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Domain: komar.org

Stories and comments across the archive that link to komar.org.

Comments · 430

  1. Terrestial Methane may come from Cows by xmas2003 · · Score: 5, Funny · on Martian Methane May Come From Rocks
    In a related story ...

    alek writes "When methane was found in the Terrestial atmosphere last year, some scientists thought this was indirect evidence of methane-producing bacteria. But animals such as bovines can create methane in a process known as breaking wind. Animalogists calculated that a global herd of 50,000 bovines could account for the methane. One animalogist said, 'I'd love to see udders, but you can't just go on hope. You have to consider the back-end options.' Other scientists are unsure whether methane on Earth even comes from cows."

  2. What about online electronic records? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on Transmeta Closing Up Shop
    I've read several articles about this legislation, but there is very little information about electronic records. I see a a brief mention about "discarding a computer's hard drive" ... but what about online record keeping? I gotta believe there is a cottage industry that provides web access for folks to track their hired help - who is liable if that becomes public? And what happens if someone hacks into your computer?

    A cute McDonald French Fry


  3. First time Atomic Clock had a birthday party? by xmas2003 · · Score: 1 · on Atomic Clock Turns 50

    According to the article, it doesn't appear there were any previous celebrations ... and in the BBC piece it doesn't say if the clock got to do anything for turning 50. I climbed a mountain on my 40th birthday - someone ought to throw a party for the poor old clock! ;-)

  4. What about online electronic records? by Hulkster · · Score: 3, Interesting · on Document Disposal Law Kicks In
    I've read several articles about this legislation, but there is very little information about electronic records. I see a a brief mention about "discarding a computer's hard drive" ... but what about online record keeping? I gotta believe there is a cottage industry that provides web access for folks to track their hired help - who is liable if that becomes public? And what happens if someone hacks into your computer?

    A cute McDonald French Fry

  5. Huffington Post shows up on /. their first day ... by Hulkster · · Score: 5, Informative · on Hilary Rosen Gripes About iPod, iTMS

    The article is from the Huffington Post the "blog of various mainstream media celibrities" which launched today. Impressive that they make Slashdot outa the gate - sounds like the lines are blurring even more between the traditional MSM media and the new online media. It will be interesting to see if they are able to maintain the daily grind of interesting articles ... or if they eventually becomes as exciting as watching grass grow ;-)

  6. My kinda day! by Hulkster · · Score: 2, Interesting · on Free Comic Book Day 2005

    The Big Green Guy says sounds like SMASHING fun to him! ;-)

  7. Re:It's Good to be the King by maotx · · Score: 4, Informative · on Firefox Breaks 50,000,000 Barrier

    Does anyone actually know how many visits slashdot gives a site that is on posted on the front page? any guesses?

    The guy who did the Christmas and Haloween lights prank did a rather nice analysis on the incoming bandwidth from Slashdot and other media sites.

    Pasted below is Slashdot's statistics:

    5 min: 781
    10 min: 1,604
    1 hour: 11,699
    2 hours: 21,651
    4 hours: 35,895
    8 hours: 53,720
    24 hours: 90,607
    2 days: 94,830
    week: 98,054
    month: 117,210

    Take it with a grain of salt though...the analysis might be another hoax ;)

  8. More info from Slashdot and POE site ... by Hulkster · · Score: 3, Informative · on New Computer Powered By PoE

    Slashdot has discussed "Power over Ethernet: IEEE 802.3af" and how the Apple AirPort Base Station supports POE. There also appears to be a website dedicated to Power over Ethernet. Ummmmm ... maybe I could use POE to power my christmas lights ... although I'd need a bit more than 15 Watts! ;-)

  9. Nikon White Balance Encryption by Hulkster · · Score: 4, Informative · on Image Preservation Through Open Documentation
    For those interested in the recent related Slashdot stories that are very relevent to OpenRAW's efforts, there was discussions last week and also this weekend about Nikon encrypting the white balance information. Michael Reichmann asks a rhetorical (IMHO) question of Do You Really Own Your Own Raw Files.

