That is, making fun of the fact that most scientists who claim that 'global warming' is a threat are being paid by governments to do 'global warming' research and would be out of a job if they didn't keep claiming that it's a big threat?
Maybe it's my naivity, but I believe that everyone does things for some reason or another, whether it be monetary, emotional, political, etc.. Now why in the world would the government want to fund scientists to falsely declare that global warming is occuring? What do governments gain from encouraging the population to be in favor of expensive resolutions (Kyoto)? The only thing I can think of is the continued existance of humanity. So, you're also saying that the people at National Geographic were paid off my the government for their entire magazine being dedicated to global warming last month?
Now, on the other hand, do the big oil corps have incentive to fund anti-research? Of course. Keeping down said research saves them millions of dollars.
I've found that a little bit of critical thinking as well as an examination of motives can generally dispel most conspiracy theories, and on occasion start a new more appropriate one.
When are they going to redesign the US Monopoly Money to make it less easy to counterfeit. I swear that everytime I play that game someone pays me in phony currency.
I don't really understand the logic of hydrogen cars. If we have hydrogen, we can effortlessly convert that to 100% clean electricity via burning. So why the hell don't we just do that at the power plant?
There are a number of reasons why we don't just convert the hydrogen to electricity in a power plant. How in the world are you going to put that electricity in your car. Battery technology is one that just has not developed much for quite some time. Electric cars are a great idea, and hopefully some day we will have them as a viable option, but that's not right now.
Secondly, hydrogen cars are clean running. There are no emissions. That's reason enough in itself I believe.
Lastly, there are many ways to obtain hydrogen, not just from natural gas. Oil is running out. National Geographic had a great cover story about the dwindling supply of oil on the planet. Also, the majority of that oil comes from very volatile places on Earth. So, using hydrogen removes our dependency on those countries and on this dwindling oil supply. Just to let you know how bad it is, at the current consumption rate, we could completely exhaust known oil reserves in 45 years. And the fact is, consumption rates are going up, not down.
One more nail in the Patent Office's coffin
on
More Microsoft Patents
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
Maybe this is a good thing. If some of these ridiculous patents try to be enforced by Microsoft, they'll meet with some stiff legal competition. GNU/Linux and OSS in general has a lot more more behind it than most people realize. Attacks of this nature will fail just like all other under-handed attacks have failed. The blessing comes as people realize how silly patents are becoming. Then we'll hopefully see some strong patent reform, or just a removal of the agency all together.
This could be a reason that Paul Graham states that he doesn't know any great Java coders. What you're saying is that it takes a better programmer to code in C properly. Great programmers ideally do not need these extra security features, so they choose a language where they are not present.
I like that idea. There should be a number of obligatory sports competitions in every country. The most average of all the finishers are moved on to the olympics. This would help me relate to the olympics a lot better. And it means I might have gotten a trip to Athens.
If anyone remembers the 80s, apparently this program was already active in the UK, evidenced by "Eddie the Eagle."
I was speaking with a friend the other day about doping and the olympics. We started talking about the effect cybernectics and genetic engineering will have to the future of the olympics and all sports for that example. Eventually, when cybernectics are more common and people starting embedding electronics in themselves, what will we do? Will we restrict games to only people who haven't had their genes tampered with and those who are chip-free. Or will we just get tired of watching normal sports because Unreal Tournament has become a live person event?
It's time for Sun to make a new version of Java. Java was a seminal creation. It delivered a powerful method of application development with the ability to build once and run anywhere. The problem with being a pioneer though is that you inevitably make many mistakes. It's unavoidable. Sun made mistakes with Java. They've tried to cover up their mistakes, like by hiding AWT with Swing, but it's still lurking down there below. I don't wish to go into depth on the deficiences of Java. If you use Java on a regular basis, you know quite a few yourself.
Now please realize that I'm not trying to bag on Java. I love Java. What I'm saying is that it's time to quit worrying about backwards-compatibility and build a new system from the ground up.
This is what Microsoft did recently with C#. C# is superior to Java. Why shouldn't it be superior? It was made by copying everything good from Java and leaving off the legacy fluff that exists for backwards-compatibility only. It does everything that Java does plus more (the ability to use pointers, structures, native types are instances, etc.) I just wish Microsoft wasn't in charge of C#, so let's see Sun do better.
Let me get one thing straight first. I'm a Linux user. I don't like Microsoft, in fact I just turned down a job offer from them. That said, let me continue.
Why is it that everytime anyone writes an article about how great Linux is compared to Windows we have to post it here on Slashdot? Are there really that few people who like Linux that we have to make a big deal out of every single random person who extols the benefits of Linux over Windows. Give me a break. This isn't news. Why post articles that establish opinions that practically everyone here already agrees with? All it does is result in a flamewar between the few Windows users here and the rest of us.
Isn't there some sort of statute of limitations on these patent issues? If not there should be. It seems to a popular activity for patent-holders lately to wait quietly by while others infringe on their patents. They wait until the company becomes big enough, then they bounce on the offenders like a little fat kid walking through the desert who sees a piece of chocolate cake.
That's what has bothered me from the beginning about SCO (I know it's not a patent issue here, but close enough). Why hadn't anyone said anything about Linux stealing System V code before? It's not like Linux is all that new. It appears that they just waited until someone with deep enough pockets was close enough to Linux that they could attack.
There should be a law enacted where if you know that someone is infringing on one of your patents, you have one or two years to litigate. After that point, your rights to litigation would be revoked. Now it would be difficult to prove prior knowledge of the infringement, but it's better than our current system.
No, I don't mean teaching religious belief to kids. I mean morality, like being a good person. Even if we don't all live it, we can usually agree on what is good and what is bad.
You've gotta love living in a country where teaching 4th graders morality will put you in front of a judge, but where it's apparently OK to indocrinate children with the corrupt money-mongering copyrighting system. Breach of copyright, now there's a sin we need to teach our children to avoid. But don't you dare teach them about chastity or good moral living.
Sorry, I just get upset with the priorities of this country sometimes.
I didn't feel like giving an exhaustive explanation of all of the reasons for which I think a degree in CS is worthless. But, all I'm saying is that in my experience I have never met any good programmers with a degree in CS. As I said, I'm sure they are out there, I just haven't met them.
This isn't a flawed argument; it's just an argument based upon my own limited experience. I think it's silly calling it a flawed argument when it's clearly based only on my own opinions. It's not even an argument, it's just a statement of opinion.
A lot of people have asked me why I didn't major in CS (I majored in Mathematics instead). There are so many reasons to not major in computer science, and so few reasons to do so.
First of all, the degree is nearly useless in the sense that everything gets outdated so fast. The program at my school when I started college was so extremely different from the program when I graduated, and it continues to change.
Next, you spend a lot of time studying algorithmic stuff you will never use. That's great that they have you write a bunch of array sort algorithms, but there aren't too many of us who will be using them very often in the real world.
I have met very few, and by very few I mean not a single one so far, computer science graduates that were worth their weight as a programmer. Most, in my opinion, are people who heard that you could make a lot of money as a computer programmer so they decide to study CS. Now I'm sure there are amazing programmers that have come out of CS departments, but it seems like the greatest come from Math, Physics, Engineering, you name it just not CS.
I remember numerous times that there have been posts about some independent research saying that Windows is better than Linux for one reason or another. Inevitably this ellicits a bevy of posts claiming some connection between the firm and M$, thus invalidating the study. Now we have some dude who obviously extremely jaded in favor of Linux. Many of his comments are so one-sided that its ridiculous. Now I am a linux user; I can't stand Windows. But do we have to turn to poorly written libel? Let's except that Linux has its problems. Let's identify them, then fix them. Just ignoring them is what made Windows what it is today.
Wouldn't it be easier to just hire someone in India to put the bug into closed source proprietary software. With all of the outsourcing we're doing, I think closed source is much more susceptible to malicious code insertion. How can you compare the effectiveness of just a small group of people looking at the codebase to thousands of people. The prior is much less secure.
Clearly, this guy must have Wiki and Open Source confused. He apparently thinks that anyone who wants to can come and put any line of code they desire into the source base without any sort of moderation.
Slashdot Mirror
'The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved.'
Am I correct in assuming that his resignation is what is bringing this achievement to pass?
That is, making fun of the fact that most scientists who claim that 'global warming' is a threat are being paid by governments to do 'global warming' research and would be out of a job if they didn't keep claiming that it's a big threat?
