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Comment Re:n/t (Score 1) 278

It is the nature of science that it is never settled. It wouldn't work otherwise.

Consequently, the silly little catch-phrase "the science is settled" is a very anti-scientific statement.

The science cheerleaders would do well to learn a little basic science before going around lamenting the scientific illiteracy of others.

Comment Re:There is no magic bullet (Score 1) 474

Have seen the movie Key Largo?

I bet you 2, 3 years, we get prohibition back. This time we make it stick. Bet you 2, 3 years prohibition comes back. Absolutely, yeah The trouble was, see, before, too many guys wanted to be top dog. One mob gets to massacring another, the papers play it up big, see, so what happens? Naturally, the papers play it up big, and the public get the idea prohibition’s no good, and if they can get rid of it, prohibition, I mean ... so the public votes out prohibition, that’s the end of the mobs. Next time it’ll be different, though. We learned our lesson, alright. Next time the mobs’ll get together.

Comment Re:Hubert Dreyfus (Score 1) 71

At one point it was "proven" that it is impossible to produce the equivalent of a NOR gate with neurons.

You've got it wrong. Single-layer ANN's are not Turing complete. This is well established.

You might be thinking of the XOR problem, but that was solved ages ago thanks to backpropagation. Though there was no proof that it was "impossible".

Either way, you've got your history wrong.

Comment Re:Isn't this a good thing? (Score 1) 171

Actually my CS honours degree is both IEEE and RCS accredited.

Ugh, the P&P exam for licensing. Pay attention.

You're obviously one of those people that cluelessly usess the word "coding" to describ the entire job of what Software Engineers actually do.

No, I'm obviously one of those people who think software engineering is complete bullshit. I think that the use of the term does a serious disservice to actual engineers. I think that "software engineering" is completely unrelated to actual engineering -- which should be perfectly obvious.

But go ahead and call yourself a "software engineer" if it makes you feel more important. Not only is that not legal in some states, it also let's me and other competent people know that you're very likely otherwise unskilled.

Comment Re:Isn't this a good thing? (Score -1, Troll) 171

Does that make me a software engineer?

No, that does not make you an engineer.

Of course, the term "software engineer" is so meaningless, that anyone not living in a place that has specific rules about the title engineer can call themselves a software engineer.

You call yourself a software engineer, after all. But why stop there? If you want to feed your ego (which is exactly why you use the title) why not go for something better? Pope of software! Software wizard!

Get over yourself. It's pathetic.

Your car engine is controlled by a PCM driven by software, weighing in with probably multiple megabytes of code and lookup tables, designed to increase your fuel efficiency beyond what you could get with a mechanical system alone, where flaws will very likely cause serious mechanical and safety problems.

Yes, some software can be dangerous. That still doesn't make you an engineer.

Did the IEEE ever manage that exam? Not that it matters, that's as close as you'll come to legitimately using that term. Even then, it's laughable to compare software development to actual engineering. You do a disservice to those professionals.

Comment Re:Isn't this a good thing? (Score 0) 171

You got that from the article, eh?

What I got from your comment is that you have absolutely no other skills and desperately want software development to be considered on-par with engineering.

Actual engineers, I'm sure, cringe when they read nonsense like that.

Let's face reality here: Writing software is easy. It's easier today than it was 30 years ago -- and back then it was so easy that millions of children taught themselves! (I'll bet a good number of Slashdot users are among them. How many users here taught themselves how to program before the age of 10? If not a majority, I'll bet it's a very large percentage.)

I'm sorry, but being a competent developer does not make you special. It does not make you an engineer. It does, however, show that you're at least as competent as the average middle-class kid in the 80's. So, congratulations on that.

Comment Re:Many worlds (Score 1) 202

If you don't like the first example, try the second. Again, it's trivial to describe an infinity of universes where not every potentiality is actualized. Give it a shot yourself, you might even find an example that you like.

You're deeply confused about this, as are, apparently, some others. I blame the T.V. show "Sliders".

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