Why is whenever the US catches up with the rest of the world in phone technology it is considered "news"? We've been using 11 digit number in the UK for years.
Catch up? So if we used 22-digit dialing, the US would be "ahead" of the UK in telecommunications?
I have all email from my girlfriend and my boss forwarded to me via SMS -- its amazing how many times I have impressed them with how on top of things i am, like I was reading their mind even though i'm out doing something else...
I would more equate it to MS supplying the TCP/IP stack in windows. Yes, it killed third-party companies, but it is a basic infrastructure piece for computing and should be provided at a low level such as the OS manufacturer.
Adding 802.11 support is no worse than providing motherboards with video, audio, and disk controllers. It's too low level and basic functionality to expect that any non-technical user will care what manufacturer provides the piece as long as it works.
Geeks will always have 3rd party hardware with longer range/lower power/higher speed/etc, just as we do in video and disk controllers.
Video editing requires a much faster harddrive than the specs mention. Firewire is not up to snuff.
huh? People have been editing digital video for years on systems much slower than this. Broadcast quality DV is actually pretty low bitrate compared to the 25+ Mbit/sec throughput you had to have a few years ago when everything was analog. We run an entire DV editing lab off of systems built with stock 5400 RPM IDE drives. You used to have to have SCSI RAID systems just to keep from dropping frames during capture.
While you wouldn't physically fit this in a case since it is two drives, it is worth noting that firewire and USB 2.0 are both internal and external specs. Most firewire cards have an internal connector for firewire drives inside the case, and I've noticed it on the USB boards we've gotten lately. Serial ATA only makes sense because it is backwards compatible, but internal firwire is a much better bus...
More great slashdot editing
on
Optical Cellphones
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· Score: 1, Offtopic
Commence massive spelling correction project in 5...4...3...
While i agree with your sentiment, "claimed responsibility" is the most accurate phrase. Law enforcement agencies routinely deal with fasle confessions to high-profile crimes. Someone claiming that they are responsible is not the same thing as them actually confessing to being guilty, because for all we know they AREN'T guilty.
it's not just a semantic or legal issue, the simple truth is that 45 people can't all be guilty of a shooting, but 45 people can all claim responsibility, so that's all any reporter could honestly say.
Re:This Is Not News For Nerds
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HomeSec In the News
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· Score: 3, Insightful
It's a liberal cause to be concerned about needless amendments to legislation? I thought conservatives were in favor of restricted government power?
Use any spanish windows install, and it quickly becomes a problem. While c:\windows itself is the same, "Program Files" becomes "archivos de programa", and I have yet to work on a spanish windows system that didn't have BOTH directories present because of apps that were hardcoded for the "Program Files" directory.
At least if the product was OpenSourced we'd have the option of subcontracting the fix to a thirdparty rather than having to dump it and find something else.
This is the key point missing from the TCO question. If you can, in fact, GUARANTEE that for ten years, your every question and problem will be solved by the vendor for the cost you are quoted, well then go ahead and use the commercial product -- why not?
If you can't get a guarantee from the vendor that every problem will be solved, that there will be a huge financial penalty for early termination of the support contract, and that you will have access to the code at no cost should they go bankrupt or discontinue the product, then you have a different problem than TCO.
Microsoft is a big company, they haven't gone bankrupt or stopped making software -- but I doubt many companies support needs are handled entirely by support contracts they bought from MS back in 1992.
And what happens in ten years, when the support contract is no longer profitable, maybe the company is still around, but just resentful of having the legacy albatross on their back? Then the agency will have NO CHOICE but to upgrade the tool, change to something else, or support a closed-source tool 100% by themselves.
Government systems almost ALWAYS last longer than projected -- and if it is working, why change? The cost to hire some retired programmer in 2012 to support that ancient open-source tool will be miniscule compared to the cost of needlessly changing systems because the agency no longer fits some other company's profit projections.
I actually switched to netbank 'cause of your recommendation, Kev -- when SFNB was bought by RBC it was fine, but when it became RBC/Centura everything went down the toilet in a matter of weeks.
netbank rocks -- it's great for folks like me who move a lot and don't need physical bank access. Free bill payment, plus great interest rates and I don't think I've ever paid a fee for anything.
