This person is duplicating a an external backup disk to a second external backup disk, and waiting each day for it to finish? There are much better ways to handle this.
1. Since it takes so long each day, it sounds like you are re-copying the entire drive every day. Use rsync instead (it works on any platform) and you will save time and prevent wearing out your drives.
2. Rather than duplicating the drive during the day, simply swap out one external drive for the other. Then schedule a job to run at night and sync to the drive you currently have connected.
You're missing my point. China's intentions and their future actions are not relevant to what I'm saying. The fact is, by attacking us now in ways that cause relatively minor damage, we will become stronger and better prepared. Those who are doing the hacking don't mean to help the US, but it will be a side effect of their actions.
China certainly has a looming presence, and they could become a terrible enemy. However, it doesn't have to turn out that way, and I try to keep a positive outlook. Frankly, it's people like you jumping to conclusions that are most likely to make an enemy out of China.
This is fantastic news, and I can't thank China enough for these attacks. The fact is, vulnerabilities in our systems exist whether they are under attack or not. These attacks should serve as a wake up call and lead to security being taken much more seriously. Can you imagine if these weaknesses were left open and were exploited by terrorists, or by some country we find ourselves at war with in the future?
If Prince doesn't want the free publicity, give him what he wants and ignore him. Then continue to ignore him when he releases a new album or comes to town. There are plenty of great musicians who aren't so dogmatic and naive about copyright issues.
Thanks for saying that, I was thinking the same thing.
The way I look at it is this: Most governmental systems rely on the assumption that the people and/or the leaders will usually do the right thing and look out for the common good. Democracy and capitalism start with the assumption that people are often greedy and opportunistic, and that power hungry bastards will often try to find their way into positions of power. By making a fair assessment of the human condition, democracy and capitalism devise a system that works around human weaknesses. Realism is far more successful than idealism.
The broadcast feels like a mix between a science lecture and coverage of a sporting event, which is pretty neat. As in sports, I'm cheering on the efforts of supremely talented people to score a goal. Rather than a football in an end zone, it's a lander on the northern plains of Mars. The difference here is that victory will actually mean something for mankind.
If I read this article correctly, in just 5 years I'll be able to spend $5000 on Apple hardware to do exactly what I do today with a basic PC and with an old Xbox running Xbox Media Center.
I don't think the wearable motorcycle is realistic, but it could be great fun in an action movie. I'm picturing a guy who jumps off a bridge onto a sloped road below, hits a button in midair to transform his suit into motorcycle mode, and then zooms away. I could see this in the next Iron Man movie, as a product made by someone trying to compete with Iron Man on technology, or even as a suit built by Iron Man for an assistant/sidekick.
Yeah, it's a cheesy idea, but it could be fun anyway.
This seems really silly. Since the employee is the one giving notice, he probably would not have motivation to cause damage before leaving. Furthermore, if he wanted to open a back door or steal code before leaving, he could simply do it before he gave notice.
On the other hand, those two weeks could be a really crucial time for the employee to document his knowledge and train others. Any company that won't take advantage of those two weeks is probably just being paranoid.
For this to be really useful, I think you need an RFID tag on every item in the home. First, construct a new home with a single entry point (you can add emergency exits for fire safety.) The front entry room will contain a computer and an RFID tagging device. Every single object that comes through the door gets tagged, named, photographed, and described in the computer system before it is allowed into the house.
It's a little work upfront, but think of the advantages. No time wasted organizing your possessions. No time wasted "tidying up." Nothing can ever be out of place, because nothing BELONGS anywhere. The mixing bowl might not be in the kitchen, but it's no trouble. Just search for it using any of the dozens of wall terminals installed around the house, and a series of flashing arrows will direct you right to your desired object.
But... isn't there some way I can sit in my darkened basement (ok, my parents' basement) and waste time running a power hungry system that serves no practical purpose, AND save the environment?
The linux approach is far better, but I don't see it being implemented on Windows anytime soon. For the time being, windows developers need to follow the Firefox model of automatic, unobtrusive updates.
If your update process requires a separate executable running constantly in the background, you're doing it wrong. If your update process requires anything from the user other than clicking "Ok" and waiting no more than a few seconds, you're doing it wrong. Despite Firefox 2 having updated itself 13 times, I have not once been annoyed by it.
