This suit may also be an attempt by Redhat to force the hands of both IBM and SCO. The longer this SCO crap drags on the more Redhat loses because companies are afraid of Linux. By filing the suit, Redhat brings an end to the FUD and brings the case to court. The suit catches SCO unprepared; if they had been ready to file suit against IBM, they would have months ago, after IBM declined the 1 billion dollar settlement. IBM is also forced to help Redhat; if Redhat goes to trial first and loses, IBM will have a tougher time winning their case.
I don't know about learning it in a half hour. I've been playing with it for a week and I'm still only up to static modeling. It really could use better documentation. Of course, users experienced in other 3D modeling programs may have an easier time. In any case, this page has been tremendously helpful.
First off, don't ever combine ozone and global warming into the same debate. They're two entirely different subjects. Ozone depleting reactions are well documented and demonstrated, but greenhouse effects are only theory and modeling.
Here's the way it is...
Man makes CFC's. They aren't found in nature. The banned ones are very stable and migrate throughout the atmosphere. Just because they're heavier than air doesn't mean they stay close to the ground. If that were the case, we'd walking in a thick layer of carbon dioxide while the oxygen and nitrogen stayed in a layer above us.
Once the CFC's leave the lower atmosphere, they are exposed to shorter wavelengths of light and for a free chlorine ion. This free ion reacts with O3 and breaks off one O to form ClO and O2. The ClO molecule reacts with a free O molecule to create Cl and O2. This chain of reactions leaves the Cl free to react again and changes an O3 molecule and an O radical to 2 O2 molecules. This reaction will occur anywhere you have CFC's, high energy radiation, and ozone. (Anywhere you find O3 and sunlight, you will find some O2 and O; they're decay products.)
The fact that the Cl is not consumed by the reaction is what makes CFC's even more dangerous. The molecules will be up there for decades and there's not much we can do about bringing them down.
No, we can't prove CFC's are the sole cause of ozone depletion, but we do know there is now chlorine up there when it shouldn't be there naturally. We know it reacts to destroy ozone. We know the hole in the ozone layer is a recent phenomenon. If you'd care to offer a better explanation of either
a) How the free chlorine got into the upper atmosphere without CFC's,
or...
b) What's causing the rather sudden depletion of the ozone layer,
I'd entertain the argument. As it is, I don't know of another solid argument that's been put forth.
You can break out the "no proof" card for global warming, but ozone depletion is pretty well proven. The chemical mechanism is well documented and demonstrated.
Yes, a filtration scheme does result in a contaminated filter, but a bad filter is a lot better than bad water. Uranium in water is mobile, but U in a filter is easy to control. You'll never be rid of the uranium, but you can contain it.
I'd be a little surprised if the concern with the uranium concentration is really the radiation; perhaps at the Oak Ridge, but almost certainly not at the mine tailings. If the concentration of non-refined U is so high radiation becomes a concern, you're more likely to die due to the fact uranium is poisonous in the same sense mercury and arsenic are poisonous. In any case, U isn't a good thing to have in the water supply.
It could be that newer systems are making the artists job easier. I'm glad it wasn't me trying to make a cover for a game back in the days of the NES. Trying to do an artists impression of a couple blurry pixels probley isn't an easy job.
What I don't understand is how this case falls under copyright law. Isn't this a case of patent law? It's not as though the chip is a work of art. How does the DMCA apply? I thought the C was for copyright, not crappy.
For those of you that need a Fallout fix now and like table top RPGs, there are pen and paper rules available at http://pnp.duckandcover.net/. They can be a bit cumbersome at times, but they seem to be pretty close to the rules from the computer games.
I don't know if an IT guy should start going through somebody's My Music directory or not as part of troubleshooting (the IT folks claim they were looking for signs of a virus), but it doesn't matter for the purposes of this article. Collegis stated that it fired them for reasons unrelated to the incident with the porn; therefore, they weren't fired for snooping around the professor's computer.
I find is a strange coincidence that the two people responsible for finding and reporting the porn were fired at the same time so shortly after the incident. Collegis can claim it wasn't related all they want, but it still smells fishy.
It sounds like Fox simply didn't renew copyright, thus allowing the video to fall into public domain when the term expired. It would be nice if the article were a little more clear on the issue, but the fact that it is public domain doesn't seem to be a point of contention.
