Ok, so I got a bit carried away in my previous message:) But...
<ramble> If you buy a laptop now, most of them are set at the maximum resolution: 1024x768, regardless of whether they have a 12", 14" or 15" LCD screen. Only a few offer higher resolutions. Whether or not that's a good thing on a 15" screen is another matter altogether.
Not too long ago I was using a CGA screen, which had 320x240 in 4 Colours! I thought that was pretty amazing...look how far we've come since then...see if you can find a recently made program that will run in that resolution. 640x480 is still feasible though...but it's getting less.
Now Think ahead. Think 5 years ahead. The programs, GUIs and interfaces that we use are becoming more graphically demanding, they require better graphics cards, and will probably require higher resolutions. Obviously there will be steps in the development of the resolution that these OLED displays are capable of, BUT if you are going to present a new type of display, why not produce a demo/prototype that has a resolution that beats anything currently available on the market? Would create a low more interest than just the 'new technology' angle IMHO
And think about this: If you are going to make screens BIGGER, the resolution will have to go up as well. Dramatically. Ever looked at those new-fangled plasma displays? Huge screens + low resolution = pretty awfull and WAY too expensive.
As for myself: I use a 17" CRT screen, it's set to (approx) 1400x1200 in X-windows and 1280x1024 in Windoze. I don't think that is too small, I can read the small fonts perfectly (and I do sit some distance away from the screen thankyouverymuch:)
It's nice to surf the web and be able to see an entire webpage (or most of it) on the screen at once. <<Insert obligatory pr0n joke right here;^) >> I can also see more of my code at once. This is a Good Thing(tm):D
I get annoyed when I have to use a machine that's set to a lower resolution.
I must admit though that when other (mostly older) people use my machine they complain about the small fonts. </ramble>
Surely they could come up with something better than that (no, I did not read the *entire* article;)
Non-American view - trying to see through the BS
on
Strike on Iraq
·
· Score: 1
So it begins....
I've been watching the news...it's pretty much non-stop here, but (unlike some/most people;) I don't believe everything I see.
I've noticed that the American press is INCREDIBLY biased. (yeah...DUH!:) They are also treating this war as a g*dd*mn game show. Bah. Sickening. No surprise from a country that glorifies war and violence.
This whole war feels like an orchestrated media event. Not as bad as the gulf-war, where hordes of reporters were waiting on the spot where the marines landed....but still...
The local media are a 'little' bit better...very skeptical I'd say. Mostly anti-war. Like most/all people that I know. Still, too focused on bringing people sensation, shock and entertainment:(
Which reminds me...a lot of people in previous posts have said: X did a poll recently and found that Y amount of polled Americans believe the War on Iraq is justified.
Why do you trust source X??? (where X = newspaper, TV channel, etc) Statistics are open to interpretation. Most people (especially journalists and politicians) are/seem to be incapable of correctly interpreting data gathered from polls. They only report what THEY want to see in the data (DUH!)
I did statistics here at Uni, it's the first thing they warn us about.
85% of Americans polled want war??? Do you REALLY believe that? Are Americans REALLY that naive?
"There are lies, damned lies and statistics"
Talk about lies and deception:
It's hard to establish what is true and what is not. There's a lot of BS propaganda on TV.
Like this one (it's a real beaut mate):
At the moment they're jabbering on about this American pilot that was supposed to have died and didn't die in the gulf war and now they're sending out troops to go and find him 12 years later(?!?!?) and he was the first pilot on the first attack and and he got shot down and they interview his wife and his neighbours dog and his old buddy from back then, whose now a teacher and all his students are writing letters to Willy Bush and yadda yadda yadda.
All I can say is....how VERY convenient to have that on the news RIGHT now >:\ What a load of crap. Bah.
What a terrible waste of time, people and money.
I'm probably mangling this quote, but:
"In war the first casualty is truth."
Here's hoping this war is over quickly, or doesn't get started at all. And most importantly, let us hope that the US government has not set a dangerous precedent by becoming the agressor.
1) Does that thing remind you of a Star Trek phaser as well?
2) Thumb-print protection? Eh...excuse me, but wasn't there recently an article on Slashdot were a bunch of students tested thumb-print security and found that they were pretty much all easy to bypass!?!?! Some thumb-print security pads could be by-passed by simply BLOWING on them!!!
