I'm not even saying that ANY crop circle HAS been made by ET.... If you don't know the difference between a 'genuine' crop circle and a physically-created hoax circle, then congratulations: you're stupid.
You have fallen prey to the logical fallacy known as "begging the question". If you're not saying that any of the circles are made by aliens, then how can you say there is a difference between "genuine" and hoax circles?
The complexity that arise from trying to analyze a "macro situation" with a "micro theory" becomes so unwieldy and overwhelming that it is more practical to pretend that there is an uncrossable barrier between the two.
But what if we discovered general principles which would allow us to easily extrapolate macro behavior from known micro behavior? It would cause a revolution in all branches of science.
My personal opinion is that this particular line of research will be like fractals, NP-completeness, complexity, etc in that it will make a big splash, but in the end will only make a small contribution to our total knowledge of the universe. But you never know.
Sorry, electric != enviro-friendly. It can be, but not always. Most times, electricity is just shifting the polution some where else.
It's not supposed to replace walking, it's supposed to replace cars for short-distance commutes. The amount of pollution generated to power a segway is going to be much less than that generated to power a car over the same distance.
Do we really need factual evidence that an (69lb + owner) device moving at 12.5 mph on a crowded sizewalk is a hazard?
Do we really need factual evidence that a person running at 12.5 mph on a crowded sidewalk is a hazard?
A segway isn't necessarily more dangerous than a jogger. Do you really think people will be driving their segways at running speed on a sidewalk crowded with people who are only walking?
Plaintiffs don't spend lots of money running commercials that say "Get money for your injuries!"
Even if lawyers don't usually sue people, it is certain that there are many lawyers who make their living inciting people to sue each other.
TTFN
Re:Just to remind people why more bits is good..
on
AMD's 64-bit Plot
·
· Score: 2, Informative
The physical interconnect is of secondary importance to the internal implementation. If your program counter and other registers have 64 bits internally, then to make a processor which can actually use 2^64 bytes of memory, you just need to add more address lines to the IC. No big deal. When your registers are only 32 bits (as they are in the IA32 processors we have now) it's not easy to make a processor which can use more than 2^32 bytes of memory. You have to use icky segmentation schemes and other ugliness.
Schlock Mercenary doesn't have good art? At the beginning of the comic that was true, but he's been drawing a daily comic for a long time now and his abilities as a cartoonist have vastly improved. If you have seen his recent work and still think it's not good art, what do you think it lacks?
Unfortunately, the compatibility just isn't sufficient for some tasks. For example, try converting a document with several math formulas from one to the other. It's not pretty.
I use Open Office even though a copy of MS Word 2000 came with my computer. However I try to not convert from one format to the other if I can possibly avoid it.
Just remember, a hydrogen-bomb does not get its destructive power from fusion.
Remember that there is more than one kind of fusion bomb. Some kinds work as you describe, but there are others which lack the final fission step. The Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear bomb ever detonated (~50Mton), was such a bomb. It was designed to be fitted with a fission third stage, but it was tested without it. In the configuration which was tested, 97% of the yield came from fusion.
Boosting the signal again invalidates the security.
That's true, but a quantum computer could perform error correction on a quantum key exchange because it can perform operations on entangled states without decohering them. I assume that would enable it to serve as a repeater for key exchanges over long distances. I don't know if anyone has demonstrated this, but it's possible in theory with the ~5 qbit computers we currently know how to make. TTFN
Elliptic curve algorithms, for instance, have no known quantum algorithm to solve them. They also require more conventional horsepower per bit to brute force.
Pay close attention to the word "known" there. Very important word.
And remember that factoring used to require a lot more horsepower per bit than it does now. We've been working on factoring for a lot longer than elliptic curves, but we're catching up. Remember that we don't know the minimum effort required to do either one.
One missle or spark could set the whole plane ablaze pretty quick.
Not really. The fuel has such a high flash point that the SR-71 cannot light its own engines. Not to mention that there isn't a missle that can hit an SR-71.
take a good telescope and look for the garbage we left behind
Unfortunately, that's not possible.
