I think one way to fix this is to devalue the main gTLDs. Right now there are very few gTLDs that anyone can register for any purpose. I think we need A LOT more gTLDs and train the public further that everything isn't '.com'. This will devalue the existing.com domains that people are squatting. Example gTLDs that I think should have open registration:.global.earth.tech.www.files
So on and so forth. And if you act now, for only $100,000 you can register a custom non-reserved gTLD for your own purpose (subject to approval, id check, no squatters, etc.):.godaddy,.verisign,.linux,.microsoft,.???.
This will make that $40,000.com collection a lot less valuable. This isn't real-estate. It is virtual. When you run out of land on the Internet you just make more land! Well, that will be easier with IPv6, but you get the point. I think the reason why these tactics are occurring is due to the perceived limitation of the.com space. So what, who cares, just make more gTLDs.
What I am most interested in is hardware support. If it works with Fedora, or better yet Debian, then it'll work with just about any distro I need or care about.
Honestly, I just don't think Dell 'gets' F/OSS. I'm not sure that running a Linux survey is the right way to make business decisions. If none of their big customers are asking for Linux support it is likely due to strong competition. I also don't think they understand that the amount of systems they sell will have no affect on a community project. They are symbiotic with Intel and Microsoft. If Dell needs something, Wintel will take notice and try to help. If Dell needs a better windows driver from a chip-maker, they usually get it. Will they get it for Linux too?
If Dell needs something from Fedora, they are going to be told to RTFM and send in a patch. They are on equal ground with the guy down the street in his mommas' basement. I'm not sure they can handle that.
I run Linux on my Dell D620 Latitude, oddly enough. Wish it had better driver support, and that is all I am asking for. Dell, use your sway to get these chip makers to write open drivers that can be sent upstream to Linus please. Mmmkay? Do that first and magically all the Linux guys will shut up because they'll be happy.
In my opinion a chip isn't "Linux Supported" until there is a driver in upstream the community can mantain.
HID has a patent on breaking and entering? The USPTO has reached a new low. I think I'm going to get a patent on marijuana smoking. Or better, a patent on patenting patents! I'll control the entire patent industry! MWWWWHAHAHA!
I wonder which sympathetic nation could really use a good rocket? Perhaps there is one out there with a fledgling nuclear weapons program with money burning a hole in their pocket. I dunno, some place in Asia.
I always get a kick out of people that say progress for a nation 'destabilizes' the region. What else are they supposed to do? Live in huts the rest of their lives? I think 'they' are trying to argue that unless Iran is moving toward democracy they are 'destabilizing' if moving forward at all.
If I lived in the middle of the desert and could get raw uranium on the cheap, say, from Russia, why wouldn't I build nuclear power? I have an entire desert to bury the waste in. If I were a state in which energy (oil) was my number one export, why wouldn't I do everything I could to sell as much oil as possible while searching for alternative sources of power for my own people. Then I could jack up the price of oil with my cartel (OPEC) connections. It is kind of like being a crack dealer: If you want to be successful, don't use your own product. Iran is dependent on others to process it's oil. Using nuclear power mostly eliminates this need and allows them to play hardball in the market.
Of course, in the pursuit of nuclear power if such nation produces a few nuclear weapons on the side for either profit or defensive use, big deal.
I'm just waiting for one of these rogue nations to go 'ballistic' and blow something up. I wonder if they realize the reaction would be a small scale nuclear conflict that would likely render their nation totally useless for about 10,000 years. No, there is no way they are that stupid, right? Welcome to the new cold war.
Perhaps we will all have lead-shielded gas tanks in the future to protect us from radioactive oil.
I thought BitTorrent was supposed to reduce total bandwidth usage from single ISPs, networks, and servers... not increase it. What would happen if BitTorrent suddenly was unavailable at all? Which ISPs and networks would crack under the added strain?
Please correct me if I am wrong. I don't understand the fine details. How does BitTorrent help service providers SAVE money? Or does it?
The episode was very interesting. If you aren't familiar with the show it is very good, and the host is one heck of a sniper. He drums it up a bit, and is a little over the top, but the guy can shoot so you have to show some respect.
I watched Wired Science for about 8 minutes before getting so uninterested I changed channels and forgot all about it. Yet another unremarkable show. Let's hope the others are more interesting.
"They say that employees don't leave their job or company, they leave their boss."
