I agree that the article isn't that clear. But I think that you can imply that it is more a cluster topology than a single machine because:
1) processors ('sticks') are hot swappable "sticks". I don't know of any PeeCee SMP system that can do this. (Could just be my ignorance though).
2) the operating systems used. Last I checked Windows can't handle a 336 node SMP server. (Ok, let's be fair, Linux can't either).
I would be interested in what kind of software they are shipping with it.
If you read the article *cough*, you would see that it's can be up to 336 servers (processors) in a 42U rack. Very redundant. Surely you'd agree that such a setup would eliminate problems with any single processor failing.
Plus, corporations depreciate their equipment on their balance sheets, so the hardware is (to a greater or lesser extent) at no cost. However, Windows and MS Office and such is VERY expensive, and you can't depreciate software (that I'm aware of).
I think you are a little fuzzy on the accounting details. Depreciation isn't magic; it just means you can realize the expense over several years. So yes, you are right that you can depreciate hardware and not software. But, you expense software, or "depreciate it immediately". Both of these items (the software and hardware) reduce your net income. The only issue is when the reduction (expense) occurs.
I could get long and boring about this (too late?), but trust me, just because something is depreciated doesn't mean it is "at no cost."
From the Python Style Guide (I couldn't find a more authorative reference, although I believe there is one.)
One indentation level is 4 spaces. Two levels is one tab. Three levels is a tab and 4 spaces, and so on. Python doesn't mind if you indent one line with 8 spaces and the next line with a tab -- they are considered to have the same indentation.
So using your example of 8 spaces with 1 tab, Python won't complain. Go ahead and try a simple program, interspacing 8 spaces with tabs. Python doesn't complain.
I'm may be replying to a troll, but you don't have to use self. You can use this, s, or thisfoolreferencethaticanneverremenberthenameof. self is merely a convention. If you don't like it, don't use it.
Given, coding in Magyar is difficult, but then you do get Hungarian notation for free.
Re:Why this is illegal, and a very bad thing to do
on
Making Small Change
·
· Score: 1
No. Money does not cease to exist when the loan that created it is paid off. It goes back in the pot to fund other loans. What, there is a guy at the bank burning money as people pay their mortgages?
I took a Systems Science class where we were modeling processes (assembly lines, lines at fast food restaurants, motor vehichles department, that sort of thing) with Extend. Their
website is www.imaginethatinc.com. I think something like Extend could
be used to help you model your problem. You can define how fast and with
what distribution new jobs come in (using different distributions), vary
the time that jobs are worked on (again, using different random
distributions), and measure the results.
It was pretty easy to learn, and you could do some pretty interesting
simulations. I know there are other similar modeling products out there,
but that just happens to be one that I have worked with before.
If you do decide to go with it, I would recommend the BPR extensions; they
help make your models a lot more concise. No affiliations, just a reasonably satisfied user.
I'll bite. I love FreeBSD, but the upgrade path with packages just isn't that nice. If a new version of a port comes out, it is up to the user to figure out what needs to be done in order to upgrade. To work cleanly, this usually means uninstalling and installing the upgraded port, which can wipe out configuration files.
With apt & friends, it is automatic, and the level of user interaction is customizable. Very nice.
I was thinking of it more in terms of quashing competition rather than a solid investment by Microsoft. I realize that most of RHATs value is based on people and goodwill, and that as soon as the purchase was completed, there would be little value left. However, Microsoft sets back Linux distribution (via Red Hat) and advocacy (Slashdot) pretty significantly with just a smidgen of its cash.
Of course, its all hypothetical, and I don't believe it would ever happen. But its fun to say 'what if'.
You are forgetting the fact that they still have a market cap of about $1 billion (shares outstanding times share price). I don't think that their cubicles and computers would add up to $680 million.
It is intereisting to speculate that Microsoft, with $4.8 billion in cash, could buy Red Hat and VA Linux ($459 million market cap) and reduce its cash by only a third.
Having gone to school in Canada, I had the opportunity to cross the Canadian border many times. I don't recall ever being asked if I had a criminal background.
Not that your story isn't true, of course. But I just wanted to point out that it is possible to get into Canada without having to admit to all my speeding tickets.
