Re:Halfway through the book, and ...
on
Anathem
·
· Score: 1
Really? Tale of Two Cities had me from the first sentence, one of the most famous in English literature. Actually, not a bad book to think about reading again given our times.
Re:Halfway through the book, and ...
on
Anathem
·
· Score: 1
I'm almost halfway through Anathem and it's simply not compelling at this point
I'm 2.5 hours into the audio version. At some point, does something actually happen? So far it is a bit like listening to the most boring podcast imaginable with a little Croatian thrown in to make it bewildering.
The good news is that you are not alone. This is happening to everyone over 25 to one degree or another.
My first suggestion is to not separate mind from body. Aerobic and weight exercise can help your brain as much as puzzles and memory exercises.
Second, supplements - within reason. You may not want to take as many daily pills as Ray Kurzweil but I would recommend reading his book Fantasic Voyage.
Third, so-called smart drugs. Someone already mentioned Piracetam but I would suggest pramiracetam though it is more expensive. Also look into vinpocetine. And for general alertness there is adrafinil and modafinil (not sure if the latter is legal in the US yet).
I thought the folks here would be a great group to ask: What are some creative, not too nerdy professions that nonetheless require a talent for math, engineering, or science?
Wall Street? We are talking 4 years from now so there is time for it to recover.
A math and science background is good even if she doesn't directly use it. An MBA on top of an engineering degree can take her far in this world.
So what does this mean for email clients like Gmail that use SSL encryption?
Probably nothing. You might be getting that email over SSL from the server but it likely went through half a dozen unencrypted hops to get on the server to begin with and could have been captured at any point. That and people are kidding themselves if they think that any of the Three Letter entities can't access any system they want if they have sufficient motivation.
There's a difference between being put into a position of dependency (say illness or accident, for example), and putting yourself there.
No, as a practical matter there really isn't. Yes, people should live responsibly and prepare as best they can for retirement. Yes, they should not voluntarily go into debt. But virtually every life decision that involves parting with a dollar, not to mention fates outside of anyone's control, involves potential dependency. Have child? All kinds of risk. Buy a house? Risk. Start a business? Risk. Make a bad decision at work? Risk.
I'm sorry but you are trying to make life out to be some simple textbook formula and it isn't. Should you live by prudent guidelines? Absolutely. You can improve your odds but it guarantees nothing.
Someone has a child; how does that put themselves into a position of dependency? And if it does, they shouldn't have had a child to begin with.
Wow. You really need to consider that life is a lot more complicated and messy than a couple of econ books.
First, 80% of the US population would have to wait beyond child bearing years, if ever, to be assured they have enough resources saved to have children. Do we really have to belabor what that does to society?
Second, there is no such thing as assured even when you have created a pile. People get sick or injured. Investments go sour. Jobs are lost and industries go away. It can be shocking how quickly a nest egg evaporates.
I am not suggesting that your message of responsible behavior is bad. It just needs to be tempered with reality and maybe a little compassion. I have met any number of people singing that song over lunch one day and quite a different song five years later.
Why, because you didn't expect it? You were ranting about living within means. For most people their single biggest impediment to saving lots of money are children. If they didn't have any they could save MUCH more money for retirement. There really isn't anything to dispute.
So where in this scenario (my scenario) has anyone put themselves into a position where others had to take care of them?
Shocking though it may seem, it isn't all about you. I would have though any sensible reader of slashdot would have recognized that the "you" in my original post was a generalized comment about the cost of children.
It's great for you that your parents managed to get through. It is naive to think to think that everyone can or does. No one denies that there are irresponsible people in society. Neither should anyone deny that most Americans, despite doing all the right things, are struggling just to get by. If you don't recognize this you should get off your soapbox and walk around outside your nice middle class neighborhood for a bit.
What's irresponsible to is to put yourself in a position where other people must take care of you.
The easiest way to do that would have been not to have brought you into the world. Sit down and calculate your expense to your parents for 18 years of food, shelter, clothing, education, extra curricular activities and university. Add interest.
Is that assertion backed up in any way by reality?
No, but you can be sure there are plenty of people who believe it. At least until they get sick and find out their precious health insurance policy wouldn't pay for half of what I they thought. Or they get divorced. Or laid off at a particularly bad point in the economic cycle. Then they are suddenly much less sanctimonious.
