Assembling a desktop with 8 gigs RAM is trivial and affordable, ditto for slapping 8 gigs in a laptop. All my CPUs since '06 have been 64-bit, as have been all the operating systems (apart from some vm stuff.)
And yes, I'm glad Opera has come out with a 64-bit version. While FF is my system default, I've been using Opera for most browsing for since version 4-something. I've tried Chrome four times now, and so far each time I remove it after a week or two. I do like having some reasonable choices - I can find browsers I prefer to use, and other can do so as well.
I'm fairly pleased with my current rig, although the two fans on the Noctua NH-D14 are noticeable when I turn off my air filter (I smoke). Video card is a MSI 460GTX and it's fan is relatively quiet - but then the most demanding things I run these days is Civ V and Silent Hunter IV with mostly default settings at whatever resolution fits in a window.
1090T is running stock (and if I remember correctly, cool&quiet and turbo are enabled), worldcommunitygrid is set to run all cores 100%, system is fast and responsive - more so, it seems, than when I set aside just 3 cores for the grid. CPU averages 40-43C, GPU about the same, although I've seen it get into low fifties now and then. Case is a HAF932 with stock fans, add-on dust screens (they raised temps 3-5 degrees.) Host OS is Ubuntu 11.10.
Looking at some of the reviews of sealed water coolers on Tom's Hardware, Frostytech, and a few other places, I expect that's what will go in my next build, probably late next year. While I can see there are some real advantages to custom DIY, I'm too old, lazy, and broke to get into it, and the current and projected crop of the better-rated off-the-shelf stuff is looking both affordable and effective.
I don't mean to dis her injury - bad burns do a lot more than just hurt like a sumbitch.
McDs in a neighborly fashion should've paid her bills, and the judge should've dismissed the case.
Instead, McDucks rolled over, the sueage floodgates opened, lawyers got an even worse rep, and judges and juries appeared even more clueless than usual.
Guys, we've got some good discussion going. I don't think we're so far separated in viewpoint that there can't be a useful merging of efforts. Thanks for the links, btw; I follow and read and try to learn.
@arose, Bomozai - yup, agreed, robots are our surrogates, if you will. That said, we've enough examples, given current and near-term forecasted tech, of how useful it can be to have a human on the scene. Whether, over time, that favors meatspace, teleoperators, humans' consciousness in the machinery, The Singularity, whatever, let's be about it, in whatever blend works copacetically for the job at hand.
I don't think that thinking humans in just the one place might be limiting, fatalistic, narrow-minded, bored, decadent, un-imaginative, and perhaps a tad foolish requires any religion, quasi- or otherwise.
I carefully read John Michael Greer's essay, and more on his site. I'm impressed with his sincerity and general clarity of thought. He's the only one I've read from the various links given, and others I followed, that didn't seem to smirk, but had the honesty to be sad. However, I do not, upon reflection thus far, agree with his, or the others', analyses. I suspect the accounting has not been fully done. I'm trying not to let my own wont/bias rule me, as well. Maybe they're right. Maybe, dealing with what's on the burner, working on satori, doing some shrooms, grooving on what is, and giving up worthless dreams is the right thing to do. But if we don't try, we'll never know the difference. If we don't go look, we won't know what we might find - out there, and about ourselves.
The whole "we're here, we're not going anywhere, we _can't_ go anywhere, get over it" doesn't just stick in my craw, I don't think it computes. I'd be more concerned about the heating effects of continued growth in energy use here.
There's more, but this is already long and my fingers hurt. Look, I'm not very bright, and there's a lot I don't know, but I have had the freedom to read, and to stand apart a bit and perhaps have another, more... distant perspective on things.
@Windbourne - nice. Whether Universe regards us as an infection, if we do go a-roving, is for us to find out. [grin]
Proof of concept. Practical engineering: making things work when they don't. Up until Vostok, a manned _anything_ in space was only a concept. All the manned efforts through to ISS have been a stepwise move to develop the kinds of knowledge and know-how needed to go further. Robots are pretty neat and do some good work; they'll definitely improve. But history shows that where explorers go, some will eventually want to follow - whether for adventure, profit, or to live.
