I wonder why these companies seem to prefer dogs over other critters. Why not a robot platypus, squirrel or iguana? what makes a robot dog better than other animal?
I sympathize with you, and furthermore my word of advice for all US citizens out there is to fight heartly for your right of privacy and free will if these rights are under threat by any means. This comes from someone who has seen the excesses of power all too often.
I am Venezuelan and those of the/. community that follow world news closely may know what is that our people are currently going through and why I talk like this. I've heard many gruesome police stories (not limited to Venezuela, but unfortunately common in latin america as a whole) If you refuse to collaborate with an officer like you did, he will consider apprehending you by force if motivated. As the judiciary is corrupted, impunity is a great possibility unless you come from a wealthy or influential family which is not the case of most of us. And believe me, these jails are as closest to hell you could be before dying.
Furthermore, if things go really nasty, he could even waste you away, "plant" some drugs, put a gun in your hand and make it look like a confrontation. I won't generalize, but as happens all too often, people as a rule fear the police as much as thieves and bandits. You can't tell who could be potentially nastier.
So, in my case if it happens with me in a latin american city (as it has) I'll let him open and check my bag.
Microsoft is definitely a newcomer in the territory of designing applications for this market.
On the other hand, most industrial robots for Welding/Automotive/Manufacture production are basically soulless drones that follow repetitive sequences of greater/lesser complexity written in ladder logic or some proprietary language; and the "brains" is generally a PLC. Popular proprietary PLC systems (Rockwell, Siemens) rely on Windows based software to download your ladder logic program and update the firmware. So it's still Windows after all.
So in theory, this is a market where microsoft should not encounter much trouble.
I believe most/.'s are concerned over high end robotics programming; truly making decisions, neural network based, AI, vision controlled ones, path finding...'top of the heap' applications that are non mainstream and limited to research or hi-tech chemical/petroleum/aerospace industries. I don't know much about numbers, but I doubt that this is makes up a significant market share, even today. So I'm betting Microsoft eyes may be set upon the first option, as most plant floor operations are becoming fully automated even in developing countries.
-- forget past mistakes, and condemn yourself to repeat them.
I've always had this point of view all my life. I'm latin american so it's very easy to contrast fellows from extreme opposite social backgrounds in any main avenue; from what Ive seen, people that grow up in shanty towns, with no vitamins, poor diets and other problems have by average stronger, agile and toughier body types than more fortunate individuals.
Kind of odd, but its not uncommon to read news about a young high profile kid die from an asthma fit. On the other side another one survives from four shots and a head crash in a hold up in some poor neighborhood.
I once read an article about the possibilities of engineering butterfly wing patterns to produce, lets say, a well known brand logo. So you could have swarms of live "nike", "samsung" banners fluttering all over your garden.
Guess this means we are one step closer to such reality. this is so Dystopian.
perhaps the/. community is missing the whole point of "complexity" in its own geekiness. Its simplification for the CUSTOMER what companies pursue most, and not much for us drones, code writers.
Simplification in these terms mean that most daily tasks expected to be solved with a computer won't need rocket scientists for their completion. A very average person should be able to do them. That's the point vs most other OS flavours agains windows/mac. I should be able to do power tasks focusing on the TASK details and not on the TOOL details (a PC in this case).
So, graphical interfaces are a step forward; but it's not the holy grail. I believe an overhaul of today's GUI strategies is long overdue; us humans communicate through sound, eye contact and body posture, rather than click and pointing, and typing. I expect a PC to be able to do this in a near future. That is a step forward against complexity.
will be miniaturized robotic spiders for ground assistance in drone aerial operations, able to perfom warrant searchs in difficult locations. Maybe even identify suspects through retina scanning and race profiling.
What a great idea for a movie! we could call it "Minority Report"! oh, wait..nevermind.
jajaja. "Balónpie" truly sounds awkward in spanish, and almost nobody calls it like that (spaniards perhap?). Anyway, sports and traditions are not usually translated. It would be equally awkward to demand translation from anglo readers for, let's say "salsa" and "merengue"? :
hey, let's party! feel like dancing some "sauce" and "whipped cream desert" tonight!
jaja.
Hum. This comment may start a flamewar. "Brasil" is considered the rightful word for the country by the natives, as the original name comes from portuguese "Pau Brasil" a tropical plant used for timber and principal export during colonization times. The "Brasil" vs "Brazil" is someimes raised as a flag of nationalism against anglo-saxon alienation, much associated with the latter name.
As far as I know, the "Ghost" movie title wasn't ever translated in most hispanic countries. At least not in Venezuela. If it ever were, they would come up with some cheesy title in spanish such as "Immortal Love" or something. You should get yourself some fun and check out the lousy translations for several well known movies.
