Our education system is severely ill-suited to accomplishing what many think it's supposed to do: give everyone some good book learnin' so they can become successful and productive
And this brings up an interesting point. What is the best choice for putting a child in school? I knew kids growing up that were home schooled. They probably had a better education, but are so socially inept that even the best of them have had difficulty dealing with life. OTOH, public schools in the city where I live are not great. The education they provide is, in my opinion, not the best. So what does a parent do? Put the kid in public school and hope for the best? Pony up for private school where they will probably miss out on many extra cirricular activities?
Ok, so if you were that smart, it must have taken you all of 15 minutes, right? There are ways to rage against the machine, but not doing your homework is probably the dumbest.
Interestingly enough, it's just not that simple. I had the same problem in school - was terrible at homework, writing papers or anything that required prep time. I could remember and absorb all of the material, but unless it was crunch time (e.g. exam time) I had a very difficult time getting anything done. I would actually sit and stare at the wall rather than buckle down and do my homework, just to avoid it. To this day I have the same problems. I do great in a crisis, but in the day-to-day humdrum of work I get distracted easily.
Even as a child, my mother always said I had no attention span. I would be bored with a TV show, but totally enthralled in the 30 second commercials. (I'm still that way BTW) Personally, always wrote it off to Sesame Street screwing up my attention span, but now I have a nephew. He is a year old, has little interest in TV yet, but has the shortest attention span I've ever seen. Even compared to other 1 year olds he is distracted very easily. Now I wonder if my lack of ability to concentrate on one thing for more than five minutes is more a matter of Nature than Nurture.
Anybody have any ideas, or references on what psychological makeup causes this type of behavior? Why smart kids have so much problem with homework? How to teach yourself, or your kids to be more disciplined and focused?
When obesity kills off a huge segment of the population that, for whatever reason, just can't say no to the tripple butter dipped deep-fried Crisco burger
Even better than your accountant example, what happens when there is no longer a food surplus and the obesity gene suddenly comes in handy. One thing I think is often overlooked in our current "obesity epidemic" is that a hundred or so years ago a skinny person (male or female) was not considered attractive. There wasn't a McDonalds on every corner, so it was a good thing to be able to retain some fat. Wiping out obesity on a genetic level could create some serious consequences when there is a food shortage here in the US.
Thought that myself initially, but the real stat is that Microsoft server sales were up 12% (at least I think that's what that means). Might be worthless in terms of how many servers are running Microsoft OS, but not in terms of overall IT health and economic indicators.
The other interesting figure is that Linux server sales are up 35.2% That's kick ASS.
Tibet is more exotic - plus, it ties in to the 30's era serials and pulp novels or comics about Shangri-La, mystical Tibet, etc.
Actually, they kind of used that in Raiders. If you remember, he flew to Nepal to find Professor Ravenwood and the headpiece for the staff. I know, Nepal isn't Tibet, but it's close.
Did you really think this through? Go to the airport and compare the number of beautiful people that you would really want to see naked to the number of truly ugly people that should never be seen naked by anyone.
Keep your regular job and go to the strip club, content is better.
WTF...you think the story in Alien is better than Blade Runner's?
I think the story is more engaging in Alien. Phillip K. Dick's book, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", on which Blade Runner was based is well written. The screenplay for Blade Runner is disjointed and hard to follow.
I don't think the theme is better in Alien, just the actual writing and flow. The scene where the Alien pops out of the guy's stomach at dinner? Classic. Amazingly well written.
I would split the difference with you. I'd give cinematography, art direction and acting to Blade Runner. That movie was so dark and so well shot, plus Harrison Ford was amazing.
OTOH, original screen play and music definitely go to Alien. That story is so great, just thinking about it freaks me out.
Bottom line, they are both great, but outside of genre they have little in common. It's hard to judge them against each other. Blade Runner is very much a social commentary, like all of Phillip K. Dick's work. Alien is a much simpler story.
I don't doubt that, but the fact remains that unless the customer disputes the charge, the credit card is going to do nothing. Sometimes the merchange or CC company will flag something suspicious, but normally they are both glad to take the charge.
Not sure how it works in practice, but when I sign those slips it says something to the effect that 'by signing you agree to pay these charges'. If I didn't sign, I didn't agree to pay those charges.
Signatures may be somewhat worthless, but I have had several merchants check the signature and even ask for ID lately. If it happens once and someone gets caught, I wouldn't consider it worthless.
They're probably just joining a tracker, and see which ip addresses try to contact their host...
But can the prosecute if I don't have the whole file? Is it copyright violation if I have a piece of a binary that happens to match theirs? Is that enough proof that someone has violated the copyright? Sounds tricky to me.
