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Slashback: Pliancy, Antennae, Gobe
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.
Glad to see a college catering to the students in the internet accessibility department. I've read too many stories lately about colleges that are in bed with the MPAA and RIAA and are trying to limit students 'net usage. Glad to see a school giving students MORE 'net options. Hopefully this school isn't one of the ones blocking P2P ports and confiscating PC's though...
I'd rather be a conservative nutjob than a liberal with no nuts and no job.
What's even better is that anyone with airsnort and a laptop or ipaq can get free wireless access nearly anywhere in town with Costco selling $100 basestations. heheh
and load up iTunes, Geiss, Milkdrop, Quake III, RtCW
Sweet Jesus, I didnt think of it till you said that but can you imagine quake3 wrapped around your entire room...or at least one wall. That and some surround sound speakers.........
actually, either form is correct, according to merriam-webster. :P
And Farscape is not the only show that may be leaving for good. There is also talk of cancelling Firefly on FOX. I find it somewhat depressing that we finally get two creative and innovative sci-fi shows, and both are squashed. Both actions are blaimed on "lack of ratings", but what do you expect when putting a show on on a Friday night. Only nerds have time on Friday... er, oh right. I'm posting this on Slashdot...
Anyway, I wish more people knew about these two shows because they are far more intelligently written and produced than 90% of the junk that's on TV the rest of the week. Are these shows too intelligent for the average viewer, or is it the sci-fi image that pushes people away? Or is it simply the strange times that these shows are offered (anyone remember Babylon 5 at 11:30 pm if you were lucky)? When will sci-fi get its fair share of good time slots? Will sci-fi ever be considered as or more valuable than the rehashed sitcoms we have today?
I believe in de-evolution. God made the world perfect, man fell, and its been going downhill ever since!
I think that Cantenna is a registered trademark of The Heath Company, a former maker of electronic kits. The Cantenna was (is) a 50 ohm resistor in a black colored 1 gallon paint can that you filled with mineral oil. It then became a 1 kW load that you could test your ham radio into. I'm sure that many ham radio operators remember it.
A thought that has occured to me before but seems to be most demonstrated by the Farscape situation: does this indicate a failing of the content-distribution system we call TV? Or is this just an odd example, a deviation from the norm. Consider: what other industry has a company which choses to get rid of their #2 most popular product completely, despite huge support from a large fanbase?
Of course this is because they aren't selling the show directly; unlike a movie you aren't buying tickets to watch the thing. This reminds me of web services (Yahoo etc) - which also represent (to me) a failed approach, in terms of business model, to distributing content.
Just a random thought.
Stand up for what you believe in
Huh? what you believe in? Are you kidding? read a book, volunteer at the local library, run for office, join a club -- for god's sake man, disengange yourself, and your opinions/thoughts/beliefs/whatever from your ENTERTAINMENT.
'campaigning' to save a television show is the new low in USAmerican culture - 30% vote (or some sad #) -- but they all have an opinion on Josh and Sally's relationship on Friends.
jesus f'ing christ.
I currently go to Rose-Hulman. Every class since 1995 has been required to get a laptop. Granted the laptop isn't as "free" as these other colleges, it's pretty much worked into the tuition. The laptops are on 2 year cycles. My class and the class above me have essentially the same computers. (Acer 735 and 739 iirc). This years freshmen class has much better laptops than ours. Next years class will probably be about the same specs as this years.
I can see how some can't handle the "freedom" of having a laptop in classes. I admit to using the laptop some days to stay awake. But at the same time it's a great tool.
I had never had any prior experience to any programs that I used my freshmen year (Matlab, Maple, Mechanical Desktop/AutoCAD). I've actually never used Windows before either. I'm a Mac geek. My summer internship this past year I used AutoCAD ~30 hours a week. Without my laptop I would have had to go to the public lab to learn any of these programs. In addition I couldn't imagine how other schools teach programming. When I took CS120 (Java) everyone brought their laptops and we learned to program.
I have my desktop. I wouldn't be able to live w/o my QuickSilver. But the laptop is great for stuff other than classes. 4 Hour finals are much more relaxing with my MP3 collection. Practically everyone owns the cables to hook them up to TV's. DVD's (and DVD Rips) go around campus, it's great for a homework break.
Currently only the Academic buildings are wireless. But every dorm room has at least 2 ethernet ports. Every seat in every room has places for power and ethernet. There are even little cubby holes in one of the newer buildings thah have a few ports and a printer. I couldn't imagine how technology schools can get people out with proper training with out giving them laptops. It's a great idea, glad to see it spreading.
All laptop manufaturers should come to Rose when they design their next "durable" laptops. Current laptops seem to be designed for business execs that use it a few times a week. At Rose the laptops see any operating condition you could imagine. The power and ethernet cords are plugged and unplugged 10 times a day. The laptops are moved while running, treated as desktops for some (Left running for days on end). Our repair department is always going through parts. HD's fail all the time, the monitor hinges get weak and don't hold the screen where you put it. My current problem (twice this has happened) is that I have to do voodo to get my power cord to power my laptop. (Note to Acer, solder is NOT considered something that you hold things in place with)