Everyone knows the NIV is the only true Word of God, and all other works proclaiming the nature of God are a product of the devil and must be destroyed.
(yes I'm kidding, just in case you missed it)
I wonder if they ever stopped to consider that writers choose what words they use to convey a concept rather carefully, and that they might not have an overwhelming appreciation for a scheme such as this. Is it really so important to catch someone redistributing that you have to stomp all over the integrity of the work itself? If it diminishes the value of the work then doesn't that work become worth less? These are questions that they ought to be asking themselves before venturing into such an obsene effort. I certainly have no interest in reading a book with this scheme applied to it.
Don't run an OS that you can't patch yourself. Seriously, if we put our trust in these guys after they've proven time and again that they really don't represent our best interests we are the only ones to blame. It's about time to let MS go gently into the night alone and without a sleeping bag into a rabid pack of wolves.
I'm not a big fan of hippies who eat the gunk from their own toes, but give me a break. Do you work for MS, or have some vested interest in supporting them? While what you say is true about MS software being the most used in business today it doesn't necessarily mean it will be tomorrow. I'm thinking it would be a good idea to teach kids about the features and functionality using multiple packages so that they see the OS and associated software for what it is; a means to a end. Not one OS/Software package as the way to acomplish something.
Your only half right about the WGA thing as well. Have you ever tried to upgrade you computer by doing questionable things like adding RAM, swapping out a hard drive NIC and video card all at the same time? Better get ready to call MS because they aren't going to let you just activate it. Yes MS has a right to protect their interests, but what about my rights as a consumer? Why should I have to spend my time proving that I'm a legitimate user before I can use the software that I paid for? I would agree that they probably don't scan your hard drive and send the result back to MS, but I don't really know, and even if they don't it doesn't mean WGA is a good thing for anyone but MS.
MS has been known to put some fairly draconion clauses in their contracts with vendors. This has been well documented. I've read about cases where MS said that if you want to sell PCs with our software on them you can't provide software from any competing vendor. Just because you can get a Dell with Linux on it doesn't necessarily mean that you can do that from smaller vendors. Maybe you can, I haven't tried for a number of years, but it hasn't always been the beacon of freedom that you convey.
If I purchase DRM content I do know exactly what I'm in for. However, when my father brings his laptop that has an HDMI connection over to my house and we connect it to my Panasonic projector he doesn't understand why we can't watch a movie. While I understand why it still pisses me off. He paid for the movie, and the laptop with the BR drive. I paid for my projector. We weren't doing any thing illegal. My attitude is that if they want to play games like that they can keep their content, but many end users don't find out until it too late. That's the problem with DRM. It's not necessarily a Windows issue, but it still sucks.
Security from MS is getting better, but you've got to hand it to Ubuntu. Their automated patching system is pretty sweet, and most of the time you don't have to reboot unless it's a kernel patch. MS still takes longer to issue patches than they should. Usually when there is a major linux vulnerability there is a patch within days. With MS it's more like next month, maybe if all goes well.
Reading floppies that are 16 years old can be a hit or miss prospect. Heck reading a floppy that was made 2 days ago can be dicy (not an incredibly stable means of storage). I think USB or CD-R has much more likelihood of being readable in 16 years from now. Put both in there with a netbook sans battery, and you shouldn't have any problems.
ya know this has real potential. It's a good way to stimulate the economy and improve the quality of life for people everywhere. I never did understand the logic behind making drivers pay to park on the street that their registration / tax dollars already paid for.
You're right, you won't find many biologists who deviate from their own belifs and attempt to understand any other point of view that doesn't follow what they've been taught. Catch what I just said though. They were taught by human beings out of books written by human beings. In my experience human beings carry a certain amount of baggage with them: political motivation, financial motivation, selfishness, greed, lust, hatred, fear, etc. Any one of which can skew scientific objectivity. Do you really trust these people to tell you the truth? Even if they are sincere you don't know what their heart has chosen to focus on, or what it's chosen to ignore let alone for what reasons.
Acceptance of evolutionary theory IMHO requires far more faith than the Bible because there is less evidence to support it. Both require faith, but it comes down to the question of just what do you believe and why. In most cases science is the only "truth" worthy of consideration in the eyes of scientists, and they are thier own god. Which would be fine if it weren't for the fact that their wont to hang out in educational institutions passing off their beliefs as fact, and shutting out anyone that might have a differing opinion. If Christianity really is idiocy, as you put it, then what is the harm in hearing what they have to say and then judging for yourself whether or not there is any merrit to it? The summary calls it trolling, but in reality if you are going to go around professing to believe something then you ought to be able to defend it. To me trolling is making statements designed to get a rise out of someone and stir up trouble. If you are stating your position, explaining it, and not being rude about it I don't really see that as trolling. Unless of course your belifs cannot withstand debate.
... you give me all your money, and I'll fix it for ya. No, really. I promise. Global warming / climate change / whatever they want to call it this week is nothing more than a ploy. It's one more thing that we have to do that will just happen to require politicians to have more control, and require more of our money to resolve.
Somehow I got the impression that it was hundreds of users that were affected. I would agree with your statement about a bad lamp, but you don't typically wear that on your body. In searching for more information I did find this article http://www.gadget.com/gadget-news/apple-admits-to-burning-nanos
that says Apple has known about this since last year. If that's the case, why did they act like it never happened before. It may be a small percentage, but would you really want your child to be the lucky winner?
That was my first thought too, but it is concerning that the CPSC thinks there is an acceptable number of these instances (numbering in the 100s). As if it's ok that hundereds of people were burned by this thing, and Apple acts like there's no problem. Apple made a pretty decent product unitl fairly recently. Now they are scrambling to build their products out of the cheapest products available just like the PC clone manufactures (like Foxconn). Their die hard fans may continue to purchase their products even when the quality isn't there, but I think most rational people are going to look at this and weigh their options.
The iPod was a great idea, and they deserve the kudos for it. However, I can tell you as a father I would not give one of these to my kids, or own one myself even if the probability of this happening is 1/1000000.
Apple really lacks the capacity to learn from it's mistakes apparently. They clearly had a better system when the IBM-PC took off. The only reason they got beat out by the PC is because IBM allowed interoperability with other vendors. Now once again they try and close everyone out expecting different results. Screw Apple, what a bunch of elitist punks. I'd go without before I'd own an iAnything.
The problem with consumer boycots is that consumers are fickle. Companies know that. Ok everyone stops buying Nokia. Nokia offers a free case with their phone and offers the package for $10 less than Samsung. Outrage is replaced by "oooooh shiny" and the boycot ends.
Because if we pull their contracts it would be a whole lot more meaningfull than if a handfull of people decided to stop doing business with them. They ought to include GE as well for what they sold to Iran. Gotta wonder who's side these guys are on. Oh yeah, the almighty buck.
That's not flamebait. It's right on the money!! I left CA 3 years ago because of the mess the dems made there. Look at what's happening currently. It's not getting better. They're on the virge of going bankrupt, and talking about turning to the feds for a bailout.
It really depends on what you are planning to do. Fortran is certainly still being used in real world applications. We use it here to write custom functions for software that controls the electrical grid. I would imagine that it's still in use in other environments that require engineered modeling as well. I didn't learn it in school, but I did learn C++, Java, Perl, and PHP. When I started here I had enough general knowledge that it was really just a matter of learning the syntax. So I think it's plausible to expect a student to be able to pick it up as long as they are taught the basics of programming in some respectible language.
Sorry for the missunderstanding. It did seem like you equating one with the other. What is stopping the **AA from snooping people's computers is that even if they found anything how could they prove wrong doing? It's not illegal to simply possess MP3s. To prosecute they would have to determine that they were obtained illegally, and who downloaded them. They can't even seem to do that with an IP address that ties the subscriber to the computer. The same questions are going to come up: how do you know who was using the computer and whether or not that access was authorized?
