Because if they're round, no matter how the manhole cover falls onto the opening, it won't fall through and hurt the person standing underneath.
While this is the conventional answer, it is an incorrect answer. It is quite possible to make a manhole cover of ANY shape that will not fall into a manhole if the manhole diameter is smaller than the smallest axis of the cover.
The reason that manhole covers are round is because this shape gives them the maximum minor axis size for a given amount of material, i.e. it is the optimal shape from an economic point of view.
This first thing is to change that name. Computer Science is an oxymoron. The only science involved with computers is in the making of them. Solid state physics etc.
CS as it is today should be taught as a branch of applied mathematics, which it really is.
Writing HTML by hand has been on the way out for a while now.
I've seen this stated so many times, yet I have yet to see QUALITY HTML markup that is machine generated. By quality, I mean something that is written under DOCTYPE Strict, and will validate on validator.w3.com, except for a very few special accomodations to Netscape 4.x.
This is assuming that DVD player development and OS development have to happen in in series.
The important point is that completing the OS doesn't depend on DVD player completion. Whether the DVD player development was done in parallel or series (or a bit of both) doesn't matter if it's not done.
RF multiplexing is needed in order to have multiple signals peacefully share that cable.
I believe what you are saying make sense for old-style cable systems, but is that really
the case in these days of fiber optic cables? Why wouldn't it be possible to have an architecture that supported several vendors of TV and broadband services on one optical pipe?
DVD support can't wait for the first service pack.
I would much rather have MacOS X now and wait for DVD functionality. I have to deploy this thing, and want to do a lot of testing first. And if it's like the DVD functionality in the current Mac OS it isn't that good anyway.
Also, Apple doesn't do service packs. They issue updates to various packages between OS updates.
It seems to me that the products that cable companies offer, i.e. broadband, broadcast and in some case phone service are all offered by alternatives, i.e. DSL, satellite and the phone companies.
I think it would be nice if cablecos were treated like telcos, that is they have to rent their lines to other cable companies.
I am absolutely within my rights and reason to ask that they do not perform the same services for a competitor for a certain time after their employment with me expires.
Actually many states make this practice illegal. In other cases the ability to enforce this is very difficult. Saying you are 'absolutely within your rights' is quite questionable.
I don't understand why people are decrying this so much.
Why? It's very simple. A non-compete interferes with your ability to feed your family and can ruin a person's career. This is why they are illegal in many states, and are so hard to enforce.
a noncompete agreement can do a great deal to help maintain the employer's IP
There are other laws on the books that prevent misappropriation of trade secrets. Saying the non-competes are needed for this is wrong.
But, a large majority of the 1% are born into huge inheritances, never having to work to have what they have, any more than the other 99% have had to work to become poor.
Actually, I don't believe that 1% is the right number - the real super rich are a much smaller percentage. But that is not the point.
The only way it is acceptable to have a 1% of a society live by simply milking the efforts of the rest of the 99% is in a slavery model.
There are many socio-economic models that give rise to this sort of wealth distribution. Just because you don't like the distribution we have (and I think it is a problem too) doesn't mean that it is slavery. Slavery carries many other attributes besides economic disparity.
You have masterfully proven the point: the people working in Kathy Lee's sweatshops and weaving rugs in Pakistan so that the latest.com millionaire may furnish his latest posh loft meet almost all if not all of your criteria for being a slave.
Not even close. The people working in these developing companies are not the legal property of their employer, nor are they legally non-citizens of their country. While we may find their working conditions deplorable according to western standards, these workers are generally better off than their neighbors in terms of standard of living, and are working for these companies voluntarily.
Once again, the fact is that these people are NOT slaves, and to classify them as such does great harm to the memory of the real horrors of slavery.
perhaps you are going to tell me that it is not the Western capitalist companies that are responsible for that exploitation, it is the non-capitalist local governments... yeah right.
I would generally agree with the idea that western companies that treat offshore workers poorly should be condemmed. However there are plenty of companies that treat offshore workers quite well too, so that the idea that this is an inevetable result of capitalism is very flawed.
The "theme engine", as I see it, would be an X window manager.
