Well, community service is a good thing, but just to play devil's advocate here, I remember hearing that putting someone in jail served four purposes:
Punish the criminals. The obvious reason. Being in jail is certainly a punishmenet, even moreso than community service (although you could just say for every year of jailtime, you must do X amout of years of community service which could even it out).
Keep the criminal away from society. By keeping them in jail, you're preventing them from committing the same crime again, and amassing more victims. Community service does not meet this purpose.
Protect the victim, or victim's family. Not applicable in cases like this, where the criminal just wanted to make money. But you can see why someone convicted of attempted murder should be put away for bit. Either way, community service fails this test as well.
I forgot. Really. And it's been driving me nuts for years. Anyone else know?:)
I must say, I don't think she was holding a cigarette in the first place. I've got the mag in front of me (page A15). I hold my hand up to my head like that a lot. It's a pose I use when I'm thinking or concentrating a lot. Note her fingers are pressed up to her jawbone. A smoker would not have a cigarette that far behind the mouth, let alone having fingers that close to the jaw (the filter would be pressed against your flesh). Just my two cents, really, but two fingers against the neck doesn't mean there was a cigarette there....
I think if you limit the scope of this discussion to imaginary numbers, the original poster had a point -- you rarely need it in today's programs. I got my degree in EE, so I have to use imaginary numbers (like on the program I have open now... ready to Alt-Tab to if the boss walks by), but most algorithms don't need it.
Should you be comfortable with math? Absolutely! You should know Calc, and should be very much aware of exponents and iteration (another poster's comments about O(n) and O(n^2) are dead on). Linear algebra work well too. But mostly because it helps you write algorithms that require thought, not because you have to know how to perform a Fast Fourier Transform. And if you're getting a degree in CS, that's the type of work you'll do. Getting that degree helps ensure you don't get tapped to write scripts all day long, no?
So he compares radio waves to that of visible light -- a good analogy, but it doesn't mean his argument holds up. This article jumps around a bit, from the beginning to where he mentions quantum mechanics, to adopting frequency-hopping algorithms. I just don't get the bit in the beginning. If you've got two stations allowed to broadcast, say, Forest Green, in the air at the same time, then how can an optical receiver (say, my eye) discern between the two? In the broadcast world, you're going to have multiple receivers trying to 'tune in' to multiple sources. Broadcasting at the same freq. and the same time will alias the signals.
Yeah, does anyone else here think that this entire thing was planned, and we're all being duped right now? I saw the rangingcow.com link off of a site that indexes popular blogs, and after spending a couple minutes on it, I was like "WTF???". I honestly had no fucking clue what this thing was there for. So I chalked it up to me being drunk, and headed to Fark.com. Where they had a headline on how this whole thing was a lame attempt by Dr. Pepper to sell some weird-ass milk drink.
So heading over to/. to play my usual who-broke-the-story-first game, I realize that there's more crap on how Dr. Pepper is selling this crap through an Astroturf campaign (good word, by the way), and I realized I read more stories on Dr. Pepper than Raging Cow. Hell, I mentioned Dr. Pepper twice before in this post, and I hate Dr. Pepper. Christ, that's 4 times.
That's the same argument I use when people tell me my liver's going to go out by the time I'm 50. I tell them, "hey, in 25 years, we'll have liver transplants! Give me another beer!"
For those reading just the comments
on
Advergames
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Okay, every comment I've read so far is talking about product placement in videogames. A fun topic, sure, and I like talking about it, but I would those who haven't done so to just skim the short article. It talks about entire games whose primary aim is to sell a product. So, instead of having McD's in The Sims, we're talking about car companies putting out games (often for free) that let you drive around in their new cars. A nifty little article, and I'm wondering if people think this will take off...
Thank you. Although it is funny, it also points out that not everything is intended with Homeland Security in mind. Using RFID tags to track consumers? Who the fuck thinks that? All I know from RFID tags I learned from/., and I'm still educated enough to know that:
To track RFID tags in tires, The Man needs to install the readers.
...at a lot of locations to make it easier for The Man to get a good idea of where you're going (I'd say a few hundred thousand... as a start)
...and they all have to be networked to a giant database
Then it's possible for The Man to track everyone. But what the hell for!? Assuming this even passes as legal... but look, the government can already track suspects once they get a warrant, we know that. As for tracking people for patterns (to later be named suspects), they're not going to get any good dirt on finding out where you buy your loafers.
If Norah was the one who made the decision, then she's just trying to protect her work. By the way, you do know she has 12 mp3s available on her website, for free, right? The same songs off of her newest album. So it's not like she's some luddite afraid that her fans will rip her off. Heck, I listened to the songs for an entire weekend nonstop (my pissed-off roommate can attest to this) before I bought her CD.
