First please recognize the distinction between computer science and 99% of the jobs in the tech industry. Unless you are working in a scientific field, you will not be involved in any kind of science. Most programmers are working in 'IT' for business, this is about the least scientific and certainly the least interesting field related to computers.
So please, unless you enjoy complete dissatisfaction, avoid anything related to 'IT'. I find myself in an 'IT' position after being hired to do R&D to develop an interesting application. The R&D is over, now I am stuck working dead end projects for paying clients, who have no idea what they really want. I recently came across a problem where multiplication was required. I realized that I had not written any code dealing with anything remotely mathematical in almost a year. I was saddened by this.
Science involves computers these days, but the actual practice of 'computer science' is rare in my opinion. Science happens at universities and some R&D labs at large corporations like Intel, IBM, etc. If you are not in one of these places, you will probably end up writing code to transform one purchase order or another, some silly web application, or something similarly disinteresting. There are Billions of young, ambitious people willing to do these unsatisfying jobs, let them get stuck working for Company A, whose sole purpose is to profit in any way possible, even if it means treating employees like human assets (slaves?) instead of human resources.
It must have been generated by a humorless Microsoft SS officer, or a subordinate of one. Or, possibly an android like Data from Star Trek NG was hired to write this report. I read this yesterday and was just barely able to stifle a small chuckle. I was about to forward it to 3 or 4 stubbornly dedicated windows/IE users in the office, but I thought better of it. Let them suffer. I am without empathy.
is another evaluation ala Richard P. Feynman. Too bad he is no longer available, having shifted off this mortal coil... 'Unique perspectives' can be very enlightening.
Feynman's Challenger Report
I wouldn't buy a 'disposable' DVD because it's disposable. We don't need millions of disposable DVDs ending up in landfills like so many AOL promo CDs. It wouldnt matter if they were recyclable, cause nobody bothers, and they definately aren't compostable. (everthing is biodegradable, given the correct environment. even plastic.)
Corporations don't make good citezens.
I wish I could afford to upgrade 1100 of my g5s. They are taking up so much space and power, I'd save a bundle dropping another 7.2 million on hardware. Really, how can I get that kind of funding? Seems like just yesterday they were having trouble getting peak performance from the cluster.
blimps and dirigibles are considered by some to be obsolete technologies, but I think they are due for a resurgence. New materials make lighter than air and helium assisted airships more feasible, especially in unmanned applications like communications. The biggest problem with lighter than air ships is wind, which makes large manned crafts dangerous. But then again, we go flying around in giant metal jumbo jets, which seems a lot more dangerous than a large craft that can hover with it's engines idling.
I actually liked this job:
Large shop, no air conditioning or ventilation
The shop would be over 100 degrees in the summer, lots of work had to be done outside, or worse IN one of the busses which had been sitting in the sun all day. All the mechanics were on the brink of carbon monoxide poisoning, the diesel fumes were bad. We had few faulty 16 ton air jacks, so every once in a while a bus would fall on you while you were under it. At the end of the day, everyone was covered in diesel and motor oil which we all know causes cancer. It was fun though, working on big diesel engines is a nice way to pass time. I was getting about $8 per hour.
At $4900-8500 those things are way overpriced for their capabilities. You can do a lot more with Logic 6 + a few soft synths and a midi controller, for half the price. I can't see the point in buying an entire computer to run a crappy synth from a company that makes nothing but over priced, crappy products. I already have a computer (and it's portable) that can run an entire prodcuction studio without blinking. If I want a keyboard to play, I can get a $99 usb midi controller. The product info touts the abilities of the AMD processor more than anything. The only synthesis they mention is the ability to host VSTi modules, which any good DAW can do without costing 8 grand.
Looks like bleep is using Paypal's IPN service. IPN is supposed to mean 'Instant Payment Notification', but I do not frequently find it to be 'instant' at all. You may actually have to wait a little while until paypal notifies them that your payment went through, they do a little handshake and then, kapow, your downloads are available.
I've got the Hangable Autobulb EP on vinyl. I have never seen another copy, forget where I got it (probably Grammaphone in chicago). This is one of the best Aphex records IMO. Glad to see warp is being nice about the Mp3s and DRM stuff. Most of the Warp artists are looney and probably are not into music for the fame or money, so they probably don't mind to much that their work isn't digitally 'protected'. It would have been simple to just add their catalog to the iTunes music store, but then they would be making WAY less per download (probably).
NIO == Non-blocking IO
The parent->parent is incorrect in thinking this meant 'new' IO. Like the parent said, it is IO for a different purpose. Its there to remove some of the details of multi-threading from parallel IO in applications like p2p, media streaming, messaging, etc..
I agree here. This is the same limitation that AWT had, finding and supporting the intersection of UI controls common to the popular windowing systems. I prefer Swing over either one, on a fast machine the performance is not much of a problem. Also, after using a Swing app for a minute or two, things usually start to speed up considerably due to to the JIT compiler doing it's duty.
..the batteries on the lander would have been depleted unless the lander had received an order to recharge its batteries.
Where did you get that idea? I don't think thats a very good design. If the lander does not recharge automatically, it could run out of juice and there would be no way to revive it remotely. That does not sound like failsafe operation, it just sounds wrong.
It should recharge anytime it needs to.
The powered wheels are HUGE. Looks like they had to chop the bus up like a drag racer to get them to fit. I dont think it can do wheelstands or 8 second quarter miles though. One problem with this design is unsprung weight. Not that you would notice a big difference in a bus, but if motors are to be used this way in cars they will have to be lighter and smaller (less diameter) with a lot of torque.
So I can have imbedded Java code in my imbedded SQL code, which is imbedded in my Java programs! I could see that getting really unmanagable. I'd like to see less SQL code in my Java code, I wouldnt know what to do If I started seeing Java code in my SQL code in my Java code. Ok you get the point. Maybe I didnt.
We have been too rich in the USA for too long, so has western Europe. What happens when trade barriers are knocked down (with agreements like NAFTA) is that everyone else in the world is allowed to share a little in the richest peice of the pie. Overpaid technology workers find their jobs going overseas or across the border, where folks are making 20-30k per year doing the same job you get paid 60-80k for. This raises the standard of living a little in countries like Mexico, Brasil, India, etc.. while the standard of living for America's middle class decreases. This really can't be stopped, and it's not really good or bad. There are some bad things about it (environmental impact caused by artificially high crop prices), and there are some good things (um, now Mexico can claim it's fair share of yuppies?). Your best bet is to look for another job like every other out of work geek, and lower you standard of living, then get used to it. It would take about 10 planets the size of earth to provide the resources for the world population if everyone on the planet consumed the amount of resources an average American does. Aw shit, we've consumed up all the brazil nuts!
In using gen-engineered viruses, do you think it would be a general practice to allow the patient to wander freely, infecting others with his newly aquired super-virus? How would the patent holders, manufacturers and hospitals make a profit if the virus were freely available and easy to contract? I don't think they would release an engineered virus to the public voluntarily, they would probably go to extremes to keep it out of the public. The infected patients would be isolated and monitored until the virus had run it's course. They will probably engineer the virus to self destruct if possible, maybe using a synthetic hormone as a trigger. They will have to make an attempt to thwart virus pirating, which would be difficult without some kind of 'copy protection'.
(which we all know will be broken, given a little time.)
This prototype looks like crap compared to currently running trains in tokyo (360mph) and shanghai: 360 mph tokyo maglev Shanghai shuttle
The 'Detroit People Mover' even makes this prototype look like a joke. American Maglev has nothing but a few patents and engineers, no assets or capital available to repay the huge loan, apparently. This reminds me of a certain Simpsons episode..
It's pricey. $79 for a mouse is a bit much, but I don't think I have ever paid for a mouse. I like the low profile of the back end, the hump-backed design of the common 'intellimouse' is fatally flawed and results in a nagging pain in the lower palm after a few months. This mouse reminds me of a good sniper rifle in some ways, pricey, extremely accurate and sensitive (some people adjust their triggers down to the point where bumping the rifle is likely to set it off, bad idea). If they had an adjustment for click sensitivity, that would be cool, most sniper rifles have adjustable trigger pulls...
I have never broken a mouse, this thing does not look that fragile with its rubberized exterior. You must be heavily into mouse abuse. Also, is this thing optical or old-school? I would never buy a mechanical mouse, esp. for gaming.
about 7 years ago I was told to look out for the polar switch. The psuedo tribal folks that were predicting it figured it meant that Antartica (the land mass) would switch places with the North Pole. They were predicting that the insides of the earth were going to flip flop, so that it would in effect be upside down. They called this the 'earth changes', and that the earth's crust would be completely ravaged by earthquakes and lava flows, mountains would fall and new ones would rise, cities would be buried, only a handfull of living beings would survive. Sounds like classic armageddon, right? They said it had happened before, and that we are due for another one. I did not feel up to explaining what would and wouldn't be likely to happen in a polar shift, they always found a way of refuting science completely.
If the size is convenient, the shape is a little cumbersome. Those of us who don't carry a 'fanny pack' (man purses), or a purse for that matter, will have some trouble fitting this thing into our jacket pockets. Why a cube? Could the same hardware not be wedged into an iPod shaped container? I'm not exactly sure of the purpose of the cube shape. And as for wearability, the lack of a battery rules that out.
Slashdot Mirror
First please recognize the distinction between computer science and 99% of the jobs in the tech industry. Unless you are working in a scientific field, you will not be involved in any kind of science. Most programmers are working in 'IT' for business, this is about the least scientific and certainly the least interesting field related to computers.