There is a business model very similar to TrustE that already exists: the public accounting/auditing industry. Companies pay their auditor to give an opinion of how their financial statements comply with generally accepted accounting proceedures. This opinion is published in the annual report with the finanacial statements. An unfavorable opinion (or an opinion with exceptions) will decimate the companies stock, so it is a pretty big stick.
The same arguements you present have been leveled against the accounting firms (lack of objectivity), but the process has been in place for a long time, and no one has come up with a better solution. Generally, it seems to work ok, and many times auditors will force companies to take action behind the scenes in order to avoid an unfavorable opinion.
I think such a model could work, but the company or companies (not TrustE, they are toast) would have to be willing to remove their endorsement for infractions, and web browsers would have to care more about thier privacy, using only companies which had their privacy policies "audited".
You can compare the sales figures. However, I agree that the accounting standards are signifcantly different. The only thing I remember about German accounting standards is that they were much more leinient in there treatment of "reserve" accounts, thus allowing for earnings to be "smoothed" by management.
From an accounting perspective, unless you bought the source code from someone else (like the Solaris 2.x software), the value of the code would not show up on the balance sheet as part of book value. So, there would be no need to report the "loss", because the value of the item doesn't actually appear anywhere on the balance sheet.
The distinction is that there is a difference between R&D costs (which (except for software companies) are expensed as they are incurred) and a balance sheet asset. The comapnies (in general) aren't saying "this was what we value this asset on our balance sheet at", but rather "this is what we spent to develop this asset".
In addition, even if the asset was on the balance sheet, I don't think that it would be necessary to reduce the value of that asset. The company still has the use of that asset, and can sell the asset to someone else. It is not really "impaired" in any way.
Assuming that it is stealing to take source code from another computer without permission, I don't know any other way to attach a "value" to the software taken other than development costs. It seems pretty reasonable.
(For anyone who cares, software companies can reflect some of the R&D costs on the balance sheet. But, I still believe that these assets would not be impacted by a crack, by the arguement that it is not impaired).
And an intial public offering is just that, the initial public offering of a company's stock. IPO's are interesting for several reason, one being that they are typically underpriced slightly so that they get a good "bounce" on the first day of trading.
Offtopic: I read an article by Michael Lewis (author of Liar's Poker, no relation) about how traditional Wall Street underwriters would eventually become obsolete as online brokers are able to undercut the fees of the traditonal brokers. Does anyone have any thoughts as to the feasiblity of this? It seems that the SEC and legal hurdles would be significant for a startup; but if I were an established online broker, I would be all over this.
IIRC, Paul Allen (a cofounder and major shareholder of Microsoft) is an investor in Transmeta. As I understand it, he has no involvement at Microsoft, and nowadays spends most of his time investing VC in a ton of new companies.
Slashdot Mirror
1) processors ('sticks') are hot swappable "sticks". I don't know of any PeeCee SMP system that can do this. (Could just be my ignorance though).
2) the operating systems used. Last I checked Windows can't handle a 336 node SMP server. (Ok, let's be fair, Linux can't either).
I would be interested in what kind of software they are shipping with it.
If you read the article *cough*, you would see that it's can be up to 336 servers (processors) in a 42U rack. Very redundant. Surely you'd agree that such a setup would eliminate problems with any single processor failing.
Or you could just buy a goat.
I think you are a little fuzzy on the accounting details. Depreciation isn't magic; it just means you can realize the expense over several years. So yes, you are right that you can depreciate hardware and not software. But, you expense software, or "depreciate it immediately". Both of these items (the software and hardware) reduce your net income. The only issue is when the reduction (expense) occurs.
I could get long and boring about this (too late?), but trust me, just because something is depreciated doesn't mean it is "at no cost."
There are lots of Python programmers who actually like whitespace formatting, and others who like the language despite it. Deal.
One indentation level is 4 spaces. Two levels is one tab. Three levels is a tab and 4 spaces, and so on. Python doesn't mind if you indent one line with 8 spaces and the next line with a tab -- they are considered to have the same indentation.
So using your example of 8 spaces with 1 tab, Python won't complain. Go ahead and try a simple program, interspacing 8 spaces with tabs. Python doesn't complain.
I'm may be replying to a troll, but you don't have to use self. You can use this, s, or thisfoolreferencethaticanneverremenberthenameof. self is merely a convention. If you don't like it, don't use it.
Given, coding in Magyar is difficult, but then you do get Hungarian notation for free.
No. Money does not cease to exist when the loan that created it is paid off. It goes back in the pot to fund other loans. What, there is a guy at the bank burning money as people pay their mortgages?
It was pretty easy to learn, and you could do some pretty interesting simulations. I know there are other similar modeling products out there, but that just happens to be one that I have worked with before.
If you do decide to go with it, I would recommend the BPR extensions; they help make your models a lot more concise. No affiliations, just a reasonably satisfied user.
I hate it when I am wrong. Fortunately, it doesn't happen that often. :-)
I'll bite. I love FreeBSD, but the upgrade path with packages just isn't that nice. If a new version of a port comes out, it is up to the user to figure out what needs to be done in order to upgrade. To work cleanly, this usually means uninstalling and installing the upgraded port, which can wipe out configuration files.
With apt & friends, it is automatic, and the level of user interaction is customizable. Very nice.
I was thinking of it more in terms of quashing competition rather than a solid investment by Microsoft. I realize that most of RHATs value is based on people and goodwill, and that as soon as the purchase was completed, there would be little value left. However, Microsoft sets back Linux distribution (via Red Hat) and advocacy (Slashdot) pretty significantly with just a smidgen of its cash.
Of course, its all hypothetical, and I don't believe it would ever happen. But its fun to say 'what if'.
You are forgetting the fact that they still have a market cap of about $1 billion (shares outstanding times share price). I don't think that their cubicles and computers would add up to $680 million.
It is intereisting to speculate that Microsoft, with $4.8 billion in cash, could buy Red Hat and VA Linux ($459 million market cap) and reduce its cash by only a third.
And yes, I am a little bit embarrassed that I know this.
Not that your story isn't true, of course. But I just wanted to point out that it is possible to get into Canada without having to admit to all my speeding tickets.
Next thing you know, Slashdot will be putting banner ads on web pages.
The same arguements you present have been leveled against the accounting firms (lack of objectivity), but the process has been in place for a long time, and no one has come up with a better solution. Generally, it seems to work ok, and many times auditors will force companies to take action behind the scenes in order to avoid an unfavorable opinion.
I think such a model could work, but the company or companies (not TrustE, they are toast) would have to be willing to remove their endorsement for infractions, and web browsers would have to care more about thier privacy, using only companies which had their privacy policies "audited".
You can compare the sales figures. However, I agree that the accounting standards are signifcantly different. The only thing I remember about German accounting standards is that they were much more leinient in there treatment of "reserve" accounts, thus allowing for earnings to be "smoothed" by management.
From an accounting perspective, unless you bought the source code from someone else (like the Solaris 2.x software), the value of the code would not show up on the balance sheet as part of book value. So, there would be no need to report the "loss", because the value of the item doesn't actually appear anywhere on the balance sheet.
The distinction is that there is a difference between R&D costs (which (except for software companies) are expensed as they are incurred) and a balance sheet asset. The comapnies (in general) aren't saying "this was what we value this asset on our balance sheet at", but rather "this is what we spent to develop this asset".
In addition, even if the asset was on the balance sheet, I don't think that it would be necessary to reduce the value of that asset. The company still has the use of that asset, and can sell the asset to someone else. It is not really "impaired" in any way.
Assuming that it is stealing to take source code from another computer without permission, I don't know any other way to attach a "value" to the software taken other than development costs. It seems pretty reasonable.
(For anyone who cares, software companies can reflect some of the R&D costs on the balance sheet. But, I still believe that these assets would not be impacted by a crack, by the arguement that it is not impaired).
http://www.witcapital.com
http://www.openipo.com
I think that www.ipo.com is more a site for distributing regulatory and marketing information about upcoming ipo's.
I think these are really interesting concepts. eBay meets IPO craze.
Offtopic: I read an article by Michael Lewis (author of Liar's Poker, no relation) about how traditional Wall Street underwriters would eventually become obsolete as online brokers are able to undercut the fees of the traditonal brokers. Does anyone have any thoughts as to the feasiblity of this? It seems that the SEC and legal hurdles would be significant for a startup; but if I were an established online broker, I would be all over this.
IIRC, Paul Allen (a cofounder and major shareholder of Microsoft) is an investor in Transmeta. As I understand it, he has no involvement at Microsoft, and nowadays spends most of his time investing VC in a ton of new companies.
Mine wasn't that great, but I do brush my teeth weekly.