Except that humans did live sustainably for tens and tens of thousands of years. it is only this particular civilization, western civilization, that has destroyed this equilibrium.
Jensen makes an excellent one sentence disproof of the notion that competition drives natural selection:
If you hyperexploit your surroundings you will deplete them and die; the only way to survive in the long run is to give back more than you take. Duh.
This culture - Western Civilization - has been depleting its surroundings for six thousand years, beginning in the Middle East and expanding now to deplete the entire planet. Why else do you think this culture has to continually expand?
Any species that consumes without taking responsibility for the survival of the communities it consumes, and thereby destroys them, is suicidal. This was a main point in Derrick Jensen's book "Endgame":
a couple quick excerpts relating to these dolphins:
Premise Six: Civilization is not redeemable. This culture will not undergo any sort of voluntary transformation to a sane and sustainable way of living. If we do not put a halt to it, civilization will continue to immiserate the vast majority of humans and to degrade the planet until it (civilization, and probably the planet) collapses. The effects of this degradation will continue to harm humans and nonhumans for a very long time.
Premise Ten: The culture as a whole and most of its members are insane. The culture is driven by a death urge, an urge to destroy life.
Premise Fourteen: From birth on - and probably from conception, but I'm not sure how I'd make the case - we are individually and collectively enculturated to hate life, hate the natural world, hate the wild, hate wild animals, hate women, hate children, hate our bodies, hate and fear our emotions, hate ourselves. If we did not hate the world, we could not allow it to be destroyed before our eyes. If we did not hate ourselves, we could not allow our homes - and our bodies - to be poisoned.
Premise Nineteen: The culture's problem lies above all in the belief that controlling and abusing the natural world is justifiable.
Ask the people in Japan after the 1980's housing bubble - over the last 15 years it's been a straight down trajectory, prices dropping 50% and more. And they sure ain't making new land in Japan.
It's a bubble, just like the stock market bubble that partially blew in 2000. And it's the only thing keeping the US economy up. When it ends, a massive depression will follow - there's no way out from it.
And yeah, buy something at the high prices now. when it drops 50%, how can you sell and not be underwater? you'll be screwed
I was surprised to see how he showed the beautiful coastline of oregon, and pointed out all the people protecting that open space from terrorists sneaking in: 1 lone state policeman, part-time.
It would have been even better if he went down to southern california, arizona and new mexico and showed the nearly 1 million illegal aliens who sneak into the US each year, and the tons and tons of dope that come in.
excellent security down there - no terrorists smuggled in, most definitely. no small 2 pound sacks of anthrax smuggled within the tons of dope, enough to kill tens of thousands of people.
it just shows how homeland security is a sham, just meant to keep an eye on every move the middle class makes, and keep them scared, and not give a real damn about reality
Munich saved tons of money by using RAD tools like Delphi, Access, and VB in the past to build db apps they needed to function - rich client gui apps. Everyone does that. I bet they are running stuff from Delphi 2 and Paradox - 8 years old.
How are they going to rebuild that? Where's the money coming from? And don't say web apps, because it takes MUCH longer to write a db app originally made in Delphi (which is outstandingly fast) and build it in php / perl / jsp. And these web apps are not close to the ease of use of a Delphi or Access app. Linux and open source DESPERATELY need a RAD tool like Delphi with data-bound controls and grids (too bad borland gave up on Kylix, it seems). All other development in the open source world should take a back seat to this. Why not do it in Python - with TCL or PyQT?
I really doubt this migration will go through as planned.
Re:Why wouldn't math be known across the universe?
on
The Golden Ratio
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
Prior to Newton there was no calculus
In a fascinating book, a Hindu scholar and monk, Sri Tirthaji, discovered in the Hindu Veda scriptures the basis for our math system. There he found shortcuts for most all our math work - easy ways to do difficult long divisions in a matter of seconds, quadratic formulas, PI to over 32 digits, the Pythagorean theorem (much before the Greeks), derivatives, calculus.
Our math is actually from the Vedas, and the Arabs got it from them, and then spread it through the Western world. The Vedas are at least several thousand years old.
It's one of the major works of genius of science. The first time i read it, it was shocking how advanced it was, and simple! Any division such as 1.748362 / 59487 can be done long handed (pencil and paper) in a minute.
Our math system, how it was discovered or invented, who knows and how far back, is absolutely brilliant.
Exactly - you hit it right on the head. Why should she care what anyone thinks about her decisions? Everyone here can rant about her, but we're the ones being fired and she is set.
This Orwell essay speaks directly on this subject - using incomprehensible words and euphemisms to make yourself sound important, and then influence people.
Then he goes further and shows how using phrases and words like in these academic works, and in speeches, literally takes away any thought processes you might have. You no longer need to think, but just regurgitate words, as i'm doing now. Any semblance of creativity is thrown out the window (a very popular cliche, didn't even have to think to put it down).
