Slashdot Mirror


User: Malcolm+Chan

Malcolm+Chan's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
33
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 33

  1. It would be nice to see such a system that is open and standardised, though. Having everyone on WhatsApp would be... dangerous, to say the least!

  2. Google disagrees on Google Brings Map Service Back To China (nikkei.com) · · Score: 2

    Oops... it seems there was no relaunch of Google Maps in China:

    https://www.reuters.com/articl...

  3. Re:IEEE Code of Ethics on Machine Logic: Our Lives Are Ruled By Big Tech's 'Decisions By Data' (theguardian.com) · · Score: 1

    Hm. How would this affect IEEE engineers who develop weapons systems?

  4. Money to buy their own products? on Volkswagen Agrees To Record $14.7B Settlement Over Emissions Cheating (cnn.com) · · Score: 1

    The clean up money will be used by individual states to cut other diesel emissions by replacing older, government-owned trucks, buses and other diesel engines now in use.

    So the older, government-owned trucks, buses and other diesel engines now in use will be replaced by newer VW vehicles? Good for sales, at least!

  5. Re:Why don't they... on DNSChanger Shut-Down Means Internet Blackout Coming For Hundreds of Thousands · · Score: 4, Interesting

    OK, so it'll probably work, then? These were the users who were willing to do it the first time, so why not a second time?

  6. Re:I'm no expert. on Ask Slashdot: Why Are Hearing Aids So Expensive? · · Score: 1

    Exactly, so make it look like a bluetooth headset! Actually, it could even function as a bluetooth headset as well. So, rather than being a sign saying "I'm old", it'd be a sign saying "I'm connected!"

  7. "Kiwis" on Publicly Funded GMO Research Facing Destruction In Italy · · Score: 5, Informative

    male kiwis produce transgenic pollen

    In NZ, "kiwis" are only either the people (New Zealanders) or the birds, but never the kiwifruit plants! Very confusing...

  8. Foxit on Adobe Warns of Critical Zero Day Vulnerability · · Score: 1

    Unfortunately, Foxit Reader doesn't seem to support many localised versions, unlike Adobe Reader.

  9. Browser window width on Slashdot Launches Re-Design · · Score: 1

    Does the browser window really have to be so wide? I get horizontal scrollbars using my normal window size, which is quite annoying.

    Also, please add Unicode & SSL support!

  10. Re:Typical applications? on Cassandra 0.7 Can Pack 2 Billion Columns Into a Row · · Score: 1

    I know that was meant as a joke, but such data would be stored in the rows of the table, not the columns of the individual rows.

  11. Re:What does the wasp do with it? on Scientists Discover Solar Powered Hornets · · Score: 1

    From the original paper:

    The xanthopterin pigment found within the cuticle has been proven to be a suitable absorber of light for the harvesting of solar energy by a demonstration of its use in an organic solar cell, with a conversion efficiency of 0.335%.

    I assume this was just a "proof of concept" organic solar cell, so the efficiency could probably be increased, but 0.335% doesn't sound like much!

  12. Re:Secure? on Anonymous Network I2P 0.7.2 Released · · Score: 1

    Indeed. It seems that i2p is mainly a darknet. Access to the normal Internet seems not really to be encouraged.

  13. Re:File swapping destroys SSDs on Next Generation SSDs Delayed Due To Vista · · Score: 1

    Although the article *is* low on details, there are a few clues as to what the problem is:

    The next generation of SSDs will use multilevel cell (MLC) technology, which will require a more sophisticated controller--a crucial component in solid-state drives.

    IIRC, MLCs do have a much lower number of allowable writes, so this could actually be the problem!

  14. Not in China on Dilbert Goes Flash, Readers Revolt · · Score: 1

    The only problem is that the Great Firewall of China seems to block the site feeds.feedburner.com, meaning that anyone in China is more or less stuck with the Flash-based site.

    Oh, and the trick with http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert/archive no longer seems to work either, as of today.

