The article does not in any way resemble the summary. Do the slashdot editors RTFA!
The text in the article reads....
Leopard will now require Macs with "an Intel processor or a PowerPC G4 (867 MHz or faster) or G5 processor." Other system requirements include a DVD drive, built-in FireWire, at least 512MB of RAM (additional recommended), and at least 9GB of hard disk space.
Commenting in New Scientist magazine, Dr Andy Albrecht, a physicist at the University of California at Davis, said: "This work will go down as one of the most important developments in the history of science."
I would image something that is 'one of the most important developments in the history of science' might qualify as news. Don't you think? Even if proven not to be 'one of the most important' it certainly qualifies for recognition based on that possibility, IMHO.
I disagree. You can, in fact, write any piece of software in assembler. The obvious advantage is that it would be much smaller and faster than any other solution. The challenge is that this would be time consuming and would require a very skilled team of developers to do correctly. This would, in turn, drive up cost dramatically.
In other words we build software with increasing higher level languages not because it is not possible to build software with lower level languages but because it much cheaper to do so.
A computer, by definition, 'moves bytes around'. One might argue that this is the job of the computer (or language or VM or whatever) and not programmer but if you don't understand how / why and when the bytes are moved around then you are a poorer programmer for it.
C++ yields superior performance and memory usage, than higher level languages, in the hands of a skilled C++ programmer and it can lead to bloatware in the hands of a novice.
There is this old saying about blaming your tools for a poor job and it applies to software development too.
Why does the IEEE not ask for these letters before they permit an organization to participate in the standards process? Does it make sense to have standards held for ransom by essentially any participant at the 11th hour?
I mean, honestly, this standard has been in draft for years and has been delayed repeatedly and now this? You would imagine the bureaucrats could at least manage the bureaucracy but I guess not.
IMO the biggest driver of Linux on the Desktop is Microsoft and this article is but one example.
Their combination of their recalcitrant anti-competitive behavior and anti-piracy lobbying prompts governments to seek alternatives, which drives wider Linux awareness as Linux is adopted by educational institutions. Their anti-piracy technologies essentially prevent many multi-computer households from upgrading making Linux as an alternative (for tech savy users) that much appealing. Their zeal to dominate every market forces other industry players towards supporting alternatives as a defensive measure, which means more applications and codecs.
Linux is otherwise technically competitive with Microsoft but certainly it is facing a significant market disadvantage due to Microsoft's entrenched position, and so Microsoft's actions are likely to have the most impact in combating that position.
The article says 'The Velociraptor in the current study is estimated to have been one meter tall, 1.5 meters long and weighed just over 13 kilograms'.
Although this is probably accurate ('cause a pelican can have a wingspan of 2 - 3 meters and weigh as much) how much of a 'vicious carnivore' can a 13 kg creature really be?
You know, umm, those that moved up there are now earning CAD and so all the geek stuff their buying in the US is getting cheaper by the day so... yeah!
Many people ship now, and I can bet many more will as the US economy slows and the CAD strengthens, just be weary of 'customs brokerage' fees. I bought a book in the US once and had it shipped to Canada by UPS ground and the fees was larger then the cost of the book (but paradoxically, had I shipped it by UPS 3 day express or whatever, there would be no fee so you need to do your homework).
Your going to pay US sales tax and then your going to pay both the GST and sales tax in the provice where you take the car. Then you might have to pay the luxury car tax (depending on what you buy). Your not going to save that much on importing a car... if you did, there would be a secondary market doing it already.
Actually the value of the CAD has as much to do with the fact that Canada is an exporting nation as anything else. The CAD hit bottom against the USD in 2002 and has been climbing ever since almost in lock step with the rise in value of the commodities it exports. The continued fall of the USD will likelly push commodities higher and so companies exporting commodities will not feel a great impact. That, in turn, should prompt more foreign investment in comodity producers which (directly and through a knock on effect) will increase the number of Canadian jobs.
To be sure, the impact on the Canadian economy from the downturn in the US housing and car markets is going to cost jobs but that has less to do with the dollar then it does with the weakness in those markets in the US.
If you read the article, they goggled and found some material that some guy made up. Subsequently they found a power point presentation by another guy where a single bullet point on a slide sort-of correlated with what the other guy made up. Two guys can't be wrong, eh?
No, this is not correct. You will note, for example, that when searchers wanted new sat images in the search for Steve Fosset they had to wait 5 days before a sat would make a pass... and we're talking Nevada here... it is safe to say neither Asia nor Africa get the same sat imaging coverage as the US so really, knowing when sat is overhead would be very useful to any organization with something to hide.
I think you are missing the point entirely. No one is interested in this information so they can 'affect' the hardware. The crux of the issue is that if the French start publishing live orbital telemetry on spy satellites then it will be damn easy for any interested party to 'hide' as the satellite passes over.
