Being one to do the vi-editor CTLR-z thing, I haven't got much use for even the multiple panels under X, but I'd still go for the thing just so I could fire up the Zooropa tour in my living room.
---------
Once in a while you get shown the light,
Sunlight induces adjacent "T" (thymine, one of the four basic units used in building DNA) residues to crosslink (form covalent bond-bridges where they don't belong).
This is a problem when in happens to a living cell, as it leads to mutations that, when accumulated (particularly with the increase in mutation rate experienced in old age), can cause cancer. It is UV light in particular that induces this thymine dimer formation. This is an especially large problem in Australia, coincidentally, given the ozone hole.
This will happen to the DNA applied to olympic clothing as well, but it will be of no consequence, as it does not need to be replicated any further. I presume the means to detect the secret DNA code is a hybridization technique -- a complementary strand of DNA (remember how DNA is a *double* helix?) with a fluorescent tag is applied to the label. If the "probe" find something to stick to, it will stick through a mild washing, and light up when the right wavelength of light is shone upon it. The length of DNA to be recognized is probably pretty long (else it would be easy enough to foil), which means the odd thymine dimer here and there won't disrupt the annealing (pairing of complementary DNA strands) much.
---------
Once in a while you get shown the light,
(1) I'm curious about your apparent fetish for Norway. There was the old dude receiving a prize for his work on the Fjords, a recurring theme in the Trilogy, and then the whole Thor/Odin/Valhalla thing in Long Dark Teatime of the Soul. Mere coincidence, simple interest, or full-on fetish?
(2) Close to the end of the Hitchhiker's Guide, you introduce an elevator which, when its hurried occupants pushed a button to go up, stayed put and intead expanded on the virtues of going sideways. As Microsoft came much later, from what experience did the idea of stubborn technology come?
--------- Once in a while you get shown the light,
After reading so many mixed opinions of Mr. Torvalds, but withholding judgement myself until I had any direct evidence, I'm pleased to find that he is a real class act.
Hopefully this sort of disposition will be successful and re-introduce common sense and decency back into American culture.
--------- Once in a while you get shown the light,
Who's trying to attract geeks to Pittsburgh, and why? Landlords, because geeks are more well behaved? Bar owners, because geeks can wake up whenever they want? Pizza parlors and Chinese food restaurants, because geeks order more take-out? My bet's on the politicians, because geeks earn money that the politians can tax, which in turn gives them power.
The computer and its associated technologies have freed people to live anywhere that pleases them. This applies to the "geeks" more so than any other class of person in society. Unless the pub scene rivaled England's, I'd be loathe to submit to such macroscopic parasitism as a city government, given the choice.
But alas, I'm stuck in New Haven, CT, capital of local government corruption, until I finish school, then I'm off to Alaska, if I stay in the country at all.
--------- Once in a while you get shown the light,
*************** Apologies to all non-US citizens for the following personal libertarian rant (but actually, come to think of it this will probably apply to you as well). ****************
Why should the rich guy pay more than the poor guy for governance? Does the government provide more `service` to the rich guy? In fact, irrespective of my being rich or poor, I must may extra when I *do* require more government service than the average person--I have to date paid $693 in form fees concerning my wife's immigration, and odds are we won't be in the U.S. for long anyway.
That I earn a dollar, that I buy a Bowie CD at the local CD shop, that I own a truck and park it in Connecticut, that I invested wisely, are all irrelevant bases for taxation.
Indeed, the government has certain constitutional obligations, which requires some degree of funding. Only if these expenses are split evenly amongst all citizens, say over the age of 17 (or whatever age one can be expected to make a sound decision about where on this planet to live), will we have a truly equitable tax system. Balancing that which the poor man can be reasonably expected to afford with that which the government would like to spend money on would likely teach the government to function within its means. A finite income sure tends to curb my lifestyle (that and hangovers).
Does the rich guy pay more for cable than the poor guy? Is the rich guy's life more valuable than the poor guy's, that he should be paying more for the `common defense` defending our border against those vicious Canadian hordes?
People have come to think of `progressive` as if it were necessarily positive. I disagree, particularly when applied to taxation.
And now, to bring the rant back on topic, the program for THIS tax policy can be run on the command line:
perl -e 'print "\$500\n";'
--------- Once in a while you get shown the light,
In between the radiative energy (sunlight) and the chemical storage of that energy (ATP) is a proton gradient set up across the thylakoid membrane by the electron transport cascade.
I have been wondering for a while how to harness the "proton motive force" (which normally drives the proton-translocating ATP synthase), which would tap the system prior to the energy taking a chemical form (in the sense of chemical bonds). This gets me to wishing I had some engineering under my belt.
--------- Once in a while you get shown the light,
James Billington, a Library of Congress librarian and author pointed out in a commencement address at American University that early on, the TV was lauded as having fantastic potential for education. Now it's the babysitter.
A similar thing is happening on the internet -- less information content and more eye candy -- and it's not just because the marketing monkeys are pushing it. Those of the mode want it, or it wouldn't be that way. THAT is capitalism. The means that people employ to make the money (the capitalists) are manifestations not of their own rotting souls, but of the tastes of the general public. In the words of George Carlin (explaining why we have such terrible politicans to choose from) "Maybe it's the public that sucks."
I agree that the internet stands to be better than the TV, as it is not restricted to finite channels controlled by marketers, or governments, appealing to or controlling the majority. It can be this way only if people are free to build any sort of webpage they want, i.e. laissez-faire. I suppose capitalism has become a bad word, but its real meaning is the closer ideology to the spirit of the internet.
It should be kept in mind, however, that such Industrial Age economic/cultural terms will cease to have much meaning in a few decades. We are on the crest of Alvin Toffler's third wave. As Peter Drucker pointed out in a piece in October's Atlantic Monthly, it's likely that we will need to live in the Age of Information for a few decades before life with computers, biotechnology, etc. will have so shaped our thinking that our cultural institutions evolve into those which will be characteristic of the Third Age. Toffler predicts that many of these institutions (economics, government, family, etc) will be more similar to the first Age (the agrarian age) than the second (the Industrial age). Eric Raymond's essays are particularly interesting to me for this reason--he likens many aspects of the evolving culture to forgotten philopsophies. The collection of analyses really suggest a movement towards thinking and acting in ways which transcend "capitalism".
--------- Once in a while you get shown the light,
As some other replies to this post have already stated, an appreciation of science and mystic beauty are not mutually exlusive
I highly recommend reading Quantum Questions, edited by Ken Wilbur, and containing amazing essays by Plank, Heisenberg, Schroedinger, Einstein, Eddington, et al.
These authors of "the new physics" assert that their scientific developments do not and can not in any way address a mystical world view (which is apparently lost on all the new agers), yet each appears to be very much a mystic.
--------- Once in a while you get shown the light,
Merk points out that the lower population growth in the "first-world" countries hardly helps to contain the global population expansion, as they hold "such a tiny share of the world's population." Probably true.
However, by the same logic, sanctioning infanticide in the case that the baby is profoundly and irretrievably disabled isn't likely to put much of a dent in the global birth rate.
Not intended as flame, but I don't think it's constructive to introduce the global overpopulation problem into this issue, at least not on the basis that it was presented.
--------- Once in a while you get shown the light,
Agreed--a healthy and productive society and culture can not be maintained whilst stifling free questioning and thinking.
I support euthanasia regarding sentient beings choosing it for themselves. I haven't formed a conclusion yet for the case that one person decides it for another--thank you/. for raising the issue and prompting me to think about it.
On one thing I am very certain, however. Euthanasia of any sort should not be legal until it is very certain that the threat of socialized health care has passed. Given Hillary's history of pursuing social health care in the US, and given her current bid for voter-sanctioned political power, I'm afraid that that time is far away.
