I heartily disagree. If someone creates an algorithm, and patents it, do I then have to get their permission before using it to prove something in a paper? You want to give people a 2 year patent on something software related (an implementation, not an algorithm) then I can see that - but for a mathematical construct that's just silly. It would be like patenting not the steam-engine, but the concept that steam expands when heated.
Yes we know that macbooks aren't exactly cheap... and nor are gaming capable PC laptops -- they come out quite comparable pricewise. You certainly can't buy a PC laptop with all of the features of the MacBook for much less than the MacBook costs.
Um... I don't think presidential anythinmg matters here, since St. Andrews is in the UK. Global Warming is most certainly not a taboo subject here, nor is Evolution (we don't realy have IDers or creationists in the American sense here, no matter what that bloody Horizon poll may have said).
And as for challenging old theories... that's how science advances - Einstein's theories could be considered to be a challenge to Newton's - Darwin's were a challenge to Swann's (contrary to popular belief evolution was a well accpted part of scientific canon before Darwin - it's just that no one had come up with a good enough explanation for how it happened).
Um... no amount of evidence constitutes proof. In science one simply cannot prove anything, it isn't possible... in fact the *only* area of human endeavor in which the idea of objective proof actualy has any validity is mathematics.
For those who don't know, St.Andrews is the third oldest university in the UK, after Oxford and Cambridge;
Actually Wye College, in Kent, is older, though only slightly. Unfortunately it's almost dead, and currently teaches nothing but Business studies (in the middle of the countryside!) due to mismanagement by Imperial College, which bought it and then sold it off to the University of Kent.
My guess is that they need internet explorer on teh windows version for some features which it provides but which can easily be provided by a standard library on Linux. Remember an awful lot of windows' networking capabilities are in IE and are called by the rest of the OS from there.
TO THE US: Yes, China are your largest enemy, the people who disagree most with you on fundemental matters of liberty and political ideals, the people you want to try and destroy.
TO THE PRC: Yes, the Americans are your largest enemy, the people who disagree most with you on fundemental matters of liberty and political ideals, the people you want to try and destroy.
Um, I think the fact that they were a part of the oral tradition of the Hebrew people was enough to indicate that they were supposed to be allegorical - at least as far as the people passing on teh stories were concerned.
For the new testament we have to remember that the writers came from the classical literary culture - the same culture that included "historical epics" rather than literal histories. Take a look at Livy's histroy of rome - in a modern sense it's closer to being a historical novel than a history - and the greek authors like heroditus are even worse. The gospels were written at a time when it was generalyy understood by all literary people that the purpose of history was to provide an entertaining version of the gist of historical events which would get across the philosophical and moral ideas that the author wanted to convey.
When is the last time you saw two people on television actually debate an idea for a full 40 minutes? I'm talking about locking intellectual horns and attempting to prove the merits of an idea to an audience through skillfully argued logic.
I think this is a problem brought about by your commercial television industry more than anything. We get this kind of debate on television in the UK (on the BBC, which as slashdot keeps feeling the need to point out is funded through taxation) - but it never gets very good ratings, luckily since the BBC doesn't have advertising they have no need to chase ratings in every program.
Yes, Newton's invention of the cat-flap will always cement his place as a genius:)
Plus, odd as it may sound he actualy did some pretty good and useful (as much as anything in that field is useful) work in alchemy. Newton's work was part of what led to the gradual transformation of alchemy from a branch of philosophy into the science of chemistry (although that didn't happen for a while).
The students are guilty of teh crime, but the adware companies are guilty of conspiricy to comit teh crime - and in this case I think that they are rather more culpable, since they are encouraging more people to do this. By all means prosecute the students (they deserve it), but if you want to fix the problem you need to chop off the monster's head.
No idea what it's like in the US, but in the UK receieving money for sex is legall, giving money for sex is illegal, I think offering sex for money is legal, but offering money for sex isn't - and the laws about brothels are just strange.
All in all it's perfecctly possible that this might be legal.
Kinda, the jumping off point for the Difference Engine seems to be that Lord Byron's (eminently sensible) wife managed to keep him on a tighter leash, and he goes into politics as a supporter of meritocracy. As a result he's in a position to help out his daughter(Ada)'s friend Charles Babbage - and eventualy becomes Prime Minister on the back of the resulting computer revolution.