Works fine for me in Mozilla, and has ever since I switched to moz last year.
I used to be with SFNB, the first totally "online" bank, but when they were bought out a few years ago, they started charging fees like a regular bank, which kind of defeated the whole point of reducing transaction costs by being online.
Don't be discouraged by tough questioning -- experienced court-watchers have said that they frequently give a harder time to the side they agree with, in part to see how well the arguments hold up and to ensure that they are comfortable they have examined any flaws well enough to rule in an unbiased manner.
I doubt palm spent much R&D time on the Zire -- it's basically a Palm III in a new case with a rechargeable battery. The only thing new is the price.
Look at their Tungsten line for what you're talking about (or at the Sony Clies) -- they have built-in bluetooth, great expansion, MMC expansion, etc.
Re:Recycle Bins - don't you just hate them?
on
Undelete In Linux
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· Score: 2
It's an option in Windows too you know.
Sort of -- you can't tell a windows system to delete files directly AND turn off delete confirmations at the same time. I find it more annoying for the system to ask me every time I delete a file, so I set the recycle bin for 1% of the drive and turn off confirmations. When you set the size to 0%, it immediately turns on confirmations.
(another annoying thing is that it is "precentage" of the drive rather than actual size -- even 1% of my hard disk is a couple of gigabytes, which is a total waste)
I'm unsure about US law, but in the United Kingdom, you have to have a good reason to accuse someone of something, and to have them tried in a court of law.
Two different things -- in the USA you can sue anyone for anything (I could sue my neighbor for wearing an ugly dress if I wanted to). But it will never get to court.
For that matter, is it a criminal offence to wrongly accuse someone in the US?
depends -- if you say someone is a muderer, you could be charged with making false statements to the police (or perjury if in court), but 99% of the time the real risk is that you'll be sued for libel/slander or frivilous lawsuit.
So yes, you can sue for anything, but you can also get sued back if your lawsuit was a pointless waste of time (which is what would happen in a case like this where the facts are easy to discover and the CEO is basically just an idiot).
According to the article, the size of the incision required is much smaller that you could ever have if you needed to fit your hand in the opening.
They are the same size as any other laparoscopic openings -- about big enough for two fingers. The robot isn't making any difference to the recovery time or incision, it is mostly an aid to the surgeon who is already doing laparoscopic procedures (and is already used to doing surgery from a 2d TV image).
You're right about scaling of motions -- right now it isn't such a HUGE deal (although the fine control is handy as I said in being able to rest wihtout moving instruments) but in the future the same tech will be used for more and more precise surgeries that aren't even attempted today...
If developments continue along this line, and there is no reason to believe they won't, operation rooms may become obsolete for many operations: a closed sterile device is pressed against the area where the opening has to come. All that has to be sterile is the insides of the operation device.
not for a while, at least -- keep in mind that you have to be able to open up the patient in case something goes wrong...
We use these at work and they are very good -- Intuitive Surgical and Computer Motion both have systems that are getting use in ORs all over the place.
The only drawback is the cost and training, but once you've spent the million dollars to get it, you open up a lot of opportunities for surgical education and easing the burdon on doctors (as well as removing all notions of "distance" from the question of timely assistance).
For those wondering about the voice control, it only recognizes a dozen commands, and is totally speaker-independant. You'd say "Aesop...Move in" and it will move the camera in a few millimeters. The nice thing is that you can save positions and pricisely jump back and forth at looking in different areas in a half-second. It does have pressure sensors, so you can't do too much acidentally.
Also, realize that sometimes you can spend literally 16+ hours on one surgery -- having the robot do the direct manipulation means you can switch surgeons every few hours or get up and walk around without letting go of the surgical instruments and possibly abrading something while handing them off.
After watching a few dozen of these surgeries, i'd honestly say that i'd rather have my gall bladder removed by hermes/aesop/Zeus/daVinci than by a surgeon's hands...
I have a similar job -- if they had told us more about field work back in junior high, i bet a lot more people would have gotten excited about being scientists...
