Very little has come out of comp. science research in universities and research institutes in the last few years. The cutting edge is being driven by consumer goods.
Saying you're getting 180mpg by using utility electric power is just stupid. By a similar measure, golf carts (been around for tens of years) are getting infinite mpg.
Cashflow is often used as a weapon in inter-corporate wars. If Microsoft identifies Novell as a threat (I'm sure they have), they need only give away Microsoft products/service to their customers for a while - like they have already - until Novell runs out of money. They don't need to even do this for too long (though they have the money to) since once Novell gets past a certain debt level, the FUD of "Novell is dying... give us your biz" will kick in.
I, for one, hope Novell makes a go of it, but the world is unfortunately a harsh place.
I am also completely against changinf science or engineering to give it more "girl appeal". Doing so will stop science/engineering being what it is.The worst possible scenario is some sort of state intervention that applies quotas (eg. 40% of your proggrammers gotta be female to get a tax cut).
Analogy: 90%+ of cosmetics are bought by females for their own use.. Imagine if the state said that they had to sell at least 40% of their cosmetics to men. It would destroy the cosmetic industry.
Open Source has always been about a level playing field - let's keep it that way.
Alongside DVC is a warning of crapness
on
Spam Kings
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· Score: 1
DaVinci Code is crappy cyber-fiction. just like most sci-fi is a comlete fabrication not rooted in science, DaVinci code is not rooted in reality either. I would not read DVC again.
It seems from some posts that Spam Kings is similar. The author has chosen his facts to make a nice read for the tech-non-savvy. I won't be buying - thanks to the warning that it belongs alongside DVC.
My understanding of "fine" is that of a penalty imposed by the state in a criminal case. In the case of a civil action I think the term "damages" is used.
Microsoft is getting pretty big and powerful and can push the DOJ around, but I don't think they're yet in the position to fine people.
To get respect in an organisation, ironically, often means shelving your self respect. Too often, the only way to plug in to the corporate ladder means selling out to a life of brown-nosing and playing the game.
Having to deal with techies and reality is an annoyance for managerial types. What seems more important is the power play on the corporate ladder.
To be part of the "in crowd" means playing the game. Brown nose, buzzwords and running a general line of bullshit. As a techie not interested in the corporate power chain, but rather in shipping good product and making a real profit, I find it hard to get a reasonable audience. Sure they'll usher me in the back door to fix a multi-million dollar problem then out the back door again when the job is done, but they won't listen as to how the problems can be fixed.... mostly because they're often process or political problems, and rule number one of the corporate power game is "don't step out of line".
I pity the MIT students in any comparison because they face a tide of academic overheads that they must swim against.Unforntunately, most university education is about nbeing a good academic, not necessarily a good engineer etc. Writing up a good report with references, footnotes etc (correctly formatted references are worth 10% of the term paper) is more important than practical output.
I see the results in the people I deal with in industry. As a generalisation, most of the PhDs I deal with are less productive than their non-PhD collegues because they approach problems as academic problems instead of practical problems. As a result, a lot of effort gets spent investigating stuff that does not matter in the real world, or making impractical assumptions.
Since you don't have the NY vote and the NY residents - who do have the NY vote - will only gain from this (short term anyway), this is likely to get a lot of support within NY. Not only that, but they also get to stomp those bastards that steal NY jobs -- according to the sales pitch anyway.
NY have been very clever: a way to increase taxes that the residents will actually like!
Let's say you want to charge a 48V 500AH battery from 50% charged in 5 minutes.... That's going to want approx 3000A * 48V = 144kW of juice. At, say, 70% mechanical to electrical efficiency that's 206kW == 275 horse power.... and still leave some for the air conditioner and turning the wheels. Hmmm.
Maybe this technology will allow the battery size to be reduced in hybrids. That would definitely cut some cost out of hybrids and make them more pocket friendly.
If you're from USA, you **are** paying. Well, perhaps more precisely you aren't paying but just charging it to future generations along with the rest of thefFederal debt.
It is easy to get trapped into thinking that we always used natural languages until we got to programming and therefore languages are the hurdle.
The use of special purpose languages is nothing new. They're used in mathematics, chemistry, music etc.... pretty much anywhere where it is easier to use a special purpose language to express concepts than with a natural language. Sure there is a learning curve, but that is often the least of the hurdles in doing a reasonable job.
Take for example music: For the musically illiterate like myself, a music score means nothing. Yet, to someone who can read music it means a lot. I guess you could potentially write music in English: "Make a high pitches sound for a bit, then a lower pitched sound and then a highher pitched sound....". Reading that would be hell and it is imprecise as to what it means. The hard part to being competent at music is not how to read the score.
Likewise, computer languages are the least barrier to effective programming. What matters more are the concepts and being able to express them effectively. Sure, some languages are easier to use than others (eg. python might be simpler than C and just about everything is simpler then Brainfuck), but programming in a natural language would be damn difficult. We already have some simple programming languages like VBscripting and spread sheets for "soft tasks" like customising spreadsheets and wordporcessors etc.
The main cost in PV is the energy rerquired to make the silicon. You need a lot of energy to melt the sand, purify it and dope it. That energy costs money.
PV will not be a viable alternative until the input energy is reduced significantly (ie. by a factor of 5 or so).
The vaious Microsoft Logo test for PCs, PDAs, smartphones etc are basically put there for a few reasons, some are there for Microsoft's purposes and some for the customers' purposes:
Software compatability. If a customer buys and application it will run on the device. This is partially a customer thing, but is also an MS thing since it encourages lock-in to MS.
Make the hardware all the same: Makes life easier for MS to write/maintain their code as well as allowing MS a leash on how they're steering the industry. This restricts innovation etc.
