Slashdot Mirror

leoboiko writes "I'm a computer scientist and programmer with no training whatsoever in hardware or electronics. Sure, we designed a simple CPU (at a purely logical level) and learned about binary math and whatnot, and I can build a PC and stuff, but lately I've been wanting to, you know, solder something. Make my own cables, understand multimeters, perhaps assemble a simple robot or two. Play with hobbyist-level electronics. How does one go about educating oneself in this topic? I've been browsing Lessons in Electric Circuits online and it's been helpful, together with Misconceptions About 'Electricity' which went a long way in helping me finally to grok what electric charge and power actually are. I've reached the point where I want an actual dead-tree book, though. Any recommendations?"

johnnyb writes "A new series of articles is out on IBM DeveloperWorks on programming the PS3. The first article is up, discussing the installation of Yellow Dog Linux and first steps in programming the Cell BE Processor on this platform. From the article: ' It is unusual for gaming consoles to allow foreign operating systems to be installed on them. Since consoles are usually sold at a loss, they are usually locked down to prevent games from running on them without the publisher paying royalties to the console developer. Sony decided to open up the PS3 console a little bit, and allow third-party operating systems to be installed, with the caveat that they do not get accelerated graphics. Because of this, you can now install Linux on the PS3. You have to jump through a few hoops, but it definitely works.'"

ummit writes "Erik Fitzpatrick did a nice job turning an old Smith-Corona manual typeriter into a functional keyboard, and composed a nice writeup about it, with pictures."

johnnyb writes "For those who haven't been paying attention, Blender has been gaining features like mad over the last year. The Blender Foundation has just released 2.37, which adds soft body support, force fields, and deflection for realistic cloth, skin, and other effects. This in addition to all of the smaller additions, and all of the work that has gone into previous releases. If you haven't tried Blender yet, now is the time!"

johnnyb asks: "I'm curious what everyone's favorite programming language features are. I'm looking for both the general and the specific. I'm especially looking for features that few people know about or use, but are really useful for those who do know about them. What are your favorite programming language features?" "A couple of examples to kick off the conversation:

• Continuations
  
  Continuations are very interesting, because they can be used to implement a number of flow-control features such as exceptions, coroutines, cooperative multithreading, and are better at modelling web interactions. This is a more general feature, but most people use these in conjunction with either scheme or ML.
  
  
• Tuple-returning
  
  It is a huuuuge time-saver when languages like Perl allow functions to return tuples. Instructions like '($a, $b, $c) = $sth->fetchrow_array()' is a wonderful thing.
  
  
• The flip-flop operator [Perl's '..' operator]
  
  Another perlism that I just think is cool. Read more about it here.
  
  

Okay, on to yours!"

johnnyb writes "Kernel Trap has a great conversation on swap, whether it's necessary, why swapless systems might seem faster, and an overall discussion of swap issues in modern computing. This is often an issue for system administrators, and this is a great set of posts about the issue."

johnnyb writes " A new book was just released which is based on a new concept - teaching computer science through assembly language (Linux x86 assembly language, to be exact). This book teaches how the machine itself operates, rather than just the language. I've found that the key difference between mediocre and excellent programmers is whether or not they know assembly language. Those that do tend to understand computers themselves at a much deeper level. Although unheard of today, this concept isn't really all that new -- there used to not be much choice in years past. Apple computers came with only BASIC and assembly language, and there were books available on assembly language for kids. This is why the old-timers are often viewed as 'wizards': they had to know assembly language programming. Perhaps this current obsession with learning using 'easy' languages is the wrong way to do things. High-level languages are great, but learning them will never teach you about computers. Perhaps it's time that computer science curriculums start teaching assembly language first."

Scott C. Linnenbringer writes "In case you wanted to do something cool with your fancy little Apple IIgs in the back room, you can use GS/TCP to implement a standard BSD socket interface, allowing you to connect via SLIP, MacIP, and soon PPP on a GNO/ME (GNO Multitasking Environment) UNIX system for the IIgs, now completely abandoned, open-sourced and labeled freeware. GS/TCP also comes with ftp and inetd, built with ORCA/C directly from BSDi sources (hacked, of course,) and a text web browser for GNO/ME can be found at the website."

johnnyb writes "The .org domain, which has long run on Oracle systems, is now being transferred to a PostgreSQL system. I guess we can now dispel the "untested in mission-critical applications" myth."

D-Fly writes "John Young, who runs the Cryptome repository of cypherpunk documents, has obtained a small batch of declassified documents from the NSA on TEMPEST monitoring-getting computer data through electromagnetic emissions. Young got the stuff declassified through the Freedom of Information Act, and has appealed their denial of the rest of his request. A lot of what he has received so far is appendixes and tables of contents, and addresses testing equipment to prevent TEMPEST emissions. For a comprehensive archive of what is know about Tempest monitoring, check out a clearing house of information.. "

ibbey writes "According to a study released today, breaking up MS will cost consumers $30 Billion dollars due to development, marketing and support costs required for third parties to adapt their software to "new Windows descendants," and by fracturing the market resulting in higher retail costs."

Zippy the Pinhead writes "Salon has responded with Slashdot-like speed to Bruce Perens' announcement with this article. Also, just below that item is an article entitled "Linux bandwagon starts to groan", about the flood(?) of Linux-port annoucements. "

Zippy the Pinhead writes "Guess what I saw at my local Future Shop for $100. Yes, the fine folks at JVC have introduced a nifty checkbook-sized thing called Pocketmail. Put simply, it's a 40 x 8-line terminal with an accoustic modem and 128k RAM to store e-mail. You dial in and hold it up to a phone and it checks mail on your account at pocketmail.com. Service is $10/month. In the fine tradition of accoustic-coupled modems, you apparently have to dial the number yourself, and in the fine tradition of nifty little devices, it does little else. I still want one. "

Jeremy Sholovitz writes "Due to a new Washington State law prohibiting commercial email messages where the sender mis-represents or tries to mask where the message is coming from, a man collected $200 from a spammer! I heard the story at the end of Marketplace today, and found this link to a page with some information and a picture of the check! Anyone in Washington, you should pursue this as well... maybe spammers will begin to think twice! " I think we each should get $200 from Bulls Eye. If I get one more of those things I'm going to be very unhappy.

Andrew Newton wrote in to tell us that The Java Activator is now available. Basically this little gem allows you to use a simple plugin to run the official Java VM instead of your browsers built in one. Theoretically this is more compatible. Looks pretty cool.

Cringley has another zany concept in this weeks article sent to us by Kaptain Kookamunga. He suggests we replace internet backbones with thousands of (very cheap) DSL lines and implement something similiar to UUCP for sending stuff over the pipes. He claims this will kill the phone companies, speed up the net, and reduce costs associated with the Net. I'm unconvinced, but it is still a worthwhile read.