Yes, I do. Don't get me wrong, I code in vi regularly and in some ways prefer it. I usually hand-craft my makefiles. But the idea of an IDE is not just to give the user one button to start a build. A good IDE helps you read code. There's still lots of progress to be made in this, but here are some features that make me more productive in an IDE:
Jump to definition - the Eclipse implementation of Ctrl+Click is particularly good.
Show definition by hovering
Code folding
Syntax highlighting - editors like Emacs or Notepad++ get you part way, but for completeness your editor needs to understand the build system.
Integrated debugger - I can use gdb when I have to, but being able to see variable values and code at the same time while you step through code is invaluable
Your fallacy is in assuming that complex code requires working always at a basic level, but the opposite is true - the more complex the code, the more helpful tools improve your productivity.
This is rather like saying that a mobile phone is an advantage when driving. After all, someone could text you a warning about traffic conditions ahead, or talk you through how to get somewhere, or you could use the camera in the phone to take photos of cars that are being driven dangerously. Yep, mobile phones are the next big advance in driver safety!
Let's face it: If someone is wearing Google Glass while driving, there's a 99% chance they're using it to watch football, film or porn.
Patents give an exclusive monopoly on the patented material. What exactly does a patent on a human genetic sequence give you? Does this mean that anyone with that sequence in their genome has violated the patent?
Perhaps its my ignorance of genetic medicine, but the only way I can see this 'invention' being useful is in developing a test for predisposition to breast cancer. Does this mean no-one else is allowed to test for that genetic sequence?
And many people on Slashdot are Catholics (statistically it has to be so - more than 1 in 6 people in the world call themselves Catholics) so this matters to a lot of them. The fact you are not one of them, just as the fact I am not an American, doesn't mean it doesn't get posted.
AFAICT, for the same reason US presidential elections are covered on slashdot. It's got nothing to do with "news for nerds" but it matters to a very large number of people.
Um, no. It typically takes around 4MJ/L (just over 1kWhr/L) to refine petrol, while the energy content is 35MJ/L. Drilling and transport add a little to that, but it's negligible compared to refining it. If it wasn't so, using it would have a net negative impact on our energy supply and no-one would use it.
The economics of this are quite complex. So long as the stored energy is insignificant relative to the market, it's quite attractive. Buying energy when there's an excess also means buying when it's cheap. Selling in a shortage means selling when the price is high. In other words, a classic market arbitrage situation.
But as storage becomes larger, of course it starts to feed back into market prices and smooths out the highs and lows of the market. Eventually it should settle to a point where the cost of storage equates to the average difference between buy and sell price, but what that cost might be I don't think anyone knows yet.
So, a 20" tablet is one of the five dumbest ideas at CES, but a tablet measuring seven feet is one of the standouts? Hmmm.
Another "standout" technology is MyLink, which... well, its a wireless hands-free kit for your phone. You know, like Bluetooth, only, um, well, about the same, actually... No wait! With a button on the steering wheel! That's right! A button to activate the voice-activated features on your phone!
Stuff all that free-culture-open-hardware-3d-printing-for-the-masses crap, you can print YOUR OWN FACE ON YOUR iPHONE CASE! And DRONES! Alright, the same drones as last year, but WITH A BIGGER BATTERY!
That's not all, there are VPNs! VPNs for smartphones! Yes! The innovation - can you feel it yet? And did we mention bigger batteries? Bloody expensive ones, too.
If this is the best innovation in electronics has to offer, I think I'll go find a cave and some rocks to bang together.
Having slogged through the linked discussion, there is no conclusion either way whether this effect is real or not. There are several theories on mechanisms that could cause an increase in responsiveness, but no conclusion. The most plausible seems to be that when the entropy pool is near empty, each input event causes a context switch as it is used to refill the entropy pool. Slower input handling obviously leads to poor responsiveness.
The summary seems to just be random android-bashing.
Does your "electricty bill for the next 15-30 years" figure (Which is wrong, btw. Modern installations pay for themselves in 5-7) factor in the tax, regulatory, environmental, and build cost of creating new power plants?
Hint: No, it doesn't. Power plants are massively expensive and nobody wants them in their back yard. When one is planned it can take years or decades of (expensive to taxpayer) legal wrangling before ground is broken.
Excuse me looking puzzled. Are you an idiot, or are you being deliberately obtuse? Where do you think grid power comes from today, if not from that "massively expensive" power plant? The current underlying cost of electricity exactly reflects the cost of building plant and distribution infrastructure. Is there some reason that plant will become much more expensive to build tomorrow? Future cost of energy depends mainly on two things: Economics of fossil fuel supply and governments deliberately discouraging energy production through tax and regulation.
How exactly do you expect your (fixed capacity) solar installation to help with your future increased energy needs, since they are "not up for argument"? Cost of energy of solar installations are still considerably higher than cost of large-scale grid generation. How does making energy more expensive help with future increased power demands?
Modern installations pay for themselves in ~5 years with subsidies, not on their own. The current estimated payback period for UK installations is still 11 years for a typical home installation, and that's still with installation subsidy and feed-in-tariff guarantees (ie subsidies), a grid-dependent inverter and no batteries - which make it useless for the emergency scenario original posited.
So whose worldview is skewed here? Mine or yours? Don't get me wrong, I design windmills for a living. Bread on my table depends on renewable energy. That's not a good reason to stick your head in the sand and ignore the economics of generation.
I'll bet the capital you invested that you don't have an inverter that can operate without the grid - ie useless in the proposed scenario.
The installations I know about are in South Australia - some of the best generation location in the world - and the payoff period there is still over five years, with government subsidising half the installation costs and guaranteeing double the retail electricity price for exported power. And that's *still* with a grid-dependent inverter and no batteries.
Slashdot Mirror
Yes, but an interesting public-sentiment pointer that such a question can be asked on /. without mentioning climate change.
Yes, I do. Don't get me wrong, I code in vi regularly and in some ways prefer it. I usually hand-craft my makefiles. But the idea of an IDE is not just to give the user one button to start a build. A good IDE helps you read code. There's still lots of progress to be made in this, but here are some features that make me more productive in an IDE:
Your fallacy is in assuming that complex code requires working always at a basic level, but the opposite is true - the more complex the code, the more helpful tools improve your productivity.
And investors not understanding what they are investing in is news because... why again?
Have you not followed the last five years?
Julia? Is that you?
What, slashdot? This exact comment has already been posted? Kind of the point...
Oh, stop being boring.
Julia? Is that you?
I love the assumption that the whole world has a DMCA just because you do...
Aren't I glad I left you.
So, what you're saying is, people will do stupid shit with it, but not quite as stupid shit as they'd do without it?
This is rather like saying that a mobile phone is an advantage when driving. After all, someone could text you a warning about traffic conditions ahead, or talk you through how to get somewhere, or you could use the camera in the phone to take photos of cars that are being driven dangerously. Yep, mobile phones are the next big advance in driver safety!
Let's face it: If someone is wearing Google Glass while driving, there's a 99% chance they're using it to watch football, film or porn.
That and the Nobel prize is more about encouraging left-wing politics than science.
Patents give an exclusive monopoly on the patented material. What exactly does a patent on a human genetic sequence give you? Does this mean that anyone with that sequence in their genome has violated the patent?
Perhaps its my ignorance of genetic medicine, but the only way I can see this 'invention' being useful is in developing a test for predisposition to breast cancer. Does this mean no-one else is allowed to test for that genetic sequence?
And many people on Slashdot are Catholics (statistically it has to be so - more than 1 in 6 people in the world call themselves Catholics) so this matters to a lot of them. The fact you are not one of them, just as the fact I am not an American, doesn't mean it doesn't get posted.