Maybe it's my naivity, but I believe that everyone does things for some reason or another, whether it be monetary, emotional, political, etc.. Now why in the world would the government want to fund scientists to falsely declare that global warming is occuring? What do governments gain from encouraging the population to be in favor of expensive resolutions (Kyoto)? The only thing I can think of is the continued existance of humanity. So, you're also saying that the people at National Geographic were paid off my the government for their entire magazine being dedicated to global warming last month?
Now, on the other hand, do the big oil corps have incentive to fund anti-research? Of course. Keeping down said research saves them millions of dollars.
I've found that a little bit of critical thinking as well as an examination of motives can generally dispel most conspiracy theories, and on occasion start a new more appropriate one.
How come they never pass any laws posthumously?
Don't give them any ideas. These politicians screw us over enough during their lives; do you really want them screwing us over from beyond the grave.
Is there a better method?
Yes, Linux
When are they going to redesign the US Monopoly Money to make it less easy to counterfeit. I swear that everytime I play that game someone pays me in phony currency.
I don't really understand the logic of hydrogen cars. If we have hydrogen, we can effortlessly convert that to 100% clean electricity via burning. So why the hell don't we just do that at the power plant?
There are a number of reasons why we don't just convert the hydrogen to electricity in a power plant. How in the world are you going to put that electricity in your car. Battery technology is one that just has not developed much for quite some time. Electric cars are a great idea, and hopefully some day we will have them as a viable option, but that's not right now.
Secondly, hydrogen cars are clean running. There are no emissions. That's reason enough in itself I believe.
Lastly, there are many ways to obtain hydrogen, not just from natural gas. Oil is running out. National Geographic had a great cover story about the dwindling supply of oil on the planet. Also, the majority of that oil comes from very volatile places on Earth. So, using hydrogen removes our dependency on those countries and on this dwindling oil supply. Just to let you know how bad it is, at the current consumption rate, we could completely exhaust known oil reserves in 45 years. And the fact is, consumption rates are going up, not down.
Maybe this is a good thing. If some of these ridiculous patents try to be enforced by Microsoft, they'll meet with some stiff legal competition. GNU/Linux and OSS in general has a lot more more behind it than most people realize. Attacks of this nature will fail just like all other under-handed attacks have failed. The blessing comes as people realize how silly patents are becoming. Then we'll hopefully see some strong patent reform, or just a removal of the agency all together.
You see, in the southern hemisphere hard-drives spin in the opposite direction.
This could be a reason that Paul Graham states that he doesn't know any great Java coders. What you're saying is that it takes a better programmer to code in C properly. Great programmers ideally do not need these extra security features, so they choose a language where they are not present.
Does the museum treat you like a criminal because it has an alarm on its multi-million dollar exhibit?
But the museum doesn't shove the alarm up your ass so that every time you try to take a crap it goes off?
I like that idea. There should be a number of obligatory sports competitions in every country. The most average of all the finishers are moved on to the olympics. This would help me relate to the olympics a lot better. And it means I might have gotten a trip to Athens.
If anyone remembers the 80s, apparently this program was already active in the UK, evidenced by "Eddie the Eagle."
I was speaking with a friend the other day about doping and the olympics. We started talking about the effect cybernectics and genetic engineering will have to the future of the olympics and all sports for that example. Eventually, when cybernectics are more common and people starting embedding electronics in themselves, what will we do? Will we restrict games to only people who haven't had their genes tampered with and those who are chip-free. Or will we just get tired of watching normal sports because Unreal Tournament has become a live person event?
It's time for Sun to make a new version of Java. Java was a seminal creation. It delivered a powerful method of application development with the ability to build once and run anywhere. The problem with being a pioneer though is that you inevitably make many mistakes. It's unavoidable. Sun made mistakes with Java. They've tried to cover up their mistakes, like by hiding AWT with Swing, but it's still lurking down there below. I don't wish to go into depth on the deficiences of Java. If you use Java on a regular basis, you know quite a few yourself.
Now please realize that I'm not trying to bag on Java. I love Java. What I'm saying is that it's time to quit worrying about backwards-compatibility and build a new system from the ground up.
This is what Microsoft did recently with C#. C# is superior to Java. Why shouldn't it be superior? It was made by copying everything good from Java and leaving off the legacy fluff that exists for backwards-compatibility only. It does everything that Java does plus more (the ability to use pointers, structures, native types are instances, etc.) I just wish Microsoft wasn't in charge of C#, so let's see Sun do better.
