Dude, seriously. RTFA again. Privatizing beer companies was unrelated to the nuclear emergency plans. Two unrelated items in the middle of a bunch of unrelated items.
The thing about wifi is that it's much cheaper and easier to setup a broadband infrastructure using wifi than it is to lay cables, especially in developing countries. This is a *forward thinking* project, with an assumption that wifi will continue to be more and more available worldwide. Seems like a pretty valid assumption to me, but we'll see...
Clearly, if I lived in an economically depressed area, the best way to help me learn technology would be to make me share (we'll be generous here) 100 computers at a library with everyone else in my community. That would be *far* better than giving everyone in the community a less functional laptop. We probably shouldn't bother sending the computers we don't want overseas anymore either (because, you know, they're too slow and don't run Windows XP fast enough). Remind me to throw away my PocketPC. Stupid piece of junk just can't compare to a good desktop computer.
Look, I'm sorry for the sarcasm, but if you really think a library is the way to go, why not do something about it? Why sit here and criticize a project that has legs that is genuinely trying to help these people in very economically depressed areas? I'm stupefied by the arguments that people come up with for not doing things to help those less fortunate than we are.
Seriously, give me a worst-case scenario here. At worst, the market is flooded with cheap laptops that don't work very well, and we've ended up throwing lots of good money after an idea that just can't work. But hey, that's better than throwing lots of good money at underdeveloped countries, and then watching the government steal it all. I think the chances are that this project does wonders for helping to educate thousands, perhaps millions of people (not just kids) who otherwise would never get their hands on technology. Even if they're just getting an education on how to use a crappy computer, that's still *great*! I just don't see the drawbacks to this idea, when I look at it from a global perspective.
I work in IT today because I taught myself computers, starting when I was 13. I never took a class, had only one class ever where there were computers in the classroom. But that learning environment was tightly controlled. Because I had the computer at home, I learned without constraints. And now it's my job.
All of which means I think there's a world of difference between giving a kid a laptop, and letting them use a computer in a lab at school occasionally. A world of difference.
In practicallity, there will be very little need for these in an area that can get internet access from a library.
If you really believe that, I think you should be the first to donate all of your computers to charity. Believe me, I'll be right behind you. Time to start hitting that library!
14 years ago, I was given a used x86 machine with no hard drive, and floppies for DOS, MS Word, and two computer games. I had never touched a computer or typewriter before. No one taught me how to use it, I just started playing around with it, and two years later graduated to a 486, and so on and so forth. Now, I run IT for a small company.
Much of the negative feedback for this project seems misplaced to me. I suspect that just because we don't know how these laptops will be used doesn't mean that they won't be used. I don't believe that there is "alot more that could be done with this money." I think this is similar to the argument against desktop computers back in the day - no one could imagine how they would be used, so it seemed like a big waste of time.
Here's my simple formulation of an argument: every little bit helps.
Why, because he happened to honest about how he chooses to use marijuana? In the long run, marijuana will be legalized as the general public realizes that normal people lead normal lives while occasionally using marijuana.
Besides, legalization is a pie in the sky for at least 5 more years, probably many, many more.
Look - you can choose to believe what Bush says, or pay attention to his actions. His actions say that he's willing to undermine any and/or all core values that make America what it is in order to win this war. Personally, I'd rather lose this war on terrorism than sacrifice our rights and principles.
Some things are worse than death. I wish our president thought about that sometimes.
The only problem is that Arial was designed for print, not screen. Subjectively speaking, I can tell that difference. I hate writing papers in Arial, but they don't look nearly as bad printed out. If I remember correctly, Verdana was specifically designed as a substitute for Arial on the screen.
i suppose if it's an access point you could be right, but 90% of these are routers, so wouldn't dhcp be masking the MAC address of the user behind the firewall?
I agree completely. I have no idea what's going on with this Linksys lovefest, but to me this signals a continuation of technology companies and their move towards forced obsolescence.
Convenient strategy - establish market share with good products, then significantly lower the quality of the mass-market device. In the meantime, they'll keep the old product around so the geeks are happy - they'll just have to pay for it.
And yet again, the consumer gets screwed.
(before you go off on some capitalism rant, give me a break. actions like this are always short-sighted. way to go linksys, why innovate a better product when you can just lower your standards and make more money in the short term?)
