I always thought remember was a strange word... I don't member anything, so how can I possibly RE-member it?
Either way, I'm glad I don't have to worry about hearing my dear old grandfather say "hold on son I have to grab my member" when we are headed out of the house. And god forbid grandma tells the ladies in her bridge club that she loves member, she takes two at a time, and they are actually easy to swallow!
Here's to you, great pharmasutical drug namer, thank you for Rember, oh and thanks for Flomax and Boniva too... they always make me laugh!
I agree, ask the users... depending upon the application will depend on the best way to ask.
If possible, have multiple teams of users each coupled with a designer... have the designers then sit down with what their teams came up with and find the common elements, these are must haves. Anything that is unique should then be presented back to the other user teams to see if they agree about the need, if so it's also a must have. Finally, the desingers seperate and create simple mockups that include all the must haves and their teams ideas and present them to all of the teams for review... the users pick the best and make suggestions with that as the starting point.
This is obviously difficult if there are a huge number of screens that must all be unique... but for any common elements it provides a way to ensure that it is intuitive to the users, meets their needs, and finally it helps ensure that they feel empowered.
A couple of notes. 1. Always leave room to add additional controls, 2. UI design should not begin until a clear understanding of functional requirements is reached, 3. all participants must fully understand the functional requirements and should be those who will use the product the most... exclude management at early design stages if at all possible, 4. Never let the participants believe that what is decided is set in stone, some design ideas are simply not practical.
I too live in the snow belt and have driven all types of vehicles on bad roads and I don't belive it's overconfidence that effects people in SUVS and trucks... it's physics.
An SUV/truck has a higher center of gravity and more travel in it's suspension which can often cause tremendous weight shifts during accelleration and shifting making it easier for tires to lose traction. Additionally, they usually have wider tires that act like snowshoes instead of ice skates. SUV's have a much greater curb weight which requires far greater friction to accellerate, change directions, or stop. Light trucks are usually terribily balanced so that the rear tires can't maintain traction at all. And finally, no 4 wheel drive I have ever driven transmitted much to the driver... often you've lost traction long before it's effects can be percieved.
So I think people are equally confident, when actually they need to be even more careful driving their 4WD SUV than they would with a FWD small car... and that's where the problem arises.
As far as accidents go... I don't believe one vehicle to be safer than another purely due to size. Both have their advantages and associated risks. It's true that in the standard high speed collision tests, larger is often better... but those accidents aren't the only kind, there are also situations where a large vehicle is actually more dangerous. For example I once dumped an SUV into a ditch at 45MPH to avoid a collision and felt lucky that I only rolled once. Did the same thing with a car at 70MPH a few years later and slid sideways to a stop in a fountain of grass and gravel, once I caught my breath I drove the car out.
You don't work in user support do you? Most computer users are 4 year olds.
Do you realize what the most asked question I am faced with... "how do I change my screensaver?" Of course the user means their desktop wallpaper. Keep in mind I work at a government site with a standard wallpaper enforced by policy.
I think it is a GUI's ultimate goal to make the user feel like a 4 year old can use it. Of course, most 4 year olds are more sophisticated than many average users, but that's beside the point.
Those of us who are technically proficient will immediately change things into a "power user" configuration which will eliminate wasted screen realestate by title bars, scroll bars, icon labels, etc. But those users who are essentially 4 year olds will still get their shit done.
My only complaint about modern OS's is that they seem to favor percieved easyness over actual usability. Sometimes it's best to require the user to learn something new, as long as what they learn is intuitive. I still remember the days of WordPerfect 6... where any idiot could type a document and quickly glance at a keyboard template for the "special features". The pros could do almost anything without thought, while still maintaining 40+ wpm. Make the OS easy, but change stupid conventions... for example I don't need a icon to do anything if you would simply make it obvious that pressing X+Y to do it would work.
An IT degree can be any number of things... program management, Quality Assurance, etc. And Computer Science isn't programming either... it's really applied mathmathmatics and logic. My IT degree focused on Program Managment, and I have never used it because I'm not in software, but there are tons of well paying positions for software lifecycle management and similar jobs.
I agree that it's a waste of time to teach business programming anymore... those who are good at it will pursue it on the side anyway... but most schools don't go much deeper than basic logic and structure now anyways. CS majors look at things differently, many are into robotics, embedded systems, and places where one must work in low level languages or where the applications are extremely complex and not easy to outsource.
Finally, the only reason either of these jobs have lost their prestiege is that so many people who have no business in the field said "I like computers" to their college advisors... a person who truely knows, loves, and understands computers and programming will not hurt for work. It just takes patience to wait while employers weed out all of the mediocrity.
