And thank goodness there are still some journalists with some integrity who will not let go when they get their teeth stuck into something. When the rest of the media is in the pockets of a few plutocrats (who have every vested interest in furthering the gross bias in society) The Guardian stand out as a beacon of independence and true worth.
It's noticeable how many Americans have come on board with it too in the last few years, judging from the comments section. If you can't get any news at home, you have to get it where you can find it.
Depends who writes the code. British folk will find sarcasm far more easily than, say, American folk (since that's pretty much their default mode). So if it's a British coder, it might work.
That's a bit like saying that every hatchback car today is a copy of the original Japanese hatchbacks or whoever first produced the design
In fact it was the Italians (Fiat 128/3P). The fact you've forgotten (or never knew) shows that being the innovator doesn't pay. Fiat were not able to capitalise their innovation, and in fact those second to the party (VW Golf) did far, far better.
Since the NSA seems hell-bent on collecting every scrap of digital informaiton created, presumably they've worked out how to store and preserve it. I would assume their server room is well hardened.
So all future archaeologists need to do is to get in there somehow, boot it all up and have the whole of the 21st century fall open at their feet. Of course they'll be horrified at the kind of world we made for ourselves, but at least the reason for the apocalypse will be obvious, so they can avoid making that mistake again.
An interesting thing is happening now, and this thread is an example of it. Americans are starting to wake up to the truth about themselves.
Twenty years ago, when I was at uni in the UK, I intervened in a very heated argument between a Middle Eastern student and an American girl. The girl was being berated simply because she was an American, and the other student, a Muslim, appeared to be holding her personally responsible for the situation in Palestine. I think if I (and others) had not intervened it could have got very ugly indeed. At the time I could not understand why the anti-American sentiment was so powerful in some people. I was, even as an outsider, baffled by that. Much like the American people themselves, until much more recently.
In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, when I was in the US, the news coverage had a lot of baffled and ignorant pundits running around the various channels bleating about how they could not understand "why they hate us". By then it was becoming clear to some in the west exactly why they hate the US, but the penny still hadn't dropped in the US itself, and its actions in the following years were probably the exact opposite of prudent on that score.
Now we have a situation where much of the west is openly deeply uneasy with the conduct of the USA, but there is a glimmer of hope: Americans themselves are starting, finally, to get it. If there is a shred of democracy left, this may slowly bring about a reversal of the bullying and arrogant conduct of the country towards the rest of the world. Americans are not encouraged to think very much about their foreign policy, and elections are won and lost on domestic issues. The rest of us watch powerlessly with dismay as yet another disaster unfolds.
Even as cynical and jaded as I've become in middle age, part of me is still idealistic enough to think that one day, people might actually make an attempt to work together for a better world. What's wrong with that? I believe Snowden's actions, for example, will on balance have a small effect in that direction. Stop with the dirty tricks and ham-fisted bullying already! In the long run, if we can all get along, the world will be a much more pleasant and happy place to be. Thankfully the citizens of the biggest bully on the block (who are not in themselves to blame), seem to be waking up to the reality of the world their leaders have engendered.
There is plenty to admire about America, but it's far from perfect. If Americans themselves can grasp this simple truth, and stop drinking their own Kool-Aid, the world we be a better place for all of us, Americans especially.
The fact is, per mile driven, it's more efficient to store the carbon on site and burn as needed, than it is to burn it in a plant and transmit the resultant energy down electric power lines.
That's just not true, as long as you're considering fixed power plants that are efficient, e.g. nuclear. Other renewable sources can also be considered efficient even if they're not (e.g. solar) because the energy is effectively 'free' so it doesn't matter how much goes to waste.
The inefficiency is always at the chemical energy to (whatever) conversion stage, once it's in electrical form, it can be transmitted relatively efficiently and certainly traction motors are very very efficient compared to IC engines.
You could use the air currents that solar energy creates naturally to push a boat through the water, by erecting a large semi-rigid surface to catch those currents and transfer energy to the hull. By angling this surface, you could allow the hull to move in a direction different from the air current itself.
If the current happen to disappear for a short time, and that was a problem, you could use a small motor/battery/solar array to keep the boat in motion.
I should clarify, since I think I misread the opt-out part. What they're saying is that you have to opt out of the filtering. In that case, I suspect 97-98% of people will do so.
I think it will be interesting, assuming that the whole thing is even feasible in any way, to see what the percentage of opt-out ends up being. I suspect it will be 2-3% at most.
Bollocks [sic]. Attitudes like this are why trans people have such a struggle day-to-day. Wake up, it's not about balls, it's about brains. As a signifier for gender, what you have between your legs is irrelevant, and it's about time people started to understand that.
Strikes me as being a bit heavy at 95kg without a pilot/rider. Since the bicycle part doesn't need to be a bicycle but just somewhere to sit, a lightweight carbon fibre/aluminium frame would be a much better choice, surely?
Disappointed that there's no SDK and App Store for the Apple TV. I think that's just relegated it to being an irrelevant device in the footnote of Apple history, rather than a game-changing device, which I think it could have been.
I suspect that's partly the point: it means that TV shows and movies can show off the new Apple device as a cool new piece of urban chic. Practicality doesn't enter into it, this isn't for stashing under a desk, it's for showing off.
Whoever added the tag "neverheardofhim", shame on you. Do you always parade your ignorance in public? It's not a virtue you know! Either look him up and educate yourself or just ignore the story if you're determined to be a prat.
I want to be able to tell iOS to a) only check for app updates on a schedule I specify and b) individually opt in or out of an update for a specific app. At an absolute minimum I would settle for the ability to turn off the icon badge for the App Store. I'm ticked off with the constant barrage of updates, the badgering of the badging bugs me.
So, there are two explanations. Either it's real, in which case, your police state is already here. Or it's fake, and the question is, why would anyone fake it? Is it to test public opinion to see just how far they could push it? If the reaction is "meh" then the NSA et. al. will KNOW that they can implement such a thing and no-one's going to care a damn.
So fake or not, it is vital that people protest en masse about this. That sends the message that such erosion of democracy cannot and will not be tolerated. And if it turns out to be a fake, then you can all breathe a small sign of relief. After all, protesting really doesn't take that much effort.
If this doesn't make you angry, upset and outraged, what will?
Most of you will have relatives that fought and died to fight the evil of fascism in the Second World War. What was that all about, if you are just allowing the same thing on your own doorstep by stealth?
Don't tell me about Godwin's Law, that's just a way to stifle debate. Call out this fascism for what it is. This is beyond the wildest dreams of the STASI or Stalin, because they didn't have the technology.
The NSA and the CIA are rogue states within the state, they are beyond control and are not acting for you, or in your best interests. This should upset you.
If there are not huge, mass protests on the streets of your state capitols all over the nation in the coming weeks, you should be ashamed of yourselves. The Orwellian state is not inevitable, but it takes actual action to stop this. Cynical tut-tutting will not do. This has to be shut down now, and proper protest is what it's going to take. Over to you.
False positives and negatives. Given that these were connected to alarm systems that a) rang those annoying bells/sirens and much worse b) called up some agency to come and deal with the "break-in", they gained a notorious reputation in a very short space of time after they went on the market.
It's surprising how many noises in the environment fit this profile, e.g. sometimes even a car driving past would trigger it, thunderclaps and wind, etc.
You could probably make something today that would work much more reliably based on the same principle (i.e. acoustic profile) but a two-point 2-pole filter, comparator and a one-shot multivibrator and an AND gate does not a unique acoustic profile make. I think that was clear to everyone involved in the project except its designer. That was frequently the way with that particular guy, for whom the Peter Principle was well evident.
Slashdot Mirror
And thank goodness there are still some journalists with some integrity who will not let go when they get their teeth stuck into something. When the rest of the media is in the pockets of a few plutocrats (who have every vested interest in furthering the gross bias in society) The Guardian stand out as a beacon of independence and true worth.
It's noticeable how many Americans have come on board with it too in the last few years, judging from the comments section. If you can't get any news at home, you have to get it where you can find it.
Depends who writes the code. British folk will find sarcasm far more easily than, say, American folk (since that's pretty much their default mode). So if it's a British coder, it might work.
That's a bit like saying that every hatchback car today is a copy of the original Japanese hatchbacks or whoever first produced the design
In fact it was the Italians (Fiat 128/3P). The fact you've forgotten (or never knew) shows that being the innovator doesn't pay. Fiat were not able to capitalise their innovation, and in fact those second to the party (VW Golf) did far, far better.
Since the NSA seems hell-bent on collecting every scrap of digital informaiton created, presumably they've worked out how to store and preserve it. I would assume their server room is well hardened.
So all future archaeologists need to do is to get in there somehow, boot it all up and have the whole of the 21st century fall open at their feet. Of course they'll be horrified at the kind of world we made for ourselves, but at least the reason for the apocalypse will be obvious, so they can avoid making that mistake again.
An interesting thing is happening now, and this thread is an example of it. Americans are starting to wake up to the truth about themselves.
Twenty years ago, when I was at uni in the UK, I intervened in a very heated argument between a Middle Eastern student and an American girl. The girl was being berated simply because she was an American, and the other student, a Muslim, appeared to be holding her personally responsible for the situation in Palestine. I think if I (and others) had not intervened it could have got very ugly indeed. At the time I could not understand why the anti-American sentiment was so powerful in some people. I was, even as an outsider, baffled by that. Much like the American people themselves, until much more recently.
In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, when I was in the US, the news coverage had a lot of baffled and ignorant pundits running around the various channels bleating about how they could not understand "why they hate us". By then it was becoming clear to some in the west exactly why they hate the US, but the penny still hadn't dropped in the US itself, and its actions in the following years were probably the exact opposite of prudent on that score.
Now we have a situation where much of the west is openly deeply uneasy with the conduct of the USA, but there is a glimmer of hope: Americans themselves are starting, finally, to get it. If there is a shred of democracy left, this may slowly bring about a reversal of the bullying and arrogant conduct of the country towards the rest of the world. Americans are not encouraged to think very much about their foreign policy, and elections are won and lost on domestic issues. The rest of us watch powerlessly with dismay as yet another disaster unfolds.
Even as cynical and jaded as I've become in middle age, part of me is still idealistic enough to think that one day, people might actually make an attempt to work together for a better world. What's wrong with that? I believe Snowden's actions, for example, will on balance have a small effect in that direction. Stop with the dirty tricks and ham-fisted bullying already! In the long run, if we can all get along, the world will be a much more pleasant and happy place to be. Thankfully the citizens of the biggest bully on the block (who are not in themselves to blame), seem to be waking up to the reality of the world their leaders have engendered.
There is plenty to admire about America, but it's far from perfect. If Americans themselves can grasp this simple truth, and stop drinking their own Kool-Aid, the world we be a better place for all of us, Americans especially.
And it's crap. 8.3 format filenames in 2013? Get out of here.
The fact is, per mile driven, it's more efficient to store the carbon on site and burn as needed, than it is to burn it in a plant and transmit the resultant energy down electric power lines.
That's just not true, as long as you're considering fixed power plants that are efficient, e.g. nuclear. Other renewable sources can also be considered efficient even if they're not (e.g. solar) because the energy is effectively 'free' so it doesn't matter how much goes to waste.
The inefficiency is always at the chemical energy to (whatever) conversion stage, once it's in electrical form, it can be transmitted relatively efficiently and certainly traction motors are very very efficient compared to IC engines.
Yeah, let's face it, the human race is so amazingly backward, they still think that digital watches area pretty neat idea.
You could use the air currents that solar energy creates naturally to push a boat through the water, by erecting a large semi-rigid surface to catch those currents and transfer energy to the hull. By angling this surface, you could allow the hull to move in a direction different from the air current itself.
If the current happen to disappear for a short time, and that was a problem, you could use a small motor/battery/solar array to keep the boat in motion.
Well, is it?
I work in the gaming (Gambling) industry.
How do you sleep? I'm curious.
I should clarify, since I think I misread the opt-out part. What they're saying is that you have to opt out of the filtering. In that case, I suspect 97-98% of people will do so.
I think it will be interesting, assuming that the whole thing is even feasible in any way, to see what the percentage of opt-out ends up being. I suspect it will be 2-3% at most.
Bollocks [sic]. Attitudes like this are why trans people have such a struggle day-to-day. Wake up, it's not about balls, it's about brains. As a signifier for gender, what you have between your legs is irrelevant, and it's about time people started to understand that.
Strikes me as being a bit heavy at 95kg without a pilot/rider. Since the bicycle part doesn't need to be a bicycle but just somewhere to sit, a lightweight carbon fibre/aluminium frame would be a much better choice, surely?
Disappointed that there's no SDK and App Store for the Apple TV. I think that's just relegated it to being an irrelevant device in the footnote of Apple history, rather than a game-changing device, which I think it could have been.
Cylindrical - Great, now nothing fits next to it
I suspect that's partly the point: it means that TV shows and movies can show off the new Apple device as a cool new piece of urban chic. Practicality doesn't enter into it, this isn't for stashing under a desk, it's for showing off.
Whoever added the tag "neverheardofhim", shame on you. Do you always parade your ignorance in public? It's not a virtue you know! Either look him up and educate yourself or just ignore the story if you're determined to be a prat.
I want to be able to tell iOS to a) only check for app updates on a schedule I specify and b) individually opt in or out of an update for a specific app. At an absolute minimum I would settle for the ability to turn off the icon badge for the App Store. I'm ticked off with the constant barrage of updates, the badgering of the badging bugs me.
So, there are two explanations. Either it's real, in which case, your police state is already here. Or it's fake, and the question is, why would anyone fake it? Is it to test public opinion to see just how far they could push it? If the reaction is "meh" then the NSA et. al. will KNOW that they can implement such a thing and no-one's going to care a damn.
So fake or not, it is vital that people protest en masse about this. That sends the message that such erosion of democracy cannot and will not be tolerated. And if it turns out to be a fake, then you can all breathe a small sign of relief. After all, protesting really doesn't take that much effort.
If this doesn't make you angry, upset and outraged, what will? Most of you will have relatives that fought and died to fight the evil of fascism in the Second World War. What was that all about, if you are just allowing the same thing on your own doorstep by stealth? Don't tell me about Godwin's Law, that's just a way to stifle debate. Call out this fascism for what it is. This is beyond the wildest dreams of the STASI or Stalin, because they didn't have the technology. The NSA and the CIA are rogue states within the state, they are beyond control and are not acting for you, or in your best interests. This should upset you. If there are not huge, mass protests on the streets of your state capitols all over the nation in the coming weeks, you should be ashamed of yourselves. The Orwellian state is not inevitable, but it takes actual action to stop this. Cynical tut-tutting will not do. This has to be shut down now, and proper protest is what it's going to take. Over to you.
Yes, but they also said "De Doo Doo Doo, De Da Da Da", so puts their level of sentience in some doubt.
I bet it's glued together - no Lego model that heavy could support its own weight. Cheat!
And? Most of us that read this forum live in the first world, so it's just a problem. Your point?
Oh that's right, you just wanted to repeat a lazy meme. Gotcha.
False positives and negatives. Given that these were connected to alarm systems that a) rang those annoying bells/sirens and much worse b) called up some agency to come and deal with the "break-in", they gained a notorious reputation in a very short space of time after they went on the market.
It's surprising how many noises in the environment fit this profile, e.g. sometimes even a car driving past would trigger it, thunderclaps and wind, etc.
You could probably make something today that would work much more reliably based on the same principle (i.e. acoustic profile) but a two-point 2-pole filter, comparator and a one-shot multivibrator and an AND gate does not a unique acoustic profile make. I think that was clear to everyone involved in the project except its designer. That was frequently the way with that particular guy, for whom the Peter Principle was well evident.