Deriving from string is perfectly valid, although it's better to derive from basic_string which is what a string is anyway...
For example, we have a string class that add a 'printf' member function. The other way to do it would be to have a global function that takes a string, which is a far worse option.
What about the need for an 'exists' function in map classes? Sure, you can do it in a couple of lines of STL but if you've got 1000 of those then it gets real tedious. Simply derive a new map and use that & problem solved.
The DTT standards are already decided - It's a british take on european standards. Partly this is to stop the exact thing you're suggesting - that one company could get a monopoly on STB production. Sure, MS could put a DTT decoder in the XBox, but it wouldn't be any different to anyone elses decoder. Where they could add value is with DVR capabilities, where they would be competing directly with sky+ (which is £50 installation, so £219 would succeed about as well as trying to make a brick float).
An STB costs £100 a throw. My video is analogue, I have 3 analogue TVs. My WinTV card is analogue. My Tivo is analogue.
Before this switchover is even going to be remotely realistic then STBs have to be down to about £10 or less. All new videos and TVs have to be equipped with digital. Conversion of existing sets must be available at a minimal cost.
None of this is happening. The adoption of digital won't realistically even *start* until this is true. It is currently impossible to by a 14" portable digital set. The smallest digital TV available is a 28" widescreen and it weighs in at £700. OK for rich ubergeeks, but for the other 99% of the population conversion isn't practical.
My mother saw the pace STB on breakfast TV, and since she had some money spare decided to get one. Looked at it, phoned me in confusion, then sent it back. It only supports SCART input (which she can't use)... great f*cking move guys...
Digital TV is exactly the same cost as analogue (once you have the decoder).
They don't bother detecting transmissions from sets, although it's possible (the military developed such technology to read data from terminals remotely). There's no need, there is a central database of every house that doesn't have a license anyway.
£100 a year for 7 BBC channels (1,2,4,choice,news24,+2 childrens channels), not to mention 6 radio channels and all the BBC interactive stuff (some of which is really cutting edge) is a bargain... especially since there's no advertising to fast forward past every 5 minutes.
The UK hasn't 'lost' any satellite companies. BSB was taken over by Sky simply because Murdoch had spare change and hadn't bought any companies for a few minutes... It's a great pity the M&M commission didn't put a stop to it then, because we'd probably have some decent competition (lower prices - the full sky package weighs in at something like £50 per month).
It's not the codec it's a combination of crap decoder boxes and low transmitter power. On my box (a 1st generation philips) the picture is really good... The only thing that saeems to be a problem is things like sudden bright flashes (explosions, etc.) which send so much mpeg data at once the box can freeze for a fraction. For normal stuff (I'm watching star trek on it at the moment) it's as good as DVD.
Having good scart cables is really essential with these things... the bog standard £5 jobbies just won't cut it.
I agree with the other points, though... I've lost count of the number of times I've recorded 2 hours of teletext instead of dr.who.
Actually, you probably are. Win2k sends the DNS updates anyway even if it's got a static IP. If the DNS server rejects it it waits a couple of minutes and sends it again... seemingly forever.
Win2k server also tries to send to a bogus 172.16 address even if it's been assigned a static IP which isn't in this range - there seems no reason for this, it's just being odd. You have to make sure your firewall blocks that too otherwise you're just passing private IP addresses to the upstream router (which will either dump them or pass them even higher).
If you want a bit of fun run tcpdump on an idle Win2k machine & watch how many packets it sends... you'll be surprised.
Re:The difference between M$ and OS
on
Revolution OS
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· Score: 2
There is an alleged comment in the MS Basic source code that says something like "this function used to do xxx, but Bill Gates changed something and it stopped working"
In any large project there are probably hundreds of comments like that... "This never worked so I commented it out to see who complains", "Whoever wrote this must have been on crack", or simply "WTF????"
It's a virus with a big afro & platform shoes that struts around going 'Yeah, baby!'.
Re:Stopping or Changing the SPEED of light
on
Stopping Light
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· Score: 2
AFAIK light always goes at the same speed, but it takes longer to get through certain media than others - this is because it doesn't go in a straight line (and why when someone quotes the speed of light they use the speed of light in a vacuum as a reference).
Light isn't 'stopped' in the sense that it hangs there waiting for something to happen (which doesn't make sense if my (limited) understanding of physics is even close to correct), it's simply absorbed into another particle then that particle emits light some indeterminate time later.
btw. Not all galaxies have a red shift. Andromeda has a blue shift (it's coming towards us apparently).
Finally, they clearly are in the business of providing services in exchange for your acceptance of targeted advertising. This is not SPAM (which is not typically targeted in any way). This is simply targeted advertising delivered via email.
bzzt. Wrong. SPAM is Unsolicited Commercial Email. I don't give a damn if it's targeted or not, if I didn't request it it's SPAM and will be treated as such.
Class C does *not* mean possession is legal, just that you won't be arrested for it (you will however be served with a summons to appear in court). After reclassification you can still get 2 years in jail for possession (down from the current 5 years).
Since the police have far too much work dealing with real criminals (and they can't be arsed with the paperwork) you probably won't hear anything though... even now it's pretty much tolerated (over a dozen cannabis cafe's to open in the next couple of months).
Re:In place swap of two variables
on
Deep Algorithms?
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· Score: 3, Informative
Indeed - the last time this came up I did some benchmarks. The 'old fashioned way' using temp variables when optimised runs about twice as fast as the xor version.
Re:Are sorting algorithms "deep"?
on
Deep Algorithms?
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· Score: 2
I read in Dr.Dobbs years ago of someone who'd modified a bubble sort so it could outperform a quicksort... it worked, too. He called it a 'comb sort' but I've not seen anything of it since.. I expect his figures were a bit too optimistic (I wish I could remember the algorythm... all I can remember was it was almost exactly the same as a bubble sort with a few lines changed).
AFAIK IQ doesn't change much throughout your lifetime, if measured correctly, so the idea that you could go from 140 to 180 is pure fantasy. I could believe a few points variation due to eating a healthy diet vs. eating mcdonalds, but 30%???
It doesn't say standards must be open source code. It says standards must be *based on* open source code.
There's nothing to stop them protecting it with RC4 (which is open source), and using a closed source NDA'd piece of software to generate the key. It's still technically based on open source code, but you'll never be able to use it under Linux.
Also by 'open source' they don't mean GPL. It could be patented and NDA'd - you can see the source but they'll have your guts if you actually implement it.
The also have them in Manchester. Seems only to be train stations for some reason (possibly because coffee already costs stupid amounts of money there so the extra premium for self heating doesn't look so bad).
I tried one once... not an experience I'll be in a hurry to repeat. Yuk.
Re:I saw one of these at the weekend
on
Self-Heating Can
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· Score: 2
Actually we've got them all over the place, but they're not particularly popular (the ones I see are almost always empty).
For a while they were called 'The Seattle Coffee Company' then virtually overnight they changed their names - sort of invasion by stealth.
We have a lot of blind spots... asteroids aren't luminous - we only notice them when they're illuminated by the sun, by which time they're pretty damned close.
It's quite possible if something a couple of miles across was heading towards us we wouldn't see it until it was too late anyway.
The biggest problem with the 286 was once you entered protected mode, you couldn't get out again... no DOS compatibility. So MS' problem wasn't that you couldn't multitask but that their operating system was so heavily dependent on DOS there was no way they could do it. This was agruably Microsofts fault, but it's more the fault of history.
Slashdot Mirror
Deriving from string is perfectly valid, although it's better to derive from basic_string which is what a string is anyway...
For example, we have a string class that add a 'printf' member function. The other way to do it would be to have a global function that takes a string, which is a far worse option.
What about the need for an 'exists' function in map classes? Sure, you can do it in a couple of lines of STL but if you've got 1000 of those then it gets real tedious. Simply derive a new map and use that & problem solved.
