One important class of problems which should be included in this discussion is the class of P Complete problems.
These are problems for which there exists a polynomial time reduction to the P Problem, which is the ability to optimally distribute P straight pegs in U linearly arranged slots (where P less than or equal to U), so as to maximize the distance between pegs.
For example, for (P=2, U=5), the optimal solution is a peg at the first and last slots. For (P=3, U=5), optimal is U0, U2, U4, etc.
It can be shown that any problem which can be reduced in polynomial time to straight men at a row of urinals is P Complete.
I'm not totally sure I get all the bitching and whining about the "spirit" of the games.
The olympic games are thought to have evolved from greek funeral games, which were athletic competitions put on by the wealthy to honour the passing of a (rich) relative. The more money thrown at the games and the athletes, the more athletes were attracted, and the better the fame and glory attributed to the athletes and to the beloved (rich) dead. In other words, if you were rich, and you wanted a memorial for your loved one, you bought some advertising.
As far as I can tell, it's always been about money, fame, and advertising from the start. How is this really that different from today?
Re:He's already knighted, but can't use Sir...
on
That's Sir Tim to You
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· Score: 1
British Commonwealth is irrelevant. Canadians can be prevented from receiving knighthoods.
Re:and Canada is a socialist state?
on
Canadian Privacy Act
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· Score: 3, Insightful
I think most of the spin about Canada being a socialist state is bogus. We have stronger state education and health care, but I think that's only a wise application of capitalism. Heck we spend less per capita on state health insurance than the U.S. does. And we cover everyone, instead of just the old people.
I think the argument usually comes down to taxation rates. I've lived and worked in both the U.S. and Canada. All I know is, I payed whackloads less on employee stock options that I exercized in Canada than I did in the U.S. Sure in some states (not all!) the income tax rate is lower than in Canada, but in the states stock option gains were taxable as regular income, which in canada only 50% of the gains were taxable as regular income. I'd take half of 43% over 35% tax any day...
Most importantly, though how can you call Canada socialist, totalitarian or big brother in relationship to the States when it comes to the government involvement in your lives below the 49th? Man I don't need some cop telling me I can't j-walk across the f'ing street when I want to. And how the heck can you have a reasonable folk music festival (e.g. Seattle's) with cops crawling over the place nicking anyone with Mary Jane?;-)
I think the U.S. was the leader in establishing the free democratic state a couple of centuries ago, but I'd have to say the torch has been passed on. Not exclusively to Canada, but to a group of western countries that have taken the idea of personal freedom and run with it.
Can you hold it for the 2 hour flight to Tokyo?
on
The Future of Flight
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· Score: 1
Think about your average commercial airliner bathroom. Now imagine it in zero g.
The only moral justification I've ever found for jewelry was that if ever there was some really dire emergency, perhaps having some bit of precious metal or diamond on your person could help in terms of being able to use it for a bribe or some other need.
I wasn't suggesting we ground all aircraft again. I was just wondering whether the results are reliable given that it was a one-time event. I suppose someone has chosen their statistics carefully.
I could agree that contrails are bad and I'm willing to acknowledge that global warming is a problem, but I'm worried that there's some bad science happening here.
Maybe I've missed something, but just because the temperatures where different on those 3 days from averages during the same month over the past 23 years, how can you assume this was caused by the absence of the contrails? Wouldn't you need to be able to repeat the experiment several times before you could rule out a fluke?
"Travis's team compared the average daily high and low temperatures over North America from 11 to 14 September 2001, with climatic records from 1977 to 2000, matching the weather over those three days with similar weather in September from historical records."
I remember using one of those ICONs and making a mistake while using a diskcopy command. I was attempting to make an archive of a floppy disk's image onto the hard drive, but instead it made a low-level copy of the floppy onto the hard drive.
Suddenly the 20Mb HD was convinced it was a floppy, and needless to say, the system wouldn't operate anymore.
They had to ship it back to the manufacturer to be low-level formatted again.
Requiring driver's licenses to expire when an alien's U.S. status expires would be a bitch for the reason I mentioned in another post:
"Canada and the U.S. already have a unified driver's license system -- if you live in a U.S. state for x months, you must get a driver's license from that state. Before they give you a license, they will take and destroy your Canadian province's license (and notify the province via their linked computer systems)."
Either they would need to de-integrate the systems a bit (and not take away my Canadian license when I work in the U.S. for a while) or there would need to be a grace period so that when my time in the U.S. is finished, I still have a valid license when I move home.
Canada and the U.S. already have a unified driver's license system -- if you live in a U.S. state for x months, you must get a driver's license from that state. Before they give you a license, they will take and destroy your Canadian province's license (and notify the province via their linked computer systems).
I liked the comment at the end of the Globe & Mail's review:
"No doubt Behind Enemy Lines will make all uncomplicated Americans feel proud of their military. That the movie is about an entire army pursuing one dangerous man through the mountains is just one of life's complicated little ironies."
Slashdot Mirror
Mod parent up +2 for funny.
Vould you like to touch my relay?
