Quick, some math and/or physics major tell me why stopwatch-ing some number of spins and averaging the center 50% mean wouldn't give you these values.
For example, if you found these values for one rotation:
2.4s 2.8s 2.4s 2.2s 2.0s 1.9s 2.6s 2.3s
...you might order them:
1.9s 2.0s 2.2s 2.3s 2.4s 2.4s 2.6s 2.8s Drop the two extremes (I know I said 50%, sue me):
2.0s 2.2s 2.3s 2.4s 2.4s 2.6s
Then average them to arrive at 2.65s.
Wouldn't this eliminate the need to know the mass of the ball and the friction of the track?
Couldn't you then just covertly cross reference the thrown speeds with the actual winning quadrant (1/2, 1/4, whatever) to get yourself a prediction matrix?
I'm not trying to pretend that these are viable methods, I'm just thinking of them as they come into my head and thinking that there must be something wrong with 'em.
LostCluster writes: "Randomness is really sometimes just a proxy for "too complex to be understood". Afterall, in any form of mixing bin, all of the balls inside do have to obey the laws of physics. If you knew the starting positions and details about all of the activities that are going on in the bin, you could possibly solve for which ball is going to be the one selected."
This concept is one I used to share but it was, unfortunately, utterly shattered by Heisenberg.
You know, I've often wondered why they were so expensive. =)
You mean to say you simply strap the filter to the fan so that the exhaust from the fan goes into the filter or do you put the filter before the intake?
Thanks for the info. If you have pictures, that would rule.
When you go through your day, constantly ask yourself "what is this doing for me?" Weight the ups and downs. Television, for example. The ups? Well...you can entertain yourself. The downs? Don't even get me started.
Then evaluate other things you might be doing in terms of how this will get you closer to the things that matter to you. Mine might be working on my business or listening to some audio tapes/spoken word, but what is right for me is not necessarily right for you.
If you start weighting activities like they've got a price sticker attached to them -- which they do, really -- then you can start "comparison shopping." And then you can use your head to it's best potential. I think the "what" will flow naturally at that point. If learning Chemistry is important to you, then make the time and learn it.
I know this isn't quite what you're asking. I hate it when people answer my "How do you do A?" with "Why don't you do B?" just as much as the next guy, trust me. I just think you might be approaching it from "what?" when it might behove you to simply free up the "when?" and "how?" and then "what?" will become obvious to you. Because you're the only person who can answer that.
Some of you may have heard that CBS refused to air the winning MoveOn.org's "Bush in 30 Seconds" ad. Just prior to the Superbowl, MoveOn.org asked their subscribers/readers to boycott CBS by switching from CBS during the commercials to CNN, who were airing their 30-second spot.
Presumably, Tivo knows precisely how many people actually went through with it.
I work for a rather large midway and we just got in "Flaming Finger" this week.
It's cute -- you have to trace your finger over a maze whose walls are deliniated by leds (yes, real leds) before time runs out. Unfortunately, as the sticker on the machine indicates, the time you have decreases more rapidly as you approach the finish. I've tried it 4x myself, can't beat it. Not even one level. I've never seen anyone else beat it. I only know of one person who says they've seen one person beat it.
Personally, I think it's an interesting idea but the skewed time countdown puts a nail in it.
On the other hand, we got a standup console of Space Invaders. Which completely blew my mind because I'm 31 and I remember when those were new, large and in-charge. Now it's downright embarrasingly dated and grows old after a few screens but man did it kick ass then...
I received eleven replies to my post. Two of those were intelligent. One of those actually seemed to grasp that I was presenting, uncritically, SCO's version and nothing more.
So thanks. =)
But I agree with you 100%. I think that SCO is utterly full of sh*t and acting in obvious bad faith, as you mentioned.
But I clearly stated that I was presenting SCO's version of the facts, not my personal assessment of the facts. So to be faulted for being wrong -- yet not for mis-stating SCO's position -- seems kind of foolish...don't you think?
I'm not replying to you again on this subject. If this hasn't gotten through to you, more typing isn't going to help.
iamwahoo2 writes: "The guy was an employee of Caldera!!!"
Hm. While I can't claim you're wrong, because this is semi-new information to me, I'm still not entirely convinced.
