I agree: his is not a very useful comparison. I think David Foster Wallace gives the most accurate comparison I've read, and I always want to show it to those lucky souls who have never had to deal with this type of depression:
The so-called ‘psychotically depressed’ person who tries to kill herself doesn’t do so out of quote ‘hopelessness’ or any abstract conviction that life’s assets and debits do not square. And surely not because death seems suddenly appealing. The person in whom Its invisible agony reaches a certain unendurable level will kill herself the same way a trapped person will eventually jump from the window of a burning high-rise. Make no mistake about people who leap from burning windows. Their terror of falling from a great height is still just as great as it would be for you or me standing speculatively at the same window just checking out the view; i.e. the fear of falling remains a constant. The variable here is the other terror, the fire’s flames: when the flames get close enough, falling to death becomes the slightly less terrible of two terrors. It’s not desiring the fall; it’s terror of the flames. And yet nobody down on the sidewalk, looking up and yelling ‘Don’t!’ and ‘Hang on!’, can understand the jump. Not really. You’d have to have personally been trapped and felt flames to really understand a terror way beyond falling.
Do you really not understand the point or is that just another vacuous remark to accompany your first cliche? If the former, then perhaps you are making a case as to why liberal arts is still important in society: teaching students the ability to critically think and reach logical conclusions from texts with gaps in information, etc.
As an American that has recently moved to Germany, I do know that I pay significantly more income tax in Germany. I also know that a greater percentage of the population here is employed compared to the US, and that Germany also has a higher percentage of their GDP come from taxes. I was surprised to read your claims - do you have any good sources for them?
I do agree with you that in the case of US public services, money is not the real issue.
I realize it is easy to pick on philosphy, but if you're going to write off one of our oldest disciplines it should at least come from an informed place: "I think therefore I am" is not Descartes' premise, but one of his conclusions. Even as a conclusion, it is mostly misunderstood. The point is not that it is the thinking that brings one into being, but that there is something there that must exist in order to do the thinking. Other translations I have read have it "I am deceived, therefore I am," again the point being that something must first exist in order to be deceived. His original "arbitary premise" is that he must first discard everything he thinks he already knows.
This article resonated with me and it has nothing to do with poor management or exploitation or enemies: for some of us starting projects (personal or otherwise) is always a lot easier and more fun than finishing them. Finishing projects can just be hard. And this isn't just within the realm of programming, although there I find it especially true.
Is this serious? After reading my comment did you even bother re-reading the speech? By your analogy, every philosophical, psychological, sociological, et al text relates to the platitude your originally mentioned. The actual meaning of your original comment still has absolutely nothing to do with DFW's speech. This whole thread is like watching a student defend a paper about a book he never read and doesn't understand, but whose opinion is bolstered by yet more students with even less comprehension of the text than him.
The comments here to this overall incredible speech are very surprising. I can't argue that it doesn't have any useful information/ideas, that is a subjective value judgement (as crazy as it seems to me); however, in what way is he trying to change the meaning of the word? One of the examples given in merriam-webster is:
extravagent respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem <worship of the dollar>
While an interesting personal anecdote, your comment has nothing to do with what DFW is talking about. He touches on multiple platitudes throughout his speech (and names them as such): this is not one of them.
I am yet another hacker with an undergrad in philosophy. The first college-level programming class I took (in high school, so before I had decided to major in either) was taught by a professor with his Masters in Philosophy and PhD in Computer Science. I think there is an incredibly strong correlation.
This is why I recommended Clive Bell: for him the subject matter is irrelevant and what matters is significant form - that combination of colors and shapes that gives rise to an aesthetic experience. Many would say that achieving this aesthetic experience itself is the point. Alternatively, others argue that the subject of art (in this case urban life) allow one to get at the capital-t Truth and meaning of a thing or culture. Heidegger's "The Origin of the Work of Art" examines this with regards to Van Gogh's "A Pair of Shoes," also an interesting read. Of course the real point for anyone is deeply personal, and if you're questioning what that point is, for you there probably isn't one. And that's ok too.
