Code is data. Duh. It's like coming up with a line equation by drawing a line through a bunch of data points and measuring it's slope & offset. Then you can use the equation to extend the line infinitely in either direction. This is obviously a simplistic case, but the ideas are the same.
You are mistaken. You can not extend the line, the line only has reliability within the range of inputs used to create it. You may really have a curve but the range of inputs may only be representing a relatively straight portion of that curve. Plus it only has reliability if the data has a certain level of correctness and completeness.
What do you think the logic of those models is based on?
Laws, theories, hypothesis, assumptions and/or guesswork. Equations developed to fit historical data are generally at the assumptions/guesswork end of the list and not the laws/theories end of the list. Also Statistics 101 teaches that when an equation is developed to fit data, say a linear regression, one can not make predictions beyond the range of inputs used for the regression. And of course the equations are only as good as the correctness and completeness of the data, and when interpreted correctly. Others posters have been referring to GIGO (garbage in garbage out), there is a reason this has been a well known acronym in the scientific community for decades.
There has to be some sort of ignition system [to worry about:-].
"A diesel engine (also known as a compression-ignition engine) is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber. This is in contrast to spark-ignition engines such as a petrol engine (gasoline engine) or gas engine (using a gaseous fuel as opposed to gasoline), which uses a spark plug to ignite an air-fuel mixture" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_engine
I wonder how well this car will start in -20F weather.
"In cold weather, high speed diesel engines can be difficult to start because the mass of the cylinder block and cylinder head absorb the heat of compression, preventing ignition due to the higher surface-to-volume ratio. Pre-chambered engines make use of small electric heaters inside the pre-chambers called glowplugs, while the direct-injected engines have these glowplugs in the combustion chamber. These engines also generally have a higher compression ratio of 19:1 to 21:1. Low-speed and compressed-air-started larger and intermediate-speed diesels do not have glowplugs and compression ratios are around 16:1... Recent direct-injection systems are advanced to the extent that pre-chambers systems are not needed by using a common rail fuel system with electronic fuel injection."
"Diesel fuel is also prone to waxing or gelling in cold weather; both are terms for the solidification of diesel oil into a partially crystalline state. The crystals build up in the fuel line (especially in fuel filters), eventually starving the engine of fuel and causing it to stop running. Low-output electric heaters in fuel tanks and around fuel lines are used to solve this problem. Also, most engines have a spill return system, by which any excess fuel from the injector pump and injectors is returned to the fuel tank. Once the engine has warmed, returning warm fuel prevents waxing in the tank. Due to improvements in fuel technology with additives, waxing rarely occurs in all but the coldest weather when a mix of diesel and kerosene should be used to run a vehicle."
When you say "bailed them out", to be clear, you mean that they took advantage of tax incentives, by presumably doing things we were trying to incentivize that cost GE money (like green initiatives)?
I can't be sure but I expect that the GP was referring to GE Capital, the financing component of GE.
Seeig as this data is probably along the lines of how many crates of dried parsley some air base is requisitioning doesn't strike me as a life or death matter.
You need to read up on Bletchley Park and Ultra. Mundane information about military units and individuals turned out to be amazingly useful.
In theory it means that they are used to the weight of the armour. I call BS, though. A medieval knight would train to fight in armour for 6-8 hours a day since he was old enough to spit. These guys put it on and stand around doing nothing much for a few hours a day. The whole idea that we can tell how well a medieval person supported armour weight by using modern untrained people is very suspect.
While an actual medieval knight would surely have outperformed a modern re-enactor that is not terribly relevant. An actual medieval knight would still have improved his personal performance by switching to a modern backup. The modern backpack doesn't rely on muscle, it relies on a physiological structure that has not really changed in the last few centuries - well perhaps scale has changed but not essential structure.
No I meant the Napoleonic Wars where France had the whole world on the run for almost 20 years.
"Napoleon was born in Corsica to parents of noble Genoese ancestry", so he was actually Italian not French.:-) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon
Corsica was ruled by Genoa (part of Italy) for 400 or so years, had a 20-something year rebellion, 15 or so years of independence and was then conquered by France shortly before Napoleon was born. Its constitution was written in Italian and Italian was the dominant language long after Napoleon's death.
