When it comes to the Slashdot crowd, you've generally got the "haves" and the "have mores". Computers, peripherals, and ISPs ain't cheap, you know.
And those fortunate enough to own their own house should probably consider prevention rather than maintenance. There are a lot of really novel gutter systems out there today that prevent debris from getting into gutters in the first place.
This just takes an age old problem and makes it quixotic.
It sucks whenever that horrible word rears it's ugly head. "THROTTLE." Ugh! It hurts the most just after the "R". I agree that the internet should be free, but let's face it: It's not.
From my understanding, various entities actually own and maintain different parts/sections of the Internet. So when you pay your ISP for internet access, you should only be entitled to whine about the parts of the internet they actually control. It amazes me to think how many people seem to believe they have a true "end to end" connection through their ISP to every computer in the world! The sense of entitlement they exude is almost nauseating. If the route your connection is taking to "GothicKitty42" (a legitimate business associate in Denmark) is being throttled as it passes through Briton, feel free to take control and re-route your own path through the internet. Oh wait... You're too busy watching that DVD you just burned. You certainly can't be bothered to monitor your own QoS when you're paying as much as you do for that broadband connection!
And here's where I actually have to take issue with Bit Torrent type clients. While they don't overload a centralized server, they actually make less efficient use of the network as a whole since everything usually finds its way through the same old trunks of copper and fiber time and time again. All those little packets swimming around like a puddle of sperm looking for an egg... It's a redundancy nightmare of exponentiating proportions.
I'd love to see how some of these people would react if tomorrow they woke up with a peer to peer mesh network instead of their current arrangement. I bet they'd cuss to no end whenever they saw traffic freeloading through their node. They'd probably be racing to the computer store and buying software to shake off those pesky packets so they could get the most out of their internet connection.
Want to stop aging? Do what I did: Just pay an artist to paint a very good likeness of you and make a pact with the devil.
In all seriousness, people are frequently shocked to find out just how old I really am. In the midst of an outdoor gathering, someone recently asked me when I started smoking. With my candid reply of "1979", there was a very sudden and awkward silence that fell around me. I had been smoking longer than most of them had been alive, and yet many of them thought they were older than me.
For now I seem to have stumbled into what science has sought. I would love for science to find a way to slow, stop, and reverse aging for the masses. I have trouble relating to people in my chronological age group since they frequently assume I am too young to have a veteran understanding. When I'm around people who appear to be my own age, I have to deal with their tedious lack of maturity. With the current dearth of immortal humans, it can get a little lonely sometimes.
No matter the outcome of these hearings, the matter won't go away just as nosy people don't stop trying to eavesdrop once you catch them. They just get nosier.
One of the things I've noticed about the industry thus far is that most every time they legislate against the "free" use of certain technologies, someone in shining armor comes along with a new technology to save the day.
Will it be possible that in the future we will have technologies that are every bit as reluctant to divulge our personal affairs as our own minds? Perhaps even tech that upon tampering or forensic examination would automatically purify itself rather than betray its rightful owner? e.g. It could automatically shred the data or falsely report that no data exists in the event of unauthorized access.
Just to be on the safe side, I think I'll design a decorative lead lined fob on my keychain that can secretly conceal an SD card where my private data resides.
I know it's generally not in good form to post a reply to your own comments, but after I posted "Why *IS* this so hard?", 3 people thought I was being a troll (I wasn't), 2 people thought it was insightful (perhaps), and 2 thought I was funny (hurray!).
It was my intent to place my frustration in a humorous light since I saw so many posts that cited the impracticality of the proposed DIY project. No one seems to get it when it comes to solving the energy problem. There is always some trollop out there who wants to make it harder than it has to be. Let's face it; the bottom line is always politics.
I'm going to take something seemingly unrelated and use it to demonstrate my argument. I will use textile manufacturing as an example. People need to wear clothes because it is unacceptable to publicly walk around in the nude. You have climate conditions, hygiene issues, and modesty concerns as your major arguments, but I digress.
How hard would it be to make a standard western style outfit? How do you obtain the raw materials? What kind of machinery would you need to process these materials? How much labor is involved? How much energy will be required? What is the environmental impact? And let's not forget about the cost. Let's start with a laundry list... (literally.)
