Re:Binary computers? How long before base4 compute
on
DNA Goes Binary
·
· Score: 1
And to be clear, the current binary chips have to determine a voltage high or voltage low from a *range* of voltages. You almost never get an exact high or an exact zero. And the problem with fuzzy voltages increases as traces get smaller and clocks run faster. As chip development evolves, the problem of determining whether a transistor holds a one or zero becomes more difficult. If you attempt to introduce a chip which, while perfectly feasible, requires more than two voltages, you increase by orders of magnitude the difficulty in determining which voltage a transistor holds.
Re:Spielberg Over the Hill?
on
Taken?
·
· Score: 1
How much translation does it take to go from "and David didn't wake up" to "and the uber-mechs hit his off switch"? David may or may not have "died", but he chose not to awaken, knowing that his mother was gone for good and he had just had the best day he would ever have from that point forward.
Ok, I'm now returning to real life... You should get one, too...
Anyone ever wonder what happened to holographic storage? It occurs to me that as long as the R&D powerhouse at IBM continues coming up with radical new ways to magnetically store data, we're not going to see the promise of holographic/crystal storage come to fruition anytime soon. And as long as there's no money in it, I've got to wonder, who's still working on this and have there been any real breakthroughs in the past year? I for one haven't heard a peep.
Home videos? BAH! I laugh at your puny imagination. I'd use it to store music videos. What with the demise of MTV into dumb-and-dumber shlock programs, I've got to get my dose of Chemical Brothers and ATB from somewhere. Enter the 'net!
Whatever, I can definitely fill that disk....
Re:Microwave Beams: Phased Array Antenna
on
Beaming into Space
·
· Score: 1
That's lovely and all, but you'll get far greater efficiency by using that microwave energy to heat a plasma. Check NASA's site for details, but the next generation of engines will use microwaves to heat material rather than using the microwaves directly to provide propulsion.
Am I the only one that thought that said, "Sybian?" Immediately followed by, "Nokia ROCKS! Communication and...er... entertainment.... in one package!"
I have two sites that I administer that have pages that are not linked to the main site and are considered "internal" and thus not legally accessible by outside parties. To get to those pages, you would necessarily have to have been given the URL by the staff of the company. These pages are labelled as internal and there are warnings at the top of the pages against accessing the material without proper authorization.
Even so, if anyone published links to those pages, they could, and should, expect to find themselves the target of breach of privacy lawsuits.
The web is used for dessimination of information, not only for public consumption, but for internal and private purposes. That information is often proprietary and, ostensibly, secret, and making that information public could put a company's continued operation at risk.
I whole heartedly hope the courts rule against Reuters. This sort of breach is unacceptable.
>> Im tired of people doing stupid things with >> speakers. Running 1kw systems in their drunks >> using $5 cables that have way over acceptable >> limits of capacitance.
Running electrified cable into a drunk speaker, while certainly entertaining, is illegal under most states' sodomy laws. Besides, you can remedy the problem by substituting their beer for soda. Sober speakers are usually not nearly as loud or obnoxious.
>> Also there isn't nearly the market for really >> small stuff in the US.
Son, put down the crack pipe and step away...
I cite cell phones that store over a 100 phone numbers, play video games, act as a pager and a walkie talkie, allow you to browse the 'net and send/receive emails, and fit in your shirt pocket as proof that, in the U.S., smaller is better when you're talking about electronics.
Heck, my birthday is coming up and I wouldn't refuse one as a gift...
Agreed. The "standing up for starving artists" line is an excuse, one which I doubt is given seriously. All right everyone, say it with me, "I'm stealing, not because I think the artists are underpaid, but because I think the CDs are overpriced."
>>::WINDOWS SECURITY::
Windows *is* highly insecure when held up against the major Linux distros. Period. I won't belabor the point; a little research on your part is obviously needed.
>>::H1B WORK VISAS::
I agree with you on this one. I suspect that folks that have a problem with work visas are really expressing insecurity in their ability to compete in the job market. I also sense a bit of xenophobia/racism.
>>::SWEATSHOPS::
I disagree with your position. Sweatshops enforce long work days and less than ideal work conditions. Working at a sweatshop takes the workers to the edge of human endurance. You're right, these people work these jobs because they'd starve otherwise. What a weapon to wield against someone: work in these conditions or you and your family will starve. Sweatshops wouldn't be sweatshops if it weren't for the conditions.
>>::DRUG LEGALIZATION::
<SOAPBOX> And this is the point that got me to write in the first place. Yeah, to some degree, people want their favorite illegal/semi-legal vice legalized so they can enjoy it when they want, where they want (flash to Prohibition). Personally, I just think the drug laws should be revisited with an eye to what substances cause what reactions and to what degree. Alcohol is toxic. It damages the liver and other organs in any amount, and can be lethal in large amounts. It's served at bars and clubs that the patrons then drive from to get back home while intoxicated. People under the influence are more sociable and, in some cases, more violent. Why do you think clubs have bouncers? It's not because the U.S. needs somewhere to store steroid abusers besides stacking them like cord wood in a warehouse. And yet all you need to legally purchase alcohol is 21 years under your belt and an ID to prove it.
There are a handful of recreational substances that provide the user with a pleasant and sometimes mind-altering experience without killing the user outright, doing large scale damage to their systems, or turning them in to social menaces. Our drug laws do not take that fact into account. Big Brother allows you caffiene, nicotine, and alcohol.
But a larger and more immediate problem lies in the drug laws ignoring the medicinal advantages of some substances. I don't think anyone here has managed to avoid the news regarding the conflict between California and the U.S. DEA. Most people want to sit around and argue the merits of State's right vs. federal law, but for me the real issue goes all the way to be the federal drug code. California at least sees the need to redefine what substances constitute a greater danger than a positive resource.
This picture (http://www.railpace.com/turbine/jet3.jpg) of the jet train had me cracking up. As someone how used to take BART trains to a job in Oakland many years ago, I found the potted plants sitting on the platform hysterical. What the heck? That's the best presentation they could make? I guess they spent all their money on the train and couldn't afford anything more festive for the press conference....
Here's a deep thought: remember those foam containers McDonald's used to use to wrap their burgers? The containers cost McD's more than the burgers that went into them.
And yes, you're right, their most profitable item is, bar none, the soft drink.
Doofus, you fell for it. Take another sip of that Jolt cola (WHAT?! You aren't drinking Jolt? [sound of slapping herring]), and think about it. Two 32 bit processors. 64 bits.
I've been predicting this for at least 12 years. Oh, it's good to be right, yes it is.
Look, this is a natural progression. As with all things, the cost of producing the characters will get cheaper and better, and eventually the cost of using an actor will surpass the cost of using a CGI character, with little or no loss in effective realism. They say Vin Diesel is about to join the $20 million club in Hollywood. Perhaps he's one of the last of a dying breed. Soon, you won't have actors, you'll have high paid models who will sell their likenesses to the studios. They'll be scanned into a computer in a variety of positions, facial expressions, and movements, and they'll bargain for a percentage of the royalties of all movies made with those images.
Think about that. In the future, *everyone* will get scanned and Hollywood won't even need extras. You'll get a royalty check if your image is used.
On the other hand, the "realism" of movies will suffer. Since anything is possible in a CGI movie, Jackie Chan's moves are going to be a lot less believable.
"Yeah, in my day, we had STUNT MEN! None of this sissy computer FX. Some actors even did their own stunts, and the broken bones were real! Dang kids and their CGI crap..."
I could see making compatibility a lesser priority if the Java team could resolve latency in serialization, transmission, and deserialization of objects, and rethinking the GUI classes (who was the dork that thought up layout managers?). Perhaps then people would re-embrace a language that burned them when they attempted to build and market client-server and multi-tier applications with it.
Cheaper than *diesel fuel*? I doubt it. You still haven't shown that veggie oil is cheaper than diesel fuel, or that veggie oil burns as efficiently. I doubt that fresh veggie oil is going to be the cheapest approach. I can see used oil be pennies for a gallon.
Unfortunately, as long as M$ holds the patent (if they do in fact hold a patent, and I suspect they do) and as long as the software is free, they've got you by the short and curlies. If yours was a for-profit operation, you'd be able to factor the cost back into the price of the software and continue to cater to the larger market.
I applaud the open source movement, but this is one of the hits you take. So long as your product supports formats that are not controlled by M$, I'm sure you'll be successful.
The "engine on each wheel" concept isn't new. There was an electric Italian sports car featured in Popular Mechanics about 5 years ago that had the sort of set up, and according to the article the handling was suh-weet.
