[#332653] Anything better than klass = eval("#{task_class}") — Paganoni <noway@...>

Hi, well subject is self explanatory...

10 messages 2009/04/01

[#332751] RubyScript2Exe — Charlie Openshaw <charlieopenshaw@...>

Hi,

14 messages 2009/04/02

[#332795] ri is suddenly empty — Fernando Perez <pedrolito@...>

Hi,

15 messages 2009/04/03

[#332861] Verify, a very basic testing tool. — Robert Dober <robert.dober@...>

Hi List

34 messages 2009/04/03
[#332871] Re: [Ann] Verify, a very basic testing tool. — Ryan Davis <ryand-ruby@...> 2009/04/03

[#332882] Re: [Ann] Verify, a very basic testing tool. — Robert Dober <robert.dober@...> 2009/04/03

On Fri, Apr 3, 2009 at 10:56 PM, Ryan Davis <ryand-ruby@zenspider.com> wrot=

[#332869] Loading classes in order — Elias Orozco <elioncho@...>

Hello guys,

17 messages 2009/04/03
[#332874] Re: Loading classes in order — Iñaki Baz Castillo <ibc@...> 2009/04/03

El Viernes 03 Abril 2009, Elias Orozco escribi=C3=B3:

[#332983] Ruby 1.9.1 - invalid multibyte escape: /[\xC0-\xDF]/ (RegexpError) — Iñaki Baz Castillo <ibc@...>

Hi, using TreeTop parser I had a grammar defined working in Ruby1.8 but it=

12 messages 2009/04/04
[#333081] Re: Ruby 1.9.1 - invalid multibyte escape: /[\xC0-\xDF]/ (RegexpError) — Eric Hodel <drbrain@...7.net> 2009/04/06

[#333092] Re: Ruby 1.9.1 - invalid multibyte escape: /[\xC0-\xDF]/ (RegexpError) — Iñaki Baz Castillo <ibc@...> 2009/04/06

2009/4/6 Eric Hodel <drbrain@segment7.net>:

[#332984] How to get "irb1.8" using Ruby1.8 instead of Ruby1.9.1 ? — Iñaki Baz Castillo <ibc@...>

Hi, in Debian I've ruby1.8 (/usr/bin/ruby1.8) and irb1.8 installed as DEB=20

16 messages 2009/04/04

[#333051] Localmemcache-0.2.1: The beauty of memcached. For local data. Blazingly fast. — "Sven C. Koehler" <schween@...>

Hi,

9 messages 2009/04/05

[#333063] how to dynamically create search term for array.find_all — Adam Akhtar <adamtemporary@...>

i want to be able to create a mehtod that will filter results in an

13 messages 2009/04/06
[#333064] Re: how to dynamically create search term for array.find_all — Phlip <phlip2005@...> 2009/04/06

Adam Akhtar wrote:

[#333108] Re: how to dynamically create search term for array.find_all — Adam Akhtar <adamtemporary@...> 2009/04/06

Thanks for your advice.

[#333109] Re: how to dynamically create search term for array.find_all — Adam Akhtar <adamtemporary@...> 2009/04/06

ahh robert, sorry i missed your reply there, i was looking at

[#333206] regex select multiple words in the middle of a sentence — Raimon Fs <coder@...>

hello,

11 messages 2009/04/07

[#333231] How to remote connect to the SQL server 2005 when there is a ‘\’ in the SQL server name, such as 192.168.0.11\active? — Wesley Chen <cjq.999@...>

Hi, Guys,

10 messages 2009/04/07
[#333246] Re: How to remote connect to the SQL server 2005 when there is a ‘\’ in the SQL server name, such as 192.168.0.11\active? — "Sean O'Halpin" <sean.ohalpin@...> 2009/04/07

(Disclaimer: It's a while since I did anything with SQL Server)

[#333265] Re: How to remote connect to the SQL server 2005 when there is a ‘\’ in the SQL server name, such as 192.168.0.11\active? — Wesley Chen <cjq.999@...> 2009/04/08

Hi, Sean,

[#333275] Re: How to remote connect to the SQL server 2005 when there is a ‘\’ in the SQL server name, such as 192.168.0.11\active? — "Sean O'Halpin" <sean.ohalpin@...> 2009/04/08

On Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 3:50 AM, Wesley Chen <cjq.999@gmail.com> wrote:

[#333273] Ruby 1.9 still cannot list all files on Vista or XP? — SpringFlowers AutumnMoon <summercoolness@...>

I just tried using Ruby 1.9 and it seemed that it still cannot list all

18 messages 2009/04/08

[#333291] How to find Operating system — Newb Newb <revathy.p@...>

Hi....

