2: Relays.... This wouldn't have been quite the problem, if I weren't using the relay to drive the relay... which creates an oscillator. This means that I shocked myself quite a few times before I could get the breadboard off of my hand.
Made them deliberately in school. Great fun. I got ten people to hold hands and gave them all a shock just as the teacher walked up the stairs.
Looks like they've changed it - http://watchdog.co.nz/home.htm - it's now a metal dog. But I still have a mug with the duck logo on it. Watchduck, we used to call them...
Not sure how that's informative. Might be so in the US, but over here our little government just doesn't have the resources to intervene. The police are more concerned about speeding tickets and methamphetamine labs, the people are more concerned about the price of petrol and some church leader with a shiny car (search for "Brian Tamaki" and "Destiny Church"), and the government is more concerned about how to rebuild half of Auckland after the silly 'modern' building fads of the 90s.
It's voluntary. And it hasn't even reached the technology page on the NZ Herald yet. Who cares?
Watchdog has positioned themselves as filtering specialists. They always have. That's why they call themselves "Watchdog". Parental control is their biggest selling point.
Funny though, their logo is a duck. Never worked that one out.
My first job used a fairly low level language (CORAL) with about 250000 lines of code. I didn't really grasp it until one day I set up a process in debug, and stepped it through a few instructions at a time. I could then follow it through the code, and learnt how the main backbone worked.
In my next job, I had about the same amount of code in PHP, written in a curious pseudo object oriented fashion (the main designer had come from ASP). So again, I started with index.php, and debugged my way laboriously through each file.
It really helps if you can grasp the overall structure, and the only way to do that is on foot...
I think you might be onto something there. A site that provides brief summaries on international and national news for free, with increasing levels of subscription (or targeted advertising) allowing you to get to the in-depth comment and exclusive local news. It could draw upon the army of small-time bloggers willing to receive a few pennies in return for good local comment. The ultimate result would be a vast network allowing you to get details and perspective as you choose, rather than a single editorial slant ("hmm - I wonder what that Iraqi guy in Paris has to say on that one...")
At the moment, we've got too many big newspapers telling us what we already know, and too many local papers which have limited contact with each other, and limited resources. I reckon the first news site that grasps this one could end up sweeping the floor.
Not really. It's on a microscopic scale, and at that level, a tiny current can vaporise silicon quite easily. That's how EPROMs work, and also why you need to be careful with static when handling circuits.
Tables and divs both have their uses. I wish that I had one method that had the capabilities of both, but until then, I choose the most appropriate. Some of my younger colleagues would spout endlessly about the beauty of divs and CSS. I almost believed them until I saw their code!
I'll third that. I think we scared off a lot of customers with contracts and extortionate hourly rates (designed to cover sales, accounts, admin, cat food, the works). The customer who were happiest (and most profitable) were the ones we just charged at a (lowered) hourly rate for everything. If I'd been in charge, I would have cut the hourly rate in half, but charged them for everything, not just the time it took the techie to code it.
Our biggest bane was customers who would try to get the cheapest price, add extra features by stealth, expect the capabilities of Google, Flickr and Facebook combined, and, ah yes, fix their computer for free. If we'd just charged them a plain hourly rate, we'd have been laughing.
Sure, you need to give an idea of total cost. But make it plain that it's an estimate, not a quote!
In our first A-level chemistry lesson, our teacher sat on his desk and pronounced that the world was flat. After a stunned silence, we then tried (successfully) to prove him wrong.
His point was that a lot of the things we had been taught up to that point (the structure of atoms, the nature of reactions etc) were actually incorrect, or more accurately just approximate theory. And that the stuff we were about to learn might also prove just as 'approximate'. He urged us to begin to question the things we were taught, and not just take them as fact.
We were taught to think for ourselves, and I don't ever recall one single controversial lesson. Maybe it's because we didn't have powerful lobby groups in that part of rural Oxfordshire, but I don't actually remember being taught evolution either. And very few exams were 'multiple choice' - i.e. 'answer it like we want you to'.
