"Marriage does have to do with procreation. Love is nothing if not about procreation."
For couples that have no desire to reproduce, neither of the above are about procreation.
There are also (rare) people that have a neurological design that regardless of age never develops to the point of having lust-type urges at all; even hormone therapy doesn't make a difference. Love is for us is related to an interest in touching in general (normally we don't want to touch people), and sex is just another way to give/receive pleasure to the one person we've bonded with. In our case it's *really* not about procreation, especially if we are lucky enough to pair up with another of our design.
Actually, the Ultima Series is still living outside our memories as well.:-) Groups of dedicated fans are working on updating the original games with modern graphics/sound, rewriting U9 dialogue so that it's in line with the history within the Ultima universe, creating programs that enable the pre-9 Ultimas to run successfully under Windows, adding multiplayer/online abilities to older Ultimas, creating fan fiction & fan spinoff games, and all kinds of other fun things.
Ultima IX came out in 1999 with the following requirements (note the 3d-accelerated graphics and three-digit processor;)
MINIMUM
Windows 95 or 98
266 MHz or faster Intel Pentium II processor
64 MB RAM
8x CD-ROM drive (1200K/second transfer rate) using 32-bit Windows 95/98 CD-ROM driver
8 MB 3D graphics Accelerator with DirectDraw and Direct 3D or Glide compatible driver
640 x 480 screen resolution
DirectX 7 compatible sound card
600 MB free hard disk space, plus space for saved games (additional space required for DirectX 7 installation)
Keyboard, mouse
RECOMMENDED
400 MHz or faster Pentium II processor
128 MB RAM
1 GB free hard disk space plus space for saved games
16 MB 3D graphics accelerator using the Voodoo3 chipset
DirectX 7 compatible sound card with EAX and DirecSound3D support
On the other hand, it can be good.
on
Cyberchondria
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
For people that do have rare disorders left undiagnosed, however, the Internet is an incredible boon.
I discovered after 21 years of operations with organ difficulties of all kinds that my birth defects had a name, that there was a great support network online, and wonderful new treatments. Nobody had ever told me what it was, because doctors focused on one malfunctioning organ at a time. I only learned because I was bored one night and typed the name of a procedure into a search engine. I learned about a new operation in the discussion groups about two years later, went through 6 layers of doctors to convince my HMO to let me have it -- and now for the first time in my life, I can go away from my house overnight, I don't have to worry about medical mishaps, it's amazing! All because *I* looked up info on what I had, instead of relying on authority figures that (all the way until I reached a surgeon) had never even *heard* of what I needed.
Similarly, it was a couple of years ago that I was searching for information on my delayed development/maturity and for the first time in my life found out what it was I'd had all along. I was skeptical at first, but I did fit the exact profile and asked others that were diagnosed in the online support community, eventually finding that I was more like them than anybody I'd ever met in real life. I've since been formally diagnosed, as has my partner (who went through the same self-dx process) though we learned in the process that the amount of ignorance in the psychology field when it comes to our neuro-issue is absolutely horrifying. This is after we'd each spent quite a bit of time being grossly misdiagnosed and drugged senseless based on that -- it was due to *our* research that we were finally given a diagnosis that made sense and were able to obtain guidance that improved our lives instead of making things worse.
A far nastier problem I've experienced firsthand on Amazon.com is the tendency of authors to go through the reviews and demand all of the "bad" ones be removed. Amazon.com's policy is to remove negative reviews upon author or publisher request, even if the points stated by the critic were clearly logical, reasonable, and within the guidelines. I know quite a few other people that have had it happen to as well.
The really disturbing thing in the case of the book I was reviewing was that it advocated emotionally & physically abusing adults with disabilities. Regardless of who pointed it out, the author would have any review that wasn't sterling removed, so the book still has a great rating. Most of the ones remaining are either mindless "I know the author and she's really nice" comments that have nothing to do with the book itself, or testimonials from other wives/husbands that feel it's cool to throw things at, scream in the face of, and emotionally one's disabled partner into feeling deeply inferior. VERY disturbing.
"It will never be possible to live on $11K a year. Never."
It is possible, just not pleasant. Anybody that is disabled and therefore reliant on SSI for income is expected to live on $9,480/year. Note that's in California, where we're given an extra $200 every month rather than food stamps.
You sound exactly like my geek boyfriend, who had an extremely hard time (as in "had no luck at all") finding a partner before I chose him.
