Slashdot Mirror

Can you reach any of those pages?

http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage/
http://www.korea-dpr.com/
http://www.iran-daily.com/1384/2389/html/
http://www.cubaweb.cu/

If so, you're making use of a system maintained by the US Government.

Now try acessing
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/coredocs.html/ from China or

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=b s&sbrftog=1&catref=C6&fstype=1&from=R10&satitle=na zi+hitler&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&bs=Search&sargn=- 1%26saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=ZIP%2FPostal&ftrt=1&f trv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=1%26fsoo%3D1&coaction =compare&copagenum=1&coentrypage=search&fgtp= from Germany or France.

Seriously, who would you rather have in charge of the internet?

New technology gizmos and gadgets are exceedingly easy to use...after a break in period.

Its very analogous to the Windows vs. Linux arguments. Yes, Linux does stuff great, it can even play windows games via various routes, but learning how to use these new tools is prohibitive to most because there is not a succinct base of knowledge expressed in windows-esque terms. So people don't switch (self-included! *ducks*)

If you want to be 'hip' to the new technology, buy it, goof around with it. When you get sick of it, goof around for another week, if it still sucks, http://www.ebay.com./ If not, enjoy.

shut up, idiot

IBM THINKPAD T20 LAPTOP P III 700MHZ,20GB,128MB,DVD

$269

http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-THINKPAD-T20-LAPTOP-P-III- 700MHZ-20GB-128MB-DVD_W0QQitemZ6806443033QQcategor yZ31553QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

car battery charger

Any time your car is going to be standing for some time, just stick this panel on a window and plug it into the lighter socket.

I can't afford this, but http://cgi.ebay.com/Beautiful-Regency-TR-1-Transis tor-Radio-w-case-GRAY_W0QQitemZ6564339586QQcategor yZ932QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Now you just need to buy a pair of white headphones to go with it...

I bought this.

http://cgi.ebay.com/EXiM-Screen-Protector-for-Appl e-iPod-nano-Deluxe_W0QQitemZ8221180344QQcategoryZ5 0607QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

And yes, I have only used it for 2 days and the screen is ALREADY scratched. However, putting the clear screen protector on the screen as well as on the whole body of the nano make it a bit harder to see the scratches...

The wish is granted!

Long live Jombi!

It is also interesting to see the most popular web sites. Start by typing www. into google suggest. The top 10 are:

1. www.yahoo.com - Search/Directory
2. www.hotmail.com - Email
3. www.google.com - Search
4. www.ebay.com - Shopping
5. www.msn.com - Portal
6. www.aol.com - Portal
7. www.ebay.co.uk - Shopping
8. www.irs.gov - Government
9. www.mapquest.com - Maps
10. www.amazon.com - Shopping

Typing one more letter shows you the top sites for that letter. Here is the top for each letter:

• a is for www.aol.com - Portal
• b is for www.bbc.co.uk - News
• c is for www.cnn.com - News
• d is for www.dictionary.com - Reference
• e is for www.ebay.com - Shopping
• f is for www.food.gov.uk - Government
• g is for www.google.com - Search
• h is for www.hotmail.com - Email
• i is for www.irs.gov - Government
• j is for www.juno.com - Internet service provider
• k is for www.kbb.com - Consumer information
• l is for www.lyrics.com - Music
• m is for www.msn.com - Portal
• n is for www.nick.com - Kids
• o is for www.orbitz.com - Travel
• p is for www.pogo.com - Games
• q is for www.qvc.com - Shopping
• r is for www.rotten.com - Information
• s is for www.sears.com - Shopping (sorry slashdot)
• t is for www.target.com - Shopping
• u is for www.usps.com - Government
• v is for www.verizon.com - Telephone service
• w is for www.weather.com - Weather
• x is for www.xanga.com - Blogs
• y is for www.yahoo.com - Portal
• z is for www.zappos.com - Shopping

This is some random commentary to make sure that my post has enough characters per line on average to get by the lameness filter. Just a few more words should do it. Then I will be over the limit. Maybe you would like to hear a bit about my projects: Attesoro - A internationalization editor for Java programs. Coinmill - A currency conversion website with many currencies, and features such as abilty to parse English sentences asking for currency conversion. Java Utilities - Utilities for common task in the Java programming language such as parsing CSV files and string manipulation.