I suggest thinking multi-facet, long-term, various kinds of return, for fun and profit. I don't care much for the "either-or" kind of thinking that crops up often in discussions of 'most anything - I think it tends to limit perception and possibilities.
I also have a long-standing bias that the long-term survival and flourishing of humanity requires being on more than one planet, in one solar system. Whether that survival is possible or desirable is for each to decide. Short-term, I'm thinking mostly science, and resources - helium-3, the vast treasures of the asteroids in all kinds minerals, and continuing to develop the engineering and other know-how needed to keep on truckin' - whatever the blend of man and machine that gets it done.
And, yeah, I've been reading and thinking on this since the Fifties. I admit to being heavily influenced by Heinlein, von Braun, Ley, O'Neill, and others. Maybe I'm impatient. Maybe I'm selfish. But I'd like to see some more progress while I'm still here.
"It's ridiculous to consider anyone playing the same game in 10 or 20 years."
Depends on the game, and the gamer, I suppose.
Silent Hunter IV holds my interest. I played Civ IV from when it came out up to when I bought Civ V - and still play Rhye's and Fall from time to time. When I get Darek's Gemulator set up again in an XP or '98 virtual machine, I will play Empire (the 2.01c or d version for the ST having by far the best maps and map editor, IMO) again. The Monkey Island stuff is fun, not just for me but for my friends' children as well. That's just for starters. Dungeon Master, Sim City, Balance of Power, King's Quest....
As for Ubisoft, I've looked askance at their DRM shenanigans for a while, and have little to no interest in most of their games. Yet I think SH IV is bar none the finest sub sim ever made (the Steam version works fine under Crossover Games) - with no discredit to other good ones, most of which I've played.
Yeah. Only time I'd want to be "tracked" would be sending my location to 911 so's they could take my heart-attacked self to the ER. Otherwise I believe it's nobody's business where I am and where I go.
From the summary: "He has been refused a license" From the article: "He has been rejected for a state permit"
"He was supposed to pay $1200 for a license to handle this chemical and refused."
Strikes me as that's a high price for the privilege of signing a register when you pick the stuff up at a supplier.
"He was asked to keep tabs on who bought the product to the extent that he would report "suspicious" bulk purchasers. He refused."
He couldn't give what he didn't have; instead he offered the names of the outfitters he sold to.
"He also does not appear to be able to tell the difference between the DEA and the TSA, as the article points out. This does not suggest he is good at dealing with bureaucracy."
He might not be good at 'dealing with bureaucracy' but he seems to know who they are well enough. He called 'em "thickheads" which I think well characterizes the mentality, no matter the alphabet-soup agency. You'd have to ask him, but I suspect he full well knows the difference between the DEA and the TSA.
The article points out that two noted sales spikes were just before end of 1999 and after post-tsunami Fukushima. Isn't the demand for meth steadier? The comments from DEA seem enough to talk to Wallace so as to verify he's not in the meth business, but nowhere near convincing enough to shut him down. The statement from Barbara Carreno is straight out of the Ministry of Truth handbook.
I think it's a simple case of over-reaction based on the inability of thickheads to reason. Like you, I admire Wallace and his sense of humor.
Even if he's allowed to continue making Polar Pure, he won't be able to unless he can find a supplier not intimidated by DEA.
Right. It's supposed to make a profit, just like any insurance company. Old Age Survivors and Disability Insurance: OASDI, which is what Social Security is. It's a federal insurance program, something you're not going to hear on the talk shows or most news programs. Had congress not decided to essentially rob OASDI for general revenue during Nixon's reign, this aspect of the budget discussions would never have appeared.
Yeah, the wee-hours mad coding spells when one is "in the groove." Long time ago for me but I can still almost taste the experience.
I like your idea - I think you've nailed it. Would mean more upfront cost for Microsoft - still essentially chump change, tho - and solve most of the original shortcomings and ameliorate the rest, I should think.
