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I believe those who are skeptical, yet scientifically minded should consider Occam's Razor with repect to the question of UFO's and life beyond earth. In short, The simplest explanation is that life in the Universe is abundant, and probably pollinates, if you will, in a Universal sense.

What is SIMPLER? That we are the ONLY life in the Universe and we developed on our own through an accident. We are alone. Never to be repeated. A Universal, biochemical FLUKE.

OR

That life manifests all over the Universe, and Intelligent forms of life develop on potentially millions of planets, and that SOME of them have developed technology to travel to other systems. Some of them left stuff where they went. Probably multiple places.

OR

A magically, all powerful God created the WHOLE Universe and then made one planet and put us on it. And we are alone.

It's a tough one.
Occam's History

Another page

If you have a PCI sound card, I seriously doubt you will get this thing to work under Windows. There is some sort of ISA SB emulator available for Windows NT/2000 called VDMSound, but I'm still running lowly Windows 98.

As about a billion other posters have already pointed out, however, Exult is a solution that is very nice, and does not have this limitation.

Kanada and a team of researchers

MPAA forces have today invaded Canada, when asked their reasons they replied:

"While we were looking through through the binary version of Pi, and one of our special forces noticed that hidden in from digit 12,166,133,883 onwards was a c source to DeCSS. Obviously these terrorists must be stopped!"

When pointing out that it was Kanada, the researcher, and not Canada the country, the Canadian government sued for trademark violation.

The case is not expected to hold up, as it is doubtful canada will be able to proove it has the computing power to calculate Pi beyond 4 decimal places - and no confusion can occur.

Here is a free online textbook on general relativity. Reviews on The Assayer would be welcome.

A bear cub was found in Ontario by soldiers being shipped of to WWI. Lt. Harry Colebourn named him "Winnipeg", after his hometown. The bear was loaned to the London Zoo in 1919. Cristopher Robin Milne saw the bear, and named his stuffed bear toy after it. Canada had a series of postage stamps based on the events, and from what I can understand, Canadian stamps need to deal with Candadian events or culture.

No, maybe you're right. My mistake--I guess I was just taught one way...it seems people do refer to it as an alpha-beta search.

I've been using this FreeType hack for a while now and Windows and MacOS look far worse in comparison. Just check out the screenshots on the page if you don't believe me!

I can guarantee you that if you saw my Linux desktop with fonts anti-aliased with David Chester's Xft hack, you'd instantly want to switch. Frankly, I have yet to see TTF fonts this beautiful on any system, Mac OSX included, especially in 1600x1200. I mean, look at this screenshot! Sorry, but I work on a Windows machine all day, with anti-aliased turned on, and it doesn't even come close to this.

The font battle has been won, and the winner is Xft+freetype+Chester's font hack.

I can guarantee you that if you saw my Linux desktop with fonts anti-aliased with David Chester's Xft hack, you'd instantly want to switch. Frankly, I have yet to see TTF fonts this beautiful on any system, Mac OSX included, especially in 1600x1200. I mean, look at this screenshot! Sorry, but I work on a Windows machine all day, with anti-aliased turned on, and it doesn't even come close to this.

The font battle has been won, and the winner is Xft+freetype+Chester's font hack.

I've got to point out this site for improving fonts even more. The difference it made to my fonts was amazing - and I was already using sub-pixel rendering and a laptop display with freetype2-2.1.2 (with the bytecode interpreter compiled in).

I STRONGLY recommend you try it out - he even includes a pre-compiled libfreetype (built for Red Hat, I think, but works great on Mandrake 9.0). You'll need to put it in the right directory, and create the right symbolic links to it.

I don't know how much of the improvement is due to this guy's improvements, and how many are due to the upcoming freetype2-2.1.3, but whatever - Linux fonts are no longer inferior to look at.

Assuming docking itself can be easily done, it's really 'remembering' a room, or even just a path to get back to the docking station, that is the hard part.

Consider the small number of sensors on this thing. If I remember correctly it has just a few IR sensors (used for following walls, etc). Mapbuilding in general requires a little more than that, and is also VERY computationally and memory intensive (for more information you might want to read about the most common method for mapbuilding, evidence grids).