    Enjoy my fun little christmas hoax - help me do it for real in 2005! ;-)

  10. Nikon White Balance Encryption by Hulkster · · Score: 4, Informative · on Image Preservation Through Open Documentation
    For those interested in the recent related Slashdot stories that are very relevent to OpenRAW's efforts, there was discussions last week and also this weekend about Nikon encrypting the white balance information. Michael Reichmann asks a rhetorical (IMHO) question of Do You Really Own Your Own Raw Files.

    Enjoy my fun little christmas hoax - help me do it for real in 2005! ;-)

  11. Balmer takes 5 years to change his mind by Hulkster · · Score: 5, Informative · on Microsoft to Support Linux in Virtual Server
    The commmunism article is dated July/2000 and the cancer one is dated June/2001 ... so I guess Balmer (who is quoted in the TechWorld article and here's the actual Microsfot Press Release) has changed his mind after 5 years ... I guess with regards to Linux, maybe he feels that if you can't fight 'em, then join 'em.

    Enjoyed my fun little christmas hoax - help me do it for real in 2005! ;-)

  12. Balmer takes 5 years to change his mind by Hulkster · · Score: 5, Informative · on Microsoft to Support Linux in Virtual Server
    The commmunism article is dated July/2000 and the cancer one is dated June/2001 ... so I guess Balmer (who is quoted in the TechWorld article and here's the actual Microsfot Press Release) has changed his mind after 5 years ... I guess with regards to Linux, maybe he feels that if you can't fight 'em, then join 'em.

    Enjoyed my fun little christmas hoax - help me do it for real in 2005! ;-)

  13. "Common Carrier" - what about sites that host it? by xmas2003 · · Score: 4, Interesting · on Congress Declares War on File Leakers
    The submission uses the term "user" and the article (yes, I did RTFA) doesn't clarify what happens if the offending data is placed on a public web site - i.e. uploaded to a forum. I also look at the actual bill - the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act but was not able to figure the answer out. So is there a "common carrier" defense for those web site that perhaps unknowingly carry stuff?

    Enjoyed my fun little christmas hoax - help me do it for real! ;-)

  14. "Common Carrier" - what about sites that host it? by xmas2003 · · Score: 4, Interesting · on Congress Declares War on File Leakers
    The submission uses the term "user" and the article (yes, I did RTFA) doesn't clarify what happens if the offending data is placed on a public web site - i.e. uploaded to a forum. I also look at the actual bill - the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act but was not able to figure the answer out. So is there a "common carrier" defense for those web site that perhaps unknowingly carry stuff?

    Enjoyed my fun little christmas hoax - help me do it for real! ;-)

  15. Re:Boring by xmas2003 · · Score: 1 · on Satellite Easter Eggs

    Not a famous person, but here is your nose-picking photo ...

  16. Cold Matters when it comes to Overclocking ... by Hulkster · · Score: 4, Informative · on Optical Computer Made From Frozen Light
    I guess all those guys using liquid water cooling (and even the folks using liquid Nitrogen) just got one-upped ... will we start seeing benchmarks using liquid Helium cooling?

    BTW, for those interested, here's a direct link to the "Light at Bicycle Speed ... and Slower Yet!" presentation - I was travelling about that speed in my coldest car during a Colorado snowstorm.

  17. Re:What's next - patenting how Mom makes Hash Brow by dacaldar · · Score: 1 · on Court Denies Smucker's PB&J Patent
    www.komar.org ... seems familiar...

    Oh yeah... the Christmas lights guy...

    So how do we know those are REAL hash browns!? Maybe you pre-cooked them and then placed them on the grill for the photos...

    Here's some bedtime reading for Alek.

    ;)

  18. What's next - patenting how Mom makes Hash Brown's by Hulkster · · Score: 5, Informative · on Court Denies Smucker's PB&J Patent
    Maybe I can sue anyone who tries to use the technique my Mom uses for making Hash Browns?!?

    For those that don't RTFA, Smucker actually allready had a patent from 1995, but this rejection "involved two additional patents that Smucker was seeking to expand its original patent by protecting its method." I.e. they still have the original patent for their method of making a P&J sandwich, but "the company's original patent is being re-examined by the patent office."

    Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease

  19. What's next - patenting how Mom makes Hash Brown's by Hulkster · · Score: 5, Informative · on Court Denies Smucker's PB&J Patent
    Maybe I can sue anyone who tries to use the technique my Mom uses for making Hash Browns?!?

    For those that don't RTFA, Smucker actually allready had a patent from 1995, but this rejection "involved two additional patents that Smucker was seeking to expand its original patent by protecting its method." I.e. they still have the original patent for their method of making a P&J sandwich, but "the company's original patent is being re-examined by the patent office."

    Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease

  20. Re:please do :) by xmas2003 · · Score: 1 · on What Can You Do With $100?
    Yea, we'll have to come up with some way for me to "prove" it to 'ya if I do it for real - recall it was actually a challenge to prove to the Wall Street Journal that the fake was a fake! ;-)

    Don't know if Special Agent Cody would work as the live hostage - he was good enough for the Associated Press! Some things that I didn't even try to fake because they would be difficult is day/twilight and/or the moon with clouds - might those would be convincing enough for 'ya if they showed up?!? ;-)

    The Slashdot Editors haven't approved any of my submissions since the hoax broke (I used to bat about 20%), so my guess is they're still upset at me for the dupe - so maybe no more Slashdot Effect Analysis for me - but I still like you guys.

    alek

    P.S. I'll add that one major hurdle has already been crossed - my two neighbors across the street have said it's OK to really (this time!) have blinking lights and have said they'll let me mount a wireless webcam on their roofs.

    PPS. X10 is pretty doggy and unreliable (I really do use this to control the lights - without the web interface) so I'd like to replace it with either something like UPB or maybe a wireless powerline control technology - should I Ask Slashdot?!? ;-)

  21. Re:please do :) by xmas2003 · · Score: 1 · on What Can You Do With $100?
    Yea, we'll have to come up with some way for me to "prove" it to 'ya if I do it for real - recall it was actually a challenge to prove to the Wall Street Journal that the fake was a fake! ;-)

    Don't know if Special Agent Cody would work as the live hostage - he was good enough for the Associated Press! Some things that I didn't even try to fake because they would be difficult is day/twilight and/or the moon with clouds - might those would be convincing enough for 'ya if they showed up?!? ;-)

    The Slashdot Editors haven't approved any of my submissions since the hoax broke (I used to bat about 20%), so my guess is they're still upset at me for the dupe - so maybe no more Slashdot Effect Analysis for me - but I still like you guys.

    alek

    P.S. I'll add that one major hurdle has already been crossed - my two neighbors across the street have said it's OK to really (this time!) have blinking lights and have said they'll let me mount a wireless webcam on their roofs.

    PPS. X10 is pretty doggy and unreliable (I really do use this to control the lights - without the web interface) so I'd like to replace it with either something like UPB or maybe a wireless powerline control technology - should I Ask Slashdot?!? ;-)

  22. Re:please do :) by xmas2003 · · Score: 1 · on What Can You Do With $100?
    Yea, we'll have to come up with some way for me to "prove" it to 'ya if I do it for real - recall it was actually a challenge to prove to the Wall Street Journal that the fake was a fake! ;-)

    Don't know if Special Agent Cody would work as the live hostage - he was good enough for the Associated Press! Some things that I didn't even try to fake because they would be difficult is day/twilight and/or the moon with clouds - might those would be convincing enough for 'ya if they showed up?!? ;-)

    The Slashdot Editors haven't approved any of my submissions since the hoax broke (I used to bat about 20%), so my guess is they're still upset at me for the dupe - so maybe no more Slashdot Effect Analysis for me - but I still like you guys.

    alek

    P.S. I'll add that one major hurdle has already been crossed - my two neighbors across the street have said it's OK to really (this time!) have blinking lights and have said they'll let me mount a wireless webcam on their roofs.

    PPS. X10 is pretty doggy and unreliable (I really do use this to control the lights - without the web interface) so I'd like to replace it with either something like UPB or maybe a wireless powerline control technology - should I Ask Slashdot?!? ;-)

  23. Christmas Lights by xmas2003 · · Score: 4, Funny · on What Can You Do With $100?
    Buy some christmas lights and convince everyone you have a webcam where people can turn 'em on and off

    5,000 Christmas lights at post holiday prices: $100
    Linux/Apache/Perl/etc.: Free
    Duping the world: Priceless! ;-)

    Doing it for real will cost a little more than $100 if you want a decent webcam, but maybe I'll do that Christmas 2005 ...

  24. Christmas Lights by xmas2003 · · Score: 4, Funny · on What Can You Do With $100?
    Buy some christmas lights and convince everyone you have a webcam where people can turn 'em on and off

    5,000 Christmas lights at post holiday prices: $100
    Linux/Apache/Perl/etc.: Free
    Duping the world: Priceless! ;-)

    Doing it for real will cost a little more than $100 if you want a decent webcam, but maybe I'll do that Christmas 2005 ...

  25. Christmas Lights by xmas2003 · · Score: 4, Funny · on What Can You Do With $100?
    Buy some christmas lights and convince everyone you have a webcam where people can turn 'em on and off

    5,000 Christmas lights at post holiday prices: $100
    Linux/Apache/Perl/etc.: Free
    Duping the world: Priceless! ;-)

    Doing it for real will cost a little more than $100 if you want a decent webcam, but maybe I'll do that Christmas 2005 ...

  26. Christmas Lights by xmas2003 · · Score: 4, Funny · on What Can You Do With $100?
    Buy some christmas lights and convince everyone you have a webcam where people can turn 'em on and off

    5,000 Christmas lights at post holiday prices: $100
    Linux/Apache/Perl/etc.: Free
    Duping the world: Priceless! ;-)

    Doing it for real will cost a little more than $100 if you want a decent webcam, but maybe I'll do that Christmas 2005 ...

  27. Referrer Log Spammers should be sued too by xmas2003 · · Score: 4, Interesting · on Gates' Resolve in Bringing Spammers to Justice

    Wow - Microsoft/Gates usually gets a bad rap on /., but kudos to them for going after the scumbags of the Internet. Another group I find annoying is the folks who do referrer log spamming. Even though I don't publish those log stats (so their efforts are to naught), they continue to send their stupid traffic and it's a bit annoying to see in the web log analysis.

  28. Referrer Log Spammers should be sued too by xmas2003 · · Score: 4, Interesting · on Gates' Resolve in Bringing Spammers to Justice

    Wow - Microsoft/Gates usually gets a bad rap on /., but kudos to them for going after the scumbags of the Internet. Another group I find annoying is the folks who do referrer log spamming. Even though I don't publish those log stats (so their efforts are to naught), they continue to send their stupid traffic and it's a bit annoying to see in the web log analysis.

  29. Pretty exciting to watch grass grow too ... by xmas2003 · · Score: 1 · on Burn Grass, Get Green Biofuel

    Not only is it "environmentally friendly", but watching grass grow is a seriously exciting activity to do on a Saturday night in Slashdotville! ;-)

  30. I forgot to wave ... by xmas2003 · · Score: 1 · on Say 'Cheese' to Google Satellite at 10AM

    Here are some satellite pictures of my house - my guess is that Google has even better image quality ... ;-)

  31. Re:if this is a joke by Baricom · · Score: 1 · on Google Ride Finder Announced

    Stranger things have happened.

  32. How interesting is watching grass grow? by xmas2003 · · Score: 1 · on Google 302 Exploit Knocks Sites Out

    You decide - watching grass grow ... ;-)

  33. Re:That does it. by xmas2003 · · Score: 1 · on 'Spamalot' Subscribers to Get Spam ... a Lot
    Nope, it works like www.freesmallfurryanimals.com, and they'll free your money from your wallet...

    FreeSmallFurryAnimals doesn't resolve, but for those that don't care for 'em, try using an M-1 Carbine to hunt rats.

  34. Re:Good Geo-Mapping isn't going to be free ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on Best Means of Knowing Your Audience?