If the X Window manager is the theme engine, then X is a graphical user interface. If I was in the jury, you'd have a tough time selling me on the idea that X is a grapical user interface.
The claim 1 is:
1. In a graphical user interface, a method for rendering objects and handling behavior of said objects comprising the steps of:
o providing a plurality of themes, each theme controlling an appearance and behavior of objects rendered on said graphical user interface, wherein at least one of said appearance and said behavior is controlled differently for an object when said graphical user interface is operated in accordance with one theme than when said graphical user interface is operated in accordance with another theme;
o providing a plurality of theme engines, each theme engine associated with a different theme type, wherein at least one of said theme engines is hard-coded and at least one of said theme engines is a data-driven, parametric engine; selecting a theme from among said plurality of themes;
o identifying one of said plurality of theme engines associated with said selected theme; and loading, by said identified theme engine, theme data for operating said graphical user interface in accordance with said selected theme.
'at least one of said theme engines is hard-coded and at least one of said theme engines is a data-driven, parametric engine' and 'providing a plurality of theme engines, each theme engine associated with a different theme type, wherein at least one of said theme engines is hard-coded and at least one of said theme engines is a data-driven, parametric engine;
It looks to me like what they have here is more than just theming or a theme engine, or widgets that change behaviour, but rather they are claiming a system that support multiple theme engines. That means functionality on the order of an OS that allows plug-ins that act as theme engines.
If so, I think Apple does have something totally new here. Imagine an architecture that would allow you to plug in a theme engine, i.e. have KDE, Gnome, Win95 GUI etc all as theme engines running side by side.
The flexibility of this seems to me to be terrific. It means a theme engine for each of a different class of GUI implementations.
Bzzzt AGAIN. Population is NOT growing exponentially. The growth rate IS DECLINING
In the 1960's the annual growth rate was about 2%. Right now it is about 1.5%. By 2015 most estimates place the number at 1%. In another 30-40 years it is expected to be ZERO.
What capitalistic countries currently use slavery?
That depends on how you define slavery.
Indeed. One could define slavery (or any other term) as green cheese and make an argument based on that hypothesis.
I take the more common definition. Slaves are a class of human beings who are bought and sold as property, and are excluded from the protection, rights and priviledges of citizens.
A slave cannot quit his job and go work for another company A slave does not get bills. A slave cannot decide to start his own company. A slave cannot go to night school to learn a new skill. A slave does not own property; he IS property.
Trying to distort the meaning of the word to cover a free citizen who works for a living does a great injustice to those who were truly exploited as slaves.
Perhaps my problem is that my exposure to ACLs has been primarily with NT and that can be *very* difficult to manage.
This was the primary objection that I saw on the kernel mailing list the last time it was discussed. While ACL's offer finer grain control of a system, they also make auditing much more difficult.
the incredible growth of homo sapiens have enjoyed over the last 200 years
... has nothing to do with capitalism. In fact the capilistic countries have the lowest population growth rates.
human population continues to grow *expontentially*
Bzzzt. Population growth rates are declining. In fact some western countries have birth rates lower than the replacement rate, and are only maintaining their population through immigration.
If by "capital" you mean money,
No, we don't mean money. Any jackass with a printing press can make money. Money existed long before capitalism.
Isn't it time we figure out a different economic system that is sustainable, and less violent?
Sounds good. Do you have any ideas? We've already tried a variety of methods including feudalism, tribalism, and communism.
Capitalism supports slavery.
What capitalistic countries currently use slavery?
"Property Rights" are paradoxical, since the enjoyment of this right must deny this very same "right" to another.
True enough, except that the concept of 'Rights' itself implies that you have taken away something from another individual. For example, my right to life means that you do not have the right to kill me. Are you really proposing that indivduals should have no rights?
Come back when you have a premise that is not filled with logical fallicies and factual error.
Much reduced. The radiation standard is so low that you get more exposure to X-Rays lying out in the back yard for an hour than you do in a lifetime in front of a computer monitor.
