Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Domains

Domain: thinkcycle.org

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

Comments · 9

  1. Re:Not Quite New by danboarder · · Score: 1 · on Idea Stock Exchange

    Definitely not new.

    I've been participating in http://www.shouldexist.org/ for years...

    "ShouldExist.org: Idea exchange, news of the future."

    another comprehensive approach (almost like a dev wiki and CVS for offline ideas) is at http://www.thinkcycle.org/ ...

    "ThinkCycle provides a shared online space for designers, engineers, domain experts and stakeholders to discuss, exchange and construct ideas ... "

  2. Re:open equipment? by jmawhorter · · Score: 1 · on Vietnam Medic Makes Homemade Endoscope

    How seriously are you considering your idea of a DIY medical equip repository? I've thought of doing something like this in the past so if you are serious about doing something like this, let me know at joel at mawhorter dot org. By the way http://www.thinkcycle.org/ is an interesting MIT sponsored site that is something like what you suggest. Joel

  3. PDA versus Microfiche? by tyen · · Score: 2, Informative · on Low Tech Gutenberg?

    Find out if the Peace Corps sends other people either to where she is doing her stint, or if someone will pass through. Send the PDA with them, and have her meet them at the airport. This won't solve the theft in situ problem, but she probably has quite a few personal possessions in that category already, so it is not like an unaddressed problem. At least if you get a PDA to her, shipping her bytes consists of just sending a flash media card in a letter.

    She might not live near an Internet cafe, so printing out the material might not be feasible, or might be prohibitively expensive, depending on how much she wants to print out.

    I think PDA-based solutions might even beat out microfiche at this time, which surprised me. It was difficult to find out how much Computer Output on Microform (COM) costs; closest page to prices I could find seemed to imply that there is a $175 USD setup fee per run. This page seems to imply a $0.02/page cost. Maybe the Canadian government agency price of $0.12 CAD per image says I'm completely wrong, and if you can ship someone a TIFF file of the entire microfiche, they can turn around the microfiche to you for really dirt cheap. Or they might be talking about a TIFF image per page, and not per microfiche. I would be astonished if it was not priced per page, and really was $0.12 CAD per microfiche. If it was that cheap, then I would reconsider a PDA based solution if cheap microfiche readers can be found.

    Oh, alright. Google is not all knowing. Curiosity got the better of me, so I broke down and called Microfacs and spoke with a nice guy named Rick. Minimum pricing is $0.05 USD per page, and they think 2,000 pages is a very small order. For that, the deal goes like this. You ship them single page TIFF images. You get about a week turnaround, and it is in the form of 16mm microfilm. If you want microfiche, that costs extra. I didn't ask, because $0.05 per page sounded like about the limit for the low budgets we are talking about; I'm guessing that $0.10 per page for microfiche. More expensive than a copy shop, but a heck of a lot cheaper to ship around I would imagine.

    Recondtioned readers don't go below $130 USD, although some student projects seem to be aware of the advantages of shipping bulk human readable data around on microform (they are aming for a $20 USD reader, for example). There are handheld microfiche readers that use sunlight, but they cost about the same as a new low-end PDA, so you would still have in situ theft concerns. Used readers have $50 USD opening bids on eBay in the here and now. This is all for microfiche readers; search around for 16mm format microfilm readers that are sunlight or battery capable (if she isn't around reliable electricity), though I'm not sure about the prudence of using for long periods of time any readers that you have to peer through optics.

    It currently seems tough to beat the TCO combination of an eBay'd Palm, solar panel, and SD media if you are talking about shipping all of Project Gutenberg to her. Microform readers cost more than a cheap PDA, even used and reconditioned, and the reproduction costs can really swing the cost picture into the PDAs favor (even assuming a couple get stolen) when you start dealing with 10,000 pages (roughly the number of proofed Project Gutenberg pages) and up. If she is around re

  4. Re:In case of /. effect by linzeal · · Score: 4, Insightful · on Auto Accident at SANE Conference Kills One
    It is our responsibility as engineers, scientists and technologists to work on solutions to these problems.

    Recently we had a story about a camera technology that could see even through smoke and there are places online where we can work on an open source solution to this problem that would be more likely implemented than if some company sold them exclusively.

    A majority of people on the planet live near water and a cheap enough technology or system that could help people drive safer could save hundreds of lives per year.

  5. Re:Best Advice by linzeal · · Score: 1 · on Uniquely Bright: Experiences and Tips?
    Do projects in each field that you think are capable of and finish them. Than go unto a group meme site that has many folk of that persuasion and see how long you survive.

    Think you are an artist, try DeviantArt for instance.

    Think you can save the world with your engineering prowess than Think Cycle is for you.

    Don't go to a brick and mortar universtiy if you are self-motivated it wastes transportation time and money just to begin with. Make sure you balance it with a semi-active social life. I for instance have not talked to another human in 7-10 days working on summer school classes online along with some of my own projects. I am morlock, here me roar.

  6. Re:as a scientist... by linzeal · · Score: 1 · on Open Access To Scientific Literature: Can It Work?
    Try ThinkCycle, an open source scientific and engineering effort designed to tackle local and world problems with peer reviewed, sponsored, and implemented solutions.

    I'm just starting there but I'm working on some of my own ideas for the handheld word to speech translation device they are trying to get made that I'll publish as soon as I can put a bit more research into the EE side of things. It really is the 21st century, isn't?

  7. related sites by tinkerton · · Score: 5, Informative · on Open Sourcing Innovation
    Here is the list of related sites from whynot.net:
  8. Re:What it all comes down to is by Sayan · · Score: 1 · on State Of The Simputer
    The problem with most of the people posting is that most of them have never been to India let alone know what are the problems of the people.

    A solution can only be given if you know the problem well enough.

    So bringing my Indian perspective, i would like to bring to notice to the other slashdotters that there a plenty of initiatives to bring the fruits of the IT revolution to the masses.

    Check out e-choupal(some of the site is in Hindi) which aims to bridge the logistics gap between rural producers and markets. It is a run away success and the company which started it ITC is planning to roll it out in 10,000 villages. Another innovative e-goverance project is Gyandoot (Messenger of Knowledge). This aims to bring the government closer to the people. In all these cases low-cost PCs ($400 ones) not PDAs have proven to be useful.

    These are just some examples where IT has been proven to be useful in the rural hinterland obviously much more needs to be done as there are over 700,000 villages in India.

    The problem in India is often not the lack of resources (India today is one of the world's largest economies, one of the fastest growing, has one of the biggest reserves of over $86 billion) but mismanagement and corruption, and add to it restrictive trade practices of the West. It is then no wonder that most Indian farmers are stuck in the 18th century.

    While researching for my paper most of the problems of the basic needs can be solved if the rural people have access to cheap and plentiful source of power- electricity. Ask any farmer what is the one thing they need which they can use to improve their lives almost all reply "electricity" - to run everything from water-pumps to computers. Even though now most of the Indian villages are electrified, the sad condition of the state-run electricity boards means that they get power only for a few hours if at all.

    Off-grid community solutions like bio-gas have a lot of potential if implemented. In conclusion PDAs may be cool to look at but the real need is for electricity.

  9. Electricity generation by xof · · Score: 1 · on Pedal Powered Wireless Networked Computer?


    Beware of car generators to produce electricity : they need high rpm's and are efficient (to be checked, I am not sure) when producing hundred's of watts (tens of amps at 12 volts).