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Old 2010-12-16, 20:29   Link #10721
Vexx
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 66
Quote:
Originally Posted by justinstrife View Post
Bingo. Every single soldier, from every branch of the armed services, swears to defend the Constitution. Not just from foreign invaders, but also from internal enemies. Whether that could be some form of rebellion, home grown terrorism, or the Government itself. Show proof to the soldiers that the Government is out of control and/or completely disregarding the Constitution, and the Government will be powerless as the Military would not obey their commands. The vast majority of our soldiers are very Pro-American and very Pro-Constitution.
I tend to agree with this assessment but be wary that troops (e.g. National Guard for example) can be placed in areas of the US far from their home and told there is insurrection. Troops are much more likely to obey orders in this situation. This is one reason the command&control is so freaked out at all the soldiers having their own cells their own internets their own info channels because it perforates that sort of manipulation.

But really.... haven't we sent the NEWS thread off into oblivion at this point? Can we get back to "news of the day?" Maybe we should have an "American Politics, History, Culture, and Attitudes" thread.

Two items just popped up:
COBOL is 50 years old today
http://www.theatlantic.com/technolog...website/68101/

And a survey about the problem of using a single news source and how it leads to being dangerously misinformed
http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/brunitedstatescanadara/671.php?nid=&id=&pnt=671&lb=
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Last edited by Vexx; 2010-12-16 at 20:33. Reason: better link
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Old 2010-12-16, 20:39   Link #10722
ganbaru
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vexx View Post
And a survey about the problem of using a single news source and how it leads to being dangerously misinformed
http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/brunitedstatescanadara/671.php?nid=&id=&pnt=671&lb=
I can't really say than it's a surprise...
But it's too bad than Fox New viewer will never read it .
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Old 2010-12-16, 22:20   Link #10723
ZephyrLeanne
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vexx View Post
But really.... haven't we sent the NEWS thread off into oblivion at this point? Can we get back to "news of the day?" Maybe we should have an "American Politics, History, Culture, and Attitudes" thread.
Look, that's how much the US affects everybody these days.

Meanwhile, could this be the transit of the future...?

Paris introduces self-service electric car scheme
A fleet of blue, eco-friendly electric cars will hit the streets of the French capital next autumn and cost no more than a tube fare to zip around town.

Quote:
Bertrand Delanoë, the city's Socialist mayor hopes Autolib will be as popular as Vélib, the hit bike rental scheme he introduced in 2007 and which has been adopted by cities around the world including London.

Yesterday he confirmed the town hall had selected a four-seat vehicle made by the French company Bolloré, whose industrialist owner, Vincent Bolloré, famously lent his mega-yacht to President Nicolas Sarkozy after his election.
Autolib will see 3,000 small, battery-powered bubble vehicles placed at 1,000 self-service ranks across Paris and its suburbs.

The scheme will cost 12 euros per month for annual subscribers, who will then be required to pay five euros for the first half-hour of use, four euros for the next and six for every extra 30 mins at the wheel. The idea, as with Vélib, is to encourage short trips. One-off weekly subscriptions will cost 15 euros and daily passes 10 euros.

The Bluecar, designed by Bolloré's Italian partners Pininfarina, has a maximum speed of 130kph (around 80mph), a range of around 250km (155 miles) and its lithium metal polymer battery will take four hours on average to charge. Drivers will be able to book via internet, phone or at stations, and can book arrival parking spots in advance.

Notoriously nervy Parisian drivers will have to get used to its sluggish acceleration of 0 to 60 in 6.3 seconds but the mayor hopes it will revolutionise the way they get around by car.

The Autolib will come with a GPS screen and an emergency call button.
According to polls, 2.4 million people in the Paris area intend to use the system. It requires between 160,000 and 200,000 subscribers to become economically viable.

Paris' mayor has declared war on privately-owned cars, building a network of bus and cycle lanes that are the bane of motorists and he has plans to pedestrianise swathes of the city centre and riverside boulevards.

One city hall study suggested the average car in the capital spends about 95 per cent of its time parked. Only 42 per cent of Parisians own a car, and 16 per cent use theirs less than once a month.

Bolloré has invested 60 million euros (£51 million) into Autolib, which is expected to cost more than 110 million in all.
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Old 2010-12-17, 00:22   Link #10724
SaintessHeart
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ZephyrLeanne View Post
Look, that's how much the US affects everybody these days.

Meanwhile, could this be the transit of the future...?

