There's also always Teach For America which is a program that takes students who have just graduated from college and pays them to teach in urban schools for 2 years. AND, you don't need a teaching certificate.
I always thought it would be really cool to do something like that. Especially if you could get a computer science class going, or an after school club. There are lots of free tools that you can use to create really great lab projects. (Even Microsoft has free development packages - check out the development environment they provide for FREE for WindowsCE. It even comes with neat emulators.)
So, you could get a chance to be THE COOL TEACHER and you could really paint a vision for kids of their own futures that they might not otherwise get. And, you would get some time to wind down and think about what you really want to do for your life.
This is awesome advice. You have a chance right now to use student loans to finance your education without worrying about paying off the mortgage or making the payments on your year old car. You should take it.
I ended up with a minor in English in addition to my degree in CS. I really love studying texts and critically analyzing them, and it turns out, I'm really good at it - as good as, if not better than, I am at being a computer geek. There was just one problem: as I thought about going to grad school and doing work in English, I realized that although I am interested in the English Renaissance, as well as modern American literature, I don't have a deep interest in studying it. Sooo I scrapped the idea of grad school in English and opted for a position doing computer programming, because I knew how to program and it would pay the bills.
But life has many twists and turns, and I really love the studies I am now doing in the Bible, and I love it so much, that I wish my job didn't get in the way of my ability to continue intensively study it. And, as it turns out, a really great seminary has just added a branch campus in my city. So, next year, I'm planning on starting work on my seminary degree part time. It combines my love of analyzing texts with my burden to understand the Bible and the critical thinking skills that I have picked up through computer science. And it turns out I'm really great at teaching, and I think that this seminary degree will be a valuable way to augment my teaching skills and the knowledge teaching draws upon.
Now, I'm not saying that you should enroll in seminary. *grin* What I am saying is that you should look at your interests and look at ways to pursue them. Don't go for the whole enchilada, but take small bites. If your interest continues to be held, be willing to take the next step. I didn't know when I started taking literature classes for the hell of it that this would allign me for Biblical work, but it did provide a critical foundation for me. Taking the literature classes gave me an awareness of where my real interests lay. Go feed your interests.
If, people who are dirt poor had a good chance to go to college without committing a felony to get there - this discussion becomes moot. That is why I am for free-education, and against prison-based free-education.
They do have a chance: Student loans. Anybody can take out that money - rich or poor. And if you get a decent job, you can pay those loans off over time. Its no big deal. Maybe you can't go to Stanford, but you can definitely afford a quality state school. And that doesn't count all of the grant money available to people who are poor. The problem here is that before people get to high school, they already THINK they can't afford college. ANYBODY can afford college. Students need to be counseled about these facts before they get into middle school, so that they don't give up hope.
Actually, a lot of school districts allow alternatives to the traditional high school education, which includes both vocational training (cooking, machinery skills, even some computer classes) and post-secondary option. So if as a high school student, I can receive a college education (FOR FREE), it seems reasonable to allow that same education within prison.
I think it would be fair, however, to have some sort of work system where they have to spend so many hours doing these specific jobs (I know they already have jobs, but maybe this would mean a few extra hours a week at a different job) in order to qualify for the *better* classes. That way, besides the time spent in classes, they have to invest something (extra TIME) to be able to take them, and I would think that would help to create a sense of personal investment and pride, knowing that they worked hard to get that education.
REM "It's the End of the World as We Know It" - Why does everyone always pick on this song without listening to what they are really saying. Everyopne always stops after reading the first six words of the title.
First verse: That's great, it starts with an earthquake
Birds and snakes an aeroplane
And Lenny Bruce is not afraid
Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn
World serves its own needs, dummy serve your own needs
Feed it off an aux, speak grunt no strength
The ladder starts to clatter with fear fight down height
Wire in a fire representing seven games
A government for hire and a combat site
Left of west and coming in a hurry
With the furies breathing down - your - neck
Team by team reporters baffled trumped tethered cropped
Look at that low plane, fine, then
Uh oh overflow population common food
But it'll do save yourself serve yourself
World serves its own needs listen to your heart bleed
Dummy with the rapture and the reverend and the right, right
You vitriolic patriotic slam fight bright light feeling pretty psyched
2nd verse: Six o'clock TV hour, don't get caught in foreign towers
Slash and burn return listen to yourself churn
Locking in uniforming book-burning blood-letting
Every motive escalate, automotive 'cinerate
Light a candle light a votive
Step down, step down watch your heel crush crushed
Uh oh this means no fear cavalier renegade steer clear
A tournament, a tournament, a tournament of lies
Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives and I decline
So, it's pretty heavily anti-war, plus it alludes to some terrorist activity. I can understand why it was pulled, and I don't mind going without right now, but, I do certainly hope it returns to the music lineups in a few months.
