Even if the algebra skills are not directly applicable, mathematics teaches people how to figure out "correct" solutions. It focuses on procedure and how to analyse and figure out the answer. I can't think of another subject that guarantees this. History is more about memorization. English being able to write well, doesn't mean it's correct nor does memorizing some paragraph from some book. Art... Maybe shop does this, but it's a bit more materials intensive than actually requiring students to think. That doesn't mean students in other subjects don't think, just that mathematics has objective tools to test whether they understand the concepts or not.
Well, in truth how many times do engineers pour over the court documents that the lawyers develop while in court? Pretty simple to miss something occasionally, I'm not convinced that Google has just decided to flip the bird to all it's users and the court system yet. In comparison to the people that are "too smart" to get caught or too powerful for the courts to do anything to.
President doesn't make laws, typically. Congress does and since most candidates running for office are lawyers, I don't think there is much choice since you can either vote for member A or B, throw you vote away on C or not vote. Biggest issue I see is no accountability by our elected officials, but that's a different issue.
I wasn't aware that they were planning on building several new nuclear plants. I had heard of one or two, but sixteen is quite a few more than I expected. What caused this shift in new building versus how new plants were basically put on hiatus after three mile?
Wouldn't this be considered a successful test? I mean it would only be a failure if everything went perfectly and they felt confident to send the system out into space where it failed. This way at least they know there are still issues.
First off, are you agreeing with the caption that this is a failure? It isn't it's testing to get data. So it blew up, no biggy it's data one more datum of information that says not all the kinks are worked out. Which brings us to
Point two. This isn't engineering, this is working with new designs that have not been completely tested, which by definition is science. You don't expect everything to go perfectly when you attempt something because you don't know what all the variables are and you are looking for information. If you weren't looking for information, then that would be engineering, and you wouldn't bother to test it to see if it would work. In which case, the boom would be on the moon not at a testing facility.
Furthermore, This is being built on a shoestring, ie low cost, budget, which means they aren't going to book supercomputer time, build a bunch of prototypes, build redundancy systems, etc. There is an understanding that there will be a greater chance of error in the system, but for the cost of a expensive 99% mission, they can send a lot more of these missions. Which means even if you have a few failures, you still have a better overall chance of success.
Using clean fuels is not sub-optimal, it's just a constraint on the system. Just like any other constraint, you deal with it and figure out what to do. Of course, removing a building with sledgehammers, explosives, cutting restraints, is harder than setting off a thermonuclear bomb, but I don't really consider the results suboptimal, just one of the constraints on the system that other buildings in the neighborhood should still be standing at the end of the project is just one of the constraints.
Hmmm, it's almost like it's rocket science and they don't expect it to be perfect the first time through so they run tests. I agree not really news, just some more data.
I tend to use math most days. Estimation, ballpark figures, cost per ounce etc and I no longer work in the computer industry. Now that being said, is there justification for higher level mathematics in computer programming.
Well, yes and no. The typical programmer isn't working on anything complex, just providing a bunch of criteria for a switch statement or copying information from one location to another, not a big deal, but when you start working with algorithms, not to be confused with (Al Gore)ithms an understanding of upper level mathematics can certainly help. Discrete mathematics is a no brainer since it focuses on logic and proofs which can help a programmer find edge cases and cut down on errors via the processes you learn in discrete mathematics.
Calculus and other higher math is generally useful in making algorithms run more efficiently. Brute force searching algorithms take a lot of time, binary is significantly faster, but using calculus can even improve on the binary search methods in the right circumstances. The thing is, if you don't have the knowledge about high level techniques you cannot use them. For instance, if you don't know sorting routines a bubble sort seems incredibly fast in comparison to sequel sorting however without the knowledge of sorting algorithms you wouldn't realize how ineffective bubble sort is in comparison to say merge sort.
