You are in a 21st Centurty school, your teachers are underpaid, the facilities are obsolete, your fellow students are apathetic. It is dark. There is a computer in front of you.
>>turn on computer
The computer is on.
>>play educational game
You are distracted by the bright colors and cool sound effects. You are supposedly learning problem-solving, resilience, persistence and collaboration; skills for which there is no test to measure your progress. You graduate.
>>get job
Your attempt to get a job fails. It is dark.
>>get job
Your attempt to get a job succeeds! You are now a fry cook at McDonalds.
>>get better job
Your attempt to get a better job fails. Your education never prepared you with either the intellectual tools or actual knowledge to succeed. You have no health care, you don't vote, and your kids will turn out even worse than you. Oh, and you've been eaten by a grue.
This is not a significant drop by any means. And with only the difference between one month and another, there is not enough data here to have any meaning.
Hell this may just be as a result of school letting out and more kiddies who don't know any better doing more browsing with IE during the summer months.
For what it's worth, my company's website, which receives about 3 million hits a month and has a steady stream of business and consumer visitors (almost always adults), saw an increase in Firefox use from 17.3% to 17.7%. This is also about the 18th month in a row we've seen a drop in IE traffic.
You seem to be missing the fundamental point that most of the information in question came from Google itself.
No, the information came from websites that Google accesses in an automated manner. Just as any other search engine does.
CNet's story was just another example of the "gotcha" journalism that seems to be so in vogue these days. Rather than focusing on Google and publishing the address of its CEO, to illustrate the same point, all the author of the story had to do was find out what information a number of search engines had about him, instead of somebody else.
I had an older Panasonic Toughbook hanging around, and my son started using it at 2 1/2 years old. Its a subnotebook, so its got a 8.4-inch screen and downsized keyboard which is perfect for his smaller hands.
He uses it to play learning games at SesameStreet.com, as well as occasionally for Noggin's website. He's now 3 1/2 and in the past year, this has helped him to already begin to read fairly well, and I think in general has helped his mental development.
We make sure he only uses it when we are around to supervise, but he can turn it on, start up Firefox and either go directly to Sesame Street's site (his start page) or click on the bookmark for Noggin. When he's done, he closes everything down and turns it off himself.
The other nice thing is that since it is a Toughbook, it's got a spill-proof keyboard, and ruggedized features like a impact-gel around the hard drive. I don't think I could find a better computer for him.
Could this be obscured if you used more than one printer to print something out? Say print out alternate lines or paragraphs of a document on two or more different printers?
You could try every other letter or even photos I guess, but even with the best consumer printers, getting the output from the different printers to line up correctly would be difficult.
. . . if instead of integrating 107 cameras onto the shuttle, they just made sure it didn't blow up again? NASA seems more concerned with covering their asses when something goes wrong than in making sure it actually goes right in the first place.
That said, I think they've lost sight of the fact that exploring space is always going to be risky but that the science that results from it is worth it.
Haven't we had like 20,000 stories in the past few years about either Microsoft's use of puzzles in job interviews or other companies using puzzles as well.
Why is the happening to one person news or even, dare I say it, "Stuff that matters?"
Try reading the bottom of your own reference, to wit:
NEW NEWER NEWEST!! 1-5-2003 I have been corrected on this item. In the sentence that says "Lucy has a pygmy chimpanzee appearance except for the knee joint." I have been informed that is incorrect. There are more differences than that. You can check them all out at this website: Degeneration in the knees and legs of Australopithecus afarensis
. . . and please, a GeoCities page run by some creationist as your reference? BWAHAHAHAHA!
the "Lifetime" Channel. Just cast the voices of some spunky-but-sweet actress and sensitive-but-tough actor from bad '80s TV shows and watch bored housefraus from across the country line up to play this dreck.
Good drama on relies on more than dialogue, it relies on a total acting performance from the actors, and the state of 3D graphics is simply not advanced enough. Add into that a viewing experience not dissimiliar to a TV show, and think how boring it would be to be using the same camera angle the whole time.
