Domain: blogspot.com
Stories and comments across the archive that link to blogspot.com.
Comments · 20,258
-
Re:I just want to get this right
Electric cars are also cheaper to run. You get regenerative braking as a help but basically it is more efficient to have high delta T at the power generating plant and coal is also cheaper than oil.
--
Solar is cheaper still: http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-users -selling-solar.html -
Treaties
I blogged on this a while back. Kyoto was modeled on the Montreal Protocol and now both are in bad shape. Here's a fresh link in the NYT http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/15/business/worldb
u siness/15warming.html to look at if you want to read the blog which links to an older and now subscription only article http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/02/heir-of-leader ship.html. -
Re:I'm planning on getting one asap
You don't have to put the panel on the car, you can put it on your home roof http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-user
s -selling-solar.html. The cars take about 4 hours to charge with their on board compressors if that fits your driving habits.
You can get on a wait list for a car here http://www.theaircar.com/models_iwantone.html. NB, the solar link is also a wait list.
I think I'm going to wait for batteries in a car because that solves my back up power needs but this gets to my speed needs better than the zebra: http://www.zapworld.com/ZAPWorld.aspx?id=188. -
WeightThe bodies are fiberglass.
Unlike the majority of traditional cars on the market, MDIs vehicle's have fibreglass bodies which makes them light, silent urban car. The car's body is tubular, light weight, and is held together using aerospace technology.
http://www.theaircar.com/thecar.html
--
Get renewable: http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-users -selling-solar.html -
Re:Summary is seriously incorrect.Thanks for the link. They also claim a low cost of operation (1.5 eruos for 200 km).
The recharging of the car will be done at gas stations, once the market is developed. To fill the tanks it will take about to 2 to 3 minutes at a price of 1.5 euros. After refilling the car will be ready to driver 200 kilometres.
This seems in line with the cost of running an electric vehicle. Presumably the engine is used for braking.
--
Now run it on solar: http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-users -selling-solar.html -
Re:Let's hope
According to an (unofficial) post by Kimbal Musk in 2005, "The highest winds we want to launch in is 24 knots [~27.6 mph]." I don't know if that's still there policy, but current wind speed is just around 15 mph.
-
Other info sources
For anybody looking for more frequently-updated sources of info and don't feel like watching the entire webcase, here's some other useful sources of info:
* SpaceFlight Now's Mission Status Center: According to the status center, they're having some problems with remotely-monitoring the telemetry stream, which may end up postponing the launch.
* Kimbal Musk's "Kwajalein Atoll and Rockets" blog: Kimbal is Elon Musk's brother, and often posts interesting (and highly unofficial) updates from the launch site. He sometimes goes into liveblogging mode, but hasn't done this yet today. -
Re:Linux?
"Apollo will work on Mac and Windows to begin with, Linux support to follow."
http://myblah-blah-tech.blogspot.com/2007/01/15-th ings-about-adobe-apollo.html -
Re:Translation...
Hope that unlike the HTML/Javascript/CSS soup we have now, this technology is designed from the ground up with security in mind.
I guess Flash/Flex/ActionScript/whatever the heck this stuff is turning out to be, is the Next Big Language? http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2007/02/next-big-l anguage.html
I just hope it works on mobile phones, it has to be a better solution than Sun's J2ME/JavaME mess. Is OpenLaszlo going anywhere? -
Re:much funnier
anything is funny when you substitute the word pants:
- ask not what your pants can do for you. ask what you can do for your pants.
- i want pants for the full expression of my personality.
- god is pants.
- he is ill clothed that is bare of pants.
- friends, nobles, countrymen, lend me your pants.
-
The reality of fighting software piracy in Russia
Everyone seems to know of high-profile cases, such as AllOfMp3. No wonder, AllOfMP3 used to one of the most popular music shops out there, just a bit less popular than iTunes.
Unfortunately, due to this 'fight', a lot of innocent people get hurt by the system. You heard of Ponosov's case, where a headmaster of God-forgotten school in Perm region has been tried for an alleged 'intellectual property violation'. And this case was not brought on by Microsoft. It was brought by a regional prosecution office. And that was just a beginning...
Nowadays corrupted goverment officials and law enforcement officers use 'software piracy' as yet another way to make a 'quick buck' in bribes. Their demands are completely ridiculous. Here is a couple of examples:
- In big cities they stop people for documents checks and 'random' searches. And now if they see a laptop, they demand to turn it on and demand a license for the software. And that's suppose to be an 'antiterrorist' activity...
- Police came over to some company recently and confiscated their Linux servers with the following explanation: Your computer does not have 'My Computer' icon, so it must be illegal. No other explanation was given. When the company visited local police office and demanded explanation, they were told: you can sue us and wait for another half a year until the court processes your case. Keep in mind, though, that all this time your equipment is going to lie here as evidence. Alternatively, you can just pay the fine that is reasonable to both of us and get your sh&t outta here.... What do you think the businessmen have done? You can read about it (in Russian)here and here.
-
The reality of fighting software piracy in Russia
Everyone seems to know of high-profile cases, such as AllOfMp3. No wonder, AllOfMP3 used to one of the most popular music shops out there, just a bit less popular than iTunes.
Unfortunately, due to this 'fight', a lot of innocent people get hurt by the system. You heard of Ponosov's case, where a headmaster of God-forgotten school in Perm region has been tried for an alleged 'intellectual property violation'. And this case was not brought on by Microsoft. It was brought by a regional prosecution office. And that was just a beginning...
Nowadays corrupted goverment officials and law enforcement officers use 'software piracy' as yet another way to make a 'quick buck' in bribes. Their demands are completely ridiculous. Here is a couple of examples:
- In big cities they stop people for documents checks and 'random' searches. And now if they see a laptop, they demand to turn it on and demand a license for the software. And that's suppose to be an 'antiterrorist' activity...
- Police came over to some company recently and confiscated their Linux servers with the following explanation: Your computer does not have 'My Computer' icon, so it must be illegal. No other explanation was given. When the company visited local police office and demanded explanation, they were told: you can sue us and wait for another half a year until the court processes your case. Keep in mind, though, that all this time your equipment is going to lie here as evidence. Alternatively, you can just pay the fine that is reasonable to both of us and get your sh&t outta here.... What do you think the businessmen have done? You can read about it (in Russian)here and here.
-
Re:My Routers already does a lot of that stuff
DD-Wrt is done by one guy, and his goal is to make it as useful as possible for what he thinks users want to use it for.
DD-Wrt is based on the now-GPL violating commercial WRT distro called Alchemy - mostly because they wanted the project to continue despite the fact that it's owner wanted to start closing the source.
You might want to see what this fellow has to say about that. -
Re:MySpace's Microsoft-backed infrastructure.
I guess we shouldn't use Apple products, the Linux kernel or browsers either eh?
http://projects.info-pull.com/moab/ - Month of Apple Bugs
http://projects.info-pull.com/mokb/ - Month of Kernel Bugs
http://browserfun.blogspot.com/ - Month of Browser Bugs -
dd-wrt developer's integrity/httpd lockups?
I read a blog recently that questions the integrity of one of dd-wrt's developers. Apparently, the guy who calls himself brainslayer and who seems to have done most of the integration work (IINM), is now selling the work of others as his own.
... and other accusations. Read for yourself :
http://xwrt.blogspot.com/2007/02/dd-wrt-continues- to-exploit-free-open.html
I'm not sure if there's anything wrong with it myself, but you might want to consider your options, if such things are important to you.
I'm using dd-wrt myself, and I'm looking at replacing it with Tomato, since dd-wrt's web server (the GUI) keeps locking up (logging into it wish ssh reveals httpd is using 100% CPU and killing it causes it to be relaunched). Also, I really don't need all the crap that's in the regular version of dd-wrt, so I'd move to the micro version of dd-wrt anyway, but since that will likely have the same httpd problem, I figure I might as well give Tomato a try.
Yeah, you might care more about the httpd lockup than the developer's integrity. Just a couple of things to consider. YMMV -
Re:Uncertain how crop production would change
Similar issues were raise in the article. You can judge for yourself here: http://www.iop.org/EJ/article/1748-9326/2/1/01400
2 /erl7_1_014002.pdf.
--
Solar power: http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-users -selling-solar.html -
Re:Change your firmware on the Linksys...
You might want to consider choosing one of the alternatives to dd-wrt :
http://xwrt.blogspot.com/2007/02/dd-wrt-continues- to-exploit-free-open.html
or not...
I have been running dd-wrt for a long time, but the fact that it's httpd always uses close to 100% of the CPU (after running ok for a while) so I have to ssh in and kill it (it's restarted automatically), made me look for an alternative. I'm going to try the 'tomato' one, I think :
http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato -
Speaking of threats
An AC really stood up for the name coward today on another thread. http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=226977&cid=18
3 87065. Trolling used to be such a fun sport, catch a fish or two, enjoy the Sun and the water.... Now they dynamite the fishes.
But, it is not clear which side is threatening the warming deniers. It could easily be their own side to manipulate them into crying about it. It turned out that the guy who said he was threatened was a PR guy so it makes you think. They have been less than scrupulous in other ways: http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/your-opinion-c ould-be-paid-for-by.html. -
Re:False choice
You should have another look at the economics of renewables. Wind is already cheaper tha fossil fuels in Texas and, to toot my own horn, you can rent solar power for what you pay now to your utility. I think also that you are mistaken about the contribution of people to stopping nuclear power. I feel they (we) did not go far enough. You can see why here http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/knowing-warmi
n g.html seventh paragraph.
--
Power your home with solar: http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-users -selling-solar.html -
Re:False choice
You should have another look at the economics of renewables. Wind is already cheaper tha fossil fuels in Texas and, to toot my own horn, you can rent solar power for what you pay now to your utility. I think also that you are mistaken about the contribution of people to stopping nuclear power. I feel they (we) did not go far enough. You can see why here http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/knowing-warmi
n g.html seventh paragraph.
--
Power your home with solar: http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-users -selling-solar.html -
Re:False choice
Actually, to even get this kind of stretch you need to rely on methods which are not legal in the US. At the present rate of consumption and price for fuel we've probably got enough for a hundred years, less than what is available for the present rate of consumption of coal. Uranium is a smaller fraction of the cost for power production than coal, so it is OK to boost the cost on mining a bit and get at some less desirable ores. Suppose this gives us 300 years at the present consumption level. Then nuclear energy can replace fossil fuel use for 30 years. So, its not really worth building the reactors I think.
--
Go fusion! http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-users -selling-solar.html -
Re:And the summary is an example of that hyping
Actually there is a link between the ozone layer and warming but it is a bit complex. The refrigerant substituted to help protect the ozone layer is also a potent greenhouse gas. And, as India and China produce more air conditioners, we are getting more of it into the atmosphere. I've blogged on it here http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/02/heir-of-leade
r ship.html and here is a fresher NYT link http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/15/business/worldbu siness/15warming.html since the one in the blog will use up one of your subscription points. -
Re:Research Paper on The Campaign Against Man-Made
Check the spelling.
--
Now its easy being green: http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-users -selling-solar.html -
Re:Posted notice?Especially in the day of publishing on the web, where when you decide to stop pulishing, it's gone. If you publish a book and sell it, whoever bought the book can come back to it over and over. If you remove your webpage it's gone -- unless some asshat corporation (non-profit or otherwise) comes along and decides to republish your content without your permission. So if I write something like a web cache such as Coral, I'm violating your copyright if the information on your site dissappears? I have the feeling that you just don't understand the way the internet works. People who "publish" content make it available, and people who "surf" the content pull down copies. Those copies are transmitted through several network systems on the way to their destination, and any network in the middle could copy the data for purposes of caching or otherwise.
It's just the way the internet and web work. Your little opinions don't really matter. If the web didn't work this way, it would not be reliable, and it would not be useful. Search engines and archives and caches are services without which we would get significantly less benefit from the information put out on the web.
If you don't want to make information publicly available, don't put it on the internet, and don't advertise its presence by linking your content. Sue people who violate your copyright if they put it on the internet. If you want to make information publicly available to a private community, then use appropriate technologies like Bulletin Board software with accounts and passwords.
