In all likelihood any daughter I have will be black like me. So you may want to rethink that one chief... starting with the fact that no kid of mine gets a new car after her first driving lesson.
This is the internet. Even though it's Slashdot don't make assumptions about the people posting here.
Those of us of a certain age will remember when primary schools deviated from the accepted curriculum of the time and began teaching "new math". We were taught rudimentary set theory as first and second graders. It was interesting but ultimately pointless as we had no use for those concepts until much later in our education--perhaps around early high school.
Some kids never got the concepts we were being taught and many parents saw it as pointless, partly because they didn't understand it and partly because they felt it was detracting from the things that "should" be taught that they could understand. Like basic addition and subtraction. Computer science instruction will be the same thing all over again. Something that isn't a core part of the elementary curriculum that will teach kids concepts they may not be ready for, and that they won't be able to use right away. (Note that I mean computer science, not computer literacy. I think many if not most kids in the US are computer literate by third or fourth grade these days)
If you must make computer science a part of primary eduction it should be the equivalent of a high school elective. Like auto mechanics or shop.
At long last vendors have gotten over their fear of Microsoft. There was a time HP and Dell would never consider preloading an alternative operating system. Now they're both doing it, and it's good for the customer, good for Linux and -- surprise -- good for HP and Dell.
The complete marketing failure that is Windows Vista made this possible. (Note that I didn't say the failure of Vista. Microsoft is on the road to salvaging the OS itself, but customer perception of its quality is a lost cause.)
OK, not this part so much, but it's not bad. Did you notice that the site also posts all lobbying efforts made to the transition team? There's some very revealing documents there. A definite step in the right direction in terms of government transparency.
Apple won't be Microsoft ever, because unlike Microsoft Apple actually uses open standards. Sometimes they help to develop them, but even when that's not they case they haven't hesitated to use them. Microsoft has a history of releasing competing technologies, then leverage their large market share to drive open standards into the ground. When they try to play the open standards game it has to be their standard, and the rest of the world is expected to conform. OOXML anyone?
The iPhone is open enough to attract developers and closed enough to provide a consistent user experience that, so far, the market seems happy with. They don't need to open source mobile OS X to continue to be successful.
I RTFA, and it seems to me AT&T is looking for a common operating system for their "base" or cheaper phones. This would serve as a replacement for all of the Java crap that's out there now. They also further state that they see Apple as a third party provider using their network services. This has the potential to be the best situation of all. If AT&T opens their network to third party devices, not just Apple/RIM/Windows Mobile, we could see all manner of innovation in the near future.
This is in no way a slap in the face of Apple. If anything it's a validation of Apple's current iPhone model. (That is, if you ignore subsidies and rebates)
An example that proves my point. He's been prime minister 4 times... that's at least 8 governments right there as he's been in and out of power. Unless he's 100 years old that's a lot of change you can't necessarily believe in...
Is there any guarantee that Berlusconi will still be Prime Minister in January? Historically they've changed governments more frequently than Cowboy Neal changes his pants...;-)
I believe that concept is called a "telescreen", popularized in fiction by George Orwell. Interestingly enough a Slashdot story from earlier this year mentions that Apple has a patent on a similar concept.
I'm not sure it's something I'd want *my* computer to have...
"Sacrifice". Obama said it in his victory speech, and I believe McCain also said it in his concession speech. The problems of this country are so massive they can't be solved without each of us giving something to the cause. I'm not talking taxes, although I'm sure that will figure into it. If Obama is going to be successful--and by extension, make the country successful--we're all going to have to embrace the notion of personal sacrifice and service to the country. Think about that before you reflexively complain about what's bound to be unpleasant for many of us. In the words of John McCain: "It's time to put the country first."
Prepare yourselves for four years of austerity. We can't continue as a country where the only people who actively sacrifice for it are the members of the military and their families.
Correction. We've had divided government since '07. The election was in '06, but Congress wasn't seated until '07. As a percentage of time of the Bush administration it was actually quite short.
Interesting. I posted this from memory, based on the James Blish novelization of "Amok Time" that I read in the mid-70's. In the novelization he/she explicitly said Epsilon Eridani. I suppose the canon has moved on since then.
The best example I can think of are personal letters. Usually we judge these by the importance of the person who wrote them, but in some cases we can (today) look at the letters written by ordinary people to their loved ones and gain great historical insight into the events of the time. Take, for example, Ken Burns' "The Civil War". Some of the most compelling information in the documentary was found in the letters written by ordinary soldiers.
Somehow I doubt we'll have records of the emails today's soldiers are sending home 150 years from now.
We can't judge what future generations are going to find valuable in the mountains of data we're generating today. We should find a way to preserve as much of it as we can. I hope someone is working on good, open compression algorithms to go along with the data storage.
That's a big part of the premise of the show, and one of the reasons it works. It also removes the "eggs in one basket" argument. Of course, that's also one of the reasons why announcing that you're going to undertake a project like this ensures that it will never be a success. It can't be self-selecting either. So if you're going to embark on a Quixotic quest like this, who do you get to choose your geniuses?
