algorias

25 ms·

241.
by algorias 14y ago
Even without doing any filesystem tricks, the challenge seems quite possible. While it's true that writing a compressor that compresses all input data is impossible, this barrier is removed because the compressor only needs to work on a sin
242.
by algorias 14y ago
I had never heard of probabilistic programming languages and was intrigued but unfortunately also rather confused by the submission. So thank you for the excellent pointer.
243.
by algorias 14y ago
Doesn't the open source movement overlap quite heavily with the ideals of free software? I know there are also significant differences, specially the tolerance of proprietary code. I'm not trying to start a flamewar here, just honestly curi
244.
by algorias 14y ago
Allow me to be a bit provocative: Level 5: your work doesn't exist until it has been formally proven to be correct. It's obvious that the amount of effort involved in this is so huge that it should only be considered in a select few problem
245.
by algorias 14y ago
> To save you keystrokes, Vmail provides alternative key mappings for ,* , ,#, and ,! Unfortunately, vmail doesn't seem to consider internationalization important at all. US users save a single press of the shift key when starring messa
246.
by algorias 14y ago
Right, and the affected people's right to privacy be damned...
247.
by algorias 14y ago
A one time pad consumes as many bits as the message length. It has nothing to do with the bits of information that can theoretically be stored in a deck of cards.
248.
by algorias 14y ago
That is because the present value of $320m paid back over a year is less than $320m. Still a pretty rough deal for them, though. Having cashflow issues sucks.
249.
by algorias 14y ago
That's true, but established artists might have some leverage. If they get fed up enough, they will start looking for alternatives.
250.
by algorias 14y ago
>How does your democracy remove corporate bribes from the equation? How do people, in aggregate, push specific issues with their legislators? By voting for all issues directly, like it's done here in switzerland. Other systems where you
251.
by algorias 14y ago
you might be interested in "the fractal geometry of nature" by benoit mandelbrot.
252.
by algorias 14y ago
If prices are actually expected to drop, that should already be factored into the price of hedging the commodity.
253.
by algorias 14y ago
I think a lot of people appreciate the move MS made while simultaneously condemning them for their casual appropriation of a term having a well-established meaning. They've updated the blog post in the meantime, so this is a non-issue. Reso
254.
by algorias 14y ago
This is not unprecedented in animals, green sea slugs are capable of making use of the chloroplasts in the algae they eat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elysia_chlorotica
255.
by algorias 14y ago
Maybe it's just a difference in interpretation of language, but for me, a fast food joint is definitely NOT a restaurant. The tone of the story also clearly implied it was an actual restaurant, nothing fast about it.
256.
by algorias 14y ago
that's irrelevant since you have 2 strands that are mirror copies of each other. just prefix your data with a single A, if it's read as a T, just invert the bits of the rest of the strand.
257.
by algorias 14y ago
when you go to a restaurant, aren't you implicitly trusting most of their staff? if i couldn't trust some company to take care of my phone for an hour, i certainly wouldn't trust them to serve me food.
258.
by algorias 14y ago
Valve provides the connections and environment of trust without which spontaneous order can't occur. It also flattens peoples risk profile (lower risk, lower reward), which is actually quite desirable for most human beings.
259.
by algorias 14y ago
maybe related to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosopagnosia ?
260.
by algorias 14y ago
And then a cheating client will be developed that uses the information in these "alternate timeline" frames to alert you of enemies around the corner, etc. I'm not saying that's catastrophic, but I think the impossibility of cheating is one
261.
by algorias 14y ago
Sure, that will happen at some point. Don't hold your breath though; evolution works over extremely long timescales (hundreds if not thousands of generations)
262.
by algorias 14y ago
>many technical types who aren't really mathematicians can do that because they've read enough popular math books. Well, fizzbuzz doesn't exactly require a masters degree either. Proving sqrt(2) is irrational requires at least some unde
263.
by algorias 14y ago
Except not all competitors have equal access to them, which is a huge difference. Other sporting equipment is much less affected by this problem, and disciplines eventually converge to an equilibrium point where all serious athletes are usi
264.
by algorias 14y ago
not necessarily. even if the expected value of taking a risk is positive, taking the risk can be undesirable, e.g. due to large variance. statistical distributions that include a risk aversion parameter exist precisely to model this kind of
265.
by algorias 14y ago
Comparing favorably against a subset of a language that noone uses as such sounds pretty pointless. More interesting would be a comparison with pypy.
266.
by algorias 14y ago
Economically speaking there is no difference between losing money and not making money, but socially there's a clear distinction. You're not automatically indebted to someone just because they built something you want. No value is lost when
267.
by algorias 14y ago
Well it is definitely a reason why the alternative offered isn't a good one. lots of things people do have "silly" social reasons, so don't dismiss those factors out of hand. Also, "taking money from the pockets of others" is an incredibly
268.
by algorias 14y ago
That's just not true. most people who buy Starcraft 2, for example, only use it to play the single player mode, even thought SC2 is even closer to a pure multiplayer game than Diablo. Forcing you to be online at all times leads to terrible
269.
by algorias 14y ago
That's a good question, and in fact it's precisely the reason why downloading is explicitly legal here in Switzerland.
270.
by algorias 14y ago
What I do now when I'm approached like this is asking them to return the money to me in some way (e.g. send it back in an envelope or sth). That way you get feedback and the whole thing turns into a fun little game of seeing how good a judg

More ›