That's nothin'... I have the original UNIVAC in my spare house that I modified to use AMD 2.2 GHz Athlon XPs. Of course, the blinkenlights flash on and off so fast they burn out in just a few seconds. Then again, the original wiring was only run at 2.2 MEGAhz, so trying to get all the timing right was a nightmare.
And have you ever tried searching PriceWatch for a PGA to vacuum tube converter? Sheeeeesh... You'd think people had never heard of retrocomputing.
The last (and only) telephony project I worked on ran on AIX. The software package we had didn't support rewinding to hear the last few seconds of a message, so I had to write some plug-in code that would be triggered when the rewind key was pressed, keep track of the current negative offset, and only play back the correct number of bytes from the stored wav file.
It was kind of nasty. Not because it was particularly difficult (although debugging required a group effort to make multiple incoming phone calls to test it thoroughly), but because it was, in a theoretical sense, totally unnecessary. No telephony software package that costs MONEY should lack a simple rewind-replay feature.
It seems like if they're going to go through that much effort, they should send them to countries where there is a desperate shortage of drink coasters.
holograms are created with interference patterns using a laser on specially treated photographic materials
How is the main technique described in the article not a hologram? It specifically involves shining a split laser through a material that contains an interference pattern. The only difference is the interference pattern is created by calculated soundwaves passing through a stack of tellurium-oxide crystals, instead of using film.
No one ever said the depicted object has to actually exist for it to be a hologram...
I used to work at a movie theater. The rule was you could only stop a person from bringing in something if it was visible when they came through the door. Even if you could see people outside the theater stuffing their pockets and purses full of goodies, as long as the "contraband" was out of sight, we weren't allowed to do anything at all to stop them.
Which was fine by me. The more people who snuck stuff in, the fewer people I had to deal with while working the concession stand.
Is this one of those ethanol-based fuel cells? Seems like this would be a bad thing for recovering alcoholics. Imagine the stares you'd get at an AA meeting trying to power-up your machine.
Business travelers could have it bad, too. Imagine this scene:
*Man gets pulled over for swerving on the highway*
Officer: Sir, have you been drinking?
Man: No officer, not at all.
Officer: Why is there an open bottle of vodka in your hand?
Man: Oh, I had my laptop playing a DVD and the battery nearly died. I forgot my car adapter, so I was just trying to refill the battery.
Officer: With vodka?
Man: Yes, officer.
Officer: Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to step out of the car so I can beat you senseless with my nightstick.
There is no way this is real. One phrase gives it away:
the Microsoft Outlook® messaging and collaboration client
collaboration client?? Who in the hell calls it that? This is marketroid speak, pure and simple.
There's more idiocy:
I wouldn't know how to function without the Track Changes and Comments features of Word.
You need to run Windows XP to get this functionality?
Anyway, for the record, I hadn't ever used OS X until last week. I loved it. The graphics on the GUI are gorgeous and crystal clear. Besides, I've known lots of hardcore Mac users. Every single last one of them would gladly part with an extra few hundred dollars (or more!) to keep using a Mac.
This is a good reason to compare the MD5 checksum of anything you download, source or binary, to what the author says it should be, especially if you downloaded from a mirror. Better yet, the author could use GnuPG and sign the code with his/her private key. Since only his/her public key can decrypt it, you know that the code has very likely not been tampered with.
A laser transmitter was set up at the top of the 2,950-metre (9,587-feet) Zugspitze, and sent out pulses to a receiver, a 25- centimetre (10-inch) shop-bought telescope, positioned on line of sight on another peak, the 2,244-metre (7,293) Westlichekarwendespitze.
Obviously they encrypted the locations so readers wouldn't be able to attempt to eavesdrop as easily.
guide on how to improve your console's image quality.
squint
get glasses
stop playing with yourself
I think those would be a good start. If they don't help, try:
turning up the brightness knob
turning on the display
plugging in the display
plugging in the console
inserting a game
If after following these steps your image quality hasn't improved, consider taking the console back for a refund. Or better yet, just send it to me and I'll take care of it for you.
From the article: Equally surprising was the performance of Western Digital's 400AB and 800AB, both 5400-rpm harddisks showed exceptional performance on par with all but the fastest 7200-rpm harddisks. If you're looking for an affordable, high-performance and yet silent 5400-rpm harddisk either of these will fit your needs exactly.
I have setup many systems (mainly Dells) that ship with Western Digital HDs. A large number of those drives failed very soon thereafter. When Dell came to replace the drives, they were replaced with Maxtors.
Note: We no longer purchase Western Digital drives, even though their retail point of sale packaging is pretty and the drives are inexpensive. We decided that reliability is more important than a pretty box and saving a few bucks, so we've switched over to Quantum drives exclusively, and have been having much better luck... so far.
I would like to know what thing you would change in the modern Internet that you think would make it better. Less regulation? A different protocol? A method of removing vulnerable points to eliminate certain types of network-based attacks? Built-in encryption? Or something else entirely that most users haven't even dreamed up yet?
You are definitely correct that I do belong in academia. I would like to address a couple of things you mentioned, though.
I personally (from my perspective specifically) do not find it the least bit odd that companies are placing more value on specific skill sets as they need them rather than a "jack of all trades".
The thing I find odd is that people with highly particular skill sets can be disposable. Also, they don't necessarily have a "programmer mindset". Too many specialists are useless outside of their pet framework. It would seem like having a rich, varied background would be an asset no matter what. The fact that it isn't seems like an indication of shortsightedness, which is something I strongly dislike.
Of course the person that you will report to wants to hire someone who is going to make them look good.
I do tend to be cynical, but I didn't actually mean for my point about this to come across that way. I know it should be obvious that a boss will want to hire people that makes him/her look good, but many people don't always realize this. The thing that I find disturbing is not when the employer gets credit for hiring you and being a good manager, but for the work that YOU did. I firmly believe in giving credit where credit is due.
I have found that most of the people who whine about certs being "useless and trivial...no real indicator of skill" are usually afraid to go take the test becuase they are unsure they could pass it.
This is definitely not the issue I have.;) I can probably pass any test I can study for. I'm very good at taking tests. The issue to me, again, is one of shortsightedness. I think that this lack of foresight is one of the roots of the problems in our current economic situation. This is why I am so against certifications. If they were meaningful (so that they could be used in a non-shortsighted manner), I wouldn't have a problem with them at all.
I have many other points I'd mention, but they become increasingly irrelevent to the discussion, and more particular to my personality quirks and schizophrenic idealism, so I'll just leave it at this. Thanks for your reply.:)
I have switched jobs a couple of times recently. I've noticed a couple of things that have changed since I first started job hunting.
First of all, it is no longer sufficient to simply mention that you are a programmer. It isn't even sufficient to mention that you know C++. I've seen requirements that specifically want 2+ years of experience using Visual Studio. This is the most idiotic thing I've ever seen, but that doesn't stop companies from putting that in the job description. And we all know how HR departments are. If you don't have exactly what they're looking for, you don't get called back.
Another thing is the certification hang-up. I've known people with certifications that don't know sh*t, but that won't stop them from getting a job before me, because I don't have any certifications. Hiring managers (particularly those who are non-technical) are fooled into believing that certifications somehow equate to a higher quality employee. It doesn't matter that this isn't true; it can easily keep you from getting a job.
Thirdly, the "Jack of All Trades" background is getting harder to place. Employers want someone with large (sometimes unreasonably so) amounts of experience in particular (sometimes obscure) areas. It used to be that having a generic background was a good thing. It meant you could easily adapt to new technologies, and had a wide range of experience to draw on for coming up with novel solutions to problems. Nowadays, employers don't want you to solve anything. They want to purchase a solution-in-a-box and hire a technician (not really a programmer) to implement it.
Finally, employers are looking for more on your resume than "I wrote some software". They want to see how you drastically reduced the running time, or saved a bunch of money, or lead a team on to beat a tight deadline, save money, and make the manager look like a champion. Remember: they aren't hiring you to just get a job done. They are hiring you so that they can pad their own resumes with accomplishments that you pulled off. So, make sure that the things on your resume support what your potential manager would want on his resume.
After all this, I would like to mention that I am starting to feel burned out, and am looking towards getting back into academia. I'd rather do research than spend the rest of my life feeling like a corporate flunky.
I'm not sure about the economy speeding up, but I freshened up MY resume because I got laid off. I would hazard a guess that many people are doing the same. They've either been laid off, or are still worried about losing their jobs in the near future.
Slashdot Mirror
That's nothin'... I have the original UNIVAC in my spare house that I modified to use AMD 2.2 GHz Athlon XPs. Of course, the blinkenlights flash on and off so fast they burn out in just a few seconds. Then again, the original wiring was only run at 2.2 MEGAhz, so trying to get all the timing right was a nightmare.