While I recognize that there's some long-unneded biological reason for it, that doesn't make me feel any less revolted by our species. (I say "species" rather than "my gender" because the majority of men behave similarly in picking a woman.) At this point in civilization, we no longer need to rely on brawn over brains; I just wish more people's minds could manage to grasp that. There are too many lonely "nice" guys out there.
I agree, service plans are invaluable for laptops *and* for handheld/Palm systems. CompUSA does *not* do in-house repair for Sony items, though; they're under contract with Sony and MUST ship the laptops out even just for evaluation.:-p
Here is a breakdown of what I have spent/gained in the last few years:
$2500 450Mhz Toshiba laptop w/$200 plan (Best Buy) -- motherboard fried, free 500MHz Compaq replacement -- Compaq fried, free 650MHz Toshiba replacement (In essence, I got two free upgrades this way)
$400 Sony Clie, $100 (?) plan (CompUSA) -- random crashing issues, replaced on the spot
$1900 1.2GHz Sony VAIO w/$200 plan (CompUSA) -- USB daughterboard failed, replaced -- motherboard fried, replaced -- dock failure, replaced -- hard drive failure, replaced
The VAIO actually just came to me again in the mail about six hours ago. I was on a trip across the country when the hard drive seized, so I dropped it off at the CompUSA there. It wasn't back from Sony by the time I had to leave, so they just shipped it to my house FedEx Second Day Air. When I had it in for service other times, interestingly, they also replaced (without request) the keyboard, a loose screen latch, and the handrest, which my skin oils had changed funny colors.
Make sure, though, if you bring a laptop in with CompUSA, keep all of the paperwork! Their service plan -- which is a legally binding contract -- states they'll replace the notebook (instead of just repairing it over-and-over again) if it has enough failures, but they don't keep records of how often or why they work on the systems...so if you want a full-out replacement per the contract, you MUST have all of the old work orders to prove it's a screwy system. Don't just toss the "pink" sheet after tech work has been done...
Also, when you go to buy a service plan from them, make *sure* that everything you are told is in writing, and keep a copy of that contract. Don't buy a plan that allows them to refuse to fix components if they judge it to be "customer abuse" -- Best Buy in particular has been awful for that in my area, and they'll charge you for *looking* at it under those circumstances. Go to another store, don't take the risk. (My best friend was screwed out of $3000+ in two laptops this way last year.)
Here in Northern (Bay Area) California, I pay $39.00 to Sonic.net for a 1.5mps down / 128k up with 4 static IPs, 5 email accounts (with SpamAssassin), and 80gb server space. They're extremely reliable (near-zero downtime of any kind since I joined in 1996 as a dialup member, and none since I got their DSL in 2002) and their customer support is amazing.
"PDAs don't really need screens and keyboards if you can talk to them and they can talk to you..."
Yes and no, depending on what people are using them for. Originally, the same was said about computers -- that the keyboard/mouse would become useless once voice-recognition became reality -- but people quickly discovered that even when the technology worked wonderfully, they didn't really want to be stuck *saying* everything. There's also a larger proportion, I believe, of "visual" people out there than there are "auditory" ones, plus a lot of people also hate the sound of their own voice, or don't like having others "listen in" on their plans, or have other objections to speech-based input.
On the other hand, I agree that *something* is going to supplant the stylus/keyboard combo. I'm just not so sure, especially after dealing with Sony's voice recognition tech support system recently, that it will be voice-based. (I have a Clie NX60 that I love which includes a fairly nice-sized built-in keyboard, voice recorder, and the usual PalmOS on-screen input options... I dislike the keyboard immensely, but between on-screen input and speech, on-screen works for me.)
Personally, I'm hoping for more handheld systems that just give users the option between a variety of well-done integrated input types, rather than the "let's ALL do it way X" mentality that a lot of people seem to champion. That way those of us that prefer or even need one type over another can use that... My concern is always that "one type" will win out, excluding anybody that doesn't have a brain wired for that form of interaction, so those people have to use second-rate "adaptive equipment."
As somebody that worked as an Inspector for my area (that is, the person present and in-charge of a voting site) back in 2002, let me tell you: if more people volunteered and got to see what a chaotic mess ballot-handling is *now* most of them would be all for computers.
The Inspector position requires a grand total of *two hours* of training, during which we sit watching a few lectures and quick run-throughs. That includes everything from what time you show up, how to set up booths, all the way down to tallying votes after the poll closes and where to bring the materials afterwards. Officials working with an Inspector can show up for training but don't have to. This means that at any one polling place, you might have *one* person that *might* know WTF is going on and *might* be there.
