Slashdot Mirror

Funny enough, ThinkGeek actually does this. Not a 10% discount, but they post as many pictures of real life people wearing the clothes as they can. http://www.thinkgeek.com/action-shots/

"But what's really scary, is that the evidence F-Secure found suggests that DigiNotar was hacked at least two years ago."

I don't agree that having one's ass hanging in the wind — thinking your SSL connections are secure while they're not — for two years is a system that "works".

It's astonishing in the current landscape where most everyone appears to be concerned and casting about for solutions to see someone thinking the CA system is fine. The foundation of the CA system involves giving each of hundreds of race-to-the-bottom entities complete authority over your SSL security. Even if "race-to-the-bottom" weren't their nature, you'd still have a bell curve of performance, and the tail on the left side is your maximal security. (You are here.) The system is inherently flawed.

Well.. most video game consoles do not come with screens. You're comparing different things. We can have a controller accessory which can dock with a smartphone/pda/random handheld and wirelessly transmit to any display device.

http://gadgetlike.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/game-grip.jpg

http://www.geek.com/gearlog/images/GPod_iPhoneController.jpg

http://www.thinkgeek.com/images/products/frontsquare/eb2b_icontrol_pad.jpg

This should help you: Micro Spy Remote

Hold down the mute button until the tv mutes, release it, and hit it again. You now have control over the TV. You can change channels, switch AV sources, power it off, or adjust the volume.

How about one of these?

Something like this:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/travelpower/e81a/?srp=4
But centrally wired?

I think I may want to contest this patent.

The patent cites Slashdot comment moderation as an example of how not to assign importance to user actions. Its authors were apparently unaware that the algorithm they described in November 2010 is virtually identical to the way Slashdot has actually assigned importance to user voting on Firehose stories since May 2008 (give or take). I know because I wrote it.

What this patent calls "authority," we call user "clout."

Multiple clouts, actually. Each Slashdot user has a number that describes how valuable the system believes their up/down votes in the firehose are, and it's separate from how valuable their descriptive tags applied to stories are. (Up/down votes are simply tags with special names, making vote-scoring and description-determination very similar under the hood.)

It's been a while since I looked at this code -- I work for sister company ThinkGeek now -- but scanning over our public repository here are some of the interesting parts:

plugs/Tags/tags_updateclouts.pl - the tags_peerclout table is the way that each type of clout is built. It has fixed entries at gen=0, the zeroth generation, which would typically be the Slashdot editors or other users considered reliable and definitive. To build gen=1, the code looks at how many users tagged or voted on the same objects as the gen=0 users did, and assigns the gen=1 users scores based on similarity (or difference). Then from the gen=1 users, gen=2 users are assigned scores similarly, and so on.

The gen=0 entries in that table "designate one or more contributing authorities by delegating to each a specific quantity of authority." I don't think I could describe that better myself.

plugins/Tags/Clout/Vote.pm process_nextgen() - here's where each new generation of user clout is successively determined, for firehose votes in particular. Line 194 invokes the algorithm and line 203 assigns that user their new voting clout. This iterative process is the automated method through which "each contributing authority may in turn designate and delegate authority to one or more additional contributing authorities."

plugins/Tags/Clout/Vote.pm init() - sum_weight_vectors totals the change in clout for each generation, and possible weight decreases exponentially. If you're in gen=1 the maximum weight you can have is only 60% of the maximum from gen=0, etc. The fraction is smaller than 100%, which helps ensure "that the total quantity of authority delegated does not exceed the quantity of authority the contributing authority was itself delegated." When the clouts are used to determine firehose item ratings, "the ratings are combined in a manner that affords a higher priority to the ratings provided by contributing authorities to which a greater quantity of authority was delegated."

All this may have changed since it was written. I don't actually know what's running on Slashdot at this moment. I'm just going by the public repository that I knew was on sf.net, and I don't even know if there's a later version of the code available anywhere.

But I suspect that this system would constitute prior art.

Also, looking over my code from 2008, boy, I really wish I'd put in more comments.

Thinkgeek already carries one of these. This is no new technology. Thinkgeek's is just made of kevlar and doesn't have a handle. http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/dads/e769/

The Pogo Sketch stylus would likely work with any tablet... http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/b8dd/?srp=2

Its been done before... http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/dads/e769/

http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/supplies/e769/?srp=1

Even if Thinkgeek wasn't already selling a similar product, how is this news?

Go away or I will replace you with a very small shell script

E-ink tattoos already exist. They sell you a hand-scanner type wand that will reprogram the e-ink that gets tattood into your skin. So you can change the matrix of pixels into clear or black and change the tattoo any time you want. They show someone with a shopping list on their arm in one picture, or a girl that does not want to show her tramp stamp off when going to visit her folks. I think it sounds like a really cool idea. If your wand breaks and you can't get a new one though, then you have a permanant tattoo. You better hope it is one you like then.

Good employers know that having fun and creative (but non-offensive) things in one's personal space can enhance productivity. Having nothing in one's cubicle except things with "legitimate business need" dulls creativity and depresses morale, silently killing productivity. My work place is sad enough, with its grey-fabric cubicle walls, lack of sunlight, and fluorescent lighting. It would be unbearable without the plants I alternately neglect and pamper, the magnetic ball sculptures, The Brain Puzzle, the Office Space Red Stapler and "Is This Good For The Company?" (no, not my office, notice the sunlight) sign. I suspect that the reason your workplaces have no zombies on your walls is because you have them in your cubicles.

Good employers know that having fun and creative (but non-offensive) things in one's personal space can enhance productivity. Having nothing in one's cubicle except things with "legitimate business need" dulls creativity and depresses morale, silently killing productivity. My work place is sad enough, with its grey-fabric cubicle walls, lack of sunlight, and fluorescent lighting. It would be unbearable without the plants I alternately neglect and pamper, the magnetic ball sculptures, The Brain Puzzle, the Office Space Red Stapler and "Is This Good For The Company?" (no, not my office, notice the sunlight) sign. I suspect that the reason your workplaces have no zombies on your walls is because you have them in your cubicles.

They only complain about man-made electromagnetic fields. The Earth has this HUGE magnetic field, maybe you've heard of it.

There is a HUGE amount of noise in the world, yet with an annoy-o-tron in your office it's just a tiny man-made noise that drives you batty.

In addition, every single study done so far has shown that when you tell these people that you turned off the source of EM they think is the cause of their problem, they get better.

When I tell you I removed the annoy-o-tron(s) from your office you feel better right away, if you believe me. You also can't tell me reliably if I actually removed them or not (at least not unless they go off again), or how many are hidden in your office and around your home. Maybe they are just in your imagination, unlike that spider in your hair.

I just shot down your argument. Whether these people are actually affected by radio waves or not is a different matter, but you reasoning is not valid.

I have been wondering for a while why we don't have a separate 12v DC supply in our houses. Even 110v is going to smart some when a small child puts their fingers in a socket! 12v has been standard in cars for as long as I can remember, and there's a standard for a socket there too. Indeed, 12v can be generated locally using solar panels and battery packs with a top up charger plugged into the mains for those cloudy days.

I have already seen outlets that have a 5v DC USB connector - indeed a trivial google found this through ThinkGeek. (Hmm - might have to get some of those for my house)

I'd be interested to hear if Google have contracted someone to build them motherboards without the legacy hardware that wastes the power you mention.

The great thing about having popular hardware made by one manufacture is you get a lot more third party options.

That thickens up the iPhone quite a bit, but then at least you have a real keyboard.

The best robot to bring in is a Bigtrak. http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/de2e/

It is programmable on the spot, and it isn't as fragile as something like a lego robot. At $25 it is also cheaper than most other robots as well.

This could be done more effectively with a Bigtrak. Remember those programmable tanks from the early 80s? You can get a mini version from Think Geek.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/de2e/

Yeah, it is $25, but that is cheaper than a lot of the other suggestions here. If money isn't a huge issue, get 4 of them and let the kids play with them. Programming them is basically the same as Logo Basic, but instead of putting lines on the screen, the tank actually moves around the room. Great fun, and teaches the basic concepts of programming.

By the end of my first day with an iPad, I thought to myself, "You know what would be great? A nice, protective folding case with a keyboard attached to the inside of D'OH!"

I purchased one of these: http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/keyboards-mice/e65a/

Absolutely love it! Leather carry case that the ipad slips into, with a built in bluetooth keyboard made from a rubber membrane, and even has some special iOS keys like the home button and volume/media controls. There's a usb jack on the side to charge it.

If you prefer metal (Aluminum in this case) there is also http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/e7e7/
I haven't used the metal one, but it sure does look a lot better than the leather case I currently have.

Also if you run jailbroken, install activator and you can assign command-key combinations to perform most any event, action, or run an app.
I have a few simple ones that are easy for me to remember, like command-s to open settings, command-n to open notes, command-p for ipod. Command-1 to 4 switches to page 1-4 for my icons, and command 7-0 opens the four main folders I keep at the top of my home screen. There is already a home button so navigation is much easier without taking your hands off home row. Alt-tab works for me too with multiflow.

Bluetooth keyboards work native with iOS, but once jailbroken you can install the keyboard and mouse apps for the alternative bluetooth stack.
I find a keyboard makes SSH sessions much more pleasurable, and keyboard plus mouse makes full screen remote desktop usable.
It's pretty funny to enable the mouse though. You actually get a regular cursor on the home screen like a desktop. I must admit to not using that feature very much.
Unfortunately that's actually about the only thing I use a mouse with it for. The keyboard part is much more handy for other uses like emails or even writing up drafts in notes to email to the PC for the finishing touches.

Since any bluetooth keyboard will work (It doesn't have to be built into a case or anything), you have options all the way from the el-cheapo $20 discount bin bluetooth keyboard, up to those cute little boxes that use a laser to draw a keyboard on your desk and watch where your fingers hit for a couple hundred bucks.
There are also all sorts of tiny "media" keyboards that are bluetooth and will work, easier to toss in the laptop bag with the tablet.

From what I hear, Android supports bluetooth devices in the same way.
Unfortunately I don't know what software to recommend nor any of the limitations there.

By the end of my first day with an iPad, I thought to myself, "You know what would be great? A nice, protective folding case with a keyboard attached to the inside of D'OH!"

I purchased one of these: http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/keyboards-mice/e65a/

Absolutely love it! Leather carry case that the ipad slips into, with a built in bluetooth keyboard made from a rubber membrane, and even has some special iOS keys like the home button and volume/media controls. There's a usb jack on the side to charge it.

If you prefer metal (Aluminum in this case) there is also http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/e7e7/
I haven't used the metal one, but it sure does look a lot better than the leather case I currently have.

Also if you run jailbroken, install activator and you can assign command-key combinations to perform most any event, action, or run an app.
I have a few simple ones that are easy for me to remember, like command-s to open settings, command-n to open notes, command-p for ipod. Command-1 to 4 switches to page 1-4 for my icons, and command 7-0 opens the four main folders I keep at the top of my home screen. There is already a home button so navigation is much easier without taking your hands off home row. Alt-tab works for me too with multiflow.

Bluetooth keyboards work native with iOS, but once jailbroken you can install the keyboard and mouse apps for the alternative bluetooth stack.
I find a keyboard makes SSH sessions much more pleasurable, and keyboard plus mouse makes full screen remote desktop usable.
It's pretty funny to enable the mouse though. You actually get a regular cursor on the home screen like a desktop. I must admit to not using that feature very much.
Unfortunately that's actually about the only thing I use a mouse with it for. The keyboard part is much more handy for other uses like emails or even writing up drafts in notes to email to the PC for the finishing touches.

Since any bluetooth keyboard will work (It doesn't have to be built into a case or anything), you have options all the way from the el-cheapo $20 discount bin bluetooth keyboard, up to those cute little boxes that use a laser to draw a keyboard on your desk and watch where your fingers hit for a couple hundred bucks.
There are also all sorts of tiny "media" keyboards that are bluetooth and will work, easier to toss in the laptop bag with the tablet.

From what I hear, Android supports bluetooth devices in the same way.
Unfortunately I don't know what software to recommend nor any of the limitations there.

I'm more interested in how this will affect my humping USB dog: https://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/usb-gadgets/9c89/

"where the hell are you going to get the flux-capacitor?"

From Thinkgeek of course!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/clearance/on-sale/9fc6/

Getting my admin on this list.

Yup, that'll do.

It seems that, while android can be encrypted, it's typically irrelevant since the system is always on. To deal with that, could you run a second environment? I see it's common to run linux chrooted on android. Could you do something similar, except the second environment is encrypted when not running? This way, quick but unsecure information is immediately available. Sensitive information is slower to access but is secured?

And so that you didn't have to regularly encrypt/decrypt the secure environment, could you use a bluetooth dongle to authenticate as well as signal when the environment should remain decrypted? When it's near, the unsecure environment knows to keep the secure environment decrypted. When the bluetooth system disassociates, the unsecure environment encrypts the secure environment. When the bluetooth dongle comes back, you push a button on the dongle and it provides the decryption key to the unsecure environment.

I tried playing Pac-Man on an iPhone and gave up in about 3 minutes because even if your thumb slips off the button a little bit you won't notice until Pac-Man refuses to move and is then gang-raped by a pack of ghosts.

Then you need the iCade.

The only mains-powered clocks I've seen that use the power frequency as their frequency source tend to be older ones. Perhaps there's some modern ones that use it, but I've not seen any.

The thinkgeek binary clock does, or at least did. My copy has a button that you have to hold down when you plug it in if your mains are 50 Hz instead of 60. (The thinkgeek page now says that it autosenses 50 or 60 hz.)

Now I'll have to wait for ver 1.1 of http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/gear/8a2f/ [thinkgeek.com]

If element discoveries keep going at the current rate, in 20 or 30 years, a shower curtain won't be large enough for all the elements to fit, and still have readable type <G>

Perhaps a linoleum floor version of the table?

Now I'll have to wait for ver 1.1 of http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/gear/8a2f/

frankly I don't think Sony gives a flying f_ck

I would love it if Sony gave me a flying f_ck: http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/rc/b527/

Painless and self-renewing (or maybe reprogrammable!) nano-tattoos coming soon to flesh near you?

It's certainly been a staple of cyberpunk.

It's already here. Think geek has a wand that changes an e-Ink tatoo to a new picture.

What you REALLY want is this.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/slashdot/

You mean no improvement aside from being able to do the same thing?

FTFY

C'mon, nothing new about this study, the poster for it came out years and years ago. Move along.

Since there's no U-235 in it, you certainly may do so. Just like you can harvest the Unicorns in the chip and send them to meat processing plants. (which otherwise would be illegal due to the Unicorn horn trade that's been depleting the stocks of wild Unicorns)

I purchased a Water Powered Clock a few years ago and it stopped working after about a month. Hopefully this technology has progressed and these batteries will have a decent lifespan.

Without the traditional set of buttons, a joystick and for FPSers a mouse it's really a non-starter.

Start 'er up then, because buttons are simply something you can buy them

I don't think you or many other people on Slashdot understand the HUGE depth of the third party accessory market based around iOS devices. That "mini cabinet"? Used by the Atari Greatest Hits app. When you get the device count Apple has reached with a relatively small number of devices, a range of really interesting accessories become cost effective to manufacture.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/looflirpa/e8be/

Maybe the "AprilFools" bit in the product link will help you figure out if this is a joke or not ;-) . Over the past few years ThinkGeek has turned several of their joke April Fools products into real products though due to demand, and I have a feeling that this one (along with the Star Wars Lightsaber Popsicles) will follow the same path.

I can't tell if this is a joke or not but when I go out with friends - yes anonymous cowards have friends - and most of them want to see a movie in 3D I find myself putting on the glasses but covering one eye to avoid eyestrain.

You can vote for it to be real at http://www.thinkgeek.com/42.shtml

There's nothing quite up to "tauntaun sleeping bag" brilliance, but ThinkGeek's AFJs are generally worth looking at:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/looflirpa/

And the video they did for the light saber popsicles is worth it for the "ice cream truck Vader" theme:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/looflirpa/e8b8/

There's nothing quite up to "tauntaun sleeping bag" brilliance, but ThinkGeek's AFJs are generally worth looking at:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/looflirpa/

And the video they did for the light saber popsicles is worth it for the "ice cream truck Vader" theme:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/looflirpa/e8b8/

Is the De-3D glasses http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/looflirpa/e8be/?pfm=AprilFools_homepage_Featured_5

Anyone have any idea how this thing actually works?

The best I could come up with is based on a very small part of the article:

But how does it work? Cademartiri acknowledged that the phenomenon is complex with several effects occurring simultaneously. Among these effects, it appears that carbon particles, or soot, generated in the flame are key for its response to electric fields. Soot particles can easily become charged. The charged particles respond to the electric field, affecting the stability of flames, he said.

So I guess what happens is that the electrical field charges the soot and other light carbony things generated in the fire, which causes them to disperse sort of like what happens with this toy? How does that help extinguish the fire, though? Wouldn't the outward motion of the carbon particulates just bring in more oxygen?

What other effects are going on?

Next time you pack for a trip where luggage space is at a premium, try rolling up your clothing instead of packing it folded flat in your suitcase/seabag.

During my trip through US Army basic training, I was told to do this. During our first excursion prep, I ignored it initially, then realized that I couldn't pack everything in my rucksack. On a second attempt, placing more emphasis on rolling my clothes, I managed to fit it all in. Ever since I that time, I roll my clothes unless there's ample space in my luggage (sometimes this has resulted in me traveling with a smaller bag).

However, back to the point, I'm not sure that you could actually gain space rolling a display... unlike clothes, I'm sure any given such display will not like having really tight wrap radius, and unlike most clothing, are not generally disposable/replaceable. Consequently, I'm not sure why "roll-able" displays are really worth mentioning... much like the completely useless roll-able keyboard I bought back in 2001, it's neat for show and that's about it... usability sucked and eventually it got torn from being stored wrapped up.

Have a small cube or brick that projects a keyboard (like http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/8193/ ) on the table, and a screen on the wall or on a roll-up screen. The "screen" could even be "touch" enabled via the same sensing technology the projected keyboard uses. For "Laptop" use there could be two dishwasher resistant plastic boards, which could also double as breakfast plates while commuting. ;-P

Definitely nothing I would want to write a book or code software on, but good enough for weak-point presentations or use on a plane.

this is a real, working device. Though, in the case of a nuclear reactor, you want the opposite effect.

Reminds me of the virtual laser keyboard that came out a few years back. Is there anyone out there who actually bought one and used it regularly (or, like, more than 5 minutes)?

Yeah, I have one. Funny thing about typing is that fingers need a resistance buffer (ala buckling springs) so that you can rest your fingers without triggering a key-press, and get feedback (even, mmm audible clacks) to notify you to stop pressing.

I have tried using the laser keyboard, and it fails in the same way that all touch-pads & touch-screens do.

• No resting position
• No physical response to keypress
• No pressure buffer

By "pressure buffer" I mean that pressure goes from none to 100% ALL STOP on each press using any touch surface. This is retarded behavior (seriously, retards my typing speed considerably), and causes more repetitive stress due to the equal/opposite forces slamming into the end of your fingers each time you press.

Set your keyboard aside, and pretend to type on the desk -- It HURTS after an hour or so. The mechanical keyboards & mice are truly far superior. My normal speed of 80wpm drops to 50wpm with the laser keyboard. Hint: I can touch type, but the laser can't notify me by touch where the damn keys are at...constant readjustments are required.

On the topic of pointer input...

Hello touch interface users: Welcome to the next round of: Rub your fingertips off (or alternatively: Really Expensive Writers Cramp).

Even if you put down a flexible mat in front of the EvoMouse to reduce finger impact strain, and grease it up to reduce the finger friction burns, you still have to deal with either "flying fingers" or "repetitive keyboard to pointer reach" -- No restful position.

Look where your pointer hand is even when you're reading: Resting on the mouse / trackball / keyboard, ready to scroll past this nonsense at the press of a button or roll of a wheel (Hint: remap Capslock to Ctrl and use ctrl + IJKL (CHTN on Dvorak) as arrow keys... no more arrow key reach stress). Touch users will be hovering their finger above the scroll region, or else will have to reach to scroll.

I prefer pen-tablets, mice, trackballs, keyboards... Why anyone thinks that an "insubstantial" interface is intuitive is beyond me -- we have nerves tuned for mechanical manipulation and touch feedback. Here's a brilliant Idea: Let's utilize our senses / nerves, not make them less important; Let's also stop labeling input methods that require even more motor skills than finger twitch, wrist move as "innovative".

The Wacom Intuos4 pen-tablet comes with a "wireless" mouse that doesn't take batteries -- NO, I said NO batteries, not "it's a rechargeable bullshit battery that you have to charge" -- I mean, It works just like the damn pen does, the tablet senses the mouse.

I just move the mouse aside and begin drawing with the pen to switch back and forth. No wires (except on the pad itself), and Bonus: Gimp recognizes the pen-tip, pen-eraser, and mouse all as separate pointers with their own tool selection auto activated when they are above the pad. Draw, flip pen to erase, grab mouse to arrange & composite.

I get both: The precision & natural feel of a pressure sensitive "touch" pen-tablet, and the restful comfort & familiarity of a mouse for every day point / click / scrollwheel.

Touch / Laser input be damned. You're right, it's neat for 5min -- Keep the box & re-gift them; These touch input devices are a toys, not real "work" devices (by this I mean that if you do most of your work by key/pointer input touch devices are horribly inefficient & inaccurate at best -- The touch devices would probably be fine for a manager or C*O who doesn't require comfortable