"Frankenstein" is usually classified as Gothic Romantic or Horror. Poe termed this style "Arabesque" and published many tales in a similar style. Some sources --
http://www.desert-fairy.com/franken.shtml
-- refer to "Frankenstein" as Science Fiction, but when I graduated, (1975, BA English, American Literature) Poe was generally considered to have developed the genre for reasons of structure and style.
This page --
http://www.magicdragon.com/UltimateSF/thisthat.htm l
-- also provides some historical information and definitions of Science Fiction.
You make an excellent point, though. Numerous examples such as Swift's "Gulliver's Travels," (1726) do not fit the definition for technical reasons, but also embody aspects of Science Fiction. Swift, through the Lilliputians, predicted that Mars had two moons and was almost exactly correct in predicting the orbit and periodicity of both. Is it Science Fiction or Political Satire? Both? Neither? You decide.
Voltaire published "Micromegas" in 1750, describing the visit to Earth of a giant from Sirius.
The point is that, while credited with the genre, Poe was not the first to engage in speculation. As a brilliant technical (in the literary sense) writer, he created a style and structure that influenced almost all who followed.
Where does the break between Fantasy incorporating scientific basis and references and Science Fiction occur? That is left as an exercise for the student.:-)
BTW, it is exactly this kind of nit-picking religiosity that caused me to never work in any job that involved literature.
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
H.G. Wells, despite producing a fine body of work, was not the father of Science Fiction. That honor goes to the greatest author and literary critic in American Literature, Edgar Allan Poe. With the publishing of "The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfaall" in 1835, Poe established the genre. Some argue that "Ms. Found in a Bottle," published two years earlier, was the correct genesis, but the theme is not as clear in this earlier work. Poe also went on to publish some fourteen other works often categorized as early Science Fiction.
Poe also invented the Detective story when he published "Murders in the Rue Morgue" in 1850. He referred to this genre as "ratiocination" or "exact thinking." This story and "The Gold Bug" both include strong components of cryptography.
In 1863, the great Jules Verne published his first Science Fiction novel, "Five Weeks in a Balloon." Verne proved himself the master of modern Science Fiction, in fact presaging many scientific advances.
Wells' first work of Science Fiction, "The Time Machine," was published in 1895. This publication began a long and prolific career that extended until his death in 1946.
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
San Diego has the lowest Cost-of-Living to compensation ratio of the top fifty urban areas in the United States. It does have good weather, if you don't mind headaches during Santa Ana conditions, like now. Orange County, one hundred miles to the north, has similar weather, higher population density, better planning and about twenty percent better pay.
The average portion of income devoted to housing in the U.S. is twenty-five percent. That average is forty percent in San Diego. I still live here and have (off and on, mostly on) since 1976, but the traffic, population and cost, combined with relatively low pay, is beginning to get to me. Weather isn't everything.
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
2D CAD is only relevant in Civil applications. Anyone still using 2D in an MCAD environment will deserve exactly what they will get.
Most companies with whom I am familiar that have problems with 3D fail to provide proper training, management support and infrastructure support. When it is used properly, there is no comparison.
The company to whom I contract builds some of the most complex machines in existence, some are miles long and built to extremely close specifications. If we tried to do this work with something as limited as AutoCAD, the effort would take years longer and be riddled with errors as in the past.
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
Parametric Technology, the developer of Pro/Engineer, is an active participant on the XGL porting effort. They have stated that they will bring Pro/E to Linux when O/GL and XGL are ready.
For those unfamiliar, Pro/E is the leading CAD system in the MCAD market. At ~$28K per seat, it may not be for everyone. For those who use it, little else is taken seriously. The company to whom I contract has seventy seats of Pro/E and I own one as well. Many of the engineers with whom I work have been eagerly anticipating a move to Linux.
The main problem with Pro/E on NT is that the machine needs to be rebooted at least once a week. The performance is OK, but would almost certainly improve on Linux as Pro/E was originally a Unix application.
This category of CAD software is where large gains can be made by Linux. Many engineers prefer the Unix environment, but like the price/performance ration of Intel hardware. Enter the Penguin!
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
This is a good example of setting up a fallacious premise and then knocking it down. In logic, it is called a "straw man argument."
As another poster noted, skill sets are not universally transferable. People are oriented toward different areas. Perhaps many of the people involved in IT and the internet would be mediocre and unhappy performers in another endeavor if the 'net did not exist.
