NO! It's truth. They just made a little tiny error, chances that there are multiple errors behind the data in this immaculate truth is unthinkable.
In fact, I think it's pretty obvious that this error was placed deliberately by the Bush administration in order to discredit the champions of our environment. This is really nothing more than FUD.
So, in your little world, climatology is extremely simple, with very few variables in play, and apparently all of them known.
How does the unicorn taste in your fantasy land? Like happy I bet.
Meteorology is a much simpler science than climatology. You're data set is more complete, and the variables you have have a more predictable effect.
The OP's comment wasn't very valid... But neither is your little pan in the oven analogy which attempts to paint climatology as a simple science that produces consistent and accurate results. It's complex, we don't have all the data we require, and we simply don't know all the variables that are in play.
There's a good reason that they're phasing analog out. In 2002, the FCC allowed Class A and B licence holders to discontinue AMPS services in 2008. AMPS is very outdated, and simply can't serve the market. Today it takes up bandwidth that could be better used elsewhere.
Verizon uses CDMA, as does Sprint, Alltel, US Cellular and most rural small providers.
AT&T/Cingular use GSM as does T-Mobile.
I don't think any of the big companies are really selling phones with analog capabilities any more. They all want to phase it out as it costs to maintain and they can't provide any of their advanced capabilities over it. Verizon doesn't even list tri-mode in feature comparisons anymore, and ATT started phasing out TDMA (not analog) before the merger with Cingular.
In mid-america CDMA coverage is really good today, there's not a whole lot of places where I used to get an analog signal that I can't get at least some sort of CDMA signal. GSM though is still lacking. It's excellent along the coasts, but going into some landlocked states and the coverage just isn't there yet.
AMPS is slated to go away on 2/18/2008. I think only VZW and Alltel have an AMPS network today. They are required to keep AMPS active until that date, but beyond that they have no obligation, and since they've converted most of their customers over, there won't be any business reason to do so.
OnStar uses AMPS for some of their older systems. They'll be discontinuing service to these units on 1/1/08. ADT also uses AMPS in some places, and are lobbying to keep it around, but that's not likely to happen since the deadline was set 6 years ago giving them plenty time to react to it.
Just like they *could* not tie users into contracts because they aren't subsidizing a device.
The real new business model is now instead of getting cheaper equipment for agreeing to a contract with a provider, now you must be tied into a contract with a provider for the privilege of owning a particular phone, this one a very expensive one. That's awesome!
I find the idea that Cingular is suddenly going to become the nicest company in the world, and start offering people great discounts and probably free puppies because they buy an iPhone amusing.
I can see it now: "Your phone doesn't get a signal at your home? Oh, that's totally our problem, and we'll refund your money and let you out of the contract even though it's past the grace period, and take this cuddly puppy for your trouble!! His name is Sebastian and actually has been genetically engineered to poop milk chocolate, here try some!"
There really is a lot of exclusivity. Yes, on the surface, the music offerings are very similar between the two. Each has their own specialty stations in the music area, but for the most part that's a wash.
Sirius then of course has Stern's channels, which offer more programming than just his show. There are two other 4 hour 'shock jock' talk shows with Bubba the Love Sponge and Ferrell. Then a ton of once a week shows that they run as well. XM has Opie and Anthony which I understand is also simocast on some of the terrestrial stations out there too, albeit edited. Sirius also has Maxim Radio which features 16 hours of talk radio targeted to young males. They've also got NPR which I don't believe is offered on XM, but should be available most places over terrestrial radio.
Sports is another huge difference. Sirius has NFL, XM has MLB. This is a very big difference between the two for sports fans. Being a fan of both the NFL and MLB, it sucks only getting one. Then you have NHL on XM and NASCAR on Sirius... They also each have different college offerings. Sirius seems to be a bit broader in their coverage in terms of teams, and definitely in sports broadcast, but XM has exclusive deals with at least one conference.
For people who listen to just music, it's probably a wash. However, I think most people find themselves listening to the other channels out there as well, and it really comes down to what your interests are...
So, IMO not allowing a potential merger is bad for at least one of the companies and also bad for the consumer. You've got virtually no difference in quality of the audio or cost of equipment or subscription between the two, you're only choosing based on programming. If the companies merged their programming could be consolidated, the risk is the resulting entity would have the ability to control prices. The reality of the matter is the only thing the competition between the two so far has done is allowed XM to raise their prices to match Sirius'. There's also the competition between 'free' and satellite radio that would obviously still exist. Truth be told, both these companies biggest competition is terrestrial radio, and the idea that radio should be a free product, not each other. That will change at some point, though I'm sure.
