Your post is very insightful but I need you to explain one step of your logic:
When the share price crashes because of the actions you describe, how does this lead the company to bankruptcy? What fundamentals of the business are dependent on the share price? (e.g., does the credit rating of the company depend on market capitalization in some way?)
I have never heard anyone explain this important detail before.
"Make it illegal for privitization of any sort of medical research."
I commend you for your compassion, but this type of statement shows that you don't understand how the world actually works.
The development of new medical procedures and drugs flourishes in our country precisely because of human greed and our willingness to harness it in the USA.
There is perhaps no greater motivating factor in the long-term. Otherwise socialism might have a prayer.
I think I have found a similar solution for the reciprocal of the FOURTH root.
The code looks almost the same, but it requires a new constant and you shift the bits 2 places instead of just 1.
float Inv4thrt(float x)
{
float x0 = x;
int i = *(int*)// get bits for floating value
i = 0x4F541EEF - (i>>2);// gives initial guess y0
x = *(float*)// convert bits back to float
x = (x/4.0f)*(5 - x0 * x*x*x*x);// Newton step, repeating increases accuracy
return x;
}
Note that the constant I have here is not very carefully tuned so the error may be slightly larger than with the sqrt.
Pretty cool, I think.
You are welcome to be content with the way things are now. 640k RAM ought to be enough for anybody, right?
I wont give you the details of what is to come because I havent seen the future. However, I have watched new pushes in hardware usher in new advances in software for at least the last decade, and I suspect this to continue.
I would like to hear an argument from anybody as to why innovation cannot or should not come from this one. I find it to be a knee-jerk reaction to assume otherwise solely because MS is the impetus.
Personally I am looking foward to Vista, and I see the hardware requirements as a positive thing. You can whine about MS all you want and complain about the hardware requirements, but why?
As a developer of software I love the idea that the typical user's computer has steadily growing power. It opens the door to new and innovative applications and interfaces.
Seriously, if Vista makes 3d graphics cards required and 3d API calls easily available to the developer, can you imagine the possibilities for the improvements in typical GUIs?
I think that the software GUI will only truly take another step forward when it has the firm support of the GPU behind it. You can argue with me if you like, but I see no way around this.
The Terms of Service for the World of Warcraft indicate that all items in game are property of Blizzard (lame, yes.) They also ban accounts of users caught selling items for real money. I disagree with the policy, but thats how it is for now.
I dont see the use of "Tolkien's" races as being lazy on the part of developers. In fact, Tolkien hardly invented dwarves, or elves or even middle earth. In fact he borrowed heavily from older mythologies, especially Norse.
I would argue that having ties to ancient mythologies can be a good thing, as it lends quick familiarity and can lead to more gentle learning and initiation curves, especially in terms of a game's otherwise alien plotline.
If anything it sounds like you have a gripe against the AD&D style approach to personalizing the characters in a game (hit points, AC, constitution, wisdom etc.) and perhaps you have a point. But many games have tried to alter or replace this type of system, and in my opinion the alternative is usually worse. Just a thought.
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It's all completely deterministic.
Can you actually believe that after studying Quantum Mechanics?
Your post is very insightful but I need you to explain one step of your logic: When the share price crashes because of the actions you describe, how does this lead the company to bankruptcy? What fundamentals of the business are dependent on the share price? (e.g., does the credit rating of the company depend on market capitalization in some way?) I have never heard anyone explain this important detail before.
"Make it illegal for privitization of any sort of medical research." I commend you for your compassion, but this type of statement shows that you don't understand how the world actually works. The development of new medical procedures and drugs flourishes in our country precisely because of human greed and our willingness to harness it in the USA. There is perhaps no greater motivating factor in the long-term. Otherwise socialism might have a prayer.
I think I have found a similar solution for the reciprocal of the FOURTH root. The code looks almost the same, but it requires a new constant and you shift the bits 2 places instead of just 1. float Inv4thrt(float x) { float x0 = x; int i = *(int*) // get bits for floating value
i = 0x4F541EEF - (i>>2); // gives initial guess y0
x = *(float*) // convert bits back to float
x = (x/4.0f)*(5 - x0 * x*x*x*x); // Newton step, repeating increases accuracy
return x;
}
Note that the constant I have here is not very carefully tuned so the error may be slightly larger than with the sqrt.
Pretty cool, I think.
You can download a free version of Microsoft Expression "Acrylic Graphic Designer" if you feel like trying it. Here is a link... http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/en/gr aphic_designer/default.aspx
You are welcome to be content with the way things are now. 640k RAM ought to be enough for anybody, right? I wont give you the details of what is to come because I havent seen the future. However, I have watched new pushes in hardware usher in new advances in software for at least the last decade, and I suspect this to continue. I would like to hear an argument from anybody as to why innovation cannot or should not come from this one. I find it to be a knee-jerk reaction to assume otherwise solely because MS is the impetus.
Personally I am looking foward to Vista, and I see the hardware requirements as a positive thing. You can whine about MS all you want and complain about the hardware requirements, but why? As a developer of software I love the idea that the typical user's computer has steadily growing power. It opens the door to new and innovative applications and interfaces. Seriously, if Vista makes 3d graphics cards required and 3d API calls easily available to the developer, can you imagine the possibilities for the improvements in typical GUIs? I think that the software GUI will only truly take another step forward when it has the firm support of the GPU behind it. You can argue with me if you like, but I see no way around this.
The Terms of Service for the World of Warcraft indicate that all items in game are property of Blizzard (lame, yes.) They also ban accounts of users caught selling items for real money. I disagree with the policy, but thats how it is for now.
I dont see the use of "Tolkien's" races as being lazy on the part of developers. In fact, Tolkien hardly invented dwarves, or elves or even middle earth. In fact he borrowed heavily from older mythologies, especially Norse. I would argue that having ties to ancient mythologies can be a good thing, as it lends quick familiarity and can lead to more gentle learning and initiation curves, especially in terms of a game's otherwise alien plotline. If anything it sounds like you have a gripe against the AD&D style approach to personalizing the characters in a game (hit points, AC, constitution, wisdom etc.) and perhaps you have a point. But many games have tried to alter or replace this type of system, and in my opinion the alternative is usually worse. Just a thought.