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If you want to do it for the challenge, knock yourself out.

When I bought this box, I was on the Webplayer coop list - I thought getting one of those would be fun. But after purchasing this box, and seeing nobody doing anything on it - I decided not to get a webplayer (and they recently had a problem with paypal - so maybe it was for the better), and look into what this box can do.

Yeah, it's cheesy - you can't put it in the bathroom easily. But that isn't what it was designed for! It was designed to go with your TV. To act as a smart terminal for a backend server, dishing out a funky version of html (that has, for example, tags to control the TV window size and position, in addition to others) - to bring about a form of interactive TV.

Basically, what would happen is the user of the box would turn on the box, and his cable service. The program that was on would have special data in the VBI of the video (same area as closed captioning), that would cause the box to go to one of the servers and get one of these special HTML documents. The HTML would cause the custom browser to "frame" or overlay the video with the web page information, that could be navigated as the program progressed. The video program could control the box, and the user could control the box as well. So, it was a two way interaction.

You don't need much power for that.

This box has the power of around a p75. Think outside the box, here - a P75 is a lot for this type of thing.

I remember when a p75 was a high-end machine (and a good 486 was over $1000)! Come on, people...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I am the owner of the site - no, I have nothing to do with the Ebay listing. I wouldn't stoop so low to do the kind of thing you are suggesting.

The wording may look similar, but I assure everybody that I don't have ANYTHING to do with the Ebay auction...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

How do you do this? Do you have links on where I could find out more about this? It might not be an ideal use, but it would be an interesting use...

Thanks...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Well, there is a table silk-screened on the motherboard that seems to indicated bus speed settings in some way, but there aren't any jumpers. You should be able to see this table on the scan of the main PCB, near the processor (I believe).

Heck - I just took a good look and realized that the tables don't turn out at all - going to have to fix that. Basically, there are a few tables silk-screened on the board. One indicates some settings that seem to be related to bus speed settings (like a jumper setting table), but there aren't any jumpers near the processor to mod. It is either some kind of settings that are done with solder jumping, or in a special hidden area in the BIOS...

Supposedly, though (I haven't tried this yet myself - Chris Healy has), it plays MP3s well, just like it is, without overclocking. Maybe it is the MP3 files he is using - I had built an MP3 player for my truck, using an AMD 586/133, and I had to OC it as well to get it to play MP3s nicely.

Maybe this machine is architected slightly differently to alleviate the issue?

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Yeah - this is what I have looked into - but I am really interested in doing the same stuff as the current Liberate software - that is, a small OS, with a small (but highly functional) internet browser. I figure you could possibly set up an LRP type system, then throw Lynx on it - but I would like to see something more graphical. I am sure it can be done (one promising source that I found was a distro called TVLinux - I have a link on the site).

It's too bad these boxes couldn't be used as a router/firewall of some type - you can only put in one NIC. But they can be used like they were designed - I am just wondering why there isn't more embeddable Linux stuff (TVLinux is the one promising thing - but they ask sooo much for the distribution - but if they can do, others can too).

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I haven't seen, heard or experienced any issues with system performance. Would an MP3 player even work if this was the case (or the Nintendo or Sega emulators)? I would think you would see a problem with these type programs...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

From what I understand, the boxes that people currently have all have NICs in them - no modem. The were meant to use either. The units do have the smartcard slot. Liberate will not give any info or support in the form of the flashing utilities.

You say you have one of these boxes - do you mean an actual Acer NT-150, or a similar box? If you have an NT-150 running Linux, are you running it from flash, or a hard drive? Where did you get yours? Email me, please!

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Actually, you wouldn't believe how much this box has been opened and fiddled with since I got it - no problems yet. This machine is actually a pretty solid box.

Don't worry about actually buying one of these from Acer - it is unlikely you will even be able to get them to admit that they make them. It took me over a month to get an answer from Acer Taiwan that basically said "get your support elsewhere".

I would imagine that unless you waved a ton of money in their face, and ordered several thousand of the boxes, you wouldn't get anywhere...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Shoehorning a running Linux system into a 4 meg flash ram is certainly not pedestrian. We haven't done it yet - but perhaps someday we will. Then, of course, you have to get some kind of application and networking going...

It doesn't make a bad MP3 player at all - and it makes a decent platform of Sega Genesis and Nintendo emus.

It doesn't have a floppy (well, actually it does, in a way - read the FAQ on what info I have on it), but you can hook up an IDE hard drive easily enough - and there is the 4 meg of flash (once you can get access to it, that is).

No, you won't be able to build a Tivo - but that wasn't the reason for this device - it was meant to supply interactive TV. Think ASP-type applications - that is where the power of this box is...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

This is my site.

