Seriously, I wonder how soon the technology will advance enough to make it feasible to establish a permanent station on another planet or moon, one that could be self-supporting?
Learning things that have practical implications here on Earth (such as improving crops) is pretty cool by itself, but don't you want to visit the moons of Jupiter?;-)
At mine, we have MSDN, so we can download 6 or 8 versions of Windows, Visual Studio, and Visual Studio.Net for free. Haven't seen Frontpage of Office available, though.
I did see Office XP available FREE after rebate at CompUSA the other month, which was quite a surprise...would have gotten it, expect I don't use XP, don't plan to start, and have OpenOffice anyway:-)
Is that $5 including CDs? Quite a deal...it's a shame other companies aren't as generous with colleges as Microsoft is. I know there's some Adobe software I wouldn't mind getting;-)
I dunno..they may be down to computing with molecules, but quantum computers use yet smaller particles, and are probably faster. Why have ten billion teeny atoms solving a problem in a couple seconds, when you can have one molecule solve the problem all possible ways in less time?
That's certainly a valid answer. You started with nothing and built up a great business, and you're entitled to whatever you can get out of it.
What I meant was, these companies that hire someone to come in and run the place - not create it, not stay up til 3 in the morning to keep it running, just make the decisions and collect stock options, like Junior - what do they do?
I'd be happy to hear that they're worth every penny of the money; I'm honestly curious.
If instead of of paying 1 CEO 500 million, you pay 5 CEOs 100 million each, they'll be too busy watching each other to screw up the company as much:-)
Seriously, what exactly does the CEO do anyway that makes him worth so much? Why are these companies so interested in hiring and retaining certain CEOs?
My experience is that smokers don't tend to believe that anyone else has any rights. For example, the right to be able to breathe or to walk in public without seeing cigarette butts on the ground everywhere.
At the school I attend (University of Colorado @ Denver), there are signs around the building entrances that say "No smoking within 20 feet of building". There's usually someone leaning against the sign, smoking.
I fully agree that community colleges can be worthwhile. I was strongly opposed to going to one (open admission and all that) but my parents talked me into giving it a try and I liked the school enough that I stayed two years and got the Associate's degree. Smaller classes, less cost, and possibly a shorter commute..
If not wanting to be older than the other students is an issue, you might consider going to night school. I work during the day and take classes at 4 PM and later, and at 22 I'm one of the younger students in my classes. (Of course, this may be partially due to my field - computers - but many of the other students are people who also work during the day and then take classes after work)
I'll drop by CompUSA occasionally; for those of you not in the US, CompUSA is a huge computer store where everything is really overpriced. Every once in a while they'll put up a bunch of rebate offers, and then I'll buy something. (ex: last week I bought a RAM upgrade, a network card, and an ethernet switch; after tax and rebate it'll come to $20 total). As a side note, if you need more blank CDs, go there....I've been to a couple of the sales and both times you could get a stack of CDs for free after rebate. What can I say, I'm cheap;-)
(Obviously the discounts on expensive stuff aren't as big as a percentage, but you can save a few bucks...I know I saw an 80 GB hard drive for $80 installed after rebate)
Hey, most of the t-shirts I wear I didn't have to pay for, it's convenient;-)
And who can't use another Tuxedo penquin...
But seriously, what annoys me is when you have to fill out a 6-page form before you can get the software, and then it has important features disabled so you can't save what you do, or it works but anything you do in it will stop working after a few days. Given the hassle for what you get, I'll generally just ignore it.
>Well it has been standard practice in science (in Mathematics especially, Number Theory springs to mind) to try and achieve the very >hard/impossible.
Don't I know it...one of my professors has me trying to do something that would prove that NP-complete problems can be solved in polynomial time. I know what my chances of success for THAT are:-)
Suppose that time travel was possible, but only on a microscopic scale, such that it was impossible to send humans, or even small robots through time, but just enough so as to send information.
Hook up a computer to a time machine and let it do all its processing in the past. The information need not be detectable in the past (so it doesn't change anything, and doesn't give us a paradox) but it effectively allows the computer to solve almost any solvable problem instantly, as it can use billions of years for processing...and then use them again if it needs more time.
NP-completeness might not be meaningless (if it would take a trillion trillion years of processing time to solve a problem by brute force, it would still take a while doing it in billion year chunks) but if you could use 2 billion billion years every second, a lot of problems would become tractable:-)
Of course, how the processing during those billions of years will happen, since the computer stays where it is, is another question..
It's nice that serious scientists are willing to spend time researching things that have very little chance of actually working. Who knows what new insights will come out of this..
Of course, the science fiction possibilities are really nice, too...anybody have a favorite time travel story to share?;-)
Slashdot Mirror
Well, they can add a few more rooms and have the world's first space hotel.. :-)
(Which, from reading the links, they seem to think is not that infeasible)
So how long until it's the size of Babylon 5? ;-)
;-)
Seriously, I wonder how soon the technology will advance enough to make it feasible to establish a permanent station on another planet or moon, one that could be self-supporting?
Learning things that have practical implications here on Earth (such as improving crops) is pretty cool by itself, but don't you want to visit the moons of Jupiter?
Couldn't find a cache, so here's a Google "translation" from Portuguese..
No Password Required
At mine, we have MSDN, so we can download 6 or 8 versions of Windows, Visual Studio, and Visual Studio .Net for free. Haven't seen Frontpage of Office available, though.