Big deal! I took my kid to the circus the other day and got him a gas helium Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for free. They just handed it to him on a string, we untied the bottom, and whoosh! . . . it took off and flew all by itself.
And while we're at it, somebody show me some proof of Yahweh, Vishnu, or Christ. These guys have been going on way too long without anyone calling bullshit.
Or even better, use your in with the deity of your choice to walk on water, part a sea, raise the dead, or heal the sick.
I'm not saying the Jedi stuff isn't silly, but is it really any sillier than any other faith? The whole idea of religion is antithetical to a rational mind.
As best as we can tell, the Universe just sort of happened and things happen more or less randomly within certain limits. The human mind seems to be unsuited for grasping and dealing with the reality of this and so we invent all these nice little stories we tell ourselves.
Religion is simply a coping mechanism, just like telling yourself that you really didn't want that jop you got turned down for, or that even though everyone always thinks they're funny, you really are.
A "fusion plant" is not the same thing as a "research facility." A misleading headline, in this case implying production-level fusion capacity, does nobody any good.
Okay, so most people actually use their televisions to watch, oh I don't know, maybe television? And rather than coming out with something that would have a benefit to most consumers like inexpensive HD sets, quality programming, or heaven forbid an actual sound system that could be upgraded as easily as a PC, we've got companies looking at installing 13.1 surround sound systems in homes so they can watch movies on DVD that cost too much anyway?
Rich Asshole: To the right is the bowling alley, to the left is the indoor pool, and down the hall is the entrance to the east wing, where we have the 800 seat private movie theater. Next weekend, we'll be showing "Porky's," you should come on over. Oh, and bring a small town with you.
Joe Shmoe: What would it cost for me to get something like this?
Rich Asshole: Rich parents, unscrupulous business practices, and a society where 80% of innovation goes to making the lives of the richest 5% as pleasant as possible.
I've been thinking about doing something like this myself, except the laptop in question is an old Panasonic Toughbook CF-33 with a touch screen. So I'm thinking of leaving the glass off and simply mounting the screen (only 8.4" - the CF-33 was what was referred to at the time as a "subnotebook," a market that now seems to have disappeared) with a picture matte surrounding it.
I've talked with enough people about this and everyone thinks its a cool idea, so much so, that I have to wonder why a mass-produced product like this isn't available. Get a modern processor and screen, add Bluetooth and WiFi, and you'd have a computer that looked like art!
I work for an organization with ties to many different ISPs and I've heard many horror stories about large blocks of addresses getting blacklisted for the actions of a few, and when the ISP has either already gotten rid of the offending customer or tried to get incorrectly blacklisted blocks off the lists, they've been told "Pay me $xxxx and I'll remove you."
I guess some blacklist managers have not taken to heart the adage "With great power comes great responsibility." I'm also sure many users of the data these blacklists provide are not even aware of the practices of these folks.
This is very true. It should be noted that from the early days, there was a fork in how computer software and hardware were develop.
Back in the dark ages, when hobbyists were still developing custom boxes and mass production of PCs had yet to make an appearance, the hardware and software were developed together.
And while there were some initial forays into developing them separately, it didn't really happen until IBM decided to go with cheap off-the-shelf nonproprietary hardware and their own OS. Apple, of course, took the other route of continuing to develop the hardware and software together as a total "solution."
It can be argued either way about which is better, but the truth is that either can work well for some users. The OS that is tolerant of multiple types of hardware platforms generally provides a price advantage and the freedom to choose the best suited hardware for a particular task. While the OS/hardware platform tandem can make the platform more reliable and ease user frustration in the day to day running of the computer.
It should also be noted that Microft had various times has tried a half-assed version of this with their "Microsoft-certified" equipment lists, but as they discovered (and Apple would as well if it decided to let OSXi run on any Intel platform), it is better to play to your strengths rather than your weaknesses.
The thing that strikes me the most in reading all of the replies to this post is the bitter grapes in evidence from those who trudged through 4+ years of higher education. It seems very much like saying "How dare you say the emperor has no clothes!"
Education is not a one-size fits all solution. Some people like school and feel like higher education is the best thing that ever happened to them. On the other hand, some would much rather get out of the classroom and go do something else.
I was one of the latter. Two years in as a Poli Sci major (I knew it was useless even then), I dropped out and got a job. Not because school was too tough, but because it wasn't teaching me what I wanted. The job I left for was to be a network administrator at a govt. agency I'd been summer interning at. Now this was 1990, so remember, the only computer-related courses offered at most universities were completely focused on programming. I didn't want to program, I wanted to be root! So off I went, and that has led to two or three other careers.
All that said, I had the following conversation with a mentor at my office whom I occassionally consult when looking for advice:
Me: So, I'm thinking of going back and taking some classes
Mentor: Why not go and get your degree?
Me: Because I don't see the point in getting a piece of paper that doesn't really say anything about me other than that I can warm my ass in the chairs of various classrooms for a certain amount of time. I'd much rather just go to learn the things I'd like to learn.
Mentor: Well, it's true, a degree doesn't really denote anything about what you've learned or what you can, but you should still get it.
Me: Why?
Mentor: Because every future employer out there is always going to be secretly (or not so secretly) pissed at you because you bucked the system and didn't "serve your time."
Me: [Sigh]
. . . and so at this point, it has become a matter of honor to refuse to join the endless sheep chewing their way through America's universities in search of, not knowledge, but a little piece of paper that says they're a good sheep.
Slashdot Mirror
You are in a 21st Centurty school, your teachers are underpaid, the facilities are obsolete, your fellow students are apathetic. It is dark. There is a computer in front of you.
>>turn on computer
The computer is on.
>>play educational game
You are distracted by the bright colors and cool sound effects. You are supposedly learning problem-solving, resilience, persistence and collaboration; skills for which there is no test to measure your progress. You graduate.
>>get job
Your attempt to get a job fails. It is dark.
>>get job
Your attempt to get a job succeeds! You are now a fry cook at McDonalds.
>>get better job
Your attempt to get a better job fails. Your education never prepared you with either the intellectual tools or actual knowledge to succeed. You have no health care, you don't vote, and your kids will turn out even worse than you. Oh, and you've been eaten by a grue.
Your dead
This is not a significant drop by any means. And with only the difference between one month and another, there is not enough data here to have any meaning.
Hell this may just be as a result of school letting out and more kiddies who don't know any better doing more browsing with IE during the summer months.
For what it's worth, my company's website, which receives about 3 million hits a month and has a steady stream of business and consumer visitors (almost always adults), saw an increase in Firefox use from 17.3% to 17.7%. This is also about the 18th month in a row we've seen a drop in IE traffic.
You seem to be missing the fundamental point that most of the information in question came from Google itself. No, the information came from websites that Google accesses in an automated manner. Just as any other search engine does. CNet's story was just another example of the "gotcha" journalism that seems to be so in vogue these days. Rather than focusing on Google and publishing the address of its CEO, to illustrate the same point, all the author of the story had to do was find out what information a number of search engines had about him, instead of somebody else.
I had an older Panasonic Toughbook hanging around, and my son started using it at 2 1/2 years old. Its a subnotebook, so its got a 8.4-inch screen and downsized keyboard which is perfect for his smaller hands.
He uses it to play learning games at SesameStreet.com, as well as occasionally for Noggin's website. He's now 3 1/2 and in the past year, this has helped him to already begin to read fairly well, and I think in general has helped his mental development.
We make sure he only uses it when we are around to supervise, but he can turn it on, start up Firefox and either go directly to Sesame Street's site (his start page) or click on the bookmark for Noggin. When he's done, he closes everything down and turns it off himself.
The other nice thing is that since it is a Toughbook, it's got a spill-proof keyboard, and ruggedized features like a impact-gel around the hard drive. I don't think I could find a better computer for him.