I am interested to know why the State of California has access to the SAT scores of its students. I never considered this factor when I took the SATs and the ACTs. If I pay ETS (Educational Testing Service) for the service of taking their test, how does the state have access to those scores as well? It would seem to me that the State should not have the right to relinquish that data to anyone, since it is not their property, but the joint-property of the student and the testing service.
What relationship is hidden here that allows the state this access?
China poses a REAL threat to the U.S., and this missile defense shield is one way in which we can minimize that threat. Without it, we have very little leverage against them. They want Taiwan back, and they have made it known that if the U.S. involves itself in their attempts to regain control of Taiwan, they will consider using nuclear force against the U.S. They are, in fact, prepared to use this force not only against U.S. troops in Asia, but against our mainland. They have a range of 8,000 miles on their big warheads, which is plenty for them to hit our West Coast.
Bill Gertz, a reporter for the Washington Times, uncovered a file (translated) known as Document 65, which details the Chinese militaries stance on the reconquering on Taiwan. Searching for "United States" or "U.S." in the file makes for some very disturbing reading. Of particular interest was this quote:
[The] EU has
ideas different from those of the U.S. and strategically focuses on Europe,
so they do not have direct interests in Taiwan issue. In recent years, the
relationships between EU and our country have been developing smoothly, and
therefore it is very unlikely that EU will fight a full-scale war with us
simply because of the United States.
The Chinese spend a great deal of time considering the possibilities of nuclear war with the U.S.
Another quote, from an article by Gertz, shows a statement from a Chinese newspaper, the Liberation Army Daily, which mirrors the views Central Military Commission Chairman Jiang Zemin and other senior military leaders:
"China is . . . a country that has certain abilities of launching strategic counterattack and the capacity of launching a long-distance strike," the newspaper said. "It is not a wise move to be at war with a country such as China, a point which the U.S. policy-makers know fairly well also."
Sydney Morning Herald reporter David Lague, confirmed Chinese threats against the U.S. his August 1999 piece on the Chinese threat to the U.S. He relayed the following threat from the Chinese military:
China warned yesterday that it was ready to fight over Taiwan and that its nuclear weapons could "deal with" aircraft carriers if the United States dared to interfere.
A hard-hitting editorial in the official Global Times newspaper, a subsidiary of the Communist Party mouthpiece, the People's Daily, said the US and other Western countries were mistaken if they believed China lacked the ability or will to use force in a dispute over Taiwan.
"If the US makes the wrong calculation on its abacus and goes on interfering in China's domestic affairs, it will eventually draw fire against itself," it said.
This missile defense shield is not to protect those of us who live in rural farming communities, it is to protect Los Angeles, Seattle, and the like. It is an oddity that the very demographic (city dwellers) that this shield is drawing the most attack from is the very demographic that this shield will hopefully help to protect.
This may be the first time they've EVER had significant traffic on their servers. How often do YOU look for cool, interesting articles on the DOE's website. Not very often, I suspect. =)
Damn, I normally don't get in on the free-for-all that is commenting on a Katz article, but for crying out loud, Jon, you didn't tell us anything different from the article that was printed in the Sunday Times. In fact, you used many of their quotes, without citing their article. Is there another source that both articles took quotes from, or is this a serious citation issue? Or was their maybe a press conference that we were unaware of? The flow of this article is eerily similar to that of the Sunday Times piece.
I realize that you have a job to do, and articles to write, but please try for something more useful, innovative, insightful... SOMETHING ORIGINAL.
It is plus 2 because in the past Mr. Isaacs has either proven himself to be insightful, funny, or a Karma whore. Someday you too may post at plus two as he and I do.
What is, of course, the bigger crime, is that more posters are not punished for comments that are undeserving of a Score of 2. Posters that automatically post at the 2 level should be punished by moderators for failing to provide any humor, insight, or whatever, but the moderators are only able to penalize posters for being OFFTOPIC, FLAMEBAIT, or TROLLing.
