Interesting indeed, shows how little we knew about the greeks/ancients - although we should not assume/extrapolate too much after finding just one device. (one clock != mechanized greek civilization != "ancient Greek tradition of complex mechanical technology";^)
Unfortunately, a whole bunch of ppl are going to read about this clock and use it to claim that Atlantis existed and that aliens visited the ancient Greeks every friday-afternoon:o
< /. >> Ah, the future of the music-industry, from the mouth of the dinosaurs of the music-industry (:-) <<grins, ducks and runs>>
<<peers at 15^H^H36 previous posts..>>
uh-huh...rrright - I'd better write something relevant;^D Here goes...
<rant & rave>
Well, firstly thats a pretty interesting article...it confirms something that I've been wondering about for a while now; the Rollings Stones haven't had any big hits for quite some time now.
I doubt any of us will ever become rock'n roll legends...(software/internet legends? Phah, thats easy;^) but I have to wonder how much of that $1.5 Billion GROSS revenue actually went to each of the rolling-stones after tax, expenses, etc etc etc.
There's a lot of numbers being thrown around in that article...but no specifics...all GROSS figures...hmmm. <<secretly wonders how many pages Mick Jaggers end-of-year tax-statement fills>>
It occurs to me that software has a lot in common with rock'n roll songs: They are 100% creativity, they are created from nothing. (hey, sold on CD's as well:)
However, the shelf-life of a given song is near infinite, once a succesfull song is released, you can sit back and let the money roll in. (Making sure you move from country to country to avoid the taxman/taxlaw >:)
On the other hand, the shelf-life for software is ridiculously short though - games are a prime example.(ok ok that doesn't work for (most) open-source software..i think:)
Maybe I should've become a rock-star after all...
</rant & rave>
To quote from the article: "How long can we go on?" asks Keith. "Forever. We'll let you know when we keel over."
That sums it up nicely:) Then we can smoke his ashes! (to quote Dennis Leary)
That reminds me of a little Java game I write for an assignment last year. It was a cheap rip-off of Zelda. Being a lazy sod, I'd set it up as such that each monster on the screen had its own unique 'thread' + a thread for the player + a thread for the 2D buffering. <<Did anyone mention lamos writing monster applications?;P >>
It ran reasonably well, but I did notice that on my triple-boot machine (Win98, linux & winNT - yes, I'm a sicko:) the game ran at very different speeds depending on which OS I used...linux being the slowest of the lot:( Not sure it has anything to do with the thread-handling or perhaps the way linux handles graphics or (more likely) the JVM being optimized differently/more/less for each OS:\
<<Resists temptation to dust of old java game and start hacking>>
I wonder... - how much of the appeal of a motor-bike is in the noise they make??;^) (And is this bike suitably noisy?:o )
It's got the 'neato' factor, it'll be even cheaper to run than a 'conventional' bike...it goes..eh...pretty fast. I'm not too thrilled about that white paint-job though;)
And I have to wonder...'e-cycle'...'beta-testers'...plenty of 'hip' buzzwords - always a sure sign of trouble (:|
And then the biggest worry: What if the bike breaks-down? Who has the parts and the knowledge to fix it? (Same with all those neato hybrid-cars...I can see big bills for the ppl who buy them (:\ Mechanics will be thrilled though...
(/worryhat)
Mind you, considering the amount of computers they cram into these gizmo cars/bikes, us geeks will not have to worry about future-employment either;)
While I'm at it... I seem to remember that there are perhaps ((cough cough)) better 'intermediate' steps that could be used to move towards cleaner/more economic fuels, using the existing fuel-supply infrastructure. i.e. Dieselengines can run on a variety of (plant-extracted) oils without any/much modifications to the engine. These oils will (almost) burn clean, and because they're extracted from plants we'll never have to worry about running out. (Iraq? Kuwait? Where's that? Who cares!;)
The problem with plant-based oils was/is the smell. Even worse than a smelly old diesel truck.
as an example: There was a research-project a while back where a guy on some pacific island managed to get diesel-engines running on coconut-oil.The exhaust-fumes smelled of...donuts (I think).
