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The parent comment: " First, be Evil. I'm pretty sure that's Google's motto."

Google is now often acting in a way that is, in some ways, bad for users. What underlies that? Very poor management.

My guess is that Sergey Brin and Larry Page became overloaded running Google, now Alphabet Inc. Consider, for example, how you would feel about running a company with 72,053 employees. Extremely overloaded?

Now Pichai Sundararajan, also known as Sundar Pichai, is the CEO of Google. He was originally from Tamil Nadu, India. About 88% of Tamils are Hindus.

It is my understanding, based on talking with Hindus in India, that Hindus generally don't handle conflict well. For example, consider this quote from the article, Conflict resolution and Hinduism:

"The main teachings of Hinduism, according to Rao, include the following components:
An emphasis on suffering, impermanence and contingency;
Every act is suffused with spirituality and is meant to enable one to realize oneself;
Self-effacement, not self-assertion, is taught;
..."

To manage a technology company well, there must be deep emphasis on logical resolution of both technological and social conflicts. Conflicts must be resolved, not avoided. The quote above lists methods of avoiding the deep details of conflicts, not resolving them.

I'm guessing, and it is only a guess based on observation from outside the companies, that Google CEO Sundar Pichai is good at seeing methods Google can use to make more money, but is not good at understanding and resolving negative issues concerning those methods.

Now, technically knowledgeable people are complaining about many ways Google is abusive. For example, Google sells several services to companies that have web sites. The negative result is that Google tracks users of those sites.

A long time ago, I installed the Google Chrome Browser. The installation installed 3 system services. I uninstalled Chrome. I would not let Google's browser software to have more control over my computer than I have when I'm operating as a limited user.

See the article by Richard Stallman, The JavaScript Trap. Google is especially abusive: "Google Docs tries to download into your machine a JavaScript program which measures half a megabyte, in a compacted form that we could call Obfuscript because it has no comments and hardly any whitespace, and the method names are one letter long. The source code of a program is the preferred form for modifying it; the compacted code is not source code, and the real source code of this program is not available to the user."

The present emphasis of Google is apparently only on making more money. Alphabet and Google top management aren't paying attention to the social damage that is being done to the companies.

There are plenty of ways for Alphabet and Google to make money without having a negative affect on the companies, the users, and the world. Top managers who recognize and resolve conflicts can make healthy decisions. Top managers who think merely about making more money, and don't think deeply, damage their companies.

homosexual men have enlarged corpus collums too. http://paws.kettering.edu/~pstanche/ArchSexBehav.pdf what do these macro imaging studies really tell us?

> I never understood the "don't speak ill of the dead" idea.

It is for historical reasons. We used to bury our dead with their stuff, but we broke their weapons before putting them into the grave, for our own protection. For the same reason, it was not wise to speak ill of them.

The reason why we still have that rule is best explained with the famous bananas and monkeys example:
http://paws.kettering.edu/~jhuggins/humor/banana.html

Relocating population from sparsely populated area into that of a smaller area does allow the government to more easily monitor and control the said population as there are now substantially smaller area to cover. I am just waiting for one day when the said area will get fenced off with electrified barbwire and guard towers with sentry guns built around the perimeters, for the... protection of the caged population.

Oh please, did you even RTFA? They are demolishing abandoned houses and buildings, in Flint, MI. There has been a net exodus in population for decades, I've see it first hand when I went to Kettering University around the turn of the century (started in 1998). Back then I thought Flint would end up being a college town, as Kettering and the U of MI, Flint were one of the very few reasons people would move to or stay in the city.

So I don't know what triggered this paranoid rant, but the only people being displaced by the demolition in TFA would be squatters.

Well, with no purpose they are basically just depreciating in value quietly in your garage (our loudly and expensively if you have them on). Considering all the fun stuff you could do with a server like that you might want to hang on to one a or two of them, but get rid of the rest.

Not only would it cost a fortune to run them, but chances are the electrical in your house isn't up to the job anyway. All of them running would be a nightmare of extension cord tangles and tripped breakers. Selling is one option, but who knows how soon they will sell and for what price? There are no guarantees. If you donated them, you could get a hefty tax write off and be sure they are being put to good use.

Universities are a good place to off load them to. Anywhere with a computer science department is always in need of good hardware. May I suggest Kettering University? Our hardware is more then out of date and the CS department is far to small to get the funds to improve it. Kettering Computer Science Department

I prefer using dvipdfm to convert dvi to pdf. Works with TeX, LaTeX, or if you've only got the DVI file. dvips output generally looks like ass (which is a step up from most word processors).

To everyone that replied about how dumb the parent's question was:

Electromagnetic radiation is a variation in the magnetic and electric fields. See superposition, and note that EM radiation is made up of bosons.