Encourages closed source/design: barrier to entry for other OSs etc.
Does Linux need such a program? I think not. Having worked with hardware design of some Windows Logo-ised devices, you end up being driven in the direction MS wants you to go - which is not likely to be in the same direction you want to take your product (unless of course its another "me too" PC or PDA).
Why is it that people think that new technologies always mean new risks to rights? The issues dealing with keeping DNA records are surely no different to those for figerprints etc.
If someone gets tested for fingerprints or DNA the same basic procedures apply. Some countries allow the data to be gathered for a single investigation only. Others allow the collected info to be cross matched against the "open cases" database.
Personally, I think this something that is far less likely to be abused. I'd rather a few more crims get pulled out of society.
Slashdot Mirror
Very little has come out of comp. science research in universities and research institutes in the last few years. The cutting edge is being driven by consumer goods.
Of course I didn't RTFA, that's cheating.
I, for one, hope Novell makes a go of it, but the world is unfortunately a harsh place.
I am also completely against changinf science or engineering to give it more "girl appeal". Doing so will stop science/engineering being what it is.The worst possible scenario is some sort of state intervention that applies quotas (eg. 40% of your proggrammers gotta be female to get a tax cut).
Analogy: 90%+ of cosmetics are bought by females for their own use.. Imagine if the state said that they had to sell at least 40% of their cosmetics to men. It would destroy the cosmetic industry.
Open Source has always been about a level playing field - let's keep it that way.
You're lucky, mine will only do missionary!
It seems from some posts that Spam Kings is similar. The author has chosen his facts to make a nice read for the tech-non-savvy. I won't be buying - thanks to the warning that it belongs alongside DVC.
Microsoft is getting pretty big and powerful and can push the DOJ around, but I don't think they're yet in the position to fine people.
Having to deal with techies and reality is an annoyance for managerial types. What seems more important is the power play on the corporate ladder.
To be part of the "in crowd" means playing the game. Brown nose, buzzwords and running a general line of bullshit. As a techie not interested in the corporate power chain, but rather in shipping good product and making a real profit, I find it hard to get a reasonable audience. Sure they'll usher me in the back door to fix a multi-million dollar problem then out the back door again when the job is done, but they won't listen as to how the problems can be fixed.... mostly because they're often process or political problems, and rule number one of the corporate power game is "don't step out of line".
Thinks:"By then I've retired and in the mean time had nice benefits and pay."
Anybody can promise anything for 30 years out. I still have not seen all the crap that was promised for the year 2000.
Linux is run by a benign dictator. This model often works quite well, even for countries.
I see the results in the people I deal with in industry. As a generalisation, most of the PhDs I deal with are less productive than their non-PhD collegues because they approach problems as academic problems instead of practical problems. As a result, a lot of effort gets spent investigating stuff that does not matter in the real world, or making impractical assumptions.
Pixel perfect until the feds come knock on the door.
NY have been very clever: a way to increase taxes that the residents will actually like!
Maybe this technology will allow the battery size to be reduced in hybrids. That would definitely cut some cost out of hybrids and make them more pocket friendly.
If you're from USA, you **are** paying. Well, perhaps more precisely you aren't paying but just charging it to future generations along with the rest of thefFederal debt.
The use of special purpose languages is nothing new. They're used in mathematics, chemistry, music etc. ... pretty much anywhere where it is easier to use a special purpose language to express concepts than with a natural language. Sure there is a learning curve, but that is often the least of the hurdles in doing a reasonable job.
Take for example music: For the musically illiterate like myself, a music score means nothing. Yet, to someone who can read music it means a lot. I guess you could potentially write music in English: "Make a high pitches sound for a bit, then a lower pitched sound and then a highher pitched sound....". Reading that would be hell and it is imprecise as to what it means. The hard part to being competent at music is not how to read the score.
Likewise, computer languages are the least barrier to effective programming. What matters more are the concepts and being able to express them effectively. Sure, some languages are easier to use than others (eg. python might be simpler than C and just about everything is simpler then Brainfuck), but programming in a natural language would be damn difficult. We already have some simple programming languages like VBscripting and spread sheets for "soft tasks" like customising spreadsheets and wordporcessors etc.
PV will not be a viable alternative until the input energy is reduced significantly (ie. by a factor of 5 or so).
Lab analysis reveals that that the soft tissue was a Chicken McNugget dropped by a site worker eating his lunch.
A nice meld of the names. A nice statement of intent.
India has a very long history of mathematics. eg. Pythagoras theorom was proven in India long before Pythagoras was even born.
Oh, wait...
Yesterday Apple machines, today UK. Seems the Symantic business development managers are trying to drum up more biz.
Apple fans are the perfect audience. Most are technically non-savvy arty types who are easier to FUD.
Software compatability. If a customer buys and application it will run on the device. This is partially a customer thing, but is also an MS thing since it encourages lock-in to MS.
Make the hardware all the same: Makes life easier for MS to write/maintain their code as well as allowing MS a leash on how they're steering the industry. This restricts innovation etc.
Encourages closed source/design: barrier to entry for other OSs etc.
Does Linux need such a program? I think not. Having worked with hardware design of some Windows Logo-ised devices, you end up being driven in the direction MS wants you to go - which is not likely to be in the same direction you want to take your product (unless of course its another "me too" PC or PDA).
If someone gets tested for fingerprints or DNA the same basic procedures apply. Some countries allow the data to be gathered for a single investigation only. Others allow the collected info to be cross matched against the "open cases" database.
Personally, I think this something that is far less likely to be abused. I'd rather a few more crims get pulled out of society.