Of course there's resistive force. It's called gravity and most people, when they think about space travel, vastly underestimate it's strength.
Do not forget for one instant that your solar-sailship is in orbit around something. You aren't using your solar sail to overcome the sun's gravity and drift off into the outer reaches of the solar system... there's a term what happens when a star is generating enough radiation pressure to overcome its own gravity: a supernova. Travel by solar sail (and any other modern propulsion system) is based on giving a gentle nudge to your orbit so that eventually you swing by where you want to be.
Peter Molyneux talks about the game he'd like to make, not the game that is released; so if you want to enjoy this game, stop reading about Fable 3 now. Peter Molyneux gets excited and starts talking about all the features he wants to include... and then 18 months later after reality has forced a lot of compromises, gamers are disappointed. This isn't to say that he makes bad games... I've played Fable and Fable 2, and enjoyed both. They're certainly a lot more original than most of the shovelware produced these days, and I consider them to be upper tier. But the key is not to play them with unrealistic expectations.
So don't read about Fable 3. The game will be good, so long as you don't expect it to be the Best Game in the Universe, as Molyneux often makes his games out to be.
Seriously, this is the stupidest article I've seen on slashdot in a while. I tried on IE8 on this computer and it sends me to a google search. Oh noes!!! Google and Microsoft have teamed up to hijack NXDOMAIN!
No, IE is just sending you to your default search engine. If you never use IE you probably never changed its default selection of bing/live search. And this isn't NXDOMAIN hijacking! This is an application interpreting an NXDOMAIN response and acting on it in a sensible way.... the kind of behavior that NXDOMAIN hijacking breaks. Seriously, this is a fucking stupid post.
It's not hard to estimate at all. Gasoline, electricity... it's all energy. At today's prices, you're paying about $0.25/kWh* of useful energy in the form of gasoline. Electricity is in the range of $0.05/kWh to $0.10/kWh, potentially less if you take advantage of off-peak rates.
This is the most ridiculous comment I've read in a long time. The problem, as you see it, is a group of greedy amoral bastards. So your solution is solidarity with a group of immoral sociopaths? While you're at it, why don't you invite a few rapists and serial killers too.
That's a horribly misleading summary. Quantum computation is plagued with error... the same thing occurs in classical scenarios but we have error correction schemes to deal with that (for example, error correcting codes). Analagously there's quantum error correction which lets you recover your quantum information after corruption, however previously it was fairly limited in capability. The new research is a way to improve quantum error correction, so that the original information is recoverable after much more substantial corruption than was possible before.
Typically with these searches you know the answer you want, and you're interested in which input gives you that answer (the inverse problem). An important caveat about Grover's algorithm is that, while it's significantly faster than classical unordered search, it's still non-polynomial.
To truly understand a quantum computer you need a fairly strong understanding of linear algebra, although knowing quantum mechanics isn't actually necessary. I'll repost an explanation I wrote for another site:
Not 100% accurate, but here's a rough way to understand a quantum computer: If you've ever heard of the concept that whenever there's some chance, the universe 'splits' and both events occur, that's what's going on. When the quantum computer makes a qubit 1 and 0 at the same time, it basically uses a truly random event to determine which value the bit will be. The universe 'splits' and down one path there is a 1, and down the other there is a 0. Except the quantum computer 'splits' the universe in such a way that the two universes can interact with each other. It is even possible to have the quantum computer compute something on every input at once and then search through all the different universes to find an answer; this is known as Gover's algorithm.
The critical part is coherence: making sure that the only difference between the different universes is inside the quantum computer itself. So long as coherence is maintained, the universes can merge back together and all you're left with is the right answer (99.99999% of the time). If coherence isn't maintained then the universes can't remerge, and you don't get a correct answer. Decoherence is actually extremely hard to deal with, and the biggest engineering challenge in designing a quantum computer.
That's actually a pretty cool idea. You've just eliminated the shift and capslock keys. You could probably eliminate other function keys too with other clever combinations + pressures. That would be fantastic for a tiny netbook.
You realise, of course, that without taking extra steps of reconfiguring your BIOS or installing grub or some other bootloader, you need BOTH hard drives to boot anyway? BIOS will be looking for the bootloader in the MBR of the first drive.
If you RTFA, it says the app wasn't approved until the 'objectionable' words were removed from the dictionary. And then it was slapped with a 17+. But I'm a charitable fellow, so I'll give Apple the benefit of the doubt and assume that the 17+ rating was a dadaist statement on literacy and education in 21st century America.
DHCP also delivers primary and secondary DNS server IP addresses. They probably have a secondary set of DNS servers which generates NXDOMAIN correctly, and when you opt out it sends your computer to those DNS servers instead.
Most responsible security researchers give developers an opportunity to fix and deploy patches to security flaws, before disclosing that kind of information.
Someone will undoubtedly say that the bug being found was part of the process, since it's open source and that means the source is auditable by anybody. Reality: it was discovered by the maker of a fuzzing tool. Fuzzing is the process of sending garbage into software to see if it breaks... it works quite well and generally doesn't require the source code.
