That's like saying someone is born knowing what an electron, a door, or ice cream is. Humans are capable of describing hitherto unimagined ideas using language. Language in a lot of ways is our vehicle of understanding. Even our thoughts often involve our language. You are right that our understanding of things comes from experience, but there is no indication that it comes from a magical land of pre-existence.
A computer can tell when two variables are 'perfectly equal' using simple methods. Even methods that can be learned. I've not done a lot of study on neural networks, but I really doubt it would be hard to train a neural network to confirm that two inputs are equal.
Sure, you can hack about any OS with extra apps, you can run compiz on Windows, you can change the theme in OSX, etc. I even had nice candy textured window frames on my Amiga 10 years ago (but it ran like ass with only 16MB of RAM).
I at least was referring to the built-in and supported OS features, not what you can do with 3rd party apps (though admittedly Linux distros are usually just a collection of 3rd party apps). OSX 10.4 does not have a built in multiple desktop system or update manager (yes, I had apt-get installed anyway, but I didn't have a repository browser)
It seems that's one thing the ATI proprietary driver does right* - it has its own application for changing resolution and configuring internal and external displays, and recognised my Dell flatpanel correctly.
*or wrong, as it would be much better if they could release it as a plugin for the built in Ubuntu resolution manager, rather than a separate application in the 'accessories' menu, which isn't very intuitive
Well, I just tried that package, did have to change xorg to even get the gsynaptics application to start unfortunately. Didn't see any options for the 2 finger right click, and it broke the 2 finger scroll functionality. Ubuntu has moved to some other configuration files for configuring input devices these days, and I do have the 2 finger click option in one of those, but it doesn't have any effect (while the scrolling option does, and I just use the keyboard for right clicking).
They'll probably get it right eventually. I'd still want to be able to use 2 finger click even if I no longer had a mac. My next machine is going to be back to nVidia graphics so if the Macs at the time I'm buying don't have nVidia graphics I'll probably just get a Dell again.
Security updates are free, but if I wanted fancy multiple desktops I'd have to pay to update to 10.5, and that doesn't sound very free to me. I was living okay without multiple desktops sure, but with Ubuntu I got them for free, and I am now in fact using them.
The OSX security updates also were usually quite tardy as Mr AC points out just above me. Took them months to get a patch out for that big DNS bug a few months ago for example.
Ubuntu has become a fairly polished OS. If I had an nVidia graphics card then it would be almost perfect on this laptop. Canonical have done an awesome job. Linux is pretty much ready for any n00b to come along and use it for everything but the latest commercial games (which is often the main problem with OSX too).
I just moved from OSX to Ubuntu a couple of weeks ago.
Benefits:
multiple desktops, with nice shiny 3D desktop switching
future updates are free
it's much easier to find and install new applications using the built in package manager
Downsides:
No two finger right click so far, and the two finger scrolling is a little finicky compared to in OSX. Only matters in the evenings when I'm away from my desk though, the rest of the time I'm using an external mouse, keyboard and display anyway
The properietary ATI/AMD graphics driver for linux is pretty guff so far
I mentioned fast food more because it's one of the things that America's culture has given to the rest of the world, not necessarily because everyone there eats it. But when "an estimated 65.2 percent of U.S. adults, age 20 years and older, and 15 percent of children and adolescents are overweight and 30.5 percent are obese", your culture hardly seems to embody all that is good when it comes to eating habits. That's not being bigoted, it's just a fact. I admitted in other comments that my own country is getting almost as bad as the US, but I'm not proud of that fact at all.
The rest of your culture is pretty similar to most European cultures because in fact your culture is partially a result of a mixture of lots of other countries cultures. I just mentioned the things that to me represent the US culture. It's bigoted to assume that everyone in the US is like that, and I know they're not, but those are a few of the things that historically have made the US what it is today, and a significant proportion of the population still agree with gun carrying, drive large cars (relative to the rest of the world, though most Americans wouldn't understand how their car is 'large' if they don't have a point of reference from other countries), worship celebrities, have very poor eating habits, yada yada yada. The UK is heading the same way, apart from the guns thing (so far).