From http://www.faqs.org/faqs/astronomy/faq/part2/secti on-22.html
Even telescopes with a resolution comparable to that of the Hubble Space Telescope can only resolve details about 100 meters across. [at the distance of the moon]
TTFN
Re:Dual NIC (overkill for a firewall)
on
Tiny Boxen
·
· Score: 1
Do you need that much processing power for a firewall?
Probably not, but this product's selling point seems to be its small size and noiseless operation. I have used standard PCs as firewall boxen, and I'd love to have something a lot smaller and a lot quiter. Not to mention that a fanless machine doesn't collect nearly as much dust inside the case.
Common sense says that the far tip of the rod moves at the same time I move the near tip.
Remember that matter is held together by the electromagnetic force between protons and electrons. The electromagnetic force is carried by photons, which obviously move at the speed of light.
TTFN
Re:The proof that physic isn't full of fraud...
on
Ununoctium Wrapup
·
· Score: 1
How do you gain when people lose truth?
"Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master." -- UN Commissioner Pravin Lal
And in the words of Elron himself:
"THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN CONTROL PEOPLE IS TO LIE TO THEM."
Surely, given identical hardware, its still easier to encrypt a message than it is to decrypt it? Isn't this a given, even if you are talking about quantum computing? With current computers that is true. Quantum computers, however, make factoring numbers very fast, so there isn't as much difference between the encryption and decryption of assymetric ciphers.
Providing a counterexample would only demonstrate that in one particular situation God is constrained (by His all-good nature) to act in a particular way. But remember that God's all-good nature is itself a choice.
By saying God is all good, and thus would only perform good acts, you are essentially saying that He has no free will. He cannot choose from a selection of possibilities, he must always choose the good choice, otherwise He is not all good. One or the other.
You're assuming that there is only ever one choice which is good. Doing good is a creative act, and creativity has infinite possibilities.
Slashdot Mirror
It's not about profits, it's about control.
They wouldn't care about control if control didn't bring them profits.
TTFN
I'm not even saying that ANY crop circle HAS been made by ET. ... If you don't know the difference between a 'genuine' crop circle and a physically-created hoax circle, then congratulations: you're stupid.
You have fallen prey to the logical fallacy known as "begging the question". If you're not saying that any of the circles are made by aliens, then how can you say there is a difference between "genuine" and hoax circles?
TTFN
The complexity that arise from trying to analyze a "macro situation" with a "micro theory" becomes so unwieldy and overwhelming that it is more practical to pretend that there is an uncrossable barrier between the two.
But what if we discovered general principles which would allow us to easily extrapolate macro behavior from known micro behavior? It would cause a revolution in all branches of science.
My personal opinion is that this particular line of research will be like fractals, NP-completeness, complexity, etc in that it will make a big splash, but in the end will only make a small contribution to our total knowledge of the universe. But you never know.
TTFN
If you really thought that, then you'd be equally outraged by states preemptively allowing Segways, hmm?
Please remember that a main feature of a free society is that you can do something unless there's a law that says you can't.
TTFN
Sorry, electric != enviro-friendly. It can be, but not always. Most times, electricity is just shifting the polution some where else.
It's not supposed to replace walking, it's supposed to replace cars for short-distance commutes. The amount of pollution generated to power a segway is going to be much less than that generated to power a car over the same distance.
TTFN
Do we really need factual evidence that an (69lb + owner) device moving at 12.5 mph on a crowded sizewalk is a hazard?
Do we really need factual evidence that a person running at 12.5 mph on a crowded sidewalk is a hazard?
A segway isn't necessarily more dangerous than a jogger. Do you really think people will be driving their segways at running speed on a sidewalk crowded with people who are only walking?
TTFN
Plaintiffs don't spend lots of money running commercials that say "Get money for your injuries!"
Even if lawyers don't usually sue people, it is certain that there are many lawyers who make their living inciting people to sue each other.
TTFN
The physical interconnect is of secondary importance to the internal implementation. If your program counter and other registers have 64 bits internally, then to make a processor which can actually use 2^64 bytes of memory, you just need to add more address lines to the IC. No big deal. When your registers are only 32 bits (as they are in the IA32 processors we have now) it's not easy to make a processor which can use more than 2^32 bytes of memory. You have to use icky segmentation schemes and other ugliness.
