Miniature thermogenerators can exploit the few degrees of difference between the outside temperature of the human body and the surrounding air by converting the heat into electrical energy, Dr. Weber explains.
This one got me thinking... There must be a way to create an wearable air conditioner with this. Please Gods, let there be one! To use my very own body heat against itself to cool me!
Ok, thinking about it... could a fabric like that work when the temperature is the same as body temperature?
How would it work? Miniature compressors all over your body? It would be very rude to walk in to a hot room spewing heat, of course.
Probably a pipe dream. What do I know. Just s programmer. Probably couldn't generate enough power. Anyone who knows better want to fill in the gaps?
An electric car would satisfy 90% of my trasnportation needs in a city Jack! Of course, then again the subway satisfies 95%. Alas, people have chosen to live out side of cities for better or worse.
Yeah, I remember most feeling the way you described (if you knew you were going to be hit by a truck). I think everyone did last year, but have since moved on. Must try not to forget. It was easier to remember when the whole city stank for two months. One person I know would have found out what you meant the hard way had he shown up at work on time.
Could be true. It would be sad to see him get the credit though after the millions who campaigned for it throughout the later half of the 19th century accross Europe and The Americas. Not to deny Henry Ford's company's contributions to modern manufacturing and support for better working conditions.
Very sadly, it's this kind of contract of adhesion that makes some people think this sort of software has a place in a democratic society. After all, you have the right to not agree to Sony's terms, and are "free" to just walk away, as you have. "Take it or leave it". When one side has all the power, it's called a contract of adhesion.
I wonder if courts will still uphold contracts of adhesion when they start printing EULA's on fruit (not the computer kind).
Look more carefully at the article. I thought that too at first, but he talks about langauges where they did that and were able to internally hybridize the issue. If they could make it efficient enough, I would be completly behind it. Otherwise, I agree. Also, you would not need to use the "new" operator. It would essentially be done like this:
Integer i = 20;
That 20 could be an internalized "static" value.
Of course, with large numerical data-sets, it's not clear how that can be properly optimized.
Just because something has a potential legal use doesn't mean it shouldn't be illegal. I could use a bag of cocaine as a paperweight, but that doesn't mean it should be legalized.
Actually, I think the law (at least in the US) might disagree with you there. For the most part, you can sell something if it has legitimate uses even if it also has illegitimate uses. The court might have to weight in legit vs. illegal, as your argument in your first paragraph does, but I reckon you're not right in your second paragraph.
But I'm not a lawyer, so I can't say with 100% certainty. On the other hand, I am dating one!!
Nor does it change the possibility that this fellow was selling pirated media, which is illegal even by my standards.
Although, someone mentioned that the mod chips are used mostly to circumvent region encoding (a dubious practice). Unless there's a law against playing extra-regional media in your own home, I can't see how selling those mod-chips would be illegal. In the US (and probably in Canada, but know not do I) if you sell something that can be used for a legitimate purpose, it's ok, even if it can be used to illegitimate purposes, unless there's a law against it. Maybe Canada has different rules or has a law (bastards). Which raises the question... what constituted the selling of "pirated" games? Are they pirated or were they merely games imported from Japan that are not sold in North America? The article only says "pirated".
That's all true. The law makes it explicit that someone using a computer WITH THE INTENT to cause death can be issued a life sentence. The part that bewilders me is why there is a need to make it explicit in this bill. Should it not be covered under existing legislation? I'm not so concerned that the part about life sentences in the bill is an assault on civil liberties... which I am still concerned about. I don't understand why the penalty for murder is made explicit. Maybe a lawyer could explain that to us in better terms.
That said, there may be plenty of other reasons not to support such a bill.
Interestingly, another thing that can help a dreary level to play well is that NWN also has the Dungeon Master console. This is value add on top of the construction set that enhances the... GULP... interactive part of the game. The DM tool allows someone else to do much of the role playing bits that are hard to script. In addition to being a construction set (though not the strongest one around) and a scripting set, you have this put-on-a-play-for-your-friends aspect which is quite neat.
I think that ends up being NWN's major contribution... building on solid MUD's of course.
Well, that's actually my essential thought. I think that if I am going to play video games (well actually computer games, i you don't mind), I should at least look for things that are new. New toys are good for young mice... or even old mice that still use a track balls instead of lasers.
Anyway, it would be interesting to see if patterns for newer games (with guinely different structure) or more complex games had a different outcome. But even I... EVEN I... must admit that after a while even a game like Civilization is mostly played almost autonomously.
Interesting. What are the long term effects of doing something repeditive that your brain is well adapted to, such as working on a conveyor belt, or sewing, etc? It might end up being like a 12 year old still playing with simple toys. I mean, there are only so many variations on video games out there.
Which reminds me, does anyone else feel that there is a general lack of creativity in the computer game industry lately (Neverwinter Nights excuded, of course)?
I know that this kind of post has zero technical or business argument (ok, maybe it has a business argument), but I have to say it because it seems to vivid to me.
The CEO of the Lindows company looks like a complete ego maniac. One of the main tabs on the web site is "Michael's Minute". On the FAQ page, the second question is "Who is being Lindos.com?" and then it goes in to a tirade about the CEO, describing him using the word "visionary".
I suppose I might not care, but it reminds me of previos ventures that I have participated in where an individuals ego is the driving business force. This kind of business model does not lend itself to delivering reliable software since the focus ends up being to get the CEO's name in to the newspaper. Who knows, maybe this guy has more experience and is more sensible (he apparently founded Mp3.com - how did they do?), but the web site seems like it's trying too hard.
Slashdot Mirror
PCGen
Ok, maybe it would need to be battery powered. Does a human being even generate enough energy? It's not like this is The Matrix.
This one got me thinking... There must be a way to create an wearable air conditioner with this. Please Gods, let there be one! To use my very own body heat against itself to cool me!
Ok, thinking about it... could a fabric like that work when the temperature is the same as body temperature?
How would it work? Miniature compressors all over your body? It would be very rude to walk in to a hot room spewing heat, of course.
Probably a pipe dream. What do I know. Just s programmer. Probably couldn't generate enough power. Anyone who knows better want to fill in the gaps?
An electric car would satisfy 90% of my trasnportation needs in a city Jack! Of course, then again the subway satisfies 95%. Alas, people have chosen to live out side of cities for better or worse.
September is tomorrow, isn't it?
Could be true. It would be sad to see him get the credit though after the millions who campaigned for it throughout the later half of the 19th century accross Europe and The Americas. Not to deny Henry Ford's company's contributions to modern manufacturing and support for better working conditions.
I'm going to beat you! I'm going to open a supermarket and shrinkwrap/EULA the food. - Avante P.S. Especially the water.
Very sadly, it's this kind of contract of adhesion that makes some people think this sort of software has a place in a democratic society. After all, you have the right to not agree to Sony's terms, and are "free" to just walk away, as you have. "Take it or leave it". When one side has all the power, it's called a contract of adhesion.
I wonder if courts will still uphold contracts of adhesion when they start printing EULA's on fruit (not the computer kind).
Look more carefully at the article. I thought that too at first, but he talks about langauges where they did that and were able to internally hybridize the issue. If they could make it efficient enough, I would be completly behind it. Otherwise, I agree. Also, you would not need to use the "new" operator. It would essentially be done like this: Integer i = 20; That 20 could be an internalized "static" value. Of course, with large numerical data-sets, it's not clear how that can be properly optimized.
Actually, I think the law (at least in the US) might disagree with you there. For the most part, you can sell something if it has legitimate uses even if it also has illegitimate uses. The court might have to weight in legit vs. illegal, as your argument in your first paragraph does, but I reckon you're not right in your second paragraph.
But I'm not a lawyer, so I can't say with 100% certainty. On the other hand, I am dating one!!
Although, someone mentioned that the mod chips are used mostly to circumvent region encoding (a dubious practice). Unless there's a law against playing extra-regional media in your own home, I can't see how selling those mod-chips would be illegal. In the US (and probably in Canada, but know not do I) if you sell something that can be used for a legitimate purpose, it's ok, even if it can be used to illegitimate purposes, unless there's a law against it. Maybe Canada has different rules or has a law (bastards). Which raises the question... what constituted the selling of "pirated" games? Are they pirated or were they merely games imported from Japan that are not sold in North America? The article only says "pirated".
That said, there may be plenty of other reasons not to support such a bill.
Interestingly, another thing that can help a dreary level to play well is that NWN also has the Dungeon Master console. This is value add on top of the construction set that enhances the... GULP... interactive part of the game. The DM tool allows someone else to do much of the role playing bits that are hard to script. In addition to being a construction set (though not the strongest one around) and a scripting set, you have this put-on-a-play-for-your-friends aspect which is quite neat. I think that ends up being NWN's major contribution... building on solid MUD's of course.
Does this mean all I need is new Video Games?
Well, that's actually my essential thought. I think that if I am going to play video games (well actually computer games, i you don't mind), I should at least look for things that are new. New toys are good for young mice... or even old mice that still use a track balls instead of lasers.
Anyway, it would be interesting to see if patterns for newer games (with guinely different structure) or more complex games had a different outcome. But even I... EVEN I... must admit that after a while even a game like Civilization is mostly played almost autonomously.
Interesting. What are the long term effects of doing something repeditive that your brain is well adapted to, such as working on a conveyor belt, or sewing, etc? It might end up being like a 12 year old still playing with simple toys. I mean, there are only so many variations on video games out there. Which reminds me, does anyone else feel that there is a general lack of creativity in the computer game industry lately (Neverwinter Nights excuded, of course)?
I see clearly now that your avoidance of video games has not affected your inability to perceive sarcasm.
Proof that both studies LIE!!
I know that this kind of post has zero technical or business argument (ok, maybe it has a business argument), but I have to say it because it seems to vivid to me.
The CEO of the Lindows company looks like a complete ego maniac. One of the main tabs on the web site is "Michael's Minute". On the FAQ page, the second question is "Who is being Lindos.com?" and then it goes in to a tirade about the CEO, describing him using the word "visionary".
I suppose I might not care, but it reminds me of previos ventures that I have participated in where an individuals ego is the driving business force. This kind of business model does not lend itself to delivering reliable software since the focus ends up being to get the CEO's name in to the newspaper. Who knows, maybe this guy has more experience and is more sensible (he apparently founded Mp3.com - how did they do?), but the web site seems like it's trying too hard.