My job is writing Delphi. I'd much rather use it than Visual Basic (although I'm a C++ programmer at heart), and I'm suprised how much you can actually do with it and how much support there is. It's also a.NET langauge, so it's possible to have certain code written in Delphi for Win32 compile directly in.NET. The conversion isn't perfect, but it's probably a lot smaller difference than between VB6 and VB.NET.
My biggest complaint about Delphi is the code editor part of the IDE. It tends to get confused easily and degrade over time and has to be restarted sometimes. I guess it's the on-the-fly compiling that makes the editor flakey, and it's the on-the-fly compiling that the must-have features (the features that are the reasons I use it most of the time instead of an external editor) are dependant on.
But the langauge itself is straight-forward, not completely C-like syntax but still readable. We have many megabytes of code written in it, and it's quite maintainable. Also, all the graphical layout information is kept in very clear text resource (.dfm) files, which makes it great for source control and manual editing. In fact, all but one or two files it uses are plain text and can easily be edited outside of Delphi.
Think in terms of relativity. According to relativity, there's no difference between gravity and acceleration. So standing still on earth feels the same as if you were in an elevator that was accelerating at 9.8 m/s with no external forces. In other words, the laptop feels a constant acceleration of 9.8 m/s, but when it is in freefall, it no longer feels that acceleration. Basically we're being accelerated upwards at 9.8 m/s by the ground to counteract the bending of space time pulling us toward the middle of the earth. Does that make sense?
The monitor...hmmm, perhaps one you could mash a button, twist, lock and have it either landscape wide or portrait tall and it would adjust the screen some way. I'd buy one of them.
Your wish is granted. Really, I'm not a big fan of Gateway, but I saw one of those monitors, and I was definitely impressed.
When I was in college, there was an Optimist Club that met in our cafeteria once a month or so. I always talked about starting a pessimist club to make fun of their club, but I never got enough motivation to do it because I figured I'd never be able to get anyone to join.
notepad, wordpad, IE, Windows Explorer, Windows Media Player, screensaver, network browser, task manager, disk defragmenter, TCP stack, Instant Messenger, backup tool, cd player, email client, remote desktop, scripting tool, command prompt or shell
At least some of those things I would argue should fundamentally be part of the OS. The screensaver mechanism, task manager, TCP stack, command prompt/shell.
Another group are basic utilities that should probably be included as part of a basic GUI: Notepad, Windows explorer, CD player, scripting tool.
Then there's a group where it provides an underlying mechanism that should be included, but not the whole app: Media Player, remote desktop, handling of mail and web and ftp links (without Outlook Express or IE).
I've been using command line tools since my freshman year in college on our HP/UX machine with vi, cc, and csh. Then someone gave me their old computer with Redhat installed, and I transferred my skills to vim, gcc, and bash. I was also taking programming classes, using stuff like Turbo Pascal, Delphi, Visual C++, in addition to our Unix programming on HP/UX.
But I just have a hard time actually accomplishing useful programming in an IDE enviroment. Delphi was an exception to that. I got a student version of Visual Studio.NET my first year of graduate school, but I just got too frustrated trying to actually do any programming in it. When I discovered MinGW and the ability to create Windows native programs with gcc, I completely ditched trying to use Visual Studio at all. My brain has been rotted, I have been spoiled and I can't deal with the horrible complexities of trying to get an IDE to do what I want.
I can build my makefiles up from just a couple lines like "all: gcc file.cpp" to 20 or 30 lines as my project grows. Have you ever tried to edit the project files, or move a manually built project into Visual Studio? Trying to create the necessary files manually is pretty much impossible, and I don't think it's even possible to import projects whose makefiles were created by autoconfig/automake.
As long as everything works in your IDE, it's fine, they're usable, but when you try to do something outside the boundries of "common and expected tasks", well, give me a brain rotting command line any day...
The evidence that google is starting to lose focus for me is that their searches are getting worse. It used to be relatively easy to find information about a specific topic, now all I get are a bunch of results saying "Here's a comparison of different places that sell this, be the first to review it". It was one thing when a couple websites did that for paid advertisements at the top of the results, but now my searches are so cluttered with those stupid sites that I've just about given up on Google.
