Nevertheless, the follies and foibles of human nature are inescapable and much of the verbiage is concerned with its wry investigation. Verbiage is used advisedly, as Vance clearly enjoys the richness of the English language and takes pleasure in the opportunity to add to what he finds.
Yes, indeed. The dialogs that go on between characters in Vance's books are extraordinarily entertaining. Not only does he have a great sense of humor and wit, his use of English is in itself entertaining and enlightening. His work, more than anyone else, gave me a renewed appreciation of English and it's wild variety of words and subtle meanings.
I recommend his books even to Literature majors who would normally dismiss it as sci-fi pulp.
Great review Duncan, it's rare to find fiction reviews as insightful as this one on Slashdot.
No one's saying they have to pay for anything, and no one is forcing them to do anything. This is merely a discussion and an attempt to persuade.
Did you think ESR was going to pop out of the bathroom with a pair of six-shooters and demand their patents? Where do all you normally intelligent people get this ridiculous idea that anyone is being forced to do anything?
Why doesn't someone start another Lisp-based OS? I mean, Unix has been reimplemented so many times... If Lisp is so appropriate for rapid development, why hasn't a Lisp OS ever resurfaced?
I think it would be wonderful.
Re:Intellectual Property is alive and well
on
Ring-Tone Royalties
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· Score: 2
Pirates use Napster? I wouldn't think they would have the time, what with raping, pillaging and looting and all.
I guess yohoho_and_a_bottle_of_rum.mp3 is a pretty popular download these days...
Your "not a 9 to 5 person" clause unfortunately leaves out many people who would otherwise fit in perfectly.
I have a family, my wife works, and I need a predictable schedule so we can work out who will be home with the children and when.
It's not that I don't have a passion for the work, it's just that my children are more important. You'll be leaving out a lot of talented people if that is one of your main criteria.
Want to find out more about what the Enlightenment guys are up to? Go to the website, hang out on the IRC channels, CVS the latest code and play with it, join the mailing list.
Not that I do any of these things but it seems like common sense;-)
You are correct. Gnome is not a window manager, and neither is KDE. They are desktop environments that provide you with icons, drag-and-drop, document embedding COM-like services, etc.
IIRC, blackbox works well as a window manager for KDE (no you don't HAVE to use KWM), but does not fully support Gnome.
You really think you would have killed someone if you had a gun? I grew up with guns around and never shot anyone. Sure I thought about it, in a fantasy mode like the way you'd think about punching your boss in the nose when you're really pissed off, but I never seriously considered it or thought I might "snap" and do it. Hunting as a kid taught me what bullets do to flesh and bone and I knew damned well that I would regret hurting a person like that.
Do you really not trust yourself with the power of life and death over others? Maybe you should turn in your driver's license.
Then why don't children in Switzerland grab their Daddy's assault rifle and go shoot up their classmates? Every adult Swiss male has one, you know, they are required to.
Go ahead, come up with some flippant reply that will allow you to disregard this simple question so you don't have to think about what is wrong with these kids. People are not inherently evil and violent, there is something wrong with our culture. I don't profess to know what the real problem is, but taking away guns is not going to make it better (they'll just start making bombs).
I was the same way... I hated that thing until I decided to learn it. Now the first thing I do on a Windows box is install Vim and drop a link in the 'Send To...' menu.
People seem to forget that the moon is an incredibly strategic place for a military base. Think about it, you're up there at the top of Earth's gravity well... minimal effort is required to toss big-ass rocks down on your enemy. See Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" for an rough draft of the required engineering.;-)
Of course, establishing any kind of long-term moon base is an extremely challenging project.
Some people theorize that rather than the magnetic polarity of the poles switching, the weight of the icecaps on the poles will cause (and has caused before) the crust of the earth to actually slide over the molten center, as if it were an orange with a loose peel. This would, of course be a highly catastrophic event. Suddenly, the poles are at the equator, the oceans slosh out of their basins, scouring the continents...
Check out "Footprints of the Gods" by Graham Hancock for more details about this and other far-out but suprisingly well researched and supported theories.
HP-UX, SCO, AIX (OK these don't really count, but I used to be a commercial Unix bigot;-b)
Debian 2.0 (Hmmmm this Linux thing is actually pretty cool!)
Debian 2.1
RedHat 6.1 (I think, it was a brief journey, ran away screaming back to Debian.)
FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD (Had to try it, and I got addicted to the simple elegance of the BSDs, but there are some things I like better about Linux.)
