Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:Consider the denominator (Score 0) 136

Possible, but on the optimistic side. As I said, if there is anything wrong with the requested fee, it is too low.

You are clearly confusing the "new" Slashdot's uninformed and not particularly bright libertarian-esque hivemind with things it doesn't like: facts and cogent analysis. May god have mercy on your soul.

Comment Re:Diminishing Returns (Score 1) 422

Not quite what I'm saying. Your tools make some things easier, and other things harder. And what those things are will change depending on which tool you have on hand.

To take your kitchen analogy, if you have a blender/food processor it's easy to make things that need a lot of fine mincing or difficult blending. You _could_ still do it by hand with a kitchen knife, a bowl and a whisk, but as a practical matter you're less likely to even consider such recipes because of the time and effort required. Imperfect analogy, but it sort of points to what I want to say.

Back to photography, I have a DSLR, a 35mm compact and a medium-format rangefinder, all with the same field of view. And technically I can take the same shots and get the same picture with any one of them (modulo technical quality differences). Yet, the different way they handle nudges me to look for different kinds of situations and different subjects. In theory I _could_ take the same picture with any one of them. As a practical matter I could not.

Comment Re:Diminishing Returns (Score 1) 422

These are tools.

Off on a tangent, but yes, these are tools. And the tool we use shapes not just the result but what we attempt to do, and how we approach the task. In other words, irregardless of the technical similarities, using a different kind of camera (or camera-lens combination) will give you different results.

As a simple example, if you have a long zoom lens on your DSLR, you will look for, and shoot, very different kinds of pictures than if you had a small, wide fix-focus lens on it. A DSLR will invite different kinds of pictures than a pocket cam, or a smartphone. Switch to a film camera and the limited shots and lack of feedback invites yet other ways to see pictures around you. Go further out and try an old TLR, or a medium-format folder - or a view camera! - and the world will change around you again.

We want to have many different cameras not because one of technically reasons, but because they enable different kinds of photography. Nobody expects the car industry to settle down on a single type of car. Why should cameras?

Comment Re:What I want to know is? (Score -1, Troll) 69

Speak for yourself, fascist!

Snowden did nothing whatsoever to "damage" the USA; the NSA did all the damage itself. Snowden is a hero, period.

That said, the government should not "grant clemency" to Snowden because doing so still implies that he did something wrong and the government is merely being "merciful." Instead, what the government should do is exonerate Snowden and go after the real criminals, i.e., the treasonous fuckwads at the NSA.

A few notes on the vote whoring:

  • All in all, coming out vociferously in favor of the echo chamber of the site you're posting to was a good start
  • Simply love the use of the word "fascist" right off the bat, love the understated Godwin
  • The quotes around "damage", as if the word is somehow unknown, or being used in a inappropriate context, is a nice "touch"
  • That your entire statement is an argument by assertion is also a big plus
  • The use of the words "treasonous fuckwads", simply screams insightful commentary

It hits every bullet point, so all in all, I'm sue you'll get that covered +5 from the lovers of slashtrash. We all know this site is turning into Reddit, where a well-sourced nuanced explanation that certain issues are not entirely black and white, will get half a dozen downvotes... a the same time "Dat Ass Though" comments will get +3415. Maybe you should try that next.

Carry on trooper. You assertion that America's signal intelligence organization should be criminally prosecuted for doing what Congress explicitly authorizes, directs, and pays it to do, is precious beyond words. I'm also sure you think that the United States is the only nation on the planet with such an operation.

Comment Re:Thank you, school monopoly... (Score 1) 591

But there is no such choice in the single most important sphere of all: the children education.

Really? There is no choice? No private schools, no charter schools, no home schooling?

I'm all in favor of arranging public education to grant more choice to students; smaller and more numerous schools and let a student go to any public school in their county/city/state (depending on how taxes are allocated) they like. Maybe even vouchers for secular private schools that take the voucher as the whole tuition (no public funds for religious education, no letting rich kids use tax dollars as partial payment at a school for the 1%ers), though I'm not sure on that point. But to claim that the current system offer no choice is simply inaccurate.

Since 1960-ies the per-pupil annual cost of public schools quadrupled (inflation-adjusted), while the quality of education remains the same (if it has not gotten worse).

Public schools have increased the array of services provided -- free and reduced-price meals, special education, vocational education, and services for disabled or ESL students -- in that time.

Overall, public schools have equivalent or better outcomes than private schools with the same level of spending per student.

And Texas's public school spending is near the bottom compared to other states, so trying to link this to some supposed overspending on schools does not fly.

Comment Re:Fucking idiots in charge of schools. AGAIN. (Score 1) 591

If you're thinking of voting for any politician who takes contributions from the the NEA, then FUCK YOU.

...because the NEA is so strong in Texas. So very strong that per-pupil spending and teacher's salaries are near the bottom compared to other states.

As usual, union bashing is disconnected from reality.

Slashdot Top Deals

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." - Bert Lantz

Working...