19 messages 2009/04/08
[#333299] Re: How to find Operating system — Mark S Bilk <mark@...> 2009/04/08

On Apr 8, 4:27=A0am, Eleanor McHugh <elea...@games-with-brains.com>

[#333309] Re: How to find Operating system — Eleanor McHugh <eleanor@...> 2009/04/08

On 8 Apr 2009, at 13:30, Mark S Bilk wrote:

[#333311] performing an action only the first time a function called — James French <James.French@...> 2009/04/08

Hi,

[#333319] Ruby editor for linux — Juan Zanos <juan_zanos@...>

Does anyone have any suggestions for a Ruby editor on Linux? I

31 messages 2009/04/08

[#333368] Goodbye Ruby - Hello Earth — Christophe Mckeon <chromatophore@...>

Hello Fellow Humans,

170 messages 2009/04/08
[#333440] Re: Goodbye Ruby - Hello Earth — The Higgs bozo <higgs.bozo@...> 2009/04/09

Christophe Mckeon wrote:

[#333443] Re: Goodbye Ruby - Hello Earth — Phlip <phlip2005@...> 2009/04/09

The Higgs bozo wrote:

[#333455] Re: Goodbye Ruby - Hello Earth — Phlip <phlip2005@...> 2009/04/09

>> Am I the only one who, upon reading the subject line, thought that

[#333468] Re: Goodbye Ruby - Hello Earth — Christophe Mckeon <chromatophore@...> 2009/04/09

Hi guys,

[#333542] Re: Goodbye Ruby - Hello Earth — Jeff Schwab <jeff@...> 2009/04/10

Christophe Mckeon wrote:

[#333580] Re: Goodbye Ruby - Hello Earth — Eleanor McHugh <eleanor@...> 2009/04/10

> Christophe Mckeon wrote:

[#333602] Re: Goodbye Ruby - Hello Earth — Chad Perrin <perrin@...> 2009/04/11

On Sat, Apr 11, 2009 at 02:22:09AM +0900, Eleanor McHugh wrote:

[#333615] Re: Goodbye Ruby - Hello Earth — Eleanor McHugh <eleanor@...> 2009/04/11

On 11 Apr 2009, at 02:12, Chad Perrin wrote:

[#333626] Re: Goodbye Ruby - Hello Earth — Robert Dober <robert.dober@...> 2009/04/11

On Sat, Apr 11, 2009 at 10:44 AM, Eleanor McHugh

[#333657] Re: Goodbye Ruby - Hello Earth — Chad Perrin <perrin@...> 2009/04/12

On Sun, Apr 12, 2009 at 12:53:07AM +0900, Robert Dober wrote:

[#333783] Re: Goodbye Ruby - Hello Earth — Eleanor McHugh <eleanor@...> 2009/04/13

On 12 Apr 2009, at 06:36, Chad Perrin wrote:

[#334172] Re: Goodbye Ruby - Hello Earth — Tom Cloyd <tomcloyd@...> 2009/04/16

Eleanor McHugh wrote:

[#334187] Re: Goodbye Ruby - Hello Earth — Chad Perrin <perrin@...> 2009/04/16

On Fri, Apr 17, 2009 at 05:58:21AM +0900, Tom Cloyd wrote:

[#334191] Re: Goodbye Ruby - Hello Earth — Todd Benson <caduceass@...> 2009/04/17

On Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 6:23 PM, Chad Perrin <perrin@apotheon.com> wrote:

[#334284] Re: Goodbye Ruby - Hello Earth — "Phlip" <phlip2005@...> 2009/04/18

> And besides, who are we kidding thinking that the planet needs us?

[#334334] Re: Goodbye Ruby - Hello Earth — "Phlip" <phlip2005@...> 2009/04/18

> Now, do I believe the earth's climate is changing? Absolutely. It has

[#333521] how do you manage your gems' gemspecs? — ghorner <gabriel.horner@...>

Hi,

15 messages 2009/04/10

[#333546] Python on LLVM — Daniel Berger <djberg96@...>

Python on LLVM. Thought it might be interesting to some folks here:

