Indeed! I was confused by the summary; it lumps XviD (an encoder) together with AVI, MKV, and MP4 (container formats). I am surprised that nobody here has pointed this out yet.
I think the moral of this story is that a good electronics project includes an attractive case for the finished circuit. (Which, compared to soldering things together, is always kind of hard to do.)
A local lending library does not have and never has had the ability to reproduce a single book for as many people as want it at no significant cost to themselves.
Most libraries have music CDs nowadays. Borrow the CDs, rip to FLAC, return the next day.
Most also have photocopiers, often coin-operated. Practically you can't copy an entire book this way, but you can certainly do a short chapter.
Neither of these are exactly what you're talking about, but they're close.
Isn't what you propose just capitalism (and in particular the specialization that comes with it), minus money? Without money, every time you want a transaction that isn't a simple trade you have a nontrivial coordination problem.
For instance, suppose three people A, B, and C, and three goods/services a, b, and c. Player A can provide a, B can provide b, etc. And suppose,
A wants b
B wants c
C wants a
In order for each person to get what they want, they all need to know each other's preferences and be able to coordinate a three-way trade.
My investment banker counterpart earns about twice what an engineer does, and does even less work
isn't really true. They do make a ton of money, but they work absolutely insane hours -- to start at least. I think in large part it's hazing of the new guys by the older ones.
Still, they're paid too much relative to the net value they contribute to society.
This is absolutely stupid. There are lots of excessive safety measures that deprive kids of useful learning experiences, but wearing a bicycle helmet is hardly one of them. What exactly is the benefit of not wearing one? Gaining the 10 seconds it takes to put one on?
A better example would simply biking or walking to school at all, vs being driven in the minivan/SUV. The former teaches independence and gives some exercise; the latter doesn't.
Another good example would be our now-anemic chemistry sets. Once you take out all the cool chemicals, there's no incentive to play with the thing (and thereby learn).
But bicycle helmets seem like a silly thing to get worked up about and start opposing. They do no harm.
Depends on the field. From where I'm standing it looks like semiconductors is one of the most applied areas of academia, and probably the one with the most industry support (It's also the area of EE that seems to work PhD students the hardest). Other fields (e.g., controls, my area) have become predominantly theoretical.
No way man! I've become pretty certain that inkjets are inherently less reliable -- even for the same price. And toner always goes further than ink -- per cartridge of course, but also per dollar.
After going through three inkjets in as many years and too many ink cartridges, I got a ~$100 Brother B&W laser printer. I've had it for 2.5 years now; it continues to work perfectly and I'm still on the original (originally 1/2(?)-full) toner cartridge! And when I need to print something, I can count on it working reliably. The only downside is the lack of color, which frankly doesn't concern me at all.
You're right; it doesn't have network hardware. That's not much of an issue since (1) I have a 'nix server running for other purposes anyway; CUPS does the trick nicely (works from Windows too, without Samba on the Linux side), and (2) even were it not for #1, the fact is that the printer's next to my desk anyway, so plugging the USB cable into my laptop directly would not be an issue.
Obviously other people may have other requirements, but I don't think that the kinds of use cases I described are atypical.
That's a good argument, with which I would agree. In the case of pot, for instance, it seems clear that inhaling burning embers is not the healthiest delivery mechanism for THC!
I think a case could be made for simply ingesting herbs instead of purified extracts or synthesized chemicals in cases where (1) the exact dose does not matter very much, and the effective dose is much lower than the maximum safe dose, AND (2) the cost (either direct, or including externalities) of purifying or synthesizing the chemical is much higher than just farming and harvesting the plant. In practice, it seems however that the opposite is what is actually true: It is expensive to grow and harvest plants, and cheaper to synthesize the chemicals -- so there's no reason to use the plant (at industrial scales at least. It may nevertheless be economical for a person to grow something in his garden, perhaps, if he enjoys the hobby anyway).
On this subject, I'm kind of interested in the use of bacteriophage viruses instead of antibiotics (a direction pursued in Russia before penicillin was available there).
Eh... there are some legitimate herbal, non-mainstream medicines which are reasonably effective (yet which I assume most people would call alternative medicine). You could drink willowbark tea for your headache or smoke pot to alleviate symptoms of chemo for instance. The active ingredients -- salycilic acid and THC, respectively -- certainly have the desired effects.
I hear that one of the artificial sweeteners was developed this way. A professor directed a grad student whose English was very poor to "test" a particular chemical (for something); the grad student misheard it as "taste" and came back with the reply, "It's sweet." When the professor finally understood what had happened, he was shocked and horrified, fully expecting that his student had just ingested a carcinogen or worse. Luckily for the grad student and for the professor's conscience, that wasn't what had just happened; instead they'd discovered a new sweetener.
*googles a bit*
Ah hah! This story is apparently true! This is the story of sucralose's discovery.
