You are right, quantum computing isn't "infinite". However, it IS "arbitrarily large" which is good enough for a layperson.
You know the difference between DFA's and NFA's right? An NFA is like a "parallel processing DFA" (speaking loosely). So here's the analogy: NFA:DFA::QuantumComputer:TuringMachine. --
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
Penrose's argument (as elucidated in "The Emperor's New Mind" anyway) started with saying that brains aren't Turing Machines (by appealing to Goedel). He then goes on (at the end of Emperor and the whole of the next book, which I haven't read fully) to say that the reason brains are Turing Machines could be quantum effects at the neuron level.
But I, like you and previous poster, think he's out a limb (if not out of his tree completely). --
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
Are you kidding? Don't use Freshmeat, use The Linux Game Tome. New games are posted all the time. Sure not all of them ever get past 0.0.1 and a lot of those that do are lame. Nonetheless, if you can't find at least SOME cool games here you just aren't trying. --
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
The brainiacs at geekizoid think that this "Ryan" person is me. (they are wrong, which shows just how dumb they are) Anyway, they created this account to try to annoy "me" and are trolling with it to give it negative karma. --
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
1) Let's say there are 100 regular moths, 50 male and 50 female. Each pair produces two offspring every year (and they have a 1 year lifespan). So the population is stable at 100. Now introduce 20 "sterile" males. Some of those males will mate with the females. Those female produce their expected two offspring so the next year's crop is still 100--but some of those 100 are sterile, so the year after there are less than 100. Assuming the stability is in the mating system and not in the actual number of moths (for instance, what if only the boys turn out sterile--will the other boys pick up the slack?) it WILL have a long term affect. Of course, I have no idea how moths populations really behave, but you get the idea.
2) Of COURSE they only last for a little while--safety is of paramount importance.
3) Of COURSE they only last for a little while--profits (from selling more moths every year) is of paramount importance. --
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
Nature also created viruses and bacteria--so stop taking medicine when you are sick. And tear down those dams, the rivers must be there for a good reason. And take off your clothes--you were born naked, ya know.
Natural != Good. And, for that matter, Man-made != Unnatural. --
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
Real "activism" (read: civil disobedience) is closely related to a very specific problem. For instance, if the law being protested is "no blacks sitting on the bus" then the protest should be "blacks sitting on the bus". If the protested action is "trees being cut down" the protest should be "make cutting down trees difficult, e.g. tie humans to trees".
What do we see with "hacktivists"? Protested party: "we don't like Microsoft" (non-specific problem). Protest: "deface/degrade their website" (unrelated to problem).
REAL "hacktivism" would have to involve a venture (business, government system, etc) that is conducted online. For instance, the protested action could be something like "they are making our medical records available on the web" or "uunet's mail servers are all spam relays". THEN the protest can take direct action against this specific problem. (and the "direct action" may be defacement or denial of service attacks--but make sure they are directly relevant the protested action) For instance, start using uunets relays to mailbomb uunet customers, employees and management.
In short, it's not the technology that makes it activism, it's the active and direct action that makes it so. If you are missing those factors, it's not hacktivism. --
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
WINE: Good for Linux because you can use Windows applications on Linux.
LINE: Good for Linux because you can use Linux applications on Windows.
The projects are mirrors images of each other--but both good for Linux. How can that be?
I'll tell you why. Because there is at least two assymmetries already between Linux and Windows: 1) openness and 2) marketshare. The Windows monopoly is helped when there can be no sharing between OS's. It raises the barrier. But Linux is helped when there IS sharing (to get over the barrier). Both WINE and LINE allow sharing (of apps across OS's)--therefore both are good for Linux. --
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
"You should stop trollspotting though. It's really irritating."
To whom? And why?
"I'd be quite pissed if you did that to one of my accounts..."
If I did it to "one of your accounts" it would be because *I* was pissed already. I'm getting pretty sick of trolls following an obvious procedure to garner karma and generate huge responses. Of course, the anger should really be directed as idiotic moderators, but there's no way to get a handle on *them*, now that meta-mod is gone.
As for you not being a troll: It's a gray area. Some people (or accounts) are trolls. Some are regular accounts that sometimes troll. Shoeboy is the latter. I don't care about that so much, because the account generates real discussion most of the rest of the time (or humor in Shoeboy's case). --
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
We must free the CPU from the oppressive overlordship of the CPU Clock! Let the CPU work as it is wont to work, beholden to no one! Let Nature be our guide!