Slackware 7.0 (Revelation! An elegant BSD-like Linux! Finally I can comprehend every detail of every single part of a Linux system, from the setup and startup scripts to the config files.)
Back to FreeBSD briefly (That's some sweet Unix there, but I missed Slackware.)
Slackware 7.1 (Aaaahhh. Feels like home.)
Patrick, if you're reading this, I hereby promise to buy a CD of every future release. And you can crash here at my house if you need to.;-)
This depends on how you define cyborg. Is the definition "A living brain with a robot body," or is it, "A mixture of living and technological parts that make a functioning whole?"
If you ask me, the latter definition makes more sense, and therefore I submit that cyborgs have been around for a long time, at least since the first feasible artificial hearts were successfully implanted; and I'm sure someone could come up with examples that predate that.
You must not allow your children to think for themselves. You must constrain their every action. If they are allowed to be free, then they will choose not to be like their parents. Don't let them. Enforce your will. It's your duty as a parent to mould them in your own image. That is what it means to be a Creator.
Yeah, right... you don't have any kids do you?
Disclaimer: Yes, I know this is the second troll that I've responded to in this article. At least I'm not moderating them "Insightful":-P
The problem, of course, is who decides which ideas are dangerous? I'm not a moral relativist, but neither do I see the world as black and white. And I simply don't trust anyone else enough to do my censoring for me. After all, if I can't trust people not to fall for "dangerous ideas", how can I trust them to recognize which ideas are dangerous and which are merely uncomfortable? Or which ideas are harmless and which are sugar-coated poison?
There are always exceptions though. The public school that I attended was very good. The students were competitive about grades (it was cool to get good grades). Hell, there was even a group of Japanese who visited to see how we were getting such good results.
I learned BASIC in 7th grade (12-13 years old)and assembly language in 10th grade:) That may not seem like a big deal to some of you uber-nerds, but consider what 10th graders are learning in their "Computer Classes" at most schools these days. Microsoft Office, maybe? Corel Draw? How to use a search engine to find the best warez?:P
There is no excuse for ignorance though. If you want to learn you can find a way, especially in the USA. There are public libraries all over the place (in which I used to spend a considerable amount of time, I might add:).
Slashdot Mirror
Yes, indeed. The dialogs that go on between characters in Vance's books are extraordinarily entertaining. Not only does he have a great sense of humor and wit, his use of English is in itself entertaining and enlightening. His work, more than anyone else, gave me a renewed appreciation of English and it's wild variety of words and subtle meanings.
I recommend his books even to Literature majors who would normally dismiss it as sci-fi pulp.
Great review Duncan, it's rare to find fiction reviews as insightful as this one on Slashdot.
No one's saying they have to pay for anything, and no one is forcing them to do anything. This is merely a discussion and an attempt to persuade.
Did you think ESR was going to pop out of the bathroom with a pair of six-shooters and demand their patents? Where do all you normally intelligent people get this ridiculous idea that anyone is being forced to do anything?
Well roll up your sleeves and fork the fvwm1 code, man!
;-)
That's the beauty of Free software.
Ahh yes, Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser... I must reread that series someday soon.
Why doesn't someone start another Lisp-based OS? I mean, Unix has been reimplemented so many times... If Lisp is so appropriate for rapid development, why hasn't a Lisp OS ever resurfaced?
I think it would be wonderful.
Pirates use Napster? I wouldn't think they would have the time, what with raping, pillaging and looting and all.
I guess yohoho_and_a_bottle_of_rum.mp3 is a pretty popular download these days...
Your "not a 9 to 5 person" clause unfortunately leaves out many people who would otherwise fit in perfectly.
I have a family, my wife works, and I need a predictable schedule so we can work out who will be home with the children and when.
It's not that I don't have a passion for the work, it's just that my children are more important. You'll be leaving out a lot of talented people if that is one of your main criteria.
The only way Slashdot is barely tolerable is via light mode!
I agree, I always use light mode. The rabid orangutan comment more closely applies to Slashdot's default format. Yuck!
I appreciate Slashdot and all, but damn... it's time to read up on the HTML 4 docs and hire a clued-in and tasteful designer.
Want to find out more about what the Enlightenment guys are up to? Go to the website, hang out on the IRC channels, CVS the latest code and play with it, join the mailing list.
Not that I do any of these things but it seems like common sense ;-)
You are correct. Gnome is not a window manager, and neither is KDE. They are desktop environments that provide you with icons, drag-and-drop, document embedding COM-like services, etc.
