Unfortunately, somewhere between now and when I was a kid...people stopped buying good home audio systems. I don't quite know what or what happened. Somewhere along the line...ONLY portable players came into vogue...and it is sad that so many are losing out how good sound reproduction can be. I dunno if it is cause or effect....but, so much of todays music is mixed so poorly, overly compressed with no dynamic headroom anymore. So, maybe there isn't much point to getting good gear, if new music is no longer mixed to get the most out of it.
Why do most people seem to prefer trash novels to great literature? I don't know, but they do. Same thing really. I enjoy high-end audio too but I don't care whether others do or not, it's my choice. The reality is that I mostly listen to music in the car and the high-end stuff is rarely switched on because I just don't have time to just sit down and listen to music, as an activity in and of itself. More's the pity, but it's probably true for most people too. That's why an iPod with cheap 'phones is the norm. Likelihood is that in terms of quality of reproduction, we've peaked already, as compressed formats are going to dominate eventually. Look at video/TV. We're already being sold the lie that because it's digital, it's automatically the best thing ever, and people are buying huge screens in droves to get that experience. But hideous encoding artefacts are readily apparent and screens have to smear the image using horrible median filters to help cover it up. But obviously, nobody cares and the broadcasters/manufacturers are laughing all the way to the bank.
Except that it does have closures, only Apple prefer to call them blocks. The Cocoa APIs have been extensively revved to include many block-based enhancements to existing APIs that previously used more awkward callbacks.
Since no one's responded, let me be the first to say that you have absolutely no clue what you're talking about. Why you were modded up I'll never understand
Well, I certainly didn't intend it as a troll, I'm quite serious. It's fair to say that the Prius is flavour of the month, and a lot of people are considering buying one, and when you speak against a popular fad (for that is what it is, in the longer view) then people will disagree with you, abusing mod points to suppress an unpopular view. C'est la vie. It doesn't mean I'm wrong.
People talk about cams this and split differentials that and Atkinson late closure the other. These are all super-complicated, mechanical band-aids that are trying to prop up an increasingly untenable lump of machinery for turning fossil fuel into rotary motion. Compared to the pure simplicity of passing a current through a wire in a magnetic field all these devices are Heath Robinson (or Rube Goldberg, if you're from that side of the pond) in comparison. Given a supply of electric current, some control electronics and a motor will give you 80-90% efficiency with no heavy and unnecessary clutches, transmission, differentials or other props necessary. The problem of course is that we are not given a supply of electricity, we are given a messy tank of petrol and therein lies the problem. However, I do not believe the Prius is the right solution. As a parallel hybrid it marries the chief disadvantages of IC and electric. If we are stuck with the need for hybrids for the short term (we probably are) then FFS why not build a series hybrid that actually marries the advantages instead? As the infrastructure starts to come on stream for plug-ins and hydrogen or whatever these vehicles can be easily adapted, as the essential drivetrain will remain common. Where will these developments leave the Prius? Dead and gone, that's where. 80mpg might sound impressive for those of you SUV owners used to less than 20, but many small conventional European and Japanese cars have had similar figures for decades. Ho hum - wake me up when there's really something to write home about, like 200-400 mpg (theoretically possible).
Don't kid yourselves, buying a new vehicle to "save the planet" is deluded. Keep your old one, no matter how inefficient it is, until something truly better and efficient comes along. Its energy costs have already been paid, for better or worse. Don't pay them over again, how is that ecologically sound?
I predict a mass exodus from gasoline to electric powered cars that will make the Toyota Prius look like a fad.
The Prius is already a fad. It's dead-end technology - over complicated, hundreds of moving parts, and not really all that effective. A Prius works by trading faster-running efficiency for slower-running efficiency - i.e. it moves the optimal efficiency point from about 55mph down to about 20mph, and adds a bit of regenerative braking. Big deal. It's still very, very inefficient. It's slightly useful if you do mostly city driving, but little use on a long run. The Prius is not what you'd call a performance car - drive it hard and it's much worse than many ordinary cars. It also has a lot of embodied energy in the form of its batteries and other exotic parts that other cars lack. That's an issue that all electric cars will have to solve too though. But by ditching the IC engine, drivetrain and so on, they already have a huge advantage in terms of weight and simplicity. The Prius is the worst of both worlds - a complicated IC engine AND all the electric paraphernalia.
The Prius is pure greenwash - its (mostly yuppy) buyers think they are saving the planet, but it doesn't stack up. It might be a slightly better option than an SUV but its time is going to be very limited. Enjoy pulling the wool over everyone's eyes while you still can, Toyota!
Charlie Brooker uses a Mac. This is just his "inverted psychology" evangelism. Everything he says about Apple products in the article promotes them - it's the smug users he's attacking, and quite rightly.
By the way, anyone else think there's some sexual tension between the two women in this execrable party video?
Every logical bone in my body (head?) is telling me this is ridiculous, paranoid, a step too far, goes against everything I've ever thought, etc. However, as a newish parent (my only daughter is now 3 and a half) there is an emotion creeping in that sees the benefit of this.
I expect logic and principles will win out - for now. I'm sure one reason for the growing number of paranoid parent is the declining birth rate - you really do view your one child as so precious that your principles are easily modified (or discarded altogether, to be truthful), and the technology is becoming available and more affordable, so there are going to be fewer reasons like cost to stand in the way. When trackers are $10 in K-Mart, who is NOT going to have one? I'd like to think I wouldn't on principle but what if nonces start targeting those without? You see how it starts?
Feel free, I'm a British Citizen, resident in Australia. I doubt his jurisdiction applies, even if in his own head he runs the world! In fact, I, on the other side of the world, now know that this guy *is* a jerk, which previously I didn't, so his jerk-like tendencies are now known globally. I think it's known as the Streisand Effect.
I encourage as many people to criticise him online as possible; he can't haul in everyone. It's the only sane response to an insane individual.
You personally don't see it. So? Try actually using it, maybe? The advantages of Obj-C over C/C++ are so manifold that the only way to appreciate it is to code in it. A list of features won't relay much if you don't try it. I used to think C++ would be all I'd ever need, but then I got into Obj-C and my productivity went through the roof. I could never go back now. In fact I don't know how to even express myself in C++ for the kinds of concept I can take for granted in Obj-C.
Today The Damned announced that their forthcoming single "New Rose" will be available in the shops on Tuesday, to be followed by "Eloise" next month. Spokesman Captain Sensible, when asked to clarify, was quoted as saying "Wot?".
I'll say one thing for the Russians, when they have a disaster they have a really big, proper, all-out disaster. They don't do things by half there, unlike the half-assed yanks with their Three-Mile Island and whatnot.
The draftsman who drew them used the wrong width pen
Forgive my skepticism, but assuming your basic story is true, this can't be the explanation for it. The pen width on drawings is irrelevant - it's only the marked dimensions that matter. Unless someone in manufacturing took measurements off the drawing - but that would be ridiculous, exceedingly unprofessional and the first thing you learn never to do; and the reason that all plans have 'DO NOT SCALE' or similar written in large friendly letters on them.
Passenger cars are already a miracle of modern engineering in terms of efficiency and pollution.
Hilarious! This is just wrong, quite simply. The IC engine is 35% efficient and falling, as more and more power is absorbed by pollution controls and toys. The auto industry has had no incentive whatsoever to improve this for decades because people by and large just keep buying them, and besides, the physics dictates that they can't do substantially better with this technology anyway.
The electric motor on the other hand, is 80 - 90% efficient in an automotive role, and is much quieter, doesn't pollute in itself and doesn't require clunky transmissions, clutches, cooling, lubrication and complicated peripherals and whatnot to deliver its output to the roadwheels. Where research is needed is in the energy storage (batteries, fuel cells, supercapacitors, whatever...).
The IC engine in any form (diesel included) is over. Carnot is the past, Faraday is the future.
Now that GM has fully transitioned from company-that-makes-cars-for-profit into union-employment-welfare-program, it will never go away unless the government itself does
You've described the state of the British car industry in 1979 to a tee. The UK government is still there, but the car industry? Look it up...
My wife uses a MacBook Pro and switches between Vista and OS X with Boot Camp (mostly using Vista). When the computer is idle in Vista, I've noticed it quite often thrashing the hard disk for many, many minutes and repeats this at intervals, like every half hour or so. On OS X, it never does this - sleep is sleep and the thing is always quiet. I wonder is this behaviour (whatever it's for) is the cause of the power drain?
It's called fashion. People (especially the young) like what everyone else in their peer group likes - it's an irrational, unthinking positive feedback loop.
Slashdot Mirror
Unfortunately, somewhere between now and when I was a kid...people stopped buying good home audio systems. I don't quite know what or what happened. Somewhere along the line...ONLY portable players came into vogue...and it is sad that so many are losing out how good sound reproduction can be. I dunno if it is cause or effect....but, so much of todays music is mixed so poorly, overly compressed with no dynamic headroom anymore. So, maybe there isn't much point to getting good gear, if new music is no longer mixed to get the most out of it.
Why do most people seem to prefer trash novels to great literature? I don't know, but they do. Same thing really. I enjoy high-end audio too but I don't care whether others do or not, it's my choice. The reality is that I mostly listen to music in the car and the high-end stuff is rarely switched on because I just don't have time to just sit down and listen to music, as an activity in and of itself. More's the pity, but it's probably true for most people too. That's why an iPod with cheap 'phones is the norm. Likelihood is that in terms of quality of reproduction, we've peaked already, as compressed formats are going to dominate eventually. Look at video/TV. We're already being sold the lie that because it's digital, it's automatically the best thing ever, and people are buying huge screens in droves to get that experience. But hideous encoding artefacts are readily apparent and screens have to smear the image using horrible median filters to help cover it up. But obviously, nobody cares and the broadcasters/manufacturers are laughing all the way to the bank.
Baseball Bat 1, Helicopter 0.
GCD is quite inconvenient without closures
Except that it does have closures, only Apple prefer to call them blocks. The Cocoa APIs have been extensively revved to include many block-based enhancements to existing APIs that previously used more awkward callbacks.
Since no one's responded, let me be the first to say that you have absolutely no clue what you're talking about. Why you were modded up I'll never understand
Well, I certainly didn't intend it as a troll, I'm quite serious. It's fair to say that the Prius is flavour of the month, and a lot of people are considering buying one, and when you speak against a popular fad (for that is what it is, in the longer view) then people will disagree with you, abusing mod points to suppress an unpopular view. C'est la vie. It doesn't mean I'm wrong.
People talk about cams this and split differentials that and Atkinson late closure the other. These are all super-complicated, mechanical band-aids that are trying to prop up an increasingly untenable lump of machinery for turning fossil fuel into rotary motion. Compared to the pure simplicity of passing a current through a wire in a magnetic field all these devices are Heath Robinson (or Rube Goldberg, if you're from that side of the pond) in comparison. Given a supply of electric current, some control electronics and a motor will give you 80-90% efficiency with no heavy and unnecessary clutches, transmission, differentials or other props necessary. The problem of course is that we are not given a supply of electricity, we are given a messy tank of petrol and therein lies the problem. However, I do not believe the Prius is the right solution. As a parallel hybrid it marries the chief disadvantages of IC and electric. If we are stuck with the need for hybrids for the short term (we probably are) then FFS why not build a series hybrid that actually marries the advantages instead? As the infrastructure starts to come on stream for plug-ins and hydrogen or whatever these vehicles can be easily adapted, as the essential drivetrain will remain common. Where will these developments leave the Prius? Dead and gone, that's where. 80mpg might sound impressive for those of you SUV owners used to less than 20, but many small conventional European and Japanese cars have had similar figures for decades. Ho hum - wake me up when there's really something to write home about, like 200-400 mpg (theoretically possible).
Don't kid yourselves, buying a new vehicle to "save the planet" is deluded. Keep your old one, no matter how inefficient it is, until something truly better and efficient comes along. Its energy costs have already been paid, for better or worse. Don't pay them over again, how is that ecologically sound?
I predict a mass exodus from gasoline to electric powered cars that will make the Toyota Prius look like a fad.
The Prius is already a fad. It's dead-end technology - over complicated, hundreds of moving parts, and not really all that effective. A Prius works by trading faster-running efficiency for slower-running efficiency - i.e. it moves the optimal efficiency point from about 55mph down to about 20mph, and adds a bit of regenerative braking. Big deal. It's still very, very inefficient. It's slightly useful if you do mostly city driving, but little use on a long run. The Prius is not what you'd call a performance car - drive it hard and it's much worse than many ordinary cars. It also has a lot of embodied energy in the form of its batteries and other exotic parts that other cars lack. That's an issue that all electric cars will have to solve too though. But by ditching the IC engine, drivetrain and so on, they already have a huge advantage in terms of weight and simplicity. The Prius is the worst of both worlds - a complicated IC engine AND all the electric paraphernalia.
The Prius is pure greenwash - its (mostly yuppy) buyers think they are saving the planet, but it doesn't stack up. It might be a slightly better option than an SUV but its time is going to be very limited. Enjoy pulling the wool over everyone's eyes while you still can, Toyota!
Symantec's vice president of engineering, dismissed MFE as a "poor product" that will "never be up to snuff."
Pot, meet kettle.
Charlie Brooker uses a Mac. This is just his "inverted psychology" evangelism. Everything he says about Apple products in the article promotes them - it's the smug users he's attacking, and quite rightly.
By the way, anyone else think there's some sexual tension between the two women in this execrable party video?
I invented a similar language once called BOLOC. But I never had the balls to carry it through to market.
Every logical bone in my body (head?) is telling me this is ridiculous, paranoid, a step too far, goes against everything I've ever thought, etc. However, as a newish parent (my only daughter is now 3 and a half) there is an emotion creeping in that sees the benefit of this.
I expect logic and principles will win out - for now. I'm sure one reason for the growing number of paranoid parent is the declining birth rate - you really do view your one child as so precious that your principles are easily modified (or discarded altogether, to be truthful), and the technology is becoming available and more affordable, so there are going to be fewer reasons like cost to stand in the way. When trackers are $10 in K-Mart, who is NOT going to have one? I'd like to think I wouldn't on principle but what if nonces start targeting those without? You see how it starts?
Feel free, I'm a British Citizen, resident in Australia. I doubt his jurisdiction applies, even if in his own head he runs the world! In fact, I, on the other side of the world, now know that this guy *is* a jerk, which previously I didn't, so his jerk-like tendencies are now known globally. I think it's known as the Streisand Effect.
I encourage as many people to criticise him online as possible; he can't haul in everyone. It's the only sane response to an insane individual.
That police chief in Austin, Texas? - He's a Jerk. So sue me!
The data might still be there
Nope. The Mac Plus had no internal hard drive.
Fuck. Me. I sometimes wonder what it must be like to be a person with no moral fibre at all. I can't imagine it, must be weird.
A truly awful, dull game. I wonder if this will be any more interesting?
You personally don't see it. So? Try actually using it, maybe? The advantages of Obj-C over C/C++ are so manifold that the only way to appreciate it is to code in it. A list of features won't relay much if you don't try it. I used to think C++ would be all I'd ever need, but then I got into Obj-C and my productivity went through the roof. I could never go back now. In fact I don't know how to even express myself in C++ for the kinds of concept I can take for granted in Obj-C.
Today The Damned announced that their forthcoming single "New Rose" will be available in the shops on Tuesday, to be followed by "Eloise" next month. Spokesman Captain Sensible, when asked to clarify, was quoted as saying "Wot?".
I'll say one thing for the Russians, when they have a disaster they have a really big, proper, all-out disaster. They don't do things by half there, unlike the half-assed yanks with their Three-Mile Island and whatnot.
As they've always wanted to be as cool as Apple, it's obvious - this is their chance to have their "System 7". Pity that was almost 20 years ago...
The draftsman who drew them used the wrong width pen
Forgive my skepticism, but assuming your basic story is true, this can't be the explanation for it. The pen width on drawings is irrelevant - it's only the marked dimensions that matter. Unless someone in manufacturing took measurements off the drawing - but that would be ridiculous, exceedingly unprofessional and the first thing you learn never to do; and the reason that all plans have 'DO NOT SCALE' or similar written in large friendly letters on them.
Passenger cars are already a miracle of modern engineering in terms of efficiency and pollution.
Hilarious! This is just wrong, quite simply. The IC engine is 35% efficient and falling, as more and more power is absorbed by pollution controls and toys. The auto industry has had no incentive whatsoever to improve this for decades because people by and large just keep buying them, and besides, the physics dictates that they can't do substantially better with this technology anyway.
The electric motor on the other hand, is 80 - 90% efficient in an automotive role, and is much quieter, doesn't pollute in itself and doesn't require clunky transmissions, clutches, cooling, lubrication and complicated peripherals and whatnot to deliver its output to the roadwheels. Where research is needed is in the energy storage (batteries, fuel cells, supercapacitors, whatever...).
The IC engine in any form (diesel included) is over. Carnot is the past, Faraday is the future.
Now that GM has fully transitioned from company-that-makes-cars-for-profit into union-employment-welfare-program, it will never go away unless the government itself does
You've described the state of the British car industry in 1979 to a tee. The UK government is still there, but the car industry? Look it up...
I'd be interested to know what other life you're generalising to, since as far as I know, Earth life is all we've had to study so far.
the Sun may not be the ideal kind of star to nurture life, and that the Earth may not be the ideal size
Since life evolved to suit the conditions, this statement is silly. The Sun and the Earth are perfect for life as it is found in the Sun/Earth system.
My wife uses a MacBook Pro and switches between Vista and OS X with Boot Camp (mostly using Vista). When the computer is idle in Vista, I've noticed it quite often thrashing the hard disk for many, many minutes and repeats this at intervals, like every half hour or so. On OS X, it never does this - sleep is sleep and the thing is always quiet. I wonder is this behaviour (whatever it's for) is the cause of the power drain?
It's called fashion. People (especially the young) like what everyone else in their peer group likes - it's an irrational, unthinking positive feedback loop.