T-shirt
Underpants
Blouse
Trousers
Socks
Shoes
We'll leave out headgear for this discussion, but just think for a moment what a single outfit costs in terms of its production. Think about the amount of thread you need to adequately cover the human figure. Think of the complexity of what it takes to weave thread into fabric. Think about the process of dying or printing the material. Think about the source of the molding compound for the soles of the footwear, and the acquisition, tanning, and shaping of the leather. Don't forget about zippers, ties, and buttons to hold it all in place. Keep in mind it has to be transported over vast distances. Just a simple outfit that you'll likely wear maybe once a week, and you can pick it up at K-mart today!
Some of us wear more or less depending on various factors, but just look at the fabric around you. An ordinary cotton T-shirt for under $10.00 is incredible to look at under magnification. Do any of us worry so much about its environmental impact to produce such a thing?
Now let's look at the photo-voltaic solar cell. Simple ones can be produced from copper foil subjected to a high temperature on one side until an oxide layer is created on the opposite side. Unfortunately this method also produces an unwanted layer of black carbon which must carefully removed to expose the pinkish layer underneath. The pink surface is then covered by either a transparent or translucent conductor. Fine wires closely laid in parallel would work nicely. Cover with glass or plastic to protect from the cell from the elements and connect leads from the back of the foil and the surface conductors. Is this any harder than gathering cotton, spinning it into thread, then weaving it into fabric?
Granted, copper foil isn't exactly an off the shelf item, but when you look at how much aluminum foil we have laying around, it's not too much to believe the same principles couldn't be used to adapt the process from a poor metal to a transitional one. It's not that big of a problem for engineers to adapt. It's a problem of supply and demand to dictate.
So who creates the demand? Do you still harbor the illusion that "We the people" have any real grass roots control over demand? The saddest truth is that demand is created by the most successful suppliers these days. You demand things they tell you to demand. e.g.: Cheap shirts, fast-food, heavier cars, hi-def TV, more absorbent paper towels, prescription drugs, cell phones that can surf the web, and longer lasting deodorants. A glance at the Sunday ads in the paper are all too telling when it comes to realizing just how much of our society is powered by hype.
Finally! The loophole we've all been waiting for! Yeah, baby! Re-encode your MP3's and AVI files into WIREFRAMES! We'll work on developing the player later. Let Freedom Ring!
Seeing this question and various responses makes me sad. I've seen this song and dance repeated time after time. Don't forget to queue the people who keep trying to cram a kitchen sink into everything. ("Why not use wind?", "Better leave this to the professionals!", "It's as easy as 1, 2,...1536. Profit!")
Photovoltaic technology has been around for decades, and yet manufacturing a simple solar cell to trickle out a couple of watts is regarded as black magic, wrapped in ignorance, surrounded by controversy. It always begins with the assumption that you just "happen" to get hands on photovoltaic panels.
"Surplus solar panel"? Obviously these mystical artifacts either grow on trees or have to be pumped out of shale, because no one seems to know how to make them from scratch. In any event, think of it like an array of conventional self-charging batteries that only works in daylight.
Next, you'll want to take what energy you can get out of it and store it into something that has a more reliable on-demand containment... Let's call it a battery! It must be new technology because Chevron owns the patent on all of them and thus prevents us from freely whizzing around in electric cars. Oh, and disposing of them when they expire requires an act of congress to transport them to a cave inside of Yucca mountain.
The charge controller can almost be ignored. They just pop out of the ground when you need one. This gets placed between the solar panel and the battery. Pick up the wireless version if possible to keep things simple.
Finally, you'll want to go out and buy a bunch of proprietary light fixtures that are manufactured by an obscure gnome in the land of "Walmartia". In the event that one of the fixtures ever goes bad, you must then go to "Lowesia" to find a whole new set of proprietary fixtures since the "Walmartian" gnomes only live for about a year.
Good luck with your project, and be sure to purchase futures in petroleum based technologies. That bubble won't burst without your support!
Somebody moves the ends. IE 5 might just be passing it on a fluke. It's not as if it renders the Acid 2 smiley face better than 6 or 7. That said, either I'm not getting it, or the people setting up the acid tests aren't getting it- If no one is passing the "test" then the whole point of the test is moot. You might as well ask a politician for their detailed exit strategy in the war on terror. It's like granting a patent on something that never existed. It's what happens when you have standardized achievement tests in schools and teachers only teach to the test, while churning out students who lack critical thinking skills.