If we had any semblence of social health care AND permitted euthanasia, it would follow too easily that government policies would affect euthanasia decisions. Perhaps the politicians would be bright enough not to sieze the power overtly. But imagine that government-administrated health care largely replaces our current lot, and the politicians decide that 5cc of euthanizing chemicals are covered, but very expensive corrective operations are not. And worse, because corrective operations are not covered, all research to develop them ceases.
Certainly the issue needs to be debated. But on a practical level, many other aspects of our society need to change before such a thing can be brought to fruition, if it is to ever be. At the very least Americans pressing the government with their pathological sense of entitlement to health care needs to stop.
--------- Once in a while you get shown the light,
Many of my friends and family (pun unfortunate) have been beyond wit's end (a dangerous regime indeed) with MCI. MCI is not competent to run their own show, what makes anybody think they could handle Sprint without ruining it too?
I have actually recommended to my sister that she seek out what is the appropriate "better business bureau" to contact regarding MCI. All future letters that she writes to customer service, billing, and every other vaccuum-of-a-department at MCI should then be copied to the CEO, and this BBB.
Does anybody know what better business bureau is appropriate? The state where MCI is headquartered (which is?) ? Is there a national BBB for companies engaged in interstate commerce? Perhaps, if there is any finite possibility of this merger happening, then it may be of everybody's best interest to contact such a bureau, and encourage it to act accordingly.
--------- Once in a while you get shown the light,
Slashdot Mirror
Being one to do the vi-editor CTLR-z thing, I haven't got much use for even the multiple panels under X, but I'd still go for the thing just so I could fire up the Zooropa tour in my living room.
---------
Once in a while you get shown the light,
Sunlight induces adjacent "T" (thymine, one of the four basic units used in building DNA) residues to crosslink (form covalent bond-bridges where they don't belong).
This is a problem when in happens to a living cell, as it leads to mutations that, when accumulated (particularly with the increase in mutation rate experienced in old age), can cause cancer. It is UV light in particular that induces this thymine dimer formation. This is an especially large problem in Australia, coincidentally, given the ozone hole.
This will happen to the DNA applied to olympic clothing as well, but it will be of no consequence, as it does not need to be replicated any further. I presume the means to detect the secret DNA code is a hybridization technique -- a complementary strand of DNA (remember how DNA is a *double* helix?) with a fluorescent tag is applied to the label. If the "probe" find something to stick to, it will stick through a mild washing, and light up when the right wavelength of light is shone upon it. The length of DNA to be recognized is probably pretty long (else it would be easy enough to foil), which means the odd thymine dimer here and there won't disrupt the annealing (pairing of complementary DNA strands) much.
---------
Once in a while you get shown the light,
(1) I'm curious about your apparent fetish for Norway. There was the old dude receiving a prize for his work on the Fjords, a recurring theme in the Trilogy, and then the whole Thor/Odin/Valhalla thing in Long Dark Teatime of the Soul. Mere coincidence, simple interest, or full-on fetish?
(2) Close to the end of the Hitchhiker's Guide, you introduce an elevator which, when its hurried occupants pushed a button to go up, stayed put and intead expanded on the virtues of going sideways. As Microsoft came much later, from what experience did the idea of stubborn technology come?
---------
Once in a while you get shown the light,
I vote "weekly roundup", as well as a masterlist for after-the-fact reference.
Thanks
---------
Once in a while you get shown the light,
Why doesn't crap like this get moderated down?
/[Ff][Ii][Rr][Ss][Tt]\s*[Pp][Oo][Ss][Tt]/;
Slashdot should run all posts through an additional filter:
$defaultmoderation = -1 if $post =~
It won't stop all first posting nonsense, but it will help.
---------
Once in a while you get shown the light,
After reading so many mixed opinions of Mr. Torvalds, but withholding judgement myself until I had any direct evidence, I'm pleased to find that he is a real class act.
Hopefully this sort of disposition will be successful and re-introduce common sense and decency back into American culture.
---------
Once in a while you get shown the light,
So I set it up on an older but clean 200mhz Pentium, with a 1GB hard drive and 32MB of RAM. Seamless install, and boatloads of fun to muck around in.
:)
200MHz? 32MB RAM? Shit, even Windows 3.1 will run on that . If you're gonna test it, TEST IT. Load linux onto your power drill or something.
I only read the article, honest (although that cleavage on the left was a little distracting).
---------
Once in a while you get shown the light,
Who's trying to attract geeks to Pittsburgh, and why? Landlords, because geeks are more well behaved? Bar owners, because geeks can wake up whenever they want? Pizza parlors and Chinese food restaurants, because geeks order more take-out? My bet's on the politicians, because geeks earn money that the politians can tax, which in turn gives them power.
The computer and its associated technologies have freed people to live anywhere that pleases them. This applies to the "geeks" more so than any other class of person in society. Unless the pub scene rivaled England's, I'd be loathe to submit to such macroscopic parasitism as a city government, given the choice.
But alas, I'm stuck in New Haven, CT, capital of local government corruption, until I finish school, then I'm off to Alaska, if I stay in the country at all.
---------
Once in a while you get shown the light,
***************
Apologies to all non-US citizens for the following personal libertarian rant (but actually, come to think of it this will probably apply to you as well).
****************
Why should the rich guy pay more than the poor guy for governance? Does the government provide more `service` to the rich guy? In fact, irrespective of my being rich or poor, I must may extra when I *do* require more government service than the average person--I have to date paid $693 in form fees concerning my wife's immigration, and odds are we won't be in the U.S. for long anyway.
That I earn a dollar, that I buy a Bowie CD at the local CD shop, that I own a truck and park it in Connecticut, that I invested wisely, are all irrelevant bases for taxation.
Indeed, the government has certain constitutional obligations, which requires some degree of funding. Only if these expenses are split evenly amongst all citizens, say over the age of 17 (or whatever age one can be expected to make a sound decision about where on this planet to live), will we have a truly equitable tax system. Balancing that which the poor man can be reasonably expected to afford with that which the government would like to spend money on would likely teach the government to function within its means. A finite income sure tends to curb my lifestyle (that and hangovers).
Does the rich guy pay more for cable than the poor guy? Is the rich guy's life more valuable than the poor guy's, that he should be paying more for the `common defense` defending our border against those vicious Canadian hordes?
People have come to think of `progressive` as if it were necessarily positive. I disagree, particularly when applied to taxation.
And now, to bring the rant back on topic, the program for THIS tax policy can be run on the command line:
perl -e 'print "\$500\n";'
---------
Once in a while you get shown the light,
In between the radiative energy (sunlight) and the chemical storage of that energy (ATP) is a proton gradient set up across the thylakoid membrane by the electron transport cascade.
I have been wondering for a while how to harness the "proton motive force" (which normally drives the proton-translocating ATP synthase), which would tap the system prior to the energy taking a chemical form (in the sense of chemical bonds). This gets me to wishing I had some engineering under my belt.
---------
Once in a while you get shown the light,
James Billington, a Library of Congress librarian and author pointed out in a commencement address at American University that early on, the TV was lauded as having fantastic potential for education. Now it's the babysitter.
A similar thing is happening on the internet -- less information content and more eye candy -- and it's not just because the marketing monkeys are pushing it. Those of the mode want it, or it wouldn't be that way. THAT is capitalism. The means that people employ to make the money (the capitalists) are manifestations not of their own rotting souls, but of the tastes of the general public. In the words of George Carlin (explaining why we have such terrible politicans to choose from) "Maybe it's the public that sucks."
