The notion that humans could be used as a source of power once the sun was blocked is so full of shit that I feel obliged to respond. Human life depends on the sun: the things we eat either generate their power directly from the sun (plants) or indirectly (animals which eat plants) (we don't, except for fish, eat many animals that also eat animals). So, Matrix fans, what the frick are you going to feed the people who replace the sun?
Using people instead of the sun is inherently less efficient than just building solar collectors in space!
I hate sci-fi movies that don't even have reasonable premises, but what I hate more is that legions of people around the globe now believe that humans could be used as some kind of global energy generating device.
I do understand that you post was intended to be funny, I'm sorry, I just have no sense of humor when it comes to the laws of thermodynamics.
It's the life of the author PLUS 75 years. And any time Disney's Steamboat Willie, featuring Mickey Mouse, gets close to being in the public domain, Disney launches a MASSIVE lobbying effort to get the dates extended again. Thus far they are two for two.
I remember the manual for an Apple 13-inch monitor that came with my IIcx (yes, I read it) that had a line that said "Be careful with your monitor, but don't be paranoid when you move it, it's not like it's made out of glass... ok, it is, but you know what we mean."
The world will be ruled as it has always been ruled , by the three Ps: Politicians, Priests and Poets.
Those poets man... destorying entire cities with their trite couplets, abusing little children in the bathroom stalls at the "Slams"... Someone please free us from the tyranny of the poets!
AT the begining of the war, the consensus was that the ends did not justify the means. Once the Nazis started terror-bombing civilians, though "the gloves came off" and decisions were made to bomb population centers. It was then and is now one of the most controversial decisions of the war -- way more controversial at the time than Hiroshima (which was just a bigger bomb). Check out DOWNFALL: THE END OF THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE EMPIRE for some really good discussions on this. (The author's take is that by the end of the war, most Americans were so tired of the brutality of the war, and the enemy, that they were will to condone any brutality to end it faster.)
Prices already dropped somewhat in Europe. In terms of their costs, you can spec out yourself what it would cost to make a machine using a 733PIII and a 40 gig hard drive with 64MB RAM. It's pretty cheap...
What you should do is sell an unrestricted, non-exclusive, license to what you are developing. That is, at the end of development, both you and the business owner will own the code. Then you can release yours under GNU or whatever license you choose. This will help both of you. (Well, it'll actually help him more than you, but 10 points for putting your money where you mouth is!)
The Segway seems cool, but it doesn't seem like sidewalks are big enough for it. Imagine 200 college kids with jogging strollers (to give an idea of the size) all trying to go somewhere after class.
An amazing technological achievment no doubt, but I'm worried about the practicality.
Atanasof made some digital circuits, but he just plain missed the boat on creating a programmable computer. His machine could only do one thing, thus it fails the test of being a general purpose computer. When will you people from Iowa give it up?
My favorite answer to who invented the computer comes from a guy at the computer history museum (www.computerhistory.org): "no one."
You mention a CS project, implying you are in school. You opinions vis-a-vis diet vs. non-diet cola will probably change in a few years as your metabolism slows. An all night session fueled by diet coke leaves you jittery, done, and happy. An all night session fueld by classic coke leaves you jittery, done, and feeling bloated. Does diet coke taste like crap? Of course, but a) you get used to it, b) it has no calories, and c) it is significantly "lighter" than straight coke, making it ideal for aging (I'm 30! I remember before the Simpsons!) hackers.
Ads on Google are pretty cheap. I had an idea a while back to just do some dumb ones for anyone who happened to search for my name. Now these guys have beat me to it. Doh!
It would be a great way to send hidden messages to freinds, based on what you guess are their search habbits.
I used to be a game magazine editor, and I can tell you; there are people who go to these events to see the games and go home, and there are those who go to them to mooch up the free food, hit on the "PR chicks" and generally act like it's a party put on for them because they're special people, not a business event.
Needless to say, there's a strong correlation between length of time spent as an editor and your desire to see the games and leave as soon as possible. There's also a correlation between being a freelancer and trying to mooch as much as you can.
It's pretty hard to justify some of these events, especially if you see all the games on one day, and then the "fun thing" is the next day.
The problems with these stories is they quote analysts as though they speak facts, when in fact they give opinions -- with the suspicion being that they use their influence to move stock in some direction that will benefit them.
If you look at the numbers, like from the TRST report (which is a market research service that covers about 65 - 70% of all US sales of videogames), you see a totally different story.
Hardware sales in these lean (non Q4) months are totally driven by software. Microsoft's latest software was the (very) disappointing Blood Wake, while PS2 had the (hotly anticipated, if not that great) State of Emergency. So a dip in sales is no surprise.
Slashdot Mirror
For anyone who looks at mod chips as a way to do hobbiest development, versus piracy, this kind of thing is just depressing.
The notion that humans could be used as a source of power once the sun was blocked is so full of shit that I feel obliged to respond. Human life depends on the sun: the things we eat either generate their power directly from the sun (plants) or indirectly (animals which eat plants) (we don't, except for fish, eat many animals that also eat animals). So, Matrix fans, what the frick are you going to feed the people who replace the sun?
Using people instead of the sun is inherently less efficient than just building solar collectors in space!
I hate sci-fi movies that don't even have reasonable premises, but what I hate more is that legions of people around the globe now believe that humans could be used as some kind of global energy generating device.
I do understand that you post was intended to be funny, I'm sorry, I just have no sense of humor when it comes to the laws of thermodynamics.
-Chris
It was pretty funny.
Those poets man... destorying entire cities with their trite couplets, abusing little children in the bathroom stalls at the "Slams"... Someone please free us from the tyranny of the poets!
AT the begining of the war, the consensus was that the ends did not justify the means. Once the Nazis started terror-bombing civilians, though "the gloves came off" and decisions were made to bomb population centers. It was then and is now one of the most controversial decisions of the war -- way more controversial at the time than Hiroshima (which was just a bigger bomb). Check out DOWNFALL: THE END OF THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE EMPIRE for some really good discussions on this. (The author's take is that by the end of the war, most Americans were so tired of the brutality of the war, and the enemy, that they were will to condone any brutality to end it faster.)
Prices already dropped somewhat in Europe. In terms of their costs, you can spec out yourself what it would cost to make a machine using a 733PIII and a 40 gig hard drive with 64MB RAM. It's pretty cheap...
An amazing technological achievment no doubt, but I'm worried about the practicality.
My favorite answer to who invented the computer comes from a guy at the computer history museum (www.computerhistory.org): "no one."
-Chris
You mention a CS project, implying you are in school. You opinions vis-a-vis diet vs. non-diet cola will probably change in a few years as your metabolism slows. An all night session fueled by diet coke leaves you jittery, done, and happy. An all night session fueld by classic coke leaves you jittery, done, and feeling bloated. Does diet coke taste like crap? Of course, but a) you get used to it, b) it has no calories, and c) it is significantly "lighter" than straight coke, making it ideal for aging (I'm 30! I remember before the Simpsons!) hackers.
Ads on Google are pretty cheap. I had an idea a while back to just do some dumb ones for anyone who happened to search for my name. Now these guys have beat me to it. Doh! It would be a great way to send hidden messages to freinds, based on what you guess are their search habbits.
Needless to say, there's a strong correlation between length of time spent as an editor and your desire to see the games and leave as soon as possible. There's also a correlation between being a freelancer and trying to mooch as much as you can.
It's pretty hard to justify some of these events, especially if you see all the games on one day, and then the "fun thing" is the next day.
The problems with these stories is they quote analysts as though they speak facts, when in fact they give opinions -- with the suspicion being that they use their influence to move stock in some direction that will benefit them. If you look at the numbers, like from the TRST report (which is a market research service that covers about 65 - 70% of all US sales of videogames), you see a totally different story. Hardware sales in these lean (non Q4) months are totally driven by software. Microsoft's latest software was the (very) disappointing Blood Wake, while PS2 had the (hotly anticipated, if not that great) State of Emergency. So a dip in sales is no surprise.