Of course, it's kind of obvious that demand precedes standardization, since standardization takes effort and some kind of demand must exist (even if it's just a, "Hey, wouldn't it been keen if...") before people will get off their duffs to figure out, formalize, and make available a standard.
I disagree with you there. I think standardization is an emegent process, not a design process. Did Apache become the ubiquitous web server by creating a standard? Maybe the better question is did the HTML / HTTP design become standards by design or emergence? We had FTP, NNTP, UUCP, SMTP, Gopher, Archie, etc. before HTML & HTTP. I think it's the ideas that drive consumers are the ones that become the standard; they aren't standards arrived to by demand.
As far as Windows vs. UNIX API, I think that was/is also emergent. People weren't demanding a GUI before they were there; the GUI appeared and demand jumped. At the time, Windows was the cheaper way to go compared to X/UNIX or Mac.
Admittedly I'm not clear on how DOC became the ubiquitous document format.
Are you going to index the ingredient fields? So if I look in my fridge and have 5 cans of Coors Light (I don't drink it, but all the women I know seem to...), a bit of mildly moldy cheddar cheese, leftover Zatarain's and 1/2 ounce of milk I can create a SELECT statement to show me all available recipes, right?
I am in the middle of going through the article in awe of everything, and my mp3 player randomly selects John Philip Sousa's Air Force song. What a clash of mindsets!
By the way, I was in the USSR in 1987 for three weeks on a People to People international student ambassodor exchange trip with students from most states. (We didn't school there, just tour.) The trip originally included Kiev but that was changed due to Chernobyl. The alternative city the most beautiful city I visited: Riga, Latvia.
And the few times I actually RTFA I usually find that the Slashdot summary--with no quote marks--is copied verbatim from an opening paragraph of the article.
You can run the IE installer with a switch (MS link, Google link) to allow the advanced tab where you select which options to install like the pre-5.5 IE's. I think I remember seeing NetMeeting in there last time I did a custom install, but I'm not sure.
(Note: You can also use these switches to download IE for multiple local installs. Very handy for netadmins.)
I must have my terms mixed up. Okay then, what's it called when there are too many shares short and everyone starts buying to cover at the same time? To cash out your short you actually have to purchase the stock from the market. At some point in the curve if too many people are short and start cashing in their profits the stock price jumps up from all the buying.
Actually I've been out of state for a couple of years but want to move back sooner or later.
Yeah, the growth there is crazy. I swear Sherman is going to be part of the metroplex in a couple of years; that is it'll be completely developed all the way up 75 to Oklahoma.
Do you know what the purposed use of all that IBM land in The Colony was?
No, but I know some companies like to create their own residential "planned community" subdivisions. Mobil did that in McKinney, and Ross Perot did it in Keller I think. I'm not sure what that's all about; I don't know if it's a way to exert some extra measure of control over employees at home or a way to add benefits or if it's just an egomaniacal way of controlling more people period. (No antennas on the roof? Come on!) So I guess my completely uninformed answer is that maybe IBM developed it as residental and planned it that way all along and many people living there work for IBM. But I don't know that and am most likely completely wrong about that land and IBM.
Duh! It's pretty obvious there are managment problems there. The place leaks like a sieve, there's a torso of human tissue strapped to the outside and scheduled public transportation has been suspended for over a year now.
I am guilty of multiple-pushing on elevator buttons and crosswalk buttons. But that's because I'm neurotic about having pushed it hard enough, or at the right angle or whatever.
Don't most elevator buttons light up? It's been a while since I've seen a reasonably modern building with no lighted buttons; courthouses and other decades-old government buildings jump to mind as exceptions to the rule.
By eliminating the factor of human error, if the elevator doesn't arrive quickly or the light doesn't change, you can decide whether it is mechanically broken or someone else is issuing a competing command.
Good point. I'm with you now. I'm always trying to figure out how things work behind the scenes; is this elevator programmed optimally, fully on-demand, or apparently programmed to piss me off? (I swear some are.)
But -- when I encounter the elevators with heat-sensor buttons which light up when activated, I press once if the light is not on, or zero times if I see it lit.
Are you kidding? Those things are like crack to me. I gotta light up as many as I can whenever I see them. Then I ball up in a fetal position and suck my thumb in mamma's-womb-like contentedness.