When you said "many people here don't drive", did you mean to say they don't drive large cars or simply that they don't drive at all? Does it matter if some of your friends don't drive? Quite a few of my friends and none of my 3 siblings have drivers' licenses, but that doesn't mean that "many people here don't drive". I wasn't talking about the amount of people in the US that drive anyway, I was just pointing out the difference in your locally made vehicles compared to those manufactured in the rest of the world. Those who import cars to the US also modify their cars to be more appealing to American mindset and road, often replacing smaller displacement 4 cylinder turbo engines with V6es, softening up the suspension, using automatic transmission instead of manual, etc. In the UK we usually get the same engine lineups that the rest of Europe uses, but we get different suspension setups to cope with our poorer road surfaces (yay for potholes!) and windy roads. It's not bigoted saying there is a different car culture in different parts of the world, it's just the way things are, and since I love cars it's one of the things I notice the most.
I didn't say he should give up anything, I just don't really see any special part of American culture that he'd have to give up just because people with differing cultures move to America. It's not like you're all going to be forced to become buddhists or something.
Yeah the fast food thing isn't so much a part of your culture as a general western culture now, but the US did invent it and the most prominent fast food places here are parts of the standard American franchises like McDonalds, Burger King and KFC.
We have many more restaurant type places than fast food places too, but that doesn't mean that we are a healthy nation. Just because I and some other people I see walking around are not overweight doesn't mean it isn't a defining feature of our culture overall. I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't read about it, but here in Scotland heart disease and obesity are big problems which are caused by our culture (deep fried fish and chips is basically our national dish, and we are pretty bad for binge drinking). The US has an even higher rate of obesity, so to pretend like it isn't a part of your culture is pretty silly, even if your area is better than most.
Yes there is, and I think my statement pointed out some valid differences in culture between the US and the rest of the world, possibly with the exception of fast food (but it's still an American invention and most fast food places here in the UK are part of American franchises).
The cars thing is most definitely not a stereotype. The american car culture is incredibly different to that of Europe and Japan. Just watch a movie filmed in Europe, or better yet come over for a visit and you will see for yourself just how different the average vehicle is (even on mainland Europe where the roads are almost as big as those in the US).
That actually has plenty to do with real life. Stereotypes all come from somewhere. I didn't list any over the top generalisations apart from perhaps gun culture. I know some Americans won't agree with the whole gun culture thing, but when it comes to cars the majority of Americans have pretty large cars compared to the rest of the world, and overeat, etc. Like I said we are almost as bad for the fast food in Scotland, and no doubt just as bad when it comes to worshipping celebrities, but the car thing isn't a stereotype, it's just a fact. As for guns, I don't know that much about US gun culture - I could have a skewed view as the Americans I most regularly have contact with these days (via the oil industry) are all from Texas.
All western countries pretty much have similar cultures. The US may have invented rock and roll but you most certainly did not invent "government by and for the people". Democracy was invented at least 2500 years ago.
Stuff like kilts, haggis and irn-bru etc are fair representations of what makes Scottish culture different from the rest of western culture. I don't think of that as an unfair stereotype. I always wear my kilt at weddings and ceilidhs etc, and have haggis occasionally, it's good stuff. Irn-Bru is also pretty awesome as fizzy soft drinks go. Headbutts are more of a southern thing, and while I was born and brought up near Glasgow, I don't think I ever blessed anyone with a Glasgow kiss (headbutt)
You got everything right apart from the baggy jeans. Baggy jeans are more for stoners and skateboarders. Chavs/neds (Non Educated Delinquents) are basically druggies/alcoholics or general delinquents like you say, and their traditional attire is tracksuits, burberry caps and white trainers! Sometimes with their trousers (pants) tucked into their socks. A strange and sometimes scary bunch.
America, just like England or any country across the Atlantic, has subsets of culture.
The original version of my comment actually took that into account, but I realised I was being too much of an obnoxious dick and toned it down a little. I just put in a few of the main elements of the culture that I see as very American things.
The UK and America are indeed pretty similar in some regards, though America is a lot closer to Europe in other regards just because you have a lot more space than we do in the UK! We have some pretty crappy anti-terror laws too, but we have never made such a big deal about being 'free' as those in the US often have. We care about freedom of speech, and I think our media is better, but personally I don't mind a bit of government monitoring.
Considering a lot of Americans make a big deal about their family history and where their family was originally from before they came to the US etc, then.. wtf are you talking about? What is this 'american culture' that you're trying to hang onto anyway?