Even if you were just to attempt to remember a) the location of your docking station and b) your own location, after half an hour of vacuuming (especially on carpet) and bumping into things, the odometry error that will have accumulated is tremendous -- you'd have no hope of knowing your actual location relative to the docking station. Normally a number of localization methods are used to combat odometry error (most commonly, Kalman filtering). However, they all require lots of sensory input and processing.

So, if you want a robot that can plug itself back in (at least, one that can do so by remembering where it's docking station is), be prepared to spend a lot more than $200.

after reading the article a couple days ago, i thought i'd give these ideas a try. I'm a longtime screen user, and it's really changed the way i administrate and use *nix boxes. it's wonderful.

Once i got ratpoison going, i needed some other things to make it truly useful and comfortable:

• This guy's patch for adding dockapps to ratpoison. very nice. patched ratpoison-1.1.1 just fine.
• keylaunch, which allows arbitrary keystrokes to perform arbitrary commands (arbitrarily :)
• ratmenu, which i haven't put into use yet, but allows keyboard-navigable menus on the screen, created dynamically.

this setup definately has some advantages: i'm not obsessing over the right KDE theme and color, there's no clutter at all on the screen, and, as a screen junkie, it just feels right.

there's a lot of bashing these ideas going on (at least right now) in this discussion, but i'd advise you to try it out for a while, particularly if you're a screen-keyboardy kind of person.

I don't know if i'll keep this setup or not. next step for me is to stop using mozilla and play around with phoenix instead. but, with today's earlier story of the cool new stuff coming in KDE3.1 this experiment, though useful, might be short-lived.

For the sake of continuity (and gratuitous attempt at scoring a few karmasnacks), here's my setup:

My $HOME/.ratpoisonrc:

startup_message off
defbargravity sw
exec Esetroot -scale /home/eafarris/.kde/share/wallpapers/Horesh.jpg
e xec keylaunch
exec xscreensaver
exec gnome-terminal --hide-menubar -e="ssh kermit"
exec mozilla
exec wmCalClock -S -24
exec wmMoonClock -lat 39.7 -lon 78.9
exec wmmon
exec wmmemmon
exec wmnd -i etho -m wmnet
select 0

basic stuff, some dock apps, a ssh into another box (with a screen session on it), a pretty background, moz, no biggie.

My $HOME/.keylaunchrc:

# Format:
# key=...KeyName:Command
#
# ... No modifier
# *.. Shift
# .*. Ctrl
# ..* Alt

key=...XF86Back:ratpoison -c prev
key=...XF86Forward:ratpoison -c next
key=...XF86Standby:xscreensaver-command -lock

key=..*F1:ratpoison -c 'select 0'
key=..*F2:ratpoison -c 'select 1'
key=..*F3:ratpoison -c 'select 2'
key=..*F4:ratpoison -c 'select 3'
key=..*F5:ratpoison -c 'select 4'
key=..*F6:ratpoison -c 'select 5'

(i have a Microsoft Internet Keyboard, which has a bunch of extra keys). Right now i'm not remapping very many of these keys, i've only been playing around for two days. but you get the idea. A cool thing about ratpoison is that a command-line can control the wm (all that ratpoison -c stuff), so i get the flexibility and speed and power without the wm having so many "features."

What i have right now feels like gnu screen for X, which is a marvelous thing, right now, for me. My opinion will most likely change in the future, as i have yet to find the setup that's perfect. At least with X i have a choice. But so far, i'm optimistic. Not bad. Not bad at all.

The Scorpion project is also being worked on by McGill University's Ambulatory Robotics lab (simulation videos of the six- and eight-legged versions are available there). I should know, since I've been working on improved leg designs to double Scorpion's forward velocity: see my webpage.

So, the project is also Canadian.

The Scorpion project is also being worked on by McGill University's Ambulatory Robotics lab (simulation videos of the six- and eight-legged versions are available there). I should know, since I've been working on improved leg designs to double Scorpion's forward velocity: see my webpage.

So, the project is also Canadian.

Big it up Dr. F!