If they are paying Best Buy or whoever to search for evidence I would think that gives them a motivation to plant evidence. Going into court with the word of a entry level tech doesn't seem like a good legal strategy.
Oh bull!! There's a big difference between having a bunch of MP3s and child pornography. One could have been obtained legally, and even if they weren't having them doesn't hurt anybody. Child pornography on the other hand is not legal in any sense, and by definition requires the exploitation of children to manufacture. If you can't see that difference you ought to seek help quickly.
Well gee... I guess I've been wrong all these years because someone did a study. Color me corrected then. I was spanked with a paddle in school, given the belt by my father, repeatedly beaten with his fists on more than one occasion, and perpetually called names and all manor of such things. Guess what? I lived. I'm not an axe murderer, I don't find pleasure in violence, and I'm not about to treat my children the same way I was treated. I do however recognize that physical discipline was at times a deterant, so I take the good and leave the bad. Guess why? Because I have the capacity to learn not only from my own mistakes, but from the mistakes of my parents as well. This idea that a certain form of discipline can be directly correlated to violent behavior is nothing but fodder for lawyers sticking up for ill behaved members of society. It's high time we embraced personal responsibility instead of blaming all of our problems on some external event out of our control. Regardless of how I was brought up I have responsibility to do what's right now. Bullshit excuses about how I was raised are nothing more than just that. Bullshit. And so it is for everyone else. Nobody controls your actions but you.
Well you're not going to burst my bubble, it's soundly in tact. While that might be your opinion, and you're certainly welcome to it I happen to have a different viewpoint. I do oppose the teaching of evolution in the classroom for a whole host of reasons that I'm not going to get into here. That doesn't mean I'm a whackjob, it means I care about my kids and don't want to see them subjected to what I see as a bunch of politicised nonsense that has little to do with true science.
I think all races are equal, but wonder if children wouldn't be better served by people who live by example rather than teachers who dictate that it is so, and therefore it is and no questions can or should be asked. Especially when those same teachers would practice exclusion on groups of people for their particular beliefs. Call it indoctrination if you want, but is it any different when it's being practiced on a grand scale? Conversely, my wife and I ask our kids questions. We let them come to their own conclusions without the polution of a school system that seeks to form the minds and hearts of the youth rather than just educate them.
In the real world often times we're required to think on our feet, and form our own opinions about things. I don't think that the public education system in general does a good job of preparing kids for that type of environment. Regurgitating what you've been fed isn't what's going to get you through life.
That sucks!! See, this is the problem: it's no longer about eduction, it's about brainwashing students to think like their teachers. It's been happening since the late 60s. That professor clearly wanted the students to think, ask questions, come to their own conclusions, and decide what they would take away. That's what education ought to be. It's too bad he was fired. We need more teachers like him if we're going to change the way things are.
I don't recall anyone saying anything about abuse. A paddle is just a tool. It can be used to play ping pong, and it can be used to correct behavior (to a certain degree). As long as it's not being used maliciously I don't see the problem with it. I like some of your other ideas though. It's true that if there's no discipline going on at home there will be no hope that it would succeed in school. Sometimes though there are kids that will do and say things at school that they would never dream of at home. Perhaps if there were some form of consequeces it might be beneficial to those kids.
I sense that you are mixing home schooling as a punishement with home schooling as a choice. Why would the results of home schooling be depressing in many cases? The only way I could see that being true is if the parents don't care, but if that's the case then it wouldn't matter what environment the child was in. It would be better for those in the educational system if those individuls weren't there.
On the other hand kids who are home schooled by parental choice can become much better prepared to function in the real world. Indoctrination is more indicative of what is happening in the public school system than in those who are home schooled. Independent thinking and tolerance are highly encouraged unless you happen to hold beliefs contrary to the status quo. Then you quickly become educated in just how closed minded and biggoted some of these enlightened folks can be. I've seen it here on/. as well.
