In my opinion, absolutely. He gets into programming later in the book as he describes how you give instructions to this 8-bit machine he has basically built in the book. Getting a basic understanding of memory, instructions, and the logical constructs used in computers, I think is critical to any programmer. Otherwise inheritance is just "oh I can use this stuff in my class magically" without understanding what is actually happening—which will make other concepts like pointers, multiple inheritance, and polymorphism very confusing.
Charles Petzold's book, Code, is one I recommend to anyone who asks me about getting into programming. Actually I recommend it to anyone interested in computers in general. He uses flashlights, relays, and the like to "build" logical gates, accumulators, memory, and so on. A great read that really lays out how computers work.
Now that's funny. +1 internets Sir! Nothing beats a good bit of geek humor in the morning. Congrats to NASA, indeed congrats to humanity. It was exciting to watch and hopefully some additional people will be inspired to help keep the pursuit of knowledge through exploration a priority.
Doesn't mean it's any more likely. Water is known to be quite abundant in the universe. While finding a whole shitload circling around a black hole is pretty cool, it would be more significant to find a shitload of water on a planet in the so called "Goldilocks Zone" around certain types of stars—for at least the type of life that we know of.
"Nelson’s philosophy toward computing is widely reported on being that a user interface should be so simple that in an emergency, a beginner is able to understand it within ten seconds."
Sounds like he's looking for the return of Microsoft's Bob! Time for Melinda Gates to break out that project manager hat and return to her former glory!
I believe it is also quite dependent on the mass of the black hole which affects the Schwarzchild radius. In the case of a super-massive black hole, spaghettification would occur well after passing the event horizon. With smaller black holes the spaghettification would occur before hitting the event horizon.
Seems like we've only got two valid choices here. Which is the one we hate and the one we like again?
Ambrose Bierce sums it up nicely in my opinion: "Conservative (noun) A statesman who is enamoured of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others."
Granted he isn't referring to our two parties, however it seems appropriate since the two parties tend to label themselves as either liberal or conservative.
"A recent IBM study showed that for a given total power consumption, a circuit made from carbon nanotubes is five times faster than a silicon circuit"
And:
"The Stanford group is currently working to make ever more complex integrated circuits. "So far as complexity is concerned, there is fundamentally no barrier" on carbon nanotubes, says Mitra."
So at least in theory not only can the designs be updated as you mentioned, but they should be able to get pretty crazy with said designs.
I recognize the irony in asking this question as I am an American; however, shouldn't there be a little more discussion from the rest of the planet when dealing with the potential of a huge asteroid destroying the planet if someone calculates a trajectory incorrectly?
Wow, couldn't pass up the opportunity to contribute nothing before someone else did? Be proud!
Simulating combat realistically makes for a short playing experience. Catch one bullet in the leg and then what happens? Do you have to start over? Do you bleed out if you don't immediately get medical attention? If you get medical attention then do you "play" recovering in the hospital and dealing with the police reports? Let's have a physical therapy "mini-game" as well; spend a few months doing some exercises and walking around with a crutch.
Having the screen go red and having to find cover until I recover so I continue mowing down the opposition with joyful glee sounds much more appealing to me.
I would think that the sarcasm is obvious given the signature as a whole has a number of common fuck-ups all nicely rolled into one nice signature package.
Another good read that addresses these sorts of things is the Hyperion/Endymion series by Dan Simmons. Since FTL travel requires specializede methods to use; the acceleration to FTL basically turns any occupants into goo. Only certain folks have the technology to rebuild the occupants after they've been turned to paste. So a lot of folks are using sub-FTL/or 1 C travel. When one side moves against the other in war, a lot of calculation goes into figuring out when a fleet of enemies will appear in X system after their 3 years of traveling, including the time dilation effects. It gets pretty crazy at times, but is interesting to read.
Slashdot Mirror
I for one welcome our new entropic overlords.
Thank you for your warm welcome. You will be rewarded with a slight decrease in delta-s.
In my opinion, absolutely. He gets into programming later in the book as he describes how you give instructions to this 8-bit machine he has basically built in the book. Getting a basic understanding of memory, instructions, and the logical constructs used in computers, I think is critical to any programmer. Otherwise inheritance is just "oh I can use this stuff in my class magically" without understanding what is actually happening—which will make other concepts like pointers, multiple inheritance, and polymorphism very confusing.
Charles Petzold's book, Code, is one I recommend to anyone who asks me about getting into programming. Actually I recommend it to anyone interested in computers in general. He uses flashlights, relays, and the like to "build" logical gates, accumulators, memory, and so on. A great read that really lays out how computers work.
Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect. Also, Beggars in Spain.
"Message from Curiosity: Landed safely. Initiating primary directive - kill cats."
Now that's funny. +1 internets Sir! Nothing beats a good bit of geek humor in the morning. Congrats to NASA, indeed congrats to humanity. It was exciting to watch and hopefully some additional people will be inspired to help keep the pursuit of knowledge through exploration a priority.
The Birthgrave - Tanith Lee. Her first book.
Memoirs Found in a Bathtub - Stanislaw Lem.
I don't know, would you rather be a Hydro-Ceramic Technician or Dishwasher?
Doesn't mean it's any more likely. Water is known to be quite abundant in the universe. While finding a whole shitload circling around a black hole is pretty cool, it would be more significant to find a shitload of water on a planet in the so called "Goldilocks Zone" around certain types of stars—for at least the type of life that we know of.
Wow that's a lot of data. Can't wait to see more of the results published.
IIRC XBox 360 has 256MB of system RAM and 256MB of Video RAM. That's pretty low-end by today's standards.
Who wants to order a 30.48 cm sub at Subway?
"Nelson’s philosophy toward computing is widely reported on being that a user interface should be so simple that in an emergency, a beginner is able to understand it within ten seconds."
Sounds like he's looking for the return of Microsoft's Bob! Time for Melinda Gates to break out that project manager hat and return to her former glory!
I get excited...and arrested.
I believe it is also quite dependent on the mass of the black hole which affects the Schwarzchild radius. In the case of a super-massive black hole, spaghettification would occur well after passing the event horizon. With smaller black holes the spaghettification would occur before hitting the event horizon.
Wow, thank you everyone for the interesting and informative posts on this thread. Great to see some signal in the noise.
In Soviet Russia, signal transmits you!
Or something like that.
After they break into my car, how do they know where I live to actually utilise this bundle of keys?
Perhaps they then open your glove box and get the address from insurance, registration, and other documents usually kept in the vehicle?
You all have it wrong, technically he apologised.
Absolutely hysterical. Well played. I can't believe this hasn't been modded up given the usual numbers of regional spelling and grammar threads.
Political party X screwed us, vote Y!
Seems like we've only got two valid choices here. Which is the one we hate and the one we like again?
Ambrose Bierce sums it up nicely in my opinion:
"Conservative
(noun) A statesman who is enamoured of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others."
Granted he isn't referring to our two parties, however it seems appropriate since the two parties tend to label themselves as either liberal or conservative.
From the FA:
"A recent IBM study showed that for a given total power consumption, a circuit made from carbon nanotubes is five times faster than a silicon circuit"
And:
"The Stanford group is currently working to make ever more complex integrated circuits. "So far as complexity is concerned, there is fundamentally no barrier" on carbon nanotubes, says Mitra."
So at least in theory not only can the designs be updated as you mentioned, but they should be able to get pretty crazy with said designs.
Pi aren't square. Cornbread are square. Pi are round!
I recognize the irony in asking this question as I am an American; however, shouldn't there be a little more discussion from the rest of the planet when dealing with the potential of a huge asteroid destroying the planet if someone calculates a trajectory incorrectly?
Wow, couldn't pass up the opportunity to contribute nothing before someone else did? Be proud!
Simulating combat realistically makes for a short playing experience. Catch one bullet in the leg and then what happens? Do you have to start over? Do you bleed out if you don't immediately get medical attention? If you get medical attention then do you "play" recovering in the hospital and dealing with the police reports? Let's have a physical therapy "mini-game" as well; spend a few months doing some exercises and walking around with a crutch.
Having the screen go red and having to find cover until I recover so I continue mowing down the opposition with joyful glee sounds much more appealing to me.
I would think that the sarcasm is obvious given the signature as a whole has a number of common fuck-ups all nicely rolled into one nice signature package.
Woosh I believe is appropriate at this time.
Another good read that addresses these sorts of things is the Hyperion/Endymion series by Dan Simmons. Since FTL travel requires specializede methods to use; the acceleration to FTL basically turns any occupants into goo. Only certain folks have the technology to rebuild the occupants after they've been turned to paste. So a lot of folks are using sub-FTL/or 1 C travel. When one side moves against the other in war, a lot of calculation goes into figuring out when a fleet of enemies will appear in X system after their 3 years of traveling, including the time dilation effects. It gets pretty crazy at times, but is interesting to read.