You make a very valid point about moderator demographics. A lot of my (international) friends complain that they get modded as flamebait or offtopic because, in their words, you have to phrase your words like an American geek.
Inevitable, I suppose. I cant understand most Cantonese jokes, even if you translate them into English.:-|
Which brings us to an interesting hypothesis:- could it be, that blog-vertisements appeal only to those who haven't been defamiliarised from this new medium?
You do realise that you're posting the link on/., don't you?:-)
Re:It'll take longer to clear security than ever.
on
Building the A380
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· Score: 1
I dont know if you're trying to troll or something, but as other posts and, indeed, the article has pointed out, the primary market is for the Europe-Asia/Pacific route, you know, London to Singapore or Hong Kong or Sydney or someplace. Rest assured this wont fly between, say, Charles d'Gaulle and Orly.
Pacific rim carriers have the best chances of making it work. Now the question is whether or not they're interested.
The article specifically says that
The design of the A380 itself is the product of more than a hundred customer "focus group" discussions with airlines ranging from launch customers such as Virgin Atlantic and Singapore Airlines to JAL and ANA of Japan, both of whom Airbus would dearly love to have on board but who have not yet signed up... So far, however, Airbus has only signed up Singapore, Malaysia and Qantas for the A380
The Airbu 380 was big news in South East Asia two years back, when Singapore Airlines had placed a huge order for two or three A380's, though I'm not sure if they're still continuing with the plan post-911. And oh, they're building a new terminal 3 to Changi International Airport which probably has an infrastructure to support the Airbus 380.
From the CIA World Factbook 2002 - China [cia.gov]:
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $4,300 (2001 est.)
To me, that says that piracy is probably as prevalent as it is because people simply cannot afford music at the prices they'd be with a legitimate album sales market in place. Perhaps I'm wrong - it could very well just be a social issue, stemming form differing cultures.
Here in the US, though, there are probably a number of factors for music piracy.
Price may be an issue for some. As a college student, I can't really afford to spend $20 a pop on CDs when my school is sucking me dry.
You make an excellent point. Often, in all this high-flown debate about IPR, ethics, "stealing" etc, we lose sight of the prime motivation for mass-copying of music- the costs involved in actually buying the CD.
Case-in-point: Among other music genres, I'm an avid fan of Telugu folk music (heck, I'm part of an acapella-sort of group and we're about to record our first song). I used to download a lot of Telugu mp3's two years back; I don't download anymore, not because they're not freely available on the net, but because their CD prices have come down sharply, currently costing about $3-$4. The Telugu experience with the piracy has been waay better than most other regional music industries; first they lost a lot due to piracy, then they made the CD's dead-cheap and now, sales are so high that the music companies don't seem to mind selling mp3 CD's of their songs.
Why do people from your obscure little cult insist upon trying to foist your perversions of the english language upon the rest of us more rational people?
Umm, because it will take us to hea.., err, Oregon?
My exposure to American life is only through Hollywood movies, so let's just say that in a different part of the world, being smart and having technical interests is considered socially superior.
Heck, I used to call myself a geek until I realised that (the American notion of) a 'geek' meant being smelly as well.
I posted about this earlier, but in a very high profile in our university, the RIAA/MPAA tracked a student's downloads from IRC channels before sending out a letter to the university network admin. Poor guy's account got suspended for two weeks.
Not that it's detered some intrepid folks, of course.
A friend of mine had a huge porn stash on his comp, but because his dad/mom also uses the same system, he renamed all of them as.java and saved them in random folders. Obviously, he couldn't find all of his files after a while, so (naturally) he turned to me for help.
Let's just say not all CS undergrads have 600+mb.java files.
Reminds me; sometime back last year, Microsoft ad on a (sealed) subway window actually read "Open Windows for a better experience" with that huge green XP Start button in the background.
You think that's odd? A professor out here actually invented distinct pronounciations for car, cdr, caar, cddr, cadr all other variations which may or may not be listed here.
The only place here, in Geneva, where it is commonly used is for public phones and for paying for car park. Several articales of the French TV and the words from my French friends shows that the same apply to France.
I could say the same thing about Singapore as well. Out here in Singapore, we have a plethora of cards; phone-cards, photocopying-cards (for the library), national ID cards (for everyone, including non-citizens who are not on a social visit pass), smart contactless cards for the public transportation system (you tap the card when you enter and leave). In addition, I also have my ATM card, debit card, university ID, airlines frequent flier ID, my re-entry visa (yes, no passport endorsement) and a few calling cards. Obviously, it is extremely covinient to save" cash onto my university ID and use it instead of cash; don't have to lug around the photo-copying cards or all those phone cards.
The problem, really, for me is not if the government can track my spending habits. I'm more concerned about *losing* the CashCard-cum-university ID; if I ever do, I can't enter labs, toilets, research centers, dorm rooms in addition to losing whatever money is saved on the card. A small card, methinks, is easier to lose than a huge wallet. Which is why I tend to use the CashCard in addition to normal cash and all the other cards.
If it weren't for curiosity, none of us would have left Africa some 6-7 million years ago.
