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accepts your payment, for free software.... for free software....

Free as in, I need this done, I'm willing to pay for it, but you can give it away to anyone else out there, so that they don't have to reinvent the wheel.

It's kinda like a church. Generally, churches need some sort of place to hold worship services in, and buildings don't get built unless people give money. However, after they get built, they're free and open to all members and guests, including those who haven't given any money. (Yes, I know there are exceptions, but you get the point)

If you don't like that analogy, think of PBS. Certain foundations want shows made to deal with certain topics, and they pay for their production and later may subsidize their broadcast. That's how a lot of the shows get paid for. You don't have to pay to watch PBS, either.

I find it odd that techniques like this aren't used more widely; My school wasn't large or that wealthy, yet they decided to use VCD to teach the course. It seems that VCD isn't widespread just because it takes a little more work to generate a course around it; My French teacher worked hard for a high school level class, but I doubt most do.

The only disadvantage to using video material is the fact that it's video material -- television anyone? It's very easy to stare at a screen and completely zone out, ignoring whatever you're trying to be taught. If not interrupted constantly for questioning and such, VCDs are useless.

One of the ...ahem... interesting things Bill says is: "We're also working with others throughout the industry to improve Internet protocols to stop email that could propagate misleading information or malicious code that falsely appears to be from trusted senders." (emphasis added)

Bob Cringley has written a couple of good articles on eactly this, the second related directly to Palladium. Check them out.

Cringley also has an article on the consequences of Palladium not working.

One of the ...ahem... interesting things Bill says is: "We're also working with others throughout the industry to improve Internet protocols to stop email that could propagate misleading information or malicious code that falsely appears to be from trusted senders." (emphasis added)

Bob Cringley has written a couple of good articles on eactly this, the second related directly to Palladium. Check them out.

Cringley also has an article on the consequences of Palladium not working.

One of the ...ahem... interesting things Bill says is: "We're also working with others throughout the industry to improve Internet protocols to stop email that could propagate misleading information or malicious code that falsely appears to be from trusted senders." (emphasis added)

Bob Cringley has written a couple of good articles on eactly this, the second related directly to Palladium. Check them out.

Cringley also has an article on the consequences of Palladium not working.

Nova did a great show on Joe Kittinger and his dive from 19 miles up.

They first tested it with human shaped models and found out the flatspin would be deadly, liquifying organs. After that they used a stabilizing chute to avoid the flatspin.

Exerpt:
http://www.yvcc.cc.wa.us/~chemyvcc/Skydive_From_St ratosphere.html

Here's the link to the shockwave game:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/escape/skydive.html

Wired article:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.08/space.html ?pg=1&topic=&topic_set=

Project Excelsior:
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/coldwar/pe. htm

I can no longer find my favorite desktop sized picture of the jump but a smaller one is here (the top picture):
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/balloon/science/histo ry2.html

Nova did a great show on Joe Kittinger and his dive from 19 miles up.

They first tested it with human shaped models and found out the flatspin would be deadly, liquifying organs. After that they used a stabilizing chute to avoid the flatspin.

Exerpt:
http://www.yvcc.cc.wa.us/~chemyvcc/Skydive_From_St ratosphere.html

Here's the link to the shockwave game:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/escape/skydive.html

Wired article:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.08/space.html ?pg=1&topic=&topic_set=

Project Excelsior:
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/coldwar/pe. htm

I can no longer find my favorite desktop sized picture of the jump but a smaller one is here (the top picture):
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/balloon/science/histo ry2.html

The Paris crash was actually caused by a French Air Force fighter interfering in the Tupolev's flight path. The Russian pilot (a highly regarded test pilot) overstressed his plane while trying to avoid hitting the Dassault Mirage, which was not supposed to be there.

I don't think Tupolev ever planned to offer the 144 on the open market.

Most of the asessments I have seen seem to think that the Tupolev in its final form had a superior airframe design overall, but terrible engines. NASA purchased a TU-144 as a test platform. Last I heard, that unit was for sale The asking price was $10, 000,000 IIRC. I believe it is the only currentl flying 144, although there are eight complete airframes in existence.