I've noticed that, too. That pisses me off; what, are they saving electricity by not lighting the white "walk" light? If I walk up just as the light turns green; then I have to wait through the whole doggone cycle. (This seems to happen more often than probable.)
Come to think of it, those are the times I neurotically press the button over and over because I don't want to miss the next cycle.
I don't expect to get a faster signal because I press the button, but I hope that it would cause the light to change in a reasonable cycle even if a car never comes to trip the sensor in my direction.
I think you're on the right track with psychology, but I think it's actually societal communication. If I walk up and just stand near you, that's creepy and I'm weird. If I push the button, you know I want to ride the elevator so now standing near you is perfectly acceptable and normal behavior. At least I think that's how it processes somewhere deep in our minds.
As for using the open/close buttons or pressing more than once, I think that's a "I'm in a hurry" signal. I don't understand why it's important to communicate this, but if you pay attention people usually signal one way or another whether or not they are in a hurry.
Now as far as the crosswalk signs go, I thought they actually worked and were put there so pedestrians didn't have to wait for a car to trip the signal lights. Downtown areas seem to have these buttons less, which makes sense since there's more likely to be cross traffic or the lights are timed rather than triggered by demand. I'm surpised to hear there are dummy boxes out there.
Surprisingly enough, NY doesn't have any intersections listed in the top 10 most dangerous intersections list, compiled by State Farm.
That list is compiled based upon the dollar amount of State Farm insurance claims for those intersections. I imagine the fleet cabs and busses of NYC are largely self-insured by the operating companies and wouldn't show up as claims to State Farm or any other insurer.
State Farm offers monetary and consultative support to cities with intersections in their top 10 (and a lesser amount to those in their top 100 IIRC) to save themselves money.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
A perennial top 10 intersection is Highway 121 & Preston Road in Plano, TX. There are lots of expensive cars in that area; if everyone there drove 5-year old Hyundai's I doubt it would make the list. Either that or the nearby EDS campus is really a cover for an organized insurance fraud ring.
That was my first thought, too: that the community could help. Then I realized that could be really bad. I'm imagining several geeks trying to help by pushing their own favorites (favorite distro, favorite desktop, favorite transparent desktop settigns, favorite applications, etc.) instead of implementing Munich's original plan.
If they get community help, it needs to be by people who can implement what's designed rather than what's in the best intrest of the Linux community or individual.
By the way, this is not a Linux-specific problem. From my point of view the "my way is best" mentality is epidemic among anyone who has any competency with computers at all.
The www.highliftsystems.com website--which seems to be down now--is the one I frist read about the space elevator idea. I don't recall if it had numbers, but I recall it was pretty thorough in its plans and problems.
Other interesting problems they had worked out were the oscillation of the ribbon and effects of wind.
Space elevator doesn't need fuel? How do you think things get lifted? Magic?
Obviously the space elevator needs energy input and ultimately fuel, but it has two big advantages: 1) It doesn't have to carry its fuel and associated mass in the launch vehicle; 2) It uses friction rather than fluid thrust; I suspect this is much more effient else my car would have air propulsion of some sort.
They seem to have plans for maintenance and repair by automated crawlers, but obviously it's never been tested with long high-load carbon nanotube ribbons.
Rockets can be mass produced, space elevators can't.
The first one can't, but the rest can (theoretically) be manufactured in place by crawlers traversing an existing elevator.
In cost comparisons in the thread-starting post he neglects to consider at least two things: 1) The cheapening of additional elevators for higher aggregate launch capability at successively lower incremental costs; 2) the ability to slingshot vehicles far into space from the end of the elevator.
Slashdot Mirror
Of course, it's kind of obvious that demand precedes standardization, since standardization takes effort and some kind of demand must exist (even if it's just a, "Hey, wouldn't it been keen if...") before people will get off their duffs to figure out, formalize, and make available a standard.
I disagree with you there. I think standardization is an emegent process, not a design process. Did Apache become the ubiquitous web server by creating a standard? Maybe the better question is did the HTML / HTTP design become standards by design or emergence? We had FTP, NNTP, UUCP, SMTP, Gopher, Archie, etc. before HTML & HTTP. I think it's the ideas that drive consumers are the ones that become the standard; they aren't standards arrived to by demand.
