I read the stories on MSNBC and CNN; interesting that MSNBC barely mentions *why* the protesters are being violent.
Second, these multi-column web pages (like MSNBC and CNN) are starting to tick me off. Scroll down a page or two, and the news article is crammed into about 60% of the screen, with huge whitespace margins. At least on/. you can turn most of the sidebars off.
Third, only in Seattle would rioters loot a Starbucks...:)
I noticed on CNN this morning a ditty about voice-recognition companies trying to capitalize on the OSHA-ergonomics flap. So if they get their way, we won't have to worry about carpal tunnel syndrome anymore. We'll just be hoarse all the time.;)
We're all working in algorithms - essentially, pure ideas. If there were some way to boil your ideas into some universal language (structured data) then you've hit on that ideal: Truly Reusable Code.
As I understand it, this is what the Unified Modeling (Meddling?) Language (UML) people are trying to do. Start with an abstract, graphical notation to plan out your system and document it right from the start. From what I've seen, some tools already have code-generation ability (Rhapsody, Rational Rose, ObjecTime). The idea isn't so much reusable code, but something that could create code (ideally in any language) from a set of specifications.
As a strapped-for-cash grad student in a computer engineering program, KDevelop has been my saviour. Granted, I don't do anything so fancy as creating a dialog, but it at least works for me. Better than forking out $100 (student discount) for Visual C++, just so I can write console programs.
With the keyboard the Palm suddenly becomes heavier and bigger than a Psion 5.
Probably true. For me, as a grad student, I'm looking at the potential of being able to carry the keyboard in my backpack (since I'll rarely need it anytime I don't have my pack with me). My Palm/Handspring would, of course, never leave my personal space.:) Assuming I had one.:(
Re:Needed feature: gyroscopically stablized camera
on
RoboFly
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· Score: 1
The article mentioned that the tiny gyroscopes developed at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena will be used, but it didn't mention how.
I was thinking maybe some sort of helicopter-style thing is going on here. (Ie, helicopters get their forward thrust by tilting forward slightly and letting the rotors move them in that direction.) If the fly had a spinning gyroscope inside it, then when the fly tried to tilt the gyroscope with respect to itself, the fly would actually be the one to tilt. The gyroscope would tend to remain in the same orientation.
This way, the hovering fly tilts forward (or backward [or sideways?!]), and its beating wings would carry it in that direction.
Of course, this is all one freaking big intuitive leap, probably off an even bigger, freakier cliff.
What self-respecting techie wants to become a manager?
This would be a great thing. Imagine a world where management actually had a clue about technology. Where hardware/software was purchased because careful thought had been given to its usefulness, and not because Mr. CEO liked the coffee-cup holder (CD-ROM) that sticks out of his CPU. Where we don't have to use 10-year old computers to run the latest software.
I'd hope more techies would get into management. I'm aware of at least one MBA program in IS just for this purpose (at [shameless plug]Tennessee Technological University, my alma mater)
Anybody have any problems using The Matrix DVD in their computer? My friend has an Encore DXR 6x, I think, and I was thinking about getting this as a present for him. Will it work?
I have a Hitachi GD-2500 DVD-ROM and a Diamond Viper 550 AGP. The DVD software (Zoran SoftDVD) won't play all the movie. Cycles back the beginning after the "There is no spoon" chapter, and even if you select the next chapter from the menu, it still sends you right back to the beginning.
Using the PCFriendly software that comes on the DVD will let me see the entire movie, but the aspect ratio is scrogged. The letterbox border is still there, but the people are still tall & thin, like they'd been "formatted for your TV".
Last gripe, sometimes the movie "skips". Don't know what else to call it, but it seems like the video analogy to when I hit a bump in the road and my CD player jumps. (yeah, it's a cheap system. I'm a student...)
Still a great movie, despite the bugs.
Re:How biodegradable & more ways to create plastic
on
Grow Your Own Plastic
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· Score: 1
Oil is too valuable as an energy source to waste it making Nintendo cartridges.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the part of petroleum used to make fuel is not the same part of petroleum used to make plastic. If I remember correctly, crude is really a mixture of several different kinds of molecules. In the the refinement process the molecules are seperated out -- some are what we call gasoline, some are kerosene, some eventually are turned into plastic, etc. So we wouldn't really be "wasting" oil by turning it into plastic vs. fuel; the two happen in parallel whether we like it or not.
sadly, you don't necessarily have to have a PE to design power systems. in TN, public utilities are actually grandfathered out somehow to where they don't have to have a PE sign off on projects. luckily, my local utility encourages their people to get PE's despite the regulation loophole.
