Poll: What to do with Slashdot's satellite
-Spy on... er Observe Natalie Portman
-Name it Shark and put a fricken' laser on it
-Play a kickass game of Asteroids against other satellites
-Put CowboyNeal in it
There were 10 Track A teams total. I don't know how many made it to the semi-finals, but it wasn't all of them. There were a *ton* of Track B teams, since the only requirement was that you had a vehicle which met certain simple* requirements. The Track A teams, OTOH were teams which DARPA felt were sufficiently advanced to warrant their investment of $1,000,000 (in two $500,000 installments so long as the team appeared to be making progress).
A number of teams were eliminated this year without hitting anything. Yup. I work for a small company which was competing in the Urban Challenge. We haven't hit anything (or even come close to hitting anything), but we got cut yesterday as well. It took us by surprise. We understand that collisions are a Bad Thing, but if our vehicle is just a tad more cautious than the other vehicles - why is that bad enough to warrant elimination?
For the record though, I doubt if the eliminations were rigged. True, only a few small companies made it to the finals, but I think that has more to do with small companies also having small budgets and not being able to afford the same level of investment as larger firms. Also, a number of Track A teams (which DARPA has already made a not-insignificant investment in) were cut, my company included.
There seems to be a lot of people here confused on how this laser can destroy the virus without harming the host cells. Please allow me to explain the natural wonder that is "Natural Harmonic Frequencies".
First, imagine pushing someone on a swing. If you want to make the swing go higher, you have to push it just as it starts to swing forward. That way, the swing's energy is increased by the amount of your push, while still getting the full benefit of it's stored potential energy, and Hey, Presto - the swing goes higher. Because of the way swings (and wave energy functions of most sorts) work, the time between each optimal push remains the same. This is the key.
Imagine a sine wave. If you view the wave at the right frequency - every PI units - you'll see the same value. If you were somehow pushing on the wave at those points, you would be changing the amplitude of the function by the same amount every time. If, however, you view the wave at the wrong frequency - say, every 1 unit - you'll get a different section of the wave each time. Over time your pushes will cancel each other out in this case.
Now, if you push enough kinetic energy into pretty much anything, you create a short-lived wave within it as the energy which has not yet been absorbed or lost in some manner reflects back and forth within the structure. Imagine water sloshing in a tub or a building swaying in an earthquake. The speed at which this wave moves back and forth across the structure is the structure's natural resonant (or harmonic) frequency. This is what is being taken advantage of by this pulsed laser.
By firing this laser at the same frequency that the virus happens to vibrate at, a wave is set up in the virus. Since the laser's pulse comes again at the optimal "pushing" time, the amplitude of the vibration increases. Other cells are being vibrated by the laser as well, but because their natural harmonics are different, the pulses cancel themselves out in those cells and they're fine. The targeted virus however, vibrates harder and harder until it literally shakes itself apart.
In recent years, determining the natural harmonic frequencies of large structures has become an important part of engineering. More than one large structure has been destroyed by seemingly insignificant forces which just happened to be coming at the right frequency!
I recently had the opportunity to work on an autonomous surface vehicle. For the record: right now, "Autonomous" means that a human operator tells the vehicle where to drive (usually by setting some sort of waypoint) and the vehicle navigates there. (As opposed to directly controlling the vehicle's path with a joystick) Most of the payloads on the vehicle (a gun, for instance) would still be remotely controlled by a human operator. So... for right now, there's still a human pulling the trigger. It would be more accurate to say that these vehicles are only Semi-Autonomous.
All that being said, I greatly fear the day someone *does* decide to put a gun in the hands of a robot for two main reasons.
1) Given the number of robotic aiming systems already in existence, it's safe to say a robot probably won't miss when it decides to shoot.
2) Given how poorly the current generation of AI's make decisions, it's practically guaranteed a robot will pick the wrong thing to aim at. Maybe only once in a blue moon for any given machine, but get enough armed bots out there and those cases will crop up far too often.
imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light. That would be bad. But, luckily, not for very long. 8^)
I agree with your comment regarding space concerns. I collect video games and consoles and though I have only one TV, it is currently connected to no less than 11 systems. As a result, I have four chained input switching devices, three filled multi-out power adapters, two entertainment centers (and a partridge in a pear tree).
Correct me if I'm wrong (IANAD), but I understood that part of the problem with high fevers was that the heat eventually caused brain damage. I wonder if such a device would have a fever-lowering effect as well. Obviously, we're not going to start installing these in every kid with the flu, but I'm curious if this would work.
But Disney's Lumines II? You're thinking of Meteos. I'm talking about Lumines.
