Very little profit in STANDARD man. If you don't make things proprietary, ANYONE can come along and sell a superior product cheaper. Even an ivy league MBA can figure that out.
I don't think the FCC has the ability to end the universe. But if they did, the current Republican commisioners would surely require us to pay to keep them from ending it and would be happy to explain why that is good for America and the world.
But... But... But. Analog FM in the US can (and does) transmit additional signals using Subcarrier Audio (SCA-Although SCA actually is an acronym for something related that no one can remember) . No, the audio quality isn't super. So what? It's adequate and pretty much no one cares about accurate reproduction of frequencies even dogs can't hear. The muzak played in stores used to be, and I think often still is, an SCA channel from some local FM station.
Does anyone other than a few radio station engineers actually listen to the HD digital signals in North America?
The prescription requirement probably dates back to the days when contact lenses first appeared on the scene around 1960. Those were hard lenses, not the modern soft ones, and they might have had a certain potential for mechanical eye damage.if not used under the supervision of someone with appropriate knowledge and training.... I guess.... maybe.
Another quibble. If my experience is any guide, there's no need for eye checks for cataracts. If they become serious enough to require treatment, you won't need an optometrist to tell you that your vision is deteriorating. You'll know.
Periodic glaucoma testing, however, really is a good idea.
This is an astonishingly stupid idea even for the Trump administration. We're demonstrating on a daily basis that securing information and providing reliable services on the cloud is extremely difficult and quite possibly simply can't be done. Given that the government is run by folks dedicated to further annoying existing foreign enemies and alienating as many current friends as possible, why would making the workings of government accessible to everyone on the planet seem like a good idea?
Not to mention the left and right wing domestic whack jobs who think paralyzing civil society is a dandy way of illustrating the value of their nutty ideas.
If we had any sense (a dubious proposition at best) we'd be getting anything remotely resembling a critical service OFF the internet.
Funny you should mention Silver, because the only thing I recall in the past six decades that remotely resembles the cryptocurrency whackiness was the Hunt Brother's abortive attempt to corner the Silver markets in 1979. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... I think anyone seriously considering playing this stuff should strongly consider the possibility that these markets are being manipulated and that some somebodies somewhere are planning to (or very likely already have) make off with pallets of non-crypto currencies leaving everybody else with vast holdings of worthless zeros and ones.
I'd be kind of surprised if something called "pipeto" DIDN'T allow one to run arbitrary commands. But so do subprocess, os.system, os.popen, and probably 20 other Python library functions.
I'm old enough to remember TECO, the world's most terrifying text editor. It never actually did anything terrible to me, but living one keystroke away from disaster eight or ten hours a day was stressful.
So, we're going to burn tires -- which are pretty much inert, and produce a variety of toxic chemicals and nasty particulates -- all in order to create something that is completely useless. My counterproposal is that the gubmints "print" units of cryptocurrency without bothering with all the computing overhead and gives them away to each and every person on the planet on any birthday year that is a prime number. That'd make about as much sense.
I'll be turning 79 in a few months. 79 is a prime number. So let's get moving on this.
"In my book, that is a win. And if the glitches were avoidable, that's even better, because that means the numbers will only go down in the future."
It's a win, I agree. BUT... When autonomous vehicles kill or maim folks, it's a safe bet that the US -- and probably other countries as well -- legal systems are going to find the manufacturer liable. Who else are they going to blame? Given the tendency of juries to make ludicrous damage awards against outfits with deep pockets, that could eventually end up making the manufacture of autonomous vehicles unaffordable.
I'm on your side. I don't see how they can possibly come up with the necessary software in two years or less. And keep in mind that many of the "1%" problems have potentially lethal consequences. But GM has to be aware of the problems, so either the nature of what is planned must not be what we think or there must be something we (you and I) don't know.
Yes, but... I think 3D printing is likely to always be a half century behind current manufacturing technology. For example, when last I checked, 3D printing couldn't do more than the most basic semiconductor. Will they get better? Of course. But state of the art electronics will be becoming more sophisticated as well -- probably at about the same rate. The same is likely to be true of sophisticated materials.
Doesn't mean 3D printing is useless. For example, maybe it could be used to fabricate repair parts on demand for toys and appliances. But I don't think it ever will be likely to be able to fabricate state of the art sensors and other tools for space missions. That's a problem, BTW. If you're going to send folks out on a three year mission to look at Mars, how are you going to provision their vehicle with adequate spare parts since you don't know what's going to break?
I know next to nothing about blockchains, and cryptocurrencies have always looked to me like the dumbest financial "innovation" since the South Seas Company. But I sort of vaguely thought that blockchains MIGHT be useful as sort of the digital equivalent of Notarization of paper documents. For example, imagine a trust set up by lawyers for any of the thousand usual nefarious purposes or maybe even some legitimate purpose. The trustee is incarcerated for unrelated acts having to do with failing to touch the proper bases while impoverishing widows and children. If there is only a digital copy, how is the document modified in a controlled manner to reflect a new trustee? I sort of thought blockchain might somehow be able to maintain a chain of continuity acceptable to courts.. Not so?
Headline from July 2026: The deathtoll from last year's Laryngitis pandemic has been set at 3.1 Billion. Not only was the disease -- accidentally released by an attempt to genetically engineer self illuminating Christmas Trees -- 93% lethal if not treated, Most victims were unable to summon help because their personal assistants and cell phones were unable to recognize their croaks as valid attempts to log in/summon aid.
You're suggesting that in the (near?) future there will be AI bots that send and read email to/from each other with no humans involved ever? I guess that'll work and it won't much matter what OS(es) are used.since no one is reading screens or moving pointers anyway. But are you sure there is any point to such an arrangement?
I honestly don't know. Wikipedia leads me to believe that a large airliner has a payload around 20 metric tons and a cruise speed a bit below 1000 km/h. So let's assume a modern LTA with a payload of 100 metric tons and a cruise speed of 200 km/h (125mph). That gives a transit time from Shanghai to LA of 52hr, Shanghai to Buenos Aires = 97hr, Shangahi to Paris = 45 hr. Bit slow for business travel, but maybe OK for a drink and gamble cruise that doesn't put 15 kilos on the traveller. For cargo -- might be economically OK for electronics and other high value stuff. And, unlike a container ship, the terminals could be inland.
I don't think I'd invest in a Zeppelin company even (or maybe especially) if Elon Musk was backing it. But seems like a plausible investment for the sort of folks who have pushed Toronto real estate and Bitcoin prices to preposterous levels.
Slashdot Mirror
"Where does the hydrogen come from?"
The Hydrogen will be provided by the Hydrogen fairies who live in people's flower beds and consume rose petals and dandelion greens.
A bit like China promising to cut back on CO2 emissions when they start to run out of coal to burn?
I know this will come as a shock to you, but there are users out there who like their applications to keep on working when their OS is "upgraded".
"Actually, a lot of Office links still use DDE."
Not anymore apparently.
Indeed, we have digital TVs in both the living room and kitchen. When tuned to the same channel the audio is hardly ever in synch.
Very little profit in STANDARD man. If you don't make things proprietary, ANYONE can come along and sell a superior product cheaper. Even an ivy league MBA can figure that out.
I don't think the FCC has the ability to end the universe. But if they did, the current Republican commisioners would surely require us to pay to keep them from ending it and would be happy to explain why that is good for America and the world.
But ... But ... But. Analog FM in the US can (and does) transmit additional signals using Subcarrier Audio (SCA-Although SCA actually is an acronym for something related that no one can remember) . No, the audio quality isn't super. So what? It's adequate and pretty much no one cares about accurate reproduction of frequencies even dogs can't hear. The muzak played in stores used to be, and I think often still is, an SCA channel from some local FM station.
Does anyone other than a few radio station engineers actually listen to the HD digital signals in North America?
The prescription requirement probably dates back to the days when contact lenses first appeared on the scene around 1960. Those were hard lenses, not the modern soft ones, and they might have had a certain potential for mechanical eye damage.if not used under the supervision of someone with appropriate knowledge and training. ... I guess .... maybe.
Another quibble. If my experience is any guide, there's no need for eye checks for cataracts. If they become serious enough to require treatment, you won't need an optometrist to tell you that your vision is deteriorating. You'll know.
Periodic glaucoma testing, however, really is a good idea.
This is an astonishingly stupid idea even for the Trump administration. We're demonstrating on a daily basis that securing information and providing reliable services on the cloud is extremely difficult and quite possibly simply can't be done. Given that the government is run by folks dedicated to further annoying existing foreign enemies and alienating as many current friends as possible, why would making the workings of government accessible to everyone on the planet seem like a good idea?
Not to mention the left and right wing domestic whack jobs who think paralyzing civil society is a dandy way of illustrating the value of their nutty ideas.
If we had any sense (a dubious proposition at best) we'd be getting anything remotely resembling a critical service OFF the internet.
Funny you should mention Silver, because the only thing I recall in the past six decades that remotely resembles the cryptocurrency whackiness was the Hunt Brother's abortive attempt to corner the Silver markets in 1979. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... I think anyone seriously considering playing this stuff should strongly consider the possibility that these markets are being manipulated and that some somebodies somewhere are planning to (or very likely already have) make off with pallets of non-crypto currencies leaving everybody else with vast holdings of worthless zeros and ones.