Of course, I'll get OFFTOPIC or FLAMEBAIT for this li'l puppy, because it has nothing to do with the larger discussion, namely, "Death to Virus Writers".
WT News: Hacker misfires on White House
NYT News: White House relocates fearing Worm Infestation
WT Ed: Worm Indicates Mounting Disapproval of Bush Presidency
NYT Ed: Microsoft Error Puts Bush on the Run
That's my.02
Actually, I took "and obviously, this is a rumor" to be a means for CmdrTaco to cover his ass, and I'm okay with that. It was a noteworthy article, something to keep your eye on, but also to be taken with a grain of salt.
Had CmdrTaco not posted the article with a disclaimer, then I'd be worried about the integrity of/. (Don't laugh.) As is, I'm a happy reader.
a. They cannot, despite sustained efforts, control prices of desktop operating systems or application level software. The main competitors for the desktop OS market are of course Linux distros. If MS doubled the price of Windows 2000/XP from ~380 to ~800, do you think many/any people would switch? The answer: a qualified yet resounding 'yes'. Its already happened to a lesser degree. Windows 2000 is significantly more expensive than Windows 98/ME, and as such uptake for Win2k has been generally disappointing.
Since Windows2000 is the next flavor of WindowsNT, one would hardly expect it to be priced along the same lines as Windows98/ME. Furthermore, there is no significant reason for those on WindowsNT to switch to 2000, as WindowsXP is nearing its release date. Why buy a piece of software which will shortly be obsolete?
I don't appreciate MS's business tactics, but basically I don't see them as terribly illegal. The whole anti-trust case hinges on one thing: MS as a monopoly. Without that, the case is more or less about business ethics. And that is not a topic that should be discussed in court.
Business ethics is exactly what anti-trust laws are about. Anti-trust laws exist to prevent businesses with large market shares from using their market position to unfairly control the market and eliminate, or greatly diminish, competition. From the CNET article, we find that these are the violations on which the anti-trust case against Microsoft hangs:
Exclusive deals with PC makers to carry Microsoft products.
Overriding consumer choices to use Netscape Navigator.
Intermingling of Windows and browser code so that Internet Explorer could not be deleted.
Deals with the top 14 of 15 ISPs for exclusive promotion of Internet Explorer.
Exclusive contracts with some developers to create software that would make Internet Explorer the default browser.
Making Internet Explorer the exclusive browser for Apple Computer, in part by threatening to end Office development for the Mac.
Deceiving Java developers into believing Microsoft's Java was cross-platform when it was not.
Compelling Intel to abandon its own version of cross-platform of Java.
The courts have ruled. Microsoft has gone above and beyond violating anti-trust laws. The question is whether or not our government is willing to enforce these laws and bring an offender to justice. I hope so.
The order by U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel came in a closed-door session, according to an RIAA spokesman.
First of all, Judge Patel is a woman. (Not a male, as you indicated.)
He should really have appointed a special master to help him deal with the technical issues (which are clearly over his head).
Furthermore, a technical specialist has been appointed.
At that hearing she also appointed A.J. "Nick" Nichols as a court mediator to handle technical issues related to proposed filtering solutions.
Please read the articles. Just as we become furious with judges who seem out of touch with technology, it is also infuriating to hear condemnations of others by those who are clearly out of touch with the articles being discussed.
However, I do also hope that this will be overturned. It seems clear that Napster is making a "reasonable" effort to bar music piracy.
.Net is not an internet service (even if they are trying to hype it as such). It is a set of development tools coupled with a runtime environment, much like the Java Virtual Machine. The reason they are hyping it in combination with the internet is because it has some very cool features that will allow easier web-development/interaction/administration. It isn't something that can go down, anymore than gcc can go down. Just because it sounds like its an internet service, doesn't mean it is. When will you get it?
Actually, I was trying to imply that Microsoft itself is biased and might (read: will) abuse SmartTags. The links I provided for "Free Software" and "Linux" were both examples of pages already on Microsoft's website that could be used by them for such abusive purposes.
What is perhaps most unsettling about this is not only can they alter your page, but imagine what sort of commentary those links can take you to. The Wall Street Journal was right to point out the abuse that could be propagated should the wrong people be given the opportunity to introduce Smart Tags into an adversary's content.
