Slashdot Mirror


User: Kardamon

Kardamon's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
88
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 88

  1. Re:no conscience on MSNBC Looks At Patent Abusers' Victims · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If there weren't patent protections, people would be stealing legitimate inventions willy-nilly.

    If there were no patents, nobody would even think of calling it "stealing"...

  2. Re:VM you say? on Tuning Linux VM swapping · · Score: 1

    I remember IBM had a system called "VM/VS", meaning "Virtual Memory/Virtual Storage" in the System/370 since the 60s. And DEC's VMS was "Virtual Memory [Operating] System".

  3. Re:Oh man on 1981 Personal Computer Catalog · · Score: 3, Informative

    Baud: Pronounced bawd, the number of signaling elements that occur each second. The term is named after J.M.E. Baudot, the inventor of the Baudot telegraph code.
    At slow speeds, only one bit of information (signaling element) is encoded in each electrical change. The baud, therefore, indicates the number of bits per second that are transmitted. For example, 300 baud means that 300 bits are transmitted each second (abbreviated 300 bps ). Assuming asynchronous communication, which requires 10 bits per character, this translates to 30 characters per second (cps). For slow rates (below 1,200 baud), you can divide the baud by 10 to see how many characters per second are sent.
    At higher speeds, it is possible to encode more than one bit in each electrical change. 4,800 baud may allow 9,600 bits to be sent each second. At high data transfer speeds, therefore, data transmission rates are usually expressed in bits per second (bps) rather than baud. For example, a 9,600 bps modem may operate at only 2,400 baud. (Definition from webopedia)

  4. Re:Why? on Why MySQL Grew So Fast · · Score: 1

    Correct. Have a look at database debunkings to see why SQL DBMS != relational DBMS.

  5. Re:Out of bad things to say on Insuring Linux, Thanks to SCO · · Score: 2, Informative

    That's already happening: Genetic Technologies, a company that patented the "junk DNA" is called the "SCO Group of biotech" in this article.

  6. Re:online demonstration on Demonstration Against Software Patents in Europe · · Score: 1

    Fire the entire commission and create a new one with the CEOs of the biggest corporations, thus eliminating the intermediaries. This would show reality as it is.

    Well, this in a way already exists: The European Round Table of Industrials (ERT) is a very powerfull lobby group in Europe, the big corporations are in here. They do a lot of policy making. I got to know them when they published their report on higher education in the EU (one of their reports which are not on their site!) in the early 90's, which contained very scary stuff (a sell out of higher education to industry, even brain control: teachers who did not support the "European idea" should not get promoted), this report was rewritten by an official EU institution (IRDAC) in a less offending (obfuscated) way as a "green paper". This green paper became a "white paper" and a "memorandum" of the European Commission. A lot of European students and teachers protested against this plan. In the end, it was the Counsil of European ministers of education which killed the education plans of ERT, but since then a lot of ideas in the ERT plan were executed little by little as "technical" decisions.
    So, European Parliament indeed has little power and can almost be neglected, the non-elected Commission has a lot of power, industry has a lot of influence, but decissions in the end are often made by the ministers of the distinct countries - Europe is still more of a confederation than a federation. The EGCS, later EEC, then EC, now EU was a means to prevent war in (Western) Europe, which is a fair objective, but somewhere along the road it became a new kind of Leviathan.

  7. Re:What has not been mentioned so far ... on Information on OLAP Databases? · · Score: 1

    Sybase also has a dedicated data warehouse server: ASIQ (Adaptive Server Intelligent Query). I have never used this product, so I cannot comment on it (Disclaimer: I used to work for Sybase).

  8. Re:Visual design on Gates: Hardware, Not Software, Will Be Free · · Score: 1

    Performance may also be a problem. I'm working as a contractor at a company where managers can create queries using several visual tools (MS Access/Brio/Cognos/Crystal...) to get information from a data warehouse. Typically, these queries took 30 to 50 hours to complete before I came in. Now, the queries as composed by the visual tools are sent to me, I rewrite the SQL and run it on the RDBMS. I manage to get results in 3 to 5 hours, mostly by selecting the relevant rows/columns into temporary tables and then joining these temporary tables, using optimizer hints and all kinds of ad hoc trickery. I do not think it is impossible to automate this kind of optimization (compilers also are *in general* better at creating optimized binary code than humans), but now SQL performance tuning is a full time job.

