Funny person. Of course there are editors, but then the human is editing the content, not the XML. That's fine, if the structure is sufficiently complex. But how often are you searching for one bloody key-value pair in a config file that's 10 times longer than it needs to be, when a properties file would do just fine?
Well, it is convenient for the developer, rather than the end user, to be able to read the stream. But I agree, there should be a standard binary format for proven applications. I believe standards have been developed for binary XML, but nothing in widespread use. Also, because of the structured format, XML is incredibly compressible, and I use xmill to save my XML data files in a few percent of their expanded size.
Excellent point, and I'll take it one step further. When coupled with XSLT and other WS-* standards, you have an extremely flexible way to connect otherwise absurdly different applications (See Sun's OpenESB and JBI standard).
The hatred for XML, I think, stems from frequent, ugly misuse. Here's one basic, freakin' obvious rule: if a human, at any time at all, has to read or manually edit an XML document, you're doing it wrong. Just because it's ASCII doesn't mean it's human-compatible.
The discussion so far makes it sound like GPS is the only way to navigate. Modern airliners navigate just fine, to any point in the airspace, based on the existing ground-based navaids (scanning DME is the prevalent method). GPS does, with augmentation systems (WAAS, LAAS) enable precision approaches to any airport, which is a real capacity benefit.
There is also confusion about the difference between navigation and surveillance (telling the ground systems where the airplanes are). This need not be connected directly to navigation. As mentioned above, Mode-S, or other methods of Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) would accomplish this. In Alaska, there's a lot of non-radar airspace, so ADS-B is being used to fill the gaps. ADS-B can also enable new procedures, including tighter separation standards, that would improve airspace and airport capacity. GPS is not required, however, to have effective ADS-B.
The biggest potential benefit of GPS and ADS-B is that you could decommission those ground navaids and radars and save lots o' money. But no one has come up with a plan that has the appropriate fail-safe characteristics (GPS jamming?) and would satisfy the DoD (if you aren't reporting your position, only radar can find you).
The article, by the way, is full of crap. Of the NextGen technologies, GPS is one small element. ADS-B is much more important. But most important, we need more runways and airports. It's a simple fact: if people are unwilling to let airports expand, they are going to be flying at 4AM, or be willing to put up with lots of delays.
Having learned Photoshop first, I find the Gimp interface very confusing. But if you want a budget alternative, Photoshop Elements 3 does an excellent job of RAW processing (~$70). Then you can buy that nice lens you wanted, too.
Epson makes printers with archival-quality inks (supposedly 100 year lifespan). I own an Epson R800 ($400), and though I use online services for large quantities of basic prints, the Epson is brilliant for making frameable prints, larger prints, etc. Works great with OS X, too.
...if the accelerometers in your phone sense that you are weaving between lanes, then it provides a mild electric shock and hangs up. If you go around a traffic circle more than 360 degrees, it cuts the ignition and calls the local constabulary.
Oh, and if you download a polyphonic ringtone based on an Abba song, it shocks you to death on the spot.
You are so close. They are being trained to hack into Slashdot, and post front page articles linking to their targets...and to earn a Master's Degree, they are taught how to post dupes.
Yes, clusters are used. My company has at least two clusters, using Linux and MacOS X systems, and is doing other research into cluster and grid computing.
Why, you ask? Because there are plenty of interesting scientific and engineering problems that require incredible amounts of computation. If the problem can be parallelized, by running on dozens of processors you can bring runtimes down to the useful range (e.g., hours instead of weeks). I don't care how big a single box you buy, some problems are still limited by the number and speed of CPUs, and the only currently-available way to beat that is with a cluster.
How about trying to come up with rules to STOP and regulate unwanted spam altogether before adopting rules to regulate sexually explicit ones? Once the rules come to completeley stop this, non of these new rules even matter!
And what "rules" would those be? The stuff's already illegal, are you going to make a rule that grants spam-battered citizens immunity from prosecution if they successfully locate the spammer and beat him/her to a bloody pulp?
No, no. The next logical step, especially if you are going to call it gBucks, is to start selling coffee. World domination is only 1 million lattes away.
An aircraft of this type will certainly be cruising above the clouds, and will be steering well clear of any convective activity (thunderstorms) for safety reasons. The real power storage challenge is to get through the night.
