Sadly, that'll probably take the kind of downfall that Albert Einstein forsaw when he made his famous "World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones" quote; in a world where running water (and flush toilets), fresh food, cool breezes (or warm sunshine), etc. are but the stuff the "old timers" wax nostalgic about around the village fire, the guy with some knowledge of plumbing, farming, construction, and engineering will probably have "his pick" of the "best" the village can muster -- though in context that'll probably be a pitiful "best" (at best...)
Still, I'm not rushing to burn my old army-surplus survival manuals (some knowledge is timeless!)
Ok, I'm more and more convinced that Slashdot is "aware"; the captcha for this post is "terror"... spooky!
I've somehow managed to never see that before, but I'll be printing and posting a copy of that fine work right above my desk (with the aforementioned last line highlighted and bolded!)
That 31%-flat-failure rate sounds just about right; about a third of the projects I've worked on over the last 15 years have been complete flops (with the usual list of various reasons from "bad idea to begin with so it needed killin'" to "we changed bosses and since your project wasn't the new boss' idea..."), but I'd have to challenge the notion from TFA that they "produced nothing useful", because I've learned something I didn't know and wouldn't have otherwise known from each of them -- in other words, I'd count them all as at least partial successes because I personally gained something from them.
Because in looking at Randi's rules for the $1M challenge (here), #12 states "This offer is not open to any and all persons. Before being considered as an applicant, the person applying must satisfy two conditions: First, he/she must have a "media presence," which means having been published, written about, or known to the media in regard to his/her claimed abilities or powers. This can be established by producing articles, videos, books, or other published material that specifically addresses the person's abilities. Second, he/she must produce at least one signed document from an academic who has witnessed the powers or abilities of the person, and will validate that these powers or abilities have been verified." (the rules have very recently -- as of just this past Sunday -- been revised, and I suspect this is one of the recent revisions.)
They obviously don't believe they have the required business acumen to negotiate better licensing deals (and the evidence is there to prove them right; several licensing deals on which they pretty much gave away the cow AND the milk...) On the other hand, they've never failed at running an entire movie production studio before, so what do they have to lose?
The only way you'd get a superluminal effect is if you had a perfectly rigid pole (and, seeing as how this is Slashdot, I'm going to discount that possibility.)
From the riaa (they don't deserve capitals) home office deep in side the Twilight Zone, the top ten upcoming attempted revenue sources/potential targets for their harassment:
10. Marching bands
9. Wedding singers
8. Kindergarten classes (they see a veritable MINT in The Hokey Pokey alone!)
7. "Hold-Music"
6. "Elevator-Music"
5. Doorbells (esp. the kind like at the Clampett mansion on The Beverly Hillbillies)
4. Ambulance sirens (their lawyers are nostalgic about chasing them anyway...)
3. Organ grinders
2. Merry-go-rounds
And the #1 next target for their evil attentions:
1. Jingles you get stuck in your head on the way to work and hum the same three bars of all day long (not that that ever happens to me, but a pox on The Astelins on that stupid antihistimine commercial!!!)
Dude, if you think the X-Files movie being available On Demand at the same time this research has come to light is merely a coincidence then you might want to get that wool off your eyes before you fall down and have an "accident".
That there are a few things we couldn't do even if the continued existence of mankind hung in the balance:
Cool the Earth ten degrees on purpose
Freeze the polar icecaps on purpose
Drain the ocean (any ocean) on purpose
Flood the desert (any desert) on purpose
...yet we're asked to believe that we're about to do the exact opposite of all these things accidentally.
Of course, on the other hand, I can't do a triple-backflip on purpose and yet somehow I find myself accidentally sitting still here in my chair... So I guess they're right after all.
...is that the "Director of Schools" (I live in Tennessee and thought we still called them "Superintendents", huh...) trumped the principal and stated that "prompt and appropriate discipline will be taken" -- of course, that's a potentially loaded statement, all depending on what her idea of "appropriate" discipline might be...
Personally, I say these "educators" should be given the "educational opportunity" to frequently utter the phrase "and would you like fries with that?"
I hope this kid was just baiting them, because he caught a whopper here in terms of potential legal settlements against both the school and the police.
Not to mention the (copyrighted) value of the essay in question as well as any future "works" he might produce (if a highschool essay is so evocative that his teacher almost literally flipped out, how much more compelling and riveting is his writing going to get in the coming years? Publishers just might put some wear-and-tear on the path to this kid's door!)
Seriously, though, I do hope someone is at least thinking about protecting his rights as an author as well...
Slashdot Mirror
Sadly, that'll probably take the kind of downfall that Albert Einstein forsaw when he made his famous "World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones" quote; in a world where running water (and flush toilets), fresh food, cool breezes (or warm sunshine), etc. are but the stuff the "old timers" wax nostalgic about around the village fire, the guy with some knowledge of plumbing, farming, construction, and engineering will probably have "his pick" of the "best" the village can muster -- though in context that'll probably be a pitiful "best" (at best...)
