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Mark Baard writes "Alpinists may soon be using wearable sensors and tricorder-like medical scanners to bail out their buried comrades. Computer scientists Bernt Schiele and Florian Michahelles, at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, are designing A-Life, a portable device that transmits and receives avalanche victims' vital signs through snow, up to 80 meters away."
Possibly.
Good job, you got a first post on christmas which makes you extra special. Please feel happy about what you have achieved!!
YOU DID IT!!
If Microsoft gets involved with these somehow, the Blue Screen of Death could really mean going blue and then dead... :P
Please God, let me find my blue hat with the red trim. (Frances Farmer)
Merry Christmas, you asshole, atheist fucks!
I am an idiot. Go Computer Science! Yay retards!
One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered *BSD community when IDC confirmed that *BSD market share has dropped yet again, now down to less than a fraction of 1 percent of all servers. Coming on the heels of a recent Netcraft survey which plainly states that *BSD has lost more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. *BSD is collapsing in complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by failing dead last in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive networking test.
You don't need to be a Kreskin to predict *BSD's future. The hand writing is on the wall: *BSD faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for *BSD because *BSD is dying. Things are looking very bad for *BSD. As many of us are already aware, *BSD continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood.
FreeBSD is the most endangered of them all, having lost 93% of its core developers. The sudden and unpleasant departures of long time FreeBSD developers Jordan Hubbard and Mike Smith only serve to underscore the point more clearly. There can no longer be any doubt: FreeBSD is dying.
Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.
OpenBSD leader Theo states that there are 7000 users of OpenBSD. How many users of NetBSD are there? Let's see. The number of OpenBSD versus NetBSD posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 NetBSD users. BSD/OS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of NetBSD posts. Therefore there are about 700 users of BSD/OS. A recent article put FreeBSD at about 80 percent of the *BSD market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 FreeBSD users. This is consistent with the number of FreeBSD Usenet posts.
Due to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, FreeBSD went out of business and was taken over by BSDI who sell another troubled OS. Now BSDI is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.
All major surveys show that *BSD has steadily declined in market share. *BSD is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If *BSD is to survive at all it will be among OS dilettante dabblers. *BSD continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, *BSD is dead.
Fact: *BSD is dying
Let me take a poll... how many slashdot readers are alpinists and are in risk of being buried in an avalanche? OK... now how many spend 18 hours in front of their computers downloading fake pics of Britney Spears? I rest my case...
Homeland Security Troll -- whatever it takes for Homeland Security (c).
[ed. note: in the following text, former FreeBSD developer Mike Smith gives his reasons for abandoning FreeBSD]
When I stood for election to the FreeBSD core team nearly two years ago, many of you will recall that it was after a long series of debates during which I maintained that too much organisation, too many rules and too much formality would be a bad thing for the project.
Today, as I read the latest discussions on the future of the FreeBSD project, I see the same problem; a few new faces and many of the old going over the same tired arguments and suggesting variations on the same worthless schemes. Frankly I'm sick of it.
FreeBSD used to be fun. It used to be about doing things the right way. It used to be something that you could sink your teeth into when the mundane chores of programming for a living got you down. It was something cool and exciting; a way to spend your spare time on an endeavour you loved that was at the same time wholesome and worthwhile.
It's not anymore. It's about bylaws and committees and reports and milestones, telling others what to do and doing what you're told. It's about who can rant the longest or shout the loudest or mislead the most people into a bloc in order to legitimise doing what they think is best. Individuals notwithstanding, the project as a whole has lost track of where it's going, and has instead become obsessed with process and mechanics.
So I'm leaving core. I don't want to feel like I should be "doing something" about a project that has lost interest in having something done for it. I don't have the energy to fight what has clearly become a losing battle; I have a life to live and a job to keep, and I won't achieve any of the goals I personally consider worthwhile if I remain obligated to care for the project.
Discussion
I'm sure that I've offended some people already; I'm sure that by the time I'm done here, I'll have offended more. If you feel a need to play to the crowd in your replies rather than make a sincere effort to address the problems I'm discussing here, please do us the courtesy of playing your politics openly.
From a technical perspective, the project faces a set of challenges that significantly outstrips our ability to deliver. Some of the resources that we need to address these challenges are tied up in the fruitless metadiscussions that have raged since we made the mistake of electing officers. Others have left in disgust, or been driven out by the culture of abuse and distraction that has grown up since then. More may well remain available to recruitment, but while the project is busy infighting our chances for successful outreach are sorely diminished.
There's no simple solution to this. For the project to move forward, one or the other of the warring philosophies must win out; either the project returns to its laid-back roots and gets on with the work, or it transforms into a super-organised engineering project and executes a brilliant plan to deliver what, ultimately, we all know we want.
Whatever path is chosen, whatever balance is struck, the choosing and the striking are the important parts. The current indecision and endless conflict are incompatible with any sort of progress.