One important class of problems which should be included in this discussion is the class of P Complete problems.
These are problems for which there exists a polynomial time reduction to the P Problem, which is the ability to optimally distribute P straight pegs in U linearly arranged slots (where P less than or equal to U), so as to maximize the distance between pegs.
For example, for (P=2, U=5), the optimal solution is a peg at the first and last slots. For (P=3, U=5), optimal is U0, U2, U4, etc.
It can be shown that any problem which can be reduced in polynomial time to straight men at a row of urinals is P Complete.
Mod parent up! This is right on.
I'm not totally sure I get all the bitching and whining about the "spirit" of the games. The olympic games are thought to have evolved from greek funeral games, which were athletic competitions put on by the wealthy to honour the passing of a (rich) relative. The more money thrown at the games and the athletes, the more athletes were attracted, and the better the fame and glory attributed to the athletes and to the beloved (rich) dead. In other words, if you were rich, and you wanted a memorial for your loved one, you bought some advertising. As far as I can tell, it's always been about money, fame, and advertising from the start. How is this really that different from today?
Yeah, if you're ever in town, come visit my igloo. Don't forget to bring your parka when you hop on over the border.
http://www.campusprogram.com/reference/en/wikipedi a/n/ni/nickle_resolution.html
British Commonwealth is irrelevant. Canadians can be prevented from receiving knighthoods.
I think most of the spin about Canada being a socialist state is bogus. We have stronger state education and health care, but I think that's only a wise application of capitalism. Heck we spend less per capita on state health insurance than the U.S. does. And we cover everyone, instead of just the old people.
;-)
I think the argument usually comes down to taxation rates. I've lived and worked in both the U.S. and Canada. All I know is, I payed whackloads less on employee stock options that I exercized in Canada than I did in the U.S. Sure in some states (not all!) the income tax rate is lower than in Canada, but in the states stock option gains were taxable as regular income, which in canada only 50% of the gains were taxable as regular income. I'd take half of 43% over 35% tax any day...
Most importantly, though how can you call Canada socialist, totalitarian or big brother in relationship to the States when it comes to the government involvement in your lives below the 49th? Man I don't need some cop telling me I can't j-walk across the f'ing street when I want to. And how the heck can you have a reasonable folk music festival (e.g. Seattle's) with cops crawling over the place nicking anyone with Mary Jane?
I think the U.S. was the leader in establishing the free democratic state a couple of centuries ago, but I'd have to say the torch has been passed on. Not exclusively to Canada, but to a group of western countries that have taken the idea of personal freedom and run with it.
Think about your average commercial airliner bathroom. Now imagine it in zero g.
Picture off.
So it's basically just a city in China with its own TLD: ".hk"
The only moral justification I've ever found for jewelry was that if ever there was some really dire emergency, perhaps having some bit of precious metal or diamond on your person could help in terms of being able to use it for a bribe or some other need.
Perhaps Schindler's List went to my head...
I wasn't suggesting we ground all aircraft again. I was just wondering whether the results are reliable given that it was a one-time event. I suppose someone has chosen their statistics carefully.
I could agree that contrails are bad and I'm willing to acknowledge that global warming is a problem, but I'm worried that there's some bad science happening here. Maybe I've missed something, but just because the temperatures where different on those 3 days from averages during the same month over the past 23 years, how can you assume this was caused by the absence of the contrails? Wouldn't you need to be able to repeat the experiment several times before you could rule out a fluke? "Travis's team compared the average daily high and low temperatures over North America from 11 to 14 September 2001, with climatic records from 1977 to 2000, matching the weather over those three days with similar weather in September from historical records."
If the shoe fits...
Mooooool - ti - pass...
To guard against the photosentitive green goo monster...
I remember using one of those ICONs and making a mistake while using a diskcopy command. I was attempting to make an archive of a floppy disk's image onto the hard drive, but instead it made a low-level copy of the floppy onto the hard drive. Suddenly the 20Mb HD was convinced it was a floppy, and needless to say, the system wouldn't operate anymore. They had to ship it back to the manufacturer to be low-level formatted again.
Requiring driver's licenses to expire when an alien's U.S. status expires would be a bitch for the reason I mentioned in another post: "Canada and the U.S. already have a unified driver's license system -- if you live in a U.S. state for x months, you must get a driver's license from that state. Before they give you a license, they will take and destroy your Canadian province's license (and notify the province via their linked computer systems)." Either they would need to de-integrate the systems a bit (and not take away my Canadian license when I work in the U.S. for a while) or there would need to be a grace period so that when my time in the U.S. is finished, I still have a valid license when I move home.
Canada and the U.S. already have a unified driver's license system -- if you live in a U.S. state for x months, you must get a driver's license from that state. Before they give you a license, they will take and destroy your Canadian province's license (and notify the province via their linked computer systems).
I liked the comment at the end of the Globe & Mail's review: "No doubt Behind Enemy Lines will make all uncomplicated Americans feel proud of their military. That the movie is about an entire army pursuing one dangerous man through the mountains is just one of life's complicated little ironies."