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The studios argue that they would never have distributed movies in digital format without the DMCA.

I suppose the studios have never licensed the production, of oh, say - VCDs and CD-I disks - ever?

Both formats have existed for a long, long time prior to the DMCA (and the VCD/MPEG-1 format is still popular and produced in Asia, though I am not sure if it is still licensed legally, or what)...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

...this, then think how you can do it dirt cheap:

1. Get a large bounce ball, to use as a mold for the hemispherical screen - stretch white musilin or similar white gauzy material over it, then starch the shit out of it to stiffen it up. You might even try a light white spray paint or similar. Or, put plaster of paris over the whole thing, smooth it out with sandpaper, then get a piece of acrylic soft in the oven, and "drape" it over the mold. Let it cool, cut, shape, then have it lightly sandblasted to "frost" it.

2. Use one of those lightweight folding lounge camping chairs for your "neutral posture" system. You can pick these up for $20.00 at Walmart.

3. Mount Aura Bass Shakers to the chair - you could even strip some out of el-cheapo interactive Aura vests from Ebay. Just remember, you will need an amp for these things - if you use the vests, they already have a matched amp, so use it. But if you buy the shakers seperately, get a cheap 50 watt Pyramid car amp to drive the things.

4. Get a cheap projector and hook it up to project onto the hood, mounted to the chair. I have a Fujix P401, that I got cheap ($250), you can find them sometime on Ebay - you might have to build your own projector from an LCD TV and slide projector system to keep the cost below $500. You will also need a VGA->TV converter (or TV output on the video card) to hook up to the projector, unless you get lucky and your projecter has VGA or RGB inputs.

5. Hook up the bass shakers to amp and PC, hook the projector to the PC, split the sound output to some headphones, sit down, and fire up Fisheye Quake!

It can be done cheap - in fact, the Flostation site used to have pictures of the original prototype system - the projector was propped up on a board placed between two ladders! So, it can be done cheap, cheap, cheap!!!

If you wanted a system on which you could "stand" in front of, or sit down in front of, try building a curved frame from wood/plywood (look up info on solar cooking to find out how to easily make parbolic mirrors, so you can get the parabola shape), and stretch a white shower curtain across it for the front/back projection screen, or, if you are doing front projection only, use a white pull-down shade for the material...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

"some people have mentioned using PanQuake to render onto hemispherical screen"

Actually, I wrote this guy when he released "Fisheye Quake", in asking whether it would work for such a system, like the Flostation - man, I want one of those baaad...

Actually, last night I got back my "el cheapo" Fujix P401 from Fuji (had to send it in to get it repaired) - anyhow, it works great (for the POS it is - but it was cheap enough, a video projector the size of a VHS tape, for $250!!!), and I have a VGA->TV converter, all I need now is to build the hemispherical hood, place it over me on one of those camp lounge chairs - cooool...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

"One of the things we have not yet understood is the power and potential rascality of the Internet," said Spanish professor Gies, a former faculty senate president. "I don't think we've trained students yet about what is fair and not fair."

WTF?!

You mean to tell me that these individuals have gone through grade school, gone through middle school, gone through high school, and now are adults in a university, and yet they still don't know the difference between what is right and what is wrong? Betweeen what is accepted and what is forbidden?

I don't have a university diploma/degree - but I damn well know and learned how to write a paper in high school, what was considered right and wrong, what was plagiarism and what was quoting a source, footnotes and a bibliography. You know, it is all part of the "standing on the shoulders of giants" (Newton) thing!

Those that have stooped to this level should be expelled: They have demonstrated a lack of disregard and respect for thier fellow man. They are still children, not worthy of attending university, nor a degree.

I can't see any justification - especially for the class in which it occurred. I understand that it is a common thing in all classes, but in this class - damn! - can you say bone-head physics? Not that it wouldn't be educational (heck, it sounds like a fun class, actually), but with that kind of class one should be able to easily describe the physics and such of common devices, off the top of thier head, with few if any references (now, of course, getting it to 1500 words could be a chore, but just have a few cited examples - key word "cited")...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Here are your requirements/what you got:

1. Text-based POS system
2. Written in PowerBasic
3. Want a free version under Linux

You say you want to redo it in C - are you sure? Do you have anything to gain by porting it? Perhaps speed - but does it need it? Maybe a re-write - but does it need it?

It doesn't sound like you will gain much, other than a learning experience. I would say if you are going to have to rewrite it, and you want to make it free, you might as well go all out, and do it in style:

Perl/PHP and Apache, with some MySQL or similar free DB on the backend (if needed). You could even provide a web interface if needed.

If not this, why not just leave it as BASIC code? Download a copy of XBasic, and compile - a little will have to be changed (if you use any inline assembler, that might need tweaking), but not as much as doing a complete rewrite in another language...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Work on VR (actually, today it is termed Virtual Environments, and even that term is dropping out - use whatever is convenient) still continues. In fact, the majority and best work on it you already mentioned, kinda obliquely: 3D games (like QA3 and like).

There are a few people doing homebrew VR (see my site link), and others doing projects for military and commercial use.

I think what happenned is it got hyped too fast, too soon, before there was equipment to really do what people wanted to do on a cheap enough scale. Today, it is a lot easier for a homebrewer to get started (a lot of the equipment still has to be built - though a portion can be bought used), 3D engines that would have popped my eyes out in 1994 are free and fast, computers are powerful and cheap.

The other issue is applications - so far for most people that has been games, but fully immersive games even died out, at least in the US for the most part (W Industries was the leader - they still exist, actually - changed to Virtuality, Inc - now known as CyberVision Entertainment - still UK based, and release new products quite often, for those that can afford them). Don't know why (prices? liability issues? too much exercise?)...

In short, development still continues, but it is done very "under the radar", at least the work that is geared toward the whole "goggles and gloves" type full-immersion...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Few things terrified me as much as installing a new ceiling fan for my wife.

Respect electricity, and you won't have problems:

1. Turn the power off at the breaker and the switch.
2. Before touching bare wires, test them with a voltmeter or other tester.
3. If you can do it (and especially when working around high voltage), place one hand in your pocket when working - don't let a path be across the heart.
4. If this isn't possible, and you are only working with low voltage, wear a pair of dishwashing gloves, one size smaller than normal (to still have good "feel").

Typically, if you do 1 and 2, you will be pretty safe. Do number 3 if you are paranoid, or working with high voltage projects (ie, Tesla coils and such). Do number 4 if you want to be perfectly safe (however, only do number 4 if you are _not_ working on high voltage projects - dishwasher gloves will not help).

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

The obvious reason is bandwidth.

But that's the thing - they cap the bandwidth, so you can't use more than your allowed amount, yet when you do use it, in the only way possible (via a server app or vpn), they don't like it - it is against the rules of the AUP. Actually, there is one way, what if you set up automatic FTP upload of a file (say a large file that changes on your client system every day) to your web site - say it is 50 meg, and you upload it several times an hour. Say you are at home when this happens - now, what is the difference between a) you doing this by hand - ie PUT largefile.exe, b) doing it via a script, c) a client pulling it from your FTP server? Absolutely none! Except in two cases it is automated - automation is BAAAD!!!

Security - just because you say you're an honest knowledgeable system adminstrator doesn't mean that you are.

Good point - but a counterpoint can be made that if you hand over $BIGNUM dollars, suddenly you can be trusted to run a server? What kind of logic is that? I agree that it is possible to hose a system with misconfigured servers, and that IP problems can crop up depending on what is being hosted (or other legal issues). But why, if these same people pay the money to do this, does it suddenly become "OK"? Please note that I am not saying that you shouldn't pay more - I can see where it might cost more support and legal-wise to allow it - but I cannot see the huge rampup in price:

@Home - Free install in most cases, $40.00/month
@Work - Big $$$ install, approx $100/month

They will even charge this install rate after you have @Home - even though nothing else changes!!! You already have the line, the modem, and the software, they just have to edit a file on their side to uncap you a bit, and give you a new contract, maybe assign some IPs - and this cost how much? No thank you! I don't have much problem with the per month charge though (though I do think it is a bit high - but really not that much, considering everything)...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Don't ever say you can't afford it: I know it is possible, and yes, you will go into debt, but it can be done. Case in point:

Three years ago my friend started a protracted court battle, over all things, the rights regarding an easement to get to a house he bought. The case was long and complicated, and basically boiled down to one asshole thinking he could change the rules, and with enough money, overcome my friend.

Now, my friend is a truck driver - not rich by any means, but one of the best individuals you could ever know. He would truely give you the shirt off his back - both figuratively, and literally. I have seen him do things and help people, strangers even, just because it was the right thing to do. Anyhow - he didn't have a lot of money, but he knew he wasn't going to let this guy cave him in over a simple road (because that is what it boiled down to - a road to the top of the mountain upon which the house sits).

He went into debt - HUGE DEBT. He had the family supporting him, in every way - food, friendship, housing (he has lived under his mother-in-law's house, in the basement apartment, for those years), even money in those times when we could get him to take a little (he is very proud, and will not take handouts - ya gotta sneak em in). He worked every day, and weekends (still does, gotta pay the lawyers), sometime pulling 24 hour shifts for a couple of days - most of the time working 12-16 hour days. Sometimes I would ride with him - to talk to him, keep him awake on the weekends, tell him something to keep his spirits up.

In the end, he is coming out of it winning - he has spent a lot of money, but his hard work and perseverence has paid off, and he will have a very nice house to retire in, indeed. He deserves it, more than I can ever convey.

So, it is possible - if you think you are right, you should pursue it. You may have to work yourself to death, maybe take a second job, who knows what else - but defending your rights and what you believe in is never an easy job - if it were, far fewer people would have died throughout history defending those ideals...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Of course, I have since gained it all back, but it did work, and I wouldn't doubt that it would work again...

First off, I lowered my fat and carb intake - it is tough, to find foods that have low fat and low carbs (for instance, many times when you see a "low fat" food, look on the back, and see how many carbs there are - bet there are tons in many foods - but the sugar will quickly turn to fat, so you want low carbs as well). I wanted foods that tasted good, were easy to make, and were cheap - not an easy thing to do. Most of the stuff I did tended to be homemade - what little I could find pre-made tended to be vegetarian in nature, and expensive (comparitively).

Walk - or do some exercise. I walked about a mile each day after work, not quickly, no power walking - just normal walking.

Cut out soda - I started drinking a lot of water, and also flavored water, that used artificial sweeteners (instead of sugar - no carbs)...

Need potatoe chips? Lays makes a brand of potatoe chips that are cooked with olestra, rather than vegetable oil - much lower fat, and they taste great (but be easy on them - olestra is a "fake" fat, and your body with flush it out via number 2, if you get what I mean, and can be nasty if you eats too many).

Finally, don't deprive yourself - at the end of the "week" on a Friday or Saturday, I would go to Jack in the Box and have a burger or chicken sandwitch, coke, fries, as a "treat" - then it was back to the regemin for another week.

I did this for about a month and a half - the first month I lost 20 lbs, then plateaued. What happened to knock me off the diet was not walking anymore. It wasn't because I got lazy, it was summer came around in Phoenix, temperatures soared above 100 in the evening, and I would be damned if I went out into that crap.

But now I am thinking about trying it again, and maybe do something different for exercize in the summer months - I really need to get rid of this weight myself (as I too am an aging geek, approaching 30 - want to live to see 60 and beyond, certainly)...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

...know why broadband providers (mostly cable, from what I understand) don't want anyone running servers?

The provide you with bandwidth - most of the time an ungodly amount "down", and a piddly 128/256 up (256 if you are real lucky on cable). Anyhow, even this paltry amount up would be good enough for basic server tasks, things that would be nice from a personal standpoint (in my case, I want to set up a bookmark list serving system for my personal use).

However, they won't allow it by their AUP! Why? Why is it like this? What is the difference between a server, and me actually sitting there, and for whatever manner, actually using up the full "up" bandwidth? I mean, I know physically it can't be done, not without some automatic process (which is a no-no, because it looks like a server) - but say it could be done. Why not just say you can have unlimited down, but only 14.4K up, because we only need it for mouse clicks anyhow?

I can understand the broadband providers not wanting people to set up warez/pr0n/mp3/you-name-it-quasi-legal/illegal wares site - but what about those of us who want to use it to better our overall access (like my bookmark server example - but it extends to other things like VPN use, etc)?

Don't tell me to go ahead and try it - I have heard that argument before, and also anecdotal stories of "I'm doing it, no probs, go for it!" - I am certain you can do it, just be hush about it, run on a funky "high" port, and don't consume bandwidth, and things will be generally fine.

I just want to know what they are so paranoid about - or why they won't let us pay a little extra to get that functionality (and when I mean a little extra, I mean a little extra - not the TON extra for "business" class service - which is the same a residential, just better phone service, should you need it, and maybe a higher "up" speed, but not enough to justify the insane prices)?

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I knew those old lists I was keeping would come in handy some day...

I started BBS'ing in 1986/87, with my first modem, a DC something or other (it was from Radio Shack, 300 baud, no auto answer, just the basics - you basically dialed, waited for the carrier, then hit this red button on top - I still have it, and it still works) hooked up to my CoCo 3, running UltimaTerm.

I noticed that he doesn't have many of the BBS's I visited during that time in the 805 area listed, so I am going to have to dig out some lists (in some cases, I will have to fire up my old CoCo and pray that the disks hold up). There were also a few BBS's in the 602 area he didn't have listed that I am going to have to dig out (one was Smash the State - great message BBS, rumored to have been run off a C=64 on a hacked phone line).

I remember doing a report in highschool for my economics class, where we had to interview a "businessman" of the area (805), and while most of my classmates did friends parents, or people their dads/moms knew - I went out and actually got an interview with one of the founders of Mustang Software - visited the place (was in awe of the setup for the system - at the time, only having a simple CoCo 3 with 128K of memory, and here were rows and rows of machines and phone lines, some answering, connecting), and did a taped interview - I still have the tape, I should MP3 it. Anyhow, got him invited to the school, and he actually came to the class and described his business and how it started from nothing and grew (I only wish I had the postmortem, now). I don't think any of my classmates at the time realized what they had seen...

Anyhow - the list brings back memories, certainly - I have one list I doubt he has much info about, a friend of mine was big into the hacker boards of the 80's, calling long distance on "obtained" phone lines (yeah, he was lucky enough to have the phone junction box for his neighborhood right outside his bedroom window!) to various BBSs across the country, and he would print out these "anarchy" and "boxing" text files for me, which I just loved to devour...

[maudelin music in the background]

Memories...


Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I know it was mentioned on the older article:

This guy would do well to look over this web page, and understand why rockets are inverted, rather than hanging, pendulums.

If he continues with his current plan, about all he'll end up doing is making a nice crater in the lake bed...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

True, but these rely on concussive "shock wave" force to do the damage - I am thinking more on the order of a bomb, that explodes under a ship in a huge "wave" of bubbles, lowering the density of the water to the point where the ship almost instantly drops from sight, and is swallowed by the ocean (if it is even possible)...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

...wonderful!

The images are stunning - what I found most beautiful about the images is the perspective they put on the time. I have always enjoyed looking at older B/W photographs, but for some reason, for me, most of the people in them don't look happy - I don't know if it is the B/W nature, or if it is the long lengths of time they had to stay still, or if they truely are unhappy, or what - the drearyness just gets to me.

But here, even when it is plain the people have a hard life (like the "riverboat" guy), they still seem like they are more - I don't know - real/alive/(happy?). The quality of this work, even if it has been touched up, is more in the composition and subject selection - but the color brings it all together.

It is a shame we don't have more color work from this era and before - I noticed aside from clothing style, not much seperated those people from me or any other individual.

On a different note...

The Amiga (and later, the Tandy Color Computer 3) had systems for digitizing images using black and white camera systems with filters, then combining the images to produce "full color" images (on the Amiga, via HAM mode, and on the CoCo 3, via a rapid assembler routine coupled to the vertical blank, rapidly showing each image in succession while updating the palette - very tricky work with the GIME chip there!)...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

While the methods/ideas NASA is discussing might be different, the idea of dynamically bending a wing in flight is nothing new. Aside from the Wright brothers original wing warping systems to effect control (prior to the idea of control "surfaces"), many times dynamic bending has been used to cut down resonant occillation in the wing structure of certain larger planes (like the Starlifter). These systems use hydraulics and cable systems, along with computer controls, to reduce the occillation of the wings while in flight, where the wings would "flap" up and down, producing large stresses on the wing...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I wonder if this has ever been attempted:

I have heard that a ship can be sunk if an underwater eruption causes enough bubbles to be formed around the ship to lower the density of the water, thus causing the ship to sink because it displaces more of the less dense medium.

Has such a weapon ever been devised or built? Just imagine, a "bomb" that goes off under a ship, releases a huge gas "bubble", which the hull "falls" into, to be swallowed instantly under the ocean, before the crew can even react...

Possible?

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Although you may have to add extra chip(s) - polish up those SMT soldering skillz...

On a project I help out with, hacking the Acer NT-150 (see above link), on the majority of our boxes we had what appeared to be pads for a serial port, and we could plainly see empty pads for the serial driver IC - problem was we didn't know what IC.

A few people started doing tracing and such, and thought it was a Maxim part - since they did the free-sample thing on the part, one individual who had experience with SMT rework got what he thought was the right part, soldered it in - and it didn't work.

Soon thereafter another individual posted on our mailing list that he thought he had an NT-150, and had hooked up a serial mouse and a NIC - which we thought was absurd, since the thing didn't have a serial port that we knew of - he posted pictures of his box (a USWest Webvision box or something), and sure enough, he had a serial port. We had him post the part number for the driver IC, and it was a Maxim part, but it wasn't the one our other guy used. He ordered that part - _unsoldered_ the wrong one, and re-soldered the right one in, and "voila", free serial port to add a mouse, or anything else.

In the course of doing that, we have a few tutorials/notes on doing SMT rework with a low-wattage (15 watt) soldering iron, and plenty of patience, if you need to do such things.

Follow the traces back from where the connector should go - see if there are any breaks where resistors, caps, transistors and such might go. Sometimes they mount these, but not the connector (in our case, we had pull-up resistors already mounted next to the serial driver pads, just no chip). Other times, they don't. The other thing to keep in mind is whether the board is dual trace PCB, or multi-layer - if it is multi-layer, and the connector is soldered through the hole, it might actually connect with a middle layer as well (a layer you can't see). I don't know how you would connect with such a middle layer, except maybe to tin the connector, insert, and solder, and the reheat would melt it.

The key to most homebrew SMT rework is patience, and a steady hand (very steady). There is also a certain type solder you need to use, not 60/40 - it is a special solder meant for SMT work, and is a bit more expensive than the regular stuff. Also, apply heat very sparingly, to avoid lifting pads (which is VERY easy to do in SMT rework, from what I understand). If you are really intent on attempting this, I would go out and get some junk boards (drive controller boards from old hard drives are good for practice, to get a feel for working in a tight area, old ethernet cards is you want to practice for more space, and old sound cards sometimes have lower pin count SMT ICs to practice on) and practice removing and replacing components first, to get the hang of it.

Good luck!

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I have been involved in the hacking of the Acer NT-150 set-top box for quite a few months now (check out the link above). The box is quite low power (AMD 586/133), and will just barely play MP3s, once a hard drive is connected.

One thing that popped up in our discussions about how we could play MP3s, and still have power to do other things (or at least play MP3s at a higher quality) was the concept of using the NT-150 as a client, and streaming the MP3s off a server, over the network interface, then piping the resulting audio to the sound card.

None of us have done this yet, but we did manage to find a few GPL'd bits of code that supposedly do it (links are on the site). Basically, you have a back room server doing all the decoding, and the client merely handles the redirect to the audio device, which uses very little processing power. I would imagine that a similar method could be used for other streams as well (though it would probably require a much better CPU than what is in the NT-150).

You might also look into this company...

They make a machine that has OK specs, and can probably do what you need it to do, is pretty cheap, and looks to be PC standard based. Not sure if the low price ($199) will get you a machine with normal video out, or only VGA, and I don't know whether you have to have the internet service they provide or not to get the deal - but might be worth looking into.

One other thing - a few months back /. had an article about homebrewing a 1U web server - it used an AMD 586/133 as well, but I am sure something else could be used - I doubt you will be able to get away with using no fan on the CPU, unless you use a custom xtra large heat sink - most CPUs don't run that cool, and for what you will be doing (and considering how much will be on board and handled by the CPU in some manner - video mostly, but sound and ether to a minor extent as well), a fan will almost surely be needed. It won't be that loud, though - so don't worry too much about it (aside from electrical noise isolation, of course)...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

It is called Freedom VR - two versions are available, one written in Java, and a new Alpha version written in Javascript. The Java version has more features, but the Javascript version is faster, and best of all, GPL'd (and I would bet the features would be dead easy to add):

Freedom VR

On a similar vein as what you have already tried, check out the Badtech Office Tour...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

There are many solutions out there to do web based reporting - from homebrew to megabuck applications. Here is one of latter:

Actuate's e.Reporting Suite

This system is something the company I currently work for is using for reporting. It consists mainly of three parts:

1) The report server
2) The development IDE (Workbench)
3) The report viewer

The report server is what actually runs the report - it interfaces with the web server you aare using to parse reporting requests, then runs the report, builds a DHTML page with the report result, and sends it back through the web server to be delivered to the client. The reports can be downloaded/printed by the client as PDF files (we are working on a way of making it a single step process - harder than it sounds). In some way it is possible to print from the server to a networked printer (this is an area I am not too familiar with).

The development IDE is where you create the reports - you can use simple wizard functions to create "ad-hoc" type reports relatively quickly, then you can flesh them out further with code (using a customized form of VB script), to allow a ton of functionality, from simple linking/drill down reporting, to custom reports that change depending on what data is wanted (I have created reports using it that look the same, but I didn't want to write two seperate reports, so I made one report that changes based upon a parameter passed into the report from the input form/URL). The IDE is drag-and-drop simplicity, very much like developing under VB (it is like VB for reporting) - drag text controls, size them, set properties, double-click and add custom code, then compile and run!

Finally, the report viewer is an application that allows the running of the reports without using a server - it is basically a desktop based viewer.

The downsides to all of this? Windows-based, and expensive. But overall I think it is a great product - it is almost possible to create a website based on nothing but reports. One could do the same using PERL or Python, or some other language (like Java, even C/C++) - but the ease of creation won't be there, and you won't have the "same-on-paper-as-on-screen" type print capability, either.

The one thing I don't get - why the need to print to paper? Why not just regenerate the report when you need to view it?

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

The rub lies in the companies who provide the actual physical circuits -- the MCIs and Sprints of the world.

Get real, will you? I knew Jon Postel - I had a beer with him in Geneva the year he died - and I knew his long and close friendship with Vint Cerf, whom I also know. And Vint is now Senior Vice President for Technology at MCI WorldCom.

One of the things that tied Vint and Jon together (apart from being close friends for thirty years) was that both of them cared passionately about a free and open Internet. Vint still does. You only need to look at his page on Social, Economic and Regulatory Issues to see that. ISOC's slogan 'The Internet is for Everyone' is very much his slogan.

I think everyone agrees that ICANN is a mess - but it's a mess brought about by lawyers (mainly American lawyers), not by the Internet pioneers. Also, and this is what makes me most worried about articles like this one, is that the people who are doing most to damage the concept of a free, open Internet for everyone are not the pioneers - they're the get-rich-quick sleazoids who come in on the back of the pioneer's work and try to grab a chunk of the territory for themselves. We can all see that people who register patents for old and obvious ideas just by tagging 'Internet' onto the end of them are sleazoids. Can you not see that alternate TLD registrar wannabes are also sleazoids?

Yes, ICANN stinks. Yes, we need a more open, democratic authority controlling the top-level domains. But the Internet pioneers are not the enemy, and MCI is not the enemy. And in my opinion, the second thing that needs doing to ICANN (after making it democratic) is to move it out of American legal jurisdiction.

The rub lies in the companies who provide the actual physical circuits -- the MCIs and Sprints of the world.

Get real, will you? I knew Jon Postel - I had a beer with him in Geneva the year he died - and I knew his long and close friendship with Vint Cerf, whom I also know. And Vint is now Senior Vice President for Technology at MCI WorldCom.

One of the things that tied Vint and Jon together (apart from being close friends for thirty years) was that both of them cared passionately about a free and open Internet. Vint still does. You only need to look at his page on Social, Economic and Regulatory Issues to see that. ISOC's slogan 'The Internet is for Everyone' is very much his slogan.

I think everyone agrees that ICANN is a mess - but it's a mess brought about by lawyers (mainly American lawyers), not by the Internet pioneers. Also, and this is what makes me most worried about articles like this one, is that the people who are doing most to damage the concept of a free, open Internet for everyone are not the pioneers - they're the get-rich-quick sleazoids who come in on the back of the pioneer's work and try to grab a chunk of the territory for themselves. We can all see that people who register patents for old and obvious ideas just by tagging 'Internet' onto the end of them are sleazoids. Can you not see that alternate TLD registrar wannabes are also sleazoids?

Yes, ICANN stinks. Yes, we need a more open, democratic authority controlling the top-level domains. But the Internet pioneers are not the enemy, and MCI is not the enemy. And in my opinion, the second thing that needs doing to ICANN (after making it democratic) is to move it out of American legal jurisdiction.

The rub lies in the companies who provide the actual physical circuits -- the MCIs and Sprints of the world.

Get real, will you? I knew Jon Postel - I had a beer with him in Geneva the year he died - and I knew his long and close friendship with Vint Cerf, whom I also know. And Vint is now Senior Vice President for Technology at MCI WorldCom.

One of the things that tied Vint and Jon together (apart from being close friends for thirty years) was that both of them cared passionately about a free and open Internet. Vint still does. You only need to look at his page on Social, Economic and Regulatory Issues to see that. ISOC's slogan 'The Internet is for Everyone' is very much his slogan.

I think everyone agrees that ICANN is a mess - but it's a mess brought about by lawyers (mainly American lawyers), not by the Internet pioneers. Also, and this is what makes me most worried about articles like this one, is that the people who are doing most to damage the concept of a free, open Internet for everyone are not the pioneers - they're the get-rich-quick sleazoids who come in on the back of the pioneer's work and try to grab a chunk of the territory for themselves. We can all see that people who register patents for old and obvious ideas just by tagging 'Internet' onto the end of them are sleazoids. Can you not see that alternate TLD registrar wannabes are also sleazoids?

Yes, ICANN stinks. Yes, we need a more open, democratic authority controlling the top-level domains. But the Internet pioneers are not the enemy, and MCI is not the enemy. And in my opinion, the second thing that needs doing to ICANN (after making it democratic) is to move it out of American legal jurisdiction.

The rub lies in the companies who provide the actual physical circuits -- the MCIs and Sprints of the world.

Get real, will you? I knew Jon Postel - I had a beer with him in Geneva the year he died - and I knew his long and close friendship with Vint Cerf, whom I also know. And Vint is now Senior Vice President for Technology at MCI WorldCom.

One of the things that tied Vint and Jon together (apart from being close friends for thirty years) was that both of them cared passionately about a free and open Internet. Vint still does. You only need to look at his page on Social, Economic and Regulatory Issues to see that. ISOC's slogan 'The Internet is for Everyone' is very much his slogan.

I think everyone agrees that ICANN is a mess - but it's a mess brought about by lawyers (mainly American lawyers), not by the Internet pioneers. Also, and this is what makes me most worried about articles like this one, is that the people who are doing most to damage the concept of a free, open Internet for everyone are not the pioneers - they're the get-rich-quick sleazoids who come in on the back of the pioneer's work and try to grab a chunk of the territory for themselves. We can all see that people who register patents for old and obvious ideas just by tagging 'Internet' onto the end of them are sleazoids. Can you not see that alternate TLD registrar wannabes are also sleazoids?

Yes, ICANN stinks. Yes, we need a more open, democratic authority controlling the top-level domains. But the Internet pioneers are not the enemy, and MCI is not the enemy. And in my opinion, the second thing that needs doing to ICANN (after making it democratic) is to move it out of American legal jurisdiction.

Think of it as the difference between being told a close friend of yours was shot and killed, versus being right next to the individual when it happened.

In both scenarios, there is major grief, and shock, but in the latter, there is extreme shock.

I had read about torture and the Inquisitions many times prior to seeing the exhibit, and I knew and comprehended the misery that people suffered. It wasn't until I saw the the actual devices used, in person, that I really understood the level of fear and misery - I knew there was misery, I understood there was misery - but seeing these instruments, knowing that some were actually used, was like a sucker punch in the gut - a new understanding of a level of misery, and cruelty that no mere knowledge could impart.

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Torture is still used as a common means to obtain confessions around the world.

One of the more heinous methods of torture used today is water torture:

You are bound on your back, a funnel is put in your mouth, your nose is closed, and water is poured in. You have two choices: drown, or drink the water. Most choose number two. But the water keeps coming, and your belly fills up. When your stomach is full to a certain point, then the real point of the torture begins: You are beat with a paddle, stick or bat on the stomach - repeatedly, to confess! You must confess! Needless to say, you either puke the water back out and have bruises, at which point the torture is repeated, until you confess (then you are likely to be burned at the stake, or something else - or you die from your injuries), or your stomach bursts, and you die an agonizing death of internal bleeding and extreme pain.

This museum viewing (it was a "self-guided" tour) was not something for kids - in fact, one had to be 18 or older to enter, no kids allowed. To illustrate:

One particular device that was shown was used on individuals who were found to homosexual, or had extramarital affairs (both male and female) - a wooden pyramidal shaped wedge was mounted on a tripod like structure, and the accused was suspended above it, and repeatedly dropped on it so that it would pierce their anus or vaginal area, until they confessed, or died. Sometimes weights were applied to the ankles. Any movement of the accused would only increased the pain. It is worth remembering that these sessions were generally public, and drew large crowds, as well.

I am not trying to be disgusting, or get a rise out of people with this comment - I am merely trying to illustrate the impact these exhibits had - how they drove home the point that we are at base uncaring animals - and how throughout history, and even today, we seek to demean others through the most painful and violating ways...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I don't think you did, nor do I think you meant to. I only wrote my comment because torture, in the collective mind of society, has become something that happens "elsewhere, elsewhen, and to somebody else". Off hand comments, like the one you made, further perpetuate this largely unconscious notion.

I had read several books and articles on torture and the Inquisitions, but it wasn't until I stood before the instruments of its application that I fully understood the horror of those times, as well as the horror of torture people have faced in recent times, and alas, today.

On a slight more lighthearted note (just slightly)...

One thing I found odd - was that most of the collection displayed in the museum came from two different individual private collections - in other words, somewhere in the world there are individuals who collect these type items, actively seeking them out (and they must be active, and relatively wealthy as well - I say this because one of the instuments on display was a winch, which had been in use on a farm for centuries, and was identified as part of a torture system by the collector, who then purchased it - furthermore, much of the collection consists of large devices, which requires space to store properly). I found this at once odd (because what kind of person would do such a thing?), disturbing (once again - what would drive a person to collect it), and insightful (because destroying these devices does the world no good - it is only through open display and discussion can we as a society move past the need for harming each other in order to extract so called "truths")...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

As an owner of a A1200 (that's Amiga, folks), which had an external powersupply (actually, so did the A500, and A600), they SUCK! Why?

Trying to find a place for it was always a pain, because the cables came out front and rear. It was a nightmare. If it weren't for the location of my desk at the time, it could've been stepped on or tripped over. It was the only thing I hated about my A1200.

As far as noise is concerned, I doubt the fan in the power supply is noisy. I have a test setup right now with an ATX powersupply sitting out openly on my desk, and when it is on, it is all but inaudible. Even in a case, I doubt it it very loud (BTW - why all this talk about loudness? I don't mind the sound of computers - give me the thrum of a computer room A/C and powersupply system for company any day!).

I can only see one way having an external supply would be a good thing, and that would be if it had plugs for everything - no more wall warts, only one AC plug, everything else plugs into the powersupply. I am imagining something like a beefy looking power strip - it could even have a built in UPS for certain components. I would be even willing to bet the monitor could run off of such a system (maybe - I have a portable tube based TV that runs off a 12 volt/1 amp wall wart - of course, it has a small screen - maybe a larger monitor couldn't do it).

I would think you could actually build something like this yourself - getting large amperage bare power supplies isn't a big problem, so just build a case, add some custom cables... The only issues I can see you running into would be possibly noise (electrical) and voltage/current drops/sagging (from excess length of runs for the cables)...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Ok, this time it is lawyers instead of torture. But, I don't see that much difference, really.

trentfoley, I fully support your opinion and ideas on this whole thing - you are most certainly correct that the corps are acting in a similar way as the Catholic Church did so long ago...

But to say a horde of lawyers is anything like torture only belittles the actual hell that torture is.

Want an eye-opening experience?

Go to the Museum of Man in Balboa Park in San Diego, California (USA). They currently have an exhibit (or at least they did when I was there in February) on torture, the Inquisitions, and the machines/devices used.

Oh sure, they have your standard rack and Iron Maiden (actually an 18th century period-repro of the original), guillotene (sp?) and thumbscrews. But there are other devices there - some reproductions, some actual devices that were once used. All with descriptions detailing how they were used, why (ie, the "crimes") and when. The horrors one used to (and in some regions today, still have to) have to endure just for being a woman, or being a "fool" (or a loudmouth, or similar) are sobering, to say the least.

And disgusting.

I entered into that exhibit with curiosity - I exited ashamed of being human.

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Considering that the hamburger joint was a good 100 feet away, and that it flame cooks them on an open grill (suffice to say, this wasn't a McDs or Booger Sling), had there been gas fumes that far away, everyone pumping would be dead (lack of oxygen), and the Circle K would have exploded long ago (actually, the burger place I mentioned is called Lucky Boy, near the corner of 16th Street and Osborne in Phoenix, AZ - great burgers, if you don't mind the wait).

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Let me first describe my computing area:

Currently, I have two PCs (one running Linux, always on, with a UPS, and the other Windows, hardly ever on nowadays) sitting under a folding table, which sits in the middle of the room. A 19 inch monitor sits on top of the table, with a keyboard in front of it, a printer and scanner on one side, and a hub (which is hooked to a cable modem/router combo in a back room, with another PC on it - but it isn't the problem) on the other. I have a ton of cables everywhere running along the floor on the back - a real rat's nest. There are other cables running to/along the ceiling for power, telephone, networking, and sound, as well. The two machines are connected to the monitor via a cheesy 4 port rotary switch, which drives the monitor and keyboard - I have two different mice, one for each machine.

This is turning out to not be an optimal solution for me.

It is better than what I had, because now it is easy for me to work on the boxes when I need to - go to the front of the desk, pop the cables off, pull the case out, and play - before I had my desk against a wall, and it was hell to reach under, pull the machine out a bit, undo the connections, then to redo the connections, I had to use a flashlight, because there wasn't enought light.

Anyhow, I am looking for something better - and cheap - to handle the switching (I could add two more machines to my setup, but the hell in cabling and such that would mean - shudder), plus, I would like my machines to be farther "away" from the table.

I have thought about a custom rackmount solution (building my own rack, etc), maybe mounting the motherboards in the rack on pull-out shelves, and provide a custom cooling solution, but the switching issue is still there - if I could make the shelves pull-out style, the ease of working on everything would be easier, but I still wouldn't have any way to switch the monitor/keyboard/mouse.

I wonder whether I should go with using USB for the keyboard and mouse (will this work under Linux? I am using SuSE 6.3 right now - with a patched 2.2.14 kernel - and the other machine is Win 98) - or stick with PS/2 keyboard/mouse - and switch all of that - gah!

I am needing a custom switching solution - cheap to boot. There are commercial systems, but the price rises ultra-rapidly once you get past 2-3 pc's...

Has anybody had and tackled this problem before?

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

IIRC, most tall buildings already use stacked elevators - 2 or three cars on top of each other, to carry more passengers (mostly at beginning and end of day rushes)...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Someday I'll show you the gouge in the screwdriver that I accidentally shorted across live AC current.

Yeah, I did that once - but with one of those changable bit screwdrivers - let's just say you can't change the bit anymore (it is now welded).

Actually, the worse electrical "shocking" experience I ever saw happened near a gas station at a Circle K. Across the way, a guy was working on an A/C unit on top of a hamburger joint. Well, he fucked up, and forgot to turn the power off. All I remember was that I was pumping gas, then I heard the unmistakable sound of an electrical arc (like from an arc welder), but MUCH louder. I turned, and saw this guy stumbling back (damn near fell off the roof!) away from a two foot long "jet" of electrical "fire" shooting out the side of this A/C unit. Lasted for about a second, then stopped.

I am not sure I would hire that company for my A/C repair needs...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

...the movies of zooming in on cities were pretty cool, the real areas that are interesting (and at the same time, saddening) are the animations showing population growth (and the surrounding effects), large lake "seas" drying up, and the deforestation of the rain forest (that big green thing near the equator that keeps the earth habitable, by being a CO2 sink - of course, I would like to see if other areas have increased in forest growth - not necessarily just in the tropical regions - oh well)...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I've noticed the trend of moving away from wire-wrap in the hobbiest arena, and the move toward SMD. It has been going on for some time, but where it is really evident is in the current scene of hacking NCs.

I run a web site (link off my main site, above) for hacking the Acer NT-150, and recently a few of our members managed to solder an SMD part in order to gain access to a "disabled" serial port (ie, the pads for the chip were there, and the socket holes were there, just those two parts were missing). It had a small number of pins (28?), and when mounting, tended to slide on the surface of the pads, because the top surface was curved. The members mentioned getting the corners tacked down, then going for the rest of the chip.

So far, three members of our group have been successful - one even managed it without any former SMD experience! I haven't got any SMT experience myself, but I am even tempted to try it out (the part is a MAX part, and can be gotten as a free sample).

I like wire wrap, but it is limited to certain designs. However, the majority of hobbiests don't tend to do high speed designs, so it hasn't been much of a problem. Anything higher, and going to a regular PCB, then to SMT designs - has tended to be the route...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

1. Walking over and flipping a switch is more intuitive by far, but if you have to have a centralized interface, more than likely you will want to be comfortable while doing the configuration, which means sending the video to a TV, and using a pointer of some sort (remote control style). If you have at least one screen in each major room and bedroom, you would never be far from a place to set things up.

2. Same for the info screens. But this information could be served up on standard LCDs, even made wireless - all the info on most info screens is text only. There is no real need for the fancy graphics (with the exception of a weather map, say)...

3. I would select the audio from the room I was in, rather than setting a room from another location - this would allow me to tune the settings to how I want them while I was in the room. Simple LCDs could work here again. If you had to have the special stuff, once again you would be in a room where there would be a monitor...