This is the reason you don't see all that many solar-powered UAVs, never mind piloted aircraft. The economics of solar flight would change radically if battery technology improved.
It's not easy. Helicopters are inherently unstable, and exhibit non-linear coupled behavior as the flight conditions change (e.g. hover vs. forward flight).
That having been said, the algorithms and sensors do exist (and have for a while) for autonomous flight at some performance level. The tricky bits include landing, as you suggest, but also include generating sufficient disturbance rejection and flight technical accuracy to accomplish whatever mission the UAV is intended for (say, operating a laser target designator, or some surveillance equipment).
You can make an object neutrally-buoyant (or close enough to it) by carefully adding foam or other light stuff (ping-pong balls!). The tricky bit is making it not only neutral in an overall sense, but to prevent the object from tending towards a particular attitude in the water.
And unless you fill the tank with salt water or, perhaps, lime jello, the density of water is pretty much the same everywhere:-)
You don't even need that many steps. Just click the "print to file" box in the print... dialog and you get a.prn file, which you can run through ps2pdf.
Or, you can buy a Mac, and save the PDF directly:)
This whole thing is either political suicide for the people responsible, or a bait and switch so the voters swallow a tax hike without complaining.
Being Oregon, I assume you meant to say assisted political suicide. But seriously, this is the ultimate political proposal. Legislators don't have the guts to raise the gas tax, so they confuse the issue to the point where no one can say whether they did or not. Plus, they enable all kinds of other difficult-to-understand taxes, sorry, "user fees", such as congestion pricing. Car companies are happy, and donate, because the new scheme taxes mileage, not gasoline, and SUVs will sell better.
I tend to agree with your bait-and-switch theory. No doubt the legislature would love to have this for revenue reasons, but it's probably just a legal nuclear weapon which will allow them to, eventually, "just" raise the gas tax.
Slashdot Mirror
Funny person. Of course there are editors, but then the human is editing the content, not the XML. That's fine, if the structure is sufficiently complex. But how often are you searching for one bloody key-value pair in a config file that's 10 times longer than it needs to be, when a properties file would do just fine?
Well, it is convenient for the developer, rather than the end user, to be able to read the stream. But I agree, there should be a standard binary format for proven applications. I believe standards have been developed for binary XML, but nothing in widespread use. Also, because of the structured format, XML is incredibly compressible, and I use xmill to save my XML data files in a few percent of their expanded size.
Excellent point, and I'll take it one step further. When coupled with XSLT and other WS-* standards, you have an extremely flexible way to connect otherwise absurdly different applications (See Sun's OpenESB and JBI standard).
The hatred for XML, I think, stems from frequent, ugly misuse. Here's one basic, freakin' obvious rule: if a human, at any time at all, has to read or manually edit an XML document, you're doing it wrong. Just because it's ASCII doesn't mean it's human-compatible.
Snipes was too advanced for us. We played hunt from VT100 terminals. It's still a good game, actually.
The discussion so far makes it sound like GPS is the only way to navigate. Modern airliners navigate just fine, to any point in the airspace, based on the existing ground-based navaids (scanning DME is the prevalent method). GPS does, with augmentation systems (WAAS, LAAS) enable precision approaches to any airport, which is a real capacity benefit.
There is also confusion about the difference between navigation and surveillance (telling the ground systems where the airplanes are). This need not be connected directly to navigation. As mentioned above, Mode-S, or other methods of Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) would accomplish this. In Alaska, there's a lot of non-radar airspace, so ADS-B is being used to fill the gaps. ADS-B can also enable new procedures, including tighter separation standards, that would improve airspace and airport capacity. GPS is not required, however, to have effective ADS-B.
The biggest potential benefit of GPS and ADS-B is that you could decommission those ground navaids and radars and save lots o' money. But no one has come up with a plan that has the appropriate fail-safe characteristics (GPS jamming?) and would satisfy the DoD (if you aren't reporting your position, only radar can find you).
The article, by the way, is full of crap. Of the NextGen technologies, GPS is one small element. ADS-B is much more important. But most important, we need more runways and airports. It's a simple fact: if people are unwilling to let airports expand, they are going to be flying at 4AM, or be willing to put up with lots of delays.
...I don't really want to smell my caller's environment. At least not for most of my callers.
I applaud their creativity. But I still want a cell phone that works > 99% of the time as a freakin' phone.