I'm not sure who 'they' are. However, for me this is not always the case. Over my 17 year career here is why I made a company shift:
1) Physical move to another city due to family needs. 2) New opportunity more in line with career goals. 3) Step up in career path. 4) Change of pace, broadening experience related to career. 5) Marriage, and another move to a different city. 6) Better opportunity more in line with career goals. 7) Left due to the boss, would have stayed otherwise.
There you go, only one time out of 7 job transitions was due to management. Almost every other time it was external to the company (family, marriage), or it was a step closer to my career goal at the time. Many times I did not take a big increase in pay either, it just had to be done. Can anyone else comment? Why did you leave all of the jobs you have ever had?
Let's say I am a store owner. Better yet, I am a movie theater owner and I show movies that I have made myself on the subject of squirrels. They are open to the public, anyone can just walk in and start enjoying the movies. To make money I have stuffed squirrels I sell in the lobby, and I have movie posters for another movie theater that shows horse movies. Now let us assume that my squirrel movies are the hottest thing in town. People can get enough of them. Everyone is talking about them. How cute their fluffy little tails are and all that cute squirrel crap. They are lining up down the street to see my free squirrel movies. And I am making a killing selling stuffed squirrels. Also, the horse theater is paying me gobs of money to put their posters on the wall. I am driving a car powered by squirrels I am doing so well.
Now let's say one of my biggest fans just loves my movies. He can't get enough of them, and he knows lost of other people who are the same. He would watch them all day long if he could but the line is just too long at the theater to get in. So, this fan happens to be a genius at optical systems. He rigs up a special series of prisms and mirrors to extend the 'broadcast' range of my movies. He figures "Hey, these are free so there is nothing wrong just extending the picture range, right? I am a big fan. The guy should be pleased about having such an amazing fan design a complex optical system just to watch his movies! He should feel really lucky to have me love his movies so much that I would go to the trouble." Now him and his friends can sit in a private theater next to mine and watch my movies in peace, just not in my theater.
One day I figure this out. I realize that there is no way I can stop his ingenious optical system from working. He is just too smart for me. I can't seem to figure out how all those new-fangled prisms and mirrors work. Worse, I am angry. His little private showing room doesn't have the horse posters and stuffed squirrels. Turns out that my customers don't really like that stuff, but they just tolerate it to get at my squirrel movies. The second they hear this guy is showing my movies in another place without the stupid horse posters they all go to his private viewing room. Sales are down 40% at my theater. The horse theater owner is mad cause his posters aren't being viewed and refuses to pay me any more money. Worse, the squirrels in my card die cause I can no longer afford to feed them. Now remember, the movie picture actually originates from my theater, yet it lands on a screen in his private theater as well as mine.
So I sue the kid. The judge says, yup - this guy is stealing your movies. He isn't supposed to be doing that. He will have to remove all the new-fangled prisms that get the picture to magically show up in his private theater. Also, he is going to have to pay you back for all those lost sales that he caused by doing this.
This leaves the slashdot crowd so confused, I have to write a dumb post about squirrel movies to explain it.
The truth is, this subject is an old one. The main answer is that it just takes time to get a DHCP lease, set up a few dozen services, and generally get all of the "junk" you need up and working without crashing the system. If your main complaint is Windows XP there are a few tuning guides that can reduce your boot time dramatically.
And just to make the article more clear: Let's substitute "boron" with Tom (hey, what guy wouldn't want more boron?), and "silicon" with Suzie (hey, what girl woudln't want more, eh, yeah.).
"Because it has one fewer electron than Suzie available for bonding with neighbouring atoms, Tom incorporated into Suzie leaves a positively-charged "hole" at each site where Tom's "missing" electron would be paired with one of Suzie's."
Why is the date critical to the operation of the shuttle? Do the astronauts forget what day they are supposed to land or something? If the day flips to 366 - so what? Now, do not get me wrong. I'm sure there is a *good* reason why a date rollover to a non-existing day would cause a problem, but I can't seem to find out what that problem would be. Does the computer lock up? Does it loose it's ability to navigate? Does the life support system shut off? Do they even know? Maybe it is a case of 'we don't know what would happen, so rather than find out let's just not do it.'
Also, from what I understand, there are 4 computers aboard the craft. So, why not reboot one computer at a time to update the date until all are updated?
I want the cowboy astronauts back. The boys that few Apollo 13 and duct-taped their space craft together and rode it home. I think they are more scientist than hot-shot now-a-days. Kind of a shame, it was the ego driven pilot that sorta made it all romantic in a way, now we send accountants in to space that get freaked out over a little date change procedure.
