It doesn't take years if the flux is high enough and the components are sensitive. Direct neutron damage really can be a problem for electronics.
You are definitely right about all the high energy secondary particles. They cause a whole heap of problems for electronics (including signal spikes etc).
My point really was that there's nothing special about the interaction between radiation and biological intitities (as the original poster was implying). Neutron radiation (including secondary effects) will damage non-biological materials just as well as biological.
In this case the "radiation" is the emission of high-energy neutron particles. Neutrons will run into anything *... and when they do, they transfer a ton of their energy into whatever they hit... causing "damage cascades" as atoms get tossed around (Wikipedia has a decent animation here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... ).
That atom-scale damage adds up after a while... causing material failure... regardless of the type of material.
For instance, inside of a reactor all of the steel holding all of the fuel in place is constantly bombarded... leading to all sorts of effects like radiation induced swelling and embrittlement.
In humans the primary issue is when those neutrons hit DNA / cells and damage them. It actually happens to us all day long from radiation around us... but our bodies can deal with a certain amount. Too much damage though... and your body can't cope any more.
In robots / electronics the issue is much the same. The neutrons run into _everything_ and degrade it. More sensitive pieces (like camera sensors) will degrade rather quickly while larger components (like structural steel) will most likely be fine for long periods of time.
* The probability that a neutron will hit a certain type of atom is called a "cross section" (XS) and is an _extremely_ well studied phenomenon. You can look at some here: https://www.nndc.bnl.gov/sigma... for instance, this is the probability for a neutron running into Hydrogen: https://www.nndc.bnl.gov/sigma...
I personally don't like the idea of any water coming up from the _toilet_ onto me. How clean are the spray nozzles? How well maintained is the tubing running to the spray nozzles?
No: I'll settle for wiping off what I can... and doing my own proper cleaning that evening in the shower with soap.
I didn't vote for Trump... but I'm tired of seeing this drivel on Slashdot.
I've been here a LONG time (~15 years). I've seen tons of _crap_ come through this site in that time... but this stupid political stuff takes the absolute cake.
This is supposed to be a damn technology site! I come here to get away from the normal news cycle and talk about technology with others who are interested in it.
I hate to give it up... but I'm out for now. I'm sure I'll check back in a few months... but maybe not.
Bye guys, it's been fun (mostly).
(Cue people telling me I won't be missed... which I won't be)
Not when typing - but when going after an F-key... yeah, most of the time. I have some muscle memory for the F-keys I use most (F8 is a "compile" button for me in Emacs... hit that one a LOT)... but even then I usually glance down to make sure I'm hitting the right one.
You have perfect muscle memory for all of the F-keys?
Like I said: I guarantee you there will be a utility for placing a "permanent" button anywhere you want on the touch bar. One that never changes no matter what you're doing. There are going to be hundreds of utilities for controlling this thing (just like there are for everything else in OSX).
And - if that fails - I agree with the Anonymous poster: there will be a way to force the touch bar to always display the F-keys...
16 _GB_ is plenty to run VMs. I run Linux and Windows VMs just fine on my 16GB MBP.
You'll be able to to configure the touch bar however you want. There will be _thousands_ of utility apps for changing it to do whatever you want. I guarantee you that you can force it to _always_ display an ESC key if that's what you so desire.
You will definitely be able to tell it to show an ESC key in VMware, X, Termina, etc.
> I'm using ALL of the functional keys all the time. In particular, F1 is a shortcut to bring up iTerm which I'm using in ALL contexts. So now it'll become impossible.
No. Now it means you'll be able to put a little "button" called "iTerm" where F1 currently is so that it's even easier to recognize that that's what the button does...
I also use all of my F keys... have each one mapped to a specific task in Emacs. I'm looking forward to making them actually say what they do (and be context sensitive... they may even change depending on _exactly_ what I'm doing in Emacs) in the Touch Bar.
Why is everyone always so damn negative these days?
