Re:Well, you've never read anything, have you?
on
Star In A Jar
·
· Score: 1
Did you take physics? If you're from Kansas recently, I wouldn't be suprised if they took that out of the curriculum as well, but from anywhere else, you should remember the formula for the force of gravity (and singularities suck up stuff because of gravity, mind you) between any two bodies- GMm/r, where G is the universal gravity constant, M and m are the masses of the two bodies, and r is the distance between their center of masses. There is no reference here to the density of one of the bodies. Even if they compressed a couple hundred tons into a marble, you could still stand next to it, and the attractive force would be so slight, you wouldn't feel it.
As anyone that's played with BeOS knows, this experiment can be simulated with Attraction! (free download). Just don't forget to include the Earth in your model.
Re:Anti-progress vs. anti-culture
on
Star In A Jar
·
· Score: 1
Sir Issac Newton:
Sorry to bother you with a personal pet peeve, but it's Isaac, not Issac. Thanks.
This is NOT a Theory. It's an hypothesis. I know damn well everyone learns the difference by high school. For a group that pops a blood vessel when someone confuses "hacker" with "cracker", I'm suprised you tolerate this misuse of the language. Perpetuating the popular myth that a Theory is just 'an idea' does a great disservice to real Theories. Don't make the same mistake Creationists do.
"Evolution is just a theory"
"Yeah. But so is gravity."
I read the article, went to the website, read the FAQ. No mention of system requirements. As long as they use standard 802.11(b) and don't require a proprietary software login (ie. RR of old), it shouldn't be an issue. You may need to BYOWIC.
Of course I don't have any facts. Where do you think you are?;)
I have only anecdotal evidence to support my claim (two firms near my hometown were bought by the power comapny in the late 80's, and development stopped. Bought them, then effectively shut them down.) Beyond that, it's probably just something I've heard.
And you are right about playing catsup. However, Due to their shear size and market share, their mere interest makes them the leaders.
It's not so much about eliminating the dependence on Oil. Of course that will not be possible in the near-long term. It's about conserving existing supplies with minimal interuption to established habits.
As you say, simply being mindful of the energy you consume is often enough to convince you to use less. Like re-using cloth gracery bags. Walking distances less than a mile away. Riding your bike within 10 miles. Being wise about your choice of automobile. Not going excessively fast. Getting up to speed gradually. Keeping the AC around 80. Turning off the TV when it's not in use. Using effecient lightbulbs. Turning them of when not in use. Recycle your cans. Buy products that use less packaging. Etc..
Most of these things would require very little sacrifice, but if done by most people would make a huge difference. Conservation is far more than a short term solution.
Let's keep in mind that Power Companies own most of the patents/technologies related to Solar Cells. As soon as advances were made that looked like they may scale to become viable choices for consumers, the big corporations bought out most of the smaller companies that were making the advances. Not sure if they called it "innovation", though;)
More likely than not, GM is hedging their bets. At worst, it turns out to be a great PR move. At best, they take the lead in Clean Automobile Technology.
1st, I'm amazed that someone considered my post above a "Troll". Twas no such thing. I think I had a point that was relevant to the topic. You only get five mod points, why waste one on posts like mine? Elevate the good stuff, don't be petty about borderline stuff.
Back to my point...Right now, the OS's serve two different segments of the population. Win2k has a niche following in the IT world (where most companies have yet to fully committ to using it) and a strong following inthe Hobbyist market, where Games are the only good reason to have a 9x varient around. But it works, pretty well, and with a ton of applications that most people need most. It fails on a few levels, though, just as the Ford, while very much a workhorse, eats up a lot of fuel, damages transportation infrastructure, is ugly, not terribly friendly, etc... You CAN edit video on a Win2k box (I do) but it doesn't compare to the same experience doing it on a Mac.
Likewise the Ferrari, like the Mac, is a thing of beauty. It costs a bit more than I can justify spending (to my wife, anyway), and is just plain exciting to use. It's also faster than Sound, and draws chicks, etc.. But it sin't the most compatible thing on the road. Parts are costly, not just any mechanic can fix it when it breaks.
More to the point, I doubt anyone is choosing between OS X and Win2k. Both are great. But for different reasons, and for different purposes.
I fail to see how someone could copyright coordinates on the lat/long. map. They could put a copyright on a database they've assembled and subsequently limit access to THEIR database, but they can't own the rights to that information, per se.
Of course, I really don't know what I'm talking about.
It is Marketing, but it isn't so much hype. IBM's motivation is increase awareness of it's Mainframes as Web/App serving powehouses. Instead of 5 racks worth of 2U servers (which means something will go wrong with at least one machine each day/week), a hosting company can buy one of these zSeries and get the same power, with decades worth of reliability behind it.
Just be happy they don't make you connect via TN3270;)
So it's ugly. So what? Have you sat in front of Windows lately? It don't matter that it's not the prettiest packaging. What matters is that it works, and works well. It's functional.
Functionality Rocks. Don't lose sight of that. If you want pretty, buy a Mac.
(Shit. I'll get modded down for the Mac comment...)
While this is true of every Cable EUA, it's more bark than bite. I, and just about everyone I know with RoadRunner, run a webserver/mail server from our cable modems. And as long I don't start selling stuff from it, or host a 'Time-Warner customer service sucks Goat balls' page, they more likely than not will leave it alone. Sure, they have you over a barrel if they want, but so do most corporations.
Note that Bush *still* hasn't bothered to name a Science Advisor, while presenting budget proposals that would more than undo the progress made last year in funding of scientific research.
What did you expect? He's Born-Again, believes all of us non-Born Again people are going to Hell, doesn't believe Evolution, thinks the world is 6000 years old, and is generally hostile to intellectuals. Scientists are quite antithetical to his 'vision' of the world.
It'd be like Microsoft sharing their source code;)
Got my Flaming Rod in hand and my Flaming Boat gassed up. All I need is some flamebait.
These things will generate data. Lot's of it. To handle lots of data, you need a database. To use a database, you need a computer. To use computers, you someone to make them work first.
And that, my friends, it just another job opportunity;)
In the corporate IT world, we've always dealt with dynamic pricing. Based on how often you buy, when you buy, and how much you buy. I'm not too sure how they will make this work with consumers, as they tend to buy in very small quantities (like 1) and not very often (maybe twice a year they buy hardware).
The problem is that I don't want to have a stack of 40 IDE drives after a few months of archiving my DV. As Apple and Sony have certainly discovered, people actually want to use their computers to edit the movies they make with their new camcorders. More than that, they often want to watch them someplace other than their computer.
Furthermore, the industry in which I work routinely generates data that needs to be distributed that needs to span several CDs. A standard DVD-R suits that need perfectly.
Not to mention that a DVD-R disk costs about 20 bucks. Still more per Gig than a HD, but it's portable, readable by most newer computers, and versatile enough to be read by my Apex AD-703.
Since you've gone so far as to establish a standard for outlawing schools of thought, I trust Christianity will also be outlawed? And Gritsology (The Church of Grits)?
Eazel failed, but Nautilus will live on, continue to be updated and modified. Thanks, of course, to the GPL.
Now, what happens to the BeOS when Be Inc. folds in a few months? More likely than not it will cease to grow and adapt, the source shared only to a few engineers at Sony trying to make AOL run on it.
Slashdot Mirror
As anyone that's played with BeOS knows, this experiment can be simulated with Attraction! (free download). Just don't forget to include the Earth in your model.
Sorry to bother you with a personal pet peeve, but it's Isaac, not Issac. Thanks.
The "I" is for Isaacs ;)
"Evolution is just a theory"
"Yeah. But so is gravity."
I have only anecdotal evidence to support my claim (two firms near my hometown were bought by the power comapny in the late 80's, and development stopped. Bought them, then effectively shut them down.) Beyond that, it's probably just something I've heard.
And you are right about playing catsup. However, Due to their shear size and market share, their mere interest makes them the leaders.
I wish I had some mod points to give you. That line alone was worth one.
As you say, simply being mindful of the energy you consume is often enough to convince you to use less. Like re-using cloth gracery bags. Walking distances less than a mile away. Riding your bike within 10 miles. Being wise about your choice of automobile. Not going excessively fast. Getting up to speed gradually. Keeping the AC around 80. Turning off the TV when it's not in use. Using effecient lightbulbs. Turning them of when not in use. Recycle your cans. Buy products that use less packaging. Etc..
Most of these things would require very little sacrifice, but if done by most people would make a huge difference. Conservation is far more than a short term solution.
More likely than not, GM is hedging their bets. At worst, it turns out to be a great PR move. At best, they take the lead in Clean Automobile Technology.
Back to my point...Right now, the OS's serve two different segments of the population. Win2k has a niche following in the IT world (where most companies have yet to fully committ to using it) and a strong following inthe Hobbyist market, where Games are the only good reason to have a 9x varient around. But it works, pretty well, and with a ton of applications that most people need most. It fails on a few levels, though, just as the Ford, while very much a workhorse, eats up a lot of fuel, damages transportation infrastructure, is ugly, not terribly friendly, etc... You CAN edit video on a Win2k box (I do) but it doesn't compare to the same experience doing it on a Mac.
Likewise the Ferrari, like the Mac, is a thing of beauty. It costs a bit more than I can justify spending (to my wife, anyway), and is just plain exciting to use. It's also faster than Sound, and draws chicks, etc.. But it sin't the most compatible thing on the road. Parts are costly, not just any mechanic can fix it when it breaks.
More to the point, I doubt anyone is choosing between OS X and Win2k. Both are great. But for different reasons, and for different purposes.
We compare the new Ford F250 [Win2k] to the Ferarri 550 Maranello [OS X]
I fail to see how someone could copyright coordinates on the lat/long. map. They could put a copyright on a database they've assembled and subsequently limit access to THEIR database, but they can't own the rights to that information, per se.
Of course, I really don't know what I'm talking about.
The obvious example of case-reuse.
Here be some good examples: The Apple Collection and Aquarium by Jim.
Just be happy they don't make you connect via TN3270 ;)
Functionality Rocks. Don't lose sight of that. If you want pretty, buy a Mac.
(Shit. I'll get modded down for the Mac comment...)
What did you expect? He's Born-Again, believes all of us non-Born Again people are going to Hell, doesn't believe Evolution, thinks the world is 6000 years old, and is generally hostile to intellectuals. Scientists are quite antithetical to his 'vision' of the world.
It'd be like Microsoft sharing their source code ;)
Got my Flaming Rod in hand and my Flaming Boat gassed up. All I need is some flamebait.
And that, my friends, it just another job opportunity ;)
Furthermore, the industry in which I work routinely generates data that needs to be distributed that needs to span several CDs. A standard DVD-R suits that need perfectly.
Not to mention that a DVD-R disk costs about 20 bucks. Still more per Gig than a HD, but it's portable, readable by most newer computers, and versatile enough to be read by my Apex AD-703.
Now, what happens to the BeOS when Be Inc. folds in a few months? More likely than not it will cease to grow and adapt, the source shared only to a few engineers at Sony trying to make AOL run on it.