Hello? Reality to the readers of Slashdot. Every time China is mentioned in any/. article, China's human rights issues are immediately pushed to the forefront. I have serious beef with that in the form of two main issues:
1. The "get priorities straight" or "let's see China get some basic human rights" posts are more cliche and more often seen than hot grits and Natalie Portman (then again, I read at +1).
2. It's 2004 people, China is no longer the China of ten, even five years ago. China is one of the most rapidly developing nations and with each major technological push in the country, the people receive even more degrees of freedom. When I was in China just two years ago, I could talk to just about anyone about how they felt about the government. No discomfort, no "oh crap, is he secret police?" (I am Chinese, US Citizen, with Beijing Mandarin accent so it's hard to tell that I'm not from there)
Though Internet access is "spotty," e.g. no access to Google cache, etc. They have the Internet and most of it at that. Sure, things operate differently there and it's easier to find yourself in a jail cell. But there is no longer the mentality of "he critized the government, flog him."
Now, in the more interior/central parts of China, changes are slower than on the coast because of the slower pace of technological change there. But I can't emphasize this enough: China has made some serious progress from ten and even five years ago. Every year, China makes big strides. People have more freedom in their speech, press, and some places even have elections.
Also, since it's obvious that most people here aren't that knowledgeable about China (nor am I, but at least I know enough that it's not how everyone is describing it), another important thing to note is the changing of leadership. The old guard is slowly receding with China's new president (though obviously Jiang is still a big figure lurking in the shadows) and fresh blood in the Congress. New ideas and new leadership will only make the country better
Lastly, though we always hear about human rights violations every year, I feel (and this is just my opinion, no real facts here) that a lot of it is blown out of proportion. Not to say that it's okay, but that perhaps people should try to be less biased about it. I think that because people hear about these incidents in China, they automatically think, "Damn, that China, they'll never fix their human rights problems. They are always beating people and torturing them, etc." But now, put that in perspective of what happens in many other developed countries (US, Britain, etc.) Many people are unlawfully detained, or excessive force is used upon them, or they are mistakenly incarcerated. I think that if you took all the news stories about those types of events happening in the US, and said it happened in China, people would go nuts calling out for China to give their citizens "basic human rights."
Though I think that this is a great idea for a study, aren't the conclusions found by this research ultimately meaningless? In his overall ratings graph, there are a total of eighteen samples and the other track-based analysis have fewer samples than that (N=17, N=15, etc.). This isn't even close to what is required for a good sampling of the US population! (I believe you need about 1,500 to get even close for most statistical comparison of US population.)
Add onto this the fact that no random sampling was done and this test is even more meaningless because of the self-selectivity of the participants. People who were sampled were most likely those with active Internet connections and those of the audiophile and/or Slashdot-type "Nerd" communities online. Naturally, we are more accustomed to hearing vorbis as a file format. Perhaps "Joe Blow" down the street hears a very different tune, but this method of sampling doesn't account for that, because Joe Blow never even heard about participating in this study.
Granted, that might be okay since I think perhaps the self-selectivity of the participants yield results that will match up with those who actually care, but I still can't see how the insignificant sample sizes used for this research can have any real meaning.
Yes, but insurance companies aren't massed into a huge media controller like the RIAA. There are plenty of cut-rate insurers who I'm sure would gladly drop premiums for motorists in areas that have these studs. Of course the insurance industry is another one of those not-so ethical industries, but the fact that there is competition ought to help drop premiums.
It is indeed me; you're welcome to e-mail me at sharon_machlis at computerworld dot com to confirm. (plse excuse the probably vain attempt to foil e-mail harvesting) I visit Slashdot reasonably often but have never opened an account to post before.
You've invited the/. population to e-mail you. Unless the editors at CW are insane, you can't be the editor at CW. There's just no way any sane person would invite a massive e-mail flood.
