There is also some value in teaching students how to know when they need help and how to ask for it
Well said. In the real world, knowing your limitations is a priceless asset. I hate it when people either refuse to ask for help, or else just sit there and expect you to telepathically know they're struggling.
There is never in any shame in asking for appropriate help.
Smart watches are impossible products (as opposed to geek toys) because the minimum battery life for something that you wear all day and don't want to put down is probably around six months and even a year is probably a bit short.
If only there was a way for watches to capture & store energy from something like the wearer's movements or - let's really push the envelope here - light.
Wouldn't that just be dreamy?
I think it's just within the bounds of plausibility that this has occurred to someone already.
In the meantime, I'd nip down to the patent office sharpish, with a couple of pix of current kinetic/solar watches, but with the maker's name over-written with "internet watch" or something.
The standard response on slashdot when someone mentions writers/musicians not earning money from royalties (because copyright is evil) is that the world doesn't owe them a living, and so they can either do live shows, sell character dolls or subsidise their art by waiting on tables.
Why, apart from the fact that they've been brought up to believe they are precious snowflakes, are programmers or people in the "visual effects industry" any different?
Being a plumber is not quite the doddle you seem to think it is. You might not need a PhD, but it's still not something that everyone wants, or is able to do.
The simple proof of this is the number of people doing tedious jobs on minimum wage, when according to your theory they could all be out there earning much more as plumbers now.
I'm quite OK with heart surgeons making more than me, really.
So am I, but I am not quite OK with a lot of managers and bankers making more than me. Also, programmers don't all work at big software houses in the heart of Silicon Valley, and the discrepancy between the requirements and the pay is much more pronounced at smaller companies and in other parts of the country. Does programming pay enough to live comfortably? Sure. Does it pay enough compared to the "go to" money making jobs? No, it doesn't. Not for the majority of programmers.
It's good old capitalist supply and demand. Contrary to the majority opinion here on slashdot, being able to use or program a computer does not make you the equivalent of a movie star.
Capitalism's great when you're the one near the top of the money tree, not so good when you're falling down through the branches as companies realise that moving your job oversees works just as well for programmers as call centre operators.
The harsh truth is that you're a fungible asset, like 99% of people in the world of work.
I think the main argument against HS2 is simply that saving half an hour on a trip from London to Birmingham, or an hour from London to Manchester is far too marginal a benefit to justify the huge cost.
It's not as though people are suddenly going to start commuting from Greater Manchester to Central London every day.
England is really quite a small country, you don't need particularly fast trains, you just want them to be reliable.
I think it's interesting, judging from the responses here, how many people are still carrying around deep wounds from grade school and junior high.
I may be wrong, but I would interpret this as meaning that the majority of responses are from people still at grade school and junior high.
Seriously, since I left university, I've hardly ever thought about anything or anyone at school.
Science Fiction authors who are also serious writers include (off the top of my head)Iain (M) Banks, Margaret Atwood, Christopher Priest, Ursula le Guin, China Mieville and many others.
The problem with SF is that some very successful authors are actually quite bad writers in terms of style, characterisation and plotting. For example, I wouldn't want to read a "straight" novel by Philip K Dick or Robert Heinlein.
Oh I would not be too sure of that. Just wait until some bright spark thinks to start a campaign to click the button to report an MP's speech as "extremist" and "radicalising". Someone more cynical than I might even suggest that this is part of the government's plan to deal with UKIP....
However unpleasant and stupid UKIP are, they're not a terrorist organisation.
Anyway, I thought the government's plan for dealing with UKIP was to copy their Xenophobic policies as far as possible, thereby making UKIP irrelevant, when you could get the same thing just as easily by voting for the tories, i.e. with Cameron sliminess instead of Farragean twattery.
The time it would take to take light to make a loop around the earth is 7.5 seconds
The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second. The Earth is 24,000 miles round. I make that 0.13 seconds to loop round the Earth. Did you
take c as 186,000 miles per hour by any chance, as you are out by a factor of about 60?
This and geekhack are like the last BIG places where nerds can still be nerds without explaining themselves about the lack of women, blacks or x-men in our community
Slashdot Mirror
And why do we need games for Google Glass?
Well gee, what else do you expect people to do when they're driving?
Watch pron, obviously.
There is also some value in teaching students how to know when they need help and how to ask for it
Well said. In the real world, knowing your limitations is a priceless asset. I hate it when people either refuse to ask for help, or else just sit there and expect you to telepathically know they're struggling.
There is never in any shame in asking for appropriate help.
If you cannot either admit your ignorance or reasonably display your knowledge, you have a social problem.
