Albert Einstein wasn't anywhere nearly as "eccentric" as he has been made out to be in popular culture. He was politically active, married (twice), employed in conventional jobs, and maintained an active correspondence with many other physicists around the world. He even founded a social club and had (by most accounts) a great sense of humor. He was hardly some autistic social outcast.
No one is willing to act now because the issue hasn't become significant enough to have a real effect on anyone with a pocketbook. When/if it becomes serious enough to start flooding New York City, you can bet we'll act. And before anyone says "But by then it will be too late," note that it's NEVER too late. Humans are the most adaptive species on the planet. When push comes to shove, we will find a way. Sure, it may be more sensible to act now, but we are also a very conservative species that only adapts when forced to (though, when sufficiently motivated, we can literally move mountains).
Pointing out that some polar bears are dying or some ice is melting isn't going to motivate politicians who have to answer to voters just trying to find a job and pay their bills. That's the reality, for good or ill.
The Sam Raimi who directed the Evil Dead movies died many years ago. The guy calling himself "Sam Raimi" today is just a Michael Bay clone that they made to look like the old Sam Raimi with makeup and plaster.
No, I couldn't give a shit if someone uses "cheque" or "check." It's the Brits who went off on this (even though the summary actually uses BOTH terms).
It's funny, but I was pretty indifferent to global warming, figuring there was probably something to it, until I had occasion to work with a group of environmental scientists back in grad school. I have never met a more rabid group of millennialist nutballs in my life (and I've worked with hardcore traditionalist Mormons before). At the slightest provocation, they could preach a fire-and-brimstone end of the world sermon better than the most wild-eyed street preacher I've ever seen. From that point forward, I've been sxtremely skeptical of global warming.
Now admittedly, that's certainly not scientific reasoning for sure. But there was just something about the groupthink in those people that went way beyond anything I've ever seen in normal academia. There is some degree of groupthink in all academic circles, of course. Grad students almost always agree with their mentors. Certain ideas become fads and suddenly every grad student in the department is parroting this popular-idea-of-the-moment (and incorporating it into their work). But I've never seen anyone literally scream at someone for expressing doubt about their pet idea, as I did with one of these environmental scientists (when a colleague of mine questioned him about the "global cooling" phenomenon in the 70's). That was just freaky.
It's called English because the it evolved among the English people. And Americans are every bit as much descended from those people as you Brits still on the island. God didn't appoint you special keepers of the language just because your ancestors chose not to come to the new world. Americans, Australians, and Canadians have every bit as much right to define it as you do.
New Zealanders are another story, of course. We can all agree that we can't have THEM defining the language.
For fuck's sake, the majority of readers on this site are American. Are you so pissy sensitive that you can't understand that more people are going to know the term "check" on this site than "cheque?" You Brits have been watching American movies and TV for decades. Do you still freak out every time someone in one of those movies says "flashlight" instead of "torch?"
Have you ever heard an American freak out when a Brit on/. uses a British colloquialism? No. You know why? BECAUSE WE'RE NOT A BUNCH OF TOUCHY, INSECURE WANKERS!
If Flight of the Conchords taught me nothing else, it's that New Zealand finally got dial-up modems for their Commodore 64's a couple of years ago. Also, they have sheep.
Not to be harsh about it, but think back to high school and college and ask yourself if you would describe the people who were planning military careers as the "best and brightest" of your class.
You do realize that almost ever segregationist Democrat became a Republican after after the Voting Rights Act passed, taking over the party by the 80's, right? I presume you also know that Lyndon Johnson, who championed said act, was a Democrat?
The Republican Party stopped being the "Party of Lincoln" a *LONG* time ago. These days a much more accurate description would be the "Party of Jefferson Davis."
You'll find very few people here who ever worshiped the Obamassiah. It's no secret that the Dems are just as much in the pocket of the media companies as the Republicans.
The final part of his statement raises an interesting issue. In the realm of OSS, contributions from multiple developers are encouraged. But what happens if those developers then get into a geek catfight later? This is all well and good if the work is true open source (everyone can just fork off an do whatever they want). But when you get into lawsuits over the more restrictive GPL license violations, that raises the issue of who gets to sue and who gets the proceeds from the suit (after all, what's to stop someone from just forking the code and taking out other developers' names from the copyright notice in the software, then suing without the other guys).
More importantly, what good does it do me in the U.S. to have an unlocked phone if it's GSM only? That effectively means that, instead of being locked into one carrier, I get to choose from *2* carriers (one of which is AT&T, which no one in their right mind would choose anyway). Whoopty do!
Albert Einstein wasn't anywhere nearly as "eccentric" as he has been made out to be in popular culture. He was politically active, married (twice), employed in conventional jobs, and maintained an active correspondence with many other physicists around the world. He even founded a social club and had (by most accounts) a great sense of humor. He was hardly some autistic social outcast.
If the proof involves having seen Perelman in his pajamas, I'd prefer you not share it.
If you can get Michael Bay to direct this UN effort, we at NBC/Universal will fund it.
As the world's last Cello user, I'd just like to point out that at least my browser isn't bloated.
Bruce deserves a lot better than bit parts and cameos.
No one is willing to act now because the issue hasn't become significant enough to have a real effect on anyone with a pocketbook. When/if it becomes serious enough to start flooding New York City, you can bet we'll act. And before anyone says "But by then it will be too late," note that it's NEVER too late. Humans are the most adaptive species on the planet. When push comes to shove, we will find a way. Sure, it may be more sensible to act now, but we are also a very conservative species that only adapts when forced to (though, when sufficiently motivated, we can literally move mountains).
Pointing out that some polar bears are dying or some ice is melting isn't going to motivate politicians who have to answer to voters just trying to find a job and pay their bills. That's the reality, for good or ill.
The Sam Raimi who directed the Evil Dead movies died many years ago. The guy calling himself "Sam Raimi" today is just a Michael Bay clone that they made to look like the old Sam Raimi with makeup and plaster.
No, I couldn't give a shit if someone uses "cheque" or "check." It's the Brits who went off on this (even though the summary actually uses BOTH terms).
It's funny, but I was pretty indifferent to global warming, figuring there was probably something to it, until I had occasion to work with a group of environmental scientists back in grad school. I have never met a more rabid group of millennialist nutballs in my life (and I've worked with hardcore traditionalist Mormons before). At the slightest provocation, they could preach a fire-and-brimstone end of the world sermon better than the most wild-eyed street preacher I've ever seen. From that point forward, I've been sxtremely skeptical of global warming.
Now admittedly, that's certainly not scientific reasoning for sure. But there was just something about the groupthink in those people that went way beyond anything I've ever seen in normal academia. There is some degree of groupthink in all academic circles, of course. Grad students almost always agree with their mentors. Certain ideas become fads and suddenly every grad student in the department is parroting this popular-idea-of-the-moment (and incorporating it into their work). But I've never seen anyone literally scream at someone for expressing doubt about their pet idea, as I did with one of these environmental scientists (when a colleague of mine questioned him about the "global cooling" phenomenon in the 70's). That was just freaky.
It's called English because the it evolved among the English people. And Americans are every bit as much descended from those people as you Brits still on the island. God didn't appoint you special keepers of the language just because your ancestors chose not to come to the new world. Americans, Australians, and Canadians have every bit as much right to define it as you do.
New Zealanders are another story, of course. We can all agree that we can't have THEM defining the language.
Yes, but I'm pretty sure it was restricted to those for whom English is their first language.
For fuck's sake, the majority of readers on this site are American. Are you so pissy sensitive that you can't understand that more people are going to know the term "check" on this site than "cheque?" You Brits have been watching American movies and TV for decades. Do you still freak out every time someone in one of those movies says "flashlight" instead of "torch?"
Have you ever heard an American freak out when a Brit on /. uses a British colloquialism? No. You know why? BECAUSE WE'RE NOT A BUNCH OF TOUCHY, INSECURE WANKERS!
If Flight of the Conchords taught me nothing else, it's that New Zealand finally got dial-up modems for their Commodore 64's a couple of years ago. Also, they have sheep.
Not to be harsh about it, but think back to high school and college and ask yourself if you would describe the people who were planning military careers as the "best and brightest" of your class.
If this were a worthy project, Father Steve would have told us so.
This is McCroskey in the tower, the fowl are going to kill us all! ARGHHHH!! [jumps out window]
You do realize that almost ever segregationist Democrat became a Republican after after the Voting Rights Act passed, taking over the party by the 80's, right? I presume you also know that Lyndon Johnson, who championed said act, was a Democrat?
The Republican Party stopped being the "Party of Lincoln" a *LONG* time ago. These days a much more accurate description would be the "Party of Jefferson Davis."
Fixed that for you, fanboy.
I saw the "Dying Star" in the headline and thought this article was about Lindsay Lohan.
Luckily for her hard drive, Isaeli soldiers are about as accurate as Imperial Stormtroopers (and not much brighter).
You'll find very few people here who ever worshiped the Obamassiah. It's no secret that the Dems are just as much in the pocket of the media companies as the Republicans.
I guess the EFF's and other consumer groups' invites must have gotten lost in the mail.
The final part of his statement raises an interesting issue. In the realm of OSS, contributions from multiple developers are encouraged. But what happens if those developers then get into a geek catfight later? This is all well and good if the work is true open source (everyone can just fork off an do whatever they want). But when you get into lawsuits over the more restrictive GPL license violations, that raises the issue of who gets to sue and who gets the proceeds from the suit (after all, what's to stop someone from just forking the code and taking out other developers' names from the copyright notice in the software, then suing without the other guys).
Brawndo, proud sponsor of the new E! reality series "Ow, My Balls!"
More importantly, what good does it do me in the U.S. to have an unlocked phone if it's GSM only? That effectively means that, instead of being locked into one carrier, I get to choose from *2* carriers (one of which is AT&T, which no one in their right mind would choose anyway). Whoopty do!