I listen to SW news to get a different perspective of the world. The local and network news in the US is politically slanted and full of sound bites.
Where I live, the BBC, Radio Netherlands and Radio Cuba have strong signals at night.
I was listening to the BBC when it was first announced that Lady Di died in a car crash. It was a solemn moment The Brits did it with dignity. The American press handled it like the tabloids.
...with the high penetration rate of cable / satellite
TV into American homes, broadcasting television over the air has
(or soon will) become superfulous
I know several people in suburban areas that do not have access to cable and do not want to subscribe to satellite television.
Several family members living in a large city refuse to pay $60+/month for basic cable with a lot of garbage.
1800:French quote: If they don't have bread, let them eat cake.
2003:US quote: If they don't have cable, let them use satellite.
He doesn't mention if the compressorless refrig was stocked with free beer. My guess it that it was stocked with RFID tagged items that were automatically charged (at premium prices) to your room when they are removed from the cooler.
Its akin to the peace movement and Military-Industrial complex. Sure peace is great but not at the expense of "war-no-more". They want to sell weapons to both sides to create a standoff peace.
A google search of florida+sars reveals several links during April 2003 related to SARS in the Florida Panhandle. See WESH-TV report or Miami Channel 10.
Curiously, many of the Google links display "story not available". Are six week old stories normally flushed from on-line archives? In such cases use Googles's "cached" link to see the story.
There were two confirmed SARS cases in Florida reported the Florida Today newspaper several weeks ago. The actual location(s) were not divulged. (To prevent panic)
I wonder how many other locations in the states have confirmed cases of SARS? Conspiracy theories anyone?
Re:Ants in laptop....and other electronics
on
Ant Farm PC
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· Score: 1
I've seen several cases where ants have colonized electronic equipment. One was a HP OfficeJet Fax/Copier/Printer, the other was a telephone answering machine.
Once a rat invaded my apartment. It found a home in the wiring mess behind my stereo. It became a literal rat's nest.
Back in the 70s, at the request of my girl friend, I took one of those store-bought self-administered IQ tests.
I breezed through it in less than the allotted time thinking how easy it was. To my surprise I actually got two questions wrong! That equated to an IQ of 158 (max was 160).
I'm smart enough to know that I am not a genious, so my curious mind went to work.
My conclusion was that my job actually trained me for the test. At the time I was writing assembly language code for realtime control system. The use of or, nor, and, nand, xor on the lowest computer language had honed my skills at the deductive reasoning process. I had studied the test!
Years later, after my career took me away from hacker coding, I came across an IQ test at BN. I bought it, took it, and scored a reasonable score.
Conclusion: If you want to scrore big on the IQ test, try assembly level programming for 18 months.
Between small business environments and downsizing, engineers are now put in a position that requires them to document their software as well as providing operational and installation documentation.
I remember providing input to a tech writer, then red-lining the first draft to the point that rewriting the entire document seemed necessary. While I would rather write PHP or scripts, there is no one who better understands code than its author.
Today's on line documentation provides a variety of methods for an engineer to provide documentation. Such examples are:
How to's and Mini How To's
FAQ
Web page with screen shots
Forums and Blogs
That being said, I am reminded of a conversation with Clyde, a retired avid sailor, who talked about stories in "SAIL" magazine. "First person stories written by sailors usually suck!" he said. "Give me an article written by a professional writer. They're easier to read."
It's easier to write documentation than to try to tell someone what to write.....Now if only I can break away from coding long enough to read this document on creating documentation.
"For 2001, Microsoft led revenue for embedded operating systems according to International Data Corp. document 27653, Worldwide Mobile and Embedded Operating Environment Market Forecast and Analysis, 2002-2006. "
The key word is revenue. If you use "units manufactured" the results may be different.
The National Aerospace Plane (NASP) was an idea conceived during the Reagan administration. It was proposed during President Raegans State of the Union Address, February 4, 1986.
...a new Orient Express that could, by the end of the next decade, take off from Dulles Airport and accelerate up to twenty-five times the speed of sound, attaining low earth orbit or flying to Tokyo within two hours....
It is was also called the X-30. Development was public for several years and then disappeared. Perhaps still going strong in the Black Ops arena? A Google search for NASP on reveals
NASPWEB, the National Association of School Psychologist. (An interesting cover)?
Sidebar What many people may have forgotten was that the State of the Union address was originally scheduled for the evening of January 28, 1986. It was postponed after the Challenger Space Shuttle exploded during liftoff that morning. No "smoking gun" was ever found that the White House pressured NASA into a launch.