From personal experince, I am just coming off a Gap year, and had an amazing time. Was it essentially one year-long vacation? Yes. But do I have stuff to show from it? Yes. I went to a Language School in France for four months; I had an amazing time partying most night, and also have a DELF (French Government) certificate that says I can speak French. I went and volunteered to do conservation work in Zambia (with Greenforce); got to see a part of the world I'd never been to before, and can now get references from them and say that I've been part of an actual scientific expedition (which would be useful if that was my field). I travelled alone (for the first extended period) around Australia and NZ; nothing to show for that bit except some good stories and pictures and a much deeper understanding of who I am and how I function. So, depending on how you look at it, I either came away with lots, or with nothing. But do I regret it? Not for a second.

Some of the issues raised in other posts are true: I've had friends who have taken a Gap year that extended into their whole lives, but for every one of those I know four who said they'd take one year off, and only ended up taking one year off. You'll be a year older coming out of College - who cares? I'm ninteen and going into first year. On my floor is aged everyone from seventeen to tewenty...beleive it or not, not every education system in the world ends at the same age. The one thing I have noticed is that it's taken me about a month to remember how to work efficiently, and yes, I have forgotten some stuff from HS, but let's be honest - that was the stuff I never really knew anyways.

The other question to ask yourself is "Am I ready for College life now?" At the time, I wasn't sure (and neither were my parents), and in retrospect I now know for sure I wasn't ready.

In sum, talk it over with your parents and you friends. Talk it over wirh people that have and haven't done it. Don't talk it over with your guidance counsellor - or if you do, take their advice with a grain of salt (I've never heard of a US guidance counsellor advocating a Gap year). Get really drunk one night and then discuss it with yourself. What's more important to you - finishing a year early or getting a year of real-world experience that most others (in the US) won't have?

As an aside, I didn't have to worry about getting into College afterwards; I applied to my school (McGill) and then requested to deferr my acceptance. As long as I told them what I was going to do with my year, they wree cool with it. talk to admissions people about it. Financially, my parents told me that if I could plan out a year (and not sit on my ass) thay would back me most of the way. The deferred acceptance also meant it was easy to start school again - no having to worry about applications.

I did it, I loved it. Should you? I think so, but I'm not the one taking it (no one here is) - you are.

Here at McGill in Montreal, we've got the beginings os this type of system set up - cool.mcgill.ca has about six courses on-line now. Each lecture is composed of all the slides used in the actual lecture, plus the voice track of the lecturer synch'ed to the slides. Useful when you're too hung over to go to Friday morning Chemistry

Here at McGill in Montreal, we've got the beginings os this type of system set up - cool.mcgill.ca has about six courses on-line now. Each lecture is composed of all the slides used in the actual lecture, plus the voice track of the lecturer synch'ed to the slides. Useful when you're too hung over to go to Friday morning Chemistry

1. We will only work with artists whose music we enjoy and that we have fun recording.
2. We will never impose any artistic views on the artist.
3. We'll help the artist sell their CD via our (still non-existant) online store at a price that is reasonable ($10 CND or less) as well as use more traditional distribution/marketing strategies.
4. We help the artist secure funding (mostly via grants and patrons) to cover recording expenses.
5. We don't want any IP - all copyright, etc. remains with the artist. The thought of owning part of someone else's idea is really absurd to me.
6. We refuse to work with any artist that wants to use copy-protection or anything that enhibits the consumer from using the product on their system/platform of choice. This means DVD projects will not be encrypted, and no hardware hacks on CDs
7. We are musicians and sound engineers, we aren't interested in making $ with the label. We simply use the label to get work we like doing and to help promote/create music that would otherwise never be recorded.

1. We will only work with artists whose music we enjoy and that we have fun recording.
2. We will never impose any artistic views on the artist.
3. We'll help the artist sell their CD via our (still non-existant) online store at a price that is reasonable ($10 CND or less) as well as use more traditional distribution/marketing strategies.
4. We help the artist secure funding (mostly via grants and patrons) to cover recording expenses.
5. We don't want any IP - all copyright, etc. remains with the artist. The thought of owning part of someone else's idea is really absurd to me.
6. We refuse to work with any artist that wants to use copy-protection or anything that enhibits the consumer from using the product on their system/platform of choice. This means DVD projects will not be encrypted, and no hardware hacks on CDs
7. We are musicians and sound engineers, we aren't interested in making $ with the label. We simply use the label to get work we like doing and to help promote/create music that would otherwise never be recorded.

