Completely agree re: geometrically placed desktops. Gnome2's implementation was just good enough for my needs (my other required feature is the ability to 'raise/lower' a window, mapped to a key). The one reason I can't accept XFCE as a gnome2 alternative is that it seems to insist on arranging desktops linearly. I want my two dimensions, dammit.
The only thing that makes me reluctant to go back to fvwm is that configuring it was always rather unpleasant.
This reminds me of an idea I had some time ago, which might be an application for something like that (I've not read the article yet, so maybe they;re doing something different; but this might be interesting anyway:)
When refactoring code, it's not atypical to move whole snippets of code around. Reviewing the results of such a change (i.e., doing a diff between the versions) is usually nightmarish, since every diff tool I've ever seen is inherently line- or block-of-lines-oriented, and cannot recognize the simple (for a human) case of "I moved this function above that other function".
If the diff tool (and/or the related version control tool?) could be sufficiently language-aware, it might be able to recognize certain semantic units (functions, scope blocks, etc), and try to keep track of them. If this could be done, a diff output could actually be much more meaningful than what we get these days.
Not quite. It's a different way of thinking about the same thing. As best as I remember "The Selfish Gene", it does present the gene as the unit of selection. The organism is discussed more as a just a useful vehicle (which exists due to multiple genes working to a common effect, but only because there's an advantage on the individual gene's level). I'm simplifying, but that's the gist of it. If you didn't get a chance to read the book yet, try it. Interesting stuff.
some organisms are more suited to their environment than others; better ones survive and reproduce - their traits survive.
Just wanted to point out that the most important part is not so much survival as the ability to reproduce. A more accurate way to phrase this is that the "better" organisms get more opportunities to reproduce (e.g., by surviving longer, but perhaps for other reasons, such as being more attractive or more capable, etc.), and the "worse" ones get fewer opportunities to do so (for any of a multitude of reasons). All else being equal, over time, the "better" organism's offspring are going to outnumber those of the "worse" organism, eventually significantly so.
I think this is a more enlightening description of natural selection, as it explains why it works a little better. I think I read this in one of Dawkins's books (either "Selfish Gene" or "Ancestor's Tale". Both are highly recommended, BTW; the latter isn't as well known, but is quite fascinating).
Igorsk is one who's done some great work on both the Sony Reader and Kindle. At the very least, his work allows Cyrillic books to be read, which is not supported natively. Not sure if there are other applications.
Understanding what a "year" is is pretty basic (how else can one interpret the fact that people don't know how long it takes the earth to go around the sun?). I wouldn't put that in the 'trivia' category. Knowing the land to water ratio is marginally more trivia-like; I think the range they accepted as 'reasonably right' is a tad too narrow--but not by much. Anyone who's ever seen a map should be able to know it's well over 50%, but that there's still quite a lot of land -- at which point 70% would be pretty easy to guesstimate. Of course this reqiures (1) having seen (and understood to some extent) the map of the world, and (2) knowing what "percent" means. Sadly, too many people in the US would have trouble with at least one of these.
I was actually not kidding:) I was blissfully unaware until it was mentioned to me in a conversation a year or so back. As for where I got mine--well, I registered in '98 or '99:)
That's strange--my experience has been nearly the opposite. I find FF3 to be much more stable than FF2. FF2 would eat up a lot of memory over time (I let it stay up for days/weeks at a time), and become so sluggish as to make it unusable, not to mention making my system swap incessantly. FF3 doesn't do taht (stays quite responsive), and is stable -- doesn't crash, and doesn't exhibit the weird behaviour you mentioned (at least on my Linux box; on a Mac mini I did have to kill it once or twice).
Have you tried disabling all/most extensions in order to make sure it's not one of those that's causing a problem?
note that in TFA, they mentioned the site working just fine if the user agent claims to be Firefox for Windows (and someone in the comments mentions the same with FF/MacOS). So it's not the browser they're "blocking", it's the OS.
