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Tiny H-Bridge by snatchitup · 2002-03-01 01:31 · Score: 1 · on Smallest RC Cars?

It looks as if these cars use may a
Microcontroller, perhaps not, but definitely an H-Bridge. And H-Bridge is a specialized push pull amplifier that can be used as a Motor controller. You can order this as Quad 2 Channel Drivers,
In a DIP Package.
Gee I'd love to
Hack one of these babies like
this fella
did.

But, it's really tough to find chips at those sizes.

On, the short battery life. I'm reminded of BEAM Devices which charge up a capacitor from a solar cell, then release the energy in a spurt, then go back to charging the capacitor. Here's a cool one

AT&T Broadband Change by CaptainCarrot · 2002-02-14 12:56 · Score: 2 · on Slashback: Switchover, EULA, Perspectives

Fans of the minimalist online comic Triangle and Robert will need to be aware of this, as it's hosted on a mediaone.net account. Patrick will inform his readers of the new URL when he knows it, but you'll need to pay attention to the index page before it happens or you'll wind up with an outdated bookmark and no clue as to where to look.

Re:Some questions... (revised) by Takeel · 2002-02-07 06:21 · Score: 1 · on Still More Evidence for Evolution

11. Why haven't scientists been able to pinpoint where the human subconscious is located in the brain? They have never found where all the long-term information is stored, and they've already mapped out every part of the brain. The person's brain doesn't grow when they become smarter; size is not part of it. (the reason is that it's not in the brain, it's in the spirit, which is a 4-dimensional object. How much information can be stored in a 4-dimensional object? infinite amounts.)

George Hammond? Is that you?

OT: Law.com banner ad (fake) by rjamestaylor · 2002-01-18 11:24 · Score: 2 · on Hardware Copy Protection Battles

Sorry about this...but one day I was playing around at work with MS Picture-something and I doodled a banner ad for Law.com.

I haven't thought about this in years, but it might be interesting to "fake banner ad" collectors:

fake Law.com banner or, if that becomes unavailable, fake Law.com banner.

(An interesting side note, both accounts related to the above-linked sites have been cancelled for some time, but the pages are still accessible).

Suing the government...unlikely by Macrobat · 2001-12-13 11:19 · Score: 1 · on U.S. To Drop Charges Against Sklyarov

I'm not sure he can sue for anything. Let the lawyers among us correct me, but it's my understanding that, in most cases, you can't sue the government.

There was a case a few years ago here in Michigan where a father had his child taken from him because the boy had several broken bones, and someone at Child Protective Services decided that this was grounds for an abuse charge. Within hours of filing the charge, though, the boy's medical condition (extremely low calcium in his bones, making them brittle and prone to breaking) was brought to light, but the clerk at CPS decided to suppress this information. It took almost two years, and put the father $180,000 in debt, to get his children back.

And no, he was told he could not sue a government agency for damages. So he works three jobs to keep up with his creditors and the clerk, IIRC, continues to "protect" children.

That was back in '97. I regrettably don't have a link to the story (but a google search found this page that indicates it's happened all over the country), so maybe that clerk's been fired for all I know. But when I read the news originally, it made me want to puke.

Re:Quantum communication coming? Misinterpretation by King+Of+Chat · 2001-10-23 23:51 · Score: 1 · on Holographic Sonar Cryptography

Since I wrote the original, I did a bit of digging and found this (scroll down a bit for a really flash diagram). By affecting the measured polarisation on one end, they are, instantly, affecting the measured polarisation on the other.

Yes, you are correct that the reason it can't be intercepted is that because it would break the message. And, of course, it's totally impractical. Interesting though - and, as a lot of Quantam Physics things are - totally counter-intuitive.

This is based on misinformation... by OdinHuntr · 2001-10-21 15:44 · Score: 4, Informative · on Technology and Society

Two points:

*) Angus King (Maine's governor) is on his way out of office - his second term expires shortly. This is his "going out with a tekno-cool bang".

*) Funds have *not* been appropriated for the laptop-for-7th-graders program; people are being asked to donate laptops to it. Needless to say, they aren't anywhere near the number of laptops we need. Does anybody really think that Maine has enough money for laptops for all of its children?

Sure, Maine is the coolest state in the USA - but for a different (better) reason.

We drink Moxie.

