If and when quantum computing comes to pass, it will immediately outdate all of the encryption methods we have now. Would-be crackers would be able to break any standard (current) password or encryption in a matter of milliseconds with a quantum computer. However, there are some primative quantum encryption algorithms in existance now that prove decryption difficult even for another quantum computer without the proper information. In the Code Book there is a section about quantum encryption, not the best but it helps a little.
Re:Octorian, you are my GOD!!!
on
AtheOS
·
· Score: 1
I'm so tired of people talking trash about an OS they've never tried...
Excellent point! Everybody is saying that AtheOS is not going to make the cut but they have no basis for their opinion. To be honest, I can't wait to DL it and install it on one of my boxes. Now, if I could just get to the site...
-- Funny thing about the Internet, it has given new respect to the uninformed opinion. --
Do you really like system programming? Look very carefully at what you say you want to do. If you are still in school then take every course you can get and figure out what, exactly, it is you want to do. When I started out, in school, I first thought I wanted to be a hardware engineer. Shortly thereafter I discovered software engineering and loved it. Then I happened across the a subtopic of software engineering, HCI, and loved that. So, my advice to you, if you are still in school, is to take every course you can, even if you think you won't like it, and decide from there. If you still want to be a systems programmer then good for you. But give yourself plenty of options.
Springboard modules have been promised for months now with no indication as to when and if they will actually show up. I wouldn't hold your breath.
That is true, but eventually someone will release something. They are working on it. Xircom has some pretty cool Springboard products that are expected for release during the summer or fall of this year. I'm sure they will be a little late, but eventaully the Springboard modules will hit the market. The other thing is that this is the first generation of Springboard modules so the development time will be slightly longer. Once they get the bugs worked out, I think there will be a influx of similar devices hitting the market and lowing prices.
What about a Handspring Visor? I have one and love it, it's cheap (relitively speaking) and it has the Springboard port. Right now there are a number of companies working on wireless Springboard modules. For instance there is Xircom, who is in the process of building a wireless modem, bluetooth modem and an ethernet module. According to their site, they should be released later this summer. Innogear also has some cool products for the Springboard available and under development.
In the meantime if you want movie times and maps there are some apps for Palm OS that you can install. For movie times there is a little program called Showtimes that allows you to download movie times for you favorite theaters from Yahoo! and stores them in a database, on your Visor or Palm, that you can access very easily. It's an awesome program and it is free!! As far as maps go, there is software available from Mapblast.com, called PocketBlast, that allows you to import maps to your handheld device of choice.
How about a little AI browser plug in that logs where I go and from that information determines what I like to see on-line and gets it for me. For example, if everyday I get to work and fired up Netscape and surf over to wired.com and read some things there, then I got to CNN.com and read the US News and tech news and finally I head over to Slashdot.org. Have the agent log that information and when I get to work in the morning, Netscape is already open and displayed on the screen at the headlines from wired, CNN US and tech news and Slashdot. That is a somewhat involved project but it would be a cool one to work on.
Why would I pay the extra money to SGI to have a PIII 800MHz with 20GB hard drive, 128MB RAM and (basically) an nVidia graphics card when I could build a machine close to that for less? Don't forget I get my choice of NT or Red Hat. Hmmm is this Dell or SGI??? For $2,725 I would expect a dual machine (maybe not a dual P3 but a dual none-the-less).
If you want a cool looking case, go to ColorCase.com, they have some awesome cases there. They should have some alternatives for your less atractive cases.
So many people are saying that detonating a nuclear weapon on the moon would have done no harm. How can you be so sure. I would think that the impact, on the moon, from a nuclear weapon would have pushed the moon out of it's orbit and the results of that could catastrophic. I can not say for sure, the same way that no one else can tell me, for sure, that nothing would have happened had a nuke been detonated on the surface of the moon. However, I do not want to find out. As far as the Cold War goes, it seems to me that (forgive me for using an over used term today) was just a giant, worldwide, pissing match between the US and the USSR. What we could have done was launch a nuke at the moon to show our force and push the moon out of orbit. Then have the USSR launch a nuke at the opposite side of the moon and push it back into orbit.
