I would think the bipedal position is a good tradeoff between agility and the use of our hands for doing other things. We are not as agile as cats, for example, but we can use our hands for making tools, grabbing stuff, etc.
Creating a robot that would be as agile as a cat would be a daunting task, I would think. So maybe, a humanoid robot is the next best thing when it comes to agility.
It certainly beats 4 wheels robots.
Balance is the main problem of course and that's where 2 arms can be really useful as well.
Our physionomy must have very good reasons to be the way it is, I guess.
The real problem with non-techie people not moving to Linux is that PC dealers sell PCs with Windows already installed.
Suddenly, one has to know how to resize his partitions and install a dual boot system for Windows and Linux. This makes it virtually impossible for Linux to be adopted by the wider community.
In that respect, live cds is one of the best thing that happened for the Linux community and people will give them a go if they know they won't have to install anything on their HD.
Personally, I would say that one of the best thing that could happen would be for a major pc seller, such as Dell, to sell their computers with *both* Windows and Linux installed and give the choice to the user about which OS to boot, each time.
All you need, is maybe 20Gb of disk space allocated to Linux. Why hasn't that happened, it?
I could whip out performance reports where Java will beat C++ in various measurements. It's pointless though because most of the morons who post to this site don't understand the technology at all anyway.
Yes, please. Give us links to objective reports showing that identical useful applications written in Java and C++ are faster in the Java version.
That you like it or not, Java *still* is an interprated language. I have never used a Java application that didn't require a jvm.
Nothing wrong with that, of course. I love Python but I would never argue that a Python program will run faster than its C++ equivalent, as I would never argue that the C++ version will run faster than the C version.
It's just that Java was designed to make it easy to write cross platform applications, not embedded software!
In 99% of cases, embedded software will be written using a compiled language because the resulting program will be faster and more memory efficient.
I have yet to see a Java application that will run smootly on an old pentium. How many good, snappy Java applications can you name?
There is a lot of hype about Java and Sun did a fantastic job at marketing their product. But the more experienced software engineers know that it's mostly hype...
I presume the "5+ weeks of vacation" refers to France, as opposed to Europe.
It would be nice to see people informing themselves before posting these kind of generic statements on/.
In general, the minimum legal for holidays entitlement in most countries of Europe is around 20 days a year. In some companies, employees can get extra days depending on the number of years working for their company.
Simlarly, only 2 countries have voted "no" to the European Constitution, France and The Netherlands. That does not represent the whole of Europe.
The Indonesian governement can claim they cannot afford buying legal M$ software, but that certainly does not prevent them buying weapons and policing equipement to keep their population under control.
For some details about weapons deals between the west and Indonesia, read "Hidden Agendas" by John Pilger. Or read about the invasion of East Timor by Indonesia and the massacre of its people.
Solid passwords can be created and retrieved easily if chosen using a judicious personalized mnemotechnic method.
For example, say you need a password to login as "John Doe" on "Slashdot News for Nerds, Stuff that matters".
Using a combination of initials and special characters your password becomes:
jd%snfnstm
I use variations of similar techniques for my passwords which makes it very easy to remember them for me and very difficult to find out for others.
How many times have I heard somebody predicting the death of C/C++?
The truth is that in 10 years time, some people will still be predicting the end of C/C++. And while they will be arguing which of the dead Java or the past Delphi was the best language, a huge amount of programmers will still be programming using C/C++ for environments requiring lightweight and efficient applications.
Java was supposed to kill C++ and it's funny to think now about the hype that surrounded these debates. In the background, Sun was savouring what seemed like a sweet victory.
Yet, here we are many years later. I'm trying to think about 1 good, lightweight and responsive Java application. I'm trying very hard...
In case the hard disk has write cache enabled, the data
may not really be on permanent storage when fsync/fdata
sync return.
When an ext2 file system is mounted with the sync option,
directory entries are also implicitly synced by fsync.
On kernels before 2.4, fsync on big files can be ineffi
cient. An alternative might be to use the O_SYNC flag to
open(2).
It is very sad to read how misinformed people can be.
Here is a report you might be interested to read. It concerns a nuclear plant in the UK.
I'm sure you probably believe that this would never happen in the US...
I have read the most naive comments in this thread.
You guys really trust in the absolute safety of our western modernized nuclear plants...
About 2 Months ago, the UK Atomic Energy Authority announced that 30 kg of plutonium were unaccounted for by the Sellafield nuclear plant, in the UK.
Since 1952, the Sellafield plant has been releasing nuclear waste into the Irish Sea making it the most radioactive sea in the wold (yes, even beating the Baltic Sea).
Do you all believe that our governements are 100% committed to make population safety a priority against economic interests?
Do you really believe that a major nuclear accident will never occur in the western part of the world? How arrogant is this?...
The thing with nuclear energy is that one major incident is enough to devaste whole countries and kill millions of people.
No matter how low the probability of a nuclear accident (and it is higher than you think), it is not a matter of "if" but of "when".
The real issue is that there is no other way to make our planet healthier and safer but to cut down on our need for energy.
This article is about trying to make maximum use of a given amount of energy. In my mind that beats by far converting the use of fossile fuels to the use of nuclear energy.
We, western countries, like to tell that we produce energy in the most secure fashion in the world. But we do not like admitting that we are also the biggest polluters in the world.
Let's stop pretending we do so much better than others.
Slashdot Mirror
The first geek project your girlfriend will qualifiy as "hot"...
I wonder, would it be possible to build some kind of reflector to return the microwave beam to its originator? Would be cool!
I would think the bipedal position is a good tradeoff between agility and the use of our hands for doing other things. We are not as agile as cats, for example, but we can use our hands for making tools, grabbing stuff, etc. Creating a robot that would be as agile as a cat would be a daunting task, I would think. So maybe, a humanoid robot is the next best thing when it comes to agility. It certainly beats 4 wheels robots.
Balance is the main problem of course and that's where 2 arms can be really useful as well.
Our physionomy must have very good reasons to be the way it is, I guess.
Suddenly, one has to know how to resize his partitions and install a dual boot system for Windows and Linux. This makes it virtually impossible for Linux to be adopted by the wider community.
In that respect, live cds is one of the best thing that happened for the Linux community and people will give them a go if they know they won't have to install anything on their HD.
Personally, I would say that one of the best thing that could happen would be for a major pc seller, such as Dell, to sell their computers with *both* Windows and Linux installed and give the choice to the user about which OS to boot, each time. All you need, is maybe 20Gb of disk space allocated to Linux. Why hasn't that happened, it?
Tempel: 1
Impactor: 0
Yes, please. Give us links to objective reports showing that identical useful applications written in Java and C++ are faster in the Java version.
That you like it or not, Java *still* is an interprated language. I have never used a Java application that didn't require a jvm.
Nothing wrong with that, of course. I love Python but I would never argue that a Python program will run faster than its C++ equivalent, as I would never argue that the C++ version will run faster than the C version.
It's just that Java was designed to make it easy to write cross platform applications, not embedded software!
In 99% of cases, embedded software will be written using a compiled language because the resulting program will be faster and more memory efficient.
I have yet to see a Java application that will run smootly on an old pentium. How many good, snappy Java applications can you name?
There is a lot of hype about Java and Sun did a fantastic job at marketing their product. But the more experienced software engineers know that it's mostly hype...
It would be nice to see people informing themselves before posting these kind of generic statements on /.
In general, the minimum legal for holidays entitlement in most countries of Europe is around 20 days a year. In some companies, employees can get extra days depending on the number of years working for their company.
Simlarly, only 2 countries have voted "no" to the European Constitution, France and The Netherlands. That does not represent the whole of Europe.
It could have been a source of enlightment...
For some details about weapons deals between the west and Indonesia, read "Hidden Agendas" by John Pilger. Or read about the invasion of East Timor by Indonesia and the massacre of its people.
Solid passwords can be created and retrieved easily if chosen using a judicious personalized mnemotechnic method. For example, say you need a password to login as "John Doe" on "Slashdot News for Nerds, Stuff that matters". Using a combination of initials and special characters your password becomes: jd%snfnstm I use variations of similar techniques for my passwords which makes it very easy to remember them for me and very difficult to find out for others.
Do IT engineers have a problem to reproduce?!?
Next, Google brings your kids to school and sleeps with your wife.
Is there a Bill Gate's Teach Yourself Software Patents in 24 Hours book out there?
Can't wait for that M$ javascript extension to create new IE tabs.
Hehehe...
The truth is that in 10 years time, some people will still be predicting the end of C/C++. And while they will be arguing which of the dead Java or the past Delphi was the best language, a huge amount of programmers will still be programming using C/C++ for environments requiring lightweight and efficient applications.
Java was supposed to kill C++ and it's funny to think now about the hype that surrounded these debates. In the background, Sun was savouring what seemed like a sweet victory.
Yet, here we are many years later. I'm trying to think about 1 good, lightweight and responsive Java application. I'm trying very hard...
Try eating a kebab while reading ./ ...
Also, fixing your iPod in a room full of hydrogen gas is not recommended.
Is the "Non-Starter" edition the one without the start button?
In case the hard disk has write cache enabled, the data may not really be on permanent storage when fsync/fdata sync return.
When an ext2 file system is mounted with the sync option, directory entries are also implicitly synced by fsync.
On kernels before 2.4, fsync on big files can be ineffi cient. An alternative might be to use the O_SYNC flag to open(2).
Did anybody evaluate how much money /. reading cost to employers every 2 days?... ;-)
God bless Wireless broadband.
:-)
Bye bye, phone line rental! See you in hell, BT!
Whoaaaa! That felt good!
Bonjour has invoked an illegal operation and will be shutdown. Windows needs to be rebooted.
Au revoir!
It failed.
But in the year of the Cylon War, it became something greater: our last, best hope for a decent TV show....
Here is a report you might be interested to read. It concerns a nuclear plant in the UK.
I'm sure you probably believe that this would never happen in the US...
You guys really trust in the absolute safety of our western modernized nuclear plants...
About 2 Months ago, the UK Atomic Energy Authority announced that 30 kg of plutonium were unaccounted for by the Sellafield nuclear plant, in the UK. Since 1952, the Sellafield plant has been releasing nuclear waste into the Irish Sea making it the most radioactive sea in the wold (yes, even beating the Baltic Sea).
Do you all believe that our governements are 100% committed to make population safety a priority against economic interests?
Do you really believe that a major nuclear accident will never occur in the western part of the world? How arrogant is this?...
The thing with nuclear energy is that one major incident is enough to devaste whole countries and kill millions of people.
No matter how low the probability of a nuclear accident (and it is higher than you think), it is not a matter of "if" but of "when".
The real issue is that there is no other way to make our planet healthier and safer but to cut down on our need for energy.
This article is about trying to make maximum use of a given amount of energy. In my mind that beats by far converting the use of fossile fuels to the use of nuclear energy.
We, western countries, like to tell that we produce energy in the most secure fashion in the world. But we do not like admitting that we are also the biggest polluters in the world.
Let's stop pretending we do so much better than others.