What exactly is a superstar? According to this: "Superstar is a term used to refer to a celebrity who has great popular appeal and is widely-known, prominent or successful in some field."
So, you want to hire someone that has popular appeal. Someone that is well known in the world out there. I would imagine hiring a superstar in any field comes down to who you know, and your own personal fame. If you want to snag a superstart actor, you need to know someone in the business. You can't just call up their agent and say "Yeah, I got $100 million, how abuot it?" You have to bring a lot more to the table. Like, "Hi, this is George Lucas, I am doing a movie on xyz, it has a $200 million budget, $100 mil of that is for Tom Cruise. We will hire a private helicopter for him for the leangth of shooting. And three personal assistants. And a team of drivers. And free lodging and food. And he only has to work 4 hours a day. Let's do lunch. Of course he will be the main star. And of course he will look like an action hero."
Superstars want varying things. Money is certainly important. Perks are also highly important. Those superstar actors get their own pimped out trailers on set to hang out in. You best be ready to give your superstar programmer his own office decorated with anything he wants with any technology he wants. Or maybe the option to work from home.
I guess that leads to the question: Are you *sure* you want a superstar? Superstars come with baggage. They are concerned about their public image. A superstar programmer might only get to work on your projects 20-25% of the time. He/She needs to keep up the image of a superstar. How will your non-superstar programmers feel if you throw obcene amounts of money at your superstar while they work for next to nothing?
In my opinion it is better to have a good programmer who documents code well, has a deep breadth of programming knowledge, and works hard. That guy is worth a lot more to any project than a superstar.
In high school I remember watching a documentary about NORAD and how they track space debris. They showed an animation that illustrated how a serious high-impact collision (think 20,000MPH) that resulted in the total distruction of a vehicle could, in the right orbit, cause a chain-reaction type effect destroying dozens and dozens of other craft. This essentially could make that orbit level non-usable. I'm no astrophysicist, so perhaps an expert can comment. The documentary mentioned this possible scenario is why they track very small objects in space, and apparently "they" will frequently adjust the shuttle orbit to avoid these dangers. Can anyone confirm if this is correct thinking?
First: I would imagine if you have a few of these devices in an office they might not add that much carbon-dioxide to the air. However, what if you have dozens and dozens of people using these devices in a closed space? What does that do to the air quality over time?
Second: We already have exploding batteries. What happens if your fuel tank or silicon engine ruptures and the contents spill on to your ultra-hot processor? How hot does a tiny combustion engine get? How prone is it to mechanical failure resulting in a fuel spill? Also, what about flying? Liquids are already restricted on domestic flights. I'm quite certain containers of gas to power your laptop will not be allowed on aircraft.
I realize this is just first generation tech. I just have a hard time believing that this is going to be a consumer usable product in a matter of years. I think it will be more like decades - if ever. It may work functionally within a number of years, but safety factors and other concerns will likely delay this technology quite a while.
I don't want my Linux "consumer" friendly. I want it hacker friendly. And it is. So *whack* hands off! There are some great usability things in the works that, when implemented, probably will make things more consumer friendly. Fine. Just please don't let that be the goal.
The tipping point for Linux was when Oracle decided to support it? That was enough to stop reading, but unfortunatly I continued on.
The more windows consumer users are attracted to Linux the more they will expect it to function like windows. I want new users. I want fresh thinkers. I don't want cube fodder bugging my OS. I don't want a dancing paper clip in the corner. I don't want a mega-media-super-duper-everything-all-in-one-amazi ng-drm-money-maker-thought-stealer running either. Such things are for consumers.
I am a happy consumer. I consume quite a bit actually. Linux is my escape from consumerism. Yet again we see a counter-culture wanting to be mainstream.
I am not a zealot at all, I just would like to propose the question: What do you want Linux to be? The everything OS? Best Desktop/Server/Embedded/Big Iron system?
I don't mind using Windows for some things, but the second that Windows and Linux start working and acting the same - forget it.
Why stop at banning those sites? Let's ban ANYTHING a sexual-predator might turn in to a "hunting ground."
Why not also ban... - Playgrounds & Parks - Zoos - Pools (Of Any Kind) - Children's Museums - Libraries - Arcades
And this is just a start. If we want to ensure that sexual predators are not turning the Internet in to hunting grounds, why not ban children from accessing the Internet completely? Get real.
I would love for this guy to tell me what percentage of sexual solicitations of minors have taken place using public library Internet access.