4. Place a 6 inch LCD in the wall, in addition to the regular LCD - display the video on that. If you are in a major room, once again, you will have a monitor at your disposal.

One key to all of this would be to have a PC in every major room - which would serve as an "entertainment/productivity" hub for the room. Everything (video/audio/data) would be served up by a massive server - network the house using 100BaseT (or fiber, if you can afford it). Each computer would handle decoding the data streams and piping the output to the connected speakers and monitor for the room. You could build the PCs into the walls, if you wanted (use those all-in-one motherboards, that have audio/video and networking on-board, and build a custom vent system to keep it cool while in the wall).

I made my original suggestion for those on a budget, for those kind of people who don't have money to throw around. If you have the money, what you suggest can easily be done, but I still hold by my original speculation that you would be looking at $1000 or more per panel. If this doesn't faze you (sends me reeling, personally), go for it...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

And while I admit I may have missed it somewhere in there - I don't think I saw a real concern we should be having right now regarding any new bus...

Think content-control. DMCA. MPAA. Nightmare city.

Think encryption throughout the bus, licences for hardware, and NOTHING for GPL open source-based systems.

As been stated by others, there is no real need for a new bus - unless you start thinking about copy prote... oops, I mean CONTENT CONTROL...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

He didn't fight back, he used words that were deemed "violent" by the administration.

Now, imagine if he had "snapped" in another way when he was being picked on - but instead of using words he used his hands, his body:

Wrapped his hands around the kids neck and squeezed for all he was worth - looked around with wild eyes and a frothing mouth - he would of course have to pick the time to "snap", say off school grounds - maybe meet them for a fight or something.

In a fight - there are no rules - use whatever you got. BTW - you have a mouth - one that can rip flesh! Remember that! Gouge eyes - make them remember the beating you give them! Grab a rock or a brick, or a board - dirt, anything!

Is it me, or is there less fights in schools? Are kids afraid of getting shot later - perhaps...

Alright - I will stop rambling now...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

First off, ask yourself - is there really a need for a large, graphical touchscreen for most applications? You probably won't be surfing the web standing in the hallway, and the only reason you would want large graphics would be for artwork or something - and unless you are willing to spend >$1000 per panel, you won't be getting a really large and clear display anyhow.

What to do, what to do...?

Go here - and hook yourself up with some low cost (compared to LCD touch panels, that is) LCD displays and keypads from Matrix Orbital. They are cheap, low power, small, easy to program and communicate with (via a serial cable - which makes the basement server idea an easy possibility - provided you use a multiport board or something), backlit - some have graphics even! You can use everything from a 12 key keypad to a full AT keyboard on select modules.

Some of the smaller ones would easily mount in a 4 way electrical box, making installation a breeze. Run some DC power and a serial cable (using CAT3 or something), and you're set.

Most applications don't need more than the 12 key (heck, many need less) - think temperature control, stereo control, light control - simple apps that could be automated. With the larger text LCDs and mini AT keyboards, your could do simple email terminals, kitchen recipe terminals, perhaps even a funky Lynx web browser!

For anything else (security cams, quick web browsing), run that data to custom entertainment PCs next to the TV.

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I currently live in what my GF and I affectionately call the "70's Mystery Mansion" - think of the ugliest damn block constructed home you can think of, add avocado and rust colored carpet, popcorn ceilings (with sparkles!), and dark walnut paneling - and there ya go!

Anyhow, when we moved in (it is a rental), I decided to get @Home service (we are too far out for good DSL), and we needed to wire up a LAN so both my machines and my GF's machine could share the modem.

We now have 3 machines on the network, and can actually put more on - I use a FreeSco box for NAT/routing - works pretty sweet.

Anyhow, one thing I did in order to wire the house, since I didn't want to crawl in the attic (think a basketball court size attic, with blown in insulation throughout, and you will understand why I don't like going up there) to run cables, was to run the CAT5 along the molding the edged the paneling along the ceiling. Where I had to traverse rooms, I simply drilled through the wall.

If you pull the molding back, you will probably find you have a bit of room for one or two runs of CAT5 or CAT3 (most likely only one). Simply place the wire in the crevice, and attach the molding back, using care not to nail through the wire (baaad).

If you use CAT3 instead of CAT5 it will be a bit cheaper, plus, because of the tight bends anyhow, you probably won't be able to run over 10 MB (10BaseT). For cable modem sharing, this isn't a problem. However, if you will be doing a lot of internal network sharing or such, go another route. I must say this method has worked great for me, and the CAT5 I did use came from a leftover pull from my employer, that they pulled from the ceiling...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I have one those as well - I picked mine up at a "fill this bag for a dollar" yard sale - managed to get both it and an 80's cd player in the bag. The cd player didn't work - but the Video Music did. One of the knobs was cracked on the part that grabs the shaft of one of the potentiometers, but that was easily fixed with superglue.

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I like to hope I will be if the time comes. To do anything less is to declare you are less than human, and do not deserve the fundamental rights to privacy of which that entails. To bow down is to be in bondage - an animal.

That's an awful lot of punishment to endure to make a point. Does anyone make moral stands like this anymore, in the face of handcuffs, jailtime, etc?

Hardly anyone does - I would do it to prove a point, if not to the few around me - at least to myself, to know I won't bow down to a faceless, corrupt system, no matter the consequences.

In the face of a prejudiced media and society? You're just going to be branded as an unruly wacko.

Like I noted in my post, I relise that - and that alone frightens me...

It occurs to me we have the oppression we do because nothing like this ever happens.

It so rarely happens - when it does, it can sometimes be powerful - witness what happened in the wake of Rosa Parks. We just need more people to stand up for their beliefs.

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

OK, well points 1 and 3 are well taken, but in a closed system point 2 is kinda moot - that is, there won't be a problem if the system is completely closed, as there won't be any open flame, and if the oil gets beyond its smoking point, you have bigger problems with the system.

Still, points 1 and 3 kill the idea completely anyhow (though I wonder how fast a solvent it is - if it is a good solvent, why did people immerse thier motherboards in it - ignorance?). So, the idea would be to get a fluid with as high a specific heat as water, non-flammable, non-conductive, and doesn't act as a solvent. Fluorocarbons are an answer, but most aren't very environmentally friendly, and none are very cheap. I am thinking something like Fluronert might work - but all of that gets into a realm of of chemical workings that I don't understand.

