I've always thought of art as "that stuff that I can't do."
Ergo, programming can't be art, right?
Seriously, I don't think all programming is art.
Besides the machine-generated gunk that is practically a necessity in the Windows programming world these days, we've all seen code that is to programming what an explosion in a paint factory is to Picasso.
I've also seen some very well thought out and executed systems that I probably would consider art or nearly so.
Anybody with a basic knowledge of how they work, a piece of wire and some ferrous metal can make a basic speaker. With a weekend, some permanent magnets and a decent basement shop you could even make speakers that sounded OK.
Will it be a criminal offense to spin an old vinyl record on a stick and play it with a needle taped to a 3x5 card? Ooh, I'm "chilled" to the bone. Get real.
Well, as far as privacy goes, there you don't have to "fall for" web bugs. If you are set to view HTML mail with graphics, and you display the message, they've got you. That's because it goes to the server to get that GIF that's in the HTML, giving a unique URL, and the server says "Ahh, I see from the URL that joeblow@anycomp.com got the email!" and issues a 1x1 pixel transparent gif.
The only way to not "fall for it" is to not display HTML mail. Either that or the reader could not display outside embedded stuff.
I don't know. W2K works great for me. I'm running it on 2 machines and have been since it was released to developers, and I've had no stability problems. I did have to run Win98 on my laptop for a couple of months until drivers for my SCSI card came out, but now all is well. Very, very stable (for windows). If I have to run Windows, W2K is the one I'll run. Of course, I have no use whatsoever for games, or I wouldn't say that.
they'd also like to think that you are doing your work to better the companies position in whatever it is that they do
Well yes, that's what *I* do but once a company reaches a certain size or management style, you're an idiot of you have any emotional attachment to it. Sure you work to better your company's position, but mainly so that it will generate more cash flowing by so that you might get raises or at least better computers or something. It's management's job to try to get you emotionally attached to the company, and it's your job to realize that they're using you.
The company that I work for was a relatively small place when I came here, but it's now into the "employees are assets" mode. That's fine as long as you realize it and don't get suckered.
First, if you read the article, you'd know that the company that made the software that was cracked said there's no such reward. Apparently the teacher made it up.
Secondly, as the article said, it's not right for a teacher to say something like that to a room full of teenagers and then say "Well, I was only kidding!" I know a great many adults that can't tell when people are kidding.
Third, how is he going to try to crack the software on his own computer? Is he supposed to buy it? Or are you advocating him stealing the software from the school?
For me, I do it to make copies of movies so my daughter can take them to her friends houses for sleepovers, or so I can take them to my mom's house when we visit; they don't have DVD players. I could hook my laptop up to my mom's TV but it's a pain.
I have a friend that makes VHS copies to watch movies in his bedroom where he has no DVD player.
Notice that AFAIK these are all legitimate, non-pirate type activities. I make single copies for non-concurrent viewing, and erase them when I'm done. Too bad the movie industry is trying to tell me WHERE I can watch my movies.
If ripped from DVD, VCD's are actually pretty good quality. I've ripped a couple of movies myself and the quality is good.
Avoid screeners (someone with a camcorder sitting in a theater) for sure. I personally avoid VHS rips too; I only bother grabbing DVD rips anymore, and some of those even aren't so good.
Actually I prefer DivX rips myself, not because of an inherent lack of quality of VCD, but because it preserves widescreen better, and for me if it ain't widescreen I don't want it (assuming the original was widescreen).
Fair enough. My 600A has no problems though. I've not played a ton through it, but I've run maybe 50 DVD's and 20 VCD movies and didn't notice a syncing problem. None of my friends that have them have said anything either.
If I wanted to get a name brand it sure as hell wouldn't be Sony. I don't mean to be inflammatory but I have bought a lot of brands, and EVERY piece of home electronics that I own that has failed has had a SONY nameplate on it. This included VCR's, camcorders, CD players, and receivers. My Apex, Panasonic, JVC, Samsung & even Radio Shack stuff has never failed me.
I'd probably buy Pioneer if I wanted a GOOD DVD player. However, I only have a 27" TV so there's no need for higher quality.
