Right, I need an answer to this question from a Lord of the Rings fan.
The question is this:
Given that the Ring was so goddamned important, and that its destruction was literally the central event of the entire history of Middle-Earth, why did the supposedly wise Elves entrust this mission to a young hobbit with no military experience, supported by any friends he happened to pick up along the way? Particularly as the hobbit in question had never previously been more than a few miles from his native village.
Surely, the obvious solution would have been to assign a company of elven cavalry with magic swords, supported by Ents, and accompanied by guides familiar with the terrain. It's clear from the book that the elves could raise a huge military force when they had to -- why not use it for this mission?
The really annoying thing is that there *is* a reason why this was not an option, and a Lord of the Rings fan told me what it was three years ago. I forgot it, though, and it's been driving me mad ever since.
Well, the largest benefit would be people could actually port software over to the dream cast with out paying any fees. Sega sells the dream cast at cost or less than cost in order to get people to buy the system. The games in turn, which probally cost 3 dollars in materials, and maybe 10 dollars in RD also pay sega a percentage. Just to get your hands on the development information costs you an arm and a leg. Now if you're activision, or capcom this really doesn't matter.
If you're joe shmoe user then this is a big deal. You could actually make your own shareware dreamcast game. People could download it over the internet. We go back to the days of the Apple II and C64 where big game makers started out of someones basement.
From a business stand point this is also a "Good Thing" (TM). If a number of game systems run Linux (Dreamcast, PS2, etc.) then the cost of porting could become cheaper. A company like Loki would do one main port of a game, then a could mini ports to tweak the games. The plus side to the linux comunity is games could be avalible on Linux x86 before the windows version is complete.
Just some stuff that should get you wondering.
And in the millions of peices of mail that go through the postal system, you think they'll know which ones carry terrorist information and which ones don't? Are we going to demand that the postal service open and read each and every mail? Encryption can be broken, it just takes a lot of equipement and possibly time. Besides, I believe even wiretap regulations require that two of the three involved parties give their consent (carrier, sender, recipient), and there are devices that are much closer to a wiretap than forcing all users to conduct their business in the open clear of the safety of encryption.
Currently, I tend to feel SAFER buying stuff online from trusted merchants with my credit card than giving it to someone who works in a store. Most online merchants destroy your credit card number after it's no longer needed, and keep only minimal records of it (4 first or last numbers). Compared to bricks-and-mortar shopping, where the store makes one or two copies for itself and one copy for you to lose, with 'customers' behind you that can look over your shoulder because of poor handling of the card, it makes me feel nervous. However, if you take away encryption from the equation, all bets are off, since a packet may travel through dozens of systems and routers before being recieved by the vendor you're trying to buy from.
How much freedom are you willing to sacrifice in order to gain safety? To me, the benefits that society gains from encryption far outweigh the evils that can be done with it. Besides the fact that if they're already criminals, do you think they'll have any qualms about using 'illegal' encryption products? You'll only stop stupid ones, and they're rarely the ones that do the most damage. I'm glad to be living in Canada on this point -- there's never been any plans to stop private citizens from using or exporting encryption, with the exception of those products imported from the United States that employed 'high-grade' encryption that was banned from export from the United States. Why do you suppose the OpenBSD project, which uses encryption where ever possible, is based in Canada?
To help me sleep, I drink lots of cider. Strongbow Super is my particular favourite - that's what most tramps drink, so it must represent good value for money.
As for waking up... well, certain options always seem to ahem... present themselves.
Firstly, the weight issue is probably going to be tough.
Secondly, it's well known that if you don't have the two displays accurately aligned with your eyes, this can cause eye strain and headaches (this is why an optician needs to measure the distance between your eyes).
Finally, your eyes are most comfortable focussing at their "far point" - which should be at "infinity" - for most people, 5m or so is fine. Building the optics to project the lcd image so that it appears to fill your field of view, and come from a distance of 5m is probably not too easy (haven't really thought about it too much though). Again, any optics is going to add weight.
And for bluesky "gee whizz" quotient, check out the Overwhelmingly Large Telescope (OWL)...
I really wonder if they'll ever get anything that useful out of such a large aperture. 100m diameter is one hell of a challenge for the current state-of-the-art in adaptive optics (my phd is in low-end adaptive optics, so my knowledge of the high-end stuff is a little rusty). One of the papers linked from the OWL page discusses using multi-conjugate adaptive optics to compensate for the fact that the field of view will be very restricted - but this is still an as-yet unproven technology.
Back on-topic, the keck interferometer is a huge achievement. Getting such a long baseline at optical wavelengths is hugely impressive - this is roughly equivalent to keeping the two posts the same distance apart to within 20 cm - when one post is here, and the other is on the moon!
Python is my favorite programming language to date. It all of my favorite features that are in other languages.
For those of you that don't know much about python, I would encourage you to try it out! Coming from the following languages, here is why I would recommend python:
Java - Python has a class library the size of Java's, its VM starts up faster, and its simpler to write and maintain. Plus, it isn't controlled by Sun!
Perl - Okay, all religious issues aside here. Get real. Perl is a great language, but it has largely been extended beyond its original intent, and is straining to keep up. Python is easier to learn, develop in, and most of all *maintain*. If you have ever looked at another person's Perl code and tried to maintain it, you know what I mean. Perl is cool. Python is cooler. Give it a shot, you can even use Perl style regular expressions!
C++ - Still haven't realized that C++ is a dirty hack eh? No, all kidding aside, C++ is also a great language. Honestly though, I struggle to develop quickly in C++ because I keep running into language barriers. C++ is probably the most widely used OO language next to Java. I for one am sick of managing my own memory. Leave it to the garbage collector thanks =) If you want a really really fast OO application, write it in C++. If you want to develop a OO application really really fast -- choose Python.
C - Ahh, the great C. What a fantastic language. Fast, Fast, Fast! But, not object oriented. Now, I know in the Linux world there are a lot of C lovers, and don't get me wrong, C has many uses. But the world would benefit if people would write their apps in Python. There would be very few memory related bugs! Many times, the development cycle is slowed dramatically by C's tragically painful memory management. Programmers are dumb. We really are. We make silly off by 1 errors, that oftentimes can make a C program leak memory like a swiss cheese bucket. Write in Python. Its *so* much easier, and is perfectly fast for GUIs, and many server applications.
Python, to me, is the language of the future. It is fast, easy to lean, fun to develop in, and is just plain cool.
According to this page, Washington law sets the following as penalties for spam:
The law allows for damages to the recipient of $500 or actual damages, which ever is greater, for EACH MESSAGE received. The law also allows $1,000 or actual damages, which ever is greater, to the Internet Service Provider, for EACH MESSAGE received.
Maybe, but I would think there would be a way to drill at an angle, maybe with some high grade reflective joints. I'm not an optical physicist though
Well I am. Yes, you could use reflective joints (known in the trade as "mirrors") to deflect the beam. You would probably be using them at high angles of incidence, which makes life a lot easier (most things reflect much better the nearer you get to grazing incidence). In fact, you can guarantee that something reflective enough must exist - because that's what they use to make the ends of the laser cavity! You might need some cooling system down there though...
Re:We can use something like this too!
on
The Dot in .mars
·
· Score: 1
That way, as new technologies come along, we'll be able to make changes to the underlying physical infrastructures without disturbing the protocols that are already in place
I work for a consultancy producing engineering-based software. We follow the ISO9000 procedures, and in particular the tick-it procedures.
I would say that you should follow these procedures for internally written software (you'll probably need to write your own layer of procedures to satisfy the tick-it recommendations - that's what we've done). For externally supplied software, wherever possible that software should be tick-it or iso9000 compliant. If not, you'll need to define testing procedures, especially if that software is critical to the performance of your product.
The brain is amazingly adaptable and capable of learning. It can even learn to improve its own performance, if it is shown what to change. By making information available to the brain in real-time about how it is functioning, and asking it to make adjustments, it can do so. The games challenge the trainee to maintain this "high-performance," alert and attentive state. Gradually, the brain learns and the brain retains the new skill.
This story has been around for over a year, see eg. here or here. I wonder why there's so much publicity surrounding it right now? (I heard a "news" article about this on the usually excellent BBC Radio 4 today programme). Perhaps they're about to try and commercialise this?
There's no real need for a steak the size of a toilet seat, and yet restaurants make this their proud boast.
Mmm.. sounds so enticing.
It never ceases to amaze me how much food one gets in the US compared to the UK. I thought we pretty much had fattening food covered with the deep-fried mars-bar thing, but that simply cannot compete with restaurants that give you 3 tons of food for about 50pUK.
I think americans need to evaluate the cost they put on food (not to mention petrol, but that's another matter). It's gross overconsumption such as this that leads to global warming, and global malnutrition.
"Real Programmers Don't Document: If it was hard to write, it should be hard to read"
Anyone that believes that needs shooting, IMO. It's the programming equivalent of saying "i have a proof that this works, but it is too large to fit in this margin" (sorry if that quote isn't spot on there).
Ummm... "impossible" to do large-scale development, meaning Perl actually prevents this?
Of course perl doesn't actually prevent this in any literal way. However, the practical result of perl code is that once it gets above a certain size, the whole tends to glue together into one creaking mass. Perl simply doesn't support advanced language features such as reflection in java, which allows you to ensure that your code is cleanly separated.
