Considering that there are only 4 days until Christmas, and he will not likely work the weekend, and use some vacation time for the end of the year, I think he won't be back. Hell, I'm off all next week, and this being Thursday, my workplace is pretty much a ghost town.
Actually, I live in the Tampa Bay (FL) area. While I normally don't see it, come [FIRST] robotics build season, I usually will be in software development teleconferences at night, every few days. It is a real pain in the arse to be disconnected every 25 or so minutes during a 3 hour teleconference.
Any call over 25 minutes with my Cingular phone, and I get dropped. Almost like clockwork.
Plus, when I purchased a new phone earlier this year, I couldn't get a new one locally, or get one online, because I moved to another county (in the same state) with a different area code, and my zip code wasn't within their allowable area. I sure as hell wasn't going to drive 100 miles to get a new phone!
Funny, it was on CNN (televised) when I was walking in to work this morning. "This is the first major upgrade to the Windows operating system in 5 years" is what the anchor said, IIRC. Something also about a consumer release in January.
I don't know about other cities, but in my area, the 2 major newspapers publish a "Know your candidates" guide. This guide explains the platforms and stances on issues that the running candidiates have (but they only cover Dem and Rep candidates unfortunately), as well as experience, liabilities, a little bit about each candidate (Are they from the area? How long have they lived here? etc), and a summary of the ammendments that are on the table. Some of the info can be a bit lacking, as in the example of the retainment votes for judges (they don't discuss case decisions, how they stand on legal issues, etc). I use as many sources as is resonable.
They also have the requisite opinion pieces on who they'd recommend and why. I read those also to get a glance at how they rationalize their choice, and compare it to my rationale for my preliminary picks. Then I do researching on the candidates' websites (including the non-major candidate parties) to analyse further; from the horse's mouth, so to speak. I did all this in about 3 hours last night, and made my decisions.
Other communication satellites in the sky may be used also during the missions. That type of stuff is way beyond my expertise, so I'll just leave it at that.
I work with military navigation software, and that is sorta remotely applicable to this. Here's my thoughts:
You people with your "WTF NASA SUXORS THIS IS EASY FIX!!!11!!1!one!!" need to stop and think for a second. This is a space application that carries HUMAN BEINGS! Think about how hard it will be to get this "easy fix" qualified, proven, documented, etc. Its not an easy task. A formal qualification test on the systems I work on (military land- and air-, but not space-based navigation software) can take months, and require all sorts of tests and documentation. Anything that isn't formally tested (i.e. run in a van, on a plane, etc) must be shown to not fail in any way; all exceptions handled, no bad data can cause an undesireable state, etc. I would hate to see the type of scrutiny that the Shuttle software goes through (although I could probably call somebody in our Space division across the street and find out).
Second, I don't know exact specifics, but based on the information provided, I think this "glitch" will have to do with the data/time difference between ground stations and the Shuttle computers. Things like message time stamping between the Earth and the Shuttle, etc, will be wrong, and things could be garbled or just dropped all together. The navigation systems themselves should not be terribly impacted since the date will just roll to the next day. Inertial instrument samples will continue to flow in and be correctly time stamped, be it the 366th or 400th or 500th day.
That's barely ten lines of code no matter what language you want it in...
Do you even remember why the Y2K thing happened? People saved space back in the day by using a 2 digit year. Hell, in the 1970's, people were using a one digit year to save even more memory and storage space. The Space Shuttle uses very old technology for its computer systems (read: 1970's level technology), and doesn't have much memory. That extra 10 lines of code could make it oversized.
Additionally, making a change to space (or even military) software requires a shitload of paperwork and testing. Its a wild guess, but it would probably take almost a year to get that "ten lines of code" into the Shuttle and cost more money than its worth to just not have the birds up in space at an end-of-year scenario.
What movie I want to see? The last movie I saw in theaters was Clerks II on opening night. Before that, I can't even remember what movie it was. Mission: Impossible III maybe? Somewhere in there was Cars and that's it for recent.
The guy who got his ass kicked was most likely "e-thuggin" and pulled the famous last words: "Oh yeah? Well I live (insert address). What are you going to do about it? I dare you to try and kick my ass! I know (insert martial art)!"
Translated from "online speak" (u = you, "oh yeah" = "o rly", etc)
IMO, you don't need to reconcile the 2 functions. If the controller is rumbling, its for a reason, right? Your character has been hit by a gunshot, your car has gone offroad (think Gran Turismo 4), etc. So, your actions will supposedly be affected by the in-game action. Plus, when the controller is vibrating, you're holding it. Thus it dampens the vibration, reducing the sensed jitter.
Time for my Crappy Example(tm): You're driving in GT4, and put one wheel off the track. The controller rumbles a bit, and this causes the steering to jiggle slightly as you try and "steer" back on to the track. This mimics real life! How do I know? I enjoy shredding a perfectly good gravel road. The bumps and other road features (read: rocks) affect the steering.
Talking from the area I work in (I deal with ring laser gyro dither, vibration compensation, etc for inertial navigation) you can always crank up the noise parameters when the vibration is active, or just run a simple low-pass filter to get rid of the high frequency (compared to the actual game-related movements) signa related to the vibration.
File sharing has its legitimate uses. OK, that was kind of a stretch, but so do the VCR, DVR (i.e. Tivo), CD burners, etc. Doesn't stop the RIAA/MPAA from bitching about piracy and how these devices need to be banned or heavily restricted (broadcast flag, anyone?)
What's to stop another company from coming out with sharing via wifi without DRM? I already have the ability to share between two wired MP3 players with my current setup (unless they are iPods), so surely sharing via wifi without restriction can't be far off.
Do they benefit enough from having such a large number of patents that they would not put pressure on the system for change, or is everything building up to one big patent-lawsuit blowout with IBM/Sun/Every other major computer player (or does that work more like cold war style M.A.D.)?
Its more the latter (M.A.D.). See the SCO v IBM case for an example. SCO sued IBM for, among other things, violating some patents they may-or-may-not hold (as a result of the "asset transfer"). IBM then countersued SCO for, among other things, violating their patents on stuff.
Companies with huge patent portfolios (IBM, Microsoft, Intel, etc) will usually set up cross licensing deals in the settlement process from an infringement lawsuit that will allow them to use patents without fear of suit.
God damnit! They are quite literally right down the street from where I live. Now I'm hoping I get a call from these bastards. I'll pay their offices a little visit with a friendly law enforcement officer.
There are some people where I work that will use read receipts as an "I'm here" indicator, then drop by my box with some stupid joke, or a question (these are sometimes ok) or some sort of rambling story I don't care to hear. That's why I do enjoy using remote desktop from a lab computer to play with those particular people. Although now I'm going to do what a poster above said and send them the receipt about 10 times over 5 minutes.
As a side note to the above, if you walk in to my cube, and I'm wearing headphones and staring intently at some code or perhaps a Matlab screen with a bunch of math on it, don't bother me unless its important! Jeeze I need one of those "GO AWAY" doormats.
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Considering that there are only 4 days until Christmas, and he will not likely work the weekend, and use some vacation time for the end of the year, I think he won't be back. Hell, I'm off all next week, and this being Thursday, my workplace is pretty much a ghost town.
Actually, I live in the Tampa Bay (FL) area. While I normally don't see it, come [FIRST] robotics build season, I usually will be in software development teleconferences at night, every few days. It is a real pain in the arse to be disconnected every 25 or so minutes during a 3 hour teleconference.
I do not have a land-line phone to use.
Any call over 25 minutes with my Cingular phone, and I get dropped. Almost like clockwork.
Plus, when I purchased a new phone earlier this year, I couldn't get a new one locally, or get one online, because I moved to another county (in the same state) with a different area code, and my zip code wasn't within their allowable area. I sure as hell wasn't going to drive 100 miles to get a new phone!
In Russia, AllofMP3 shuts down you?
Sure, they can survive that, but most of their electronics that process it can't handle that many G's and get saturated.
Being that the moon is a giant sphere, it would likely be the Pepsi logo.
Funny, it was on CNN (televised) when I was walking in to work this morning. "This is the first major upgrade to the Windows operating system in 5 years" is what the anchor said, IIRC. Something also about a consumer release in January.
I don't know about other cities, but in my area, the 2 major newspapers publish a "Know your candidates" guide. This guide explains the platforms and stances on issues that the running candidiates have (but they only cover Dem and Rep candidates unfortunately), as well as experience, liabilities, a little bit about each candidate (Are they from the area? How long have they lived here? etc), and a summary of the ammendments that are on the table. Some of the info can be a bit lacking, as in the example of the retainment votes for judges (they don't discuss case decisions, how they stand on legal issues, etc). I use as many sources as is resonable.
They also have the requisite opinion pieces on who they'd recommend and why. I read those also to get a glance at how they rationalize their choice, and compare it to my rationale for my preliminary picks. Then I do researching on the candidates' websites (including the non-major candidate parties) to analyse further; from the horse's mouth, so to speak. I did all this in about 3 hours last night, and made my decisions.
Other communication satellites in the sky may be used also during the missions. That type of stuff is way beyond my expertise, so I'll just leave it at that.