I disagree with your assertion that a belief cannot be factually incorrect.
You are certainly welcome to your beliefs on the subject. Much current epistemological thought acknowledges that truth values and belief are two distinct aspects of knowledge. The problem you will always face is determining the truth value of a belief. It is much easier to show that a belief is probably incorrect than it is to show that a belief is "factually" incorrect. Facts are verifiable only because we develop a system of verifiability around them. Delve deep down into beliefs, and I think you'll find it much harder to find a system of verifiability. Especially personal moral and religious beliefs.
But complaining that (alleged) terrorist internees are not being treated according to the convention merely shows that the complainer does not understand the convention.
Somehow I doubt that the chief of staff for the former Secretary of State does not understand the Geneva Convention, but I've been surprised before. Regardless, I don't think his point was about the Iraqis - it was about us. The way I see it, once we cross that line with "insurgents", it's a hell of a lot easier to cross it when we invade Iran or some other country.
As for "civilized warfare", where does the U.S. military using white phosphorus, which is banned by a treaty we conveniently haven't signed, fit in? It's amazing how much your comment sounds like something the British said during the Revolutionary War.
It's easy to have no evidence about Guantanamo, since the restrictions there are so tight. I'm sure you just ignore anything and everything Amnesty International has to say, but they do have this to say, plus a whole lot more:
Full judicial review of detention, and access to lawyers and independent human rights monitors, are basic safeguards against torture and ill-treatment, arbitrary detention, and "disappearance". Evidence that Guantánamo detainees have been tortured and ill-treated continues to mount, with FBI agents now added to the list of those making such allegations. Yesterday, the military announced that it will carry out an internal investigation into these latest allegations.
Anyways, I don't know about your home, but this picture from the BBC sure doesn't look like my backyard.
Look. I'm sure you enjoy playing word games, but Colin Powell's former chief of staff had this to say here:
"Lawrence Wilkerson, Secretary of State Colin Powell's chief of staff in the first Bush administration and a former colonel, said Thursday that the view of Cheney's office was put in "carefully couched" terms in memos but that to a soldier in the field it meant sometimes using interrogation techniques that "were not in accordance with the spirit of the Geneva Conventions and the law of war" to extract better intelligence."
You may want to say that Cheney doesn't espouse torture, or that Guantanamo isn't torturing detainees. That's fine. You keep using your "carefully couched" language. Personally, I'm going to keep asking for trials and public disclosure, so we can figure out for ourselves what's going on instead of having to listen to endless talking around the subject.
"And I saw TIVO coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The TIVO I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave TIVO his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of TIVO seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed TIVO. Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to TIVO, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like TIVO? Who can make war against him?"
If you have so little self-control that you can't keep yourself from wasting time on the Internet every chance you get, you're probably better off not being in school anyway.
I think you're ignoring the reality for many students, especially younger ones. Much is made of younger students' and their ability to multitask. For my ex-wife, multi-tasking wasn't just a way of life, it was a necessity. She had an extreme case of ADD, and despite gaining entrance to an Ivy League college and achieving good grades, found that she couldn't really pay attention in task without something to distract herself (in her case, it was knitting during lectures).
Personally, I work with about 20 Mozilla tabs open at all times, move between work and non-work materially fluidly and quickly, and accomplish more multitasking than I would if I was forced to focus on one thing at a time. When I was in college (without wireless), I often had a hard time maintaining focus on a lecture, and would often become drowsy and fall asleep. My grades and focus improved in grad school, when I did have wireless to occupy myself, and I stopped falling asleep.
There is no doubt some students who check the internet are lazy, but in grad school I found that it was always the smartest students (or, at least, the ones who received the best grades) who browsed the internet during lectures.
Then again, maybe the perception of Bush being a one hit wonder comes from them not kowtowing to the recording execs.
Yeah, somehow I don't think so. From the band's official biography, you'll notice that with their latest album, whatever it was, "The British quartet has returned to its hard-edged roots." Call me cynical, but I'm guessing those are 'record label roots'.
In my experience (UK) it's usually cheaper to drive, especially if the car has more than one person in it.
I'd love to see how you break these costs down. In New York City, it's pretty simple:
1. Buy unlimited monthly Metrocard for $76. Over ten years, that's just over $9,000, which compares quite favorably with the cost of purchasing a new/used car, before you ever do maintenance or pump gas or pay for insurance or the host of other associated costs.
