Interesting point on the line transmission. One other thing though; the pollution won't necessarily be centred on those areas using the most energy, it'll be where the demand is greater than the supply.
That sounds like quite a novel idea, though I don't really see why they can't just run extra cabling between new static power stations to make up a better-connected grid?
I tried searching for extra details and although I didn't find the answer to my query, more details of the project can be found at the company's website here. Specifically, this document details their proposal to the state of California for movable locomotive power sources.
You have an interesting point there about extending it with further philosophical ideas. I have to admit I was going on the assumption that it'll just be a run of the mill repetitious sequel, and not have some crazy twists like the outside world they escaped to was also in a similar Matrix, or something like that. Now you mention it I suppose there are a lot of ways in which the nature of reality could still be explored in this trilogy, though I do hope it doesn't end up like eXistenZ, that was just too messed up:-)
I'd be surprised if the sequels to The Matrix are anywhere near as good as the original. The main merit of the original was introducing people to the philospohical idea that we may live in a 'virtual' world manufactured for our senses. In the sequels, this will of course be already known and they'll have to come up with some really amazing idea to top that one, IMO. Otherwise it is just a continuation of the same stuff.
The mobile phone network in Europe is also a lot better. Roaming, btw, just means that when you go to a different country with your phone it allows you to use the foreign networks automatically (who then bill your home provider) - actually a good feature. It seems to me that cellphones in America are so patchy is that they have been so slow to move to GSM. But then, they have a much larger area to organise. Also, analogue is more popular and local calls are cheap/free. Hmm, this is a bit offtopic as the discussion is about Japan. Sorry.
We have a couple of IBM servers where I work which support hot-swapping of most of the redundant components, including old-style ATA hard drives. Also things like power supply, network cards, etc.
Can anyone tell me the difference between this old-style hot swapping, and the hot-swapping available in this new-style Serial ATA standard? (The linked article didn't really explain that.)
It depends on what sort of data entry you're doing. In the example you cite, it seems that the user was well-versed in the system, and through using it frequently had become very efficient.
For the casual user of such a system, things might be different. A lot of the jobs I took when I was younger were data entry, and starting off on most of them was very slow - I only picked up speed after learning to use the program and data well.
Some were better than others though. I found the ones with the most comfortable learning curve had the following features:
Context-sensitive help
A key to browse the list of choices
A key to open up a query form based on the current input box
After a while, I found I had to use such features less. But they were incredibly useful to start off with, and saved me from wasting other people's time with "how do I do this..?" style questions.
Unfortunately, a major problem with web application is the trade off between the too-simplistic HTML only model, and the too-heavy Java model.
For example, take an HTML form. Let's say you had a few hundred choices for one of the textboxes on that form. It would be incredibly useful to be able to type in the few first letters of the text and press a button to search for all matches and display them in a selection box next to it.
HTML is too simplistic to do that, even with Javascript extensions, but it would be an incredibly useful feature for a data entry application.
Trying to use Java for it would mean.. well, using Java. Slow to load and slow to use, the trade off here is responsiveness.
Until such basic input methods as forms can be made to work as well as traditional (client/server) based applications, web applications will fail.
And XML? Big deal. There has been a standard format for data exchange around for years, and it's called 'CSV files'.
Uhh.. maybe you will. I'm not paying hard earned cash for something that goes bye-bye when my Western Digital decides to go head farming on the platters.
Sorry.. I dont pay for mp3's because they are transient.. if I am paying money, I want hard media.. (tape, CD, record) not bitstream. I realize a tape can go spaghetti on you, but when it does you lose what, 12 songs? When my HDD goes I lose 13 GIG of mp3's.. and at 1.00 a pop, or whatever they will end up marketed at, that is a *LOAD* of cash to lose because someone at a quality control department didnt watch the o-scope.
So download your mp3s and burn them onto a cd, as mp3s. Or put them onto tape, as mp3s. No-one said you have to keep 'em on your hard drive.
Slashdot Mirror
Interesting point on the line transmission. One other thing though; the pollution won't necessarily be centred on those areas using the most energy, it'll be where the demand is greater than the supply.
That sounds like quite a novel idea, though I don't really see why they can't just run extra cabling between new static power stations to make up a better-connected grid?
I tried searching for extra details and although I didn't find the answer to my query, more details of the project can be found at the company's website here. Specifically, this document details their proposal to the state of California for movable locomotive power sources.
