Ask the All Purpose Fox - Enterprise!

[VSMIT]

Are Macs really "All that?"

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Why do PC's have such a bad reputation?

Because there are always more stupid players to be playing them.

Why am I getting away with this? Shouldn't I be aflame by now? Is there any way to avoid it? Other than smelling very bad when on fire...

[Gabi]

*Sets llearch on fire.* Happy now?

[Tiger_T]

If I ever have to write a composition describing a hero, can I choose the APFs?

If you're up to paying the royalties.

Why do PC's have such a bad reputation?

Windows.

Are Macs really "All that?"

Nothing will ever be 'All' that it's promised to be.


*throws a paw full of chestnuts in the box and closes the lid*
Have fun.

[Darkdragon]

What is it about math that people dislike?

[ShadesFox]

What is it about math that people dislike?

I don't think it is the basics of math that people dislike, but rather having to map real problems to math.  It requires critical thinking and some uncomfortable gray areas of "Is this really the best way to model this?"

And if I may add to the list of things that give PCs a bad reputation, there is the little endian byte order.  Intel engineers will be the first against the wall during the revolution just for that.  There are also some poor choices of instructions to include, such as the built in string operations and hardware task switching which are not used anymore for being slow, inefficient, and/or dangerous; yet still have to be provided 'just in case' taking up silicone on the chip.  Hardware page tables, which can not be bypassed like the previously mention instructions because they are an integral part of how the Pentium works, leading to poor page table management and poor virtualization performance on historic chips because you have to emulate and shadow the page table access to properly virtualize it, and have your virtalization program rewrite the binary as it executes so that it hits the shadow page table rather then the real one.  There is also the fact that there is a single IO channel and no option for expansion, though some slick tricks in modern OSes can alleviate this problem.  And most hardware is not hot swappable.  I've seen modern mainframes where anything that is not physically soldered on can be replaced while the system is running.

Edit:
I just remembered a few other things.  4 general purpose registers.  When the next lowest number I know of is 16.  That is for those crappy little processors in your cellphone.   You can hack your way around this, stealing the stack base pointer for a general pointer register, and stealing the string pointer registers for two more pointer registers, so you have registers for 3 pointers, but no way to use them for general purpose arithmetic.  With the 64 bit chips you get 8 more general purpose registers, which is really nice.  But you must be in 64 bit mode, which means 64 bit pointers, which is going to futz with the memory bandwidth, pumping more bytes through for each pointer.  So you can't have the extra registers and only use a 32 bit pointer. 

I could keep going, but I have a feeling I've lost most people there <_<

Maybe I should start encrypting these posts and throwing away the key like I used to.

[Darkdragon]

What is the quickest way to obtain the prime factorization of a large integer?

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

*Sets llearch on fire.* Happy now?

Much better. *warms hands over self*

Maybe I should start encrypting these posts and throwing away the key like I used to.

Maybe, but I enjoyed reading it.

What is the quickest way to obtain the prime factorization of a large integer?

Ask someone who got it previously?

[Tiger_T]

What is the quickest way to obtain the prime factorization of a large integer?

Ask someone who got it previously?

Nah. Too slow in response time.
Using an internet-calculator is what to do. One like [this].

*Sets llearch on fire.* Happy now?

Much better. *warms hands over self*

Did I mention I didn't nick the chestnuts?

[Gabi]

I'd search for Knuth's algorithm and use it.

[Angel]

Is there anything ethically wrong with enjoying both Better Days and Badly Drawn Kitties? I know the artists had a falling-out, and that the art quality has declined recently in BD, but they're both interesting comics.

[Mao]

Now that we've established that my trainer is, in fact, trying to kill me what I want to know is this:  How and where will he do it?  Mao's Trainer, in the gym, with an oversized barbell?

[Tiger_T]

Just enjoy life while it lasts. I promised you would.

[e_voyager]

is it true that by the time most people turn 25 they will have forgotten mother then they ever knew?

does this trend continue if the question above is true?

[Gabi]

is it true that by the time most people turn 25 they will have forgotten mother then they ever knew?

does this trend continue if the question above is true?

I've met many people above 25 (myself included) and none of us had forgotten our mothers, so no.

[Rakala]

Who started the fire?
Who's knocking on the front door?
How did Shaney get the gun?
Do your ears hang low?

[Mao]

Do you like my ears up, or down?

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I've met many people above 25 (myself included) and none of us had forgotten our mothers, so no.

Are you my mother?

[VSMIT]

Why did llearch's comment remind me of Doctor Who?

[ShadesFox]

Who started the fire?
Who's knocking on the front door?
How did Shaney get the gun?
Do your ears hang low?

*acts innocent*
Your mom.  Did you forget her?
Probably got it from a store.
No, they are quite perky and stand straight up.

Do you like my ears up, or down?

Up

I've met many people above 25 (myself included) and none of us had forgotten our mothers, so no.

Are you my mother?

Yes, now you have to mind her.

Why did llearch's comment remind me of Doctor Who?

Because you have not played nearly enough Monkey Island.

[Mao]

Do these jeans make my butt look big, or does my butt make my butt look big?

[Tiger_T]

*runs away screaming*

[Angel]

How do I get Google to stop blocking me from sites and saying "Warning! This website may harm your computer!" It does it even with completely harmless sites!

[Tiger_T]

Yep, here too. It even blocks google.com if I look that one up.
I think you have broken Google. Pray that no one will find you.

Answering your question:
Just relax and wait. I don't think it'll take them too long to find the error and correct it.

[e_voyager]

is it true that by the time most people turn 25 they will have forgotten mother then they ever knew?

does this trend continue if the question above is true?

I've met many people above 25 (myself included) and none of us had forgotten our mothers, so no.

why do i have such spelling issues?
is there a brain glitch that can explain it?
and for my original questions... how on earth did mother take the place or more then?
is it true that by the time most people turn 25 they will have forgotten more then they ever knew?

[Tiger_T]

why do i have such spelling issues?
is there a brain glitch that can explain it?
and for my original questions... how on earth did mother take the place or more then?
is it true that by the time most people turn 25 they will have forgotten more then they ever knew?

You ignore the spellchecker.
Could be lazyness. I know that's a brain glitch for me sometimes - although not in spellchecking.
Keyboard virus.
Depends on how much you learned - and continue to learn, I'd say.

[Darkdragon]

Why did they think they needed to spell out the title acronym in "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"?]

Why does hot water sometimes freeze faster than cold water?

What is the meaning of time and space?

[Tiger_T]

Why did they think they needed to spell out the title acronym in "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"?]

Why does hot water sometimes freeze faster than cold water?

What is the meaning of time and space?

Some people are dumb like that. They need it.

Given the same circumstances - it doesn't.

42.

[Darkdragon]

Have the great APF's never heard of the Mpemba effect?

[Slowtini]

How do you pronounce Mpemba?
I'm curious now.