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Comment Re:I'd just like to know... (Score 1) 406

I have an assignment for both of you C-sprang-from-itself guys. Get a chicken egg from the source I specify. Write the letter 'U' on it. Hatch it. It will be a hen, because I have mad skills like that. Name the hen 'C'. When that hen is old enough to lay eggs, introduce it to a rooster and give them some privacy in whatever setting chickens find romantic. I don't know what that might be, but I think it's safe to assume it will be a space free of foxes and cats. That hen is your source. Wait for it to lay the egg from which it hatched, the one on which you already wrote 'U', you know, back before it hatched. Document your method and the results. When you manage that, get back to me with your data, sans semantic BS.

Comment Re:I'd just like to know... (Score 1) 406

"Obviously C wasn't used to build the OS that C was built on."

Actually.... C was pretty much was made as the language they were implementing Unix in (which was, of course, the operating system that C was built on.

In 1969 Dennis Ritchie started to create the C programming language for use with UNIX. He couldn't have created the OS on the computer on which he began creating C in C because he hadn't created it yet. If he created it on a UNIX machine, then he created C on an OS written in assembly language.

Comment I'd just like to know... (Score 3, Informative) 406

...who said you couldn't write an OS in C#, or that you couldn't write one without C? Obviously C wasn't used to build the OS that C was built on. And if that someone said they couldn't do it was their reason for doing it, quick, someone tell them that there isn't an OS written in COBOL and that they can't paint your house with a toothbrush. And no, if I say I think it's a waste of your time to paint a house with a toothbrush, it isn't because it's a Microsoft toothbrush or Microsoft paint or that you're painting a Microsoft house, it's because it's a frickin' toothbrush. By the way, I love how the FAQ link takes you to a page that tells you they moved the FAQ instead of just taking you there. It reminds me of all those links wannabe web designers did in the style If you'd like to read about Obvious Anchor Target click here.

Comment Re:As Seen on TV (Score 1) 374

You have to opt in for Google to get any information beyond your IP address, they are in charge of many of the communication channels you use if you choose to use those they control and they effectively control much of the information that you receive through them. How does any of that make them remarkably different from News Corp., Microsoft, Verizon or the like?

Comment Google's non-issue issue (Score 2) 374

Google's naming policy strikes me as a non-issue. It won't prevent anyone from publishing indirectly, by way of an out-of-area friend, which is safer option anyway if you're posting about a government that wishes to silence you. It seems to me that worst case, it creates an opening for Google's competitors. Last I checked there were still many of those. Were it a government decision it'd be a different matter.

Comment Re:Well, I *was* looking forward to watching this. (Score 1) 416

Have you seen the show? You're giving more credit than is due in suggesting any intent to teach or learn anything at all, let alone science. 500 bored, unfocused child volunteers as an analogue for an experienced, disciplined military unit? It's entertainment, not science. The goal is never really to prove or to disprove anything, it's to destroy stuff. The *cough* science *cough* is there to provide an excuse for destroying it. That's why when a few ounces of some common household substance doesn't blow something up you find them substituting 400 pounds of high explosive before show's end.
User Journal

Journal Journal: Live Earth shows us with what the road to hell is paved 1

Check your tire pressure. Replace your incandescent bulbs with florescent bulbs. Recycle. Use Biodiesel. These were some of the messages of Live Earth. 150 artists on 7 continents coming together, apparently to tell us "Do as I say, not as I do." How many of those artists own palatial mansions? How many of them own mansions that they staff and maintain but rarely visit? How many own or lease private jets? Limousines? Pool-sized jacuzzis?

Comment Re:ATT: Mathbots (Score 1) 322

<snip> It turns it out it's not much of an indicator of anything. Since first hearing about the study, I embarked on a study of my own, starting with guitarists, and then extending to just about everyone I met or saw. </snip>

The trouble with your study, and theirs, isn't with the size of the finger but the size of the sample. I'd love to see the results of yours get press though. There would be something oddly satisfying about a headline which read Study Finds No Particular Correlation Between Finger Sizes and Skill Sets. More satisfying, though, would be one that read Study Finds Researchers and Reporters Unduly Influenced by Statistical Anomalies. And neither would be a good name for a band.
Google

Submission + - Interview: how Google tweaks rank algorithm (nytimes.com)

nbauman writes: "New York Times interview with Amit Singhal, who is in charge of Google's ranking algorithm. They use 200 "signals" and "classifiers," of which PageRank is only one. "Freshness" defines how many recently changed pages appear in a result. They assumed old pages were better, but when they first introduced Google Finance, the algorithm couldn't find it because it was too new. Some topics are "hot". "When there is a blackout in New York, the first articles appear in 15 minutes; we get queries in two seconds," said Singhal. Classifiers infer information about the type of search, whether it is a product to buy, a place, company or person. One classifier identifies people who aren't famous. Another identifies brand names. A final check encourages "diversity" in the results, for example, a manufacturer's page, a blog review, and a comparision shopping site. If the user has signed in to Google, they can tell whether a search for "dolphins" is by a football fan or marine biologist. Examples of problems that Google identified and tweaked the algorithm to avoid: a search for "french revolution" returned too many results about the French presidential elections. A search for "teak patio palo alto" didn't return a store called the Teak Patio. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/business/yourmon ey/03google.html Inside the Black Box By SAUL HANSELL, June 3, 2007"

Feed Malfunctioning fax machine prints out bomb ClipArt, forces evacuation of area (engadget.com)

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

In any normal town across America there are countless faxes sent and received which feature poorly chosen ClipArt: why then must a promotional fax like the one pictured above fail to print out correctly -- leaving only a picture of a bomb -- in the town of Ashland Massachusetts, not far from the recent high profile Boston bomb scares? This innocent fax caused the evacuation of a dozen nearby businesses after it was received at a Bank of America branch, coinciding with what police said was the delivery of a suspicious package by a customer. The package turned out to merely be "papers," and the fax turned out to be a promotion counting down to an explosion event called "Small Business Commitment Week." Maybe next time the company behind the fax will be a little more wary of the consequences of inappropriately using bomb imagery, and the staff that received the fax will stop to consider whether a potential bomber would use an off-center and badly stretched ClipArt image of a bomb to illustrate their intent. Or, if the Aqua Teen Hunger Force farce is anything to go by, then everyone will blame the person responsible for maintaining the fax machine, and he/she'll appear on TV talking about hairstyles from the 70s.

[Thanks, George]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!


Feed Amp'd files for chapter 11 bankruptcy (engadget.com)

Filed under: Cellphones

We wish we could say we're surprised -- ok fine, we're always a little surprised when a company files for bankruptcy -- but it looks like Amp'd Mobile has filed chapter 11. We know the business has almost 200k subscribers, but apparently the business "couldn't keep up with the growth" -- but since when does growth and consumer interest in an MVNO's service equal business-rattling financial problems? Sounds like something weird is going on, but remember, chapter 11 just means down, not out. (Unlike the entirely out MobileESPN.) In other words, don't be surprised if Amp'd gets its business back in order and makes a triumphant return to the market -- or, you know, goes out of business entirely. [Warning: subscription req'd for link]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!


User Journal

Journal Journal: [Z80] Bit-stuffing card

Today, I completed constructing the Weather Station Card for my Z80 system, or the ALIAC2-WXIO. That's a rather posh title for something that's rather minimalist. It has an interface for the character LCD, plus two synchronous serial SPI ports (SPI is a serial bus, popular for interfacing single-chip sensors and other devices to small systems), and a TWI (synchronous two-wire serial interface). These two things are all 3.3v, since many of the little sensors available are 3.3v devices.

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