Challenger was originally suppose to launch the previous day, January 27, and should have been in orbit when Raegan gave his talk the next day. However the handle on the shuttle access hatch could not be detached. It had corroded in place. It had to be drilled off! After that, I figured it would be a week to replace the hatch.
A cold front moved through Florida that night. As I drove to work the next morning in subfreezing weather, I was surprised when I heard the count down was in progress. At the time, I had been in Florida for six year and that was the coldest morning ever. I never expected them to attempt a launch.
"The device contains 9,400 feet of magnetic tape that permits up to two hours recording time. It was turned on 10 minutes before Columbia's Jan. 16 launch and then turned off about six minutes after the shuttle reached orbit.
The recorder was activated again 15 minutes before Columbia began its ill-fated, 45-minute plunge through the atmosphere.".
Is it possible that the impact of the foam on the left wing (or other launch time anomoly) was caught on tape?
Translators may have a grip on multiple languages but not the subject matter. The reporter asks the question to a translator (German-English) and translates the answer (English-German). Then someone translates the article (German-English).
Imagine a simple Q/A on the PGA Tour:
Q: "Who's the best golfer?" A: Tiger Woods.
On Slashdot, the geek translator writes:
Q: "Hose the best gopher?"
A: "Forest belonging to wild animal."
Unfortuately, the game has changed. Once, in a previous life, I designed an inventory system for a record store. It used dBaseII and 2 360K Floppies.
Now that would be like trying to play golf at Pebble Beach with hickory shaft clubs.
A picture dashed through my head of a Saturday Night Live skit depicting a Victorian gala attended by British nobility who had their inventions named after them. Garrett Morris heralded the entrance of inventors.
Bill Murray was announced as the Earl of Sandwich
Buck Henry, escorting a woman,was announced as Lord and Lady "Douche Bag".
What were the rest of those inventors?
Workable business model
on
Robocoaster
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· Score: 1
-Used industrial robot from ebay
-Robotic code from sourceforge
-Blonde bimbo carney operator
-Profit $$$
I remember a CS professor saying there should be x comment lines per every line of code. Seems like it was more than 1:1.
In the real world your company should have code documentation standards. Unfortunately most standards seem to focus on compiled code (C,C++) and not php, perl, bash or configuration scripts.
In any case, typically sysadmins work unpaid overtime to meet unrealistic delivery schedules set by marketing or management.
Is it better to have a working system or unfinished well documented code?
Supervisors should set a good example. Peer code reviews and team projects lead to better documentation.
Slashdot Mirror
I listen to SW news to get a different perspective of the world. The local and network news in the US is politically slanted and full of sound bites. Where I live, the BBC, Radio Netherlands and Radio Cuba have strong signals at night.
I was listening to the BBC when it was first announced that Lady Di died in a car crash. It was a solemn moment The Brits did it with dignity. The American press handled it like the tabloids.
Then again, it could just be that I'm a horrible interview. McDonalds, here I come.
Over a billion SERVERS. But...Are they counting the Pentium-I's that were recalled with the internal floating point error?
I know several people in suburban areas that do not have access to cable and do not want to subscribe to satellite television.
Several family members living in a large city refuse to pay $60+/month for basic cable with a lot of garbage.
1800:French quote: If they don't have bread, let them eat cake.
2003:US quote: If they don't have cable, let them use satellite.
Heads will roll again!
I think its a bad idea.
He doesn't mention if the compressorless refrig was stocked with free beer. My guess it that it was stocked with RFID tagged items that were automatically charged (at premium prices) to your room when they are removed from the cooler.
Its akin to the peace movement and Military-Industrial complex. Sure peace is great but not at the expense of "war-no-more". They want to sell weapons to both sides to create a standoff peace.
Tag line: Taking America back...one politician at a time.
Curiously, many of the Google links display "story not available". Are six week old stories normally flushed from on-line archives? In such cases use Googles's "cached" link to see the story.
I wonder how many other locations in the states have confirmed cases of SARS? Conspiracy theories anyone?
Once a rat invaded my apartment. It found a home in the wiring mess behind my stereo. It became a literal rat's nest.
I breezed through it in less than the allotted time thinking how easy it was. To my surprise I actually got two questions wrong! That equated to an IQ of 158 (max was 160).
I'm smart enough to know that I am not a genious, so my curious mind went to work.
