Monetary dependence is not the only thing that screws research. Often times the problem lies with the reader, who wants a hard and fast answer to every scientific question. Try subscribing to a journal some time and reading the abstracts of some papers. After a while, you can find a paper that supports what ever you want. Is it because the researchers were bribed? Not necessarily. Often it's because the issue being tested is more complex than it seems.
Not every health treatment works for every person, not every engine works in every car. In those cases, we know the reasons and the differences that cause incompatibilities. But when we don't know the "why"... why Study A says Blah Software sucks and Study B says Blah Software rocks, for example, we should not jump to the conclusion that THEY WERE JUST BRIBED. Such short-sightedness can be accurate (bribery certainly exists), but it risks blinding one from looking into real issues. It pushes supporters into looking for another scapegoat for every study they don't like, and when the real problems emerge, they blow them off as "FUD." And it leads people to believe, as long as a study is "independently funded," its reasoning and conclusions are sound.
God forbid I try to have an open mind about these things. Go ahead, mod me as a troll because I said "fuck."
Let's face it; grandmas use linux only if their geek grandsons force it upon them. The vast majority of potential linux users are Windows XP power users. They want to update their system by clicking through graphical dialogs and don't need 4 different text editors. They want to install the OS using a GUI, but also want an OS that lets them use any cool open source software without troublesome install. And of course, they want something stable and fast.
How about a distro like this:
Lycoris's installer and simplified partition manager
Gentoo's portage, with Porthole graphical frontend
2.6 Kernel only
GNOME only, with the stupid games removed
Mac OS X's launchd (yes, it's GPL)
Slackware's CD1 contents
Knoppix's hardware detection and configuration
i686 packages on one install DVD
The user partitions in the installer by adjusting a graphic with "Windows" and "Linux" bars, with the swap partition automatically sized based on the amount of RAM. ReiserFS is automatically chosen. He clicks "Install," and with the automatic hardware detection the installer configures a 2.6 kernel and compiles. It also sets reasonable CFLAGS for portage having detected the CPU make/model. GNOME, X.org, etc. are installed through i686 packages from the DVD. While all of this goes on, the user sees a single progress bar on the screen, without silly bullet points of progress. An hour or so later, everything just works.
After he starts using it, he wants to try new software. A built-in Firefox extension shows a small "install" bottom in the bottom right corner whenever the user is browsing a site for an open source software. Let's say he's looking at www.python.org, or bittorrent.sf.net. Clicking the Install button brings up Porthole and prompts him to install Python. He clicks "Install" to confirm, and Porthole fetches the port and compiles. launchd agents or daemons are automatically created as needed for software requiring startup runtime.
Every few weeks or so, portage checks for updated ports. It then prompts the user to install the updated ports, explaining possible conflicts and estimating install duration.
In the meantime, this linux distro boots up faster than 95% of comparable distros courtesy of Apple's launchd. It's got the efficiency of uniquely-compiled software using portage. Sound, video acceleration and networking all "just work" having Knoppix's autodetection and configuration. GNOME's (in the future, complete) system control center lets him adjust anything he needs. And the user finally has a linux system that's powerful and user friendly.
That's the problem with you linux guys, you talk about "user bases." If anything's too hard to use or install, you just lay the blame on the user for trying to breach his assigned "user base."
Take a look at Mac OS X. A power user can calibrate his color, run an Apache webserver and encrypt his files completely from a friendly GUI. For security he can enable a firewall and manage access ports by clicking check boxes. There's no "user base" bullshit saying "those things are too advanced, you must use a command line."
The first step in improving linux is tearing down the notion of exclusive user bases. Software can be easy to use and powerful, not just one or the other.
In the alternative energy crowd it's actually very popular to build one's own wind turbine instead of purchasing one pre-built. There are kits available, but some design them from scratch.
Often it's rather sobering looking at a wind speed map that your region isn't quite windy enough to make a turbine pay for itself. One needs Class 4 speeds at a minimum, and then you've got to deal with city ordinances about various crap with building a large structure.
What are the implications or potential problems from removing energy from Earth's weather systems? Is the energy we're removing negligible enough to be ignored? Could it potentially change weather patterns by blocking/slowing wind?
I doubt it, since all wind turbines operate at such low altitudes that higher tropospheric activity is not affected. Weather resides in the first 10 miles or so of the atmosphere, whereas turbines are installed within ~.3 miles of sea level (Denmark has some that are actually seaborne). It'd be like wondering whether fish swimming a couple thousand feet underwater affect the waves at the top. There's plenty of empty volume for the fluid (whether it be air or water) to bypass any obstructions (turbines, trees etc.). And there's a lot of terrain nearby with no wind turbines at all.
I've studied wind turbine and helicopter rotor design (they have some remarkable similarities, and differences). For wind turbines, the airspeed gradient through the blade disk isn't as great as you may think.
As for "bias," well, I've noticed that many deem any opposing opinion as "biased." So what ever.
