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User: mevets

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Comments · 1,133

  1. Re:Well, it can be done. But can it be done well? on Can People Really Program 80+ Hours a Week? · · Score: 1

    "One bad programmer can easily create two new jobs a year." - David Parnas.

  2. what would fonzie program in? on Why is Java Considered Un-Cool? · · Score: 1

    he wouldn't. Java isn't cool. It isn't any less cool than any other programming language. Programming isn't cool; it's a way to avoid having to get a real job. Get a life.

  3. Re:Awesome on AMD Could Profit from Buffer-Overflow Protection · · Score: 1

    Segments descriptors can set RO, RW, RX or XO. WX is not valid. For this reason, x86 apps which want to use non-overlapping ranges for cs, ds, ss, ... must pass around "far" attributed pointers which specify which segment a given pointer refers to:

    char buf[13] = "hello, world";

    main()
    {
    printf("%s\n", buf);
    }
    Printf would have to 'know' that the literal was relative to the code segment (const) and that buf was relative to the data segment. This multi-model programming was predominant in OS/2, DOS, WINDOWS and XENIX over a decade ago, and the sheer inelegance of it may account for SCOs mean spiritedness.

    The predominant unix model is to have cs, ds, ss share a base virtual address (0); that is they may have separate permissions but a given offset refers to the same location [ or a bus fault ] for any segment it is applied to.

    The real problem is the page table entry - pages can either be RX or RWX (as controlled by the writable bit). I presume AMD/Intel have agreed on some bit combination to permit R, RW, RX, RWX to be specified.

  4. Re:Cato on Skeptical Environmentalist Saga Continues · · Score: 1

    I think green is the key colour. The Cato Institute is to "research" as Mustang Ranch is to "love" - a poor impersonation at an impressive price.

  5. Re:Biased environmentalists? on Climate Data Re-examined (updated) · · Score: 1

    The "national post" is not a credible news source; it is a mouthpiece similar to "Fox News" or "USA today".

    [http://www.davidappell.com/archives/00000372.ht m]

    Energy and Environment's editor, Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen, admits that her political biases--which are anti-Kyoto (see below)--influence what papers she publishes. This is from a Sept. 5, 2003 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education by Rich Monastersky:

    The two researchers [Soon and Baliunas], with three additional co-authors, published a longer version of the paper this spring in Energy and Environment, a journal geared mainly to social scientists. The journal's editor, Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen, a reader in geography at the University of Hull, in England, says she sometimes publishes scientific papers challenging the view that global warming is a problem, because that position is often stifled in other outlets. "I'm following my political agenda -- a bit, anyway," she says. "But isn't that the right of the editor?"

  6. Re:Aha! on U.S. Says Canada Cares Too Much About Liberties · · Score: 1

    Which means that out of my high school, about 1200 people, only 2 are likely to be in jail. That is way too low.

  7. Re:article credibility on Still More on Global Warming · · Score: 1

    It is the Daily Telegraph; Lord (Tubby) Black is a top rate propagandist. He was a daily media annoyance in this country until he mercifully renounced his citizenship. He and the House of Lords deserve each other.

    On the other hand; Harvard is well known for its environmental research. I think that department subsidizes its law and business departments...

  8. Re:4 or 5 nines? on Uptime Realities in the Internet World · · Score: 1

    It isn't reliability; it is availability.

    The availability of a system is the fraction of its intended duty cycle which it is functional for. It is frequently expressed as a percentage, as in 99.999%.

    Reliability is the rate of failure, thus is expressed in units of time or usage. Mean Time To Failure or Mean Time Between Failure are expressions of reliability.