Most programming isn't focused on efficiency and most things can be brute forced within a reasonable timeframe with modern computer systems, however, knowledge of calculus and other higher level mathematics can help quite a bit as techniques can be transferred into computer programs that need them.
I guess you could make the same comparison to electronics, does a programmer really need to know electronics, diodes, resistors, refresh rates and protocols to make a computer do something useful? Probably not, but if you do know those things it can make you far more efficient and effective than the person who does not know them depending on what type of programming you are doing. Whereas most systems are built requiring basic skills or specific study of one area, higher level mathematics provide tools that can be used in a wide range of applications and tend not to be limited to specific cases. With the knowledge of upper level mathematics, when you do run into situations where it can be used, you can pull out a book or do a search to find an efficient algorithm whereas when you don't have the knowledge you'll end up spending a lot of time re-inventing the wheel.
Not sure what you are saying here. When I worked in system administration, I didn't do much programming. But I can remember having to scan code quickly when problems arose at times. Other times it was about setting up automation, ensuring packages worked well together, knowing the right people to call if I couldn't fix the problem quickly, documenting the systems, interviewing vendors, etc, etc, etc.
I'm just saying that the skills involved as a system admin are different than those of a developer and that there is no direct comparison between the jobs. Developer work is a much slower pace and you get to know the systems you are working with well, whereas I was responsible for a couple of hundred machines running different applications, pretty hard to know every system in depth.
Comparing apples to oranges I think. Not saying one is more important than the other, though I suppose you could compare a programmer with a janitor if you really wanted to. System admins have some programming skills, but there is also integration and working on a timeline that you seldom get being a programmer. When the active system has a limited amount of scheduled downtime or when an unexpected failure happens, being able to run through thousands or more lines of code to identify the problem and fix it without having a complete understanding of the codebase is certainly a skill many admins are known for. Is that more important than writing the code in the first place? Not really, but at the same time, do you as a coder expect to be called at any time day or night or on vacation to fix a problem?
Are developers better coders than system admins, probably in most cases. Are system admins more experienced in handling real time issues, probably in most cases.
As far as developers being a joke compared to developers, well in general system admins, I mean real system admins, make more on average than developers. It seems to me that there are both advantages and disadvantages to each position, but they are both important to proper infrastructure.
Now, they need to make one with a giant scythe and bat wings so we can have Deathscythe, and one with angel wings for Wing Zero./geek
FTFY
A nerd would be interested in the drive train, targeting system, etc, i.e. what can I do with this. Geeks are interested in how cool it looks. It was a shock when I realized I was a nerd and didn't qualify to be a geek.
Well, I'd say that's the difference between people that are serious about a project and those that do things as a hobby. I'm not opposed to helping fund something that interests me, whether it be big business or Joe working out of mom's basement. What's really important is funding people that are doing stuff that I am interested in and are serious about the project, not just pulling in cash so they can play with their toys without producing anything or worse yet just trying to get money for nothing. With John and Gabe and others giving testimony about these guys, they are putting their reputations on the table to back these guys. Now, I have a lot of nerd-envy when it comes to Carmack, basically, he's the programmer I look up to, along with Abrash and both of them are on record supporting this device. The video is okay, but their testimony is priceless. Specs are a little low, but I'm going to throw in a few bucks in the hope that every little bit helps.
Demonstrations don't work when you have to hold them in free speech areas located far away from anyone that actually might pay attention. Got rid of those pesky protesters long ago, except of course in the case where the powerless are attacking other powerless people, e.g. funerals of peons and stuff like that. Strikes don't work because your job was sent overseas long ago, gotta be employed to strike. Voting doesn't seem to work since the government rigs elections by setting voting districts, only allowing two parties, etc.
Best means left available is a gun, or so it seems, and most people aren't ready to take that step.
Well, Infinity has made it to my neighborhood, but I wouldn't call it a good thing. First, AT&T no longer sells DSL lines in the area, claiming they are all used. Second, minimum price for Infinity is well over 100/month since Comcast is around the same, it basically means that and internet connection is more expensive than they used to be.
Maybe the extra speed would be nice, but at a cost of doubling my costs, it's out of my price range.
Hmmm, no the amount per month is too low, it's 1180 a month. Of course food stamps are a graduated system so at 1000 your would only get about 40 dollars of food stamps, but at 1180 you make too much to get even a dollar in food stamps.
Can't buy fruits/veggy/"real meat"/etc. Fed a diet of sugar, fats and starches that quickly convert to body fat rather than to long term energy. Eating fewer larger meals rather than smaller and more meals.
For myself, I'm about 20 pounds overweight, maybe a bit more. Not much, but I know that I don't get a well rounded diet. The cheapest foods are mainly all processed foods that are high in sodium and sugars in order to make up for the bland tastes of the base food. I'd much rather have a steak with a dash of salt and pepper, some steamed veggy, couple of slabs of bread and some cheese. Now my food budget is below normal, but I can see why a majority of people with little money purchase the processed foods.
If anything, food quality has probably gone down drastically for those earning little money since substitutions were allowed in the CPI. With a stable shopping list the CPI would have raised a lot more than it currently has, but allowing substitutions such as hamburger instead of steak etc means that the quality of goods that can be purchased are going down in order to keep cost of living increases down since many wages are based on the CPI.
Furthermore, most snakes have their poison glands near their mouths. The actual meat/body of the snake isn't saturated in poison, although I assume they might have some resistance to it.
That article was published 8 years ago. According to the original submission the employees attempted to remove the device from his head which cannot be done without special equipment which in turn damaged the equipment and caused him pain.
Slashdot Mirror
Even if the algebra skills are not directly applicable, mathematics teaches people how to figure out "correct" solutions. It focuses on procedure and how to analyse and figure out the answer. I can't think of another subject that guarantees this. History is more about memorization. English being able to write well, doesn't mean it's correct nor does memorizing some paragraph from some book. Art... Maybe shop does this, but it's a bit more materials intensive than actually requiring students to think. That doesn't mean students in other subjects don't think, just that mathematics has objective tools to test whether they understand the concepts or not.
Well, in truth how many times do engineers pour over the court documents that the lawyers develop while in court? Pretty simple to miss something occasionally, I'm not convinced that Google has just decided to flip the bird to all it's users and the court system yet. In comparison to the people that are "too smart" to get caught or too powerful for the courts to do anything to.
President doesn't make laws, typically. Congress does and since most candidates running for office are lawyers, I don't think there is much choice since you can either vote for member A or B, throw you vote away on C or not vote. Biggest issue I see is no accountability by our elected officials, but that's a different issue.
I wasn't aware that they were planning on building several new nuclear plants. I had heard of one or two, but sixteen is quite a few more than I expected. What caused this shift in new building versus how new plants were basically put on hiatus after three mile?
Wouldn't this be considered a successful test? I mean it would only be a failure if everything went perfectly and they felt confident to send the system out into space where it failed. This way at least they know there are still issues.
No.
First off, are you agreeing with the caption that this is a failure? It isn't it's testing to get data. So it blew up, no biggy it's data one more datum of information that says not all the kinks are worked out. Which brings us to
Point two. This isn't engineering, this is working with new designs that have not been completely tested, which by definition is science. You don't expect everything to go perfectly when you attempt something because you don't know what all the variables are and you are looking for information. If you weren't looking for information, then that would be engineering, and you wouldn't bother to test it to see if it would work. In which case, the boom would be on the moon not at a testing facility.
Furthermore, This is being built on a shoestring, ie low cost, budget, which means they aren't going to book supercomputer time, build a bunch of prototypes, build redundancy systems, etc. There is an understanding that there will be a greater chance of error in the system, but for the cost of a expensive 99% mission, they can send a lot more of these missions. Which means even if you have a few failures, you still have a better overall chance of success.
Using clean fuels is not sub-optimal, it's just a constraint on the system. Just like any other constraint, you deal with it and figure out what to do. Of course, removing a building with sledgehammers, explosives, cutting restraints, is harder than setting off a thermonuclear bomb, but I don't really consider the results suboptimal, just one of the constraints on the system that other buildings in the neighborhood should still be standing at the end of the project is just one of the constraints.
Hmmm, it's almost like it's rocket science and they don't expect it to be perfect the first time through so they run tests. I agree not really news, just some more data.
I tend to use math most days. Estimation, ballpark figures, cost per ounce etc and I no longer work in the computer industry. Now that being said, is there justification for higher level mathematics in computer programming.
Well, yes and no. The typical programmer isn't working on anything complex, just providing a bunch of criteria for a switch statement or copying information from one location to another, not a big deal, but when you start working with algorithms, not to be confused with (Al Gore)ithms an understanding of upper level mathematics can certainly help. Discrete mathematics is a no brainer since it focuses on logic and proofs which can help a programmer find edge cases and cut down on errors via the processes you learn in discrete mathematics.
Calculus and other higher math is generally useful in making algorithms run more efficiently. Brute force searching algorithms take a lot of time, binary is significantly faster, but using calculus can even improve on the binary search methods in the right circumstances. The thing is, if you don't have the knowledge about high level techniques you cannot use them. For instance, if you don't know sorting routines a bubble sort seems incredibly fast in comparison to sequel sorting however without the knowledge of sorting algorithms you wouldn't realize how ineffective bubble sort is in comparison to say merge sort.
Most programming isn't focused on efficiency and most things can be brute forced within a reasonable timeframe with modern computer systems, however, knowledge of calculus and other higher level mathematics can help quite a bit as techniques can be transferred into computer programs that need them.
I guess you could make the same comparison to electronics, does a programmer really need to know electronics, diodes, resistors, refresh rates and protocols to make a computer do something useful? Probably not, but if you do know those things it can make you far more efficient and effective than the person who does not know them depending on what type of programming you are doing. Whereas most systems are built requiring basic skills or specific study of one area, higher level mathematics provide tools that can be used in a wide range of applications and tend not to be limited to specific cases. With the knowledge of upper level mathematics, when you do run into situations where it can be used, you can pull out a book or do a search to find an efficient algorithm whereas when you don't have the knowledge you'll end up spending a lot of time re-inventing the wheel.
Not sure what you are saying here. When I worked in system administration, I didn't do much programming. But I can remember having to scan code quickly when problems arose at times. Other times it was about setting up automation, ensuring packages worked well together, knowing the right people to call if I couldn't fix the problem quickly, documenting the systems, interviewing vendors, etc, etc, etc.
I'm just saying that the skills involved as a system admin are different than those of a developer and that there is no direct comparison between the jobs. Developer work is a much slower pace and you get to know the systems you are working with well, whereas I was responsible for a couple of hundred machines running different applications, pretty hard to know every system in depth.
Comparing apples to oranges I think. Not saying one is more important than the other, though I suppose you could compare a programmer with a janitor if you really wanted to. System admins have some programming skills, but there is also integration and working on a timeline that you seldom get being a programmer. When the active system has a limited amount of scheduled downtime or when an unexpected failure happens, being able to run through thousands or more lines of code to identify the problem and fix it without having a complete understanding of the codebase is certainly a skill many admins are known for. Is that more important than writing the code in the first place? Not really, but at the same time, do you as a coder expect to be called at any time day or night or on vacation to fix a problem?
Are developers better coders than system admins, probably in most cases. Are system admins more experienced in handling real time issues, probably in most cases.
As far as developers being a joke compared to developers, well in general system admins, I mean real system admins, make more on average than developers. It seems to me that there are both advantages and disadvantages to each position, but they are both important to proper infrastructure.
After the third, I figured I wasn't going to wait any longer to get to the content. Time to blacklist newscientist I guess.