Since I can plug a VoIP phone in anywhere, how is the dispatch going to know where you are like they would with a POTS line?
First, how does this make it any different than my cell phone. Sure, cell phones can be tracked, but I read in a recent WSJ article that technology isn't in place for most 911 districts.
Second, how many people are actually going to carry their VoIP phone with them everywhere? Most poeple I know are using it to replace their current home service (Qwest in my area), not haul around the country with them. Providers should be able to ask customers if they intend to move their VoIP phones around and save their primary usage address. At least that way there would be a place to start from if the caller wasn't able to identify their location.
The biggest problem with this is that the 911 system is archaic and the governments take the money earmarked for 911 upgrades and use it for other things.
All depends on what you are using your desktop for. If you are just reading slashdot, of course not. We do software development, and have a significant amount of traffic across our network due to CVS. Faster networks make it easier to backup, easier to transfer files, easier for our marketing department to create 200Mb work doc files and send them to our web developers. Faster networks and faster machines help people get more work done.
If we don't need all this speed, why didn't we just stick with 386 machines???
Sure, all we need is another world war to destroy every industraized nation's.. err industry. (Except the U.S., so all must buy their goods from them.)
Damn, that's a good idea. Let's start with Japan - I'm sure it's still their fault somehow.
Hey, I think we could find a happy medium here. How old a computer can be and still do the job has many factors involved. For example, I'm sure your 233mhz machines handling email are fine. They are handling traffic coming in of the net, probably over a T1 or cable connection. Those machines can probably handle more traffic than your data line can.
OTOH, I have a Athlon XP 2500+ machine, running Linux, with a DVD writer attached that I use for backups. Currently it's making me crazy because I keep running out of disk space, and moving 15GB of data across partitions is taking a long time. I would LOVE to upgrade this to at least an SATA drive, maybe a RAID configuration and upgrade our network to gigabit ethernet. Would have saved me a TON of time over the last few weeks.
Bottom line, sometimes it pays to upgrade, sometimes it doesn't, but there definitely comes a time when it's going to take longer to repair the old 233mhz machine than it will to order a brand new machine and configure it. Considering the cost of new hardware.vs labor costs this quickly becomes an easy financial decision.
That reminds me of the joke about programmers being in a car, steaming downhill with failed brakes, narrowly avoiding death, then once the car has come to a standstill suggesting that instead of seeing what went wrong they just get back in the car and `see if it happens again`.
Programmers hell, most mechanics I know have this attitude. 'Well, it stopped, didn't it. We'll fix it later'
I wouldn't blame software developers for this attitude, it seems to be common for humans (or at least Americans) as a whole.
That would be a good time to start worrying. Until then, I think they are probably OK.
I get a little stressed when we run out of coffee at work, to each their own I guess.
You didn't say they were running out of coffee. That's completely different, if the coffee is getting low they should jump into that escape pod IMMEDIATELY, just in case.
Tricky thing, those numbers. Every machine Apple sells comes with OSX, 'for free'. They may not be selling their software, at least from an accounting perspective, but their hardware would be rather worthless if the price didn't include an OS to run on it.
Direct software sales may only be 4%, but software is a much larger part of their business than just the revenue percentages indicate.
New Belgium is NOT owned by Coors. It's independantly owned, and even offers employee ownership after the first year of employment.
Personally I think Fat Tire is the best beer out there, but it has to be fresh and on tap. Pretty much sucky in the bottle. Went to the Tour de Fat last summer and had some right at the brewery. It was EXCELLENT. Sunshine is good too.
You want to upgrade two years after buying the 20" iMac and guess what, you can't take that still functioning LCD panel with you. You have to pay for a new iMac with a new LCD.
You know, I think that is probably the funniest thing about Apple and Mac users. They have this whole birkenstock wearing, artisty, save the planet image, but every Apple product is designed to be tossed when you are done with it. Can't replace the batteries in the iPod, can't reuse a monitor on an iMac, can't buy any aftermarket upgrades. Ridiculous.
Reminds me of one of our local breweries New Belgium. They make a beer named Fat Tire (maybe you have heard of it) and it's excellent, but they have manufactured this market image of being all earthy and exercise friendly. They even sponser mountain bike races and stuff, which is fantastic, except they are selling BEER. Not exactly health food, but they get away with it, have a great corporate image and sell lots of it.
Slashdot Mirror
Our education system is severely ill-suited to accomplishing what many think it's supposed to do: give everyone some good book learnin' so they can become successful and productive
And this brings up an interesting point. What is the best choice for putting a child in school? I knew kids growing up that were home schooled. They probably had a better education, but are so socially inept that even the best of them have had difficulty dealing with life. OTOH, public schools in the city where I live are not great. The education they provide is, in my opinion, not the best. So what does a parent do? Put the kid in public school and hope for the best? Pony up for private school where they will probably miss out on many extra cirricular activities?