In my opinion the real problem is kids accessing these site at home, with no adult supervision. Don't believe it happens? Spend some time on youtube.com and see how many unsupervised pre-teams are making videos of themselves. My wife and I sat down and looked at a few and were quite disturbed. Our kids don't have private access to the Internet, and we monitor their activity closely. It's not perfect (what happens at friends houses?), but we need to do what we can.
Instead of passing usless laws that have no hope of protecting children, I propose this: We (as techs/geeks/admins/programmers) should teach our neighbors they shouldn't let their kids use the Internet behind closed doors for hours on end. Maybe you can offer your tech services and run tcpdump on their network for a few hours during their kids' "private" time. The parents might be in for a shock. Or maybe, if you are really gung-ho, teach a neighborhood class on how parents can protect kids on-line.
Light sabers are pretty advanced pieces of technology. Let me try to explain how they work in basic terms.
First off, you need to imagine a sort of 'shield' around the blade. It is this shield that actually forms the blade in to a specific shape and length. It uses micro-miniature deflector technology. It's all deflector technology these days. If you can picture a sort of transparent hollow tube you are on the right track. In fact, if a Jedi needs a non-lethal billy club he/she can simply switch off the fusion generators and start whacking you with the deflector shield. It won't cut your arms off, but it'll smart a bit. Now, last time I checked, if you've gone to the trouble to piss off a Jedi chances are he ain't gonna take the time to just beat you over the head with a deflector shield. He's just gonna slice you in two. So keep that in mind.
Also, it's these deflectors that Jedi use to do that cool hand trick maneuver. They want you to think it's their hand throwing stuff across the room. Ever wonder what 'the force' is. It's just a case of misdirection: "HEY! LOOK AT MY HAND!" (As the Jedi switches his deflector on his saber to maximum using his left hand, down by his side.)
Now that you have this sort of hollow tube shield deflector thing, fusion materials are inserted in to the tube. Then 'blaster' technology is used to ignite the materials and sustain a reaction. Blaster technology is pretty deep, and I don't have time to go in to it. Now, as you can imagine, it takes quite a bit of energy to keep such a reaction going. That's why you hear that cool 'whummm' sound as you move it around. You're holding a few megawatts of energy in your hands. It's also why you hear that crackle when you whack two of them together. Same tech behind the frekin' lightning bolt shooting out of the hands trick.
The question was raised, why doesn't the superheated component of the saber just burn the crap out of the user? Well - deflectors of course. The deflectors contain the radiated heat energy to within a few inches of the blade. In fact, most sabers have a feature to adjust how much energy is radiated. This is handy if you ever find yourself stranded on an ice world. You just pop the thing in the snow, turn up the radiated heat, and you have a nice bonfire.
You might be wondering, but Luke almost froze to death and he had a saber - what gives? Well - let's just say his saber was more of a 'hack.' You see, Jedi in the past have been burnt badly when Sith lords have used the 'dark side' to tweak the controls on their sabers turning up the radiated heat. You think Yoda was born looking that way?? No, saber radiated heat accident. Anikin really liked screwing with young Jedi by turning up the radiated heat when they weren't looking. Well, anyhow, one of Luke's "improvements" to his saber was to remove this feature. Oops.;)
So there you have it. Be sure to keep your eyes open for my O'Reilly book coming out soon: Light Sabers in a Nutshell.
Looks like it can actually generate 10Kw and could have a several day runtime capability. The web site is unfortunatly short on details, but I'm sure some intrepid/. readers can dig them up.
I bet they cost an arm and a leg, or maybe two legs. Has anyone out there ever seen/used one of these units?
I'm not sure how on Earth this was rated Troll, but whatever.
The poster inidicated that part of the problem was that managment didn't believe he needed more help because everything was working. He's apparently killing himself to keep it running.
In that case, let a few things slip by putting in more reasonable hours. Eventually there will be proof that there is more work than can be done with the current resources. Things will break.
The only other option is to leave. If managment won't take your recommendations, it's not worth staying.
Slashdot Mirror
In Soviet Russia, teachers shoot YOU!
I think one way to fix this is to devalue the main gTLDs. Right now there are very few gTLDs that anyone can register for any purpose. I think we need A LOT more gTLDs and train the public further that everything isn't '.com'. This will devalue the existing .com domains that people are squatting. Example gTLDs that I think should have open registration: .global .earth .tech .www .files
.godaddy, .verisign, .linux, .microsoft, .???.