My country (Scotland) has the worst rates of obesity and heart disease in Europe I think - poor eating habits and a lazy lifestyle isn't exactly something I think our nation should be proud of. My idea of American 'culture' is fast food, celebrities, gas guzzling cars, and guns. Have I missed anything?
any black holes created would be tiny - so tiny that they have a very small chance of even swallowing any particles during their existence, and evaporate "within a billionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second" (linky). That seems a lot shorter than the 5 years you say it would take to cause a problem.
It was the only other comment when I posted if you check the times. Whatever, there are no rules saying that I should have to start my own thread, the reply button on comments is a lot easier to get to than the constantly changing story reply one.
Tongue in cheek is fine if it's not presented as actual ignorance. In this case it could have gone either way, but I've seen plenty of/.ers in LHC threads who are still worried because they haven't actually looked into it. Yes, I thought the guy might have been joking, but it seemed even more likely to me that he wasn't. He didn't evne use an exclamation mark let alone any kind of emote to show his tone.
I got that it could be a joke while reading, but I've also seen a lot of people who are atually worried about black holes (I was one until I read some informative comments and links here on/. ).
You'd be mistaken. If he included a wink or something to suggest that he wasn't a moron who actually was worried about the possibility of a black hole, then it might have been very slightly funnier than something that isn't at all funny.
In these schemes it would only be the 2nd owner who would have to unlock the rest of the code. It would be tied to accounts, so the first person to log into the book would get the whole thing. The second person to log into it would only be able to read half of the book unless they authorised their account to read it. As someone who rarely sells anything, I'm quite happy to have all my stuff tied to an account (on Steam for example).
Enjoy your last few months outside of an event horizon.
I thought all/. readers by now (especially those keeping up with news on the LHC like this guy) would know that the black holes created by this thing will evaporate before being able to do any damage (which would take a long time anyway given how small they would be). What's with the scaremongering, ThanatosMinor? Are you trying to use the "last few months on earth" gag to pick up insecure chicks?
I think they movie people are just out of ideas. IMDB has over 960,000 movies & tv shows listed I think. So comic books and remakes is all they have left.
That betrays your own lack of imagination more than anything. There are millions of books and scripts out there, and the whole of documented history to draw on for those that don't have their own creative ideas. It's ludicrous to suggest that comic books are the only sources of inspiration left in the world.
The world is changing at an accelerating pace, not to mention the worlds that each individual on the planet perceives can suddenly change, even if the external reality stays the same. Sometimes just sharing your own take on reality or a certain theme can make an interesting movie.
The "movie people" aren't wanting for ideas or original scripts - they just need to be willing to take a risk and fund those ideas.
I thought they had, but Spiderman gave the whole theme a huge lift when it was shown that it was possible to make a decent superhero movie! It's not about the genre for me, it's about whether it's a good or bad movie.
'Hulk' was so-so, 'The Incredible Hulk' was pretty good. The original Batman movies started off okay and degraded into a farce (as they dropped the darkness and attempted to copy the original series). However, the last 2 Batman movies were both excellent (IMO of course). It's all about the quality of the writing, directing, production and acting. And of course, personal preference.
It depends more on the adaptation I'd say. Hellboy doesn't seem like typical superhero movie fare, but the movies turned out pretty well (the second one helped me appreciate the first, as I didn't think that much of it when I first saw it).
For real proof, just look at the range in the Batman movies to see how it doesn't matter what the subject matter is - only the quality of writing, acting, directing etc.
I didn't think much of V for Vendetta either, I actually used to think it was just a Wachowski Brothers creation rather than an adaptation of a graphic novel. But after seeing the movie I have no interest in the original! I have to say I kind of liked Constantine though. I only ever watched it once, at the cinema, but I might buy it on DVD if I saw it cheap.
Have a look at the HTC Athena. It's a smartphone/UMPC. I recommended it to my uncle last year and he's still using his, whereas his Samsung tablet was quickly consigned to a dusty corner not long after he got it because Windows CE or whatever it had didn't have as nice a stylus input system (you could only do handwriting recognition in a small part of the screen, on Windows Mobile you can use the whole screen) and crappy battery life.
For myself I'm getting a Pandora. I already have a phone and hopefully can get it set up as a bluetooth modem. If not I'll look for a less locked down phone!
