Slashdot Mirror


Slashback: Pliancy, Antennae, Gobe

Slashback tonight with more words on printable, organic transistors; the off-screen saving-Farscape saga, wireless schools, Gobe Productive, and 802.11 antennae to extend you connection. Read on for the details.

Go be something! Simon Gauvin writes "As a follow up to your article on Gobe Productive, beunited.org is setting up a donation site to allow people to donate for the purchase of the source to make it open. You can check out the comments here. And our announcement on our main page."

Thinner is better. Factomatic writes "The The New York Times reports that a new polymer by Xerox can be used to make organic transistors on a plastic substrate, which can then be used to inexpensively make light, flexible flat-panel displays for computers, laptops and mobile phones. The material, polythiophene, has achieved performance on electronics benchmarks that is an order of magnitude greater than current polymer materials. It would be used in a new manufacturing process that Xerox is experimenting with to imprint circuits using inkjets." You may remember this story about a company called Rolltronics' research into printable circuitry.

What about reviving The A-Team? Julio Ojeda-Zapata points to his Update: 12/10 01:25 GMT by T : [Errr, not "her" -- sorry about that.] "in-depth article on the Save Farscape movement. Though I have an obvious bias, I believe this is the most comprehensive article on the subject you'll find anywhere. Predictably, I've been deluged by mail from Scapers. I can't say I wasn't warned about that :-)"

Soon, every Thomas Aquinas, Dickinson and Harvard will have one of their own ... Amadaeus writes with news of another all-campus wireless blanketing. "The new University of Ontario Institute of Technology is offering new students an IBM laptop, included with tuition, that is wired with 802.11b access. The reason behind that is the entire campus (read: cafeterias, stairwells, washrooms, "special areas") is covered with the university wireless network hubs. In fact, the university campus itself is designed with charging outlets for every seat in the classroom and ergonomic seating for computer usage for all students.

Either they're trying to improve wireless education or promote in-class LAN parties and all-night wireless hack-o-thons, UOIT is on the right track to some sort of wireless educational future."

Wireless Weapons: A mini-Howitzer or a Liberator. We've run several stories on 802.11 antenna projects that require more time, more esoteric parts, or a bigger budget, and some that don't take much at all. Daniel Marsh writes with another one in this last category: "If you thought Pringles were fun, check out the Cookie Cantenna. Several have been built and tested by Seattle Wireless members and they blow Pringles cans out of the water, as well as taste better."

On the other hand, if convenience is more importance than raw power, you might find this commercialized alternative attractive. The Cantenna is inexpensive (19.95 by itself, plus the cost of a pigtail) and means you don't have to touch a soldering iron, glue, or anything besides a shipping container.

35 of 232 comments (clear)

  1. polythiophene? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I know what poly and thene are, but what is thio?

  2. All I want for Christmas by kaxman · · Score: 4, Funny

    Is a 50-inch monitor I can Scotch-tape to my wall. Mmmmm.

    --
    Everyone on slashdot has a journal.
    1. Re:All I want for Christmas by The-Perl-CD-Bookshel · · Score: 3, Funny

      All I want for Christmas is to stop being jewish, you insensitive clod.

      --
      I don't keep a lid on my coffee so when I walk around I look busy -me
  3. The A-Team, for all you kids by SweetAndSourJesus · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ten years ago a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-Team.

    --

    --
    the strongest word is still the word "free"
  4. Dangerous! by unterderbrucke · · Score: 5, Funny

    "an IBM laptop, included with tuition, that is wired with 802.11b access"

    But then you would be aiding and abetting terrorism (per FBI)!

  5. I can see it now! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Instead of paying £1000 for a decent (ie 19" and over, when CRTS that size are 1/10th that price) lcd monitor, I can print myself a nice wide screen display with a packet of A4 paper and a xerox printer.

    1. Re:I can see it now! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      I can do it now with my ink jet printer albeit with a pretty slow refresh rate.

  6. "Sexy" Antenna design! by nufsaid · · Score: 5, Funny

    My favorite line from the description:

    "1 - chasis mount female N connector, preferably the type that mounts with a single large nut."

    I know I should just grow up and get over it, but that kind of talk just excites me!

    --
    Is this the promised end? Or image of that horror? KING LEAR
  7. Cantenna by ocie · · Score: 5, Funny

    Looks like any other bong I've seen, but what is the LED for?

    --
    JET Program: see Japan, meet intere
    1. Re:Cantenna by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      That's a great idea! Bongwater stains on the carpet are a thing of the past!

  8. The day will come by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    When toilet rolls will have multimedia advertisements, and no, you will not be able to "use" it until your padllium enabled toilet has checked to see if its digitally signed, you will pay $29.95 for every sheet you use, and you must agree to the EULA every time.

    1. Re:The day will come by glwtta · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'be been using EULAs in this very fasion for quite some time now.

      --
      sic transit gloria mundi
  9. Thought processes of Universities... by pXgray · · Score: 3, Funny

    Step 1: Blanket campus with awe-inspiring wireless coverage.
    Step 2: ...
    Step 3: Learn!

    --

    End of Post
    You are at the end of the post. To the north lies the post.
    There is a sig here.
  10. IN SOVIET RUSSIA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Moderators tell YOU what's funny!

  11. Getting out of hand... by dghcasp · · Score: 5, Funny
    This whole thing with 802.11 antennas is getting way out of hand... I mean, really, all these people investing time and (not much) money into building things with their own two hands instead of throwing money at corporations! The very idea! And recycling things like cookie or potato chip cans instead of dumping them in landfills where they belong!