That's funny, I had the opposite reaction. The Vista screenshot made me want to run screaming. It has some nice modern touches, but it is also massively busy and icon happy. The translucent title bars result in ugly bleed through colors and only serve to further increase the visual complexity of the screen.
To me, the most exciting part of OLPC is the development of a completely free and open stack of learning software. The hardware for this round of computers will eventually break down and need to be replaced. But the software can continually be improved upon, and contributed to freely by anyone. Ten years from now the hardware will be even cheaper. The software is what will make these devices useful for learning.
When you look to the long term, it is a great advantage to have all the software be free, all the way down to the OS. This ensures that it can always be reused and built upon. If Windows is at the core of the system, there will be too many chances to rely on Windows specific hooks and to use commercial, Windows-based software to solve various problems. Even if doing so is useful in the short term, it will only weaken the project in the long run by making it dependent on the companies who control the proprietary code.
I don't deny that I dislike Windows. If using Windows could somehow cut the price by a third and get the OLPC into the hands of more kids, I would gladly put my preference aside. But the idea that they're making the laptops more expensive while moving away from the project's vision is just sad to see.
With the amount of flexibility designed into KDE 4, I wonder if it can become a standard basis for window management. Once it's mature, I think it could emulate the interfaces of GNOME, KDE 3.5, Windows, OS X, etc. The user could simply choose their interface style from a menu, without the need to change the underlying window manager. This wouldn't limit your choices, but it would make changing your interface style as easy as changing your desktop background. How cool would that be?
KDE 4 still needs to mature for this to even be a possibility. And there will always be a place for lightweight window managers like XFCE.
I can see where I'd look like a fanboy, but honestly I don't care about that. I'm just someone sitting on the fence for both HD movies and for newer consoles. I'm still enjoying my PS2, but eventually I may find the 360 too hard to resist, even if Microsoft is the last company I'd want to support.
I agree that competition is good, and I hope the PS3 will remain a strong player.
There are only a few real killer features that separate one console from another. Integrated Blu-Ray movie support was the PS3's biggest advantage. If the 360 can manage this and beat the PS3 on price, Sony may be screwed.
The 360's killer feature is Xbox Live. They nailed it, and it's going to be a license for them to print money just as Windows has been. Even if Sony comes out with better online support, it's too late. What good does that do when all your friends are on Microsoft's service?
This may be a death blow to the PS3, because it may not have anything left to offer over the 360. Better reliability and the ability to run Linux in a limited environment aren't going to be enough.
Those are helpful numbers, but they can't tell the whole story. Electric range should be expressed not just in miles, but also in miles per kWh used to charge up.
In the end, two questions matter most: How does this car compare to conventional vehicles in its environmental effects? And, how does this car compare to conventional vehicles in total cost of operation?
The first question must consider all factors, such as the manufacturing of the batteries, and the pollution from coal that is burned to provide the electricity. This will determine if the technology has reached a point of being worthwhile. The second question will determine if it has reached a point where it can become widespread.
I'm getting tired of hybrid vehicles that advertise massive "MPG" numbers. Of course they're discounting the energy that went into charging the batteries. If you take an entire trip using only the electric motor, you could claim infinite MPG but it would be meaningless.
It would be very helpful to be able to rate cars on a standard efficiency scale regardless of how they happen to be storing and consuming energy. Miles per dollar would be a start, but the ratings would always be changing with the fluctuations in both gas and electricity prices. Miles per (unit of pollution) would be interesting too, but it all depends on how the electricity used for charging was generated.
Are there any other ideas, or is this just not possible?
In an age of video game consoles, there's not much reason to pay for a 3 minute arcade game. But pinball is something that most people don't have at home, and video simulations just don't cut it. There's something viscerally satisfying in the experience of playing on a real machine with a real steel ball flying around the table.
There's a pinball machine at my local laundromat, and it gets a buck or two out of me every time I wash clothes. I think pinball will always be around.
There may be a problem with making voting machines tamper evident but not tamper proof. Imagine a close election in which a certain district is known to heavily favor candidate A. Near the end of election day, an agent of candidate B in that district goes to vote. While voting, he breaks the tamper evident seal on the voting box. Although he may not have actually changed any votes, all votes in that machine are now suspect. Should they be discounted?
Slashdot Mirror
I wonder if any of those 13 million cameras caught them in the act when they were ripping off Coldplay?
This person is duplicating a an external backup disk to a second external backup disk, and waiting each day for it to finish? There are much better ways to handle this.
1. Since it takes so long each day, it sounds like you are re-copying the entire drive every day. Use rsync instead (it works on any platform) and you will save time and prevent wearing out your drives.
2. Rather than duplicating the drive during the day, simply swap out one external drive for the other. Then schedule a job to run at night and sync to the drive you currently have connected.
You're missing my point. China's intentions and their future actions are not relevant to what I'm saying. The fact is, by attacking us now in ways that cause relatively minor damage, we will become stronger and better prepared. Those who are doing the hacking don't mean to help the US, but it will be a side effect of their actions.
China certainly has a looming presence, and they could become a terrible enemy. However, it doesn't have to turn out that way, and I try to keep a positive outlook. Frankly, it's people like you jumping to conclusions that are most likely to make an enemy out of China.
This is fantastic news, and I can't thank China enough for these attacks. The fact is, vulnerabilities in our systems exist whether they are under attack or not. These attacks should serve as a wake up call and lead to security being taken much more seriously. Can you imagine if these weaknesses were left open and were exploited by terrorists, or by some country we find ourselves at war with in the future?
If Prince doesn't want the free publicity, give him what he wants and ignore him. Then continue to ignore him when he releases a new album or comes to town. There are plenty of great musicians who aren't so dogmatic and naive about copyright issues.
... song:
You're much better off watching Radiohead perform their own
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxpblnsJEWM
Thanks for saying that, I was thinking the same thing.
The way I look at it is this: Most governmental systems rely on the assumption that the people and/or the leaders will usually do the right thing and look out for the common good. Democracy and capitalism start with the assumption that people are often greedy and opportunistic, and that power hungry bastards will often try to find their way into positions of power. By making a fair assessment of the human condition, democracy and capitalism devise a system that works around human weaknesses. Realism is far more successful than idealism.
The broadcast feels like a mix between a science lecture and coverage of a sporting event, which is pretty neat. As in sports, I'm cheering on the efforts of supremely talented people to score a goal. Rather than a football in an end zone, it's a lander on the northern plains of Mars. The difference here is that victory will actually mean something for mankind.
Go Earth! Get those Martians!
If I read this article correctly, in just 5 years I'll be able to spend $5000 on Apple hardware to do exactly what I do today with a basic PC and with an old Xbox running Xbox Media Center.
I don't think the wearable motorcycle is realistic, but it could be great fun in an action movie. I'm picturing a guy who jumps off a bridge onto a sloped road below, hits a button in midair to transform his suit into motorcycle mode, and then zooms away. I could see this in the next Iron Man movie, as a product made by someone trying to compete with Iron Man on technology, or even as a suit built by Iron Man for an assistant/sidekick.
Yeah, it's a cheesy idea, but it could be fun anyway.
This seems really silly. Since the employee is the one giving notice, he probably would not have motivation to cause damage before leaving. Furthermore, if he wanted to open a back door or steal code before leaving, he could simply do it before he gave notice.
On the other hand, those two weeks could be a really crucial time for the employee to document his knowledge and train others. Any company that won't take advantage of those two weeks is probably just being paranoid.
The missing left socks: http://www.jibjab.com/view/131152
For this to be really useful, I think you need an RFID tag on every item in the home. First, construct a new home with a single entry point (you can add emergency exits for fire safety.) The front entry room will contain a computer and an RFID tagging device. Every single object that comes through the door gets tagged, named, photographed, and described in the computer system before it is allowed into the house.
It's a little work upfront, but think of the advantages. No time wasted organizing your possessions. No time wasted "tidying up." Nothing can ever be out of place, because nothing BELONGS anywhere. The mixing bowl might not be in the kitchen, but it's no trouble. Just search for it using any of the dozens of wall terminals installed around the house, and a series of flashing arrows will direct you right to your desired object.
But... isn't there some way I can sit in my darkened basement (ok, my parents' basement) and waste time running a power hungry system that serves no practical purpose, AND save the environment?
The linux approach is far better, but I don't see it being implemented on Windows anytime soon. For the time being, windows developers need to follow the Firefox model of automatic, unobtrusive updates.
If your update process requires a separate executable running constantly in the background, you're doing it wrong. If your update process requires anything from the user other than clicking "Ok" and waiting no more than a few seconds, you're doing it wrong. Despite Firefox 2 having updated itself 13 times, I have not once been annoyed by it.
