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Comment Re:Natural selection? (Score 1) 52

by jedwidz (#42185653) Attached to: The Science of Roadkill

Hedgehogs here in NZ are a lot cockier than they were 30 years ago. They used to roll up into a ball when frightened (e.g., caught in headlights), but now they'll likely run away instead.

I also see them less as roadkill. I expect this is explained partly by smaller populations, due to loss of habitat, roadkill, disease, etc, but also behavioural change seems to be a factor.

This isn't science, just my anecdotal observation. If anyone has citations, please share.

Comment Re:Typical Crack-Smoking Article (Score 1) 526

by jedwidz (#42164039) Attached to: Steve Jobs Was Wrong About Touchscreen Laptops

Yup, that's the use case that gives you gorilla arm - vertical screen in front of you.

I suspect the claim that touchscreens on notebook give you gorilla arm are either fabrications or a genuine misunderstanding.

I doubt there's a big fundamental difference between touching a notebook screen and using a tablet, at least in terms of where the screen is. A lot of people prop their tablets up in a similar position to a notebook screen anyway.

One concern I do have is that the notebook needs to absorb the torque of a firm prod near the top of the screen. Having to be gentle in order to avoid tipping the notebook would lead to extra muscle strain.

At first glance this means the hinge needs to be extra stiff (and/or lockable), and the notebook base needs to be extra heavy (and/or anchored). Aside from the touchscreen consideration, these are all bad design for a notebook. A foldout back support, like on a photo frame, might be better.
Math

One Cool Day Job: Building Algorithms For Elevators 203

Posted by timothy from the getting-it-up-is-only-half-the-battle dept.
McGruber writes "The Wall Street Journal has an article about Theresa Christy, a mathematician who develops algorithms for Otis Elevator Company, the world's largest manufacturer and maintainer of people-moving products including elevators, escalators and moving walkways. As an Otis research fellow, Ms. Christy writes strings of code that allow elevators to do essentially the greatest good for the most people — including the building's owner, who has to allocate considerable space for the concrete shafts that house the cars. Her work often involves watching computer simulation programs that replay elevator decision-making. 'I feel like I get paid to play videogames. I watch the simulation, and I see what happens, and I try to improve the score I am getting,' she says."

Comment Re:Is Microsoft the Great Satan? Betteridge says (Score 1) 573

by jedwidz (#42135299) Attached to: Ask Richard Stallman Anything

I started out serious, but posted ironic.

I honestly thought that 'free software' was both 'as in beer' (distribution charges aside) and 'as in speech'. That makes it a brand new sense of the word, not yet in any dictionary - 'free' as in 'free software'.

But then a quick fact check revealed that 'free software' is just 'as in speech', and not 'as in beer'.

Sigh... maybe there really is no such thing as 'free software'. As in 'lunch'.

Comment Re:Video (Score 1) 287

by jedwidz (#42126849) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Which OSS Database Project To Help?

The silly thing is that having a default value of NULL and having no default value (effectively defaulting the default value to NULL) commonly aren't the same thing.

It's just the sort of nasty little corner case that breeds bugs. Like when many years ago Sybase's bulk loader entered random data when inserting NULL into a column with a default of NULL, and ruined our week. With no default, it would've worked fine.
Windows

Windows Blue: Microsoft's Plan To Release a New Version of Windows Every Year 712

Posted by Soulskill from the operating-systems-shouldn't-have-subscription-fees dept.
MrSeb writes "Way back in August, three months before the release of Windows 8, we learned about the existence of a project at Microsoft codenamed Blue. At the time it wasn't clear whether this was Windows 9, or some kind of interim update/service pack for Windows 8. Now, if unnamed sources are to be believed, Windows Blue is both of those things: a major update to Windows 8, and also the beginning of a major shift that will result in a major release of Windows every 12 months — just like Apple's OS X. According to these insiders, Blue will roll out mid-2013, and will be very cheap — or possibly even free, to ensure that 'Windows Blue [is] the next OS that everyone installs.' Exact details are still rather vague, but at the very least Blue will make 'UI changes' to Windows 8. The sources also indicate that the Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 SDKs will be merged or standardized, to further simplify the development of cross-platform apps. Perhaps more important, though, is the shift to a 12-month release cadence. Historically, Microsoft has released a major version of Windows every few years, with the intervening periods populated with stability- and security-oriented service packs. Now it seems that Microsoft wants to move to an OS X-like system, where new and exciting features will be added on an annual basis. In turn, Microsoft will drop the price of these releases — probably to around $25, just like OS X."

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