Well, not just questioning him, but the prying into his files might flag him at other institutions/agencies which would lead to more hassles. The overall harassment effect might be considered "unreasonable" as a result of their search process.
I'm thinking that an interpretation of the 4th amendment:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against <b>unreasonable searches</b> and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Seems to me that this kind of investigation should fall under the term unreasonable search, no? Obviously, the FBI/Dept. of Homeland Security wouldn't agree, but is this even possible to bring to court?
Two things:
1) I never said anything about the "precious AP libraries" - I don't know anyone who likes them and/or misses them.
2) You are REQUIRED to use the AP libraries on the exam.
I'm talking about the problem of having an AP-specific library on the exam and teaching theory through Java in the classroom. I'm not talking about using the AP C++ library in class.
Obviously you have to learn the Java libraries but my point was that you don't have to learn two separate libraries since you'll be using the Java library in class anyway. I don't know many computer science classes that bother to teach the AP library and most opt to use either their own or ask the students to build their own vectors, hash tables, etc. Also, the Sun references are excellent, just look at
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/java/util/ ArrayList.html
get runs in constant time for arraylists.
The C++ exam was definitely not only one year in the running. It was for many years, probably 5+ or so, Pascal being supplanted in the mid/late 90s. I took the exam years ago and I think it's a good move to bring the AP to Java for a number of reasons.
The biggest reason is the computer science AP when administered using C++ required students to learn the "AP" libraries. That is, they actually developed their own versions of the important data structures that most people use. I think this was mainly due to the fact that most people see the STL as bloated and under-utilized. On the other hand, everyone uses the Java libraries and this cuts out the need to learn additional code (not to mention that the AP code like apvector, apmatrix, etc. wasn't even written that well).
Of course, teaching Java does seem to abstract memory management too much, and this is a negative as a result of moving to Java for the AP exam. However, this is outweighed by the consideration above and the fact that I think it's genearally "more fun" for students to learn Java.
By "more fun" I mean that every student will be able to write applications at home or at school and be sure that it will run elsewhere regardless of what system they have. I remember as a TA for a high school programming class that sometimes code wouldn't work going from home to school to other machines at school (e.g. Visual Studio->CodeWarrior->KDevelop) and often, people who wanted to do more advanced things with graphics were limited by the libraries (though I guess we could've done stuff with Allegro or something of the sort). With Java, there's instant gratification in being able to drop in an import for awt and swing and immediately get GUI feedback.
Finally, because it's most important to learn theory in these courses, Java makes for better teaching in comparison to C++. Stronger typecasting, no multiple inheritance, etc. makes Java a language that is "better" in terms of teaching computer science theory (though it's not necessarily better so in practice).
Netcraft's Rich Miller confirms it: Apache is dying
Apache, once the dominant web server in the market, is dying. As a result of its imminent death, all other Apache Foundation projects have been put on hold and resources are being pooled together in order to concentrate on stopping the massive hemorrhaging that results from selling Apache for free.
"Well, our business model didn't project us losing money by giving our products away for free," explained Brian Behlendorf in an interview with Rich Miller. Because of the lack of foresight, red oozes at the Apache Foundation and the torrent of cash flowing out cannot be stopped.
When asked for comment, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer stated, "I think this is great news. Microsoft be there for you when your Apache product is no longer supported. Our Services for Unix group is working on a whole set of tools to help you migrate from Apache to IIS." In fact, even the Apache Foundation suggests switching to IIS as it will soon be impossible to maintain any of their projects.
While I agree that often people whine and I whine sometimes too. I can't agree that my comment was "whining" in the way you describe it. I, too, see articles that don't interest me. What bugs me is that/. is about news and special features that "nerds" might find interesting. A link to a review (not to mention an influenced review at that) about a keyboard that's been out for some time isn't news. There's no news in terms of technology or product. It's only "news" in the sense that there's a new review for it out there. So you see, it's not a matter of taste; it's a matter of that article being unworthy of any/. topic.
