Using a base 3 code, let 000=space 001=a 002=b 010=c... 220=x 221=y 222=z
If |||=0, |=1, ||=2, then the first section can be rewritten as: 020 200 001 112 102 000 201 022 120 012 111 001 102 012 200 000 212 120 210 110 011 000 010 001 211 211 000 202 022 100 201 000 112 120 100 201 012 (errata: the line break at the end of line 6 has broken a symbol in two, and one of the symbols in line five is missing a stroke) Then the first section can be transcribed as: "Frank Shoemaker would call this noise".
In the last section, the double bar is a gap between symbols. Again, |||=0, |=1, and ||=2. The last section can be rewritten as: 012 111 121 110 120 221 012 012 000 112 210 111 002 012 200 000 002 001 201 201 012 000 201 100 220 202 012 012 112 (errata: the line break at the end of line 2 has broken a symbol in two, and there is a duplication of a whole triad in line 5) Then the last section can be transcribed as: "employee number base sixteen"
Presumably the three symbols before the last section is the employee number of the author (S252 in base 16).
Not sure about the middle section (apart from it acting as a decoder for the employee number).
Since some symbols have been broken over line breaks, I'm guessing that the original codemaker had someone else rewrite it for them, so that their handwriting would not be recognizable.
[disclaimer - this analysis draws from other people's work, I don't claim full credit]
Hard to believe that this study was measuring the right thing.
Zebra striping has two big advantages. The first is the obvious one of scanning across columns, to keep your eye following the row. The second is when you have to look away from the page and back, where it helps find which row you were looking at.
Arguably an alternating color is not optimal (since it is possible to accidentally jump across two rows). That is why many people prefer say only zebra striping every third or fourth row. That way, the next row that has the same relationship to a stripe is much further away.
Obviously zebra striping is not that useful if there are only a few rows or columns, because in that case your eye can use the edge of the table/page as the reference point. But on a large sheet of paper (or a screen), the edges are too far away to act as reference points, and the zebra stripe is useful.
Doesn't have to be zebra striping either. Could just be the occasional thicker line divider. But zebra stripes (with pale colours) are an aesthetically pleasing way to do it.
As we know, there are public standards. We also know there are some standards that are secrets. That is to say, they are used very publicly but the details are kept secret. And there are also public secrets. These are the secrets that were kept secret for shame and are made public.
But there are also secret secrets. The ones we don't know that are secret and should be kept that way.
Yeah, I can't remember those days either. I do remember regretting that Microsoft/IBM were holding back the computer world with a hacked together command line DOS that was years behind the state of the art at the time. The only thing that saved them was the advent of the spreadsheet.
There's this argument going around that all companies are bad, and Microsoft are just another one. All the same. It is a naive argument; the reality is that some businesses operate in far less ethical ways than others. And I know how Microsoft will be remembered.
Claiming that 'robots' (or some sort of automatic braking) will solve this problem is naive. The mathematics of a situation where traffic is dense is somewhat like a stiff differential, where small perturbations in the local conditions can result in massive changes further up the road. An automated algorithm might help, but it is not a trivial problem.
What is required to solve it is some way to know the conditions on the road a significant distance ahead, so that the speed can be appropriately moderated. A 'robot' that is only aware of surrounding cars will make mistakes similar to a human.
Opened up the quiz page, but all I saw was a black screen (with some funny logo up in the top left corner). Darn, must be that content safety filter...
That's a bit specious isn't it? Microsoft pulled out of cooperating with other companies to come up with a document standard. They were given the opportunity to submit their own proposal. Instead of coming up with a standard that other people could work with, it appears that they submitted a crufty XML reworking of their binary formats, and then allegedly stacked the committee to get it through. This doesn't seem to me to fit with the spirit of interoperability.
Regardless, the EU is not taking issue with Microsoft having submitted a poor standard. Instead, it is that their dealings with the committee might not have been totally above board (and might instead have been driven by "commercial imperatives" rather than ethical/legal ones).
Slashdot Mirror
Using a base 3 code, let ...
000=space
001=a
002=b
010=c
220=x
221=y
222=z
If |||=0, |=1, ||=2, then the first section can be rewritten as:
020 200 001 112 102 000 201 022 120 012 111 001 102 012 200 000 212 120 210 110 011 000 010 001 211 211 000 202 022 100 201 000 112 120 100 201 012
(errata: the line break at the end of line 6 has broken a symbol in two, and one of the symbols in line five is missing a stroke)
Then the first section can be transcribed as:
"Frank Shoemaker would call this noise".
