Slashdot Mirror

Structured, informative, etc yes... but you will never find the emotion or the humor in wiki articles that you see in e2 writeups.

Yeah a lot of it is slanted or not even factual in nature, but I personally find that much more interesting to surf.

Water@Everything2.com

A much more enlightened and pleasant place to be.

Oh yes, and we have the EDB.

A much more enlightened and pleasant place to be.

Oh yes, and we have the EDB.

When I tell women that I'm a mathematician, they give me an obligatory "ooh" or something along like that before starting to tell me about how much they suck at math or hate math or didn't understand math. That's pretty much where the conversation ends.

Yes, all women! Even the ones who are into math! Oh, wait.

But stereotyping aside: you should read this node. I particularly like the assertion that being "bad at math" is fine, but claiming to be illiterate just gets you blank stares (and, fifty years ago, no ballot!)

Tricorders

FYI, 'Mohammedan' is a potentially offensive term. It implies that the followers of Islam worship Mohammed, just as Christians worship Christ. Moslems worship Allah; Mohammed is His prophet.

Granted, there are those who would argue your callous word choice was the least offensive portion of your post.

Just send back emails coming from unknown senders and let them verify that their accounts actually exist, and, maybe, that they are humans.

According to this writeup, CAPTCHA tests 1. are patented in at least one important jurisdiction, and 2. discriminate against persons with disabilities in violation of anti-discrimination laws such as the so-called Section 508 in the USA.

I stumbled across this link, and although it strictly deals with bandwidth (not also with power, as in the Microsoft technology), it must be posted.

Because, although many of us have suspected it before, it is now pretty much obvious that sooner or later, penises will have higher bandwidths than cable modems.

Brings a whole new meaning to the networking term "trunk".

I can see it now:

Defendant: No, no, no your honor, you've got it all wrong! Her battery died and I was just jumpstarting her devices!
Judge: Couldn't you have just shaken her hand?
Defendant: I thought if we got our juices flowing, maybe the conductivity would be greater?

...*ducks*

I can't help but wonder if NASA would be more effective if it took on a model much more like NSF's or DARPA's. Instead of splitting up tasks between their own field centers and painstakingly managing everything, it could become more focused on providing funding to foster the nation's space infrastructure and using programs like Centennial Challenges to accomplish specific tasks. Existing NASA centers could compete for this funding just like other organizations like universities and private companies. Doing things in this manner would also limit NASA's PR liability in the event of catastrophe, keeping the space program from becoming completely paralyzed every time a disaster happens.

Of course, this would also limit the potential for pork-barrel spending, and would thus experience difficulties in actually becoming enacted.

I can't help but wonder if NASA would be more effective if it took on a model much more like NSF's or DARPA's. Instead of splitting up tasks between their own field centers and painstakingly managing everything, it could become more focused on providing funding to foster the nation's space infrastructure and using programs like Centennial Challenges to accomplish specific tasks. Existing NASA centers could compete for this funding just like other organizations like universities and private companies. Doing things in this manner would also limit NASA's PR liability in the event of catastrophe, keeping the space program from becoming completely paralyzed every time a disaster happens.

Of course, this would also limit the potential for pork-barrel spending, and would thus experience difficulties in actually becoming enacted.

Textbook karma whore example this is.

you have a very good point

OK, I just cheecked in a dictionary, the word we are both looking for is "ergonomist", and

Spin is basically an intrinsic angular momentum property possessed by quantum particles. It's as if these particles are all naturally spinning like little tops, and the angular momentum inherent in this spinning is found to always be multiples of 1/2 of Planck's constant divided by twice pi or 1.05450*10^-34 J*s. As you know, the force-carrying particles all have integer spin, and the matter particles all have half-integral spin.

Spin is one of the easiest quantum properties to measure, especially for charged particles, which accounts for its popularity as a building block in quantum computers. You measure spin the same way you measure angular momentum in the macro world of classical physics, apply a torque to the particle. This will cause the particle to precess at a particular rate that would be characteristic of its angular momentum. An easy way to do this for a charged particle would be to place it in a strong magnetic field. A spinning charged particle would have a magnetic moment, hence putting it in a magnetic field would cause it to align with the field, and since accelerating a charged particle causes it to radiate photons, you can measure angular momentum by measuring the frequency of the emitted radiation (this is known as the Larmor frequency). This is essentially what happens in the Stern-Gerlach experiment that first established the quantization of angular momentum (except that the original Stern-Gerlach experiments actually measured the actual physical deflection of ions passing through a nonuniform magnetic field), and is the basis for nuclear magnetic resonance techniques. Some of the most promising quantum computer designs are actually based on using nuclear spins as qubits, and using NMR techniques to prepare spin states and induce the behavior of quantum logic gates.

