Pangloss

Oh dear. So a couple orders of magnitude in improved lifting efficiency needed, then, and/or a corresponding increase in separation efficiency. Oh well. Thanks for the reply. Maybe there's something to Bascule's subduction zone suggestion. I wonder how much that would cost?

Ah yes, I'll bet that's it. Good old Notepad. (rofl)

Well doG I agree that they're hybrid languages and I do take your point there -- they're different from traditional approaches, more complex and intricate and not as rigidly defined, perhaps. And since you now agree that it can be called a compiled language I guess we can move on. Thanks. ------------ Bascule that was an interesting post, but my ignorance caused me to lose you in this last paragraph: Does "method dispatch" mean the handling of method calls by the compiler or interpreter? So for example if I say something like "myObject.turnblue" (where "turnblue" is a method that turns the object blue), the process of "method dispatch" is what the compiler does with that command, i.e. what native code it writes? Or am I way out in the wrong field there? Also, what is "inlining"?

That quote seems to support what I'm saying -- that it's compiled, not interpreted. And this quote before that point also supports what I said: As for whether it "bothers" me, why do you feel the need to redefine the .NET languages as interpreted? The question goes both ways. Personally I could care less, I simply want accurate information posted on this forum. If you can back it up, please feel free to do so. Until then these languages appear to remain firmly compiled. Thanks.

Ran into this bit of weirdness earlier today and I know there's a lot of FF users here so I thought I'd pass it along. It's easy to accidentally add a misspelled word to Firefox's dictionary with that right-click menu, but getting that bad word out of there is a bit of a nuisance. Here's how you do it: Open the following location on your hard drive, where "xxxxx" is the random number given for that folder (might be easier to open the folder above this location -- there's only one folder inside, and it will be the one listed below): Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\[user Name]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\ Windows Vista: C:\users\[user Name]\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\ Then look for a file called "persdict.dat". This file can be edited with Notepad or any other text editor. The entries are not separated -- they're all run together. Go figure. Edit out the offending word, save, and go back to work. Source: http://cavemonkey50.com/2007/03/edit-firefoxs-spelling-dictionary/

Actually I think Lance has a valid point. You don't leave it lying around, but you don't break the bank dealing with it either. Most concerns about disposal of waste (in general) are overrated anyway -- it's not as if we're running out of space. There are temporary solutions that can be safe and effective while a long-term strategy is worked out involving recycling. For that matter, I still would like to see an actual CBO looking at the cost of shooting it into the sun -- I've never seen actual numbers on that. I realize it would be expensive, but would it really be that much more expensive than long-term storage and maintenance? I don't know, and I'd like to know.

Why not? How does this hurt me?

You missed part of your own quote: In the case of VB, it's compiled, per my previous links, as I've been telling you all along. So by your own links, VB is a compiled language. Thanks for acknowledging that point. I've also shown how VB is vastly different from the ten-year-old version you cited earlier, so that's been dealt with as well. If you do find some evidence that there is interpretation taking place within the .NET Framework, please feel free to pass it along -- it sounds like an interesting point, it's just unfortunate that you haven't found a link to back it up, but I agree that these things are complex and not easily defined by entirely traditional definitions. In fact according to MSDN when you install the .NET Framework is compiles all the DLLs immediately anyway, so I think you're going to lose that argument any way you phrase it. But feel free to keep looking. Thanks for a lively discussion.

Sure, I'll copy it back to the other thread. Fine, produce a source that shows some interpretation is still going on at the DLL level in VB8 and I'll acknowledge that point. Otherwise knock it off. Note that even if you do that, it's still a compiled language (see source below). I never said VB was faster than C, I was never concerned with that point at all, and you really should stop saying that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JIT_compilation

What are the normal life expectancies of these animals that returned to the Chernobyl area? Because if they're normally only living 20-30 years anyway then there would be an obvious discrepancy in comparing their success with potential for human success.

Language evangelism comments that should never have been in this thread in the first place moved to separate thread.

Yes, I never said it didn't require the .NET Framework, but it's not interpretation, it's compilation. It uses a compiler, therefore it is compiled, not interpreted. The difference is that there is no run-time interpretation taking place -- all the determinations are done in advance. By a compiler. In this case there are two -- one that compiles to intermediary language, and a second one that compiles just in time for execution, creating the final executable code. I understand that's different from how compilers work for C++ and other systemic programming models, but I'm not going to sit here and let you cast aspersions that are ten years out of date just because you don't like a language. I just am not. Merged post follows: Consecutive posts mergedPosts moved to separate thread.

I caught that this morning -- never thought I'd ever agree with Frank Rich about ANYTHING, but he actually sounded quite reasonable this morning. Interesting. Not a bad premise, that.

According to Cato hybrids are more efficient than rail transportation. http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9703 I do not know if the study takes manufacturing costs into consideration, or if it is calculating an increase in efficiency based on being able to travel point to point (i.e. not having to catch a bus to get to/from the train station).

Who cares if some fool wants to marry his sister, or brother, or ironing board, or whatever?

"Yellow and blue make green!" <zzzzzzzzzzzzzip> "Yellow and blue make green!" <zzzzzzzzzzzzzip> "Yellow and blue make green!" <zzzzzzzzzzzzzip> "Yellow and blue make yellow!" <zzzzzzzzzzzzzip> "Yellow and blue make green!" <zzzzzzzzzzzzzip> "Er wait...." George Will calls that the "starve the beast" approach to politics. He spoke of it last week on ABC News, saying that traditional conservatives used to favor that approach, hoping that if they cut costs enough that eventually their opponents would see a surplus and agree to cut taxes (yeah right). He went on to say that liberals use the opposite approach, putting as much spending in there as possible under the theory that sooner or later you'll HAVE to raise taxes (raising taxes being a social good). IMO all such reasoning should be taken out back and riddled with very large bullets. It's just not a sane approach to problem-solving, IMO.

I have a hunch that in the future when we look back on this period it's going to be clear that while the stimulus actions were murky and indeterminate at best, the banking actions (ala TARP) are going to be seen as decisive and society-saving. We're probably going to spend a lot more of our time debating the couple hundred billion in stimulus effect this year and whether it truly affected our $14 trillion economy, but had the BANKS gone under we might not be having any debates about anything, because we'd all be in line at the soup kitchen. Can't prove a negative, obviously, but when it's all said and done I think we're going to have had the clearest indication ever about the inherent value and systemic sanity of a mixed economic model.

It was definitely libertarian mantra territory, but IMO that's exactly what and where the libertarian voice SHOULD be right now -- providing that balance and cold-water-in-the-face reminder of our long-term obligations. Ultimately the stimulus impact may be more political than economic. But I'm not sure that's necessarily a bad thing even if it turns out to be the case. Sometimes politics is MORE important than reality. But we're a long way from that kind of determination -- we'll have to wait and see how it goes.

No sir, it's a compiled language. The live interpretation execution model you referred to was phased out when it was replaced with the .NET Framework model and the Common Language Runtime approach, generally known as "managed code execution". It is a compiled approach, consisting ultimately of a machine code executable. References: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/w95cx9k1(VS.80).aspx http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/s4kbxexc(VS.80).aspx http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Basic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compiled_language I made no such claim.

Yes, please add that angle into the discussion. I remember asking about this the last time we talked about nuclear, asking basically if we could do what the French have been doing (recycling nuclear waste), and what I dimly recall is Bascule saying that it might not be as applicable due to the smaller number of nuclear plants in this country. But if the plans for a large increase in the number of plants were to go forward, perhaps the recycling issue could be revisited.

Yes, that will happen, but remember -- it IS a fake news show. He often makes compromises in his "reporting" for the sake of humor, exaggerating or deliberately misinterpreting what actually happened in order to make a quick joke or to prod a specific socio/political group. Just like he accuses Jim Cramer of doing. The only difference is that Stewart has an expectation that his audience will know the difference, and Cramer does not (or should not). But given that this very interview claims otherwise, and the overall idiocy of American television viewers (including Stewart fans), it becomes, unfortunately, a fairly subtle distinction. That's the fine line he's walking, but I think if he keeps it on the level of personal frustration and animosity, rather than giving the impression of "weilding the full power of The Daily Show" (lol), I think it'll be fine.

I wonder if the CEO of Amtrak flew to Washington in a G-V to beg for that money. Wouldn't that be ironic? Rofl, I love this paragraph at the end of that story: According to its web site?? (sigh) CNN at its best.

And replacing it with something else is not likely very high on Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi's list of things to do. Reid sits in Environment, and Pelosi is the President of the People's Republic of California. I don't need to borrow Steven Chu's Nobel Prize to do that math. Like I said, there's science, and then there's politics.

That was VB6 -- ten years ago. Modern VB is compiled into intermediary language (right alongside C#), which is then JIT-compiled at runtime and executed. Walk away from the keyboard, doG. Just walk away.

No, it isn't. That's true of all OS-managed languages, and VB runs as fast as any of those (see below). No more so than any other managed language, such as C# or Java.