I have been using Windows XP at work for at least a year and a half now, but I still haven't found any reason whatsoever to upgrade beyond Windows 2000 at home. Windows 2000 does not use product activation, and is stable. So what if Microsoft doesn't support it anymore? It still works great, and I have yet to run into a software application I like that won't run on it. Seriously... so many people just act like sheep, in regard to accepting the "Thou Shalt Upgrade" commandment from Microsoft, without question.
So, in conclusion, I remain steadfast in my resolution to never buy another Microsoft operating system. And surely copies of Windows 2000 are still available on eBay, or elsewhere.
Also, you may want to start experimenting with using Linux. I'm using it more and more often these days, as I learn its capabilities. So I would recommend downloading a Knoppix Linux image, burning it to a CD-R or DVD+R, booting it up via CD/DVD drive, and playing with that. It will not affect any of the data stored on your PC (unless you direct it to).
Um, what the heck does your little anecdote have to do with there being a "real crisis in physics education"? That was an example of a crisis in communication: it makes me think that the researcher has Asperger Syndrome or something. Because who in the hell would expect a CEO to have a clue about lasers and physics??
"Literal interpretation is another common, but not universal hallmark of [Asperger Syndrome]. Attwood gives the example of a girl with AS who answered the telephone one day and was asked, "Is Paul there?" Although the Paul in question was in the house, he was not in the room with her, so after looking around to ascertain this, she simply said "no" and hung up. The person on the other end had to call back and explain to her that he meant for her to find him and get him to pick up the telephone." (Wikipedia)
I wholeheartedly agree that nuclear fission is the way to go... and I'm an environmentalist! Continuing to burn massive quantities of coal is the absolute worst thing we could do, in my opinion, because (A) it's predominantly carbon, unlike petroleum (hydrocarbons), where at least part of the energy comes from the transformation of hydrogen & oxygen into water; and (B) a significant quantity of toxic elements like mercury are emitted when burning coal.
The most bizarre thing to me is how everybody uses the dismissive term "nuclear waste". But doesn't the very fact that these nuclear byproducts emit alpha particles, beta particles, gamma rays and neutrons mean that these substances are a potential source of energy??? Geez... rather than bury the stuff in drums in a mountain, separate the constituent elements out and use the gamma emitters in hospital air purification systems. Make electricity using alpha particle emitting anodes (i.e. positively charged helium nuclei) and beta particle emitting cathodes (electrons). Use neutron sources to convert depleted uranium (U-238) to burnable plutonium (Pu-239), and so on.
So can someone please tell me why we aren't getting more creative with "nuclear waste"? I seriously want to know. I'm guessing that there are technical reasons that I'm not aware of, but I NEVER hear anyone talking about them.
I would recommend using an array of drives from different manufacturers - let's say Seagate, Samsung, and Western Digital. Because sticking with only one drive brand or model puts you at risk of encountering a design flaw that could cause one or more drives to fail at about the same time. Right?
A solution that I'd like to see is a disk (an Archival Data, "AD-ROM") made of two quartz plates with gold leaf sandwiched in between. No damn dye - the AD-ROM burner would literally burn holes through the gold leaf. And given the thermal and chemical stability of such a disk, it could hypothetically last for thousands of years...
For quite some time, when growing up, I thought that I was pretty smart. But then, when I hit graduate school at Michigan State, I realized that I wasn't that smart compared to my classmates. However, the one attribute I have that really helps to compensate is my intense curiosity. During this past year I have strived to learn Perl, XML and XML Schema intimately, and it's been very rewarding to utilize these technologies where I work. I pity many of my really bright coworkers that believe in learning just enough about a language or skill to get a job done - it seems like they are stagnating before even hitting 40! (I'm 34)
Emacs & vi are great, if you're a cryptic frea
on
The Future of Emacs
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· Score: 1
Why on earth anyone would choose to use editors like Emacs and vi in this day and age is beyond my comprehension. The only thing I can figure is that some people must get their jollies being contrary, eccentric, cryptic little freaks. I love using UltraEdit in Windows, and don't mind pico or Kate when using Linux. The only positive thing I can say about Emacs is at least it has a built-in interpreter (Lisp, the last time I checked).
Has anyone else besides me ever noticed that NewEgg applies shipping costs on a PER ITEM BASIS?!?! Personally I find that sneaky and opportunistic, because if I order a lot of small, lightweight items, they make a killing on shipping by charging like $4 per item, and then they package it all in the same box! And yes, I do realize that occasionally they offer "free shipping" for certain items.
So anyway, what I do to retaliate for their sneaky profit-making technique is to order each item separately, and make them ship each item in its own box. That way, at least most of the money is going to FedEx or UPS instead. Just a suggestion, to those of you that are bothered by NewEgg's shipping charges, like I am.
Hey, thanks a lot for another useless invention that won't help me worth a damn! What about the people that sleep so deeply, we don't hear the alarm clock at all???
Wanted: a vibrating alarm clock that I can velcro-cuff to my leg. Perhaps it could deliver a mild electric shock too. And if you want to make an ultra-effective version, shape it into a dildo that creeps slowly towards my ass. ~(:O)=
...how an extremely tiny nuclei fireball could possibly possess enough gravitational force to act like, and be considered, a 'black hole'? I minored in physics, and follow scientific discoveries and the research as best I can, but I just can't figure out this mini-black-hole bit. I'd always heard that you'd need the mass of several Sol-size suns to establish a gravity field strong enough to create a black hole, due to the repulsive nature of energetic particles. Gravity is a profoundly weak force compared to the other three forces, correct?
(And for that matter, the fact that quantum theory researchers talk about graviton particles, and seem to be trying to unify gravity with the other forces, really mystifies me. Didn't Einstein already demonstrate that gravity is a curvature in space-time???)
But hey, whatever they are creating in the lab, it is comforting to know that Hawking radiation exists! Because black holes kinda suck.
How odd that my new LinkSys (aka Cisco) WRT54G router uses Linux as its operating system. People appear to be pretty happy with this model, and it seems to be selling well. Given Microsoft's quality and security deficits, it will be a cold day in hell when I knowingly purchase *anything* that is running Windows Embedded or CE.
I have a theory that the real reason so many mega-corporations hate Linux is because with an open-source operating system, it must be more difficult to implement licensing and product activation type features than in Windows. In my opinion, this Registry crap that Microsoft came up with is mainly there for the benefit of companies that want the operating system to help secure their software.
Hey, does anyone know of a good Linux or Windows emulator that can run those DOS4GW games from the 1990's well? I miss playing a lot of those classics like X-COM, Syndicate, Populous, Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, Magic Carpet, Dark Sun: Shattered Lands, Powermonger, Monkey Island, Duke Nukem 3D...:D
In my opinion, only a PHB type would use a vacuous phrase like "the code has no flow". It sounds like your ex-employee's problem was designing, whereas your problem is communicating (and managing).
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I have been using Windows XP at work for at least a year and a half now, but I still haven't found any reason whatsoever to upgrade beyond Windows 2000 at home. Windows 2000 does not use product activation, and is stable. So what if Microsoft doesn't support it anymore? It still works great, and I have yet to run into a software application I like that won't run on it. Seriously... so many people just act like sheep, in regard to accepting the "Thou Shalt Upgrade" commandment from Microsoft, without question.
So, in conclusion, I remain steadfast in my resolution to never buy another Microsoft operating system. And surely copies of Windows 2000 are still available on eBay, or elsewhere.
Also, you may want to start experimenting with using Linux. I'm using it more and more often these days, as I learn its capabilities. So I would recommend downloading a Knoppix Linux image, burning it to a CD-R or DVD+R, booting it up via CD/DVD drive, and playing with that. It will not affect any of the data stored on your PC (unless you direct it to).
Here's a simple solution, for anybody that is ignorant but needs to use the Internet...
Boot up Linux from a Knoppix CD or DVD, then just run Mozilla or FireFox.
Since Knoppix runs from RAM and CD/DVD, the hard drives will not get infected.
How's that for simple?
Um, what the heck does your little anecdote have to do with there being a "real crisis in physics education"? That was an example of a crisis in communication: it makes me think that the researcher has Asperger Syndrome or something. Because who in the hell would expect a CEO to have a clue about lasers and physics??
"Literal interpretation is another common, but not universal hallmark of [Asperger Syndrome]. Attwood gives the example of a girl with AS who answered the telephone one day and was asked, "Is Paul there?" Although the Paul in question was in the house, he was not in the room with her, so after looking around to ascertain this, she simply said "no" and hung up. The person on the other end had to call back and explain to her that he meant for her to find him and get him to pick up the telephone." (Wikipedia)
I wholeheartedly agree that nuclear fission is the way to go... and I'm an environmentalist! Continuing to burn massive quantities of coal is the absolute worst thing we could do, in my opinion, because (A) it's predominantly carbon, unlike petroleum (hydrocarbons), where at least part of the energy comes from the transformation of hydrogen & oxygen into water; and (B) a significant quantity of toxic elements like mercury are emitted when burning coal.
The most bizarre thing to me is how everybody uses the dismissive term "nuclear waste". But doesn't the very fact that these nuclear byproducts emit alpha particles, beta particles, gamma rays and neutrons mean that these substances are a potential source of energy??? Geez... rather than bury the stuff in drums in a mountain, separate the constituent elements out and use the gamma emitters in hospital air purification systems. Make electricity using alpha particle emitting anodes (i.e. positively charged helium nuclei) and beta particle emitting cathodes (electrons). Use neutron sources to convert depleted uranium (U-238) to burnable plutonium (Pu-239), and so on.
So can someone please tell me why we aren't getting more creative with "nuclear waste"? I seriously want to know. I'm guessing that there are technical reasons that I'm not aware of, but I NEVER hear anyone talking about them.
I would recommend using an array of drives from different manufacturers - let's say Seagate, Samsung, and Western Digital. Because sticking with only one drive brand or model puts you at risk of encountering a design flaw that could cause one or more drives to fail at about the same time. Right?
A solution that I'd like to see is a disk (an Archival Data, "AD-ROM") made of two quartz plates with gold leaf sandwiched in between. No damn dye - the AD-ROM burner would literally burn holes through the gold leaf. And given the thermal and chemical stability of such a disk, it could hypothetically last for thousands of years...
For quite some time, when growing up, I thought that I was pretty smart. But then, when I hit graduate school at Michigan State, I realized that I wasn't that smart compared to my classmates. However, the one attribute I have that really helps to compensate is my intense curiosity. During this past year I have strived to learn Perl, XML and XML Schema intimately, and it's been very rewarding to utilize these technologies where I work. I pity many of my really bright coworkers that believe in learning just enough about a language or skill to get a job done - it seems like they are stagnating before even hitting 40! (I'm 34)
Why on earth anyone would choose to use editors like Emacs and vi in this day and age is beyond my comprehension. The only thing I can figure is that some people must get their jollies being contrary, eccentric, cryptic little freaks. I love using UltraEdit in Windows, and don't mind pico or Kate when using Linux. The only positive thing I can say about Emacs is at least it has a built-in interpreter (Lisp, the last time I checked).
Has anyone else besides me ever noticed that NewEgg applies shipping costs on a PER ITEM BASIS?!?! Personally I find that sneaky and opportunistic, because if I order a lot of small, lightweight items, they make a killing on shipping by charging like $4 per item, and then they package it all in the same box! And yes, I do realize that occasionally they offer "free shipping" for certain items.
So anyway, what I do to retaliate for their sneaky profit-making technique is to order each item separately, and make them ship each item in its own box. That way, at least most of the money is going to FedEx or UPS instead. Just a suggestion, to those of you that are bothered by NewEgg's shipping charges, like I am.
- SW
That's weird. I've always thought of geeks as nerdy types, but without any useful skills or talents. Aren't "geek" and "dweeb" synonymous?
:P
When I think of "nerd", I think of Bill Gates. When I think of "geek", I think of everyone I've ever known that was in my high school band...
Hey, thanks a lot for another useless invention that won't help me worth a damn! What about the people that sleep so deeply, we don't hear the alarm clock at all???
Wanted: a vibrating alarm clock that I can velcro-cuff to my leg. Perhaps it could deliver a mild electric shock too. And if you want to make an ultra-effective version, shape it into a dildo that creeps slowly towards my ass. ~(:O)=
...how an extremely tiny nuclei fireball could possibly possess enough gravitational force to act like, and be considered, a 'black hole'? I minored in physics, and follow scientific discoveries and the research as best I can, but I just can't figure out this mini-black-hole bit. I'd always heard that you'd need the mass of several Sol-size suns to establish a gravity field strong enough to create a black hole, due to the repulsive nature of energetic particles. Gravity is a profoundly weak force compared to the other three forces, correct?
(And for that matter, the fact that quantum theory researchers talk about graviton particles, and seem to be trying to unify gravity with the other forces, really mystifies me. Didn't Einstein already demonstrate that gravity is a curvature in space-time???)
But hey, whatever they are creating in the lab, it is comforting to know that Hawking radiation exists! Because black holes kinda suck.
How odd that my new LinkSys (aka Cisco) WRT54G router uses Linux as its operating system. People appear to be pretty happy with this model, and it seems to be selling well. Given Microsoft's quality and security deficits, it will be a cold day in hell when I knowingly purchase *anything* that is running Windows Embedded or CE.
I have a theory that the real reason so many mega-corporations hate Linux is because with an open-source operating system, it must be more difficult to implement licensing and product activation type features than in Windows. In my opinion, this Registry crap that Microsoft came up with is mainly there for the benefit of companies that want the operating system to help secure their software.
"So, he proposes to rectify the situation by having Wisconsin's 5% state sales tax apply to Internet downloads."
:D
Hey, no problem here!
$0 per download x 5% = $0...
Hey, does anyone know of a good Linux or Windows emulator that can run those DOS4GW games from the 1990's well? I miss playing a lot of those classics like X-COM, Syndicate, Populous, Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, Magic Carpet, Dark Sun: Shattered Lands, Powermonger, Monkey Island, Duke Nukem 3D... :D
In my opinion, only a PHB type would use a vacuous phrase like "the code has no flow". It sounds like your ex-employee's problem was designing, whereas your problem is communicating (and managing).