How can you suggest VA Software won't be in the news:
"And in other news... once promising local dotcom startup VA Software (formerly VA Linux, formerly Dodgy Dave's Custom Servers) has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Now heres Fred with the sport.."
Re:Look out for the ersatz intelligentsia
on
Email Turns Thirty
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· Score: 1, Offtopic
Emails sent daily outnumber faxes by at least a factor of one hundred thousand
Congratulations! You have won today's "George W. Bush Utterly Spurious and Clearly-Made-Up-On-The-Spot Statistic of the Week" award!
Standing at a computer in a Math department posting to Slashdot or sitting in your living room after having passed remedial Algebra in college
No it doesn't. Fortunately, I have a PhD in Applied Mathematics and a Postdoctoral Fellowship studying the interactions of oceanic Rossby (vorticity) waves with topography and mean flow.
Plus, whilst I am an agnostic, I do have a sense of humour.
Have you ever taken a course in Applied Numerical Analysis?
As a student, or lecturer? Oh, hang about, the answer is "Yes" either way.
In everyday work, (yes - I am a physicist) I choose units where c is one. It makes things so much easier.
At my old university, we simply referred to these as "God's Units". Of course, I'm in a maths department now, so we just write c and leave all the fiddling about with actual numbers to the physicists.
NBC can choose what they wish to air. That has nothingto do with the Government censoring something.
Well the government doesn't censor the sex and swearing either, so if you can either say "The US has little or no censorship" (True, if you follow the "only a govt. can censor" line) or "The US has both political and moral censorship" (True, if you consider such actions of the major networks to be censorship). Either way, the original poster was wrong. I was using his definition, but in reality I agree far more with yours.
Do you use wireless networking?
Do you use a cordless phone?
Do you use a cell phone?
... a pager?
... a gps device?
For what its worth, no. I neither own nor use any of those things. I'm a kinda non-standard geek.
5% quicker. Ooh. The image preview mode must now be up to about one tenth of the speed of xv's visual schnauzer... Slim, well designed and 10 years old. Konqueror can't touch it for speed.
Early versions of RedHat came with a number of optional non-free add-ons, including an accelerated X-server called Metro-X, and IIRC an i386 version of the CDE desktop.
So...a hierarchical file structure under usr is pointless.
Putting executables together in/usr/bin and support files in/usr/share/package/ is a hierarchial structure. And one I like. I never think about where my program files are, rpm || apt-get means it just works. What is the problem?
You do not HAVE to use the package managment system, you can install anything *just* the way *you* want it.
In much the same way you can with EVERY OTHER FUCKING DISTRIBRUTION. Package managers are there for those who want them, as and when the want them. Nothing stops you from compiling from source and installing in/usr/bin or/usr/bong or/usr/badda-bing-badda-boom-awopbopaloolopawopbambo om
An example: I have a program in my path called convert. If I query the system where it is located (which convert) I get the reply/usr/bin. This tells me nothing about the function of the program.
[gowen@orr gowen]$ whatis convert
convert (1) - converts an input file using one image format to an output file with the same or differing image format.
The one company that refuses to change its operations is, surprisingly, Red Hat.
Why is that surprising? Red Hat have previously done the part-open/part-closed thing, and realised that it doesn't really help that much, and that well packaged all open source packages are just as marketable, cheaper to license and earn you good will in the community. Most of the other companies (SuSE excepted, as the YaST licensing was clearly designed to protect their market) are just ill-thought-out dotcom cash-ins struggling to cope with a dose of economic reality.
TPM had a plot. You may not have followed it, or thought it tiresome or predictable, but it had a plot.
Plot in the context I used it must be considered synonymous with coherent plot. And it didn't have one of those, merely an imperceptibly slim narrative line linking a sequence of overblown setpieces. (Unless you're suggesting that TPM had a small piece of ground for a specific purpose).
Finally, a watchable version of "Titanic". A quick bit of nudity, and then 20 minutes of the ship sinking. I like it.
Hey! Don't give away the ending!
Re:Science must be testable
on
God's Debris
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· Score: 3, Interesting
your measurements won't show a Gaussian distribution of that quantity
No. Of course it won't. Measurements simply don't behave like that. Measurements, as the term is used by particle physicists, give you an single answer/number.
rather you'll see a range of values for that quantity with most of the measured values in a spike where the wave function collapsed
Err. No. You'll only get a range of values if you carry out a sequence of measurements. And, if the time between measurements is sufficiently short, they'll be similar to the first measurements (modulo the amount each measurement perturbs the particle).
Re:Science must be testable
on
God's Debris
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· Score: 3, Insightful
The Copenhagen interpretation claims that wave functions in Quantum mechanics collapse because they are effected by being observed by an intelligent observer.
No, it doesn't. Remove the word "intelligent" and you're closer. All CI says
Wave functions are probabilities
Any act of measuring involves interaction, and interaction collapses the wave function, and measurements are indeterministic.
