Right. Also remember that a large number of Chinese citizens are on the side of their government, hard to believe as that may be. The prevailing attitude seems to be "they should not do business here if they don't respect our local laws", and moreover many people there see Google as an extension of the US government's foreign policy (state media has played up ties between Googlers and the US government.
Surprising as it may seem, a large, large number (maybe majority, I don't have statistics) are perfectly fine with censorship, and are immensely proud of their country despite its flaws (nationalism strikes again!).
It's important to remember NASA consists of more than just Johnson and Kennedy (space centers). Each center focuses on certain areas that are important to NASA's overarching mission. Ames, actually, does a lot of computer science and software engineering research, so this makes sense to do here.
Additionally, NASA deals with a lot of data, for example from their earth-monitoring and climate science missions. There is a huge need for computing infrastructure, and a resource like this that can be shared across NASA centers is a great benefit to researchers across the agency.
Regarding sensitive information: the mindset at NASA (at least among the PHB's) is to be super paranoid about any possible data breaches. PR is extremely important to NASA, and if there were any major embarrassments due to data breach that could result in decreased funding, which as we all know is already incredibly tight. So, by providing services like this in-house, it's much easier for teams at other NASA centers to get access to the resources they need without jumping through hoops to get clearance. I will note that much of this feeling is a result of ITAR, so NASA's concerns are definitely well-grounded.
This fellow has been working on his own programming language, also called "Go", for a decade. Even released a book about it. He filed an issue in the tracker for the Google language: http://code.google.com/p/go/issues/detail?id=9
This is a really interesting idea, and I can tell it is well thought out. However, I think it wouldn't work primarily because of its complexity. It's already bad enough for a lot of people to have to select multiple checkboxes in different categories for different elections ("do I select one for each council seat?" "can I vote for President and mayor?"). I think the act of voting can really be no more complicated than picking a box in order for people (even smart people) to not get confused.
Optical is great, but it can't deliver power, so I don't see this being used for peripherals (that'll be the role, I'm sure, of USB 3.0). Also, a 10Gb optical link seems a bit excessive to begin with for devices like keyboards and the like, so I couldn't imagine this standard even being used to replace the internal USB buses that are used in most laptops today.
What does that leave? As the article mentions, multimedia in/out and networking, presumably. Can you think of anything else? The obstacle I see with networking is that the world connects with RJ45, so for wired networking you'd still need an adapter.
So, that leaves multimedia. What I really see this being used for is a way to connect audio and video devices in a kind of "multimedia LAN". It seems very much in Apple's interest to develop a standard that would allow you to plug one cable into your device and then access your media from wherever. Consider addressing your desktop monitor and speakers as network devices, as well as your living room TV and speakers in other locations in your home. Baseless speculation? Mostly. But as of now, I'm not sure if there's any way to connect your iPhone to your TV and pump music through your speakers elsewhere, unless of course you're using Apple's wireless access point with a speaker jack, or perhaps the Apple TV.
After reading a bit more about it, turns out the record is an average speed: you have to go run the track both ways, and then come back. They calculate the average speed from both runs. Makes it a bit more interesting than a drag race, huh? Making an engine that could do both runs untouched was part of their challenge!
If the/record/ speed is 367.382mph, but during the run the driver reached 380mph, I could imagine he must have been very uncomfortable smashed against the windshield of his "motorcycle".
Pray tell, what else do you expect them to say? "Our research doesn't really show any results to speak of... but here's a paper anyway!". Also, statistical significance is, well, significant. So they are accurate in saying it is a significant finding.
I wouldn't call the second group "power users". Practically everyone I know on my university campus puts their machines to sleep rather than shutting down precisely because they have tasks running in the background. I think it's a result of the highly mobile nature of people here: working in the library, then on to class, then somewhere else, etc. The applications we're talking about are browser sessions (say, 30 tabs open doing some kind of research) or editing documents, so I think this type of behavior is well within the reach of people most of us would not consider "power users".
Hey now. Not all of us in the South fit your stereotypes. Maybe there are more douchebags like the grandparent here, but quite a few of us "get it". I don't go around insulting your part of the country just because I meet an asshole from there, so I'd appreciate if you didn't do that to mine. I was just born here, not given much say in the matter.
I completely agree. Synaptic and the whole "Add/Remove Software..." (I think that's what Ubuntu calls it) thing are fundamentally different ways of obtaining software than what people are used to with Windows or Mac. I told someone today that I had only paid for one (non-game) piece of software in my life, and they thought I meant I was a huge pirate or something. "Download" has become synonymous with "illegal" for most people and telling folks they can just download whatever software they want for free is going to require some serious de-indoctrination.
When that lightbulb goes off in someone's head that they can download any of the software in that big list for free, legally, and easily, and then that it (generally) just works... it's a beautiful thing. That's when I think people start to realize how awesome OSS can be.
Cool, thanks for filling me in. That was an honest question. Do you really think this merger is a "clear and present danger" to Microsoft and IBM (another honest question, o cynics of/.)?
I read the full article, jackass. Sorry to ruin your/. stereotype.
Novel idea: asking a question to harness the collective knowledge of/. to put an article in context. I'm not familiar with either of these companies and as far as I can tell this merger is nothing more than hype. Maybe I'm missing something and someone will correct me. That's the point of the question.
Microsoft and IBM have lots of competitors (Oracle comes readily to mind). What makes this different, besides the fact I've never heard of either of these companies? A blogger I've also never heard of who wants hits?
It's not just if it kills people. There is a significant impact simply from infecting people in making them sick, in terms of health care, missed work/school/???, and even the fact that people will be living in fear that they'll get sick (however rational or irrational that fear is). You know how the point of landmines is to maim not kill, since it takes three soldiers out of action (one cause they're hurt, the other two to carry them off)? That type of situation applies here too. There's much more to it than just lethality.
Eh, they'll get their company alcohol. When I was there (at a low-budget team) we were having a BBQ on the lawn next to our building, and a high-budget team was also having an event out there with an open bar (we just had a cooler). That's not too uncommon there.
On a nicer note, one time my manager thought it would be fun to spend a workday with the team at his house making beer. It was a good bonding experience and a welcome break at a very hectic time. Good people, good people.
Most strandings are still thought to be natural events, but the tests strengthen fears that exercises by naval vessels equipped with sonar are responsible for at least some of them.
No one said that strandings aren't a natural phenomenon. They have multiple causes! You didn't even have to click a link to see that!
In the spirit of full disclosure, I didn't discover this one, and it's documented fairly well elsewhere.
In Ocarina of Time, when you become an Adult, Zora's Domain gets turned to ice. How sad! I know. Anyway, there's a way to get underneath the ice from Lake Hylia. You have to stand directly beneath the gate that leads to the water temple in the center of the lake, against the wall to your right as you face away from the entrance. If you take off the iron boots, you'll start to float upwards, and if you time it right, you'll momentarily see through the wall. If you put your iron boots on at that moment, you'll be able to sink past that wall, underneath the lake. Woohoo.
So, after you do that, you have to swim towards the tunnel that connects the lake to zora's domain. While it's also frozen, since you're under the lake, you can just swim beneath it and still be transported to Zora's domain. When you get there, you'll be under the ice! It's pretty cool actually. There is a hidden cavern down there that looks like it was going to be something that wasn't included in the game. You can get out of the ice through the frozen waterfall -- just walk towards it long enough and you'll get through.
Here's a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_7UmsKh4Gk . There are actually quite a few interesting glitches in that game. Ah, Ocarina of Time, how we loved thee... Still fun ten years later.
Slashdot Mirror
Also that article is from five years ago.
Right. Also remember that a large number of Chinese citizens are on the side of their government, hard to believe as that may be. The prevailing attitude seems to be "they should not do business here if they don't respect our local laws", and moreover many people there see Google as an extension of the US government's foreign policy (state media has played up ties between Googlers and the US government.