.com collection a lot less valuable. This isn't real-estate. It is virtual. When you run out of land on the Internet you just make more land! Well, that will be easier with IPv6, but you get the point. I think the reason why these tactics are occurring is due to the perceived limitation of the .com space. So what, who cares, just make more gTLDs.
So on and so forth. And if you act now, for only $100,000 you can register a custom non-reserved gTLD for your own purpose (subject to approval, id check, no squatters, etc.):
This will make that $40,000
SCO what? Their stock SCOX.
What I am most interested in is hardware support. If it works with Fedora, or better yet Debian, then it'll work with just about any distro I need or care about.
Honestly, I just don't think Dell 'gets' F/OSS. I'm not sure that running a Linux survey is the right way to make business decisions. If none of their big customers are asking for Linux support it is likely due to strong competition. I also don't think they understand that the amount of systems they sell will have no affect on a community project. They are symbiotic with Intel and Microsoft. If Dell needs something, Wintel will take notice and try to help. If Dell needs a better windows driver from a chip-maker, they usually get it. Will they get it for Linux too?
If Dell needs something from Fedora, they are going to be told to RTFM and send in a patch. They are on equal ground with the guy down the street in his mommas' basement. I'm not sure they can handle that.
I run Linux on my Dell D620 Latitude, oddly enough. Wish it had better driver support, and that is all I am asking for. Dell, use your sway to get these chip makers to write open drivers that can be sent upstream to Linus please. Mmmkay? Do that first and magically all the Linux guys will shut up because they'll be happy.
In my opinion a chip isn't "Linux Supported" until there is a driver in upstream the community can mantain.
HID has a patent on breaking and entering? The USPTO has reached a new low. I think I'm going to get a patent on marijuana smoking. Or better, a patent on patenting patents! I'll control the entire patent industry! MWWWWHAHAHA!
I wonder which sympathetic nation could really use a good rocket? Perhaps there is one out there with a fledgling nuclear weapons program with money burning a hole in their pocket. I dunno, some place in Asia.
I always get a kick out of people that say progress for a nation 'destabilizes' the region. What else are they supposed to do? Live in huts the rest of their lives? I think 'they' are trying to argue that unless Iran is moving toward democracy they are 'destabilizing' if moving forward at all.
If I lived in the middle of the desert and could get raw uranium on the cheap, say, from Russia, why wouldn't I build nuclear power? I have an entire desert to bury the waste in. If I were a state in which energy (oil) was my number one export, why wouldn't I do everything I could to sell as much oil as possible while searching for alternative sources of power for my own people. Then I could jack up the price of oil with my cartel (OPEC) connections. It is kind of like being a crack dealer: If you want to be successful, don't use your own product. Iran is dependent on others to process it's oil. Using nuclear power mostly eliminates this need and allows them to play hardball in the market.
Of course, in the pursuit of nuclear power if such nation produces a few nuclear weapons on the side for either profit or defensive use, big deal.
I'm just waiting for one of these rogue nations to go 'ballistic' and blow something up. I wonder if they realize the reaction would be a small scale nuclear conflict that would likely render their nation totally useless for about 10,000 years. No, there is no way they are that stupid, right? Welcome to the new cold war.
Perhaps we will all have lead-shielded gas tanks in the future to protect us from radioactive oil.
I for one welcome our new Iranian overlords.
I thought BitTorrent was supposed to reduce total bandwidth usage from single ISPs, networks, and servers... not increase it. What would happen if BitTorrent suddenly was unavailable at all? Which ISPs and networks would crack under the added strain?
Please correct me if I am wrong. I don't understand the fine details. How does BitTorrent help service providers SAVE money? Or does it?
This was featured on Future Weapons on Jan 22nd: http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/future-weapons/e pisodes/episode-guides.html
The episode was very interesting. If you aren't familiar with the show it is very good, and the host is one heck of a sniper. He drums it up a bit, and is a little over the top, but the guy can shoot so you have to show some respect.
I watched Wired Science for about 8 minutes before getting so uninterested I changed channels and forgot all about it. Yet another unremarkable show. Let's hope the others are more interesting.
"They say that employees don't leave their job or company, they leave their boss."
I'm not sure who 'they' are. However, for me this is not always the case. Over my 17 year career here is why I made a company shift:
1) Physical move to another city due to family needs.
2) New opportunity more in line with career goals.
3) Step up in career path.
4) Change of pace, broadening experience related to career.
5) Marriage, and another move to a different city.
6) Better opportunity more in line with career goals.
7) Left due to the boss, would have stayed otherwise.