My conclusion was that my job actually trained me for the test. At the time I was writing assembly language code for realtime control system. The use of or, nor, and, nand, xor on the lowest computer language had honed my skills at the deductive reasoning process. I had studied the test!
Years later, after my career took me away from hacker coding, I came across an IQ test at BN. I bought it, took it, and scored a reasonable score.
Conclusion: If you want to scrore big on the IQ test, try assembly level programming for 18 months.
I remember providing input to a tech writer, then red-lining the first draft to the point that rewriting the entire document seemed necessary. While I would rather write PHP or scripts, there is no one who better understands code than its author.
Today's on line documentation provides a variety of methods for an engineer to provide documentation. Such examples are:
How to's and Mini How To's
FAQ
Web page with screen shots
Forums and Blogs
That being said, I am reminded of a conversation with Clyde, a retired avid sailor, who talked about stories in "SAIL" magazine. "First person stories written by sailors usually suck!" he said. "Give me an article written by a professional writer. They're easier to read."
It's easier to write documentation than to try to tell someone what to write. ....Now if only I can break away from coding long enough to read this document on creating documentation.
The key word is revenue. If you use "units manufactured" the results may be different.
It is was also called the X-30. Development was public for several years and then disappeared. Perhaps still going strong in the Black Ops arena? A Google search for NASP on reveals NASPWEB, the National Association of School Psychologist. (An interesting cover)?
Sidebar
What many people may have forgotten was that the State of the Union address was originally scheduled for the evening of January 28, 1986. It was postponed after the Challenger Space Shuttle exploded during liftoff that morning. No "smoking gun" was ever found that the White House pressured NASA into a launch.
Challenger was originally suppose to launch the previous day, January 27, and should have been in orbit when Raegan gave his talk the next day. However the handle on the shuttle access hatch could not be detached. It had corroded in place. It had to be drilled off! After that, I figured it would be a week to replace the hatch.
A cold front moved through Florida that night. As I drove to work the next morning in subfreezing weather, I was surprised when I heard the count down was in progress. At the time, I had been in Florida for six year and that was the coldest morning ever. I never expected them to attempt a launch.
"The device contains 9,400 feet of magnetic tape that permits up to two hours recording time. It was turned on 10 minutes before Columbia's Jan. 16 launch and then turned off about six minutes after the shuttle reached orbit.
The recorder was activated again 15 minutes before Columbia began its ill-fated, 45-minute plunge through the atmosphere.".
Is it possible that the impact of the foam on the left wing (or other launch time anomoly) was caught on tape?
The parachute scene where Judd Nelson skydives with a pack of dirty laundry instead of a chute is a classic.
Imagine a simple Q/A on the PGA Tour:
Q: "Who's the best golfer?" A: Tiger Woods.
On Slashdot, the geek translator writes:
Q: "Hose the best gopher?"
A: "Forest belonging to wild animal."
Unfortuately, the game has changed. Once, in a previous life, I designed an inventory system for a record store. It used dBaseII and 2 360K Floppies. Now that would be like trying to play golf at Pebble Beach with hickory shaft clubs.
I think you mean FDR. The depression was after the 1929 crash. FDR became president in 1933.
I have parents that tell me this all the time. (Along with how they walked to school in the snow uphill...both ways!)
And cheat the advertisers of their pound of flesh? Get rid of the adverisers and the alterntive is pay-per-view.
It doesn't cost look at the ads.
I'll bet the "skip commercial" button on your VCR remote is worn to a nub.
Move over, GEICO gecko, here comes the Apple Chameleon.
Bill Murray was announced as the Earl of Sandwich
Buck Henry, escorting a woman,was announced as Lord and Lady "Douche Bag".
What were the rest of those inventors?
-Used industrial robot from ebay
-Robotic code from sourceforge
-Blonde bimbo carney operator
-Profit $$$
In the real world your company should have code documentation standards. Unfortunately most standards seem to focus on compiled code (C,C++) and not php, perl, bash or configuration scripts.
In any case, typically sysadmins work unpaid overtime to meet unrealistic delivery schedules set by marketing or management.
Is it better to have a working system or unfinished well documented code?
Supervisors should set a good example. Peer code reviews and team projects lead to better documentation.
Beware of the lone wolf and loose canon.
A 40 year old radio still receives today's AM/FM broadcasts.
A 30 year old car still uses today's gas, roads, and parking lots.
A 20 year old television still receives VHF, UHF and standard cable transmissions.
A 10 year old VCR records today's television.
But a 5 year old computer doesn't have the speed, memory or disk space for a minimum Windows installation.