For example, they could be used to encode nutritional information or pricing offers.
"One to the side may say 'hey, look at me, I'm a dollar cheaper'," said Dr Mohan.
Why exactly would a manufacturer want to put this on their products? Why would a store want to have this on their shelves? No store owner is going to want people in their store, looking at their fancy barcodes, and finding out that something else is cheaper, or worse, the store across the street has the same thing for less.
The benefits? You're slightly less likely to get knocked over?
You can run like a horse, or climb trees like a leopard.
Last time I checked, leopards did not have four legs and two arms. Besides, we could climb trees just as well as leopards if we had feet that can grip like many other primates. In fact, if I had four legs, but still had non-gripping human feet, I seriously doubt I'd be any better at climbing trees that I am now.
Um 6 appendages with 4 legs and 2 arms would work just as well if not better.
Nonsense, you are looking only at the (presumed) benefits of an extra pair of legs without considering the costs. An extra pair of legs requires more energy, it requires more neurons devoted to controlling the extra legs, etc. The benefits? You're slightly less likely to get knocked over?
I guess, in this case at least, since it is a laptop and has (presumably) been moving around, there is a slim chance that something has been shaken out of place. Of course, laptop manufacturers know this and try and engineer their laptops such that the risk of this happening is rather slim, and besides, memory slots in particular are usually quite tight. So yes, unless the owner told you that they'd had the computer open and were fiddling inside it, you wouldn't assume that a ram module would just pop out of its socket.
Very true. I had a memory module go bad, but it was very intermittent. Some times it would hum along just fine for hours and then crash, some times it refused to boot at all. A quick reseat could easily appear to have "fixed" the problem, only for it to come back again later.
I only finally tracked down the problem after I removed the module (it was one of two) and the computer ran fine for about a week. Luckily the memory was replaced under GSkill's lifetime warranty.
Even more reason not to suspect it. But I may be misremembering it. They had something in backwards which still isn't something most people would look for since, in general, cables don't turn themselves around.
To get things working again, one needs only push the chip back into the slot and reboot the machine. Any half-way competent engineers should fix it in minutes.'
This isn't as bad as some of these "exposes" they run on PC repair shops, but I would dispute it should take minutes to fix. For a start, you need to open the case first, which you're probably not going to do until you've tried to see if you can solve the problem without opening the case (maybe it's a BIOS or OS problem). It's not like checking the ram is seated properly is the first thing you'd check and it's not like the BIOS will come up with a "RAMs not seated properly" message.
I remember another similar set up a while back where they'd plugged the IDE cable in backwards. Again, if somebody brings in a computer that has stopped working, the first thing you think of is not going to be that the IDE cable has magically turned itself backwards again.
Having said all that, let me make it clear that these people (the PC repair people) are still scumbags. I had a computer from BestBuy that was still under warranty that had damage to the power supply and motherboard (you could see the burn marks on the connectors). BestBuy's Geek Squad tried to tell me that I had a virus and need to buy their anti-virus.
Notice again that you've ignored the most important, and for most users most difficult, part. FINDING THESE SERVICES IN THE FIRST PLACE. Once you know about Picasa and you know it's even possible to connect it with Facebook, then search on Google is easy. But most people haven't heard of Picasa. And those that have, it wouldn't even occur to them that they could use it with Facebook.
You keep talking about how easy the technical part of the very last step is without realizing that most users aren't only stuck on step 1, they don't even realize that the steps even exist!
But the point is that I have to want to save a copy which, if I'm up to no good, I wouldn't want to do.
Re:So lets see here...
on
Lost In the Cloud
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
First you have to realize that you have a need, then you have to identify these services that will fill this need, then you need to figure out how to sign up for them, then you need to figure out how to use them and how to get them to work together....
Yes, that is more than enough to turn away most users on the internets.
Will occur the year after the year of the Linux desktop.
Re:So lets see here...
on
Lost In the Cloud
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
I think you just proved jambarama's point (especially for the "normal" facebook user) by giving three different links to a mess of different services in a vain attempt to show how "trivial" it is. Well done defeating your own point, it saves everybody else the time.
'The groundbreaking finding here is that you can make lesions deep in the brain â" through the intact skull and skin â" with extreme precision and accuracy and safety.'
Something about the word "lesions" doesn't quite make me think "safety". Reminds me of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind where Jim Carey's character asks if there is any risk of brain damage and the guy tells him that "technically, it is brain damage".
I can see this being useful for corporations that want e-mails to be destroyed before they can be used against them in court. Sure you could take a screen shot or copy/paste the text before the e-mail is permanently destroyed, but can you prove that your copy wasn't tampered with? Can you prove that was what the e-mail originally said? Plausible deniability!
The exception to this rule is my wife's office, which mandates Opera use... but it's only because they manage classical musicians and they like the name... it causes them all kinds of problems.
Dumbest reason to use a certain piece of software. ever!
Surely it was supposed to read "Afghanistan Criminalizes Blashphemy" or "Iran Criminalizes Blashphemy". This isn't supposed to happen in "modern", "enlightened" western countries.
I've only played the two seasons of Sam and Max and they were entertaining, just too short and too easy. I loved the games, but it seems like a lot of money to drop for only a few hours of entertainment.
Also, I agree on DotT. That was a really good game and I remember it had some really interesting puzzles using the time travel aspects.
Slashdot Mirror
For example, they could be used to encode nutritional information or pricing offers.
"One to the side may say 'hey, look at me, I'm a dollar cheaper'," said Dr Mohan.
Why exactly would a manufacturer want to put this on their products? Why would a store want to have this on their shelves? No store owner is going to want people in their store, looking at their fancy barcodes, and finding out that something else is cheaper, or worse, the store across the street has the same thing for less.
