I really don't like this idea at all, to be honest. Yes, it's hard to let go of pets, but the world already has enough unloved cats and dogs as it is. Once there are genetically modified designer pets out there the proplem will only be worse.
These thoughts make me sad: that one day perhaps you'll have the choice to buy a normal cat, or if you pay a few hundred dollars more, a cat that will be extra healthy, or live longer. Maybe you can't afford it, so you buy the normal cat, and 15 years later you look at your sad, ailing cat and think "Fluffy might not be dying now if I ponied up the cash." Terrible.
I actually would be curious to see what the slashdot community says about what we can do to prevent the arrival of genetically modified pets. The thought is really distressing to me, to be honest.
I agree that there's lots of anime out there that is garbage, but Naruto is a bit different. Yes, it's full of action and fighting, but more than most animes of its kind, it has deeply developed characters that are more than just one dimensional, one track minded machines. They are dynamic. I'll grant you that the pacing is pretty bad, but there's more here than you think there is if you lump it in with Dragonball Z....
While I was an undergraduate I was first a math major and then switched over to computer science. When I got there, I was shocked by how much the other CS majors around me despised mathematics. After observing this behavior for some time and thinking about it, I have realized what the real issue is.
In the past, Computer Scientists really were scientists of computing, but now there is a new niche: commercial programming. Many people who want to be commercial programmers end up in the Computer Science major but have no interest in the theoretical aspects of computing. They just want their degree and their job. I think that the modern trends in commercial programming require a new approach. If you just want to be a programmer, a computer science degree is going to annoy you with lots of math and computing theory.
After working in the commercial programming world I have come up with a new analogy. Programmers are to Computer Scientists as construction workers are to engineers. One is a trade, one is a science, and we should stop lumping them together at the higher education level.
Sounds of the roomba [was Re: In case you were won
on
Dissecting the Roomba
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· Score: 1
My wife and I recently received a Roomba for Christmas, and I'm not sure why anyone would feel the need to change the sounds it makes. For the most part, the roomba is a quiet device. Much quieter than the average vaccuum, for instance. As far as electronic noise, it has some various (non-obnoxious) beep sequences programmed in to let you know if it gets too full, or gets stuck somewhere in your house. I think perhaps the person writing that question just wanted to be able to customize the roomba to his own tastes.
I have to admit, I was very skeptical of the device at first, but it seems to do quite well. It manages to get pretty good coverage and has pulled far more cat hair out of my carpets than I thought possible.
The only drawback is the relatively long charging time and relatively short batterly life (12hr/1.5hr), but I guess it just uses a lot of power.
I, for one, am very thankful that we have a free alternative to mp3, but how many of your friends who are outside of the slashdot community (more "mainstream" in their technological prowess) have ever heard of ogg? This is the time when we need to take it upon ourselves to make sure that our friends are aware of the alternatives. Now with a real motivation to leave mp3 for ogg it could really take off, if we all do our part. I'm sure everyone reading this knows a few people that would probably ante up the $.75 because they figure it's their only option. Take a few minutes and tell them about ogg today....
From the second article: Bad technology sometimes beats out good. Consider the triumph of VHS over Beta, of CDs over vinyl, of the Microsoft operating system over the Mac. In each case, inferior technology triumphed because of huge corporate pressure.
I understand #s 1 and 3, but I don't understand why he would claim that vinyl is better than CD. Can someone tell me if I'm missing something?
Spokesman Jon Murchinson said Microsoft has been talking about how to allow open-source and proprietary software to coexist. "Our goal is to resolve difficult issues that are driving a wedge between the commercial and free software models," he said.
Sure they are. That's why they created that garbage about the "IP crippling" license with the latest CIFS specs.
Slashdot Mirror
I really don't like this idea at all, to be honest. Yes, it's hard to let go of pets, but the world already has enough unloved cats and dogs as it is. Once there are genetically modified designer pets out there the proplem will only be worse.
These thoughts make me sad: that one day perhaps you'll have the choice to buy a normal cat, or if you pay a few hundred dollars more, a cat that will be extra healthy, or live longer. Maybe you can't afford it, so you buy the normal cat, and 15 years later you look at your sad, ailing cat and think "Fluffy might not be dying now if I ponied up the cash." Terrible.
I actually would be curious to see what the slashdot community says about what we can do to prevent the arrival of genetically modified pets. The thought is really distressing to me, to be honest.
I agree that there's lots of anime out there that is garbage, but Naruto is a bit different. Yes, it's full of action and fighting, but more than most animes of its kind, it has deeply developed characters that are more than just one dimensional, one track minded machines. They are dynamic. I'll grant you that the pacing is pretty bad, but there's more here than you think there is if you lump it in with Dragonball Z....
While I was an undergraduate I was first a math major and then switched over to computer science. When I got there, I was shocked by how much the other CS majors around me despised mathematics. After observing this behavior for some time and thinking about it, I have realized what the real issue is.
In the past, Computer Scientists really were scientists of computing, but now there is a new niche: commercial programming. Many people who want to be commercial programmers end up in the Computer Science major but have no interest in the theoretical aspects of computing. They just want their degree and their job. I think that the modern trends in commercial programming require a new approach. If you just want to be a programmer, a computer science degree is going to annoy you with lots of math and computing theory.
After working in the commercial programming world I have come up with a new analogy. Programmers are to Computer Scientists as construction workers are to engineers. One is a trade, one is a science, and we should stop lumping them together at the higher education level.
My wife and I recently received a Roomba for Christmas, and I'm not sure why anyone would feel the need to change the sounds it makes. For the most part, the roomba is a quiet device. Much quieter than the average vaccuum, for instance. As far as electronic noise, it has some various (non-obnoxious) beep sequences programmed in to let you know if it gets too full, or gets stuck somewhere in your house. I think perhaps the person writing that question just wanted to be able to customize the roomba to his own tastes.
I have to admit, I was very skeptical of the device at first, but it seems to do quite well. It manages to get pretty good coverage and has pulled far more cat hair out of my carpets than I thought possible.
The only drawback is the relatively long charging time and relatively short batterly life (12hr/1.5hr), but I guess it just uses a lot of power.
I, for one, am very thankful that we have a free alternative to mp3, but how many of your friends who are outside of the slashdot community (more "mainstream" in their technological prowess) have ever heard of ogg? This is the time when we need to take it upon ourselves to make sure that our friends are aware of the alternatives. Now with a real motivation to leave mp3 for ogg it could really take off, if we all do our part. I'm sure everyone reading this knows a few people that would probably ante up the $.75 because they figure it's their only option. Take a few minutes and tell them about ogg today....
From the second article: Bad technology sometimes beats out good. Consider the triumph of VHS over Beta, of CDs over vinyl, of the Microsoft operating system over the Mac. In each case, inferior technology triumphed because of huge corporate pressure.
I understand #s 1 and 3, but I don't understand why he would claim that vinyl is better than CD. Can someone tell me if I'm missing something?
Spokesman Jon Murchinson said Microsoft has been talking about how to allow open-source and proprietary software to coexist. "Our goal is to resolve difficult issues that are driving a wedge between the commercial and free software models," he said.
Sure they are. That's why they created that garbage about the "IP crippling" license with the latest CIFS specs.
Looks like the dangerous toy is an action figure inspired by the game and not the game itself....