So... if I can sum up, you are saying that what I said is boloney because any person can filter the junk from the gems using pagerank.
That's fine for precision, but what I'm talking about is recall. Sure, you can find some stuff on Hamlet, which is huge, but how about entire volumes of the history of 17th century french poetry? A detailed history of mythological studies? Profs can spot shallow research as easily as bad sources. The mass of volumes simply does not exist online. The info just is not there.
You say:
Libraries will be dead the minute copyright law gets toned down to a 10 year span and every legal book on the planet has been OCR'ed. In the meantime, put your stuff out there for free. It makes a difference. Though I can't see how that is a rebuttal of my main point. In the here and now, the information does not exist online. When the copyright gets toned down adn every legal book gets OCR'd, then I will join you in celebration of the full sufficienty of Google. But don't expect the latter for at least 20 years, and I don't even want to hazard a guess on the former.
One of you slashdotters called WNYC's Brian Lehrer show this morning as he was talking about outsourcing. You said that you have been a programmer for 22 years and are now expensive to hire. You said that this issue has been a hot topic on Slashdot for years and you were glad that it was finally getting some mainstream press (especially now with the Mankiw debacle).
Just wanted to say thanks. I totally concur on your last point -- I've been waiting years for this to hit a critical mass on a non-geek forum. Funny it waited until an election year.
I really don't agree with that article
on
Google's Bigger Index
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
I read that article and really disagreed with the premise. Google is good for indexing what's available online, but only a tiny fraction of recorded human knowledge is available online. I work for a digital libraries project, and after visiting the Joint Conference on Digital Libraries, I can tell you that it's a librarian's wet dream to be in the kind of situation that the article describes: where all the information that we have to stumble around libaries and microfiches for is Googlable. But the full texts of almost no books are available. Who's going to scan in millions of volumes? Who's going to pay for that? And most importantly, how are the publishers going to allow it? US and world copyright laws are keeping almost all the content from being eligible for online publication, even if their profit windows are long closed.
I encourage all of you who are in high school or have college papers to write to look beyond Google the next time you have to research something. You will find about fifty times as much information by looking in published volumes. Here's the technique I always use: visit a University library. Use the electronic card catalog to find a couple of titles that seem to match your topic. They will likely all have similar call numbers. Then, go browse the stacks around those call numbers. That will give you access to all the books available that are related to your topic, and on the next shelf over, are books that are tangentially related. Every time I do that, I find some fascinating angle on the subject matter I never even knew existed. The books you find will have references, and you can follow those to immense amounts of material more specifically related to the angle you've chosen. And none of it is on Google.
If you have trouble, go ask one of the friendly research librarians. They do a lot more than go around and "shhh!" you.
Google is a useful tool, but if you want real depth, from people who aren't tech savvy enough to put their full academic works online, the library is the only place to find it. Put in the time!
The most important criticism of Linux -- the most honest, the most brutal -- the one that you all know in your hearts is true but can't bring yourself to admit for fear of slowing adoption -- is in that PDF, on page 23.
Check it out, it is surely going to be Microsoft's biggest gun.
Just to give this a little context, it's awesome that he has been knighted, especially for a techy guy, but it's not quite as unique as it seems, given that dozens of celebs have been offered knighthood and refused just in the last few years.
On a side note, did anybody else read He will join luminaries like Isaac Newton, Francis Drake, and... Mick Jagger and subsequently have a phrase pop into his head:
...beause if Gaia were pregnant, it would mean massively swollen oceans, more earthquakes from the kicking, and a new moon that could severely affect the tides and drown us all. Not to mention the munchies.
Not quite. They couldn't get the whole thing to run correctly in one take because the studio was too small, so they split it in half at the muffler and used CG to link the takes together. source
Slashdot Mirror
Think that's code for "From the >/dev/null dept."?
I have a 1927 silent film about the future where a character makes a pay phone call on one
Metropolis?
Talk about a poke in the eye to the RIAA.
So... if I can sum up, you are saying that what I said is boloney because any person can filter the junk from the gems using pagerank.
That's fine for precision, but what I'm talking about is recall. Sure, you can find some stuff on Hamlet, which is huge, but how about entire volumes of the history of 17th century french poetry? A detailed history of mythological studies? Profs can spot shallow research as easily as bad sources. The mass of volumes simply does not exist online. The info just is not there.
