That's because it IS bogus. Here's a quote from the summary posted on slasdot:
...students who are good with math are less likely to be happy, and are likely to have low confidence. From the article "In essence, happiness is overrated" says study author Tom Loveless.
Now, here is a quote from the actual article:
The 10 nations whose students enjoyed math the most all scored below average. The bottom 10 nations on the enjoyment scale all excelled.
Do you see the difference? The slashdotter generalized 'enjoyment' and 'happiness' to enjoyment and happiness with life. All the article mentions is enjoyment and confidence in MATH. I'm a math major, and I have to somewhat agree with the article (NOT the slashdotter...math people are happy for the most part). I get more frustrated than anyone I know when I don't understand something in math.
Bottom line, the summary by the slashdotter is bullshit.
I think you are exactly right. I am a mathematician. People should understand that all of mathematics is an abstract concept created by humans. Why does 2+3 = 5? Because we said it does...not because it is universally true. Sometimes (in the case of 'models'), we put some math together to attempt to explain what we see. As we discover new behaviors in whatever system we're looking at, we have to change the math. So, this article is about one of those instances.
The problem with all the answers I see above is that they are all looking too narrowly at the situation. What this slashdotter has witnessed is a part of the recent death in creativity in all arts. Why do you think music sales have sucked it up in the past 8 or 10 years? It's not the mp3's, it's just that all the music is a fake imitation of real creativity. Think about it for a few minutes...what has been the last musical renaissance? Metal. When? Early 80's. It's been 20+ years when (if you do a tiny bit of research) you will find that new genres of music have been appearing every 10-20 years. Literature is the same, as is Hollywood.
I went to see a film a year ago, and I counted 10 previews for movies that were remakes of older movies. Insane. And not only are they remakes, they are remakes who bank on special effects and the "ah" factor to carry the power of the film. This is weak. This is analogous to the Backstreet Boys in music who rely on their looks and harmony rather than the actual musical content.
There you have it: cultural slump. Go see indie films and be a part of a movement. That is the only way to break it.
Drink natural juice man. I realize that most juices still have about the same amount of sugar as a soft drink, but you are getting good vitamins and less of the shat that is bad in carbonated crap. I stopped drinking sodas a little more than a year ago and I cannot stand sodas any more. Also, I noticed that I feel better and a number of small health-related things have cleared up for me. Other than that, IS WATER REALLY THAT BAD??? Lazy-asses, water is practically free and it (along with beer/wine) has sustained your ancestors for thousands of years.
First, let me clear up some things:
1) Making information look like random static is the whole point of encryption.
2) Trying to break a one-time-pad-encoded-message made from these quasars would be extremely difficult if you do not know the PRECISE (perhaps down to milliseconds) time to start recording or which quasar.
3) This quasar scheme pretty much sucks because it STILL requires a channel of communication between the two parties. They must each know which quasar and what time to start recording. So, either they have a communication line encrypted by some other scheme (stupid btw), or they are physically together. Being physically together makes the whole idea pointless. They might as well generate a one-time pad from something easier than quasars (thermal noise for example) and exchange the pads while they are together.
This article just seems like something a dumb reporter stumbled onto and thought was cool.
So, my university has required laptops for a few years now, and there have so far not been any real issues. They offer an IBM laptop preloaded with office and various licensed programs for a discounted price (seeing as they get sold by the thousands). WiFi is all over campus no matter (for the most part) where you are, and yeah, assignments and things are starting to move to a network-wide system called blackboard(tm).
However, I will say that yesterday, blackboard was out for 6 hours due to a power failure in the server room. Don't worry, it's a good step as long as your University really wants to provide support (I.E. a technical information department where the re-image hard drives and the like).
That's a good ideal and all, but it's one that they will never accomplish. Just as the west will never get rid of Middle Eastern influence, and just as Hitler never got rid of the Jews. Maybe this is a sort of rebel version of the crusades (which were to reduce "heresy", which btw failed).
So, about the whole $500 deal in order to get your drivers signed...why couldn't the GNU community or someone buy one. Then, when someone comes out with some nice piece of code submit it to the owners. Then, he or she could get it signed and distribute the signed code? Or is that somewhere on page 17623875 of the EULA?
This is the beginning of microsoft's death. Anyone who's read "In the beginning was the command line" by Neal Stephenson should recognize these early signs. It's the same reason apple never got really big: they used proprietary hardware and therefore limited the amount of users that could use their OS. Therefore, prices stayed relatively high, and most users chose the more flexible PC platform. Microsoft is requiring their users to use (sort of) proprietary software and drivers. This will of course result in the fact that other (more flexible) OS's will become more popular.
