Having actually looked at that specific man page just the other day, I found my favorite man page quote... It's funny that you mention it today (well, yesterday) when I'd *just* looked at that man page not that long ago, as in late last week. By virtue of my experience, I'm actually moderately familiar with Perl's regular expressions. I don't recall any funny stuff in that man page but the regex man page includes this:
Having two kinds of REs is a botch.
That just cracks me up. Heh. I'm gonna have to add you to my favorite's list so that I can note your comments more easily in the future. That's what I use it for, I've no idea what others use it for except some seem to actually think it means something more and use it vindictively or whatnot. It's amusing to think that people are so self-centered as to think their personal opinions or feelings are significant to others. However, I suspect that I'm preaching to the choir in those regards. I'm just a bit taken aback that I'm relatively unfamiliar with your posts even though I've seen you post enough - it seems I'd just never bothered putting two and two together. That's a bit odd, in and of itself, as I actually make it a point (normally) to note the authors of posts. It's a habit long learned since the BBS and USENET days. The source matters, folks... The source of a comment is often as important as the author of the comment.
Heh, the second insightful comment you've made that warrants a response, in one thread too! Better watch out, I'll be filling your posts up with long-winded replies that are akin to Grandpa stories to some of these folks here.
On that note, and long those lines, I see I am not the only one. What is with this trend to return to the days of dumb terminals? Seriously, I don't get it. It seems so antithetical to the idea of user control and ownership. I don't even see a technological need for it.
Yes, I get the idea of hosted solutions and yes they make sense - but why not host them yourself? Hell, I could probably run a fairly robust email server for my old company on something like an RPi - and have extra resources to throw in localized, non-hosted, spam filtering. Seriously, we had about 220 people. I'd not be surprised to find an RPi could handle that email load - though I suspect email servers have become bloated. No, I'm not talking about running Exchange on it. I'm talking a straight up, plain, email server with POP3, SMTP, and IMAP. No, no chat... Sure, we can throw in support for contact lists. Hell, we can probably throw a calendering application on their too. No, it probably won't have automated meeting scheduling and things of that nature.
We had to do a lot with little hardware. Hell, we had to do disk arrays and clustered servers as we were working with data sets that neared a full terabyte in size by the end of the 1990s. Heh, it was a mess... Eventually, I was able to start hiring professionals there too and getting the one guy who'd been with me from the start a bit of help.
In reference to my earlier reply to you - the "ops" staff, I kind of hate that word, was actually relatively organized and had a direct chain of command! Sort of - remind me to tell you about our Wizard some time. He was our database admin. He was a character but strangely proficient and rarely seen and even more seldom heard. We bought him new hardware, in 1998 or so, and I don't think he ever asked for new hardware after that - I sold in 2007, finalized in 2008. I think he simply used re-purposed hardware after that, we went through a lot of hardware - I mean a lot. There's an "event" where we brought in Oracle, they left three months later (with no product installed or working) and then tried to sue us. The Wizard was mad for a couple of weeks. Our DB access was remarkably slow during that time but he got over it and things returned to normal. He was every bit the definition of the Truck Problem. Oh, the stories I could tell - I'll spare you...
At any rate... What the hell people? Why are we giving up control? Why are we going back to the days of the dumb terminal and renting time on a mainframe? What the hell do these people think AWS is? Yes, yes it's okay to do some remote stuff - like hosting your site or even email, if you're too small. But, Office 365 or whatever it's called? Your whole Exchange server/service? The applications? Your entire data center? Your friggen virtual machines and development environment? No sir, I do not like it, no not one bit! I do not like this trend nor do I see it being a real cost savings in the end. I'm not a futurologist or the likes but I do not predict this being as rosy, secure, robust, inexpensive, or efficient as they seem to believe it will be.
Hell, by design, the true owners of this hardware (and thus data) have full access to your stuff - unless it's encrypted properly and you don't, you know, back your damned keys up to the cloud!
We're returning to dumb terminals when we have the equivalent of super computers in our pockets. We're not writing anything (and I was never a good programmer so I might have liked this feature) but we're using someone else's libraries. We don't even always know what's in those libraries. Yet we throw them together and wonder why they're able to track our every move online. I block scripting with something called uMatrix (fancy stuff - I like it, it's like an old school software firewall for Windows except it's for t
One of the many things I learned, by grace of having the fortune to have hired and worked with programmers from yesteryear (think 1990s and up until 2007 - and they really did seem to be different back then from what I'm observing now) was that you got much better results by giving the programmers the tools they wanted as opposed to those the vendor suggested or those that were suggested by what I'll call "fad development techniques or proponents."
Now, at the same time, they must be both effective and efficient. If they're making things too difficult or otherwise incompatible then something will need to change. However, they never really had a manager or anything (it would have been a bit like herding cats, I presume) and kind of self-organized - which was nice. They were, in many ways, largely independent but I found that worked best for us. They were not abusively so nor was their a problem with productivity. It might be called "controlled chaos" but, in short, it worked.
I learned to give clear goals, ask for time estimates, and largely get out of their way as it was my job to give them what they needed to do what I'd asked of them. I'd hired them to do things I could not and they were much better at I. Eventually, they'd even migrated from C to C++ (not entirely a huge difference, I guess) but I eventually became less and less familiar with my own code base. It was difficult, in some emotional ways (as strange as that might sound) and not entirely different than seeing your kid go off to college (I can think of no more apt analogy). There's some ego involved and that had to be let go. I learned to not try to micromanage and, mostly, just get out of the way.
It was always a bit of an ego boost when one of them would come to me for assistance but that assistance rapidly changed from no longer asking about the code, specifically, but about concepts or how I might implement it in code. It really didn't take long before they'd whipped my code into shape, knew it better than I did, and were far more proficient at it than I had ever been - which is to be expected because I was not a programmer but a mathematician. I'd learned to code out of necessity, not out of desire. I was never very good at it.
For the most part, give 'em what they ask for and they'll sort it out among themselves. I can't even honestly say that I know who was in charge. They had a pecking order, how that was determined (it was not longevity with the company nor was it largely based on any particular educational level - that I could tell) that they'd worked out among themselves. They knew who was better at what tasks, divided the work, and accomplished it. One or two were better at organizing and they became managers, of sorts, but held no great authority. We never had performance reviews or the likes - we didn't need 'em. I can't imagine how we'd have done so. I'm not sure who had the bright idea of counting lines of code but we never used that metric and I'd have been annoyed with anyone who suggested such a thing.
At any rate, that all ties into what you're saying (I think). While you say it's easy - and it might be, it largely seems subjective so long as there is compatibility and efficiency and efficacy. They did have specialization - there was one guy who did almost all the external documentation, for example. I'm not sure what he was hired for, specifically, except he was a programmer who had come from a fleet management background. I don't think he programmed much after a couple of years.
I realize that this sort of environment is not typical today but, I thought, it was fairly typical back then. We were not a large shop. We had something close to 220 people when I sold - we had three fully staffed offices and two skeleton offices. As traffic modelers, specifically in the vehicular department, we often worked with the municipalities as consultants through the duration of the project(s) and that included sometimes being on-site during construction (though that was rare). We needed to constantly collect, refi
I suspect, correct me if I'm wrong, that it will also be easier to swap out (if needed/wanted) than it is to swap out systemd. It should be noted that, unlike most, I don't actively hate systemd - so, let's not go there. I'm speaking only about the ease of swapping back should Wayland being adopted, en masse, akin to systemd. It shouldn't be much more difficult than simply using your package manager to add one and remove the other. Certain functionality may be lacking in newer applications but I doubt that will be much of a problem. Though, I suppose, certain DE might become so dependent on Wayland (I suppose) that it becomes difficult to use one without the other. I'd not be entirely surprised if it were somehow possible to have them both installed and optionally use one or the other, depending on need.
As it stands, I much prefer to just use VNC and remote into boxes that way. I know, it's shameful to like and value the GUI. However, in my defense, I've never had a whole lot of luck forwarding applications over X to begin with. For example, I've never been able to make it work properly (at all) with a modern browser. I've never been able to get the whole desktop to just forward over X either. I suspect that, somewhere along the way, there's a problem in the chair more so than it being a problem elsewhere. Fortunately, the chair's occupant is constantly improving and learning new and interesting ways to break things.
Thanks for explaining. I'm actually kind of surprised that there hasn't been an open-source implementation - at least an "interpreter" (as a player) as the mechanisms should be, by now, fairly well understood. I'd actually not be surprised to see Flash opened as it is abandoned. I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing.
Oh, I think you mean "riddance" in your original post. As in, "Good riddance!" I'm not really a grammar Nazi, as I am far from perfect, and I could be mistaken but (I think) that's probably what you meant. Thus, I don't pay much attention to the grammar, so long as I am able to parse it, but that spelling (in particular) stood out. Unlike, I think, most - I'm mentioning it with good intentions and not as a means to ridicule or the likes. My own spelling and grammar are poor enough to the point where I'm simply unqualified to ridicule anyone.;-) Were it not for spell-check, I'd look like a complete idiot, more so than I currently do.
