All OS's tend to have a "mute" option on audio out... so why would you reach around for speaker wires.
Because I've been using (and programming) computers long enough to know that software sucks. If you absolutely need something to work, no matter what, don't do it with software. If you absolutely don't want to hear sound from your speakers--unplug them.
As for the part about wanting to listen to music, I'd suggest that killing off plugins will still solve most of the problem. And for mp3's, a standalone mp3 player is nice.
I run with my speakers (including that stupid internal one) disconnected all the time, unless there's something I want to hear. That solves about 99% of the problem. Don't install Flash plugins--that's an additional help.
This must mean you aren't able to write legible Perl code.
Not necessarily. It might mean that he's sick and tired of debugging the avalanche of horrid Perl that's already out there. (I know I am.)
Perl has been making complicated things simple for more than a decade.
Perl was definitely an improvement over what came before it. It doesn't follow, though that there aren't languages that are now definitely an improvement over it.
If you don't know how to write clean code, then your Python will also suck.
True, by tautology.
translation: LA LA LA LA, LA LA LA LA
on
Demise of C++?
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· Score: 2, Insightful
:-)
C++ is kind of a monster of a language (almost as bad as Perl), but it is one of the few I'd choose for the niche where speed/space really count. Unfortunately for C++, there are very few programs for which this is the appropriate niche. Most of the C++ that crosses my desk should have been written in an appropriate scripting language (insert your favorite, Python's currently mine). I even heard a tale of someone writing a "makefile" in C++ (gawd). These mistakes cost a lot of time and money.
My biggest problem with C++ is the apparent lack of a decent conforming compiler (preferably with useful diagnostics). Every few years I check and it seems like they're nearly there...
For the list, see here. Check the rightmost column for percentage given:
http://www.businessweek.com/pdfs/2004/0448_philan. pdf
Even the metric used here leaves a lot to be desired. A better one would be "How much did you give of what you have left after expenses for a basic, middle-class existence?" By that metric, I'm not sure whether Gates would even be in the upper 50% of Americans.
Gates siphoned off hundreds of billions of dollars that might have gone to better uses, and dramatically altered the technological landscape in ways that many would consider to be bad. It's certainly not obvious that he's not done a lot of evil--though neither is it clear that he has.
As the other replies point out, Wikimedia certainly needs the money. I contributed money to Wikimedia, as well as Doctors without Borders (and several similar organizations) this year. The real question in my mind is: Which of these organizations will contribute most to the welfare of humanity in the long run? As with the stock market, since I don't know the answer, I diversify to get the best results under uncertainty.
Now, if they could just do this for airplane seating. Every time I cram into one of those godawfully uncomfortable things, I think, for the 50 (?) cubic feet I'm getting, why can't I lie down in it? (Sort of like in The Fifth Element.) That'd be way more comfortable.
"Why should we expect that any new miracle cure offered by the pharmaceutical industry will offer us a simple, side-effect-free solution to over-eating?" - why shouldn't it?
Well, for starters, because science-wise we hardly know anything about how the body works. A lot of current pills are on the order of dragging a screwdriver around on your motherboard to see what makes your computer behave better. Very, very crude. And probably with lots of side-effects, most of which may be too subtle for us to notice.
One thing we do know pretty well is the diet we've adapted to via evolution. Intuitively, returning to a similar diet should probably solve a lot of health problems.
This Vatican statement notwithstanding, the Catholic church has taken a number of anti-science stands as well. Here in Missouri, they're doing a full press against stem cell research.
(And, IIRC, a number of bishops told their congregations that it was their moral duty to vote for George Bush over John Kerry wholly on the basis that Kerry is not pro-life, regardless of their respective positions on all other topics.)
I think it's more useful to look at the divide between liberalism and fundamentalism than between Catholic and Protestant.
I used to constantly have to tell the management at our local schlock-o-rama (AMC Cinemas) that one or more of their audio tracks were turned off. As far as I can tell, I'm the only one that ever notices, in the theaters that I'm in. Based on this, I suspect that 80-99% of viewers are not going to recognize any subtle degradation whatsoever.
(I almost never go to the theaters anymore, because of this and the MPAA's bad attitude.)
Actually, it occurs to me that due to Sony's (et al) actions, buying legit CDs is no longer a safe or reasonable thing to do. So I'd strike (b) from your list, and just stick with downloads (open formats only, for safety) and watching acts live.
In a general way I agree with you, and I would definitely agree that knowing the principles of security are much more important than knowing details about particular tools.
That said, in the particular case of ssh and telnet, you'd really have to wonder what kind of rock a candidate had been living under for the last decade not to have a basic familiarity with the two. I'd definitely probe deeply if a candidate had this deficit.
As another American (not to mention North American and citizen of the USA), let me thank you for perpetuating the stereotype of Americans as ignorant and mean-spirited. If other countries decide, for whatever reason, that they'd like to use different root servers, there's nothing we can do about it. What we should do about it is to listen to their concerns and try to accommodate them, rather than allowing the Internet to fracture.
Speaking as a resident, let me give you an example of what passes for "sophisticated". For several years, after people complained about tax forms being sent out with their SSN's on them, they started encrypting them. How? Using a substitution cipher (e.g., 4 for 1, 7 for 2, etc.) Now that's sophisticated...