All energy sources are non-renewable... however you must account for time and innovation. If we switched to purely nuclear today it would increase the knowledge of the subject substantially over the next generation... increasing the potential for more efficient use of fission and potential for the holy grail of fusion.
I say go with what we know works and can sustain us for the next 100+ years while continuing to develop better tech. All-electric cars is a good thing, as the car doesn't care what the source of the electricty is! The biggest issue with any other fuel source is in the distribution of the fuel, lets standardize on electricty as the fuel and worry about the source as the needs grow and our technology improves!
He is saying that current fission, not fusion, is still the best source of energy we have. I agree. However I stipulate that the "waste" must be used to create electricity as well!
Through transmutation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_transmutation) much of the "waste" of current reactors (30 years old here in the US) can be further used to create electricty. And the result is less, and less dangerous, waste.
There are valid reasons to fear nuclear, however the benifits outweigh the results by billions of tons of carbon emissions. If we moved to a purely nuclear society, the innovations made in the long term would virtually eliminate the risks... making electrical power generation a truly clean enterprise... especially compared to current methods!
I would take a nuclear plant in my back yard before another coal one within 100 miles!
Ironically, a warmer planet may not necessarily make for warmer local conditions. Keep in mind that global warming is higher than expected temperatures, not higher temperatures. Scientists expect things to get cooler as part of normal earch cycles... however they probably won't get as cool as they would have due to global warming. See: http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/NASA_Climate_cooling/2008/05/01/92541.html
On a warm cycle we will have something to worry about.
I have noticed that Mercedes has been fairly resonable about getting their technologies into the hands of other automakers (at least it appears so). If you look at their Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz#Innovations), they are attibuted with many innovations that have become standard on many US vehicles... Including: ABS, Air Bags, and traction control.
I am sure that many of these are merely licensed to other automakers, however the terms must be reasonable as almost all automakers appear to have licensed Mercedes technology in the past.
I think I need to clarify my statement... the only "technical" advantage to dial up is the availability of providers. IE, no broadband available, or don't like the options available. Cost is of course an issue, but technically the only advantage I can see for dial-up is that you can pick from many providers in most areas while your severely limited in your broadband selection.
I have never met someone who said I don't want more goodness for the same price. If your local dial-up provider said, hey we will give you broadband speeds for no extra cost tomorrow... I would be willing to bet that most would jump on it!
The only "advantage" that dial-up offers over broadband is the flexability of providers.
The future of computers is the break from the GUI. In the future I expect to be able to speak to my computer, and to have it see me so I can interact with it physically.
For example, I want my computer to wake me up in the morning like my mother did when I was in High School. I want to to hear me up and moving around, or see me come down to the toilet... and if it doesn't I want to keep waking me up.
I want my computer to know when I'm planning to go on a trip because it sees me packing and ask me where I'm going so it can warn me about traffic and weather problems.
I want my computer to keep track of my schedule for me and remind me about my appointments of the day as it sees me walk out the door... not on some arbatrairy schedule I set.
I want my computer to remind my kids to bring an umbrella to the bus stop, or grab their lunch when they leave for school.
All of these things are possible, and will happen in the future. However they will require a level of parallel processing that we can only dream about. It's proven that the human mind is not like a single core design, but instead like thousands of cores each performing their own functions yet working together to accomplish even the smallest task. When the software exists to do the things listed above, it will require many cores.
Computing today is largely sequential because we are using computers as a tool to complete one or two tasks at a time. The future is using a computer to perform thousands of simple tasks at the same time. Which lends itself well to multiple cores.
I would agree except that I think that the constant need to blog, and the constant availability of tools to do so, only makes blogging more of a distraction. Blog at the end of the day, like you would with a diary or journal.
We have all seen people texting during a movie, play, sporting event, etc... just imagine what it will be like when people feel the need to write about the event while it happens! Hell I sat behind a woman who missed her daughter's entire dance routine at a recital recently because she was so concerned with photo-messaging a picture of her daughter in costume to the person sitting next to her that she didn't realize until the end that her daughter was on stage!
Technology and communication are vital to our society and they can add value or distract from it... we don't need more distractions, we need more value!
I woudn't normally reply, but I'm bored so here it goes.
First of all, I wouldn't call Einstein and the like bloggers... they were researchers and scientists and did what all researchers and scientists do, they document what they do and what happens. Second, they had VERY interesting things to write about and are thus the exact opposite of the subject of my comments. Finally, I said I get it, I understand the appeal though I don't engage in the activity myself as I feel my time is better spent with other activities.