Sorry Australia but this has "fail" written all over it.
The extent of BSE contamination may well be low or zero. But why prevent the testing? There's no reason to prevent voluntary testing for BSE if the producer wants to do it and pay for it. Presumably they'll pass on the added costs to the export markets they ship to, who clearly are willing to pay. After all, Japan and Korea require mandatory testing for all of their domestic herds now.
The fact that the USDA is actively preventing a producer from running the tests will generate fear in consumers if that fact becomes widely known. People are panicky animals and the fear of rampant BSE contamination alone is enough crash the demand for beef. The truth of the situation really doesn't matter.
So, my point is that it is in the beef industries' best interest to be transparent about this and test all of their cattle. It's not like there haven't been a number of recent high profile incidents of contamination in the food supply to prime the fear pump already. It won't take much to cause a row over BSE too.
Whatever happened to governments serving the public good?
The beef industry is being awfully shortsighted here, and the government is helping them. Sooner or later the extent of BSE contamination in US herds is going to come out, and consumer reaction will be so swift and devastating that it will likely take decades for the industry to recover. They would be better served to come clean now.
Fortunately for USAns you're in the middle of an election cycle. Make this a visible issue and force the candidates to at least pay lip service to it. Once the masses realize what's going on the demand for beef will fall and the producers themselves will demand that all herds get tested.
Oh, and no matter how tasty it is do your part by not eating beef. Just what is your brain worth anyway? (being Slashdot I know I'm going to regret asking that even rhetorically...)
( SNIP) And why is Dubai building all this architectural bling in the first place?
Because Dubai's rulers recognize that they are on the downward slope of their oil production curve. They're going to run out of oil completely in a decade or two and they're making an effort to transform themselves into a world financial capital. Now, while they've got the money. If they can siphon off a bit of business from London, New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong they'll be well placed to provide for themselves in the second half of this century.
Planning for the future and taking a longer view is a lesson the West should take to heart...
Slashdot Mirror
Did someone remove the locks from the water tower again? I swear, this story could only happen if Wakko, Yakko and Dot got loose. Again.
In all likelihood any daughter I have will be black like me. So you may want to rethink that one chief... starting with the fact that no kid of mine gets a new car after her first driving lesson.
This is the internet. Even though it's Slashdot don't make assumptions about the people posting here.
Just like the government. Always trying to keep the black van down...
My favorite from the old days. A 36-bit OS, which was either 4 bits short or had 4 bits too many.
Now I'm getting all nostalgic. Where did I put my copy of "Alice's PDP-10"?
You can hack anything you want
In TECO and DDT...
Isn't that the communications network for the Autobots? This whole traffic management plan is a Decepticon plot I tell you! It must be destroyed!
And all this time I thought that if you weren't part of the solution you were part of the precipitate...
Those of us of a certain age will remember when primary schools deviated from the accepted curriculum of the time and began teaching "new math". We were taught rudimentary set theory as first and second graders. It was interesting but ultimately pointless as we had no use for those concepts until much later in our education--perhaps around early high school.
Some kids never got the concepts we were being taught and many parents saw it as pointless, partly because they didn't understand it and partly because they felt it was detracting from the things that "should" be taught that they could understand. Like basic addition and subtraction. Computer science instruction will be the same thing all over again. Something that isn't a core part of the elementary curriculum that will teach kids concepts they may not be ready for, and that they won't be able to use right away. (Note that I mean computer science, not computer literacy. I think many if not most kids in the US are computer literate by third or fourth grade these days)
If you must make computer science a part of primary eduction it should be the equivalent of a high school elective. Like auto mechanics or shop.
At long last vendors have gotten over their fear of Microsoft. There was a time HP and Dell would never consider preloading an alternative operating system. Now they're both doing it, and it's good for the customer, good for Linux and -- surprise -- good for HP and Dell.
The complete marketing failure that is Windows Vista made this possible. (Note that I didn't say the failure of Vista. Microsoft is on the road to salvaging the OS itself, but customer perception of its quality is a lost cause.)
OK, not this part so much, but it's not bad. Did you notice that the site also posts all lobbying efforts made to the transition team? There's some very revealing documents there. A definite step in the right direction in terms of government transparency.
Agreed, but for different reasons.
Apple won't be Microsoft ever, because unlike Microsoft Apple actually uses open standards. Sometimes they help to develop them, but even when that's not they case they haven't hesitated to use them. Microsoft has a history of releasing competing technologies, then leverage their large market share to drive open standards into the ground. When they try to play the open standards game it has to be their standard, and the rest of the world is expected to conform. OOXML anyone?
The iPhone is open enough to attract developers and closed enough to provide a consistent user experience that, so far, the market seems happy with. They don't need to open source mobile OS X to continue to be successful.
I RTFA, and it seems to me AT&T is looking for a common operating system for their "base" or cheaper phones. This would serve as a replacement for all of the Java crap that's out there now. They also further state that they see Apple as a third party provider using their network services. This has the potential to be the best situation of all. If AT&T opens their network to third party devices, not just Apple/RIM/Windows Mobile, we could see all manner of innovation in the near future.
This is in no way a slap in the face of Apple. If anything it's a validation of Apple's current iPhone model. (That is, if you ignore subsidies and rebates)
An example that proves my point. He's been prime minister 4 times... that's at least 8 governments right there as he's been in and out of power. Unless he's 100 years old that's a lot of change you can't necessarily believe in...
Is there any guarantee that Berlusconi will still be Prime Minister in January? Historically they've changed governments more frequently than Cowboy Neal changes his pants... ;-)
I believe that concept is called a "telescreen", popularized in fiction by George Orwell. Interestingly enough a Slashdot story from earlier this year mentions that Apple has a patent on a similar concept.
I'm not sure it's something I'd want *my* computer to have...
"Sacrifice". Obama said it in his victory speech, and I believe McCain also said it in his concession speech. The problems of this country are so massive they can't be solved without each of us giving something to the cause. I'm not talking taxes, although I'm sure that will figure into it. If Obama is going to be successful--and by extension, make the country successful--we're all going to have to embrace the notion of personal sacrifice and service to the country. Think about that before you reflexively complain about what's bound to be unpleasant for many of us. In the words of John McCain: "It's time to put the country first."
Prepare yourselves for four years of austerity. We can't continue as a country where the only people who actively sacrifice for it are the members of the military and their families.
Correction. We've had divided government since '07. The election was in '06, but Congress wasn't seated until '07. As a percentage of time of the Bush administration it was actually quite short.
Interesting. I posted this from memory, based on the James Blish novelization of "Amok Time" that I read in the mid-70's. In the novelization he/she explicitly said Epsilon Eridani. I suppose the canon has moved on since then.
The best example I can think of are personal letters. Usually we judge these by the importance of the person who wrote them, but in some cases we can (today) look at the letters written by ordinary people to their loved ones and gain great historical insight into the events of the time. Take, for example, Ken Burns' "The Civil War". Some of the most compelling information in the documentary was found in the letters written by ordinary soldiers.
Somehow I doubt we'll have records of the emails today's soldiers are sending home 150 years from now.
We can't judge what future generations are going to find valuable in the mountains of data we're generating today. We should find a way to preserve as much of it as we can. I hope someone is working on good, open compression algorithms to go along with the data storage.
Sci-Fi seems to have limited originality. It's also Vulcan's system.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_(Star_Trek_planet)
That's a big part of the premise of the show, and one of the reasons it works. It also removes the "eggs in one basket" argument. Of course, that's also one of the reasons why announcing that you're going to undertake a project like this ensures that it will never be a success. It can't be self-selecting either. So if you're going to embark on a Quixotic quest like this, who do you get to choose your geniuses?
Sorry Australia but this has "fail" written all over it.
Um... if there was nothing in the beginning where did this God thing you speak of come from?
Now, if you're saying that God and the void are one that I can get behind. . .
You're missing my point.
The extent of BSE contamination may well be low or zero. But why prevent the testing? There's no reason to prevent voluntary testing for BSE if the producer wants to do it and pay for it. Presumably they'll pass on the added costs to the export markets they ship to, who clearly are willing to pay. After all, Japan and Korea require mandatory testing for all of their domestic herds now.
The fact that the USDA is actively preventing a producer from running the tests will generate fear in consumers if that fact becomes widely known. People are panicky animals and the fear of rampant BSE contamination alone is enough crash the demand for beef. The truth of the situation really doesn't matter.
So, my point is that it is in the beef industries' best interest to be transparent about this and test all of their cattle. It's not like there haven't been a number of recent high profile incidents of contamination in the food supply to prime the fear pump already. It won't take much to cause a row over BSE too.
Whatever happened to governments serving the public good?
The beef industry is being awfully shortsighted here, and the government is helping them. Sooner or later the extent of BSE contamination in US herds is going to come out, and consumer reaction will be so swift and devastating that it will likely take decades for the industry to recover. They would be better served to come clean now.
Fortunately for USAns you're in the middle of an election cycle. Make this a visible issue and force the candidates to at least pay lip service to it. Once the masses realize what's going on the demand for beef will fall and the producers themselves will demand that all herds get tested.
Oh, and no matter how tasty it is do your part by not eating beef. Just what is your brain worth anyway? (being Slashdot I know I'm going to regret asking that even rhetorically...)
( SNIP) And why is Dubai building all this architectural bling in the first place?
Because Dubai's rulers recognize that they are on the downward slope of their oil production curve. They're going to run out of oil completely in a decade or two and they're making an effort to transform themselves into a world financial capital. Now, while they've got the money. If they can siphon off a bit of business from London, New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong they'll be well placed to provide for themselves in the second half of this century.
Planning for the future and taking a longer view is a lesson the West should take to heart...
Just what our spacefaring pioneers need-- a software version of Deanna Troi.
Heaven help them should it develop empathy and a bad accent.