AFAIK, SCO claims that they purchased proprietary code from...hell, I can't remember. They then claim that parts of this code were released into Linux without their knowledge.
Just bear with me for a moment on that one, we can come back to it.
SCO then claims they distributed Linux (under the Caldera name) without knowing that their purchased, proprietary code was included in the codebase.
What you're telling me, if I understand you correctly, is that the offending code (do we even know what code this is yet?) was taken by an employee of the company that owned the proprietary code, put into Linux, and that this was done with the full knowledge and consent of the company that owned the proprietary software?
An Anonymous Coward (aren't they all?) writes: "You have issues. Lay of the anger, it's going to kill you."
First, don't confuse annoyance with anger. If you think Slashdot is something worth getting angry about...
Second, you don't know me. If you think that you do by reading one of my posts on Slashdot, you're either a fool or trying to get a reaction. Who is more in need of help -- someone who gets annoyed by stupidity or someone who gets their kicks trying to goad people into flamefests on a geek/tech site?
One Louder writes: "It's closer to a store clerk inadvertantly putting cookies in boxes, and passing out the boxes for free, then accusing the recipients of stealing the cookies."
What I find amazing about Slashdotters is their willingness to make a situation something it isn't, even if the situation that is is plenty enough to make their case.
I am presenting to you what SCO claims. Do you think that's a concept you can get your head around? Because if you can, you can probably stop trying to drag the veracity issue into it if you try really really hard. It's outside the scope of my post.
And they CLAIM that the code was included without their knowledge. This is analagous to the cookies being placed into the boxes without the knowledge of the clerk.
Do you see how your analogy, if we discard the truthfulness of the claim, doesn't seem to fucking work since they are claiming a lack of knowledge of the code being put in there in the first place? Do you see how your revision with the clerk knowingly putting the cookies into the containers...seems to break down just a little?
Get it? One has knowledge? The other one doesn't? Get it?
I'm asking a couple of times because it was obvious in the first post but you seemed to miss it in your rage to flame SCO by proxy.
Now, see if you can stay with me on this one...
I AM NOT SAYING THEIR POSITION IS HONEST.
If the above sentence doesn't make sense, please keep reading it until it does.
t_allardyce writes: Actually is more like the sales clerk stuffing the cookies in there themselves when the shopper isnt looking and then shouting "thief"
Wrong.
I was very clear that I was not attempting to make a statement about the truthfulness of SCO's claim but merely what it was, precisely, that they claimed.
What they are claiming is that whoever included certain bits of code into Linux did so without their knowledge and therefore even if they did distribute their own code under the GPL, they did so without knowing they were doing so. Since they were not aware -- again, so goes their logic -- then they cannot have agreed to including their proprietary software into the code base.
Your analogy is therefore incorrect and clearly so.
If you want to argue the merits of their argument, go nuts, but I'm not arguing that point.
SCO claims that if they distributed Linux with their own proprietary code included inadvertently and without their knowledge, then they are not culpable for that inclusion because they never agreed to the license.
I guess a simple analogy would be someone buying a container in a grocery store but before getting to the checkout, stuffs in a box of cookies. If the clerk sells the person that box without knowing there were cookies inside, then it is still theft. If the clerk then happens to notice the box post-sale and says, "Hey, I didn't sell you those cookies!" then the thief cannot rightfully say that they were sold to him.
I should add in BIG CAPITAL LETTERS that I do not necessarily buy SCO's argument as being legitimate, but only that the theory the claim rests upon seems rational.
Game graphics are asymptotically approaching photo-realism.
Is it slowing? Yeah, because as you get closer to this holy grail, you spend more and more time/years getting less and less return for the effort. But are all the nails in this coffin? No, not even close. What we have now looks good but isn't going to convince anyone they're looking at footage.
Close. I only had to stab myself with a needle for about a week or two. After that it was tablets.
From what I was told, Fragmin has a sort of opposite effect when it begins. When you first start taking it, it actually makes your blood thicker. If you keep taking it, it makes your blood thinner. Then, once you get it in a zone, you continue with the warfarin and drop the Fragmin. The Fragmin is just there to get the viscosity where you need it asap and the warfarin is to wear down the clot. If that clot migrates to your lungs,...not good. Really not good. Like...Might Die kind of not good.
