I am not a nuclear physicist but I do understand some of the principles concerning critical mass.
Critical mass isn't a simple number. There are a lot of variables such as the shape of the object. In simple terms, it centers about the loss of neutrons from a fissionable object. If there are more neutrons lost than is needed to sustain a chain reaction critical mass will not be achieved. The point is that a very long and narrow object (a cable) has a very high surface area (as compared to a sphere). Much more neutrons would be lost by such a shape thus it has a far greater critical mass. Even a material such as U235 if stretched into a suitably long cable could have a mass far greater than its critical mass when it is shaped as a sphere.
There are many fine points that have been glossed over. As I said, I am not a nuclear physicist and this is only my simple understanding.
The point is that even if large quantities of electricity could be transmitted, we still would need large amounts of Europium. There simply isn't enough to use in transmission cables. I don't have figures on how rare it is but it is one of the "rare earth minerals". That should give you a clue. Even if enough could be obtained, what is the cost to mine enough. It doesn't sound very cost effective to me.
This I can agree with. A program must be in agreement with its specification. Moreover, the specification must also be correct. Often there is a poorly written (or not any) specification.
Do you know what you are talking about? I never said that all of big programs can be verified but critical parts of them can. Moreover, if a program is suitably small enough (the software that runs the firmware of a breathalyzer for example) the entire program can be verified. Your statements about only expressions being verifiable is just wrong. Where are you getting your information? Citation would be appreciated. Verification is a very time consuming and costly endeavor and not something you would do unless it is very important to do. Some reasons to verify is safety critical, life support where a persons future is at risk. Sounds like breathalyzer firmware is an example of the last item.
'Of course it works because it gives an end result instead of an error message.
The question every should ask is "Does it work accurately?" or "Does poorly written code skew the results?'
This is not entirely accurate. A program and especially programs like this or safety critical programs should have a specification. A program is incorrect if its output fails to meet the requirements of the specification (providing that the input is good). Poorly written code might be correct according to its specification. I really wonder it there is a specification. If there is a specification, then does it say that what the program does is acceptable. If this is the case, then whoever wrote that specification should be fired.
"Just because they've never observed it to fail, doesn't mean a thing."
Correct! This is a point that many people fail to understand. Testing can't prove that there aren't bugs. All it proves is that a bug did not occur. Failing a test just proves that a bug exists while passing all test just proves that you failed to find a bug. Passing many tests can boost your confidence that there are no bugs. Verification can prove that your code is correct but for most programs it is unfeasible.
In a civil proceeding they probably could not compel you to give up your password. That wouldn't stop the civil case however. The judge would probably rule that your failure to give up the password was equivalent to an admission of guilt and the RIAA would win by default.
This would not be too much of an issue if M$ just implemented a simple rule. File names with multiple periods should never be executable even if the file extension is EXE, COM, BAT, VB etc. Something like this should not be too difficult to implement.
"It was limited, however, to 64K of code because the compiler created.COM files."
You must be talking about early versions of Turbo Pascal. Later versions created.EXE files. The 64K limit was actually a 16 bit microprocessor limit that affected all compilers of that time. You could have multiple segments but no single segment could exceed 64K.
Not having used versions before 4.0, I do not if early versions were compile to memory only. In any version after 4.0 there was the option to compile to memory or compile to disk.
But this begs the question... "Would you pay to see a video sight unseen?"
There is a lot of crap on You Tube and also some gems. How are you to know which ones are the gems? Word of mouth will not work in this scenario. Nobody will want to pay for that new gem out there if nobody has reviewed it first.
So Google wishes to censor books that are deemed to be "inappropriate"? This begs the question... Who gets to determine what is inappropriate? There are many definitions in the world about what is inappropriate and Google is an international company. Who do we ask to sit on the board? I'm sure that anyone who is picked will be objectionable to someone.
"charging break-even prices is not fair competition for any business."
There is an inconsistency of the pro business rhetoric here. On one hand, it is taken as practically an article of faith that business can always do things more efficiently than the government. (This hypothesis is the foundation of privatization.) Now we are told that business can't compete with government run entities because their costs are less.
Well, what is the case? There is a lot of double talk going on here!
Not necessarily true. If is some court action, (not necessarily this instance) the TOS is brought up, the judge might strike the entire thing down as being unconscionable.
I read that book also and you certainly brought back memories. The author struck a good balance in making an otherwise dry subject, interesting and at times even funny. I remember a paragraph about the importance of choosing meaningful variable names. In it, the author presented the "Who's on first" routine by Abbot and Costello.