Not really. Like someone who's already replied to this post, China already has missile technology easily capable of hitting Taiwan. Taiwan and China are right next to each other. Back in the day, when they were still fighting each other with weapons, artillery fire was able to reach the smaller islands that are part of Taiwan from the coast of China. Yes, it's that close. Oh, and can the US really make it in time to save Taiwan? Maybe, maybe not. The article provides an interesting insight as to how China could quickly take over the island. Remember, it's not like the US Navy sits in the Taiwan strait all day. They actually have to deploy out from Japan/S. Korea/Guam/etc.
Yes, the lameness filter is blocking from posting, but an AC has already posted the code. It starts by quoting Genesis and later on some Shakespeare to get around the filter. Just look for that thread.
Oh, c'mon. Though a dense headline, it is easily interpreted.
SNK Adds PS2 Metal Slug, KOF Compilations To Xbox Ports
So there are a number of things going on here. Most important to realize is that XBox is no longer running Microsoft's custom operating system. Instead, it is running FreeBSD and so it uses the ports and packages collection. As a result, SNK is able to add their new compilations of KOF and Metal Slug into the ports collection for XBox. Also note that the gcc compiler included in the FreeBSD for XBox has the ability to cross-compile for the PS2, hence, the PS2 compilations in the headline. Use
I tried using shfs but it didn't work very well (YMMV, I'm running a Gentoo 2.6.3 kernel) with my system. Frequent timeouts and the program had problems unmounting shfs mounts. I recently switched to using the "FISH" feature in KDE (fish://username@host/path_to_stuff/) and that has worked fairly well for my purposes.
Slashdot Mirror
1. The "get priorities straight" or "let's see China get some basic human rights" posts are more cliche and more often seen than hot grits and Natalie Portman (then again, I read at +1).
2. It's 2004 people, China is no longer the China of ten, even five years ago. China is one of the most rapidly developing nations and with each major technological push in the country, the people receive even more degrees of freedom. When I was in China just two years ago, I could talk to just about anyone about how they felt about the government. No discomfort, no "oh crap, is he secret police?" (I am Chinese, US Citizen, with Beijing Mandarin accent so it's hard to tell that I'm not from there)
Though Internet access is "spotty," e.g. no access to Google cache, etc. They have the Internet and most of it at that. Sure, things operate differently there and it's easier to find yourself in a jail cell. But there is no longer the mentality of "he critized the government, flog him."
Now, in the more interior/central parts of China, changes are slower than on the coast because of the slower pace of technological change there. But I can't emphasize this enough: China has made some serious progress from ten and even five years ago. Every year, China makes big strides. People have more freedom in their speech, press, and some places even have elections.
Also, since it's obvious that most people here aren't that knowledgeable about China (nor am I, but at least I know enough that it's not how everyone is describing it), another important thing to note is the changing of leadership. The old guard is slowly receding with China's new president (though obviously Jiang is still a big figure lurking in the shadows) and fresh blood in the Congress. New ideas and new leadership will only make the country better
Lastly, though we always hear about human rights violations every year, I feel (and this is just my opinion, no real facts here) that a lot of it is blown out of proportion. Not to say that it's okay, but that perhaps people should try to be less biased about it. I think that because people hear about these incidents in China, they automatically think, "Damn, that China, they'll never fix their human rights problems. They are always beating people and torturing them, etc." But now, put that in perspective of what happens in many other developed countries (US, Britain, etc.) Many people are unlawfully detained, or excessive force is used upon them, or they are mistakenly incarcerated. I think that if you took all the news stories about those types of events happening in the US, and said it happened in China, people would go nuts calling out for China to give their citizens "basic human rights."
Uh-oh, my tinfoil hat is on and my gun is loaded and cocked. Four consecutive Slashdot stories without a single comment... what gives?
The team they've put on this is comprised of highly skilled professionals from all around the industry.
You should have used "... comprises highly skilled professionals..." Sorry, but 'comprised of' is one of the worst abuses of the English language.
And this has what to do with my rights?
What joke is that based on? I remember hearing a joke like that, but I can't remember the exact details. Care to refresh my memory? Thanks.
Though I think that this is a great idea for a study, aren't the conclusions found by this research ultimately meaningless? In his overall ratings graph, there are a total of eighteen samples and the other track-based analysis have fewer samples than that (N=17, N=15, etc.). This isn't even close to what is required for a good sampling of the US population! (I believe you need about 1,500 to get even close for most statistical comparison of US population.)
Add onto this the fact that no random sampling was done and this test is even more meaningless because of the self-selectivity of the participants. People who were sampled were most likely those with active Internet connections and those of the audiophile and/or Slashdot-type "Nerd" communities online. Naturally, we are more accustomed to hearing vorbis as a file format. Perhaps "Joe Blow" down the street hears a very different tune, but this method of sampling doesn't account for that, because Joe Blow never even heard about participating in this study.
Granted, that might be okay since I think perhaps the self-selectivity of the participants yield results that will match up with those who actually care, but I still can't see how the insignificant sample sizes used for this research can have any real meaning.
Some of us like being exposed...
to the sun.
KHAN!!!!
Slashdot announces that it will help ease the burden on mirror.ac.uk by mirroring its own posts.
Yes, but insurance companies aren't massed into a huge media controller like the RIAA. There are plenty of cut-rate insurers who I'm sure would gladly drop premiums for motorists in areas that have these studs. Of course the insurance industry is another one of those not-so ethical industries, but the fact that there is competition ought to help drop premiums.
It is indeed me; you're welcome to e-mail me at sharon_machlis at computerworld dot com to confirm. (plse excuse the probably vain attempt to foil e-mail harvesting) I visit Slashdot reasonably often but have never opened an account to post before.
/. population to e-mail you. Unless the editors at CW are insane, you can't be the editor at CW. There's just no way any sane person would invite a massive e-mail flood.
You've invited the
Well, not just questioning him, but the prying into his files might flag him at other institutions/agencies which would lead to more hassles. The overall harassment effect might be considered "unreasonable" as a result of their search process.
Seems to me that this kind of investigation should fall under the term unreasonable search, no? Obviously, the FBI/Dept. of Homeland Security wouldn't agree, but is this even possible to bring to court?
Two things:
1) I never said anything about the "precious AP libraries" - I don't know anyone who likes them and/or misses them.
2) You are REQUIRED to use the AP libraries on the exam.
I'm talking about the problem of having an AP-specific library on the exam and teaching theory through Java in the classroom. I'm not talking about using the AP C++ library in class.
Obviously you have to learn the Java libraries but my point was that you don't have to learn two separate libraries since you'll be using the Java library in class anyway. I don't know many computer science classes that bother to teach the AP library and most opt to use either their own or ask the students to build their own vectors, hash tables, etc. Also, the Sun references are excellent, just look at http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/java/util/ ArrayList.html
get runs in constant time for arraylists.
The C++ exam was definitely not only one year in the running. It was for many years, probably 5+ or so, Pascal being supplanted in the mid/late 90s. I took the exam years ago and I think it's a good move to bring the AP to Java for a number of reasons.
The biggest reason is the computer science AP when administered using C++ required students to learn the "AP" libraries. That is, they actually developed their own versions of the important data structures that most people use. I think this was mainly due to the fact that most people see the STL as bloated and under-utilized. On the other hand, everyone uses the Java libraries and this cuts out the need to learn additional code (not to mention that the AP code like apvector, apmatrix, etc. wasn't even written that well).Of course, teaching Java does seem to abstract memory management too much, and this is a negative as a result of moving to Java for the AP exam. However, this is outweighed by the consideration above and the fact that I think it's genearally "more fun" for students to learn Java.
