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User: Surt

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Comments · 8,792

  1. Re:What I found interesting. on Donald Knuth On NPR · · Score: 1

    A scientist concludes that because invisible pink elephants are non-falsifiable, they should be assumed not to exist. It is meaningless to consider their existence, because they have no effect on the world around us.

  2. Re:Multithreading? on Multithreading - What's it Mean to Developers? · · Score: 1

    How can I possibly consider using a technology featuring not even a single X?

  3. Re:I think he came off as having OCD on Donald Knuth On NPR · · Score: 1

    Probably more importantly, if a person is fully functional, productive, and happy, it's going to be hard to convince the APA that the person is sick.

  4. Re:Low Power? Better Link on AMD Launches Turion Mobile Processor · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What they commonly have is a much much slower hard drive, which you notice when loading apps or large files. 4200 rpm is most common, 5400 less so, and 7200 rpm quite rare. Any typical desktop has at least a 7200 rpm drive, and quite commonly 10k or even 15k rpm drives. You can get a surprising amount of perceived speed boost by ordering a laptop with a 7200 rpm drive.

  5. Re:Great! on Wisconsin Governor Proposing Tax On Downloads · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Note that as a trigger for audits, that would be a trigger if you enter something, rather than if you don't. Because if you're the type of person who worries sufficiently about your taxes to enter something there, chances are your tax situation is sufficiently interesting to warrant audit to make sure you're paying enough.

  6. Re:No time yet on Major Update For OED Science Fiction Project · · Score: 1

    Isn't that how things just end in reality? I always thought his books were dull, but perhaps they're just too close to reality for me. All of my last 7 jobs ended when the site I worked at blew up. Is that just bad luck on my part?

  7. Re:Best Buy on Forbes Lists Top Corporate Hate Web Sites · · Score: 1

    I've learned to time it, there's always someone shortly ahead of me walking out the door, I just speed up/slow down my walk slightly so that I walk past the door guy when they are engaged with another customer. I really like browsing at fry's, they have a really good selection. I do this often enough it has pretty much just become a habit, I don't even feel hassled any more.

  8. Re:They didn't get my favourite on Forbes Lists Top Corporate Hate Web Sites · · Score: 1

    Actually, many group contribution websites are like that. It's called diversity of opinion.

  9. Re:Deserved on Harvard Business School: You Peek, You Lose · · Score: 5, Interesting

    And did any clever students log on and check their competitor's applications in the hope of getting them blacklisted and their own applications accepted.

  10. Re:Putting everything on seperate units on World's First Physics Processing Unit · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A game console doesn't have one of these (yet), nor are even the next generation likely to.

    What this is suggesting is rather that games are for the most part not general purpose tasks, and that as a result general purpose cpus can be grossly outperformed by special purpose cpus. Once you reach that notion, then you just have to decide what the set of special purpose cpus you need are. It's a repeating process where parallelizable areas of the codebase are identified, and special purpose cpus are crafted to handle them, so that the performance limiting area of code keeps moving to some task for which the special purpose chip hasn't yet been built.

    For quite some time the graphics capabilities of the GPUs has been the limiting factor in effectively conveying the game designer's intended experience. We're now reaching the point where the GPUs are so effective that what now looks 'wrong' has more to do with physics simulation than with graphic rendering. (Though I'll still say that there are 3 or 4 generations of graphics improvements yet to come that will still have a significant effect, it's just that now it has reached the point where it is no longer clear that more GPU improvements will have the _largest_ effect on perceived quality.)

  11. Re:This is great but... on Introducing 802.11s - Wireless Mesh Networking · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Actually, available bandwidth can increase with users in some situations. It depends on how many bands are available, how many landline connections, topology, etc. Lots of factors to consider.

    As a trivial example, consider two networks, one with mesh one without

    A net1 B mesh C net2 D

    Bandwidth from A - D is the minimum(net1, mesh, net2).

    versus:

    A net1 B nothing C net2 D

    bandwidth from A - D is 0.

    As a slightly more complex example: /-mesh1-B-\
    A--D
    mesh1 \-mesh2-C-/

    Is the bandwidth from A-D more or less with or without C?

  12. Re:Ooh that why ! on Best Degree to Pair w/ a B.Sc. in Computer Science? · · Score: 1

    Yes, and since only the horse collar proved to be of any use in running such a modern company, she was relatively unsuccessful.

  13. Re:yes, but on Microwires Can Replace The DVD-ROM · · Score: 1

    It's incomplete, valid, but not 0.43223400240983312345432

  14. Re:Heinlein came up with this... on Microwires Can Replace The DVD-ROM · · Score: 1

    The whole point is that it is physically impossible to make such a mark. You land in between atoms, guaranteed, no matter what material you use.

  15. Re:mister obvious here on Views on Violence in Video Games · · Score: 1

    Well duh, that's an obvious next step in their agenda of evil.
    Soon they'll have stripped us completely of our rights to hurt each other in any way!

  16. Re:violent games on Views on Violence in Video Games · · Score: 0, Redundant

    There's an important distinction to be drawn between learning to fly on microsoft flight simulator and becoming a pilot. Likewise between learning to kill using UT2004 and becoming a killer.

  17. Re:Eh... not really a big deal on AMD Plans Simultaneous Desktop and Mobile Chip Releases · · Score: 1

    The problem with biases is, they stick around even when they're wrong. And fox news having the highest ratings doesn't make their news any more accurate, it just means they're misinforming more people.

  18. Re:Maybe it's just me... on AMD Plans Simultaneous Desktop and Mobile Chip Releases · · Score: 1

    Yeah, sure, in intel's revisionist history.

  19. Re:Great minds think alike. on Double-Slit Experiment in Time, Not Space · · Score: 1

    Thankfully for the most part this website uses modern defective american english, not latin, so one minima would be ok.

  20. Re:Greetings from TSP Hell on Integrating Agile Development · · Score: 1

    Again ... I'd have to suggest looking for an employer likely to be around in the long term.

  21. Re:You are the only one on When Should You Quit Your Job? · · Score: 1

    Rocky Road was the flavor recalled for salmonella contamination, so I'm afraid I'd have to say that yes, you got the wrong flavor.

  22. Re:Better have something inline on When Should You Quit Your Job? · · Score: 1

    I'd clarify that by suggesting that most potential employers are more likely to be interested in you if you are currently employed. Correct or not, 'quit in protest of dumb policies' just doesn't appeal to potential employers. Instead, it looks far better to say, "I'm striving to make change at my existing company, but management has become entrenched in a position which appears to me untenable, so I am seeking a better opportunity."

  23. Re:the plan on Integrating Agile Development · · Score: 1

    The most convincing argument you can make is that you are losing customers in droves to a competitor who delivers more effective software. Of course, by then you are well on your way to out of business.

    Your case to make then, is that it would be better for your marketing people not to have to find work at a new company when yours goes out of business, and that they can do that by allowing the development team to deliver quality software.

  24. Re:Greetings from TSP Hell on Integrating Agile Development · · Score: 1

    That's really scary. Your organization is applying serious energy to avoiding compile errors ... I'd suggest investing serious time in finding an employer more likely to be around in the long term.

  25. Re:Inevitable on Software Patents Could Stop EU Linux Development · · Score: 1

    What city do you live in? Most cities certainly do not have decent public transportation. The only one I know of that does is NY. SF certainly does not.

    You also certainly can vote for a candidate based on one issue. A very large number of americans vote for their president that way. I would agree that you shouldn't do so. That being said, there are plenty of opportunities within a party for someone to distinguish themselves on any single issue. If all candidates favor raising speed limits, then whoever gets elected will.