In basic, the "Guvmint" exists to keep us safe and provide basic infrastructure. I would add in water, police, firemen... Oh, and the EPA, FDA, etc. we need those kinds of watchdog agencies.
Does the government own GM now?... No. No it does not. It's just a big shareholder.
You seem to place great store in the ability of the "market" to innovate. You bash the government for being inefficient. Have you ever worked for a large company? Man.... Trust me, the government doesn't have a monopoly on being stupid and slow.
And so freaking what if government did open source a battery and undermined a companies research dollars? Really... so what? Who gave companies some kind of right? No one is guaranteed the right to profit.
I'm rather tired of this magic land where companies would do what's best for all of us due to the power of the "free market". You know what? The first thing most successful and large companies do is strangle the free market to death so they can retard innovation and competition. It's happened over and over again in pretty much every single industry I can think of. Don't go crying Commie on me... I love the theory of capitalism. It turns human greed into technological progress. It's awesome... but there has to be limits and consequences to the behaviour of large companies. And man, they do NOT need any protections!
Think of this... Big business pays almost no taxes. They create something, sometimes with government subsidies or loans. They sell it to us at a profit. Then they dump their waste into the public rivers. We pay for them to make stuff. We pay to get the stuff. Then we pay to clean up the waste from the process. W.T.F!
Oops... calm down... no ranting... It's ok..... Phew!
I love it when the government does research and puts the results out there. Everyone benefits and we all pay so very little for such a big gain. That's the magic of government. It doesn't have to be driven by the almighty Profit. It can do the right thing at a loss, just because it needs to be done. We all benefit, and our slice of the payment is so very tiny.
People whine about the inefficiency of the government, then they drive on the roads, enjoy the protections of police and firemen, use the public school systems, buy homes that aren't death traps thanks to building codes, reap the benefits of cheap shipping due to interstate highways..... etc etc etc.
ah, ah... calm... yes....
For my two cents, I would love to see the government do basic research in: batteries and capacitors. We need this very badly. infrastructure... build high speed rails so we can ship a house across the country for a nickel. Power savings... Why isn't there an open source home design for builders to use? Seriously, something so simple....
:D As an ex WoW player who's down 40 pounds and can now speak a little spanish and play the guitar, I'd say that ANY time spent on WoW is worthless.....:D
The no nonsense google home page is what lured me there in the first place. I was still using a... modem.... at the time. Not loading crappy pictures was a feature to me, and still is. Go Google!
That, and I don't want to see ads. When I'm shopping, I do want to see them, and lo, there they are. The rest of the time they should get the hell out of my way.
A lack of respect for patent laws is what got America off the ground during the industrial revolution. We stole all KINDS of stuff from europe. I read somewhere that it was so bad that they were calling us "Janke", the dutch word for pirate... and that changed over to Yankee. (ah yes, it was in The Pirate's Dilemma, a really neat book that is creative commons licensed. Go read it!)
But remember kids, we need strong IP protection. progress doesn't work without it..... snicker.
I agree that NASA is a pale shadow of what it used to be. I'm not sure I agree with why.
Kids are fine these days. There are plenty of smart folks out there kicking ass. Why is it that every generation thinks kids suck today? Have we all forgotten the stupid stuff we did?
NASA may be lacking funding, but are they using the funding they have wisely?
Why do we maintain the space station? There's no real good science going on. Why do we want to go to the moon? There's nothing there. Why would we want a colony on Mars or the Moon? No magnetic shield makes radiation very hazardous. We can't live there.
Why don't we use robots? Well, we do, and frankly all the good exploration comes from robots, not from people.
Yes, we've lost the jazzy "coolness" of space. Know why? 'Cause it's EMPTY. Nothing there. Nothing to get excited about. B O R I N G.
Lets explore the oceans instead!
Lets put our gumption and know how to solving problems here. There's plenty to go around... and you know what? Plenty of people hack, build, problem solve, and explore right here.
Creativity and exploration isn't dead. It just went somewhere more fascinating than cold empty space.