I work at a state department of transportation as a modeller, and I wonder if this data might be useful for long range transportation modelling purposes. Any time we want to measure traffic in a specific area, we have to send someone out to put out mechanical counters or sit there and count the intersection manually.
If we want more accurate information to generate a better model, sometimes we hire consultants to go out and do origin destination studies, which used to involve stopping traffic to ask them their destination, and now is done by matching licences plates passing an entry location to those leaving in another area. Both methods are quite expensive, and the first method isn't used anymore because people really don't like being stopped to answer surveys.
So why does this data matter? If we're trying to determine how many cars and trucks will use a new highway, we need to know what route they're currently taking to get a good estimate of which ones would benefit from the new route. Same thing if we're going to close a road, we need to know where traffic is likely to be diverted to.
Current measurement methods don't provide very accurate information. I'm as worried as anyone about possible privacy implications, but if there's a way to gather this data in a manner that can be guaranteed anonymous, the benefit to traffic planning could be tremendous.
I have an Asus A8V-E and I use the RAID drivers even though RAID mode is completely turned off. Have you tried the RAID drivers? I don't know if the same applies to your system, but at least in my case, there's just one driver for both, but it's labelled as though it's for RAID only.
I kept an alarm clock in college. But I didn't keep it anywhere near my bed. I put it up on a high shelf where I could still see and hear it, but it made me get up and go across the room to hit the snooze. Well, it worked for a little bit, but then I started getting up, hitting the snooze, and laying back down for another 7 minutes until it went off again, and it still took me about an hour to get up like that.
Talking about large complex functions being bad... I downloaded the source to Vim because I wanted to add a feature. I've spent quite a bit of my spare time trying to figure out exactly what areas I need to change, but the function I'm trying to modify is over 2000 lines long! Maybe I'll get it figured out eventually, but it would be nice if all that functionality were broken down into smaller pieces.
I always thought the reason the hole in CDs is the size it is partly to make them easier to hold safely. They could have made the hole smaller or bigger, but it just happens to be the right size to carry with your finger through it. There's only really 2 safe places to hold a CD, in the middle and around the edge. If you take away the middle, there are a lot of conditions where picking it up without scratching the bottom is much more difficult.
I don't know if the people using synergy actually know what it means, but I'm sick of people on Slashdot treating it as if it's a word without meaning. When two things are synergistic, it means that they produce greater results working together than the combination would seperately. For example, there's a synergy between zinc and vitamin E. If you take either one alone, you won't get the benefit you would if you take both together.
Come to think of it; where are our 4 megapixel monitors?
Well, the the Apple 30" Cinema display comes in at 4096000 pixels at optimal resolution. Is that good enough for you? A bit pricy at $3200, but if you really need the resolution...
Actually, there is no real functional difference between memory and storage.
No, the main difference between memory and storage is what it's used for. When the processor is looking for data or the next instruction it generally checks in the following order:
Registers (shortest term, generally kept only for the duration of the current function, although how often its use changes is dependant on processor architecture).
Cache (keeps a copy of the most recently used data and instructions, but only for efficiency reasons, it's not the primary source of the data)
Memory (where the executable code is executed from, along with any data that the program chooses to store in memory. However, if memory space runs out, often stuff is swapped out to storage and then restored when it is needed again, but programs are never executed directly from storage)
Storage (generally, but not always, the longest term place where programs and data are kept, and the largest repository for keeping them. It is almost always non-volitile, but a RAM disk would qualify as storage and still be volatile)
The clearest differentiation between memory and storage is demonstrated by two constructs that makes one emulate the other: RAM disks and virtual memory (or swap space). The first takes memory and lets you treat it like storage, and the second takes storage and treats it like memory.
This article has some interesting information about California's actual laws (which are not enforced). Basically all those big SUVs out there get a tax break by being over a weight limit which defines them as trucks. But those same trucks aren't supposed to be allowed in residential areas and such, so they're getting the benefit of building heavier vehicles (tax breaks) without the limitations that go with it.
That's so...stone age. Seriously:-) Obsidian can be fasioned into blades with an edge that's only 1 atom thick (I've seen pictures of an electron micrograph in a book, I wish I could find some online to post). Obsidian in fact is used in some cases as surgeon's scalpels because it can be made so much sharper than steel.