CPU 1: Hey, I think we have a calculation due in a few microseconds.
CPU 2: Dude, don't sweat it. We'll get by.
CPU 1: No, really, my mom said if we don't do some work she's gonna put a clock in here.
CPU 2: Dude, that'd suck.... Hey, we'd be living in SINchrony. Get it? Heh heh heh.
CPU 1: Heh heh heh. I've got the munchies. --
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
Judge: You've been charged with illegally forwarding an email. Defendant: But I had express written permission. Judge: Let's see this written permission. Defendant: I can't show it to you. I didn't get permission to forward it on. --
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
I have to admit, it was a LONG time ago. And I never participated...just read about it while I was dropping the papers off. --
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
Let me preface this by saying that I'm using Mozilla right now and have been for several months. I love the project and browser and mail client seem pretty nice.
BUT. Q2? Q2?? Since today is 3/2, that means they'd have to have this "1.0" release out in less than 90 days. No. Frigging. Way.
I run Mozilla on an admittedly low-end machine (P5-166). Netscape runs fine, but eventually hogs all my memory (or crashes, or whatever). But Mozilla is butt-slow at basic things like screen-refreshes and pulling up new windows. And the mail client--fuggedaboudit. For crying out loud, the IMAP DELETE command doesn't even work yet.
I wish them all the good-will in the world...but let's be realistic here. Q2? That's gotta be a typo. --
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
Here's what I was about to post: "It doesn't matter how judges want to rule, if the evidence was gathered in opposition to law (DMCA) than you can't even say that Aimster has unclean hands." But then it occurred to me, if it was the RIAA itself that gathered the evidence (instead of the police) does the Fourth Amendment apply? Or, for that matter, does DMCA apply to Fourth Amendment?
That is, does the fact that the DMCA makes "breaking protection schemes" illegal force the police into a position (via the Fourth Amendment) where they can't access, say, my hard drive? And if so, does it place the RIAA in the same position or are they exempt by not being a law enforcement agency? --
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
"PHP-GTK is a PHP(1) extension(2) that provides an object-oriented(3) interface(4) to GTK+(5) toolkit(6) and enables you to write client-side(7) cross-platform(8) GUI(9) applications."
Must...resist...buzzwords......can't...keep...brain...from...exploding --
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
I've known SB as a troll for a long time. But he's a (usually) entertaining troll, so I don't begrudge him his points. --
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
The first sentence is entirely "rational". That got you the first two mods up. The second paragraph is debatable, but something a lot of people can get behind. Another mod up.
The the kicker: "For centuries, the common man has supported the scientific elite in their search for 'knowledge', and now I think its time that the debt be paid back."
Something no rational Slashdotter (or human?) would agree with, modded up to 5. Brilliant! And then the closing humorous line covering your tracks against the slightly more savvy moderator. Perfect! --
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
But that's just my point. In order to create blueprints, manufacturing facilities, infrastructure and the chips/computers themselves, the scientists NEED computers.
Let me illustrate with a simple example. Chips today are on silicon--a forced-growth crystal that requires ultraclean and very gentle handling. This requires a big vat (or whatever) plus some automated control. Whoops, there's that word "automated"--can't do automation without computers. --
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
Gotta go back to the old "trollboard" and start again, eh, "Ana"? Too bad. I think you'll find you have an easier time of it if you don't post such long, rambling and off-topic posts. Something short and pithy is the way to get the knee-jerk crowd--they won't read anything longer anyway.
BTW, you also were apparently unprepared for this topic--took you at leats 15 minutes to get something up. Not a good way to get eyeballs. --
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
You got at least 2 (or maybe 3) people to mod this crap up. I have to hand it to you--you sure know how to reel them in. Of course, it's been so long since I saw a "Jon Erikson" post (and where's "Dan Hayes" these days) there's probably a lot of moderators who don't know you. --
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
Slashdot Mirror
You are right, quantum computing isn't "infinite". However, it IS "arbitrarily large" which is good enough for a layperson.
You know the difference between DFA's and NFA's right? An NFA is like a "parallel processing DFA" (speaking loosely). So here's the analogy: NFA:DFA::QuantumComputer:TuringMachine.