That's an overreaching generalisation on an evolutionary process that took place, as you mention, 6-7 million years ago. While I'm not an authority on human evolution, I think it's fair to say that curiousity need not necessarily be the primary reason. The quest for food, for instance, could be one possible reason.
But all the same, your point about curiousity being a motivator for exploration raises an interesting point, albeit in a socio-cultural sense. One of the very interesting things about the history of exploration is that most explorers were European; there were very few Oriental explorers. Why didn't any Easterner "discover" Europe, just as Vasco da Gama "discovered" Goa in the late-16th century? As an old National Geographic article (can't remember the issue/year; sorry) once pointed out, European explorers needed the East; by the fifteenth century, the ancient Silk Route was closed by marauding invaders. The West needed to re-open a trade route to the exotic East to continue its import of spices, perfumes and tea. There were pecuniary benefits here; the explorers were, actually, entrepreneurs.
My point is simple:- projects such as the ISS or even the trip to Mars are all fine, inspiring and impressive, but as long as there's no real economic motive, I don't think space exploration can survive.
This seems to be because Java didn't want to go pure OO. They wanted to keep their primitives, and yet be mostly OO, which turns out to just be a pain in the ass and gives rise to classes like Integer and Double.
Wait, LISP programmer?
But then, what the hell do I know. I'm just a Lisp junky.
Ah yes. You can always spot them from far. May the Lambda be with you, brother!
(Btw, I completely agree with you. Always a challenge to move to bracy languages from LISP)
C\C++ will probably always be my language of choice. They are what I learned first, what I enjoy programming in most, and which I plan to never quit using.
Personal biases are, imho, always a good thing, as long as it's not BASIC. (sorry, couldn't resist)
Anyone else care to respond on if this is an academia thing to hate C and C++ or just my school?
The view here is that Java is by far *enforced* on most courses, although most lecturers I personally speak to seem to prefer Lisp/Scheme and C/C++ over Java. For instance, we had a course on data abstraction where the labs were in Java, but the lecturer taught in pseudo-code (claimed he didn't know any language other than C). Worked fine for me; I aced a project on image manipulation using only pseudo-code! B-)
I'm shocked that Opera doesn't make that clearer, afterall the page you showed really should have pointed that out.
You know, I think Opera has a huge problem in marketing its efforts. For instance, Opera has a very nifty feature called OperaShow which basically allows you to present stuff a la PowerPoint using W3C-defined html and CSS2 tags. As the author of the page I linked to says, it's almost "technology indistinguishable from magic". Real good stuff, and it's been there since 2000.
For some mysterious reason, Opera isn't showing this as one of its main features. Which is a pity really; I know many people who have switched after I showed them this. (Not that they use OperaShow properly, but still)
Just noticed, but interestingly enough, the additional features listed for Opera 7 mention only free email support and an OperaMail account for six months. No mention of an ad-free version.
Yes, not just that, the quote sounds very un-Gandhi-ish, if I may so. Does anyone have any citations on this? Beginning to feel it's another of those urban legends.
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You make a very valid point about moderator demographics. A lot of my (international) friends complain that they get modded as flamebait or offtopic because, in their words, you have to phrase your words like an American geek.
Inevitable, I suppose. I cant understand most Cantonese jokes, even if you translate them into English. :-|
Which brings us to an interesting hypothesis:- could it be, that blog-vertisements appeal only to those who haven't been defamiliarised from this new medium?
Ah, the deluge of asinine moderators. I could have sworn (the ironically named) eyeball was trying to be funny as well.
Before we all get excited, let's take a closer look at the New Scientist article. I quote:-
In other words, hype.
You do realise that you're posting the link on /., don't you? :-)
I dont know if you're trying to troll or something, but as other posts and, indeed, the article has pointed out, the primary market is for the Europe-Asia/Pacific route, you know, London to Singapore or Hong Kong or Sydney or someplace. Rest assured this wont fly between, say, Charles d'Gaulle and Orly.
The article specifically says that
The Airbu 380 was big news in South East Asia two years back, when Singapore Airlines had placed a huge order for two or three A380's, though I'm not sure if they're still continuing with the plan post-911. And oh, they're building a new terminal 3 to Changi International Airport which probably has an infrastructure to support the Airbus 380.
Valid points all along though, interesting post.
You make an excellent point. Often, in all this high-flown debate about IPR, ethics, "stealing" etc, we lose sight of the prime motivation for mass-copying of music- the costs involved in actually buying the CD.
Case-in-point: Among other music genres, I'm an avid fan of Telugu folk music (heck, I'm part of an acapella-sort of group and we're about to record our first song). I used to download a lot of Telugu mp3's two years back; I don't download anymore, not because they're not freely available on the net, but because their CD prices have come down sharply, currently costing about $3-$4. The Telugu experience with the piracy has been waay better than most other regional music industries; first they lost a lot due to piracy, then they made the CD's dead-cheap and now, sales are so high that the music companies don't seem to mind selling mp3 CD's of their songs.
I do realise that producing mainstream American music might cost more, but no way I can afford $20 for every person who thinks she can sing.