If it isn't a virus, it isn't the flu. The flu is caused by the influenza virus, so if it isn't caused by that virus, calling it the flu (as in the Slashdot headline) is misleading.
As good literature: . . . interesting plot (read: not necessary ends with happy end).
I agree that an interesting plot is essential, but I think it needs to be mentioned that not all endings need be dark and depressing. The ending should be whatever makes the most sense, happy or not.
Back in chem lab, we had to note all the safety concerns as well (perhaps not in as much detail). When the lab didn't involve dangerous reagents, I still had to fill up the safety space, so I always fell back on a sage piece of chemistry advice:
Your BS meter is correct. Without getting into the ultrapure-water-draining-the-body-of-nutrients garbage, water used in chip manufacturing is deadly for another reason.
You EEs and CS guys may not fear the etching agent, but we chemical engineers are scared shitless of hydroflouric acid (HF). When I worked in an analytical lab, we had special kits to deal with 3 different chemicals: mercury, cyanide, and HF. It's truly insideous stuff.
Most of the water used in chip manufacturing goes to rincing the chips after they are etched. As a result, it contains a fair amount of HF. There are efforts to maximize recyceling and minimize water usage, but they can only go so far.
I find it amusing as a ChE to watch non-chemists around chemicals. If they often handle HF, they can be quite casual about safety and may not even wear gloves, but put them in the same room as a fairly innocuous organic solvent like isopropyl alcohol and they're ready to don a hazmat suit.
It's not the "secret court" aspect of the case that should scare the crap out of you. The nature of the court requires that it be operated out of the public eye.
What should scare the crap out is that people were lying to the court to get warrents. Combine this episode of perjury with the refusal to obey the court's order to show any evidence that two of the people they held in prison were related to terrorism and we have a very scary situation.
He also said that the questions weren't very good either...
I doubt many/. readers have had the privlage (punishment) of dealing with PTO on an intimate basis, so it's not surprising the questions aren't terribly insiteful. I may be a little late, but I'll pose a question: What would be a good question?
If you want to create a database of free source code for complicated chemistry and physics problems, I'd be happy to switch.
I'm not attached to FORTRAN, but there's a ton of stuff out there for academic and scientific use that is constantly being refined and updated. Starting from scratch in a more modern language seems silly. Let me remind you, most people who use FORTRAN are scientists, mathamaticians, and engineers, not computer scientists. Building a program to do complex calculations from scratch is beyond most of them just as determining reaction dynamics is beyond a typical computer programer.
I'll pick a nit and say geothermal isn't solar in origin. It's from the energy trapped way back when the Earth formed. I'm not sure exactly how much of that energy is solar in origin, but I don't think it's a lot.
If you had read the f-ing article, you'd see that Zimbabwe's concerns aren't (only) about planting patented food, the concerns are about being able to export corn in the future. It's plainly spelled out in the article that Z usually exports food. If engineered corn breeds with natural corn, they will no longer be able to ship corn, a major export, to many nations with anti engineering laws in place. The issue isn't one about intellectual property, but about potentail safty of the corn.
I agree that it's pretty crazy that a starving nation has to turn down free food, but don't try to make the issue into something it's not.
Just wait until moms get into advanced operations in Linux, such as installing a program. How many "What does it mean 'error- can't find gcc' or "Why does it say I don't have permission to access this file" calls would you get if moms ran Linux? I'm halfway computer savvy, and I can't get Linux to do everything I know it's capable of.
I'm relatively new to Linux, and my biggest problem is the way programs are installed. I use Mandrake, so I can use RPM, but many programs are distributed as source. As a noob, I had no idea I'd need c compilers on my system. I don't code, why should I? Even now that I have the compilers, I still encounter errors such as "missing file/somedirectoryidon'thave/anotherstrangedirectory/s omefilei'veneverseen.before" with no indication of where I might get that file, if I should already have it in a different location, or if I need to reconfigure some configuration file.
If Linux ever wants to see widespread use outside the programming community, there must be an easier and more straightforward way of installing programs. If Linux is ever going to grow beyond the programming community, they must keep in mind the average user. Not necessarily the dumbest user (as MS does) but the person that doesn't know how to tweak source code. I don't know how to edit and compile the kernel to include some new piece of hardware, and I don't want to.
