- Preconditions. - Failure modes -- because you/know/ that with any exported function, it will be given bad input. Even without bad input, I/O failures et al happen. Document what happens. - The semantics of each input parameter. Yay, it's really bloody useful to say "blah" is a C-style string. The semantics of it should be in a well-documented API -- in fact, somebody else using your code shouldn't even have to look at its internals. - The semantics of each output value. - Postconditions. - When the function is useful and why. - What drawbacks might make the function less useful. - Sample calling syntax, including code that shows how the input was obtained.
Not if you're going math, it isn't. At the very least, if you're implementing a non-incredibly-obvious algorithm such as Strassen's matrix multiplication or solving the integrations and nonlinear systems required to do maximum-likelihood estimation of a normal distribution with two unknown truncation points, you should cite a source so that the reader can figure out the logic behind it all.
Likewise, many equations may have seemingly standard parameter names that are non-intuitive to the layman. For instance, 'lambda' is a fairly common name for the power in an exponential distribution pdf, if memory serves -- but to somebody who doesn't know that distribution, it's a completely meaningless term. So you either go with the "common" name a statistician would use and recognize, or you go with something non-standard.
Sure, basic data manipulation can use self-documentating code very well. But do anything that is intrinsically non-obvious to your potential audience, and you/need/ to document more.
Hmmmmm. That I would definitely have a problem with (compared to, say, a soup kitchen that distributes/just/ food, not food+religious tract). Has it been tested in the courts? If not, hopefully it will be soon.
With regards to Catholicism, there's an established institution with its own peculiar habits. Apparently, for instance, sexually molesting altar boys is considered better for the soul than marriage by the Rev. Moon or ordaining women priests -- judging from the Vatican occasionally threatening excommunication in the latter cases, but never AFAIK in the former. But the institution decides how forgiving or perverse it is to be. Ditto for the Mormon church.
Someone's concept of religion don't have to apply to yours. However, if they're the traditional, titular establishment and you aren't abiding by their precepts to the extent that they don't recognize you as a member, you should probably use a different name for your faith. It wouldn't surprise me if John Paul's written one or more documents on pro-abortion Catholics describing the Vatican's POV on them.
As for myself, *shrug* I'm an agnostic who prefers an odd blend of vaguely libertarian principles with some utilitarian preferences. Doctrines that say "perform these rituals, regardless of whether or not they have significant real-world effect" normally don't interest me very much.
What is the Jedi doctrine? Do they even/pretend/ to adhere to it other than when filling out a Census form? Does it otherwise affect their lives in a significant way?
Their are practices and beliefs associated with Druidism and the Wiccan faith. A person can't reasonably _be_ a Druid just by calling himself one momentarily on a piece of paper, any more than it's reasonable to claim to be a Catholic while taking a page from the feminist movement and worshipping Athena as the goddess of Wisdom.
I'd like to see some ballsy Congressman publically call on President Bush to explain how to reconcile the White House _Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives_ with the separation doctrine. I don't see a problem with funding faith-based programs, but only if it's done on the exact same grounds as everybody else; IOW, faith-based shouldn't matter at all compared to need and expected efficacy.
What exactly does the Australian government/do/ with this information? From the "certain buildings may not be built" line, one might infer that it provides subsidies to religious groups -- but it's also conceivable that religious demographics are involved in determining which historical sites are to be preserved or what monuments get built or so forth.
Too slow -- you'd need the clone to develop at least to an adult stage, so that the organs are of a reasonable size for you, and unless it was done VERY early for you you'd be dead by then of whatever necessitated the transplant. Unless there's a way of massively stimulating growth of a human... and that's if you can get past the ethical and legal complications of the fact that you'd be committing premeditated murder.
It'd be much better, for both practical and ethical grounds, to be able to generate a single organ within some kind of nutrient bath.
In addition, to draw a direct parallel, the NRA is fervently opposed to any registration or other database of gun owners on the grounds that it might lead to, and actually has led to, confiscation (New Zealand, Canada, Australia, the UK, NYC, California...)... if this list included records demanded from gun shops, the NRA probably/would/ be involved.
It'll help out the cop new to the beat. Also, you can efficiently search databases; asking human officers just doesn't scale very well...
And governments shouldn't always give in to mere negative publicity./Everything/ will draw negative publicity from/somebody/ -- for instance, some people probably actually/did/ want Bush to nuke Kabul, while there are others who still protest "Food Not Bombs" and there are others who claim that bin Laden was framed by the Jews. There are folks who prize forest above all else, and other environmentalists who point out that there are, in fact, other biomes that are just as interesting, and there are people that look at forests primarily as places either for lumber or as farms not yet cleared...
Given no other information, it's possible. Statistics would also suggest, for instance, that you're less likely to be a former or current Taliban soldier than your average random Afghan, given no other information. If you're black, either you're more likely to be involved in a homicide (as either perp or victim) than a white person in the United States, or the crime statistics are/seriously/ flawed -- whereas the same does/not/ hold true for illegal drug possession, if memory serves. And so forth...
If you're going to spout off possibilities based on the FOIA, at least read the damn thing.
It specifically excludes "records or information compiled for law enforcment purposes (that)... could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy" (snippage to eliminate irrelevancies).
There. A few seconds on Google found that. A quick search of the Act, which isn't exactly a contender for Biggest Law, showed that.
More careful people might want to consider, however, that this attitude would lead to hiring people who simply have more money than they know what to do with, and buy expensive computers like Falcon Northwest customs as prestige objects.
You probably don't want somebody who's solution to just about any problem is "throw more money at it" -- because that attitude probably will cost you money in unnecessary expenditures. If somebody's using his l33t system to, say, play something old like Quake 2, that's a very wasteful use of resources. If he's got a dual-Xeon box for Microsoft Word and Exploder, and that's about it, then it screams out "imbecile".
Enthusiasm != clue. New != clue. Expensive != clue.
And if your doctor is always pushing the latest and greatest pharmaceuticals, he's probably being a shill for the companies in exchange for perks, because he knows damn well that you don't/always/ need the latest-and-most-expensive drugs to treat common ailments -- unless he's an incompetent idiot. He should be aware of them, but if he automatically reaches for the Claritin rubber stamp when some (OTC) Benadryl would do, he's working for the drug companies, not you.
Do you also post to F1 racing fora about how a Ford Taurus does everything you need it to, and there's no reason for more speed?
Slashdot is not you. It's not me either. It's a heterogeneous group, some of whom (such as myself)/do/ have CPU-bound applications that take significant amounts of time (as in sometimes more than a week).
Re:Looks interesting..
on
Electric Armor
·
· Score: 3, Informative
Well, there are a lot of areas where peacekeepers would probably love to have this sort of tech. Figure on urban areas in the Third World where small arms, RPGs and their ilk, and maybe mortars / other small support are common, but where your average warlord is unlikely to get his hands on a bona-fide tank or helicopter gunship. In that case, your biggest worries probably are stuff like......improvised explosives (and they need to be pretty powerful; the Israelis have lost, what, only 2-3 Merkavas during this intifada, if memory serves despite throwing them into urban zones that/should/ be nightmarish for tanks, in theory)...mines (for which you might want an engineering AFV and engineer troops)...RPGS (cheap and common... and if numbers are vastly on their side, they may not need to do much more than immobilize)...ambushes / betrayals (Sure, I'll lead you to him, just dismount here...)
but you're unlikely to be dealing with, say, a warlord who's managed to get an armored force but has hidden it for all the while.
The point is that there are a/lot/ of old, but perfectly serviceable RPGs out there, and many of them are in the hands of people who might oppose the people interested in this particular system.
RPGs, AK-47s, Semtex, terrorism and revolution -- these were among the longest-surviving exports of the Soviet state and its East Bloc clientele. Just because the Soviet system has disintegrated doesn't mean that its gifts to the world have also left.
I spent a couple of summers in the Seattle area, where they had (and probably still have) a public-access channel. On it were some of the strangest shows I've ever seen, like "Bong Hit Championships" (dial in and inhale while they time you, if memory serves) and, ISTR, a very strange Rev. Bruce something-or-other who delivered odd, philosophical rants while his minions rigidly stood at attention behind him.
While people may be good at one thing, you may have to search and search and search to find/them/ amongst the crowd...
If American television didn't insult me, I'd consider paying for it. Now, some shows I've liked... my local PBS station carries _Frontline_ and _Washington Week_, although they've mostly been doing "Dismemberer's Choice" (reruns), bland local programming or concerts lately. Fox's "24" struck me as pretty decently done, and "West Wing" I also liked. "Law and Order" tends to please me, albeit it seems to be spawning off faster than a happy-to-see-itself amoeba...
But the rest? (Mind you, I don't have cable, and only receive CBS, NBC, PBS, Fox and WB (badly)...) Cheesy sitcoms, horrifically bad game/torture shows, "human interest" tear-jerkers masquerading as serious news programs...
I'd be happy if, say, my PBS affiliate brought back reruns of "Yes, Minister" or "Blackadder", or if the networks produced something as clueful. But they shouldn't expect me to pay more to subsidize CNN or Victimtime as part of a basic cable package, or to volunteer any $ for "Friends".
Someday you'll probably have enough money to buy them. In fact, if you got a job, you could probably be buying them/now/. A lot of people "work" so they can afford things they "want"...
Er, wouldn't that depend on how it's done? If it's caused by mass copyright infringement, then probably yes; but if people really are turned off by current music, then merely staying away from stores in disgust isn't by itself a crime.
Hm, why would they be confused? It's not like the voters have to/admin/ the machines -- a voting machine can have an extremely simple interface regardless of type.
In fact, a well-designed voting program could eliminate a lot of double-votes and under-votes, or at least flag them and ask "Are you sure?". For instance, it could present a list of offices. When each office is selected, it presents/only/ the candidates standing for that office, and a number that indicates how many to vote for (since it won't always be only 1, for many local elections). It can then inform you if you're appearing to, say, vote for more than that, and prompt you with "You have voted for (x) candidates, but there are only (y) seats available. This will invalidate all your votes for this office. Are you sure you wish to do this?" et al.
That way, even if the party hacks are stupid enough to give idiotic instructions and the voters clueless enough to follow them, (like the Democratic vote-drivers who told mostly-black first-time voters to "be sure to vote on every page... and some voters took them literally and voted for multiple presidential candidates as a consequence) there are safeguards.
Slashdot Mirror
You're ignoring the really important parts:
/know/ that with any exported function, it will be given bad input. Even without bad input, I/O failures et al happen. Document what happens.
- Preconditions.
- Failure modes -- because you
- The semantics of each input parameter. Yay, it's really bloody useful to say "blah" is a C-style string. The semantics of it should be in a well-documented API -- in fact, somebody else using your code shouldn't even have to look at its internals.
- The semantics of each output value.
- Postconditions.
- When the function is useful and why.
- What drawbacks might make the function less useful.
- Sample calling syntax, including code that shows how the input was obtained.
Not if you're going math, it isn't. At the very least, if you're implementing a non-incredibly-obvious algorithm such as Strassen's matrix multiplication or solving the integrations and nonlinear systems required to do maximum-likelihood estimation of a normal distribution with two unknown truncation points, you should cite a source so that the reader can figure out the logic behind it all.
/need/ to document more.
Likewise, many equations may have seemingly standard parameter names that are non-intuitive to the layman. For instance, 'lambda' is a fairly common name for the power in an exponential distribution pdf, if memory serves -- but to somebody who doesn't know that distribution, it's a completely meaningless term. So you either go with the "common" name a statistician would use and recognize, or you go with something non-standard.
Sure, basic data manipulation can use self-documentating code very well. But do anything that is intrinsically non-obvious to your potential audience, and you
Even sillier -- geckos are the only reptiles with a voice. Train them, and...
I don't know about anybody else, but I'd have to be pretty tired before mere ordinary sticky notes start calling to me.
Hmmmmm. That I would definitely have a problem with (compared to, say, a soup kitchen that distributes /just/ food, not food+religious tract). Has it been tested in the courts? If not, hopefully it will be soon.
...and the great theological question would be:
;)
"Did Balrogs have wings?"
With regards to Catholicism, there's an established institution with its own peculiar habits. Apparently, for instance, sexually molesting altar boys is considered better for the soul than marriage by the Rev. Moon or ordaining women priests -- judging from the Vatican occasionally threatening excommunication in the latter cases, but never AFAIK in the former. But the institution decides how forgiving or perverse it is to be. Ditto for the Mormon church.
Someone's concept of religion don't have to apply to yours. However, if they're the traditional, titular establishment and you aren't abiding by their precepts to the extent that they don't recognize you as a member, you should probably use a different name for your faith. It wouldn't surprise me if John Paul's written one or more documents on pro-abortion Catholics describing the Vatican's POV on them.
As for myself, *shrug* I'm an agnostic who prefers an odd blend of vaguely libertarian principles with some utilitarian preferences. Doctrines that say "perform these rituals, regardless of whether or not they have significant real-world effect" normally don't interest me very much.
What is the Jedi doctrine? Do they even /pretend/ to adhere to it other than when filling out a Census form? Does it otherwise affect their lives in a significant way?
Their are practices and beliefs associated with Druidism and the Wiccan faith. A person can't reasonably _be_ a Druid just by calling himself one momentarily on a piece of paper, any more than it's reasonable to claim to be a Catholic while taking a page from the feminist movement and worshipping Athena as the goddess of Wisdom.
I'd like to see some ballsy Congressman publically call on President Bush to explain how to reconcile the White House _Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives_ with the separation doctrine. I don't see a problem with funding faith-based programs, but only if it's done on the exact same grounds as everybody else; IOW, faith-based shouldn't matter at all compared to need and expected efficacy.
What exactly does the Australian government /do/ with this information? From the "certain buildings may not be built" line, one might infer that it provides subsidies to religious groups -- but it's also conceivable that religious demographics are involved in determining which historical sites are to be preserved or what monuments get built or so forth.
Too slow -- you'd need the clone to develop at least to an adult stage, so that the organs are of a reasonable size for you, and unless it was done VERY early for you you'd be dead by then of whatever necessitated the transplant. Unless there's a way of massively stimulating growth of a human... and that's if you can get past the ethical and legal complications of the fact that you'd be committing premeditated murder.
It'd be much better, for both practical and ethical grounds, to be able to generate a single organ within some kind of nutrient bath.
In addition, to draw a direct parallel, the NRA is fervently opposed to any registration or other database of gun owners on the grounds that it might lead to, and actually has led to, confiscation (New Zealand, Canada, Australia, the UK, NYC, California...) ... if this list included records demanded from gun shops, the NRA probably /would/ be involved.
It'll help out the cop new to the beat. Also, you can efficiently search databases; asking human officers just doesn't scale very well...
/Everything/ will draw negative publicity from /somebody/ -- for instance, some people probably actually /did/ want Bush to nuke Kabul, while there are others who still protest "Food Not Bombs" and there are others who claim that bin Laden was framed by the Jews. There are folks who prize forest above all else, and other environmentalists who point out that there are, in fact, other biomes that are just as interesting, and there are people that look at forests primarily as places either for lumber or as farms not yet cleared...
And governments shouldn't always give in to mere negative publicity.
Given no other information, it's possible. Statistics would also suggest, for instance, that you're less likely to be a former or current Taliban soldier than your average random Afghan, given no other information. If you're black, either you're more likely to be involved in a homicide (as either perp or victim) than a white person in the United States, or the crime statistics are /seriously/ flawed -- whereas the same does /not/ hold true for illegal drug possession, if memory serves. And so forth...
If you report a larger income, you're more likely to be audited by the IRS. Does this strike you as unfair?
If you're going to spout off possibilities based on the FOIA, at least read the damn thing.
It specifically excludes "records or information compiled for law enforcment purposes (that)... could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy" (snippage to eliminate irrelevancies).
There. A few seconds on Google found that. A quick search of the Act, which isn't exactly a contender for Biggest Law, showed that.
Bzzt. Read 5 USC 552, (b)(7).
Nice troll.
/always/ need the latest-and-most-expensive drugs to treat common ailments -- unless he's an incompetent idiot. He should be aware of them, but if he automatically reaches for the Claritin rubber stamp when some (OTC) Benadryl would do, he's working for the drug companies, not you.
More careful people might want to consider, however, that this attitude would lead to hiring people who simply have more money than they know what to do with, and buy expensive computers like Falcon Northwest customs as prestige objects.
You probably don't want somebody who's solution to just about any problem is "throw more money at it" -- because that attitude probably will cost you money in unnecessary expenditures. If somebody's using his l33t system to, say, play something old like Quake 2, that's a very wasteful use of resources. If he's got a dual-Xeon box for Microsoft Word and Exploder, and that's about it, then it screams out "imbecile".
Enthusiasm != clue. New != clue. Expensive != clue.
And if your doctor is always pushing the latest and greatest pharmaceuticals, he's probably being a shill for the companies in exchange for perks, because he knows damn well that you don't
Do you also post to F1 racing fora about how a Ford Taurus does everything you need it to, and there's no reason for more speed?
/do/ have CPU-bound applications that take significant amounts of time (as in sometimes more than a week).
Slashdot is not you. It's not me either. It's a heterogeneous group, some of whom (such as myself)
Well, there are a lot of areas where peacekeepers would probably love to have this sort of tech. Figure on urban areas in the Third World where small arms, RPGs and their ilk, and maybe mortars / other small support are common, but where your average warlord is unlikely to get his hands on a bona-fide tank or helicopter gunship. In that case, your biggest worries probably are stuff like... ...improvised explosives (and they need to be pretty powerful; the Israelis have lost, what, only 2-3 Merkavas during this intifada, if memory serves despite throwing them into urban zones that /should/ be nightmarish for tanks, in theory) ...mines (for which you might want an engineering AFV and engineer troops) ...RPGS (cheap and common... and if numbers are vastly on their side, they may not need to do much more than immobilize) ...ambushes / betrayals (Sure, I'll lead you to him, just dismount here...)
but you're unlikely to be dealing with, say, a warlord who's managed to get an armored force but has hidden it for all the while.
The point is that there are a /lot/ of old, but perfectly serviceable RPGs out there, and many of them are in the hands of people who might oppose the people interested in this particular system.
RPGs, AK-47s, Semtex, terrorism and revolution -- these were among the longest-surviving exports of the Soviet state and its East Bloc clientele. Just because the Soviet system has disintegrated doesn't mean that its gifts to the world have also left.
Open source entertainment?
/them/ amongst the crowd...
*shrug*
I spent a couple of summers in the Seattle area, where they had (and probably still have) a public-access channel. On it were some of the strangest shows I've ever seen, like "Bong Hit Championships" (dial in and inhale while they time you, if memory serves) and, ISTR, a very strange Rev. Bruce something-or-other who delivered odd, philosophical rants while his minions rigidly stood at attention behind him.
While people may be good at one thing, you may have to search and search and search to find
If American television didn't insult me, I'd consider paying for it. Now, some shows I've liked... my local PBS station carries _Frontline_ and _Washington Week_, although they've mostly been doing "Dismemberer's Choice" (reruns), bland local programming or concerts lately. Fox's "24" struck me as pretty decently done, and "West Wing" I also liked. "Law and Order" tends to please me, albeit it seems to be spawning off faster than a happy-to-see-itself amoeba...
But the rest? (Mind you, I don't have cable, and only receive CBS, NBC, PBS, Fox and WB (badly)...) Cheesy sitcoms, horrifically bad game/torture shows, "human interest" tear-jerkers masquerading as serious news programs...
I'd be happy if, say, my PBS affiliate brought back reruns of "Yes, Minister" or "Blackadder", or if the networks produced something as clueful. But they shouldn't expect me to pay more to subsidize CNN or Victimtime as part of a basic cable package, or to volunteer any $ for "Friends".
Someday you'll probably have enough money to buy them. In fact, if you got a job, you could probably be buying them /now/. A lot of people "work" so they can afford things they "want"...
Er, wouldn't that depend on how it's done? If it's caused by mass copyright infringement, then probably yes; but if people really are turned off by current music, then merely staying away from stores in disgust isn't by itself a crime.
Hm, why would they be confused? It's not like the voters have to /admin/ the machines -- a voting machine can have an extremely simple interface regardless of type.
/only/ the candidates standing for that office, and a number that indicates how many to vote for (since it won't always be only 1, for many local elections). It can then inform you if you're appearing to, say, vote for more than that, and prompt you with "You have voted for (x) candidates, but there are only (y) seats available. This will invalidate all your votes for this office. Are you sure you wish to do this?" et al.
In fact, a well-designed voting program could eliminate a lot of double-votes and under-votes, or at least flag them and ask "Are you sure?". For instance, it could present a list of offices. When each office is selected, it presents
That way, even if the party hacks are stupid enough to give idiotic instructions and the voters clueless enough to follow them, (like the Democratic vote-drivers who told mostly-black first-time voters to "be sure to vote on every page... and some voters took them literally and voted for multiple presidential candidates as a consequence) there are safeguards.