I'm surprised Apple was able to keep the fixed price as long as they did. I wonder if forced, if they will seek to make it easier for independant artists to have their music sold through the store (most likely at a higher percentage for google), in an attempt to offer more content for a lower price.
Do they already support independant artists (and I mean more then a token amount)? If so, then that's great. I hadn't heard.
People don't care about Monad or new file systems - they want nice GUIs with RSS integrated - IE with tabs etc...
Not really correct for you're average "get a computer for the kids" person. Most people won't a computer that will work with most of the software that is available on the market. Windows provides that for them. If it was a pretty computer, then Macs would be the dominant player.
What's funny is that every one of those features is available today in a Linux distro near you. Yet still nobody listens and switches to linux in droves, but many wait for vista
I think sometimes everyone is a sheep
You're welcome to think what you want, but it doesn't make it true. I've tried to install Linux 3 times, each time I failed (either with the installation itself or setting up the network). Linux for the non-geek is not easy, Windows is.
and that in turn would expose the Earth to the full-on radiation of the Sun.
We've been exposed to it before and survived. Which is very interesting, when you consider Mars doesn't have one. Perhaps being outside of one on a planet isn't THAT bad (AFAIK it'd be better to be on Mars then on Earth without one, as Mars is further away).
I wonder what the rotation rate of Mars' core is. We know it's either liquid or solid and liquid (the latter being what Earth has), so it could have a difference, which would create a magnetic field. Only problem is, Mars doesn't have a magnetic field. However, Mars' field might also be hiding, as it does on Earth when changing the north and south poles which can take hundred to thousands of years. Now we've only been watching Mars with any sophistication for decades, which means Mars could have a field that's currently undergoing a reversal. If it isn't undergoing a reversal, and the two rotations are different, then it would prove enlightening on why that is the case.
So I'm just wondering: does this delta-omega have anything to do with the fact that the Earth's magnetic field reverses itself every 200,000 years or so?
The dominant theory is that they are an inherent aspect of the dynamo processes that maintain the Earth's magnetic field. In computer simulations, it is observed that magnetic field lines can sometimes become tangled and disorganized through the chaotic motions of liquid metal in the Earth's core
I'd suggest looking for more authorative sources if you're truly interested.
Please begin rampant conjecture and wild speculation.
homo erectus and their ancestors certainly survived many previous reversals. There is no uncontested evidence that a magnetic field reversal has ever caused any biological extinctions.
Makes me wonder how geomagnetic reversals coincide with the speciation and evolution of our ancestors (or any animals). The extra radiation might not have killed them, but it certainly could have mixed things up, create higher then normal mutation rates. The last one was 780,000 years ago. Homo sapiens sapiens hasn't ever existed while there's been a geomagnetic reversal. It could be that by the time we came around, the mutations had died down to a normal rate.
1. Make reference to really bad movie. 2. Mention title of movie for the hard of hearing. 3. Create a pretend lesson learnt from the really bad movie. 4. In a new post in a duplicate account, make reference to how pathetic the original post is. 5. ???? 6. Profit^H^H^H^H Karma?
If you want neat news for geeks, I suggest you try: reddit.com
Most people come here for the comments. I'm not seeing comments there. So it's not really an applicable alternative to slashdot. I'd love to go to somewhere that's like slashdot, but without the bullshit. Unfortunately nowhere but slashdot has the comments (in any significant quantity anyway. A favourite is technocrati (or whatever it is) which gets 10 comments a day if lucky).
They are violating copyright law over which Federal government has full jurisdiction as provided by the Constitution. The proper course of action is to present suits against the infringers directly.
Then arrest them, and allow hollywood to sue them for actual damages done (not theoretical damages over people who may have theoretically bought a movie). How much money/physical goods did Hollywood have, that was then taken away by the filesharers? Allow them to be reimbursed for that.
If it's against the law, then charge these people.
