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...given the migration to Wifi, that is.

If you really want to keep 911 available, your solution is to invest this money into lots of wireless nodes instead, all with battery-backup, so that EVERYBODY has access regardless of the circumstance.

--
Why didn't you know?

May I suggest the readers to read about MY (negative) experiences I had with this Zeta-OS?:

http://tinyurl.com/dx2ol

Thanks
Uwe

http://tinyurl.com/9nu5p I hid the url because it tells you who in the title. Anyway, hope it helps.

No Alanis Morissette. No Marilyn Manson. No Billie Holiday.

Damn man, if it's OK to not have any music, I can support Mac OS X and Linux too! Come on over to nokilli's download service, where you can listen to silence in your choice of MP3, Ogg Vorbis, WMA or the very popular, highly compressed, zero-byte file format.
--
Why didn't you know?

Or actually, malware is I guess what we should be calling it.

There's malware out there that will reformat your hard drive, right?

So maybe the best recommendation we can give these people is not to throw out their computers, but to try and have as much malware installed on their systems as possible, because eventually the situation repairs itself.

And as a bonus, every time the hard drive gets wiped means they reach for the Windows Install CD. What better opportunity for Linux evangelization than at the point of operating system installation? What do they have to lose by trying Linux at this point?

If we can see to it that enough of these Live/Install CD's are distributed en-masse, a la AOL, then the chances are good that at least some of these people will at least try installing Linux.

OpenOffice, Evolution, the GiMP, and Firefox? For free? Without malware or the threat of same? A lot of people are going to say "Yes!" to that.

--
Why didn't you know?

Anybody else think that title could have been worded better to avoid confusion with the more common LA?

Only if the original author has the intention from the outset of having the possibility of easily producing a non-GPL licensed edition (i.e. without having to seek permission or reassignment from every individual contributor at a later date). I think in most cases, original authors have made a positive choice to use the GPL for their code. I know I have (in preference to BSD and Artistic) for a package I wrote and for which the primary purpose was as a piece of example/demonstration code for a third-party library.

What I meant was that dual-licensing is happening all over! Small projects wanna do it.

Examples?

Large projects do it. MySQL does it.

MySQL are the original authors of their code, and so they're perfectly entitled to do so. I agree with Linus Torvalds' view that "He who writes the code gets to say the copyright, and _nobody_ has the right to complain about his/her choice of copyright". As far as I'm aware, MySQL AB have always offered MySQL under other licenses than the GPL, thus they could well be an exception to my previous comment about a 'implicit assignment' defence being unlikely to be upheld.

I think original authors are entitled to have the right to dual license if they wish, though I'd prefer they wouldn't, and didn't feel the need to.

AFAIK, the only big projects that are carefull are OO.org and the FSF. They demmand that you fill a paper form and snail-mail it giving up on your copyright. I agree that that the prudent approach is that of not assuming you can dual-license, but a lot of people are assuming the contrary, either due to unfairness or ignorance (the hype and noise around GNU, Linux and the GPL). People need to be conscious about what they're getting into if they contribute to a project. Is it serious? Or are they going to dual-license it and just say "thanks very much for your code", or simply turn it closed-source once they think it's good enough? My point was that the BSD license levels the playing field for everybody. Either that or the LGPL. Projects like JBoss use the LGPL because they want the reciprocity that it provides.

Now you've lost me. What additional reciprocity or protection from dual-licensing does the LGPL give that the GPL does not? The only extra the LGPL allows that the GPL does not is that closed, proprietary applications may be linked against it (providing they use the published API) without themselves being subject to the (L)GPL. As the copyright owners of JBoss, JBoss Inc. could, if they wished, take the next version of JBoss proprietary. You have only their honour and their word that they won't (combined with the threat of legal action from an offended contributor who didn't want to implicitly reassign their copyright), just like with any other GPLed project. JBoss Inc. are not bound by the terms of the LGPL regarding code that they own unless they want to be.

However, the FSF actively plays against the the LGPL and they renamed it to "Lesser GPL." This license is adequate for libraries, though.

Well, it depends on the code. As I wrote in a previous commment, pick the right license for the code according to its role. If you're building something that you'd like to be used as standard (e.g. a desktop environment) in Free operating systems, even by proprietary applications, LGPL is probably the way to go. If you've built something valuable and unique that you'd like to only make available to Free applications (in effect providing a Unique Selling Point for Free OSs and applications), then the GPL might be a better bet.

I guess we can assume from this discussion that there are a lot more subtleties to licensing than people assume. Knee-jerk reactions defending the GPL just won't cut it.

Likewis

Lines from Unix's source code have been copied into the heart of Linux, sometimes exactly and sometimes in a modified form designed to disguise their origin, according to SCO Group Chief Executive Darl McBride.

"We're finding...cases where there is line-by-line code in the Linux kernel that is matching up to our UnixWare code."

Space.com has some images of the new planet system http://tinyurl.com/e2j7z.

Some anonymous coward reports there may have been more to the legendary aspect of code being copied from AIX into Linux; see the follow-up on Grokster at http://tinyurl.com/do5d5.

As cool as this is (and as much as I want one so badly), the same effect has been achieved already with the Ideazon Zboard. You can basically take keyplates off and put other ones on there, and they have plates for all sorts of applications and games.

Take all claims by United Nuclear (aka United Nyuck Nyuck Nyucklear) with a grain of salt. It is run by the infamous Bob Lazar Whose claims to fame include reverse-engineering alien spacecraft and working with their power source "element 115"(which doesn't exist in this part of the galazy) and advanced degrees in physics from MIT and CalTech which no paperwork can be found on. His old site has got some "interesting" info on the alien craft.

Is someone already trying to use a 1991 patent to shut down the real estate maps? http://tinyurl.com/b23nl

Obligatory "Area Man Constantly Mentioning He Doesn't Own A Television" post:

http://tinyurl.com/dknj9

Area Man Constantly Mentioning He Doesn't Own A Television

(c) The Onion

CHAPEL HILL, NC--Area resident Jonathan Green does not own a television, a fact he repeatedly points out to friends, family, and coworkers--as well as to his mailman, neighborhood convenience-store clerks, and the man who cleans the hallways in his apartment building.

"I, personally, would rather spend my time doing something useful than watch television," Green told a random woman Monday at the Suds 'N' Duds Laundromat, noticing the establishment's wall-mounted TV. "I don't even own one."

According to Melinda Elkins, a coworker of Green's at The Frame Job, a Chapel Hill picture-frame shop, Green steers the conversation toward television whenever possible, just so he can mention not owning one.

"A few days ago, [store manager] Annette [Haig] was saying her new contacts were bothering her," Elkins said. "The second she said that, I knew Jonathan would pounce. He was like, 'I didn't know you had contacts, Annette. Are your eyes bad? That a shame. I'm really lucky to have almost perfect vision. I'm guessing it's because I don't watch TV. In fact, I don't even own one."

According to Elkins, "idiot box" is Green's favorite derogatory term for television.

"He uses that one a lot," she said. "But he's got other ones, too, like 'boob tube' and 'electronic babysitter.'"

Elkins said Green always makes sure to read the copies of Entertainment Weekly and People lying around the shop's break room, "just so he can point out all the stars and shows he's never heard of."

"Last week, in one of the magazines, there was a picture of Calista Flockhart," Elkins said, "and Jonathan announced, 'I have absolutely no idea who this woman is. Calista who? Am I supposed to have heard of her? I'm sorry, but I haven't.'"

Tony Gerela, who lives in the apartment directly below Green's and occasionally chats with the 37-year-old by the mailboxes, is well aware of his neighbor's disdain for television.

"About a week after I met him, we were talking, and I made some kind of Simpsons reference," Gerela said. "He asked me what I was talking about, and when I told him it was from a TV show, he just went off, saying how the last show he watched was some episode of Cheers, and even then, he could only watch for about two minutes before having to shut it off because it insulted his intelligence so terribly."

Added Gerela: "Once, I made the mistake of saying I saw something on the news, and he started in with, 'Saw the news? I don't know about you, but I read the news."

Green has lived without television since 1989, when his then-girlfriend moved out and took her set with her.

"When Claudia went, the TV went with her," Green said. "But instead of just going out and buying another one--which I certainly could have afforded, that wasn't the issue--I decided to stand up to the glass teat."

"I'm not an elitist," Green said. "It's just that I'd much rather sculpt or write in my journal or read Proust than sit there passively staring at some phosphorescent screen."

"If I need a fix of passive audio-visual stimulation, I'll go to catch a Bergman or Truffaut film down at the university," Green said. "I certainly wouldn't waste my time watching the so-called Learning Channel or, God forbid, any of the mind sewage the major networks pump out."

Continued Green: "People don't realize just how much time their TV-watching habit--or, shall I say, addiction--eats up. Four hours of television a day, over the course of a month, adds up to 120 hours. That's five entire days! Why not spend that time living your own life, instead of watching fictional people live theirs

Talk about a flamebait title

I found this article to be particularly insightful. The writer sets out several examples of innovation on the part of both Nintendo and the competition. He/She then clearly illustrates how the vast majority of innovations in videogaming aren't assimilated into the canon of game development/interface.

Like a lot of slashdotters, I grew up with a NES & SMS in the house. I'm coming at this from the perspective of someone who wants this company to succeed. Check it out, it's not like I don't own a few Nintendo systems & games.

The author hits the nail on the head though. Nintendo seems far too concerned with distancing themselves from their competitors and not nearly focussed enough on developing appealing content. I agree 100% that the company may not survive in its current state beyond the next generation. Now please, before anybody responds with Japanese sales numbers understand that I want Nintendo to do well. But that market is not what it used to be with respect to dominating the videogame market. I've read interviews with industry execs talking about reviving the ailing industry in Japan. Like it or not, the North American market is clearly the battlefield upon which the big N needs to wage war. I don't see them doing this.

Nintendogs. Yes yes, I know. It's a huge hit in Japan. Does anybody honestly believe that that type of success can succeed in this (NA) market? I may be wrong, but I certainly don't. I'm someone that follows the gaming scene pretty closely, and all I know about it is that it appears to be a Tamagochi in dog's clothing. The mass market which gobbles up the Halos, Maddens & GTAs (all fine games) will likely not be interested.

The majority of games I've played on the DS offer little more than brief diversions. I'm sure that there are some titles that provide a deep and rich experience but the system hasn't even been marketed to profile that. Most people I've talked to (granted, it's not something I bring up at dinner parties) find the entire thing a little offputting. Chances are excellent that I'll get one eventually, but I'm more of a completist than your broadly-drawn NBA Street fan.

Third party support for the Gamecube has dropped to a frighteningly small pool of developers. When you're a hardware/software company that releases 3 or 4 big titles a year, you had better foster important ties to your third parties otherwise your userbase will be left wanting.

Coming from someone who owned both Samba Di Amigo maracas and a Virtua Boy, Nintendo seriously needs to reconsider its position in the market. We're all aware of the huge cash reserves it has, and we're all aware of the worldwide edge the GCN apparently has on the Xbox. They currently rule entire handheld industry & have maintained that stranglehold through excellent software and rock solid hardware. The new direction of "pure innovation" however, is going to destroy the company.

And when you can't avoid typing, use better "typing posture". For those who didn't take a proper typing class (my mom forced me to take a course when I was a sophomore[1] in high school so I would be self-sufficient for college term papers. Little did I know I'd be taking Summer courses in LISP and FORTRAN the following year.

Biggest tip: do not rest your elbows or wrists.

I'm willing to wager 99%[2] of the people at a keyboard do not do this and most of the people who have RPI have acquired it because they do rest either joint of their arms.

All that changing a keyboards (different contour, key layout, or both) is doing is changing the posture of your fingers | hands | wrists | elbows | arms. Save yourself the time and just discipline yourself a bit.

The other thing which has been cited in RPI articles is when people spent time moving back & forth between keyboard & mouse repeatedly; i.e. you're better off to use keystrokes as much as possible or mouse as much as possible, but constant switching is not a good thing.


__________________
[1] Yes, that's the correct spelling (for the spelling-challenged)

[2] Those five people who respond with claims they are the exceptions aren't going to disprove it.

I am not sure if you are talking about the same product, but a Australian Outfit by the name of Silicon Breeze Pty Limited used to produce FreeBSD, Linux or Other open source jewellery. Including Beastie, Tux and Apache Quill/Feather statues out of quite a number of metals and alloys including Gold.

However they seem to have gone out of Business.

Their web address used to be:
http://www.siliconbreeze.com/ it doesn't exists anymore.

Here is Internet Archive link to the old site:
http://web.archive.org/web/20040209165643/www.linu xjewellery.com/beastie/
OR
http://tinyurl.com/892st

For what its worth here is the postal address:
Silicon Breeze Pty Limited
49 Yarrabung Rd
St Ives NSW 2075
Australia

DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated with the Silicon Breeze company.

~AC

The Downing Street memo does not represent "the fact that the US government was deliberately 'fixing the facts around the policy." The Downing Street memo represents no "fact" about US policy but rather is recorded hearsay (essentially hearsay three-times removed: staffer recording the minutes of a British cabinet meeting were officials were relating their impressions of the impressions of unnamed Americans they had spoken to).

For more on this and other aspects of the non-importance of this memo see the following opinion piece : http://tinyurl.com/7fzwg

On your point about a coalition, the US had a coalition for this Iraq war even if it did not have the backing of the UN (which, with the financial ties France and Russia appear to have had with the Husein regime was never likely) . I respectfully disagree with your assertion that post-war Iraq would look better if the UN helped out more. The UN does not have an exceptional record in this regard (the corruption following the first Iraq war is just one example). How would the UN have helped prevent looting? And please don't tell me its because of the fear that those blue helmets strike into the heart of the enemy.

Also, I think you assign too much importance to an attitude. If a country is unwilling to help in an effort that is right (assuming, for sake of argument that it is) but decides not to due to the "attitude" of one of the parties (which is what you seem to imply), then that nation's help would only be half-hearted at best anyway.

Most of Iraqi society is functioning quite well with very little or no presence of US/UK troops.

But we already have a park full of Neanderthals.

Cheers yo!

BillyBob

Obligatory "Area Man Constantly Mentioning He Doesn't Own A Television" post:

http://tinyurl.com/dknj9

Take a look at the following on-going thread at TopMudSites.com over this abuse of the DikuMUD license -- http://tinyurl.com/axzm2

For those looking for more research sites, some with actual proof of the code differences and credit removal, try these sites:
+ http://www.arthmoor.com/med/
+ http://www.arthmoor.com/med/limits.txt

Currently, the MUD community would welcome any freelance lawyer to make a case of this insult to the game development community and stand up for the rights of other DIKU-related game developers including the original developers of the DIKU codebase.

And if you wish to mail the owner/god of the game, here's the e-mail address (Vryce@medievia.com ). Make sure you have MEDIEVIA in the subjectline or he won't get it.

Here are a few to please corporate marketing, sales and management types (yes, they're work safe):

http://prague.tv/galleries/funny-pics7/freebsd.jpg -- Remember, sometimes less is more.

http://www.nrg4u.com/freebsd/baby-doll-1-small.jpg (yeah yeah, I know, but they could learn a thing or two from them)

http://intdata.homeip.net/img/freeBSD-girl.jpg (mmh, amazing how many critical pieces of infrastructure are held together by duct tape)

Redundant components: http://tinyurl.com/a2uhp

One for the marketing department: http://www.servepath.com/images/better_devil_250x2 80.jpg

One to compensate for corporate randomness: http://images-jp.amazon.com/images/P/483990930X.09 .LZZZZZZZ.jpg (what is it about Japanese graphics that just screams "weird!"?)

And finally of course, http://homepage.tinet.ie/~cullenm/2dart/regi.jpg (just to piss off the zealots)

Ok, of course I'm single-minded, but seriously, folks, stick to working on the (fantastic) OS, let the sysadmins smuggle it into the enterprise like they've been doing for years :)

At the time the patent was filed, it was extremely uncommon for systems to make automatic recommendations based solely on the behavior of users. When I did my work at Alexa Internet (which was acquired by Amazon) in the late 90s, I had to solve a number of issues which had not been dealt with, both from an engineering perspective and from a quality of results perspective -- few companies, and no academic researchers that I am aware of -- had both the amount of data and the technical talent required to process it in order to test and refine recommendation systems based on transactional information.

My work in this area became Amazon's "customers who shopped for X also shopped for Y feature." Greg Linden, the first name on this patent, is now doing interesting recommendation work with his site Findory.

--Pat / zippy@cs.brandeis.edu / blog / pics.

A typical Linux user

There is this strange Chem trail thing I have following on the web for about 3 years now. I have no idea what to make of it. All I know is it does seem to be real, and I can make no other explaination for what is occuring in our skies.

Are you seeing anything like this where you live?
http://tinyurl.com/889gr

We recently released what I like to call a casual RTS/Action hybrid for Windows called Epidemic Groove. It's a single-player game written to be played over a lunch break, (with matches typically taking 10-20 minutes). In it, you alternate between Construction and Invasion phases. In the former, you have 60 seconds to build defensive walls, medical lasers, repair pylons, and electrified fences to create an impenetrable structure. In the latter, you have to use those defenses and your reflexes to fend off pathogenic attack. Here are some shots:

GIF animation of Construction Phase

Shot of infected red blood cell attacking

It's an indie title, but it's been well-received by those who have played/reviewed it. Give it a try!

We recently released what I like to call a casual RTS/Action hybrid for Windows called Epidemic Groove. It's a single-player game written to be played over a lunch break, (with matches typically taking 10-20 minutes). In it, you alternate between Construction and Invasion phases. In the former, you have 60 seconds to build defensive walls, medical lasers, repair pylons, and electrified fences to create an impenetrable structure. In the latter, you have to use those defenses and your reflexes to fend off pathogenic attack. Here are some shots:

GIF animation of Construction Phase

Shot of infected red blood cell attacking

It's an indie title, but it's been well-received by those who have played/reviewed it. Give it a try!

If you read and clicked through the article....

You would see at

http://tinyurl.com/bfj8v

"Approximately 700 pounds in weight, the titles would tower 828 feet if you stacked them atop each other--almost as tall as the Empire State Building."

This means end to end, rather than back to back.

So, the maths are correct. Your interpretation is wrong..! :-O

Guys, there is http://www.terraserver.com/ , exists for YEARS and in fact it started when terrabyte levels of database was big deal. I am speaking about 1997! ( http://tinyurl.com/9ty3a )

It was sponsored by Microsoft at start because of that reason. Remember everyone was joking about their database stuff those times.

You tell me you didn't know amateur level satellite photography for whole World exists? Also if you are a rich geek, you can buy amazing detail (commercial level) images.

I really can't understand when people act like "Wow Google invented some huge thing". Yahoo maps were always there too.

The Da Vinci Code is nonsense, second hand nonsense and false facts, written with all the style and formal elegance of a Post Office circular, My cat knows more about history, art history, architecture, oh yes, and aviation than Dan Brown. There are scores of sites debunking the thing; though most of these are apologists for Catholicism and Opus Dei there are a few that will set you straight.
Do yu really believe the Louvre pyramid has 666 panes of glass?

Google U.S. patent application 20040122811 outlines a plan for payment to view media resources, specifically copyrighted resources such as books, articles, etc.

Here's a tinyurl to the patent application:
http://tinyurl.com/9lol9

Google U.S. patent application 20040122811 outlines a plan for payment to view media resources, specifically copyrighted resources such as books, articles, etc.

Here's a tinyurl to the patent application:
http://tinyurl.com/9lol9

Time to dust off this page:

How to Detect Internet Explorer

But only encourage switching to a different browser, don't harangue them into doing it. Remember that some companies/organizations still require the use of IE, especially to access internal systems. If your surfers are coming from such a place, getting mad at them won't help either of you.

Actually this isn't an issue for debate and any debate about it would be suspect in its intentions; any society that doesn't help its poor is morally corrupt. Period. It's really as simple as that. If some children in a society live in such abject poverty that they're too poor to get healthcare, food, and shelter, when the society can easily afford to provide for them, then I don't care what the self-righteous SOBs of the society claim.

In the US there is a societal ill of self-righteoussness; many of the wealthy and the religious think they are blessed because they had been good, and they think the poor are poor because of their moral failings. Hence they think they should not help the poor, and they think they (the rich and the religious) are entitled to whatever they can have, because it's a "blessing", and the more they get the more blessed they are and the more deserved it is! Monbiot wrote about this a while ago http://tinyurl.com/43tyl and if you observe Americans you'll see it evident. It even "trickled down" to their middle-classes. I recall an average American guy interviewed once whose definition of a "moron/idiot" was "a homeless person, someone who couldn't keep a job". This lack of empathy, my friends, reeks of stink! There's no debate about it.

And if you look at American foreign policy you'll see that it is likewise, with so-called aid actually being *far* from being real aid, with a third of it essentially being military aid to Israel, already one of the wealthiest nations(! - aid, huh?), the Egyptian regime and the Columbian government. Overall, more than 80% of the ~$15b American "aid" is actually subsidies to American enterprises doing work overseas, that would've otherwise been deemed illegal by WTO. Compare that with the $50b European aid, well over 80% of it is real aid that actually goes to the poor, and also compare it to the far more egalitarian European societies, where the poor get free healthcare, food, shelter, education, and so on, and I am left in no doubt as to the clarity of the moral issues here, far past any "byzantine debate" by a bunch of self-righteous bastards.

http://tinyurl.com/8qmvt - I guess they have heard a signal although its not confirmed yet???

Your very presence in the Past would change the Past. You can't be complimentary and effect a change in the weight, the number of humans present, the amount of air being breathed, at the same time. Therefore attempted travel into the Past would fail. Either yur atoms would be scrambled (in the Present) at the moment the Past detected your attempt, or you might start going into the Past but find yourself deflected away somewhere else... most likely into Space somewhere and DIE. It might even be much worse than that. You could find yourself trapped somewhere in my website, and we all know what that would be like. Well, at least I do: http://tinyurl.com/dc8ul for information about Space Travel.

Cool! Let's make an aquarium and put some whales in there!

We could string a big spidey web between all our remaining old rockets we want to get rid of and fire them all at once, do the 28 missions in one jump... and pray all that firepower doesn't affect Earth orbit. Or also, we could consult inventors OUTSIDE THE AGENCIES. Maybe uhm there's someone OUT HERE who has some "new ideas": http://tinyurl.com/8kc3l or http://tinyurl.com/b6sel . Bio Fat, pretty good idea eh?

We could string a big spidey web between all our remaining old rockets we want to get rid of and fire them all at once, do the 28 missions in one jump... and pray all that firepower doesn't affect Earth orbit. Or also, we could consult inventors OUTSIDE THE AGENCIES. Maybe uhm there's someone OUT HERE who has some "new ideas": http://tinyurl.com/8kc3l or http://tinyurl.com/b6sel . Bio Fat, pretty good idea eh?

As a side thought, it would be funny for someone to intentionally make a bad distro.

http://tinyurl.com/8z96f

WalMart has been having sub-$300 computers for a couple years now... that page is sub-$200, and they all include desktop, keyboard, mouse, CD-ROM, and an OS.

Meanwhile, Dell offers "Desktops starting from $299" and Gateway offers them from $499 with an LCD monitor. $350 won't get you top-of-the-line, but it can certainly get you a "new" computer.

No... but they are angry. And they don't like it...

But last time a despot tried to take over thier country... they wanted help real quick. I guess it is a matter of perspective.

But in any cases US soldiers would liberate/defend either country as they are called to do.

May the French should be envious of that. Of the ability in any case. Of the dedication of our fighting men and women.

Oh, and I hope California falls off.

Location:
Charleston, SC 3247'N,7956'W
Richmond, Va. 3733'N,7729'W
San Francisco, CA 3747'N,12226'W


Hmmm... thats... (69.2 * 5).. 346 miles north (Both Richmond and San Fran) of Charleston. Let us see.

Weather (Today's Forecast... High/Low Humidity%):
Charleston---- 90/74 83%
San Francisco- 63/53 100%
Richmond------ 94/72 70%


This... is absolute crap. Of course not much to do to complain about it. Just odd to note that the difference in the forecast b/t Richmond and S.F. is that great. Also it is worth noting that Charleston is unusualy cool/dry for this time of year, IIRC. I know August will be just plain brutal.

And to bring this back on topic... I've seen the same things done with a box-fan and a wet towel... though this is more intricate. If you want to go all out... the local Publix (to me anyway) sells dry ice. Get some dry ice and some salt water, throw a lid on the garbage pail... and you should be rocking out. Serious cold. Impress your friends. Use only in a well ventilated area.

Also...
This is CHEAP
This is actualy a solution



Chris

(Belated note: Putting a lid on the pail and using in a well ventilated area are a bit contradictory. I don't know which one I mean.)

No... but they are angry. And they don't like it...

But last time a despot tried to take over thier country... they wanted help real quick. I guess it is a matter of perspective.

But in any cases US soldiers would liberate/defend either country as they are called to do.

May the French should be envious of that. Of the ability in any case. Of the dedication of our fighting men and women.

Oh, and I hope California falls off.

Location:
Charleston, SC 3247'N,7956'W
Richmond, Va. 3733'N,7729'W
San Francisco, CA 3747'N,12226'W


Hmmm... thats... (69.2 * 5).. 346 miles north (Both Richmond and San Fran) of Charleston. Let us see.

Weather (Today's Forecast... High/Low Humidity%):
Charleston---- 90/74 83%
San Francisco- 63/53 100%
Richmond------ 94/72 70%


This... is absolute crap. Of course not much to do to complain about it. Just odd to note that the difference in the forecast b/t Richmond and S.F. is that great. Also it is worth noting that Charleston is unusualy cool/dry for this time of year, IIRC. I know August will be just plain brutal.

And to bring this back on topic... I've seen the same things done with a box-fan and a wet towel... though this is more intricate. If you want to go all out... the local Publix (to me anyway) sells dry ice. Get some dry ice and some salt water, throw a lid on the garbage pail... and you should be rocking out. Serious cold. Impress your friends. Use only in a well ventilated area.

Also...
This is CHEAP
This is actualy a solution



Chris

(Belated note: Putting a lid on the pail and using in a well ventilated area are a bit contradictory. I don't know which one I mean.)

http://tinyurl.com/8y7mu/

Good advise can be found here

Culberson County is one of the "Trans-Pecos" counties of western Texas. If you have ever traveled along I-10 and stopped for the night in Van Horn, you will know that it is basically an oasis town, retirement community, and truck stop in the middle of nowhere. I have always enjoyed stopping there just for that fact. They are proud of their "beautiful 9-hole golf course." Maybe the tiny airport there, with its existing aviation infrastructure and avgas would be a good location for a space port. What an eclectic mix that would be!

I find Linus's interviews to be very interesting.

If you like his interviews, you'll love his book. Jeez, only $0.75 on half.com. It's full of tons of those tasty little Linus-nuggets.

If you are in need of an electronic device that can count accurately, and provide solid record keeping, why not follow the example of the State light years ahead of the rest in experience, Nevada.

If it can count the coins in and out, it can count your votes. In the 2004 election, Nevada tried a new electronic voting machine, and refused the Diebold version, because it had no means to keep a paper trail.

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (CNN) -- Whether it's a casual tourist putting a few dollars in a slot machine, or a high-roller risking tens of thousands at the poker table, most Las Vegas gamblers have one thing in common: They believe they can win.

Dean Heller, Nevada's secretary of state, wants to instill that same degree of confidence in the state's electronic voting machines. So he asked the state experts who test slot machines for fairness and reliability to weigh in on the voting variety.

"Gambling is a billion-dollar industry, they can't afford to make a mistake, they can't afford to have these machines manipulated," he says. "So I said, 'I know this isn't within your responsibility, but could you determine, in your best estimation, which are the most secure machines available today to use electronically?'"

It was an unusual request but an interesting challenge for the engineers who spend their time testing, dismantling, and figuring out how a cheater might compromise any of the thousands of loud, dizzying, dazzling slot machines licensed in the state.

Marsha Walton, Nevada improves odds with e-vote: Slot machine experts consulted on voting technology, CNN, October 29, 2004

It was a breeze, a touch screen machine that had a glass panel on the left-side. When the touch-screen vote selection was completed, the voter looked over at the panel, and a print-out of the vote on a continuos paper tape spool was viewed.

If the voter was satisfied, a button finalised the vote, and the paper tape advanced into a lock box.

Quick, efficient and a permanent record of each vote. The election went off smooth.

• jpeg of machine - paper print-out on left
• Google Search results

Apple's original, flim-flam video explaining why Intel CPUs sucked arse. And the (deleted) web page at Apple explaining, in more details, why Intel CPUs sucked arse.