I would just like to echo these comments. I was really impressed with all the comments that were posted. The first hand accounts were incredible. They take the reader right to the devastation better than any other form of media I've seen. The pilots, engineers, security experts etc. that contributed information were very helpful in answering the hows and the whys. And all the different views from people of different countries and cultures around the world on what happened and what should be done were really thought-provoking.
To me, that's what's great about the Internet and Slashdot. The TV, the newspapers, the radio, they all basically tell you the same things, and its always the same people telling it to you. Slashdot has allowed us to get a lot of valuable information right from the source, with individuals and their stories being heard, and has allowed us as individuals to air our thoughts and opinions where others could hear them instead of being told how the world is reacting.
"I am not a vindictive person, but this calls for something beyond revenge. This requires a defense of our way of life, about our principals and individuality. Anything that can be done to remedy this should be done, and will."
Revenge? After hearing about all the devastation, all the lives lost, after reading all the stories here about those who nearly died, or those who know someone who died or were emotionally harmed in some way, I have to wonder about the idea of revenge.
I don't mean to flame the author of the comment above, this just seemed like a good place to voice my comments, and a prime example of what I sometimes wonder about.
The general concensus that I've picked up is that the American people want to see revenge against who did this. There's talk of war. Now, this is probably the largest civilian loss in America's history. With all the people who witnessed the destruction, all the first hand accounts, all the footage, this has really hit home. For me (a Canadian by the way) it really makes me think twice about war. This is pretty small scale compared to what a full-scale war would be. So I can't figure out why it seems that so many people feel that more violence is the appropriate reaction to this.
Now, don't get me wrong. I am a firm believer that force is often needed to be able to prevent something bad from happening. I carry a sidearm for a living. I believe whatever measures need to be taken to prevent this from happening again should be taken. But this talk of war and bombing just seems to be completely out of line.
Haven't people learned their lesson? Isn't seeing this at home enough to make people realize the devastation caused by war? Or is it that they don't realize all the innocent, civilian casualties that would come of war?
I can understand the satisfaction of the eye-for-an-eye approach. I can also see the need to make an example of whomever is responsible by striking hard and fast, thereby possibly intimidating anyone who might try this again. But to me it seems like that's just going way too far.
And besides, these people are suicidal. Do the leaders care if they themselves or any of their people are killed? Or will any up-and-coming terrorists be scared away by massive casualties?
Maybe I'm getting the wrong impression here, but words like "revenge" seem like the wrong approach to me, and there has been talk of war, even talk of getting nukes invovled. This is way overboard. At most, some strategic assassinations should be committed as a prevention measure. I'd just like to see those responsible found and brought into the light to answer some questions that everyone is asking, and to see some effect yet reasonable prevention measures put in place.
"His idea is that with artificial intelligence and computers, which increase their performance every 18 months..."
Wait a minute here... are you saying that they're now selling something better than the P-III 600 that I got back in January of 2000? Its been about 18 months since, so I guess there's a 633 out there somewhere by now? You know, I just can't keep up with all this technology stuff.</sarcasm>
Isn't the old saying that computers double in performance every 18 months?
I am not an electrical expert either, but the idea of flipping a switch really fast to divert lightning into a battery seems a little impossible. As I understand it, a lightning bolt is just a massive shift in electrons, rather than say a giant ball of them jumping to the ground. To cut-off the low-resistance path would kill the electrical potential and would instantly stop the flow. It would seem to me that to continue the flow would require that electricity have momentum.
The linked article is a good slam on a crappy car. In the car's defence though, it wasn't designed to be all that useful, but it was designed as a concept in alternative fuels.
The first sentence of the article irked me though:
"In response to ever increasing fuels costs, Honda Motor Cars has developed the Insight." That's total bullshit. Its in response to greeny complaints and most importantly government mandates. They didn't build the car because they thought people would be interested in buying it, and they certainly aren't taking a loss on every one made because they're so kind. You might even say the crampedness of it was a dive taken by the company to show the government just how impractical their mandates are.