It's looking less like the browsers aren't really failing so much as the goals keep shifting.
That link needs an upmod. Amazon's downloading service marks the first time I've actually started buying music since... since... ugh... It's been a really long time. I've made several purchases already, but would have made a lot more if the gaps in the available tracks weren't quite so glaring. This list explains a few of those gaps.
The only other fly in the ointment is the fact that I haven't been able to download full albums because the proprietary downloader won't run under Linux... yet.
Since the article speaks of the disclosure of the pass phrase itself as violating the 5th, then perhaps they should just try some obvious pass phrases:
"dig that 15yo a$$"
"old enough to bleed..."
"i need two tens for a twenty"
or the obvious-
"i did it"
After RTFA I quickly delved into the PDF for more information. Now I'm left feeling like I'm the butt of another technobabble joke. It's looking more and more like string theory is getting a bit frayed.
Something tells me that no matter how much we all secretly wish for a cataclysmic event of biblical proportions so we can live out our sci-fi fantasies, there just isn't going to be anything that significant to happen over the next few billion years.
Want an adventure? Go outside! The universe is always unfolding as it should, and you get to be a part of it.
I have to admit that speed & bloat reduction are the only two features I really want to see and hear about from Open Office. Personally I don't think OO should be worrying about how to out-shine MS Office 200x; they need to focus on out-pacing Office 97.
Actually, this is how I feel when it comes to Linux on the desktop in just about every scenario. All I'm asking for is stability, performance, compatibility, efficiency, intuitive interactivity, professional aesthetics, and especially speed!
And lo- the absurdities continue. How much more of this legalism must we endure before their system implodes? It seems that the implementation of the myriad of laws is shifting around faster than the rules in a game of "Calvin Ball". You would expect that at sooner or later, these smirking litigators will eventually take a bite of their own poison, but time after time it seems they get away with their asinine behavior, and move on to plot another ludicrous litigation against people who just don't want to have anything to do with them.
Slashdot Mirror
For most of the Slashdot crowd it is.
When it comes to the Slashdot crowd, you've generally got the "haves" and the "have mores". Computers, peripherals, and ISPs ain't cheap, you know.
And those fortunate enough to own their own house should probably consider prevention rather than maintenance. There are a lot of really novel gutter systems out there today that prevent debris from getting into gutters in the first place.
This just takes an age old problem and makes it quixotic.
It sucks whenever that horrible word rears it's ugly head. "THROTTLE." Ugh! It hurts the most just after the "R". I agree that the internet should be free, but let's face it: It's not.
From my understanding, various entities actually own and maintain different parts/sections of the Internet. So when you pay your ISP for internet access, you should only be entitled to whine about the parts of the internet they actually control. It amazes me to think how many people seem to believe they have a true "end to end" connection through their ISP to every computer in the world! The sense of entitlement they exude is almost nauseating. If the route your connection is taking to "GothicKitty42" (a legitimate business associate in Denmark) is being throttled as it passes through Briton, feel free to take control and re-route your own path through the internet. Oh wait... You're too busy watching that DVD you just burned. You certainly can't be bothered to monitor your own QoS when you're paying as much as you do for that broadband connection!
And here's where I actually have to take issue with Bit Torrent type clients. While they don't overload a centralized server, they actually make less efficient use of the network as a whole since everything usually finds its way through the same old trunks of copper and fiber time and time again. All those little packets swimming around like a puddle of sperm looking for an egg... It's a redundancy nightmare of exponentiating proportions.
I'd love to see how some of these people would react if tomorrow they woke up with a peer to peer mesh network instead of their current arrangement. I bet they'd cuss to no end whenever they saw traffic freeloading through their node. They'd probably be racing to the computer store and buying software to shake off those pesky packets so they could get the most out of their internet connection.
But that's just my opinion.
Want to stop aging? Do what I did: Just pay an artist to paint a very good likeness of you and make a pact with the devil.
In all seriousness, people are frequently shocked to find out just how old I really am. In the midst of an outdoor gathering, someone recently asked me when I started smoking. With my candid reply of "1979", there was a very sudden and awkward silence that fell around me. I had been smoking longer than most of them had been alive, and yet many of them thought they were older than me.