I know that I am not more important than those listed... in fact I am content with the fact that only 1 person in a hundred million or so is even close. Do I hope that I can have the influence on history that they did, YES! Would I write about it if I did, YES! But again, I would then have something telling the world about!
As far as the numbers I quoted, yes I pulled them out of my ass to some degree... I know for a fact that my numbers are pretty damn conservative thats why I qualified them with "at least" and "less than". I suppose if I was writing a thesis on the subject rather than a comment on slashdot I would do the research and get a much more accurate estimate but my numbers served to illustrate my point and I challenge you to dispute them if you are so inclined.
As far as no one forcing me to rad(read?) the crap that people post... unfortunately too much of it is indexed by google and the like, and somehow made it high on the search engine's rankings... I don't know how many worthless blog posts I have read when searching for the information I needed. I have found good information in peoples blogs too, especially technical info, but I find that these are the blogs of the experts in their fields and thus they have value to the public as a whole and therefore are outside the focus of my previous comment.
Anyway have fun with your blogging, I hope you don't miss out on something worth writing about because your busy blogging!
I have the next new big product in blogging... its called "aLife". aLife is currently not available where you are sitting now, but for the low price of $1,000 you can order yours today! aLife includes adventure, romance, excitement, and best of all it includes a lifetime guarantee! If you want a blog that everyone on the internet will read, simply get aLife and you might just find that you acutally have something interesting to write about!
I understand blogging, I don't do it because I think I'd rather live my life than write about it, but I get it.
I just don't understand why so many people are so excited about being able to blog in so many different ways... if it doesn't improve the quality or the value of the content what good does it do?
I don't know the figures, but I know that at least 99% of all blog traffic is to less than 5% of the blogs on the internet, and I know why that is... CONTENT! Give these bloggers a tool to create better content!
Though I agree with you in practice, I think you fail to recognise that the same phenomonon can exist in digital media...
When I watch a video using my computer, I can very quickly find a segment of video by adjusting a slider, and I find that I am usually suprisingly accurate.
When I read a long webpage (mostly slashdot comments), and return to it later, I KNOW without a doubt that more comments have been added because something seems further down on the scroll bar than I remember.
The physical association can be translated to digital, especially if some thought is given to it. For example, what about a reader that applies a slight hue to the pages; eg as you get further into a chapter the pages become more red... I would bet that you could scan very quickly to a page with minimal practice. Add some sound whenever you change pages so that the tone changes depending upon how far into the file you are, maybe even include a visual "stack" that will show the ratio of pages before to pages after your current page.
With enough forms of reference, you will be able to train your mind to locate data in a file just as quickly as you do in a physical book. Then of course there is the clickable index, search functionality, table of figures (with thumbnails), etc... all this adds up to a book that is far more of a reference tool than paper books.
I don't want to sit and read a novel on a computer, or most ebook readers... but textbooks could be VERY powerful if implemented correctly. I am quite certain that the only reason that they haven't all gone digital yet is that the college crowd also happens to be one of the largest populations of copywrite violators and they know that they will only sell one or two copies of the book!
If I were them I would license text ebooks to the teacher/school instead of selling them to the students. For example, they 'sell' the ebook to the school to freely distribute to it's students, however for each student enrolled in a class that requires that text they must be paid $x. It would be relatively easy to prevent teachers from illegally using the text (offer a reward to students who report it) there is little incentive for the school/teacher to violate the license as they will simply pass the cost to the student as a fee, and finally the returns can be just as good as the license would only be good for that single class session.
It's only a matter of time... traditional publishing will die off eventually, it may take a generation or two, but it will happen.
The great thing about a CS degree is that it's not really a programming degree... if you look at it a bit differently.
A CS degree is a degree in applied mathmatics... especially in the areas where there are large amounts of data or repetitive math.
A good CS can get almost any position a mathmatician can get, can work anywhere that data is collected and studied, and can even do things that many engineers do these days.
If I were you I would first decide where your interests lie... then look for a function in that field that requires the analytical and logical mind of a CS major. For example I have known CS majors that made excellent QA engineers in the automotive sector, CS majors that worked in pubic works as traffic planners, CS majors who worked for major polling/statical analysis organizations, I even knew a CS major that consulted as a financial data analyst... he didn't know finance but he did know how to manipulate data on a spreadsheet to find abnormal activity or trends.
Remember, most people don't work in the field in which they obtained their degree... but they usually bring something unique to their position because of what they learned in school. Sure you can't write a decent program, but your gonna be far better at learning to use skills that require the logical processes used in programming than a acountant for example.
