Slashdot Mirror


User: tylerh

tylerh's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
153
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 153

  1. Re:Speaking of cellular automata... on Turing Machine Implemented in Life · · Score: 3

    I have read the Forbes article. Initially, I was intrigued. As Stephen revealed bits of his work, I kept recalling the famous G.H. Hardy quote

    Mathematics...is a young man's game....If a man of mature age loses interest in and abandons mathematics, the loss is not not likely to be very serious for mathematicatcs or himself. On the other hand, the gain is no more likely to be substantial. (Chap 4, A Mathematian's apology, G. H. Hardy.)

    Stephen has left the open, peer reviewed world of academia to pursue his highly proprietary , solo research effort. We know how well this works for software, we shall see how that works for math...

  2. Another blow to the male eog on Mutant Tetrachromat Females Found · · Score: 2
    the possibility that, within a couple of decades, gene therapy will make tetrachromacy just another option that wealthy parents could check off on the list when they are designing their daughters.

    Wonderful, as if we males don't already get enough grief from females about our lack of fashion sense....

  3. Re:Yeah, IGNORANT POST! on Golden Rice · · Score: 2

    You apparently have difficulty either reading or applying basic logic. My challenge was for an " extremely harmful." example. That was the claim being made in the orignal post. You're example was "wasn't approved for human consuption (sic.)"

    While the taco shells may ultimately be found to be "extremely harmful," I am unaware of any data that indicates such to be the case. Indeed, it took an exquisitely sensitive laboratory procedure to even realize the issue existed. With something truly dangerous, like arsenic, no such sophistry would be required.

  4. Re:.pro on When Worlds Collide: The New Dot-Biz And The Old · · Score: 3

    From the Tidbits Newsletter:

    .pro, to be operated by RegistryPro, an Irish company owned by Register.com and Virtual Internet. It is intended to be used by doctors, lawyers, accountants, and other providers of "professional" services.
  5. .aero is BELGIAN. on Will .coop Be Regulated Better Than .com Et Al? · · Score: 2

    For instance, ".aero". Will it only be for US aerospace companies?

    NO.

    Quoting from the Tidbits newsletter :
    * .aero, to be operated by the Societe Internationale de Telecommunications Aeronautiques (SITA), a Belgian airline telecommunications firm. The .aero domain is intended to be used for the air transport industry; it's unclear why the air transport industry warrants its own top-level domain, but ICANN may see it as a precedent for future industry-specific domains.
  6. Re:Yeah, IGNORANT POST! on Golden Rice · · Score: 2

    WARNING The prior post pegs the bullshit meter. Please try a balanced site for a more informed view.

    Summary: are there risks in GM foods? yes. Are they anything like what our loud, screaming friend intimates? NO.

    I challenge tippergore to cite, with supporting link, a single example of an "extremely harmful" GM prodcut ever making to the food supply. (Yes, there was a problem for some allergy sufferers when a Brazil nut gene was inserted into soybeen, but this was halted while still in research.)

    please please educate yourself before lobbying for 2 million children a year to die of B1 deficiency.

  7. Re:Keep fighting - Captialism can be your friend on UCITA Hits A Few Speedbumps · · Score: 1
    The world is a shithole
    INCORRECT

    The world simply is. That you choose to experience it as a shit hole is your business -- but don't be so quick to generalize

    Maybe you're right. Maybe I am delusional, and you're just sooo smart to see through it all. But if (1) you are so brilliant and (2) working for your dad is such a big problam, why do you go to work? In an economy with 4% unemployment, you don't have to be Einstien to figure out other solutions.

  8. Re:Keep fighting - Captialism can be your friend on UCITA Hits A Few Speedbumps · · Score: 3

    Two points:

    Big Bad Business is NOT saying "I am on your side." Rather, in pursuing their own selfish interest, they happen to marching the same way. No need to trust them. Use them.

    Given your user name, I wonder if your inability to trust applies to more than just economic organizations.

