Well I am glad you are through this. Right now there is someone I know that could very well be going through similar things. I am gonna have to forgive his jack-assedness for now in hopes that he gets better.
I actually got my internet suspended by Comcast (never had this problem when it was Adelphia). I had to call their abuse line (which only works 9-5) and they told me I was using something like 300GB/month (I was floored when I heard this) and that my transfer was in the top.001 percentile (once again floored). I download mostly Linux ISOs (I still haven't decided which one to install) and unlicensed programs (as far as U.S.). Also 300GB number is combined upload/download from what he told me. Considering that I leave my torrents running after they are done I think most of those 300GB is upload (I average a 3:1 ratio of u/d). On a side note, I still don't believe I downloaded that much and since then started logging what my computer does.
When I asked them why this would be a problem since what I purchased is "unlimited", they said that "unlimited" only pertains to being connected and not the actual bandwidth.
They told me to severly reduce my downloads or my account would be terminated. I am still looking for an alternative ISP, but I can't find any for my area. I also asked them what the magic number was so my account would not get terminated, and he said they didn't have one. Aperently this particular department is just looking at the top.001% bandwidth hogs and warning them and then terminating them. So I don't think there is a magic number. If everyone only used 1GB/mo they would go after those that used 2GB.
The Slippery Slope Fallacy stops being a fallacy when the person arguing the point provides evidence that there is a slippery slope. In his argument, he stated that movies/video games/emmissions/organic food all started off as voluntary labels and ended up regulated. I don't know how true this is (I always thought movie/game ratings were voluntary) but it is left as an exercise to the reader to prove that the slippery slopes given were in fact false. If they end up as true, then he has a valid point.
On another tangent here but, Hooters is a family restaurant. I do respect people's beliefs; while going to hooters with your kids is defintely your option, I have seen many times a typical family with kids eat over there. It isn't a strip club, nor is it any different then going to Chillis or Bennigans. In the case of this particular individual, he had never gone there before (never!) and was calling the waitresses whores and scum of society. That is pretty disrespectful to everyone around him as well as those who work there and aren't even around to defend their honest living. Hooter girls do not dance around or behave inappropriately. They put out a swimsuit calander every year (for which they are not paid for doing) and dress in clothes that the 70's felt were provacative but are no different then what you would find at the mall today.
I will read your linked study and not think of every home-school as a representative of the rest. Though keep in mind that when it comes to studies and primates, studies have shown that primates raised isolated from others tend to be social misfits (I will link when I get home if needed). I don't see much of a problem with home-schooling as long as the correct education is being taught and somehow playing with other kids is part of the experience.
There is one area where home schooled kids seem to have a disadvantage though. And that is in their social interactions. Sorry, I do not have any scientific studies to back it up, just antidotes. In general, there are two categories I ended up placing everyone I met who got a home school education. Religious nut-jobs (seriously, Hooters is not a strip club, it is a family restaurant), and general can't-deal-with-people types. The latter were either extremely arrogant to the point of being rude (talking to the boss with shades on while indoors, interrupting people in meetings mid-speach only to tell them how wrong they were without explaining why, not going out with friends when their suggestions aren't followed, just generally I-am-above-you condensending attitude).
I realize people like this exist in the non-home-schooled world, but those that were home schooled seem to predictably be in need of some social interaction lessons.
Well. I should have explained further what I meant.
Asimov hated the idea that robots were evil. In many interviews, he kept saying that "If knowledge brought problems, then the answer was not ignorance", I am paraphrasing here. He was referring to the robot novels of the past that always had a lesson for humanity-- "some things mankind was never meant to mess with."
In response to this way of thinking, he created the robot novels. Robots in his books (and I read many, but not all of them) aren't evil. So I see the movie's plot as something that he would not write about; I would go as far as to say that it was pretty blasphemous. I could be wrong as I haven't read all of Asimov yet.
The zeroth law is infact something he created late in his carreer, and I believe he also had the procreation law which said: "A robot may not take any part in the design or manufacture of a robot unless the new robot's actions are subject to the Laws of Robotics"
The IT field is littered with positions that do not require a degree in Computer Science (or the newly created "IT" degrees). I've said many times that about 80% (generous estimate) that are in CS right now don't need to be there. They want to be programmers or Network/System administrators. These people are better off either working themselves up the ladder or getting a vocational degree where more hands-on experience is given.