On the other hand, I am betting that the CEOs of Bear Sterns, Citigroup, Countrywide, etc., all had superb credit scores so we can see how well that relates to handling the company finances.
I never really considered Bob Barr...a libertarian
I have heard this view expressed a couple of times. I don't fully trust Mr. Barr given his history in the congress but, really, what difference does it make? It's not as if he is going to win. Your vote is really for the party platform and ideas, sending a message to Washington, and strengthening a multi-party process.
not trying to add to the successes of Godwin's law, but there you have it
Godwin's Law should be revoked, or at the least revised. It is invoked all too often these days by people with weak arguments who really DO deserve a Nazi analogy.
Anyone who invokes Godwin on a reference to Nuremberg is an idiot. Your reference is completely appropriate.
I thought that could only be applied when someone was actually convicted of something. It may very well be that the next Justice Dept would be able to prosecute if they wanted to.
Consider the source, but from Wikipedia:
A presidential pardon may be granted at any time, however, and as when Ford pardoned Nixon, the pardoned person need not yet have been convicted or even formally charged with a crime.
Once elected, Obama can enact REAL change and retroactively remove the immunity if it is even worth it.
Sure, just like a Democrat controlled Congress was going to end the war, stand up to Bush, etc. That's the problem with the philosophy of doing all the safe things to gain power. Once you gain it, you still play it safe (or safer) to retain it. It becomes habit forming. It is Karma whoring writ large.
The Republican propaganda machine THRIVES on perceived fears of terrorism; giving them prime ammunition like "Obama voted against finding terrists!",while the bill is GUARANTEED TO PASS ANYWAY, achieves nothing.
It achieves the goal of showing that he is willing to lead. It gives him the opportunity to use those vaunted powers of persuasive speech everyone claims he has. It gives him the opportunity to show he can persuade the people rather than a bare majority of the congress on an issue. Persuasive argumentation versus back alley deals. How novel would that be?
However all this law really does is make the telecoms immune from civil lawsuits.
There will be no criminal cases brought. Bush will pardon everyone involved before leaving office. It was civil or nothing and that is now out the window.
Bottom line: the talk, the phone calls, the letters didn't do shit. Now make the bastards get real jobs. Put up or shut up -you are being monitored anyway.
I can't decide if releasing this on July 4th is clever marketing or not. Sure, OpenMoko on Independence Day, let freedom ring! But who is paying that much attention on a 3 day weekend in the summer? Do they have follow-up press releases and event next week when people are back at work and in their normal routines?
You also want to inclide Echelon and canivor in there too
The fact that you don't know the differences between how Echelon, Carnivor, and CALEA taps work obviates the need for further discussion. Not only are you just trying to blow smoke, you make my case.
Perhaps the $800 an hours attorneys simply looked to see if the legally had to cooperate because of the CLEA and if the orders looked valid and came from valid sources because if it did, an existing law gave them immunity.
Perhaps the cow jumped over the moon too because a first year law student would not have confused this with CALEA.
And please refrain from imaginary conversations. Your real ones are puerile enough.
Precisely why they wouldn't use the army. Think Blackwater gleefully plying their trade for very fat bonuses. They won't give a second thought about you.
No argument from me on that. As any XBBN person would willingly describe, the company has undergone a vast change over the last ten years. The Genuity years were particularly difficult to swallow.
It wasn't just that company. They are all pretty much the same. The people that last are the ones who can reconcile the fact that their real job is documenting and filling out forms describing what they can/will do with the few hours a week that aren't filling out forms and documenting.
No company with half an active braincell in its CTO will want you
For better or worse, I suspect the exact opposite is true. If you were half-way decent you would have all the security clearances, personal contacts, procurement knowledge, etc., that a lot of defense companies would pay dearly for.
Slashdot Mirror
Really? Tale of Two Cities had me from the first sentence, one of the most famous in English literature. Actually, not a bad book to think about reading again given our times.
I'm almost halfway through Anathem and it's simply not compelling at this point
I'm 2.5 hours into the audio version. At some point, does something actually happen? So far it is a bit like listening to the most boring podcast imaginable with a little Croatian thrown in to make it bewildering.
The good news is that you are not alone. This is happening to everyone over 25 to one degree or another.
My first suggestion is to not separate mind from body. Aerobic and weight exercise can help your brain as much as puzzles and memory exercises.
Second, supplements - within reason. You may not want to take as many daily pills as Ray Kurzweil but I would recommend reading his book Fantasic Voyage.
Third, so-called smart drugs. Someone already mentioned Piracetam but I would suggest pramiracetam though it is more expensive. Also look into vinpocetine. And for general alertness there is adrafinil and modafinil (not sure if the latter is legal in the US yet).
I thought the folks here would be a great group to ask: What are some creative, not too nerdy professions that nonetheless require a talent for math, engineering, or science?
Wall Street? We are talking 4 years from now so there is time for it to recover.
A math and science background is good even if she doesn't directly use it. An MBA on top of an engineering degree can take her far in this world.
You're pretty clueless about encryption if you think that's the case.
And you appear to be unaware of the many means of system penetration that have absolutely nothing to do with encryption.
So what does this mean for email clients like Gmail that use SSL encryption?
Probably nothing. You might be getting that email over SSL from the server but it likely went through half a dozen unencrypted hops to get on the server to begin with and could have been captured at any point. That and people are kidding themselves if they think that any of the Three Letter entities can't access any system they want if they have sufficient motivation.
The USA has 300 million people (5 times the UK population), which changes the dynamics somewhat.
It doesn't seem to me it changes the dynamics at all. Merely the scale.
If it can be done in China it can certainly be done in the US.
There's a difference between being put into a position of dependency (say illness or accident, for example), and putting yourself there.
No, as a practical matter there really isn't. Yes, people should live responsibly and prepare as best they can for retirement. Yes, they should not voluntarily go into debt. But virtually every life decision that involves parting with a dollar, not to mention fates outside of anyone's control, involves potential dependency. Have child? All kinds of risk. Buy a house? Risk. Start a business? Risk. Make a bad decision at work? Risk.
I'm sorry but you are trying to make life out to be some simple textbook formula and it isn't. Should you live by prudent guidelines? Absolutely. You can improve your odds but it guarantees nothing.
Someone has a child; how does that put themselves into a position of dependency? And if it does, they shouldn't have had a child to begin with.
Wow. You really need to consider that life is a lot more complicated and messy than a couple of econ books.
First, 80% of the US population would have to wait beyond child bearing years, if ever, to be assured they have enough resources saved to have children. Do we really have to belabor what that does to society?
Second, there is no such thing as assured even when you have created a pile. People get sick or injured. Investments go sour. Jobs are lost and industries go away. It can be shocking how quickly a nest egg evaporates.
I am not suggesting that your message of responsible behavior is bad. It just needs to be tempered with reality and maybe a little compassion. I have met any number of people singing that song over lunch one day and quite a different song five years later.
That makes no sense in this context.
Why, because you didn't expect it? You were ranting about living within means. For most people their single biggest impediment to saving lots of money are children. If they didn't have any they could save MUCH more money for retirement. There really isn't anything to dispute.
So where in this scenario (my scenario) has anyone put themselves into a position where others had to take care of them?
Shocking though it may seem, it isn't all about you. I would have though any sensible reader of slashdot would have recognized that the "you" in my original post was a generalized comment about the cost of children.
It's great for you that your parents managed to get through. It is naive to think to think that everyone can or does. No one denies that there are irresponsible people in society. Neither should anyone deny that most Americans, despite doing all the right things, are struggling just to get by. If you don't recognize this you should get off your soapbox and walk around outside your nice middle class neighborhood for a bit.
What's irresponsible to is to put yourself in a position where other people must take care of you.
The easiest way to do that would have been not to have brought you into the world. Sit down and calculate your expense to your parents for 18 years of food, shelter, clothing, education, extra curricular activities and university. Add interest.
Is that assertion backed up in any way by reality?
No, but you can be sure there are plenty of people who believe it. At least until they get sick and find out their precious health insurance policy wouldn't pay for half of what I they thought. Or they get divorced. Or laid off at a particularly bad point in the economic cycle. Then they are suddenly much less sanctimonious.
