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Re:Cash flow positive... - mandrake definition by n9hmg · 2002-04-08 07:06 · Score: 2, Interesting · on Mandrake Clarifies its Future

There's also "American Mandrake", commonly called the mayapple.
I sometimes tried keeping a few of the roots, bruised, on a shelf in my closet, when i was having trouble sleeping. The fumes brought on deep, but often wierd, sleep.

Re:good luck by jonabbey · 2002-04-07 01:03 · Score: 2 · on Cross-platform Password Management?

Or Ganymede, which is designed for the same purpose.

Ganymede by jonabbey · 2002-04-07 00:59 · Score: 2 · on Cross-platform Password Management?

Take a look at Ganymede.

Ganymede is designed to provide a single multithreaded network directory store for (among other things) password information, then to write out datafiles and runs scripts to propagate your directory information into your environment whenever a user commits a transaction to change anything.

Ganymede is useful for people who want to unify differing directory mechanisms, and who don't need a full hierarchical domain structure like those supported by Active Directory or Novell's eDirectory products.

We use Ganymede to synchronize passwords across UNIX NIS, Windows NT, Samba, Apache, and more. We have a userKit that provides for password management across NIS, NT, and Samba 'out-of-the-box'.

That said, Ganymede is mostly useful for people who can't force-fit all their clients to use one network authentication system, although it does provide a very high level of convenience and hand-holding for your users.. Ganymede has support for setting expiration dates on accounts, and for sending email when an account is about to expire, etc. It also maintains full auditing trails for everything, and allows controlled delegation of permissions to administrators.

If you can live within the limitations of its orientation around a flat namespace, Ganymede's flexibility makes it hard to beat.

SIVC by edbarrett · 2002-04-03 10:32 · Score: 1 · on Should Open Source Software Expire?

check out Simple Internet Version Control. Honestly, I can only remember three apps I've ever used that included it, but it's a protocol that allows a developer to guestimate how many users have installed the app and keep users informed that there's a newer version available.

Boyer-Moore String Searching by Foresto · 2002-03-26 09:58 · Score: 5, Informative · on Deep Algorithms?

I dont think I'd call it my favorite algorithm, but the Boyer-Moore string searching algorithm is pretty cool.

Re:Where are the sonars? by RevRigel · 2002-03-26 09:00 · Score: 3, Interesting · on Garmin Rino-GPS Show and Tell

Garmin used to (make still) make a GPS with a fishfinder on it, with the various data integrated into one display, and exportable to computer. A few years ago, a student at the lab where I work mapped a portion of Lake Travis here in Austin, TX, for use by the projects doing sonar research out there. I'd tell you what model it was, but the lake is a 45 minute drive away. It's still on the boat in question, and still works, though.

Re:Where are the sonars? by RevRigel · 2002-03-26 09:00 · Score: 3, Interesting · on Garmin Rino-GPS Show and Tell

Garmin used to (make still) make a GPS with a fishfinder on it, with the various data integrated into one display, and exportable to computer. A few years ago, a student at the lab where I work mapped a portion of Lake Travis here in Austin, TX, for use by the projects doing sonar research out there. I'd tell you what model it was, but the lake is a 45 minute drive away. It's still on the boat in question, and still works, though.

Re:but how do they simulate.. by AnalogBoy · 2002-03-24 02:38 · Score: 2 · on Utah, the New Red Planet

hmm. Maybe GRACE found a hole in earth's gravity field in Utah. Think it may have something to do with the high density of Mormon's?

Lots of engines by TrollMan+5000 · 2002-03-20 06:31 · Score: 5, Interesting · on Soviet Moon Rocket

From the University of Texas website:

N-1 Stages

30 NK-33 LOX/kerosene engines; 10.1 million lb. total thrust.
8 NK-43 LOX/kerosene engines; 3.1 million lb. total thrust.
4 NK-39 engines; 360,800 lb. total thrust.
1 NK-31 engine; 90,200 lb. thrust; trans-lunar boost stage.
1 engine; 19,200 lb. thrust; lunar orbit insertion & initial lunar descent stage.

Why didn't they use fewer, but more powerful engines? Was it a matter of money, or engineering?