Not unreasonable. And certainly not dissimilar from the Law of Large Numbers (since that deals with probabilities and CI says thats what we're dealing with).
You can see this by taking a large number of observations of photons or electrons or whatever and seeing the 'spike' from the wave function collapse.
What spike? The spike in what? This is physics, be specific
I know it sucks right now, but you've invested plenty of time in it, and its a bad idea to quit. Its only a semester, a fantastically short period of time in the grand scheme of things.
Then go and do something completely unrelated for as long as you want to, and gain a bit of perspective. You may find that, with the daily grind removed, you remember what you liked about CS, or you may never touch a keyboard again. Either way, you'll be a college graduate, which does help in getting jobs, whatever your major is.
Besides sticking at something you hate for a short while is character building:)
Re:Whoops. Forgot an important one.
on
Linux 2.4.13
·
· Score: 3, Funny
Would a pacifist have the freedom to not pay to support it? Yes, the government should also defend the borders.
This answer is unclear.
If I don't have the right to keep "all of my money"
If you do have the right to keep all of of your money, how does the US defend its borders. Bombs don't pay for themselves. Are you saying taxes for guns : good, taxes for welfare : bad. I don't understand.
You have just given a reason for taxation (the US' just war on Afghanistan). Now why do you struggle with the concept so much to ask vapid questions like: "Do I have the right to keep my house? My car? My clothes? Any of my property?". Yes, yes and yes. All I've suggested is a progressive taxation system. Effectively the system you have now, but with tax breaks for the poor, not the rich. Is that so hard to comprehend?
In the U.S., one's credit does NOT come from her/his parents
Bullshit, kiddo. When you're 16 or 17 and looking to go to college, your family situation is all important.
I dare and defy you to find a psychologist who disbelieves it.
Here is a nice review paper, discussing the many different views psychologists take to altruism. Here is another. Now give me a reference supporting your contention.
Why not have the government seize it all and be just like the ultra-successful Soviet Union?
Why do you keep suggesting this? The government taxes you. You agree that this is sometimes acceptable (military expenditure). Why, in this case, is taxation for welfare equivalent to Soviet-style totalitarianism? Its a non-sequitor. Thats why I don't respond.
Do you realize that morality is completely subjective?
Yes. Thats why I've couched all my statements as my opinion. You're the one making objective (and unjustified statements like Altruism doesn't exist. Everytime I say moral, I'm being subjective, I know. I'm telling you about my morality.
Do you realize that you put yourself in the exact same boat that as the Religious Fundamentalists of the U.S.A., who want to impose the Christian religion on all people and totally ban abortion becuase it's a "moral" thing to do?
Thats an awful analogy. There is no similarity between a position on tax rates and government spending and abortion. Having said that, all governments impose the view of the winning side on the losers, thats how it works. Is Bush's tax and spending cuts imposing his morality on America's leftists? Maybe, but thats how government works. Is it equivalent to religious fundamentalism. No.
The Ricky Martin phenomenon is a multi-million dollar part of the entertainment industry, and the entire lot depends on one person: Ricky Martin. What do you think his cut should be? 25%? 10%?
Whatever the record company feel like paying him. But he should pay tax on that money.
I notice that you didn't mention lottery winners as those who didn't earn their money. Is this perhaps they usually come from the holy "working class"?
No. Its because lottery wins are so few as to contribute negligibly to the exchequer. I didn't mention lingerie tycoons or stand-up comedians, auto workers or futures traders either, and they're far more important. Would you like an exhaustive list of jobs? All income taxed by the same rules. Not too tricky a concept.
Slashdot Mirror
How can you suggest VA Software won't be in the news:
... once promising local dotcom startup VA Software (formerly VA Linux, formerly Dodgy Dave's Custom Servers) has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Now heres Fred with the sport.."
"And in other news
- Never ever ever use the so-called-word "Webcurity" again.
...- Err
... - Thats it.
(apologies to Private Eye)Says you, but why the hell should I believe a bloke called FuturePower?
No it doesn't. Fortunately, I have a PhD in Applied Mathematics and a Postdoctoral Fellowship studying the interactions of oceanic Rossby (vorticity) waves with topography and mean flow.
Plus, whilst I am an agnostic, I do have a sense of humour.
As a student, or lecturer? Oh, hang about, the answer is "Yes" either way.
At my old university, we simply referred to these as "God's Units". Of course, I'm in a maths department now, so we just write c and leave all the fiddling about with actual numbers to the physicists.
Holy Mother Of Fuck. A movie worse the "Tank Girl"? Boy, an I glad I've never seen Insurrection...
Well the government doesn't censor the sex and swearing either, so if you can either say "The US has little or no censorship" (True, if you follow the "only a govt. can censor" line) or "The US has both political and moral censorship" (True, if you consider such actions of the major networks to be censorship). Either way, the original poster was wrong. I was using his definition, but in reality I agree far more with yours.
