Slashdot Mirror
Astronauts Get Tricoders (Almost)
AzrealAO writes "Space.com is reporting that The Expedition 9 crew aboard the International Space Station are equipped with HP iPAQ PocketPC's, which they are using as mobile productivity tools to record crew procedures, personal memos, check e-mail and calendars. The crew can also listen to music, view photos from home and read e-books. The iPAQs will be left on the station and reconfigured for future crews, and two additional iPAQs will be sent up on the next flight for a total of four."
F9RST post from the space station!!!!
what sort of connection do they get in space?
I mean, our pings up here really suck.
from what i hear... they put linux + kismet + pringles can on the ipaqs and use them to hack in to 802.11b's as they fly over.
While many /.'ers may be crying for a Sharp SL-5600 or CL760 to be on board the ISS, the iPAQ isn't a bad choice. It is fairly rugged (for the every day man) and user-friendly enough.
My first choice would have been the Dell Axim X5 400MHzsince it can accept CF and SD cards (and PCMCIA is an adapter is purchased) and it costs considerably less with a 512MB SD card and a WiFi card than the current equivilant iPAQ (the iPAQ 5555). Of course they probably need those biometric security features. Wouldn't want some complete stranger (or the owner) to actually be able to access their weekly calendar. God knows, they're doing some topsecret stuff up there....
Does it make the funky beep beep whirr that Spock used to get it to do?
that the RIAA, MPAA and Microsoft have formed an alliance to go after the X-Prize.
we need warp engines, and photon torpedoes!
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
No, definitely not. I'm absolutely certain he was referring to TriCoders.
This is what I hate about Trek, the acting is crap so you look to the the storylines for solace and what do you get? more crap.
*new sector
*something mysterious that needs investigation
*the CAPTAIN (the last person you'd send..) and the THREE next most important people go to investigate.
*some crazy alien civilization in trouble, happen to speak english
* plot thickens, somehow captain or crew member has sexual tension with a princess of fugly alien race.
*they have to leave the planet after solving the problem, transport back to enterprise *just* as some advanced fubdegalalash ship decloacks and takes out their engine or warp drive or shields.
* then through something uniquely *human* (courage, freindship, cunning) they win the day despite beging owned in any rational assesment of the situation.
*the end
So basically every episode cheerleads the human race on to be cooler than everyone else. They either are weak and we defend them, or they are too aggressive and despite their superior technology we defeat them. We are the all laughing all dancing neo-colonisers of space.
What a total wank. And super bad acting to boot. And EVERY episode fills this pattern. It is so mind numbing I could throw up. The only reason it is sucessful is that there isn't a half-decent sci-fi out there to compete with it.
Yeah this is a kind of "troll", but I just think trek gets way too much praise and needs to be cut down sometimes.
Monday: Float about and do stuff
Tuesday: Float about and do stuff
Wednesday: Float about and do stuff
Thursday: Float about and do stuff
Friday: Float about and do stuff
Saturday: It's the weekend! Float about and do stuff
Sunday: Float about and put next week's calendar in
lol :) I can't believe on slashdot of all sites this slipped!
You must be new here.
I believe the term is "a fucking PDA"
TOS has taught me that one can never underestimate the power and many uses of the Mark II phaser.
Tricorders are for all those Next Generation do-gooders. Hand me a hand phaser, and I'll explore space the Kirk way.
One dead alien at a time.
While they don't have a full complement of sensors, the practical limit being perhaps sensing some coded IR signals, their display technology far outstrips any tricorder's. HP should rework them into a version where the TFT display is removed, and replaced with a random assortment of LEDs and bargraph displays which convey information via flickering coded signals.
...
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Good, now maybe they can scan the structural integrity of the ISS to find out exactly what part of it is falling apart and detaching into space or perhaps what the loud metallic noise is.
What? They will listen to mp3s? Will RIAA raid ISS for pirated music?
not as pissed as you'd be after looking for the shuttle cigarette lighter for an hour...
Note: This sig contains nine S's, nine I's and five O's which... means absolutely nothing.