It may not be a problem for high end hardware, but lower end embedded controls with real-time clocks often use hard coded DST algorithms. For example the EU has defined standard DST dates for years in advance, these change-over dates are often hard coded into low-end devices, but with a default +1 advance. This allows a simple hardcoded table to be added to the hardware without the need for any user configuration, other than setting the initial time and date. Short sighted perhaps, but the reality is that there are huge numbers of these types of devices already installed.
There are lots of embedded controls used for time scheduling control of HVAC, Lighting and other timed automatic controls with this level of technology. I can foresee huge problems with equipment needing to be replaced or firmware upgraded if this occurs, or the need for 6 monthly manual time changes.
Radio listening reaches all time high as 46.5 million adults tune
in to radio each week
Radio digital listening hours up 18% and digital share up 19% year on
year
DAB ownership up 9% year on year to over 1/3 of the population
Althought the commercial stations complain about the dominance of the BBC, the fact that there are so many quality channels on the BBC (no adverts, mandate to produce quality programming) forces the commercial stations to push similar content quality in order to remain competetive.
Public taxis are subsidized by the Her Majesty's Government. A taxi ride in London costs two pounds, no matter how far you travel. If a taxi driver tries to overcharge you, you should yell "I think not, you charlatan!", then grab the nearest policeman (bobby) and have the driver disciplined.
It is rarely necessary to take a taxi, though, since bus drivers are required to make detours at patrons' requests. Just board any bus, pay your fare of thruppence (the heavy gold-colored coins are "pence"), and state your destination clearly to the driver, e.g.: "Please take me to the British Library." A driver will frequently try to have a bit of harmless fun by pretending he doesn't go to your requested destination. Ignore him, as he is only teasing the American tourist (little does he know you're not so ignorant!).
For those travelling on a shoestring budget, the London Tube may be the most economical way to get about, especially if you are a woman. Chivalry is alive and well in Britain, and ladies still travel for free on the Tube. Simply take some tokens from the baskets at the base of the escalators or on the platforms; you will find one near any of the state-sponsored Tube musicians. Once on the platform, though, beware! Approaching trains sometimes disturb the large Gappe bats that roost in the tunnels. The Gappes were smuggled into London in the early 19th century by French saboteurs and have proved impossible to exterminate. The announcement "Mind the Gappe!" is a signal that you should grab your hair and look towards the ceiling. Very few people have ever been killed by Gappes, though, and they are considered only a minor drawback to an otherwise excellent means of transportation.
To quote Benjamin Franklin, "What use is a new born baby?".
Throughout the history of science and mathematics the development of many technologies has started many years before in esoteric areas of research. For example: developments in number theory leading to Public Key and other Cryptography, work in sub atomic physics leading to nuclear power (and weapons), quantum physics leading to the current and future developments in microelectronics and photonics, General Relativity to GPS, etc.
The point being that no-one, not even an expert in his field is capable of predicting what will develop from some obscure area of mathematics or physics.
The fantastic advances mankind has made rest on the shoulders of those giants with the intellectual curiosity to explore new subjects, or to look at existing subjects in a new light.
The OP was voicing a sadly prevalent attitude that reflects a decline in the funding of subjects that don't show short term gains, such as the ability to kill people more efficiently. Unfortunately for the USA this is simply one more step backwards whilst developing countries elsewhere are making large steps forwards.
White LEDS are currently ~65 lm/W and will possibly soon be 150 lm/W http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-emitting_diode#Operational_parameters_and_efficiency so there is approx factor of 10 improved efficiency, so if the lamp can achieve 4W output he can match the 40W incandescent output. Even so this would require 57600J over 4 hours, which from a potential energy release from 1m would required a weight of 5000kg, so I think he fucked up his calculations or got a bit carried away.
Then the DRM will be perfect. Every audio and video source can be directly censored and you won't be able to watch the TV or listen to the radio without the correct NeuroDRM(TM) licence.
It's not exactly a mathematical proof, and the logic is flawed. Using the same argument one could 'prove' the non-existence of practically anything that is computer controlled e.g. Automatic Landing Systems, ABS, Lifts, fly-by-wire, food production lines, medical machinery etc. etc.
The corollary is that a litigious society prevents any advancement in technology that may have implications on human life. And if that situation ever comes about it is time to shoot all the lawyers.
Totally wrong.
Why don't you read the fucking article that you linked too?
FTA:
Mr Justice Burton identified nine significant errors within the former presidential candidate's documentary as he assessed whether it should be shown to school children. He agreed that Mr Gore's film was "broadly accurate" in its presentation of the causes and likely effects of climate change but said that some of the claims were wrong and had arisen in "the context of alarmism and exaggeration".
...just referring to the things that Downes alleged were errors. Burton puts quote marks around 'error' 17 more times in his judgement....Burton is not even trying to decide whether they are errors or not. So what is Burton assessing in his judgement? Well, [the relevant law] says that where political issues are involved there should be "a balanced presentation of opposing views" so Burton states that the government should make it clear when "there is a view to the contrary, i.e. (at least) the mainstream view". Burton calls these "errors or departures from the mainstream".
Burton's point is thus that the "errors" are not necessarily incorrect, just that their distance from the mainstream requires that they should be balanced in the context of the applicable law. Happy to clear that up.
So what is required is that if the film is shown in schools, it must be in the context of a balanced presentation of the arguments involved.
I'm using Excel '97 and Word '97 on my XP Pro 2.6GHz dual core and they work fine. Excel loads in an instant, most numbers seem to multiply ok (haven't tested them all but I'm sure the service packs have fixed most major errors by now). In 10 years I haven't seen a single new feature that makes a compelling reason to upgrade.
I started with Excel 2.0*, in those days every release seemed to add significant new features (and floppies) and there was always a rush to install the new version and some excitement as you discovered the new features. By Excel '97 the program was so feature rich that most users never used more than a fraction of its functionality, same goes for Word '97. Where do you go from there?
I didn't say that it was a moral war, I said it was morally justified, i.e. the US was not the original aggressor in the hot war. I do not know a great deal about the 1920s/30s build-up in the pacific theatre. However I think your argument is a little one sided against the US, Japan had big ideas about its place in the world and its superiority over other countries. Japan did not consider the US to be a significant force, but wanted to neutralise them so that it could expand at will to access the resources around the pacific rim.
Absolutely wrong. I know this is OT but I find these childish pro-US/anti-French comments very annoying.
What your ancestors did 60 years ago is irrelevant, and it is very annoying for it be continually used as a basis for your misguided brand of arrogant patriotism. In respect to the US involvement in liberating Europe you may want to consider the minor contribution of the Red Army which absolutely dwarfs the US involvement and losses.
Perhaps the main reason you are so proud of your ancestors performance 60 years ago is that it is one of the last times that the US fought a morally justified war with a satisfactory outcome. And even in WWII the US involvement was down to self-interest rather than due to any mutual protection pacts.
Wouldn't this make it possible for an attacker to lock-on to the GPS location transmission and launch a fire-and-forget SAM? A truck full of rockets could be remotely controlled to takeout every plane in its local airspace with very little effort. The security of any data transmissions for civilian use cannot be that good because the information is made available to other planes and ATCs in the locale.
I would have thought that tracking regular GPS transmission significantly simplifies steering rules for a rocket compared with IR/Active Radar/Radio triangulation tracking. The GPS information provides ground speed as well as position so it is possible to extrapolate the position between transmissions, it should be sufficient to get the device within a few hundred feet, after which terminal guidance can be achieved using heat-seeking.
I love Britain, and have visited many times; but they look like they are heading down the slow road to Hell.
I assume that you are from the US. I think perhaps you are rather further down the road to Hell than Britain, particularly with respect to violent crimes, the odd gun massacre and a disproportionate number of crazys.
Just because it is fantasy does not make it harmless, for example. Maybe you would argue that such censorship is another infraction of your civil rights. However there are some seriously sick people out there who inhabit the darker parts of the internet and who are not always capable of separating fantasy from reality. Do you think their behavior should go unchecked in order to protect your freedom? So that you can own fully-automatic machine guns and spend your evening on your PC massacring virtual prostitutes?
The point is: that you can't protect people from themselves, but I am very much in favour of protecting the rest of the population from the nutcases.
There was a
much better slide show on/. last year. The pictures and descriptions are far more detailed and the
guy actually knew what he was looking at.
Also there was much more detail on the ATE and soak testing.
Well I hope that you are not an engineer because you obviously haven't got a 'fucking' clue about the real world.
Civil engineering is to muck shifting what software engineering is to programming a VCR.
Peoples can die if you fuck up.
A tunnel under the Bering Strait is a serious proposition; get your maths wrong, make the wrong assumption, design using incompatible engineering units etc. and you will kill people. That means that you have to take a little bit of care so that you don't end up with a Spinal Tap Stonehenge. Or a Mars Climate Orbiter.
I can imagine that a tunnel being built at one end using metric units and at the other end using imperial units would be a disaster waiting to happen.
In a way. There have been some _great_ adverts for products such as Hamlet cigars, Guiness, Cinzano, Smash, Yellow pages, John Smiths etc. Some of these are classics that everyone remembers even 20 years after the advert was shown. There are also some dismal adverts, however I think that the advertisers recognize that producing a quality ad that people remember and talk about is worth the money, particularly for products where the brand is more important than the absolute quality of the product.
Slashdot Mirror
It may not be a problem for high end hardware, but lower end embedded controls with real-time clocks often use hard coded DST algorithms. For example the EU has defined standard DST dates for years in advance, these change-over dates are often hard coded into low-end devices, but with a default +1 advance. This allows a simple hardcoded table to be added to the hardware without the need for any user configuration, other than setting the initial time and date. Short sighted perhaps, but the reality is that there are huge numbers of these types of devices already installed.
There are lots of embedded controls used for time scheduling control of HVAC, Lighting and other timed automatic controls with this level of technology. I can foresee huge problems with equipment needing to be replaced or firmware upgraded if this occurs, or the need for 6 monthly manual time changes.
The problem is that there is no known naturally occurring source of antimatter
Apart from thunderstorms of course.
It may be able to accelerate forever, however the rate of acceleration will tend to zero as your velocity tends to c.
Althought the commercial stations complain about the dominance of the BBC, the fact that there are so many quality channels on the BBC (no adverts, mandate to produce quality programming) forces the commercial stations to push similar content quality in order to remain competetive.
Public taxis are subsidized by the Her Majesty's Government. A taxi ride in London costs two pounds, no matter how far you travel. If a taxi driver tries to overcharge you, you should yell "I think not, you charlatan!", then grab the nearest policeman (bobby) and have the driver disciplined.
It is rarely necessary to take a taxi, though, since bus drivers are required to make detours at patrons' requests. Just board any bus, pay your fare of thruppence (the heavy gold-colored coins are "pence"), and state your destination clearly to the driver, e.g.: "Please take me to the British Library." A driver will frequently try to have a bit of harmless fun by pretending he doesn't go to your requested destination. Ignore him, as he is only teasing the American tourist (little does he know you're not so ignorant!).
For those travelling on a shoestring budget, the London Tube may be the most economical way to get about, especially if you are a woman. Chivalry is alive and well in Britain, and ladies still travel for free on the Tube. Simply take some tokens from the baskets at the base of the escalators or on the platforms; you will find one near any of the state-sponsored Tube musicians. Once on the platform, though, beware! Approaching trains sometimes disturb the large Gappe bats that roost in the tunnels. The Gappes were smuggled into London in the early 19th century by French saboteurs and have proved impossible to exterminate. The announcement "Mind the Gappe!" is a signal that you should grab your hair and look towards the ceiling. Very few people have ever been killed by Gappes, though, and they are considered only a minor drawback to an otherwise excellent means of transportation.
I can't take credit for this advice, source
To quote Benjamin Franklin, "What use is a new born baby?".
Throughout the history of science and mathematics the development of many technologies has started many years before in esoteric areas of research. For example: developments in number theory leading to Public Key and other Cryptography, work in sub atomic physics leading to nuclear power (and weapons), quantum physics leading to the current and future developments in microelectronics and photonics, General Relativity to GPS, etc.
The point being that no-one, not even an expert in his field is capable of predicting what will develop from some obscure area of mathematics or physics.
The fantastic advances mankind has made rest on the shoulders of those giants with the intellectual curiosity to explore new subjects, or to look at existing subjects in a new light.
The OP was voicing a sadly prevalent attitude that reflects a decline in the funding of subjects that don't show short term gains, such as the ability to kill people more efficiently. Unfortunately for the USA this is simply one more step backwards whilst developing countries elsewhere are making large steps forwards.
White LEDS are currently ~65 lm/W and will possibly soon be 150 lm/W http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-emitting_diode#Operational_parameters_and_efficiency so there is approx factor of 10 improved efficiency, so if the lamp can achieve 4W output he can match the 40W incandescent output. Even so this would require 57600J over 4 hours, which from a potential energy release from 1m would required a weight of 5000kg, so I think he fucked up his calculations or got a bit carried away.
Still, don't let science get in the way of art!
Dugg up for being insightful
Then the DRM will be perfect. Every audio and video source can be directly censored and you won't be able to watch the TV or listen to the radio without the correct NeuroDRM(TM) licence.
Can't wait.
It's not exactly a mathematical proof, and the logic is flawed. Using the same argument one could 'prove' the non-existence of practically anything that is computer controlled e.g. Automatic Landing Systems, ABS, Lifts, fly-by-wire, food production lines, medical machinery etc. etc.
The corollary is that a litigious society prevents any advancement in technology that may have implications on human life. And if that situation ever comes about it is time to shoot all the lawyers.
Surely the most effective filter would be a GIMP mask?
I'm using Excel '97 and Word '97 on my XP Pro 2.6GHz dual core and they work fine. Excel loads in an instant, most numbers seem to multiply ok (haven't tested them all but I'm sure the service packs have fixed most major errors by now). In 10 years I haven't seen a single new feature that makes a compelling reason to upgrade.
I started with Excel 2.0*, in those days every release seemed to add significant new features (and floppies) and there was always a rush to install the new version and some excitement as you discovered the new features. By Excel '97 the program was so feature rich that most users never used more than a fraction of its functionality, same goes for Word '97. Where do you go from there?
(OOXML etc, I know).
*I think it was 2.0, it was 20 years ago.
Surely 'NT 4.0'
I didn't say that it was a moral war, I said it was morally justified, i.e. the US was not the original aggressor in the hot war. I do not know a great deal about the 1920s/30s build-up in the pacific theatre.
However I think your argument is a little one sided against the US, Japan had big ideas about its place in the world and its superiority over other countries. Japan did not consider the US to be a significant force, but wanted to neutralise them so that it could expand at will to access the resources around the pacific rim.
Absolutely wrong. I know this is OT but I find these childish pro-US/anti-French comments very annoying.
What your ancestors did 60 years ago is irrelevant, and it is very annoying for it be continually used as a basis for your misguided brand of arrogant patriotism. In respect to the US involvement in liberating Europe you may want to consider the minor contribution of the Red Army which absolutely dwarfs the US involvement and losses.
Perhaps the main reason you are so proud of your ancestors performance 60 years ago is that it is one of the last times that the US fought a morally justified war with a satisfactory outcome. And even in WWII the US involvement was down to self-interest rather than due to any mutual protection pacts.
Wouldn't this make it possible for an attacker to lock-on to the GPS location transmission and launch a fire-and-forget SAM? A truck full of rockets could be remotely controlled to takeout every plane in its local airspace with very little effort. The security of any data transmissions for civilian use cannot be that good because the information is made available to other planes and ATCs in the locale.
I would have thought that tracking regular GPS transmission significantly simplifies steering rules for a rocket compared with IR/Active Radar/Radio triangulation tracking. The GPS information provides ground speed as well as position so it is possible to extrapolate the position between transmissions, it should be sufficient to get the device within a few hundred feet, after which terminal guidance can be achieved using heat-seeking.
(IANAAE - I Am Not An Avionics Engineer).
You missed out the most popular option
Supreme Overload (check only ONE):
[ ] The Dark One
[ ] One Ring to Rule Them All...
[ ] The Lord of Mordor
[ ] Sauron, The Dark Lord
[x] CowboyNeal
Except for when the skilled labour tries to blow us up
I assume that you are from the US. I think perhaps you are rather further down the road to Hell than Britain, particularly with respect to violent crimes, the odd gun massacre and a disproportionate number of crazys.
Just because it is fantasy does not make it harmless, for example. Maybe you would argue that such censorship is another infraction of your civil rights. However there are some seriously sick people out there who inhabit the darker parts of the internet and who are not always capable of separating fantasy from reality. Do you think their behavior should go unchecked in order to protect your freedom? So that you can own fully-automatic machine guns and spend your evening on your PC massacring virtual prostitutes?
The point is: that you can't protect people from themselves, but I am very much in favour of protecting the rest of the population from the nutcases.
Also there was much more detail on the ATE and soak testing.
"it comes out "COMSTOCK". /obscure."
Obscure. Not on Slashdot. You must be new here.
Powerpoint 97 works fine on XP :-)
At least it will until the patch mentioned by gEvil earlier on is released.
Well I hope that you are not an engineer because you obviously haven't got a 'fucking' clue about the real world.
Civil engineering is to muck shifting what software engineering is to programming a VCR.
Peoples can die if you fuck up.
A tunnel under the Bering Strait is a serious proposition; get your maths wrong, make the wrong assumption, design using incompatible engineering units etc. and you will kill people. That means that you have to take a little bit of care so that you don't end up with a Spinal Tap Stonehenge. Or a Mars Climate Orbiter.
I can imagine that a tunnel being built at one end using metric units and at the other end using imperial units would be a disaster waiting to happen.
In a way. There have been some _great_ adverts for products such as Hamlet cigars, Guiness, Cinzano, Smash, Yellow pages, John Smiths etc. Some of these are classics that everyone remembers even 20 years after the advert was shown. There are also some dismal adverts, however I think that the advertisers recognize that producing a quality ad that people remember and talk about is worth the money, particularly for products where the brand is more important than the absolute quality of the product.