I'm not saying that they invented everything, just that not long ago (historically speaking) there was considerable parity between the scientific ability of Islamic and western nations.
Point duly noted about Arabs vs. Persians, although I'd counter that you have to be equally careful equating Persians with Muslims. Most of the people I know that identify themselves as Persian are Bah'ais who emigrated to Australia to avoid religious persecution at the hands of Muslims. Of course, one or two Persians that I know are Muslim, which can lead to some awkward parties...:P
I must confess I'd never heard of Tamerlane, from the wiki page it sounds like he wiped out most of the Middle East (along with everything else in his path), so I understand that would have put a dent a few research schedules in the region. Then again, that was 600 years ago and these days (patent and copyright law aside) there's a far more open tradition of sharing scientific knowledge, compared to say the Sikhs who kept steelmaking secret for hundreds of years.
I still maintain that of present day leaders in scientific fields, few are hardline fundamentalist religious nuts and most scientific breakthroughs are made in countries with secular governments.
Seems this would be a good opportunity for some bright young exec to step up and run with some succesful shows that are already in place, and get himself some recognition as the guy who didn't kill the good shows. But then, we don't have time for rational solutions.
It would be, except for the fact that from the moment that bright young exec steps up, the studio president guy is saying "well, Bob the Ex-Exec's favourite show is still #1 and the shows you were promoting when you were an underling are still doing pretty badly". Somehow this guy got to be studio president without realising that 2am on Tuesday morning isn't prime time and won't get top ratings.
Sorry, I was working on the unstated assumption that we had working fusion power, which implies effectively infinite energy, since we can make hydrogen out of sea water. Also, while the Earth isn't a closed system (since we can radiate heat into space), the rate at which we can radiate heat is limited by the Earth's surface area and temperature, so even if we cover the entire surface of the earth with incandescent radiators there's a limit (set by the maximum efficiency of heat reactor power generation and heat pumps) to how much power we can use and maintain a constant temperature.
Forgive me for responding to myself, but... still trying to figure out how this is flamebait, unless it's really THAT rude to add an aside responding to a user's sig? Obviously I meant a truly clever developer's code won't need debugging _by someone else_, assuming they're clever enough to write robust, functional code and that 'clever' entails some deep understanding of code design rather than simply a penchant for clever coding tricks.
As I said in my cousin-once-removed post (or is that second-cousin post? My knowledge of genealogy is somewhat sketchy.) It's very very useful to be able to do this. It does, however, open up a massive trap for new players in that we're wired to remember the first way we find to do something as 'the' way to do it until we have a good overall understanding of the system involved, leading to situations like this.
Actually I think it was that that brought the whole mess to my attention - a "Help, Sir, my computer ate my assignment!".
At first I thought (as Kayden, below, said) that it was incredibly vapid (I love that word!) to misuse a dialog like that. Then I actually thought through the process I would, as a totally unacquainted new user, go through, and figured that after doing an MS Word tutorial as my first introduction to Windows and then poking around a bit while doing it, even as my very intelligent self I'd probably end up doing something similar. O.o
Or "This is a local website for local people. There's nothing for you here."
Thankyou! I was hoping someone would say this.;)
Bad login attempts should lead to an error page saying "What's all this shouting? We'll have no trouble here!"
As a slightly lard-oriented computer professional ('tubby nerd') I'd like to see this study before I do too much more exercise in an effort to lose weight...
I'm reasonably sure that if they have a serious interest in the contents of your hard drive, the NSA will be able to decrypt it by using a $5 wrench and some duct tape to persuade you to help them.
Yes, but eventually you're going to run out of cold places to put the heat. It's not a big issue on Earth at this stage (at least until we get to the point where we're using enough fusion energy to directly heat the planet as a result, this was mentioned in a couple of Peter F. Hamilton books IIRC) and probably wasn't really necessary to mention but I did so for completeness' sake. Given an infinite source of heat in a closed system (which we so far assume the universe is, lacking evidence that it's not closed), you can't decrease the entropy of the system overall.
What's racist about it? He's just describing exactly what happens. Sorry to not meet your ultra-high standards of political correctness but I'd say that empirically, western values are 'better' than those of countries with hardline Islamic governments, because they produce a happier, more productive populous. If you don't believe me, think about how many US citizens are trying to sneak into Iran in cargo containers in order to live free and happy lives, compared with the other way around.
As for "civilisation" starting 250 years ago, are you aware that until fairly recently, Arab nations lead the world in science and technology? Damascus steel, the best weapons-grade steel available from around 1000AD, was created in the Middle East. Our numerical system (including the concept of 'zero'), much of chemistry (including the identification of alcohol), the very word 'algorithm' all come from Arab scholars. It's not a big stretch to start our reckoning at the point where the two cultures were roughly even.
