<math xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML' mathematica:form='TraditionalForm' xmlns:mathematica='http://www.wolfram.com/XML/'> <semantics> <mrow> <mrow> <msqrt> <mi> z </mi> </msqrt> <mo> &#10869; </mo> <mrow> <munderover> <mo> &#8721; </mo> <mrow> <mi> k </mi> <mo> = </mo> <mn> 0 </mn> </mrow> <mi> &#8734; </mi> </munderover> <mrow> <semantics> <msub> <mrow> <mo> ( </mo> <mrow> <mo> - </mo> <mfrac> <mn> 1 </mn> <mn> 2 </mn> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo> ) </mo> </mrow> <mi> k </mi> </msub> <annotation encoding='Mathematica'> TagBox[SubscriptBox[RowBox[List[&quot;(&quot;, RowBox[List[&quot;-&quot;, FractionBox[&quot;1&quot;, &quot;2&quot;]]], &quot;)&quot;]], &quot;k&quot;], Pochhammer] </annotation> </semantics> <mo> &#8290; </mo> <mfrac> <msup> <mrow> <mo> ( </mo> <mrow> <mn> 1 </mn> <mo> - </mo> <mi> z </mi> </mrow> <mo> ) </mo> </mrow> <mi> k </mi> </msup> <mrow> <mi> k </mi> <mo> ! </mo> </mrow> </mfrac> </mrow> </mrow> </mrow> <mo> /; </mo> <mrow> <mrow> <semantics> <mo> &#10072; </mo> <annotation encoding='Mathematica'> &quot;\[LeftBracketingBar]&quot; </annotation> </semantics> <mrow> <mi> z </mi> <mo> - </mo> <mn> 1 </mn> </mrow> <semantics> <mo> &#10072; </mo> <annotation encoding='Mathematica'> &quot;\[RightBracketingBar]&quot; </annotation> </semantics> </mrow> <mo> &lt; </mo> <mn> 1 </mn> </mrow> </mrow> <annotation-xml encoding='MathML-Content'> <apply> <ci> Condition </ci> <apply> <eq /> <apply> <power /> <ci> z </ci> <cn type='rational'> 1 <sep /> 2 </cn> </apply> <apply> <sum /> <bvar> <ci> k </ci> </bvar> <lowlimit> <cn type='integer'> 0 </cn> </lowlimit> <uplimit> <infinity /> </uplimit> <apply> <times /> <apply> <ci> Pochhammer </ci> <apply> <times /> <cn type='integer'> -1 </cn> <cn type='rational'> 1 <sep /> 2 </cn> </apply> <ci> k </ci> </apply> <apply> <times /> <apply> <power /> <apply> <plus /> <cn type='integer'> 1 </cn> <apply> <times /> <cn type='integer'> -1 </cn> <ci> z </ci> </apply> </apply> <ci> k </ci> </apply> <apply> <power /> <apply> <factorial /> <ci> k </ci> </apply> <cn type='integer'> -1 </cn> </apply> </apply> </apply> </apply> </apply> <apply> <lt /> <apply> <abs /> <apply> <plus /> <ci> z </ci> <cn type='integer'> -1 </cn> </apply> </apply> <cn type='integer'> 1 </cn> </apply> </apply> </annotation-xml> </semantics> </math>

It is awfully complex and verbose! This just reiterates what I held to be true for a long time now - XML is being abused. It is great for moving hierarchical data between disparate systems - even non-hierarchical data if you focus on the interoperability and compatibility it facilitates, however using it as RDBMS storage solutions or this kind of hyper verbose markup is down right a waste of space and time. When will people learn that efficiency is important?

Look at this well known equation (all from the Wikipedia entry):

In LaTeX it looks like this:

x = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a}

Terse, huh?

Look at MathML:

<math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML">
 <mi>x</mi>
 <mo>=</mo>
 <mfrac>
  <mrow>
   <mrow>
    <mo>-</mo>
    <mi>b</mi>
   </mrow>
   <mo>&PlusMinus;</mo>
   <msqrt>
    <msup>
     <mi>b</mi>
     <mn>2</mn>
    </msup>
    <mo>-</mo>
    <mrow>
     <mn>4</mn>
     <mo>&InvisibleTimes;</mo>
     <mi>a</mi>
     <mo>&InvisibleTimes;</mo>
     <mi>c</mi>
    </mrow>
   </msqrt>
  </mrow>
  <mrow>
   <mn>2</mn>
   <mo>&InvisibleTimes;</mo>
   <mi>a</mi>
  </mrow>
 </mfrac>
</math>

It is disgusting...

I had this situation on a system I am playing DBA on. Slony-I was badly broken so I had to restart from scratch. My ground zero was to drop the database and start over... But... what if you can't???

-2000 Lines Of Code

Enjoy the quick gallery - I spent the afternoon taking some macro shots of things in my garden, and the results speak for themselves. Enjoy!

After lots of searching I found the cause of the problem - since this issue remained even when I reverted back to VS2005.

http://intellij.net/forums/message.jspa?messageID=5202694#5202694

The essence of the problem is that VS2008 sometimes adds this to your web.config file:

<controls>
..
<add tagPrefix="asp" namespace="System.Web.UI.WebControls" assembly="System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0., Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35" />

..
</controls>


To solve the problem change the tag prefix asp to something else like aspajax.

Nice is having a 480g Reef Tank in your house

...but having a new Apple Keyboard is FANTASTIC!

Times Online

Would you be able to send me a test file so that XXX can test.

The context of this request was for a project which I have quoted on 3 months ago, have not yet received any kind of approval to start the development, yet now they want a test file to illustrate the typical transaction volume they can expect.

Go figure.

So I did some research and realised that the car actually has 4 seats - even though the rear seats are extremely small, they are good enough for my 3 year old daughter who really enjoys sitting in that small space. So I took one for a test drive and I was hooked. Problem was just that 3.2l TT's were on a 4 month waiting list. That, and that alone, caused me to accept an offer from a guy who had his for 3 months and only had 5500km on the clock. He really looked after his car as it was in mint condition - so I accepted the deal and drove off with this little demon.

I say demon since the car has very much the same kind of performance than the Alfa GT - just much faster and much more stable on the road (due to its quattro drive). The DSG gearbox (Audi calls it S-Tronic) is really an amazing automatic gearbox. It can preselect the next gear and perform a gear shift in under 0.01 seconds - hence the only car I ever saw where the automatic is *faster* than the manual and more fuel economic. So I did not complain when the car came equipped with DSG instead of manual.

Driving it is an absolute pleasure. So far the car has not given any trouble - though I have discovered a rattle or two. I guess all cars rattle. I would really like to take it down to the coast to get that extra boost in performance. The car has a launch control feature to get from 0 - 100 km/h in 5.7 seconds - and it really works well. It has a very hard suspension so if that is not your thing do not buy it. The breaks do not feel as sharp as the BMW, however it stops in the same distance so it works just as well.

If you drive it normally it always switches gears at the red line - at 6500rpm, however when using launch control the car really freaks you out - before you can take your eyes down to the speedometer it is on 140 km/h and switching gears at 7500rpm. It has a beautiful grunt at high revs that helps getting the adrenaline pumped.

It is an absolutely beautiful car that gives good fuel consumption when not pushing it too hard (I get 8.2 l/100km for normal driving and 11.5 l/100km for hard driving). So far this borders on one of the most exciting cars I have ever owned. Definitely a step up from the BMW in terms of emotive driving. The Alfa GT still has the edge when it comes to pure exhilleration, but with better fuel consumption, much faster performance and better build quality it is just plain better.

I have not driven it extensively, however I did drive enough to be able to form some solid opinions. It has an extremely comfortable suspension - when you drive it it feels like you are flying. It is really the most comfortable car I ever drove.

The 2.2l diesel engine is plenty powerful - not like the BMW - but more than enough for a second car. We are still trying to break it in as it currently has less than 1000km on the clock, so the fuel consumption is still bad (about 9 l/100km).

In terms of features this car is not lacking. All the usual luxuries are present, with the absence of some more advanced things like Xenon lights, automatic headlights/rain sensors, park distance control etc. But that does not really distract from the magnificence of a Jaguar. It is thus far a truly amazing car and since it is my wife's car, I will not replace it anytime soon :)