I think too many people have a overdeveloped sense of superiority from the mere fact that they use an a particular OS, browser, tool, etc
This is something I will never understand. If I see you hammering a nail into a wall, I might suggest a drill and screw. You might appreciate the suggestion, or remain content with hammer and nail.
I still think that Apple is slowly making the move to put OS X on generic PC boxes
This is exactly what I thought when I first heard about the dual-boot macs. I think the iPod and the slow decline in M$ is really forcing Apple to rethink its overall market position. IMO, Apple has always under-valued itself (and I say this as a life-long IBM clone junky.)
When have you had to go look up and see who Brian Peppers was or another obscure thing that only existed on the internet?
Call me a pervert, but I love stories like Mr. Peppers. I think it is IMPORTANT to see examples of people being branded as "bad", and an entire planet then mocking them, all because they were born with a birth defect.
I found relevance here, not a source of childish amusement. And it is for this reason that I agree with the parent post.
I might go one better, and suggest that *ANY* voting/popularity-based system can easily degenerate into mob rule. See also: democracy.
But isn't this exactly what our beloved Google does? Isn't this exactly how a PR works?
for example: I am *the* trusted source for cartoons (not really), because everybody links to my sig. That doesn't make my page *good* or *true*, simply *popular*.
The biggest killer of office productivity (IMO) are whiney passive-aggressive who would rather "play politics" than finish the task at hand.
Believe it or not, I am was terribly shy person until 21 or so. And then I realized, unless I grew some balls, I was going to be a pushover the rest of my life. Believe me, I *know* its not always easy to go confront someone who could easily toss you through a window, but we live in a very competitive world.
Sadly, if they insist on acting like animals, we have little choice but to accomodate them.
Rejoice fellow geeks, for our day of reckoning is finally upon is. Let us, the great pale masses, rise up now to claim that which is ours! Death to the capitalist pigs! Viva le resistance!
I implore everyone reading this to begin purchasing as much gasoline and orange juice concentrate as budgets will afford. If they won't give it to us peacefully, we will burn them to the fucking ground.
If any of you are questioned by the authorities, simply explain that, unless you are left alone immediately, you will unleash waves of mysterious and powerful hackers against them; evil hackers who will steal visa cards, send unpleasant emails, and even go so far as to destroy any electrical appliance within a 50-mile radius.
Am I kidding? Probably.
Then again, maybe some "revolution for the hell of it" is just what this country needs.
People will grasp at any argument, no matter how ridiculous, to keep Americans onside of the China Slave Labour Racket.
Very true, very unfortunate. Just so I know, we *did* win the Cold War, right? I mean, at least that's what I remember being told in brainwashing camp.
I was thinking of writing a simple script in PHP using FTP commands & chron tab to brute hack passwords. I assume it could just check against a dictionary of common passwords, and seek syntax clues from the website content.
It wouldn't be an effective "hacking tool", but it *would* be handy for spotting dumb passwords. This would be handy for me because I have a bad habit of forgetting to disable developer FTP accounts on my server.
What say you/.? Pandora's box? Good idea? Total crap?
I haven't played Warcraft since Warcraft II circa 95. I am going to assume the basic game premise hasn't much changed:
1. Raise an army of trolls
2. Raise hell with army
3. Miss school/work/date and click on peons to hear funny phrases instead.
If this holds true, I fail to see what WoW has to do with homosexuality OR christianity.
However, I am not naive. People will always divide themselves into "groups" and "teams" and "sides". I say, so be it. Let the Christian Orc league do battle with the Elves of NY, let them spend hours destroying one another again and again.
And then, after they spend 10 years at "war", and see it has made NO DIFFERENCE, perhaps they can BOTH shut up and get some opinions of their own.
You ask: If anybody can explain to me why so many folks seem to be terrified of homosexuality even though it has roughly zero impact on their lives I'd appreciate it.
