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Comment: Re:Politically motivated article (Score 1) 564

by yams69 (#40227605) Attached to: Taking Issue With Claims That American Science Education is 'Dismal'
You nailed it.

Considering his upcoming book references "the anti-scientific left" in its title, gee, I wonder how "fair and balanced" this author for The American Spectator, The National Review, and RealClear____ is?

Any political movement that denies global warming and supports creationism has a few screws loose and should not be lecturing the rest of the country on its scientific literacy.

Save it for FoxNews, Alex.
It's funny.  Laugh.

What If They Turned Off the Internet? 511

Posted by timothy
from the very-funny-now-where-is-slashdot dept.
theodp writes "It's the not-too-distant future. They've turned off the Internet. After the riots have settled down and the withdrawal symptoms have faded, how would you cope? Cracked.com asked readers to Photoshop what life would be like in an Internet-addicted society learning to cope without it. Better hope it never happens, or be prepared for dry-erase message boards, carrier pigeon-powered Twitter, block-long lines to get into adult video shops, door-to-door Rickrolling, Lolcats on Broadway, and $199.99 CDs."

Comment: What about the other side? (Score 1) 469

by yams69 (#27664455) Attached to: BYU Prof. Says University Classrooms Will Be "Irrelevant" By 2020
The best schools will still be brick and mortar, because the best teachers will still want to interact with their students in person. I might peg community colleges at being the first to take a hit from online competition, except that their low costs and geographic convenience make them just as easy to attend and more rewarding intellectually because of the face-to-face interaction. We are social animals; technology will not change that.

Online is probably a sensible option for professional degrees, continuing education, certifications, etc., but I really don't see the best and the brightest skipping four years of University just for the sake of convenience. There is a huge difference between a degree and an education. It's much harder to get an education when one is still immersed in one's own familiar world.

Comment: Re:Consider it insurance... (Score 1) 409

by yams69 (#26640109) Attached to: Umbilical Cord Blood Banking?
There's no question that bleeding edge medical research always sounds promising for curing many terminal conditions, but all of the new breakthroughs will result in egregiously expensive medical treatments. None but the extremely wealthy will be able to afford them. We in the US have serious issues right now allocating basic health care fairly among our citizens without considering who should get the latest and greatest treatments. (Don't say, "It's a free market!" It's not even close to a free market, despite what libertarians and conservatives say.)

The other issue you raise is the social cost of keeping people with terminal illnesses alive indefinitely. What could they bring to society that would justify the expense of storing them until they can be revived and cured? What if they're not working at the time they're preserved, or incapable of working? Do you want to have to keep working to fund your boss's retirement through your Social Security contributions when your boss lives to be 200, or 300, or longer? Death exists for a reason. We need to accept that.