Something changed sometime in the last 500 years to enable western technology to really take off, and I'd be willing to bet it's cultural. Specifically, fundamental religious education instils a mindset of not questioning knowledge or trying to further understanding of the natural world. The willingness to embrace the scientific method and systematically test and question your current view of the world is antithetical to the unquestioning belief demanded by religious fundamentalism.
Sorry, grandpa, when I was little I accidentally broke Windows 95 several times while learning to program. And I mean Windows, not my application, my best effort would reliably bluescreen then when Windows tried to restart start it would give me a 3.1-style dialog box saying I had to reinstall Windows. Fun times!:P
I'm sure that, on paper, Windows had all that stuff, but in practice...
Honestly, though, I've been using Vista at work for the last week and it's growing on me. The mini-command-line launcher thing in the start menu is tres cool. Everything seems similar enough to XP to be easy to pick up. The shutdown-that-really-hibernates is good too, I wouldn't have tried hibernate if it hadn't just gone and done it for me because hibernate is historically so unreliable, but this's been working flawlessly for a week. I'm still not about to go out and buy Vista for my home computer but I'm not so bummed about having to use it at work.
What asplodes my head is when I'm telling my wife how to do some computer-related task and I say "now open a windows explorer window" and she opens IE. I need to remember to say "open 'my computer'".
Then again it could be much worse. One girl I tutored used to use the File|Open dialog box in MS Word for ALL her file management. Just goes to show that if you make it possible, someone will do it.
True, although many virtual instances of anything are seldom useful to a single user. Luckily most applications are being designed with multiple cores in mind now, which is a good thing because it's often far easier to generalise software from 4 to N cores than it was to take it from 1 to 4 cores.
Sig response:
A truly clever developer will create code so easy to understand that a less than average developer could debug it.
I'd say that a truly clever developer's code won't need debugging. My measure of a truly clever developer is one that can create code so easy to understand that a less than average developer can elegantly extend it.:)
*gives you a hug* Thank god someone else still thinks this! My old work computer was a perfectly good 1.5-year-old machine, and it took a solid minute to boot Outlook. I ended up using OWA just to stop it from bogging my machine down during compiles. No amount of custom window decoration can justify a goddamn email program taking up that much CPU time.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm not saying that they invented everything, just that not long ago (historically speaking) there was considerable parity between the scientific ability of Islamic and western nations.
:P
Point duly noted about Arabs vs. Persians, although I'd counter that you have to be equally careful equating Persians with Muslims. Most of the people I know that identify themselves as Persian are Bah'ais who emigrated to Australia to avoid religious persecution at the hands of Muslims. Of course, one or two Persians that I know are Muslim, which can lead to some awkward parties...
I must confess I'd never heard of Tamerlane, from the wiki page it sounds like he wiped out most of the Middle East (along with everything else in his path), so I understand that would have put a dent a few research schedules in the region. Then again, that was 600 years ago and these days (patent and copyright law aside) there's a far more open tradition of sharing scientific knowledge, compared to say the Sikhs who kept steelmaking secret for hundreds of years.
I still maintain that of present day leaders in scientific fields, few are hardline fundamentalist religious nuts and most scientific breakthroughs are made in countries with secular governments.
Anywhere you want, but I suggest a discreet location such as your lounge room or kitchen.
Oh... OH. You meant BUY it. Nevermind.
Seems this would be a good opportunity for some bright young exec to step up and run with some succesful shows that are already in place, and get himself some recognition as the guy who didn't kill the good shows. But then, we don't have time for rational solutions.
It would be, except for the fact that from the moment that bright young exec steps up, the studio president guy is saying "well, Bob the Ex-Exec's favourite show is still #1 and the shows you were promoting when you were an underling are still doing pretty badly". Somehow this guy got to be studio president without realising that 2am on Tuesday morning isn't prime time and won't get top ratings.
You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all part of the same compost pile.
That's ad logicum.
I would guess that the difference lies in the fact that the Chimps behavior was not a product of instinct, but that of cogent thought.
Dunno about you but I indulge in cogent thought entirely by instinct.
Sorry, I was working on the unstated assumption that we had working fusion power, which implies effectively infinite energy, since we can make hydrogen out of sea water. Also, while the Earth isn't a closed system (since we can radiate heat into space), the rate at which we can radiate heat is limited by the Earth's surface area and temperature, so even if we cover the entire surface of the earth with incandescent radiators there's a limit (set by the maximum efficiency of heat reactor power generation and heat pumps) to how much power we can use and maintain a constant temperature.
You're right. Tubbs, show them your points!
Forgive me for responding to myself, but... still trying to figure out how this is flamebait, unless it's really THAT rude to add an aside responding to a user's sig? Obviously I meant a truly clever developer's code won't need debugging _by someone else_, assuming they're clever enough to write robust, functional code and that 'clever' entails some deep understanding of code design rather than simply a penchant for clever coding tricks.
As I said in my cousin-once-removed post (or is that second-cousin post? My knowledge of genealogy is somewhat sketchy.) It's very very useful to be able to do this. It does, however, open up a massive trap for new players in that we're wired to remember the first way we find to do something as 'the' way to do it until we have a good overall understanding of the system involved, leading to situations like this.
