The start codon for protein assembly - all proteins, everywhere - specifies that methionine is the first amino acid in the chain. And as someone else pointed out, Trp is a precursor for serotonin. These are two pretty important molecules, and toying with their ambient levels doesn't sound like such a great idea to me, the average idiot on the street.
Militaries have always had champions of the smash-mouth, "Wherever the enemy be, let us go there and fight him" style of direct confrontation that gets the troops' blood flowing.
But it's equally true that there have been many great strategic generals and commanders, and I'm not certain that people appreciate the strategy that was present even in the early days of martial conflict. After all, the Romans had their full complement well-armed, able-bodied jocks at Cannae, and Hannibal annihilated them by tricking them, and using against them their 'jockish' instincts of constant attack.
Generals more disposed to defensive tactics, or deception, rather than a straight-out brawl were often looked down upon by outsiders and sometimes by their own troops i.e. Fabius - but they won.
You can look up the word 'shit' in the Dictionary app and it not only returns the definition but also several useful examples of speech including 'to get one's shit together'. I don't remember what other unsavory words I've looked up there, but I'm pretty sure there were a number of them. How, exactly, is this Ninjawords thing any different? Is the Dictionary app just a database of Merriam-Webster or something?
Does anyone remember back in the mid-80s that CompuServe had an almost identical thing - it wasn't 3D, but it had 2D bobble-head cartoon representations of dial-up users that were also called Avatars, and you could interact with them in an online world etc. I can't for the life of me remember what it was called, but I remember using my friend Bill's Commodore 64 to talk to (ostensible) girls while we listened to Ozzy Osbourne tapes.
Putting aside for a second my conviction that this is either a) lip service to get the EC/EU off their back, b) a super smart plan to somehow fuck naive developers over, or c) can't it be both? -
One of my biggest pet peeves as an Apple dude is that my work environment runs Exchange Server, and our IT guys won't turn on IMAP support. That means that I can't use my preferred email client, Apple Mail, to check my work mail, because Apple only supports Exchange in POP3 mode. I see that Microsoft included Exchange Server 2007 in the list of APIs/protocols they're going to release into the wild. Is it reasonable to hope / expect that mail clients like Mail, Thunderbird, etc will now be able to work smoothly with Exchange / MAPI? We've been asking for this for years.
Won't somebody rid me of this troublesome Entourage?
The idea of neurons that are spontaneously active, in the absence of synaptic input, is not in the least bit novel. The "canonical" neurons like spinal cord motoneurons and hippocampal pyramidal cells, striatal medium spinies, etc, certainly remain silent until they receive sufficient afferent input. However, there are tons of neurons that are perfectly content to spike away, all by themselves in a tissue slice, with all synaptic input blocked. Giant cholinergic interneurons in the striatum, dopamine cells of the substantia nigra, subthalamic nucleus, globus pallidus cells... all of these will fire rhythmically in the absence of any input. You can even isolate "networks" of them on a culture plate, and the network will fire in a rhythmic, antisynchronous bursting pattern, again in the absence of any external input.
Just putting that out there... spontaneous activity in the brain isn't nearly as "gee whiz" as it sounds. It's just part of the machinery of the brain.
To reiterate: the failure of linux and other open source developers to dress or otherwise maintain themselves in a professional manner is impeding the adoption of open source software in the business world. If they cleaned themselves up, they would find a more receptive audience.
I am not at all certain I understand the problem. As I read it, the Linux and open source communities are not driven by the goals of market share and profit. Rather, they are driven to provide quality software at no cost, along with the means for other users to use, share, and modify that code. Maybe they see a niche that needs filling, maybe they just like coding - the reasons are not important. What is important is that they don't give One Tight Shit about whether Linux etc. is being adopted by the business world. Whether or not that happens is completely, utterly irrelevant to the ongoing development of their software. If Peter Quinn is concerned about it, that's his deal. What, exactly, does he feel are the consequences that will befall the open source movement if they don't take his advice? Are they going to stop developing Apache just because the head of IT at, say, Sears thinks it's put together by some dude with a Prince Albert? Is the NSA or Merrill Lynch going to stop using Linux because Dan Lyons makes a bunch of jokes about smelly hippies in Forbes? If you can't make a cost- and quality-based argument to convince accountants, CXOs, or politicians, I don't know what to tell you. I don't understand that bullshit world, and I'm glad I'm not a part of it.
I find it hilarious that some in the business world are trying to use ignorant statements like this as some sort of blackjack with which to intimidate the open source dudes. "You guys better shape up or we won't use your software!" To which the obvious reply is, "That's fine, your decision makes no difference to us whatsoever. If you change your minds, however, Apache, Linux, MySQL, ethereal, snort, and any number of other wonderful programs are available to you at no cost, any time day or night. Good day to you, sir." There's no leverage in this situation because they don't understand that while outward appearances trump everything else in the business world, they don't make any difference at all to the people who actually write the software. If your company believes this, that's fine - you will get the IT you want, and the IT you deserve. I'm sure these people would be shocked to find out that IBM, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, Novell, Dreamworks, Lucasfilm, Pixar, the NSA, and the United States Armed Forces , among others, all use software written by scumbags who have long hair and wear t-shirts while they work, because everyone knows that anything done by someone with a ponytail is shoddy and unreliable, and will never be accepted by serious professionals.
In one tiny nod to the suit-and-tie crowd, however, if they want the textbook example of the childish arrogance of the bedroom coding crowd, look no farther than BitchX. You, sir or ma'am, are either a twelve year old kid, a stupid, childish asshole, or both. What are you, in fourth grade? "Dude, I'm going to call my program BitchX! It'll be totally awesome!" Fuck you, child. Why didn't you call it CuntTalk or FaggotyFaggotClient? Maybe you could have made a fart joke for good measure. I know, I know, you didn't write it for the business community or for grandma's desktop. You wrote it for those who weren't too shallow to be put off by appearances. You sure showed us, we are totally impressed by your non-conformity.
