Actually - it is. Imagine the amount of time and work needed to deliver all those small items like tissue samples, paper documents and X-rays around the hospital by hand.
Sometimes time is of an issue, and a pneumatic tube is a simple and beautiful solution to a problem.
Anyway - that delivery system is used in many other places than hospitals too. Like in supermarkets where the tellers can send excess cash to the vault without leaving their station.
Even heavy industry uses it for transport of samples from the production line to the laboratory. I know that the cement industry uses it, and the sampling is fully automated.
That technology is far from being obsolete, and sometimes it comes in very handy. Of course - you can't transport everything through it, and sometimes there are problems with the system which will require manual intervention by a plumber.
Is the fact that most people program software by theories and think that they will get best performance when they apply their pet theories to a development project.
But what he really is saying is that in order to verify that the solution actually works it's also important to measure how well it works and time each stage in a process. That can actually yield some very surprising results and reveal that you lose a kiloton of performance on something that you never expected to be a problem.
I have several times encountered that kind of problems - network lag, missing database indexes, stupid compiler, horrible third party database libraries, slow disks... All revealed by timing the process.
So it's actually only part of the statistics process - the part where it comes to sampling data and understand it. There is often no need to do standard deviations and things like that when analyzing a software package. Many performance improvements are better than 10% when you tune your solution, rather you can get a 10 times improvement on some operation. But of course there are those that are small too, but those are usually not worth the effort.
And sampling of data can be done with things as simple as print statements or by using a package like Purify Plus.
And no - Zed Shaw isn't a total jerk, that's wrong. But he is a pain in the ass for some people. Especially for project managers and programmers.
He is right about the importance of analyzing a software, but it's not really necessary to plow into the realm of standard deviation and small differences when it comes to analyzing software. But it may be a good knowledge to have when developing a software package since you may not be able to throw your data into Excel for further processing.
And you shall also beware about trying to optimizing too much because one optimization may actually result in worse performance somewhere else. Just check where it will be most efficient from the overall perspective.
Of course - but if the data is on an encrypted partition - like with truecrypt - they would need to decrypt it, and that may need a password - or a long time to crack.
I'm not surprised - this is just a marketing stunt. Most leaks are.
Have you ever wondered why car manufacturers do those maskings of test cars? It's the same thing - draw attention!
Of course - the public opinion is to deny or contradict, but that's just a play to keep the interest up.
If they wanted to be really secret then they would drop a lot of vapor regarding other things and other designs and draw away the attention from the real thing.
That essentially means that the patent office is a bunch of morons where people ends up when they for some reason can't get a productive job but still can't be put into unemployment since it would make the government look bad.
Maybe it's time to invalidate all patents and start over with a new set of rules for patents. Let a patent be valid for at most 12 months from the date of the application. That would keep competition on it's edge.
Today too many man-hours are wasted on patents and the process around patents. Enough to delay progress instead of promoting progress.
This will probably be something that's only for military use of some kind.
But I doubt that they can get decent economy from it. The fuel consumption of air cars is one big disadvantage - and the ability to carry a decent payload another.
A complete reinstall will clean out a kiloton of junk and make a computer much faster. Especially if it's reinstalled with a standard version of the OS and not some vendor crippled, bogged-down version with a lot of software packages you don't need or want.
Anything that makes sex enjoyable... Oh how wrong that could get!
Anyway - stimulation is more than one single spot, it's a full body experience. And every person is different, and it's an adventure to find the right spots.
The risk is that the POTS will die and those who can't get IP will be left without phone line - and left with a comment that they could use mobile phones.
How many admins needed depends a lot on the company structure overall. There is no real golden rule that works every time.
If everyone works only office software, writes and prints documents the most work you will have is supporting the printers with paper and removing paper jams.
But if you have a complicated software structure with license servers, replication of data and databases you will need more staff.
The most important factor that often is forgotten by management is that there has to be redundancy because if one admin calls in sick or can't be present and there is an emergency there has to be a backup.
So if you have sysadmins that looks like they are idling - don't worry too much, it means that the rest of the company is running well. If you have sysadmins that are looking like scalded rats running like they have had an overdose of LSD and amphetamine at the same time you are looking at big time trouble.
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Actually - it is. Imagine the amount of time and work needed to deliver all those small items like tissue samples, paper documents and X-rays around the hospital by hand.
Sometimes time is of an issue, and a pneumatic tube is a simple and beautiful solution to a problem.
Anyway - that delivery system is used in many other places than hospitals too. Like in supermarkets where the tellers can send excess cash to the vault without leaving their station.
Even heavy industry uses it for transport of samples from the production line to the laboratory. I know that the cement industry uses it, and the sampling is fully automated.
That technology is far from being obsolete, and sometimes it comes in very handy. Of course - you can't transport everything through it, and sometimes there are problems with the system which will require manual intervention by a plumber.
Is the fact that most people program software by theories and think that they will get best performance when they apply their pet theories to a development project.
But what he really is saying is that in order to verify that the solution actually works it's also important to measure how well it works and time each stage in a process. That can actually yield some very surprising results and reveal that you lose a kiloton of performance on something that you never expected to be a problem.
I have several times encountered that kind of problems - network lag, missing database indexes, stupid compiler, horrible third party database libraries, slow disks... All revealed by timing the process.
So it's actually only part of the statistics process - the part where it comes to sampling data and understand it. There is often no need to do standard deviations and things like that when analyzing a software package. Many performance improvements are better than 10% when you tune your solution, rather you can get a 10 times improvement on some operation. But of course there are those that are small too, but those are usually not worth the effort.
And sampling of data can be done with things as simple as print statements or by using a package like Purify Plus.
And no - Zed Shaw isn't a total jerk, that's wrong. But he is a pain in the ass for some people. Especially for project managers and programmers.
He is right about the importance of analyzing a software, but it's not really necessary to plow into the realm of standard deviation and small differences when it comes to analyzing software. But it may be a good knowledge to have when developing a software package since you may not be able to throw your data into Excel for further processing.
And you shall also beware about trying to optimizing too much because one optimization may actually result in worse performance somewhere else. Just check where it will be most efficient from the overall perspective.
Compare the images you can get from this with the images kids take of each other with mobile phones and post themselves on the web these days.
Of course - but if the data is on an encrypted partition - like with truecrypt - they would need to decrypt it, and that may need a password - or a long time to crack.
In the US there is always the fifth amendment.
I'm not surprised - this is just a marketing stunt. Most leaks are.
Have you ever wondered why car manufacturers do those maskings of test cars? It's the same thing - draw attention!
Of course - the public opinion is to deny or contradict, but that's just a play to keep the interest up.
If they wanted to be really secret then they would drop a lot of vapor regarding other things and other designs and draw away the attention from the real thing.
And many shops actually accept returns when you say that you can't play the media in your player.
This because you always have the right to return a defective product.
That essentially means that the patent office is a bunch of morons where people ends up when they for some reason can't get a productive job but still can't be put into unemployment since it would make the government look bad.
Maybe it's time to invalidate all patents and start over with a new set of rules for patents. Let a patent be valid for at most 12 months from the date of the application. That would keep competition on it's edge.
Today too many man-hours are wasted on patents and the process around patents. Enough to delay progress instead of promoting progress.
The problem here is that then the damage is already done - with files left and registry clogged.
Removal of a software doesn't usually remove every component.
This will probably be something that's only for military use of some kind.
But I doubt that they can get decent economy from it. The fuel consumption of air cars is one big disadvantage - and the ability to carry a decent payload another.
They would better research antigravity first.
Malice is to employ incompetent people to do crappy work.
So the management is malicious and the employees are crap.
A complete reinstall will clean out a kiloton of junk and make a computer much faster. Especially if it's reinstalled with a standard version of the OS and not some vendor crippled, bogged-down version with a lot of software packages you don't need or want.
Not everyone who is a candidate ends up dead - just unable to procreate.
When the site is up again - check for "Milk The Balls".
Anything that makes sex enjoyable... Oh how wrong that could get!
Anyway - stimulation is more than one single spot, it's a full body experience. And every person is different, and it's an adventure to find the right spots.
Time to play Waltzing Matilda then?
That was what I didn't want to do - I want the ISP to go full in with IPv6.
I'm still waiting for ISP:s to offer IPv6.
As soon as the ISP:s starts to offer IPv6 it will be easier in general to use and develop for IPv6
And those who aren't have other issues to pursuit.
But if the government pays to get the information - then they are actively searching, even though it's through a proxy.
Shouldn't the 4th amendment still be valid then?
I think that a court decision is needed here to determine if this actually is an acceptable way of circumventing the 4th amendment.
In addition to luck you must also have a flexible mind. This to be able to interpret the unexpected data. Otherwise you can only dismiss it as magic.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Arthur C. Clarke, "Profiles of The Future", 1961 (Clarke's third law)
The most tarnished brand today must be SCO, even if they at the peak wasn't too remarkable.
I agree - without local admin rights it's close to impossible to get things done - or you will have to have a much larger IT staff.
I suspect that the same will be valid even for Windows 7.
The risk is that the POTS will die and those who can't get IP will be left without phone line - and left with a comment that they could use mobile phones.
I wonder if this patent application wasn't meant anything else than being the ultimate ironic attack on USPTO.
How many admins needed depends a lot on the company structure overall. There is no real golden rule that works every time.
If everyone works only office software, writes and prints documents the most work you will have is supporting the printers with paper and removing paper jams.
But if you have a complicated software structure with license servers, replication of data and databases you will need more staff.
The most important factor that often is forgotten by management is that there has to be redundancy because if one admin calls in sick or can't be present and there is an emergency there has to be a backup.
So if you have sysadmins that looks like they are idling - don't worry too much, it means that the rest of the company is running well. If you have sysadmins that are looking like scalded rats running like they have had an overdose of LSD and amphetamine at the same time you are looking at big time trouble.