the developer projects that trained users should be able to acchieve speeds comparable to QWERTY
Not only trained users --- you want the software trained to your style of writing also. As it learns the words you use and the order in which you use them, your speed should increase.
A cashless society could have happened here (New Zealand), I guess, if it weren't for one thing: Bank fees.
Almost everyone these days has an EFTPOS card (Electronic Funds Transfer at Point Of Sale). I guess you might call it a debit card --- it is like a credit card, but with no credit. You can only spend money you have in your account.
And virtually every shop can take EFTPOS, from dairies to retail to second hand bookshops to cinemas...
The only problem is the banks. Typically, they allow a small minimum number of free transactions per month, and beyond that, you start paying fees per transaction. So unless you really want to donate money to your friendly (foreign-owned) bank, you use cash for small transactions...
Maybe we need someone to start something like Octopus here. If everyone suddenly stopped using EFTPOS, the banks might finally get a clue...
... that having the source code for an application or OS can have its downside. And, that is that anyone who has access to that code and your machine can modify it as they see fit.
Only those who have the right to modify system components. Which should be almost no one.
We use NetBSD at my Uni. It is an open-source operating system. So what is stopping me from modifying the login program to harvest all my fellow students' passwords? Well, strangely enough, our sysadmin hasn't seen fit to give me the root password...
Indeed, I suspect that you could still create vulnerabilities if you had the rights to modify system components without having the source code. Eg, look up how to write a program to change certain system settings. Then write a wrapper for a common application...
RumbaFlex asked: Oh, and what mind control technique superman uses to keep people from noticing that he is Clark Kent?
He hypnotises them.
In one of the very few Superman comics I have read, some super bad guy goes around creating massive illusions or causing mass hysteria or something like that. So Superman counters by using a giant flying television to Super-Hypnotise everyone to disbelieve any illusions / see what's really in front of their eyes.
Superman spent most of the rest of the comic making excuses as to why he is pretending to be Clark Kent, and covering for where the "real" Clark Kent is, since no one believes his disguise any more.
After the bad guy is caught and Superman un-hypnotises everyone, the comic ends with CK getting an artist to sketch his face. The sketch looks quite different from Superman's face, and Superman figures out that he has been unconsciously maintaining his disguise by hypnotising everyone he meets.
HTH. HAND.
The Earth may be round ...
on
Lunar Power
·
· Score: 0, Redundant
... but the moon is flat!
It must be: The power bases are going to be placed around the edge!
If they legalized cocaine people would once again take it in diluted quantities
Right...
People are chucking around analogies with this, that and the other, as though their analogy is the unfautable guide to perfect truth.
Unfortunately, the primary characteristic of an analogy is that you are talking about something else.
If cocaine were legalised, maybe all the junkies would move to something else, and the only users left would be the old gents at the MCC who'd chew leaves while they drink their tea. But maybe instead the result would be parents giving their primary school kids some crack to snort just to get them up in the morning.
The way it seems, you can find an analogy to support any point of view you like, and the only accurate way to tell what would happen is to try it and see...
It's basically slight-of-hand with kinetic energy.
If you just had one ball and a lot of doughnut magnets that the ball rolls through, you wouldn't get anywhere: The energy the ball gained as it rolled towards a magnet would be lost at it rolled through and away from that magnet.
By having the ball hit the magnet, and having two balls on the other side, energy is transferred (like in a Newton's Cradle) from one ball, which is touching the magnet (and, thus, difficult to shift) to another ball, which is further away from the magnet, and hence requiring less energy to get "free".
> The goofiest one I've found yet: AI entity gains PhD 2016.
It's not quite the same, but computer programs have already published papers.. For example, an automatic theorem prover was able to deduce a new mathematical result (closing an open problem that people had worked on). The output was run through another program to beautify it somewhat, and the result was published as a paper co-authored by the two programs. I don't have a link, but I've seen the paper...
If the Jargon File is anything to go by, this isn't exactly something IBM has only started doing recently.
The entry on Tiger Teams provides the definition; the entry on patches gives the example story:
There is a classic story of a tiger team penetrating a secure military computer that illustrates the danger inherent in binary patches (or, indeed, any patches that you can't -- or don't -- inspect and examine before installing). They couldn't find any trap doors or any way to penetrate security of IBM's OS, so they made a site visit to an IBM office (remember, these were official military types who were purportedly on official business), swiped some IBM stationery, and created a fake patch. The patch was actually the trapdoor they needed. The patch was distributed at about the right time for an IBM patch, had official stationery and all accompanying documentation, and was dutifully installed. The installation manager very shortly thereafter learned something about proper procedures.
What's the deal with the stereo images? When I view them the way I normally view stereograms (let my eyes drift out of focus so I can see four images, and then make the middle two overlap), the 3-d image I see is the reverse of what I would expect: The ocean is a flat plane, but mountains and suchlike are depressions in it, receeding in to the background. (as opposed to coming out towards me like I would expect)
Am I missing something here? It's hard to believe they would make such a basic mistake as putting the images the wrong way around (although if you swap them, you do get something that works properly for me), so is there some other way of looking at these things? Is it possible to do naked-eye?
gorgon wrote: "Begs the question" means avoiding answering a point in an argument by simply stating that your point is correct instead of supporting the point.
And the number of times I have heard the phrase used in that sense is... hmm... 0.
It does grate when people use words incorrectly, but ultimately, the language evolves. Words and phrases have come to mean different things (even completely opposite things) in the past, and the same will doubtless happen in the future. If someone uses a phrase to mean something, and its meaning is widely understood, then, hey, that's what the phrase means.
It's like Humpty Dumpty said: It's just a question of which is to be the master, that's all.
Another idea I've heard mentioned is to stop using DNS altogether. We've been able to handle phone numbers o.k., why not IP addresses?
[Bit of topic divergence here]
I've often thought the same thing --- in reverse. We don't put up with raw numbers online, why are we forced to put up with raw numbers in the world of telephones? Many of the reasons why it's bad to use raw IPs show up in the real world with telephones: move house? New phone number. Change phone companies? New phone number. Cellphones go part way to solving this, but I'd like to have some unique memorable string that I can take with me, and the underlying number can change transparently: no one need ever know.
... Anyway, that's my off-topic rant. Don't ditch the DNS altogether. It would suck.
--
Repton.
Re:The Science Of Discworld
on
Thief of Time
·
· Score: 1
PurpleBob wrote:
Aside from the title, I can't see any similarities whatsoever between Discworld and Ringworld. They're even different genres - one is science fiction which strives to be at least plausible, and the other is fantasy/humor.
Not quite related to the original post, but try reading Strata, sometime, for a link between a Discworld and Ringworld:-)
The UCSD physicists said they expect their discovery to open up a new subdiscipline within physics and produce an array of commercial applications for this material, on which the university has applied for a patent.
Hmm?
The university has (presumably) applied for the patent on the material, not on the subdiscipline of physics. As such, it seems a perfectly reasonable thing to patent -- they've spent a lot of money synthesising a complex new material, and now they'd like to make some money out of it... (and maybe use the money to fund new research)
but we still have to face the fact that companies will be able to update such licences
If a company changes the licence agreement -- like MS is doing -- does that mean that all the customers who agreed to the last one will have to say whether they agree / disagree with the new one? I fail to see how you could be bound by it if you have not agreed to it.
Slashdot Mirror
the 'Cult of Nod' from those old Command series games
I suddenly feel very old, seeing Command and Conquer added to the "nostalgia" bin...
I get nostalgic over games like --- well --- like Repton. But not modern games like C&C!
the developer projects that trained users should be able to acchieve speeds comparable to QWERTY
Not only trained users --- you want the software trained to your style of writing also. As it learns the words you use and the order in which you use them, your speed should increase.
A cashless society could have happened here (New Zealand), I guess, if it weren't for one thing: Bank fees.
Almost everyone these days has an EFTPOS card (Electronic Funds Transfer at Point Of Sale). I guess you might call it a debit card --- it is like a credit card, but with no credit. You can only spend money you have in your account.
And virtually every shop can take EFTPOS, from dairies to retail to second hand bookshops to cinemas...
The only problem is the banks. Typically, they allow a small minimum number of free transactions per month, and beyond that, you start paying fees per transaction. So unless you really want to donate money to your friendly (foreign-owned) bank, you use cash for small transactions...
Maybe we need someone to start something like Octopus here. If everyone suddenly stopped using EFTPOS, the banks might finally get a clue...
Of course, you can always use xmodmap to switch Ctrl and CapsLock anyway ...
Only those who have the right to modify system components. Which should be almost no one.
We use NetBSD at my Uni. It is an open-source operating system. So what is stopping me from modifying the login program to harvest all my fellow students' passwords? Well, strangely enough, our sysadmin hasn't seen fit to give me the root password...
Indeed, I suspect that you could still create vulnerabilities if you had the rights to modify system components without having the source code. Eg, look up how to write a program to change certain system settings. Then write a wrapper for a common application...
<shrug> YMMV etc.
RumbaFlex asked: Oh, and what mind control technique superman uses to keep people from noticing that he is Clark Kent?
He hypnotises them.
In one of the very few Superman comics I have read, some super bad guy goes around creating massive illusions or causing mass hysteria or something like that. So Superman counters by using a giant flying television to Super-Hypnotise everyone to disbelieve any illusions / see what's really in front of their eyes.
Superman spent most of the rest of the comic making excuses as to why he is pretending to be Clark Kent, and covering for where the "real" Clark Kent is, since no one believes his disguise any more.
After the bad guy is caught and Superman un-hypnotises everyone, the comic ends with CK getting an artist to sketch his face. The sketch looks quite different from Superman's face, and Superman figures out that he has been unconsciously maintaining his disguise by hypnotising everyone he meets.
HTH. HAND.
... but the moon is flat!
It must be: The power bases are going to be placed around the edge!
(I just hope they don't fall off...)
I'm reading GEB at the moment, so maybe I'm seeing self-references under every stone, but...
Was anyone else struck by how self-descriptive the above post is?
1 = sqrt(1)
= sqrt( (-1) * (-1) )
= sqrt(-1) * sqrt(-1)
= i * i
= -1
Right ...
People are chucking around analogies with this, that and the other, as though their analogy is the unfautable guide to perfect truth.
Unfortunately, the primary characteristic of an analogy is that you are talking about something else.
If cocaine were legalised, maybe all the junkies would move to something else, and the only users left would be the old gents at the MCC who'd chew leaves while they drink their tea. But maybe instead the result would be parents giving their primary school kids some crack to snort just to get them up in the morning.
The way it seems, you can find an analogy to support any point of view you like, and the only accurate way to tell what would happen is to try it and see ...
The RFCs are available on x42.com here and here. As linked to by the RFC slashbox...
It's basically slight-of-hand with kinetic energy.
If you just had one ball and a lot of doughnut magnets that the ball rolls through, you wouldn't get anywhere: The energy the ball gained as it rolled towards a magnet would be lost at it rolled through and away from that magnet.
By having the ball hit the magnet, and having two balls on the other side, energy is transferred (like in a Newton's Cradle) from one ball, which is touching the magnet (and, thus, difficult to shift) to another ball, which is further away from the magnet, and hence requiring less energy to get "free".
It's quite clever :-)
So there's a rectangular version of the "most accurate map" on the BBC site...
But --- what's this ?
Oh my god, I don't exist!
They appear to have forgotton New Zealand...
(also, amazingly, someone has filled in the ocean between Alaska and Russia... East meets west!)
It's not quite the same, but computer programs have already published papers.. For example, an automatic theorem prover was able to deduce a new mathematical result (closing an open problem that people had worked on). The output was run through another program to beautify it somewhat, and the result was published as a paper co-authored by the two programs. I don't have a link, but I've seen the paper...
Time travel into the future is easy!
I'm doing it right now!
Check out his future for human evolution. Rise of robotus multitudinous predicted within the next 50-100 years...
There already is a Latin variant of Perl, in which the meaning of reserved words is given by the ending, thus allowing you to vary your word order :-)
The module is Lingua::Romana::Perligata.
If the Jargon File is anything to go by, this isn't exactly something IBM has only started doing recently.
The entry on Tiger Teams provides the definition; the entry on patches gives the example story:
His credibility does take a hit, though, in that he repeats the myth that the QWERTY keyboard was designed to slow typists down...
What's the deal with the stereo images? When I view them the way I normally view stereograms (let my eyes drift out of focus so I can see four images, and then make the middle two overlap), the 3-d image I see is the reverse of what I would expect: The ocean is a flat plane, but mountains and suchlike are depressions in it, receeding in to the background. (as opposed to coming out towards me like I would expect)
Am I missing something here? It's hard to believe they would make such a basic mistake as putting the images the wrong way around (although if you swap them, you do get something that works properly for me), so is there some other way of looking at these things? Is it possible to do naked-eye?
"Begs the question" means avoiding answering a point in an argument by simply stating that your point is correct instead of supporting the point.
And the number of times I have heard the phrase used in that sense is ... hmm ... 0.
It does grate when people use words incorrectly, but ultimately, the language evolves. Words and phrases have come to mean different things (even completely opposite things) in the past, and the same will doubtless happen in the future. If someone uses a phrase to mean something, and its meaning is widely understood, then, hey, that's what the phrase means.
It's like Humpty Dumpty said: It's just a question of which is to be the master, that's all.
--
Repton.
Another idea I've heard mentioned is to stop using DNS altogether. We've been able to handle phone numbers o.k., why not IP addresses?
[Bit of topic divergence here]
I've often thought the same thing --- in reverse. We don't put up with raw numbers online, why are we forced to put up with raw numbers in the world of telephones? Many of the reasons why it's bad to use raw IPs show up in the real world with telephones: move house? New phone number. Change phone companies? New phone number. Cellphones go part way to solving this, but I'd like to have some unique memorable string that I can take with me, and the underlying number can change transparently: no one need ever know.
--
Repton.
Aside from the title, I can't see any similarities whatsoever between Discworld and Ringworld. They're even different genres - one is science fiction which strives to be at least plausible, and the other is fantasy/humor.
Not quite related to the original post, but try reading Strata, sometime, for a link between a Discworld and Ringworld :-)
--
Repton.
The UCSD physicists said they expect their discovery to open up a new subdiscipline within physics and produce an array of commercial applications for this material, on which the university has applied for a patent.
Hmm?
The university has (presumably) applied for the patent on the material, not on the subdiscipline of physics. As such, it seems a perfectly reasonable thing to patent -- they've spent a lot of money synthesising a complex new material, and now they'd like to make some money out of it... (and maybe use the money to fund new research)
--
Repton.
but we still have to face the fact that companies will be able to update such licences
If a company changes the licence agreement -- like MS is doing -- does that mean that all the customers who agreed to the last one will have to say whether they agree / disagree with the new one? I fail to see how you could be bound by it if you have not agreed to it.
Anyone know?
--
Repton.