((Sits back and expects price for least-coherent post of the day)) ---------------
Slashdot Mirror
Interesting indeed, shows how little we knew about ;^)
:o
:D
the greeks/ancients - although we should not assume/extrapolate too much after finding just one device. (one clock != mechanized greek civilization != "ancient Greek tradition of complex mechanical technology"
Unfortunately, a whole bunch of ppl are going to read about this clock and use it to claim that Atlantis existed and that aliens visited the ancient Greeks every friday-afternoon
Expect the book in stores near you any day now
</. >>
;^D Here goes...
;^)
:)
:)
:) Then we can smoke his ashes! (to quote Dennis Leary)
Ah, the future of the music-industry, from the mouth of the dinosaurs of the music-industry (:-)
<<grins, ducks and runs>>
<<peers at 15^H^H36 previous posts..>>
uh-huh...rrright - I'd better write something relevant
<rant & rave>
Well, firstly thats a pretty interesting article...it confirms something that I've been wondering about for a while now; the Rollings Stones haven't had any big hits for quite some time now.
I doubt any of us will ever become rock'n roll legends...(software/internet legends? Phah, thats easy
but I have to wonder how much of that $1.5 Billion
GROSS revenue actually went to each of the rolling-stones after tax, expenses, etc etc etc.
There's a lot of numbers being thrown around in that article...but no specifics...all GROSS figures...hmmm. <<secretly wonders how many pages Mick Jaggers end-of-year tax-statement fills>>
It occurs to me that software has a lot in common with rock'n roll songs:
They are 100% creativity, they are created from nothing. (hey, sold on CD's as well
However, the shelf-life of a given song is near infinite, once a succesfull song is released, you can sit back and let the money roll in. (Making sure you move from country to country to avoid the taxman/taxlaw >:)
On the other hand, the shelf-life for software is ridiculously short though - games are a prime example.(ok ok that doesn't work for (most) open-source software..i think
Maybe I should've become a rock-star after all...
</rant & rave>
To quote from the article:
"How long can we go on?" asks Keith. "Forever. We'll let you know when we keel over."
That sums it up nicely
Sun JVM?? Hmmm...
;P >>
:) the game ran at very different speeds depending on which OS I used...linux being the slowest of the lot :( :\
That reminds me of a little Java game I write for an assignment last year. It was a cheap rip-off of Zelda. Being a lazy sod, I'd set it up as such that each monster on the screen had its own unique 'thread' + a thread for the player + a thread for the 2D buffering.
<<Did anyone mention lamos writing monster applications?
It ran reasonably well, but I did notice that on my triple-boot machine (Win98, linux & winNT - yes, I'm a sicko
Not sure it has anything to do with the thread-handling or perhaps the way linux handles graphics or (more likely) the JVM being optimized differently/more/less for each OS
<<Resists temptation to dust of old java game and start hacking>>
Hee hee hee hee
"Water Asteroids" ((rofl))
Ok, that site is funny...
((walks away shaking his head))
(worryhat)
;^) :o )
..eh...pretty fast. ;)
...'beta-testers'...plenty of 'hip' buzzwords - always a sure sign of trouble (:|
;)
;)
I wonder...
- how much of the appeal of a motor-bike is in the noise they make??
(And is this bike suitably noisy?
It's got the 'neato' factor, it'll be even cheaper to run than a 'conventional' bike...it goes
I'm not too thrilled about that white paint-job though
And I have to wonder...'e-cycle'
And then the biggest worry: What if the bike breaks-down? Who has the parts and the knowledge to fix it?
(Same with all those neato hybrid-cars...I can see big bills for the ppl who buy them (:\ Mechanics will be thrilled though...
(/worryhat)
Mind you, considering the amount of computers they cram into these gizmo cars/bikes, us geeks will not have to worry about future-employment either
While I'm at it...
I seem to remember that there are perhaps ((cough cough)) better 'intermediate' steps that could be used to move towards cleaner/more economic fuels, using the existing fuel-supply infrastructure.
i.e.
Dieselengines can run on a variety of (plant-extracted) oils without any/much modifications to the engine. These oils will (almost) burn clean, and because they're extracted from plants we'll never have to worry about running out. (Iraq? Kuwait? Where's that? Who cares!
The problem with plant-based oils was/is the smell. Even worse than a smelly old diesel truck.
as an example:
There was a research-project a while back where a guy on some pacific island managed to get diesel-engines running on coconut-oil.The exhaust-fumes smelled of...donuts (I think).
((Sits back and expects price for least-coherent post of the day))
---------------