The question was not a dumb one.

http://www.kettering.edu/~jhuggins/humor/flowchart .html

The incident falls under Hide It.

In the case of an extremely large object, probably one in 100, the missile might have to contain a nuclear warhead.

On earth, a nuclear weapon causes damage via its atmospheric shock wave - it's the motion of the air that causes buildings to fall down [or implode, or whatever].

Do we even know how a hunk of rock would react to the introduction of a bunch of alpha particles/gamma rays/x-rays/infrared radiation/etc? How would the the crystalline structure of the rock be affected? What models do we have that indicate the rock would shatter from an internal heat differential, rather than merely glowing very bright red for a while [assuming the rock even chose to absorb the heat energy in the first place, rather than just deflecting it off into the void of outer space]?

By contrast, underground detonations of nuclear devices are very benign events, and release vastly less energy than a small earthquake or a small volcanic event.

It's only the gaseous shock wave of an atmospheric detonation that causes damage to humans & their metropolitan areas - in the vacuum of outer space, with no atmosphere [i.e. with no gas, hence no gaseous shock wave], a nuclear detonation might not be that big of a deal.

I find GMI as the name of a curriculum confusing. GMI still makes me think of the school now known as Kettering University, but maybe I'm just an anachronism.

I can't tell from your request on whether you're just looking for something to bide you over until college, something to do during your college career, or something that would let you completely skip the college experience.

If the first, I have little in the way of advice aside from trying to do your own projects on the side of whatever else you do, and get noticed from there.

If the last, bad idea. You won't get very far without at least a bachelor's unless you're very lucky, very connected, or very, very good. Not everyone can be the next Bill Gates, and unless you want to waste four years figuring that out, I suggest you start looking at colleges. There are many different ways to pay- some you have to pay back, some you don't.

If the middle, may I make a college/university suggestion (and self-college plug)? Kettering University (formerly GM Institute). The per-week tuition is something like the second highest in the country, the location is horrible (ask anyone who knows of it what Flint, MI is like), and we have to take more credits than most "regular" places, but damn if you won't have opportunity out the wazoo.

Kettering is different from your regular college experience. First, we don't have spring or summer break, so don't come here if you're lazy. Second, Kettering has a co-operative system where you are hired as basically a paid intern with a company in a position relating to your major, and you stay with them your entire college career. And no, this isn't "We could use some coffee" internships- you'll actually work on projects related to your major, and gain great experience. By the time you graduate, unless you have a hard time finding a job (the college is mainly Engineering, so us CSs get the short stick at times), you'll have a full two years of work experience. The wages are fairly decent, too.

Plus, depending on the place you work and what openings they have, you might stay on full time after you graduate. Even if you don't, you'll have a leg up on almost every other graduate in the country when you finally get your diploma, making it much easier to find a job.

Great! Sounds like Alan Cox has finally added support for the RJE and EOI opcodes to the Linux kernel.

Yes... That's it exactly...NOT! Honestly it simply won't work... it's a power and frequency issue. However what you're thinking about, in physics, is called "Superposition of Waves".

http://www.kettering.edu/~drussell/Demos/superposi tion/superposition.html

I knew I needed my specially designed and shaped tin foil hat. I just knew it.

It is, if it's you, cornering in a jet fighter!

But it isn't when it's an impact shock. The thing about an impact is that it's an almost instantaneous deceleration.

Imagine - the drive is moving at just 1 m/s (as if dropped from 5cm). It decelerates to zero in, what, a millisecond or so on a solid surface? Do the sums, and out drops 1000ms-2, or 100G.

And I have a suspicion that my 1ms collision time is generous - after all, that suggests that your concrete floor and the drive's chassis bend by a signficant proportion of a millimetre on impact. OTOH, the drive will have internal shock mounts to spread the impulse out a bit.

Either way, this is just 5cm (2 inches) from a hard surface. If it falls the 20cm from the case of your PC when it's on its side, then you're up to 200G: 3 times the rated shock. Scary!

Here's a question to any mechanics folks out there. What is a typical impact duration for two such uncompressible objects? I've just been searching for some real data, because I wanted to not have to guesstimate, and the 1ms was based on a number of pages, including this bat and ball estimate, but the ball is obviously highly compressible. Are there any better references?

Also try Kettering University. Used to be GMI until about 7 years ago. I am about to graduate from there. All students are required to co-op for most of the 4 1/2 years. An undergraduate thesis project is also required during your last year at your co-op job. I've learned way more at work in the past 4 1/2 years than I ever did sitting in a classroom

First, he's talking about a professional society, like Eta Kappa Nu (The Electrical Engineering Professional Honor Society), not about a Social Fraternity.

Secondly, please don't use "frat", many Fraternity men tend to find it offensive. It implies a group like you see in Animal House, which despite public opinion is the minority of Social Fraternities. You wouldn't shorten "Country" to "cunt" would you?