Slashdot Mirror
That's like saying someone is born knowing what an electron, a door, or ice cream is. Humans are capable of describing hitherto unimagined ideas using language. Language in a lot of ways is our vehicle of understanding. Even our thoughts often involve our language. You are right that our understanding of things comes from experience, but there is no indication that it comes from a magical land of pre-existence.
A computer can tell when two variables are 'perfectly equal' using simple methods. Even methods that can be learned. I've not done a lot of study on neural networks, but I really doubt it would be hard to train a neural network to confirm that two inputs are equal.
Sure, you can hack about any OS with extra apps, you can run compiz on Windows, you can change the theme in OSX, etc. I even had nice candy textured window frames on my Amiga 10 years ago (but it ran like ass with only 16MB of RAM).
I at least was referring to the built-in and supported OS features, not what you can do with 3rd party apps (though admittedly Linux distros are usually just a collection of 3rd party apps). OSX 10.4 does not have a built in multiple desktop system or update manager (yes, I had apt-get installed anyway, but I didn't have a repository browser)
It seems that's one thing the ATI proprietary driver does right* - it has its own application for changing resolution and configuring internal and external displays, and recognised my Dell flatpanel correctly.
*or wrong, as it would be much better if they could release it as a plugin for the built in Ubuntu resolution manager, rather than a separate application in the 'accessories' menu, which isn't very intuitive
Well, I just tried that package, did have to change xorg to even get the gsynaptics application to start unfortunately. Didn't see any options for the 2 finger right click, and it broke the 2 finger scroll functionality. Ubuntu has moved to some other configuration files for configuring input devices these days, and I do have the 2 finger click option in one of those, but it doesn't have any effect (while the scrolling option does, and I just use the keyboard for right clicking).
They'll probably get it right eventually. I'd still want to be able to use 2 finger click even if I no longer had a mac. My next machine is going to be back to nVidia graphics so if the Macs at the time I'm buying don't have nVidia graphics I'll probably just get a Dell again.
Security updates are free, but if I wanted fancy multiple desktops I'd have to pay to update to 10.5, and that doesn't sound very free to me. I was living okay without multiple desktops sure, but with Ubuntu I got them for free, and I am now in fact using them.
The OSX security updates also were usually quite tardy as Mr AC points out just above me. Took them months to get a patch out for that big DNS bug a few months ago for example.
Ubuntu has become a fairly polished OS. If I had an nVidia graphics card then it would be almost perfect on this laptop. Canonical have done an awesome job. Linux is pretty much ready for any n00b to come along and use it for everything but the latest commercial games (which is often the main problem with OSX too).
Possibly, but I feel the need to pay to find out. My laptop came with OS 10.4
I just moved from OSX to Ubuntu a couple of weeks ago.
Benefits:
Downsides:
Poor attempt at flamebait tbh.
I mentioned fast food more because it's one of the things that America's culture has given to the rest of the world, not necessarily because everyone there eats it. But when "an estimated 65.2 percent of U.S. adults, age 20 years and older, and 15 percent of children and adolescents are overweight and 30.5 percent are obese", your culture hardly seems to embody all that is good when it comes to eating habits. That's not being bigoted, it's just a fact. I admitted in other comments that my own country is getting almost as bad as the US, but I'm not proud of that fact at all.
The rest of your culture is pretty similar to most European cultures because in fact your culture is partially a result of a mixture of lots of other countries cultures. I just mentioned the things that to me represent the US culture. It's bigoted to assume that everyone in the US is like that, and I know they're not, but those are a few of the things that historically have made the US what it is today, and a significant proportion of the population still agree with gun carrying, drive large cars (relative to the rest of the world, though most Americans wouldn't understand how their car is 'large' if they don't have a point of reference from other countries), worship celebrities, have very poor eating habits, yada yada yada. The UK is heading the same way, apart from the guns thing (so far).