Puts a whole new meaning to the phrase "This'll blow you away man!"
No sorry, no lame SOVIET RUSSIA jokes...leave those for someone else comrade;)
(this bit next is from memory, apply correction if am to be mistaken;-)
HOWEVER:
I am watchink a documentary on Russian space program a while back and it turns out that Russians are/were still usink equipment from the 1950's and 1960's! Huge clunky old mainframes...vacuumtubes...you name it. It occurs to me that they would know quite a bit about keeping old cra^H^H^H priceless antiques in operatink condition:-D
Hmmm...I could be wrong, but... it was pointed out to me by a friend of a friend that in the computers labs here at Uni the techs have installed a little script on the linux machines that runs overnight and attempts a dictionairy crack on all/some of the user accounts. If it succeeds you will automatically get notified by email. You then have 10 days or so to change your password.
And why not, there's eh...60odd machines in each lab, and most of them don't do anything all night. (Ok ok, there's the odd lone hacker in there late at night...surfing for...eh....doing assignments;)
It occurs to me that there must be an easier to do this:\ OTOH the techs might've found a nasty script like that running on the machines one day, that wouldn't surprise me either:o
"In the same vein no one has ever come up with a clear definition of a human being either, but you're likely to know one when you see one with at least a certain level of accuracy."
M is for Mature. It means that we get to see all the gory/good bits that they cut out of the American and Australian versions of (most/some) movies;^P
The report is a "a recommendation to a select parliamentary commission"...hmm...considering the 'quality' of the New Zealand politicians...it'll never get anywhere. They are useless. Which is a good thing in this case:D
stupid people + sick computer + guns = ......
on
Deadly Perversions
·
· Score: 1
Its hard enough to educate people that computer viruses aren't real viruses, that memory (RAM) is volitile storage lost upon shutdown, while the hard drive ("memory" as it is called by some) is persistent, etc. etc.
-----------
That reminds me of a newspaper article about some guy who shot his computer because he thought it had a virus (or he thought he caught a virus FROM his computer) No hold on, there were two guys, they shot it (the computer) with shotguns and then set it on fire.
And NO, surprise surprise...they were NOT American. Amazing;^P
Hmmm, the/. effect is already blasting those sites out cyberspace... </cheeseypun>
They're talking about solar-sails, but...is there any mention of how big their proposed solar-sails will be? I seem to remember that those things have to be frikkin' huge...and I never knew you could propel them with microwave radiation...I though you needed a huge frikkin' laser-cannon for that. (Yes, I've been reading too much -old- SF;)
Oh wait...should've read more carefully...they WILL use laser-cannons. Neat, another excuse for the American Government to spend millions on huge orbital laser cannons.
How fast can/will a solar-sail propelled space-ship go? Can I start booking a trip to Mars anytime soon? How long will the trip take? I'll bring my cell-phone, with all the radiation that thing puts out we'll be there in half time:P
Best quote: -- "Because 'concentrated' energy is hard to come by in space," said Jordin Kare of Kare Technical Consulting in San Ramon, California. -- Uh...hello? Solar panels? Solar power? Near unlimited power? What am I missing here?
Yeah...them things, Conn_e_r hdd's!:) I don't think he had any, coz they are/were notorious for not wanting to work with other hdds. AFAIK Conn_e_r hhds only work (sometimes when they feel like it) with other Conn_e_r hdd's:(
It's a long way down...
on
Life on Pluto?
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
"magnetic measurements taken as the probe passed Ganymede and Callisto suggested the presence of salty water beneath about 170 kilometres (105 miles) of ice."
Anyone got a spare space-ship with a *REALLY* big freakin' drill mounted on it lying around?
Alternatively...put your space-ship in reverse and burn a way down:o
How do we get to this supposed life? And do we WANT to get to it? Seems like a lot of effort for a bunch of alien butt-munchin' microbes;)
"What we need is a mad scientist with a gi-ant 'la-ser' cannon!"
> you're a big tool and you know it. I'm 'a big tool'? Nope, didn't know that, new to me:) A big tool?!? Right...whatever %-\
> No one cares about your l33t programming skills. I don't have elite programming skills. I'm (studying to become) a software developer. As such I'm supposed to have 'good' programming skills. Good != l33t. l33t is for little children.
