Just hit 0 until the automated system gets frustrated and forwards you to a human being. It works almost every time, and saves you the frustration of dealing with the automated system in the first place.
Or maybe not. You're assuming that most people on the internet are at least as smart as your kids, which really isn't true in terms of computer skills.
. ..if the final data is just summarized habits of TiVo users with no individual information, is there a privacy issue?
Good question; the answer is yes. The issue is: why does TiVo feel it necessary to collect that information? Exactly what makes what a device owner does in his living room the business of anyone but him/her?
Private investment and innovation in space technology is something NASA definitely needs to encourage rather than trample on in the years ahead.
I agree completely, but I doubt you'll see that sort of encouragement from NASA anytime soon. NASA, like every other large government organization, is a bureaucracy whose first priority is its own continued survival. Encouraging private business to invest in space travel and space exploitation would render NASA irrelevant in no time flat--not a good proposition for a career bureaucrat.
The other side of the rewrite issue is, how long can you continue to maintain code from a legacy system? I worked on a project a couple years ago that had been migrated from assembler to COBOL and is now being rewritten (as opposed to being redesigned) for Oracle. Nevermind for a moment the fact that the customers wanted to turn the Oracle RDBMS into just another flat-file system--which included designing a database that had no enabled foreign key constraints and that was completely emptied each day so that the next day's data could be loaded. ..
Some of the fields that are now in the Oracle database are bitmapped fields. This is done because there's no documentation for what those fields originally represented in the assembler code and because the designers are afraid of what they might break if they try to drop the fields or attempt to map the fields out into what they might represent. I had the good fortune to get out of the project last August. . . last I checked, they had settled for implementing a Java UI over the COBOL mainframe UI.
Anyway, my point is this: at some point, you have to decide whether the system you're updating is worth further updates. Can you fix everything that's wrong with the code, or are there some things you'll have to jerry-rig or just shrug your shoulders and give up on? Under circumstances like what I mentioned above, I truly think you're better off taking your licks and designing from scratch, because at least that way you can take advantage of the new features that more recent database software and programming languages have to offer.
it's jackass commentary like this that does nothing but perpeptuate bullshit to the masses and misinforms that average (read stupid) american. then the average (read stupid again) american's think these things are a waste of money.
Right, and how many "average Americans" do you know who (A) read Slashdot and (B) won't pick up the sarcasm in the original statement?
It's humor (though I'll agree, it's not really funny). Don't sweat it.
That's 3 1/2 years worth of food, water, and air they will need to either haul with them or figure out how to grow.
I've given that a bit of thought. We know how to land things on Mars already - why not send the food and other supplies on "cargo ships" well in advance? Since the astronauts won't be waiting for them, you can send the supply ships on low-fuel trajectories through the inner solar system and have them land on Mars a few years from now. That way, the supplies will be already there and waiting for the astronauts when they arrive.
When Dan Rather tells you George Bush is a homicidal maniac bent on purifying the world in holy nuclear fire so he can buy more oil for his deer-antler-adorned SUV fleet, what other TV channel will present the opposite viewpoint?
Fox News, of course! They're Fair and Balanced(TM), right?
Slashdot Mirror
Just hit 0 until the automated system gets frustrated and forwards you to a human being. It works almost every time, and saves you the frustration of dealing with the automated system in the first place.
You point out the line in the Bill of Rights that protects the printing of joke currency and then we'll talk.
You're kidding, right? Have you bothered to read your own sig lately?
. . .or tell what brand of computer they have when they say "it's one of the beige ones with a CD-ROM."
Sounds like an old (1998-99) Compaq Presario, but beyond that, I couldn't tell you what model. :)
Does anyone speak jive?
Or maybe not. You're assuming that most people on the internet are at least as smart as your kids, which really isn't true in terms of computer skills.
You have to sterlize the outside of the spacecraft, but that same problem is faced with robots.
Actually, I would think the outside of the craft would be sterilized by six months of vacuum and hard radiation during the trip from Earth.
Where in the constitution is the levy of taxes authorized to explore other planets?
The interstate commerce clause would be my guess. :)
According to Clint Talbott of the Daily Camera, Scott Richter's office address is:
1333 W. 120th Avenue Suite 101
Westminster, CO, 80234
No mention of a home mailing address, unfortunately. Maybe it's actually listed in the Qwest white pages? Somehow, though, I doubt it. . .
. . .if the final data is just summarized habits of TiVo users with no individual information, is there a privacy issue?
Good question; the answer is yes. The issue is: why does TiVo feel it necessary to collect that information? Exactly what makes what a device owner does in his living room the business of anyone but him/her?
Four, actually. Page two is intentionally left blank, except for the words, "this page intentionally left blank."
Private investment and innovation in space technology is something NASA definitely needs to encourage rather than trample on in the years ahead.
I agree completely, but I doubt you'll see that sort of encouragement from NASA anytime soon. NASA, like every other large government organization, is a bureaucracy whose first priority is its own continued survival. Encouraging private business to invest in space travel and space exploitation would render NASA irrelevant in no time flat--not a good proposition for a career bureaucrat.
"The Hollywood process is like trying to grill a steak by having a succession of people coming into the room and breathing on it."
Right, but there's enough hot air in Hollywood that this technique actually works every now and again. :)
The first time I read that, I thought it said, "Libertarians." But that's probably not so far off, either. :)
Will this be the first virus I willingly load on my machine?
No, it'll be the second. You have to load Windows first.
ALT-130
.Yeah, pretty much. But I'm in the military, so I'm definitely used to that. :)
So you're saying you have no evidence, yet you're still insistent?
Oh, that's nothing new. . . I've spent the last four and a half years of my life in Alabama, so I'm used to it. :)
Right. Copied from what, exactly?
. . .didn't think so.
The other side of the rewrite issue is, how long can you continue to maintain code from a legacy system? I worked on a project a couple years ago that had been migrated from assembler to COBOL and is now being rewritten (as opposed to being redesigned) for Oracle. Nevermind for a moment the fact that the customers wanted to turn the Oracle RDBMS into just another flat-file system--which included designing a database that had no enabled foreign key constraints and that was completely emptied each day so that the next day's data could be loaded. . .
Some of the fields that are now in the Oracle database are bitmapped fields. This is done because there's no documentation for what those fields originally represented in the assembler code and because the designers are afraid of what they might break if they try to drop the fields or attempt to map the fields out into what they might represent. I had the good fortune to get out of the project last August. . . last I checked, they had settled for implementing a Java UI over the COBOL mainframe UI.
Anyway, my point is this: at some point, you have to decide whether the system you're updating is worth further updates. Can you fix everything that's wrong with the code, or are there some things you'll have to jerry-rig or just shrug your shoulders and give up on? Under circumstances like what I mentioned above, I truly think you're better off taking your licks and designing from scratch, because at least that way you can take advantage of the new features that more recent database software and programming languages have to offer.
it's jackass commentary like this that does nothing but perpeptuate bullshit to the masses and misinforms that average (read stupid) american. then the average (read stupid again) american's think these things are a waste of money.
Right, and how many "average Americans" do you know who (A) read Slashdot and (B) won't pick up the sarcasm in the original statement?
It's humor (though I'll agree, it's not really funny). Don't sweat it.
Who do you want controlling space and the Moon, us or the Chinese?
I'd just as soon no one "control" space and the moon, thanks. An arrangement such as the one that exists for Antarctica would be a much better option.
That's 3 1/2 years worth of food, water, and air they will need to either haul with them or figure out how to grow.
I've given that a bit of thought. We know how to land things on Mars already - why not send the food and other supplies on "cargo ships" well in advance? Since the astronauts won't be waiting for them, you can send the supply ships on low-fuel trajectories through the inner solar system and have them land on Mars a few years from now. That way, the supplies will be already there and waiting for the astronauts when they arrive.
When Dan Rather tells you George Bush is a homicidal maniac bent on purifying the world in holy nuclear fire so he can buy more oil for his deer-antler-adorned SUV fleet, what other TV channel will present the opposite viewpoint?
Fox News, of course! They're Fair and Balanced(TM), right?
Zero to seven? What about the Slashdot crowd?
Maybe they're referring to the number of digits in our UIDs.
The erosion of user base for FreeBSD continues in a head spinning downward spiral.
Hey, you missed a spot. :-)