I completely get how you would think that the view is crazy. I believe that I responsible for myself, my family, and no one else. That responsibility comes *way* before helping others in society.
It long ago got to the point where paying taxes costs more than providing the basic necessities for my family. There's something wrong with that.
I disagree. Our "bottom" has food, clothing, shelter, and many luxuries available to them. The "bottom" in many places have none of these things.
This is not an "America" thing - this is a "first world" thing. The general welfare of a US citizen is approximately on par with that of a citizen of Sweden, for instance. To equate poverty in a developed country with poverty in an undeveloped one is simply not support be reality.
Someone who gets it. Government is the seat of coercive power - allowing it to grow unchecked gives companies incentive to develop and wield influence over it.
I live in rural Arkansas, and you're full of shit.
I can drive down the road to Zinc, which is probably the nastiest, stereotypically hillbilly town you'll ever see. The poorest there live in run-down trailer houses, have three or four vehicles in the front yard in various states of repair, and they all have 30+ inch flatscreens on the wall. They are poor because of the choices they make, not because of lack of opportunity or ability.
Now, go do the same in rural Mexico. You'll see people living in dwelling constructed of native materials, with no electricity, running water, or sanitation. Further, there is near zero opportunity for them to improve their situation, short of move to another area with no financial support.
Seriously suggesting that "poor in America" is equivalent to "poor in Mexico" is so far from reality it's laughable. Try stepping outside your bias sometime, and see the real world for what it is.
I only have my own personal experience to go on - but I bought a netbook about two months ago, tossed Ubuntu on it, finally settled on Plasma Desktop as a shell, and have never been happier. My main laptop only makes it to the car once a week these days.
Or you've offloaded all the heavy processing work to the database server - where it belongs - and are doing mere presentational work on your desktop...
The primary difference between how I use my eeePC and how I use my 16" laptop is screen size. Plasma Netbook is doing a better job of managing that for the primary reason that it's task switch (alt+tab) is way better.
I removed Unity from my machine entirely today, actually, in favor of Awesome for coding and Plasma Netbook for general computing.
I'll usually download a Beta and try it out a bit, and will install and move to RC1 when ti goes live. I figure that, as a "power user", I can at least give intelligible bug reports when something breaks. It's the least I can do in return for a free, awesome browser.
Selection bias. As a libertarian, it's obvious to me that the simple fact of becoming a libertarian means that you are likely to be interested enough in Economics to take classes.
By drilling the holes and filling them with pressurized liquids, they are fracturing the bedrock, creating fissures that run for miles. There is a new seven-mile-long fracture in the bedrock near Greenbrier, AR, as a result of this that they recently surveyed via ground-penetrating radar.
I realize they're not making plate boundaries here, but the fracturing of the bedrock is creating mini-faults, in essence. With the geological composition of the Ozarks, even a small movement propagates extremely well, causing a felt earthquake many many miles away.
There is some discussion that the settling of the bedrock around these fracking wells could possibly cause movement along the New Madrid fault line, hastening or even causing a new New Madrid earthquake.
The last time that fault line went off, the Mississippi changed it course - and according to some reports, flowed backwards to backfill the new channel. Church bells rang in Boston. You're talking about millions of casualties, and virtually flattening Memphis and possibly St. Louis. Now, I don't think that's going to happen tomorrow, but the fact of the matter is, there is very clear evidence that this technique is causing large-scale earth movements. Large-scale earth movements near a major, known fault line in a populated area doesn't seem healthy to me.
You're right - it takes drilling a small hole, filling it with pressurized water and mud until the bedrock shatters, removing the oil that leeches to the bottom, then repeating the process.
I've been away from programming for about a year now, but I'm trying to get back involved. I'm picking up Python (via Django) first, due to the application for the language across Linux, but I'll eventually get back to client-side web programming. I really miss it.
I would argue that it isn't even about education per se, but about marketable skills in a changing economy.
If you work on an assembly line making cars, then you have a very specialized skillset. You might be paid very well for this work, and that's well and good - but when cars are no longer profitable to make here, and that job goes overseas, it is your responsibility to find and learn a new marketable skill - because the one you had is no longer marketable.
I have a high school diploma, and work at a Fortune 100 company. I've busted my ass getting to the point where I have something of value to offer my employer, and I'm paid commensurate with that. If that skill is no longer useful, I'd... learn another one. I wouldn't get on unemployment, look around for an identical job, then demand that government step in to provide said job.
