If by, "blight to humanity" you mean easy-to-use operating system that does everything I want it to and allows me to play the newest games...
Anyway, if you had just as many grandmas and idiot porn addicts using Linux as you have using Windows, you'd have the same problems we do.
It's just that Linux-using porn addicts usually know not to allow "free-sex-tonight.jpg.exe" to run with admin privileges when running windows. And they usually won't "CLICK HERE TO SEE MY WEB CAM! OMG WTF BBQ!" Many Windows users just don't have the knowledge.
The March 2010 edition of Scientific American has an article that raises some significant doubt that we will ever be able to use fusion as a commercial source of power. The problems aren't about ignition, they are more fundamental engineering problems...
I remember a physicist saying "The Sun ? Pfah ! Too cold and too inefficient ! If we were to reproduce the conditionss in the sun, we would never get anything that would interest industries !"
Indeed. From Wikipedia:
The energy production per unit time (power) produced by fusion in the core varies with distance from the solar center. At the center of the sun, fusion power is estimated by model to be about 276.5 watts/m3, a power production density which more nearly approximates reptile metabolism than a thermonuclear bomb. Peak power production in the Sun has been compared to the volumetric heats generated in an active compost heap. The tremendous power output of the Sun is not due to its high power per volume, but instead due to its large size.
I'm not arguing that the TARP program overall isn't a questionable idea.
I'm just trying to inject a little TRUTH into the discussion. The OP (and so many others, both here and elsewhere) are screaming about how the bank bailouts are the cause of all of our problems.
It turned out that the bank bailouts were a pretty good investment, or at least pretty much a wash.
If people want to rant about real problems/mistakes, fine. But I'm getting sick of some of the untrue memes that people mindlessly repeat over and over without checking to see what is true and what is false. There is plenty of bad shit to rant about, just make sure it is the truth, not some bullshit you happened to hear on the radio and never bothered to check out.
Just my little rant lamenting the death of critical thinking...
We just spent more money shoring up some major banks than we spent in the last ten years on the space program!
OK, enough of this bullshit that I keep hearing mindlessly repeated. The TARP funds that went to banks were structured as investments, which haven't done too bad considering the circumstances.
A big chunk of that has been paid back (at an annual rate of return around 8.5%). Yes there will be some write-offs that will ultimately lower that rate and in the end, it may end up being a wash. That means little or no net loss. Pretty good for a government program.
Stop spewing this ridiculous meme that the bank bailouts were some huge money sink. It is not true.
Now, if you want to complain about how things went with our money and AIG (an insurance company) and the automakers, fine. But on the balance, the bank bailout wasn't too bad...
Woot/. My First comment as a member, my first comment to an online forum ever!!
Great, welcome!
Now switch to Plain Old Text before you submit or learn to use <p></p> tags if you are going to post HTML (hint: the Preview button is your friend...).
I don't think his plan is a good idea, but what provision of the bill of rights does it violate?
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches 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.
I also started in Fortran and by the time I got through my second semester, I had an epiphany - highly structured code is very important if you are going to maintainably do anything of significant complexity.
I don't think the language matters so much, once you get to a certain point you realize that you have to modularize your code if you are going to create anything beyond a simple classroom assignment.
Languages like BASIC and PERL are great introductions for beginners because they are interpreted and present a low barrier to entry. The focus can be on basic programming concepts and they provide instant gratification. That said, if one is to go further and "become a programmer", you have to understand the need for structure, typing, scope etc. and take things to the next level. If you have the aptitude to be a good programmer, this will become clear to you as you take on more complex tasks. If you don't have the aptitude, well, you are going to be a shitty programmer no matter what language you started with.
GOTO in a high-level language is bad in that it is a crutch that is tempting for the beginner to reach for, and overuse makes code difficult to maintain. Making a rule of avoiding it forces you to think through your flow/structure/logic.
Slashdot Mirror
It's like you're a scorned lover or something.
Quite the opposite. I've made a good living for many years off of the shortcomings of Microsoft's operating systems.
If by, "blight to humanity" you mean easy-to-use operating system that does everything I want it to and allows me to play the newest games... Anyway, if you had just as many grandmas and idiot porn addicts using Linux as you have using Windows, you'd have the same problems we do. It's just that Linux-using porn addicts usually know not to allow "free-sex-tonight.jpg.exe" to run with admin privileges when running windows. And they usually won't "CLICK HERE TO SEE MY WEB CAM! OMG WTF BBQ!" Many Windows users just don't have the knowledge.
Nice contradiction...
all because some dudes with fake passports and box cutters got an idiot pilot of a plane
My understanding is that they used real passports and traveled under their real names...
the water could be broken down into its component parts (hydrogen and oxygen) to make rocket fuel, experts say.
Gee, sounds simple. Except that rockets generally run on -liquid- oxygen.
You are going to need one hell of an infrastructure to manufacture/store LOX, even more so for liquid hydrogen.
Theory and practice are pretty far apart on this idea, to the point where I would call it impractical.
The March 2010 edition of Scientific American has an article that raises some significant doubt that we will ever be able to use fusion as a commercial source of power. The problems aren't about ignition, they are more fundamental engineering problems...
I remember a physicist saying "The Sun ? Pfah ! Too cold and too inefficient ! If we were to reproduce the conditionss in the sun, we would never get anything that would interest industries !"