For now I seem to have stumbled into what science has sought. I would love for science to find a way to slow, stop, and reverse aging for the masses. I have trouble relating to people in my chronological age group since they frequently assume I am too young to have a veteran understanding. When I'm around people who appear to be my own age, I have to deal with their tedious lack of maturity. With the current dearth of immortal humans, it can get a little lonely sometimes.
But for now, the loneliness is worth it...
So get off my lawn!
No matter the outcome of these hearings, the matter won't go away just as nosy people don't stop trying to eavesdrop once you catch them. They just get nosier.
One of the things I've noticed about the industry thus far is that most every time they legislate against the "free" use of certain technologies, someone in shining armor comes along with a new technology to save the day.
Will it be possible that in the future we will have technologies that are every bit as reluctant to divulge our personal affairs as our own minds? Perhaps even tech that upon tampering or forensic examination would automatically purify itself rather than betray its rightful owner? e.g. It could automatically shred the data or falsely report that no data exists in the event of unauthorized access.
Just to be on the safe side, I think I'll design a decorative lead lined fob on my keychain that can secretly conceal an SD card where my private data resides.
I know it's generally not in good form to post a reply to your own comments, but after I posted "Why *IS* this so hard?", 3 people thought I was being a troll (I wasn't), 2 people thought it was insightful (perhaps), and 2 thought I was funny (hurray!).
It was my intent to place my frustration in a humorous light since I saw so many posts that cited the impracticality of the proposed DIY project. No one seems to get it when it comes to solving the energy problem. There is always some trollop out there who wants to make it harder than it has to be. Let's face it; the bottom line is always politics.
I'm going to take something seemingly unrelated and use it to demonstrate my argument. I will use textile manufacturing as an example. People need to wear clothes because it is unacceptable to publicly walk around in the nude. You have climate conditions, hygiene issues, and modesty concerns as your major arguments, but I digress.
How hard would it be to make a standard western style outfit? How do you obtain the raw materials? What kind of machinery would you need to process these materials? How much labor is involved? How much energy will be required? What is the environmental impact? And let's not forget about the cost. Let's start with a laundry list... (literally.)
T-shirt
Underpants
Blouse
Trousers
Socks
Shoes
We'll leave out headgear for this discussion, but just think for a moment what a single outfit costs in terms of its production. Think about the amount of thread you need to adequately cover the human figure. Think of the complexity of what it takes to weave thread into fabric. Think about the process of dying or printing the material. Think about the source of the molding compound for the soles of the footwear, and the acquisition, tanning, and shaping of the leather. Don't forget about zippers, ties, and buttons to hold it all in place. Keep in mind it has to be transported over vast distances. Just a simple outfit that you'll likely wear maybe once a week, and you can pick it up at K-mart today!
Some of us wear more or less depending on various factors, but just look at the fabric around you. An ordinary cotton T-shirt for under $10.00 is incredible to look at under magnification. Do any of us worry so much about its environmental impact to produce such a thing?
Now let's look at the photo-voltaic solar cell. Simple ones can be produced from copper foil subjected to a high temperature on one side until an oxide layer is created on the opposite side. Unfortunately this method also produces an unwanted layer of black carbon which must carefully removed to expose the pinkish layer underneath. The pink surface is then covered by either a transparent or translucent conductor. Fine wires closely laid in parallel would work nicely. Cover with glass or plastic to protect from the cell from the elements and connect leads from the back of the foil and the surface conductors. Is this any harder than gathering cotton, spinning it into thread, then weaving it into fabric?
Granted, copper foil isn't exactly an off the shelf item, but when you look at how much aluminum foil we have laying around, it's not too much to believe the same principles couldn't be used to adapt the process from a poor metal to a transitional one. It's not that big of a problem for engineers to adapt. It's a problem of supply and demand to dictate.
So who creates the demand? Do you still harbor the illusion that "We the people" have any real grass roots control over demand? The saddest truth is that demand is created by the most successful suppliers these days. You demand things they tell you to demand. e.g.: Cheap shirts, fast-food, heavier cars, hi-def TV, more absorbent paper towels, prescription drugs, cell phones that can surf the web, and longer lasting deodorants. A glance at the Sunday ads in the paper are all too telling when it comes to realizing just how much of our society is powered by hype.
