This might be shooting themselves in the foot as well, but if youtube doesnt want to deal with this horse crap, they should pull the content from ALL providers with the statement of "due to the recent legal troubles with UMG and to prevent all further legal action against youtube, we do not wish to infringe on anyone's copyright therefore we are pulling all content from all providers (even those who have given permission to do so) to cover our asses." Let those who understand the power of this kind of marketing deal with the dinosaurs who dont. Youtube might not have enough influence, but im sure those who have embraced this model do.
Although, as said earlier, this could easily be complete suicide with no apprechiable gain.
While in theroy that is a great idea, in practice it will fail miserably. I would assume that a sizable portion of the population would be confused by two ballot boxes and believe that they are getting "two votes" even if there are signs/directions on the ballots/verbal directions/video directions and a person over their sholder telling them that the ballot is for one vote but go into two different machines. Instead have a computerized voting system that has a sealed bank of paper ballots (with an electronic copy), and prints out a paper ballot to be fed into a machine that will count the votes. This would produce the same result, but wouldnt confuse a lot of voters, and as an added bonus, this kind of system would be compatable with optical ballots so those who are too scared of computers can vote without fear.
My new policy on voting is to always vote out an incumbent, unless I've been especially happy with his performance.
The problem with this is that power inside of congress is based on senority, so if everyone but a few (consistent) members were voted out every term, those members could use their power for less than ethical means (bills never making it out of committee, tabled, not granted time on the floor, etc etc).
First, Let's not give the feds taxes directly!! They should have to depend fully on the states for their finances. This would not only help dry up 'pork' funds, but, might would also cut out what I find to be one of the nastiest things, having the Feds take tax dollars, then use them as blackmail over the states in order to get them to legislate laws the Feds really should have no power over. Witholding hwy funds really chaps my ass, and it is their fav. thing to do.
Been tried before. It was called the Articles of Confederation. It turned out that (suprise suprise) no one would give any money to the federal government and that provided for an crippled central government. No money means no central military, which means no defense (state militias cannot compare to a central military, there just is not enough cohesion), which means, eventually, no country....
The whole issue of states rights has been debated throughout American history as well. In fact, we had a little tussle over it in the middle of the 19th century.
Yeah, I'm sure it has nothing to do with firearm murder rates...
Yeah, nevermind the fact that most murders involve people who know each other, or the fact that many "gun free" nations have had their murder rates INCREASE from 1997-2001
Also best not to think that such countries have been democracies for longer than the US has even existed
Countries that have been democracies longer than the US?
France? Revolution (1789-1799)
Britan? Gradual syphoning of power from the monarchy (argueably 1265 with the first parliamentary election; however the king could still disband parliament, even after the English bill of rights the supremacy of the crown remained and still to this day is considered a constitutional monarchy), but by this you prove the gpp. Britan does not have the right to bear arms, yet every day there appears to be a new draconian law proposed or passed in the UK. Hell, if tomorrow they forced everyone to implant a rfid chip into their arm to make sure that everyone stayed in their predescribed "zone", what could they do? Attack parlament with pitch forks and bobby sticks?
Spain? Revolution/transition from a dictatorship (1939/1975)
Italy? Revolution (1845)
Germany? Consolidation of the nation states and wars
Netherlands? Still a monarchy (constitutional)
Are these the countries, the powers in eurpoe at the time, that you were refering to that have been democracies for longer than the US has even existed? There is a reason why the United States of America was called "an experiment in democracy". In western europe, it was a largely untried and untested political scheme.
While the first four I must concede would be expenses that could not be avoided, the last two (espically the sixth) I would assume to be rather negligable. With Enterprise recently canceled, it would be logical to assume that they could recycle some of those unused special effects, and on the last point, word of mouth and a few commercials would be enough to spread the word. Now that SG1 is cancled, that brings the number of good scifi shows down to one (Battlestar Galactica, which with how scifi deals with their hit shows will be off the air any day now) and any good scifi show, espically one with a history like Star Trek, would spread throughout the geek community like wildfire (for evidence of this kind of campagin look at Snakes in a Plane).
Not only that, but the profit that can be made from a new, good series (espically in scifi) would far outweigh the one time dvd sales; however, as jerf said "the evidence indicates that they are incapible of [producing] a good new series" which I must agree with. As much as I want a good new Star Trek, I am not holding my breath.
Instead of spending money on remastering startrek, why not spend the cash on producing a new, good series? Yeah, seeing TOS in new, 3d graphics is appealing, but i would much rather see a new show of the same quality of TOS but with the new eye candy.
What, exactly, do meteorites "explain" about the origin of life? In other words, what puzzle do meteorites explain that can't be explained otherwise?
Meteorites do not explain anything that cannot be explained by other methods (such as that seen in the Urey-Miller experiment); however meteorites have been found to contain organic compounds not unlike those found on earth. This offers the possibility that our planet was seeded by a meteorite. Meteorites offer one explination as they are seen as possibily seeding the world with the organic compounds needed to make simple single protocell structures. These amino acids along with heat and time with other inorganic compounds (depending on the theroy you choose the exact method will vary) will form to create a protocell.
In response to your second part
Or to put it still another way, what key thing would meteorites contribute that "explains" life?
that has already been answered. Meteorites could seed the world with the organic compounds needed to create protocell structures. Once again, meteorites are only one explination to the question of the origin of life. In other words, it is possible that meteorites planted the initial seed that allowed the spawning of protocelled structures, or it is possible that the organic compounds were created on Earth.
Its not the fact that meteorites are "more likely" to carry the organic chemicals nessicary to building life. Rather, it offers one explination to the question of the orgin of life. Another explanation comes from the Miller-Urey experiment. This experiment simuliated the early Earth atmosphere and created organic compounds from simple elements via continuous electrical discharge.
Life doesnt "begin" on a meteorite, but the building blocks can be found on meteorites. Meteorites have been found to contain amino acids, protiens widely considered the building blocks of life.
"...Similar launches of historical websites in the past have struggled to keep up with server loads in their first days and weeks, so it remains to be seen whether the Domesday Book online will be more or less fragile than the parchment originals."
So lets put it on the front page of slashdot. As if that will help it out....
Id reconsider purchasing the playstation 3 for use as a bluray player. If history repeats itself (which has held consistent for all previous sony consoles), the first gen will have massive problems. I remember my friends complaining about the audio hell that sony shipped for dvd playback combined with a less than stellar picture, but then again, the console was not designed primarily as a game console, not as a dvd playback machine, so if you are willing to endure a less perfect picture and possible hardware failures (ie: disk read errors not unlike those found on the ps2), then the ps3 would be an ok choice; however, as it seems you have never owned a gaming console (or do not play on them anymore), what reason would you have to get the ps3 aside from viewing bluray videos? Just wait for the prices of the machines to come down and forgoe having to worry about all the baggage that a gaming console may bring.
When has norton ever been an essential application? If a person is resonably cautious and knows the basics of computer security there is no need to have an antivirus program that clogs the system. Peridoic web checkups do just fine.
On another note, now that this software has lost its credability with the clergy (as CHP has advised members to ignore threat warnings dealing with this software) im willing to wager that many clergy members would be willing to ignore many future threat warnings with the fear that the progam will break some other essential application. The money spent on the licenses for norton would be better spent on education for the clergy so they can avoid these problems all together.
Not only do random acts of God throw off prediction, but in order to accurately predict the weather, these scientists are going to have to calculate all the possible inputs less they find a "best fit" model that accurately predicts the first 10 years but deviates from the pattern immediately after. A rather challenging task.
The best games are those that are able to mix story, gameplay and setting seamlessly. Story, like other features, when integrated well into the game adds much more to the immersion and feeling. All good games have moments where the players are in awe of the mechanics and raw gameplay. All great games allow the player to forget that he is playing a game.
While it is possible to create such a feeling without story (mario and sonic and re4 come to mind), the use of story, when well implemented, allows the player to experience more than just numbers on a screen. Jaffe speaks of playing on the emotions of the players in a game, but I do not see how he can do this without drawing the player into the game and making him feel as though he is there. By throwing away story because he believes it is boring, he is throwing away a major tool that will aid him in creating the games he wants.
"Isn't good enough for you? The prize for abolishing disease, starvation, education and humanity isn't worthy? come on" If rich people were truly serious about abolishing that, they wouldn't live on anything more then $100,000 until these goals were accomplished.
Despite his immense wealth, Buffett is famous for his unpretentious and frugal lifestyle. He continues to live in the same house in Omaha he bought in 1958 for $31,500.[3] His chairman's salary from Berkshire Hathaway of $100,000 per annum is extremely modest by corporate American standards.
Emphasis mine
The "Vae Victis" saying is just part of the myth's of early republic times unless you honestly believe that a conquered people would argue over the amount of tribute in order to save their city. Secondly, latin does not pronounce "v's" like we do. All V's are pronounced as w's and that is that. How hard is it to believe that something sounds "odd" to your ears but sounds normal to those living in that society (ie: japanese substituting r's for l's). Therefore it is very foolish to assume that because something sounds odd it is wrong.
Lets see, congress drags the big search engine executives in and reprimands them for cow-towing to the Chinese in their censorship efforts. Then when the tel-cos decide they want to censor not with regard to politics but in the name of The Dollar, congress is all for it. This is a perfect example of the ridiculous state of our affairs.
Censorship for a political gain = bad
Censorship for a financial gain = good
By that logic congress would be all for google's censoring to gain the chinese market as there is lots of cash to be made in that budding market.
IIRC Sony never ment the PS3 to be a gaming console. This was the console designed to be the catchall for home multimedia experience (i would provide links, but google fails me. This isnt a big surprise that Sony is pressing the fact that the PS3 is "super duper with MEGA ULTRA POWERFUL FEATURES AT A GREAT VALUE!!11" The company is banking that people will throw down a large sum of cash for early adoption of technology; however, as in the past, Sony's first generation gaming products have always had major flaws, so those who would more than likely spend the cash for the early adoption of these technologies would stay far away from these products (remember the "lovely" dvd playback in the PS2 first generations?)
What Sony is forgetting is that the playstation has been dominant in the market not because of its "extra features"; instead, the reason that Sony has dominated the past two generations is because of the rich library of games. By touting the system not as a gaming system and claiming it as a "multimedia system", Sony is alienating the one, and obviously the single most important group in the gaming industry, the gamer.
--
Sony has never called their system a gaming console, instead calling it a "supercomputer for computer entertainment."
I live in hurricane alley. I have survived numerous hurricanes in my life, and I can say with 100% certianty that no one pays any damn attention to any of the suggestions posted by any emergency agency until 48 hours before the hurricane.
No one evacuates until the order is given (even then a lot of people will stay in their homes considering the VAST majority of hurricanes are marginal and at most cause power outages and minor property damage). No one stocks up on food or water until the hurricane warning is given. No one does a damn thing until the "last minite". I know this because EVERY DAMN TIME it is the exact same.
Not only that, but you seem to forget the MOST IMPORTANT fact about this hurricane. NOLA is one of the poorest cities in the united states. The average income is 17k and 25% of the population is below the poverty line. These people couldnt prepare even if they wanted to. If you have ever been to the area, you would realize the truth of these facts. While saying that they are "arrogant to sit this one out" may be true in some cases, to honestly think that it is the case in NOLA is blatantly ignorant.
If you are going to debate with someone, at least debate things I've actually said. I never said libraries werent useful. I said books arent useful to me personally. I don't have a use for books anymore because I know the technology. I'm posting here on slashdot when I could be reading a book, the newspaper, etc. Why? The internet has more diversity of information.
Damn near all of the information on the internet is copy/pasted from 2-3 sources. Any search in google will easily prove this.
The library has a very restricted westernized style of handling information, a lot of the best information might not be at that specific library you are at, and I doubt you want to travel from library to library looking for that important book.
You make it seem as if "westernized style of handling information" is a bad thing; however, i can understand why a standarized library organization system can be annoying. Knowing exactly where your book is located in any library can be a pita. BTW, most libraries have a library loan program so you dont have to travel from library to library to get your book. In city loans usually take 1-2 days to fill, and in some districts you can *gasp* reserve the book and have it transfered to the branch you want ONLINE from home!
I don't know about you but all that matters to me is portability and access to information. PDAs are more portable than books, and the internet is a better model of distribution. These are facts and you cannot argue against it.
Glad to know that you dont care about the reliability of your information at all. Glad to see that you will believe any written text placed in front of your computer screen. BTW, if you want a great site for current events, may i suggest http://www.theonion.com/ its easy to access and has PDF'S!!!
The internet as a better mode of distrobution? Electronic distrobution for print media is far inferior to the classic form. New is not always better. Books do not have annoying glare or contrast issues. Books do not get completely destroied in the rain. Books do not have a "limited view time". I can read a book in the bath tub, whereas i wont even think of using an electronic device near water. There is also the major disparity in the number of ebooks compared to regular print media. Lets say that i want to find a book modeling the ancient greek style of education and comparing it to our modern system, or about the cult of isis, or any other non technological work. I wont be able to find one; however i can find hundreds of sources within the 4 libraries in town. Honestly, how can you say that electronic books are more portable than books with a straight face. The only advantage gained from electronic distrobution is the number of books you can carry around at once, and thats nothing to brag to folks. book count != smarts.
Slashdot Mirror
This might be shooting themselves in the foot as well, but if youtube doesnt want to deal with this horse crap, they should pull the content from ALL providers with the statement of "due to the recent legal troubles with UMG and to prevent all further legal action against youtube, we do not wish to infringe on anyone's copyright therefore we are pulling all content from all providers (even those who have given permission to do so) to cover our asses." Let those who understand the power of this kind of marketing deal with the dinosaurs who dont. Youtube might not have enough influence, but im sure those who have embraced this model do.
Although, as said earlier, this could easily be complete suicide with no apprechiable gain.
While in theroy that is a great idea, in practice it will fail miserably. I would assume that a sizable portion of the population would be confused by two ballot boxes and believe that they are getting "two votes" even if there are signs/directions on the ballots/verbal directions/video directions and a person over their sholder telling them that the ballot is for one vote but go into two different machines. Instead have a computerized voting system that has a sealed bank of paper ballots (with an electronic copy), and prints out a paper ballot to be fed into a machine that will count the votes. This would produce the same result, but wouldnt confuse a lot of voters, and as an added bonus, this kind of system would be compatable with optical ballots so those who are too scared of computers can vote without fear.
My new policy on voting is to always vote out an incumbent, unless I've been especially happy with his performance.
The problem with this is that power inside of congress is based on senority, so if everyone but a few (consistent) members were voted out every term, those members could use their power for less than ethical means (bills never making it out of committee, tabled, not granted time on the floor, etc etc).
First, Let's not give the feds taxes directly!! They should have to depend fully on the states for their finances. This would not only help dry up 'pork' funds, but, might would also cut out what I find to be one of the nastiest things, having the Feds take tax dollars, then use them as blackmail over the states in order to get them to legislate laws the Feds really should have no power over. Witholding hwy funds really chaps my ass, and it is their fav. thing to do.
Been tried before. It was called the Articles of Confederation. It turned out that (suprise suprise) no one would give any money to the federal government and that provided for an crippled central government. No money means no central military, which means no defense (state militias cannot compare to a central military, there just is not enough cohesion), which means, eventually, no country....
The whole issue of states rights has been debated throughout American history as well. In fact, we had a little tussle over it in the middle of the 19th century.
Yeah, nevermind the fact that most murders involve people who know each other, or the fact that many "gun free" nations have had their murder rates INCREASE from 1997-2001
Also best not to think that such countries have been democracies for longer than the US has even existed
Countries that have been democracies longer than the US?
Are these the countries, the powers in eurpoe at the time, that you were refering to that have been democracies for longer than the US has even existed? There is a reason why the United States of America was called "an experiment in democracy". In western europe, it was a largely untried and untested political scheme.
While the first four I must concede would be expenses that could not be avoided, the last two (espically the sixth) I would assume to be rather negligable. With Enterprise recently canceled, it would be logical to assume that they could recycle some of those unused special effects, and on the last point, word of mouth and a few commercials would be enough to spread the word. Now that SG1 is cancled, that brings the number of good scifi shows down to one (Battlestar Galactica, which with how scifi deals with their hit shows will be off the air any day now) and any good scifi show, espically one with a history like Star Trek, would spread throughout the geek community like wildfire (for evidence of this kind of campagin look at Snakes in a Plane).
Not only that, but the profit that can be made from a new, good series (espically in scifi) would far outweigh the one time dvd sales; however, as jerf said "the evidence indicates that they are incapible of [producing] a good new series" which I must agree with. As much as I want a good new Star Trek, I am not holding my breath.
Instead of spending money on remastering startrek, why not spend the cash on producing a new, good series? Yeah, seeing TOS in new, 3d graphics is appealing, but i would much rather see a new show of the same quality of TOS but with the new eye candy.
Yes mr AC nevermind the fact that the building blocks of life have been found elsewhere aside from our planet.
In response to your first point
What, exactly, do meteorites "explain" about the origin of life? In other words, what puzzle do meteorites explain that can't be explained otherwise?
Meteorites do not explain anything that cannot be explained by other methods (such as that seen in the Urey-Miller experiment); however meteorites have been found to contain organic compounds not unlike those found on earth. This offers the possibility that our planet was seeded by a meteorite. Meteorites offer one explination as they are seen as possibily seeding the world with the organic compounds needed to make simple single protocell structures. These amino acids along with heat and time with other inorganic compounds (depending on the theroy you choose the exact method will vary) will form to create a protocell.
In response to your second part
Or to put it still another way, what key thing would meteorites contribute that "explains" life?
that has already been answered. Meteorites could seed the world with the organic compounds needed to create protocell structures. Once again, meteorites are only one explination to the question of the origin of life. In other words, it is possible that meteorites planted the initial seed that allowed the spawning of protocelled structures, or it is possible that the organic compounds were created on Earth.
Its not the fact that meteorites are "more likely" to carry the organic chemicals nessicary to building life. Rather, it offers one explination to the question of the orgin of life. Another explanation comes from the Miller-Urey experiment. This experiment simuliated the early Earth atmosphere and created organic compounds from simple elements via continuous electrical discharge.
my bad, the building blocks of protiens.
origin of life
another source
millions of sources
Life doesnt "begin" on a meteorite, but the building blocks can be found on meteorites. Meteorites have been found to contain amino acids, protiens widely considered the building blocks of life.
"...Similar launches of historical websites in the past have struggled to keep up with server loads in their first days and weeks, so it remains to be seen whether the Domesday Book online will be more or less fragile than the parchment originals."
So lets put it on the front page of slashdot. As if that will help it out....
Id reconsider purchasing the playstation 3 for use as a bluray player. If history repeats itself (which has held consistent for all previous sony consoles), the first gen will have massive problems. I remember my friends complaining about the audio hell that sony shipped for dvd playback combined with a less than stellar picture, but then again, the console was not designed primarily as a game console, not as a dvd playback machine, so if you are willing to endure a less perfect picture and possible hardware failures (ie: disk read errors not unlike those found on the ps2), then the ps3 would be an ok choice; however, as it seems you have never owned a gaming console (or do not play on them anymore), what reason would you have to get the ps3 aside from viewing bluray videos? Just wait for the prices of the machines to come down and forgoe having to worry about all the baggage that a gaming console may bring.
When has norton ever been an essential application? If a person is resonably cautious and knows the basics of computer security there is no need to have an antivirus program that clogs the system. Peridoic web checkups do just fine.
On another note, now that this software has lost its credability with the clergy (as CHP has advised members to ignore threat warnings dealing with this software) im willing to wager that many clergy members would be willing to ignore many future threat warnings with the fear that the progam will break some other essential application. The money spent on the licenses for norton would be better spent on education for the clergy so they can avoid these problems all together.
Not only do random acts of God throw off prediction, but in order to accurately predict the weather, these scientists are going to have to calculate all the possible inputs less they find a "best fit" model that accurately predicts the first 10 years but deviates from the pattern immediately after. A rather challenging task.
The best games are those that are able to mix story, gameplay and setting seamlessly. Story, like other features, when integrated well into the game adds much more to the immersion and feeling. All good games have moments where the players are in awe of the mechanics and raw gameplay. All great games allow the player to forget that he is playing a game.
While it is possible to create such a feeling without story (mario and sonic and re4 come to mind), the use of story, when well implemented, allows the player to experience more than just numbers on a screen. Jaffe speaks of playing on the emotions of the players in a game, but I do not see how he can do this without drawing the player into the game and making him feel as though he is there. By throwing away story because he believes it is boring, he is throwing away a major tool that will aid him in creating the games he wants.
i always seem to read comments such as these after blowing my mod points -_-
"Isn't good enough for you? The prize for abolishing disease, starvation, education and humanity isn't worthy? come on" If rich people were truly serious about abolishing that, they wouldn't live on anything more then $100,000 until these goals were accomplished.
Quoted from wikipeida
Despite his immense wealth, Buffett is famous for his unpretentious and frugal lifestyle. He continues to live in the same house in Omaha he bought in 1958 for $31,500.[3] His chairman's salary from Berkshire Hathaway of $100,000 per annum is extremely modest by corporate American standards.
Emphasis mine
Ill bite....
The "Vae Victis" saying is just part of the myth's of early republic times unless you honestly believe that a conquered people would argue over the amount of tribute in order to save their city. Secondly, latin does not pronounce "v's" like we do. All V's are pronounced as w's and that is that. How hard is it to believe that something sounds "odd" to your ears but sounds normal to those living in that society (ie: japanese substituting r's for l's). Therefore it is very foolish to assume that because something sounds odd it is wrong.
Censorship for a political gain = bad
Censorship for a financial gain = good
By that logic congress would be all for google's censoring to gain the chinese market as there is lots of cash to be made in that budding market.
Dont know why this is modded funny as New Jersey has a law that does not allow for self serve pumps
What Sony is forgetting is that the playstation has been dominant in the market not because of its "extra features"; instead, the reason that Sony has dominated the past two generations is because of the rich library of games. By touting the system not as a gaming system and claiming it as a "multimedia system", Sony is alienating the one, and obviously the single most important group in the gaming industry, the gamer.
--
Sony has never called their system a gaming console, instead calling it a "supercomputer for computer entertainment."
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/05/16/news_61246 81.html
No one evacuates until the order is given (even then a lot of people will stay in their homes considering the VAST majority of hurricanes are marginal and at most cause power outages and minor property damage). No one stocks up on food or water until the hurricane warning is given. No one does a damn thing until the "last minite". I know this because EVERY DAMN TIME it is the exact same.
Not only that, but you seem to forget the MOST IMPORTANT fact about this hurricane. NOLA is one of the poorest cities in the united states. The average income is 17k and 25% of the population is below the poverty line. These people couldnt prepare even if they wanted to. If you have ever been to the area, you would realize the truth of these facts. While saying that they are "arrogant to sit this one out" may be true in some cases, to honestly think that it is the case in NOLA is blatantly ignorant.
Damn near all of the information on the internet is copy/pasted from 2-3 sources. Any search in google will easily prove this.
The library has a very restricted westernized style of handling information, a lot of the best information might not be at that specific library you are at, and I doubt you want to travel from library to library looking for that important book.
You make it seem as if "westernized style of handling information" is a bad thing; however, i can understand why a standarized library organization system can be annoying. Knowing exactly where your book is located in any library can be a pita. BTW, most libraries have a library loan program so you dont have to travel from library to library to get your book. In city loans usually take 1-2 days to fill, and in some districts you can *gasp* reserve the book and have it transfered to the branch you want ONLINE from home!
I don't know about you but all that matters to me is portability and access to information. PDAs are more portable than books, and the internet is a better model of distribution. These are facts and you cannot argue against it.
Glad to know that you dont care about the reliability of your information at all. Glad to see that you will believe any written text placed in front of your computer screen. BTW, if you want a great site for current events, may i suggest http://www.theonion.com/ its easy to access and has PDF'S!!!
The internet as a better mode of distrobution? Electronic distrobution for print media is far inferior to the classic form. New is not always better. Books do not have annoying glare or contrast issues. Books do not get completely destroied in the rain. Books do not have a "limited view time". I can read a book in the bath tub, whereas i wont even think of using an electronic device near water. There is also the major disparity in the number of ebooks compared to regular print media. Lets say that i want to find a book modeling the ancient greek style of education and comparing it to our modern system, or about the cult of isis, or any other non technological work. I wont be able to find one; however i can find hundreds of sources within the 4 libraries in town. Honestly, how can you say that electronic books are more portable than books with a straight face. The only advantage gained from electronic distrobution is the number of books you can carry around at once, and thats nothing to brag to folks. book count != smarts.