> My kids will not only learn a love of nature, but they'll keep those memories forever.
I also believe in getting my kids into nature, but (!!): what will be left of that nature for them to enjoy ? Of course 1 SUV driving up and down a mountain does not make much pollution, but if everyone did it ? And all those communities you drive through to get there ? What happens to their nature ? And of course you are teaching your kids that the way to enjoy nature is to drive first, so they too may continue this cycle.
But on the other hand it was our parents generation that helped destroy a lot of the local nature that was within walking/cycling distance of their/our homes, so we must go further to find it for our kids ! And, yes, in USA the distances are further, and public transport worse than in my native Europe.
> But the code is all open source, so if lots of people side with you, I'm sure we'll see a new browser branch off from FF2 that backports all of the FF3 speed improvements.
Or you could fork the feature-bloated Firefox to create a leaner, meaner, cut down browser. Maybe it could be called Fenghuang ?
> If it weren't actually safe, then a large percentage of vehicles would crash. They don't (despite driving at the perceived safe speed rather than the speed limit), therefore it's safe. QED.
Definitely not true: if vulnerable road users perceive that motorists are driving to fast, they alter their behaviour to save themselves. - In the extreme if half of all cyclists decided it was too dangerous to cycle, and instead drive there would be fewer dead cyclists, but would the road be safer ? - Less extreme is that cyclists take evasive action, often without thinking. I am sure that every day when I cycle to work, then if I cycled at a steady speed, followed the highway code and asserted all my rights of way at junctions I would have an accident *every* day. Instead I slow down / speed up to avoid motorists, I give way even when I have right of way etc.
> Now that's a good point. However, that mostly applies to local streets, which people don't tend to speed as much on anyway.
In Germany and the UK they do: even if it is 10/20 mph over the limit then it can be life or death for a vulnerable road user.
And out of town when sometimes I need to drive: when I drive at the posted *limit* I soon get a tailgater who wants to go over the limit, and when they overtake they often do at considerable speed, and keep that speed up *after* they pass me.
> Cyclists are vulnerable road users, yes, but they are also the worst traffic offenders.
Depends how you define "worst".
- How many people *die* that would otherwise not have done if the motorist had been traveling slow / more carefully etc.
- How many people *die* from cyclist caused accidents (included were motorists have to swerve / brake to avoid a bad cyclist) ?
I think we are talking huge orders of magnitude of difference.
I would love it everyone was friendly and considerate to other road users, but failing that I would rather be hit by an idiot on a bike, than an idiot in a car.
(Personally I stick to road regs whether I am driving, cycling, walking etc, partly as a parent trying to keep my kids safe, and also because I expect others to do so.)
> Most people drive at what they consider to be the maximum safe speed, regardless of what the number on the sign is.
I agree with what you stay, however I consider it to contain many problems: - the speed chosen is what is *perceived* by the *motorist* to be safe: not what is actually safe. - "safe" is usually defined from the *motorist* point of view, NOT the vulnerable road users (cyclist, pedestrian, etc) (as a cyclist the safest speed of a car (in the extreme) is 0mph, assuming space to overtake !!) - what you are describing is the "tyranny of the majority": surely all road users have the right to safe passage ?
>> "Arguably the military is one of the few things left in the US that works well."
> Say what? > Trillions of dollars wasted, over a million innocent Iraqis dead,...
Depends on how you define "works well". From a USA perspective, IIRC, the invasion went quite well, same as in the first Iraq war (to 'liberate' Kuwait). However the USA failed to "win the peace", and the locals suffered disproportionately.
> Just to complete the thought: When a law makes the majority of the population criminal (or infringers), it's time to rethink the law.
I definitely disagree ! For example; as a vulnerable road user (a cyclist) I observe that the vast majority of drivers break the law when driving, the most common being speeding (i.e. a criminal offense, not a civil one like copyright infringement). Should the speed limits be abolished ? I would say no.
> > I'm totally against (hands full) cellphone calls while driving. > > Everybody is against that.
Definitely not everyone is where I live !!!