My location alone had problems with volunteers not paying attention, marking things wrong -- we at one point were HUNDREDS of votes off in the tally because of one person screwing around -- misplacing things...people showing up and trying (almost successfully) to intimidate pollworkers into letting them vote twice or without an ID...there's no doubt in my mind that half my team could have easily been bribed for very little money, as they were only there to supplement their income.
Overall, the day was a real eye-opener for me. The assumption that having it all done by hand means it's being controlled by professionals, or that public "paid volunteers" are automatically going to be more trustworthy than a trained force is from what I saw simply inaccurate...anybody certain that it's a great setup needs to spend a day volunteering as Inspector to find out what things are *really* like before assuming computers are inherently less reliable, believe me!
"Auschwitz can only really bring up one meaning, the slaugtering of the Jews"
Actually, *far* more than just Jewish people were killed. Roma Gypsies, disabled people, homosexuals -- all kinds of minorities were murdered in the Eugenics movements. There was a large Eugenics movement in the Western World in general, including a huge one in the USA that was only partially derailed by anti-Nazi sentiment and thus still lives on in certain obscure laws.
"Anyone who has had sight from birth is pretty well hardwired to spatially understand things from a three-dimensional model consistent with our ordinary experience."
Actually, that's not the case. There are scores of individuals out there, usually with forms of autism, with perfect sight but neurology that can't grasp things in three-dimensional space well at all. They can't pour liquid into glasses accurately, often walk into solid objects or walls, can barely guess the relative size/volume of objects, and generally struggle with *any* task related to distance, size, or depth perception. It's a real PITA, believe me. I can detect screen refresh rates up to 120Hz, and anything below 100Hz hurts my eyes, yet *everything* I do that is motion-related has to be conscious, as I can't tell where the hell things are.
To people like me, the world looks no more three-dimensional than a photograph does to you. I don't know what the term is for this specific neuro-visual problem, but I know it is related to autism, scotopic sensitivity syndrome, and synaesthesia. All things to look up for a very interesting look into how some others perceive the world.:-)
Given (Supplemental) Social Security only pays out a bit over $500 per month to live on, yes, I would call that a deterrent. Even $50 is a "deterrent" when it's all you have for a food budget each month.
At first glance, I thought that a tool used to analyze essays would be a nightmare -- it would kill creativity, homogenize style, etc. However, I then remembered my experience grading freshman *college* essays last year. This was in a small-classroom course, taught by an extremely good instructor that also offered office hours galore, all kinds of free tutoring on campus, free access to computers with MS Word, etc -- in other words, *plenty* of chances for the students to improve.
I was given three distinct classes worth of essays to grade, and traded off with the instructor on which half of each class we'd each tackle. The papers were dreadful...while as an English & Creative Writing grad, I am extremely pro-creativity, these students weren't ready for that. Some of the sentences I ran across were so awful I would IM my friends and have *them* in hysterics at how terrible they were. For example -- and keep in mind, these are middle-class white kids, NOT English-as-a-second-language students.
"There is not connection with what I know the same circles don't fit inside squares."
"There is also numerous of shapes and designes which not to difined."
"They get into the analization of the man..."
The simple truth is, while creativity is great, there is a baseline level of grammatical ability that needs to be used in order for others to simply understand WTF the writer is saying. A lot of the time, it would take me 5 - 6 scans per sentence to figure out what my students were writing. The worst part of this is that because of department rules, I wasn't allowed to give any kid below a C if he/she *tried* to follow the essay guidelines. As long as the right number of pages, subject, etc. were touched on, the person would pass.
I think the best use of technology in cases like that would be to sit the person down at the computer with the grammar-analysis program, and rather than have them ignore classroom lessons, interactively edit their own papers. Not the way that Word v.X does it, where the person just right-clicks to get a "correct" change, but the older method in which the program offers a series of alterations with explanations *why* the original is out of whack.
Doing that in lecture isn't realistic, unfortunately. Despite the number of grammatical nightmares in the course, the students really were at varying levels of ability, each with a unique misunderstanding of the rules. Each needed individualized attention, though as far as I could tell none of them were trying to obtain it. Also, the campus requirements for Freshman English didn't leave time for stuff they should have learned in elementary school.
I agree...the media (as well as the company that makes Segway) should be focusing far more articles on the positive use of the machine in helping people than just as some overpriced novelty. I have to wonder how many people in wheelchairs are in one because there's never been a self-propelled version designed for standing up before, that could rely upon a Segway-type device instead.
First type: proud of what he/she is and focuses energies on interesting "geeky" stuff.
Second type: would rather be fashionable and focuses his/her time on bashing everybody that isn't.