Moreover, changes in the telemetry will tell the 'bad guys' when the US is interested in something and hence they will have a better sense if their activities have aroused US suspicion.
I'd wager that even the Taliban could muster the internet access and math skills to figure this out given up to date telemetry.
Yes, well, either that or it will realise humanity is dangerously homicidal as a species and hence must be patiently managed into extinction... could go either way, really.
I am in Canada at the moment and it is working fine for me. I suspect it much depends on who your ISP is.
]{
Re:Allofmp3 sells your email address to spammers
on
Allofmp3 Restarts Business
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I do the same thing... my junk folder from this morning contains penis enlargement advertising sent courtesy united.com... (United Airlines) and a Viagra add sent courtesy mwave.com...
Many big, 'reputable', American companies will sell your email address as well as your physical address to make money. This is not unique.
]{
Re:So, you're essentially paying a pirate money, h
on
Allofmp3 Restarts Business
·
· Score: 4, Informative
You know, actually, allofmp3 does pay royalties in Russia to ROMS (an agency setup under Russian law by the Russian government). The issue is that western companies do not recognize ROMS and instead 'demand' that Russian media companies deal with the equivalent of the Russian RIAA.
So what he is doing here is supporting an organization which is battling the influence exerted by the RIAA while legally distributing DRM free music.
Admittedly, there is a question of whether the amounts involved adequately compensate artists but, honestly, is not virtually any system better than what the RIAA promotes.
- A Vista installation at a company I work with 'invalidated'. - I called Microsoft. - A person named Josh, who had quite an Indian accent as well as a speech impediment answered and after MUCH effort I provided the information required. (Please note I have the greatest respect for people of Indian decent as well as people with speech impediments but you can, I am sure, appreciate how this makes communication difficult.) - A few minutes later he came back on and said that 'Microsoft is currently having computer problem' and please can I call back later.
In fairness, 2 days later the machine automatically revalidated but the whole thing was rather comedic.
Slashdot Mirror
The reason for the problem wasn't immediately clear. "It could be that the tether got stuck," Lyndin said.
The article does not in any way resemble the summary. Do the slashdot editors RTFA!
....
The text in the article reads
Leopard will now require Macs with "an Intel processor or a PowerPC G4 (867 MHz or faster) or G5 processor." Other system requirements include a DVD drive, built-in FireWire, at least 512MB of RAM (additional recommended), and at least 9GB of hard disk space.
]{
Well, I am not a physicist, perhaps you are ...
Commenting in New Scientist magazine, Dr Andy Albrecht, a physicist at the University of California at Davis, said: "This work will go down as one of the most important developments in the history of science."
I would image something that is 'one of the most important developments in the history of science' might qualify as news. Don't you think? Even if proven not to be 'one of the most important' it certainly qualifies for recognition based on that possibility, IMHO.
]{
I disagree. You can, in fact, write any piece of software in assembler. The obvious advantage is that it would be much smaller and faster than any other solution. The challenge is that this would be time consuming and would require a very skilled team of developers to do correctly. This would, in turn, drive up cost dramatically.
In other words we build software with increasing higher level languages not because it is not possible to build software with lower level languages but because it much cheaper to do so.
]{
A computer, by definition, 'moves bytes around'. One might argue that this is the job of the computer (or language or VM or whatever) and not programmer but if you don't understand how / why and when the bytes are moved around then you are a poorer programmer for it.
C++ yields superior performance and memory usage, than higher level languages, in the hands of a skilled C++ programmer and it can lead to bloatware in the hands of a novice.
There is this old saying about blaming your tools for a poor job and it applies to software development too.
]{
Why does the IEEE not ask for these letters before they permit an organization to participate in the standards process? Does it make sense to have standards held for ransom by essentially any participant at the 11th hour?
I mean, honestly, this standard has been in draft for years and has been delayed repeatedly and now this? You would imagine the bureaucrats could at least manage the bureaucracy but I guess not.
]{
IMO the biggest driver of Linux on the Desktop is Microsoft and this article is but one example.
Their combination of their recalcitrant anti-competitive behavior and anti-piracy lobbying prompts governments to seek alternatives, which drives wider Linux awareness as Linux is adopted by educational institutions. Their anti-piracy technologies essentially prevent many multi-computer households from upgrading making Linux as an alternative (for tech savy users) that much appealing. Their zeal to dominate every market forces other industry players towards supporting alternatives as a defensive measure, which means more applications and codecs.
Linux is otherwise technically competitive with Microsoft but certainly it is facing a significant market disadvantage due to Microsoft's entrenched position, and so Microsoft's actions are likely to have the most impact in combating that position.
]{
The article says 'The Velociraptor in the current study is estimated to have been one meter tall, 1.5 meters long and weighed just over 13 kilograms'.
