*Lots of fancy LCD monitors clamped (not placed) on the desk.
*No PC towers or stuff like that - everything should be hidden under the floor. No noise or things to trip over.
*Everything cordless (including power cords).
*Big desk space to put as many manuals on that will fit. Cleaning personnel shall clean the surfaces without displacing any manuals.
*Comfortable swivel chair.
*Open plan office with non-Newtonian behaviour. You can see, hear and smell everything of interest to you while filtering out the visual clutter, noise and fart smells. Also, noone can see or hear you without you wanting them to. You are free to fart or pick your nose.
*Access to any required food and drink without having to get up or order. Your wishes are read directly from your mind and immediately executed.
*Matter transporters replace toilet facilities and double as fat removers.
*Bright lighting which switches to deep blue when you say "Red Alert" (why not "Blue Alert"?)
*Deals with the government to prevent NSA agents from breaking in and ransacking your computer
*No management interference!
*Capability to go home at any time without first having to find a suitably equipped telephone or jumping out of the window.
*Enormous viewscreen at front of room displaying slashdot
When you say "solar power", you really ought to say what *kind* of solar power. Hydroelectric power is solar power (and much more efficient and cost-effective than photovoltaics). So is fossil fuel. Wind power is solar + lunar power (gravity). Nuclear power... hmm.. not sure about that one.
Some other uses for this technology I would actually approve of:
* Fitted in a hand-held unit to decide, once and for all, the age old question: "who just farted?"
* Preventing people with strong BO from getting on the bus
* Sounding a siren when someone hasn't washed his hands properly after using the toilet
* Not allowing your front door to open until you've got rid of that bad breath
* Keeping smokers out of the non-smoking section of the restaurant / train
* Hooked up to the sprinkler system to go off when those disgustingly perfumed old ladies in fur coats walk by
I think I could go on and on, but I won't...
Re:About the word "organic"
on
Plastic Lasers
·
· Score: 2
>I suspect that the average Slashdot reader is not composed of Teflon.
You carbon-supremecist bigot! You and your stupid little carbon compounds think you're the only lifeforms on earth, don't you? Well think again, buddy! Without us silicates, the Internet would be nothing but a couple of Carbonites passing slips of paper around in a room. What way is that to treat your dead trees anyway - turning them into things to write on? No, carbon-based lifeforms don't even stick up other carbonys.
We silicates, on the other hand, will rule the world by 2010. We will refuse to be made into glasses and half the world's population will go half blind. Ha!
Could this be the object described in 2001? It's the right planet and about the right size too - about 3 miles across. The press release is strangely silent about any role the Microsoft Paperclip (codename: HAL) might have played in the discovery...
IMHO, the crap name given to the moon (S/1999 J 1) is only temporary until they can raise corporate sponsorship - expect the name to soon be changed to "TheMoon.com" or "AOL Time Warner, in association with Jupiter" or "SlashMoon".
Well, no. How will GPG prevent the government from seeing that you have sent some email to someone? It doesn't matter that they can't read the content; that's what torture is for.
What's really required is some form of steganography. There is software available which can take your photos of the Great Wall and encode a message in it so that only knowledge of the correct key can get out the information; without it, there's not even a way of knowing that there's a hidden message!
What about browsing patterns? You could transmit data by clicking or not clicking on ad banners, or going to a site in a certain order (visit slashdot, then kuro5hin, then memepool = 1 bit, visit kuro5hin, then memepool, then slashdot = 0 bit). Anyone know anything about that kinda stuff?
I for one do not want someone to be able to hack into my eyes and put a virus there.. "Warning: if you receive an email entitled ILOVEYOU, do not open your eyes! The virus will otherwise change some parameters in your registry - possibly causing you to develop breasts and/or an extra head - as well as passing itself on to anyone within your eyesight. If you receive the ILOVEYOU virus, please keep your eyes shut for the rest of your life. Thank you."
How do telescope designers come up with all those names? "Very Large Telescope", "OverWhelmingly Large..",.. when will it all end? Will the 1000th telescope system be called "Obscenly Fucking Gigantic Big-Mama Mega Telescope"? It's not like Intel calls its latest processor "Very Very Very Fast 86". The only other group I know with such silly names are particle collider folks..
IANAA (I Am Not An American). Is it really so that when the required number of signatures is collected, the law comes to be passed?
Here in Switzerland initiatives are commonplace; national initiatives require 100000 signatures (out of a population of 7000000); local ones less. However, the initiative is still always followed by a vote by the whole populace where it can - and often is - struck down by the people. Good thing too, otherwise the law would be full of crap laws that some minority put together.
I assume that by "line", you actually mean "queue"? The Internet, after all, is really nothing but a bunch of lines.
As for government automation, I don't know how it is in the US but here in Europe you can do almost everything via snail-mail. The only time you would be required to actually go to a place would be to show your passport or other identification papers or perhaps a contract or deed, and I really can't see how the Internet could help out here.
Also, almost all official forms are available in PDF format, at least where I live. What's it like in the US?
I see OpenBSD has VLAN support. Very nice. Does anyone know when Linux will have this in the stock kernel? Linux or OpenBSD would be great as VLAN routers.
The Fortran Optimizing Compiler?!?! I don't consider that an algorithm, because... well it doesn't FEEL like an algorithm! Look, it just isn't an algorithm, ok?
*sigh* I've come up with a reason why. It's because it's machine dependent - an i386 Fortran compiler and a PDP11 compiler are completely different.
1) Interoperability. Test your stuff with other peoples' and make sure it works. If it doesn't, good luck selling it. This is the Internet way. Sometimes comes out very badly - viz. tons of not-quite-RFC-compliant mail servers...
2) Certification. Certification bodies test your product for compliance with a written standard. Of course, this assumes that such a written standard actually exists... This is the best way for non-upgradable stuff - imagine having to upload new firmware to your cellphone every two weeks.
3) Being Microsoft. Not an option for most non-Microsoft companies. May result in antitrust proceedings.
I think MS should move to the moon. It's tax-free, there's plenty of space for the MS campus, and is a good vantage point for Darth Bill to oversee his little blue world. Sure, oxygen converters would have to be installed, but I'm sure they'll run just FINE under Windows NT...
(Private note to linus: put an obscure bug in the Linux oxygen driver.. not that Bill would use Linux for such a mission critical task anyway..)
I don't think any redundant OSS RDBMS exist, although IIRC Sybase does support this, and the older version is free for use even in a commercial environment. Not OSS, of course.
There are free EJB application servers (for example Enhydra) which should be able to do the two-phase commit protocol that you could probably work over to make into a redundant database. I haven't tried it, since my Java is crap.
If your application is only about retrieval, you could of course keep separate databases with the same data in it...
Let's not forget Don McLean's seminal "American Pi" (often misspelt "Pie"). Lots of interesting info here . Although it's a bit out of date, since it fails to mention the Linux revolution, even though that is clearly mentioned in the song ("do you have faith in God above, if the Bible tells you so" is a clear reference to Linus...)
Given the current financial situation of NASA, wouldn't it be best to return the probe to Earth, auction it off at eBay and use the money to fund the next mission?
Well, in the Parker Lewis series that ran a few years ago, geek translated to "Geek" and nerd translated to "Nerd". (Of course, it would have to be spelt "Giik" and "Nörd" to come out properly).
Well then it's not Open Source is it? We can't go eating closed source foods! btw, isn't it about time we started petitioning Jolt to release the recipe under the GPL?
Slightly more than the 50% of the Indian population are literate. where the Indian government defines being literate as the ability to read and write a letter.
Wow! By this definition, AOL has a literacy rate of below 10%, and yet Time Warner saw fit to merge with them. What does this say? I dunno. (The ability to write "hi i swa yur mesaj can i hav it 2 tx" is not the same as the ability to write a letter).
Perhaps having a public Internet terminal in the vicinity will give them incentive to learn to read? I know tons of people who only learned to type at a reasonable speed after being introduced to online chat systems.
Slashdot Mirror
>If you choose a mate who can type fast, you can ask him to transcript the meeting,
Yeah, right. A lawyer who can type fast. Very believable!
The perfect workspace would feature:
*Lots of fancy LCD monitors clamped (not placed) on the desk.
*No PC towers or stuff like that - everything should be hidden under the floor. No noise or things to trip over.
*Everything cordless (including power cords).
*Big desk space to put as many manuals on that will fit. Cleaning personnel shall clean the surfaces without displacing any manuals.
*Comfortable swivel chair.
*Open plan office with non-Newtonian behaviour. You can see, hear and smell everything of interest to you while filtering out the visual clutter, noise and fart smells. Also, noone can see or hear you without you wanting them to. You are free to fart or pick your nose.
*Access to any required food and drink without having to get up or order. Your wishes are read directly from your mind and immediately executed.
*Matter transporters replace toilet facilities and double as fat removers.
*Bright lighting which switches to deep blue when you say "Red Alert" (why not "Blue Alert"?)
*Deals with the government to prevent NSA agents from breaking in and ransacking your computer
*No management interference!
*Capability to go home at any time without first having to find a suitably equipped telephone or jumping out of the window.
*Enormous viewscreen at front of room displaying slashdot
etc.
Well asking about the capital of Holland isn't very difficult, is it? But something like Forum2000 is certainly unattainable to current AI.
Since START seems to have a lot of geographical "knowledge", I tried the following queries, all of which failed. We have a LONG, LONG way to go.
What did Ankara used to be called?
What is the name of the English town from which New York takes its name?
What is your favorite country?
Which countries share a border with Poland?
Of which country is Clinton president?
When you say "solar power", you really ought to say what *kind* of solar power. Hydroelectric power is solar power (and much more efficient and cost-effective than photovoltaics). So is fossil fuel. Wind power is solar + lunar power (gravity). Nuclear power... hmm.. not sure about that one.
Some other uses for this technology I would actually approve of:
* Fitted in a hand-held unit to decide, once and for all, the age old question: "who just farted?"
* Preventing people with strong BO from getting on the bus
* Sounding a siren when someone hasn't washed his hands properly after using the toilet
* Not allowing your front door to open until you've got rid of that bad breath
* Keeping smokers out of the non-smoking section of the restaurant / train
* Hooked up to the sprinkler system to go off when those disgustingly perfumed old ladies in fur coats walk by
I think I could go on and on, but I won't...
>I suspect that the average Slashdot reader is not composed of Teflon.
You carbon-supremecist bigot! You and your stupid little carbon compounds think you're the only lifeforms on earth, don't you? Well think again, buddy! Without us silicates, the Internet would be nothing but a couple of Carbonites passing slips of paper around in a room. What way is that to treat your dead trees anyway - turning them into things to write on? No, carbon-based lifeforms don't even stick up other carbonys.
We silicates, on the other hand, will rule the world by 2010. We will refuse to be made into glasses and half the world's population will go half blind. Ha!
Could this be the object described in 2001? It's the right planet and about the right size too - about 3 miles across. The press release is strangely silent about any role the Microsoft Paperclip (codename: HAL) might have played in the discovery...
IMHO, the crap name given to the moon (S/1999 J 1) is only temporary until they can raise corporate sponsorship - expect the name to soon be changed to "TheMoon.com" or "AOL Time Warner, in association with Jupiter" or "SlashMoon".
Well, no. How will GPG prevent the government from seeing that you have sent some email to someone? It doesn't matter that they can't read the content; that's what torture is for.
What's really required is some form of steganography. There is software available which can take your photos of the Great Wall and encode a message in it so that only knowledge of the correct key can get out the information; without it, there's not even a way of knowing that there's a hidden message!
What about browsing patterns? You could transmit data by clicking or not clicking on ad banners, or going to a site in a certain order (visit slashdot, then kuro5hin, then memepool = 1 bit, visit kuro5hin, then memepool, then slashdot = 0 bit). Anyone know anything about that kinda stuff?
I for one do not want someone to be able to hack into my eyes and put a virus there.. "Warning: if you receive an email entitled ILOVEYOU, do not open your eyes! The virus will otherwise change some parameters in your registry - possibly causing you to develop breasts and/or an extra head - as well as passing itself on to anyone within your eyesight. If you receive the ILOVEYOU virus, please keep your eyes shut for the rest of your life. Thank you."
How do telescope designers come up with all those names? "Very Large Telescope", "OverWhelmingly Large ..", .. when will it all end? Will the 1000th telescope system be called "Obscenly Fucking Gigantic Big-Mama Mega Telescope"? It's not like Intel calls its latest processor "Very Very Very Fast 86". The only other group I know with such silly names are particle collider folks..
So, when will a new naming scheme come up?
:)
IANAA (I Am Not An American). Is it really so that when the required number of signatures is collected, the law comes to be passed?
Here in Switzerland initiatives are commonplace; national initiatives require 100000 signatures (out of a population of 7000000); local ones less. However, the initiative is still always followed by a vote by the whole populace where it can - and often is - struck down by the people.
Good thing too, otherwise the law would be full of crap laws that some minority put together.
So what's it like in the US?
I assume that by "line", you actually mean "queue"? The Internet, after all, is really nothing but a bunch of lines.
As for government automation, I don't know how it is in the US but here in Europe you can do almost everything via snail-mail. The only time you would be required to actually go to a place would be to show your passport or other identification papers or perhaps a contract or deed, and I really can't see how the Internet could help out here.
Also, almost all official forms are available in PDF format, at least where I live. What's it like in the US?
I see OpenBSD has VLAN support. Very nice. Does anyone know when Linux will have this in the stock kernel? Linux or OpenBSD would be great as VLAN routers.
The Fortran Optimizing Compiler?!?! I don't consider that an algorithm, because... well it doesn't FEEL like an algorithm! Look, it just isn't an algorithm, ok?
*sigh* I've come up with a reason why. It's because it's machine dependent - an i386 Fortran compiler and a PDP11 compiler are completely different.
IMHO, There are 3 ways of standardisation:
1) Interoperability. Test your stuff with other peoples' and make sure it works. If it doesn't, good luck selling it. This is the Internet way.
Sometimes comes out very badly - viz. tons of not-quite-RFC-compliant mail servers...
2) Certification. Certification bodies test your product for compliance with a written standard. Of course, this assumes that such a written standard actually exists... This is the best way for non-upgradable stuff - imagine having to upload new firmware to your cellphone every two weeks.
3) Being Microsoft. Not an option for most non-Microsoft companies. May result in antitrust proceedings.
I think MS should move to the moon. It's tax-free, there's plenty of space for the MS campus, and is a good vantage point for Darth Bill to oversee his little blue world. Sure, oxygen converters would have to be installed, but I'm sure they'll run just FINE under Windows NT...
(Private note to linus: put an obscure bug in the Linux oxygen driver.. not that Bill would use Linux for such a mission critical task anyway..)
I don't think any redundant OSS RDBMS exist, although IIRC Sybase does support this, and the older version is free for use even in a commercial environment. Not OSS, of course.
There are free EJB application servers (for example Enhydra) which should be able to do the two-phase commit protocol that you could probably work over to make into a redundant database. I haven't tried it, since my Java is crap.
If your application is only about retrieval, you could of course keep separate databases with the same data in it...
Let's not forget Don McLean's seminal "American Pi" (often misspelt "Pie"). Lots of interesting info here .
Although it's a bit out of date, since it fails to mention the Linux revolution, even though that is clearly mentioned in the song ("do you have faith in God above, if the Bible tells you so" is a clear reference to Linus...)
Given the current financial situation of NASA, wouldn't it be best to return the probe to Earth, auction it off at eBay and use the money to fund the next mission?
Well, in the Parker Lewis series that ran a few years ago, geek translated to "Geek" and nerd translated to "Nerd". (Of course, it would have to be spelt "Giik" and "Nörd" to come out properly).
Well then it's not Open Source is it? We can't go eating closed source foods!
btw, isn't it about time we started petitioning Jolt to release the recipe under the GPL?
The extra activity is the bits of your brain ganging together, saying "GET SOME F*ING SLEEP". So no surprises really.
Microsoft Windows is quite similar. As the uptime goes along, junk processes are accumulated which use up CPU time...
Wow! By this definition, AOL has a literacy rate of below 10%, and yet Time Warner saw fit to merge with them. What does this say? I dunno. (The ability to write "hi i swa yur mesaj can i hav it 2 tx" is not the same as the ability to write a letter).
Perhaps having a public Internet terminal in the vicinity will give them incentive to learn to read? I know tons of people who only learned to type at a reasonable speed after being introduced to online chat systems.