There you go, only one time out of 7 job transitions was due to management. Almost every other time it was external to the company (family, marriage), or it was a step closer to my career goal at the time. Many times I did not take a big increase in pay either, it just had to be done. Can anyone else comment? Why did you leave all of the jobs you have ever had?
Let's say I am a store owner. Better yet, I am a movie theater owner and I show movies that I have made myself on the subject of squirrels. They are open to the public, anyone can just walk in and start enjoying the movies. To make money I have stuffed squirrels I sell in the lobby, and I have movie posters for another movie theater that shows horse movies. Now let us assume that my squirrel movies are the hottest thing in town. People can get enough of them. Everyone is talking about them. How cute their fluffy little tails are and all that cute squirrel crap. They are lining up down the street to see my free squirrel movies. And I am making a killing selling stuffed squirrels. Also, the horse theater is paying me gobs of money to put their posters on the wall. I am driving a car powered by squirrels I am doing so well.
Now let's say one of my biggest fans just loves my movies. He can't get enough of them, and he knows lost of other people who are the same. He would watch them all day long if he could but the line is just too long at the theater to get in. So, this fan happens to be a genius at optical systems. He rigs up a special series of prisms and mirrors to extend the 'broadcast' range of my movies. He figures "Hey, these are free so there is nothing wrong just extending the picture range, right? I am a big fan. The guy should be pleased about having such an amazing fan design a complex optical system just to watch his movies! He should feel really lucky to have me love his movies so much that I would go to the trouble." Now him and his friends can sit in a private theater next to mine and watch my movies in peace, just not in my theater.
One day I figure this out. I realize that there is no way I can stop his ingenious optical system from working. He is just too smart for me. I can't seem to figure out how all those new-fangled prisms and mirrors work. Worse, I am angry. His little private showing room doesn't have the horse posters and stuffed squirrels. Turns out that my customers don't really like that stuff, but they just tolerate it to get at my squirrel movies. The second they hear this guy is showing my movies in another place without the stupid horse posters they all go to his private viewing room. Sales are down 40% at my theater. The horse theater owner is mad cause his posters aren't being viewed and refuses to pay me any more money. Worse, the squirrels in my card die cause I can no longer afford to feed them. Now remember, the movie picture actually originates from my theater, yet it lands on a screen in his private theater as well as mine.
So I sue the kid. The judge says, yup - this guy is stealing your movies. He isn't supposed to be doing that. He will have to remove all the new-fangled prisms that get the picture to magically show up in his private theater. Also, he is going to have to pay you back for all those lost sales that he caused by doing this.
This leaves the slashdot crowd so confused, I have to write a dumb post about squirrel movies to explain it.
I think you are perhaps using the wrong OS. If you want a linux console within 3 seconds of power on, use this:
http://linuxbios.org/index.php/Main_Page
The truth is, this subject is an old one. The main answer is that it just takes time to get a DHCP lease, set up a few dozen services, and generally get all of the "junk" you need up and working without crashing the system. If your main complaint is Windows XP there are a few tuning guides that can reduce your boot time dramatically.
And just to make the article more clear: Let's substitute "boron" with Tom (hey, what guy wouldn't want more boron?), and "silicon" with Suzie (hey, what girl woudln't want more, eh, yeah.).
"Because it has one fewer electron than Suzie available for bonding with neighbouring atoms, Tom incorporated into Suzie leaves a positively-charged "hole" at each site where Tom's "missing" electron would be paired with one of Suzie's."
Well they did do it in France, you know.
Why is the date critical to the operation of the shuttle? Do the astronauts forget what day they are supposed to land or something? If the day flips to 366 - so what? Now, do not get me wrong. I'm sure there is a *good* reason why a date rollover to a non-existing day would cause a problem, but I can't seem to find out what that problem would be. Does the computer lock up? Does it loose it's ability to navigate? Does the life support system shut off? Do they even know? Maybe it is a case of 'we don't know what would happen, so rather than find out let's just not do it.'
Also, from what I understand, there are 4 computers aboard the craft. So, why not reboot one computer at a time to update the date until all are updated?
I want the cowboy astronauts back. The boys that few Apollo 13 and duct-taped their space craft together and rode it home. I think they are more scientist than hot-shot now-a-days. Kind of a shame, it was the ego driven pilot that sorta made it all romantic in a way, now we send accountants in to space that get freaked out over a little date change procedure.
What exactly is a superstar? According to this: "Superstar is a term used to refer to a celebrity who has great popular appeal and is widely-known, prominent or successful in some field."