The relatively new Apex 703 would be my pick right now. I own an Apex 600A, and I love it.
The 703 does everything the 600A does (OK, no loophole menu) plus it's a 3 disc changer and has a built-in 5.1 decoder. I've had less trouble with the 600A than with any previous DVD player I'd owned. The 700 has flash upgradable BIOS too in case some new title comes out which bothers the player (like Matrix did with previous players)
The 3 disc changer would be nice as I'm viewing VCD's a lot more, now that I have a player that will read CD-R's:-) Plus load 3 80 minute CD's full of MP3's and you've got music for a GOOD LONG TIME.
The 703 is available at either Circuit City or Buy.com for $199. You can get free shipping from Buy right now and probably find a $15 or more coupon at dealprovider.com.
A few examples of "prior use" I can think of...
on
Illusionary LED clock
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· Score: 1
Yup. I remember the wand (a kid's toy) you could type your own message into and wave it around.
This summer I saw a frisbee with buttons on it so you could program your own message, and it would spell it out as the frisbee spun.
There has been a pendulum version of this clock (the LED's mounted on a pendulum) for sale in novelty stores for at least 4 or 5 years now.
I also remember seeing a clock like this (complete with circuits) in a Popular Electronics back in the mid-70's.
I have personally built pocket gizmos to display signs on moving vertical LED bars, as long as 10 years ago.
Nonetheless, they are a lot of fun to build. This is about the simplest circuit you're ever going to find. If you use a PIC, it hardly even counts as circuitry.
our precious money will be worthless when our species is dead.
They don't care. They will be dead before the rest of us die of pollution/runaway greenhouse effect/whatever, so they don't give a fuck. End of story.
It's very likely that they figure that even if it happens, they can buy anything, including food when there's not enough to go around. If they can get food for themselves and their families, that's all that matters. These people have probably never been in a situation where they couldn't buy whatever they wanted, so they just can't understand it.
Yes, that episode disappointed me. Every single decision that the military team made was idiotic. Using cordite as an exposive in a home-made cannon? Using metal-on-metal projectiles with two hard metals (one metal not being copper/lead or some other soft/self-lubricating metal)? A movable breech?
I didn't need to watch the end of that one to tell you that the ones who basically built a 19th century muzzle load cannon was the winner.
I thought the same thing at first. Electric vehicles are just putting the power through more inefficient stages, so how could it be better, in the end?
The answer: power plants are held to a much higher standard for pollution. They don't have to be portable, so they can install much better scrubbers. They put out less pollution per final joule delivered to your wheels than having a gas engine hooked to the wheels does.
You want to really reduce pollution? Slap some emissions restraints on recreational engines. One hour on a Jet-Ski puts out more pollution than driving a new car for 100,000 miles.
1) you can buy cars that burn either gasoline or ethanol. Go to www.ford.com and check out flex-fuel vehicles. I believe you can buy a small or 3/4 ton full size pickup, a Taurus, an Econoline van, maybe others. Many are available in Natural Gas versions from the factory too, and at least in Southwest Michigan, there are natural gas filling stations, probably enough that many people could use them for their commute.
2) According to friends in the electric car business, fuel cells are still not practical for cars because they are easily poisoned by certain gasses. Sulfur dioxide is one, I believe. This means you drive by a dirty coal plant, your fuel cell is toast, and you have a $10,000 repair bill.
3)Natural gas has a much lower energy density than gasoline. You can only get about 130 miles of range out of a tank, when a tank of gasoline of the same size might get you 400 miles. This is not because it's less efficient, it's because you can't put as much CNG in as you can gasoline. Less BTU's per cubic foot.
The reason we still use gas? Because people don't want to change.
Personally I wish the price of gas would go even higher. People need to get kicked in the head to stop the crazy SUV and musclecar driving stupidity that they're into now. I have no sympathy for someone that bought a Ford Excursion, uses it for nothing but 80 mile single-person commutes, and is paying $2.30 a gallon (I know several, I'm sure many of you do too). Hearing them squeal made it well worth paying the same myself.
I'll be the first in line to buy a practical fuel cell vehicle. I'll probably buy a Honda hybrid car if I have to replace a car in the next couple of years. I have always bought Ford in the past (I get a discount through family), but I've written them letters saying that they've sold me their last car that didn't get at least 50 miles per gallon. I want a high efficiency diesel-electric hybrid. Ford has a prototype Taurus that goes 100 MPH and gets 80+ MPG.
Driving gas vehicles, especially gas guzzlers, is idiotic, and idiotic behavior should have a down side. It SHOULD hurt to fill that tank. After 6 weeks of bellyaching, I finally heard on the radio last night "High cost of fuel is renewing interest in more fuel efficient vehicles." DUUUUH!
I'd buy broadband if I could. No luck. Our cable company isn't interested. Also our phone switch won't do ISDN, and I'm too far away to do 56K, so even this won't help me. It's 28.8K for me, baby! Having a laptop with an 18GB drive helps; I telnet in, DL big files, then copy them to the laptop the next day. Yes, it's sneakernet. Remember, it'll be a lot of years before getting rid of modems is even an option for EVERYONE.
You're right, this should be "just like mail order." You DO pay taxes. You buy from out of state, YOU are legally obligated to pay the sales tax directly to your state's government, rather than paying it to the retailer, who then forwards it to the government. It's called a "use tax." rather than sales tax. I realize that most people don't even know this, let alone pay it, but it is a tax that has been on the books for decades. It's nothing new.
I like the Fuji cameras, too, though I stayed away last year because of the (then) 32MB SmartMedia limit. If you want small, very nice cameras, look at Canon Powershots. They have a new one coming out, the S100, that is built in the Elph 2 case. THAT is SMALL. Uses Compact Flash. Apparently the new one is type I only; probably as much a concession to battery life as to size.
One of the very important things about a camera (IMHO) is that it needs to be convenient enough to carry around that you don't wind up leaving it at home because it's too big. I've gotten lots of great pictures when I didn't expect to be taking pictures, but I threw the camera in just because. I never would bring a Mavica along "just because" - it's just too large. Mavicas also have really very poor image quality. They're great for doing web work but IMHO aren't even designed to replace film. Also I don't see what the problem is with flash memory. I spent an extra $130 when I bought my camera for a 64MB flash card, and $8 for a CF->PCMCIA card adaptor. I can take about 120 2.1 megapixel images at highest quality, which is more than I will probably ever shoot in a day, and I can empty the card every night. Granted, if I went on a long vacation where I didn't want to take the laptop, I'd probably have to buy more RAM. I don't trust moving media in a camera, either. I might go for an IBM Microdrive, but that'd be about the extent of my trust.
Buy a set of NiMH rechargables; you'll be amazed. Even though they are rated at less total mAH, you will get more life out of them because even when they're half gone, they can still run the camera. When Alkalines are half gone, they can no longer deliver the instantaneous current required to run a DC. I have a Kodak DC280 and I get typically over 100 shots out of a set of NiMH's per charge. It doesn't take long to make up the $25 for batteries and charger, plus I'm not filling the landfills with old batteries. NOTE that NiMH's aren't perfect; they self-discharge in about a month, so they are not good for remote controls, flashlights, etc. However they're the best for DC's, kid's toys, etc.
Hell, if it's an 800 number, you don't even need the roll of quarters. Can't you make 800 calls from pay phones? Sure you can, that's how the 1-800-COLLECT services work. Every time you walk by a payphone, call the number. Even if you just hang up, it costs them $$. NOTE: I would *NEVER* suggest actually doing this. Just for the record. Yeah.
What's going to happen to a kid wearing a "WAVE America" T Shirt? It seems to me that once kids figure out that this means "I ratted someone out for this lousy T-Shirt" the guy is going to have a tough time getting to school and home again every day without getting the crap beat out of him.
QUESTION for Pinkertons: What assurances will be in place to guarantee that, should a reported student be found to be innocent of being "different", that any and all record of them even being reported or investigated will be permanently and completely stricken from their record?
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I've always thought of art as "that stuff that I can't do."
Ergo, programming can't be art, right?
Seriously, I don't think all programming is art.
Besides the machine-generated gunk that is practically a necessity in the Windows programming world these days, we've all seen code that is to programming what an explosion in a paint factory is to Picasso.
I've also seen some very well thought out and executed systems that I probably would consider art or nearly so.
Anybody with a basic knowledge of how they work, a piece of wire and some ferrous metal can make a basic speaker. With a weekend, some permanent magnets and a decent basement shop you could even make speakers that sounded OK.
Will it be a criminal offense to spin an old vinyl record on a stick and play it with a needle taped to a 3x5 card? Ooh, I'm "chilled" to the bone. Get real.
Well, as far as privacy goes, there you don't have to "fall for" web bugs. If you are set to view HTML mail with graphics, and you display the message, they've got you. That's because it goes to the server to get that GIF that's in the HTML, giving a unique URL, and the server says "Ahh, I see from the URL that joeblow@anycomp.com got the email!" and issues a 1x1 pixel transparent gif.
The only way to not "fall for it" is to not display HTML mail. Either that or the reader could not display outside embedded stuff.
I don't know. W2K works great for me. I'm running it on 2 machines and have been since it was released to developers, and I've had no stability problems. I did have to run Win98 on my laptop for a couple of months until drivers for my SCSI card came out, but now all is well. Very, very stable (for windows). If I have to run Windows, W2K is the one I'll run. Of course, I have no use whatsoever for games, or I wouldn't say that.
Well yes, that's what *I* do but once a company reaches a certain size or management style, you're an idiot of you have any emotional attachment to it. Sure you work to better your company's position, but mainly so that it will generate more cash flowing by so that you might get raises or at least better computers or something. It's management's job to try to get you emotionally attached to the company, and it's your job to realize that they're using you.
The company that I work for was a relatively small place when I came here, but it's now into the "employees are assets" mode. That's fine as long as you realize it and don't get suckered.
First, if you read the article, you'd know that the company that made the software that was cracked said there's no such reward. Apparently the teacher made it up.
Secondly, as the article said, it's not right for a teacher to say something like that to a room full of teenagers and then say "Well, I was only kidding!" I know a great many adults that can't tell when people are kidding.
Third, how is he going to try to crack the software on his own computer? Is he supposed to buy it? Or are you advocating him stealing the software from the school?
For me, I do it to make copies of movies so my daughter can take them to her friends houses for sleepovers, or so I can take them to my mom's house when we visit; they don't have DVD players. I could hook my laptop up to my mom's TV but it's a pain.
I have a friend that makes VHS copies to watch movies in his bedroom where he has no DVD player.
Notice that AFAIK these are all legitimate, non-pirate type activities. I make single copies for non-concurrent viewing, and erase them when I'm done. Too bad the movie industry is trying to tell me WHERE I can watch my movies.
If ripped from DVD, VCD's are actually pretty good quality. I've ripped a couple of movies myself and the quality is good.
Avoid screeners (someone with a camcorder sitting in a theater) for sure. I personally avoid VHS rips too; I only bother grabbing DVD rips anymore, and some of those even aren't so good.
Actually I prefer DivX rips myself, not because of an inherent lack of quality of VCD, but because it preserves widescreen better, and for me if it ain't widescreen I don't want it (assuming the original was widescreen).
Fair enough. My 600A has no problems though. I've not played a ton through it, but I've run maybe 50 DVD's and 20 VCD movies and didn't notice a syncing problem. None of my friends that have them have said anything either.
If I wanted to get a name brand it sure as hell wouldn't be Sony. I don't mean to be inflammatory but I have bought a lot of brands, and EVERY piece of home electronics that I own that has failed has had a SONY nameplate on it. This included VCR's, camcorders, CD players, and receivers. My Apex, Panasonic, JVC, Samsung & even Radio Shack stuff has never failed me.
I'd probably buy Pioneer if I wanted a GOOD DVD player. However, I only have a 27" TV so there's no need for higher quality.