AFAICT, for the same reason US presidential elections are covered on slashdot. It's got nothing to do with "news for nerds" but it matters to a very large number of people.
"Both of Apple's Safari web browser users..."
FTFY
Um, no. It typically takes around 4MJ/L (just over 1kWhr/L) to refine petrol, while the energy content is 35MJ/L. Drilling and transport add a little to that, but it's negligible compared to refining it. If it wasn't so, using it would have a net negative impact on our energy supply and no-one would use it.
The economics of this are quite complex. So long as the stored energy is insignificant relative to the market, it's quite attractive. Buying energy when there's an excess also means buying when it's cheap. Selling in a shortage means selling when the price is high. In other words, a classic market arbitrage situation.
But as storage becomes larger, of course it starts to feed back into market prices and smooths out the highs and lows of the market. Eventually it should settle to a point where the cost of storage equates to the average difference between buy and sell price, but what that cost might be I don't think anyone knows yet.
Oh, man, this deserves so much better than it's scored.
The only reason that's not called a tablet is you'd need concrete knees to hold the damn thing up.
Nice. I'd better start looking for prior art.
So, a 20" tablet is one of the five dumbest ideas at CES, but a tablet measuring seven feet is one of the standouts? Hmmm.
Another "standout" technology is MyLink, which... well, its a wireless hands-free kit for your phone. You know, like Bluetooth, only, um, well, about the same, actually... No wait! With a button on the steering wheel! That's right! A button to activate the voice-activated features on your phone!
Stuff all that free-culture-open-hardware-3d-printing-for-the-masses crap, you can print YOUR OWN FACE ON YOUR iPHONE CASE! And DRONES! Alright, the same drones as last year, but WITH A BIGGER BATTERY!
That's not all, there are VPNs! VPNs for smartphones! Yes! The innovation - can you feel it yet? And did we mention bigger batteries? Bloody expensive ones, too.
If this is the best innovation in electronics has to offer, I think I'll go find a cave and some rocks to bang together.
Having slogged through the linked discussion, there is no conclusion either way whether this effect is real or not. There are several theories on mechanisms that could cause an increase in responsiveness, but no conclusion. The most plausible seems to be that when the entropy pool is near empty, each input event causes a context switch as it is used to refill the entropy pool. Slower input handling obviously leads to poor responsiveness.
The summary seems to just be random android-bashing.
And your grid-tied inverter is relevant to this article in what way?
Excuse me looking puzzled. Are you an idiot, or are you being deliberately obtuse? Where do you think grid power comes from today, if not from that "massively expensive" power plant? The current underlying cost of electricity exactly reflects the cost of building plant and distribution infrastructure. Is there some reason that plant will become much more expensive to build tomorrow? Future cost of energy depends mainly on two things: Economics of fossil fuel supply and governments deliberately discouraging energy production through tax and regulation.
How exactly do you expect your (fixed capacity) solar installation to help with your future increased energy needs, since they are "not up for argument"? Cost of energy of solar installations are still considerably higher than cost of large-scale grid generation. How does making energy more expensive help with future increased power demands?
Modern installations pay for themselves in ~5 years with subsidies, not on their own. The current estimated payback period for UK installations is still 11 years for a typical home installation, and that's still with installation subsidy and feed-in-tariff guarantees (ie subsidies), a grid-dependent inverter and no batteries - which make it useless for the emergency scenario original posited.
So whose worldview is skewed here? Mine or yours? Don't get me wrong, I design windmills for a living. Bread on my table depends on renewable energy. That's not a good reason to stick your head in the sand and ignore the economics of generation.
I'll bet the capital you invested that you don't have an inverter that can operate without the grid - ie useless in the proposed scenario.
The installations I know about are in South Australia - some of the best generation location in the world - and the payoff period there is still over five years, with government subsidising half the installation costs and guaranteeing double the retail electricity price for exported power. And that's *still* with a grid-dependent inverter and no batteries.