  9. DEC vs DR on Dr. DOS Still 'Doing It' At 8.0 · · Score: 1

    No.
    DEC - Digital Equipment Corp. made hardware (VAX) and the VMS operating system on which Windows NT is based. DEC became a part of Compaq, now HP.
    DR - Digital Research made the CP/M and DR/DOS operating systems.

  10. Re:CP/M on What Would The World Be Like Without Microsoft? · · Score: 1

    Right, Atari was quite an innovator at the time. (Namco licenced the Pole Position from Atari.) I remember seeing an Atari 16-bit parallel computer (the ATW800) built around transputers in the late 80s. It was the first time I saw real-time zooming into a Mandelbrot fractal!

  11. 8088 on What Would The World Be Like Without Microsoft? · · Score: 1

    Correct. IBM had previously built the System 23 Datamaster, which had an 8 bit Intel 8085 processor. Officially, IBM chose the 8088 CPU because they could re-use the Datamaster 8-bit ISA bus. Rumour has that IBM chose the inferior 8088 because they did not want their PC to compete with their mini computers - IBM did also not put 80386 processors in their PCs until Compaq came along with a 80386 PC.

  12. Re:CP/M on What Would The World Be Like Without Microsoft? · · Score: 1

    8088, not 8086.
    I should replace that Bubble Memory inside my skull...

  13. Re:If Windows were to diappear on What Would The World Be Like Without Microsoft? · · Score: 1

    s/their/there/

  14. Re:If Windows were to diappear on What Would The World Be Like Without Microsoft? · · Score: 1

    Replying to self: their was of course also the 65816 16-bits CPU which was used in the Apple ][GS and Super Nintendo consoles.

  15. Re:CP/M on What Would The World Be Like Without Microsoft? · · Score: 1

    Maybe, Z8000(0) would have happened! I was very disappointed in 1981 when IBM choose (fake 16-bits) 8086 over 68000 or Z8(0)000 for their PC.

  16. Re:If Windows were to diappear on What Would The World Be Like Without Microsoft? · · Score: 1

    ARM is one of the most popular architectures today, but not in PCs. It was built by Acorn (originally ARM was "Acorn RISC Machine", after the joint venture with Apple & DEC (later Compaq, now HP; but DEC gave their StrongARM to Intel, which renamed StrongARM to XScale) it became "Advanced RISC Machine") and was heavily inspired by Acorn's 6502 experience in their System 1/Atom/BBC/ABC computers. One could say that ARM is a 32-bit 6502 with poor man VLIW - a great CPU!

  17. Re:Big Blue Nothing? on IBM Invests $50M in Novell, May Ship SUSE Linux · · Score: 1

    I guess the SuSE chameleon has no troubles to turn blue...

  18. Re:J2ME on Sun Sponsors Java Game Development Competition · · Score: 3, Informative

    Here's a guide to writing games in J2ME.

  19. New virus W32.Netsky.Q@mm is spreading on Nasty New Virus Variants · · Score: 1

    This virus is a mass-mailing worm that uses its own SMTP engine to send itself to the email addresses it finds when scanning the hard
    drives and mapped drives. The "sender" of the email is spoofed, and its subject line and message body of the email vary. The attachment
    name varies with .exe, .pif, .scr, or .zip file extension.

    In case you receive mails from senders unknown to you, with subjects like :
    Re: Encrypted Mail
    Re: Extended Mail
    Re: Status
    Re: Notify
    Re: SMTP Server
    Re: Mail Server
    Re: Delivery Server
    Re: Bad Request
    Re: Failure
    do not open and DELETE immediately.

  20. NT = VMS on SCO Aims For The Feds · · Score: 1

    PRINT CHR$(ASC("V")+1 + CHR$(ASC("M"+1)
    +CHR$(ASC("S"+1)

  21. Re:1969? on AMD Demonstrates Linux-Based PDA at LinuxWorld · · Score: 1

    It seems like the oldest entry is this one.
    By the way, now (March 2004) the year is not 1969 anymore, but 1970, so I guess it will always be 34 years old. Let's have another look in 2038!

    -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
    Version: 3.1
    GP d? s+:+ a C++++$ ULAH+++$ P L++ E--- W !N o? K- w--- !O M !V
    PS+++ PE Y+ PGP- t- 5? X R+++ !tv b+++ DI-- D+ G e++>++++ h? r-- y++++
    ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

  22. Re:You really think the /. crowd will like these? on Lifestyle Computers, the Next Big Thing? · · Score: 1

    The MSI Mega PC is a bare bone system, I think it would count as an "upgradable Lifestyle Computer".

  23. Re:what if theory didn't exist? on What If Dark Matter Really Doesn't Exist? · · Score: 1

    People will probably mod me down as being a troll, it happened before when I said this: 1) The word "quantum" was introduced in 1900 by Planck as a "ad hoc" solution for the blackbody radiation problem. It was, however, Albert Einstein who first understood the concept of quantum. As he rejected the idea, he is usually not credited for it. (See "Black-Body Theory and the Quantum Discontinuity, 1894-1912" by Thomas S. Kuhn - the author of "The structure of scientific revolutions"). 2) The relativity theory is not by Einstein. The formula's for special relativity are by Woldemar Voigt (1887), FitzGerald, H.A. Lorentz, J. Larmor), the principle of relativity for electromagnetics is by Jules Henri Poincare (1904), the proof that the Lorentztransformations form a group is also by Poincare - therefore I would say that the special theory of relativity is by Poincare. The theory of general relativity is by David Hilbert.

  24. Re:Wolfram is the new Einstein? on Wolfram's New Kind of Science Now Online · · Score: 1

    sorry, here's a more readable version (/. also stripped all accents from names like Poincare):
    1632: Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) principle of relativity for mechanics (in: Dialogue concerning the two chief world systems: Ptolemaic & Copernican)
    1763: Robert Joseph Boscovich, sj. introduces the "Mach Principle", "length-contractin", "time-dilatation" and "principle of invariance" in "A Theory of Natural Philosophy" (Engelse vertaling: MIT Press 1966)
    1782: George-Louis Le Sage states that gravity propagates at light speed
    1801: Johan Georg von Soldner predicts that light is bended by gravity
    1808: F.W.H.A von Humboldt states the "Mach Principle"
    1870: W. K. Clifford states that motion is caused by the geometry of space
    1877-1881: Robert Stevenson (a.k.a. Kinertia, 1844-19??) states the principle of equivalence
    1885: Ludwig Lange (1863-1938) proposes to use "inertial frames" in stead of "absolute space"
    1887: Woldemar Voigt (1850-1919) publishes the "Lorentz transformations" and the absolute velocity of light in "Uber das Doppler'sche Princip"
    1889: George Francis FitzGerald publishes the "Lorentz transformations"
    1889: Simon Newcomb discusses relativistic energy
    1892: Hendrik Antoon Lorentz publishes the "Lorentz transformations" - he later acknowledges the priority of Voigt and FitzGerald and proposes not to use the name "Lorentz Transformations" (a name introduced by Poincare) but to call them the "Relativistic Transformations"
    1898: Paul Gerber publishes the formula for the perihelium motion of Mercury in "Die raumliche und zeitliche Ausbreitung der Gravitation"
    1898: Jules Henri Poincare states that simultaneity is relative
    1902: Jules Henri Poincare publishes "Science & Hypothesis" (We know, from a letter from Einstein to Solovine, that Einstein has read this book)
    1904: Jules Henri Poincare states the principle of relativity for electromagnetism
    1905, June 5: Jules Henri Poincare publishes the theory of special relativity in "Sur la dynamique de l'electron"
    1905, June 30: Albert Einstein publishes the theory of special relativity in "Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Korper"
    1906: Max Plack publishes "Das Prinzip der Relativitat und die Grundgleichungen der Mechanik"
    1906: Roberto Marcolongo publishes the theory of special relativity in four dimensions in "Sugli integrali delle equazione dell'elettro dinamica"
    1907: Hermann Minkowski (1864-1909) talks about the theory of special relativity in four dimensions in Koln
    1914: Alfred Arthur Robb (1873-1936) publishes "A theory of space and time": theory of special relativity explained as an order relation
    1915, November 18: Albert Einstein writes to David Hilbert and confirms he has received the theory of general relativity
    1915, November 20: David Hilbert submits his paper on general relativity "Die Grundlagen der Physik (Erste Mitteilung)" (gepublished in January 1916)
    1915, November 25: Einstein submits his paper on general relativity "Die Feldgleichungen der Gravitation" (gepublished on December 2nd, 1915)

