First, define "smart." Does "smart" mean you're in advanced placement or Honors classes?
There was a girl in my class who took the most advanced class available every grade, and did well in them. We were watching a space shuttle launch and she asked why it didn't run into the ozone layer. She obviously wasn't smart. She was studious, driven, and popular, and graduated with a 3.8 GPA.
There was a guy who didn't take all the advanced classes, except in math and science. He didn't know why he would need AP history, and did well enough when his interests and the school subject coincided. He wasn't very popular and, frankly, couldn't care less. He graduated with (barely) a 3.0. Is he stupider than the girl who didn't understand what the ozone layer was?
There are geeks, there are smart, popular people, and there are people who aspire to geekiness but don't have the smarts to achieve it. People are very different, as are the cultures at various schools.
Imagine if you could stream music from your iPod to an Airport Express from anywhere in your house that has WiFi. Or share music via 802.11 from your iPod to any other iPod or iTunes client in the subnet that has this feature turned on. That would also be cool.
Wipe out mosquitos? That would be a horrible thing. Thousands of species eat mosquitos, and thousands more eat those species. So we'd be looking a a drastic reorganization of the food chain if we killed all the mosquitos, which would inevitably affect us, since we are still part of the biosphere. (Where do you think the air you're breathing and the food you're eating comes from?)
And, really, you don't need to navigate through 100 songs.
Still, it lacks the semi-PDA capability of my iPod. Since I've started using my Powerbook at work I find the only way I use my iPod is keeping backups of certain files and viewing my address book and iCal. Both of which it's very good at.
Not everyone has cable. Does that mean the government should stop subsidizing their local cable monopolies? Should the government stop subsidizing phone service or electrical service because not all people have phone or electrical service. (I'm sure the Amish don't like having their tax dollars going to subsidize my electricity use!)
What I don't think you're seeing is that without the long-term scope and funding of the government we will *never* see systems like those in other nations.
A broadband company has to invest a lot of money in laying cable or setting up a wireless mesh network. Most of the time they won't recoup the costs for years. This is why Verizon and Comcast (in my area they're the only two providers) are using their current copper infrastructure which was (suprise suprise) paid for in large part by the government. Unless their shareholders are going to see a short-term profit Verizon and Comcast won't ever roll anything like this. And because of the large overhead cost of doing this, no other company is going to be able to raise the venture capital to roll a 24Mb symmetrical fiber network without government help.
Also, the government isn't providing the service to people in other countries from their tax dollars. People pay for it, and the tax money is funneled to infrastructure improvements. This benefits everyone for the same reason that having a phone system or electricity or running water everywhere you go benefits people.
Those who choose to use the system pay for their use. However, since the government isn't making a profit or paying executives hundreds of millions of dollars per year, costs are kept to a minimum.
"Everyone has legs that can carry them from place to place. I question the utility of mandidating (sic) high-speed transportation with public funds. A car is nice, don't get me wrong. I love my car, and I pay for fast, professional grade transportation. However, I used to walk a lot, and have reverted to walking when my car was in the shop. It limits what you can do, but not severely.
Walking is perfectly function at this point for transportation. You can get anywhere by walking, you just have to be a little relaxed and accept that it can take 30-45 minutes ot get to the store. It's not the comfortable, sheltered, fast car that I love, but it's perfectly usable for my transportation needs.
So that's the thing, I don't see it as a good use of our tax dollars. I think the free market is handling it fine, for now. Perhaps later the size of our cities will increase to the point that I believe transportation to be a necessity for useful Internet access, but for now it is most certainly not."
Replace references to walking for shouting from house to house instead of publicly mandated telephones or using water or animal power instead of electricity.
Bah. Pretty much every home has an internet pipe. The phone line. Where is the compelling need for govt mandated (and taxpayer funded) broadband?
This is idiotic. It's like saying that, since people have feet, there's no need for public transportation. "Just look! You've got all the transportation you need! All we're talking about is faster transportation!"
The fact of the matter is that businesses will *not* stay or move into an area that doesn't have broadband. And businesses in the US who have to pay $100+ per month for broadband are at a disadvantage when it comes to modern business.
In the end, not having low-cost and/or very-high-speed broadband will hurt American businesses and small town America.
If you don't believe me, maybe you should try driving through the former coal country of Northeast PA. Young people are moving out at a prodigious rate because there aren't any good jobs (other than nursing the elderly who are too old/poor to move). If broadband was cheaper they'd be able to stay in these areas and grow companies there. As it is, they have to pay in excess of $150 for a business connection that's only 768k. At those prices, there's no way they can compete, especially when a company in Korea can get ten times the speed for a tenth of the cost, and it's just as easy to send work there as it is to keep it in America.
And did you ever stop to wonder why there is phone service, road access, cable and electricity almsot everywhere in America? It's because the government (that is, the people) realized that these things were necessary for the improvement of people's lives and business, and made a choice to forego some short-term gain to provide an infrastructure that would allow the American economy to grow, generating far more wealth in the future.
In an information economy, broadband are the highways that deliver the digital goods. Would our economy have grown as fast in last 50 years if we were still relying on dirt roads to transport our goods and services?
Blame PHBs and HR-droids for that stuff. If you're looking for a job (well, in America, anyway), get a list of companies in your area that have positions that match your qualifications and send them your resume. That's how I got my job.
A nerd on/. ogling girls is like a !Kung tribesmen drooling over a car: They don't have any experience with them, don't know what makes it desirable, and wouldn't know what to do with it if they had one.
There's only a little HD programming available on Comcast right now anyway. If you mean digital cable, MythTV (like TiVo) has the capability to control a cable box using a serial or usb connection, or using an IR blaster.
Slashdot Mirror
There was a girl in my class who took the most advanced class available every grade, and did well in them. We were watching a space shuttle launch and she asked why it didn't run into the ozone layer. She obviously wasn't smart. She was studious, driven, and popular, and graduated with a 3.8 GPA.
There was a guy who didn't take all the advanced classes, except in math and science. He didn't know why he would need AP history, and did well enough when his interests and the school subject coincided. He wasn't very popular and, frankly, couldn't care less. He graduated with (barely) a 3.0. Is he stupider than the girl who didn't understand what the ozone layer was?
There are geeks, there are smart, popular people, and there are people who aspire to geekiness but don't have the smarts to achieve it. People are very different, as are the cultures at various schools.
iDon't know what you're talking about. iThink the eNaming is totally awesome. Now if you'll excuse me, iHave some iWork to do.
Well, yeah, there's lots of other ways to do it, but doing it directly from the iPod, with all the controls there, would be really awesome.
Imagine if you could stream music from your iPod to an Airport Express from anywhere in your house that has WiFi. Or share music via 802.11 from your iPod to any other iPod or iTunes client in the subnet that has this feature turned on. That would also be cool.
"Eleventy Billion Dollars"
/me opens envelope
"What will Apple's lawyers squeeze out of Google for trademark infringement.
Ed McMahon: Hah hah hah! You are correct sir!
In other words: Don't go fucking with something you don't know enough about.
And I, for one, would like to see the human race continue to exist, even if the biosphere doesn't need us.
So, no, we shouldn't eliminate mosquitos.
Heck, Apple event makes DVI-to-S-video adapters. If your TV has S-Video in, you can use this.
And, no, I'm not new here.
It comes with a keyboard and mouse. If you want more than one button, you pay a little extra.
Still, it lacks the semi-PDA capability of my iPod. Since I've started using my Powerbook at work I find the only way I use my iPod is keeping backups of certain files and viewing my address book and iCal. Both of which it's very good at.
Oh well, I guess I'm sticking with NeoOffice/J for a little while longer.
When will the Empire^H^H^H^H^H^H *AA ever learn?
