I question the need to remove physical interaction. Big example: given the choice, would anyone here really chose cybersex over sex in person?
Or brought down several notches, I suspect that most people would prefer to be in person for basic conversations whenever reasonably possible. Telephones, VoIP, video conferencing are all simply second-rate substitutes that come on for convenience's sake when the expense of being in person isn't possible or justiable.
Conferences and trade shows are great if you can go, they are great ways to build a social network, great ways to actually try things out in person rather than trusting text descriptions and photos on the web.
I agree. How does a physicist royally screw up something so simple?
Few to no reasons to be concerned about the laser
on
Laser Etching a Laptop
·
· Score: 3, Informative
For one, a laser capable of cutting metal generaly won't be used for etching, and a laser designed for etching won't be able to cut easily.
I know $20k seems like a lot of money for a machine to slashdotters, a $20k laser system won't be cutting, IIRC, laser cutters go around $200k and up. $20k is mid-to low end for laser etchers though. I considered financing a $10k etcher, but I didn't know how I could make it pay for itself, unlike the techies and investors in the '90s bubble, I wanted a good business model to justify spending money.
It's possible, but it is hard to imagine Nextel having significantly fewer subscribers. I'd be more comfortable with that claim if I could find information on how many subscribers each company had, I thought Nextel had more than Verizon, now, I am pretty certain now they merged with Sprint.
Frankly, I don't see the problem. The cell network is wireless despite you never having heard of it called that. I've seen several corporate promotions referring to the cell network as wireless. Yeah, it's annoying when I am more involved with computer networking than cell phones, but that doesn't make it any less true.
...everywhere you see it. Lobby for proper banking laws and regulations. Lobby for checks and balances, where one group is over seeing the activities of another.
My bank has a system in place where you don't give people your real account number to do a wire transfer. It gets transferred into a "safe account" and then manually transferred to the proper bank account.
Personally, in the US, I wish there was a two-side authorization system, where if you authorize a transfer to one account using one company's service, that you need to authorize the bank personally to let that money. As it is, I fear that anyone that stumbles across my bank routing number and account number (written on every check) could transfer money out. I will have to talk to the bank to see how they check this sort of thing to prevent abuse.
Not smart. Making a joke in a situation like that is tacky at best. My bet is that the security isn't there just because uniformed men look good, but because there is a real threat caused by violent people wanting to make a name for themselves and their cause.
I suspect that the impact of rotational frame dragging to be equivalent to the impact on the atmosphere because of the flushing of my toilet. Sure, it will verify theories, but the effect is very tiny.
I'm not buying into this story, I call BS, particularly the numbers. Three units per store is embarassingly small to be relevant. It would be bad sales for a tiny game store at a mall that could sell dozens per day, horrendous when compared to Best Buy that might be able to sell hundreds per day. I don't understand how the launch games can possibly do well if there isn't anything to play them on.
There are sillier programs. There was one energy program that tried to make ceiling fans more efficient, which is silly when A/C systems are in use that consume a lot more power. Even the example in the article compared a ceiling fan with incandescent bulb fixtures against an A/C, when a simple improvement would be to use bulb-shaped flourescents, which has little to do with the cooling efficiency of a fan.
I'd say that it is something to look into anyways, though it would be nice to be assured that concern was also being laid when the device is being used.
I agree, I think the reasoning in the story description is flimsy at best. Besides, people don't need IP addresses, computers and other electronic devices do. Even then, most devices don't need publicly accessible IP addresses.
I need a better argument than "NAT is a hack" and such to convince me. I suspect many others aren't accepting that argument for face value either. In short, not enough people are pushing for IPv6 because the proponents of IPv6 aren't convincing enough people to demand a switch, especially in light of the cost of replacing IPv4 devices.
I don't want my refrigerator, lighting, A/C & furnace controls (hypothetically) on a public IP. I also don't need my printer, TiVo, Myth box to have a dedicated public IP because those too are private devices and I'd rather keep layer of abstraction for them with port forwarding and some form of authentication to restrict unwanted accesses. Still, those devices are the biggest arguments made for IPv6.
it takes a lot of effort if its a lot of data to backup
Large backups should not take much more human effort than small backups, the difference should only be computer and drive time. If it does take a lot of effort, make a script or use an automatable backup program, then do something else while the computer does the work for you.