  25. Re:Wolfram is the new Einstein? on Wolfram's New Kind of Science Now Online · · Score: 1
    I am not trolling at all:

    1632: Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) principle of relativity for mechanics (in: Dialogue concerning the two chief world systems: Ptolemaic & Copernican) 1763: Robert Joseph Boscovich, sj. introduces the "Mach Principle", "length-contractin", "time-dilatation" and "principle of invariance" in "A Theory of Natural Philosophy" (Engelse vertaling: MIT Press 1966) 1782: George-Louis Le Sage states that gravity propagates at light speed 1801: Johan Georg von Soldner predicts that light is bended by gravity 1808: F.W.H.A von Humboldt states the "Mach Principle" 1870: W. K. Clifford states that motion is caused by the geometry of space 1877-1881: Robert Stevenson (a.k.a. Kinertia, 1844-19??) states the principle of equivalence 1885: Ludwig Lange (1863-1938) proposes to use "inertial frames" in stead of "absolute space" 1887: Woldemar Voigt (1850-1919) publishes the "Lorentz transformations" and the absolute velocity of light in "Uber das Doppler'sche Princip" 1889: George Francis FitzGerald publishes the "Lorentz transformations" 1889: Simon Newcomb discusses relativistic energy 1892: Hendrik Antoon Lorentz publishes the "Lorentz transformations" - he later acknowledges the priority of Voigt and FitzGerald and proposes not to use the name "Lorentz Transformations" (a name introduced by Poincare) but to call them the "Relativistic Transformations" 1898: Paul Gerber publishes the formula for the perihelium motion of Mercury in "Die raumliche und zeitliche Ausbreitung der Gravitation" 1898: Jules Henri Poincare states that simultaneity is relative 1902: Jules Henri Poincare publishes "Science & Hypothesis" (We know, from a letter from Einstein to Solovine, that Einstein has read this book) 1904: Jules Henri Poincare states the principle of relativity for electromagnetism 1905, June 5: Jules Henri Poincare publishes the theory of special relativity in "Sur la dynamique de l'electron" 1905, June 30: Albert Einstein publishes the theory of special relativity in "Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Korper" 1906: Max Plack publishes "Das Prinzip der Relativitat und die Grundgleichungen der Mechanik" 1906: Roberto Marcolongo publishes the theory of special relativity in four dimensions in "Sugli integrali delle equazione dell'elettro dinamica" 1907: Hermann Minkowski (1864-1909) talks about the theory of special relativity in four dimensions in Koln 1914: Alfred Arthur Robb (1873-1936) publishes "A theory of space and time": theory of special relativity explained as an order relation 1915, November 18: Albert Einstein writes to David Hilbert and confirms he has received the theory of general relativity 1915, November 20: David Hilbert submits his paper on general relativity "Die Grundlagen der Physik (Erste Mitteilung)" (gepublished in January 1916) 1915, November 25: Einstein submits his paper on general relativity "Die Feldgleichungen der Gravitation" (gepublished on December 2nd, 1915)