Well, I haven't actually ever seen a shrink, unless you count the fact that my wife is one. (Which, BTW, she has never provided therapy for me nor could she since that would be a breech of professional ethics.) That was what is known as 'self-deprecating humor'. Apparently the AC got his panties in a twist because I mentioned the word 'shrink'.
My wife would probably say that his lashing out that way is a sign of his own insecurities, most probably regarding his own 'mental anguish.'
Theists could do generally accepted scientific study without getting discredited for their beliefs.
That term 'theist' doesn't mean what you think it means. Pantheism and deism don't really fit into the definition of 'theist', which most people seem to the define as a belief in a deity or deities with (a) distinct identifiable identity(ies) that is(are) active and immanent in the world.
OTOH, that definition conveniently leaves out every religion except for Christianity and Judaism...;)
It's unfortunate that we can't just look at the results of scientific experiments at face value without requiring a religious interpretation tacked on to the end
Why not? That's what scientists do. It's almost everyone else who has that problem.
Pricing details of the Volt have yet to be officially announced. I've heard that the breakeven price is $40,000, but it's likely that GM will sell the car at a loss, as it does with its most of its small car line. This is common practice in the industry.
My guess is that if they get the tax credits they're asking for, they'll be able to sell the car for under $30,000.
In general, the prices of car models don't drop much. The 'economies of scale' that works in consumer electronics is pretty much a non-starter in the automotive industry.
GM isn't going anywhere. The only thing that might happen is that they could end up getting bought out by either Toyota, Carlos Ghosn, or, more likely, an industry outsider looking to get into the market.
Anyway you look at it, GM will survive to make the Volt. That's the last thing any sane executive would decide to cut.
If your product works, or at least appears to, and you have a sound plan for getting it to market, where it will be purchased, then SOMEONE will loan you the money.
Not necessarily so. For one thing, Tesla Motors has a long list of pre-orders, IIRC, and I believe they started shipping cars, so there is apparently sufficient demand for their product.
In this tight credit market, lenders are reluctant to lend money to even stable, established companies. They're not even issuing commercial paper -- which are short-term loans to other banks.
Venture capital usually doesn't mean that VC or "angel" fronts cash right out of their own bank account or even out of their investment accounts. Many times, they themselves are operating on loans -- if you have a lot of assets, like many VCs, it may be more better to keep your cash locked up and invest borrowed money because the interest rate you pay on the loan may be much cheaper than losing the interest from those investment accounts, especially if they have golden credit.
And if the VCs with the golden credit aren't getting loans, well, that shows you just how bad the credit market is.
The ADA may have provisions demanding that sites make themselves handicap accessible, but until those provisions are enforced they mean very little - Loosely enforced provisions do not affect the bottom line. Sad but true.
You mean until they get sued, or at least hire a legal team worth his or her salt, that is.
Also, I didn't know that about IE8 - Thanks for the heads-up. It's always a relief when we see Microsoft do something right.
No problem. Since I do some Web development from time to time, and run Linux, I have the IE 8 beta running under VirtualBox.;)
Well, I'm not person who called you a jackass, obviously, but I would say that your argument is not well thought-out. First you, said it's "not fair, not right and not changing" or something like that. That's completely factually incorrect. IE 8 has "compatibility mode" (aka "render this page like IE 6") turned off by default. IE 8 is much closer to standards-compliant than any Microsoft browser that came before it.
What does this mean? It means that Microsoft is taking action to change the current situation. That means that it is changing -- for the better.
Secondly, I believe the person named 'AmberBlackCat' was obviously offended by your insensitivity to the plight of people with disabilities. And so was I. I think you wrong folks with disabilities with your attitudes towards their plight. Wouldn't you want people to be more sensitive to you if you suddenly became disabled? Because it could happen -- one day you walk out on the street and get hit by a driver who wasn't paying attention, for instance.
Note that for certain U.S.-based Web sites, at least, it might even be illegal for say, an e-commerce site to fail to make reasonable accommodations for the blind under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Other countries have similar laws on the books. (IANAL and this is not legal advice, blah, blah)
5) You end up with a bunch of different wireless networks that are as small 1 block radius.