On the other hand, I am betting that the CEOs of Bear Sterns, Citigroup, Countrywide, etc., all had superb credit scores so we can see how well that relates to handling the company finances.
I never really considered Bob Barr...a libertarian
I have heard this view expressed a couple of times. I don't fully trust Mr. Barr given his history in the congress but, really, what difference does it make? It's not as if he is going to win. Your vote is really for the party platform and ideas, sending a message to Washington, and strengthening a multi-party process.
not trying to add to the successes of Godwin's law, but there you have it
Godwin's Law should be revoked, or at the least revised. It is invoked all too often these days by people with weak arguments who really DO deserve a Nazi analogy.
Anyone who invokes Godwin on a reference to Nuremberg is an idiot. Your reference is completely appropriate.
I thought that could only be applied when someone was actually convicted of something. It may very well be that the next Justice Dept would be able to prosecute if they wanted to.
Consider the source, but from Wikipedia:
A presidential pardon may be granted at any time, however, and as when Ford pardoned Nixon, the pardoned person need not yet have been convicted or even formally charged with a crime.
Once elected, Obama can enact REAL change and retroactively remove the immunity if it is even worth it.
Sure, just like a Democrat controlled Congress was going to end the war, stand up to Bush, etc. That's the problem with the philosophy of doing all the safe things to gain power. Once you gain it, you still play it safe (or safer) to retain it. It becomes habit forming. It is Karma whoring writ large.
The Republican propaganda machine THRIVES on perceived fears of terrorism; giving them prime ammunition like "Obama voted against finding terrists!",while the bill is GUARANTEED TO PASS ANYWAY, achieves nothing.
It achieves the goal of showing that he is willing to lead. It gives him the opportunity to use those vaunted powers of persuasive speech everyone claims he has. It gives him the opportunity to show he can persuade the people rather than a bare majority of the congress on an issue. Persuasive argumentation versus back alley deals. How novel would that be?
However all this law really does is make the telecoms immune from civil lawsuits.
There will be no criminal cases brought. Bush will pardon everyone involved before leaving office. It was civil or nothing and that is now out the window.
What really gets to me is that the damn Congress keeps rolling over and letting him get away with this shit.
Then don't let them. This PAC has been organized to make them pay. An article about it in Wired can be found here.
Bottom line: the talk, the phone calls, the letters didn't do shit. Now make the bastards get real jobs. Put up or shut up -you are being monitored anyway.
I can't decide if releasing this on July 4th is clever marketing or not. Sure, OpenMoko on Independence Day, let freedom ring! But who is paying that much attention on a 3 day weekend in the summer? Do they have follow-up press releases and event next week when people are back at work and in their normal routines?
You also want to inclide Echelon and canivor in there too
The fact that you don't know the differences between how Echelon, Carnivor, and CALEA taps work obviates the need for further discussion. Not only are you just trying to blow smoke, you make my case.
Perhaps the $800 an hours attorneys simply looked to see if the legally had to cooperate because of the CLEA and if the orders looked valid and came from valid sources because if it did, an existing law gave them immunity.
Perhaps the cow jumped over the moon too because a first year law student would not have confused this with CALEA.
And please refrain from imaginary conversations. Your real ones are puerile enough.
First off, about half the army will likely defect
Precisely why they wouldn't use the army. Think Blackwater gleefully plying their trade for very fat bonuses. They won't give a second thought about you.
It's not new.
No argument from me on that. As any XBBN person would willingly describe, the company has undergone a vast change over the last ten years. The Genuity years were particularly difficult to swallow.
Implying that the Bush administration are a bunch of free market fanatics run amok is stupid.
This one is free. Further efforts to extract your head out of your ass are your responsibility.
Holy crap, what an inefficiently run company.
It wasn't just that company. They are all pretty much the same. The people that last are the ones who can reconcile the fact that their real job is documenting and filling out forms describing what they can/will do with the few hours a week that aren't filling out forms and documenting.
No company with half an active braincell in its CTO will want you
For better or worse, I suspect the exact opposite is true. If you were half-way decent you would have all the security clearances, personal contacts, procurement knowledge, etc., that a lot of defense companies would pay dearly for.