Trying to dissect the above is far beyond the scope of any parting shot, no matter how distended. All I can really ask of you all is to let go of the minutiae for a moment and take a look at the big picture. What is the ultimate goal here? How can we get there with as little overhead as possible? How would you like to be treated by your fellow travellers?
Shouts
To the Slashdot "BSD is dying" crowd - big deal. Death is part of the cycle; take a look at your soft, pallid bodies and consider that right this very moment, parts of you are dying. See? It's not so bad.
To the bulk of the FreeBSD committerbase and the developer community at large - keep your eyes on the real goals. It's when you get distracted by the politickers that they sideline you. The tireless work that you perform keeping the system clean and building is what provides the platform for the obsessives and the prima donnas to have their moments in the sun. In the end, we need you all; in order to go forwards we must first avoid going backwards.
To the paranoid conspiracy theorists - yes, I work for Apple too. No, my resignation wasn't on Steve's direct orders, or in any way related to work I'm doing, may do, may not do, or indeed what was in the tea I had at lunchtime today. It's about real problems that the project faces, real problems that the project has brought upon itself. You can't escape them by inventing excuses about outside influence, the problem stems from within.
To the politically obsessed - give it a break, if you can. No, the project isn't a lemonade stand anymore, but it's not a world-spanning corporate juggernaut either and some of the more grandiose visions going around are in need of a solid dose of reality. Keep it simple, stupid.
To the grandstanders, the prima donnas, and anyone that thinks that they can hold the project to ransom for their own agenda - give it a break, if you can. When the current core were elected, we took a conscious stand against vigorous sanctions, and some of you have exploited that. A new core is going to have to decide whether to repeat this mistake or get tough. I hope they learn from our errors.
Future
I started work on FreeBSD because it was fun. If I'm going to continue, it has to be fun again. There are things I still feel obligated to do, and with any luck I'll find the time to meet those obligations.
However I don't feel an obligation to get involved in the political mess the project is in right now. I tried, I burnt out. I don't feel that my efforts were worthwhile. So I won't be standing for election, I won't be shouting from the sidelines, and I probably won't vote in the next round of ballots.
You could say I'm packing up my toys. I'm not going home just yet, but I'm not going to play unless you can work out how to make the project somewhere fun to be again.
= Mike
--
My penis isn't very big. What should I do?
Devices that give away your present position:
Are they
a) great because they let people find you when you're buried under gobs of snow, or
b) evil 'cause The System can use it to track you and make sure you're not doing something "subversive"
?
The answer, of course, is: c) both a and b.
Does anyone have a *good* way to get all of (a) (generalized that is, not just snow) without any of (b)?
(No, no, not a stupid law; I said a *good* way.)
Furry cows moo and decompress.
I don't understand... Is free BSD buried under an avalache? God I hope so, that way we won't have to listen to BSD users tell us what we are missing out on.
Hate to have power loss be interpreted as "he's dead, no rush to excavate him"
Many experienced climbers today complain about the presence of parties of rich people seeking the latest "extreme" sport, being driven or even helicoptered in to a suitable site near a mountain's peak. Cushy base camps featuring the latest in electronic entertainment gear, heated tents, and even portable jacuzzis are not uncommon even along the slopes of such forbidding mountains as Everest and K2.
And now comes life sign monitors, so the hired help can quickly dig some careless wannabe mountaineer out of a snowbank. Complete with body-orientation signals so a stray shovel won't hit their heads. Will these truly help save lives, or only encourage the foolhardy to risk theirs?
Dear Santa Cocks,
I have been a very good boy this year. Pls send the anal intruder(goatse version, 27 inch girth)
thx,
Michael
ps I have Root, so I will `rf -rm
If I was a developer, I wouldn't touch a decision-making feature with a 20 foot pole. Even with Microsoft's (for example) legal team. Imagine the lawsuits! There would be people saying the computer made the wrong decision, and even worse, there could be bugs which make fatal mistakes.
Somehow if a loved one is dead, I really wouldn't want to hear "Well, there's a patch for that now..."
What makes a man want to be a mouse? (Python's Flying Circus)
Least loved employee works Christmas.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!
In college, really poor, need a flatscreen.
you don't know what your missing out on!
You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
I have been a ski patroller at a small local area for 9 years now and I had the unfortunate privelidge of being on the mountain when a fellow ski patroller was killed in an avalanche during Avalache Control. What nobody knew at the time was that the patroller that was killed was buried in such a way that he had no air pocket and most likely died within the first 3 minutes of being buried. Yet, the rescue team put themselves into a position where they were attempting save someone in very hazardous avalanche conditions who was actually already dead. The rescue team actually set off more avalanches accidentally and partially buried members of the team.
Rescue attempts like this are always extremely dangerous for the people involved. If they had some way of knowing whether the person was alive it would be very valuable information when trying to make the decision whether or not to risk other people's lives in order to save a buried person.
You can find more information about the project on Bernt Schiele's Group Homepage at
/.'ers
http://www.vision.ethz.ch/projects/
Merry Xmas to all of you
A skier was left buried for several months without recieving assistance because he refused to sign the EULA of his wireless dealy.
