That's the difference between OpenStreetMap and many other open-source GPS projects - we can make real maps for the GPS devices instead of just collections of GPX waypoints. And seeing as all the data is available for customisation, we can do cool things like the cycle maps instead of just general (road-user orientated) ones.
Bike paths? We go one better - we can make dedicated cycle maps based on OpenStreetMap data since we can put anything we like in the database, and render our own tiles using any cartography we can think of. See for example http://www.gravitystorm.co.uk/osm/ - zoom in on London to have a look at cycle networks, bike shops, contours and all manner of customisations for cyclists.
There's so much more potential to OpenStreetMap than just what's on the front page of the website.
I hope for your sake, that you print out your words before you eat them. Otherwise, chewing on your screen is going to be mighty painful...
Re:Using DNA Computing to solve hard (NP) problems
on
Future Computers
·
· Score: 2, Informative
I'm writing a report on DNA computing for my masters at the moment, but instead of actually working, I'm browsing slashdot. Nevermind...
Anyway, what you described is perfectly true. NP complete problems and other 'hard' problems can scale exponentially in time on a normal computer, but linearly in time on a DNA computer due to the massive parrallel nature of working with DNA. Unfortunately, however, the mass of DNA required to represent every possible answer in the one glass beaker simultaneously grows exponentially instead.
Even Aldeman realises that DNA computers won't be able to outperform electronic computers, unless some radically different algorithms can be found. From his research website, he doesn't feel that it was a waste of time, since the principles learned in trying to develop DNA computers may be applicable to other areas of DNA research - this view is also held in microfluidic computing research - see P NATL ACAD SCI USA 98 (6) 2961-2966 for the discussion
And now I've written more for slashdot on the subject than for my supervisor. Good work, eh?
Good point - I started running linux on my PC, because I was running Apache and PHP on Win98, and when I started to program in MySQL, I realised I'd be better off running them all on Linux. Especially useful when trying to learn stuff like that, since a lot of tutorials etc are written with a *nix slant.
One day, someone is bound to ask "So... can Linux run Mozilla?"
The one that always cracked me up was putting images into Word - when you try putting them at the bottom of a page, and the bugger off to the end of the document - priceless.
LaTeX is cool (started using it for university reports a few months back), but where would all the clipart-and-wordart invitation-to-party people be without Word? (Perhaps finding proper poster creating software...)
OK, since I'm doing a Masters in chemistry, I'll have to pull you up on this one...
Graphite is not a metal. It is a conductor, yes, but that doesn't make it a metal. For instance, you can make conductors out of other non-metal elements, such as aromatic hydrocarbon chains (think lots of benzene rings linked together to make a wire - currently being developed as organic LEDs). There are lots of elements around the metal/non-metal line in the periodic table that have properties of both metals and non-metals, but graphite does not have any other metallic properties, e.g. a tendency to form positive ions, or malleability.
Buckyballs and buckytubes are the third allotrope (so far) of carbon - they conduct like graphite, but are discrete molecules, unlike diamond and graphite, which are both infinite atomic lattices.
Don't be mislead - there's an awful lot of words said in Scotland that belong to the old 'Lowland Scots' (as opposed to Gaelic from the north west). So, it's not really English that's being spoken most of the time. Designed with an anti-English bias methinks, puts them in their place and all that!
And lets be clear here. Mike Myers' accent (as Fat Bastard in Austin Powers 2) is not the way anyone speaks in Scotland.
Here's an idea... If a company (e.g. Demon or whoever) are running a few servers, they could set them up as a league. You join the newbie server, and if you're way outclassing them, you get promoted to the next server. If you're playing bad on one of the 'better' servers, you get relegated. That way, you get to play against others with the same ability, which is usually more enjoyable. Also, cheaters will end up in amongst experienced players, who are more likely to kick them than on newbie servers.
Any suggestions?
Andy
Re:Ok, I have a news flash for you
on
Mozilla 0.9.1 Out
·
· Score: 1
Most of the people in the world are not programmers!
Hear, hear.
Good point, and one that needs to be made more often. While I'm able and willing to offer suggestions and feedback, there's no way that I could program my ideas. Doesn't stop me from trying to help with OSS projects though.
My guess is that most Windows users won't have switched off the 'check for updates' stuff (for Windows and IE), and that's where Microsoft will be getting a ton of their 'hits'.
Quoted from "Don't Panic", by Neil Gaiman
"It is worth commenting here on the anomalies of the title. The mould was cast by Adams, on his original three-page outline for the series, which was titled THE HITCH-HIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY (with hyphen) but referred to the book as THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE (without hyphen) throughout."
(This then continues on for a bit, citing each time each variation was used)
So, being inconsistent is excusable...
Andy
Slashdot Mirror
Works fine on my GPS - see for example http://www.gravitystorm.co.uk/shine/archives/2007/01/07/osm-on-my-gps/ or even a customised OpenStreetMap based garmin map at http://www.gravitystorm.co.uk/shine/archives/2008/01/13/osm-cycle-map-on-my-gps/ for cyclists.
That's the difference between OpenStreetMap and many other open-source GPS projects - we can make real maps for the GPS devices instead of just collections of GPX waypoints. And seeing as all the data is available for customisation, we can do cool things like the cycle maps instead of just general (road-user orientated) ones.
Bike paths? We go one better - we can make dedicated cycle maps based on OpenStreetMap data since we can put anything we like in the database, and render our own tiles using any cartography we can think of. See for example http://www.gravitystorm.co.uk/osm/ - zoom in on London to have a look at cycle networks, bike shops, contours and all manner of customisations for cyclists.
There's so much more potential to OpenStreetMap than just what's on the front page of the website.
I think your point was answered by using the words "Gartner analyst".
I've found another one!!!
;-)
Try doing it with 691!
Free people searching utilities?
Hands.
So long as you you don't mean Free as in Not Going To Jail, that is...
I hope for your sake, that you print out your words before you eat them. Otherwise, chewing on your screen is going to be mighty painful...
I'm writing a report on DNA computing for my masters at the moment, but instead of actually working, I'm browsing slashdot. Nevermind...
Anyway, what you described is perfectly true. NP complete problems and other 'hard' problems can scale exponentially in time on a normal computer, but linearly in time on a DNA computer due to the massive parrallel nature of working with DNA. Unfortunately, however, the mass of DNA required to represent every possible answer in the one glass beaker simultaneously grows exponentially instead.
Even Aldeman realises that DNA computers won't be able to outperform electronic computers, unless some radically different algorithms can be found. From his research website, he doesn't feel that it was a waste of time, since the principles learned in trying to develop DNA computers may be applicable to other areas of DNA research - this view is also held in microfluidic computing research - see P NATL ACAD SCI USA 98 (6) 2961-2966 for the discussion
And now I've written more for slashdot on the subject than for my supervisor. Good work, eh?
If you want this to become truly enterprise level, can i suggest the next feature?
fiscals -theFBIiscomingshredallthedocumentsquickly
;-P
Good point - I started running linux on my PC, because I was running Apache and PHP on Win98, and when I started to program in MySQL, I realised I'd be better off running them all on Linux. Especially useful when trying to learn stuff like that, since a lot of tutorials etc are written with a *nix slant.
One day, someone is bound to ask "So... can Linux run Mozilla?"
No, you're not crazy. It's one feature of Linux desktopping that drives me nuts, but I live with it.
The one that always cracked me up was putting images into Word - when you try putting them at the bottom of a page, and the bugger off to the end of the document - priceless.
LaTeX is cool (started using it for university reports a few months back), but where would all the clipart-and-wordart invitation-to-party people be without Word? (Perhaps finding proper poster creating software...)
OK, since I'm doing a Masters in chemistry, I'll have to pull you up on this one...
Graphite is not a metal. It is a conductor, yes, but that doesn't make it a metal. For instance, you can make conductors out of other non-metal elements, such as aromatic hydrocarbon chains (think lots of benzene rings linked together to make a wire - currently being developed as organic LEDs). There are lots of elements around the metal/non-metal line in the periodic table that have properties of both metals and non-metals, but graphite does not have any other metallic properties, e.g. a tendency to form positive ions, or malleability.
Buckyballs and buckytubes are the third allotrope (so far) of carbon - they conduct like graphite, but are discrete molecules, unlike diamond and graphite, which are both infinite atomic lattices.
Don't be mislead - there's an awful lot of words said in Scotland that belong to the old 'Lowland Scots' (as opposed to Gaelic from the north west). So, it's not really English that's being spoken most of the time. Designed with an anti-English bias methinks, puts them in their place and all that!
And lets be clear here. Mike Myers' accent (as Fat Bastard in Austin Powers 2) is not the way anyone speaks in Scotland.
Here's an idea... If a company (e.g. Demon or whoever) are running a few servers, they could set them up as a league. You join the newbie server, and if you're way outclassing them, you get promoted to the next server. If you're playing bad on one of the 'better' servers, you get relegated. That way, you get to play against others with the same ability, which is usually more enjoyable. Also, cheaters will end up in amongst experienced players, who are more likely to kick them than on newbie servers.
Any suggestions?
Andy
Most of the people in the world are not programmers!
Hear, hear.
Good point, and one that needs to be made more often. While I'm able and willing to offer suggestions and feedback, there's no way that I could program my ideas. Doesn't stop me from trying to help with OSS projects though.
My guess is that most Windows users won't have switched off the 'check for updates' stuff (for Windows and IE), and that's where Microsoft will be getting a ton of their 'hits'.
Quoted from "Don't Panic", by Neil Gaiman "It is worth commenting here on the anomalies of the title. The mould was cast by Adams, on his original three-page outline for the series, which was titled THE HITCH-HIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY (with hyphen) but referred to the book as THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE (without hyphen) throughout." (This then continues on for a bit, citing each time each variation was used) So, being inconsistent is excusable... Andy