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
Penrose's argument (as elucidated in "The Emperor's New Mind" anyway) started with saying that brains aren't Turing Machines (by appealing to Goedel). He then goes on (at the end of Emperor and the whole of the next book, which I haven't read fully) to say that the reason brains are Turing Machines could be quantum effects at the neuron level.
But I, like you and previous poster, think he's out a limb (if not out of his tree completely).
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
Open the case, pull out the motherboard. Now, ONE of these atoms is the CPU...but which one.
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
Are you kidding? Don't use Freshmeat, use The Linux Game Tome. New games are posted all the time. Sure not all of them ever get past 0.0.1 and a lot of those that do are lame. Nonetheless, if you can't find at least SOME cool games here you just aren't trying.
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
The brainiacs at geekizoid think that this "Ryan" person is me. (they are wrong, which shows just how dumb they are) Anyway, they created this account to try to annoy "me" and are trolling with it to give it negative karma.
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
1) Let's say there are 100 regular moths, 50 male and 50 female. Each pair produces two offspring every year (and they have a 1 year lifespan). So the population is stable at 100. Now introduce 20 "sterile" males. Some of those males will mate with the females. Those female produce their expected two offspring so the next year's crop is still 100--but some of those 100 are sterile, so the year after there are less than 100. Assuming the stability is in the mating system and not in the actual number of moths (for instance, what if only the boys turn out sterile--will the other boys pick up the slack?) it WILL have a long term affect. Of course, I have no idea how moths populations really behave, but you get the idea.
2) Of COURSE they only last for a little while--safety is of paramount importance.
3) Of COURSE they only last for a little while--profits (from selling more moths every year) is of paramount importance.
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
Nature also created viruses and bacteria--so stop taking medicine when you are sick. And tear down those dams, the rivers must be there for a good reason. And take off your clothes--you were born naked, ya know.
Natural != Good. And, for that matter, Man-made != Unnatural.
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
Real "activism" (read: civil disobedience) is closely related to a very specific problem. For instance, if the law being protested is "no blacks sitting on the bus" then the protest should be "blacks sitting on the bus". If the protested action is "trees being cut down" the protest should be "make cutting down trees difficult, e.g. tie humans to trees".
What do we see with "hacktivists"? Protested party: "we don't like Microsoft" (non-specific problem). Protest: "deface/degrade their website" (unrelated to problem).
REAL "hacktivism" would have to involve a venture (business, government system, etc) that is conducted online. For instance, the protested action could be something like "they are making our medical records available on the web" or "uunet's mail servers are all spam relays". THEN the protest can take direct action against this specific problem. (and the "direct action" may be defacement or denial of service attacks--but make sure they are directly relevant the protested action) For instance, start using uunets relays to mailbomb uunet customers, employees and management.
In short, it's not the technology that makes it activism, it's the active and direct action that makes it so. If you are missing those factors, it's not hacktivism.
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
WINE: Good for Linux because you can use Windows applications on Linux.
LINE: Good for Linux because you can use Linux applications on Windows.
The projects are mirrors images of each other--but both good for Linux. How can that be?
I'll tell you why. Because there is at least two assymmetries already between Linux and Windows: 1) openness and 2) marketshare. The Windows monopoly is helped when there can be no sharing between OS's. It raises the barrier. But Linux is helped when there IS sharing (to get over the barrier). Both WINE and LINE allow sharing (of apps across OS's)--therefore both are good for Linux.
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
"You should stop trollspotting though. It's really irritating."
To whom? And why?
"I'd be quite pissed if you did that to one of my accounts..."
If I did it to "one of your accounts" it would be because *I* was pissed already. I'm getting pretty sick of trolls following an obvious procedure to garner karma and generate huge responses. Of course, the anger should really be directed as idiotic moderators, but there's no way to get a handle on *them*, now that meta-mod is gone.
As for you not being a troll: It's a gray area. Some people (or accounts) are trolls. Some are regular accounts that sometimes troll. Shoeboy is the latter. I don't care about that so much, because the account generates real discussion most of the rest of the time (or humor in Shoeboy's case).
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
We must free the CPU from the oppressive overlordship of the CPU Clock! Let the CPU work as it is wont to work, beholden to no one! Let Nature be our guide!
