Please create an account to participate in the Slashdot moderation system

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:Numeric equality in PHP (Score 1) 729

There's no particular reason to not have comparable values of different types

Sure there is - they have different types, therefore they're not equal. It's a ridiculous, useless operation, because it doesn't actually do anything more than always return false.

That said, there's good reason to have an "isSimilarTo" function, but that's not at all the same thing as equality.

Comment Re:bringing in more H1Bs will solve this problem (Score 1) 250

Actually, compiler theory is a great example of a language you can't easily learn in any language. The small lightweight structures it generates, and the referentially transparent transformations that you run those structures through lend it strongly to being done with functional languages, and if not, very close to the metal languages like C. Heavy weight OO languages tend to end up just causing you to write 3 tons of boiler plate, rather than actually learning the theory.

Comment Re:Probably not. (Score 1) 546

I wouldn't say that learning to code necessarily outweighs a degree. But I do think university courses are too heavily focused on theory, and not enough practical application.

The job of a university is to teach theory. These are not vocational collages, they are universities. The practice is meant to be something you are more than capable of teaching yourself if you're any good at the subject.

Comment Re:The diet is unimportant... (Score 1) 588

No, exercise is not it. I mean, it does burn calories. But it's far harder to get thin by exercising more than it is to do so by eating less.

For example, even a relatively fit person will walk at 4-5mph at most. At that speed, they'll do about 10,000 steps in an hour. That's one hour to burn a whole 400 calories. If they run, they might make that half an hour, but that assumes that their cardiovascular system is up to running for half an hour straight, which lets face it. No fat person's is.

Alternatively, they can make the same dent in their net calories for the day by simply not eating one chocolate bar.

Exercise is great for you - but it's great for getting fit. Not great for getting thin.

Comment Re:flywheel (Score 4, Informative) 245

There's a much easier solution, already in operation - pumped hydro power plants. They're hydro electric power stations, but when there's a surplus of supply, they pump water up into their reservoir. When peaks of power production are needed, they generate. They can be turned on at a moments notice (all it takes is opening a sluice, and dropping the water), and can store vast amounts of energy.

Medicine

States Allowing Medical Marijuana Have Fewer Painkiller Deaths 217

An anonymous reader writes: Narcotic painkillers aren't one of the biggest killers in the U.S., but overdoses do claim over 15,000 lives per year and send hundreds of thousands to the emergency room. Because of this, it's interesting that a new study (abstract) has found states that allow the use of medical marijuana have seen a dramatic reduction in opioid overdose fatalities. "Previous studies hint at why marijuana use might help reduce reliance on opioid painkillers. Many drugs with abuse potential such as nicotine and opiates, as well as marijuana, pump up the brain's dopamine levels, which can induce feelings of euphoria. The biological reasons that people might use marijuana instead of opioids aren't exactly clear, because marijuana doesn't replace the pain relief of opiates. However, it does seem to distract from the pain by making it less bothersome." This research comes at a time when the country is furiously debating the costs and benefits of marijuana use, and opponents of the idea are paying researchers to paint it in an unfavorable light.

Slashdot Top Deals

All seems condemned in the long run to approximate a state akin to Gaussian noise. -- James Martin

Working...