Funny, all the geeks I know in the first category have little problem getting dates (usually with others that enjoy the same interests:) while the ones in the second group spend their time sneering about how geeks like themselves are supposedly too "dorky" to have a relationship.
Personally, I find guys that are secure enough in their self-esteem/masculinity/whatever to ride a Segway or do other "dorky" things quite attractive/cool. That is why I am marrying that kind of guy, and have turned down the immature/insecure/vicious mudslinging kind constantly -- I want to be with an adult, not an oversized angsty teenage boy.
"I guess so if your definition of obnoxious includes railings on ledges and lane turtles on roadways. To the rest of us, such things are considered useful."
To the police, navigating based on where the little bumps in the road area at is considered a sign you're in serious need of an alcohol test...;)
Not just some of them, but actually the overwhelming majority. The support forums I run for cognitive disabilities have a number of people that were locked up in mental hospitals by idiots that misdiagnosed them as mentally ill -- and the one thing they *all* agree on is that the hospitals are full of cruel/unusual punishments. They also all said that they would rather be homeless (though most aren't) or dead before sent back to such places. The tales they've told about how they were treated literally make "One Flew Over A Coocoo's Nest" look like Disneyland.
On top of that, there's a great deal of misinformation *within* the psychiatric industry. Common "treatments" for some things involve nothing more than physically punishing the person for showing any signs that she/he is different, and rewarding showing no sign of discomfort when exposed to physically painful stimuli. Ironically the aversives inevitably give rise to genuine mental illness in the form of severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
I agree, there should be a structured, *humane* safety net available -- one not based on forcing everybody into a one-size-fits all mold of blind obedience. Right now there's a sick duality: either you get almost no help at all, or you're basically abused. Also, a common problem for people with treatable mental illnesses (bipolar, schizophrenia,etc) is that they are stuck on various forms of financial assistance because they can't afford the medications. If they could afford the drugs, they could work, but because they can't afford them, they can't work.
That's not true at all. I know disabled homeless people that access the 'net through public libraries. They're actually fairly common in certain support communities online, but usually only mention in private mail that they have nowhere to live.
" Also, this would help hospitals treat patients they have never seen before, as it could assist them in identifying a mentally ill person that needs a specific form of medication."
No, more likely it would cause many homeless to forego needed treatment out of the fear that they would be locked up, forcibly drugged, or otherwise mistreated. Especially in cases of people that have a cognitive disability that is *not* a mental illness yet have been misdiagnosed in the past as being mentally ill -- the drugs for the latter can be *deadly* for the former.
If you were the one disabled and thus stuck trying to live on the $300/month the government offers to "support" a disabled adult; if you were the one trying to help desperate disabled friends figure out the convoluted application process so they won't become homeless or kill themselves...you would not be talking about needing more parent-type caregivers and less money.
The disabled have a rate of physical, sexual, and verbal abuse that is (statistically speaking) 150% higher than that of the non-disabled. Interviews with a large number of Deaf children in particular showed that virtually all of them had been the victim of sexual or physical assault by a caregiver. What we *don't* want is more caregivers -- we don't want more average-bodied folk assuming they know what is best for other intellectually-capable adults. No matter how nice they may start out or seem, for every 1 wonderful person doing it there are 99 monsters.
What we need are reasonable amounts -- at *least* at the national poverty level or preferably above -- of financial support for those disabled who have been too screwed up by the system to ever work. We need support programs in the educational system (K-university) and employment systems set up so physical anomalies won't make it impossible for somebody with intellectual ability to succeed.
We want to support ourselves, or at least live a financially tolerable life volunteering in the community to make our contributions. Adding more abusive caregivers that hide their need for dominance in sweet lovey language will only pull power away from the disabled, not help us compete. Adding money to the amount given out so it is reasonable, adding money to SSI coffers so people in need aren't constantly turned away as they are now, and adding money to set up a proper support system WILL help, and will prevent more people from needing SSI in the future.
Consider this...
People tend to accept aspects of life that were standard when they were children, and oarents are going to buy these WozNet tags to track their kids. In another 10-15 years, when said children have grown up enough to influence the way the USA is run, unlike us they will be totally comfortable with the idea of having zero privacy and their every move tracked -- because that's the way it will have been since they were kids.
It's not huge government mandates that people should be wary of, but the average civilian being "eased into" being comfortable with things that those in power can then quietly subvert to their own ends.
Slashdot Mirror
"Marriage does have to do with procreation.
Love is nothing if not about procreation."
For couples that have no desire to reproduce, neither of the above are about procreation.
There are also (rare) people that have a neurological design that regardless of age never develops to the point of having lust-type urges at all; even hormone therapy doesn't make a difference. Love is for us is related to an interest in touching in general (normally we don't want to touch people), and sex is just another way to give/receive pleasure to the one person we've bonded with. In our case it's *really* not about procreation, especially if we are lucky enough to pair up with another of our design.
Actually, the Ultima Series is still living outside our memories as well. :-) Groups of dedicated fans are working on updating the original games with modern graphics/sound, rewriting U9 dialogue so that it's in line with the history within the Ultima universe, creating programs that enable the pre-9 Ultimas to run successfully under Windows, adding multiplayer/online abilities to older Ultimas, creating fan fiction & fan spinoff games, and all kinds of other fun things.
Ultima IX came out in 1999 with the following requirements (note the 3d-accelerated graphics and three-digit processor ;)
MINIMUM
Windows 95 or 98
266 MHz or faster Intel Pentium II processor
64 MB RAM
8x CD-ROM drive (1200K/second transfer rate) using 32-bit Windows 95/98 CD-ROM driver
8 MB 3D graphics Accelerator with DirectDraw and Direct 3D or Glide compatible driver
640 x 480 screen resolution
DirectX 7 compatible sound card
600 MB free hard disk space, plus space for saved games (additional space required for DirectX 7 installation)
Keyboard, mouse
RECOMMENDED
400 MHz or faster Pentium II processor
128 MB RAM
1 GB free hard disk space plus space for saved games
16 MB 3D graphics accelerator using the Voodoo3 chipset
DirectX 7 compatible sound card with EAX and DirecSound3D support
For people that do have rare disorders left undiagnosed, however, the Internet is an incredible boon.
I discovered after 21 years of operations with organ difficulties of all kinds that my birth defects had a name, that there was a great support network online, and wonderful new treatments. Nobody had ever told me what it was, because doctors focused on one malfunctioning organ at a time. I only learned because I was bored one night and typed the name of a procedure into a search engine. I learned about a new operation in the discussion groups about two years later, went through 6 layers of doctors to convince my HMO to let me have it -- and now for the first time in my life, I can go away from my house overnight, I don't have to worry about medical mishaps, it's amazing! All because *I* looked up info on what I had, instead of relying on authority figures that (all the way until I reached a surgeon) had never even *heard* of what I needed.
Similarly, it was a couple of years ago that I was searching for information on my delayed development/maturity and for the first time in my life found out what it was I'd had all along. I was skeptical at first, but I did fit the exact profile and asked others that were diagnosed in the online support community, eventually finding that I was more like them than anybody I'd ever met in real life. I've since been formally diagnosed, as has my partner (who went through the same self-dx process) though we learned in the process that the amount of ignorance in the psychology field when it comes to our neuro-issue is absolutely horrifying. This is after we'd each spent quite a bit of time being grossly misdiagnosed and drugged senseless based on that -- it was due to *our* research that we were finally given a diagnosis that made sense and were able to obtain guidance that improved our lives instead of making things worse.
A far nastier problem I've experienced firsthand on Amazon.com is the tendency of authors to go through the reviews and demand all of the "bad" ones be removed. Amazon.com's policy is to remove negative reviews upon author or publisher request, even if the points stated by the critic were clearly logical, reasonable, and within the guidelines. I know quite a few other people that have had it happen to as well.
The really disturbing thing in the case of the book I was reviewing was that it advocated emotionally & physically abusing adults with disabilities. Regardless of who pointed it out, the author would have any review that wasn't sterling removed, so the book still has a great rating. Most of the ones remaining are either mindless "I know the author and she's really nice" comments that have nothing to do with the book itself, or testimonials from other wives/husbands that feel it's cool to throw things at, scream in the face of, and emotionally one's disabled partner into feeling deeply inferior. VERY disturbing.
"It will never be possible to live on $11K a year. Never."
It is possible, just not pleasant. Anybody that is disabled and therefore reliant on SSI for income is expected to live on $9,480/year. Note that's in California, where we're given an extra $200 every month rather than food stamps.
You sound exactly like my geek boyfriend, who had an extremely hard time (as in "had no luck at all") finding a partner before I chose him.
While I recognize that there's some long-unneded biological reason for it, that doesn't make me feel any less revolted by our species. (I say "species" rather than "my gender" because the majority of men behave similarly in picking a woman.) At this point in civilization, we no longer need to rely on brawn over brains; I just wish more people's minds could manage to grasp that. There are too many lonely "nice" guys out there.
I agree, service plans are invaluable for laptops *and* for handheld/Palm systems. CompUSA does *not* do in-house repair for Sony items, though; they're under contract with Sony and MUST ship the laptops out even just for evaluation. :-p
Here is a breakdown of what I have spent/gained in the last few years:
$2500 450Mhz Toshiba laptop w/$200 plan (Best Buy)
-- motherboard fried, free 500MHz Compaq replacement
-- Compaq fried, free 650MHz Toshiba replacement
(In essence, I got two free upgrades this way)
$400 Sony Clie, $100 (?) plan (CompUSA)
-- random crashing issues, replaced on the spot
$1900 1.2GHz Sony VAIO w/$200 plan (CompUSA)
-- USB daughterboard failed, replaced
-- motherboard fried, replaced
-- dock failure, replaced
-- hard drive failure, replaced
The VAIO actually just came to me again in the mail about six hours ago. I was on a trip across the country when the hard drive seized, so I dropped it off at the CompUSA there. It wasn't back from Sony by the time I had to leave, so they just shipped it to my house FedEx Second Day Air. When I had it in for service other times, interestingly, they also replaced (without request) the keyboard, a loose screen latch, and the handrest, which my skin oils had changed funny colors.
Make sure, though, if you bring a laptop in with CompUSA, keep all of the paperwork! Their service plan -- which is a legally binding contract -- states they'll replace the notebook (instead of just repairing it over-and-over again) if it has enough failures, but they don't keep records of how often or why they work on the systems...so if you want a full-out replacement per the contract, you MUST have all of the old work orders to prove it's a screwy system. Don't just toss the "pink" sheet after tech work has been done...
Also, when you go to buy a service plan from them, make *sure* that everything you are told is in writing, and keep a copy of that contract. Don't buy a plan that allows them to refuse to fix components if they judge it to be "customer abuse" -- Best Buy in particular has been awful for that in my area, and they'll charge you for *looking* at it under those circumstances. Go to another store, don't take the risk. (My best friend was screwed out of $3000+ in two laptops this way last year.)
Here in Northern (Bay Area) California, I pay $39.00 to Sonic.net for a 1.5mps down / 128k up with 4 static IPs, 5 email accounts (with SpamAssassin), and 80gb server space. They're extremely reliable (near-zero downtime of any kind since I joined in 1996 as a dialup member, and none since I got their DSL in 2002) and their customer support is amazing.
"PDAs don't really need screens and keyboards if you can talk to them and they can talk to you..."
Yes and no, depending on what people are using them for. Originally, the same was said about computers -- that the keyboard/mouse would become useless once voice-recognition became reality -- but people quickly discovered that even when the technology worked wonderfully, they didn't really want to be stuck *saying* everything. There's also a larger proportion, I believe, of "visual" people out there than there are "auditory" ones, plus a lot of people also hate the sound of their own voice, or don't like having others "listen in" on their plans, or have other objections to speech-based input.
On the other hand, I agree that *something* is going to supplant the stylus/keyboard combo. I'm just not so sure, especially after dealing with Sony's voice recognition tech support system recently, that it will be voice-based. (I have a Clie NX60 that I love which includes a fairly nice-sized built-in keyboard, voice recorder, and the usual PalmOS on-screen input options... I dislike the keyboard immensely, but between on-screen input and speech, on-screen works for me.)
Personally, I'm hoping for more handheld systems that just give users the option between a variety of well-done integrated input types, rather than the "let's ALL do it way X" mentality that a lot of people seem to champion. That way those of us that prefer or even need one type over another can use that... My concern is always that "one type" will win out, excluding anybody that doesn't have a brain wired for that form of interaction, so those people have to use second-rate "adaptive equipment."
As somebody that worked as an Inspector for my area (that is, the person present and in-charge of a voting site) back in 2002, let me tell you: if more people volunteered and got to see what a chaotic mess ballot-handling is *now* most of them would be all for computers.
The Inspector position requires a grand total of *two hours* of training, during which we sit watching a few lectures and quick run-throughs. That includes everything from what time you show up, how to set up booths, all the way down to tallying votes after the poll closes and where to bring the materials afterwards. Officials working with an Inspector can show up for training but don't have to. This means that at any one polling place, you might have *one* person that *might* know WTF is going on and *might* be there.
My location alone had problems with volunteers not paying attention, marking things wrong -- we at one point were HUNDREDS of votes off in the tally because of one person screwing around -- misplacing things...people showing up and trying (almost successfully) to intimidate pollworkers into letting them vote twice or without an ID...there's no doubt in my mind that half my team could have easily been bribed for very little money, as they were only there to supplement their income.