As for why you would want to join a fraternity, well it depends. At some major Engineering Schools over a third of the campus is in a Greek Social organization. Different organizations tend to offer different things. The basic idea of a fraternity is that a diverse group of guys gets together and pools their cash and their tallents to generally make college life easier and hopefully supplement your education so that you are more likely to succeed latter in life.

Going Greek was the best decision I ever made. I strongly encourage everyone who is in college to look into it. If none of the organizations on campus fit what you want, get some guys and start your own.

However as someone just getting out, you don't have that option. While I don't know the specifics of your situation, I'm going to suggest tring to expand your search. Look in other regions and industries then the ones you have been applying to. Also try to look into consulting jobs and jobs with smaller organizations (i.e. non-profits usually need a CS/IT guy or two to do general work). Also keep in mind that since this is your first job, it's probably not going to pay very well.

Personal note: I'm in my last term as an EE. I already have several offers (in various parts of the country). Many of my friends are having problems similar to yours, however they usually want to be in a specific industry or geographic area, and those decisions provide an extreamly limited set of job options. OTOH, I've looked into many different options all over the USA (not to interested in going overseas again, guess I limited myself too). I'm in a good position a pretty good position though. I took hard electives and did well in them. I've got 2 yrs of work experience because of the co-op program. Finally, my management minor and my extensive CS knowledge tend to play into the types of EE jobs that are available right now.

Not the way I'd explain it but it is pass-able. Personally I prefer simplified examples.

Why I'm NEVER going to support IRV in a National Election:

We used to use run-off voting in our Fraternity Elections before we swapped to Condorcet. What run-off voting does is eleminate compromise candidates early on. In a national election this will favor the more extream candidates over the moderate ones.

Example:

We have three candidates X,Y,Z. Let's say the voting goes like this:

40% Like X the most.
40% Like Z the most.
20% Like Y the most.

However, 30% of the voters for X, would rather see Y win than Z and 30% of the voters for Z would rather see Y win than X. The remaining 10% only want their candiate to win. So the break-down of the ballots looks like this:

10% - X --- They only like X, Y & Z are equally bad.
30% - X,Y --- They prefer X but like Y more than Z
10% - Y,X --- They like Y but lean toward X
10% - Y,Z --- Y with leaning toward Z
30% - Z,Y --- Like Z; like Y less than Z but more than X
10% - Z --- Only like Z, Y & Z are equally bad.

Now, this is a democracy so our voting should try to make the maximum number of people happy (alternatively, we could define fairness as minimizing the number of unhappy people, more in a moment). Ideally Y should win, because the most people support him, the fewest oppose him, and he would win one-on-on against both other candidates.

However with plurality or IRV we end up with a tie between X and Z (because the "compromise" candidate is eliminated in the early round).

Condorcet solves this problem by breaking each election up, into a bunch of one-on-one elections and figuring out a winner in all of these simplified cases.

Condorcet has certain interesting properties by design: it is essentially stratagy free (being dishonest with your vote does not get you any ground), and it will find an Ideal democratic winner if one exists. However it does have several practical limitations (that are mostly irrelevent to smaller groups but could cause problems if used in something as big as a Presidential election): Because it is ranked, adding one vote can swing a very close election in unexpected (but technically correct) ways, as such, you cannot break the counting up as you can with plurality or approval the counting must all be done on all ballots simultaniously (this is no problem for a small group but for a large election, it would require computer-systems to count up the vote), and finally, some people claim that Condorcet implicitly compromises on behalf of the voter.

Note that Condorcet is not perfect; it is however the closest to perfect that exists.

There is another method that has most of the good points of Condorcet but trades away some of them to get a few practical benefits: Approval. Approval voting asks the voter to mark all candidates who he approves of for office (the goal being to minimize disatisfaction).

Unlike Condorcet, under Approval voting, adding one more vote does not cause an unexpected outcome (but the outcome might not be technically correct); Approval voting also allows the vote counting to proceed in smaller groups and have the result total up and make sense. Additionally it forces the voter to decide what they are (or arn't) willing to compromise on.

However approval voting is subject to some voting stratagy and a successful implementation relies on explaining the strategic aspects to the voters. Because of the strategy element, Approval voting is not as accurate as Condorcet for small groups and groups that don't follow polls.

An example of a good stratagy is to watch the polls and vote for everyone you prefer to the front runner, then vote for the front runner if you prefer him to the second-place candidate.

Note: I'm clearly biased because we swapped our elections from IRV to Condorcet to fix many of the problems we were having.

This isn't the future of education. This is just crap. A two year program isn't going to give you an education worth crap.

And if you don't want a liberal education, don't get one. There's plenty of good technical schools you can go to.