The article mentioned Republican links within Democrat pages, Chevy links in Ford pages, etc. Well, imagine Microsoft's links on words like "Linux", "Free Software", "competition", "fair trade practice", "free thought"...
It occurs to me now that right now they are probably looking for a way to license free thought... Ha ha, only serious...
I've heard a lot of comparisons of Shrek to Toy Story 2 and each time, it irks me. The comparison is bogus to begin with because Shrek seeks to be more realistic than Toy Story from the get-go. Toy Story is a movie about toys. None of those characters are supposed to look life like. Yes, the Toy Story humans are definitely beneath the level of the Princess in Shrek, with the exception of Crazy Al. His goatee is incredible, and I would give it higher marks than the facial hair of the Lithgow character in Shrek.
Anyhoo, comparing Toy Story 2 to Shrek ends up being a useless comparison, because their subject matters require different levels of realism for effective story telling. (A better comparison might be A Bug's Life to Shrek, where at least the bugs are supposed to be organic.)
I'm not a biologist, so bear with me, but I think the scientific creationist would say "Does it matter?" or maybe even "Who cares?" If only the intron sequences are similar, why would we even expect the morphology to be similar? Its the coding segments that are "important." Likening this to programming, if the comments for two programs were identical, why would I assume they did the same thing if the code itself is different?
Only the evolutionist has to worry about it. The evolutionist has to account for this noncoding data that seems to be shared between two species that on the face of it, seem different, because the evolutionist has to account for the genetic history of every species. The evolutionist has to ask himself "how did this species develop in the manner that it did?" When it appears that two species have similar genetics, the evolutionist must explain this, usually using either divergence or convergence.
The creationist may make some hypotheses to account for minor evolutionary changes, but has no need to account for DNA which seems to be similar among different species. For the creationist, God must have decided that those intron sequences were useful and natural to be used in different species, just like I might use the same pieces of code (or comments, in this case) in different applications, because those introns fulfilled the tasks needs. Because I am writing the code, because in the case of my application, I am the creator, it would be natural to see my footprints in different applications.
The very nature of genes and DNA appeal to an intelligent creator, because it does appear to be constructed. Evolution did not create assembly languages - we did. Why, when faced with biological processes that seem to work in the same manner, do we feel the need to deny a creator?
What it comes down to is that we each need to examine our own prejudices, our own theological assumptions and realize that they color our interpretation and application of everything, including science. It is only after we realize that we are biased that we can even attempt to see other views on the same data. Only one view may be right, but are you so certain its your view?
Overall, I was exceptionally pleased with the Sciniseries.
Positives:
Reused musical themes from the Lynch movie, which I loved to begin with.
Adherence to the book. I loved the way it so closely followed the novel, most especially having Duncan die correctly. I understand the reason this wasn't originally done (time constraints), but it is pleasant to have it correct once more.
No offense to Max Von Sydow, but the new Liet-Kynes rocked!
Princess Irulan's heightened appearance, even from the book. I loved the way she was left alone in the end, which will make her turn in the later series seem more understandable.
Negatives:
The pronunciations - done to differentiate miniseries from movie, but it detracts from the viewing experience. Its feydakin, boys, and I don't think "fih-die-kin" is a fair pronunciation of the term.
Graphics - bad matte paintings, and poor blending of actual footage with computer generated.
Reverend Mother Bad-Assness. Series failed to stress just how dangerous Jessica was. An acolyte of Jessica's stage isn't going to falter in the desert for quite sometime, even if she's pregnant. I thought they played her as too weak in that sense.
This was a great effort, and I'm glad that so many new people are being exposed to the series. Too bad I haven't heard plans to go the distance with the books - my personal favorite is Chapterhouse: DUNE, the final book in the series. Darwi Odrade is probably Herbert's best character in the series and the other characters (Teg, Murbella, Idaho, and Lucilla) are probably his best ensemble. *sigh*
There is a legitimate problem here. I would be against filters, but for the fact that we can inadvertently visit sites we never intended to see. For me, this whole issue is really one about intent.
For instance - this summer I went on vacation with my family. (I'm 22.) My father was looking for a place to check his email, so we walked down to the public library. Lucky us, they had a computer with an internet connection. I decided the easiest way to check his email without setting up Netscape to do so, was to go to startmail.com. Doh! I typed in mailstart.com (typo) and all of a sudden, pictures of naked women are popping up all over the screen, and as soon as I close one window, another one opens. I was embarrassed, to say the least. It had never been my intent to bring up a porn site. I had simply been trying to check my email.
