If you can explain what all these words (broadcast packets, hostile RF, and WEP) mean, I'll buy _YOU_ a beer;)
Oh, how I long for the days when Computers were mechanical devices run by steam engines (although I wasn't born back then).
"The people knew instinctively that these messages were important and they craved them."
That is the difference between the Russia of those years and the US of today.
In Russia then, the living conditions were deplorable and the people scarcely had enough to eat. Although other factors may have contributed, they knew SOMETHING WAS VERY WRONG because although they had been promised (and were being promised) prosperity, they had hunger.
This kind of thought does not exist in the US of A because people are prosperous. They have all this rhetoric about the high morals and freedoms their country stands for, and they believe it although these same freedoms are slowly being taken away from them. It is only a few who actually realise what is happening, and these few will not be able to do squat to prevent it.
To put it short, Prosperity has mellowed that part of the people that is willing to fight for freedom. It's like 'Freedom for Money'.
"this week marks the 30th anniversary of the Intel 4004, the very first microprocessor. "
What?
I thought Microsoft made the first microprocessor after purchasing the idea from Al Gore.
But, well, if they say so on Slashdot, it MUST be true.
First off, globalisation seems more of an offshoot of imperialism than capitalisation, if you look at it from the point of view of an under-developed nation.
"For all the media hysteria about bio-terrorism and other dangers, it seems probable that the United States will ultimately destroy the Taliban government, and the first such conflict of the 21st century will be over. What isn't as clear is whether this will mark the beginning of a war or the end."
Wait, media hysteria? Haven't people died of anthrax?
Yes, the US will destroy the Taliban government. But the war is just beginning. How can it not be clear? There are Millions of young fundamentalists out there looking at what the US is doing in Afghanistan. They know what the US did in the 1980s, and they see this as backstabbing selfishness. Do you think they will go home after the Taliban is finished? Hell no, they're going to become even more violent and innovative. This is merely the beginning of a war that started much earlier than Sept. 11th.
did they have the slashdot effect ...
on
XML for Ancients
·
· Score: 0, Troll
So, did they have the slashdot effect back then? Umm, like 100 scholars trying to access a single clay tablet at the same time? Did the clay tablet crash? Wait a minute - did I just give an anology where slashdotters were scholars? Woah, must have regular dose of caffine before I make more 'horrendous mistakes'.
Just a few questions.
Do geeks read anything other than Science Fiction?
And if the books and authors mentioned above are 'classics,' what the hell do we call Shakespeare, Johnson and others?
Katz, are you a moron?
on
Globalization
·
· Score: 1
"Either way, September 11 makes it clear that globalization - pitting fundamentalism against cosmopolitan tolerance - is one of the most important issues in our lifetimes. "
Globalisation is not pitting fundamentalism against cosmopolitan tolerance. The people opposing globalisation are not always radical religious fundamentalists out to get you. Take a look at India. We have people dying here of starvation. One way or another, globalisation caused it. I don't say globalisation is good or bad - I'm not trolling here. I hope to make it clear (so clear that you should understand it) that most of the people against globalisation are doing it because of the starving millions, not because they have their religion to propagate.
"People with a host of grievances against technology, multinational corporations and capitalist democracies have made globalism a dirty word"
Yes, they have grievances against technology because technology doesn't mean jack when you're dying of hunger. And please don't talk of GM food and the advantages of scientific research - the 'green revolution' already happened in this country.
Yes, they have grievances against multinational corporations like Enron because they bribe the politicians and secure contracts like the one in Maharashtra. They are sucking the blood out of half dead corpses with their exhorbitant charges. Enron charges about 900% more than the State electricity board does (without subsidies).
Yes, they have grievances against capilist democracies because if you look closer, they don't know what democracy is - they never get to practice it, and couldn't care less - for them, utopia is a frugal meal that couldn't amount to 300 calories per day.
"Kinda reminds me of how most companies expect their Indian programmers to be geniuses and react with surprise when some of them turn out not to be. "
First of all, why the fire breathing against Indian programmers?
I know quite a few, and I am Indian, in India.
Most of them scarcely make 'coder', let alone 'programmer'.
These guys are mildly competent and slightly educated.