I'm just now getting to see the usefulness in Linux. I've used it off and on for the past 6 years, but now it's getting to the point where my machine is in Linux mode for a week at a time before I need to do some Maple or Matlab stuff. All I can say is that I will most definitely have a dual-boot system from now on, and that the more restrictive MS gets, the more I will stay in Linux to rip MY OWN FRIGGIN CD's and whatever else they consider potentially unlawful at MS. It's a self-stabilizing situation within the market, so don't worry too much about it. It's the beginning of a new era where Windows will not have the majority of the market.
Hey, I've got a modest proposal to clear up the whole issue. Let's eat Mr. Congressman since he's not doing the public any good. That way, he can at least serve a useful purpose since his brain has long since died to reason.
See? This label of "hacker" to students who can read the back of a book is what is going to get them convicted of something. This is just all-around completely absurd. It's like if I were to always leave my keys in the ignition of my car: plain stupid.
Despite some of the smart-aleck replies, this wiki article is a very good history of how the xbox was hacked. I remember when Bunnie was keeping us up-to-date on a day to day basis back in the heyday of xboxhacker.net. When he pulled the bios off the board and posted it on his website, he immediately got a phone call from Macroshaft which he recorded and put on his site. Funny stuff.
But, the whole point of the article is to prove that you can never lock anything completely down, from cd's to xboxen--they have to be used somehow don't they? And hey, DMCA, you're a menace to the greatest minds of the US (and no, not the minds at Macroshaft).
The trick, of course, is converting the 40 million or so people Cohen says have downloaded BitTorrent's free software into paying customers.
Ha. Torrent is a widespread open source solution. It's not like previous P2P solutions where the companies who develop them can put pay links in. As long as there is a demand for free stuff (which I'm pretty sure is a universal want), free bittorrent will always win out.
EFF deserves a bit of respect for this. They're trying to let everyone else know what companies are doing behind their little white walls to lock you down. Personally, I'm going to make a donation right now to EFF. They need some big-time exposure to change the normal cow-like brainless mob of AOL users into intelligent thinkers.
I remember the first time I got introduced to linux with RedHat linux 6.1 from Best Buy. Redhat's default (at least since then) has been Gnome. The first time I tried KDE instead, I was instantly hooked and never installed linux with Gnome again. I don't know what it is, but KDE has definitely got the upper edge. At least now I'm seeing the potential that Gnome has, although Gnome comes configured pretty weird...two application/task bars? Gnome still seems more "different" than it seems useful. Artwork is the first thing that will attract people to the G, but there has to be substance there too.
Good heavens, $16 billion a year is a BARGAIN...read it again BARGAIN...for what NASA provides in only spin-off technology. Not to mention it'll probably be the savior of our civilization some day. Do you want to know how much the gov. spent on healthcare last year? $1.2 trillion. That's on just keeping our 300 million people alive. Advancing civilization is a much nobler concept and one that certainly deserves a little respect from a historical standpoint. Those that can't understand why humans are up in space should be left here (period).
I don't understand this whole DRM issue. I hope when it hits the shelves that there is holy chaos and returns galore. I don't understand how Microsoft can implement something that SHUTS OFF your video card if the manufacturer hasn't complied with MS's DRM requirements?!?! That just has to be illegal in some fashion. Btw, the thing where all the MoBo manufaturers are getting together to make a DRM'd "bios" of sorts sounds an awful lot like a cartel to me. If anything, it's FORCING people to buy certain things and preventing democratic competition. What's that economic principle that says that sometimes the product that sells the most isn't necessarily the best, but people buy it because lots of other people buy it (more support, functionality etc.)? I dunno, but if that didn't exist, windows would be out my f'ing window right now, and Kubuntu linux would be the only thing remaining.
This is exactly the problem I see. Want to know why biological cells are so small? As a cell gets bigger, the surface area grows proportional to x^2 while the volume grows proportional to x^3. You need as much membrane as possible for transport of materials and such just like you need the outside of a CPU for heat dissipation. Since lim(x->inf) x^3/x^2 = inf last time I checked, I highly doubt we'll see cube CPU's...poor little transistor in the center will get burned to smitherines.
However, you COULD make a 3d CPU which was designed in the form of a heat sink...those nice, tall spiky ones. I think that could have a whole lot of potential.
This whole patent process is getting out of hand. Trying to patent a mere IDEA is not what the original creators of the copyright had in mind. If Amazon.com wants to recommend you a product, fine. If Amazon.com wants to patent the recommendation, then this statement will get me in deep water: "If you like Neil Stephenson, you might like William Gibson."