Before commencer à la flamme please note the ":-)". Yes, Napoleon was born in French territory and was therefore a French citizen.
There used to be a guy, maybe there still is, working at a disc duplication facility who would periodically evaluate various manufacturer's media. I haven't checked in years and manufacturing may have moved so I won't mention the old results. Maybe some googling can (re)discover such an effort?
Hard disk NAS storage would work best. Spinning disk has been around long enough to make it reliable and cheap. for 250$ you can get a really good NAS setup with 2 to 3 TB.
And some NAS devices have multiple drives and can be configured for RAID.
In this current climate, what is the 'best' method of archiving these? Spinny magnets? Solid state drives? USB? Tape? Blu-ray?
If the data is important why settle for one type of media? At least external HD and tape, maybe external SSD too. Move to newer media periodically.
My QIC-80 tapes from the 90s are probably unreadable by now. However their contents were moved from tape to CD to DVD over the years. My backups just sort of accumulate and grow over the years. Its practical for me to do this since I religiously keep things in/src and/doc hierarchies and only back these up. I don't bother with operating systems and applications, they can simply be reinstalled.
Something is wrong with you if you are comfortable around people holdings live firearms.
Really? I was camping recently and I noticed that the park ranger who briefed us on current conditions and regulations was armed. I didn't think anything of it, did not feel intimidated and did not hesitate to ask some questions regarding whether certain types of gear were allowed or not (ex chem tablet stove, is it classified as a gas stove or an open fire?).
I've seemed armed guards at banks, exchanged smiles, and didn't give it another thought.
I was once driving home and found the road barricaded by police, SWAT team members were there with presumably automatic weapons. I did not fear the SWAT team members. Any concerns I had were regarding the person they were looking for. It turned out someone shot a police officer during a traffic stop and the shooter ran off. Thankfully the officer's body armor caught the bullets.
When I enter a high security building and armed guards are present I view the guards in a manner comparable to the law enforcement officers mentioned above, especially so if they are known to be former military.
I'll also repeat that in the context of the building in question it is a near certainty that the firing chamber's of weapons were empty and that the magazines in the weapons were also likely to be empty. Magazines with live ammo were probably only to be found in pouches. Persons who believe otherwise are apparently not familiar with ordinary firearms safety procedures and common ***insurance company*** restrictions.
A soldiers' job, by definition is to kill/destroy various people/things. How is professional killer not an accurate description?
Because all people who kill are not equivalent. The phrase "professional killer" is typically used in the context of criminal activity, probably a murderer of some sort. To use it to describe a soldier is an attempt to construct a framework biased against soldiers. I think the suggestion of prejudice stands.
The point of the firearm is to intimidate.
Perhaps in the mind of a person contemplating conflict. Many other people interact with armed law enforcement officers and the fact that they are armed is irrelevant. I was recently camping in a national park. The park ranger who briefed us on camp regulations was armed, I don't think the men, women and children present cared. His briefing was followed by various questions from the public, everyone seemed to be acting quite normally.
When a "normal" person is told that a security guard is a former Marine they are likely to see that as a positive, that the guard is highly trained in the safe handling of firearms compared to an armed security guard who may have had a 10 week class at the local junior college. A person with a phobia would seem to be more likely to see a former Marine as a "professional killer".
Regarding the description of the guards at the data center a person without a phobia would probably consider it different, strange or a curiosity. As opposed to a person with a phobia who would be more prone to go down the "itchy trigger finger" and "alpha male psychopaths" path.
No doubt that any person entering the facility would have been searched prior, so there is no immediate need for a firearm.
You are ignoring the possibility of a forceful entry. In such a scenario having a firearm nearby would be useful. Much like a guard at a bank.
However an unloaded gun is safer and can be made loaded in a small number of seconds when carried in the manner I described. There are circumstances where having a weapon nearby (including in a sling) is appropriate but having a loaded weapon in hand is inappropriate.