As far as Windows vs. UNIX API, I think that was/is also emergent. People weren't demanding a GUI before they were there; the GUI appeared and demand jumped. At the time, Windows was the cheaper way to go compared to X/UNIX or Mac.
Admittedly I'm not clear on how DOC became the ubiquitous document format.
No photo needed. Just a sound clip of high-pitched fart.
Are you going to index the ingredient fields? So if I look in my fridge and have 5 cans of Coors Light (I don't drink it, but all the women I know seem to...), a bit of mildly moldy cheddar cheese, leftover Zatarain's and 1/2 ounce of milk I can create a SELECT statement to show me all available recipes, right?
I am in the middle of going through the article in awe of everything, and my mp3 player randomly selects John Philip Sousa's Air Force song. What a clash of mindsets!
By the way, I was in the USSR in 1987 for three weeks on a People to People international student ambassodor exchange trip with students from most states. (We didn't school there, just tour.) The trip originally included Kiev but that was changed due to Chernobyl. The alternative city the most beautiful city I visited: Riga, Latvia.
And the few times I actually RTFA I usually find that the Slashdot summary--with no quote marks--is copied verbatim from an opening paragraph of the article.
</gripe>
The only thing they can safely do is deny the whole thing...
That would only be safe if they were absolutely sure a whistleblower can't or won't produce proof of authenticity.
Don't be so fast...there could be a variety of women to see if this were included!
(I also recall him advocating some form of free love in Sex Tips for Geeks, but I'm at work and don't want to surf around to find it just now.)
You can run the IE installer with a switch (MS link, Google link) to allow the advanced tab where you select which options to install like the pre-5.5 IE's. I think I remember seeing NetMeeting in there last time I did a custom install, but I'm not sure.
(Note: You can also use these switches to download IE for multiple local installs. Very handy for netadmins.)
ROFL. Check this guy's posting history. That's hilarious. You must work in a very boring job yet have internet access.
I must have my terms mixed up. Okay then, what's it called when there are too many shares short and everyone starts buying to cover at the same time? To cash out your short you actually have to purchase the stock from the market. At some point in the curve if too many people are short and start cashing in their profits the stock price jumps up from all the buying.
CowboyNeal: What's yer name?
SCO: SCO
CowboyNeal: You shure have a pretty "O".
Hey, I'm kinda new here. Would this be an appropriate time for that goat something link?
Heh. 31% of the float is shorted. See here. At what point do you start worrying about short squeezes?
heh, google lists itself sixth, but doesn't list MSN search at all.
That's because there are no links to MSN; everyone's browser points there to begin with.
I was joking at first, but I may be on to something here...
Before??
Why do you think so many Slashdotters are aware of the one-handed Dvorak keyboard layout?
Actually I've been out of state for a couple of years but want to move back sooner or later.
Yeah, the growth there is crazy. I swear Sherman is going to be part of the metroplex in a couple of years; that is it'll be completely developed all the way up 75 to Oklahoma.
Do you know what the purposed use of all that IBM land in The Colony was?
No, but I know some companies like to create their own residential "planned community" subdivisions. Mobil did that in McKinney, and Ross Perot did it in Keller I think. I'm not sure what that's all about; I don't know if it's a way to exert some extra measure of control over employees at home or a way to add benefits or if it's just an egomaniacal way of controlling more people period. (No antennas on the roof? Come on!) So I guess my completely uninformed answer is that maybe IBM developed it as residental and planned it that way all along and many people living there work for IBM. But I don't know that and am most likely completely wrong about that land and IBM.
Duh! It's pretty obvious there are managment problems there. The place leaks like a sieve, there's a torso of human tissue strapped to the outside and scheduled public transportation has been suspended for over a year now.
I am guilty of multiple-pushing on elevator buttons and crosswalk buttons. But that's because I'm neurotic about having pushed it hard enough, or at the right angle or whatever.
Don't most elevator buttons light up? It's been a while since I've seen a reasonably modern building with no lighted buttons; courthouses and other decades-old government buildings jump to mind as exceptions to the rule.
By eliminating the factor of human error, if the elevator doesn't arrive quickly or the light doesn't change, you can decide whether it is mechanically broken or someone else is issuing a competing command.
Good point. I'm with you now. I'm always trying to figure out how things work behind the scenes; is this elevator programmed optimally, fully on-demand, or apparently programmed to piss me off? (I swear some are.)
But -- when I encounter the elevators with heat-sensor buttons which light up when activated, I press once if the light is not on, or zero times if I see it lit.
Are you kidding? Those things are like crack to me. I gotta light up as many as I can whenever I see them. Then I ball up in a fetal position and suck my thumb in mamma's-womb-like contentedness.
I've noticed that, too. That pisses me off; what, are they saving electricity by not lighting the white "walk" light? If I walk up just as the light turns green; then I have to wait through the whole doggone cycle. (This seems to happen more often than probable.)
Come to think of it, those are the times I neurotically press the button over and over because I don't want to miss the next cycle.
I don't expect to get a faster signal because I press the button, but I hope that it would cause the light to change in a reasonable cycle even if a car never comes to trip the sensor in my direction.
I think you're on the right track with psychology, but I think it's actually societal communication. If I walk up and just stand near you, that's creepy and I'm weird. If I push the button, you know I want to ride the elevator so now standing near you is perfectly acceptable and normal behavior. At least I think that's how it processes somewhere deep in our minds.
As for using the open/close buttons or pressing more than once, I think that's a "I'm in a hurry" signal. I don't understand why it's important to communicate this, but if you pay attention people usually signal one way or another whether or not they are in a hurry.
Now as far as the crosswalk signs go, I thought they actually worked and were put there so pedestrians didn't have to wait for a car to trip the signal lights. Downtown areas seem to have these buttons less, which makes sense since there's more likely to be cross traffic or the lights are timed rather than triggered by demand. I'm surpised to hear there are dummy boxes out there.
Surprisingly enough, NY doesn't have any intersections listed in the top 10 most dangerous intersections list, compiled by State Farm.
That list is compiled based upon the dollar amount of State Farm insurance claims for those intersections. I imagine the fleet cabs and busses of NYC are largely self-insured by the operating companies and wouldn't show up as claims to State Farm or any other insurer.
State Farm offers monetary and consultative support to cities with intersections in their top 10 (and a lesser amount to those in their top 100 IIRC) to save themselves money.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
A perennial top 10 intersection is Highway 121 & Preston Road in Plano, TX. There are lots of expensive cars in that area; if everyone there drove 5-year old Hyundai's I doubt it would make the list. Either that or the nearby EDS campus is really a cover for an organized insurance fraud ring.
That was my first thought, too: that the community could help. Then I realized that could be really bad. I'm imagining several geeks trying to help by pushing their own favorites (favorite distro, favorite desktop, favorite transparent desktop settigns, favorite applications, etc.) instead of implementing Munich's original plan.
If they get community help, it needs to be by people who can implement what's designed rather than what's in the best intrest of the Linux community or individual.
By the way, this is not a Linux-specific problem. From my point of view the "my way is best" mentality is epidemic among anyone who has any competency with computers at all.
I haven't read this story yet, but apparently they're setting up a retail clothing store.
The www.highliftsystems.com website--which seems to be down now--is the one I frist read about the space elevator idea. I don't recall if it had numbers, but I recall it was pretty thorough in its plans and problems.
Other interesting problems they had worked out were the oscillation of the ribbon and effects of wind.
Space elevator doesn't need fuel? How do you think things get lifted? Magic?
Obviously the space elevator needs energy input and ultimately fuel, but it has two big advantages: 1) It doesn't have to carry its fuel and associated mass in the launch vehicle; 2) It uses friction rather than fluid thrust; I suspect this is much more effient else my car would have air propulsion of some sort.
They seem to have plans for maintenance and repair by automated crawlers, but obviously it's never been tested with long high-load carbon nanotube ribbons.
Rockets can be mass produced, space elevators can't.
The first one can't, but the rest can (theoretically) be manufactured in place by crawlers traversing an existing elevator.
In cost comparisons in the thread-starting post he neglects to consider at least two things: 1) The cheapening of additional elevators for higher aggregate launch capability at successively lower incremental costs; 2) the ability to slingshot vehicles far into space from the end of the elevator.