I wouldn't call Taco a journalist either. Nor any of the Slashdot crew, except for Katz. For the most part they're coders, and geeks who like the same stuff we do. They decide what goes up on the page, but they don't write it. At best they add their two cents to what someone else submitted.
This could really backfire on AMD. As mentioned, stores like Best Buy might get sued from misleading customers. If the PHBs are predicting this too, they might end up making sure that the actual clock speed is shown along with the model number on all their documentation, signs etc. Not only does this make the numbering scheme moot, but it also makes AMD look like they were trying to pull a fast one to the average consumer.
What everyone should be doing, and AMD should be trying to start is a comparison of performance instead of MHz.
Let's compare to the auto industry. Cars are often timed against standard benchmarks, such as 0-60 mph time and 1/4 mile times. Displacement of an engine is a rough indicator of its output, but the true output varies widely. Likewise, even horsepower and torque ratings don't tell how fast a car will go, because too many other factors like weight, gearing, transmission choice, traction and aerodynamics will all play factors.
Too many people know this, and so they look to see how the car actually performs based on a few standard real-world tests. This is the approach that AMD should be taking. Trying to confuse consumers by hiding the real MHz is not the right way to go about it. Educating customers is. I really don't see why AMD would have trouble competing considering they have better chips at half the price.
Those who know won't buy Intel, and those who don't should be asking someone who does.
Are you kidding me? Stupid purchases are how credit card companies make money. The whole idea is that you can buy whatever you want without worrying about whether or not you actually have the money to pay for it, and without committing the actual act of forking over cash and emptying your wallet, which might cause you to think twice.
I think the point is that the internet used to be a place where you could escape all the corporate noise, where anyone could have their own little corner, and that's what made it neat. Nowadays though, the internet is not so much for idle enjoyment or for transferring information, but its for making money. Corporations, gateways, banner ads all have taken over the net and blotted out what was once so great about it.
" I confess I entirely fail to see the point of the hairsplitting going on over whether Pluto is a "major" or "minor" planet.... I think the qualifications should be these:"
Does anyone else see the irony in this comment and the ensuing thread?
I really have to wonder why this code red thing is such a problem in the US, but seemingly not so much in Canada. Now, its pretty well known that up here we get great service for a great price, and I believe that more Canadians are hooked to high-speed access than any other country (per capita of course).
Sure, I see a handful of hits an hour from it in my logs, but I haven't had any degredation of the network, no port 80 being shut off, no outtages. My cousin is also on cable in a different part of the country, and although he's had a lot more hits and maybe even some degredation, he also hasn't had any outtages or ports shut off.
So what gives? I'd like to joke that Canadians are smarter and more of our users have patched their systems, and so its not propagating across our networks as much, but I don't think that can actually be true. So what's the reason then?
P.S. Can anyone report on the situation in Southern Ontario? I have a theory up my sleeve...
Now, according the article, mp3.com encoded 900,000 songs to mp3 without having the authorization to do so. So what's the worst that can happen to the company and the people behind it for doing this? The company goes bankrupt under law suits, and the people, well nothing happens to them because they are immune to what their company does, right?
So, why don't more people set up companies as fronts for piracy? There's already lots of people out there pirating in a big way, why not just set up a company as a firewall to yourself? You still get done what you wanted, but you don't have to take the fall for any of it.
I usually just mash the keyboard with my fist in one shot. Sure, it takes a little longer than normal typing to get the right password, but no one's going to be guessing MY password.
Boy, this article was pretty useless. An actual explanation of how it works would have been nice.
" Instruments aboard the robot take quick measurements of the seawater's oxygen content, salinity, temperature, and pH value at four-second intervals, or about every five meters. The robot can also be equipped with instruments to measure magnetic fields and metal concentrations in the water, and otherwise investigate the oceanic environment."
Well ain't that nice. Is this supposed to imply that seawater is somehow used in the function of the engine, or are those sensors for other purposes?
Slashdot Mirror
I would just like to echo these comments. I was really impressed with all the comments that were posted. The first hand accounts were incredible. They take the reader right to the devastation better than any other form of media I've seen. The pilots, engineers, security experts etc. that contributed information were very helpful in answering the hows and the whys. And all the different views from people of different countries and cultures around the world on what happened and what should be done were really thought-provoking.