And have you ever tried searching PriceWatch for a PGA to vacuum tube converter? Sheeeeesh... You'd think people had never heard of retrocomputing.
No, no... It's THINK/ICANN and GNU/ICOULD. ;)
The last (and only) telephony project I worked on ran on AIX. The software package we had didn't support rewinding to hear the last few seconds of a message, so I had to write some plug-in code that would be triggered when the rewind key was pressed, keep track of the current negative offset, and only play back the correct number of bytes from the stored wav file.
It was kind of nasty. Not because it was particularly difficult (although debugging required a group effort to make multiple incoming phone calls to test it thoroughly), but because it was, in a theoretical sense, totally unnecessary. No telephony software package that costs MONEY should lack a simple rewind-replay feature.
$ man "my ass"
No manual entry for my ass
Yes, I have. In fact, I think of that movie every time I consider using a CD as a frisbee.
"I come in peace."
"You go in pieces."
Ahhh... classic scriptwriting.
It seems like if they're going to go through that much effort, they should send them to countries where there is a desperate shortage of drink coasters.
How is the main technique described in the article not a hologram? It specifically involves shining a split laser through a material that contains an interference pattern. The only difference is the interference pattern is created by calculated soundwaves passing through a stack of tellurium-oxide crystals, instead of using film.
No one ever said the depicted object has to actually exist for it to be a hologram...
I used to work at a movie theater. The rule was you could only stop a person from bringing in something if it was visible when they came through the door. Even if you could see people outside the theater stuffing their pockets and purses full of goodies, as long as the "contraband" was out of sight, we weren't allowed to do anything at all to stop them.
Which was fine by me. The more people who snuck stuff in, the fewer people I had to deal with while working the concession stand.
According to this article, getting a laptop onto a plane might soon become a little more difficult.
Is this one of those ethanol-based fuel cells? Seems like this would be a bad thing for recovering alcoholics. Imagine the stares you'd get at an AA meeting trying to power-up your machine.
Business travelers could have it bad, too. Imagine this scene:
*Man gets pulled over for swerving on the highway*
Officer: Sir, have you been drinking?
Man: No officer, not at all.
Officer: Why is there an open bottle of vodka in your hand?
Man: Oh, I had my laptop playing a DVD and the battery nearly died. I forgot my car adapter, so I was just trying to refill the battery.
Officer: With vodka?
Man: Yes, officer.
Officer: Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to step out of the car so I can beat you senseless with my nightstick.
the Microsoft Outlook® messaging and collaboration client
collaboration client?? Who in the hell calls it that? This is marketroid speak, pure and simple.
There's more idiocy:
I wouldn't know how to function without the Track Changes and Comments features of Word.
You need to run Windows XP to get this functionality?
Anyway, for the record, I hadn't ever used OS X until last week. I loved it. The graphics on the GUI are gorgeous and crystal clear. Besides, I've known lots of hardcore Mac users. Every single last one of them would gladly part with an extra few hundred dollars (or more!) to keep using a Mac.
Gentoo automagically checks MD5 sums when it downloads source packages during installs/updates. Very handy.
This is a good reason to compare the MD5 checksum of anything you download, source or binary, to what the author says it should be, especially if you downloaded from a mirror. Better yet, the author could use GnuPG and sign the code with his/her private key. Since only his/her public key can decrypt it, you know that the code has very likely not been tampered with.
Whew! Good thing I don't use any firewall software!
A laser transmitter was set up at the top of the 2,950-metre (9,587-feet) Zugspitze, and sent out pulses to a receiver, a 25- centimetre (10-inch) shop-bought telescope, positioned on line of sight on another peak, the 2,244-metre (7,293) Westlichekarwendespitze.
Obviously they encrypted the locations so readers wouldn't be able to attempt to eavesdrop as easily.
I think those would be a good start. If they don't help, try:
If after following these steps your image quality hasn't improved, consider taking the console back for a refund. Or better yet, just send it to me and I'll take care of it for you.
Equally surprising was the performance of Western Digital's 400AB and 800AB, both 5400-rpm harddisks showed exceptional performance on par with all but the fastest 7200-rpm harddisks. If you're looking for an affordable, high-performance and yet silent 5400-rpm harddisk either of these will fit your needs exactly.
I have setup many systems (mainly Dells) that ship with Western Digital HDs. A large number of those drives failed very soon thereafter. When Dell came to replace the drives, they were replaced with Maxtors.
