Your comments remind me of the long term data storage efforts to prevent another loss like Alexandria. When I was single, I would have sacrificed myself to try and help save knowledge. With a wife (and eventually children), I am not willing to give up any edge. It may seem counterintuitive, but I believe that type of emotional response is a survival trait that benefits survival of human knowledge, since it requires a human around to know it. (Long term records to be discovered by non-human life is a different story).
Besides, if I save my wife, the world gets a quantum chemist with teaching experience. Plus it's in a pretty package. Fall of year twelve we open the first university back up.;)
I do wonder how many people have the skill set to survive. I know how to build a timber frame house, field dress and smoke an animal, understand basic sanitation issues (how far to build your outhouse from your water supply), etc. Some of it is from reenactment, some is interest in early tech, some from Scouting, most out of curiosity. But I have no idea if I could survive; my bugout kit is aimed at a disaster where modern society survives and I won't need a two man saw or years worth of ammo. Regional natural disasters, basically.
I do assume that even in a mild emergency a USB key would be useless. Heck, the Florida storm shelters are pretty much the best case emergency situation and a USB key is pointless while there. A good marine ziplock bag (or just a freezer bag) stuffed with some documents and tucked into a small bag you carry with you is a hell of a lot more useful. Keep them stored at all times in a waterproof bag and you might get lucky and avoid having them turned to pulp when the fire department floods your house to put out the fire in the next room over. Mine are in a freezer bag in the file cabinet I keep my records in. Need to leave? Grab the bag out of the folder.
If your house burns down you have aid workers helping you replace your documents, and I don't see that having them scanned on a USB key is any better than photocopying them and handing or mailing them to a trusted friend or family. And if you don't have someone you can trust like that, that's step one, way before you get a USB key.
I made the CFO of a major insurance company chuckle when I pointed out during the disaster recovery committee meeting, as the backup and data storage company made their pitch (involving their "nuclear blast proof vaults"), that when the competition started lobbing warheads at us I would tender my resignation.
I would say that he's much more of a pure scientist -- he has repeatedly said that a single benchmark is worth dozens of theoretical whitepapers (I'm likely messing up the quote; the point is, benchmarks are his thing). He seems to trust experimenting with different methods, and then using banchmarks as close to real-world tests as possible to provide evidence supporting one of the methods. Major parts of the kernel (most famously the memory mangement system) have been written that way. It's very close to the "forking and competition is good" theory with a small panel (or just Linus himself) deciding who wins the competition rather than the general public (who are more prone to pick the fork with better marketing or an easier installer).
Callisto Words: (C) 1997 by Tom Smith Music: "Calypso" by John Denver
To surf on the net, or to surf TV channels,
Over and over, there's been one request:
It's Xena we want, the Warrior Princess,
At least Gabrielle, and we want them undressed.
Now, I have to admit, they're not unattractive,
But if we're talking fantasies, I want the best.
Aye, Callisto, I think that I love you,
You psycho bitch leather queen killer bombshell.
Hai, Callisto, I sing to your spirit,
I'm doing it now, 'cause you're going to Hell.
I've noticed a trend in the Xena fan-fiction:
Our heroes are lesbians, friendly and more...
Meanwhile, on the show, they're all into bondage,
Shackles, and leather, and sex on the floor.
If these two trends combine, we'll get... Mistress Callisto...
Enslaving our heroes... ... the ratings will soar!
Aye, Callisto, put Xena in irons,
I hope you take Gabrielle over your knee,
But, why, Callisto, does Xena obsess you?
You do it to her, but I wish it was me.
Aye, Callisto, I think that I love you,
You psycho bitch leather queen killer bombshell.
Hai, Callisto, I sing to your spirit,
An hour with you would be worth any Hell.
Ai-yi-yi!
I-I-olous -- wait, that's the other show...
Ai-yi-yi!
Whoh-ooh-ohh...
I generally build it like this (this is a very trivial example, but you get the idea):
find . -type f |grep '.thumb.gif'
Okay, then I can eyeball the result and check it. Pipe it to less if necessary. Then up arrow and append:
find . -type f |grep '.thumb.gif' | while read FN ; do echo "$FN"... ; rm "$FN" ; convert -geometry 200 "$( echo "$FN" | sed 's/.thumb//' )" "$FN" ; done
I make no claim that this is better, it's just what rolls off my fingertips when working on mass groups of files. One nice thing is that you can replace find with ls or cat "listoffiles.txt" and it works the same. Or you can use a list of URLs or whatever and process them all -- the method works well in a general use rather than just on find.
