Well I assume the information would be made publicly available to anyone.
2,706 karma · joined January 12, 2010
It is good that we start to discuss such ideas.
That and the probably rather conservative nature of people in this profession are probably some of the reasons.
The longer something is used, the longer it will take for it to be displaced.
Paper-books been round for thousands of years. ;)
Besides, as good as digital reader devices are, they have serious drawbacks. For example quick browsing, retarded DRM restrictions (why can't I give my book to someone else, ffs?!), and they still aren't as nice on the eyes as paper books.
Not to mention that they need electricity and each book I read is another data-point in my profile on some nebulous company's (or gov-agency's) server.
That said, they have advantages when it comes to search. But often we kind of memorise the "shape" of the text, so this advantage isn't as great. (Just like source-code editors sometimes show a miniature version of the text for quicker navigation.)
And they also weigh less. But they don't look as good on the shelves..
I think there was a study done [1] that showed that love and security and the availability of parents and family mixed with a certain degree of freedom were more crucial to success later in life than skills such as math. It allowed children to explore the world on their own, but if anything bad happened they could always rely on parents to be there for them. To tell them things would be fine, or to put a band-aid on their wounds. This allows children to develop trust in others, self-confidence and a positive outlook in life. While at the same time motivating them to explore the world.
However, another very important thing was allowing the kids to join in when the family (or other kids) were solving a problem. This could be anything from helping with cooking, fixing something in the house or collecting firewood. I assume the benefit of this was not only practice of problem-solving and social skills, but also allowing them to develop a sense of self-worth.
(The problem is, I guess, that our modern world is solving all our problems for us. We don't repair, we replace. We buy solutions for things that we'd had better dealt with ourselves. And so forth. And that we put so much emphasis on self-reliance, which seems to be a good thing but in reality has serious disadvantages. I believe this is one of the big (root-) problems of our modern civilisation that nobody seems to be talking about, but I might be wrong.)
Furthermore, the ability to work on a specific problem _with others_ is a different from being able to do maths alone. It teaches all the right things in life.
So I guess the point is: If you want your kid to succeed, be there for and allow it to take part in life the way he or she choses to (all within reasonable limits of course, you still need raise your kids to be decent etc.), especially with others.
[1] wish I had a link.. :/
Of course its not that simple, but we, I suppose especially us techie boys (us because I am one), think that an M1 Abrams tank, a F-15 airplane or a Sig Sauer rifle are, well, cool. We also think uniforms look good. And we dream of being heroes, especially when we are young.
It is, of course, nonsense. All these machines, while technologically interesting, are basically just ugly tools to end lives of other humans. I suppose the glamour and pride only work as long as you believe it does. And so forth.
Of course we need some weapons to defend ourselves, (one might argue our nuclear weapons are more than enough already), because who knows may come and attack, sure. But, yea, I think I just want to say, stop glorifying all this stuff.
It gives me hope that one of the most popular computer games ever, Minecraft, is not a war game. :)
The more we believe that success of life is based on merit, the more disappointment will occur.
Imho, society, in my case: software development culture, (to some extent) is sick. Many of us probably believe we need all to be Mark Zuckerbergs or Elon Musks. Insanity. I suggest you take a step back and find out what you really want. Perhaps a time off for centering yourself might be a good suggestion.
Someone said: A lack of ambition is a wonderful thing. That's probably true. Please relax. ;)
We should not assume this will only affect how people behave in traffic, as well. Other offences will likely also be included.
I really doubt any legal action will change anything what the NSA does. The future is digital, they cannot and will not step down while other countries, basically everyone that is capable to do it, will do it. It's such a big power factor that it cannot be ignored.
The arms race in cyberspace has begun long ago, and there's just no way it will simply stop.
All we can do is decide how we handle it personally and whom we trust to keep our data safe. And if we really need to create certain kinds of data in the first place (with many kinds we have no choice).
TBH, I'm more worried about cameras that scan faces and license plates.
A good/experienced developer will pick up any language quickly.
To me it seems that it's a bit like patenting flappy bird.
It's confusing and worrying as it's a pretty mainstream tool. (I wouldn't install anything from this webpage right now btw.)