As for the topic itself I'm not a big fan of slapping a label on some kid because he doesn't quite fit in with the norm. I often wonder how great minds like Einstein, Ben Franklin, Abraham Lincoln would be viewed through the lenses of today's society. Without their greatness they may have never been given the opportunity to succeed. It seems like the educational system as a whole is just lazy. Both intellectually as well as physically. They don't want to take the time to get to the bottom of things. Slap a quick fix on it, teach assumptions as though they were fact, and beat down anyone that doesn't agree or has a different idea. If you look at the situation honestly it's not hard to figure out why we are where we are as a society.
Slashdot Mirror
Of course you do have the option of not stealing CDs in which case you wouldn't have an occasion to talk to the cops.
Just sayin.
Everyone knows the NIV is the only true Word of God, and all other works proclaiming the nature of God are a product of the devil and must be destroyed. (yes I'm kidding, just in case you missed it)
I wonder if they ever stopped to consider that writers choose what words they use to convey a concept rather carefully, and that they might not have an overwhelming appreciation for a scheme such as this. Is it really so important to catch someone redistributing that you have to stomp all over the integrity of the work itself? If it diminishes the value of the work then doesn't that work become worth less? These are questions that they ought to be asking themselves before venturing into such an obsene effort. I certainly have no interest in reading a book with this scheme applied to it.
Don't run an OS that you can't patch yourself. Seriously, if we put our trust in these guys after they've proven time and again that they really don't represent our best interests we are the only ones to blame. It's about time to let MS go gently into the night alone and without a sleeping bag into a rabid pack of wolves.
I'm not a big fan of hippies who eat the gunk from their own toes, but give me a break. Do you work for MS, or have some vested interest in supporting them? While what you say is true about MS software being the most used in business today it doesn't necessarily mean it will be tomorrow. I'm thinking it would be a good idea to teach kids about the features and functionality using multiple packages so that they see the OS and associated software for what it is; a means to a end. Not one OS/Software package as the way to acomplish something.
Your only half right about the WGA thing as well. Have you ever tried to upgrade you computer by doing questionable things like adding RAM, swapping out a hard drive NIC and video card all at the same time? Better get ready to call MS because they aren't going to let you just activate it. Yes MS has a right to protect their interests, but what about my rights as a consumer? Why should I have to spend my time proving that I'm a legitimate user before I can use the software that I paid for? I would agree that they probably don't scan your hard drive and send the result back to MS, but I don't really know, and even if they don't it doesn't mean WGA is a good thing for anyone but MS.
MS has been known to put some fairly draconion clauses in their contracts with vendors. This has been well documented. I've read about cases where MS said that if you want to sell PCs with our software on them you can't provide software from any competing vendor. Just because you can get a Dell with Linux on it doesn't necessarily mean that you can do that from smaller vendors. Maybe you can, I haven't tried for a number of years, but it hasn't always been the beacon of freedom that you convey.
If I purchase DRM content I do know exactly what I'm in for. However, when my father brings his laptop that has an HDMI connection over to my house and we connect it to my Panasonic projector he doesn't understand why we can't watch a movie. While I understand why it still pisses me off. He paid for the movie, and the laptop with the BR drive. I paid for my projector. We weren't doing any thing illegal. My attitude is that if they want to play games like that they can keep their content, but many end users don't find out until it too late. That's the problem with DRM. It's not necessarily a Windows issue, but it still sucks.
Security from MS is getting better, but you've got to hand it to Ubuntu. Their automated patching system is pretty sweet, and most of the time you don't have to reboot unless it's a kernel patch. MS still takes longer to issue patches than they should. Usually when there is a major linux vulnerability there is a patch within days. With MS it's more like next month, maybe if all goes well.
Reading floppies that are 16 years old can be a hit or miss prospect. Heck reading a floppy that was made 2 days ago can be dicy (not an incredibly stable means of storage). I think USB or CD-R has much more likelihood of being readable in 16 years from now. Put both in there with a netbook sans battery, and you shouldn't have any problems.
ya know this has real potential. It's a good way to stimulate the economy and improve the quality of life for people everywhere. I never did understand the logic behind making drivers pay to park on the street that their registration / tax dollars already paid for.
Acceptance of evolutionary theory IMHO requires far more faith than the Bible because there is less evidence to support it. Both require faith, but it comes down to the question of just what do you believe and why. In most cases science is the only "truth" worthy of consideration in the eyes of scientists, and they are thier own god. Which would be fine if it weren't for the fact that their wont to hang out in educational institutions passing off their beliefs as fact, and shutting out anyone that might have a differing opinion. If Christianity really is idiocy, as you put it, then what is the harm in hearing what they have to say and then judging for yourself whether or not there is any merrit to it? The summary calls it trolling, but in reality if you are going to go around professing to believe something then you ought to be able to defend it. To me trolling is making statements designed to get a rise out of someone and stir up trouble. If you are stating your position, explaining it, and not being rude about it I don't really see that as trolling. Unless of course your belifs cannot withstand debate.
... you give me all your money, and I'll fix it for ya. No, really. I promise. Global warming / climate change / whatever they want to call it this week is nothing more than a ploy. It's one more thing that we have to do that will just happen to require politicians to have more control, and require more of our money to resolve.
Somehow I got the impression that it was hundreds of users that were affected. I would agree with your statement about a bad lamp, but you don't typically wear that on your body. In searching for more information I did find this article http://www.gadget.com/gadget-news/apple-admits-to-burning-nanos that says Apple has known about this since last year. If that's the case, why did they act like it never happened before. It may be a small percentage, but would you really want your child to be the lucky winner?
The iPod was a great idea, and they deserve the kudos for it. However, I can tell you as a father I would not give one of these to my kids, or own one myself even if the probability of this happening is 1/1000000.
Apple really lacks the capacity to learn from it's mistakes apparently. They clearly had a better system when the IBM-PC took off. The only reason they got beat out by the PC is because IBM allowed interoperability with other vendors. Now once again they try and close everyone out expecting different results. Screw Apple, what a bunch of elitist punks. I'd go without before I'd own an iAnything.
The problem with consumer boycots is that consumers are fickle. Companies know that. Ok everyone stops buying Nokia. Nokia offers a free case with their phone and offers the package for $10 less than Samsung. Outrage is replaced by "oooooh shiny" and the boycot ends.
Because if we pull their contracts it would be a whole lot more meaningfull than if a handfull of people decided to stop doing business with them. They ought to include GE as well for what they sold to Iran. Gotta wonder who's side these guys are on. Oh yeah, the almighty buck.
How about just don't steal shit? It's a novel concept I know.
...And then send everyone that was bothered by these jerks a check for $16k. That might ease the pain.
That's not flamebait. It's right on the money!! I left CA 3 years ago because of the mess the dems made there. Look at what's happening currently. It's not getting better. They're on the virge of going bankrupt, and talking about turning to the feds for a bailout.
It really depends on what you are planning to do. Fortran is certainly still being used in real world applications. We use it here to write custom functions for software that controls the electrical grid. I would imagine that it's still in use in other environments that require engineered modeling as well. I didn't learn it in school, but I did learn C++, Java, Perl, and PHP. When I started here I had enough general knowledge that it was really just a matter of learning the syntax. So I think it's plausible to expect a student to be able to pick it up as long as they are taught the basics of programming in some respectible language.
If they are paying Best Buy or whoever to search for evidence I would think that gives them a motivation to plant evidence. Going into court with the word of a entry level tech doesn't seem like a good legal strategy.
Oh bull!! There's a big difference between having a bunch of MP3s and child pornography. One could have been obtained legally, and even if they weren't having them doesn't hurt anybody. Child pornography on the other hand is not legal in any sense, and by definition requires the exploitation of children to manufacture. If you can't see that difference you ought to seek help quickly.
Well gee... I guess I've been wrong all these years because someone did a study. Color me corrected then. I was spanked with a paddle in school, given the belt by my father, repeatedly beaten with his fists on more than one occasion, and perpetually called names and all manor of such things. Guess what? I lived. I'm not an axe murderer, I don't find pleasure in violence, and I'm not about to treat my children the same way I was treated. I do however recognize that physical discipline was at times a deterant, so I take the good and leave the bad. Guess why? Because I have the capacity to learn not only from my own mistakes, but from the mistakes of my parents as well. This idea that a certain form of discipline can be directly correlated to violent behavior is nothing but fodder for lawyers sticking up for ill behaved members of society. It's high time we embraced personal responsibility instead of blaming all of our problems on some external event out of our control. Regardless of how I was brought up I have responsibility to do what's right now. Bullshit excuses about how I was raised are nothing more than just that. Bullshit. And so it is for everyone else. Nobody controls your actions but you.
Well and you've just proved that you have nothing to bring to the table other than your own opinion.
Well you're not going to burst my bubble, it's soundly in tact. While that might be your opinion, and you're certainly welcome to it I happen to have a different viewpoint. I do oppose the teaching of evolution in the classroom for a whole host of reasons that I'm not going to get into here. That doesn't mean I'm a whackjob, it means I care about my kids and don't want to see them subjected to what I see as a bunch of politicised nonsense that has little to do with true science.
I think all races are equal, but wonder if children wouldn't be better served by people who live by example rather than teachers who dictate that it is so, and therefore it is and no questions can or should be asked. Especially when those same teachers would practice exclusion on groups of people for their particular beliefs. Call it indoctrination if you want, but is it any different when it's being practiced on a grand scale? Conversely, my wife and I ask our kids questions. We let them come to their own conclusions without the polution of a school system that seeks to form the minds and hearts of the youth rather than just educate them.
In the real world often times we're required to think on our feet, and form our own opinions about things. I don't think that the public education system in general does a good job of preparing kids for that type of environment. Regurgitating what you've been fed isn't what's going to get you through life.
That sucks!! See, this is the problem: it's no longer about eduction, it's about brainwashing students to think like their teachers. It's been happening since the late 60s. That professor clearly wanted the students to think, ask questions, come to their own conclusions, and decide what they would take away. That's what education ought to be. It's too bad he was fired. We need more teachers like him if we're going to change the way things are.
I don't recall anyone saying anything about abuse. A paddle is just a tool. It can be used to play ping pong, and it can be used to correct behavior (to a certain degree). As long as it's not being used maliciously I don't see the problem with it. I like some of your other ideas though. It's true that if there's no discipline going on at home there will be no hope that it would succeed in school. Sometimes though there are kids that will do and say things at school that they would never dream of at home. Perhaps if there were some form of consequeces it might be beneficial to those kids.
I sense that you are mixing home schooling as a punishement with home schooling as a choice. Why would the results of home schooling be depressing in many cases? The only way I could see that being true is if the parents don't care, but if that's the case then it wouldn't matter what environment the child was in. It would be better for those in the educational system if those individuls weren't there.
On the other hand kids who are home schooled by parental choice can become much better prepared to function in the real world. Indoctrination is more indicative of what is happening in the public school system than in those who are home schooled. Independent thinking and tolerance are highly encouraged unless you happen to hold beliefs contrary to the status quo. Then you quickly become educated in just how closed minded and biggoted some of these enlightened folks can be. I've seen it here on /. as well.
As for the topic itself I'm not a big fan of slapping a label on some kid because he doesn't quite fit in with the norm. I often wonder how great minds like Einstein, Ben Franklin, Abraham Lincoln would be viewed through the lenses of today's society. Without their greatness they may have never been given the opportunity to succeed. It seems like the educational system as a whole is just lazy. Both intellectually as well as physically. They don't want to take the time to get to the bottom of things. Slap a quick fix on it, teach assumptions as though they were fact, and beat down anyone that doesn't agree or has a different idea. If you look at the situation honestly it's not hard to figure out why we are where we are as a society.