Slashdot Mirror

Less on the physics than the effects of that physics, from the New Yorker last week; here's a general audience article on knuckleball physics, an interview with Robert K. Adair, and finally, another physicist, Joel Hollander, who works on baseball: if you look at the master's theses list, you'll see one on the physics of pitching.

For the uninitiated, Cooper Union in the parent list is a full-scholarship
school (AFAIK, the only one in the nation, apart from the military academies, but then again, Cooper doesn't bind you to anything after you graduate). As long as you have your own housing and commute (in NYC), all you pay is about ~$1k/year in student/lab fees. Very small (~450 engineering students). I'll be a sophomore there, and have had fun so far (in the academic sense; social life sucks). Take a look if you want to go to a reputed school but don't want to spend big bucks (or are not in CA :-). Cooper offered explicit EE, ChemE, CivE, MechE, GeneralE majors until this year, now they offer an integrated BE program with concentrations in different areas.

For the uninitiated, Cooper Union in the parent list is a full-scholarship
school (AFAIK, the only one in the nation, apart from the military academies, but then again, Cooper doesn't bind you to anything after you graduate). As long as you have your own housing and commute (in NYC), all you pay is about ~$1k/year in student/lab fees. Very small (~450 engineering students). I'll be a sophomore there, and have had fun so far (in the academic sense; social life sucks). Take a look if you want to go to a reputed school but don't want to spend big bucks (or are not in CA :-). Cooper offered explicit EE, ChemE, CivE, MechE, GeneralE majors until this year, now they offer an integrated BE program with concentrations in different areas.

leads you through formatting hard drive
But, you say I have to use Windows for [Insert your strange application here] and I really don't want to reformat my hard drive.
Don't despair, a Dualboot Knoppix and Windows hard disk install guide is here!
I've install Knoppix V3.1 multiple times this way. I've hot repartitioned (leaving Windows and its data happy) and installed Knoppix to keep Windows honest :-) All this leaves Windows still bootable.

Since our full scholarship students want to do this, I slapped together a quick guide.
There are many gory details and no beautiful prose :-).
My steps are very cautious and guide you through the whole process.

I haven't tested it with V3.2, hey, V3.2 only 3 days old :-), so I would appreciate comments by anyone brave enough to try.
The instructions can be gotten via my slashdot journal at http://slashdot.org/~lent/journal/28974

Back in the 80's somebody wrote a program to act like a rosiarian psychologist. Someone else wrote a program to act like a paranoid patient.

I don't understand your motives.

WHY DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND MY MOTIVES?

Shouldn't I be?

WHY DID YOU SAY THAT JUST NOW?

That's just the way it is.

SUPPOSE THAT'S JUST THE WAY IT WERE NOT.

So?

I'M NOT SURE I UNDERSTAND YOU FULLY.

You harp on the same questions too much.

WHAT DOES THAT SIMILARITY SUGGEST TO YOU?

I don't get you.

DO YOU WISH THAT YOU DID GET I?

First check my reply to the other guy with the same question here.

Then for the official line, go here (brief), and here (complete history).

Also, it's FREE...as in beer. Unlike the Defense Academies, which are also technically free and even give you something extra, we do not have ANY kind of bond/obligation to Cooper Union after we graduate.

By the way, it's free because that was the founding principle of the college. The founder, Peter Cooper, wanted to provide education to "the boys and girls of this city", that was "as free as the water and air."

First check my reply to the other guy with the same question here.

Then for the official line, go here (brief), and here (complete history).

Also, it's FREE...as in beer. Unlike the Defense Academies, which are also technically free and even give you something extra, we do not have ANY kind of bond/obligation to Cooper Union after we graduate.

By the way, it's free because that was the founding principle of the college. The founder, Peter Cooper, wanted to provide education to "the boys and girls of this city", that was "as free as the water and air."

The humanities requirements aren't huge (average of about 1 class a semester), but there are some good ones. Plus if you're ambitious, you can even sign up for a couple of classes in the art department (I took photo my last semester).

As for the market value, I'm pretty certain at least all the engineering grads in my class did well for themselves. And as for motives, never underestimate the power of the occasional philanthropist. And yes, no one's ever heard of it, and yes, I'm an alum ('97, Chemical Engineering).

While attending Cooper, many programs had started to make sure we graduated as more complete engineers. These optional programs focused on communication and leadership skills. I would highly recommend any interested school administrators to check out leap.cooper.edu to get an idea as to what we did at Cooper. I'm sure I can talk for my fellow classmates who took the LEAP courses that what we learned in these programs were essetial in the real world.

While attending Cooper, many programs had started to make sure we graduated as more complete engineers. These optional programs focused on communication and leadership skills. I would highly recommend any interested school administrators to check out leap.cooper.edu to get an idea as to what we did at Cooper. I'm sure I can talk for my fellow classmates who took the LEAP courses that what we learned in these programs were essetial in the real world.

DO college's count, becuase here at The Cooper union most of the stuff we run is Win95 and Red Hat Linux. Mostly becuase this school does not charge tution, does it see the value in running Free software like Linux. They've made it work rather well. and espcially since all the computers are at least 5 years old.