Not a question : Wil's Filmography by TheMMaster · 2001-10-15 01:22 · Score: 1 · on Ask Wil Wheaton Anything

I found Wil's Filmography
I thought you might be interested... it is quite impressive actually

Re:Because... by Coolumbus · 2001-10-02 10:35 · Score: 1 · on The Next Big Particle Accelerator

...nobody really knows how gravity works

Right, but some people have their own ideas... Have a look at this guy.

His quote:

"Now, this theory indicates that "Gravity" is the ultimate cause of God and that brain growth is the direct cause of God. Therefore it also indicates that gravity mediates brain growth. Science does not presently know how this works"

Read and see for yourself. (Sadly, a waste of apparently good intellect if you'd ask me.)

Re:Why? by referee · 2001-09-21 01:27 · Score: 1 · on Shutting Down Worm-Infected Broadband Users

I couldn't agree more. An ISP's job is to assure quality of service. People that see DSL.net's reaction as heavy-handed, clearly haven't seen the dramatic problems these worms have caused. And isn't this fair? They are only shutting down the hosts causing the problem, leaving everyone else with the full service they paid for. My ISP is blocking port 80 for everyone, with no exceptions. This is effective, but also unfair to diligent customers. This problem needs to be fixed at each infected host, and not bandaided at the routers. What better way is there to both shield our public network and insure that hosts are patched?

GHS Intelligent Integrated Systems by Anonymous Coward · 2001-09-20 07:38 · Score: 0 · on Wanted: Turn-Key 10-Node Beowulf Cluster

GHS Intelligent Integrated Systems sell turn-key beowulf clusters at a very reasonable rate. Contact David Grant

Re:Another wrapping by Some+Dumbass... · 2001-08-19 04:31 · Score: 2, Informative · on What is Happening with OpenGL?

OpenGL only offers graphics, dx offers: graphics, joystick, sound, forcefeedback, mousecapturing.

Since DirectX is really a set of APIs (DirectDraw, DirectInput, etc.) I'm not sure this is a fair comparison. When we talk about OpenGL, of course we're only talking about a graphics API. Haven't you heard of OpenAL? It's a complementary open audio API. There's even an input API called OpenIL, and more? My point is, if you aren't going to compare MS's set of APIs to another complete set of APIs, like SDL, then at least compare it to the entire set of Open*L APIs. As new as some of them are, they do exist!

Re:Why not get providers to get heavy? by J'raxis · 2001-08-08 14:26 · Score: 2 · on Fight Virus With Virus?

MediaOne.net prefers an approach à la machine-gunning a mosquito: completely block port 80 on their entire customer network.

Re:Wakeup Call by Nick+Number · 2001-07-15 02:25 · Score: 2 · on Biohazard

Depending on the agent, all you need is access to a few aircraft in foreign cities. Or the airport concourse.

Don't worry, Bruce Willis will come back from the future and save us from that. I think.

Anyhow, my favorite book on the history of biotoxic warfare is A Higher Form of Killing by Robert Harris and Jeremy Paxman. It covers weapons development by the US, Britain, and USSR, as well as Germany and Japan during both world wars. Parts of it read like black comedy, but most is just black. It's out of print, but copies can still be had.

Forgetting something? by underwhelm · 2001-07-01 14:06 · Score: 3 · on Eco-Terrorism

It seems the Slashdot contributors who think it's never justified to commit "terrorism" are forgetting a little something.

"Terrorism" is just another word for "counter-propaganda propaganda."

Kaim by IceFox · 2001-06-25 07:33 · Score: 3 · on More Trouble With AOL And GAIM

Well the inevitable happened. Only weeks after I wrote of how AOLcould kill Kaim in a moment notice if they really wanted they did just about that. I (along with Gaim) received a "Notice of Infringement" on two trademarks 2,423,368 and 2,423,367 These trademarks are for the word "aim". Several points that can be made are:

The trademarks were not given approval until 2001-01-23.

Kaim started more then a year before that and Gaim started in 1998.

If a company abandons a trademark for 3 years it is considered lost.

In 1999 AOL sent us a legal letter asking us to remove the aol images and name from our applications, they did not in any way refer to the aim name as one of the things we had to remove. By doing this they showed that they did not have a vested interest in the name which can *void*there trademark application which states that they first started using it back in 97 when it wasn't until recently that they cared about it. Also by not telling us to remove the name then, they were in essence giving us the right to use the name.

Gaim and Kaim can be argued are different enough from the word aim to be ok.