Also, fuzzing discovers DoSes. But many DoS attacks turn into vulnerabilities in the hands of a skilled hacker, and it's generally not safe to assume that a DoS is unexploitable without extensive code analysis.
It's also scientifically sound, if somewhat creepy. It's called quantum suicide. The LHC seems to break everytime they turn it on, since in every 'universe' that it works successfully, there is nobody alive to see it functioning. However, it was also theorized a few years ago that a naked Higgs boson is impossible, and if a functioning LHC can produce a Higgs boson, then any universe in which the LHC functions is wiped out. Thus, the LHC never works correctly.
Of course there is no experimental way of determining whether either of these outcomes are true, but they're both potential consequences of MWI.
I clicked your link... The kid was struck crossing a busy, unlit road at night, by a car coming around a blind corner. Sounds like tragic accident to me. If anybody is to blame it's the kid's parents for letting him out at night on a bike, without proper safety instruction.
So what's your point? That we should be punishing people severely for things they have no control over? I presume you believe the punishment for violating the DMCA to be disproportionate, but you picked a poor example.
The quote usually given is 'Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power,' not socialism. However as you point out, there is no evidence that he ever made that statement. However, is we presume he did, the important thing to remember is that Mussolini understood what corporatism meant. It does not mean rule by large corporations, in the modern western sense. The 'corporations' referenced by corporatism does include business groups, but also includes trade unions and guilds, military organizations, religious groups, farming lobbies, etc... The idea being that strong government power would be delegated to these groups within their own perspective field of interest, and government itself would be responsible for keeping them from each others' throats, like a pack of rabid dogs.
While MS was offering an XP N edition in the EU, they also offered the normal version for sale. Everybody chose to buy the normal version rather than the N version. They weren't going to sell both versions of Win7 in the EU, so there wouldn't be the opportunity for people to chose the with-IE version, as there was with XP N and Windows Media Player.
Safari does have a substantial amount of usage, but I would presume the vast majority of that comes from Mac users. I don't actually know of anybody who uses Safari on Windows as their regular browser. But the rule the EU wants them to implement isn't 'marketshare on Windows,' it's top 5 overall marketshare.
Slashdot Mirror
Of course there's resistive force. It's called gravity and most people, when they think about space travel, vastly underestimate it's strength.
Do not forget for one instant that your solar-sailship is in orbit around something. You aren't using your solar sail to overcome the sun's gravity and drift off into the outer reaches of the solar system... there's a term what happens when a star is generating enough radiation pressure to overcome its own gravity: a supernova. Travel by solar sail (and any other modern propulsion system) is based on giving a gentle nudge to your orbit so that eventually you swing by where you want to be.
Peter Molyneux talks about the game he'd like to make, not the game that is released; so if you want to enjoy this game, stop reading about Fable 3 now. Peter Molyneux gets excited and starts talking about all the features he wants to include... and then 18 months later after reality has forced a lot of compromises, gamers are disappointed. This isn't to say that he makes bad games... I've played Fable and Fable 2, and enjoyed both. They're certainly a lot more original than most of the shovelware produced these days, and I consider them to be upper tier. But the key is not to play them with unrealistic expectations. So don't read about Fable 3. The game will be good, so long as you don't expect it to be the Best Game in the Universe, as Molyneux often makes his games out to be.
And you forgot the internal resistance of the voltage source.
Seriously, this is the stupidest article I've seen on slashdot in a while. I tried on IE8 on this computer and it sends me to a google search. Oh noes!!! Google and Microsoft have teamed up to hijack NXDOMAIN!
No, IE is just sending you to your default search engine. If you never use IE you probably never changed its default selection of bing/live search. And this isn't NXDOMAIN hijacking! This is an application interpreting an NXDOMAIN response and acting on it in a sensible way.... the kind of behavior that NXDOMAIN hijacking breaks. Seriously, this is a fucking stupid post.
It's not hard to estimate at all. Gasoline, electricity... it's all energy. At today's prices, you're paying about $0.25/kWh* of useful energy in the form of gasoline. Electricity is in the range of $0.05/kWh to $0.10/kWh, potentially less if you take advantage of off-peak rates.
* http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=(price+of+gasoline+in+America)%2F(30%25+*+13kwh%2Fkg+*+gasoline+density+in+kwh%2Fgal)
This is the most ridiculous comment I've read in a long time. The problem, as you see it, is a group of greedy amoral bastards. So your solution is solidarity with a group of immoral sociopaths? While you're at it, why don't you invite a few rapists and serial killers too.
It's not just his parents. It's all of society that enables these kinds of folk. Back in the day we'd just leave them for the wolves.
That's a horribly misleading summary. Quantum computation is plagued with error... the same thing occurs in classical scenarios but we have error correction schemes to deal with that (for example, error correcting codes). Analagously there's quantum error correction which lets you recover your quantum information after corruption, however previously it was fairly limited in capability. The new research is a way to improve quantum error correction, so that the original information is recoverable after much more substantial corruption than was possible before.
Typically with these searches you know the answer you want, and you're interested in which input gives you that answer (the inverse problem). An important caveat about Grover's algorithm is that, while it's significantly faster than classical unordered search, it's still non-polynomial.
Or your forehead!
To truly understand a quantum computer you need a fairly strong understanding of linear algebra, although knowing quantum mechanics isn't actually necessary. I'll repost an explanation I wrote for another site:
Not 100% accurate, but here's a rough way to understand a quantum computer: If you've ever heard of the concept that whenever there's some chance, the universe 'splits' and both events occur, that's what's going on. When the quantum computer makes a qubit 1 and 0 at the same time, it basically uses a truly random event to determine which value the bit will be. The universe 'splits' and down one path there is a 1, and down the other there is a 0. Except the quantum computer 'splits' the universe in such a way that the two universes can interact with each other. It is even possible to have the quantum computer compute something on every input at once and then search through all the different universes to find an answer; this is known as Gover's algorithm.
The critical part is coherence: making sure that the only difference between the different universes is inside the quantum computer itself. So long as coherence is maintained, the universes can merge back together and all you're left with is the right answer (99.99999% of the time). If coherence isn't maintained then the universes can't remerge, and you don't get a correct answer. Decoherence is actually extremely hard to deal with, and the biggest engineering challenge in designing a quantum computer.
That's actually a pretty cool idea. You've just eliminated the shift and capslock keys. You could probably eliminate other function keys too with other clever combinations + pressures. That would be fantastic for a tiny netbook.
Bravo
Well, here's the outrage from when Microsoft slipped the .NET Framework Assistant into Firefox without asking. Adjust your outrage accordingly...
You realise, of course, that without taking extra steps of reconfiguring your BIOS or installing grub or some other bootloader, you need BOTH hard drives to boot anyway? BIOS will be looking for the bootloader in the MBR of the first drive.
C-C-C-C-C-C-COMBO UPDATER
If you RTFA, it says the app wasn't approved until the 'objectionable' words were removed from the dictionary. And then it was slapped with a 17+. But I'm a charitable fellow, so I'll give Apple the benefit of the doubt and assume that the 17+ rating was a dadaist statement on literacy and education in 21st century America.
DHCP also delivers primary and secondary DNS server IP addresses. They probably have a secondary set of DNS servers which generates NXDOMAIN correctly, and when you opt out it sends your computer to those DNS servers instead.
Most responsible security researchers give developers an opportunity to fix and deploy patches to security flaws, before disclosing that kind of information.
Someone will undoubtedly say that the bug being found was part of the process, since it's open source and that means the source is auditable by anybody. Reality: it was discovered by the maker of a fuzzing tool. Fuzzing is the process of sending garbage into software to see if it breaks... it works quite well and generally doesn't require the source code.
Also, fuzzing discovers DoSes. But many DoS attacks turn into vulnerabilities in the hands of a skilled hacker, and it's generally not safe to assume that a DoS is unexploitable without extensive code analysis.
It's also scientifically sound, if somewhat creepy. It's called quantum suicide. The LHC seems to break everytime they turn it on, since in every 'universe' that it works successfully, there is nobody alive to see it functioning. However, it was also theorized a few years ago that a naked Higgs boson is impossible, and if a functioning LHC can produce a Higgs boson, then any universe in which the LHC functions is wiped out. Thus, the LHC never works correctly. Of course there is no experimental way of determining whether either of these outcomes are true, but they're both potential consequences of MWI.
I clicked your link... The kid was struck crossing a busy, unlit road at night, by a car coming around a blind corner. Sounds like tragic accident to me. If anybody is to blame it's the kid's parents for letting him out at night on a bike, without proper safety instruction.
So what's your point? That we should be punishing people severely for things they have no control over? I presume you believe the punishment for violating the DMCA to be disproportionate, but you picked a poor example.
The quote usually given is 'Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power,' not socialism. However as you point out, there is no evidence that he ever made that statement. However, is we presume he did, the important thing to remember is that Mussolini understood what corporatism meant. It does not mean rule by large corporations, in the modern western sense. The 'corporations' referenced by corporatism does include business groups, but also includes trade unions and guilds, military organizations, religious groups, farming lobbies, etc... The idea being that strong government power would be delegated to these groups within their own perspective field of interest, and government itself would be responsible for keeping them from each others' throats, like a pack of rabid dogs.
While MS was offering an XP N edition in the EU, they also offered the normal version for sale. Everybody chose to buy the normal version rather than the N version. They weren't going to sell both versions of Win7 in the EU, so there wouldn't be the opportunity for people to chose the with-IE version, as there was with XP N and Windows Media Player.
Safari does have a substantial amount of usage, but I would presume the vast majority of that comes from Mac users. I don't actually know of anybody who uses Safari on Windows as their regular browser. But the rule the EU wants them to implement isn't 'marketshare on Windows,' it's top 5 overall marketshare.