2. Rent a car (out of the city) or take a taxi (in the city) on those few occasions when you really, really need to drive somewhere and can't borrow a car from a friend. At worst, still adds up to no more than an extra $500 a year.
3. Spend more money on booze. It's called supply and demand. With no car, I have a greater supply of money, and my demand for other products goes up. Win/win for me.
hydrogen is not really considered an eco-friendly fuel, because the exhaust is carbon dioxide, which (shock) is a greenhouse gas. it's a non-oil fuel, and cheaply available, which is why it's being researched (although the government is actually pushing for the use of hydrogen from non-renewable sources, which is insane to me).
You can affordably retrofit a motorcycle to run on an electric engine. Your mockery aside, it is the most feasible way for an average person to green up their morning commute (not that many people will do it, but I am considering it).
If that link is correct, it is interesting (and completely unsurprising) to note that corporations have paid a smaller and smaller percentage of overall taxes down through the years. The first big jump seems to have showed up right after WWII. I'm sure that's because corporations have been making less and less money through the years.
The issue is whether the network is going to undercut its affiliates by building an alternate distribution model.
The network is clearly going to undercut its affiliates by building an alternate distribution model. In fact - this *is* an alternate distribution model. The issue is whether or not the affiliates will get any of the money from online distribution.
Is there any historical precedence in the US or other countries where the government is so obsessed with "the children" being exposed to anything that might be considered harmful or innapropriate?
The short answer is yes. Ever 80-100 years or so.
I'll spare you the long answer, but if you're really interested, you should go read the book Generations.
1. For most people (and the word "most" here refers to at least 99% of the world), the iPod *would* hold their entire collection of music.
2. I will never, ever, ever run with a non-flash mp3 player again. If you were a runner, you would understand. The hard drive will inevitably fail, probably within just a couple of months of frequent use.
Thankfully, Apple knows that your personal preferences don't accurately represent the market for mp3 players. If your preferences did accurately represent the market, you better believe that your magic device would exist. It would be large, bulky, and ugly, but it would sure fit your entire music collection.
Slashdot Mirror
Dude, seriously. RTFA again. Privatizing beer companies was unrelated to the nuclear emergency plans. Two unrelated items in the middle of a bunch of unrelated items.
Besides, I'd want hard liquor at that point.
The thing about wifi is that it's much cheaper and easier to setup a broadband infrastructure using wifi than it is to lay cables, especially in developing countries. This is a *forward thinking* project, with an assumption that wifi will continue to be more and more available worldwide. Seems like a pretty valid assumption to me, but we'll see...
Clearly, if I lived in an economically depressed area, the best way to help me learn technology would be to make me share (we'll be generous here) 100 computers at a library with everyone else in my community. That would be *far* better than giving everyone in the community a less functional laptop. We probably shouldn't bother sending the computers we don't want overseas anymore either (because, you know, they're too slow and don't run Windows XP fast enough). Remind me to throw away my PocketPC. Stupid piece of junk just can't compare to a good desktop computer.
Look, I'm sorry for the sarcasm, but if you really think a library is the way to go, why not do something about it? Why sit here and criticize a project that has legs that is genuinely trying to help these people in very economically depressed areas? I'm stupefied by the arguments that people come up with for not doing things to help those less fortunate than we are.
Seriously, give me a worst-case scenario here. At worst, the market is flooded with cheap laptops that don't work very well, and we've ended up throwing lots of good money after an idea that just can't work. But hey, that's better than throwing lots of good money at underdeveloped countries, and then watching the government steal it all. I think the chances are that this project does wonders for helping to educate thousands, perhaps millions of people (not just kids) who otherwise would never get their hands on technology. Even if they're just getting an education on how to use a crappy computer, that's still *great*! I just don't see the drawbacks to this idea, when I look at it from a global perspective.
I work in IT today because I taught myself computers, starting when I was 13. I never took a class, had only one class ever where there were computers in the classroom. But that learning environment was tightly controlled. Because I had the computer at home, I learned without constraints. And now it's my job.
All of which means I think there's a world of difference between giving a kid a laptop, and letting them use a computer in a lab at school occasionally. A world of difference.
In practicallity, there will be very little need for these in an area that can get internet access from a library.