The reason that they sent us the notice of infringement was that they fear that kaim and gaim would "dilute" the aim name, when in fact both of our applications are superior to the official AOL linux client. In that regard you can argue that their clients were diluting the trademark and we would boosting it!

But even with all these things going for us this is a pure case of the big bad company beating up on the loyal fans. Here we had given our sweat and tears making an application to connect with and in the end promoting them. They have made it harder and harder to do this and for me this is the last straw.

As of the next release of Kaim it will have a new name. You can submit name ideas to kaim-developer@lists.sourceforge.net Submit a funny name and a real name. :) For those of you who have been using Kaim we thank you. Kaims current status is very stable. Because of that I will be fixing up the last few bugs and releasing the next version as 1.0 To bad it can't be called Kaim.

The official kde aol client kit is being revamped as a jabber client. The Kaim development team will most likely move over and join the kit team. Kaim has done what Iset out to do. It is a stable aim client with a clean interface. But that was then this is now. Next comes the Jabber client. If you are trying to decide what im server you should go to Iwould recommend jabber. Did you know you can run your own jabber server? Heck jabber is so much better then aim it isn't funny. This probably isn't the end of aol's attack so get out now. Be part of the resistance! Get yourself and others away from aim. Here are two links to jabber sites.

http://www.jabber.org/
http://gabber.sourceforge.net/

Oh and one last thing... Hehe I don't mean to start something, but in a way (not really, but you get what I mean) it is now kinda illegal to have kaim and gaim on your computers. So stick it to the man and where is your mirror?

If you wish to contact me you can do so at icefox@mediaone.net

Link to the full text of the orig. by Ryan+Taylor · 2001-05-30 04:23 · Score: 1 · on Flatterland

One
Two
Three
Four

The last two seem to have links to other download sites. Courtesy of ipl. BTW, the review above really stinks.

-rt
======
Now, I think it would be GOOD to buy FIVE or SIX STUDEBAKERS

And also see: by waldoj · 2001-05-29 23:12 · Score: 2 · on Flatterland

Charles H. Hinton's "An Episode of Flatland"

Re:vote 3rd party by ChristTrekker · 2001-05-22 20:09 · Score: 1 · on Supreme Court To Review Child Online Protection Act

Yeah, the system is stacked. I know and I'm concerned about it, because I realize that a 3rd party is never going to win without visibility. The current system prevents them from being visible to Joe Voter.

Third parties need to work together toward certain common goals. Ballot access (the number of names required on petitions should be less, and the time allowed to gather them longer), voting methods (plurality vote sucks, Condorcet rules), and EC vote apportionment (time for "winner takes all" to die). Restrictions on ballot access date to Teddy Roosevelt's "Bull Moose" campaign. Stupid to base a law on one incident you don't like, but oh well, that's typical. Nearly every state had settled on bloc apportionment of EC votes by the 1830's, though the Constitution implies it should be by district. Write your state legislators; the states are in control of how this is done. (I wrote to my Iowa state leg. last year, and such a bill had been introduced but was defeated.) Districting of EC votes would make it more likely for a 3rd party to win EC votes, and also would not disenfranchise the ~55% of voters who do not vote for the state's winner.

People want 3rd parties. Politics bores Americans. The two major parties are too centrist and nearly identical. Voter turnout has been consistently declining since the 1960 election with only one exception: 1992. What happened in 1992? Ross Perot. A high-profile 3rd party candidate gets people interested. The Dem/Rep duopoly has everything to gain by keeping things the way they are, keeping people away from the polls, so nothing changes.

Keep working at these things. Lay the foundation for change. Educate others about these issues.

I have zero tolerance for zero-tolerance policies.

Re:vote 3rd party by pubudu · 2001-05-21 02:56 · Score: 1 · on Supreme Court To Review Child Online Protection Act

Actually, I'd say the solution (and not only to this, but to most things in gov't I disagree with) is to vote 3rd party, and educate others why this is a good idea, too. Think "outside the box" to use a tired cliche. Trying to "reform" an existing political party will do you about as much good as spitting into the wind.

Unfortunately, the system is heavily stacked against third-party candidacy, as recent Presidental elections have shown. The modern President is powerful enough that you can't be a real party without fielding a reasonably popular Presidential candidate every election for a number of elections in a row. The unit rule prevents real third-party Presidential candidacies, and thus third-parties tend to be single issue (e.g., Green), or attract members that detract from its seriousness (e.g., the current Reform and Libertarian parties).

The unit rule is governed by the state legislatures, and cannot be reasonably abolished in one state if the others do not follow suit. (Washington put one Ford vote for Reagan in 1976, West Virginia put one Dukakis vote for Bensten in 1988, but these were within the same party. The last time an elector bolted parties was 1972, and the last good third-party showing was in 1968.) Getting the states to abolish the unit rule would require either a constitutional amendment or a control of most state legislatures: both are major undertakings. Both would require the support of at least one major party, and so would require working within the system until at least that time.

Sen. McCain gets more done in Washington, DC, because he is a Republican rather than an Independent/Reform/etc.

Re:vote 3rd party by pubudu · 2001-05-21 02:56 · Score: 1 · on Supreme Court To Review Child Online Protection Act

Actually, I'd say the solution (and not only to this, but to most things in gov't I disagree with) is to vote 3rd party, and educate others why this is a good idea, too. Think "outside the box" to use a tired cliche. Trying to "reform" an existing political party will do you about as much good as spitting into the wind.

Unfortunately, the system is heavily stacked against third-party candidacy, as recent Presidental elections have shown. The modern President is powerful enough that you can't be a real party without fielding a reasonably popular Presidential candidate every election for a number of elections in a row. The unit rule prevents real third-party Presidential candidacies, and thus third-parties tend to be single issue (e.g., Green), or attract members that detract from its seriousness (e.g., the current Reform and Libertarian parties).

The unit rule is governed by the state legislatures, and cannot be reasonably abolished in one state if the others do not follow suit. (Washington put one Ford vote for Reagan in 1976, West Virginia put one Dukakis vote for Bensten in 1988, but these were within the same party. The last time an elector bolted parties was 1972, and the last good third-party showing was in 1968.) Getting the states to abolish the unit rule would require either a constitutional amendment or a control of most state legislatures: both are major undertakings. Both would require the support of at least one major party, and so would require working within the system until at least that time.

Sen. McCain gets more done in Washington, DC, because he is a Republican rather than an Independent/Reform/etc.

Re:vote 3rd party by pubudu · 2001-05-21 02:56 · Score: 1 · on Supreme Court To Review Child Online Protection Act

Actually, I'd say the solution (and not only to this, but to most things in gov't I disagree with) is to vote 3rd party, and educate others why this is a good idea, too. Think "outside the box" to use a tired cliche. Trying to "reform" an existing political party will do you about as much good as spitting into the wind.

Unfortunately, the system is heavily stacked against third-party candidacy, as recent Presidental elections have shown. The modern President is powerful enough that you can't be a real party without fielding a reasonably popular Presidential candidate every election for a number of elections in a row. The unit rule prevents real third-party Presidential candidacies, and thus third-parties tend to be single issue (e.g., Green), or attract members that detract from its seriousness (e.g., the current Reform and Libertarian parties).

The unit rule is governed by the state legislatures, and cannot be reasonably abolished in one state if the others do not follow suit. (Washington put one Ford vote for Reagan in 1976, West Virginia put one Dukakis vote for Bensten in 1988, but these were within the same party. The last time an elector bolted parties was 1972, and the last good third-party showing was in 1968.) Getting the states to abolish the unit rule would require either a constitutional amendment or a control of most state legislatures: both are major undertakings. Both would require the support of at least one major party, and so would require working within the system until at least that time.

Sen. McCain gets more done in Washington, DC, because he is a Republican rather than an Independent/Reform/etc.

Re:vote 3rd party by pubudu · 2001-05-21 02:56 · Score: 1 · on Supreme Court To Review Child Online Protection Act

Actually, I'd say the solution (and not only to this, but to most things in gov't I disagree with) is to vote 3rd party, and educate others why this is a good idea, too. Think "outside the box" to use a tired cliche. Trying to "reform" an existing political party will do you about as much good as spitting into the wind.

Unfortunately, the system is heavily stacked against third-party candidacy, as recent Presidental elections have shown. The modern President is powerful enough that you can't be a real party without fielding a reasonably popular Presidential candidate every election for a number of elections in a row. The unit rule prevents real third-party Presidential candidacies, and thus third-parties tend to be single issue (e.g., Green), or attract members that detract from its seriousness (e.g., the current Reform and Libertarian parties).