Really? Cthulu is the lesser evil? Have you looked at Mickey Mouse recently?
You forgot the executives golden parachute I think, that's a lot of money right there in order to have the "proper" person running the company.
Now, they need to make one with a giant scythe and bat wings so we can have Deathscythe, and one with angel wings for Wing Zero. /geek
FTFY
A nerd would be interested in the drive train, targeting system, etc, i.e. what can I do with this. Geeks are interested in how cool it looks. It was a shock when I realized I was a nerd and didn't qualify to be a geek.
Well, I'd say that's the difference between people that are serious about a project and those that do things as a hobby. I'm not opposed to helping fund something that interests me, whether it be big business or Joe working out of mom's basement. What's really important is funding people that are doing stuff that I am interested in and are serious about the project, not just pulling in cash so they can play with their toys without producing anything or worse yet just trying to get money for nothing. With John and Gabe and others giving testimony about these guys, they are putting their reputations on the table to back these guys. Now, I have a lot of nerd-envy when it comes to Carmack, basically, he's the programmer I look up to, along with Abrash and both of them are on record supporting this device. The video is okay, but their testimony is priceless. Specs are a little low, but I'm going to throw in a few bucks in the hope that every little bit helps.
Demonstrations don't work when you have to hold them in free speech areas located far away from anyone that actually might pay attention. Got rid of those pesky protesters long ago, except of course in the case where the powerless are attacking other powerless people, e.g. funerals of peons and stuff like that. Strikes don't work because your job was sent overseas long ago, gotta be employed to strike. Voting doesn't seem to work since the government rigs elections by setting voting districts, only allowing two parties, etc.
Best means left available is a gun, or so it seems, and most people aren't ready to take that step.
(ALWAYS FAR less) than the illegal profit you made
FTFY
Well, Infinity has made it to my neighborhood, but I wouldn't call it a good thing. First, AT&T no longer sells DSL lines in the area, claiming they are all used. Second, minimum price for Infinity is well over 100/month since Comcast is around the same, it basically means that and internet connection is more expensive than they used to be.
Maybe the extra speed would be nice, but at a cost of doubling my costs, it's out of my price range.
Hmmm, no the amount per month is too low, it's 1180 a month. Of course food stamps are a graduated system so at 1000 your would only get about 40 dollars of food stamps, but at 1180 you make too much to get even a dollar in food stamps.
Well, lets see.
Can't buy fruits/veggy/"real meat"/etc. Fed a diet of sugar, fats and starches that quickly convert to body fat rather than to long term energy. Eating fewer larger meals rather than smaller and more meals.
For myself, I'm about 20 pounds overweight, maybe a bit more. Not much, but I know that I don't get a well rounded diet. The cheapest foods are mainly all processed foods that are high in sodium and sugars in order to make up for the bland tastes of the base food. I'd much rather have a steak with a dash of salt and pepper, some steamed veggy, couple of slabs of bread and some cheese. Now my food budget is below normal, but I can see why a majority of people with little money purchase the processed foods.
If anything, food quality has probably gone down drastically for those earning little money since substitutions were allowed in the CPI. With a stable shopping list the CPI would have raised a lot more than it currently has, but allowing substitutions such as hamburger instead of steak etc means that the quality of goods that can be purchased are going down in order to keep cost of living increases down since many wages are based on the CPI.
Pardon me, but like I said, I would give a shit.
Furthermore, most snakes have their poison glands near their mouths. The actual meat/body of the snake isn't saturated in poison, although I assume they might have some resistance to it.
That article was published 8 years ago. According to the original submission the employees attempted to remove the device from his head which cannot be done without special equipment which in turn damaged the equipment and caused him pain.
Point is that is just one device. Once the technology is established who knows what new products would be available and what they would look like.
Your knowledge of the US appears to be about as good as your knowledge of deodorant.
+1 got a chuckle out of me.