Anyway, I believe that most Venezuelan readers will recall "El Fantasma" as "The Phantom", the sunday papers comic strip about a masked guy with a skull ring.
However, It is quite revolting that the US, being the only country to ever use atomics as real weapons against people, assumes by itself the status of "World Police". I dont feel a bit comfortable with fundamentalists getting hold and controlling this kind of technology (arguably useless by itself - as no victory is assured) let them be from whatever sect or religion. Even those "intelligent design" nuts that proliferate in the US.
And just to add a little steam: remember that the right name is USA - "America" includes us guys too, your neighbors from Rio Grande to Patagonia.
What about native americans? (talking about the WHOLE continent you know) Aztecs, Mayans and Incas made astonishing discoveries and had modern services even by today's standards. What about the postal system in the Andes mountains delivered by runners? Some sources (unreliable to an extent) point out that these cultures designed weaving mechanisms about the same time as in the west. I wonder how many equivalents of Anykythera mechanisms are still under the soils of Mexico, Guatemala or Peru.
These guys were very good at it: Solar calendars, hex numeric systems, rudimentary "gliders" modelled in gold, breathtaking art, rich mythology, astronomy, ladder irrigation systems, chocolate!...Even today in Latin America, because of euro-centric history, this part of our history is barely glimpsed at in schools, and very seldom someone brings them up in ancient history discussions. Truly, Alexandria's library was a great loss and I share the view that the world's path could be different if the "dark ages" had never come; but I get the same feeling about this beautiful paradise before the "conquistadores".
I wonder how will they clean up the "worm" before each "application"...Just a dip into alcohol wont be enough...and I don't feel like mixing my crap with someone else's.
Wrapping it up in plastic wont help..it will hinder its locomotion.
"Hey nurse, is the worm ready?
huh, not yet doc..just a minute, still scrubbing some tomato peel off the lens..."
*yikes*
I've known for years how sensitive can this topic be to many developers. its like discussing religions + politics and who's girlfriend is prettier.
Anyway, I still believe that today's programming scenario is much more levelled than 5-10 years ago; everyone is generally dancing the OOP waltz and most available tools offer the same overall features and power. *However* as much as this is true to me, each language has better focus on a particular business segment. If you're attempting to sell a regular store cash management app to earn your daily bread, C++ or Java will be probably be clumsy choices. Perhaps you'll be starved by the time you whip up a decent GUI or fully understand the requirments. That's where VB or Delphi (sniff...already missing her) come into action, offering OOP leverage as well.
In my humble opinion, my brain treats software development as teamwork, so if I was to make a choice between tools I'd prefer one that offers me a friendly, productive IDE and clear, easy to maintain syntax that most people can understand in a glimpse and not a string of Mayan cryptographic symbols:
if ( Box = open ) and ( not IsEmpty ) then..
rather than
if (Box == open && IsEmpty != false;...
With all respect to all the skilled Java, C++, C# programmers out there, I can't understand the practical use of weird characters as standard logical operators, case sensitiveness or excessive sintactical complexity tradition in these tools other than being a geeky "macho" thing for self assurance by their creators.
Most problems with software (as with the world itself) come from inside the head of guy that writes the code and not from the language used.
---
If heaven gives you lemons, learn to make lemonade.
Re:How to make sure your data is not readable
on
Online Revenge
·
· Score: 1
That is not completely failproof. It's better to dismount the drive, grab the disk with the gravity gun and dip'n churn it around in a pool of nail polish. For extra safety, replace all bytes with little FF's by engraving with a Dremmel (using a firm, regular circular motion please).
Our society does not have severe problems with people running around with assault rifles and rocket launchers (sure there are isolated cases, but the sexual problems in our society are many orders of magnitude greater).
Well, I dont want to show some prejudice here, but to many folks in the southern cone, images of US citizens buying assault guns and six packs in the corner store minutes before going postal at their jobs are somewhat common stereotypes (I see the puffs of black smoke rising!)...I still believe its much better to encourage safe sex and jokes than random violence. And for your enlightment, the whole *p l a n e t* has become a violent place. Including the US.
Slashdot Mirror
If girls in sexy garments and passionate kissing is what you're after, there's a better option than switzerland: come to Brazil.
No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.
I wonder why these companies seem to prefer dogs over other critters. Why not a robot platypus, squirrel or iguana? what makes a robot dog better than other animal?
I sympathize with you, and furthermore my word of advice for all US citizens out there is to fight heartly for your right of privacy and free will if these rights are under threat by any means. This comes from someone who has seen the excesses of power all too often.
