CallMeV

When I noticed that I would have to reference Web colours in RGB hex code, I was glad I was already very familiar with hexadecimal code.

I greeted the discovery of external scripts for JS and CSS with joy, because I knew how versatile those external scripts could become; I only needed to code one particular style or JavaScript function or object once, in one file, and use that code throughout the site; maintenance would be a breeze, too, because I'd only have to update a given style or JS function, again, in one place.

So, to summarise, my first thought on becoming acquainted with HTML, CSS and JS was "This is going to be so useful."

Wish I could upvote this one twice. Listening and paying attention are crucial to developing understanding of people.

I first learned about HTML by studying the tags in web page source codes in college. This was not part of the curriculum: I was picking up the skill off my own bat.

Likewise for Javascript and CSS (and basic use of forms and CGI); I first learned about them by looking at inline scripts, and later learned how to invoke external script files. I was already out of uni when I began to learn about them.

In the 1960s, Gerry Anderson's series Thunderbirds did more than just entertain a generation of kids with his trademark Supermarionation puppetry adventure - Gerry Anderson liked to think big, and he liked to think like a scientist and engineer.

Some of his adventures hinged upon ambitious engineering projects such as mile-high arcology buildings, moving skyscrapers the size of the Empire State Building, and manned sun probes. Some of his ideas were vetted by organisations such as the Ministry of Defence for possible viability.

His stories inspired a generation of British kids to become thinkers, mathematicians, engineers, chemists ... hackers.

For all that his shows were television entertainment, Gerry Anderson's contribution really stands on a par with that of the late Sir Arthur C Clarke, imo.

I certainly do not support such a measure; nor does anyone I know.

973 people were polled. In no way can that tiny population represent the views of the more than 60 million Brits alive today. The pollsters should have made a bigger study and approached more diverse groups.

It looks like the TechCrunch comments page has somehow merged with the SuperPoke Pets forum. Nobody complaining about their Video Inbox or Pool Party products getting shelved.

Just SPP pet owners.

An amazing 404 page.

It was for me. But then, I had a good maths tutor. Ironically, I cannot recall his name. But the lessons he taught stayed with me, so at least he's remembered for something.

Not just for twelve year olds. It works just as well for this 48 y.o., too.

In five years' time, it would not surprise me to hear a television news presenter saying something like "And now, to summarise the news we have been breaking and following online on our news feeds ..."

TV news will essentially become the backwater of news coverage, as most of what we'd call journalism will shift primarily to an online form.

I'll expect some old dinosaurs, desperate to hang on to their fading sovereignty, who will strive to break the news on broadcast TV rather than on Twitter and then Facebook, in that order - but that will be a minority, and that attitude will probably have become all but extinct within twenty years.

The kids have it nailed already. If you want the news, you go online to get it. You don't wait till 18:00 or 23:00 when you get home. If it's happening now, you'll want to know about it there and then, on your Android, BlackBerry or iPhone. Just wait till they're old enough to have kids of their own ...

I know I could have found a translator to convert the code for the title into plaintext, but I downloaded the list of Morse Code and gave it a go manually.

I know. I'd have failed my HAM radio test, back when Morse Code was a requirement.

Morse Code, BSL and Pitman shorthand are three skills I really regret not learning when I was very young (not because the opportunities were there and I refused - the opportunities were not there; not, at least, where I grew up).

I suspect that the Guardian's editorial staff may have acted like a spy in the camp throughout the election period. The rest of the media, I could understand: but the Guardian seemed to like AV as much as the Telegraph or the Mail, and that I could not understand.

When even the BBC and internet news sources started to speak up against AV, I had a feeling that we would soon see the baby flying out along with the bathwater: and so, indeed it came to pass.

A sad day, that the British public would reject innovation in favour of an old, failing system. I'd rather have had the new system; the politicians' unfamiliarity with it meant that they could not game the system with the same expertise as they all now have with First Past The Post.

Celebrate the lives of whose whom bin Laden had adversely affected throughout his life of crime. All those lives, lost. All those soldiers dead and injured, their lives spent in the name of hunting him down. Their bravery and sacrifice now made worth it on this day. Bless them. Bless them all, and may they and their families find rest and closure.

Think about those who perverted bin Laden's mind as a young man, the environment he grew up in, and those who poisoned him and turned him into the killer he became. Think of how his life might have turned out if he'd embraced peace instead of terrorism.

Think of those lives he might never have ended before their time, and the world we'd have had since 2001 if he'd never come close to causing 9/11. A more peaceful world. No DHS, no Patriot Act, no TSA, no body scans. People allowed to wear shoes and carry bottled water onto a plane.

Nobody fearing their neighbours just because they're a different skin colour. Bigotry on its way to becoming a thing of the past.

Celebrate the world where the things he has done are now in the past, and you have a far better future ahead of you. Celebrate all of that, and turn your mind to creating the conditions for peace to return to the world once more.

Peace.

Thank you for these links. I've bookmarked them for future reference.

I woke up this morning, determined to look for unanswerable questions. Hungry for philosophy.

