Democracies with well-informed citizens tend not to invade each other that much.
Now, who do you think is currently the biggest threat to world peace?
On a more personal note, I empathise with the poor sods in China who get dragged off for advocating freedom of speech and the like. I prefer the version of China where dissidents' families don't get charged for the bullet used in the execution. Democracy, power to the people, may indeed be a Western idea but, speaking as one of the people, it sure as hell beats the alternatives.
I tend to wikify my to-do list. This means that:
a) I can get to it from any web-connected computer, without needing special programs
b) I can edit it on the fly
c) Other people can annotate it if I've missed anything
The only risk I've run into so far is wikispam, and a good blocklist + revert functionality clears that up nicely.
They had these at my old school. Of the 8 or so teachers who taught me, there was only one who used the things to anything like their full potential.
Most teachers, like most normal people, are fairly clueless about computers. I am really not sure that foisting techie stuff upon them is the best approach to improving education.
I don't know of a single country on the face of the planet where people can say with a straight face that their government behaves with the honour and courage they would wish it to.
Partially, of course, cos if it did so it'd get ground under by bigger, more pragmatic neighbours.
But... if you're a PHB then why do you have something as techie as dual-boot set up in the first place? In my (albeit limited) experience that's only a common migration route for technically-minded folk. Please correct me if I'm wrong here.
The problem then arises that, should an AI attain that status, it is unlikely to have any compunction about turning the tables. And, given that computers are gaining processing power at a greater rate than humans, this probably wouldn't be hard.
If, without an explanation, the gizmo would just be a magic box in which magic happens that declares people innocent or guilty, or if there's any possibility that it's not behaving how it's supposed to, then I'd say an analysis of said gizmo is justified. Railroading is bad for your nation's health.
Should a rape suspect be able to get off because he questioned how the DNA scanner works, and the court can't provide an answer?
If the scanning system is dodgy then YES HE BLOODY WELL SHOULD! How would you feel if falsely convicted for rape due to dodgy evidence?
Equally, given that traffic-related charges are a major source of income for police depts (certainly in Britain), how do we know the police didn't go for the breathalyser model that always flags each 20th suspect as being drunk? Sorry Granny, they caught you fair and square.
Without access to the system internals (in this case the source code) we just don't know. However unlikely tampering may seem, that uncertainty will still be there.
I'd second this. I'm a maths student who's supposed to be revising for 2nd-year university exams. I only recently clicked to the fact that my IQ drops several points every time I look at the monitor. And that's quite apart from the time I spend checking my email.
Dead tree form, despite its limited search functionality, will tend to beat computer as a way to learn simply because it doesn't kill one's brain in quite the same way.
Imagine a transparent circular (2d) screen. Orient it vertically, stick a vertical axle down the middle. Spin it very fast. Whenever you want a volume to go green, or whatever, make the part of the screen that passes through that bit of space flash green when it's doing so. So, if you wanted a green horizontal semicircle, you'd make a small square of the screen flash green for half of each resolution.
And stick a goldfish bowl over it so people don't lose fingers. Although I'm wondering if there's a vacuum inside to reduce air friction.
Once you've built your ship, that's it. No-one's going to try constructing a small mansion on top of it, regardless of its stability.
Bug-free operating systems and browsers, however, make it much easier and enjoyable to build fantastic castles in the air^Winternet. That's the part of the web designer's job that is actually enjoyable.
We'll always need more software. Having a stable platform just means the work gets interesting and innovative faster.
Hahaha, I'd mod this as the funniest thing I heard in a while, but how do you get to be a moderator on Slashdot?
If you're a very good boy/girl/thing, the mod point fairies come and sprinkle mod points over you.
Of course, like all such fairies (tooth fairy, electric drill chuck key fairy, etc), they need some compensation. Best not to attract their attention unless you have body parts you can stand to lose.
I guess your beef is more with them actually legislating it, but that doesn't seem like such a big deal to me either.
As a Brit, I'm not too keen on the American govt trying to claim legislative control over the internet. If I decide to put kinky pictures on my site (which, as you will note, is at a.org domain name), does that mean that I get sued by the American govt? If the plan is for the legislation to only apply to Americans, how is that going to be enforced without removing internet anonymity? How long til the world governments decide that, since the whole.xxx thing worked so well (or regardless of the fact that it didn't) they'd like to control more stuff thank you very much?
How long til my favourite white-hat hacking sites go dark?
Saying that a mathematical model can cure someone is a bit misleading... in particular, the way the first half of the linked article is phrased makes it sound like they took the patient, said mathemagical words, tapped him on the head with a Slide Rule of Power then sent him off well again.
The mathematical model couldn't cure anyone any more than a camera can give things a new paint job, it just suggested some possible (and unorthodox) cures. Very useful, but any mathematician will tell you that Misleading Terminology Is Bad.
I would hope that you would be also sorry about the holocaust ever happening for reasons other than that it provides an "the freedom to take every criticism as anit semetic".
Do you have any feelings of sorrow about the six-million people were brutally murdered?
The Holocaust sucked for homosexuals, travellers, anyone who was physically or mentally disabled and religious and cultural minorities, as well as for anyone who disagreed with Hitler.
This in no way gives the current government of a country consisting largely of members of one of those categories the moral high ground if it chooses to play silly buggers with foreign companies.
Slashdot Mirror
All fun and games til somebody loses an eye...
Actually their survey specifically refers to "packaged software". Although knowing them that probably includes anything in .deb format :P
Democracies with well-informed citizens tend not to invade each other that much.
Now, who do you think is currently the biggest threat to world peace?
On a more personal note, I empathise with the poor sods in China who get dragged off for advocating freedom of speech and the like. I prefer the version of China where dissidents' families don't get charged for the bullet used in the execution. Democracy, power to the people, may indeed be a Western idea but, speaking as one of the people, it sure as hell beats the alternatives.
