People have demonstrated time and again, that given the chance to acquire and abuse power, they will.
Can I play the FTFY game?
Governments^WCorporations have demonstrated time and again, that given the chance to acquire and abuse power, they will.
People are both the antidote, not^Wand the poison.
We could just as well say that "any organization made up of people has demonstrated at some time that, given the chance to acquire and abuse power, they will."
Some people are well-adjusted and will not willingly harm others of their own volition. Other people are sociopathic maladjusted dangers to others, who strive only for their own personal gain.
Many of us exhibit both sets of behaviors, among others, depending on the circumstances and overall context.
That said, when choosing whether to grant power over me to a government that is, at least ostensibly, representative, or to a company that is, at least ostensibly, interested primarily in making a profit while minimizing (and often externalizing) costs, I'll choose the government. At least I have some way of influencing governmental decision-making, even if I'm not a shareholder.
If you (insert joke here) , you might be a terrorist.
I don't get it...
It depends on where you insert the joke. It also depends on how forcefully you do so. Using certain values for these variables will increase the likelihood of you being a terrorist.
It's a depressing fact that oppressed people rise up against their oppressors, only to show that what they really wanted was just what the former rulers wanted: to oppress others.
When I heard news on the radio about the Egyptian elections, I was utterly baffled why they had elected Morrissey as their new President; I thought they must have taken a turn from oppression to depression.
Then I saw the headlines -- "Oh, Morsi, not Morrissey. Muslim Brotherhood, not Emo. That makes more sense."
Nokia's destiny is to be a filing cabinet full of patent licenses in Bellevue, Wa managed by 6 paralegals and one part-time lawyer. This fate is sealed. The full cabinet to the left is marked "Sendo" and the empty cabinet to the right is marked "Adobe".
And the sign on the door says, "Beware of Leopard".
:-P
Ballmer, Vogon High Commander in exile? Quick, someone get him to recite poetry!
Yes, the transmission is more complicated than a basic CVT in that the gasoline engine and the electric motors do both provide power. I'm not up on the details of how that works out; it's probably something like locomotives, where the internal combustion engine part is solely to generate electricity, and it's only electricity that is used to power the drivetrain. That would simplify things compared to trying to have the gas engine coupled to the drivetrain directly, and working out how to share the power load with the electrics. I also note that, when coasting, the engine can shut off completely and be completely disengaged from the wheels, while you can also manually force the car to use the engine to help brake (by shifting into "B"), such as when going downhill.
Anyone that rejects AGW, vaccination of children, evolution, the earth not being the center of the solar system, or any other of the misguided beliefs the right seems to cling to is, quite simply, ignorant.
modded 50% insightful, 40% negative.
parent post:
While I agree, it's important to note that the left can be equally stupid. Most of the "People are allergic to WiFi" and/or "Vaccines are dangerous" and/or "My naturopath can cure cancer" fools are on the left.
modded 100% offtopic.
Slashdot moderation is broken.
The mod system isn't perfect, but give it time -- the scores on posts tend to move around quite a bit on controversial threads, especially when they're still pretty fresh.
It was actually Earvin "Magic" Johnson who was declared HIV positive. And yes, he has remained AIDS free. While I personally find this miraculous to the point of incredulity, I'm willing to believe he has a good combination of genetics, a fantastic health regimen, and lots of money for experimental drugs to stave off full-blown AIDS. For the record, there are recorded cases of people who live with the HIV virus and never show symptoms without taking ANY special medication.
HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus, has been traced back to simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), which has been traced back to feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), which has been traced back to bovine immunodeficiency virus (BIV). Some web hits.
