Anyone wanna take an open mind for a minute? Someone else brought up a good argument- water and building blocks for life are *everywhere*. Recent discoveries point to complex and potentially life-forming DNA-like molecules happening naturally on asteroids throughout the universe, which could easily seed life all over, and asteroid impacts seed life all the time anyway (er, maybe). So the question becomes- shouldn't we be looking wherever there's life on Earth? And there's life on Earth... pretty much everywhere. Under heavy pressure, under light pressure, in water and in methane and deep beneath the crust feeding on minerals. We actually have good reason to believe there's life out there in our own solar system, even if it's just microbes feeding on ice caps. Water is still our best indicator, sure, but it would suck incredibly much for us to miss out on a wealth of planets covered in swarms of life (even non-sentient life) just because we didn't use indicators we already know about.
Wit/pun. Mod points plz? Ugh. (in general- PLEASE start banning this crap, mods. PLEASE.)
Parent is right. As far as I can tell, there is nothing about these results that can't be explained away by known phenomena. If this can't detect life on Earth, why the hell are we going to point it at other planets?
Re:beauty is in the eye of the beholder...
on
KDE 4.3 Released
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· Score: 0
I was going to make a longer post and allude to my point, but instead I'll just say it- I view KDE as the majority of Slashdotters view Vista. Only KDE hasn't come out with a Windows 7 yet.
Absolutely correct. The "pod" name just evolved to cover something that had clearly existed for some time. Heck, dig up any tech webcast from the time and listen/watch them argue about whether or not to accept the "pod" name because of its implied association with Apple.
...and it took until now for someone to mention Palin made the comment first, and Obama was just responding, so it didn't even begin with Obama even in this case. Rubbing a little QED on the OP.
How many people screaming about how unfair and silly this is would have been on the other side of the fence if this had happened to Gates back in the day? If I were a shareholder, I wouldn't care what company it was- concealing a freaking liver transplant of the highly charismatic lead of the company seems like a pretty big deal.
Wanna page back a bit to when Apple was manipulating stock prices illegally and working very hard to cover it up as "oh, well we didn't know at the time"? This is part of a larger pattern of wrongdoing that is very legally actionable.
In the time it takes for me to start Firefox, I can fire up Chrome and have my email checked. IE8 does run faster on some critical sites, so it's the only other browser I ever touch anymore. Say what you want about horrible advertising, but Firefox is playing catch-up and this is the perfect time for Microsoft to pounce (although it would be nice if they did so in a non-M$ way).
Correct. Dvorak is the only reason I've ever considered Das Keyboard (or, any coding-sensitive layout I could ever dream up, sky's the limit with a blank keyboard).
I use a Microsoft Natural Elite, and it's almost a perfect keyboard. Why? First of all- no ridiculous function keys. How can serious computer users WANT function keys? The software goes bad, you can't take any of it across systems, etc. If you want to do that, get software to program key combos so you can use whatever keyboard you choose. Maybe CRTL+S+(+) to up the sound?
It has great sound, but isn't overly loud. If my family members are sleeping, I can be nearly silent. It's ergonomically designed, saving my wrists so much pain. I fail to see why so many "elite" keyboards are the standard design aside from too many people favoring nostalgia over what actually makes sense (a trend in the business world?).
The arrow keys are crowded, and so are the delete/pageup/down bit, but I don't use those too much anyway, and they work when I use them, so what does it matter?
Overall, I agree with everyone who's nominated the Microsoft Naturals. They're cheap, spill resistant (in my experience), and have all the thrills like a good click that people pine for. Heck with spending $100+ on a keyboard- find a Microsoft Natural at your local yard sale or Goodwill and start enjoying typing today!
I'm not a professional or anything, but here's my take. First off, it's unfortunate so many people are jamming Slashdot with karma-mongering nothings when the topic at hand is such a nerdgasm for me, but I'll try to get over it.
This paper seems to confirm a theory I've held to for a long time, that string theory (and related studies) really ARE just developing arbitrarily complicated models to describe the data, and weren't bothering to deal with anything like reality whatsoever.
