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pcof

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Space is Pretty Big 16 years ago

Actually, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy says it in its introduction.

"Space," it says, "is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly hugely mindboggingly big it is. I mean you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space. Listen ...". So, there.

I can't believe UK has only two companies (the Royal Non-Software Company and the Royal Software Company?). Apply for other positions in other software companies. Even non-software companies with strong IT departments have nice jobs, technically speaking. Specially the very large non-software companies, who also tend to look beyond your specific degree - a large company usually can afford a hiring process that will allow them to understand your abilities (regardless of your nominal college degree).

[dead] 17 years ago

Am I getting too old and grumpy or are the kids today getting too young and clueless? For the sake of Odin, it's Monday - even the Sumerians had problems with incompatible newline markers depending on the type of clay used to make the tablet. This is certainly not news and I sincerely hope it doesn't qualify as hacker either.

There are an infinite set of mathematical tricks available here, some of them so obfuscated that enforcement would probably need a few years to catch up. Not to forget that printing a hard copy of the bytes of an MP3 may even warrant you free speech protection (remember the reaction to the DeCSS legal issues, like printing it in T-shirts).

[dead] 17 years ago

Allright. It can run the Control Panel applet. What else? Notepad? At the same time?

I predict you will get a great deal of pythonic fire. Nevertheless, I find it very nice that you plan to deal with the specific libraries you're using in the next posts. The greatest problem in adopting CL seems to be the extremely decentralized (not to say disorganized) library spacs.

[dead] 17 years ago

I think I will need a botnet to fill that form...Anyone renting?

I had two issues, one during the upgrade process, the second with proprietary wireless network drivers. I upgraded a 3-years old HP laptop from Windows XP. My initial plan was to make it boot both systems, but the install hang up during repartition, destroying Windows. Oh, well, isn't that what Linux is for, to destroy Windows? The second problem was just an annoying non-issue, solved by finding the right aptitude incantations.

Apart from that, Karmic has been a cute little boy all along.

I would tend to believe that some significant portion of CIA tasks would require (or at least largely benefit from) some form of security clearance elsewhere in the world, which in turn would require (or at least largely benefit from) the said cleared person being a national from the country in question.

Otherwise I believe you are right in most cases. One would have to be rather naive to simply accept such an offer blindly.

Is it only me or the whole article reads, smells and looks like an hoax? Consider the evidence: a) "... are tuning the strength of the laser so that it kills mosquitoes without harming other insects or, especially, people." Laser barriers capable of killing people, directly out of the movies. b)"Each time the laser strikes a mosquito, the computer makes a gunshot sound. When the mosquito is hit, it bursts into flame and falls to the ground, and a thin plume of smoke rises." Go to Kongregate and you will find dozens of flash mini-games doing exactly that. c) "Other ideas include devices that disrupt the mosquitoes' senses of sight, smell, and heat; feeding them poisoned blood; infecting them with a genetically altered bacterium; and creating a malaria-free mutant to overtake the natural mosquitoes." I like "poisoned blood" most, because it can kill vampires too. But "Mutant mosquito from the outer space X bacteria controlled mosquitoes from hell" would be a blockbuster...

The cable nightmare should be enough to open up anyone's eyes. There's a line somewhere that companies should not cross in their willingness to protect their investments.. Apple trying to disallow other gadgets from using iTunes is one thing. You may or may not agree with it but it does not sound too weird. Standard cables are far, far beyond that line that should not be crossed.