Professional killers may be nice people, but when they are "on the job" and you are classified as "potentially hostile", it is not irrational to feel uncomfortable.
Actually if you think you are being classified as potentially hostile then I think you are proving my point regarding phobias, perhaps even tin foil hat'ish. They guy looking at you is most likely bored while watching you to make sure you only go where you are supposed to. And referring to military vets as professional killers seems to prove my point regarding prejudices.
You know what's worse? Security questions! Especially when you can't type your own.
They can ask for your favorite color but you don't have to answer that particular question. If you are a fan of pass phrases you can enter some sort of phrase indicating the color. For example if your favorite color is red you could enter "The BBC first aired Red Dwarf in 1988". For extra security use the wrong year.:-)
You know what's worse? Security questions! Especially when you can't type your own.
They can ask for your favorite color but you don't have to answer that particular question. If you are a fan of pass phrases you can enter some sort of phrase indicating the color. For example if your favorite color is red you could enter "The BBC first aired Red Dwarf in 1988".
While you may be correct about the lucrative side of the business the article does mention that clients include government agencies, financial institutions, and quasi-fiancial companies like ebay (paypal). I think you are focussing too much on the local industry. Its a data center, clients do not need to be local. Think geographic diversity regarding offsite backups. Somebody in New York or San Francisco may think that Vegas makes a good secondary data site, something immune from a local NY or CA disaster.
I would rather just be in another data center where there are not armed guards walking around every corner with live ammo.
Did you inspect that weapon? Its nearly a certainty that the chamber was empty and likely that the magazine in the weapon was also empty. Live rounds are probably in magazines in a pouch. Active duty Marines sometime carry their weapons in such a state. Why the empty magazine, closing the dust cover and inserting an empty magazine helps keep the weapon clean.
... it just a ohhh so fun fun day to have one of those hopped up alpha male psychopaths...
I think this is the most telling part of your post. You seem have some phobias and prejudices.
A roof is white in winter because of the snow. Said another way, we already have white roofs in cold climates in the winter because the snow makes the shingle color irrelevant.
That is not true. Unless you are in the arctic you don't have snow all winter, most people in the US only have snow on the roof for a very small portion of their winter. And when they do have snow it is quite different than white paint. While they both may reflect solar energy the snow actually acts as an insulator helping to trap heat in the home.
I disliked history until I had a class in high school where a teacher went off curriculum and taught the class like a college class. No memorizing dates and such, they can be looked up in a reference, what we focused our time on was *why* that historic person made that particular decision at that time and place. What influenced or led to that decision? This is when history became interesting to me.
... so why shouldn't the chinese simply cash in their markers...
Because they need to buy US bonds in order to drive the relative value of their currency down in order to maintain their export based economy.
It is inaccurate to think that China's current advantage is merely low cost labor. For simplistic goods, say beaded necklaces for Mardi Gras, that are priced as commodities low labor costs do help. However for the more technical and advanced goods, say an iPhone, labor represents a smaller component of the overall costs. I think GE recently announced expanding production of jet engines in the US, IIRC labor was only 15-20% of the cost of the engine so outsourcing for low labor wasn't helpful. What gives China an advantage in higher end goods is not labor costs, rather it is a currency that is artificially devalued. So what can they do with all those US dollars exporters are collecting? The exporters can't return those dollars to the various world markets, that would move the Chinese currency in the "wrong" direction. So the government buys the dollars from the exporters. What is the government to do with the dollars, like the exporters they can not return them to a world market. However they can buy US treasury notes, that will not cause their currency to rise in relative value. So as long as China has an export based economy driven by an artificially low currency they can not get rid of those notes.
Slashdot Mirror
Code is data. Duh. It's like coming up with a line equation by drawing a line through a bunch of data points and measuring it's slope & offset. Then you can use the equation to extend the line infinitely in either direction. This is obviously a simplistic case, but the ideas are the same.
You are mistaken. You can not extend the line, the line only has reliability within the range of inputs used to create it. You may really have a curve but the range of inputs may only be representing a relatively straight portion of that curve. Plus it only has reliability if the data has a certain level of correctness and completeness.
What do you think the logic of those models is based on?
Laws, theories, hypothesis, assumptions and/or guesswork. Equations developed to fit historical data are generally at the assumptions/guesswork end of the list and not the laws/theories end of the list. Also Statistics 101 teaches that when an equation is developed to fit data, say a linear regression, one can not make predictions beyond the range of inputs used for the regression. And of course the equations are only as good as the correctness and completeness of the data, and when interpreted correctly. Others posters have been referring to GIGO (garbage in garbage out), there is a reason this has been a well known acronym in the scientific community for decades.
There has to be some sort of ignition system [to worry about :-].
"A diesel engine (also known as a compression-ignition engine) is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber. This is in contrast to spark-ignition engines such as a petrol engine (gasoline engine) or gas engine (using a gaseous fuel as opposed to gasoline), which uses a spark plug to ignite an air-fuel mixture"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_engine
I wonder how well this car will start in -20F weather.
"In cold weather, high speed diesel engines can be difficult to start because the mass of the cylinder block and cylinder head absorb the heat of compression, preventing ignition due to the higher surface-to-volume ratio. Pre-chambered engines make use of small electric heaters inside the pre-chambers called glowplugs, while the direct-injected engines have these glowplugs in the combustion chamber. These engines also generally have a higher compression ratio of 19:1 to 21:1. Low-speed and compressed-air-started larger and intermediate-speed diesels do not have glowplugs and compression ratios are around 16:1 ... Recent direct-injection systems are advanced to the extent that pre-chambers systems are not needed by using a common rail fuel system with electronic fuel injection."
"Diesel fuel is also prone to waxing or gelling in cold weather; both are terms for the solidification of diesel oil into a partially crystalline state. The crystals build up in the fuel line (especially in fuel filters), eventually starving the engine of fuel and causing it to stop running. Low-output electric heaters in fuel tanks and around fuel lines are used to solve this problem. Also, most engines have a spill return system, by which any excess fuel from the injector pump and injectors is returned to the fuel tank. Once the engine has warmed, returning warm fuel prevents waxing in the tank. Due to improvements in fuel technology with additives, waxing rarely occurs in all but the coldest weather when a mix of diesel and kerosene should be used to run a vehicle."
When you say "bailed them out", to be clear, you mean that they took advantage of tax incentives, by presumably doing things we were trying to incentivize that cost GE money (like green initiatives)?
I can't be sure but I expect that the GP was referring to GE Capital, the financing component of GE.
Seeig as this data is probably along the lines of how many crates of dried parsley some air base is requisitioning doesn't strike me as a life or death matter.
You need to read up on Bletchley Park and Ultra. Mundane information about military units and individuals turned out to be amazingly useful.
I though that knights rode horses. I doubt that they did very much jogging.
Yes, however this research indicates one reason why getting a knight off his horse was considered a "good thing" by his enemies.
In theory it means that they are used to the weight of the armour. I call BS, though. A medieval knight would train to fight in armour for 6-8 hours a day since he was old enough to spit. These guys put it on and stand around doing nothing much for a few hours a day. The whole idea that we can tell how well a medieval person supported armour weight by using modern untrained people is very suspect.
While an actual medieval knight would surely have outperformed a modern re-enactor that is not terribly relevant. An actual medieval knight would still have improved his personal performance by switching to a modern backup. The modern backpack doesn't rely on muscle, it relies on a physiological structure that has not really changed in the last few centuries - well perhaps scale has changed but not essential structure.
No I meant the Napoleonic Wars where France had the whole world on the run for almost 20 years.
"Napoleon was born in Corsica to parents of noble Genoese ancestry", so he was actually Italian not French. :-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon
Corsica was ruled by Genoa (part of Italy) for 400 or so years, had a 20-something year rebellion, 15 or so years of independence and was then conquered by France shortly before Napoleon was born. Its constitution was written in Italian and Italian was the dominant language long after Napoleon's death.
Before commencer à la flamme please note the ":-)". Yes, Napoleon was born in French territory and was therefore a French citizen.
FWIW, http://www.digitalfaq.com/reviews/dvd-media.htm
There used to be a guy, maybe there still is, working at a disc duplication facility who would periodically evaluate various manufacturer's media. I haven't checked in years and manufacturing may have moved so I won't mention the old results. Maybe some googling can (re)discover such an effort?
Hard disk NAS storage would work best. Spinning disk has been around long enough to make it reliable and cheap. for 250$ you can get a really good NAS setup with 2 to 3 TB.
And some NAS devices have multiple drives and can be configured for RAID.
In this current climate, what is the 'best' method of archiving these? Spinny magnets? Solid state drives? USB? Tape? Blu-ray?
If the data is important why settle for one type of media? At least external HD and tape, maybe external SSD too. Move to newer media periodically.
/src and /doc hierarchies and only back these up. I don't bother with operating systems and applications, they can simply be reinstalled.
My QIC-80 tapes from the 90s are probably unreadable by now. However their contents were moved from tape to CD to DVD over the years. My backups just sort of accumulate and grow over the years. Its practical for me to do this since I religiously keep things in
If so much of the light doesn't get absorbed, then there's nothing to be kept in and your insulating snow isn't a help.
The home is probably heated and the snow help keep that heat in.
Something is wrong with you if you are comfortable around people holdings live firearms.
Really? I was camping recently and I noticed that the park ranger who briefed us on current conditions and regulations was armed. I didn't think anything of it, did not feel intimidated and did not hesitate to ask some questions regarding whether certain types of gear were allowed or not (ex chem tablet stove, is it classified as a gas stove or an open fire?).
I've seemed armed guards at banks, exchanged smiles, and didn't give it another thought.
I was once driving home and found the road barricaded by police, SWAT team members were there with presumably automatic weapons. I did not fear the SWAT team members. Any concerns I had were regarding the person they were looking for. It turned out someone shot a police officer during a traffic stop and the shooter ran off. Thankfully the officer's body armor caught the bullets.
When I enter a high security building and armed guards are present I view the guards in a manner comparable to the law enforcement officers mentioned above, especially so if they are known to be former military.
I'll also repeat that in the context of the building in question it is a near certainty that the firing chamber's of weapons were empty and that the magazines in the weapons were also likely to be empty. Magazines with live ammo were probably only to be found in pouches. Persons who believe otherwise are apparently not familiar with ordinary firearms safety procedures and common ***insurance company*** restrictions.
A soldiers' job, by definition is to kill/destroy various people/things. How is professional killer not an accurate description?
Because all people who kill are not equivalent. The phrase "professional killer" is typically used in the context of criminal activity, probably a murderer of some sort. To use it to describe a soldier is an attempt to construct a framework biased against soldiers. I think the suggestion of prejudice stands.
The point of the firearm is to intimidate.
Perhaps in the mind of a person contemplating conflict. Many other people interact with armed law enforcement officers and the fact that they are armed is irrelevant. I was recently camping in a national park. The park ranger who briefed us on camp regulations was armed, I don't think the men, women and children present cared. His briefing was followed by various questions from the public, everyone seemed to be acting quite normally.
When a "normal" person is told that a security guard is a former Marine they are likely to see that as a positive, that the guard is highly trained in the safe handling of firearms compared to an armed security guard who may have had a 10 week class at the local junior college. A person with a phobia would seem to be more likely to see a former Marine as a "professional killer".
Regarding the description of the guards at the data center a person without a phobia would probably consider it different, strange or a curiosity. As opposed to a person with a phobia who would be more prone to go down the "itchy trigger finger" and "alpha male psychopaths" path.
No doubt that any person entering the facility would have been searched prior, so there is no immediate need for a firearm.
You are ignoring the possibility of a forceful entry. In such a scenario having a firearm nearby would be useful. Much like a guard at a bank.
An un-loaded gun is pretty useless.
However an unloaded gun is safer and can be made loaded in a small number of seconds when carried in the manner I described. There are circumstances where having a weapon nearby (including in a sling) is appropriate but having a loaded weapon in hand is inappropriate.
You seem have some phobias and prejudices.
Professional killers may be nice people, but when they are "on the job" and you are classified as "potentially hostile", it is not irrational to feel uncomfortable.
Actually if you think you are being classified as potentially hostile then I think you are proving my point regarding phobias, perhaps even tin foil hat'ish. They guy looking at you is most likely bored while watching you to make sure you only go where you are supposed to. And referring to military vets as professional killers seems to prove my point regarding prejudices.
You know what's worse? Security questions! Especially when you can't type your own.
They can ask for your favorite color but you don't have to answer that particular question. If you are a fan of pass phrases you can enter some sort of phrase indicating the color. For example if your favorite color is red you could enter "The BBC first aired Red Dwarf in 1988". For extra security use the wrong year. :-)
You know what's worse? Security questions! Especially when you can't type your own.
They can ask for your favorite color but you don't have to answer that particular question. If you are a fan of pass phrases you can enter some sort of phrase indicating the color. For example if your favorite color is red you could enter "The BBC first aired Red Dwarf in 1988".
While you may be correct about the lucrative side of the business the article does mention that clients include government agencies, financial institutions, and quasi-fiancial companies like ebay (paypal). I think you are focussing too much on the local industry. Its a data center, clients do not need to be local. Think geographic diversity regarding offsite backups. Somebody in New York or San Francisco may think that Vegas makes a good secondary data site, something immune from a local NY or CA disaster.
I would rather just be in another data center where there are not armed guards walking around every corner with live ammo.
Did you inspect that weapon? Its nearly a certainty that the chamber was empty and likely that the magazine in the weapon was also empty. Live rounds are probably in magazines in a pouch. Active duty Marines sometime carry their weapons in such a state. Why the empty magazine, closing the dust cover and inserting an empty magazine helps keep the weapon clean.
... it just a ohhh so fun fun day to have one of those hopped up alpha male psychopaths ...
I think this is the most telling part of your post. You seem have some phobias and prejudices.
A roof is white in winter because of the snow. Said another way, we already have white roofs in cold climates in the winter because the snow makes the shingle color irrelevant.
That is not true. Unless you are in the arctic you don't have snow all winter, most people in the US only have snow on the roof for a very small portion of their winter. And when they do have snow it is quite different than white paint. While they both may reflect solar energy the snow actually acts as an insulator helping to trap heat in the home.
What were the cheap dev tools for Unix prior to GCC? Or did they come with dev tools by default? I'm not that old.
I am not 100% sure but I think console based C, Pascal and Fortran compilers were standard (cc, f77, pc).
Never memorize what you can look up in books. --Albert_Einstein http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein
I disliked history until I had a class in high school where a teacher went off curriculum and taught the class like a college class. No memorizing dates and such, they can be looked up in a reference, what we focused our time on was *why* that historic person made that particular decision at that time and place. What influenced or led to that decision? This is when history became interesting to me.
FWIW this was all pre-internet.
... so why shouldn't the chinese simply cash in their markers ...
Because they need to buy US bonds in order to drive the relative value of their currency down in order to maintain their export based economy.
It is inaccurate to think that China's current advantage is merely low cost labor. For simplistic goods, say beaded necklaces for Mardi Gras, that are priced as commodities low labor costs do help. However for the more technical and advanced goods, say an iPhone, labor represents a smaller component of the overall costs. I think GE recently announced expanding production of jet engines in the US, IIRC labor was only 15-20% of the cost of the engine so outsourcing for low labor wasn't helpful. What gives China an advantage in higher end goods is not labor costs, rather it is a currency that is artificially devalued. So what can they do with all those US dollars exporters are collecting? The exporters can't return those dollars to the various world markets, that would move the Chinese currency in the "wrong" direction. So the government buys the dollars from the exporters. What is the government to do with the dollars, like the exporters they can not return them to a world market. However they can buy US treasury notes, that will not cause their currency to rise in relative value. So as long as China has an export based economy driven by an artificially low currency they can not get rid of those notes.