I was shocked, shocked I tell you, that I got a reply (some years ago) about a message I'd sent concerning their free email service. It was referencing a spam filtering issue, had a potential mechanism for improvement, and I was contacted several times for more information. No, I did not expect to get a response and yes, I am the only person that I know of who has ever had a response. I'm sure others have, I just don't know them. I've not even *read* about someone getting a similar response.
However, they did end up implementing my suggestion. I was even thanked for my contribution. I did not have access to, nor have access to, the code to make those changes - instead, I'd suggested a mechanism and how it might be implemented (which is good - because I'm actually a horrible programmer). I described it in brief and how it might, in mechanism, be implemented and what that implementation might do. I was contacted to answer a few questions about how it might solve the problem. I answered. I was asked, more specifically, about how it could be implemented (again, mechanism only - not specifically) in detail. I answered. The "feature" appeared (it was still labeled as beta then - I'm not sure if it still is) and I was contacted about their implementation - but not given any specific details as to what they'd done in the underlying code, and I gave my opinion. A while later, it was implemented system-wide and I actually was sent a note thanking me for my contribution.
Other than having purchased one of their search appliances, many many years ago, I've had no other contact with Google of note. And thus my story ends unless one wants my opinion on their search appliances. You probably don't want that. It will likely be long, full of vulgarities, and not worthy of one's time to read it as I don't believe they even offer them any longer. Oh, ha! Shit, they *do* still offer them!
I'll still skip my "review." I'm assuming they've improved because, if they hadn't, they sure as hell shouldn't still be offering them. It was absurdly expensive, as well - considering the lack of efficacy. Ah well... Suffice to say, I was less than impressed with the effectiveness, service provided after-sale, and efficiency. It's hard to think of a good thing to say about the device. Hmm... It looked impressive on paper and was physically well constructed while being, oddly, stylish. There... I've said something nice about it.
See, specifically, 4 . 3 for a bit of a quick run-down. I'll quote it here:
The implied warranty of merchantability is created by Maine law and means that the product will be fit for the ordinary purposes for which such products are used.6 For example, washing machines must be fit for washing clothes. They must be able to do the job washing machines ordinarily do and to last for as long as washing machines ordinarily last. The same is true for toasters, new automobiles, mobile homes, clothing, furniture and every other item you purchase for family, household or personal use. To prove a breach of the implied warranty of merchantability you must show that the product was defective in design, materials, or workmanship.
(Emphasis added and emphasis mine.)
I have, in fact, used it for a cell phone that they said was no longer covered under warranty. Except, not really. What I did was contact the OEM for a repair. They said that they'd not be repairing it. I sent them a link to the above and asked if they were familiar with Maine's law. They sent me a new phone. I'm not sure if that actually counts as using the law or not?
Maine's one of ten States that has that protection - your State may afford similar consumer protections but you'll need to investigate that on your own or tell me where you live and I can search on your behalf. Unfortunately, such protections are not universal. I don't even actually know if the law would have applied (the screen had died just about a year and a half after purchasing it - this seems to happen a lot with my preferred style of phone, that with a slide-out "full" keyboard) but it worked in that I sent them a link to the law and got a new phone sent to me - they even express shipped it. I wouldn't have been so adamant but I'd already paid for it to be replaced once with the insurance plan.
How does he know that the "attacker" used Amazon? Seriously, how did he figure that out? Did they actually confirm that this was how they had gotten his information? I can't imagine an attacker telling you how they did the attack unless you'd hired them to attack you - which might be the case but they didn't mention this and it's a bit hard to imagine that the attacker, if hired, would then go on to commit fraud. The whole thing seems a bit melodramatic and a bit like someone has jumped to conclusions.
I guess I could read the article but... Well... You know... I have my pride!
In my case, I've had someone pretend to be me more than once. They even knew enough about me to pretend to be from Maine. It was fairly close but my writing style's rather unique and probably not easy to mimic. On top of that, they got the address in Maine horribly wrong. I believe they went on to scam a few people but I have no way of knowing what the truth is and what it isn't. It's unfortunate, but that's okay - I'm not really interested in doing more business or business online. I'm quite happily "retired" and I guess my reputation can handle being sullied by someone pretending to be me. They haven't done so in years, though. I am guessing they either got what they wanted, went to jail, or gave up.
No, it's a troll. You don't get to decide what others are interested in - you can only say that it is uninteresting to you. I suspect that the reason you don't say that is because that would say more about you than it would about the feat. You're seeking a reaction, based on minimal effort, and that's the very definition of trolling. It's predicated on the false assumption that you are arbiter, for others, of what is and is not interesting.
It's not very clever. If Slashdot did have a greatness in its past, it was that we had better trolls back in the day.
I wonder how quickly it can be done in just software - with no physical manifestation at all? While I've never bothered learning the mechanism, I am given to understand that they are actually significantly easier to solve than one might think, requiring no more than a couple of dozen moves at absolute worst. I also understand that once you learn a half-dozen or so 'solutions' then the thing is fairly trivial to solve and the only thing to do after that is pick up speed. I suspect that it can be done entirely in software, on a graphical representation, nearly instantly - with even just an SBC's worth of compute cycles and RAM.
I do own a book that tells the secrets of accomplishing this great feat but, alas, I've never actually read it - or played with the included "competition grade official cube!" I've a slight penchant for learning strange things like that but I've never actually bothered to learn this one. I'm actually kind of amazed at the staying power the cube has had. They were a passing fad but they've never really faded entirely from view. I can juggle, yo-yo, do a whole host of illusions, and know countless playing card manipulations - including some that are slight of hand and others that are just math, but I've never learned to solve the cube. I probably should, it seems like something I should know and I planned on learning it at one point.
It all started with a book, many years ago, about becoming an every day genius. At one point in time, a friend and I used to go to a local hospital, once a month, and put on a show for the kids as well as do a few other things. I've even learned a bit of clowning - which is harder than one might think. However, we were told that they'd prefer us to not do clowning, at least in costume, at the hospital. It seems that there are actually quite a few kids who are scared by clowns.
I do have my own, rather long, version of the ball and cup routine that I've managed to get pretty perfect. I guess that's one that I'm actually proud of. I'm not dreadfully anal about it but I do prefer "illusionist" to "magician." I do illusions, not tricks. Tricks are what a pony does or what a whore does for money. I've learned a lot, from some great illusionists, and had a lot of fun doing the shows for the kids. My daughter now works in an emergency children's trauma unit. When I go visit her, I go in and do a bit of a show for the kids. You have to vary them a bit, some aren't allowed things like balloon animals or the likes. Meh, it's just a little something that I've picked up and made a little use of over the years.
At any rate, I should think that it'd be insanely fast (nearly instant) without the need for mechanical manipulation. Come to think of it, writing a cube solver might be a good way for me to learn Python a bit better. I'm currently working on learning Python and that might be a fun project. I imagine someone's already done something similar if not exactly that so I'll have to avoid searching or do any searching carefully - lest I find the whole thing already done and just crib entirely from that.
Hmm... According to one local friend and to a documentary that I'd watched - the laws had been passed and were actively being used? IIRC the worst was in NSW? I was given to understand that not *all* of them had managed to get passed, or had actually been successfully used in prosecution, but that quite a few draconian penalties (such as those that I'd mentioned) had actually both passed but had been actively used in prosecution. In the documentary, IIRC, one of them was going to prison if he made even the slightest mistake as he'd been placed on probation for having been with three other "bikeys" and was also the admitted leader of their bike "gang."
I seem to recall that they also looked rough but had, otherwise, no criminal records. They liked to drink, get loud, and ride bikes. I can understand that.;-) It might not be my favorite thing to do but I used to do all three, albeit separately. I do love things that are capable of making noise - I'm just not usually big on prolonged noise. I love explosives. I love firearms. I love automobiles - except I don't like those to be "loud" by most folk's standards. My current daily driver, a very subdued looking but aggressively performing BMW 6 series (yes, that one) isn't really loud but is a low-level growl/rumble. It's a bit loud when both the turbos kick in and the exhaust note is highly tuned by the factory. The vehicle looks otherwise sane and you'd not know it was actually quite beastly until you heard it start. At highway speed it's very quiet but it's a low throated growl when picking up speed or, if doing so quickly, it's an almost primal scream - especially when the turbos kick in as it force feeds the air to it.
It's "bespoke" but that really just means that it's actually got all the available options (I skipped the executive package and made it extra sporty) and that it's got special leather and paint. That's about it, really. As I've now purchased multiple BMWs, they decided to give me a few extras. They were even going to put me up in a hotel (I'd have still needed to find my way there) and then let me watch my car being built, finished, and then make use of their test track. I declined. I've already driven around Germany in rented luxury sedans. I've even spent almost two weeks taking courses and getting personal coaching, renting exotics, and doing Nurburgring laps.
It's nice to be retired.;-) It wasn't even all that expensive, all told. I think that particular vacation was somewhere around 20k Euro. Some of the rented exotics included a Buggati, Ferrari, and a very tweaked Porsche 911. I also did laps in a Cooper, a WRX, and even one of the coach's Mercedes. I don't know who had done what to that Mercedes but, oh my... It was an absolute beast. They'd sent it off to some second company who had tweaked the hell out of it. It had something retarded like 900 HP and the handling had been set up to exceed 1.2 LA on the skidpad. My oh my. I "babied" it - it was borrowed, not even paid for, from the coach who was sitting beside me - urging me to go faster. I then did a two laps with them and they tossed that thing around like a rag doll. Oh man... I offered to buy it from her (this coach was a she) but she would not sell it - she did tell me how to get one of my own but I don't have the contact information here with me. I might be able to dig it out of Google with some effort. It was an absolute monster - it put out more power than US "stock" cars but not quite as much as the F1/F2 but more than F3 cars.
I forget what she said the drag was but it stuck to the ground at a rate higher than gravity (thus the 1.2 LA - I think it might have even been a bit higher than 1.2). Err... If you're unfamiliar, that's a "G rating." On a certain sized circle (it's a standard but I've forgotten the name) they measure lateral acceleration. This car was able to exceed 1G of sideways force without losing grip. I have a couple of fancier cars that actually will give a read-out of LA and I think the most I've hit was 1.4 an
You seem to think that I do that - I do not, but I still do write down business expenses, as I own a business still. In fact, I own in part, or in whole, lots of businesses now. See, I'm retired. However, YOU can do that - and it is perfectly legal, depending on how you structure it and your jurisdiction. Businesses are taxed only on profit, why should your taxes be any different? Your not an asshole for reducing your tax burden, tax avoidance is legal and ethical. Tax evasion is immoral and unethical. The two are vastly different and, yes, it's possible to abuse the former. Doing so is usually skirting a law or two. However, you're given the tools to incorporate, there are many benefits to doing so, and it might be in your best interests to look into such.
I reduce my tax burden, not as much as I suppose I could, by donating to charitable causes. I also reduce my tax burden by making long-term investments instead of short term investments. It's better for the economy to make long-term investments so those are taxed at what's known as capital gains rates while shorter stuff is actually taxed at income tax levels. Contrary to popular opinion, those day traders and HFT folks are paying income tax rates, not capital gains. It was one of the more glaring (and amusing) erroneous complaints by the OWS crowd. "We don't understand it but we don't like it!" They had some good, and legitimate, complaints but a muddied message doesn't convey that very well.
I have a bit of history with the NRA and posting about them. I'm a firearm aficionado, to the point where I have a nice collection - even some historical pieces. I also was very fortunate in life and sold my company for an obscene amount of money and an even greater value in stock in the now-parent company. I had people from the NRA, calling me specifically, for donations - and using some odd tactics. I even had long email exchanges with a person who is fairly high in the NRA group. They *really* felt that I *owed* them a sizable donation. Not just a regular donation but a sizable donation. Not that I should give but that I owed.
They're actually the least offensive of the lot that engaged in that sort of behavior - it was unexpected behavior but I guess it's kind of common and a reason to not answer your own phone or emails. I'm not one to do either but I do, for now, finally have a phone number that few people know - and my land-line is hooked to an answering machine and serves only one purpose.
I had, years and years ago, sent them a donation for something or other. I've not sent them anything since and they've changed their tune since. They used to be a fairly helpful group. Now they exemplify the "gun nuts" that people complain about.
I seem to recall a similar story so you're probably on to something. I've been to Australia twice (I've actually seen more of Australia than most Australians) but I can't honestly say that I'm overly fond of the country. You should see what they've done to "bikeys" in a few of their States. Some are worse than others but they have made it so that no more than two motorcyclists can ride together (guilt or not), they can't even associate, in private, in some areas. They can't wear their "colors" or anything.
We don't mind when the liberties are stripped from those we don't like. I do, probably obviously, also have my bike license and while I do ride - I don't really ride with anyone and I am not a member of any bike group. My motorcycles (I own two) are a Ducati that I never ride because it's both uncomfortable and has some history behind it and a BMW. Oddly enough, I don't do the whole USMC insignia or colors thing, for the most part, even though I spent eight years enlisted but I do have a USMC license plate frame on my BMW motorcycle - it's mostly just to serve to confuse simple minded folks while also making it clear that it's entirely lawful for me to open carry.
For some reason, in certain areas, I've had people call the cops because I was open carrying on my bike. I figure the USMC license plate holder might also help me from getting shot by a cop. Why open carry on a bike? Well, on the off-chance that I need to spill my bike - I really don't want something either lumped unnaturally under my arm or in my waistband. I'm okay with the firearm getting damaged, even broken, should I spill. I've also found that it seems to keep certain drivers from crowding me. More than once, I have had someone suddenly try to share the lane with me - while I'm right beside them. They've LOOKED at me and then pulled into my lane as if this is normal. I usually make great effort to never be in a position where I'm traveling beside an automobile. This is not always possible.
I don't know as it's passive aggressive but I'd not know that so I'll have to take your word for it. The rest is definitely true. I've serious issues with being verbose instead of articulate. It stems from the need to ensure that I spell everything out clearly, leaving as little as possible to misinterpretation, because I've been "talking" on the 'net for so long that I've actually become better at writing but more poor at articulating. You're 100% correct and, while I do work at it, I don't really do a very good job at it.
It also stems, in part, from my hating to repeat myself.
See, also, the Wikipedia article on the same subject. There were, indeed, some WMDs in Iraq, just not a whole lot of them and it's presumed that they were exfiltrated to Syria either early on during the conflict or just prior to it. Either way, there were never as many as folks were led to believe but, at the same time, there does appear to have actually been some. The Wikipedia article has some examples but the above actually goes into some details as to people who may have actually been injured by WMDs - specifically the of the chemical kind. In some (most?) cases they were pretty old and likely low efficacy or no longer volatile due to age or exposure to other elements.
Well, when the RPi came out, I bought six of them. I had a plan! Err... One box was opened, the rest still sit in the package, presumably catching dust, back in Maine. So, if there's ever a crunch and the world runs out of the RPi, I've got you covered. *sighs* And probably a half dozen "also ran" SBCs too. Well, except I'm actually working on my current project - it's actually, sort of, doing stuff. It's not doing the right stuff but it's getting closer to doing the right stuff. I turns out, having it come when called, is more difficult than I imagined. It does, now, move when I say its name. (It's called Rex.) It has a sister, named T but she doesn't move and she's not supposed to. T's supposed to play media. T doesn't actually do anything yet - she'll be easy. Rex, on the other hand, he's supposed to bring me the remote when I call him. He's a lazy, semi-retarded, bastard who does, technically, indicate that he's moving (or actually moves) when called. He just doesn't do that whole direction thing very well because he's retarded. Someone has to have a library in C for this but fucked if I can find it. So, I have a retarded remote carrying robot with a stillborn sister. But, it's closer than what I had a week ago.
As I keep getting and poking at various SBCs, I will have to get at least a couple of this one as well. So far, I've not had the best of luck getting as motivated and as functional as I'd like - this being x86 will, likely, make me at least slightly more likely to actually get a completed project. Actually, I have been poking at another pair - working on my own little pet project. But, if I can move to x86 that'll likely make it much easier for me to get things rolling. (Literally - I'm gonna build a robot with a couple of 'em. Probably two robots and I'm thinking that I'll go with playing with some "AI" at this juncture and have 'em compete against each other.) My other project, again a robot but a remote robot, is starting to take shape. It's moving but not quite as well as it should - namely, not in the actual direction it should be moving. But, at least it's moving and it's better than I'd managed to accomplish with all the RPis that I ordered that sit collecting dust back in Maine. I didn't even bother with ordering any of the RPi2 models.
I'm thinking using a camera, tape on the floor, and making them compete (various algorithms - should be a good process for me) in completing a maze the quickest, with the fewest mistakes, or things of that nature. I'll have to see what I come up with for ideas. I might just make them smash into each other until one dies. I'm not really sadistic or anything, I'm just easily amused and I have the coding skills of a drunken barbarian. *sighs* I kind of miss hiring professionals. I guess I could hire someone to smash my computers for me but that kind of defeats the point.
Err... Doesn't Flash run on non-x86 devices too? I know that there's at least Flash for Android and most Androids are not x86 based AFAIK. Am I missing something obvious?
Mind if I ask what's so special about it that you prefer it? I've never used it so I'm curious as to what the benefit might be. I do make heavy use of VNC, say VINO and TurboVNC Viewer (my current setup), I don't really make video calls or join meetings with a VNC client, I have, as of late, used qtox for that sort of thing. I'm not doubting or challenging - I'm genuinely curious as to why you prefer it, what you do with it that is so specific, and what its "killer" features are - for you. I read about it, I saw that it was free for personal use. That's a nice benefit - it's also good for them to get people who really like it, for personal use, and then bring it into the business with them which costs money. I'm certainly not opposed to spending money - I'm just making note of the nifty business plan and how it's likely a good benefit to the company and to the user.
You do have a point... Hmm... I guess they could, fairly easily actually, turn one of their trucks into an RV but their totally different divisions and owned by totally different groups - having only the name in common now. Well, no... They're still built (and designed - I think) in Sweden. But they're owned by a Chinese company now. Greely or Greeley is the name, as I recall? So, I guess that it'd still be possible to make a Volvo RV. I'd look into buying one if they made one - I already own a nice RV so it'd have to be pretty special for me to buy it though.
I think you're still missing the point. I can only give myself as an example because I can't, and won't, speak for others. I've done things like go help build a house for Habitat for Humanity. I not only provide all the computer equipment (literally, all of it) for a small, local, elementary school (who'd otherwise probably still be using Apple ][ computers) but I even help out their single, solitary, IT guy with donated time and effort.
No, I don't (and can't) give services like universal broadband but I did pay for the CO and upgraded lines to be run into the unincorporated township that I live in, in NW Maine - just above Rangeley.
Your post, perhaps I misread it, was seemingly indicating that people don't do things like provide services beyond the donation of cash when they've managed to accumulate some wealth. That's incorrect. I know numerous folks who do things like I do. We do it quietly, not for thanks or accolades, but because we can and because it needs doing. Some have more, or less, wealth than I but we do work to help others who are less fortunate - up to and including services, perhaps even simple services like helping to cook and clean up in a soup kitchen. Bringing hot meals to the single and elderly on holidays is another.
No, it's not broadband but some of us do give services and self. Of course, people who haven't accumulated any wealth will often say the things they'd do and have grand plans for their day in the Sun. The funny thing is, they don't realize how little something like a million dollars is these days. It seems like a lot. It isn't. I think that might be part of what you were getting at but, reading your first post, indicates (still - with rereading) that you imply that those who have been fortunate do not actually give of themselves and that, somehow, shareholders are the ones responsible for the bad shit. I, for instance, own a whole lot of a whole bunch of different companies and I can tell you - I've never once urged or asked a single one of those companies to do anything unethical in the name of maximizing profit. I've also gone to great lengths to aid those in need when and where it was reasonable to do so. It's the responsible thing to do.
RTFM!;-) (I've always wanted to say that. I don't think I've ever actually said it - in referencing the actual man pages. http://www.freedesktop.org/sof...
That last link is really pretty good - it doesn't look like it, judging by the URL, but it's pretty good at giving some info. From the second link, the one to the Fedora site, there's a link on that page that's actually pretty good. It's worth a read and it's explaining why they, the Fedora project, are going (went) with systemd. I'll save you the time and add a direct link to that as well. http://0pointer.de/blog/projec...
I paid for my copy, it's paper, but this site claims that is Creative Commons and has a link to both the book and the web code examples, it appears to be legit so I'm going to go ahead and link it. It's the 2015 (9th Edition) Linux Bible. I own a copy, as mentioned, in dead tree format and have been happy with it as both a browse/read and reference book. It has some information about systemd in it as well. You can download the copy and code examples, free of charge, at this site: http://appnee.com/linux-bible-...
A quick look says that it's the same as my paper book so I'm assuming that the content is the same.
Keep in mind, I'm not a systemd aficionado or anything. I've just never had cause to hate it like everyone says I should. So, I did a bunch of reading and I've done a bunch of thinking, some poking and testing, and haven't had a problem with it. I learned a few new commands, they've come in handy, and I'm pretty happy with it - so far.
User phantomfive (here on this site) has been doing a code review of it. I believe he's at section 12 now. That might be worth a read. You can get to his account easily enough by simply changing the URL. This should work: http://slashdot.org/~phantomfi... and you can get to his journal from there. The navigation will be on the left but I suspect you know that.
If you need stuff to "just work please and thank you" then, well, my experience has been that it just works. I, too, am no expert and have been learning more and more as I go - that's exactly why I switched to using Linux exclusively. I simply wasn't learning anything any more. I was stagnant and, well, there wasn't much more to learn about Windows. I'd already done the MVP thing, I'd been awarded the award multiple years in a row in several categories. I gave up my participation, burned out really, and just paid for my own damned MSDN subscription. So, it's been serving that purpose nicely for a while now. I'm getting older, to the point where it's time for me to legitimately worry about maintaining cognitive functions. I'd become lethargic, a passive consumer, and was not happy with that state of affairs. Thus, the switch and the ensuing switch to using it exclusively because I found that, even dual booting, I'd still just boot to Linux and I rebooted so seldom that I was often in the middle of something and needing to return to Windows to finish it. So, Linux it is... I had managed Unix just fine, so off I went... It's been a fun ride.
As an interesting (to me) aside: It's amazing how quickly things become normal. I had the opportunity to sit in front of a Windows 10 system for a brief spell. I was lost for a while. I've also had one occasion to sit in front of a more familiar Windows 7 system and, still, I was lost. I'd actually f
I dunno about all that? I'm strongly inclined to make long-term investments because of tax rates. In the US, capital gains rates are only granted for long-term investments. Short-term investing is taxed at regular income tax rates. I also enjoy the rather lucrative act of helping people get small businesses running and, in return, I own a piece of their business. They can buy my share out, when they're able, or they can continue to rely on my having not spent the money that I've made from their business so that they can grow it further. I reduce my tax burden mostly by donating to charitable causes though I still pay a fairly large amount, it's not a very high percentage. I could actually pay less if I were more diligent or willing to put the effort into it. But no, I'm strongly given incentive to invest long-term.
A lot of people seem to think that investments are taxed at capital gains rates and that those rates are all low. That's not really true - it's never that simple where taxes are. Those short term investments are taxed at regular income rates, for example. I'm "wealthy" by your standards (probably) but not wealthy by some other folks standards. I'd be just fine to leave my money in a bank and collect the special interest rates that you get when you actually have a large sum of money in the bank. (Yes, I get a much better interest rate on savings accounts than you do.) However, that'd be plain retarded. It is so much easier to make your money work for you once you've accumulated some.
If by work, you mean spend a day down in the mine, then of course no wealthy person is going to bother going to work. If you think I'm unproductive or whatnot, I'd suggest you probably don't realize that, by extension, I keep quite a few people employed, pay hundreds - even thousands, of people's mortgages, send their kids to school and more. (Obviously not directly - but by investing in sound companies and risking losses with those investments, with bonds, or with straight up loans that I give to certain people who want to start or grow their business.
On the contrary, I'm strongly given incentive to put my money to work. Nobody just leaves it sitting idle, not if they're smart. Hell, this is where I like to use my favorite example... I have 2000 shares in Tesla. Yes, that's the correct number. I bought them when they were at about $24 each. I took a risk, a fairly sizable risk, and I've not yet capitalized on that risk. One of your favorite cars (probably) is partially made possible by my being willing to take the risks - and it's in my best interest to keep that investment in that company lest I be taxed at full income tax rates.
Not to mention, nobody ever paid those 'historical' figures. Shit, I barely have to pay taxes as it is. I can hire a specialist tax lawyer and I already employ an accountant. I could probably reduce my tax burden to nothing with a little bit of effort - and I'll always be able to do that. I pay taxes because I ought to, not because I have to. Heh... It's really, really easy to "lose" money and have no tax burden at all.
I'm not actually sure why you'd want to pay more in taxes, at any rate. The government really doesn't need more money - they need to budget better and stop bombing brown people. Perhaps a better example, better than your historic tax rates ('cause things were so much more equitable then) would be when J.P. Morgan bailed out the country.
No, I'll pay my social obligations by donations, thanks. I don't mind taxes - I'd even go so far as to say that I pay too little in taxes. However, I'm content with that 'cause it's not like they're gonna spend the money on doing anything useful. They'll take the few extra dollars and use it to float a loan for twice that many dollars and buy some bombers to bomb little brown men or put people in prison for smoking weed. I get to reduce my tax burden by donating to Habitat for Humanity, ACLU, EFF, Red Cross, Heifer International, and the local Maine chapter of the ACLU. I'm going with that until they stop wasting th
Slashdot Mirror
See also man 7 regex and man 1 perlre
Having actually looked at that specific man page just the other day, I found my favorite man page quote... It's funny that you mention it today (well, yesterday) when I'd *just* looked at that man page not that long ago, as in late last week. By virtue of my experience, I'm actually moderately familiar with Perl's regular expressions. I don't recall any funny stuff in that man page but the regex man page includes this:
Having two kinds of REs is a botch.
That just cracks me up. Heh. I'm gonna have to add you to my favorite's list so that I can note your comments more easily in the future. That's what I use it for, I've no idea what others use it for except some seem to actually think it means something more and use it vindictively or whatnot. It's amusing to think that people are so self-centered as to think their personal opinions or feelings are significant to others. However, I suspect that I'm preaching to the choir in those regards. I'm just a bit taken aback that I'm relatively unfamiliar with your posts even though I've seen you post enough - it seems I'd just never bothered putting two and two together. That's a bit odd, in and of itself, as I actually make it a point (normally) to note the authors of posts. It's a habit long learned since the BBS and USENET days. The source matters, folks... The source of a comment is often as important as the author of the comment.
Heh, the second insightful comment you've made that warrants a response, in one thread too! Better watch out, I'll be filling your posts up with long-winded replies that are akin to Grandpa stories to some of these folks here.
On that note, and long those lines, I see I am not the only one. What is with this trend to return to the days of dumb terminals? Seriously, I don't get it. It seems so antithetical to the idea of user control and ownership. I don't even see a technological need for it.
Yes, I get the idea of hosted solutions and yes they make sense - but why not host them yourself? Hell, I could probably run a fairly robust email server for my old company on something like an RPi - and have extra resources to throw in localized, non-hosted, spam filtering. Seriously, we had about 220 people. I'd not be surprised to find an RPi could handle that email load - though I suspect email servers have become bloated. No, I'm not talking about running Exchange on it. I'm talking a straight up, plain, email server with POP3, SMTP, and IMAP. No, no chat... Sure, we can throw in support for contact lists. Hell, we can probably throw a calendering application on their too. No, it probably won't have automated meeting scheduling and things of that nature.
We had to do a lot with little hardware. Hell, we had to do disk arrays and clustered servers as we were working with data sets that neared a full terabyte in size by the end of the 1990s. Heh, it was a mess... Eventually, I was able to start hiring professionals there too and getting the one guy who'd been with me from the start a bit of help.
In reference to my earlier reply to you - the "ops" staff, I kind of hate that word, was actually relatively organized and had a direct chain of command! Sort of - remind me to tell you about our Wizard some time. He was our database admin. He was a character but strangely proficient and rarely seen and even more seldom heard. We bought him new hardware, in 1998 or so, and I don't think he ever asked for new hardware after that - I sold in 2007, finalized in 2008. I think he simply used re-purposed hardware after that, we went through a lot of hardware - I mean a lot. There's an "event" where we brought in Oracle, they left three months later (with no product installed or working) and then tried to sue us. The Wizard was mad for a couple of weeks. Our DB access was remarkably slow during that time but he got over it and things returned to normal. He was every bit the definition of the Truck Problem. Oh, the stories I could tell - I'll spare you...
At any rate... What the hell people? Why are we giving up control? Why are we going back to the days of the dumb terminal and renting time on a mainframe? What the hell do these people think AWS is? Yes, yes it's okay to do some remote stuff - like hosting your site or even email, if you're too small. But, Office 365 or whatever it's called? Your whole Exchange server/service? The applications? Your entire data center? Your friggen virtual machines and development environment? No sir, I do not like it, no not one bit! I do not like this trend nor do I see it being a real cost savings in the end. I'm not a futurologist or the likes but I do not predict this being as rosy, secure, robust, inexpensive, or efficient as they seem to believe it will be.
Hell, by design, the true owners of this hardware (and thus data) have full access to your stuff - unless it's encrypted properly and you don't, you know, back your damned keys up to the cloud!
We're returning to dumb terminals when we have the equivalent of super computers in our pockets. We're not writing anything (and I was never a good programmer so I might have liked this feature) but we're using someone else's libraries. We don't even always know what's in those libraries. Yet we throw them together and wonder why they're able to track our every move online. I block scripting with something called uMatrix (fancy stuff - I like it, it's like an old school software firewall for Windows except it's for t
One of the many things I learned, by grace of having the fortune to have hired and worked with programmers from yesteryear (think 1990s and up until 2007 - and they really did seem to be different back then from what I'm observing now) was that you got much better results by giving the programmers the tools they wanted as opposed to those the vendor suggested or those that were suggested by what I'll call "fad development techniques or proponents."
Now, at the same time, they must be both effective and efficient. If they're making things too difficult or otherwise incompatible then something will need to change. However, they never really had a manager or anything (it would have been a bit like herding cats, I presume) and kind of self-organized - which was nice. They were, in many ways, largely independent but I found that worked best for us. They were not abusively so nor was their a problem with productivity. It might be called "controlled chaos" but, in short, it worked.
I learned to give clear goals, ask for time estimates, and largely get out of their way as it was my job to give them what they needed to do what I'd asked of them. I'd hired them to do things I could not and they were much better at I. Eventually, they'd even migrated from C to C++ (not entirely a huge difference, I guess) but I eventually became less and less familiar with my own code base. It was difficult, in some emotional ways (as strange as that might sound) and not entirely different than seeing your kid go off to college (I can think of no more apt analogy). There's some ego involved and that had to be let go. I learned to not try to micromanage and, mostly, just get out of the way.
It was always a bit of an ego boost when one of them would come to me for assistance but that assistance rapidly changed from no longer asking about the code, specifically, but about concepts or how I might implement it in code. It really didn't take long before they'd whipped my code into shape, knew it better than I did, and were far more proficient at it than I had ever been - which is to be expected because I was not a programmer but a mathematician. I'd learned to code out of necessity, not out of desire. I was never very good at it.
For the most part, give 'em what they ask for and they'll sort it out among themselves. I can't even honestly say that I know who was in charge. They had a pecking order, how that was determined (it was not longevity with the company nor was it largely based on any particular educational level - that I could tell) that they'd worked out among themselves. They knew who was better at what tasks, divided the work, and accomplished it. One or two were better at organizing and they became managers, of sorts, but held no great authority. We never had performance reviews or the likes - we didn't need 'em. I can't imagine how we'd have done so. I'm not sure who had the bright idea of counting lines of code but we never used that metric and I'd have been annoyed with anyone who suggested such a thing.
At any rate, that all ties into what you're saying (I think). While you say it's easy - and it might be, it largely seems subjective so long as there is compatibility and efficiency and efficacy. They did have specialization - there was one guy who did almost all the external documentation, for example. I'm not sure what he was hired for, specifically, except he was a programmer who had come from a fleet management background. I don't think he programmed much after a couple of years.
I realize that this sort of environment is not typical today but, I thought, it was fairly typical back then. We were not a large shop. We had something close to 220 people when I sold - we had three fully staffed offices and two skeleton offices. As traffic modelers, specifically in the vehicular department, we often worked with the municipalities as consultants through the duration of the project(s) and that included sometimes being on-site during construction (though that was rare). We needed to constantly collect, refi
I suspect, correct me if I'm wrong, that it will also be easier to swap out (if needed/wanted) than it is to swap out systemd. It should be noted that, unlike most, I don't actively hate systemd - so, let's not go there. I'm speaking only about the ease of swapping back should Wayland being adopted, en masse, akin to systemd. It shouldn't be much more difficult than simply using your package manager to add one and remove the other. Certain functionality may be lacking in newer applications but I doubt that will be much of a problem. Though, I suppose, certain DE might become so dependent on Wayland (I suppose) that it becomes difficult to use one without the other. I'd not be entirely surprised if it were somehow possible to have them both installed and optionally use one or the other, depending on need.
As it stands, I much prefer to just use VNC and remote into boxes that way. I know, it's shameful to like and value the GUI. However, in my defense, I've never had a whole lot of luck forwarding applications over X to begin with. For example, I've never been able to make it work properly (at all) with a modern browser. I've never been able to get the whole desktop to just forward over X either. I suspect that, somewhere along the way, there's a problem in the chair more so than it being a problem elsewhere. Fortunately, the chair's occupant is constantly improving and learning new and interesting ways to break things.
Thanks for explaining. I'm actually kind of surprised that there hasn't been an open-source implementation - at least an "interpreter" (as a player) as the mechanisms should be, by now, fairly well understood. I'd actually not be surprised to see Flash opened as it is abandoned. I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing.
Oh, I think you mean "riddance" in your original post. As in, "Good riddance!" I'm not really a grammar Nazi, as I am far from perfect, and I could be mistaken but (I think) that's probably what you meant. Thus, I don't pay much attention to the grammar, so long as I am able to parse it, but that spelling (in particular) stood out. Unlike, I think, most - I'm mentioning it with good intentions and not as a means to ridicule or the likes. My own spelling and grammar are poor enough to the point where I'm simply unqualified to ridicule anyone. ;-) Were it not for spell-check, I'd look like a complete idiot, more so than I currently do.
I was shocked, shocked I tell you, that I got a reply (some years ago) about a message I'd sent concerning their free email service. It was referencing a spam filtering issue, had a potential mechanism for improvement, and I was contacted several times for more information. No, I did not expect to get a response and yes, I am the only person that I know of who has ever had a response. I'm sure others have, I just don't know them. I've not even *read* about someone getting a similar response.
However, they did end up implementing my suggestion. I was even thanked for my contribution. I did not have access to, nor have access to, the code to make those changes - instead, I'd suggested a mechanism and how it might be implemented (which is good - because I'm actually a horrible programmer). I described it in brief and how it might, in mechanism, be implemented and what that implementation might do. I was contacted to answer a few questions about how it might solve the problem. I answered. I was asked, more specifically, about how it could be implemented (again, mechanism only - not specifically) in detail. I answered. The "feature" appeared (it was still labeled as beta then - I'm not sure if it still is) and I was contacted about their implementation - but not given any specific details as to what they'd done in the underlying code, and I gave my opinion. A while later, it was implemented system-wide and I actually was sent a note thanking me for my contribution.
Other than having purchased one of their search appliances, many many years ago, I've had no other contact with Google of note. And thus my story ends unless one wants my opinion on their search appliances. You probably don't want that. It will likely be long, full of vulgarities, and not worthy of one's time to read it as I don't believe they even offer them any longer. Oh, ha! Shit, they *do* still offer them!
https://www.google.com/work/se...
I'll still skip my "review." I'm assuming they've improved because, if they hadn't, they sure as hell shouldn't still be offering them. It was absurdly expensive, as well - considering the lack of efficacy. Ah well... Suffice to say, I was less than impressed with the effectiveness, service provided after-sale, and efficiency. It's hard to think of a good thing to say about the device. Hmm... It looked impressive on paper and was physically well constructed while being, oddly, stylish. There... I've said something nice about it.
Where do you live? Just the State should do. Or, alternatively, look and see if you can find it yourself. I'll show you Maine's example:
http://legislature.maine.gov/l...
Here's a good description from the AG:
http://www.maine.gov/tools/wha...
See, specifically, 4 . 3 for a bit of a quick run-down. I'll quote it here:
The implied warranty of merchantability is created by Maine law and means that the product will
be fit for the ordinary purposes for which such products are used.6
For example, washing machines
must be fit for washing clothes. They must be able to do the job washing machines ordinarily do and to
last for as long as washing machines ordinarily last. The same is true for toasters, new automobiles,
mobile homes, clothing, furniture and every other item you purchase for family, household or personal
use. To prove a breach of the implied warranty of merchantability you must show that the product was
defective in design, materials, or workmanship.
(Emphasis added and emphasis mine.)
I have, in fact, used it for a cell phone that they said was no longer covered under warranty. Except, not really. What I did was contact the OEM for a repair. They said that they'd not be repairing it. I sent them a link to the above and asked if they were familiar with Maine's law. They sent me a new phone. I'm not sure if that actually counts as using the law or not?
Maine's one of ten States that has that protection - your State may afford similar consumer protections but you'll need to investigate that on your own or tell me where you live and I can search on your behalf. Unfortunately, such protections are not universal. I don't even actually know if the law would have applied (the screen had died just about a year and a half after purchasing it - this seems to happen a lot with my preferred style of phone, that with a slide-out "full" keyboard) but it worked in that I sent them a link to the law and got a new phone sent to me - they even express shipped it. I wouldn't have been so adamant but I'd already paid for it to be replaced once with the insurance plan.
How does he know that the "attacker" used Amazon? Seriously, how did he figure that out? Did they actually confirm that this was how they had gotten his information? I can't imagine an attacker telling you how they did the attack unless you'd hired them to attack you - which might be the case but they didn't mention this and it's a bit hard to imagine that the attacker, if hired, would then go on to commit fraud. The whole thing seems a bit melodramatic and a bit like someone has jumped to conclusions.
I guess I could read the article but... Well... You know... I have my pride!
In my case, I've had someone pretend to be me more than once. They even knew enough about me to pretend to be from Maine. It was fairly close but my writing style's rather unique and probably not easy to mimic. On top of that, they got the address in Maine horribly wrong. I believe they went on to scam a few people but I have no way of knowing what the truth is and what it isn't. It's unfortunate, but that's okay - I'm not really interested in doing more business or business online. I'm quite happily "retired" and I guess my reputation can handle being sullied by someone pretending to be me. They haven't done so in years, though. I am guessing they either got what they wanted, went to jail, or gave up.
No, it's a troll. You don't get to decide what others are interested in - you can only say that it is uninteresting to you. I suspect that the reason you don't say that is because that would say more about you than it would about the feat. You're seeking a reaction, based on minimal effort, and that's the very definition of trolling. It's predicated on the false assumption that you are arbiter, for others, of what is and is not interesting.
It's not very clever. If Slashdot did have a greatness in its past, it was that we had better trolls back in the day.
I wonder how quickly it can be done in just software - with no physical manifestation at all? While I've never bothered learning the mechanism, I am given to understand that they are actually significantly easier to solve than one might think, requiring no more than a couple of dozen moves at absolute worst. I also understand that once you learn a half-dozen or so 'solutions' then the thing is fairly trivial to solve and the only thing to do after that is pick up speed. I suspect that it can be done entirely in software, on a graphical representation, nearly instantly - with even just an SBC's worth of compute cycles and RAM.
I do own a book that tells the secrets of accomplishing this great feat but, alas, I've never actually read it - or played with the included "competition grade official cube!" I've a slight penchant for learning strange things like that but I've never actually bothered to learn this one. I'm actually kind of amazed at the staying power the cube has had. They were a passing fad but they've never really faded entirely from view. I can juggle, yo-yo, do a whole host of illusions, and know countless playing card manipulations - including some that are slight of hand and others that are just math, but I've never learned to solve the cube. I probably should, it seems like something I should know and I planned on learning it at one point.
It all started with a book, many years ago, about becoming an every day genius. At one point in time, a friend and I used to go to a local hospital, once a month, and put on a show for the kids as well as do a few other things. I've even learned a bit of clowning - which is harder than one might think. However, we were told that they'd prefer us to not do clowning, at least in costume, at the hospital. It seems that there are actually quite a few kids who are scared by clowns.
I do have my own, rather long, version of the ball and cup routine that I've managed to get pretty perfect. I guess that's one that I'm actually proud of. I'm not dreadfully anal about it but I do prefer "illusionist" to "magician." I do illusions, not tricks. Tricks are what a pony does or what a whore does for money. I've learned a lot, from some great illusionists, and had a lot of fun doing the shows for the kids. My daughter now works in an emergency children's trauma unit. When I go visit her, I go in and do a bit of a show for the kids. You have to vary them a bit, some aren't allowed things like balloon animals or the likes. Meh, it's just a little something that I've picked up and made a little use of over the years.
At any rate, I should think that it'd be insanely fast (nearly instant) without the need for mechanical manipulation. Come to think of it, writing a cube solver might be a good way for me to learn Python a bit better. I'm currently working on learning Python and that might be a fun project. I imagine someone's already done something similar if not exactly that so I'll have to avoid searching or do any searching carefully - lest I find the whole thing already done and just crib entirely from that.
Hmm... According to one local friend and to a documentary that I'd watched - the laws had been passed and were actively being used? IIRC the worst was in NSW? I was given to understand that not *all* of them had managed to get passed, or had actually been successfully used in prosecution, but that quite a few draconian penalties (such as those that I'd mentioned) had actually both passed but had been actively used in prosecution. In the documentary, IIRC, one of them was going to prison if he made even the slightest mistake as he'd been placed on probation for having been with three other "bikeys" and was also the admitted leader of their bike "gang."
I seem to recall that they also looked rough but had, otherwise, no criminal records. They liked to drink, get loud, and ride bikes. I can understand that. ;-) It might not be my favorite thing to do but I used to do all three, albeit separately. I do love things that are capable of making noise - I'm just not usually big on prolonged noise. I love explosives. I love firearms. I love automobiles - except I don't like those to be "loud" by most folk's standards. My current daily driver, a very subdued looking but aggressively performing BMW 6 series (yes, that one) isn't really loud but is a low-level growl/rumble. It's a bit loud when both the turbos kick in and the exhaust note is highly tuned by the factory. The vehicle looks otherwise sane and you'd not know it was actually quite beastly until you heard it start. At highway speed it's very quiet but it's a low throated growl when picking up speed or, if doing so quickly, it's an almost primal scream - especially when the turbos kick in as it force feeds the air to it.
It's "bespoke" but that really just means that it's actually got all the available options (I skipped the executive package and made it extra sporty) and that it's got special leather and paint. That's about it, really. As I've now purchased multiple BMWs, they decided to give me a few extras. They were even going to put me up in a hotel (I'd have still needed to find my way there) and then let me watch my car being built, finished, and then make use of their test track. I declined. I've already driven around Germany in rented luxury sedans. I've even spent almost two weeks taking courses and getting personal coaching, renting exotics, and doing Nurburgring laps.