If I understand things correctly, retroviruses tend, over time, to evolve to be less than fatal to the host. That's just basic selection pressure -- if a virus kills its host, it's lost its home; meanwhile, the selection pressure on host is to not be killed by the infection. At the extreme, quickly lethal diseases tend to burn themselves out, thereby self-limiting, much as seen with the Ebola virus, for which breakouts flare up, then ebb again as infected people die too quickly for the disease to spread. FIV tends not to be fatal to large cats, much as BIV tends not to be fatal to cows, water buffalo, and their ilk. I think SIV has similarly evolved to a more stable and less fatal plateau. There are already reported cases of people who test positive for HIV infection but who remain asymptomatic, even individuals without access to the broad array of medical treatments that Magic Johnson can avail himself of. At least one genetic mechanism has been identified that confers a resistance to certain types of HIV infection; it's possible that Magic Johnson has this particular mutation, or perhaps some other genetic quirk that helps his body keep HIV from running rampant.
I expect about 50% of the voting population will take that approach, it's the other 50% that may not want to know in case there is actually something improper that's the problem.
What, exactly, is the problem? That not everyone thinks like you?
If people don't care to know about his finances, what good is disclosing them going to do? Perhaps you think that there should be some kind of test before you vote, and everyone that doesn't give the 'correct' (ie your) answers is barred from voting.
I don't think tbannist was actually saying what you appear to be replying to. My reading of the GP here hinges on the bolded part. I interpreted their post as not being a statement of "anyone who disagrees with me, is bad", which seems to be your interpretation of tbannist's post, but instead as a statement of "anyone who is willfully ignorant in order to avoid learning anything inconvenient, causes problems when participating in a democracy".
The former is a childish sentiment, and I agree with your concerns. However, the latter has generally proven true over the course of history: democracy works best when the electorate is as informed as possible, and ignorance, especially willful ignorance, causes democracy to work not so well, resulting in the interests of the elected leaders being less well aligned with the interests of the electorate.
(Note that I am in no way stating any opinion about the hacking incident in the OP -- I'm simply commenting on tbannist's post and bws111's reply.)
Of course, unlike Obama, neither Mitt Romney's father nor his grandfather were polygamists. Both were married to the same woman for their entire lives.
Wow, so Mitt's mom was also his grandma? Man, that's some messed-up family dynamics right there. But cool on them for living by "what's good for the goose is good for the gander", and practicing polyandry (multiple husbands for one wife) as well as polygamy (multiple wives for one husband).
Either they are really confident that actual PureView performance will match the pro-grade video, or this is beyond stupid.
This is Elop, so it's hard to say. It's certainly an effective way to further erode any trust in the Nokia brand. Now, whether that's intentional or not...
When you measure his position, his momentum becomes uncertain. When you measure his momentum, his position becomes uncertain.
That's because his conscience is guiding his behaviors. And since, as a politician, his conscience is the size of a subatomic particle, quantum effects come into play.
Other politicians usually fasten onto some other guiding principle, such as an ideology or greed. But since Romney is all about his principles, we get this weird Heisenbergian behavior when attempting to observe him too closely.
Next up, we throw Romney through a particle accelerator at a series of slits to test for an interference pattern.
Holy crap. That alpha grip thing looks like the most awesome and convenient input method ever. Does it actually work like they market it?:O
I looked into alternate keyboards years ago when repetitive stress was threatening to render me unable to work, and the AlphaGrip was the best option at the time. The other alternates I found were several hundred dollars and with no return policies, while the AlphaGrip was maybe $100 and had a one-month try-it-out period. So I gave it a month, and liked it enough that I now have two (one for my day job, and one for home).
That said, there's definitely a learning curve -- don't expect to type very fast for the first few weeks. But the layout is also different enough that you don't overwrite your muscle memory for regular flat keyboards. I tried Dvorak typing, but hated it whenever I had to use a Qwerty machine; meanwhile, I can switch between using an AlphaGrip and a regular flat keyboard with no finger confusion. The built-in track ball means you can stand up and pace if you want and still get work done. And the shape is different enough that I was able to avoid the repetitive stress issues that were being caused by my use of a flat keyboard + mouse.
YMMV and all that, naturally.:)
(FWIW, I'm not connected with the AlphaGrip company in any way other than as a satisfied customer.)
Even basic input, the keyboard and mouse, haven’t really changed in any meaningful way over the years
Maybe the reason for this is the basic form works. The design of the wheel hasn't changed much in a 5 thousand years either. I wonder why.
