I'm still trying to imagine two T-Rex's going at it. I mean, what is there to hold on to/with? It seems like it would be like a little kid trying to get his paws around an enormous beach-ball. Then again, maybe they did it missionary style. Or whatever the dinosaurs called it back then, before there were missionaries.
I can see how this information would be of value, though. For one thing, it might help discern typical behavior differentiated by sex based on where they find the remains.
Then again, if I were a male T-Rex, my DNA would have been all over the place. Nudge nudge.
Well, you know what they say when you assume, jackass.
Yeah, I've never heard of the CSM. In fact, that's exactly why I mentioned it. Because I had no fucking clue what it was. What is it - One of them Watch Tower thingies the suits on bikes hand out at your doorstep on the weekend?
Jesus christ, are you always so anal-retentively uptight or has the inbreeding just sucked out all of your humor?
It would depend on what the application is, how many people need to access it at one time, if they're all in the same office/network and how often they'll access it... but maybe just having few spare windows boxes in a server room with VNC setup on them would be enough? Too bad you can't have multiple user instances running simultaneously on a single windows box (at least, not to my knowledge yet). Otherwise that really would be a nice solution, I think. Plus - with TightVNC, you could use the java-based web interface to connect to the application remotely.:)
It's just a matter of time (to gather more data, find more specimens, build greater databases of known creatures/maps) before we do, though. I don't think it's so much "science fiction" in the vain that it is insinuated.
Okay, properly sequencing dinosaur DNA might be science fiction in that vain, for some time in the future, but sequencing is different than obtaining.
the idea of obtaining DNA from dinosaurs, depicted in the film Jurassic Park, remains science fiction.
Can someone explain this further? What exactly about obtaining DNA from dinosaurs as depicted in Jurasic Park is "science fiction"?
I mean, for one thing, they didn't obtain the DNA from dinosaurs. They obtained (as I recall) dinosaur DNA from a mosquito that was preserved in amber. What exactly is science fiction about obtaining DNA from a very-well preserved creature encased in something like amber?
Just because it hasn't been done doesn't mean it isn't realistic.
Games on the PC are more versatile and cheaper, feel more intimate and controllable, have better controls (for everything from Quake to Civilization) and have better graphics and sounds.
Why would I pay $400 (for a console, the second controller, a memory card) and then $60+ per game for less versatility and performance for a system that may be "high-end" today, but will be out-performed by affordable PCs in another year? Sure, your PS3 may kick the average PCs ass in 2006, but by 2007, you're going to be using the same PS3 and everyone else will have upgraded their PC. By the time that PS3 is replaced with a PS4, the performance will be years out of date - but my PC will still be top of the line. Sure, I'll have to upgrade the PC, but I already have one for other purposes and the only real game-related upgrade I have to look at is a videocard.
Think of it this way. Today, the PS2 is still the big thing and it will be clear into 2006. Now, compare this 2000 game machine with a 2005 PC. No contest.
Anyway, I'll probably never buy a console. If for no other reason than I just don't enjoy playing games on the couch, in front of a giant screen ten feet away with a shitty little controller. Give me my computer monitor a couple feet away, my desk, my keyboard and mouse, my internet connection and everything else.
Oh, not to mention - games seriously drive the hardware industry. All the big hardware players simply wouldn't let developers stop developing for the PC.
The kind of people who talk about the end of the PC as a gaming platform are just retarded little fanboys who don't get the whole point of enjoyment that PC gaming offers.
Sadly, this sort of thing shows the rest of the world (politicians, academics, businessmen - people we want to take open-source seriously) that we're just a bunch of inept, incapable children at best -- and possibly scamming, theieving hooligans at worse.
It looks pretty good (for a free game). Of course, the real test is how many peopel will play it. There are a lot of "would-be-good" games that fall by the wayside because there's nobody to play with if you just want to jump online from home.
On the other hand, a good community can make a good game legendary. BZFlag, for example
No, of course not. All the brilliant people I know spend their free time listening to monotonous thumping music on X while dancing around like retards with glitter, glowsticks, candy necklaces and sucking on pacifiers...
