In the days before USB connectors became the norm, simply swapping the mouse and keyboard connectors over was quite an amusing practical joke - doubly so before they started using the lilac/green colour coding as it was never immediately obvious to even fairly close inspections.
NASA was planning a one-way trip to Mars and asked for volunteers.
Firstly an engineer turned up. At the interview they explained what the likely outcome was and what he wanted. He replied, "I'll do it for the technical interest - but I want you to give £5 million to the Engineering Council to help get more people into technical education".
Next a doctor arrived. His demand was £10 million for a new space medicine research centre in his name.
Finally a lawyer arrived. He asked for £15 million but did not specify a 'good cause'.
"Why 15 million?" asked the NASA interviewer.
"Well, it's £5 million for you, £5 million for me and we'll send the engineer!".
IANAL but I'm pretty certain that in the UK you can do just this.
The Data Protection Acts 1984/1998 allow you to request a copy of any videos in which you appear for a nominal processing/handling fee not more than £10.
The difficulty is in knowing if, when, where and by whom you were recorded.
Disclaimer: I've never tried exercising this right.
Me: Please can you check your line - I'm getting a high rate of dropouts. My IP address is xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
ISP: Have you tried re-booting your PC?
Me: The problem's highlighted in the router. I've rebooted that several times. There's no point booting my PC
ISP: Which version of Windows are you running?
Me: I'm running Linux
ISP: We don't support Linux.
Me: I'm not asking you to support my PC - please can you check the line.
ISP: If yoy want support you need to run Windows
Me [reluctantly]: OK I'll boot up Windows.... time passes what do you want me to do?
ISP: Press Start.. choose Run.. type cmd.. type ipconfig.. look for.. tell me the numbers......
Me: [with incredible restraint] the internal IP address is.. the external one is xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx as I told you 5 minutes ago
ISP: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx? oh yes we've got a fault report on that line
Now I realise that it's easier for ISP's to restrict support to a lowest common denominator; I accept that usage of scripted support makes their training and staff costs lower; I can even understand that they want to eliminate stupid errors first.
What I cannot understand is why they cannot apply common sense. They'd had several calls that morning - if they know they need an IP address to check their lines and they are given one in the appropriate range from the outset, why insist on the whole pantomime in between? Apart from wasting several minutes of my life, it's cutting down their own call rate stats!.
I've since changed ISP but this new one is no better:-(
Unfortunately it has always been thus:-( Scientists and engineers have always been considered second best - first of all to "classics scholars" [I'm not knocking the study of such subjects for their own sake but why are they 'superior'? will a knowledge of Caeasr's campaigns in the original Latin enable you to do anything useful?] - latterly to the cult of celebrity [people famous for being famous] or the greedy 'skimmers' and 'middlemen'.
When it's possible to become rich by trading on a reputation for being thick while at the same time "nerd" and "geek" stereotypes are portrayed as losers (low social skills, low pay) is it any surprise that science subjects are losing popularity?
Making them too easy isn't the answer, it reinforces the superior attitudes shown by other subjects and stores up disappointment for some when the 'real', difficult subjects are addressed.
Where's Douglas Adams' "Star Ark" when we want it? Pack the "suits", politicians, celebrities in the ark and send 'em off to keep the telephone sanitizers company! Then the geek shall inherit the earth:-) Note that the assorted passengers will need the engineers to build the ark and life support, no amount of "reality TV", speeches in parliament, market trading or insight into the Iliad would keep them alive.
This sounds like a joke but I assure you it is true....
Some years ago the water/sewage pipes were being repaired just outside the office where I worked. The trench was gradually making its progress up the road, across the pavement [sidewalk] and was closing in on the visitors' car park in front of the building.
The facilities manager walked out to meet them and spoke to the foreman.
"Please be careful and watch out when you're digging here, there are some comms cables running across the car park here, they are about 1 metre down"
"Don't you worry about that sir... we'll be digging much deeper than that" came the reply.
The really sad part was that he couldn't see why we were laughing.
I realise that you're striking a humourous note here but you are closer to the truth than you think...I believe that Henri Dunant deliberately chose to invert the Swiss flag as the emblem for the organisation.
I believe it is frequently the case that judges ask deliberately "dumb" questions so that a commonly agreed explanation is recorded. This removes later arguments in which each side claims subtle differences in interpretation of terms.
why is it that French expressions are used in English writing, i.e. journalists enjoy using it from time to time, especially if they try be sophisticated and overly ambitious?
Not sure if it's an urban myth but...
After the Norman invasion of 1066 the new aristocracy were mainly French speaking whilst the peasantry spoke early English (mixture of local Celtic languages, remnants of Latin plus Anglo Saxon/Scandinavian).
To be able to speak French marked you out as a member of (or close familiarity with) the upper / ruling class.
This "tradition" has endured through the years -- Just watch Del Boy on "Only Fools and Horses" [BBC series, widely exported] for examples [in these cases, for comic effect, the script means he uses meaningless/ wrong phrases innocently]. You are correct in saying that some journalists use French to appear sophisticated -- often leading to the ironic response "pretentious? moi?".
It is true encryption is used to protect confidentiality and also [possibly] true this implementation is deficient.
However...
One reason for its use - even in a weak state - is to remove plausible denials.
If I always weakly encrypt an item [and always protect it properly.....] and then at some later stage you show you have access to it that implies that you deliberately accessed it. You had to make a positive action to get to it. You cannot claim that you "accidentally" stumbled on it or that it was published.
Passwording some activities (even with weak passwords) serves a similar purpose.
In both cases the protection is not against determined attackers, rather against accidental leaks.
EM Forster wrote a short story on a similar theme much earlier [if I was at home instead of work I'd find the reference & date]. As a prediction of the information society and the n levels of redirection / interpretation / lack of original research it was both prescient and accurate [and at least 70 - 80 years ahead of its time]
Swearing aside, you make a good point. The situation's similar in Europe but over here we don't all have the knee-jerk "reaction against all legislation as a point of principle". That's not to say we agree with everything imposed on us but it is recognised that sometimes the actions of the economically powerful need to be constrained by the [representatives of] the people.
Market forces are good up to a point but they do have intrinsic limitations: You can buy more consumer goods, you can [in the US] buy politicians but you cannot buy another minute of life or another earth to live on.
and replace a high level of independence [apart from the ritual grovelling to the government of the day to set the licence fee] with content control "influenced" by the whims and desires of big business and advertising revenue?
How about - I don't watch much commercial TV - why should I pay the "advert tax" on essentials I buy ?
Slashdot Mirror
....unplugging their keyboard slightly....
In the days before USB connectors became the norm, simply swapping the mouse and keyboard connectors over was quite an amusing practical joke - doubly so before they started using the lilac/green colour coding as it was never immediately obvious to even fairly close inspections.
NASA was planning a one-way trip to Mars and asked for volunteers.
Firstly an engineer turned up. At the interview they explained what the likely outcome was and what he wanted. He replied, "I'll do it for the technical interest - but I want you to give £5 million to the Engineering Council to help get more people into technical education".
Next a doctor arrived. His demand was £10 million for a new space medicine research centre in his name.
Finally a lawyer arrived. He asked for £15 million but did not specify a 'good cause'.
"Why 15 million?" asked the NASA interviewer.
"Well, it's £5 million for you, £5 million for me and we'll send the engineer!".
Sorry - you're missing the essential welcoming of our
1
2
3 ?????
4 Profit !
overlords
Salesman: The nerds will tell you it's 3.14159... but, today only, I'll let you have it for only 3.1 :-)
and the obligatory Simpsons quote (from the episode where Marge is arrested for shoplifting from the Kwik-E-Mart) "MMmmm Pie!"
IANAL but I'm pretty certain that in the UK you can do just this.
The Data Protection Acts 1984/1998 allow you to request a copy of any videos in which you appear for a nominal processing/handling fee not more than £10.
The difficulty is in knowing if, when, where and by whom you were recorded.
Disclaimer: I've never tried exercising this right.
I had a similar one
.. type ipconfig.. look for.. tell me the numbers ......
:-(
Me: Please can you check your line - I'm getting a high rate of dropouts. My IP address is xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
ISP: Have you tried re-booting your PC?
Me: The problem's highlighted in the router. I've rebooted that several times. There's no point booting my PC
ISP: Which version of Windows are you running?
Me: I'm running Linux
ISP: We don't support Linux.
Me: I'm not asking you to support my PC - please can you check the line.
ISP: If yoy want support you need to run Windows
Me [reluctantly]: OK I'll boot up Windows.... time passes what do you want me to do?
ISP: Press Start.. choose Run.. type cmd
Me: [with incredible restraint] the internal IP address is.. the external one is xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx as I told you 5 minutes ago
ISP: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx? oh yes we've got a fault report on that line
Now I realise that it's easier for ISP's to restrict support to a lowest common denominator; I accept that usage of scripted support makes their training and staff costs lower; I can even understand that they want to eliminate stupid errors first.
What I cannot understand is why they cannot apply common sense. They'd had several calls that morning - if they know they need an IP address to check their lines and they are given one in the appropriate range from the outset, why insist on the whole pantomime in between? Apart from wasting several minutes of my life, it's cutting down their own call rate stats!.
I've since changed ISP but this new one is no better
Add in small magnets + coils (or reverse run the accelerometer if it's suitable) and charge the phone from the shaking?
:-) [runs for cover]
It's not as if the Slashdot crowd have atrophied wrist muscles after all
Try looking in the Science Museum (Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects/computing_and_data_processing/1992-556.aspx?keywords=babbage
I cannot find the source but the quotation "Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan" springs to mind.
If I had mod points I'd mark you up.
:-( Scientists and engineers have always been considered second best - first of all to "classics scholars" [I'm not knocking the study of such subjects for their own sake but why are they 'superior'? will a knowledge of Caeasr's campaigns in the original Latin enable you to do anything useful?] - latterly to the cult of celebrity [people famous for being famous] or the greedy 'skimmers' and 'middlemen'.
:-) Note that the assorted passengers will need the engineers to build the ark and life support, no amount of "reality TV", speeches in parliament, market trading or insight into the Iliad would keep them alive.
Unfortunately it has always been thus
When it's possible to become rich by trading on a reputation for being thick while at the same time "nerd" and "geek" stereotypes are portrayed as losers (low social skills, low pay) is it any surprise that science subjects are losing popularity?
Making them too easy isn't the answer, it reinforces the superior attitudes shown by other subjects and stores up disappointment for some when the 'real', difficult subjects are addressed.
Where's Douglas Adams' "Star Ark" when we want it? Pack the "suits", politicians, celebrities in the ark and send 'em off to keep the telephone sanitizers company! Then the geek shall inherit the earth
This sounds like a joke but I assure you it is true....
Some years ago the water/sewage pipes were being repaired just outside the office where I worked. The trench was gradually making its progress up the road, across the pavement [sidewalk] and was closing in on the visitors' car park in front of the building.
The facilities manager walked out to meet them and spoke to the foreman.
"Please be careful and watch out when you're digging here, there are some comms cables running across the car park here, they are about 1 metre down"
"Don't you worry about that sir... we'll be digging much deeper than that" came the reply.
The really sad part was that he couldn't see why we were laughing.
I realise that you're striking a humourous note here but you are closer to the truth than you think...I believe that Henri Dunant deliberately chose to invert the Swiss flag as the emblem for the organisation.
I don't know about the poster but I don't see the world in black and white.
This is not an "either / or" "you're with us or you're against us" false dilemma.
It's perfectly possible to want to take some steps towards a cleaner lifestyle without renouncing everything.
IANAL but...
I believe it is frequently the case that judges ask deliberately "dumb" questions so that a commonly agreed explanation is recorded. This removes later arguments in which each side claims subtle differences in interpretation of terms.
and was never able to get something like the master document to work
You are not alone.
I have yet to meet anyone who has got master document working in a "real life" situation [i.e. beyond the document equivalent of "Hello World"].
The general consensus from help forums and FAQs I have consulted is "don't even bother!"
I must confess I haven't tried it with OOo but after reading your post I'll give it a go.
why is it that French expressions are used in English writing, i.e. journalists enjoy using it from time to time, especially if they try be sophisticated and overly ambitious?
Not sure if it's an urban myth but...
After the Norman invasion of 1066 the new aristocracy were mainly French speaking whilst the peasantry spoke early English (mixture of local Celtic languages, remnants of Latin plus Anglo Saxon/Scandinavian).
To be able to speak French marked you out as a member of (or close familiarity with) the upper / ruling class.
This "tradition" has endured through the years -- Just watch Del Boy on "Only Fools and Horses" [BBC series, widely exported] for examples [in these cases, for comic effect, the script means he uses meaningless/ wrong phrases innocently]. You are correct in saying that some journalists use French to appear sophisticated -- often leading to the ironic response "pretentious? moi?".
Is that question on its own, in the centre of the page, parenthesised?
;-)
Glad to see there's at least one other person out there who appreciates Mr Guthrie's style
It is true encryption is used to protect confidentiality and also [possibly] true this implementation is deficient.
However...
One reason for its use - even in a weak state - is to remove plausible denials.
If I always weakly encrypt an item [and always protect it properly.....] and then at some later stage you show you have access to it that implies that you deliberately accessed it. You had to make a positive action to get to it. You cannot claim that you "accidentally" stumbled on it or that it was published.
Passwording some activities (even with weak passwords) serves a similar purpose.
In both cases the protection is not against determined attackers, rather against accidental leaks.
EM Forster wrote a short story on a similar theme much earlier [if I was at home instead of work I'd find the reference & date]. As a prediction of the information society and the n levels of redirection / interpretation / lack of original research it was both prescient and accurate [and at least 70 - 80 years ahead of its time]
I wish I had mod points right now
This is as clearly articulated and cogent an argument as I've seen for a while.
Just as Parkinson's law (wikipedia) applies to work, bloat and excessive "functionality" soaks up gains in Moore's law.
If I had mod points I'd mark you up
Swearing aside, you make a good point. The situation's similar in Europe but over here we don't all have the knee-jerk "reaction against all legislation as a point of principle". That's not to say we agree with everything imposed on us but it is recognised that sometimes the actions of the economically powerful need to be constrained by the [representatives of] the people.
Market forces are good up to a point but they do have intrinsic limitations: You can buy more consumer goods, you can [in the US] buy politicians but you cannot buy another minute of life or another earth to live on.
with an arial bombardment. That's OK then -- for a moment I was worried it would be Times New Roman ;-)
and replace a high level of independence [apart from the ritual grovelling to the government of the day to set the licence fee] with content control "influenced" by the whims and desires of big business and advertising revenue?
How about - I don't watch much commercial TV - why should I pay the "advert tax" on essentials I buy ?
In English - there's a subtle difference between the spellings
:-)
The document you hold is a licence.
License means 'permission to do something'.
A licence grants you license.
Of course in American....
Still this IS an article about Britain
maening ==> meaning
:-)
Lesson: -- use Preview