As we java developers say: program to the interface. You can't do that in perl. Java can stop some idiot coming and screwing up your code by ignoring the APIs, in perl you're forced to rely on trust. A trust-based coding system simply doesn't work once you've got more than just a couple of coders working together. Bondage can be good for you.
From the article:
Napster Inc. said last week that 28 million people had downloaded its program. It does not reveal its own figures for how many people actually use the software.
I download hundreds of bits of software over the course of the average month, most of them get deleted pretty swiftly. Sounds like napster are trying to boost their image by putting out vaguely suggestive press releases like this.
but it can probably only detect calling somebody a c**t
Why not read the article, and realise that it does more than look for profanities? Oops sorry, forgot - that would take too much time. Much better to post something half-baked than worry about factual accuracy.
These types of peltier coolers are used widely for cooling laser diodes in research applications, and as your link suggests, and i can vouch for the fact that these devices are very reliable (as they should be with no moving parts). However, i'm not sure how much heat a cpu or hard drive chucks out - the products they list go up to 80 watts.
One thing that'll help you is that you aren't really trying to achieve cooling (roughly room temp is fine for a cpu / disk, no?) so you should get good efficiency from the peltier.
Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft are going to share some of their source code with the developers. Could this be the start of a new style of policy from microsoft?
friiiiist
something like a second of arc at the centre of the earth, when it reaches the surface. I think. A bit like a parsec.
The question is this: Given that the Ring was so goddamned important, and that its destruction was literally the central event of the entire history of Middle-Earth, why did the supposedly wise Elves entrust this mission to a young hobbit with no military experience, supported by any friends he happened to pick up along the way? Particularly as the hobbit in question had never previously been more than a few miles from his native village.
Surely, the obvious solution would have been to assign a company of elven cavalry with magic swords, supported by Ents, and accompanied by guides familiar with the terrain. It's clear from the book that the elves could raise a huge military force when they had to -- why not use it for this mission?
The really annoying thing is that there *is* a reason why this was not an option, and a Lord of the Rings fan told me what it was three years ago. I forgot it, though, and it's been driving me mad ever since.
If you're joe shmoe user then this is a big deal. You could actually make your own shareware dreamcast game. People could download it over the internet. We go back to the days of the Apple II and C64 where big game makers started out of someones basement.
From a business stand point this is also a "Good Thing" (TM). If a number of game systems run Linux (Dreamcast, PS2, etc.) then the cost of porting could become cheaper. A company like Loki would do one main port of a game, then a could mini ports to tweak the games. The plus side to the linux comunity is games could be avalible on Linux x86 before the windows version is complete. Just some stuff that should get you wondering.
And in the millions of peices of mail that go through the postal system, you think they'll know which ones carry terrorist information and which ones don't? Are we going to demand that the postal service open and read each and every mail? Encryption can be broken, it just takes a lot of equipement and possibly time. Besides, I believe even wiretap regulations require that two of the three involved parties give their consent (carrier, sender, recipient), and there are devices that are much closer to a wiretap than forcing all users to conduct their business in the open clear of the safety of encryption.
Currently, I tend to feel SAFER buying stuff online from trusted merchants with my credit card than giving it to someone who works in a store. Most online merchants destroy your credit card number after it's no longer needed, and keep only minimal records of it (4 first or last numbers). Compared to bricks-and-mortar shopping, where the store makes one or two copies for itself and one copy for you to lose, with 'customers' behind you that can look over your shoulder because of poor handling of the card, it makes me feel nervous. However, if you take away encryption from the equation, all bets are off, since a packet may travel through dozens of systems and routers before being recieved by the vendor you're trying to buy from.
How much freedom are you willing to sacrifice in order to gain safety? To me, the benefits that society gains from encryption far outweigh the evils that can be done with it. Besides the fact that if they're already criminals, do you think they'll have any qualms about using 'illegal' encryption products? You'll only stop stupid ones, and they're rarely the ones that do the most damage. I'm glad to be living in Canada on this point -- there's never been any plans to stop private citizens from using or exporting encryption, with the exception of those products imported from the United States that employed 'high-grade' encryption that was banned from export from the United States. Why do you suppose the OpenBSD project, which uses encryption where ever possible, is based in Canada?
As for waking up... well, certain options always seem to ahem... present themselves.
Secondly, it's well known that if you don't have the two displays accurately aligned with your eyes, this can cause eye strain and headaches (this is why an optician needs to measure the distance between your eyes).
Finally, your eyes are most comfortable focussing at their "far point" - which should be at "infinity" - for most people, 5m or so is fine. Building the optics to project the lcd image so that it appears to fill your field of view, and come from a distance of 5m is probably not too easy (haven't really thought about it too much though). Again, any optics is going to add weight.
