Slashdot Mirror

I was actually going to mention JQuery, but changed my mind. But some people might find it useful.

It can only take images of still objects, since the image is "scanned" in. The results are quite good. Some effort has to be spent repairing the acquired image (streaks and so on). Overall a cheap solution to the problem.

Wouldn't current technoloy be a lot more efficient?

Sometimes modern technology will be more efficient, but not always. Some of you may have heard of Gray's Paradox. Or the MIT RoboTuna project. Gray's Paradox in a nutshell is that it seems a fish does not have the muscle mass needed to provide enough thrust to acheive the speeds and distances that fish can swim. It's actually short by a factor of 10. MIT is creating a robotic tuna to study the effect of a flexible hull that provides the thrust needed to move through the water. The RoboTuna has seen some Gray's Paradox properties of it's own, and it isn't swimming with full efficiency yet. With flexible hulls, ships might get more fuel efficiency, higher speeds, or the ability to hold stationary in turbulent waters. The ornathopter experiment may lead to similar breakthroughs in flight. You don't know what you might find until you try.

The efficient British administration bungled on this as late as Bengal Famine, 1943. In fact, 3 million are supposed to have died in this famine, and caused , among other things, caused Amartya Sen to take up economics, in particular, famine studies.

On the other hand, basic science (like space research) deserves to be encouraged by all (civilized) nations. Imagine medieval Italians or 18th century Britons waiting till all poverty was eradicated. Science and civilization do not progress in such a manner.

A U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania ruled on January 18,1996 that even if an employer promises not to intercept email on a company system, there is not an expectation of privacy in the email. The case underscores the question of whether the court system has an adequate understanding of the underlying technology.

According to the court, the employer repeatedly told its employees that "all email communications would remain confidential and privileged" and that "e-mail communications could not be used by [the company] against its employees as grounds for termination." Even with that promise, the employer intercepted the communications of Michael Smyth and fired him. The court held that:

We do not find a reasonable expectation of privacy in e-mail communications voluntarily made by an employee to his supervisor over the company e-mail system notwithstanding any assurances by management. Once plaintiff communicated the alleged unprofessional comments to a second person over an e-mail system which was apparently utilized by the entire company, any reasonable expectation of privacy was lost .... we find no privacy interests in such communications. We do not find that a reasonable person would consider the defendant's interception of these communications to be a substantial and highly offensive invasion of his privacy"

One of the hallmarks of the scientific method is the need to develop theories that are testable. These theories are then evaluated on the basis of how well their predictions meet testable evaluation criteria. One of the main reasons that Pattern Languages are not theories is the lack of such testability and then of course evidence that could validate or falsify them.

If I want to design systems that I can trust I need design theories, their justifications and their boundaries. I can't build reliably if I don't know the justifications for these design theories and if I don't know when they can and cannot be applied to a given situation.

In a series of essays on my weblog, I've started to explore some of these ideas in more detail. I'd appreciate feedback.

How about $10 million Canadian? And MOST is much larger than a lunchbox - it's about the size of a suitcase.

The http://www.astro.ubc.ca/MOST/

Maybe they should team up with these other award winning researchers.

That explains the huge drop in value I saw in late 2001. But why has the value not rebounded since then?

This page is more to the point, especially the graph at the bottom. So yes, it does appear that it was a consideration...

The pilot is not a professional cyclist. He is a professional engineer

As a fellow engineer I would like to point out this design flaw.

Seriously though, having a professional cyclist would make a world of difference. Even their Ironman triathlete Engineer (who specalizes in endurace, not 1 minute intervals) is no match for the power output of a pro bike rider.

Did you RTFF? Quoting from TFF at http://batman.mech.ubc.ca/~hph/faq.html:

14.) HOW WAS THE PILOT CHOSEN?

We have built our own test rig that measures power output of a pilot over a minute duration. We have plotted the results of numerous potential pilots against their weight. A successful candidate is one that falls above a power requirement curve (power vs. weight).

The helicopter is designed to lift off with ~425 Watts of human power. See the bottom of this page:

http://batman.mech.ubc.ca/~hph/index2.html

Dan.

These were engineering students, and yet no one thought to do the basic physics calculations (like: what is the power required and can a human generate it) before building a prototype. I thought that was what engineering is all about.

It appears they were in error, or that there were other things (e.g., stability) that interfered. That's no reason to expect they won't improve the design and get it working, though. I think it's a pretty cool challenge and certainly beats the usual student project of "design another <known thing>".

The next thing is of course to make the helicopter lighter, and optimize everything for efficiency.


Did you see the transmission?

They probably need it to be that complex, but it looks like it weighs a ton.

IANAAerospace Engineer.

From reading their Project Status/Schedule page, it appears their problems may have arisen during the manufacturing stage:

July, 2004

It has been a while since our last update. We have been busy.

COMPOSITE SPAR MANUFACTURE/TESTING

All spars have been cooked including the tapered sections. Assembly of all this is complete for the four wings. Static testing was carried out for the assembled spars. All four eventually passed the test (see Thunderbird Projects - Picture gallery).

WING CONSTRUCTION

All four wings (for the two rotors) have been completed. This includes all wing parts (leading edges, trailing edges, suction side, ...) and assembly (see Thunderbird Projects - Picture gallery).

"Eventually passed the test"? Uh oh.

[There were no updates from December 2001 to July 2004]

December, 2001

COMPOSITE SPAR MANUFACTURE/TESTING

Static testing has been carried out for the CFRP spars. Static tests included both bending and torsion. A large effort was put in manufacturing the tapered mandrel for tapered composite spar production. One tapered spar has been manufactured with disastrous results. The tapered mandrel still requires some work (modifications). Composite spar manufacture continues (including straight sections).

It appears there were construction issues early in the project.

I am certainly not knocking their efforts. However, even the most elegant design can be compromised by sub-optimal manufacturing/implementation resources. I wish them the best in the next iteration.

Here are the papers on this HDR display. I guess you really have to see it in real life to appreciate what it does. In the paper all they can do is show photos with different exposures.

Their first version used a projector to get the required brightness, diffused that image, and then blocked this bright image with an LCD. They measured the dynamic range at 54,000:1! Their second version used a hexagonal grid of LED's as the light source, which made it brighter and more compact than the first. I would imagine this is the configuration that Sunnybrook are commercializing.

Here's a link to a SAMPE journal paper describing the project in details.

what do you think they use these ovens for.

I don't even think Lance Armstrong (cyclist) or Matt Pinsentt (olympic rower) could produce a constant 400 watts for very long. That's just about excercising at VO2 max levels. Your power output dies off very quickly at that level.

If they could build a chopper that could be powered in the aerobic threshold level (<85% peak heart rate) then it might be a practical option.

The graph on Human Factor Testing and Search for Pilots shows some interesting figures for power required for one minute of flight.

Move the mouse until the cursor on the monitor is roughly above the top of the logo. Press the button on the top left hand corner of the mouse (try not to move the mouse too much at the same time).

Ta-Da.

Or if you're really lazy or fail to keep the mouse steady while pressing the button, you can still try here. /sarcasm

Results also show that for pilots tested in both vertical and recumbent positions, power output was very close. Recumbent position then is a benefit since it takes advantage of In Ground Effect (lower support structure).

The submitter should have posted this URL instead:

http://batman.mech.ubc.ca/~hph/index2.html

That bypasses the huge intro graphic and reduces the load on the server.

This is completely OT, but look at the low quality JPEG they used for the logo on their site. Right below it, they brag about who made the site. GOOD JOB GUYS. However, some of us aren't still stuck with 14.4 modems, so feel free to use less compression next time you make a site.

Those wings have a huge volume, you should be able to get pretty good lift if you filled them with helium. Of course I don't know what the rules would say.

This painting, Informally known as "Woman with Mayo, Dull Knife" clearly demonstrates prior art.

UBC.

The Corporation has been a relative success here in Canada.

I took a (Canadian) Constitutional Law course with Joel Bakan, the author of the Corporation, at the University of British Columbia. He is one of most interesting professors that I ever had.

If such advertising was ever not misleading and actually informed patients about the options available, it might not be so disgusting. For example, the best drug for hypertension costs less than 1 cent (Canadian!) per day - compared to others that cost more than a dollar - but it doesn't get a lot of advertising. Of course, the drug ads (which companies can spend more on in the U.S. than their R&D) aren't legal here anyway...

See MOST : Canada's First Space Telescope

Java 3D uses scenegraph and branchgroup concepts, exactly like VRML. It is a "higher level" 3D language than OpenGL, and therefore C+OpenGL and Java 3D are not (maybe just for now) in the same playing fields.
Where Java3D should thrive now is rapid developpement of possibly complex 3D scenes. We're not talking of a game with pixel shaders, but for example of a simulator of a robot with a manipulating arm. The scenegraph would make it very easy to set up the arm articulations quickly.
Given the current sorry state of VRML browsers, and the immaturity of X3D, the release of Java3D could give birth to very interestings developements.
For complex game development in Java, look for Java OpenGL bindings instead.

A few references:
Scenegraph basics
X3D

If you're interested in some of the specifics, a little googling turned up this, which talks about fusion in relation to the sun. The number that they cite is actually a factor of about 1:1 billion. (It depends, of course, on exactly what fusion fuel and fossil fuels you're talking about.)

I dunno, I think that what you cited, educational value, is the PRINCIPAL reason why we should try to get more people involved in HAM radio. I'm in the engineering program at UBC (Vancouver, Canada) and belong to the UBC Amateur Radio Society (they're gonna kill me for linking that :-). I always find that the guys there are pursuing interesting projects, that I get a great opportunity to learn useful stuff outside the classroom in a fun and practically applicable setting, and that the whole community is full of incredibly interesting people. I find it's a lot easier to find someone interesting to talk to on an interesting subject in the HAM community, mostly because you don't have to wade through all the crap and idiots on the 'net.

Best to refute this with an example. You've got it backwards, I don't. [grin]

Position, s(t) = 3(x^2)+2x+1

Velocity, v(t) = 3(2x)+2 = 6x+2

Acceleration, a(t) = 6

Jerk, j(t) = 0

Jerk is the derivative (the rate of change) of acceleration. Acceleration is the derivative (rate of change) of velocity. Velocity is the derivative (rate of change) of position.

Think about Newton's Quotient (First Principles) for a second.

Still don't believe me? Check this out.

Nature may be non-linear but more often than not linear is a damn good approximation. F=-kx anyone?

The wireless network notably does not cover most of the residence buildings. Those buildings do, however, have free wired access. If I was managing the project I wouldn't have added wireless access there either. The wired students are due for an increase in bandwidth though I'd say.

I live in the one residence that is wireless so I've been using wireless the entire year (beats paying for internet!).

My experiences have varied but I must absolutely commend the effort the wireless staff is putting in. They log TONS of information about our connection quality. They noticed I had a poor connection so they got in contact with me and came to my dorm to take readings on the wireless strength. They then installed better antennas to areas of weakness. Or that was the plan, I'm not sure if that has happened yet or not. But the point is, that's serious initiative on their part to ensure the students are happy. Many of their employees also seem to be students. I'm all for giving back to the students however possible.

How did they track me? We log in to use the wireless network. There's both an insecure web authentication for an unencrypted line as well as a 128-bit encrypted VPN. We can log in as many times as we want and request guest accounts. It'd be no problem for a non-student friend to drop by my dorm and "jack in" thanks to that openness.

As for wreck beach, you'd be lucky to get cell service down there ;). But if wireless ever is planned for the beach (which I doubt), it wouldn't be long before someone registers www.livewreckbeachwebcam.com :)

But overall, yea.. UBC has an incredibly solid wireless network that truely aims at consistantly ranking among the best in north america. It is a shame Intel doesn't rank non-US schools. Mind you, I doubt they do any real research anyways so I don't give it any weight or really care even care. I just wanted to give my two cents :)

Intel obviously only rated schools in the US. Otherwise, my university would have no doubt ranked near (at?) the top.

The UBC Wireless Network is one of the largest Campus Wi-Fi Networks in the world. There are over 1200 access points (in 120 buildings), and together, they cover nearly all of the 1000-acre campus. I have never found myself in an area on campus where I was without internet access =).

I've even seen some fellow /.ers checking the news during class.

My next step is to check if I can get Wi-Fi access while I'm catching some sun on Wreck beach.
(FYI, Wreck beach is the name of the nude beach on campus...and before the bad jokes start, I'm not your typical overweight/underweight geek)

Underground equipment tends to be even more electrified. Here is a photo of a chairlift, yes- like the skiing kind, being used in an underground gold mine in Africa.

-AD

Underground equipment tends to be even more electrified. Here is a photo of a chairlift, yes- like the skiing kind, being used in an underground gold mine in Africa.

-AD

This exhibit has been at the Exploratorium science museum in San Francisco forever. Iirc there are recipes for square-wheeled carts in the Exploratorium Cookbook, a guide to building science exhibits and projects. See also, "An Amusing Property of the Catenary" "...the catenary, this marvelous graceful thing, this joy of physics, this perfect balance between rebellion and obedience, is God's own signature on earth. I think it pleases Him to see them raised.'' Quoted from Mark Helprin - Winter's Tale. (Copyright (C) 1983 Mark Helprin).

Right now I plan on going to a college that is either in New England, New York, or south east Canada.

South? We don't have that. We have a west, an east, and a far north.

In any case, if you're considering schools in Canada, I highly suggest that you take a look at the Maclean's Canadian University Ranking, if you haven't already.

If you're looking out east (and I mean east of Ontario), I've heard nothing but good things about Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. Plus, you can see the school ring from a mile away, you'll never have trouble identifying fellow alumni. (It has a big black 'X' on it)

In Ontario, U of Toronto is good for just about everything, and is in a huge city, whereas Guelph has one of the best bio/chem programs going, and a laid back complete-university-town feel to it.

Alternate suggestion: University of British Columbia on the west coast. You have to go all the way to the west end of the country, but some of the bonuses included with this school are good weather, good weed, easy access to world-class skiing, and a topless beach.

Speaking of topless, in Ontario bare female breasts are perfectly legal. I can tell you from experience that this facet of the law is often incorporated into frosh week activities.

Good Luck!

As per subject: http://www.ugrad.cs.ubc.ca/~z2u3/lcamtuf.coredump. cx/strikeout/index.html

Upcoming talk and demonstration on the development of Brain-Computer Interfaces: http://www.notacon.org/speakers.html#lowne (shameless plug)

Invasive, motor-cortical BCI development at Utah: http://www.bioen.utah.edu/cni/Projects/Motor.htm

Mike Gibbs' work with BCIs at Oxford University's Robotics Group: http://www.robots.ox.ac.uk/~mgibbs/research.html

The Neural Prostheses program at the National Institutes of Health includes calls for proposals in BCI development: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/npp/

The University of British Columbia's BCI research group: http://www.ece.ubc.ca/~garyb/BCI.htm

Results of the 2003 Brain Computer interface competition (focuses on signal processing techniques): http://ida.first.fraunhofer.de/projects/bci/compet ition/results/index.html

BCI development at the Cognitive Science and Technology group at the Helsinki University of Technology: http://www.lce.hut.fi/research/bci/

Dr. Jessica Bayliss's BCI work and extensive bibliography (very important, seminal work on BCI development): http://www.cs.rit.edu/~jdb/research/ and http://www.cs.rit.edu/~jdb/research/baylissThesis. pdf

Dr. Charles Anderson's work at Colorado State University with EEG pattern classification in BCI systems: http://www.cs.colostate.edu/eeg/index.html

Manchester University's Toby Howard has written some good articles on BCIs, mostly for Popular Science: http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/aig/staff/toby/research/bc i/

Dr. Michael Black at Brown University teaches a course in BCI development: http://www.cs.brown.edu/courses/cs295-7/home.html

Cyberkinetics, Inc. makes medical-use BCIs: http://www.cyberkineticsinc.com/

Yup, TAOP1 is indeed a totally awesome geek book and a must read. Indeed, it is considered a definitive work of cyber culture.

The Cyberpunk Reading List

Plans are to make a Liquid Mirror Telescope (different tech: spinning Mercury) bigger than the Mt. Palomar. I think that the electronic wetting tech will probably show up in hihg-end consumer telescope eyepieces. Current variable eyepieces use mechanical components to vary the gap between multiple elements. This should be easier to manufacture. R.

I find it interesting that an algorithm that was originally for image noise reduction found it's way to Machine Learning through a company whose purpose is to impliment noise reduction in audio. From my Googling, I think this is the first time anyone has used Baysian Noise Reduction in Machine Learning. Does anyone know otherwise?

You think that was the worst designed mouse ever? As an avid mac user, I take great offense. Clearly this is the worst design mouse ever. Please.

No, the universe has no edge. And the farthest you can see is the cosmic microwave background.

Yes, that is a rather nice proof. It's sometimes fun to read through part of a math textbook and follow some proofs. Sometimes you get something that's pretty clever.

So far no one mention this report from ACM/IEEE.

It is on computer science curriculum and it describes several approaches to introductory courses -- object-first, procedural-first, hardware first, etc.

My opinion is that it does not matter whether you start with high level or assembly as long as all levels are covered.

And many people mentioned Knuth and TAOCP. But this is not an introductory textbook for beginners. The reason he used assembly is to describe and analyse EXACTLY the cost and complexity of different algorithms. No one now could be called CS expert without reading this seminal work. So in some sense, expert programmers would know assembly but programmers who know assembly are not necessarily expert.

My experience started with Pascal in highschool, scheme in first year college and C++ in second year. I encountered assembly, and binary gates and hardware, in second year basic architecture course. So can I cal myself expert?:)

Anyway, computer science at UBC is quite good! (I am kind of sad when they change first year courses from scheme to java. Not that it is a bad choice, but I am not sure why I feel that way.)

Actually, the continent is called Eurasia.