Surprising as it may seem, a large, large number (maybe majority, I don't have statistics) are perfectly fine with censorship, and are immensely proud of their country despite its flaws (nationalism strikes again!).
It's important to remember NASA consists of more than just Johnson and Kennedy (space centers). Each center focuses on certain areas that are important to NASA's overarching mission. Ames, actually, does a lot of computer science and software engineering research, so this makes sense to do here.
Additionally, NASA deals with a lot of data, for example from their earth-monitoring and climate science missions. There is a huge need for computing infrastructure, and a resource like this that can be shared across NASA centers is a great benefit to researchers across the agency.
Regarding sensitive information: the mindset at NASA (at least among the PHB's) is to be super paranoid about any possible data breaches. PR is extremely important to NASA, and if there were any major embarrassments due to data breach that could result in decreased funding, which as we all know is already incredibly tight. So, by providing services like this in-house, it's much easier for teams at other NASA centers to get access to the resources they need without jumping through hoops to get clearance. I will note that much of this feeling is a result of ITAR, so NASA's concerns are definitely well-grounded.
This fellow has been working on his own programming language, also called "Go", for a decade. Even released a book about it. He filed an issue in the tracker for the Google language: http://code.google.com/p/go/issues/detail?id=9
This is a really interesting idea, and I can tell it is well thought out. However, I think it wouldn't work primarily because of its complexity. It's already bad enough for a lot of people to have to select multiple checkboxes in different categories for different elections ("do I select one for each council seat?" "can I vote for President and mayor?"). I think the act of voting can really be no more complicated than picking a box in order for people (even smart people) to not get confused.
Perhaps. Either way, you make a great point in your GP post.
Remember last time an ISP (yes, I know Comcast does more than that) bought a media company? The world was introduced to AOL Time Warner.
Probably don't have too much to worry about.
Optical is great, but it can't deliver power, so I don't see this being used for peripherals (that'll be the role, I'm sure, of USB 3.0). Also, a 10Gb optical link seems a bit excessive to begin with for devices like keyboards and the like, so I couldn't imagine this standard even being used to replace the internal USB buses that are used in most laptops today.
What does that leave? As the article mentions, multimedia in/out and networking, presumably. Can you think of anything else? The obstacle I see with networking is that the world connects with RJ45, so for wired networking you'd still need an adapter.
So, that leaves multimedia. What I really see this being used for is a way to connect audio and video devices in a kind of "multimedia LAN". It seems very much in Apple's interest to develop a standard that would allow you to plug one cable into your device and then access your media from wherever. Consider addressing your desktop monitor and speakers as network devices, as well as your living room TV and speakers in other locations in your home. Baseless speculation? Mostly. But as of now, I'm not sure if there's any way to connect your iPhone to your TV and pump music through your speakers elsewhere, unless of course you're using Apple's wireless access point with a speaker jack, or perhaps the Apple TV.
After reading a bit more about it, turns out the record is an average speed: you have to go run the track both ways, and then come back. They calculate the average speed from both runs. Makes it a bit more interesting than a drag race, huh? Making an engine that could do both runs untouched was part of their challenge!
If the /record/ speed is 367.382mph, but during the run the driver reached 380mph, I could imagine he must have been very uncomfortable smashed against the windshield of his "motorcycle".
Pray tell, what else do you expect them to say? "Our research doesn't really show any results to speak of... but here's a paper anyway!". Also, statistical significance is, well, significant. So they are accurate in saying it is a significant finding.
I wouldn't call the second group "power users". Practically everyone I know on my university campus puts their machines to sleep rather than shutting down precisely because they have tasks running in the background. I think it's a result of the highly mobile nature of people here: working in the library, then on to class, then somewhere else, etc. The applications we're talking about are browser sessions (say, 30 tabs open doing some kind of research) or editing documents, so I think this type of behavior is well within the reach of people most of us would not consider "power users".
*point and laugh*
Seriously, though. Years late and... conspicuously not needed?
Hey now. Not all of us in the South fit your stereotypes. Maybe there are more douchebags like the grandparent here, but quite a few of us "get it". I don't go around insulting your part of the country just because I meet an asshole from there, so I'd appreciate if you didn't do that to mine. I was just born here, not given much say in the matter.
kthxbye.
Which is my point exactly.
Apparently not.
Who would have thunk it, researchers at Microsoft getting the task done in the best way possible rather than being dogmatic.
Sheesh. Get over the FUD.
I completely agree. Synaptic and the whole "Add/Remove Software..." (I think that's what Ubuntu calls it) thing are fundamentally different ways of obtaining software than what people are used to with Windows or Mac. I told someone today that I had only paid for one (non-game) piece of software in my life, and they thought I meant I was a huge pirate or something. "Download" has become synonymous with "illegal" for most people and telling folks they can just download whatever software they want for free is going to require some serious de-indoctrination.
When that lightbulb goes off in someone's head that they can download any of the software in that big list for free, legally, and easily, and then that it (generally) just works... it's a beautiful thing. That's when I think people start to realize how awesome OSS can be.
Touche, you win this round. That's what finals will do to you. :)
Cool, thanks for filling me in. That was an honest question. Do you really think this merger is a "clear and present danger" to Microsoft and IBM (another honest question, o cynics of /.)?
I read the full article, jackass. Sorry to ruin your /. stereotype.
/. to put an article in context. I'm not familiar with either of these companies and as far as I can tell this merger is nothing more than hype. Maybe I'm missing something and someone will correct me. That's the point of the question.
Novel idea: asking a question to harness the collective knowledge of
Microsoft and IBM have lots of competitors (Oracle comes readily to mind). What makes this different, besides the fact I've never heard of either of these companies? A blogger I've also never heard of who wants hits?
It's not just if it kills people. There is a significant impact simply from infecting people in making them sick, in terms of health care, missed work/school/???, and even the fact that people will be living in fear that they'll get sick (however rational or irrational that fear is). You know how the point of landmines is to maim not kill, since it takes three soldiers out of action (one cause they're hurt, the other two to carry them off)? That type of situation applies here too. There's much more to it than just lethality.
Eh, they'll get their company alcohol. When I was there (at a low-budget team) we were having a BBQ on the lawn next to our building, and a high-budget team was also having an event out there with an open bar (we just had a cooler). That's not too uncommon there.
On a nicer note, one time my manager thought it would be fun to spend a workday with the team at his house making beer. It was a good bonding experience and a welcome break at a very hectic time. Good people, good people.
From the summary:
Most strandings are still thought to be natural events, but the tests strengthen fears that exercises by naval vessels equipped with sonar are responsible for at least some of them.
No one said that strandings aren't a natural phenomenon. They have multiple causes! You didn't even have to click a link to see that!
In the spirit of full disclosure, I didn't discover this one, and it's documented fairly well elsewhere.
In Ocarina of Time, when you become an Adult, Zora's Domain gets turned to ice. How sad! I know. Anyway, there's a way to get underneath the ice from Lake Hylia. You have to stand directly beneath the gate that leads to the water temple in the center of the lake, against the wall to your right as you face away from the entrance. If you take off the iron boots, you'll start to float upwards, and if you time it right, you'll momentarily see through the wall. If you put your iron boots on at that moment, you'll be able to sink past that wall, underneath the lake. Woohoo.
So, after you do that, you have to swim towards the tunnel that connects the lake to zora's domain. While it's also frozen, since you're under the lake, you can just swim beneath it and still be transported to Zora's domain. When you get there, you'll be under the ice! It's pretty cool actually. There is a hidden cavern down there that looks like it was going to be something that wasn't included in the game. You can get out of the ice through the frozen waterfall -- just walk towards it long enough and you'll get through.
Here's a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_7UmsKh4Gk . There are actually quite a few interesting glitches in that game. Ah, Ocarina of Time, how we loved thee... Still fun ten years later.