If you really believe that, I think you should be the first to donate all of your computers to charity. Believe me, I'll be right behind you. Time to start hitting that library!
14 years ago, I was given a used x86 machine with no hard drive, and floppies for DOS, MS Word, and two computer games. I had never touched a computer or typewriter before. No one taught me how to use it, I just started playing around with it, and two years later graduated to a 486, and so on and so forth. Now, I run IT for a small company.
Much of the negative feedback for this project seems misplaced to me. I suspect that just because we don't know how these laptops will be used doesn't mean that they won't be used. I don't believe that there is "alot more that could be done with this money." I think this is similar to the argument against desktop computers back in the day - no one could imagine how they would be used, so it seemed like a big waste of time.
Here's my simple formulation of an argument: every little bit helps.
Why, because he happened to honest about how he chooses to use marijuana? In the long run, marijuana will be legalized as the general public realizes that normal people lead normal lives while occasionally using marijuana. Besides, legalization is a pie in the sky for at least 5 more years, probably many, many more.
Look - you can choose to believe what Bush says, or pay attention to his actions. His actions say that he's willing to undermine any and/or all core values that make America what it is in order to win this war. Personally, I'd rather lose this war on terrorism than sacrifice our rights and principles.
Some things are worse than death. I wish our president thought about that sometimes.
The only problem is that Arial was designed for print, not screen. Subjectively speaking, I can tell that difference. I hate writing papers in Arial, but they don't look nearly as bad printed out. If I remember correctly, Verdana was specifically designed as a substitute for Arial on the screen.
it's all about control
i suppose if it's an access point you could be right, but 90% of these are routers, so wouldn't dhcp be masking the MAC address of the user behind the firewall?
I agree completely. I have no idea what's going on with this Linksys lovefest, but to me this signals a continuation of technology companies and their move towards forced obsolescence.
Convenient strategy - establish market share with good products, then significantly lower the quality of the mass-market device. In the meantime, they'll keep the old product around so the geeks are happy - they'll just have to pay for it.
And yet again, the consumer gets screwed.
(before you go off on some capitalism rant, give me a break. actions like this are always short-sighted. way to go linksys, why innovate a better product when you can just lower your standards and make more money in the short term?)
I disagree with your assertion that a belief cannot be factually incorrect.
You are certainly welcome to your beliefs on the subject. Much current epistemological thought acknowledges that truth values and belief are two distinct aspects of knowledge. The problem you will always face is determining the truth value of a belief. It is much easier to show that a belief is probably incorrect than it is to show that a belief is "factually" incorrect. Facts are verifiable only because we develop a system of verifiability around them. Delve deep down into beliefs, and I think you'll find it much harder to find a system of verifiability. Especially personal moral and religious beliefs.
But hey, good luck with that!
But complaining that (alleged) terrorist internees are not being treated according to the convention merely shows that the complainer does not understand the convention.
Somehow I doubt that the chief of staff for the former Secretary of State does not understand the Geneva Convention, but I've been surprised before. Regardless, I don't think his point was about the Iraqis - it was about us. The way I see it, once we cross that line with "insurgents", it's a hell of a lot easier to cross it when we invade Iran or some other country.
As for "civilized warfare", where does the U.S. military using white phosphorus, which is banned by a treaty we conveniently haven't signed, fit in? It's amazing how much your comment sounds like something the British said during the Revolutionary War.
It's easy to have no evidence about Guantanamo, since the restrictions there are so tight. I'm sure you just ignore anything and everything Amnesty International has to say, but they do have this to say, plus a whole lot more:
Full judicial review of detention, and access to lawyers and independent human rights monitors, are basic safeguards against torture and ill-treatment, arbitrary detention, and "disappearance". Evidence that Guantánamo detainees have been tortured and ill-treated continues to mount, with FBI agents now added to the list of those making such allegations. Yesterday, the military announced that it will carry out an internal investigation into these latest allegations.
Anyways, I don't know about your home, but this picture from the BBC sure doesn't look like my backyard.
Look. I'm sure you enjoy playing word games, but Colin Powell's former chief of staff had this to say here:
"Lawrence Wilkerson, Secretary of State Colin Powell's chief of staff in the first Bush administration and a former colonel, said Thursday that the view of Cheney's office was put in "carefully couched" terms in memos but that to a soldier in the field it meant sometimes using interrogation techniques that "were not in accordance with the spirit of the Geneva Conventions and the law of war" to extract better intelligence."