I shouldn't have to learn every little in and out of Linux. That's what programers are paid for. I'm a chemical engineer. Give me a word processor, a few math programs, and some readymade Fortran code and I'm good to go. That's all I ask. Windows delivers, so that's the OS I use 90% of the time. I'd love to avoid the watchful gaze of MS, but I can't invest a large amount of time into learning Linux for only a small reward.
I'll admit that this site is probably about as good as any...
Not really. The NRC and other interested parties kept running the environmental tests until they got answers they liked. The Great Basin is one huge active fault zone. It wasn't more than a few months ago there was a 5.0 quake in the Yucca Mountain area.
Additionally, don't forget that Las Vegas is the fastest growing city in the nation. It won't be long before Vegas is creeping onto the boundaries of the waste dump. Provided that both can find the water needed to run.
Slashdot Mirror
This suit may also be an attempt by Redhat to force the hands of both IBM and SCO. The longer this SCO crap drags on the more Redhat loses because companies are afraid of Linux. By filing the suit, Redhat brings an end to the FUD and brings the case to court. The suit catches SCO unprepared; if they had been ready to file suit against IBM, they would have months ago, after IBM declined the 1 billion dollar settlement. IBM is also forced to help Redhat; if Redhat goes to trial first and loses, IBM will have a tougher time winning their case.
I don't know about learning it in a half hour. I've been playing with it for a week and I'm still only up to static modeling. It really could use better documentation. Of course, users experienced in other 3D modeling programs may have an easier time. In any case, this page has been tremendously helpful.
Here's the way it is...
Man makes CFC's. They aren't found in nature. The banned ones are very stable and migrate throughout the atmosphere. Just because they're heavier than air doesn't mean they stay close to the ground. If that were the case, we'd walking in a thick layer of carbon dioxide while the oxygen and nitrogen stayed in a layer above us.
Once the CFC's leave the lower atmosphere, they are exposed to shorter wavelengths of light and for a free chlorine ion. This free ion reacts with O3 and breaks off one O to form ClO and O2. The ClO molecule reacts with a free O molecule to create Cl and O2. This chain of reactions leaves the Cl free to react again and changes an O3 molecule and an O radical to 2 O2 molecules. This reaction will occur anywhere you have CFC's, high energy radiation, and ozone. (Anywhere you find O3 and sunlight, you will find some O2 and O; they're decay products.)
The fact that the Cl is not consumed by the reaction is what makes CFC's even more dangerous. The molecules will be up there for decades and there's not much we can do about bringing them down.
No, we can't prove CFC's are the sole cause of ozone depletion, but we do know there is now chlorine up there when it shouldn't be there naturally. We know it reacts to destroy ozone. We know the hole in the ozone layer is a recent phenomenon. If you'd care to offer a better explanation of either
a) How the free chlorine got into the upper atmosphere without CFC's,
or...
b) What's causing the rather sudden depletion of the ozone layer,
I'd entertain the argument. As it is, I don't know of another solid argument that's been put forth.
You can break out the "no proof" card for global warming, but ozone depletion is pretty well proven. The chemical mechanism is well documented and demonstrated.
I'd be a little surprised if the concern with the uranium concentration is really the radiation; perhaps at the Oak Ridge, but almost certainly not at the mine tailings. If the concentration of non-refined U is so high radiation becomes a concern, you're more likely to die due to the fact uranium is poisonous in the same sense mercury and arsenic are poisonous. In any case, U isn't a good thing to have in the water supply.
It could be that newer systems are making the artists job easier. I'm glad it wasn't me trying to make a cover for a game back in the days of the NES. Trying to do an artists impression of a couple blurry pixels probley isn't an easy job.
Perhaps somebody can clear up my ignorance.
For those of you that need a Fallout fix now and like table top RPGs, there are pen and paper rules available at http://pnp.duckandcover.net/. They can be a bit cumbersome at times, but they seem to be pretty close to the rules from the computer games.
I find is a strange coincidence that the two people responsible for finding and reporting the porn were fired at the same time so shortly after the incident. Collegis can claim it wasn't related all they want, but it still smells fishy.
It sounds like Fox simply didn't renew copyright, thus allowing the video to fall into public domain when the term expired. It would be nice if the article were a little more clear on the issue, but the fact that it is public domain doesn't seem to be a point of contention.
