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emergency mirror by Alien54 · 2002-03-17 02:54 · Score: 2 · on And You Thought The Xbox Controller Was Big

you can see some of the pretty pictures at this throw away account here:

http://notnj.tripod.com/

Hal 91 by Ch_Omega · 2002-03-16 22:52 · Score: 1 · on Linux on a Floppy: Intro to Mini Linux Distros

I have nearly allways with me a disk with Hal 91 so that if I talk to none-belivers or ppl that simply doesn't know about Linux, I can show them the power of Linux!

... Well, actually, most ppl seem to think I've booted into Dos anyway, and/or complain about the lack of a GUI and stuff, but I once in a while, there are actually ppl who think I'm some sort of über-hacker when I say to them with a monotone and mystical voice:

"No, it's not DOS.. It's Leenooks.. It's a superior operationsystem that have now taken over all your hardware.. resistance is futile.."

Beer glass by hochwald · 2002-03-16 12:56 · Score: 0 · on Science in the Microwave

Sam Barros has used a beer glass to contain his plasma.

My experiment using a glass jar

The problem when you don't use something to contain the plasma in the oven is that it can get sucked throuygh the vents by the fan, or sometimes it floats near the magnetron and destroys the mica covering.

Re:Unsurprising by young-earth · 2002-03-11 14:35 · Score: 1 · on Move Over, Archaeopteryx

Just realized I didn't provide a proper answer to your Talkorigins "answer" to Gentry. The theory proposed by Brawley on Talkorigins, while quite clever, is fairly easily disproved. An extract from that link, emphasis added:

"This is the most intelligent argument to Gentry's claims I have seen. This is the argument that says radon traveled between the cracks of the biotite and deposited the polonium. This means, however, that the radon would leave scars along the cracks. The radon would be decaying this whole time, and as it traveled it would leave scars along the borders much like a man with his arms outspread holding cans of spray paint and walking through a narrow alley. It would be obvious where he had been. This is not the case in the mica, however, according to Robert Gentry. The radon tracks do not exist. This means that the radon could not have migrated to deposit the polonium. Also, in regard to the theory for radon travelling up through the interior of the earth: How long do you think radon lasts? It has a half life of less than four days. Radon could not travel far within a solid rock matrix, no matter how gaseous it was.

"As for fluids travelling through the mica? I think I should let Dr. Robert Gentry answer that one: 'fossil and neutron-induced fission tracks appear in U-halo centers in biotite, but are absent from Po-halo centers, thus excluding U-bearing solutions as the source of Po for those halos, irrespective of whether they occur along tiny conduits'."

Go anything more convincing to refute Gentry? Remember, his papers were peer-reviewed; do you have anything of that caliber to throw back against his ideas?

Re:Why, oh, why? by generic-man · 2002-03-11 06:27 · Score: 1 · on Sony Announces Excellent New Handhelds

We need credit-card size devices or smaller

What, you mean like the Rex PDA? They were credit-card sized, but they never caught on in part due to poor marketing and difficult text entry. Early Rexes didn't even have any text entry: you had to type things in on your PC and synchronize it later.

And by the way, the Rex is dead. Of course, if you really want to fuck around with one, you can buy it on the secondhand market. Who knows? Maybe you'll start blindly advocating it over other PDAs with a dismissive swipe of your hand, like the wackos we get around here.

Re:circa 2000 or so they suck by JonBob · 2002-03-08 17:18 · Score: 1 · on "Smart Board" To Replace White Boards?

Mortimer Ichabod Marker.

Three faves by Sebbo · 2002-03-01 09:08 · Score: 2 · on What's the Worst Acronym You've Ever Heard?

SOFA (Students On Financial Aid)
VENOM (Vicious Evil Network of Mayhem)
GROSS (Get Rid Of Slimy girlS)

Re:software protection by Anonymous Coward · 2002-02-28 23:01 · Score: 0 · on On the (Im)possibility of Obfuscating Programs

This is a very nice intro to the most obvious techniques... I've never used a Palm device before and I certainly didn't know it ran 68k code...

Did you know I write hard-drive installers for old (original, uncracked) Amiga games, and have to remove all their copy-protection at runtime to do so? In that particular field there is one luminary known as Rob Northen, who understood all of the above, and produced fantastic self-modifying code that decrypted and re-encrypted itself using trace mode. Now that's what I call proper protection, and even Rob knew that his protection only bought a few days delay.

Re:It's What We've Always Known by mheckaman · 2002-02-28 17:14 · Score: 1 · on PC Games To Help Public Policy Initiatives

I don't think you're actually that far from the truth. I personally believe that video games such as Quake are great for releasing our stress in non-violent ways. I can remember as a young teenager getting upset and hitting walls from time to time, but now when I get upset, I just fire up Quake III or Red Faction and blast things around for an hour. When I'm done playing, I feel calm and relaxed. This is hardly scientific evidence, but I know that at least for me, these games provide a great outlet for violent impulses (which all humans have!) when I'm angry.

As for the sex, check out this: http://bodhibkb.tripod.com/bodhiq3a/id1.html

Matt

Re:The name by AndyChrist · 2002-02-27 14:16 · Score: 1 · on Jeremiah, a New Series from B5 Creator, Debuts Sunday

Guess you don't come from a very religious area. I grew up around lots of people with really hebrew-sounding first names.

Actually, the character's name is one of the things that made me hope that this was based on "Eden." I figured if that were ever produced, the names would be changed, because they're even weirder.

some of my translations of Eden

the first decent ENGLISH "Eden" page

Re:Use PayPal only with a Credit Card by mbogosian · 2002-02-21 16:25 · Score: 2, Insightful · on Class Action Lawsuit Says PayPal Restricted Funds

FWIW, using a credit card for most purchases is actually good advice, because it avoids all sorts of frauds and other problems....

That is, of course, unless your credit card company belongs in the same detention hall as PayPal. This is slightly off topic, but consumers should remember not only to do their homework about online payment mechanisms, but their credit cards as well. There are some (IMHO) excellent, consumer-focused companies, and there are some (documented and documented) dishonest companies that suck rocks. If your credit card company tries to push off all of its fraud onto the end consumer, then using it is about as good as using cash.

A quick search online will give you volumes of complaints from customers on various different banks. The trick is to interpret them and pick the least evil.

One thing that consumers can do to protect themselves (beside reading their cardholder's agreement, but I'll assume everybody does that) is to call customer service of your bank before making a risky transaction and ask the representative to spell out your rights. Record the conversation and inform them you are doing so from the outset. That way if they renege, you have something to fight back with.

Another good thing to do is to find and read the Visa or MasterCard regulations (I would post a link, but they seem to be hard to come by) with which issuing banks must comply. Many banks will play upon the ignorance of the consumer and attempt to push responsibility for fraudulent charges onto the cardholder knowing that if they get lucky even 10% of the time, that's a whole lotta $$$ in their pockets.

Caveat cardholder.

Re:It's started already.... by austad · 2002-02-20 09:35 · Score: 4, Funny · on Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.1.3

Looks like Kathleen is 're-decorating'.

Dammit man, you let her get away with potpourri in the bathroom too didn't you?!?!

It's just a matter of time before slashdot smells all flowery, and has collectible plates and Precious Moments figurines on glass shelves with doilies on the front page.

Noooooooooooooooooooooo...........

Dangerous, but what the heck? by Rogerborg · 2002-02-18 06:16 · Score: 3, Insightful · on Re-Building the Wright Flyer

As an aside, bear in mind that Scrapheap Challenge (the original UK name and format for Junkyard Wars) has already seen teams build and fly:

Yes, that's right. If you haven't seen it, some poor mad fool got in a canard nosed "glider" that had been bodged up in day, and reached about 20mph and 15 feet before releasing the tow line. The "glider" went in a direction that could charitably be described as "not quite a plummet". He walked away. Then did it again, only faster. And again, reaching about 30mph. This is pretty much comparable with the speeds and energies in the Wright brother's creation.

The remote plane was an interesting one. It actually flew, in a very nearly controlled fashion. OK, it was built with modern scrap, but it was scrap, and it was built in a day.

I'm kind of wondering why the people building the replica airplanes feel the need to have human pilots in them. Remote control or even an expert system might do nicely if safety is a concern.

Dangerous, but what the heck? by Rogerborg · 2002-02-18 06:16 · Score: 3, Insightful · on Re-Building the Wright Flyer

As an aside, bear in mind that Scrapheap Challenge (the original UK name and format for Junkyard Wars) has already seen teams build and fly:

Yes, that's right. If you haven't seen it, some poor mad fool got in a canard nosed "glider" that had been bodged up in day, and reached about 20mph and 15 feet before releasing the tow line. The "glider" went in a direction that could charitably be described as "not quite a plummet". He walked away. Then did it again, only faster. And again, reaching about 30mph. This is pretty much comparable with the speeds and energies in the Wright brother's creation.

The remote plane was an interesting one. It actually flew, in a very nearly controlled fashion. OK, it was built with modern scrap, but it was scrap, and it was built in a day.

I'm kind of wondering why the people building the replica airplanes feel the need to have human pilots in them. Remote control or even an expert system might do nicely if safety is a concern.

The Signposts Document by Forager · 2002-02-17 12:03 · Score: 5, Informative · on A Timeline of the Future

I've always enjoyed reading this author's speculations about the future -- he seems to be slightly off-target on some things, and his work is a bit optimistic at times, but overall it's an interesting read.

Main site:
http://kurellian.tripod.com/spint.html

Storage site:
http://members.aol.com/kurellian/spint.html

~A.

Mod this Moron Down! by mr_don't · 2002-02-15 10:49 · Score: 5, Informative · on Raisethefist.com Update

Are radical anarchists all alike?

Surely you are too busy poking fun at your former high school classmates to attempt to understand where anarchist ideas of society are comming from. Try reading Chomsky, Emma Goldman, or Anarchist People of Color. These voices will probably expand your view of anarchy more than the image of your classmate. (By the way, what the hell were you doing in 9th grade cool guy? Were you the like Emilio Estevez in the Breakfast Club? Maybe you were like the Fonz? Naw, you were probably pimply and obnoxious, like everybody else that age!)

I attended the WEF protests and I can say (with much video to back this up) that it in no way was it out-of-control. In fact the police were acting in a completely unconstitutional manner, harassing the peaceful demonstrators (check out a Village Voice story about it here). Those people who were arrested at the Saturday were arrested because they were carrying toy police equipment, not because they were doing anything illegal. I think the police thought that the plastic Toys-R-Us batons were going to be used for terrorism or something.

By the way, if you knew anything about the WEF I am sure you would think twice about attending a protest against this unregulated group of businessmen. WEF members include BP Amoco, Exxon and Nike.

Here is a blurb I found about BP Amoco:
In addition to economically destroying the social structure of this once agriculture based society, BP financially supports the Colombian military which is notorious for its human rights abuses. Since 1987, 35,000 noncombatants have been murdered or 'disappeared' primarily by the BP backed military and its paramilitary allies. In 1997, BP admitted that it has provided the Colombian Ministry of Defense with $8 million.

And Nike?:
Nike pays workers less than $2 per day - an amount which is often significantly below a living wage.

Get a clue dude. Who cares if your friend was dirty in 9th grade. You were probably picked on too. Fight some real battles, against jerk-offs like the WEF members. For more info about the WEF read this article.

Raging Cactuar Data Shield? by stuffman64 · 2002-02-12 21:55 · Score: 3, Funny · on Cactus Data Shield Tries Again

I think a more reasonable data protection scheme is the Raging Cactuar Data Shield. If an attempt to copy a "protected" disc is made, a cactuar will appear and attack you with his "9,999 Needles" attack. You will quickly learn your lesson that when the record companies want more money, they will do anything to get it.

Re:Define 'double duty'. by Mignon · 2002-02-08 06:13 · Score: 2 · on Computer Hardware That Can Pull Double-Duty?

I've used a Wang before to keep pizza warm in the machine room (it was just the right size on top for a large pizza, and conveniently table height).

Speaking for Leon Phelps, the Ladies' Man (warning - tripod popups), I have to say you're right about the height, but you should see a doctor about that shape problem.

Re:Numbers could be misleading... by Anonymous Coward · 2002-02-07 08:18 · Score: 0 · on Feds to Publish Public Comments on MS Settlement

This reminds me of the Charlottetown accord referendum in Canada. Basically the question was "are you for or against the accord". Those against the accord won (54%), but half of those were against because it was "too little", and half were against because it was "too much". Sounds like it was a good compromise, but rejected nonetheless.

Will Hopefully Replace Traffic Copters by Schlemphfer · 2002-02-05 08:31 · Score: 5, Interesting · on MIT's Acrobatic Helicopter

This looks like a great and low-cost way for radio stations to do away with sending reporters up in helicopters to cover traffic. Back in 1993 WNBC listeners throughout New York City were listening to one such broadcast and heard the copter crash, killing the reporter and pilot. Many other such crashes have occurred over the years. With luck, this MIT copter could make it obsolete to send traffic reporters in the air.

recipes to scare you to death by Alien54 · 2002-02-01 16:12 · Score: 5, Interesting · on Geek Food: A Cookbook for the Technologically Inclined