I beg to differ. The basic design requirement of a wheel is that it's round and rolls, and I'll certainly grant you that this aspect of wheels hasn't changed. However, a rough-hewn wooden round, such as used in the simplest of carts, bears very little other resemblance to the three-spoked carbon-fiber performance bicycle wheels I see with some frequency on my morning bicycle commute. Sure, both are round and roll, but otherwise, there's thousands of years of difference between them.
So what are the design requirements for computer input? You could start by looking at the requirements of a keyboard and a mouse: 1) Must have all the keys required to input at least ASCII. 2) Must have some kind of pointer-device control, ideally with at least two buttons.
So sure, you can have your basic flat keyboard, and a basic mouse. Or you could have something quite different, like this, or this, or this, or this (what I'm actually using to type this message).
Yeah, with the Prius, at least, I notice no appreciable lag between putting my foot down and feeling like I've got appropriate power going to the wheels. With the anti-skid features, sometimes I notice a brief moment of oddness if I floor it when a wheel is on something slick like wet leaves or a wet manhole cover, but things are good in terms of what the transmission is doing. With our other car that has a regular automatic transmission, sometimes there really is the sense that the car is in the wrong gear, and it might take a second or so to sort out before I've got the right amount of power happening.
There are quite a number of people out there that would sooner die then choose Apple because of their shiny retarded walled garden approach to computing.
This is the first time I've ever heard of Apple being so good that even the deceased prefer Apple products.:-P
I think you meant than (comparative: "A is bigger than B") rather than then (adverbial: "Alice ate, then met Bob").
Oracle is a huge organisation. I mean mindbogglingly huge (think planet Vogon). There is a lot of red tape that you have to cut to get anything done, and in 4 months they're probably still scheduling meetings to figure out if it should be fixed, and when, and by whom.
Unless an SVP gets involved, it's unlikely that it will be rushed.
Perhaps they should, you know, have a department dedicated to handling these kinds of things in a timely manner then?
Oh, don't worry, it's in the works -- the planning meeting for starting the process of organizing to set up such a department is scheduled for early 2013.
"I remember when I could have 6 or 7 A-HA! moments in one night."
I was going to say that you must be female to have that many in one night.
Then I realized you weren't talking about what I thought you were talking about:
That was back in the days when MTV ran "Take On Me" music video in regular rotation.
But I suppose I could still say the same thing. My wife certainly gets a certain dreamy-eyed faraway look whenever A-HA! comes on the radio with "Take On Me"...
Automatic transmissions also tend to add about $1000 to the price of a mid-range car, are more likely to have problems and are considerably more expensive to fix when things do go wrong. They also tend to be in the wrong gear when you need them (CVTs may reduce that issue somewhat. I don't know.).
We've got a Prius with a CVT (continuously variable transmission), and another car with a regular automatic transmission. I've been driving both this week. The CVT doesn't have gears, really, so there simply is no wrong gear to be in. CVTs also have smoother acceleration curves, as there is no shifting between gears, so no sudden drop in acceleration as the transmission up-shifts.
There's also the coolness factor -- the first CVT was sketched out by Da Vinci way back in 1490.:)
Slashdot Mirror
People have demonstrated time and again, that given the chance to acquire and abuse power, they will.
Can I play the FTFY game?
Governments^WCorporations have demonstrated time and again, that given the chance to acquire and abuse power, they will.
People are both the antidote, not^Wand the poison.
We could just as well say that " any organization made up of people has demonstrated at some time that, given the chance to acquire and abuse power, they will."
Some people are well-adjusted and will not willingly harm others of their own volition. Other people are sociopathic maladjusted dangers to others, who strive only for their own personal gain.
Many of us exhibit both sets of behaviors, among others, depending on the circumstances and overall context.
That said, when choosing whether to grant power over me to a government that is, at least ostensibly, representative, or to a company that is, at least ostensibly, interested primarily in making a profit while minimizing (and often externalizing) costs, I'll choose the government. At least I have some way of influencing governmental decision-making, even if I'm not a shareholder.