What I think potentially could happen is that the programming for these two services could merge independent of the delivery. This, would be much worse for the consumer in my opinion. I see in this scenario, paying for 'basic' service and then adding on things like NFL, MLB, Stern, etc. Just like you do with television. I think by trying to squash a merger before serious discussion has really began pushes these two companies in this direction. The FCC isn't going to have much of a leg to stand on to prevent this type of merger, since it's the delivery not the creation of content they can regulate.
I have to agree, not only are they tying their users to a format that may or may not be a success, I'd rather have the drive as an addon, because on all of these consoles the most likely things to go are the optical drives. Less stress on the main one, the better.
MS isn't as interested in the success of HD-DVD as sony is about BD either. Sony has always wanted to have full control of a storage format... So much so they were willing to sacrifice their space in portable music players to try and push mini discs. Apple wouldn't have stood a chance if Sony had been paying attention.
I'd go as far to say that MS supports HD-DVD mainly because they want to give Sony some hassle with this format war. MS really stands to benefit most if neither format really wins and VoD takes over.
I saw this yesterday morning in Omaha, NE. At the time I thought it was a plane, but it was out of place for anything with their landing lights on. Way to far west for anything approaching either Omaha eppley or Offutt AFB. When I read the story yesterday, the time matched up, as did the position.
Didn't look quite like the video from here, more like a very bright light, but still cool to see in person.
In my company QA is the bridge between development and production. I'm a team lead (dev) in a company which has a suite of web applications. Each application has a lead assigned to it, who handles the development and documentation of a product through their team. We do several deployments of software each week, and if our leads had to hand-hold through each of them we'd be hamstrung for time and working more night hours than we'd like.
When we have a RC I'll branch the trunk, and request that QA perform a Pre-Production build. Developers will work with ops to get this running properly on the pre hardware, as this can be done outside of maint hours. We'll then do several builds of the branch until it's gold, and then tag off the branch as X.vv.zz.
While a major release is in QA the lead focuses on creating/updating the operations document which addresses day-to-day maintainence issues and tells operations how to troubleshoot the app in the case of a problem. They also produce an implementation plan which identifies the groups/persons needed to deploy the application, and the steps needed to be taken, using what they've learned from the initial pre deployment. Once this is done, and QA has promoted the app, a dry-run is performed to try to catch any missing steps. The implementation plan is handed to QA, who coordinates with IT/Ops to resolve any conflicts and schedule the deployment. Ops/DBA's then physically performs the deployment following the steps given in the plan. In a major release situation, you may have a team lead or platform manager coordinating the actual steps on a conference bridge. But for minor releases we've been able to just have our operations teams do the full deployment with verification by QA and the product's customer service group.
We also have a twice weekly meeting where any upcoming production changes are discussed between IT/Ops, QA and Dev. Release documents are put on a calendar, so if an issue comes up on another product we can go to this and see what may have caused it.
Dev and QA also meet weekly to discuss the progression of products through or into QA. Any issues with testing or problems with builds not being stable can be addressed.
It took us a while to get to this point. We had previously been in a situation where dev would handle the build and deployment process, and it was had for many of the leads to let their projects go, but now we can see the benefit, not only for the company, but also in the fact we don't have to be doing releases at 12AM on tuesdays anymore. It takes a lot of work across departments, and definitely is a long road, but something that needs to be done.
The PS3 uses software emulation. The PS2's IO processor was basically a PSX as I remember, and they were able to leverage it to run old games.
Since they're using software emulation now, they're in for the same issues that the 360 has. I don't think the issue to the consumers will be how many games work, but which games work. Few people will care if Madden '99 runs on the PS3, but they might be upset if their recently bought FF XII wouldn't.
I don't have a hypothetical kid. I have a real kid. And as a parent I know it's my responsibility to be aware of when my son is doing stupid which could harm him. It's not a lack of trust, it's a realization that kids do things that are dumb regardless of how responsible they or their parents think they are. I know that when I was a teen I did things I should not have, and would have been better off avoiding. I also remember thinking that I was much more responsible and mature than my peers. I now know that I didn't have a clue, and that my parents were right the vast majority of the time.
What teens don't realize is their situation is hardly unique. One of the things you start to realize as you mature is that you and your parents aren't so different. My parents grew up in the 40's & 50's, I grew up in the 80's and 90's. Even with that type of difference in age I realize now the same issues I faced, they had bee through 3 or 4 decades earlier. Parents do have good advice and insight to give their children, if they'll actually listen. Problem is, kids in every generation think they're the only ones with these particular issues or problems, and they're flat out wrong.
Teens want freedom. That's natural. But with freedoms come responsibility that most kids just aren't able to see the entire scope of. That's where parents come in and take some of that responsibility upon themselves to curb their childrens freedoms when neccessary. A parent should never at any point say, well, you're X age, I've done what I can, good luck. I still take advice from my old man. And appreciate it more now.
Of course teen/.rs reading this will disagree... I probably would have, had/. been available via gopher.