/. community that follow world news closely may know what is that our people are currently going through and why I talk like this. I've heard many gruesome police stories (not limited to Venezuela, but unfortunately common in latin america as a whole) If you refuse to collaborate with an officer like you did, he will consider apprehending you by force if motivated. As the judiciary is corrupted, impunity is a great possibility unless you come from a wealthy or influential family which is not the case of most of us. And believe me, these jails are as closest to hell you could be before dying.
I am Venezuelan and those of the
Furthermore, if things go really nasty, he could even waste you away, "plant" some drugs, put a gun in your hand and make it look like a confrontation. I won't generalize, but as happens all too often, people as a rule fear the police as much as thieves and bandits. You can't tell who could be potentially nastier.
So, in my case if it happens with me in a latin american city (as it has) I'll let him open and check my bag.
Microsoft is definitely a newcomer in the territory of designing applications for this market.
/.'s are concerned over high end robotics programming; truly making decisions, neural network based, AI, vision controlled ones, path finding...'top of the heap' applications that are non mainstream and limited to research or hi-tech chemical/petroleum/aerospace industries. I don't know much about numbers, but I doubt that this is makes up a significant market share, even today. So I'm betting Microsoft eyes may be set upon the first option, as most plant floor operations are becoming fully automated even in developing countries.
On the other hand, most industrial robots for Welding/Automotive/Manufacture production are basically soulless drones that follow repetitive sequences of greater/lesser complexity written in ladder logic or some proprietary language; and the "brains" is generally a PLC. Popular proprietary PLC systems (Rockwell, Siemens) rely on Windows based software to download your ladder logic program and update the firmware. So it's still Windows after all.
So in theory, this is a market where microsoft should not encounter much trouble.
I believe most
--
forget past mistakes, and condemn yourself to repeat them.
point taken. However, what I tried to convey is my impression that guys raised in hostile environments tend to be toughier.
of course, you have the right to take this with a grain of salt.
I've always had this point of view all my life. I'm latin american so it's very easy to contrast fellows from extreme opposite social backgrounds in any main avenue; from what Ive seen, people that grow up in shanty towns, with no vitamins, poor diets and other problems have by average stronger, agile and toughier body types than more fortunate individuals.
Kind of odd, but its not uncommon to read news about a young high profile kid die from an asthma fit. On the other side another one survives from four shots and a head crash in a hold up in some poor neighborhood.
I guess this is called survival of the fittest.
I once read an article about the possibilities of engineering butterfly wing patterns to produce, lets say, a well known brand logo. So you could have swarms of live "nike", "samsung" banners fluttering all over your garden.
Guess this means we are one step closer to such reality. this is so Dystopian.
Slide rulers are antiques, seen just one in my whole life. These days they should fling PDA's or HP49g's around.
perhaps the /. community is missing the whole point of "complexity" in its own geekiness. Its simplification for the CUSTOMER what companies pursue most, and not much for us drones, code writers.
Simplification in these terms mean that most daily tasks expected to be solved with a computer won't need rocket scientists for their completion. A very average person should be able to do them. That's the point vs most other OS flavours agains windows/mac. I should be able to do power tasks focusing on the TASK details and not on the TOOL details (a PC in this case).
So, graphical interfaces are a step forward; but it's not the holy grail. I believe an overhaul of today's GUI strategies is long overdue; us humans communicate through sound, eye contact and body posture, rather than click and pointing, and typing. I expect a PC to be able to do this in a near future. That is a step forward against complexity.
will be miniaturized robotic spiders for ground assistance in drone aerial operations, able to perfom warrant searchs in difficult locations. Maybe even identify suspects through retina scanning and race profiling.
What a great idea for a movie! we could call it "Minority Report"! oh, wait..nevermind.
Sounds like a great plot for a movie..or a game! lets call it "Half Life 2"! oh, wait...nevermind.
please define "work ethic".
jajaja. "Balónpie" truly sounds awkward in spanish, and almost nobody calls it like that (spaniards perhap?). Anyway, sports and traditions are not usually translated. It would be equally awkward to demand translation from anglo readers for, let's say "salsa" and "merengue"? : hey, let's party! feel like dancing some "sauce" and "whipped cream desert" tonight! jaja.
Hum. This comment may start a flamewar. "Brasil" is considered the rightful word for the country by the natives, as the original name comes from portuguese "Pau Brasil" a tropical plant used for timber and principal export during colonization times. The "Brasil" vs "Brazil" is someimes raised as a flag of nationalism against anglo-saxon alienation, much associated with the latter name.