I took the tour at Makers Mark distillery a few months ago (highly recommended), and they told a mostly similar story about Makers 46 (named after the number of attempts it took to get it right), but spun it as Bill Samuels, Jr. desire to "leave his mark." Although it is fun to find business lessons in everything (especially bourbon), I came away with a slightly more concrete example in brand loyalty after being introduced at the distillery to Marker's Mark's Ambassador program. It is pretty interesting: essentially it allows you to place your name on a barrel and recieve updates about its progress. When its finally ready, you have now earned the right to purchase your "own" bottle.
And let's not leave out Level 3 and the perennial rumors that it is a prime acquisition target for Google in order to gain a strong fiber backbone (not that I think it will ever happen: I don't).
Whoops, didn't mean to out your pet project. I enjoyed your post and I too was curious which analytics script you were using so I checked the page source to see what was going on. I wondered about the lack of documentation on the homepage...looks cool though.
Is this just a nice GUI for ogr2ogr? I could be wrong (I certainly haven't done the market research) but my gut feeling is that most people who would need this service would also be technically savvy enough to use free tools like FWTools. That said, there could still be a use case (beginners?), in which case you'll have to do a great job in the SEO department. Also, $10/conversion seems very high: a flat monthly fee would be much better.
Is that white cream topping a low-fat yogurt or some kind of delicious artery clogging velouté sauce? That distinction alone could make a world a difference if you're calorie/fat counting; different methods of cooking food that ends up appearing the same can drastically change the healthiness of a food. In general, someone's time might be better spent learning the basis of maintaining a nutritional diet and everything that goes along with it, rather than snapping pictures of everything eaten, twice.
I can't speak to the Spanish language, but I think his use of the English language is one of the more incredible things he accomplishes in this novel. Really, this is the type of thing that must be read more quickly than not: because he introduces so many things that don't get explained until hundreds of pages later, it is best if they are at least sort of remembered. If not remembered, you may get to the end of the book and have kind of a "huh?" feeling. If this is the case, re-read the first 50 pages. But hey, this book is so much more about the journey that getting to the destination probably won't change your opinion of it much. If you don't like it now, might want to just pick up another book.
Why? If the prices are still cheaper than what you would pay otherwise, would you still boycott it? This isn't a novel business concept - airlines do this too with business/first class subsidizing economy - does this mean you don't fly either?
I remember one of my favorite philosophy professors talking about the various philosophers' ideas of "first philosophy", where first philosophy meant which philosophy is the root of all other philosophy (e.g. for Aristotle it is Metaphysics). Midway through the lecture the professor finally said something along the lines of "...this is nice and all, but what really should be first philosophy is figuring out a way to live in this world such that you can concern yourself with philosophy at all." I agree.
Your ad hominem attacks against Cory Doctorow don't really make his article's points any less valid. There is a difference between being discriminating and dismissive, and the arguments made in this article mostly deal with the latter.
Yup, they don't do a very good job of making it obvious, but clicking on "check latest air fare" confirms these are round-trip prices (other than that, this is really cool).
Sorry, I thought you were being intentionally daft by stating the only reason to deploy on IIS would be "Kool-Aid" etc. In any case, you quoted my short answer to what I thought was not really a question to begin with ("a very solid framework").
Is this a real question or a silly jab at Microsoft? I think you're underestimating the number of existing businesses who have .NET at their core, in which case the question is what justifies moving off of .NET? In my experience .NET can be - while not as hip - a very solid framework.
Completely anecdotal: a friend of mine moved here (US) from Germany ~ 5 weeks ago, and she was driving my car with me in the passenger seat. Just as I was thinking "she is a safe defensive driver," she approached a stop sign and to my shock did not stop, but slowed down only to continue on her way much like a yield sign. I freaked out a little in the vein of "Stop signs here are not suggestions!" She responded with points simiar to yours (and the articles'): there are way too many stop signs in the US, it is the most expensive part of driving (fuel-wise), and it essentially teaches people not to be thoughtful, cautious drivers. Now while driving I'm constantly thinking "what a wasteful stop sign."
teilo is right: this really has nothing to do with the act of praying, but rather people's brain reactions to those whom they intrinsically believe to be in a position of authority/power. Related to your question, I remember reading a few articles about this in the past. Essentially, brains deep in prayer == brains deep in meditation. (Quick search - this might be one of those articles: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,995465-6,00...)