Still, I'm not rushing to burn my old army-surplus survival manuals (some knowledge is timeless!)
Ok, I'm more and more convinced that Slashdot is "aware"; the captcha for this post is "terror"... spooky!
Ah, there it is; the ear worm of the day! (I wondered what it was this day seemed to be missing...)
before U.S. air traffic gets completely grounded? Nope, sorry, but I think I prefer the current system "warts and all."
Yes. I call those PHB's the former PHB's. (hint: I haven't (yet) tried to tell my current PHB...)
I've somehow managed to never see that before, but I'll be printing and posting a copy of that fine work right above my desk (with the aforementioned last line highlighted and bolded!)
That 31%-flat-failure rate sounds just about right; about a third of the projects I've worked on over the last 15 years have been complete flops (with the usual list of various reasons from "bad idea to begin with so it needed killin' " to "we changed bosses and since your project wasn't the new boss' idea..."), but I'd have to challenge the notion from TFA that they "produced nothing useful", because I've learned something I didn't know and wouldn't have otherwise known from each of them -- in other words, I'd count them all as at least partial successes because I personally gained something from them.
This from ...
No, that would be the bionic foot
Oh, you know: "This little piggie went to market...this little piggie stayed home..."
...they're not using all the same tactics (yet) but they have the school spirit about right.
Because in looking at Randi's rules for the $1M challenge (here), #12 states "This offer is not open to any and all persons. Before being considered as an applicant, the person applying must satisfy two conditions: First, he/she must have a "media presence," which means having been published, written about, or known to the media in regard to his/her claimed abilities or powers. This can be established by producing articles, videos, books, or other published material that specifically addresses the person's abilities. Second, he/she must produce at least one signed document from an academic who has witnessed the powers or abilities of the person, and will validate that these powers or abilities have been verified." (the rules have very recently -- as of just this past Sunday -- been revised, and I suspect this is one of the recent revisions.)
At the very least, he'd skip the university eggheads and be trying to cash-in here!
...if they can access it, it ain't secure. 'nuff said.
You have been warned.
They obviously don't believe they have the required business acumen to negotiate better licensing deals (and the evidence is there to prove them right; several licensing deals on which they pretty much gave away the cow AND the milk...) On the other hand, they've never failed at running an entire movie production studio before, so what do they have to lose?
The only way you'd get a superluminal effect is if you had a perfectly rigid pole (and, seeing as how this is Slashdot, I'm going to discount that possibility.)
- 10. Marching bands
- 9. Wedding singers
- 8. Kindergarten classes (they see a veritable MINT in The Hokey Pokey alone!)
- 7. "Hold-Music"
- 6. "Elevator-Music"
- 5. Doorbells (esp. the kind like at the Clampett mansion on The Beverly Hillbillies)
- 4. Ambulance sirens (their lawyers are nostalgic about chasing them anyway...)
- 3. Organ grinders
- 2. Merry-go-rounds
And the #1 next target for their evil attentions:Dude, if you think the X-Files movie being available On Demand at the same time this research has come to light is merely a coincidence then you might want to get that wool off your eyes before you fall down and have an "accident".
- Cool the Earth ten degrees on purpose
- Freeze the polar icecaps on purpose
- Drain the ocean (any ocean) on purpose
- Flood the desert (any desert) on purpose
...yet we're asked to believe that we're about to do the exact opposite of all these things accidentally.Of course, on the other hand, I can't do a triple-backflip on purpose and yet somehow I find myself accidentally sitting still here in my chair... So I guess they're right after all.
...is that the "Director of Schools" (I live in Tennessee and thought we still called them "Superintendents", huh...) trumped the principal and stated that "prompt and appropriate discipline will be taken" -- of course, that's a potentially loaded statement, all depending on what her idea of "appropriate" discipline might be...
Personally, I say these "educators" should be given the "educational opportunity" to frequently utter the phrase "and would you like fries with that?"
Not to mention the (copyrighted) value of the essay in question as well as any future "works" he might produce (if a highschool essay is so evocative that his teacher almost literally flipped out, how much more compelling and riveting is his writing going to get in the coming years? Publishers just might put some wear-and-tear on the path to this kid's door!)
Seriously, though, I do hope someone is at least thinking about protecting his rights as an author as well...
Or at least that's what they're saying here...
...and no, I have not Read That Fine Article (yet), but still...
Makes me wonder where some other reports are, such as the "Top 17.4 Most Distracting Article Titles", etc.
No, in fact they're doing a better-than-decent job of separating me from my money (not that I'm all that brainy, but still...)
You invented SED's (smoke-emitting-diodes) 30 years ago and didn't tell anybody?!?!
And hasn't been for a long time, at least according to this.