When you said "many people here don't drive", did you mean to say they don't drive large cars or simply that they don't drive at all? Does it matter if some of your friends don't drive? Quite a few of my friends and none of my 3 siblings have drivers' licenses, but that doesn't mean that "many people here don't drive". I wasn't talking about the amount of people in the US that drive anyway, I was just pointing out the difference in your locally made vehicles compared to those manufactured in the rest of the world. Those who import cars to the US also modify their cars to be more appealing to American mindset and road, often replacing smaller displacement 4 cylinder turbo engines with V6es, softening up the suspension, using automatic transmission instead of manual, etc. In the UK we usually get the same engine lineups that the rest of Europe uses, but we get different suspension setups to cope with our poorer road surfaces (yay for potholes!) and windy roads. It's not bigoted saying there is a different car culture in different parts of the world, it's just the way things are, and since I love cars it's one of the things I notice the most.
I didn't say he should give up anything, I just don't really see any special part of American culture that he'd have to give up just because people with differing cultures move to America. It's not like you're all going to be forced to become buddhists or something.
Yeah the fast food thing isn't so much a part of your culture as a general western culture now, but the US did invent it and the most prominent fast food places here are parts of the standard American franchises like McDonalds, Burger King and KFC.
We have many more restaurant type places than fast food places too, but that doesn't mean that we are a healthy nation. Just because I and some other people I see walking around are not overweight doesn't mean it isn't a defining feature of our culture overall. I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't read about it, but here in Scotland heart disease and obesity are big problems which are caused by our culture (deep fried fish and chips is basically our national dish, and we are pretty bad for binge drinking). The US has an even higher rate of obesity, so to pretend like it isn't a part of your culture is pretty silly, even if your area is better than most.
Yes there is, and I think my statement pointed out some valid differences in culture between the US and the rest of the world, possibly with the exception of fast food (but it's still an American invention and most fast food places here in the UK are part of American franchises).
The cars thing is most definitely not a stereotype. The american car culture is incredibly different to that of Europe and Japan. Just watch a movie filmed in Europe, or better yet come over for a visit and you will see for yourself just how different the average vehicle is (even on mainland Europe where the roads are almost as big as those in the US).
That actually has plenty to do with real life. Stereotypes all come from somewhere. I didn't list any over the top generalisations apart from perhaps gun culture. I know some Americans won't agree with the whole gun culture thing, but when it comes to cars the majority of Americans have pretty large cars compared to the rest of the world, and overeat, etc. Like I said we are almost as bad for the fast food in Scotland, and no doubt just as bad when it comes to worshipping celebrities, but the car thing isn't a stereotype, it's just a fact. As for guns, I don't know that much about US gun culture - I could have a skewed view as the Americans I most regularly have contact with these days (via the oil industry) are all from Texas.
All western countries pretty much have similar cultures. The US may have invented rock and roll but you most certainly did not invent "government by and for the people". Democracy was invented at least 2500 years ago.
Stuff like kilts, haggis and irn-bru etc are fair representations of what makes Scottish culture different from the rest of western culture. I don't think of that as an unfair stereotype. I always wear my kilt at weddings and ceilidhs etc, and have haggis occasionally, it's good stuff. Irn-Bru is also pretty awesome as fizzy soft drinks go. Headbutts are more of a southern thing, and while I was born and brought up near Glasgow, I don't think I ever blessed anyone with a Glasgow kiss (headbutt)
You got everything right apart from the baggy jeans. Baggy jeans are more for stoners and skateboarders. Chavs/neds (Non Educated Delinquents) are basically druggies/alcoholics or general delinquents like you say, and their traditional attire is tracksuits, burberry caps and white trainers! Sometimes with their trousers (pants) tucked into their socks. A strange and sometimes scary bunch.
America, just like England or any country across the Atlantic, has subsets of culture.
The original version of my comment actually took that into account, but I realised I was being too much of an obnoxious dick and toned it down a little. I just put in a few of the main elements of the culture that I see as very American things.
The UK and America are indeed pretty similar in some regards, though America is a lot closer to Europe in other regards just because you have a lot more space than we do in the UK! We have some pretty crappy anti-terror laws too, but we have never made such a big deal about being 'free' as those in the US often have. We care about freedom of speech, and I think our media is better, but personally I don't mind a bit of government monitoring.
Considering a lot of Americans make a big deal about their family history and where their family was originally from before they came to the US etc, then.. wtf are you talking about? What is this 'american culture' that you're trying to hang onto anyway?