The post office pretty much pays for itself to my understanding. It's not very expensive to ship a letter across the U.S. What more do you want? I think of all the government run agencies, the USPS is doing a kick ass job.
you know, I've been noticing a lot of similiar posts whenever Obama is mentioned... Stuff like:
"both parties suck, don't bother" "Obama lied to us" and lots of just little slams. Nothing concrete. Just little jabs here and there.
I look... and a lot of these are from ACs, or people who seem to have just registered and have very few comments on their record. I smell viral marketing at work....
Lets face it, Obama didn't run as a left wing ideologue. He's been in 100 days, and although many here are peeved at the appointment of RIAA folks to the DOJ, and everyone is pissed at the bailouts (although I suspect they'd be more pissed if it all tanked and they lost their jobs/houses/etc).... for the most part, Obama has been careful and pretty center of the road. He didn't yank us out of Iraq (which would have been pretty irresponsible IMO). He is yanking funding for stupid military projects that were money sinks. Good for him. He has pushed at teachers unions... Not a very socialist thing to do. He has pushed for healthcare. People get pissed at this, but I suspect they don't realize that when someone without healthcare goes to the ER, we foot the bill anyway. He has scruitinized his appointments more than anyone else.... You think tax problems for political appointees JUST NOW became a problem?
bah, this is just my opinion. Feel free to have your own....
The point is, he's been pretty calm, politically centered for a Dem, and careful in his actions. I think he's doing fairly well given the situation. If there is an attempt to influence public opinion... I Hate Viral Marketing.
In a perfect world they did some research and drew a graph with cost/unit to consumer on the X axis and number of units sold on the Y axis, then picked the point that maximized profit to them. I don't think they did that. I don't think any of the game publishers did that. I think they just said "well, we sell the books for $A, lets sell the PDFs for that too!", then they went and played golf.
All I'm saying is that if they did do this research, I think they were wrong. I see much value in plunking down $25 for all the core books(of whatever system) on PDF. I see no value in plunking down $25 for each book on PDF. Therefore, I won't plunk down any money at all and they don't get a sale. All my friends feel the same way.
Hmm... an example...I love Shadowrun... and I think the 4th ed rules of Shadowrun are beautiful. They made the game better. I want to buy the PDF files. but I won't buy a file for $25. I'll just go without.
And you're talking to the wrong guy. I don't pirate at all. No books, no games, no music. I am a firm believer in paying a creator. I know many music creators, and none of them can afford health insurance.... I'm also a firm believer in DIY. People need to stop whining and CREATE.
So, uhm... no? I'm just saying that PDF files cost next to nothing to produce, next to nothing to "ship", and it's kind of hard to pass around a laptop at a gaming session. To me, a PDF file has less value, so why it's kind of hard for me to justify paying full price for one.
You have a problem with piracy? Perhaps it's because all of you sell the PDF at pretty much full cost of a real book. Why do you do that?
PDFs don't have printing costs. We know you can sell them for less. It's handy to reference a book while playing. It's still kind of cumbersome to reference a PDF while playing... the PDF is less valuable to us.
If you greedy BEEP would sell good quality PDF files for say.... $3, I'd drop $100 right now. If you would make old books available, I'd drop another $100 right now.
Yay! Glad to see there are those out there that feel as I do. The game is rigged? Don't Play.
Buy used CD's.
Even better, go to a shop and get an instrument. Learn to play. Make your own music. We've gotten too lazy. We consume, but we don't create. Get off your arse and create some culture.
Usually in posts like this someone puts up a link to write your elected representatives. I haven't seen one yet (although I might have missed it). Just in case....
Everyone thinks "kids today" are bad... You know what? they're not. They're just as dumb as their parents were at that age. I know I did plenty of stupid stuff when I was young....
Plenty of kids today are bright and creative, and now have outlets for that creativity thanks to our wonderful information age.