People really underestimate the amount of environmental radiation. The Sun also bathes us in radiation all day long. A plane flight (above most of the shielding effects of the atmosphere) entails getting a pretty hefty dose of radiation.
The main reason that there is lead in tubes these days is optical - heavily leaded glass has superior optical properties.
TV's have vacuum tubes too, and because of the design changes that have been made over the years it turns out that some of the best tubes for making X-Rays are from TV's made in the 40's and 50's. Modern tubes can't be driven at high enough voltages to make significant quantities of X-Rays.
not because it appears twice as large on your retinas.
Sooner or later you are going to hit the resolution limit of the retina. When this happens the only way to improve the image detail is to increase it's size on the retina.
Very few people do not have at least one broadband method as an option (cable, dsl, or satellite).
I am afraid that satellite is not acceptable for gaming because of the long ping times, and the sad truth of the matter is that cable/DSL is still available to only about 1/3 of the US.
If you really own the copyright, then all base belong to you.
The question is do you have anything that states who the owner of the code you wrote is? The real owner will depend greatly on your terms of employment. In most cases it will be your employer, BUT if you have a document saying otherwise, well...
If it was released under GPL with the permission of the owner, then that which was released will remain released, the copyright owner has no obligation to release future versions under any given license unless they have made a contractual obligation otherwise.
It seems to me that as you increase the magnification, you will decrease the field covered. As a result this may not be the best thing, way when you are playing point guard.
A better solution would be zoom vision where you can control the magnification.
Slashdot Mirror
Because if they're round, no matter how the manhole cover falls onto the opening, it won't fall through and hurt the person standing underneath.
While this is the conventional answer, it is an incorrect answer. It is quite possible to make a manhole cover of ANY shape that will not fall into a manhole if the manhole diameter is smaller than the smallest axis of the cover.
The reason that manhole covers are round is because this shape gives them the maximum minor axis size for a given amount of material, i.e. it is the optimal shape from an economic point of view.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
What your definition of 'CS' is?
This first thing is to change that name. Computer Science is an oxymoron. The only science involved with computers is in the making of them. Solid state physics etc.
CS as it is today should be taught as a branch of applied mathematics, which it really is.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
I'd sue.
You would lose. You can discriminate all you want against anyone under 40 on the basis of age. The ADA only protects people over 40.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
Writing HTML by hand has been on the way out for a while now.
I've seen this stated so many times, yet I have yet to see QUALITY HTML markup that is machine generated. By quality, I mean something that is written under DOCTYPE Strict, and will validate on validator.w3.com, except for a very few special accomodations to Netscape 4.x.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
One time use Email address,
Why do you need an actual email address? Just use some random crap so long as it has an @ and . in it.
If you do need an actual address, make one on hotmail and use it for everything. But never go there to pick up your mail.
Or most isps will let you have multiple accounts. Make one for junk, pick up the mail and send it directly to trash via filters.
No need for temp accounts.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
This is assuming that DVD player development and OS development have to happen in in series.
The important point is that completing the OS doesn't depend on DVD player completion. Whether the DVD player development was done in parallel or series (or a bit of both) doesn't matter if it's not done.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
RF multiplexing is needed in order to have multiple signals peacefully share that cable.
I believe what you are saying make sense for old-style cable systems, but is that really
the case in these days of fiber optic cables? Why wouldn't it be possible to have an architecture that supported several vendors of TV and broadband services on one optical pipe?
MOVE 'ZIG'.
Processor speed is stuck at 500 MHz.
Not. It's at 733
Motorola announced 10000 layoffs so far this year, 2/3 in their fabs.
Every semiconductor supplier is suffering.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010227/2156.html
Apple's stock is in the tank.
So is Intel, Sun, Cisco, Dell, etc.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
DVD support can't wait for the first service pack.
I would much rather have MacOS X now and wait for DVD functionality. I have to deploy this thing, and want to do a lot of testing first. And if it's like the DVD functionality in the current Mac OS it isn't that good anyway.
Also, Apple doesn't do service packs. They issue updates to various packages between OS updates.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
It seems to me that the products that cable companies offer, i.e. broadband, broadcast and in some case phone service are all offered by alternatives, i.e. DSL, satellite and the phone companies.