TTFN
you don't have separate fuel/oxidizers to combine and ignite
Actually, they are designing dual propellant engines. The monopropellant mode is an added bonus.
TTFN
Schlock Mercenary doesn't have good art? At the beginning of the comic that was true, but he's been drawing a daily comic for a long time now and his abilities as a cartoonist have vastly improved. If you have seen his recent work and still think it's not good art, what do you think it lacks?
TTFN
Word documents: www.openoffice.org
Unfortunately, the compatibility just isn't sufficient for some tasks. For example, try converting a document with several math formulas from one to the other. It's not pretty.
I use Open Office even though a copy of MS Word 2000 came with my computer. However I try to not convert from one format to the other if I can possibly avoid it.
TTFN
Just remember, a hydrogen-bomb does not get its destructive power from fusion.
Remember that there is more than one kind of fusion bomb. Some kinds work as you describe, but there are others which lack the final fission step. The Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear bomb ever detonated (~50Mton), was such a bomb. It was designed to be fitted with a fission third stage, but it was tested without it. In the configuration which was tested, 97% of the yield came from fusion.
TTFN
Not sure of the meaning in this case, though.
Perhaps it's short for "bog roll", meaning toilet paper?
TTFN
Boosting the signal again invalidates the security.
That's true, but a quantum computer could perform error correction on a quantum key exchange because it can perform operations on entangled states without decohering them. I assume that would enable it to serve as a repeater for key exchanges over long distances. I don't know if anyone has demonstrated this, but it's possible in theory with the ~5 qbit computers we currently know how to make.
TTFN
Elliptic curve algorithms, for instance, have no known quantum algorithm to solve them. They also require more conventional horsepower per bit to brute force.
Pay close attention to the word "known" there. Very important word.
And remember that factoring used to require a lot more horsepower per bit than it does now. We've been working on factoring for a lot longer than elliptic curves, but we're catching up. Remember that we don't know the minimum effort required to do either one.
TTFN
One missle or spark could set the whole plane ablaze pretty quick.
Not really. The fuel has such a high flash point that the SR-71 cannot light its own engines.
Not to mention that there isn't a missle that can hit an SR-71.
TTFN
take a good telescope and look for the garbage we left behind
i on-22.html
Unfortunately, that's not possible.
From http://www.faqs.org/faqs/astronomy/faq/part2/sect
Even telescopes with a resolution comparable to that of the Hubble Space Telescope can only resolve details about 100 meters across. [at the distance of the moon]
TTFN
Do you need that much processing power for a firewall?
Probably not, but this product's selling point seems to be its small size and noiseless operation. I have used standard PCs as firewall boxen, and I'd love to have something a lot smaller and a lot quiter. Not to mention that a fanless machine doesn't collect nearly as much dust inside the case.
TTFN
Common sense says that the far tip of the rod moves at the same time I move the near tip.
Remember that matter is held together by the electromagnetic force between protons and electrons. The electromagnetic force is carried by photons, which obviously move at the speed of light.
TTFN
How do you gain when people lose truth?
"Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master."
-- UN Commissioner Pravin Lal
And in the words of Elron himself:
"THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN CONTROL PEOPLE IS TO LIE TO THEM."
Surely, given identical hardware, its still easier to encrypt a message than it is to decrypt it? Isn't this a given, even if you are talking about quantum computing?
With current computers that is true. Quantum computers, however, make factoring numbers very fast, so there isn't as much difference between the encryption and decryption of assymetric ciphers.
you have to wait for the linux version to deploy the windows version
By starting the Windows development first, you've already revealed your lack of committed support for Linux.
TTFN
Multiple Versioning System
I believe you misspelled "Virtual".
TTFN
Providing a counterexample would only demonstrate that in one particular situation God is constrained (by His all-good nature) to act in a particular way.
But remember that God's all-good nature is itself a choice.
By saying God is all good, and thus would only perform good acts, you are essentially saying that He has no free will. He cannot choose from a selection of possibilities, he must always choose the good choice, otherwise He is not all good. One or the other.
You're assuming that there is only ever one choice which is good. Doing good is a creative act, and creativity has infinite possibilities.