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Just a reminder, don't leave a negative message here about the case!...
Why is whenever the US catches up with the rest of the world in phone technology it is considered "news"? We've been using 11 digit number in the UK for years.
Catch up? So if we used 22-digit dialing, the US would be "ahead" of the UK in telecommunications?
best...answer...ever...
I have all email from my girlfriend and my boss forwarded to me via SMS -- its amazing how many times I have impressed them with how on top of things i am, like I was reading their mind even though i'm out doing something else...
Remember kids, when playing with Linux, always wear your CUPS...
Just because people can call you anytime, anywhere doesn't mean you have to answer the phone everytime, everywhere...
Morrowind is totally open, non-linear, do whatever you like but also with a story if you want to follow it.
I would more equate it to MS supplying the TCP/IP stack in windows. Yes, it killed third-party companies, but it is a basic infrastructure piece for computing and should be provided at a low level such as the OS manufacturer.
Adding 802.11 support is no worse than providing motherboards with video, audio, and disk controllers. It's too low level and basic functionality to expect that any non-technical user will care what manufacturer provides the piece as long as it works.
Geeks will always have 3rd party hardware with longer range/lower power/higher speed/etc, just as we do in video and disk controllers.
Video editing requires a much faster harddrive than the specs mention. Firewire is not up to snuff.
huh? People have been editing digital video for years on systems much slower than this. Broadcast quality DV is actually pretty low bitrate compared to the 25+ Mbit/sec throughput you had to have a few years ago when everything was analog. We run an entire DV editing lab off of systems built with stock 5400 RPM IDE drives. You used to have to have SCSI RAID systems just to keep from dropping frames during capture.
While you wouldn't physically fit this in a case since it is two drives, it is worth noting that firewire and USB 2.0 are both internal and external specs. Most firewire cards have an internal connector for firewire drives inside the case, and I've noticed it on the USB boards we've gotten lately. Serial ATA only makes sense because it is backwards compatible, but internal firwire is a much better bus...
Commence massive spelling correction project in
5...4...3...
While i agree with your sentiment, "claimed responsibility" is the most accurate phrase. Law enforcement agencies routinely deal with fasle confessions to high-profile crimes. Someone claiming that they are responsible is not the same thing as them actually confessing to being guilty, because for all we know they AREN'T guilty.
it's not just a semantic or legal issue, the simple truth is that 45 people can't all be guilty of a shooting, but 45 people can all claim responsibility, so that's all any reporter could honestly say.
It's a liberal cause to be concerned about needless amendments to legislation? I thought conservatives were in favor of restricted government power?
Use any spanish windows install, and it quickly becomes a problem. While c:\windows itself is the same, "Program Files" becomes "archivos de programa", and I have yet to work on a spanish windows system that didn't have BOTH directories present because of apps that were hardcoded for the "Program Files" directory.
At least if the product was OpenSourced we'd have the option of subcontracting the fix to a thirdparty rather than having to dump it and find something else.
This is the key point missing from the TCO question. If you can, in fact, GUARANTEE that for ten years, your every question and problem will be solved by the vendor for the cost you are quoted, well then go ahead and use the commercial product -- why not?
If you can't get a guarantee from the vendor that every problem will be solved, that there will be a huge financial penalty for early termination of the support contract, and that you will have access to the code at no cost should they go bankrupt or discontinue the product, then you have a different problem than TCO.
Microsoft is a big company, they haven't gone bankrupt or stopped making software -- but I doubt many companies support needs are handled entirely by support contracts they bought from MS back in 1992.
And what happens in ten years, when the support contract is no longer profitable, maybe the company is still around, but just resentful of having the legacy albatross on their back? Then the agency will have NO CHOICE but to upgrade the tool, change to something else, or support a closed-source tool 100% by themselves.
Government systems almost ALWAYS last longer than projected -- and if it is working, why change? The cost to hire some retired programmer in 2012 to support that ancient open-source tool will be miniscule compared to the cost of needlessly changing systems because the agency no longer fits some other company's profit projections.