But it was quite unpleasant. Though I was a caffeine junkie at the time. I had a coffee every 2 hours, and I was also lifting. I'm not sure what factors can mitigate this. I think the key is to just make sure that your legs are never pinched in any place.
I was working in a NOCC about two years back when I got a blood clot too. It was pretty !@#$ing painful, I thought I'd gotten a hairline fracture in my pelvis -- I was just walking down the street when bam!
This resulted in a few days in the hospital (IIRC, the bill came out to something like $5k just for 2-3 days). After that, I was on fragmin which is injectable, and you do that yourself. In my case I found a spot around my bellbutton, pinch that area, then throw the needle in. Sounds terrible, wasn't that bad once you got the hang of stabbing yourself with a needle. Then six months of warfarin, a blood thinner. This is the prime ingredient in rat poison, I should mention, because it causes rats to just start bleeding to death.
All in all it was an entirely unpleasant experience. You also have to return to some location every two weeks for them to take blood to make sure your warfarin dose does not need tweaking.
I'm convinced that it was linked to my job at the NOCC but it wasn't until about a year later that I actually saw links coming out in the medical journals between sitting for long periods and DVT. Previously it was thought to occur mainly in long-distance flights. Also known as Second Class Syndrome (or something. =)
It seems to me that if DVT is caused by sitting, cramped, for long durations, where you're sitting and where you're going really don't factor in. The connection between sitting for long periods and getting DVT seems to be pretty clear.
Besides, it wouldn't suck to have OSHA mandate really awesome chairs for all of us, right? =D
This thread has a stunningly high number of assholes replying. I don't know why. But here goes...
Good points...all except you berating the mere question. The poster is doing nothing more than saying "hey, here is an avenue that doesn't seem to be getting a lot of consideration." Why are you riding him?
Yeah, it's difficult and probably way more difficult than anyone who hasn't already done it realizes. But there are a lot of benefits too.
Further, banks and investors aren't the only way to go. Find a half-dozen guys who are willing to refinance their mortgages (or get one on the condo they picked up during the boom) and there is some modest capital to keep you going for a year. Three to five if you really like ramen.
Now stop being a fucking dick and shooting down a perfectly good question because you're enjoying the company of whatever half-ass job you subscribed to.
You're missing the point. Actually, I don't think you're missing the point, you're being an ass. But to answer anyway...
Taking an extra $300/mo in cash that he didn't already have for three days of coding and a trivial amount of work on eBay is an excellent return on investment. Lessee:
After 1 year: $3,650 After 2 years: $7,300 After 5 years: $18,250 After 10 years: $36,500
That's $12k for each day he worked. Pretty good in any man's math.
I live in Rhode Island. We've been seeing all the way down to -35 degree temps for the last month. And I'm a lifer cyclist and have been since 1994. But now I'm blathering. Anyway...
It takes me about 5 minutes to get to and from where I work so I get about one song in each way. So it takes a few days to get in a whole album. This week the choice has been OK Computer. Goes great with the absolutely insane temperature. And just tonight, on the way home, I was thinking that it was gonna suck when I got to Fitter, Happier because it's such a soul-sucking song. It literally makes my stomach a little ill.
On the other hand, I'd love to have something like this to work with (Reason 2 is my weapon of choice these days). But I listened to the samples and while it may arguably be a step in the right direction, I think it sounds like shit and not even close to what I'd need for it to be before I'd use it.
Oh. And don't forget Information Society's Make It Funky.
proj_2501 writes: "he doesn't own 20th century fox, though, and they can decide that it's not worth their cash to distribute his movies anymore.
(a) Even if this happens, he hasn't "lost the franchise" as the original poster wrote and; (b) Right, Lucas couldn't find someone else to distribute Star Wars.
Slashdot Mirror
For example, if you found these values for one rotation:
2.4s
2.8s
2.4s
2.2s
2.0s
1.9s
2.6s
2.3s
1.9s
2.0s
2.2s
2.3s
2.4s
2.4s
2.6s
2.8s
Drop the two extremes (I know I said 50%, sue me):
2.0s
2.2s
2.3s
2.4s
2.4s
2.6s
Then average them to arrive at 2.65s.
Wouldn't this eliminate the need to know the mass of the ball and the friction of the track?
