Of course, people actually downloading the whole human genome probable wouldn't worry about this, but couldn't they use a better compression format than.zip? I bet using bzip2 or rar would shave a couple of hundred MBs off of that 753MB file. Also, the differences in compression techniques would be interesting to see on a large group of files mainly consisting of G, A, C, and T.
-- demiurge You find a file that appears important and obliterate it from memory!!! Score one for the downtrodden hacker!
I wouldn't think the Palm buttons could be a good substitute for the directional control buttons on a GameBoy. For me, at least, a good game of Tetris or Kirby needs a comfortable and reconizable controls set.
-- demiurge You find a file that appears important and obliterate it from memory!!! Score one for the downtrodden hacker!
Gelernter starts his "Manefesto" with several believable points, showing how technology isn't making any quantum leaps. However, how are we supposed to take seriously some one who says that "Any well-designed next-generation electronic gadget will come with a 'Disable Omniscience' button." I like science fiction as well as the next guy, but this sounds more like the punchline to a obscure BOFH joke than even plausible scifi.
Not all progress has to be in huge jumps to incredible ways of thinking. I don't really think that interface design will be improved by saying things like "Computers make alphabetical order obsolete". It's not going to happen like that.
-- demiurge You find a file that appears important and obliterate it from memory!!! Score one for the downtrodden hacker!
"People like Larry Wall who invent relativist languages for computers...are destroying the fabric of our society"
That's got to be one of the funniest things i've seen on slashdot in a while. Forget about violent crime and the growing gap between the rich and poor, we've got to face the dangerous Perl issue head on.
It seems that this kind of patent is just creating hassles. The only use for it is for Doubleclick to sue some other ad company for infringment. That's going to cost lots of money on both sides (and cost the government money in the process) and there is a high probablility that the patent will just get struck down anyway. There needs to be some kind of stricter patenting process that weeds out overbroad patents like this.
One of the problems with the wide use of computers and the internet, is that new things are being done everywhere, and in lots of different ways. Some one on another continent could be trying to solve the same problem as you, at the same time, and it seems a shame that only one would get a patent on it. (reminds me of Newton and Lebnitz[sp?])
1. Think of what is Right and True -- Miyamoto Musashi
That's a good point, perhaps I should have been more specific.
I meant that the creators of a government determine the role of that government. I don't think that a generic 'government' has any other role then what it has been defined for it. Fortunately, the definers of our government knew the importance of minority rights. However, in our system, the people give representatives the power to change the government (by passing laws). This can be good or bad, depending on the representatives. Our government has checks in it to protect us from whims of popular viewpoints, and I'm sure you will agree that is a good thing.
>Madison's essays on the politics of faction make some clear warnings about a minority of people (read: > corporations, christian right, etc) forcing their world-view upon everyone. The purpose of government is to allow > people to do as they wish while allowing others the to same , and resolving disputes arising from the above (civil > courts).
> Example: Let's pretend that the South won the Civil War, and slavery were still legal there. > Even if the majority of people think it's OK, its the government's sole function to protect the > individual liberty of its citizens. Consensus does not equal justice.
A government should give majority rule and minority rights, that's true. However, the purpose of a democratic government _in general_ is to follow the commands of the people. The problem occurs when the people no longer have sufficient control of the government. In the US, money is more of a determining factor than popular support. Corporations control the mass media, and can omit information from the public knowledge. This makes it much harder for people (who have little time for matters of government anyway) to stay informed. Corporations tend to want people to stay ignorant of the facts, because it gives the companies more power.
The example of a government that supports slavery is a bad example of the problems of government, because slavery is really a social institution. The people of the south created slavery more than the government did. The government took a 'leave it alone' attitude.
Thomas Kerwin --Knowledge is Power
(Hello to all my friends in domestic surveilance.)
The purpose of government is to do whatever the people want it to do. The problem is that most of the people are too dumb to know what is good and what is bad for them, especialy in the long term. And most of the smart ones don't know exactly what's going on.
Thomas Kerwin --Knowledge is Power
(Hello to all my friends in domestic surveilance.)
Re:XFree86 3.3.4 out 3 days ago. Coincidence?
on
SuSE 6.2 in August
·
· Score: 1
Perhaps SuSE waited to put together the new version untill the new XFree86 came out.
Slashdot Mirror
Of course, people actually downloading the whole human genome probable wouldn't worry about this, but couldn't they use a better compression format than .zip? I bet using bzip2 or rar would shave a couple of hundred MBs off of that 753MB file. Also, the differences in compression techniques would be interesting to see on a large group of files mainly consisting of G, A, C, and T.
-- demiurge
You find a file that appears important and obliterate it from memory!!!