OSHA! (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)
OSHA regs keep me safe at my job. I am not allowed to lift more than 25lbs by myself. I have to have fall protection gear if I'm 6feet off the ground. I have to wear goggles. Personal Protection Equipment is mandatory. I have NOT done a task because I felt the chemicals involved were too dangerous, and my employer said "OK, no problem". Nothing was brought against me. I feel very safe in my job.
My job is non Union. I like it that way. I don't want the old fogeys who have been there longer to have seniority simply for length of service. Pay is merit based, and I like it that way.
getting electricity from a coal plant is most likely better than powering a car from gas. The coal plant can (I think) scrub it's own exhaust much better than a car. Also, the plant probably has efficiencies a car does not, simply from being huge.
Heck, I'm not sure!
I am sure that a hydrogen fuel cell doesn't create electricity from magic. The hydrogen has to be created somehow.... and it's probably made by zapping water with electricity to separate the hydrogen and oxygen. Possibly it's made by hydrogen farting little bacteria or somesuch.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have a fuel cell car and a little hydrogen making station at my home. Well, actually I'd rather have an electric car and some supercapacitors for storage. Anyway, I'm only taking issue with your supposition that fuel cell autos are somehow better than full on electric cars because of electrical generation issues. They might be better because of current electrical storage in the car itself, but not because of the source of the electricity driving them.
Yes, I'm being a nitpicker. Yes, it's kind of lame.:D
Ok, I'm being kind of a bastard here, but I think you're confusing strategy and tactics. There is really only one strategy in RTS games... Get bigger faster than the other guy.
We all started on something easy like Basic, or tapping something into a TI calculator, or what have you. It was the almost instant gratification that got us hooked.
A little typing, tapping, It Ran! oh wait, that's not quite right.... A little typing, tapping, It Ran! oh wait, that's not quite right.... and a few years later you look up to discover you're a Nerd.
Now granted that's horrible coding practice, but it's what we started with. We all programmed little games. Who among us didn't try their hands at tank wars or Pac Man, and of course most of us tried to write a character generator for our favorite RPG. The point is we didn't start programming, we had other interests that programming could help us with in a cool manner.
Don't start with anything low level. Don't even think it. C? Seriously? Please do introduce good practices. Write out a flow chart, do your pseudocode!
Find a little project for him. Start with something small. Show him how to tweak things. You'd be amazed at how cool it is to change a little bit of text on some program. Do something related to something in the real world that he enjoys.
And don't be peeved if he decides it's a giant PITA, 'cause we all know it IS.:D
Run your old keyboard through the dishwasher... NO SOAP. Let it dry for a week or so. It'll work like a charm and be shiny clean again. I've done it several times without a problem.
-T
Come on Slashdotters... We can bring websites to their knees! We can flood our representatives. OK, perhaps you're all too lazy to call. At the very least, EMAIL. If you don't do something, you have no right to complain later. You have no excuses. Google can find you a nice webpage for your reps, and they all have links for email.
I skip the whole show. I don't own a TV. I like my brain. I like my bicycle. I like my guitar. I like my books. I have homework, a garden, a lawn to mow.
I stopped playing WoW. I drastically cut back my computer time(more time for other hobbies!). I used good old hot and cold presses. I threw my mouse out and got a logitech thumb ball. This is never going to go away. I have to manage it for the rest of my life... Or until I get around to that surgery.
Now I just get the occasional flare up. I'm fine. As it turns out, real life has great resolution and awesome minigames. Grinding my job is kind of annoying though.:P
Slashdot Mirror
In basic, the "Guvmint" exists to keep us safe and provide basic infrastructure. I would add in water, police, firemen... Oh, and the EPA, FDA, etc. we need those kinds of watchdog agencies.
Does the government own GM now? ... No. No it does not. It's just a big shareholder.
You seem to place great store in the ability of the "market" to innovate. You bash the government for being inefficient. Have you ever worked for a large company? Man.... Trust me, the government doesn't have a monopoly on being stupid and slow.
And so freaking what if government did open source a battery and undermined a companies research dollars? Really... so what? Who gave companies some kind of right? No one is guaranteed the right to profit.