Couldn't you then just covertly cross reference the thrown speeds with the actual winning quadrant (1/2, 1/4, whatever) to get yourself a prediction matrix?
I'm not trying to pretend that these are viable methods, I'm just thinking of them as they come into my head and thinking that there must be something wrong with 'em.
Thanks in advance for the replies.
LostCluster writes:
"Randomness is really sometimes just a proxy for "too complex to be understood". Afterall, in any form of mixing bin, all of the balls inside do have to obey the laws of physics. If you knew the starting positions and details about all of the activities that are going on in the bin, you could possibly solve for which ball is going to be the one selected."
This concept is one I used to share but it was, unfortunately, utterly shattered by Heisenberg.
You know, I've often wondered why they were so expensive. =)
You mean to say you simply strap the filter to the fan so that the exhaust from the fan goes into the filter or do you put the filter before the intake?
Thanks for the info. If you have pictures, that would rule.
When you go through your day, constantly ask yourself "what is this doing for me?" Weight the ups and downs. Television, for example. The ups? Well ...you can entertain yourself. The downs? Don't even get me started.
Then evaluate other things you might be doing in terms of how this will get you closer to the things that matter to you. Mine might be working on my business or listening to some audio tapes/spoken word, but what is right for me is not necessarily right for you.
If you start weighting activities like they've got a price sticker attached to them -- which they do, really -- then you can start "comparison shopping." And then you can use your head to it's best potential. I think the "what" will flow naturally at that point. If learning Chemistry is important to you, then make the time and learn it.
I know this isn't quite what you're asking. I hate it when people answer my "How do you do A?" with "Why don't you do B?" just as much as the next guy, trust me. I just think you might be approaching it from "what?" when it might behove you to simply free up the "when?" and "how?" and then "what?" will become obvious to you. Because you're the only person who can answer that.
The original poster wrote:
"All I want to know is when I can throw garbage in the gas tank of a DeLorean to fuel it."
Shimmer replied:
"Beautiful. Only on Slashdot could a comment about Back to the Future in a discussion about fusion be labeled "informative"."
Either you're being literal and feel that it's been mislabeled or you don't get the joke.
If you're being literal, you're wrong. The voting on the post you reference is 70% Funny, 30% Overrated. Nobody labeled it "Informative" at all.
If you're simply missing the joke, well, then you're missing the joke.
My guess is the former.
Some of you may have heard that CBS refused to air the winning MoveOn.org's " Bush in 30 Seconds " ad. Just prior to the Superbowl, MoveOn.org asked their subscribers/readers to boycott CBS by switching from CBS during the commercials to CNN, who were airing their 30-second spot.
Presumably, Tivo knows precisely how many people actually went through with it.
I work for a rather large midway and we just got in "Flaming Finger" this week.
It's cute -- you have to trace your finger over a maze whose walls are deliniated by leds (yes, real leds) before time runs out. Unfortunately, as the sticker on the machine indicates, the time you have decreases more rapidly as you approach the finish. I've tried it 4x myself, can't beat it. Not even one level. I've never seen anyone else beat it. I only know of one person who says they've seen one person beat it.
Personally, I think it's an interesting idea but the skewed time countdown puts a nail in it.
On the other hand, we got a standup console of Space Invaders. Which completely blew my mind because I'm 31 and I remember when those were new, large and in-charge. Now it's downright embarrasingly dated and grows old after a few screens but man did it kick ass then...
I received eleven replies to my post. Two of those were intelligent. One of those actually seemed to grasp that I was presenting, uncritically, SCO's version and nothing more.
So thanks. =)
But I agree with you 100%. I think that SCO is utterly full of sh*t and acting in obvious bad faith, as you mentioned.
I have the ultimate "gaming" peripheral for ya...
I read the article.
...don't you think?
But I clearly stated that I was presenting SCO's version of the facts, not my personal assessment of the facts. So to be faulted for being wrong -- yet not for mis-stating SCO's position -- seems kind of foolish
I'm not replying to you again on this subject. If this hasn't gotten through to you, more typing isn't going to help.
Yay, the first intelligent reply!!
...hell, I can't remember. They then claim that parts of this code were released into Linux without their knowledge.
iamwahoo2 writes:
"The guy was an employee of Caldera!!!"
Hm. While I can't claim you're wrong, because this is semi-new information to me, I'm still not entirely convinced.
AFAIK, SCO claims that they purchased proprietary code from
Just bear with me for a moment on that one, we can come back to it.
SCO then claims they distributed Linux (under the Caldera name) without knowing that their purchased, proprietary code was included in the codebase.
What you're telling me, if I understand you correctly, is that the offending code (do we even know what code this is yet?) was taken by an employee of the company that owned the proprietary code, put into Linux, and that this was done with the full knowledge and consent of the company that owned the proprietary software?
An Anonymous Coward (aren't they all?) writes:
"You have issues. Lay of the anger, it's going to kill you."
First, don't confuse annoyance with anger. If you think Slashdot is something worth getting angry about...
Second, you don't know me. If you think that you do by reading one of my posts on Slashdot, you're either a fool or trying to get a reaction. Who is more in need of help -- someone who gets annoyed by stupidity or someone who gets their kicks trying to goad people into flamefests on a geek/tech site?
One Louder writes:
...seems to break down just a little?
"It's closer to a store clerk inadvertantly putting cookies in boxes, and passing out the boxes for free, then accusing the recipients of stealing the cookies."
What I find amazing about Slashdotters is their willingness to make a situation something it isn't, even if the situation that is is plenty enough to make their case.
I am presenting to you what SCO claims. Do you think that's a concept you can get your head around? Because if you can, you can probably stop trying to drag the veracity issue into it if you try really really hard. It's outside the scope of my post.
And they CLAIM that the code was included without their knowledge. This is analagous to the cookies being placed into the boxes without the knowledge of the clerk.
Do you see how your analogy, if we discard the truthfulness of the claim, doesn't seem to fucking work since they are claiming a lack of knowledge of the code being put in there in the first place? Do you see how your revision with the clerk knowingly putting the cookies into the containers
Get it? One has knowledge? The other one doesn't? Get it?
I'm asking a couple of times because it was obvious in the first post but you seemed to miss it in your rage to flame SCO by proxy.
Now, see if you can stay with me on this one...
I AM NOT SAYING THEIR POSITION IS HONEST.
If the above sentence doesn't make sense, please keep reading it until it does.
t_allardyce writes:
Actually is more like the sales clerk stuffing the cookies in there themselves when the shopper isnt looking and then shouting "thief"
Wrong.
I was very clear that I was not attempting to make a statement about the truthfulness of SCO's claim but merely what it was, precisely, that they claimed.
What they are claiming is that whoever included certain bits of code into Linux did so without their knowledge and therefore even if they did distribute their own code under the GPL, they did so without knowing they were doing so. Since they were not aware -- again, so goes their logic -- then they cannot have agreed to including their proprietary software into the code base.
Your analogy is therefore incorrect and clearly so.
If you want to argue the merits of their argument, go nuts, but I'm not arguing that point.
SCO claims that if they distributed Linux with their own proprietary code included inadvertently and without their knowledge, then they are not culpable for that inclusion because they never agreed to the license.
I guess a simple analogy would be someone buying a container in a grocery store but before getting to the checkout, stuffs in a box of cookies. If the clerk sells the person that box without knowing there were cookies inside, then it is still theft. If the clerk then happens to notice the box post-sale and says, "Hey, I didn't sell you those cookies!" then the thief cannot rightfully say that they were sold to him.
I should add in BIG CAPITAL LETTERS that I do not necessarily buy SCO's argument as being legitimate, but only that the theory the claim rests upon seems rational.
Game graphics are asymptotically approaching photo-realism.
Is it slowing? Yeah, because as you get closer to this holy grail, you spend more and more time/years getting less and less return for the effort. But are all the nails in this coffin? No, not even close. What we have now looks good but isn't going to convince anyone they're looking at footage.
Close. I only had to stab myself with a needle for about a week or two. After that it was tablets.
...not good. Really not good. Like ...Might Die kind of not good.
From what I was told, Fragmin has a sort of opposite effect when it begins. When you first start taking it, it actually makes your blood thicker. If you keep taking it, it makes your blood thinner. Then, once you get it in a zone, you continue with the warfarin and drop the Fragmin. The Fragmin is just there to get the viscosity where you need it asap and the warfarin is to wear down the clot. If that clot migrates to your lungs,
But it was quite unpleasant. Though I was a caffeine junkie at the time. I had a coffee every 2 hours, and I was also lifting. I'm not sure what factors can mitigate this. I think the key is to just make sure that your legs are never pinched in any place.