The DTT standards are already decided - It's a british take on european standards. Partly this is to stop the exact thing you're suggesting - that one company could get a monopoly on STB production. Sure, MS could put a DTT decoder in the XBox, but it wouldn't be any different to anyone elses decoder. Where they could add value is with DVR capabilities, where they would be competing directly with sky+ (which is £50 installation, so £219 would succeed about as well as trying to make a brick float).
2010 is *not* going to happen.
An STB costs £100 a throw. My video is analogue, I have 3 analogue TVs. My WinTV card is analogue. My Tivo is analogue.
Before this switchover is even going to be remotely realistic then STBs have to be down to about £10 or less. All new videos and TVs have to be equipped with digital. Conversion of existing sets must be available at a minimal cost.
None of this is happening. The adoption of digital won't realistically even *start* until this is true. It is currently impossible to by a 14" portable digital set. The smallest digital TV available is a 28" widescreen and it weighs in at £700. OK for rich ubergeeks, but for the other 99% of the population conversion isn't practical.
My mother saw the pace STB on breakfast TV, and since she had some money spare decided to get one. Looked at it, phoned me in confusion, then sent it back. It only supports SCART input (which she can't use)... great f*cking move guys...
Digital TV is exactly the same cost as analogue (once you have the decoder).
They don't bother detecting transmissions from sets, although it's possible (the military developed such technology to read data from terminals remotely). There's no need, there is a central database of every house that doesn't have a license anyway.
£100 a year for 7 BBC channels (1,2,4,choice,news24,+2 childrens channels), not to mention 6 radio channels and all the BBC interactive stuff (some of which is really cutting edge) is a bargain... especially since there's no advertising to fast forward past every 5 minutes.
The UK hasn't 'lost' any satellite companies. BSB was taken over by Sky simply because Murdoch had spare change and hadn't bought any companies for a few minutes... It's a great pity the M&M commission didn't put a stop to it then, because we'd probably have some decent competition (lower prices - the full sky package weighs in at something like £50 per month).
ITV Digital != ITV.
They just share a similar name (Granada are/were a large shareholder to ITV digital but that's as far as it went).
It's not the codec it's a combination of crap decoder boxes and low transmitter power. On my box (a 1st generation philips) the picture is really good... The only thing that saeems to be a problem is things like sudden bright flashes (explosions, etc.) which send so much mpeg data at once the box can freeze for a fraction. For normal stuff (I'm watching star trek on it at the moment) it's as good as DVD.
Having good scart cables is really essential with these things... the bog standard £5 jobbies just won't cut it.
I agree with the other points, though... I've lost count of the number of times I've recorded 2 hours of teletext instead of dr.who.
Actually, you probably are. Win2k sends the DNS updates anyway even if it's got a static IP. If the DNS server rejects it it waits a couple of minutes and sends it again... seemingly forever.
Win2k server also tries to send to a bogus 172.16 address even if it's been assigned a static IP which isn't in this range - there seems no reason for this, it's just being odd. You have to make sure your firewall blocks that too otherwise you're just passing private IP addresses to the upstream router (which will either dump them or pass them even higher).
If you want a bit of fun run tcpdump on an idle Win2k machine & watch how many packets it sends... you'll be surprised.
There is an alleged comment in the MS Basic source code that says something like "this function used to do xxx, but Bill Gates changed something and it stopped working"
In any large project there are probably hundreds of comments like that... "This never worked so I commented it out to see who complains", "Whoever wrote this must have been on crack", or simply "WTF????"
Nothing special... just normal progammer banter.
It's a virus with a big afro & platform shoes that struts around going 'Yeah, baby!'.
AFAIK light always goes at the same speed, but it takes longer to get through certain media than others - this is because it doesn't go in a straight line (and why when someone quotes the speed of light they use the speed of light in a vacuum as a reference).
Light isn't 'stopped' in the sense that it hangs there waiting for something to happen (which doesn't make sense if my (limited) understanding of physics is even close to correct), it's simply absorbed into another particle then that particle emits light some indeterminate time later.
btw. Not all galaxies have a red shift. Andromeda has a blue shift (it's coming towards us apparently).