Whatever that means. I'm a computational science researcher with ~70 publication, ~800 citations, an R&D 100 award and an award from President Obama for my work.
I'm pretty sure I use my equipment "professionally"... and am not bothered in the slightest by the removal of the SDCard reader...
Why do people think _they_ are the only professionals?
What "professional" feature is being lost here? The SD-Card reader? Because, arguably, it is _gaining_ features many professionals want: higher speed external connections.
For myself: I'm a professional. I develop high-performance, massively-parallel, multiphysics simulation code that runs on supercomputers. I do not care much at all about any of the external connection capability of my laptop (SD-Card, USB-A, etc.).
The new MBP will still be a very professional machine for me as long as it is powerful and fast.
In addition to the other answers... Monoprice has a great selection of USB-C "hubs" that sport all kinds of other connections: http://www.monoprice.com/searc...
If you can afford a $2000 computer... then you can buy an adapter for each one of your old peripherals and leave it there.
But seriously... what do you plug into your machine?
Any _actual_ Mac user is most likely using a wireless keyboard and wireless mouse/trackpad if they're using any peripherals at all. We're not talking about some shitty Wintel laptop with a crappy trackpad here... where you are basically forced to use a mouse just to use the machine. The trackpads on Macs are awesome...
_Maybe_ an external HD... maybe.
This is actually a good question for a Slashdot poll... I'm honestly interested in how many people are actually still using a USB-A peripheral on a daily basis with their laptops.
1. Laptops come with built-in mice called trackpads. In Apple's case those trackpads are awesome and I guarantee you that 99% of people are using them. 2. Your "average" user never plugs anything into their laptop other than power... ever. My wife has literally _never_ plugged a single other thing other than power into her Macbook Air... and I suspect she never will. 3. There are already USB-C thumb-drives... many of them even have dual adapters built in (USB-C and USB-A). They aren't even expensive. This will be a non-issue. 4. Who uses "thumb-drives" anyway? File transfer is all done using Dropbox (or equivalent) or email. 5. The mice and keyboards Apple sells are generally wireless and won't have any issues with this change. Most other peripheral companies also make wireless keyboards and mice that will still work fine. "$300 proprietary mouse"? What are you smoking? 6. Even an actual USB-C _wired_ mouse (shudder) is only ~$10... 7. USB-C to USB-A adapters are $5-$6 for people who really need them.
I love how people love to invent apocalypses when Apple changes things. They always forget that normal people (non-technical people) "just use the machine the way it is" and won't be impacted by any of this.
Not sure why everyone loves Slack. I use it for one of my teams... the other uses Gitter.
Overall Gitter is much nicer. Direct integration with GitHub by default and wonderful Markdown integration. You can even put Latex right into the chat window!
Also, we like how you can have public rooms mixed with private rooms... something that's basically not possible with Slack.
Will be interesting to see how Facebook@Work stacks up...
I don't understand the problem myself. Without Uber you wouldn't have had a ride at all. If you don't like the pricing try waiting for a taxi or use another service.
Repeat after me: Uber is NOT run by the government... that's both what makes it good... AND what leads to scenarios like this. You can't have the good (low fares, clean cars, drivers that give a shit) without allowing them to work with the free market (supply / demand).
Slashdot Mirror
If you use a cable modem... having coax throughout the house will allow you to choose where the cable modem resides.
Also: even Verizon FIOS piggy-backs on Coaxial in your house to allow you to put the router wherever you want.
Coax is still important... even to cord cutters. Why remove something that's potentially useful?
It doesn't take years if the flux is high enough and the components are sensitive. Direct neutron damage really can be a problem for electronics.
You are definitely right about all the high energy secondary particles. They cause a whole heap of problems for electronics (including signal spikes etc).
My point really was that there's nothing special about the interaction between radiation and biological intitities (as the original poster was implying). Neutron radiation (including secondary effects) will damage non-biological materials just as well as biological.
In this case the "radiation" is the emission of high-energy neutron particles. Neutrons will run into anything *... and when they do, they transfer a ton of their energy into whatever they hit... causing "damage cascades" as atoms get tossed around (Wikipedia has a decent animation here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... ).
That atom-scale damage adds up after a while... causing material failure... regardless of the type of material.
For instance, inside of a reactor all of the steel holding all of the fuel in place is constantly bombarded... leading to all sorts of effects like radiation induced swelling and embrittlement.
In humans the primary issue is when those neutrons hit DNA / cells and damage them. It actually happens to us all day long from radiation around us... but our bodies can deal with a certain amount. Too much damage though... and your body can't cope any more.
In robots / electronics the issue is much the same. The neutrons run into _everything_ and degrade it. More sensitive pieces (like camera sensors) will degrade rather quickly while larger components (like structural steel) will most likely be fine for long periods of time.
* The probability that a neutron will hit a certain type of atom is called a "cross section" (XS) and is an _extremely_ well studied phenomenon. You can look at some here: https://www.nndc.bnl.gov/sigma... for instance, this is the probability for a neutron running into Hydrogen: https://www.nndc.bnl.gov/sigma...
I personally don't like the idea of any water coming up from the _toilet_ onto me. How clean are the spray nozzles? How well maintained is the tubing running to the spray nozzles?
No: I'll settle for wiping off what I can... and doing my own proper cleaning that evening in the shower with soap.
I didn't vote for Trump... but I'm tired of seeing this drivel on Slashdot.
I've been here a LONG time (~15 years). I've seen tons of _crap_ come through this site in that time... but this stupid political stuff takes the absolute cake.
This is supposed to be a damn technology site! I come here to get away from the normal news cycle and talk about technology with others who are interested in it.
I hate to give it up... but I'm out for now. I'm sure I'll check back in a few months... but maybe not.
Bye guys, it's been fun (mostly).
(Cue people telling me I won't be missed... which I won't be)
Well said. Matches my feelings as well.
Works perfectly for me.
Tested in Safari, XCode and TextEdit
However, I never use that because I'm always in Emacs and "ctrl+space" - "ctrl+e" is the business ;-)
Not when typing - but when going after an F-key... yeah, most of the time. I have some muscle memory for the F-keys I use most (F8 is a "compile" button for me in Emacs... hit that one a LOT)... but even then I usually glance down to make sure I'm hitting the right one.
You have perfect muscle memory for all of the F-keys?
I do get it.
Like I said: I guarantee you there will be a utility for placing a "permanent" button anywhere you want on the touch bar. One that never changes no matter what you're doing. There are going to be hundreds of utilities for controlling this thing (just like there are for everything else in OSX).
And - if that fails - I agree with the Anonymous poster: there will be a way to force the touch bar to always display the F-keys...
It's going to be fine.
16 _GB_ is plenty to run VMs. I run Linux and Windows VMs just fine on my 16GB MBP.
You'll be able to to configure the touch bar however you want. There will be _thousands_ of utility apps for changing it to do whatever you want. I guarantee you that you can force it to _always_ display an ESC key if that's what you so desire.
You will definitely be able to tell it to show an ESC key in VMware, X, Termina, etc.
> I'm using ALL of the functional keys all the time. In particular, F1 is a shortcut to bring up iTerm which I'm using in ALL contexts. So now it'll become impossible.
No. Now it means you'll be able to put a little "button" called "iTerm" where F1 currently is so that it's even easier to recognize that that's what the button does...
I also use all of my F keys... have each one mapped to a specific task in Emacs. I'm looking forward to making them actually say what they do (and be context sensitive... they may even change depending on _exactly_ what I'm doing in Emacs) in the Touch Bar.
Why is everyone always so damn negative these days?
Whatever that means. I'm a computational science researcher with ~70 publication, ~800 citations, an R&D 100 award and an award from President Obama for my work.
I'm pretty sure I use my equipment "professionally"... and am not bothered in the slightest by the removal of the SDCard reader...
Why do people think _they_ are the only professionals?
What "professional" feature is being lost here? The SD-Card reader? Because, arguably, it is _gaining_ features many professionals want: higher speed external connections.
For myself: I'm a professional. I develop high-performance, massively-parallel, multiphysics simulation code that runs on supercomputers. I do not care much at all about any of the external connection capability of my laptop (SD-Card, USB-A, etc.).
The new MBP will still be a very professional machine for me as long as it is powerful and fast.
Nope.
USB-C to USB-A adapters are ~$5 on Amazon. Try again.
The screen will be removed soon... and replaced by contact lenses: http://appleinsider.com/articl...
In addition to the other answers... Monoprice has a great selection of USB-C "hubs" that sport all kinds of other connections: http://www.monoprice.com/searc...
Try $25: http://www.apple.com/shop/prod...
USB-C to USB-A adapters are like $5 on Amazon if you _really_ need one.
Seriously... this is MUCH ado about absolutely nothing.
Flash drives aren't a problem either... plenty of USB-C flash drives for cheap on Amazon... many of them also sport dual connectors (USB-C and USB-A).
Also: "Flash Drives" are soooo 2000's of you... just use Dropbox... ;-)
The adapters are ~$5.
If you can afford a $2000 computer... then you can buy an adapter for each one of your old peripherals and leave it there.
But seriously... what do you plug into your machine?
Any _actual_ Mac user is most likely using a wireless keyboard and wireless mouse/trackpad if they're using any peripherals at all. We're not talking about some shitty Wintel laptop with a crappy trackpad here... where you are basically forced to use a mouse just to use the machine. The trackpads on Macs are awesome...
_Maybe_ an external HD... maybe.
This is actually a good question for a Slashdot poll... I'm honestly interested in how many people are actually still using a USB-A peripheral on a daily basis with their laptops.
For your printer: ($5 USB-C to USB-B) http://www.monoprice.com/produ...
For your iPhone: ($25 from Apple USB-C to Lightning)
http://www.apple.com/shop/prod...
1. Laptops come with built-in mice called trackpads. In Apple's case those trackpads are awesome and I guarantee you that 99% of people are using them.
2. Your "average" user never plugs anything into their laptop other than power... ever. My wife has literally _never_ plugged a single other thing other than power into her Macbook Air... and I suspect she never will.
3. There are already USB-C thumb-drives... many of them even have dual adapters built in (USB-C and USB-A). They aren't even expensive. This will be a non-issue.
4. Who uses "thumb-drives" anyway? File transfer is all done using Dropbox (or equivalent) or email.
5. The mice and keyboards Apple sells are generally wireless and won't have any issues with this change. Most other peripheral companies also make wireless keyboards and mice that will still work fine. "$300 proprietary mouse"? What are you smoking?
6. Even an actual USB-C _wired_ mouse (shudder) is only ~$10...
7. USB-C to USB-A adapters are $5-$6 for people who really need them.
I love how people love to invent apocalypses when Apple changes things. They always forget that normal people (non-technical people) "just use the machine the way it is" and won't be impacted by any of this.
The current rumors are for 4 USB-C ports and at least one Thunderbolt (and even possibly a Lightning port for headphones).
We're just going to have to wait and see what's announced...
Not sure why everyone loves Slack. I use it for one of my teams... the other uses Gitter.
Overall Gitter is much nicer. Direct integration with GitHub by default and wonderful Markdown integration. You can even put Latex right into the chat window!
Also, we like how you can have public rooms mixed with private rooms... something that's basically not possible with Slack.
Will be interesting to see how Facebook@Work stacks up...
Exactly.
I don't understand the problem myself. Without Uber you wouldn't have had a ride at all. If you don't like the pricing try waiting for a taxi or use another service.
Repeat after me: Uber is NOT run by the government... that's both what makes it good... AND what leads to scenarios like this. You can't have the good (low fares, clean cars, drivers that give a shit) without allowing them to work with the free market (supply / demand).