Children have brains. They can think for themselves
Not sure how low we'll be able to keep things once we have children, but it'll be an interesting adventure. I'll probably try "clean up that toy or I'll throw it away" and see how that works out:)
Beware the baby shower! Beware the first Christmas with the grandparents! The birthdays! The tears as you dump the seashell collection! Beware the numerous friends trying to clear their spare rooms! Beware the shiny new legally required car seat that doesn't fit in a Civic!
Still not clear how it works though, or what exactly it's storing. Surely resistance is a function, and it must be storing charge or flux, or some quantum effect perhaps?
They're measuring the sea of electrons between the stars, which they assume stops at the 'edge' of the galaxy.
FTA: "As light from these pulsars travels to us, it interacts with electrons scattered between the stars (the Warm Ionised Medium, or WIM), which slows the light down.... If you know the distance to the pulsar accurately, then you can work out how dense the WIM is and where it stops - in other words where the Galaxy's edge is.
I see God, sitting in his study, with charts and drawings covering the walls, and shelves full of volumes and volumes. Book one is sitting on his desk, open. Over it swarm thousands of people, studying, arguing, theorising. They get together, and discuss their theories. At length, they proudly announce their Grand Theory of Everything.
The update system on Ubuntu has worked really well for me. So well, that I'm nervous about my broadband bill. It updates everything, whether I use it or not!
But it's still far better than the annoying popups and other assorted ways that software on Windows uses to update itself (Do I need a background process running continually just to check for updates on my keyboard driver?). I also have (more) confidence that the updates will be compatible in Ubuntu, since they allegedly come from the same place, or rather through the same update system. No problems yet.
To bring it nearer to topic...
I haven't heard any of my non-techie friends singing the praises of Vista, or wanting help upgrading. Generally I think they're nervous about the requirements of Vista, and of breaking a PC that currently works fine. The place is so awash with PCs now that there's little incentive to buy another.
Slashdot Mirror
2: Relays. ... This wouldn't have been quite the problem, if I weren't using the relay to drive the relay ... which creates an oscillator. This means that I shocked myself quite a few times before I could get the breadboard off of my hand.
Made them deliberately in school. Great fun. I got ten people to hold hands and gave them all a shock just as the teacher walked up the stairs.
Good timing Slashdot. You posted this at 9:30pm NZ time. It's already off the front page. Now nobody will know...
Looks like they've changed it - http://watchdog.co.nz/home.htm - it's now a metal dog. But I still have a mug with the duck logo on it. Watchduck, we used to call them...
Not sure how that's informative. Might be so in the US, but over here our little government just doesn't have the resources to intervene. The police are more concerned about speeding tickets and methamphetamine labs, the people are more concerned about the price of petrol and some church leader with a shiny car (search for "Brian Tamaki" and "Destiny Church"), and the government is more concerned about how to rebuild half of Auckland after the silly 'modern' building fads of the 90s.
It's voluntary. And it hasn't even reached the technology page on the NZ Herald yet. Who cares?
Watchdog has positioned themselves as filtering specialists. They always have. That's why they call themselves "Watchdog". Parental control is their biggest selling point.
Funny though, their logo is a duck. Never worked that one out.
I am a med student studying on renal physiology (test on friday...)
Let me know if you pass, then I'll mod you up.
My first job used a fairly low level language (CORAL) with about 250000 lines of code. I didn't really grasp it until one day I set up a process in debug, and stepped it through a few instructions at a time. I could then follow it through the code, and learnt how the main backbone worked.
In my next job, I had about the same amount of code in PHP, written in a curious pseudo object oriented fashion (the main designer had come from ASP). So again, I started with index.php, and debugged my way laboriously through each file.
It really helps if you can grasp the overall structure, and the only way to do that is on foot...
I think you might be onto something there. A site that provides brief summaries on international and national news for free, with increasing levels of subscription (or targeted advertising) allowing you to get to the in-depth comment and exclusive local news. It could draw upon the army of small-time bloggers willing to receive a few pennies in return for good local comment. The ultimate result would be a vast network allowing you to get details and perspective as you choose, rather than a single editorial slant ("hmm - I wonder what that Iraqi guy in Paris has to say on that one...")
At the moment, we've got too many big newspapers telling us what we already know, and too many local papers which have limited contact with each other, and limited resources. I reckon the first news site that grasps this one could end up sweeping the floor.
