10 seconds my ass. I have a laptop with a GB of RAM. You think that betweenn POST and HDD spin-up, let alone reading off a GB of data and loading drivers that I can do anything in 10 seconds? Now suspend is only a few seconds, mostly for HDD stuff again.
I find everyone's obsession with conversion efficiencies touching
Conversion efficiencies are very important. If you have a net loss of energy over the lifespan of the product, how have you gained? Last I heard, it required more energy to produce a solar cell than you got out of it over its lifespan. The only ways to reduce that are: make them cheaper to produce; make them more efficient; or make them last longer. So yeah, looking at one of the 3 ways of making solar cells long-term beneficial is a good idea.
There are two extremes in governmental interference. No control at all, and you're at the mercy of the bullies, whether they be big business, organized crime, or social pressure (maintaining the 'status quo'). Too much control, and you're at the mercy of the government, and you may not be able to tell the difference compared to the other extreme. But there's this medium, where government does those things that individuals can't do easily, like provide a police force, and maintain infrastructure. Stray too far from that medium, and that thing we call freedom disappears.
I'm always glad to see programmers cooperating, and even occasionally competing for market share. After all, that will only bring us better products.
But you have to wonder just what we're going to get next when some of these virus writers start working together. We've already seen multiple-vector viruses, better social engineering, and greater adaptability. It's certainly going to keep the anti-virus companies on their toes.
Re:It's Open Mic Night at the Astrophysics Lounge!
on
Melting Europa
·
· Score: 1
If life exists on Europa and it's sufficiently omnipresent in the Europan biosphere that our probe lands on enough of lifeforms to detect them, then it won't matter if the probe is made out of tofu from sustainably-grown soy fields, or if it contains a nuclear bomb that detonates and vaporizes everything within 10 miles -- a Europan biosphere, like the Terran one, is big enough to take anything we're capable of throwing at it.
Yeah, you say that now, but when they look in the rubble, find the main probe (fallen from the surface when the explosion cracks it), and see a tag that says "Made in the USA" and start listening to our TV to find out where the USA is, well maybe then you'll be worried about bombing an alien race as a way of saying hi.
Yep, that sounds like a B-rated movie, doesn't it? What the hell, send the bombs.:P
Yep, noise cancellation headphones are like playing environmental sounds, but right near your ear. If you equate it to regular headphones, if you can barely hear conversations around you, they can barely hear what your headphones are playing. When the environmental noise is louder, the headphones play louder too, but it's still hard to notice due to all the environmental noise. From an outsider's perspective, they would be very quiet.
You're pretty optimistic. The article on snopes says one of the ninth-graders recognized it as water. Apparently, none of the officials did, otherwise it would have been stopped before they made complete asses of themselves.
I, OTOH, had my faith (or lack thereof) in bureaucrats confirmed.
In my computer classes, the instructors pointed out the difference between information and data a few times. Information is a collection of data presented in a useful manner. Data is a discrete fact about a given topic or item. So yes, more data may lead to more information (although that's not guaranteed). If the agencies are sharing data, more information can be presented about you.
I would have to examine their policies, but I find that most environmental groups worry more about the environment than they do about the quality of life of the average citizen. This will keep them out of the mainstream, and remove their power (currently, animals don't vote). If they're unwilling to stirke a balance between progress and the environment, they'll have to figure out how to deal with a spike in unemployment, and I don't want it to be MY job...
Although cheating like this is deplorable, it also raises the question of how this tournament is run. Don't they have officials supervising the game play? I mean, can you imagine what would happen in any other tournament if you could bend (or break) the rules?
Recently, it's true that the Liberals were involved in a scandal involving many millions of dollars of "favours" to private companies, but even these were more along the lines of fast-track bidding and not all out policy-bribery like is common in the US.
I think you'd better re-examine how bribery is done in the US. IIRC, the politicians get money from the companies, not the other way around. But what do you expect in Canada...
The Conservatives sell out to numerous corporations, opting to screw over the public in fabulous ways.
The Liberals sell out to fewer corporations, but make up for it by funnelling money to their corporate cronies. Screwing over the public is more of a side thing.
The NDP buy out all kinds of corporations (by purchasing them at prices they more or less set and making them Crown corporations). They then screw over the public by spending massive amounts on social programs, and raising taxes, leaving us well cared-for, but with no dispensible income. OTOH, they've almost never had any real power, so they'll doubtless do poorly in orchestrating any decent scandals.