I'd be kind of surprised if something called "pipeto" DIDN'T allow one to run arbitrary commands. But so do subprocess, os.system, os.popen, and probably 20 other Python library functions.
I'm old enough to remember TECO, the world's most terrifying text editor. It never actually did anything terrible to me, but living one keystroke away from disaster eight or ten hours a day was stressful.
So, we're going to burn tires -- which are pretty much inert, and produce a variety of toxic chemicals and nasty particulates -- all in order to create something that is completely useless. My counterproposal is that the gubmints "print" units of cryptocurrency without bothering with all the computing overhead and gives them away to each and every person on the planet on any birthday year that is a prime number. That'd make about as much sense.
I'll be turning 79 in a few months. 79 is a prime number. So let's get moving on this.
"useful things" What an archane 20th Century notion. This is the 21st Century man. We don't need no stinking old fashioned notions like utility.
"In my book, that is a win. And if the glitches were avoidable, that's even better, because that means the numbers will only go down in the future."
It's a win, I agree. BUT ... When autonomous vehicles kill or maim folks, it's a safe bet that the US -- and probably other countries as well -- legal systems are going to find the manufacturer liable. Who else are they going to blame? Given the tendency of juries to make ludicrous damage awards against outfits with deep pockets, that could eventually end up making the manufacture of autonomous vehicles unaffordable.
I'm on your side. I don't see how they can possibly come up with the necessary software in two years or less. And keep in mind that many of the "1%" problems have potentially lethal consequences. But GM has to be aware of the problems, so either the nature of what is planned must not be what we think or there must be something we (you and I) don't know.
Yes, but ... I think 3D printing is likely to always be a half century behind current manufacturing technology. For example, when last I checked, 3D printing couldn't do more than the most basic semiconductor. Will they get better? Of course. But state of the art electronics will be becoming more sophisticated as well -- probably at about the same rate. The same is likely to be true of sophisticated materials.
Doesn't mean 3D printing is useless. For example, maybe it could be used to fabricate repair parts on demand for toys and appliances. But I don't think it ever will be likely to be able to fabricate state of the art sensors and other tools for space missions. That's a problem, BTW. If you're going to send folks out on a three year mission to look at Mars, how are you going to provision their vehicle with adequate spare parts since you don't know what's going to break?
"Not really sold on the verification by way of digital signature."
Me either. But surely it's good enough for sites like slashdot where I really don't much care if someone logs in as me.
I know next to nothing about blockchains, and cryptocurrencies have always looked to me like the dumbest financial "innovation" since the South Seas Company. But I sort of vaguely thought that blockchains MIGHT be useful as sort of the digital equivalent of Notarization of paper documents. For example, imagine a trust set up by lawyers for any of the thousand usual nefarious purposes or maybe even some legitimate purpose. The trustee is incarcerated for unrelated acts having to do with failing to touch the proper bases while impoverishing widows and children. If there is only a digital copy, how is the document modified in a controlled manner to reflect a new trustee? I sort of thought blockchain might somehow be able to maintain a chain of continuity acceptable to courts.. Not so?
Headline from July 2026: The deathtoll from last year's Laryngitis pandemic has been set at 3.1 Billion. Not only was the disease -- accidentally released by an attempt to genetically engineer self illuminating Christmas Trees -- 93% lethal if not treated, Most victims were unable to summon help because their personal assistants and cell phones were unable to recognize their croaks as valid attempts to log in/summon aid.
"The company needs dissolution, the principals arrested and all assets seized."
Is that going to affect the stock price?
You're suggesting that in the (near?) future there will be AI bots that send and read email to/from each other with no humans involved ever? I guess that'll work and it won't much matter what OS(es) are used.since no one is reading screens or moving pointers anyway. But are you sure there is any point to such an arrangement?
I honestly don't know. Wikipedia leads me to believe that a large airliner has a payload around 20 metric tons and a cruise speed a bit below 1000 km/h. So let's assume a modern LTA with a payload of 100 metric tons and a cruise speed of 200 km/h (125mph). That gives a transit time from Shanghai to LA of 52hr, Shanghai to Buenos Aires = 97hr, Shangahi to Paris = 45 hr. Bit slow for business travel, but maybe OK for a drink and gamble cruise that doesn't put 15 kilos on the traveller. For cargo -- might be economically OK for electronics and other high value stuff. And, unlike a container ship, the terminals could be inland.
I don't think I'd invest in a Zeppelin company even (or maybe especially) if Elon Musk was backing it. But seems like a plausible investment for the sort of folks who have pushed Toronto real estate and Bitcoin prices to preposterous levels.