So I am not saying that MS must be allowed to hang deer carcasses upwind of Seattle, only that a company has the right to decide what it peacably does with its own assets.
"Peacably". Yes, absolutely...
HOWEVER: Microsoft has demonstrated time and again, with their disthonesty (astroturf campaigns, staged evidence, cooked and leaked memos), and the way in which they throw their weight around (Thou Shalt Not Ship Netscape, or else), that they cannot, or will not, use their assets "peacably".
If someone repeatedly jabs you with a pointy stick, what do you do?
Personally, I'm a 3-stage-approach kind of guy: 1) Ask Nicely: "Please don't poke me, that hurts." 2) Tell, not so nicely: "Knock that shit off!" 3) Break out the can of whup-ass.
I can promise you that MS passed stage 1 and 2 a long time ago. The DOJ's "can o' whup-ass" is removing MS's right to do what they will with their own ass-ets.
I would think that the guts of a nano-machine would have to be an equally well controlled environment. A couple random atoms thrown into the mix could really "gum up the works", so to speak.
Has anyone developed an atomic-scale equivalent to "throwing a wrench into the works"? Or would anyone care to take a stab at one?
How does this experiment they mentioned (N2PC?) help them know serial vs parallel? All that does (according to the article) is let them know which side of the brain is doing the work.
How does that let them draw their conclusion (that object recognition is serial)? And while I'm asking questions: how did they manage to know which brain activity was the stuff they were interested in, rather than some housekeeping-type function (breathing, heart rate, etc).
I don't mind AC's making (apparently outlandish) assertions like this, but a LITTLE detail to back it up would make it sound less like a troll, and more like a biped.
As is, I'm afraid you'll have to crawl back under your bridge.
When RH started on a new installer, one that wasn't GPLed at the time, I was concerned. Right after going corporate (Well, right around the time of the IPO), RH creates ITS VERY FIRST CLOSED PRODUCT. I saw that as a Bad Thing. RH has since opened their new installer (as they probably intended to from the start). Same ol' RH, lots of new money.
Case in point. Robocop, was great, 2 was a disapointment (I liked the scripted ending much better than the one they ended up using, in which the drug canister they give RC2 is actually a bomb), and I didn't bother to see RC3.
That scene in RC1 where the prototype ED209 spatters some suit was classic. Revenge of the techies.
So make it a habit of attaching randomly generated files to your emails. The feds'll love ya, love ya love ya!
Only they don't use lube. Ouch. No reach-around neither. Won't even take you to a movie first.
Seriously, randomized files are indistinguishable from well encrypted ones. Just whip up a 10-30K randomized attachment. Scatter a few around your home directory too, just for fun.
Re:Another spurious Star Trek reference
on
Beaming Money
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· Score: 1
Why is it that every time we get a couple zeros on the end of the year, people start up this "end of the world" stuff? Sorry, but I just don't by it.
Every century a collection of zelots from various religions start getting their mortal affairs in order, and (in some cases) forcing others to do the same. The problem now adays is that some utter psycho could come up with a "millenium bug" that WOULD end the world (at least as far as humans are concerned).
I'm more concerned about people who think the world will end (and try to fulfil some nut-job prophecy), than I am in a couple zeros. Even (scary) three of them.
I'm tired of ridiculous hardware design, particularly involving screens. The iMac, for example, gives me gas. It's like a big, multi-colored buttoc. And the mouse is like a breast, so you can fondle as you hack.
You make that sound like a bad thing... The iMac's "desirablility" plus the new "free PC" thing could put the entire world's teenage male population "banging away" on the Internet.
Yep. You heard it here first. Linux is used at Adobe. Actually, they've had at least a few linux servers for a couple years, although I have No Idea how extensive things are now. Any AC's want to chime in?
BTW: that "500 jobs" thing he mentioned included mine. Ouch. No hard feelings though, nice severance package. Start-ups can be a Good Thing, even when they're "Start-overs".
Maybe now they'll port some of their server-side Acrobat code. *HINT HINT*
I think that in this event, Linux companies would step up to the plate to challenge MS legally. They'd have to. Anything less might lead to your doomsday scenario.
What's the motivation to switch from a free OS like Linux then?
There isn't? I don't know what market they're after, but I doubt the Linux community is it. More likely, they'll be going after set-top boxes and entry level computers, taking users away from MS, not Linux.
Thousands of years? Nahh. Just keep it till its cheaper to lob the stuff into the nearest star than it is to store it properly. I'd give it a couple centuries, tops.
It's fairly easy to think of a destructive way to use the mylar reflectors you mentioned: point several of them at the same spot, be it a city or a military base. Or an ice cap, oil refinery, whatever.
Such mirrors would have to be tunable to some degree, and tuned remotely. Some hacker terrorist could hold cities hostage, or the world (the ice cap thing, but that would take a huge amount of heat).
Just about every technology you can think of has "military applications". I challenge anyone here to come up with a TOTALLY HARMLESS technology.
Oh. Wait. Post-it notes. Weak adhesives... hmm. Nope. Stick a bomb to the ceiling, when vibration causes it to fall...
If you're single, there is little need for a 'home'.
So long as you don't mind staying single, sure. But to meet a S.O., you need to GET OUT from time to time. That health, monitor-born palor generally doesn't get you dates. You'll never even meet anyone, cow-workers aside. Don't mess with your fellow wage-slaves, don't piss in your own drinking water.
Heaping piles of money just might, but that just gets you a gold digger. Sure, they put out at first, but so what? Pretty damn empty. Fun though.
And YOU are an enlightened and civilized human being. Thank you for blessing us with your opinoin.
Without your guidance, I might have thought the previous post witty. Your illuminating views have swept the blinders from my eyes. My life is forever changed.
Wouldn't diamond be too brittle? Sure it would be great for scratch protection (and probably other attacks), but it would be lousy under impact.
By itself? Sure (but do you really need to worry about being brittle when its Not Going to Break). How about fabric made out of bucky-tubes? Kevlar would be like tissue paper by comparison. Diamonds also have that whole fracture plain thing going against it. 99 times out of 100, no problem, but one day someone taps you at the wrong angle and your femur is in two pieces.
BTW is there some general term for diamonds and buckminster-style objects? Carbon hyper-solids (just made that up)?
My chemistry sucks. What makes carbon atoms so damn special? I mean I know enough chem to know about electron shells, but what about elements further down the Table?
Wouldn't diamond be too brittle? Sure it would be great for scratch protection (and probably other attacks), but it would be lousy under impact. By itself? Sure (but do you really need to worry about being brittle when its Not Going to Break). How about fabric made out of bucky-tubes? Kevlar would be like tissue paper by comparison. Diamonds also have that whole fracture plain thing going against it. 99 times out of 100, no problem, but one day someone taps you at the wrong angle and your femur is in two pieces. BTW is there some general term for diamonds and buckminster-style objects? Carbon hyper-solids (just made that up)? My chemistry sucks. What makes carbon atoms so damn special? I mean I know enough chem to know about electron shells, but what about elements further down the Table?
We won't have to invent them from scratch. Nature has already come up with an excellent solution. All we have to do is improve on what evolution (or God or The Grand Turnip) has already provided.
Yes, nature has us beat for the moment. But since nature isn't moving forward very fast, we WILL catch up. We WILL surpass nature. Someday. If we manage to not kill ourselves.
I've actually been thinking about an artifically created life form. Replace various organels with (relatively large) nanomachines, build the cell walls out of . Maybe replace DNA with something more efficient (on an atom for atom scale). Alternatively, make each cell an individual machine, not necessarily on the same scale as biological cells (bigger or smaller).
It may even be possible to create a "cell" that would be powered by nuclear rather than chemical energy. "Food" might be hard to come by, but it would probably last for a long time. Such an organism's stomach would be... interesting. And what would it use for blood? Superconductive fiber to transmit electricity? Fiber optics for light? Both? Neither?
Such an artificial organism might do away with cells all together, but I doubt it. Nanotechnology points to "lots of small things to do a big job": cells.
Evolution can find "local maxima", but the solution evolution comes by might not be the best possible answer. I don't see any enzymes building diamond skin or bones. Evolution HAS come up with many great solutions to many great problems, but there are often better ways of doing things.
Total Annihilation's AI really isn't all that great.
It IS customizable, though not to the level you'd hope for.
You're allowed to alter probabilites and maximum unit counts, so you can tell it to not build so damn many factories, and start churning out light tanks (for example).
TA's AI has no idea of WHERE to build things. If you let it build mines (like claymore, not coal), it might build a nuclear mine right in the middle of its [densly packed] base.
Don't get me wrong: I think its great that Cavedog allowed the level of modification that it did, and I love the TA games (Kingdoms just came out this week). Their AI just isn't that impressive.
I don't hate Microsoft for being themselves. I'm "less than impressed" by some of their business practices, but they're getting their just desserts in court.
My biggest beef with MS is the poor quality of their software. If it would just f&#king work, it wouldn't be so bad.
Slashdot Mirror
So I am not saying that MS must be allowed to hang deer carcasses upwind of Seattle, only that a company has the right to decide what it peacably does with its own assets.
"Peacably". Yes, absolutely...
HOWEVER: Microsoft has demonstrated time and again, with their disthonesty (astroturf campaigns, staged evidence, cooked and leaked memos), and the way in which they throw their weight around (Thou Shalt Not Ship Netscape, or else), that they cannot, or will not, use their assets "peacably".
