The initial development of Python involved some usability research. Practically everyone indents blocks in languages, in addition to the {} required by the language, so it's quite natural to define indentation as the block separator.
[rant mode=";-)"]
If you C programmers are so happy with braces, why do you want to indent the code at all? I mean, you could just write it in one line, because you have those wonderful {}s to separate the blocks.
[/rant]
Python's whitespace thing does have a few drawbacks. For example, mod_python lets you embed Python code into HTML just like PHP, but it can be awkward to use indented blocks there. mod_python allows brace and semicolon separation for this reason, but then again I'll rather use PHP for those situations.
There's also the potential problem if a certain whitespace looks like a tab in the editor, but the interpreter sees these differently, so it'll be a pain to debug. Never happened to me though.
> You tell them "I'm a computer programmer at Microsoft", they probably won't be able to keep their hands off you. The difference in popular opinion is roughly that between garbage collecter and movie star.
Even among the computer literate, not everyone appreciates garbage collectors:-)
Re:Why do we make such a big thing out of upgradin
on
Kernel 2.2 - It Lives!
·
· Score: 1
It depends on what you want. When 2.6 comes out, I'll probably upgrade my music workstation but leave my server as it is.
I'm probably repeating myself by pointing out that the computer has both a keyboard and a mouse, and they can be used together more efficiently than either one alone.
Opera's MDI is a system of subwindows within a parent window. You can have several webpages side by side, or overlapping if you like, within the main Opera window. Tabs are not windows in this sense, they are always maximum size w.r.t. the browser window.
> Why can't we just have the bare minimum in a distro: the OS, a notepad, the web browser and the web server?
So that you can start work right after installation. You don't have to spend extra time downloading/buying and installing applications. Besides, a bare minimum OS doesn't and shouldn't include "notepads", browsers or webservers.
It's possible to do a minimal install of a Linux distro if you like, and for many distros you can install it directly from the net (with a boot floppy) without having to burn CDs.
IMHO the whole point about MPlayer is that it's well optimized for your system. Other players don't seem to focus on this enough, but they may be relying on binary distributions for fast machines for which the optimization doesn't matter that much.
I agree a fuel cell (with fuel) is effectively a battery. Just wanted to point out that it's not as perfect environmentally as it's sometimes portrayed, albeit it's probably better than petrol-based fuel engines. With a battery you also need some source of energy to recharge/refill it.
Water vapour is also a greenhouse gas. More importantly, by burning hydrogen we lose oxygen from the air rather permanently. Unless of course we generate the hydrogen from water by electricity, in which case the hydrogen only acts as a cumbersome and expensive battery.
Capacitors are great for giving a power boost (e.g. starting an electrci motor) but they don't directly replace batteries, they're a different thing altogether. For a capacitor, energy = 1/2 * C * V^2 where C is the capacitance, so as you drain the energy, the voltage V falls. For a battery you need something to keep the voltage roughly constant over the whole operating cycle.
> unlike endothermic cpu's commonly manufactured by intel and perfected by amd, the ppc 970 uses exothermic cmos technology. it therefore requires a constant heat source to avoid freezing.
I think you got exo and endo confused... but anyway, it's funny considering the associated changes in entropy.
> But Microsoft said the Operating System would become unstable without all
that stuff + kitchen sink.
Hmm... usually software becomes more stable when you remove extra
crud. "An engineer knows he has attained perfection when there's
nothing left to take away."
However, MS software seems to work in opposite ways to normal
software. No wonder they've already made a deal with Soviet Russia;-)
Firstly, there's already the Falcon's Eye front end to NetHack, which looks and feels something like Diablo.
What would be really awesome is a 3D FPS approach to NetHack. Unfortunately, this wouldn't work because the game is turn-based. You'd have to dumb it down severely to allow FPS gaming.
Besides, NH is like the book that's so much better than the movie based on it, because you have imagination.
It's not necessarily a bad argument. Money is often used as an abstract measure of physical things. Without the physical side it loses all meaning (extreme inflation).
IMHO a more important difference between "environmental" and "business" approaches is the time scale involved. At worst, businesses are interested in short-term profit, whereas the environmental goals are infinitely long-term at best (truly sustainable).
