Loot at his website:.nl That's dutch. And his nick "BeetjeBrak" is dutch too. In the netherlands they have the chips on the cards too (smart-card).
Apart from that, you're right. In Europe we're moving from the magnetic strip to the smart-card version. Yes, the smart-card-version is more secure than the magnetic version. However if I recall correctly, the SIM cards for GSM's were cracked some time ago, it just required an enourmous amount of effort. That's the same technology. However, VISA cards and the like are still magnetic. I'm eagerly awaiting the smart-card version of VISA cards, but I think the magnetic strip will last for a long time due to back-ward compatibility.
Apart from that, nice Ameri-bashing, which I enjoy to do as the next guy;-)
Seems I am indeed mistaken. However what should be noted is that the Schengen Treaty requires you to have a "European Identity Card" on you while travelling in the European Union. For some reason I just assumed they were standardized.
Good, they are not. However, I noticed a big similarity between those I saw: picture on the left, information on the right. That is perhaps not standardization, but it facilitates the work of people like policemen who can ask your ID card.
My honest opinion about the UK: they should never have joined the EU in the first place. They always make trouble.
They are standardized all over the European Union. They all look the same. Well, I've seen my brothers one (which is not Belgian anymore, I still am), and it is *exactly* the same. Oh, minor differences like language and stuff like that, but it's essentially the same.
I specifically tried to avoid mentioning that I'm European in my original post, to avoid getting marked as flamebait or something like that (Ameri-bashing isn't appreciated around these parts).
I honestly don't know much about your educational system. Heck, I couldn't even say what kind of degree I have in American standards. I'm just going to say that I'm pretty glad to live in the EU
Apart from that, I must fully agree that in my viewpoint "war on poverty and illiteracy" goes before any other war you can think of. Literacy is one of the bases of being able to inform yourself, an only the informed can be truly free. (And then you can to start bothering about terrorism and drugs - even tough, education should already get rid of much of that.).
Perhaps I should have said "read or write at all", right?
See, now that's a stylistic error, right? But then, I'm not a native english speaker. Does that excuse me?;-)
Be glad of this... I have seen families where the parents were not high-educated and where they didn't see the *use* of their kids to go to College/University. So be glad, very, very glad that they made that sacrifice for you.
No, it is not my case, both of my parents did go to University... Above that, I'm a spoiled brat. Do you know any kid that actually got a blank cheque from his dad to build a new "kick-ass" computer (that back in 1995)? Well that kid was me...
...because it's huge. However, this is what struck me most: " The National Adult Literacy Survey by the U.S. Department of Education estimates that up to 23% of the U.S. population struggles enough with literacy that they have difficulty completing everyday tasks ". Yes, that is not about the internet (and might be offtopic), it's about *literacy*. That's nearly one quarter of the population! That means if I meet 20 people, 5 of them will not be able to read or write correctly.
I find that absolutely scary for a civilised nation.
Well, if I have a bit more dough I'll probably buy myself a region-free DVD (they throw them at your head nowadays), but right now the PS2 does just fine. Especially I only own region 2 DVD's. By the way: the PS2 can be made region-free with just a CD that allows you to select the region.
While I bought a PS2 in the beginning of the year, I understand your logic completely. The reason I bought a PS2 was because I liked the PS2 and needed a DVD player, so instead of buying me a console (like the PS1) and a DVD, I just bought the PS2. (I have to admit it's a crappy DVD player but it does it's job)
The games however are a *whole* different story. I refuse to pay 60Euro per game. I'm not crazy. I just wait till they get into the Platinum Edition. Much cheaper, and only good games get there. So, let all the other ones pay 60Euro for a game, I'll stick to 20 or 25 Euro per game.
Uhm... How much memory has this system got? Honestly, two years ago (or was it three?) I bought an OEM P-III 800 with 128Meg RAM. (It was a deal I could get over work). Anyways, I ran Win2000 on it and it was slooooow. Very slow: games were unplayable (even older games like Halflife and Unreal). So, I just went out and bought some additional RAM. Problem solved! It now has 768Meg RAM and honestly, it works like a champ.
Also check if you don't have spyware and check for viruses. I have seen good systems crawling to a halt by both spyware and viruses.
Six years you say? Uhm, don't laugh...but it will most probably still work. I have AIM screenname from about 5 years ago and just recently I restarted to use it. (Short, just to kick someone's butt back on ICQ) So yes, it will work.
I don't use AIM much (read: only in specific cases) and prefer ICQ (I know, I know... ICQ is owned by AOL). I only use the AIM Express client anyway so I don't have to install their software.
Uhm... Some of us just want an SMP workstation, for the extra punch. I'm not going to pay permium for a server-class machine when I can get a motherboard and a case and assemble it myself (or let it assble by a small shop).
I myself have a Dual AMD Athlon MP 2400+ with a Tyan Tiger board. Works fine, really... It's just a bit, uhm, loud...