He can order himself a "sleep-over" friend and not have to go through anymore court cases.
Could this be obscured if you used more than one printer to print something out? Say print out alternate lines or paragraphs of a document on two or more different printers? You could try every other letter or even photos I guess, but even with the best consumer printers, getting the output from the different printers to line up correctly would be difficult.
Mirror is not working either :)
Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed. The ability to pump up the bass is insignificant next to the power of the Force.
Oh, and watch out for Rebel scum seeking to blow it up.
. . . if instead of integrating 107 cameras onto the shuttle, they just made sure it didn't blow up again? NASA seems more concerned with covering their asses when something goes wrong than in making sure it actually goes right in the first place.
That said, I think they've lost sight of the fact that exploring space is always going to be risky but that the science that results from it is worth it.
Haven't we had like 20,000 stories in the past few years about either Microsoft's use of puzzles in job interviews or other companies using puzzles as well.
Why is the happening to one person news or even, dare I say it, "Stuff that matters?"
Try reading the bottom of your own reference, to wit:
NEW NEWER NEWEST!! 1-5-2003 I have been corrected on this item. In the sentence that says "Lucy has a pygmy chimpanzee appearance except for the knee joint." I have been informed that is incorrect. There are more differences than that. You can check them all out at this website: Degeneration in the knees and legs of Australopithecus afarensis
. . . and please, a GeoCities page run by some creationist as your reference? BWAHAHAHAHA!
Pshaw on idiots who have theirs heads so far up their asses
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Sorry, but those two sentences said by the same person just made me laugh coffee up my nose
Ahem! Lucy was not a hoax!
Try this link, I believe the doctor is in . . .
http://www.asu.edu/clas/iho/lucy.html
You could call a phone number and have a conversation with a computer. I'm pretty damn exicted about the prospect of this technology.
Don't get out much, do you?
the "Lifetime" Channel. Just cast the voices of some spunky-but-sweet actress and sensitive-but-tough actor from bad '80s TV shows and watch bored housefraus from across the country line up to play this dreck.
Good drama on relies on more than dialogue, it relies on a total acting performance from the actors, and the state of 3D graphics is simply not advanced enough. Add into that a viewing experience not dissimiliar to a TV show, and think how boring it would be to be using the same camera angle the whole time.
Big deal! I took my kid to the circus the other day and got him a gas helium Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for free. They just handed it to him on a string, we untied the bottom, and whoosh! . . . it took off and flew all by itself.
And while we're at it, somebody show me some proof of Yahweh, Vishnu, or Christ. These guys have been going on way too long without anyone calling bullshit.
Or even better, use your in with the deity of your choice to walk on water, part a sea, raise the dead, or heal the sick.
I'm not saying the Jedi stuff isn't silly, but is it really any sillier than any other faith? The whole idea of religion is antithetical to a rational mind.
As best as we can tell, the Universe just sort of happened and things happen more or less randomly within certain limits. The human mind seems to be unsuited for grasping and dealing with the reality of this and so we invent all these nice little stories we tell ourselves.
Religion is simply a coping mechanism, just like telling yourself that you really didn't want that jop you got turned down for, or that even though everyone always thinks they're funny, you really are.
Mmmm - and with that sulphur-tainted mountain water you can really taste it in the Coors.
A "fusion plant" is not the same thing as a "research facility." A misleading headline, in this case implying production-level fusion capacity, does nobody any good.
Okay, so most people actually use their televisions to watch, oh I don't know, maybe television? And rather than coming out with something that would have a benefit to most consumers like inexpensive HD sets, quality programming, or heaven forbid an actual sound system that could be upgraded as easily as a PC, we've got companies looking at installing 13.1 surround sound systems in homes so they can watch movies on DVD that cost too much anyway?
Rich Asshole: To the right is the bowling alley, to the left is the indoor pool, and down the hall is the entrance to the east wing, where we have the 800 seat private movie theater. Next weekend, we'll be showing "Porky's," you should come on over. Oh, and bring a small town with you.