People who are so ferverent in their belief that there must be life outside earth, do so on the same principles that people who believe that life was created by a god do so. There are no facts to support either, so that person relies on faith, or what he sees as evidence that points to his desired conclusion.
The person who believes that life exists elsewhere without proof will without a doubt, be sure that his belief is more rational, but is that the case? Neither idea is supported by evidence, and to believe without a doubt that either is truth, takes a leap of faith.
I don't fault either person for their beliefs. I do fault both when they scoff at each other for having equally fantastic beliefs, or for being assured that either idea rules out the other. Being so closed minded that you are willing to dismiss any possibility no matter how likely or unlikely does no good when the answer is still unknown.
I have to think that it is a likely possibility that there is life elsewhere in the universe. Whether there is intelligent life out there, seems to be less likely, that it's a superior civilization able to travel across space yet less likely. Adding in the idea that somehow that this alien race has evolved above all the evils that plague mankind, you've created a utopia... A christian might call this Heaven.
If a person is willing to take all these leaps, how can they look at someone who believes that there is an extraordiary being that exists somehow outside the observed laws of our universe, and call that person crazy?
I'm not willing to eliminate any possibility, when we truely know so little. Just as confusing as to how there could be a 'god', is how the material to create the universe got to be. It's just as perplexing that there was inanimate material that just 'was' as there is a being who 'was'.
I'm close to going with Nintendo now... Not quite sold yet.
Before there was much information on the Wii/Revolution, I was planning on buying a 360 after the first price drop, which I expect about the time the two new consoles hit the shelves. Now Nintendo has my attention, and if they can produce some good titles at launch they're in the running. I might even consider both consoles, with decent price points.
Sony's got their hands full. They've got a console that potentially will cost more than their competitors combined, and not really outshining either of them in the areas that each console interests me the most in. The area where Sony has an advantage to me, titles, seems to be slipping as well. Xbox will have GTA first this time around, and some nice exclusive titles of their own.
If that wasn't prohibited in the proposal, you might have a valid point.
Take a look at the proposal. It addresses a lot of current loopholes where your information can currently be abused, and allows for you to provide "knowing, informed, and voluntary consent" in the acceptable uses and disclosures for your personal information. It requires that you approve each use individually, and sets out that the IRS will provide substantial direction in the format that the consent will be given for both paper and electronic transactions.
But hey, uninformed knee-jerk reactions is what this site is all about. Good job with that!
The proposed rules, which would become effective 30 days after a final version is published, would require a tax preparer to obtain written consent before selling tax information.
So, I don't see a problem. If for some reason, say free preparation, someone wants to give away this information, isn't that their choice? As long as I have the ability to say no to this, I don't see a problem.
Personal information is a commodity today. If you want to sell it, you should have that right. If you want to keep it private you should have a choice to do that as well.
If they were taking ICT out of the players, I might agree.
They aren't.
They are leaving the capability there, and offering only the promise that the first Sony movies released will not use it. Another studio or Sony after a change of heart can and will use it.
Take it out of the damn player. There's no reason for it to exist unless they plan to use it.
It'd be nice is Venkman was updated for 1.5. I loved the thing, but left it behind when I upgraded.
On a related note, Eclipse has the Ajax Tools Framework proposal that looks to be very promising for developers. I currently use Eclipse and the WTP for JSP/Struts development, and its excellent, but debugging javascript is still a pain.
You're simply wrong. Biodiesel is a perfectly viable fuel, in fact, it's more viable than any other option currently available. It is problematic that people associate conventional farming with being the only way to produce biodiesel.
First we have to get beyond the idea that farming for food is the same as farming for fuel. One major difference is that fuel farming does not require plants that we are currently commercialy growing, and any concerns over the effects of genetically modified plants on humans can be easily ignored.
Take for instance algae farming. We can grow algae in waste water, or in salt water. It's not a current commercial crop, and would not use any land that is currently being farmed for food. There are types of algea that have extremely high oil content, making them ideal for biodiesel production.
The answer is to use a variety of conventional and unconventional sources of plants that can provide oils to be made into fuel. Responsible farming eliminates any issues with soil depletion, and genetically modified crops help increase output without increasing the area needed to grow them.
Plants are much more efficent at converting solar energy into storable energy than any machine that we're even close to building is. Until someone finds a way to produce hydrogen effeciently from electrolysis using renewable energy sources, which I don't see happening in this century, if we want to replace our dependence on fossil fuels we will be farming for fuel. Finding alternative methods and crops is essential, and we have to look beyond repurposing soybeans or rapeseed grown for food products today.
Actually they do now. If you go over your plan's allowance, you're charged $.10 a message, incoming or outgoing.
Unlimited IN Messaging applies only to TXT, PIX&FLIX messages sent/received within the National Enhanced Services Rate and Coverage Area from a Verizon Wireless customer's phone to another Verizon Wireless customer's phone and addressed to the recipient's 10-digit phone number. Monthly allowance and overage rates of 10 per message sent and received apply to all other TXT, PIX&FLIX messages sent/received, except international TXT messages, which cost 25 per message sent and 10 per message received.
He's probably going to go over his allowance this month.
But we know everything now. The people who made those previous predictions were simply uninformed. Now that we have all the information, we can make these predictions.
It's fearmongering. Refined product futures have been steadily declining, and cutting into profits. Some people are starting to wonder why if HU is trading at 1.38 on the NYMEX they're paying an extra buck for it at the pump. Since the end of January HUJ6, April 2006 Unleaded, has dropped nearly $.50 a gallon. A warm winter has reduced need for fuel for heating in the US, and speculation that both OPEC and Non-OPEC countries will be increasing production in the next year have helped this happen... So you get articles like this which help justify the gouging that is occurring.
The real facts are, we keep finding more supplies of oil, conventional and unconventional, and technology to obtain it is steadily improving. A true crisis is very far off. Everyone in the supply chain enjoys a nice windfall when a crisis, either real or percieved occurs. Look at the record profits recorded last year. I don't know what other buisiness can benifit when significant portions of its infrastructure are either lost or shutdown.
It's ironic that these companies can so easily use those that claim to be their opponents to their advantage. This type of fearmongering only helps to increase their profits.
But, I think we can all agree that fossil fuels are a finite resource, if we keep burning them we'll run out. There are better sources of energy we can leverage. But, these need to become economically feasable. Hybrid autos are not the answer, some of the technology in them is good, but for the most part they're a feel-good solution, not an actual solution. H2 is a potential solution, but the most feasable methods of obtaining H2 is still from products that are oil based. Until we can overcome that, we're still tied to fossil fuels.
What I think is our best option today is biodiesel. It's got an excellent BTU/Volume ratio, easily distributable, and potentially cheap. The most interesting suggestion on production is using huge algae farms in the southwestern US which would be fed by salt water from the pacific.
It also doesn't take the automobile technology we currently have and scrap it. Both Americans and Europeans have a very romantic attachment to the way cars work. While rethinking the entire concept of automobile engineering might produce more effieceint vehicles, it is more difficult to sell the concepts to the public, and to redesign factories to build vehicles on an entirely different platform than what we do today.
Diesel engines also make more sense in large passenger vehicles... I'm the owner of a mid-size SUV, and would gladly welcome the additional torque and general economy that a diesel would provide. Unfortunately it's not an option in my brand of choice today.
That's an incorrect assumption. As a current XBox owner, I'm more interested in the XBox 360, but am waiting to see if Sony can really swing me. I'm also still content with my XBox, and not really interested in shelling out $4-500 for a new console today.
So, I am happy to wait, see if Sony can produce a system that I like better than the 360, and watch the price wars begin.
What does Sony need to do to sway me? They have to have an online component that can compete with XBox Live. A hodge-podge some games use this, some use that, type of thing won't cut it. I don't think graphically there will be a significant difference between the two consoles, and Sony hasn't had an exclusive title that has interested me since I've owned an XBox. And when it comes to amounts of evil, I personally don't see a difference.
I think there's a lot of people who are waiting not only to see what Sony will have, but for the prices to drop.
Well, your thoughts are valid, the/. post and the linked article explain nothing about the Sober worm...
If you go here you will find that the Sober worm directs people to neo-nazi websites, and sends emails with subjects like "Dresden Bombing Is To Be Regretted Enormously" and "60 Years of Freedom: Who's Celebrating?"
Given just what/. had, I'd be more inclined to think that it coincided with Marilyn Manson's birthday. But the virus/worm is actually well known for spreading neo-nazi propaganda.
Have you ever paid data fees with Cingular? Their basic plan is 1MB of transfer a month. You go over, and it's.01 a KB. 10 bucks a MB, which sucks. You can upgrade to a 5MB plan, but still get dinged 10 bucks a MB over. If we were talking text only, this might not be a bad deal, but when you consider these phones display images and animated images, you could be looking at a 50-100K animated radar image or something. You can blow by 5MB quickly.
With Verizon, I pay one fee a month, and am charged by airtime. Their data network is faster than Cingular, and works more places in my area. Cingular's network in the midwest is pathetic. And EDGE is sloooow.
While I like Cingular's phones quite a bit, the V3 RAZR is a great phone, their network is bad where I am, and SIM cards are very nice (If the phone is unlocked, none of my Cingular phones were). Right now there isn't a better phone I've found than the e815, even if it is crippled by default. Great reception, on a better network, and pretty decent features.
It will be a long time until GSM gains a foothold in the middle of the US. There are so many dead spots, and I'm not seeing towers go up very fast. CDMA in the meantime is the best choice for this area.
