I've had a honda insight for two years now, going on 25k miles. My lifetime mileage is about 64 mpg. and I can regularly use less than a gallon of gas to go 77 miles ( round trip to work). I've gotten as high as 85 mpg for trips of 30 miles.
So the more people we have on the planet the larger the impact those people will have on the environment. Most all "environmental problems" stem from this. GW, Acid rain, deforestation, dessertification, Smog, species extinction, etc,etc. Even if we each individually reduce our impact, our _collective_ impact generally continues to grow. Therefore my #1 environmental organization is Zero Pollulation Growth. http://www.zpg.org/
Good luck with your endeavor to help "save" the world. Thanks!
I appreciate your effort in trying to sound informed as you try to convince us that nuclear power is safe, But if you can't keep straight the difference between Yucca Mountain ( a mountain in Nevada ) and the Yucatan ( a peninsula in Mexico ), how are we expected to believe the rest of your statements?
As CPUs have gotten faster over the years, it seems that the amount of die space that engineers are using to get each % increase in speed grows. Bigger caches and more sophisticated branch prediction are just some of the techniques they're using to suck up die space. But I'm not certain this is the best technique.
Perhaps a better approach is to move up the "stack" of computing, and start incorporating aspects of the operating system into the HW of the CPU. Two critical components that I could see are 1) Context switching. 2) Memory management. These are both hard problems, but some very significant advantages fall out.
1) The removal of significant parts of overhead of the OS.
2) Pervasive multi-threading ( al la BeOS ), become even more advantageous. Which has the following effects:
a) A far superior UI experience with very low latencies for UI events.
b) a multi-cpu package more practicle from a price/performance standpoint, which lowers the costs of parallelization computing tasks ( modeling, 3D calcs, etc )
There ought to be some way for standards processes to include a period of time after which any patent claim which is supposedly infringes on the standard is automatically considered a null claim on the basis of prior art. In this way the burden of protecting a patent must occur _during_ the standards processes. I think that's fair!!!
And I'm still not sure where we're going to get all that hydrogen. In the US most of it is made with steam reformation of Natural Gas. This releases all the C02 from the methane into the atmosphere, and isn't particularly efficient either. Creating H2 with electricity is also possible but highly inefficient even when compared to the lowly lead-acid battery. Finally, where do we get our electricity from?... Oil and Coal. Back to where we started from. Watch out for the shell game folks!!!!
Still we have to do something about our oil gluttony. I think some better fuel efficiency standards would probably be the best thing.
First off, the _format_ of quicktime files has been "known" in the public domain for many many years. One of the first public domain implementation, XANIM, was based on reversed engineered knowledge of the format and Apple doesn't appear to have tried to prevent the dissemination of this information. In fact, by handing this same format to the MPEG-4 committee it is actually MPEG-4 that has become quicktime, not the other way around. That said, there are _MANY_ different video codecs which are supported inside the Quicktime format, some invented by apple (Road Pizza) and others by third parties(Cinepak, Sorenson). The point is that even if Apple _wanted_ to release the source to quicktime, they could not. (For example XANIM's author was required by the owners of Cinepak to release only "object" versions of his reverse engineered implementation. I note they were nice enough not to completely shut him down. ) That said, the base MPEG-4 video/audio codec is most clearly a specification open to all, and you can expect Linux implementations.
I'm not going to say that this war is a _PURELY_ about oil, but it is most definately true that there was a plan for an oil pipeline. The company was Unocal. Do a google search, it's right there. Google search
mpatrol works great....
on
Memory Leaks
·
· Score: 1
find a collection of different memory usage problems, and is reasonably easy to use even on large projects
Re:The only thing that helps is taxes
on
Eco-Terrorism
·
· Score: 2
1) Actually if you read the studies SUVs are LESS safe for occupants that mid and large size "cars." The ONLY circustance where SUVs do better is when they're involved with a collision with a significantly smaller vehicle. However SUVs have very poor handling, poor stopping power, and tend to roll over very easily. SUV are actually LESS safe.
2) Most SUVs are ironically quite small on the inside compared mini-vans. If you want utility buy a mini-van.
I really like mpatrol. You can log pretty much everything (errors, malloc, frees, news, etc etc ), plus cause it to instigate errors ( ie malloc returns NULL, or fill memory with 0xDEADBEEF on alloc ). Fix ALL the problems even the ones which are not causing your heisenburg... eventually you _can_ collapse the wave function.
