This is really the self driving cars question, taken from the oppisite approach.
I still think that the best way to tackle this would be a solution that relies as little as possible on things built into the ground. It's 2002, and we have fast computers and fairly accurate GPS guidance. I don't see any reason why the earth part of the system should be more than stipes of whatever color reflective paint on the ground. It's easy and cheap, and it won't ever need upgrading. Then car computer guides itself with the paint lines, but uses GPS to ditermine it's location and to make decisions about turning and stuff. Maybe some kind of WAP based thing where cars close to each other share location and velocity information. Of course, this all comes in a box under the hood with a couple cables sticking out. The WAP could accept software upgrades, and if new hardware is neccessary than you just have to take all the cars to the shop rather than dig in half your roads.
Besides what people have been saying about PocketPC (alas, palmos is losing), Look at the visors and treos. A quick read of specs may not tell it, but the treo is a visor replacement. The "graffitti" model esp. is the upgrade path they want you on. The treo's look pretty sweet too in my opinion; unless I end up poor I'll be all over getting one sometime this year.
Someone above mentioned Swatch watches. I think that, someday, computers are going to be like Swatch watches, or lamps, or TV sets.
Now, unlike a lot of people, I'm not saying that the console or set-top is going to replace the PC soon, but i do think that it's inevitable that they'll fuse into one product, and we'll replace them for stylistic reasons or for totally new funcinality, and not just for speed increases.
Apple understands that I at least might be right. After all, what's the difference between an iMac and the new consoles? Both are fixed function, with a very limited upgrade path (official addons for consoles, Approved and drivered cards for macs). Both are programmed almost entirely at the API level, and in theory both can have very, very fast API calls due to standard hardware.
So what's the difference between an iMac and a swatch? I used to work with a yuppie. One of those guys that had to have only the hippest new stuff, only ate Godiva and only drank Starbucks, all that. We were poor at the time (he more then me, guess why?), but he wanted an iMac. The only thing stopping him was that he couldn't afford a new computer at all.
If the stuff on TV is any clue, massive consumerism will continue to be the lifeblood of teenage and bachlor culture. Trendism seems to be more prevaliant every season, and I think we'll be back at 80's levels and stay there soon. No one will care (except geeks) what a machine does, they'll only be interested in what's in the mags and on the screens, and all that. And if things stay how they are, that will mean they'll want Apple.
Will apple take over? No. Why not? Cuz Mircosoft gets it too. Homestation, X-Box, and 25 different versitons of XP: What do you think they're looking to go tomorrow? in the consumer market, they're heading strait for Apple's territory.
And in some tests, that 2-3% are in favor of the nForce! I know quite a few people that are MORE likely to buy Samsung now that they've smacked down THG.
Re:Unfortunately, an end to wars
on
The Drone War
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· Score: 2, Interesting
It takes more than guns to control a people, it also takes control of information. Alas, they'll have that too...
ANY cost is worth saving lives, I don't think anyone will disagree with that. But will this new war on terrorism be effective? So far it's elmiminated the Teliban, but that organization had a lot more to do with limiting Americian corperation's exploitation of forign markets than it did with oversees terrorism. And while no doubt Bin Laden's prople have been hurt, I wonder if all the fighting has done nearly as much damage as funding crackdowns and investigative work has...
The Teliban is the arch enemy of American Globalism. If you like globalism, you hate them; if you hate globalism, you probibally still think it's the lesser of two evils. I'm glad they've lost power, but I'm not sure that forcing them out militarilly was a good thing, at least at this point. It left a power vacumm that I think could do as much harm as good. In the short run at least, we seem to be setting up the same system that we fought to remove from Somilia in the early ninties!
I wish the US had taken a calmer approach to terror after Sept. 11th. Terrorists can hide from the global police network if they concentrate on that, but with the world's new intrest, I doubt they could stay hidden and do thier "work" at the same time. Eventually, increased inteligence funding could pay off all by itself, without a need for loss of civil liberty at home and national sovernty abroad.