1. We will only work with artists whose music we enjoy and that we have fun recording.
2. We will never impose any artistic views on the artist.
3. We'll help the artist sell their CD via our (still non-existant) online store at a price that is reasonable ($10 CND or less) as well as use more traditional distribution/marketing strategies.
4. We help the artist secure funding (mostly via grants and patrons) to cover recording expenses.
5. We don't want any IP - all copyright, etc. remains with the artist. The thought of owning part of someone else's idea is really absurd to me.
6. We refuse to work with any artist that wants to use copy-protection or anything that enhibits the consumer from using the product on their system/platform of choice. This means DVD projects will not be encrypted, and no hardware hacks on CDs
7. We are musicians and sound engineers, we aren't interested in making $ with the label. We simply use the label to get work we like doing and to help promote/create music that would otherwise never be recorded.

Here is a list.

Back in the day, there were quite a few options for COREWORE-like games/contests on BBS DOS CD archives, like Simtel.

At McGill University most people use Corporate Time, by Steltor (recently bought by Oracle). It's not open-source or free, but it seems to work quite well. Most people in my department seem to like it, though I don't have any need for it, really - a notebook with a date written on each page is all the calendaring I need.

At the very least, it's an alternative... and it can sync to Outlook, and to Palmpilots.

Also, it's got clients for many operating systems, including linux (I haven't tried it) and a half-decent web interface.

Funny, when I saw their campaign, I sent apple an email about our switch story. We had moved from a Sun machine running Solaris to an Apple G4 running YDL. There were a number of advantages for us (including a good rep with our Apple dealer). The letter is still here. No response from Apple yet.

I also think that Tim O'Reilly is pretty crazy if he thinks that 15 people on a mailing list is statistically valid in any way. When he gets results like 1500, then we could start looking at the numbers.

And to those folks that say that MacOS X 'just works' as a desktop machine... well, I'm sorry, I have to disagree. For *work* I much prefer Linux . I can actually load and render www pages without the 'click-and-wait' that my colleagues using MacOS X have to suffer, I can compile all the apps I need easily, and can configure the machine the way *I* really want to (plus no NetInfo Manager!).

Funny, when I saw their campaign, I sent apple an email about our switch story. We had moved from a Sun machine running Solaris to an Apple G4 running YDL. There were a number of advantages for us (including a good rep with our Apple dealer). The letter is still here. No response from Apple yet.

I also think that Tim O'Reilly is pretty crazy if he thinks that 15 people on a mailing list is statistically valid in any way. When he gets results like 1500, then we could start looking at the numbers.

And to those folks that say that MacOS X 'just works' as a desktop machine... well, I'm sorry, I have to disagree. For *work* I much prefer Linux . I can actually load and render www pages without the 'click-and-wait' that my colleagues using MacOS X have to suffer, I can compile all the apps I need easily, and can configure the machine the way *I* really want to (plus no NetInfo Manager!).

Funny, when I saw their campaign, I sent apple an email about our switch story. We had moved from a Sun machine running Solaris to an Apple G4 running YDL. There were a number of advantages for us (including a good rep with our Apple dealer). The letter is still here. No response from Apple yet.

I also think that Tim O'Reilly is pretty crazy if he thinks that 15 people on a mailing list is statistically valid in any way. When he gets results like 1500, then we could start looking at the numbers.

And to those folks that say that MacOS X 'just works' as a desktop machine... well, I'm sorry, I have to disagree. For *work* I much prefer Linux . I can actually load and render www pages without the 'click-and-wait' that my colleagues using MacOS X have to suffer, I can compile all the apps I need easily, and can configure the machine the way *I* really want to (plus no NetInfo Manager!).

1. The TeX fonts by Knuth, et al. (designed using metafont )
   
2. Surely large vendors (like IBM) have fonts or font designers? Can they help?
   

>>That said, what sound cards (and they *must* be fully DOS-compatible to be useful to me) don't have such BS built in??

What do you mean by "DOS-compatible"? Do you mean that they have to be supported natively by your DOS programs? Or simply that they must be usable in a VM? I'm happily using a whole bunch of dossy scene software under XP using vdmsound to provide Sound Blaster interfaces inside the ntvdm.

