Python [python.org] is universal, if there's anything you can do with a computer, the simplest way to do it is with Python, so why do it the hard way?
The whole point of special-purpose languages like matlab is to make it easier to write certain kinds of programs. Is Python really better than Matlab for matrix manipulation?
If the company does poorly, you pay big bucks to bring in new hotshot execs. If the company does well, you pay them well to reward their results. It's quite a racket!
The big problem I see in all this is that US executives have a huge upside (Goldman Sachs CEO got a $68 million dollar bonus this year), but with no downside (Merrill Lynch fired its failed CEO with a $160 million golden parachute). If you want to argue execs deserve huge pay because so much money is at stake, then they should also stand to leave the company hundreds of millions poorer than they came into it, if they underperform. If they don't want to be personally liable for their huge losses, neither should they stand to take so much of the potential winnings (as they do now).
No, the country could not get along without the IRS - that's the point. Ron Paul's scheme would still require administration and enforcement - i.e. the IRS, even if by another name.
My vote would be 'no' on postscript. The tools aren't as commonly installed (or as refined) as PDF. Worse, I believe.ps files commonly do not include the fonts they rely on, leading to lots of headaches. For that and whatever other reasons,.ps is a cavalcade of "execution stack" error messages, while pdf always works.
"instead of letting the employees do something useful and making the shareholders some money you have them running around in pixel land kicking rocks?"
Same thing could have been said of the "Word Wide Web" 12 years ago. The browser as we know it might not be the primary interface to the Internet in a decade.
Well, since the issue of popularity (and probably an ensuing flame war) are inevitable, I might as well ask what advantages NetBSD kernel has over the Linux kernel (meaning the Linus tree)?
How does the power density of these compare to gasoline? We can make lots of jokes about them blowing up and being munitions, but first I'd like to see a comparison between one of these and 0.1 gallons of gasoline.
The "cheapness" of oil is only a testament to the value of crude as a natural resource, not to the benevolent oil companies who do so much for so little. Future generations will look back enviously at how we got energy just by sticking a tap in the dirt and turning on the spigot.
Anything still based on DNA is re-using nature's building blocks. It's like in Photoshop, using the clone tool vs. drawing a photorealistic texture freehand - there's a huge difference. Nature has been searching the space of DNA recombinations for a long time.
why oh WHY are 90% of the windows computers sold today preloaded with Vista, if so many people can't stand it?
People are so sold on the idea that the latest must be the greatest, my guess is most users don't want a new PC with an "outdated" OS. Especially with the promise of a service pack that will fix everything just around the corner.
Calling Castro "an admitted transsexual" and deleting the identities of prisoners is not correcting falsehoods.
That said, there's a difference between a propaganda campaign orchestrated at high levels, vs. some bored private being a dork. Then again, powerful people tend to do their dirty work through disposable minions, so it's not always easy to tell.
The NYSE purchased a packaged solution from HP (or another solutions bundler like Accenture), and HP will guarantee that this installation of Linux will be reliable to 6 sigma.
Read the summary:
From NYSE Euronext CIO Steve Rubinow: 'We don't want to be closely aligned with proprietary Unix. No offense to HP-UX, but we feel the same way about [IBM's] AIX, and we feel the same way to some extent about Solaris.
Does this sound to you like a naive customer who simply wants to purchase a "solution" and doesn't care what's inside because of their implicit faith in the provider?
Regardless, the upshot of this is that Linux is driving the mission-critical application and providing those six-sigmas. Both HP and NYSE are showing the highest level of confidence in Linux. This is nothing like 8 years ago when Sun could pooh-pooh Linux as a nice little toy.
Re:Guarantee of Reliability is not Free
on
NYSE Moves to Linux
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· Score: 2, Insightful
Maybe he's saying it's no better (nor worse) than Solaris with an uber-expensive support license? I don't know.
the problems the NYSE is dealing with are very remote from those that the average desktop user is... the "WOW if the NYSE is doing it!" crowd should try and control themselves at least a little.
Umm, why? Running the NYSE is a whole lot more impressive than running solitaire.
But aren't today's firewire external hard drives only a little faster than USB2? I sure wish USB could simply be upgraded to these higher speeds (since it is admittedly undesirably slow for hard drives nowadays). But When I travel, I really like having a single cable for my GPS, MP3 Player, and camera.
Yeah, what's the point of even being in business if you have to compete fairly instead of locking people in?
I'd argue that most products and services are not natural monopolies; otherwise, capitalism would not work and no country would use it. Microsoft's position is great if you happen to be Bill Gates, but it's a drag on everybody else in every other industry (why do people outside slashdot fail to recognize that?)
