Excellent news! I've been registered for the beta for a long time (along with my system info), so I hope they send me an invite when the Mac version is ready.
No Mac version yet, unfortunately. Both Mac and PC versions are going to be released together on the same media, but no word yet if Mac users will get to play with the beta.
Yes, sorry, mixed up the number a bit. Still, it's nothing compared to the 250 million in the US. And if all 28 million were switched to ethanol instead of 8 million that would require a lot more biofuel. Then there's China and India which are building cars like crazy.
Why not conserve and use less? We can drive less, build more rail, add more transit, build walkable communities, etc. There's lots we can do besides finding new stuff to put in our cars.
That's true, there's no silver bullet. We need alternative energy, but it can never replace fossil fuels. So we need a combination of conservation, efficiency, alternative energy, and a reduction in consumption. Btw, you're wrong about the cows, read this:
That's when you convert farmland. Do the same calculations when you convert natural habitat, such as forest or wetlands, to grow this stuff. Again, you're going to be behind with respect to carbon emissions, probably by an order of magnitude, and you also destroyed more of the natural environment and threatened more species.
Okay, fair enough, but these new models were only introduced a few years ago and are a tiny percentage of total national fleet. And my whole point is that if they do switch everything to using pure ethanol, that's just going to make the problem that much worse. Now, imagine trying that in the US with 250 million cars. We'd need to be farming on Mars!
It's the government that reclassified 200 million hectares, though, as I mention in the article. That's for sucarcane. They are also clearing the rainforest to grow soy. The carbon emissions released from cutting down all these trees can exceed the gains versus fossil fuels by as much as several hundred times, as I quote.
The main issue with biofuels isn't really food or cost. It's about land use, energy efficiency and sustainability. Brazil is usually given as a great example, but they have only 8 million cars, which use a maximum of 25 percent biofuel, the rest is still gasoline or diesel. And Brazil is one of the countries that is deforesting the fastest in the world. The US has 250 million cars. There's not enough land left in the world to clear to make enough biofuels for that.
Well, it's too early to say, of course, but the iPad looks like it might actually have potential. I have never purchased an e-reader before as I have always preferred books, and the quality of ereaders was just never good enough for me. This is the first product I might actually give a chance. Of course, the fact that it's more of a general purpose tool and not *just* for reading ebooks makes it much more useful.
I didn't get a failure, although I often used to in previous versions. It just said I was already up to date. Just tried again and I did get your error, that's probably just from the traffic.
Perhaps, but the self update has never worked once on the Mac since the first version came up. Hopefully this is fixed in 3.2 so when 3.3 comes around people won't need to download a massive file.
Great reply. I remember back in the days of BBSes. Making add-ons for the blind was relatively easy then, since everything was text based. Hell, with a 300 baud modem, the software could probably speak the text faster than it would show up.:) Everything is much more complicated now, and you can't expect one person to just throw something together to solve the problem.
Hey, I still miss the day they got rid of the curses installer for the java crap.:) However, I was fortunate enough to work in IT for 15 years, and I never once ran Windows. My Oracle experience is mostly on Solaris, with some HP and Linux. Believe it or not, the last time I ran Windows on my personal desktop was when 3.1 was still current. I actually made it a condition of my employment, I'd tell my boss straight up on my first day, that I won't run Windows, let me know now if that is a problem.
It's not any one thing. It's lots of little things. Lots of flexibility and subtlety with SQL statements. Some obscure functions you wouldn't find anywhere else. More powerful and intricate subqueries and triggers. Extreme flexibility in modifying existing tables and other data structures live. An almost insane level of customizability (any good book on Oracle spends half the book talking about installation.) Now it's not perfect, they still don't have a proper time/date format (time_t anyone??), making date calculations across timezones and taking daylight savings into account a real pain.
Granted, most people don't need this stuff. PostgreSQL is good enough for most roles. The complexity versus reward ratio might not work out for a lot of things anymore, nevermind the cost. I'm out of the game now, so I don't know what the latest stuff does, but they were definitely ahead of the pack for a long time. But they're kind of just going on inertia now. They don't even define themselves as a database company anymore, though that's the only really good product they have. I probably wouldn't buy it today, but I have some fond memories, and it really helped me to build some great stuff.
In general, you're right. You want a feature in OSS, and no one is doing it? Do it yourself. Accessibility falls into a different category. You *could* say, sorry you weren't born with sight, try again next life. But that wouldn't be a very nice thing to say. We have two main commercial operating systems, Mac OS X, and Windows. So, let's say both companies decide accessibility doesn't matter, just screw it. Are people with disabilities supposed to just lie down and take it? I would hope we've evolved past that.
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Well, 10Base-2 uses coax. I think I have an old hub that still has a coax connector. :)
Excellent news! I've been registered for the beta for a long time (along with my system info), so I hope they send me an invite when the Mac version is ready.
No Mac version yet, unfortunately. Both Mac and PC versions are going to be released together on the same media, but no word yet if Mac users will get to play with the beta.
Yes, sorry, mixed up the number a bit. Still, it's nothing compared to the 250 million in the US. And if all 28 million were switched to ethanol instead of 8 million that would require a lot more biofuel. Then there's China and India which are building cars like crazy.
Why not conserve and use less? We can drive less, build more rail, add more transit, build walkable communities, etc. There's lots we can do besides finding new stuff to put in our cars.
By nitrates, you're referring to fertilizer, I assume? There is no fertilizer required for cows raised on pasture.
That's true, there's no silver bullet. We need alternative energy, but it can never replace fossil fuels. So we need a combination of conservation, efficiency, alternative energy, and a reduction in consumption. Btw, you're wrong about the cows, read this:
http://www.selfdestructivebastards.com/2010/01/review-vegetarian-myth.html
That's when you convert farmland. Do the same calculations when you convert natural habitat, such as forest or wetlands, to grow this stuff. Again, you're going to be behind with respect to carbon emissions, probably by an order of magnitude, and you also destroyed more of the natural environment and threatened more species.
Okay, fair enough, but these new models were only introduced a few years ago and are a tiny percentage of total national fleet. And my whole point is that if they do switch everything to using pure ethanol, that's just going to make the problem that much worse. Now, imagine trying that in the US with 250 million cars. We'd need to be farming on Mars!
It's the government that reclassified 200 million hectares, though, as I mention in the article. That's for sucarcane. They are also clearing the rainforest to grow soy. The carbon emissions released from cutting down all these trees can exceed the gains versus fossil fuels by as much as several hundred times, as I quote.
The main issue with biofuels isn't really food or cost. It's about land use, energy efficiency and sustainability. Brazil is usually given as a great example, but they have only 8 million cars, which use a maximum of 25 percent biofuel, the rest is still gasoline or diesel. And Brazil is one of the countries that is deforesting the fastest in the world. The US has 250 million cars. There's not enough land left in the world to clear to make enough biofuels for that.
http://www.selfdestructivebastards.com/2010/01/biofuels.html
Well, it's too early to say, of course, but the iPad looks like it might actually have potential. I have never purchased an e-reader before as I have always preferred books, and the quality of ereaders was just never good enough for me. This is the first product I might actually give a chance. Of course, the fact that it's more of a general purpose tool and not *just* for reading ebooks makes it much more useful.
Hmm, maybe the second company will start working with Apple and competing against its former self?
Who cares about 3D. Just try to be as faithful to the books as possible, and try to tell a really good story!
I didn't get a failure, although I often used to in previous versions. It just said I was already up to date. Just tried again and I did get your error, that's probably just from the traffic.
Perhaps, but the self update has never worked once on the Mac since the first version came up. Hopefully this is fixed in 3.2 so when 3.3 comes around people won't need to download a massive file.
Looks like the self update function is still broken, at least on the Mac version. It's telling me 3.1 is up to date.
Hey, I love Firefly too, but get the name right!
Great reply. I remember back in the days of BBSes. Making add-ons for the blind was relatively easy then, since everything was text based. Hell, with a 300 baud modem, the software could probably speak the text faster than it would show up. :) Everything is much more complicated now, and you can't expect one person to just throw something together to solve the problem.
Hey, I still miss the day they got rid of the curses installer for the java crap. :) However, I was fortunate enough to work in IT for 15 years, and I never once ran Windows. My Oracle experience is mostly on Solaris, with some HP and Linux. Believe it or not, the last time I ran Windows on my personal desktop was when 3.1 was still current. I actually made it a condition of my employment, I'd tell my boss straight up on my first day, that I won't run Windows, let me know now if that is a problem.
I commented on accessibility on another thread. Sorry if the topic took me back. I didn't mean to reminisce inappropriately.
Sorry, obviously I meant delivering on *manned* spaceflight. Of course private companies have been providing launch services for decades.
Yeah, let's stop paying for a public police force. If you can't afford to pay protection, you deserve what you get.
It's not any one thing. It's lots of little things. Lots of flexibility and subtlety with SQL statements. Some obscure functions you wouldn't find anywhere else. More powerful and intricate subqueries and triggers. Extreme flexibility in modifying existing tables and other data structures live. An almost insane level of customizability (any good book on Oracle spends half the book talking about installation.) Now it's not perfect, they still don't have a proper time/date format (time_t anyone??), making date calculations across timezones and taking daylight savings into account a real pain.
Granted, most people don't need this stuff. PostgreSQL is good enough for most roles. The complexity versus reward ratio might not work out for a lot of things anymore, nevermind the cost. I'm out of the game now, so I don't know what the latest stuff does, but they were definitely ahead of the pack for a long time. But they're kind of just going on inertia now. They don't even define themselves as a database company anymore, though that's the only really good product they have. I probably wouldn't buy it today, but I have some fond memories, and it really helped me to build some great stuff.
In general, you're right. You want a feature in OSS, and no one is doing it? Do it yourself. Accessibility falls into a different category. You *could* say, sorry you weren't born with sight, try again next life. But that wouldn't be a very nice thing to say. We have two main commercial operating systems, Mac OS X, and Windows. So, let's say both companies decide accessibility doesn't matter, just screw it. Are people with disabilities supposed to just lie down and take it? I would hope we've evolved past that.