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Another guy at the UW has a page up for a demo he gives each year called "The Wonder of Physics." I remember going to this thing once when I was 12 or 13, and being extremely impressed.

Check it out -- I remembering him (and some graduate students) putting a lot more effort into the actual presentation than he does into the webpage...

http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/JCESoft/CCA/CCA2/MA IN /AMFOUNT1/CD2R1.HTM

Run a gcc cross compiler on the remote machine that will make Linux object files. distcc is operating system agnostic. For distcc's purposes you don't even need the target operating system's header files or runtime libraries since the files are already pre-processed on the host machine, and only compilation of .o files takes place remotely.
Here, for example, is how to build a Linux cross compiler hosted on Cygwin.

I've had bad experiences with this in a Condor cluster of linux machines which had different versions of glibc. Seemingly randomly, my jobs would blow up into the netherworld without running and without an error message. Until the administrators matched all of the glibc's (but not the linux distributions, for some reason), I had to compile everything with -static on one machine and pray.

I wonder how much of a problem network bandwidth is in this system. With Condor, moving large datasets between machines is a problem. Object files can be pretty big and if you have a lot of them, you might risk pushing the compile bottleneck to the network. Even worse might be the link step, where all of the objects have to be visible to one machine (gcc doesn't have incremental linking yet, does it?).

I've got mirrors up at Earlham College and UW-Madison. No movies, but pictures are in.

Now, we add a whole new method of content rendering. We can't even impliment the main standards properly.

We can do so, a trained monkey could almost do so, it's quite easy to do... the problem is instead of trained monkeys we have so-called web designers that refuse to learn the basic facts about HTML. I don't know if you're one of them or not, but your post is a perfect example of the ignorant arrogance I'm talking about.

How do we plan to ensure that an audio interface can successfully read a website, as well?

By using HTML. Very simple. If your website is readable with lynx, it's readable for the blind. If it's not, you need to learn HTML and fix it.

Keep in mind that this is not what the web was originally designed to handle.

No, this is exactly what the web was originally designed to handle. Ever wonder why it's so difficult to control page layout exactly with HTML? It's because HTML is a content language, not a layout language. It was designed from the beginning to leave 'layout' decisions up to the browser, for precisely the reason that it was designed to be accessible via every disparate 'viewing' device imaginable, explicitely including teletypes and voice-readers!

Here go educate yourself.

Well maybe not the Original Mod but it was definitely something they showed people at the Univ. of Wisconsin CS department. They had a Thinking Machines CM-5 with all these cool blinking LEDs. The department tour always included a viewing of this machine.

Supposedly the LEDs actually represented something. Dunno -- processors working -- error messages -- and so forth.

It was pretty cool back in the day; I mean it oozed computing power despite the fact that it really wasn't that useful a machine.

I don't think the two will be the same, and I don't see why one should suffer with a lesser interface based on limitations he/she doesn't have.

Yet another page /.'d. I have mirrors up here and here. I have converted to PDF format to keep the number of files I have to deal with at a minimum.

Since things seem to be getting bogged down on Hardware Analysis's end, here are two mirrors:

1. Earlham College

2. UW-Madison

These are in PDF format, which I converted from the printable HTML provided on the website. It is missing one eye-candy picture of a hard-drive's interior.

I've got mirrors up at my Earlham website and at my UW-Madison website.

Anyway, free basic PDF functionality can be had using Ghostscript and GSView. Granted, it is a two step process to create PDFs with this method, but it works and it is free.

If you want automate this process, see RedMon. This allows you to connect the Windows printer port directly to ghostscript. Apologies for the messy configuration!

(Author of GSview and RedMon).

How about something to take the place of Acrobat? I use Ghostscript and it's GUI frontend GhostView, both of which can be found here. Not only are they capable of reading PDF files, but they do Postscript as well (actually, that's their primary purpose). Better still, they can help you convert one format to the other. For a companion, I also recomend RedMon, which is a port redirecter that allow you to print to Postscript or PDF files.

How about something to take the place of Acrobat? I use Ghostscript and it's GUI frontend GhostView, both of which can be found here. Not only are they capable of reading PDF files, but they do Postscript as well (actually, that's their primary purpose). Better still, they can help you convert one format to the other. For a companion, I also recomend RedMon, which is a port redirecter that allow you to print to Postscript or PDF files.

A great little multiplatform Postscript and PDF (Acrobat) viewer.

Here's the Ghostscript, home page, and the GSview-specific page.

A great little multiplatform Postscript and PDF (Acrobat) viewer.

Here's the Ghostscript, home page, and the GSview-specific page.

Tantalus 240 MeV electron storage ring.

Link
Google Search
It wouldn't have taken much to make that article much better.

Which is not to say that there are not problems with the current peer review system. The current pressure to publish, means that the requirement that the published results should be original can get softened. The outcome is then more papers, with the same amount of scientific work.

If Schön was putting out 30 essentially similar papers per year, then the peer review process may have been failing to ensure that each paper had sufficient new material to warrant publication.

On a lighter note, I've always found that this pretty much summarises my idea of experimental physics.

Great graphs, and a nice plug for FlowScan

From looking at the graphs, it's clear that Kazaa and Gnutella are alive and well at Boulder. Do I read the top graph correctly that the bulk of the traffic is "other" or are those numbers supposed to be the totals?

Subarban?!

These are college students?

Here is a case of "graphing randomness":

http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~kovar/hall.html

Problems with printing means wasted time and money. Even if it slows printing down a little bit, you would probably come out ahead if you ran a PostScript rasterizer on your print server, and had all the workstations just send PostScript.

If you must run Windows on your print server, then you should try RedMon which uses GhostScript to create a virtual PostScript printer.

But I'm surprised you can't run Linux on just one computer and use that as your print server. Oh well.

steveha

Problems with printing means wasted time and money. Even if it slows printing down a little bit, you would probably come out ahead if you ran a PostScript rasterizer on your print server, and had all the workstations just send PostScript.

If you must run Windows on your print server, then you should try RedMon which uses GhostScript to create a virtual PostScript printer.

But I'm surprised you can't run Linux on just one computer and use that as your print server. Oh well.

steveha

A good overall Physics introduction for the non-technical reader is Physics for Poets by Robert March. It does an excellent job of covering the essentials of modern physics (from Gallileo to Heisenberg) without subjecting the reader to either too much mathematics (as with most good textbooks) or too many cartoons (as with most some popular science books).

Getting kids involved with something "real" (insert "tangible" or "active" if you like) is one of the best ways I've found to get them interested (as a student and an instructor). Here's some stuff I did while teaching at summer day camps at the Capital Children's Museum a couple of years ago:

• Baking muffins to learn why breads have holes, and figuring out why one recipe used baking soda and one used baking powder (kitchen chemistry, as well as some acid-base stuff);
  
• Figuring out whether normal, dried or soaked popcorn kernels pop best (including taste-testing), and freezing ice cream using baggies, rock salt and ice (solids/liquids/gases)
  
• Making three kinds of "slime" (or gak or flubber) and explaining what non-Newtonian fluids are (my second-graders showed up some adults!)
  

Try these sites to get some ideas:

• The JASON project was started by Dr. Robert Ballard (the guy who discovered the Titanic and other sunken ships)
  
• Local colleges and high schools often present chemistry shows (or physics/science shows). Here's a plug for my alma mater: Lawrence University). I swear the show is more entertaining than the description on that page.
  
• PBS is full of things, including a show called ZOOM!, the ever-popular Newton's Apple, and wacky Bill Nye the Science Guy.
  
• At the U of W Madison, Prof. Shakhashiri created THE definitive books of demonstrations (Caution: he's kind of dry, but the demos are great!)
  
• Science museums also often have some sort of hands-on stuff. Go ahead and "borrow" from them! Here's the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and the Science Museum of Minnesota
  

Good luck!

I also have an essay on that, albeit much shorter. It was written for a scholarship, which I didn't get, but I do feel I learned a lot.

It is available here: Mirror #1 and here Mirror #2 Both copies are the same, but the latter site has more bandwidth.

"Reading the memory consists of a simple, one-dimensional scan, because it is self-formatted into precise tracks. There is no need to search in two dimensions for the location of a bit. The signal is highly predictable since all atoms have the same shape and occur on well-defined lattice sites. That allows for a high level of filtering and error correction"

"Writing is more difficult. While atoms can be positioned controllably at liquid helium temperature, that is much harder to achieve that at room temperature"

(see Geowall stereo projection in OpenGL with nVidia cards -this is a pdf file)

Play hard...

When building your own projector, make sure that you use methods that allow you to control polarization. LCD projectors can cause considerable problems for this. We use DLP projectors.

Here's more info on Windows setup for Geowall stereo projection in OpenGL with nVidia cards (pdf file)

Take one of those 3 DLP projectors; remove one of the panels; make the remaining 2 panels full function color; and then put high-efficiency polarizing filters or splitters/combiners (preferably circular) into the internal projector path.

Now we would have a fully pixel aligned, efficient, single-box, passive stereo projector that could turn into a mass-produced item for us all.

Then do this for native 1920 X 1080 DLP chips...ASAP.

Would be sweet!

MJR

PS...More Geowall assembly instructions can be found at the eMedia Center Geowall/AGAVE Development Project site

Have fun!

OK, I don't know if it was hepatitis, maybe it was the polio vaccine or something? I can't remember, but there is evidence that other viruses have entered humans in this way, and remember the Marburg incident in 1967. Just imagine what would have happened if Marburg/Ebola was not discovered until vaccination programs were initiated. I think many human viruses were introduced this way, like CMV and stealth virus. Even possibly HIV.