Perhaps it would be easier to give mother Gaia a black dress. Old wive's tales say black makes you thinner. *[ducks]*
As far as I know, the "Ghost" movie title wasn't ever translated in most hispanic countries. At least not in Venezuela. If it ever were, they would come up with some cheesy title in spanish such as "Immortal Love" or something. You should get yourself some fun and check out the lousy translations for several well known movies.
Anyway, I believe that most Venezuelan readers will recall "El Fantasma" as "The Phantom", the sunday papers comic strip about a masked guy with a skull ring.
Actually, these actions conform to US cold war period agenda of mutual assured destruction (check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutually_assured_dest ruction/ ) which is basically a form of Nash Equilibrium.
However, It is quite revolting that the US, being the only country to ever use atomics as real weapons against people, assumes by itself the status of "World Police". I dont feel a bit comfortable with fundamentalists getting hold and controlling this kind of technology (arguably useless by itself - as no victory is assured) let them be from whatever sect or religion. Even those "intelligent design" nuts that proliferate in the US.
And just to add a little steam: remember that the right name is USA - "America" includes us guys too, your neighbors from Rio Grande to Patagonia.
What about native americans? (talking about the WHOLE continent you know) Aztecs, Mayans and Incas made astonishing discoveries and had modern services even by today's standards. What about the postal system in the Andes mountains delivered by runners? Some sources (unreliable to an extent) point out that these cultures designed weaving mechanisms about the same time as in the west. I wonder how many equivalents of Anykythera mechanisms are still under the soils of Mexico, Guatemala or Peru.
These guys were very good at it: Solar calendars, hex numeric systems, rudimentary "gliders" modelled in gold, breathtaking art, rich mythology, astronomy, ladder irrigation systems, chocolate!...Even today in Latin America, because of euro-centric history, this part of our history is barely glimpsed at in schools, and very seldom someone brings them up in ancient history discussions. Truly, Alexandria's library was a great loss and I share the view that the world's path could be different if the "dark ages" had never come; but I get the same feeling about this beautiful paradise before the "conquistadores".
We were kings!
I wonder how will they clean up the "worm" before each "application"...Just a dip into alcohol wont be enough...and I don't feel like mixing my crap with someone else's. Wrapping it up in plastic wont help..it will hinder its locomotion. "Hey nurse, is the worm ready? huh, not yet doc..just a minute, still scrubbing some tomato peel off the lens..." *yikes*
Wombats surely beat gerbils anyday for many guys out there. *ducks*
Or in some cases deliver pleasure. Yikes. *shudder*
I've known for years how sensitive can this topic be to many developers. its like discussing religions + politics and who's girlfriend is prettier.
...
Anyway, I still believe that today's programming scenario is much more levelled than 5-10 years ago; everyone is generally dancing the OOP waltz and most available tools offer the same overall features and power. *However* as much as this is true to me, each language has better focus on a particular business segment. If you're attempting to sell a regular store cash management app to earn your daily bread, C++ or Java will be probably be clumsy choices. Perhaps you'll be starved by the time you whip up a decent GUI or fully understand the requirments. That's where VB or Delphi (sniff...already missing her) come into action, offering OOP leverage as well.
In my humble opinion, my brain treats software development as teamwork, so if I was to make a choice between tools I'd prefer one that offers me a friendly, productive IDE and clear, easy to maintain syntax that most people can understand in a glimpse and not a string of Mayan cryptographic symbols:
if ( Box = open ) and ( not IsEmpty ) then..
rather than
if (Box == open && IsEmpty != false;
With all respect to all the skilled Java, C++, C# programmers out there, I can't understand the practical use of weird characters as standard logical operators, case sensitiveness or excessive sintactical complexity tradition in these tools other than being a geeky "macho" thing for self assurance by their creators.
Most problems with software (as with the world itself) come from inside the head of guy that writes the code and not from the language used.
---
If heaven gives you lemons, learn to make lemonade.
That is not completely failproof. It's better to dismount the drive, grab the disk with the gravity gun and dip'n churn it around in a pool of nail polish. For extra safety, replace all bytes with little FF's by engraving with a Dremmel (using a firm, regular circular motion please).
This should do the trick. And its cheaper too.
---
Our society does not have severe problems with people running around with assault rifles and rocket launchers (sure there are isolated cases, but the sexual problems in our society are many orders of magnitude greater).
Well, I dont want to show some prejudice here, but to many folks in the southern cone, images of US citizens buying assault guns and six packs in the corner store minutes before going postal at their jobs are somewhat common stereotypes (I see the puffs of black smoke rising!)...I still believe its much better to encourage safe sex and jokes than random violence.
And for your enlightment, the whole *p l a n e t* has become a violent place. Including the US.