Well, I agree with you on the ridiculousness of political discussion on/. But, on the other hand, I like talking politics. I wonder why it works out so badly here - one should expect geeks to be particularily able to talk politics. It's basically nothing but a very large, complex, interconnected system - and isn't that a geek thing? Well, I guess, the number of true geeks on this site is rather limited....
So the distribution of manuscripts to reviewers is worth a >30% margin? FYI, the reviewers themselves are not paid by regular journals and will not be paid by free journals. So the standard of peer review can be maintained without a problem. Additionally, it is not uncommon for regular journals that the authors have to pay for the publication of their articles. The $1500 for PLoS is well in the normal price range for article publication.
I consider this a good development. The business model for scientific publishers is deeply flawed. Consider: The public pays for research done at a university. The public pays for the publication of this article in a scientific journal. And then - the public pays again a ridiculously high price, so that the universities can subscribe to this journals. This simply ain't right. To complete the sad story, even the copyright of the article does not stay with the researcher who published it, but is transferred to the publisher.
I have to admit that early-game resource lack can totally wreck a game. But still I view it more as a challenge than as a problem. When in this situation, sometimes I just give up, sometimes I fight with all I have to procure that specific resource. One problem with CivIII is the AI. In a game with uniformely distributed resources, one can beat the AI using rather simple strategies, like REX or the classical tech-whoring. Lack of strategical resources lets these strategies often break down at some point. My real gripe with Civ III is waste and corruption. I see no reason why corruption should be determined by distance to the capital in a frikkin' democracy. That might be valid in feudalism, but come on - democracy. Nearly instantaneous transport to every point on the map at this time. There is no such thing as "distance" any more. THIS needs to be tweaked.
But I guess, all of this is mostly a matter of playing style. And that's why I'm looking forward to a customizable Civ IV - hopefully there will be a mod for every style one likes.
I disagree. You don't need about 100 cities to cover all your resource needs. I found the strategic resources a rather interesting twist to the game. The discovery of new resources changes the geo-strategical face of the map. For example, imagine you have been building a rather peaceful empire, holding your opponents at bay diplomatically or by small defensive actions, you got the lead - and suddenly you discover you are cut off from oil. What seems like a death sentence just forces you to radically rethink your strategy - suddenly it is all-out resource war. Capture the strategically important positions, defend them well, and you don't have to get into 100-cities micromanagement orgies.
Re:Internal conflict is what I worry about...
on
In the Year 2020
·
· Score: 1
What I want to understand is why it seems consertives (republicans) hate their fellow citizens so much. Why are you against social programs? Why are you against helping your fellow citizen when they are? Why are you against maintaining a minimum standard of living in our society?
Do you like seeing slums? Driving through them? Dodging gang wars?
And especially, why do they still ask that strange rhetorical question "What would Jesus do?" if they don't want to give an honest answer.
Re:Internal conflict is what I worry about...
on
In the Year 2020
·
· Score: 1
I am so sick of foreigners implying that they should have a say in how we run our country.
I would perfectly agree with you if your country stopped implying that it should have a say in how other countries are run. And really, if you believe that America succeeds where other (democratic) countries fail, you should try hard to get a grip on reality.
It won't even be out of money in 45 years - benefits payed will have to be reduced by about 20% then, if the current projections hold. So much for the crisis...
... but not new. Being an molecular biologist myself, I have been ranting about this kind of shit for YEARS. I mean, what IS it with those people? When gene manipulation of crops, a.k.a. green biotech, came up, we were all celebrating. What could one do with this method - creating crops resistant against various pests, thereby reducing the need for pesticides, creating crops resistant against cold, draught, excess sun, whatever, increasing the area of potential farmland greatly. Maybe even building the nitrogen fixation system of legumes in other crops, completely abolishing the need for synthetic nitrate fertilizers. What happened outside our overly optimistic minds? Corporate greed took over, corporations like monsanto created new pesticides and the correlated pesticide resistant plants, they had their lawyer draw up special license agreements - and the promise of feeding humanity with less pollution and higher efficiency was broken down to higher corporate profits. I was not a part of this personally, but simply the fact of being employed in a related field makes me bow my head in shame for all this great opportunities given away and sacrificed on the altar of capitalism.