So please, unless you enjoy complete dissatisfaction, avoid anything related to 'IT'. I find myself in an 'IT' position after being hired to do R&D to develop an interesting application. The R&D is over, now I am stuck working dead end projects for paying clients, who have no idea what they really want. I recently came across a problem where multiplication was required. I realized that I had not written any code dealing with anything remotely mathematical in almost a year. I was saddened by this.
Science involves computers these days, but the actual practice of 'computer science' is rare in my opinion. Science happens at universities and some R&D labs at large corporations like Intel, IBM, etc. If you are not in one of these places, you will probably end up writing code to transform one purchase order or another, some silly web application, or something similarly disinteresting. There are Billions of young, ambitious people willing to do these unsatisfying jobs, let them get stuck working for Company A, whose sole purpose is to profit in any way possible, even if it means treating employees like human assets (slaves?) instead of human resources.
It must have been generated by a humorless Microsoft SS officer, or a subordinate of one. Or, possibly an android like Data from Star Trek NG was hired to write this report. I read this yesterday and was just barely able to stifle a small chuckle. I was about to forward it to 3 or 4 stubbornly dedicated windows/IE users in the office, but I thought better of it. Let them suffer. I am without empathy.
is another evaluation ala Richard P. Feynman. Too bad he is no longer available, having shifted off this mortal coil... 'Unique perspectives' can be very enlightening. Feynman's Challenger Report
I wouldn't buy a 'disposable' DVD because it's disposable. We don't need millions of disposable DVDs ending up in landfills like so many AOL promo CDs. It wouldnt matter if they were recyclable, cause nobody bothers, and they definately aren't compostable. (everthing is biodegradable, given the correct environment. even plastic.) Corporations don't make good citezens.
I wish I could afford to upgrade 1100 of my g5s. They are taking up so much space and power, I'd save a bundle dropping another 7.2 million on hardware. Really, how can I get that kind of funding? Seems like just yesterday they were having trouble getting peak performance from the cluster.
blimps and dirigibles are considered by some to be obsolete technologies, but I think they are due for a resurgence. New materials make lighter than air and helium assisted airships more feasible, especially in unmanned applications like communications. The biggest problem with lighter than air ships is wind, which makes large manned crafts dangerous. But then again, we go flying around in giant metal jumbo jets, which seems a lot more dangerous than a large craft that can hover with it's engines idling.
I actually liked this job: Large shop, no air conditioning or ventilation The shop would be over 100 degrees in the summer, lots of work had to be done outside, or worse IN one of the busses which had been sitting in the sun all day. All the mechanics were on the brink of carbon monoxide poisoning, the diesel fumes were bad. We had few faulty 16 ton air jacks, so every once in a while a bus would fall on you while you were under it. At the end of the day, everyone was covered in diesel and motor oil which we all know causes cancer. It was fun though, working on big diesel engines is a nice way to pass time. I was getting about $8 per hour.
At $4900-8500 those things are way overpriced for their capabilities. You can do a lot more with Logic 6 + a few soft synths and a midi controller, for half the price. I can't see the point in buying an entire computer to run a crappy synth from a company that makes nothing but over priced, crappy products. I already have a computer (and it's portable) that can run an entire prodcuction studio without blinking. If I want a keyboard to play, I can get a $99 usb midi controller. The product info touts the abilities of the AMD processor more than anything. The only synthesis they mention is the ability to host VSTi modules, which any good DAW can do without costing 8 grand.
Looks like bleep is using Paypal's IPN service. IPN is supposed to mean 'Instant Payment Notification', but I do not frequently find it to be 'instant' at all. You may actually have to wait a little while until paypal notifies them that your payment went through, they do a little handshake and then, kapow, your downloads are available.
...my name's not Briny Tidbitts. With a name like that, you might as well work at SCO.
I've got the Hangable Autobulb EP on vinyl. I have never seen another copy, forget where I got it (probably Grammaphone in chicago). This is one of the best Aphex records IMO. Glad to see warp is being nice about the Mp3s and DRM stuff. Most of the Warp artists are looney and probably are not into music for the fame or money, so they probably don't mind to much that their work isn't digitally 'protected'. It would have been simple to just add their catalog to the iTunes music store, but then they would be making WAY less per download (probably).
Just a little clarification:
NIO == Non-blocking IO
The parent->parent is incorrect in thinking this meant 'new' IO. Like the parent said, it is IO for a different purpose. Its there to remove some of the details of multi-threading from parallel IO in applications like p2p, media streaming, messaging, etc..
I agree here. This is the same limitation that AWT had, finding and supporting the intersection of UI controls common to the popular windowing systems. I prefer Swing over either one, on a fast machine the performance is not much of a problem. Also, after using a Swing app for a minute or two, things usually start to speed up considerably due to to the JIT compiler doing it's duty.