I can't say with any certainty what really influenced him, but every time I watch Firefly, it makes me think Andromeda, and vice versa. At least the cast is quite similar, my friends always argue that it's extremely different.
Not exact matches, but there's definitely at least one major similarity between each of the pairs I mentioned above. I have a hard time believing Firefly's characters weren't influenced at all by Andromeda, at the very least.
Slashdot Mirror
My biggest complaint about Delphi is the code editor part of the IDE. It tends to get confused easily and degrade over time and has to be restarted sometimes. I guess it's the on-the-fly compiling that makes the editor flakey, and it's the on-the-fly compiling that the must-have features (the features that are the reasons I use it most of the time instead of an external editor) are dependant on.
But the langauge itself is straight-forward, not completely C-like syntax but still readable. We have many megabytes of code written in it, and it's quite maintainable. Also, all the graphical layout information is kept in very clear text resource (.dfm) files, which makes it great for source control and manual editing. In fact, all but one or two files it uses are plain text and can easily be edited outside of Delphi.
Think in terms of relativity. According to relativity, there's no difference between gravity and acceleration. So standing still on earth feels the same as if you were in an elevator that was accelerating at 9.8 m/s with no external forces. In other words, the laptop feels a constant acceleration of 9.8 m/s, but when it is in freefall, it no longer feels that acceleration. Basically we're being accelerated upwards at 9.8 m/s by the ground to counteract the bending of space time pulling us toward the middle of the earth. Does that make sense?
Your wish is granted. Really, I'm not a big fan of Gateway, but I saw one of those monitors, and I was definitely impressed.
For that, you'll probably need one of these.
Mining mules can't be installed in the river valley, only food and energy.
When I was in college, there was an Optimist Club that met in our cafeteria once a month or so. I always talked about starting a pessimist club to make fun of their club, but I never got enough motivation to do it because I figured I'd never be able to get anyone to join.
Whatever happened to MRAM (magnetic RAM) that IBM was working on?
At least some of those things I would argue should fundamentally be part of the OS. The screensaver mechanism, task manager, TCP stack, command prompt/shell.
Another group are basic utilities that should probably be included as part of a basic GUI: Notepad, Windows explorer, CD player, scripting tool.
Then there's a group where it provides an underlying mechanism that should be included, but not the whole app: Media Player, remote desktop, handling of mail and web and ftp links (without Outlook Express or IE).
"Having a non-smoking section of a resturaunt is like having a no-peeing section in the swimming pool."
But I just have a hard time actually accomplishing useful programming in an IDE enviroment. Delphi was an exception to that. I got a student version of Visual Studio.NET my first year of graduate school, but I just got too frustrated trying to actually do any programming in it. When I discovered MinGW and the ability to create Windows native programs with gcc, I completely ditched trying to use Visual Studio at all. My brain has been rotted, I have been spoiled and I can't deal with the horrible complexities of trying to get an IDE to do what I want.
I can build my makefiles up from just a couple lines like "all: gcc file.cpp" to 20 or 30 lines as my project grows. Have you ever tried to edit the project files, or move a manually built project into Visual Studio? Trying to create the necessary files manually is pretty much impossible, and I don't think it's even possible to import projects whose makefiles were created by autoconfig/automake.
As long as everything works in your IDE, it's fine, they're usable, but when you try to do something outside the boundries of "common and expected tasks", well, give me a brain rotting command line any day...
The evidence that google is starting to lose focus for me is that their searches are getting worse. It used to be relatively easy to find information about a specific topic, now all I get are a bunch of results saying "Here's a comparison of different places that sell this, be the first to review it". It was one thing when a couple websites did that for paid advertisements at the top of the results, but now my searches are so cluttered with those stupid sites that I've just about given up on Google.
If we want more accurate information to generate a better model, sometimes we hire consultants to go out and do origin destination studies, which used to involve stopping traffic to ask them their destination, and now is done by matching licences plates passing an entry location to those leaving in another area. Both methods are quite expensive, and the first method isn't used anymore because people really don't like being stopped to answer surveys.