Having graduated high school in 2002, there is much truth to the indoctrination though. In a rural area, most of it was met with eyerolls - we knew better. I can totally see how urban students wouldn't have that same perspective, though.
Growing up in the American public school system, in rural Arkansas, I would agree that far too much emphasis is placed on sports. Others would disagree, pointing to obesity rates; judging by the scale this morning, I can't really argue too much.
I would say that the issue is that not enough emphasis is placed on academic performance. Relatively speaking, sports are far more emphasized, but that's not saying much.
Maybe 1 in 10 kids in my high school had a job during school session. We get 2-3 months of vacation in the summer, and most 11th and 12th graders (17-18 years old) found employment then.
I think Office use is appropriate for upper high school, though the Adobe Suite is a bit much. Not everyone needs to be a graphics designer, and using Photoshop to crop photos is stupid.
That said, I'm going to homeschool my kids. They'll be using MS Office (or equivalent) to communicate to their outsourced workers in India, Pakistan, and the like. I'm even considering learning Arabic, Mandarin, or Urdu with my daughter in support of this.
Javascript is actually a very powerful and elegant language. Most examples you see are from people who are just learning programming, or took a class in C or Java in college and have no further training. If you look at one of the big, complex projects out there with following - jQuery, for instance - you can see that the gap between Javascript programmers is great.
I use Dropbox for a lot of my vector files. It's very effective - versioning is dead easy, it syncs instantly across three notebooks, a desktop, and my iPhone, and I don't have to think about it.
That said, when I needed to store some financial documents there, I put them inside a Truecrypt archive. Even assuming Dropbox is 100% safe end-to-end, there are still multiple ends to deal with here, one or more of which is outside my physical control at just about all times.
Slashdot Mirror
I completely get how you would think that the view is crazy. I believe that I responsible for myself, my family, and no one else. That responsibility comes *way* before helping others in society.
It long ago got to the point where paying taxes costs more than providing the basic necessities for my family. There's something wrong with that.
I disagree. Our "bottom" has food, clothing, shelter, and many luxuries available to them. The "bottom" in many places have none of these things.
This is not an "America" thing - this is a "first world" thing. The general welfare of a US citizen is approximately on par with that of a citizen of Sweden, for instance. To equate poverty in a developed country with poverty in an undeveloped one is simply not support be reality.
Someone who gets it. Government is the seat of coercive power - allowing it to grow unchecked gives companies incentive to develop and wield influence over it.
I live in rural Arkansas, and you're full of shit.
I can drive down the road to Zinc, which is probably the nastiest, stereotypically hillbilly town you'll ever see. The poorest there live in run-down trailer houses, have three or four vehicles in the front yard in various states of repair, and they all have 30+ inch flatscreens on the wall. They are poor because of the choices they make, not because of lack of opportunity or ability.
Now, go do the same in rural Mexico. You'll see people living in dwelling constructed of native materials, with no electricity, running water, or sanitation. Further, there is near zero opportunity for them to improve their situation, short of move to another area with no financial support.
Seriously suggesting that "poor in America" is equivalent to "poor in Mexico" is so far from reality it's laughable. Try stepping outside your bias sometime, and see the real world for what it is.
I only have my own personal experience to go on - but I bought a netbook about two months ago, tossed Ubuntu on it, finally settled on Plasma Desktop as a shell, and have never been happier. My main laptop only makes it to the car once a week these days.
Actually, we say "reckon" - as in "I reckon that's not the way you spell that word."
Or you've offloaded all the heavy processing work to the database server - where it belongs - and are doing mere presentational work on your desktop...
Then why aren't we invading Venezuela?
If those were the only two qualifications, we'd have invaded Canada years ago.
The primary difference between how I use my eeePC and how I use my 16" laptop is screen size. Plasma Netbook is doing a better job of managing that for the primary reason that it's task switch (alt+tab) is way better.
I removed Unity from my machine entirely today, actually, in favor of Awesome for coding and Plasma Netbook for general computing.
I'll usually download a Beta and try it out a bit, and will install and move to RC1 when ti goes live. I figure that, as a "power user", I can at least give intelligible bug reports when something breaks. It's the least I can do in return for a free, awesome browser.
I tried Plasma Netbook on my new eeePC, but it didn't like the 1G of RAM I have at the moment. I ended up back in Unity post-haste.
