I could imagine the same sentiment being raised before cellphones made it to Africa in a big way. "The socioeconomics of the region are incompatible with widespread adoption of modern mobile technologies. They'll be too expensive to maintain and the village-bound populace doesn't have the need for such devices." Yeah, right.
Take Gates and Barrett's statements for what they are: Attempts to inspure FUD by the leaders of the two companies which have the most to lose should OLPC succeed. This must be an especially difficult issue for Gates, since his philanthropic and capitalistic motivations are in direct conflict.
Just because a new version of Windows is a 'must-have upgrade' doesn't mean it won't suck. It's more accurate to say that Windows Vista sucks less. (Hey, if it doesn't suck at all, the statement would still be true.)
I wonder if a democratic editorial policy would be less factually accurate than Wikipedia's model (democratic in this sense means truth via moderation).
How can you get an encyclopedic-quality entry on medieval weaponry without waiting for an expert on medieval weapons to come by? Do you really think we all have enough cultural knowledge to get by?
In this example the wisdom of crowds would probably result in an article that has more in common with the D&D Player's Handbook than historical fact. (Wait, you mean mages can use bladed weapons? Mod parent down!)
I'm interested in seeing how objective Digital Universe will be, considering Firmage's strong beliefs in alien intervention and that major innovations in microprocessor designs were actually gifts from intelligent and benign extraterrestrials.
"the top 10 albums sold 40% fewer copies than the top 10 albums the same week in 2004."
This statistic taken alone is meaningless. Depending what's happening along the rest of the curve it can mean that sales have slowed, or it can mean that people are buying a more diverse set of music.
Most of the problems listeners cite IRT the music industry center around labels hyperpromoting a few bands at the expense of thousands of others who get no airplay or in-store marketing. When the top 10 account for a smaller proportion of sales it means that the power curve is flattening a little and people are thinking a bit more for themselves instead of buying what big media tells them to.
And this is bad how?
Isn't this story 3 years old?
on
Deep in the Core
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
It looks like all the observations, measurements, analyses and even the 'press embargo' are over three years old. Are there any updates?
What if the point were declared in tersm of c, and the value of c were passed on as well? (eg ([3c,2c,4.8c],1) and if c were 0 then the point is on the origin but the miltipliers could still be used to derive a zero-magnatude vector perpendicular to the solution plane?
Yeah it breaks the rules, but then I proposed a riddle with a known solution. Do you know for certain that your modified question has a solution?
Easy: Return a null value for any point whose distance from the origin is less than the constant.:-)
Incidentally, the reasons I specified a cartesian space were for the existance of a pre-defined origin point and because the space is infinite. The solutions given don't work in a bounded space because there's no way to specify a plane whose closest approach to the origin is less than the constant's distance from the boundary of the space.
Mighty K says: I amend my answer, and believe that it can be done with one point. The plane would contain the point, and be perpendicular to the vector pointing from the origin to that point. Good puzzle, and deceptive!
Sjampoo replies: While i do believe it should be possible with just one point i dont think your solution is the correct one. You won't be able to describe planes that intersect the O-point (0,0,0). Maybe better luck next time;)
Frankir clarifies: Easy. Just define your function returning a plane shifted by some constant towards (0,0,0).
This is an interesting idea but I'm going to reject it for two reasons:
1. The question asks how many points, not real numbers. 2. (more importantly) If the slope of the plane and (X|Y|Z)-translation of the plane are both irrational numbers -- sqrt(2) and e for example -- there isn't a single rational number that can be passed to the function to specify this plane, hence not every plane can be specified by the function.
Setup: There exists a function that accepts N points specified in cartesian 3D space and deterministically returns a plane, such that each set of N point has one and only one possible result value, and every plane can be specified by this function, given a proper set of points.
Question 1: What is the minimum value of N? Question 2: In conventional language (ie not code or overly technical terminology) how does the function operate?
Hint: N is definitely less than 3, but if you were describing the function for N=3 one possible answer for Q2 would be "The function returns the unique plane which intersects all three points. When the three points are colinear or overlapping, the function returns False."
If you answer this question, please prefix "Answer" to the title of your [Reply] to avoid accidental spoilage. I'll post a link to the real answer in a day or two.