Another problem is that you are expecting enterprise grade reliability on consumer grade dirt prices. Reality doesn't work that way.
It's quite difficult to dump trademarks, copyrights and patents. I doubt it would happen in the US because it would require a constitutional amendment.
I don't believe your retail or restaurant analogy fits. I don't believe that the market can fix all problems, and I don't believe that government can fix all problems. I would personally like some form of government protection if some competitor used my name and somehow managed to convinced the sheep that they are the real thing, and later ruining my reputation.
Also, the fact that something can be abused doesn't mean that thing should be dumped altogether.
I honestly think people only think an unsigned, after-the-fact EULA means anything because they've been conditioned throughout their lives to blindingly accept authority, whether real or perceived.
Probably, I don't know. I really don't believe authority is morally given or waived behind obfuscation like a typical EULA, regardless of alleged legality.
As an aside, are there any thoughts on why the engineering applications appear to be so overlooked by the open source community?"
See subject.
Then, re-read the subject.
There is only an extremely small fraction of open source enthusiasts that need this sort of software or are even interested in it. The people that know how to program them and are interested in doing the work for this type of program for free are scant. There are probably projects underway.
File formats are a very tricky thing to deal with, proprietary formats that aren't popular just don't see the attention needed to properly decode them. Then there's the matter of having access to the proprietary program to test whether the files you write are compatible. It's kind of a vicious cycle, everyone has Word, but practically no one has CATIA.
By the way - this is hardly the first Cray based on a commodity processor. The T3E and T3D were both Alpha processors, yet nobody calls those machines "commodity".
I really don't consider Alpha to be a commodity chip. While Opteron and Athlon64 share a lot of the same designs and even might have the same masks, it doesn't necessarily make it a commodity chip. I suppose either chip were produced in much greater volume than Cray's custom processors.
Silly argument, IMO. There are $500 HDTVs now. I think spending $650 on a video card is worse because the retail value often drops in half in six months and would likely need to be replaced every year, while current HDTVs could be in service for ten years.
The last time there was a find that "confirmed" a Bible story was actually found to be a fraud. I am trying to recall the specifics, it was the container that said something to the effect of "James, son of Josef, brother of Yeshua". Someone had etched the names and tried to pass it off as real. This happened in the last few years.
In short, I would wait for independent confirmation.
I'm not sure forcing our morals on others is the right goal.
It's not about forcing "our" morals. There are already international standards of human rights, and I see no problems with demanding that businesses and governments abide by them, be they US or foreign.
I see no problems with many smoking restrictions because smoking infringes on the natural rights of others to breathe clean air.
H5N1 has gotten a LOT of attention, especially on NPR, at least their podcasts that I listen to. There is no guarantee or even high odds that H5N1 will mutate to something that transmits between humans, but the current bets are that if there is a pandemic any time soon, it will be that one. Still, the odds are high enough and the consequences potentially devestating enough that it is worth spending time preparing for it and researching ways to prevent or reduce its severity.
A "normal" flu virus normally only kills the elderly and those with compromized immune systems. A pandemic flu virus has a tendency to kill healthy people in their prime.
Currently, the world is overdue for a pandemic, in the last 300 years the world has seen 10 pandemics, and it has been 40 years since the last one.
I suggest you subscribe to the "Science Friday" and "Quirks and Quarks" podcasts, or rather, look through their archives concerning the issue and listen to them on your commutes or other off-time.
Apple's products are the only ones that seem to include AAC unless you use a PDA with TCPMP or similar software with AAC playback built-in or via plug-in.
I think AAC is an ISO standard, so that part is not a problem, though Apple's DRM isn't available elsewhere, though I suggest DRM be avoided, even if they are the most fair in terms of how many computers it can be played on and how many CDs can be burned.
Slashdot Mirror
I question the need to remove physical interaction. Big example: given the choice, would anyone here really chose cybersex over sex in person?