The unit rule is governed by the state legislatures, and cannot be reasonably abolished in one state if the others do not follow suit. (Washington put one Ford vote for Reagan in 1976, West Virginia put one Dukakis vote for Bensten in 1988, but these were within the same party. The last time an elector bolted parties was 1972, and the last good third-party showing was in 1968.) Getting the states to abolish the unit rule would require either a constitutional amendment or a control of most state legislatures: both are major undertakings. Both would require the support of at least one major party, and so would require working within the system until at least that time.

Sen. McCain gets more done in Washington, DC, because he is a Republican rather than an Independent/Reform/etc.

Re:Mouse position refresh rate - that's what matte by Anonymous Coward · 2001-04-26 07:09 · Score: 1 · on Best Device For Gesture Based Input?

Try PS2Rate. Its a little program that allows you to manually set the sampling rate for your mouse.

Doctress Neutopia for landlord by Creosote · 2001-04-23 00:36 · Score: 1 · on First Arcology?

Gaia Religion strikes again! To quote the immor(t)al Doctress Neutopia,

My mission here is to herald in a Neu Age of love, peace, ecofeminism, communalism, solar energy, the end of poverty, and a planetary network of arcologies.

Poor man's robitics by yabHuj · 2001-02-25 19:18 · Score: 3 · on Phototropic Solar-powered Robots

Most of the robots in question are around the BEAM philosophy (see http://www.nis.lanl.gov/projects/robot/ or http://people.ne.mediaone.net/bushbo/beam/main.htm l). This is not bad philosophy, providing excellent insight in problem solving, but limited to specific tasks. In most cases, there is no microcontroller involved at all.

These BEAM robots - among them the featured one - are in most cases nonprogrammable, hardwired machines like photovores. While small, simple robots have a certain fascination, quite a number of them are extremely "dumb" (because hardwired). It can be quite a lot of fun to work with these, though.

What, no T&R? by ajf · 2001-02-24 01:47 · Score: 1 · on Web-Based Comics

Why no mention of Triangle and Robert?

Link to older site (1 pic) by JessupX · 2001-02-21 06:41 · Score: 3 · on Making Small Change

Here you go. The site is already /.'ed http://people.ce.mediaone.net/bert-hickman/frames/ shrinker.html -Jessupx

Re:Is the site still down? by HongPong · 2001-02-21 05:15 · Score: 2 · on Making Small Change

Your first link is no good because it still the /.'ed www.aquila.net. the second one is ok, though.

--

Is the site still down? by PhatKat · 2001-02-21 05:05 · Score: 4 · on Making Small Change

Try this link or this link istead...

Read my diary.

there's also 3dscorch... by FrenZon · 2000-12-24 17:08 · Score: 1 · on Scorched Island 3D

This isn't the only 3d interpretation of scorch, there's also 3d scorch...
Glen Murphy

Another promising "Scorch" by Calrathan · 2000-12-24 14:33 · Score: 2 · on Scorched Island 3D

I was bumbling around with usenet a week or two ago, and stumbled across a group called "wsoft" which is based at the University of Michigan (which I happen to be a freshm'n at), and was startled to see that one of their projects is "Scorch", a 3d version of scorched earth. While its not complete yet (I think they mention its approx 50%-60% done), there is a downloadable demo which lets you drive around and fire a standard missile. Take a look, and try not falling into the big watery pits you make in the world. That little gun can displace a lot of dirt when you hold down fire. http://people.mw.mediaone.net/alive/index.htm

Re:But the cost... by klund · 2000-09-12 00:23 · Score: 2 · on Ultrananocrystalline Diamond Film

...is certainly going to be a helluva lot more than one third your salary.

Yes, but at least that money would be going to some nano-technology buckyball-growing cool-ass research group, instead of going to bankroll more civil wars in Africa. How many people died for that jewel on your honey's finger?

How else can two months' salary last forever? By keeping corrupt diamond-friendly regimes in power.
-- DeBeers, Corrupting Africa since 1870.

see http://people.ne.mediaone.net/ben_inker/DeBeers.ht m

Off Topic: when the hell did it become "one third your salary"? I remember when it was one month! Now we're supposed to spend four months working to artificially inflate the value of a rather common mineral for the benefit of the DeBeers cartel and to the detriment of the third world. No thanks.
--

Re:Not yet... by Anonymous Coward · 2000-08-30 00:26 · Score: 3 · on More Threats From The MPAA

Biggest threat? by Signal+11 · 2000-08-14 07:02 · Score: 2 · on GNOME, Security, Linux, and Cable Modems?