Right. All grants and scholarships in Europe and the Americas should go to McDonalds gift certificates! Excellent idea! I mean, screw education -- just feed them and they can grow up and... uhhh... work in the McDonalds.
A parent with a decent job and the tools to make a living (i.e., education) can feed their kids. This is aimed at feeding the next generation of children. Get it?
Not be available to individuals. This is a response to a request for a computer for third world countries and will likely be heavily subsidized and bought in large quantities by government/quasi-government (i.e., UN) contract.
This "won't be available" in the same way that a new air to air missile or MASH portable surgery unit won't be available -- you have to be the right type of group and lay out a good chunk of change to buy many of them at once. "Won't be available" does not, in this case, mean "won't exist". It's more along the lines of "if you have to ask, you can't get one".
It is preliminary - MIT hasn't won the contract... but it is an interesting answer to the request.
I used a 400Mhz Compaq laptop as my primary machine up until about a year ago. Worked fine with KDE running on a unaltered SUSE install (i.e., no system level tweaking).
I would assume that the town in Alberta was named after the forge god of myth, not the fictional alien homeworld and the current intelligent biped inhabitants. Especially since it was founded in the 1910s, IIRC. It does amuse me that their official town homepage has an LCARS interface... or it did the last time I visited, although I can't find the link right now.
Assuming that you're a robot with sufficient power reserves, that's pretty much the way it works. Especially if you're only planning on going across during good weather with those early models and slowly make them more rugged.
Most robot submersibles start their testing in a pool. Then they chuck 'em in an ocean.
I wrote a long reply, but I think it may have missed your point. It's unclear to me what you are saying... how does this relate to my ability to dictate what you produce?
Free to demand, but not to dictate. In other words, I can bitch, whine, wheedle, boycott, blog, get huffy and even present a logical argument about what you should do, but you are free to ignore me. I have no right to dictate your actions, merely to make demands which you can choose to ignore.
And if you feel otherwise, I dictate that you agree.
You snipped the argument out of the comment, quoted it and asked "where's the argument?".
I am beginning to feel certain that you are just being a troll and jerking me around, but I'll state it one last time: If you create something, I don't have the right to dictate to you how to change it. Do you understand? Otherwise, I can whip up a list of things I want you to make and I expect them to be available pronto.
::Somehow you missed my point and called me stupid for something I never said.
:No, I called you stupid for what you did say. Some guy says "you should not be able to delete your mail" and I tell me he's not supposed to dictate what I want. And you start talking about Google doing what they want.
What I was objecting to was his demanding that the company do what he says. Again, I will stand by the following:
::A customer does not have the right to dictate the terms of service or define what the product will consist of.
:Why do you think that?
Because it is true. That's what my problem with the original message was. Let's say you start up a company, say you sell a really good portable music player. It's quite popular, but you have chosen not to support WMA for personal reasons. I'm sure that a good chunk of people would dislike this. Some might even feel that they have the "right" to "demand" it. But they don't. They have the right to go elsewhere and buy a different player, but you, as the company's owner, don't have to bow down to their demands. They have no right to dictate how to build your product. They only have the choice to buy it or not.
Good Ghod! 60 hours is a month and a half of full time work! I really hope you did that as a hobby and really enjoyed building it because there was certainly no economic reason to do so. I don't think I spend enough time watching television to make it worth it to give up that much of my life.
I'm not sure that you meant to respond to me, but I'll assume so. Somehow you missed my point and called me stupid for something I never said. I said that they don't have to listen to anybody (well, specifically I said they don't have to do what others demand), which is a very different thing than "should listen" and doesn't address any particular audience. A customer does not have the right to dictate the terms of service or define what the product will consist of. The company can choose to listen, might even charge for that... or pay for the opinions. I never mentioned "should", only that they don't have to.
But since you mentioned "should" and "majority"...