Re:Gravy Train Over--Time to Get Real
on
The H-1B Swindle
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· Score: 1
I don't think many people living in NYC earning 10K would consider themselves lucky, while I bet a lot of people earning less than half of that in some countries would consider themselves royalty.
Yes, I agree. And this is one of the pressures that will cause NYC jobs to flow to those countries. When enough jobs have moved, the costs of living will equalize.
(I'm not saying that this is good, just that it is inevitable, and that we should prepare ourselves.)
Slashdot Mirror
As for the part about wanting to listen to music, I'd suggest that killing off plugins will still solve most of the problem. And for mp3's, a standalone mp3 player is nice.
I run with my speakers (including that stupid internal one) disconnected all the time, unless there's something I want to hear. That solves about 99% of the problem. Don't install Flash plugins--that's an additional help.
- Gaming (gambling) -- legal
- Gaming (video) -- illegal
Ha ha!Not necessarily. It might mean that he's sick and tired of debugging the avalanche of horrid Perl that's already out there. (I know I am.)
Perl has been making complicated things simple for more than a decade.
Perl was definitely an improvement over what came before it. It doesn't follow, though that there aren't languages that are now definitely an improvement over it.
If you don't know how to write clean code, then your Python will also suck.
True, by tautology.
C++ is kind of a monster of a language (almost as bad as Perl), but it is one of the few I'd choose for the niche where speed/space really count. Unfortunately for C++, there are very few programs for which this is the appropriate niche. Most of the C++ that crosses my desk should have been written in an appropriate scripting language (insert your favorite, Python's currently mine). I even heard a tale of someone writing a "makefile" in C++ (gawd). These mistakes cost a lot of time and money.
My biggest problem with C++ is the apparent lack of a decent conforming compiler (preferably with useful diagnostics). Every few years I check and it seems like they're nearly there...
For the list, see here. Check the rightmost column for percentage given: http://www.businessweek.com/pdfs/2004/0448_philan. pdf
Even the metric used here leaves a lot to be desired. A better one would be "How much did you give of what you have left after expenses for a basic, middle-class existence?" By that metric, I'm not sure whether Gates would even be in the upper 50% of Americans.
Gates siphoned off hundreds of billions of dollars that might have gone to better uses, and dramatically altered the technological landscape in ways that many would consider to be bad. It's certainly not obvious that he's not done a lot of evil--though neither is it clear that he has.
As the other replies point out, Wikimedia certainly needs the money. I contributed money to Wikimedia, as well as Doctors without Borders (and several similar organizations) this year. The real question in my mind is: Which of these organizations will contribute most to the welfare of humanity in the long run? As with the stock market, since I don't know the answer, I diversify to get the best results under uncertainty.
Now, if they could just do this for airplane seating. Every time I cram into one of those godawfully uncomfortable things, I think, for the 50 (?) cubic feet I'm getting, why can't I lie down in it? (Sort of like in The Fifth Element.) That'd be way more comfortable.
Well, for starters, because science-wise we hardly know anything about how the body works. A lot of current pills are on the order of dragging a screwdriver around on your motherboard to see what makes your computer behave better. Very, very crude. And probably with lots of side-effects, most of which may be too subtle for us to notice.
One thing we do know pretty well is the diet we've adapted to via evolution. Intuitively, returning to a similar diet should probably solve a lot of health problems.
Mike
I'm not a biologist, but I suspect the answer is that these are two fairly unrelated effects, in two different metabolic pathways.
Talk about your garbage! No Earth Wind and Fire, no Dire Straits, no Stevie Wonder, no Yes--no wonder they're not selling...
They probabaly just copied off of someone else's paper...
I dunno, but if I opened someone's computer and it wasn't filled with dust bunnies, I'd think that was pretty fucking suspicious...
Must be this "reversible computing" I keep hearing about...
(And, IIRC, a number of bishops told their congregations that it was their moral duty to vote for George Bush over John Kerry wholly on the basis that Kerry is not pro-life, regardless of their respective positions on all other topics.)
I think it's more useful to look at the divide between liberalism and fundamentalism than between Catholic and Protestant.
(I almost never go to the theaters anymore, because of this and the MPAA's bad attitude.)
Actually, it occurs to me that due to Sony's (et al) actions, buying legit CDs is no longer a safe or reasonable thing to do. So I'd strike (b) from your list, and just stick with downloads (open formats only, for safety) and watching acts live.
Mike
That said, in the particular case of ssh and telnet, you'd really have to wonder what kind of rock a candidate had been living under for the last decade not to have a basic familiarity with the two. I'd definitely probe deeply if a candidate had this deficit.
Mike
As another American (not to mention North American and citizen of the USA), let me thank you for perpetuating the stereotype of Americans as ignorant and mean-spirited. If other countries decide, for whatever reason, that they'd like to use different root servers, there's nothing we can do about it. What we should do about it is to listen to their concerns and try to accommodate them, rather than allowing the Internet to fracture.
Speaking as a resident, let me give you an example of what passes for "sophisticated". For several years, after people complained about tax forms being sent out with their SSN's on them, they started encrypting them. How? Using a substitution cipher (e.g., 4 for 1, 7 for 2, etc.) Now that's sophisticated...
Yes, I agree. And this is one of the pressures that will cause NYC jobs to flow to those countries. When enough jobs have moved, the costs of living will equalize.
(I'm not saying that this is good, just that it is inevitable, and that we should prepare ourselves.)