What I don't think you're seeing is that without the long-term scope and funding of the government we will *never* see systems like those in other nations.
A broadband company has to invest a lot of money in laying cable or setting up a wireless mesh network. Most of the time they won't recoup the costs for years. This is why Verizon and Comcast (in my area they're the only two providers) are using their current copper infrastructure which was (suprise suprise) paid for in large part by the government. Unless their shareholders are going to see a short-term profit Verizon and Comcast won't ever roll anything like this. And because of the large overhead cost of doing this, no other company is going to be able to raise the venture capital to roll a 24Mb symmetrical fiber network without government help.
Also, the government isn't providing the service to people in other countries from their tax dollars. People pay for it, and the tax money is funneled to infrastructure improvements. This benefits everyone for the same reason that having a phone system or electricity or running water everywhere you go benefits people.
Those who choose to use the system pay for their use. However, since the government isn't making a profit or paying executives hundreds of millions of dollars per year, costs are kept to a minimum.
"Speed 3: Ice berg of doom"
"Oh my god, if this ice berg goes slower than 1 mile a year we're ALL GONNA DIE!!!"
Walking is perfectly function at this point for transportation. You can get anywhere by walking, you just have to be a little relaxed and accept that it can take 30-45 minutes ot get to the store. It's not the comfortable, sheltered, fast car that I love, but it's perfectly usable for my transportation needs.
So that's the thing, I don't see it as a good use of our tax dollars. I think the free market is handling it fine, for now. Perhaps later the size of our cities will increase to the point that I believe transportation to be a necessity for useful Internet access, but for now it is most certainly not."
Replace references to walking for shouting from house to house instead of publicly mandated telephones or using water or animal power instead of electricity.
This is idiotic. It's like saying that, since people have feet, there's no need for public transportation. "Just look! You've got all the transportation you need! All we're talking about is faster transportation!"
The fact of the matter is that businesses will *not* stay or move into an area that doesn't have broadband. And businesses in the US who have to pay $100+ per month for broadband are at a disadvantage when it comes to modern business.
In the end, not having low-cost and/or very-high-speed broadband will hurt American businesses and small town America.
If you don't believe me, maybe you should try driving through the former coal country of Northeast PA. Young people are moving out at a prodigious rate because there aren't any good jobs (other than nursing the elderly who are too old/poor to move). If broadband was cheaper they'd be able to stay in these areas and grow companies there. As it is, they have to pay in excess of $150 for a business connection that's only 768k. At those prices, there's no way they can compete, especially when a company in Korea can get ten times the speed for a tenth of the cost, and it's just as easy to send work there as it is to keep it in America.
And did you ever stop to wonder why there is phone service, road access, cable and electricity almsot everywhere in America? It's because the government (that is, the people) realized that these things were necessary for the improvement of people's lives and business, and made a choice to forego some short-term gain to provide an infrastructure that would allow the American economy to grow, generating far more wealth in the future.
In an information economy, broadband are the highways that deliver the digital goods. Would our economy have grown as fast in last 50 years if we were still relying on dirt roads to transport our goods and services?
I find it interesting that piracy of crappy movies may keep China out of the WTO, but they look the other way on human rights violations.
It took about three days to get to the moon.
That's what I've been doing, precisely because I don't work overtime.
Blame PHBs and HR-droids for that stuff. If you're looking for a job (well, in America, anyway), get a list of companies in your area that have positions that match your qualifications and send them your resume. That's how I got my job.
Hell, I'd just like to be paid overtime.
A nerd on /. ogling girls is like a !Kung tribesmen drooling over a car: They don't have any experience with them, don't know what makes it desirable, and wouldn't know what to do with it if they had one.
Me, I'd just grab a torrent.
B) Because soon HDTV receivers will have Broadcast Flag
C) Because Comcast is evil.
Now why you'd have a Mac do it is beyond me. I'd just build an HDTV capable MythTV setup and have a lot more control over what goes into my system.