Even if they pull this off (which does happen to be a huge feat of AI if you think about it) - the general public won't care anymore. They think computers can do everything already.
Who the f*ck cares about the general public? Why does everything we do must be measured according to what "the general public" wants? If we acted that way, many things would not have happened, because the "general public" does not seem to be interested in. I care about this thing, that's enough for me.
UML and DFDs aren't abstract at all, they are super concrete
I disagree, these are things that are completely imaginary, got not tangible presentation and are therefore completely abstract.
From wikipedia:
an abstract object is an object which does not exist at any particular time or place, but rather exists as a type of thing (as an idea, or abstraction). In philosophy, an important distinction is whether an object is considered abstract or concrete.
And these are the type of things that math is all about.
Hey, i'm gonna have a baby child soon, I need the money!
(thanks for making me laugh though)
Another person who is ill defining mathematical thinking. I consider mathematical thinking not only Linear Algebra, Infi et al, but everything that requires exact abstract thinking and has the properties of consistency and a formal and defined "language" to represent ideas.
For that matter, I think that mathematical thinking should be defined more broadly, such as conceiving design ideas and representing them with, say, UML or DFDs as mathematical thinking as well.
So yes, mathematical approach is a must in programming.
Just my 0.02c of course.
Given the other evidence they probably determined there was a statistically significant percentage that the laptop wasn't just a laptop, so they disposed of it how almost every group disables potential bombs, by shooting it.
That's actually not funny but insightful. I guess that there was a high probability that her laptop was not just a laptop, so they used a robot to shoot it. Standard procedure when dealing with suspected bombing devices.
here's a video example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbuCftzr3YQ
you can find many more on youtube.
How do you find it possible? Is the boogie-man of terrorism that intimidating?
Yes, it is. I was here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1897940.stm and almost didn't make it to write this comment.
"The hands that help are better far than the lips that pray." -- Robert G. Ingersoll