In his newest article, Cringely notes that "The Palladium was a famous theater in London and another in Hollywood" and finds that rather appropriate. One, because the apparent source of this drive is Hollywood and other content holders. Secondly, because he finds the idea that Microsoft could be bossed around by an industry that, while impressive, is dwarfed by its own current liquid holdings has a certain sense of... theatre... in itself. But that's an entirely different discussion.

Trillion Dollar Bet that went bad?

That's right, China! No wonder they are doing better then everyone else!

If Bill Gates owned every single piece of fiber in the US, it's definately a step in that direction. Perhaps even the only thing preventing a standards change now.

You can find the article here:
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20010802. html

It beat the conditions they had at home in Greece, but it really was slavery.

Unfortunately, Americans, being very provincial, tend to think only in terms of American style slavery, in which manumission was rare and unexpected. (Oh, and no one was really sure what to do with free slaves, except repatriate them to Africa.)

For more information on Roman style slavery, try reading the Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough.

The real problem with comparing things to the H1-B system is that there isn't anything exactly like the H1-B system. It somewhat resembles both indentured servitude and Roman style slavery.

American style slavery was really more like feudalism, almost no hope of freedom or every raising your social status.

Of course, it is difficult to compare the H1-B system to anything else, since it is a modern invention with its own rules and peculiarities. However, to dismiss a comparison with slavery, especially non-American slavery simply reflects a lack of knowledge of the history of the ancient world.

Back in the days when the Mac OS was made up of significant chunks of 68000 assembler, I could see that porting to Intel was a pain. Now that they've already switched architectures once (68000 to PowerPC) and have replaced the earlier kernel with a BSD based one, I would think porting to Intel is easier than it's ever been for Apple.
I can only presume they don't think it's in their best interests.

Yeah, you're right. After all, it never works for NPR or PBS.

This discussion prompted me to do some reading on French solutions to the problem, given that that nation is almost entirely dependent on nuclear power due to a near complete lack of coal, natural gas, oil, and I guess very little hydroelectric.

Unfortunately, contrary to the insistence by the Bush administration that we merely have to follow France's example, they are in much the same pickle as we, both in terms of having a permanent storage location (they don't), and in terms of public perception of permanent storage (the rural folks over there don't like the idea any more than the folks in Nevada).

A May 2001 article from the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research.

And a transcript from a 1998 Frontline show.

The conclusion suggested by these articles is that the French have adopted nuclear power not out of a preference for it, but out of a lack of options. And, that rather than having figured out a reliable and acceptable method for dealing with the waste produced, they are now struggling with the consequences of decisions made out of desperation 30 years ago.

According to this program, livestock being prepared for sale to be consumed by humans is fed corn, almost exclusively.

The program mostly dealt with big corporate farms, and was an interesting look at the modern meat producing industry. The focus of the program was health effects of current farming practices.

Good point which many probably aren't aware of in this forum.

I dislike VISA for what it does to maintain and to milk its monopoly as much as I dislike Microsoft for the same. VISA does arm twisting and revenue extraction not just from consumers, but also from participating retailers that get charged fees that, well, are as economically inelastic as what Microsoft charges for licensing fees.

As a computer geek, I'm just more cognizant of MS actions than I am of VISA. The other thing about MS is that it's monopoly stands to grow substantially more invasive, instrusive and unavoidable as Web services increase. VISA is relatively static by comparison, though people are buying groceries and fast food on the things where they didn't 10 years ago.

Now if VISA were able to subsume the role the central government and be the de facto electronic cash, then there'd be more reason for concern.

I can just see it advertised how recording every dime spent and tracing every transaction eliminates terrorism, pedophiles, drug dealing and prostitution. Every cash related movement of every individual such as Mohammed Atta would be recorded and analyzed for "suspicious activity". And the sheep I call my fellow citizens might just buy into it given enough FUD at the right time. The Islamic extremists will win as our governments become as restrictive as their own.

I realize this is a little off-topic, but I felt it necessary to try to showcase a little better who the man behind the article is.

Not many of you may really know who Boucher is, heck, I admit that I would be unable to write even a small biography on the man without a lot of hard work. However, this guy is perhaps one of the few folk in Congress who really understands and cares about what the Internet is and what it can become.

While most politicians can be seen as either paying lip service about Internet freedoms or attacking outright the freedoms guaranteed to us, Boucher has proven time and time again that there politicians out there who, for the most part, look out for us.

Now, I'm not in his district and I couldn't vote for him even if I wanted to. He's never seen a dime of my money and I have never even so much have written an email or letter to him. Hell, I'm not even a Democrat. However, this man is perhaps one of the few people whom we need to encourage to continue to fight for our rights. Likewise, we need to begin encouraging our own representatives to follow his lead.

It may sound like I'm bullshitting you about this and that I have some ulterior motive. I don't. I'll let his record speak for itself,

http://www.house.gov/boucher/internet.htm

Anyway, I don't post on Slashdot anymore unless I really have something to say. All I'm trying to say now is, "take a look at this guy, see what he's about, what he's done and decide for yourself."

As a closing thought as to what kind of vision this guy has, he was the one back in 1992 that allowed the NSF (National Science Foundation) network to carry non-educational or scientific traffic... i.e., commodity Internet traffic. This effectively made the Internet what it is today. Al Gore and others may claim they invented the Internet. Boucher makes no such claim, but could largely be credited with the one that made it legal to become what it is today.

Anywho, I'll get off the podium now... but when someone does something right by me I want to make sure everyone who has an interest knows so. This guy is the real deal. Support him and tell your representatives to support him. He is truly "our man on the inside".

Augmented Reality: A New Way of Seeing

Unfortunately, it will be a while before the technology becomes inexpensive and readily available:

MEMS the Word

Of course, you could always take a Gameboy outside, you really need full sunlight or equivalent to play it.

When I was a kid, playing outside sucked, but then I did grow up very near the Urban Deathmaze which may have colored my thinking.... (Please note, Urban Deathmaze is meant with the utmost affection, I love New York! Heck, I remember when my Mom took me to the great electronic games expo there, they had Vectrex's!)

Besides, Video Tape is so much more dangerous than video games, there is this one tape making the rounds in Japan that will kill you seven days after you watch it...

This was on plastic. I recommend some people steal some posts from there for some ez-modpoints.

personally i'm a little overweight have been interested in the idea the eating bacon w/ butter as a main food could make me loose weight, the down side a lot of people on the adkins diet have dangerously high cholesterol counts. Then again, all research in the field seems to be highly biased, the only nugget of consistent truth i can find is eating less works, typically on a high far or low fat diet you'll end up consuming less calories, which seems to always work.

There was something about a low calorie diet on Scientific Frontiers a while back, you can view it here if you like

-Jon

This was on plastic. I recommend some people steal some posts from there for some ez-modpoints.

personally i'm a little overweight have been interested in the idea the eating bacon w/ butter as a main food could make me loose weight, the down side a lot of people on the adkins diet have dangerously high cholesterol counts. Then again, all research in the field seems to be highly biased, the only nugget of consistent truth i can find is eating less works, typically on a high far or low fat diet you'll end up consuming less calories, which seems to always work.

There was something about a low calorie diet on Scientific Frontiers a while back, you can view it here if you like

-Jon

I wonder what Garrison Keillor will have to say about this. :)

It was first broadcast about a year ago, part of a series called "Secrets of Lost Empires", and also included a nice Construction of a Chinese Rainbow Bridge.

The Trebuchet episode is scheduled to be rebroadcast on Tuesday, July 16, 2002, in the States.

It was first broadcast about a year ago, part of a series called "Secrets of Lost Empires", and also included a nice Construction of a Chinese Rainbow Bridge.

The Trebuchet episode is scheduled to be rebroadcast on Tuesday, July 16, 2002, in the States.