Like many others here, I have an interest in computer science. These are my favorite books having to do with CS:

Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs: If you want to be a software developer, read this book. If you're smart and motivated you won't need a CS professor to guide you through it. If you want to be a low level code monkey for the rest of your life, go read any C++ or Java book and go to technical school.

Introduction to Algorithms: find out what all those data structure API's you use are actually doing!

Introduction to the Theory of Computation: Wrap your head around the Halting problem. Find out why Alan Turing was one of the greatest minds in humanity's history. Blow your mind.

Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice In C: Want to be the future John Carmack? Good for you. Now read this book or you won't stand a chance :) Less theoretical than the above, but I just love this book. For some reason it reminds me of the early 90's when Jurassic Park came out and SGI's were amazing. It has that kind of excited vibe about the potential of computer graphics.

Artifical Intelligence: A Modern Approach: This book and my AI professor really sparked my interest in AI. I cannot praise this book (and professor :) )enough. Simply one of the most interesting and well written CS books out there, with that perfect mix of theory and practice.

Introductory Techniques for 3-D Computer Vision: This tiny, yet $90.00 book is packed with information. I can't think of a more concise introduction to the field of computer vision, although admittedly this is the only book on the topic I've studied. :) You'll find lot of really interesting, cutting edge stuff here. Generate height maps from stereo pairs and shit. Cool!

Again, no need to be a CS major to understand any of the above, but you'll have to be smart to do so. I'm personally not very smart, so I had to go the CS major route. If you're not smart and you don't want to and/or can't take courses, I'll refer you to the title of this slashdot story. :)

If you like smoothed fonts, you definitely want to take a look at this XFT Hack. If you scroll down to April 13, 2002, there's a link to a patch file. You can apply this patch to the XFree86 4.2.0 sources (I even built a RH7.3 spec file based on the original spec file that automagically applies the patch while building the SRPM). The screenshots speak for themselves. I find best results with Opera 6, QT, X 4.2, Win XP fonts (*.ttf in \windows\fonts) and QT_XFT=1.

Is it that XFT hack?

has a Secret About Box.

Can't reach Canada.
Internet Traffic Report pronounces the internet "dead"!

To get fonts that look much better than Windows (and on par with those of Mac OSX) try David Chester's Xft Hack.

It is not at all clear that ethanol saves any oil at all.

In a good year (with high corn yields) most studies show that ethanol production is slightly energy positive. That is, the energy content of a gallon of ethanol exceeds by approximately 15% the energy that goes into producing it. In a bad year, when yeilds are lower, it can easily require more than 80,000 BTU to produce a gallon of ethanol. (See, for example, this study.) On average it's probably about a wash. It would be interesting to see what the reaction would be to requiring ethanol producers to use ethanol instead of fossil fuel for all steps in production.

It is also questionable whether ethanol reduces CO2 emissions. From that standpoint, it would probably be better to grow trees or hemp, which would recycle more CO2 than any reduction due to burning CO2 rather than fossil fuels.

When it comes to the moon, it doesn't matter how much the US government forked out to get there, it is a satellite that is covered by internationla treaty, more specfically the Moon Treaty ( see article 2, amongst others ). Others treaties of interest can be found here

BTW, although the USA was the first nation to set foot on the moon, the former USSR was the first nation to land a probe on the moon.

I was gonna say that since we planted a US Flag on the Moon, then basically we claimed it. (At least that's the way it works in cartoons.) But as I recall, we actually brought the flag back with us.

The US has limited outer space jurisdiction, according to the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. The treaty limited State sovereignty over outer space. Outer space was declared to be the common heritage of mankind. It prevented certain military operations in outer space and upon celestial bodies, specifically, the placing in orbit of any nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction, and the installation of such weapons on celestial bodies. Outer space was otherwise to be reserved for peaceful uses. Various other international conventions, such as the Moon Registration, and Liability Treaties, expand upon provisions found in the Outer Space Treaty.

The Moon Treaty of 1979 essentially stated that the exploration and use of the moon shall be the province of all mankind and shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries.

I was gonna say that since we planted a US Flag on the Moon, then basically we claimed it. (At least that's the way it works in cartoons.) But as I recall, we actually brought the flag back with us.

