Yours is a great post, and very informative for those of us whose impressions of China derive mainly from (Western) popular media. I've never been, but based on what my friends from Hong Kong and the mainland tell me, everything you wrote is pretty much accurate. Too bad nobody'll see it at Score: 0.:-(
I question the validity of lists like these, but Shanghai Jiao Tong University's annual Academic Ranking of World Universities--originally compiled in order to help improve China's own system of higher education--is very well-regarded and frequently cited among international liberal arts and sciences academics.
Glancing casually through the list, it looks like the majority of the "best" are from the US, including Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, etc. Methodology and other goodies here.
"So where does this leave Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics? They were a narrative device, and were never actually meant to work in the real world, says Dr Whitby. Quite apart from the fact that the laws require the robot to have some form of human-like intelligence, which robots still lack, the laws themselves don't actually work very well. Indeed, Asimov repeatedly knocked them down in his robot stories, showing time and again how these seemingly watertight rules could produce unintended consequences."
Oh please. If Steve Jobs woke up tomorrow and singlehandedly convinced Hu Jintao to institute thorough democratic reforms across China, you'd argue he was just ensuring the stability of a future Mac marketplace. Even if Apple's board decided to liquidate itself immediately thereafter, you'd call that a press gambit.
Fact is, there's precious few companies in the industry that take as long-term a view as Apple towards improving our lives by making technology accessible, and in this case, by standing up to the recording industry and pointing out their shortsightedness. It's a decent companies that takes this long-term view. When you engage in this holy war attacking them for "faking it," you become just one more voice tempting them to throw in the towel and join the suits who'd rather see them squeeze you dry for the sake of Q2 profits--never mind five years down the road, or five generations.
Your comment about DRM is insightful enough, but I almost didn't make it that far, hidden as it was behind your tasteless, paranoid, and wholly unfounded rant.
Nowhere in the linked article do these words exist. What Rosen actually says is that Apple's "propietary [sic] DRM just bugs me," which is a quite different message in tone and substance--it's not the DRM itself that she finds annoying, but rather Apple's unwillingness to share.
Note to submitters: Don't invent quotes out of thin air, especially when you encase them in quote marks, for Chrissake.
Well, maybe because it seems to be working out all right? If another society tries something else and it works better, then ours will adapt or die. Evolution works on greater scales than just the individual.
Our "natural habitat" nowadays includes not only streets and buildings, but also hospitals, ambulances, and outpatient medicine. This is our environment, and it's here we'll evolve to thrive.
Someday we'll probably be as dependent on modern conveniences as we are on oxygen (life had to evolve to breathe oxygen, too) but I don't see this as a bad thing. There's no escaping evolution.
You're looking at this the wrong way. With the ability to control our environment through medicine and technology, we can make things like nearsightedness and diabetes mostly irrelevant to our survival. This makes us stronger as a species, not weaker.
Why do you seem to think a "decent car" is a sign of wealth? Where I live, the only people who need cars are the ones who can't afford to live in the city center.
Point one, Bloomberg's income as mayor is $1 per annum. Point two, his actions were what any mayor of New York, and probably any city, would do in similar circumstances, Democrat or Republican. If you want to criticize Bloomberg, there's plenty out there to criticize, but this isn't one of them.
All of the experts emphasized the importance of moving around throughout the day, whether through simple stretches, programs that prompt people to take a break, or by refilling your water glass or standing to complete tasks when you can.
To alleviate symptoms of RSI, my doctor suggested I take a few breaks to walk around during the workday, but unfortunately, my health insurance wouldn't pay for a chiropractor. That's why I took up smoking.
Wikipedia has no reputation to protect. Other than the feeling of personal accomplishment, there's little reason for a contributor to be as factually accurate as possible, or to present a complete picture, or not to mislead, or to make the explanation even marginally readable. On the other hand, a source like the Economist or National Geographic or even the Times has at least some stake in the quality of its material. Frankly, I'd be inclined to trust the New York Post over any given random Wikipedia article.
You know how much it sucks to have to configure your phone's settings--not just time and date, but network preferences, calendaring options, notifications, and all the rest--on the phone itself? Now imagine firing up Safari and simply browsing to your phone's configuration page, where everything's explained in full sentences in a format human beings can read, not crammed into 1 square inch at 288 dpi, and where you don't have to press twenty nubby little buttons every time you want to change one setting.
This could be one potential use for a webserver on your phone. Given the complexity of your typical cellphone, I'd be glad to configure it through an interface that sucks a little less.
Slashdot Mirror
Article: "Wednesday morning dawned, northern Norway was hit with an impact..."
packetmon: "... last week a meteorite struck finland."
