MySQL: Building User Interfaces chose to include the full code listing for everything. This is both a blessing and a curse: readers have the code right in front of them and don't have to worry about being in front of a computer while reading the book
Since when do people read computer books on the throne? I would think anybody who's interested in this book (yes, you two hiding at the back!) would be reading it in front of a computer, trying out the sample code to learn what's going on.
Actually, I have the coolest CPU load display. It's made with one of these "charge left" check display that comes with some AA battery (you know, you press two poles and it turns yellow). Here's the recipe:
- Get a used battery with a level check gage
- Carefully unwind the wrapper, and cut it to size to recover the gage
- Duct-tape thin electrical wires at the two ends, behind the wrapper. It's tricky to get good contact. Unfortunately, it's not possible to solder then.
- Glue the wire-equipped gage against something : this is important, the display method in the case of these AA batt checkers is thermal ink. If you want it to display something more useful than just "full on" all the time after 5 minutes, you need to glue it on something that sinks the heat from behind.
- Make a small TTL-controlled 1.5V power supply and connect the control line to one of your// port's line.
- Make a small program to control the display by sending a continuous square signal with variable width modulation (variable duty cycle). Wiggling the line only several times per second is okay, the thermal inertia of the display is high enough that any timing will work. It takes a while to calibrate it, as it's not linear.
Mine's glued on the side of my monitor. At a glance, I can see the average CPU load. It's the display itself that does the averaging, due to thermal inertia. I left the wires exposed and the "Duracell" part of the wrapper to increase the geeky looks.
the Executive Dashboard provides the flexibility of digital information with the simplicity of analog displays.
1 - Choose a low trading day at the stock market
2 - Go to your boss' office when he's not there, glue a small magnet behind the device, about where the "stock market" needle's fulcrum (and magnetic coil) is.
3 - If the needle doesn't jump right full tilt, invert the N-S poles of the magnet until it does.
4 - Wait for your boss to come back, watch him get all excited and sell all his shares
iChat/AIM is great but my mother will never use it. Same can be said for VoIP.
I say bull.
There are 3 things that count with new technologies : (1) the technology, (2) packaging, (3) packaging. If you package VoIP in the form of a telephone set that plugs into the wall, doesn't take a genius to configure and provides the same sort of service (no choppiness, somewhat okay phone quality, and the ability to dial a number), your mom will use it.
The best example is the Tivo : it's 20+ years people have been able to record shows at predefined times with VHS recorders, even sometimes using barcodes printed in TV guides so you don't have to program your VCR yourself. Yet that sort of application is only taking off since Tivo and ReplayTV, because they realized they should take the basic idea and turn it into a box that connects onto some wall socket, asks your zip code to configure itself, dials, do everything for you, and then present you with menus and things that a 6 year old can understand. But in the end, Tivo boxes are VCRs on steroid. The success comes from the packaging.
Anyone else think we're nearing the end of the analog phone system?
Not anytime soon, as long as (1) IP-based applications remain best-effort solutions, (2) IP stuff remain significantly more insecure than phone connections (that's quite a low standard to achieve, but still) and (3) any relevant part of the rest of the world doesn't want to switch to VoIP (i.e. everybody who doesn't enjoy the standard of living found in the 5-10 most developed countries in the world).
Yes, the world being flat and the sun orbiting it were pretty obvious ideas in the past, and people who thought differently at the time were also taken for fools by childrens (and their parents, and their church).
You don't need to be a great philosopher to consider far-fetched ideas, you just need to be open-minded.
I find more inflammatory the claim itself that algorithms are alive, lacking a definition of "alive"
I did some work on AIs too, and I don't have a particular problem conceiving that a computer program could be considered alive. "Being alive", while having no proper definition, is something people know instinctively, but the human being gets this categorization instinct from its biological experience and past.
If you define the environment as computers and networks, perhaps not simple virii, but more complex programs could be said alive. And I'm quite sure that, given enough time, such a program could mutate and evolve due to stresses in its "environment" (computer errors, data corruption). It's just a thought experiment of course, nobody is going to run computers for millions of years just to test the theory, but still, worth considering. Just because our biological way of thinking tells us it's not doesn't mean it isn't.
It never ceases to amaze me how someone with a functioning brain can make the insipid leap to conclude that a friggin' algorithm is a living thing.
This comment you made just proves that you've never really thought of the question.
The question is: what defines something as alive or inert? the boundary has always been fuzzy, and endless philosophical debates on the subject have been raging for centuries and still do to this day, albeit with a little more material to try to answer it.
The short of it is: the conventional wisdom would be to define something alive as (1) performing some function, however trivial (i.e. transforming something into something else) and (2) being able to reproduce itself (from full sexual reproduction down to simple mitosis). The problem with that definition is that virii wouldn't count as being alive (they don't reproduce or perform anything without having invaded a host), and virii are usually considered the smallest thing that can be said alive.
If you extend the definition to encompass biological virii, you start defining computer ones as alive too. They, on the other hand, are usually considered "inert" (well, not alive).
etc etc...
So you see, it's not as easy as you might think... I invite you to do research on the subject before posting inflamatory comments.
One interesting insight: after the Challenger explosion it became obvious that we would never refuel a rocket with volatile fuel at a space station because the threat to the station would be so great.
Presumably, refueling tanks would be tacked on the ISS, not kept inside the pressurized sections for storage. Therefore, unless the tank violently busts apart (unlikely, a steady leak is far more probable, even in case of a collision), there's no danger of the fuel leaking out and roasting the space station to oblivion. More likely, there'd be a leak, frozen fuel would be dumped in space, and the tank would empty more or less fast, possibly forcing the controllers to stop the ISS from spinning and/or reorient it. There is no such thing as volatile fuel in an atmosphere-less environment.
Looks like Linus's trip "down under" inspired this kernel release...
Good thing he didn't pick up the Crocodile Dundee, Steve Irwin, or a naked aborigena. But then, given the size of the Linux tarball these days, I think Ayers Rock would have been more appropriate than a 50 gram rodent...
Linux kernel 2.6.2 aka 'Feisty Dunnart' released," and adds some possibly useful information "about Dunnarts
So now Linux' mascot is a dunnart uh?
Well check out this picture from the link in the/. blurb: doesn't that look like a badly wounded rodent implacably attracted by a mentally deranged radioactive red hat?
I am not sure if that statistic includes me 'coz I haven't un-paused my Tivo yet:)
In the case of the SuperBowl booby, they won't even need to track people online. They just have to measure the incoming rash of remotes coming back under warranty for repair of the replay button.
I assume the guy doesn't live in an appartment. My 12' Schmidt Cassegrain telescope however, while less interesting that this project, can be moved with a bicycle trailer to go stargazing on the high hill near my place, and doubles as a handy tool to watch my neighbours' boobs in the appt complex down the street.
Slashdot Mirror
This could substantially increase the number of satellite TV subscribers, which in the United States is still a distant second to cable television.
In the US, they'll market the phone with a TV socket and extension cords.
I think it's time to upgrade to windows.
Didn't Microsoft swipe "their" XP TCP/IP stack from BSD? It'd be interesting to know if Windows could be crashed using the same exploit.
MySQL: Building User Interfaces chose to include the full code listing for everything. This is both a blessing and a curse: readers have the code right in front of them and don't have to worry about being in front of a computer while reading the book
Since when do people read computer books on the throne? I would think anybody who's interested in this book (yes, you two hiding at the back!) would be reading it in front of a computer, trying out the sample code to learn what's going on.
Actually, I have the coolest CPU load display. It's made with one of these "charge left" check display that comes with some AA battery (you know, you press two poles and it turns yellow). Here's the recipe:
// port's line.
- Get a used battery with a level check gage
- Carefully unwind the wrapper, and cut it to size to recover the gage
- Duct-tape thin electrical wires at the two ends, behind the wrapper. It's tricky to get good contact. Unfortunately, it's not possible to solder then.
- Glue the wire-equipped gage against something : this is important, the display method in the case of these AA batt checkers is thermal ink. If you want it to display something more useful than just "full on" all the time after 5 minutes, you need to glue it on something that sinks the heat from behind.
- Make a small TTL-controlled 1.5V power supply and connect the control line to one of your
- Make a small program to control the display by sending a continuous square signal with variable width modulation (variable duty cycle). Wiggling the line only several times per second is okay, the thermal inertia of the display is high enough that any timing will work. It takes a while to calibrate it, as it's not linear.
Mine's glued on the side of my monitor. At a glance, I can see the average CPU load. It's the display itself that does the averaging, due to thermal inertia. I left the wires exposed and the "Duracell" part of the wrapper to increase the geeky looks.
the Executive Dashboard provides the flexibility of digital information with the simplicity of analog displays.
1 - Choose a low trading day at the stock market
2 - Go to your boss' office when he's not there, glue a small magnet behind the device, about where the "stock market" needle's fulcrum (and magnetic coil) is.
3 - If the needle doesn't jump right full tilt, invert the N-S poles of the magnet until it does.
4 - Wait for your boss to come back, watch him get all excited and sell all his shares
5 - Make evil grin
iChat/AIM is great but my mother will never use it. Same can be said for VoIP.
I say bull.
There are 3 things that count with new technologies : (1) the technology, (2) packaging, (3) packaging. If you package VoIP in the form of a telephone set that plugs into the wall, doesn't take a genius to configure and provides the same sort of service (no choppiness, somewhat okay phone quality, and the ability to dial a number), your mom will use it.
The best example is the Tivo : it's 20+ years people have been able to record shows at predefined times with VHS recorders, even sometimes using barcodes printed in TV guides so you don't have to program your VCR yourself. Yet that sort of application is only taking off since Tivo and ReplayTV, because they realized they should take the basic idea and turn it into a box that connects onto some wall socket, asks your zip code to configure itself, dials, do everything for you, and then present you with menus and things that a 6 year old can understand. But in the end, Tivo boxes are VCRs on steroid. The success comes from the packaging.
I don't want to see half of the people I chat with...
Oh come on, I bet you'd really like to see the lower half, you dirty thing you...
Anyone else think we're nearing the end of the analog phone system?
Not anytime soon, as long as (1) IP-based applications remain best-effort solutions, (2) IP stuff remain significantly more insecure than phone connections (that's quite a low standard to achieve, but still) and (3) any relevant part of the rest of the world doesn't want to switch to VoIP (i.e. everybody who doesn't enjoy the standard of living found in the 5-10 most developed countries in the world).
Yes, the world being flat and the sun orbiting it were pretty obvious ideas in the past, and people who thought differently at the time were also taken for fools by childrens (and their parents, and their church).
You don't need to be a great philosopher to consider far-fetched ideas, you just need to be open-minded.
I find more inflammatory the claim itself that algorithms are alive, lacking a definition of "alive"
I did some work on AIs too, and I don't have a particular problem conceiving that a computer program could be considered alive. "Being alive", while having no proper definition, is something people know instinctively, but the human being gets this categorization instinct from its biological experience and past.
If you define the environment as computers and networks, perhaps not simple virii, but more complex programs could be said alive. And I'm quite sure that, given enough time, such a program could mutate and evolve due to stresses in its "environment" (computer errors, data corruption). It's just a thought experiment of course, nobody is going to run computers for millions of years just to test the theory, but still, worth considering. Just because our biological way of thinking tells us it's not doesn't mean it isn't.
Here's one you can test on your *nix box:
#include
#include
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
swarming_happens_here:
fork();
goto swarming_happens_here
}
It never ceases to amaze me how someone with a functioning brain can make the insipid leap to conclude that a friggin' algorithm is a living thing.
This comment you made just proves that you've never really thought of the question.
The question is: what defines something as alive or inert? the boundary has always been fuzzy, and endless philosophical debates on the subject have been raging for centuries and still do to this day, albeit with a little more material to try to answer it.
The short of it is: the conventional wisdom would be to define something alive as (1) performing some function, however trivial (i.e. transforming something into something else) and (2) being able to reproduce itself (from full sexual reproduction down to simple mitosis). The problem with that definition is that virii wouldn't count as being alive (they don't reproduce or perform anything without having invaded a host), and virii are usually considered the smallest thing that can be said alive.
If you extend the definition to encompass biological virii, you start defining computer ones as alive too. They, on the other hand, are usually considered "inert" (well, not alive).
etc etc...
So you see, it's not as easy as you might think... I invite you to do research on the subject before posting inflamatory comments.
you'll discover that the nonliving world is very much alive
We all know that.
One of the problems with VoIP has been choppy communications when users are making heavy use of their broadband connection.
Tha t's abs olutel y n ot true.
-- Reg ards
Sanf ord Wall ace
The first thing I built wasn't a scale model of the Effiel tower or a working crane.
With an erector set, I'm not sure I want to know a model of what you built with it...
One interesting insight: after the Challenger explosion it became obvious that we would never refuel a rocket with volatile fuel at a space station because the threat to the station would be so great.
Presumably, refueling tanks would be tacked on the ISS, not kept inside the pressurized sections for storage. Therefore, unless the tank violently busts apart (unlikely, a steady leak is far more probable, even in case of a collision), there's no danger of the fuel leaking out and roasting the space station to oblivion. More likely, there'd be a leak, frozen fuel would be dumped in space, and the tank would empty more or less fast, possibly forcing the controllers to stop the ISS from spinning and/or reorient it. There is no such thing as volatile fuel in an atmosphere-less environment.
Looks like Linus's trip "down under" inspired this kernel release...
...
Good thing he didn't pick up the Crocodile Dundee, Steve Irwin, or a naked aborigena. But then, given the size of the Linux tarball these days, I think Ayers Rock would have been more appropriate than a 50 gram rodent
Linux kernel 2.6.2 aka 'Feisty Dunnart' released," and adds some possibly useful information "about Dunnarts
/. blurb: doesn't that look like a badly wounded rodent implacably attracted by a mentally deranged radioactive red hat?
...
So now Linux' mascot is a dunnart uh?
Well check out this picture from the link in the
Scary if you ask me
"SCO's Claim to ownership of Linux"
Well no, the claim is real. The title you're referring to I think is "D-Day: The Day Darl Killed IBM".
The "Hitchiker's Guide" series is very very funny though I have yet to finish all of the cd.
I can understand you're a slow reader, those ascii characters must be awfully hard to read, printed circularly in binary format on a 12cm CD...
They forgot to include the never-published Orwell novel : 1984 -- 20 years later
Yes, and you gotta love the irony: a spammer being sued by one of the largest spam source on the internet :)
I am not sure if that statistic includes me 'coz I haven't un-paused my Tivo yet :)
In the case of the SuperBowl booby, they won't even need to track people online. They just have to measure the incoming rash of remotes coming back under warranty for repair of the replay button.
alarming bit of information: Tivo tracks subscribers' viewing habits.
This is unacceptable. From now on, I'll keep my Tivo box disconnected from the phone socket.
Just try to track my boob viewing habbits *now* mssrs Tivo! Ah! That's turned you white hasn't it, hey, hey?
18" f: 8 Folded Newtonian
Weight 70lb
Eyepiece Ht. at Zenith 5'4"
33% Obstruction
3 Min: Setup - Ultra Portable
I assume the guy doesn't live in an appartment. My 12' Schmidt Cassegrain telescope however, while less interesting that this project, can be moved with a bicycle trailer to go stargazing on the high hill near my place, and doubles as a handy tool to watch my neighbours' boobs in the appt complex down the street.