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NO! It's truth. They just made a little tiny error, chances that there are multiple errors behind the data in this immaculate truth is unthinkable.
In fact, I think it's pretty obvious that this error was placed deliberately by the Bush administration in order to discredit the champions of our environment. This is really nothing more than FUD.
It's back in Omaha, NE now. Thank god... I really missed that thing annoying the hell out of me on my drive into work.
So, in your little world, climatology is extremely simple, with very few variables in play, and apparently all of them known.
How does the unicorn taste in your fantasy land? Like happy I bet.
Meteorology is a much simpler science than climatology. You're data set is more complete, and the variables you have have a more predictable effect.
The OP's comment wasn't very valid... But neither is your little pan in the oven analogy which attempts to paint climatology as a simple science that produces consistent and accurate results. It's complex, we don't have all the data we require, and we simply don't know all the variables that are in play.
There's a good reason that they're phasing analog out. In 2002, the FCC allowed Class A and B licence holders to discontinue AMPS services in 2008. AMPS is very outdated, and simply can't serve the market. Today it takes up bandwidth that could be better used elsewhere.
Verizon uses CDMA, as does Sprint, Alltel, US Cellular and most rural small providers.
AT&T/Cingular use GSM as does T-Mobile.
I don't think any of the big companies are really selling phones with analog capabilities any more. They all want to phase it out as it costs to maintain and they can't provide any of their advanced capabilities over it. Verizon doesn't even list tri-mode in feature comparisons anymore, and ATT started phasing out TDMA (not analog) before the merger with Cingular.
In mid-america CDMA coverage is really good today, there's not a whole lot of places where I used to get an analog signal that I can't get at least some sort of CDMA signal. GSM though is still lacking. It's excellent along the coasts, but going into some landlocked states and the coverage just isn't there yet.
AMPS is slated to go away on 2/18/2008. I think only VZW and Alltel have an AMPS network today. They are required to keep AMPS active until that date, but beyond that they have no obligation, and since they've converted most of their customers over, there won't be any business reason to do so.
OnStar uses AMPS for some of their older systems. They'll be discontinuing service to these units on 1/1/08. ADT also uses AMPS in some places, and are lobbying to keep it around, but that's not likely to happen since the deadline was set 6 years ago giving them plenty time to react to it.
Just like they *could* not tie users into contracts because they aren't subsidizing a device.
The real new business model is now instead of getting cheaper equipment for agreeing to a contract with a provider, now you must be tied into a contract with a provider for the privilege of owning a particular phone, this one a very expensive one. That's awesome!
I find the idea that Cingular is suddenly going to become the nicest company in the world, and start offering people great discounts and probably free puppies because they buy an iPhone amusing.
I can see it now:
"Your phone doesn't get a signal at your home? Oh, that's totally our problem, and we'll refund your money and let you out of the contract even though it's past the grace period, and take this cuddly puppy for your trouble!! His name is Sebastian and actually has been genetically engineered to poop milk chocolate, here try some!"
There really is a lot of exclusivity. Yes, on the surface, the music offerings are very similar between the two. Each has their own specialty stations in the music area, but for the most part that's a wash.
Sirius then of course has Stern's channels, which offer more programming than just his show. There are two other 4 hour 'shock jock' talk shows with Bubba the Love Sponge and Ferrell. Then a ton of once a week shows that they run as well. XM has Opie and Anthony which I understand is also simocast on some of the terrestrial stations out there too, albeit edited. Sirius also has Maxim Radio which features 16 hours of talk radio targeted to young males. They've also got NPR which I don't believe is offered on XM, but should be available most places over terrestrial radio.
Sports is another huge difference. Sirius has NFL, XM has MLB. This is a very big difference between the two for sports fans. Being a fan of both the NFL and MLB, it sucks only getting one. Then you have NHL on XM and NASCAR on Sirius... They also each have different college offerings. Sirius seems to be a bit broader in their coverage in terms of teams, and definitely in sports broadcast, but XM has exclusive deals with at least one conference.
For people who listen to just music, it's probably a wash. However, I think most people find themselves listening to the other channels out there as well, and it really comes down to what your interests are...
So, IMO not allowing a potential merger is bad for at least one of the companies and also bad for the consumer. You've got virtually no difference in quality of the audio or cost of equipment or subscription between the two, you're only choosing based on programming. If the companies merged their programming could be consolidated, the risk is the resulting entity would have the ability to control prices. The reality of the matter is the only thing the competition between the two so far has done is allowed XM to raise their prices to match Sirius'. There's also the competition between 'free' and satellite radio that would obviously still exist. Truth be told, both these companies biggest competition is terrestrial radio, and the idea that radio should be a free product, not each other. That will change at some point, though I'm sure.
What I think potentially could happen is that the programming for these two services could merge independent of the delivery. This, would be much worse for the consumer in my opinion. I see in this scenario, paying for 'basic' service and then adding on things like NFL, MLB, Stern, etc. Just like you do with television. I think by trying to squash a merger before serious discussion has really began pushes these two companies in this direction. The FCC isn't going to have much of a leg to stand on to prevent this type of merger, since it's the delivery not the creation of content they can regulate.
MS is on the record as saying that the HD-DVD drive will never be built in. Read this article, page 3. http://arstechnica.com/articles/headstart.ars
I have to agree, not only are they tying their users to a format that may or may not be a success, I'd rather have the drive as an addon, because on all of these consoles the most likely things to go are the optical drives. Less stress on the main one, the better.
MS isn't as interested in the success of HD-DVD as sony is about BD either. Sony has always wanted to have full control of a storage format... So much so they were willing to sacrifice their space in portable music players to try and push mini discs. Apple wouldn't have stood a chance if Sony had been paying attention.
I'd go as far to say that MS supports HD-DVD mainly because they want to give Sony some hassle with this format war. MS really stands to benefit most if neither format really wins and VoD takes over.
I saw this yesterday morning in Omaha, NE. At the time I thought it was a plane, but it was out of place for anything with their landing lights on. Way to far west for anything approaching either Omaha eppley or Offutt AFB. When I read the story yesterday, the time matched up, as did the position.
Didn't look quite like the video from here, more like a very bright light, but still cool to see in person.
In my company QA is the bridge between development and production. I'm a team lead (dev) in a company which has a suite of web applications. Each application has a lead assigned to it, who handles the development and documentation of a product through their team. We do several deployments of software each week, and if our leads had to hand-hold through each of them we'd be hamstrung for time and working more night hours than we'd like.
When we have a RC I'll branch the trunk, and request that QA perform a Pre-Production build. Developers will work with ops to get this running properly on the pre hardware, as this can be done outside of maint hours. We'll then do several builds of the branch until it's gold, and then tag off the branch as X.vv.zz.
While a major release is in QA the lead focuses on creating/updating the operations document which addresses day-to-day maintainence issues and tells operations how to troubleshoot the app in the case of a problem. They also produce an implementation plan which identifies the groups/persons needed to deploy the application, and the steps needed to be taken, using what they've learned from the initial pre deployment. Once this is done, and QA has promoted the app, a dry-run is performed to try to catch any missing steps. The implementation plan is handed to QA, who coordinates with IT/Ops to resolve any conflicts and schedule the deployment. Ops/DBA's then physically performs the deployment following the steps given in the plan. In a major release situation, you may have a team lead or platform manager coordinating the actual steps on a conference bridge. But for minor releases we've been able to just have our operations teams do the full deployment with verification by QA and the product's customer service group.
We also have a twice weekly meeting where any upcoming production changes are discussed between IT/Ops, QA and Dev. Release documents are put on a calendar, so if an issue comes up on another product we can go to this and see what may have caused it.
Dev and QA also meet weekly to discuss the progression of products through or into QA. Any issues with testing or problems with builds not being stable can be addressed.
It took us a while to get to this point. We had previously been in a situation where dev would handle the build and deployment process, and it was had for many of the leads to let their projects go, but now we can see the benefit, not only for the company, but also in the fact we don't have to be doing releases at 12AM on tuesdays anymore. It takes a lot of work across departments, and definitely is a long road, but something that needs to be done.
The PS3 uses software emulation. The PS2's IO processor was basically a PSX as I remember, and they were able to leverage it to run old games.
Since they're using software emulation now, they're in for the same issues that the 360 has. I don't think the issue to the consumers will be how many games work, but which games work. Few people will care if Madden '99 runs on the PS3, but they might be upset if their recently bought FF XII wouldn't.
I dunno, if they can take chicken genes and work some voodoo with a bison embryo and create real buffalo wings, I'm on board.
I don't have a hypothetical kid. I have a real kid. And as a parent I know it's my responsibility to be aware of when my son is doing stupid which could harm him. It's not a lack of trust, it's a realization that kids do things that are dumb regardless of how responsible they or their parents think they are. I know that when I was a teen I did things I should not have, and would have been better off avoiding. I also remember thinking that I was much more responsible and mature than my peers. I now know that I didn't have a clue, and that my parents were right the vast majority of the time.
/.rs reading this will disagree... I probably would have, had /. been available via gopher.
What teens don't realize is their situation is hardly unique. One of the things you start to realize as you mature is that you and your parents aren't so different. My parents grew up in the 40's & 50's, I grew up in the 80's and 90's. Even with that type of difference in age I realize now the same issues I faced, they had bee through 3 or 4 decades earlier. Parents do have good advice and insight to give their children, if they'll actually listen. Problem is, kids in every generation think they're the only ones with these particular issues or problems, and they're flat out wrong.