Not everyone has that option. Half my family is across and ocean. I wonder if no-fly means no-boat either.
Does it mean no drive across the boarder as well? With the larger PITA of international flights, it is something to consider...
If you've found a way to *drive* across the ocean, well, my hat is off to you, sir!
:-P
If you (insert joke here) , you might be a terrorist.
I don't get it...
It depends on where you insert the joke. It also depends on how forcefully you do so. Using certain values for these variables will increase the likelihood of you being a terrorist.
:-P
It's a depressing fact that oppressed people rise up against their oppressors, only to show that what they really wanted was just what the former rulers wanted: to oppress others.
When I heard news on the radio about the Egyptian elections, I was utterly baffled why they had elected Morrissey as their new President; I thought they must have taken a turn from oppression to depression.
Then I saw the headlines -- "Oh, Morsi , not Morrissey. Muslim Brotherhood, not Emo. That makes more sense."
:-P
Nokia's destiny is to be a filing cabinet full of patent licenses in Bellevue, Wa managed by 6 paralegals and one part-time lawyer. This fate is sealed. The full cabinet to the left is marked "Sendo" and the empty cabinet to the right is marked "Adobe".
And the sign on the door says, "Beware of Leopard".
:-P
Ballmer, Vogon High Commander in exile? Quick, someone get him to recite poetry!
Yes, the transmission is more complicated than a basic CVT in that the gasoline engine and the electric motors do both provide power. I'm not up on the details of how that works out; it's probably something like locomotives, where the internal combustion engine part is solely to generate electricity, and it's only electricity that is used to power the drivetrain. That would simplify things compared to trying to have the gas engine coupled to the drivetrain directly, and working out how to share the power load with the electrics. I also note that, when coasting, the engine can shut off completely and be completely disengaged from the wheels, while you can also manually force the car to use the engine to help brake (by shifting into "B"), such as when going downhill.
grand parent post:
Anyone that rejects AGW, vaccination of children, evolution, the earth not being the center of the solar system, or any other of the misguided beliefs the right seems to cling to is, quite simply, ignorant.
modded 50% insightful, 40% negative.
parent post:
While I agree, it's important to note that the left can be equally stupid. Most of the "People are allergic to WiFi" and/or "Vaccines are dangerous" and/or "My naturopath can cure cancer" fools are on the left.
modded 100% offtopic.
Slashdot moderation is broken.
The mod system isn't perfect, but give it time -- the scores on posts tend to move around quite a bit on controversial threads, especially when they're still pretty fresh.
Cheers,
Many will question science.
Praise Bob, I certainly hope so. Scientists question science. That's how science works.
The problem is when people just flat-out reject science, without questioning whether the science is sound or not.
Cheers,
It was actually Earvin "Magic" Johnson who was declared HIV positive. And yes, he has remained AIDS free. While I personally find this miraculous to the point of incredulity, I'm willing to believe he has a good combination of genetics, a fantastic health regimen, and lots of money for experimental drugs to stave off full-blown AIDS. For the record, there are recorded cases of people who live with the HIV virus and never show symptoms without taking ANY special medication.
HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus, has been traced back to simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), which has been traced back to feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), which has been traced back to bovine immunodeficiency virus (BIV). Some web hits.
If I understand things correctly, retroviruses tend, over time, to evolve to be less than fatal to the host. That's just basic selection pressure -- if a virus kills its host, it's lost its home; meanwhile, the selection pressure on host is to not be killed by the infection. At the extreme, quickly lethal diseases tend to burn themselves out, thereby self-limiting, much as seen with the Ebola virus, for which breakouts flare up, then ebb again as infected people die too quickly for the disease to spread. FIV tends not to be fatal to large cats, much as BIV tends not to be fatal to cows, water buffalo, and their ilk. I think SIV has similarly evolved to a more stable and less fatal plateau. There are already reported cases of people who test positive for HIV infection but who remain asymptomatic, even individuals without access to the broad array of medical treatments that Magic Johnson can avail himself of. At least one genetic mechanism has been identified that confers a resistance to certain types of HIV infection; it's possible that Magic Johnson has this particular mutation, or perhaps some other genetic quirk that helps his body keep HIV from running rampant.
