Driver to drive?

[Eric Smith]

Paul Keinanen <keinanen@sci.fi> writes:

How much portability do you really expect in some embedded
environment, especially if the hardware architecture is somewhat
awkward.

I expect a lot of it to be portable, because on numerous occasions I've
changed compilers in mid-project or when doing maintenance at a later
date. Sometimes that's my decision, and sometimes it's the client's
decision.

In practice you would still have to separate the platform
dependent functions, which can always be written in assembler,
provided that the HLL supports separate compilation.

Sure. But that doesn't obviate the need to use the right tools for the
job. If you need to write low-level code, and you want it to be portable,
Pascal is the wrong answer, since you'll have to use non-standard language
extensions.

I'm not a big fan of C, but it's certainly suitable for low-level
programming. My criticisms of C are at the other end of the spectrum.
I write a lot of C code because that's what my clients want, and in
the case of Free Software, that's what people are likely to be able
to run.

I prefer strongly-typed languages. I actually do like Pascal, and over
the years I've written a lot of code for clients in UCSD Pascal, Turbo
Pascal, etc., but I wouldn't recommend it to clientis now, especially
for low-level work. I like Ada better; functionally it is almost a
superset of Pascal, but it is significantly better in many regards
including support for low-level programming. However, my clients
generally don't want Ada, partly because it is supported on fewer
target platforms, and partly because they'd have a harder time finding
other engineers to maintain it.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Eeyore wrote:

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote:

John Fields wrote:

I believe the currently accepted theory is that the something that
started it all off was the so-called "Big Bang".

What's religious about that?

The Book of Genesis - Chapter 1

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the
face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

And you believe this literally ?

What do you care?

It sounds like another reference to "The big bang" to me.




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There are two kinds of people on this earth:
The crazy, and the insane.
The first sign of insanity is denying that you're crazy.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

John Fields wrote:

On Sun, 26 Oct 2008 19:25:35 +0000, Eeyore
rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote:



"Michael A. Terrell" wrote:

Eeyore wrote:

I'll go further than that.

Any religious fundamentalist should be banned from holding public office along
with anyone with an IQ < 140. To hold public office all candidates must show
they have *contributed* to society in a postive way that required the unpaid
use of their time.

Once again you have gone beyond ignorant, right to stupid. You have
been told, over and over that there are three parts to the US
government, and that the US President does not have the power to force
any religion or religious issue on the country by themselves. It was
one of the worthless British royals who did it to you, because your form
of government is so weak.

Also political parties should be banned. All they do is attract similar types
of scum.

No wonder the you keep striking out with women, constantly harping
about things that don't concern you.

Ideally, govt should be run by proven engineers. We HAVE to make things work.

Ideally you would mind your own damn business.

So you're a lover of incompetents too ?

---
If he was he'd probably be a lot kinder to you.

You are right. I despise incompetent losers like the donkey.


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There are two kinds of people on this earth:
The crazy, and the insane.
The first sign of insanity is denying that you're crazy.

 

[Eeyore]

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote:

Eeyore wrote:
"Michael A. Terrell" wrote:
John Fields wrote:

I believe the currently accepted theory is that the something that
started it all off was the so-called "Big Bang".

What's religious about that?

The Book of Genesis - Chapter 1

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the
face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

And you believe this literally ?

What do you care?

It sounds like another reference to "The big bang" to me.

A kinda folk-story version of it.

Graham

 

[Frithiof Jensen]

"Eeyore" <rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> skrev i meddelelsen
news:48FB6EDA.246B9902@hotmail.com...

You mean relaxation of banking practices, not interference.

It was taking the hand off the tiller that caused this mess.

Rather it was forgetting to take the hand out of the till ...

 

[John Fields]

On Mon, 27 Oct 2008 07:44:02 +0000, Eeyore
<rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote:

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote:

Eeyore wrote:
"Michael A. Terrell" wrote:
John Fields wrote:

I believe the currently accepted theory is that the something that
started it all off was the so-called "Big Bang".

What's religious about that?

The Book of Genesis - Chapter 1

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the
face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

And you believe this literally ?

What do you care?

It sounds like another reference to "The big bang" to me.

A kinda folk-story version of it.