Re:A little skeptical by Saib0t · 2002-03-16 05:43 · Score: 2 · on Musical Machines Gain Recognition

an average human being has a ear definition of 25-35ms, which means that if you heard a different sounds with 30ms between each of them, they'll appear continuous to you. As you mentioned, most cards achieve less than 10ms latency, which is far enough for an average human.

Re:Obligatory by Fiver-rah · 2002-03-16 04:07 · Score: 1 · on DNA Solves Million-Answer NP-Complete Problem

I imagine these things must be pretty slow, since they are powered by chemical reactions.

DNA base pairs are not held together by chemical bonding. That would be a really, really difficult. They're held together by hydrogen bonds. The breaking and formation of hydrogen bonds takes on the order of picoseconds (it's the same timescale as rotations in the medium, since that's the basic mechanism for their breaking). Furthermore, they can break and form in parallel.

You can read more about the mechanism for base pairing here or if you want to see google render the pdf here .

I'm a teacher by Teach · 2002-03-15 03:58 · Score: 3, Insightful · on Any Teachers on Slashdot?

Almost didn't see this question because it's not on the main page.

I teach three years of high school Computer Science and will add a webmastering course next year. Currently CS is taught in C++, though we'll be moving to Scheme and Java in the future. Webmastering will cover HTML, CSS, SQL, Perl and maybe PHP.

I use Linux as my primary OS at home, but the kids use Windows 95 and Borland C++ because that's what we bought licenses for 5 years ago. I keep hoping to move to Linux in the lab, but the biggest holdup has been a NetWare client for Linux so the kids can access their home directories.

I do have a degree in CS from a top-ten CS university and was among the top few in many of my classes. I can say that money is definitely an issue for many. I started at $24K five years ago and am now up to $32K in Austin, TX. I have friends with comparable skill levels that graduated with me who are making double to three times that amount in industry.

Teachers should be the best and brightest but often aren't because the pay is so much less than they could get in industry. If teacher salary were only 10% less than industry (rather than 50% or more), you'd see a lot more qualified people looking into teaching.

Oh, and to those who say that teachers only work 8:00-3:30... keep in mind that is only the lecture times. In addition, teachers must deal with parents, grade student work (and we don't have grunt TAs like college professors) and generate new assignments/lecture material. And any teacher who can get all that done during a single "planning period" probably isn't doing a very good job.

I know one industry person that left a job at places like IBM because she wanted to work "shorter hours". She lasted one year as a teacher.

Obligatory self-promotion: you can see what my classes are doing right now, and also find out more than you ever wanted to know about me.

Bigger Version of the Picture by AKA+da+JET · 2002-03-13 04:38 · Score: 2, Informative · on Retracing the Chemistry of the First Photograph

I found a larger version of the picture here. I still don't see the tree. :-/

Re:Japan by Knunov · 2002-03-10 07:19 · Score: 2 · on U.S. Works Up Plans for Using Nuclear Arms

They hadn't surrendered yet, jackass. Now, if you said one nuke would have been sufficient, I would have agreed.

As for what an adequate use of force can get you, take a look.

Knunov

Depends on the Class by Walker · 2002-03-08 06:27 · Score: 1 · on "Smart Board" To Replace White Boards?

We have recently started to implement smartboards here at my university. They have many advantages (which others have listed here), but their usefulness depends on the class you are teaching.

The primary problem I have found is not their resolution, but that they are small. You can line a wall with whiteboards, but the footprint of smart boards forces them in a corner (and this should be true for the forseeable future). It certainly is not economical to line the wall with them.

With paging, you would think this is not a problem. And this is true if your class is taught lecture style. However, I am currently teaching a Moore method mathematics class in a room with a smart board. I don't present; the students go up to the board and work things out on their own - with comments from me and the class. Because students build on each other's results, it is important that I leave everything up that has been done for the day and not erase it. Paging is not sufficient, as the typical student will keep flipping throught the pages (ever see what a student does to their notes when you ask them a question?) and not think. So I have abandoned the smart board and moved back to white boards.

The primary problem with Smart boards is that they are small.

Right you are. by rebelcool · 2002-03-06 11:07 · Score: 2 · on College Students Are Buying More, Warez-ing Less

It costs $5 per disk here at UT, so visual studio was $25, the OS's are $5.