The one weakness that people seem to ignore with all full disk encryption schemes is the hacked bootloader.
For example, I create a utility that installs a replacement bootloader onto your machine's UNENCRYPTED boot partition. It looks the same, so you enter your password... my code than passes the typed code and saves your password so I can later log into your system.
HOWEVER, people who point out that weakness also forget that full disk encryption's primary purpose is to prevent loss of important business and private data when a laptop is stolen, not to prevent an intentional theft. Which is why my organization (DHS) requires WinMagic on all of their laptops... at least that way they can be fairly certain that the user who has their laptop stolen didn't just divulge a few million records of personal information.
A true full disk encryption to prevent an intentional theft of data should:
A. place the boot loader on a separate read-only device (USB key type device), rendering the system's disk unusable without the seperate hardware device. B. use biometric or token based authentication to prevent interception of entered key's
Even then, it's still only as secure as the system is once the user has authenticated. I think that the funniest thing I ever heard was the guy who backed up his encrypted system to a DVD before every trip... then carried the DVD with him just in case something happened while he was on the road and he couldn't access the data he needed. What he didn't do is take the time to ensure that his backup was encrypted... many users think that once the data is encrypted it stays that way, even when it's copied off the device.
Can't existing solar arrays be easily made to output a mere 200 degrees by simply decreasing the accuracy of their focus (while increasing the size of the focal point)... the same amount of energy would strike the focal point, but it wouldn't be as concentrated.
So assuming that his device is at least as efficient at 200 degrees as existing devices are at 600+ degrees, the array could put out the same or more energy using his technology.
Additionally, because the temperature could be tuned by adjusting the focus and his system requires smaller temperatures, it could be made to produce power in lower light situations (dawn and dusk). Say the tower has 10 of his devices for converting solar energy, during max solar radiation all 10 of the devices are active and have 1/10th of the array aimed at them... as the solar energy is reduced, the array adjusts to only power 9, then 8, and so on until no devices can be run at their optimal temperature.
Finally, because the temperatures are not as high, the array does not need to be quite as accurate... current systems must focus at ton of radiation at a very small point to maintain their operating temperature... if the required temps are lower, couldn't the array be a little less accurate?
If my assumptions are correct, which I realize they are likely not, then perhaps even if his device is less efficient during max radiation it would still be more productive overall.
Hmm...
Oh yeah and one more thing... if his device can be made to convert heat to energy rapidly enough that the collector never reaches 800 degrees, wouldn't it be a drop-in replacement for existing structures. The only reason current solar collectors operate at such high temperatures is because that is the temperature required to achieve optimum generation... they could easily transfer the heat from the collector to the thermal generator at such a rate that the collector never achieves 100 let alone 800 degrees... but the generator would be extremely inefficient.
Why should the labels be in control anyway?
on
Sony BMG Dropping DRM
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· Score: 5, Insightful
What I don't understand is why the labels have such influence in the sales of music. Contrast it with retail sales and you will understand what I mean. In typical retail sales, the retailer purchases X items from a distributor or direct from the manufacturer and sells the for whatever they choose, allowing the retailer to compete and allowing the manufacturer sell the items for their desired profit margin, the only people who's profit margins are influenced by competition (of the same product) are the retailers.
In the online music world, the Label places all kinds of stipulations and requirements on the seller. Wouldn't they simply be better off selling X licenses for Y cents per license to as many online sellers as possible and let them duke it out over selling as many as possible. You would see Apple's, and many other sellers', profit margins drop as competition raged. Consumers would be buying at lower prices, which would increase overall sales, and advertising would increase as different sellers tried to attract new buyers.
Overall, a simple Manufacturer -> Distributor -> Seller -> Buyer structure where the manufacturer is hands-off on the sales end would probably make the most money for them. Even with piracy raging in the background, I guarantee that if I could pick up a bunch of music for $.25 per song (with $.24 going to the label), I'd be all over it. If the label want's more money for a newer track, simply sell it to the distributor/seller for a higher price and let them figure out how they want to move it.
I would imagine you would see 2 for 1 deals, free downloads, and all kinds of other schemes where sellers would take a loss on the low cost music to see higher profit margins on the higher cost tracks.
All I can say is... stop letting the labels set the retail prices, let competition and demand dictate the price. It's worked for almost every industry since the dawn of trade and there is a good reason, it makes everyone happy because they feel like they are getting a fair deal.
Slashdot Mirror
Rember is a much better name than Member.
I always thought remember was a strange word... I don't member anything, so how can I possibly RE-member it?