One could say it is old hardware. But the fact is that they were manufactured in 1998, but they haven't really been deployed. You wouldn't believe the tight grip the companies involved have on this thing, with regard to specifications and settings. There are still several jumpers on the main PCB that no one knows what they do, or what thier purpose is.

Acer won't tell me anything - only to say that such information would be "very expensive" for an individual.

Liberate wasn't forthcoming at all.

Neither of these companies would tell me, or sell me, squat. All of the information obtained has come from other sources and my own experimentation.

Actually, it is almost understandable - you see, I wasn't supposed to have gotten one of those boxes through "outside" channels. I got mine off of Ebay (for much less than $100 - the $100 figure is based on ideas me and my contact have been throwing around). From what I understand, they aren't available from the guy I bought mine from anymore (he sold his last one a while back - at least, that is what he told me).

Could you build a Tivo with one of these? No, unlikely. But think about what can be done...

Sure, it is only a souped up 486, but it can play MP3s. Chris Healy has done this, and he has also gotten Nintendo and Sega emulators running on it as well. This thing is meant to use an embedded OS - a small, fast, and preferably real-time OS. Think small applications - things that don't tax the CPU. The "built in" browser software is actually pretty powerful - if you could get one of these boxes with the OS and browser on it, your could set up a WebTV type box for doing any number of things - set up a "proxy server" to browse through on another box, and supply the funky HTML it uses (detailed on the Liberate site), and you could do some pretty cool X-10 control stuff (I can think of a way to do an X-10 wireless camera control system, with the video in the corner, and the controls arranged around it). Or, you could set it up to be a "WebTV" type system for others, using any ISP you want.

That is just with the built in software - put in your own OS and software, and you can do almost anything. The point is not to think of this thing as a general purpose PC type system...

What has me excited about it, is the fact that supposedly Acer distributed over 50,000 of these boxes. So where are they? Why haven't they been deployed? Are they just waiting for the right time? If not, will they just be put in a landfill? Will they flood on the surplus market in the near future?

AOLTV uses a similar product, but it is more powerful, and not made by Acer (I am not even sure if it is PC compatible in any way). I think these set-top boxes are going to be a big thing, in the near future. Maybe I will be wrong - but a lot of time, money and energy has been put in place by a lot of major players recently (and almost quietly, I might add).

So - think small. Think of the device as a front-end device, not a do-it-all box. Think ASP like applications - what can be done?

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

A Palm Pilot or similar device (ie, portable handheld scanning wedges) do have a good use, during the inventory checking - you can just scan the books as you walk down the aisles (as long as the barcode is on the spine). Such a device would become a portable data logging system for the inventory tracking.

May be a bit expensive, though...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Seems like there are a few open source CRM packages out there. This is a good thing to see.

My current job has involved the design and implementation of one CRM package (alas, not open source - and done in VB with an Access back-end - actually, it works pretty well, overall, but if I had to do it over, I would probably go with Python or Java, and MySQL on the backend), and currently working on the "conversion" of another, slightly different one.

I can give these words of advice: If you are looking for such a package, look for a "pre-done" one - in other words, don't attempt to roll your own, unless you like headaches. While it may seem like a CRM system is simple, the users will make it anything but. Most of the time, what you or I think as the proper, most efficient way to do things, will probably not be what the users will end up wanting (for example, I had a function where you would open the job, but before you could do much of anything on the job, you had to enter in estimated time, then submit it to the client for approval - ie, a signoff. When you got the signed job back, this was an "authorized" job. Then work could begin. As a programmer, I have always experienced clients who would look at a job's estimated time, say OK - then when billed, would say "I didn't authorize that!", and not pay, or do something equally stupid. This was an attempt at doing a little CYA. Nonetheless, nobody uses it in the way it was intended).

Will using a pre-done package alleviate this? No, but it will keep you from burning the midnight oil as you try to modify the package six ways from Sunday...

Of course, I guess they could always come back with "But you have the source, why can't you modify it?"...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I remember back in high school (I went to BHS in Bakersfield, CA). The high school itself is rather old, over 100 years now. It was originally the community college, and a few of the buildings date to this time.

My friend and I never explored the place, as it was way too easy to get caught, and many doors were welded shut, but there were plenty of spaces just begging to be explored. I remember in one building (the oldest, that housed the library and "study" hall), stairs led down past the basement classrooms, and at the end of the stairs were doors that opened outward (!), but had no door handles (!!) - wonder why?

I was told by my chemistry teacher that between that building and the science building (the newest building on the campus, built in the 60's), used to be tunnels that connected the two, and in the middle (aboveground was a very large field) was an irradiation lab - but it had since been filled in.

