I agree with some of what you say, however, taking a coin in general circulation:
The more heads you get in a row, the closer the probability of the next toss resulting in a head appraches one
No. The odds are still 50:50.
If you toss a coin 130 times, and it comes up tails 128 of those times, then it's probably biased
No again. The odds are 50:50 you will toss tails. That's like saying if the lotto draw is numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6 then the draw is biased. Intuitively it is, but humans are very good at pulling 'signals' out of noise when they really are none.
If I remeber correctly, the delta-t argument goes something like this: you have observed an event/situation but have no idea how typical/un-typical your observation could be. But using logic and probability you can say there is a 50% chance that the period during which you saw these events will continue for between 1/3 and 3 times the period of the original observation.
There is a 50% chance that between one and six (yeah, bear with me) additinal shuttles will be destroyed in in the next 5 - 45 years. Unless things at NASA change eg they run out of shuttles.
I'm amazed at many of the reactions I am hearing here. OK, Big Blue is a business out for themselves (ie the shareholders). So What! Sometimes the interests of the populace coincide with the interests of a corporation.
I think this ad is the start of a campaign that will destroy Microsoft (no hard feelings, Bill, but that's business), and legitamise OS software in the eyes of the public.
IBM's market may expand as a result (they bet) or shrink (in which case they will fire staff to help the share price). The end result is better software for the majority while the money in the markets is shoogled around a little.
Now, the interesting point to ponder is this: if people adopt Unix-based systems on mass and start to use OS software, don't you think they might start to think about the world in a different light?
...a clever subject line does not a social engineer make
I agree.
Mind you, last time I checked, Gore should have been President. No one seems to complain about that anymore. I would wager the consequences are more serious for all of us that a system intrusion in a Fortune 500. Why hack silicon when you can hack human?
What??? That wasn't a Troll. This is a serious point. So the article suggests various means to hack an OS X/BSD system. Big deal. Social engineering is a much superior method for achieving a sinister goal. The fact that OS X is a superb OS for development/engineering/science doesn't conflict with its excellence as an art/design platform. My point was not everyone who uses OS X knows Terminal. It might be smart to teach them about it though.
Why not just IM an OS X user and tell them to go to the Terminal and type sudo rm -r / 'cos it removes all those Photoshop files they can't be bothered to clean up?
Assuming drinking cows' milk is good for humans, the attributes considered beneficial (protein, vitamins etc) could be measured in a representative set of regular cows taken from a national/world-wide population. You could do the same for attributes considered non-beneficial (some types of fat, antibiotics etc)
It would then be interesting to compare these figures with those from a super-cow.
I can turn regular Coca-Cola into double the volume by adding water. Doesn't give twice the bang for the buck, though.
Slashdot Mirror
I agree with some of what you say, however, taking a coin in general circulation:
The more heads you get in a row, the closer the probability of the next toss resulting in a head appraches one
No. The odds are still 50:50.
If you toss a coin 130 times, and it comes up tails 128 of those times, then it's probably biased
No again. The odds are 50:50 you will toss tails. That's like saying if the lotto draw is numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6 then the draw is biased. Intuitively it is, but humans are very good at pulling 'signals' out of noise when they really are none.
If I remeber correctly, the delta-t argument goes something like this: you have observed an event/situation but have no idea how typical/un-typical your observation could be. But using logic and probability you can say there is a 50% chance that the period during which you saw these events will continue for between 1/3 and 3 times the period of the original observation.
There is a 50% chance that between one and six (yeah, bear with me) additinal shuttles will be destroyed in in the next 5 - 45 years. Unless things at NASA change eg they run out of shuttles.
What? Those dinosaurs weren't real??
Hey this is way cool! Thanks. Wait... one of the icons on my desk top has turned into the Shroud of Turin!
I'm amazed at many of the reactions I am hearing here. OK, Big Blue is a business out for themselves (ie the shareholders). So What! Sometimes the interests of the populace coincide with the interests of a corporation.
I think this ad is the start of a campaign that will destroy Microsoft (no hard feelings, Bill, but that's business), and legitamise OS software in the eyes of the public.
IBM's market may expand as a result (they bet) or shrink (in which case they will fire staff to help the share price). The end result is better software for the majority while the money in the markets is shoogled around a little.
Now, the interesting point to ponder is this: if people adopt Unix-based systems on mass and start to use OS software, don't you think they might start to think about the world in a different light?
for sharing data
That isn't data. It is information.
an 'ad' that doesn't tell you what it's advertising isn't an ad
No. Advertising is more sophisticated than you think (read up on Edward Bernays sometime).
In this case, first introduce the name. Then 'tell' people why the need it. Then sell it (or in this case the computers that run it)
Or OS X?
Is it just me, or do all those 'stars' look like the space ship in Asteroids?
The world should be told!
Yourpointis?
Ok, smarty-pants what is the square root of an Emu?
Chomsky called it 'manufacturing consent'. It means the same thing.
...a clever subject line does not a social engineer make
I agree.
Mind you, last time I checked, Gore should have been President. No one seems to complain about that anymore. I would wager the consequences are more serious for all of us that a system intrusion in a Fortune 500. Why hack silicon when you can hack human?
What??? Offtopic??? I give up. I don't get this /. stuff.
If I worked for NASA, I might consider a change of employer.
I might be stupid. But you AC are stupider! YES!
What??? That wasn't a Troll. This is a serious point. So the article suggests various means to hack an OS X/BSD system. Big deal. Social engineering is a much superior method for achieving a sinister goal. The fact that OS X is a superb OS for development/engineering/science doesn't conflict with its excellence as an art/design platform. My point was not everyone who uses OS X knows Terminal. It might be smart to teach them about it though.
Whatever.
Why not just IM an OS X user and tell them to go to the Terminal and type sudo rm -r / 'cos it removes all those Photoshop files they can't be bothered to clean up?
...without legs, eyes, horns, udders (no you need udders)... now that is efficient!
Assuming drinking cows' milk is good for humans, the attributes considered beneficial (protein, vitamins etc) could be measured in a representative set of regular cows taken from a national/world-wide population. You could do the same for attributes considered non-beneficial (some types of fat, antibiotics etc)
It would then be interesting to compare these figures with those from a super-cow.
I can turn regular Coca-Cola into double the volume by adding water. Doesn't give twice the bang for the buck, though.
Does the super-volume produced also exhibit super-quality, or average quality or, I suspect, inferior quality milk?
Assuming a sheet 1 battery deep, coating the base of my Powerbook would allow for:
depth: 245mm x 1000 batteries/mm = 245 000 batteries
width: 305mm x 1000 batteries/mm = 305 000 batteries
Giving a grand total of 8.6x10^10 batteries That's a current of: 8.6x10^7 Amps, which is quite scary!
Maybe sunlight bends.
A lot of theories were not based on observation. That's why experimental physics is so important.
No, we robots don't get as much sun time this time of year as we need.