Overall, the day was a real eye-opener for me. The assumption that having it all done by hand means it's being controlled by professionals, or that public "paid volunteers" are automatically going to be more trustworthy than a trained force is from what I saw simply inaccurate...anybody certain that it's a great setup needs to spend a day volunteering as Inspector to find out what things are *really* like before assuming computers are inherently less reliable, believe me!
"..for the day when we get the first all-in-one program that combines all these stupid all-in-one media players."
Ummm, wouldn't that be called "an operating system"? *grin*
"Auschwitz can only really bring up one meaning, the slaugtering of the Jews"
Actually, *far* more than just Jewish people were killed. Roma Gypsies, disabled people, homosexuals -- all kinds of minorities were murdered in the Eugenics movements. There was a large Eugenics movement in the Western World in general, including a huge one in the USA that was only partially derailed by anti-Nazi sentiment and thus still lives on in certain obscure laws.
In *most* public universities, yes. However, take U.C. Berkeley as an example -- according to
c he d.html
http://registrar.berkeley.edu/Registration/fees
their tuition is now $5,857.90 per year for a resident of California, and $20,067.90 for people that are from other states or countries.
"Anyone who has had sight from birth is pretty well hardwired to spatially understand things from a three-dimensional model consistent with our ordinary experience."
:-)
Actually, that's not the case. There are scores of individuals out there, usually with forms of autism, with perfect sight but neurology that can't grasp things in three-dimensional space well at all. They can't pour liquid into glasses accurately, often walk into solid objects or walls, can barely guess the relative size/volume of objects, and generally struggle with *any* task related to distance, size, or depth perception. It's a real PITA, believe me. I can detect screen refresh rates up to 120Hz, and anything below 100Hz hurts my eyes, yet *everything* I do that is motion-related has to be conscious, as I can't tell where the hell things are.
To people like me, the world looks no more three-dimensional than a photograph does to you. I don't know what the term is for this specific neuro-visual problem, but I know it is related to autism, scotopic sensitivity syndrome, and synaesthesia. All things to look up for a very interesting look into how some others perceive the world.
Given (Supplemental) Social Security only pays out a bit over $500 per month to live on, yes, I would call that a deterrent. Even $50 is a "deterrent" when it's all you have for a food budget each month.
At first glance, I thought that a tool used to analyze essays would be a nightmare -- it would kill creativity, homogenize style, etc. However, I then remembered my experience grading freshman *college* essays last year. This was in a small-classroom course, taught by an extremely good instructor that also offered office hours galore, all kinds of free tutoring on campus, free access to computers with MS Word, etc -- in other words, *plenty* of chances for the students to improve. I was given three distinct classes worth of essays to grade, and traded off with the instructor on which half of each class we'd each tackle. The papers were dreadful...while as an English & Creative Writing grad, I am extremely pro-creativity, these students weren't ready for that. Some of the sentences I ran across were so awful I would IM my friends and have *them* in hysterics at how terrible they were. For example -- and keep in mind, these are middle-class white kids, NOT English-as-a-second-language students. "There is not connection with what I know the same circles don't fit inside squares." "There is also numerous of shapes and designes which not to difined." "They get into the analization of the man..." The simple truth is, while creativity is great, there is a baseline level of grammatical ability that needs to be used in order for others to simply understand WTF the writer is saying. A lot of the time, it would take me 5 - 6 scans per sentence to figure out what my students were writing. The worst part of this is that because of department rules, I wasn't allowed to give any kid below a C if he/she *tried* to follow the essay guidelines. As long as the right number of pages, subject, etc. were touched on, the person would pass. I think the best use of technology in cases like that would be to sit the person down at the computer with the grammar-analysis program, and rather than have them ignore classroom lessons, interactively edit their own papers. Not the way that Word v.X does it, where the person just right-clicks to get a "correct" change, but the older method in which the program offers a series of alterations with explanations *why* the original is out of whack. Doing that in lecture isn't realistic, unfortunately. Despite the number of grammatical nightmares in the course, the students really were at varying levels of ability, each with a unique misunderstanding of the rules. Each needed individualized attention, though as far as I could tell none of them were trying to obtain it. Also, the campus requirements for Freshman English didn't leave time for stuff they should have learned in elementary school.
I agree...the media (as well as the company that makes Segway) should be focusing far more articles on the positive use of the machine in helping people than just as some overpriced novelty. I have to wonder how many people in wheelchairs are in one because there's never been a self-propelled version designed for standing up before, that could rely upon a Segway-type device instead.