Actually I think it was that that brought the whole mess to my attention - a "Help, Sir, my computer ate my assignment!".
At first I thought (as Kayden, below, said) that it was incredibly vapid (I love that word!) to misuse a dialog like that. Then I actually thought through the process I would, as a totally unacquainted new user, go through, and figured that after doing an MS Word tutorial as my first introduction to Windows and then poking around a bit while doing it, even as my very intelligent self I'd probably end up doing something similar. O.o
Or "This is a local website for local people. There's nothing for you here."
Thankyou! I was hoping someone would say this. ;)
Bad login attempts should lead to an error page saying "What's all this shouting? We'll have no trouble here!"
As a slightly lard-oriented computer professional ('tubby nerd') I'd like to see this study before I do too much more exercise in an effort to lose weight...
Wow, so promiscuity is now considered an undesirable outcome? Perhaps from a religious morals point of view...
I'm guessing that it's the outcome you're likely to be able to achieve if you manage to dodge obesity, diabetes, smoking, and too much TV viewing.
I'm reasonably sure that if they have a serious interest in the contents of your hard drive, the NSA will be able to decrypt it by using a $5 wrench and some duct tape to persuade you to help them.
Why use TrueCrypt when you can just sort your hard drive by the value of the bits, and then compress it with zip?
The sorting is the bit which makes the compressing so much easier, btw. I use it on all my backups to make them smaller!
Yes, but eventually you're going to run out of cold places to put the heat. It's not a big issue on Earth at this stage (at least until we get to the point where we're using enough fusion energy to directly heat the planet as a result, this was mentioned in a couple of Peter F. Hamilton books IIRC) and probably wasn't really necessary to mention but I did so for completeness' sake. Given an infinite source of heat in a closed system (which we so far assume the universe is, lacking evidence that it's not closed), you can't decrease the entropy of the system overall.
What's racist about it? He's just describing exactly what happens. Sorry to not meet your ultra-high standards of political correctness but I'd say that empirically, western values are 'better' than those of countries with hardline Islamic governments, because they produce a happier, more productive populous. If you don't believe me, think about how many US citizens are trying to sneak into Iran in cargo containers in order to live free and happy lives, compared with the other way around.
As for "civilisation" starting 250 years ago, are you aware that until fairly recently, Arab nations lead the world in science and technology? Damascus steel, the best weapons-grade steel available from around 1000AD, was created in the Middle East. Our numerical system (including the concept of 'zero'), much of chemistry (including the identification of alcohol), the very word 'algorithm' all come from Arab scholars. It's not a big stretch to start our reckoning at the point where the two cultures were roughly even.
Something changed sometime in the last 500 years to enable western technology to really take off, and I'd be willing to bet it's cultural. Specifically, fundamental religious education instils a mindset of not questioning knowledge or trying to further understanding of the natural world. The willingness to embrace the scientific method and systematically test and question your current view of the world is antithetical to the unquestioning belief demanded by religious fundamentalism.
With enough available energy you can make as much as you want of pretty much anything except coldness.
So by your figures, we should have fusion reactors in production within 120 real-world years? :)
Sorry, grandpa, when I was little I accidentally broke Windows 95 several times while learning to program. And I mean Windows, not my application, my best effort would reliably bluescreen then when Windows tried to restart start it would give me a 3.1-style dialog box saying I had to reinstall Windows. Fun times! :P
I'm sure that, on paper, Windows had all that stuff, but in practice...
+1, xkcd.
Honestly, though, I've been using Vista at work for the last week and it's growing on me. The mini-command-line launcher thing in the start menu is tres cool. Everything seems similar enough to XP to be easy to pick up. The shutdown-that-really-hibernates is good too, I wouldn't have tried hibernate if it hadn't just gone and done it for me because hibernate is historically so unreliable, but this's been working flawlessly for a week. I'm still not about to go out and buy Vista for my home computer but I'm not so bummed about having to use it at work.
What asplodes my head is when I'm telling my wife how to do some computer-related task and I say "now open a windows explorer window" and she opens IE. I need to remember to say "open 'my computer'".
Then again it could be much worse. One girl I tutored used to use the File|Open dialog box in MS Word for ALL her file management. Just goes to show that if you make it possible, someone will do it.
Sig response:
A truly clever developer will create code so easy to understand that a less than average developer could debug it.
I'd say that a truly clever developer's code won't need debugging. My measure of a truly clever developer is one that can create code so easy to understand that a less than average developer can elegantly extend it. :)
*gives you a hug* Thank god someone else still thinks this! My old work computer was a perfectly good 1.5-year-old machine, and it took a solid minute to boot Outlook. I ended up using OWA just to stop it from bogging my machine down during compiles. No amount of custom window decoration can justify a goddamn email program taking up that much CPU time.