Many of the posters here have pointed out that we cannot definitively separate human causation of global warming from natural cycles of temperature. And ultimately this statement is true; definitive proof is impossible. However it is pretty clear that regardless of the cause of global warming, the effect will be quite catastrophic for many of the people on the planet ( at what altitude do 50% of the population of humans live ? ).
Global warming is like a grand experiment. Here's an analogous scenario to think about. You are about to rapell down a cliff using a rope. On the way down the rope may break sending you to a messy splattering death on the rocks below. There are two techniques you can use for your decent both of which will abrade the rope, and make things more risky, but one technique is SUSPECTED to cause less rope damage. WHICH TECHNIQUE DO YOU CHOOSE AND WHY? The point of that scenario is that it is generally a good idea to choose the least risky pathway, even if the risk factors are not known precisely and you are operating on educated guesses.
Scientists world wide will readily agree that their statements are not definitive proof. But what they will tell you if you read the fine print of their reports ( and I have ) is that there is such and such a probability that the warming IS caused by human activities. They've used a multitude of techniques to arrive at their conclusions, each of which help corroborate the others.
One clear example is the RATE of warming ( ie degrees per century ). By examining warming rates through multiple ice-age cycles extending back hundreds of thousands of years, it has been possible to establish "typical" slew rates for temperature within the dynamic system we live. By using simple uni-dimensional statistical techniques on these collections warming data, it's possible to arrive at a nice "bell curve" of warming rates, including probabilities that the warming is "natural." What they've found is that the last century and a half has had a warming RATE which is WAY beyond "typical." That the probability that it is a natural cycle is VERY VERY low.
These high slew rates also have consequences for the adaption of the ecosphere. For example it is known that certain species of trees have a maximum migration rate. No, individual trees don't move, but the distribution of a particular species of tree can change over time in response to environmental pressures. The "migration" rate of the trees, is determined by the reproduction period, and how the seeds are spread, among other factors. In many cases it has been determined that global warming will cause the temperature bands within which particular trees can grow to move at rates faster than the trees can "migrate." This means extinction for those particular species of tree. The point is that while the earth clearly adapted to previous temperature cycles without too much trouble, the current slew rate may push the ability to adapt beyond what many species are capable of.
I suppose we'll be running the experiment as to what exactly will happen, what the consequences will be.
When you were a little kid experimenting with the consequences of a diving board, you usually started with the low board first, and then with that understanding sometimes allowed yourself the additional danger of the high dive.
As earth citizens it seems prudent to start with a small test first.
Check out www.locomotive.org they've got an excellent platform for buildling sites based on a cool HTML template language and a solid Java application server than does both Servlets and Hanlders ( a simpler subset ). Would be a _great_ base for the system you are talking of.
I've just got a few questions 1) How much fissionable fuel do we really have given _current_ technology? 2) Do you have a good waste disposal solution? 3) given that wind power is cheaper per kWh (yes, true go research it!), how can you justify the cost?
Nothing like a good controversy to create publicity. I had most definately never heard of these people, and now I've seen their web site. Any lawyer with even 1/4 of a brain would realize that a patent will not be issued for this application, and even if issued will not stand up in court. But, before those decrees are handed down, a nice press release has made a great publicity splash.
Well most silicon valley employees are "Exempt" which means that the labor laws do not apply. The summary of the bill lays it out as follows:
Existing wage orders of the commission provide that no person employed in an administrative, executive, or professional capacity is required by those wage orders to be compensated for overtime work. Those existing wage orders define an employee as employed in an administrative, executive, or professional capacity if, among other things, the employee is engaged in work that is primarily intellectual, managerial, or creative, and which requires exercise of discretion and independent judgment and the employee receives compensation of not less than a specified amount per month. This bill would authorize the Industrial Welfare Commission to establish exemptions, with specified limitations, from the requirement that premium pay be paid for overtime work for executive, administrative, and professional employees, provided that the employee is primarily engaged in the duties which meet the test of the exemption and the employee earns a monthly salary equivalent to no less than 2 times the state minimum wage for full-time employment.
So basically, this law will not apply to most high tech workers since we're well over the 2X minimum wages, and we're definately doing "work that is primarily intellectual, managerial, or creative." I, however, sometimes question the "discretion and independent judgment" part.