I disagree. There is a long and rich history of companies succeeding specifically because they did not listen to the majority and forged their own path, sometimes defining an industry in doing so. Several of them did so by simplifying and removing options. How do you focus most modern cameras? You don't: you point and shoot, and it takes care of it for you. How do you fine tune in to a station on a modern radio? You don't: you turn the knob and it jumps to every.1,.3,.5,.7 and.9 frequency, skipping the unused ones. How do you delete an email message? You don't: you trash it and then it's there in case you need to untrash it later.
With advances in filesystems and the growth of storage space, this could eventually (and likely will) come to your desktop: the concept of overwriting a file or accidently deleting something will be nonsense... just rewind your computer to a week ago and grab a copy of the older version. The idea of persistent storage with everything you've ever done being available makes a heck of a lot of sense, and Google may be leading the pack of something really pervasive and groundbreaking that we all take for granted a decade from now.
They just need to not listen to the people who call it stupid because it's different.
Of course they do. It's their site, and you're using it. I decide what goes on my site, what features users have and don't have, and you get the same for any sites that you put up. You're acting like an idiot; bitching because something somebody offers for free isn't to your liking. Complaining about lack of features is fine, but it isn't some kind of oppression being committed upon your rights.
I can deal with Google. It's Wills Wing that I can't stand, and I'm sure the author agrees with me. I can't stand that I have to hang glide everywhere now -- ever since they started making hang gliders and every other form of transportation ceased to exist. At least when Google forced us all to use GMail as the only form of communication people stopped being able to use cell phones in movie theaters.
Actually, the author is right. Damn Google's eyes for forcing us to use GMail. I had just started to become fluent in blackletter calligraphy.
I don't buy it. My dad has old reel to reel tapes of him performing half a century ago. I can take them to a variety of companies that specialize in transfer. Same goes for 8mm family film reels, VHS tapes, old records, there are even companies that transfer 8-tracks and radio carts. Ditto for 5 1/4" and even 8" disks in a wide variety of formats (I saw an ad for 8" data recovery a year or so ago). For some formats, it's not cheap, but heck -- there are still companies that recover punch card data!
When they see the CD, their first thought will be along the lines of when I discovered my Dad's reel to reel spools. Their second thought will be "Hunh... we should Google somebody who can transfer this to the whiz bang tech of today". Me? I had to call around. It will be easier for them.
Slashdot Mirror
Besides, if I save my wife, the world gets a quantum chemist with teaching experience. Plus it's in a pretty package. Fall of year twelve we open the first university back up. ;)
--
Evan
I do assume that even in a mild emergency a USB key would be useless. Heck, the Florida storm shelters are pretty much the best case emergency situation and a USB key is pointless while there. A good marine ziplock bag (or just a freezer bag) stuffed with some documents and tucked into a small bag you carry with you is a hell of a lot more useful. Keep them stored at all times in a waterproof bag and you might get lucky and avoid having them turned to pulp when the fire department floods your house to put out the fire in the next room over. Mine are in a freezer bag in the file cabinet I keep my records in. Need to leave? Grab the bag out of the folder.
If your house burns down you have aid workers helping you replace your documents, and I don't see that having them scanned on a USB key is any better than photocopying them and handing or mailing them to a trusted friend or family. And if you don't have someone you can trust like that, that's step one, way before you get a USB key.
--
Evan
--
Evan
--
Evan
Words: (C) 1997 by Tom Smith
Music: "Calypso" by John Denver
To surf on the net, or to surf TV channels,
Over and over, there's been one request:
It's Xena we want, the Warrior Princess,
At least Gabrielle, and we want them undressed.
Now, I have to admit, they're not unattractive,
But if we're talking fantasies, I want the best.
Aye, Callisto, I think that I love you,
You psycho bitch leather queen killer bombshell.
Hai, Callisto, I sing to your spirit,
I'm doing it now, 'cause you're going to Hell.
Ai-yi-yi!
Whoh-ooh-ohh...
Ai-yi-yi!
Whoh-ooh-ohh...
I've noticed a trend in the Xena fan-fiction:
Our heroes are lesbians, friendly and more...
Meanwhile, on the show, they're all into bondage,
Shackles, and leather, and sex on the floor.
If these two trends combine, we'll get... Mistress Callisto...