To go back to an older argument- something like a very simplified Heisenberg versus Einstein. And yes, I know I'll get murdered for putting it in these terms. When two particles collide, the results seem to be random. To Einstein (or, someone working from sensibility up) the most rational explanation was that there were measurable forces acting on the collision that we just didn't know how to correct for yet. To Heisenberg (or, somebody working from the math down) it was perfectly acceptable to say that the universe itself was entirely random and that this was just something we were going to have to deal with. Again, yes, I know that's oversimplified.
String theory follows those lines (as does much of quantum mechanics). How do we explain all these bits we've observed that make no sense? Let's propose universes with n-dimensions where things happen that even the best mathematicians in the world are only really trying to guess at because these things only work on paper and make no sense whatsoever, really, when uttered....or maybe there are just a bunch of smaller particles and/or forces that we haven't observed yet. And yes, Occam's Razor applies here. It's turtles all the way down, baby. When these particles turn out to behave strangely, we'll have more bizarre theories to be solved by things sounding much more rational. Ad infinitum, perhaps. This brings up the argument of the first cause, but hey, that's for a later date.
I've thought for the longest time that the "one theory" would be forehead-slappingly simple. Err... compared to string theory. I hope this one pans out. Would be nice to have been "in on" it. But even if this guess is a bit off, I'm willing to bet is much, MUCH closer to reality than string theory ever came.
Where's the raised lip? The (sorry, forget the term) small central spike from the rebound? Doesn't look like a crater at all, unless I'm missing something.
I work for an ISP, and several programs we distribute don't work with 10.4 at all, but do work with anything 10.0+ and above otherwise. Yes, 10.4 has issues at the moment.
For a lot of super-computing applications, I thought ram was *relatively* less of an issue- the PS3's supposed to have all of its muscle in the Cell, so you could theoretically rely on more processor-intensive but RAM-friendly means, like maybe compression? I just realized I don't know if I really know what I'm talking about though. And I'll admit it!
Nevermind all the RPGs, or Bioshock, or Halo 3 which is about to release its fourth in-universe novel. At last, Portal has brought storytelling back to video gaming! Hooray!
Just makes me wanna smack every Linux geek I know and scream, "I told you so!". The only reason Linux hassn't been widely hacked was because it was only used by a few professionals who had tight control on their security. The more mainstream it gets, the more of a target it becomes, and the stronger your security needs to be.
Anyone remember the days of (or are you still one of the people saying) "but with Linux, you have to login as root"? Not like there's a massively obvious problem there with regard to hacking or anything.
-Downloads and on-demend viewing are the wave of the future. Both Sony and Microsoft recognize they're moving toward content download, and both companies wonder if their next game console will need discs at all. Don't forget that both satellite and cable services already provide on-demand viewing. See also: Downloadable movies and TV on Xbox Live a model for the future?
-High definition doesn't matter to most consumers. Most people don't even know what the heck "HD" really means anyway. Think Wal-Mart customers, here. Heck, even rabbit ears for those still afraid of cable continue to sell pretty well.
-HDTV penetration is still terribly low. Even after this Christmas, the industry would probably be amazed if 20% of homes were HD-ready (players/providers and TVs).
-Combine this with people CLEARLY valuing content over quality. Look at the amazing success of YouTube, and any attempts to argue that customers are hungry for quality over mass content availability is ridiculous. People want content on demand, which satellite (and cable and downloads) can provide.
-Combine with all of the above, DVD is really in the prime of its life. VHS has only just been declared officially dead to most outlets, and even elderly consumers are really getting into DVD. Specifically, DVD-R/VHS combo players that allow archiving VHS to DVD are a supreme luxury purchase for many elderly consumers. You have to see the glow in an elderly person's face when they hear they can archive their tapes forever without quality loss to truly appreciate how far DVD has come.
-Which leads to the conclusion that now is NOT the time for a next-gen format war. DVD is going to own the market for years to come, and when it's finally failing us, content download will have enough experience to pick up and move us into the future. Next-gen DVD is just a temporary patch to get us over the hump. And even if people were ready for next-gen DVD (which they're not), they're going to be confused as hell as to what a "BluRay" or an "HD-DVD" is, or why the hell 1080 matters more than 720.
-And let us not forget, the next-gen war might already be over! Hybrid discs and hybrid players are already preparing to make the format war a moot point. Not to mention holographic storage that makes both of these formats look ridiculously underpowered. Low supply of PS3 and BluRay over the holiday season has led many consumers to pick up HD-DVD, potentially meaning HD-DVD already has the install base to win over the war. And even Microsoft admit that they're not really worried about the format war- before the launch of their the HD-DVD add-on, Gates himself was quoted as saying that if BluRay took off, they'd just make a Bluray accessory for the 360 as well. And even if BluRay truly picks up, if BluRay wants to be installed in computers, it's going to have to be sold in Microsoft-powered PCs if it wants to take the market. Oh, the humanity!
Personally, I think this format war will go down as nothing but senseless. Both sides already hope to move beyond optical storage. More promising formats (holographic, download) are going to reach practicality soon. Format-busters are hitting the market soon (hybrid players and discs).
What was the point of even engaging in this war, anyway? Oh, right, because a few videophiles are terribly worried that they can't get optimal movie delivery for their 60", $5,000+ plasma from only one DVD per movie. Bu bu bu. The other 90% of us... really don't care. And even if we did, we still only own SDTVs.
And to quash a counter-point: If you have the money for an HDTV, you probably also have the money and/or resources for broadband, or satellite, or on-demand HD cable, or (etc). Why do you need discs anyway? Most consumers don't have access to those things... but they also don't have HDTVs, and they also don't care.
There are a few important factors.
1-Make smart folders. Maybe you're missing some more obvious relations between people.
2-What about simple shortcuts? Where applicable, create the one file/profile/link/etc you'll use and make shortcuts where you can.
3-GET RID OF STUFF YOU DON'T NEED. The most exhausting but succesful way to organize everything: get rid of whatever's in the way.
4-Find a better method. If you keep too many addresses, get a Rolodex or PDA. If you have too many folders, consider external storage (this drive/partition for work only). If you have too much pr0n or mp3s... consider an alternate lifestyle.
Slashdot Mirror
Anyone wanna take an open mind for a minute? Someone else brought up a good argument- water and building blocks for life are *everywhere*. Recent discoveries point to complex and potentially life-forming DNA-like molecules happening naturally on asteroids throughout the universe, which could easily seed life all over, and asteroid impacts seed life all the time anyway (er, maybe). So the question becomes- shouldn't we be looking wherever there's life on Earth? And there's life on Earth... pretty much everywhere. Under heavy pressure, under light pressure, in water and in methane and deep beneath the crust feeding on minerals. We actually have good reason to believe there's life out there in our own solar system, even if it's just microbes feeding on ice caps. Water is still our best indicator, sure, but it would suck incredibly much for us to miss out on a wealth of planets covered in swarms of life (even non-sentient life) just because we didn't use indicators we already know about.
Wit/pun. Mod points plz? Ugh. (in general- PLEASE start banning this crap, mods. PLEASE.) Parent is right. As far as I can tell, there is nothing about these results that can't be explained away by known phenomena. If this can't detect life on Earth, why the hell are we going to point it at other planets?
I was going to make a longer post and allude to my point, but instead I'll just say it- I view KDE as the majority of Slashdotters view Vista. Only KDE hasn't come out with a Windows 7 yet.
Absolutely correct. The "pod" name just evolved to cover something that had clearly existed for some time. Heck, dig up any tech webcast from the time and listen/watch them argue about whether or not to accept the "pod" name because of its implied association with Apple.
...and it took until now for someone to mention Palin made the comment first, and Obama was just responding, so it didn't even begin with Obama even in this case. Rubbing a little QED on the OP.
How many people screaming about how unfair and silly this is would have been on the other side of the fence if this had happened to Gates back in the day? If I were a shareholder, I wouldn't care what company it was- concealing a freaking liver transplant of the highly charismatic lead of the company seems like a pretty big deal.
Wanna page back a bit to when Apple was manipulating stock prices illegally and working very hard to cover it up as "oh, well we didn't know at the time"? This is part of a larger pattern of wrongdoing that is very legally actionable.
In the time it takes for me to start Firefox, I can fire up Chrome and have my email checked. IE8 does run faster on some critical sites, so it's the only other browser I ever touch anymore. Say what you want about horrible advertising, but Firefox is playing catch-up and this is the perfect time for Microsoft to pounce (although it would be nice if they did so in a non-M$ way).