Cheers,
Gah, where are my mod points...
:-P
I expect about 50% of the voting population will take that approach, it's the other 50% that may not want to know in case there is actually something improper that's the problem.
What, exactly, is the problem? That not everyone thinks like you?
If people don't care to know about his finances, what good is disclosing them going to do? Perhaps you think that there should be some kind of test before you vote, and everyone that doesn't give the 'correct' (ie your) answers is barred from voting.
I don't think tbannist was actually saying what you appear to be replying to. My reading of the GP here hinges on the bolded part. I interpreted their post as not being a statement of "anyone who disagrees with me, is bad", which seems to be your interpretation of tbannist's post, but instead as a statement of "anyone who is willfully ignorant in order to avoid learning anything inconvenient, causes problems when participating in a democracy".
The former is a childish sentiment, and I agree with your concerns. However, the latter has generally proven true over the course of history: democracy works best when the electorate is as informed as possible, and ignorance, especially willful ignorance, causes democracy to work not so well, resulting in the interests of the elected leaders being less well aligned with the interests of the electorate.
(Note that I am in no way stating any opinion about the hacking incident in the OP -- I'm simply commenting on tbannist's post and bws111's reply.)
Cheers,
Of course, unlike Obama, neither Mitt Romney's father nor his grandfather were polygamists. Both were married to the same woman for their entire lives.
Wow, so Mitt's mom was also his grandma? Man, that's some messed-up family dynamics right there. But cool on them for living by "what's good for the goose is good for the gander", and practicing polyandry (multiple husbands for one wife) as well as polygamy (multiple wives for one husband).
:-P
Either they are really confident that actual PureView performance will match the pro-grade video, or this is beyond stupid.
This is Elop, so it's hard to say. It's certainly an effective way to further erode any trust in the Nokia brand. Now, whether that's intentional or not...
:-P
Are we supposed to be rooting for them now?
That depends -- exactly how do you mean that?
:-P
When you measure his position, his momentum becomes uncertain. When you measure his momentum, his position becomes uncertain.
That's because his conscience is guiding his behaviors. And since, as a politician, his conscience is the size of a subatomic particle, quantum effects come into play.
Other politicians usually fasten onto some other guiding principle, such as an ideology or greed. But since Romney is all about his principles, we get this weird Heisenbergian behavior when attempting to observe him too closely.
Next up, we throw Romney through a particle accelerator at a series of slits to test for an interference pattern.
:-P
Holy crap. That alpha grip thing looks like the most awesome and convenient input method ever. Does it actually work like they market it? :O
I looked into alternate keyboards years ago when repetitive stress was threatening to render me unable to work, and the AlphaGrip was the best option at the time. The other alternates I found were several hundred dollars and with no return policies, while the AlphaGrip was maybe $100 and had a one-month try-it-out period. So I gave it a month, and liked it enough that I now have two (one for my day job, and one for home).
That said, there's definitely a learning curve -- don't expect to type very fast for the first few weeks. But the layout is also different enough that you don't overwrite your muscle memory for regular flat keyboards. I tried Dvorak typing, but hated it whenever I had to use a Qwerty machine; meanwhile, I can switch between using an AlphaGrip and a regular flat keyboard with no finger confusion. The built-in track ball means you can stand up and pace if you want and still get work done. And the shape is different enough that I was able to avoid the repetitive stress issues that were being caused by my use of a flat keyboard + mouse.
YMMV and all that, naturally. :)
(FWIW, I'm not connected with the AlphaGrip company in any way other than as a satisfied customer.)
Cheers,
Even basic input, the keyboard and mouse, haven’t really changed in any meaningful way over the years
Maybe the reason for this is the basic form works. The design of the wheel hasn't changed much in a 5 thousand years either. I wonder why.