There are plenty of copies of this essay on the web, just do a search. Brilliant read.
lost in translation - bill murray and scarlett johanssen are great - she's one of the best actresses today (and only 20)
mystic river - just to see a film where actors can act, and there aren't 30 jump-cuts a minute. well done
matrix 2 & 3 - some of the most creative movie-making i've ever seen - visually, artistically, and thematically - i never knew where it would go, ie -> the Wachowski's never played it safe.
Just like it took 10 years for people to see the genius of the ending to Apocalypse Now, the same will happen with the Matrix: all the philosophical questions and ruminations over whether choice exists simplify in the end to acting out of irrational love - which is the mysterious basis of all creativity and thought and religion. Genius.
Cowboy Bebop - yes, the Bebop made it to America, and in a damn fine vehicle! Faye Faye, Radical Edward, Spike, and the man, Jet.
if you're using PHP for a db front-end, you should check out phplens - www.phplens.com. It makes building db apps for php extremely easy, it's like using Access or Delphi. it could save you a lot of time if you are writing code to do edits, deletes, add, etc...
I've said this before, but Slashdot doesn't know how to listen. You need money? Set up an Ebay-like auction system here.
You have a huge, loyal audience. A ton of people go through here everyday. They all have tons of gadgets, computers to sell, Batman dollies to shill. You have excellent (?) programmers - why keep tweaking Slash code? that's not making you money. build an auction system, and it will be a service to the community and keep you from begging. What a bunch of idiots you are. You're like Netscape, who waited too long and could have been like Yahoo, and blew it.
And put up classifieds, and maybe user group lists, where slash'ers in cities can meet. The Slash code is done enough, do something productive now. "Journals" won't make you money.
Go look at craigslist.com - see how they build their community. Spend 2 weeks analysing ebay in depth, then start building - you'll make mistakes, but start coding. look at some of the pre-built auction systems and learn. didn't Phil Greenspun's TCL system have an auction and classified system - download, learn the db schema, and do something practical.
Slashdot Mirror
Except that humans did live sustainably for tens and tens of thousands of years. it is only this particular civilization, western civilization, that has destroyed this equilibrium.
Jensen makes an excellent one sentence disproof of the notion that competition drives natural selection:
If you hyperexploit your surroundings you will deplete them and die; the only way to survive in the long run is to give back more than you take. Duh.
This culture - Western Civilization - has been depleting its surroundings for six thousand years, beginning in the Middle East and expanding now to deplete the entire planet. Why else do you think this culture has to continually expand?
Any species that consumes without taking responsibility for the survival of the communities it consumes, and thereby destroys them, is suicidal. This was a main point in Derrick Jensen's book "Endgame":
Endgame
a couple quick excerpts relating to these dolphins:
Premise Six: Civilization is not redeemable. This culture will not undergo any sort of voluntary transformation to a sane and sustainable way of living. If we do not put a halt to it, civilization will continue to immiserate the vast majority of humans and to degrade the planet until it (civilization, and probably the planet) collapses. The effects of this degradation will continue to harm humans and nonhumans for a very long time.
Premise Ten: The culture as a whole and most of its members are insane. The culture is driven by a death urge, an urge to destroy life.
Premise Fourteen: From birth on - and probably from conception, but I'm not sure how I'd make the case - we are individually and collectively enculturated to hate life, hate the natural world, hate the wild, hate wild animals, hate women, hate children, hate our bodies, hate and fear our emotions, hate ourselves. If we did not hate the world, we could not allow it to be destroyed before our eyes. If we did not hate ourselves, we could not allow our homes - and our bodies - to be poisoned.
Premise Nineteen: The culture's problem lies above all in the belief that controlling and abusing the natural world is justifiable.
Ask the people in Japan after the 1980's housing bubble - over the last 15 years it's been a straight down trajectory, prices dropping 50% and more. And they sure ain't making new land in Japan.
It's a bubble, just like the stock market bubble that partially blew in 2000. And it's the only thing keeping the US economy up. When it ends, a massive depression will follow - there's no way out from it.
And yeah, buy something at the high prices now. when it drops 50%, how can you sell and not be underwater? you'll be screwed
God, the guys at Slashdot must own load of Google stock, the way they keep pimping this company.
Trying to make up for all you lost in the dot-com crash?
I was surprised to see how he showed the beautiful coastline of oregon, and pointed out all the people protecting that open space from terrorists sneaking in: 1 lone state policeman, part-time.