Umm, because it will take us to hea.., err, Oregon?
Never thought Oregon was heaven on earth, unless of course, He has opened branch offices all over the world.
My exposure to American life is only through Hollywood movies, so let's just say that in a different part of the world, being smart and having technical interests is considered socially superior.
Heck, I used to call myself a geek until I realised that (the American notion of) a 'geek' meant being smelly as well.
Is it me, or does anyone else also think that self-censorship is only one step away from sycophancy?
I posted about this earlier, but in a very high profile in our university, the RIAA/MPAA tracked a student's downloads from IRC channels before sending out a letter to the university network admin. Poor guy's account got suspended for two weeks.
Not that it's detered some intrepid folks, of course.
A friend of mine had a huge porn stash on his comp, but because his dad/mom also uses the same system, he renamed all of them as .java and saved them in random folders. Obviously, he couldn't find all of his files after a while, so (naturally) he turned to me for help.
Let's just say not all CS undergrads have 600+mb .java files.
Reminds me; sometime back last year, Microsoft ad on a (sealed) subway window actually read "Open Windows for a better experience" with that huge green XP Start button in the background.
No, I'm not making this up.
Yes, I knew it had to do something with monopoly and all that.
You think that's odd? A professor out here actually invented distinct pronounciations for car, cdr, caar, cddr, cadr all other variations which may or may not be listed here.
... and you also write long-winding prose. You also attending a law school? :-)
(Btw, I agree; bicycles are great, inexpensive and a fantastic solution to buses, cars, motorbikes and the ilk)
I could say the same thing about Singapore as well. Out here in Singapore, we have a plethora of cards; phone-cards, photocopying-cards (for the library), national ID cards (for everyone, including non-citizens who are not on a social visit pass), smart contactless cards for the public transportation system (you tap the card when you enter and leave). In addition, I also have my ATM card, debit card, university ID, airlines frequent flier ID, my re-entry visa (yes, no passport endorsement) and a few calling cards. Obviously, it is extremely covinient to save" cash onto my university ID and use it instead of cash; don't have to lug around the photo-copying cards or all those phone cards.
The problem, really, for me is not if the government can track my spending habits. I'm more concerned about *losing* the CashCard-cum-university ID; if I ever do, I can't enter labs, toilets, research centers, dorm rooms in addition to losing whatever money is saved on the card. A small card, methinks, is easier to lose than a huge wallet. Which is why I tend to use the CashCard in addition to normal cash and all the other cards.
That's an overreaching generalisation on an evolutionary process that took place, as you mention, 6-7 million years ago. While I'm not an authority on human evolution, I think it's fair to say that curiousity need not necessarily be the primary reason. The quest for food, for instance, could be one possible reason.
But all the same, your point about curiousity being a motivator for exploration raises an interesting point, albeit in a socio-cultural sense. One of the very interesting things about the history of exploration is that most explorers were European; there were very few Oriental explorers. Why didn't any Easterner "discover" Europe, just as Vasco da Gama "discovered" Goa in the late-16th century? As an old National Geographic article (can't remember the issue/year; sorry) once pointed out, European explorers needed the East; by the fifteenth century, the ancient Silk Route was closed by marauding invaders. The West needed to re-open a trade route to the exotic East to continue its import of spices, perfumes and tea. There were pecuniary benefits here; the explorers were, actually, entrepreneurs.
My point is simple:- projects such as the ISS or even the trip to Mars are all fine, inspiring and impressive, but as long as there's no real economic motive, I don't think space exploration can survive.
So, the question is, can space bring in the big bucks? Quite possibly, yes.
To take a natural language metaphor, I speak five languages, but prefer writing poetry in only two. I hope I'm making my point clear.
Wait, LISP programmer?
Ah yes. You can always spot them from far. May the Lambda be with you, brother!
(Btw, I completely agree with you. Always a challenge to move to bracy languages from LISP)
Personal biases are, imho, always a good thing, as long as it's not BASIC. (sorry, couldn't resist)
The view here is that Java is by far *enforced* on most courses, although most lecturers I personally speak to seem to prefer Lisp/Scheme and C/C++ over Java. For instance, we had a course on data abstraction where the labs were in Java, but the lecturer taught in pseudo-code (claimed he didn't know any language other than C). Worked fine for me; I aced a project on image manipulation using only pseudo-code! B-)
You know, I think Opera has a huge problem in marketing its efforts. For instance, Opera has a very nifty feature called OperaShow which basically allows you to present stuff a la PowerPoint using W3C-defined html and CSS2 tags. As the author of the page I linked to says, it's almost "technology indistinguishable from magic". Real good stuff, and it's been there since 2000.
For some mysterious reason, Opera isn't showing this as one of its main features. Which is a pity really; I know many people who have switched after I showed them this. (Not that they use OperaShow properly, but still)
Just noticed, but interestingly enough, the additional features listed for Opera 7 mention only free email support and an OperaMail account for six months. No mention of an ad-free version.
Yes, not just that, the quote sounds very un-Gandhi-ish, if I may so. Does anyone have any citations on this? Beginning to feel it's another of those urban legends.