If your system is 0wn3d and used to launch a DDoS attack on AOL (or Slashdot, Kuro5hin, whoever), then AOL should have the right to sue you for damages. Your incompetence caused their loss.
I don't usually agrue against accountability, but this doens't make sense. What if I leave my house poorly locked (heck, even unlocked) when I leave for work, and someone breaks into it and then uses my house as a shelter as he starts sniping people in the streets. Should I be held accountable because he used my property to commit a crime? Heck no. The one commiting the crime is the one who should be punished. Same thing if someone steals my car and uses it to mow down some pedestrians. Under current law, I could be held accountable if the motorist was drinking, and I was aware of it, and I let him have the car on my own free will. And even then, I don't agree with the law.
Anywho, I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents. Failure to implement an adequate security system is an option, people. A stupid one 99% of the time, sure. And that's why network admins are (and should be) held accountable by their employers if they lose business due to the admin's negligence. But if another network gets DOS'd from that network, the victim should go after the perp, not the people the perp used along the way...
This is true if you want to nitpick. But try never using the world "voltage" when you talk about potential. You'll find people won't know what the hell you're talking about. I recently accepted that terms get absorbed into vernacular, even if they are incorrect. Most states have "interstate" roads that don't, in fact, go between states (Hawaii is the most often-cited example), but you just have to learn that "interstate" highways are just "federally-funded" highways. While I'll agree that we'd all be better off if we used correct terminology whenever appropriate, it just ain't gonna happen. (Yes, I know, "ain't" and "gonna" aren't words, but I'm making a point:))
There's one way of singling out humans as a species that I always liked - while all the other creatures on the earth have learned to adapt to their environment, man went ahead and learned to adapt his environment to fit his needs.
And is that a bad thing? Using water as an example, man creates irrigation channels, dams, and even diverts entire rivers to allow for more people to have better lives.
Granted, even though these can be big projects, the basics are pretty primitive, and we can now safely estimate what will happen if we put a dam of size x and such-and-such a location. Weather is very complex, and there's plenty of other issues such as the water-stealing conflicts mentioned in other posts (the Midwest states using up the rain that was meant for the East Coast, for example).
But hey, let's try it out. Try small experiments in remote locations and go from there. And if we can't accuratly measure the effects (which we probably won't... who knows how much rainfall the East Coast would get if the experiments are performed vs. if they weren't performed?) then we can still keep what we've learned. And hell, if diverting a killer hailstorm away from D.C. means less rainfall for me in Annapolis for a day, I won't complain:) Nothing says we can't use this to not save lives at the expense of 5" less rainfall somewhere else...
Well, this works great, but it's annoying to the people that know you. I'd suggest downloading only the first 1/3 of that tone here. This way, it's much less annoying, but it still works, since most telemarketers use devices that call several people at once, and the computer, upon hearing even the first part of the three-tone "your call cannot be completed as dialed" tone, immediatly gives up and tries the next number.
Because WSJ costs $80 a year. NYT takes 10 seconds to register for and is free. Big difference. I'm not paying $80 for shit I can read once someone cut-n-pastes the article...
There's really no good reason to switch for me. I am going to give Linux another try real soon (tried a few years ago, couldn't get the modem working), but it's only because I'm curious. But I'm not expecting Linux to be better -- mostly because of the software development. I know if there's ever a program I want, it's on Windows. Not only games, but even little stuff. Is Quicktime available for Linux? I believe you can view Quicktime movies, but with a somewhat rogue program. I just have a hard time throwing away an OS that suits my needs for one that may be better for security and uptime, but lacks in apps. Keep in mind I'm talking about home usage here. Let's face it, Windows is a good OS for casual PC users, as well as "Power Users" like us. Let's take a look at the biggest complaints from you guys:
Stability - We all know Win95 and Win98 are jokes. That's why I tried Linux in the first place. But I've rarely had problems with any NT kernel. And WinXP? I've had one crash that required a reboot, and that was because I was messing with LiteStep. Face it, for home use, XP is more than stable enough.
Security - Once again, for the home market, who's going to complain about security? Just throw ZoneAlarm on there or keep your damn computer off the full-time connection. And local secuirty in a family home is almost a non-issue, but the whole logon procedure now actually carries some weight too it (as opposed to that stupid 'Cancel' button Win9x had). If you're going to get a virus, it's going to be due to Windows Apps, not the OS. That's why I don't use Outlook:)
Cost - Families can afford $99 for an OS. And single guys like myself? Please. How many of us actually paid for Windows?
Since I was aware of these new library lasws(as are most/. readers) I seriously thought that the Ad Council was running that ad because of shit like the Patriot Act... that it was an independent group attacking recent regulation.