Correct. Dvorak is the only reason I've ever considered Das Keyboard (or, any coding-sensitive layout I could ever dream up, sky's the limit with a blank keyboard). I use a Microsoft Natural Elite, and it's almost a perfect keyboard. Why? First of all- no ridiculous function keys. How can serious computer users WANT function keys? The software goes bad, you can't take any of it across systems, etc. If you want to do that, get software to program key combos so you can use whatever keyboard you choose. Maybe CRTL+S+(+) to up the sound? It has great sound, but isn't overly loud. If my family members are sleeping, I can be nearly silent. It's ergonomically designed, saving my wrists so much pain. I fail to see why so many "elite" keyboards are the standard design aside from too many people favoring nostalgia over what actually makes sense (a trend in the business world?). The arrow keys are crowded, and so are the delete/pageup/down bit, but I don't use those too much anyway, and they work when I use them, so what does it matter? Overall, I agree with everyone who's nominated the Microsoft Naturals. They're cheap, spill resistant (in my experience), and have all the thrills like a good click that people pine for. Heck with spending $100+ on a keyboard- find a Microsoft Natural at your local yard sale or Goodwill and start enjoying typing today!
I'm not a professional or anything, but here's my take. First off, it's unfortunate so many people are jamming Slashdot with karma-mongering nothings when the topic at hand is such a nerdgasm for me, but I'll try to get over it. This paper seems to confirm a theory I've held to for a long time, that string theory (and related studies) really ARE just developing arbitrarily complicated models to describe the data, and weren't bothering to deal with anything like reality whatsoever. To go back to an older argument- something like a very simplified Heisenberg versus Einstein. And yes, I know I'll get murdered for putting it in these terms. When two particles collide, the results seem to be random. To Einstein (or, someone working from sensibility up) the most rational explanation was that there were measurable forces acting on the collision that we just didn't know how to correct for yet. To Heisenberg (or, somebody working from the math down) it was perfectly acceptable to say that the universe itself was entirely random and that this was just something we were going to have to deal with. Again, yes, I know that's oversimplified. String theory follows those lines (as does much of quantum mechanics). How do we explain all these bits we've observed that make no sense? Let's propose universes with n-dimensions where things happen that even the best mathematicians in the world are only really trying to guess at because these things only work on paper and make no sense whatsoever, really, when uttered. ...or maybe there are just a bunch of smaller particles and/or forces that we haven't observed yet. And yes, Occam's Razor applies here. It's turtles all the way down, baby. When these particles turn out to behave strangely, we'll have more bizarre theories to be solved by things sounding much more rational. Ad infinitum, perhaps. This brings up the argument of the first cause, but hey, that's for a later date.
I've thought for the longest time that the "one theory" would be forehead-slappingly simple. Err... compared to string theory. I hope this one pans out. Would be nice to have been "in on" it. But even if this guess is a bit off, I'm willing to bet is much, MUCH closer to reality than string theory ever came.
Where's the raised lip? The (sorry, forget the term) small central spike from the rebound? Doesn't look like a crater at all, unless I'm missing something.
Err... why is this news? Sites have been trying to do this to all variety of computer for some time now. Did I miss something?
I work for an ISP, and several programs we distribute don't work with 10.4 at all, but do work with anything 10.0+ and above otherwise. Yes, 10.4 has issues at the moment.
For a lot of super-computing applications, I thought ram was *relatively* less of an issue- the PS3's supposed to have all of its muscle in the Cell, so you could theoretically rely on more processor-intensive but RAM-friendly means, like maybe compression? I just realized I don't know if I really know what I'm talking about though. And I'll admit it!
Didn't Sony try to claim one single PS3 was a "supercomputer" in the run-up to launch?
Nevermind all the RPGs, or Bioshock, or Halo 3 which is about to release its fourth in-universe novel. At last, Portal has brought storytelling back to video gaming! Hooray!
Microsoft UN-monopolizing a market is a bad thing? Wow- those guys really cannot win the press no matter what they do.
Just makes me wanna smack every Linux geek I know and scream, "I told you so!". The only reason Linux hassn't been widely hacked was because it was only used by a few professionals who had tight control on their security. The more mainstream it gets, the more of a target it becomes, and the stronger your security needs to be.
Anyone remember the days of (or are you still one of the people saying) "but with Linux, you have to login as root"? Not like there's a massively obvious problem there with regard to hacking or anything.
Random points that have been said before:
-Downloads and on-demend viewing are the wave of the future. Both Sony and Microsoft recognize they're moving toward content download, and both companies wonder if their next game console will need discs at all. Don't forget that both satellite and cable services already provide on-demand viewing. See also: Downloadable movies and TV on Xbox Live a model for the future?
-High definition doesn't matter to most consumers. Most people don't even know what the heck "HD" really means anyway. Think Wal-Mart customers, here. Heck, even rabbit ears for those still afraid of cable continue to sell pretty well.
-HDTV penetration is still terribly low. Even after this Christmas, the industry would probably be amazed if 20% of homes were HD-ready (players/providers and TVs).
-Combine this with people CLEARLY valuing content over quality. Look at the amazing success of YouTube, and any attempts to argue that customers are hungry for quality over mass content availability is ridiculous. People want content on demand, which satellite (and cable and downloads) can provide.
-Combine with all of the above, DVD is really in the prime of its life. VHS has only just been declared officially dead to most outlets, and even elderly consumers are really getting into DVD. Specifically, DVD-R/VHS combo players that allow archiving VHS to DVD are a supreme luxury purchase for many elderly consumers. You have to see the glow in an elderly person's face when they hear they can archive their tapes forever without quality loss to truly appreciate how far DVD has come.
-Which leads to the conclusion that now is NOT the time for a next-gen format war. DVD is going to own the market for years to come, and when it's finally failing us, content download will have enough experience to pick up and move us into the future. Next-gen DVD is just a temporary patch to get us over the hump. And even if people were ready for next-gen DVD (which they're not), they're going to be confused as hell as to what a "BluRay" or an "HD-DVD" is, or why the hell 1080 matters more than 720.
-And let us not forget, the next-gen war might already be over! Hybrid discs and hybrid players are already preparing to make the format war a moot point. Not to mention holographic storage that makes both of these formats look ridiculously underpowered. Low supply of PS3 and BluRay over the holiday season has led many consumers to pick up HD-DVD, potentially meaning HD-DVD already has the install base to win over the war. And even Microsoft admit that they're not really worried about the format war- before the launch of their the HD-DVD add-on, Gates himself was quoted as saying that if BluRay took off, they'd just make a Bluray accessory for the 360 as well. And even if BluRay truly picks up, if BluRay wants to be installed in computers, it's going to have to be sold in Microsoft-powered PCs if it wants to take the market. Oh, the humanity!
Personally, I think this format war will go down as nothing but senseless. Both sides already hope to move beyond optical storage. More promising formats (holographic, download) are going to reach practicality soon. Format-busters are hitting the market soon (hybrid players and discs).
What was the point of even engaging in this war, anyway?
Oh, right, because a few videophiles are terribly worried that they can't get optimal movie delivery for their 60", $5,000+ plasma from only one DVD per movie. Bu bu bu. The other 90% of us... really don't care. And even if we did, we still only own SDTVs.
And to quash a counter-point:
If you have the money for an HDTV, you probably also have the money and/or resources for broadband, or satellite, or on-demand HD cable, or (etc). Why do you need discs anyway? Most consumers don't have access to those things... but they also don't have HDTVs, and they also don't care.
Screw M$. We should all stick with a company that doesn't try to move everything to new hardware constantly- like Apple. *comedic failure music*
The DMCA was the greatest act of terrorism ever enacted on US citizens. The RIAA is just the axe of the Great Evil, basically.
There are a few important factors. 1-Make smart folders. Maybe you're missing some more obvious relations between people. 2-What about simple shortcuts? Where applicable, create the one file/profile/link/etc you'll use and make shortcuts where you can. 3-GET RID OF STUFF YOU DON'T NEED. The most exhausting but succesful way to organize everything: get rid of whatever's in the way. 4-Find a better method. If you keep too many addresses, get a Rolodex or PDA. If you have too many folders, consider external storage (this drive/partition for work only). If you have too much pr0n or mp3s... consider an alternate lifestyle.