I'd say, suck it up and get a real job. That's what being a teenager is about. I worked flipping burgers for a few weeks and then stocking shelves at a Cub Foods all night for a few weeks. Even though it wasn't very long, the hard labor, long hours, terrible bosses and coworkers, low-pay and generally hellish environment is something I'm glad I went through. In fact, I even pumped gas for three days.
Of course, I was 16 at the time, but a few years later, I had a software career making a _lot_ of money. And knowing exactly what those kind of jobs are like makes me glad I have the job I do today. Even when work sucks the most, I can stop myself and appreciate the fact that I'm not digging ditches in the blazing sun for $12/hr or flipping burgers or stacking 50lb bags of dog food for $8/hr.
Worry about your internship when you're in the last half of college. Don't worry about it in highschool. Besides, you're not only competing with seasoned professionals who need real jobs, but college people who need internships over the summer. You're low-man on the totem-pole.
And if you really want to do something, go donate your time and services at a local charity that could make use of your technical skills. That will definitely look good on your college application and future resumes. Besides, you'll feel a lot better doing something you love and just getting some kharma for it than you will busting your ass at Intel or IBM for free.
That's insane... I'd be curious to know what kind of debit card you have, because mine is just a plain old Bank of America issued VISA debit card. It has all the features my credit card has and I've had to use them several times with great success.
I do know that you have to be very careful who you allow to have auto-payment access, though. I seem to recall hearing somewhere that if you give someone authorization to make withdrawels from your checking account (via your debit card, I guess) - you can NEVER REVOKE IT. Meaning that if your electric company wanted to, they could just keep taking money out of your account each month for as long as they want after you've moved away and stopped doing business with them. But I'm not sure how true this is.
One thing I dislike is that EVERYONE requires you to provide the "CCV" number on the back of your card. Somehow it's supposed to prove that you're who you say you are and that you have the card in front of you and so on. Of course, all it means is that any merchant who has ever serviced you has access to it - so it's no longer a useful tool of verification. As much as I fucking hate biometrics when it comes to finances and government and other institutions, I think it might not be such a terrible idea. Or at least some sort of SECURE-ID based credit/debit card so that you never enter information into an online system, except your one-time SECURE-ID generated key.
I accomplished having a job that lets me work the hours I like (from dusk until dawn) and only do so three or four days a week. And on the weekend (which I, for some weird reason, prefer).
So the reason I'm sitting here at 8pm on a Wednesday in my timezone typing away on Slashdot, is that it's my day off and I just woke up a few hours ago (I go to bed around 6am).
Oh, that and the fact that I'm new to this city and went from being a west-coaster at sea level to 5,600 feet and am still acclimating.:)
Anyway, my point about that was simply that there are a LOT of geeks/jocks out there who are both. One doesn't preclude the other. Though I guess maye on Slashdot, it typically does.:)
Personally, I had to leave the athetics behind, because it was eating into my porn-downloading time and while I'll only be young enough for sports for a limited time, I'll be horny, forever.
You know, I kind of resent the constant insinuations that geeks and jocks can't be one-in-the-same. I was an accomplished wrestler for a decade, but still maintained great grades, enjoy reading and writing, play two instruments and work in the software world (as an engineer - not a sales or marketing dork).
I'm as geeky as they come, without really being into Star-Trek, Star-Wars, comic books and anime (I like them, I'm just not nuts about it all). I think it does a disservice to geeks to suggest they can't be athletic or brawny and to athetes for suggesting that they can't be introspective and intelligent.
Hell, in my life I've been a jock, geek and a goth. By all means, I should be shoving myself in a locker and blowing myself up with a match and a portable propane tank.:)
I know you were just being silly and I'm not picking on you. I just felt like ranting, is all.:)
Yes, because nothing says "prepared to take over the world" like being an unemployed (RIFd? Offshored? Downsized?) geek living off of top-ramen coding free software that you'll never make a dime off of, loading up on sugar and caffeine, in the glow of your monitor.
Why, just look at all the current legislation that clearly supports linux geeks taking over the world! (LA installing public crime-cams to catch.. get this.. DVD PIRATES.... Oh - and the whole DMCA thing... you can think of others).
And how would you pay $800 to get your car fixed if you didn't have a credit card? And honestly, if money is so tight that you don't have $800 in your bank account, should you really be carrying a credit card with you? It's these little situations that get people into trouble and have them owing for the rest of their lives.