And yet the idea of covering a r
Finally! The loophole we've all been waiting for! Yeah, baby! Re-encode your MP3's and AVI files into WIREFRAMES! We'll work on developing the player later. Let Freedom Ring!
Seeing this question and various responses makes me sad. I've seen this song and dance repeated time after time. Don't forget to queue the people who keep trying to cram a kitchen sink into everything. ("Why not use wind?", "Better leave this to the professionals!", "It's as easy as 1, 2, ...1536. Profit!")
Photovoltaic technology has been around for decades, and yet manufacturing a simple solar cell to trickle out a couple of watts is regarded as black magic, wrapped in ignorance, surrounded by controversy. It always begins with the assumption that you just "happen" to get hands on photovoltaic panels.
"Surplus solar panel"? Obviously these mystical artifacts either grow on trees or have to be pumped out of shale, because no one seems to know how to make them from scratch. In any event, think of it like an array of conventional self-charging batteries that only works in daylight.
Next, you'll want to take what energy you can get out of it and store it into something that has a more reliable on-demand containment... Let's call it a battery! It must be new technology because Chevron owns the patent on all of them and thus prevents us from freely whizzing around in electric cars. Oh, and disposing of them when they expire requires an act of congress to transport them to a cave inside of Yucca mountain.
The charge controller can almost be ignored. They just pop out of the ground when you need one. This gets placed between the solar panel and the battery. Pick up the wireless version if possible to keep things simple.
Finally, you'll want to go out and buy a bunch of proprietary light fixtures that are manufactured by an obscure gnome in the land of "Walmartia". In the event that one of the fixtures ever goes bad, you must then go to "Lowesia" to find a whole new set of proprietary fixtures since the "Walmartian" gnomes only live for about a year.
Good luck with your project, and be sure to purchase futures in petroleum based technologies. That bubble won't burst without your support!
Somebody moves the ends. IE 5 might just be passing it on a fluke. It's not as if it renders the Acid 2 smiley face better than 6 or 7. That said, either I'm not getting it, or the people setting up the acid tests aren't getting it- If no one is passing the "test" then the whole point of the test is moot. You might as well ask a politician for their detailed exit strategy in the war on terror. It's like granting a patent on something that never existed. It's what happens when you have standardized achievement tests in schools and teachers only teach to the test, while churning out students who lack critical thinking skills.
It's looking less like the browsers aren't really failing so much as the goals keep shifting.
That link needs an upmod. Amazon's downloading service marks the first time I've actually started buying music since... since... ugh... It's been a really long time. I've made several purchases already, but would have made a lot more if the gaps in the available tracks weren't quite so glaring. This list explains a few of those gaps.
The only other fly in the ointment is the fact that I haven't been able to download full albums because the proprietary downloader won't run under Linux... yet.
Since the article speaks of the disclosure of the pass phrase itself as violating the 5th, then perhaps they should just try some obvious pass phrases: "dig that 15yo a$$" "old enough to bleed..." "i need two tens for a twenty" or the obvious- "i did it"
After RTFA I quickly delved into the PDF for more information. Now I'm left feeling like I'm the butt of another technobabble joke. It's looking more and more like string theory is getting a bit frayed.
Something tells me that no matter how much we all secretly wish for a cataclysmic event of biblical proportions so we can live out our sci-fi fantasies, there just isn't going to be anything that significant to happen over the next few billion years.
Want an adventure? Go outside! The universe is always unfolding as it should, and you get to be a part of it.
I have to admit that speed & bloat reduction are the only two features I really want to see and hear about from Open Office. Personally I don't think OO should be worrying about how to out-shine MS Office 200x; they need to focus on out-pacing Office 97.
Actually, this is how I feel when it comes to Linux on the desktop in just about every scenario. All I'm asking for is stability, performance, compatibility, efficiency, intuitive interactivity, professional aesthetics, and especially speed!
And lo- the absurdities continue. How much more of this legalism must we endure before their system implodes? It seems that the implementation of the myriad of laws is shifting around faster than the rules in a game of "Calvin Ball". You would expect that at sooner or later, these smirking litigators will eventually take a bite of their own poison, but time after time it seems they get away with their asinine behavior, and move on to plot another ludicrous litigation against people who just don't want to have anything to do with them.