So, you see the problem: human error. If I switch one word around in my head, or make one typing error, all of a sudden I'm on a porn page. Without a filter, there's no way to guard against that sort of error, because we are fallible.
"Instilling moral behavior in your kids is your job." You know what, you're absolutely right, and if I thought my child could only get to a porn site by his/her own conscious choice, I wouldn't use a filter at all, but that isn't the case. I don't have kids yet, but some day I might, and I will probably use a filter of some sort, just to prevent against those accidents. Can I prevent all of them - no, but hopefully I can prevent some of them.
Ok, so lets say we decided to use filters at home, for the kids. Or lets say I just decided not to use filters at home, because I'm going to trust my child and his/her typing skills. We're still left with the question - should we have filters on public computers? Yes. I can't buy a Playboy if I'm not 18 (at least, not in the State of Ohio), why should I be able to view that same line of material online through public resources?
Ideally, a domain name would have a rating associated with it, and each domain would be forced to keep content within that rating. (Which is why a.xxx TLD would be terrific.) Can we do this today? Not really.
There is no perfect filtering system, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to develop one that is workable.
Slashdot Mirror
I always thought it would be really cool to do something like that. Especially if you could get a computer science class going, or an after school club. There are lots of free tools that you can use to create really great lab projects. (Even Microsoft has free development packages - check out the development environment they provide for FREE for WindowsCE. It even comes with neat emulators.)
So, you could get a chance to be THE COOL TEACHER and you could really paint a vision for kids of their own futures that they might not otherwise get. And, you would get some time to wind down and think about what you really want to do for your life.
I ended up with a minor in English in addition to my degree in CS. I really love studying texts and critically analyzing them, and it turns out, I'm really good at it - as good as, if not better than, I am at being a computer geek. There was just one problem: as I thought about going to grad school and doing work in English, I realized that although I am interested in the English Renaissance, as well as modern American literature, I don't have a deep interest in studying it. Sooo I scrapped the idea of grad school in English and opted for a position doing computer programming, because I knew how to program and it would pay the bills.
But life has many twists and turns, and I really love the studies I am now doing in the Bible, and I love it so much, that I wish my job didn't get in the way of my ability to continue intensively study it. And, as it turns out, a really great seminary has just added a branch campus in my city. So, next year, I'm planning on starting work on my seminary degree part time. It combines my love of analyzing texts with my burden to understand the Bible and the critical thinking skills that I have picked up through computer science. And it turns out I'm really great at teaching, and I think that this seminary degree will be a valuable way to augment my teaching skills and the knowledge teaching draws upon.
Now, I'm not saying that you should enroll in seminary. *grin* What I am saying is that you should look at your interests and look at ways to pursue them. Don't go for the whole enchilada, but take small bites. If your interest continues to be held, be willing to take the next step. I didn't know when I started taking literature classes for the hell of it that this would allign me for Biblical work, but it did provide a critical foundation for me. Taking the literature classes gave me an awareness of where my real interests lay. Go feed your interests.
Actually, a lot of school districts allow alternatives to the traditional high school education, which includes both vocational training (cooking, machinery skills, even some computer classes) and post-secondary option. So if as a high school student, I can receive a college education (FOR FREE), it seems reasonable to allow that same education within prison.
I think it would be fair, however, to have some sort of work system where they have to spend so many hours doing these specific jobs (I know they already have jobs, but maybe this would mean a few extra hours a week at a different job) in order to qualify for the *better* classes. That way, besides the time spent in classes, they have to invest something (extra TIME) to be able to take them, and I would think that would help to create a sense of personal investment and pride, knowing that they worked hard to get that education.
Hmm??? Likey likey??