Nah, Univ. of Maryland's Office of Information Technology is pretty liberal with internet usage. I just read an article on it actually... they'll only flag your usage if you avearge more than 2 Mbps/s over a 24 hr period. So that's 21.6 GB of data. And I never signed anything about non-academic use when I went there. If it is policy, it's certainly not being enforced.
Exactly, land lines are costing more than cell phones in some cases. I live in an apartment with two other people, and we don't have a land line. It's $30+ a month, with an outrageous $75 set up fee. My cell phone plan is cheaper than that, and cost $25 to activate. Granted, we all had to get new cell phones since we live in a semi-rural area, but hey, it gave me an excuse to buy my shiny new phone. But with cell phones and a cable modem, who needs a land line?
I've got a solution for everyone... just use Internet Explorer! It caches DNS lookups for you!
(of course, this "feature" screws everything up if the webpage you're visiting hosts of a dynamic IP). But it only requires a registry edit to fix, so you know, grandma won't have any problem with it.
I'm sorry to be so off-topic, but judging from the threads so far, you people are better at answering this than most people:
If we think of the matter in the Universe as an expanding sphere, current measurements show the outer parts are accelerating. But how can this be? Consider the forces on a particle at the 'edge' of the Universe... no forces are acting on it, with the exception of gravity, which is pulling it backwards (that's where the rest of the Universe is). So I can understand why it would be still be moving outwards, but not accelerating outwards.
Can be found here ($12), with the PS2 connector here ($33). Yeah, it's not a fancy website, and it might take a week or two to get your stuff, but it *is* cheap, and the Monster cables I got from these guys work great.
Amen, brother. Using 3rd party programs to do something as simple as moving a file is ridiculous. It's been what, almost 20 years since the click-and-drag has been around? And you're telling me that the newest major OS (XP) doesn't support click-and-drag to the most common form of file-storing media?
For this reason, I've never owned a CD-RW, and hopefully never will. I'm just going to wait it out for The Next Big Thing (unless DVD writers are the same, in which case I'm waiting for The Next Big Thing After That).
And Zip drives are crap, too. I'm not going to let one company dictate how much my removable writable media disks are going to cost.
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I must say, I don't think she was holding a cigarette in the first place. I've got the mag in front of me (page A15). I hold my hand up to my head like that a lot. It's a pose I use when I'm thinking or concentrating a lot. Note her fingers are pressed up to her jawbone. A smoker would not have a cigarette that far behind the mouth, let alone having fingers that close to the jaw (the filter would be pressed against your flesh). Just my two cents, really, but two fingers against the neck doesn't mean there was a cigarette there....
Should you be comfortable with math? Absolutely! You should know Calc, and should be very much aware of exponents and iteration (another poster's comments about O(n) and O(n^2) are dead on). Linear algebra work well too. But mostly because it helps you write algorithms that require thought, not because you have to know how to perform a Fast Fourier Transform. And if you're getting a degree in CS, that's the type of work you'll do. Getting that degree helps ensure you don't get tapped to write scripts all day long, no?
So he compares radio waves to that of visible light -- a good analogy, but it doesn't mean his argument holds up. This article jumps around a bit, from the beginning to where he mentions quantum mechanics, to adopting frequency-hopping algorithms. I just don't get the bit in the beginning. If you've got two stations allowed to broadcast, say, Forest Green, in the air at the same time, then how can an optical receiver (say, my eye) discern between the two? In the broadcast world, you're going to have multiple receivers trying to 'tune in' to multiple sources. Broadcasting at the same freq. and the same time will alias the signals.
So heading over to /. to play my usual who-broke-the-story-first game, I realize that there's more crap on how Dr. Pepper is selling this crap through an Astroturf campaign (good word, by the way), and I realized I read more stories on Dr. Pepper than Raging Cow. Hell, I mentioned Dr. Pepper twice before in this post, and I hate Dr. Pepper. Christ, that's 4 times.
Sigh. I'm going to drink more.
That's the same argument I use when people tell me my liver's going to go out by the time I'm 50. I tell them, "hey, in 25 years, we'll have liver transplants! Give me another beer!"
Okay, every comment I've read so far is talking about product placement in videogames. A fun topic, sure, and I like talking about it, but I would those who haven't done so to just skim the short article. It talks about entire games whose primary aim is to sell a product. So, instead of having McD's in The Sims, we're talking about car companies putting out games (often for free) that let you drive around in their new cars. A nifty little article, and I'm wondering if people think this will take off...
Then it's possible for The Man to track everyone. But what the hell for!? Assuming this even passes as legal... but look, the government can already track suspects once they get a warrant, we know that. As for tracking people for patterns (to later be named suspects), they're not going to get any good dirt on finding out where you buy your loafers.