They take 6 month courses in Java or VB/Oracle/Whatever, and are picked up by companies that want cheap labour. You get what you pay for.
Even among those that are 'Programmers', most are slightly competent, some are incompetent and some are fuckin genius.
Why do most people think most Indians are geniuses? They aren't. If you take a cross section of Indian society, you'll find the 'Bell curve' of IQ.
"For a tenth of the cost we can cover several square miles of the nevada desert with solar arrays. This will produce ten times the power without the problems of beaming the power back to the ground."
Do you have any solid 'figures' to back this claim up?
When it comes to the photo electric effect, E = hv
Now, when it comes to E, as v increases, E increases.
Here on the earth, we do not recieve most high frequency radiation (think Ultra Violet, think Cosmic) which is available in abundence in Space.
But quantum entanglement has shown how transporters could be viable. It allows us to find both states of an atom. It is basically a run-around of the heisenburg uncertainty princple.
No it does not. Quantum entanglement 'allows' us to have two particles, far far away, in the same state once some kind of measurement has been performed on one. It does not get around Heisenberg's Uncertainity Principle. It still applies. And that makes it very very difficult to even think of transporting (teleporting) solid objects.
In Other news, President George W. Bush apologised to Bill Gates saying he was too busy with that 'Afgaha... Agfah... Damned turban problem' after Gates threatened to sue Bush for violating their 'Money talks so good, even bushes listen' contract agreement.
All that we have to do is kill them faster than they recruit.
I'd like to request you to think about what you've just written. You may be drunk, or hallucinating, or under the influence of some drugs. When you're sane again, please think about what you've just said, and if you deserve to be called a civilised, educated person. I'm sure Hitler would have welcomed you into the Third Reich.
"Honestly, they aren't concerned about those albums. Having less capacity for them is a good thing. It means less flogging of the unimaginative stooges who churn out Britney's latest hit. "
It does not matter a bat's wing to them.
If they have 8 minutes less, they cut one song out of the album. Its not as if that will make a big fscking difference for a Brit. Spears Album.
Do that to a Pink Floyd album, and I'll kick their collective ass.
And I for one consider The Wall as an epic (it has a storyline).
But what, if the message is not the collapse in a certain state, but simply: If the state _changes_ (into whatever) it means : yes.
But to verify change, you should know what state it was before. Once you've performed the measurement, the superposition collapses, and if B does this, A finds his particle in Bs state. Trust me, faster than light information transfer is not possible.
The application to faster-than-light information transmission is obvious.
Actually, faster than light information transfer using quantum entanglement is not possible. Suppose A and B have two entangled particles (one each), both kept isolated so that no measurements may be performed by mistake. A goes to Alpha Centauri, and B stays here. Now, assume the particles are electrons (to make it easy). If B wants to send a message (a single bit) to A, the obvious thing to do would be to perform a measurement on his electron so that its superposition of states breaks down to one single state, and A's particle takes the same state at the same time (yes, spooky action at a distance is what its called, and its faster than light). However, there is a catch. When B performs a measurements, if there are 4 states involved in the superposition, he can get any one of the four. It involves probability. So if he has already decided a code with A which says that if the particle's superposition collapses to state 1, it means this, and so on, he cannot be sure which state it will collapse into, and hence it is USELESS for transmitting information. I believe this is a result of the Bell Inequality. Faster than light information transmission is still impossible.
"That said, I agree with you that there are too many armchair Pattons (and WAY too many armchair Ghandis)."
Its Gandhi, not Ghandi.
How difficult is that? Ghandi sounds like a &$#%$ word in one vernacular language in India. Give the great man a break.
"Personally, I think if we want to win a war in Afghanistan, we need to massively arm the opposing side who know the terrain and how to win."
Hate to spoil your party, but that's what got you people (and us) into this mess. You armed the mujahedeen against the former USSR (The CIA did it), and now you have Laden and the Taliban sticking it up your arses.
Slashdot Mirror
If you can explain what all these words (broadcast packets, hostile RF, and WEP) mean, I'll buy _YOU_ a beer ;)
Oh, how I long for the days when Computers were mechanical devices run by steam engines (although I wasn't born back then).