I agree that the internet stands to be better than the TV, as it is not restricted to finite channels controlled by marketers, or governments, appealing to or controlling the majority. It can be this way only if people are free to build any sort of webpage they want, i.e. laissez-faire. I suppose capitalism has become a bad word, but its real meaning is the closer ideology to the spirit of the internet.
It should be kept in mind, however, that such Industrial Age economic/cultural terms will cease to have much meaning in a few decades. We are on the crest of Alvin Toffler's third wave. As Peter Drucker pointed out in a piece in October's Atlantic Monthly, it's likely that we will need to live in the Age of Information for a few decades before life with computers, biotechnology, etc. will have so shaped our thinking that our cultural institutions evolve into those which will be characteristic of the Third Age. Toffler predicts that many of these institutions (economics, government, family, etc) will be more similar to the first Age (the agrarian age) than the second (the Industrial age). Eric Raymond's essays are particularly interesting to me for this reason--he likens many aspects of the evolving culture to forgotten philopsophies. The collection of analyses really suggest a movement towards thinking and acting in ways which transcend "capitalism".
---------
Once in a while you get shown the light,
As some other replies to this post have already stated, an appreciation of science and mystic beauty are not mutually exlusive
I highly recommend reading Quantum Questions, edited by Ken Wilbur, and containing amazing essays by Plank, Heisenberg, Schroedinger, Einstein, Eddington, et al.
These authors of "the new physics" assert that their scientific developments do not and can not in any way address a mystical world view (which is apparently lost on all the new agers), yet each appears to be very much a mystic.
---------
Once in a while you get shown the light,
Merk points out that the lower population growth in the "first-world" countries hardly helps to contain the global population expansion, as they hold "such a tiny share of the world's population." Probably true.
However, by the same logic, sanctioning infanticide in the case that the baby is profoundly and irretrievably disabled isn't likely to put much of a dent in the global birth rate.
Not intended as flame, but I don't think it's constructive to introduce the global overpopulation problem into this issue, at least not on the basis that it was presented.
---------
Once in a while you get shown the light,
Agreed--a healthy and productive society and culture can not be maintained whilst stifling free questioning and thinking.
/. for raising the issue and prompting me to think about it.
I support euthanasia regarding sentient beings choosing it for themselves. I haven't formed a conclusion yet for the case that one person decides it for another--thank you
On one thing I am very certain, however. Euthanasia of any sort should not be legal until it is very certain that the threat of socialized health care has passed. Given Hillary's history of pursuing social health care in the US, and given her current bid for voter-sanctioned political power, I'm afraid that that time is far away.
If we had any semblence of social health care AND permitted euthanasia, it would follow too easily that government policies would affect euthanasia decisions. Perhaps the politicians would be bright enough not to sieze the power overtly. But imagine that government-administrated health care largely replaces our current lot, and the politicians decide that 5cc of euthanizing chemicals are covered, but very expensive corrective operations are not. And worse, because corrective operations are not covered, all research to develop them ceases.
Certainly the issue needs to be debated. But on a practical level, many other aspects of our society need to change before such a thing can be brought to fruition, if it is to ever be. At the very least Americans pressing the government with their pathological sense of entitlement to health care needs to stop.
---------
Once in a while you get shown the light,
Many of my friends and family (pun unfortunate) have been beyond wit's end (a dangerous regime indeed) with MCI. MCI is not competent to run their own show, what makes anybody think they could handle Sprint without ruining it too?
I have actually recommended to my sister that she seek out what is the appropriate "better business bureau" to contact regarding MCI. All future letters that she writes to customer service, billing, and every other vaccuum-of-a-department at MCI should then be copied to the CEO, and this BBB.
Does anybody know what better business bureau is appropriate? The state where MCI is headquartered (which is?) ? Is there a national BBB for companies engaged in interstate commerce? Perhaps, if there is any finite possibility of this merger happening, then it may be of everybody's best interest to contact such a bureau, and encourage it to act accordingly.
---------
Once in a while you get shown the light,