You have an interesting point there about extending it with further philosophical ideas. I have to admit I was going on the assumption that it'll just be a run of the mill repetitious sequel, and not have some crazy twists like the outside world they escaped to was also in a similar Matrix, or something like that. Now you mention it I suppose there are a lot of ways in which the nature of reality could still be explored in this trilogy, though I do hope it doesn't end up like eXistenZ, that was just too messed up :-)
No, you do get terrorists. Those chemical weapon attacks in the subways, for example.
What is wrong with those statements? The author has the right to his opinions.
Free speech and all that, you know. They're hardly inciting racial hate, as you suggest.
I think the point was that Macs have this hint of 'cool' about them, which you do pay extra for compared to a PC.
Sadly, for many people, things like transparent windows and see-through speakers are incredibly impressive.
I'd be surprised if the sequels to The Matrix are anywhere near as good as the original. The main merit of the original was introducing people to the philospohical idea that we may live in a 'virtual' world manufactured for our senses. In the sequels, this will of course be already known and they'll have to come up with some really amazing idea to top that one, IMO. Otherwise it is just a continuation of the same stuff.
The mobile phone network in Europe is also a lot better. Roaming, btw, just means that when you go to a different country with your phone it allows you to use the foreign networks automatically (who then bill your home provider) - actually a good feature.
It seems to me that cellphones in America are so patchy is that they have been so slow to move to GSM. But then, they have a much larger area to organise. Also, analogue is more popular and local calls are cheap/free.
Hmm, this is a bit offtopic as the discussion is about Japan. Sorry.
Not entirely obvious. Things like pasta, vodka and football have been around for ages, but hi-tech gadgety things are quite a new phenomenon.
Yeah, maybe these are cool, but they don't exactly conjure up the image of 'small'. Even the PDAs are big-hand sized!
We have a couple of IBM servers where I work which support hot-swapping of most of the redundant components, including old-style ATA hard drives. Also things like power supply, network cards, etc.
Can anyone tell me the difference between this old-style hot swapping, and the hot-swapping available in this new-style Serial ATA standard? (The linked article didn't really explain that.)
It'll be interesting to see how long this takes. Surely an announcement after it is finished would have been better?
For the casual user of such a system, things might be different. A lot of the jobs I took when I was younger were data entry, and starting off on most of them was very slow - I only picked up speed after learning to use the program and data well.
Some were better than others though. I found the ones with the most comfortable learning curve had the following features:
- Context-sensitive help
- A key to browse the list of choices
- A key to open up a query form based on the current input box
After a while, I found I had to use such features less. But they were incredibly useful to start off with, and saved me from wasting other people's time with "how do I do thisUnfortunately, a major problem with web application is the trade off between the too-simplistic HTML only model, and the too-heavy Java model.
.. well, using Java. Slow to load and slow to use, the trade off here is responsiveness.
For example, take an HTML form. Let's say you had a few hundred choices for one of the textboxes on that form. It would be incredibly useful to be able to type in the few first letters of the text and press a button to search for all matches and display them in a selection box next to it.
HTML is too simplistic to do that, even with Javascript extensions, but it would be an incredibly useful feature for a data entry application.
Trying to use Java for it would mean
Until such basic input methods as forms can be made to work as well as traditional (client/server) based applications, web applications will fail.
And XML? Big deal. There has been a standard format for data exchange around for years, and it's called 'CSV files'.
What is this obsession with Linux anyway? Concentrate on the software and not the operating system!
Stick a BBC Micro emulator on them for that retro 80s educational touch.
ah, i guess posting anonymously didn't work for that post *smirks* :-)
haha, excellent! best 'goat' link i've seen so far -- someone mod this up, +1 Funny!
What about the emulation of hardware in software ..?
SpatchMonkey
Congrats on swiping a cool palindrome for user id :-)
Oh yes, goats are the future, don't you know?
SpatchMonkey
Sorry.. I dont pay for mp3's because they are transient.. if I am paying money, I want hard media.. (tape, CD, record) not bitstream. I realize a tape can go spaghetti on you, but when it does you lose what, 12 songs? When my HDD goes I lose 13 GIG of mp3's.. and at 1.00 a pop, or whatever they will end up marketed at, that is a *LOAD* of cash to lose because someone at a quality control department didnt watch the o-scope.
So download your mp3s and burn them onto a cd, as mp3s. Or put them onto tape, as mp3s. No-one said you have to keep 'em on your hard drive.
SpatchMonkey
However, it has probably already been answered sufficiently here