As mentioned in a previous Slashdot article the Compaq iPaq uses a StrongARM processor and runs Linux. I wonder if we can build a small daughter card that drops the Xscale (tiny, BGA package) into the space from a desoldered SA110 (inch square, PQFP package) with the necessary bus conversion so we don't have to wait for Compaq to give us a 1BIPS Linux palm-top with 36 hours battery life... I better go out and buy a really small tip for my soldering iron:-)
This is a sort of interesting use of the ideas behind the one time pad.
It seems that what this guy is suggesting is really a system for message distribution where the sender of a message can deny that the message exists until such time as the message has already been mirrored around the world. The problem that I foresee is that in places that really clamp down on free speech they will simply ban your taking part in this system since its purpose is clearly to circumvent the (oppressive) Law. After all, the system has no other use.
Yes, methanol is much more volatile than vodka. Vodka is 40% ethanol and about 60% water. Ethanol (C2H5OH) has a much higher boiling point then methanol (CH3OH) and has a much lower partial presure at room temperature. This means that if you put some ethanol in one jam jar and put the same amount of methanol in another jar, put lids on them and shake them about, the vapour over the liquid in the jar containing mathanol has much more of the (flamable) alcohol in it than the vapour over the ethanol.
The second issue is that methanol has a low flash point. The 'flash point' is basically the temperature at which a spark will cause the vapour to ignite (as opposed to the 'auto-ignite' temperature at which you don't need a spark). It's been too long for me to remember the exact numbers but as I recall a spark will set methanol off at about 11C (52F), well below room temperature. Ethanol has an only slightly higher flash point (12C I think) but because the vapour preasure is much lower it's much less likely to start a fire since there's less ethanol in the vapour to get things going. This means you're less likely to bring down the plane just because your plastic laptop rubbed against it's nylon bag.
The flash point of a 40% ethanol, 60% water mix will be higher still which makes vodka much safer to transport and a refreshing drink when mixed with tonic and a twist of lime:-)
Fuel cells have been around for many years and it is pleasing to see them making progress in the direction of mass use but to date there has been one problem yet to be overcome. Methanol is highly volatile, highly flamable and has a low flash point. As such I'm not sure what the airlines are going to think about half the passengers in business class carrying a pint of the stuff in their laptop bags, in containers that have to go the compression and decompression each landing and take-off.
While I look forward to being able to use this technology we are going to need to see clear evidence of the safety of the products before we will be able to travel with them.
Perhaps I am too cynical but I think that there may be another reason why the reports in the mass media seem so biased. Take the CNN case; CNN is owned by Time-Warner. Time-Warner owns Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers are, I would expect, closely involved in DVDCCA.
In practice most of the mass press is owned by media congolmerates which include film studios. If the studio's lawyers want the press to push one side of a story rather than the other I would expect that the press will blindly follow.
This artice is very informative with respect to the architectures but a useful follow up would be to look at the performance in practice. Both of these processors can be used to run Linux and it would be rather interesting to see how a pair of workstations faired in a side-by-side test.
While such a test would be interesting I expect that the results would, in practice, be as much a test of compiler maturity rather than a test of the speed of the underlying system. Despite the best efforts of the processor designers (out-of-order execution and all) these sorts of processor tend to be very sensitive to the compiler technology. Furthermore many of the multimedia and vector processing performance enhancments (SMID vs Altivec) really need to be accessed from assembler at the moment.
Slashdot Mirror
I propose that members of the Open Source community bring a class action suit against the DVD-CCA for defamation...
As mentioned in a previous Slashdot article the Compaq iPaq uses a StrongARM processor and runs Linux. I wonder if we can build a small daughter card that drops the Xscale (tiny, BGA package) into the space from a desoldered SA110 (inch square, PQFP package) with the necessary bus conversion so we don't have to wait for Compaq to give us a 1BIPS Linux palm-top with 36 hours battery life... I better go out and buy a really small tip for my soldering iron :-)
This is a sort of interesting use of the ideas behind the one time pad.
It seems that what this guy is suggesting is really a system for message distribution where the sender of a message can deny that the message exists until such time as the message has already been mirrored around the world. The problem that I foresee is that in places that really clamp down on free speech they will simply ban your taking part in this system since its purpose is clearly to circumvent the (oppressive) Law. After all, the system has no other use.
Yes, methanol is much more volatile than vodka. Vodka is 40% ethanol and about 60% water. Ethanol (C2H5OH) has a much higher boiling point then methanol (CH3OH) and has a much lower partial presure at room temperature. This means that if you put some ethanol in one jam jar and put the same amount of methanol in another jar, put lids on them and shake them about, the vapour over the liquid in the jar containing mathanol has much more of the (flamable) alcohol in it than the vapour over the ethanol.
:-)
The second issue is that methanol has a low flash point. The 'flash point' is basically the temperature at which a spark will cause the vapour to ignite (as opposed to the 'auto-ignite' temperature at which you don't need a spark). It's been too long for me to remember the exact numbers but as I recall a spark will set methanol off at about 11C (52F), well below room temperature. Ethanol has an only slightly higher flash point (12C I think) but because the vapour preasure is much lower it's much less likely to start a fire since there's less ethanol in the vapour to get things going. This means you're less likely to bring down the plane just because your plastic laptop rubbed against it's nylon bag.
The flash point of a 40% ethanol, 60% water mix will be higher still which makes vodka much safer to transport and a refreshing drink when mixed with tonic and a twist of lime
Fuel cells have been around for many years and it is pleasing to see them making progress in the direction of mass use but to date there has been one problem yet to be overcome. Methanol is highly volatile, highly flamable and has a low flash point. As such I'm not sure what the airlines are going to think about half the passengers in business class carrying a pint of the stuff in their laptop bags, in containers that have to go the compression and decompression each landing and take-off.
While I look forward to being able to use this technology we are going to need to see clear evidence of the safety of the products before we will be able to travel with them.
Perhaps I am too cynical but I think that there may be another reason why the reports in the mass media seem so biased. Take the CNN case; CNN is owned by Time-Warner. Time-Warner owns Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers are, I would expect, closely involved in DVDCCA.
In practice most of the mass press is owned by media congolmerates which include film studios. If the studio's lawyers want the press to push one side of a story rather than the other I would expect that the press will blindly follow.
This artice is very informative with respect to the architectures but a useful follow up would be to look at the performance in practice. Both of these processors can be used to run Linux and it would be rather interesting to see how a pair of workstations faired in a side-by-side test.
While such a test would be interesting I expect that the results would, in practice, be as much a test of compiler maturity rather than a test of the speed of the underlying system. Despite the best efforts of the processor designers (out-of-order execution and all) these sorts of processor tend to be very sensitive to the compiler technology. Furthermore many of the multimedia and vector processing performance enhancments (SMID vs Altivec) really need to be accessed from assembler at the moment.
Still, rather interesting stuff.