Enslaving our heroes...
Aye, Callisto, put Xena in irons,
I hope you take Gabrielle over your knee,
But, why, Callisto, does Xena obsess you?
You do it to her, but I wish it was me.
Aye, Callisto, I think that I love you,
You psycho bitch leather queen killer bombshell.
Hai, Callisto, I sing to your spirit,
An hour with you would be worth any Hell.
Ai-yi-yi!
I-I-olous -- wait, that's the other show...
Ai-yi-yi!
Whoh-ooh-ohh...
--
Evan
find . -type f |grep '.thumb.gif'
Okay, then I can eyeball the result and check it. Pipe it to less if necessary. Then up arrow and append:
find . -type f |grep '.thumb.gif' | while read FN ; do echo "$FN"... ; rm "$FN" ; convert -geometry 200 "$( echo "$FN" | sed 's/.thumb//' )" "$FN" ; done
I make no claim that this is better, it's just what rolls off my fingertips when working on mass groups of files. One nice thing is that you can replace find with ls or cat "listoffiles.txt" and it works the same. Or you can use a list of URLs or whatever and process them all -- the method works well in a general use rather than just on find.
--
Evan
--
Evan
A parent with a decent job and the tools to make a living (i.e., education) can feed their kids. This is aimed at feeding the next generation of children. Get it?
--
Evan
This "won't be available" in the same way that a new air to air missile or MASH portable surgery unit won't be available -- you have to be the right type of group and lay out a good chunk of change to buy many of them at once. "Won't be available" does not, in this case, mean "won't exist". It's more along the lines of "if you have to ask, you can't get one".
It is preliminary - MIT hasn't won the contract... but it is an interesting answer to the request.
--
Evan
--
Evan
--
Evan
--
Evan
Most robot submersibles start their testing in a pool. Then they chuck 'em in an ocean.
--
Evan
--
Evan
And if you feel otherwise, I dictate that you agree.
--
Evan
--
Evan
I am beginning to feel certain that you are just being a troll and jerking me around, but I'll state it one last time: If you create something, I don't have the right to dictate to you how to change it. Do you understand? Otherwise, I can whip up a list of things I want you to make and I expect them to be available pronto.
--
Evan
What I was objecting to was his demanding that the company do what he says. Again, I will stand by the following:
Because it is true. That's what my problem with the original message was. Let's say you start up a company, say you sell a really good portable music player. It's quite popular, but you have chosen not to support WMA for personal reasons. I'm sure that a good chunk of people would dislike this. Some might even feel that they have the "right" to "demand" it. But they don't. They have the right to go elsewhere and buy a different player, but you, as the company's owner, don't have to bow down to their demands. They have no right to dictate how to build your product. They only have the choice to buy it or not.
Same goes for Google and GMail.
--
Evan
--
Evan
--
Evan
But since you mentioned "should" and "majority"...
I disagree. There is a long and rich history of companies succeeding specifically because they did not listen to the majority and forged their own path, sometimes defining an industry in doing so. Several of them did so by simplifying and removing options. How do you focus most modern cameras? You don't: you point and shoot, and it takes care of it for you. How do you fine tune in to a station on a modern radio? You don't: you turn the knob and it jumps to every .1, .3, .5, .7 and .9 frequency, skipping the unused ones. How do you delete an email message? You don't: you trash it and then it's there in case you need to untrash it later.
With advances in filesystems and the growth of storage space, this could eventually (and likely will) come to your desktop: the concept of overwriting a file or accidently deleting something will be nonsense... just rewind your computer to a week ago and grab a copy of the older version. The idea of persistent storage with everything you've ever done being available makes a heck of a lot of sense, and Google may be leading the pack of something really pervasive and groundbreaking that we all take for granted a decade from now.
They just need to not listen to the people who call it stupid because it's different.
--
Evan
--
Evan
Actually, the author is right. Damn Google's eyes for forcing us to use GMail. I had just started to become fluent in blackletter calligraphy.
--
Evan
When they see the CD, their first thought will be along the lines of when I discovered my Dad's reel to reel spools. Their second thought will be "Hunh... we should Google somebody who can transfer this to the whiz bang tech of today". Me? I had to call around. It will be easier for them.
--
Evan
--
Evan