Comment Re:At first I thought this was something else... (Score 1) 325
There's another Principia: older and even more famous. Look it up.
Comment just awful (Score 4, Informative) 325
I don't know what's worse, dryly making fun of this kind of thing or even more dryly implicitly making fun the sheer number of folks that won't get the joke.
The review is by these guys: http://www.pacificbookreview.com/About-Us.php
It's a self-published crank book with a hilarious title. The guy might be mentally ill. It's just sad. I know times are tough but still, this Gary Sorkin guy should be ashamed of taking Kemp's money to promote the book.
Comment Re:What's the deal with eldavojohn (Score 1) 18
Some of us old farts have jobs and lives, you know.
Comment it's just not that hard (Score 1) 148
As the child of a Maori man with a Chinese woman! Do you start arguing that pepperoni pizza is a social construct every time someone comes up with a new topping combination?
Comment oh yes, not absolutely essential (Score 1) 609
At least, for much of what passes for professional programming. But in my very humble experience, the guys that brag the loudest that they've never needed any math to do any real-world programming are the ones who end up getting assigned stuff that involves very simple calculations---often just the correct use of libraries---and still manage to bung it up.
Comment Re:Is it worth it? (Score 1) 260
Short answer: no. If you need to open a document in a older file format, and Office is mangling it, openoffice.org is worth a try, but that's the luck of the draw. Office will generally do a better job of that, but not always.
If you have a version of Office without Powerpoint or Visio, the openoffice.org Impress and Draw programs are serviceable.
On the flip side, I'd be scared to do anything significant in the database thingy, because it has that "95% complete" quality that the contemporary free software world takes as an indication they're at a good point to do a total rewrite.
Comment hamsexy! (Score 2, Interesting) 215
Lots of that kind of amusement at http://www.hamsexy.com/
Comment the old common sense routine (Score 4, Insightful) 808
When a smart person does something stupid, it's because he lacks common sense. When a stupid person does something stupid, it's because he's stupid.
Why Netbooks Will Soon Cost $99 221
CWmike sends along a ComputerWorld piece which predicts that
"netbooks like the Asus Eee PC, the Dell Mini 9 and the HP 2133 Mini-Note will soon cost as little as $99. The catch? You'll need to commit to a two-year mobile broadband contract. The low cost will come courtesy of a subsidy identical to the one you already get with your cell phone. It's likely that HP is working with AT&T (they're reported to be talking), which announced a major strategic shift a couple of weeks ago that should result in AT&T stores selling nonphone gadgets that can take advantage of mobile broadband, including netbooks. What's more interesting is that low income and cheapskate buyers are starting to use iPhones as replacements or substitutes for netbook, notebook and even desktop PCs. The author's take: A very large number of people are increasingly looking to buy a single device — or, at least, subscribe to a single wireless account — for all their computing and communications needs, and at the lowest possible price."
Submission + - H-1B visa cap -- proposed increases
poshdev writes: There is a growing amount of discussion in the IT world on the topic of H-1B and L-1 visas. How are they being used, and what is the effect of the visa programs on the job market in the USA? On the economy in the USA? Will the visas enable the USA to remain on top technically, or will they merely fuel the increasing tendency for USA and other 1st world -based business interests to offshore their jobs to 3rd world countries such as India and China?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic le/2007/04/02/AR2007040201538.html
Feed Using the Web to navigate S.F. freeway collapse (com.com)
Blog: In the wake of a tanker truck crash that caused a freeway collapse in the San Francisco Bay Area, Web sites are offering photographs of the damage, as well as alternate routes for commuters.
Submission + - what sci magazines do you read?
BlackShirt writes: What science magazines do you read? I evaluated these and plan to subscribe The Scientific American. They had good stories about plasmonics and new look at human retina last month. Do you know any good european sci magazines? The internet is full of sci articles but I would prefer to read long text on the paper. What do you think? Do sci magazines have a future?
Submission + - Prehistoric man had sex for fun!
ectotherm writes: It turns out that sex has been for recreation as well as procreation for longer than we thought! A study shows that our prehistoric relatives were having sex purely for enjoyment, in addition to reproductive purposes. Details can be found at: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,269115,00.html So easy even a caveman can do it...
UK Voters Want To Vote Online 288
InternetVoting writes "A recent UK research survey by NTL:Telewest Business found that nearly half of the younger respondents would be more likely to vote online. This year the UK government has authorized 13 local election pilots including Internet voting. ntl:Telewest Business estimates 10 million UK households have broadband and 4,789 local libraries offer public access. In the US political parties are beginning to test the Internet voting waters with the Michigan Democratic Party to offer Internet voting in their 2008 Presidential Caucus. There were some notable differences in generational interest: 'The YouGov poll of almost 2,300 people, carried out on behalf of NTL:Telewest's business unit, found that younger voters were even more positive about the idea of alternatives to the trusty ballot box. 57 per cent of 18-34 year olds liked the idea of evoting, but only a third of the over 55s were as keen.' Given security and privacy concerns in the states, how likely is this to appeal to US voters? "
Google's Stomach Pangs - Adjusting to DoubleClick 98
An anonymous reader writes "C|Net is reporting on some trouble Google is having integrating DoubleClick into their family of products. External problems, like antitrust allegations and privacy concerns, are bad enough. The worst problems might come from within, though, as a division within DoubleClick was essentially created to game the very systems the Google search engine is founded on. '"Google is treading in dangerous waters right now," writes Ross Dunn of WebProNews.com. Google's search results "are supposed to be unbiased and highly relevant," but with Performics, "Google is put into the conflicted position of trying to generate profits by providing result-oriented organic ranking services for its own unbiased organic search results." The worry, in other words, is that Google's search results could be compromised by operating a division with an interest in skewing those results in favor of clients.' The article goes on to say how this Performics division is likely to be sold off to make sure everything stays above board."