One does not simply turn on or turn off DSL access for one customer. If you are non-DSL Enabled, then Verizon themselves cannot sell you DSL and the people who resell Verizon DSL ALSO cannot sell you DSL.

I thought I was clear about it...
Sometimes it's the greater regional equipment that prevents DSL, but often it's just the individual line from your house to the switching station or even to the telephone pole at the top of your driveway.

Learn here
And here

We must not forget "Export to PDF".

There is a way you can create PDFs from *any* program, and with all free software too:

Adobe's free PostScript printer driver to output to PS
Then GhostScript and GhostView to quickly convert the PS to PDF format.

Web site: http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/

Maintainer: Jeffrey S. Whitaker

I have no idea what Ghostscript is, so I'm not sure that's exactly wht you need.

Hope that helps.

dalamcd

The article mentions something about no longer needing computer animation to film something like a bullet in slow motion.

Maybe I'm painfully naive here, but I'm not sure how this adds value.

12,000 fps with a max of 120 frames = 1/10th of a second played back at 30 fps = 4 seconds of film.

Besides, I would think that setting up the physical effect would (by now) be much more costly than doing it in CG.

I *can* understand how this might benefit us by being able to capture fast events (like some electrical/light or celestial phenomena, etc.) in more detail in order to understand them better, but I fail to see a justifiable cost/benefit ratio for the filmmaker....

We use 1 and 5 Mframe/sec cameras on the Pegasus project. They are useful in toriodal fusion experiments because the plasma bursts are so short (~a couple ms). Sean

Where's Bourne shell??? Where's vi, sed, and egrep???

Here.

How do I get GUI applications to display over the network???

With this.

How do I read a PostScript file???

With this.

I know that many of these things can be done on Windows eventually

Red Hat Cygwin. The future is now.

No, Red Hat is not paying me to plug Cygwin.

Maybe Jaynes and Lambert should arm wrestle to find out who wins!

The links proves my memory wrong, it didn't just do it for multiplication, it did it for addition too. Weird.

you probably mean gsview?

PS is no way a proprietary file format, but yes, there's no built-in viewer in Windows. I'd like to think that's MS's fault, oh come on they can claim their OS can view HTML, Macromedia Flash, AVIs, MPEGs, etc etc, but not a PS file?

Try Gsview for Windows, but true, it won't do you much good if you have no control of your system.. Bill Gates has control of it.

There have been several attempts based on GhostScript to produce a real postscript API for X11.

Entropy is a measurement of a microcosmic physical property. The generalized idea of "disorder" that led to the idea of information entropy is related but seperate.

This is important because it is a pernicious error to conflate the two, an error which often results in false conclusions about thermodynamics and the macrocosmic world.

anyone clicking this has probably already seen it, but...Hello Cthulhu!

The previous post said "represented 3%...", indicating that the 3% was part of that total.

Let me encourage you again to read this article. It is quite interesting. And the questions you have all show my summary of it didn't do it justice. Your question about the depth of the permafrost is answered.

Once you get below the active layer, which is the surface layer of the soil that thaws every year, it can be permanently frozen. And most permafrost we know in the north has been frozen for a long period of time. And it can be really thick, sometimes even over a thousand meters thick.

The article describes the process of climbing down 30 feet into Tuktoyaktuk's community freezer.

You ask:

But then why doesn't the soil in Kansas have over 1,000 feet of black soil?

"Black soil"? You mean "top soil"? Top soil is full of dead plant matter. Well, it rots. It decomposes. At least in Kansas it does.

How deeply does oxygen penetrate permafrost? I think the answer is that it doesn't. Apparently it doesn't even penetrate marshes and bogs that well, or we wouldn't be turning up 2000 year old bog men.

Actually, contrails aren't _quite_ smoke. They're water vapor.

-SS

In the high Arctic the soil is frozen year round. Normally the top six inches or so melts long enough for plants to grow during the brief Arctic summer. But the soil below that top six inches remains frozen.

Now it is melting, and this is a terrible development. This article says:

When plants grow here in the Arctic, they absorb carbon from the air. But when they die they don't decay like plants in the south because they are frozen so much of the year. Eventually all that dead plant matter becomes part of the permafrost. And that makes Arctic tundra, at least until now, an important carbon sink. In fact, Arctic tundra contains one-third of the earth's stored soil carbon.

But now the permafrost is melting, releasing eons of stored carbon. Much of this carbon will be released as Methane, which is 30 times more damaging than Carbon Dioxide.

The scientist being interviewed estimated that recently thawed rotting vegetation from melting permafrost represented 3% of the amount of carbon flowing into the atmosphere from the combustion of fossil fuels.

Global warming frightens me. And now I have learned of yet another reason to worry.