That'd be my advice, anyway.
I was working in a NOCC about two years back when I got a blood clot too. It was pretty !@#$ing painful, I thought I'd gotten a hairline fracture in my pelvis -- I was just walking down the street when bam!
This resulted in a few days in the hospital (IIRC, the bill came out to something like $5k just for 2-3 days). After that, I was on fragmin which is injectable, and you do that yourself. In my case I found a spot around my bellbutton, pinch that area, then throw the needle in. Sounds terrible, wasn't that bad once you got the hang of stabbing yourself with a needle. Then six months of warfarin, a blood thinner. This is the prime ingredient in rat poison, I should mention, because it causes rats to just start bleeding to death.
All in all it was an entirely unpleasant experience. You also have to return to some location every two weeks for them to take blood to make sure your warfarin dose does not need tweaking.
I'm convinced that it was linked to my job at the NOCC but it wasn't until about a year later that I actually saw links coming out in the medical journals between sitting for long periods and DVT. Previously it was thought to occur mainly in long-distance flights. Also known as Second Class Syndrome (or something. =)
It seems to me that if DVT is caused by sitting, cramped, for long durations, where you're sitting and where you're going really don't factor in. The connection between sitting for long periods and getting DVT seems to be pretty clear.
Besides, it wouldn't suck to have OSHA mandate really awesome chairs for all of us, right? =D
This thread has a stunningly high number of assholes replying. I don't know why. But here goes...
...all except you berating the mere question. The poster is doing nothing more than saying "hey, here is an avenue that doesn't seem to be getting a lot of consideration." Why are you riding him?
Good points
Yeah, it's difficult and probably way more difficult than anyone who hasn't already done it realizes. But there are a lot of benefits too.
Further, banks and investors aren't the only way to go. Find a half-dozen guys who are willing to refinance their mortgages (or get one on the condo they picked up during the boom) and there is some modest capital to keep you going for a year. Three to five if you really like ramen.
Now stop being a fucking dick and shooting down a perfectly good question because you're enjoying the company of whatever half-ass job you subscribed to.
You're missing the point. Actually, I don't think you're missing the point, you're being an ass. But to answer anyway...
Taking an extra $300/mo in cash that he didn't already have for three days of coding and a trivial amount of work on eBay is an excellent return on investment. Lessee:
After 1 year: $3,650
After 2 years: $7,300
After 5 years: $18,250
After 10 years: $36,500
That's $12k for each day he worked. Pretty good in any man's math.
So please stop being a dick.
It's funny you should have posted this.
I live in Rhode Island. We've been seeing all the way down to -35 degree temps for the last month. And I'm a lifer cyclist and have been since 1994. But now I'm blathering. Anyway...
It takes me about 5 minutes to get to and from where I work so I get about one song in each way. So it takes a few days to get in a whole album. This week the choice has been OK Computer. Goes great with the absolutely insane temperature. And just tonight, on the way home, I was thinking that it was gonna suck when I got to Fitter, Happier because it's such a soul-sucking song. It literally makes my stomach a little ill.
On the other hand, I'd love to have something like this to work with (Reason 2 is my weapon of choice these days). But I listened to the samples and while it may arguably be a step in the right direction, I think it sounds like shit and not even close to what I'd need for it to be before I'd use it.
Oh. And don't forget Information Society's Make It Funky.
Great post. Thanks.
proj_2501 writes:
"he doesn't own 20th century fox, though, and they can decide that it's not worth their cash to distribute his movies anymore.
(a) Even if this happens, he hasn't "lost the franchise" as the original poster wrote and;
(b) Right, Lucas couldn't find someone else to distribute Star Wars.
Bjork.
corebreech writes:
"In other words, if Episode III is the Star Wars equivalent of Star Trek: Nemesis, then he loses the franchise."
Unless something has happened in the last few years that I utterly missed, he owns the franchise. He ain't losing jack.
George W. Bush.
Sorry, I just couldn't resist. It's the winner of the animated category.