My country (Scotland) has the worst rates of obesity and heart disease in Europe I think - poor eating habits and a lazy lifestyle isn't exactly something I think our nation should be proud of. My idea of American 'culture' is fast food, celebrities, gas guzzling cars, and guns. Have I missed anything?
-_-
any black holes created would be tiny - so tiny that they have a very small chance of even swallowing any particles during their existence, and evaporate "within a billionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second" (linky). That seems a lot shorter than the 5 years you say it would take to cause a problem.
It was the only other comment when I posted if you check the times. Whatever, there are no rules saying that I should have to start my own thread, the reply button on comments is a lot easier to get to than the constantly changing story reply one.
Tongue in cheek is fine if it's not presented as actual ignorance. In this case it could have gone either way, but I've seen plenty of /.ers in LHC threads who are still worried because they haven't actually looked into it. Yes, I thought the guy might have been joking, but it seemed even more likely to me that he wasn't. He didn't evne use an exclamation mark let alone any kind of emote to show his tone.
I got that it could be a joke while reading, but I've also seen a lot of people who are atually worried about black holes (I was one until I read some informative comments and links here on /. ).
You'd be mistaken. If he included a wink or something to suggest that he wasn't a moron who actually was worried about the possibility of a black hole, then it might have been very slightly funnier than something that isn't at all funny.
In these schemes it would only be the 2nd owner who would have to unlock the rest of the code. It would be tied to accounts, so the first person to log into the book would get the whole thing. The second person to log into it would only be able to read half of the book unless they authorised their account to read it. As someone who rarely sells anything, I'm quite happy to have all my stuff tied to an account (on Steam for example).
Enjoy your last few months outside of an event horizon.
I thought all /. readers by now (especially those keeping up with news on the LHC like this guy) would know that the black holes created by this thing will evaporate before being able to do any damage (which would take a long time anyway given how small they would be). What's with the scaremongering, ThanatosMinor? Are you trying to use the "last few months on earth" gag to pick up insecure chicks?
Oh, didn't notice the subject of your message, sorry :p I often don't even notice them unless a post starts mid-sentence.
I think they movie people are just out of ideas. IMDB has over 960,000 movies & tv shows listed I think. So comic books and remakes is all they have left.
That betrays your own lack of imagination more than anything. There are millions of books and scripts out there, and the whole of documented history to draw on for those that don't have their own creative ideas. It's ludicrous to suggest that comic books are the only sources of inspiration left in the world.
The world is changing at an accelerating pace, not to mention the worlds that each individual on the planet perceives can suddenly change, even if the external reality stays the same. Sometimes just sharing your own take on reality or a certain theme can make an interesting movie.
The "movie people" aren't wanting for ideas or original scripts - they just need to be willing to take a risk and fund those ideas.
I thought they had, but Spiderman gave the whole theme a huge lift when it was shown that it was possible to make a decent superhero movie! It's not about the genre for me, it's about whether it's a good or bad movie.
'Hulk' was so-so, 'The Incredible Hulk' was pretty good. The original Batman movies started off okay and degraded into a farce (as they dropped the darkness and attempted to copy the original series). However, the last 2 Batman movies were both excellent (IMO of course). It's all about the quality of the writing, directing, production and acting. And of course, personal preference.
It depends more on the adaptation I'd say. Hellboy doesn't seem like typical superhero movie fare, but the movies turned out pretty well (the second one helped me appreciate the first, as I didn't think that much of it when I first saw it).
For real proof, just look at the range in the Batman movies to see how it doesn't matter what the subject matter is - only the quality of writing, acting, directing etc.
I didn't think much of V for Vendetta either, I actually used to think it was just a Wachowski Brothers creation rather than an adaptation of a graphic novel. But after seeing the movie I have no interest in the original! I have to say I kind of liked Constantine though. I only ever watched it once, at the cinema, but I might buy it on DVD if I saw it cheap.
Have a look at the HTC Athena. It's a smartphone/UMPC. I recommended it to my uncle last year and he's still using his, whereas his Samsung tablet was quickly consigned to a dusty corner not long after he got it because Windows CE or whatever it had didn't have as nice a stylus input system (you could only do handwriting recognition in a small part of the screen, on Windows Mobile you can use the whole screen) and crappy battery life.
For myself I'm getting a Pandora. I already have a phone and hopefully can get it set up as a bluetooth modem. If not I'll look for a less locked down phone!