Other areas were what had to be some kind of tunnel system under the park area between the industrial hall and Warren hall, because there was this large blue capped pipe, surrounded by a small stone wall - it was a vent pipe of some kind. I remember seeing the phone company running cabling in it, so it was some kind of access tunnel. There was also, near the principal's office area, a large concrete cover thing, with a welded trap door on top, and "vents" along the edges. It was only a couple of feet tall, and stair-stepped shaped, of two layers.

Our auditorium was a WPA project - massive concrete work - walls three feet thick in areas. Of course, all over campus were bomb shelter signs, as most of the buildings had basements.

I remember going to a night class, just for the heck of it (not like I needed the grade or anything) - it was woodshop. Our "final" consisted of cleaning up and old storage area, of unfinished projects. Sawdust a foot thick at our feet had to be swept out. Then we got to organize the projects. Old desks, chairs, various other creations... One desk we opened, patterned off an old-time school desk, had a "How to Survive the Bomb" Red Cross pamphlet, from the 50's in it!

Now I live in Phoenix, Arizona - we have an old VA hospital, still in use, at the corner of 7th Street and Indian School Road. One time I was in the area looking for a job, and I wandered in (my GF was working in an adjacent area at the time). I managed to get down to the very basement of the hospital - a steam tunnel like area, very errie, very low light - and very interesting. I was approached by a guard, but made up an excuse, and got out of there. On subsequent days (after job hunts), I tried to get to the mental ward on the third floor, but the elevator kept skipping the floor as a security precaution. I couldn't find the stairs to it...

I am sure there are other areas to explore in the Phoenix area (that aren't abandoned mines - those you want to stay clear of) - I keep thinking the Westward Ho might hold interesting areas, as well as other parts of downtown...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Me an a couple other people are experimenting with the Acer NT-150 (details at www.phoenixgarage.net) - now, this box was never sold to consumers, but it has basically turned out to be a set-top box based around an AMD 586/133 - one of the guys (Chris Healy) has managed to set up a system to play MP3s and run Nintendo and Sega emulators, but I don't think it will have anywhere enough power to run DVDs, let alone VCD movies (which I am thinking about trying).

But you might try an AOLTV box - it is supposedly more powerful (pentium something or another), and maybe hackable as well. Of course, getting one without a subscription might prove challenging...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

You could buy a three tube CRT projector off of EBAY, and mount it to the ceiling (involves a bit of work to mount properly and safely - those things are HEAVY!). Such a projector can be had on EBAY for about $400.00-600.00 US (shipping though, can easily reach and exceed $200.00). If work needs to be done on it, a competent shop or technician can do it for you relatively cheaply. All in all, you can get such a setup, displaying 100" screen sizes and larger, for much less than an LCD projector (for which a good one starts at about $3000.00, and then the sky is the limit). Most of the 3 tube projectors allow seperate R, G, B inputs and sync inputs, so setting up a PC is no problem (though the res might not be the best).

I have to say, though - if you can get a good LCD projector, they are amazing to watch - I watched a video demo (actually help set it up - the screen, mainly - 12 feet tall!) during a pulse jet demo SRL recently put on here in Phoenix (for their forever upcoming show) - great res, nice and bright - huge picture (still, even with all that, it didn't do justice to a real SRL event)...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I saw that comment and almost barfed.

I started thinking - surfing for porn, and getting paid - must be for blocking software. But doesn't it seem a little disturbing that there are people who say "Yeah! I could get a job surfing for porn, so that it will be blocked by Company X's software - Gawd, I hate looking at porn, but THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!" - I mean, doesn't this sound a little "Jeckle and Hydish"? How can you be repulsed by something, but still take a job doing it...unless you really aren't repulsed by it, right? But then, the dilemma is that you are working to subvert your own interests... Or is that the reason - you like it (porn), but you feel you must do this to "cleanse yourself of evil" - to be forgiven.

There is a name for that kind of behavior, and it isn't sanity...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

While this is certainly funny, and I wish I could mod it up further, the original first use of a vocoder in music was done by the Alan Parsons Project around 1976 or so (does anyone remember the album/track - I can't remember if it was Stereotomy, or Tales/Raven)...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

If I read this correctly, it seems as if you have never actually sat down and read an actual Playboy in your life! Had you actually done so you would have found:

* Interviews (with many interesting people)
* Advice Columns (where people ask and receive answers for a variety of things, such as sex advice, dating advice, advice on electronics purchases, etc)
* General articles on a variety of topics: Literacy, freedom, rights, current events, and many other items of interest
* And oh yeah, in the middle, about 20 pages of very tactful, and artfully done, nude imagery (no sex, very tastful)

This is Playboy! I constantly hear and see women scoffing about it, saying it is all porn, and that is all the men look at, but over 90 percent of the magazine has nothing to do with nude imagery. I would venture 80 percent has nothing to do with sex, either! There really is a lot of worthwhile reading in Playboy...

Had you have mentioned Hustler, or Club, or one of those other, lesser known magazine, I would be more inclined to agree (but hey, even Hustler has good articles). I am certain there are magazines out there that would shock the hell out of you (a trip to an adult "bookstore" can be a very enlightening thing), but Playboy should not fall into this category...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

This was about 10 years ago - I remember a kid in my English class who would sit in the back, and basically draw. He tended to get good grades in the class, even though he didn't take notes and such. I once asked him what he was drawing (I could see he was drawing something, but that was it).

Big mistake.

He handed the paper to me, and on it was a cartoon character of his own design, of basically a guy hanging from a noose in a tree, but only the head in the noose. Below the head was a lifeless body, and a chainsaw nearby. Everything was "covered" in blood (he used a red pen for this). He pulled out other pages, and they were all variations on this theme...

I guess if then was today, he would be locked away in a padded room (I never actually saw him commit any violent act, not even uttering a cuss word - to this day, though, those images remain disturbing).

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Imagine that you could get your employer to pay you "under the table" in cash - they wouldn't have to take out taxes (and thus, you wouldn't have to file - but if you have been filing all along, continue to file as a "below the poverty line" type deal, then slowly stop filing - because if you don't make any [reported] money, you don't have to file). Then, figure out a way to fake your own death - and become a "non-person".

True - it would be tough living this way (very tough) - but legally, you wouldn't exist anymore as a person! And in today's society, this is rapidly becoming something worth pursuing...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Given the clues, and the speculation here on /. - I believe I know what IT is. Bear with me - I haven't read all the posts here (not enough time!!!), but two different paths have emerged which both point at what this thing is:

IT is a bicycle.

IT uses a very advanced Stirling engine for propulsion.

Nothing else seems to fit all of the clues. A small, foldable (and easily assembled) bicycle seems to be the only device that would ellicit a laugh from someone, being that bikes are fun to ride.

A Stirling engine is the only type of device that would make old big industries nervous (lower fuel consumption, and coupled with a bicycle, it would make auto makers tremble too). Some have said that such a Stirling engine couldn't be made, but I beg to differ - there have been numerous studies done to build Stirling engine powered automobiles, but all had the flaw of slow startup times that was thought would deter consumers (the best, done by Ford (?) took 10-15 seconds from "turn the key" to "go", back in the 1960's I believe - yeah, that takes too long for me - not!). But on a bicycle, one could pedal for that long until the thing was going, then let the engine take over (plus, that would reduce the load on the engine during startup, keeping it from stalling, and limiting, or eliminating, the need for a transmission).

Remember - "Ginger" means lightweight, quick-on-the-feet, so to speak. Such a device would have all that. The core technology of the advanced Stirling engine would have a ton of other uses, as well.

Such bicycles, if used by enough people, would cause need for city planning - look at any large city where the residents use a ton of normal bicycles, and you will see what I mean. Plus you would need the infrastructure for refueling, in some manner.

That is my guess. If any of you have ever seen Kamen's iBot wheelchair (this thing is truely amazing - it affords such a level of mobility to those who need it, that the term "wheelchair" doesn't really describe it - think "mobility chair", that comes close), you know this guy knows his stuff, and isn't a crackpot.

I guess we'll know how close I was come next year...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

These three things (micropayments, DVDs, and pay-per-view commerce), plus others (ASP applications, digital video and audio with copy control bits) all tie together, in the sense that "big media" is trying to come up with a way to continue making money in a world where copying is ubiquitous.

I don't have a problem with this.

What I have a problem with is that increasingly, it is looking to be a one sided deal. What do I mean by that?

Maybe I am wrong (I hope I am), but it seems like only the "big interests" want to have the payments come to them. They want you to pay them. If you happen to set up content that they want, and want badly - that is "protected" by a micropayment scheme, so that you can earn money, they will scream bloody murder over the fact that they have to pay to use it. At least, it seems like this is something they would do.

What they want is you to pay them, as they gradually up the micropayments, with you not being able to keep up monetarily wise (actually, just barely keep up - because if you couldn't, you would have to stop, if for no other reason than because you are broke, and parasites try not to kill their hosts if they can keep from it).

The only problem I can see out of all this (if they allow it), is that it will force people (that is, ordinary Joes) to start publishing material, in the hopes of getting enough micropayments to pay their own information addiction. Perhaps rings of groups would spring up, those within the ring being able to access each other's content for nothing, while those outside have to micropay.