WOW, all I can say is that it's a shame... there is nothing like books when it comes to learning; it's not easy to highlight, markup and take notes on a public computer or a loaned out laptop.
Wow, it's extremely easy to take notes on ANY computer (IMO much easier then it is with paper, I've been paperless for 2 years now and I haven't looked back at all). And thanks to eReader, it's extremely easy to highlight.
When giving someone new information, they also have to assimilate it in some (preliminary) form.
That's actually a good point. Reading the lecture slides beforehand is a good preliminary way to get familiarised with the information, the next step is to attend the lecture and the teacher talk to you, providing content that compliments the lecture notes, rather then going over the same information. The slide merely serves as a way to keep track of where in the lecture you are (and to allow the teacher to go into more depth on what the slide says or to explain a diagram).
Look at the effect Powerpoint presentations serve at work. Much as management _loves_ colourful powerpoint slides, I've yet to be even in a single meeting where they actually helped.
Being a university student, I've thankfully yet had that experience;) Are overhead projector sheets used in a fashion that's so much better then powerpoint slides? If yes, then I guess you've just had a bad experience with powerpoint slides. Because the good teachers I've had, used powerpoint slides exactly like other teachers use overhead projector sheets (in fact, they often brought both as a back-up), but merely speed up the switching between slides (and allow easy back and forth movement). In fact, all of the overhead projector slides for my classes (those few that use them) are done in powerpoint;)
Nobody listens, the speaker just reads every bullet point, nobody checks anything.
That's too bad (although by the sounds of it you've had the occassional good lecturer because you said almost;)). I've had my fair share of bad lecturers, but the good ones make good use of powerpoint slides and do more then just read the bullet points.
When I was an undergrad (1997-2001), our lectures were all OHP or board-based. We were given printed lecture notes at the beginning of every lecture or course
Most people print out the powerpoint slides (provided in PDF format with 6 to a page by the lecturer) and do exactly that. The advantage is, if it gets lost it isn't the lecturers responsibility to get a replacement (which I imagine they bitch when forced to), but they allow those of us who use paperless systems of study to not be forced to use paper (I'm one of them;) It's so much easier to modify my lecture notes which I made a few days before the lecture, rather then scribble out and write in the margins;)). The point to my post is, there's nothing that different between OHP and powerpoints (in fact the teachers that do use OHP at my uni, did so in powerpoint so they could put them on the web as well), it just depends on whose using them.
I've had a professor try to pack in months of material into a couple weeks.
This isn't something that's intrinsic in powerpoint. I've thankfully not had this problem, and all lectures haven't had an information overload. But content on the board -does- still take longer to convey to the students. It takes longer to write it down, then to display a slide, and speak about the points it raises. Also, lecture slides aren't meant to be covered during the lecture (by a good lecturer anyway IMO). Students should read the content beforehand so they know what the lecture is about, already have in mind any areas that they aren't too sure about (so they can then ask questions if what the lecturer says isn't enough for them to understand, in theory anyway;)). The lecturer shouldn't read what's on the slide, but should instead provide additional information.
you need parse the lecture better and only write down the key concepts and important diagrams rather than copying everything that is written.
Well thankfully for one of the courses that I had a board-only teacher, she was taking content straight from the textbook, so I would just open it up and write down additional points so I could then read it and make my own notes later. Parsing what a teacher says and what's on the board while seeing content for the first time, isn't easy or simple. A lot of good important information is lost. One class I had particular trouble with, was maths. Examples of the formula is one of the most useful things to take down, but also one of the most difficult things as teachers are inclined to destroy it before I have it all written down (I wasn't the only one who had this problem, and the teacher strongly encouraged us to write down the examples), so he had to wait for us, or if he was feeling fairly rushed, we miss out.
Either the professor failed to provide adequate supporting material,
I've yet to have a lecturer that provided more material then the lecture notes, textbook, example programs and the occassional URL. All of my board-only lecturers only provided what's on the board and the textbook.
But the basics my parents learned are more relevant today than ever - reading and writing and arithmatic should be the core studies required for all students.
Nice straw-man argument, but I believe no-one said otherwise (and unless the American education system has become really, really screwed up, those three are core studies required for all students).
language (especially for those of us in the US who think English is the only language)
Americans must be really stupid if there is anyone (who doesn't have physical disabilities affecting their cognitive skills) who believes English is the only language.
Teach the buggers how to talk, write, and think. I'm sorry, but your courses will not gurantee (or even encourage) people to think or actually talk (regurgitate yes, talk no). History in particular (and to a lesser extant your artistic course) is one that would benefit greatly from use of technology. History can become very dogmatic and to gain a perspective of history that is closer to reality rather then what a particular group of people want you to believe, technology can be of great benefit. Books can be old and one-sided, whereas use of the internet (I'd say encyclopedias on CDs, as they could be installed on multiple computers or burnt and given to students for a low price for those schools that tend to have poor families and are underfunded themselves, but thanks to copyright laws that educational aid isn't possible until Open Source and CC encyclopedias are better refined) allows a much broader perspective to be gained as there are a hell of a lot more sources. However to gain access to those sources some tools need to be taught. Simple computer and internet skills (depending on how young the kids are), but also more fundamental skills such as critical thinking, questioning where information is coming from, learning where the reliable sources are, and what aren't. Those are skills that will encourage thinking, and aren't stressed as much in the mode of thinking where "if it's in a book from the library it's safe to put into your assignment" is true.
Tech is fine when used sanely with a purpose within a larger designed teaching environment. If something has to go, let it be tech in favor or better teachers.
I think most will agree, but getting rid of tech won't magically create those better teachers.
Agreed 100%. Powerpoint lectures are definitely inferior to the tried and true technique of writing on the board.
1. Writing on the board means the teacher can't cover as much material (even though the material might actually be relevant to the course, but then I suppose most students aren't going to complain about courses having less content) because it takes longer (I've had classes at university where there were powerpoint lectures and board-only lectures).
2. It's also difficult to place it on the web, forcing me to concentrate on writing down what's on the board and not what's being said. Compared to my sister (whose a much better student then me, but who most of the time is stuck with board-only content), I'm able to get more out of my lectures.
Indeed, but generally I would say that 1 person = 1 cpu
Not really. I surf the internet at home and at school. I imagine I'm not alone. So I would be registered as two different people.
Indeed, but generally I would say that 1 person = 1 cpu, apart from shared cpus such as in schools, web cafes and such
You forgot "pretty much anyone who doesn't alive alone and has a computer with internet access at home." Let's not forget that tiny percentage of people (I know, most slashdotters visit slashdot while avoiding work, but there are people out there who have families that have more then one person using a single computer. It's crazy I know).
you'd be surprised how many options are available once you grow a pair and decide to make your move.
Wow, that's an offensive way to make your point. Just so you know, I've tried 3 times to make the move to Linux, each time I've been unable to (difficulty lies with me of course, I'm not very computer literate). So don't make the assumption that just because someone is using Windows, it's because they haven't tried to move to Linux. I have tried, I've been unsuccessful so far.
Forcing Linux on users really fits in with the open-source mentality of choice.
My sarcasm detector beeped when I read your post, but it does fit with the GNU GPL mentality. GNU GPL forces people to redistribute their modifications under open-source. Forcing people to move to Linux isn't too much of a leap (sure no-one forced the person to modify the GPL code, but for truly free and open software, BSD is the way to go, and I'm going to get modded down for that).
Or we can just use stuff like coral cache and not destroy the person's server. Yeah, it's slower. But it's cheaper for the person whose server it was, and everyone gets the article.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm surprised Apple was able to keep the fixed price as long as they did. I wonder if forced, if they will seek to make it easier for independant artists to have their music sold through the store (most likely at a higher percentage for google), in an attempt to offer more content for a lower price.
Do they already support independant artists (and I mean more then a token amount)? If so, then that's great. I hadn't heard.
Actually I posted it in the right thread, right article even. Just the wrong quote :P
People don't care about Monad or new file systems - they want nice GUIs with RSS integrated - IE with tabs etc...
You sir is why slashdot is becoming as shit as it is.
People don't care about Monad or new file systems - they want nice GUIs with RSS integrated - IE with tabs etc...
Not really correct for you're average "get a computer for the kids" person. Most people won't a computer that will work with most of the software that is available on the market. Windows provides that for them. If it was a pretty computer, then Macs would be the dominant player.
What's funny is that every one of those features is available today in a Linux distro near you. Yet still nobody listens and switches to linux in droves, but many wait for vista
I think sometimes everyone is a sheep
You're welcome to think what you want, but it doesn't make it true. I've tried to install Linux 3 times, each time I failed (either with the installation itself or setting up the network). Linux for the non-geek is not easy, Windows is.
and that in turn would expose the Earth to the full-on radiation of the Sun.
We've been exposed to it before and survived. Which is very interesting, when you consider Mars doesn't have one. Perhaps being outside of one on a planet isn't THAT bad (AFAIK it'd be better to be on Mars then on Earth without one, as Mars is further away).
I wonder what the rotation rate of Mars' core is. We know it's either liquid or solid and liquid (the latter being what Earth has), so it could have a difference, which would create a magnetic field. Only problem is, Mars doesn't have a magnetic field. However, Mars' field might also be hiding, as it does on Earth when changing the north and south poles which can take hundred to thousands of years. Now we've only been watching Mars with any sophistication for decades, which means Mars could have a field that's currently undergoing a reversal. If it isn't undergoing a reversal, and the two rotations are different, then it would prove enlightening on why that is the case.
Well, according to Wikipedia why the reversal happens isn't well understood, so it very well could be. However there are some hints that this is the case in the Geomagnetic excursion page: I'd suggest looking for more authorative sources if you're truly interested.
Please begin rampant conjecture and wild speculation.
Don't mind if I do. From Geomagnetic reversal at wikipedia: Makes me wonder how geomagnetic reversals coincide with the speciation and evolution of our ancestors (or any animals). The extra radiation might not have killed them, but it certainly could have mixed things up, create higher then normal mutation rates. The last one was 780,000 years ago. Homo sapiens sapiens hasn't ever existed while there's been a geomagnetic reversal. It could be that by the time we came around, the mutations had died down to a normal rate.
1. Make reference to really bad movie.
2. Mention title of movie for the hard of hearing.
3. Create a pretend lesson learnt from the really bad movie.
4. In a new post in a duplicate account, make reference to how pathetic the original post is.
5. ????
6. Profit^H^H^H^H Karma?
If you want neat news for geeks, I suggest you try: reddit.com
Most people come here for the comments. I'm not seeing comments there. So it's not really an applicable alternative to slashdot. I'd love to go to somewhere that's like slashdot, but without the bullshit. Unfortunately nowhere but slashdot has the comments (in any significant quantity anyway. A favourite is technocrati (or whatever it is) which gets 10 comments a day if lucky).
They are violating copyright law over which Federal government has full jurisdiction as provided by the Constitution. The proper course of action is to present suits against the infringers directly.
Then arrest them, and allow hollywood to sue them for actual damages done (not theoretical damages over people who may have theoretically bought a movie). How much money/physical goods did Hollywood have, that was then taken away by the filesharers? Allow them to be reimbursed for that.
If it's against the law, then charge these people.
I suspect that the engineers involved in Vigin Galactic are not complete morons
;)
I doubt it. In a cost-saving move I doubt the engineers even have college degrees. After all, it's not like it's rocket science
WOW, all I can say is that it's a shame ... there is nothing like books when it comes to learning; it's not easy to highlight, markup and take notes on a public computer or a loaned out laptop.