You say: Libraries will be dead the minute copyright law gets toned down to a 10 year span and every legal book on the planet has been OCR'ed. In the meantime, put your stuff out there for free. It makes a difference. Though I can't see how that is a rebuttal of my main point. In the here and now, the information does not exist online. When the copyright gets toned down adn every legal book gets OCR'd, then I will join you in celebration of the full sufficienty of Google. But don't expect the latter for at least 20 years, and I don't even want to hazard a guess on the former.
One of you slashdotters called WNYC's Brian Lehrer show this morning as he was talking about outsourcing. You said that you have been a programmer for 22 years and are now expensive to hire. You said that this issue has been a hot topic on Slashdot for years and you were glad that it was finally getting some mainstream press (especially now with the Mankiw debacle).
Just wanted to say thanks. I totally concur on your last point -- I've been waiting years for this to hit a critical mass on a non-geek forum. Funny it waited until an election year.
I read that article and really disagreed with the premise. Google is good for indexing what's available online, but only a tiny fraction of recorded human knowledge is available online. I work for a digital libraries project, and after visiting the Joint Conference on Digital Libraries, I can tell you that it's a librarian's wet dream to be in the kind of situation that the article describes: where all the information that we have to stumble around libaries and microfiches for is Googlable. But the full texts of almost no books are available. Who's going to scan in millions of volumes? Who's going to pay for that? And most importantly, how are the publishers going to allow it? US and world copyright laws are keeping almost all the content from being eligible for online publication, even if their profit windows are long closed.
I encourage all of you who are in high school or have college papers to write to look beyond Google the next time you have to research something. You will find about fifty times as much information by looking in published volumes. Here's the technique I always use: visit a University library. Use the electronic card catalog to find a couple of titles that seem to match your topic. They will likely all have similar call numbers. Then, go browse the stacks around those call numbers. That will give you access to all the books available that are related to your topic, and on the next shelf over, are books that are tangentially related. Every time I do that, I find some fascinating angle on the subject matter I never even knew existed. The books you find will have references, and you can follow those to immense amounts of material more specifically related to the angle you've chosen. And none of it is on Google.
If you have trouble, go ask one of the friendly research librarians. They do a lot more than go around and "shhh!" you.
Google is a useful tool, but if you want real depth, from people who aren't tech savvy enough to put their full academic works online, the library is the only place to find it. Put in the time!
This is great! Now all they have to do is wipe its flush memory, and it'll be in tip-top shape.
and get yourself some coded underwear.
Just don't get it backwards-- wear the 200 ones when you are gearing to go.
Ask ... what your country can do for you, [not] what you can do for your country.
It won't to go sleep despite two direct commands?
Ever heard of dog years, i.e., seven for every human year?
I think we just found the rate of "spirit years," because this is clearly just a rebellious adolescent rover.
Get 200 or so smart folks
... under the Cone of Silence....
I will warn dialup users next time
-PG
The most important criticism of Linux -- the most honest, the most brutal -- the one that you all know in your hearts is true but can't bring yourself to admit for fear of slowing adoption -- is in that PDF, on page 23.
Check it out, it is surely going to be Microsoft's biggest gun.
I laughed at your post and then perused your site until I got to your blog.
On behalf of all of us here at Slashdot, deepest condolences for your loss.
If that is someone else's blog... nevermind.
Interesting that WebTV is so honored, because the co-founder of the company, Phillip Y. Goldman, died this week at 39.
Just to give this a little context, it's awesome that he has been knighted, especially for a techy guy, but it's not quite as unique as it seems, given that dozens of celebs have been offered knighthood and refused just in the last few years.
... and Tom Paris.
On a side note, did anybody else read He will join luminaries like Isaac Newton, Francis Drake, and... Mick Jagger and subsequently have a phrase pop into his head:
...beause if Gaia were pregnant, it would mean massively swollen oceans, more earthquakes from the kicking, and a new moon that could severely affect the tides and drown us all. Not to mention the munchies.
Not quite. They couldn't get the whole thing to run correctly in one take because the studio was too small, so they split it in half at the muffler and used CG to link the takes together. source
Exhibit "A," ladies and gentlemen.
Or "P" if you prefer.
I'd love opinions from those who have been in a similar situation.
Error: division by zero
Of if you are radagast, you can sit on your ass for the entire war.
or else it would be Pipedot.
...that we should post so much troll and doubt over so small a thing....
Such a little thing...
Because I was making a facetious criticism of the media...
Was Saddam on the US's list of the most wanted Iraqis? Which playing card was he? Help me put this in context, media!!!