my point wasn't so much a point as it was a philosophical question to say that even if you're someone who thinks civilized countries should make it a point to feed everyone in the world that needs feeding, this laptop project might be a real step in that direction anyway- so if you're arguing to feed people first, this laptop project might make more working citizens (of any country) that might in turn (out of gratefulness or just intelligence) work on feeding those with truly nothing. There's a time lag involved, but ultimately, perhaps the laptop project is a greater good than feeding the poor directly?
even so- rather than spend $X on this laptop project, why not take that same money and put it to countries that -don't- have the basics like food then? $208 per kid should cover a lot of food.
So the question is, what's more imporant- kids that barely have food get laptops (which is admittedly quite valuable for education purposes), or kids that have nothing get food.
Conceivably, the generation that get the laptops can then move on to feeding some of the ones that didn't get laptops, but meanwhile those people starve. So, do we enable more people to help others, at the cost of those starving today- or do we feed those starving today and then worry about educating them all once the basics are covered?
in addition to the other reply- masters aren't burned on CD-R's or even gold for that matter- pressed CD's aren't burned either. 'Gold' masters are actually made of glass- which are indeed burned with a laser and the glass master is then pressed onto the CD as a die. In any case, the term 'gold master' may have come from the fact that recording studios sometimes gold plated the masters for preservation- or it could just mean it was ready to go, eg 'golden', 'we're golden', etc from slang.
Does this black metal have any special properties aside from being black? The article mainly talks about other ways of making it black not being as good- is that all this really does?
Surely, for the good of humanity, everyone -should- reveal their greatest creations and it would be greedy not to.. but it is the way the world works. Patents are a fair compromise as you point out- but I don't see any huge problem with duplication of research. If I independently come up with the same formula you did (even perhaps without awareness of the existence of you at all), patent and copyright law say I can't use it, since there's no real way to prove I didn't steal it. But say we did abolish patents, or at least software patents, if I independently come up with it- or perhaps a double-blind rewrite, I'm free to use it, or give it to the world. I'm losing sight of my point here, but I just don't see a problem with duplication of work- there's no law guaranteeing me that I don't have to do some work you've already done to get to the same end.
I think the better question is this: does a program make the machine? Computers are nothing without software- even if we're talking about the bit-switches on the front of an altair. The problem I see is that computers are multi-purpose, and people have a hard time considering a bunch of 0's and 1's to be tangible- but if we had to make a new model of dell's for every new program, I don't think we'd be having the same argument.
Problem is- someone smart can take an executable and turn it back into a level of code- even if horribly illegible assembly generated by a compiler. Someone could, in theory and in practice, find your algorithm for something just with the binary.
Similarly, someone could take a coke and run mass spectrum analysis or whatever they do anymore and find out what the ingredients are and in what quantities.
It seems reasonable to assume that people (Pepsi Co.?, Sams Club, etc) have figured out how to make coke, but can't due to copyright and/or patent law- and the fact that they want it to be different on purpose.
Off the top of my head, I couldn't think of another way to say remote file inclusion any better- so I at least grant that they seem to have a valid overlapping use for the acronym.
the article says she invented COBAL- thinking maybe there was something I didn't know, I googled around and found several other articles that say COBAL in one sentence and then COBOL in the next. Are all those articles typos, or is there a COBAL?
What I don't get- why use flaccid to describe the sales in the first place though? Usually, you can substitute opposites in, but regardless, when did flaccid become a socially acceptable way to describe something without the gross insinuation?
Microsoft is 'flaccid' in some respects, but many of their departments are quite strong and I don't think that it can properly categorize MS as a whole.
I've actually eaten dinner at a place on Golden Rain road (Rossmoor Retirement Community in/near Walnut Creek, CA)- no joke (http://www.rossmoor.com/our_location/frameourloca tion.html - though not at that specific address)
You missed my post about a UPS for internet to keep the phones working....
but your post was exactly my point in the first place- if power goes out for BPL customers, so does internet- even if you do have a UPS- so if you're relying on VOIP over BPL, you're really SOL. At least with cable internet, you have a chance at things still working.. but even then, nothing beats an analog phone line.
The original poster I replied to suggested that BPL would fix everything and because of its reliability, would be a great way to have rock solid internet, voip, etc.
As stable as power is in some areas, it can't hold a candle to analog telephone- and another original point of mine was that regardless of AC stability- the internet portion relies on a separate set of variables that intersect partially with the powerline stability. BPL requires repeaters at transformers, etc etc- which, probably will lose power in a power outage too, just like the head-end for your cable internet (though ours seems to keep on trucking in power outages- perhaps its on a different grid?).. Anyway, bottom line, BPL won't provide a stable enough infrastructure to ditch analog telephone, especially considering that power lines are shut off routinely for rolling blackouts, maintenance, accidents, etc.
