"So desperate to find a solution that motivates students to become scientists"
I didn't realize we were in desperate need of more scientists. Nurses yes, but scientists? Nope. We are pumping out way more science PhDs than we have positions for. Even before the recession, job prospects could be absolutely dismal if you just have a bachelor's degree.
I don't know about "automatically doubting," but people will, in certain specific subjects, assume they are smarter than the scientists, even though sometimes the full extent of their science education is the minimum high school requirement. Evolution is a prime example of this. Climate science has moved strongly that direction.
Over the years I have got a few letters informing me that I was part of some class for some lawsuit, and everyone that I ever heard results back from the payout was always some insignificant discount or coupon for my next purchase from the same company. The lawyers make millions, and I get a $100 discount off the purchase of a new car or something of that nature.
One of these class action suits that contacted me was filed because a finance company used false names in their collection letters. The name of the person "signing" the collection letter was just an internal code to mark the level of escalation in the collection process. But somebody felt compelled not only to sue the company for using a false name at the bottom of a collection letter, they also felt compelled to make it a class action. The only point was to make the lawyers rich.
I think they mean they are having trouble defining what a "business method" patent is and what would make it unpatentable versus any other type of patent.
I think business method patents got swept in when they started allowing other types of patents, and they will probably have trouble precluding them without also affecting other types of patents (software patents for example.)
The whole "IP = real property" is just a contrivance for an anti-IP argument. As far as I know it is not IP owners that are claiming this. You have to buy the original argument first that IP = land for the taxation issue to make any sense, and nobody is really arguing this except those looking to take a swipe at IP to begin with. IP = land is a silly argument; IP = personal property makes more sense to me.
You generally can't create real property; you just make improvements upon it. IP is fundamentally a creation.
I think this all came about from when Bush announced his vision for the future of NASA, the administrator at the time immediately started scrapping existing programs like Hubble to pay for this "vision". Congress had approved the NASA funding for various programs like Hubble, not for this new vision, and they didn't want someone in there killing these programs to pay for Mars. Basically they are saying that if the president wants to go to Mars, then he needs to get in funded like anything else.
Yahoo is definitely having problems. I don't mind the occasional spam getting through, but I also keep the same email that I used their "spam" button on. Even worse, non-spam email shows up in my spam box at least once or twice a week, even when I have repeatedly clicked the "not spam" button. I have noticed this because I always scan the spam box before deleting, but I wonder how many people bother to do this without realizing how bad Yahoo is about this.
Not sure if you are joking or not, but a fax machine UI sucks for the beginner.
I think the more important point though is that people are novices/beginners for a very brief period of time. If the UI is geared towards the novice instead of the regular user, then productivity will suffer.
I think he was commenting on the use of the word "field" rather than "pitch". In North America we say football field, while I believe the rest of the world says football pitch.
That's a silly argument. If you sue anybody, you want to do it where its most favorable for you.
A patent troll is someone who never intends to develop a patent but just sits on patents with the only purpose to sue those who infringe. In this case, the professor did not sit on the patent; he licensed it to Jarg, which is a company with real products.
And time travel is handled so poorly. In the TOS episode they had to go back and find out what happened, so it makes since for them to go back and figure it out.
In the movie plot however, Spocks knows what the Romulan's plan is, so he could just go back in time right before the Romulan tries to go back in time and kill him there couldn't he? He knows where and when he will be, but instead chases him some place where he has trouble finding him.
Same with the Generations movie plot. If Picard and Kirk could come out of the ribbon at whatever time they wanted, they could have chosen a better time and place.
In First Contact, the Borg could have time traveled in secret, not in the middle of a big battle where someone might figure out what they were doing. They could also keep trying until they got it right - they still had the knowledge of how to do it even if that one ship was destroyed.
I don't remember much about the save the whales movie.
>>I myself am not by nature a great leader. I'd never want to try to run a guild or lead a raid. But I've often found myself leading by default...