    I was surprised to learn that Sweden had changed their country flag

  35. Good Geo-Mapping isn't going to be free ... by xmas2003 · · Score: 4, Informative · on Best Means of Knowing Your Audience?
    I use the Perl Module Geo::IPfree for my simple geo-mapping demonstration ... but it's far from perfect as people point out to me - despite the page saying exactly that! ;-)

    This is a very non-trivial problem, especially to do well, and I have yet to see any "free" solution out there that provides reliably good data.

    In terms of the User Agent (which can, of course, be easily spoofed), it's simply a string matching exercise and there was a recent Slashdot story that looked at how well the various stat'ilizers handle these.

  36. Here's the Google Translation into English by Hulkster · · Score: 5, Informative · on P2P (More) Legal in France
    Would have been nice to have a direct link in the writeup, so here is the google translation into English

    Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease

  37. Nice work - some minor suggestions for 'ya by xmas2003 · · Score: 2, Interesting · on Browser Detection of Website Statistics Services
    Nice analysis David. I'd personally love to see Analog (an oldie but googie) added to your table and my guess is that Urchin would be another popular one.

    As you know, one can easily spoof the User Agent (and Firefox makes this totally trivial) - any idea on what percentage of folks are doing this type of stuff? Too bad that Slashdot didn't put this on the front page, because then you could analyze that inbound traffic.

    P.S. FYI FWIW: using Analog, here's my browser percentages for Christmas/2004. I also have a Browser Info Page for those folks interested in seeing real-time what their browser is reporting.

  38. Nice work - some minor suggestions for 'ya by xmas2003 · · Score: 2, Interesting · on Browser Detection of Website Statistics Services
    Nice analysis David. I'd personally love to see Analog (an oldie but googie) added to your table and my guess is that Urchin would be another popular one.

    As you know, one can easily spoof the User Agent (and Firefox makes this totally trivial) - any idea on what percentage of folks are doing this type of stuff? Too bad that Slashdot didn't put this on the front page, because then you could analyze that inbound traffic.

    P.S. FYI FWIW: using Analog, here's my browser percentages for Christmas/2004. I also have a Browser Info Page for those folks interested in seeing real-time what their browser is reporting.

  39. Original paper author has moved on by xmas2003 · · Score: 5, Interesting · on The Story Behind Cell Phone Radiation Research
    For those of you that make it to the 4th page of the UW Columns article, Lai has left the research field (moved to Colorado) and doesn't use a cell phone, plus requires his family members to use headsets - maybe he's on to something?

    P.S. I see this study was done at my alma-matter, the University of Washington. I wonder if my old roommate Jim Oliver might have been affected, since he did handstands from our 7th floor balcony railing - maybe he should have been wearing a tin-foil hat? ;-)

  40. Gotta like those christmas lights movies ... ;-) by xmas2003 · · Score: 1, Interesting · on Google Announces 'Google Movies'

    I got a chuckle out of the #1 entry for a Google Search for "movies:christmas lights"

  41. 24" 1920x1200/12msec LCD is pretty interesting too by xmas2003 · · Score: 4, Informative · on Dell Enters HDTV Market with Plasma Display
    While the W4200HD is pretty cool but a bit pricy (nutshell summary of the article), a perhaps more interesting display coming from Dell is the 24" LCD offering 1920x1200 resolution and 12-16 msec response time - also reviewed by Extreme Tech with a sticker price of $1,199 ... although I have not see it for sale yet on Dell's websitee. This is going to put a lot of pressure on the large LCD makers, and with the occasional 25% off deal from Dell, could drop below $1,000.

    My christmas lights and BBQ Grill would look HULK'ing on that monitor! ;-)

  42. 24" 1920x1200/12msec LCD is pretty interesting too by xmas2003 · · Score: 4, Informative · on Dell Enters HDTV Market with Plasma Display
    While the W4200HD is pretty cool but a bit pricy (nutshell summary of the article), a perhaps more interesting display coming from Dell is the 24" LCD offering 1920x1200 resolution and 12-16 msec response time - also reviewed by Extreme Tech with a sticker price of $1,199 ... although I have not see it for sale yet on Dell's websitee. This is going to put a lot of pressure on the large LCD makers, and with the occasional 25% off deal from Dell, could drop below $1,000.