I am not terrified of homosexuals, nor do I think "terror" is the proper adjective for those branded "anti-gay"
I do not sleep with my friends, so the issue rarely comes up.
When I discover that someone is gay, I promptly remind them that I don't care what they do with their genetalia.
When I discover that someone is straight, I promptly remind them that I don't care what they do with their genetalia.
When I discover that someone is "keen for kids", I promptly remind them that to infringe of the civil liberties of others is wrong, and that (IMO) people under "legal age" are probably not ready for these decisions.
I will hope that we agree thus far. If so, I feel there *is* hope of ending this "homosexual crisis" in our lifetimes.
Now, to disagree:
I feel that the homosexual issue has been hikacked by BOTH parties in order to divide and conquer us. I feel it should be a non-issue. So long as homosexuality is not "mainstream", it will naturally assign itself to where it belongs: among those who want it!
By suggesting that homosexuality is not "mainstream", I mean simply that. This is a self-defined minority.
Furthermore: as homosexuality gains popularity, it is natural to see more of it. This explains (in part) the increase in "gay media". However, I think the majority of "gay issues" are entirely invented in order to fuel US political parties, which became outright hysterical decades ago.
I do not hate the people, I hate the movement. I do not see how it is helping gays OR non gays.
OK, I admit it: I had to go read the Wiki on functional programming before I could reply. Having read this article, I feel a bit better about some of the work I've been doing (I have a weird habit of *doing things* and only later learning what the proper name of the activity is).
I'm using PHP, but only because it is the easiest language I've ever worked with. I started coding as a wee youth on a PS/2 286 in Qbasic. As best I can tell, it really doesn't matter *which* language we use, so long as (at the end of the day) x = what we want.
I am a tad insecure here because I never "officially" learned any of this. I am really trying to follow the "standards" better, but I am having a hard time understand *which* standard(s) I should use to express this.
Case in point: f[0|-1] = (((u/w)-Avg(u/w))/1-Avg(u/w))-1
Is that right? Math aside, have I expressed this formula properly?
I have an MLA guide that I *love* to reference on various "english rules" I get stuck on. Does a similar guide exist for mathematics? I.e. to ignore a "1" we do such and such...Or am I really just discovering that this is a free-for-all and no one is really sure which end is up?
Why is this field one of the least commercially applicable? It would seem to me a simple equation would have unlimitted portablity; don't all languages use math? If I remember correctly, Even Qbasic handled exponents and logs.
As for taking years and years- the way I see it, years and years is what I got (I'm currently 25). Best case, I get to participate in an entirely new wave of innovation. Worst case, I'll write a book and leave it for the next generation. (Chapters 1-58: Don't waste your time doing the following...).
Sorry to sound like a PHB, let me give an example:
One spider is hitting craig's list, in order to find the liquidity of real estate (in other words, X properties at an avg price of Y listed FSBO in Albany, NY today). A second spider is hitting various government sites in order to find taxes, appraisals, etc. Then, using some fancy-pants math, I am able to reduce everything into a single search portal which is responding with the most valuable leads for my real-estate investor slave masters (this is my current day job).
I took the idea further by combining Wiki and Google News into another hybrid search engine; students enter a topic, and it parses notes, and cites sources in MLA format.
Two applications, same idea: spider *specific* data from *specific* places, so that these "magical algorithms" can actually do something useful with all this data.
You mention Amazon's AI, which many seem to think is marketing fluff. In my experience, when looking at obscure books, or obscure authors, the recommendations ARE excellent, and I HAVE purchased several of them (to be fair, I'll take a chance on just about any non-fiction book). However, when looking at the latest big DVD release, the recommendations are crap.
Back to my objective: as we see with Amazon, and your original post, the more *specific* (and credible) the information, the more we can do with it. As for the single UI, this would basically be the "last step" in tying all these wacky "hybrid engines" together under one name.