I can't imagine a joint IT/MBA program, unless you're a masochist. I can imagine joint science or engineering and business programs though. In fact, I can do better than imagine. I could have done it. (See above link)

The Difference between Theory and Practice =)

The graviton particle is a convenient way to imagine the force of gravity travelling and acting on other particles. It'd be nice to know how it really works though.

Some colleges have a way to give their students this required exprence. Kettering university is one of them. At kettering a student work in "the real world" six months of every year, wile still completeing a load of cources ranging from 32 to 48 credits a year. Their program is 4.5 years, so its alittle longer but with the work exprence i think it is work it. here is a link to a flash animation that discribes the program: http://admissions.kettering.edu/schooldaze/index.c fm

disclaimer: I am a Kettering grad. There are other schools with co-op programs but Kettering is the largest, the oldest, and the most prestigious. It's also the only place where it's required (at most other's it's an option).

The sonic boom is constant. It is because the sound source is travelling than the sound itself, thus the wave doesn't have a chance to decay before it is regenerated by the travelling object. The individual waves add up to form the sonic boom.

When a jet flies by, you would hear two booms: one at the front when the nose pierces the air, and another at the rear when the air fills the void behind the aircraft (in theory its polarity would be opposite that of the first).

Read about it here: Doppler Shift

The difference between the *E and the *ET degree is mostly a matter of ciriculum. With the *E degree you focus more on math, science, base theory, modeling, etc. The (IMHO, correct) assumption is that technology changes so fast it's better to leave you get that on your own(at your first job as a Junior Engineer) and to focus on the basic skills and theory that will always apply.

With an *ET degree you get some of the theory but not nearly as much. The focus is more on the current trends and technologies as well as using the latest tools. Typically employers look at the *E degree with more respect then the *ET degree. (Really all a degree amounts to anyway is respect...)

Personally I recomend combination programs that involve heavy theory in the class room with real world experience outside. The Kettering University co-op program is a very good example. The advantage of a co-op program is that you get the more prestigious *E degree AND still get the technology expericen WHILE building your resume (by keeping a steady job while in school). It's very hard work but tends to result in MUCH better success (higher employment rates, better pay, faster advancement).

Also, despite popular myth, ANYONE can afford to go to a top level school in this country. You just have to get off your butt and apply for all of the federal grants and need based scholarships.....

For example Kettering University, a small engineering school (interesting, we graduate more engineers than any other University, and 1 out of 5 graduates becomes a business owner or fortune 500 exec, but that's a side point) which has great, almost 100% coverage (I live two blocks away and get signal) isn't on the list because it's are so small (there are 5 buildings on campus).

Formerly GMI
This is an excellent engineering school in Michigan that has a very good CS and CE program.

Another poster has answered this below..

Is this true? (Hopefully using the right term...I mean itemized lists with roman numerials, numbers, letters for each part)

If you mean "itemized" or "enumerated" lists then yes there is a limit it appears you can go 5 deep.

The following will give a "Too deeply nested" error. Due to the "sub sub sub sub sub sub item"

N.B. It it not very pretty due to having to get past the "comment compression filter"...

\documentclass{article} \begin{document} \begin{itemize} \item Item \begin{itemize} \item Sub item \begin{itemize} \item Sub sub item \begin{itemize} \item sub sub sub item \begin{itemize} \item sub sub sub sub item \begin{itemize} \item sub sub sub sub sub item \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \end{document}

As with many aspects of LaTeX however if you find it doesn't do something it probably means it's not prudent (from a structural perspective) to do it anyway. For example if you really need that level of deep reference you may well be better off with part,chapter,section, subsection, ... . . .,itemize etc... Ironically I tried posting this reply with some deep nesting, slashdot posts are limited to three levels deep! ;-) Of course if you wish to you can always override the builtins with your own "super list" or something.

Also, can ya'll post some good links to a newbie learning LaTex..and some good reference sites that have all the tags layed out with good explanations?

Sure, below are a list places I would reccomend starting, you havn't said if you use Windows, *nix or Mac so i've added both (sorry if you are a Mac man you'll have to Google yourself).

• Editing:
• • *nix If you are a *nix user I would reccomend the following editing combination.
  • XEmacs
  • AucTeX. A sophisticated editing mode for LaTeX
  • preview-latex. Places the rendered equations and images directly in the editor window making "equation tuning" and other tasks a snip.
• Windows
• • WinEdt. A very sophisticated text editor for Windows. Its forte is LaTeX. It is not free, but well worth the money.

• Learning resources:
• • Getting started
  • Good overview
  • A list of symbols
  • The not so short introduction to LaTeX2e
  • Tips and tricks
  • BibTeX help.

• Other random stuff
• • dvipdfm. For converting the output of LaTeX into PDF (highly recommended)
  • Prof. Knuth's home page(The author of TeX).
  • CTANThe Comprehensive TeX Archive Network. Here you will be able to download packages, utilities and tools that do not come by default in your LaTeX distribution.

-ed

Keep in mind these rankings are what others in Academia think about them. Three years after graduation, your work experience will be all that really counts.

Here's what you should look for:

• Low Student to Teacher Ratio
• High rate of acceptace to Grad school / job placement
• Sucessful alumni
• How long it takes students to pay off loans on average (it may cost more, but you may make more).
• Opportunities for work experience (this is what really counts on your resume).

The EE program is excellent (ranked #9 for undergrad), and the classes are small. You'll personally know all of your professors, and you'll get to get REAL work experience (and money to pay for college). And oh, by the way, they've graduated more Fortune 500 executives then Harvard (and cost way less...).

ps: When I applied the application was one page so it won't take you much extra time.

First off where are you going and what are you doing? For reference I go to Kettering University and I'm an Electrical Engineer.

Most schools have pretty good computer labs (including Unix ones). Unless you want to do your work in your room, you can rely on the schools pcs for getting school work done.

There really are only 2 things having your own computer is good for:

1. You can take it to class and use it there for doing circuits, solving diff eqs, notes, etc.

2. You can use it for entertainment (movies, games, music, p2p). If you are into this, go on and get a computer that can do what you want, and learn to excercise a little self control. Plus not having to go to the lab to do VHDL stuff is nice. I've known guys who couldn't get their act together and played games and failed out; but these guys would have failed out even without the games, they wern't serious or interested and would have found another way to not do work. Don't let the parrent convince you games are bad, not being able to manage your time that you should watch out for.

Laptop vs. Desktop: Laptops cost a lot more and don't have the power. I looked into it and decided to spend my money on a desktop instead. I spent a lot of cash and went from having a 400Mhz PII to having dual Xeons. Making CS levels and doing 3d modeling (my hobbies) was a lot easier. Now that I'm in higher engineering courses, not having to go to school (I live off campus) to do work is nice, and I wouldn't have much use for a laptop in class. I'd still go with the desktop (actually I'd get a shuttle system since they are small).

• Other things to bring/think about:
• Calculator: I recomend the HP-49. Make sure you get one that has graphing, matrix manipulation, imaginary numbers, easy vector handling (all function and conversion), and understands differential equations. If you must get a TI, go with the 89 but you'll probably be happier with an HP-49.
• Pack light, don't bring stuff you won't use: i.e. get a tv-in card for your pc instead of bringing a tv.
• Get out and do other things, college is a great time for learning who you are and trying new things. Go to different meetings of clubs and see if what they do interests you. Meet people, and make friends; don't confine yourself to a small group. Go out for greek rush even if you have no desire to join! It's free food and events. You'll have a good time. Look around campus and find a fraternity that seems to mesh with you (there'll be a few), grab some friends and show up for one of their events. Not all greek letter orgs are about drinking and partying (for example the Kettering Chapter of Delta Chi has a dry house, and a bunch of members into gaming (we still maintain the highest grades on campus and have more members in clubs, and government then anyone else).

Remember, to have fun and try new things, the most important parts of college are in the social skills and experiences you have outside of the classroom.

First off where are you going and what are you doing? For reference I go to Kettering University and I'm an Electrical Engineer.

Most schools have pretty good computer labs (including Unix ones). Unless you want to do your work in your room, you can rely on the schools pcs for getting school work done.

There really are only 2 things having your own computer is good for:

1. You can take it to class and use it there for doing circuits, solving diff eqs, notes, etc.

2. You can use it for entertainment (movies, games, music, p2p). If you are into this, go on and get a computer that can do what you want, and learn to excercise a little self control. Plus not having to go to the lab to do VHDL stuff is nice. I've known guys who couldn't get their act together and played games and failed out; but these guys would have failed out even without the games, they wern't serious or interested and would have found another way to not do work. Don't let the parrent convince you games are bad, not being able to manage your time that you should watch out for.

Laptop vs. Desktop: Laptops cost a lot more and don't have the power. I looked into it and decided to spend my money on a desktop instead. I spent a lot of cash and went from having a 400Mhz PII to having dual Xeons. Making CS levels and doing 3d modeling (my hobbies) was a lot easier. Now that I'm in higher engineering courses, not having to go to school (I live off campus) to do work is nice, and I wouldn't have much use for a laptop in class. I'd still go with the desktop (actually I'd get a shuttle system since they are small).