A degree in CS was never meant to spit out programmers. I remember running in the opposite direction of a school I had attended the pre-orientarion where they show you around and let you meet professors and ask questions. When I asked what kind of lessons were being taught, they replied "We have classes that teach you how to use SQL and a class for Javascript. We have a professor that teaches 3 levels of Java programming." I heard their responses and ran the other way because I didn't want to learn the latest thing right now. I wanted a real CS degree, which meant more theory then practical knowledge.
I am not trying to knock that type of education though. Some people are better off learning what the industry is doing right now rather then the general knowledge and theory behind what is used. If all you want to do is be a programmer, then get a vocational degree in that field, get certified in whatever language you want and find a job using those easy-to-get credentials. If you are good, you will survive. A CS degree is meant for people that will go into Computer Science. Computer Science != Programming. Programming is only a small fraction of Computer Science.
I am sure there are tons of programmer/sys-admins here that started off with CS and then thought "wtf" when they saw the courses they were taking. I am sure that the slashdot anti-degree mentality comes from this. But it isn't the degree's fault. What is at fault is a misunderstanding of what Computer Science meant to them.
You are not looking at this from the right angle here. What Microsoft is offering is a platform. This is what Live is. And if the Live platform for the 360 is as successful as they say it is, why wouldn't a developer leverage it? A developer would be tapping into over 6 million subscribers.
The choice to go to Live for games is not yours to make anymore, it is put squarely on the developers. If a game comes out that uses Live and you want it, then you will be using Live or you will not be playing the game.
Well he is working on straight-to-DVD B5 stories. They could always use that. I believe they are meant to be prequal-like episodes, with each DVD being its own mini-arc.
How is all this different from say Salesforce CRM services? As for GE using this, if they aren't I am sure that will surface pretty soon. I can unserstand why you wouldnt want your company data at some 3rd party, but those concerns can easily be rectified with contracts.
Open would mean that it is open for everyone to see what is under the hood. I don't see why there must be one. There can be 5 or 10, if they are all open then you can easily work with any one of them. When did open format people say they just wanted one? Seems a bit short-sighted IMO.
I am one of those users that has the memory issue both at home and at work. At home I have more or less the same extensions and with roughly 40 tabs open it eats up about 400MB of RAM (that is more then most games). Yes I did the cache trick where it empties it from RAM when you minimize, but anyone who has done this can see the RAM just slowly consume it all up again. If you see anything obvious let me know, but I pretty much have surrendered to this goliath of a memory hog.
Currently I have the following extensions installed: DOM Inspector 1.8.0.7 Talkback 1.5.0.7 IE Tab 1.0.9 Tab Mix Plus 0.3.0.5 StumbleUpon 2.78 VideoDownloader 1.0 Adblock.5
Currently has 20 tabs open. I wont list the sites but they include several msdn sites, several developer sites like donetjunkies, codeproject, one or two blogs, slashdot etc etc. Nothing too exotic.
Many people responding to you seem to be ranting off about illegal immigration draining our welfare system.
Huh? Many years ago the welfare system excluded illigal immigrants from receiving aid, and even reduced the level of aid given to legal non-citzens. So, I really do not see what welfare system the illigal immigrants are draining.
Also, someone made a comment about most illegals come here for the sole purpose of draining said resources when in actuallity most illegal immigrants come here to work at wages far below the minimum wage. No, they aren't the exception, they are the rule. Most Mexicans crossing that border hear the call of American companies looking for cheap labor. If the thirst for cheap labor ends, you will see a severe decline in people crossing the border.
You can see the level of racism when these issues come up. Blame is placed on people who have very little to do with the situation. Rather then rant off about illegals or rant off about H1Bs (as I have seen in many other articles) why don't you get your represetative government to do something about it. Clearly they should be able to.
Correct me if I am wrong here, but I will try to explain the breif history of this debate as I have understood it since its development.
1) The internet was considered a telecommunication and as thus had to adhere to existing net neutrality regulations. This was the case since the internet existed. 2) At some point, the FCC ruled that the internet was a data service and not a telecommunication. As a side effect of this ruling, Net neutrality was no longer required for the internet. 3) Verizon (I think) started to throtle VoIP, more specificly Vonage traffic. 4) Verizon, Bellsouth and ATT came out and publicly made statements that Google, YouTube, and Vonage have been getting a free ride on their pipes (forgot who started it). 5) The easily defeatable debate of a "free ride" (due to the fact Google/YouTube/Vonage pay for their traffic) made the telecoms change their position and the debate about wanting to serve Television over the internet (TVoIP?). Somehow Net Neutrality would prevent them from offering these extra services to their customers. 6) The "free ride" debate sparked interest in creating a net neutrality bill passed for the internet.
There is a lot more details here, but this is in essence what I have followed. I do not see why it is so hard to see that the greedy bastards are the cable/telecoms? Why are we paying so much for internet access and yet receiving so little when compared to other countries? Where did the $200 billion go to fund a 45mbps duplex fiber line to every home in America? Why do people keep defending the very same companies who tried to rob you of $2/month when the FCC lifted several federal charges on DSL? I am pretty pissed, and everyone else should too!
Please don't confuse the two. XP is a process only, and it is to be implemented for programmers. Software Engineers design systems and plan out the project which programmers will use. Software Engineers also choose to use XP or other better suited processes.
Now, I am not against some of the agile methods out there, but XP is all hype. The only people who have gotten the process to work aren't really working on real-time systems, or an operating system, or any porject that is of significant scope.
All the arguments of whether or not Facebook should be broadcasing info is moot now. Weather you think it was within their right or not is trumped by the fact that its user-base did not want the feature implemented. Both sides can argue until they are blue in the face, but the fact of the matter is: it was an unpopular feature that stirred up controversy.
Now, one of two things was going to happen. Either Facebook rolled back their changes hence listening to their user-base, or someone else would usurp Facebook and dominate in its place by catering to the user-base. The former happened and now the world makes a little more sense. Though I have a feeling a bunch of eager entrepreneurs have started their company to champion privacy values and against whatever else the user-base doesn't like about Facebook.
When I was a wee lad, my parents used to call my Gensis a Nintendo. And later, my Super Nintendo just a Nintendo. It could be that Nintendo was about to loose it's trademark then as well, but they just made it uncool to call a Sega a Nintendo. Maybe what Google needs to do is make it uncool to call MSN searching googling!
-- "No more Nintendo if you don't do your homework!" -- "Its not a Nintendo, its called a Genesis"
I used to buy movies for the PSP for the sole purpose of having something to watch on long plane rides. I wish I could rent them as they really only have a one-time purpose.
Slashdot Mirror
Well I am glad you are through this. Right now there is someone I know that could very well be going through similar things. I am gonna have to forgive his jack-assedness for now in hopes that he gets better.
Holy crap dude, where did you get this from? Or how is it you could so eloquently put it like this (Not to get personal here)?
I actually got my internet suspended by Comcast (never had this problem when it was Adelphia). I had to call their abuse line (which only works 9-5) and they told me I was using something like 300GB/month (I was floored when I heard this) and that my transfer was in the top .001 percentile (once again floored). I download mostly Linux ISOs (I still haven't decided which one to install) and unlicensed programs (as far as U.S.). Also 300GB number is combined upload/download from what he told me. Considering that I leave my torrents running after they are done I think most of those 300GB is upload (I average a 3:1 ratio of u/d). On a side note, I still don't believe I downloaded that much and since then started logging what my computer does.
.001% bandwidth hogs and warning them and then terminating them. So I don't think there is a magic number. If everyone only used 1GB/mo they would go after those that used 2GB.
When I asked them why this would be a problem since what I purchased is "unlimited", they said that "unlimited" only pertains to being connected and not the actual bandwidth.
They told me to severly reduce my downloads or my account would be terminated. I am still looking for an alternative ISP, but I can't find any for my area. I also asked them what the magic number was so my account would not get terminated, and he said they didn't have one. Aperently this particular department is just looking at the top
I thought google only is scanning books that are already in the public domain. Is this not the case?
The Slippery Slope Fallacy stops being a fallacy when the person arguing the point provides evidence that there is a slippery slope. In his argument, he stated that movies/video games/emmissions/organic food all started off as voluntary labels and ended up regulated. I don't know how true this is (I always thought movie/game ratings were voluntary) but it is left as an exercise to the reader to prove that the slippery slopes given were in fact false. If they end up as true, then he has a valid point.
On another tangent here but, Hooters is a family restaurant. I do respect people's beliefs; while going to hooters with your kids is defintely your option, I have seen many times a typical family with kids eat over there. It isn't a strip club, nor is it any different then going to Chillis or Bennigans. In the case of this particular individual, he had never gone there before (never!) and was calling the waitresses whores and scum of society. That is pretty disrespectful to everyone around him as well as those who work there and aren't even around to defend their honest living. Hooter girls do not dance around or behave inappropriately. They put out a swimsuit calander every year (for which they are not paid for doing) and dress in clothes that the 70's felt were provacative but are no different then what you would find at the mall today.