The problem with using Fed-Ex ( or equivalent) to deliver web products is that Fed-Ex is point to point. WebVan can have localized warehouses which will maintain inventory. So it's more like a real multi-cast protocol, rather than traditional HTTP. Much lower delivery costs because it has better efficiency of bandwidth (shipping ) Frankly, i think it's a great idea. I'm trying to figure out how to invest.
-C-
Re:Is my car on the Linux supported H/W list yet?
on
The Network is the Car
·
· Score: 1
check out: http://www.Wilde-Evolutions.com/Godzilla.h tm at 360kW /.7 kw/hp = 500 hp Look at the datsun picture.... that's what kind of fun. also check out: http://www.Wilde-Evolutions.com/photos_mazda.htm
That's funny! STB _used_ to be one of nvidia's largest customers. However the merger with 3dfex caused nary a bump in nvidia's sales. The fact is that most of the negotiations for sales occur between chip vendors and large OEMs. It's only after the selection process that board builders are brought in to put chips on boards (These days the board makers do very little if any value add in software ). This merger will not affect the industry as much as you think, it's an attempt by S3 to appear dynamic.
They spent some time in Saucelito, CA as Metalithic promoting the same sea of FPGAs, but this time for a more specific music mixdown system. They were never able to get the system to work properly but did succeed in bilking some investors out of lots of money.
The internet will follow these jokers forever, if I were them, I'd learn how to sort vegetables.
FPGAs in nice sea of FPGA configurations are available today from companies like IKOS http://www.ikos.com/ and are programmed using VHDL..... often used to sim BIG chips. And yes you could RC5 _really_ fast if you wanted to.
Rob: I'm thinking of a system which allows various moderation groups. The idea is that you create a cluster analysis system which attempts to find trends ( ie groups ) of moderators who tend to rate things in particular ways. (I'd aim for like 4 groups total ) Provide some means for us, the readers, to use these groups to provide a more customized view of what we like. For example even though their may be some very well written and rated comments if the "hyper-GNU-heads" ( a theoretical group ) are the only ones who like it, I may choose not to read it. I realize that this will have the effect fracturing the slashdot readership, but it provides even more interactivity, and it allows users to userstand the various viewpoints better.
IDEs can become a bit smarter about code than just a bunch of text in files. Look at ObjectMaster, or SlickEdit for example. This programs know all sorts of stuff about a _project_ that an editor will not know. Will warn about syntax problems. Knows which functions/methods call from where and to where. Has macros for commonly used programming syntax. Adds your functions into the macros, complete with parameters. _Structured_ ( ie not simply a grep ) search project wide. When using a program like these I spend less time worrying about location of code, and syntax of code, and more timing thinking about algorithms and structure. Intelligent about OO code as well. Knows about inheritance etc. All in all a big win.
Slashdot Mirror
I've had a honda insight for two years now, going on 25k miles. My lifetime mileage is about 64 mpg. and I can regularly use less than a gallon of gas to go 77 miles ( round trip to work). I've gotten as high as 85 mpg for trips of 30 miles.
So the more people we have on the planet the larger the ,etc.
impact those people will have on the environment. Most
all "environmental problems" stem from this. GW, Acid rain,
deforestation, dessertification, Smog, species extinction, etc
Even if we each individually reduce our impact, our _collective_ impact generally continues to grow. Therefore my #1 environmental
organization is Zero Pollulation Growth. http://www.zpg.org/
Good luck with your endeavor to help "save" the world. Thanks!
I appreciate your effort in trying to sound informed as you try to convince us that nuclear power is safe, But if you can't keep straight the difference between Yucca Mountain ( a mountain in Nevada ) and the Yucatan ( a peninsula in Mexico ), how are we expected to believe the rest of your statements?
As CPUs have gotten faster over the years, it seems that the amount of die space that engineers are using to get each % increase in speed grows. Bigger caches and more sophisticated branch prediction are just some of the techniques they're using to suck up die space. But I'm not certain this is the best technique.
Perhaps a better approach is to move up the "stack" of computing, and start incorporating aspects of the operating system into the HW of the CPU. Two critical components that I could see are 1) Context switching. 2) Memory management. These are both hard problems, but some very significant advantages fall out.
1) The removal of significant parts of overhead of the OS.
2) Pervasive multi-threading ( al la BeOS ), become even more advantageous. Which has the following effects:
a) A far superior UI experience with very low latencies for UI events.
b) a multi-cpu package more practicle from a price/performance standpoint, which lowers the costs of parallelization computing tasks ( modeling, 3D calcs, etc )
Thoughts?