Can't beat a $5 OS.

There is a catch though, you can only purchase once (even if you lose the disk). Of course the solution to that is to either make copies, or get someone to buy for you.

Re:Student Discounts by ziriyab · 2002-03-06 07:30 · Score: 1 · on College Students Are Buying More, Warez-ing Less

I guess that's one way to combat piracty: forego profit.

MS is still getting money under a Campus Enterprise Agreement (CEA). The details .

Not sure how much MS is getting from UT, but I believe (from CEAs from other schools) that it's probably in the millions. Is MS foregoing profits? Probably not. This is a good deal for MS b/c people actually pay to use their software and they get a foothold on the campus as the software to use.

BTW, you're probably paying a bit more that $15.00 bucks for XP if you count how much of your student fees are going towards the CEA.

Re:EJB provides this... by jonabbey · 2002-03-04 04:41 · Score: 3, Informative · on Java RMI

Yes, I looked into that option (and even looked at the JBoss sources to see how they were implementing authentication/sessions over RMI), but EJB was simply too heavy duty for my purposes. The app had to run on people's computers, not on central servers.

You might look at Ganymede. We implemented a session layer using RMI long before J2EE existed. It's not really that hard to do.

Re:I totally agree... by jacobito · 2002-03-03 09:53 · Score: 3, Informative · on Will CS Students Switch From Microsoft?

My univerity (University of Texas at Austin) offers Microsoft software for dirt-cheap prices. For example, Windows XP can be had for $5, and Visual Studio 6 for $15 or $20. (As an aside, the University was once one of the largest purchasers of Apple computers; now the campus is dotted with labs brimming with Dell PCs, some donated by Microsoft.)

Meanwhile, the CS department offers a "laboratory" course intended for students who want to learn by hacking the Linux kernel (sorry, but I couldn't find a link). Not bad!

Re:Does that mean? by SubtleNuance · 2002-02-28 08:19 · Score: 3, Interesting · on iWarez

Therefore, I would like to propose a ban on people. Clearly without the pernicious evil of people we could alleviate most, if not all of society's problems.

HA! That reminded me of this Jonathan Swift letter from 1729. Funny as hell.

Re:Totalitarian OSes? by SubtleNuance · 2002-02-22 04:39 · Score: 2 · on Red Flag Linux: Real, and Reviewed

Of course, I can hardly argue against your first hand experience, but what about Falung Gong?
Of course, I can hardly argue against your first hand experience, but what about Branch Davidian's of Waco or Ruby Ridge

Or the China Democratic Party founder Lu Xinhua, who was convicted of subversion [bbc.co.uk] for an article posted on the internet?

Or the U.S. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer & McCarthy jailing Commies(TM)Even better is Bush / Aschcroft Terrorist campaign this is amusing. How about this jailed dissident?

Lastly, I'd like to remember at the incident at the Tiananmen. It maybe more than ten years ago, but the leaders are the same.Lastly, I'd like to remember at the incident at Tulsa. It maybe more than 80 years ago, but the leaders are the same.

Furthermore they stated (in 2001) that its decision back than was correct because it was a "counter-revolutionary turmoil" aimed at overthrowing the administration.

How about the CoIntelPro program during the 60's? And the rest of the past and present domestic and foreign PsyOps and BlackOps programs -- active campaigns to squelch "counter-revolutionary" ideas.

Red Flag is under the control of the China Academy of Sciences, headed by Jiang Mianheng, the son of the president Jiang Zemin

Does nepotism bother you? How about a Senator screwing with the voting in his state to help elect his OWN BROTHER... did I mention that they were both Sons of a former President? Its almost like a father appoints his own children to office...

Ganymede? by Futurepower(tm) · 2002-02-17 23:14 · Score: 2 · on How to Fix the Unix Configuration Nightmare

Is Ganymede a starting point for a complete centralized configuration tool?

Re:This is funny by dgroskind · 2002-02-17 16:57 · Score: 1 · on Movie Review: John Q

There is always going to be a core of disatisfaction...

Would this core perhaps include the 38 million Americans, including over 8 million children, who don't have health insurance? Did Hilary Clinton invent those in 1992?

