I know that the ONLY reason I ever go to the movie theatre is because I have connections, and can get free tickets as a result. However, most of those movies aren't even worth going to, even at no cost. The only halfway decent movie I've seen in theatres lately was "Batman Begins", and I probably would have waited for the dvd if I had had to pay.
Lately, however, I've discovered that there is a vast wealth of good indie films, with decent acting, excellent stories, and the cost of admission is just a dvd rental. "Primer" is an excellent example. It was made on $7000 US, and it is the best movie I have seen in several years. I see no reason to go see a crappy big-budget film when there are better options.
Re:All the tools for accident avoidance exist...
on
The Future of the Car
·
· Score: 1
The problem is that most people are morons and shouldn't be allowed behind the wheel of any vehicle.
Agreed.
I would bet that at the absolute minimum, 90% of traffic accidents are caused by people being stupid. (The rest would be things like mechanical failure, freak coincidences (heart attack at the wheel), etc.)
While it is possible to drive 20 mph over the speed limit (in most areas), while still being perfectly safe, it requires a degree of driving skill that most people don't have, as well as more concentration than most people are willing to muster.
And then, of course, there are all of the other stupid things that people do while at the wheel. Being drunk, talking on the phone, applying makeup, reading the paper, etc. that are just a wreck waiting to happen.
In short: removing the moron from the loop is the only way to produce a meaningful drop in car accidents/fatalities.
However, a computer is not the best way to do this. When I think about how many times my computer crashes, despite my every effort to prevent it, having a computer control a car is stupid from that standpoint alone. As many will inevitably point out, a computer crash would probably result in a car crash as well.
But there are still more reasons. Humans possess better judgement than the best computers. (Whether they choose to use that judgement is another story). For example, speed limit limiters (for lack of a better term) were mentioned. Now, pretend you are on a two-lane road in the middle of nowhere. There is an RV in front of you doing 50, and the speed limit is 65. You enter a passing zone, but spot oncoming traffic ahead. If you passed the RV, accelerating to, say, 75 in the process, you could make it around the RV without a problem. But accelerating to 65 would be cutting it pretty close, and so the computer, in its infinite wisdom, may end up causing a totally unnecessary, and most likely fatal, head-on collision.
The reasoning against computers as drivers goes on and on. The problem is that, until a computer with the same reliability and intelligence as a human is devised, there are too many potentially fatal risks involved.
A much easier solution would be to a) make the test to get a driver's license much harder, and make it necessary to pass said test each time you renew your license. and b) be much more liberal about suspending people's licenses. I imagine that most people would learn to drive properly (at least here in the U.S.) if they faced the prospect of having to use public transportation, or even, *gasp*, having to walk/bike around.
Surely not - shouldn't the real point be why does a human rights bill need the financial backing of a big company to get passed?
That's the issue as far as I'm concerned. Has the US ideals of democracy sunk so low that this is just a given now and not worthy of comment?
Short answer: Yes
As sad as it is, this is absolutly true. The truly sad thing is that most people don't give a damn.
Most open-source hacker could code a mean game engine, or awesome physics. But very few of them could make visuals like those in HL2. And most artists could care less about oss. SO, sadly, the best we can hope for from open-source are fun, but fugly games, that most people will dismiss (unfairly).
...I can say that, from my experience, this study can't be far off. Half the kids in my class have absolutely no clue about our country, except that it is the best one, always and forever, and can do no wrong. They have no clue about their rights, and care more about cell phones and cars than liberty and civic duty. They can't tell you the difference between the Declaration of Independance and the Constitution, but could blab for hours about the latest fad TV show. Most of my peers make me sick.
Also, I agree with another comment about how teachers grade your opinion, not your work. This totally happened with my english teacher last year. But, on a more hopeful note, I do see some teachers who try to encourage radical ideas like "free thought", and who de-sanitize curriculum/textbooks (ironically, most of them teach the hybred history/civics courses we have at my school- go figure). But, sadly, most are more worried about their kids getting good enough test scores for them to keep their jobs.
If you've really got an athlonFX and an X850, your comp should be making mincemeat out of consoles in every department. (Although thought #3 is correct; the OS in a console is very simplistic.)
My 2 year old athlonXP 2000+ with a 9600 pro and 256MB of RAM runs NFSU2 much prettier than an xbox/PS2 can, with a perfectly playable framerate, all while playing MP3s in the background, and running that big, bloated monstrosity known as windows.
Honestly, how long will it take to hack all this new DRM stuff? a month? maybe two? As many others have said, DRM systems dont last long.
And besides, this is only for cell phones, right? God forbid someone should be unable to listen to a specific ring tone.
Looking over this, I see little reason for concern. While this technology could be implimented on next to everything, there are millions of ways to circumvent it. The fact is, if you can use it, you can crack it.
I see DRM as basically a short-term fix for a problem, but one that wont make much of an impact in the long run. The fact is, as long as there are one or two people out there with the skills to crack these things, the rest of us can access this info and pass it on to others. I predict DRM will fizzle out in 5-10 years, tops.
Some environmental organizations like the Conservation Law Foundation dispute the need for desalination plants however. They argue that many water shortages could simply be solved by better conservation of existing supplies.
...in other news, the Conservation Law Foundation has renamed itself the "foundation for making obvious statements pretaining to the environment"...
seriously, though, while conservation would make pretty much everything last longer, and stretch existing supplies, it ain't gonna happen. Personally, I would be happy with desalination plants instead of yet another dam(n).
if we start seeing cowboyneal options on the next US election
Hey, I'd say that's a good thing! cowboyneal would me a much better president/senator/congressman/governor than any of the people running for (or occupying) these offices now...
Slashdot Mirror
Lately, however, I've discovered that there is a vast wealth of good indie films, with decent acting, excellent stories, and the cost of admission is just a dvd rental. "Primer" is an excellent example. It was made on $7000 US, and it is the best movie I have seen in several years. I see no reason to go see a crappy big-budget film when there are better options.
Agreed.
I would bet that at the absolute minimum, 90% of traffic accidents are caused by people being stupid. (The rest would be things like mechanical failure, freak coincidences (heart attack at the wheel), etc.)
While it is possible to drive 20 mph over the speed limit (in most areas), while still being perfectly safe, it requires a degree of driving skill that most people don't have, as well as more concentration than most people are willing to muster.
And then, of course, there are all of the other stupid things that people do while at the wheel. Being drunk, talking on the phone, applying makeup, reading the paper, etc. that are just a wreck waiting to happen.
In short: removing the moron from the loop is the only way to produce a meaningful drop in car accidents/fatalities.
However, a computer is not the best way to do this. When I think about how many times my computer crashes, despite my every effort to prevent it, having a computer control a car is stupid from that standpoint alone. As many will inevitably point out, a computer crash would probably result in a car crash as well.
But there are still more reasons. Humans possess better judgement than the best computers. (Whether they choose to use that judgement is another story). For example, speed limit limiters (for lack of a better term) were mentioned. Now, pretend you are on a two-lane road in the middle of nowhere. There is an RV in front of you doing 50, and the speed limit is 65. You enter a passing zone, but spot oncoming traffic ahead. If you passed the RV, accelerating to, say, 75 in the process, you could make it around the RV without a problem. But accelerating to 65 would be cutting it pretty close, and so the computer, in its infinite wisdom, may end up causing a totally unnecessary, and most likely fatal, head-on collision.
The reasoning against computers as drivers goes on and on. The problem is that, until a computer with the same reliability and intelligence as a human is devised, there are too many potentially fatal risks involved.
A much easier solution would be to a) make the test to get a driver's license much harder, and make it necessary to pass said test each time you renew your license. and b) be much more liberal about suspending people's licenses. I imagine that most people would learn to drive properly (at least here in the U.S.) if they faced the prospect of having to use public transportation, or even, *gasp*, having to walk/bike around.
This is what I always say about ID. If God really created us, he must have flunked out of every supernatural engineering school in existance.
Surely not - shouldn't the real point be why does a human rights bill need the financial backing of a big company to get passed? That's the issue as far as I'm concerned. Has the US ideals of democracy sunk so low that this is just a given now and not worthy of comment? Short answer: Yes As sad as it is, this is absolutly true. The truly sad thing is that most people don't give a damn.
Instead, it has one PPC core, and 8 Vector Processing Units (IIRC). This is still insanely powerful, but not as powerful as 8 full-fledged CPUs.
Most open-source hacker could code a mean game engine, or awesome physics. But very few of them could make visuals like those in HL2. And most artists could care less about oss. SO, sadly, the best we can hope for from open-source are fun, but fugly games, that most people will dismiss (unfairly).
Also, I agree with another comment about how teachers grade your opinion, not your work. This totally happened with my english teacher last year. But, on a more hopeful note, I do see some teachers who try to encourage radical ideas like "free thought", and who de-sanitize curriculum/textbooks (ironically, most of them teach the hybred history/civics courses we have at my school- go figure). But, sadly, most are more worried about their kids getting good enough test scores for them to keep their jobs.
My 2 year old athlonXP 2000+ with a 9600 pro and 256MB of RAM runs NFSU2 much prettier than an xbox/PS2 can, with a perfectly playable framerate, all while playing MP3s in the background, and running that big, bloated monstrosity known as windows.
I think you need to switch those two...
Windoze has no compiler built-in, so everything is just a binary. You install all or nothing. One of the many reasons I prefer *nix
let's see... Red Sox won World Series as well.
Well, the apocalypse is on it's way... better start repenting and whatnot.
...There is a huge difference here. People don't download the latest *insert crappy pop artist here* and claim that they wrote that song.
Have been using firefox since it was firebird, on both windows and *nix, and slashdot has always rendered perfectly.
Is this even possible?
Seriously, am I the only one thinking that this is just... awesome?
Wow. Add in robot jailers, and you've got a great idea. Hell, it'd make a pretty good movie too. ;)
But you cant run around with an M-16/M-204 fragging people in the middle of a football game :)
Even more voices to listen too...
watching TV... :)
Honestly, how long will it take to hack all this new DRM stuff? a month? maybe two? As many others have said, DRM systems dont last long.
And besides, this is only for cell phones, right? God forbid someone should be unable to listen to a specific ring tone.
Looking over this, I see little reason for concern. While this technology could be implimented on next to everything, there are millions of ways to circumvent it. The fact is, if you can use it, you can crack it.
I see DRM as basically a short-term fix for a problem, but one that wont make much of an impact in the long run. The fact is, as long as there are one or two people out there with the skills to crack these things, the rest of us can access this info and pass it on to others. I predict DRM will fizzle out in 5-10 years, tops.
...in other news, the Conservation Law Foundation has renamed itself the "foundation for making obvious statements pretaining to the environment"...
seriously, though, while conservation would make pretty much everything last longer, and stretch existing supplies, it ain't gonna happen. Personally, I would be happy with desalination plants instead of yet another dam(n).
Hey, I'd say that's a good thing! cowboyneal would me a much better president/senator/congressman/governor than any of the people running for (or occupying) these offices now...
Who's Pr0n? Is he the dictator of some oil-rich middle eastern country... :)
*salivate* If only I could afford one of the damn things...
This is just the first step towards having the machines dominate us all!