Years ago I worked as a developer for a subsidiary of Fujitsu. One day a colleague asked for my help.

The crux of the problem was that he was unfamiliar with the concept of a 'while' loop. Not the specific implementation in the language he was using, but the actual concept itself. He had some kind of computer science degree and he'd been working in the same team as me, as a developer, for at least two years.

It took me a while to realise what the problem was, as it never occurred to me that he might be unfamiliar with basic control flow. He sheepishly explained that the bulk of his degree was coursework (presumably he got some 'help') and that he'd been hammering square blocks into round holes for the last couple of years. From what I recall, whenever a while loop was appropriate he'd instead use a for loop with an extremely high upper limit and a break condition.

Neural nets! I know nothing about them, or indeed about anything much of practical value, but my understanding is that you take a neural net, place it in a tupperware container filled with sugared water, leave it near the radiator for six months and you have an artificial intelligence!

Granted, that's a bit vague, but so is most of the stuff I've read written by optimistic types who think that poking a neural net with a pointy stick will accomplish something useful.

Greg Egan covers exactly that topic nicely in "Learning to Be Me" (one of the short stories in the Axiomatic collection). Well worth a read, for those /. readers who don't already have a copy.

Roses are red
Violets are blue
All of my base
Are belong to you

(I didn't write it, but I think it's adorable)

No, seriously.

Given his history I suppose it's reasonable that he's against the burning of carbon-based fuels. Still, I'm not entirely comfortable with the idea of my nice comfy eco-friendly hammock being officially endorsed by the dream-ripper.

Yeah, I was wondering something similar - who gets the other 43%? And where did the number 57 come from?

People have been donating money to centos.org, presumably wishing to further the goals of the project. Is this money (plus the advertising revenue) still available for its intended purpose?

Not accusing anyone of anything, but this question is quite important and doesn't seem to be addressed in the update.

Tish and piffle. First thing you do once you've got a half-decent set is mortgage everything you can't use and buy as many houses for your set as you can possibly manage.

Don't know, but that's a cube of only about a quarter of a kilometre per side so I expect it could fit comfortably enough. You might need to knock a few buildings down but since we'll all be cremated I don't suppose anyone will mind.

I enjoy a challenge.