Hmm, The tournament is a timed contest where all participants compete online to solve the same problems under the same time constraints.
Maybe I just me, but I don't see how being able to solve TopCoder-style problems makes you a great programmer. Great programmers write easy-to-understand, supportable code. This competition doesn't encourage that in any way.
I've always wondered what keeps the orbiting counterweight of a space elevator in orbit.
The top end is essentially a big lump in orbit with a long rope dangling from it which just reaches the ground. The story describes a 300m rope hanging from a balloon. Which bit of the rope has the greatest tension?
Many critics also question whether a person already traumatised by facial disfigurement would be equipped to cope. [The] Cleveland Clinic tells prospective recipients... that the risks are so unknown it does not think informed consent is possible.
Hmm, how about Linux-based real time streaming of 4K 10bpp uncompressed RGB, colour-correcting under alpha masks on the way. That works out at about a Gigabyte per second.
RTFA: The new hand - called the Southampton Remedi-Hand - can be connected to muscles in the arm via a small processing unit and is controlled by small contractions of the muscles which move the wrist.
The Visual C++ Toolkit is a free edition of Microsoft's professional Visual C++ optimizing compiler and standard libraries--the same o\ptimizing compiler and standard libraries that ship in Visual Studio.NET 2003 Professional!
And of course Apple (the computer company) can't use the Apple trademark in any way that implies it is associated with the music industry, since the Beatles' Apple Corps. Ltd holds that trademark.
The iPod and iTunes ventures are clearly associated with music, so Apple (the Beatles version) are in the process of suing Apple (the computer company) for the third time..
No it's not correct, it looks like there are a few words missing:
The Google Maps team recently noticed your Google Maps tile "stitcher". [We are pleased] to see developers interested in our products and we commend you on the service.
Hormel isn't going to like this one bit! Hope they've got a legal team...
Quite the opposite in fact: according to Hormel themselves,
In honor of SPAMALOT, a new musical lovingly ripped off from the motion picture "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," Hormel Foods is introducing a limited edition flavor, SPAM(TM) golden honey grail in a "SPAMALOT collector's edition" can.
"SPAM® products have been spoofed by the Monty Python comedy team for decades," said Nick Meyer, senior product manager, Hormel Foods. "The brand is beloved by many, so we are pleased to offer this special collector's edition can and SPAM(TM) golden honey grail to consumers."
...hmm, intersting, there's that 'lovingly ripped off' phrase again...
The biometric data's on the card to prove that the card is genuine.
For obvious reasons you already have your retina and fingers with you at all times. An ID card is simply a cheap and convenient mechanism for mapping you to a database record somewhere (possibly cached on the card itself). If retinal or fingerprint scanners were cheap enough there would be no need for the card. But you'd still need the database and you'd still need to be in it.
But what should go in the database?
Ananova reports that "A German bank has been caught handing out thousands of fake euros to customers.
"Police who were alerted to the fact by a customer say they later confiscated 70,000 pounds worth of fake euros from the bank in Cologne, but did not say how the money came to be in the bank's coffers.
"An unnamed female customer who was paid 5,000 euros (3,400 pounds) in fake cash from the KoelnBonn savings bank in Cologne's Longerich district was the first to raise the alert.
"She said: "The notes were nearly all new. Then I noticed that they all had the same serial number."
"The bank admitted it had not contacted the police straight away, claiming it wanted to carry out an internal investigation first."
Scottish banknotes are not legal tender in the UK. This was discussed in the context of joining the Euro:
"Scottish bank notes are not themselves legal tender; they are merely promissory notes issued under the Bank Notes (Scotland) Act 1845 and the Currency and Bank Notes Act 1928. They are backed by reserves in the banks concerned, but they are not themselves legal tender. For that reason, they could remain in circulation as promissory notes if they were reissued as euro notes in the event that we joined the single currency. Of course, the European central bank and the other member states would not recognise them as legal tender, but, as they do not have such recognition in England or, indeed, in Scotland, that would not be a problem."
More specifically, in the UK "Legal Tender has a very narrow and technical meaning in the settlement of debts. It means that a debtor cannot successfully be sued for non-payment if he pays into court in legal tender. It does not mean that any ordinary transaction has to take place in legal tender or only within the amount denominated by the legislation. Both parties are free to agree to accept any form of payment whether legal tender or otherwise according to their wishes. In order to comply with the very strict rules governing an actual legal tender it is necessary, for example, actually to offer the exact amount due because no change can be demanded. "
Put a tall mast on the forklift and get two spools of fishing twine. Fasten the spools high on the walls in two adjacent corners and tie the twine to the mast. Measure how much twine is unspooled, and triangulate.
Slashdot Mirror
see parent :-)
You can find the final round questions here.
Maybe I just me, but I don't see how being able to solve TopCoder-style problems makes you a great programmer. Great programmers write easy-to-understand, supportable code. This competition doesn't encourage that in any way.
sp. Centrip/e/tal. And technically, it keeps it down.
I've always wondered what keeps the orbiting counterweight of a space elevator in orbit. The top end is essentially a big lump in orbit with a long rope dangling from it which just reaches the ground. The story describes a 300m rope hanging from a balloon. Which bit of the rope has the greatest tension?
Many critics also question whether a person already traumatised by facial disfigurement would be equipped to cope. [The] Cleveland Clinic tells prospective recipients ... that the risks are so unknown it does not think informed consent is possible.
Hmm, how about Linux-based real time streaming of 4K 10bpp uncompressed RGB, colour-correcting under alpha masks on the way. That works out at about a Gigabyte per second.
RTFA: The new hand - called the Southampton Remedi-Hand - can be connected to muscles in the arm via a small processing unit and is controlled by small contractions of the muscles which move the wrist.
That's not what the original poster said, <quote>Microsoft doesn't charge a development fee to use the Win32 API</quote>
What is the Visual C++ Toolkit 2003?
The Visual C++ Toolkit is a free edition of Microsoft's professional Visual C++ optimizing compiler and standard libraries--the same o\ptimizing compiler and standard libraries that ship in Visual Studio .NET 2003 Professional!
I used to dream of being an Enginner and now I are one.
Thousands? In 2000/2001 there were 189 homicides in London. Today 39 or more people died 'from terrorism'.
The iPod and iTunes ventures are clearly associated with music, so Apple (the Beatles version) are in the process of suing Apple (the computer company) for the third time..
According to the UK Department for Transport there were 392,321 kilometers (that's about 250,000 miles) of road in Great Britain in 2003.
If I were building stuff to give away, I'd start with, say, a few thousand, but two million? whoa.
Quite the opposite in fact: according to Hormel themselves,
peadiatrician - a doctor who specialises in peas?
The BBC's story about the paediatrician mistaken for a paedophile is here btw.
Obviously the problem is the poor critters have no way to fight back - now, if we could electrify a few keyboards ....
The biometric data's on the card to prove that the card is genuine.
For obvious reasons you already have your retina and fingers with you at all times. An ID card is simply a cheap and convenient mechanism for mapping you to a database record somewhere (possibly cached on the card itself). If retinal or fingerprint scanners were cheap enough there would be no need for the card. But you'd still need the database and you'd still need to be in it.
But what should go in the database?
Audrey Hepburn was born in Belgium which makes her Belgian
"Police who were alerted to the fact by a customer say they later confiscated 70,000 pounds worth of fake euros from the bank in Cologne, but did not say how the money came to be in the bank's coffers.
"An unnamed female customer who was paid 5,000 euros (3,400 pounds) in fake cash from the KoelnBonn savings bank in Cologne's Longerich district was the first to raise the alert.
"She said: "The notes were nearly all new. Then I noticed that they all had the same serial number."
"The bank admitted it had not contacted the police straight away, claiming it wanted to carry out an internal investigation first."
Scottish banknotes are not legal tender in the UK. This was discussed in the context of joining the Euro:
"Scottish bank notes are not themselves legal tender; they are merely promissory notes issued under the Bank Notes (Scotland) Act 1845 and the Currency and Bank Notes Act 1928. They are backed by reserves in the banks concerned, but they are not themselves legal tender. For that reason, they could remain in circulation as promissory notes if they were reissued as euro notes in the event that we joined the single currency. Of course, the European central bank and the other member states would not recognise them as legal tender, but, as they do not have such recognition in England or, indeed, in Scotland, that would not be a problem."
More specifically, in the UK "Legal Tender has a very narrow and technical meaning in the settlement of debts. It means that a debtor cannot successfully be sued for non-payment if he pays into court in legal tender. It does not mean that any ordinary transaction has to take place in legal tender or only within the amount denominated by the legislation. Both parties are free to agree to accept any form of payment whether legal tender or otherwise according to their wishes. In order to comply with the very strict rules governing an actual legal tender it is necessary, for example, actually to offer the exact amount due because no change can be demanded. "
Put a tall mast on the forklift and get two spools of fishing twine. Fasten the spools high on the walls in two adjacent corners and tie the twine to the mast. Measure how much twine is unspooled, and triangulate.