I live in Germany and cycle everyday to work. Handsfull car phones have been illegal for some time here. My favourite game whilst sitting at a junction waiting for the lights to change is to watch the cars on green going across the junction (I am usually at the head of the queue as I am in the cycle lane). More often than not I will see at least one phone user during the single phase that I am sitting there for.
>... we've noticed that people are rarely bothered by the privacy issue. The coolness of seeing yourself and your friends live on the map tends to outweigh paranoia.
All the same, I would suggest *not* bothering spending your advertising dollars on Slashdot:-)
Whilst agreeing with your basic cynicism (!!) if they also publish how their hardware *works*, sufficient to write drivers, then it is still a big step !!
(random deity) give us the wealth to be able to adopt those new technologies that enhance our life, the courage to ignore those that do not, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.
> because the passwords are from a list and are unique for each session. At least that's how they do it in all banks in Finland.
At least at my UK bank you login using the bank code, account number and a PIN number: all typed in at the keyboard and can be logged and re-used later. (In Germany you use either password lists sent to your home address by snail mail, or external card readers/keypads via HBCI.)
What is the point ? Well IE lay in the doldrums for years until FF et al gained enough users/column inches for MS to finally update IE with lots of shiny new features. So then *all* the IE users gained from the development of small usage browsers.
Slashdot Mirror
> My kids will not only learn a love of nature, but they'll keep those memories forever.
I also believe in getting my kids into nature, but (!!): what will be left of that nature for them to enjoy ? Of course 1 SUV driving up and down a mountain does not make much pollution, but if everyone did it ? And all those communities you drive through to get there ? What happens to their nature ? And of course you are teaching your kids that the way to enjoy nature is to drive first, so they too may continue this cycle.
But on the other hand it was our parents generation that helped destroy a lot of the local nature that was within walking/cycling distance of their/our homes, so we must go further to find it for our kids ! And, yes, in USA the distances are further, and public transport worse than in my native Europe.
> But the code is all open source, so if lots of people side with you, I'm sure we'll see a new browser branch off from FF2 that backports all of the FF3 speed improvements.
Or you could fork the feature-bloated Firefox to create a leaner, meaner, cut down browser. Maybe it could be called Fenghuang ?
> Does fedex charge by the mile?
No, but they probably charge by the kilo ?
> If it weren't actually safe, then a large percentage of vehicles would crash. They don't (despite driving at the perceived safe speed rather than the speed limit), therefore it's safe. QED.
Definitely not true: if vulnerable road users perceive that motorists are driving to fast, they alter their behaviour to save themselves.
- In the extreme if half of all cyclists decided it was too dangerous to cycle, and instead drive there would be fewer dead cyclists, but would the road be safer ?
- Less extreme is that cyclists take evasive action, often without thinking. I am sure that every day when I cycle to work, then if I cycled at a steady speed, followed the highway code and asserted all my rights of way at junctions I would have an accident *every* day. Instead I slow down / speed up to avoid motorists, I give way even when I have right of way etc.
> Now that's a good point. However, that mostly applies to local streets, which people don't tend to speed as much on anyway.
In Germany and the UK they do: even if it is 10/20 mph over the limit then it can be life or death for a vulnerable road user.
And out of town when sometimes I need to drive: when I drive at the posted *limit* I soon get a tailgater who wants to go over the limit, and when they overtake they often do at considerable speed, and keep that speed up *after* they pass me.
> Cyclists are vulnerable road users, yes, but they are also the worst traffic offenders.
Depends how you define "worst".
- How many people *die* that would otherwise not have done if the motorist had been traveling slow / more carefully etc.
- How many people *die* from cyclist caused accidents (included were motorists have to swerve / brake to avoid a bad cyclist) ?
I think we are talking huge orders of magnitude of difference.
I would love it everyone was friendly and considerate to other road users, but failing that I would rather be hit by an idiot on a bike, than an idiot in a car.
(Personally I stick to road regs whether I am driving, cycling, walking etc, partly as a parent trying to keep my kids safe, and also because I expect others to do so.)
> Most people drive at what they consider to be the maximum safe speed, regardless of what the number on the sign is.
I agree with what you stay, however I consider it to contain many problems:
- the speed chosen is what is *perceived* by the *motorist* to be safe: not what is actually safe.
