If you were IBM, would you continue that relationship?
Absolutely. Apple will be selling computers for years to come reguardless of who's chips they're using. If they're using IBM chips, that makes IBM money.
I prefer programming in Perl to Python. This is primarily because Perl has better variable scoping, which combines nicely with "use strict" and "use warnings FATAL => 'all'".
In Python, there are two scopes for variables: Global and Function. In perl, any { block } gets it's own scope for "my" variables. This means that temporary variables disappear when you're done with them rather than sticking around clogging up memory and name spaces. Because perl has variable declaration statements (my, our), it can check at compile time to make sure you have no typos in variable names. In python, any time you do an assignment you might be declaring a new variable - and you'll never know until you get incorrect output.
Also, Python has no do...while(). This gives you the amazing choice of duplicating program logic (awesome when you change only one instance later) or putting in a "while 1:" - rather than knowing where the loop condition is, the maintnence programmer gets to randomly guess *and* this opens the way for "sometimes the loop never ends" bugs. Not good times.
I'm looking forward to Perl 6 where it will be possible to have semi-static typing. That will mean even less code that compiles but doesn't work. I really wouldn't want to be using a language without similar features for any sort of non-trivial software project.
"the law of conservation of matter and energy" is an example of a really good theory. A large number of scientists would become extremely confused if it were ever disproven, but it's just another theory.
Even the "value of PI" isn't nessisarily a "natural law". Do you have some reason why you would claim that geometry has innate meaning, or is it just really useful for building working models?
That's a neat trick. Whenever you hear someone mention a problem - you define the "real problem" as their complaint. It both gives you a specific person to target as the problem causer, and makes the solution really simple: get them to shut up.
Unfortunately, sometimes when people complain they have good reason. When that happens, your system fails.
At the moment, Half Life 2 is a current video game.
What I mean to say is, high end video cards never become low end video cards - they go off the market first and are replaced by new generations of (still expensive) high end video cards.
If you're actual plan is to wait until a video card that can run HL2 nicely costs less than $100, you'll be waiting about 2 years, and you'll probably end up buying a Nvida 9200 rather than the "Old & Busted" 6600 GT.
Needless to say, other great games will have come out by 2007, so you'll still have a computer with a crappy old video card. The only way to avoid this is to do what every other gamer does and suck it up:
A video card that will play last years games decently and this years games poorly: $120.
A video card that will play this years games decently and next year's games poorly: $160.
A video card that will play this years games well and next years games decently: $250.
A video card that will play this years games very well and next years games well: $450.
Hitting the pattern perfectly so you sell your old card for $200 and buy a new one for $350 every year: priceless.
Local spending is much more efficient than fedral spending. The estimate I've heard for school funding is that $1 in local taxes gets you $0.80 cents of school funding, $1 in state tax gets you $0.60, and $1 in fedral tax gets you around $0.25. The rest goes to adminstrative overhead.
Washington DC is relitively small, and is the seat of the US fedral government. For every dollar the citizens of DC pay in fedral taxes, $6 is spent by the fedral government in the city. It's not suprising that it looks good, but this is not a reasonable example of the general level of fedral efficiency.
I've been watching this for a while - you're screwed. Video cards that can do a good job rendering current games never drop below $160 or so - or at least it hasn't happened yet.
Just think it through what a "self-sustaining off-world colony" would actually mean; it is utterly implausible using current or foreseeable technologies.
I disagree. 99% of the nessisary technology exists already, and the remaining percent consists of engineering problems not stuff where we need radical new scientific discoveries.
Now, we currently neither have the infastructure nor the political landscape to do it, but it's still the best plan for species survival.
At high enough power levels, visible light can be quite damaging.
Right. High power levels are like a cutting lazer, or what you're exposed to when you stand 8 light minutes from a G type star with minimal shielding.
The power levels involved in radio communication are rather lower than that, unless you're hanging out on the antenna at a radio station... square of the distance and all. A radio transmission needs to be high enough power that the reciever can clearly detect it - for visible light that could be lower than you can see unaided.
No, the best plan is to work to produce self sustaining off planet / underwater / deep-antarctic colonies. That way when the climate changes it'll just be expensive rather than fatal to the species.
Slashdot Mirror
What crack are the mods smoking?
This is "News for Nerds" site. Even the mods should understand that encryption breakthroughs have NOTHING TO DO WITH TERRORISTS.
Absolutely. Apple will be selling computers for years to come reguardless of who's chips they're using. If they're using IBM chips, that makes IBM money.
I'd say that feeding kids information is a big step up from the alternitive.
The idea that clicking "Accept" represents a contract is not one that would be good to support.
I prefer programming in Perl to Python. This is primarily because Perl has better variable scoping, which combines nicely with "use strict" and "use warnings FATAL => 'all'".
In Python, there are two scopes for variables: Global and Function. In perl, any { block } gets it's own scope for "my" variables. This means that temporary variables disappear when you're done with them rather than sticking around clogging up memory and name spaces. Because perl has variable declaration statements (my, our), it can check at compile time to make sure you have no typos in variable names. In python, any time you do an assignment you might be declaring a new variable - and you'll never know until you get incorrect output.
Also, Python has no do...while(). This gives you the amazing choice of duplicating program logic (awesome when you change only one instance later) or putting in a "while 1:" - rather than knowing where the loop condition is, the maintnence programmer gets to randomly guess *and* this opens the way for "sometimes the loop never ends" bugs. Not good times.
I'm looking forward to Perl 6 where it will be possible to have semi-static typing. That will mean even less code that compiles but doesn't work. I really wouldn't want to be using a language without similar features for any sort of non-trivial software project.
Now take both and change them so they sort by the first letter of the second word in the string...
It'd be nice if you were right, but you do realize how big Sony and Microsoft are, right?
Microsoft could afford to give every household in the United States an Xbox 360 free of charge. Sony is bigger than Microsoft. 'nuff said.
iPods have hard drives in them. A portable game system should be able to handle it.
"the law of conservation of matter and energy" is an example of a really good theory. A large number of scientists would become extremely confused if it were ever disproven, but it's just another theory.
Even the "value of PI" isn't nessisarily a "natural law". Do you have some reason why you would claim that geometry has innate meaning, or is it just really useful for building working models?
Just because something is illegal doesn't always mean it isn't an excellent plan.
That's a neat trick. Whenever you hear someone mention a problem - you define the "real problem" as their complaint. It both gives you a specific person to target as the problem causer, and makes the solution really simple: get them to shut up.
Unfortunately, sometimes when people complain they have good reason. When that happens, your system fails.
At the moment, Half Life 2 is a current video game.
What I mean to say is, high end video cards never become low end video cards - they go off the market first and are replaced by new generations of (still expensive) high end video cards.
If you're actual plan is to wait until a video card that can run HL2 nicely costs less than $100, you'll be waiting about 2 years, and you'll probably end up buying a Nvida 9200 rather than the "Old & Busted" 6600 GT.
Needless to say, other great games will have come out by 2007, so you'll still have a computer with a crappy old video card. The only way to avoid this is to do what every other gamer does and suck it up:
A video card that will play last years games decently and this years games poorly: $120.
A video card that will play this years games decently and next year's games poorly: $160.
A video card that will play this years games well and next years games decently: $250.
A video card that will play this years games very well and next years games well: $450.
Hitting the pattern perfectly so you sell your old card for $200 and buy a new one for $350 every year: priceless.
Local spending is much more efficient than fedral spending. The estimate I've heard for school funding is that $1 in local taxes gets you $0.80 cents of school funding, $1 in state tax gets you $0.60, and $1 in fedral tax gets you around $0.25. The rest goes to adminstrative overhead.
Washington DC is relitively small, and is the seat of the US fedral government. For every dollar the citizens of DC pay in fedral taxes, $6 is spent by the fedral government in the city. It's not suprising that it looks good, but this is not a reasonable example of the general level of fedral efficiency.
I've been watching this for a while - you're screwed. Video cards that can do a good job rendering current games never drop below $160 or so - or at least it hasn't happened yet.
The parent post is valuable and accurate information, however it may be worded.
That really depends on how big the oodles are. Millions of dollars do add up, even for large companies.
That'll be $1 per watt of power your computer consumes at max usage.
A healthy breading population is on the order of 10,000.
I disagree. 99% of the nessisary technology exists already, and the remaining percent consists of engineering problems not stuff where we need radical new scientific discoveries.
Now, we currently neither have the infastructure nor the political landscape to do it, but it's still the best plan for species survival.
No, can't say I'd really noticed.
Right, but if you combine that with a goal, a budget, and competent people you can get some pretty cool stuff as a result.
Right. High power levels are like a cutting lazer, or what you're exposed to when you stand 8 light minutes from a G type star with minimal shielding.
The power levels involved in radio communication are rather lower than that, unless you're hanging out on the antenna at a radio station... square of the distance and all. A radio transmission needs to be high enough power that the reciever can clearly detect it - for visible light that could be lower than you can see unaided.
I'm having trouble parsing this sentance. Could you help me out?
No, the best plan is to work to produce self sustaining off planet / underwater / deep-antarctic colonies. That way when the climate changes it'll just be expensive rather than fatal to the species.