The title "Are Holograms Finally for Real?" is a little misleading. Holograms have been around for a long time, it's just holographic image being projected that is a new thing. PBS had a nice show a while back about the emerging tech and how it will effect us.

I prefer this PBS article. It boggles the mind, the UK has so much good stuff that US public TV has to import, yet the US seems to be entirely more dependent on TV than any other nation.

PBS has already posted on their Dr. Who website that they will pick up these new episodes through syndication. Personally I can't wait till we see it stateside!

I was surprised to see that somebody didn't pick up on Cringely remarks here, seeing as they support the enlightened opinion of skepticism of Microsoft, and document how Palladium is using Microsoft's security weaknesses as an excuse to make all internet technology closed proprietary Microsoft Technology.

A fairly damning read, and it lays it all out

The Microsoft solution to the problems caused by Microsoft is to give control of everything to Microsoft.

Usually, I thought the answer was to remove the sdource of the problem, not to strengthen it.

2002-06-29 01:24:55 Cringely On Palladium (articles,news) (rejected)

Cringley has a slightly self-congratulatory comment on Palladium too.

Cringley has a slightly self-congratulatory comment on Palladium too.

Not worth a story of its own, but Robert Cringeley brags in this week's column that Palladium is the Microsoft attempt to replace TCP/IP that he was predicting a year ago.

Windows 95 sequence numbers are very weak. But it is really difficult to understand is why this algorithm was further "weakened" in Windows 98 (SE), decreasing estimated error and number of elements required to get the right guess, in average, 99.488%.

Unless you were flying, say, a deHavilland Comet. It just takes one flaw..

Maybe Cringley's right ...

Gawd, analogies are fun... Let's talk about bridge building.

This site at has some bridge history that I read recently. The Firth of Forth page in particular talks about a bridge that was built according to the maxim, "Everyone knows how a bridge should look." The result was an overbuilt, overcostly and ugly structure. A layman's intuition about what is necessary may be quite wrong.

The infamous Tacoma Narrows suspension bridge, of course, was built in modern times (1940) and according to conservative and well known principles, which didn't stop it from self-destructing. This was after more than fifty years of experience in designing large suspension spans. The judgement of an expert engineer with ample experience and time can also be very wrong!

Let's also consider the Charles River bridge, which looks like nothing you ever saw before. Nonetheless it is now being completed at a cost of $86M. To be sure, the design must have been reviewed, but if you saw a child's drawing of the bridge, you'd think it was a fantasy that could not be built. Again, so much for "Everyone knows how a bridge should look".

I agree with your basic point, which, as I understand it, is that the design must be visible and inspected to have a hope of correctness. But as bridge building shows us, that's not always enough!

Gawd, analogies are fun... Let's talk about bridge building.

This site at has some bridge history that I read recently. The Firth of Forth page in particular talks about a bridge that was built according to the maxim, "Everyone knows how a bridge should look." The result was an overbuilt, overcostly and ugly structure. A layman's intuition about what is necessary may be quite wrong.

The infamous Tacoma Narrows suspension bridge, of course, was built in modern times (1940) and according to conservative and well known principles, which didn't stop it from self-destructing. This was after more than fifty years of experience in designing large suspension spans. The judgement of an expert engineer with ample experience and time can also be very wrong!

Let's also consider the Charles River bridge, which looks like nothing you ever saw before. Nonetheless it is now being completed at a cost of $86M. To be sure, the design must have been reviewed, but if you saw a child's drawing of the bridge, you'd think it was a fantasy that could not be built. Again, so much for "Everyone knows how a bridge should look".

I agree with your basic point, which, as I understand it, is that the design must be visible and inspected to have a hope of correctness. But as bridge building shows us, that's not always enough!

Gawd, analogies are fun... Let's talk about bridge building.

This site at has some bridge history that I read recently. The Firth of Forth page in particular talks about a bridge that was built according to the maxim, "Everyone knows how a bridge should look." The result was an overbuilt, overcostly and ugly structure. A layman's intuition about what is necessary may be quite wrong.

The infamous Tacoma Narrows suspension bridge, of course, was built in modern times (1940) and according to conservative and well known principles, which didn't stop it from self-destructing. This was after more than fifty years of experience in designing large suspension spans. The judgement of an expert engineer with ample experience and time can also be very wrong!

Let's also consider the Charles River bridge, which looks like nothing you ever saw before. Nonetheless it is now being completed at a cost of $86M. To be sure, the design must have been reviewed, but if you saw a child's drawing of the bridge, you'd think it was a fantasy that could not be built. Again, so much for "Everyone knows how a bridge should look".

I agree with your basic point, which, as I understand it, is that the design must be visible and inspected to have a hope of correctness. But as bridge building shows us, that's not always enough!

Gawd, analogies are fun... Let's talk about bridge building.

This site at has some bridge history that I read recently. The Firth of Forth page in particular talks about a bridge that was built according to the maxim, "Everyone knows how a bridge should look." The result was an overbuilt, overcostly and ugly structure. A layman's intuition about what is necessary may be quite wrong.

The infamous Tacoma Narrows suspension bridge, of course, was built in modern times (1940) and according to conservative and well known principles, which didn't stop it from self-destructing. This was after more than fifty years of experience in designing large suspension spans. The judgement of an expert engineer with ample experience and time can also be very wrong!

Let's also consider the Charles River bridge, which looks like nothing you ever saw before. Nonetheless it is now being completed at a cost of $86M. To be sure, the design must have been reviewed, but if you saw a child's drawing of the bridge, you'd think it was a fantasy that could not be built. Again, so much for "Everyone knows how a bridge should look".

I agree with your basic point, which, as I understand it, is that the design must be visible and inspected to have a hope of correctness. But as bridge building shows us, that's not always enough!

I LOVE the way it's ALWAYS an AC that takes your point of view.

OK, let's start with Obvious Shit 101:

Corporate interests are not aligned with the people. For example, that chemical plant down the street from you would rather dump their toxic waste somewhere rather than dispose of it in a safe way. Why? Because it is more profitable for them to dump it. There are BILLIONS of examples of this type of stuff.

The government's role, among other things, is to protect the public from corporations. In this case, bullshit accounting has caused GREAT HARM to citizens of this country. Without RULES, corporations will continue to harm citizens and generally cause havoc. The current ecomonic downturn was made worse by Enron and others, and the responsibility for the creation of the Enron's rests squarely on the shoulders of our government. If you really want to know more, watch Bigger than Enron on PBS program. It explains how we got into our current state very well.

but it lacked in the execution. In all honesty the Frontline special on the fall of the dotcoms, broadcast originally 24 January of this year, explained certain aspects of the current malaise much more dramatically -- and sounded like less of a history lesson to boot.

The companion website linked above has an extensive set of links and interviews. Highly recommended.

This is just another example of the real trouble American companies are in. On PBS the other night, Frontline divoted a whole hour to the extreme mess than the accounting/stock/ceo situation is in... Basically, Stock options aren't reported. CEO gets huge stock options. CEO lies about company's value. Accountants lie for value too, as they have consulting contracts with the company. Truth is found out, company's stock plunges, accounting company shreds paper... pays off politicians to keep things status-quoe... cycle starts over again. Very scarry.

But I have to wonder why Microsoft would engage in such foolishness. They could have bought Burst.com at any point, and never even been able to detect a level change in Microsoft's corporate bank account. Why risk so much just to screw (allegedly) a little company from Santa Rosa?

If there is a reason, it has to come from the competitive nature of Bill Gates as Microsoft's spiritual and ethical leader. Everything is a competition to Bill, and every competition has a winner and a loser. Microsoft people have always been encouraged to see the game, not the consequences, and to win the game even if winning this way makes no sense.

Let me give an example of this behavior. In the early days of Microsoft, one of the popular games was to see how late the boys could leave work for the airport and still make their flights. These weren't people who were habitually late, they were playing a game. The eventual winner was Bill Gates, of course, but to win he had to abandon his car at the departures curb. -- from the article, Is a Little Broadband Enough? Covad Seems to Think So. Also, Why Microsoft Keeps Getting Sued by Robert X. Cringely

-A

Rolling your own DSL over a dry copper line for $45 a month

The awakening of the Internet happened for many reasons, but one of the more significant reasons was because it provided tens of thousands of entrepenuers the opportunity to start thier own ISP. Small ISP's began to crop up everywhere, especially where larger providers wouldn't provide service.

Doesn't DSL have to connect to the main switch to work?

Or does it??? Roll your own DSL

I read this article one year ago and I was shocked. Cringely had explained that DSL doesn't need to go through the Baby Bells to work. As a matter of fact, the types of lines to make this possible have been available for years. They're called dry-copper lines and they're used by alarm companies monitor security systems, but they could also be used for DSL.

The difference between dry copper lines and regular phone lines is that dry copper lines never connect to the switch, but that doesn't matter for DSL. It's like P2P phone service, but with one line going from you home directly to your neighbors.

If only the Baby Bells would sell dry copper lines

By law the Baby Bells are required to specific services at specific prices, primarily because they are entrusted with the public's communicatiosn infrastructure. The truth is: Most baby bells will sell you a dry copper line for about $15-$45 a month. They may lie to you and say it doesn't exists, but even if you get it, it doesn't mean it will work. All they are required to do is sell you a dry copper line that completes a circuit. There's nothing preventing them from selling you a noisy dry copper line, which is especially bad for DSL.

What would have happened if the Baby Bells were required to sell clear dry copper lines?

My guess is as good as yours, but I know if I was an ISP. I would have been out there hawking cheap DSL in areas the Baby Bells were ignoring. I wonder how many people would have been doing the same thing? Would broadband have been a little more ubiquitous by now?

See... the thing about this is it doesn't address the digital divide in America. Computers and other technology are important for our young people not only as a tool to perform a specific school-related task, but also as an opportunity to overcome barriers in access to technology for our nations poor, non-white, and female students. A failure to expose our children to computers causes them to have greater difficulty adapting to the technology demands put on our adult workforce.

So some say that it is the responsibility of parents to provide opportunities for their children to learn how to use computers. But that assumes that parents can afford to buy computers or access to them. When that's not the case, we need other organizations, such as schools, libraries and "boys and girls clubs" to step in and provide services.

Becoming comfortable with using computers certainly is not the cure-all for all the woes of poverty or education. Simply filling an underfunded and poorly performing school with computers won't achieve anything useful as long as there are no funds or appropriately skilled personnel to develop effective teaching plans that use the technology. And computer training certainly isn't a replacement for learning how to read, write, think critically, research, and so on. But if our schools and communities are leaving major portions of our country's underpriviledged or underserved children unprepared for the work force and for college, then they are not performing the service for which they are intended, and need to work hard in developing new curriculum using computers.

WHY WHY WHY *OH GOD WHY* are people wasting time and energy with home made rockets? I'm beginning to think there's some sort of psychological problem involving phalluses or something!

balloons

Because balloons don't have the gee-whiz gollee Mr. Science Nerd aura of ubergeekness about them?

Look, if a man in 1960 floated to 102000ft and JUMPED off his capsule and broke the sound barrier WITH HIS BODY and parachuted to safety, why not do it again?

Use a monster balloon. Lift a small manned rocket to whatever altitude you need, while the balloon is still pulling you up, fire your rocket through the balloon.

Alright MOC's, fire away!

Funny. If my post had been references to Scientology (the new American-made religion) it would have been rated +5 Insightful.

Anyway, since the parent brought up the subject...

CPB, which is one of the largest single funders (11%) of PBS, also puts their financials online -- they receive almost the entirety of their funding from the federal government.

So, again, by their own numbers, almost 20% of PBS' funding comes from the federal government. What was your point again?

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. -- Gandhi

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. -- Gandhi