..the batteries on the lander would have been depleted unless the lander had received an order to recharge its batteries.
Where did you get that idea? I don't think thats a very good design. If the lander does not recharge automatically, it could run out of juice and there would be no way to revive it remotely. That does not sound like failsafe operation, it just sounds wrong. It should recharge anytime it needs to.
The powered wheels are HUGE. Looks like they had to chop the bus up like a drag racer to get them to fit. I dont think it can do wheelstands or 8 second quarter miles though. One problem with this design is unsprung weight. Not that you would notice a big difference in a bus, but if motors are to be used this way in cars they will have to be lighter and smaller (less diameter) with a lot of torque.
There is a nice graph of the guesses there. Looks like we will have to wait until later in 2005 for the 2.8 kernel.
So I can have imbedded Java code in my imbedded SQL code, which is imbedded in my Java programs! I could see that getting really unmanagable. I'd like to see less SQL code in my Java code, I wouldnt know what to do If I started seeing Java code in my SQL code in my Java code. Ok you get the point. Maybe I didnt.
We have been too rich in the USA for too long, so has western Europe. What happens when trade barriers are knocked down (with agreements like NAFTA) is that everyone else in the world is allowed to share a little in the richest peice of the pie. Overpaid technology workers find their jobs going overseas or across the border, where folks are making 20-30k per year doing the same job you get paid 60-80k for. This raises the standard of living a little in countries like Mexico, Brasil, India, etc.. while the standard of living for America's middle class decreases. This really can't be stopped, and it's not really good or bad. There are some bad things about it (environmental impact caused by artificially high crop prices), and there are some good things (um, now Mexico can claim it's fair share of yuppies?). Your best bet is to look for another job like every other out of work geek, and lower you standard of living, then get used to it. It would take about 10 planets the size of earth to provide the resources for the world population if everyone on the planet consumed the amount of resources an average American does. Aw shit, we've consumed up all the brazil nuts!
In using gen-engineered viruses, do you think it would be a general practice to allow the patient to wander freely, infecting others with his newly aquired super-virus? How would the patent holders, manufacturers and hospitals make a profit if the virus were freely available and easy to contract? I don't think they would release an engineered virus to the public voluntarily, they would probably go to extremes to keep it out of the public. The infected patients would be isolated and monitored until the virus had run it's course. They will probably engineer the virus to self destruct if possible, maybe using a synthetic hormone as a trigger. They will have to make an attempt to thwart virus pirating, which would be difficult without some kind of 'copy protection'. (which we all know will be broken, given a little time.)
try the application itself. I was going to try it, but it requires windows for some of it's native rendering code (looks like direct x calls).
This prototype looks like crap compared to currently running trains in tokyo (360mph) and shanghai:
360 mph tokyo maglev
Shanghai shuttle
The 'Detroit People Mover' even makes this prototype look like a joke. American Maglev has nothing but a few patents and engineers, no assets or capital available to repay the huge loan, apparently. This reminds me of a certain Simpsons episode..
It's pricey. $79 for a mouse is a bit much, but I don't think I have ever paid for a mouse. I like the low profile of the back end, the hump-backed design of the common 'intellimouse' is fatally flawed and results in a nagging pain in the lower palm after a few months. This mouse reminds me of a good sniper rifle in some ways, pricey, extremely accurate and sensitive (some people adjust their triggers down to the point where bumping the rifle is likely to set it off, bad idea). If they had an adjustment for click sensitivity, that would be cool, most sniper rifles have adjustable trigger pulls... I have never broken a mouse, this thing does not look that fragile with its rubberized exterior. You must be heavily into mouse abuse. Also, is this thing optical or old-school? I would never buy a mechanical mouse, esp. for gaming.
about 7 years ago I was told to look out for the polar switch. The psuedo tribal folks that were predicting it figured it meant that Antartica (the land mass) would switch places with the North Pole. They were predicting that the insides of the earth were going to flip flop, so that it would in effect be upside down. They called this the 'earth changes', and that the earth's crust would be completely ravaged by earthquakes and lava flows, mountains would fall and new ones would rise, cities would be buried, only a handfull of living beings would survive. Sounds like classic armageddon, right? They said it had happened before, and that we are due for another one. I did not feel up to explaining what would and wouldn't be likely to happen in a polar shift, they always found a way of refuting science completely.
If the size is convenient, the shape is a little cumbersome. Those of us who don't carry a 'fanny pack' (man purses), or a purse for that matter, will have some trouble fitting this thing into our jacket pockets. Why a cube? Could the same hardware not be wedged into an iPod shaped container? I'm not exactly sure of the purpose of the cube shape. And as for wearability, the lack of a battery rules that out.
Wired to a biometric implant to self destruct in the event of my death?