Oh, I'm far from a CPU specialist. However, I vaguely recall from my computer architecture classes that they do have full adders for FPU operations. Well, as every instruction it's coded in OpCode so it surely takes many cycles.
Let's say that I have 64bit.. Two times 32bit... *grin*;-) Just kidding.
Other PC's under my custody are a P-III 800 and a AMD K6-2/333. Both are really silent. These machines stand at my parents and I needed a x86 platform with some strength. I thought going the Dual way to have acceptable performance for the next 5 years (I don't like buying PC's every 2 years). I really underestimated the noise these things make.
I didn't want to wait for the Opteron. I don't think it will get cheap when it comes out. So, even if it comes out this year, it won't be affordable untile two or three years.
I also have a P166 running as NAT/firewall.... that one is virtually silent.:-)
I am indeed not American. Thanks for the link, I'll read it.
However, as I always say: you guys at least got to vote, the rest of the world just has to suffer of your choices (or well, in this case apparently "non-choice")
Uhm. Not wanting to be picky, but Americans voted the current administration in power, which means they represent the people. That what a democracy is all about.
At least that is what they told me at school...
Well, plenty of the humorous stuff in Duke Nukem 3D comes out of movies. This is just one of them. Oh, and watch the movie: it really is good.
This has nothing to do with advertisement, it's just a funny reference.
Admin passwords for workstations usually is the serial number on the machine. That's very effective, and someone who has no physical access to the computer will have a hard time to figure it out. It's not as if you can do a dictionary scan on a serial number...
Scruffy lawyers dont instil confidence - they NEED £500 shoes!
Sure they do, no doubt about that. But then I'd rather trust a SysAdmin that is unshaven wears a tshirt and short and you can smell from 10 meters away. Because, honestly: who would trust a SysAdmin in a suit that has a nice perfume on?
(Writing this myself at work while wearing a suit... Damn coporate policies..."
This shouldn't even be an issue. If you hold a Compsci degree your not an engineer, how this can be more obivious I don't know.
I have a CS degree and I fully agree with you.
Now some may say, "but comp sci is part of my schools engineering program"
It's kind of strange that you mention this, because Computer Science is part of the Maths factulty in many Universities. At least it was in mine. I know I'll get the mathematicians on my back by making this statement. No worries, I actually think that CS is the lowest form in Maths.... after all, we just need 0 and 1;-)
One of my favourite subjects at Univesirty was computability... no computer to be seen anywhere near *that* course. It's entirely theoretical, as many courses in CS are. While you learn to code in CS, the profs keeps stating that it's just a very small part of your study.
Same here... When I got my Computer Science degree about anybody asked me if I'm an engineer. No, I'm not. My degree says "Computer Science", do you see the word "Engineer" in it?
Software Developper is a good description of my actual work. I'll think I'll start using that one instead of Computer Scientist. It's not as if I'm doing any research, so Scientist probably isn't a good description for me.
On the other hand, in many languages the translation for "Computer Science" is something like "Informatique" (French), "Informatik" (German), "Informatica" (Dutch). These words go closer to what we do: working and processing information.
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Apart from that, you're right. In Europe we're moving from the magnetic strip to the smart-card version. Yes, the smart-card-version is more secure than the magnetic version. However if I recall correctly, the SIM cards for GSM's were cracked some time ago, it just required an enourmous amount of effort. That's the same technology.
However, VISA cards and the like are still magnetic. I'm eagerly awaiting the smart-card version of VISA cards, but I think the magnetic strip will last for a long time due to back-ward compatibility.
Apart from that, nice Ameri-bashing, which I enjoy to do as the next guy ;-)
Good, they are not. However, I noticed a big similarity between those I saw: picture on the left, information on the right. That is perhaps not standardization, but it facilitates the work of people like policemen who can ask your ID card.
My honest opinion about the UK: they should never have joined the EU in the first place. They always make trouble.
They are standardized all over the European Union. They all look the same. Well, I've seen my brothers one (which is not Belgian anymore, I still am), and it is *exactly* the same. Oh, minor differences like language and stuff like that, but it's essentially the same.
I honestly don't know much about your educational system. Heck, I couldn't even say what kind of degree I have in American standards. I'm just going to say that I'm pretty glad to live in the EU
Apart from that, I must fully agree that in my viewpoint "war on poverty and illiteracy" goes before any other war you can think of. Literacy is one of the bases of being able to inform yourself, an only the informed can be truly free. (And then you can to start bothering about terrorism and drugs - even tough, education should already get rid of much of that.).
Perhaps I should have said "read or write at all", right? ;-)
See, now that's a stylistic error, right? But then, I'm not a native english speaker. Does that excuse me?
Be glad of this... I have seen families where the parents were not high-educated and where they didn't see the *use* of their kids to go to College/University. So be glad, very, very glad that they made that sacrifice for you.