Interesting point, but be careful not to overrate this. GMOs pose a really big opportunity - but their potential is only rudimentarily tapped. I would have chosen the method of gene manipulation as such - the technique itself is the big concept, its applications are somewhat lacking up to now. Especially if you look at gene therapy, which simply does not work at the moment.
So that sinister looking guy with the suitcase nuke in his hotel room should go unpunished? Hey, let him keep the thing - he showed no intention to use it! After all, it would be a thoughtcrime situation if we took it from him, before we actually caught him setting the timer! Suppressing the populace, that, keeping the milita down...
Come on, guys... I don't want to hijack this thread into a possession of handguns - flamewar, but there are obviously more levels to this than simple black and white. Perhaps it's just me, but I for one recognize the right and the duty of the government to actually do something for the prevention of crime.
Obviously, they are sponsored by Eppendorf. Did you notice that pipettes are always held in a way to make the logo visible. And it's not only pipettes, most of the visible lab stuff is Eppendorf, centrifuges for example.
- "Question 1: How Does Evolution Add Information? "How can point mutations create new chromosomes or lengthen a strand of DNA?"
Wrong on many levels. Point mutations obviously don't create new information. Consider duplications, deletions, etc. Chromosomes can duplicate, polyploidism is possible, etc. ect... Enough mechanisms to add new information.
"Question 2: How Can Evolution Be So Quick?"
Evolution of large structures does not work on the level of single genes, but rather on the level of blocks of genes, regulated by the so-called homeobox regulatory sequences. This homeobox genes are responsible for the development of large anatomical structures such as fingers, arms, etc. Mutations on the homeobox level have profound impact on the whole construction of organisms, enabling rather large developmental leaps
- "Question 3: Where Did the First Living Cell Come From?"
"Could life arise spontaneously? If you read How Cells Work, you can see that even a primitive cell like an E. coli bacteria -- one of the simplest life forms in existence today -- is amazingly complex.
E. coli is by no means the simplest possible living system. You give a list of requirements that a primordial cell has to develop spontaneously, that is blown way out of proportion. The RNA theory of early evolution posits that primordial living systems were build just from RNA, which is able to carry genetic information and also able to act as a catalyst, and a lipid layer as a boundary to the environment. Much simpler. Below that are systems of self replicating molecules, which one would not consider alive per se, but which could be precursors to more complex systems. There is no need to assume the spontaneous emergence of a high level of complexity.
YEAH, right... Not having national ID - the only thing that prevents us from rounded up, being summarily executed and dumped in mass grave.. right. And they say I am paranoid. Excuse me, while I laugh my ass off.
Slashdot Mirror
Ever met a lawyer?
Well, I agree with you on the ridiculousness of political discussion on /. But, on the other hand, I like talking politics. I wonder why it works out so badly here - one should expect geeks to be particularily able to talk politics. It's basically nothing but a very large, complex, interconnected system - and isn't that a geek thing? Well, I guess, the number of true geeks on this site is rather limited....
Well, maintaining other people's perl code nearly kills me *each time*. DOes that count?
I consider this a good development. The business model for scientific publishers is deeply flawed. Consider: The public pays for research done at a university. The public pays for the publication of this article in a scientific journal. And then - the public pays again a ridiculously high price, so that the universities can subscribe to this journals. This simply ain't right. To complete the sad story, even the copyright of the article does not stay with the researcher who published it, but is transferred to the publisher.
My real gripe with Civ III is waste and corruption. I see no reason why corruption should be determined by distance to the capital in a frikkin' democracy. That might be valid in feudalism, but come on - democracy. Nearly instantaneous transport to every point on the map at this time. There is no such thing as "distance" any more. THIS needs to be tweaked.
But I guess, all of this is mostly a matter of playing style. And that's why I'm looking forward to a customizable Civ IV - hopefully there will be a mod for every style one likes.
I disagree. You don't need about 100 cities to cover all your resource needs. I found the strategic resources a rather interesting twist to the game. The discovery of new resources changes the geo-strategical face of the map. For example, imagine you have been building a rather peaceful empire, holding your opponents at bay diplomatically or by small defensive actions, you got the lead - and suddenly you discover you are cut off from oil. What seems like a death sentence just forces you to radically rethink your strategy - suddenly it is all-out resource war. Capture the strategically important positions, defend them well, and you don't have to get into 100-cities micromanagement orgies.
If this site is the "mouthpiece of an oppressive [iranian] regime" - why isn't it simply hosted in Iran?
