For those of you who hasn't read the whole story I can tell this is a very international competition. I'm a M.Sc student in Sweden, and at my university here we've had a RoboCup competition for a few years as well. It is a very good way to learn how to write autonome agents (football players), and gives a good insight in how AI "works".
For those of you interrested in trying this at home (yes you can:-) the software is available for download. You can run the "server" on both Unix and Windows. Its just to write a few players and get rockin!
For those who just wants to see how it all works, there are also old teams to download. Go fetch!
It all depends on what you do. Humans are great at multitasking while doing some things, but lousy at outhers. Let me give some examples....
Humans are lousy at maintaining more then one conversation at the same time. Ever tried to chat on IRC, with a friend IRL and with another friend over the phone ?.. its almost scary how bad that works.:-)
Humans are great at multitasking when it comes to fysical activities. There's no biggie talking to a guy on the cellphone and walking at the same time.. or riding a bike.
So my conclusion.. is that we are lousy at doing the same thing more then once at the same time. This is actually the exact opposite to what computers are good/bad at. Puters prefer to do the same thing many times, like running 5 netscape versions.
Dont forget most PC's sold for the last 5 years has come bundled with Windows. Almost every PC owner in the last 5 years (or perhaps 10 ?) has bought a copy of windows.
Perhaps you need to get outdoors a bit more ?;)
I bought one copy of slackware a while ago (slack 3.1;-). I needed something good to start with, so I wanted the Manual and the CD (modems suck:-)
Since then I have not purchased any linux distribution. On the other hand, I've only bought one version of windows aswell, a retail version of Windows98 (First Edition). It's getting really old now though...
My guess is that many people buy their first Linux distro just to get some setup help, manuals, a nice bootable CD, floppy tools etc etc. Later, they realize it is cheaper to download it.
I also guess that some people care to buy a Linux distro for like 50 dollars (perhaps cheaper then downloading for most people), but doesnt really care to buy a windows licence for 150 dollars.. If the price is low enough, it is always more convenient to buy a cd then to download it.
Critics worry about the start of a new arms race in space. Not to worry, Pentagon officials say -- the plane would fly in a suborbital path and would only attack Earth targets.
Good, now I feel safe again... or wait.. I live on Earth. (Of course they are only going to attack targets on earth, where else are there enemies ?:)
And how do they exactly mean... why shouldn't this cause an arms race just because the plane would attack its targets sub-orbital ? It is still a new military aircraft and it can fly in "space".
If they are trying to compete with the keyboard it sure have to be VERY cheap. Ok its very cool, but a standard keyboard does its job quite well.
But as everything new its always expensive and cool. If it is a good idea price will go down and quality will improve. I wouldn't be surprised to see such keyboards in the future. It sure gives the "keymap" a new dimension. Just toggle the symbols of the keys whenever you use another keymap.
Too bad the Mac's are so expensive, otherwise i would have gotten me one myself.
I really cant figure it though... if you bought a Mac you probably want to run OS X on it anyway. Anyone knows how many users they have ? Growing since OS X or loosing shares ?
You are missing one important factor. Money. It IS more profitable to have skilled people do do what they are skilled at. Training your key business account manager in changing printers isn't gonna cut your costs...
If people have the interrest, they will snap things up. If they dont, they are very happy to just call for the sysadmin.
Hm.. anyone who has ever been involved with helpdesk/admin work knows how screwed up printers can get. Do not underestimate the troubles they can cause.
If they are TRUELY talking about an AI, then great. But lets doubt it. It is more of a search-n-figure function which analyzes your symptoms and gives a qualified guess on how to solve it.
Depending on the size of the database, it will be able to give more or less accurate solutions, but most likely only to the very simple problems. Those kind of problems like "put the power cord in" or "check so the printer cable is connected", or "install the printer software from the cd".
What i'm trying to say is.. that those people who fail with such a simple task as for example installing a printer will DEFINITELY NOT enjoy talking to an Eliza-bot telling them to "plug the cable in":) They need to hear some confident voice telling them nothing is wrong, everything will be fine, and five minutes later it is.
It is not really all that strange. Even though some seem to think MS is the great satan itself, that is not [always] true. There is no reason for them to ALWAYS hate opensource. If they can benefit form it, the use it. They have shown this before [BSD code in Windows] and they will show it again [my guess:-)]
Just concider this... they must have realized opensource OS'es are here to stay. Its quite hard to compete with an OS which is both free and useful. So.. how do they keep fighting it ? They simply move ontop of it. There is an old computer saying which says that if there is one OS in the bottom and one on top, the one in the bottom will die. (That's what happened to DOS and Windows 95, dos was "assimilated")
They simply make sure all their "nice".NET products are available through some MS.NET Browser for opensource platforms, and Woila. Suddenly you're using MS products on an opensource platform. Which one will die ? The product you use or the OS you run in the bottom ?