Also, here is a snippet from Gibson Research regarding their SpinRite product.
Note: We no longer purchase Western Digital drives, even though their retail point of sale packaging is pretty and the drives are inexpensive. We decided that reliability is more important than a pretty box and saving a few bucks, so we've switched over to Quantum drives exclusively, and have been having much better luck ... so far.
Good thing they did that report so they know what to replace their current drives with when we get done burning all their motors up.
I'll bet that server is making some noise right now. WHHHHHHHRRRRRRR!!! *snap, crackle, pop*
Unless, of course, there aren't ANY developers, in which case it is directly proportional. ;)
I would like to know what thing you would change in the modern Internet that you think would make it better. Less regulation? A different protocol? A method of removing vulnerable points to eliminate certain types of network-based attacks? Built-in encryption? Or something else entirely that most users haven't even dreamed up yet?
I personally (from my perspective specifically) do not find it the least bit odd that companies are placing more value on specific skill sets as they need them rather than a "jack of all trades".
The thing I find odd is that people with highly particular skill sets can be disposable. Also, they don't necessarily have a "programmer mindset". Too many specialists are useless outside of their pet framework. It would seem like having a rich, varied background would be an asset no matter what. The fact that it isn't seems like an indication of shortsightedness, which is something I strongly dislike.
Of course the person that you will report to wants to hire someone who is going to make them look good.
I do tend to be cynical, but I didn't actually mean for my point about this to come across that way. I know it should be obvious that a boss will want to hire people that makes him/her look good, but many people don't always realize this. The thing that I find disturbing is not when the employer gets credit for hiring you and being a good manager, but for the work that YOU did. I firmly believe in giving credit where credit is due.
I have found that most of the people who whine about certs being "useless and trivial...no real indicator of skill" are usually afraid to go take the test becuase they are unsure they could pass it.
This is definitely not the issue I have. ;) I can probably pass any test I can study for. I'm very good at taking tests. The issue to me, again, is one of shortsightedness. I think that this lack of foresight is one of the roots of the problems in our current economic situation. This is why I am so against certifications. If they were meaningful (so that they could be used in a non-shortsighted manner), I wouldn't have a problem with them at all.
I have many other points I'd mention, but they become increasingly irrelevent to the discussion, and more particular to my personality quirks and schizophrenic idealism, so I'll just leave it at this. Thanks for your reply. :)
First of all, it is no longer sufficient to simply mention that you are a programmer. It isn't even sufficient to mention that you know C++. I've seen requirements that specifically want 2+ years of experience using Visual Studio. This is the most idiotic thing I've ever seen, but that doesn't stop companies from putting that in the job description. And we all know how HR departments are. If you don't have exactly what they're looking for, you don't get called back.
Another thing is the certification hang-up. I've known people with certifications that don't know sh*t, but that won't stop them from getting a job before me, because I don't have any certifications. Hiring managers (particularly those who are non-technical) are fooled into believing that certifications somehow equate to a higher quality employee. It doesn't matter that this isn't true; it can easily keep you from getting a job.
Thirdly, the "Jack of All Trades" background is getting harder to place. Employers want someone with large (sometimes unreasonably so) amounts of experience in particular (sometimes obscure) areas. It used to be that having a generic background was a good thing. It meant you could easily adapt to new technologies, and had a wide range of experience to draw on for coming up with novel solutions to problems. Nowadays, employers don't want you to solve anything. They want to purchase a solution-in-a-box and hire a technician (not really a programmer) to implement it. Finally, employers are looking for more on your resume than "I wrote some software". They want to see how you drastically reduced the running time, or saved a bunch of money, or lead a team on to beat a tight deadline, save money, and make the manager look like a champion. Remember: they aren't hiring you to just get a job done. They are hiring you so that they can pad their own resumes with accomplishments that you pulled off. So, make sure that the things on your resume support what your potential manager would want on his resume.
After all this, I would like to mention that I am starting to feel burned out, and am looking towards getting back into academia. I'd rather do research than spend the rest of my life feeling like a corporate flunky.
I'm not sure about the economy speeding up, but I freshened up MY resume because I got laid off. I would hazard a guess that many people are doing the same. They've either been laid off, or are still worried about losing their jobs in the near future.
Worse, you get carpal BRAIN syndrome... Then where would you be?
They can use whatever heatsink comes out for those 4 Ghz Pentiums...