You've put it succintly.
Cheers.
"The people knew instinctively that these messages were important and they craved them."
That is the difference between the Russia of those years and the US of today.
In Russia then, the living conditions were deplorable and the people scarcely had enough to eat. Although other factors may have contributed, they knew SOMETHING WAS VERY WRONG because although they had been promised (and were being promised) prosperity, they had hunger.
This kind of thought does not exist in the US of A because people are prosperous. They have all this rhetoric about the high morals and freedoms their country stands for, and they believe it although these same freedoms are slowly being taken away from them. It is only a few who actually realise what is happening, and these few will not be able to do squat to prevent it.
To put it short, Prosperity has mellowed that part of the people that is willing to fight for freedom. It's like 'Freedom for Money'.
You mean to say someone must be original when she/he posts to /.? How the hell did John Katz get his job then?
"this week marks the 30th anniversary of the Intel 4004, the very first microprocessor. "
What?
I thought Microsoft made the first microprocessor after purchasing the idea from Al Gore.
But, well, if they say so on Slashdot, it MUST be true.
First off, globalisation seems more of an offshoot of imperialism than capitalisation, if you look at it from the point of view of an under-developed nation.
"For all the media hysteria about bio-terrorism and other dangers, it seems probable that the United States will ultimately destroy the Taliban government, and the first such conflict of the 21st century will be over. What isn't as clear is whether this will mark the beginning of a war or the end."
Wait, media hysteria? Haven't people died of anthrax?
Yes, the US will destroy the Taliban government. But the war is just beginning. How can it not be clear? There are Millions of young fundamentalists out there looking at what the US is doing in Afghanistan. They know what the US did in the 1980s, and they see this as backstabbing selfishness. Do you think they will go home after the Taliban is finished? Hell no, they're going to become even more violent and innovative. This is merely the beginning of a war that started much earlier than Sept. 11th.
Read more at the Times of India
So, did they have the slashdot effect back then? Umm, like 100 scholars trying to access a single clay tablet at the same time? Did the clay tablet crash? Wait a minute - did I just give an anology where slashdotters were scholars? Woah, must have regular dose of caffine before I make more 'horrendous mistakes'.
Just a few questions.
Do geeks read anything other than Science Fiction?
And if the books and authors mentioned above are 'classics,' what the hell do we call Shakespeare, Johnson and others?
"Either way, September 11 makes it clear that globalization - pitting fundamentalism against cosmopolitan tolerance - is one of the most important issues in our lifetimes. "
Globalisation is not pitting fundamentalism against cosmopolitan tolerance. The people opposing globalisation are not always radical religious fundamentalists out to get you. Take a look at India. We have people dying here of starvation. One way or another, globalisation caused it. I don't say globalisation is good or bad - I'm not trolling here. I hope to make it clear (so clear that you should understand it) that most of the people against globalisation are doing it because of the starving millions, not because they have their religion to propagate.
"People with a host of grievances against technology, multinational corporations and capitalist democracies have made globalism a dirty word"
Yes, they have grievances against technology because technology doesn't mean jack when you're dying of hunger. And please don't talk of GM food and the advantages of scientific research - the 'green revolution' already happened in this country.
Yes, they have grievances against multinational corporations like Enron because they bribe the politicians and secure contracts like the one in Maharashtra. They are sucking the blood out of half dead corpses with their exhorbitant charges. Enron charges about 900% more than the State electricity board does (without subsidies).
Yes, they have grievances against capilist democracies because if you look closer, they don't know what democracy is - they never get to practice it, and couldn't care less - for them, utopia is a frugal meal that couldn't amount to 300 calories per day.
"Kinda reminds me of how most companies expect their Indian programmers to be geniuses and react with surprise when some of them turn out not to be. "
First of all, why the fire breathing against Indian programmers?
I know quite a few, and I am Indian, in India.
Most of them scarcely make 'coder', let alone 'programmer'.
These guys are mildly competent and slightly educated.
They take 6 month courses in Java or VB/Oracle/Whatever, and are picked up by companies that want cheap labour. You get what you pay for.
Even among those that are 'Programmers', most are slightly competent, some are incompetent and some are fuckin genius.
Why do most people think most Indians are geniuses? They aren't. If you take a cross section of Indian society, you'll find the 'Bell curve' of IQ.
Competence relates to IQ.
"Do you have any figures on how the extra high-frequency rays improve solar cell performance? "
As I said, E=hv, and as v increases, E increases. This is purely theoretical, and the practical aspects do not differ.
"For a tenth of the cost we can cover several square miles of the nevada desert with solar arrays. This will produce ten times the power without the problems of beaming the power back to the ground."
Do you have any solid 'figures' to back this claim up?
When it comes to the photo electric effect, E = hv
Now, when it comes to E, as v increases, E increases.
Here on the earth, we do not recieve most high frequency radiation (think Ultra Violet, think Cosmic) which is available in abundence in Space.
Consider that thought for a moment.
No it does not. Quantum entanglement 'allows' us to have two particles, far far away, in the same state once some kind of measurement has been performed on one. It does not get around Heisenberg's Uncertainity Principle. It still applies. And that makes it very very difficult to even think of transporting (teleporting) solid objects.
In Other news, President George W. Bush apologised to Bill Gates saying he was too busy with that 'Afgaha ... Agfah ... Damned turban problem' after Gates threatened to sue Bush for violating their 'Money talks so good, even bushes listen' contract agreement.
The good news is that there will still be israelis lest when all the palestenians are dead.
SLASHDOT makes me sick.
All that we have to do is kill them faster than they recruit.
I'd like to request you to think about what you've just written. You may be drunk, or hallucinating, or under the influence of some drugs. When you're sane again, please think about what you've just said, and if you deserve to be called a civilised, educated person.
I'm sure Hitler would have welcomed you into the Third Reich.
Which OS user has the cleanest pipes from being cleaned too often? ;)
Just my hyperactive imagination at work.
Nothing to see here, move along.
"Honestly, they aren't concerned about those albums. Having less capacity for them is a good thing. It means less flogging of the unimaginative stooges who churn out Britney's latest hit. "
It does not matter a bat's wing to them.
If they have 8 minutes less, they cut one song out of the album. Its not as if that will make a big fscking difference for a Brit. Spears Album.
Do that to a Pink Floyd album, and I'll kick their collective ass.
And I for one consider The Wall as an epic (it has a storyline).
RAND, in Hindi means 'Prostitute'.
Kind of a fitting title (?)
But to verify change, you should know what state it was before. Once you've performed the measurement, the superposition collapses, and if B does this, A finds his particle in Bs state.
Trust me, faster than light information transfer is not possible.
Actually, faster than light information transfer using quantum entanglement is not possible. Suppose A and B have two entangled particles (one each), both kept isolated so that no measurements may be performed by mistake. A goes to Alpha Centauri, and B stays here. Now, assume the particles are electrons (to make it easy). If B wants to send a message (a single bit) to A, the obvious thing to do would be to perform a measurement on his electron so that its superposition of states breaks down to one single state, and A's particle takes the same state at the same time (yes, spooky action at a distance is what its called, and its faster than light). However, there is a catch. When B performs a measurements, if there are 4 states involved in the superposition, he can get any one of the four. It involves probability. So if he has already decided a code with A which says that if the particle's superposition collapses to state 1, it means this, and so on, he cannot be sure which state it will collapse into, and hence it is USELESS for transmitting information. I believe this is a result of the Bell Inequality. Faster than light information transmission is still impossible.
Go home Anonymous 'Daiper Boy', this wasn't a joke or a troll. Just an alternative.
I think 'Is intellectually stimulating' would be a nice 'adjective' (?)
"That said, I agree with you that there are too many armchair Pattons (and WAY too many armchair Ghandis)."
Its Gandhi, not Ghandi.
How difficult is that? Ghandi sounds like a &$#%$ word in one vernacular language in India. Give the great man a break.
"Personally, I think if we want to win a war in Afghanistan, we need to massively arm the opposing side who know the terrain and how to win."
Hate to spoil your party, but that's what got you people (and us) into this mess. You armed the mujahedeen against the former USSR (The CIA did it), and now you have Laden and the Taliban sticking it up your arses.