Congratulations--you've just pissed off the entire populations of two countries. Fortunately, those countries are Norway and Finland.
Yours is a great post, and very informative for those of us whose impressions of China derive mainly from (Western) popular media. I've never been, but based on what my friends from Hong Kong and the mainland tell me, everything you wrote is pretty much accurate. Too bad nobody'll see it at Score: 0. :-(
No, he had it right. Reread that sentence.
I pay $1200/mo for my room, and I was just thinking the same thing. :-)
I question the validity of lists like these, but Shanghai Jiao Tong University's annual Academic Ranking of World Universities--originally compiled in order to help improve China's own system of higher education--is very well-regarded and frequently cited among international liberal arts and sciences academics.
Glancing casually through the list, it looks like the majority of the "best" are from the US, including Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, etc. Methodology and other goodies here.
It can, but apparently everyone on Slashdot is autistic. Who knew?
Dude, did you even bother reading the article?
"So where does this leave Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics? They were a narrative device, and were never actually meant to work in the real world, says Dr Whitby. Quite apart from the fact that the laws require the robot to have some form of human-like intelligence, which robots still lack, the laws themselves don't actually work very well. Indeed, Asimov repeatedly knocked them down in his robot stories, showing time and again how these seemingly watertight rules could produce unintended consequences."
Oh please. If Steve Jobs woke up tomorrow and singlehandedly convinced Hu Jintao to institute thorough democratic reforms across China, you'd argue he was just ensuring the stability of a future Mac marketplace. Even if Apple's board decided to liquidate itself immediately thereafter, you'd call that a press gambit.
Fact is, there's precious few companies in the industry that take as long-term a view as Apple towards improving our lives by making technology accessible, and in this case, by standing up to the recording industry and pointing out their shortsightedness. It's a decent companies that takes this long-term view. When you engage in this holy war attacking them for "faking it," you become just one more voice tempting them to throw in the towel and join the suits who'd rather see them squeeze you dry for the sake of Q2 profits--never mind five years down the road, or five generations.
Your comment about DRM is insightful enough, but I almost didn't make it that far, hidden as it was behind your tasteless, paranoid, and wholly unfounded rant.
Nowhere in the linked article do these words exist. What Rosen actually says is that Apple's "propietary [sic] DRM just bugs me," which is a quite different message in tone and substance--it's not the DRM itself that she finds annoying, but rather Apple's unwillingness to share.
Note to submitters: Don't invent quotes out of thin air, especially when you encase them in quote marks, for Chrissake.
I bought it at Barnes & Noble cheaper than buy.com.
Well, maybe because it seems to be working out all right? If another society tries something else and it works better, then ours will adapt or die. Evolution works on greater scales than just the individual.
Our "natural habitat" nowadays includes not only streets and buildings, but also hospitals, ambulances, and outpatient medicine. This is our environment, and it's here we'll evolve to thrive.
Someday we'll probably be as dependent on modern conveniences as we are on oxygen (life had to evolve to breathe oxygen, too) but I don't see this as a bad thing. There's no escaping evolution.
You're looking at this the wrong way. With the ability to control our environment through medicine and technology, we can make things like nearsightedness and diabetes mostly irrelevant to our survival. This makes us stronger as a species, not weaker.
Why do you seem to think a "decent car" is a sign of wealth? Where I live, the only people who need cars are the ones who can't afford to live in the city center.
Point one, Bloomberg's income as mayor is $1 per annum. Point two, his actions were what any mayor of New York, and probably any city, would do in similar circumstances, Democrat or Republican. If you want to criticize Bloomberg, there's plenty out there to criticize, but this isn't one of them.
Wikipedia has no reputation to protect. Other than the feeling of personal accomplishment, there's little reason for a contributor to be as factually accurate as possible, or to present a complete picture, or not to mislead, or to make the explanation even marginally readable. On the other hand, a source like the Economist or National Geographic or even the Times has at least some stake in the quality of its material. Frankly, I'd be inclined to trust the New York Post over any given random Wikipedia article.
You know how much it sucks to have to configure your phone's settings--not just time and date, but network preferences, calendaring options, notifications, and all the rest--on the phone itself? Now imagine firing up Safari and simply browsing to your phone's configuration page, where everything's explained in full sentences in a format human beings can read, not crammed into 1 square inch at 288 dpi, and where you don't have to press twenty nubby little buttons every time you want to change one setting.
This could be one potential use for a webserver on your phone. Given the complexity of your typical cellphone, I'd be glad to configure it through an interface that sucks a little less.