Few people consider spending $20 on a 90-minute joke worthwhile!
I'll join the rest of the people here in pointing out that any success it had is due to the interweb publicity.
I've said it before, I'll say it again
on
Tomorrow's Cell Phones
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· Score: 2, Interesting
Cell phones are computer replacements for the general public. Eventually displays will get good enough, input will improve to an adequate state and cpus will be fast & low-power enough. Once technology gets to a point where you can browse the web in some sort of reasonable fashion, [desk|lap]top computers will become a niche market item.
Every time there's a cell phone thread, someone posts a variant of the grandparent post about how all they want is a simple phone that only makes calls and oh god why can't someone just make one. Apparently these people have never been to the damn cell phone store, because they make a jillion of those things and they're cheap as dirt.
Search for him on Amazon. I don't know why, but it seems immensely fitting. If I was Jon Katz, I can imagine that being around nonhumans would probably be best for everyone.
I talked mathematicians who've had professional interaction with Wolfram and the general consensus is "very, very smart and very, very arrogant." Apparently he feels that being the head of a successful company makes him a better mathematician than the professors who aren't.
well, no, I speak German, sorta. And Alas and alack, niente, gar nichts, zilch. Woe is me. Es tut mit leid translates into, roughly, "such a shame, nothing, nothing, zero, Woe is me, I'm afraid not." He's not saying anything different in German than he's already said in English. It's stupid.
That's a nonsequiter. The point is that in a publicly traded company, and frequently in a privately-held company, the people who make the decision to spend money aren't spending their own money, or even the money of someone they any aquaintance with. Just like in a governmental agency.
Lay off the thesaurus, you're gonna put your eye out. I'm not sure who that overwrought prose is supposed to impress, but it makes me take an instant dislike to the author.
"I have to confess that I look upon his sojourn into Field Theory as a diversion in the same sense that a prestidigitator (magician), in his field of legerdemain (sleight of hand), distracts the audience members, thereby lessening their attention on what's really going on."
yes, thanks for providing an explanation for your $10 college words, otherwise we plebs might not have understood you.
Also, what's up with the German and French from out of nowhere? I'm all for using them when there is no easy english equivalent, but what the hell, "Alas and alack, niente, gar nichts, zilch. Woe is me. Es tut mit leid." Those are just extra words.
> We could go back and forth on this all day. Neither of us has any data to back up our claims of who is the worst offender
That was my point. It's widely held as common knowledge that the government is incompetant, but common knowledge is just as frequently wrong as right.
> When a government project has cost overruns the managing entity is generally not reprimanded and the funds to finish the project become virtually unlimited.
Have you ever even worked for the government? What is your basis for this assertion?
I've seen far, far more waste in corporate america, simply because they're not controlled by an external auditor, as are governmental agencies. Excluding all the classified stuff, of course, I dunno how that works.
I disagree. I've been on several gov't projects that have been cancelled due to budget overruns, whereas I've been on several projects for large brokerage houses that go far, far over budget and yet are maintained for no reason other than making sure a VP doesn't have to admit they were wrong.
under the past 25 years of leadership of the small-government zealots, we managed to prevent government from making important investments - e.g.: roads (any idea how many bridges in this country haven't been maintained in decades, and what the long-term maintenance will cost on the vast numbers of roads we've built?), emergency planning, a healthy population, an educated workforce, etc. These investments are the infrastructure on which the economy is built. And this stellar leadership has not only managed to give short shrift to the future, but it's utterly failed to address the real problems they correctly identified with government. Anti-government conservatism is a bankrupt ideology - it's nice to kick the government for it's failures real and perceived, but when push comes to shove, it offers no real alternative for building the public underpinnings of our economy and our lives, just faith that the free market fairy will come fix all our problems.
I hope you're not a dude because I am totally in love with you.
Some are. Others are still very, very poor. All (ok, most) of the new Chinese wealth is concentrated at the very top. If you're a trickle-down kind of guy, this'll be good news to you. I tend to view it as fuel for the (counter?) revolution, but that's just me.
> Yes, but it is difficult to imagine more counterproductive policies than his for protecting ourselves from them
but, but, but... he says we're fighting them there so we don't have to fight them here! And besides, it's a real threat! Just look, we've stopped two attempted terrorist bombings in the last year! [brain explodes]
Slashdot Mirror
Last I remember, about $10-12 for the tix, $8 on popcorn and soda. So yeah. One of many reasons I hardly ever go to actual movies anymore.
Few people consider spending $20 on a 90-minute joke worthwhile!
I'll join the rest of the people here in pointing out that any success it had is due to the interweb publicity.
Cell phones are computer replacements for the general public. Eventually displays will get good enough, input will improve to an adequate state and cpus will be fast & low-power enough. Once technology gets to a point where you can browse the web in some sort of reasonable fashion, [desk|lap]top computers will become a niche market item.
Wish Status: granted
http://www.kidswireless.com/phones/Firefly/
Thank you.
Every time there's a cell phone thread, someone posts a variant of the grandparent post about how all they want is a simple phone that only makes calls and oh god why can't someone just make one. Apparently these people have never been to the damn cell phone store, because they make a jillion of those things and they're cheap as dirt.
I'll pass along the same awesomely hilarious answer I got when I asked that question a few months ago:
Livin' in upstate NY, writin' books about dogs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Katz
Search for him on Amazon. I don't know why, but it seems immensely fitting. If I was Jon Katz, I can imagine that being around nonhumans would probably be best for everyone.
My arthritis sure could use some of those Q-rays that specialized rare-earth magnets emit in such abundance.
I talked mathematicians who've had professional interaction with Wolfram and the general consensus is "very, very smart and very, very arrogant." Apparently he feels that being the head of a successful company makes him a better mathematician than the professors who aren't.
Salesman: 2+2=4, but if we can close the deal right now, it can be 5. Ok, 6, but if you walk out that door, the deal is off.
I'd be happy to recommend a bunch of kickass math books. Pretty much anything on Springer-Verlag with a yellow cover will fit the bill. ;)
great link, thanks.
Sounds like someone had a string of shitty math teachers. I feel the same way about linux.
The symptoms you describe exist in every field, from math to literary critisism to welding to surfing.
well, no, I speak German, sorta. And Alas and alack, niente, gar nichts, zilch. Woe is me. Es tut mit leid translates into, roughly, "such a shame, nothing, nothing, zero, Woe is me, I'm afraid not." He's not saying anything different in German than he's already said in English. It's stupid.
also, it's 'es tut mir leid, but I'm not picky.
That's a nonsequiter. The point is that in a publicly traded company, and frequently in a privately-held company, the people who make the decision to spend money aren't spending their own money, or even the money of someone they any aquaintance with. Just like in a governmental agency.
Lay off the thesaurus, you're gonna put your eye out. I'm not sure who that overwrought prose is supposed to impress, but it makes me take an instant dislike to the author.
"I have to confess that I look upon his sojourn into Field Theory as a diversion in the same sense that a prestidigitator (magician), in his field of legerdemain (sleight of hand), distracts the audience members, thereby lessening their attention on what's really going on."
yes, thanks for providing an explanation for your $10 college words, otherwise we plebs might not have understood you.
Also, what's up with the German and French from out of nowhere? I'm all for using them when there is no easy english equivalent, but what the hell, "Alas and alack, niente, gar nichts, zilch. Woe is me. Es tut mit leid." Those are just extra words.
> We could go back and forth on this all day. Neither of us has any data to back up our claims of who is the worst offender
That was my point. It's widely held as common knowledge that the government is incompetant, but common knowledge is just as frequently wrong as right.
> When a government project has cost overruns the managing entity is generally not reprimanded and the funds to finish the project become virtually unlimited.
Have you ever even worked for the government? What is your basis for this assertion?
I've seen far, far more waste in corporate america, simply because they're not controlled by an external auditor, as are governmental agencies. Excluding all the classified stuff, of course, I dunno how that works.
> Well doc, I'm telling you it's annoying, even if it's "only" 200ms
200ms is a number I made up. There's a number out there that will simultaneously provide a decent amount of feedback and be unintrusive.
>If UI designers keep trying to approximate reality rather than improve it, no wonder UIs suck!
your brain is well-adapted to the real world. To not take advantage of millions of years of evolution is foolish.
it's the gp2x that needs a dongle. the DS picks up my wlan perfectly - you only need a DS usb dongle if you don't have a wireless ap already.
I disagree. I've been on several gov't projects that have been cancelled due to budget overruns, whereas I've been on several projects for large brokerage houses that go far, far over budget and yet are maintained for no reason other than making sure a VP doesn't have to admit they were wrong.
I hope you're not a dude because I am totally in love with you.
The larger the organization, the larger the waste, full stop. Whether that organization is public or private has little to do with anything.
Everyone complains about the gov't because it's our money, but that kind of waste is just endemic to large organizations, not simply governments.
Some are. Others are still very, very poor. All (ok, most) of the new Chinese wealth is concentrated at the very top. If you're a trickle-down kind of guy, this'll be good news to you. I tend to view it as fuel for the (counter?) revolution, but that's just me.
and why do we care about what articles he lovingly selects for slashdot and which he doesn't?
Water also wet. Further bulletins at as warranted.
> Yes, but it is difficult to imagine more counterproductive policies than his for protecting ourselves from them
... he says we're fighting them there so we don't have to fight them here! And besides, it's a real threat! Just look, we've stopped two attempted terrorist bombings in the last year! [brain explodes]
but, but, but