I found the abstract of the article at PubMed, and that's what the deal was. The researchers selected "good" versus "bad" drawings and reinforced the pigeons for picking at the "good" ones:
Without the full text of the "Pigeons" article, I don't know what their experimental methods were, but it could be that they rewarded the pigeons for choosing drawings that the researchers themselves classified as "good" based on some consistent criteria that the pigeons were able to follow.
Silly as the article's title might sound, it turns out that pigeons are remarkably good at "reading" photographs and drawings. Something we might keep in mind when we dismiss these creatures as "dumb animals" (I'm referring here to pigeons, not scientists). Here's an example:
I thought one of the things that came out in the debate was that there was a federal law prohibiting discounts to cash customers, so the poorest, uninsured *has* to pay the full price. The doctor cannot discount unless it's an insurance company.
I think that this is in fact correct. It applies, however, to patients who are insured through Medicare (and maybe also Medicaid), not to the "cash" paying patient.
In the past, doctors would often accept what Medicare paid for treatment and tell the patient for whom any additional cost would be a burden to forget the balance. That's what we ordinarily think of as "compassion". The Federal government decided, however, that since Medicare was paying 80% of the bill, if the physician told the patient to forget about the remaining 20%, then Medicare was overpaying and should have paid only 80% of 80%. Of course, if they did that, and the remaining 20% was forgiven, then Medicare would want to pay 80% of 80% of 80%, and so on ad absurdum.
Another wonderful bookkeeping insight into the problem on the part of those who fund Medicare. So the upshot was that Medicare requires that the physician make a "good faith" attempt to collect the remaining 20% even from the little old lady (or gentleman) who will have to go without supper for a few months to pay it, or else face being paid even less for the physician's services (or, in some cases, perhaps be accused of Medicare fraud).
As I recall there was no interest, just the (rather small) principal, but it was discovered and refunded by them via the same refund payment that was returned to me that tax year; i.e., no big time lapse occurred. Besides, it was my own error that caused the overpayment, just as it would (normally) be my own error that would result in an underpayment with possible fines and interest. I don't know what they would do if the overpayment were due to their error; maybe they would pay interest; maybe someone else here knows.
I wonder how much the IRS figures into its revenue stream the profit obtained via people filing taxes and not knowing what they're doing. Folks who use professional preparation services no doubt get them correct most of the time and owe the correct amount (or get the right refund), but how many people are just doing it via paper and submitting, and, due to the arcane, maze of rules and regulations, overpay and don't claim the exemptions they should?
Leave it up to the IRS -- they probably have it figured out that if they pre-fill items on forms, that means less error and less money. Plus, this gives them more opportunity to audit and assess fees. Whee!
As someone who has previously received a refund on tax paid in error, I think that IRS doesn't use the trick you're wondering about at all. If they find that you have overpaid, they refund the overpayment on their own.
Of course they can't know what exemptions you are entitled to unless you have told them already, e.g. via the W-4 form that you filed with your employer and which the employer used to determine how much of your income to withhold for the IRS.
For most people, the proposed method would probably work out just fine. Rich people who have complex tax filings would just continue to have their accountant handle the issues. Those who fall in-between could still use TurboTax:-)
You take the machine outside and "hose down" the system with a spray circuit board cleaner and replace the PSU.
Ironically, many of those circuit board cleaners had carcinogens like toluene and benzene; people used to virtually wash their hands and arms in that stuff in the "good old days".
It's not just the article, it's the entire website (beginningruby.org). Probably he didn't want to deal with his site being slashdotted, but redirecting everything to the American Cancer Society website (and possibly slashdotting that) is not necessarily the nicest way to deal with it. I'm not convinced that ACS is going to get a host of new donations just because of a confusing redirect.
In the EU, the focus is on whether or not the engineering rules were followed...was the process respected and were the specifications honored.
Exactly as it is handled in the US also.
If the bridge was engineered, constructed, and maintained according to the applicable codes, then no crime occured.
I don't get your point.
# yum remove konqueror ..
No Match for argument: konqueror ..
No Packages marked for removal ..
# rpm -q --whatprovides `which konqueror`
kdebase-4.2.3-1.fc11.x86_64
I have never used Foxit but out of curiosity after reading your post, I downloaded their "Foxit Reader 3.0 for Windows" user manual just to read the license. It looks pretty innocuous to me. What don't you like about it?
Well, my experience has been that Linux PDF readers work much better than Windows PDF readers. I don't use Foxit because I don't like the licensing of it; Adobe Reader is awful as always, and Sumatra is nice although its UI needs work and it often renders differently to other readers. On the other hand, both Evince and KPDF are excellent at reading PDFs; they get out of the way and render PDFs as I expect them to render. (I wonder if KPDF is available for Windows yet, or if it will be in the future? That might be worth looking at...)