Ok, so if you were that smart, it must have taken you all of 15 minutes, right? There are ways to rage against the machine, but not doing your homework is probably the dumbest.
Interestingly enough, it's just not that simple. I had the same problem in school - was terrible at homework, writing papers or anything that required prep time. I could remember and absorb all of the material, but unless it was crunch time (e.g. exam time) I had a very difficult time getting anything done. I would actually sit and stare at the wall rather than buckle down and do my homework, just to avoid it. To this day I have the same problems. I do great in a crisis, but in the day-to-day humdrum of work I get distracted easily.
Even as a child, my mother always said I had no attention span. I would be bored with a TV show, but totally enthralled in the 30 second commercials. (I'm still that way BTW) Personally, always wrote it off to Sesame Street screwing up my attention span, but now I have a nephew. He is a year old, has little interest in TV yet, but has the shortest attention span I've ever seen. Even compared to other 1 year olds he is distracted very easily. Now I wonder if my lack of ability to concentrate on one thing for more than five minutes is more a matter of Nature than Nurture.
Anybody have any ideas, or references on what psychological makeup causes this type of behavior? Why smart kids have so much problem with homework? How to teach yourself, or your kids to be more disciplined and focused?
When obesity kills off a huge segment of the population that, for whatever reason, just can't say no to the tripple butter dipped deep-fried Crisco burger
Even better than your accountant example, what happens when there is no longer a food surplus and the obesity gene suddenly comes in handy. One thing I think is often overlooked in our current "obesity epidemic" is that a hundred or so years ago a skinny person (male or female) was not considered attractive. There wasn't a McDonalds on every corner, so it was a good thing to be able to retain some fat. Wiping out obesity on a genetic level could create some serious consequences when there is a food shortage here in the US.
Thought that myself initially, but the real stat is that Microsoft server sales were up 12% (at least I think that's what that means). Might be worthless in terms of how many servers are running Microsoft OS, but not in terms of overall IT health and economic indicators.
The other interesting figure is that Linux server sales are up 35.2% That's kick ASS.
Tibet is more exotic - plus, it ties in to the 30's era serials and pulp novels or comics about Shangri-La, mystical Tibet, etc.
Actually, they kind of used that in Raiders. If you remember, he flew to Nepal to find Professor Ravenwood and the headpiece for the staff. I know, Nepal isn't Tibet, but it's close.
Just goes to show. Some jokes are funny, no matter how many times you tell them.
If you found Blade Runner's plot to be hard to follow, I am sad.
Did you read the book?
It's time to get a job as an airport screener!
Did you really think this through? Go to the airport and compare the number of beautiful people that you would really want to see naked to the number of truly ugly people that should never be seen naked by anyone.
Keep your regular job and go to the strip club, content is better.
WTF...you think the story in Alien is better than Blade Runner's?
I think the story is more engaging in Alien. Phillip K. Dick's book, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", on which Blade Runner was based is well written. The screenplay for Blade Runner is disjointed and hard to follow.
I don't think the theme is better in Alien, just the actual writing and flow. The scene where the Alien pops out of the guy's stomach at dinner? Classic. Amazingly well written.
I would split the difference with you. I'd give cinematography, art direction and acting to Blade Runner. That movie was so dark and so well shot, plus Harrison Ford was amazing.
OTOH, original screen play and music definitely go to Alien. That story is so great, just thinking about it freaks me out.
Bottom line, they are both great, but outside of genre they have little in common. It's hard to judge them against each other. Blade Runner is very much a social commentary, like all of Phillip K. Dick's work. Alien is a much simpler story.
I don't doubt that, but the fact remains that unless the customer disputes the charge, the credit card is going to do nothing. Sometimes the merchange or CC company will flag something suspicious, but normally they are both glad to take the charge.
Not sure how it works in practice, but when I sign those slips it says something to the effect that 'by signing you agree to pay these charges'. If I didn't sign, I didn't agree to pay those charges.
Signatures may be somewhat worthless, but I have had several merchants check the signature and even ask for ID lately. If it happens once and someone gets caught, I wouldn't consider it worthless.
They're probably just joining a tracker, and see which ip addresses try to contact their host...
But can the prosecute if I don't have the whole file? Is it copyright violation if I have a piece of a binary that happens to match theirs? Is that enough proof that someone has violated the copyright? Sounds tricky to me.
Since I can plug a VoIP phone in anywhere, how is the dispatch going to know where you are like they would with a POTS line?
First, how does this make it any different than my cell phone. Sure, cell phones can be tracked, but I read in a recent WSJ article that technology isn't in place for most 911 districts.
Second, how many people are actually going to carry their VoIP phone with them everywhere? Most poeple I know are using it to replace their current home service (Qwest in my area), not haul around the country with them. Providers should be able to ask customers if they intend to move their VoIP phones around and save their primary usage address. At least that way there would be a place to start from if the caller wasn't able to identify their location.
The biggest problem with this is that the 911 system is archaic and the governments take the money earmarked for 911 upgrades and use it for other things.
Why do we need GigE to the desktop?
All depends on what you are using your desktop for. If you are just reading slashdot, of course not. We do software development, and have a significant amount of traffic across our network due to CVS. Faster networks make it easier to backup, easier to transfer files, easier for our marketing department to create 200Mb work doc files and send them to our web developers. Faster networks and faster machines help people get more work done.
If we don't need all this speed, why didn't we just stick with 386 machines???
Sure, all we need is another world war to destroy every industraized nation's .. err industry. (Except the U.S., so all must buy their goods from them.)
Damn, that's a good idea. Let's start with Japan - I'm sure it's still their fault somehow.
Hey, I think we could find a happy medium here. How old a computer can be and still do the job has many factors involved. For example, I'm sure your 233mhz machines handling email are fine. They are handling traffic coming in of the net, probably over a T1 or cable connection. Those machines can probably handle more traffic than your data line can.
.vs labor costs this quickly becomes an easy financial decision.
OTOH, I have a Athlon XP 2500+ machine, running Linux, with a DVD writer attached that I use for backups. Currently it's making me crazy because I keep running out of disk space, and moving 15GB of data across partitions is taking a long time. I would LOVE to upgrade this to at least an SATA drive, maybe a RAID configuration and upgrade our network to gigabit ethernet. Would have saved me a TON of time over the last few weeks.
Bottom line, sometimes it pays to upgrade, sometimes it doesn't, but there definitely comes a time when it's going to take longer to repair the old 233mhz machine than it will to order a brand new machine and configure it. Considering the cost of new hardware
We already did, or did you miss the godaddy commercial?
I used to be an avid opera user until I was hired by a company that does web development. I had to switch to firefox to evade ridicule.
So, your fellow web developers don't see any value in Opera?
That reminds me of the joke about programmers being in a car, steaming downhill with failed brakes, narrowly avoiding death, then once the car has come to a standstill suggesting that instead of seeing what went wrong they just get back in the car and `see if it happens again`.
Programmers hell, most mechanics I know have this attitude. 'Well, it stopped, didn't it. We'll fix it later'
I wouldn't blame software developers for this attitude, it seems to be common for humans (or at least Americans) as a whole.
What if the escape vehicle doesn't work?
That would be a good time to start worrying. Until then, I think they are probably OK.
I get a little stressed when we run out of coffee at work, to each their own I guess.
You didn't say they were running out of coffee. That's completely different, if the coffee is getting low they should jump into that escape pod IMMEDIATELY, just in case.
Tricky thing, those numbers. Every machine Apple sells comes with OSX, 'for free'. They may not be selling their software, at least from an accounting perspective, but their hardware would be rather worthless if the price didn't include an OS to run on it.
Direct software sales may only be 4%, but software is a much larger part of their business than just the revenue percentages indicate.
BLASPHEMER!!!!!!!!!!!
New Belgium is NOT owned by Coors. It's independantly owned, and even offers employee ownership after the first year of employment.
Personally I think Fat Tire is the best beer out there, but it has to be fresh and on tap. Pretty much sucky in the bottle. Went to the Tour de Fat last summer and had some right at the brewery. It was EXCELLENT. Sunshine is good too.
How does buying an Apple computer grant you "imagination"?
No no no. Apple users didn't have any imagination to start with, so they bought a Mac. Apple provides the imagination - so they don't have to.
The rest of us used all of our imagination to build our PCs.
You want to upgrade two years after buying the 20" iMac and guess what, you can't take that still functioning LCD panel with you. You have to pay for a new iMac with a new LCD.
You know, I think that is probably the funniest thing about Apple and Mac users. They have this whole birkenstock wearing, artisty, save the planet image, but every Apple product is designed to be tossed when you are done with it. Can't replace the batteries in the iPod, can't reuse a monitor on an iMac, can't buy any aftermarket upgrades. Ridiculous.
Reminds me of one of our local breweries New Belgium. They make a beer named Fat Tire (maybe you have heard of it) and it's excellent, but they have manufactured this market image of being all earthy and exercise friendly. They even sponser mountain bike races and stuff, which is fantastic, except they are selling BEER. Not exactly health food, but they get away with it, have a great corporate image and sell lots of it.
add the drink mixer attachment easily
Drink mixer attachment for my cell. Mmmmm... add an ice crusher and you've got me.