Well, if you really need a supercomputer, the first step is not to get the computer, but instead the funding. As super computers go, if your needs are served by a distributed computing environmet, an "entry level" supercomputer does not really cost all that much compared to "traditional" supercomputers. Yes we are still talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars. (there seems to still be 256 processor 2.8ghz xeon based computers with gig ethernet connectivity on the latest top 500 list) If you need to solve problems that do not work in paralell, you are definitely out of luck.
If the media has to be specially prepared for this to work, I do not see this taking off currently until the search engine can do the prepping fast and simple from the orginal unprepped media.
I was not saying that easy tools make someone dumb or lazy. The point I was trying to make was the opposite, The world is full of bad programmers that cannot get much done without such tools. I have nothing against people useing anything that saves them time, very much the opposite, but a good programmer can do a lot without these tools, wereas a bad programmer will tear their hair out.
Indeed, very true, but this does make the development go toward the more advanced features as the programmers that need basic functions are not capable of adding them.
I agree with you on that but maybe you are missing the point atlest a bit.
Wast majority of people doing any sort of programming in the world are quite frankly not that good. Thus they need easy, preconfigured tools that will help them do the basically simple things they have to do, but that seem so difficult and intimidating to them.
In general there is a problem with many of the tools in the world of free software.
The general problem is that those are usually built by true experts, that is people who know their programming inside out. The tools are built to "scratch a personal itch" thus they are generally very powerfull but not so userfriendly.
I think that this has a lot to do with the fact that quite many people do not like double morale. When someone is preaching about some good behavior and then shows the opposite, the reaction is stroneger than if one just does the bad things without preaching the opposite.
Well I for one did some tests when I was studying. Part of an introductory politics course was asking people on the streets for their opinnions. I did sneak in a lot of knowledge questions about the questionable sides of society like the procentage of richest people who hold 10% of the total wealth and the procentage of the people who hold 10% lowest. The replies ranged quite far, but the ammount of people who came even to right orders of magnitude were depressignly low. So unfortunately I do have to side with the grandparent.
Well in general you do have to remember that RIAA is not an organisation for artists rights, it is an organisation for the record companies rights. The difference is huge.
Well, yes US has currently the best propaganda machine in the world, but there are many countries where that is not wanted, China is hardly the only one.
Ofcourse some coutries have good enough propganda machines on their own so that by calling on patriotism they can counter that propaganda, but not every government feels secure in that they will succeed in such.
Unfortunately paranoia is not the way things like this run. They run by neglet, as everyone will have a "real" job to do or something they think they should be doing. Even the security people in most places do not seem to take things hard enough. Only when something happens and people ae scrambling to cover their asses does the paranoia happen.
Thus again it it is proven that in an investigation like this the most important step is to find scrapecoats, even when the investigation itself is groundless.
Well, the material technology is actually currently going forward at great speed, so getting to orbit with some reasonably simple rocket built of very good materials might not be that far off in the future.
Seems to me they lost track of their vision somewhere as organisation. I am not saying there are not dedicated people as such there, there are many, but the organisation itself has lost it's goals.
The Real problem is that while the shuttle was being built (and fought over in budgets) NASA intentionally tried to stop all other forms of space flight to keep the shuttle program alive. The end result was the the shuttle had to fullfill so many missions that it became a "jack of all trades, master of none." So currently US does not have anything approachng Soyuz in capacity as alternative to the shuttle.
Well, the sad truth is, CYA seems to be the norm in larger organisations. I have mostly worked in smaller ones where actually doing your job is important, but the times I have worked in or for a larger organisation I have noticed that you need to save all your correspondance and make sure everything is in a traceable format.
When people pay money for something, things happen like ownership, real or imagined. Thus I buy an item in a game, few days later that item is nerfed, I get mad and sue the seller, the seller drags in the game provider...
If it is oficially forbidden to sell those.. well.. neither party will be able to pin it (so easy) on the provider...
Slashdot Mirror
SGI had NASA AMES' Columbia online in 120 days, and landed #2 on the Top500.
I am sure that what they mean is that every phase of the project was according to schedule, specifically including the PR efforts.
Well, if you really need a supercomputer, the first step is not to get the computer, but instead the funding. As super computers go, if your needs are served by a distributed computing environmet, an "entry level" supercomputer does not really cost all that much compared to "traditional" supercomputers. Yes we are still talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars. (there seems to still be 256 processor 2.8ghz xeon based computers with gig ethernet connectivity on the latest top 500 list) If you need to solve problems that do not work in paralell, you are definitely out of luck.
oh, I am sure google would hire anyone who got this recognition working with low enough prosessor requirement.
well, to be revolutionary it would require that capability. As it is now, it is simply a toy to play around with and then forget about.
If the media has to be specially prepared for this to work, I do not see this taking off currently until the search engine can do the prepping fast and simple from the orginal unprepped media.
I was not saying that easy tools make someone dumb or lazy. The point I was trying to make was the opposite, The world is full of bad programmers that cannot get much done without such tools. I have nothing against people useing anything that saves them time, very much the opposite, but a good programmer can do a lot without these tools, wereas a bad programmer will tear their hair out.
Indeed, very true, but this does make the development go toward the more advanced features as the programmers that need basic functions are not capable of adding them.
oh, not me, but having looked at way too many "programmers" and their "code" through the years I would say way too many people need such.
Wast majority of people doing any sort of programming in the world are quite frankly not that good. Thus they need easy, preconfigured tools that will help them do the basically simple things they have to do, but that seem so difficult and intimidating to them.
The general problem is that those are usually built by true experts, that is people who know their programming inside out. The tools are built to "scratch a personal itch" thus they are generally very powerfull but not so userfriendly.
I think that this has a lot to do with the fact that quite many people do not like double morale. When someone is preaching about some good behavior and then shows the opposite, the reaction is stroneger than if one just does the bad things without preaching the opposite.
Ofcourse they do, they need laborers to build the new prisons for when the damand rises.
Well I for one did some tests when I was studying. Part of an introductory politics course was asking people on the streets for their opinnions. I did sneak in a lot of knowledge questions about the questionable sides of society like the procentage of richest people who hold 10% of the total wealth and the procentage of the people who hold 10% lowest. The replies ranged quite far, but the ammount of people who came even to right orders of magnitude were depressignly low. So unfortunately I do have to side with the grandparent.
Well in general you do have to remember that RIAA is not an organisation for artists rights, it is an organisation for the record companies rights. The difference is huge.
Ofcourse some coutries have good enough propganda machines on their own so that by calling on patriotism they can counter that propaganda, but not every government feels secure in that they will succeed in such.
Unfortunately paranoia is not the way things like this run. They run by neglet, as everyone will have a "real" job to do or something they think they should be doing. Even the security people in most places do not seem to take things hard enough. Only when something happens and people ae scrambling to cover their asses does the paranoia happen.
Thus again it it is proven that in an investigation like this the most important step is to find scrapecoats, even when the investigation itself is groundless.
Well, the material technology is actually currently going forward at great speed, so getting to orbit with some reasonably simple rocket built of very good materials might not be that far off in the future.
Seems to me they lost track of their vision somewhere as organisation. I am not saying there are not dedicated people as such there, there are many, but the organisation itself has lost it's goals.
As far as NASA thinks, the other things are just toys and even worse.. Commercial.
The Real problem is that while the shuttle was being built (and fought over in budgets) NASA intentionally tried to stop all other forms of space flight to keep the shuttle program alive. The end result was the the shuttle had to fullfill so many missions that it became a "jack of all trades, master of none." So currently US does not have anything approachng Soyuz in capacity as alternative to the shuttle.
I think the frame rate on it is quite low, human the lag in movement should be noticable, with most things appearing to stand still.
Well, the sad truth is, CYA seems to be the norm in larger organisations. I have mostly worked in smaller ones where actually doing your job is important, but the times I have worked in or for a larger organisation I have noticed that you need to save all your correspondance and make sure everything is in a traceable format.
Unfortunately the "Peter Principle" and other sources of people who are not qualified are well and alive.
If it is oficially forbidden to sell those.. well.. neither party will be able to pin it (so easy) on the provider...