That is a good point. My response was more directed at those leading guilds, but I will concede that taking charge of small groups like you said does provide more practice than the average person may encounter in real life. Also, someone who doesn't normally like to lead in real life may be prodded into it easier online in these small groups (though this confidence may not carry over so much into real life when you see a real person rolling their eyes at you.)
>> But either would a far bigger investment of your time than a WoW raid, wouldn't they?
Never played WoW, but been playing LOTRO for a few months. Huge fucking timesink without any type of leadership role.
>>You have to balance the benefit earned against the time spent.
If your goal was to be a better leader or business strategist, I think the real life options would give better benefit. At the most basic level, they look good on your resume for your first job.
I think real life crashes down on this when you leave the internet. It is all well and good in an anonymous internet experience, but a real job is part of your real life. Playing the work game can force you to leave your comfort zone. You might suck-up online but might be less likely to do it in real life with a bunch of real people standing around sneering at you. If you want to be a real life suck-up, you got to practice in real life.
You are saying working as a leader teaches you to be a leader. Duh. This has nothing to do with video games. In fact, it is often more impressive when you are leader outside of videogames.
You could maybe get better leadership experience coaching a soccer team or starting a lawn mowing company.
>>Transferring knowledge acquired in one context to another is a pretty hard problem.
Especially when you spend all your time playing video games. They are a big time sink that can limit your experience in adapting knowledge to different situations.
Some kid who tried to run a lawn mowing business would probably be a much better manager than some kid who stayed locked up in his room playing video games all day.
Slashdot Mirror
"So desperate to find a solution that motivates students to become scientists"
I didn't realize we were in desperate need of more scientists. Nurses yes, but scientists? Nope. We are pumping out way more science PhDs than we have positions for. Even before the recession, job prospects could be absolutely dismal if you just have a bachelor's degree.
I don't know about "automatically doubting," but people will, in certain specific subjects, assume they are smarter than the scientists, even though sometimes the full extent of their science education is the minimum high school requirement. Evolution is a prime example of this. Climate science has moved strongly that direction.
The likely, but not Slashdot-friendly answer is the lack of IP protection in China.
Someone commented on here before that it is an innovation wasteland in China because they know everybody would immediately copy anything they created.
If you know that being on call is a requirement of the job, then you should demand a higher base salary to begin with.
The theory of special relativity and of general relativity existed before there was any experimental proof.
I think when you are dealing with theoretical physics, if you can get a mathematical model to "work," then it is a theory. Like String Theory.
Over the years I have got a few letters informing me that I was part of some class for some lawsuit, and everyone that I ever heard results back from the payout was always some insignificant discount or coupon for my next purchase from the same company. The lawyers make millions, and I get a $100 discount off the purchase of a new car or something of that nature.
One of these class action suits that contacted me was filed because a finance company used false names in their collection letters. The name of the person "signing" the collection letter was just an internal code to mark the level of escalation in the collection process. But somebody felt compelled not only to sue the company for using a false name at the bottom of a collection letter, they also felt compelled to make it a class action. The only point was to make the lawyers rich.
I think they mean they are having trouble defining what a "business method" patent is and what would make it unpatentable versus any other type of patent.
I think business method patents got swept in when they started allowing other types of patents, and they will probably have trouble precluding them without also affecting other types of patents (software patents for example.)
The whole "IP = real property" is just a contrivance for an anti-IP argument. As far as I know it is not IP owners that are claiming this. You have to buy the original argument first that IP = land for the taxation issue to make any sense, and nobody is really arguing this except those looking to take a swipe at IP to begin with. IP = land is a silly argument; IP = personal property makes more sense to me.
You generally can't create real property; you just make improvements upon it. IP is fundamentally a creation.
Other than my home, none of my property is taxed unless I buy or sell it (sales tax). I'm not sure what you are getting at.