Having learned Photoshop first, I find the Gimp interface very confusing. But if you want a budget alternative, Photoshop Elements 3 does an excellent job of RAW processing (~$70). Then you can buy that nice lens you wanted, too.
Epson makes printers with archival-quality inks (supposedly 100 year lifespan). I own an Epson R800 ($400), and though I use online services for large quantities of basic prints, the Epson is brilliant for making frameable prints, larger prints, etc. Works great with OS X, too.
No, it's an iFlea. Wait thru the ad, it's worth it...
...if the accelerometers in your phone sense that you are weaving between lanes, then it provides a mild electric shock and hangs up. If you go around a traffic circle more than 360 degrees, it cuts the ignition and calls the local constabulary.
Oh, and if you download a polyphonic ringtone based on an Abba song, it shocks you to death on the spot.
You are so close. They are being trained to hack into Slashdot, and post front page articles linking to their targets. ..and to earn a Master's Degree, they are taught how to post dupes.
Yes, clusters are used. My company has at least two clusters, using Linux and MacOS X systems, and is doing other research into cluster and grid computing.
Why, you ask? Because there are plenty of interesting scientific and engineering problems that require incredible amounts of computation. If the problem can be parallelized, by running on dozens of processors you can bring runtimes down to the useful range (e.g., hours instead of weeks). I don't care how big a single box you buy, some problems are still limited by the number and speed of CPUs, and the only currently-available way to beat that is with a cluster.
And what "rules" would those be? The stuff's already illegal, are you going to make a rule that grants spam-battered citizens immunity from prosecution if they successfully locate the spammer and beat him/her to a bloody pulp?
Hey, wait...
No, no. The next logical step, especially if you are going to call it gBucks, is to start selling coffee. World domination is only 1 million lattes away.
That is like saying North America means the same as USA ( though there may be some people who think that ).
That's not true. YET.
(evil cackle)
Of course it does. That's why we have it already. And it shows up as "movie hotline" on your phone bill!
An aircraft of this type will certainly be cruising above the clouds, and will be steering well clear of any convective activity (thunderstorms) for safety reasons. The real power storage challenge is to get through the night.
This is the reason you don't see all that many solar-powered UAVs, never mind piloted aircraft. The economics of solar flight would change radically if battery technology improved.
Oof. So, presumably, an FBI office somewhere has a tape of me on the Beltway screaming:
"Hang up and DRIVE, you FESTERING PUSTULE MORON DIPLOMAT!!!#$%(@#)"
It's not easy. Helicopters are inherently unstable, and exhibit non-linear coupled behavior as the flight conditions change (e.g. hover vs. forward flight).
That having been said, the algorithms and sensors do exist (and have for a while) for autonomous flight at some performance level. The tricky bits include landing, as you suggest, but also include generating sufficient disturbance rejection and flight technical accuracy to accomplish whatever mission the UAV is intended for (say, operating a laser target designator, or some surveillance equipment).
...I'm happy to say that code is all Java based...
Oh, so THAT'S why it's shaped like a giant coffee maker.
Maybe your attitude is improving.
You can make an object neutrally-buoyant (or close enough to it) by carefully adding foam or other light stuff (ping-pong balls!). The tricky bit is making it not only neutral in an overall sense, but to prevent the object from tending towards a particular attitude in the water.
:-)
And unless you fill the tank with salt water or, perhaps, lime jello, the density of water is pretty much the same everywhere
You don't even need that many steps. Just click the "print to file" box in the print... dialog and you get a .prn file, which you can run through ps2pdf.
:)
Or, you can buy a Mac, and save the PDF directly
This whole thing is either political suicide for the people responsible, or a bait and switch so the voters swallow a tax hike without complaining.
Being Oregon, I assume you meant to say assisted political suicide. But seriously, this is the ultimate political proposal. Legislators don't have the guts to raise the gas tax, so they confuse the issue to the point where no one can say whether they did or not. Plus, they enable all kinds of other difficult-to-understand taxes, sorry, "user fees", such as congestion pricing. Car companies are happy, and donate, because the new scheme taxes mileage, not gasoline, and SUVs will sell better.
I tend to agree with your bait-and-switch theory. No doubt the legislature would love to have this for revenue reasons, but it's probably just a legal nuclear weapon which will allow them to, eventually, "just" raise the gas tax.