I agree. I totally have considered getting into the Buy-One-Give-One program but the XO looks too much like a Fisher-Price product.
If it HAS TO look like one in order to work, that's fine, but it doesn't have to. What's up with the green? And the "ear antennae" that cannot be unfolded when the screen is up?
Do away with the toy colour and the flipping ears and I predict OLPC will be a LOT more successful - without compromising the XO's suitability for the task even one bit. I mean, is there any study that concludes green is more attractive to 3rd world children? How about the flipping ears?
> The best demonstration of this is the fact that Canadians pay less per GDP than Americans on health.
Then where do the REST of the Canadian tax money go? Canadians pay less per GDP than Americans on health, yet they pay more per GDP on tax. Not to mention that Canada has a way smaller army to support than USA.
How about making at least the Javascript engine and the Flash plugin framework multi-threaded?
IE has been lowering the CPU priority of Flash applets for years so if you have 100 Flash ads open, it won't bog down your browsing. On Firefox, try opening a couple of tabs in Yahoo and it basically grinds to a halt.
It used to be that in NS4, I could see "nsplugin" process so I can renice that to achieve the same effect. On Firefox, it's not possible.
And, if you happen to leave Gmail open, my CPU usage (lowly Sempron) will hike to 30% twice a minute. On IE the CPU usage stays low. I suspect it's due to a multi-threaded Javascript engine in which individual thread can be prioritized.
AD 30 C0: LDA $C030 - loads the content of the address $C030 to the Accumulator. $C030 connects to the beeper line, this line produces a "click" through the speaker.
20 FD ED: JSR $FDED - prints the content of the Accumulator to the screen - since what you read from the speaker line is technically random, it prints a random character to the screen - potentially including arrow keys and bell characters...
According to statistics Canada, 70% of them live outside the reserves, 22% live in large cities. Let me add, most are probably working in fields that has nothing to do with preserving their cultures.
Look at the US Blacks. They were slaves at most only 70 years ago. Now most of them stand on their own legs, competing on merits with everyone else. The Canada First Nations are standing on a MUCH higher ground than they did (land, no tax, welfare money), but is accomplishing MUCH less than what the US Blacks had.
Their reserves could be holes, but people need to determine whether it is our actions or their corruption/inability-to-manage-money that made it happen.
I say, let them keep the land and water right. Other than that:
1. No tax: no sales tax is OK. No income tax only if the income is derived from the reserves. A discount otherwise. 2. Import/Export restrictions: Sure you have to right to bring in stuffs. But they need to stay in the reserves. 3. Free electricty: How about a discount. Free only for those below the poverty line. 4. Province-paid bungalows: Only inside the reserves. 5. Welfare cheques: Only for those below the poverty line.
The bottom line is, the welfare cheques are CORRUPTING these people. I bet they'll be in a MUCH better shape if the handouts are gradually decreased to an eventual 0, it'll teach them how to manage their own money.
An irritating limitation of all older versions was the inability to type in a contact's name on the contact list and have the correct contact highlighted as-you-type. Why force me to use the mouse to click on contacts?
Even ancient (1997-ish) versions of ICQ had this feature. I cannot believe we're running backwards.
There are mathematical FACTS, and there are mathematical METHODS. The argument against software patents all seem to say that software = stating mathematical facts, which is unpatentable.
However, for a given representation of mathematical facts, there are METHODS to reach a conclusion. In the following obvious, hypothetical example, the following 2 polynomials are mathematically equivalent:
1) x^5+3x^2+2x+7 2) x(x(x^3+2)+2)+7
However, form (2) involves less operations to perform on a computational machine. It is an optimization, so to say, which is meaningless outside the context of a Von Neumann machine.
If somebody patented this method of evaluating polynomials in 1920, it would probably be granted. Note that it's the method, not the formula itself, which is an invention. i.e. If somebody else uses form (1), it's not an infringement. This would satisfy what should be right, i.e. mathematical facts are not patentable.
However, if somebody uses (2) for the purpose of optimization, it'd be rightfully an infringement - note that it can be rearranged easily into (1). It'd make the evaluation slower, but it'd still be functionally equivalent and not infringe.
I cannot see the difference between this example and applying unpatentable physical laws to patent the light bulb. If you say "ALL software are unpatentable, even the "method" types, because mathematics isn't", it'd be equivalent to saying that "the light bulb was unpatentable since physics wasn't".
Is a "loser-pay" court system. Just let the loser pay all the legal fees of both parties. I'm sure it'll have an impact on behavior when large corporations apply for patents.
Smartass, HSBC is currently headquartered in the UK. Plus, HSBC ceased to stand for "Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation" LONG ago - it was just where the name *originally* came from.
Slashdot Mirror
1. Denounce abstinence-only education?
2. Support for Evolution?
kid-sized keyboards are suitable for kids. I don't see any purpose-defeating feature in the XO keyboard.
Even developed countries have kids, you know?
I agree. I totally have considered getting into the Buy-One-Give-One program but the XO looks too much like a Fisher-Price product.
If it HAS TO look like one in order to work, that's fine, but it doesn't have to. What's up with the green? And the "ear antennae" that cannot be unfolded when the screen is up?
Do away with the toy colour and the flipping ears and I predict OLPC will be a LOT more successful - without compromising the XO's suitability for the task even one bit. I mean, is there any study that concludes green is more attractive to 3rd world children? How about the flipping ears?
Good technology, redundant cosmetic designers.
Its service is so good, if I were MS I would just buy it.
Any evidence of hunting while in packs? They could had walked to their offices to work in packs, just like we do.
But nothing prevents them from being in existence since the beginning of the universe.
The existing theories only limit how black holes can be formed from less dense materials.