If I understand the thrust of the article, it's about how difficult it is to fire incompetent tenured teachers. Well, why not move the target up a bit and ask instead how these incompetent teachers were awarded tenure in the first place? That of course turns the focus from the "evil union" towards the "incompetent school administrators".
There were VCRs back then also. I think that the difference in what you describe was more likely due to wide interest and excitement about the series. Fans (and there were a lot of them) wanted to know ASAP what happened, not wait to view the video tape after all their friends had discussed it already. Which comes back down to the question of whether programming content has become just too crappy for anybody to give a damn.
All that being said, I'm now on month 3 of waiting for my Dell Mini9, and I think it's fallen in price, but they've already charged my card... It's harder, though, getting really angry about it when you aren't in college and broke.
Just phone them and ask for a price adjustment. Especially if you haven't yet received the item, they will do that for you in a blink.
It doesn't have to be "either/or". Just as we strive for "defense in depth", I'm sure that an attacker prefers "offense in depth". Hit the power grids, hit the financial systems, hit the communications networks. Then, when we are preoccupied, scrambling to fix all that, hit your real target without much resistance.
We also invite comment on whether any advanced or high-speed services should be included
within the list of core services. Commenters should address the questions set forth above, and
should specify the standard or level of service to which the comments apply.
In addition, we invite comment on whether "soft dial tone" or "warm line" services should be
included within the list of core services. These services enable an otherwise disconnected line to
be used to contact emergency services (911) and the local exchange carrier's central business
office. In particular, we invite comment on the extent to which these services are essential to
public health or safety, and how such connections to eligible telecommunications carriers may be
provided consistent with the principles of competitive neutrality.
Raise your hand if you have ever bothered to respond to an FCC request for public comments. I admit I have not.
Your link shows a total of two serious accidents (in April 20007) since 2000, and none since then. If that's really all there was, then that's a pretty good track record I'd think, given how extensive the NYC subway system is.
That illustrates why these reports may have not been released previously. They are not necessarily the creme-de-la-creme of Congressional research output.
and it doesn't seem all that unlikely that a "newbie" would end up at "open-office.de", given that the ".de" TLD is probably what she usually sees in her browsing, and a hyphenated "open-office" seems reasonable (probably more so than the unhyphenated version would, to a "newbie").
A car arrived with more patients. One was a 21-year-old man with shrapnel in his left leg who demanded quick treatment. He turned out to be a militant with Islamic Jihad. He was smiling a big smile.
"Hurry, I must get back so I can keep fighting," he told the doctors.
He was told that there were more serious cases than his, that he needed to wait. But he insisted. "We are fighting the Israelis," he said. "When we fire we run, but they hit back so fast. We run into the houses to get away." He continued smiling.
"Why are you so happy?" this reporter asked. "Look around you."
A girl who looked about 18 screamed as a surgeon removed shrapnel from her leg. An elderly man was soaked in blood. A baby a few weeks old and slightly wounded looked around helplessly. A man lay with parts of his brain coming out. His family wailed at his side.
"Don't you see that these people are hurting?" the militant was asked.
"But I am from the people, too," he said, his smile incandescent. "They lost their loved ones as martyrs. They should be happy. I want to be a martyr, too."
Slashdot Mirror
I found the abstract of the article at PubMed, and that's what the deal was. The researchers selected "good" versus "bad" drawings and reinforced the pigeons for picking at the "good" ones:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19533184
Without the full text of the "Pigeons" article, I don't know what their experimental methods were, but it could be that they rewarded the pigeons for choosing drawings that the researchers themselves classified as "good" based on some consistent criteria that the pigeons were able to follow.
Silly as the article's title might sound, it turns out that pigeons are remarkably good at "reading" photographs and drawings. Something we might keep in mind when we dismiss these creatures as "dumb animals" (I'm referring here to pigeons, not scientists). Here's an example:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T2J-494CHVR-C&_user=18704&_coverDate=01%2F30%2F2004&_rdoc=5&_fmt=high&_orig=browse&_srch=doc-info(%23toc%234920%232004%23999349998%23476623%23FLA%23display%23Volume)&_cdi=4920&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=12&_acct=C000002018&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=18704&md5=fda3fc422365343df5668529b4fe708f
I think that this is in fact correct. It applies, however, to patients who are insured through Medicare (and maybe also Medicaid), not to the "cash" paying patient.
In the past, doctors would often accept what Medicare paid for treatment and tell the patient for whom any additional cost would be a burden to forget the balance. That's what we ordinarily think of as "compassion". The Federal government decided, however, that since Medicare was paying 80% of the bill, if the physician told the patient to forget about the remaining 20%, then Medicare was overpaying and should have paid only 80% of 80%. Of course, if they did that, and the remaining 20% was forgiven, then Medicare would want to pay 80% of 80% of 80%, and so on ad absurdum.
Another wonderful bookkeeping insight into the problem on the part of those who fund Medicare. So the upshot was that Medicare requires that the physician make a "good faith" attempt to collect the remaining 20% even from the little old lady (or gentleman) who will have to go without supper for a few months to pay it, or else face being paid even less for the physician's services (or, in some cases, perhaps be accused of Medicare fraud).
As I recall there was no interest, just the (rather small) principal, but it was discovered and refunded by them via the same refund payment that was returned to me that tax year; i.e., no big time lapse occurred. Besides, it was my own error that caused the overpayment, just as it would (normally) be my own error that would result in an underpayment with possible fines and interest. I don't know what they would do if the overpayment were due to their error; maybe they would pay interest; maybe someone else here knows.
As someone who has previously received a refund on tax paid in error, I think that IRS doesn't use the trick you're wondering about at all. If they find that you have overpaid, they refund the overpayment on their own.
:-)
Of course they can't know what exemptions you are entitled to unless you have told them already, e.g. via the W-4 form that you filed with your employer and which the employer used to determine how much of your income to withhold for the IRS.
For most people, the proposed method would probably work out just fine. Rich people who have complex tax filings would just continue to have their accountant handle the issues. Those who fall in-between could still use TurboTax
I think you have the timeline wrong. The 1986-1989 (and maybe later, I'm not sure) SAABs, including the 9000S and 9000T, were Swedish, not GM.
Ironically, many of those circuit board cleaners had carcinogens like toluene and benzene; people used to virtually wash their hands and arms in that stuff in the "good old days".
I'm very attracted to the natural body odors of many females and I'm sure that they have different HLA stuffs than me (whatever that is).
It's not just the article, it's the entire website (beginningruby.org). Probably he didn't want to deal with his site being slashdotted, but redirecting everything to the American Cancer Society website (and possibly slashdotting that) is not necessarily the nicest way to deal with it. I'm not convinced that ACS is going to get a host of new donations just because of a confusing redirect.
But the parent post didn't say that, you did. Here's what the parent said:
To quote your own words back at you:
Exactly as it is handled in the US also.
If the bridge was engineered, constructed, and maintained according to the applicable codes, then no crime occured.
I don't get your point.
# yum remove konqueror
..
..
..
No Match for argument: konqueror
No Packages marked for removal
# rpm -q --whatprovides `which konqueror`
kdebase-4.2.3-1.fc11.x86_64
Hmmmm..
What?
If I understand the thrust of the article, it's about how difficult it is to fire incompetent tenured teachers. Well, why not move the target up a bit and ask instead how these incompetent teachers were awarded tenure in the first place? That of course turns the focus from the "evil union" towards the "incompetent school administrators".
There were VCRs back then also. I think that the difference in what you describe was more likely due to wide interest and excitement about the series. Fans (and there were a lot of them) wanted to know ASAP what happened, not wait to view the video tape after all their friends had discussed it already. Which comes back down to the question of whether programming content has become just too crappy for anybody to give a damn.
Just phone them and ask for a price adjustment. Especially if you haven't yet received the item, they will do that for you in a blink.
It doesn't have to be "either/or". Just as we strive for "defense in depth", I'm sure that an attacker prefers "offense in depth". Hit the power grids, hit the financial systems, hit the communications networks. Then, when we are preoccupied, scrambling to fix all that, hit your real target without much resistance.
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Public_Notices/2001/fcc01j1.txt writes:
Raise your hand if you have ever bothered to respond to an FCC request for public comments. I admit I have not.
The $0.01 price + inflated shipping does two things:
1. It avoids ebay's "final value fee" because they charge that on the selling price, not the shipping fee, and
2. It essentially makes the item unreturnable (they will refund the selling price, but not the shipping fee, ha ha).
Your link shows a total of two serious accidents (in April 20007) since 2000, and none since then. If that's really all there was, then that's a pretty good track record I'd think, given how extensive the NYC subway system is.
That illustrates why these reports may have not been released previously. They are not necessarily the creme-de-la-creme of Congressional research output.
http://www.snopes.com/crime/clever/cigarson.asp
96 Euros per year (including VAT) at this URL: http://open-office.de/
and it doesn't seem all that unlikely that a "newbie" would end up at "open-office.de", given that the ".de" TLD is probably what she usually sees in her browsing, and a hyphenated "open-office" seems reasonable (probably more so than the unhyphenated version would, to a "newbie").