- "safe" is usually defined from the *motorist* point of view, NOT the vulnerable road users (cyclist, pedestrian, etc) (as a cyclist the safest speed of a car (in the extreme) is 0mph, assuming space to overtake !!)
- what you are describing is the "tyranny of the majority": surely all road users have the right to safe passage ?
>> "Arguably the military is one of the few things left in the US that works well."
> Say what?
> Trillions of dollars wasted, over a million innocent Iraqis dead,...
Depends on how you define "works well". From a USA perspective, IIRC, the invasion went quite well, same as in the first Iraq war (to 'liberate' Kuwait). However the USA failed to "win the peace", and the locals suffered disproportionately.
> Just to complete the thought: When a law makes the majority of the population criminal (or infringers), it's time to rethink the law.
I definitely disagree ! For example; as a vulnerable road user (a cyclist) I observe that the vast majority of drivers break the law when driving, the most common being speeding (i.e. a criminal offense, not a civil one like copyright infringement). Should the speed limits be abolished ? I would say no.
> How did mediadefender get enough computing resources/bandwidth to launch a DOS?
Hire a botnet by the hour ?
> While I don't wonder or care what the rest of the world thinks about the US...
Which, of course, summarizes why some of the world hates some aspects of the USA.
> It doesn't allow for type conversion
It does (unchecked_conversion), but never (AFAIK) *implicitly*.
> How do you get a process server to the ISS?
Perhaps more importantly: if you engage the services of a Space Lawyer, you should really check the small print relating to travel expenses.
> Even so there are levels of risk that are acceptable.
There is an argument for risking your *own* *life*: perhaps you could present to us the argument for *you* risking *my* life ? Just wondering.
> > I'm totally against (hands full) cellphone calls while driving.
>
> Everybody is against that.
Definitely not everyone is where I live !!!
I live in Germany and cycle everyday to work. Handsfull car phones have been illegal for some time here. My favourite game whilst sitting at a junction waiting for the lights to change is to watch the cars on green going across the junction (I am usually at the head of the queue as I am in the cycle lane). More often than not I will see at least one phone user during the single phase that I am sitting there for.
> I'm already a litle hesitant when it comes to cell phone bans in cars, what will this lead to?
Oh, that one's easy: safer roads ! (speaking as a vulnerable road user)
OK, you were probably going for Funny mods, but the Stardust Spacecraft was also designed to gather dust (I am not sure if it was the first ).
> Um, how about KHTML, which started open source (like Open Office) ...
FWIW OpenOffice.org started as the *proprietary* suite Staroffice, which was bought by Sun and open sourced.
> Why London's MPs? What's so special about them?
OK, I am a bit late to the topic but I guess by 'London' they mean not the Welsh or Scottish assemblies ?
> ... we've noticed that people are rarely bothered by the privacy issue. The coolness of seeing yourself and your friends live on the map tends to outweigh paranoia.
:-)
All the same, I would suggest *not* bothering spending your advertising dollars on Slashdot
Whilst agreeing with your basic cynicism (!!) if they also publish how their hardware *works*, sufficient to write drivers, then it is still a big step !!
(random deity) give us the wealth to be able to adopt those new technologies that enhance our life, the courage to ignore those that do not, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.
> How does that make you feel? I'd be nervous.
If I used Windows I *would* feel nervous, but as I use Linux do not (I am not aware of any keylogger malware for Linux !!).
I would prefer a more secure system, but as I live in Germany it *is* very convenient to use online banking for my UK account !!
> because the passwords are from a list and are unique for each session. At least that's how they do it in all banks in Finland.
At least at my UK bank you login using the bank code, account number and a PIN number: all typed in at the keyboard and can be logged and re-used later. (In Germany you use either password lists sent to your home address by snail mail, or external card readers/keypads via HBCI.)
What is the point ? Well IE lay in the doldrums for years until FF et al gained enough users/column inches for MS to finally update IE with lots of shiny new features. So then *all* the IE users gained from the development of small usage browsers.
> no... no.... no...
:-)
Sounds like any country you choose to pick in Europe