With the transmitters only a block or two away, you haven't got enough difference to work with.
Actually, it has to do with the clock accuracy, not the distance of the transmitters.
The spatial resolution of GPS has nothing to do with how far away the beacons are. Only the 'correctness' of the beacon position and the synchronicity of the timecodes matter. Of course atmospheric interference and signal bounce also come in to play, which is why more sources are better and why ground-based DGPS is more accurate than sat-only GPS.
Stating that there's a correlation does nothing to show that P2P decreases morality.
Assuming for a second that the study is accurate, isn't it even more likely that people who already have a propensity to shoplift simply are more likely to use P2P?
I think I'll come out with a study that says wearing bikinis makes you fit and sexy, since clearly most people who wear bikinis are also fit and sexy.
According to Cage the artistic value of 4'33" was in being a member of an unsuspecting audience that progresses from expectant silence to speculative chatter to full conversation.
This value can only really be achieved in a live setting, where the audience is expecting an orchestral piece and doesn't already know the nature of 4'33".
Strangely, this isn't that far off from the experience of reading rumor sites in the weeks leading up to Apple keynote speeches.
Or possibly "Man dies in the crash" at which point I'm wondering if it was a stock broker throwing himself out of a window or if there was a catastrophe I was unaware of.
Considering that the main cybersecurity (sorry) threats today are viruses and phishing attacks, how long might it be before super-high-volume email systems will be classified as munitions that require licensing and export restrictions?
Slashdot Mirror
Gates sez: "The last thing you want to do for a shared use computer is have it be something without a disk"
Bill does know that OLPC stands for One Lapop Per Child right? Where's the shared use there?
I could imagine the same sentiment being raised before cellphones made it to Africa in a big way. "The socioeconomics of the region are incompatible with widespread adoption of modern mobile technologies. They'll be too expensive to maintain and the village-bound populace doesn't have the need for such devices." Yeah, right.
Take Gates and Barrett's statements for what they are: Attempts to inspure FUD by the leaders of the two companies which have the most to lose should OLPC succeed. This must be an especially difficult issue for Gates, since his philanthropic and capitalistic motivations are in direct conflict.
The day astronomers discover an asteroid with oil reserves is the day the US diverts half its military budget to the 'peaceful exploration of space'.
Just because a new version of Windows is a 'must-have upgrade' doesn't mean it won't suck. It's more accurate to say that Windows Vista sucks less. (Hey, if it doesn't suck at all, the statement would still be true.)
I wish I could win a gold metal. Nowadays they only give out gold plastic.
I wonder if a democratic editorial policy would be less factually accurate than Wikipedia's model (democratic in this sense means truth via moderation).
How can you get an encyclopedic-quality entry on medieval weaponry without waiting for an expert on medieval weapons to come by? Do you really think we all have enough cultural knowledge to get by?
In this example the wisdom of crowds would probably result in an article that has more in common with the D&D Player's Handbook than historical fact. (Wait, you mean mages can use bladed weapons? Mod parent down!)
I'm interested in seeing how objective Digital Universe will be, considering Firmage's strong beliefs in alien intervention and that major innovations in microprocessor designs were actually gifts from intelligent and benign extraterrestrials.
"the top 10 albums sold 40% fewer copies than the top 10 albums the same week in 2004."
This statistic taken alone is meaningless. Depending what's happening along the rest of the curve it can mean that sales have slowed, or it can mean that people are buying a more diverse set of music.
Most of the problems listeners cite IRT the music industry center around labels hyperpromoting a few bands at the expense of thousands of others who get no airplay or in-store marketing. When the top 10 account for a smaller proportion of sales it means that the power curve is flattening a little and people are thinking a bit more for themselves instead of buying what big media tells them to.
And this is bad how?
It looks like all the observations, measurements, analyses and even the 'press embargo' are over three years old. Are there any updates?
Do you have a 1:1 solution then?
What if the point were declared in tersm of c, and the value of c were passed on as well? (eg ([3c,2c,4.8c],1) and if c were 0 then the point is on the origin but the miltipliers could still be used to derive a zero-magnatude vector perpendicular to the solution plane?