Back on-topic, the keck interferometer is a huge achievement. Getting such a long baseline at optical wavelengths is hugely impressive - this is roughly equivalent to keeping the two posts the same distance apart to within 20 cm - when one post is here, and the other is on the moon!
Python is my favorite programming language to date. It all of my favorite features that are in other languages.
For those of you that don't know much about python, I would encourage you to try it out! Coming from the following languages, here is why I would recommend python:
Java - Python has a class library the size of Java's, its VM starts up faster, and its simpler to write and maintain. Plus, it isn't controlled by Sun!
Perl - Okay, all religious issues aside here. Get real. Perl is a great language, but it has largely been extended beyond its original intent, and is straining to keep up. Python is easier to learn, develop in, and most of all *maintain*. If you have ever looked at another person's Perl code and tried to maintain it, you know what I mean. Perl is cool. Python is cooler. Give it a shot, you can even use Perl style regular expressions!
C++ - Still haven't realized that C++ is a dirty hack eh? No, all kidding aside, C++ is also a great language. Honestly though, I struggle to develop quickly in C++ because I keep running into language barriers. C++ is probably the most widely used OO language next to Java. I for one am sick of managing my own memory. Leave it to the garbage collector thanks =) If you want a really really fast OO application, write it in C++. If you want to develop a OO application really really fast -- choose Python.
C - Ahh, the great C. What a fantastic language. Fast, Fast, Fast! But, not object oriented. Now, I know in the Linux world there are a lot of C lovers, and don't get me wrong, C has many uses. But the world would benefit if people would write their apps in Python. There would be very few memory related bugs! Many times, the development cycle is slowed dramatically by C's tragically painful memory management. Programmers are dumb. We really are. We make silly off by 1 errors, that oftentimes can make a C program leak memory like a swiss cheese bucket. Write in Python. Its *so* much easier, and is perfectly fast for GUIs, and many server applications.
Python, to me, is the language of the future. It is fast, easy to lean, fun to develop in, and is just plain cool.
Spam Laws in the US, Europe, and beyond
According to this page, Washington law sets the following as penalties for spam:
Full text of the law is available
Yes, that's always a problem in laser cavities too. I don't know if there's a simple way to overcome this problem in the hostile environment.
my google turned up this which seems to suggest it can be done, but doesn't give too many hints other than use Kernel 2.2.13, built-in IrDA driver
I would say that you should follow these procedures for internally written software (you'll probably need to write your own layer of procedures to satisfy the tick-it recommendations - that's what we've done). For externally supplied software, wherever possible that software should be tick-it or iso9000 compliant. If not, you'll need to define testing procedures, especially if that software is critical to the performance of your product.
The brain is amazingly adaptable and capable of learning. It can even learn to improve its own performance, if it is shown what to change. By making information available to the brain in real-time about how it is functioning, and asking it to make adjustments, it can do so. The games challenge the trainee to maintain this "high-performance," alert and attentive state. Gradually, the brain learns and the brain retains the new skill.
This story has been around for over a year, see eg. here or here. I wonder why there's so much publicity surrounding it right now? (I heard a "news" article about this on the usually excellent BBC Radio 4 today programme). Perhaps they're about to try and commercialise this?
Mmm.. sounds so enticing.
It never ceases to amaze me how much food one gets in the US compared to the UK. I thought we pretty much had fattening food covered with the deep-fried mars-bar thing, but that simply cannot compete with restaurants that give you 3 tons of food for about 50pUK.
I think americans need to evaluate the cost they put on food (not to mention petrol, but that's another matter). It's gross overconsumption such as this that leads to global warming, and global malnutrition.
Anyone that believes that needs shooting, IMO. It's the programming equivalent of saying "i have a proof that this works, but it is too large to fit in this margin" (sorry if that quote isn't spot on there).
Of course perl doesn't actually prevent this in any literal way. However, the practical result of perl code is that once it gets above a certain size, the whole tends to glue together into one creaking mass. Perl simply doesn't support advanced language features such as reflection in java, which allows you to ensure that your code is cleanly separated.
As we java developers say: program to the interface. You can't do that in perl. Java can stop some idiot coming and screwing up your code by ignoring the APIs, in perl you're forced to rely on trust. A trust-based coding system simply doesn't work once you've got more than just a couple of coders working together. Bondage can be good for you.
i was just thinking...
I download hundreds of bits of software over the course of the average month, most of them get deleted pretty swiftly. Sounds like napster are trying to boost their image by putting out vaguely suggestive press releases like this.
Edric.
Why not read the article, and realise that it does more than look for profanities? Oops sorry, forgot - that would take too much time. Much better to post something half-baked than worry about factual accuracy.
Edric.
One thing that'll help you is that you aren't really trying to achieve cooling (roughly room temp is fine for a cpu / disk, no?) so you should get good efficiency from the peltier.