To me, that's what's great about the Internet and Slashdot. The TV, the newspapers, the radio, they all basically tell you the same things, and its always the same people telling it to you. Slashdot has allowed us to get a lot of valuable information right from the source, with individuals and their stories being heard, and has allowed us as individuals to air our thoughts and opinions where others could hear them instead of being told how the world is reacting.
Remember, this is a country where beating up another guy gets you 5 minutes in the box.
Boy, makes you think that Sircam really came from a Canadian juvenile detention centre.
Revenge? After hearing about all the devastation, all the lives lost, after reading all the stories here about those who nearly died, or those who know someone who died or were emotionally harmed in some way, I have to wonder about the idea of revenge.
I don't mean to flame the author of the comment above, this just seemed like a good place to voice my comments, and a prime example of what I sometimes wonder about.
The general concensus that I've picked up is that the American people want to see revenge against who did this. There's talk of war. Now, this is probably the largest civilian loss in America's history. With all the people who witnessed the destruction, all the first hand accounts, all the footage, this has really hit home. For me (a Canadian by the way) it really makes me think twice about war. This is pretty small scale compared to what a full-scale war would be. So I can't figure out why it seems that so many people feel that more violence is the appropriate reaction to this.
Now, don't get me wrong. I am a firm believer that force is often needed to be able to prevent something bad from happening. I carry a sidearm for a living. I believe whatever measures need to be taken to prevent this from happening again should be taken. But this talk of war and bombing just seems to be completely out of line.
Haven't people learned their lesson? Isn't seeing this at home enough to make people realize the devastation caused by war? Or is it that they don't realize all the innocent, civilian casualties that would come of war?
I can understand the satisfaction of the eye-for-an-eye approach. I can also see the need to make an example of whomever is responsible by striking hard and fast, thereby possibly intimidating anyone who might try this again. But to me it seems like that's just going way too far.
And besides, these people are suicidal. Do the leaders care if they themselves or any of their people are killed? Or will any up-and-coming terrorists be scared away by massive casualties?
Maybe I'm getting the wrong impression here, but words like "revenge" seem like the wrong approach to me, and there has been talk of war, even talk of getting nukes invovled. This is way overboard. At most, some strategic assassinations should be committed as a prevention measure. I'd just like to see those responsible found and brought into the light to answer some questions that everyone is asking, and to see some effect yet reasonable prevention measures put in place.
Wait a minute here... are you saying that they're now selling something better than the P-III 600 that I got back in January of 2000? Its been about 18 months since, so I guess there's a 633 out there somewhere by now? You know, I just can't keep up with all this technology stuff.</sarcasm>
Isn't the old saying that computers double in performance every 18 months?
I am not an electrical expert either, but the idea of flipping a switch really fast to divert lightning into a battery seems a little impossible. As I understand it, a lightning bolt is just a massive shift in electrons, rather than say a giant ball of them jumping to the ground. To cut-off the low-resistance path would kill the electrical potential and would instantly stop the flow. It would seem to me that to continue the flow would require that electricity have momentum.
The linked article is a good slam on a crappy car. In the car's defence though, it wasn't designed to be all that useful, but it was designed as a concept in alternative fuels.
The first sentence of the article irked me though:
"In response to ever increasing fuels costs, Honda Motor Cars has developed the Insight." That's total bullshit. Its in response to greeny complaints and most importantly government mandates. They didn't build the car because they thought people would be interested in buying it, and they certainly aren't taking a loss on every one made because they're so kind. You might even say the crampedness of it was a dive taken by the company to show the government just how impractical their mandates are.
I wouldn't call Taco a journalist either. Nor any of the Slashdot crew, except for Katz. For the most part they're coders, and geeks who like the same stuff we do. They decide what goes up on the page, but they don't write it. At best they add their two cents to what someone else submitted.
Don't worry, if it isn't illegal yet, it soon will be. No one can steal from the big corporations of America and get away with it.
This could really backfire on AMD. As mentioned, stores like Best Buy might get sued from misleading customers. If the PHBs are predicting this too, they might end up making sure that the actual clock speed is shown along with the model number on all their documentation, signs etc. Not only does this make the numbering scheme moot, but it also makes AMD look like they were trying to pull a fast one to the average consumer.
What everyone should be doing, and AMD should be trying to start is a comparison of performance instead of MHz.
Let's compare to the auto industry. Cars are often timed against standard benchmarks, such as 0-60 mph time and 1/4 mile times. Displacement of an engine is a rough indicator of its output, but the true output varies widely. Likewise, even horsepower and torque ratings don't tell how fast a car will go, because too many other factors like weight, gearing, transmission choice, traction and aerodynamics will all play factors.
Too many people know this, and so they look to see how the car actually performs based on a few standard real-world tests. This is the approach that AMD should be taking. Trying to confuse consumers by hiding the real MHz is not the right way to go about it. Educating customers is. I really don't see why AMD would have trouble competing considering they have better chips at half the price.
Those who know won't buy Intel, and those who don't should be asking someone who does.
He probably doesn't have any teeth left anyway.
Are you kidding me? Stupid purchases are how credit card companies make money. The whole idea is that you can buy whatever you want without worrying about whether or not you actually have the money to pay for it, and without committing the actual act of forking over cash and emptying your wallet, which might cause you to think twice.
I think the point is that the internet used to be a place where you could escape all the corporate noise, where anyone could have their own little corner, and that's what made it neat. Nowadays though, the internet is not so much for idle enjoyment or for transferring information, but its for making money. Corporations, gateways, banner ads all have taken over the net and blotted out what was once so great about it.
Does anyone else see the irony in this comment and the ensuing thread?
"Who would you liked whacked today?"
Of course, that's what their public slogan is. Internally they believe in the "Who would it serve us to have whacked today?" motto.
I believe they are, but I don't know for fact.
Just out of curiosity, what part of the country are you in?
This seems like a whole lot of fluff, a romantic idea that will just end up being emotes in tags, and pretty lame.
I really have to wonder why this code red thing is such a problem in the US, but seemingly not so much in Canada. Now, its pretty well known that up here we get great service for a great price, and I believe that more Canadians are hooked to high-speed access than any other country (per capita of course).
Sure, I see a handful of hits an hour from it in my logs, but I haven't had any degredation of the network, no port 80 being shut off, no outtages. My cousin is also on cable in a different part of the country, and although he's had a lot more hits and maybe even some degredation, he also hasn't had any outtages or ports shut off.
So what gives? I'd like to joke that Canadians are smarter and more of our users have patched their systems, and so its not propagating across our networks as much, but I don't think that can actually be true. So what's the reason then?
P.S. Can anyone report on the situation in Southern Ontario? I have a theory up my sleeve...
This article gave me an interesting idea.
Now, according the article, mp3.com encoded 900,000 songs to mp3 without having the authorization to do so. So what's the worst that can happen to the company and the people behind it for doing this? The company goes bankrupt under law suits, and the people, well nothing happens to them because they are immune to what their company does, right?
So, why don't more people set up companies as fronts for piracy? There's already lots of people out there pirating in a big way, why not just set up a company as a firewall to yourself? You still get done what you wanted, but you don't have to take the fall for any of it.
I usually just mash the keyboard with my fist in one shot. Sure, it takes a little longer than normal typing to get the right password, but no one's going to be guessing MY password.
Don't tell anyone, but I cut that tag off my matress...
Uh, I hate to point out the obvious, but that would be AAFA, which isn't an ??AA.
" Instruments aboard the robot take quick measurements of the seawater's oxygen content, salinity, temperature, and pH value at four-second intervals, or about every five meters. The robot can also be equipped with instruments to measure magnetic fields and metal concentrations in the water, and otherwise investigate the oceanic environment."
Well ain't that nice. Is this supposed to imply that seawater is somehow used in the function of the engine, or are those sensors for other purposes?