Didn't the courts extend the freedom of speech to include source code a few weeks back?? If source code is considered speech then I would assume that it would be covered under copyright laws the same as, say, literature? However, I was pretty sure that if a company wrote code, be it C or HTML, that it belonged to the company under intellectual property right laws. However, you might want to consult a lawyer.
Way to go Roblimo!! I was very relieved to see that Slashdot was not going to yeild to MS. At some point Microsoft has to learn that not everyone is going to bow down and heed their every desire because of who they are. I imagine now MS will respond with copyright violation lawsuit threats to get Slashdot to conform to their requests. Don't back down now! I could see MS taking the Slashcode and claiming it as their own then creating an MS. website to cover MS news.
There was a feature on Slashdot some weeks back about an inexpensive robot kit. The kit is $89 and is a pretty basic robot but it has a lot of potential. The kit is complete, however, there is some assembly required (including soldering) but it does not look very difficult. Here is the link.
There are methods of making computers easier to use for novice users and keeping experienced users happy. One example is the little paper clip agent that MS uses in Word. Although most expeinced users find it annoying, novice users tend to like the help it provides them. As the users get more and more experienced with the software, they can customize the paper clip to interfer less and less until they don't need it. Now, the bad part of the paper clip is that is does not teach users how to do things, it does performs tasks for them. So, they never actually learn how to do things. Another example of an usability feature is the balloons in MacOS. A beginner can get information about how to perform tasks by mousing over things, but someone who already knows can turn the balloons off. However, I do agree that it is nearly impossible to get an interface that is so easy to use that is, dare I say, intuitive to novices but keeps the "power users" happy too. There has to be a middle ground and a way for beginners to get there.
I have done a lot of work in various fields of HCI, which is one of my areas of study. There is an excellent book available by Alan Dix called Human-Computer Interaction that pretty much sums up the fields of HCI (such as groupware, interface design, distance learning, etc...) and goes into depth on good and bad interface design practices. What makes this book a good one is that it is co-authored by a psychologist and that adds the human element in with the CS element.
Slashdot Mirror
If and when quantum computing comes to pass, it will immediately outdate all of the encryption methods we have now. Would-be crackers would be able to break any standard (current) password or encryption in a matter of milliseconds with a quantum computer. However, there are some primative quantum encryption algorithms in existance now that prove decryption difficult even for another quantum computer without the proper information. In the Code Book there is a section about quantum encryption, not the best but it helps a little.
I'm so tired of people talking trash about an OS they've never tried...
Excellent point! Everybody is saying that AtheOS is not going to make the cut but they have no basis for their opinion. To be honest, I can't wait to DL it and install it on one of my boxes. Now, if I could just get to the site...
-- Funny thing about the Internet, it has given new respect to the uninformed opinion. --
Do you really like system programming? Look very carefully at what you say you want to do. If you are still in school then take every course you can get and figure out what, exactly, it is you want to do. When I started out, in school, I first thought I wanted to be a hardware engineer. Shortly thereafter I discovered software engineering and loved it. Then I happened across the a subtopic of software engineering, HCI, and loved that. So, my advice to you, if you are still in school, is to take every course you can, even if you think you won't like it, and decide from there. If you still want to be a systems programmer then good for you. But give yourself plenty of options.
Springboard modules have been promised for months now with no indication as to when and if they will actually show up. I wouldn't hold your breath.
That is true, but eventually someone will release something. They are working on it. Xircom has some pretty cool Springboard products that are expected for release during the summer or fall of this year. I'm sure they will be a little late, but eventaully the Springboard modules will hit the market. The other thing is that this is the first generation of Springboard modules so the development time will be slightly longer. Once they get the bugs worked out, I think there will be a influx of similar devices hitting the market and lowing prices.
What about a Handspring Visor? I have one and love it, it's cheap (relitively speaking) and it has the Springboard port. Right now there are a number of companies working on wireless Springboard modules. For instance there is Xircom, who is in the process of building a wireless modem, bluetooth modem and an ethernet module. According to their site, they should be released later this summer. Innogear also has some cool products for the Springboard available and under development.