By the way, you can usually setup non-checking accounts to behave as temporary fail-overs to cover any potential overdraws on your main checking account, so that shouldn't really be a problem.
Not to mention, it's next to impossible to get a bank to reverse a debit card transaction -- if someone gets your card number or if a merchant scams you, you are pretty much SOL.
That is completley untrue. I use my debit card for almost all purchases. A debit card is typically treated EXACTLY like a credit card. See, mine has this neat little "VISA" logo on the top corner. That means that as far as a merchant is aware, it _IS_ an actual credit card. And it has all the coverages that a credit card has. You know, like I'm not responsible for charges made on it if I report it stolen. And, you know, if a merchant rips me off, I can demand a chargeback (I've done this on several occasions due to online situations). Oh, and other nice little things like extended warranty coverage on items purchased with my debit card for no extra charge. And an enhanced refund/return policy on those items, if they're purchased with my debit card.
The **ONLY** difference between your typical debit card and credit card is that one draws from your bank. It's real money. The other draws from your line of credit and you get to happily pay interest on it and deal with having to pay *it* off in addition to everything else. Just yet another bill to deal with.
Then again, I guess a lot of people just see credit differently. For me, it's ONLY a tool to build my credit score and nothing more. If I didn't have a credit card, I'd still have to deal with life's little emergencies whether or not I had the money in my bank account to cover them. So just because I _do_ have it doesn't mean I'm going to keep falling back on it.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm still trying to imagine two T-Rex's going at it. I mean, what is there to hold on to/with? It seems like it would be like a little kid trying to get his paws around an enormous beach-ball. Then again, maybe they did it missionary style. Or whatever the dinosaurs called it back then, before there were missionaries.
I can see how this information would be of value, though. For one thing, it might help discern typical behavior differentiated by sex based on where they find the remains.
Then again, if I were a male T-Rex, my DNA would have been all over the place. Nudge nudge.
Well, you know what they say when you assume, jackass.
Yeah, I've never heard of the CSM. In fact, that's exactly why I mentioned it. Because I had no fucking clue what it was. What is it - One of them Watch Tower thingies the suits on bikes hand out at your doorstep on the weekend?
Jesus christ, are you always so anal-retentively uptight or has the inbreeding just sucked out all of your humor?
Hey, output is stored in RAM. Just not for long. ;)
Don't expect sensible modding on Slashdot, dude.
I love that a guy with a "Christian Science" link in his tagline is bragging about his porn collection. :D
Sorry, I was too busy whacking off to pay attention.
That's why I assumed the article was justpoorly written. I couldn't imagine anyone would think 25TB was a big deal.
I have 3.5 terrabytes (as of last weekend) at home, sitting on my desktop. And yes, 90% of it is porn. And no, I'm not being funny.
I'm pretty sure that they're talking about RAM. And yes, 23 terrabytes of RAM is a ton.
It would depend on what the application is, how many people need to access it at one time, if they're all in the same office/network and how often they'll access it... but maybe just having few spare windows boxes in a server room with VNC setup on them would be enough? Too bad you can't have multiple user instances running simultaneously on a single windows box (at least, not to my knowledge yet). Otherwise that really would be a nice solution, I think. Plus - with TightVNC, you could use the java-based web interface to connect to the application remotely. :)
It's just a matter of time (to gather more data, find more specimens, build greater databases of known creatures/maps) before we do, though. I don't think it's so much "science fiction" in the vain that it is insinuated.
Okay, properly sequencing dinosaur DNA might be science fiction in that vain, for some time in the future, but sequencing is different than obtaining.
the idea of obtaining DNA from dinosaurs, depicted in the film Jurassic Park, remains science fiction.
Can someone explain this further? What exactly about obtaining DNA from dinosaurs as depicted in Jurasic Park is "science fiction"?
I mean, for one thing, they didn't obtain the DNA from dinosaurs. They obtained (as I recall) dinosaur DNA from a mosquito that was preserved in amber. What exactly is science fiction about obtaining DNA from a very-well preserved creature encased in something like amber?
Just because it hasn't been done doesn't mean it isn't realistic.
I wasn't commenting on the topic of OSS. I was commenting onthe topic of Stallman. :)
Games on the PC are more versatile and cheaper, feel more intimate and controllable, have better controls (for everything from Quake to Civilization) and have better graphics and sounds.
Why would I pay $400 (for a console, the second controller, a memory card) and then $60+ per game for less versatility and performance for a system that may be "high-end" today, but will be out-performed by affordable PCs in another year? Sure, your PS3 may kick the average PCs ass in 2006, but by 2007, you're going to be using the same PS3 and everyone else will have upgraded their PC. By the time that PS3 is replaced with a PS4, the performance will be years out of date - but my PC will still be top of the line. Sure, I'll have to upgrade the PC, but I already have one for other purposes and the only real game-related upgrade I have to look at is a videocard.
Think of it this way. Today, the PS2 is still the big thing and it will be clear into 2006. Now, compare this 2000 game machine with a 2005 PC. No contest.
Anyway, I'll probably never buy a console. If for no other reason than I just don't enjoy playing games on the couch, in front of a giant screen ten feet away with a shitty little controller. Give me my computer monitor a couple feet away, my desk, my keyboard and mouse, my internet connection and everything else.
Oh, not to mention - games seriously drive the hardware industry. All the big hardware players simply wouldn't let developers stop developing for the PC.
The kind of people who talk about the end of the PC as a gaming platform are just retarded little fanboys who don't get the whole point of enjoyment that PC gaming offers.
Sadly, this sort of thing shows the rest of the world (politicians, academics, businessmen - people we want to take open-source seriously) that we're just a bunch of inept, incapable children at best -- and possibly scamming, theieving hooligans at worse.
Maybe this is the reason geeks don't unionize.
But good communist hippies have no need for the money of a capitalist-pig society!
It looks pretty good (for a free game). Of course, the real test is how many peopel will play it. There are a lot of "would-be-good" games that fall by the wayside because there's nobody to play with if you just want to jump online from home.
On the other hand, a good community can make a good game legendary. BZFlag, for example
I think the first solution alone would probably cut 1000 head count and bring Sun to profitability immediately.
The first - what - 16,000 RIFs didn't seem to return them to profit, but you're sure just 1,000 more will do it, huh?
Anyway, as the press releases have said, the answer seems to be simply not expanding any further in America, but moving the expansions overseas.
No, of course not. All the brilliant people I know spend their free time listening to monotonous thumping music on X while dancing around like retards with glitter, glowsticks, candy necklaces and sucking on pacifiers...
I'd say, suck it up and get a real job. That's what being a teenager is about. I worked flipping burgers for a few weeks and then stocking shelves at a Cub Foods all night for a few weeks. Even though it wasn't very long, the hard labor, long hours, terrible bosses and coworkers, low-pay and generally hellish environment is something I'm glad I went through. In fact, I even pumped gas for three days.
Of course, I was 16 at the time, but a few years later, I had a software career making a _lot_ of money. And knowing exactly what those kind of jobs are like makes me glad I have the job I do today. Even when work sucks the most, I can stop myself and appreciate the fact that I'm not digging ditches in the blazing sun for $12/hr or flipping burgers or stacking 50lb bags of dog food for $8/hr.
Worry about your internship when you're in the last half of college. Don't worry about it in highschool. Besides, you're not only competing with seasoned professionals who need real jobs, but college people who need internships over the summer. You're low-man on the totem-pole.
And if you really want to do something, go donate your time and services at a local charity that could make use of your technical skills. That will definitely look good on your college application and future resumes. Besides, you'll feel a lot better doing something you love and just getting some kharma for it than you will busting your ass at Intel or IBM for free.
This has been obvious to me ever since Wolfenstein 3D almost 14 years ago.
Yes, but that has nothing to do with wrestling or being a geek. :D
That's insane... I'd be curious to know what kind of debit card you have, because mine is just a plain old Bank of America issued VISA debit card. It has all the features my credit card has and I've had to use them several times with great success.
I do know that you have to be very careful who you allow to have auto-payment access, though. I seem to recall hearing somewhere that if you give someone authorization to make withdrawels from your checking account (via your debit card, I guess) - you can NEVER REVOKE IT. Meaning that if your electric company wanted to, they could just keep taking money out of your account each month for as long as they want after you've moved away and stopped doing business with them. But I'm not sure how true this is.
One thing I dislike is that EVERYONE requires you to provide the "CCV" number on the back of your card. Somehow it's supposed to prove that you're who you say you are and that you have the card in front of you and so on. Of course, all it means is that any merchant who has ever serviced you has access to it - so it's no longer a useful tool of verification. As much as I fucking hate biometrics when it comes to finances and government and other institutions, I think it might not be such a terrible idea. Or at least some sort of SECURE-ID based credit/debit card so that you never enter information into an online system, except your one-time SECURE-ID generated key.
Hell, maybe some banks already offer that.
I'm on my day off, thank you very much. :)
:)
:)
I accomplished having a job that lets me work the hours I like (from dusk until dawn) and only do so three or four days a week. And on the weekend (which I, for some weird reason, prefer).
So the reason I'm sitting here at 8pm on a Wednesday in my timezone typing away on Slashdot, is that it's my day off and I just woke up a few hours ago (I go to bed around 6am).
Oh, that and the fact that I'm new to this city and went from being a west-coaster at sea level to 5,600 feet and am still acclimating.
Anyway, my point about that was simply that there are a LOT of geeks/jocks out there who are both. One doesn't preclude the other. Though I guess maye on Slashdot, it typically does.
Personally, I had to leave the athetics behind, because it was eating into my porn-downloading time and while I'll only be young enough for sports for a limited time, I'll be horny, forever.
You know, I kind of resent the constant insinuations that geeks and jocks can't be one-in-the-same. I was an accomplished wrestler for a decade, but still maintained great grades, enjoy reading and writing, play two instruments and work in the software world (as an engineer - not a sales or marketing dork).
:)
:)
I'm as geeky as they come, without really being into Star-Trek, Star-Wars, comic books and anime (I like them, I'm just not nuts about it all). I think it does a disservice to geeks to suggest they can't be athletic or brawny and to athetes for suggesting that they can't be introspective and intelligent.
Hell, in my life I've been a jock, geek and a goth. By all means, I should be shoving myself in a locker and blowing myself up with a match and a portable propane tank.
I know you were just being silly and I'm not picking on you. I just felt like ranting, is all.
Yes, because nothing says "prepared to take over the world" like being an unemployed (RIFd? Offshored? Downsized?) geek living off of top-ramen coding free software that you'll never make a dime off of, loading up on sugar and caffeine, in the glow of your monitor.
Why, just look at all the current legislation that clearly supports linux geeks taking over the world! (LA installing public crime-cams to catch.. get this.. DVD PIRATES.... Oh - and the whole DMCA thing... you can think of others).
Why yes, the world is our oyster. Or whatever.
And how would you pay $800 to get your car fixed if you didn't have a credit card? And honestly, if money is so tight that you don't have $800 in your bank account, should you really be carrying a credit card with you? It's these little situations that get people into trouble and have them owing for the rest of their lives.
By the way, you can usually setup non-checking accounts to behave as temporary fail-overs to cover any potential overdraws on your main checking account, so that shouldn't really be a problem.
Not to mention, it's next to impossible to get a bank to reverse a debit card transaction -- if someone gets your card number or if a merchant scams you, you are pretty much SOL.
That is completley untrue. I use my debit card for almost all purchases. A debit card is typically treated EXACTLY like a credit card. See, mine has this neat little "VISA" logo on the top corner. That means that as far as a merchant is aware, it _IS_ an actual credit card. And it has all the coverages that a credit card has. You know, like I'm not responsible for charges made on it if I report it stolen. And, you know, if a merchant rips me off, I can demand a chargeback (I've done this on several occasions due to online situations). Oh, and other nice little things like extended warranty coverage on items purchased with my debit card for no extra charge. And an enhanced refund/return policy on those items, if they're purchased with my debit card.
The **ONLY** difference between your typical debit card and credit card is that one draws from your bank. It's real money. The other draws from your line of credit and you get to happily pay interest on it and deal with having to pay *it* off in addition to everything else. Just yet another bill to deal with.
Then again, I guess a lot of people just see credit differently. For me, it's ONLY a tool to build my credit score and nothing more. If I didn't have a credit card, I'd still have to deal with life's little emergencies whether or not I had the money in my bank account to cover them. So just because I _do_ have it doesn't mean I'm going to keep falling back on it.