Indeed. From Wikipedia:
The energy production per unit time (power) produced by fusion in the core varies with distance from the solar center. At the center of the sun, fusion power is estimated by model to be about 276.5 watts/m3, a power production density which more nearly approximates reptile metabolism than a thermonuclear bomb. Peak power production in the Sun has been compared to the volumetric heats generated in an active compost heap. The tremendous power output of the Sun is not due to its high power per volume, but instead due to its large size.
April 1st was almost a month ago!
like sending them up to the Indian space station, or visiting the Chinese moon base.
Well, what would be so terrible about that? Let the Indians and Chinese take the lead for a while (and also let them pay for it, BTW).
Hang back for a generation, then leapfrog them after they've taken the risks/done the development.
I've never thought about it that way, but why not? Manned spaceflight is a motherfucker in terms of resources.
Method 1 has all kinds of problems. You will be caught.
Method 2 looks more promising, but odds are you will be caught either in the act or after the fact.
Both methods assume you have both physical and system access, which are pretty big assumptions.
My kingdom for a mod point!
*BZZT* FAIL.
The OP was talking about banks . Fannie and Freddie aren't banks.
Thanks for playing, and pay attention to what the topic under discussion is next time.
I'm not arguing that the TARP program overall isn't a questionable idea.
I'm just trying to inject a little TRUTH into the discussion. The OP (and so many others, both here and elsewhere) are screaming about how the bank bailouts are the cause of all of our problems.
It turned out that the bank bailouts were a pretty good investment, or at least pretty much a wash.
If people want to rant about real problems/mistakes, fine. But I'm getting sick of some of the untrue memes that people mindlessly repeat over and over without checking to see what is true and what is false. There is plenty of bad shit to rant about, just make sure it is the truth, not some bullshit you happened to hear on the radio and never bothered to check out.
Just my little rant lamenting the death of critical thinking...
We just spent more money shoring up some major banks than we spent in the last ten years on the space program!
OK, enough of this bullshit that I keep hearing mindlessly repeated. The TARP funds that went to banks were structured as investments, which haven't done too bad considering the circumstances.
A big chunk of that has been paid back (at an annual rate of return around 8.5%). Yes there will be some write-offs that will ultimately lower that rate and in the end, it may end up being a wash. That means little or no net loss. Pretty good for a government program.
Stop spewing this ridiculous meme that the bank bailouts were some huge money sink. It is not true.
Now, if you want to complain about how things went with our money and AIG (an insurance company) and the automakers, fine. But on the balance, the bank bailout wasn't too bad...
KDE is still (very gradually) recovering from the move to 4.x.
They made Amarok suck, and while it is slowly getting better, it's not what it used to be.
And don't get me started on Digikam! It's still unusable.
Plasma sucks resources like a 5 dollar whore.
Still, I'm one who abandoned Gnome after 1.x and I'm not going back. I just feel fucked from all sides...
Fake or not, Apollo 13 didn't land on the moon. (Yes, I know, whoosh....)
So I'll put you down as sore loser, then (since you only mentioned Dems...).
Woot /. My First comment as a member, my first comment to an online forum ever!!
Great, welcome!
Now switch to Plain Old Text before you submit or learn to use <p></p> tags if you are going to post HTML (hint: the Preview button is your friend...).
As much as it may pain you to hear it, Rep. Ron Paul is as much a part of the Government as Pelosi et. al..
No, I seriously wonder. Are you truly anti-government or just a sore loser?
To be replaced by the likes of Al Gore, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, et. al.
And by et. al., you mean who?
George W. Bush? Dick Cheney? Ron Paul? Mitch McConnell? John Boehner? Ronald Reagan?
All just as much part of the government as the three you mentioned above.
Or are you and all of the so-called "anti-gubmint" posters here really just having a hissy fit because your guy didn't win the election?
Where was all of this outrage in the last 8 years? You know, the recent period when civil rights -really- were usurped by the Feds.
Fucking crybaby hipocrites...
Heck, at that price, you could buy all of the tools as well as materials. Really, projects are just excuses to buy tools, right?
This policy was in place -long- before the Oracle deal. It has been over 3 years since you needed a support contract to get patches...
I don't think his plan is a good idea, but what provision of the bill of rights does it violate?
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches 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.
I also started in Fortran and by the time I got through my second semester, I had an epiphany - highly structured code is very important if you are going to maintainably do anything of significant complexity. I don't think the language matters so much, once you get to a certain point you realize that you have to modularize your code if you are going to create anything beyond a simple classroom assignment. Languages like BASIC and PERL are great introductions for beginners because they are interpreted and present a low barrier to entry. The focus can be on basic programming concepts and they provide instant gratification. That said, if one is to go further and "become a programmer", you have to understand the need for structure, typing, scope etc. and take things to the next level. If you have the aptitude to be a good programmer, this will become clear to you as you take on more complex tasks. If you don't have the aptitude, well, you are going to be a shitty programmer no matter what language you started with. GOTO in a high-level language is bad in that it is a crutch that is tempting for the beginner to reach for, and overuse makes code difficult to maintain. Making a rule of avoiding it forces you to think through your flow/structure/logic.
Unless you are trying to put Chris O'Connor into your database, and his name must be spelled correctly...