Copyright is not violated by computers. Copyright is violated by people. You can't sue computers. Large organizations with lots of money (big targets for lawsuits) will in general try not to violate copyright, but they aren't in general responsible for the copyright violations that the masses do through their services, just like how the FSF isn't responsible if you use their software to violate copyright or Microsoft isn't responsible if you use their software to violate copyright. Wouldn't it suck if Microsoft Word didn't let you "Copy and Paste", because "God forbid you might be copying/pasting something that was copyrighted by someone else, and Word can't make the distinction". Being indexed should be opt-in. Just like being spammed. Robots.txt can be used to advertise where a crawler should index as well as where a crawler should not. It is both opt-in and opt-out at the same time. Before you write another uninformed word about it, you should read more about it. You should also read this google blog post, this google blog post, The main robots.txt site, and the RFC.
There are crawlers which "violate robots.txt" (usually those crawlers are just poor implementations by people learning to write a crawler or unfinished programs - people who write real crawlers in general understand that you probably have good reasons for not wanting them crawling those pages of your site, and they don't want to waste their bandwidth on them). -
Re:Posted notice?Especially in the day of publishing on the web, where when you decide to stop pulishing, it's gone. If you publish a book and sell it, whoever bought the book can come back to it over and over. If you remove your webpage it's gone -- unless some asshat corporation (non-profit or otherwise) comes along and decides to republish your content without your permission. So if I write something like a web cache such as Coral, I'm violating your copyright if the information on your site dissappears? I have the feeling that you just don't understand the way the internet works. People who "publish" content make it available, and people who "surf" the content pull down copies. Those copies are transmitted through several network systems on the way to their destination, and any network in the middle could copy the data for purposes of caching or otherwise.
It's just the way the internet and web work. Your little opinions don't really matter. If the web didn't work this way, it would not be reliable, and it would not be useful. Search engines and archives and caches are services without which we would get significantly less benefit from the information put out on the web.
If you don't want to make information publicly available, don't put it on the internet, and don't advertise its presence by linking your content. Sue people who violate your copyright if they put it on the internet. If you want to make information publicly available to a private community, then use appropriate technologies like Bulletin Board software with accounts and passwords.
Copyright is not violated by computers. Copyright is violated by people. You can't sue computers. Large organizations with lots of money (big targets for lawsuits) will in general try not to violate copyright, but they aren't in general responsible for the copyright violations that the masses do through their services, just like how the FSF isn't responsible if you use their software to violate copyright or Microsoft isn't responsible if you use their software to violate copyright. Wouldn't it suck if Microsoft Word didn't let you "Copy and Paste", because "God forbid you might be copying/pasting something that was copyrighted by someone else, and Word can't make the distinction". Being indexed should be opt-in. Just like being spammed. Robots.txt can be used to advertise where a crawler should index as well as where a crawler should not. It is both opt-in and opt-out at the same time. Before you write another uninformed word about it, you should read more about it. You should also read this google blog post, this google blog post, The main robots.txt site, and the RFC.
There are crawlers which "violate robots.txt" (usually those crawlers are just poor implementations by people learning to write a crawler or unfinished programs - people who write real crawlers in general understand that you probably have good reasons for not wanting them crawling those pages of your site, and they don't want to waste their bandwidth on them). -
Re:And that matters why?
"Nymz" doesn't have to read, he's an RIAA troll. Don't waste your time on him. He knows the cases are frivolous, which is why his moron employers are getting hammered for attorneys fees.
-
No need to cry wolf
We can already count lost sheep. Yanking this off the firehose even though it was slowly rising:
Science Daily is reporting that researchers at the Carnegie Institution and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have found that crop losses owing to global warming exceeded $100 billion between 1981 and 2002 http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Sci ence&article=UPI-1-20070316-15391700-bc-us-climate change-crops.xml. This is of interest not just because this indicates that warming is not good for crops, at least in the way that we grow them now, but that attempts to reduce warming through substituting biofuels for fossil fuels may be squeezed by this effect.
The estimated cost of crop losses is about 25% of the cost of the Iraq war so far http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com _wrapper&Itemid=182.
--
Do something: http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-users -selling-solar.html -
Re:Mod Up - bogus argumentFor no reason than to slant the story? Really? Funny, when I read the summary, I noticed:
defendant John Paladuk was living in Florida at the time of the alleged copyright infringement
Mr. Paladuk suffered a stroke last year
sole income is Social Security Disability
The mention of the stroke does indeed have a purpose beyond emotional appeal. The medical bills from the stroke, combined with the fact that his base income is already small if he's on Social Security Disability, give the distinct impression that he might have financial difficulty mounting a strong defense in a case such as this.
The whole point is that the RIAA is suing someone, who based on the evidence available is most likely innocent, just because he probably doesn't have the money to defend himself successfully. They probably hope he'll cave in and settle because it'll cost less than the extended legal battle he might face.
I think NewYorkCountryLawyer included the medical information because it has a direct bearing on the interpretation of the RIAA's actions in this case. If all you saw was an appeal to pity, then maybe you need to re-read the summary again. -
Re:RIAA are terrorists?
Yes it is a problem, only I'm not sure the system does allow it. They are getting their head handed to them in Capitol v. Foster, and I am hopeful the 'system' is catching up to them elsewhere.
-
Re:RIAA are terrorists?
Yes it is a problem, only I'm not sure the system does allow it. They are getting their head handed to them in Capitol v. Foster, and I am hopeful the 'system' is catching up to them elsewhere.
-
Re:Let the energy graphs begin!
Looking at the comments on the blog I have to agree that most of your big number for waste is just bad wording. Power generation is not all that efficient and that is the big chunk. If you heat with electricity, your taking a huge hit there because you could burn the fuel directly for heat. But, you can't run many electric appliances that way. Transmission losses are on the order of 7% of the actually generated electricity, they'd be a smaller fraction of the grey plus orange blobs in the figure.
--
Generate your power at home: http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-users -selling-solar.html -
Re:Someday...
Thanks for the information. I've added Jamendo.com to my list of links to non-RIAA music, "Liberated Music".
-
Re:That makes two accidents in 1999
You seem not to understand that the safety record of the nuclear power industry is very poor. As it turns out, contrary to what we have been led to beleive, there is no full opportunity for the industry to learn from its mistakes because accidents are covered up. This particular accident has no record or analysis so it may well be repeated with worse consequences.
As you point out, different technology is called for. However, it is not at all clear that pebble bed reactors can be run safely on a commercial scale. Further, it is no longer clear that problems with such new technology will be reported or addressed.
I agree with you that biofuels based on rooted plants have limited capacity as you will see here: http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/02/photosynthesis .html. But, wind and solar are not limited in this way so you seem to be selecting you example rather poorly. -
Re:Racketeering, actually...
See Atlantic v. Andersen, where an Oregon RICO case has been filed against them.
-
Re:Someday...RIAA Radar lists non-RIAA music, not RIAA music.
I've been collecting a list of links I call Liberated Music.
-
Re:And that matters why?
They're not within their rights. Their complaint is based upon a false, basically fictional, reading of copyright law, and upon zero evidence. See Elektra v. Barker and their "expert witness" deposition.
-
Re:And that matters why?
They're not within their rights. Their complaint is based upon a false, basically fictional, reading of copyright law, and upon zero evidence. See Elektra v. Barker and their "expert witness" deposition.
-
False choice
You seem to be saying that nuclear power is better than coal power, a dubious claim, but also a logical fallacy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_dilemma. The real choice is between depletable resources and renewable resources. In terms of safety, reliability, prudence and, now, price the renewable resources win.
--
Save money with solar: http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-users -selling-solar.html -
Feasible transmission distances
This study http://www.geni.org/globalenergy/library/technica
l -articles/transmission/cigre/present-limits-of-ver y-long-distance-transmission-systems/index.shtml suggests that 7000 km transmission legs might be economically feasible. On the other hand, keeping Bagdad supplied with electricity is proving more difficult than keeping it supplied with generator fuel since trucks provide a work around for attacks against oil pipelines. It seems to me that what is really going on is that the sunk costs for current power generation provide inertia against which your plan has to push. What is needed is to make renewables cheaper than fossil fuel costs so that fossil fuel (and nuclear) plants have to operate at a loss to compete. This may mean placing renewable power generation closer to where it is consumed for the present.
--
Generate clean power at home: http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-users -selling-solar.html -
That makes two accidents in 1999
The one with fatalities is listed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_civilian_nuc
l ear_accidents here. This raises a very serious issue. How complete is the list of accidents? The one in 2006 in Sweden suggests that modern plants can't be operated safely but that the risk of a very large accident is one in forty years at the present level of reliance on nuclear power. If the list is very incomplete, as this cover up might urge us to consider, then the risk of large accidents could be much higher than one in forty years at the present level of reliance on nuclear power. In that case, increasing our reliance on nuclear power seems foolhardy and decommisioning existing plants on an accelerated schedule would be a good policy to adopt.
--
Fusion power today: http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-users -selling-solar.html -
Re:How?
I was thinking the same thing. At Dell we have everything shutdown. http://dellcomputerdeal.blogspot.com/ great place to find the deals I get at work.
-
Re:Paranoid
http://dellcomputerdeal.blogspot.com/ Has great deals on dell computers that you can use to travel the world and work with. Check it out.
-
Lot to your own house before judging others
Balmer should look inward before throwing stones at Google.
According to mini, MS is planning on hiring an additional 10-12k people in the Seattle area. No one really seems to know why these people would be hired or what they would be doing. Pre-emptive strike against Google to keep talent off the market? From what I hear MS is a fat, bloated company already. Think of all the people getting paid to do nothing once another 12k people show up at the office. -
GNUstep got accepted and has a lot to offer
GNUstep has a lot of different projects to offer - from entry level improvements for the beginner (like compiling the missing classes in GNUstep compared to current Cocoa and creating the header files) to advanced tasks like porting Apple's WebKit over to GNUstep (here you would need proper ObjC++ and C++ skills) or improving GNUsteps integration into the MS Windows Platform (tighter integration into the Windows look and feel, Windows programming skills are welcome). So there is something for everybody.
newspieces:
http://digg.com/programming/GNUstep_participates_i n_Google_Summer_of_Code_2007
http://gnustep.blogspot.com/2007/03/summer-of-code -2007.html
ideas:
http://wiki.gnustep.org/index.php/Summer_Of_Code_2 007 (the wiki requires a registration here: webmasters@gnustep.org since we got a lot of wikispam before)
regards, Lars -
Re:If the goal is cheap international calling...
Obligatory link
-
Re:This is judicial craziness
I believe that actually will happen, because the judge has specifically provided that Ms. Foster can supplement her fee application after the RIAA is done with its fake 'discovery' on 'reasonableness', and denied the RIAA's application to change that provision.
-
Re:This is judicial craziness
I believe that actually will happen, because the judge has specifically provided that Ms. Foster can supplement her fee application after the RIAA is done with its fake 'discovery' on 'reasonableness', and denied the RIAA's application to change that provision.
-
Re:This is judicial craziness
I believe that actually will happen, because the judge has specifically provided that Ms. Foster can supplement her fee application after the RIAA is done with its fake 'discovery' on 'reasonableness', and denied the RIAA's application to change that provision.
-
Re:Yeah--No Kidding!
As far as I am aware, there's no information about RIAA cases that have progressed to trial yet -- see http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/#tr
i al ("We do not have information on any trials, although it would seem that there must have been some, especially in cases where the defendants are representing themselves, without legal counsel.")
So by that token, one could say that the RIAA has not "lost" a trial related to internet piracy, either. -
Retyping
As I read it this just means that the data were put back into electronic form. This happens very often in science since many studies exist as hardcopy only after some passage of time. You have to enter data tables either by hand or with OCR and figures have to be measured with a ruler or with data ripoff software. NASA's ADS provides DEXTER for this purpose: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs_doc/help_pages/dext
e r.html.
--
Measure the Sun with daily reports in electronic format: http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-users -selling-solar.html