Distilled/de-ionized water could be used instead - less conductive, anyhow...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Case Fans

Why do people always go with the 12 volt fans? There exist same size (as well as larger) "muffin"-style fans that run on 110-115VAC, many pump 100-200 cfm (I had one that came from a DEC mini computer powersupply - had to mount it on a board to keep it from blowing away when I was playing with it). Sure, they would be extremely loud, but think of it - you can easily get that computer center droning noise you know you've always secretly wanted...

Coolant

Instead of water, why not pump mineral oil through the system? People have immersed thier systems in circulated mineral oil, but that is messy. Use a gas tank pump to circulate the oil (the pumps are designed to resist the solvent power of harsh chemicals, like gasoline). You might not get better cooling than water (don't know whether you would or not), but you wouldn't have to worry about leaks shorting your machine out, since the mineral oil isn't conductive (else why would people immerse thier machines in it).

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I would have told the agent "one moment" - went to the front of the car, asked for everyone's attention, and then given a speech, something along the lines of:

"Attention, everyone - I have just been informed that I fit the profile of a drug smuggler - I paid for my ticket with cash and got on at the last minute. Is it now illegal in this country to use cash? When did you last use cash? Can I not choose to do something in this country on impulse? By purchasing my ticket and boarding, I harm no one! But the DEA agent sitting in seat XX says that I am a threat. You are my witnesses, ladies and gentlemen - my witnesses to this event. Remember it! This is just one more step down the road to tyranny!"

(ok, I know, I know - I probably wouldn't even get to the front of the car, let alone give a speech - but wouldn't those things be within my rights, as well?)...

Then I would go back to my seat, told Mr. Agent that I would NOT let him check my bags or person without my lawyer present, and also throw some warrant shit in his face as well (though I full well know it wouldn't matter, since a warrant only is needed for a residence, from what I understand) - but maybe it would stall him a bit. The agent would likely be beligerant (I would definitely remain absolutely calm during all of this - remain an upright citizen - so that my witnesses could see I was the one being badgered). He would likely handcuff me (I would ask why for - I pose not threat - and where are my Miranda rights - I want them read, damnit!), and take me "downtown" at the next stop. I would not say one more thing after my Miranda rights are read, no matter what they ask, other than I want to see my lawyer, and to ask for water, or to go to the bathroom, or what not. I would not give up any other information, until I saw my lawyer. I know I would end up being detained, and I would also not get to where I was going.

I would make this agent work - I would gladly pay for a lawyer - then, when at last no drugs are found, and all of that time is wasted, I would push to file a lawsuit against these people for some civil rights violations. Fitting a profile does not equal to committing a crime! They want to charge me with a crime, they have to prove it, not just "think" I look like someone who could commit a crime. But that is where we are at now in this country - and none of us stands up against this bullshit because it might "inconvience us", or make it look like we are for the "bad guys". These are people we should protect also - even the bad guys have rights.

We are all - every...single...one...of...us - capable of committing a crime.

But these actions and abilities (our rights that have been lost - "unreasonable search and seizure" - to the "War on (some) Drugs") are sanctioned by most people. But you what horrifies me the most?

The fact that if I could make that speech, that every one of the individuals on that car (hell, probably the DEA agent himself, as well!), would tune me out, or look at me with hate, tell me to sit down, or be fearful of me... Why would that be?

Because I would be the one truely free...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I saw this book down at the bookstore again (I say again because I first ran across it last year) yesterday, and thought it should really be in the entertainment section, and not the science section. It literally "screams" coffee table! It is one of those books for people who want to look smart, but who don't actually read - you know, the same yuppie people who hire others to buy whole sections from used bookstores to decorate their house with...

Anyhow, it is not much more than robo-porn. Cheap entertainment disguised as reference.

The first time I saw it, I passed it up for Gordon McComb's updated 2nd Edition (long overdue) "99 Inexpensive Robotics Projects" and another project book containing a bunch of the Amateur Robotics columns from Nuts and Volts. These two are books really discussing the "where it is happening" in robotics - not in labs, but in garages - where it has always been happening for over 30 years.

This book will appeal to robot "stuff" collectors - I myself admit that I might buy it someday, but with full knowledge of what it really is, and not what it pretends to be (I have an older "art/coffee table" robot book called ROBOTS - can't remember the author - one thing I do like about many of the older "pop"-robotic books is that they tend to be the only reference to historical hobby robotics from the 70's and early 80's).

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Though I got it long after the date mentioned - I don't have any intention of trying to get and rebate, or whatever it is.

I have a parallel port 100 meg model - the things I like about it, above a CD-RW:

1. The drive is cheap.
2. The drive is durable (I throw mine in my backpack all the time, no probs).
3. It is portable.

I have yet to see a CD-RW on every machine I go to, especially at my workplace - we have a few, but only on "management's" machines - never on normal developers boxes. So, when I need to pull down a bunch of stuff, I bring in my ZIP drive.

That thing has been abused to hell and back - I even got a few burn/melt marks on it from soldering near it.

I will say the cost of media sucks - but buying or building a portable parallel port CD-RW drive is not my idea of cheap, yet (though it is rapidly falling to below $200 - which is about right)...


Worldcom - Generation Duh!

With a P200MMX with 96MB of ram, and a 6MB Hercules Stingray 128/3D PCI, running KDE on SuSE 6.3 ("upgraded" to 2.2.14 kernel).

Plenty fast for me - it does what I want, fast enough.

However, with prices dropping so much, I decided to upgrade - I have waiting in the wings a Celeron 366 with 256MB SDRAM and an AGP TNT card (haven't received it yet off an ebay guy, but will soon). Right now the test rig is sitting next to me on top of my scanner.

I don't know when I will get around to installing it and booting up - maybe when I get that video card. I am not sure if it is really going to matter to me. I am thinking about getting an even better CPU (I bought the celeron only for testing - the MB was given to me by my employer, and I didn't know if it worked right or not), probably another celeron (maybe a 600), or a PII.

At any rate, I haven't found anything that I use that taxes the system as it is (with the P200). If I played more games, I probably would, but I haven't bought a piece of software in ages.

Just my two cents, probably worth less...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Around here, I would personally get my standoffs from either Fry's or from Apache Reclamation (my favorite hangout - get grungy!), but for most people it will be the Shack.

As far as the cards are concerned, I had thought about that later. What you would want to try to do is either cut down the case (ie, physically cut it down, or take it apart) to just give the bottom and the card mount, or build your own mounts. Another possibility might be mounting a bar at the height of the card screwdown, and then mounting the motherboards on the shelf, so that you can anchor them to both.

Going the full chipset route is probably the best, if most or all the machines are servers (or, dare I say it - nodes in a Beowulf cluster), as it means you can put them closer together...

For the original Ask /. poster, doing that would be idea in his case (test network)...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!