Spin is basically an intrinsic angular momentum property possessed by quantum particles. It's as if these particles are all naturally spinning like little tops, and the angular momentum inherent in this spinning is found to always be multiples of 1/2 of Planck's constant divided by twice pi or 1.05450*10^-34 J*s. As you know, the force-carrying particles all have integer spin, and the matter particles all have half-integral spin.

Spin is one of the easiest quantum properties to measure, especially for charged particles, which accounts for its popularity as a building block in quantum computers. You measure spin the same way you measure angular momentum in the macro world of classical physics, apply a torque to the particle. This will cause the particle to precess at a particular rate that would be characteristic of its angular momentum. An easy way to do this for a charged particle would be to place it in a strong magnetic field. A spinning charged particle would have a magnetic moment, hence putting it in a magnetic field would cause it to align with the field, and since accelerating a charged particle causes it to radiate photons, you can measure angular momentum by measuring the frequency of the emitted radiation (this is known as the Larmor frequency). This is essentially what happens in the Stern-Gerlach experiment that first established the quantization of angular momentum (except that the original Stern-Gerlach experiments actually measured the actual physical deflection of ions passing through a nonuniform magnetic field), and is the basis for nuclear magnetic resonance techniques. Some of the most promising quantum computer designs are actually based on using nuclear spins as qubits, and using NMR techniques to prepare spin states and induce the behavior of quantum logic gates.

Rolling Stone reviewed Nevermind and gave it three stars.

They sound less harmless on everything2.

Sounds a lot like the system they use on another little site I know. And often it works pretty well. Some very good writing gets done there.

...but in oc-s.mpg, when the sphere is in front of the person demonstrating it, presumably with the light sensors also in front of the individual, why does eir face disappear?

That's a tad unnecessary. Jabber is an open, extensible protocol which is relatively easy to handle. The standard exists to dissuade anyone from developing yet another IM protocol. From what I've read, the ideal is that Jabber proxies will be set up to translate AIMJabber, ICQJabber, and so on, so that Jabber only users can talk to everyone, and everyone can talk to Jabber users. Gaim, Trillian, and many other clients, on many platforms already support Jabber. I seriously thought everyone on Slashdot knew this sort of stuff.

imho logical fallacies abound here

the real question is, how long before 'you' look in a dictionary and figure out that it's spelled 'exorbitant'.
just funnin' with ya, software patents r teh s4t4n :)

Because The United Stated of America is a REPUBLIC. Yes the citizens are given the right to vote. But unlike a true (read: classical) democracy we do not vote on the specific issues, except in state or local elections.

1. ISPs (and any other business that gives a workstation a "real" IP address) need to block egress port 25. Comcast is going to be doing this soon, others should soon follow suit. This plugs the zombies.
2. IP addresses that continue to send spam will be blacklisted. With the zombies effectively out of the loop this will become easier (albeit never quite perfect).
3. SPF and other authentication schemes need to be adopted to prevent "spoofing" and so called "Joe jobs".
4. E-mail providers (including small companies) need to deploy mature e-mail systems for their users. In 1995 it was fine to accept e-mail from anyone on port 25, with no authentication and no encryption. In 2004, remote clients need to have an SSL connection available (both for sending mail and accessing inboxes), and must require authentication before accepting initial mail submission (SMTP+TLS+AUTH). Not only is this more secure, but it also addresses the issues always raised by blocking egress port 25 and deploying SPF.

Appendix:
SMTP+TLS+AUTH is not that tough, no whining. All modern mail clients support it, on all platforms. There is a little bit of work to do on the server end, but that's what you pay your ISP (or IT department) for:

• postfix
• sendmail
• exchange
• qmail

clicky for more info.

Not likely. Everything2 isn't indexed by Google any more.

I have got the impression that this could work with E2 as well as probably most bbcode powered fora.

