Slashdot Mirror
Slashback: Playstation, CueCat, Games
Maybe a bad day at the factory? An anonymous reader submits: "I'm not sure where the other fellow got his WAP11, but mine don't show the dirty output his does." See this diagram for a much more desireable outcome, if you care to play with (a little bit of) fire.
First application should be a GPL'd AIBO obedience school. gonz writes: "An update to the previous reported linux on ps2 kit has been submitted by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) to the people previously registering interest on their technology sites. The update consist of that it will be released in May on both SCEA (us) and SCEE (pal areas, including Europe and Australia) territories. A website has been set up at this place. On a side note, registering for notification when pre-ordering can apparently be done too: 'Finally, although sales haven't yet started, if you send an e-mail with the message "subscribe" to ps2linux-request@technology.scee.net we'll let you know when pre-ordering starts.'"
Lessons in obviousness. John Kozubik writes: "I have written an article describing, in a manner I have not yet seen, why the court decision by the U.S. appeals court in SF that claimed in-line linking was not fair use was inherently flawed. It is a short piece written for both the technical and the non-technical, and I think it raises a strong point concerning the arbitrary nature of browser behavior."
If they'd launch some pigs, perhaps global phones would be affordable. Guppy06 writes: "Many of you may be surprised to learn that Iridium (famous for trying to compete with cell phones and failing miserably) is still throwing up satellites (I sure was). The article on CNN tells of the technical woes of getting this particular Delta II off the pad in Vandenberg as Iridium tries to put five more spares into orbit."
Couldn't they have spayed or neutered them instead? Speaking of old hardware, Anonymous Radio Shack Employee writes: "RadioShack has sent a notice to all of its employees to destroy all CueCats (preferably with a hammer). Apparently the CueCat is among a couple of dozen items that RadioShack has given up on, and wants destroyed. The memo says that store employee's can not benefit from the items on the list. Which sucks because my store has over a hundred of these things just sitting in the back room." This week's Linux Weekly News has a great, detailed followup to the recent flap over relative OS security sparked by a post in Windows Informant.
i will have the first webserver running on a cue cat.
Alright! I'm deffinately ready for the "101 ways to destroy a Cuecat" video craze. :)
I dance a jig on their grave. See where empty-headed threats and intellectual property rhetoric lead?
Another proud carrier of the $rtbl flag
Use the Preview Button! Check those URLs! Don't forget the http://!
They probably don't want to have to support the customers that would get one - "my cue:cat doesn't understand the barcode on my baked beans .. whine whine whine"
They may well want to sever their relationship with the digital:convergence to, and smashing the things to bits is a great way to send that message.
Wow! Something from Radio Scrap that actually needs help in falling apart! :]
Having to post this anonymously (as a Former Radio Shack Employee Who Does Not Wish To Cause Trouble Even Though His Boss Has No Idea What Slashdot Is) - I was working for RS when the memo came out that all Cats were to be given away IMMEDAITELY. Our boss made us push them on every customer, showing us the memo that said that each store would be charged $0.05 for each Cat remaining in the store past X date. I don't know who submitted the article, but perhaps his boss doesn't read his memos. Anyway, we dumped our stock shortly thereafter in a matter of a few days. Also, the bit about "employees not benefitting from these items" or whatever is somewhat bogus - it's not like RS corporate makes you send them pictures of numbered piles of destroyed Cats. If his/her boss has half a heart he'd let his employees take home whatever.
Well, I won't be using Radio Shack ever again. I don't see any reason to patronize a business that would rather destroy an item it no longer wants or can sell, especially something they were just handing out for free in the first place... rather than give the items away to those who need/want them. It's a waste of resources that could have been better used instead of destroyed. It's this sort of action that defines what the deepest, darkest depths that greed and ignorance can reach.
Steve's Computer Service, Hobbs, NM
Iridium was bought by a company no one had ever heard of, for a bargain price -- after "securing" a long term contract from the US Government that basically pays for their operating costs. Any additional commercial subscribers is just gravy.
Common speculation is that this company is really a front for one or more of the many three-letter agencies in Washington that saw an opportunity to establish a secure means of global communication.
What is even more interesting is the fact that Digital Convergence is still alive!
It looks like they changed their business plan (of course) and are now *selling* the CueCat reader and books (this last one is a ROFL site. Look at the titles: Online Weight Loss Assistant, WAR ON TERROR (PHASE ONE: AFGHANISTAN & USAMA BIN LADIN), and so on...)
Now that would be cool.
I'll post this as AC because no self respecting slashdotter would ever admit to working at RadioShack.
Whenever an item is written off at RadioShack...say for example, you give replace someone's radio under a service plan...you are supposed to destroy the item. This is done for a couple reasons that I can think of. As an employee, you could take the item, send it to get serviced on the store's tab (Radioshack...We Service What We Sell), resell it, and the void / backout the transaction and pocket the cash while avoiding discrepencies in the inventory. Also, prevents you from other such mischief... sending it to get repaired, and keeping it for yourself.