[Ok.. perhaps they are the great satan after all, what ever;-)]
What's really impressive with the SGI platform is not the actual hardware, but the compilers. Sure, they do have great OpenGL accelerators, but it is the compilers that makes the difference. And ofcourse IRIX;), the UNIX choice of all sysadmins.
This is the way it usually is though. At least when you spend rather small amounts of money on something. I mean.. do you try to get a refund if the burger did not taste the way you liked it ? Do you try to get a refund if the book you bought was not just that good ?
That is why there are demos, reviews etc, to give you a chance to verify if you like the product or not.
In order to refund things, it often has to be something else then "consumable goods". I think anything below like $100 is "consumable goods", you buy it on your own risk, and it is hardly worth the trouble to return it.
Most windows [IRC] clients actually have a built in IDENT server so they can response to it.
Ident is probably not the best daemon there is but when used correctly it can be pretty nice. If you ask for someones "ident identity" you can see what username he is claiming, what he really uses and from where he connects etc.
I guess this could be used to support "cookies" in lynx;), save a users www session based on ident. Not very secure but it could work.
And its not really a waste of bandwidth, since it hardly uses any. Just a simple very short message... so small it's virtually nothing:)
Japan is the BASF of countries. We didnt invent the tv, we made it cheaper. We didnt invent the automobile, we made it smaller and cheaper. We didnt invent the video game, we just make good ones and then dont release them in the US, to spite them for nuking us back in the day.
So you seriously mean its not "inventing", "creating" and "developing to do all things you mention here? How could they possibly had done this if it wasnt for all creativity that came from within the company. But if you prefer to believe that ALL ideas came from the Board of Directors, go ahead;-)
I find it rather interresting that people say that the japanese business modell doesnt support "creative thinking and gives no chance to entrepeneurs"
It must be rather obvious to everyone that Japan has invented, created and developed many things. Just think of all the Multinational companies from Japan.
The difference lies within how a business should be run/managed/controlled. Business cultures are of course very different, but why say its worse ? (there's a negative tone in such statements and the one quoted above).
Of course noone is more worthy of such threats. The basic rule to follow must simply be "Dont to anything that can harm anyone else in any way". This is ofcourse not possible to follow strictly, but should be a guideline...
Its much as saying.. This person killed someone.. lets kill him. In computer terms this is called a recursion;)
-- Dont let the evil win, but defeat the evil with the good --
There are always reasons to add more functionality to a device. If you can combine the palm (you are already carrying with you) with an MP3 player (you want to carry with you) you ease the presure in your pockets.
I normally carry around a mobile phone, the wallet, keys, and a pen. If i'd be wearing a palm as well, i'm prety sure i couldnt make room for a Rio too. Adding MP3 functionality to the mobile phone is an excelent idea, imho, the same goes for the palm.
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For those of you interrested in trying this at home (yes you can :-) the software is available for download. You can run the "server" on both Unix and Windows. Its just to write a few players and get rockin!
For those who just wants to see how it all works, there are also old teams to download. Go fetch!
Humans are lousy at maintaining more then one conversation at the same time. Ever tried to chat on IRC, with a friend IRL and with another friend over the phone ?.. its almost scary how bad that works. :-)
Humans are great at multitasking when it comes to fysical activities. There's no biggie talking to a guy on the cellphone and walking at the same time.. or riding a bike.
So my conclusion.. is that we are lousy at doing the same thing more then once at the same time. This is actually the exact opposite to what computers are good/bad at. Puters prefer to do the same thing many times, like running 5 netscape versions.
Dont forget most PC's sold for the last 5 years has come bundled with Windows. Almost every PC owner in the last 5 years (or perhaps 10 ?) has bought a copy of windows. ;)
Perhaps you need to get outdoors a bit more ?
Since then I have not purchased any linux distribution. On the other hand, I've only bought one version of windows aswell, a retail version of Windows98 (First Edition). It's getting really old now though...
My guess is that many people buy their first Linux distro just to get some setup help, manuals, a nice bootable CD, floppy tools etc etc. Later, they realize it is cheaper to download it.
I also guess that some people care to buy a Linux distro for like 50 dollars (perhaps cheaper then downloading for most people), but doesnt really care to buy a windows licence for 150 dollars.. If the price is low enough, it is always more convenient to buy a cd then to download it.
Good, now I feel safe again... or wait.. I live on Earth. (Of course they are only going to attack targets on earth, where else are there enemies ? :)
And how do they exactly mean... why shouldn't this cause an arms race just because the plane would attack its targets sub-orbital ? It is still a new military aircraft and it can fly in "space".
But as everything new its always expensive and cool. If it is a good idea price will go down and quality will improve. I wouldn't be surprised to see such keyboards in the future. It sure gives the "keymap" a new dimension. Just toggle the symbols of the keys whenever you use another keymap.
This dude never thought of just putting a video camera in front of the fire ?... A lot cheaper and 100% correct "fire emulation" ;)
Too bad the Mac's are so expensive, otherwise i would have gotten me one myself.
I really cant figure it though... if you bought a Mac you probably want to run OS X on it anyway. Anyone knows how many users they have ? Growing since OS X or loosing shares ?
The problem is that since they dont have feelings (or the ability to feel), they dont care if you bite ;)
If people have the interrest, they will snap things up. If they dont, they are very happy to just call for the sysadmin.
If they are TRUELY talking about an AI, then great. But lets doubt it. It is more of a search-n-figure function which analyzes your symptoms and gives a qualified guess on how to solve it.
Depending on the size of the database, it will be able to give more or less accurate solutions, but most likely only to the very simple problems. Those kind of problems like "put the power cord in" or "check so the printer cable is connected", or "install the printer software from the cd".
What i'm trying to say is.. that those people who fail with such a simple task as for example installing a printer will DEFINITELY NOT enjoy talking to an Eliza-bot telling them to "plug the cable in" :) They need to hear some confident voice telling them nothing is wrong, everything will be fine, and five minutes later it is.
Just concider this... they must have realized opensource OS'es are here to stay. Its quite hard to compete with an OS which is both free and useful. So.. how do they keep fighting it ? They simply move ontop of it. There is an old computer saying which says that if there is one OS in the bottom and one on top, the one in the bottom will die. (That's what happened to DOS and Windows 95, dos was "assimilated")
They simply make sure all their "nice" .NET products are available through some MS .NET Browser for opensource platforms, and Woila. Suddenly you're using MS products on an opensource platform. Which one will die ? The product you use or the OS you run in the bottom ?
[Ok.. perhaps they are the great satan after all, what ever ;-)]
What's really impressive with the SGI platform is not the actual hardware, but the compilers. Sure, they do have great OpenGL accelerators, but it is the compilers that makes the difference. And ofcourse IRIX ;), the UNIX choice of all sysadmins.
Finally a contrast to all those powerhungry CPU's from AMD and Intel !
Although.. they are not telling you the whole truth.. it will cost you $200 since it is no fun having a fight on your own.
That is why there are demos, reviews etc, to give you a chance to verify if you like the product or not.
In order to refund things, it often has to be something else then "consumable goods". I think anything below like $100 is "consumable goods", you buy it on your own risk, and it is hardly worth the trouble to return it.
Ident is probably not the best daemon there is but when used correctly it can be pretty nice. If you ask for someones "ident identity" you can see what username he is claiming, what he really uses and from where he connects etc.
I guess this could be used to support "cookies" in lynx ;), save a users www session based on ident. Not very secure but it could work.
And its not really a waste of bandwidth, since it hardly uses any. Just a simple very short message... so small it's virtually nothing :)
So you seriously mean its not "inventing", "creating" and "developing to do all things you mention here? How could they possibly had done this if it wasnt for all creativity that came from within the company. But if you prefer to believe that ALL ideas came from the Board of Directors, go ahead ;-)
It must be rather obvious to everyone that Japan has invented, created and developed many things. Just think of all the Multinational companies from Japan.
The difference lies within how a business should be run/managed/controlled. Business cultures are of course very different, but why say its worse ? (there's a negative tone in such statements and the one quoted above).
Its much as saying.. This person killed someone.. lets kill him. In computer terms this is called a recursion ;)
-- Dont let the evil win, but defeat the evil with the good --
Sure its a good thing... but its not really new.
Too bad Sun isnt famous for their low prices :-/
Four simple steps :
./configure
tar xzf file.tgz
make
make install
Done. Could it be any easier ? ;)
I normally carry around a mobile phone, the wallet, keys, and a pen. If i'd be wearing a palm as well, i'm prety sure i couldnt make room for a Rio too. Adding MP3 functionality to the mobile phone is an excelent idea, imho, the same goes for the palm.