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User: DougMackensie

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Comments · 49

  1. Re:yet another programming language on Stephen Wolfram Developing New Programming Language · · Score: 1

    Close. A sigma is one type of a for loop that automatically adds each number in the sequence to a sum.

  2. digits of pi on Happy Pi Day · · Score: 1

    from @neiltyson: http://twitter.com/#!/neiltyson/status/47289370788638722

    "Sixty-four decimal places of Pi gets the observable universe's circumference down to a sextillionth the size of a proton."

  3. A Different take on Apple Revolutionizing Retail · · Score: 1

    ifo Applestore has a different take on the iPod Express Concept.
      Perhaps the most serious glitch was procedural-using e-mail to generate a receipt for the ordinary customer when checking them out with a portable device. Several customers reported being surprised at the requirement, and were reluctant to give out their e-mail addresses for fear of receiving unsolicited marketing e-mail or even spam. Hey, who wanted to admit that your e-mail address was "kickass@gmail.com"? In some cases customers requested a printed receipt, slowing down the otherwise prompt check-out, and in other cases the customer's ISP was blocking mail from Apple so no receipt was ever delivered. [I'll admit true Mac users are more likely to prefer skipping the paper and receiving an e-mail receipt, and probably have a secondary, "disposable" e-mail address.]

    ...

    So while the concept was well-intentioned, and the staff worked hard to make it successful, the iPod Express needs some tweaking before its rolled out again.

  4. Re:Good review on Sony Announced Hybrid Digital Camera · · Score: 1

    Or here, D. Pogue does a good job of explaining how this camera has a different potential audience than a point and click or a DSLR.

  5. Re:Awesome on An Audio Sampler Rube Goldberg Would Love · · Score: 1

    They have a very simular device at the Arizona Science Museum in Phoenix.
    The kids can put plastic pins in a grid (maybe 10 x 10) where the 10 verticle columns dictate the sound played, and the 10 horizontal rows dictate when to play the sound. In the exhibit, you drag your 10 x 10 grid across the optical pickup, and you can get many different songs. They have simple song sheets (mary had a little lamb), for kids to use for an example.

  6. Creative CEO unexcitied about the iPod Shuffle on Creative Gunning For the iPod · · Score: 2, Interesting

    http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/corporatene ws/view/127025/1/.html

    "Actually, to me it's a big let-down: we're expecting a good fight but they're coming out with something that's five generations older," Wong Hoo said. "It's our first generation MuVo One product feature, without display, just have a (shuffle feature). We had that--that's a four-year-old product."

    "So I think the whole industry will just laugh at it, because the flash people--it's worse than the cheapest Chinese player," he added. "Even the cheap, cheap Chinese brand today has display and has FM. They don't have this kind of thing, and they expect to come out with a fight; I think it's a non-starter to begin with."

  7. Re:Only album for sale at the moment... on Canadian iTunes Music Store Opens · · Score: 1

    Hello english Royalties!

  8. oh no on Are iTMS's 128kbps Songs Worth Collecting? · · Score: 5, Insightful

    the NYT article quotes the idiots at Stereophile. When your magazine recommends that people buy 200$ power cords for their reciever to "filter" out the bad power that your outlet gets, thats trouble.

    Stereophile is also well known for shunning proper ABX sound listening tests because with such a test they wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a $5000 amp and a $200 amp. link

    The fact that the article doesn't even go into how AAC compression works, makes it pretty obvious that its a sham. This article seems to be written from a elitist, anti-logical stance. Sigh.

  9. Re:Graphics cards... on New PowerMac G5s: Up to 2.5Ghz, Liquid Cooled · · Score: 1

    The apple store says that for $50 bucks extra you can go to the ATI Radeon 9600 XT 128MB.

    I can only see that as partially cheezy.

  10. One thing on What Keeps You Off of Windows? · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Sanity

  11. Re:Since it's on topic.... on Apple Rolls Out AirPort Express, AirTunes · · Score: 1

    "I specifically had this problem, and looking around the forums, there weren't many who didn't."

    Well that is directly because the people who are experiencing the problems will complain about them. If you did not experience these problems (as was the case for at least 30 people that I'm in contact with at our campus), then you sure as hell aren't going to post on a forum about it. I just think you are overestimating the severity of this problem.

    I understand that apple != microsoft, but have a bit of restraint and let the lemmings sort out the patches for at least 2 or 3 days. I remember hearing about the problem 3 hours after the patch was officially released.

    Enjoy!

  12. Re:How is this different from normal? on Linksys WiFi Gateway Remote Attack Risk Discovered · · Score: 1

    "I'm willing to bet that nobody went through the effort to manually deactivate the admin interface"

    well to be accurate the remote admin interface is not enabled by default. This bug appears to negate that default.

  13. simularities on Math And The Computer Science Major · · Score: 1

    The places where Math and (theoretical) Computer Science meet are usually based around logic problems. Having graduated with both Math and CS degrees, I would say that the upper level Math courses (Linear Algebra, Diffy Q, and other semi-grounded math) cooresponded with the Upper Level CS courses (N-notation, and other algorithm study) in their use of "mathematical" logic. It takes a while in most curriculum to see this, but the simularities were evident Junior and Senior years. It depends on the field of CS/Programming that you will go into. Most complex algorithms use plenty of non-number based math (never need to touch a calculator), while many real-life Programming (3d graphics) use plenty of numbers-based math.

    Personally I started out as a straight CS major, but I enjoyed the math a great deal, and with the addition of 4 or so extra Math courses, I was able to complete the Double Major. In the real world, I'm currently only interested in the Math angle of things, instead of the CS/Programming.

  14. This guy has more b*lls than I. on AmEx vs. rec.humor.funny · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'll say Mr. "anonymous reader"

  15. Re:For Once I don't Agree on Playfair Relocates to India · · Score: 3, Informative

    You would have to transcode the file to mp3, a function that iTunes already lets you do. No need to circumvent the DRM.

    erm, no you cannot transcode a fairplay aac file to a mp3 file. You can burn it to a cd, and then rip it, but a direct transcode is not possible.

  16. deja vu on Rack Mounted PCs for the Home User? · · Score: 2, Interesting
  17. heh on Scuba-Doo Underwater Scooter · · Score: 1

    I'm guessing barrel rolls are out of the question in this watercraft?

  18. DDR? on Linux Based HD DDR used on Starship Troopers 2 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Dance Dance Revolution.

    interesting Linux development!

  19. Wrong Summary on Are Computers Ready to Create Mathematical Proofs? · · Score: 2, Informative

    This story and this issue are not about whether or not the mathematical community trusts a computer created proof. The issue is whether or not the community can trust the human behind the computer to create a computer program/system that is "flawless enough". Issues and bugs may arise, and the community can't trust that these issues will 1. be found and 2. be severe enough to affect the validity of the proof.

  20. Re:anti-social behaviors... on The Psychology Behind Headphones · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And since when is anti-social behavior immediately seen as a negative thing. Is it a bad thing that Henry David Thoreau (walden) worked best when he removed himself from society? Is it a bad thing when Andrew Wiles (fermat solver) would hole himself up in his attic by himself to concentrate on his proof? Is it a bad thing when a CS student wants to put his headphones in the computer lab to block out all the other converstations (sometimes in different languages) around him so that he can concentrate?

    Why can't normally social people find auditory solitude in their headphones without people accusing them of being "shy, sheilding, or anti-social"? Realize that people work differently from yourself, and having the headphones on can make them work better?

  21. pointless. on Losing Control of Your TV · · Score: 1

    ugh. what's the point of fear-mongering like In the future, the Motion Picture Association of America will control your television set.

    if i want fear, then I'll tune in to the news at 6.

  22. Re:Outlook XP/2002? Where's Outlook 2003? on Next Generation Mail Clients Reviewed · · Score: 1

    don't know if you saw this, but the author addresses this issue:

    Q: Why didn't you use the newest version of Microsoft Outlook? This doesn't seem like a fair comparison.

    A:
    The only reason Outlook was even included was to serve as a reference with what is commonly available for the majority of users (which still run Windows unfortunately) today.

    Using the latest Office 2003 would not have done most of them any good, as upgrading can cost hundreds of dollars (or more!), and might not be an option for some time. After reading the review they can, however, immediately decide it is time to try out one of the alternatives, several of which are multi platform.

    Also, I only had Office XP at hand when writing the review, which only helps to better illustrates my point I think.

  23. news? or advertising? on Gyroscopic Wireless Mouse · · Score: 2, Troll

    Is it just me, or is this unastounding. This mouse has been around (with a ball) for over 4 years. Now they've replaced the ball with an optical mechanism. Wow. Never would have seen that one coming.

  24. Most Interesting Part of the Article on Science of the coin-toss: Bias in Heads-or-Tails · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Most Interesting Part of the Article:
    This slight bias pales when compared with that of spinning a coin on its edge. A spinning penny will land as tails about

    80 percent of the time, Diaconis says, because the extra material on the head side shifts the center of mass slightly.


    Is it time to start making some bets with some friends? :-)

  25. Agreed on The Golden Ratio · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This book is absolutely excellent. Its aimed at everyone from a passing interest in math and up.

    My favorite part of the book is where he essentially disproves the many claims to the appearance of the golden ratio in aniquity and before. He tries to nail down the moment of when the golden ratio was actually discovered.