The parent post is correct, IMO. In fact, I have found that, for me, the easiest way to start understanding a new code base is to jump with a bug or two to fix. It's a little painful at first, but a specific goal combined with judicious use of the debugger will help you understand how the system works more quickly.
There are many cleaner ways to generate electricity than nuclear. Hydro, geothermal, tidal and wave, wind and solar energy are all cleaner.
IMO, the environmental cost of hydro is too high, but agreed on the other alternatives. Until such time as we start producing more energy through cleaner greener technologies like the ones you mentioned, I'd rather have one of these babies in my backyard than a coal-burner 10 miles away.
When you undertake a transaction with an ATM machine, the machine is just the conduit to the bank. You're trusting in the bank's paranoia about money to keep everything square. And the bank provides sufficient paperwork and even a dispute resolution process in case of a discrepancy. The ATM does not balance your account nor even decide if you have enough money to withdraw, the bank does. Before Diebold set about fixing^H^H^H^Hmaking voting machines, they made ATMs.
With electronic voting machines, though, there isn't the equivalent of the backing bank in which you can trust. The intelligence, if you will, is in the ATM machine alone, something the bank would never allow. It's like assuming that the pen with which you sign a contract somehow guarantees your rights in the deal. It's not the pen, it's the court system behind the pen.
So missile defense is actually a geopolitical stabiliser.
Imagine for a moment that you are one of the countries against whom a missile defense system is deployed. You probably don't think you're the bad guy to start with; outside of James Bond/Austin Powers movies, what bad guy really does? You probably think that you need the missiles to defend yourself from the threat of encroaching imperialism.
Now, along comes the missile defense system. Your current stock of missiles is no longer a deterrent. What do you do? Give up? I think it would be more likely that you'd increase your stock of missiles until the missile defense system would be overwhelmed, regaining the stasis that was present before the missile defense system was deployed. The net change is an increase in total armament on both sides.
Don't get me wrong, if missiles were raining down on my head, I would probably be pretty anxious to have a functional missile defense system. I think there are tactical situations where it's an effective counter-measure. But as a strategic tool of statecraft, the end result of the deployment of a missile defense would likely be destabilization.
Here's a thought: if we're serious about using a missile defense system as a deterrent against strategic weapons, one way to avoid escalation would be to equip both sides with it. That way, missile defense would still be effective against the "rogue state" scenario while not driving more traditional and well-armed states into an arms race.
I do wonder how Sun is going to make money the next century.
Disclosure: I work for Sun in their software division. This is not secret information, but Sun plans on making money in the next century by selling hardware. Lots and lots of hardware. Why buy it from Sun when you can get it cheaper from elsewhere? That's the other part of Sun's super secret master plan: support contracts. Business do tend to buy from Sun if they have already done so. Maybe it's just easier, maybe it makes the original decision to buy from Sun look better, I don't know. But Sun still sells $billions in hardware each year. The software revenues are a whole lot less.
Why is parent modded "Funny"? This seems like a cogent explanation of some esoteric physics. Helped me out, to be sure, with nary a chuckle forthcoming.
Then again, I am really only familiar with server products.
Excellent point. I, too, am focused on the server side. Come to think of it, why not avoid the fuss and bother and write your desktop app in Java? I have a Rio Car: an mp3 car stereo. It has a Linux kernel and originally came with Windows-only compatible desktop software, too. Some clever wag wrote a Java desktop version, so it now runs on my Mac, my Linux box, DW's Windows machine, or my Solaris box.
There is basically no alternative to Office on Linux. OpenOffice.org? Please.
I can't agree with you here. I use OO exclusively for intercommunication with my coworkers. I find it perfectly adequate. The only shortcomings I have seen that affect me are problems with the presentation software (Impress, I think it's called). I have frequently seen presentations made with PowerPoint or StarOffice that come off differently when I look at them. The point comes across, though. I think that's the main concern; will the software allow me to communicate with my coworkers effectively, regardless of what Office software they're using? Yes. That's all I need or want from the package.