Selah. Had I mod points you'd get some. When I see anyone, but a parent especially, acting like an asshole I have to wonder both if their own upbringing was so twisted their psyches were ruined and if they're incapable of introspection.
Thank you. Leases, yeah, crap, I'd forgotten about them. I've signed enough, dealt with more, found them sometimes annoying but a little creativity helped get around most of their impediment. Helps to rewrite them before signing, at least it used to. Ditto utilities. I've never signed a lease with a non-refundable clause, so have no knowledge about that. But back in an earlier life I sold real estate and was involved in writing a rent-control ordinance. I guess things have gotten even crappier in the intervening years, tho.
Guess I had a bare house in mind. Furniture, rugs, housewares from Salvation Army store, Goodwill, St. Vincent dePaul, etc., get some cheap futons. Cheap but effective. Times have changed, I guess.
Personal life stuff, oh yeah, that could be a hassle. Time of year might make a difference if kinder involved; pets and s.o. might be deal breakers. Sorry, I thought of them, but somehow imagined that in many cases something could be worked out. Sheesh, I really didn't think things through.
I made a fatal assumption that MS would provide tools apart from one's personal equipment.
So, I guess they end up with vagabond coders - which isn't necessarily all bad. Meanwhile, the real developers can persevere, find venture capital, etc. Hmm, that last sentence might seem snarky or something, didn't mean it that way, 'cuz I agree with your point.
Thanks for the serious, informative reply. You've helped me better understand an apparently superficial opportunity/PR stunt.
If everything comes out of the 20 large, it might could be tight, especially given the size of one's team, but...
In the old days we'd conspire together on a large house (cities used to be chock-a-block with family housing), 3+ bedroom houses rent for around two grand, general cost of living is not too bad, and the climate is congenial albeit a bit cloudy and drizzly parts of the year. Seems to me offhand that one oughta be able to cover expenses and have enough left over for a few kegs and shrimp for the barbie - every weekend.
Six percent? Pfui. Seriously, I don't know how things work these days so much, but is this truly a bad deal?
Or move to dry land and wax the bean, polish the rocket, choke the chicken, pull the pud, oil the pipe, stretch the rope, grease the pole, baste the kielbasa, brush the hot dog.... Or, if one must, massage Nemo.
Enough already with the pinhead greed-borne stupid motherfucking patent ideas. It's beyond insane. Just recent stories concerning rounded corners, swiping or flicking one's finger on a surface, ingesting water not helping to prevent dehydration, performance royalties for campfire songs or Happy Birthday, patenting the Web, are enough to destroy the equanimity of a rock. Enough.
"It's wasted money that could better go into R&D, for example."
Even spending it on booze and hookers would better serve the economy. Write the app, make it secure, slim, efficient then sell it, give it away, open source it. If it's useful it will be used. People will remember and look to you more favorably for their next good or service. If you truly invent something that's non-obvious to the artful and doesn't use prior art, far out. Until then, fuck off. Oh, and consider retraining the excess dunderheads in management and legal as groundskeepers or such, that their talents might be put to better use.
....I don't know anyone who uses Linux for dsktops....
Now you know one. Linux on my tower, which I'm using right now, and Linux on my laptop which I loaned to a friend for her business.
While I sometimes use XP in a vm, I ditched Vista on the tower and Win7 on the laptop due largely to maintenance annoyances. I didn't need any Windows-based software that doesn't run in a vm or its open-source analogue on Linux. I made the switch mostly for convenience; any inclination to zealotry was left behind long ago with my youth. YMMV, of course.
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Why not have more RAM?
Assembling a desktop with 8 gigs RAM is trivial and affordable, ditto for slapping 8 gigs in a laptop. All my CPUs since '06 have been 64-bit, as have been all the operating systems (apart from some vm stuff.)
And yes, I'm glad Opera has come out with a 64-bit version. While FF is my system default, I've been using Opera for most browsing for since version 4-something. I've tried Chrome four times now, and so far each time I remove it after a week or two. I do like having some reasonable choices - I can find browsers I prefer to use, and other can do so as well.