Somehow, I see a vicious, ugly circle brewing...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Unfortunately this relies on CALLed type subroutines - I am thinking older style BASIC, with line numbers, gosubs, etc - no CALL statements...

Still a pretty cool example...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

More for my own amusement than anything else - It would be a hoot to see an OOP-like piece of code running on a TRS-80 CoCo...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Cool for QB 4.5 - but I am looking for something much older - like with the line numbers, and only GOSUBs and such (no CALL statements)...

Maybe it can't be done with that old of BASIC?

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

It gets tricky - your data on their servers is being modified by them, because they didn't like your ideas about what you wanted to receive from them. Some would say "But wait, it is their machines, and they can do with the data as they please." - right? Perhaps if you aren't paying for it, but you are, indirectly, by being willing to look at thier banner ads, which you pay for (once again, indirectly) with bandwidth.

Very grey area, to say the least. But what happens in the future...

Dear user,

We are sorry to inform you that your recent email written using BigCorp ASPMailClient did not get sent. In fact, we deleted it, because it said disparaging things about our sister company, SmallCorp. Please refrain from saying bad things we don't like. Remember, we have your credit card number...

Seem impossible? If the dream of ASPs come true, you will pay to see, access, and alter your data, stored remotely on a server not under your control. They may do what they wish with the information, and as current law stands, not by liable for anything they do with it, because the law is in such a grey area over who owns it.

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

One thing that bothered me was his tax example program. He states that:

We are assuming that Tax may handle other entities besides people, so we are making it a separate class instead of a method of Person.

Now, I am not an OOP programmer by any means. But wouldn't you do some form of inheritance of the base class Tax, forming a class Person_Tax (which might have specifics to people, but inherits other Tax items), then create an object method in Person based on this class?

I know my terminology may be screwed up, but I know that you don't need a whole seperate class in this example - you are just ordering and reusing components through inheritance. The power from this comes when you change, say, the Tax class - everything trickles down, and updates all other uses of the class and objects created from the class - so you don't have to change things in a billion different areas in your code, like you may have to in a procedural language (now, with good design and attention, you would black box a procedure with arguments you could pass in telling it what to do, like Function CalcTax(type, unit, var1, var2) - so that tax = CalcTax('Person', 'John Doe', var1, var2) is different from tax = CalcTax('Corp', 'JD, Inc.', var1, var2) - and this could be extended for various types, and modified if needed, affecting all areas that called this routine to calculate tax - however, this has to be the only routine used to calculate tax)...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Please - someone show me an example of this - and not in VB.

Show me an OOP'ed "Hello World" BASIC program, using a circa 1980 or so version of BASIC...

Can this really be done (and would it be at all readable)?

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Technically, what this VP did to this guy could be considered the same thing that Kevin Mitnick did - used false pretenses and other "social engineering" tactics to gain unauthorised access to machines, and the information contained therein.

So why isn't this VP's ass in the slammer yet?

Not that I advocate what was done to Kevin Mitnick. While I know that what he did was in the wrong, I don't believe his treatment or his "punishment" fit the crime committed. However, had KM only did 1/10 the time, he still would've did more time than this VP.

Just more proof of class ruling over justice - somehow I think all of this will be swept under the rug, the VP will get his wrists slapped, and we'll hear no more about it...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Lessee here - I git onna dose ol'fangle-type chinese south-pointin' carts, and hitch it to de back o' my car - den throw the dish on top of dat!

Smile - I'm trying to be humorous here...

[ducks]

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

So we can continue hear such drivel for what it is!

Mr. Carr states:

I could not escape one central dilemma: Only two forms of regulation are available in the United States: governmental and corporate.

He neglects a third, though one I can easily see why he neglects, because it is oh-so-extremely-rare in our American society:

Self-regulation.

Namely, that of being responsible for one's own actions, and respecting the rights of other individuals.

Responsibility and respect: I have said it before, and others have said it as well. Until these two ideals are exercised on a day-to-day basis by our citizens, we will continue to see decline within our society.

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

As I stated before, if it was an admin related or work related server, the whole thing should be backed up - all partitions in one fell swoop, preferably with a rolling backup schedule swapping tapes, and with an off site copy (perhaps even in a different geographical area for the truely paranoid). The sysadmin should not have to remember config info, because on restoring the system from backup, the config would be what it was at the time of the backup.

The programmer and web designer both sound very disorganised - if it is a work environment. There should be only one place for the code, all others would be mirror image backups. Anything done at home should be seperate from the work environment. The work environment code should be on a server that can be backed up by the admin as part of the backup process. The user is responsible to put code that needs to be backed up in a place to back it up. They may have to back it up themselves.