Let me get one thing straight first. I'm a Linux user. I don't like Microsoft, in fact I just turned down a job offer from them. That said, let me continue.
Why is it that everytime anyone writes an article about how great Linux is compared to Windows we have to post it here on Slashdot? Are there really that few people who like Linux that we have to make a big deal out of every single random person who extols the benefits of Linux over Windows. Give me a break. This isn't news. Why post articles that establish opinions that practically everyone here already agrees with? All it does is result in a flamewar between the few Windows users here and the rest of us.
No more stupid Linux vs Windows posts please!
Isn't there some sort of statute of limitations on these patent issues? If not there should be. It seems to a popular activity for patent-holders lately to wait quietly by while others infringe on their patents. They wait until the company becomes big enough, then they bounce on the offenders like a little fat kid walking through the desert who sees a piece of chocolate cake.
That's what has bothered me from the beginning about SCO (I know it's not a patent issue here, but close enough). Why hadn't anyone said anything about Linux stealing System V code before? It's not like Linux is all that new. It appears that they just waited until someone with deep enough pockets was close enough to Linux that they could attack.
There should be a law enacted where if you know that someone is infringing on one of your patents, you have one or two years to litigate. After that point, your rights to litigation would be revoked. Now it would be difficult to prove prior knowledge of the infringement, but it's better than our current system.
No, I don't mean teaching religious belief to kids. I mean morality, like being a good person. Even if we don't all live it, we can usually agree on what is good and what is bad.
You've gotta love living in a country where teaching 4th graders morality will put you in front of a judge, but where it's apparently OK to indocrinate children with the corrupt money-mongering copyrighting system. Breach of copyright, now there's a sin we need to teach our children to avoid. But don't you dare teach them about chastity or good moral living.
Sorry, I just get upset with the priorities of this country sometimes.
Very well said
I didn't feel like giving an exhaustive explanation of all of the reasons for which I think a degree in CS is worthless. But, all I'm saying is that in my experience I have never met any good programmers with a degree in CS. As I said, I'm sure they are out there, I just haven't met them.
This isn't a flawed argument; it's just an argument based upon my own limited experience. I think it's silly calling it a flawed argument when it's clearly based only on my own opinions. It's not even an argument, it's just a statement of opinion.
A lot of people have asked me why I didn't major in CS (I majored in Mathematics instead). There are so many reasons to not major in computer science, and so few reasons to do so.
First of all, the degree is nearly useless in the sense that everything gets outdated so fast. The program at my school when I started college was so extremely different from the program when I graduated, and it continues to change.
Next, you spend a lot of time studying algorithmic stuff you will never use. That's great that they have you write a bunch of array sort algorithms, but there aren't too many of us who will be using them very often in the real world.
I have met very few, and by very few I mean not a single one so far, computer science graduates that were worth their weight as a programmer. Most, in my opinion, are people who heard that you could make a lot of money as a computer programmer so they decide to study CS. Now I'm sure there are amazing programmers that have come out of CS departments, but it seems like the greatest come from Math, Physics, Engineering, you name it just not CS.
I remember numerous times that there have been posts about some independent research saying that Windows is better than Linux for one reason or another. Inevitably this ellicits a bevy of posts claiming some connection between the firm and M$, thus invalidating the study. Now we have some dude who obviously extremely jaded in favor of Linux. Many of his comments are so one-sided that its ridiculous. Now I am a linux user; I can't stand Windows. But do we have to turn to poorly written libel? Let's except that Linux has its problems. Let's identify them, then fix them. Just ignoring them is what made Windows what it is today.
She lives in the UK though. Litigation across national borders is not an easy thing.
What do you bet, when you fire it up it says: Hello. I am ELIZA. How can I help you?
Wouldn't it be easier to just hire someone in India to put the bug into closed source proprietary software. With all of the outsourcing we're doing, I think closed source is much more susceptible to malicious code insertion. How can you compare the effectiveness of just a small group of people looking at the codebase to thousands of people. The prior is much less secure.
Clearly, this guy must have Wiki and Open Source confused. He apparently thinks that anyone who wants to can come and put any line of code they desire into the source base without any sort of moderation.
Yes, this appeared in a recent issue of Wired. I believe it was the April issue.