That's funny, I had the opposite reaction. The Vista screenshot made me want to run screaming. It has some nice modern touches, but it is also massively busy and icon happy. The translucent title bars result in ugly bleed through colors and only serve to further increase the visual complexity of the screen.
To me, the most exciting part of OLPC is the development of a completely free and open stack of learning software. The hardware for this round of computers will eventually break down and need to be replaced. But the software can continually be improved upon, and contributed to freely by anyone. Ten years from now the hardware will be even cheaper. The software is what will make these devices useful for learning.
When you look to the long term, it is a great advantage to have all the software be free, all the way down to the OS. This ensures that it can always be reused and built upon. If Windows is at the core of the system, there will be too many chances to rely on Windows specific hooks and to use commercial, Windows-based software to solve various problems. Even if doing so is useful in the short term, it will only weaken the project in the long run by making it dependent on the companies who control the proprietary code.
I don't deny that I dislike Windows. If using Windows could somehow cut the price by a third and get the OLPC into the hands of more kids, I would gladly put my preference aside. But the idea that they're making the laptops more expensive while moving away from the project's vision is just sad to see.
They're just teaching the kids not to seed. Bastards!
With the amount of flexibility designed into KDE 4, I wonder if it can become a standard basis for window management. Once it's mature, I think it could emulate the interfaces of GNOME, KDE 3.5, Windows, OS X, etc. The user could simply choose their interface style from a menu, without the need to change the underlying window manager. This wouldn't limit your choices, but it would make changing your interface style as easy as changing your desktop background. How cool would that be?
KDE 4 still needs to mature for this to even be a possibility. And there will always be a place for lightweight window managers like XFCE.
I can see where I'd look like a fanboy, but honestly I don't care about that. I'm just someone sitting on the fence for both HD movies and for newer consoles. I'm still enjoying my PS2, but eventually I may find the 360 too hard to resist, even if Microsoft is the last company I'd want to support.
I agree that competition is good, and I hope the PS3 will remain a strong player.
There are only a few real killer features that separate one console from another. Integrated Blu-Ray movie support was the PS3's biggest advantage. If the 360 can manage this and beat the PS3 on price, Sony may be screwed.
The 360's killer feature is Xbox Live. They nailed it, and it's going to be a license for them to print money just as Windows has been. Even if Sony comes out with better online support, it's too late. What good does that do when all your friends are on Microsoft's service?
This may be a death blow to the PS3, because it may not have anything left to offer over the 360. Better reliability and the ability to run Linux in a limited environment aren't going to be enough.
Those are helpful numbers, but they can't tell the whole story. Electric range should be expressed not just in miles, but also in miles per kWh used to charge up.
In the end, two questions matter most: How does this car compare to conventional vehicles in its environmental effects? And, how does this car compare to conventional vehicles in total cost of operation?
The first question must consider all factors, such as the manufacturing of the batteries, and the pollution from coal that is burned to provide the electricity. This will determine if the technology has reached a point of being worthwhile. The second question will determine if it has reached a point where it can become widespread.
I'm getting tired of hybrid vehicles that advertise massive "MPG" numbers. Of course they're discounting the energy that went into charging the batteries. If you take an entire trip using only the electric motor, you could claim infinite MPG but it would be meaningless.
It would be very helpful to be able to rate cars on a standard efficiency scale regardless of how they happen to be storing and consuming energy. Miles per dollar would be a start, but the ratings would always be changing with the fluctuations in both gas and electricity prices. Miles per (unit of pollution) would be interesting too, but it all depends on how the electricity used for charging was generated.
Are there any other ideas, or is this just not possible?
In an age of video game consoles, there's not much reason to pay for a 3 minute arcade game. But pinball is something that most people don't have at home, and video simulations just don't cut it. There's something viscerally satisfying in the experience of playing on a real machine with a real steel ball flying around the table.
There's a pinball machine at my local laundromat, and it gets a buck or two out of me every time I wash clothes. I think pinball will always be around.
There may be a problem with making voting machines tamper evident but not tamper proof. Imagine a close election in which a certain district is known to heavily favor candidate A. Near the end of election day, an agent of candidate B in that district goes to vote. While voting, he breaks the tamper evident seal on the voting box. Although he may not have actually changed any votes, all votes in that machine are now suspect. Should they be discounted?