Or brought down several notches, I suspect that most people would prefer to be in person for basic conversations whenever reasonably possible. Telephones, VoIP, video conferencing are all simply second-rate substitutes that come on for convenience's sake when the expense of being in person isn't possible or justiable.
Conferences and trade shows are great if you can go, they are great ways to build a social network, great ways to actually try things out in person rather than trusting text descriptions and photos on the web.
I agree. How does a physicist royally screw up something so simple?
For one, a laser capable of cutting metal generaly won't be used for etching, and a laser designed for etching won't be able to cut easily.
I know $20k seems like a lot of money for a machine to slashdotters, a $20k laser system won't be cutting, IIRC, laser cutters go around $200k and up. $20k is mid-to low end for laser etchers though. I considered financing a $10k etcher, but I didn't know how I could make it pay for itself, unlike the techies and investors in the '90s bubble, I wanted a good business model to justify spending money.
It's possible, but it is hard to imagine Nextel having significantly fewer subscribers. I'd be more comfortable with that claim if I could find information on how many subscribers each company had, I thought Nextel had more than Verizon, now, I am pretty certain now they merged with Sprint.
Frankly, I don't see the problem. The cell network is wireless despite you never having heard of it called that. I've seen several corporate promotions referring to the cell network as wireless. Yeah, it's annoying when I am more involved with computer networking than cell phones, but that doesn't make it any less true.
use chalk on cave walls, you insensitive clod!
They haven't won that contract yet and the Wi-Fi Google is planning on supplying will be slower than 56k dial up;
Source? I've found 300kbps, and no mention anywhere about a slower speed.
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000783061372/
...everywhere you see it. Lobby for proper banking laws and regulations. Lobby for checks and balances, where one group is over seeing the activities of another.
My bank has a system in place where you don't give people your real account number to do a wire transfer. It gets transferred into a "safe account" and then manually transferred to the proper bank account.
Personally, in the US, I wish there was a two-side authorization system, where if you authorize a transfer to one account using one company's service, that you need to authorize the bank personally to let that money. As it is, I fear that anyone that stumbles across my bank routing number and account number (written on every check) could transfer money out. I will have to talk to the bank to see how they check this sort of thing to prevent abuse.
Not smart. Making a joke in a situation like that is tacky at best. My bet is that the security isn't there just because uniformed men look good, but because there is a real threat caused by violent people wanting to make a name for themselves and their cause.
I suspect that the impact of rotational frame dragging to be equivalent to the impact on the atmosphere because of the flushing of my toilet. Sure, it will verify theories, but the effect is very tiny.
I'm not buying into this story, I call BS, particularly the numbers. Three units per store is embarassingly small to be relevant. It would be bad sales for a tiny game store at a mall that could sell dozens per day, horrendous when compared to Best Buy that might be able to sell hundreds per day. I don't understand how the launch games can possibly do well if there isn't anything to play them on.
There are sillier programs. There was one energy program that tried to make ceiling fans more efficient, which is silly when A/C systems are in use that consume a lot more power. Even the example in the article compared a ceiling fan with incandescent bulb fixtures against an A/C, when a simple improvement would be to use bulb-shaped flourescents, which has little to do with the cooling efficiency of a fan.
I'd say that it is something to look into anyways, though it would be nice to be assured that concern was also being laid when the device is being used.
I agree, I think the reasoning in the story description is flimsy at best. Besides, people don't need IP addresses, computers and other electronic devices do. Even then, most devices don't need publicly accessible IP addresses.
I need a better argument than "NAT is a hack" and such to convince me. I suspect many others aren't accepting that argument for face value either. In short, not enough people are pushing for IPv6 because the proponents of IPv6 aren't convincing enough people to demand a switch, especially in light of the cost of replacing IPv4 devices.
I don't want my refrigerator, lighting, A/C & furnace controls (hypothetically) on a public IP. I also don't need my printer, TiVo, Myth box to have a dedicated public IP because those too are private devices and I'd rather keep layer of abstraction for them with port forwarding and some form of authentication to restrict unwanted accesses. Still, those devices are the biggest arguments made for IPv6.