Slashdot Mirror
And to be clear, the current binary chips have to determine a voltage high or voltage low from a *range* of voltages. You almost never get an exact high or an exact zero. And the problem with fuzzy voltages increases as traces get smaller and clocks run faster. As chip development evolves, the problem of determining whether a transistor holds a one or zero becomes more difficult. If you attempt to introduce a chip which, while perfectly feasible, requires more than two voltages, you increase by orders of magnitude the difficulty in determining which voltage a transistor holds.
Two words, baby:
Kylix.
JBuilder.
Four more words:
Have a nice day.
How much translation does it take to go from "and David didn't wake up" to "and the uber-mechs hit his off switch"? David may or may not have "died", but he chose not to awaken, knowing that his mother was gone for good and he had just had the best day he would ever have from that point forward.
Ok, I'm now returning to real life... You should get one, too...
A group of "Real Doll" Beverly Crushers would certainly give the term "cluster", Beowulf or otherwise, a whole new meaning...
Besides, incest is illegal.
Oh, come on, you can go better. Here, let me help:
http://www.tgrigsby.com/lawyers.htm
Anyone ever wonder what happened to holographic storage? It occurs to me that as long as the R&D powerhouse at IBM continues coming up with radical new ways to magnetically store data, we're not going to see the promise of holographic/crystal storage come to fruition anytime soon. And as long as there's no money in it, I've got to wonder, who's still working on this and have there been any real breakthroughs in the past year? I for one haven't heard a peep.
Home videos? BAH! I laugh at your puny imagination. I'd use it to store music videos. What with the demise of MTV into dumb-and-dumber shlock programs, I've got to get my dose of Chemical Brothers and ATB from somewhere. Enter the 'net!
Whatever, I can definitely fill that disk....
That's lovely and all, but you'll get far greater efficiency by using that microwave energy to heat a plasma. Check NASA's site for details, but the next generation of engines will use microwaves to heat material rather than using the microwaves directly to provide propulsion.
Am I the only one that thought that said, "Sybian?" Immediately followed by, "Nokia ROCKS! Communication and ...er... entertainment.... in one package!"
I have two sites that I administer that have pages that are not linked to the main site and are considered "internal" and thus not legally accessible by outside parties. To get to those pages, you would necessarily have to have been given the URL by the staff of the company. These pages are labelled as internal and there are warnings at the top of the pages against accessing the material without proper authorization.
Even so, if anyone published links to those pages, they could, and should, expect to find themselves the target of breach of privacy lawsuits.
The web is used for dessimination of information, not only for public consumption, but for internal and private purposes. That information is often proprietary and, ostensibly, secret, and making that information public could put a company's continued operation at risk.
I whole heartedly hope the courts rule against Reuters. This sort of breach is unacceptable.
Wait... you can couple with them?
>> Im tired of people doing stupid things with
>> speakers. Running 1kw systems in their drunks
>> using $5 cables that have way over acceptable
>> limits of capacitance.
Running electrified cable into a drunk speaker, while certainly entertaining, is illegal under most states' sodomy laws. Besides, you can remedy the problem by substituting their beer for soda. Sober speakers are usually not nearly as loud or obnoxious.
Problem solved. My work here is done....
Wait a minute... You need a *license* for a backpack nuclear accelerator?
uh oh.....
>> Also there isn't nearly the market for really
>> small stuff in the US.
Son, put down the crack pipe and step away...
I cite cell phones that store over a 100 phone numbers, play video games, act as a pager and a walkie talkie, allow you to browse the 'net and send/receive emails, and fit in your shirt pocket as proof that, in the U.S., smaller is better when you're talking about electronics.
Heck, my birthday is coming up and I wouldn't refuse one as a gift...
To get even further off topic...
::MUSIC PROPOGANDA::
::WINDOWS SECURITY::
::H1B WORK VISAS::
::SWEATSHOPS::
::DRUG LEGALIZATION::
>>
Agreed. The "standing up for starving artists" line is an excuse, one which I doubt is given seriously. All right everyone, say it with me, "I'm stealing, not because I think the artists are underpaid, but because I think the CDs are overpriced."
>>
Windows *is* highly insecure when held up against the major Linux distros. Period. I won't belabor the point; a little research on your part is obviously needed.
>>
I agree with you on this one. I suspect that folks that have a problem with work visas are really expressing insecurity in their ability to compete in the job market. I also sense a bit of xenophobia/racism.
>>
I disagree with your position. Sweatshops enforce long work days and less than ideal work conditions. Working at a sweatshop takes the workers to the edge of human endurance. You're right, these people work these jobs because they'd starve otherwise. What a weapon to wield against someone: work in these conditions or you and your family will starve. Sweatshops wouldn't be sweatshops if it weren't for the conditions.
>>
<SOAPBOX>
And this is the point that got me to write in the first place. Yeah, to some degree, people
want their favorite illegal/semi-legal vice legalized so they can enjoy it when they want,
where they want (flash to Prohibition). Personally, I just think the drug laws should be
revisited with an eye to what substances cause what reactions and to what degree. Alcohol is
toxic. It damages the liver and other organs in any amount, and can be lethal in large
amounts. It's served at bars and clubs that the patrons then drive from to get back home
while intoxicated. People under the influence are more sociable and, in some cases, more
violent. Why do you think clubs have bouncers? It's not because the U.S. needs somewhere
to store steroid abusers besides stacking them like cord wood in a warehouse.
And yet all you need to legally purchase alcohol is 21 years under your
belt and an ID to prove it.
There are a handful of recreational substances that provide the user with a pleasant
and sometimes mind-altering experience without killing the user outright, doing large
scale damage to their systems, or turning them in to social menaces. Our drug laws do
not take that fact into account. Big Brother allows you caffiene, nicotine, and alcohol.
But a larger and more immediate problem lies in the drug laws ignoring the medicinal advantages of some substances. I don't think anyone here has managed to avoid the news regarding the conflict between California and the U.S. DEA. Most people want to sit around and argue the merits of State's right vs. federal law, but for me the real issue goes all the way to be the federal drug code. California at least sees the need to redefine what substances constitute a greater danger than a positive resource.
</SOAPBOX>
This picture (http://www.railpace.com/turbine/jet3.jpg) of the jet train had me cracking up. As someone how used to take BART trains to a job in Oakland many years ago, I found the potted plants sitting on the platform hysterical. What the heck? That's the best presentation they could make? I guess they spent all their money on the train and couldn't afford anything more festive for the press conference....
Here's a deep thought: remember those foam containers McDonald's used to use to wrap their burgers? The containers cost McD's more than the burgers that went into them.
And yes, you're right, their most profitable item is, bar none, the soft drink.
Doofus, you fell for it. Take another sip of that Jolt cola (WHAT?! You aren't drinking Jolt? [sound of slapping herring]), and think about it. Two 32 bit processors. 64 bits.
Wait for it............
I've been predicting this for at least 12 years. Oh, it's good to be right, yes it is.
Look, this is a natural progression. As with all things, the cost of producing the characters will get cheaper and better, and eventually the cost of using an actor will surpass the cost of using a CGI character, with little or no loss in effective realism. They say Vin Diesel is about to join the $20 million club in Hollywood. Perhaps he's one of the last of a dying breed. Soon, you won't have actors, you'll have high paid models who will sell their likenesses to the studios. They'll be scanned into a computer in a variety of positions, facial expressions, and movements, and they'll bargain for a percentage of the royalties of all movies made with those images.
Think about that. In the future, *everyone* will get scanned and Hollywood won't even need extras. You'll get a royalty check if your image is used.
On the other hand, the "realism" of movies will suffer. Since anything is possible in a CGI movie, Jackie Chan's moves are going to be a lot less believable.
"Yeah, in my day, we had STUNT MEN! None of this sissy computer FX. Some actors even did their own stunts, and the broken bones were real! Dang kids and their CGI crap..."
I could see making compatibility a lesser priority if the Java team could resolve latency in serialization, transmission, and deserialization of objects, and rethinking the GUI classes (who was the dork that thought up layout managers?). Perhaps then people would re-embrace a language that burned them when they attempted to build and market client-server and multi-tier applications with it.
He's referring to the usage of the argument, not the definition of the argument.
Cheaper than *diesel fuel*? I doubt it. You still haven't shown that veggie oil is cheaper than diesel fuel, or that veggie oil burns as efficiently. I doubt that fresh veggie oil is going to be the cheapest approach. I can see used oil be pennies for a gallon.
Unfortunately, as long as M$ holds the patent (if they do in fact hold a patent, and I suspect they do) and as long as the software is free, they've got you by the short and curlies. If yours was a for-profit operation, you'd be able to factor the cost back into the price of the software and continue to cater to the larger market.
I applaud the open source movement, but this is one of the hits you take. So long as your product supports formats that are not controlled by M$, I'm sure you'll be successful.
The "engine on each wheel" concept isn't new. There was an electric Italian sports car featured in Popular Mechanics about 5 years ago that had the sort of set up, and according to the article the handling was suh-weet.