6) Every time you switch networks (about every 2 blocks, you end up paying out a $5 network connetion charge and varying rates as high as $2.50 a minute.
It's a long shot, but it could happen. The government gave us the PSTN, and they could work try to preserve it and the Internet has a source of revenue for some their biggest campaign contributors.
No. They will either A) wait until some major government site gets hacked or B) stage a fake 'cyber attack' on U.S. government infrastructure, and when everyone and their mother is inconvenienced or hurt in some way, then they'll ask for new laws. Which The U.S. populace will be all too willing to submit to.
Isn't that a bit like saying, "my C code fails to compile whenever I pass it the flag for strict ANSI checking, but other than that my code is ANSI C compliant"?
Most probably not. The baseband chipsets that provide the network interface tend to be very, very proprietary, for example.
Is the desktop open? Which widget toolkit does it use - can you run gtk/qt/x apps on there? Can you compile real apps or just Java?
I think you can probably compile anything you like, provided you have the appropriate cross-compiler and emulation environment and you can shoehorn the libraries onto the device.
Is there any chance of a proper distribution like Ubuntu being ported to this thing?
Slashdot Mirror
Well, I haven't actually ever seen a shrink, unless you count the fact that my wife is one. (Which, BTW, she has never provided therapy for me nor could she since that would be a breech of professional ethics.) That was what is known as 'self-deprecating humor'. Apparently the AC got his panties in a twist because I mentioned the word 'shrink'.
My wife would probably say that his lashing out that way is a sign of his own insecurities, most probably regarding his own 'mental anguish.'
Oh yeah, also:
Theists could do generally accepted scientific study without getting discredited for their beliefs.
That term 'theist' doesn't mean what you think it means. Pantheism and deism don't really fit into the definition of 'theist', which most people seem to the define as a belief in a deity or deities with (a) distinct identifiable identity(ies) that is(are) active and immanent in the world.
OTOH, that definition conveniently leaves out every religion except for Christianity and Judaism... ;)
It's unfortunate that we can't just look at the results of scientific experiments at face value without requiring a religious interpretation tacked on to the end
Why not? That's what scientists do. It's almost everyone else who has that problem.
It makes you wonder what great ideas and discoveries are lying hidden in old journals that no-one ever reads.
Oh, look! Here's an old journal from the 1940s! Let's read it.
"Proposal for flying cars ...."
Ok, nevermind...
Pricing details of the Volt have yet to be officially announced. I've heard that the breakeven price is $40,000, but it's likely that GM will sell the car at a loss, as it does with its most of its small car line. This is common practice in the industry.
My guess is that if they get the tax credits they're asking for, they'll be able to sell the car for under $30,000.
Yeah, that's why the Miata and the Lotus Elise are so close in price.
When was the last time you've seen either one drop their suggested retail price significantly?
In general, the prices of car models don't drop much. The 'economies of scale' that works in consumer electronics is pretty much a non-starter in the automotive industry.
GM isn't going anywhere. The only thing that might happen is that they could end up getting bought out by either Toyota, Carlos Ghosn, or, more likely, an industry outsider looking to get into the market.
Anyway you look at it, GM will survive to make the Volt. That's the last thing any sane executive would decide to cut.
As Oscar Levant once observed, there is a fine line between insanity and genius.
Now if I only I could convince my shrink that I'm actually a genius...
until they can get a cheaper loan. next year or so
Pffft. Don't hold your breath. I hear we're in for a looooonnnng ride down....
Correction: The car Tesla Motors has for sale now costs $109,000.
Oh, well, that's so much cheaper! Maybe I can afford one now. /me checks wallet
Nope. I seem to me about $108,999 short.
Damn.
If your product works, or at least appears to, and you have a sound plan for getting it to market, where it will be purchased, then SOMEONE will loan you the money.
Not necessarily so. For one thing, Tesla Motors has a long list of pre-orders, IIRC, and I believe they started shipping cars, so there is apparently sufficient demand for their product.