The US has limited outer space jurisdiction, according to the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. The treaty limited State sovereignty over outer space. Outer space was declared to be the common heritage of mankind. It prevented certain military operations in outer space and upon celestial bodies, specifically, the placing in orbit of any nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction, and the installation of such weapons on celestial bodies. Outer space was otherwise to be reserved for peaceful uses. Various other international conventions, such as the Moon Registration, and Liability Treaties, expand upon provisions found in the Outer Space Treaty.

The Moon Treaty of 1979 essentially stated that the exploration and use of the moon shall be the province of all mankind and shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries.

The International Institute of Air and Space Law in Leiden has been around since 1986, and there are a number of others.

Given that the space economy is somewhere around the $100 billion/year mark these days (mostly communications satellites of course) there's plenty of room for lawyers to step in and help out. Who gets sued when a half-billion dollar satellite is blown up on the launch pad? Or when a rocket goes astray and destroys a warehouse or two? Who argues on your behalf with international bodies like the ITU, or helps you get your export permits to launch through the State Department's tough regulations? Even NASA has a bunch of lawyers on staff! Law is part of the world we live in, as much as science or technology. Just doesn't get much coverage on /. :-)

You might also want to take a look at the . It makes fonts look a lot more OSX-like when AA is on.

A search on Google comes up with QWS3270, also available here. A 90K freeware TN3270 emulator.

There seem to be a lot of anti-aliasing rules/s*cks opinions. Anti-aliasing comes in many different qualities. The very article that started this thread proves that.

There's bad anti-aliasing which looks crap and there's the really good stuff which is generally based on sub pixel rendering.

Check out http://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~dchest/xfthack.

Summary:
Dr Freda Miller and colleagues at the Centre for Neuronal Survival and the Brain Tumour Research Centre at the Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, have isolated stem cells from the dermis of adult rodents that will proliferate and differentiate in culture to produce very different cell types- neurons, glia, smooth muscle cells, and fat cells. These novel stem cells, SKPs, were isolated from the skin of juvenile and adult rodents -- an accessible on-embryonic source. Human studies have indicated that similar cells are present inadult human skin. "We believe our discovery is important as we have identified an exciting new stem cell from a non-controversial source that holds considerable promise for scientific and therapeutic research," says Dr Freda Miller.

Why grammar is the first casualty of war

"WHAT really alarms me about President Bush's "war on terrorism" is the grammar. How do you wage war on an abstract noun? It's rather like bombing murder."

"Imagine if Bush had said: "We're going to bomb murder wherever it lurks. We are going to seek out the murderers and the would-be murderers, and bomb any government that harbours murderers.""
...

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Bush Family Values Photo Album
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Book: U.S. Military Drafted Plans to Terrorize U.S. Cities to Provoke War With Cuba

In the early 1960s, America's top military leaders reportedly drafted plans to kill innocent people and commit acts of terrorism in U.S. cities to create public support for a war against Cuba.


Bush and Ashcroft are making laws to keep this kind of revealing information from ever being released. The Freedom of Information Act was created after Nixon's antics, and it is being withdrawn for the wrong reasons. We need to keep gov't checks and balances, as this article clearly proves.
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An article about Gulf War propaganda, outlining how the 'Babies Torn from Incubators by Iraqi Soldiers' was manufactured and used by Bush to instill war fever. 2 minute read.
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More gov't lies - Trumped up terrorism numbers
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I think I figured out the reason the White House covered up Bush's condition!

FACT 1)
REPORT: President Bush Has A Heart Arrhythmia; White House Did Not Disclose After Pretzel Incident That Mr. Bush Has Sinus Bradycardia
---
FACT 2)
Arrhythmias Causes and Risks:
[...]
Arrhythmias are also caused by some drugs. These include antiarrhythmics, Beta blockers, caffeine , COCAINE , psychotropics, and sympathomimetics.
...
---
GRAPH COMPARISON The EKG on the top shows normal sinus rhythm. The EKG at the bottom shows sinus bradycardia

A slowly beating heart means that he's not getting as much oxygen to his brain as healthy people, right? Could this partly be the reason his intelligence suffers?
:)