:-)
;-)
I did see Office XP available FREE after rebate at CompUSA the other month, which was quite a surprise...would have gotten it, expect I don't use XP, don't plan to start, and have OpenOffice anyway
Is that $5 including CDs? Quite a deal...it's a shame other companies aren't as generous with colleges as Microsoft is. I know there's some Adobe software I wouldn't mind getting
heh, generally C++ typed under vi and compiled with gcc...
No proof is irrefutable.
I suppose there's always the possibility of some people actually liking .Net ;-)
;-)) and it looked like it had its uses.
:-)
I haven't used it myself, but I caught part of a presentation Microsoft was giving about it (free pizza!
Although, I shouldn't talk...I like doing my programming in linux or java under a simple text editor
>but we voted in competent financial leadership,
So did we. (The United States) Unfortunately, then his term expired and we ended up with a Republican in office...
Personally, if the book is good I'd rather just buy it than mess with a 400-page printout :-p
Assuming, of course, that it's in the discount section..
I dunno..they may be down to computing with molecules, but quantum computers use yet smaller particles, and are probably faster. Why have ten billion teeny atoms solving a problem in a couple seconds, when you can have one molecule solve the problem all possible ways in less time?
hmm, should we send UN Troops to occupy Nigeria?
That's certainly a valid answer. You started with nothing and built up a great business, and you're entitled to whatever you can get out of it.
What I meant was, these companies that hire someone to come in and run the place - not create it, not stay up til 3 in the morning to keep it running, just make the decisions and collect stock options, like Junior - what do they do?
I'd be happy to hear that they're worth every penny of the money; I'm honestly curious.
BTW, somebody mod the parent +1 interesting..
Now, this is a serious question...exactly what does the CEO do? What is he responsible for that makes him worth so much money to these companies?
How good do you have to be at making decisions to be worth millions?
Here's the difference:
:-)
If instead of of paying 1 CEO 500 million, you pay 5 CEOs 100 million each, they'll be too busy watching each other to screw up the company as much
Seriously, what exactly does the CEO do anyway that makes him worth so much? Why are these companies so interested in hiring and retaining certain CEOs?
My experience is that smokers don't tend to believe that anyone else has any rights. For example, the right to be able to breathe or to walk in public without seeing cigarette butts on the ground everywhere.
At the school I attend (University of Colorado @ Denver), there are signs around the building entrances that say "No smoking within 20 feet of building". There's usually someone leaning against the sign, smoking.
I fully agree that community colleges can be worthwhile. I was strongly opposed to going to one (open admission and all that) but my parents talked me into giving it a try and I liked the school enough that I stayed two years and got the Associate's degree. Smaller classes, less cost, and possibly a shorter commute..
If not wanting to be older than the other students is an issue, you might consider going to night school. I work during the day and take classes at 4 PM and later, and at 22 I'm one of the younger students in my classes. (Of course, this may be partially due to my field - computers - but many of the other students are people who also work during the day and then take classes after work)
Now here's something you don't want your insurance company getting their hands on....
Increased risk of cancer? Sorry, not covered...
Increased risk of alcoholism? Those driver's insurance premiums just doubled..
I dunno....seems to me that death could be preferable to brain damage. I guess it depends on HOW MUCH brain damage, though..
I just wait for the rebate ;-)
;-)
I'll drop by CompUSA occasionally; for those of you not in the US, CompUSA is a huge computer store where everything is really overpriced. Every once in a while they'll put up a bunch of rebate offers, and then I'll buy something. (ex: last week I bought a RAM upgrade, a network card, and an ethernet switch; after tax and rebate it'll come to $20 total). As a side note, if you need more blank CDs, go there....I've been to a couple of the sales and both times you could get a stack of CDs for free after rebate. What can I say, I'm cheap
(Obviously the discounts on expensive stuff aren't as big as a percentage, but you can save a few bucks...I know I saw an 80 GB hard drive for $80 installed after rebate)
Hey, most of the t-shirts I wear I didn't have to pay for, it's convenient ;-)
And who can't use another Tuxedo penquin...
But seriously, what annoys me is when you have to fill out a 6-page form before you can get the software, and then it has important features disabled so you can't save what you do, or it works but anything you do in it will stop working after a few days. Given the hassle for what you get, I'll generally just ignore it.
I have to agree. Of course, that's probably because I'm two flags ahead of the nearest bot in the current 10-player game I'm in :-)
hmm, apparently I left out one line in my original post:
</humor>
>Well it has been standard practice in science (in Mathematics especially, Number Theory springs to mind) to try and achieve the very
:-)
>hard/impossible.
Don't I know it...one of my professors has me trying to do something that would prove that NP-complete problems can be solved in polynomial time. I know what my chances of success for THAT are
Suppose that time travel was possible, but only on a microscopic scale, such that it was impossible to send humans, or even small robots through time, but just enough so as to send information.
:-)
Hook up a computer to a time machine and let it do all its processing in the past. The information need not be detectable in the past (so it doesn't change anything, and doesn't give us a paradox) but it effectively allows the computer to solve almost any solvable problem instantly, as it can use billions of years for processing...and then use them again if it needs more time.
NP-completeness might not be meaningless (if it would take a trillion trillion years of processing time to solve a problem by brute force, it would still take a while doing it in billion year chunks) but if you could use 2 billion billion years every second, a lot of problems would become tractable
Of course, how the processing during those billions of years will happen, since the computer stays where it is, is another question..
It's nice that serious scientists are willing to spend time researching things that have very little chance of actually working. Who knows what new insights will come out of this..
;-)
Of course, the science fiction possibilities are really nice, too...anybody have a favorite time travel story to share?