When Fiber comes to my house and has all of the regulations of analog telephone- and my voip provider has an asterisk server at the other end of that line with hard lines directly connected to that, I'll think about getting rid of my cell phone and relying completely on VOIP.
doh- left off half my response with the back button for some reason..
I (as I hope others do) have a UPS on my router/cable modem so that hopefully my internet still works for phone when the power goes out. I do have a cell phone, but if I can use the IP phone, I do and it dials my local 911.
Forgot one important one myself- power goes out due to weather in a lot of places:
tornadoes, ice storms, snow, wind, etc
telephone lines, while on the same poles, stay up in much more diverse conditions and isn't a safety hazard so it isn't ever shut down to protect crews or people.
just because the lines themselves are fairly robust, you're forgetting many things
1) rolling blackouts in places like california- there's no guarantee that people's internet would stay connected 2) traffic accidents involving power poles- it's much more common than you'd think and they're happy to shut down a wider area to ensure the safety of the emergency and repair crews. 3) even if the connection physically stays up (1 & 2) - BPL uses frequencies that happen travel a very long distance which a) interferes with other communications and b) allows other communications to interfere. Your internet could be slowed down or disrupted by someone a world away (unlikely, but possible) 4) with any transmitted service, there's the potential for blowing out the transmitter - lightning, powerline shorts, whatever 5) the only way to get through the transformers is to put repeaters on either side of the transformer- that's a lot of possible points of failure and the infrastructure for that is not already there.
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my point wasn't so much a point as it was a philosophical question to say that even if you're someone who thinks civilized countries should make it a point to feed everyone in the world that needs feeding, this laptop project might be a real step in that direction anyway- so if you're arguing to feed people first, this laptop project might make more working citizens (of any country) that might in turn (out of gratefulness or just intelligence) work on feeding those with truly nothing. There's a time lag involved, but ultimately, perhaps the laptop project is a greater good than feeding the poor directly?
even so- rather than spend $X on this laptop project, why not take that same money and put it to countries that -don't- have the basics like food then? $208 per kid should cover a lot of food.
So the question is, what's more imporant- kids that barely have food get laptops (which is admittedly quite valuable for education purposes), or kids that have nothing get food.
Conceivably, the generation that get the laptops can then move on to feeding some of the ones that didn't get laptops, but meanwhile those people starve. So, do we enable more people to help others, at the cost of those starving today- or do we feed those starving today and then worry about educating them all once the basics are covered?
in addition to the other reply- masters aren't burned on CD-R's or even gold for that matter- pressed CD's aren't burned either. 'Gold' masters are actually made of glass- which are indeed burned with a laser and the glass master is then pressed onto the CD as a die. In any case, the term 'gold master' may have come from the fact that recording studios sometimes gold plated the masters for preservation- or it could just mean it was ready to go, eg 'golden', 'we're golden', etc from slang.
Does this black metal have any special properties aside from being black? The article mainly talks about other ways of making it black not being as good- is that all this really does?
Surely, for the good of humanity, everyone -should- reveal their greatest creations and it would be greedy not to.. but it is the way the world works. Patents are a fair compromise as you point out- but I don't see any huge problem with duplication of research. If I independently come up with the same formula you did (even perhaps without awareness of the existence of you at all), patent and copyright law say I can't use it, since there's no real way to prove I didn't steal it. But say we did abolish patents, or at least software patents, if I independently come up with it- or perhaps a double-blind rewrite, I'm free to use it, or give it to the world. I'm losing sight of my point here, but I just don't see a problem with duplication of work- there's no law guaranteeing me that I don't have to do some work you've already done to get to the same end.
I think the better question is this: does a program make the machine? Computers are nothing without software- even if we're talking about the bit-switches on the front of an altair. The problem I see is that computers are multi-purpose, and people have a hard time considering a bunch of 0's and 1's to be tangible- but if we had to make a new model of dell's for every new program, I don't think we'd be having the same argument.
Problem is- someone smart can take an executable and turn it back into a level of code- even if horribly illegible assembly generated by a compiler. Someone could, in theory and in practice, find your algorithm for something just with the binary.
Similarly, someone could take a coke and run mass spectrum analysis or whatever they do anymore and find out what the ingredients are and in what quantities.
It seems reasonable to assume that people (Pepsi Co.?, Sams Club, etc) have figured out how to make coke, but can't due to copyright and/or patent law- and the fact that they want it to be different on purpose.
Off the top of my head, I couldn't think of another way to say remote file inclusion any better- so I at least grant that they seem to have a valid overlapping use for the acronym.
I always think of Radio Frequency Interference, but oh well. As defined above, Remote File Inclusion.
even if I'm not tired, my eyes sometimes are- does this medicine help that?
funny, they seem to have corrected the article already- presumably after my comment on their site.
though the graphic by #8 does say plutonium.. missed that.
Summary says plutonium, story says polonium, though not specifically in relation to being carried in her pockets.
... "Curie used to walk around with her pockets stuffed full of test tubes containing radioactive isotopes."
Article:
the article says she invented COBAL- thinking maybe there was something I didn't know, I googled around and found several other articles that say COBAL in one sentence and then COBOL in the next. Are all those articles typos, or is there a COBAL?
my bad- that turned up on google images search for "giant microwave" but nowhere does it actually say microwave?
http://www.amcottbakeoff.co.uk/services.htm
100GB is very common on very recent laptops, but up to 160gb is available.
What I don't get- why use flaccid to describe the sales in the first place though? Usually, you can substitute opposites in, but regardless, when did flaccid become a socially acceptable way to describe something without the gross insinuation?
Microsoft is 'flaccid' in some respects, but many of their departments are quite strong and I don't think that it can properly categorize MS as a whole.
I've actually eaten dinner at a place on Golden Rain road (Rossmoor Retirement Community in/near Walnut Creek, CA)- no joke (http://www.rossmoor.com/our_location/frameourloca tion.html - though not at that specific address)
You missed my post about a UPS for internet to keep the phones working....
but your post was exactly my point in the first place- if power goes out for BPL customers, so does internet- even if you do have a UPS- so if you're relying on VOIP over BPL, you're really SOL. At least with cable internet, you have a chance at things still working.. but even then, nothing beats an analog phone line.
The original poster I replied to suggested that BPL would fix everything and because of its reliability, would be a great way to have rock solid internet, voip, etc.
As stable as power is in some areas, it can't hold a candle to analog telephone- and another original point of mine was that regardless of AC stability- the internet portion relies on a separate set of variables that intersect partially with the powerline stability. BPL requires repeaters at transformers, etc etc- which, probably will lose power in a power outage too, just like the head-end for your cable internet (though ours seems to keep on trucking in power outages- perhaps its on a different grid?).. Anyway, bottom line, BPL won't provide a stable enough infrastructure to ditch analog telephone, especially considering that power lines are shut off routinely for rolling blackouts, maintenance, accidents, etc.
When Fiber comes to my house and has all of the regulations of analog telephone- and my voip provider has an asterisk server at the other end of that line with hard lines directly connected to that, I'll think about getting rid of my cell phone and relying completely on VOIP.
doh- left off half my response with the back button for some reason..
I (as I hope others do) have a UPS on my router/cable modem so that hopefully my internet still works for phone when the power goes out. I do have a cell phone, but if I can use the IP phone, I do and it dials my local 911.
I mostly meant for using VOIP- which is a critical point if you want to dial 911 when the power goes out.
Forgot one important one myself- power goes out due to weather in a lot of places:
tornadoes, ice storms, snow, wind, etc
telephone lines, while on the same poles, stay up in much more diverse conditions and isn't a safety hazard so it isn't ever shut down to protect crews or people.
just because the lines themselves are fairly robust, you're forgetting many things
1) rolling blackouts in places like california- there's no guarantee that people's internet would stay connected
2) traffic accidents involving power poles- it's much more common than you'd think and they're happy to shut down a wider area to ensure the safety of the emergency and repair crews.
3) even if the connection physically stays up (1 & 2) - BPL uses frequencies that happen travel a very long distance which a) interferes with other communications and b) allows other communications to interfere. Your internet could be slowed down or disrupted by someone a world away (unlikely, but possible)
4) with any transmitted service, there's the potential for blowing out the transmitter - lightning, powerline shorts, whatever
5) the only way to get through the transformers is to put repeaters on either side of the transformer- that's a lot of possible points of failure and the infrastructure for that is not already there.
there's more, but I think I've listed enough.
There's also Crossover Office for Linux done by Codeweavers I think. It's basically Office under Wine, but tested and supported.
Is it? Hm- would work for a non-deaf person probably. Or- potentally could rack up the body count?
"Did the robot miss? Hm. Maybe I can get by..."