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The start codon for protein assembly - all proteins, everywhere - specifies that methionine is the first amino acid in the chain. And as someone else pointed out, Trp is a precursor for serotonin. These are two pretty important molecules, and toying with their ambient levels doesn't sound like such a great idea to me, the average idiot on the street.
Militaries have always had champions of the smash-mouth, "Wherever the enemy be, let us go there and fight him" style of direct confrontation that gets the troops' blood flowing. But it's equally true that there have been many great strategic generals and commanders, and I'm not certain that people appreciate the strategy that was present even in the early days of martial conflict. After all, the Romans had their full complement well-armed, able-bodied jocks at Cannae, and Hannibal annihilated them by tricking them, and using against them their 'jockish' instincts of constant attack. Generals more disposed to defensive tactics, or deception, rather than a straight-out brawl were often looked down upon by outsiders and sometimes by their own troops i.e. Fabius - but they won.
You can look up the word 'shit' in the Dictionary app and it not only returns the definition but also several useful examples of speech including 'to get one's shit together'. I don't remember what other unsavory words I've looked up there, but I'm pretty sure there were a number of them. How, exactly, is this Ninjawords thing any different? Is the Dictionary app just a database of Merriam-Webster or something?
Sigh. Good old C64.
Woopsy, I meant that Mail only supports Exchange in IMAP mode.
Putting aside for a second my conviction that this is either a) lip service to get the EC/EU off their back, b) a super smart plan to somehow fuck naive developers over, or c) can't it be both? -
One of my biggest pet peeves as an Apple dude is that my work environment runs Exchange Server, and our IT guys won't turn on IMAP support. That means that I can't use my preferred email client, Apple Mail, to check my work mail, because Apple only supports Exchange in POP3 mode. I see that Microsoft included Exchange Server 2007 in the list of APIs/protocols they're going to release into the wild. Is it reasonable to hope / expect that mail clients like Mail, Thunderbird, etc will now be able to work smoothly with Exchange / MAPI? We've been asking for this for years.
Won't somebody rid me of this troublesome Entourage?
The idea of neurons that are spontaneously active, in the absence of synaptic input, is not in the least bit novel. The "canonical" neurons like spinal cord motoneurons and hippocampal pyramidal cells, striatal medium spinies, etc, certainly remain silent until they receive sufficient afferent input. However, there are tons of neurons that are perfectly content to spike away, all by themselves in a tissue slice, with all synaptic input blocked. Giant cholinergic interneurons in the striatum, dopamine cells of the substantia nigra, subthalamic nucleus, globus pallidus cells... all of these will fire rhythmically in the absence of any input. You can even isolate "networks" of them on a culture plate, and the network will fire in a rhythmic, antisynchronous bursting pattern, again in the absence of any external input.
Just putting that out there... spontaneous activity in the brain isn't nearly as "gee whiz" as it sounds. It's just part of the machinery of the brain.
I am not at all certain I understand the problem. As I read it, the Linux and open source communities are not driven by the goals of market share and profit. Rather, they are driven to provide quality software at no cost, along with the means for other users to use, share, and modify that code. Maybe they see a niche that needs filling, maybe they just like coding - the reasons are not important. What is important is that they don't give One Tight Shit about whether Linux etc. is being adopted by the business world. Whether or not that happens is completely, utterly irrelevant to the ongoing development of their software. If Peter Quinn is concerned about it, that's his deal. What, exactly, does he feel are the consequences that will befall the open source movement if they don't take his advice? Are they going to stop developing Apache just because the head of IT at, say, Sears thinks it's put together by some dude with a Prince Albert? Is the NSA or Merrill Lynch going to stop using Linux because Dan Lyons makes a bunch of jokes about smelly hippies in Forbes? If you can't make a cost- and quality-based argument to convince accountants, CXOs, or politicians, I don't know what to tell you. I don't understand that bullshit world, and I'm glad I'm not a part of it.
I find it hilarious that some in the business world are trying to use ignorant statements like this as some sort of blackjack with which to intimidate the open source dudes. "You guys better shape up or we won't use your software!" To which the obvious reply is, "That's fine, your decision makes no difference to us whatsoever. If you change your minds, however, Apache, Linux, MySQL, ethereal, snort, and any number of other wonderful programs are available to you at no cost, any time day or night. Good day to you, sir." There's no leverage in this situation because they don't understand that while outward appearances trump everything else in the business world, they don't make any difference at all to the people who actually write the software. If your company believes this, that's fine - you will get the IT you want, and the IT you deserve. I'm sure these people would be shocked to find out that IBM, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, Novell, Dreamworks, Lucasfilm, Pixar, the NSA, and the United States Armed Forces , among others, all use software written by scumbags who have long hair and wear t-shirts while they work, because everyone knows that anything done by someone with a ponytail is shoddy and unreliable, and will never be accepted by serious professionals.
In one tiny nod to the suit-and-tie crowd, however, if they want the textbook example of the childish arrogance of the bedroom coding crowd, look no farther than BitchX. You, sir or ma'am, are either a twelve year old kid, a stupid, childish asshole, or both. What are you, in fourth grade? "Dude, I'm going to call my program BitchX! It'll be totally awesome!" Fuck you, child. Why didn't you call it CuntTalk or FaggotyFaggotClient? Maybe you could have made a fart joke for good measure. I know, I know, you didn't write it for the business community or for grandma's desktop. You wrote it for those who weren't too shallow to be put off by appearances. You sure showed us, we are totally impressed by your non-conformity.