Not only will this scheme be impossible for color blind people but a computer can probably overcome it. While computers can not "see" colors like a human can they can discern colors. Internally, all colored images on a computer have number codes for the colors. A certain range of values corresponds to certain colors. If you have colored text there will be a color attribute that the computer can access.
Yes, I am a coffee fiend but not to an extreme amount. I have a question about coffee consumption.
In the morning, I have a hard time functioning until I have had a cup of coffee. (I probably am not unusual in this respect.) After the first cup or two, I can consume coffee throughout the rest of the day without any effects. I can even have a cup of coffee right before going to sleep and can sleep normally. NOTE: I don't need coffee to sleep and I don't drink it before sleeping very often. It's just that I can just consume it in the evening without it keeping me awake. I had a roommate who, whenever he had coffee after 5:00 PM, would not be able to sleep that night. He was as much a coffee fiend as I am but could drink it only in the morning or afternoon. Needless to say, my coffee drinking habits drove him crazy.
The question is... Coffee seems to have a different effect on me depending on the time of day. In the morning, it is a strong stimulant for me. In the evening, it doesn't have any effects. For people like my roommate, it is always a strong stimulant. Has anyone else noticed this? If you know the answer, what is it?
I am partly confused. Is there no requirement for a quorum of at least 50% to do business? From wikipedia, I see that there are 577 deputies. If there was a requirement for at least 50% to be present then there would have to be 289 deputies. I thought that the rules in the US congress were strange but at least they have a quorum requirement.
Yes the sport has a reputation for some spectacular accidents. Where I sailed, on Lake St. Claire (Michigan), there was this BIG old iceboat called "Buckaroo". It was so big that it got away with jumping small cracks in the ice. (A sure recipe for disaster.) The end for it was the skipper got complacent and tried to jump a crack that was too large. The result was predictable... 60 foot iceboat to matchsticks in one step. There were 4 people on it at the time and although there were no fatalities, the shortest stay for the group was 4 days and one person was in the hospital for 4 weeks.
Slashdot Mirror
I am not a nuclear physicist but I do understand some of the principles concerning critical mass.
Critical mass isn't a simple number. There are a lot of variables such as the shape of the object. In simple terms, it centers about the loss of neutrons from a fissionable object. If there are more neutrons lost than is needed to sustain a chain reaction critical mass will not be achieved. The point is that a very long and narrow object (a cable) has a very high surface area (as compared to a sphere). Much more neutrons would be lost by such a shape thus it has a far greater critical mass. Even a material such as U235 if stretched into a suitably long cable could have a mass far greater than its critical mass when it is shaped as a sphere.
There are many fine points that have been glossed over. As I said, I am not a nuclear physicist and this is only my simple understanding.
The point is that even if large quantities of electricity could be transmitted, we still would need large amounts of Europium. There simply isn't enough to use in transmission cables. I don't have figures on how rare it is but it is one of the "rare earth minerals". That should give you a clue. Even if enough could be obtained, what is the cost to mine enough. It doesn't sound very cost effective to me.
This I can agree with. A program must be in agreement with its specification. Moreover, the specification must also be correct. Often there is a poorly written (or not any) specification.
Do you know what you are talking about? I never said that all of big programs can be verified but critical parts of them can. Moreover, if a program is suitably small enough (the software that runs the firmware of a breathalyzer for example) the entire program can be verified. Your statements about only expressions being verifiable is just wrong. Where are you getting your information? Citation would be appreciated. Verification is a very time consuming and costly endeavor and not something you would do unless it is very important to do. Some reasons to verify is safety critical, life support where a persons future is at risk. Sounds like breathalyzer firmware is an example of the last item.
'Of course it works because it gives an end result instead of an error message.
The question every should ask is "Does it work accurately?" or "Does poorly written code skew the results?'
This is not entirely accurate. A program and especially programs like this or safety critical programs should have a specification. A program is incorrect if its output fails to meet the requirements of the specification (providing that the input is good). Poorly written code might be correct according to its specification. I really wonder it there is a specification. If there is a specification, then does it say that what the program does is acceptable. If this is the case, then whoever wrote that specification should be fired.
"Just because they've never observed it to fail, doesn't mean a thing."
Correct! This is a point that many people fail to understand. Testing can't prove that there aren't bugs. All it proves is that a bug did not occur. Failing a test just proves that a bug exists while passing all test just proves that you failed to find a bug. Passing many tests can boost your confidence that there are no bugs. Verification can prove that your code is correct but for most programs it is unfeasible.
If they had a search warrant, and you did not open the door, they would probably bust the door to get in.