I beg to differ. The basic design requirement of a wheel is that it's round and rolls, and I'll certainly grant you that this aspect of wheels hasn't changed. However, a rough-hewn wooden round, such as used in the simplest of carts, bears very little other resemblance to the three-spoked carbon-fiber performance bicycle wheels I see with some frequency on my morning bicycle commute. Sure, both are round and roll, but otherwise, there's thousands of years of difference between them.
So what are the design requirements for computer input? You could start by looking at the requirements of a keyboard and a mouse: 1) Must have all the keys required to input at least ASCII. 2) Must have some kind of pointer-device control, ideally with at least two buttons.
So sure, you can have your basic flat keyboard, and a basic mouse. Or you could have something quite different, like this, or this, or this, or this (what I'm actually using to type this message).
And that's not even looking into other possible input schemes, such as voice recognition, eye tracking, etc.
I applaud Valve's efforts to look into better ways of doing things. This kind of exploration is exactly what leads to new and better things.
Cheers,
I don't see how taking advantage of other people's stupidity doesn't still make you an asshole.
It's one of the primary definitions of "asshole".
But what's really unique and forward-thinking is doing it in such a way that people build shrines to you.
So does that make it "assholy"? Or does it make Jobs a Holy Ass?
Hmm... so many theologic possibilities here...
Actually, nothing fucking happens because religion is bullshit.
Actually, parsing your grammar a bit differently, quite a lot happens because religion is bullshit.
:-P
Yeah, with the Prius, at least, I notice no appreciable lag between putting my foot down and feeling like I've got appropriate power going to the wheels. With the anti-skid features, sometimes I notice a brief moment of oddness if I floor it when a wheel is on something slick like wet leaves or a wet manhole cover, but things are good in terms of what the transmission is doing. With our other car that has a regular automatic transmission, sometimes there really is the sense that the car is in the wrong gear, and it might take a second or so to sort out before I've got the right amount of power happening.
Cheers,
Ask him about a Windows problem. If he says "Have you tried turning it off and back on again", hire him.
Especially if he says so in an Irish accent. It helps if he's also tall and lanky.
:-P
There are quite a number of people out there that would sooner die then choose Apple because of their shiny retarded walled garden approach to computing.
This is the first time I've ever heard of Apple being so good that even the deceased prefer Apple products. :-P
I think you meant than (comparative: "A is bigger than B") rather than then (adverbial: "Alice ate, then met Bob").
</pedantic>
Oracle is a huge organisation. I mean mindbogglingly huge (think planet Vogon). There is a lot of red tape that you have to cut to get anything done, and in 4 months they're probably still scheduling meetings to figure out if it should be fixed, and when, and by whom. Unless an SVP gets involved, it's unlikely that it will be rushed.
Perhaps they should, you know, have a department dedicated to handling these kinds of things in a timely manner then?
Oh, don't worry, it's in the works -- the planning meeting for starting the process of organizing to set up such a department is scheduled for early 2013.
"I remember when I could have 6 or 7 A-HA! moments in one night."
I was going to say that you must be female to have that many in one night.
Then I realized you weren't talking about what I thought you were talking about:
That was back in the days when MTV ran "Take On Me" music video in regular rotation.
But I suppose I could still say the same thing. My wife certainly gets a certain dreamy-eyed faraway look whenever A-HA! comes on the radio with "Take On Me"...
:-P
Automatic transmissions also tend to add about $1000 to the price of a mid-range car, are more likely to have problems and are considerably more expensive to fix when things do go wrong. They also tend to be in the wrong gear when you need them (CVTs may reduce that issue somewhat. I don't know.).
We've got a Prius with a CVT (continuously variable transmission), and another car with a regular automatic transmission. I've been driving both this week. The CVT doesn't have gears, really, so there simply is no wrong gear to be in. CVTs also have smoother acceleration curves, as there is no shifting between gears, so no sudden drop in acceleration as the transmission up-shifts.
There's also the coolness factor -- the first CVT was sketched out by Da Vinci way back in 1490. :)