You may want to say that Cheney doesn't espouse torture, or that Guantanamo isn't torturing detainees. That's fine. You keep using your "carefully couched" language. Personally, I'm going to keep asking for trials and public disclosure, so we can figure out for ourselves what's going on instead of having to listen to endless talking around the subject.
"And I saw TIVO coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The TIVO I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave TIVO his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of TIVO seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed TIVO. Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to TIVO, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like TIVO? Who can make war against him?"
If you have so little self-control that you can't keep yourself from wasting time on the Internet every chance you get, you're probably better off not being in school anyway.
I think you're ignoring the reality for many students, especially younger ones. Much is made of younger students' and their ability to multitask. For my ex-wife, multi-tasking wasn't just a way of life, it was a necessity. She had an extreme case of ADD, and despite gaining entrance to an Ivy League college and achieving good grades, found that she couldn't really pay attention in task without something to distract herself (in her case, it was knitting during lectures).
Personally, I work with about 20 Mozilla tabs open at all times, move between work and non-work materially fluidly and quickly, and accomplish more multitasking than I would if I was forced to focus on one thing at a time. When I was in college (without wireless), I often had a hard time maintaining focus on a lecture, and would often become drowsy and fall asleep. My grades and focus improved in grad school, when I did have wireless to occupy myself, and I stopped falling asleep.
There is no doubt some students who check the internet are lazy, but in grad school I found that it was always the smartest students (or, at least, the ones who received the best grades) who browsed the internet during lectures.
Then again, maybe the perception of Bush being a one hit wonder comes from them not kowtowing to the recording execs.
Yeah, somehow I don't think so. From the band's official biography, you'll notice that with their latest album, whatever it was, "The British quartet has returned to its hard-edged roots." Call me cynical, but I'm guessing those are 'record label roots'.
In my experience (UK) it's usually cheaper to drive, especially if the car has more than one person in it.
I'd love to see how you break these costs down. In New York City, it's pretty simple: 1. Buy unlimited monthly Metrocard for $76. Over ten years, that's just over $9,000, which compares quite favorably with the cost of purchasing a new/used car, before you ever do maintenance or pump gas or pay for insurance or the host of other associated costs. 2. Rent a car (out of the city) or take a taxi (in the city) on those few occasions when you really, really need to drive somewhere and can't borrow a car from a friend. At worst, still adds up to no more than an extra $500 a year. 3. Spend more money on booze. It's called supply and demand. With no car, I have a greater supply of money, and my demand for other products goes up. Win/win for me.
hydrogen is not really considered an eco-friendly fuel, because the exhaust is carbon dioxide, which (shock) is a greenhouse gas. it's a non-oil fuel, and cheaply available, which is why it's being researched (although the government is actually pushing for the use of hydrogen from non-renewable sources, which is insane to me).
You can affordably retrofit a motorcycle to run on an electric engine. Your mockery aside, it is the most feasible way for an average person to green up their morning commute (not that many people will do it, but I am considering it).
If that link is correct, it is interesting (and completely unsurprising) to note that corporations have paid a smaller and smaller percentage of overall taxes down through the years. The first big jump seems to have showed up right after WWII. I'm sure that's because corporations have been making less and less money through the years.
The issue is whether the network is going to undercut its affiliates by building an alternate distribution model.
The network is clearly going to undercut its affiliates by building an alternate distribution model. In fact - this *is* an alternate distribution model. The issue is whether or not the affiliates will get any of the money from online distribution.
The answer is obviously going to be no.
Is there any historical precedence in the US or other countries where the government is so obsessed with "the children" being exposed to anything that might be considered harmful or innapropriate?
The short answer is yes. Ever 80-100 years or so.
I'll spare you the long answer, but if you're really interested, you should go read the book Generations.
1. For most people (and the word "most" here refers to at least 99% of the world), the iPod *would* hold their entire collection of music.
2. I will never, ever, ever run with a non-flash mp3 player again. If you were a runner, you would understand. The hard drive will inevitably fail, probably within just a couple of months of frequent use.
Thankfully, Apple knows that your personal preferences don't accurately represent the market for mp3 players. If your preferences did accurately represent the market, you better believe that your magic device would exist. It would be large, bulky, and ugly, but it would sure fit your entire music collection.