> The best demonstration of this is the fact that Canadians pay less per GDP than Americans on health.
Then where do the REST of the Canadian tax money go? Canadians pay less per GDP than Americans on health, yet they pay more per GDP on tax. Not to mention that Canada has a way smaller army to support than USA.
A Government (read: Canada) without any clue on how to effectively spend our tax money is bad.
If a government chooses to waste our money on overpaid contractors, lame initiatives like fund religious schools, building half a subway line, etc.
I'd happily choose to pay for my own medicare, make my own donations...at least it's my decision.
How about making at least the Javascript engine and the Flash plugin framework multi-threaded?
IE has been lowering the CPU priority of Flash applets for years so if you have 100 Flash ads open, it won't bog down your browsing. On Firefox, try opening a couple of tabs in Yahoo and it basically grinds to a halt.
It used to be that in NS4, I could see "nsplugin" process so I can renice that to achieve the same effect. On Firefox, it's not possible.
And, if you happen to leave Gmail open, my CPU usage (lowly Sempron) will hike to 30% twice a minute. On IE the CPU usage stays low. I suspect it's due to a multi-threaded Javascript engine in which individual thread can be prioritized.
Professional computer programming, perhaps. Professional software engineering, definitely not.
And...the rest of Canada cannot tell French from gibberish.
Let's make a deal - you get rid of the English language in Quebec and we get rid of the French labels on our food labels.
20 FD ED: JSR $FDED - prints the content of the Accumulator to the screen - since what you read from the speaker line is technically random, it prints a random character to the screen - potentially including arrow keys and bell characters...
4C 00 03: JMP $0300 enough said.
According to statistics Canada, 70% of them live outside the reserves, 22% live in large cities. Let me add, most are probably working in fields that has nothing to do with preserving their cultures.
Look at the US Blacks. They were slaves at most only 70 years ago. Now most of them stand on their own legs, competing on merits with everyone else. The Canada First Nations are standing on a MUCH higher ground than they did (land, no tax, welfare money), but is accomplishing MUCH less than what the US Blacks had.
Their reserves could be holes, but people need to determine whether it is our actions or their corruption/inability-to-manage-money that made it happen.
I say, let them keep the land and water right. Other than that:
1. No tax: no sales tax is OK. No income tax only if the income is derived from the reserves. A discount otherwise.
2. Import/Export restrictions: Sure you have to right to bring in stuffs. But they need to stay in the reserves.
3. Free electricty: How about a discount. Free only for those below the poverty line.
4. Province-paid bungalows: Only inside the reserves.
5. Welfare cheques: Only for those below the poverty line.
The bottom line is, the welfare cheques are CORRUPTING these people. I bet they'll be in a MUCH better shape if the handouts are gradually decreased to an eventual 0, it'll teach them how to manage their own money.
Halliburton Company 34.0.0.0 - 34.255.255.255
Even as someone who doesn't think of Microsoft as an Internet pioneer, I'd rather MS owns this block than Halliburton.
Journalists discover polonium in their bloodstreams.
Wouldn't it be broken easily if Vista is virtualized? Or are virtualized hardware untrusted, thus not able to play anything that requires PMP?
Given reports that TSA employees steal travellers' items, I wouldn't be surprised the hard drive was stolen by insiders, seriously.
> Seems to do it for me. It's kinda easy to miss the text box at the bottom though.
But, if it requires me to click-select the "text box at the bottom", it defeats the entire purpose.
The whole contact list should be keyboard-sensitive, not just the text box.
An irritating limitation of all older versions was the inability to type in a contact's name on the contact list and have the correct contact highlighted as-you-type. Why force me to use the mouse to click on contacts?
Even ancient (1997-ish) versions of ICQ had this feature. I cannot believe we're running backwards.
There are mathematical FACTS, and there are mathematical METHODS. The argument against software patents all seem to say that software = stating mathematical facts, which is unpatentable.
However, for a given representation of mathematical facts, there are METHODS to reach a conclusion.
In the following obvious, hypothetical example, the following 2 polynomials are mathematically equivalent:
1) x^5+3x^2+2x+7
2) x(x(x^3+2)+2)+7
However, form (2) involves less operations to perform on a computational machine. It is an optimization, so to say, which is meaningless outside the context of a Von Neumann machine.
If somebody patented this method of evaluating polynomials in 1920, it would probably be granted.
Note that it's the method, not the formula itself, which is an invention. i.e. If somebody else uses form (1), it's not an infringement. This would satisfy what should be right, i.e. mathematical facts are not patentable.
However, if somebody uses (2) for the purpose of optimization, it'd be rightfully an infringement - note that it can be rearranged easily into (1). It'd make the evaluation slower, but it'd still be functionally equivalent and not infringe.
I cannot see the difference between this example and applying unpatentable physical laws to patent the light bulb. If you say "ALL software are unpatentable, even the "method" types, because mathematics isn't", it'd be equivalent to saying that "the light bulb was unpatentable since physics wasn't".
First, because a lot of people also want to drive their cars on the tracks.
Second, people who want a stable, safe, efficient vehecle doesn't mean they'll also want it to be slow.
Lastly, just because you don't want to do a 3.5 second 0-60 to reach 175, doesn't mean that "noone" wants to. Open you eyes.
Is a "loser-pay" court system. Just let the loser pay all the legal fees of both parties. I'm sure it'll have an impact on behavior when large corporations apply for patents.
I also have made an iPhone killer in my basement. Sorry, I'm not releasing any picture of it yet.
Smartass, HSBC is currently headquartered in the UK. Plus, HSBC ceased to stand for "Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation" LONG ago - it was just where the name *originally* came from.
We celebrate by switching mobile phone carriers. Wireless number portability is finally here.
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/INFO_SHT/t1021.htm