I asked as a child (when phones had rotary dials and pulse mechanisms) why 999 was for an emergency - where 111 would be much faster to dial.
The answer I was given was that in a dark smoke-filled house, when you find the phone, you stick your finger in the hole next to the fingerguard and that's the 9.
can anyone confirm this was the reason for choosing 999?
In essence, it's a hell of a long way to pass a slip of paper in a relatively short period of time. At an orbiting speed of 17,500mph you could cross France in just over a minute.
Maybe the rat-brains could be trained in collision avoidance and human pilots wouldn't be needed.
Has anyone yet decided who is to oversee "air traffic control" once you pass out of the air and into space? Will each country be responsible for their own spacespace - and will a strike by the space trafic controllers of one particular country cause you to orbit in a holding pattern for 3 days?
They *always* wrap things up neatly in the last 6-7 minutes
Of course they do - it's highlights of actual events edited to fit in a an approximate 45 minute time slot. Do you think once in a while they should show the entire 3 uneventful days spent crossing a galaxy at warp 7? It would be as entertaining as watching Marina Sirtis' beard grow.
The jobs of today are being sent overseas, the jobs of tomorrow are not here yet. Great times we live in. People wonder why I want to leave
For years and years people flocked to America - the new promised land, to take up all the jobs that suddenly appeared...
...and now, a couple of hundred years later, America shunts all those jobs back overseas and people actually complain? Follow the jobs! be a part of a developing country again, and enjoy life while you do it.
Computers don't inherently get slower and less usable over time
If you look at this from a relative standpoint, they certainly do. Admittedly they are running at the same speed they have always muddled along at, but everyone elses is much faster now. Applications need more and more ram, hd storage and graphics processing power each year - so what do you do... upgrade?
Modern ram needs a faster bus? eh? ok, so I need a new motherboard. wouldn't have fitted either so ok, I'll buy that - but the mobo now doesn't fit in my case. I'll have one of them then. no ISA slots? ok, new soundcard.
I've added up what I spent on upgrades and just seen the advert for Dell mentioned earlier in the thread. it's cost me more to upgrade than it would have done to buy new.
So, is there any point at all upgrading - you will probably spend more in the long run continually upgrading than just running it into the ground and buying new. (unlike with cars)
Sorry if you think I was having a troll at the Americans - upon re-reading it certainly seems that way.
The original meaning, established in the 15th century, was a million squared which is where the bi comes from.
THAT's what I meant by a REAL one.
In the 17th century a small number of French and Italian scientists began using billion to describe 10^9 (not 10^8) after the grouping of numbers was changed from six digits to three.
Both systems were in fact invented by the French, but are called British and American "for convenience".
Wisdom is making the best use of available knowledge or the ability to make strategically correct decisions based on the values of others that the decision will affect.
I'm sure D&D defines the traits better in the manual.
To allow particle accelerators you need to expand your parameters a bit to include natural objects accelerated by man.
The fastest "man-made" objects - I would hazard a guess at probes sent from Earth to other planets. Voyager 1 travels at roughly 17.4 km/sec or 38,923 MPH
This will all be put to shame by the Mini-Magnetospheric Plasma Propulsion system (M2P2) - which if it actually got into production and was launched could overtake Voyager1 (launched in 1977 with a 11 Billion Km head start) in 10 years.
This M2P2 drive in a nutshell would create a 60 km wide magnetic field filled with plasma behind it, trapping the solar wind and propelling it to a predicted 180,000 mph.
Let's just hope with all that trapped wind they have enough gaviscon to stop it when it gets where it's going...
Doesn't that make the robot program the first computer program in history?
Perhaps if it were a computer. I suppose that depends on the definitions you give to "computer", "input", "calculate" and "output".
There are so many definitions of computer from the simple "Machine that processes information" to the more indepth "An electronic device with the ability to (1) accept user-supplied data, (2) input, store, and execute programmed instructions, (3) perform mathematical and logic operations, and (4) output results according to user specifications."
What does a machine have to be able to do before it can be called a computer?
oh how $2 per gallon would affect my life... In the UK we're currently paying close to $7 per gallon - most of which as you probably know is TAX. It sucks.
Slashdot Mirror
> Have you tried www.froogle.com ?
Kelkoo has been doing this since 2000. What makes google's version special?
> How about the google image search?
yahoo VIDEO search is a little more innovative than just pictures.
> I can't wait to see their next new big thing.
Look elsewhere first.
I asked as a child (when phones had rotary dials and pulse mechanisms) why 999 was for an emergency - where 111 would be much faster to dial.
The answer I was given was that in a dark smoke-filled house, when you find the phone, you stick your finger in the hole next to the fingerguard and that's the 9.
can anyone confirm this was the reason for choosing 999?
In essence, it's a hell of a long way to pass a slip of paper in a relatively short period of time. At an orbiting speed of 17,500mph you could cross France in just over a minute.
Maybe the rat-brains could be trained in collision avoidance and human pilots wouldn't be needed.
I was going to say Spanish Air Traffic Control - but thought that might be seen as trolling :-)
Has anyone yet decided who is to oversee "air traffic control" once you pass out of the air and into space? Will each country be responsible for their own spacespace - and will a strike by the space trafic controllers of one particular country cause you to orbit in a holding pattern for 3 days?
They *always* wrap things up neatly in the last 6-7 minutes
Of course they do - it's highlights of actual events edited to fit in a an approximate 45 minute time slot. Do you think once in a while they should show the entire 3 uneventful days spent crossing a galaxy at warp 7? It would be as entertaining as watching Marina Sirtis' beard grow.
The jobs of today are being sent overseas, the jobs of tomorrow are not here yet. Great times we live in. People wonder why I want to leave
For years and years people flocked to America - the new promised land, to take up all the jobs that suddenly appeared...
...and now, a couple of hundred years later, America shunts all those jobs back overseas and people actually complain? Follow the jobs! be a part of a developing country again, and enjoy life while you do it.
Computers don't inherently get slower and less usable over time
If you look at this from a relative standpoint, they certainly do. Admittedly they are running at the same speed they have always muddled along at, but everyone elses is much faster now. Applications need more and more ram, hd storage and graphics processing power each year - so what do you do... upgrade?
Modern ram needs a faster bus? eh? ok, so I need a new motherboard. wouldn't have fitted either so ok, I'll buy that - but the mobo now doesn't fit in my case. I'll have one of them then. no ISA slots? ok, new soundcard.
I've added up what I spent on upgrades and just seen the advert for Dell mentioned earlier in the thread. it's cost me more to upgrade than it would have done to buy new.
So, is there any point at all upgrading - you will probably spend more in the long run continually upgrading than just running it into the ground and buying new. (unlike with cars)
...are there really that many calls for emergency assistance, or are they basing it on a people-per-exchange basis?
and WHO do you call when 911 don't respond?
I suppose you would need a base of operations on the moon - a permanent structure of some description?
If you made this your registered company address would you need to pay Earth taxes? I guess it brings a new level to offshore tax dodging...
Sorry if you think I was having a troll at the Americans - upon re-reading it certainly seems that way.
The original meaning, established in the 15th century, was a million squared which is where the bi comes from.
THAT's what I meant by a REAL one.
In the 17th century a small number of French and Italian scientists began using billion to describe 10^9 (not 10^8) after the grouping of numbers was changed from six digits to three.
Both systems were in fact invented by the French, but are called British and American "for convenience".
Lets hope this clears things up!
You had to use Google to work out 40% of 30 billion? I don't think you belong here.
I didn't want to bait the pedants who don't know an American Billion from a real one. ;-)
Of over 30 billion e-mails being sent daily, some experts estimate that over 40% is Spam.
Google informs me that 40% of 30 billion = 12 000 000 000
and (4 000 000 / 12 000 000 000) * 100 = 0.0333333333
That gives Bill Gates a measly 0.03% Market share of Spam. I think we should help Microsoft grow by forwarding all our unwanted spam to Bill.
they are great with people
That would be charisma then wouldn't it?
Wisdom is making the best use of available knowledge or the ability to make strategically correct decisions based on the values of others that the decision will affect.
I'm sure D&D defines the traits better in the manual.
To allow particle accelerators you need to expand your parameters a bit to include natural objects accelerated by man.
The fastest "man-made" objects - I would hazard a guess at probes sent from Earth to other planets. Voyager 1 travels at roughly 17.4 km/sec or 38,923 MPH
This will all be put to shame by the Mini-Magnetospheric Plasma Propulsion system (M2P2) - which if it actually got into production and was launched could overtake Voyager1 (launched in 1977 with a 11 Billion Km head start) in 10 years.
This M2P2 drive in a nutshell would create a 60 km wide magnetic field filled with plasma behind it, trapping the solar wind and propelling it to a predicted 180,000 mph.
Let's just hope with all that trapped wind they have enough gaviscon to stop it when it gets where it's going...
Perhaps if it were a computer. I suppose that depends on the definitions you give to "computer", "input", "calculate" and "output".
There are so many definitions of computer from the simple "Machine that processes information" to the more indepth "An electronic device with the ability to (1) accept user-supplied data, (2) input, store, and execute programmed instructions, (3) perform mathematical and logic operations, and (4) output results according to user specifications."
What does a machine have to be able to do before it can be called a computer?
Don't hold your breath...
oh how $2 per gallon would affect my life... In the UK we're currently paying close to $7 per gallon - most of which as you probably know is TAX. It sucks.