It is also interesting to see the most popular web sites. Start by typing www. into google suggest. The top 10 are:

1. www.yahoo.com - Search/Directory
2. www.hotmail.com - Email
3. www.google.com - Search
4. www.ebay.com - Shopping
5. www.msn.com - Portal
6. www.aol.com - Portal
7. www.ebay.co.uk - Shopping
8. www.irs.gov - Government
9. www.mapquest.com - Maps
10. www.amazon.com - Shopping

Typing one more letter shows you the top sites for that letter. Here is the top for each letter:

• a is for www.aol.com - Portal
• b is for www.bbc.co.uk - News
• c is for www.cnn.com - News
• d is for www.dictionary.com - Reference
• e is for www.ebay.com - Shopping
• f is for www.food.gov.uk - Government
• g is for www.google.com - Search
• h is for www.hotmail.com - Email
• i is for www.irs.gov - Government
• j is for www.juno.com - Internet service provider
• k is for www.kbb.com - Consumer information
• l is for www.lyrics.com - Music
• m is for www.msn.com - Portal
• n is for www.nick.com - Kids
• o is for www.orbitz.com - Travel
• p is for www.pogo.com - Games
• q is for www.qvc.com - Shopping
• r is for www.rotten.com - Information
• s is for www.sears.com - Shopping (sorry slashdot)
• t is for www.target.com - Shopping
• u is for www.usps.com - Government
• v is for www.verizon.com - Telephone service
• w is for www.weather.com - Weather
• x is for www.xanga.com - Blogs
• y is for www.yahoo.com - Portal
• z is for www.zappos.com - Shopping

This is some random commentary to make sure that my post has enough characters per line on average to get by the lameness filter. Just a few more words should do it. Then I will be over the limit. Maybe you would like to hear a bit about my projects: Attesoro - A internationalization editor for Java programs. Coinmill - A currency conversion website with many currencies, and features such as abilty to parse English sentences asking for currency conversion. Java Utilities - Utilities for common task in the Java programming language such as parsing CSV files and string manipulation.

First of all, you can still buy 60-year-old wire recorders. What are the odds that you can't buy a vintage CD drive and enough vintage hardware to bridge it to the present day 50 years from now?

Second of all, any competent engineer with a scanning digitizing optical microscope and a copy of some books from the library on formats could put together a workable CD reader in about a week today. Think how easy it will be in 2045.

Yes, the CD may have degraded hugely by then. But if there's any redundancy in the underlying data, there should be enough left to hit the high spots. Ironically, the scanning microscope plus clever image processing should be way better than a standard CD player at this.

I think all this "legacy data" scare is just hype. I have an 250KB 8" floppy at my house right now that was written around 1975. If I could possibly bring myself to care about its contents, I'm pretty confident I could get the data off without much trouble or expense. But oddly, almost all data I actually care about has migrated right along with me to my 500MB of local storage. I see no reason to expect this situation to change.

Hehe yeah. The people who buy these things have evidently never heard of an emulator. I sold my mint copy of Chrono Trigger on for about $80 (which incedentally about what I paid for it new). From the looks of it, my copy of Valkyire Profile could fetch significantly more than I paid for it.

Well, until it becomes a collector's item.

that and the fact that office97 programs start up faster than notepad. on a modern computer, it's so fast that it opens before you finish clicking the second time on the icon. and just about every function most people want is in 97. and you can pick up a copy on ebay very cheap http://search.ebay.com/office-97 .

though, unless you absolutely need it, it's best to stay away from office altogether. it'll only add to your problems. even if OO and other FOSS programs aren't as good, they won't change the file formats on you or lock you in. that point alone is worth never considering MSO.

good business and ethics/morality clearly are mutually exclusive.

It's over here: http://search.ebay.com//search/search.dll?from=R40 &satitle=commodore+64+power

So maybe we're all overthinking this.