First verse:
That's great, it starts with an earthquake
Birds and snakes an aeroplane
And Lenny Bruce is not afraid
Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn
World serves its own needs, dummy serve your own needs
Feed it off an aux, speak grunt no strength
The ladder starts to clatter with fear fight down height
Wire in a fire representing seven games
A government for hire and a combat site
Left of west and coming in a hurry
With the furies breathing down - your - neck
Team by team reporters baffled trumped tethered cropped
Look at that low plane, fine, then
Uh oh overflow population common food
But it'll do save yourself serve yourself
World serves its own needs listen to your heart bleed
Dummy with the rapture and the reverend and the right, right
You vitriolic patriotic slam fight bright light feeling pretty psyched
2nd verse:
Six o'clock TV hour, don't get caught in foreign towers
Slash and burn return listen to yourself churn
Locking in uniforming book-burning blood-letting
Every motive escalate, automotive 'cinerate
Light a candle light a votive
Step down, step down watch your heel crush crushed
Uh oh this means no fear cavalier renegade steer clear
A tournament, a tournament, a tournament of lies
Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives and I decline
So, it's pretty heavily anti-war, plus it alludes to some terrorist activity. I can understand why it was pulled, and I don't mind going without right now, but, I do certainly hope it returns to the music lineups in a few months.
What relationship is hidden here that allows the state this access?
Bill Gertz, a reporter for the Washington Times, uncovered a file (translated) known as Document 65, which details the Chinese militaries stance on the reconquering on Taiwan. Searching for "United States" or "U.S." in the file makes for some very disturbing reading. Of particular interest was this quote:
The Chinese spend a great deal of time considering the possibilities of nuclear war with the U.S.Another quote, from an article by Gertz, shows a statement from a Chinese newspaper, the Liberation Army Daily, which mirrors the views Central Military Commission Chairman Jiang Zemin and other senior military leaders:
Sydney Morning Herald reporter David Lague, confirmed Chinese threats against the U.S. his August 1999 piece on the Chinese threat to the U.S. He relayed the following threat from the Chinese military:
This missile defense shield is not to protect those of us who live in rural farming communities, it is to protect Los Angeles, Seattle, and the like. It is an oddity that the very demographic (city dwellers) that this shield is drawing the most attack from is the very demographic that this shield will hopefully help to protect.This may be the first time they've EVER had significant traffic on their servers. How often do YOU look for cool, interesting articles on the DOE's website. Not very often, I suspect. =)
I realize that you have a job to do, and articles to write, but please try for something more useful, innovative, insightful... SOMETHING ORIGINAL.
What is, of course, the bigger crime, is that more posters are not punished for comments that are undeserving of a Score of 2. Posters that automatically post at the 2 level should be punished by moderators for failing to provide any humor, insight, or whatever, but the moderators are only able to penalize posters for being OFFTOPIC, FLAMEBAIT, or TROLLing.
Of course, I'll get OFFTOPIC or FLAMEBAIT for this li'l puppy, because it has nothing to do with the larger discussion, namely, "Death to Virus Writers".
Now for my suggestions:
That's my .02
WT News: Hacker misfires on White House NYT News: White House relocates fearing Worm Infestation WT Ed: Worm Indicates Mounting Disapproval of Bush Presidency NYT Ed: Microsoft Error Puts Bush on the Run That's my .02
Had CmdrTaco not posted the article with a disclaimer, then I'd be worried about the integrity of /. (Don't laugh.) As is, I'm a happy reader.
Since Windows2000 is the next flavor of WindowsNT, one would hardly expect it to be priced along the same lines as Windows98/ME. Furthermore, there is no significant reason for those on WindowsNT to switch to 2000, as WindowsXP is nearing its release date. Why buy a piece of software which will shortly be obsolete?
Business ethics is exactly what anti-trust laws are about. Anti-trust laws exist to prevent businesses with large market shares from using their market position to unfairly control the market and eliminate, or greatly diminish, competition. From the CNET article, we find that these are the violations on which the anti-trust case against Microsoft hangs:
The courts have ruled. Microsoft has gone above and beyond violating anti-trust laws. The question is whether or not our government is willing to enforce these laws and bring an offender to justice. I hope so.
First of all, Judge Patel is a woman. (Not a male, as you indicated.)
He should really have appointed a special master to help him deal with the technical issues (which are clearly over his head).
Furthermore, a technical specialist has been appointed.
Please read the articles. Just as we become furious with judges who seem out of touch with technology, it is also infuriating to hear condemnations of others by those who are clearly out of touch with the articles being discussed.
However, I do also hope that this will be overturned. It seems clear that Napster is making a "reasonable" effort to bar music piracy.
.Net is not an internet service (even if they are trying to hype it as such). It is a set of development tools coupled with a runtime environment, much like the Java Virtual Machine. The reason they are hyping it in combination with the internet is because it has some very cool features that will allow easier web-development/interaction/administration. It isn't something that can go down, anymore than gcc can go down. Just because it sounds like its an internet service, doesn't mean it is. When will you get it?
Actually, I was trying to imply that Microsoft itself is biased and might (read: will) abuse SmartTags. The links I provided for "Free Software" and "Linux" were both examples of pages already on Microsoft's website that could be used by them for such abusive purposes.
The article mentioned Republican links within Democrat pages, Chevy links in Ford pages, etc. Well, imagine Microsoft's links on words like "Linux", "Free Software", "competition", "fair trade practice", "free thought"...
It occurs to me now that right now they are probably looking for a way to license free thought... Ha ha, only serious...
Sounds like a good case for the ACLU. I would seriously look around for heavyweights that might be willing to take your case pro bono.
Anyhoo, comparing Toy Story 2 to Shrek ends up being a useless comparison, because their subject matters require different levels of realism for effective story telling. (A better comparison might be A Bug's Life to Shrek, where at least the bugs are supposed to be organic.)
Only the evolutionist has to worry about it. The evolutionist has to account for this noncoding data that seems to be shared between two species that on the face of it, seem different, because the evolutionist has to account for the genetic history of every species. The evolutionist has to ask himself "how did this species develop in the manner that it did?" When it appears that two species have similar genetics, the evolutionist must explain this, usually using either divergence or convergence.
The creationist may make some hypotheses to account for minor evolutionary changes, but has no need to account for DNA which seems to be similar among different species. For the creationist, God must have decided that those intron sequences were useful and natural to be used in different species, just like I might use the same pieces of code (or comments, in this case) in different applications, because those introns fulfilled the tasks needs. Because I am writing the code, because in the case of my application, I am the creator, it would be natural to see my footprints in different applications.
The very nature of genes and DNA appeal to an intelligent creator, because it does appear to be constructed. Evolution did not create assembly languages - we did. Why, when faced with biological processes that seem to work in the same manner, do we feel the need to deny a creator?
What it comes down to is that we each need to examine our own prejudices, our own theological assumptions and realize that they color our interpretation and application of everything, including science. It is only after we realize that we are biased that we can even attempt to see other views on the same data. Only one view may be right, but are you so certain its your view?
Positives:
Negatives:
This was a great effort, and I'm glad that so many new people are being exposed to the series. Too bad I haven't heard plans to go the distance with the books - my personal favorite is Chapterhouse: DUNE, the final book in the series. Darwi Odrade is probably Herbert's best character in the series and the other characters (Teg, Murbella, Idaho, and Lucilla) are probably his best ensemble. *sigh*
Rock on.
For instance - this summer I went on vacation with my family. (I'm 22.) My father was looking for a place to check his email, so we walked down to the public library. Lucky us, they had a computer with an internet connection. I decided the easiest way to check his email without setting up Netscape to do so, was to go to startmail.com. Doh! I typed in mailstart.com (typo) and all of a sudden, pictures of naked women are popping up all over the screen, and as soon as I close one window, another one opens. I was embarrassed, to say the least. It had never been my intent to bring up a porn site. I had simply been trying to check my email.
So, you see the problem: human error. If I switch one word around in my head, or make one typing error, all of a sudden I'm on a porn page. Without a filter, there's no way to guard against that sort of error, because we are fallible.
"Instilling moral behavior in your kids is your job." You know what, you're absolutely right, and if I thought my child could only get to a porn site by his/her own conscious choice, I wouldn't use a filter at all, but that isn't the case. I don't have kids yet, but some day I might, and I will probably use a filter of some sort, just to prevent against those accidents. Can I prevent all of them - no, but hopefully I can prevent some of them.
Ok, so lets say we decided to use filters at home, for the kids. Or lets say I just decided not to use filters at home, because I'm going to trust my child and his/her typing skills. We're still left with the question - should we have filters on public computers? Yes. I can't buy a Playboy if I'm not 18 (at least, not in the State of Ohio), why should I be able to view that same line of material online through public resources?
Ideally, a domain name would have a rating associated with it, and each domain would be forced to keep content within that rating. (Which is why a .xxx TLD would be terrific.) Can we do this today? Not really.
There is no perfect filtering system, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to develop one that is workable.
Doesn't everybody realize that what Amazon did is exactly like what priceline.com does everyday? Think about it, folks. Get over it.