...you'll like DS homebrew I believe you, as I said, I just haven't taken the time to pursue it. The PSP is the first system I've really pursued homebrew on, purely because that was where the most interesting things were happening on the system. The DS has had enough good titles to keep me happy, so I haven't really looked elsewhere to get fulfillment from my entertainment dollars. (That said, though, the pics on that site were awesome.)
Then, with respect, you were naive.
I'm pleased to have learned the lesson of the PSP: don't waste your money. It's just not worth the trouble. And now you're a cynic. Welcome to Slashdot! You'll fit right in!
I'm not sure what you're getting at in your post, but on the chance that you're interested:
Great for the gameplay, or great for modding 3.50 firmware PSPs? Great for the gameplay. I own both Lumines games for the PSP. I also have a GBA (and a DS, and a GBA-Micro and...) though I have not pursued the necessaries to play homebrew/ROMs on it.
Honestly, I purchased the PSP to play the upcoming Castlevania release. (I'm a fan of the series. Sue me.;) Since I purchased the PSP well in advance of the game being released, I wanted something to do with it. And I discovered that most of the action for the PSP was happening in the homebrew scene, so that's where I went for entertainment. After about 6 months, I own 12 PSP games and only play three (Lumines 1 & 2, and Gunpey) with any regularity. However, I play NES Dr. Mario and SNES Super Metroid on it more than anything else.
What kind of copier did you use to dump them from your cartridges? (UMG v. MP3.com) I didn't. I used the internet to find ROMS of the carts I own. As for UMG v. MP3.com, IANAL, but it appears to me that the court ruled that MP3.com didn't have distribution rights - as opposed to their customers not having fair use rights. I may be wrong (and if so, please correct me), but to my knowledge, the courts have (deliberately) not ruled conclusively on what constitutes fair use, but it is generally held that consumers typically have the right to own (though not distribute) a copy of IP they have legally purchased. Thus, (again, if I understand correctly) if I own the physical cart, I believe I have the right to own a dumped ROM which I can play on my PSP (or computer, or what-have-you). If I do not own the cart, no more rights to the ROM. (I'll leave the scenario of a broken/lost cart to the courts, because I also know that evidence counts for alot.)
I'm an avid fan of video games (I own 24 distinct systems and over 400 games) of all kinds and I believe in supporting the industry by buying my games, but I also believe that I have the rights to do what I want with the property they sell me. (If this changes, let me know so I can buy my tickets out.) 8^)
It seems to me that this is exactly the type of encryption the GP was referring to when he referenced a "private key." In any case, there already exists unbreakable[1] encryption through OTPs. The problem is coordinating them between parties, which is the problem public-key encryption solves. If (in this case through quantum crypto) we can safely transmit OTPs, we can have perfectly secure communication over any channel of our choosing.
But Sorority gals won't date geeks.
Ford...has spoken to several sororities, but so far none has committed to the project Not to put us down, guys, but on the surface of this, I don't see this turning into anything more than another "Human Interest" piece. There's plenty of stereotyping on both sides of this, but the thing is - in general sorority gals don't date geeky guys. Offering computer help is not going to change that. You want to date a sorority gal, dress up, act confident, get in shape and go to the parties they throw. Ta-da, done.
Slashdot Mirror
Ooh, ooh! Can I volunteer to be in the second group?
Poll: What to do with Slashdot's satellite
-Spy on... er Observe Natalie Portman
-Name it Shark and put a fricken' laser on it
-Play a kickass game of Asteroids against other satellites
-Put CowboyNeal in it
There were 10 Track A teams total. I don't know how many made it to the semi-finals, but it wasn't all of them. There were a *ton* of Track B teams, since the only requirement was that you had a vehicle which met certain simple* requirements. The Track A teams, OTOH were teams which DARPA felt were sufficiently advanced to warrant their investment of $1,000,000 (in two $500,000 installments so long as the team appeared to be making progress).
For the record though, I doubt if the eliminations were rigged. True, only a few small companies made it to the finals, but I think that has more to do with small companies also having small budgets and not being able to afford the same level of investment as larger firms. Also, a number of Track A teams (which DARPA has already made a not-insignificant investment in) were cut, my company included.
...back in the days of Johnny Pneumonic I think you meant Johnny Mnemonic... Johnny Pneumonic sounds like a porn star.Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A. Go read this... And then get the hell off my lawn!
There seems to be a lot of people here confused on how this laser can destroy the virus without harming the host cells. Please allow me to explain the natural wonder that is "Natural Harmonic Frequencies".
First, imagine pushing someone on a swing. If you want to make the swing go higher, you have to push it just as it starts to swing forward. That way, the swing's energy is increased by the amount of your push, while still getting the full benefit of it's stored potential energy, and Hey, Presto - the swing goes higher. Because of the way swings (and wave energy functions of most sorts) work, the time between each optimal push remains the same. This is the key.
Imagine a sine wave. If you view the wave at the right frequency - every PI units - you'll see the same value. If you were somehow pushing on the wave at those points, you would be changing the amplitude of the function by the same amount every time. If, however, you view the wave at the wrong frequency - say, every 1 unit - you'll get a different section of the wave each time. Over time your pushes will cancel each other out in this case.
Now, if you push enough kinetic energy into pretty much anything, you create a short-lived wave within it as the energy which has not yet been absorbed or lost in some manner reflects back and forth within the structure. Imagine water sloshing in a tub or a building swaying in an earthquake. The speed at which this wave moves back and forth across the structure is the structure's natural resonant (or harmonic) frequency. This is what is being taken advantage of by this pulsed laser.
By firing this laser at the same frequency that the virus happens to vibrate at, a wave is set up in the virus. Since the laser's pulse comes again at the optimal "pushing" time, the amplitude of the vibration increases. Other cells are being vibrated by the laser as well, but because their natural harmonics are different, the pulses cancel themselves out in those cells and they're fine. The targeted virus however, vibrates harder and harder until it literally shakes itself apart.
In recent years, determining the natural harmonic frequencies of large structures has become an important part of engineering. More than one large structure has been destroyed by seemingly insignificant forces which just happened to be coming at the right frequency!
See this for more mathematical details
I recently had the opportunity to work on an autonomous surface vehicle. For the record: right now, "Autonomous" means that a human operator tells the vehicle where to drive (usually by setting some sort of waypoint) and the vehicle navigates there. (As opposed to directly controlling the vehicle's path with a joystick) Most of the payloads on the vehicle (a gun, for instance) would still be remotely controlled by a human operator. So... for right now, there's still a human pulling the trigger. It would be more accurate to say that these vehicles are only Semi-Autonomous.
All that being said, I greatly fear the day someone *does* decide to put a gun in the hands of a robot for two main reasons.
1) Given the number of robotic aiming systems already in existence, it's safe to say a robot probably won't miss when it decides to shoot.
2) Given how poorly the current generation of AI's make decisions, it's practically guaranteed a robot will pick the wrong thing to aim at. Maybe only once in a blue moon for any given machine, but get enough armed bots out there and those cases will crop up far too often.
It means to punch or strike.
Don't forget Code::Blocks!
I agree with your comment regarding space concerns. I collect video games and consoles and though I have only one TV, it is currently connected to no less than 11 systems. As a result, I have four chained input switching devices, three filled multi-out power adapters, two entertainment centers (and a partridge in a pear tree).
Correct me if I'm wrong (IANAD), but I understood that part of the problem with high fevers was that the heat eventually caused brain damage. I wonder if such a device would have a fever-lowering effect as well. Obviously, we're not going to start installing these in every kid with the flu, but I'm curious if this would work.
Interesting. I was not aware of that.
*sigh* Yes, but the damn line was too good to pass up.
...you'll like DS homebrew I believe you, as I said, I just haven't taken the time to pursue it. The PSP is the first system I've really pursued homebrew on, purely because that was where the most interesting things were happening on the system. The DS has had enough good titles to keep me happy, so I haven't really looked elsewhere to get fulfillment from my entertainment dollars. (That said, though, the pics on that site were awesome.)Great for the gameplay, or great for modding 3.50 firmware PSPs? Great for the gameplay. I own both Lumines games for the PSP. I also have a GBA (and a DS, and a GBA-Micro and...) though I have not pursued the necessaries to play homebrew/ROMs on it.
Honestly, I purchased the PSP to play the upcoming Castlevania release. (I'm a fan of the series. Sue me.
I'm an avid fan of video games (I own 24 distinct systems and over 400 games) of all kinds and I believe in supporting the industry by buying my games, but I also believe that I have the rights to do what I want with the property they sell me. (If this changes, let me know so I can buy my tickets out.) 8^)
I still get more mileage out of my PSP playing homebrew and old ROMS[1] than any official PSP releases. (Although Lumines is great.)
[1](NES/SNES/SMS ROMS of games I own, for the legally concerned.)
It seems to me that this is exactly the type of encryption the GP was referring to when he referenced a "private key." In any case, there already exists unbreakable[1] encryption through OTPs. The problem is coordinating them between parties, which is the problem public-key encryption solves. If (in this case through quantum crypto) we can safely transmit OTPs, we can have perfectly secure communication over any channel of our choosing.
[1] "...if the key is truly random, never reused, and kept secret, the one-time pad provides perfect secrecy."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_time_pad/
*sigh*... Sorry people-I-had-modded, I thought that would work.
Or... we could pay more attention to the OS security standards which already exist, such as the one the DOD uses: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TCSEC