Either way, I'm glad I don't have to worry about hearing my dear old grandfather say "hold on son I have to grab my member" when we are headed out of the house. And god forbid grandma tells the ladies in her bridge club that she loves member, she takes two at a time, and they are actually easy to swallow!
Here's to you, great pharmasutical drug namer, thank you for Rember, oh and thanks for Flomax and Boniva too... they always make me laugh!
Appearently the less-than character doesn't parse well... that was supposed to say still remember the days of WordPerfect LESS-THAN 6...
I agree, ask the users... depending upon the application will depend on the best way to ask.
If possible, have multiple teams of users each coupled with a designer... have the designers then sit down with what their teams came up with and find the common elements, these are must haves. Anything that is unique should then be presented back to the other user teams to see if they agree about the need, if so it's also a must have. Finally, the desingers seperate and create simple mockups that include all the must haves and their teams ideas and present them to all of the teams for review... the users pick the best and make suggestions with that as the starting point.
This is obviously difficult if there are a huge number of screens that must all be unique... but for any common elements it provides a way to ensure that it is intuitive to the users, meets their needs, and finally it helps ensure that they feel empowered.
A couple of notes. 1. Always leave room to add additional controls, 2. UI design should not begin until a clear understanding of functional requirements is reached, 3. all participants must fully understand the functional requirements and should be those who will use the product the most... exclude management at early design stages if at all possible, 4. Never let the participants believe that what is decided is set in stone, some design ideas are simply not practical.
I too live in the snow belt and have driven all types of vehicles on bad roads and I don't belive it's overconfidence that effects people in SUVS and trucks... it's physics.
An SUV/truck has a higher center of gravity and more travel in it's suspension which can often cause tremendous weight shifts during accelleration and shifting making it easier for tires to lose traction. Additionally, they usually have wider tires that act like snowshoes instead of ice skates. SUV's have a much greater curb weight which requires far greater friction to accellerate, change directions, or stop. Light trucks are usually terribily balanced so that the rear tires can't maintain traction at all. And finally, no 4 wheel drive I have ever driven transmitted much to the driver... often you've lost traction long before it's effects can be percieved.
So I think people are equally confident, when actually they need to be even more careful driving their 4WD SUV than they would with a FWD small car... and that's where the problem arises.
As far as accidents go... I don't believe one vehicle to be safer than another purely due to size. Both have their advantages and associated risks. It's true that in the standard high speed collision tests, larger is often better... but those accidents aren't the only kind, there are also situations where a large vehicle is actually more dangerous. For example I once dumped an SUV into a ditch at 45MPH to avoid a collision and felt lucky that I only rolled once. Did the same thing with a car at 70MPH a few years later and slid sideways to a stop in a fountain of grass and gravel, once I caught my breath I drove the car out.
You don't work in user support do you? Most computer users are 4 year olds.
Do you realize what the most asked question I am faced with... "how do I change my screensaver?" Of course the user means their desktop wallpaper. Keep in mind I work at a government site with a standard wallpaper enforced by policy.
I think it is a GUI's ultimate goal to make the user feel like a 4 year old can use it. Of course, most 4 year olds are more sophisticated than many average users, but that's beside the point.
Those of us who are technically proficient will immediately change things into a "power user" configuration which will eliminate wasted screen realestate by title bars, scroll bars, icon labels, etc. But those users who are essentially 4 year olds will still get their shit done.
My only complaint about modern OS's is that they seem to favor percieved easyness over actual usability. Sometimes it's best to require the user to learn something new, as long as what they learn is intuitive. I still remember the days of WordPerfect 6... where any idiot could type a document and quickly glance at a keyboard template for the "special features". The pros could do almost anything without thought, while still maintaining 40+ wpm. Make the OS easy, but change stupid conventions... for example I don't need a icon to do anything if you would simply make it obvious that pressing X+Y to do it would work.
(ITDegree || ComputerScienceDegree) Programmer
An IT degree can be any number of things... program management, Quality Assurance, etc. And Computer Science isn't programming either... it's really applied mathmathmatics and logic. My IT degree focused on Program Managment, and I have never used it because I'm not in software, but there are tons of well paying positions for software lifecycle management and similar jobs.
I agree that it's a waste of time to teach business programming anymore... those who are good at it will pursue it on the side anyway... but most schools don't go much deeper than basic logic and structure now anyways. CS majors look at things differently, many are into robotics, embedded systems, and places where one must work in low level languages or where the applications are extremely complex and not easy to outsource.
Finally, the only reason either of these jobs have lost their prestiege is that so many people who have no business in the field said "I like computers" to their college advisors... a person who truely knows, loves, and understands computers and programming will not hurt for work. It just takes patience to wait while employers weed out all of the mediocrity.
...a fan.
Can you imagine how difficult it would be to control this in windy environment!
All energy sources are non-renewable... however you must account for time and innovation. If we switched to purely nuclear today it would increase the knowledge of the subject substantially over the next generation... increasing the potential for more efficient use of fission and potential for the holy grail of fusion.
I say go with what we know works and can sustain us for the next 100+ years while continuing to develop better tech. All-electric cars is a good thing, as the car doesn't care what the source of the electricty is! The biggest issue with any other fuel source is in the distribution of the fuel, lets standardize on electricty as the fuel and worry about the source as the needs grow and our technology improves!
He is saying that current fission, not fusion, is still the best source of energy we have. I agree. However I stipulate that the "waste" must be used to create electricity as well!
Through transmutation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_transmutation) much of the "waste" of current reactors (30 years old here in the US) can be further used to create electricty. And the result is less, and less dangerous, waste.
There are valid reasons to fear nuclear, however the benifits outweigh the results by billions of tons of carbon emissions. If we moved to a purely nuclear society, the innovations made in the long term would virtually eliminate the risks... making electrical power generation a truly clean enterprise... especially compared to current methods!
I would take a nuclear plant in my back yard before another coal one within 100 miles!
Ironically, a warmer planet may not necessarily make for warmer local conditions. Keep in mind that global warming is higher than expected temperatures, not higher temperatures. Scientists expect things to get cooler as part of normal earch cycles... however they probably won't get as cool as they would have due to global warming. See: http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/NASA_Climate_cooling/2008/05/01/92541.html
On a warm cycle we will have something to worry about.
I have noticed that Mercedes has been fairly resonable about getting their technologies into the hands of other automakers (at least it appears so). If you look at their Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz#Innovations), they are attibuted with many innovations that have become standard on many US vehicles... Including: ABS, Air Bags, and traction control.
I am sure that many of these are merely licensed to other automakers, however the terms must be reasonable as almost all automakers appear to have licensed Mercedes technology in the past.
I think I need to clarify my statement... the only "technical" advantage to dial up is the availability of providers. IE, no broadband available, or don't like the options available. Cost is of course an issue, but technically the only advantage I can see for dial-up is that you can pick from many providers in most areas while your severely limited in your broadband selection.
I have never met someone who said I don't want more goodness for the same price. If your local dial-up provider said, hey we will give you broadband speeds for no extra cost tomorrow... I would be willing to bet that most would jump on it!
The only "advantage" that dial-up offers over broadband is the flexability of providers.
The future of computers is the break from the GUI. In the future I expect to be able to speak to my computer, and to have it see me so I can interact with it physically.
For example, I want my computer to wake me up in the morning like my mother did when I was in High School. I want to to hear me up and moving around, or see me come down to the toilet... and if it doesn't I want to keep waking me up.
I want my computer to know when I'm planning to go on a trip because it sees me packing and ask me where I'm going so it can warn me about traffic and weather problems.
I want my computer to keep track of my schedule for me and remind me about my appointments of the day as it sees me walk out the door... not on some arbatrairy schedule I set.
I want my computer to remind my kids to bring an umbrella to the bus stop, or grab their lunch when they leave for school.
All of these things are possible, and will happen in the future. However they will require a level of parallel processing that we can only dream about. It's proven that the human mind is not like a single core design, but instead like thousands of cores each performing their own functions yet working together to accomplish even the smallest task. When the software exists to do the things listed above, it will require many cores.
Computing today is largely sequential because we are using computers as a tool to complete one or two tasks at a time. The future is using a computer to perform thousands of simple tasks at the same time. Which lends itself well to multiple cores.
I would agree except that I think that the constant need to blog, and the constant availability of tools to do so, only makes blogging more of a distraction. Blog at the end of the day, like you would with a diary or journal.
We have all seen people texting during a movie, play, sporting event, etc... just imagine what it will be like when people feel the need to write about the event while it happens! Hell I sat behind a woman who missed her daughter's entire dance routine at a recital recently because she was so concerned with photo-messaging a picture of her daughter in costume to the person sitting next to her that she didn't realize until the end that her daughter was on stage!
Technology and communication are vital to our society and they can add value or distract from it... we don't need more distractions, we need more value!
I woudn't normally reply, but I'm bored so here it goes.
First of all, I wouldn't call Einstein and the like bloggers... they were researchers and scientists and did what all researchers and scientists do, they document what they do and what happens. Second, they had VERY interesting things to write about and are thus the exact opposite of the subject of my comments. Finally, I said I get it, I understand the appeal though I don't engage in the activity myself as I feel my time is better spent with other activities.