It's nice to be retired. ;-) It wasn't even all that expensive, all told. I think that particular vacation was somewhere around 20k Euro. Some of the rented exotics included a Buggati, Ferrari, and a very tweaked Porsche 911. I also did laps in a Cooper, a WRX, and even one of the coach's Mercedes. I don't know who had done what to that Mercedes but, oh my... It was an absolute beast. They'd sent it off to some second company who had tweaked the hell out of it. It had something retarded like 900 HP and the handling had been set up to exceed 1.2 LA on the skidpad. My oh my. I "babied" it - it was borrowed, not even paid for, from the coach who was sitting beside me - urging me to go faster. I then did a two laps with them and they tossed that thing around like a rag doll. Oh man... I offered to buy it from her (this coach was a she) but she would not sell it - she did tell me how to get one of my own but I don't have the contact information here with me. I might be able to dig it out of Google with some effort. It was an absolute monster - it put out more power than US "stock" cars but not quite as much as the F1/F2 but more than F3 cars.
I forget what she said the drag was but it stuck to the ground at a rate higher than gravity (thus the 1.2 LA - I think it might have even been a bit higher than 1.2). Err... If you're unfamiliar, that's a "G rating." On a certain sized circle (it's a standard but I've forgotten the name) they measure lateral acceleration. This car was able to exceed 1G of sideways force without losing grip. I have a couple of fancier cars that actually will give a read-out of LA and I think the most I've hit was 1.4 an
You seem to think that I do that - I do not, but I still do write down business expenses, as I own a business still. In fact, I own in part, or in whole, lots of businesses now. See, I'm retired. However, YOU can do that - and it is perfectly legal, depending on how you structure it and your jurisdiction. Businesses are taxed only on profit, why should your taxes be any different? Your not an asshole for reducing your tax burden, tax avoidance is legal and ethical. Tax evasion is immoral and unethical. The two are vastly different and, yes, it's possible to abuse the former. Doing so is usually skirting a law or two. However, you're given the tools to incorporate, there are many benefits to doing so, and it might be in your best interests to look into such.
I reduce my tax burden, not as much as I suppose I could, by donating to charitable causes. I also reduce my tax burden by making long-term investments instead of short term investments. It's better for the economy to make long-term investments so those are taxed at what's known as capital gains rates while shorter stuff is actually taxed at income tax levels. Contrary to popular opinion, those day traders and HFT folks are paying income tax rates, not capital gains. It was one of the more glaring (and amusing) erroneous complaints by the OWS crowd. "We don't understand it but we don't like it!" They had some good, and legitimate, complaints but a muddied message doesn't convey that very well.
I have a bit of history with the NRA and posting about them. I'm a firearm aficionado, to the point where I have a nice collection - even some historical pieces. I also was very fortunate in life and sold my company for an obscene amount of money and an even greater value in stock in the now-parent company. I had people from the NRA, calling me specifically, for donations - and using some odd tactics. I even had long email exchanges with a person who is fairly high in the NRA group. They *really* felt that I *owed* them a sizable donation. Not just a regular donation but a sizable donation. Not that I should give but that I owed.
They're actually the least offensive of the lot that engaged in that sort of behavior - it was unexpected behavior but I guess it's kind of common and a reason to not answer your own phone or emails. I'm not one to do either but I do, for now, finally have a phone number that few people know - and my land-line is hooked to an answering machine and serves only one purpose.
I had, years and years ago, sent them a donation for something or other. I've not sent them anything since and they've changed their tune since. They used to be a fairly helpful group. Now they exemplify the "gun nuts" that people complain about.
I seem to recall a similar story so you're probably on to something. I've been to Australia twice (I've actually seen more of Australia than most Australians) but I can't honestly say that I'm overly fond of the country. You should see what they've done to "bikeys" in a few of their States. Some are worse than others but they have made it so that no more than two motorcyclists can ride together (guilt or not), they can't even associate, in private, in some areas. They can't wear their "colors" or anything.
We don't mind when the liberties are stripped from those we don't like. I do, probably obviously, also have my bike license and while I do ride - I don't really ride with anyone and I am not a member of any bike group. My motorcycles (I own two) are a Ducati that I never ride because it's both uncomfortable and has some history behind it and a BMW. Oddly enough, I don't do the whole USMC insignia or colors thing, for the most part, even though I spent eight years enlisted but I do have a USMC license plate frame on my BMW motorcycle - it's mostly just to serve to confuse simple minded folks while also making it clear that it's entirely lawful for me to open carry.
For some reason, in certain areas, I've had people call the cops because I was open carrying on my bike. I figure the USMC license plate holder might also help me from getting shot by a cop. Why open carry on a bike? Well, on the off-chance that I need to spill my bike - I really don't want something either lumped unnaturally under my arm or in my waistband. I'm okay with the firearm getting damaged, even broken, should I spill. I've also found that it seems to keep certain drivers from crowding me. More than once, I have had someone suddenly try to share the lane with me - while I'm right beside them. They've LOOKED at me and then pulled into my lane as if this is normal. I usually make great effort to never be in a position where I'm traveling beside an automobile. This is not always possible.
I don't know as it's passive aggressive but I'd not know that so I'll have to take your word for it. The rest is definitely true. I've serious issues with being verbose instead of articulate. It stems from the need to ensure that I spell everything out clearly, leaving as little as possible to misinterpretation, because I've been "talking" on the 'net for so long that I've actually become better at writing but more poor at articulating. You're 100% correct and, while I do work at it, I don't really do a very good job at it.
It also stems, in part, from my hating to repeat myself.
This should amuse you:
http://www.inquisitr.com/59633...
Well, there weren't very many but it appears there were some:
http://www.nytimes.com/interac...
See, also, the Wikipedia article on the same subject. There were, indeed, some WMDs in Iraq, just not a whole lot of them and it's presumed that they were exfiltrated to Syria either early on during the conflict or just prior to it. Either way, there were never as many as folks were led to believe but, at the same time, there does appear to have actually been some. The Wikipedia article has some examples but the above actually goes into some details as to people who may have actually been injured by WMDs - specifically the of the chemical kind. In some (most?) cases they were pretty old and likely low efficacy or no longer volatile due to age or exposure to other elements.
Well, when the RPi came out, I bought six of them. I had a plan! Err... One box was opened, the rest still sit in the package, presumably catching dust, back in Maine. So, if there's ever a crunch and the world runs out of the RPi, I've got you covered. *sighs* And probably a half dozen "also ran" SBCs too. Well, except I'm actually working on my current project - it's actually, sort of, doing stuff. It's not doing the right stuff but it's getting closer to doing the right stuff. I turns out, having it come when called, is more difficult than I imagined. It does, now, move when I say its name. (It's called Rex.) It has a sister, named T but she doesn't move and she's not supposed to. T's supposed to play media. T doesn't actually do anything yet - she'll be easy. Rex, on the other hand, he's supposed to bring me the remote when I call him. He's a lazy, semi-retarded, bastard who does, technically, indicate that he's moving (or actually moves) when called. He just doesn't do that whole direction thing very well because he's retarded. Someone has to have a library in C for this but fucked if I can find it. So, I have a retarded remote carrying robot with a stillborn sister. But, it's closer than what I had a week ago.
As I keep getting and poking at various SBCs, I will have to get at least a couple of this one as well. So far, I've not had the best of luck getting as motivated and as functional as I'd like - this being x86 will, likely, make me at least slightly more likely to actually get a completed project. Actually, I have been poking at another pair - working on my own little pet project. But, if I can move to x86 that'll likely make it much easier for me to get things rolling. (Literally - I'm gonna build a robot with a couple of 'em. Probably two robots and I'm thinking that I'll go with playing with some "AI" at this juncture and have 'em compete against each other.) My other project, again a robot but a remote robot, is starting to take shape. It's moving but not quite as well as it should - namely, not in the actual direction it should be moving. But, at least it's moving and it's better than I'd managed to accomplish with all the RPis that I ordered that sit collecting dust back in Maine. I didn't even bother with ordering any of the RPi2 models.
I'm thinking using a camera, tape on the floor, and making them compete (various algorithms - should be a good process for me) in completing a maze the quickest, with the fewest mistakes, or things of that nature. I'll have to see what I come up with for ideas. I might just make them smash into each other until one dies. I'm not really sadistic or anything, I'm just easily amused and I have the coding skills of a drunken barbarian. *sighs* I kind of miss hiring professionals. I guess I could hire someone to smash my computers for me but that kind of defeats the point.
Err... Doesn't Flash run on non-x86 devices too? I know that there's at least Flash for Android and most Androids are not x86 based AFAIK. Am I missing something obvious?
