Looks like the LA Times decided their experiment wasn't working after a few vandals decided to deface it with porn and goatsex images.
Before that, it was a back and forth between various camps pushing their viewpoint or trying to keep a more neutral tone to the editorial.
Now what is interesting is the google cache has one version of the wiki - making it appear to be the consensus version when it is only one of many edited versions. Which means, unless you cache every edit, Google will not provide a very robust view of the dialogue inherent in a Wiki; yet people will view their cache as authoritative.
I have a lot of respect for both the D-70 and D-Rebel as the cheapest way to get into real photography. Both are very, very good bodies; the difference, as far as I can see, is that the Nikon kit lens is (as you said) quite, quite good, and the Canon's... isn't. Canon L-glass is good, and Nikkors are generally good, but kit vs. kit, Nikon comes out clearly ahead.
What I like about both of them is they have reintroduced the joy of photography to those of us who used to shot a lot of 35mm but eventually ran out of the time to process / print or moved somewhere that didn't have a nearby rental lab. What used to take hours in the darkroom (and often multiple prints ) can be done in PS / PSE.
Canon's kit lens is pretty poor in comparison to other lens - but it did get them under the magical $1000US price point; and for someone starting out or moving from a regular Rebel it is quite satisfactory. Why they bundle it with the 20D, OTOH, is confusing. Anyone that pays $1400 for a body ought to be able to spend teh extra couple a hundred for better glass.
While point and shots are great and have a place in the photog world; you don't realize what your missing until you try a dSLR - no shutter lag, real depth of field, wide array of lens...
For me the deciding factor is what you already own - no reason to junk perfectly good Nikon (Canon) gear to get the other system's body and start buying new lens. In fact, Nikon has a slight edge there because the digitals will use all (or almots ) all of the older lens with a Nikon mount (tehy mount and work, but some features may not work with teh newer electronics in a digital body); Canon went from the FD to the FE and now digital only mount so plder lens no longer fit (unless you buy an adapter).
I think my favorite lens for my D-70 is the Nikon 50/1.8, and it's probably my most used lens (although I've been giving the Tokina 12-24 I bought a workout lately). I picked the Nikon 50/1.8 AF-D up for $100, new in box. If you don't have one, it's a cheap investment and well worth it.
Canon's 55/1.8 is also a steal - cheaply built (plastic including the lens mount) but cheap (70$ by mail) with great glass.
We tried working with body modifiers. An employee suggested to me that we try some modifications on ourselves as an evaluation. I was skeptical at first but he explained the benefits of doing it for our employee's day-to-day office work. So I decided to let him modify 5 employees to see how the rest of the office got on. Besides, our IT manager had been modifying his body and it seemed to work fine, why not try it on the employees that work with our clients? Once he'd tattooed and pierced the core group we decided let the rest of the office try it out. It all seemed fine to start with: simple tattoos and piercing and the employees could still do their work as normal. Alas it did not stay that way. After a few days, I had lost count of the number of sick days from employees who got infections to or whose modifications interfered with performing tasks they previously could with their as-shipped bodies. The final straw came when one employee lost several hours work when his tongue piercing got stuck in the keyboard and shorted it out, but not before it erased his entire hard drive and infected our network with some weird virus. Needless to say, the store that sold the tongue ring offered no support whatsoever. I made the employees get rid of all their mods and let's just say he's not with us anymore.
Pattern recognition has been around a long time - from analyzing the causes of infection to finding likely cheats on expense reports (and the latter uses the frequencies of certain digits, rather than looking for the text entries).
Have you got some references about this ? I am interested in that subject (pattern recognition, not cheating on my expenses:)). Thanks.
Not offhand, but there ought to be some academic papers available, try Google. I discussed this topic while in grad school; I had an interesting stats professor and would often stop by his office to discuss ideas. He had some papers on this topic, but I don't recall the titles.
It would be a weak protection though. It could only work in conjunction with the kernel, and that's easily hackable (isn't it just a BSD kernel?). I think they'll rely mainly on the EULA.
they could also build custom chips on their mb - no chips, no run. Just because machines use the same processor doesn't mean their OS will run on either machines without significant work.
Everyone assume Apple will use industry standard designs as the basis for Intel based Macs; I doubt that will be the case. They've been there before with CHRP and that never really went anywhere.
Pattern recognition has been around a long time - from analyzing the causes of infection to finding likely cheats on expense reports (and the latter uses the frequencies of certain digits, rather than looking for the text entries).
I do disagree with his statement about not being useful to fight spam - recognizing patterns ins spam is already in use, applying the idea that the same or significantly numerous occurrences of the same words from either the same person to multiple users at the same sight and different sites, or the same basic message sent to multiple users from different mailers / return addresses might be a good indicator of spam. The challenge is how do you monitor all the traffic?
I was on a flight out of SLC and the guy next to me was working on modelling explosion with some software they had developed - I believe it was this. Quite interesting and we had a nice discussion during the flight.
The software can do a lot of simulations that previously took a lot mor ehorsepower.
Considering the PSP has less CPU power than PS2 and PS2 can barely play Pac Man in MAME. What's the point of this, really?
To play Mortal Kombat 2 in MAME you need about a 1.2 GHz processor. To play Cruisn USA you need a top-of-the-line CPU and still won't get perfect framerate. Heck, even to play Neo-Geo full-speed takes a 2-ALU CPU about 600 MHz, and PSP is nowhere near that!
Well, my Zodiac does a decent job with xarcade ( a pre-mame emulator) playing various games, so I doubt processor speed is the limiting factor.
That's two different subjects. While there is no flood of Linux-games there is a real flood of useful Linux applications! What about vcr software, ray-traycing (povray etc.) and the like which might benefit a lot from 8 independent DPS's ? What about OpenOffice, Browser,... ? I don't know about the power consuption of the PS3, but with this software the box could replace the average PC for the typical home office and the same time the vcr. The main reason for most people not to dump Windows and switch to Linux was that there are no games for Linux. This argument is now void, since everyone can easily buy the best games, not for Linux but for the PS3.
If you want to play games, PS3 games make no compelling reason to switch to Linux - you can play them independent of what's on the box.
As for applications,there are still significant barriers to the PS3 adopting Linux:
1. people have to go and find the apps, and they have to work on the PS3 - if they don't it'll be like th eold machine specific MS Dos days;. And Linux developer's typical response of fix it yourself won't fly.
2. Most productivity apps require a removable storage device - so there's another box to buy and hang on the side of the PS3 (along with keyboard and mouse). Yes, you could network the PS3 and xfer the files via a shared HD, but that requires some sophistication on th epart of the user. Which brings me to the next point:
3. What will be the typical profile of the PS3 user? Are they likely to be interested and ghave the patience to deal with switching and learning Linux? Or will they want the cool games and already have a PC to do work?
4. While Linux has some good apps, people are tied into the Windows - Office (or Mac - Office) paradigm - and Linux gives no compelling reason to switch. Free is irrelevant if you already have the software, and less than 100% compatibility is a deal breaker for office and real world use.
5. Finally, PC's and PS's are multi-user machines - they are often used concurrently by different people - using a PS3 as a PC means someone can't play games - guess what happens next? Back to the desktop.
6. Tech support - Sony probably doesn't want to delve into supporting Linux and helping people get apps running - the cost and headaches aren't worth it; besides people will blame Sony if stuff doesn't work, not the original developers.
It's neat that Sony is putting Linux on the PS3 HD, but I really don't think it will make much of a difference in terms of people switching from their Mac or PC.
The main reason not to use the PC as a real alternative to the vcr is the high power consumption, the noise of the fans and the big ugly case. Those arguments are also void now.
Now, as a TiVO style device is where I see Sony making a play - not just for recording TV, but as the center of sMedia - a hybrid iTunes/video/games delivery platform that lets Sony develop a new distribution channel. Look at Sony's strengths - game consoles, consumer electronics, and music/video content - that makes a more compelling play than trying to take on Apple and MS in the OS business.
They can develop their own apps suite that runs on Linux, provide tech support for just that, and let the hobbyists have fun.
China already has more English language speakers than any other country in the world.
Speaking and fluency in communications is two different things. One reason India is strong in outsourcing is they have native speakers of English who are easily understood by other English speakers. Most Chinese speakers (who did not grow up a native speaker of English) had very good comprehension skills, especially in written English, but were often difficult to understand when speaking; mainly because of accents. It is difficult for someone to speak a foreign language with very little accent unless they learn it at a young age; mainly because we learn how to make the sounds of our native language(s) and have a hard time learning new ones as we grow older; witness the problems with the German ch in ich or Bach; the rolling r's of a Viennese dialect.
And before someone starts off on a "you're a racist rant," my point is simply if China starts English lessons at an early age, they will develop a workforce that will be a powerful call center outsourcing competitor - because that is a business that needs a high level of fluency rather than comprehension alone.
... but I doubt 3rd party Linux aps are a short term goal or the reason for putting Linux on the HD...
I probably missed the point in a previous post you made, but what are your thoughts on why they decided to put Linux on the HD?
While it is possible Sony has a developer that is working on an app that uses Linux based app they that want for the PS3;
a scenario I find more plausable is Sony has some custom app they are developing and want to run it on Linux (no licensing fees to MS), and HDD is an easy way to add the OS. Maybe a web app, TiVO like device, or even the front end for a game rental/purchase system. Making the PS3 a mediua device with TV recording / music playing / streaming internet feeds would make sense as well - especially since some companies already use Linux as the base.
They claim that the pants contain teflon, which is in a family of chemicals that can be absorbed through the skin. It is known that this same family of chemicals accumulates in the body, that most Americans have some level of this in their bodies, and that there is research to show that it damages immune systems in other animals.
They may actually be *counting* on a flood of user-created material raising the profile and perceived value of their console. Think about it - for basically no investment on the part of Sony, the PS3 will have a whole library of user-created applications and games. These applications will help make the PS3 more attractive and encourage people to select the PS3 over the competing gaming systems
While that is a nice idea, where is the flood of games for the existing Linux base? There are some, but it's not Linux is a viable gaming option; porting it to the PS3 isn't going to change that. A more likely scenario is that existing games require a recomplie or modification to run on the PS3, which means a lot of "It doesn't work!!!" and:Fix it yourself, luser!" posts. Sony's actions could, depending on how they do this, hurt Linux if stuff won't run like it does on Windows or OSX.
That doesn't mean Sony doesn't have some grand plan, but I doubt 3rd party Linux aps are a short term goal or the reason for putting Linux on the HD.
And with the level of effort it takes to develop a commercially viable game for these systems, it's unlikely you'll see any direct competition from indie games causing Sony to sweat.
Which is why I thinl PS3 Linux is not going to make much of a splash.
What I found interesting was the move to manufacturering the more expensive components in China - that is the next place to look for cost reductions. It'll take a while, but it will happen - leaving Tiawan to do higher end engineering and component fab, with the commodity stuff outsourced (much like we do today).
China's also developing the engineering talent to do the design work - Siemen's already does cell phone work their; China certainly has the talent to develop into a major player. Of course, political challenges - how do you keep such diverse country in one piece if you lessen the central control.
If I were India, I'd be worrying about the Chinese developing enough English speakers to capture the call center business.
With Vongae's move to as wi-fi VOIP phone, plus airlines move to wi-fi on board, the cell phone debate may be overcome by events.
Personally, I like the VIOP solution because:
The airline can control availabilty with th ethrow of a switch; and Most people won't use it so we'll have fewer idiots on the phone for an entire flight.
As someone who flies alot, cellphones in flight are a bad idea - it's bad enougfh when the idiot next to you insists on making conversation even when you are buried in a book and have noise reduction headphones on; add cellphones to that mix and you'll see air rage come back in vogue. (or cell phone jammers will become a hot item).
If you are or plan to attend school there, find out what the tuition practices are - some schools significantly cut tuition costs, which will more than compensate for the lower salary (especially since, if I recall correctly, the tuition break is tax free). Also ask about the ability to get in there - when I was looking at a Uni job, they basically said "we can't guarantee it, but we do know a lot of people in the school"
A lower salary, counterbalanced by tuition and other benefits, may be reasonable trade off. Just make sure you will get the benefits before you take the job.
If you look beyond the superficial you may find something worthwhile - nothing new here.
Women are attracted to successful men - big surprise.
About the only thing they left out was that it's easier to meet a women when you're already in a relationship.
What I do find ironic is how it was all about geek men and hot women - not the reverse. While they are busy praising hot women who look beyond the guy's appearance and the joy they've found; there's nothing about Tom Cruise and a fat chick.
Geeks everywhere will take heart the they Have a chance (tm); completely missing that what they are doing (ranking looks high on the desirable list) is what they are bemoaning. Sure, it mentions that geeks don't want airheads (of course, the amount of airhead that is acceptable is in direct proportion to the hotness factor for most guys); but I bet you won't find many who would turn down an airheaded model for a smart, but much less physically attractive, women.
Women, as a group, are surprisningly rational when it comes to long term choices - and looks is only a small part of that equation.
Next time you're with some friends and see a hot chick with an average guy - watch the reaction - the guys wonder what she sees in him, the girls wonder what he has that attracted her. Oh wait, this is/, never mind...
Well, even if they fix the flaw, moat standardized tests give you series of multiple choice answers so you can color in a dot and a machine can grade it. so, rather than actually do the math, all you have to do is check all the choices and pick the right one - in fat, they may be faster than actually doing the math; that's why some GMAT prep books recommend it (at least they did with the old paper tests). The answers were even in numerical order, so yo did the middle choice, then went up or down depending on the result (like a half interval search). The problem is not in the calculator, it's in the test format.
One problem with calculators is that students believe the results and never bother to see if they make sense. I graded papers for an engineering class, I was amazed how many students thought because you get 8 digits in the calculator that the result is that precise; or would get impossible answers (because of a math error) and write them down. They never developed a sense about the calculation, couldn't estimate to check results and relied on the calculator for the answer. You see this in the inability to give change if you add a coin to the payment amount after they've rung it up; or when they try to give you your twenty back along with 17 dollars because they entered 50 instead of twenty for cash tendered.
Why the need for a new federal law? This is already adequately handled by state tort laws. Looks like the federal government just wants to get its hands in the pie.
Anyway, fortunately this law only applies to credit reports.
Because if the federal law supersedes the state law, companies could avoid state lawsuits altogether.
If this law really put a hurt on companies, they'd be screaming and it would quietly die in committee.
Ok, should've rechecked my math - it should be 14 or so mac users to get an 18% purchase rate (14 *1.3) = 18.2, which yields an installed base of 14/ (14+82) = 15%, still close to 16% overall
[...] According to US News and World Report, Macintosh owners buy 30% more software than their Windows counterparts. Further, Macintosh software comprises over 18% of all software sold, according to the Software and Information Industry Association. In addition, the Software Publishers Association (SPA) estimates that 16 percent of computer users are on Macs.
Well, if you take SIPA's numbers as correct, then for every 100 units of software sold, 18 would be Mac titles and 82 Windows titles. Now, assuming a purchase ratio of 1.3:1 for Mac:Windows, that would mean that if all 82 were purchased by separate uses, there would be 16 Mac users purchasing software. They yields an installed base of nearly 16% (16/98).
The problem with this methodology (that I see without looking at the underlying data) is:
1. You assume all Mac and Windows users buy software so that you have a complete sample
2. It treats all software as equal, yet I'd think the availability of hot titles such as games would skew the results to the PC, making it look like there are more users and raising the titles per machine purchase percentage for the Mac, which lowers the overall installed base number
3. Some software is dual version (although very little is today - as someone who used a Mac and PC side by side for years I wish more software shipped with both versions in the box, and either licensed you to use both or charged a small fee to use both)
4. It ignores other OS such as Linux, BSD, etc. - which, even if their users only use free software, still are part of the installed base.
5. It doesn't define software - is a web server a software package? If so, how do you account for those running Apache on Linux - if you count commercial packages running on Tiger or Windows than Linux based boxes should be in your count as well.
6. How is the data collected - to get the ratio of Mac titles purchased per user vs PC titles per user you need to collect registration data in some central database so you can compare purchasing patterns - even if you do this, is the percentage of users who return registration cards representative of the population as a whole?
I'm not taking sides on whether the figures are correct, just that until the methodology used to collect them is known, you can't say one way or the other. Journalists love to use statistics since they add a certain gravitas to an article (isn't it strange that the word we use to sound intelligent and serious is also the root for pregnant in some Romance languages?), but often aren't trained to understand basic statistics, so unless a number either seems really out of whack, or disagrees with a POV they want to espouse, they'll run with it without question.
Sorry for the rant, but the one thing I learned from my econ and stat professors is that you need to look at the data before you draw conclusions. There are, after all "Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics."
While I'm sure Jay found it funny that a ancient (by electronics)technology beat out the latest gadgets, that's not the real advantage of MC. A fast typist with a big keyboard might beat a fist, but MC's advantage is that it can get through when a cell phone wouldn't even get a dial tone.
Big EM pulse, no problem, just crank up transmitter power? Want to do it without emitting radio waves? Flashing light. Need to send it to someone underwater? Vary the shaft rotatations.
That's what radiomen on submarines (FBM) needed to learn code - if all else fails, MC would get through.
Slashdot Mirror
Looks like the LA Times decided their experiment wasn't working after a few vandals decided to deface it with porn and goatsex images.
Before that, it was a back and forth between various camps pushing their viewpoint or trying to keep a more neutral tone to the editorial.
Now what is interesting is the google cache has one version of the wiki - making it appear to be the consensus version when it is only one of many edited versions. Which means, unless you cache every edit, Google will not provide a very robust view of the dialogue inherent in a Wiki; yet people will view their cache as authoritative.
I have a lot of respect for both the D-70 and D-Rebel as the cheapest way to get into real photography. Both are very, very good bodies; the difference, as far as I can see, is that the Nikon kit lens is (as you said) quite, quite good, and the Canon's... isn't. Canon L-glass is good, and Nikkors are generally good, but kit vs. kit, Nikon comes out clearly ahead.
What I like about both of them is they have reintroduced the joy of photography to those of us who used to shot a lot of 35mm but eventually ran out of the time to process / print or moved somewhere that didn't have a nearby rental lab. What used to take hours in the darkroom (and often multiple prints ) can be done in PS / PSE.
Canon's kit lens is pretty poor in comparison to other lens - but it did get them under the magical $1000US price point; and for someone starting out or moving from a regular Rebel it is quite satisfactory. Why they bundle it with the 20D, OTOH, is confusing. Anyone that pays $1400 for a body ought to be able to spend teh extra couple a hundred for better glass.
While point and shots are great and have a place in the photog world; you don't realize what your missing until you try a dSLR - no shutter lag, real depth of field, wide array of lens...
For me the deciding factor is what you already own - no reason to junk perfectly good Nikon (Canon) gear to get the other system's body and start buying new lens. In fact, Nikon has a slight edge there because the digitals will use all (or almots ) all of the older lens with a Nikon mount (tehy mount and work, but some features may not work with teh newer electronics in a digital body); Canon went from the FD to the FE and now digital only mount so plder lens no longer fit (unless you buy an adapter).
I think my favorite lens for my D-70 is the Nikon 50/1.8, and it's probably my most used lens (although I've been giving the Tokina 12-24 I bought a workout lately). I picked the Nikon 50/1.8 AF-D up for $100, new in box. If you don't have one, it's a cheap investment and well worth it.
Canon's 55/1.8 is also a steal - cheaply built (plastic including the lens mount) but cheap (70$ by mail) with great glass.
We tried working with body modifiers. An employee suggested to me that we try some modifications on ourselves as an evaluation. I was skeptical at first but he explained the benefits of doing it for our employee's day-to-day office work. So I decided to let him modify 5 employees to see how the rest of the office got on. Besides, our IT manager had been modifying his body and it seemed to work fine, why not try it on the employees that work with our clients? Once he'd tattooed and pierced the core group we decided let the rest of the office try it out. It all seemed fine to start with: simple tattoos and piercing and the employees could still do their work as normal. Alas it did not stay that way. After a few days, I had lost count of the number of sick days from employees who got infections to or whose modifications interfered with performing tasks they previously could with their as-shipped bodies. The final straw came when one employee lost several hours work when his tongue piercing got stuck in the keyboard and shorted it out, but not before it erased his entire hard drive and infected our network with some weird virus. Needless to say, the store that sold the tongue ring offered no support whatsoever. I made the employees get rid of all their mods and let's just say he's not with us anymore.
Actually, Tufte in "Qualitative presentation of quantitative data" discuss how pattern recognition stopped a cholera outbreak in London.
Pattern recognition has been around a long time - from analyzing the causes of infection to finding likely cheats on expense reports (and the latter uses the frequencies of certain digits, rather than looking for the text entries).
:)). Thanks.
Have you got some references about this ? I am interested in that subject (pattern recognition, not cheating on my expenses
Not offhand, but there ought to be some academic papers available, try Google. I discussed this topic while in grad school; I had an interesting stats professor and would often stop by his office to discuss ideas. He had some papers on this topic, but I don't recall the titles.
Fascinating field, pattern recognition.
No doubt that MS Office is bloatware. My Office folder is 486 MB. Outrageous.
But I gotta wonder what is wrong with the reviewer's test computers.
That's because ue's using whine to run Office...
It would be a weak protection though. It could only work in conjunction with the kernel, and that's easily hackable (isn't it just a BSD kernel?). I think they'll rely mainly on the EULA.
they could also build custom chips on their mb - no chips, no run. Just because machines use the same processor doesn't mean their OS will run on either machines without significant work.
Everyone assume Apple will use industry standard designs as the basis for Intel based Macs; I doubt that will be the case. They've been there before with CHRP and that never really went anywhere.
Pattern recognition has been around a long time - from analyzing the causes of infection to finding likely cheats on expense reports (and the latter uses the frequencies of certain digits, rather than looking for the text entries).
I do disagree with his statement about not being useful to fight spam - recognizing patterns ins spam is already in use, applying the idea that the same or significantly numerous occurrences of the same words from either the same person to multiple users at the same sight and different sites, or the same basic message sent to multiple users from different mailers / return addresses might be a good indicator of spam. The challenge is how do you monitor all the traffic?
Must of been - anyway, both look like pretty neat stuff.
I was on a flight out of SLC and the guy next to me was working on modelling explosion with some software they had developed - I believe it was this. Quite interesting and we had a nice discussion during the flight.
The software can do a lot of simulations that previously took a lot mor ehorsepower.
Considering the PSP has less CPU power than PS2 and PS2 can barely play Pac Man in MAME. What's the point of this, really?
To play Mortal Kombat 2 in MAME you need about a 1.2 GHz processor. To play Cruisn USA you need a top-of-the-line CPU and still won't get perfect framerate. Heck, even to play Neo-Geo full-speed takes a 2-ALU CPU about 600 MHz, and PSP is nowhere near that!
Well, my Zodiac does a decent job with xarcade ( a pre-mame emulator) playing various games, so I doubt processor speed is the limiting factor.
That's two different subjects. While there is no flood of Linux-games there is a real flood of useful Linux applications! What about vcr software, ray-traycing (povray etc.) and the like which might benefit a lot from 8 independent DPS's ? What about OpenOffice, Browser, ... ? I don't know about the power consuption of the PS3, but with this software the box could replace the average PC for the typical home office and the same time the vcr. The main reason for most people not to dump Windows and switch to Linux was that there are no games for Linux. This argument is now void, since everyone can easily buy the best games, not for Linux but for the PS3.
If you want to play games, PS3 games make no compelling reason to switch to Linux - you can play them independent of what's on the box.
As for applications,there are still significant barriers to the PS3 adopting Linux:
1. people have to go and find the apps, and they have to work on the PS3 - if they don't it'll be like th eold machine specific MS Dos days;. And Linux developer's typical response of fix it yourself won't fly.
2. Most productivity apps require a removable storage device - so there's another box to buy and hang on the side of the PS3 (along with keyboard and mouse). Yes, you could network the PS3 and xfer the files via a shared HD, but that requires some sophistication on th epart of the user. Which brings me to the next point:
3. What will be the typical profile of the PS3 user? Are they likely to be interested and ghave the patience to deal with switching and learning Linux? Or will they want the cool games and already have a PC to do work?
4. While Linux has some good apps, people are tied into the Windows - Office (or Mac - Office) paradigm - and Linux gives no compelling reason to switch. Free is irrelevant if you already have the software, and less than 100% compatibility is a deal breaker for office and real world use.
5. Finally, PC's and PS's are multi-user machines - they are often used concurrently by different people - using a PS3 as a PC means someone can't play games - guess what happens next? Back to the desktop.
6. Tech support - Sony probably doesn't want to delve into supporting Linux and helping people get apps running - the cost and headaches aren't worth it; besides people will blame Sony if stuff doesn't work, not the original developers.
It's neat that Sony is putting Linux on the PS3 HD, but I really don't think it will make much of a difference in terms of people switching from their Mac or PC.
The main reason not to use the PC as a real alternative to the vcr is the high power consumption, the noise of the fans and the big ugly case. Those arguments are also void now.
Now, as a TiVO style device is where I see Sony making a play - not just for recording TV, but as the center of sMedia - a hybrid iTunes/video/games delivery platform that lets Sony develop a new distribution channel. Look at Sony's strengths - game consoles, consumer electronics, and music/video content - that makes a more compelling play than trying to take on Apple and MS in the OS business.
They can develop their own apps suite that runs on Linux, provide tech support for just that, and let the hobbyists have fun.
China already has more English language speakers than any other country in the world.
Speaking and fluency in communications is two different things. One reason India is strong in outsourcing is they have native speakers of English who are easily understood by other English speakers. Most Chinese speakers (who did not grow up a native speaker of English) had very good comprehension skills, especially in written English, but were often difficult to understand when speaking; mainly because of accents. It is difficult for someone to speak a foreign language with very little accent unless they learn it at a young age; mainly because we learn how to make the sounds of our native language(s) and have a hard time learning new ones as we grow older; witness the problems with the German ch in ich or Bach; the rolling r's of a Viennese dialect.
And before someone starts off on a "you're a racist rant," my point is simply if China starts English lessons at an early age, they will develop a workforce that will be a powerful call center outsourcing competitor - because that is a business that needs a high level of fluency rather than comprehension alone.
I probably missed the point in a previous post you made, but what are your thoughts on why they decided to put Linux on the HD?
While it is possible Sony has a developer that is working on an app that uses Linux based app they that want for the PS3;
a scenario I find more plausable is Sony has some custom app they are developing and want to run it on Linux (no licensing fees to MS), and HDD is an easy way to add the OS. Maybe a web app, TiVO like device, or even the front end for a game rental/purchase system. Making the PS3 a mediua device with TV recording / music playing / streaming internet feeds would make sense as well - especially since some companies already use Linux as the base.
Then again, maybe they just like Linux.
They claim that the pants contain teflon, which is in a family of chemicals that can be absorbed through the skin. It is known that this same family of chemicals accumulates in the body, that most Americans have some level of this in their bodies, and that there is research to show that it damages immune systems in other animals.
Hell, America even had a teflon (tm) president.
They may actually be *counting* on a flood of user-created material raising the profile and perceived value of their console. Think about it - for basically no investment on the part of Sony, the PS3 will have a whole library of user-created applications and games. These applications will help make the PS3 more attractive and encourage people to select the PS3 over the competing gaming systems
:Fix it yourself, luser!" posts. Sony's actions could, depending on how they do this, hurt Linux if stuff won't run like it does on Windows or OSX.
While that is a nice idea, where is the flood of games for the existing Linux base? There are some, but it's not Linux is a viable gaming option; porting it to the PS3 isn't going to change that. A more likely scenario is that existing games require a recomplie or modification to run on the PS3, which means a lot of "It doesn't work!!!" and
That doesn't mean Sony doesn't have some grand plan, but I doubt 3rd party Linux aps are a short term goal or the reason for putting Linux on the HD.
And with the level of effort it takes to develop a commercially viable game for these systems, it's unlikely you'll see any direct competition from indie games causing Sony to sweat.
Which is why I thinl PS3 Linux is not going to make much of a splash.
What I found interesting was the move to manufacturering the more expensive components in China - that is the next place to look for cost reductions. It'll take a while, but it will happen - leaving Tiawan to do higher end engineering and component fab, with the commodity stuff outsourced (much like we do today).
China's also developing the engineering talent to do the design work - Siemen's already does cell phone work their; China certainly has the talent to develop into a major player. Of course, political challenges - how do you keep such diverse country in one piece if you lessen the central control.
If I were India, I'd be worrying about the Chinese developing enough English speakers to capture the call center business.
With Vongae's move to as wi-fi VOIP phone, plus airlines move to wi-fi on board, the cell phone debate may be overcome by events.
Personally, I like the VIOP solution because:
The airline can control availabilty with th ethrow of a switch; and
Most people won't use it so we'll have fewer idiots on the phone for an entire flight.
As someone who flies alot, cellphones in flight are a bad idea - it's bad enougfh when the idiot next to you insists on making conversation even when you are buried in a book and have noise reduction headphones on; add cellphones to that mix and you'll see air rage come back in vogue. (or cell phone jammers will become a hot item).
If you are or plan to attend school there, find out what the tuition practices are - some schools significantly cut tuition costs, which will more than compensate for the lower salary (especially since, if I recall correctly, the tuition break is tax free). Also ask about the ability to get in there - when I was looking at a Uni job, they basically said "we can't guarantee it, but we do know a lot of people in the school"
A lower salary, counterbalanced by tuition and other benefits, may be reasonable trade off. Just make sure you will get the benefits before you take the job.
If you look beyond the superficial you may find something worthwhile - nothing new here.
/, never mind...
Women are attracted to successful men - big surprise.
About the only thing they left out was that it's easier to meet a women when you're already in a relationship.
What I do find ironic is how it was all about geek men and hot women - not the reverse. While they are busy praising hot women who look beyond the guy's appearance and the joy they've found; there's nothing about Tom Cruise and a fat chick.
Geeks everywhere will take heart the they Have a chance (tm); completely missing that what they are doing (ranking looks high on the desirable list) is what they are bemoaning. Sure, it mentions that geeks don't want airheads (of course, the amount of airhead that is acceptable is in direct proportion to the hotness factor for most guys); but I bet you won't find many who would turn down an airheaded model for a smart, but much less physically attractive, women.
Women, as a group, are surprisningly rational when it comes to long term choices - and looks is only a small part of that equation.
Next time you're with some friends and see a hot chick with an average guy - watch the reaction - the guys wonder what she sees in him, the girls wonder what he has that attracted her. Oh wait, this is
Well, even if they fix the flaw, moat standardized tests give you series of multiple choice answers so you can color in a dot and a machine can grade it. so, rather than actually do the math, all you have to do is check all the choices and pick the right one - in fat, they may be faster than actually doing the math; that's why some GMAT prep books recommend it (at least they did with the old paper tests). The answers were even in numerical order, so yo did the middle choice, then went up or down depending on the result (like a half interval search). The problem is not in the calculator, it's in the test format.
One problem with calculators is that students believe the results and never bother to see if they make sense. I graded papers for an engineering class, I was amazed how many students thought because you get 8 digits in the calculator that the result is that precise; or would get impossible answers (because of a math error) and write them down. They never developed a sense about the calculation, couldn't estimate to check results and relied on the calculator for the answer. You see this in the inability to give change if you add a coin to the payment amount after they've rung it up; or when they try to give you your twenty back along with 17 dollars because they entered 50 instead of twenty for cash tendered.
Why the need for a new federal law? This is already adequately handled by state tort laws. Looks like the federal government just wants to get its hands in the pie.
Anyway, fortunately this law only applies to credit reports.
Because if the federal law supersedes the state law, companies could avoid state lawsuits altogether.
If this law really put a hurt on companies, they'd be screaming and it would quietly die in committee.
Ok, should've rechecked my math - it should be 14 or so mac users to get an 18% purchase rate (14 *1.3) = 18.2, which yields an installed base of 14/ (14+82) = 15%, still close to 16% overall
[...] According to US News and World Report, Macintosh owners buy 30% more software than their Windows counterparts. Further, Macintosh software comprises over 18% of all software sold, according to the Software and Information Industry Association. In addition, the Software Publishers Association (SPA) estimates that 16 percent of computer users are on Macs.
Well, if you take SIPA's numbers as correct, then for every 100 units of software sold, 18 would be Mac titles and 82 Windows titles. Now, assuming a purchase ratio of 1.3:1 for Mac:Windows, that would mean that if all 82 were purchased by separate uses, there would be 16 Mac users purchasing software. They yields an installed base of nearly 16% (16/98).
The problem with this methodology (that I see without looking at the underlying data) is:
1. You assume all Mac and Windows users buy software so that you have a complete sample
2. It treats all software as equal, yet I'd think the availability of hot titles such as games would skew the results to the PC, making it look like there are more users and raising the titles per machine purchase percentage for the Mac, which lowers the overall installed base number
3. Some software is dual version (although very little is today - as someone who used a Mac and PC side by side for years I wish more software shipped with both versions in the box, and either licensed you to use both or charged a small fee to use both)
4. It ignores other OS such as Linux, BSD, etc. - which, even if their users only use free software, still are part of the installed base.
5. It doesn't define software - is a web server a software package? If so, how do you account for those running Apache on Linux - if you count commercial packages running on Tiger or Windows than Linux based boxes should be in your count as well.
6. How is the data collected - to get the ratio of Mac titles purchased per user vs PC titles per user you need to collect registration data in some central database so you can compare purchasing patterns - even if you do this, is the percentage of users who return registration cards representative of the population as a whole?
I'm not taking sides on whether the figures are correct, just that until the methodology used to collect them is known, you can't say one way or the other. Journalists love to use statistics since they add a certain gravitas to an article (isn't it strange that the word we use to sound intelligent and serious is also the root for pregnant in some Romance languages?), but often aren't trained to understand basic statistics, so unless a number either seems really out of whack, or disagrees with a POV they want to espouse, they'll run with it without question.
Sorry for the rant, but the one thing I learned from my econ and stat professors is that you need to look at the data before you draw conclusions. There are, after all "Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics."
While I'm sure Jay found it funny that a ancient (by electronics)technology beat out the latest gadgets, that's not the real advantage of MC. A fast typist with a big keyboard might beat a fist, but MC's advantage is that it can get through when a cell phone wouldn't even get a dial tone.
Big EM pulse, no problem, just crank up transmitter power? Want to do it without emitting radio waves? Flashing light. Need to send it to someone underwater? Vary the shaft rotatations.
That's what radiomen on submarines (FBM) needed to learn code - if all else fails, MC would get through.