His last words were, "Damn you Clippy this isn't funny!"
You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
1. imagine how many people you could find with a Beowulf cluster of these
2. powered by Google - cached versions of your snow-covered friends also available. Search for your friends by keywords.
from the tangential intersection point.
:-)
I'd like to defend (but not really) my original, admittedly lame karma-whorish (note that it's at +4 right now) post by saying: I was just generalizing.
Although, in truth, doubtless I was *over*generalizing--a common trait here on slashdot.
Btw, I've used FreeDOS. At least I think I have.
See there was this DOS program I really, really wanted to run and I was going to need to run it over and over. I didn't want to have to keep booting back and forth between Linux and DOS and I didn't (don't) have any extra computers handy right then (or now). So I went for the DOSEmu.
The DOSEmu has almost no documentation right now, at least none that I was able to find. (At this point, you know that I'm the sort of person that has a tendency to overgeneralize so you might want to take that with a grain of salt.) The instructions had me download two thingies and one of them was FreeDOS. If I understand correctly, the DOSEmu provides the lower level DOS stuff while FreeDOS provides most of the actual commands.
Oh yeah, the good part about the DOSEmu: even though it has almost no documentation, unless you're trying to do something really weird, you won't need any. Everything just pops up in the appropriate places.
Except the COMMAND.COM sucks. I mean even compared to the standard DOS COMMAND.COM it sucks. Whose is that? Is that DOSEmu's or FreeDOS's? It looks like it's DOSEmu's. Is there any chance that FreeDOS could write their own? Have they already? Am I a total moron? (Probably, yes.)
I'll stop bugging you now.
Furry cows moo and decompress.
What in the world is a tricorder? Couldn't they have at least provided a link in the article for those of us not steeped in the terminology of computer science?
--sdem
Through the voluminous amounts of information provided in the article, and more importantly the ETH (is that the manufacturer?) website I was able to glean... absoultely nothing that would convince me to switch to this system. I completly agree with Florian Michahelles, that "augmenting" our current beacons, which incidentally not a very high percentage of mountaineers are wearing anyway, with sensors is an excellent idea. But come on, that compaq whatever it is, looks as durable as uncooked bacon in the jaws of a hundred pound malamute. I will continue to wear my F1, thank you very much.
Andreas Petzoldt's flying backpack.
Lousy in Practice. Simply stated, most avalanche victims are killed from blunt-force trauma.
Suffice to say, being dragged down a mountain by a wall of snow going 200 miles an hour, carring assorted debris (rock, ice, other mountaineers, AOL CD's, etc.), hitting various hard objects along the way (rock, ice, other mountaineers, RIAA/MPAA representatives, etc.), is not good for one's health.
Asphyxiation still represents a problem. But most are killed by the spin-cycle.
Gadgets are fun, but getting away from too many gadgets is one more reason to go skiing.
If multiple people are buried, you have much bigger problems than triage. With an avalanche transceiver, you find a buried victim by finding their transceiver -- well, duh. But this is done by measuring the relative signal strength, usually through an audible beep from the buried transceiver or sometimes from an LED display on the receiver. Of course, signal strength can vary bewilderingly depending on how deeply the victim is buried, the orientation of the antenna on the transmitting and receiving transceivers, and whether the victim and their pack are obscuring their transceiver.
This is complicated. It isn't something you can figure out in the minutes after an avalanche. Lots and lots of practice is required to get any degree of competence.
If you have multiple burials, you are almost always forced to go after the strongest signal first -- often you can't even "hear" the other signals until you find the strongest one. This implies to me that having vital signs is rarely going to enter into the decision-making process on whom to recover first.
For backcountry skiers, I usually feel that if you have a multiple burial situation you've already screwed up.
This might be of moderate use to avalanche control people (now there is a great job, explosives and skiing combined!), ski patrollers, heli-ski guides, and maybe mountain rescue organizations. As a product for the casual outdoorsperson I'm pretty skeptical.
The military already has combination 'locator + vitals transmitter' for troops.
:-) Merry Christmas to those celebrating, Happy Wednesday to everyone else!
But can you imagine (no, not a Beowulf Cluster) a fire department with these? The fire chief would know exactly where inside the burning building his firemen are, and more importantly, he would know how they are doing.
100 firemen die (on average) a year, over 80% of the firemen in the US are volunteers. Wouldn't it be a good use of 'homeland security money' to get this technology out of the pentagon (and the land of chocolate, numbered bank accounts, and red pocket knives) and into one of the most hazardous work environments?
Ok, I'm getting off my soapbox.
My father is a blogger.
Karma: Karma Karma Karma Karma Chameleon. It comes and goes, it comes and goes.
Your sig sucks, but it turns me on. Can we have sex?
I gonna miss this account... I can't really troll without it.
Is your company running tools written by ma
The best equipment for your work is, of course, the most expensive.
However, your neighbor is always wasting money that should be yours
by judging things by their price.
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