a search by a friend of mine on freshmeat turned up 3 KDE front ends to packet sniffers and no download managers - and so is not really a business/server or desktop OS due to lack of software.
Although KDE has no download managers, it does a greater range of religious software than is available for another platform, including a handy bible study program and a biblical quote generator.
Therefore, rather than being the OS of "1337 h4x0rs", Linux is the OS of all good, honest God-fearing people. Rather than being a "strange anomoly", Linux is an operating system with impeccable moral credentials and is the obvious choice for all good citizens. And, as we all know, the only people who need privacy and products such as Zero-Knowledge are those evil scoundrels who have something to hide. Therefore, the fact that the Linux community, with its inherent honesty and strong belief in the teachings of Christ, shunned Zero-Knowledge is no real surprise.
I recently read some research (in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), but I can't find the article at the moment) which proved that some 3d game engines are potentially dangerous to health. The researchers reported that the dangers to health increase exponentially as the size of the screen on which the games is played increases.
The problem is to do with the way the game engine handle 3d images around the edge of the screen, and the way in which these images are processed by the brain. The researchers measured the EEG (electroencephalogram, "brain waves") of gamers whilst playing 3d games. The researchers noted that the EEG changed from its normal "beta" activity (characterised by 14-60Hz oscillations), and gained a low frequency component (delta waves, in the 0.5-2Hz range, which normally only occur during deep sleep).
The researchers attributed this change in brain activity to high frequency components in the rapidly changing images at the side of the screen in some 3d engines. The effect of these high frequency images on the gamer's peripheral vision caused desynchronisation of the gamers EEG rhythms, leading to headaches, irritability, nausea and (in the worse cases) epileptic attacks. The researchers found that these unfortunate side effects got considerably worse when the games were played on large screens.
My question is, will playing Quake on a huge screen like that in a CAVE be responsible for causing serious health problems in gamers?
I don't see how the JEDEC (Joint Electronic Devices Engineering Council) members can claim that Rambus didn't disclose their patents on SDRAM at the time that the standard was being chosen.
In order to gain a patent, you have to disclose your design. That's the whole point of patents - in return for legal protection of your intellectual property, you have to disclose details of how the design works and mankind (is supposed to) benefit from this disclosure of knowledge. The alternative to patents and disclosure is to keep your design secret but have no legal protection of your design.
The SDRAM patents were available, and anyone could have read the patents at the time when JEDEC were choosing the RAM standard. The truth of the matter is that the JEDEC members were too lazy or complacent to check for existing patents being punished for their stupidity. As a result we, the consumers, are paying inflated prices for our RAM because SDRAM manufacturers have to pay royalties to Rambus.
IMO, JEDEC are just as guilty as Rambus for creating this whole situation. We should question the existence of organisations such as JEDEC - do we really want to entrust the progress of technology to a few rich companies who meet in dark, smoky rooms to decide the direction of future technology? Cartels like this are never in the public interest. True competition between companies is the only way in which innovation can thrive, whilst ensuring a good deal for the consumer.
One of my girlfriends works at a rapid prototyping workshop, so I've seen some of these "fabbers" in action. In my experience, I really can't see the manufacturing industry are going to be too worried by them.
Fabricator machines are useful for prototyping of products, but they really aren't suitable for the production of the finished product.
Fabricators are slow. Very slow.
There's a limited range of materials you can use in them - the idea of a Rolex fab mentioned in the article is a fairy tale. The fabricator can't just magically produce gold and diamonds and incorporate them into a shiny new replica Rolex Oyster. Fabricators just aren't designed for making luxury goods like this, or for making anything which requires a non-trivial variety of materials.
Basic economics tells you that fabricators aren't a threat to the manufacturing industry. Real manufacturers benefit hugely from economies of scale, allowing them to buy raw materials in bulk and use faster and more efficient machinery. By trying to make things yourself, you lose these economies of scale. It wouldn't be worth your while trying to cheat Bic out of a few pence by trying to make your own ballpoint pens. The industrial revolution happened for a good reason!
Items produced by a fabricator don't have the durability of properly manufactured items.
There are countless other reasons why fabricator technology isn't a threat to manufacturing industry. This presentation is just jumping on the peer to peer bandwagon, but it really isn't realistic. Only when we have Star Trek-esque replicator technology will this sort of thing approach viability, but I am sure that replicators will also prove to be financially unviable.
The article questions whether these motorised skateboards will ever be available in Britain. One of my girlfriends works for the British Government's Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which is the government agency responsible for deciding the legality of new products such as this. Based on some of the things she has told me, I am quite sure that they will never allow the sale of these machines.