If this stuff was implemented in SVG it would be cool, but unfortunatly SVG has become too unweildy... The latest draft of the spec has support for SOCKETS?!??! WTF???!?!?! you don't need that! SVG should remain a presentational language. Stick to graphics and leave the rest to other protocols/components. There's a good post on this here (I think she's an Opera developer but I'm not sure)

Currently the SVG spec is 719 pages long... TWICE THAT OF CSS 2.1... and alot of browsers don't even have support for that yet. Not to mention that SVG doesn't even have decent support for more than one line of text even.

all I can say is K.I.S.S

Cam

"This is a running problem with most batteries when operating a motor. Unless the battery is entirely solid state and doesn't decay over time, the voltage it supplies drops as it gets used up. Problem continues to exist today with Lego Mindstorm robots as well. To correct for this, one would want to put a sensor which senses the rotating shaft on the motor -- keep rotating motor until it's gone through the proper amount of degrees instead of just supplying driving voltage for about the right amount of time "

Though I'm not sure what your trying to say about "solid state" batteries

If a battery contains liquids, as the battery provides charge, the concentrations of these reactants change over time. The change of these concentrations cause the voltage of the battery to drop over time. This is the case with your average consumer battery -- items are in solution, so concentrations change over time. And then the voltage drops. Hence, your motor receives a different voltage, and may provide less movement for the same amount of time being activated.

but adding shaft encoders is not going to make steering work 100%. My area of research is in robotics and I can tell you that it is incredibly difficult to get any kind of robot to turn 90 degrees. No matter how you turn the wheels are always going to slip some.

Quite right. But you would know better than I would. However, I was a little disappointed you didn't provide another suggestion. Are accelerometers a good way of actually measuring movement? Would you recommend, perhaps placing a rigid shaft on the ground, rotating about that, and having coded marking on that shaft to indicate movement? Myself, all I know is that a shaft encoder greatly improves performance relative to no correction mechanism.

"This is a running problem with most batteries when operating a motor. Unless the battery is entirely solid state and doesn't decay over time, the voltage it supplies drops as it gets used up. Problem continues to exist today with Lego Mindstorm robots as well. To correct for this, one would want to put a sensor which senses the rotating shaft on the motor -- keep rotating motor until it's gone through the proper amount of degrees instead of just supplying driving voltage for about the right amount of time "

Though I'm not sure what your trying to say about "solid state" batteries

If a battery contains liquids, as the battery provides charge, the concentrations of these reactants change over time. The change of these concentrations cause the voltage of the battery to drop over time. This is the case with your average consumer battery -- items are in solution, so concentrations change over time. And then the voltage drops. Hence, your motor receives a different voltage, and may provide less movement for the same amount of time being activated.

but adding shaft encoders is not going to make steering work 100%. My area of research is in robotics and I can tell you that it is incredibly difficult to get any kind of robot to turn 90 degrees. No matter how you turn the wheels are always going to slip some.

Quite right. But you would know better than I would. However, I was a little disappointed you didn't provide another suggestion. Are accelerometers a good way of actually measuring movement? Would you recommend, perhaps placing a rigid shaft on the ground, rotating about that, and having coded marking on that shaft to indicate movement? Myself, all I know is that a shaft encoder greatly improves performance relative to no correction mechanism.

I make donations to many organizations and projects, but there is a limited amount of money I have to donate, and I have to decide how to best allocate this money. If a project is very popular, there are more people who are likely to donate. If the developer of a wildly popular little utility is getting rich as a result of the donations, then great for him/her, but I don't see the need for an additional donation from me. The money would be better spent on a project that I think is important and useful but which is not so popular.

For a good example of a project with a policy of full disclosure, see http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=Donation% 20Box. An important feature of this site is that everyone can see their own donations, even if anonymous, so there is less likelihood to cheat and claim poverty when the opposite might be true.

Everything has been patented. Sort of.

For an example of the donation button, check out:

The Donation Box at E2

Can anyone think of any other large, donation based projects that publish their revenues?

Also, Jonathan Rosenberg of Goats seems to have the whole 'pay me, pretty please' thing down pretty well. Just perusing his site should be a 101 course in internet capitalism.

It might help to describe what kind of project you're working on, to get a better sense of what sorts of commercial options would be most appropriate.

Especially if you are this guy

SOY! SOY! SOY! Soy makes you strong! Strength crushes enemies! SOY!

Just thought I would save every other interested party a google and point out the correct link for Everything 2

There never was anonymous posting on K5

"Do they play their own instruments and write their own songs" has always been bullshit.

Example: Hanson played their own instruments and weren't manufactured. That's right, Hanson, girl/boy/indeterminate-band of the 90s weren't manufactured. Crappy pre-teen-attracting "rock" group Busted play their own instruments, but reek of manufacture.

The problem with the music industry is not musicians not writing their own songs/playing their own instruments, it's this. As that Everything2 node says, the music industry can make $3million out of one band, and then the performers would get $4k each. THAT is the problem, and it has a lot to do with lawyers and big corporations (surprise surprise).

It's more profitable to run your own website selling your CDs and MP3s, like this guy, rather than signing your ass over to EMI.

• Pirates! (2004) - It's not out yet, but will hopefully be at the end of this year. For those unfamiliar with it, it's a revamped version of Sid Meiyer's Pirates! Also, Pirate Hunter Tortuga would be a good game in the interim.
• Civilization III - Any of this series would be good, but IMHO, Civ3 has been the best so far.
• Axis & Allies - Every-body...wants to rule the world... The board game was great.
• Oregon Trail - I believe they've made a new version of this game, but it was pretty good on the old macs.
• Colonization - I think this was also a Sid Meiyer...

Take a good, hard look at where the world is going in terms of networking everything, and every network interlaced. Today, when a virus strikes, a virus loses a corporation lots of money. (sarcasm) But that's okay, because they're The Man, and we all hate The Man. It's not like it did anyone any harm, right? The Man just didn't get to buy another Learjet that year. (/sarcasm)

But seriously, I don't believe an economic crime demands a lethal punishment. Yet. Why? Because preventatives, insurance, investment, and policy (wise business decisions) can all decrease the effects of these crimes.

However, take into account Hospitals. As more medical equipment comes online, and has to be administered via network, medical care becomes more automated by computer. Medical Files are already on vulnerable networks. As a rule, most hospitals are understaffed, overworked, and in a constant state of emergency. So what happens when a virus brings down an entire hospital's networks for the day? People die. Perhaps the virus only corrupts here and there, unnoticeably. Suddenly medical info is incorrect, or unavailable in a time of crisis during an operation. Someone dies. Perhaps, further down the road, processes (such as medication, or life support) become networked, and a virus brings those systems down, or corrupts the system enough to cause a problem.

That's the most obvious way of a virus writer committing murder. Now apply it to other constant-crisis situations. Flight control-towers, airplanes, filled with people, might in the future be vulnerable as well. Entire planes full of innocent passengers could be lost in mid-air collisions, or ground collisions in low-visibility weather. Traffic control systems in major cities are already online. Corrupting them might cause redlight/greenlight problems, resulting in deaths by car wreck. Or perhaps it just causes a huge traffic jam, and all those in an ambulance, or needing one, are lost due to this virus.

As silly as this article seems, and as smug as the attitude of some posts I've read here, you can't always protect against all virii 100% of the time. There's always going to be something new and clever enough to take advantage of a weakness in the software.

Currently, computer viruses are not a capital offence, but once they start resulting in the loss of human life, and guilt is established, I say let the writer fry/hang/burn/choke/etc... at that point they have just become a premeditated murderer, no different than a bomber.

-The Libra
"You've got no kids, no wife, no job, and you're not in The Tigger Movie!!!"
- my best friend's son, Gabe, at 5 years old.

If I were them, I'd take a blanket storage approach to power. Use extremely efficient power drains, coupled with a battery for storage of energy. Then they can harness it in multiple ways: solar (during the day), kinetic (from movement), wind (small portable turbines in a windy environment, or over the shoulder while walking), and water (when camped/resting near a river or stream--you could even use the same turbine you use for wind power).

You wouldn't need to power a city off this stuff, just keep a continual charge building, and add perhaps a max of one-pound of weight for the turbine. Most of the time these special components would not be needed, and any time they aren't used, they can recharge...

Am I missing anything here? Is there some reason the Armed Forces aren't doing this? Or are they?



-The Libra
"You've got no kids, no wife, no job, and you're not in The Tigger Movie!!!"
- my best friend's son, Gabe, at 5 years old.

Shock Jocks are controlled by the FCC.
The FCC is controlled by the Supreme Court, which is controlled Bavarian Illuminati.
RIAA is controlled by Cthulhu.
RIAA with the assistance of Cthulhu will attempt to control the FCC... and they're bidding tons of megabucks.

...let's hope to God they roll an 11 or 12.

-The Libra
"You've got no kids, no wife, no job, and you're not in The Tigger Movie!!!"
- my best friend's son, Gabe, at 5 years old.

• Not everyone has internet access, thus, not everyone has access to file-sharing.
• This market is also divided into those who have access to those who have access to friends who can obtain and burn them a copy of the software, and those who do not.
• The remaining users are basically forced to obtain their software from a store. They can either wait for it to hit a major discount (such as Half Price Books) or buy it at the premium.
• Of those that have access to pirated software, some will not opt to use it, because of either ethical reasons, or fear of being caught. Then you have the people like me who might try the software for free, and then delete it if I'm not then willing to go buy a legit copy.