A better way to get a Free MIT education is to go to Cooper Union

When Marc Ewing, co-founder and [former] Chief Technology Officer, lost his grandfather's red Cornell lacrosse cap while a student at Carnegie-Mellon University, he searched everywhere for it. The manual of the beta release of what was to become Red Hat Linux contained a plea asking readers to send him the cap if they found it while in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

He [ Mark Ewing] named his venture Red Hat, after the Cornell lacrosse team cap he got from his grandfather. "The real story is that it was red- and white-striped," said Ewing, who wore the cap regularly until he lost it. "But Red- and White-striped Hat didn't sound like a good name for a company."

[...] he [ Mark White, Vice President/General Manager, Asia-Pacific, Red Hat Inc.] had this to say : "Our co-founder Mark Ewing used to be a student at Carnegie Mellon University. Like all students, he took on jobs at the school and one of his trademark outfits includes wearing one of his uncles old lacrosse hat, which happened to be red. Whenever anyone needed help with the computers, people will say, 'look for the guy with the red hat'. He essentially became the 'red hat guy'. Later, he met up with Bob Young, co-founder of Red Hat Inc. They wanted a name/logo for the new company they are setting up, it had to be of an emotional color and be an everyday object. Naturally they decided on 'red hat'. "

He [Marc Ewing] spent years of hard work on Red Hat, which he named after a Cornell lacrosse team cap he found in his grandfather's closet.

One type of free-space transmitter, a type that has no battery, is the so-called "resonant cavity" transmitter. The Great Seal of the United States in the Moscow Embassy concealed such a device. As has been reported extensively in the media, a wooden wall plaque was presented as a gift along with the suggestion of mounting it on the wall behind the Ambassador's desk. Many may recall the photograph of Ambassador Lodge pointing to a "bug" concealed in the back of the plaque. The embarrassment caused by the detection of this transmitter motivated the intelligence community to spring into action and devices similar to it soon evolved.

Yes, the roles of the NSA are diverse and growing. From the About the NSA

The National Security Agency is the Nation's cryptologic organization. It coordinates, directs, and performs highly specialized activities to protect U.S. information systems and produce foreign intelligence information. [...]

From The Evolution of the U.S. Intelligence community

The 1950s Acting on the recommendations of a commission of senior officials headed by George Brownell, President Truman, by classified memorandum , established the National Security Agency (NSA) in October 1952 in recognition of the need for a single entity to be responsible for the signals intelligence mission of the United States. Placed within the Department of Defense, NSA assumed the responsibilities of the former Armed Forces Security Agency as well as the signals intelligence responsibilities of the CIA and other military elements. In 1958, the National Security Council issued directives that detailed NSA's mission and authority under the Secretary of Defense.

The secrecy was probably the only way to combine the groups handling sensitive material which were competing for the same job.

Keeping sensitive information from wandering off is necessary if espionage exists. Even after 50 years captured information is useful. See the now declassified (well mostly) VENONA project.

Finally, have a look at NSA via slashdot's past in

• Interviews: Crypto Guru Bruce Schneier Answers
• Ask Slashdot: What's the Real NSA Like?

Some friends of mine did some work for the New York City MTA a few years ago... They did some models of subway stations using the Quake II engine... you can find some screenshots here....

Cooper gave his money away without tax breaks and without leaving it to his family. His family fully supported him in this, believing as he did, which is also remarkable by modern standards. His example directly nudged Andrew Carnegie, George Peabody, Matthew Vassar, Ezra Cornell and many others into their famous philanthropies. Cooper was the first wealthy industrialist of the 19th century to equate the acquisition of wealth with social responsibility. It is a tragedy that history seems to have largely forgotten this pivotal figure of the 19th century.

[... Jerry] Speyer, president of Tishman Speyer Properties, acquired an extended leasehold on the land under the Chrysler Building from Cooper Union.[...]A source close to the deal puts the value of the lease at nearly $13 million, plus percentage closed.

Cooper gave his money away without tax breaks and without leaving it to his family. His family fully supported him in this, believing as he did, which is also remarkable by modern standards. His example directly nudged Andrew Carnegie, George Peabody, Matthew Vassar, Ezra Cornell and many others into their famous philanthropies. Cooper was the first wealthy industrialist of the 19th century to equate the acquisition of wealth with social responsibility. It is a tragedy that history seems to have largely forgotten this pivotal figure of the 19th century.

[... Jerry] Speyer, president of Tishman Speyer Properties, acquired an extended leasehold on the land under the Chrysler Building from Cooper Union.[...]A source close to the deal puts the value of the lease at nearly $13 million, plus percentage closed.

Actually in some cases they throw the data out entirely. most motion capture systems suffer from jitter as well as other errors. Kaiser-Wallsach (sp?) was the company behind the CG for the new spiderman ride, they originally had actors doing the motion and captured the data. They had so much trouble working with the data that they ended up tossing it out the window. In fact the only case where motion capture seems to have worked really well was in the ghost catching performace at cooper union