I know that I am not more important than those listed... in fact I am content with the fact that only 1 person in a hundred million or so is even close. Do I hope that I can have the influence on history that they did, YES! Would I write about it if I did, YES! But again, I would then have something telling the world about!
As far as the numbers I quoted, yes I pulled them out of my ass to some degree... I know for a fact that my numbers are pretty damn conservative thats why I qualified them with "at least" and "less than". I suppose if I was writing a thesis on the subject rather than a comment on slashdot I would do the research and get a much more accurate estimate but my numbers served to illustrate my point and I challenge you to dispute them if you are so inclined.
As far as no one forcing me to rad(read?) the crap that people post... unfortunately too much of it is indexed by google and the like, and somehow made it high on the search engine's rankings... I don't know how many worthless blog posts I have read when searching for the information I needed. I have found good information in peoples blogs too, especially technical info, but I find that these are the blogs of the experts in their fields and thus they have value to the public as a whole and therefore are outside the focus of my previous comment.
Anyway have fun with your blogging, I hope you don't miss out on something worth writing about because your busy blogging!
I have the next new big product in blogging... its called "aLife". aLife is currently not available where you are sitting now, but for the low price of $1,000 you can order yours today! aLife includes adventure, romance, excitement, and best of all it includes a lifetime guarantee! If you want a blog that everyone on the internet will read, simply get aLife and you might just find that you acutally have something interesting to write about!
I understand blogging, I don't do it because I think I'd rather live my life than write about it, but I get it.
I just don't understand why so many people are so excited about being able to blog in so many different ways... if it doesn't improve the quality or the value of the content what good does it do?
I don't know the figures, but I know that at least 99% of all blog traffic is to less than 5% of the blogs on the internet, and I know why that is... CONTENT! Give these bloggers a tool to create better content!
I don't know about the content of your post, but the subject line was funny as hell!!!!
Though I agree with you in practice, I think you fail to recognise that the same phenomonon can exist in digital media...
When I watch a video using my computer, I can very quickly find a segment of video by adjusting a slider, and I find that I am usually suprisingly accurate.
When I read a long webpage (mostly slashdot comments), and return to it later, I KNOW without a doubt that more comments have been added because something seems further down on the scroll bar than I remember.
The physical association can be translated to digital, especially if some thought is given to it. For example, what about a reader that applies a slight hue to the pages; eg as you get further into a chapter the pages become more red... I would bet that you could scan very quickly to a page with minimal practice. Add some sound whenever you change pages so that the tone changes depending upon how far into the file you are, maybe even include a visual "stack" that will show the ratio of pages before to pages after your current page.
With enough forms of reference, you will be able to train your mind to locate data in a file just as quickly as you do in a physical book. Then of course there is the clickable index, search functionality, table of figures (with thumbnails), etc... all this adds up to a book that is far more of a reference tool than paper books.
I don't want to sit and read a novel on a computer, or most ebook readers... but textbooks could be VERY powerful if implemented correctly. I am quite certain that the only reason that they haven't all gone digital yet is that the college crowd also happens to be one of the largest populations of copywrite violators and they know that they will only sell one or two copies of the book!
If I were them I would license text ebooks to the teacher/school instead of selling them to the students. For example, they 'sell' the ebook to the school to freely distribute to it's students, however for each student enrolled in a class that requires that text they must be paid $x. It would be relatively easy to prevent teachers from illegally using the text (offer a reward to students who report it) there is little incentive for the school/teacher to violate the license as they will simply pass the cost to the student as a fee, and finally the returns can be just as good as the license would only be good for that single class session.
It's only a matter of time... traditional publishing will die off eventually, it may take a generation or two, but it will happen.
I can't wait until my kid takes highschool biology and has to dissect a pig-man embryo.
The great thing about a CS degree is that it's not really a programming degree... if you look at it a bit differently.
A CS degree is a degree in applied mathmatics... especially in the areas where there are large amounts of data or repetitive math.
A good CS can get almost any position a mathmatician can get, can work anywhere that data is collected and studied, and can even do things that many engineers do these days.
If I were you I would first decide where your interests lie... then look for a function in that field that requires the analytical and logical mind of a CS major. For example I have known CS majors that made excellent QA engineers in the automotive sector, CS majors that worked in pubic works as traffic planners, CS majors who worked for major polling/statical analysis organizations, I even knew a CS major that consulted as a financial data analyst... he didn't know finance but he did know how to manipulate data on a spreadsheet to find abnormal activity or trends.
Remember, most people don't work in the field in which they obtained their degree... but they usually bring something unique to their position because of what they learned in school. Sure you can't write a decent program, but your gonna be far better at learning to use skills that require the logical processes used in programming than a acountant for example.
Think outside the box!
Good luck!
The one weakness that people seem to ignore with all full disk encryption schemes is the hacked bootloader.
For example, I create a utility that installs a replacement bootloader onto your machine's UNENCRYPTED boot partition. It looks the same, so you enter your password... my code than passes the typed code and saves your password so I can later log into your system.
HOWEVER, people who point out that weakness also forget that full disk encryption's primary purpose is to prevent loss of important business and private data when a laptop is stolen, not to prevent an intentional theft. Which is why my organization (DHS) requires WinMagic on all of their laptops... at least that way they can be fairly certain that the user who has their laptop stolen didn't just divulge a few million records of personal information.
A true full disk encryption to prevent an intentional theft of data should:
A. place the boot loader on a separate read-only device (USB key type device), rendering the system's disk unusable without the seperate hardware device.
B. use biometric or token based authentication to prevent interception of entered key's
Even then, it's still only as secure as the system is once the user has authenticated. I think that the funniest thing I ever heard was the guy who backed up his encrypted system to a DVD before every trip... then carried the DVD with him just in case something happened while he was on the road and he couldn't access the data he needed. What he didn't do is take the time to ensure that his backup was encrypted... many users think that once the data is encrypted it stays that way, even when it's copied off the device.
"I, however, take great offense at Christianity being likened to Islam."
Ironically, the two have more in common than different.
Can't existing solar arrays be easily made to output a mere 200 degrees by simply decreasing the accuracy of their focus (while increasing the size of the focal point)... the same amount of energy would strike the focal point, but it wouldn't be as concentrated.
So assuming that his device is at least as efficient at 200 degrees as existing devices are at 600+ degrees, the array could put out the same or more energy using his technology.
Additionally, because the temperature could be tuned by adjusting the focus and his system requires smaller temperatures, it could be made to produce power in lower light situations (dawn and dusk). Say the tower has 10 of his devices for converting solar energy, during max solar radiation all 10 of the devices are active and have 1/10th of the array aimed at them... as the solar energy is reduced, the array adjusts to only power 9, then 8, and so on until no devices can be run at their optimal temperature.
Finally, because the temperatures are not as high, the array does not need to be quite as accurate... current systems must focus at ton of radiation at a very small point to maintain their operating temperature... if the required temps are lower, couldn't the array be a little less accurate?
If my assumptions are correct, which I realize they are likely not, then perhaps even if his device is less efficient during max radiation it would still be more productive overall.
Hmm...
Oh yeah and one more thing... if his device can be made to convert heat to energy rapidly enough that the collector never reaches 800 degrees, wouldn't it be a drop-in replacement for existing structures. The only reason current solar collectors operate at such high temperatures is because that is the temperature required to achieve optimum generation... they could easily transfer the heat from the collector to the thermal generator at such a rate that the collector never achieves 100 let alone 800 degrees... but the generator would be extremely inefficient.
What I don't understand is why the labels have such influence in the sales of music. Contrast it with retail sales and you will understand what I mean. In typical retail sales, the retailer purchases X items from a distributor or direct from the manufacturer and sells the for whatever they choose, allowing the retailer to compete and allowing the manufacturer sell the items for their desired profit margin, the only people who's profit margins are influenced by competition (of the same product) are the retailers.
In the online music world, the Label places all kinds of stipulations and requirements on the seller. Wouldn't they simply be better off selling X licenses for Y cents per license to as many online sellers as possible and let them duke it out over selling as many as possible. You would see Apple's, and many other sellers', profit margins drop as competition raged. Consumers would be buying at lower prices, which would increase overall sales, and advertising would increase as different sellers tried to attract new buyers.
Overall, a simple Manufacturer -> Distributor -> Seller -> Buyer structure where the manufacturer is hands-off on the sales end would probably make the most money for them. Even with piracy raging in the background, I guarantee that if I could pick up a bunch of music for $.25 per song (with $.24 going to the label), I'd be all over it. If the label want's more money for a newer track, simply sell it to the distributor/seller for a higher price and let them figure out how they want to move it.
I would imagine you would see 2 for 1 deals, free downloads, and all kinds of other schemes where sellers would take a loss on the low cost music to see higher profit margins on the higher cost tracks.
All I can say is... stop letting the labels set the retail prices, let competition and demand dictate the price. It's worked for almost every industry since the dawn of trade and there is a good reason, it makes everyone happy because they feel like they are getting a fair deal.