> you're just some high school kid Read my bio. I'm well past my high-school days. (When I went to high-school computers still used cassette-tapes as storage devices, grrreat fun)
> who eats doritos Ehm...I don't know what dorito's are...and I'm pretty sure I've never seen them for sale in a shop around here either. (here != America, thankgod:) > and sweats a lot. I sweat code and caffeine:D Hmmmm caffeine.
- people still write 'text-adventures'???
Good grief:)- people still write games that do NOT focus on
pretty graphics and cool sound-effects???
Good grief:) - people still write games that have an actualy
storyline???
Good grief:) - people still write text-adventures in BASIC for
M$-DOS?!?!?!?!
<<keels of chair in shock>>
Hell, *I* haven't done anything like that in at least 10-15 years... (Besides...I used Borland Turbo-Pascal, fun fun fun;^)
If it wasn't for this blasted Java assignment thats due tommorrow...I'd be...eh...nevermind.
...that it could be a bit of a nigthmare to
sort out the wiring/cabling if one of
those 20-odd hdd's fails and needs
to be replaced:)
Not that hdd's ever fail (oh no, nuh-uh)
but now that I've mentioned it..:P
(I would have used ehh...coloured sticky-tape
to mark which cable goes to which hdd)
Oh yeah, what's the bet the guy didn't use
any Connor hdd's!:P
Note to/. - Please check with real scientists before making big fuss over New Scientist articles;)
Here's why: They don't always get it right. They also do not cover these subjects in detail. They just take the tastiest bits from a given research-project and make a big noise.
I've noticed that the bigger the letters on the front of the magazine are, the shorter the main-article usually is (:o
(Why am I suddenly reminded of slashd...eh..nevermind;^P )
Although I must say that I haven't read the article yet. I'll buy a copy of the magazine and have a peep:) (I need a good laugh now and then)
There was another New Scientist article ('life on venus') reported here on slashdot. Read the top-comments. (the +1> comments that is)Ok, ok, I'll assume the article/research is fairly accurate in its findings...now what? let's get to the really interesting bit:D
The thing that scares me is this: What if scientists can figure out how to 'trigger' this sudden evolution? We won't need genetic manipulation anymore...we'll just stress out some plants and animals...sit back and let evolution do the rest. The next step up is of course applying this to human beings...uh...waitholdonaminute... <pictures cubicle-farms> stress-testing? <holds up bottle of blueberry flavour pepsi> noxious chemicals? <holds up newspaper article on global warming> high temperatures?
Once again Micro$oft shoots itself in the foot... nuthing unusual...
The way I see it: More mod-chips + more (home-brew) software
==
more sales (and I got the impression they REALLY need that, coz the freakin' things are not selling - so I hear anyway;) Mind you, it's not as if M$ needs more money:P
But the way Micro$oft (probably) sees it: Denying mod-chips & denying home-brew software
== control of market + control of product quality + control of product image
Especially the latter two where probably foremost on their mind when they changed the configuration. (Don't buy their 'security' story, M$ != security..ever (:^)
The question is then: how has M$ marketed the X-Box? Did/Do they go the Nintendo way -> release only a handful of very high-quality games? (in which case M$ attempts to control the market make sense...)
or are they like Sony with their PlayStations? (IMHO a quick glance at the games released for these systems indicate that Sony cares not for the quality of their games, only for quantity, lotsa crap available - will probably not use that strategy with the PS2 though...initially)
Oh well...time will tell. Sufficient to say that M$ has the odds stacked against it in the console market, and this is...eh...not going to help them...i think.
Ok, let's turn the whole thing upside down/ around then... (*Sometimes* this can give you a better view of the problem/situation;^)
Let's say there _is_ a video rental company called eh...'Dirty Flicks', which buys (crappy:) films and inserts more smutty & violent & offensive scenes.
(Hmm...that might actually work - quick! patent it!:)
Obviously the directors would sue the company and the company would sue the director...for exactly the same reasons...
NOW which side do you take?
"By next week Friday...I could have my own Pr0n video empire!"
> How many clocks must a civilization have before
it can be referred to as "mechanized". Seems to
me that if they made one, then that should be
enough.