And as you mention, this raises several UI questions for which I have no answers. I like the Google "click-and-go" experience...when it works. Sometimes I wish I could "talk with it" and help it understand my search *before* showing me a billion links to crap. Of course they offer hundreds of options, but somehow, it "feels" like Google is losing its edge these days (as far as accuracy goes).
If the above made no sense, please disregard. It's been a long day.
Here is a simple feature I would *love* to see here on/.
The "Is this worth our money?" poll, to be attached to any story discussing anything tax-funded. Politics aside, it is our money. Is this how we want it spent?
Quick: Someone give this guy the last +1 he needs for the 5.
I am so tired of people calling me a "crook" for making a conscious effort to invest in new technology, and taking a perfectly legal tax deduction for it.
If not for our many great entrepreneurs, you would all be unemployed. Please, take the time to learn the difference between people like me, and people who "start a business" after watching an infomercial.
I agree with your comment, but wish to offer the following addendum:
My main opposition to the Deomocrats on this is that they vigorously hijack enviornmental issues, regardless of their genuine scientific merit (or lack thereof).
...and flips open to reveal two screens that fit up against each other almost seamlessly, thus doubling screen size.
If someone could perfect this, I can see it helping both PDAs and Tab PCs. However, the key is making it truly seamless. I can imagine a stylus that keeps getting "caught" on the "crease" and really driving me nuts.
Slashdot Mirror
I think too many people have a overdeveloped sense of superiority from the mere fact that they use an a particular OS, browser, tool, etc
This is something I will never understand. If I see you hammering a nail into a wall, I might suggest a drill and screw. You might appreciate the suggestion, or remain content with hammer and nail.
Why would either response be stupid?
Great story, excellent analogy.
From "Illustrated Man" if memory serves.
I still think that Apple is slowly making the move to put OS X on generic PC boxes
This is exactly what I thought when I first heard about the dual-boot macs. I think the iPod and the slow decline in M$ is really forcing Apple to rethink its overall market position. IMO, Apple has always under-valued itself (and I say this as a life-long IBM clone junky.)
When have you had to go look up and see who Brian Peppers was or another obscure thing that only existed on the internet?
Call me a pervert, but I love stories like Mr. Peppers. I think it is IMPORTANT to see examples of people being branded as "bad", and an entire planet then mocking them, all because they were born with a birth defect.
I found relevance here, not a source of childish amusement. And it is for this reason that I agree with the parent post.
I think the developments we're seeing today in web applications would have come 10 years ago if Microsoft hadn't gotten involved.
Very true. When I first saw AJAX as "AJAX" I laughed (I had been using similar commands for YEARS).
Social conformity is the death of truth.
I might go one better, and suggest that *ANY* voting/popularity-based system can easily degenerate into mob rule. See also: democracy.
But isn't this exactly what our beloved Google does? Isn't this exactly how a PR works?
for example: I am *the* trusted source for cartoons (not really), because everybody links to my sig. That doesn't make my page *good* or *true*, simply *popular*.
I was debating repainting the bedroom, but no, this is much better.
And you thought a ceiling MIRROR was arrogant...
Thank you...
...for a hearty laugh.
...for reaffriming my fear of rising socialized healthcare in the US.
The biggest killer of office productivity (IMO) are whiney passive-aggressive who would rather "play politics" than finish the task at hand.
Believe it or not, I am was terribly shy person until 21 or so. And then I realized, unless I grew some balls, I was going to be a pushover the rest of my life. Believe me, I *know* its not always easy to go confront someone who could easily toss you through a window, but we live in a very competitive world.
Sadly, if they insist on acting like animals, we have little choice but to accomodate them.
Rejoice fellow geeks, for our day of reckoning is finally upon is. Let us, the great pale masses, rise up now to claim that which is ours! Death to the capitalist pigs! Viva le resistance!
I implore everyone reading this to begin purchasing as much gasoline and orange juice concentrate as budgets will afford. If they won't give it to us peacefully, we will burn them to the fucking ground.