By "more fun" I mean that every student will be able to write applications at home or at school and be sure that it will run elsewhere regardless of what system they have. I remember as a TA for a high school programming class that sometimes code wouldn't work going from home to school to other machines at school (e.g. Visual Studio->CodeWarrior->KDevelop) and often, people who wanted to do more advanced things with graphics were limited by the libraries (though I guess we could've done stuff with Allegro or something of the sort). With Java, there's instant gratification in being able to drop in an import for awt and swing and immediately get GUI feedback.
Finally, because it's most important to learn theory in these courses, Java makes for better teaching in comparison to C++. Stronger typecasting, no multiple inheritance, etc. makes Java a language that is "better" in terms of teaching computer science theory (though it's not necessarily better so in practice).
Netcraft's Rich Miller confirms it: Apache is dying
Apache, once the dominant web server in the market, is dying. As a result of its imminent death, all other Apache Foundation projects have been put on hold and resources are being pooled together in order to concentrate on stopping the massive hemorrhaging that results from selling Apache for free.
"Well, our business model didn't project us losing money by giving our products away for free," explained Brian Behlendorf in an interview with Rich Miller. Because of the lack of foresight, red oozes at the Apache Foundation and the torrent of cash flowing out cannot be stopped.
When asked for comment, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer stated, "I think this is great news. Microsoft be there for you when your Apache product is no longer supported. Our Services for Unix group is working on a whole set of tools to help you migrate from Apache to IIS." In fact, even the Apache Foundation suggests switching to IIS as it will soon be impossible to maintain any of their projects.
It's official: Apache is dying.
While I agree that often people whine and I whine sometimes too. I can't agree that my comment was "whining" in the way you describe it. I, too, see articles that don't interest me. What bugs me is that /. is about news and special features that "nerds" might find interesting. A link to a review (not to mention an influenced review at that) about a keyboard that's been out for some time isn't news. There's no news in terms of technology or product. It's only "news" in the sense that there's a new review for it out there. So you see, it's not a matter of taste; it's a matter of that article being unworthy of any /. topic.
News for Nerds. Stuff that matters. This article was a product review of a pointless device. Slow news day, editors?
Is it just me or has this horse been beaten enough already?
I'm pretty sure that by now, everyone knows that certain games and genres just don't translate well.
Not really. Like someone who's already replied to this post, China already has missile technology easily capable of hitting Taiwan. Taiwan and China are right next to each other. Back in the day, when they were still fighting each other with weapons, artillery fire was able to reach the smaller islands that are part of Taiwan from the coast of China. Yes, it's that close. Oh, and can the US really make it in time to save Taiwan? Maybe, maybe not. The article provides an interesting insight as to how China could quickly take over the island. Remember, it's not like the US Navy sits in the Taiwan strait all day. They actually have to deploy out from Japan/S. Korea/Guam/etc.
Yes, the lameness filter is blocking from posting, but an AC has already posted the code. It starts by quoting Genesis and later on some Shakespeare to get around the filter. Just look for that thread.
SNK Adds PS2 Metal Slug, KOF Compilations To Xbox Ports
So there are a number of things going on here. Most important to realize is that XBox is no longer running Microsoft's custom operating system. Instead, it is running FreeBSD and so it uses the ports and packages collection. As a result, SNK is able to add their new compilations of KOF and Metal Slug into the ports collection for XBox. Also note that the gcc compiler included in the FreeBSD for XBox has the ability to cross-compile for the PS2, hence, the PS2 compilations in the headline. Use
to install.
I tried using shfs but it didn't work very well (YMMV, I'm running a Gentoo 2.6.3 kernel) with my system. Frequent timeouts and the program had problems unmounting shfs mounts. I recently switched to using the "FISH" feature in KDE (fish://username@host/path_to_stuff/) and that has worked fairly well for my purposes.
I hope that clears up any confusion about whether or not Sedna has a moon lurking behind it.