I'm just saying that the courts need to realize when companies are going too far with copyrights. Otherwise, my truly original and creative ideas may turn out to be nothing more than a vault of copyright infringements.
Slashdot Mirror
I think you are exactly right. I am a mathematician. People should understand that all of mathematics is an abstract concept created by humans. Why does 2+3 = 5? Because we said it does...not because it is universally true. Sometimes (in the case of 'models'), we put some math together to attempt to explain what we see. As we discover new behaviors in whatever system we're looking at, we have to change the math. So, this article is about one of those instances.
"Whatever the next media induced panic is" would be the growing of the meat...
The problem with all the answers I see above is that they are all looking too narrowly at the situation. What this slashdotter has witnessed is a part of the recent death in creativity in all arts. Why do you think music sales have sucked it up in the past 8 or 10 years? It's not the mp3's, it's just that all the music is a fake imitation of real creativity. Think about it for a few minutes...what has been the last musical renaissance? Metal. When? Early 80's. It's been 20+ years when (if you do a tiny bit of research) you will find that new genres of music have been appearing every 10-20 years. Literature is the same, as is Hollywood.
I went to see a film a year ago, and I counted 10 previews for movies that were remakes of older movies. Insane. And not only are they remakes, they are remakes who bank on special effects and the "ah" factor to carry the power of the film. This is weak. This is analogous to the Backstreet Boys in music who rely on their looks and harmony rather than the actual musical content.
There you have it: cultural slump. Go see indie films and be a part of a movement. That is the only way to break it.
Drink natural juice man. I realize that most juices still have about the same amount of sugar as a soft drink, but you are getting good vitamins and less of the shat that is bad in carbonated crap. I stopped drinking sodas a little more than a year ago and I cannot stand sodas any more. Also, I noticed that I feel better and a number of small health-related things have cleared up for me. Other than that, IS WATER REALLY THAT BAD??? Lazy-asses, water is practically free and it (along with beer/wine) has sustained your ancestors for thousands of years.
First, let me clear up some things: 1) Making information look like random static is the whole point of encryption. 2) Trying to break a one-time-pad-encoded-message made from these quasars would be extremely difficult if you do not know the PRECISE (perhaps down to milliseconds) time to start recording or which quasar. 3) This quasar scheme pretty much sucks because it STILL requires a channel of communication between the two parties. They must each know which quasar and what time to start recording. So, either they have a communication line encrypted by some other scheme (stupid btw), or they are physically together. Being physically together makes the whole idea pointless. They might as well generate a one-time pad from something easier than quasars (thermal noise for example) and exchange the pads while they are together. This article just seems like something a dumb reporter stumbled onto and thought was cool.
How is it the first? My university, Clemson University (public btw), has required them for the last two years. Bad journalism here folks.
So, my university has required laptops for a few years now, and there have so far not been any real issues. They offer an IBM laptop preloaded with office and various licensed programs for a discounted price (seeing as they get sold by the thousands). WiFi is all over campus no matter (for the most part) where you are, and yeah, assignments and things are starting to move to a network-wide system called blackboard(tm).
However, I will say that yesterday, blackboard was out for 6 hours due to a power failure in the server room. Don't worry, it's a good step as long as your University really wants to provide support (I.E. a technical information department where the re-image hard drives and the like).
That's a good ideal and all, but it's one that they will never accomplish. Just as the west will never get rid of Middle Eastern influence, and just as Hitler never got rid of the Jews. Maybe this is a sort of rebel version of the crusades (which were to reduce "heresy", which btw failed).
So, about the whole $500 deal in order to get your drivers signed...why couldn't the GNU community or someone buy one. Then, when someone comes out with some nice piece of code submit it to the owners. Then, he or she could get it signed and distribute the signed code? Or is that somewhere on page 17623875 of the EULA?
This is the beginning of microsoft's death. Anyone who's read "In the beginning was the command line" by Neal Stephenson should recognize these early signs. It's the same reason apple never got really big: they used proprietary hardware and therefore limited the amount of users that could use their OS. Therefore, prices stayed relatively high, and most users chose the more flexible PC platform. Microsoft is requiring their users to use (sort of) proprietary software and drivers. This will of course result in the fact that other (more flexible) OS's will become more popular. I'm just now getting to see the usefulness in Linux. I've used it off and on for the past 6 years, but now it's getting to the point where my machine is in Linux mode for a week at a time before I need to do some Maple or Matlab stuff. All I can say is that I will most definitely have a dual-boot system from now on, and that the more restrictive MS gets, the more I will stay in Linux to rip MY OWN FRIGGIN CD's and whatever else they consider potentially unlawful at MS. It's a self-stabilizing situation within the market, so don't worry too much about it. It's the beginning of a new era where Windows will not have the majority of the market.
