philk

51 ms·

481.
by philk 17y ago
As with most of these things I think it's pretty hard to say whether it's worthwhile until it's been out in the wild for a while. Many people looked at Twitter and thought it was useless initially ("140 characters? Ha!") and that wasn't an
482.
by philk 17y ago
Not having actually downvoted you I'd say it's because the tone of your comment comes across as rather angry and personal. Picking apart arguments based on their content seems to get a better reception than attacking their author.
483.
by philk 17y ago
If he cut the first two paragraphs down to the sentence "We're looking for amazing designers" and then added a brief description of why amazing designers would want to work with him it would be a much better ad.
484.
by philk 17y ago
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy referred to Google's censorship on behalf of the Chinese and Thai governments in making his case for the company to impose censorship locally. When your communication minister is making reference to
485.
by philk 17y ago
I suspect that you didn't read to the end of the paper. They're using the 'seven dwarves and scrooge' example in the context of sovereign debt. They aren't criticising individuals for saving and investing. The entire thesis is that China
486.
by philk 17y ago
I can think of a few more reasons too: 1) Rehabilitation and its benefits can't be as simply explained. In politics, where the other side will be scrutinising your every word for something they can twist out of context, simple = good. You
487.
by philk 17y ago
The problem is that a nuanced approach to rehabilitation doesn't win as many votes as being "tough on crime".
488.
by philk 17y ago
I think finding people who can manhandle an abnormally large, heavy, drill shaped coffin into place will be harder and more expensive than using machinery - there's a reason why we don't dig graves by hand any more. Families do pay for the
489.
by philk 17y ago
Not to comment on the merits of this particular charity, but the important part is the feeling of doing meaningful work rather than the meaningfulness of the work per se. Part of this is feeling that you are contributing something unique
490.
by philk 17y ago
This is hilarious, but probably not viable: a) Coffins are sold to grieving families on the basis of "the one last thing you can do for [deceased]". Hence sales are made based on how luxurious, etc. the coffin is, not how efficiently it bo
491.
by philk 17y ago
Well, assuming the minimum depth is even as low as three feet, the deceased is up to six feet tall and there's maybe a foot of additional space (thickness of coffin, the pointy drill bit, satin pillows, etc.) you're now looking at a ten foo
492.
by philk 17y ago
I imagine making every single coffin into a drill capable of boring a hole into the earth is a lot more expensive than buying a couple of sets of digging equipment per cemetery.
493.
by philk 17y ago
I think they stand a good chance of learning quite quickly as they have smart people and a corporate culture that favors rapid change. So "delivering a final product to customers" could become a core competency of at least part of Google o
494.
by philk 17y ago
Very interesting point. I think one has to be aware of one's inbuilt limitations; it's not possible to be doing meaningful stuff all the time as you'll burn out. Hence it might be better to simply aim for a somewhat meaningful life; choose
495.
by philk 17y ago
It gets even better. If someone was interested in investing in a startup then they wouldn't have to be paid to listen to pitches. So essentially you're buying access to people who aren't looking to invest.
496.
by philk 17y ago
And yet you were perfectly willing to waste your time on a snarky reply.
497.
by philk 17y ago
But imagine if you were born knowing you had the natural aptitude to be the world's best brain surgeon, or guitar player, or graphic designer. I see several problems with his argument here: 1) Talent is not that important. Geniuses in an
498.
by philk 17y ago
Not really. Being black doesn't make you slower, less able or more susceptible to disease. Aging does. >> But someday I hope to be 88, and it's going to be really damn annoying if everyone says "wow, that's pretty good...especiall
499.
by philk 17y ago
Experience for youth is not a fair trade. Experience is usually domain specific and prone to being rendered worthless as times change. Additionally, experience can render you resistant to further learning. Youth brings energy and the abi
500.
by philk 17y ago
I for one find it encouraging when people that age are achieving something great by anyone's standards, not just the lax standards that society applies to the senescent. At the very least it makes old age less terrifying.
501.
by philk 17y ago
The problem here is that you're paying attention to their bullshit question. When you spend time justifying yourself it rewards the person for asking the question (because they're getting attention) and makes it look like you need to justi
502.
by philk 17y ago
People will always be criticized for not following the norm. It's awesome, and an affirmation that you aren't part of the herd. Plus I'd just say "We preferred sapphires" and change the topic.
503.
by philk 17y ago
Cheers, I misread that.
504.
IBM demos 100 GHz chip(theregister.co.uk)
11 points by philk 17y ago|11 comments
505.
by philk 17y ago
You appear to be either a troll or someone who gets off on feeling offended. Nonetheless, to clarify the title for you: a) The author cites several examples of pervasive racism in NK society (this is where the racist part comes from). b)
506.
by philk 17y ago
It's a joke, not a challenge. Suddenly this seems relevant again: http://www.stanford.edu/~pgbovine/geek-behaviors.htm (particularly the Obsessing over correctness and completeness bit).
507.
by philk 17y ago
The problem is that with the internet evidence of your minor crimes is available to a far wider audience than usual. To expand on your underage drinking analogy, it's the difference between being seen by a member of campus police and being
508.
by philk 17y ago
You're missing the point. It doesn't matter whether the stories are real or not. They're just there to illustrate his point that all of us commit minor infractions of the law from time to time and avoid the repercussions thanks to the lev
509.
by philk 17y ago
No. If you want to worry about your kids health make sure they eat right and get plenty of exercise. You'll do much more for their health than worrying about minuscule amounts of chemicals in vaccines.
510.
by philk 17y ago
There aren't two sides to this debate. There's established medical opinion, backed up by substantial evidence, proving that vaccines are both safe and responsible for saving hundreds of millions of lives. The idea that there are two sides

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