  15. Re:Title is wrong... on Create Living Cells With an Inkjet Printer · · Score: 1
    Absolutely! There is quite a difference between using cells as the "ink", and assembling a cell. We're not even close to being able to do that.

  16. Re:Singing vs. Talking -- Chinese? on "Dilbert" Creator Gets Voice Back · · Score: 1

    Any idea how the language may affect this? A tonal language like Chinese has been shown to use different parts of the brain too. Perhaps someone who suffers from this disease would be able to speak Chinese perfectly, but then have problems with his voice when speaking English!

  17. Re:Huh? on Reverse Multithreading CPUs · · Score: 1

    But surely that would be the same as HyperThreading. You basically have 2 despatchers, using up the available EUs as necessary. If there is only 1 main thread, then one of the despatchers will have to try to use up the EUs as efficiently as possible. With more threads, well, they just compete for the available EUs.

  18. Not a first! Check out map.search.ch on Google Adds Satellite Imagery to Maps · · Score: 1

    As was pointed out in the comments of the previous Slashdot article about Google Maps, the map service map.search.ch for Switzerland already has these features, including the satellite views!

  19. Heat on Toshiba's One-Minute-Recharge Li-ion Batteries · · Score: 1

    It would be safe to say, you wouldn't want to have that laptop on your lap while it's recharging!

  20. Re:Limited lifetime? on Ultra Fast Disk Drives With No Moving Parts · · Score: 1

    In theory, you could still use any common file system (eg. ext3, Reiser, NTFS, etc.) on top of the wear-levelling filesystem, which could in turn be implemented in the drive electronics, making it all but invisible. This would then fit in nicely with the wear detection system you describe.

  21. Re:v6 could help solve some net problems on IPv6 is Here · · Score: 2, Informative

    Alternatively, the ISP could still dynamically assign IP addresses, but instead of internal addresses (192.168.x.x, 172.16.x.x, etc), externally routable addresses.

    This way, no NATing is necessary, but there isn't any administration of IP addresses assignments necessary. The ISP simply has to make sure that he has enough externally routable addresses available for the max number of customers who could ever be simultaneously connected.

  22. Identity theft? on AOL Now Publishing SPF Records · · Score: 1

    But does this perhaps also help prevent identity theft? For instance, if your ISP does not publish SPF records, spammers may use/happen to generate your email address, causing the world to think that you're sending out millions of spam emails.

    Of course, this relies on the reciepents' ISPs checking SPF records too, but assuming this becomes more common (though by no means everywhere), this would already reduce the severity of the problem.

  23. But only in their web browser on VeriSign Looks At Earning Money on Domain Typos · · Score: 1

    This is done at the application level. So, for instance, if you use another (non-WWW) network enabled app, it isn't affected by any funnies Verisign might try.

    This is actually a pretty important point. The server pointed to by any name that happens to have a "www" prefix may well offer many other services, accessed by apps other than a web browser. What Verisign would do in that case, is point such apps to a different but existing server, if the server name was somehow misconfigured in the apps. That could completely confuse the app or the user. What Microsoft does with IE just affects the web, only if one uses IE and at least, in a way which does not (normally) confuse the end user.

  24. Re:Piror Art on Engineering From Science Fiction · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I believe you've got to have a working implementation of the idea for it to count. So, if the sci-fi writer actually had no idea how it could be implemented in practice he's got no claims to the patent anyway!

    IANAL. :-)

  25. Re:Bloat on C++ Templates: The Complete Guide · · Score: 1
    Anway, what overhead from an inheritance structure? Unless you use virtual functions, there is no overhead from it if you use compiler that isn't a pile of shit.


    I was trying to point out that with the compilers that are commonly used/available in the small embedded world, the optimisations are not really good enough!

    As for overhead from inheritance -- using the common base class + template approach does generate more method calls, calls which are often not inlined by crappy compilers/linkers, especially if the template is in a header file used in a different module to the module defining the common base class. Additional overhead can also come from having more method calls in general, a style which is encouraged by the OO model.

    As before, this is all no problem with a good compiler/linker! But sadly, this is all too often lacking in the small embedded controller market.