It would have been even better if he went down to southern california, arizona and new mexico and showed the nearly 1 million illegal aliens who sneak into the US each year, and the tons and tons of dope that come in.
excellent security down there - no terrorists smuggled in, most definitely. no small 2 pound sacks of anthrax smuggled within the tons of dope, enough to kill tens of thousands of people.
it just shows how homeland security is a sham, just meant to keep an eye on every move the middle class makes, and keep them scared, and not give a real damn about reality
that would be great. and then open source paradox and it would be humongous
Munich saved tons of money by using RAD tools like Delphi, Access, and VB in the past to build db apps they needed to function - rich client gui apps. Everyone does that. I bet they are running stuff from Delphi 2 and Paradox - 8 years old.
How are they going to rebuild that? Where's the money coming from? And don't say web apps, because it takes MUCH longer to write a db app originally made in Delphi (which is outstandingly fast) and build it in php / perl / jsp. And these web apps are not close to the ease of use of a Delphi or Access app. Linux and open source DESPERATELY need a RAD tool like Delphi with data-bound controls and grids (too bad borland gave up on Kylix, it seems). All other development in the open source world should take a back seat to this. Why not do it in Python - with TCL or PyQT?
I really doubt this migration will go through as planned.
Prior to Newton there was no calculus
In a fascinating book, a Hindu scholar and monk, Sri Tirthaji, discovered in the Hindu Veda scriptures the basis for our math system. There he found shortcuts for most all our math work - easy ways to do difficult long divisions in a matter of seconds, quadratic formulas, PI to over 32 digits, the Pythagorean theorem (much before the Greeks), derivatives, calculus.
Our math is actually from the Vedas, and the Arabs got it from them, and then spread it through the Western world. The Vedas are at least several thousand years old.
The book is called Vedic Mathematics or Sixteen Simple Mathematical Formulae from the Vedas and can be found at amazon or used book stores.
It's one of the major works of genius of science. The first time i read it, it was shocking how advanced it was, and simple! Any division such as 1.748362 / 59487 can be done long handed (pencil and paper) in a minute.
Our math system, how it was discovered or invented, who knows and how far back, is absolutely brilliant.
Exactly - you hit it right on the head. Why should she care what anyone thinks about her decisions? Everyone here can rant about her, but we're the ones being fired and she is set.
This Orwell essay speaks directly on this subject - using incomprehensible words and euphemisms to make yourself sound important, and then influence people.
Then he goes further and shows how using phrases and words like in these academic works, and in speeches, literally takes away any thought processes you might have. You no longer need to think, but just regurgitate words, as i'm doing now. Any semblance of creativity is thrown out the window (a very popular cliche, didn't even have to think to put it down).
There are plenty of copies of this essay on the web, just do a search. Brilliant read.
lost in translation - bill murray and scarlett johanssen are great - she's one of the best actresses today (and only 20)
mystic river - just to see a film where actors can act, and there aren't 30 jump-cuts a minute. well done
matrix 2 & 3 - some of the most creative movie-making i've ever seen - visually, artistically, and thematically - i never knew where it would go, ie -> the Wachowski's never played it safe.
Just like it took 10 years for people to see the genius of the ending to Apocalypse Now, the same will happen with the Matrix: all the philosophical questions and ruminations over whether choice exists simplify in the end to acting out of irrational love - which is the mysterious basis of all creativity and thought and religion. Genius.
Cowboy Bebop - yes, the Bebop made it to America, and in a damn fine vehicle! Faye Faye, Radical Edward, Spike, and the man, Jet.
if you're using PHP for a db front-end, you should check out phplens - www.phplens.com. It makes building db apps for php extremely easy, it's like using Access or Delphi. it could save you a lot of time if you are writing code to do edits, deletes, add, etc...
I've tested Access 2000 under Linux using Codeweaver's CrossOver Office product - http://www.codeweavers.com/
It works very well, and i have complicated vba code running - the reports previewed fine, queries good, forms, etc...
you can download a version to do testing. Access was the only thing holding me back from moving to Linux - i use it all the time
What i would love to see would be Corel open sourcing the Paradox db so it could be ported to Linux - that was a great platform...
I've said this before, but Slashdot doesn't know how to listen. You need money? Set up an Ebay-like auction system here.
You have a huge, loyal audience. A ton of people go through here everyday. They all have tons of gadgets, computers to sell, Batman dollies to shill. You have excellent (?) programmers - why keep tweaking Slash code? that's not making you money. build an auction system, and it will be a service to the community and keep you from begging. What a bunch of idiots you are. You're like Netscape, who waited too long and could have been like Yahoo, and blew it.
And put up classifieds, and maybe user group lists, where slash'ers in cities can meet. The Slash code is done enough, do something productive now. "Journals" won't make you money.
Go look at craigslist.com - see how they build their community. Spend 2 weeks analysing ebay in depth, then start building - you'll make mistakes, but start coding. look at some of the pre-built auction systems and learn. didn't Phil Greenspun's TCL system have an auction and classified system - download, learn the db schema, and do something practical.
what morons. not a drop of sense.