If someone repeatedly jabs you with a pointy stick, what do you do?
Personally, I'm a 3-stage-approach kind of guy:
1) Ask Nicely: "Please don't poke me, that hurts."
2) Tell, not so nicely: "Knock that shit off!"
3) Break out the can of whup-ass.
I can promise you that MS passed stage 1 and 2 a long time ago. The DOJ's "can o' whup-ass" is removing MS's right to do what they will with their own ass-ets.
I would think that the guts of a nano-machine would have to be an equally well controlled environment. A couple random atoms thrown into the mix could really "gum up the works", so to speak.
Has anyone developed an atomic-scale equivalent to "throwing a wrench into the works"? Or would anyone care to take a stab at one?
How does this experiment they mentioned (N2PC?) help them know serial vs parallel? All that does (according to the article) is let them know which side of the brain is doing the work.
How does that let them draw their conclusion (that object recognition is serial)? And while I'm asking questions: how did they manage to know which brain activity was the stuff they were interested in, rather than some housekeeping-type function (breathing, heart rate, etc).
-- Baffled
You make that sound abnormal...
I don't mind AC's making (apparently outlandish) assertions like this, but a LITTLE detail to back it up would make it sound less like a troll, and more like a biped.
As is, I'm afraid you'll have to crawl back under your bridge.
When RH started on a new installer, one that wasn't GPLed at the time, I was concerned. Right after going corporate (Well, right around the time of the IPO), RH creates ITS VERY FIRST CLOSED PRODUCT. I saw that as a Bad Thing. RH has since opened their new installer (as they probably intended to from the start). Same ol' RH, lots of new money.
I say: More power to 'em!
Case in point. Robocop, was great, 2 was a disapointment (I liked the scripted ending much better than the one they ended up using, in which the drug canister they give RC2 is actually a bomb), and I didn't bother to see RC3.
That scene in RC1 where the prototype ED209 spatters some suit was classic. Revenge of the techies.
So make it a habit of attaching randomly generated files to your emails. The feds'll love ya, love ya love ya!
Only they don't use lube. Ouch. No reach-around neither. Won't even take you to a movie first.
Seriously, randomized files are indistinguishable from well encrypted ones. Just whip up a 10-30K randomized attachment. Scatter a few around your home directory too, just for fun.
Why is it that every time we get a couple zeros on the end of the year, people start up this "end of the world" stuff? Sorry, but I just don't by it.
Every century a collection of zelots from various religions start getting their mortal affairs in order, and (in some cases) forcing others to do the same. The problem now adays is that some utter psycho could come up with a "millenium bug" that WOULD end the world (at least as far as humans are concerned).
I'm more concerned about people who think the world will end (and try to fulfil some nut-job prophecy), than I am in a couple zeros. Even (scary) three of them.
I'm tired of ridiculous hardware design, particularly involving screens. The iMac, for example, gives me gas. It's like a big, multi-colored buttoc. And the mouse is like a breast, so you can fondle as you hack.
You make that sound like a bad thing... The iMac's "desirablility" plus the new "free PC" thing could put the entire world's teenage male population "banging away" on the Internet.Yep. You heard it here first. Linux is used at Adobe. Actually, they've had at least a few linux servers for a couple years, although I have No Idea how extensive things are now. Any AC's want to chime in?
BTW: that "500 jobs" thing he mentioned included mine. Ouch. No hard feelings though, nice severance package. Start-ups can be a Good Thing, even when they're "Start-overs".
Maybe now they'll port some of their server-side Acrobat code. *HINT HINT*
--PDF Guy
I think that in this event, Linux companies would step up to the plate to challenge MS legally. They'd have to. Anything less might lead to your doomsday scenario.
What's the motivation to switch from a free OS like Linux then?
There isn't? I don't know what market they're after, but I doubt the Linux community is it. More likely, they'll be going after set-top boxes and entry level computers, taking users away from MS, not Linux.
Look ma! I'm a pundit! ;)
How about an IV-line and a catheter bag with that? You'd be as comfy as possible while your meat slowly atrophied.
Geek bed sores, ewww! The only sores a TRUE geek gets in bed.
At least this way, you won't fall onto the keyboard at 4am and wake up in a puddle of drool with a short-circuited keyboard. I hate that.
Thousands of years? Nahh. Just keep it till its cheaper to lob the stuff into the nearest star than it is to store it properly. I'd give it a couple centuries, tops.
It's fairly easy to think of a destructive way to use the mylar reflectors you mentioned: point several of them at the same spot, be it a city or a military base. Or an ice cap, oil refinery, whatever.
Such mirrors would have to be tunable to some degree, and tuned remotely. Some hacker terrorist could hold cities hostage, or the world (the ice cap thing, but that would take a huge amount of heat).
Just about every technology you can think of has "military applications". I challenge anyone here to come up with a TOTALLY HARMLESS technology.
Oh. Wait. Post-it notes. Weak adhesives... hmm. Nope. Stick a bomb to the ceiling, when vibration causes it to fall...
See what I mean?
So long as you don't mind staying single, sure. But to meet a S.O., you need to GET OUT from time to time. That health, monitor-born palor generally doesn't get you dates. You'll never even meet anyone, cow-workers aside. Don't mess with your fellow wage-slaves, don't piss in your own drinking water.
Heaping piles of money just might, but that just gets you a gold digger. Sure, they put out at first, but so what? Pretty damn empty. Fun though.
I've heard of "two left feet", but damn! That's just silly.
I'm sure shaking your own hand is an odd experience. As is wearing parts of dead buddies.
I don't recall the author's name, but I highly recommend everything he's written, the "Stainless Steel Rat" books in particular.
And YOU are an enlightened and civilized human being. Thank you for blessing us with your opinoin.
Without your guidance, I might have thought the previous post witty. Your illuminating views have swept the blinders from my eyes. My life is forever changed.
Wouldn't diamond be too brittle? Sure it would be great for scratch protection (and probably other attacks), but it would be lousy under impact.
By itself? Sure (but do you really need to worry about being brittle when its Not Going to Break). How about fabric made out of bucky-tubes? Kevlar would be like tissue paper by comparison. Diamonds also have that whole fracture plain thing going against it. 99 times out of 100, no problem, but one day someone taps you at the wrong angle and your femur is in two pieces.
BTW is there some general term for diamonds and buckminster-style objects? Carbon hyper-solids (just made that up)?
My chemistry sucks. What makes carbon atoms so damn special? I mean I know enough chem to know about electron shells, but what about elements further down the Table?
Wouldn't diamond be too brittle? Sure it would be great for scratch protection (and probably other attacks), but it would be lousy under impact. By itself? Sure (but do you really need to worry about being brittle when its Not Going to Break). How about fabric made out of bucky-tubes? Kevlar would be like tissue paper by comparison. Diamonds also have that whole fracture plain thing going against it. 99 times out of 100, no problem, but one day someone taps you at the wrong angle and your femur is in two pieces. BTW is there some general term for diamonds and buckminster-style objects? Carbon hyper-solids (just made that up)? My chemistry sucks. What makes carbon atoms so damn special? I mean I know enough chem to know about electron shells, but what about elements further down the Table?
We won't have to invent them from scratch. Nature has already come up with an excellent solution. All we have to do is improve on what evolution (or God or The Grand Turnip) has already provided.
Yes, nature has us beat for the moment. But since nature isn't moving forward very fast, we WILL catch up. We WILL surpass nature. Someday. If we manage to not kill ourselves.
It really boils down to how we use our tools.
I've actually been thinking about an artifically created life form. Replace various organels with (relatively large) nanomachines, build the cell walls out of . Maybe replace DNA with something more efficient (on an atom for atom scale). Alternatively, make each cell an individual machine, not necessarily on the same scale as biological cells (bigger or smaller).
It may even be possible to create a "cell" that would be powered by nuclear rather than chemical energy. "Food" might be hard to come by, but it would probably last for a long time. Such an organism's stomach would be... interesting. And what would it use for blood? Superconductive fiber to transmit electricity? Fiber optics for light? Both? Neither?
Such an artificial organism might do away with cells all together, but I doubt it. Nanotechnology points to "lots of small things to do a big job": cells.
Evolution can find "local maxima", but the solution evolution comes by might not be the best possible answer. I don't see any enzymes building diamond skin or bones. Evolution HAS come up with many great solutions to many great problems, but there are often better ways of doing things.
Total Annihilation's AI really isn't all that great.
It IS customizable, though not to the level you'd hope for.
You're allowed to alter probabilites and maximum unit counts, so you can tell it to not build so damn many factories, and start churning out light tanks (for example).
TA's AI has no idea of WHERE to build things. If you let it build mines (like claymore, not coal), it might build a nuclear mine right in the middle of its [densly packed] base.
Don't get me wrong: I think its great that Cavedog allowed the level of modification that it did, and I love the TA games (Kingdoms just came out this week). Their AI just isn't that impressive.
This sounds like a perfect world to me.
I don't hate Microsoft for being themselves. I'm "less than impressed" by some of their business practices, but they're getting their just desserts in court.
My biggest beef with MS is the poor quality of their software. If it would just f&#king work, it wouldn't be so bad.
Why is OS'ing MS's OS a BT? (Bad Thing=)
I recall seeing one of my older boxen boot without a keyboard.
"Press to continue"
I thought it was a bad joke, but in retrospect, I suppose you could send it any old key press through a serial port.