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Comment Interesting how ... (Score 1) 764

Censorship seems to have become a bad word. Censorship can be good or bad. We use Netflix parental controls to 'censor' what our children might be exposed to ... intentionally or inadvertently. I (amongst others), see that as sound parenting practice, others may not. You could argue whether or not amazon removing a product is even 'censorship'. To some it is good, to some it is bad. If your tax money were running Amazon, then you might have a real complaint. As it is, vote with your feet and/or your money.

If you really have the need for books about incest and pedophilia, go buy them from whomever sells them. If you want Amazon ( or Borders or your library or whomever) to carry them, request it from them. I don't, so I'm fine with this [apparently evil] form of censorship.

Maybe their method for review/censor is over-simplistic or just plain inconsistent. But their choice of what they sell is just that ... their choice. As is your choice yours on where and what to buy.

The Internet

Meet NELL, the Computer That Learns From the Net 272

bossanovalithium writes "Carnegie Mellon University has taught a computer how to read and learn from the internet. According to Dennis Baron at the Oxford University press blog, the computer is called NELL and it is reading the internet and learning from it in much the same way that humans learn language and acquire knowledge. Basically by soaking it all up and figuring it out. NELL is short for Never Ending Language Learner and apparently it is getting brainier every day."

Comment Re:Don't let reality get in the way of your anger (Score 1) 1217

Good point. The teacher and support tech may still have no clue how to support them when something goes awry, but it's school ... so it's a learning opportunity then, right? Which could also be said for using a new OS, right? But nobody's complaining about about learning opportunities here, they're complaining about that fact that Mac's prices are a little higher.

Comment Re:Don't let reality get in the way of your anger (Score 1) 1217

Right ... there should be a choice. The parent post said *Windows* (OS), not x86 or x86_64 (which Apple is anyway). The point is that when choice was taken away with Windows as OS (has been done both ways plenty of times), nobody's making a stink. Same argument ... different product. Reality is that it's either the folks supporting or making the deal/controlling the money that are making the call and it happens both ways (but a stink usually gets raised when it's Apple ... fact, not rant).

And .. "using a cross-platform system (opensource, web-based, etc)" also induces support costs, learning curve, complication factors in/out of the classroom. Do you want to support or be the teacher where you have 30 students...
- 15 with malware-infected Windows using a mix of MSWorks, Open Office and MS Office
- 8 with relatively clean Windows systems. same mix of apps
- 4 with Macs running another variety of Apps
- 3 with Ubuntu (or other linux variant) using an even more potentially obscure (to you as teacher) variety of apps

One could argue that that's how this 'real world' of which people seem to speak is. In the 'real world' people also make decisions such as which kind of computer you are going to use at your [school]work. Personally, I always thought school was part of this 'real world' thing.

Here's your "choice" ...
Pay me now | Pay me later

Comment Re:For serious? (Score 1) 699

Save your vitriol, but put it in the fridge, not freezer. Remember, that suits like this are encouraged by the fact that others have won or at least settled on other absurd claims.

Correction on the department categorization: *america-amazes-me-sometimes* dept should be *because-americans-have-become-a-bunch-of-litigious-ninnies* dept

Comment Re:Disappointed in /. (Score 1) 196

But yet a malformed article (title and content), one which inappropriately attributes a windows backdoor (targeting iPad owners) attack as being aimed at the iPad itself, *did* get approved/promoted as if it were an Apple iPad Security Vulnerability. The said Apple-Fanboy-Slashdotters must be asleep or have also been back-doored or abducted, eh?

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