In the last section, the double bar is a gap between symbols. Again, |||=0, |=1, and ||=2. The last section can be rewritten as:
012 111 121 110 120 221 012 012 000 112 210 111 002 012 200 000 002 001 201 201 012 000 201 100 220 202 012 012 112
(errata: the line break at the end of line 2 has broken a symbol in two, and there is a duplication of a whole triad in line 5)
Then the last section can be transcribed as:
"employee number base sixteen"
Presumably the three symbols before the last section is the employee number of the author (S252 in base 16).
Not sure about the middle section (apart from it acting as a decoder for the employee number).
Since some symbols have been broken over line breaks, I'm guessing that the original codemaker had someone else rewrite it for them, so that their handwriting would not be recognizable.
[disclaimer - this analysis draws from other people's work, I don't claim full credit]
What, you mean the terrorists aren't those guys with the goatees and the french accents?
Well sink me!
Hard to believe that this study was measuring the right thing.
Zebra striping has two big advantages. The first is the obvious one of scanning across columns, to keep your eye following the row. The second is when you have to look away from the page and back, where it helps find which row you were looking at.
Arguably an alternating color is not optimal (since it is possible to accidentally jump across two rows). That is why many people prefer say only zebra striping every third or fourth row. That way, the next row that has the same relationship to a stripe is much further away.
Obviously zebra striping is not that useful if there are only a few rows or columns, because in that case your eye can use the edge of the table/page as the reference point. But on a large sheet of paper (or a screen), the edges are too far away to act as reference points, and the zebra stripe is useful.
Doesn't have to be zebra striping either. Could just be the occasional thicker line divider. But zebra stripes (with pale colours) are an aesthetically pleasing way to do it.
what the... goodbye karma [neonsignal turns red]
So shouldn't this technically be called a flux capacitor?
strip poker
And I guess the executives who agreed on the name dreamliner are starting to regret their decision...
Tell em they're dreamin...
As we know, there are public standards. We also know there are some standards that are secrets. That is to say, they are used very publicly but the details are kept secret. And there are also public secrets. These are the secrets that were kept secret for shame and are made public.
But there are also secret secrets. The ones we don't know that are secret and should be kept that way.
(with apologies to Donald)
... and rip out the speaker wires too so it doesn't go meep meep
[use the force Luke]
Yeah, I can't remember those days either. I do remember regretting that Microsoft/IBM were holding back the computer world with a hacked together command line DOS that was years behind the state of the art at the time. The only thing that saved them was the advent of the spreadsheet.
There's this argument going around that all companies are bad, and Microsoft are just another one. All the same. It is a naive argument; the reality is that some businesses operate in far less ethical ways than others. And I know how Microsoft will be remembered.
...hey, I've found this stuff called methane that can store up to 30% of its weight in hydrogen!
> nothing competes with Office as it stands... It's just I, little billy goat gruff.
Oh the tragedy of unrequited love...
Claiming that 'robots' (or some sort of automatic braking) will solve this problem is naive. The mathematics of a situation where traffic is dense is somewhat like a stiff differential, where small perturbations in the local conditions can result in massive changes further up the road. An automated algorithm might help, but it is not a trivial problem.
What is required to solve it is some way to know the conditions on the road a significant distance ahead, so that the speed can be appropriately moderated. A 'robot' that is only aware of surrounding cars will make mistakes similar to a human.
> and the images weren't even loaded by the time it decided it was time to switch slides
there were images?
Can't you just implant an RFID chip in her wrist?
Don't know what your parents would say though...
Opened up the quiz page, but all I saw was a black screen (with some funny logo up in the top left corner). Darn, must be that content safety filter...
So what are they buying? Oh, yeah, the IP turned out to be less than real.
Oh, they're buying SCO's reputation?
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha
Microsoft... worm... what could possibly go right...
Just drop it over Australia; after all, only criminals live here eh?
We'll stick it in a museum with the bits of Skylab.
that paisley polyester under the home dyed wool vest could generate 10000 volts...
That's a bit specious isn't it? Microsoft pulled out of cooperating with other companies to come up with a document standard. They were given the opportunity to submit their own proposal. Instead of coming up with a standard that other people could work with, it appears that they submitted a crufty XML reworking of their binary formats, and then allegedly stacked the committee to get it through. This doesn't seem to me to fit with the spirit of interoperability. Regardless, the EU is not taking issue with Microsoft having submitted a poor standard. Instead, it is that their dealings with the committee might not have been totally above board (and might instead have been driven by "commercial imperatives" rather than ethical/legal ones).
Well may we say "God save Windows XP",
because nothing will save Vista Ultimate.
[with apologies to the eloquent Gough]
if it doesn't have stripes, can you still call it a zebrafish?... (please don't reply to this unless you want to get all techno-pedantic)