    My christmas lights and BBQ Grill would look HULK'ing on that monitor! ;-)

  43. 24" 1920x1200/12msec LCD is pretty interesting too by xmas2003 · · Score: 4, Informative · on Dell Enters HDTV Market with Plasma Display
    While the W4200HD is pretty cool but a bit pricy (nutshell summary of the article), a perhaps more interesting display coming from Dell is the 24" LCD offering 1920x1200 resolution and 12-16 msec response time - also reviewed by Extreme Tech with a sticker price of $1,199 ... although I have not see it for sale yet on Dell's websitee. This is going to put a lot of pressure on the large LCD makers, and with the occasional 25% off deal from Dell, could drop below $1,000.

    My christmas lights and BBQ Grill would look HULK'ing on that monitor! ;-)

  44. 24" 1920x1200/12msec LCD is pretty interesting too by xmas2003 · · Score: 4, Informative · on Dell Enters HDTV Market with Plasma Display
    While the W4200HD is pretty cool but a bit pricy (nutshell summary of the article), a perhaps more interesting display coming from Dell is the 24" LCD offering 1920x1200 resolution and 12-16 msec response time - also reviewed by Extreme Tech with a sticker price of $1,199 ... although I have not see it for sale yet on Dell's websitee. This is going to put a lot of pressure on the large LCD makers, and with the occasional 25% off deal from Dell, could drop below $1,000.

    My christmas lights and BBQ Grill would look HULK'ing on that monitor! ;-)

  45. Can United Nations REALLY stop cyber crime and spa by Hulkster · · Score: 2, Insightful · on Should the UN Replace ICANN?
    According to the article: "All countries want to counter spam -- unsolicited commercial messages that can flood email accounts by the hundreds and burden the web with unwanted traffic" and I'm not sure if I completely agree with that and/or what they are going to do about it ... but they talked a good story back in July/2004 - remains to be seen if they can walk that talk - UN's record isn't that great IMHO. BTW, here's the UN ITU Home Page.

    Support Celiac Disease Research

  46. Public Service Announcement by Hulkster · · Score: 5, Informative · on Canadian Privacy Law v. E-Mail Harvesting
    In case you are interested in letting the Ottawa Renegades (the football team mentioned in the article) know your thoughts, their Email address is feedback@ottawacfl.com and it is not only "publically available", but "directly related" since they advertise it as a way to contact 'em ... ;-)

    Support Celiac Disease Research

  47. Is it really a Battle of the Browsers? by Hulkster · · Score: 5, Interesting · on Trouble Brewing at the W3C?
    Ummmmm ... is the combined market share of ALL browsers outside of "Apple (aka Safari), Mozilla, and Opera" and IE even close to 1%? I.e. I don't want to be unfair (even though this is /. which is anti-MS), but is this really shaping up as a everyone-but-Microsoft vs. Microsoft battle? Or (and I did RTFA), is it more a matter of which technical standard is better?

    Support Celiac Disease Research

  48. British Court system is FAST! by xmas2003 · · Score: 5, Interesting · on Serial Burglar Caught on Webcam
    For those that don't RTFA, the burgler broke into his flat on Feb 4th, 2005 ... and was sentenced 11 days later on Feb 15; the Brit's don't mess around!

    Note that the Slashdot "Nothing for you to see here. Please move along." certainly doesn't apply here ...

    P.S. Here's my lighthearted "webcam" pictures of a man who vandelized my christmas lights snowman ;-)

  49. Original Press Release has more details by Hulkster · · Score: 1 · on Spam Costs U.S. Companies $22B Annually
    Here is the actual Press Release from Rockbridge which has a little more info than the CNN story (22 percent say they get NO spam - right!)

    Count me in as one of the 11% who gets (a lot) more than 40 spam e-mails a day ... Hulk says all spammers should be SMASHED! ;-)

  50. Re:You should.... by xmas2003 · · Score: 1 · on How to Get Rid of Referrer Spam?
    Just want to echo parent's comments - it's a losing battle ... and if you publish 'em, they will come.

    I have the web analysis program (Analog) generate privately with the referrers, but anything I put out does NOT show that. For those interested, I have a a page about referrer log spamming.