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Links October 2004

Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2004 10:51 pm
by quantus
Ig Nobel Prizes...

Herring communicate by passing gas

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/afp/20040927/ignobel.html

also, there's this:
It was a study called "The Effect of Country Music on Suicide" that garnered the prize for Medicine for Steven Stack of Wayne State University and James Gundlach of Auburn University.According to the study, published in Social Forces, "The results of a multiple regression analysis of 49 metropolitan areas show that the greater the airtime devoted to country music, the greater the white suicide rate."

Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 5:12 pm
by Peijen
From the sun vs. kodak law suit http://news.com.com/2100-1001-836322.html

Looks like kodak has patents for OOP, nicely done
Integration of data between typed objects by mutual, direct invocation between object managers corresponding to object types


Abstract
An object based data processing system including an extensible set of object types and a corresponding set of "object managers" wherein each object manager is a program for operating with the data stored in a corresponding type of object. The object managers in general support at least a standard set of operations. Any program can effect performance of these standard operations on objects of any type by making an "invocation" request. In response to an invocation request, object management services (which are available to all object managers) identifies and invokes an object manager that is suitable for performing the requested operation on the specified type of data. A mechanism is provided for linking data from one object into another object. An object catalog includes both information about objects and about links between objects. Data interchange services are provided for communicating data between objects of different types, using a set of standard data interchange formats. A matchmaker facility permits two processes that are to cooperate in a data interchange operation identify each other and to identify data formats they have in common. A facility is provided for managing shared data "resources". Customized versions of resources can be created and co-exist with standard resources. A resource retrieval function determines whether a customized or a standard resource is to be returned in response to each request for a resource.
Multitasking computer system for integrating the operation of different application programs which manipulate data objects of different types


Abstract
An object based data processing system including an extensible set of object types and a corresponding set of "object managers" wherein each object manager is a program for operating with the data stored in a corresponding type of object. The object managers in general support at least a standard set of operations. Any program can effect performance of these standard operations on objects of any type by making an "invocation" request. In response to an invocation request, object management services (which are available to all object managers) identifies and invokes an object manager that is suitable for performing the requested operation on the specified type of data. A mechanism is provided for linking data from one object into another object. A object catalog includes both information about objects and about links between objects. Data interchange services are provided for communicating data between objects of different types, using a set of standard data interchange formats. A matchmaker facility permits two processes that are to cooperate in a data interchange operation identify each other and to identify data formats they have in common. A facility is provided for managing shared data "resources". Customized versions of resources can be created and co-exist with standard resources. A resource retrieval function determines whether a customized or a standard resource is to be returned in response to each request for a resource.
Integration of data between typed data structures by mutual direct invocation between data managers corresponding to data types


Abstract
An object based data processing system including an extensible set of object types and a corresponding set of "object managers" wherein each object manager is a program for operating with the data stored in a corresponding type of object. The object managers in general support at least a standard set of operations. Any program can effect performance of these standard operations on objects of any type by making an "invocation" request. In response to an invocation request, object management services (which are available to all object managers) identifies and invokes an object manager that is suitable for performing the requested operation on the specified type of data. A mechanism is provided for linking data from one object into another object. A object catalog includes both information about objects and about links between objects. Data interchange services are provided for communicating data between objects of different types, using a set of standard data interchange formats. A matchmaker facility permits two processes that are to cooperate in a data interchange operation identify each other and to identify data formats they have in common. A facility is provided for managing shared data "resources". Customized versions of resources can be created and co-exist with standard resources. A resource retrieval function determines whether a customized or a standard resource is to be returned in response to each request for a resource.

Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 11:39 pm
by quantus
Quick, everyone stop using your PDeath processors and switch to AMD!
The company moved on to use "T5" for this upgrade because for the "T4" models, the word "four" is translated into a symbol that resembles the symbol for the word "death" in China and some other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Johnson said.
http://www.itworld.com/Comp/1255/041004flashpalm/

Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 11:49 pm
by VLSmooth
quantus wrote:Quick, everyone stop using your PDeath processors and switch to AMD!
The company moved on to use "T5" for this upgrade because for the "T4" models, the word "four" is translated into a symbol that resembles the symbol for the word "death" in China and some other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Johnson said.
http://www.itworld.com/Comp/1255/041004flashpalm/
Heh, I'm not surprised. The number four has far more negative connotations associated with it than thirteen for at least China and Japan. They're not making that up.

Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 11:49 pm
by quantus
Is this better than your current hosting plan Jonathan?

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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 2:21 pm
by Peijen
i wonder if their business plan is to get people to sign up then go backrupt, but it sure looks every good. if only i have something to put up on a website, i would've get it.

Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 4:15 pm
by Jonathan
Yeah, it's cheaper. There are several places that would be cheaper. Currently inertia is keeping me with Myrmid, as it has for the past several months.

Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 7:25 pm
by Jonathan
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f ... 93GPK1.DTL

Antimatter weapons! Yay! Um. Or boo.

Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:05 pm
by quantus
They should make antimatter grenades... It'd be like a cyanide pill, but better since you'd take out everyone within a city block of you too.

Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 2:44 am
by Jason
quantus wrote:They should make antimatter grenades... It'd be like a cyanide pill, but better since you'd take out everyone within a city block of you too.
That's what the terrorists are going to use in 70 years.

Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 9:17 pm
by Jonathan
http://alwaysblack.com/blackbox/bownigger.html

Good article about JK2: Outcast. Odd syntax can be chalked up to the Britishness of the author. SFW, though clearly, it uses the 'N' word.

Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 7:26 pm
by Jonathan
http://slate.msn.com/id/2107807/

Despite having lived in the Pacific Northwest for over two years, I still do not drink coffee. Every once in a while, I am reminded why.

Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 7:57 pm
by Dave
which is why 9 hour work days need to inclue 2 hrs of nap time :P

Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 9:30 pm
by quantus
man, I'd like 10 hour days much more if they included an hour of nap time even.

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 12:34 am
by Jonathan
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/featur ... wells.html

Interesting article comparing the state of the GOP under Bush to the state of the Democratic party under Carter. I'm in no position to validate the historical claims made in the article, but my bullshit detector is reading pretty low. Sounds legit, at least.

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 1:09 am
by Jonathan
http://homeusers.brutele.be/jpbardiau/

Hehehe. Probably NFSW (I haven't clicked on the link).

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 1:22 am
by Jonathan
http://www.shrovetuesdayobserved.com/flight.html

I'm pretty sure they quoted Asimov line-for-line.

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 2:51 pm
by Dave
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/10/08/school ... index.html

hehe when i read the headline i was like.. wow... I bet Bush felt he needed to scare the public to help support his election

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 10:47 pm
by Peijen

Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2004 4:30 pm
by Alan
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3728930.stm

There's nudity, but it's a painting and not pornographic so it should be work-safe.