You also miss another important point, motivation. There is one big reason why so much time, attention and manpower is devoted to the 'net. It is money. Whether you like it or don't, whether that is your personal motivation or not, that's the root. The smell is strong and the feeding frenzy is on. If you don't believe it, try putting together a startup to manufacture irrigation pumps for third-world farmers who cannot pay for them. The result is obvious.
The market determines winners and losers far more efficiently and ruthlessly than morality, ideals, governmental intervention or any other suasion. You may not like it. You may want people to more guided by concern for others. There has always been a percentage of such people, like Mother Theresa, God bless her. The vast majority will, as observed by Von Heyich, act in their own interest.
The internet is a boom phenomenon and will diminish in intensity, gradually settling into a business area like many others. For now, the main effort is to determine what works. When there is a consensus about the models that are most efficient and lucrative, then the industry will have matured and be a lot less fun.
For a fairly close analogy, take a look at the development of television. When tv started to become popular, very bright and gifted people were involved in the development. Early tv was highly experimental and some of the best work ever seen was done in those years. But, as soon as the money men found out that soap flake manufacturers were willing to pay to air commercials, money started to shape the medium. Turn on your tv today and take a look at what passes for entertainment. It certainly does not look like the "best and brightest" are involved now. Although the technical end is still managed by very sharp folks, the ones running the show don't display much more than avarice.
Intellectually gifted people tend to be motivated by achievement for its own sake, but the real power comes from those who finance it.
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
The recurring references to "free software" and beer, phrasing which seems to have originated with Mr. Stallman, are as specious as the slim distinctions between the various acronyms discussed above. The only "free licenses" that exist are the UC Regents BSD and releasing to the public domain. The other licenses mentioned above are simply various means of maintaining control. Mr. Stallman, while loudly (and lengthily) proclaiming his eschewal of monetary gain from programming, certainly seems to enjoy the miniscule kernel of power his GPL licenses have given him.
There is a class of human, Stallman and Nader among them, who bypass money as a means of keeping score and get right to the heart of the matter. They seek to self-aggrandize and accrue as much power, within their limited sphere of influence, as possible. Fortunately, the spheres are usually rather small. Al Gore is an exception to this; he seeks a rather larger sphere.
BSD projects, notably *BSD OS's, seem to get along just fine without the accretive GPL. When the dreaded "forks" have occurred, (i.e. when Theo de Raadt correctly insisted that FreeBSD was insecure and orchestrated the OpenBSD variant) the community of users and developers has benefited and acquired more choices.
The manner in which a developer releases his or her work is irrelevant to me. Do whatever you think is best for you or satisfies your priorities. But please, lose the pious, sanctimonious and hypocritical tone of these arguments. State plainly that you wish to maintain control and prevent others from acting contrary to your wishes. Any other discussion smacks disgustingly of lawyers and pinhead-dancing angels.
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
Poor Gary, whether a knowing or unknowing dupe, dupe nonetheless. Any organization with this much power and money that is not accountable to the American people should be scrutinized carefully and NOT taken at their word.
As an example: Recently, information has become public that workers at Paducah, Kentucky were not told that they were handling plutonium. As a result, a number are dead. Same story at Hanford, Washington. Same justification given, National Security.
NSA routinely monitors communications traffic around the world. If anyone is so naive as to think that they do not monitor domestic traffic, they probably believe Gary and his nice story.
Every government agency with surveillance and police powers has abused their authority. It's a facet of human nature that power corrupts and the NSA has a lot of it. Whether they have ninety-nine percent of the geeks and scientists in the world working for them, the geeks don't call the shots. They just do as they're told. Geeks are notorious for having their heads so far up their ass and into their monitors that they miss the bigger issues. Take a few days and read a little U.S. history since WW2. Our government has committed crimes that would land any of us in prison, but no apparatchik pays, just the citizens, again and again.
The sad fact is that our government is probably one of the best in this regard, but that doesn't mean they should be trusted. Do you know anyone in a position of higher authority at NSA? If you don't, then why would you trust them? Trust is earned, not given.
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
Since the first packets were sent from California to... well, some other place, the answer is obvious and not even worth putting on a license plate. Insecure displays like that are for people that know they're wrong.
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
Slashdot Mirror
"Frankenstein" is usually classified as Gothic Romantic or Horror. Poe termed this style "Arabesque" and published many tales in a similar style. Some sources --
m l
:-)
http://www.desert-fairy.com/franken.shtml
-- refer to "Frankenstein" as Science Fiction, but when I graduated, (1975, BA English, American Literature) Poe was generally considered to have developed the genre for reasons of structure and style.