-- Rick
I don't usually agrue against accountability, but this doens't make sense. What if I leave my house poorly locked (heck, even unlocked) when I leave for work, and someone breaks into it and then uses my house as a shelter as he starts sniping people in the streets. Should I be held accountable because he used my property to commit a crime? Heck no. The one commiting the crime is the one who should be punished. Same thing if someone steals my car and uses it to mow down some pedestrians. Under current law, I could be held accountable if the motorist was drinking, and I was aware of it, and I let him have the car on my own free will. And even then, I don't agree with the law.
Anywho, I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents. Failure to implement an adequate security system is an option, people. A stupid one 99% of the time, sure. And that's why network admins are (and should be) held accountable by their employers if they lose business due to the admin's negligence. But if another network gets DOS'd from that network, the victim should go after the perp, not the people the perp used along the way...
This is true if you want to nitpick. But try never using the world "voltage" when you talk about potential. You'll find people won't know what the hell you're talking about. I recently accepted that terms get absorbed into vernacular, even if they are incorrect. Most states have "interstate" roads that don't, in fact, go between states (Hawaii is the most often-cited example), but you just have to learn that "interstate" highways are just "federally-funded" highways. While I'll agree that we'd all be better off if we used correct terminology whenever appropriate, it just ain't gonna happen. (Yes, I know, "ain't" and "gonna" aren't words, but I'm making a point :))
And is that a bad thing? Using water as an example, man creates irrigation channels, dams, and even diverts entire rivers to allow for more people to have better lives.
Granted, even though these can be big projects, the basics are pretty primitive, and we can now safely estimate what will happen if we put a dam of size x and such-and-such a location. Weather is very complex, and there's plenty of other issues such as the water-stealing conflicts mentioned in other posts (the Midwest states using up the rain that was meant for the East Coast, for example).
But hey, let's try it out. Try small experiments in remote locations and go from there. And if we can't accuratly measure the effects (which we probably won't... who knows how much rainfall the East Coast would get if the experiments are performed vs. if they weren't performed?) then we can still keep what we've learned. And hell, if diverting a killer hailstorm away from D.C. means less rainfall for me in Annapolis for a day, I won't complain :) Nothing says we can't use this to not save lives at the expense of 5" less rainfall somewhere else...
-- Rick
Because WSJ costs $80 a year. NYT takes 10 seconds to register for and is free. Big difference. I'm not paying $80 for shit I can read once someone cut-n-pastes the article...
Yeah, um, I saw the Bond movie last night, and it's not used in that way... go to your room!
To be honest, the only thing I remember him using a razor for is... shaving.
You didn't expect to get away with that in a /. forum about geek jokes, did you? :)
Since I was aware of these new library lasws(as are most
Weird.
What's wrong with Service Packs? Hasn't anyone here released code w/bugs in it? I doubt I'm the only one...
Kudos to Microsoft for applying standards to their software. I have yet to see Linux apply for this certification...
Nah, Univ. of Maryland's Office of Information Technology is pretty liberal with internet usage. I just read an article on it actually... they'll only flag your usage if you avearge more than 2 Mbps/s over a 24 hr period. So that's 21.6 GB of data. And I never signed anything about non-academic use when I went there. If it is policy, it's certainly not being enforced.
Exactly, land lines are costing more than cell phones in some cases. I live in an apartment with two other people, and we don't have a land line. It's $30+ a month, with an outrageous $75 set up fee. My cell phone plan is cheaper than that, and cost $25 to activate. Granted, we all had to get new cell phones since we live in a semi-rural area, but hey, it gave me an excuse to buy my shiny new phone. But with cell phones and a cable modem, who needs a land line?
(of course, this "feature" screws everything up if the webpage you're visiting hosts of a dynamic IP). But it only requires a registry edit to fix, so you know, grandma won't have any problem with it.
If we think of the matter in the Universe as an expanding sphere, current measurements show the outer parts are accelerating. But how can this be? Consider the forces on a particle at the 'edge' of the Universe... no forces are acting on it, with the exception of gravity, which is pulling it backwards (that's where the rest of the Universe is). So I can understand why it would be still be moving outwards, but not accelerating outwards.
Anyone? Bueller?
Can be found here ($12), with the PS2 connector here ($33). Yeah, it's not a fancy website, and it might take a week or two to get your stuff, but it *is* cheap, and the Monster cables I got from these guys work great.
Amen, brother. Using 3rd party programs to do something as simple as moving a file is ridiculous. It's been what, almost 20 years since the click-and-drag has been around? And you're telling me that the newest major OS (XP) doesn't support click-and-drag to the most common form of file-storing media?
For this reason, I've never owned a CD-RW, and hopefully never will. I'm just going to wait it out for The Next Big Thing (unless DVD writers are the same, in which case I'm waiting for The Next Big Thing After That).
And Zip drives are crap, too. I'm not going to let one company dictate how much my removable writable media disks are going to cost.