Oooh raw nerve. Ahhh. I had this bite me recently when my sons (10 and 13) started playing UT. I felt pretty ambivalent about it. But when the 10 year old looked like he was getting addicted to it I just uninstalled it. Now they play BF1942 on my PC. I'm a little disturbed by that, the encouragement to shoot other soldiers in the back etc (and yes I do it too), but its more the moral quandary rather than the outright violence. Would I like it if they could buy these games themselves? No. OTOH I really hate it that my ex let my eldest son buy both Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down.
Don't forget in this case there is no real atmosphere to slow it down. The escape velocity for Mars is a bit over 5,000 metres per second. So it should impact at about that speed. I'm not saying bacteria wouldn't survive... but the impact is bound to cause a lot of frictional heating of the debris, and bugs like radiodurans or even extremophiles may not be able to handle it. Anyway, there's not a lot that can be done from here anyway.
Number 1: perfectly reasonable test. Though sometimes these bugs can just slip past. I'd consider one mistake as reasonable (as in benefit of a doubt).
Number 2: Again ok. 15 minutes seems a bit short for both in an interview environment though. But the interviewee should be able to just rattle of a solution verbally... I mean just because his app doesn't compile doesn't mean he wasn't on the right track.
I recently went to an interview for a C/C++ role. Now I've been doing Java exclusively for the past 3 years, so although I would once have rated myself a very good C++ programmer. Now I'd consider myself between average and good. But would quickly pick up to very good within the first week. But I walked in and had to sit a series of tests. Multiple choice tests. First one was on C which I haven't touched much in 10 years... no problem. Next came C++ and the questions were couched in the speach that you would find in Stroustrop, no examples or code to write. And the answers as I said were multiple choice... I did not pass the test. Looking back on it I realised that even 3 years ago I would not have passed it, because it was not intelligible to the way most programmers think. I came out with a very negative attitude towards the company. Interestingly, I once worked for them as a C++ programmer 10 years ago. I wont apply again, the test tells me way too much about what the company is like now.
The article says that the Bell jet packs could only last for 20 seconds. I don't know... seemed longer to me. When I was a kid I went to the Easter Show in Sydney Australia and there was a demonstration by NASA of the Bell jet pack.
So there I was sitting in a stadium and the NASA guy is in the centre of the field and he takes off, zooms off over the audience and flew about 10-15 metres right over my head. And I can tell you that right then and there I knew these things had NO future. They were the loudest things I had ever heard... outside of an airport tarmac. They were bulky, had a really dodgy mixture (pure hydrogen peroxide) and were so loud you just knew they would be banned if they were ever feasible.
As I recall, the article states that there are a certain number of kilometre sized objects which are known. New more accurate measurements now show that the objects are 20-30% smaller than originally thought. So there are fewer 1 km objects (down from about 1300 to about 1000... though I'd have to recheck the article), but none of the original objects have gone away and these objects are Apollo objects... the ones most likely to hit the Earth.
The article points out that rather than there being 20-30% fewer rocks out there which could hit us, they are 20-30% smaller. So the chances of being hit are not less, just the chances of of it being over the magic size 1 kilometre (claimed to be the size required to knockout civilisation or whatever).
... and the company writing the software said: "Its ok we have a simple solution, we'll just add a line to divide the total number of votes by.. um... 12. Yeah thats it!"
Does this mean in the game we will be in Zion and then have to jack into the Matrix (a simulation inside a simulation) ? Or is it just recursive and we end up in a new Zion having to jack into another matrix (simulation in a simulation in a... errrrr you get the picture).
I doubt all 100 are totally up to the required quality. Why not just have a much shorter but fairly difficult qualifying race. That would remove the 'almost ready' contenders from those with a real chance.
everyone in the world having a say in the US presidential elections
As an aussie sometimes I can really sympathise with this view. But in reality no country should surrender such a critical aspect of its sovereignty. It just wont work. But if an alternative could be worked out then yeah it would have a significant impact on how the world views the US. And if foreign countries demand representation in the US... does that make them provinces of a new Empire by their own admission ?
Here is an article from New Scientist from 2001 where something very similar was done. That should have been it, more of this kind of research is not going to be helpful (unless you count a world without people being helpful). I can just see the North Koreans saying "Hmm. Aussies did this in 2001, and the Americans in 2003. Not a fluke, so gotta be easier than these nukes just use smallpox | ebola | influenza instead...". You get the picture.
I used to wonder why Communism was so attractive and caught on so well in Europe. Then I realised that all the Communists were first brought up as Christians and that Christianity is so damn close to Communism it isn't funny... especially the system of Monasteries that flourished and still flourish in Europe. Think of it this way Marx was essentially saying: "hey what if all of society was run like a monastery but without having to go to mass on sundays ?" Because monasteries DO work and have done so for 1500 years. However, a nation is not a monastery... funny that Marx never noticed that obvious difference. Then again maybe I've just been smoking too much SCO brand crack or something.
Well really if EULAs ever mean we don't own what we buy then that means we are very close to losing the concept of private property unless you make it yourself. Rent products, lease homes, rent cars etc. If you are doing all this renting and leasing do you really have any private property ?
One of the few intelligent posts here. Hmmm, the legal stuff itself is very worrying. Wonder what MS's legal team.... oh wait.... marketing rules all, the legal team may not even know about it.
Sorry but I can't believe anyone can't see this as a piece of humour [Roblimo: your humour sucks, don't give up your day job]. I'd suggest you guys who can't see that this piece is obviously satire, well you need to get out more.
When I was a kid at school my writing was so bad I had a special dispensation to use ball points instead of a fountain pen, it was a long long time ago. Later I drifted back to fountain pens because it just feels so good. My daughter bought me an up market Schaeffer, no I don't know how much, and it is a total pleasure to use these instruments again. My writing is still crap, whether with ball point or not, but as I said it feels really good.
Slashdot Mirror
Oooh raw nerve. Ahhh. I had this bite me recently when my sons (10 and 13) started playing UT. I felt pretty ambivalent about it. But when the 10 year old looked like he was getting addicted to it I just uninstalled it. Now they play BF1942 on my PC. I'm a little disturbed by that, the encouragement to shoot other soldiers in the back etc (and yes I do it too), but its more the moral quandary rather than the outright violence. Would I like it if they could buy these games themselves? No. OTOH I really hate it that my ex let my eldest son buy both Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down.
Though since telephone exchanges have battery backup then during a blackout the phones still work.
But PCs don't.
Don't forget in this case there is no real atmosphere to slow it down. The escape velocity for Mars is a bit over 5,000 metres per second. So it should impact at about that speed. I'm not saying bacteria wouldn't survive ... but the impact is bound to cause a lot of frictional heating of the debris, and bugs like radiodurans or even extremophiles may not be able to handle it. Anyway, there's not a lot that can be done from here anyway.
Number 1: perfectly reasonable test. Though sometimes these bugs can just slip past. I'd consider one mistake as reasonable (as in benefit of a doubt).
Number 2: Again ok. 15 minutes seems a bit short for both in an interview environment though. But the interviewee should be able to just rattle of a solution verbally ... I mean just because his app doesn't compile doesn't mean he wasn't on the right track.
I recently went to an interview for a C/C++ role. Now I've been doing Java exclusively for the past 3 years, so although I would once have rated myself a very good C++ programmer. Now I'd consider myself between average and good. But would quickly pick up to very good within the first week. But I walked in and had to sit a series of tests. Multiple choice tests. First one was on C which I haven't touched much in 10 years ... no problem. Next came C++ and the questions were couched in the speach that you would find in Stroustrop, no examples or code to write. And the answers as I said were multiple choice ... I did not pass the test. Looking back on it I realised that even 3 years ago I would not have passed it, because it was not intelligible to the way most programmers think. I came out with a very negative attitude towards the company. Interestingly, I once worked for them as a C++ programmer 10 years ago. I wont apply again, the test tells me way too much about what the company is like now.
The article says that the Bell jet packs could only last for 20 seconds. I don't know ... seemed longer to me. When I was a kid I went to the Easter Show in Sydney Australia and there was a demonstration by NASA of the Bell jet pack.
So there I was sitting in a stadium and the NASA guy is in the centre of the field and he takes off, zooms off over the audience and flew about 10-15 metres right over my head. And I can tell you that right then and there I knew these things had NO future. They were the loudest things I had ever heard ... outside of an airport tarmac. They were bulky, had a really dodgy mixture (pure hydrogen peroxide) and were so loud you just knew they would be banned if they were ever feasible.
But it did LOOK cool. Yeah.
As I recall, the article states that there are a certain number of kilometre sized objects which are known. New more accurate measurements now show that the objects are 20-30% smaller than originally thought. So there are fewer 1 km objects (down from about 1300 to about 1000 ... though I'd have to recheck the article), but none of the original objects have gone away and these objects are Apollo objects ... the ones most likely to hit the Earth.
The article points out that rather than there being 20-30% fewer rocks out there which could hit us, they are 20-30% smaller. So the chances of being hit are not less, just the chances of of it being over the magic size 1 kilometre (claimed to be the size required to knockout civilisation or whatever).
I met a guy once that (claimed to at least) used ferrets for running cable
... but at least they were getting IT experience and their coats were used to it.
... and the company writing the software said: "Its ok we have a simple solution, we'll just add a line to divide the total number of votes by .. um ... 12. Yeah thats it!"
Does this mean in the game we will be in Zion and then have to jack into the Matrix (a simulation inside a simulation) ? Or is it just recursive and we end up in a new Zion having to jack into another matrix (simulation in a simulation in a ... errrrr you get the picture).
I doubt all 100 are totally up to the required quality. Why not just have a much shorter but fairly difficult qualifying race. That would remove the 'almost ready' contenders from those with a real chance.
everyone in the world having a say in the US presidential elections
As an aussie sometimes I can really sympathise with this view. But in reality no country should surrender such a critical aspect of its sovereignty. It just wont work. But if an alternative could be worked out then yeah it would have a significant impact on how the world views the US. And if foreign countries demand representation in the US ... does that make them provinces of a new Empire by their own admission ?
Black Hole of Death
Maybe MS should move its dev team to the moon, you know just in case. In fact move Redmond there as well.
Here is an article from New Scientist from 2001 where something very similar was done. That should have been it, more of this kind of research is not going to be helpful (unless you count a world without people being helpful). I can just see the North Koreans saying "Hmm. Aussies did this in 2001, and the Americans in 2003. Not a fluke, so gotta be easier than these nukes just use smallpox | ebola | influenza instead ...". You get the picture.
I used to wonder why Communism was so attractive and caught on so well in Europe. Then I realised that all the Communists were first brought up as Christians and that Christianity is so damn close to Communism it isn't funny ... especially the system of Monasteries that flourished and still flourish in Europe. Think of it this way Marx was essentially saying: "hey what if all of society was run like a monastery but without having to go to mass on sundays ?" Because monasteries DO work and have done so for 1500 years. However, a nation is not a monastery ... funny that Marx never noticed that obvious difference. Then again maybe I've just been smoking too much SCO brand crack or something.
Well really if EULAs ever mean we don't own what we buy then that means we are very close to losing the concept of private property unless you make it yourself. Rent products, lease homes, rent cars etc. If you are doing all this renting and leasing do you really have any private property ?
Australia competes on world wheat markets without a subsidy. Can the US say the same ?
One of the few intelligent posts here. Hmmm, the legal stuff itself is very worrying. Wonder what MS's legal team .... oh wait .... marketing rules all, the legal team may not even know about it.
A true pipe then. MS supplies the crack and SCO consumes crack ... MS | SCO.
Its so clear the way you explain it.
Darl, if your listening please spread the joy to the non-software world.
Sorry but I can't believe anyone can't see this as a piece of humour [Roblimo: your humour sucks, don't give up your day job]. I'd suggest you guys who can't see that this piece is obviously satire, well you need to get out more.
... plead insanity! Come on, you know it's true.
most Universities won't care if you wear your underwear outside of your pants if you manage to do something truly brilliant
... you mean like fly ?
When I was a kid at school my writing was so bad I had a special dispensation to use ball points instead of a fountain pen, it was a long long time ago. Later I drifted back to fountain pens because it just feels so good. My daughter bought me an up market Schaeffer, no I don't know how much, and it is a total pleasure to use these instruments again. My writing is still crap, whether with ball point or not, but as I said it feels really good.