Score one for the downtrodden hacker!
I wouldn't think the Palm buttons could be a good substitute for the directional control buttons on a GameBoy. For me, at least, a good game of Tetris or Kirby needs a comfortable and reconizable controls set.
-- demiurge
You find a file that appears important and obliterate it from memory!!!
Score one for the downtrodden hacker!
Gelernter starts his "Manefesto" with several believable points, showing how technology isn't making any quantum leaps. However, how are we supposed to take seriously some one who says that "Any well-designed next-generation electronic gadget will come with a 'Disable Omniscience' button." I like science fiction as well as the next guy, but this sounds more like the punchline to a obscure BOFH joke than even plausible scifi.
Not all progress has to be in huge jumps to incredible ways of thinking. I don't really think that interface design will be improved by saying things like "Computers make alphabetical order obsolete". It's not going to happen like that.
-- demiurge
You find a file that appears important and obliterate it from memory!!!
Score one for the downtrodden hacker!
Should this article be given (-1: Redundant)?
From the page, this seems to be an unfriendly JavaScript exploit, not Visual Basic Script, and pretty different from ILOVEYOU.
Scientia est Potentia.
"People like Larry Wall who invent relativist languages for computers...are destroying the fabric of our society"
That's got to be one of the funniest things i've seen on slashdot in a while. Forget about violent crime and the growing gap between the rich and poor, we've got to face the dangerous Perl issue head on.
Hmm, so the reason I don't have a girlfriend is because I don't have a valid magic cookie?
Also, in:
class girl_with_secret {
public:
char upstanding;
long dresses;
friend bend_over_boy;
private:
char *safeword;
double strap_on;
}
shouldn't strap_on be a long?
It seems that this kind of patent is just creating hassles. The only use for it is for Doubleclick to sue some other ad company for infringment. That's going to cost lots of money on both sides (and cost the government money in the process) and there is a high probablility that the patent will just get struck down anyway. There needs to be some kind of stricter patenting process that weeds out overbroad patents like this.
One of the problems with the wide use of computers and the internet, is that new things are being done everywhere, and in lots of different ways. Some one on another continent could be trying to solve the same problem as you, at the same time, and it seems a shame that only one would get a patent on it. (reminds me of Newton and Lebnitz[sp?])
1. Think of what is Right and True -- Miyamoto Musashi
demiurgeThey seemed to have changed the name of the aliens from 'buggers' to 'formics' (http://www.frescopictures.com/movies/ender/enders game_update.html)
:-)
Also, any idea how they will be doing the video game scenes? I hope it's computer graphics
Thomas Kerwin
--Knowledge is Power
yeah, screw the unfortunate!
what a great new idea...
That's a good point, perhaps I should have been more specific.
I meant that the creators of a government determine the role of that government. I don't think that a generic 'government' has any other role then what it has been defined for it. Fortunately, the definers of our government knew the importance of minority rights. However, in our system, the people give representatives the power to change the government (by passing laws). This can be good or bad, depending on the representatives. Our government has checks in it to protect us from whims of popular viewpoints, and I'm sure you will agree that is a good thing.
>Madison's essays on the politics of faction make some clear warnings about a minority of people (read:
> corporations, christian right, etc) forcing their world-view upon everyone. The purpose of government is to allow
> people to do as they wish while allowing others the to same , and resolving disputes arising from the above (civil
> courts).
> Example: Let's pretend that the South won the Civil War, and slavery were still legal there.
> Even if the majority of people think it's OK, its the government's sole function to protect the
> individual liberty of its citizens. Consensus does not equal justice.
A government should give majority rule and minority rights, that's true. However, the purpose of a democratic government _in general_ is to follow the commands of the people. The problem occurs when the people no longer have sufficient control of the government. In the US, money is more of a determining factor than popular support. Corporations control the mass media, and can omit information from the public knowledge. This makes it much harder for people (who have little time for matters of government anyway) to stay informed. Corporations tend to want people to stay ignorant of the facts, because it gives the companies more power.
The example of a government that supports slavery is a bad example of the problems of government, because slavery is really a social institution. The people of the south created slavery more than the government did. The government took a 'leave it alone' attitude.
Thomas Kerwin
--Knowledge is Power
(Hello to all my friends in domestic surveilance.)
I disagree.
The purpose of government is to do whatever the people want it to do. The problem is that most of the people are too dumb to know what is good and what is bad for them, especialy in the long term. And most of the smart ones don't know exactly what's going on.
Thomas Kerwin
--Knowledge is Power
(Hello to all my friends in domestic surveilance.)
Perhaps SuSE waited to put together the new version untill the new XFree86 came out.
But that's not very interesting.
Thomas Kerwin
--Knowledge is Power