My suggestion is to buy a used Palm M105 for under $20 on ebay.

Not sure if the search link will work. Just be sure to search for items EXCLUDING the word "faceplate".

Yeah, cos no-one EVER sells things for less than the retail price. If anything is sold for even a penny less than it was bought for, it's obviously stolen.

It's not like people ever try to sell usable computers because there's spyware on them or anything...

heres his ebay info: http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage &userid=shukiaa

his username is "shukiaa"

like what can be seen here http://cgi.ebay.com/DELL-SUPER-COMPUTER-EIGHT-20-F LAT-SCREENS_W0QQitemZ5234745742QQcategoryZ51147QQr dZ1QQcmdZViewItem don't worry that auction is over I'm not seller are in anyway connected with him or her or whatever.

http://www.sun.com/desktop/workstation/sunblade250 0/

OH! You have to pay for one?
I'm sorry, this might be more to your tastes then:

http://cgi.ebay.com/SUN-SPARCSTATION-2-MODEL-NUMBE R-147B-TOP-CONDITION_W0QQitemZ5807333533QQcategory Z51239QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

-GenTimJS

There seems to be a factual error in their article at the end... they say that the first wireless RF controller was the Wavebird.

Not true.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ATARI-2600-REMOTE-CONTROL-WIRE LESS-JOYSTICKS-W-BOX-NR_W0QQitemZ8216690613QQcateg oryZ41009QQcmdZViewItem

So, another "history-of" article that fails to get everything right. Research, people, research!

Any suggestions for someone who's slowly losing their hearing for speakers?

Be happy that you won't notice the difference between some models, and perfectly happy to get a nice set of midranges.

The DVD home theater seems rather popular among the truck driver crowd, esp onces with huge subs they can turn up all the way. Some older speakers designed for tube amps might sound out of balance on solid state... a tad heavy on the base side of things seem to work very well for truck drivers... KLH 17s come to mind, the walnut ones not the modern black ones.

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-KLH-MODEL-17-FLOORSTAN DING-SPEAKERS_W0QQitemZ5808209209QQcategoryZ14993Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

These guys.

One of my questions is why have not these been adapted for use in automobile A/C - despite the fact that they are inefficient, it seems, the clean nature, and the fact that they would need little maintenane.

Back in the day, they hung one of these on a side window for cooling. From the description, it sounds like it was a miniature swamp cooler, using ram air from forward motion instead of a blower. I suspect a car wouldn't normally go fast enough for ram air to build up enough pressure for a vortex cooler to operate properly.

This is going to work because skype is _Really_ easy to use. Napster easy. I know non techie 50yr old mac users who use skype without any trouble.

Here's the link to their announcement

Unfortunately I don't think there's anywhere you can buy those oldschool spring / mechanical keyboards "new" anymore.

Why do you need a new Model M? For a keyboard built like that, 10 years old is as good as new. Get thee over to ebay and search for "model m." (Just be sure you get the PC version, part number 1391401.)

And just for the record, there are several other places to get that unmistakable buckling-spring feel:

http://www.cvtinc.com/products/keyboards/menu.htm CVT's Avant models (I'm typing this on an Avant Prime and it feels just like the Model M I use at home)

http://www.pckeyboard.com/customizer.html PC Keyboard, already mentioned in parent of this

http://www.mck142.com/ The Ortek MCK-142 monster with programmable function keys

http://www.cherrycorp.com/english/classic-line/key board-standard-g80-3000.htm Cherry G80, mechnical, but I'm not sure how close to the Model M feel it has...

http://www.ergocanada.com/products/keyboards/dsi_s mk85_compact.html A compact model using ALPS keyswitches. Similar to the Model M style switches.

http://www.ergo-2000.com/ergo2000/showdetl.cfm?&DI D=6&Product_ID=624&CATID=36 Northgate Omnikey models are largely discontinued, but here's an ergo one still being sold using Alps keyswitches. You can also try ebay http://search-desc.ebay.com/omnikey_W0QQftsZ2 for used or remaindered Omnikeys.

