You may want to rethink your chosen Slashdot name, "PhysicsGenius"...
Increasing Earth's rotational inertia would decrease angular velocity, which would LENGTHEN the amount of time required to complete one revolution.
In this case, the quake caused some settling to occur in the plates, which caused rotational inertia to decrease, angular velocity increased, and the day shortened.
Earlier this year, a couple of people rode Segways into the building in which I work (the one and only time I've ever actually seen a Segway in person -- this is not a normal occurance).
They rode in, looked around, and rode the Segways down an escalator. Yes, they RODE the Segways down an ESCALATOR. I thought they would certainly fall, but they did manage to get downstairs safely.
Of course, they could have just taken the elevator, which was about 20 feet away... but that wouldn't have been nearly as cool.
You can potentially address this by adding something like a PIN or password into the system, but that loses both the supposed benefits of the biometric identification and simply shifts the burden of security back where it's always been: remembering a unique piece of information that no one else has.
There are three forms of authentication.
Something you have (ID card)
Something you know (PIN)
Something you are (Fingerprint)
From what I've read (Google the above terms, plus "authentication"), most people consider authentication based on any one of those insufficient. Authentication based on two of the above is generally sufficient, and based on all three is ideal.
When the PS2 came out, Electronics Boutique was offering a supplementary 2-year warranty (for something like $80), and would cover any and all damages incurred. They'd simply give you a new PS2 if you brought in a damaged one.
I happened to be browsing at the local ElBo one day and overheard a conversation between the store manager and a customer, whom was purchasing a new PS2. The former was trying to convince the latter into buying the warranty. His argument (paraphrased):
Manager: We had someone come in days before his warranty was up. He asked if the warranty covered all damages, regardless of the reason for the damages. I told him that it does. He proceeded to drop the PS2 on the ground and stomp on it, cursing [some game that I can't remember]. He handed the mangled PS2 to me and his receipt. I handed him a brand new boxed PS2.
See? Those warranties really ARE worth it -- stress relief!
The SecureID tags typically (always?) generate a new 6-digit number every 60 seconds. How many AOL users would have difficulty hunting-and-pecking those 6 keys before a new number is generated?
Also, of the systems I've had to use SecureID, if you mistype the number, you need to wait until the tag generates two new numbers before you can try again.
We're in the same boat, I see -- DC280 for $600 about 5 years ago. My dad recently bought a Konica Minolta DiMAGE X20, which is only 2MP, but at just over 4 ounces (115g) and no protruding lens, it's pretty slick.
My DC280 died about a year ago (refused to power up at all). I went so far as to take the thing apart and check all of the battery connections with a multimeter, but no luck. Put it back together, gave it to my 4 year-old daughter. She was kind enough to whack it on the ground a couple of times. Lo and behold, it now works perfectly.:)
I can't see doing something I love as my hobby for pay. It just takes all the fun out of it for me.
I started programming as a hobby (years ago) and am now presently employed as a professional programmer / software engineer. I can honestly say that I still love it.
The catch, however, is that this is only really true in relatively long-running applications. The interpreter (CLR/JVM/etc) is best at optimizing code after said code has been executed a number of times during any given instantiation.
Don't get me wrong -- I love managed code environments. I find that I'm significantly more productive when coding in C# or Java than in C++. The performance hit for the managed code environments becomes negligible when averaged over the course of the day, for the server-style apps I write, due to runtime optimization.
And what happens when the pilot's holding the trigger and a Friendly flies by in his peripheral vision? Pilot swings his head around to see what's there, and...
DISCLAIMER: IANAAP (Apache Pilot), but I play one on my computer... and have accidentally destroyed Friendlies with an inadvertant tap of the mouse.
Slashdot Mirror
Could it be?! Is "$sys$" the new "^H^H^H"?
Increasing Earth's rotational inertia would decrease angular velocity, which would LENGTHEN the amount of time required to complete one revolution.
In this case, the quake caused some settling to occur in the plates, which caused rotational inertia to decrease, angular velocity increased, and the day shortened.
new slashdot article
race to think of relevant nerd-culture reference
try to post before another nerd gets to it.
4. Profit!!!
Johnnycab: We hope you enjoyed the ride!
S.R. Hadden: First rule in government spending: why build one when you can have two at twice the price?
Oh.
They rode in, looked around, and rode the Segways down an escalator. Yes, they RODE the Segways down an ESCALATOR. I thought they would certainly fall, but they did manage to get downstairs safely.
Of course, they could have just taken the elevator, which was about 20 feet away... but that wouldn't have been nearly as cool.
- Something you have (ID card)
- Something you know (PIN)
- Something you are (Fingerprint)
From what I've read (Google the above terms, plus "authentication"), most people consider authentication based on any one of those insufficient. Authentication based on two of the above is generally sufficient, and based on all three is ideal.I happened to be browsing at the local ElBo one day and overheard a conversation between the store manager and a customer, whom was purchasing a new PS2. The former was trying to convince the latter into buying the warranty. His argument (paraphrased):
Manager: We had someone come in days before his warranty was up. He asked if the warranty covered all damages, regardless of the reason for the damages. I told him that it does. He proceeded to drop the PS2 on the ground and stomp on it, cursing [some game that I can't remember]. He handed the mangled PS2 to me and his receipt. I handed him a brand new boxed PS2.
See? Those warranties really ARE worth it -- stress relief!
Dude, "Referrer" is spelled with four r's, not two.
/me ducks
Also, of the systems I've had to use SecureID, if you mistype the number, you need to wait until the tag generates two new numbers before you can try again.
We're in the same boat, I see -- DC280 for $600 about 5 years ago. My dad recently bought a Konica Minolta DiMAGE X20, which is only 2MP, but at just over 4 ounces (115g) and no protruding lens, it's pretty slick.
:)
My DC280 died about a year ago (refused to power up at all). I went so far as to take the thing apart and check all of the battery connections with a multimeter, but no luck. Put it back together, gave it to my 4 year-old daughter. She was kind enough to whack it on the ground a couple of times. Lo and behold, it now works perfectly.
I started programming as a hobby (years ago) and am now presently employed as a professional programmer / software engineer. I can honestly say that I still love it.
How is this any different?
Yours can't already? That's odd...
...I just assumed everyone's could...
Slashdot: The one true glog (*log log)
You got off lucky -- I turned my laser 180 degrees and burned my retinas out.
...I hate when that happens...
Don't get me wrong -- I love managed code environments. I find that I'm significantly more productive when coding in C# or Java than in C++. The performance hit for the managed code environments becomes negligible when averaged over the course of the day, for the server-style apps I write, due to runtime optimization.
And what happens when the pilot's holding the trigger and a Friendly flies by in his peripheral vision? Pilot swings his head around to see what's there, and... DISCLAIMER: IANAAP (Apache Pilot), but I play one on my computer... and have accidentally destroyed Friendlies with an inadvertant tap of the mouse.
4. Four words: Beerbot Self-Defense Taser.
How do you get them to roll through the typewriter? Every time I try, the data keeps flaking off...