First type: proud of what he/she is and focuses energies on interesting "geeky" stuff.
:) while the ones in the second group spend their time sneering about how geeks like themselves are supposedly too "dorky" to have a relationship.
Second type: would rather be fashionable and focuses his/her time on bashing everybody that isn't.
Funny, all the geeks I know in the first category have little problem getting dates (usually with others that enjoy the same interests
Personally, I find guys that are secure enough in their self-esteem/masculinity/whatever to ride a Segway or do other "dorky" things quite attractive/cool. That is why I am marrying that kind of guy, and have turned down the immature/insecure/vicious mudslinging kind constantly -- I want to be with an adult, not an oversized angsty teenage boy.
"I guess so if your definition of obnoxious includes railings on ledges and lane turtles on roadways. To the rest of us, such things are considered useful." To the police, navigating based on where the little bumps in the road area at is considered a sign you're in serious need of an alcohol test... ;)
Not just some of them, but actually the overwhelming majority. The support forums I run for cognitive disabilities have a number of people that were locked up in mental hospitals by idiots that misdiagnosed them as mentally ill -- and the one thing they *all* agree on is that the hospitals are full of cruel/unusual punishments. They also all said that they would rather be homeless (though most aren't) or dead before sent back to such places. The tales they've told about how they were treated literally make "One Flew Over A Coocoo's Nest" look like Disneyland. On top of that, there's a great deal of misinformation *within* the psychiatric industry. Common "treatments" for some things involve nothing more than physically punishing the person for showing any signs that she/he is different, and rewarding showing no sign of discomfort when exposed to physically painful stimuli. Ironically the aversives inevitably give rise to genuine mental illness in the form of severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. I agree, there should be a structured, *humane* safety net available -- one not based on forcing everybody into a one-size-fits all mold of blind obedience. Right now there's a sick duality: either you get almost no help at all, or you're basically abused. Also, a common problem for people with treatable mental illnesses (bipolar, schizophrenia,etc) is that they are stuck on various forms of financial assistance because they can't afford the medications. If they could afford the drugs, they could work, but because they can't afford them, they can't work.
That's not true at all. I know disabled homeless people that access the 'net through public libraries. They're actually fairly common in certain support communities online, but usually only mention in private mail that they have nowhere to live.
" Also, this would help hospitals treat patients they have never seen before, as it could assist them in identifying a mentally ill person that needs a specific form of medication." No, more likely it would cause many homeless to forego needed treatment out of the fear that they would be locked up, forcibly drugged, or otherwise mistreated. Especially in cases of people that have a cognitive disability that is *not* a mental illness yet have been misdiagnosed in the past as being mentally ill -- the drugs for the latter can be *deadly* for the former.
If you were the one disabled and thus stuck trying to live on the $300/month the government offers to "support" a disabled adult; if you were the one trying to help desperate disabled friends figure out the convoluted application process so they won't become homeless or kill themselves...you would not be talking about needing more parent-type caregivers and less money.
The disabled have a rate of physical, sexual, and verbal abuse that is (statistically speaking) 150% higher than that of the non-disabled. Interviews with a large number of Deaf children in particular showed that virtually all of them had been the victim of sexual or physical assault by a caregiver. What we *don't* want is more caregivers -- we don't want more average-bodied folk assuming they know what is best for other intellectually-capable adults. No matter how nice they may start out or seem, for every 1 wonderful person doing it there are 99 monsters.
What we need are reasonable amounts -- at *least* at the national poverty level or preferably above -- of financial support for those disabled who have been too screwed up by the system to ever work. We need support programs in the educational system (K-university) and employment systems set up so physical anomalies won't make it impossible for somebody with intellectual ability to succeed.
We want to support ourselves, or at least live a financially tolerable life volunteering in the community to make our contributions. Adding more abusive caregivers that hide their need for dominance in sweet lovey language will only pull power away from the disabled, not help us compete. Adding money to the amount given out so it is reasonable, adding money to SSI coffers so people in need aren't constantly turned away as they are now, and adding money to set up a proper support system WILL help, and will prevent more people from needing SSI in the future.
Consider this... People tend to accept aspects of life that were standard when they were children, and oarents are going to buy these WozNet tags to track their kids. In another 10-15 years, when said children have grown up enough to influence the way the USA is run, unlike us they will be totally comfortable with the idea of having zero privacy and their every move tracked -- because that's the way it will have been since they were kids. It's not huge government mandates that people should be wary of, but the average civilian being "eased into" being comfortable with things that those in power can then quietly subvert to their own ends.