If it ISN'T your bar then, technically, it would probably be insignificant even if the prop blew the place to pieces, unless you were in the vicinity. When it IS your bar then it becomes significant.
I watch all those shows on Hulu (www.hulu.com)
when I want so it doesn't make any difference to me when they ACTUALLY air on TV. Watching shows on TV without Tivo is so 90's anyway. I can't believe anyone on Slashdot hasn't figured out how to tape the shows they want so they can watch them anytime.
After all this is "News for Nerds".
I look at the 60's counterculture as a methaphor for the rise of Microsoft. It felt good to have you're own computer with you're own operating system where you could do whatever you want without submitting your request to the "mainframe acolytes". It was like "free love" or getting high. Unfortunately, Microsoft was doomed to failure just like "free love" because it is an adolescent fantasy that neglects certain long-term realities.
I have worked for the government and witnessed firsthand the "orgy" of software development that ensued with the introduction of PC. I watched software projects bloat then die from the undisciplined pile up of requirements. I stood in amazement as program managers spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on programs that were glorified spreadsheets. I was annoyed as the same programs were rewritten from scratch to look sexier but do mostly the same thing. Nobody can waste money on software like the state and federal governments.
This eventually lead to the lockdown of systems in contracts like NMCI (Navy Marine Corps Intranet) to stop the "f**king around" with computers. I see Google as just another way to wrest wasteful IT spending from individual departments. They can't completely stop people from "getting high" on software development but they can try and keep it from interfering with critical systems and create a more unified infrastructure.
Why can't we just focus on the good news! Microsoft/"Free Love" is going away slowly but surely. Adult supervision is back in vogue and it's about time.
You are so "crack-a-lackin" correct! It would be nice if companies like RedHat and Novell made more headway into supplying government. I know the Navy has the "completely screwed-up" NMCI contract but I'm not sure what the hold up is in some of the other government agencies.
I also blame laziness and inertia. Non-technical government employees don't want to change from Windows because it's all they know and it took them a long time to learn how to setup their favorite screensaver and check email.
You are so right. The really interesting thing to me is that I like the Guitar Hero versions of songs BETTER than the originals, in most cases. They're cleaner, crisper and the lyrics are easier to understand.
You misconstrued my comment. I don't think that H-1B workers do "dumb-ass, cheap, shoddy" work because they WANT to but because they MUST to keep their jobs and because, when it comes to software, they also don't know any better. I could try and explain why current software development processes are like current manufacturing processes in that they make money for the company but they hurt us in the long run. I could, but the information is already out there for anyone who has been in the business long enough to start questioning how software is written. Big corporations hire bright, young minds because they're smart enough to do the job and inexperienced enough to NOT ask the deeper questions like "Why?"
I never doubted that H-1B visa workers made comparable salaries. This is America where the more you're willing to violate your conscience, the more money you can make. If you don't have a conscience then there isn't really anything to violate so it's much easier. When you are willing to do absolutely anything to make money you can become a rich actor or musician. Making money is really only a function of how far you are willing to go to make yourself compliant to the world system.
I would be interested to know what you think in 20 years when you know more about how business decisions are made, when you have to balance work and a family, and when you discover just how merciless business can be.
I had a similar idea. Because we don't have the "last mile" infrastructure or pedestrian-friendly high-density cities, a traditional rail system doesn't work that well in most of the US. One solution is to build a rail system that accepts cars so that the car can go faster while on the rails and get power from them. Then electric cars become feasible with the current battery technology.
The rail system would have stations that test each car before allowing it on the track to verify that it won't cause problems when it's on the tracks. The car would be routed like a network packet to its requested destination at backbone speeds that would be beyond what a human could safely drive. Then, once at the destination, the driver would take over and drive the last few miles to the ultimate destination.
If someone can tell me why this can't work for technical reasons I would be interested in hearing about it. I certainly wouldn't let Microsoft develop the track routing or car control software but the concept seems feasible to me if done by the right people.