17 messages 2009/04/10

[#333607] a few thoughts for ruby... — Roger Pack <rogerpack2005@...>

Thought I'd pass these thoughts by the readers here before sending them

23 messages 2009/04/11

[#333624] Can Ruby stay ahead ? — Suresh Kk <sureshkkgvr@...>

Will Ruby find it difficult to stay in the first 10 languages list

27 messages 2009/04/11
[#333636] Re: Can Ruby stay ahead ? — Charles Oliver Nutter <charles.nutter@...> 2009/04/11

To be honest, I think the most important thing Rubyists could do to help

[#333707] newbie confusion and dejection — Reg <reg@...>

Over the years I have taught myself to program in C, C++, and VB to

14 messages 2009/04/13

[#333736] Ruby vs. Groovy: your perspective — Diego Virasoro <Diego.Virasoro@...>

Hello,

45 messages 2009/04/13
[#333789] Re: Ruby vs. Groovy: your perspective — Eleanor McHugh <eleanor@...> 2009/04/13

On 13 Apr 2009, at 12:35, Diego Virasoro wrote:

[#333803] Re: Ruby vs. Groovy: your perspective — Charles Oliver Nutter <charles.nutter@...> 2009/04/13

Eleanor McHugh wrote:

[#333833] Re: Ruby vs. Groovy: your perspective — James Britt <james.britt@...> 2009/04/14

Charles Oliver Nutter wrote:

[#333742] connecting to Oracle using OCI8 and DBI — Peter Bailey <pbailey@...>

Hi,

12 messages 2009/04/13

[#333867] The "Ruby Best Practices" Collaborative Blog — Gregory Brown <gregory.t.brown@...>

Hi folks,

30 messages 2009/04/14
[#333885] Re: [ANN] The "Ruby Best Practices" Collaborative Blog — James Gray <james@...> 2009/04/14

On Apr 14, 2009, at 8:14 AM, Gregory Brown wrote:

[#333894] Re: [ANN] The "Ruby Best Practices" Collaborative Blog — Gregory Brown <gregory.t.brown@...> 2009/04/14

On Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 12:24 PM, James Gray <james@grayproductions.net> wr=

[#333899] Re: [ANN] The "Ruby Best Practices" Collaborative Blog — Chuck Remes <cremes.devlist@...> 2009/04/14

[#333900] Re: [ANN] The "Ruby Best Practices" Collaborative Blog — Gregory Brown <gregory.t.brown@...> 2009/04/14

On Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 1:44 PM, Chuck Remes <cremes.devlist@mac.com> wrote:

[#333901] Re: [ANN] The "Ruby Best Practices" Collaborative Blog — Ben Lovell <benjamin.lovell@...> 2009/04/14

On Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 6:53 PM, Gregory Brown <gregory.t.brown@gmail.com>wrote:

[#333904] Re: [ANN] The "Ruby Best Practices" Collaborative Blog — Tony Arcieri <tony@...> 2009/04/14

On Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 12:07 PM, Ben Lovell <benjamin.lovell@gmail.com>wrote:

[#333912] Re: [ANN] The "Ruby Best Practices" Collaborative Blog — Gregory Brown <gregory.t.brown@...> 2009/04/14

On Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 2:32 PM, Tony Arcieri <tony@medioh.com> wrote:

[#334011] Re: [ANN] The "Ruby Best Practices" Collaborative Blog — Michael Fellinger <m.fellinger@...> 2009/04/15

On Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:48:42 +0900

[#334014] Re: [ANN] The "Ruby Best Practices" Collaborative Blog — Gregory Brown <gregory.t.brown@...> 2009/04/15

On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 11:16 AM, Michael Fellinger

[#334020] Re: [ANN] The "Ruby Best Practices" Collaborative Blog — Robert Klemme <shortcutter@...> 2009/04/15

On 15.04.2009 17:46, Gregory Brown wrote:

[#334086] Re: [ANN] The "Ruby Best Practices" Collaborative Blog — Gregory Brown <gregory.t.brown@...> 2009/04/16

On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 12:35 PM, Robert Klemme

[#333981] Install a Windows server made with Ruby — Alexandre Stehlin <alexandre.stehlin@...>

Hello everybody !