  9. HEY! Keep the Catholic Church out of this! on It's Official: MS Office 10 Subscription Version · · Score: 2

    any company that stands squarely behind UCITA is ``venial''

    venial NOUN :Roman Catholic Church An offense that is judged to be minor or committed without deliberate intent and thus does not estrange the soul from the grace of God.

    Hmmm.... This is an interesting charge. I am not used to dealing with subtle theological issues on slashdot. Is the author concerned that a company does not estrange it's soul from the grace of God? (i.e. Bill Gates)

    or perhaps the author meant

    venal ADJECTIVE :1. a. Open to bribery; mercenary: "a venal police officer." b. Capable of betraying honor, duty, or scruples for a price; corruptible. 2. Marked by corrupt dealings, especially bribery: "a venal administration." 3. Obtainable for a price.

  10. Keep fighting - Captialism can be your friend on UCITA Hits A Few Speedbumps · · Score: 2

    In this case, a bad law (UCITA) is meeting resistance because other big bad comapnaies (eg. Boeing, General Motors) don't want to be on the short end of the stick.

    Only Marland and Virginia have passed UCITA so far -- so keep fighting, UCITA is far from being the law of the land, and we have allies on this one

  11. At least it will be a ph4t hax0r target on FBI Releases More Carnivore Information · · Score: 2

    From the article

    Omnivore was replaced by Carnivore running on a Windows NT-based computer in June 1999.

  12. But now the witch _will_ float! on Monty Python and The Matrix LEGO · · Score: 5

    How will Sir Lancelot figure this one out?

  13. He has the "robert the shrubber scene", but... on Monty Python and The Matrix LEGO · · Score: 2

    What! no herring!

  14. Pron operators want filtering on Neither .Kids Nor .Porn For ICANN · · Score: 2

    Why would a porn company start hosting on .xxx where it would be automatically filtered?

    Because it's profitable. Successful porn companies *want* to be filtered. You see, in the porn business, you don't want to show your stuff to just anybody -- just people who will pay for it. By and large, the under 18 crowd, and the people who use public libraries for an ISP, don't have much money. The "screening" is good for business -- it focusing your traffic on paying customers.

  15. Hillary and Al -- Of course! on eLection '04 · · Score: 2

    I hadn't realized that Hillary had been homecoming queen. But -- the homecoming queen sould be dating the quarterback. Who was a high school quartback? AL GORE! Won't Tipper be bummed!

    As for the Kansas Tie-breaker, Gore was a quarterback, by Bush was head cheerleaed -- also an athletic job. So that could be real interesting.

    Me - I'm pulling for the Russian solution. TV cameras, scantily clad women, a smoky room, and a case of Stoli. Last one under the table wins. This would be a great contest: George would have won easily 20 years ago, but his liver hasn't gotten a workout in 17 years. Al was a toker,not a drinker, so it'd be pretty even!

  16. Re:Complete frikkin bull-fecalmatter. on Statistics, Elections, Frustration · · Score: 2

    Rahga,

    Calm down, boy.

    First, as of this writing, the Gore lead has increased to over 218,000 votes. So your claim of Gore's popular vote victory being "a fleeting moment" doesn't look strong. There are aren't that many oversease ballots left, but as of this moring, most of the remaining uncounted absentee ballots where in Washington, Oregon, and California -- not exactly Bush strongholds.

    As for "what the country wants," well, let's agree for the moment that the popular vote is a perfect tie between the Bush and Gore. You said "the country." What about the 3% of the country that didn't vote for either? These went overwhelmingly for Nader. So if we are going to gauge the _country's_ intent, it sure as hell ain't for a Bush presidency

    the politics of 2 big states can never gain exclusive control of federal politics WRONG. Thanks to electoral college shennanigans, Virginia controlled the presidency for 32 of the first 36 years of the Republic.

  17. THIS is the solution on eLection '04 · · Score: 3

    From today's Wall Street Journal:

    A tied 1997 mayoral race in Honduras was settled by a law allowing ties to be broken by games of chance. The two candidates in San Juan de Opoa settled on soccer penalty kicks.