Hm. It seems I submitted this story almost exactly a year ago.
Hey, I've got a modest proposal to clear up the whole issue. Let's eat Mr. Congressman since he's not doing the public any good. That way, he can at least serve a useful purpose since his brain has long since died to reason.
See? This label of "hacker" to students who can read the back of a book is what is going to get them convicted of something. This is just all-around completely absurd. It's like if I were to always leave my keys in the ignition of my car: plain stupid.
Despite some of the smart-aleck replies, this wiki article is a very good history of how the xbox was hacked. I remember when Bunnie was keeping us up-to-date on a day to day basis back in the heyday of xboxhacker.net. When he pulled the bios off the board and posted it on his website, he immediately got a phone call from Macroshaft which he recorded and put on his site. Funny stuff.
But, the whole point of the article is to prove that you can never lock anything completely down, from cd's to xboxen--they have to be used somehow don't they? And hey, DMCA, you're a menace to the greatest minds of the US (and no, not the minds at Macroshaft).
Ha. Torrent is a widespread open source solution. It's not like previous P2P solutions where the companies who develop them can put pay links in. As long as there is a demand for free stuff (which I'm pretty sure is a universal want), free bittorrent will always win out.
EFF deserves a bit of respect for this. They're trying to let everyone else know what companies are doing behind their little white walls to lock you down. Personally, I'm going to make a donation right now to EFF. They need some big-time exposure to change the normal cow-like brainless mob of AOL users into intelligent thinkers.
I remember the first time I got introduced to linux with RedHat linux 6.1 from Best Buy. Redhat's default (at least since then) has been Gnome. The first time I tried KDE instead, I was instantly hooked and never installed linux with Gnome again. I don't know what it is, but KDE has definitely got the upper edge. At least now I'm seeing the potential that Gnome has, although Gnome comes configured pretty weird...two application/task bars? Gnome still seems more "different" than it seems useful. Artwork is the first thing that will attract people to the G, but there has to be substance there too.
Good heavens, $16 billion a year is a BARGAIN...read it again BARGAIN...for what NASA provides in only spin-off technology. Not to mention it'll probably be the savior of our civilization some day. Do you want to know how much the gov. spent on healthcare last year? $1.2 trillion. That's on just keeping our 300 million people alive. Advancing civilization is a much nobler concept and one that certainly deserves a little respect from a historical standpoint. Those that can't understand why humans are up in space should be left here (period).
I don't understand this whole DRM issue. I hope when it hits the shelves that there is holy chaos and returns galore. I don't understand how Microsoft can implement something that SHUTS OFF your video card if the manufacturer hasn't complied with MS's DRM requirements?!?! That just has to be illegal in some fashion. Btw, the thing where all the MoBo manufaturers are getting together to make a DRM'd "bios" of sorts sounds an awful lot like a cartel to me. If anything, it's FORCING people to buy certain things and preventing democratic competition. What's that economic principle that says that sometimes the product that sells the most isn't necessarily the best, but people buy it because lots of other people buy it (more support, functionality etc.)? I dunno, but if that didn't exist, windows would be out my f'ing window right now, and Kubuntu linux would be the only thing remaining.
This is exactly the problem I see. Want to know why biological cells are so small? As a cell gets bigger, the surface area grows proportional to x^2 while the volume grows proportional to x^3. You need as much membrane as possible for transport of materials and such just like you need the outside of a CPU for heat dissipation. Since
lim(x->inf) x^3/x^2 = inf
last time I checked, I highly doubt we'll see cube CPU's...poor little transistor in the center will get burned to smitherines.
However, you COULD make a 3d CPU which was designed in the form of a heat sink...those nice, tall spiky ones. I think that could have a whole lot of potential.
This whole patent process is getting out of hand. Trying to patent a mere IDEA is not what the original creators of the copyright had in mind. If Amazon.com wants to recommend you a product, fine. If Amazon.com wants to patent the recommendation, then this statement will get me in deep water: "If you like Neil Stephenson, you might like William Gibson."
I'm just saying that the courts need to realize when companies are going too far with copyrights. Otherwise, my truly original and creative ideas may turn out to be nothing more than a vault of copyright infringements.
Interesting. It comes out right when they show those fancy small versions in Star Wars.
I love the internet, such friendly people.