I'm fairly pleased with my current rig, although the two fans on the Noctua NH-D14 are noticeable when I turn off my air filter (I smoke). Video card is a MSI 460GTX and it's fan is relatively quiet - but then the most demanding things I run these days is Civ V and Silent Hunter IV with mostly default settings at whatever resolution fits in a window.
1090T is running stock (and if I remember correctly, cool&quiet and turbo are enabled), worldcommunitygrid is set to run all cores 100%, system is fast and responsive - more so, it seems, than when I set aside just 3 cores for the grid. CPU averages 40-43C, GPU about the same, although I've seen it get into low fifties now and then. Case is a HAF932 with stock fans, add-on dust screens (they raised temps 3-5 degrees.) Host OS is Ubuntu 11.10.
Looking at some of the reviews of sealed water coolers on Tom's Hardware, Frostytech, and a few other places, I expect that's what will go in my next build, probably late next year. While I can see there are some real advantages to custom DIY, I'm too old, lazy, and broke to get into it, and the current and projected crop of the better-rated off-the-shelf stuff is looking both affordable and effective.
Gosh, and here I thought someone was choosing words from his available vocabulary to convey his intended thoughts. Silly me.
Yeah. She shoulda gotten a Darwin award.
I don't mean to dis her injury - bad burns do a lot more than just hurt like a sumbitch.
McDs in a neighborly fashion should've paid her bills, and the judge should've dismissed the case.
Instead, McDucks rolled over, the sueage floodgates opened, lawyers got an even worse rep, and judges and juries appeared even more clueless than usual.
Barn doors and horses. Once a tool is conveyed to someone, it will, eventually, be available to everyone.
But you're right: what happens in the interim?
You're supposed to shell 'em first.
Guys, we've got some good discussion going. I don't think we're so far separated in viewpoint that there can't be a useful merging of efforts. Thanks for the links, btw; I follow and read and try to learn.
@arose, Bomozai - yup, agreed, robots are our surrogates, if you will. That said, we've enough examples, given current and near-term forecasted tech, of how useful it can be to have a human on the scene. Whether, over time, that favors meatspace, teleoperators, humans' consciousness in the machinery, The Singularity, whatever, let's be about it, in whatever blend works copacetically for the job at hand.
I don't think that thinking humans in just the one place might be limiting, fatalistic, narrow-minded, bored, decadent, un-imaginative, and perhaps a tad foolish requires any religion, quasi- or otherwise.
I carefully read John Michael Greer's essay, and more on his site. I'm impressed with his sincerity and general clarity of thought. He's the only one I've read from the various links given, and others I followed, that didn't seem to smirk, but had the honesty to be sad. However, I do not, upon reflection thus far, agree with his, or the others', analyses. I suspect the accounting has not been fully done. I'm trying not to let my own wont/bias rule me, as well. Maybe they're right. Maybe, dealing with what's on the burner, working on satori, doing some shrooms, grooving on what is, and giving up worthless dreams is the right thing to do. But if we don't try, we'll never know the difference. If we don't go look, we won't know what we might find - out there, and about ourselves.
The whole "we're here, we're not going anywhere, we _can't_ go anywhere, get over it" doesn't just stick in my craw, I don't think it computes. I'd be more concerned about the heating effects of continued growth in energy use here.
There's more, but this is already long and my fingers hurt. Look, I'm not very bright, and there's a lot I don't know, but I have had the freedom to read, and to stand apart a bit and perhaps have another, more... distant perspective on things.
@Windbourne - nice. Whether Universe regards us as an infection, if we do go a-roving, is for us to find out. [grin]
re: ISS.... for what?
Proof of concept. Practical engineering: making things work when they don't. Up until Vostok, a manned _anything_ in space was only a concept. All the manned efforts through to ISS have been a stepwise move to develop the kinds of knowledge and know-how needed to go further. Robots are pretty neat and do some good work; they'll definitely improve. But history shows that where explorers go, some will eventually want to follow - whether for adventure, profit, or to live.