Slashdot Mirror
What exactly does colorful and expressive looks have to do with one's sexual preference?
Dude, you've ruined a perfect scientific argument by saying "joules of power". It's either 'watts of power' or, more likely, 'joules of energy'. ;-)
[rant mode=";-)"]
If you C programmers are so happy with braces, why do you want to indent the code at all? I mean, you could just write it in one line, because you have those wonderful {}s to separate the blocks.
[/rant]
Python's whitespace thing does have a few drawbacks. For example, mod_python lets you embed Python code into HTML just like PHP, but it can be awkward to use indented blocks there. mod_python allows brace and semicolon separation for this reason, but then again I'll rather use PHP for those situations.
There's also the potential problem if a certain whitespace looks like a tab in the editor, but the interpreter sees these differently, so it'll be a pain to debug. Never happened to me though.
Even among the computer literate, not everyone appreciates garbage collectors :-)
It depends on what you want. When 2.6 comes out, I'll probably upgrade my music workstation but leave my server as it is.
I know a New Scientist reporter who has an M.Sci. in physics, one more reason to trust them :-)
But cold fusion was science fiction, it should have received the Nebula (vaporware award?!) instead.
I'm probably repeating myself by pointing out that the computer has both a keyboard and a mouse, and they can be used together more efficiently than either one alone.
Opera's MDI is a system of subwindows within a parent window. You can have several webpages side by side, or overlapping if you like, within the main Opera window. Tabs are not windows in this sense, they are always maximum size w.r.t. the browser window.
Don't worry, soon CmdrTypo will repost this to confirm that the news is in fact about the 10k rpm drive.
So that you can start work right after installation. You don't have to spend extra time downloading/buying and installing applications. Besides, a bare minimum OS doesn't and shouldn't include "notepads", browsers or webservers.
It's possible to do a minimal install of a Linux distro if you like, and for many distros you can install it directly from the net (with a boot floppy) without having to burn CDs.
IMHO the whole point about MPlayer is that it's well optimized for your system. Other players don't seem to focus on this enough, but they may be relying on binary distributions for fast machines for which the optimization doesn't matter that much.
I agree a fuel cell (with fuel) is effectively a battery. Just wanted to point out that it's not as perfect environmentally as it's sometimes portrayed, albeit it's probably better than petrol-based fuel engines. With a battery you also need some source of energy to recharge/refill it.
Water vapour is also a greenhouse gas. More importantly, by burning hydrogen we lose oxygen from the air rather permanently. Unless of course we generate the hydrogen from water by electricity, in which case the hydrogen only acts as a cumbersome and expensive battery.
Capacitors are great for giving a power boost (e.g. starting an electrci motor) but they don't directly replace batteries, they're a different thing altogether. For a capacitor, energy = 1/2 * C * V^2 where C is the capacitance, so as you drain the energy, the voltage V falls. For a battery you need something to keep the voltage roughly constant over the whole operating cycle.
At least for the illuminated ones.
I think you got exo and endo confused... but anyway, it's funny considering the associated changes in entropy.
Hmm... usually software becomes more stable when you remove extra crud. "An engineer knows he has attained perfection when there's nothing left to take away."
However, MS software seems to work in opposite ways to normal software. No wonder they've already made a deal with Soviet Russia ;-)
"Moo" on slashdot is more likely a reference to distributed.net.
What would be really awesome is a 3D FPS approach to NetHack. Unfortunately, this wouldn't work because the game is turn-based. You'd have to dumb it down severely to allow FPS gaming.
Besides, NH is like the book that's so much better than the movie based on it, because you have imagination.
Just because we can't hear its signals doesn't mean THEY don't. /me
looks forward to the return of P'neer.
No, but it's bad luck to be superstitious.
IMHO a more important difference between "environmental" and "business" approaches is the time scale involved. At worst, businesses are interested in short-term profit, whereas the environmental goals are infinitely long-term at best (truly sustainable).
..is keeping your Mandrake distro up to date via ftp/rsync mirrors, not wasting bandwidth/time/CDRs on ISO downloads whenever a new version comes out.
A Beowulf Band of these. Or a Beoband/Beorchestra if you like. *ducks into asbestos suit in soviet russia*