No, it is not my case, both of my parents did go to University... Above that, I'm a spoiled brat. Do you know any kid that actually got a blank cheque from his dad to build a new "kick-ass" computer (that back in 1995)? Well that kid was me...
However, this is what struck me most: " The National Adult Literacy Survey by the U.S. Department of Education estimates that up to 23% of the U.S. population struggles enough with literacy that they have difficulty completing everyday tasks ". Yes, that is not about the internet (and might be offtopic), it's about *literacy*. That's nearly one quarter of the population! That means if I meet 20 people, 5 of them will not be able to read or write correctly.
I find that absolutely scary for a civilised nation.
Well, if I have a bit more dough I'll probably buy myself a region-free DVD (they throw them at your head nowadays), but right now the PS2 does just fine. Especially I only own region 2 DVD's. By the way: the PS2 can be made region-free with just a CD that allows you to select the region.
The games however are a *whole* different story. I refuse to pay 60Euro per game. I'm not crazy. I just wait till they get into the Platinum Edition. Much cheaper, and only good games get there. So, let all the other ones pay 60Euro for a game, I'll stick to 20 or 25 Euro per game.
Also check if you don't have spyware and check for viruses. I have seen good systems crawling to a halt by both spyware and viruses.
Six years you say? Uhm, don't laugh...but it will most probably still work. I have AIM screenname from about 5 years ago and just recently I restarted to use it. (Short, just to kick someone's butt back on ICQ) So yes, it will work.
I don't use AIM much (read: only in specific cases) and prefer ICQ (I know, I know... ICQ is owned by AOL). I only use the AIM Express client anyway so I don't have to install their software.
Uhm... Some of us just want an SMP workstation, for the extra punch. I'm not going to pay permium for a server-class machine when I can get a motherboard and a case and assemble it myself (or let it assble by a small shop).
I myself have a Dual AMD Athlon MP 2400+ with a Tyan Tiger board. Works fine, really... It's just a bit, uhm, loud...
Let's say that I have 64bit.. Two times 32bit... *grin* ;-) Just kidding.
2) Most CPU's do IEEE floating point calculations in 80-bit, if you didn't know...
Other PC's under my custody are a P-III 800 and a AMD K6-2/333. Both are really silent. These machines stand at my parents and I needed a x86 platform with some strength. I thought going the Dual way to have acceptable performance for the next 5 years (I don't like buying PC's every 2 years). I really underestimated the noise these things make. :-)
I didn't want to wait for the Opteron. I don't think it will get cheap when it comes out. So, even if it comes out this year, it won't be affordable untile two or three years.
I also have a P166 running as NAT/firewall.... that one is virtually silent.
You should hear my Dual AMD 2400+MP. Hey, I'm probably even deaf by now ;-)
You do realise that what you are saying is extremely scary? I mean, essentially it was the "media" that chose your president? Ouch!
I am indeed not American. Thanks for the link, I'll read it.
However, as I always say: you guys at least got to vote, the rest of the world just has to suffer of your choices (or well, in this case apparently "non-choice")
Uhm. Not wanting to be picky, but Americans voted the current administration in power, which means they represent the people. That what a democracy is all about.
At least that is what they told me at school...
Well, plenty of the humorous stuff in Duke Nukem 3D comes out of movies. This is just one of them. Oh, and watch the movie: it really is good.
This has nothing to do with advertisement, it's just a funny reference.
Never seen (or read) The Shawshank Redemption, did you?
Admin passwords for workstations usually is the serial number on the machine. That's very effective, and someone who has no physical access to the computer will have a hard time to figure it out. It's not as if you can do a dictionary scan on a serial number...
Sure they do, no doubt about that. But then I'd rather trust a SysAdmin that is unshaven wears a tshirt and short and you can smell from 10 meters away. Because, honestly: who would trust a SysAdmin in a suit that has a nice perfume on?
(Writing this myself at work while wearing a suit... Damn coporate policies..."
I have a CS degree and I fully agree with you.
Now some may say, "but comp sci is part of my schools engineering program"
It's kind of strange that you mention this, because Computer Science is part of the Maths factulty in many Universities. At least it was in mine. I know I'll get the mathematicians on my back by making this statement. No worries, I actually think that CS is the lowest form in Maths.... after all, we just need 0 and 1 ;-)
One of my favourite subjects at Univesirty was computability... no computer to be seen anywhere near *that* course. It's entirely theoretical, as many courses in CS are. While you learn to code in CS, the profs keeps stating that it's just a very small part of your study.
Software Developper is a good description of my actual work. I'll think I'll start using that one instead of Computer Scientist. It's not as if I'm doing any research, so Scientist probably isn't a good description for me.
On the other hand, in many languages the translation for "Computer Science" is something like "Informatique" (French), "Informatik" (German), "Informatica" (Dutch). These words go closer to what we do: working and processing information.