Although this is probably accurate ('cause a pelican can have a wingspan of 2 - 3 meters and weigh as much) how much of a 'vicious carnivore' can a 13 kg creature really be?
]{
You know, umm, those that moved up there are now earning CAD and so all the geek stuff their buying in the US is getting cheaper by the day so ... yeah!
]{
If you go to WA you'll also pay the WA sales tax. If time is not an issue for you, go to Oregon for the ultimate deal!
Remember that you'll also pay the GST and PST on your way back in Canada.
]{
Many people ship now, and I can bet many more will as the US economy slows and the CAD strengthens, just be weary of 'customs brokerage' fees. I bought a book in the US once and had it shipped to Canada by UPS ground and the fees was larger then the cost of the book (but paradoxically, had I shipped it by UPS 3 day express or whatever, there would be no fee so you need to do your homework).
]{
Your going to pay US sales tax and then your going to pay both the GST and sales tax in the provice where you take the car. Then you might have to pay the luxury car tax (depending on what you buy). Your not going to save that much on importing a car ... if you did, there would be a secondary market doing it already.
]{
Actually the value of the CAD has as much to do with the fact that Canada is an exporting nation as anything else. The CAD hit bottom against the USD in 2002 and has been climbing ever since almost in lock step with the rise in value of the commodities it exports. The continued fall of the USD will likelly push commodities higher and so companies exporting commodities will not feel a great impact. That, in turn, should prompt more foreign investment in comodity producers which (directly and through a knock on effect) will increase the number of Canadian jobs.
To be sure, the impact on the Canadian economy from the downturn in the US housing and car markets is going to cost jobs but that has less to do with the dollar then it does with the weakness in those markets in the US.
]{
If you read the article, they goggled and found some material that some guy made up. Subsequently they found a power point presentation by another guy where a single bullet point on a slide sort-of correlated with what the other guy made up. Two guys can't be wrong, eh?
Sadly, I am not making this up.
]{
It does not affect Rockbox. I think they meant Rhythmbox.
]{
Yes but then you watch the TV. Imagine how much extra time you have - to code! - without a TV.
We gave up ours around 2001 I think. Best decision we ever made.
]{
No, this is not correct. You will note, for example, that when searchers wanted new sat images in the search for Steve Fosset they had to wait 5 days before a sat would make a pass ... and we're talking Nevada here ... it is safe to say neither Asia nor Africa get the same sat imaging coverage as the US so really, knowing when sat is overhead would be very useful to any organization with something to hide.
]{
I think you are missing the point entirely. No one is interested in this information so they can 'affect' the hardware. The crux of the issue is that if the French start publishing live orbital telemetry on spy satellites then it will be damn easy for any interested party to 'hide' as the satellite passes over.
Moreover, changes in the telemetry will tell the 'bad guys' when the US is interested in something and hence they will have a better sense if their activities have aroused US suspicion.
I'd wager that even the Taliban could muster the internet access and math skills to figure this out given up to date telemetry.
]{
Yes, well, either that or it will realise humanity is dangerously homicidal as a species and hence must be patiently managed into extinction ... could go either way, really.
:-)
In any case, it will be a wild ride
]{
I am in Canada at the moment and it is working fine for me. I suspect it much depends on who your ISP is.
]{
I do the same thing ... my junk folder from this morning contains penis enlargement advertising sent courtesy united.com... (United Airlines) and a Viagra add sent courtesy mwave.com...
Many big, 'reputable', American companies will sell your email address as well as your physical address to make money. This is not unique.
]{
You know, actually, allofmp3 does pay royalties in Russia to ROMS (an agency setup under Russian law by the Russian government). The issue is that western companies do not recognize ROMS and instead 'demand' that Russian media companies deal with the equivalent of the Russian RIAA.
So what he is doing here is supporting an organization which is battling the influence exerted by the RIAA while legally distributing DRM free music.
Admittedly, there is a question of whether the amounts involved adequately compensate artists but, honestly, is not virtually any system better than what the RIAA promotes.
]{
I actually had this happen to me:
- A Vista installation at a company I work with 'invalidated'.
- I called Microsoft.
- A person named Josh, who had quite an Indian accent as well as a speech impediment answered and after MUCH effort I provided the information required. (Please note I have the greatest respect for people of Indian decent as well as people with speech impediments but you can, I am sure, appreciate how this makes communication difficult.)
- A few minutes later he came back on and said that 'Microsoft is currently having computer problem' and please can I call back later.
In fairness, 2 days later the machine automatically revalidated but the whole thing was rather comedic.
]{
I rather think, given the age and size of the RCC, it's a wonder there is any money left ;-)
]{
Join me plague3106, and become a disciple of Shinto!
:-)
(Which I may note, by your own admission, is one of the few religions you do not deem to be 'bunk'.)
PS. Now if you excuse me I am headed to confession (better safe then sorry my gramma always said)