You have clearly been given a special assignment to spend your whole day surfing the internet, checking out all the latest cool gadgets for your boss. Keep him interested as long as you can.
I can type on my psion revo almost as fast as I can on a fullsize keyboard, and it fits in my pocket just fine. I know some people find it difficult, but give me a PDA with a keyboard any day.
According to the chart, the level of ozone is quite high. Does anyone know if this corresponds to the actual average ozone levels in the whole atmosphere, or is it skewed higher because the ozone layer is at high altitude?
Slashdot is not a good place to get medical advice
That's where you're wrong. I happen to be a world renowned dentist and specialise in the whitening of grubby teeth. The solution is as follows:
You can't whiten you're teeth completely while there still in you're mouth - either have a dentist remove them, or if that is too expensive, remove them yourself. A pair of pliars will do the trick.
You need to dissolve the grime, so leave them to soak for two weeks in a cup of concentrated sulphuric acid. You can order this from a chemical supplier, but your local garage will probably have some in supply.
Remove the teeth from the acid, remebering to rinse well in distilled water.
Now simply replace you teeth in your mouth used the glue of your choice. I recommend araldite. A strip of gaffer/duct tape can help to hold them in until the glue sets.
I think the argument that high level languages can't be used to design hardware rests mainly on the premise that software is sequential, whereas hardware is completely parallel. Handel C (and perhaps SystemC?) uses communicating sequential processes, much like VHDL, to allow the expression of both parallel and sequential algorithms. I don't agree with your assertion that software engineers can learn Handel C and become hardware engineers, because it requires a change of approach from sequential design to parallel design. Most software engineers can learn to write VHDL fairly easily, but as you know, simply getting a VHDL design to compile and simulate is a long way from designing good hardware.
I think you also underestimate the advantage fast simulation.
I think with the increasing capacity of FPGAs, high level languages will become a much more cost effective way of designing hardware, but on the other hand HDLs will almost certainly stay around. It will be similar to the use of assembly language vs. high level languages in software. For small, timing critical subsystems, HDLs will be better, for large complex subsystems which don't have to be particularly efficient, high level languages will be better.
In the end of the day, it's about choosing the right tools for the right job.
I've picked up two used Panasonic Toughbooks on eBay and they've been attention-getters ever since.
No shit? I bet if you open one of them up in starbucks, all the customers would run to the window to see which nearby building was about to blow up. Do they come packaged with a black suit and sinister shades?
... So saying that volts are safe and amps are dangerous is a bit stupid. What none of the posts in this thread have mentioned is that it is largely the internal resistance of the power source which determines how dangerous it is. This lies in serial with the resistance of your body. The sum of the 2 determines how much current flows, and if one is significantly higher than the other, then the majority of the power will be dissipated in the higher resistance (P=I^2*R).
Also important, is the path the current takes through the body, i.e. whether it passes through the heart or not. Sticking 2 fingers of one hand into a light bulb socket will not kill you (trust me on this;-) ). Attaching mains connections 2 your testicals will also not kill you, but it will probably make you wish you were dead.
Hold the electrodes of a 12V dry cell battery, or solar cell array between your hands, and you won't feel anything. Hold 12V car battery electrodes between your arms and it will probably kill you. That is because the former have very high internal resistance, and the latter has approximately no internal resistance. Likewise, the mains supply has negligible internal resistance.
Seriously though, there are no new technology on the horizon that would make silicon run cooler, and the speed of core-voltage drop does not keep up with frequency bumps (heat is square of frequency for CMOS gates).
How about more efficient software, which doesn't require a 3GHz processor to run on? The problem with power consumption on laptops is that we need to run them so fast in the first place. With the exception of specialists who need to do video processing and the like, the vast majority of people don't need super fast notebooks, except for the fact that they are forced to use software designed with absolutely no consideration for power consumption.
Any spammer using this technique will be entering the realms of cyber-terrorism, and will be liable for a big prison sentence and dedicated criminal investigations. Given that spam is advertising, it probably wouldn't be very hard to track the perpetrators down once the appropriate warrants are issued. I predict that either this report is overblown, or a few spammers will end up getting the buggering they deserve in prison.
The EFF and/or the FSF should be actively going out and patenting every software idea that comes out of free software under the sun
This is completely pointless. Simply by making the software available, you can claim prior art, which invalidates any patents filed later by third parties on the same technology. Similarly, if the software source has been made public, it can't be patented anyway by anyone.
The government wants to implement the same rules that govern the professional print media to each and every internet post of a private citizen, including all the sanctions associated with a possible "breach
The reason these kinds of law exist is not because the media are making money, but because a large number of people may read what they print. Without such laws, successful papers could use their power at will against third parties. In what way is a popular blogger in any way different? Or any non-profit website? Publishing is publishing, and if you are publishing on the internet, why shouldn't you be bound by laws which cover publishing conventional media?
The moon landings were real, but some of the videos and images were doctored to make them look a bit dodgy. It is part of a secret program to identify citizens who are too curious and sceptical about the authorities so that they can be singled out for NSA surveillance, and eventual "dissapearing".