23 messages 2009/04/15
[#334010] Re: Install a Windows server made with Ruby — Roger Pack <rogerpack2005@...> 2009/04/15

[#334013] Re: Install a Windows server made with Ruby — Alexandre Stehlin <alexandre.stehlin@...> 2009/04/15

Roger Pack wrote:

[#334426] Re: Install a Windows server made with Ruby — Roger Pack <rogerpack2005@...> 2009/04/20

Alexandre Stehlin wrote:

[#334430] Re: Install a Windows server made with Ruby — Alexandre Stehlin <alexandre.stehlin@...> 2009/04/20

Roger Pack wrote:

[#334465] Re: Install a Windows server made with Ruby — Roger Pack <rogerpack2005@...> 2009/04/20

[#334469] Re: Install a Windows server made with Ruby — Glen Holcomb <damnbigman@...> 2009/04/20

On Mon, Apr 20, 2009 at 7:49 AM, Roger Pack <rogerpack2005@gmail.com> wrote=

[#334631] Re: Install a Windows server made with Ruby — Alexandre Stehlin <alexandre.stehlin@...> 2009/04/22

Glen Holcomb wrote:

[#334640] Re: Install a Windows server made with Ruby — Roger Pack <rogerpack2005@...> 2009/04/22

[#334644] Re: Install a Windows server made with Ruby — Alexandre Stehlin <alexandre.stehlin@...> 2009/04/22

Ok, here's what I got :

[#334648] Re: Install a Windows server made with Ruby — Alexandre Stehlin <alexandre.stehlin@...> 2009/04/22

Alexandre Stehlin wrote:

[#333993] reformatting a text file that has some binary in it — Adam Akhtar <adamtemporary@...>

I have never worked with binary before and after trying to solve this

20 messages 2009/04/15
[#334768] Re: reformatting a text file that has some binary in it — "t3ch.dude" <t3ch.dude@...> 2009/04/23

On Apr 23, 5:05=A0am, Adam Akhtar <adamtempor...@gmail.com> wrote:

[#334834] Re: reformatting a text file that has some binary in it — Adam Akhtar <adamtemporary@...> 2009/04/23

ahh should have thought about that. here is a souce file

[#334063] http://rubypan.org/ — Aaron Patterson <aaron@...>

http://rubypan.org/ version 1.0.0 has been released!

16 messages 2009/04/16

[#334194] Localmemcache-0.3.0: A persistent key-value database based on mmap()'ed shared memory — "Sven C. Koehler" <schween@...>

Hi, Localmemcache-0.3.0 is ready! Persistence is officially supported

9 messages 2009/04/17

[#334272] Junctions for Ruby1.9 (Lab419::functional-0.1.2) — Robert Dober <robert.dober@...>

Hi list

14 messages 2009/04/17

[#334370] ruby1.9 and the retry keyword — Yoann Guillot <john-rubytalk@...>

Hi

12 messages 2009/04/19

[#334479] Polymorphism — Michael Satterwhite <michael@...>

As much as I like Ruby, I do miss the polymorphic behavior of routines

14 messages 2009/04/20
[#334480] Re: Polymorphism — Phlip <phlip2005@...> 2009/04/20

Michael Satterwhite wrote:

[#334510] directory watcher, trying to match filename to directory name. — Brian Wallace <draygen80@...>

Hi All,

12 messages 2009/04/21
[#334515] Re: directory watcher, trying to match filename to directory name. — David Gaya <david.gaya@...> 2009/04/21

> dw =3D DirectoryWatcher.new "#{@dirwatch}", :interval =3D> 5, :glob =3D> =

[#334524] Re: directory watcher, trying to match filename to directory name. — Brian Wallace <draygen80@...> 2009/04/21

Thanks David,

[#334537] Re: directory watcher, trying to match filename to directory name. — Tim Pease <tim.pease@...> 2009/04/21

On Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 6:51 AM, Brian Wallace <draygen80@gmail.com> wrote:

[#334529] Ruby or JRuby — Martin L'ecuyer <martin@...>

Hi i'm new here and new with Ruby. I just start to learn Ruby and Ruby

19 messages 2009/04/21
[#334531] Re: Ruby or JRuby — James Herdman <james.herdman@...> 2009/04/21

Hi Martin.

[#334532] Re: Ruby or JRuby — Robert Dober <robert.dober@...> 2009/04/21

On Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 4:39 PM, James Herdman <james.herdman@gmail.com> wr=

[#334696] Re: Ruby or JRuby — David Masover <ninja@...> 2009/04/22

On Tuesday 21 April 2009 09:48:47 Robert Dober wrote:

[#334710] Re: Ruby or JRuby — Robert Dober <robert.dober@...> 2009/04/22

On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 10:43 PM, David Masover <ninja@slaphack.com> wrote:

[#334551] Is there a better way to do this? — Paul Mckibbin <pmckibbin@...>

I recently had code which needed to work with the same structure twice,

11 messages 2009/04/21

[#334577] Can't install hpricot gem — Boris Barroso <boriscyber@...>

I can't install hpricot gem on CentOS 5, you can check the error message

13 messages 2009/04/21

[#334711] Diamondback Ruby - Static Typing for Ruby — Mike Furr <furr@...>

16 messages 2009/04/22

[#334826] Is there a better way of doing this — Damjan Rems <d_rems@...>

I have three classes.

17 messages 2009/04/23

[#334944] Digits of Pi (#202) — Daniel Moore <yahivin@...>

-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=

26 messages 2009/04/24
[#334948] Re: [QUIZ] Digits of Pi (#202) — Joel VanderWerf <vjoel@...> 2009/04/24

Daniel Moore wrote:

[#334986] Methods and blocks - not that clear when blocks passed into — Steven Taylor <staylor@...>

Coming from other programming languages, notably Basic based, a little

10 messages 2009/04/25

[#335047] Using method missing to create getters and setters — Tim Conner <crofty_james@...>

Hi,

10 messages 2009/04/26

[#335060] How to parse a "line"? — Martin Sharon <huangshuo.9@...>

Hi there:

25 messages 2009/04/26
[#335061] Re: How to parse a "line"? — James Gray <james@...> 2009/04/26

On Apr 26, 2009, at 3:48 PM, Martin Sharon wrote:

[#335062] Re: How to parse a "line"? — Robert Dober <robert.dober@...> 2009/04/26

On Sun, Apr 26, 2009 at 10:56 PM, James Gray <james@grayproductions.net> wrote:

[#335069] Re: How to parse a "line"? — Todd Benson <caduceass@...> 2009/04/26

On Sun, Apr 26, 2009 at 4:11 PM, Robert Dober <robert.dober@gmail.com> wrote:

[#335070] Re: How to parse a "line"? — Todd Benson <caduceass@...> 2009/04/26

On Sun, Apr 26, 2009 at 5:55 PM, Todd Benson <caduceass@gmail.com> wrote:

[#335071] Re: How to parse a "line"? — Martin Sharon <huangshuo.9@...> 2009/04/27

Thank you Todd, but the number of the keywords are dynamic.

[#335085] Re: How to parse a "line"? — Todd Benson <caduceass@...> 2009/04/27

On Sun, Apr 26, 2009 at 7:25 PM, Martin Sharon <huangshuo.9@gmail.com> wrote:

[#335068] Block Style — James Gray <james@...>

I hate to be the guy to start another { =85 } vs. do =85 end thread, but =

16 messages 2009/04/26

[#335151] Gui library suggestion based on my needs? — Pito Salas <rps@...>

Any recommendation on which 'gui' package I should use to build a ruby

14 messages 2009/04/27

[#335217] Why does attr_accessor in module require 'self.'? — Brian Hartin <brian.hartin@...>

Hi there,

14 messages 2009/04/27

[#335301] Detecting -0.0 — "Thomas B." <tpreal@...>

Hello.

19 messages 2009/04/28

[#335308] Random Access using IO#pos in code blocks — Arun Kumar <arun.einstein@...>

Hello everyone,

14 messages 2009/04/28
[#335369] Re: Random Access using IO#pos in code blocks — Brian Candler <b.candler@...> 2009/04/29

Arun Kumar wrote:

[#335331] New to Ruby, making a program from a disabled friend — Hank Quinlan <tjmaser@...>

Hi. I am only learning Ruby to help my friend out, and am completely new

15 messages 2009/04/29

[#335334] Issue with regexp pattern matcher withing String#gsub — Craig Jolicoeur <cpjolicoeur@...>

I'm having a strange issue I can't wrap my head around. I've posted the

10 messages 2009/04/29

[#335466] Read and re-write file with one open? — Adam Bender <abender@...>

I would like to write a Ruby script that opens a text file, performs a gsub

19 messages 2009/04/30

[#335532] setting up cygwin on windows or linux it? — Adam Akhtar <adamtemporary@...>

Due to some gems not working for windows im considering either

19 messages 2009/04/30
[#335542] Re: setting up cygwin on windows or linux it? — Hassan Schroeder <hassan.schroeder@...> 2009/04/30

On Thu, Apr 30, 2009 at 5:28 AM, Adam Akhtar <adamtemporary@gmail.com> wrote:

[#335563] Re: setting up cygwin on windows or linux it? — Aleksandr Levchuk <alevchuk@...> 2009/04/30