Wow, it's extremely easy to take notes on ANY computer (IMO much easier then it is with paper, I've been paperless for 2 years now and I haven't looked back at all). And thanks to eReader, it's extremely easy to highlight.
They also don't need this "repair shop"...Whatever it may be.
I guess you don't read many library books.
When giving someone new information, they also have to assimilate it in some (preliminary) form.
;) Are overhead projector sheets used in a fashion that's so much better then powerpoint slides? If yes, then I guess you've just had a bad experience with powerpoint slides. Because the good teachers I've had, used powerpoint slides exactly like other teachers use overhead projector sheets (in fact, they often brought both as a back-up), but merely speed up the switching between slides (and allow easy back and forth movement). In fact, all of the overhead projector slides for my classes (those few that use them) are done in powerpoint ;)
That's actually a good point. Reading the lecture slides beforehand is a good preliminary way to get familiarised with the information, the next step is to attend the lecture and the teacher talk to you, providing content that compliments the lecture notes, rather then going over the same information. The slide merely serves as a way to keep track of where in the lecture you are (and to allow the teacher to go into more depth on what the slide says or to explain a diagram).
Look at the effect Powerpoint presentations serve at work. Much as management _loves_ colourful powerpoint slides, I've yet to be even in a single meeting where they actually helped.
Being a university student, I've thankfully yet had that experience
Nobody listens, the speaker just reads every bullet point, nobody checks anything.
;)). I've had my fair share of bad lecturers, but the good ones make good use of powerpoint slides and do more then just read the bullet points.
When I was an undergrad (1997-2001), our lectures were all OHP or board-based. We were given printed lecture notes at the beginning of every lecture or course
;) It's so much easier to modify my lecture notes which I made a few days before the lecture, rather then scribble out and write in the margins ;)). The point to my post is, there's nothing that different between OHP and powerpoints (in fact the teachers that do use OHP at my uni, did so in powerpoint so they could put them on the web as well), it just depends on whose using them.
That's too bad (although by the sounds of it you've had the occassional good lecturer because you said almost
Most people print out the powerpoint slides (provided in PDF format with 6 to a page by the lecturer) and do exactly that. The advantage is, if it gets lost it isn't the lecturers responsibility to get a replacement (which I imagine they bitch when forced to), but they allow those of us who use paperless systems of study to not be forced to use paper (I'm one of them
I've had a professor try to pack in months of material into a couple weeks.
;)). The lecturer shouldn't read what's on the slide, but should instead provide additional information.
This isn't something that's intrinsic in powerpoint. I've thankfully not had this problem, and all lectures haven't had an information overload. But content on the board -does- still take longer to convey to the students. It takes longer to write it down, then to display a slide, and speak about the points it raises. Also, lecture slides aren't meant to be covered during the lecture (by a good lecturer anyway IMO). Students should read the content beforehand so they know what the lecture is about, already have in mind any areas that they aren't too sure about (so they can then ask questions if what the lecturer says isn't enough for them to understand, in theory anyway
you need parse the lecture better and only write down the key concepts and important diagrams rather than copying everything that is written.
Well thankfully for one of the courses that I had a board-only teacher, she was taking content straight from the textbook, so I would just open it up and write down additional points so I could then read it and make my own notes later. Parsing what a teacher says and what's on the board while seeing content for the first time, isn't easy or simple. A lot of good important information is lost. One class I had particular trouble with, was maths. Examples of the formula is one of the most useful things to take down, but also one of the most difficult things as teachers are inclined to destroy it before I have it all written down (I wasn't the only one who had this problem, and the teacher strongly encouraged us to write down the examples), so he had to wait for us, or if he was feeling fairly rushed, we miss out.
Either the professor failed to provide adequate supporting material,
I've yet to have a lecturer that provided more material then the lecture notes, textbook, example programs and the occassional URL. All of my board-only lecturers only provided what's on the board and the textbook.
But the basics my parents learned are more relevant today than ever - reading and writing and arithmatic should be the core studies required for all students.
Nice straw-man argument, but I believe no-one said otherwise (and unless the American education system has become really, really screwed up, those three are core studies required for all students).
language (especially for those of us in the US who think English is the only language)
Americans must be really stupid if there is anyone (who doesn't have physical disabilities affecting their cognitive skills) who believes English is the only language.
Teach the buggers how to talk, write, and think.
I'm sorry, but your courses will not gurantee (or even encourage) people to think or actually talk (regurgitate yes, talk no). History in particular (and to a lesser extant your artistic course) is one that would benefit greatly from use of technology. History can become very dogmatic and to gain a perspective of history that is closer to reality rather then what a particular group of people want you to believe, technology can be of great benefit. Books can be old and one-sided, whereas use of the internet (I'd say encyclopedias on CDs, as they could be installed on multiple computers or burnt and given to students for a low price for those schools that tend to have poor families and are underfunded themselves, but thanks to copyright laws that educational aid isn't possible until Open Source and CC encyclopedias are better refined) allows a much broader perspective to be gained as there are a hell of a lot more sources. However to gain access to those sources some tools need to be taught. Simple computer and internet skills (depending on how young the kids are), but also more fundamental skills such as critical thinking, questioning where information is coming from, learning where the reliable sources are, and what aren't. Those are skills that will encourage thinking, and aren't stressed as much in the mode of thinking where "if it's in a book from the library it's safe to put into your assignment" is true.
Tech is fine when used sanely with a purpose within a larger designed teaching environment. If something has to go, let it be tech in favor or better teachers.
I think most will agree, but getting rid of tech won't magically create those better teachers.
Agreed 100%. Powerpoint lectures are definitely inferior to the tried and true technique of writing on the board.
1. Writing on the board means the teacher can't cover as much material (even though the material might actually be relevant to the course, but then I suppose most students aren't going to complain about courses having less content) because it takes longer (I've had classes at university where there were powerpoint lectures and board-only lectures).
2. It's also difficult to place it on the web, forcing me to concentrate on writing down what's on the board and not what's being said. Compared to my sister (whose a much better student then me, but who most of the time is stuck with board-only content), I'm able to get more out of my lectures.
Indeed, but generally I would say that 1 person = 1 cpu
Not really. I surf the internet at home and at school. I imagine I'm not alone. So I would be registered as two different people.
Indeed, but generally I would say that 1 person = 1 cpu, apart from shared cpus such as in schools, web cafes and such
You forgot "pretty much anyone who doesn't alive alone and has a computer with internet access at home." Let's not forget that tiny percentage of people (I know, most slashdotters visit slashdot while avoiding work, but there are people out there who have families that have more then one person using a single computer. It's crazy I know).
no need for cpu id's when your entire system and its OS will generate a 128bit id for you. and give them out to "trusted" "partners".
Which Linux distro does this? I'd like to avoid them.
you'd be surprised how many options are available once you grow a pair and decide to make your move.
Wow, that's an offensive way to make your point. Just so you know, I've tried 3 times to make the move to Linux, each time I've been unable to (difficulty lies with me of course, I'm not very computer literate). So don't make the assumption that just because someone is using Windows, it's because they haven't tried to move to Linux. I have tried, I've been unsuccessful so far.
Forcing Linux on users really fits in with the open-source mentality of choice.
My sarcasm detector beeped when I read your post, but it does fit with the GNU GPL mentality. GNU GPL forces people to redistribute their modifications under open-source. Forcing people to move to Linux isn't too much of a leap (sure no-one forced the person to modify the GPL code, but for truly free and open software, BSD is the way to go, and I'm going to get modded down for that).
Or we can just use stuff like coral cache and not destroy the person's server. Yeah, it's slower. But it's cheaper for the person whose server it was, and everyone gets the article.
Exactly what is there that you can't do on a non windows box?
Perhaps you should have read the fucking article, instead of just the blurb. You're question would have been answered.