The <off topic> thread

[Rick Brewster]

I just test-drove a jet-black 2005 BMW 545i ... oh wow. So tempting.

[pyrochild]

Well hey,I'm sure the IQ of a basic programmer is expected to be high.

Not necessarily. One can excel in one subject and achieve poorly in another. Therefore, a person might not grasp literature yet do so for mathematics as if second nature. IQ shouldn't really equate in this discussion as an IQ result might plummet because of failing in a certain area, such as general knowledge.

IQ (as measured by most tests) really has no bearing on general knowledge. Mostly it's logic, math, pattern recognition, etc. And hey, what-do-you-know, those are the qualities that usually a decent programmer make. So yes, programmers do generally have reasonably high IQs. But IQ != smartness. I am failing art.

AP Art History, actually, but still.

[david.atwell]

Art history is nothing like art.

[Rick Brewster]

I am failing art.

I got a D in shop class ...

[pyrochild]

Art history is nothing like art.

Actually it is. Art history is not just history of art, it's also analysis and whatnot. Very much "right-brained functions," of which I am severely lacking.

Besides, I nearly failed art too. My sophomore year. It was the same teacher. She doesn't like me much

I am failing art.

I got a D in shop class ...

Shop is fun! It was my favorite class when I took it.

("Industrial manufacturing" it was called. Silly IB programme)

[Rick Brewster]

Yeah but I spent all my time talking to girls and never got anything done!

And ours was called "Technology Education" (or just Tech Ed)

[Sozo]

Yeah but I spent all my time talking to girls...

Then it wasn't a failure!

[Max Power]

I just test-drove a jet-black 2005 BMW 545i ... oh wow. So tempting.

Aren't they very expensive "over there" since the dollar is so weak against the euro?

[Myrddin]

...So yes, programmers do generally have reasonably high IQs.

I stand corrected.

I also still stand by my opinion that a standardised test can be falsely representative of a person dependant on circumstances.

[aeonix]

...So yes, programmers do generally have reasonably high IQs.

I stand corrected.

I also still stand by my opinion that a standardised test can be falsely representative of a person dependant on circumstances.

I agree with you on that.

Anyway LAOTW #5's poll is up.

[Bob]

Aren't they very expensive "over there" since the dollar is so weak against the euro?

Love the 'over there'.

[Bobofthedead]

Not necessarily. I heard that everything with wheels was cheaper in the US of A... I was talking to an 18-year old with an Audi. And he was bitching about £1.50-60 for a gallon of petrol. In the good ol' U of K, we pay ~£1.15-20 for a litre. They pay ~68p a litre! And they gripe!

:evil:

[david.atwell]

That's kind of a low price, actually...gas is getting closer to 2.50 GBP per gallon at this point. ($4 a gallon or so)

And though it doesn't sound like much to you, keep in mind that Americans have much larger distances to travel. My state is only half the size of the entire British island. The average commute in the USA is 40 miles or less, while the average UK commute is only 8.5 miles. We use more gas, because with the distances, it means that public transit is pretty impractical.

Even though I use it. :-P

[Bobofthedead]

I can imagine how public transport would be pretty useless in rural areas, but surely in areas which are even slightly more built up than a couple of thousand acres of prairie? Don't you have trains over there?

.:EDIT:.

What about those giant Greyhound coaches I've seen along interstate highways? They look like a good way to get around...

[david.atwell]

The problem is that no one's going to the same place. Even Greyhounds in rural areas would be essentially useless. It would end up taking hours to get to where you need to go.

No, we don't have much rail over here. There is some, but not much. And smaller towns are not large enough to have any sort of public transit.

See, public transit depends on large numbers of people all going to the same place. In the United States, there aren't enough people and they're not going to the same places (or even similar enough places). Sure, it would be possible to modify our culture into a more mass transit friendly society, but this would cost a lot of money and force a lot of people to change their lifestyles very drastically- and we're not to the point of needing that yet. Or, at least, we don't think we are.

[Stephan]

You think that's bad? I just calculated the cost of one gallon of petrol here.