I think it would be nice if cablecos were treated like telcos, that is they have to rent their lines to other cable companies.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
I am absolutely within my rights and reason to ask that they do not perform the same services for a competitor for a certain time after their employment with me expires.
Actually many states make this practice illegal. In other cases the ability to enforce this is very difficult. Saying you are 'absolutely within your rights' is quite questionable.
I don't understand why people are decrying this so much.
Why? It's very simple. A non-compete interferes with your ability to feed your family and can ruin a person's career. This is why they are illegal in many states, and are so hard to enforce.
a noncompete agreement can do a great deal to help maintain the employer's IP
There are other laws on the books that prevent misappropriation of trade secrets. Saying the non-competes are needed for this is wrong.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
But, a large majority of the 1% are born into huge inheritances, never having to work to have what they have, any more than the other 99% have had to work to become poor.
Actually, I don't believe that 1% is the right number - the real super rich are a much smaller percentage. But that is not the point.
The only way it is acceptable to have a 1% of a society live by simply milking the efforts of the rest of the 99% is in a slavery model.
There are many socio-economic models that give rise to this sort of wealth distribution. Just because you don't like the distribution we have (and I think it is a problem too) doesn't mean that it is slavery. Slavery carries many other attributes besides economic disparity.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
You have masterfully proven the point: the people working in Kathy Lee's sweatshops and weaving rugs in Pakistan so that the latest .com millionaire may furnish his latest posh loft meet almost all if not all of your criteria for being a slave.
Not even close. The people working in these developing companies are not the legal property of their employer, nor are they legally non-citizens of their country. While we may find their working conditions deplorable according to western standards, these workers are generally better off than their neighbors in terms of standard of living, and are working for these companies voluntarily.
Once again, the fact is that these people are NOT slaves, and to classify them as such does great harm to the memory of the real horrors of slavery.
perhaps you are going to tell me that it is not the Western capitalist companies that are responsible for that exploitation, it is the non-capitalist local governments... yeah right.
I would generally agree with the idea that western companies that treat offshore workers poorly should be condemmed. However there are plenty of companies that treat offshore workers quite well too, so that the idea that this is an inevetable result of capitalism is very flawed.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
and building the intranet in ASP.
At least use JSP. Then when Linux gets ACL or whatever you aren't locked in to the evil empire.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
The "theme engine", as I see it, would be an X window manager.
If the X Window manager is the theme engine, then X is a graphical user interface. If I was in the jury, you'd have a tough time selling me on the idea that X is a grapical user interface.
The claim 1 is:
1. In a graphical user interface, a method for rendering objects and handling behavior of said objects comprising the steps of:
o providing a plurality of themes, each theme controlling an appearance and behavior of objects rendered on said graphical user interface, wherein at least one of said appearance and said behavior is controlled differently for an object when said graphical user interface is operated in accordance with one theme than when said graphical user interface is operated in accordance with another theme;
o providing a plurality of theme engines, each theme engine associated with a different theme type, wherein at least one of said theme engines is hard-coded and at least one of said theme engines is a data-driven, parametric engine; selecting a theme from among said plurality of themes;
o identifying one of said plurality of theme engines associated with said selected theme; and loading, by said identified theme engine, theme data for operating said graphical user interface in accordance with said selected theme.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
'at least one of said theme engines is hard-coded and at least one of said theme engines is a data-driven, parametric engine' and 'providing a plurality of theme engines, each theme engine associated with a different theme type, wherein at least one of said theme engines is hard-coded and at least one of said theme engines is a data-driven, parametric engine;
It looks to me like what they have here is more than just theming or a theme engine, or widgets that change behaviour, but rather they are claiming a system that support multiple theme engines. That means functionality on the order of an OS that allows plug-ins that act as theme engines.
If so, I think Apple does have something totally new here. Imagine an architecture that would allow you to plug in a theme engine, i.e. have KDE, Gnome, Win95 GUI etc all as theme engines running side by side.
