Someone above mentioned budgetary issues for keeping the control rooms going even if the rovers still are.
So I've noticed fewer updates on mission status recently. Example: It's 9 June, but the last Opportunity update was on 25 May. Have they entered the crater yet?
Are they de-staffing a little, and could this be responsible for fewer updates?
The only thing I can figure is they enter hardware markets that will help them sell more software.
I can understand this for Xbox (break into the gaming market with loss-leader hardware, but eventually sell lots of lucrative game titles).
WiFi APs though? How was this going to help them sell windoze (or any other software)?
New casting -- Linux support show
on
G4TechTV Announced
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Steve Gates and Bill Balmer will be hosting a new show on Linux installation, maintenance, and support.
Strangely, I think these may pseudonyms, as the publicity head shots show (1) a portly balding man of middle age with small bits of blonde hair left, and (2) a wiry geeky looking skinny guy with squarish glasses and unkept brown hair. They were both dressed in $4000 Armani suits, so apparently the budget is no longer an issue.
I wonder what their credentials are, though, for being experts at Linux support?
Original poster said "only works" in IE5. Depending on your perspective, you might prefer to say that you will only experience a [security] failure if you happen to be running IE.
If I'm the hacker, then I would use the word "works." As a user, I experience a "failure."
A gigabyte is 10^9 bytes or 1.0e+9. A gibibyte is 2^30 bytes or approximately 1.073e+9.
Computer storage was tradionally measured in gibibytes (or mebibytes, or kibibytes) although labelled "incorrectly" as GB (gigabyte), MB (megabyte), or KB (kilobyte). That is, until hard-drive marketeers got into the act (see below).
Strictly speaking GB (gigabyte) represents 1.0e+9 bytes because giga means one billion. Similarly, mega means one million and kilo one thousand, so 1MB (megabyte) == 1.0e+6 bytes, and 1KB (kilobyte) == 1.0e+3 bytes.
In 1998, the IEC defined new prefixes to clear up the traditional confusion. See this article. Basically:
gibi (Gi) == 2^30, or approx. 1.073e+9.
mebi (Mi) == 2^20, or approx. 1.049e+9.
kibi (Ki) == 2^10, or 1024.
So a "tradional computer gigabyte" is is now properly represented 1GiB, and is exactly 1073741824 bytes.
Here come the marketeers
Realizing that most folks don't know a gibibyte from the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow (African or European?), marketeers noticed that labelling the size of their hard drives in strict measures of GB's (10^9 bytes) instead of the tradionally used GiB's (even though GiB is often "mislabelled" GB in the computer world) -- would allow them to artificially grow the size of their disks by more than 7% with no hardware modifications.
That is, unsuspecting computer geeks used to seeing the friendly GB as 1024^3 (2^30) bytes, and yet knowing from their science classis that this isn't quite correct, would continue to presume GB being used to represent (2^10)^3 bytes. After all, it's a sly bit of superiority when you know what the computer version of GB really means. Plus a geek worth her MBR can compute any power of two at the tip of a hat, right?
Yet a geek buys a drive labelled 120GB, and finds usable storage of less than 112GiB is present. This of course doesn't include overhead lost to file system management structures...
Coming up with free bytes by simply changing the packaging is a good thing for marketeers. Plus, they're not even lying about capacity! They're putting the correct (if non-traditional) number on the box.
DVD storage manufacturers adopted the same approach. So a 4.7GB DVD is 4.7*1e+9 bytes. Stated in tradtional computer-land GiBytes, this becomes: 4.377GiB.
Seriously... click'n'tap PDAs are very hard to use for entering data, even if you use the onscreen chiclet keyboard "simulations." I don't see a PDA as a _primary_ data entry device, mind you. I just find it so annoying to use the stylus for entering even small amounts of data like the description for an appointment.
My old HP 200LX "palmtop" is eminently typable, either in two-thumbs mode, or six-finger mode (while device is resting on a flat surface). The device continues to run flawlessly five years after it was discontinued.
Newer devices, such as the Sharp Zaurus clamshell-configurations with integrated keyboard (avail. only in Japan 8-( ), look appealing and typable. The U.S. Zaurii with keyboards have keys the size of a pinhed; I tried it; the keyboard is pretty much unusable.
I prefer the keyboard to be integrated; I don't want to carry a separate device on a dongle/cable.
What about all that backbone fiber that was laid leading up to the.com bubble burst? I'm talking about high-speed fiber of which only 1% is currently lit.
My Broadcom stock went from $50 to $1 because telcos and other infrastructure types over-bought and laid fiber. Much of it remains unused.
If lit, how many additional resources (routers, telco cabinet equipment) would have to be added to accomodate the new fiber capacity? I'm guessing the conduits are populated, but the switches aren't present...
Slashdot Mirror
Someone above mentioned budgetary issues for keeping the control rooms going even if the rovers still are.
So I've noticed fewer updates on mission status recently. Example: It's 9 June, but the last Opportunity update was on 25 May. Have they entered the crater yet?
Are they de-staffing a little, and could this be responsible for fewer updates?
... immediate conscription into the U.S. Army, and a free trip (of indefinite stay) to Iraq!
Those aren't pieces of "Chinese parabolic cookware," as the author describes.
They are ancient Ming Dynasty era signalling devices created by unusual wizards. Dontcha know the Chinese invented everything first?
They were used to signal the mother planet before knowledge of their operation was lost through the depths of time.
They were simply designed to resemble cookware in order to protect the important secret from marauding barbarians.
Those aren't pieces of "Chinese parabolic cookware," as the author describes.
They are ancient Ming Dynasty era signalling devices created by ancient wizards. Dontcha know the Chinese invented everything first?
They were used to signal the mother planet before knowledge of their operation was lost throught the depths of time.