Yeah, but can a Palm control all those IR devices without having to wipe the memory and download a new program each time you want to control a new device (not to mention still have enough memory left over for basic PDA stuff)? (asked by a potential Palm customer) Even the HP-48G could be a TV remote, assuming you didn't need the extra memory for your Electronics 310 test formulas...
Slashdot Mirror
Second, these multi-column web pages (like MSNBC and CNN) are starting to tick me off. Scroll down a page or two, and the news article is crammed into about 60% of the screen, with huge whitespace margins. At least on /. you can turn most of the sidebars off.
Third, only in Seattle would rioters loot a Starbucks... :)
I noticed on CNN this morning a ditty about voice-recognition companies trying to capitalize on the OSHA-ergonomics flap. So if they get their way, we won't have to worry about carpal tunnel syndrome anymore. We'll just be hoarse all the time. ;)
As I understand it, this is what the Unified Modeling (Meddling?) Language (UML) people are trying to do. Start with an abstract, graphical notation to plan out your system and document it right from the start. From what I've seen, some tools already have code-generation ability (Rhapsody, Rational Rose, ObjecTime). The idea isn't so much reusable code, but something that could create code (ideally in any language) from a set of specifications.
As a strapped-for-cash grad student in a computer engineering program, KDevelop has been my saviour. Granted, I don't do anything so fancy as creating a dialog, but it at least works for me. Better than forking out $100 (student discount) for Visual C++, just so I can write console programs.
Probably true. For me, as a grad student, I'm looking at the potential of being able to carry the keyboard in my backpack (since I'll rarely need it anytime I don't have my pack with me). My Palm/Handspring would, of course, never leave my personal space. :) Assuming I had one. :(
I was thinking maybe some sort of helicopter-style thing is going on here. (Ie, helicopters get their forward thrust by tilting forward slightly and letting the rotors move them in that direction.) If the fly had a spinning gyroscope inside it, then when the fly tried to tilt the gyroscope with respect to itself, the fly would actually be the one to tilt. The gyroscope would tend to remain in the same orientation.
This way, the hovering fly tilts forward (or backward [or sideways?!]), and its beating wings would carry it in that direction.
Of course, this is all one freaking big intuitive leap, probably off an even bigger, freakier cliff.
This would be a great thing. Imagine a world where management actually had a clue about technology. Where hardware/software was purchased because careful thought had been given to its usefulness, and not because Mr. CEO liked the coffee-cup holder (CD-ROM) that sticks out of his CPU. Where we don't have to use 10-year old computers to run the latest software.
I'd hope more techies would get into management. I'm aware of at least one MBA program in IS just for this purpose (at [shameless plug]Tennessee Technological University, my alma mater)
Of course. Video cam vs. steering wheel. Hmmm... For me, a refugee from NASCAR tyranny, the choice would be obvious.
The real question, though, is what people who buy the Barbie computer will *do* with the video cam. I can see it now, Barbie's S&M Cam...
I have a Hitachi GD-2500 DVD-ROM and a Diamond Viper 550 AGP. The DVD software (Zoran SoftDVD) won't play all the movie. Cycles back the beginning after the "There is no spoon" chapter, and even if you select the next chapter from the menu, it still sends you right back to the beginning.
Using the PCFriendly software that comes on the DVD will let me see the entire movie, but the aspect ratio is scrogged. The letterbox border is still there, but the people are still tall & thin, like they'd been "formatted for your TV".
Last gripe, sometimes the movie "skips". Don't know what else to call it, but it seems like the video analogy to when I hit a bump in the road and my CD player jumps. (yeah, it's a cheap system. I'm a student...)
Still a great movie, despite the bugs.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the part of petroleum used to make fuel is not the same part of petroleum used to make plastic. If I remember correctly, crude is really a mixture of several different kinds of molecules. In the the refinement process the molecules are seperated out -- some are what we call gasoline, some are kerosene, some eventually are turned into plastic, etc. So we wouldn't really be "wasting" oil by turning it into plastic vs. fuel; the two happen in parallel whether we like it or not.
sadly, you don't necessarily have to have a PE to design power systems. in TN, public utilities are actually grandfathered out somehow to where they don't have to have a PE sign off on projects. luckily, my local utility encourages their people to get PE's despite the regulation loophole.
Yeah, but can a Palm control all those IR devices without having to wipe the memory and download a new program each time you want to control a new device (not to mention still have enough memory left over for basic PDA stuff)? (asked by a potential Palm customer) Even the HP-48G could be a TV remote, assuming you didn't need the extra memory for your Electronics 310 test formulas...