It's been like this since the P4/Foster Xeon:
Desktop->workstation/1P server->DP server->MP server.

This is the final spin of the Haswell line, Broadwell-EP Xeon's are set to launch at the end of the summer.

Uh, it's nearly as much CPU power (141 cores at 5.2GHz, but even more CISC that x86) as the current mainframe, zSeries hasn't been about brute CPU in decades, it's about balanced CPU and I/O combined with high QoS and absolute stability. As an example the Z13 has nearly 1GB of L4 cache in the I/O coprocessors.

Something like Steam's daisy wheel perhaps? It wouldn't be perfect since the only inputs would be cardinal directions instead of two separate input surfaces, but probably at least as fast as graffiti and probably more accurate.

You're thinking of the local water company with it's water filtering plants and pipes that lead directly to your home. That is not where fracking is happening. Fracking is done out where there isn't public water and sewer.

Hate to break it to you, but yes, fracking very much IS happening right in the middle of where there are water and sewer service. Both Cleveland and Pittsburgh, the 31st and 23rd largest MSA's in the country are right in the middle of the shale boom and both states have their department of natural resource (exploitation) overruling local control so there's plenty of drilling happening in the middle of communities (my town of 30k took the DNR to the state supreme court to try to block projects after we had several leaking wells contaminate drinking water and local streams)

..that's why I put the quantitative measure on those who generate a profit from their skill, or produce a profit on their time for others.

I am quite certain that curve is U-shaped.

If you're looking for people who generate a profit from their time, the curve is almost certainly U-shaped based on my now not-so-light 30+ years in the trenches.

Why is this any different than the population of other skilled professionals? You will see the same curve for musicians, for example; it's not necessarily about being able to eventually get the skill, but it's about doing so in a reasonable efficient amount of time proportional to the effort expended.

In terms of actually learning, the guy probably has a point - eventually, I could learn to play the violin - but having tried, I'm never going to do it professionally.

Ask me to develop OMAP firmware or drivers, otoh..

Cisco is all about software defined, from the Nexus 1000V (full on virtual), to the fact that every single Nexus switch sold today can be controlled through a robust REST based API Cisco has bought the software defined religion. The issue for them is that if you take away their special sauce then you can get 90% of the performance for 10% of the cost and probably 5% of the annual support costs through merchant silicon. Then again as a midsized enterprise I have zero need for a software defined featureset (the 1000V has some potential uses for us, but since it requires Enterprise Plus on the VMWare side and that would be a high 5 to 6 figure expense there's no way it's worth it) , I need a reliable and well supported platform with lots of other folks hitting on it harder than me so that they can find the bugs and have them fixed before I go to the next featuretrain upgrade. There's a reason that folks go with the big players, and it's not that they offer better phone support (dear lord do the not), it's that due to some sort of corollary to the many eyeballs theory if you have many defacto testers you find the bugs faster and get them ironed out before a large percentage of your userbase runs into them (generally).

He's probably talking about a fresh install, not an upgrade. During the first stage GUI installer it won't even ask you if it detects a SLIC key, there are ways around it but it's basically doing the hokey pokey blindfolded for all the advanced user friendliness it provides (ie we know better than you mere mortal)

I don't know if the installer somehow determined a preset key based on a unique identifier associated with the computer itself
It did, for large volume OEM's Microsoft has them burn the key into the BIOS which is why most don't come with the hologram sticker anymore, there's no need for it on Vista+ systems. The only problem it can sometimes cause is if you're doing a cross version and cross type install without an existing OS on the box (ie it came with 7 home and you're doing an upgrade install of 8.1 Enterprise)

Unlike internal combustion engines, electric brushless motors can last pretty much forever. Drivetrain wear is probably the #1 reason cars depreciate in value. If there's no wear, there's no depreciation.

ahem, about that.

Three drive train replacements in 30k in an ICE vehicle would qualify it under probably every states lemon laws.

I have two cable companies, U-Verse, and a WiSP available at my house, though only the competitive cable provider interests me since I have no desire to deal with any big telco at home since I deal with them way too much at work and the WiSP has some fairly restrictive limits on usage relative to my families usage (~200GB/month and we haven't even cut the cord yet, if we do I expect that to roughly double).

Actually, you generally can't choose DSL providers anymore since the FCC stripped state utility commissions of the power to force naked DSL offerings to CLECs by the ILECS (FCC 05-78).

My buddy who lives in the hill country (near Dripping Springs) uses a WiSP for his connection and uses T-Mobile's WiFi calling since literally no provider offers service at his ranch. If you want something a bit more convenient than the cell download two-step perhaps look to see if they're available in your part of the hill country =)

It is not about diversity of opinions, opinions are like assholes, everyone has them, it is about what you can prove. You are free to have an opinion and to argue for it but when it is bat shit crazy or based on FUD and propaganda adults can listen long enough to know you have no idea what you are talking about and then ignore you.

This is the exact opposite of liberalism btw but you and Turdblossum always attack other people's strengths. You will never PROVE anything related to something as complex as the climate all you can do is get close enough to make an educated guess. Is Earth warming due to non-human activities yes quite probably. We are in an ice-age right now, granted the very end of one. Every time it has started to really end a large scale fresh water even has refrozen the north pole. This has created abnormally uniform temperatures for about the last 10,000 years. Maybe the only reason wee have civilization is due to ABNORMALLY consistent conditions. If if we can't prove anything at all do you want to RISK climate change that makes it unreasonably hard for us to keep doing the things we like? You know like eating, fucking, and watching TV. As for what you think you're talking a out the LONG carbon cycle is controlled by volcanoes, erosion, shellfish and subduction. The reason fossil fuels are bad is because they are artificial volcanoes that are speeding up the total carbon in the system. C02 is a greenhouse gas. Look up a text book from the 1950s before conservatives conflated FREEDOM with fossil fuels and check. What are you defending anyway? FREEDOM! or just the interests of the most profitable system in human history.

The REAL idea of liberalism is"That makes me uncomfortable because it might lead to me rethinking my position, TAKE IT IN AND TEST FOR TRUTH AND REALITY !" Conservatism either American or Religious is the castle keep defense of the intellect. You lake the meta cognition skill to know that the thing you hate the most you are most guilty of your self. That is epistolic cloture, that is FOX. It is also why you lake the nuts to even use an anonymous internet name instead of AC because you will never actually listen to anyone else's answer, you will just wait impatiently for your turn to blather.

https://www.psychologytoday.co...