---
What else would you expect a story that originated some 2600 years ago
to sound like?

http://www.mb-soft.com/believe/txs/genesis.htm


JF

 

[Vladimir Vassilevsky]

John Larkin wrote:

Religious people accomplish more real-world work
than unbelievers. That's why we had Muslim and British empires, and
why the USA is now the only superpower, and Russia isn't. Religion has
always been a powerful organizing force.

Returning to the matter of the grand sister Sarrra: The religious
obsession was also among the reasons of failure of Hindu, Chinese,
Turkish, Spanish, Aztec civilizations.


VLV

 

[Vladimir Vassilevsky]

John Larkin wrote:

On Sun, 26 Oct 2008 20:56:52 +0000, Eeyore
rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote:


Ah, so you ADMIT you want an American Empire !

If it means spreading democracy and health and security around the
world, yes, absolutely. There is no "American Empire" in the sense
that the US makes the rules for anyone else, as there were Roman,
Muslim, British, French, Nazi, Japanese, Communist empires.

The communists *HAD* to spread the communist paradize worldwide so there
will be nowhere to run for the innovative and creative people.

The USSA *HAS* to spread the democratic paradise because this is an
efficient way to take and keep the economic advantage over the rest of
the world. The traditional colonialism proved to be very inefficient,
so they invented the new ingenious form of exploitation.

Europe, Canada, eastern Europe, Japan, Korea are part of the "empire
of democracy" but none of those countries genuflect to the USA. That's
as it should be.

Well, there are also some apparent failures, such as Vietnam, Somalia,
Iraq, etc.

The USA invented modern democracy, defended it in world wars, and is
the oldest surviving democracy on earth.

But the weenie rightist says that USA is republic, not a democracy.

Spreading democracy will
*diminish* the clout of the USA in the world, but spreading democracy
is what we should do. The europeans should do more; heaven knows their
old empires did a lot of damage.

Of couse we should; otherwise somebody else will spread something else
on us.

VLV

 

[John Larkin]

On Mon, 27 Oct 2008 02:46:59 +0000, Eeyore
<rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote:

John Larkin wrote:

Eeyore wrote:
John Larkin wrote:

The USA invented modern democracy

What fucking crap.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Man#Tynwald

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Man#Structure

The Island's parliament is Tynwald, which dates from at least AD 979 and is said
to be the oldest continuously existing parliament in the world. Tynwald is a
bicameral legislature, comprising the House of Keys (directly elected by universal
suffrage) and the Legislative Council (consisting of indirectly elected and
ex-officio members). These two bodies meet together in joint session as Tynwald.

The executive branch of government is the Council of Ministers, which is composed
of members of Tynwald. It is headed by the Chief Minister, currently Tony Brown
MHK.

Ireland was a vassal state of England until 1921. The Irish formed
their own parliament, the Dáil Éireann, in, I think, 1918. We had a
rebellion, remember?

WE ?

Home Rule (i.e a form of Independence) for Ireland had been planned for ages. WW1 came
as an inconvenient distraction and delay.

As for 'vassal state' no such term exists in modern time

Ireland was simply another member of the Union.

" In 1800, the British and subsequently the Irish Parliament passed the Act of Union
which, in 1801, merged the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain to
create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland

Cut the crap !

Graham

The Germans liberated Ireland and later liberated India.

John

 

[John Larkin]

On Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:13:37 -0500, Vladimir Vassilevsky
<antispam_bogus@hotmail.com> wrote:

John Larkin wrote:

On Sun, 26 Oct 2008 20:56:52 +0000, Eeyore
rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote:


Ah, so you ADMIT you want an American Empire !

If it means spreading democracy and health and security around the
world, yes, absolutely. There is no "American Empire" in the sense
that the US makes the rules for anyone else, as there were Roman,
Muslim, British, French, Nazi, Japanese, Communist empires.


The communists *HAD* to spread the communist paradize worldwide so there
will be nowhere to run for the innovative and creative people.

Yes. They knew they couldn't compete with free economies.

The USSA *HAS* to spread the democratic paradise because this is an
efficient way to take and keep the economic advantage over the rest of
the world. The traditional colonialism proved to be very inefficient,
so they invented the new ingenious form of exploitation.