... Hey, we'd be living in SINchrony. Get it? Heh heh heh.
CPU 1: Hey, I think we have a calculation due in a few microseconds.
CPU 2: Dude, don't sweat it. We'll get by.
CPU 1: No, really, my mom said if we don't do some work she's gonna put a clock in here.
CPU 2: Dude, that'd suck.
CPU 1: Heh heh heh. I've got the munchies.
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
Judge: You've been charged with illegally forwarding an email.
Defendant: But I had express written permission.
Judge: Let's see this written permission.
Defendant: I can't show it to you. I didn't get permission to forward it on.
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
Quick! Someone find Rupert Murdoch and frisk him!
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
I have to admit, it was a LONG time ago. And I never participated...just read about it while I was dropping the papers off.
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
Moderators, please check User Info before modding up.
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
Let me preface this by saying that I'm using Mozilla right now and have been for several months. I love the project and browser and mail client seem pretty nice.
BUT. Q2? Q2?? Since today is 3/2, that means they'd have to have this "1.0" release out in less than 90 days. No. Frigging. Way.
I run Mozilla on an admittedly low-end machine (P5-166). Netscape runs fine, but eventually hogs all my memory (or crashes, or whatever). But Mozilla is butt-slow at basic things like screen-refreshes and pulling up new windows. And the mail client--fuggedaboudit. For crying out loud, the IMAP DELETE command doesn't even work yet.
I wish them all the good-will in the world...but let's be realistic here. Q2? That's gotta be a typo.
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
Here's what I was about to post: "It doesn't matter how judges want to rule, if the evidence was gathered in opposition to law (DMCA) than you can't even say that Aimster has unclean hands." But then it occurred to me, if it was the RIAA itself that gathered the evidence (instead of the police) does the Fourth Amendment apply? Or, for that matter, does DMCA apply to Fourth Amendment?
That is, does the fact that the DMCA makes "breaking protection schemes" illegal force the police into a position (via the Fourth Amendment) where they can't access, say, my hard drive? And if so, does it place the RIAA in the same position or are they exempt by not being a law enforcement agency?
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
"PHP-GTK is a PHP(1) extension(2) that provides an object-oriented(3) interface(4) to GTK+(5) toolkit(6) and enables you to write client-side(7) cross-platform(8) GUI(9) applications."
...can't...keep...brain...from...exploding
Must...resist...buzzwords...
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
I've known SB as a troll for a long time. But he's a (usually) entertaining troll, so I don't begrudge him his points.
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
Far too obvious. Java trolls are passe, please try again. (KDE vs GNOME isn't much better)
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
The first sentence is entirely "rational". That got you the first two mods up. The second paragraph is debatable, but something a lot of people can get behind. Another mod up.
The the kicker: "For centuries, the common man has supported the scientific elite in their search for 'knowledge', and now I think its time that the debt be paid back."
Something no rational Slashdotter (or human?) would agree with, modded up to 5. Brilliant! And then the closing humorous line covering your tracks against the slightly more savvy moderator. Perfect!
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
On the one hand, it's nice to see people using the old "my distro is better than yours" standby.
On the other hand, distro wars are pretty old hat now.
Anyway, good luck starting your "discussion".
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
But that's just my point. In order to create blueprints, manufacturing facilities, infrastructure and the chips/computers themselves, the scientists NEED computers.
Let me illustrate with a simple example. Chips today are on silicon--a forced-growth crystal that requires ultraclean and very gentle handling. This requires a big vat (or whatever) plus some automated control. Whoops, there's that word "automated"--can't do automation without computers.
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
Gotta go back to the old "trollboard" and start again, eh, "Ana"? Too bad. I think you'll find you have an easier time of it if you don't post such long, rambling and off-topic posts. Something short and pithy is the way to get the knee-jerk crowd--they won't read anything longer anyway.
BTW, you also were apparently unprepared for this topic--took you at leats 15 minutes to get something up. Not a good way to get eyeballs.
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
You got at least 2 (or maybe 3) people to mod this crap up. I have to hand it to you--you sure know how to reel them in. Of course, it's been so long since I saw a "Jon Erikson" post (and where's "Dan Hayes" these days) there's probably a lot of moderators who don't know you.
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot