Basically I was specifically looking to buy what I was searching for, and the links on the right provide an easy way to find stuff. It is a lot easier to sell me stuff when I am actually looking to buy it in the first place. The last time I can remember was when I bought a 9-in-1 SD/xD/CompactFlash/etc. drive for my computer.
The important point to remember here is that I was actually looking for a place to buy it, not just randomly surfing.
In general, I think a lot of the advertising has it completely wrong. For example: as I write this comment there is
this ad
running on the top of the page.
Am I worried about SCO?
No, I use FreeBSD, and its legal problems were worked out about a decade ago.
Am I looking for a server?
No.
Am I more inclined to use GlobalServers should that change?
No.
Did I even look at the ad until I decided to use it as an example for this post?No.
I would call that a waste of money, but it could have been worse: at least they were actually marketing a product of some sort.
It could have been an "image building" ad.
If I was in need of a server and if I actually happened to notice the ad and if I didn't find it offensive in some way, I might click on the link, and after that I might actually become a customer.
Those are long odds.
Three years ago some jackass from/. thought it would be funny to call up my home phone and leave a nasty drunken message because I disagree with him about the current SUV craze. The reason he was able to do this was because (stupid me) I kept accurate whois information for my domain names. Had I pissed him off enough, there was nothing keeping him from coming to my home.
You should have called the police, this is the kind of crap that they are here for.
That sort of phone call, if he kept it up, might count as harassment.
And if you are actually worried about him showing up at your house, consider the possibility of becoming a gun owner.
The google ads are the only ones I can remember that I have personally purchaced from in recent memory.
But that is because, if I am looking to buy something, one of the first places I'll try to find a place to buy it would be on Google, so it is actually a relevant part of my search.
I don't know how their Froogle thing (if it ever gets really useful) will interact with those ads though.
Bleeding to death in some foreign nation is a major sacrifice, and should be treated as such.
Ignoring the sacrifice of those soldiers in Iraq, and blowing it all off as another "West Bank" is disgraceful, and ignoring intentions.
The American soldiers in Iraq and the Israeli soldiers in the West Bank have very little in common, especially when it comes to their intentions towards the local Muslims.
Protecting America is a worthwhile goal.
Stopping Saddam's men from torturing his own citizens is a worthwhile goal.
Transforming Iraq into a new democracy is a worthwile goal.
I don't need to be a soldier to realise that these are worthwhile goals, and I don't need to be a soldier to understand the value of their sacrifice, or to understand and appreciate their motiviations to do so.
My point is simple. Believing in God doesn't make you illogical or weak-minded.
One of the more amusing things is to hear someone attempt to use thir idea of "Occam's Razor" to "prove" that there is no God, apparently completely unaware what Occam's Razor really is, and also completely unaware that (William of) Occam was a Franciscan friar, quite definitely a Christian, although he didn't exactly get along with the Pope that well.
The Iraq war has gone on for about a year now.
56,000 / 10 = 5,600, so roughly ten times as many people were dying on average in Vietnam as are in Iraq.
The main difference is that we have already won in Iraq, and the situation will only improve from here, especially once the Iraqis have their own government in place.
The other main difference is that the whiney liberal pussies aren't the dominant force in American culture like they were back in the 1960's.
Yes, American soldiers are dying in Iraq.
So what?
That isn't the worst way to go.
Because of their sacrifices, an entire nation of people are already experiencing more freedom than they have been used to for decades, and will soon be in a democracy.
We are mortal.
Every one of those soldiers was going to die eventually anyway.
Which is better, dying for something important at a young age, or dying after a hundred years and not accomplishing anything of real worth?
I am of two minds on that, if people are really looking for facts and views they can find them quicker. The rise of Fox News and talk radio shows that there is another group that is just looking for a filter that reinforces their viewpoint without any disturbing debate entering without being spun.
No, the rise of Fox News and talk radio is due to the fact that roughly half of the people who are concerned enough to actually vote will vote Republican, yet the majority of the other news outlets range from Democratic to hard left, and display a very condescending attitude towards anybody who disagrees with them. Your comment is a perfect example: anybody who could actually watch Fox News is "just looking for a filter"? Did you ever think that if you are watching CNN and PBS, and listening to NPR, that you are just looking for a filter? More importantly, did you ever realise that, even if somebody disagrees with you, they might not be an idiot, and they might even not be wrong?