No. We are deliberately creating our fiercest competitors. But the
results will eventually be good for everyone, especially the poorest.

Two techniques work: military conquest followed by forced
democratization (Germany, Austria, Italy, Japan) or back-door
capitalization which may lead to democracy (China, Viet Nam, partial
credit in Japan.)

Russia is maybe hopeless; the people care more about national pride
than they do about their own freedoms.


John

 

[Eeyore]

John Larkin wrote:

The Germans liberated Ireland and later liberated India.

Someone's lost their marbles completely.

Graham

 

[John Larkin]

On Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:51:31 +0000, Eeyore
<rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote:

John Larkin wrote:

The Germans liberated Ireland and later liberated India.

Someone's lost their marbles completely.

Graham

One of us, apparently, the British or the Irish.

John

 

[John Fields]

On Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:59:12 +0000, Eeyore
<rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote:

John Fields wrote:

John Larkin wrote:

Why would the universe wait 10 or so billion years to get around to
making life?

It didn't. Never heard of the dinosaurs ? Maybe there was another 'tier' of life even before
they became extinct ?


It probably didn't;

See.


It's just taken that long for things to get stable
enough around here to support life as we know it.

As we know it.


Someplace else that got stable 10 billion years ago or so? Who knows,
they might have seeded this planet.

It's an interesting concept but seems not to tally with the Big Bang Theory AIUI.

---
http://www.historyoftheuniverse.com/tl1.html

In which way?
---

I wouldn't rule out seeding from another intelligent race even within the last 10-20 thousand
years though.

---
I think Larkin already posed that conjecture.
---

Why did Neanderthal man die off for example ?

---
Who cares?

This is about where life comes from, not what snuffs it out.
---

There's recent evidence of
Neardethal man co-existing and even trading with Homo Sapiens in the near past. Indeed,
conceivably evidence that we may have Neanderthal DNA in us.

---
Again, So what?

JF

 

[Rich Grise]

On Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:54:55 -0700, John Larkin wrote:

On Sat, 25 Oct 2008 01:43:33 +0100, Eeyore

My brother-in-law just gave me a briefing on Sarah Palin. Is she really
that dreadful ? It made my blood run cold.

Sarah is cool. We're not afraid of smart, funny, competent women here.

Yah, you betcha! >;->

Cheers!
Rich

 

[Richard The Dreaded Liber]

On Sat, 25 Oct 2008 02:02:39 +0100, Eeyore wrote:

John Larkin wrote:
Eeyore wrote:

My brother-in-law just gave me a briefing on Sarah Palin. Is she
really that dreadful ? It made my blood run cold.

Sarah is cool. We're not afraid of smart, funny, competent women here.

Who want to teach Creationism in school and believe in the ultimate
battle of Good vs Evil ?

I'd say she's a raving crackpot.

She also apparently wants to deny women's right to ownership of their
own bodies - evidently in her universe, women aren't human, but are
beasts of burden to be used to make new little minions for the pope, or
something.

Vote None of the Above:
http://www.bobbarr2008.com/
--
Cheers!
Rich

 

[Richard The Dreaded Liber]

On Sat, 25 Oct 2008 02:51:34 +0100, Eeyore wrote:

John Larkin wrote:

Then why does anything matter?

But why does she want a war 'between good and evil' when her perception of
evil is coloured by a rigidly fundamentalist religious outlook. No better
than Usama bin Laden in my book.

Apparently, John's in good company:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/22/al-qaeda-supporters-endor_n_136779.html
(scroll down)

Vote None of the Above:
http://www.bobbarr2008.com/
--
Cheers!
Rich

 

[John Larkin]

On Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:59:12 +0000, Eeyore
<rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote:

John Fields wrote:

John Larkin wrote:

Why would the universe wait 10 or so billion years to get around to
making life?

It didn't. Never heard of the dinosaurs ? Maybe there was another 'tier' of life even before
they became extinct ?

Are you suggesting that there was life on Earth before the dinos? I am
shocked, shocked.

It probably didn't;

See.


It's just taken that long for things to get stable
enough around here to support life as we know it.

As we know it.


Someplace else that got stable 10 billion years ago or so? Who knows,
they might have seeded this planet.

It's an interesting concept but seems not to tally with the Big Bang Theory AIUI.

I wouldn't rule out seeding from another intelligent race even within the last 10-20 thousand
years though. Why did Neanderthal man die off for example ? There's recent evidence of
Neardethal man co-existing and even trading with Homo Sapiens in the near past. Indeed,
conceivably evidence that we may have Neanderthal DNA in us.

And the ET seeders planted all those million-year-old human fossils
just to fool us?

20,000 years??!! And you make fun of Christian fundamentalists!

John

 

[John Larkin]

On Mon, 27 Oct 2008 11:05:09 -0500, John Fields
<jfields@austininstruments.com> wrote:

On Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:59:12 +0000, Eeyore
rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote:



John Fields wrote:

John Larkin wrote:

Why would the universe wait 10 or so billion years to get around to
making life?

It didn't. Never heard of the dinosaurs ? Maybe there was another 'tier' of life even before
they became extinct ?


It probably didn't;

See.


It's just taken that long for things to get stable
enough around here to support life as we know it.

As we know it.


Someplace else that got stable 10 billion years ago or so? Who knows,
they might have seeded this planet.

It's an interesting concept but seems not to tally with the Big Bang Theory AIUI.

---
http://www.historyoftheuniverse.com/tl1.html

In which way?
---

I wouldn't rule out seeding from another intelligent race even within the last 10-20 thousand
years though.

---
I think Larkin already posed that conjecture.
---

Not 10-20 thousand years!

John

 

[Kevin Aylward]

John Larkin wrote:

On Sun, 26 Oct 2008 20:56:52 +0000, Eeyore
rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote:



John Larkin wrote:

"Kevin Aylward" wrote:

You can argue any way you like, but believing in imaginary supreme
beings, and taking action on such pathetic beliefs, is a recipe
for disaster.

No, it's a key component of an orderly society and a successful
empire.

Ah, so you ADMIT you want an American Empire !

http://www.newamericancentury.org/

Graham

If it means spreading democracy

Complete nonsense. The US has systematically overthrown, legitimate
democracies all around the world.

Have you never heard of Noam Chomsky?

and health

Like, the 45 million kids in the US with no health cover.

and security around the
world, yes, absolutely. There is no "American Empire" in the sense
that the US makes the rules for anyone else, as there were Roman,
Muslim, British, French, Nazi, Japanese, Communist empires.

Europe, Canada, eastern Europe, Japan, Korea are part of the "empire
of democracy" but none of those countries genuflect to the USA. That's
as it should be.

The USA invented modern democracy, defended it in world wars, and is
the oldest surviving democracy on earth. Spreading democracy will
*diminish* the clout of the USA in the world, but spreading democracy
is what we should do. The europeans should do more; heaven knows their
old empires did a lot of damage.

Completely delusional.

You need learn a bit about your own country mate.

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/CIAtimeline.html

e.g.some snippets...

1953

Iran - CIA overthrows the democratically elected Mohammed Mossadegh in a
military coup,

1954

Guatemala - CIA overthrows the democratically elected Jacob Arbenz in a
military coup.

1957-1973

Laos - The CIA carries out approximately one coup per year trying to nullify
Laos' democratic elections.

1959

Haiti - The U.S. military helps "Papa Doc" Duvalier become dictator of
Haiti.

etc..etc...


Kevin Aylward
www.kevinaylward.co.uk

 

[Kevin Aylward]

John Larkin wrote:

Exogenesis is, in my opinion, much more likely, but it's rarely
mentioned because of fear of getting too close to "Creationism."

---
Yup. Even if exogenesis did explain the origin of life on Earth it
wouldn't explain the origin of life where the carrier came from or,
if it was exogenetically started there, where it started at the
beginning of the chain.

JF

DNA based life is "irreducibly complex" so probably could not have
evolved here from inorganics.

Complete Bullshit. Same old drivel put forward by all creationists. You need
to go and read a book that trivially explains the fallacy of your so called
"irreducibly complex". For example, "the blind watch maker" Richard Dawkins.



{snip more nonsense}


Kevin Aylward
www.kevinaylward.co.uk