So, you want to hire someone that has popular appeal. Someone that is well known in the world out there. I would imagine hiring a superstar in any field comes down to who you know, and your own personal fame. If you want to snag a superstart actor, you need to know someone in the business. You can't just call up their agent and say "Yeah, I got $100 million, how abuot it?" You have to bring a lot more to the table. Like, "Hi, this is George Lucas, I am doing a movie on xyz, it has a $200 million budget, $100 mil of that is for Tom Cruise. We will hire a private helicopter for him for the leangth of shooting. And three personal assistants. And a team of drivers. And free lodging and food. And he only has to work 4 hours a day. Let's do lunch. Of course he will be the main star. And of course he will look like an action hero."
Superstars want varying things. Money is certainly important. Perks are also highly important. Those superstar actors get their own pimped out trailers on set to hang out in. You best be ready to give your superstar programmer his own office decorated with anything he wants with any technology he wants. Or maybe the option to work from home.
I guess that leads to the question: Are you *sure* you want a superstar? Superstars come with baggage. They are concerned about their public image. A superstar programmer might only get to work on your projects 20-25% of the time. He/She needs to keep up the image of a superstar. How will your non-superstar programmers feel if you throw obcene amounts of money at your superstar while they work for next to nothing?
In my opinion it is better to have a good programmer who documents code well, has a deep breadth of programming knowledge, and works hard. That guy is worth a lot more to any project than a superstar.
You did what to the RAID?
Looks like a lost cause, *sigh*.
Servers died, so did the admins.
Hacked all night, no one cared.
And the most famous of all:
Someone set up us the bomb!
In high school I remember watching a documentary about NORAD and how they track space debris. They showed an animation that illustrated how a serious high-impact collision (think 20,000MPH) that resulted in the total distruction of a vehicle could, in the right orbit, cause a chain-reaction type effect destroying dozens and dozens of other craft. This essentially could make that orbit level non-usable. I'm no astrophysicist, so perhaps an expert can comment. The documentary mentioned this possible scenario is why they track very small objects in space, and apparently "they" will frequently adjust the shuttle orbit to avoid these dangers. Can anyone confirm if this is correct thinking?
First:
I would imagine if you have a few of these devices in an office they might not add that much carbon-dioxide to the air. However, what if you have dozens and dozens of people using these devices in a closed space? What does that do to the air quality over time?
Second:
We already have exploding batteries. What happens if your fuel tank or silicon engine ruptures and the contents spill on to your ultra-hot processor? How hot does a tiny combustion engine get? How prone is it to mechanical failure resulting in a fuel spill? Also, what about flying? Liquids are already restricted on domestic flights. I'm quite certain containers of gas to power your laptop will not be allowed on aircraft.
I realize this is just first generation tech. I just have a hard time believing that this is going to be a consumer usable product in a matter of years. I think it will be more like decades - if ever. It may work functionally within a number of years, but safety factors and other concerns will likely delay this technology quite a while.
I don't want my Linux "consumer" friendly. I want it hacker friendly. And it is. So *whack* hands off! There are some great usability things in the works that, when implemented, probably will make things more consumer friendly. Fine. Just please don't let that be the goal.
i ng-drm-money-maker-thought-stealer running either. Such things are for consumers.
The tipping point for Linux was when Oracle decided to support it? That was enough to stop reading, but unfortunatly I continued on.
The more windows consumer users are attracted to Linux the more they will expect it to function like windows. I want new users. I want fresh thinkers. I don't want cube fodder bugging my OS. I don't want a dancing paper clip in the corner. I don't want a mega-media-super-duper-everything-all-in-one-amaz
I am a happy consumer. I consume quite a bit actually. Linux is my escape from consumerism. Yet again we see a counter-culture wanting to be mainstream.
I am not a zealot at all, I just would like to propose the question: What do you want Linux to be? The everything OS? Best Desktop/Server/Embedded/Big Iron system?
I don't mind using Windows for some things, but the second that Windows and Linux start working and acting the same - forget it.
So which one is the "unheard of spam filter?"
/. submission (or at least a link).
Wouldn't it make sense to put this in the
Did I miss the obvious "and the winner is..." some place?
Why stop at banning those sites? Let's ban ANYTHING a sexual-predator might turn in to a "hunting ground."
Why not also ban...