So why does this data matter? If we're trying to determine how many cars and trucks will use a new highway, we need to know what route they're currently taking to get a good estimate of which ones would benefit from the new route. Same thing if we're going to close a road, we need to know where traffic is likely to be diverted to.
Current measurement methods don't provide very accurate information. I'm as worried as anyone about possible privacy implications, but if there's a way to gather this data in a manner that can be guaranteed anonymous, the benefit to traffic planning could be tremendous.
Hmm, so you're saying the requirement is that they have to fit inside a 32 bit register?
I have an Asus A8V-E and I use the RAID drivers even though RAID mode is completely turned off. Have you tried the RAID drivers? I don't know if the same applies to your system, but at least in my case, there's just one driver for both, but it's labelled as though it's for RAID only.
I kept an alarm clock in college. But I didn't keep it anywhere near my bed. I put it up on a high shelf where I could still see and hear it, but it made me get up and go across the room to hit the snooze. Well, it worked for a little bit, but then I started getting up, hitting the snooze, and laying back down for another 7 minutes until it went off again, and it still took me about an hour to get up like that.
Talking about large complex functions being bad... I downloaded the source to Vim because I wanted to add a feature. I've spent quite a bit of my spare time trying to figure out exactly what areas I need to change, but the function I'm trying to modify is over 2000 lines long! Maybe I'll get it figured out eventually, but it would be nice if all that functionality were broken down into smaller pieces.
I always thought the reason the hole in CDs is the size it is partly to make them easier to hold safely. They could have made the hole smaller or bigger, but it just happens to be the right size to carry with your finger through it. There's only really 2 safe places to hold a CD, in the middle and around the edge. If you take away the middle, there are a lot of conditions where picking it up without scratching the bottom is much more difficult.
I don't know if the people using synergy actually know what it means, but I'm sick of people on Slashdot treating it as if it's a word without meaning. When two things are synergistic, it means that they produce greater results working together than the combination would seperately. For example, there's a synergy between zinc and vitamin E. If you take either one alone, you won't get the benefit you would if you take both together.
Well, the the Apple 30" Cinema display comes in at 4096000 pixels at optimal resolution. Is that good enough for you? A bit pricy at $3200, but if you really need the resolution...
No, the main difference between memory and storage is what it's used for. When the processor is looking for data or the next instruction it generally checks in the following order:
- Registers (shortest term, generally kept only for the duration of the current function, although how often its use changes is dependant on processor architecture).
- Cache (keeps a copy of the most recently used data and instructions, but only for efficiency reasons, it's not the primary source of the data)
- Memory (where the executable code is executed from, along with any data that the program chooses to store in memory. However, if memory space runs out, often stuff is swapped out to storage and then restored when it is needed again, but programs are never executed directly from storage)
- Storage (generally, but not always, the longest term place where programs and data are kept, and the largest repository for keeping them. It is almost always non-volitile, but a RAM disk would qualify as storage and still be volatile)
The clearest differentiation between memory and storage is demonstrated by two constructs that makes one emulate the other: RAM disks and virtual memory (or swap space). The first takes memory and lets you treat it like storage, and the second takes storage and treats it like memory.This article has some interesting information about California's actual laws (which are not enforced). Basically all those big SUVs out there get a tax break by being over a weight limit which defines them as trucks. But those same trucks aren't supposed to be allowed in residential areas and such, so they're getting the benefit of building heavier vehicles (tax breaks) without the limitations that go with it.
No, it was a historical book on Native Americans.
That's so...stone age. Seriously :-) Obsidian can be fasioned into blades with an edge that's only 1 atom thick (I've seen pictures of an electron micrograph in a book, I wish I could find some online to post). Obsidian in fact is used in some cases as surgeon's scalpels because it can be made so much sharper than steel.
I thought the Jetway Twin design looked familiar.
Captain Dylan Hunt == Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds
Tyr Anasazi == Jayne Cobb
Beka Valentine == Zoe
Rev Bem == The Shepherd Book
Seamus Harper == Wash
Trance Gemini == Kaywinnit Lee 'Kaylee' Frye
Rommie == Inara Serra
Not exact matches, but there's definitely at least one major similarity between each of the pairs I mentioned above. I have a hard time believing Firefly's characters weren't influenced at all by Andromeda, at the very least.