I run Gentoo, but while hearing all these guys talk about how Linux has advanced on the desktop I have to wonder:
Why did it take me 2 hours to configure xorg.conf to get my laptop working in 1400x1050 properly when Knoppix did it in 30 seconds?
Why did I have to spend 3 hours writing bash scripts to make power management work?
Why did I have to use fdisk when Mandriva has graphical partition manager?
Why does Gentoo not detect my DVD drive when I use it in my other laptop?
Why doesn't my mouse work automatically when I plug it into the USB port?
Why do I have to install and configure alsa when Knoppix sets it up automatically?
Face it folks, linux has a long way to go before it makes desktop inroads. Sure you can put Mandriva on a PC and it'll work fine forever for office stuff, listening to music etc. But if the user want flexibility and ease of use? We want to update device drivers quickly to take advantage of new features, but without reading manpages. We want to change resolutions without fixing a text file. We want plug-and-play devices to perform as described. We want to print to different printers without referring to CUPS docs or learning to set up a Samba server.
When will linux combine usability with power and flexibility? They're not mutually exclusive.
If you read the Carmack interview in PC Gamer from 1996 or so, Carmack said Romero was fired because he didn't do any work. Romero focused on playing deathmatch, not designing games. The book "Masters of Doom" mostly confirms this. While Romero did care more about game aesthetics than Carmack, that is not why he left id.
A 1.6 GHz Pentium M is comparable to a 2.6 GHz P4, though with far lower power consumption. The Pentium M's performance is more than "reasonably good." It makes a better case for the "megahertz myth" than the Motorola G4.
And no, none of AMD's Athlon Mobile chips compare to Pentium M. The Dothan core is the most efficient part Intel's developed in the past 10 years.
Mod me as a troll if you want (as done before), but who the fuck cares? "That which we call a rose..." It doesn't matter what it's called, programming is what ever it is. Labels are worthless, if not now then in the future.
Hardware Translucency in Linux
on
Longhorn Preview
·
· Score: 1, Interesting
Windows has supported hardware alpha blending since Windows 2000. OS X has supported it since about the same time. When will X.org and desktop environments bring this capability to linux?
Slashdot Mirror
When are they going to drop Mozilla Suite development and focus solely on Firefox and Tbird, like they said they would 2 years ago?
The original: http://www.bash.org/?492775
Good lord, this isn't Gen[M]ay.
A six year old OS performing on hardware from 2 years before its release is not that impressive.
Also, OS X doesn't include 4 different music players that do the same thing.
This band should be stopped. Think of the lives that could be saved.
Thanks for the patch, helped a lot. :)
Monetary dependence is not the only thing that screws research. Often times the problem lies with the reader, who wants a hard and fast answer to every scientific question. Try subscribing to a journal some time and reading the abstracts of some papers. After a while, you can find a paper that supports what ever you want. Is it because the researchers were bribed? Not necessarily. Often it's because the issue being tested is more complex than it seems.
Not every health treatment works for every person, not every engine works in every car. In those cases, we know the reasons and the differences that cause incompatibilities. But when we don't know the "why"... why Study A says Blah Software sucks and Study B says Blah Software rocks, for example, we should not jump to the conclusion that THEY WERE JUST BRIBED. Such short-sightedness can be accurate (bribery certainly exists), but it risks blinding one from looking into real issues. It pushes supporters into looking for another scapegoat for every study they don't like, and when the real problems emerge, they blow them off as "FUD." And it leads people to believe, as long as a study is "independently funded," its reasoning and conclusions are sound.
God forbid I try to have an open mind about these things. Go ahead, mod me as a troll because I said "fuck."
How about a distro like this:
- Lycoris's installer and simplified partition manager
- Gentoo's portage, with Porthole graphical frontend
- 2.6 Kernel only
- GNOME only, with the stupid games removed
- Mac OS X's launchd (yes, it's GPL)
- Slackware's CD1 contents
- Knoppix's hardware detection and configuration
- i686 packages on one install DVD
The user partitions in the installer by adjusting a graphic with "Windows" and "Linux" bars, with the swap partition automatically sized based on the amount of RAM. ReiserFS is automatically chosen. He clicks "Install," and with the automatic hardware detection the installer configures a 2.6 kernel and compiles. It also sets reasonable CFLAGS for portage having detected the CPU make/model. GNOME, X.org, etc. are installed through i686 packages from the DVD. While all of this goes on, the user sees a single progress bar on the screen, without silly bullet points of progress. An hour or so later, everything just works.After he starts using it, he wants to try new software. A built-in Firefox extension shows a small "install" bottom in the bottom right corner whenever the user is browsing a site for an open source software. Let's say he's looking at www.python.org, or bittorrent.sf.net. Clicking the Install button brings up Porthole and prompts him to install Python. He clicks "Install" to confirm, and Porthole fetches the port and compiles. launchd agents or daemons are automatically created as needed for software requiring startup runtime.
Every few weeks or so, portage checks for updated ports. It then prompts the user to install the updated ports, explaining possible conflicts and estimating install duration.
In the meantime, this linux distro boots up faster than 95% of comparable distros courtesy of Apple's launchd. It's got the efficiency of uniquely-compiled software using portage. Sound, video acceleration and networking all "just work" having Knoppix's autodetection and configuration. GNOME's (in the future, complete) system control center lets him adjust anything he needs. And the user finally has a linux system that's powerful and user friendly.
That's the problem with you linux guys, you talk about "user bases." If anything's too hard to use or install, you just lay the blame on the user for trying to breach his assigned "user base."
Take a look at Mac OS X. A power user can calibrate his color, run an Apache webserver and encrypt his files completely from a friendly GUI. For security he can enable a firewall and manage access ports by clicking check boxes. There's no "user base" bullshit saying "those things are too advanced, you must use a command line."
The first step in improving linux is tearing down the notion of exclusive user bases. Software can be easy to use and powerful, not just one or the other.
Most teachers are unwilling to give poor grades on qualitative assignments like papers.
Maybe he wants to be called "Rixey."
In the alternative energy crowd it's actually very popular to build one's own wind turbine instead of purchasing one pre-built. There are kits available, but some design them from scratch.
Often it's rather sobering looking at a wind speed map that your region isn't quite windy enough to make a turbine pay for itself. One needs Class 4 speeds at a minimum, and then you've got to deal with city ordinances about various crap with building a large structure.
What are the implications or potential problems from removing energy from Earth's weather systems? Is the energy we're removing negligible enough to be ignored? Could it potentially change weather patterns by blocking/slowing wind?
I doubt it, since all wind turbines operate at such low altitudes that higher tropospheric activity is not affected. Weather resides in the first 10 miles or so of the atmosphere, whereas turbines are installed within ~.3 miles of sea level (Denmark has some that are actually seaborne). It'd be like wondering whether fish swimming a couple thousand feet underwater affect the waves at the top. There's plenty of empty volume for the fluid (whether it be air or water) to bypass any obstructions (turbines, trees etc.). And there's a lot of terrain nearby with no wind turbines at all.
I've studied wind turbine and helicopter rotor design (they have some remarkable similarities, and differences). For wind turbines, the airspeed gradient through the blade disk isn't as great as you may think.
As for "bias," well, I've noticed that many deem any opposing opinion as "biased." So what ever.
awesome
- Why did it take me 2 hours to configure xorg.conf to get my laptop working in 1400x1050 properly when Knoppix did it in 30 seconds?
- Why did I have to spend 3 hours writing bash scripts to make power management work?
- Why did I have to use fdisk when Mandriva has graphical partition manager?
- Why does Gentoo not detect my DVD drive when I use it in my other laptop?
- Why doesn't my mouse work automatically when I plug it into the USB port?
- Why do I have to install and configure alsa when Knoppix sets it up automatically?
Face it folks, linux has a long way to go before it makes desktop inroads. Sure you can put Mandriva on a PC and it'll work fine forever for office stuff, listening to music etc. But if the user want flexibility and ease of use? We want to update device drivers quickly to take advantage of new features, but without reading manpages. We want to change resolutions without fixing a text file. We want plug-and-play devices to perform as described. We want to print to different printers without referring to CUPS docs or learning to set up a Samba server.When will linux combine usability with power and flexibility? They're not mutually exclusive.
- Humans are biased
- Humans make video games
- Games are unrealistic, biased and immersive
Honestly, who knew?It's interesting that he only mentions one real sim in his entire article (Operation Flashpoint).
If you read the Carmack interview in PC Gamer from 1996 or so, Carmack said Romero was fired because he didn't do any work. Romero focused on playing deathmatch, not designing games. The book "Masters of Doom" mostly confirms this. While Romero did care more about game aesthetics than Carmack, that is not why he left id.
(Tih malyenki.)
Me too.
(FYI, the Michigan team has won the race numerous times, and has a budget exceeding $1 million.)
Is your sig supposed to look like spam?
That's the number of the beast multiplied by 2.426! Incredible!
Yep, Thermal Design Power. In addition, why run a Pentium M 1.6 at 24 W when you can run it at 15 W?
A 1.6 GHz Pentium M is comparable to a 2.6 GHz P4, though with far lower power consumption. The Pentium M's performance is more than "reasonably good." It makes a better case for the "megahertz myth" than the Motorola G4.
And no, none of AMD's Athlon Mobile chips compare to Pentium M. The Dothan core is the most efficient part Intel's developed in the past 10 years.
Mod me as a troll if you want (as done before), but who the fuck cares? "That which we call a rose..." It doesn't matter what it's called, programming is what ever it is. Labels are worthless, if not now then in the future.
Windows has supported hardware alpha blending since Windows 2000. OS X has supported it since about the same time. When will X.org and desktop environments bring this capability to linux?