Joe Shmoe: What would it cost for me to get something like this?
Rich Asshole: Rich parents, unscrupulous business practices, and a society where 80% of innovation goes to making the lives of the richest 5% as pleasant as possible.
I've been thinking about doing something like this myself, except the laptop in question is an old Panasonic Toughbook CF-33 with a touch screen. So I'm thinking of leaving the glass off and simply mounting the screen (only 8.4" - the CF-33 was what was referred to at the time as a "subnotebook," a market that now seems to have disappeared) with a picture matte surrounding it.
I've talked with enough people about this and everyone thinks its a cool idea, so much so, that I have to wonder why a mass-produced product like this isn't available. Get a modern processor and screen, add Bluetooth and WiFi, and you'd have a computer that looked like art!
I work for an organization with ties to many different ISPs and I've heard many horror stories about large blocks of addresses getting blacklisted for the actions of a few, and when the ISP has either already gotten rid of the offending customer or tried to get incorrectly blacklisted blocks off the lists, they've been told "Pay me $xxxx and I'll remove you."
I guess some blacklist managers have not taken to heart the adage "With great power comes great responsibility." I'm also sure many users of the data these blacklists provide are not even aware of the practices of these folks.
The light at the top of the pole burns out $>You can't see anything. You're eaten by a grue . . .
This is very true. It should be noted that from the early days, there was a fork in how computer software and hardware were develop.
Back in the dark ages, when hobbyists were still developing custom boxes and mass production of PCs had yet to make an appearance, the hardware and software were developed together.
And while there were some initial forays into developing them separately, it didn't really happen until IBM decided to go with cheap off-the-shelf nonproprietary hardware and their own OS. Apple, of course, took the other route of continuing to develop the hardware and software together as a total "solution."
It can be argued either way about which is better, but the truth is that either can work well for some users. The OS that is tolerant of multiple types of hardware platforms generally provides a price advantage and the freedom to choose the best suited hardware for a particular task. While the OS/hardware platform tandem can make the platform more reliable and ease user frustration in the day to day running of the computer.
It should also be noted that Microft had various times has tried a half-assed version of this with their "Microsoft-certified" equipment lists, but as they discovered (and Apple would as well if it decided to let OSXi run on any Intel platform), it is better to play to your strengths rather than your weaknesses.
The thing that strikes me the most in reading all of the replies to this post is the bitter grapes in evidence from those who trudged through 4+ years of higher education. It seems very much like saying "How dare you say the emperor has no clothes!"
Education is not a one-size fits all solution. Some people like school and feel like higher education is the best thing that ever happened to them. On the other hand, some would much rather get out of the classroom and go do something else.
I was one of the latter. Two years in as a Poli Sci major (I knew it was useless even then), I dropped out and got a job. Not because school was too tough, but because it wasn't teaching me what I wanted. The job I left for was to be a network administrator at a govt. agency I'd been summer interning at. Now this was 1990, so remember, the only computer-related courses offered at most universities were completely focused on programming. I didn't want to program, I wanted to be root! So off I went, and that has led to two or three other careers.
All that said, I had the following conversation with a mentor at my office whom I occassionally consult when looking for advice:
Me: So, I'm thinking of going back and taking some classes
Mentor: Why not go and get your degree?
Me: Because I don't see the point in getting a piece of paper that doesn't really say anything about me other than that I can warm my ass in the chairs of various classrooms for a certain amount of time. I'd much rather just go to learn the things I'd like to learn.
Mentor: Well, it's true, a degree doesn't really denote anything about what you've learned or what you can, but you should still get it.
Me: Why?
Mentor: Because every future employer out there is always going to be secretly (or not so secretly) pissed at you because you bucked the system and didn't "serve your time."
Me: [Sigh]
. . . and so at this point, it has become a matter of honor to refuse to join the endless sheep chewing their way through America's universities in search of, not knowledge, but a little piece of paper that says they're a good sheep.