IIRC, blackbox works well as a window manager for KDE (no you don't HAVE to use KWM), but does not fully support Gnome.
You really think you would have killed someone if you had a gun? I grew up with guns around and never shot anyone. Sure I thought about it, in a fantasy mode like the way you'd think about punching your boss in the nose when you're really pissed off, but I never seriously considered it or thought I might "snap" and do it. Hunting as a kid taught me what bullets do to flesh and bone and I knew damned well that I would regret hurting a person like that.
Do you really not trust yourself with the power of life and death over others? Maybe you should turn in your driver's license.
Then why don't children in Switzerland grab their Daddy's assault rifle and go shoot up their classmates? Every adult Swiss male has one, you know, they are required to.
Go ahead, come up with some flippant reply that will allow you to disregard this simple question so you don't have to think about what is wrong with these kids. People are not inherently evil and violent, there is something wrong with our culture. I don't profess to know what the real problem is, but taking away guns is not going to make it better (they'll just start making bombs).
Solaris irrelevant? Heheheh, I'm sorry, I'm a Linux user and all but that has got to be the most uninformed statement I've heard in a long time.
You've never even seen a real data center have you?
I use vi myself, but surely you are aware that emacs is fully customizable, right down to the keybindings? There is even a vi mode.
Congratulations, you have seen the light of vi ;-)
I was the same way... I hated that thing until I decided to learn it. Now the first thing I do on a Windows box is install Vim and drop a link in the 'Send To...' menu.
People seem to forget that the moon is an incredibly strategic place for a military base. Think about it, you're up there at the top of Earth's gravity well... minimal effort is required to toss big-ass rocks down on your enemy. See Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" for an rough draft of the required engineering. ;-)
Of course, establishing any kind of long-term moon base is an extremely challenging project.
Man, if it was 1970 we'd still have to wait 7 or 8 years for disco... where's your music history?
Sheesh, kids nowdays...
Some people theorize that rather than the magnetic polarity of the poles switching, the weight of the icecaps on the poles will cause (and has caused before) the crust of the earth to actually slide over the molten center, as if it were an orange with a loose peel. This would, of course be a highly catastrophic event. Suddenly, the poles are at the equator, the oceans slosh out of their basins, scouring the continents...
Check out "Footprints of the Gods" by Graham Hancock for more details about this and other far-out but suprisingly well researched and supported theories.
Of course more money != more quality. "Full House" couldn't cater lunch on "Monty Python's" entire budget (even adjusted for inflation). ;-)
That's funny I went the opposite direction.
Patrick, if you're reading this, I hereby promise to buy a CD of every future release. And you can crash here at my house if you need to. ;-)
This depends on how you define cyborg. Is the definition "A living brain with a robot body," or is it, "A mixture of living and technological parts that make a functioning whole?"
If you ask me, the latter definition makes more sense, and therefore I submit that cyborgs have been around for a long time, at least since the first feasible artificial hearts were successfully implanted; and I'm sure someone could come up with examples that predate that.
You must not allow your children to think for themselves. You must constrain their every action. If they are allowed to be free, then they will choose not to be like their parents. Don't let them. Enforce your will. It's your duty as a parent to mould them in your own image. That is what it means to be a Creator.
Yeah, right... you don't have any kids do you?
Disclaimer: Yes, I know this is the second troll that I've responded to in this article. At least I'm not moderating them "Insightful" :-P
The problem, of course, is who decides which ideas are dangerous? I'm not a moral relativist, but neither do I see the world as black and white. And I simply don't trust anyone else enough to do my censoring for me. After all, if I can't trust people not to fall for "dangerous ideas", how can I trust them to recognize which ideas are dangerous and which are merely uncomfortable? Or which ideas are harmless and which are sugar-coated poison?
For the most part they do suck.
There are always exceptions though. The public school that I attended was very good. The students were competitive about grades (it was cool to get good grades). Hell, there was even a group of Japanese who visited to see how we were getting such good results.
I learned BASIC in 7th grade (12-13 years old)and assembly language in 10th grade :) That may not seem like a big deal to some of you uber-nerds, but consider what 10th graders are learning in their "Computer Classes" at most schools these days. Microsoft Office, maybe? Corel Draw? How to use a search engine to find the best warez? :P
There is no excuse for ignorance though. If you want to learn you can find a way, especially in the USA. There are public libraries all over the place (in which I used to spend a considerable amount of time, I might add :).
You sure put a lot of effort into rationalizing your apathy. ;^)