Finally, just for learning about the buckling spring/clicky keyboards, here are some great sites for details:
http://www.clickykeyboards.com/
http://www.dansdata.com/ibmkeyboard.htm
http://thesiliconunderground.editthispage.com/2001 /02/08

And for those of you wondering why several of us are going on and on about decades-old keyboards from IBM, you owe it to yourself to at least try one of these and see what you think. Yes, they are noisier than those squishy membrane ones, but the feedback from them is amazing and you get to the point of blazing over them and often catching many typos by sound alone...

I have to agree.
What is so "cool" about making your computer more difficult for others to use, first of all? Considering the fact that keyboard makers can't even agree on such basic things as where the best place is to locate the backslash - I see nothing sensible about a keyboard where it's not even marked in the first place!

But $80 for it too? This is the kind of gimmicky stuff I'd expect to see selling for about $10-15. If you really want a *good* keyboard, I recommend hunting down one with ALPS mechanical keyswitches in it!

The old "Northgate Omnikey" keyboards used to be the "Cadillac" of keyboards ... solid with great key feel and configurability. (You want that backslash in the alternate location? No problem! Pull the keys off, switch 'em around, snap 'em back in place, and set the DIP switches to tell it what you did!) They're still available on eBay now and then - occasionally reconditioned to brand new shape.

EG:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Omnikey-101-Northgate-keyboard -Looks-and-Feels-NEW_W0QQitemZ5806505448QQcategory Z33964QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Mac users also have the Matias Tactile-Pro keyboard as an option:

http://matias.ca/tactilepro/index.php

The Sony Dual Analog stick did indeed come out, atleast in Japan anyway. I can't vouche for a North American release, but here is a link to an auction on eBay for the Japanese ones. Supposedly Ace Combat 2 and Armored Core have support for setup.

The grandparent post is dead wrong because, as the parent post pointed out, the donations SA receives are taxable income. SA could conceivably claim the donations as deductions without claiming the income, but that way leads to audits and jail time, and to my reading the grandparent was complaining about a legal scam perpetrated on the donators, not an illegal scam prepetrated on the gub'ment.

The parent post is commendable, but the last postion is also wrong. It assumes that the 2.35+% cut that Paypal takes from each donation is ever considered to be SA's net income. Many business expenses are fully deductable, including (TA DA!!) payment processing fees. PayPal is the entity paying income taxes on those fees.

See, e.g., the final postings in this eBay thread. If you've never been a comptroller or a sole proprieter, then you cannot rationally discuss business income tax matters. They are nothing like personal income tax matters.

That's doomed to failure, the eBay Terms of Service explicitely state they don't allow selling organs. (yes, I know...)

My guess is that you may get the Parker Lewis collection after all. wink wink

eBay auction for Parker Stuff

If you're interested in buying a Heliodisplay, and meeting the
inventor, here's an auction on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item =5235836491. The starting bid
is $1. It's a great opportunity to get a limited first edition unit

You can see images, videos, and read more about the auction and
Heliodisplay at http://www.buyhelio.com/

Some info on reviving dead laptop batteries. It's at least worth a shot.

For my money, Compaq makes the R3000z laptop that can be had on eBay and in stores (Best Buy for one) for $400US.

I have no problem with ANYONE using something until it is no longer useful, but this is definitely not the case. Believe me I know about keeping old equipment aro,und because it works, thats why I still have 3 Mac Classic II's hanging around work with Microsoft Works 3.0 on them. I wish I could get rid of them, but hell if they do not do good as lil spreadsheet beasts.

A quick ebay search (http://search.ebay.com/ibook-600_W0QQfkrZ1QQfromZ R8QQfsopZ1) for 600mhz iBooks shows that they should have had no problem selling the machines for at least $150-200. I know that it takes time, money and a little more effort to do this, but for at least three to four times the profit it would have been well worth it in my eyes.

But again I know how schools are, I have seen it with my own eyes. Quick and dirty answers with not a whole lot of planning for the future.

There's an insane amount of bitching about how terrible the job market is, how inane and shortsighted HR departments are, blah blah blah.