Teens want freedom. That's natural. But with freedoms come responsibility that most kids just aren't able to see the entire scope of. That's where parents come in and take some of that responsibility upon themselves to curb their childrens freedoms when neccessary. A parent should never at any point say, well, you're X age, I've done what I can, good luck. I still take advice from my old man. And appreciate it more now.
Of course teen
People who are so ferverent in their belief that there must be life outside earth, do so on the same principles that people who believe that life was created by a god do so. There are no facts to support either, so that person relies on faith, or what he sees as evidence that points to his desired conclusion.
The person who believes that life exists elsewhere without proof will without a doubt, be sure that his belief is more rational, but is that the case? Neither idea is supported by evidence, and to believe without a doubt that either is truth, takes a leap of faith.
I don't fault either person for their beliefs. I do fault both when they scoff at each other for having equally fantastic beliefs, or for being assured that either idea rules out the other. Being so closed minded that you are willing to dismiss any possibility no matter how likely or unlikely does no good when the answer is still unknown.
I have to think that it is a likely possibility that there is life elsewhere in the universe. Whether there is intelligent life out there, seems to be less likely, that it's a superior civilization able to travel across space yet less likely. Adding in the idea that somehow that this alien race has evolved above all the evils that plague mankind, you've created a utopia... A christian might call this Heaven.
If a person is willing to take all these leaps, how can they look at someone who believes that there is an extraordiary being that exists somehow outside the observed laws of our universe, and call that person crazy?
I'm not willing to eliminate any possibility, when we truely know so little. Just as confusing as to how there could be a 'god', is how the material to create the universe got to be. It's just as perplexing that there was inanimate material that just 'was' as there is a being who 'was'.
I'm close to going with Nintendo now... Not quite sold yet.
Before there was much information on the Wii/Revolution, I was planning on buying a 360 after the first price drop, which I expect about the time the two new consoles hit the shelves. Now Nintendo has my attention, and if they can produce some good titles at launch they're in the running. I might even consider both consoles, with decent price points.
Sony's got their hands full. They've got a console that potentially will cost more than their competitors combined, and not really outshining either of them in the areas that each console interests me the most in. The area where Sony has an advantage to me, titles, seems to be slipping as well. Xbox will have GTA first this time around, and some nice exclusive titles of their own.
If that wasn't prohibited in the proposal, you might have a valid point.
Take a look at the proposal. It addresses a lot of current loopholes where your information can currently be abused, and allows for you to provide "knowing, informed, and voluntary consent" in the acceptable uses and disclosures for your personal information. It requires that you approve each use individually, and sets out that the IRS will provide substantial direction in the format that the consent will be given for both paper and electronic transactions.
But hey, uninformed knee-jerk reactions is what this site is all about. Good job with that!
The proposed rules, which would become effective 30 days after a final version is published, would require a tax preparer to obtain written consent before selling tax information.
So, I don't see a problem. If for some reason, say free preparation, someone wants to give away this information, isn't that their choice? As long as I have the ability to say no to this, I don't see a problem.
Personal information is a commodity today. If you want to sell it, you should have that right. If you want to keep it private you should have a choice to do that as well.
If they were taking ICT out of the players, I might agree.
They aren't.
They are leaving the capability there, and offering only the promise that the first Sony movies released will not use it. Another studio or Sony after a change of heart can and will use it.
Take it out of the damn player. There's no reason for it to exist unless they plan to use it.
It'd be nice is Venkman was updated for 1.5. I loved the thing, but left it behind when I upgraded.
On a related note, Eclipse has the Ajax Tools Framework proposal that looks to be very promising for developers. I currently use Eclipse and the WTP for JSP/Struts development, and its excellent, but debugging javascript is still a pain.
You're simply wrong. Biodiesel is a perfectly viable fuel, in fact, it's more viable than any other option currently available. It is problematic that people associate conventional farming with being the only way to produce biodiesel.
First we have to get beyond the idea that farming for food is the same as farming for fuel. One major difference is that fuel farming does not require plants that we are currently commercialy growing, and any concerns over the effects of genetically modified plants on humans can be easily ignored.
Take for instance algae farming. We can grow algae in waste water, or in salt water. It's not a current commercial crop, and would not use any land that is currently being farmed for food. There are types of algea that have extremely high oil content, making them ideal for biodiesel production.
The answer is to use a variety of conventional and unconventional sources of plants that can provide oils to be made into fuel. Responsible farming eliminates any issues with soil depletion, and genetically modified crops help increase output without increasing the area needed to grow them.
Plants are much more efficent at converting solar energy into storable energy than any machine that we're even close to building is. Until someone finds a way to produce hydrogen effeciently from electrolysis using renewable energy sources, which I don't see happening in this century, if we want to replace our dependence on fossil fuels we will be farming for fuel. Finding alternative methods and crops is essential, and we have to look beyond repurposing soybeans or rapeseed grown for food products today.