Not really. It's on a microscopic scale, and at that level, a tiny current can vaporise silicon quite easily. That's how EPROMs work, and also why you need to be careful with static when handling circuits.
Exactly. It's a secret CIA plot to overthrow the evil dominion of A4!
Tables and divs both have their uses. I wish that I had one method that had the capabilities of both, but until then, I choose the most appropriate. Some of my younger colleagues would spout endlessly about the beauty of divs and CSS. I almost believed them until I saw their code!
I'll third that. I think we scared off a lot of customers with contracts and extortionate hourly rates (designed to cover sales, accounts, admin, cat food, the works). The customer who were happiest (and most profitable) were the ones we just charged at a (lowered) hourly rate for everything. If I'd been in charge, I would have cut the hourly rate in half, but charged them for everything, not just the time it took the techie to code it.
Our biggest bane was customers who would try to get the cheapest price, add extra features by stealth, expect the capabilities of Google, Flickr and Facebook combined, and, ah yes, fix their computer for free. If we'd just charged them a plain hourly rate, we'd have been laughing.
Sure, you need to give an idea of total cost. But make it plain that it's an estimate, not a quote!
In our first A-level chemistry lesson, our teacher sat on his desk and pronounced that the world was flat. After a stunned silence, we then tried (successfully) to prove him wrong.
His point was that a lot of the things we had been taught up to that point (the structure of atoms, the nature of reactions etc) were actually incorrect, or more accurately just approximate theory. And that the stuff we were about to learn might also prove just as 'approximate'. He urged us to begin to question the things we were taught, and not just take them as fact.
We were taught to think for ourselves, and I don't ever recall one single controversial lesson. Maybe it's because we didn't have powerful lobby groups in that part of rural Oxfordshire, but I don't actually remember being taught evolution either. And very few exams were 'multiple choice' - i.e. 'answer it like we want you to'.
Children have brains. They can think for themselves
I like the way the Earth photo appears next to the Monty Python foot. Can we swap the images so it illustrates the subject better?
Not sure how low we'll be able to keep things once we have children, but it'll be an interesting adventure. I'll probably try "clean up that toy or I'll throw it away" and see how that works out :)
Beware the baby shower! Beware the first Christmas with the grandparents! The birthdays! The tears as you dump the seashell collection! Beware the numerous friends trying to clear their spare rooms! Beware the shiny new legally required car seat that doesn't fit in a Civic!Bewaaaaaaaare!!!!
I want the non-linear time dimensional edition with the metallic stickers, please!
Missed that bit!
Still not clear how it works though, or what exactly it's storing. Surely resistance is a function, and it must be storing charge or flux, or some quantum effect perhaps?
Um, flux and voltage?
Current and charge?
They're measuring the sea of electrons between the stars, which they assume stops at the 'edge' of the galaxy.
... If you know the distance to the pulsar accurately, then you can work out how dense the WIM is and where it stops - in other words where the Galaxy's edge is.
FTA:
"As light from these pulsars travels to us, it interacts with electrons scattered between the stars (the Warm Ionised Medium, or WIM), which slows the light down.
My hypothesis...
I see God, sitting in his study, with charts and drawings covering the walls, and shelves full of volumes and volumes. Book one is sitting on his desk, open. Over it swarm thousands of people, studying, arguing, theorising. They get together, and discuss their theories. At length, they proudly announce their Grand Theory of Everything.
God smiles, and turns to the next page.
The update system on Ubuntu has worked really well for me. So well, that I'm nervous about my broadband bill. It updates everything, whether I use it or not!
But it's still far better than the annoying popups and other assorted ways that software on Windows uses to update itself (Do I need a background process running continually just to check for updates on my keyboard driver?). I also have (more) confidence that the updates will be compatible in Ubuntu, since they allegedly come from the same place, or rather through the same update system. No problems yet.
To bring it nearer to topic...
I haven't heard any of my non-techie friends singing the praises of Vista, or wanting help upgrading. Generally I think they're nervous about the requirements of Vista, and of breaking a PC that currently works fine. The place is so awash with PCs now that there's little incentive to buy another.