You are right in that humans will do whatever they want, regardless of what you tell them. A geek without driving experience though is not likely to tackle a porche for a first lesson, they are likely to try something slower and simpler. But if they like driving, they will learn what it takes to maintain a car, and work up to that porche. The reverse isn't true - most people look at computers as something that should "just work", like a TV, and not even attempt to learn more about them as time goes by. Computers will never be TVs (barring some big advance in AI). We all do have to learn - problem is so many people think that computers don't require this - and never ask questions to learn more about why they should be making backups, or worse, asking for advice, then forgetting what to do 10 minutes later.


Worldcom - Generation Duh!

You will see that I am pro-gun, anti-SUV, anti-sprawl.

I believe individuals have the right to say when their government is doing wrong, and if the government continues to abuse its power, then they have a right to change it by force, if absolutely necessary (this is HUGE responsibility IMO, not something to be toyed with, and only invoked after ALL other options have failed). Without this right, all other rights are so much "lip-service".

I do not think every person and his brother, sister and mom needs an SUV. I like 4WD vehicles, but they have a place, and only for those who use them for responsible 4WDing. I would love to own an older model Blazer, for instance - but I recognize that I don't really have a need for one. Many people use SUVs like oversize station-wagons (which many actually tend to be - some aren't even 4WD! - its all an image thing). Personally, I would love to have an ethanol powered vehicle, but it is kinda hard to buy ethanol anywhere when you need it.

Lastly, I support the idea of arcologies. I would love to live and work in one. I think such a system could be built today, that would be much more environmentally friendly than individual homes (plus, you wouldn't need SUV's in an arcology - you could walk).

I don't trust our (when I say this, I mean American) government. They have done nothing major in the past 20 years to earn any kind of trust, and they continue to abuse the power (I can't even understand using "they" - because they are people too - I don't understand why the parts can't get the whole to be beneficial/benevolent - maybe some strange chaos related thing, or maybe it is more akin to a biological process).

I view freedom as the right to be left alone, to pursue my own goals, provided that said goals and actions do not harm or cause hardship to other individuals in the society. Owning a gun does not cause a problem (shooting my neighbor does) - see the difference?

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Ask them what they want - try to find solutions and compromises, then encode them into the manual to sign. If a democratic approach is taken, everyone should be happy.

Say everyone likes to listen to music, but they want a more personal selection. You may not want to allow streaming audio (or video) from the outside, due to security or bandwidth considerations. Maybe you could set up some kind of MP3 server, then (you must have a junk box somewhere, that you could outfit with a large drive). Everybody could place their MP3s on it, and share them around (rather than duplicating them on each desktop).

To CYA yourself legally, don't allow porn or warez. Codify it in the manual, but in practice don't actively look for it - but if it comes up (like say you're looking at a firewall log and you notice a reference to a porn site), privately speak to the individual - make it known that it won't be tolerated. If it is found again, let the person go. Even if it is the "higher ups" (esp. here - why should they get special treatment? - if you have someone on staff with enough skills he/she might be checking up internally without your knowledge of what managment is up to, as their own form of CYA - heh, heh).

One thing to codify in the manual - add a line that says that the policy will only change with written changes, to be signed by the employee (ie, updates), and finally - add a line the says something along the lines of "any rights/rules/actions/etc not explicitly described herein falls to the discretion/right of the employee" - kinda like how the Bill of Rights state the same falling to the States, and not the US Government (not that it is followed much today).


Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I knew I shoulda did this long ago!

I bought one of these when it first became a "hit", I think it was last Christmas (99), or maybe it was later - early last year, anyway.

I had mounted mine to the wall (none too securely), and it fell off - breaking the mouth actuator in the process.

Figuring this was as good of time as any to open it up, and see how it worked, I went ahead, pulled it apart, and took the actuator assembly out of the "skin" - kinda freaky looking, but I found the busted part. A little superglue and some struggling with the skin, and it worked like a champ afterward.

After seeing how simple the thing was, I knew it wouldn't take anything to hook the thing to a computer, and write drivers, etc to control it (I was thinking the parallel port route, or maybe a PIC with a custom serial interface - nothing too fancy) - but at the time, it was just "one of those projects", that I seem to have a million of running in the back of my head. I shelved it, figuring someone would do it sooner or later.

I guess it has been done, to an extent, at least - pretty cool. Since the Boogie Bass came out, others have been available - I have seen a trout, an alligator, a lobster, a shark, a fish with no skin (just bones - for Halloween), and one with a stocking cap for Xmas.

Other cool animatronic animals I have seen are a line of moving "creatures" that perform an action when you press a hidden "under-the-skin" button - I have seen them at toys-r-us.