And can't vi (or at least vim) do smart indentation? Or do the emacs people in emacs vs. vi flamewars actually have a point? I think (and hope) it's the former.
Put set ai (set autoindent) in your ~/.vimrc file.
It will make your life easier.
Well, CO101 where I work teaches you how to use the advanced features of Microsoft Office.
CO105 teaches you how to use the basic features of Windows.
Then CO110 teaches you how to turn a computer on.
The curriculum here is so screwed up.
I'm not sure what "CO" is, but it sure sounds like what they call computer information systems (CIS) around here. That is most definitely not computer science.
actually no... Openoffice exports to PDF but is not a PDF reader itself. Still one would then have to wonder if the pdf was originally written in openoffice...
Never confuse our nature with our history. I have never seriously considered killing another person. It don't know about you, but it isn't in my nature.
Am I the only one on earth who has never used an ATM machine?
Here in Rolla, I opened my first "real bank" bank account.
All my previous ones have been at credit unions.
They wanted some crazy monthly fee for the privilege of an ATM card, which only really saves them money since they can hire less tellers, and is generally a big hassle to me.
So I am now without an ATM card (except for my credit union in another state, which would incur ungodly fees to use in ATM's here) for the first time since I was 19.
I don't have a 5-1/4" drive installed on any 'modern' hardware at present.
My computer has both a 5.25" and 3.5" floppy drives.
I just kept them both around when I upgraded, since they both still work fine. I haven't used the 5.25" floppy in about half a year though, when I tried to read my old copy of the game "Conflict" for MS-DOS. Unfortunately the disk had some read errors. That was one of my favorite games. You got to control Israel, and tried to collapse all of the arab countries around you. Does anybody happen to still have a working copy by any chance?
Would you not read a book or article on Linus by the creator of Linux because he is Finnish? Would you not read a book or article on C++ by the creator of C++ because he is Danish?
Both Torvalds and Stroustrup live in the USA.
This is why I am not worried about outsourcing at all.
There are plenty of really smart Indians.
Most of them live in America.
That enlisted man with a masters had a degree in mathematics and worked at Defense Mapping Agency for his "real job". He was really an invaluable resource since... and that made him even more valuable to us.
The Guard might be different, I was talking about active duty really. From what I have gathered, it is basically assumed that you will make it through OCS if you managed to make it though a university.
No need to call him useless, or simply a "transportation device for an M-16". He's a fine man, and I'm proud to have served with him.
I didn't call him useless, nor infantry in general. There are a lot of people with useless degrees out there. My bachelors is in mathematics too, so I obviously don't think it is one of the useless ones.
As for infantry, you need lots of guys running around with M-16's (or mortars in your case, and various other basic unit types) to really get anything done during a war, no matter what super-weapons you have up your sleeves. That is an unfortunate reality of warfare. With his specialized knowledge from his normal job though, he probably could have been put to better use.
Training in some academic discipline is not absolutely relevant to military service,
That depends on what discipline. For example, I have taken courses in cryptography: that is very relevant to the right parts of the military.
and it's particularly irrelevant where leadership skills are concerned... but real leadership ability is a real scarce commodity. That's what promotions are all about -- leadership training, and demonstrated leadership capabilities. I've spent a lot of time in the military with graduates of... and while I'll readily admit they were pretty smart, they didn't have any greater predisposition for leadership than a high-school dropout. Sometimes quite a bit less, in fact.
I'll definitely have to agree with you there.
Personal skills in general are often lacking with the average engineering/comp. sci. type, much less leadership skills. It just isn't something that is focused on much in the education, and the people who go into those fields often aren't the most sociable to begin with. Perhaps it should be more of an issue in the education.
My platoon of 11C's (indirect fire infantryman) had six bachelor's and two masters degrees, and only one officer.
That is an endemic proplem in thought for much of the military. An enlistedman with a masters? I don't know what his degree was in, possibly something useless in the real world like philosophy, but if I have an M.S. in computer science, then I can be put to much better use than as a transportation device for an M-16. Although, judging from the recruiters that I have talked to, the only branch that seems to realize this is the Air Force.
If you have a degree in computer science, you are no more worthy for promotion than if you had a degree in tiddlywinks... Promotion is based on training, performance... They are not given out on the basis of "you're a computer science major and you don't suck."
You say promotion is based upon training right?
An M.S. in computer science represents six years of in-depth training in a field that the military should (and does) find useful.
You say performance too?
That would be wher the "not sucking" part would come in.
If you managed to get through any reputable university and get a decent degree, then you should be able to perform.
If not then you shouldn't have gotten the degree in the first place.
Some people manage to slip through of course, but then that is what evaluations are for, now isn't it?
You sound like the only time you've ever worn a uniform is for holloween.
Slashdot Mirror
Basically I was specifically looking to buy what I was searching for, and the links on the right provide an easy way to find stuff. It is a lot easier to sell me stuff when I am actually looking to buy it in the first place. The last time I can remember was when I bought a 9-in-1 SD/xD/CompactFlash/etc. drive for my computer. The important point to remember here is that I was actually looking for a place to buy it, not just randomly surfing.
In general, I think a lot of the advertising has it completely wrong. For example: as I write this comment there is this ad running on the top of the page. Am I worried about SCO? No, I use FreeBSD, and its legal problems were worked out about a decade ago. Am I looking for a server? No. Am I more inclined to use GlobalServers should that change? No. Did I even look at the ad until I decided to use it as an example for this post? No. I would call that a waste of money, but it could have been worse: at least they were actually marketing a product of some sort. It could have been an "image building" ad.
If I was in need of a server and if I actually happened to notice the ad and if I didn't find it offensive in some way, I might click on the link, and after that I might actually become a customer. Those are long odds.
You should have called the police, this is the kind of crap that they are here for. That sort of phone call, if he kept it up, might count as harassment. And if you are actually worried about him showing up at your house, consider the possibility of becoming a gun owner.
The google ads are the only ones I can remember that I have personally purchaced from in recent memory. But that is because, if I am looking to buy something, one of the first places I'll try to find a place to buy it would be on Google, so it is actually a relevant part of my search. I don't know how their Froogle thing (if it ever gets really useful) will interact with those ads though.
Bleeding to death in some foreign nation is a major sacrifice, and should be treated as such. Ignoring the sacrifice of those soldiers in Iraq, and blowing it all off as another "West Bank" is disgraceful, and ignoring intentions. The American soldiers in Iraq and the Israeli soldiers in the West Bank have very little in common, especially when it comes to their intentions towards the local Muslims.
Protecting America is a worthwhile goal. Stopping Saddam's men from torturing his own citizens is a worthwhile goal. Transforming Iraq into a new democracy is a worthwile goal. I don't need to be a soldier to realise that these are worthwhile goals, and I don't need to be a soldier to understand the value of their sacrifice, or to understand and appreciate their motiviations to do so.
One of the more amusing things is to hear someone attempt to use thir idea of "Occam's Razor" to "prove" that there is no God, apparently completely unaware what Occam's Razor really is, and also completely unaware that (William of) Occam was a Franciscan friar, quite definitely a Christian, although he didn't exactly get along with the Pope that well.
The Iraq war has gone on for about a year now. 56,000 / 10 = 5,600, so roughly ten times as many people were dying on average in Vietnam as are in Iraq. The main difference is that we have already won in Iraq, and the situation will only improve from here, especially once the Iraqis have their own government in place.
The other main difference is that the whiney liberal pussies aren't the dominant force in American culture like they were back in the 1960's. Yes, American soldiers are dying in Iraq. So what? That isn't the worst way to go. Because of their sacrifices, an entire nation of people are already experiencing more freedom than they have been used to for decades, and will soon be in a democracy. We are mortal. Every one of those soldiers was going to die eventually anyway. Which is better, dying for something important at a young age, or dying after a hundred years and not accomplishing anything of real worth?
I was using AltaVista before Google, and remember when it turned in to a Yahoo!!!!! wannabe, and that was around when I quit using them.
No, the rise of Fox News and talk radio is due to the fact that roughly half of the people who are concerned enough to actually vote will vote Republican, yet the majority of the other news outlets range from Democratic to hard left, and display a very condescending attitude towards anybody who disagrees with them. Your comment is a perfect example: anybody who could actually watch Fox News is "just looking for a filter"? Did you ever think that if you are watching CNN and PBS, and listening to NPR, that you are just looking for a filter? More importantly, did you ever realise that, even if somebody disagrees with you, they might not be an idiot, and they might even not be wrong?
Put set ai (set autoindent) in your ~/.vimrc file. It will make your life easier.
I'm not sure what "CO" is, but it sure sounds like what they call computer information systems (CIS) around here. That is most definitely not computer science.
At the very end of the PDF file you will learn:
Where you will end up if you think Klingon is a real language.
Can't we just use betrothed?
I think I am about to gag ...
"Do you have anything to declare sir?"
"Nope."
Here in Rolla, I opened my first "real bank" bank account. All my previous ones have been at credit unions. They wanted some crazy monthly fee for the privilege of an ATM card, which only really saves them money since they can hire less tellers, and is generally a big hassle to me. So I am now without an ATM card (except for my credit union in another state, which would incur ungodly fees to use in ATM's here) for the first time since I was 19.
My computer has both a 5.25" and 3.5" floppy drives. I just kept them both around when I upgraded, since they both still work fine. I haven't used the 5.25" floppy in about half a year though, when I tried to read my old copy of the game "Conflict" for MS-DOS. Unfortunately the disk had some read errors. That was one of my favorite games. You got to control Israel, and tried to collapse all of the arab countries around you. Does anybody happen to still have a working copy by any chance?
Both Torvalds and Stroustrup live in the USA. This is why I am not worried about outsourcing at all. There are plenty of really smart Indians. Most of them live in America.
Same scene, later that day.
Random SCO employee: "Umm, Mr. McBride, sir, there are a whole lot of people in ill-fitting suits who want to 'talk' with you ...."
The anti-gun nuts would get "voted off" by the pro-gun nuts who happen to be kind of hungry ...
He was probably thinking of Venus.
The Guard might be different, I was talking about active duty really. From what I have gathered, it is basically assumed that you will make it through OCS if you managed to make it though a university.
No need to call him useless, or simply a "transportation device for an M-16". He's a fine man, and I'm proud to have served with him.
I didn't call him useless, nor infantry in general. There are a lot of people with useless degrees out there. My bachelors is in mathematics too, so I obviously don't think it is one of the useless ones.
As for infantry, you need lots of guys running around with M-16's (or mortars in your case, and various other basic unit types) to really get anything done during a war, no matter what super-weapons you have up your sleeves. That is an unfortunate reality of warfare. With his specialized knowledge from his normal job though, he probably could have been put to better use.
Training in some academic discipline is not absolutely relevant to military service,
That depends on what discipline. For example, I have taken courses in cryptography: that is very relevant to the right parts of the military.
and it's particularly irrelevant where leadership skills are concerned ... but real leadership ability is a real scarce commodity. That's what promotions are all about -- leadership training, and demonstrated leadership capabilities. I've spent a lot of time in the military with graduates of ... and while I'll readily admit they were pretty smart, they didn't have any greater predisposition for leadership than a high-school dropout. Sometimes quite a bit less, in fact.
I'll definitely have to agree with you there. Personal skills in general are often lacking with the average engineering/comp. sci. type, much less leadership skills. It just isn't something that is focused on much in the education, and the people who go into those fields often aren't the most sociable to begin with. Perhaps it should be more of an issue in the education.
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."
-- Mark Twain
Good. That was NASA's plan after all.
My platoon of 11C's (indirect fire infantryman) had six bachelor's and two masters degrees, and only one officer.
That is an endemic proplem in thought for much of the military. An enlistedman with a masters? I don't know what his degree was in, possibly something useless in the real world like philosophy, but if I have an M.S. in computer science, then I can be put to much better use than as a transportation device for an M-16. Although, judging from the recruiters that I have talked to, the only branch that seems to realize this is the Air Force.
If you have a degree in computer science, you are no more worthy for promotion than if you had a degree in tiddlywinks ... Promotion is based on training, performance ... They are not given out on the basis of "you're a computer science major and you don't suck."
You say promotion is based upon training right? An M.S. in computer science represents six years of in-depth training in a field that the military should (and does) find useful. You say performance too? That would be wher the "not sucking" part would come in. If you managed to get through any reputable university and get a decent degree, then you should be able to perform. If not then you shouldn't have gotten the degree in the first place. Some people manage to slip through of course, but then that is what evaluations are for, now isn't it?
You sound like the only time you've ever worn a uniform is for holloween.
And the boy scouts too!