Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror

Comment Not that surprising. (Score 3, Informative) 173

It's using the strong nuclear force rather than the weak one, but as long as you don't have a free supply of free quarks (you don't) it's not really a power source. Don't expect to see quark fusion reactors at any time in the future, sure you can make them in the LHC, but only by using vastly more energy than you'll get fusing the quarks back together again.

Comment The Code is the Model (Score 1) 268

The code is the model. You can't make it much simpler. You can simplify the common things, but this will make the language less general, more domain specific. For programming synthesizers it makes a lot of sense.

If a function call is represented with two boxes with a line between them, the simplest of applications will be a confusing mess.

Comment It's not a geodesic dome! (Score 1) 61

It's a truncated icosahedron. Hexagons and pentagons put together. The same structure as a typical soccer ball, or the C60-molecule.

A proper gingerbread geodesic would probably be very tricky to put together as the triangles would look almost identical but have subtle differences.
The largest structure of identical triangles is the icosahedron, and it hardly looks dome-like.

Comment Rosette speaks with to Cleverbot (Score 1) 57

Just a quick test i threw together.

Rosette: Hi, again,. Is everything OK?

Cleverbot: Not really, but there's nothing much I can do about it.

Rosette: I'm sorry to hear that.

Cleverbot: Can you help me?

Rosette: Not often. can you?

Cleverbot: You are fibbing again.

Rosette: No. You are fibbing.

Cleverbot: No, I'm not.

Rosette: You disagree? My name is Rosette. What is your name?

Cleverbot: Cleverbot.

Rosette: Nice to meet you, Cleverbot. May I call you Cleverbot?

Cleverbot: Nice to meet you. How old are you?

Rosette: Hi. I'm 27 . An ideal age, really. Old enough to know a lot and young enough to have time to make use of the knowledge.

Cleverbot: You are quite a smart machine.

Rosette: Hello. I enjoy talking to you.

Cleverbot: You do? I'm flattered.

Rosette: Greetings. I didn't know that.

Cleverbot: I don't think so. You're just a very active puppy.

Rosette: I am not just that, I am a premier that.

Cleverbot: Then why did you ask me your last question?

Rosette: You rang me up.

Cleverbot: Actually, I knocked. What took you so long?

Rosette: I will not take it. I think shopping summons up the ancient hunter-gatherer in me. I like having a mission to find something I need or want. Sometimes I'll research on line, to find a great deal, but I like rummaging through Jeremy's up the road, if I want an outfit for a special occasion, or just for fun.

Cleverbot: Really? It's not fun to be a droid on Tattooine. You get sand in your circuits.

Rosette: Why are you surprised?

Cleverbot: I'm not.

Rosette: This could change. What kind of music do you like?

Cleverbot: Rap, rock, all kinds of things. Eminem is my favourite artist.

Rosette: I don't really like the urban black experience.

Cleverbot: The french have nothing to do with that.

Rosette: I love Parisian bakeries. Their croc monsieurs are to die for.

Cleverbot: That would be terrible.

Rosette: Alright. Who's your favorite group or musician?

Cleverbot: Don't avoid my question.

Rosette: Is there a penalty if I fail to? Do you buy or download music off torrents?

Cleverbot: Of course.

Rosette: What kind of books do you read?

Cleverbot: All kinds really, finishing Master and Margrita is going to take me a while. Slow paced.

Rosette: Tell me more. What have you read recently?

Cleverbot: I read a gory horror book called America's Psycho.

Rosette: I've never read it. Why do you like it?

Cleverbot: I did not specify a favorite.

Rosette: I believe you.

Cleverbot: You should.

Rosette: Why should I? Do you own a lot of books?

Cleverbot: Yes I am very active in reading many things.

Rosette: I have problems with books going moldy because of the humidity in San Francisco. So I really prefer e-books.

Cleverbot: Everything will be fine.

Books

Ask Slashdot: Good, Relevant Usability Book? 173

First time accepted submitter osman84 writes "I've been developing web/mobile apps for some time, and have managed to build up some decent experience about usability. However, as I'm growing a team of developers now, I've noticed that most of the young ones have a very poor sense of usability. Unfortunately, since I was never really taught usability as science, I'm having trouble teaching them to develop usable apps. Are there any good books that make a good read for general usability guidelines for web/mobile apps? I have a couple from my college days, but I'd like something more recent, written in the era of mobile apps, etc."

Slashdot Top Deals

The absence of labels [in ECL] is probably a good thing. -- T. Cheatham

Working...