I like TA as well, but in fairness I'd say it had the worst AI of that generation of RTS games. The best in my opinion was the somewhat later Age of Kings (in terms of AI). Even newer games (e.g., Supreme Commander) have less competent AIs.
Indeed! Mr. Governor should be prosecuted for hate-crime to the full extent of the law! We cannot allow criticism of the oppressed Apple minority! Why, if we start down this slippery slope, pretty soon we'll be lynching iPods in broad daylight and burning MacBooks in ovens! Never again! Never again!
Seriously, the man's just criticizing a consumer electronics company. "Senseless hatred" goes a bit far, don't you think?
The people who killed Matthew Shepard were full of hate. The KKK is full of hate. Supersloshy just doesn't like that the iPhone allows apps from the Apple app store and nowhere else.
You make it sound like if you don't like the iPhone you're some kind of bigot dreaming of Apple Auschwitz.
1) Most of the people involved in drug cartels are brainless thugs or stupid patsies. Not the type of people likely to use a high-tech solution to a problem.
"Most?" Ok, I guess if you're really smart you get legit work. But the drug cartels are not entirely without clever people.
For instance, they've built a number of near-submarines (photos), and there are rumors of GPS guided ones in the works. (I say "near-submarines" because they float just below the surface and run an air-breathing engine using a snorkel). Seems pretty sophisticated to me.
This is not a troll but rather solid advice. Do not give Linux, even the comparatively-easy Ubuntu, to novice computer users. The second they're asked to do a distro upgrade -- and this happens every few months -- they'll be calling you for help because, face it, a bunch of stuff will break (hundreds of posts in the Ubuntu forums stand testament to this fact). Whereas Windows will just silently and without causing problems install minor patches.
Maybe the answer is to use something stabler than Ubuntu which has a slower release cycle. Debian stable?
But if the choice is between XP and Ubuntu... I'm starting to think (and I did not originally) that it's easier to get XP secure enough than it is to make a Linux user-friendly and functional enough.
In principle, I suppose one could use an IR sensor (like that used in some electronic medical thermometers) to estimate the temperature of the voice coil without affecting its dynamics.
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Indeed! I was confused by the summary; it lumps XviD (an encoder) together with AVI, MKV, and MP4 (container formats). I am surprised that nobody here has pointed this out yet.
I think the moral of this story is that a good electronics project includes an attractive case for the finished circuit. (Which, compared to soldering things together, is always kind of hard to do.)
A local lending library does not have and never has had the ability to reproduce a single book for as many people as want it at no significant cost to themselves.
Most libraries have music CDs nowadays. Borrow the CDs, rip to FLAC, return the next day.
Most also have photocopiers, often coin-operated. Practically you can't copy an entire book this way, but you can certainly do a short chapter.
Neither of these are exactly what you're talking about, but they're close.
Isn't what you propose just capitalism (and in particular the specialization that comes with it), minus money? Without money, every time you want a transaction that isn't a simple trade you have a nontrivial coordination problem.
For instance, suppose three people A, B, and C, and three goods/services a, b, and c. Player A can provide a, B can provide b, etc. And suppose,
A wants b
B wants c
C wants a
In order for each person to get what they want, they all need to know each other's preferences and be able to coordinate a three-way trade.
Money neatly avoids these problems.
Guess it's time to start learning Korean....
I'd agree with your overall sentiment, but
My investment banker counterpart earns about twice what an engineer does, and does even less work
isn't really true. They do make a ton of money, but they work absolutely insane hours -- to start at least. I think in large part it's hazing of the new guys by the older ones.
Still, they're paid too much relative to the net value they contribute to society.
This is absolutely stupid. There are lots of excessive safety measures that deprive kids of useful learning experiences, but wearing a bicycle helmet is hardly one of them. What exactly is the benefit of not wearing one? Gaining the 10 seconds it takes to put one on?
A better example would simply biking or walking to school at all, vs being driven in the minivan/SUV. The former teaches independence and gives some exercise; the latter doesn't.
Another good example would be our now-anemic chemistry sets. Once you take out all the cool chemicals, there's no incentive to play with the thing (and thereby learn).
But bicycle helmets seem like a silly thing to get worked up about and start opposing. They do no harm.
Depends on the field. From where I'm standing it looks like semiconductors is one of the most applied areas of academia, and probably the one with the most industry support (It's also the area of EE that seems to work PhD students the hardest). Other fields (e.g., controls, my area) have become predominantly theoretical.
How many songs are about music and dance? Too many.
That's kind of an absurd complaint, isn't it? Isn't this at least half the point of a song?
Now if you'd said, "about getting laid," maybe I'd have have been with you...
"Tumescent empurpled member." Nice. It's like something from a mutated and disturbed supermarket paperback.
Whenever people want to give examples of important female mathematicians, my first thought is always Emmy Noether.
Different model, but otherwise "ditto here." I never installed drivers from Brother; the foomatic/CUPS ones do the job fine.