"maybe there ought to be more severe repurcussions if someone innocent is charged."

This is where my legal knowledge gets hazy... but I think that if someone were sued by RIAA, then were proven innocent/exonerated/failed to be convicted, then they in turn could file a countersuit to RIAA for liable/slander/defamation of character/etc...

Of course that works out great in theory. Sad fact is RIAA has deep enough pockets to be able to tie it up in court long enough that the accuser goes broke with legal fees. The court system works both ways, but always on the side of the defense.

-The Libra
"You've got no kids, no wife, no job, and you're not in The Tigger Movie!!!"
- my best friend's son, Gabe, at 5 years old.

Aw-crud... sorry about that... I got interrupted mid-sentance and neglected to proofread my comment enough before posting.

It should have read "However, they wouldn't be sued if there wasn't an IP address performing illegal file sharing linked to them."

My apologies for the mistake.

-The Libra
"You've got no kids, no wife, no job, and you're not in The Tigger Movie!!!"
- my best friend's son, Gabe, at 5 years old.

Well, at least then it might cut down on the number of people who sing/whistle/hum when they REALLY SHOULDN'T...

I'd almost welcome something like that to be rid of the constant noise pollution of tone-deaf people who don't believe me when I point it out...almost.

-The Libra
"You've got no kids, no wife, no job, and you're not in The Tigger Movie!!!"
- my best friend's son, Gabe, at 5 years old.

"Is the RIAA going to be allowed to practically steal from these people? They're doing the exact same as the accused (innocent until proven guilty) by suing people who can't afford to fight it..."

No, it's not the same. RIAA is taking advantage of a very expensive and cumbersome legal system which places the burden of proof on the accuser. Regardless of guilt, if one is truly innocent, this can, the majority of the time, be proven. Additionally, anyone who's ever watched a cop movie should know the miranda act "blahblah...if you cannot afford an attourney, one will be provided". If one is truly innocent, there shouldn't be a lot of extra fees to produce the appearance of innocence, because the proof is all there in the form of IPs, and soft-copy on the related hard-drive, as well as server logs. It will cost them a lot more to make the person appear guilty if they have done absolutely nothing wrong.

And if the person is guilty, then it's their fault for committing a crime they cannot afford to pay.

-The Libra
"You've got no kids, no wife, no job, and you're not in The Tigger Movie!!!"
- my best friend's son, Gabe, at 5 years old.

Okay, so the people being sued can't afford the legal fees. However, they wouldn't be sued if they weren't performing illegal file sharing. The people they are going after aren't sharing private files, they are distributing, for free, the hard work of others. This is the risk that one takes when using file-sharing, and those users accepted that when they began the swapping. The companies are probably not going after Joe User who downloads a couple of tracks to see if he likes the music on an album before buying it. They are more likely going after large-scale file distributers. People who have hundreds of songs, movies, games, and other copywrited works. They left their server on too long, and got caught. I'd feel no more sympathy than I would for a pawn shop that got busted for fencing stolen goods.

Now before the hate replies come in, I should mention that I'm all for file-sharing. I think RIAA are a bunch of corrupt bastages who overcharge for their products and services, and underpay the real talent--the entertainers.

I think game design companies charge way too much for a product, which is not neccesarily a corruption, but a misunderstanding of market forces. They feel they have to correct for piracy by charging $50/game, when in fact, there would be a lot more copies sold if they offered the same product for half. But then, that's been said for years.

I think the movie industry...is still quite fair. They churn out movies, $5-8 is a reasonable price to pay for a couple of hours of entertainment. If one does not like what they watch, then at most, an hour's minimum wage is lost. If it happens repeatedly, then they should take advantage of the local library.

Does this mean I'm anti-piracy? No. If you got something for free, and you enjoyed it, then you should then pay for it. Because in America, votes are determined by dollars, not by voices. If you vote (aka "buy") a legit copy of that game/CD/movie that you loved, then you have just voted for more of the same genre/artist/director to be produced. Same goes for everything. Feel free to sample, if you feel you need to. But if you like it, and continue to use it, you have an ethical obligation to buy.

That said, free sampling aside, piracy and distribution of copywrited material is still illegal, and those who participate in it take that risk willingly. The piper may be a total arsehead (read: RIAA), but that doesn't mean they don't have legal right in this matter.

-The Libra
"You've got no kids, no wife, no job, and you're not in The Tigger Movie!!!"
- my best friend's son, Gabe, at 5 years old.