Your biggest threat won't be the script kiddies. It'll be Time Warner probing your system. they've decided to take it upon themselves to police YOUR system. I had someone get kicked off the network for having telnet open.. apparently it's "windows or mac only" - with a vengance. My firewall is rather peculiar in that instead of blocking everything, it's open to the public *except* for my ISP's blocks. If you want, I can provide you with my script, e-mail me and I can fill you in on the 411 for making your system stealth to their scans. :/

Sad, huh?

The only games that matter... by ackthpt · 2000-08-04 03:43 · Score: 2 · on Emus And Do-It-Yourself Arcade Construction

Were those on the C64. All this 3D stuff is tedius even to look at. Give me M.U.L.E. anyday.

Nearly as addicting was Ralph Reed's (not sure if he isn't the religious zealot) BattleMech on the Amiga. (I still play from time to time, tho I need a new mouse.)

How about have them make a parallel port DAC? by Guppy · 2000-08-02 01:18 · Score: 2 · on Ideas for High School Computer Projects?

How about have them put together a simple resistor ladder Parallel Port DAC? They're easy to make, and the parts are available from Radio Shack (although other places will probably be cheaper). I really don't have any electronics experience (I'm a Biology geek), but I still was able to put one of these together back in high school following a set of instructions that was included with the docs for some .MOD player. I later added a volume control and simple op-amp without too much hassle. And since I put everything on a breadboard, I didn't even have to solder.

The sound quality you can get is surprisingly good. I used mine for playing Star Control II (There's a command line switch for parallel port DAC support, I forget what it is). If this is a more programming related class, perhaps you can then have them write a few little programs that use the device.

Obligatory Links by MrEd · 2000-08-01 22:49 · Score: 2 · on Classic Gaming Gets Recognition

Here are some of my favorite classic gaming resources on the web:

The Home of the Underdogs - The best archive of x86 games that didn't get the fame they deserved.
Some amazing Atari 800 emulators, and a ton of games for them, and a FAQ

Constitutional Intent of Copyright by coats · 2000-07-30 21:54 · Score: 4 · on Helping Artists Online

The Constitutional authority for copyright follows from the following clause:

Article I
Section 8. The Congress shall have power...
To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries; ...

The right to copyright as property was not regarded as a fundamental property right by the founders, nor was it such under Common Law. The Constitution established that Congress had the authority to create this right subject to several criteria. The present copyright regime does not in any realistic fashion fit under those criteria:

Present copyright term is not a "limited" term -- at least not in terms meaningful to a human being.
Present copyright benefit does not go to "authors and inventors" as the founders would have understood those terms, but to some rather-removed third party.

The present situation is one where the publishing industry is engaged in wholesale theft--first, theft of the works from their true authors; then theft of what should be in the public domain (and thus the property of all of us) from us as a society. It is a vast leap from the originally-passed copyright term of 14 years to today's life plus 70 years!

There is in fact a currently-active suit denouncing the latest copyright act as unconstitutional -- see URL http://eldred.ne.mediaone.net/complain t.html

Was It Edited? by Anonymous Coward · 2000-07-17 01:51 · Score: 1 · on Slashdot Meets X-Men

That was the question I was always puzzling over as I watched the film on Saturday night. The editing was good if it was--although, being the film guy that I am, I noticed some slightly choppy paring down of some scenes--but the story and character development (or lack thereof) suffered. Now, I realize that this is just an action movie based on a comic book, so most of the people going to see it--except maybe hardcore fans--aren't looking for an excessive amount of character development. But I read Sunday morning that the original running time was 135 minutes, but they cut out about 45 minutes of actual character development (plus extended back story explaining how others like Cyclops and Storm discovered their powers, as well as an expansion of the almost nonexistent love triangle between Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Wolverine) so they could keep the action-packed pace going. This made me angry and left me with hope that all of those cut scenes would be restored for a DVD release because, honestly, I was disappointed with the movie. One of the things that manages to happen when a comic book runs as long as X-Men (and spawns as many spin-offs starring X-Men) is completely fleshed-out characters, which this film was lacking. But, hey, maybe that was just me.

Gen'ral Stan
--The Guy Who Can't Seem To Remember His Account--
dbates@mediaone.net

Try Chicago by Chas · 2000-06-29 13:48 · Score: 1 · on Techie Friendly Towns, Worldwide?

The Chicagoland area is positively sprouting positions for technical workers. They're one of the fastest growing VC areas outside of Silicon Valley. There's a a huge technical corridor stretching from Joliet nearly to the Illinois/Wisconsin border.

Not to mention that Chicago's NAP sees more traffic coming through than ANYWHERE else on the planet.

Cablemodem and DSL services are emerging in the area (Ye God! There's so many DSL companies advertising out here now it's disgusting!) For cable, look at AT&T, MediaOne, and @Home. For listings of DSL providers, just hit 2Wire.com

How much you make depends on what you know. Decent wages for a tech support drone at an ISP is about $9-11(USC) an hour. Some positions down at the law firms downtown pay as much as $40K a year for people with basic techsup skills, some Unix experience, and some network experience.

Housing can be anywhere between $500-900 for a 1 bedroom apartment. Between $750-1200 for a 2 bedroom. (Not sure for 3.)

Depending on how far out you live, and what neighborhoods, actually buying a house may be cheaper. In Berwyn, the median price of a house is about $140K (some condos go for around $50K).

Further south in Downer's Grove/Darien, housing is in the $180-200K range, with condos going for between $60-100K.

If you live out further west in areas like Plainfield (starting to build up), housing starts around $120K and goes up from there.

The only major hassle in Chicago is the traffic. They have 5 major tollways, and 4 major freeways. And right now, they're working on most of them (hopefully to be done by the end of this year). For night-shift workers, this isn't too bad. For 9-5'ers and evening workers, it can be a big hassle.

Also, parking downtown is disgustingly expensive. Luckily there's a decent rail system in Chicago with several major lines (IIRC all of them are now open nearly 24/7).

There's two major airports for commuting (O'Hare and Midway). Midway is undergoing major construction right now to add a huge parking structure, and additional terminals.

Hope this helps.

Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!

sitemgr by waynem77 · 2000-06-28 09:06 · Score: 1 · on Site Map Construction Tools?

I'm not sure I want to admit to this, but...

I have written an auto-indexing tool (sitemgr) for websites. The catch is, it doesn't index existing websites. It parses textfiles that I have written, converts them to HTML, and indexes them. I've released it under the GPL.

You can download it from http://www.tiac.net/users/way nem/downloads/index.html, and you can see examples of the output at http://www.tiac.net/users/waynem/ and sometimes http://white-fang.ne.mediaone.net/. It may not be what you're looking for but... there it is, I guess.

Legality? by Signal+11 · 2000-06-05 01:15 · Score: 4 · on ISPs Victimizing DoS Victims?

Currently, most every AUP has a clause that says it can terminate your account for any reason, or no reason. Usually for legal reasons you are entitled to the unused portion of your account in the form of a refund, but that is the extent of your remedy.

This poses a particular problem in an area that lacks competition. Take me, for example. I am a Mediaone subscriber. This happens to be the only high speed 'net access available to me. If Mediaone decided to terminate my account, where would I go for high speed access? Now, if I was on a modem around here, there are hundreds of providers.

So, legally there might not be much I can do. However, I already have a plan for if/when this happens to me - I don't trust Mediaone. They are a bad ISP, and I have had go-arounds with them over their "security" scans on my computer (I later gave up and installed a firewall) up to where they tried to kick me off the network after a 15 minute e-mail notice for posting DeCSS. I later re-established my account there after 2 wks of going back and fourth with management and the magic words "restraint of trade" finally got them to reinstate my account after I took out DeCSS. Curiously enough they didn't think any of this was related to DeCSS. So much the better, I guess.. but I digress.

What I plan to do if/when Mediaone pulls the plug: First, contact the better business bureau and file a complaint. Second, contact the public utilities commissioner and file a complaint specifically outlining their monopoly on high speed access combined with their AUP as having an adverse impact on the marketplace, 3) file a complaint with the commerce department in my state, 4) go to the local press if they do something really stupid (like what happened to these poor guys - who didn't do anything). In short, my strategy will be to generate so much bad PR and get so many people calling mediaone and asking about it that they take the better part of valor and give me my account back. I may not have legal remedies, but that is no reason not to make things difficult for them. In short, there are other options...

Re:What if i sell vintage software? by Signal+11 · 2000-05-28 23:39 · Score: 1 · on EBay Pulls MS Auctions, Neutralizes Complaints

I'd be interested in buying that just for the bragging rights. E-mail me. :)