The relatively new Apex 703 would be my pick right now. I own an Apex 600A, and I love it. The 703 does everything the 600A does (OK, no loophole menu) plus it's a 3 disc changer and has a built-in 5.1 decoder. I've had less trouble with the 600A than with any previous DVD player I'd owned. The 700 has flash upgradable BIOS too in case some new title comes out which bothers the player (like Matrix did with previous players) The 3 disc changer would be nice as I'm viewing VCD's a lot more, now that I have a player that will read CD-R's :-) Plus load 3 80 minute CD's full of MP3's and you've got music for a GOOD LONG TIME.
The 703 is available at either Circuit City or Buy.com for $199. You can get free shipping from Buy right now and probably find a $15 or more coupon at dealprovider.com.
Yup. I remember the wand (a kid's toy) you could type your own message into and wave it around.
This summer I saw a frisbee with buttons on it so you could program your own message, and it would spell it out as the frisbee spun.
There has been a pendulum version of this clock (the LED's mounted on a pendulum) for sale in novelty stores for at least 4 or 5 years now.
I also remember seeing a clock like this (complete with circuits) in a Popular Electronics back in the mid-70's.
I have personally built pocket gizmos to display signs on moving vertical LED bars, as long as 10 years ago.
Nonetheless, they are a lot of fun to build. This is about the simplest circuit you're ever going to find. If you use a PIC, it hardly even counts as circuitry.
They don't care. They will be dead before the rest of us die of pollution/runaway greenhouse effect/whatever, so they don't give a fuck. End of story.
It's very likely that they figure that even if it happens, they can buy anything, including food when there's not enough to go around. If they can get food for themselves and their families, that's all that matters. These people have probably never been in a situation where they couldn't buy whatever they wanted, so they just can't understand it.
Yes, that episode disappointed me. Every single decision that the military team made was idiotic. Using cordite as an exposive in a home-made cannon? Using metal-on-metal projectiles with two hard metals (one metal not being copper/lead or some other soft/self-lubricating metal)? A movable breech? I didn't need to watch the end of that one to tell you that the ones who basically built a 19th century muzzle load cannon was the winner.
Very good points. I really should think about what I hear on the radio before repeating it, huh?
It's been a long time since I heard these statements. Too bad, I would have liked to have heard their explanations for this arguement.
I thought the same thing at first. Electric vehicles are just putting the power through more inefficient stages, so how could it be better, in the end?
The answer: power plants are held to a much higher standard for pollution. They don't have to be portable, so they can install much better scrubbers. They put out less pollution per final joule delivered to your wheels than having a gas engine hooked to the wheels does.
You want to really reduce pollution? Slap some emissions restraints on recreational engines. One hour on a Jet-Ski puts out more pollution than driving a new car for 100,000 miles.
Don't even get me started about lawn mowers.
1) you can buy cars that burn either gasoline or ethanol. Go to www.ford.com and check out flex-fuel vehicles. I believe you can buy a small or 3/4 ton full size pickup, a Taurus, an Econoline van, maybe others. Many are available in Natural Gas versions from the factory too, and at least in Southwest Michigan, there are natural gas filling stations, probably enough that many people could use them for their commute.
2) According to friends in the electric car business, fuel cells are still not practical for cars because they are easily poisoned by certain gasses. Sulfur dioxide is one, I believe. This means you drive by a dirty coal plant, your fuel cell is toast, and you have a $10,000 repair bill.
3)Natural gas has a much lower energy density than gasoline. You can only get about 130 miles of range out of a tank, when a tank of gasoline of the same size might get you 400 miles. This is not because it's less efficient, it's because you can't put as much CNG in as you can gasoline. Less BTU's per cubic foot.
The reason we still use gas? Because people don't want to change.
Personally I wish the price of gas would go even higher. People need to get kicked in the head to stop the crazy SUV and musclecar driving stupidity that they're into now. I have no sympathy for someone that bought a Ford Excursion, uses it for nothing but 80 mile single-person commutes, and is paying $2.30 a gallon (I know several, I'm sure many of you do too). Hearing them squeal made it well worth paying the same myself.
I'll be the first in line to buy a practical fuel cell vehicle. I'll probably buy a Honda hybrid car if I have to replace a car in the next couple of years. I have always bought Ford in the past (I get a discount through family), but I've written them letters saying that they've sold me their last car that didn't get at least 50 miles per gallon. I want a high efficiency diesel-electric hybrid. Ford has a prototype Taurus that goes 100 MPH and gets 80+ MPG.
Driving gas vehicles, especially gas guzzlers, is idiotic, and idiotic behavior should have a down side. It SHOULD hurt to fill that tank. After 6 weeks of bellyaching, I finally heard on the radio last night "High cost of fuel is renewing interest in more fuel efficient vehicles." DUUUUH!
I'd buy broadband if I could. No luck. Our cable company isn't interested. Also our phone switch won't do ISDN, and I'm too far away to do 56K, so even this won't help me. It's 28.8K for me, baby! Having a laptop with an 18GB drive helps; I telnet in, DL big files, then copy them to the laptop the next day. Yes, it's sneakernet. Remember, it'll be a lot of years before getting rid of modems is even an option for EVERYONE.
You're right, this should be "just like mail order." You DO pay taxes. You buy from out of state, YOU are legally obligated to pay the sales tax directly to your state's government, rather than paying it to the retailer, who then forwards it to the government.
It's called a "use tax." rather than sales tax.
I realize that most people don't even know this, let alone pay it, but it is a tax that has been on the books for decades. It's nothing new.
I like the Fuji cameras, too, though I stayed away last year because of the (then) 32MB SmartMedia limit. If you want small, very nice cameras, look at Canon Powershots. They have a new one coming out, the S100, that is built in the Elph 2 case. THAT is SMALL. Uses Compact Flash. Apparently the new one is type I only; probably as much a concession to battery life as to size.
One of the very important things about a camera (IMHO) is that it needs to be convenient enough to carry around that you don't wind up leaving it at home because it's too big. I've gotten lots of great pictures when I didn't expect to be taking pictures, but I threw the camera in just because. I never would bring a Mavica along "just because" - it's just too large.
Mavicas also have really very poor image quality. They're great for doing web work but IMHO aren't even designed to replace film.
Also I don't see what the problem is with flash memory. I spent an extra $130 when I bought my camera for a 64MB flash card, and $8 for a CF->PCMCIA card adaptor. I can take about 120 2.1 megapixel images at highest quality, which is more than I will probably ever shoot in a day, and I can empty the card every night.
Granted, if I went on a long vacation where I didn't want to take the laptop, I'd probably have to buy more RAM.
I don't trust moving media in a camera, either. I might go for an IBM Microdrive, but that'd be about the extent of my trust.
one word: Aftermarket.
There are many companies making chargers for Sony batteries. Shouldn't cost you much.
Buy a set of NiMH rechargables; you'll be amazed. Even though they are rated at less total mAH, you will get more life out of them because even when they're half gone, they can still run the camera. When Alkalines are half gone, they can no longer deliver the instantaneous current required to run a DC. I have a Kodak DC280 and I get typically over 100 shots out of a set of NiMH's per charge. It doesn't take long to make up the $25 for batteries and charger, plus I'm not filling the landfills with old batteries. NOTE that NiMH's aren't perfect; they self-discharge in about a month, so they are not good for remote controls, flashlights, etc. However they're the best for DC's, kid's toys, etc.
Hell, if it's an 800 number, you don't even need the roll of quarters. Can't you make 800 calls from pay phones? Sure you can, that's how the 1-800-COLLECT services work. Every time you walk by a payphone, call the number. Even if you just hang up, it costs them $$. NOTE: I would *NEVER* suggest actually doing this. Just for the record. Yeah.
What's going to happen to a kid wearing a "WAVE America" T Shirt?
It seems to me that once kids figure out that this means "I ratted someone out for this lousy T-Shirt" the guy is going to have a tough time getting to school and home again every day without getting the crap beat out of him.
QUESTION for Pinkertons:
What assurances will be in place to guarantee that, should a reported student be found to be innocent of being "different", that any and all record of them even being reported or investigated will be permanently and completely stricken from their record?
See:
http://www.humorbin.c om/LoveWar/comparison/hacker_barbie.html