If that's all true, then those business are ripe for being raped of their marketshare. Start your own business!

It takes virtually NOTHING to startup a company these days... a 1U server of commercial quality runs less than $1,000, hosting can be had for about $100/month and the Operating System is free...

Give yourself a few months worth of beans and/or working part-time, sleep on a couch with a cheapie computer borrowing the DSL service from a neighbor's wifi connection, and you can do a startup for next to NOTHING.

Why aren't you doing it? If YOU are in charge, you can't be fired. If YOU are in charge, you'll be able to use sensible HR policies to get the really good ones, too.

So why are you here whining on Slashdot about how horrible it all is???? If it's half as bad as you claim, you have the opportunity to become RICH!!!!

PS: I'm quite familiar with the startup routine - I haven't had a "job" in some 15 years, and have started quite a few businesses, successfully fed, clothed, raised, and home-schooled my family of 5 kids in one of the more economically depressed counties in California.

Startups can be thrilling! Pull up your sleeves, and don't just "think outside the box", throw the box out altogether. You'd be amazed at what you can accomplish if you:

1) Find something people will pay for,

2) Deliver that something as efficiently as possible, cost-effectively, and with a smile,

3) Wash, rinse, repeat. Before you know it, your clients are almost friends, and do most of your sales work for you by giving referrals...

Contact me if you're curious... I'd be happy to offer my experience to anybody who is serious.

What they ended up with was something that sort of fakes human interaction. That's been done before. Remember Ananova? Chatterbots? My Real Baby, from Hasbro? COG is basically similar, but with a bigger budget.

The COG web site apparently hasn't been updated since 2000. Like the Leg Lab, it seems to have reached the limits of the ideas used.

This is sad, because there were some good ideas there. But they weren't anywhere near enough to even consider going to human-level AI in one jump. This is a classic vice of AI researchers - they have a reasonably good idea, and then start claiming that human-level strong AI is right around the corner. We went though this with the "expert systems" crowd in the 1980s, and that was even more embarassing and expensive, because doomed startups were launched. AI as a field was dead for a decade after that.

That's the price of overhyping a technology.

Is it compatible with BLINUX? I think by definition it is not.

Perhaps I should ask, what alternate method of identification do sights employ to take into account blind users and the ADA?

Fuck off

Here is a picture of an 1864 2-cent piece (for auction on eBay) with the phrase "In God We Trust" clearly visible.

Dang Uh, I DO know how to post links... Like this

Apparently this guy quit too. :)

Amazing what some trolls will pay!

Hey take the SID chip out of that C-64 before you smash it up, those things are worth a good dollar.

Look at this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item =5211788325

I don't think monopoly means what you think it does.

What do you mean where ?

What do you mean where ?

What do you mean where ?

What do you mean where ?

What do you mean where ?

What do you mean where ?

They are probably getting them here.
Seriously though, maybe they are using notebook drives to save space. I think they are still available in 20GB...
If not, they are probably just having one of the hard drive manufacturers make them especially for them. They are MS, after all.

In a related story, thousands of Dell laptop users were caught in a stampede to dump their Dells into the local Dumpsters.

"It was out of control, the blue screens, the worms and virus programs - to the dumpster they go before the next massive planet wide outbreak of malware and spyware shut down our school."

More enlightened users logged onto the Apple School Discount Store, and bought new iBooks at a discount for low monthy payments.

"Using the online School Apple Store sure beats pissing on yourself while getting batted in the head with a chair while running from some dude plowing through the crowd in a car."

- Buying a Mac Mini is a much better deal than live action 'Mortal Kombat!' for iBooks.

Currently $579.00 or $679.00 for the Mac Mini with the DVD burner drive... $479.00 for the cheapest Mac Mini with the 40GB HD.

Flak Jacket not needed:
http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/7 20.html

Survivors can order a T-Shirt Now:
http://cgi.ebay.com/HENRICO-COUNTY-50-iBook-t-shir t-kicked-in-the-balls_W0QQitemZ8327177210QQcategor yZ15687QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem