I've seen that look too:). But hey, if they can't cope with that it's their problem. I'm glad you found a job, and I'm sure you'll be hapier there than at those other places.
Let me be clear: nothing against learning new languages, you'll always learn something new, and I can't imagine many professional programmers not knowing at least 3-4 programming languages after a while (hey, in college I saw a dozen), but you shouldn't think that by mastering a language you become a good programmer. And "favoring different kinds of abstractions" is mostly BS. I've written object-oriented code in assembler! It's just a paradigm, and the only thing a language can help you with is syntactic sugar.
After nearly 20 years of programming experience, I have come to the conclusion that programming languages are totally irrelevant when it comes to "being a master". The real art lies in being able to analyze the problem, and making abstractions to come up with an elegant solution. The rest is implementation, and wether you write it in C++, Java or bash, it all remains more or less the same.
You can know every little detail of C++ e.g., and still be a lousy programmer. There is a phase in most programmers life (mine too) where they think "Cool, C++ has multiple inheritance, so I'm going to use that if I can". But after a while you'll learn to say "I'm going to use that if I really have to".
So, please, go ahead and learn new languages if you want, it won't do any harm, but you'll only advance as a programmer by constantly questioning your own designs and thinking about how they can be improved.
I'm a radical atheist myself, but recently I installed some bible software for a friend of mine who is quite religious - there were some bugs I thought I could fix.
I was quite surprised he had to provide me with a translation of around 1900, since all the newer translations are copyrighted. I must admid it made me smile a little, as it gives a perfect commercial explanation to why they are so eager to "spread the word".
Leaving the language itself aside, the big problem I see when reading javascript is all these tests to check on what browser it is running. If I write code, I don't wan't that mess (Luckily, I I'm not a web developer).
Oh please. You just sit back and watch what happens to the arctic ice shelves in the next decennium. Then think about that a couple of years and then open your mouth again.
Why can't the orders just be checked on earth? It's not like with MER, where they have autonomous driving; AFAIK the arm operations are quite static (I mean, they just send the motion commands, the software on the lander has no intelligence to make up it's own movements).
BTW, your comment about the weight: The way this is done is by measuring the motor current, as soon as it gets too high the motor stops ('stalls'). There are quite some examples of that on the MER mission.
His friends probably aren't going to buy into it. Is he really selling his friends on ebay? So I can go out, make some friends an put them on ebay? Cool!
I have to say I don't follow the US election that much, but after reading your post and looking up the meaning of "RINO", I'd like to point out the broader problem (IMHO).
On a sidenote, you "accuse" him without any arguments, so people, don't turn off your critical-thinking-brainlobe yet. But for now, let skip that discussion and simply assume you're right (even if only in your opinion).
Then what position is McCain in, if he would admit this (pure thought experiment of course)? Should he move to democrats? Because that's about the only option he's got. That's really the sadness of two-party systems. It's only one party more than Soviet Russia, as the saying goes, and you are presented with only two choices both as a voter and as a representative. I'm glad that in Europe, we have this chaotic-looking mix of big and small parties. This way you can better choose for representatives that stand for what you find important.
Indeed, there was a time when binary search trees were called "artificial intelligence".
Remember that program to catalogue animals? It started with something like "Is it a dog?", then you say no, and since the database is seeded with only one animal, it would respond with "I don't know the animal, what is it?" ("a bird"). Then it would ask what question would make the difference between the two clear ("Does it fly?"), and next time you run the program, it starts with "Does it fly?". If you say yes, it would ask "Is it a bird?" and so on, and so on.
It's a fun little project while learning how to program, but it's not really counted in the AI-domain anymore.
No, martian air is way too dry to form snow. There is water in the athmosphere, but IIRC it is something like a layer 1mm thick if all the water would condense on the ground. What happens is that some of that water freezes to/in the ground if it gets cold enough.
What I learned from following the press conferences online, is that since mars doesn't have a large moon, the axis of rotation changes much more than earth does, so if it is directed towards the sun, the ice could actually melt.
It was at the bottom of a trench. Plus, wind doesn't selecticely blow white rocks away while letting the rest of the scene untouched. Plus, you can also see some white areas at the end of the trench getting smaller.
There is one problem I have with HDD's and that is that they always tend to be full:). But seriously, you're right that it's a better solution. One thing I would add is that you still need a backup, because a crash is not the only reason things can go terribly wrong (think rm -rf). Personally I have a dedicated machine with 2 drives in a raid configugation that turns on every night and does a rdiff-backup of all the important data on the main server. There may be other solutions for data that doesn't change.
Ok, I just went looking for the handbook I got with my photography course, there's a paragraph about optical media: The CD's with a greenish look are guaranteed up to survive for 1-3 years. The siverish CD's last about 10 years. And there are also more expensive CD's with a gold color, and a black protection layer on top, that last +/- 100 years.
It also mentions there is no durability data about DVD's yet. This seems strange to me, and it's maybe outdated.
It might be wise to get some advice at a photography store, I'm sure they get a lot of those questions.
You might also have difficulties with the length of time that the female portion of these drives lasts if you are constantly changing the males. You could call an escort and ask her.
Slashdot Mirror
I've seen that look too :). But hey, if they can't cope with that it's their problem. I'm glad you found a job, and I'm sure you'll be hapier there than at those other places.
Let me be clear: nothing against learning new languages, you'll always learn something new, and I can't imagine many professional programmers not knowing at least 3-4 programming languages after a while (hey, in college I saw a dozen), but you shouldn't think that by mastering a language you become a good programmer. And "favoring different kinds of abstractions" is mostly BS. I've written object-oriented code in assembler! It's just a paradigm, and the only thing a language can help you with is syntactic sugar.
After nearly 20 years of programming experience, I have come to the conclusion that programming languages are totally irrelevant when it comes to "being a master". The real art lies in being able to analyze the problem, and making abstractions to come up with an elegant solution. The rest is implementation, and wether you write it in C++, Java or bash, it all remains more or less the same.
You can know every little detail of C++ e.g., and still be a lousy programmer. There is a phase in most programmers life (mine too) where they think "Cool, C++ has multiple inheritance, so I'm going to use that if I can". But after a while you'll learn to say "I'm going to use that if I really have to".
So, please, go ahead and learn new languages if you want, it won't do any harm, but you'll only advance as a programmer by constantly questioning your own designs and thinking about how they can be improved.
I'm a radical atheist myself, but recently I installed some bible software for a friend of mine who is quite religious - there were some bugs I thought I could fix.
I was quite surprised he had to provide me with a translation of around 1900, since all the newer translations are copyrighted. I must admid it made me smile a little, as it gives a perfect commercial explanation to why they are so eager to "spread the word".
So don't think the bible isn't copyrighted.
Leaving the language itself aside, the big problem I see when reading javascript is all these tests to check on what browser it is running. If I write code, I don't wan't that mess (Luckily, I I'm not a web developer).
Why do I get that feeling you won't get very old...
(except Hans Reiser)
I have only one question: what is the list of polygamous nations?
How about dropping a giant ice cube into the ocean once in a while?
Oh please. You just sit back and watch what happens to the arctic ice shelves in the next decennium. Then think about that a couple of years and then open your mouth again.
Nixon: ... thus solving the problem once and for all. ...
Little girl: But
Nixon: ONCE AND FOR ALL!
Also, if I recall correctly, the Apollo program was developed by nazi's. So there's nothing new under the sun.
The Predator's primary function is to save lives.
They should upgrade the thing to carry more weapons, so that it can save even more lives.
(War logic is always twisted)
Why can't the orders just be checked on earth? It's not like with MER, where they have autonomous driving; AFAIK the arm operations are quite static (I mean, they just send the motion commands, the software on the lander has no intelligence to make up it's own movements).
BTW, your comment about the weight: The way this is done is by measuring the motor current, as soon as it gets too high the motor stops ('stalls'). There are quite some examples of that on the MER mission.
I have to say I don't follow the US election that much, but after reading your post and looking up the meaning of "RINO", I'd like to point out the broader problem (IMHO).
On a sidenote, you "accuse" him without any arguments, so people, don't turn off your critical-thinking-brainlobe yet. But for now, let skip that discussion and simply assume you're right (even if only in your opinion).
Then what position is McCain in, if he would admit this (pure thought experiment of course)? Should he move to democrats? Because that's about the only option he's got. That's really the sadness of two-party systems. It's only one party more than Soviet Russia, as the saying goes, and you are presented with only two choices both as a voter and as a representative. I'm glad that in Europe, we have this chaotic-looking mix of big and small parties. This way you can better choose for representatives that stand for what you find important.
"Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for" - Will Rogers
(Just had to think of that quote while seeing the graph).
Indeed, there was a time when binary search trees were called "artificial intelligence".
Remember that program to catalogue animals? It started with something like "Is it a dog?", then you say no, and since the database is seeded with only one animal, it would respond with "I don't know the animal, what is it?" ("a bird"). Then it would ask what question would make the difference between the two clear ("Does it fly?"), and next time you run the program, it starts with "Does it fly?". If you say yes, it would ask "Is it a bird?" and so on, and so on.
It's a fun little project while learning how to program, but it's not really counted in the AI-domain anymore.
No, martian air is way too dry to form snow. There is water in the athmosphere, but IIRC it is something like a layer 1mm thick if all the water would condense on the ground. What happens is that some of that water freezes to/in the ground if it gets cold enough.
What I learned from following the press conferences online, is that since mars doesn't have a large moon, the axis of rotation changes much more than earth does, so if it is directed towards the sun, the ice could actually melt.
It was at the bottom of a trench. Plus, wind doesn't selecticely blow white rocks away while letting the rest of the scene untouched. Plus, you can also see some white areas at the end of the trench getting smaller.
It's ice. Definitely.
There is one problem I have with HDD's and that is that they always tend to be full :). But seriously, you're right that it's a better solution. One thing I would add is that you still need a backup, because a crash is not the only reason things can go terribly wrong (think rm -rf). Personally I have a dedicated machine with 2 drives in a raid configugation that turns on every night and does a rdiff-backup of all the important data on the main server. There may be other solutions for data that doesn't change.
Ok, I just went looking for the handbook I got with my photography course, there's a paragraph about optical media: The CD's with a greenish look are guaranteed up to survive for 1-3 years. The siverish CD's last about 10 years. And there are also more expensive CD's with a gold color, and a black protection layer on top, that last +/- 100 years.
It also mentions there is no durability data about DVD's yet. This seems strange to me, and it's maybe outdated.
It might be wise to get some advice at a photography store, I'm sure they get a lot of those questions.
Just imagine that in a few days from now, the news headline could be "NASA cooks the first extraterrestial life - tastes like chicken".