I got the exact same device from a watch expert about how to store my great grandfather's pocket watch. I thought maybe I should wind it every now and then to "keep it lubricated" or something. He said the best way to prevent mechanical wear and failure is to not use the machine. Makes perfect sense in hindsight.
I never had a tape go bad per se either, but I do remember a DAT drive crapping out and the replacement couldn't read one of the tapes we had written data to from the old drive. Same hardware model, but for whatever reason that one tape wouldn't read in the new device. This is a over 10 years ago, but there's one for the files anyway..
Yeah - I had a 69 t-bird that ran like a top except once - when the brake pedal depressed all the way to the floor and didn't do anything. Scary as shit but fortunately I had just put the car in reverse and was backing out of a parking spot. I was able to put it in neutral and activate the manual parking brake before I hit anything. It never happened again and my mechanic couldn't find any fault. So yes, this type of problem is older than people are giving it credit, and not just Toyota.
And the problem wasn't between the pedal and the seat - but you'll have to take my word on that.
I'm not sure on the physics either, but I'd think you'd want to account for gearing on this. It seems entirely possible that brakes can't handle first gear, but they can out-perform the run-up through the gears to 60 (assuming it's a normal car where you need multiple gears to get to 60).
I appreciate that you looked up the facts. It caused me to look up the facts I thought I had - to find out they were mythologized, perhaps even from the process you describe.. Anyway - thanks again for your thoughts on that, as well as setting the record straight.
Thanks for the cites. I appreciate it. It's asking a lot on slashdot, but you don't have to be a jerk when responding (you assume a lot about me).
And the history I thought I knew about the GG bridge and the bay bridge both turned out to be mythology, and I appreciate getting righted when I'm wrong..
I looked a little deeper and, for example, the GG bridge was payed off with tolls -- it took 35 years to do it (which is why I thought that the costs had been sunk) but including interest, they did pay that bridge off with tolls. Standing corrected.
Try this out sometime and let us know how it works for you. Big corporations can get away with big problems, but little corps will get their officers thrown in the pen as quick or quicker than sole proprietors.
I seem to be replying to all your posts. Waving not stalking - this is a great point. I know for a fact that New Hampshire takes E-rate money from the FCC - which is collected from phone service consumers to pay for connectivity in schools and libraries.
The GP is living in a bit of a fantasy - toll roads pay for their own upkeep, but they don't for the (even amortized) costs of actually building a road - at least all the toll roads/bridges I'm familiar with.
Are you sure about that stat? I've read (in Technology Review a few years ago) that spam can represent 70+% of email messages, but not that it eats 80% of total bandwidth. If you've got a source for that I'd love to see it - sounds high to me, so I'm curious where that number comes from! Thanks..
You know and I both know that the original poster was talking about special taxes on the internet that don't apply everywhere. Income tax affects the ISP just like the corner store.
Now if the FCC "reforms" USF to include a broadband universal service fee, like they do for landlines and cellphones, then we'll have something to talk about.
Until then, stop it with the pedantic, anonymous misdirection - it's old even on/.
Yeah - and open-end function blocks are so deeply against-the-grain (for me) that I just have not gotten over them. I probably sound like a grey haired antique, but I write ruby code all the time and love it!
Your point about shift-indenting to refactor is a good one. Plus I meet so many junior progs who foul up (just a bit) with indenting. I'll put it right when I edit the code, but I can't imagine what would happen if indents were significant on a production enterprise app. Maybe it'd be a good thing as these coders' code wouldn't work at all in python? Hmm.
I'm sad to have python just pass me by -- ruby does a lot to permit different coding styles to co-exist side-by-side, and as you point out, a few small changes for python would permit the same..
It has been and always will be "cost/kilowatt" and depending on the application add "/meter"
It doesn't matter if a panel is expensive or cheap, it matters if it will deliver a certain number of electrical kilowatts for a particular cost. Of course, with square footage limited by rooftops or other locations, it can't have an efficiency too low..
I agree with you - the puppy idea sounds just about perfect. "Oh noes, I got the heart error again - Jane knows how to fix the heart error, but I hope I don't get a puppy error, those are tougher."
I remember a company I worked at in the early 90's had a feature that would result in incurable data loss if you did not take a series of steps (those steps being listed on the screen you entered to undertake the final step). Some of those steps were physical (like rotating a blank tape into a separate system) - so they were hard to verify within the software.
The programmer had put on that final step an input box, and right above the input box it said something like:
Please type the following into the box before continuing.. I have free-will and completed all the steps required to continue.
Unless the user entered exactly that phrase into the input box it wouldn't continue. We still got a few calls of lost data, but a lot more folks paid attention when they basically had to assert their own free will first.:)
My old business partner could switch into the mindset at will - he still can actually. It's pretty amazing - he can look at a UI screen and respond to as a total bumfuck user would, despite being quite experienced with computers after all these years. I have no idea how he does it, but it's a skill I've come to value highly.
Well said. Keeping up with API's and libraries that are available in any given language is a task in itself. It's hard to complain, but sometimes I feel like I can write a solution quicker than finding, evaluating and then learning a new library.
One problem I've had is that a lot of new libraries are actually pretty poor implementations, so you can't just grab one that has the right functionality, you actually have to make sure that it works efficiently (and that when it doesn't, it's actually the library and not one's poor understanding of it). All this takes time, and has the rude backdoor of making your time investment a total loss if it turns out the lib has a fundamental defect - which has happened to me a number of times.
First class functions: Are you saying Ruby doesn't do first class functions but C# does? I'm not sure about your point here? FWIW, you can detach just about anything from anything in ruby and call/store/marshall it later. It's been a while since I toyed with C#, but I seem to recall it permits almost as much flexibility.
I wrote a internet public database-driven consumer website in Ruby. I wrote it all in Windows/Postgres and when I deployed on our cloud server rental (Linux or BSD, I forget which) it worked just fine. The intermediate layers (webserver, process host) were different, but the whole stack worked fine. Since then I've never run across a bug that was due to OS incompatibilities. So chalk up Ruby into the multi-platform list.
I think I've had a few cases with a xen'ed instance of Linux on a shared host where running out of ram caused the OS to simply cease to function. I don't know what the settings are that cause this but since the host doesn't provide for a swap space we have to keep everything within our allotment of RAM or poof. It's a good measure of our code though - whether we are efficient with ram usage, though painful at times.
Not sure if there would be an equivalent on a home machine for Linux. My experience with Windows (xp and earlier) is that if you run without a disk swap, windows will usually pop up nice little messages saying "out of ram" -- but I think I recall some times on older versions (NT) where we'd get blue screens if we were running intense processes like active SQL servers without disk swap.
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I got the exact same device from a watch expert about how to store my great grandfather's pocket watch. I thought maybe I should wind it every now and then to "keep it lubricated" or something. He said the best way to prevent mechanical wear and failure is to not use the machine. Makes perfect sense in hindsight.
I never had a tape go bad per se either, but I do remember a DAT drive crapping out and the replacement couldn't read one of the tapes we had written data to from the old drive. Same hardware model, but for whatever reason that one tape wouldn't read in the new device. This is a over 10 years ago, but there's one for the files anyway..
Yeah - I had a 69 t-bird that ran like a top except once - when the brake pedal depressed all the way to the floor and didn't do anything. Scary as shit but fortunately I had just put the car in reverse and was backing out of a parking spot. I was able to put it in neutral and activate the manual parking brake before I hit anything. It never happened again and my mechanic couldn't find any fault. So yes, this type of problem is older than people are giving it credit, and not just Toyota.
And the problem wasn't between the pedal and the seat - but you'll have to take my word on that.
I'm not sure on the physics either, but I'd think you'd want to account for gearing on this. It seems entirely possible that brakes can't handle first gear, but they can out-perform the run-up through the gears to 60 (assuming it's a normal car where you need multiple gears to get to 60).
I appreciate that you looked up the facts. It caused me to look up the facts I thought I had - to find out they were mythologized, perhaps even from the process you describe.. Anyway - thanks again for your thoughts on that, as well as setting the record straight.
Thanks for the cites. I appreciate it. It's asking a lot on slashdot, but you don't have to be a jerk when responding (you assume a lot about me).
And the history I thought I knew about the GG bridge and the bay bridge both turned out to be mythology, and I appreciate getting righted when I'm wrong..
I looked a little deeper and, for example, the GG bridge was payed off with tolls -- it took 35 years to do it (which is why I thought that the costs had been sunk) but including interest, they did pay that bridge off with tolls. Standing corrected.
Try this out sometime and let us know how it works for you. Big corporations can get away with big problems, but little corps will get their officers thrown in the pen as quick or quicker than sole proprietors.
Well said. One more mystery of slashdot cleared up - thanks.
Good one - I think you're not getting modded funny because the joke is too subtle. Good stuff - thanks.
I seem to be replying to all your posts. Waving not stalking - this is a great point. I know for a fact that New Hampshire takes E-rate money from the FCC - which is collected from phone service consumers to pay for connectivity in schools and libraries.
The GP is living in a bit of a fantasy - toll roads pay for their own upkeep, but they don't for the (even amortized) costs of actually building a road - at least all the toll roads/bridges I'm familiar with.
Are you sure about that stat? I've read (in Technology Review a few years ago) that spam can represent 70+% of email messages, but not that it eats 80% of total bandwidth. If you've got a source for that I'd love to see it - sounds high to me, so I'm curious where that number comes from! Thanks..