  18. At least...you're not afraid to rant on eLection '04 · · Score: 2
    Brianvan,

    Amidst all the shouting of opinion, a modicum of fact and reason would be appreciated. To wit:

    If it were the other way around, would there be a commotion this big. YES. The day before the electiion, when a Bush popular win and a Gore electoral win look possible, a high-ranking Bush officical (I forget which one) vowed to lobby the electoral college directly to get the outcome to reflect the popular vote.

    areas with low population density are not ignored . Why is this "good"? I thought the underlying principal was "one citizen, one vote." Why should my vote count more just because I live in a rural area?

    it's probably best that something random and meaningless decides it. This is reasonable, but a scathing indictment of the current system with it's (legally mandated) recounts. A better system would be how San Juan de Opoa, Honduras, settled its 1997 mayor's race: soccer penalty kicks.

    You strongly feel that representation by state, rather than by person, is inherently better. Why? What, other than political custom, makes a state the natural unit of polity? Remember: the current system, with it's empahsis on states and state's rights, is a direct result of historical compromises done to protect slavery. Southern landowners knew that in a straight popular vote, slavery would soon be abolished. Since slave owners controlled the politics of many _states_, they got us the current system. Unless you're committed to slavery, why do you favor a state-centric political system?

  19. Re:Complete frikkin bull-fecalmatter. on Statistics, Elections, Frustration · · Score: 2
    Just because New York and California really really want Gore to win doesn't mean that the rest of the country wants what Gore represents.
    ...but Gore won the popular vote. So what's your point -- that California and New York votes should count less?
  20. Link is to obsolete article on Dinosaurs Never Held Heads High · · Score: 2
    Nice link -- but much is obsolete, or just plain wrong

    We now know what finished off the dinosaurs and plesiosaurs.

    we have strong evidence that the dinosaurs where thriving up until the impact.

    as others have posted, the blood pressure argument only holds if the the circulatory system consisted of a heart and inelastic tubing - a fairly strong assumption. Various plausible mechanisms have been proposed to get around this problem.

  21. Re:70 hrs/wk implies non-creative work on Greenspun on Managing Software Engineers · · Score: 1

    HI Pim,

    I basically agree with you. But in my experience, the "all night hack session" is usually about implementing a creative idea conceived previously. Also, I have done creative work during a burst of 70 hr weeks -- but I find this utterly unsustainable.

    My point is that a management focusing on 70 hour weeks instead of effective solutions is a management coercing you into "implementation" and away from "creativity."

  22. 70 hrs/wk implies non-creative work on Greenspun on Managing Software Engineers · · Score: 2
    G.H Hardy, the brilliant English mathematician, was fond of claiming that
    four hours of creative work is about the limit for a mathematician.
    ...And Hardy was creative. Much modern computer science rests his work[1]. So I think we can easily conclude that the folks Greenspun manages are not doing much creative (fun) work. If you are thinking of taking Greenspun's management suggestions, take heed....

    [1] Major contributions to topics including Diophantine analysis, summation of divergent series, Fourier series, the Riemann zeta function, and the distribution of primes.
  23. Re:Probably Microscopic Mirros on The 1st Commercial-Grade All-Optical Switch? · · Score: 1

    OOPS

    s/[Mm]irros/mirrors/

    What happened to my "r" key?

  24. Probably Microscopic Mirros on The 1st Commercial-Grade All-Optical Switch? · · Score: 5
    The article says:
    Lucent...said it delivered a similar all-optical technology...last month to Global Crossing
    Lucent says here they are using microscopic mirros, so corvis probably is too.
  25. the Govt makes more money this wa on Microsoft and Cisco Don't Pay Taxes? · · Score: 2

    Of course the governent lets this "abuse" happen. It's profitable. Currently, that "untaxed" income is flowing to California employees, most of whom are in the top tax bracket of about 44%. (39% fed + 9% CA state inocome tax. Yep, the numbers don't add...don't ask).

    The highest corportate tax rates are typically in the 30% range.

    Now, clearly, the thing to do is to tax this "abuse" and continue to tax the employeess.....