It looks as if there is a Christmas tree perched on an Atari joystick.
it takes a lot of effort if its a lot of data to backup
Large backups should not take much more human effort than small backups, the difference should only be computer and drive time. If it does take a lot of effort, make a script or use an automatable backup program, then do something else while the computer does the work for you.
Another problem is that you are expecting enterprise grade reliability on consumer grade dirt prices. Reality doesn't work that way.
Forget the arguments of legality, is anyone really convinced that the artist gets any of the money from the sales of music from that site?
It's quite difficult to dump trademarks, copyrights and patents. I doubt it would happen in the US because it would require a constitutional amendment.
I don't believe your retail or restaurant analogy fits. I don't believe that the market can fix all problems, and I don't believe that government can fix all problems. I would personally like some form of government protection if some competitor used my name and somehow managed to convinced the sheep that they are the real thing, and later ruining my reputation.
Also, the fact that something can be abused doesn't mean that thing should be dumped altogether.
I honestly think people only think an unsigned, after-the-fact EULA means anything because they've been conditioned throughout their lives to blindingly accept authority, whether real or perceived.
Probably, I don't know. I really don't believe authority is morally given or waived behind obfuscation like a typical EULA, regardless of alleged legality.
I hate to break it to you but here it is.
As an aside, are there any thoughts on why the engineering applications appear to be so overlooked by the open source community?"
See subject.
Then, re-read the subject.
There is only an extremely small fraction of open source enthusiasts that need this sort of software or are even interested in it. The people that know how to program them and are interested in doing the work for this type of program for free are scant. There are probably projects underway.
File formats are a very tricky thing to deal with, proprietary formats that aren't popular just don't see the attention needed to properly decode them. Then there's the matter of having access to the proprietary program to test whether the files you write are compatible. It's kind of a vicious cycle, everyone has Word, but practically no one has CATIA.
By the way - this is hardly the first Cray based on a commodity processor. The T3E and T3D were both Alpha processors, yet nobody calls those machines "commodity".
I really don't consider Alpha to be a commodity chip. While Opteron and Athlon64 share a lot of the same designs and even might have the same masks, it doesn't necessarily make it a commodity chip. I suppose either chip were produced in much greater volume than Cray's custom processors.
Silly argument, IMO. There are $500 HDTVs now. I think spending $650 on a video card is worse because the retail value often drops in half in six months and would likely need to be replaced every year, while current HDTVs could be in service for ten years.
The last time there was a find that "confirmed" a Bible story was actually found to be a fraud. I am trying to recall the specifics, it was the container that said something to the effect of "James, son of Josef, brother of Yeshua". Someone had etched the names and tried to pass it off as real. This happened in the last few years.
In short, I would wait for independent confirmation.
I'm not sure forcing our morals on others is the right goal.
It's not about forcing "our" morals. There are already international standards of human rights, and I see no problems with demanding that businesses and governments abide by them, be they US or foreign.
I see no problems with many smoking restrictions because smoking infringes on the natural rights of others to breathe clean air.
H5N1 has gotten a LOT of attention, especially on NPR, at least their podcasts that I listen to. There is no guarantee or even high odds that H5N1 will mutate to something that transmits between humans, but the current bets are that if there is a pandemic any time soon, it will be that one. Still, the odds are high enough and the consequences potentially devestating enough that it is worth spending time preparing for it and researching ways to prevent or reduce its severity.
A "normal" flu virus normally only kills the elderly and those with compromized immune systems. A pandemic flu virus has a tendency to kill healthy people in their prime.
Currently, the world is overdue for a pandemic, in the last 300 years the world has seen 10 pandemics, and it has been 40 years since the last one.
I suggest you subscribe to the "Science Friday" and "Quirks and Quarks" podcasts, or rather, look through their archives concerning the issue and listen to them on your commutes or other off-time.
Apple's products are the only ones that seem to include AAC unless you use a PDA with TCPMP or similar software with AAC playback built-in or via plug-in.
I think AAC is an ISO standard, so that part is not a problem, though Apple's DRM isn't available elsewhere, though I suggest DRM be avoided, even if they are the most fair in terms of how many computers it can be played on and how many CDs can be burned.