One of the Health and Safety Executive's criteria for allowing the sale of items is whether or not the items will place an "undue strain on the National Health Service". In case you don't know, all healthcare in the UK is funded by taxpayers and the standard of healthcare is extremely low. An item such as this, which possesses no brakes, lights, mirrors or seatbelts is almost certain to be outlawed by the government due to the high risk of accidents. Since the government will have to pay for the cost of treatment of the injured, they prefer to make things illegal rather than have to foot the bill.
It is a shame that because of the inadequacies of our healthcare system, the British are deprived of many fun things. For example, bungie jumping, recreational shooting and parachuting are illegal in the UK. Quad motorcycles, a close relative to these motorised skateboards, are also illegal. Even smoking is outlawed in many regions of the UK (the city of Manchester being the most famous example), simply because of the strain it puts on the health service.
Sometimes I'm proud to be British, but at other times, the "nanny state" which prevails over here really makes me angry. Does anyone know how I can get a visa to live in the USA?:-)
Providing your contract of employment had no terms restricting what you could say after you left the company, then they can't sue you for breach of contract. Even if you did have such a clause in your contract, I can't see that such a clause could be enforced for an indefinite duration.
However, if you posted a view of the company which they perceived to be malicious, inaccurate and defaming the company, then they could certainly unleash their lawyers onto you and sue you for libel. I'm sure that your ex-company has deeper pockets than you and I'm equally sure that they could afford lawyers who could win a libel lawsuit against you. This may seem unfair, but that's the way the legal system works.
Contacting your new employer about this seems rather petty of them. Of course, if they did this you could always counter-sue them for slander/libel. The legal system is fair after all!:)
Your best course of action is to deny that you posted the comments. There's no way that they can prove otherwise.
I hope you learn an important lesson from this incident - bitching about your previous employer is unproductive, immature and is bound to lead to trouble. You must think of the consequences before you post anything - if you aren't prepared to live with the consequences, then don't post it at all.
I have heard rumours that the British Government's Genetic Research Agency (GRA) is also working on engineering bacteria like this. Over the course of English history, there have been numerous problems when "commoners" have bred with the Royal Family - problems such as secret illegitimate children having claim to the throne and the inability of proles to settle into the Royal Family after marriage (as witnessed by many Royal divorces, from Henry VIII's time up to the present day). Problems like these have been a major factor in the erosion of the Royal Family's popularity and credibility. The GRA is hoping to "infect" the House of Windsor with such a bacteria to try to prevent unfortunate incidents such as these happening in future.
If these trials are successful, the government plan to infect the rest of the UK population with different strains of the bacteria. They intend to prevent the demise of the well established class system by only allowing subjects to mate within their own social group. It is hoped that by recreating the strict class system that existed in the times of The Empire, the UK may once again become a major world power.
I used to use twm a lot, but I always felt that it was slow and rather more resource intensive than such a simple window manager should have been. After reading this article, the reason for twm's poor performance is obvious. I quote:
"I sat down at my monochrome Sun 3/50 and typed vi twm.c and then opened the X11 documentation"
Leaving aside vi/EMACS flamewars for the moment, I think this shows a complete disregard of correct software design practice. No-one in their right mind could advocate starting to code a program first, then reading the relevant documentation, then designing the program whilst coding it.
Academics have spent years devising the correct way to design software:
1. Research the problem.
2. Design the software.
3. Implement the software, according to the design.
4. Test software, adjust design if necessary, return to 3.
Not wishing to be unfair, this disregard for the rules of programming really manifests itself in the poor performance of twm.
Considering the relatively large scale of twm, he should also have considered using an object orientated language, such as C++. Although C++ objects carry a lot of overhead, the benefits of a better OO software design can help to balance out these performance issues.
And finally, what the hell was he trying to achieve by coding the whole of twm in just one file, twm.c? Surely he learned during Computer Science class that it's a good idea to split your code up over several files, so that if one file gets corrupted you don't lose the whole project? Then again, with his obvious dislike of correct design procedures, he probably coded the entire program with just one function, main().
I know that some people within the open source community don't like to do things by the rule book, but by trying to cheat the rules you only end up with poor software. The rules were invented for a reason!
Are you the President of the He-Man Woman Hater's Club or something? What is your problem with women? Maybe you feel threatened by intelligent women, and have to try to lash out with flames. I've known many women in my time, and I've found that intelligent women are by far the most interesting. The mother of my son is an intelligent woman (she has 2 A-Levels), and she is one of the most interesting people (male or female) I've ever met (we were an item for over a year). OTOH, the mother of my daughter is pretty stupid (though she did have a great pair of tits - until my daughter was born anyway) and I only ever spent one night with her. Go figure.