Yeah it breaks the rules, but then I proposed a riddle with a known solution. Do you know for certain that your modified question has a solution?
Easy: Return a null value for any point whose distance from the origin is less than the constant. :-)
Incidentally, the reasons I specified a cartesian space were for the existance of a pre-defined origin point and because the space is infinite. The solutions given don't work in a bounded space because there's no way to specify a plane whose closest approach to the origin is less than the constant's distance from the boundary of the space.
TFA: "ALONtm is virtually scratch resistant"
Really? Virtually resistant to scratches? Is that like saying WMDs in Iraq are a virtual probability?
Mighty K says: I amend my answer, and believe that it can be done with one point. The plane would contain the point, and be perpendicular to the vector pointing from the origin to that point. Good puzzle, and deceptive!
;)
Sjampoo replies: While i do believe it should be possible with just one point i dont think your solution is the correct one. You won't be able to describe planes that intersect the O-point (0,0,0). Maybe better luck next time
Frankir clarifies: Easy. Just define your function returning a plane shifted by some constant towards (0,0,0).
This is exactly correct. Nicely done, guys!
This is an interesting idea but I'm going to reject it for two reasons:
1. The question asks how many points, not real numbers.
2. (more importantly) If the slope of the plane and (X|Y|Z)-translation of the plane are both irrational numbers -- sqrt(2) and e for example -- there isn't a single rational number that can be passed to the function to specify this plane, hence not every plane can be specified by the function.
Setup: There exists a function that accepts N points specified in cartesian 3D space and deterministically returns a plane, such that each set of N point has one and only one possible result value, and every plane can be specified by this function, given a proper set of points.
Question 1: What is the minimum value of N?
Question 2: In conventional language (ie not code or overly technical terminology) how does the function operate?
Hint: N is definitely less than 3, but if you were describing the function for N=3 one possible answer for Q2 would be "The function returns the unique plane which intersects all three points. When the three points are colinear or overlapping, the function returns False."
If you answer this question, please prefix "Answer" to the title of your [Reply] to avoid accidental spoilage. I'll post a link to the real answer in a day or two.
The spatial resolution of GPS has nothing to do with how far away the beacons are. Only the 'correctness' of the beacon position and the synchronicity of the timecodes matter. Of course atmospheric interference and signal bounce also come in to play, which is why more sources are better and why ground-based DGPS is more accurate than sat-only GPS.
Stating that there's a correlation does nothing to show that P2P decreases morality.
Assuming for a second that the study is accurate, isn't it even more likely that people who already have a propensity to shoplift simply are more likely to use P2P?
I think I'll come out with a study that says wearing bikinis makes you fit and sexy, since clearly most people who wear bikinis are also fit and sexy.
There's a compelling response to the lawsuit posted on the official Google Weblog.
Whenever Microsoft has a major new thing, they tout their $100 million marketing budget. Whether it's the new MSN Search, Media Center PCs, a campaign to maintain interest in Win XP as OS X Tiger was released or Windows Longhorn Vista, Microsoft marketing is at the ready with the $100 million check to buy mindshare (except for MSN 8, back in 2002. They got a $300 million budget. Remember that campaign? Me either). The best part is that, as this Slashdot article can attest, just saying you're going to spend $100M is enough to start getting some free press, though maybe not as much press as the $1 billion Windows 95 campaign.
Oh, to be fair, Apple isn't much better.
According to Cage the artistic value of 4'33" was in being a member of an unsuspecting audience that progresses from expectant silence to speculative chatter to full conversation.
This value can only really be achieved in a live setting, where the audience is expecting an orchestral piece and doesn't already know the nature of 4'33".
Strangely, this isn't that far off from the experience of reading rumor sites in the weeks leading up to Apple keynote speeches.
Or possibly "Man dies in the crash" at which point I'm wondering if it was a stock broker throwing himself out of a window or if there was a catastrophe I was unaware of.
What's a fish ring?
Bill Would Let Police Monitor Email
I assume we're talking about Gates, right?
Considering that the main cybersecurity (sorry) threats today are viruses and phishing attacks, how long might it be before super-high-volume email systems will be classified as munitions that require licensing and export restrictions?
Imagine if Nigeria got the e-bomb...