• Other things to bring/think about:
• Calculator: I recomend the HP-49. Make sure you get one that has graphing, matrix manipulation, imaginary numbers, easy vector handling (all function and conversion), and understands differential equations. If you must get a TI, go with the 89 but you'll probably be happier with an HP-49.
• Pack light, don't bring stuff you won't use: i.e. get a tv-in card for your pc instead of bringing a tv.
• Get out and do other things, college is a great time for learning who you are and trying new things. Go to different meetings of clubs and see if what they do interests you. Meet people, and make friends; don't confine yourself to a small group. Go out for greek rush even if you have no desire to join! It's free food and events. You'll have a good time. Look around campus and find a fraternity that seems to mesh with you (there'll be a few), grab some friends and show up for one of their events. Not all greek letter orgs are about drinking and partying (for example the Kettering Chapter of Delta Chi has a dry house, and a bunch of members into gaming (we still maintain the highest grades on campus and have more members in clubs, and government then anyone else).

Remember, to have fun and try new things, the most important parts of college are in the social skills and experiences you have outside of the classroom.

About a year ago, my university put a policy in place which made it a violation of the acceptable use policy to have any copyrighted material publically availaible. This, according to the administration, was due to a threatening letter from the BSA. See the announcement. I would definetly say that schools are feeling pressure to "control" piracy on their networks.

Note that at about this same time, I had been running a similar indexing service on a spare computer in my dorm room. I eventually stopped maintining the index because it took too much effort, and I was getting a bit nervous about what appeared to be http and smb spidering of the dorm network by the computer center.

My school implemeted a similar policy several weeks ago, citiing a warning letter from the BSA. I imagine this is something that will happen more and more in coming months as 1.) the BSA sends out scare letters and 2.) Schools get sick of having legitimate educational traffic degraded for P2P file swapping.

My school implemeted a similar policy several weeks ago, citiing a warning letter from the BSA. I imagine this is something that will happen more and more in coming months as 1.) the BSA sends out scare letters and 2.) Schools get sick of having legitimate educational traffic degraded for P2P file swapping.

he should have used dvipdfm

> most of the tips and techniques tend to be of 'do it and see if it works' type of experimentation. I am interested in the simulation approach prior to actual experimentation to get a decent picture of what to expect during the experimentation phase, which IMHO should be safer and more cost effective.

I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. In the early stages of vehicle modification, there is such a thing as "paralysis by analysis". In other words, get the basics out of the way first. better flowing Cylinder Heads, Exhaust, Induction, etc. Why spend exorbanant amounts of time & money on software, training, and engineering classes when you could just put the money towards parts?

On the other hand, let's say you're really hard core about this. You're already making....let's say 450 Horsepower in your "fast & the Furious" style Honda 4-banger. Adding 50 horsepower to a 450 horse engine is going to cost ya tons more than adding 50 horse to a 130 horse engine. Heck, a lot of the parts you buy can be right from a stock motor at a junkyard. Need a bigger throttle body? Grab one from a V6 motor. Need a bigger throttle body for your 450 horse motor? You're gonna have to shell out $300+ because you're not going to find one at the junkyard. My point here is, If you're hard-core, then it might be worth it to spend money on software. It can take years to become an expert on Finite Element Analysis, and even then, we still question our results. Finite Element analysis makes assumptions. Materials are assumed homogenous (same throughout), same grain structure (difficult to model forgings & some stampings), no casting flaws, bad welds, etc.

If anybody is interested, I plan on doing some FEA work on my own project vehicle before my school finds out that I've already graduated and kick me off the system :-)

I'm hoping to create a finite element model of a Ford Ranger frame to find out what I should do to strengthen the frame on my own vehicle. My '88 Ranger has been upgraded to 89 Mustang 5.0 power but unfortunately the frame has been twisting so much under load that the spot welds on the bed have been breaking. I'll plan on putting a link on my current webpage for those of you that would like to follow along. After July 1st, my username will change so check Here

> most of the tips and techniques tend to be of 'do it and see if it works' type of experimentation. I am interested in the simulation approach prior to actual experimentation to get a decent picture of what to expect during the experimentation phase, which IMHO should be safer and more cost effective.

I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. In the early stages of vehicle modification, there is such a thing as "paralysis by analysis". In other words, get the basics out of the way first. better flowing Cylinder Heads, Exhaust, Induction, etc. Why spend exorbanant amounts of time & money on software, training, and engineering classes when you could just put the money towards parts?

On the other hand, let's say you're really hard core about this. You're already making....let's say 450 Horsepower in your "fast & the Furious" style Honda 4-banger. Adding 50 horsepower to a 450 horse engine is going to cost ya tons more than adding 50 horse to a 130 horse engine. Heck, a lot of the parts you buy can be right from a stock motor at a junkyard. Need a bigger throttle body? Grab one from a V6 motor. Need a bigger throttle body for your 450 horse motor? You're gonna have to shell out $300+ because you're not going to find one at the junkyard. My point here is, If you're hard-core, then it might be worth it to spend money on software. It can take years to become an expert on Finite Element Analysis, and even then, we still question our results. Finite Element analysis makes assumptions. Materials are assumed homogenous (same throughout), same grain structure (difficult to model forgings & some stampings), no casting flaws, bad welds, etc.