I actually switched to netbank 'cause of your recommendation, Kev -- when SFNB was bought by RBC it was fine, but when it became RBC/Centura everything went down the toilet in a matter of weeks.
netbank rocks -- it's great for folks like me who move a lot and don't need physical bank access. Free bill payment, plus great interest rates and I don't think I've ever paid a fee for anything.
Works fine for me in Mozilla, and has ever since I switched to moz last year.
I used to be with SFNB, the first totally "online" bank, but when they were bought out a few years ago, they started charging fees like a regular bank, which kind of defeated the whole point of reducing transaction costs by being online.
Don't be discouraged by tough questioning -- experienced court-watchers have said that they frequently give a harder time to the side they agree with, in part to see how well the arguments hold up and to ensure that they are comfortable they have examined any flaws well enough to rule in an unbiased manner.
I doubt palm spent much R&D time on the Zire -- it's basically a Palm III in a new case with a rechargeable battery. The only thing new is the price.
Look at their Tungsten line for what you're talking about (or at the Sony Clies) -- they have built-in bluetooth, great expansion, MMC expansion, etc.
It's an option in Windows too you know.
Sort of -- you can't tell a windows system to delete files directly AND turn off delete confirmations at the same time. I find it more annoying for the system to ask me every time I delete a file, so I set the recycle bin for 1% of the drive and turn off confirmations. When you set the size to 0%, it immediately turns on confirmations.
(another annoying thing is that it is "precentage" of the drive rather than actual size -- even 1% of my hard disk is a couple of gigabytes, which is a total waste)
I'm unsure about US law, but in the United Kingdom, you have to have a good reason to accuse someone of something, and to have them tried in a court of law.
Two different things -- in the USA you can sue anyone for anything (I could sue my neighbor for wearing an ugly dress if I wanted to). But it will never get to court.
For that matter, is it a criminal offence to wrongly accuse someone in the US?
depends -- if you say someone is a muderer, you could be charged with making false statements to the police (or perjury if in court), but 99% of the time the real risk is that you'll be sued for libel/slander or frivilous lawsuit.
So yes, you can sue for anything, but you can also get sued back if your lawsuit was a pointless waste of time (which is what would happen in a case like this where the facts are easy to discover and the CEO is basically just an idiot).
According to the article, the size of the incision required is much smaller that you could ever have if you needed to fit your hand in the opening.
They are the same size as any other laparoscopic openings -- about big enough for two fingers. The robot isn't making any difference to the recovery time or incision, it is mostly an aid to the surgeon who is already doing laparoscopic procedures (and is already used to doing surgery from a 2d TV image).
You're right about scaling of motions -- right now it isn't such a HUGE deal (although the fine control is handy as I said in being able to rest wihtout moving instruments) but in the future the same tech will be used for more and more precise surgeries that aren't even attempted today...
If developments continue along this line, and there is no reason to believe they won't, operation rooms may become obsolete for many operations: a closed sterile device is pressed against the area where the opening has to come. All that has to be sterile is the insides of the operation device.
not for a while, at least -- keep in mind that you have to be able to open up the patient in case something goes wrong...
We use these at work and they are very good -- Intuitive Surgical and Computer Motion both have systems that are getting use in ORs all over the place.
The only drawback is the cost and training, but once you've spent the million dollars to get it, you open up a lot of opportunities for surgical education and easing the burdon on doctors (as well as removing all notions of "distance" from the question of timely assistance).
For those wondering about the voice control, it only recognizes a dozen commands, and is totally speaker-independant. You'd say "Aesop...Move in" and it will move the camera in a few millimeters. The nice thing is that you can save positions and pricisely jump back and forth at looking in different areas in a half-second. It does have pressure sensors, so you can't do too much acidentally.
Also, realize that sometimes you can spend literally 16+ hours on one surgery -- having the robot do the direct manipulation means you can switch surgeons every few hours or get up and walk around without letting go of the surgical instruments and possibly abrading something while handing them off.
After watching a few dozen of these surgeries, i'd honestly say that i'd rather have my gall bladder removed by hermes/aesop/Zeus/daVinci than by a surgeon's hands...
I have a similar job -- if they had told us more about field work back in junior high, i bet a lot more people would have gotten excited about being scientists...