I suggest thinking multi-facet, long-term, various kinds of return, for fun and profit. I don't care much for the "either-or" kind of thinking that crops up often in discussions of 'most anything - I think it tends to limit perception and possibilities.
I also have a long-standing bias that the long-term survival and flourishing of humanity requires being on more than one planet, in one solar system. Whether that survival is possible or desirable is for each to decide. Short-term, I'm thinking mostly science, and resources - helium-3, the vast treasures of the asteroids in all kinds minerals, and continuing to develop the engineering and other know-how needed to keep on truckin' - whatever the blend of man and machine that gets it done.
And, yeah, I've been reading and thinking on this since the Fifties. I admit to being heavily influenced by Heinlein, von Braun, Ley, O'Neill, and others. Maybe I'm impatient. Maybe I'm selfish. But I'd like to see some more progress while I'm still here.
"It's ridiculous to consider anyone playing the same game in 10 or 20 years."
Depends on the game, and the gamer, I suppose.
Silent Hunter IV holds my interest. I played Civ IV from when it came out up to when I bought Civ V - and still play Rhye's and Fall from time to time. When I get Darek's Gemulator set up again in an XP or '98 virtual machine, I will play Empire (the 2.01c or d version for the ST having by far the best maps and map editor, IMO) again. The Monkey Island stuff is fun, not just for me but for my friends' children as well. That's just for starters. Dungeon Master, Sim City, Balance of Power, King's Quest....
As for Ubisoft, I've looked askance at their DRM shenanigans for a while, and have little to no interest in most of their games. Yet I think SH IV is bar none the finest sub sim ever made (the Steam version works fine under Crossover Games) - with no discredit to other good ones, most of which I've played.
Yeah. Only time I'd want to be "tracked" would be sending my location to 911 so's they could take my heart-attacked self to the ER. Otherwise I believe it's nobody's business where I am and where I go.
From the summary: "He has been refused a license"
From the article: "He has been rejected for a state permit"
"He was supposed to pay $1200 for a license to handle this chemical and refused."
Strikes me as that's a high price for the privilege of signing a register when you pick the stuff up at a supplier.
"He was asked to keep tabs on who bought the product to the extent that he would report "suspicious" bulk purchasers. He refused."
He couldn't give what he didn't have; instead he offered the names of the outfitters he sold to.
"He also does not appear to be able to tell the difference between the DEA and the TSA, as the article points out. This does not suggest he is good at dealing with bureaucracy."
He might not be good at 'dealing with bureaucracy' but he seems to know who they are well enough. He called 'em "thickheads" which I think well characterizes the mentality, no matter the alphabet-soup agency. You'd have to ask him, but I suspect he full well knows the difference between the DEA and the TSA.
The article points out that two noted sales spikes were just before end of 1999 and after post-tsunami Fukushima. Isn't the demand for meth steadier? The comments from DEA seem enough to talk to Wallace so as to verify he's not in the meth business, but nowhere near convincing enough to shut him down. The statement from Barbara Carreno is straight out of the Ministry of Truth handbook.
I think it's a simple case of over-reaction based on the inability of thickheads to reason. Like you, I admire Wallace and his sense of humor.
Even if he's allowed to continue making Polar Pure, he won't be able to unless he can find a supplier not intimidated by DEA.
Dunno, man, but my CPU is running 98-100% as I write this.
Right. It's supposed to make a profit, just like any insurance company. Old Age Survivors and Disability Insurance: OASDI, which is what Social Security is. It's a federal insurance program, something you're not going to hear on the talk shows or most news programs. Had congress not decided to essentially rob OASDI for general revenue during Nixon's reign, this aspect of the budget discussions would never have appeared.
This. One of the more lucid explanations I've seen in a long while.
Yeah, the wee-hours mad coding spells when one is "in the groove." Long time ago for me but I can still almost taste the experience.