There ought to be some way for standards processes to include a period of time after which any patent claim which is supposedly infringes on the standard is automatically considered a null claim on the basis of prior art. In this way the burden of protecting a patent must occur _during_ the standards processes. I think that's fair!!!
And I'm still not sure where we're going to get all that hydrogen. In the US most of it is made with steam reformation of Natural Gas. This releases all the C02 from the methane into the atmosphere, and isn't particularly efficient either. Creating H2 with electricity is also possible but highly inefficient even when compared to the lowly lead-acid battery. Finally, where do we get our electricity from?... Oil and Coal. Back to where we started from. Watch out for the shell game folks!!!!
Still we have to do something about our oil gluttony. I think some better fuel efficiency standards would probably be the best thing.
First off, the _format_ of quicktime files has been "known" in the public domain for many many years. One of the first public domain implementation, XANIM, was based on reversed engineered knowledge of the format and Apple doesn't appear to have tried to prevent the dissemination of this information. In fact, by handing this same format to the MPEG-4 committee it is actually MPEG-4 that has become quicktime, not the other way around. That said, there are _MANY_ different video codecs which are supported inside the Quicktime format, some invented by apple (Road Pizza) and others by third parties(Cinepak, Sorenson). The point is that even if Apple _wanted_ to release the source to quicktime, they could not. (For example XANIM's author was required by the owners of Cinepak to release only "object" versions of his reverse engineered implementation. I note they were nice enough not to completely shut him down. ) That said, the base MPEG-4 video/audio codec is most clearly a specification open to all, and you can expect Linux implementations.
I'm not going to say that this war is a _PURELY_ about oil, but it is most definately true that there was a plan for an oil pipeline. The company was Unocal. Do a google search, it's right there. Google search
find a collection of different memory usage problems, and is reasonably easy to use even on large projects
1) Actually if you read the studies SUVs are LESS safe for occupants that mid and large size "cars." The ONLY circustance where SUVs do better is when they're involved with a collision with a significantly smaller vehicle. However SUVs have very poor handling, poor stopping power, and tend to roll over very easily. SUV are actually LESS safe.
2) Most SUVs are ironically quite small on the inside compared mini-vans. If you want utility buy a mini-van.
I really like mpatrol. You can log pretty much everything (errors, malloc, frees, news, etc etc ), plus cause it to instigate errors ( ie malloc returns NULL, or fill memory with 0xDEADBEEF on alloc ). Fix ALL the problems even the ones which are not causing your heisenburg... eventually you _can_ collapse the wave function.
Grid connected Solar Home
2.8 kW in California
Many of the posters here have pointed out that we cannot definitively separate human causation of global warming from natural cycles of temperature. And ultimately this statement is true; definitive proof is impossible. However it is pretty clear that regardless of the cause of global warming, the effect will be quite catastrophic for many of the people on the planet ( at what altitude do 50% of the population of humans live ? ).
Global warming is like a grand experiment. Here's an analogous scenario to think about. You are about to rapell down a cliff using a rope. On the way down the rope may break sending you to a messy splattering death on the rocks below. There are two techniques you can use for your decent both of which will abrade the rope, and make things more risky, but one technique is SUSPECTED to cause less rope damage. WHICH TECHNIQUE DO YOU CHOOSE AND WHY? The point of that scenario is that it is generally a good idea to choose the least risky pathway, even if the risk factors are not known precisely and you are operating on educated guesses.
Scientists world wide will readily agree that their statements are not definitive proof. But what they will tell you if you read the fine print of their reports ( and I have ) is that there is such and such a probability that the warming IS caused by human activities. They've used a multitude of techniques to arrive at their conclusions, each of which help corroborate the others.
One clear example is the RATE of warming ( ie degrees per century ). By examining warming rates through multiple ice-age cycles extending back hundreds of thousands of years, it has been possible to establish "typical" slew rates for temperature within the dynamic system we live. By using simple uni-dimensional statistical techniques on these collections warming data, it's possible to arrive at a nice "bell curve" of warming rates, including probabilities that the warming is "natural." What they've found is that the last century and a half has had a warming RATE which is WAY beyond "typical." That the probability that it is a natural cycle is VERY VERY low.
These high slew rates also have consequences for the adaption of the ecosphere. For example it is known that certain species of trees have a maximum migration rate. No, individual trees don't move, but the distribution of a particular species of tree can change over time in response to environmental pressures. The "migration" rate of the trees, is determined by the reproduction period, and how the seeds are spread, among other factors. In many cases it has been determined that global warming will cause the temperature bands within which particular trees can grow to move at rates faster than the trees can "migrate." This means extinction for those particular species of tree. The point is that while the earth clearly adapted to previous temperature cycles without too much trouble, the current slew rate may push the ability to adapt beyond what many species are capable of.
I suppose we'll be running the experiment as to what exactly will happen, what the consequences will be.
When you were a little kid experimenting with the consequences of a diving board, you usually started with the low board first, and then with that understanding sometimes allowed yourself the additional danger of the high dive.
As earth citizens it seems prudent to start with a small test first.
Check out: http://www.locomotive.org Forms a base for servlets will run on linux with mysql... fast and complete.
Check out www.locomotive.org they've got an excellent platform for buildling sites based on a cool HTML template language and a solid Java application server than does both Servlets and Hanlders ( a simpler subset ). Would be a _great_ base for the system you are talking of.
Occasionally send out a key which is known, but unknown to the client. See if the client reports it as positive.
I've just got a few questions
1) How much fissionable fuel do we really have given _current_ technology?
2) Do you have a good waste disposal solution?
3) given that wind power is cheaper per kWh (yes, true go research it!), how can you justify the cost?
Nothing like a good controversy to create publicity. I had most definately never heard of these people, and now I've seen their web site. Any lawyer with even 1/4 of a brain would realize that a patent will not be issued for this application, and even if issued will not stand up in court. But, before those decrees are handed down, a nice press release has made a great publicity splash.
So basically, this law will not apply to most high tech workers since we're well over the 2X minimum wages, and we're definately doing "work that is primarily intellectual, managerial, or creative." I, however, sometimes question the "discretion and independent judgment" part.
The problem with using Fed-Ex ( or equivalent) to deliver web products is that Fed-Ex is point to point. WebVan can have localized warehouses which will maintain inventory. So it's more like a real multi-cast protocol, rather than traditional HTTP. Much lower delivery costs because it has better efficiency of bandwidth (shipping ) Frankly, i think it's a great idea. I'm trying to figure out how to invest.
-C-
check out: .7 kw/hp = 500 hp
m
http://www.Wilde-Evolutions.com/Godzilla.h tm
at 360kW /
Look at the datsun picture.... that's what kind of fun.
also check out:
http://www.Wilde-Evolutions.com/photos_mazda.ht
That's funny! STB _used_ to be one of nvidia's largest customers. However the merger with 3dfex caused nary a bump in nvidia's sales. The fact is that most of the negotiations for sales occur between chip vendors and large OEMs. It's only after the selection process that board builders are brought in to put chips on boards (These days the board makers do very little if any value add in software ). This merger will not affect the industry as much as you think, it's an attempt by S3 to appear dynamic.
DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE.
They spent some time in Saucelito, CA as Metalithic promoting the same sea of FPGAs, but this time for a more specific music mixdown system. They were never able to get the system to work properly but did succeed in bilking some investors out of lots of money.
The internet will follow these jokers forever, if I were them, I'd learn how to sort vegetables.
FPGAs in nice sea of FPGA configurations are available today from companies like IKOS http://www.ikos.com/ and are programmed using VHDL..... often used to sim BIG chips. And yes you could RC5 _really_ fast if you wanted to.
Rob:
I'm thinking of a system which allows various moderation groups. The idea is that you create a cluster analysis system which attempts to find trends ( ie groups ) of moderators who tend to rate things in particular ways. (I'd aim for like 4 groups total ) Provide some means for us, the readers, to use these groups to provide a more customized view of what we like. For example even though their may be some very well written and rated comments if the "hyper-GNU-heads" ( a theoretical group ) are the only ones who like it, I may choose not to read it. I realize that this will have the effect fracturing the slashdot readership, but it provides even more interactivity, and it allows users to userstand the various viewpoints better.
IDEs can become a bit smarter about code than just a bunch of text in files. Look at ObjectMaster, or SlickEdit for example. This programs know all sorts of stuff about a _project_ that an editor will not know. Will warn about syntax problems. Knows which functions/methods call from where and to where. Has macros for commonly used programming syntax. Adds your functions into the macros, complete with parameters. _Structured_ ( ie not simply a grep ) search project wide. When using a program like these I spend less time worrying about location of code, and syntax of code, and more timing thinking about algorithms and structure. Intelligent about OO code as well. Knows about inheritance etc. All in all a big win.