Hmmm...true, it's very hard to define what constitutes 'a mechanized civilization'. Everybody will have different ideas on this...
I'll give it a go then:) <puts on helmet and hides under desk>
I would say that the defining factor would be how widely-spread the use of the/a device was.
If every household in ancient greece had a thingamajich clock then obviously they were a mechanized civilization.
However I got the impression that this was only 1 of 2 (or even 3) of such devices ever made. There is a reference to an ancient text in the article which supports this. (Something about a city being ransacked and a clock-device being taken from it?)
So no, I do not consider this single device proof that the ancient greeks were a mechanized civilization. I think it might be a fluke, similar to eh..Leonardo Da Vinci and the things he invented well before his time.
> It's clear that someone was running around back
then who was clever enough to make this thing.
Um, when I first read the article, the skeptic inside of me said: "Bullshit, it was dropped overboard in recent time and coincedentally ended up in the wreck." I immediately thought "sniff sniff, I smell a hoax!"
But no, I'm pretty sure this thing is genuine, although I'd like to be able to examine the device in person to be 100% convinced. (Seeing is believing:-)
Slashdot Mirror
Sehr gut, aber wieviele slashdot Benutzer sprechen Deutsch?
</probably bad german>
Neither can I :( <<pats crusty old Celeron 466>>
:o
;P
But but but...given time, these things will be common as muck and we'll all have at least one.
<nostalgia>
Ah, I remember when 386's and 486's where top-notch stuff and hideously expensive..
</nostalgia>
NOW...I have a whole attic full of %^$#@#!* 286's, 386's and 486's and I wouldn't know what to do with them
I have a dream...that one day I'll have an attic full of 'old' opterons and xeons....and I won't know what to do with them
Streaming Windoze media player format...
:P)
or...
RealPlayer format
Great, neither of which will play on my linux box without having to recompile something or other...
You know, sometimes I just want things to work...especially now at midnight.
(And all I wanted to know was what the SFX are like: Are we talking decent werewolves here or a bunch of freaking hoary muppets
Hmmm...I vaguely remember a hacker releasing blueprints/plans/files for a rocket or somesuch a while back...
;P
The idea is not unique, and is to be applauded, consider hacking into CNN's network and releasing what they are NOT showing on TV!
This could get out of thand though....
"Truth is a noble cause" -> "HACK THE PLANET!"
I can't help myself...
;^)
"The saga continues..."
"Use the fork() David"
(BTW, expect to bring about introduction of new post-rating: +5 Lame!
Ok, so I got a bit carried away in my previous message :) But...
:)
;^) >> :D
<ramble>
If you buy a laptop now, most of them are set at the maximum resolution: 1024x768, regardless of whether they have a 12", 14" or 15" LCD screen.
Only a few offer higher resolutions. Whether or not that's a good thing on a 15" screen is another matter altogether.
Not too long ago I was using a CGA screen, which had 320x240 in 4 Colours! I thought that was pretty amazing...look how far we've come since then...see if you can find a recently made program that will run in that resolution.
640x480 is still feasible though...but it's getting less.
Now Think ahead. Think 5 years ahead.
The programs, GUIs and interfaces that we use are becoming more graphically demanding, they require better graphics cards, and will probably require higher resolutions.
Obviously there will be steps in the development of the resolution that these OLED displays are capable of, BUT if you are going to present a new type of display, why not produce a demo/prototype that has a resolution that beats anything currently available on the market? Would create a low more interest than just the 'new technology' angle IMHO
And think about this: If you are going to make screens BIGGER, the resolution will have to go up as well. Dramatically. Ever looked at those new-fangled plasma displays? Huge screens + low resolution = pretty awfull and WAY too expensive.
As for myself:
I use a 17" CRT screen, it's set to (approx) 1400x1200 in X-windows and 1280x1024 in Windoze. I don't think that is too small, I can read the small fonts perfectly (and I do sit some distance away from the screen thankyouverymuch
It's nice to surf the web and be able to see an entire webpage (or most of it) on the screen at once.
<<Insert obligatory pr0n joke right here
I can also see more of my code at once. This is a Good Thing(tm)
I get annoyed when I have to use a machine that's set to a lower resolution.
I must admit though that when other (mostly older) people use my machine they complain about the small fonts.
</ramble>
"It has WXGA resolution (1280 x 768 pixels)"
;)
That is pretty pathetic!
The new Dell laptops can do 1600x1200!
Surely they could come up with something better than that (no, I did not read the *entire* article
So it begins....
;) I don't believe everything I see.
:)
:(
I've been watching the news...it's pretty much non-stop here, but (unlike some/most people
I've noticed that the American press is INCREDIBLY biased. (yeah...DUH!
They are also treating this war as a g*dd*mn game show. Bah. Sickening. No surprise from a country that glorifies war and violence.
This whole war feels like an orchestrated media event. Not as bad as the gulf-war, where hordes of reporters were waiting on the spot where the marines landed....but still...
The local media are a 'little' bit better...very skeptical I'd say. Mostly anti-war. Like most/all people that I know. Still, too focused on bringing people sensation, shock and entertainment
Which reminds me...a lot of people in previous posts have said: X did a poll recently and found that Y amount of polled Americans believe the War on Iraq is justified.
Why do you trust source X???
(where X = newspaper, TV channel, etc)
Statistics are open to interpretation. Most people (especially journalists and politicians) are/seem to be incapable of correctly interpreting data gathered from polls. They only report what THEY want to see in the data (DUH!)
I did statistics here at Uni, it's the first thing they warn us about.
85% of Americans polled want war??? Do you REALLY believe that? Are Americans REALLY that naive?
"There are lies, damned lies and statistics"
Talk about lies and deception:
It's hard to establish what is true and what is not. There's a lot of BS propaganda on TV.
Like this one (it's a real beaut mate):
At the moment they're jabbering on about this American pilot that was supposed to have died and didn't die in the gulf war and now they're sending out troops to go and find him 12 years later(?!?!?) and he was the first pilot on the first attack and and he got shot down and they interview his wife and his neighbours dog and his old buddy from back then, whose now a teacher and all his students are writing letters to Willy Bush and yadda yadda yadda.
All I can say is....how VERY convenient to have that on the news RIGHT now >:\
What a load of crap. Bah.
What a terrible waste of time, people and money.
I'm probably mangling this quote, but:
"In war the first casualty is truth."
Here's hoping this war is over quickly, or doesn't get started at all. And most importantly, let us hope that the US government has not set a dangerous precedent by becoming the agressor.
1) Does that thing remind you of a Star Trek phaser as well?
2) Thumb-print protection? Eh...excuse me, but wasn't there recently an article on Slashdot were a bunch of students tested thumb-print security and found that they were pretty much all easy to bypass!?!?! Some thumb-print security pads could be by-passed by simply BLOWING on them!!!
Puts a whole new meaning to the phrase "This'll blow you away man!"
No sorry, no lame SOVIET RUSSIA jokes...leave those for someone else comrade ;)
;-)
:-D
(this bit next is from memory, apply correction if am to be mistaken
HOWEVER:
I am watchink a documentary on Russian space program a while back and it turns out that Russians are/were still usink equipment from the 1950's and 1960's! Huge clunky old mainframes...vacuumtubes...you name it. It occurs to me that they would know quite a bit about keeping old cra^H^H^H priceless antiques in operatink condition
Hmmm...I could be wrong, but...
;)
:\ OTOH the techs might've found a nasty script like that running on the machines one day, that wouldn't surprise me either :o
it was pointed out to me by a friend of a friend that in the computers labs here at Uni the techs have installed a little script on the linux machines that runs overnight and attempts a dictionairy crack on all/some of the user accounts. If it succeeds you will automatically get notified by email. You then have 10 days or so to change your password.
And why not, there's eh...60odd machines in each lab, and most of them don't do anything all night. (Ok ok, there's the odd lone hacker in there late at night...surfing for...eh....doing assignments
It occurs to me that there must be an easier to do this
"In the same vein no one has ever come up with a clear definition of a human being either, but you're likely to know one when you see one with at least a certain level of accuracy."
:P
Ah well..obviously you don't get out much
M is for Mature. It means that we get to see all the gory/good bits that they cut out of the American and Australian versions of (most/some) movies ;^P
:D
The report is a "a recommendation to a select parliamentary commission"...hmm...considering the 'quality' of the New Zealand politicians...it'll never get anywhere. They are useless. Which is a good thing in this case
Its hard enough to educate people that computer viruses aren't real viruses, that memory (RAM) is volitile storage lost upon shutdown, while the hard drive ("memory" as it is called by some) is persistent, etc. etc.
;^P
-----------
That reminds me of a newspaper article about some guy who shot his computer because he thought it had a virus (or he thought he caught a virus FROM his computer) No hold on, there were two guys, they shot it (the computer) with shotguns and then set it on fire.
And NO, surprise surprise...they were NOT American. Amazing
Hmmm, the /. effect is already blasting those sites out cyberspace...
;)
:P
</cheeseypun>
They're talking about solar-sails, but...is there
any mention of how big their proposed solar-sails
will be? I seem to remember that those things have to be frikkin' huge...and I never knew you could propel them with microwave radiation...I though you needed a huge frikkin' laser-cannon for that.
(Yes, I've been reading too much -old- SF
Oh wait...should've read more carefully...they WILL use laser-cannons. Neat, another excuse for the American Government to spend millions on huge orbital laser cannons.
How fast can/will a solar-sail propelled space-ship go? Can I start booking a trip to Mars anytime soon? How long will the trip take?
I'll bring my cell-phone, with all the radiation
that thing puts out we'll be there in half time
Best quote:
--
"Because 'concentrated' energy is hard to come by in space," said Jordin Kare of Kare Technical Consulting in San Ramon, California.
--
Uh...hello? Solar panels? Solar power? Near unlimited power? What am I missing here?
> Nope. But he did have a couple of Conn_e_rs :).
:)
:) :(
Hehehe...oops
Yeah...them things, Conn_e_r hdd's!
I don't think he had any, coz they are/were notorious for not wanting to work with other hdds.
AFAIK Conn_e_r hhds only work (sometimes when they feel like it) with other Conn_e_r hdd's
"magnetic measurements taken as the probe passed
:o
;)
Ganymede and Callisto suggested the presence of
salty water beneath about 170 kilometres (105
miles) of ice."
Anyone got a spare space-ship with a *REALLY* big freakin' drill mounted on it lying around?
Alternatively...put your space-ship in reverse and burn a way down
How do we get to this supposed life? And do we WANT to get to it? Seems like a lot of effort for a bunch of alien butt-munchin' microbes
"What we need is a mad scientist with a gi-ant 'la-ser' cannon!"
> you're a big tool and you know it. :) A big tool?!? Right...whatever %-\
:) :D Hmmmm caffeine.
I'm 'a big tool'? Nope, didn't know that, new to me
> No one cares about your l33t programming skills.
I don't have elite programming skills.
I'm (studying to become) a software developer.
As such I'm supposed to have 'good' programming skills. Good != l33t. l33t is for little children.
> you're just some high school kid
Read my bio. I'm well past my high-school days.
(When I went to high-school computers still used cassette-tapes as storage devices, grrreat fun)
> who eats doritos
Ehm...I don't know what dorito's are...and I'm pretty sure I've never seen them for sale in a shop around here either. (here != America, thankgod
> and sweats a lot.
I sweat code and caffeine
- people still write 'text-adventures'??? :)- people still write games that do NOT focus on :) :)
;^)
Good grief
pretty graphics and cool sound-effects???
Good grief
- people still write games that have an actualy
storyline???
Good grief
- people still write text-adventures in BASIC for
M$-DOS?!?!?!?!
<<keels of chair in shock>>
Hell, *I* haven't done anything like that in at least 10-15 years...
(Besides...I used Borland Turbo-Pascal, fun fun fun
If it wasn't for this blasted Java assignment thats due tommorrow...I'd be...eh...nevermind.
(And I'm probably not the first one :)
...that it could be a bit of a nigthmare to :) :P
:P
sort out the wiring/cabling if one of
those 20-odd hdd's fails and needs
to be replaced
Not that hdd's ever fail (oh no, nuh-uh)
but now that I've mentioned it..
(I would have used ehh...coloured sticky-tape
to mark which cable goes to which hdd)
Oh yeah, what's the bet the guy didn't use
any Connor hdd's!
Note to /. - Please check with real scientists before making big fuss over New Scientist articles ;)
;^P )
:)
:D
Here's why:
They don't always get it right. They also do not cover these subjects in detail. They just take the tastiest bits from a given research-project and make a big noise.
I've noticed that the bigger the letters on the front of the magazine are, the shorter the main-article usually is (:o
(Why am I suddenly reminded of slashd...eh..nevermind
Although I must say that I haven't read the article yet. I'll buy a copy of the magazine and have a peep
(I need a good laugh now and then)
There was another New Scientist article ('life on venus') reported here on slashdot. Read the top-comments. (the +1> comments that is)Ok, ok, I'll assume the article/research is fairly accurate in its findings...now what?
let's get to the really interesting bit
The thing that scares me is this:
What if scientists can figure out how to 'trigger' this sudden evolution? We won't need genetic manipulation anymore...we'll just stress out some plants and animals...sit back and let evolution do the rest. The next step up is of course applying this to human beings...uh...waitholdonaminute...
<pictures cubicle-farms>
stress-testing?
<holds up bottle of blueberry flavour pepsi>
noxious chemicals?
<holds up newspaper article on global warming>
high temperatures?
<runs away screaming>
Once again Micro$oft shoots itself in the foot...
;) Mind you, it's not as if M$ needs more money :P
nuthing unusual...
The way I see it:
More mod-chips + more (home-brew) software
==
more sales
(and I got the impression they REALLY need that, coz the freakin' things are not selling - so I hear anyway
But the way Micro$oft (probably) sees it:
Denying mod-chips & denying home-brew software
==
control of market +
control of product quality +
control of product image
Especially the latter two where probably foremost on their mind when they changed the configuration.
(Don't buy their 'security' story,
M$ != security..ever (:^)
The question is then: how has M$ marketed the X-Box?
Did/Do they go the Nintendo way -> release only a handful of very high-quality games?
(in which case M$ attempts to control the market make sense...)
or are they like Sony with their PlayStations?
(IMHO a quick glance at the games released for these systems indicate that Sony cares not for the quality of their games, only for quantity, lotsa crap available - will probably not use that strategy with the PS2 though...initially)
Oh well...time will tell. Sufficient to say that M$ has the odds stacked against it in the console market, and this is...eh...not going to help them...i think.
"There can be only one..."
Just checked the 'mycleanflicks' site...
:)
There's a list of movies that they will NOT edit
nor offer as E-Rentals.
(In the FAQ at the top)
Most of titles on the list are pretty obvious,
editing those would leave at most 5 minutes of filem (if that
but...'Liar liar'???
(Mind you, I haven't seen that film, but I was under the impression it's just a comedy???)
Ok, let's turn the whole thing upside down/ around then... ;^)
:) films and inserts more smutty & violent & offensive scenes.
:)
(*Sometimes* this can give you a better view of the problem/situation
Let's say there _is_ a video rental company called
eh...'Dirty Flicks',
which buys (crappy
(Hmm...that might actually work - quick! patent it!
Obviously the directors would sue the company and
the company would sue the director...for exactly the same reasons...
NOW which side do you take?
"By next week Friday...I could have my own Pr0n video empire!"
> How many clocks must a civilization have before
:)
:-)
it can be referred to as "mechanized". Seems to
me that if they made one, then that should be
enough.
Hmmm...true, it's very hard to define what constitutes 'a mechanized civilization'. Everybody will have different ideas on this...
I'll give it a go then
<puts on helmet and hides under desk>
I would say that the defining factor would be how widely-spread the use of the/a device was.
If every household in ancient greece had a thingamajich clock then obviously they were a mechanized civilization.
However I got the impression that this was only 1 of 2 (or even 3) of such devices ever made. There is a reference to an ancient text in the article which supports this. (Something about a city being ransacked and a clock-device being taken from it?)
So no, I do not consider this single device proof that the ancient greeks were a mechanized civilization. I think it might be a fluke, similar to eh..Leonardo Da Vinci and the things he invented well before his time.
> It's clear that someone was running around back
then who was clever enough to make this thing.
Um, when I first read the article, the skeptic inside of me said: "Bullshit, it was dropped overboard in recent time and coincedentally ended up in the wreck." I immediately thought "sniff sniff, I smell a hoax!"
But no, I'm pretty sure this thing is genuine,
although I'd like to be able to examine the device in person to be 100% convinced. (Seeing is believing