Real doctors used leeches at one time!
on
Trick or Treatment
·
· Score: 1
The real lie is that there is a "silver bullet" for every illness. If people live unhealthy lives by having poor diets, smoking, doing drugs (mostly the illegal kind), not exercising, not getting sufficient rest, etc. then nothing will help them in the long run if they know its unhealthy and choose otherwise.
Licensed doctors are often just as guilty as the "alternative medicine" quacks as telling the patient what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear. The sicker people are the more problems they have with prescription drugs because of the side effects and various other problems including liver toxicity and nutrient depletion. Just see what a conscientious pharmacist has to say about prescription drugs: Dear Pharmacist
Although disciplines like acupuncture and chiropractic provide only temporary relief if you don't make lifestyle changes to support a permanent improvement, they are valuable for people who can't or wont take drugs. People may make outrageous claims about the possible results but that doesn't make them useless. I've personally benefited from chiropractic manipulation but it was a consistent exercise and stretching routine that ultimately kept my back and neck pain away.
Alternative medicine may not live up to all the hype that is out there but many people seem to benefit from visiting someone who listens to them and tells them they are getting better. All important battles are won or lost in the mind first. If a person is convinced they are going to die then no doctor is going to be able to help them in the long run. Conversely, if a person believes that they are going to get healthy then they will find a way to get healthy. Our belief system will always determine our ultimate reality. Its not necessarily what people say that counts but what they really believe.
It is really scary how few people really understood what Dijkstra was saying. My best guess is that because most people learn programming backwards, IMHO, by starting with the languages and then learning higher-level logical constructs, like state machines or even lists or maps, it has permanently skewed their perspective.
My experience, after over 10 years as a system test engineer on software systems, is that poor software really is from a lack of discipline in starting with mathematical constructs before writing the code. I generally worked with very experienced programmers who didn't make a lot of language errors, like improper use of pointers, but were still tripped up by things like when to free allocated memory. The kind of errors that wouldn't occur very often if the discipline of using a mathematical construct like a hierarchical state machine was enforced. For instance, instead of starting with a proven state machine library they would just set flags and create an adhoc state machine that was riddled with problems.
I checked several of the domains and WHOIS doesn't show anyone in Kentucky as any of the contacts. This sounds like a joke to me. If it isn't then there are some people who are going to get laughed at for sure
Thanks for the info. My antenna is in the attic and has a very limited range for rotation. I already tried rotating it to get a signal, which didn't help, so I'll probably have to put it on the roof.
I've already tried using the digital TV receiver in my area (Ventura County, CA) and I only get 3 stations that all seem to be related. The major stations are supposed to already be transmitting a digital signal but I can't get any of them (ABC, NBC, etc).
I guess I'll miss out on all the car chases that are followed by news helicopters and the witty news anchor banter. Oh well, somehow I'll get by.
I find that engineers generally are responsible and highly adaptable people. Once they've vented and realized that the world changed and/or they've changed, they find some way to make ends meet. The ones, like me, that are hamstrung by spouses that are risk-adverse, still manage to land on their feet. Starting my own software company is just not an option for me if I still want to be married next week. I'm currently managing an eBay store for the owner of a brick-and-mortar store. That's about the extent of the risk I can take right now.
I'm hoping someone will write a book called "Growing Old in the USA" that chronicles how people have adapted to our frenetic pace of life as they age. I've seen the ones that hang tough and keep putting in the long hours and/or extensive travel and it's not a pretty sight. The rest of their family generally loses when that "balance" you mentioned is not maintained. Plus their health usually suffers. I want to hear about the ones that chucked it all and started an Alpaca farm in Washington.
Your ability to not let bitterness or self-pity immobilize you is commendable. It's the "smack down" that I have a problem with. IMHO, it shows a lack of compassion. Nobody gets to be an engineer without a certain amount of "mental fortitude" and grit. If they want to vent a bit on Slashdot, why should that irritate you? Do you think you're helping someone by telling them to "stop whining!"?
I also have a problem with people who don't want to give up their SUV but I'm assuming your joking about that because it's in your sig.
It obvious that you're still a relatively young person or at least someone who doesn't have many responsibilities outside of work. I would print out and frame your response so when the really hard times come in your life, and they ALWAYS do, you'll understand why no one around you seems to care.
So at what scale does the background radiation of the Earth damage the device shortly after its produced? Are production CPUs commonly protected from normal radiation exposures now?
You are missing the point. If we are doing something that hurts the environment then we need to stop it before it's too late. Since we won't know if it's too late until it's ACTUALLY too late I'd rather err on the side of safety. I can live with looking foolish because I tried to live and encourage a sustainable lifestyle but found out I could have easily kept the status quo for another 100 years. Nobody, nobody sane that is, is going to push environmentalism over food, shelter and clothing so the question is what are you willing to give up to ensure that the next generation isn't forced to clean up our mistakes? Global warming is just one issue in a whole panoply of environmental issues that are affecting us NOW.
You're right when you say that we don't KNOW what is going to happen. Just like a lot of smokers didn't KNOW that they were going to get lung cancer from smoking. Sometimes you just have to go on gut instinct: "Maybe sticking a burning object in my mouth and inhaling isn't a good idea?". My gut is telling me that we will pay a heavy price if we keep polluting the way we have been. What's your gut telling you!
You're just saying that because you haven't tried a real American beer like Budweiser or Miller Lite. Then the cheese would start looking good by comparison.
I appreciate the fact that you explained the finer points of this issue. After reading the Slate article, it doesn't seem likely that I will try and read the new surveillance bill.
Sometime today, the Senate is likely to approve the most comprehensive overhaul of American surveillance law since the Watergate era. Unless you're a government lawyer, a legal scholar, a masochist, or an insomniac, chances are you haven't read the 114-page bill. Don't beat yourself up: Neither have most of the 293 House members who voted for it last week. Ditto the mainstream press, who seem to have relied chiefly on summaries provided by the same lawmakers who hadn't read it.
To be fair, wiretapping is so classified, and the language of the bill so opaque, that no one without a "top secret" clearance can say with any authority just how much surveillance the proposal will authorize the government to do. (The best assessment yet comes from former Justice Department official David Kris, who deems the legislation "so intricate" that it risks confusing even "the government officials who must apply it.")
When it comes to deciding if the violations of our laws was worth the increased information on possible terrorists, ideology is all we have to go on.
Here, then, is the bitter joke of the new legislation: From 2001 to 2007, the NSA engaged in a secret program that was a straightforward violation of America's wiretapping laws. Since the program was revealed, the administration has succeeded in preventing the judiciary from making a definitive declaration that the wiretapping was a crime. Suits against the government get dismissed on state-secrets grounds, because while the program may have been illegal, it was also so highly classified that its legality can never be litigated in open court. And now suits against the telecoms will by dismissed en masse as well. Meanwhile, the new law moves the goal posts, taking illegal things the administration was doing and making them legal.
Whatever Hoyer and Pelosiâ"and even Obamaâ"say, this amounts to a retroactive blessing of the illegal program, and historically it means that the country will probably be deprived of any rigorous assessment of what precisely the administration did between 2001 and 2007. No judge will have an opportunity to call the president's willful violation of a federal statute a crime, and no landmark ruling by the courts can serve as a warning for future generations about government excesses in dangerous times. What's more, because the proposal so completely plays into the Bush conception of executive power, it renders meaningless any of its own provisions. After all, if the main lesson of the wiretapping scandal is that we need more surveillance power for the government, what is to stop President Bushâ"or President Obama or President McCainâ"from one day choosing to set this new law aside, too? "How will we be judged?" Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., asked in a stirring speech deploring the legislation yesterday. "The technical argument obscures the defining question: the rule of law, or the rule of men?"
People don't need immunity if they don't break the law. Because of the classified nature of the reason for the wiretaps it is unlikely that many, if any, of the wiretap orders got the approval of a judge. That's why the telcos need immunity!
Not that I blame the telcos for not wanting to say no to the NSA. They were definitely put in a bad spot by our government.
Maybe you just had some awful instructors and with some proper guidance and encouragement could be a very good programmer. Programming is just like any other profession, it takes time and practice to get really good at it.
If you're sure that you either really don't like programming or REALLY don't have much aptitude for it then I'd find out what you ARE good at and pursue that. Life is too short to work at something you don't like.
Slashdot Mirror
If it ISN'T your bar then, technically, it would probably be insignificant even if the prop blew the place to pieces, unless you were in the vicinity. When it IS your bar then it becomes significant.
I watch all those shows on Hulu (www.hulu.com) when I want so it doesn't make any difference to me when they ACTUALLY air on TV. Watching shows on TV without Tivo is so 90's anyway. I can't believe anyone on Slashdot hasn't figured out how to tape the shows they want so they can watch them anytime. After all this is "News for Nerds".
I look at the 60's counterculture as a methaphor for the rise of Microsoft. It felt good to have you're own computer with you're own operating system where you could do whatever you want without submitting your request to the "mainframe acolytes". It was like "free love" or getting high. Unfortunately, Microsoft was doomed to failure just like "free love" because it is an adolescent fantasy that neglects certain long-term realities.
I have worked for the government and witnessed firsthand the "orgy" of software development that ensued with the introduction of PC. I watched software projects bloat then die from the undisciplined pile up of requirements. I stood in amazement as program managers spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on programs that were glorified spreadsheets. I was annoyed as the same programs were rewritten from scratch to look sexier but do mostly the same thing. Nobody can waste money on software like the state and federal governments.
This eventually lead to the lockdown of systems in contracts like NMCI (Navy Marine Corps Intranet) to stop the "f**king around" with computers. I see Google as just another way to wrest wasteful IT spending from individual departments. They can't completely stop people from "getting high" on software development but they can try and keep it from interfering with critical systems and create a more unified infrastructure.
Why can't we just focus on the good news! Microsoft/"Free Love" is going away slowly but surely. Adult supervision is back in vogue and it's about time.
You are so "crack-a-lackin" correct! It would be nice if companies like RedHat and Novell made more headway into supplying government. I know the Navy has the "completely screwed-up" NMCI contract but I'm not sure what the hold up is in some of the other government agencies.
I also blame laziness and inertia. Non-technical government employees don't want to change from Windows because it's all they know and it took them a long time to learn how to setup their favorite screensaver and check email.
You are so right. The really interesting thing to me is that I like the Guitar Hero versions of songs BETTER than the originals, in most cases. They're cleaner, crisper and the lyrics are easier to understand.
You misconstrued my comment. I don't think that H-1B workers do "dumb-ass, cheap, shoddy" work because they WANT to but because they MUST to keep their jobs and because, when it comes to software, they also don't know any better. I could try and explain why current software development processes are like current manufacturing processes in that they make money for the company but they hurt us in the long run. I could, but the information is already out there for anyone who has been in the business long enough to start questioning how software is written. Big corporations hire bright, young minds because they're smart enough to do the job and inexperienced enough to NOT ask the deeper questions like "Why?"
I never doubted that H-1B visa workers made comparable salaries. This is America where the more you're willing to violate your conscience, the more money you can make. If you don't have a conscience then there isn't really anything to violate so it's much easier. When you are willing to do absolutely anything to make money you can become a rich actor or musician. Making money is really only a function of how far you are willing to go to make yourself compliant to the world system.
I would be interested to know what you think in 20 years when you know more about how business decisions are made, when you have to balance work and a family, and when you discover just how merciless business can be.
What you mean is they'll do whatever "dumb-ass, cheap, shoddy" thing you ask because they'll have to go back to their shack if they don't.
A qualified American will argue with you and try to get you to do the right thing and that won't allow you to make as much money.
You need to be a bit more specific about what you mean by "qualified" so people will know what a greedy, exploitive person you really are.
I had a similar idea. Because we don't have the "last mile" infrastructure or pedestrian-friendly high-density cities, a traditional rail system doesn't work that well in most of the US. One solution is to build a rail system that accepts cars so that the car can go faster while on the rails and get power from them. Then electric cars become feasible with the current battery technology.
The rail system would have stations that test each car before allowing it on the track to verify that it won't cause problems when it's on the tracks. The car would be routed like a network packet to its requested destination at backbone speeds that would be beyond what a human could safely drive. Then, once at the destination, the driver would take over and drive the last few miles to the ultimate destination.
If someone can tell me why this can't work for technical reasons I would be interested in hearing about it. I certainly wouldn't let Microsoft develop the track routing or car control software but the concept seems feasible to me if done by the right people.
The real lie is that there is a "silver bullet" for every illness. If people live unhealthy lives by having poor diets, smoking, doing drugs (mostly the illegal kind), not exercising, not getting sufficient rest, etc. then nothing will help them in the long run if they know its unhealthy and choose otherwise.
Licensed doctors are often just as guilty as the "alternative medicine" quacks as telling the patient what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear. The sicker people are the more problems they have with prescription drugs because of the side effects and various other problems including liver toxicity and nutrient depletion. Just see what a conscientious pharmacist has to say about prescription drugs: Dear Pharmacist
Although disciplines like acupuncture and chiropractic provide only temporary relief if you don't make lifestyle changes to support a permanent improvement, they are valuable for people who can't or wont take drugs. People may make outrageous claims about the possible results but that doesn't make them useless. I've personally benefited from chiropractic manipulation but it was a consistent exercise and stretching routine that ultimately kept my back and neck pain away.
Alternative medicine may not live up to all the hype that is out there but many people seem to benefit from visiting someone who listens to them and tells them they are getting better. All important battles are won or lost in the mind first. If a person is convinced they are going to die then no doctor is going to be able to help them in the long run. Conversely, if a person believes that they are going to get healthy then they will find a way to get healthy. Our belief system will always determine our ultimate reality. Its not necessarily what people say that counts but what they really believe.
It is really scary how few people really understood what Dijkstra was saying. My best guess is that because most people learn programming backwards, IMHO, by starting with the languages and then learning higher-level logical constructs, like state machines or even lists or maps, it has permanently skewed their perspective.
My experience, after over 10 years as a system test engineer on software systems, is that poor software really is from a lack of discipline in starting with mathematical constructs before writing the code. I generally worked with very experienced programmers who didn't make a lot of language errors, like improper use of pointers, but were still tripped up by things like when to free allocated memory. The kind of errors that wouldn't occur very often if the discipline of using a mathematical construct like a hierarchical state machine was enforced. For instance, instead of starting with a proven state machine library they would just set flags and create an adhoc state machine that was riddled with problems.
Unless there is some way to go back in time on mailing lists you will still need to access a forum or archive at some point.
By the way, it was sure nice of you to volunteer to speak for all the Pros out there
I checked several of the domains and WHOIS doesn't show anyone in Kentucky as any of the contacts. This sounds like a joke to me. If it isn't then there are some people who are going to get laughed at for sure
Thanks for the info. My antenna is in the attic and has a very limited range for rotation. I already tried rotating it to get a signal, which didn't help, so I'll probably have to put it on the roof.
I've already tried using the digital TV receiver in my area (Ventura County, CA) and I only get 3 stations that all seem to be related. The major stations are supposed to already be transmitting a digital signal but I can't get any of them (ABC, NBC, etc).
I guess I'll miss out on all the car chases that are followed by news helicopters and the witty news anchor banter. Oh well, somehow I'll get by.
I find that engineers generally are responsible and highly adaptable people. Once they've vented and realized that the world changed and/or they've changed, they find some way to make ends meet. The ones, like me, that are hamstrung by spouses that are risk-adverse, still manage to land on their feet. Starting my own software company is just not an option for me if I still want to be married next week. I'm currently managing an eBay store for the owner of a brick-and-mortar store. That's about the extent of the risk I can take right now.
I'm hoping someone will write a book called "Growing Old in the USA" that chronicles how people have adapted to our frenetic pace of life as they age. I've seen the ones that hang tough and keep putting in the long hours and/or extensive travel and it's not a pretty sight. The rest of their family generally loses when that "balance" you mentioned is not maintained. Plus their health usually suffers. I want to hear about the ones that chucked it all and started an Alpaca farm in Washington.
