I noticed that the 1st reaction of most people was "wtf man just take the cash it's too much money to turn away" "think of all the good you can do" etc... but for many people this was also followed by the far more important 2nd reaction "OK - this can make sense if you think of it THIS way".
I think the real reason he rejected it might be far more simple than we make it to be, but the questioning of his motives by thousands of people is probably what is really interesting here.
If 1% of the people who hear of this story lose interest in amassing vast piles of cash, I think he has done a far greater thing than just solving what was fundamentally a complex puzzle with possibly no solution, he has given mankind back a piece of his dignity.
there is too much naval gazing and self congratulation in nations throughout the world
I totally agree. Here in France, we spend on average 10 hours a week looking at ships pass by and congratulating ourselves for it; something must be done.
Even if it's never implemented, the mere idea that such a thing is passed as law is enough to scare away current rookie/newbie pirates.
Until they meet their pirate friend with a 10 Tera collection of Everything Ever Published Ever, and realize that they've been scared by the the boogyman, again.
I find it interesting that NASA also mentioned this week that they want to build a forward base on the moon in order to allow for further exploration of the Solar System, specifically Mars.
Are they trying to drum up some support for their project ? Or just coincidence ?
MS then start putting seriously nice stuff into MS Linux, more and more people start to use it, become dependent on it, MS start making it easy to migrate from MS Linux to Windows, etc, etc - all sorts of strategies are available at that point.
And this is bad thing because... ?
I don't personally think that M$ actually cares about the market share of Linux distro in the desktop arena. It would be far more beneficial for them to FUD their way through and make sure nobody ELSE starts using it. They want to sell OS licenses, they want to sell Microsoft Office licenses. Their monopoly of the market kinda depends on the the way these two dominate their respective fields. They cannot afford to lose influence in one, or else the second will quickly follow.
We can make large metal crafts fly. We can cure some forms of blindness with light. While some people try on a daily basis to redefine the boundaries of man's capabilities, others are having trouble opening plastic packages.
How powerless one can feel without the Open here marker (not that it would help in this case, but still, you'd at least know where to start:) )
Well it's not really MY theory, I'm just assuming that it has to be something along those lines. I don't see any other reason why they would keep track of people's food orders.
That being said I was held for 3 hours in US custody for no reason besides having visited too many Arab countries. And I'm an Armenian Christian from France (my dad works as an expat in the Arab Gulf), so don't think they wouldn't stop you based on ONE factor.
It just means that if you're an 18-25 year old male from any country that ends with -stan and you ordered your meal to be halal then you're flagged as potential terrorist. It's as simple as that.
28 October 2006: Korea invents Robotic Sentry with Gattling Gun.
16 November 2006: Skyn^H^H^H^H Google plans to run on nuclear power.
26 November 2006: First Emotional Robot Created.
25 December 2006: Somebody somewhere decides to combine 2 of the aformentioned elements.
26 December 2006: End of the world as we know it.
If there was only one game in the world that had to exist, that game would be Civ. I'm pretty sure I've spent 1000+ hours playing through its multiple incarnations. And I'm not the only one. Addictive to the bone, unless you really hate this type of game. In which case we have nothing to say to each other.
Somebody go explain to others that software CANNOT, I repeat, CANNOT be compared with physical products.
While it would be convenient to those who "sell" software to convince you otherwise, don't forget that the price of replication of software is ZERO. And besides, if you don't like it, you don't die, you just have to look for a different vendor. Unlike a tire going flat in the middle of the highway:)
'The kids don't care,' [he] said, 'because only old people like you and me suffer from the illusion of privacy these days.'"
If 12-year olds don't see a problem sharing their data on the intarweb, then why should we ? Don't forget, kids are really those who know what's best for them; we're just old-fashioned cold-war fossiles.
I don't share personal data because I refuse to see 35 year old marketing d*cks make money off my back. It's as simple as that. And I don't need to make friends on crappy social networking websites. I have WoW for that ^^
It's easy for people on Slashdot to talk about ditch diggers and burger flippers. Most people with the time and access to learn about computers aren't wondering where their next meal is coming from, how they are going to keep the electricity on, or whether they might get shot when they step out of their house.
Speak for yourself, I'm pretty sure a few Slashdotters keep a 5.5-kilowatt home generator in the shed to make sure that they won't suffer from any downtime.
Slashdot Mirror
What? But I thought God was against condoms!
I noticed that the 1st reaction of most people was "wtf man just take the cash it's too much money to turn away" "think of all the good you can do" etc... but for many people this was also followed by the far more important 2nd reaction "OK - this can make sense if you think of it THIS way".
I think the real reason he rejected it might be far more simple than we make it to be, but the questioning of his motives by thousands of people is probably what is really interesting here.
If 1% of the people who hear of this story lose interest in amassing vast piles of cash, I think he has done a far greater thing than just solving what was fundamentally a complex puzzle with possibly no solution, he has given mankind back a piece of his dignity.
What is this "friend" thing you speak of?
Slippery slope fallacy ? You don't say... Fun read though, especially towards the end :D
No.
Until they meet their pirate friend with a 10 Tera collection of Everything Ever Published Ever, and realize that they've been scared by the the boogyman, again.
Decoy effect anyone?
Seriously, I've been taunted by too many 10-year-old's in LAN cafés, I don't want to have one in my friggin' house 24/7.
... I bought myself a Super Famicom with a converter instead.
I find it interesting that NASA also mentioned this week that they want to build a forward base on the moon in order to allow for further exploration of the Solar System, specifically Mars. Are they trying to drum up some support for their project ? Or just coincidence ?
Use the Lynx/Teoma combo.
We can make large metal crafts fly. We can cure some forms of blindness with light. While some people try on a daily basis to redefine the boundaries of man's capabilities, others are having trouble opening plastic packages. How powerless one can feel without the Open here marker (not that it would help in this case, but still, you'd at least know where to start :) )
Well it's not really MY theory, I'm just assuming that it has to be something along those lines. I don't see any other reason why they would keep track of people's food orders. That being said I was held for 3 hours in US custody for no reason besides having visited too many Arab countries. And I'm an Armenian Christian from France (my dad works as an expat in the Arab Gulf), so don't think they wouldn't stop you based on ONE factor.
It just means that if you're an 18-25 year old male from any country that ends with -stan and you ordered your meal to be halal then you're flagged as potential terrorist. It's as simple as that.
28 October 2006: Korea invents Robotic Sentry with Gattling Gun. 16 November 2006: Skyn^H^H^H^H Google plans to run on nuclear power. 26 November 2006: First Emotional Robot Created. 25 December 2006: Somebody somewhere decides to combine 2 of the aformentioned elements. 26 December 2006: End of the world as we know it.
If there was only one game in the world that had to exist, that game would be Civ. I'm pretty sure I've spent 1000+ hours playing through its multiple incarnations. And I'm not the only one. Addictive to the bone, unless you really hate this type of game. In which case we have nothing to say to each other.
Somebody go explain to others that software CANNOT, I repeat, CANNOT be compared with physical products. While it would be convenient to those who "sell" software to convince you otherwise, don't forget that the price of replication of software is ZERO. And besides, if you don't like it, you don't die, you just have to look for a different vendor. Unlike a tire going flat in the middle of the highway :)