What I'm trying to say is that maybe you would have a better opinion of women if you met some intelligent ones, rather than the typical low-grade sluts that most men go for. Then you'll find that women can be more than just sex objects.
Oh yeah, I know how to do housework and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I am what the media describes as a "New Man". Please grow out of your Victorian values.
It is a well-documented fact that the only organism capable of surviving the extreme conditions (low temperature, radiation, lack of oxygen and water) that Galileo has experienced are cockroaches. The real reason that NASA want to crash land Galileo is to kill off any cockroaches that had stowed away on Galileo, because they are afraid that the cockroaches will colonize Io and Europa. If the cockroaches were allowed to colonize these moons freely, there is a significant danger that they could develop spacecraft and weapons of mass destruction, and then come back to conquer Earth. The US Government realises the superiority of cockroaches and is so scared about the threat of a Space Cockroach invasion that they are willing to resort to these drastic measures. Remeber, cockroaches are everywhere... they're constantly plotting to overthrow mankind and take control of Earth. Be scared.
Slashdot Mirror
Although KDE has no download managers, it does a greater range of religious software than is available for another platform, including a handy bible study program and a biblical quote generator. Therefore, rather than being the OS of "1337 h4x0rs", Linux is the OS of all good, honest God-fearing people. Rather than being a "strange anomoly", Linux is an operating system with impeccable moral credentials and is the obvious choice for all good citizens. And, as we all know, the only people who need privacy and products such as Zero-Knowledge are those evil scoundrels who have something to hide. Therefore, the fact that the Linux community, with its inherent honesty and strong belief in the teachings of Christ, shunned Zero-Knowledge is no real surprise.
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The problem is to do with the way the game engine handle 3d images around the edge of the screen, and the way in which these images are processed by the brain. The researchers measured the EEG (electroencephalogram, "brain waves") of gamers whilst playing 3d games. The researchers noted that the EEG changed from its normal "beta" activity (characterised by 14-60Hz oscillations), and gained a low frequency component (delta waves, in the 0.5-2Hz range, which normally only occur during deep sleep).
The researchers attributed this change in brain activity to high frequency components in the rapidly changing images at the side of the screen in some 3d engines. The effect of these high frequency images on the gamer's peripheral vision caused desynchronisation of the gamers EEG rhythms, leading to headaches, irritability, nausea and (in the worse cases) epileptic attacks. The researchers found that these unfortunate side effects got considerably worse when the games were played on large screens.
My question is, will playing Quake on a huge screen like that in a CAVE be responsible for causing serious health problems in gamers?
--
In order to gain a patent, you have to disclose your design. That's the whole point of patents - in return for legal protection of your intellectual property, you have to disclose details of how the design works and mankind (is supposed to) benefit from this disclosure of knowledge. The alternative to patents and disclosure is to keep your design secret but have no legal protection of your design.
The SDRAM patents were available, and anyone could have read the patents at the time when JEDEC were choosing the RAM standard. The truth of the matter is that the JEDEC members were too lazy or complacent to check for existing patents being punished for their stupidity. As a result we, the consumers, are paying inflated prices for our RAM because SDRAM manufacturers have to pay royalties to Rambus.
IMO, JEDEC are just as guilty as Rambus for creating this whole situation. We should question the existence of organisations such as JEDEC - do we really want to entrust the progress of technology to a few rich companies who meet in dark, smoky rooms to decide the direction of future technology? Cartels like this are never in the public interest. True competition between companies is the only way in which innovation can thrive, whilst ensuring a good deal for the consumer.
--
Fabricators are slow. Very slow.
There's a limited range of materials you can use in them - the idea of a Rolex fab mentioned in the article is a fairy tale. The fabricator can't just magically produce gold and diamonds and incorporate them into a shiny new replica Rolex Oyster. Fabricators just aren't designed for making luxury goods like this, or for making anything which requires a non-trivial variety of materials.
Basic economics tells you that fabricators aren't a threat to the manufacturing industry. Real manufacturers benefit hugely from economies of scale, allowing them to buy raw materials in bulk and use faster and more efficient machinery. By trying to make things yourself, you lose these economies of scale. It wouldn't be worth your while trying to cheat Bic out of a few pence by trying to make your own ballpoint pens. The industrial revolution happened for a good reason!
Items produced by a fabricator don't have the durability of properly manufactured items.
There are countless other reasons why fabricator technology isn't a threat to manufacturing industry. This presentation is just jumping on the peer to peer bandwagon, but it really isn't realistic. Only when we have Star Trek-esque replicator technology will this sort of thing approach viability, but I am sure that replicators will also prove to be financially unviable.