Finally, they clearly are in the business of providing services in exchange for your acceptance of targeted advertising. This is not SPAM (which is not typically targeted in any way). This is simply targeted advertising delivered via email.
bzzt. Wrong. SPAM is Unsolicited Commercial Email. I don't give a damn if it's targeted or not, if I didn't request it it's SPAM and will be treated as such.
Class C does *not* mean possession is legal, just that you won't be arrested for it (you will however be served with a summons to appear in court). After reclassification you can still get 2 years in jail for possession (down from the current 5 years).
Since the police have far too much work dealing with real criminals (and they can't be arsed with the paperwork) you probably won't hear anything though... even now it's pretty much tolerated (over a dozen cannabis cafe's to open in the next couple of months).
Indeed - the last time this came up I did some benchmarks. The 'old fashioned way' using temp variables when optimised runs about twice as fast as the xor version.
In not-quite-assembly it looks like:
foo(cx,dx)
mov ax,cx
mov bx,dx
mov ax,ax xor bx
mov bx,bx xor ax
mov cx,ax
mov dx,bx
vs.
foo(cx,dx)
mov ax,cx
mov bx,dx
mov cx,bx
mov dx,ax
I read in Dr.Dobbs years ago of someone who'd modified a bubble sort so it could outperform a quicksort... it worked, too. He called it a 'comb sort' but I've not seen anything of it since.. I expect his figures were a bit too optimistic (I wish I could remember the algorythm... all I can remember was it was almost exactly the same as a bubble sort with a few lines changed).
VCRs I can understand (they do have a timer after all).
I saw an advert where a *bread knife* was marked y2k compatible.
AFAIK IQ doesn't change much throughout your lifetime, if measured correctly, so the idea that you could go from 140 to 180 is pure fantasy. I could believe a few points variation due to eating a healthy diet vs. eating mcdonalds, but 30%???
Definition:
CBDTPA -
The noise that you make when someone accitentally spills hot coffee over your gonads.
It doesn't say standards must be open source code. It says standards must be *based on* open source code.
There's nothing to stop them protecting it with RC4 (which is open source), and using a closed source NDA'd piece of software to generate the key. It's still technically based on open source code, but you'll never be able to use it under Linux.
Also by 'open source' they don't mean GPL. It could be patented and NDA'd - you can see the source but they'll have your guts if you actually implement it.
The also have them in Manchester. Seems only to be train stations for some reason (possibly because coffee already costs stupid amounts of money there so the extra premium for self heating doesn't look so bad).
I tried one once... not an experience I'll be in a hurry to repeat. Yuk.
Actually we've got them all over the place, but they're not particularly popular (the ones I see are almost always empty).
For a while they were called 'The Seattle Coffee Company' then virtually overnight they changed their names - sort of invasion by stealth.
Also a T1 aint that fast by todays standards, so the story is old as well as recycled.
Next time maybe it'll be changed to OC3 or something.
We have a lot of blind spots... asteroids aren't luminous - we only notice them when they're illuminated by the sun, by which time they're pretty damned close.
It's quite possible if something a couple of miles across was heading towards us we wouldn't see it until it was too late anyway.
Maybe if it hit somewhere that nobody would miss.... Belgium perhaps?
The biggest problem with the 286 was once you entered protected mode, you couldn't get out again... no DOS compatibility. So MS' problem wasn't that you couldn't multitask but that their operating system was so heavily dependent on DOS there was no way they could do it. This was agruably Microsofts fault, but it's more the fault of history.
Whether it is a w3c standard has nothing to do with whether MS invented it (They didn't if the working documents are to be believed).
For example, I know that XPath was invented by MS (the guy who invented it mentioned it at an MSDN roadshow I went to)... it's also a w3c standard.
AFAIK Any w3c member can propose a standard, and if they have enough clout/money it will be adopted.