--
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
You were there with him?
D'oh... Shouldn't have posted in the middle of the night... and cut back on the beer. You're right, of course.
That is exactly the definition here. Roundup is a "total" pesticide - killing everything but the roundup-resistant monsanto strains.
And who decided to let people with no clue about ancient greek historyon slashdot?
Do you like seeing slums? Driving through them? Dodging gang wars?
And especially, why do they still ask that strange rhetorical question "What would Jesus do?" if they don't want to give an honest answer.
I would perfectly agree with you if your country stopped implying that it should have a say in how other countries are run. And really, if you believe that America succeeds where other (democratic) countries fail, you should try hard to get a grip on reality.
It won't even be out of money in 45 years - benefits payed will have to be reduced by about 20% then, if the current projections hold. So much for the crisis...
Nice one. You live to work or work to live?
You see... that's exactly the point. They are stealing our recreation time second by second... No wonder I'm exhausted....
... but not new. Being an molecular biologist myself, I have been ranting about this kind of shit for YEARS. I mean, what IS it with those people? When gene manipulation of crops, a.k.a. green biotech, came up, we were all celebrating. What could one do with this method - creating crops resistant against various pests, thereby reducing the need for pesticides, creating crops resistant against cold, draught, excess sun, whatever, increasing the area of potential farmland greatly. Maybe even building the nitrogen fixation system of legumes in other crops, completely abolishing the need for synthetic nitrate fertilizers.
What happened outside our overly optimistic minds? Corporate greed took over, corporations like monsanto created new pesticides and the correlated pesticide resistant plants, they had their lawyer draw up special license agreements - and the promise of feeding humanity with less pollution and higher efficiency was broken down to higher corporate profits. I was not a part of this personally, but simply the fact of being employed in a related field makes me bow my head in shame for all this great opportunities given away and sacrificed on the altar of capitalism.
Interesting point, but be careful not to overrate this. GMOs pose a really big opportunity - but their potential is only rudimentarily tapped. I would have chosen the method of gene manipulation as such - the technique itself is the big concept, its applications are somewhat lacking up to now. Especially if you look at gene therapy, which simply does not work at the moment.
Come on, guys... I don't want to hijack this thread into a possession of handguns - flamewar, but there are obviously more levels to this than simple black and white. Perhaps it's just me, but I for one recognize the right and the duty of the government to actually do something for the prevention of crime.
May I suggest ToME?
Err... where exactly do you think HTPB, a polymerized hydrocarbon does come from, from rubber trees? It's made from oil.
... the roads must roll...
Obviously, they are sponsored by Eppendorf. Did you notice that pipettes are always held in a way to make the logo visible. And it's not only pipettes, most of the visible lab stuff is Eppendorf, centrifuges for example.
- "Question 1: How Does Evolution Add Information? "How can point mutations create new chromosomes or lengthen a strand of DNA?"
Wrong on many levels. Point mutations obviously don't create new information. Consider duplications, deletions, etc. Chromosomes can duplicate, polyploidism is possible, etc. ect... Enough mechanisms to add new information.
"Question 2: How Can Evolution Be So Quick?"
Evolution of large structures does not work on the level of single genes, but rather on the level of blocks of genes, regulated by the so-called homeobox regulatory sequences. This homeobox genes are responsible for the development of large anatomical structures such as fingers, arms, etc. Mutations on the homeobox level have profound impact on the whole construction of organisms, enabling rather large developmental leaps
- "Question 3: Where Did the First Living Cell Come From?" "Could life arise spontaneously? If you read How Cells Work, you can see that even a primitive cell like an E. coli bacteria -- one of the simplest life forms in existence today -- is amazingly complex.
E. coli is by no means the simplest possible living system. You give a list of requirements that a primordial cell has to develop spontaneously, that is blown way out of proportion.
The RNA theory of early evolution posits that primordial living systems were build just from RNA, which is able to carry genetic information and also able to act as a catalyst, and a lipid layer as a boundary to the environment. Much simpler. Below that are systems of self replicating molecules, which one would not consider alive per se, but which could be precursors to more complex systems. There is no need to assume the spontaneous emergence of a high level of complexity.
YEAH, right... Not having national ID - the only thing that prevents us from rounded up, being summarily executed and dumped in mass grave.. right.
And they say I am paranoid. Excuse me, while I laugh my ass off.