No way man! I've become pretty certain that inkjets are inherently less reliable -- even for the same price. And toner always goes further than ink -- per cartridge of course, but also per dollar.
After going through three inkjets in as many years and too many ink cartridges, I got a ~$100 Brother B&W laser printer. I've had it for 2.5 years now; it continues to work perfectly and I'm still on the original (originally 1/2(?)-full) toner cartridge! And when I need to print something, I can count on it working reliably. The only downside is the lack of color, which frankly doesn't concern me at all.
You're right; it doesn't have network hardware. That's not much of an issue since (1) I have a 'nix server running for other purposes anyway; CUPS does the trick nicely (works from Windows too, without Samba on the Linux side), and (2) even were it not for #1, the fact is that the printer's next to my desk anyway, so plugging the USB cable into my laptop directly would not be an issue.
Obviously other people may have other requirements, but I don't think that the kinds of use cases I described are atypical.
That's a good argument, with which I would agree. In the case of pot, for instance, it seems clear that inhaling burning embers is not the healthiest delivery mechanism for THC!
I think a case could be made for simply ingesting herbs instead of purified extracts or synthesized chemicals in cases where (1) the exact dose does not matter very much, and the effective dose is much lower than the maximum safe dose, AND (2) the cost (either direct, or including externalities) of purifying or synthesizing the chemical is much higher than just farming and harvesting the plant. In practice, it seems however that the opposite is what is actually true: It is expensive to grow and harvest plants, and cheaper to synthesize the chemicals -- so there's no reason to use the plant (at industrial scales at least. It may nevertheless be economical for a person to grow something in his garden, perhaps, if he enjoys the hobby anyway).
Water. ;-)
On this subject, I'm kind of interested in the use of bacteriophage viruses instead of antibiotics (a direction pursued in Russia before penicillin was available there).
Eh... there are some legitimate herbal, non-mainstream medicines which are reasonably effective (yet which I assume most people would call alternative medicine). You could drink willowbark tea for your headache or smoke pot to alleviate symptoms of chemo for instance. The active ingredients -- salycilic acid and THC, respectively -- certainly have the desired effects.
I hear that one of the artificial sweeteners was developed this way. A professor directed a grad student whose English was very poor to "test" a particular chemical (for something); the grad student misheard it as "taste" and came back with the reply, "It's sweet." When the professor finally understood what had happened, he was shocked and horrified, fully expecting that his student had just ingested a carcinogen or worse. Luckily for the grad student and for the professor's conscience, that wasn't what had just happened; instead they'd discovered a new sweetener.
*googles a bit*
Ah hah! This story is apparently true! This is the story of sucralose's discovery.
I like TA as well, but in fairness I'd say it had the worst AI of that generation of RTS games. The best in my opinion was the somewhat later Age of Kings (in terms of AI). Even newer games (e.g., Supreme Commander) have less competent AIs.
Unfortunately, anybody savvy enough to know about and install Google Frame isn't running IE anyway...
senseless hatred
Indeed! Mr. Governor should be prosecuted for hate-crime to the full extent of the law! We cannot allow criticism of the oppressed Apple minority! Why, if we start down this slippery slope, pretty soon we'll be lynching iPods in broad daylight and burning MacBooks in ovens! Never again! Never again!
Seriously, the man's just criticizing a consumer electronics company. "Senseless hatred" goes a bit far, don't you think?
You are all full of hate.
What. The. Fuck.
The people who killed Matthew Shepard were full of hate. The KKK is full of hate. Supersloshy just doesn't like that the iPhone allows apps from the Apple app store and nowhere else.
You make it sound like if you don't like the iPhone you're some kind of bigot dreaming of Apple Auschwitz.
1) Most of the people involved in drug cartels are brainless thugs or stupid patsies. Not the type of people likely to use a high-tech solution to a problem.
"Most?" Ok, I guess if you're really smart you get legit work. But the drug cartels are not entirely without clever people.
For instance, they've built a number of near-submarines (photos), and there are rumors of GPS guided ones in the works. (I say "near-submarines" because they float just below the surface and run an air-breathing engine using a snorkel). Seems pretty sophisticated to me.
This is not a troll but rather solid advice. Do not give Linux, even the comparatively-easy Ubuntu, to novice computer users. The second they're asked to do a distro upgrade -- and this happens every few months -- they'll be calling you for help because, face it, a bunch of stuff will break (hundreds of posts in the Ubuntu forums stand testament to this fact). Whereas Windows will just silently and without causing problems install minor patches.
Maybe the answer is to use something stabler than Ubuntu which has a slower release cycle. Debian stable?
But if the choice is between XP and Ubuntu... I'm starting to think (and I did not originally) that it's easier to get XP secure enough than it is to make a Linux user-friendly and functional enough.
OSX may also be worth considering seriously.
In principle, I suppose one could use an IR sensor (like that used in some electronic medical thermometers) to estimate the temperature of the voice coil without affecting its dynamics.