    Fortunatly, people are now realizing that only terrorists use 802.11, so soon the police will start profiling people seen with cans of pringles and shipping them off to prison.

    I know I'll feel much safer... But what will then these terror-hackers be doing? How long until we see a frontpage slashdot story on How I built an 802.11 network using three frozen chickens and a '57 chevy?!?

    1. Re:Getting out of hand... by Dolly_Llama · · Score: 3, Funny
      How long until we see a frontpage slashdot story on How I built an 802.11 network using three frozen chickens and a '57 chevy?!?

      Never. MacGyver only posts at K5.

      --

      Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. -- Carl Sagan

  12. From the 802.11 article: by Eric_Cartman_South_P · · Score: 5, Funny
    female N connector, preferably the type that mounts with a single large nut.

    How many females do you know that would mount something with one large nut?

    Oh, and I'm building this cantena tomorrow. Kewl.

  13. Re:What's the protocol? by larry+bagina · · Score: 2, Funny

    I caught a few reruns on cable a while back... Now, I admit i loved it when I was a child (I even had the BA action figure!), but are we supposed to believe that with all the dynamiting and gun shooting the only injury to be had is when they have to gas BA to get him on a plane?

    --
    Do you even lift?

    These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  14. Dude, You're In *Alaska* by Myriad · · Score: 5, Funny
    My school [alaska.edu] has had campus wide wireless for almost three years. They also allow students to check out wireless cards and dell laptops freely for varying periods of time.

    You're in Alaska! Slap a single 802.11b Linksys Router on the network and the entire town is set!

    I don't think that's a fair comparison...

    :)

    --
    "They do not preach that their god will rouse them, a little before the Nuts work loose." Kipling, 'The Sons of Martha'
    1. Re:Dude, You're In *Alaska* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
      Too bad Anchorage is the largest City in the US for square miles. That would have to be one big pringle can.

  15. In Communist China by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    In communist China you would have been shot by now for using that stupid joke.

  16. Re:Great... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny


    We are talking about Xerox


    This is great news! This means that everyone will be selling this stuff in a few years. (except Xerox of course)

  17. Re:You're not thinking big enough! by The-Perl-CD-Bookshel · · Score: 2, Funny

    can you say hippieeeeeee?

    --
    I don't keep a lid on my coffee so when I walk around I look busy -me
  18. Re:Julio's a guy by The-Perl-CD-Bookshel · · Score: 2, Funny

    So, he interviewed you before the surgery?

    --
    I don't keep a lid on my coffee so when I walk around I look busy -me
  19. Good thing its in Canada... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Here in the states the school would now be catagorized a terrorist training camp and shut down.

  20. Re:Ironic... by The-Perl-CD-Bookshel · · Score: 2, Funny

    But now all of these poverty stricken students can cruise the net on their laptops while they walk down the hallway seemlessly migrating through an extensive...oh wait your right. Maybe Adobe can get these kids some eBooks to go with their cool network?

    --
    I don't keep a lid on my coffee so when I walk around I look busy -me
  21. Re:wireless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    1000 times 0 is still zero...

  22. No midwestern winter bitterness here... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    The network extends down the central mall (outside) but not into the buildings fronting it...

    You mean you have to go outside to access the network? In Hawaii?

    The horror!

  23. Wireless antenna by atomicdragon · · Score: 3, Funny

    I've seen several articles now on how to use Pringles or other food cans as an antenna. But the one question that I have not found an answer to is which flavor gets the strongest signal?

  24. Re:You're not thinking big enough! by jonbrewer · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm thinking wallpaper. Just jack the wallpaper into your computer, and load up iTunes, Geiss, Milkdrop, Quake III, RtCW...

    Think about your audience here... were the typical /. reader to paper their room with such a screen, they would be loading something other than iTunes and jacking something other than their computer!

  25. Three Frozen Chickens and a '57 Chevy??? by Myriad · · Score: 3, Funny
    How long until we see a frontpage slashdot story on How I built an 802.11 network using three frozen chickens and a '57 chevy?!?

    (shudder) Man, I do not want to know what you use the Chevy for!!

    --
    "They do not preach that their god will rouse them, a little before the Nuts work loose." Kipling, 'The Sons of Martha'
  26. Re:Farscapers... by Chiasmus_ · · Score: 2, Funny

    Are these shows too intelligent for the average viewer, or is it the sci-fi image that pushes people away?

    Both are incorrect. It is the sci-fi image that shoves people away. Shoving is the answer. I am the pusher robot. PAK CHOOIE UNF.

    --
    "Beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he deems himself your master."
  27. Antenema by fmaxwell · · Score: 3, Funny

    I think that this line from the article is a bit disturbing:

    This should provide drainage for any water that condenses or somehow gets into your can...

  28. Re:Help Save Farscape! (Use one of the links below by Alsee · · Score: 3, Funny

    Results 1 - 10 of about 46,800. Search took 0.10 seconds.

    I can't seem to get to page 2 of the results.

    Are you planning on posting seperate response for each? That's 4679 more pages of results. Oh yeah, and slashdot enforces a minimum delay of 2 minutes between posts, that's 9358 minutes, or 156 hours, or 24.5 days.

    Of course, by the time you get done there will be another two or three thousand new results.

    -

    --
    - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  29. What Xerox needs to do by ReelOddeeo · · Score: 3, Funny

    Xerox needs to invite engineers from IBM and AMD over to show them the new technology. The higher up's should direct Xerox engineers to answer any and all questions that the visiting engineers might have about the technology.

    --

    Those who would give up liberty in exchange for security and DRM should switch to Microsoft Palladium!