The flexibility of this seems to me to be terrific. It means a theme engine for each of a different class of GUI implementations.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
Population is growing exponentially
p /p growth.htm
Bzzzt AGAIN. Population is NOT growing exponentially. The growth rate IS DECLINING
In the 1960's the annual growth rate was about 2%. Right now it is about 1.5%. By 2015 most estimates place the number at 1%. In another 30-40 years it is expected to be ZERO.
http://newmedia.avs.uakron.edu/geology/ge/ch/po
Sheesh.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
What capitalistic countries currently use slavery?
That depends on how you define slavery.
Indeed. One could define slavery (or any other term) as green cheese and make an argument based on that hypothesis.
I take the more common definition. Slaves are a class of human beings who are bought and sold as property, and are excluded from the protection, rights and priviledges of citizens.
A slave cannot quit his job and go work for another company A slave does not get bills. A slave cannot decide to start his own company. A slave cannot go to night school to learn a new skill. A slave does not own property; he IS property.
Trying to distort the meaning of the word to cover a free citizen who works for a living does a great injustice to those who were truly exploited as slaves.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
Perhaps my problem is that my exposure to ACLs has been primarily with NT and that can be *very* difficult to manage.
This was the primary objection that I saw on the kernel mailing list the last time it was discussed. While ACL's offer finer grain control of a system, they also make auditing much more difficult.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
Capitalism is unsustainable
Remains to be seen.
the incredible growth of homo sapiens have enjoyed over the last 200 years
... has nothing to do with capitalism. In fact the capilistic countries have the lowest population growth rates.
human population continues to grow *expontentially*
Bzzzt. Population growth rates are declining. In fact some western countries have birth rates lower than the replacement rate, and are only maintaining their population through immigration.
If by "capital" you mean money,
No, we don't mean money. Any jackass with a printing press can make money. Money existed long before capitalism.
Isn't it time we figure out a different economic system that is sustainable, and less violent?
Sounds good. Do you have any ideas? We've already tried a variety of methods including feudalism, tribalism, and communism.
Capitalism supports slavery.
What capitalistic countries currently use slavery?
"Property Rights" are paradoxical, since the enjoyment of this right must deny this very same "right" to another.
True enough, except that the concept of 'Rights' itself implies that you have taken away something from another individual. For example, my right to life means that you do not have the right to kill me. Are you really proposing that indivduals should have no rights?
Come back when you have a premise that is not filled with logical fallicies and factual error.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
bathe in (reduced) radiation all day long.
Much reduced. The radiation standard is so low that you get more exposure to X-Rays lying out in the back yard for an hour than you do in a lifetime in front of a computer monitor.
People really underestimate the amount of environmental radiation. The Sun also bathes us in radiation all day long. A plane flight (above most of the shielding effects of the atmosphere) entails getting a pretty hefty dose of radiation.
The main reason that there is lead in tubes these days is optical - heavily leaded glass has superior optical properties.
TV's have vacuum tubes too, and because of the design changes that have been made over the years it turns out that some of the best tubes for making X-Rays are from TV's made in the 40's and 50's. Modern tubes can't be driven at high enough voltages to make significant quantities of X-Rays.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
not because it appears twice as large on your retinas.
Sooner or later you are going to hit the resolution limit of the retina. When this happens the only way to improve the image detail is to increase it's size on the retina.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
Very few people do not have at least one broadband method as an option (cable, dsl, or satellite).
I am afraid that satellite is not acceptable for gaming because of the long ping times, and the sad truth of the matter is that cable/DSL is still available to only about 1/3 of the US.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
If you really own the copyright, then all base belong to you.
The question is do you have anything that states who the owner of the code you wrote is? The real owner will depend greatly on your terms of employment. In most cases it will be your employer, BUT if you have a document saying otherwise, well...
If it was released under GPL with the permission of the owner, then that which was released will remain released, the copyright owner has no obligation to release future versions under any given license unless they have made a contractual obligation otherwise.
MOVE 'ZIG'.
It seems to me that as you increase the magnification, you will decrease the field covered. As a result this may not be the best thing, way when you are playing point guard.
A better solution would be zoom vision where you can control the magnification.
MOVE 'ZIG'.