I am not a geo-politics expert, so don't believe any of this.
Is the future somehow going to magically eliminate the problem of interference, the security concerns, the waste of omnidirectional broadcasting, the concerns about the side-effects of pumping radio waves into the environment?
Well, yeah. Or, maybe we'll find better methods of using all those cell towers we've put up everywhere. Or maybe other forces will eliminate these concerns (anti-cancer drugs in my flour?)
The only alternitive to saying these problems will be solved is that they're unsolvable. I do nt thing any of them are unsolvable.
Before GTA3 came out, I was opposed to parental permission requirements for buying games. Now I'm not sure. I've got a gut instinct that this game is bad for little kids, the kind of instinct that assholes would call "common sense." I've grown very weary of common sense in the last few years, but it seems to me that ten year olds playing GTA3 sounds like a bad thing.
Maybe I'm wrong, and even if I'm right that doesn't mean we need to start a bonfire out of Rockstar's employees. But perhaps the time has come to make some serious rules about games. Now that I'm not convinved they're evil, I think maybe we should try to beat the luddites to the punch and make them ourselves, so they can be sane.
I don't think that OOP is intended to completly replace traditional language concepts, esp. on the function level. OO in my opinion really shines in dealing with relationships between objects or concepts, but the object classes themselves shouldn't always behave the same. I generally think of an object as a collection of data items and thier properties, but an "object" can also be a black box of functions that acts other objects, or any other set of properties that's approprate.
If a program's sole purpose it to generate numbers based on other numbers, I don't see any reason to force OO methods onto the system. But if it's part of a larger system, then you may want a class that behaives like an object to the world, but acts like a function set internally.
Well, I'm about to start the last semester of a CS program, and I kind of wish I had gone the dot-commer route. I'm a total tightwad, and I always thought it would crash an burn quickly, but in retrospect, I should have jumped on right away when I finished my enlistment. Sure, I'd be a year or two behind in school compared to now, but so what? Maybe I should've drawn a few paychecks off those insane investments.
I'm not at all hurting right now, so I don't have any regrets or anything, but I don't blame these guys one bit for taking advantage of the situation.
Then again, I probibally would have ended up getting paid in stock...:)
It may be possible to make a shirtsleeve atmosphere that's heavier than the planet's natural atmosphere, then fill up a crator or other hole with it. Then put a small base at the bottom.
There's stuff to worry about, like erosion and weather's effects, but as far as I know, no one's decided it wouldn't work.
Seems to me that, anymore, the only cheap solution that's got any speed to it is more hard drives. OF course, if you're looking to do weekly's or something then it's no fun changing out a whole drive for it every week, but then it's not THAT much work either...
I'm still a little interested in overclocking, just because it's an indicator of how reliable the board will be at normal memory speeds, esp at high loads after a few years of usage.
Still though, that's not that much of an issue, and they probibally go too in depth about it.
And tell me, how many of them go complaining back to the shop saying how they hate the goddam computer because the operating system sucks ass?
When was the last time you had talked to a luser who didn't have any complaints about his computer? Every single time I accidently start talking about home systems with my customers, they easily have five to ten minutes of things they don't like about them. And they know what's at fault (Windows). They may not know what to do about it, but they at least understand that they're getting the shaft from Bill both financially and quality wise.
Have you ever tried to use consumer lever tech support? I havn't personally, but I understand long, long hold times are the norm. Why do you think that is? Because Windows is broken. And how many people never call, because they don't have time to wait? How may don't have support contracts anywhere? How many people do you know that just deal with broken things in Windows?
In my shop, we're running NT4.0/Off97. We've got a little pressure to upgrade Office, but no reason to consider OS upgrades, not even a couple years down the road. We're also not planning on buying new workstations for general replacement for quite some time either, even though the warrantys have run out on our P2-233's, I see no reason to get rid of them, exp. considering that local suppliers can keep us in working parts for a lot less than total upgrade costs.
Before I read it somewhere last week, it never even occured to me that large companies are doing large scale upgrading to XP. Why would they do such a thing, esp. if you've already got Win2k?
I haven't tried it in '98, but a lot of stuff is pretty ungodly slow on my 2K box, including scrolling, and forgin advisior screen. I'm on a Celery 850 / 448 Megs / Gf1DDR. And I do have the latest Nvidia drivers.
If you sell you're palace in the first round, You = fucked! here's why:
1) no palace = no culture points until you build a temple. Until a city gets 10 culture points, they can only use the 8 squares around them rather than the normal 20.
2) Under a despotic govt, you can't hurry improvements or units with money anymore. So the extra cash doesn't even do you any good!
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This is really the self driving cars question, taken from the oppisite approach.
I still think that the best way to tackle this would be a solution that relies as little as possible on things built into the ground. It's 2002, and we have fast computers and fairly accurate GPS guidance. I don't see any reason why the earth part of the system should be more than stipes of whatever color reflective paint on the ground. It's easy and cheap, and it won't ever need upgrading. Then car computer guides itself with the paint lines, but uses GPS to ditermine it's location and to make decisions about turning and stuff. Maybe some kind of WAP based thing where cars close to each other share location and velocity information. Of course, this all comes in a box under the hood with a couple cables sticking out. The WAP could accept software upgrades, and if new hardware is neccessary than you just have to take all the cars to the shop rather than dig in half your roads.
You forgot the epic conclusion!
Boy tries to call girl. Boy is disapointed. Boy orders a pizza.
Besides what people have been saying about PocketPC (alas, palmos is losing), Look at the visors and treos. A quick read of specs may not tell it, but the treo is a visor replacement. The "graffitti" model esp. is the upgrade path they want you on. The treo's look pretty sweet too in my opinion; unless I end up poor I'll be all over getting one sometime this year.
Well, seeing as how I spent my rent money on handhelds, This thing should have no problem controling the TV from across the refrigerator box!
Now, unlike a lot of people, I'm not saying that the console or set-top is going to replace the PC soon, but i do think that it's inevitable that they'll fuse into one product, and we'll replace them for stylistic reasons or for totally new funcinality, and not just for speed increases.
Apple understands that I at least might be right. After all, what's the difference between an iMac and the new consoles? Both are fixed function, with a very limited upgrade path (official addons for consoles, Approved and drivered cards for macs). Both are programmed almost entirely at the API level, and in theory both can have very, very fast API calls due to standard hardware.
So what's the difference between an iMac and a swatch? I used to work with a yuppie. One of those guys that had to have only the hippest new stuff, only ate Godiva and only drank Starbucks, all that. We were poor at the time (he more then me, guess why?), but he wanted an iMac. The only thing stopping him was that he couldn't afford a new computer at all.
If the stuff on TV is any clue, massive consumerism will continue to be the lifeblood of teenage and bachlor culture. Trendism seems to be more prevaliant every season, and I think we'll be back at 80's levels and stay there soon. No one will care (except geeks) what a machine does, they'll only be interested in what's in the mags and on the screens, and all that. And if things stay how they are, that will mean they'll want Apple.
Will apple take over? No. Why not? Cuz Mircosoft gets it too. Homestation, X-Box, and 25 different versitons of XP: What do you think they're looking to go tomorrow? in the consumer market, they're heading strait for Apple's territory.
And in some tests, that 2-3% are in favor of the nForce! I know quite a few people that are MORE likely to buy Samsung now that they've smacked down THG.
It takes more than guns to control a people, it also takes control of information. Alas, they'll have that too...
The Teliban is the arch enemy of American Globalism. If you like globalism, you hate them; if you hate globalism, you probibally still think it's the lesser of two evils. I'm glad they've lost power, but I'm not sure that forcing them out militarilly was a good thing, at least at this point. It left a power vacumm that I think could do as much harm as good. In the short run at least, we seem to be setting up the same system that we fought to remove from Somilia in the early ninties!
I wish the US had taken a calmer approach to terror after Sept. 11th. Terrorists can hide from the global police network if they concentrate on that, but with the world's new intrest, I doubt they could stay hidden and do thier "work" at the same time. Eventually, increased inteligence funding could pay off all by itself, without a need for loss of civil liberty at home and national sovernty abroad.
I am not a geo-politics expert, so don't believe any of this.
Well, yeah. Or, maybe we'll find better methods of using all those cell towers we've put up everywhere. Or maybe other forces will eliminate these concerns (anti-cancer drugs in my flour?)
The only alternitive to saying these problems will be solved is that they're unsolvable. I do nt thing any of them are unsolvable.
Beat me to it. I kind of doubt that ten years from now we'll be using wired connectivity at all, at least as far as the end-user is concerned.
Maybe I'm wrong, and even if I'm right that doesn't mean we need to start a bonfire out of Rockstar's employees. But perhaps the time has come to make some serious rules about games. Now that I'm not convinved they're evil, I think maybe we should try to beat the luddites to the punch and make them ourselves, so they can be sane.
If a program's sole purpose it to generate numbers based on other numbers, I don't see any reason to force OO methods onto the system. But if it's part of a larger system, then you may want a class that behaives like an object to the world, but acts like a function set internally.
Did you notice the URL's in the middle there? I think it's pretty funny that they have a directory named "sundown"....
If you're lazy (and I know I am), you'll probibally get new ones, and send the old ones back to the factory. Same as what we do now with laser toner.
I'm not at all hurting right now, so I don't have any regrets or anything, but I don't blame these guys one bit for taking advantage of the situation.
Then again, I probibally would have ended up getting paid in stock... :)
It may be possible to make a shirtsleeve atmosphere that's heavier than the planet's natural atmosphere, then fill up a crator or other hole with it. Then put a small base at the bottom.
There's stuff to worry about, like erosion and weather's effects, but as far as I know, no one's decided it wouldn't work.
Seems to me that, anymore, the only cheap solution that's got any speed to it is more hard drives. OF course, if you're looking to do weekly's or something then it's no fun changing out a whole drive for it every week, but then it's not THAT much work either...
Hmm, I should check that out. I had framerate poblems with the demo when it was new, but I've got about 3 times the computer now... :)
It's time to stop goofing off and finalize / implement IPv6. The world is sick of having to deal with this crap.
I'm still a little interested in overclocking, just because it's an indicator of how reliable the board will be at normal memory speeds, esp at high loads after a few years of usage.
Still though, that's not that much of an issue, and they probibally go too in depth about it.
When was the last time you had talked to a luser who didn't have any complaints about his computer? Every single time I accidently start talking about home systems with my customers, they easily have five to ten minutes of things they don't like about them. And they know what's at fault (Windows). They may not know what to do about it, but they at least understand that they're getting the shaft from Bill both financially and quality wise.
Have you ever tried to use consumer lever tech support? I havn't personally, but I understand long, long hold times are the norm. Why do you think that is? Because Windows is broken. And how many people never call, because they don't have time to wait? How may don't have support contracts anywhere? How many people do you know that just deal with broken things in Windows?
Well, he might be intruiged by the the windowing system that's named after him...
Before I read it somewhere last week, it never even occured to me that large companies are doing large scale upgrading to XP. Why would they do such a thing, esp. if you've already got Win2k?
I haven't tried it in '98, but a lot of stuff is pretty ungodly slow on my 2K box, including scrolling, and forgin advisior screen. I'm on a Celery 850 / 448 Megs / Gf1DDR. And I do have the latest Nvidia drivers.
1) no palace = no culture points until you build a temple. Until a city gets 10 culture points, they can only use the 8 squares around them rather than the normal 20.
2) Under a despotic govt, you can't hurry improvements or units with money anymore. So the extra cash doesn't even do you any good!