In the meantime if you want movie times and maps there are some apps for Palm OS that you can install. For movie times there is a little program called Showtimes that allows you to download movie times for you favorite theaters from Yahoo! and stores them in a database, on your Visor or Palm, that you can access very easily. It's an awesome program and it is free!! As far as maps go, there is software available from Mapblast.com, called PocketBlast, that allows you to import maps to your handheld device of choice.
How about a little AI browser plug in that logs where I go and from that information determines what I like to see on-line and gets it for me. For example, if everyday I get to work and fired up Netscape and surf over to wired.com and read some things there, then I got to CNN.com and read the US News and tech news and finally I head over to Slashdot.org. Have the agent log that information and when I get to work in the morning, Netscape is already open and displayed on the screen at the headlines from wired, CNN US and tech news and Slashdot. That is a somewhat involved project but it would be a cool one to work on.
Keep us posted!
Why would I pay the extra money to SGI to have a PIII 800MHz with 20GB hard drive, 128MB RAM and (basically) an nVidia graphics card when I could build a machine close to that for less? Don't forget I get my choice of NT or Red Hat. Hmmm is this Dell or SGI??? For $2,725 I would expect a dual machine (maybe not a dual P3 but a dual none-the-less).
If you want a cool looking case, go to ColorCase.com, they have some awesome cases there. They should have some alternatives for your less atractive cases.
So many people are saying that detonating a nuclear weapon on the moon would have done no harm. How can you be so sure. I would think that the impact, on the moon, from a nuclear weapon would have pushed the moon out of it's orbit and the results of that could catastrophic. I can not say for sure, the same way that no one else can tell me, for sure, that nothing would have happened had a nuke been detonated on the surface of the moon. However, I do not want to find out. As far as the Cold War goes, it seems to me that (forgive me for using an over used term today) was just a giant, worldwide, pissing match between the US and the USSR. What we could have done was launch a nuke at the moon to show our force and push the moon out of orbit. Then have the USSR launch a nuke at the opposite side of the moon and push it back into orbit.
Didn't the courts extend the freedom of speech to include source code a few weeks back?? If source code is considered speech then I would assume that it would be covered under copyright laws the same as, say, literature? However, I was pretty sure that if a company wrote code, be it C or HTML, that it belonged to the company under intellectual property right laws. However, you might want to consult a lawyer.
Way to go Roblimo!! I was very relieved to see that Slashdot was not going to yeild to MS. At some point Microsoft has to learn that not everyone is going to bow down and heed their every desire because of who they are. I imagine now MS will respond with copyright violation lawsuit threats to get Slashdot to conform to their requests. Don't back down now! I could see MS taking the Slashcode and claiming it as their own then creating an MS. website to cover MS news.
There was a feature on Slashdot some weeks back about an inexpensive robot kit. The kit is $89 and is a pretty basic robot but it has a lot of potential. The kit is complete, however, there is some assembly required (including soldering) but it does not look very difficult. Here is the link.
There are methods of making computers easier to use for novice users and keeping experienced users happy. One example is the little paper clip agent that MS uses in Word. Although most expeinced users find it annoying, novice users tend to like the help it provides them. As the users get more and more experienced with the software, they can customize the paper clip to interfer less and less until they don't need it. Now, the bad part of the paper clip is that is does not teach users how to do things, it does performs tasks for them. So, they never actually learn how to do things. Another example of an usability feature is the balloons in MacOS. A beginner can get information about how to perform tasks by mousing over things, but someone who already knows can turn the balloons off. However, I do agree that it is nearly impossible to get an interface that is so easy to use that is, dare I say, intuitive to novices but keeps the "power users" happy too. There has to be a middle ground and a way for beginners to get there.
I have done a lot of work in various fields of HCI, which is one of my areas of study. There is an excellent book available by Alan Dix called Human-Computer Interaction that pretty much sums up the fields of HCI (such as groupware, interface design, distance learning, etc...) and goes into depth on good and bad interface design practices. What makes this book a good one is that it is co-authored by a psychologist and that adds the human element in with the CS element.