If any of you are questioned by the authorities, simply explain that, unless you are left alone immediately, you will unleash waves of mysterious and powerful hackers against them; evil hackers who will steal visa cards, send unpleasant emails, and even go so far as to destroy any electrical appliance within a 50-mile radius.
Am I kidding? Probably.
Then again, maybe some "revolution for the hell of it" is just what this country needs.
People will grasp at any argument, no matter how ridiculous, to keep Americans onside of the China Slave Labour Racket.
Very true, very unfortunate. Just so I know, we *did* win the Cold War, right? I mean, at least that's what I remember being told in brainwashing camp.
I was thinking of writing a simple script in PHP using FTP commands & chron tab to brute hack passwords. I assume it could just check against a dictionary of common passwords, and seek syntax clues from the website content.
It wouldn't be an effective "hacking tool", but it *would* be handy for spotting dumb passwords. This would be handy for me because I have a bad habit of forgetting to disable developer FTP accounts on my server.
What say you /.? Pandora's box? Good idea? Total crap?
I haven't played Warcraft since Warcraft II circa 95. I am going to assume the basic game premise hasn't much changed:
1. Raise an army of trolls
2. Raise hell with army
3. Miss school/work/date and click on peons to hear funny phrases instead.
If this holds true, I fail to see what WoW has to do with homosexuality OR christianity.
However, I am not naive. People will always divide themselves into "groups" and "teams" and "sides". I say, so be it. Let the Christian Orc league do battle with the Elves of NY, let them spend hours destroying one another again and again.
And then, after they spend 10 years at "war", and see it has made NO DIFFERENCE, perhaps they can BOTH shut up and get some opinions of their own.
You ask: If anybody can explain to me why so many folks seem to be terrified of homosexuality even though it has roughly zero impact on their lives I'd appreciate it.
I am not terrified of homosexuals, nor do I think "terror" is the proper adjective for those branded "anti-gay"
I do not sleep with my friends, so the issue rarely comes up.
When I discover that someone is gay, I promptly remind them that I don't care what they do with their genetalia.
When I discover that someone is straight, I promptly remind them that I don't care what they do with their genetalia.
When I discover that someone is "keen for kids", I promptly remind them that to infringe of the civil liberties of others is wrong, and that (IMO) people under "legal age" are probably not ready for these decisions.
I will hope that we agree thus far. If so, I feel there *is* hope of ending this "homosexual crisis" in our lifetimes.
Now, to disagree:
I feel that the homosexual issue has been hikacked by BOTH parties in order to divide and conquer us. I feel it should be a non-issue. So long as homosexuality is not "mainstream", it will naturally assign itself to where it belongs: among those who want it!
By suggesting that homosexuality is not "mainstream", I mean simply that. This is a self-defined minority.
Furthermore: as homosexuality gains popularity, it is natural to see more of it. This explains (in part) the increase in "gay media". However, I think the majority of "gay issues" are entirely invented in order to fuel US political parties, which became outright hysterical decades ago.
I do not hate the people, I hate the movement. I do not see how it is helping gays OR non gays.
Great sig. Thanks for cheering me up.
...I guess I can always screw around on YouTube until then.
As soon as I saw it had been tagged "gay" I rushed in to make this point.
Hysterical.
OK, I admit it: I had to go read the Wiki on functional programming before I could reply. Having read this article, I feel a bit better about some of the work I've been doing (I have a weird habit of *doing things* and only later learning what the proper name of the activity is).
Would this count as "functional programming"? http://joshthejenius.com/experiments/technorati_sp am.php
I'm using PHP, but only because it is the easiest language I've ever worked with. I started coding as a wee youth on a PS/2 286 in Qbasic. As best I can tell, it really doesn't matter *which* language we use, so long as (at the end of the day) x = what we want.
I am a tad insecure here because I never "officially" learned any of this. I am really trying to follow the "standards" better, but I am having a hard time understand *which* standard(s) I should use to express this.