If anybody is interested, I plan on doing some FEA work on my own project vehicle before my school finds out that I've already graduated and kick me off the system :-)

I'm hoping to create a finite element model of a Ford Ranger frame to find out what I should do to strengthen the frame on my own vehicle. My '88 Ranger has been upgraded to 89 Mustang 5.0 power but unfortunately the frame has been twisting so much under load that the spot welds on the bed have been breaking. I'll plan on putting a link on my current webpage for those of you that would like to follow along. After July 1st, my username will change so check Here

> most of the tips and techniques tend to be of 'do it and see if it works' type of experimentation. I am interested in the simulation approach prior to actual experimentation to get a decent picture of what to expect during the experimentation phase, which IMHO should be safer and more cost effective.

I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. In the early stages of vehicle modification, there is such a thing as "paralysis by analysis". In other words, get the basics out of the way first. better flowing Cylinder Heads, Exhaust, Induction, etc. Why spend exorbanant amounts of time & money on software, training, and engineering classes when you could just put the money towards parts?

On the other hand, let's say you're really hard core about this. You're already making....let's say 450 Horsepower in your "fast & the Furious" style Honda 4-banger. Adding 50 horsepower to a 450 horse engine is going to cost ya tons more than adding 50 horse to a 130 horse engine. Heck, a lot of the parts you buy can be right from a stock motor at a junkyard. Need a bigger throttle body? Grab one from a V6 motor. Need a bigger throttle body for your 450 horse motor? You're gonna have to shell out $300+ because you're not going to find one at the junkyard. My point here is, If you're hard-core, then it might be worth it to spend money on software. It can take years to become an expert on Finite Element Analysis, and even then, we still question our results. Finite Element analysis makes assumptions. Materials are assumed homogenous (same throughout), same grain structure (difficult to model forgings & some stampings), no casting flaws, bad welds, etc.

If anybody is interested, I plan on doing some FEA work on my own project vehicle before my school finds out that I've already graduated and kick me off the system :-)

I'm hoping to create a finite element model of a Ford Ranger frame to find out what I should do to strengthen the frame on my own vehicle. My '88 Ranger has been upgraded to 89 Mustang 5.0 power but unfortunately the frame has been twisting so much under load that the spot welds on the bed have been breaking. I'll plan on putting a link on my current webpage for those of you that would like to follow along. After July 1st, my username will change so check Here

> You basically only need a special computer if you are running massive cams (alternatively you could just raise the idle, which most people do)

As an ex-ford mechanic, I can tell you this isn't a good idea. Sure, you can adjust the idle position of the throttle body, but the problem is, you'll also be changing the voltage value of the throttle position sensor. If my memory is right, anything above 0.9 volts on a ford signals that the engine is "off idle" and the EEC module will then leave "idle mode". If you adjust the idle position throttle stop, you should also elongate the mounting holes on your TP sensor so you can adjust it to stay below the correct idle voltage. IMHO, a better way to boost idle speed is to add a IAC bypass plate. It's basically a 1/4 inch thick plate that bolts betwen the Idle Air Bypass Valve and the throttle body. There's a small passage with an adjustment screw that lets you increase airflow without changing the idle TPS voltage.

I also have to disagree with your statement that most cars don't benefit from performance computers. Any gas engined car would have better performance with more advanced timing. Is it risky? Yes. If your peak cylinder pressure occurs before Top Dead Center, you'll be lucky if you only blow a head gasket.

Engines are tuned with a 3-way comprimise between Power, Emissions/Fuel Economy, and Drivability. It's a difficult balance to achieve from the factory, and if you don't care about drivability or emmissions, it is not difficult to boost your power. My toy is an 88 Ranger with an 89 Mustang 5.0 engine & Stock mustang EEC module. I'm running 13's with few mods and without my nitrous but I know It would be even faster if I could tweak the ignition timing and fuel map. Would I have to spend a lot of time? Yup? Worth the effort? Probably not - unless I'm just doing it for fun.

The Kettering University Science and Math Department often refers to themselves as the S&M department. They once (might still, I haven't looked lately), had a bulliten board with the caption "S&M Faculty" listing the various faculty memebers and their acheivments.

These could be really useful for
modular manufacturing processes.

Imagine an assembly line of really cheap
robots that can build stuff cheaper in America
than the cost of shipping "made in China" stuff back here. To compete against dirt cheap labor,
we basically need to have dirt cheap robots.

If these things are cheap enough, I may just be
able to win my bet to be able to build a
shell script controlled CD changer for my Linux box for under $50.00

Excellent dvi-> pdf convertor

I'd rather use a pic like this one anyway.