I have yet to meet a person who had any real reason for running Linux on their desktop
I have an OSX Mac as well, and really like it. I still use Linux for my primary development platform because I have access (through work) to powerful PC hardware, but none that's approved for OSX. I suspect that the answer is the same for most Linux folks. Obtain a Windows machine, replace Windows with a happier-making OS. If I could install OSX on my current box, I probably would. I just can't score the work-$$ to buy an equivalent piece of OSX hardware (2xAMD Opteron 250, 3GB RAM).
Then you support RHEL and SLES, you don't support linux.
Agreed. I submit, though, that if Tom-Tom supported RHEL and SLES, that would make plenty if not most Linux users happy. As a sibling to your post points out, once this hurdle is crossed, support for other Linux distros becomes a lot easier.
Not to mention that datacenters are a lot more of a niche market than GPS users.
Agreed again. However, this is the extent of my professional and relevant experience with supporting Linux. If I were in the business of writing Linux apps for more general consumption, I'd post about my experience with that.
The result is that vendors can't support Linux, it's a moving and vague target to support.
The company I work for (Sun) makes applications that "support Linux". Perhaps it's a different ball game making enterprise software than it is making desktop software for a consumer device, but it's really rather trivial for us. We nominate a set of distros that dominate the datacenter marker (RHEL, SLES) and say, "We support our software running on versions 2.1, 3, and 4, or 8, 9, and 10, respectively. If you choose to run on another distro, might work, might not, but we don't support it." Maybe I'm missing the thrust of your argument, but we have few complaints about this approach. The advantage is the known kernel version. We even track the updates so we can be sure. I don't see why support for any other app on Linux would be different. Granted it may piss off Gentoo users (I am one!), but it would probably appease 80% of the 3%:-)
Actually, this is a good point. A fair price is not the price of the sum of an item's parts, it's the price that the market will bear. If an item is priced too high, people will stop buying it. As long as people are still buying the item, it must be priced fairly.
Agreed, in theory, flywheel storage is the most efficient method for storing energy. As you rightly point out, there is a time limit as the friction of bearings and air saps the stored energy. Again, as you point out, housing the flywheel in a vacuum (or partial vacuum) would decrease or elminate the loss of energy due to air resistance.
I considered this approach and rejected it due to safety considerations. Bearings do fail and when they do, you have a 2000 lb disc shaped demon roaring around whatever location you use for your energy store. I like the idea, though, and am intrigued enough to have another look at it.
I'd be happy to (adds to friends list to keep track). If you're building in a year or two, you'll probably beat us to it as we have only the land right now and won't build for five years or so. I'll send you what I have found out so far, though, probably this weekend when I get home.
Unfortunately, the power company will not pay you for the electricity you generate. Instead, they agree to not charge you for any electricity you use that is less than the amount you generate. In other words, the best you can do is have a $0 electric bill. This is not bad, to be sure, but you're not storing power on the grid, at least not with anything close to 100% efficiency.
In fact, storing electricity is a very difficult thing to do. I'm researching this for a new house my wife and I are planning on building. I'd like to generate electricity during the day and store it to use at night, with the grid as a backup. One of the things I'm looking into is using a hydrogen electrolyzer running off solar during the day and a bank of hydrogen fuel cells running at night. The hydrogen is used as a storage medium that's cheaper and more efficient than chemical batteries. Efficiency numbers for this setup can reach as high as 40%, which is pretty good.
Well, super, it can carry CO2. How soon can they train it to carry something really uselful like caffeine? And will injesting caffeine-laden walkers help speed the sweet goodness faster to my decaying brain?
FWIW, it seems to me that Sun agreed to launch a Xeon-based server line in exchange for Intel pushing Solaris x86, rather than the other way 'round. In other words, the emphasis, from Sun's point of view, is that Intel will advocate in favor of Solaris, for which Sun offers Intel some bidness.
I must preface my remarks by saying I have not played a MMORPG, not out of any judgemental reasons, just never really got around to it. Which means that I can't really measure the angst caused by such admittedly anti-social behavior as gold-farming.
But I do wonder, isn't this just another aspect of the game? It seems that people are willing to put up with players who wander around and off newbies, which doesn't seem very sporting to me. Is that not worse than stealing something? Couldn't it just add to the strategy of the situation if you suspect somebody of being a gold-farmer? Can't you kill that person while they sleep or some such?