That's pretty interesting, the use of corporations to limit liability and continue operations. I'll be looking into that.
Selection bias. As a libertarian, it's obvious to me that the simple fact of becoming a libertarian means that you are likely to be interested enough in Economics to take classes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing
By drilling the holes and filling them with pressurized liquids, they are fracturing the bedrock, creating fissures that run for miles. There is a new seven-mile-long fracture in the bedrock near Greenbrier, AR, as a result of this that they recently surveyed via ground-penetrating radar.
I realize they're not making plate boundaries here, but the fracturing of the bedrock is creating mini-faults, in essence. With the geological composition of the Ozarks, even a small movement propagates extremely well, causing a felt earthquake many many miles away.
There is some discussion that the settling of the bedrock around these fracking wells could possibly cause movement along the New Madrid fault line, hastening or even causing a new New Madrid earthquake.
The last time that fault line went off, the Mississippi changed it course - and according to some reports, flowed backwards to backfill the new channel. Church bells rang in Boston. You're talking about millions of casualties, and virtually flattening Memphis and possibly St. Louis. Now, I don't think that's going to happen tomorrow, but the fact of the matter is, there is very clear evidence that this technique is causing large-scale earth movements. Large-scale earth movements near a major, known fault line in a populated area doesn't seem healthy to me.
You're right - it takes drilling a small hole, filling it with pressurized water and mud until the bedrock shatters, removing the oil that leeches to the bottom, then repeating the process.
Which is exactly what they did. "Frakking"
I've felt two of the quakes up here in Harrison - both of them over 4.0.
Everyone thought I was crazy when I immediately thought of all the drilling going on in central AR. Turns out, I was right. Frakking :)
I'll add that to my reading list.
I've been away from programming for about a year now, but I'm trying to get back involved. I'm picking up Python (via Django) first, due to the application for the language across Linux, but I'll eventually get back to client-side web programming. I really miss it.
I would argue that it isn't even about education per se, but about marketable skills in a changing economy.
If you work on an assembly line making cars, then you have a very specialized skillset. You might be paid very well for this work, and that's well and good - but when cars are no longer profitable to make here, and that job goes overseas, it is your responsibility to find and learn a new marketable skill - because the one you had is no longer marketable.
I have a high school diploma, and work at a Fortune 100 company. I've busted my ass getting to the point where I have something of value to offer my employer, and I'm paid commensurate with that. If that skill is no longer useful, I'd... learn another one. I wouldn't get on unemployment, look around for an identical job, then demand that government step in to provide said job.
Nice sig, btw :)
Having graduated high school in 2002, there is much truth to the indoctrination though. In a rural area, most of it was met with eyerolls - we knew better. I can totally see how urban students wouldn't have that same perspective, though.
Growing up in the American public school system, in rural Arkansas, I would agree that far too much emphasis is placed on sports. Others would disagree, pointing to obesity rates; judging by the scale this morning, I can't really argue too much.
I would say that the issue is that not enough emphasis is placed on academic performance. Relatively speaking, sports are far more emphasized, but that's not saying much.
Maybe 1 in 10 kids in my high school had a job during school session. We get 2-3 months of vacation in the summer, and most 11th and 12th graders (17-18 years old) found employment then.
I think Office use is appropriate for upper high school, though the Adobe Suite is a bit much. Not everyone needs to be a graphics designer, and using Photoshop to crop photos is stupid.
That said, I'm going to homeschool my kids. They'll be using MS Office (or equivalent) to communicate to their outsourced workers in India, Pakistan, and the like. I'm even considering learning Arabic, Mandarin, or Urdu with my daughter in support of this.
I'm glad someone else sees this.
Javascript is actually a very powerful and elegant language. Most examples you see are from people who are just learning programming, or took a class in C or Java in college and have no further training. If you look at one of the big, complex projects out there with following - jQuery, for instance - you can see that the gap between Javascript programmers is great.
I use Dropbox for a lot of my vector files. It's very effective - versioning is dead easy, it syncs instantly across three notebooks, a desktop, and my iPhone, and I don't have to think about it.
That said, when I needed to store some financial documents there, I put them inside a Truecrypt archive. Even assuming Dropbox is 100% safe end-to-end, there are still multiple ends to deal with here, one or more of which is outside my physical control at just about all times.
Agreed. Apple pays attention to detail.