I think this year I'll vote Communist. That way, ALL the corporations will be screwed over, as will the vast majority of citizens. That sounds pretty fair...
...especially since the conquest of the First Nations isn't complete.
Hell, the conquest of the French hasn't gone too well for Canada either. We took a slightly different tack than the U.S. The French got all kinds of liberties that previously-conquered peoples wouldn't have dreamed of, and the First Nations got far better treaties in Canada than their American cousins. Now we have a highly fractured country, being pulled in at least 4 different directions (French, First Nations, Eastern Canadians, and Western Canadians who are pissed off with the Eastern Canadians for kow-towing to the French and First Nations).
Remember, we had local terrorism in the '70s. That isn't so long ago.
Even if we have some cool hand-powered hardware, how are we going to use it properly?
Look down. Sonewhere down there, whether you can see them or not, are 2 extremities, powered by some of the biggest muscles in your body. I call them 'feet.'
You need the same amount (intensity) of light with a laser as you would with ordinary projection. Unless the laser is more energy efficient than the ordinary projector, you're better off with the latter.
For true energy efficiency, you'll need to go with single-wavelength light sources, whether they be LED, laser LED, or something equivalent. With the current projector technology, we will never break 33% efficiency - we filter white light through a variety of technologies (LCDs, color wheels, multiple bulbs with fixed filters) and display the remainder on the screen. But imagine a DLP projector with a few sufficiently bright single-wavelength light sources. This could very well be more energy-effieicnt than some of the existing technologies, right now. Now, how big are the main components? Hmm, LEDs, DLP chip, lenses. Think you could fit that into a matchbox-size package if you used a smaller lense? This may not rely on any new technology, just refinements of existing tech. They could have (expensive) prototypes right now.
Slashdot Mirror
..Liberty Alliance project, which so far has produced just a large amount of PDF files...
Yep, the last time we had a liberty alliance, they only produced one document. But don't worry, politicians are doing their best to take care of it.
He missed one point: making MS the repository of all your personal data. That role is left to .NET Passport.
Until Longhorn, anyways...
If it's displayed on a screen, couldn't it technically be called "graphical"?
So a hardcopy of Playboy isn't graphical? Let me guess, you read the articles...
Clearly, you've never been to Saskatchewan.
10 seconds my ass. I have a laptop with a GB of RAM. You think that betweenn POST and HDD spin-up, let alone reading off a GB of data and loading drivers that I can do anything in 10 seconds? Now suspend is only a few seconds, mostly for HDD stuff again.
What the hell would you want to cool the sun for?
So you can overclock it?
I find everyone's obsession with conversion efficiencies touching
Conversion efficiencies are very important. If you have a net loss of energy over the lifespan of the product, how have you gained? Last I heard, it required more energy to produce a solar cell than you got out of it over its lifespan. The only ways to reduce that are: make them cheaper to produce; make them more efficient; or make them last longer. So yeah, looking at one of the 3 ways of making solar cells long-term beneficial is a good idea.
Hmm, would that be Columbia, or Cuba?
There are two extremes in governmental interference. No control at all, and you're at the mercy of the bullies, whether they be big business, organized crime, or social pressure (maintaining the 'status quo'). Too much control, and you're at the mercy of the government, and you may not be able to tell the difference compared to the other extreme. But there's this medium, where government does those things that individuals can't do easily, like provide a police force, and maintain infrastructure. Stray too far from that medium, and that thing we call freedom disappears.
That's kind of ironic. Before 9/11, I would have been interested in moving to the U.S.
I'm always glad to see programmers cooperating, and even occasionally competing for market share. After all, that will only bring us better products.
But you have to wonder just what we're going to get next when some of these virus writers start working together. We've already seen multiple-vector viruses, better social engineering, and greater adaptability. It's certainly going to keep the anti-virus companies on their toes.
Data are discrete facts.
[/dead_horse_flogging]
If life exists on Europa and it's sufficiently omnipresent in the Europan biosphere that our probe lands on enough of lifeforms to detect them, then it won't matter if the probe is made out of tofu from sustainably-grown soy fields, or if it contains a nuclear bomb that detonates and vaporizes everything within 10 miles -- a Europan biosphere, like the Terran one, is big enough to take anything we're capable of throwing at it.
:P
Yeah, you say that now, but when they look in the rubble, find the main probe (fallen from the surface when the explosion cracks it), and see a tag that says "Made in the USA" and start listening to our TV to find out where the USA is, well maybe then you'll be worried about bombing an alien race as a way of saying hi.
Yep, that sounds like a B-rated movie, doesn't it? What the hell, send the bombs.
Yep, noise cancellation headphones are like playing environmental sounds, but right near your ear. If you equate it to regular headphones, if you can barely hear conversations around you, they can barely hear what your headphones are playing. When the environmental noise is louder, the headphones play louder too, but it's still hard to notice due to all the environmental noise. From an outsider's perspective, they would be very quiet.
You're pretty optimistic. The article on snopes says one of the ninth-graders recognized it as water. Apparently, none of the officials did, otherwise it would have been stopped before they made complete asses of themselves.
I, OTOH, had my faith (or lack thereof) in bureaucrats confirmed.
In my computer classes, the instructors pointed out the difference between information and data a few times. Information is a collection of data presented in a useful manner. Data is a discrete fact about a given topic or item. So yes, more data may lead to more information (although that's not guaranteed). If the agencies are sharing data, more information can be presented about you.
I would have to examine their policies, but I find that most environmental groups worry more about the environment than they do about the quality of life of the average citizen. This will keep them out of the mainstream, and remove their power (currently, animals don't vote). If they're unwilling to stirke a balance between progress and the environment, they'll have to figure out how to deal with a spike in unemployment, and I don't want it to be MY job...
Although cheating like this is deplorable, it also raises the question of how this tournament is run. Don't they have officials supervising the game play? I mean, can you imagine what would happen in any other tournament if you could bend (or break) the rules?
Recently, it's true that the Liberals were involved in a scandal involving many millions of dollars of "favours" to private companies, but even these were more along the lines of fast-track bidding and not all out policy-bribery like is common in the US.
I think you'd better re-examine how bribery is done in the US. IIRC, the politicians get money from the companies, not the other way around. But what do you expect in Canada...
Yes, but this bears clarification.
The Conservatives sell out to numerous corporations, opting to screw over the public in fabulous ways.
The Liberals sell out to fewer corporations, but make up for it by funnelling money to their corporate cronies. Screwing over the public is more of a side thing.
The NDP buy out all kinds of corporations (by purchasing them at prices they more or less set and making them Crown corporations). They then screw over the public by spending massive amounts on social programs, and raising taxes, leaving us well cared-for, but with no dispensible income. OTOH, they've almost never had any real power, so they'll doubtless do poorly in orchestrating any decent scandals.
I think this year I'll vote Communist. That way, ALL the corporations will be screwed over, as will the vast majority of citizens. That sounds pretty fair...
...especially since the conquest of the First Nations isn't complete.
Hell, the conquest of the French hasn't gone too well for Canada either. We took a slightly different tack than the U.S. The French got all kinds of liberties that previously-conquered peoples wouldn't have dreamed of, and the First Nations got far better treaties in Canada than their American cousins. Now we have a highly fractured country, being pulled in at least 4 different directions (French, First Nations, Eastern Canadians, and Western Canadians who are pissed off with the Eastern Canadians for kow-towing to the French and First Nations).
Remember, we had local terrorism in the '70s. That isn't so long ago.
While most have settled regarding past offences, I'm sure that this settlement doesn't cover future offences.
Yep, even the church got out of selling indulgences a century or three ago. But these days, nothing would surprise me.
Yep, I agree, Kurt is pretty fucked up. So what are you saying, that we should put a chip in him?
Yep, that's one definition of self-centred bastard...
Even if we have some cool hand-powered hardware, how are we going to use it properly?
Look down. Sonewhere down there, whether you can see them or not, are 2 extremities, powered by some of the biggest muscles in your body. I call them 'feet.'
You need the same amount (intensity) of light with a laser as you would with ordinary projection. Unless the laser is more energy efficient than the ordinary projector, you're better off with the latter.
For true energy efficiency, you'll need to go with single-wavelength light sources, whether they be LED, laser LED, or something equivalent. With the current projector technology, we will never break 33% efficiency - we filter white light through a variety of technologies (LCDs, color wheels, multiple bulbs with fixed filters) and display the remainder on the screen. But imagine a DLP projector with a few sufficiently bright single-wavelength light sources. This could very well be more energy-effieicnt than some of the existing technologies, right now. Now, how big are the main components? Hmm, LEDs, DLP chip, lenses. Think you could fit that into a matchbox-size package if you used a smaller lense? This may not rely on any new technology, just refinements of existing tech. They could have (expensive) prototypes right now.