--
One of the Health and Safety Executive's criteria for allowing the sale of items is whether or not the items will place an "undue strain on the National Health Service". In case you don't know, all healthcare in the UK is funded by taxpayers and the standard of healthcare is extremely low. An item such as this, which possesses no brakes, lights, mirrors or seatbelts is almost certain to be outlawed by the government due to the high risk of accidents. Since the government will have to pay for the cost of treatment of the injured, they prefer to make things illegal rather than have to foot the bill.
It is a shame that because of the inadequacies of our healthcare system, the British are deprived of many fun things. For example, bungie jumping, recreational shooting and parachuting are illegal in the UK. Quad motorcycles, a close relative to these motorised skateboards, are also illegal. Even smoking is outlawed in many regions of the UK (the city of Manchester being the most famous example), simply because of the strain it puts on the health service.
Sometimes I'm proud to be British, but at other times, the "nanny state" which prevails over here really makes me angry. Does anyone know how I can get a visa to live in the USA? :-)
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However, if you posted a view of the company which they perceived to be malicious, inaccurate and defaming the company, then they could certainly unleash their lawyers onto you and sue you for libel. I'm sure that your ex-company has deeper pockets than you and I'm equally sure that they could afford lawyers who could win a libel lawsuit against you. This may seem unfair, but that's the way the legal system works.
Contacting your new employer about this seems rather petty of them. Of course, if they did this you could always counter-sue them for slander/libel. The legal system is fair after all! :)
Your best course of action is to deny that you posted the comments. There's no way that they can prove otherwise.
I hope you learn an important lesson from this incident - bitching about your previous employer is unproductive, immature and is bound to lead to trouble. You must think of the consequences before you post anything - if you aren't prepared to live with the consequences, then don't post it at all.
--
If these trials are successful, the government plan to infect the rest of the UK population with different strains of the bacteria. They intend to prevent the demise of the well established class system by only allowing subjects to mate within their own social group. It is hoped that by recreating the strict class system that existed in the times of The Empire, the UK may once again become a major world power.
--
"I sat down at my monochrome Sun 3/50 and typed vi twm.c and then opened the X11 documentation"
Leaving aside vi/EMACS flamewars for the moment, I think this shows a complete disregard of correct software design practice. No-one in their right mind could advocate starting to code a program first, then reading the relevant documentation, then designing the program whilst coding it.
Academics have spent years devising the correct way to design software:
1. Research the problem.
2. Design the software.
3. Implement the software, according to the design.
4. Test software, adjust design if necessary, return to 3.
Not wishing to be unfair, this disregard for the rules of programming really manifests itself in the poor performance of twm.
Considering the relatively large scale of twm, he should also have considered using an object orientated language, such as C++. Although C++ objects carry a lot of overhead, the benefits of a better OO software design can help to balance out these performance issues.
And finally, what the hell was he trying to achieve by coding the whole of twm in just one file, twm.c? Surely he learned during Computer Science class that it's a good idea to split your code up over several files, so that if one file gets corrupted you don't lose the whole project? Then again, with his obvious dislike of correct design procedures, he probably coded the entire program with just one function, main().
I know that some people within the open source community don't like to do things by the rule book, but by trying to cheat the rules you only end up with poor software. The rules were invented for a reason!
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What I'm trying to say is that maybe you would have a better opinion of women if you met some intelligent ones, rather than the typical low-grade sluts that most men go for. Then you'll find that women can be more than just sex objects.
Oh yeah, I know how to do housework and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I am what the media describes as a "New Man". Please grow out of your Victorian values.
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Liberian (ly-beer-ee-n)
noun A native of Liberia (a west African nation established in 1847).
adjective Of or relating to Liberia.
I hope this helps you - or maybe you were just being pedantic?. Thank you.
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Next important question: Can crocodiles climb trees? I'm sure they can, but no-one believes me.
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It is a well-documented fact that the only organism capable of surviving the extreme conditions (low temperature, radiation, lack of oxygen and water) that Galileo has experienced are cockroaches. The real reason that NASA want to crash land Galileo is to kill off any cockroaches that had stowed away on Galileo, because they are afraid that the cockroaches will colonize Io and Europa. If the cockroaches were allowed to colonize these moons freely, there is a significant danger that they could develop spacecraft and weapons of mass destruction, and then come back to conquer Earth. The US Government realises the superiority of cockroaches and is so scared about the threat of a Space Cockroach invasion that they are willing to resort to these drastic measures. Remeber, cockroaches are everywhere... they're constantly plotting to overthrow mankind and take control of Earth. Be scared.
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