It seems to me that this phenomenon is just an artifact of the games' success. You have to be careful in meat-space when going to the ATM because you know there are bad folks out there. I guess it's the same thing in the MMORPGs.
Slashdot Mirror
The parent post is correct, IMO. In fact, I have found that, for me, the easiest way to start understanding a new code base is to jump with a bug or two to fix. It's a little painful at first, but a specific goal combined with judicious use of the debugger will help you understand how the system works more quickly.
It's OK if Florida decides to stop teaching science. We still need lots of burger flippers and politicians. They have to come from somewhere.
(apologies to burger flippers)I believe that GM's problem is health care and pension costs for current and retired workers. GM spends $1635/vehicle to pay for benefits for current and retired workers while Toyota spends $215/vehicle.
It's pretty tough to give away $1420/vehicle and still be innovative and competitive.
The flat earth is 5000 years old.
Is it possible this post is missing its <irony> tags?
IMO, the environmental cost of hydro is too high, but agreed on the other alternatives. Until such time as we start producing more energy through cleaner greener technologies like the ones you mentioned, I'd rather have one of these babies in my backyard than a coal-burner 10 miles away.
When you undertake a transaction with an ATM machine, the machine is just the conduit to the bank. You're trusting in the bank's paranoia about money to keep everything square. And the bank provides sufficient paperwork and even a dispute resolution process in case of a discrepancy. The ATM does not balance your account nor even decide if you have enough money to withdraw, the bank does. Before Diebold set about fixing^H^H^H^Hmaking voting machines, they made ATMs.
With electronic voting machines, though, there isn't the equivalent of the backing bank in which you can trust. The intelligence, if you will, is in the ATM machine alone, something the bank would never allow. It's like assuming that the pen with which you sign a contract somehow guarantees your rights in the deal. It's not the pen, it's the court system behind the pen.
Imagine for a moment that you are one of the countries against whom a missile defense system is deployed. You probably don't think you're the bad guy to start with; outside of James Bond/Austin Powers movies, what bad guy really does? You probably think that you need the missiles to defend yourself from the threat of encroaching imperialism.
Now, along comes the missile defense system. Your current stock of missiles is no longer a deterrent. What do you do? Give up? I think it would be more likely that you'd increase your stock of missiles until the missile defense system would be overwhelmed, regaining the stasis that was present before the missile defense system was deployed. The net change is an increase in total armament on both sides.
Don't get me wrong, if missiles were raining down on my head, I would probably be pretty anxious to have a functional missile defense system. I think there are tactical situations where it's an effective counter-measure. But as a strategic tool of statecraft, the end result of the deployment of a missile defense would likely be destabilization.
Here's a thought: if we're serious about using a missile defense system as a deterrent against strategic weapons, one way to avoid escalation would be to equip both sides with it. That way, missile defense would still be effective against the "rogue state" scenario while not driving more traditional and well-armed states into an arms race.
Just a thought...
Disclosure: I work for Sun in their software division. This is not secret information, but Sun plans on making money in the next century by selling hardware. Lots and lots of hardware. Why buy it from Sun when you can get it cheaper from elsewhere? That's the other part of Sun's super secret master plan: support contracts. Business do tend to buy from Sun if they have already done so. Maybe it's just easier, maybe it makes the original decision to buy from Sun look better, I don't know. But Sun still sells $billions in hardware each year. The software revenues are a whole lot less.
But without having been convicted? (FTA: You would not need to be found guilty at trial to face this penalty.)
wankers
Why is parent modded "Funny"? This seems like a cogent explanation of some esoteric physics. Helped me out, to be sure, with nary a chuckle forthcoming.
Excellent point. I, too, am focused on the server side. Come to think of it, why not avoid the fuss and bother and write your desktop app in Java? I have a Rio Car: an mp3 car stereo. It has a Linux kernel and originally came with Windows-only compatible desktop software, too. Some clever wag wrote a Java desktop version, so it now runs on my Mac, my Linux box, DW's Windows machine, or my Solaris box.
There is basically no alternative to Office on Linux. OpenOffice.org? Please.
I can't agree with you here. I use OO exclusively for intercommunication with my coworkers. I find it perfectly adequate. The only shortcomings I have seen that affect me are problems with the presentation software (Impress, I think it's called). I have frequently seen presentations made with PowerPoint or StarOffice that come off differently when I look at them. The point comes across, though. I think that's the main concern; will the software allow me to communicate with my coworkers effectively, regardless of what Office software they're using? Yes. That's all I need or want from the package.
I have yet to meet a person who had any real reason for running Linux on their desktop
I have an OSX Mac as well, and really like it. I still use Linux for my primary development platform because I have access (through work) to powerful PC hardware, but none that's approved for OSX. I suspect that the answer is the same for most Linux folks. Obtain a Windows machine, replace Windows with a happier-making OS. If I could install OSX on my current box, I probably would. I just can't score the work-$$ to buy an equivalent piece of OSX hardware (2xAMD Opteron 250, 3GB RAM).
Agreed. I submit, though, that if Tom-Tom supported RHEL and SLES, that would make plenty if not most Linux users happy. As a sibling to your post points out, once this hurdle is crossed, support for other Linux distros becomes a lot easier.
Not to mention that datacenters are a lot more of a niche market than GPS users.
Agreed again. However, this is the extent of my professional and relevant experience with supporting Linux. If I were in the business of writing Linux apps for more general consumption, I'd post about my experience with that.
The company I work for (Sun) makes applications that "support Linux". Perhaps it's a different ball game making enterprise software than it is making desktop software for a consumer device, but it's really rather trivial for us. We nominate a set of distros that dominate the datacenter marker (RHEL, SLES) and say, "We support our software running on versions 2.1, 3, and 4, or 8, 9, and 10, respectively. If you choose to run on another distro, might work, might not, but we don't support it." Maybe I'm missing the thrust of your argument, but we have few complaints about this approach. The advantage is the known kernel version. We even track the updates so we can be sure. I don't see why support for any other app on Linux would be different. Granted it may piss off Gentoo users (I am one!), but it would probably appease 80% of the 3% :-)
The Neo 1973 is a GNU/Linux based phone that's supposed to be ready for the market around Christmas '07.
Oh, man, not sure which end I'd rather be gouged on. Eeeeww.
Actually, this is a good point. A fair price is not the price of the sum of an item's parts, it's the price that the market will bear. If an item is priced too high, people will stop buying it. As long as people are still buying the item, it must be priced fairly.
I considered this approach and rejected it due to safety considerations. Bearings do fail and when they do, you have a 2000 lb disc shaped demon roaring around whatever location you use for your energy store. I like the idea, though, and am intrigued enough to have another look at it.
I'd be happy to (adds to friends list to keep track). If you're building in a year or two, you'll probably beat us to it as we have only the land right now and won't build for five years or so. I'll send you what I have found out so far, though, probably this weekend when I get home.
In fact, storing electricity is a very difficult thing to do. I'm researching this for a new house my wife and I are planning on building. I'd like to generate electricity during the day and store it to use at night, with the grid as a backup. One of the things I'm looking into is using a hydrogen electrolyzer running off solar during the day and a bank of hydrogen fuel cells running at night. The hydrogen is used as a storage medium that's cheaper and more efficient than chemical batteries. Efficiency numbers for this setup can reach as high as 40%, which is pretty good.
Well, super, it can carry CO2. How soon can they train it to carry something really uselful like caffeine? And will injesting caffeine-laden walkers help speed the sweet goodness faster to my decaying brain?
Have no more faith in humanity than your heart instructs, but not for this reason. Rest assured it was a joke.
IAASE (I Am A Sun Employee), BTW.
"Oh, please, please, Mr. IRS Man, please give me the latex glove audit."
But I do wonder, isn't this just another aspect of the game? It seems that people are willing to put up with players who wander around and off newbies, which doesn't seem very sporting to me. Is that not worse than stealing something? Couldn't it just add to the strategy of the situation if you suspect somebody of being a gold-farmer? Can't you kill that person while they sleep or some such?
It seems to me that this phenomenon is just an artifact of the games' success. You have to be careful in meat-space when going to the ATM because you know there are bad folks out there. I guess it's the same thing in the MMORPGs.