- Playgrounds & Parks
- Zoos
- Pools (Of Any Kind)
- Children's Museums
- Libraries
- Arcades
And this is just a start. If we want to ensure that sexual predators are not turning the Internet in to hunting grounds, why not ban children from accessing the Internet completely? Get real.
I would love for this guy to tell me what percentage of sexual solicitations of minors have taken place using public library Internet access.
In my opinion the real problem is kids accessing these site at home, with no adult supervision. Don't believe it happens? Spend some time on youtube.com and see how many unsupervised pre-teams are making videos of themselves. My wife and I sat down and looked at a few and were quite disturbed. Our kids don't have private access to the Internet, and we monitor their activity closely. It's not perfect (what happens at friends houses?), but we need to do what we can.
Instead of passing usless laws that have no hope of protecting children, I propose this: We (as techs/geeks/admins/programmers) should teach our neighbors they shouldn't let their kids use the Internet behind closed doors for hours on end. Maybe you can offer your tech services and run tcpdump on their network for a few hours during their kids' "private" time. The parents might be in for a shock. Or maybe, if you are really gung-ho, teach a neighborhood class on how parents can protect kids on-line.
Light sabers are pretty advanced pieces of technology. Let me try to explain how they work in basic terms.
;)
First off, you need to imagine a sort of 'shield' around the blade. It is this shield that actually forms the blade in to a specific shape and length. It uses micro-miniature deflector technology. It's all deflector technology these days. If you can picture a sort of transparent hollow tube you are on the right track. In fact, if a Jedi needs a non-lethal billy club he/she can simply switch off the fusion generators and start whacking you with the deflector shield. It won't cut your arms off, but it'll smart a bit. Now, last time I checked, if you've gone to the trouble to piss off a Jedi chances are he ain't gonna take the time to just beat you over the head with a deflector shield. He's just gonna slice you in two. So keep that in mind.
Also, it's these deflectors that Jedi use to do that cool hand trick maneuver. They want you to think it's their hand throwing stuff across the room. Ever wonder what 'the force' is. It's just a case of misdirection: "HEY! LOOK AT MY HAND!" (As the Jedi switches his deflector on his saber to maximum using his left hand, down by his side.)
Now that you have this sort of hollow tube shield deflector thing, fusion materials are inserted in to the tube. Then 'blaster' technology is used to ignite the materials and sustain a reaction. Blaster technology is pretty deep, and I don't have time to go in to it. Now, as you can imagine, it takes quite a bit of energy to keep such a reaction going. That's why you hear that cool 'whummm' sound as you move it around. You're holding a few megawatts of energy in your hands. It's also why you hear that crackle when you whack two of them together. Same tech behind the frekin' lightning bolt shooting out of the hands trick.
The question was raised, why doesn't the superheated component of the saber just burn the crap out of the user? Well - deflectors of course. The deflectors contain the radiated heat energy to within a few inches of the blade. In fact, most sabers have a feature to adjust how much energy is radiated. This is handy if you ever find yourself stranded on an ice world. You just pop the thing in the snow, turn up the radiated heat, and you have a nice bonfire.
You might be wondering, but Luke almost froze to death and he had a saber - what gives? Well - let's just say his saber was more of a 'hack.' You see, Jedi in the past have been burnt badly when Sith lords have used the 'dark side' to tweak the controls on their sabers turning up the radiated heat. You think Yoda was born looking that way?? No, saber radiated heat accident. Anikin really liked screwing with young Jedi by turning up the radiated heat when they weren't looking. Well, anyhow, one of Luke's "improvements" to his saber was to remove this feature. Oops.
So there you have it. Be sure to keep your eyes open for my O'Reilly book coming out soon: Light Sabers in a Nutshell.
One actually useful technology I ran across recently is fuel cells that fit in a rack:
m ?base_sku=ISX-FCXR10-30
/. readers can dig them up.
http://apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cf
Looks like it can actually generate 10Kw and could have a several day runtime capability. The web site is unfortunatly short on details, but I'm sure some intrepid
I bet they cost an arm and a leg, or maybe two legs. Has anyone out there ever seen/used one of these units?
I'm not sure how on Earth this was rated Troll, but whatever.
The poster inidicated that part of the problem was that managment didn't believe he needed more help because everything was working. He's apparently killing himself to keep it running.
In that case, let a few things slip by putting in more reasonable hours. Eventually there will be proof that there is more work than can be done with the current resources. Things will break.
The only other option is to leave. If managment won't take your recommendations, it's not worth staying.
I just listed the basics, there was more to it. This was also 6 months ago, so prices have dropped.