Actually here we actually have a fund in the Faculty of Science that was created a bit for that, except that students run all of it (disclaimer, I've been part of that group for about 3 years). The main fund is to put computers available in the hallways for students to use. We have about 75 right now, which will increase by about 20 soon. But we've been doing a few other interesting projects: Lectures Online, we record lectures from a few auditoriums from the sound system and make them available online. We have linux recorders there that record at the speciific classes and them upload the Real audio files to the webserver. So there's zero maintenance involved, and since we're using old machines, no harware cost either. We've also been helping some profs to put their lectures in PowerPoint format. We're actually recording some of them. Those require more manpower and hardware, but you can actually have both the visuals and the audio at the same time! It's actually pretty funny that the University usually picks up our projects pretty quickly and copy them as their own. At least we get them moving a bit, else they might miss the boat completely on some of those. If you're curious about some of the others thigns that we're doing, feel free to contact me. François

Actually here we actually have a fund in the Faculty of Science that was created a bit for that, except that students run all of it (disclaimer, I've been part of that group for about 3 years). The main fund is to put computers available in the hallways for students to use. We have about 75 right now, which will increase by about 20 soon. But we've been doing a few other interesting projects: Lectures Online, we record lectures from a few auditoriums from the sound system and make them available online. We have linux recorders there that record at the speciific classes and them upload the Real audio files to the webserver. So there's zero maintenance involved, and since we're using old machines, no harware cost either. We've also been helping some profs to put their lectures in PowerPoint format. We're actually recording some of them. Those require more manpower and hardware, but you can actually have both the visuals and the audio at the same time! It's actually pretty funny that the University usually picks up our projects pretty quickly and copy them as their own. At least we get them moving a bit, else they might miss the boat completely on some of those. If you're curious about some of the others thigns that we're doing, feel free to contact me. François

Actually here we actually have a fund in the Faculty of Science that was created a bit for that, except that students run all of it (disclaimer, I've been part of that group for about 3 years). The main fund is to put computers available in the hallways for students to use. We have about 75 right now, which will increase by about 20 soon. But we've been doing a few other interesting projects: Lectures Online, we record lectures from a few auditoriums from the sound system and make them available online. We have linux recorders there that record at the speciific classes and them upload the Real audio files to the webserver. So there's zero maintenance involved, and since we're using old machines, no harware cost either. We've also been helping some profs to put their lectures in PowerPoint format. We're actually recording some of them. Those require more manpower and hardware, but you can actually have both the visuals and the audio at the same time! It's actually pretty funny that the University usually picks up our projects pretty quickly and copy them as their own. At least we get them moving a bit, else they might miss the boat completely on some of those. If you're curious about some of the others thigns that we're doing, feel free to contact me. François

Actually here we actually have a fund in the Faculty of Science that was created a bit for that, except that students run all of it (disclaimer, I've been part of that group for about 3 years). The main fund is to put computers available in the hallways for students to use. We have about 75 right now, which will increase by about 20 soon. But we've been doing a few other interesting projects: Lectures Online, we record lectures from a few auditoriums from the sound system and make them available online. We have linux recorders there that record at the speciific classes and them upload the Real audio files to the webserver. So there's zero maintenance involved, and since we're using old machines, no harware cost either. We've also been helping some profs to put their lectures in PowerPoint format. We're actually recording some of them. Those require more manpower and hardware, but you can actually have both the visuals and the audio at the same time! It's actually pretty funny that the University usually picks up our projects pretty quickly and copy them as their own. At least we get them moving a bit, else they might miss the boat completely on some of those. If you're curious about some of the others thigns that we're doing, feel free to contact me. François

Another point, is that your Lab isn't very good at programming/implementing bots. Assuming you're using a PIC microcontroller

Wow, that's a really nice assertion. I would like to point out that the RHex robot co-developed by our lab and a few other universities is arguably the most successful walking/running robot in the world. It is probably the most reliable ambulatory robot ever built and is currently undergoing field demonstrations at SwRI in Texas.

BTW, the robot uses a PC-104 stack running QNX. Yes, there's a PIC on it, incorporated on a custom PC-104 board, among all the other control electronics. It's not programmed with run-of-the-mill Radio-Shack "min/max control code" like your "basic claw-bot". Have a look at the papers written on RHex and the other robots and maybe you'll learn a thing or two about robotics.