They were simply designed to resemble cookware in order to protect the important secret from marauding barbarians.
So it's a wireless processor, huh.
They musta replaced all those tiny little interconnects on the chip surface with billions of WiFi access points, then?
What do you have if you have thousands of lawyers buried up to their necks in sand?
Not enough sand. *ba dmp bum*
The chemis spent his teen years in this house; the sculpture is located right outside his bedroom window where he had his first lab.
So what about the "security" measures being used to protect RF-transmitted passport info/photos that are being introduced for US passports?
/.
What are they using, and who is providing it?
This was mentioned a couple of days ago on
Or will it just silently be slid into place with little reporting, and then be too late?
Amazing!
They're primarily a software company after all.
The only thing I can figure is they enter hardware markets that will help them sell more software.
I can understand this for Xbox (break into the gaming market with loss-leader hardware, but eventually sell lots of lucrative game titles).
WiFi APs though? How was this going to help them sell windoze (or any other software)?
Steve Gates and Bill Balmer will be hosting a new show on Linux installation, maintenance, and support.
Strangely, I think these may pseudonyms, as the publicity head shots show (1) a portly balding man of middle age with small bits of blonde hair left, and (2) a wiry geeky looking skinny guy with squarish glasses and unkept brown hair. They were both dressed in $4000 Armani suits, so apparently the budget is no longer an issue.
I wonder what their credentials are, though, for being experts at Linux support?
Wasn't Rambus accused of monopolistic behavior when their designs first appeared?
This smells like SCO -- if you can't compete, litigate!
They need all that storage and horsepower to power the DRM crypto that will keep you from running "unapproved" OS's on the next-gen hardware.
... how will you give them said special instructions to avoid electrocuting you/them?
Portland replaced all of its downtown meter heads with one-per-block parking sticker kiosks a year or two ago.
Anyone know if they run Linux, or are the same brand as the Montreal ones?
Heck, there are plenty of RIAA lobbyists inside the beltway who'd be happy to make this happen.
We'll tell the public that downloaded music can be used by evil-doers for anti-national-security aims.
So, let me get this straight. He went to microwave his soup and found a $20 in it? That's better than a fly, I suppose.
Original poster said "only works" in IE5. Depending on your perspective, you might prefer to say that you will only experience a [security] failure if you happen to be running IE.
If I'm the hacker, then I would use the word "works." As a user, I experience a "failure."
A conservative /.er? O.M.G.
Geez, I know the KDE folks think they're superior, but hacking your competitors website? That's so Microsoft-y.
what happens if I stream NPR while Opera is running, and then turn up my computer's volume?
Computer storage was tradionally measured in gibibytes (or mebibytes, or kibibytes) although labelled "incorrectly" as GB (gigabyte), MB (megabyte), or KB (kilobyte). That is, until hard-drive marketeers got into the act (see below).
Strictly speaking GB (gigabyte) represents 1.0e+9 bytes because giga means one billion. Similarly, mega means one million and kilo one thousand, so 1MB (megabyte) == 1.0e+6 bytes, and 1KB (kilobyte) == 1.0e+3 bytes.
In 1998, the IEC defined new prefixes to clear up the traditional confusion. See this article. Basically:
So a "tradional computer gigabyte" is is now properly represented 1GiB, and is exactly 1073741824 bytes.
Here come the marketeers
Realizing that most folks don't know a gibibyte from the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow (African or European?), marketeers noticed that labelling the size of their hard drives in strict measures of GB's (10^9 bytes) instead of the tradionally used GiB's (even though GiB is often "mislabelled" GB in the computer world) -- would allow them to artificially grow the size of their disks by more than 7% with no hardware modifications.
That is, unsuspecting computer geeks used to seeing the friendly GB as 1024^3 (2^30) bytes, and yet knowing from their science classis that this isn't quite correct, would continue to presume GB being used to represent (2^10)^3 bytes. After all, it's a sly bit of superiority when you know what the computer version of GB really means. Plus a geek worth her MBR can compute any power of two at the tip of a hat, right?
Yet a geek buys a drive labelled 120GB, and finds usable storage of less than 112GiB is present. This of course doesn't include overhead lost to file system management structures...
Coming up with free bytes by simply changing the packaging is a good thing for marketeers. Plus, they're not even lying about capacity! They're putting the correct (if non-traditional) number on the box.
DVD storage manufacturers adopted the same approach. So a 4.7GB DVD is 4.7*1e+9 bytes. Stated in tradtional computer-land GiBytes, this becomes: 4.377GiB.
Seriously... click'n'tap PDAs are very hard to use for entering data, even if you use the onscreen chiclet keyboard "simulations." I don't see a PDA as a _primary_ data entry device, mind you. I just find it so annoying to use the stylus for entering even small amounts of data like the description for an appointment.
My old HP 200LX "palmtop" is eminently typable, either in two-thumbs mode, or six-finger mode (while device is resting on a flat surface). The device continues to run flawlessly five years after it was discontinued.
Newer devices, such as the Sharp Zaurus clamshell-configurations with integrated keyboard (avail. only in Japan 8-( ), look appealing and typable. The U.S. Zaurii with keyboards have keys the size of a pinhed; I tried it; the keyboard is pretty much unusable.
I prefer the keyboard to be integrated; I don't want to carry a separate device on a dongle/cable.
What about all that backbone fiber that was laid leading up to the .com bubble burst? I'm talking about high-speed fiber of which only 1% is currently lit.
My Broadcom stock went from $50 to $1 because telcos and other infrastructure types over-bought and laid fiber. Much of it remains unused.
If lit, how many additional resources (routers, telco cabinet equipment) would have to be added to accomodate the new fiber capacity? I'm guessing the conduits are populated, but the switches aren't present...