Thanks for the great link!
~brad3378

can lift a fresh CD using suction cups (not shown in picture)

use eject & eject -t commands to open & close CD tray

burn CD via shell script

when finished, switch CDs and start all over

drive mechanism using cheap rotating threaded rod (worm drive)

wooden frame (cheap & easy to build)

use Jeremy Elson's Parapin program to control the device via parallel port

goal 1 - make it cheaper than $50 to build. using easy to find parts

goal 2 - make it easy for others to build.

The ultimate hack would be to combine it with a MP3 database, napster, perl script,and wget to download and burn the billboard top 40 (or similar concept)

A project like this is not meant to be practical.
Just something fun that hasn't been done before. Yes, I have seen a similar lego robot that works with a home audio system, but it only had about 7 disks available, it looked like a tough mechanism to integrate with a Computer tower, and the basic lego mindstorms sets sell for about $200.00

Comments/suggestions/related links welcome and strongly encouraged.

> Except that the abulity to do this severly hampers performance even when client and server are on the local machine....

I have to agree with that one wholeheartedly. I used to use the commands:
1% rlogin hostname (on a secure network)
2% setenv DISPLAY localmachine:0.0
3% start_application

Now imagine that the application being used is a hardcore solid modeling CAD software
on a 10 base T network!
Video obiously suffers the most, but surprisingly, the performance was good enough to still make it an option. One of my sophmore level CAD classes used to do something similar to run software made for solaris on the Windows NT classroom overhead. Yes, it ran very slow compared to a local machine, but the ability to do it still blows my mind! (I'm easily amused ;-)

If I had a top ten list with my favorite UNIX features/abilities, rlogin would definitely be on my list.

it's been a while since I've needed to run a gui app on unix, so I haven't yet played with using "ssh". I'm told ssh will automatically redirect the display so I don't have to remember how to "setenv" ;-)

Thanks for your comment
~brad3378

Thanks for the excellent response!

My favorite comment:
&gt *cough* *cough* who says that you can't preview?

Well, let's just say I've been previewing Win2k for a while now, and overall, I like what I see.

also, Thanks for the Perl script ideas. It seems so obvious to me to use shell scripts or perl scripts in unix, but I often forget perl can be used in windows. I don't claim to be a perl expert, but I'm often surprised when slashdotters ripp on perl since it has so many cool features. (even if the syntax is somewhat....errr "unique" ;-)

If XP has drag and drop burning capability from within windows explorer, that alone may be the killer feature that makes me want to upgrade. With burnproof becoming almost a standard feature of most CDRs, it appears trivial to a novice like me to add a feature like this.

One more thing to add to the "boot speed" topic:
I theorize that a faster boot time would benefit windows users more than linux users.
;-)
Seriously though, overall, Unix guys like to brag about "uptime" and tend to leave their computers running 24/7, while typical windows users like my parents shut down their machines for varied reasons.
At work I used to do CAD stuff on an SGI "Octane" computer, and it literally had no power switch because it was supposedly "so dependable" it wouldn't need one. Well, not entirely true. It's Irix O.S. locked up solid about once a month requiring a reboot.

You do have a valid point on blaming MS for 3rd party drivers.
My "anger" has been misdirected at MS when in fact its ATI that I should be pissed at. I also have taken the sacred vow not to buy another ATI product ;-)

Thanks again for the great response!
~brad3378

We just covered this in my Engineering Materials class, so technically I'm doing my homework by visiting slashdot. :-)

Cast steel is generally not as "strong" as Forged steel. I use the word strength loosely, because steel has many properties which can be associated with measuring strength. (i.e. Ductility, modulus of elasticity, Stress/Strain relationships, yield point, etc.)

There are two major considerations here.

1) The atomic structure of the material.
This is the arrangements of the atoms. The strength of steel greatly depends on the atomic structure which relies on the method used to cool the molten material. Speed of the cooling process determines how the atoms will arrange themselves, therefore determining "strength" via the number of and geometry of the atomic bonds.

2) The grain structure of the material.
"pounding" or Forging steel literally squeezes the atoms closer together. The forging process aligns the grain structure into a "stronger" geometry, although some directions are stronger than others.
In general, Casted parts are used when parts are in complicated shapes (like engine blocks and cylinder heads), and when strength can be comprimised.

Forged parts are prefered when strength more important than cost. Racecars typically use Forged conecting rods because of their high strength to weight ratio. Low weight is especially important here since engines reving 9000 RPM reciprocate each rod back and forth 150 times per second!

A few more good examples of Forgings:
Hand Tools, (Snap-on, Craftsman, Mac, etc.)
some crankshafts (typically racing applications)
some pistons (5.0 Mustang Guys say to only run NOS on forged pistons)

For more info, Here is an excelent comparison of Forging and Casting

No chips here:

Just an old Ford Ranger that keeps up with Corvettes

(when I finish college, I'm aiming for vipers)