I like your idea - I think you've nailed it. Would mean more upfront cost for Microsoft - still essentially chump change, tho - and solve most of the original shortcomings and ameliorate the rest, I should think.
And the second good laugh. Beautiful quotations.
First good laugh of the day. Thanks.
Selah. Had I mod points you'd get some. When I see anyone, but a parent especially, acting like an asshole I have to wonder both if their own upbringing was so twisted their psyches were ruined and if they're incapable of introspection.
Thank you. Leases, yeah, crap, I'd forgotten about them. I've signed enough, dealt with more, found them sometimes annoying but a little creativity helped get around most of their impediment. Helps to rewrite them before signing, at least it used to. Ditto utilities. I've never signed a lease with a non-refundable clause, so have no knowledge about that. But back in an earlier life I sold real estate and was involved in writing a rent-control ordinance. I guess things have gotten even crappier in the intervening years, tho.
Guess I had a bare house in mind. Furniture, rugs, housewares from Salvation Army store, Goodwill, St. Vincent dePaul, etc., get some cheap futons. Cheap but effective. Times have changed, I guess.
Personal life stuff, oh yeah, that could be a hassle. Time of year might make a difference if kinder involved; pets and s.o. might be deal breakers. Sorry, I thought of them, but somehow imagined that in many cases something could be worked out. Sheesh, I really didn't think things through.
I made a fatal assumption that MS would provide tools apart from one's personal equipment.
So, I guess they end up with vagabond coders - which isn't necessarily all bad. Meanwhile, the real developers can persevere, find venture capital, etc. Hmm, that last sentence might seem snarky or something, didn't mean it that way, 'cuz I agree with your point.
Thanks for the serious, informative reply. You've helped me better understand an apparently superficial opportunity/PR stunt.
If everything comes out of the 20 large, it might could be tight, especially given the size of one's team, but...
In the old days we'd conspire together on a large house (cities used to be chock-a-block with family housing), 3+ bedroom houses rent for around two grand, general cost of living is not too bad, and the climate is congenial albeit a bit cloudy and drizzly parts of the year. Seems to me offhand that one oughta be able to cover expenses and have enough left over for a few kegs and shrimp for the barbie - every weekend.
Six percent? Pfui. Seriously, I don't know how things work these days so much, but is this truly a bad deal?
Or move to dry land and wax the bean, polish the rocket, choke the chicken, pull the pud, oil the pipe, stretch the rope, grease the pole, baste the kielbasa, brush the hot dog.... Or, if one must, massage Nemo.
Yeah. I recall being taught to look left and right before crossing a street, in 1952 or thereabouts. People don't do that anymore?
"...I don't know who exactly..."
The 'who', ultimately, is we.
Enough already with the pinhead greed-borne stupid motherfucking patent ideas. It's beyond insane. Just recent stories concerning rounded corners, swiping or flicking one's finger on a surface, ingesting water not helping to prevent dehydration, performance royalties for campfire songs or Happy Birthday, patenting the Web, are enough to destroy the equanimity of a rock. Enough.
"It's wasted money that could better go into R&D, for example."
Even spending it on booze and hookers would better serve the economy. Write the app, make it secure, slim, efficient then sell it, give it away, open source it. If it's useful it will be used. People will remember and look to you more favorably for their next good or service. If you truly invent something that's non-obvious to the artful and doesn't use prior art, far out. Until then, fuck off. Oh, and consider retraining the excess dunderheads in management and legal as groundskeepers or such, that their talents might be put to better use.
Outstanding.
....I don't know anyone who uses Linux for dsktops....
Now you know one. Linux on my tower, which I'm using right now, and Linux on my laptop which I loaned to a friend for her business.
While I sometimes use XP in a vm, I ditched Vista on the tower and Win7 on the laptop due largely to maintenance annoyances. I didn't need any Windows-based software that doesn't run in a vm or its open-source analogue on Linux. I made the switch mostly for convenience; any inclination to zealotry was left behind long ago with my youth. YMMV, of course.