What do you guys think? Is it 4$? No, it's more... Is it 6$? No it's more. is it 8$? Almost. The price of one gallon of petrol in the Netherlands is 8.71$*. Eat your heart out.

* 1,59€ -> 2,30$, 1gallon -> 3.79l. 2,30*3.79=8,71

[david.atwell]

Look, I'm not saying that gas isn't more expensive elsewhere. I'm just saying that it's something we're all facing pretty similarly. It doesn't get any better anywhere else.

[Stephan]

Look, I'm not saying that gas isn't more expensive elsewhere. I'm just saying that it's something we're all facing pretty similarly. It doesn't get any better anywhere else.

I wasn't saying you weren't saying that. I was just giving an example of the gas prices here. I started posting, but left from the PC before posting. Your reply had come in after I made the post.

[TopHATslash]

ash hit 5k posts 8)

[pyrochild]

I also still stand by my opinion that a standardised test can be falsely representative of a person dependant on circumstances.

Exactly.

Yeah but I spent all my time talking to girls and never got anything done!

I... did both?

[Max Power]

That's kind of a low price, actually...gas is getting closer to 2.50 GBP per gallon at this point. ($4 a gallon or so)

And though it doesn't sound like much to you, keep in mind that Americans have much larger distances to travel. My state is only half the size of the entire British island. The average commute in the USA is 40 miles or less, while the average UK commute is only 8.5 miles. We use more gas, because with the distances, it means that public transit is pretty impractical.

Even though I use it. :-P

Don't forget, you aren't allowed to drive fast ;-) 80mp/h maximum...

Yeah but I spent all my time talking to girls and never got anything done!

I... did both?

Multitasking!

I always knew it...pyrochild must be a woman. True Fact.

[ncfan51]

I wish I hads an autobahns.

Oh, and how I wish I could just drive, no, touch, a Tesla Roadster.

[pyrochild]

I always knew it...pyrochild must be a woman. True Fact.

False fallacy! Repetitive redundancy!

[Rick Brewster]

I just test-drove a jet-black 2005 BMW 545i ... oh wow. So tempting.

Aren't they very expensive "over there" since the dollar is so weak against the euro?

BMW's have become more expensive over the last few years. My theory is that they were forced to start importing the 1-series in order to fill the price hole left by the increasing price of the 3-series. However, after doing the math, the price creep isn't really that far from normal inflation (about 3% per year).

Plus, what I test drove was a 3 year old 545i It was priced just under $36k USD, but one could easily talk them down a few grand. A brand new 550i will cost you twice that (the 550i replaced the 545i in 2006).

Sadly, I will not be purchasing one*.

* yet :twisted:

[usedHONDA]

Something interesting happened today. I was Googling away as usual, clicked on one of the results, and it made this little dialog pop up that said:

ATTENTION! If your computer is struck by the virus, you could suffer data loss, erratic PC behaviour, PC freezes and creahes.

Detect and remove viruses before they damage your computer!

Antivirus 2009 will perform a 100% FREE and quick scan of your computer for Viruses, Spyware and Adware.

Do you want to install Antivirus 2009 to scan your computer for malware now? (Recommended)

Me being so into geeky things, I knew that Antivirus 2009 is obviously a hunk of BS to begin with, in addition to my hearing that this very name has been notorious among security geeks for the last few weeks. So I'm thinking "Wow, so this is what they've been talking about. Pathetic." and closed the dialog box. Then, out of nowhere, about 20 tabs open by themselves, all of them looking exactly like this:

[by the way, this screenshot was taken by me because I couldn't find one through Google]

So, for a few seconds, I took the time to admire the work that this guy did while making this piece of malware, watching all the little JS scripts do their magic, looking like the real thing. Then, when it got boring, I just pressed Ctrl+W, and held it until all the tabs were closed.

After that, I looked up the website where the malware attempt came from (plotec-werbung.de) and found a plethora of well thought-out attempts at getting the average Googler's attention. I must say that the dude responsible for this is pretty smart. Check it.