Paris introduces self-service electric car scheme
A fleet of blue, eco-friendly electric cars will hit the streets of the French capital next autumn and cost no more than a tube fare to zip around town.
And.....
Quote:
Notoriously nervy Parisian drivers will have to get used to its sluggish acceleration of 0 to 60 in 6.3 seconds but the mayor hopes it will revolutionise the way they get around by car.
This could severely shorten a Parisian's lifespan. Those French are crazy!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vexx View Post
Two items just popped up:
COBOL is 50 years old today
http://www.theatlantic.com/technolog...website/68101/
Though I have learned COBOL in my younger days with messing with something called a PC, seriously speaking, nobody uses COBOL anymore. It is extinct like the punched card.
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Old 2010-12-17, 01:53   Link #10725
Vexx
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SaintessHeart View Post
Though I have learned COBOL in my younger days with messing with something called a PC, seriously speaking, nobody uses COBOL anymore. It is extinct like the punched card.
About half the business world disagrees with you... there's so much legacy COBOL out there its astounding. You probably aren't aware that most Fortune 500 companies have enormous assets in legacy computing. As much as 90% of ALL business and financial transactions pass through COBOL-based systems.

The extreme version of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

I *could* spend the rest of my life supporting PDP series computers running assembly code that are integral parts of oil industry and automation industry, they aren't just attached - they're hardwired into systems -- because the thought of replacing them scares the shit out of everyone.
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Old 2010-12-17, 02:20   Link #10726
SaintessHeart
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vexx View Post
About half the business world disagrees with you... there's so much legacy COBOL out there its astounding. You probably aren't aware that most Fortune 500 companies have enormous assets in legacy computing. As much as 90% of ALL business and financial transactions pass through COBOL-based systems.

The extreme version of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

I *could* spend the rest of my life supporting PDP series computers running assembly code that are integral parts of oil industry and automation industry, they aren't just attached - they're hardwired into systems -- because the thought of replacing them scares the shit out of everyone.
The thing about COBOL is that programmers with a specialty in the language are either gone or forced to retire to hermitages....around half of the computing and computer engineering graduates I spoke to have never heard of it, while the rest have only snuck once or twice into its domain.

The last time I read a book and messed around with it is in 1992, and since then, I have not heard much of it. I wonder if it is that the machine language for the hardware lacks object orientation and is easy to copy from system to system (i.e pirated for different hardware and functions across the business world, based on the same piece of code), or it is just that it faded into the background due to is lack of sophistication in defining parameters.
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When three puppygirls named after pastries are on top of each other, it is called Eclair a'la menthe et Biscotti aux fraises avec beaucoup de Ricotta sur le dessus.
Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.
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Old 2010-12-17, 02:25   Link #10727
Anh_Minh
I disagree with you all.
 
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SaintessHeart View Post
The thing about COBOL is that programmers with a specialty in the language are either gone or forced to retire to hermitages....around half of the computing and computer engineering graduates I spoke to have never heard of it, while the rest have only snuck once or twice into its domain.

The last time I read a book and messed around with it is in 1992, and since then, I have not heard much of it. I wonder if it is that the machine language for the hardware lacks object orientation and is easy to copy from system to system (i.e pirated for different hardware and functions across the business world, based on the same piece of code), or it is just that it faded into the background due to is lack of sophistication in defining parameters.
And yet I know for a fact there's still plenty that's developed today in banks (I know because I've worked on it this year. Not the actual COBOL programming, fortunately.). No, it's not taught in schools. It's taught to the poor guys forced to take a job with a company that specializes in COBOL.
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Old 2010-12-17, 02:45   Link #10728
Vexx
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Yeah, "once you know one HLL the rest are a snap" as they say. Those graduates may get lucky (I never had to use COBOL because I was in scientific realtime computing mostly but I used JOVIAL, PL/I, Ada, FORTRAN, and a few other esoterics along with C, assm, C++, and Java) but I'll just repeat - most of the business world uses COBOL, these days they generally train people in-house.

"You there!! Yes, you! Know any computer languages? Good, you're the new COBOL apprentice - one of the Old Ones just died and 3/4 of our transactions and accounting is in COBOL on the IBM mainframe down at the Core."

(yes, if you can get into scientific or industrial real-time programming or simulation jump at it --- much more fun even if it pays less. I spent most of my engineering/computing career doing "rocket science" or "intarwebbery" and don't regret that a bit).

I tutored a business major in COBOL once... sadly, I probably scarred her with my muttering about the insanely verbose nature of COBOL (even compared with other HLLs). Quite a bit of the syntax compiles into thin air, its just 'self-documentation' but required by the compiler.
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Last edited by Vexx; 2010-12-17 at 02:56. Reason: no, I don't know why I was typing HDL for HLL
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Old 2010-12-17, 03:44   Link #10729
Jinto
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Anh_Minh View Post
And yet I know for a fact there's still plenty that's developed today in banks (I know because I've worked on it this year. Not the actual COBOL programming, fortunately.). No, it's not taught in schools. It's taught to the poor guys forced to take a job with a company that specializes in COBOL.
Actually in databases/datawarehouse systems we had COBOL for it is basically a strucutred language that allowed (or rather forced) the developers to program customized databases using it (often similar in structure to XML today). In that sense it is the predecessor of SQL relational databases (early databases used/are written in COBOL) and the forerunner of C++/SQL based stored procedures and datamining procedures which are widely used in e.g. management execution systems, banking systems... With COBOL things like database requests, data storage, triggers, stored procedures, cursors... were all combined in a customized software solution. Today it is more structured, you use dedicated database/datawarehouse systems and the mentioned key functionalities (queries, triggers, stored procedures, cursors...) are configurable parts inside them. So, now its more like working with a framework.
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Old 2010-12-17, 04:11   Link #10730
ZephyrLeanne
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Join Date: Nov 2008
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America aside.

While a rickety sampan sinks on its way to Christmas Island (how fitting), Australian PM Julia "Joolya wants Citizens Assembly" Gillard is doing precious little other than "having a meeting..."

Oakeshott urges PM to address shipwreck rumours


Spoiler for Full text...:


Hm.

Then, Indonesia, the point of embarkation, refuses to care...

Asylum boat wreck 'not Indonesia's concern'


Spoiler for Full text...:


And...

Wreck survivors involved in Christmas Island protest


Spoiler for Full text...:
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Old 2010-12-17, 06:40   Link #10731
ganbaru
books-eater youkai
 
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Betweem wisdom and insanity
After the consern about Pakistan's Nuke:
Cable shows U.S. fears that bio-weapons can be stolen from labs in India
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1841754/
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Old 2010-12-17, 13:30   Link #10732
flying ^
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vexx View Post
And a survey about the problem of using a single news source and how it leads to being dangerously misinformed
http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/brunitedstatescanadara/671.php?nid=&id=&pnt=671&lb=
i guess they can't distinguish TV commentators (O'RLY and Hannity) from real news journalist (Shephard Smith and Bret Baier)
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Old 2010-12-17, 16:17   Link #10733
Kamui4356
Aria Company
 
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by flying ^ View Post
i guess they can't distinguish TV commentators (O'RLY and Hannity) from real news journalist (Shephard Smith and Bret Baier)
There are no real news journalists on fox news, just those that hide they're working for a propaganda machine better than others. Note that CNN and MSNBC aren't much better, just a slightly different slant. Instead of using the 24 hour news format to give full and indepth coverage to news, giving a balanced and complete view of the story, all 3 of them just repeat party talking points ad nauseum and focus on the latest celebrity scandals rather than report what's really going on in the world. When they do cover actual news they report on it in an extremely slanted manor to make sure the viewers interpret things the way the channel wants them to. Fox new might be the worst offender there, but it is by no means the only offender.
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Old 2010-12-17, 22:45   Link #10734
Ithekro
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Join Date: Feb 2008
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News Entertainment

Much like Sports Entertainment these days.
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Old 2010-12-17, 23:04   Link #10735
Vexx
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Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ithekro View Post
News Entertainment

Much like Sports Entertainment these days.
Bingo.... "news" disappeared not long after the corporate networks re-defined it as a "profit center" rather than "stuff we have to do as a community service to keep our transmission license". That started in the late 80s. The only thing that remotely approaches "news" in the US anymore is the non-profits and public broadcasting groups (as well as the few independent local newspapers left).

Some nights I flip on the tv to see how bad it is and can barely tell the difference between "Exxtra Inside Edition" and "Katie-Brokaw-whatever" or "CNNBCoxcable".
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Old 2010-12-17, 23:11   Link #10736
SaintessHeart
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vexx View Post
Some nights I flip on the tv to see how bad it is and can barely tell the difference between "Exxtra Inside Edition" and "Katie-Brokaw-whatever" or "CNNBCoxcable".
I don't know if that "CNNBCoxCable" is deliberate or accidental, but it seems to be very vulgar.

Spoiler for NSFW : What it may actually mean:
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When three puppygirls named after pastries are on top of each other, it is called Eclair a'la menthe et Biscotti aux fraises avec beaucoup de Ricotta sur le dessus.
Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.
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Old 2010-12-17, 23:49   Link #10737
ganbaru
books-eater youkai
 
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Venezuela assembly gives Chavez decree powers
http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNew...6BG69720101218

Let's see all the damage he will make.
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Old 2010-12-18, 00:10   Link #10738
Vexx
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SaintessHeart View Post
I don't know if that "CNNBCoxCable" is deliberate or accidental, but it seems to be very vulgar.
I'll just let it lay there and fester...
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Old 2010-12-18, 01:29   Link #10739
Xellos-_^
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Jon Stewart is the last honest Newsman left on TV and he is a clown.
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Old 2010-12-18, 03:56   Link #10740
ZephyrLeanne
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Xellos-_^ View Post
Jon Stewart is the last honest Newsman left on TV and he is a clown.
Quoted for (mostly) truth (fully a third of his show is an interview).

We get TDS on ABC2.

.
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