Have you ever wanted to delv into the fabulous world of computer programming? Do you desire the chance to write 1,000 lines of code with the hopes of one day never working again and being surrounded by beautiful women? This article is a great place to start.
One of the more common questions here is about which language to learn; even which implementation of which language.
If I interviewed someone who told me they knew language Z, but didn’t know language R too well, I wouldn’t mind. We could have the interview in language Z. But I’d press them a little bit about what they thought of language R. They should know at least a little about it; what it is good for, what it’s not good for, and so on. If they start ranting about how it was invented by an evil scientist who worked at a company that everyone hates, or that it “just sucks”, or other such nonsense, I can’t imagine the interview would last very long.
A professional developer isn’t concerned with language; they’re even less concerned with style in a particular language. They’re able to pick up a language pretty rapidly, since it’s just a different way to express the ideas they should already be very familiar with. As they gain practice, they’ll get better and more fluent. But if they spend the first couple of weeks learning different things, that’s no big deal.
I was reading this article about railguns, coilguns and some of the technical problems involved and it mentioned that (theoretically) an operational rail gun could fire a projectile 250 miles in about 6 minutes. If you really could fire a projectile this fast and this far how hot would it be when it reached it’s target.
Assume the projectile is made of tungsten and is the size and shape of a 12 oz can of soda. At that speed and considering atmospheric resistance how hot would it be when it got to the target?
The answer given:
If I haven’t missed something in my math, this comes out to be 2,500 miles per hour which equals about 3,600 feet per second. You most definitely could–and a lot of off the shelf rifles do–fire a projectile (bullet) this fast. The projectiles are much smaller and lighter than the one you propose, of course, around 50-150 grains in weight.
I keep thinking I must have bothed the equation, my result is not a very amazing speed. (250 miles in 6 min = 2500 miles per hour [which divided by 3600 secs in an hour]= .69444… miles per second which times 5280 feet per mile = 3666 feet per second)
No idea about the actual answer to your question, though. I know the SR-71 at speed (~ Mach 3 or so), did get its exterior skin very hot, but I don’t know just how hot, sorry.
One of the best sci-fi / fantasy book series I have EVER read, that’s right, EVER READ EVER, is the “Song of Fire and Ice” series by George R. R. Martin. It is such a well written story that I would (and do) recommend it to non-fantasy readers. I will disect this great work of fiction in an upcoming series, but let me say this to the un-initiated or un-interested: THESE BOOKS ARE LIKE A NIP-TUCK EPISODE. So much sex, betrayal, violence, and politics. They are an easy read, though the books themselves are long. If you’re turned off by magic and wizards and wizard robes, have no fear. The first mention of anything nerdy (gasp!) is in the final chapter, with a little tease in the intro chapter in the first book, “A Game of Thrones”.
Fast foward to now. This was originally going to be a seven book series. It has now turned into eight. The 5th book for release, “A Dance With Dragons” has been perpetually delayed. Why? No clue. Could it be that “Song of Fire and Ice” has been picked up by HBO? Maybe, but not likely. One would think that with major network pressure, Martin would start to finish his magnificent creation. The saga of the release day of “Dance with Dragons” can be read everywhere, from his own blog to the Amazon.com book review page.
The real concern is that Mr. Martin will die before the story is finished. I truely hope that is not the case, but it is a real possibility due to Martin’s age and his apparent health: he is obese.
As an example to the epic frustrations experienced by fans and nerds everywhere, the last formal update on Fire and Ice was January, 2008.
Nerd is a term often bearing a derogatory connotation or stereotype, that refers to a person who passionately pursues intellectual activities, esoteric knowledge, or other obscure interests rather than engaging in more social or popular activities.
