For WLAN, a lecture hall would need another access point anyway. Just turn it off during the exams. For cellular networks, a repeater/microcell should do the trick.
When OLPC came out in 2007, the laptops were on a lap-melting, back-breaking rush towards bigger & faster. Nearly
everything came in with a Core2 or a Core2 Duo, with lots of RAM (yeah, guess what you can't save power on, RAM
needs a strobe whether it has data or not). The fact that OLPC came out in 2007, sort of forced the geeks to
look at weight as a valid concern for a consumer device. Not to mention questions about why a 1995 top-end laptop
ran for 4 hours on batteries, when a 2005 one won't do the same at the same weight.
In my experience, smaller and lighter laptops (subnotebooks) have been around for a long time, but before the OLPC, they were expensive premium items. The OLPC made it clear that you could sacrifice some of the premium features, and make it both small and cheap.
While the advances in technology were probably playing a part, there was also a social acceptance factor. Surprisingly, people were content with machines that looked and felt cheap. You could see the same thing with regular laptops, which some years ago were mainly used by executives. Now you see them at homes and colleges everywhere, because they are simply convenient for those uses.
Having used laptops as my primary computers since 1997, I feel the same general idea about them as I do with cell phones (been using since 1995): they are more "personal" computers. Cell phones make social sense, because you usually want to call a person instead of a place. In the same way, your computer belongs to you, instead of some fixed place.
There is another interesting factor with social acceptance. Sitting at a desktop computer isolates you from the people nearby, but a laptop is less intrusive. For example, sitting on a couch with the laptop on your lap, there is nothing in the way of eye contact with others. Netbooks, tablets and cell phones are even less intrusive, and thus more socially accepted.
Obviously, the Transformer does its thing and turns into a router when it sees any oncoming data. It also turns on the evil bits, in case it is a Decepticon.
Furthermore, moderation can be used to augment the message, instead of simply commenting on the quality of the message. For example, a post saying "I just shat myself" could be modded informative.
This might explain why I am often moderated insightful when meaning to be funny, and vice versa.
Somebody should really invent a programming interface for graphics. You could use hardware or software rendering for the same code, or generally a mixture of both, depending on the capabilities. It could be called "open graphics library" or something.
I considered buying a PS3 back in the day when OtherOS was officially working. Naturally my interest is rekindled now, but I also think it's too little, too late. The hardware is hardly as exciting now as it was in 2006; the Cell looked quite promising, but its availability to hobbyists and scientists has been very limited, so people have turned to things like GPU programming. Besides, Sony deserves even less of my money.
On the other hand, I might like one in my collection of neat but mismanaged technology, such as PowerPC laptops. It is currently missing Sicortex and PWRficient machines as well;)
But more important, have you ever noticed how all those important brackets and punctuation that you NEED in 99% of the languages are near impossible to type without breaking your fingers on non-English keyboard, especially if that language has to deal with a lot of diacritical characters? On most non-English keyboard the { and } brackets are only reachable with the combination of Alt-GR and 7-0. And let's not even talk about the "Polish writing keyboard layout", which is a nightmare to program with. I still think they did it on purpose, I cannot imagine that anyone could actually code using such a layout.
If you are programming, and you happen to "suffer" from one of those layouts, try switching to an English layout. When I started to code, I was wondering who the FU.. could come up with the idea that { and } would be sensible to use for something you need, like, every other character. Once I switched to English, it started to make sense.
Agreed. I switched to a UK layout about 10 years ago, as I was living in the UK and started programming more seriously. In retrospect I wonder how I managed to use Linux, including shell scripting, HTML, latex etc. with a Finnish keyboard prior to that. For typing in Finnish, there is fortunately a way for fast switching in Xorg.
As for typing speed and programming, there are also things like comments and documentation. For these it is great if you can write extended natural-language text without frustration.
I thought it was obvious: the mass of a given atom is constant, but measure its weight in different locations (equator, north pole, the moon) and you get different results. Of course, I'm just a simple physicist.
No, getting a master's degree in physics did not give you any additional understanding or perspective. However, you being the type of person to get a master's degree puts you in a group that is more highly correlated with having that perspective...
I agree, I believe this is how it generally goes with studies that correlate something with education. However, I also believe education does have some effect. (Or what exactly am I doing as a teacher?:) In my personal experience, dealing with experimental data improved my ability to cope with uncertainty. It is an ability I already had, but it made me appreciate it more than before.
People fear what they don't understand. Ignorant people fear more, and are manipulated by their fear en masse.
Getting a master's degree in physics did not give me any particular understanding of death. However, a central point of experimental sciences is coping with uncertainty. Understanding that the world is not black and white has a lot to do with your personality, and many people do not seem to be comfortable with themselves unless they feel absolutely certain about some things.
In my current work as a teacher, one general challenge is getting my students from "what is the right/wrong answer" to understanding and analyzing the questions in a deeper level. I feel like I must first undo the elementary school teachings, in order to teach scientific thinking.
This seems to reflect the fact that lower levels of education are about strict judgment and rote memorization. People at this level fear death, because they feel like they must have some kind of absolute knowledge in order to deal with it.
Slashdot Mirror
Because I am interested in Cell programming. You know, there are these things called different hardware architectures. X86 is just ugly.
For WLAN, a lecture hall would need another access point anyway. Just turn it off during the exams. For cellular networks, a repeater/microcell should do the trick.
While the greek word philosophia literally means "friend of wisdom", the common-day philosopher tends to stare at their naval
For a fleeting moment, I thought you were serious.
The Sandy Bridge chips are the first in which Intel has combined a graphics processor and CPU on a single piece of silicon.
I thought Intel already did this a while ago with the newer Atom chips:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_atom#Second_generation_cores
When OLPC came out in 2007, the laptops were on a lap-melting, back-breaking rush towards bigger & faster. Nearly everything came in with a Core2 or a Core2 Duo, with lots of RAM (yeah, guess what you can't save power on, RAM needs a strobe whether it has data or not). The fact that OLPC came out in 2007, sort of forced the geeks to look at weight as a valid concern for a consumer device. Not to mention questions about why a 1995 top-end laptop ran for 4 hours on batteries, when a 2005 one won't do the same at the same weight.
In my experience, smaller and lighter laptops (subnotebooks) have been around for a long time, but before the OLPC, they were expensive premium items. The OLPC made it clear that you could sacrifice some of the premium features, and make it both small and cheap.
While the advances in technology were probably playing a part, there was also a social acceptance factor. Surprisingly, people were content with machines that looked and felt cheap. You could see the same thing with regular laptops, which some years ago were mainly used by executives. Now you see them at homes and colleges everywhere, because they are simply convenient for those uses.
Having used laptops as my primary computers since 1997, I feel the same general idea about them as I do with cell phones (been using since 1995): they are more "personal" computers. Cell phones make social sense, because you usually want to call a person instead of a place. In the same way, your computer belongs to you, instead of some fixed place.
There is another interesting factor with social acceptance. Sitting at a desktop computer isolates you from the people nearby, but a laptop is less intrusive. For example, sitting on a couch with the laptop on your lap, there is nothing in the way of eye contact with others. Netbooks, tablets and cell phones are even less intrusive, and thus more socially accepted.
Obviously, the Transformer does its thing and turns into a router when it sees any oncoming data. It also turns on the evil bits, in case it is a Decepticon.
IMHO, sarcasm is insightful, rather than funny.
Furthermore, moderation can be used to augment the message, instead of simply commenting on the quality of the message. For example, a post saying "I just shat myself" could be modded informative. This might explain why I am often moderated insightful when meaning to be funny, and vice versa.
Somebody should really invent a programming interface for graphics. You could use hardware or software rendering for the same code, or generally a mixture of both, depending on the capabilities. It could be called "open graphics library" or something.
Maybe Sony should have used palladium.
I considered buying a PS3 back in the day when OtherOS was officially working. Naturally my interest is rekindled now, but I also think it's too little, too late. The hardware is hardly as exciting now as it was in 2006; the Cell looked quite promising, but its availability to hobbyists and scientists has been very limited, so people have turned to things like GPU programming. Besides, Sony deserves even less of my money.
On the other hand, I might like one in my collection of neat but mismanaged technology, such as PowerPC laptops. It is currently missing Sicortex and PWRficient machines as well ;)
However, Android uses the Linux kernel, which is under GPL v2.
Moreover, are we talking about the free Internet, or the part behind the Great Firewall?
It's only 0.29 % faster, probably not worth it.
Alcohol: the cause of, and the solution to, all of life's problems.
But more important, have you ever noticed how all those important brackets and punctuation that you NEED in 99% of the languages are near impossible to type without breaking your fingers on non-English keyboard, especially if that language has to deal with a lot of diacritical characters? On most non-English keyboard the { and } brackets are only reachable with the combination of Alt-GR and 7-0. And let's not even talk about the "Polish writing keyboard layout", which is a nightmare to program with. I still think they did it on purpose, I cannot imagine that anyone could actually code using such a layout.
If you are programming, and you happen to "suffer" from one of those layouts, try switching to an English layout. When I started to code, I was wondering who the FU.. could come up with the idea that { and } would be sensible to use for something you need, like, every other character. Once I switched to English, it started to make sense.
Agreed. I switched to a UK layout about 10 years ago, as I was living in the UK and started programming more seriously. In retrospect I wonder how I managed to use Linux, including shell scripting, HTML, latex etc. with a Finnish keyboard prior to that. For typing in Finnish, there is fortunately a way for fast switching in Xorg.
As for typing speed and programming, there are also things like comments and documentation. For these it is great if you can write extended natural-language text without frustration.
You mean, as opposed to your (US/UK) common law system where laws are made up by judges as they go along?
Remember when computers were computers and you could program in any damn language you wanted to?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N900
I've had it with these motherfucking eels in this motherfucking hovercraft!
When did NOT doing something become an active process?
When atheism became a religion.
I thought it was obvious: the mass of a given atom is constant, but measure its weight in different locations (equator, north pole, the moon) and you get different results. Of course, I'm just a simple physicist.
I have only one finger, you insensitive clod!
When the only finger you have is the middle one, everyone looks like a clod.
"y" is an old, alternative spelling for the Dutch digraph "ij".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IJ_(digraph)
No, getting a master's degree in physics did not give you any additional understanding or perspective. However, you being the type of person to get a master's degree puts you in a group that is more highly correlated with having that perspective...
I agree, I believe this is how it generally goes with studies that correlate something with education. However, I also believe education does have some effect. (Or what exactly am I doing as a teacher? :) In my personal experience, dealing with experimental data improved my ability to cope with uncertainty. It is an ability I already had, but it made me appreciate it more than before.
13.04 Rolling Release?
People fear what they don't understand. Ignorant people fear more, and are manipulated by their fear en masse.
Getting a master's degree in physics did not give me any particular understanding of death. However, a central point of experimental sciences is coping with uncertainty. Understanding that the world is not black and white has a lot to do with your personality, and many people do not seem to be comfortable with themselves unless they feel absolutely certain about some things.
In my current work as a teacher, one general challenge is getting my students from "what is the right/wrong answer" to understanding and analyzing the questions in a deeper level. I feel like I must first undo the elementary school teachings, in order to teach scientific thinking.
This seems to reflect the fact that lower levels of education are about strict judgment and rote memorization. People at this level fear death, because they feel like they must have some kind of absolute knowledge in order to deal with it.