He's probably going to go over his allowance this month.
But we know everything now. The people who made those previous predictions were simply uninformed. Now that we have all the information, we can make these predictions.
It's fearmongering. Refined product futures have been steadily declining, and cutting into profits. Some people are starting to wonder why if HU is trading at 1.38 on the NYMEX they're paying an extra buck for it at the pump. Since the end of January HUJ6, April 2006 Unleaded, has dropped nearly $.50 a gallon. A warm winter has reduced need for fuel for heating in the US, and speculation that both OPEC and Non-OPEC countries will be increasing production in the next year have helped this happen... So you get articles like this which help justify the gouging that is occurring.
The real facts are, we keep finding more supplies of oil, conventional and unconventional, and technology to obtain it is steadily improving. A true crisis is very far off. Everyone in the supply chain enjoys a nice windfall when a crisis, either real or percieved occurs. Look at the record profits recorded last year. I don't know what other buisiness can benifit when significant portions of its infrastructure are either lost or shutdown.
It's ironic that these companies can so easily use those that claim to be their opponents to their advantage. This type of fearmongering only helps to increase their profits.
But, I think we can all agree that fossil fuels are a finite resource, if we keep burning them we'll run out. There are better sources of energy we can leverage. But, these need to become economically feasable. Hybrid autos are not the answer, some of the technology in them is good, but for the most part they're a feel-good solution, not an actual solution. H2 is a potential solution, but the most feasable methods of obtaining H2 is still from products that are oil based. Until we can overcome that, we're still tied to fossil fuels.
What I think is our best option today is biodiesel. It's got an excellent BTU/Volume ratio, easily distributable, and potentially cheap. The most interesting suggestion on production is using huge algae farms in the southwestern US which would be fed by salt water from the pacific.
It also doesn't take the automobile technology we currently have and scrap it. Both Americans and Europeans have a very romantic attachment to the way cars work. While rethinking the entire concept of automobile engineering might produce more effieceint vehicles, it is more difficult to sell the concepts to the public, and to redesign factories to build vehicles on an entirely different platform than what we do today.
Diesel engines also make more sense in large passenger vehicles... I'm the owner of a mid-size SUV, and would gladly welcome the additional torque and general economy that a diesel would provide. Unfortunately it's not an option in my brand of choice today.
That's an incorrect assumption. As a current XBox owner, I'm more interested in the XBox 360, but am waiting to see if Sony can really swing me. I'm also still content with my XBox, and not really interested in shelling out $4-500 for a new console today.
So, I am happy to wait, see if Sony can produce a system that I like better than the 360, and watch the price wars begin.
What does Sony need to do to sway me? They have to have an online component that can compete with XBox Live. A hodge-podge some games use this, some use that, type of thing won't cut it. I don't think graphically there will be a significant difference between the two consoles, and Sony hasn't had an exclusive title that has interested me since I've owned an XBox. And when it comes to amounts of evil, I personally don't see a difference.
I think there's a lot of people who are waiting not only to see what Sony will have, but for the prices to drop.
Well, your thoughts are valid, the /. post and the linked article explain nothing about the Sober worm...
/. had, I'd be more inclined to think that it coincided with Marilyn Manson's birthday. But the virus/worm is actually well known for spreading neo-nazi propaganda.
If you go here you will find that the Sober worm directs people to neo-nazi websites, and sends emails with subjects like "Dresden Bombing Is To Be Regretted Enormously" and "60 Years of Freedom: Who's Celebrating?"
Given just what
Have you ever paid data fees with Cingular? Their basic plan is 1MB of transfer a month. You go over, and it's .01 a KB. 10 bucks a MB, which sucks. You can upgrade to a 5MB plan, but still get dinged 10 bucks a MB over. If we were talking text only, this might not be a bad deal, but when you consider these phones display images and animated images, you could be looking at a 50-100K animated radar image or something. You can blow by 5MB quickly.
With Verizon, I pay one fee a month, and am charged by airtime. Their data network is faster than Cingular, and works more places in my area. Cingular's network in the midwest is pathetic. And EDGE is sloooow.
While I like Cingular's phones quite a bit, the V3 RAZR is a great phone, their network is bad where I am, and SIM cards are very nice (If the phone is unlocked, none of my Cingular phones were). Right now there isn't a better phone I've found than the e815, even if it is crippled by default. Great reception, on a better network, and pretty decent features.
It will be a long time until GSM gains a foothold in the middle of the US. There are so many dead spots, and I'm not seeing towers go up very fast. CDMA in the meantime is the best choice for this area.
Yeah, and the stuff in "Day After Tomorrow" could probably happen as well.
Does the word 'probably' mean 'not' in your language? You appear to have the two confused.
If you seriously believe this, you definately haven't looked at any facts, and rely solely on what people tell you.