If it isn't a virus, it isn't the flu. The flu is caused by the influenza virus, so if it isn't caused by that virus, calling it the flu (as in the Slashdot headline) is misleading.
2) When you have enough radioactive bombers to achieve critical mass, have them all run toward the same spot and explode in a giant nuclear reaction!
.
.
.
Was that in bad taste? No? Dang.
I agree that an interesting plot is essential, but I think it needs to be mentioned that not all endings need be dark and depressing. The ending should be whatever makes the most sense, happy or not.
Don't eat the product.
Your BS meter is correct. Without getting into the ultrapure-water-draining-the-body-of-nutrients garbage, water used in chip manufacturing is deadly for another reason. You EEs and CS guys may not fear the etching agent, but we chemical engineers are scared shitless of hydroflouric acid (HF). When I worked in an analytical lab, we had special kits to deal with 3 different chemicals: mercury, cyanide, and HF. It's truly insideous stuff. Most of the water used in chip manufacturing goes to rincing the chips after they are etched. As a result, it contains a fair amount of HF. There are efforts to maximize recyceling and minimize water usage, but they can only go so far. I find it amusing as a ChE to watch non-chemists around chemicals. If they often handle HF, they can be quite casual about safety and may not even wear gloves, but put them in the same room as a fairly innocuous organic solvent like isopropyl alcohol and they're ready to don a hazmat suit.
What should scare the crap out is that people were lying to the court to get warrents. Combine this episode of perjury with the refusal to obey the court's order to show any evidence that two of the people they held in prison were related to terrorism and we have a very scary situation.
I doubt many /. readers have had the privlage (punishment) of dealing with PTO on an intimate basis, so it's not surprising the questions aren't terribly insiteful. I may be a little late, but I'll pose a question: What would be a good question?
I'm not attached to FORTRAN, but there's a ton of stuff out there for academic and scientific use that is constantly being refined and updated. Starting from scratch in a more modern language seems silly. Let me remind you, most people who use FORTRAN are scientists, mathamaticians, and engineers, not computer scientists. Building a program to do complex calculations from scratch is beyond most of them just as determining reaction dynamics is beyond a typical computer programer.
I'll pick a nit and say geothermal isn't solar in origin. It's from the energy trapped way back when the Earth formed. I'm not sure exactly how much of that energy is solar in origin, but I don't think it's a lot.
For the love of all that is right in the world, put the warning before the link.
Premier@PREMIERSERVICES.COM
If you had read the f-ing article, you'd see that Zimbabwe's concerns aren't (only) about planting patented food, the concerns are about being able to export corn in the future. It's plainly spelled out in the article that Z usually exports food. If engineered corn breeds with natural corn, they will no longer be able to ship corn, a major export, to many nations with anti engineering laws in place. The issue isn't one about intellectual property, but about potentail safty of the corn.
I agree that it's pretty crazy that a starving nation has to turn down free food, but don't try to make the issue into something it's not.
Just wait until moms get into advanced operations in Linux, such as installing a program. How many "What does it mean 'error- can't find gcc' or "Why does it say I don't have permission to access this file" calls would you get if moms ran Linux? I'm halfway computer savvy, and I can't get Linux to do everything I know it's capable of.
If Linux ever wants to see widespread use outside the programming community, there must be an easier and more straightforward way of installing programs. If Linux is ever going to grow beyond the programming community, they must keep in mind the average user. Not necessarily the dumbest user (as MS does) but the person that doesn't know how to tweak source code. I don't know how to edit and compile the kernel to include some new piece of hardware, and I don't want to.
I shouldn't have to learn every little in and out of Linux. That's what programers are paid for. I'm a chemical engineer. Give me a word processor, a few math programs, and some readymade Fortran code and I'm good to go. That's all I ask. Windows delivers, so that's the OS I use 90% of the time. I'd love to avoid the watchful gaze of MS, but I can't invest a large amount of time into learning Linux for only a small reward.
Not really. The NRC and other interested parties kept running the environmental tests until they got answers they liked. The Great Basin is one huge active fault zone. It wasn't more than a few months ago there was a 5.0 quake in the Yucca Mountain area.
Additionally, don't forget that Las Vegas is the fastest growing city in the nation. It won't be long before Vegas is creeping onto the boundaries of the waste dump. Provided that both can find the water needed to run.