I tend to wikify my to-do list. This means that: a) I can get to it from any web-connected computer, without needing special programs b) I can edit it on the fly c) Other people can annotate it if I've missed anything The only risk I've run into so far is wikispam, and a good blocklist + revert functionality clears that up nicely.
They had these at my old school. Of the 8 or so teachers who taught me, there was only one who used the things to anything like their full potential.
Most teachers, like most normal people, are fairly clueless about computers. I am really not sure that foisting techie stuff upon them is the best approach to improving education.
I don't know of a single country on the face of the planet where people can say with a straight face that their government behaves with the honour and courage they would wish it to.
Partially, of course, cos if it did so it'd get ground under by bigger, more pragmatic neighbours.
Because I'm a PHB
But... if you're a PHB then why do you have something as techie as dual-boot set up in the first place? In my (albeit limited) experience that's only a common migration route for technically-minded folk. Please correct me if I'm wrong here.
If you have linux dual-booted then why not just use that to assault the spyware?
I think he meant the value to the customer, in which case it does make sense, although I'm not sure it's 'good' legal theory.
The problem then arises that, should an AI attain that status, it is unlikely to have any compunction about turning the tables. And, given that computers are gaining processing power at a greater rate than humans, this probably wouldn't be hard.
If, without an explanation, the gizmo would just be a magic box in which magic happens that declares people innocent or guilty, or if there's any possibility that it's not behaving how it's supposed to, then I'd say an analysis of said gizmo is justified. Railroading is bad for your nation's health.
Should a rape suspect be able to get off because he questioned how the DNA scanner works, and the court can't provide an answer?
If the scanning system is dodgy then YES HE BLOODY WELL SHOULD! How would you feel if falsely convicted for rape due to dodgy evidence?
Equally, given that traffic-related charges are a major source of income for police depts (certainly in Britain), how do we know the police didn't go for the breathalyser model that always flags each 20th suspect as being drunk? Sorry Granny, they caught you fair and square.
Without access to the system internals (in this case the source code) we just don't know. However unlikely tampering may seem, that uncertainty will still be there.
I'd second this. I'm a maths student who's supposed to be revising for 2nd-year university exams. I only recently clicked to the fact that my IQ drops several points every time I look at the monitor. And that's quite apart from the time I spend checking my email.
Dead tree form, despite its limited search functionality, will tend to beat computer as a way to learn simply because it doesn't kill one's brain in quite the same way.
Imagine a transparent circular (2d) screen. Orient it vertically, stick a vertical axle down the middle. Spin it very fast. Whenever you want a volume to go green, or whatever, make the part of the screen that passes through that bit of space flash green when it's doing so. So, if you wanted a green horizontal semicircle, you'd make a small square of the screen flash green for half of each resolution.
And stick a goldfish bowl over it so people don't lose fingers. Although I'm wondering if there's a vacuum inside to reduce air friction.
One problem: Don't you think the RIAA might check the contents of the file before they sue?
Evidently not.
Once you've built your ship, that's it. No-one's going to try constructing a small mansion on top of it, regardless of its stability.
Bug-free operating systems and browsers, however, make it much easier and enjoyable to build fantastic castles in the air^Winternet. That's the part of the web designer's job that is actually enjoyable.
We'll always need more software. Having a stable platform just means the work gets interesting and innovative faster.
Hahaha, I'd mod this as the funniest thing I heard in a while, but how do you get to be a moderator on Slashdot?
If you're a very good boy/girl/thing, the mod point fairies come and sprinkle mod points over you.
Of course, like all such fairies (tooth fairy, electric drill chuck key fairy, etc), they need some compensation. Best not to attract their attention unless you have body parts you can stand to lose.
I guess your beef is more with them actually legislating it, but that doesn't seem like such a big deal to me either.
.org domain name), does that mean that I get sued by the American govt? If the plan is for the legislation to only apply to Americans, how is that going to be enforced without removing internet anonymity? How long til the world governments decide that, since the whole .xxx thing worked so well (or regardless of the fact that it didn't) they'd like to control more stuff thank you very much?
As a Brit, I'm not too keen on the American govt trying to claim legislative control over the internet. If I decide to put kinky pictures on my site (which, as you will note, is at a
How long til my favourite white-hat hacking sites go dark?
Saying that a mathematical model can cure someone is a bit misleading... in particular, the way the first half of the linked article is phrased makes it sound like they took the patient, said mathemagical words, tapped him on the head with a Slide Rule of Power then sent him off well again.
The mathematical model couldn't cure anyone any more than a camera can give things a new paint job, it just suggested some possible (and unorthodox) cures. Very useful, but any mathematician will tell you that Misleading Terminology Is Bad.
Unless they're into nonstandard analysis, anyway.
I think it's a good point.
It's just that everyone's allergic to the h-word these days.
I cant imagine that we need secret laws and skulduggery against our own people to fight the phantom menace
Hey, whatever it takes, y'know? Cos that film stank.
JXTWDBJ
But you're right, that's a fucking joke
Ever heard the Cheeky Girls? Point proven.
I would hope that you would be also sorry about the holocaust ever happening for reasons other than that it provides an "the freedom to take every criticism as anit semetic". Do you have any feelings of sorrow about the six-million people were brutally murdered?
The Holocaust sucked for homosexuals, travellers, anyone who was physically or mentally disabled and religious and cultural minorities, as well as for anyone who disagreed with Hitler.
This in no way gives the current government of a country consisting largely of members of one of those categories the moral high ground if it chooses to play silly buggers with foreign companies.
My local bookshop (!) currently stocks SuSE Linux, in a shiny box with a full support package. You were saying?