Case in point: f[0|-1] = (((u/w)-Avg(u/w))/1-Avg(u/w))-1
Is that right? Math aside, have I expressed this formula properly?
I have an MLA guide that I *love* to reference on various "english rules" I get stuck on. Does a similar guide exist for mathematics? I.e. to ignore a "1" we do such and such...Or am I really just discovering that this is a free-for-all and no one is really sure which end is up?
Why is this field one of the least commercially applicable? It would seem to me a simple equation would have unlimitted portablity; don't all languages use math? If I remember correctly, Even Qbasic handled exponents and logs.
As for taking years and years- the way I see it, years and years is what I got (I'm currently 25). Best case, I get to participate in an entirely new wave of innovation. Worst case, I'll write a book and leave it for the next generation. (Chapters 1-58: Don't waste your time doing the following...).
I've always wondered the same thing.
Then I remember the MS lobbyists...
Thanks for the link. I loved ELIZA- that was the prog that really turned me on to this AI stuff in the first place.
Sadly, I am too stupid to care about fame or money, I just want to make it work. That said, back I go to the land of math and dreams...
Peace.
Sorry to sound like a PHB, let me give an example:
One spider is hitting craig's list, in order to find the liquidity of real estate (in other words, X properties at an avg price of Y listed FSBO in Albany, NY today). A second spider is hitting various government sites in order to find taxes, appraisals, etc. Then, using some fancy-pants math, I am able to reduce everything into a single search portal which is responding with the most valuable leads for my real-estate investor slave masters (this is my current day job).
I took the idea further by combining Wiki and Google News into another hybrid search engine; students enter a topic, and it parses notes, and cites sources in MLA format.
Two applications, same idea: spider *specific* data from *specific* places, so that these "magical algorithms" can actually do something useful with all this data.
You mention Amazon's AI, which many seem to think is marketing fluff. In my experience, when looking at obscure books, or obscure authors, the recommendations ARE excellent, and I HAVE purchased several of them (to be fair, I'll take a chance on just about any non-fiction book). However, when looking at the latest big DVD release, the recommendations are crap.
Back to my objective: as we see with Amazon, and your original post, the more *specific* (and credible) the information, the more we can do with it. As for the single UI, this would basically be the "last step" in tying all these wacky "hybrid engines" together under one name.
And as you mention, this raises several UI questions for which I have no answers. I like the Google "click-and-go" experience...when it works. Sometimes I wish I could "talk with it" and help it understand my search *before* showing me a billion links to crap. Of course they offer hundreds of options, but somehow, it "feels" like Google is losing its edge these days (as far as accuracy goes).
If the above made no sense, please disregard. It's been a long day.
Here is a simple feature I would *love* to see here on /.
The "Is this worth our money?" poll, to be attached to any story discussing anything tax-funded. Politics aside, it is our money. Is this how we want it spent?
Honest question, useful data (IMO).
Quick: Someone give this guy the last +1 he needs for the 5.
I am so tired of people calling me a "crook" for making a conscious effort to invest in new technology, and taking a perfectly legal tax deduction for it.
If not for our many great entrepreneurs, you would all be unemployed. Please, take the time to learn the difference between people like me, and people who "start a business" after watching an infomercial.
I agree with your comment, but wish to offer the following addendum:
My main opposition to the Deomocrats on this is that they vigorously hijack enviornmental issues, regardless of their genuine scientific merit (or lack thereof).
If someone could perfect this, I can see it helping both PDAs and Tab PCs. However, the key is making it truly seamless. I can imagine a stylus that keeps getting "caught" on the "crease" and really driving me nuts.
Agreed, agreed and agreed.
But haven't the wars after WWII shown us that technological advantage alone can not win a war?
I am willing to accept a "war on terror", but what good are these hi-tech weapons against enemies without ICBMs or even jet fighters?