I think this all came about from when Bush announced his vision for the future of NASA, the administrator at the time immediately started scrapping existing programs like Hubble to pay for this "vision". Congress had approved the NASA funding for various programs like Hubble, not for this new vision, and they didn't want someone in there killing these programs to pay for Mars. Basically they are saying that if the president wants to go to Mars, then he needs to get in funded like anything else.
Yahoo is definitely having problems. I don't mind the occasional spam getting through, but I also keep the same email that I used their "spam" button on. Even worse, non-spam email shows up in my spam box at least once or twice a week, even when I have repeatedly clicked the "not spam" button. I have noticed this because I always scan the spam box before deleting, but I wonder how many people bother to do this without realizing how bad Yahoo is about this.
Not sure if you are joking or not, but a fax machine UI sucks for the beginner.
I think the more important point though is that people are novices/beginners for a very brief period of time. If the UI is geared towards the novice instead of the regular user, then productivity will suffer.
I think he was commenting on the use of the word "field" rather than "pitch". In North America we say football field, while I believe the rest of the world says football pitch.
An area 120 yards long and 53 1/3 yards wide where American football is played.
That was funny
What he was describing was more like Space: Above and Beyond than Firefly. Firefly did not really have "regular joes"; they were more like misfits.
That's a silly argument. If you sue anybody, you want to do it where its most favorable for you.
A patent troll is someone who never intends to develop a patent but just sits on patents with the only purpose to sue those who infringe. In this case, the professor did not sit on the patent; he licensed it to Jarg, which is a company with real products.
Most patent suits are filed in East Texas. It's the in thing to do.
It looks like Jarg is a company with actual products, so I don't know if you can really call them a patent troll (unless you are Google fanboy).
And time travel is handled so poorly. In the TOS episode they had to go back and find out what happened, so it makes since for them to go back and figure it out.
In the movie plot however, Spocks knows what the Romulan's plan is, so he could just go back in time right before the Romulan tries to go back in time and kill him there couldn't he? He knows where and when he will be, but instead chases him some place where he has trouble finding him.
Same with the Generations movie plot. If Picard and Kirk could come out of the ribbon at whatever time they wanted, they could have chosen a better time and place.
In First Contact, the Borg could have time traveled in secret, not in the middle of a big battle where someone might figure out what they were doing. They could also keep trying until they got it right - they still had the knowledge of how to do it even if that one ship was destroyed.
I don't remember much about the save the whales movie.
>>I myself am not by nature a great leader. I'd never want to try to run a guild or lead a raid. But I've often found myself leading by default...
That is a good point. My response was more directed at those leading guilds, but I will concede that taking charge of small groups like you said does provide more practice than the average person may encounter in real life. Also, someone who doesn't normally like to lead in real life may be prodded into it easier online in these small groups (though this confidence may not carry over so much into real life when you see a real person rolling their eyes at you.)
>> But either would a far bigger investment of your time than a WoW raid, wouldn't they?
Never played WoW, but been playing LOTRO for a few months. Huge fucking timesink without any type of leadership role.
>>You have to balance the benefit earned against the time spent.
If your goal was to be a better leader or business strategist, I think the real life options would give better benefit. At the most basic level, they look good on your resume for your first job.
I think real life crashes down on this when you leave the internet. It is all well and good in an anonymous internet experience, but a real job is part of your real life. Playing the work game can force you to leave your comfort zone. You might suck-up online but might be less likely to do it in real life with a bunch of real people standing around sneering at you. If you want to be a real life suck-up, you got to practice in real life.
You are saying working as a leader teaches you to be a leader. Duh. This has nothing to do with video games. In fact, it is often more impressive when you are leader outside of videogames.
You could maybe get better leadership experience coaching a soccer team or starting a lawn mowing company.
>>Transferring knowledge acquired in one context to another is a pretty hard problem.
Especially when you spend all your time playing video games. They are a big time sink that can limit your experience in adapting knowledge to different situations.
Some kid who tried to run a lawn mowing business would probably be a much better manager than some kid who stayed locked up in his room playing video games all day.