Never thought when I was a kid that audio-animatronic devices would be sold cheaply. I remember being fascinated by the Chuck E Cheese characters, going to the point of trying to build my own "dancing" robot (I actually got a head working that would "sing" to a radio - built the trigger circuitry for the motor using a Radio Shack 150-in-1 kit!). I loved seeing how they worked, listening to the compressed air pistons, etc.

Now they can be bought at Walgreens...sigh.

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I am not advocating backing up everything - in fact, unless it is a server, only back up the important data. When a crash occurs, re-install the software, then restore the data (like I said, unless it is a server, or some other form of work environment where the downtime is gonna cost money).

Of the data backed up, it should be reviewed, organised, and prioritized to get rid of the least important stuff, keep the important stuff - then put it where it would be best served. Most of my data goes onto ZIP disks, as those fill I go into an organization mode, build an image, and move it to a CDR, then wipe the ZIP disks for more. The ZIP disks are mainly there for convenience, not permanence (not that I expect CDRs to be permanent or anything). Some stuff I resign to the "a copy can be found on the net" bin - and get rid of. Other things I hold a backup only on the hard drive and a ZIP disk (like my web sites), because they change (ir)regularly, and there will always be a copy somewhere. I don't consign these to a CDR, unless they are dead sites that I have moved off to an archive.

I guess one of the good skills in backup is to be organized...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

From the time I got my first computer when I was 11 years old (MANY moons ago - it was a TRS-80 Color Computer 2 with 16K), I was told the importance of having a backup. If that meant an extra cassette, or some handwritten code on a piece of paper, so be it.

Backing up your data should be common sense - unfortunately it isn't, but it isn't that hard to find information on what a backup is, or what it is for. I cannot understand why people simply think that when data is put into a computer, it will always be there (I guess they think that high-tolerance mechanical devices never wear out)? The majority of people clearly do not understand the power and nature of the tool they are using. It is almost like they expect their car to run forever without an oil change...

Oops - I forgot - some cars can now go for a damn long time without an oil change, while the emmisions/engine control computer reconfigures everything, while the engine wears down - until one day it does break. Manufacturers started making these 100,000 mile cars because people are either too stupid or lazy to have periodic maintenance done, instead opting to "buy" a new car every 3-5 years (and perpetually paying for the vehicle, or worse, LEASING it). Is it that hard to take a car in to have the oil changed, or to do it yourself? Brakes, same thing (the number of times I have heard metal-to-metal brake wear is appalling - how those people stop at all is a wonder) - it really isn't that difficult to replace one's own brakes on a car (though drum brakes do tend to be a bitch).

I don't think everyone needs to know everything about their computer - but they should have common sense about it, simple maintenance, care, and troubleshooting at minimum. Backups are a part of this.

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Ok, for the most part, California is "free" - but if you look closely at its laws, and what is currently going on, you will see it is rapidly becoming a police state.

Case in point: California recently enacted legislation (as of the first of this year) to drop the number of guns that may be legally registered from over 1000 to approximately 150. Colt Firearms said "Screw You" to various provisions, and pulled out their stock, and told gun dealers they could get refunds on the stock they still had.

Supposedly, this law doesn't affect private party transactions. But if you want a small, concealable gun in Cali - good luck in getting it legally. Same if you want a gun that can't be "locked" (ie, a trigger lock, with a physical key - not a safety).

Somehow the politicos over there think this will stop something. Murders? Crime? Who knows - at any rate they have thier heads up their arses like backwards ostriches.

Want a more free state? Try Arizona (though in Maricopa County, Sheriff Joe sucks big time - it sucks to live in a state where a county jail is listed on the top 10 Amnesty International problem jails). But California? Bah!

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Is probably the 900 MHz transmitter antenna - look at the x-10 wireless camera, notice the similarity?

My first thought was that this camera was nothing more than a repackaged x-10 system (that, or the makers of the x-10 camera also sold the system to the makers of the toy cam)...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I know for sure people rigged up quickcams on their Lego creations long before Lego decided to put its cam on the market. I know of one guy who made camera crane rigs from Lego this way, controllable via a web gateway (ie, a controlable Lego webcam).

Lego released their camera (as a Mindstorms add-on, and also as some kind of interactive movie making set) - unfortunately it is still tethered to the PC via a cable - it isn't wireless, thus limiting its true potential for experimentation.

This kid's camera isn't much cheaper than the X-10 thing. Plus, I wish that instead of using a 9-volt, they would use 6 AA batteries (for longer "on" time).

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I have always wanted one of those things, but when I finally became an adult with a job and money, they become non-existant (or VERY pricey on Ebay).

My only consolation was to buy the cheapest camcorder I could find - it was GE 8mm camcorder, very, VERY basic (ie, manual zoom, seperate lensed viewfinder, no titling, no preview, no nothing). Price? $250.00 US - that was five years ago, and I haven't seen anything come close to it since (though there are some nice $300 rigs - I just don't use a video camera often enough to justify any of it).

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I know this guy - strange dude, but cool (hey, the way I figure it, anybody who does this kind of thing for a hobby has to have some kind of worthy mind).

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Portability - the ability to have the code allows the userbase to reimplement (ie, port) the code to another platform - that may or may not be currently supported. Porting of code may happen now, while the code owner still exists, or even in the future, long after the owner is gone, or even after the hardware no longer is manufactured. As long as the code exists, future support and upgrades are always possible.

Security - by having full access to the source code, the userbase may easily see if and where the code may provide a security breach, and actively fix the problem. This is especially important in a server environment (though I tend to think that no sane admin would be running Athena on a server).

The first issue will keep your company chasing new hardware platforms, while the second will keep it from becoming a business platform (though that didn't hurt M$, of course, people are less naive today - or maybe that's wishful thinking)...

Personally, I would love to run Athena - but these two issues make me believe I should, at minimum, take a "wait-and-see" attitude. I am sorry that there is lashback at corporations, but the public is waking up to the fact that corps don't exist for the people, they exist for the $$$.

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

When I was your age (many moons ago), pop-culture was the "thing", and was hardly questioned by teenagers of the period. We had our our stars and icons, and the various other accoutrements that accompany such things...

I imagine we didn't question it much because there wasn't any way to question it - we couldn't really publish on our own, and it was hard to spread word about the "bad" things corporations do.

With the internet at your disposal, and at the disposal of your peer group - do you question these things? I tend to think you would, since you read /. - but do your peers? Or do they simply take the stuff that is fed them, without questioning it? If that is the case, does this lead to a lot of "friction" in whatever social life you have with your peers?

I am just curious as to how today's teens see the corporate world around them, which looms large, vs. what was around us when I was younger...?

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Boycott and educate! Create your own content (if you can - even if it is only a web-based comic strip, drawn and scanned)! Educate those around you (your friends, family, fellow employees) - especially anybody who doesn't read /.

Talk to people - let them know your feelings, the possible scenarios, where all of this could go, and seems to be going to. Ask them if they want a pay-per-view/listen/read/taste/think world.

Make your voice loud about the issue, especially at places you buy from, so that other customers hear you. Heck, walk up to strangers who are buying DVDs, ask them for a moment of their time, and educate them. Give them a business card with some info (URLs, etc) pointing to what they need - pass them out (business cards are cheap to have made)...

Get involved in some way - any way. Help is much needed.

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

I have a spam filter targeting the TO: only (to hell with the CC: - that's probably spam anyhow) as well, but I also have a set of filters for the targeted emails, based on subject, and a set of filters for those things (like lists I am subscribed to) that I want to get through.

So far it has worked rather well - I just wish I could set these filters up on the ISP side, instead of under Netscape (so that I didn't have to download the email).

One thing I am thinking about trying to do is set up some method (a script or something) to scan through the spam box and route requests to SPAMcop periodically - on an automatic basis (I like SPAMcop, but it is a pain to do everything manually - does anyone know if something like this exists?)...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

What you will want to use is a DVD-R system, not a DVD-RAM drive. From what I understand, they use different media (the DVD-R has a higher density), and can be played back on normal DVD players.

However, they aren't cheap. About a year back they hovered at around $10,000. Today you should be able to get one (a cheap one) for around $8000. I have no idea how much media costs, or where you can get it.

I also don't know how these devices handle region encoding, CSS, etc - whether they force you to use one region (probably), or if you can select the region/use CSS/macrovision (maybe on high end models).

If you can get the money together on this, and buy the equipment, you might be able to set up a niche business of doing LD backups. Return the LD and DVD-R back to the client - there shouldn't be any legal hassles (consult an IP lawyer, most definitely). You might be able to make your backups, and gain your investment back as well.

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

It may be more trouble than it's worth...

But good luck getting the Criterion LD of BladeRunner in DVD format...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Alright - my mistake - someone mod this down NOW!!!

Worldcom - Generation Duh!

Cna you point to information regarding this? I would be very interested in reading about it.

Mainly because of VR - VPL locked up glove patents (among others) - which is why there aren't many gloves as input devices (at least in the VR environment). I published a text file detailing how to "homebrew" a VPL-like glove (after seeing publically available information). By your statement, I would be infringing.

Just wanting to know if I really am...

Worldcom - Generation Duh!