I'm rather tired of this magic land where companies would do what's best for all of us due to the power of the "free market". You know what? The first thing most successful and large companies do is strangle the free market to death so they can retard innovation and competition. It's happened over and over again in pretty much every single industry I can think of. Don't go crying Commie on me... I love the theory of capitalism. It turns human greed into technological progress. It's awesome... but there has to be limits and consequences to the behaviour of large companies. And man, they do NOT need any protections!
Think of this... Big business pays almost no taxes. They create something, sometimes with government subsidies or loans. They sell it to us at a profit. Then they dump their waste into the public rivers. We pay for them to make stuff. We pay to get the stuff. Then we pay to clean up the waste from the process. W.T.F!
Oops... calm down... no ranting... It's ok..... Phew!
I love it when the government does research and puts the results out there. Everyone benefits and we all pay so very little for such a big gain. That's the magic of government. It doesn't have to be driven by the almighty Profit. It can do the right thing at a loss, just because it needs to be done. We all benefit, and our slice of the payment is so very tiny.
People whine about the inefficiency of the government, then they drive on the roads, enjoy the protections of police and firemen, use the public school systems, buy homes that aren't death traps thanks to building codes, reap the benefits of cheap shipping due to interstate highways..... etc etc etc.
ah, ah... calm... yes....
For my two cents, I would love to see the government do basic research in:
batteries and capacitors. We need this very badly.
infrastructure... build high speed rails so we can ship a house across the country for a nickel.
Power savings... Why isn't there an open source home design for builders to use? Seriously, something so simple....
I could go on, but those would be a nice start.
-Tony
:D As an ex WoW player who's down 40 pounds and can now speak a little spanish and play the guitar, I'd say that ANY time spent on WoW is worthless..... :D
Amen!
The no nonsense google home page is what lured me there in the first place. I was still using a ... modem.... at the time. Not loading crappy pictures was a feature to me, and still is. Go Google!
That, and I don't want to see ads. When I'm shopping, I do want to see them, and lo, there they are. The rest of the time they should get the hell out of my way.
-T
Ha!
A lack of respect for patent laws is what got America off the ground during the industrial revolution. We stole all KINDS of stuff from europe. I read somewhere that it was so bad that they were calling us "Janke", the dutch word for pirate... and that changed over to Yankee. (ah yes, it was in The Pirate's Dilemma, a really neat book that is creative commons licensed. Go read it!)
But remember kids, we need strong IP protection. progress doesn't work without it..... snicker.
-Tony
Yup, controversy sells. I bet red bull loved this. Free advertising!
I agree that NASA is a pale shadow of what it used to be. I'm not sure I agree with why.
Kids are fine these days. There are plenty of smart folks out there kicking ass. Why is it that every generation thinks kids suck today? Have we all forgotten the stupid stuff we did?
NASA may be lacking funding, but are they using the funding they have wisely?
Why do we maintain the space station? There's no real good science going on. Why do we want to go to the moon? There's nothing there. Why would we want a colony on Mars or the Moon? No magnetic shield makes radiation very hazardous. We can't live there.
Why don't we use robots? Well, we do, and frankly all the good exploration comes from robots, not from people.
Yes, we've lost the jazzy "coolness" of space. Know why? 'Cause it's EMPTY. Nothing there. Nothing to get excited about. B O R I N G.
Lets explore the oceans instead!
Lets put our gumption and know how to solving problems here. There's plenty to go around... and you know what? Plenty of people hack, build, problem solve, and explore right here.
Creativity and exploration isn't dead. It just went somewhere more fascinating than cold empty space.
-T
Hey....
The post office pretty much pays for itself to my understanding. It's not very expensive to ship a letter across the U.S. What more do you want? I think of all the government run agencies, the USPS is doing a kick ass job.
you know, I've been noticing a lot of similiar posts whenever Obama is mentioned... Stuff like:
"both parties suck, don't bother"
"Obama lied to us"
and lots of just little slams. Nothing concrete. Just little jabs here and there.
I look... and a lot of these are from ACs, or people who seem to have just registered and have very few comments on their record. I smell viral marketing at work....
Lets face it, Obama didn't run as a left wing ideologue. He's been in 100 days, and although many here are peeved at the appointment of RIAA folks to the DOJ, and everyone is pissed at the bailouts (although I suspect they'd be more pissed if it all tanked and they lost their jobs/houses/etc).... for the most part, Obama has been careful and pretty center of the road. He didn't yank us out of Iraq (which would have been pretty irresponsible IMO). He is yanking funding for stupid military projects that were money sinks. Good for him. He has pushed at teachers unions... Not a very socialist thing to do. He has pushed for healthcare. People get pissed at this, but I suspect they don't realize that when someone without healthcare goes to the ER, we foot the bill anyway. He has scruitinized his appointments more than anyone else.... You think tax problems for political appointees JUST NOW became a problem?
bah, this is just my opinion. Feel free to have your own....
The point is, he's been pretty calm, politically centered for a Dem, and careful in his actions. I think he's doing fairly well given the situation. If there is an attempt to influence public opinion... I Hate Viral Marketing.
Turn your internal virus detectors on folks.
-T
all the chief whatsits and suchandsuch czars don't have any power... Think of them as glorified advisors / secretaries and you're closer to the mark.
-T
supply and demand? ahahahahah....
In a perfect world they did some research and drew a graph with cost/unit to consumer on the X axis and number of units sold on the Y axis, then picked the point that maximized profit to them. I don't think they did that. I don't think any of the game publishers did that. I think they just said "well, we sell the books for $A, lets sell the PDFs for that too!", then they went and played golf.
All I'm saying is that if they did do this research, I think they were wrong. I see much value in plunking down $25 for all the core books(of whatever system) on PDF. I see no value in plunking down $25 for each book on PDF. Therefore, I won't plunk down any money at all and they don't get a sale. All my friends feel the same way.
respectfully,
-T
Hmm... an example...I love Shadowrun... and I think the 4th ed rules of Shadowrun are beautiful. They made the game better. I want to buy the PDF files. but I won't buy a file for $25. I'll just go without.
And you're talking to the wrong guy. I don't pirate at all. No books, no games, no music. I am a firm believer in paying a creator. I know many music creators, and none of them can afford health insurance.... I'm also a firm believer in DIY. People need to stop whining and CREATE.
So, uhm... no? I'm just saying that PDF files cost next to nothing to produce, next to nothing to "ship", and it's kind of hard to pass around a laptop at a gaming session. To me, a PDF file has less value, so why it's kind of hard for me to justify paying full price for one.
I think it's a legitimate concern.
respectfully,
-T
Hey Publishers! (all of them!)
You have a problem with piracy? Perhaps it's because all of you sell the PDF at pretty much full cost of a real book. Why do you do that?
PDFs don't have printing costs. We know you can sell them for less.
It's handy to reference a book while playing. It's still kind of cumbersome to reference a PDF while playing... the PDF is less valuable to us.
If you greedy BEEP would sell good quality PDF files for say.... $3, I'd drop $100 right now. If you would make old books available, I'd drop another $100 right now.
No Way am I paying $25 for a FILE.
You brought it on yourselves.
-Tony
Yay! Glad to see there are those out there that feel as I do. The game is rigged? Don't Play.
Buy used CD's.
Even better, go to a shop and get an instrument. Learn to play. Make your own music. We've gotten too lazy. We consume, but we don't create. Get off your arse and create some culture.
Huh...
Usually in posts like this someone puts up a link to write your elected representatives. I haven't seen one yet (although I might have missed it). Just in case....
http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
Bitch about it, it's the American Way. :D
-Tony
Everyone thinks "kids today" are bad... You know what? they're not. They're just as dumb as their parents were at that age. I know I did plenty of stupid stuff when I was young....
Plenty of kids today are bright and creative, and now have outlets for that creativity thanks to our wonderful information age.
So go stick in your craw Gramps.
-T
OSHA! (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)
OSHA regs keep me safe at my job. I am not allowed to lift more than 25lbs by myself. I have to have fall protection gear if I'm 6feet off the ground. I have to wear goggles. Personal Protection Equipment is mandatory. I have NOT done a task because I felt the chemicals involved were too dangerous, and my employer said "OK, no problem". Nothing was brought against me. I feel very safe in my job.
My job is non Union. I like it that way. I don't want the old fogeys who have been there longer to have seniority simply for length of service. Pay is merit based, and I like it that way.
Go buy two 1Tb hard drives. ~$300 bucks total. Put your data on both of them.
Wow, that was hard.
Seriously, who lets this get on the front page?
Err...
getting electricity from a coal plant is most likely better than powering a car from gas. The coal plant can (I think) scrub it's own exhaust much better than a car. Also, the plant probably has efficiencies a car does not, simply from being huge.
Heck, I'm not sure!
I am sure that a hydrogen fuel cell doesn't create electricity from magic. The hydrogen has to be created somehow.... and it's probably made by zapping water with electricity to separate the hydrogen and oxygen. Possibly it's made by hydrogen farting little bacteria or somesuch.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have a fuel cell car and a little hydrogen making station at my home. Well, actually I'd rather have an electric car and some supercapacitors for storage. Anyway, I'm only taking issue with your supposition that fuel cell autos are somehow better than full on electric cars because of electrical generation issues. They might be better because of current electrical storage in the car itself, but not because of the source of the electricity driving them.
Yes, I'm being a nitpicker. Yes, it's kind of lame. :D
-T
Ok, I'm being kind of a bastard here, but I think you're confusing strategy and tactics. There is really only one strategy in RTS games... Get bigger faster than the other guy.
-T
10 print "No Freaking Way"
20 print "Who starts on C?"
30 print "Seriously!"
40 goto 10
Hello World is C? Sweet Zombie Jebus....
We all started on something easy like Basic, or tapping something into a TI calculator, or what have you. It was the almost instant gratification that got us hooked.
A little typing, tapping, It Ran! oh wait, that's not quite right....
A little typing, tapping, It Ran! oh wait, that's not quite right.... and a few years later you look up to discover you're a Nerd.
Now granted that's horrible coding practice, but it's what we started with. We all programmed little games. Who among us didn't try their hands at tank wars or Pac Man, and of course most of us tried to write a character generator for our favorite RPG. The point is we didn't start programming, we had other interests that programming could help us with in a cool manner.
Don't start with anything low level. Don't even think it. C? Seriously? Please do introduce good practices. Write out a flow chart, do your pseudocode!
Find a little project for him. Start with something small. Show him how to tweak things. You'd be amazed at how cool it is to change a little bit of text on some program. Do something related to something in the real world that he enjoys.
And don't be peeved if he decides it's a giant PITA, 'cause we all know it IS. :D
-T
Run your old keyboard through the dishwasher... NO SOAP. Let it dry for a week or so. It'll work like a charm and be shiny clean again. I've done it several times without a problem. -T
Come on Slashdotters... We can bring websites to their knees! We can flood our representatives. OK, perhaps you're all too lazy to call. At the very least, EMAIL. If you don't do something, you have no right to complain later. You have no excuses. Google can find you a nice webpage for your reps, and they all have links for email.
Do It. This is important.
-T
I skip the whole show. I don't own a TV. I like my brain. I like my bicycle. I like my guitar. I like my books. I have homework, a garden, a lawn to mow.
Life's too awesome to waste it on laugh tracks.
-T
Heh, I WAS in serious pain. How'd I fix it?
:P
I stopped playing WoW. I drastically cut back my computer time(more time for other hobbies!). I used good old hot and cold presses. I threw my mouse out and got a logitech thumb ball. This is never going to go away. I have to manage it for the rest of my life... Or until I get around to that surgery.
Now I just get the occasional flare up. I'm fine. As it turns out, real life has great resolution and awesome minigames. Grinding my job is kind of annoying though.