And may I call your attention to the 1976 Republican platform which dealt with the problem of uninsured Americans. It says, "We support extension of catastrophic illness protection to all who cannot obtain it" and shows that the issue preceded Clinton's appearance on the national scene by many years.

I wager the TV watchers have much more negative opinions about health care, even if you adjust for factors such as IQ and age.

I wager that 95% of Americans watch television. If you are going to exclude television-watchers from public opinion polls you're going to have a pretty skewed and irrelevant sample.

No need to pirate edit.com; use Nano instead by yerricde · 2002-02-16 11:33 · Score: 2 · on FreeDOS

Also the the IBM EE (Easy Editor) will give you terminal braindamage (pun intended). Warez MS EDIT.COM and avoid at all costs.

If you get edit.com, don't get the edit.com from DOS 5 or 6, as that requires QBasic, can only have one file open, can't edit binary files, and can only edit up to a 64 KB file. You want edit.com from Windows 95, 98, or ME.

If you don't want to pirate anything, you can get DJGPP, which is a port of the GNU system to PC DOS platforms (MS-DOS, DR DOS, FreeDOS) with an i386-series CPU. It includes a port of GNU Emacs. And if you don't like Emacs, there's always GNU Nano, a clone of Pico that has also been ported to PC DOS, or SETEDIT, a free clone of the Borland editor for DOS.

Re:C++ by maw · 2002-02-11 19:26 · Score: 1 · on What Makes a Powerful Programming Language?

Pardon my ignorance. I thought reference counting was a form of GC, cf "Mark and Sweep".

This is incorrect. Reference counting is quite different to mark and sweep gc. The idea behind mark and sweep garbage collection is you look through the root set - all the pointers allocated on the stack in c parlance - and examine where they point to, and where pointers in dynamically allocated memory point to. Each piece of memory that's pointed to is marked (this can be done with a single bit, since we don't care how many times its pointed to). This is the mark phase. Then we look through the dynamically allocated memory and free up anything that's not pointed to. This is the sweep phase.

(There's a different gc technique called copying gc. I won't describe it here, but it's apparently about as fast as mark + sweep - both blow away reference counting - despite its rather counter-intuitive nature.)

When you're using a language like C or C++ where pointers and integers often look the same, a special variant known as conservative collection (which can be applied to mark + sweep and copying gc) is necessary. The idea here is that if something may point to a piece of allocated memory, don't deallocate it. That means, if we're unlucky, an unrelated field (eg bob.age) might happen to "point" to some allocated memory.

GC is really interesting stuff, and I've not even scratched the surface. For a good survey on GC techniques - fascinating reading - see the gc survey for a much better treatment.

Re:Viable population? by Anonymous Coward · 2002-02-08 04:16 · Score: 1, Informative · on Learning Autonomic Robots

I believe that one of the traits Noel is hoping will emerge is hunting in packs - he admits that if this happens it will take a very long time to learn, but this may explain the large number of predators.

Related idea, here is a paper by a guy who evolved neural-network controllers for a simulator to do just that. (Look at the bottom one in the list.)

This isn't the only one by RevRigel · 2002-02-05 07:56 · Score: 5, Informative · on MIT's Acrobatic Helicopter

Check out the IARC competition website. There are teams' webpages linked from there, too. My school (UT Austin) is planning its first ever entry for the 2002 competition.
The task this year is to fly 3 kilometers along 4 waypoints, identify a building and an open entrance on the building, deploy a subvehicle (not necessary, but practically necessary) through the entrance, and have the subvehicle return reconaissance to the judges 3km away.
Many people opt to use R/C helicopters and modify them (we are using an XCell .60 Gas Graphite by Miniature Aircraft USA).

This is an insult! by TheAngryArmadillo · 2002-01-29 06:17 · Score: 3, Offtopic · on A Quick Peek at Longhorn

Naming their new OS 'Longhorn' is an affront to all UT grads everywhere!

Can't they call it 'Aggie' or something?

AngryArmadillo

Look to other shools for ideas by slank · 2002-01-27 16:52 · Score: 1 · on Innovative Uses for Educational Technology Funds?

UT has some great web applications they provide to students: