The Economist has an article summarizing the current state of distributed computing (think SETI@home and its ilk), which suggests that distributed-human projects are going to be the next big thing
After all, just look at BotNets. How much more insight do we need than that?
If only Joe Sixpack (who leaves his computer on 24/7 even tho he only uses it about a half hour per day) would understand that every clock cycle is sacred, every clock cycle is great...
If only. That would apply only to sixpackers who don't use MS Windoze which needs to be rebooted daily to fend off BSOD's. I mean really, you're doing some humongus calculation to resolve some combinitorial nightmare of an equation that could revolutionize cancer treatment and just when Joe's PC is about to return the pearls of wisdom that it has generated, your connection blows up because Joe's PC hung because it was Windowized.
I guess this brings up , "What is the MTBF of XP or VISTA"? In a real environment as opposed to a laboratory controlled setting?
They're still trying to foist buggy whips on automobile owners ----
Read My Lips: "LET IT GO RIAA/MPAA --- Get a Life, ForChrissakes!"
Use all the money you extorted from your customers over the past decades to get a high priced hooker to give you a hummer 3 times a day for the rest of your life.
Exactly zero. That is BS. I hear the USS Enterprise make power-up warp sounds and Darth Vader's Tigh fighters screech across interstellar space with Doppler pitch shifts all the time while in a vacuum. What about that cool rumbling power of Borg cubes? Also, what about the cataclysmic explosion one hears when a star supernovas with a small dose of trilithium? How could you hear that if sound traveled at zero ft/sec?
The speed of sound in the interstellar medium is much higher than it is on earth. In case you didn't know, space is not empty. Vacuum is, but space isn't. The speed of sound doesn't matter in the medium.
Legal issues aside. I think that if you pulsed the jamming signal so that it would jam regularly every 30 seconds or (could be built into a transmitted easily) just enough to frustrate the talk cycle and break the connection, you could preserve emergency connectivity (for whatever your window was set to) as well as frustrate yappers. The first group would go outside for a cleaner signal and the yapper could stare stupidly at their phones and go "WTF?"
And those heart attack emergencies could be duly reported or the reportees could get off their butts and go outside to call as with the emergency responders.
Also, I remember reading that jamming frequencies are notched reasonably well in their band (they're not just huge broad range power oscillators that saturate all radio comm.) which is why they're not just $10 in Radio Shack parts. So pager freqs would still be viable option for those vital individuals who are the center of their own universe and need 24/7 accessibility.
Those questions were meant to keep out casual adolescent users. Geekkids were almost unknown back then.
I remember getting the biggest chuckle when the CENSORED text flashed over the bedroom scene. Plus the way he threw them up on the disco floor, hee hee.
> "Jail should be saved for the violent offenders who actually cause damage to others, not just engage in behavior that some disagree with."
The issue is not that black and white.
What if the offense is selling crystal meth (extremely addictive and has a high recidivism rate). You're not a violent offender, just contributing to creating them. Or if you sell stolen guns to gangbangers? These are not in themselves violent offenses. What type of 'treatment' would you recommend for them?
I can't imagine in my worst "Fear and Loathing" moment that the ranks of US marijuana incarcerations are populated by Archie and Veronica teens for smoking a doobie behind the school. The ones doing time are the dealers. The big dealers.
It's intuitively obvious that any mathematical model which attempts to predict future events by analyzing past data sets would have to be driven significantly by the percentage of women on the planet whose menstrual cycles were coincident on the day or days in question. Just imagine the ripple effect on those unfortunate enough to possess a Y chromosome. Maybe there could be some wavelike effect or menstrual probability distributions that follow chaotic menstrual Attractors, which when aligned, bring catastrophe and misery during "perfect storms" of PMS. That actually fits --- Perfect Menstrual Storms . . .
Or maybe these guys have found the brass ring to the money tree for all eternity.
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I'd like them to throw in the "32,768 FREE hours of AOL" disks too.
I need to know which one I can throw farther.
You need to change the rules for your exit conditions when you inevitably execute the code segment:
DO WHILE husband_or_boyfriend_has_money = true;
Buy_Shoes = Buy_Shoes + 1;
After all, just look at BotNets. How much more insight do we need than that?
If only Joe Sixpack (who leaves his computer on 24/7 even tho he only uses it about a half hour per day) would understand that every clock cycle is sacred, every clock cycle is great...
If only. That would apply only to sixpackers who don't use MS Windoze which needs to be rebooted daily to fend off BSOD's. I mean really, you're doing some humongus calculation to resolve some combinitorial nightmare of an equation that could revolutionize cancer treatment and just when Joe's PC is about to return the pearls of wisdom that it has generated, your connection blows up because Joe's PC hung because it was Windowized.
I guess this brings up , "What is the MTBF of XP or VISTA"? In a real environment as opposed to a laboratory controlled setting?
YES!
They're still trying to foist buggy whips on automobile owners ----
Read My Lips: "LET IT GO RIAA/MPAA --- Get a Life, ForChrissakes!"
Use all the money you extorted from your customers over the past decades to get a high priced hooker to give you a hummer 3 times a day for the rest of your life.
I hear the USS Enterprise make power-up warp sounds and Darth Vader's Tigh fighters screech across interstellar space with Doppler pitch shifts all the time while in a vacuum. What about that cool rumbling power of Borg cubes?
Also, what about the cataclysmic explosion one hears when a star supernovas with a small dose of trilithium? How could you hear that if sound traveled at zero ft/sec?
"The medium IS the message"
I know EXACTLY what you're talking about. My hat off to you.
I'm willing to bet that you probably don't consume (or severely restrict) the mother of all American junk foods diets ----- Television.
Regarding the intermittent use of a jammer.
Legal issues aside. I think that if you pulsed the jamming signal so that it would jam regularly every 30 seconds or (could be built into a transmitted easily) just enough to frustrate the talk cycle and break the connection, you could preserve emergency connectivity (for whatever your window was set to) as well as frustrate yappers. The first group would go outside for a cleaner signal and the yapper could stare stupidly at their phones and go "WTF?"
And those heart attack emergencies could be duly reported or the reportees could get off their butts and go outside to call as with the emergency responders.
Also, I remember reading that jamming frequencies are notched reasonably well in their band (they're not just huge broad range power oscillators that saturate all radio comm.) which is why they're not just $10 in Radio Shack parts. So pager freqs would still be viable option for those vital individuals who are the center of their own universe and need 24/7 accessibility.
Talk of brittleness and breakage reminds me of this poor old duff:
:(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdIHA2rydk8
It is actually painful to watch, especially after he talks about the recording's uniqueness
If you quote statistics, please cite your source, preferably one without an agenda.
Ah the days gone by ---sigh
Those questions were meant to keep out casual adolescent users. Geekkids were almost unknown back then.
I remember getting the biggest chuckle when the CENSORED text flashed over the bedroom scene. Plus the way he threw them up on the disco floor, hee hee.
> "Jail should be saved for the violent offenders who actually cause damage to others, not just engage in behavior that some disagree with."
The issue is not that black and white.
What if the offense is selling crystal meth (extremely addictive and has a high recidivism rate). You're not a violent offender, just contributing to creating them. Or if you sell stolen guns to gangbangers? These are not in themselves violent offenses. What type of 'treatment' would you recommend for them?
I can't imagine in my worst "Fear and Loathing" moment that the ranks of US marijuana incarcerations are populated by Archie and Veronica teens for smoking a doobie behind the school. The ones doing time are the dealers. The big dealers.
That's because far more Europeans have watched "Dr. Strangelove"
You hit the nail on the head gbulmash. But some purportedly smart people found that causal relationship elusive.
Do you remember a NYT headline about 10 years ago that attempted to induce confusion into a set of DOJ stats:
"Prison Population Growing Although Crime Rate Drops"
Well ----DUHHHHHHHHHH !
With regard to lead, one might as well argue a connection between Global Warming and Violent Crime.
It's intuitively obvious that any mathematical model which attempts to predict future events by analyzing past data sets would have to be driven significantly by the percentage of women on the planet whose menstrual cycles were coincident on the day or days in question. Just imagine the ripple effect on those unfortunate enough to possess a Y chromosome. Maybe there could be some wavelike effect or menstrual probability distributions that follow chaotic menstrual Attractors, which when aligned, bring catastrophe and misery during "perfect storms" of PMS. That actually fits --- Perfect Menstrual Storms . . .
Or maybe these guys have found the brass ring to the money tree for all eternity.
My 2 cents with a wink.