Google better thank their lucky stars there's no search lock-in, because otherwise google could never have displaced altavista, yahoo, microsoft, and everybody else who came along before google. At the same time, google better stay on its toes.
"Following the splashdown of "Liberty Bell 7, the hatch, which had explosive bolts, blew off prematurely, letting water into the capsule and into Grissom's suit. Grissom nearly drowned but was rescued by helicopter, while the spacecraft sank in deep water. Grissom maintained he did nothing to set off the explosives to blow the hatch, and NASA officials agreed. The craft was recovered in 1999 but there was no evidence of how the hatch had been opened. However, later experience showed that the force necessary to trigger the initiator for the explosive egress system would leave a major bruise, and Grissom had no such injury."
Actually I'm not sure this episode has any direct relevance to the present. Just thought it worth mentioning that the first manned space missions did land in water.
But there are some really fantastic newspapers - which are also "press for profit".
Not really. The best news sources were often marginally profitable (if that) divisions within larger parent companies, operated out of a sense of responsibility that is becoming increasingly incomprehensible to us. I hear people bragging about how their preferred news source has the highest ratings, instead of how it broke the biggest story.
All they're basically proposing is that you write an article as best as you can and they host it, giving you a tiny share of the revenue it generates.
The ads and profit sharing are what will destroy it as a useful repository of knowledge. Stating facts and saying whatever will make you the most money are two separate things.
Slashdot Mirror
The big problem I see in all this is that US executives have a huge upside (Goldman Sachs CEO got a $68 million dollar bonus this year), but with no downside (Merrill Lynch fired its failed CEO with a $160 million golden parachute). If you want to argue execs deserve huge pay because so much money is at stake, then they should also stand to leave the company hundreds of millions poorer than they came into it, if they underperform. If they don't want to be personally liable for their huge losses, neither should they stand to take so much of the potential winnings (as they do now).
No, the country could not get along without the IRS - that's the point. Ron Paul's scheme would still require administration and enforcement - i.e. the IRS, even if by another name.
What, MS Word doesn't support ODF? If it doesn't MS better get at it.
My vote would be 'no' on postscript. The tools aren't as commonly installed (or as refined) as PDF. Worse, I believe .ps files commonly do not include the fonts they rely on, leading to lots of headaches. For that and whatever other reasons, .ps is a cavalcade of "execution stack" error messages, while pdf always works.
Coincidentally, I had to replace the roof on my home lately and 25 years is the same as the warranty for a good-quality standard (not solar) roof.
Same thing could have been said of the "Word Wide Web" 12 years ago. The browser as we know it might not be the primary interface to the Internet in a decade.
Well, since the issue of popularity (and probably an ensuing flame war) are inevitable, I might as well ask what advantages NetBSD kernel has over the Linux kernel (meaning the Linus tree)?
How does the power density of these compare to gasoline? We can make lots of jokes about them blowing up and being munitions, but first I'd like to see a comparison between one of these and 0.1 gallons of gasoline.
The "cheapness" of oil is only a testament to the value of crude as a natural resource, not to the benevolent oil companies who do so much for so little. Future generations will look back enviously at how we got energy just by sticking a tap in the dirt and turning on the spigot.
Anything still based on DNA is re-using nature's building blocks. It's like in Photoshop, using the clone tool vs. drawing a photorealistic texture freehand - there's a huge difference. Nature has been searching the space of DNA recombinations for a long time.
Geez, which side are you arguing? Vista has 1% wider adoption than Windows 2000 and you think that's good for Vista?
It's surprising because generally people would assume that desktops are faster than laptops.
That said, there's a difference between a propaganda campaign orchestrated at high levels, vs. some bored private being a dork. Then again, powerful people tend to do their dirty work through disposable minions, so it's not always easy to tell.
Regardless, the upshot of this is that Linux is driving the mission-critical application and providing those six-sigmas. Both HP and NYSE are showing the highest level of confidence in Linux. This is nothing like 8 years ago when Sun could pooh-pooh Linux as a nice little toy.
Maybe he's saying it's no better (nor worse) than Solaris with an uber-expensive support license? I don't know.
But aren't today's firewire external hard drives only a little faster than USB2? I sure wish USB could simply be upgraded to these higher speeds (since it is admittedly undesirably slow for hard drives nowadays). But When I travel, I really like having a single cable for my GPS, MP3 Player, and camera.
I'd argue that most products and services are not natural monopolies; otherwise, capitalism would not work and no country would use it. Microsoft's position is great if you happen to be Bill Gates, but it's a drag on everybody else in every other industry (why do people outside slashdot fail to recognize that?)
Google better thank their lucky stars there's no search lock-in, because otherwise google could never have displaced altavista, yahoo, microsoft, and everybody else who came along before google. At the same time, google better stay on its toes.