They said the same thing about lasers when they were first invented.
The benefits? You're slightly less likely to get knocked over?
You can run like a horse, or climb trees like a leopard.
Last time I checked, leopards did not have four legs and two arms. Besides, we could climb trees just as well as leopards if we had feet that can grip like many other primates. In fact, if I had four legs, but still had non-gripping human feet, I seriously doubt I'd be any better at climbing trees that I am now.
Um 6 appendages with 4 legs and 2 arms would work just as well if not better.
Nonsense, you are looking only at the (presumed) benefits of an extra pair of legs without considering the costs. An extra pair of legs requires more energy, it requires more neurons devoted to controlling the extra legs, etc. The benefits? You're slightly less likely to get knocked over?
well, guilty actually, since there doesn't seem to be any provision for proving your innocence. So, guilty until admitted guilty.
I guess, in this case at least, since it is a laptop and has (presumably) been moving around, there is a slim chance that something has been shaken out of place. Of course, laptop manufacturers know this and try and engineer their laptops such that the risk of this happening is rather slim, and besides, memory slots in particular are usually quite tight. So yes, unless the owner told you that they'd had the computer open and were fiddling inside it, you wouldn't assume that a ram module would just pop out of its socket.
It's a dead simple check to do, and it would be the first thing I tried after powering on the machine, and getting no video signal
First thing I'd check is if I remembered to plug the monitor in! But yeah, then your thing.
Very true. I had a memory module go bad, but it was very intermittent. Some times it would hum along just fine for hours and then crash, some times it refused to boot at all. A quick reseat could easily appear to have "fixed" the problem, only for it to come back again later.
I only finally tracked down the problem after I removed the module (it was one of two) and the computer ran fine for about a week. Luckily the memory was replaced under GSkill's lifetime warranty.
Even more reason not to suspect it. But I may be misremembering it. They had something in backwards which still isn't something most people would look for since, in general, cables don't turn themselves around.
To get things working again, one needs only push the chip back into the slot and reboot the machine. Any half-way competent engineers should fix it in minutes.'
This isn't as bad as some of these "exposes" they run on PC repair shops, but I would dispute it should take minutes to fix. For a start, you need to open the case first, which you're probably not going to do until you've tried to see if you can solve the problem without opening the case (maybe it's a BIOS or OS problem). It's not like checking the ram is seated properly is the first thing you'd check and it's not like the BIOS will come up with a "RAMs not seated properly" message.
I remember another similar set up a while back where they'd plugged the IDE cable in backwards. Again, if somebody brings in a computer that has stopped working, the first thing you think of is not going to be that the IDE cable has magically turned itself backwards again.
Having said all that, let me make it clear that these people (the PC repair people) are still scumbags. I had a computer from BestBuy that was still under warranty that had damage to the power supply and motherboard (you could see the burn marks on the connectors). BestBuy's Geek Squad tried to tell me that I had a virus and need to buy their anti-virus.
Notice again that you've ignored the most important, and for most users most difficult, part. FINDING THESE SERVICES IN THE FIRST PLACE. Once you know about Picasa and you know it's even possible to connect it with Facebook, then search on Google is easy. But most people haven't heard of Picasa. And those that have, it wouldn't even occur to them that they could use it with Facebook.
You keep talking about how easy the technical part of the very last step is without realizing that most users aren't only stuck on step 1, they don't even realize that the steps even exist!
They had originally built a snowboarding robot, but it was too busy smoking pot for them to do any actual research.
But the point is that I have to want to save a copy which, if I'm up to no good, I wouldn't want to do.
First you have to realize that you have a need, then you have to identify these services that will fill this need, then you need to figure out how to sign up for them, then you need to figure out how to use them and how to get them to work together....
Yes, that is more than enough to turn away most users on the internets.
Yes, I know. Thank you.
Will occur the year after the year of the Linux desktop.
I think you just proved jambarama's point (especially for the "normal" facebook user) by giving three different links to a mess of different services in a vain attempt to show how "trivial" it is. Well done defeating your own point, it saves everybody else the time.
'The groundbreaking finding here is that you can make lesions deep in the brain â" through the intact skull and skin â" with extreme precision and accuracy and safety.'
Something about the word "lesions" doesn't quite make me think "safety". Reminds me of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind where Jim Carey's character asks if there is any risk of brain damage and the guy tells him that "technically, it is brain damage".
I can see this being useful for corporations that want e-mails to be destroyed before they can be used against them in court. Sure you could take a screen shot or copy/paste the text before the e-mail is permanently destroyed, but can you prove that your copy wasn't tampered with? Can you prove that was what the e-mail originally said? Plausible deniability!
After eight hours, the message will be impossible to unscramble and will remain gibberish forever.
Most of my messages are gibberish to begin with. No scrambling needed!
The exception to this rule is my wife's office, which mandates Opera use... but it's only because they manage classical musicians and they like the name... it causes them all kinds of problems.
Dumbest reason to use a certain piece of software. ever!
my last crop of interns from the local university thought CVS was something that came with eclipse
At least they didn't think it was a drug store.
Surely it was supposed to read "Afghanistan Criminalizes Blashphemy" or "Iran Criminalizes Blashphemy". This isn't supposed to happen in "modern", "enlightened" western countries.
2: Start a new, silly religion (like I believe in an all-powerful, all-knowing being who needs your MONEY!)
You missed step 2b: Get silly celebrities to become prominent members and spokespersons for you religion.
Worked for L.Ron
I've only played the two seasons of Sam and Max and they were entertaining, just too short and too easy. I loved the games, but it seems like a lot of money to drop for only a few hours of entertainment.
Also, I agree on DotT. That was a really good game and I remember it had some really interesting puzzles using the time travel aspects.