Mind if I ask what's so special about it that you prefer it? I've never used it so I'm curious as to what the benefit might be. I do make heavy use of VNC, say VINO and TurboVNC Viewer (my current setup), I don't really make video calls or join meetings with a VNC client, I have, as of late, used qtox for that sort of thing. I'm not doubting or challenging - I'm genuinely curious as to why you prefer it, what you do with it that is so specific, and what its "killer" features are - for you. I read about it, I saw that it was free for personal use. That's a nice benefit - it's also good for them to get people who really like it, for personal use, and then bring it into the business with them which costs money. I'm certainly not opposed to spending money - I'm just making note of the nifty business plan and how it's likely a good benefit to the company and to the user.
You do have a point... Hmm... I guess they could, fairly easily actually, turn one of their trucks into an RV but their totally different divisions and owned by totally different groups - having only the name in common now. Well, no... They're still built (and designed - I think) in Sweden. But they're owned by a Chinese company now. Greely or Greeley is the name, as I recall? So, I guess that it'd still be possible to make a Volvo RV. I'd look into buying one if they made one - I already own a nice RV so it'd have to be pretty special for me to buy it though.
I think you're still missing the point. I can only give myself as an example because I can't, and won't, speak for others. I've done things like go help build a house for Habitat for Humanity. I not only provide all the computer equipment (literally, all of it) for a small, local, elementary school (who'd otherwise probably still be using Apple ][ computers) but I even help out their single, solitary, IT guy with donated time and effort.
No, I don't (and can't) give services like universal broadband but I did pay for the CO and upgraded lines to be run into the unincorporated township that I live in, in NW Maine - just above Rangeley.
Your post, perhaps I misread it, was seemingly indicating that people don't do things like provide services beyond the donation of cash when they've managed to accumulate some wealth. That's incorrect. I know numerous folks who do things like I do. We do it quietly, not for thanks or accolades, but because we can and because it needs doing. Some have more, or less, wealth than I but we do work to help others who are less fortunate - up to and including services, perhaps even simple services like helping to cook and clean up in a soup kitchen. Bringing hot meals to the single and elderly on holidays is another.
No, it's not broadband but some of us do give services and self. Of course, people who haven't accumulated any wealth will often say the things they'd do and have grand plans for their day in the Sun. The funny thing is, they don't realize how little something like a million dollars is these days. It seems like a lot. It isn't. I think that might be part of what you were getting at but, reading your first post, indicates (still - with rereading) that you imply that those who have been fortunate do not actually give of themselves and that, somehow, shareholders are the ones responsible for the bad shit. I, for instance, own a whole lot of a whole bunch of different companies and I can tell you - I've never once urged or asked a single one of those companies to do anything unethical in the name of maximizing profit. I've also gone to great lengths to aid those in need when and where it was reasonable to do so. It's the responsible thing to do.
RTFM! ;-) (I've always wanted to say that. I don't think I've ever actually said it - in referencing the actual man pages.
http://www.freedesktop.org/sof...
Fedora's got a good bit of documentation on it that goes beyond just the man pages:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki...
I'm generally a Lubuntu user so:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/system...
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/System...
That last link is really pretty good - it doesn't look like it, judging by the URL, but it's pretty good at giving some info. From the second link, the one to the Fedora site, there's a link on that page that's actually pretty good. It's worth a read and it's explaining why they, the Fedora project, are going (went) with systemd. I'll save you the time and add a direct link to that as well.
http://0pointer.de/blog/projec...
I paid for my copy, it's paper, but this site claims that is Creative Commons and has a link to both the book and the web code examples, it appears to be legit so I'm going to go ahead and link it. It's the 2015 (9th Edition) Linux Bible. I own a copy, as mentioned, in dead tree format and have been happy with it as both a browse/read and reference book. It has some information about systemd in it as well. You can download the copy and code examples, free of charge, at this site:
http://appnee.com/linux-bible-...
A quick look says that it's the same as my paper book so I'm assuming that the content is the same.
Keep in mind, I'm not a systemd aficionado or anything. I've just never had cause to hate it like everyone says I should. So, I did a bunch of reading and I've done a bunch of thinking, some poking and testing, and haven't had a problem with it. I learned a few new commands, they've come in handy, and I'm pretty happy with it - so far.
User phantomfive (here on this site) has been doing a code review of it. I believe he's at section 12 now. That might be worth a read. You can get to his account easily enough by simply changing the URL. This should work: http://slashdot.org/~phantomfi... and you can get to his journal from there. The navigation will be on the left but I suspect you know that.
If you need stuff to "just work please and thank you" then, well, my experience has been that it just works. I, too, am no expert and have been learning more and more as I go - that's exactly why I switched to using Linux exclusively. I simply wasn't learning anything any more. I was stagnant and, well, there wasn't much more to learn about Windows. I'd already done the MVP thing, I'd been awarded the award multiple years in a row in several categories. I gave up my participation, burned out really, and just paid for my own damned MSDN subscription. So, it's been serving that purpose nicely for a while now. I'm getting older, to the point where it's time for me to legitimately worry about maintaining cognitive functions. I'd become lethargic, a passive consumer, and was not happy with that state of affairs. Thus, the switch and the ensuing switch to using it exclusively because I found that, even dual booting, I'd still just boot to Linux and I rebooted so seldom that I was often in the middle of something and needing to return to Windows to finish it. So, Linux it is... I had managed Unix just fine, so off I went... It's been a fun ride.
As an interesting (to me) aside: It's amazing how quickly things become normal. I had the opportunity to sit in front of a Windows 10 system for a brief spell. I was lost for a while. I've also had one occasion to sit in front of a more familiar Windows 7 system and, still, I was lost. I'd actually f
I dunno about all that? I'm strongly inclined to make long-term investments because of tax rates. In the US, capital gains rates are only granted for long-term investments. Short-term investing is taxed at regular income tax rates. I also enjoy the rather lucrative act of helping people get small businesses running and, in return, I own a piece of their business. They can buy my share out, when they're able, or they can continue to rely on my having not spent the money that I've made from their business so that they can grow it further. I reduce my tax burden mostly by donating to charitable causes though I still pay a fairly large amount, it's not a very high percentage. I could actually pay less if I were more diligent or willing to put the effort into it. But no, I'm strongly given incentive to invest long-term.
A lot of people seem to think that investments are taxed at capital gains rates and that those rates are all low. That's not really true - it's never that simple where taxes are. Those short term investments are taxed at regular income rates, for example. I'm "wealthy" by your standards (probably) but not wealthy by some other folks standards. I'd be just fine to leave my money in a bank and collect the special interest rates that you get when you actually have a large sum of money in the bank. (Yes, I get a much better interest rate on savings accounts than you do.) However, that'd be plain retarded. It is so much easier to make your money work for you once you've accumulated some.
If by work, you mean spend a day down in the mine, then of course no wealthy person is going to bother going to work. If you think I'm unproductive or whatnot, I'd suggest you probably don't realize that, by extension, I keep quite a few people employed, pay hundreds - even thousands, of people's mortgages, send their kids to school and more. (Obviously not directly - but by investing in sound companies and risking losses with those investments, with bonds, or with straight up loans that I give to certain people who want to start or grow their business.
On the contrary, I'm strongly given incentive to put my money to work. Nobody just leaves it sitting idle, not if they're smart. Hell, this is where I like to use my favorite example... I have 2000 shares in Tesla. Yes, that's the correct number. I bought them when they were at about $24 each. I took a risk, a fairly sizable risk, and I've not yet capitalized on that risk. One of your favorite cars (probably) is partially made possible by my being willing to take the risks - and it's in my best interest to keep that investment in that company lest I be taxed at full income tax rates.
Not to mention, nobody ever paid those 'historical' figures. Shit, I barely have to pay taxes as it is. I can hire a specialist tax lawyer and I already employ an accountant. I could probably reduce my tax burden to nothing with a little bit of effort - and I'll always be able to do that. I pay taxes because I ought to, not because I have to. Heh... It's really, really easy to "lose" money and have no tax burden at all.
I'm not actually sure why you'd want to pay more in taxes, at any rate. The government really doesn't need more money - they need to budget better and stop bombing brown people. Perhaps a better example, better than your historic tax rates ('cause things were so much more equitable then) would be when J.P. Morgan bailed out the country.
No, I'll pay my social obligations by donations, thanks. I don't mind taxes - I'd even go so far as to say that I pay too little in taxes. However, I'm content with that 'cause it's not like they're gonna spend the money on doing anything useful. They'll take the few extra dollars and use it to float a loan for twice that many dollars and buy some bombers to bomb little brown men or put people in prison for smoking weed. I get to reduce my tax burden by donating to Habitat for Humanity, ACLU, EFF, Red Cross, Heifer International, and the local Maine chapter of the ACLU. I'm going with that until they stop wasting th