It's a bit far-fetched, and not the best written book in the world.
Slashdot Mirror
I think that the People's Rebublic of China may disagree with you on that one :)
I heartily disagree. If someone creates an algorithm, and patents it, do I then have to get their permission before using it to prove something in a paper? You want to give people a 2 year patent on something software related (an implementation, not an algorithm) then I can see that - but for a mathematical construct that's just silly. It would be like patenting not the steam-engine, but the concept that steam expands when heated.
(Says the guy who spent valentine's day getting drunk with his single housemates because his girlfriend was in a different city)
Apparently I am.
There speaks a programmer who has never used INTERCAL.
Beg to differ. Software is sentient, absolutely 100% indisputably so.
What it isn't is sapient.
Yes we know that macbooks aren't exactly cheap ... and nor are gaming capable PC laptops -- they come out quite comparable pricewise. You certainly can't buy a PC laptop with all of the features of the MacBook for much less than the MacBook costs.
And as for challenging old theories ... that's how science advances - Einstein's theories could be considered to be a challenge to Newton's - Darwin's were a challenge to Swann's (contrary to popular belief evolution was a well accpted part of scientific canon before Darwin - it's just that no one had come up with a good enough explanation for how it happened).
Um... no amount of evidence constitutes proof. In science one simply cannot prove anything, it isn't possible ... in fact the *only* area of human endeavor in which the idea of objective proof actualy has any validity is mathematics.
Actually Wye College, in Kent, is older, though only slightly. Unfortunately it's almost dead, and currently teaches nothing but Business studies (in the middle of the countryside!) due to mismanagement by Imperial College, which bought it and then sold it off to the University of Kent.
My guess is that they need internet explorer on teh windows version for some features which it provides but which can easily be provided by a standard library on Linux. Remember an awful lot of windows' networking capabilities are in IE and are called by the rest of the OS from there.
TO THE PRC: Yes, the Americans are your largest enemy, the people who disagree most with you on fundemental matters of liberty and political ideals, the people you want to try and destroy.
YOUR LOVING FRIEND, EUROPE.
Perhaps the EU should place a trade embargo on the US for similar reasons?
Mmmmm, old.
It's some Protestants who believe that the entire Bible is the literal word of God, not Catholics.
For the new testament we have to remember that the writers came from the classical literary culture - the same culture that included "historical epics" rather than literal histories. Take a look at Livy's histroy of rome - in a modern sense it's closer to being a historical novel than a history - and the greek authors like heroditus are even worse. The gospels were written at a time when it was generalyy understood by all literary people that the purpose of history was to provide an entertaining version of the gist of historical events which would get across the philosophical and moral ideas that the author wanted to convey.
I think this is a problem brought about by your commercial television industry more than anything. We get this kind of debate on television in the UK (on the BBC, which as slashdot keeps feeling the need to point out is funded through taxation) - but it never gets very good ratings, luckily since the BBC doesn't have advertising they have no need to chase ratings in every program.
Plus, odd as it may sound he actualy did some pretty good and useful (as much as anything in that field is useful) work in alchemy. Newton's work was part of what led to the gradual transformation of alchemy from a branch of philosophy into the science of chemistry (although that didn't happen for a while).
The students are guilty of teh crime, but the adware companies are guilty of conspiricy to comit teh crime - and in this case I think that they are rather more culpable, since they are encouraging more people to do this. By all means prosecute the students (they deserve it), but if you want to fix the problem you need to chop off the monster's head.
No idea what it's like in the US, but in the UK receieving money for sex is legall, giving money for sex is illegal, I think offering sex for money is legal, but offering money for sex isn't - and the laws about brothels are just strange.
All in all it's perfecctly possible that this might be legal.
No, idea, but it doesn't sound much like the apple equivalent - which is Quartz Extreme :)
China is rapidly becoming the equal of the west in technology and power - though not in quality of life, more's the pity.
ERROR 35 CART/HORSE ORDER MISMATCH.
(I think you might find that "gift" started out as a verb sometime in the 16th century)
"In mathematics only shall you find truth."
It's a bit far-fetched, and not the best written book in the world.