In a civil proceeding they probably could not compel you to give up your password. That wouldn't stop the civil case however. The judge would probably rule that your failure to give up the password was equivalent to an admission of guilt and the RIAA would win by default.
This would not be too much of an issue if M$ just implemented a simple rule. File names with multiple periods should never be executable even if the file extension is EXE, COM, BAT, VB etc. Something like this should not be too difficult to implement.
"It was limited, however, to 64K of code because the compiler created .COM files."
You must be talking about early versions of Turbo Pascal. Later versions created .EXE files. The 64K limit was actually a 16 bit microprocessor limit that affected all compilers of that time. You could have multiple segments but no single segment could exceed 64K.
Not having used versions before 4.0, I do not if early versions were compile to memory only. In any version after 4.0 there was the option to compile to memory or compile to disk.
I heard of an interview of some GIs during WW2 and they described army life something like this. "Combat is 90% boredom and 10% sheer terror".
But this begs the question... "Would you pay to see a video sight unseen?"
There is a lot of crap on You Tube and also some gems. How are you to know which ones are the gems? Word of mouth will not work in this scenario. Nobody will want to pay for that new gem out there if nobody has reviewed it first.
So Google wishes to censor books that are deemed to be "inappropriate"? This begs the question... Who gets to determine what is inappropriate? There are many definitions in the world about what is inappropriate and Google is an international company. Who do we ask to sit on the board? I'm sure that anyone who is picked will be objectionable to someone.
Rush Limbaugh? Don't you mean Flush Limbaugh?
"charging break-even prices is not fair competition for any business."
There is an inconsistency of the pro business rhetoric here. On one hand, it is taken as practically an article of faith that business can always do things more efficiently than the government. (This hypothesis is the foundation of privatization.) Now we are told that business can't compete with government run entities because their costs are less.
Well, what is the case? There is a lot of double talk going on here!
If you have politics blocked from your Slashdot front page, why are you posting on this particular article?
Not necessarily true. If is some court action, (not necessarily this instance) the TOS is brought up, the judge might strike the entire thing down as being unconscionable.
I read that book also and you certainly brought back memories. The author struck a good balance in making an otherwise dry subject, interesting and at times even funny. I remember a paragraph about the importance of choosing meaningful variable names. In it, the author presented the "Who's on first" routine by Abbot and Costello.
I heard of a student learning an early version of LISP and entered the following line...
True = false
He was interrupted, forgot about it, saved and then the fun began! I don't know if the story is correct but the thought is humorous.
Remember, you can't spell "Twitter" without using the word "twit".
Not only will this scheme be impossible for color blind people but a computer can probably overcome it. While computers can not "see" colors like a human can they can discern colors. Internally, all colored images on a computer have number codes for the colors. A certain range of values corresponds to certain colors. If you have colored text there will be a color attribute that the computer can access.
Yes, I am a coffee fiend but not to an extreme amount. I have a question about coffee consumption.
In the morning, I have a hard time functioning until I have had a cup of coffee. (I probably am not unusual in this respect.) After the first cup or two, I can consume coffee throughout the rest of the day without any effects. I can even have a cup of coffee right before going to sleep and can sleep normally. NOTE: I don't need coffee to sleep and I don't drink it before sleeping very often. It's just that I can just consume it in the evening without it keeping me awake. I had a roommate who, whenever he had coffee after 5:00 PM, would not be able to sleep that night. He was as much a coffee fiend as I am but could drink it only in the morning or afternoon. Needless to say, my coffee drinking habits drove him crazy.
The question is... Coffee seems to have a different effect on me depending on the time of day. In the morning, it is a strong stimulant for me. In the evening, it doesn't have any effects. For people like my roommate, it is always a strong stimulant. Has anyone else noticed this? If you know the answer, what is it?
I am partly confused. Is there no requirement for a quorum of at least 50% to do business? From wikipedia, I see that there are 577 deputies. If there was a requirement for at least 50% to be present then there would have to be 289 deputies. I thought that the rules in the US congress were strange but at least they have a quorum requirement.
Yes the sport has a reputation for some spectacular accidents. Where I sailed, on Lake St. Claire (Michigan), there was this BIG old iceboat called "Buckaroo". It was so big that it got away with jumping small cracks in the ice. (A sure recipe for disaster.) The end for it was the skipper got complacent and tried to jump a crack that was too large. The result was predictable... 60 foot iceboat to matchsticks in one step. There were 4 people on it at the time and although there were no fatalities, the shortest stay for the group was 4 days and one person was in the hospital for 4 weeks.