In this tight credit market, lenders are reluctant to lend money to even stable, established companies. They're not even issuing commercial paper -- which are short-term loans to other banks.
Venture capital usually doesn't mean that VC or "angel" fronts cash right out of their own bank account or even out of their investment accounts. Many times, they themselves are operating on loans -- if you have a lot of assets, like many VCs, it may be more better to keep your cash locked up and invest borrowed money because the interest rate you pay on the loan may be much cheaper than losing the interest from those investment accounts, especially if they have golden credit.
And if the VCs with the golden credit aren't getting loans, well, that shows you just how bad the credit market is.
And before you ask, no I didn't use a machine translator.
English speakers: I, for one welcome our new ...ah, fuck it.
The ADA may have provisions demanding that sites make themselves handicap accessible, but until those provisions are enforced they mean very little - Loosely enforced provisions do not affect the bottom line. Sad but true.
You mean until they get sued, or at least hire a legal team worth his or her salt, that is.
Also, I didn't know that about IE8 - Thanks for the heads-up. It's always a relief when we see Microsoft do something right.
No problem. Since I do some Web development from time to time, and run Linux, I have the IE 8 beta running under VirtualBox. ;)
Well, I'm not person who called you a jackass, obviously, but I would say that your argument is not well thought-out. First you, said it's "not fair, not right and not changing" or something like that. That's completely factually incorrect. IE 8 has "compatibility mode" (aka "render this page like IE 6") turned off by default. IE 8 is much closer to standards-compliant than any Microsoft browser that came before it.
What does this mean? It means that Microsoft is taking action to change the current situation. That means that it is changing -- for the better.
Secondly, I believe the person named 'AmberBlackCat' was obviously offended by your insensitivity to the plight of people with disabilities. And so was I. I think you wrong folks with disabilities with your attitudes towards their plight. Wouldn't you want people to be more sensitive to you if you suddenly became disabled? Because it could happen -- one day you walk out on the street and get hit by a driver who wasn't paying attention, for instance.
Note that for certain U.S.-based Web sites, at least, it might even be illegal for say, an e-commerce site to fail to make reasonable accommodations for the blind under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Other countries have similar laws on the books. (IANAL and this is not legal advice, blah, blah)
No. It's canon even if it is inconsistent.
5) You end up with a bunch of different wireless networks that are as small 1 block radius.
6) Every time you switch networks (about every 2 blocks, you end up paying out a $5 network connetion charge and varying rates as high as $2.50 a minute.
It's a long shot, but it could happen. The government gave us the PSTN, and they could work try to preserve it and the Internet has a source of revenue for some their biggest campaign contributors.
How? With what tools?
It's not like you can't acquire the baseband firmware and RF chipsets and make your own device.
No. They will either A) wait until some major government site gets hacked or B) stage a fake 'cyber attack' on U.S. government infrastructure, and when everyone and their mother is inconvenienced or hurt in some way, then they'll ask for new laws. Which The U.S. populace will be all too willing to submit to.
Sound familiar?
Unfortunately, the CSS attribute that gives IE users an electric shock is one of those that IE doesn't support.
Um...isn't that pro/con list rather contradictory?
Isn't that a bit like saying, "my C code fails to compile whenever I pass it the flag for strict ANSI checking, but other than that my code is ANSI C compliant"?
'Looks good in Internet Explorer and doesn't seem to crash Firefox or Opera' is not a standard.
Are all of the drivers open source?
Most probably not. The baseband chipsets that provide the network interface tend to be very, very proprietary, for example.
Is the desktop open? Which widget toolkit does it use - can you run gtk/qt/x apps on there?
Can you compile real apps or just Java?
I think you can probably compile anything you like, provided you have the appropriate cross-compiler and emulation environment and you can shoehorn the libraries onto the device.
Is there any chance of a proper distribution like Ubuntu being ported to this thing?
Ubuntu is working on their own mobile devices.
If anyone knows anything different from what I just said, feel free to correct me.