You know and I both know that the original poster was talking about special taxes on the internet that don't apply everywhere. Income tax affects the ISP just like the corner store.
Now if the FCC "reforms" USF to include a broadband universal service fee, like they do for landlines and cellphones, then we'll have something to talk about.
Until then, stop it with the pedantic, anonymous misdirection - it's old even on /.
Yeah - and open-end function blocks are so deeply against-the-grain (for me) that I just have not gotten over them. I probably sound like a grey haired antique, but I write ruby code all the time and love it!
Your point about shift-indenting to refactor is a good one. Plus I meet so many junior progs who foul up (just a bit) with indenting. I'll put it right when I edit the code, but I can't imagine what would happen if indents were significant on a production enterprise app. Maybe it'd be a good thing as these coders' code wouldn't work at all in python? Hmm.
I'm sad to have python just pass me by -- ruby does a lot to permit different coding styles to co-exist side-by-side, and as you point out, a few small changes for python would permit the same..
What about the other .9%?
It has been and always will be "cost/kilowatt" and depending on the application add "/meter"
It doesn't matter if a panel is expensive or cheap, it matters if it will deliver a certain number of electrical kilowatts for a particular cost. Of course, with square footage limited by rooftops or other locations, it can't have an efficiency too low..
They also made some vague handwaving towards "we need to work on getting the volts up."
I agree with you - the puppy idea sounds just about perfect. "Oh noes, I got the heart error again - Jane knows how to fix the heart error, but I hope I don't get a puppy error, those are tougher."
I remember a company I worked at in the early 90's had a feature that would result in incurable data loss if you did not take a series of steps (those steps being listed on the screen you entered to undertake the final step). Some of those steps were physical (like rotating a blank tape into a separate system) - so they were hard to verify within the software.
The programmer had put on that final step an input box, and right above the input box it said something like:
Please type the following into the box before continuing..
I have free-will and completed all the steps required to continue.
Unless the user entered exactly that phrase into the input box it wouldn't continue. We still got a few calls of lost data, but a lot more folks paid attention when they basically had to assert their own free will first. :)
My old business partner could switch into the mindset at will - he still can actually. It's pretty amazing - he can look at a UI screen and respond to as a total bumfuck user would, despite being quite experienced with computers after all these years. I have no idea how he does it, but it's a skill I've come to value highly.
Well said! Too bad the GIFT-proof posted anonymously - probably why he did too.
I really want to like python but every time I sit down with it and realize indents are significant it makes me want to cry and I give up.
Simple pseudo-example:
func foo
do some stuff
here
in a loop
print debug stuff here so it sticks out and I won't forget to remove it
more loop
end loop
end func
A language that prohibits that is unworkable for me.
Well said. Keeping up with API's and libraries that are available in any given language is a task in itself. It's hard to complain, but sometimes I feel like I can write a solution quicker than finding, evaluating and then learning a new library.
One problem I've had is that a lot of new libraries are actually pretty poor implementations, so you can't just grab one that has the right functionality, you actually have to make sure that it works efficiently (and that when it doesn't, it's actually the library and not one's poor understanding of it). All this takes time, and has the rude backdoor of making your time investment a total loss if it turns out the lib has a fundamental defect - which has happened to me a number of times.
First class functions: Are you saying Ruby doesn't do first class functions but C# does? I'm not sure about your point here? FWIW, you can detach just about anything from anything in ruby and call/store/marshall it later. It's been a while since I toyed with C#, but I seem to recall it permits almost as much flexibility.
I wrote a internet public database-driven consumer website in Ruby. I wrote it all in Windows/Postgres and when I deployed on our cloud server rental (Linux or BSD, I forget which) it worked just fine. The intermediate layers (webserver, process host) were different, but the whole stack worked fine. Since then I've never run across a bug that was due to OS incompatibilities. So chalk up Ruby into the multi-platform list.
Nice write up - thanks. Kind of reminds me of the counter-intuitive monty hall class of problems.
I think I've had a few cases with a xen'ed instance of Linux on a shared host where running out of ram caused the OS to simply cease to function. I don't know what the settings are that cause this but since the host doesn't provide for a swap space we have to keep everything within our allotment of RAM or poof. It's a good measure of our code though - whether we are efficient with ram usage, though painful at times.
Not sure if there would be an equivalent on a home machine for Linux. My experience with Windows (xp and earlier) is that if you run without a disk swap, windows will usually pop up nice little messages saying "out of ram" -- but I think I recall some times on older versions (NT) where we'd get blue screens if we were running intense processes like active SQL servers without disk swap.
I think I liked this post the first time I read it ...
In 1997 about Microsoft. Same song new band.