If only there was a way for watches to capture & store energy from something like the wearer's movements or - let's really push the envelope here - light.
Wouldn't that just be dreamy?
I think it's just within the bounds of plausibility that this has occurred to someone already.
In the meantime, I'd nip down to the patent office sharpish, with a couple of pix of current kinetic/solar watches, but with the maker's name over-written with "internet watch" or something.
I do not need to be online all the time
You're probably not the ideal Google/Apple/Facebook customer then.
I charge my android phone several times per day and I don't consider it an inconvenience at all.
I can just about cope with charging it once a day (overnight) but even that would be a problem if I moved around much, or used it much during the day.
Why, apart from the fact that they've been brought up to believe they are precious snowflakes, are programmers or people in the "visual effects industry" any different?
It's not really any man's place to demand that another give away what's he has earned. As far as suggest, sure
That's simply not true, or why isn't taxation voluntary?
The simple proof of this is the number of people doing tedious jobs on minimum wage, when according to your theory they could all be out there earning much more as plumbers now.
I'm quite OK with heart surgeons making more than me, really.
So am I, but I am not quite OK with a lot of managers and bankers making more than me. Also, programmers don't all work at big software houses in the heart of Silicon Valley, and the discrepancy between the requirements and the pay is much more pronounced at smaller companies and in other parts of the country. Does programming pay enough to live comfortably? Sure. Does it pay enough compared to the "go to" money making jobs? No, it doesn't. Not for the majority of programmers.
It's good old capitalist supply and demand. Contrary to the majority opinion here on slashdot, being able to use or program a computer does not make you the equivalent of a movie star.
Capitalism's great when you're the one near the top of the money tree, not so good when you're falling down through the branches as companies realise that moving your job oversees works just as well for programmers as call centre operators.
The harsh truth is that you're a fungible asset, like 99% of people in the world of work.
beats Bennett Halselton posts any day
You're kidding, right? He's a fucking regular contributor, show some respect.
It neatly avoids discussing the actual content of what was said.
It's not as though people are suddenly going to start commuting from Greater Manchester to Central London every day.
England is really quite a small country, you don't need particularly fast trains, you just want them to be reliable.
I think it's interesting, judging from the responses here, how many people are still carrying around deep wounds from grade school and junior high. I may be wrong, but I would interpret this as meaning that the majority of responses are from people still at grade school and junior high.
Seriously, since I left university, I've hardly ever thought about anything or anyone at school.
The problem with SF is that some very successful authors are actually quite bad writers in terms of style, characterisation and plotting. For example, I wouldn't want to read a "straight" novel by Philip K Dick or Robert Heinlein.
From that day on, I started questioning everything every teacher told me.
Good teachers actively encourage this of course.
Since when was reporting someone for criminal activity censoring them?
Oh I would not be too sure of that. Just wait until some bright spark thinks to start a campaign to click the button to report an MP's speech as "extremist" and "radicalising". Someone more cynical than I might even suggest that this is part of the government's plan to deal with UKIP....
However unpleasant and stupid UKIP are, they're not a terrorist organisation.
Anyway, I thought the government's plan for dealing with UKIP was to copy their Xenophobic policies as far as possible, thereby making UKIP irrelevant, when you could get the same thing just as easily by voting for the tories, i.e. with Cameron sliminess instead of Farragean twattery.
Also I wish it was 10" rather than 8".
Nice problem to have.
The time it would take to take light to make a loop around the earth is 7.5 seconds
The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second. The Earth is 24,000 miles round. I make that 0.13 seconds to loop round the Earth. Did you take c as 186,000 miles per hour by any chance, as you are out by a factor of about 60?
I'm unsure how the use in wartime would classify as terrorism
Yes, the correct technical term is "war crime".
Further, how moral judgements of the actions can be made when it was the first usage of such a weapon against an enemy force
Are you seriously suggesting that they didn't have any rough idea what it would do?
Even more so when, Germany and Japan were both attempting to develop the same weaponry for use.
It is a basic ethical truth that two wrongs don't make a right.
Has anyone ever seen apk and Bennett in the same room? Huh?
This and geekhack are like the last BIG places where nerds can still be nerds without explaining themselves about the lack of women, blacks or x-men in our community
Stick to lurking, you racist, misogynist fuckbag.
Breasts are most definitely not intrinsically sexual!
Except that they play a fundamental role in sexual reproduction.
I think you're doing it wrong.
You get nipples in UK newspapers and on TV, so I don't think we have quite reached the gold standard of nipple paranoia that the US demonstrates.