Your ability to not let bitterness or self-pity immobilize you is commendable. It's the "smack down" that I have a problem with. IMHO, it shows a lack of compassion. Nobody gets to be an engineer without a certain amount of "mental fortitude" and grit. If they want to vent a bit on Slashdot, why should that irritate you? Do you think you're helping someone by telling them to "stop whining!"?
I also have a problem with people who don't want to give up their SUV but I'm assuming your joking about that because it's in your sig.
Wow! The "tough love" is really touching!
It obvious that you're still a relatively young person or at least someone who doesn't have many responsibilities outside of work. I would print out and frame your response so when the really hard times come in your life, and they ALWAYS do, you'll understand why no one around you seems to care.
So at what scale does the background radiation of the Earth damage the device shortly after its produced? Are production CPUs commonly protected from normal radiation exposures now?
You are missing the point. If we are doing something that hurts the environment then we need to stop it before it's too late. Since we won't know if it's too late until it's ACTUALLY too late I'd rather err on the side of safety. I can live with looking foolish because I tried to live and encourage a sustainable lifestyle but found out I could have easily kept the status quo for another 100 years. Nobody, nobody sane that is, is going to push environmentalism over food, shelter and clothing so the question is what are you willing to give up to ensure that the next generation isn't forced to clean up our mistakes? Global warming is just one issue in a whole panoply of environmental issues that are affecting us NOW.
You're right when you say that we don't KNOW what is going to happen. Just like a lot of smokers didn't KNOW that they were going to get lung cancer from smoking. Sometimes you just have to go on gut instinct: "Maybe sticking a burning object in my mouth and inhaling isn't a good idea?". My gut is telling me that we will pay a heavy price if we keep polluting the way we have been. What's your gut telling you!
NASCAR does suck and if a person can't be a dick on Slashdot then what's the point of Slashdot!
You're just saying that because you haven't tried a real American beer like Budweiser or Miller Lite. Then the cheese would start looking good by comparison.
I appreciate the fact that you explained the finer points of this issue. After reading the Slate article, it doesn't seem likely that I will try and read the new surveillance bill.
When it comes to deciding if the violations of our laws was worth the increased information on possible terrorists, ideology is all we have to go on.
Maybe you can explain this Slate article (Slate:
Here, then, is the bitter joke of the new legislation: From 2001 to 2007, the NSA engaged in a secret program that was a straightforward violation of America's wiretapping laws. Since the program was revealed, the administration has succeeded in preventing the judiciary from making a definitive declaration that the wiretapping was a crime. Suits against the government get dismissed on state-secrets grounds, because while the program may have been illegal, it was also so highly classified that its legality can never be litigated in open court. And now suits against the telecoms will by dismissed en masse as well. Meanwhile, the new law moves the goal posts, taking illegal things the administration was doing and making them legal. Whatever Hoyer and Pelosiâ"and even Obamaâ"say, this amounts to a retroactive blessing of the illegal program, and historically it means that the country will probably be deprived of any rigorous assessment of what precisely the administration did between 2001 and 2007. No judge will have an opportunity to call the president's willful violation of a federal statute a crime, and no landmark ruling by the courts can serve as a warning for future generations about government excesses in dangerous times. What's more, because the proposal so completely plays into the Bush conception of executive power, it renders meaningless any of its own provisions. After all, if the main lesson of the wiretapping scandal is that we need more surveillance power for the government, what is to stop President Bushâ"or President Obama or President McCainâ"from one day choosing to set this new law aside, too? "How will we be judged?" Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., asked in a stirring speech deploring the legislation yesterday. "The technical argument obscures the defining question: the rule of law, or the rule of men?"
People don't need immunity if they don't break the law. Because of the classified nature of the reason for the wiretaps it is unlikely that many, if any, of the wiretap orders got the approval of a judge. That's why the telcos need immunity!
Not that I blame the telcos for not wanting to say no to the NSA. They were definitely put in a bad spot by our government.
Maybe you just had some awful instructors and with some proper guidance and encouragement could be a very good programmer. Programming is just like any other profession, it takes time and practice to get really good at it.
If you're sure that you either really don't like programming or REALLY don't have much aptitude for it then I'd find out what you ARE good at and pursue that. Life is too short to work at something you don't like.