Could it be because you can't "feel" the keys? I don't have an iPhone (though I did get to play with one a few times), but the main thing I didn't like about it is that you (1) have to look at the keyboard/keypad to use it (and can't feel your way through it), and (2) at least to me as a newbie, it was not always clear exactly which part of the fingertip is touching the screen, and thus how to place the finger. I'm guessing that the latter is a matter of experience, but the former seems like a real hurdle, since you can't really touch-type. And if you want better accuracy, you do want to touch-type, methinks.
Quite plausible. Australian and Tasmanian aborigines, and other cultures in the area, have survived for thousands of years (on the order of 40,000+) without getting past stone-age hunter-gatherer culture. Technological innovation is not inevitable--conditions must be right for it. If people are stuck in a certain area, don't get exposed to new environments, etc, they might not progress very much.
:)) I wasn't actually one of the CnD crowd, but was introduced to/. sometime during my freshman year in college ('97-'98). But I'll answer the roll-call anyway.
>Also, I thought this book 7 would explain the howlers "REMEMBER MY LAST, PETUNIA." from 5. >That's a loose end! It is hinted at. Recall that Petunia, as a child, wrote a letter to Hogwart's, begging to be accepted, and received a response from Dumbledore (which was read by Snape and possibly Evans). I think that letter is what the howler referred to. (I don't remember the scene well enough to be completely sure that it makes sense, though).
I doubt that'd make a difference. Speaking (as in, repeating facts they're trying to get him to learn) also involves motor skills/memory. I don't think using a different modality would be different.
Slashdot Mirror
Let there be...
nevermind.
Sorry, no time to participate...
While true, your statement also assumes he had a choice...
Completely agree re: geometrically placed desktops. Gnome2's implementation was just good enough for my needs (my other required feature is the ability to 'raise/lower' a window, mapped to a key). The one reason I can't accept XFCE as a gnome2 alternative is that it seems to insist on arranging desktops linearly. I want my two dimensions, dammit.
The only thing that makes me reluctant to go back to fvwm is that configuring it was always rather unpleasant.
not to belabor the point, but the amount of unused blank space is ... astounding. Please fix that -- it looks too unbalanced and bare.
similarly in Russian -- "poguglit'" (effectively, "to google around"). I've not heard "vyguglit'" used yet, but it'd work as well :)
This reminds me of an idea I had some time ago, which might be an application for something like that (I've not read the article yet, so maybe they;re doing something different; but this might be interesting anyway :)
When refactoring code, it's not atypical to move whole snippets of code around. Reviewing the results of such a change (i.e., doing a diff between the versions) is usually nightmarish, since every diff tool I've ever seen is inherently line- or block-of-lines-oriented, and cannot recognize the simple (for a human) case of "I moved this function above that other function".
If the diff tool (and/or the related version control tool?) could be sufficiently language-aware, it might be able to recognize certain semantic units (functions, scope blocks, etc), and try to keep track of them. If this could be done, a diff output could actually be much more meaningful than what we get these days.
Not quite. It's a different way of thinking about the same thing.
As best as I remember "The Selfish Gene", it does present the gene as the unit of selection. The organism is discussed more as a just a useful vehicle (which exists due to multiple genes working to a common effect, but only because there's an advantage on the individual gene's level). I'm simplifying, but that's the gist of it.
If you didn't get a chance to read the book yet, try it. Interesting stuff.
some organisms are more suited to their environment than others; better ones survive and reproduce - their traits survive.
Just wanted to point out that the most important part is not so much survival as the ability to reproduce.
A more accurate way to phrase this is that the "better" organisms get more opportunities to reproduce (e.g., by surviving longer, but perhaps for other reasons, such as being more attractive or more capable, etc.), and the "worse" ones get fewer opportunities to do so (for any of a multitude of reasons). All else being equal, over time, the "better" organism's offspring are going to outnumber those of the "worse" organism, eventually significantly so.
I think this is a more enlightening description of natural selection, as it explains why it works a little better. I think I read this in one of Dawkins's books (either "Selfish Gene" or "Ancestor's Tale". Both are highly recommended, BTW; the latter isn't as well known, but is quite fascinating).
So keeping the cell phone in a pants pocket wasn't such a great idea after all... ;)
you are wrong :)
See http://igorsk.blogspot.com/
Igorsk is one who's done some great work on both the Sony Reader and Kindle.
At the very least, his work allows Cyrillic books to be read, which is not supported natively. Not sure if there are other applications.
Understanding what a "year" is is pretty basic (how else can one interpret the fact that people don't know how long it takes the earth to go around the sun?). I wouldn't put that in the 'trivia' category.
Knowing the land to water ratio is marginally more trivia-like; I think the range they accepted as 'reasonably right' is a tad too narrow--but not by much. Anyone who's ever seen a map should be able to know it's well over 50%, but that there's still quite a lot of land -- at which point 70% would be pretty easy to guesstimate. Of course this reqiures (1) having seen (and understood to some extent) the map of the world, and (2) knowing what "percent" means. Sadly, too many people in the US would have trouble with at least one of these.
no, that's only for three-digiters and better.
I was actually not kidding :) I was blissfully unaware until it was mentioned to me in a conversation a year or so back. :)
As for where I got mine--well, I registered in '98 or '99
Hmmm... until recently I didn't even realize that low ID's were in vogue :)
That's strange--my experience has been nearly the opposite. I find FF3 to be much more stable than FF2. FF2 would eat up a lot of memory over time (I let it stay up for days/weeks at a time), and become so sluggish as to make it unusable, not to mention making my system swap incessantly. FF3 doesn't do taht (stays quite responsive), and is stable -- doesn't crash, and doesn't exhibit the weird behaviour you mentioned (at least on my Linux box; on a Mac mini I did have to kill it once or twice).
Have you tried disabling all/most extensions in order to make sure it's not one of those that's causing a problem?
Just curious--are you referring to a real GPS capability in phones, or the assisted kind (a la iPhone) that uses cellular towers?
note that in TFA, they mentioned the site working just fine if the user agent claims to be Firefox for Windows (and someone in the comments mentions the same with FF/MacOS). So it's not the browser they're "blocking", it's the OS.
Could it be because you can't "feel" the keys? I don't have an iPhone (though I did get to play with one a few times), but the main thing I didn't like about it is that you (1) have to look at the keyboard/keypad to use it (and can't feel your way through it), and (2) at least to me as a newbie, it was not always clear exactly which part of the fingertip is touching the screen, and thus how to place the finger. I'm guessing that the latter is a matter of experience, but the former seems like a real hurdle, since you can't really touch-type. And if you want better accuracy, you do want to touch-type, methinks.
Quite plausible. Australian and Tasmanian aborigines, and other cultures in the area, have survived for thousands of years (on the order of 40,000+) without getting past stone-age hunter-gatherer culture. Technological innovation is not inevitable--conditions must be right for it. If people are stuck in a certain area, don't get exposed to new environments, etc, they might not progress very much.
:)) /. sometime during my freshman year in college ('97-'98). But I'll answer the roll-call anyway.
I wasn't actually one of the CnD crowd, but was introduced to
(that said, I wonder how many man-hours, or rather man-months, I've wasted here over the aforementioned 10 years :) :)
-Vadim, registered user# 31
>Also, I thought this book 7 would explain the howlers "REMEMBER MY LAST, PETUNIA." from 5. >That's a loose end!
It is hinted at. Recall that Petunia, as a child, wrote a letter to Hogwart's, begging to be accepted, and received a response from Dumbledore (which was read by Snape and possibly Evans). I think that letter is what the howler referred to.
(I don't remember the scene well enough to be completely sure that it makes sense, though).
I'd assume the parallel is to TV: public airwaves are subject to regulations (yes, censorship) that do not apply commercial (cable/satellite) TV.
Whether the parallel is accurate, I don't know, but it is something to consider.
(and no, I didn't RTFA yet, so perhaps this is not what they mean).
I doubt that'd make a difference. Speaking (as in, repeating facts they're trying to get him to learn) also involves motor skills/memory. I don't think using a different modality would be different.