I work with military navigation software, and that is sorta remotely applicable to this. Here's my thoughts:
You people with your "WTF NASA SUXORS THIS IS EASY FIX!!!11!!1!one!!" need to stop and think for a second. This is a space application that carries HUMAN BEINGS! Think about how hard it will be to get this "easy fix" qualified, proven, documented, etc. Its not an easy task. A formal qualification test on the systems I work on (military land- and air-, but not space-based navigation software) can take months, and require all sorts of tests and documentation. Anything that isn't formally tested (i.e. run in a van, on a plane, etc) must be shown to not fail in any way; all exceptions handled, no bad data can cause an undesireable state, etc. I would hate to see the type of scrutiny that the Shuttle software goes through (although I could probably call somebody in our Space division across the street and find out).
Second, I don't know exact specifics, but based on the information provided, I think this "glitch" will have to do with the data/time difference between ground stations and the Shuttle computers. Things like message time stamping between the Earth and the Shuttle, etc, will be wrong, and things could be garbled or just dropped all together. The navigation systems themselves should not be terribly impacted since the date will just roll to the next day. Inertial instrument samples will continue to flow in and be correctly time stamped, be it the 366th or 400th or 500th day.
Do you even remember why the Y2K thing happened? People saved space back in the day by using a 2 digit year. Hell, in the 1970's, people were using a one digit year to save even more memory and storage space. The Space Shuttle uses very old technology for its computer systems (read: 1970's level technology), and doesn't have much memory. That extra 10 lines of code could make it oversized.
Additionally, making a change to space (or even military) software requires a shitload of paperwork and testing. Its a wild guess, but it would probably take almost a year to get that "ten lines of code" into the Shuttle and cost more money than its worth to just not have the birds up in space at an end-of-year scenario.
I realize that Penny Arcade is a gaming comic and all, but Child's Play is something that all nerds can get behind! This should be on the front page!
What movie I want to see? The last movie I saw in theaters was Clerks II on opening night. Before that, I can't even remember what movie it was. Mission: Impossible III maybe? Somewhere in there was Cars and that's it for recent.
Movies pretty much suck now-a-days.
The guy who got his ass kicked was most likely "e-thuggin" and pulled the famous last words: "Oh yeah? Well I live (insert address). What are you going to do about it? I dare you to try and kick my ass! I know (insert martial art)!"
Translated from "online speak" (u = you, "oh yeah" = "o rly", etc)
Come on... high five! Anybody?
Well, some of the observations were of a galaxy's central black hole. In that light, I might have to say "yes".
The unmentioned 3rd solution was most likely licensing Immersion's patent.
IMO, you don't need to reconcile the 2 functions. If the controller is rumbling, its for a reason, right? Your character has been hit by a gunshot, your car has gone offroad (think Gran Turismo 4), etc. So, your actions will supposedly be affected by the in-game action. Plus, when the controller is vibrating, you're holding it. Thus it dampens the vibration, reducing the sensed jitter.
Time for my Crappy Example(tm):
You're driving in GT4, and put one wheel off the track. The controller rumbles a bit, and this causes the steering to jiggle slightly as you try and "steer" back on to the track. This mimics real life! How do I know? I enjoy shredding a perfectly good gravel road. The bumps and other road features (read: rocks) affect the steering.
Talking from the area I work in (I deal with ring laser gyro dither, vibration compensation, etc for inertial navigation) you can always crank up the noise parameters when the vibration is active, or just run a simple low-pass filter to get rid of the high frequency (compared to the actual game-related movements) signa related to the vibration.
File sharing has its legitimate uses. OK, that was kind of a stretch, but so do the VCR, DVR (i.e. Tivo), CD burners, etc. Doesn't stop the RIAA/MPAA from bitching about piracy and how these devices need to be banned or heavily restricted (broadcast flag, anyone?)
An RIAA and/or MPAA lawsuit, that's what.
Its more the latter (M.A.D.). See the SCO v IBM case for an example. SCO sued IBM for, among other things, violating some patents they may-or-may-not hold (as a result of the "asset transfer"). IBM then countersued SCO for, among other things, violating their patents on stuff.
Companies with huge patent portfolios (IBM, Microsoft, Intel, etc) will usually set up cross licensing deals in the settlement process from an infringement lawsuit that will allow them to use patents without fear of suit.
God damnit! They are quite literally right down the street from where I live. Now I'm hoping I get a call from these bastards. I'll pay their offices a little visit with a friendly law enforcement officer.
I would recommend this excellent guide for installing it on Fedora. I use FC3/myth at home currently, and it works wonders.
There are some people where I work that will use read receipts as an "I'm here" indicator, then drop by my box with some stupid joke, or a question (these are sometimes ok) or some sort of rambling story I don't care to hear. That's why I do enjoy using remote desktop from a lab computer to play with those particular people. Although now I'm going to do what a poster above said and send them the receipt about 10 times over 5 minutes.
As a side note to the above, if you walk in to my cube, and I'm wearing headphones and staring intently at some code or perhaps a Matlab screen with a bunch of math on it, don't bother me unless its important! Jeeze I need one of those "GO AWAY" doormats.
Score: +1, Oh Snap!