Slashdot Mirror
This sounds like the start of a great plot for a pornographic sci-fi horror film.
...if it had a built in stool sample analyser, it could automatically send you an email with nutritional or medical advice.
Have you tried microwaving it?
You have clearly been given a special assignment to spend your whole day surfing the internet, checking out all the latest cool gadgets for your boss. Keep him interested as long as you can.
I can type on my psion revo almost as fast as I can on a fullsize keyboard, and it fits in my pocket just fine. I know some people find it difficult, but give me a PDA with a keyboard any day.
According to the chart, the level of ozone is quite high. Does anyone know if this corresponds to the actual average ozone levels in the whole atmosphere, or is it skewed higher because the ozone layer is at high altitude?
You may be joking, but there is evidence to suggest that methane released by sheep and cow flatulence is a major cause of global warming.
As someone who bears a noticeable scar from diving through a window while sleepwalking, I can confirm your hypothesis.
That's where you're wrong. I happen to be a world renowned dentist and specialise in the whitening of grubby teeth. The solution is as follows:
Maybe not, but it'll destroy all my stuff. I say bring on the nuclear particle disintegration ray weapons.
I think the argument that high level languages can't be used to design hardware rests mainly on the premise that software is sequential, whereas hardware is completely parallel. Handel C (and perhaps SystemC?) uses communicating sequential processes, much like VHDL, to allow the expression of both parallel and sequential algorithms. I don't agree with your assertion that software engineers can learn Handel C and become hardware engineers, because it requires a change of approach from sequential design to parallel design. Most software engineers can learn to write VHDL fairly easily, but as you know, simply getting a VHDL design to compile and simulate is a long way from designing good hardware.
I think you also underestimate the advantage fast simulation.
I think with the increasing capacity of FPGAs, high level languages will become a much more cost effective way of designing hardware, but on the other hand HDLs will almost certainly stay around. It will be similar to the use of assembly language vs. high level languages in software. For small, timing critical subsystems, HDLs will be better, for large complex subsystems which don't have to be particularly efficient, high level languages will be better.
In the end of the day, it's about choosing the right tools for the right job.
No shit? I bet if you open one of them up in starbucks, all the customers would run to the window to see which nearby building was about to blow up. Do they come packaged with a black suit and sinister shades?
Someone took a rocket launcher to a nerf gun shootout
I wouldn't worry - the growth in linux will probably create a feasible market for ARM based PCs like the Iyonix.
... So saying that volts are safe and amps are dangerous is a bit stupid. What none of the posts in this thread have mentioned is that it is largely the internal resistance of the power source which determines how dangerous it is. This lies in serial with the resistance of your body. The sum of the 2 determines how much current flows, and if one is significantly higher than the other, then the majority of the power will be dissipated in the higher resistance (P=I^2*R).
Also important, is the path the current takes through the body, i.e. whether it passes through the heart or not. Sticking 2 fingers of one hand into a light bulb socket will not kill you (trust me on this ;-) ). Attaching mains connections 2 your testicals will also not kill you, but it will probably make you wish you were dead.
Hold the electrodes of a 12V dry cell battery, or solar cell array between your hands, and you won't feel anything. Hold 12V car battery electrodes between your arms and it will probably kill you. That is because the former have very high internal resistance, and the latter has approximately no internal resistance. Likewise, the mains supply has negligible internal resistance.
With all these alien robots landing and wandering around probing things, they'll think it's an invasion.
How about more efficient software, which doesn't require a 3GHz processor to run on? The problem with power consumption on laptops is that we need to run them so fast in the first place. With the exception of specialists who need to do video processing and the like, the vast majority of people don't need super fast notebooks, except for the fact that they are forced to use software designed with absolutely no consideration for power consumption.
Also, by attachin a used yoghurt pot to each end of the string, it can double as an inexpensive room to room intercom system.
Any spammer using this technique will be entering the realms of cyber-terrorism, and will be liable for a big prison sentence and dedicated criminal investigations. Given that spam is advertising, it probably wouldn't be very hard to track the perpetrators down once the appropriate warrants are issued. I predict that either this report is overblown, or a few spammers will end up getting the buggering they deserve in prison.
This is completely pointless. Simply by making the software available, you can claim prior art, which invalidates any patents filed later by third parties on the same technology. Similarly, if the software source has been made public, it can't be patented anyway by anyone.
He's invited us all round to his house! Let's all go together - bring your own beer. This friday, 8pm. Does anyone have his address?
I thought Office and the occaisional game were available for OSX.
The reason these kinds of law exist is not because the media are making money, but because a large number of people may read what they print. Without such laws, successful papers could use their power at will against third parties. In what way is a popular blogger in any way different? Or any non-profit website? Publishing is publishing, and if you are publishing on the internet, why shouldn't you be bound by laws which cover publishing conventional media?
The moon landings were real, but some of the videos and images were doctored to make them look a bit dodgy. It is part of a secret program to identify citizens who are too curious and sceptical about the authorities so that they can be singled out for NSA surveillance, and eventual "dissapearing".
Look at the advert - you will attract beautiful blond women, who will want to drape themselves ecstatically over your nimble.