By chance, I decided to browse through HN now, rather than later. If I'd come here later, I might have missed this link, and this blog.

I honestly thought I'd done with HN, and that it had served its purpose. It seems that I can still gain much by coming here daily, after all.

And the Krishnamurti site will provide me with a veritable feast of unanswerable questions, enough to satisfy the hunger of my inner philosopher for a long time to come.

"Even a tree struck by lightning may bear new fruit." -- The Code of Ananda

What happens to the sculpture, now he has completed it? Does it go on permanent exhibition somewhere? Curious to know its fate. I would like to visit San Fran some time, and I would pay to go and see that sculpture if I did.

What began as a simple glitch and a footnote in the history of howlers and error turned into an interesting tale of morality, honour and ethics. Fascinating.

I have it on good authority that Australia won't receive the first episode on their screens until April 30th. Have the Beeb suddenly changed their minds? Will the Beeb, then, surprise them by releasing the season opener to them on the same day as us here in the UK?

I first got into transfinite numbers through a book by Rudy Rucker, "Infinity and The Mind." I tried explaining this subject to a Doctoral candidate once, at around 2am - and he accused me of having come off my meds.

I see no problem with happiness. However, happiness will always remain fleeting - a momentary feeling of contentment and fulfillment where you convince yourself that you have achieved your goals.

A dedicated, mindful person can achieve many of the benefits of happiness - the stronger relationships, the untroubled and healthy sleep patterns - by focusing on maintaining those benefits directly. Do you want to sleep like a baby? Get to bed and rise regularly, 22:00 - 06:00, and declutter your bedroom to dedicate that room entirely towards the function of sleep.

Do you want to maintain healthy relationships? Work on them. Build and maintain trust. Act without expectation of reward, and feel delight when your puzzled friends respond to your new found generosity of spirit.

You'll quickly discover the inadequacy of money alone in providing happiness. True, too little and you will find paying the bills a struggle and life somewhat problematic. Join the club. However, too much money attracts entirely the wrong people, drawn by the prospect of loosening the money from your grip and nothing else.

Myself, I strive not for happiness, but for mindfulness: for the awareness of the fact that I exist; that I live; and that, at any time, I have ownership of this precise moment on this marvellous world, this incredible universe.

Quiet focus and calm, mindful determination. That works for me.

But perhaps they could be paid with Monopoly money.

I wonder. What about microgravity?

Could the lessening of gravity's influence distort the structure of both the drug compounds and the chemical receptors in the body in unpredictable ways, so that they no longer chemically interact with one another?

Perhaps this is a good thing. I consider it like this.

I well understand the idea of downvoting to express a response towards ugly, trolling and irrelevant comments. By downvoting, responders show trolls that their attitudes are not welcome.

However newbies such as I are often too scared to ask our questions, or to comment on something of interest, or indeed to contribute in any way, for fear of someone more experienced coming along and downvoting us.

As a system of control, to weed out the unhelpful while promoting helpful discussion, karma points were initially a useful tool. High karma scores indicated a valued contributor to the site.

However once the mindset of points farming settles in, as I suspect it has done here, the contribution ceases to matter in the rush to acquire more points, leading to a drop in quality and this competitive points scoring obsession. Delusion replaces reason and desire to contribute.

Doing without the points scoring could go some way to redirecting the focus on the items and the discussions stemming therefrom, rather than on the karma farming.

And that is my opinion.

They just cancel each other out.

I have a sneaking suspicion they voted for the Liberal Democrats because of the Lib Dems' promise to break up Labour's ID card, database state and DEA missteps - and instead, they just jumped into bed with the Tories.

So, it's a big case of collective cognitive dissonance and more than a little dose of healthy skepticism at the idea that a British bank would actually want to offer a grant, and not a loan - because that goes against their usual track record.

If you mean "online social networking," mostly broadcasting and sharing, and feedback from commenters.

Real world social networking, aka going out to network events and breakfasts, meeting people, sharing information about third party products and services I like through word of mouth and keeping a network of RL people ... can't get enough of that.

Like all things at which you have to work hard to gain ability, the original poster has but one course: the hardest one. To delve into those tiresome, brain-aching problems at which he once balked in school - the ones where he found that he had to put in a real effort.

And he will have to accept lots of failures before he can start to claim lots of successes. With nobody to mark his efforts down for not showing sufficient workings, however, admitting to failure can come a lot more easily when you only have your own self as teacher and student.

They'll probably reinstall that cable, now, with one small addition: an off switch, and a soldier on post nearby. "Hello, Sergey, headquarters here. there's another insurrection. Throw the off switch." Sergey throws off switch "Okay, done." no signal "Hello? Hello?"

Once they put the service behind a paywall for the customers, they'll only end up putting themselves into the same market as Spotify and iTunes.

In other words, they'll just be a new face among the crowd in the market called The Competition, doing exactly the same thing as everybody else, yelling the same meaningless cant as all the other vendors. Not "share," but "buy."

And if the competition's already doing better than BT and has a more established fan base and brand, well, roll the dice.

Hear hear. Here's to the questions. The foundation, root, body and crown of science.