Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic--Arthur C. Clarke

[+ Gar1eth]

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j12/itsallos/96D6B477-67E1-496C-996C-2A5C24C25201.png_zps3gcia41n.jpeg

 

Gman

[+ honcho]

Technically speaking, one "flop" is one floating point operation. (Doing math calculations with approximate real numbers). Logical decisions are a different kind of operation.

 

The high counts for "flops" are usually due to smart video cards, which have special purpose

processors just for doing arithmetic fast so they can spin or distort objects being represented

visually.

 

I know, y'all didn't ask, but the pedant in me couldn't resist.

Edited March 19, 2016 by honcho

[+ Gar1eth]

Technically speaking, one "flop" is one floating point operation. (Doing math calculations with approixmate real numbers. Logical decisions are a different kind of operation.

 

The high counts for "flops" are usually due to smart video cards, which have special purpose

processesors just for doing arithmetic fast so they can spin or distort objects being represented

visually.

 

I know, y'all didn't ask, but the pedant in me couldn't resist.

 

I'm glad of your input. I only wish I understood your output.

 

Gman

Edited March 19, 2016 by Gar1eth

[MikeyGMin]

I have worked in finance (that's my excuse) for a high-tech company that makes all this crap -- for more than 20 years -- and I don't have a clue what he said either!

[curiousnomore]

True.

[AdamSmith]

And if 'The Graduate' were filmed today...

 

Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.

Benjamin: Yes, sir.

Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?

Benjamin: Yes, I am.

Mr. McGuire: Amazon Web Services.

 

[AdamSmith]

 

"I am afraid that this chapter will amply demonstrate the truth of Clarke's 69th Law, viz., 'Reading computer manuals without the hardware is as frustrating as reading sex manuals without the software.' In both cases the cure is simple though usually very expensive."

 

-- Clarke, "Appendix II: MITE for Morons,"The Odyssey File (1984), p. 123

[+ quoththeraven]

And if 'The Graduate' were filmed today...

 

Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.

Benjamin: Yes, sir.

Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?

Benjamin: Yes, I am.

Mr. McGuire: Amazon Web Services.

 

 

That's three words, Mr. Smith!

[AdamSmith]

That's three words, Mr. Smith!

I started to write "AWS" but thought it might be obscure for some.

 

Shall we debate whether a proper noun made of several words is in some sense also "one word"?

[AdamSmith]

 

"I am afraid that this chapter will amply demonstrate the truth of Clarke's 69th Law, viz., 'Reading computer manuals without the hardware is as frustrating as reading sex manuals without the software.' In both cases the cure is simple though usually very expensive."

 

-- Clarke, "Appendix II: MITE for Morons,"The Odyssey File (1984), p. 123

P.S. This reminds of a crack that Clarke made somewhere that pretty obviously refers to his hiring rent boys. Quoting from memory:

 

To write 2001, "I checked into the Chelsea Hotel, where I spent many lonely (well, fairly lonely) evenings in the service of art and Stanley."

 

[+ Gar1eth]

P.S. This reminds of a crack that Clarke made somewhere that pretty obviously refers to his hiring rent boys. Quoting from memory:

 

To write 2001, "I checked into the Chelsea Hotel, where I spent many lonely (well, fairly lonely) evenings in the service of art and Stanley."

 

 

 

Who is Stanley?

 

Gman

[+ nycman]

Who is Stanley?

 

I assume he's referring to Stanley Kubrick, the director of "2001: A Space Odyssey" with whom he collaborated for over 4 years making the film.

[AdamSmith]

I assume he's referring to Stanley Kubrick, the director of "2001: A Space Odyssey" with whom he collaborated for over 4 years making the film.

http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/sites/bfi.org.uk.films-tv-people/files/styles/gallery_full/public/bfi_stills/bfi-00n-00i.jpg?itok=pghGPYmr

[AdamSmith]

(Rather than start a new thread, I thought we might continue the pleasant free association in this one.) Here's a rather (I think) fascinating snapshot of how Gartner's technology Hype Cycle chart has evolved over the past four years...

 

[+ Keith30309]

"Smart Dust". That must be what's been able to elude my 1,000 teraflop Roomba.

[rvwnsd]

"Smart Dust". That must be what's been able to elude my 1,000 teraflop Roomba.

I'm surprised Dyson hasn't developed a Roomba-style vacuum. Their 50 billion teraflop model wouldn't miss any dust. Mind you, the furniture might get sucked in, but that's the chance one must take.

 

Wonder how many teraflops would be required to calculate the probability of that happening.

[samhexum]

http://synd.imgsrv.uclick.com/comics/cl/2018/cl180505.gif

[samhexum]

• A Spanish galleon laden with gold that sank to the bottom of the Caribbean off the coast of Colombia more than 300 years ago was found three years ago with the help of an underwater autonomous vehicle operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the agency disclosed for the first time.
   
  New details about the discovery of the San Jose were released on Monday with permission from the agencies involved in the search, including the Colombian government.
   
  “We’ve been holding this under wraps out of respect for the Colombian government,” said Rob Munier, WHOI’s vice president for marine facilities and operations.
   
  The exact location of the wreck of the San Jose, often called the “holy grail of shipwrecks,” was long considered one of history’s enduring maritime mysteries.
   
  The 62-gun, three-masted galleon went down on June 8, 1708, with 600 people on board as well as a treasure of gold, silver and emeralds during a battle with British ships in the War of Spanish Succession. The treasure is worth as much as $17 billion by modern standards.
   
  The Massachusetts-based WHOI was invited to join the search because of its recognized expertise in deep-water exploration. The institute’s autonomous underwater vehicle, REMUS 6000, in 2011 helped find the wreckage of Air France 447, which crashed in 2009 several hundred miles off the coast of Brazil.
   
  It was REMUS 6000 that in November 2015 took some side sonar images that found the San Jose in more than 2,000 feet (600 meters) of water.
   
  The vehicle descended to 30 feet above the wreck to take several photographs, including some of the distinctive dolphin engravings on the San Jose’s cannons, a key piece of visual evidence.
   
  “The wreck was partially sediment-covered, but with the camera images from the lower-altitude missions, we were able to see new details in the wreckage and the resolution was good enough to make out the decorative carving on the cannons,” said WHOI engineer and expedition leader Mike Purcell.
   
  “It was a pretty strong feeling of gratification to finally find it,” said Munier, who was not at the site but learned in a phone call from Purcell. “It was a great moment.”
   
  The treasure has been the subject of legal battles between several nations as well as private companies. Several weeks ago, UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency, called on Colombia not to commercially exploit the wreck, the exact location of which remains a state secret.
   
  As for the treasure, that remains on the sea bed — for now.
   
  
  

[samhexum]

 

[+ Avalon]

I'm there with Jon!

[+ oldNbusted]

I'm surprised Dyson hasn't developed a Roomba-style vacuum. Their 50 billion teraflop model wouldn't miss any dust. Mind you, the furniture might get sucked in, but that's the chance one must take.

 

Wonder how many teraflops would be required to calculate the probability of that happening.

 

dyson 360 eye

[rvwnsd]

dyson 360 eye

At $1,500 it needs to buy me a new carpet and make me coffee every day.

[+ Seaninsf]

At $1,500 it needs to buy me a new carpet and make me coffee every day.

 

or suck more than just dust and pet hair

[+ oldNbusted]

At $1,500 it needs to buy me a new carpet and make me coffee every day.

 

I suspect microscopic sales is why it's no longer for sale in the U.S. I got a demo at the local Dyson store, when all I did was ask about it. Not sure how impressed I was supposed to, I kinda expected it to work

[+ José Soplanucas]

Out of stock.