This page --
http://www.magicdragon.com/UltimateSF/thisthat.ht
-- also provides some historical information and definitions of Science Fiction.
You make an excellent point, though. Numerous examples such as Swift's "Gulliver's Travels," (1726) do not fit the definition for technical reasons, but also embody aspects of Science Fiction. Swift, through the Lilliputians, predicted that Mars had two moons and was almost exactly correct in predicting the orbit and periodicity of both. Is it Science Fiction or Political Satire? Both? Neither? You decide.
Voltaire published "Micromegas" in 1750, describing the visit to Earth of a giant from Sirius.
The point is that, while credited with the genre, Poe was not the first to engage in speculation. As a brilliant technical (in the literary sense) writer, he created a style and structure that influenced almost all who followed.
Where does the break between Fantasy incorporating scientific basis and references and Science Fiction occur? That is left as an exercise for the student.
BTW, it is exactly this kind of nit-picking religiosity that caused me to never work in any job that involved literature.
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
H.G. Wells, despite producing a fine body of work, was not the father of Science Fiction. That honor goes to the greatest author and literary critic in American Literature, Edgar Allan Poe. With the publishing of "The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfaall" in 1835, Poe established the genre. Some argue that "Ms. Found in a Bottle," published two years earlier, was the correct genesis, but the theme is not as clear in this earlier work. Poe also went on to publish some fourteen other works often categorized as early Science Fiction.
Poe also invented the Detective story when he published "Murders in the Rue Morgue" in 1850. He referred to this genre as "ratiocination" or "exact thinking." This story and "The Gold Bug" both include strong components of cryptography.
In 1863, the great Jules Verne published his first Science Fiction novel, "Five Weeks in a Balloon." Verne proved himself the master of modern Science Fiction, in fact presaging many scientific advances.
Wells' first work of Science Fiction, "The Time Machine," was published in 1895. This publication began a long and prolific career that extended until his death in 1946.
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
San Diego has the lowest Cost-of-Living to compensation ratio of the top fifty urban areas in the United States. It does have good weather, if you don't mind headaches during Santa Ana conditions, like now. Orange County, one hundred miles to the north, has similar weather, higher population density, better planning and about twenty percent better pay.
The average portion of income devoted to housing in the U.S. is twenty-five percent. That average is forty percent in San Diego. I still live here and have (off and on, mostly on) since 1976, but the traffic, population and cost, combined with relatively low pay, is beginning to get to me. Weather isn't everything.
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
So, when will Slashdot sever their relationship with Amazon?
Come on boys, put your money where your mouth is or shut up.
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
2D CAD is only relevant in Civil applications. Anyone still using 2D in an MCAD environment will deserve exactly what they will get.
Most companies with whom I am familiar that have problems with 3D fail to provide proper training, management support and infrastructure support. When it is used properly, there is no comparison.
The company to whom I contract builds some of the most complex machines in existence, some are miles long and built to extremely close specifications. If we tried to do this work with something as limited as AutoCAD, the effort would take years longer and be riddled with errors as in the past.
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
Parametric Technology, the developer of Pro/Engineer, is an active participant on the XGL porting effort. They have stated that they will bring Pro/E to Linux when O/GL and XGL are ready.
For those unfamiliar, Pro/E is the leading CAD system in the MCAD market. At ~$28K per seat, it may not be for everyone. For those who use it, little else is taken seriously. The company to whom I contract has seventy seats of Pro/E and I own one as well. Many of the engineers with whom I work have been eagerly anticipating a move to Linux.
The main problem with Pro/E on NT is that the machine needs to be rebooted at least once a week. The performance is OK, but would almost certainly improve on Linux as Pro/E was originally a Unix application.
This category of CAD software is where large gains can be made by Linux. Many engineers prefer the Unix environment, but like the price/performance ration of Intel hardware. Enter the Penguin!
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
This is a good example of setting up a fallacious premise and then knocking it down. In logic, it is called a "straw man argument."
As another poster noted, skill sets are not universally transferable. People are oriented toward different areas. Perhaps many of the people involved in IT and the internet would be mediocre and unhappy performers in another endeavor if the 'net did not exist.
You also miss another important point, motivation. There is one big reason why so much time, attention and manpower is devoted to the 'net. It is money. Whether you like it or don't, whether that is your personal motivation or not, that's the root. The smell is strong and the feeding frenzy is on. If you don't believe it, try putting together a startup to manufacture irrigation pumps for third-world farmers who cannot pay for them. The result is obvious.
The market determines winners and losers far more efficiently and ruthlessly than morality, ideals, governmental intervention or any other suasion. You may not like it. You may want people to more guided by concern for others. There has always been a percentage of such people, like Mother Theresa, God bless her. The vast majority will, as observed by Von Heyich, act in their own interest.
The internet is a boom phenomenon and will diminish in intensity, gradually settling into a business area like many others. For now, the main effort is to determine what works. When there is a consensus about the models that are most efficient and lucrative, then the industry will have matured and be a lot less fun.
For a fairly close analogy, take a look at the development of television. When tv started to become popular, very bright and gifted people were involved in the development. Early tv was highly experimental and some of the best work ever seen was done in those years. But, as soon as the money men found out that soap flake manufacturers were willing to pay to air commercials, money started to shape the medium. Turn on your tv today and take a look at what passes for entertainment. It certainly does not look like the "best and brightest" are involved now. Although the technical end is still managed by very sharp folks, the ones running the show don't display much more than avarice.
Intellectually gifted people tend to be motivated by achievement for its own sake, but the real power comes from those who finance it.
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
I agree that frozen pizza is made from farm products, but Hostess cupcakes are made from petroleum by-products, as any consumer knows.
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
Gee, Hemos. So DSL is all it takes to get your vote? You're pretty cheap.
The ancient Romans knew that all it takes is bread and circuses to assuage the masses. DSL just seems to be an update.
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
The recurring references to "free software" and beer, phrasing which seems to have originated with Mr. Stallman, are as specious as the slim distinctions between the various acronyms discussed above. The only "free licenses" that exist are the UC Regents BSD and releasing to the public domain. The other licenses mentioned above are simply various means of maintaining control. Mr. Stallman, while loudly (and lengthily) proclaiming his eschewal of monetary gain from programming, certainly seems to enjoy the miniscule kernel of power his GPL licenses have given him.
There is a class of human, Stallman and Nader among them, who bypass money as a means of keeping score and get right to the heart of the matter. They seek to self-aggrandize and accrue as much power, within their limited sphere of influence, as possible. Fortunately, the spheres are usually rather small. Al Gore is an exception to this; he seeks a rather larger sphere.
BSD projects, notably *BSD OS's, seem to get along just fine without the accretive GPL. When the dreaded "forks" have occurred, (i.e. when Theo de Raadt correctly insisted that FreeBSD was insecure and orchestrated the OpenBSD variant) the community of users and developers has benefited and acquired more choices.
The manner in which a developer releases his or her work is irrelevant to me. Do whatever you think is best for you or satisfies your priorities. But please, lose the pious, sanctimonious and hypocritical tone of these arguments. State plainly that you wish to maintain control and prevent others from acting contrary to your wishes. Any other discussion smacks disgustingly of lawyers and pinhead-dancing angels.
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
Poor Gary, whether a knowing or unknowing dupe, dupe nonetheless. Any organization with this much power and money that is not accountable to the American people should be scrutinized carefully and NOT taken at their word.
As an example:
Recently, information has become public that workers at Paducah, Kentucky were not told that they were handling plutonium. As a result, a number are dead. Same story at Hanford, Washington. Same justification given, National Security.
NSA routinely monitors communications traffic around the world. If anyone is so naive as to think that they do not monitor domestic traffic, they probably believe Gary and his nice story.
Every government agency with surveillance and police powers has abused their authority. It's a facet of human nature that power corrupts and the NSA has a lot of it. Whether they have ninety-nine percent of the geeks and scientists in the world working for them, the geeks don't call the shots. They just do as they're told. Geeks are notorious for having their heads so far up their ass and into their monitors that they miss the bigger issues. Take a few days and read a little U.S. history since WW2. Our government has committed crimes that would land any of us in prison, but no apparatchik pays, just the citizens, again and again.
The sad fact is that our government is probably one of the best in this regard, but that doesn't mean they should be trusted. Do you know anyone in a position of higher authority at NSA? If you don't, then why would you trust them? Trust is earned, not given.
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
Since the first packets were sent from California to... well, some other place, the answer is obvious and not even worth putting on a license plate. Insecure displays like that are for people that know they're wrong.
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."