I will read your linked study and not think of every home-school as a representative of the rest. Though keep in mind that when it comes to studies and primates, studies have shown that primates raised isolated from others tend to be social misfits (I will link when I get home if needed). I don't see much of a problem with home-schooling as long as the correct education is being taught and somehow playing with other kids is part of the experience.
There is one area where home schooled kids seem to have a disadvantage though. And that is in their social interactions. Sorry, I do not have any scientific studies to back it up, just antidotes. In general, there are two categories I ended up placing everyone I met who got a home school education. Religious nut-jobs (seriously, Hooters is not a strip club, it is a family restaurant), and general can't-deal-with-people types. The latter were either extremely arrogant to the point of being rude (talking to the boss with shades on while indoors, interrupting people in meetings mid-speach only to tell them how wrong they were without explaining why, not going out with friends when their suggestions aren't followed, just generally I-am-above-you condensending attitude). I realize people like this exist in the non-home-schooled world, but those that were home schooled seem to predictably be in need of some social interaction lessons.
Well. I should have explained further what I meant. Asimov hated the idea that robots were evil. In many interviews, he kept saying that "If knowledge brought problems, then the answer was not ignorance", I am paraphrasing here. He was referring to the robot novels of the past that always had a lesson for humanity-- "some things mankind was never meant to mess with." In response to this way of thinking, he created the robot novels. Robots in his books (and I read many, but not all of them) aren't evil. So I see the movie's plot as something that he would not write about; I would go as far as to say that it was pretty blasphemous. I could be wrong as I haven't read all of Asimov yet. The zeroth law is infact something he created late in his carreer, and I believe he also had the procreation law which said: "A robot may not take any part in the design or manufacture of a robot unless the new robot's actions are subject to the Laws of Robotics"
And it was that zeroth law (premise of the whole movie) that goes against everything that Asimov wrote about.
The IT field is littered with positions that do not require a degree in Computer Science (or the newly created "IT" degrees). I've said many times that about 80% (generous estimate) that are in CS right now don't need to be there. They want to be programmers or Network/System administrators. These people are better off either working themselves up the ladder or getting a vocational degree where more hands-on experience is given.
A degree in CS was never meant to spit out programmers. I remember running in the opposite direction of a school I had attended the pre-orientarion where they show you around and let you meet professors and ask questions. When I asked what kind of lessons were being taught, they replied "We have classes that teach you how to use SQL and a class for Javascript. We have a professor that teaches 3 levels of Java programming." I heard their responses and ran the other way because I didn't want to learn the latest thing right now. I wanted a real CS degree, which meant more theory then practical knowledge.
I am not trying to knock that type of education though. Some people are better off learning what the industry is doing right now rather then the general knowledge and theory behind what is used. If all you want to do is be a programmer, then get a vocational degree in that field, get certified in whatever language you want and find a job using those easy-to-get credentials. If you are good, you will survive. A CS degree is meant for people that will go into Computer Science. Computer Science != Programming. Programming is only a small fraction of Computer Science.
I am sure there are tons of programmer/sys-admins here that started off with CS and then thought "wtf" when they saw the courses they were taking. I am sure that the slashdot anti-degree mentality comes from this. But it isn't the degree's fault. What is at fault is a misunderstanding of what Computer Science meant to them.
That is a stupid analogy. Try this one: Do you expect to hold FedEx or UPS accountable for the delivery of drugs to people's houses?
You are not looking at this from the right angle here. What Microsoft is offering is a platform. This is what Live is. And if the Live platform for the 360 is as successful as they say it is, why wouldn't a developer leverage it? A developer would be tapping into over 6 million subscribers.
The choice to go to Live for games is not yours to make anymore, it is put squarely on the developers. If a game comes out that uses Live and you want it, then you will be using Live or you will not be playing the game.
Well he is working on straight-to-DVD B5 stories. They could always use that. I believe they are meant to be prequal-like episodes, with each DVD being its own mini-arc.
How is all this different from say Salesforce CRM services? As for GE using this, if they aren't I am sure that will surface pretty soon. I can unserstand why you wouldnt want your company data at some 3rd party, but those concerns can easily be rectified with contracts.
Open would mean that it is open for everyone to see what is under the hood. I don't see why there must be one. There can be 5 or 10, if they are all open then you can easily work with any one of them. When did open format people say they just wanted one? Seems a bit short-sighted IMO.
I am one of those users that has the memory issue both at home and at work. At home I have more or less the same extensions and with roughly 40 tabs open it eats up about 400MB of RAM (that is more then most games). Yes I did the cache trick where it empties it from RAM when you minimize, but anyone who has done this can see the RAM just slowly consume it all up again. If you see anything obvious let me know, but I pretty much have surrendered to this goliath of a memory hog.
.5
Currently I have the following extensions installed:
DOM Inspector 1.8.0.7
Talkback 1.5.0.7
IE Tab 1.0.9
Tab Mix Plus 0.3.0.5
StumbleUpon 2.78
VideoDownloader 1.0
Adblock
Currently has 20 tabs open. I wont list the sites but they include several msdn sites, several developer sites like donetjunkies, codeproject, one or two blogs, slashdot etc etc. Nothing too exotic.
Firefox version 1.5.0.7
Yes, but will it run Windows?
*ducks*
Many people responding to you seem to be ranting off about illegal immigration draining our welfare system.
Huh? Many years ago the welfare system excluded illigal immigrants from receiving aid, and even reduced the level of aid given to legal non-citzens. So, I really do not see what welfare system the illigal immigrants are draining.
Also, someone made a comment about most illegals come here for the sole purpose of draining said resources when in actuallity most illegal immigrants come here to work at wages far below the minimum wage. No, they aren't the exception, they are the rule. Most Mexicans crossing that border hear the call of American companies looking for cheap labor. If the thirst for cheap labor ends, you will see a severe decline in people crossing the border.
You can see the level of racism when these issues come up. Blame is placed on people who have very little to do with the situation. Rather then rant off about illegals or rant off about H1Bs (as I have seen in many other articles) why don't you get your represetative government to do something about it. Clearly they should be able to.
Correct me if I am wrong here, but I will try to explain the breif history of this debate as I have understood it since its development.
1) The internet was considered a telecommunication and as thus had to adhere to existing net neutrality regulations. This was the case since the internet existed.
2) At some point, the FCC ruled that the internet was a data service and not a telecommunication. As a side effect of this ruling, Net neutrality was no longer required for the internet.
3) Verizon (I think) started to throtle VoIP, more specificly Vonage traffic.
4) Verizon, Bellsouth and ATT came out and publicly made statements that Google, YouTube, and Vonage have been getting a free ride on their pipes (forgot who started it).
5) The easily defeatable debate of a "free ride" (due to the fact Google/YouTube/Vonage pay for their traffic) made the telecoms change their position and the debate about wanting to serve Television over the internet (TVoIP?). Somehow Net Neutrality would prevent them from offering these extra services to their customers.
6) The "free ride" debate sparked interest in creating a net neutrality bill passed for the internet.
There is a lot more details here, but this is in essence what I have followed. I do not see why it is so hard to see that the greedy bastards are the cable/telecoms? Why are we paying so much for internet access and yet receiving so little when compared to other countries? Where did the $200 billion go to fund a 45mbps duplex fiber line to every home in America? Why do people keep defending the very same companies who tried to rob you of $2/month when the FCC lifted several federal charges on DSL? I am pretty pissed, and everyone else should too!
Please don't confuse the two. XP is a process only, and it is to be implemented for programmers. Software Engineers design systems and plan out the project which programmers will use. Software Engineers also choose to use XP or other better suited processes.
Now, I am not against some of the agile methods out there, but XP is all hype. The only people who have gotten the process to work aren't really working on real-time systems, or an operating system, or any porject that is of significant scope.
All the arguments of whether or not Facebook should be broadcasing info is moot now. Weather you think it was within their right or not is trumped by the fact that its user-base did not want the feature implemented. Both sides can argue until they are blue in the face, but the fact of the matter is: it was an unpopular feature that stirred up controversy.
Now, one of two things was going to happen. Either Facebook rolled back their changes hence listening to their user-base, or someone else would usurp Facebook and dominate in its place by catering to the user-base. The former happened and now the world makes a little more sense. Though I have a feeling a bunch of eager entrepreneurs have started their company to champion privacy values and against whatever else the user-base doesn't like about Facebook.
When I was a wee lad, my parents used to call my Gensis a Nintendo. And later, my Super Nintendo just a Nintendo. It could be that Nintendo was about to loose it's trademark then as well, but they just made it uncool to call a Sega a Nintendo. Maybe what Google needs to do is make it uncool to call MSN searching googling!
-- "No more Nintendo if you don't do your homework!"
-- "Its not a Nintendo, its called a Genesis"
I used to buy movies for the PSP for the sole purpose of having something to watch on long plane rides. I wish I could rent them as they really only have a one-time purpose.
If whats above is true, then wouldn't it be possible (given enough time) to see the birth of galaxies and stars, only in reverse?