theory at it's best.
Exactly. ESR isn't a n00b, but it seems that everytime someone has a question, even if it's not a question a newbie would ask, the only respone you get is 'read the man pages', 'n00b', et al. Jeez, do you wonder why users have such a hard time switching over to linux? Not everyone wants to run a server. Not everyone wants to have a firewall equivalent to fort knox. Some of us just want a choice.
I'm broke, i like technology--computers and electronics. I like to figure things out and I'm good at these things. But when I get stuck and I've done as much research as I can to find a solution, i don't need a bunch of 'read the man pages' responses when I ask a question. Believe me, I've looked there. That was probably the first place i looked.
Sometimes you've got to help a few people along before you get to where you're wanting to go.
As I see it, even if M$ were forced to remove WMP from the install CD, it would be listed as a 'Critical update' when you went to Windows Update. I recently did a clean install of Windows and WMP 9.1 was included as a critical update. Anyone common user would automatically install it.
How does that really help the situation?
I work at a small company which offers a customer support line. Our president has recently suggested recording an extension that, when a customer begins to use profanity/abusive language, states that, 'Here at XYZ company, we do not appreciate such language. Please respect our Customer Service Representatives and use appropriate language. Thank you!" Then transfers them back to the call queue.
We later decided that it would only infuriate the customer more, but what a great way to get to get a little revenge in the 'smile while speaking' world.
I can see that you've got your MBA degrees, fine, but your post rather frightens me.
will make us a better, truer, purer race of people
That statement worries me--sounds a bit too nazi-ish. i enjoy diversity, i enjoy the fact that not everyone sees things from the same side of the fence.
Granted, this might be a bit OT. I was more responding to this post and the *apparent* knowledge that just because they've got more than an undergraduate degree to hang on their wall they understand that the world consists of many different people.
ha. Great simpsons reference as the subject.
nice. a litte faith no more in the house.
most addiction is based on ritual. i've found that substituting that 'ritual' for something similar is the best starting point. your mind (and your body) are used to a certain way things proceed. if you get up and pour a cup of coffee, pour a glass of oj instead. if you get to work and immediately go to the coffee pot, substitute a cup of water instead. i decided to kick caffeine after i realized how jittery i was, you've set the date, now you just have to stick to it. sometimes you have to 'fool' your body by performing similar actions. a can of fruit juice instead of a coke, a cup of water instead of a cup of coffee. step back in moderation. 4 cups of coffee in the morning? just drink one. 3 cokes in the afternoon? one at lunch. eventually getting to none. the headaches will come. just ride them out, or look for a pain reliever that doesn't have caffeine (alot of them do). but give it 4 or 5 days and they'll be gone. believe me, i know. and just know that afterwards, you wake up in the morning wore awake than you ever had before and falling asleep is just as easy. good luck!
Fubar hit it on the head. the economy sucks, IT balked, anyone who didn't decide to graduate with a CS or MIS degree got canned. i've been busting ass between delivering pizzas, tech support, and developing small business websites just to make the ends meet. and the don't always justify the . anyone can escape--it just takes someone dedicated to make it.