For what its worth, no. I neither own nor use any of those things. I'm a kinda non-standard geek.
Hah! Except for the episode of Michael Moore's "TV Nation" which NBC refused to air, for suggesting that Cuba's healthcare system was better than the US.
Really? Cool. Thats a really excellent reason to upgrade.
pr0n is JPG.
5% quicker. Ooh. The image preview mode must now be up to about one tenth of the speed of xv's visual schnauzer... Slim, well designed and 10 years old. Konqueror can't touch it for speed.
Early versions of RedHat came with a number of optional non-free add-ons, including an accelerated X-server called Metro-X, and IIRC an i386 version of the CDE desktop.
In much the same way you can with EVERY OTHER FUCKING DISTRIBRUTION. Package managers are there for those who want them, as and when the want them. Nothing stops you from compiling from source and installing in
[gowen@orr gowen]$ whatis convert
convert (1) - converts an input file using one image format to an output file with the same or differing image format.
What was your point again?
Why is that surprising? Red Hat have previously done the part-open/part-closed thing, and realised that it doesn't really help that much, and that well packaged all open source packages are just as marketable, cheaper to license and earn you good will in the community. Most of the other companies (SuSE excepted, as the YaST licensing was clearly designed to protect their market) are just ill-thought-out dotcom cash-ins struggling to cope with a dose of economic reality.
Baffling eh? I'd say +3 at best, and I wrote it.
Plot in the context I used it must be considered synonymous with coherent plot. And it didn't have one of those, merely an imperceptibly slim narrative line linking a sequence of overblown setpieces. (Unless you're suggesting that TPM had a small piece of ground for a specific purpose).
It has a plot? Well, thats one improvement over The Phantom Menace then...
Hey! Don't give away the ending!
your measurements won't show a Gaussian distribution of that quantity
No. Of course it won't. Measurements simply don't behave like that. Measurements, as the term is used by particle physicists, give you an single answer/number.
rather you'll see a range of values for that quantity with most of the measured values in a spike where the wave function collapsed
Err. No. You'll only get a range of values if you carry out a sequence of measurements. And, if the time between measurements is sufficiently short, they'll be similar to the first measurements (modulo the amount each measurement perturbs the particle).
No, it doesn't. Remove the word "intelligent" and you're closer. All CI says
Not unreasonable. And certainly not dissimilar from the Law of Large Numbers (since that deals with probabilities and CI says thats what we're dealing with).
What spike? The spike in what? This is physics, be specific
I know it sucks right now, but you've invested plenty of time in it, and its a bad idea to quit. Its only a semester, a fantastically short period of time in the grand scheme of things.
:)
Then go and do something completely unrelated for as long as you want to, and gain a bit of perspective. You may find that, with the daily grind removed, you remember what you liked about CS, or you may never touch a keyboard again. Either way, you'll be a college graduate, which does help in getting jobs, whatever your major is.
Besides sticking at something you hate for a short while is character building
Don't forget
Thats Ed Byrne
This answer is unclear.
If you do have the right to keep all of of your money, how does the US defend its borders. Bombs don't pay for themselves. Are you saying taxes for guns : good, taxes for welfare : bad. I don't understand.
You have just given a reason for taxation (the US' just war on Afghanistan). Now why do you struggle with the concept so much to ask vapid questions like: "Do I have the right to keep my house? My car? My clothes? Any of my property?". Yes, yes and yes. All I've suggested is a progressive taxation system. Effectively the system you have now, but with tax breaks for the poor, not the rich. Is that so hard to comprehend?
Bullshit, kiddo. When you're 16 or 17 and looking to go to college, your family situation is all important.
Here is a nice review paper, discussing the many different views psychologists take to altruism. Here is another. Now give me a reference supporting your contention.
Why do you keep suggesting this? The government taxes you. You agree that this is sometimes acceptable (military expenditure). Why, in this case, is taxation for welfare equivalent to Soviet-style totalitarianism? Its a non-sequitor. Thats why I don't respond.
Yes. Thats why I've couched all my statements as my opinion. You're the one making objective (and unjustified statements like Altruism doesn't exist. Everytime I say moral, I'm being subjective, I know. I'm telling you about my morality.
Thats an awful analogy. There is no similarity between a position on tax rates and government spending and abortion. Having said that, all governments impose the view of the winning side on the losers, thats how it works. Is Bush's tax and spending cuts imposing his morality on America's leftists? Maybe, but thats how government works. Is it equivalent to religious fundamentalism. No.
Whatever the record company feel like paying him. But he should pay tax on that money.
No. Its because lottery wins are so few as to contribute negligibly to the exchequer. I didn't mention lingerie tycoons or stand-up comedians, auto workers or futures traders either, and they're far more important. Would you like an exhaustive list of jobs? All income taxed by the same rules. Not too tricky a concept.