Usually virtualization (VMWare, etc.) is too slow to use. I would

Re: Goodbye Ruby - Hello Earth

From: Chad Perrin <perrin@...>
Date: 2009-04-23 19:36:31 UTC
List: ruby-talk #334816
On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 09:40:07PM +0900, Eleanor McHugh wrote:
> On 16 Apr 2009, at 21:58, Tom Cloyd wrote:
> >Free market idealism...ah, yes. In the USA, and, as a consequence, =20
> >in world in general, we are presently enjoying the rewards of market =20
> >left entirely TOO free. Wild pigs with the social morality of your =20
> >average two year old took over, uprooted a lot of the garden and =20
> >many of the fruit trees, and as a result many of us are more than a =20
> >bit worried about how we're going to feed ourselves in the coming =20
> >months.
>=20
> You haven't had a free market in the USA, any more than we have here =20
> in the UK. And because the market wasn't free, but a pro-monopoly =20
> model based upon the Chicago School belief that price is the =20
> determinant of market efficiency (it isn't) and that lowest price can =20
> be delivered only where there is a strong market monopoly (which is =20
> patently absurd), we're seeing another bubble go pop.

Nicely summarized.


>=20
> >I'm sad, Eleanor, since this is the first time anything you've =20
> >posted has evidenced anything but keen intelligence.
>=20
> Well I guess that blows the conceit that I'm largely invisible on =20
> here :)

I think invisibility is my job (most of the time) in these parts.


>=20
> >Ever study economics...with an emphasis on data, rather than mere =20
> >theory? I suggest the investment of some time in that endeavor. Free =20
> >market idealism is a lovely thing, but the real world is =20
> >considerably more
> >complex than such a simplistic representation as that. I'm puzzled =20
> >that you missed this.
>=20
> I have a degree in physics and that leads me to believe that all =20
> phenomena can be reduced to a simplistic representation, if they can =20
> be reduced at all. That's a fundamental tenet of the scientific method =
=20
> which I apply to both the development of software and to analysis of =20
> everything else.

My take is more that all phenomena are informed by interactions of a
simple set of fundamental principles, though the emergent properties of
those interactions can be quite complex indeed.  Err, I guess that means
we agree in substance, if not in the particulars of how to express it.


>=20
> I also make no assumptions regarding the good will or rationality of =20
> any participant in a physical system, and that already puts me one =20
> step ahead of those economic theorists who insist on including the =20
> implicate calculus of human motivation into their models.

That strikes me as a critically important insight.  Never trust people in
the general case to have altruistic motivations.  This includes:

 1. people in government

 2. people using the software you write (in Ruby!  Hah!  On-topic!)

 3. people selling you software

It is in part for reasons like this that I have free market and open
source development sympathies.


>=20
> >"In a free market economy, technology will serve whatever is needed, =20
> >when it's needed."
> >
> >Not if the technology needed requires massive investment with =20
> ><correction>LITTLE OR NO</correction> hope of rapid profit. For that =20
> >sort of thing, history tends to show government gets the job far =20
> >quicker and better. The free market didn't defeat the Nazis, or =20
> >invent nuclear technology, and a great deal of the launch of modern =20
> >cybernetics was also government sponsored.
>=20
> True, the free market didn't defeat the Nazis. Except of course that =20
> the economies which funded the defeat of the Nazis were all built on =20
> free market models. The USSR would not have triumphed in the war were =20
> it not for the huge investment of US resources and the war wouldn't =20
> even have lasted long enough for that to happen if it hadn't been for =20
> the huge investment of British resources. Of course that investment =20
> required political will as well, largely generated as a result of the =20
> incredible marketing skills of Winston Churchill.

Probably the biggest factor in the Soviet Union's "victory" over Germany
on the Eastern Front was weather, anyway.  It sure as hell wasn't the
Soviet economy, which pretty much utterly failed to help the Soviet war
effort in World War II.


>=20
> Likewise if there was a perceived need for cybernetics you can bet =20
> that the money would appear to fund it. Look at the truly remarkable =20
> medical achievement of our era, the mapping of the human genome. The =20
> vast majority of that work was funded by private donation to the =20
> Sanger Institute which is a charitable trust. The Welcome Trust =20
> (another charity) is the largest conductor of medical research in the =20
> world.

I think that greater private investment in cybernetics research will come
about in the near future in large part as a result of advancing medical
technologies, anyway.

--=20
Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ]
Quoth Thomas McCauley: "The measure of a man's real character is what he
would do if he knew he would never be found out."

In This Thread