Since they're being written off, the procedure is therefore the procedure of all written off goods -- destruction by the almighty hammer.
I still can't see how people would profit off them, except maybe selling them as some sort of bizarre techno-geek sex toy / butt plug. I think if you use it to scan your butt, it automatically brings up a link to goatse.
I saw some cheap used oscilloscopes in a local electronics surplus store at the weekend. If I got my hands on one, how would I go about measuring the frequencies like those guys did with their Linksys? Does one have to buy an antenna, or can it be made? Do all oscilloscopes have the necessary inputs for this. Are there any other considerations? Is this directional (depending on antenna, I guess)?
:)
The instrument used to make those screen shots is a spectrum analyzer, not an oscilloscope. Both instruments display amplitude on a vertical scale, but an oscilloscope displays amplitude versus time while a spectrum analyzer displays amplitude versus frequency. They are very different tools, and any serious RF hacker will own both.
In general, an analyzer is much more sensitive (they normally display RF signal power on a log10 scale, so their dynamic range in voltage terms can exceed 100,000,000:1.) If you had a fast-enough/fancy-enough oscilloscope, you could run an FFT on its display and get the same basic information, but the SA is still the tool of choice for most RF work above 500 MHz. The insanely-fast scopes that can do microwave FFT analysis come with Ferrari-size price tags (literally), and they still don't have the dynamic range of a $3,000 spectrum analyzer. Different horses for different courses.
Sorry for the rather basic questions, but I'm not an EE, and I've only used an oscilloscope very briefly about 12 years ago. I really want to find out where the interference for my 2.4GHz phone is coming from, and how moving the base station helps. I also want to put an FM transmitter on my sound card, and so I want to see how that works too.
For both of those purposes, a spectrum analyzer would be the right way to go. An analyzer capable of 2.4 GHz coverage can be had for under $2K on eBay, but not much less. Some 802.11 hardware can give you reasonably-decent pictures of the 2.4 GHz spectrum, so I'd investigate that possibility first.
Dahlmann tightly grips the knife, which he may have no idea how to use, and steps out into the plain.
I fully agree that any material placed on publically accessible web servers should be referencable under the "fair use" doctrine. However, I think the court's descision is correct in light of this. Mr. Kozubik's main complaint seems to be that the behavior of browsers as regards linking are entirely arbitrary. He is correct. However, fair use is by its very nature a doctrine which will be interpreted on a case by case basis, respecting precedent.
Rather than fearing, as he does, that the court will constantly have to "revise" the decision as technology changes, I think courts will be able to read the intent and wisely apply it to many other decisions. After all, a court decision is not a law, defined by the precise wordings, but rather a carefully considered opinion on the burden of evidence. Future courts should be able to apply the same fundamental distinction--linking that is designed to automatically reproduce the work vs linking that is designed only to show the location of the work--irregardless of the precise technology involved.
My friend works at blockbuster, and he says that periodically they'll be told to destroy videos or games that are no longer being sold.
It's worth mentioning that not one thing is ever *actually* destroyed-- that's one of the few perks of a minimum wage behind-the-counter job.
My guess on why this happens is that the original distributer (who sold the videos to Blockbuster or CueCat's to Radio Shack) made Blockbuster or Radio Shack sign a contract saying explicitly that they couldn't give extras of these items to their employees. If Radio Shack is in effect giving away CueCats to all their employees, then none of the employees are going to go out and buy new CueCats. The decision isn't in the hands of Radio Shack's management at all, but in the contract with Radio Shack's distributor.
In other words, Radio Shack doesn't care if they're destroyed or not, but they tell the employees to destroy them in order to avoid legal trouble.
Hope that helps
This makes *far* more sense than what you have described your Radioshack does.
Two words.. Labor costs. A portable CD player that sells for $50 costs less than that to manufacture. If the laser or spindle motor or such goes out, you have at least an hour troubleshooting, ordering parts, looking up part numbers, keeping inventory of unique parts, replacing the part, aligning and warrenting the repair. You break even with techs at $20 per hour how?? Short answer.. replace it. Very little sold in radio shack sells for over a $100.00. I used to fix VCR's when they were a 600 to 1200 dollar item. Now that they are a 60 dollar item, I found other work.
The truth shall set you free!
My first job ever was at a franchise of a certain somewhat large fast-food chain, and it wasn't long before I asked why the food that was "QC'd" was pitched instead of held and shipped off to one of the local shelters. Liability was the primary reason...if some bum got sick off of a freebie burger, he could've contacted any of the hundreds of ambulance chasers in this town and sued the store into oblivion. It was hella wasteful...about the only thing you could do is keep an eye on production to minimize the waste, but it was nearly impossible to eliminate it completely.
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
-- ;-)
Kuro5hin.org: where the good times never end.
It's too late, they already are selling them on eBay!
& item=2002127196
& item=2002287424
& item=2002160653
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem
"I have not failed. I've simply found 10,000 ways that won't work." --Thomas Edison