Sure. Too bad I can't replace an operating system the way I can replace a CPU. Just plug the new one in and that's it - no need to reinstall all software, adjust all settings, remember what I did in the last 4 years, what settings I made. That is assuming all my programs are compatible with the newer version of Windows. If some aren't, I may have even more problems.
Oh, and 4 years ago it was XP32, XP64 or Vista. Too bad I didn't choose the 4th option - 2003.
MS disabled PAE in consumer version of Windows so that people would by the Server version. Otherwise it would be an option (that is disabled by default). My motherboard is workstation-class so the rivers for it probably will work OK. The question is the soundcard (creative X-Fi) and video card (ATI Radeon) drivers.
Thank you for the link. I'll definitely try it (and buy some ECC REG DDR1 RAM). As for the third option - if people have done it then I'll try to find out how to do it without wrecking the system.
Too bad that "client" versions of 32bit Windows only allow up to 4GB address space. And installing a new version of Windows is much worse than just using software that fits in the 4GB. Hell, I'd rather buy a DRAM SSD and put the pagefile on it than do a fresh install of Windows.
Too bad adding RAM for me would mean one of the following: 1) Installing a different version of windows (and having the PC not work right for weeks). 2) Buying a SATA (or PCIe) RAMdrive and putting the pagefile there to emulate having more RAM (costs more and is slower, but more convenient than #1). 3) Somehow transplanting files from Windows 2003 to make xp recognize more than $GB or RAM without actually installing 2003 or a 64bit version of Windows (costs less than #2 and is most convenient, but may not actually be possible).
The injection system is cpu-controlled, and needs a stable voltage to work. Besides, the car is too heavy to push anyway.
While my car has an engine with a carburetor, it still needs the battery to operate the fuel line valves (the ones that select LPG or petrol). Still, it is quite possible that a battery can be too weak to turn the starter motor, but strong enough to supply the few amps to the valves (or in your case, the injection system).
Unless your car is a truck, being too heavy to push (what, 2000kg?) does not mean that push starting is not possible. It can still be possible to start the car if there are more people to push it or if it is on the top of a hill.
From what I read, they needed to connect an additional device to the car, which requires physical access. It is stated that the tested car has at least 5 wireless interfaces, but no attempt to take over the car using them was made.
Still, every time I read about something like this, I start liking my 1982 car even more. The only computer in it is the microcontroller of the tape deck. The tape deck is connected to the car only for power, speakers and antenna, so, if the tape deck can be taken over (I doubt it), the worst that the attacker could do is turn off the music.
The lack of ABS can be somewhat mitigated by driving slower if the road looks slippery (wet, snowy, iced over).
I also prefer manual transmission - one of the reasons is that it can be used to brake with the engine, in case the brakes fail. It also allows the car to be push started if the battery is too weak.
I have a modern tape deck (not a CD/MP3 player) and I use GPS when I need it.
Still, my 30 year old car is easy to understand and repair, so I too hope that I can continue driving it for many years. Since the car is modified to run on LPG, the fact that it is not as fuel efficient as newer cars is somewhat mitigated by the fact that LPG costs less than petrol.
That requires physical access. With physical access you can also cut the brake lines and the result will be almost the same (well, cut brake lines will be notices quite soon, where you could probably program the custom firmware to only disable the brakes if, say, the driver slams on them (to avoid hitting something)).
However, a lot of people on/. suggest that cars should be aware of each other, forming some kind of wireless network. If that ever happens, remote exploits may become reality, since the software will have bugs. Get a high gain antenna and you'll be able to crash cars without being near them.
A 2003 Nissan Primera P12 (not mine) turned on the "check engine" light. As I am only familiar with my 1982 car (which is much different from the Nissan, there is no "check engine" light for one), the car was taken to the dealer. The dealer said that the timing chain is stretched (a common problem for these cars) and that it is cheaper to replace the whole engine. The cost: ~1500EUR. However, instead of paying it, we took the car to the mechanic that repairs the engine on my car when something breaks or the carburetor needs tuning or valves need adjustment. He found out that the crankshaft position sensor was broken, not the chain. Repair cost: ~180EUR, 150 of which was the cost of the sensor. Oh, and we had to pay 170EUR to the dealer for the diagnostic (which was wrong).
On the other hand, any mechanic who know how a carburetor works can repair my car, because most of the time problems will be simple - something bent, broken or worn out.
See... if I can do it, and I'm just a friggin' engineer, then it's not that hard.
Ads cost millions. Where are you going to get the money for these ads? The fashion industry will have more money and will be able to get more ads (though I don't get how the fashion industry can stay in business if all the clothes are designed only for concentration camp prisoners, that is, they don't fit the majority of the market - normal women)
I use GPS to go somewhere where I hasn't been before (or only a couple times and the route is complicated). Usually, before going there, I plan the route on my PC, because sometimes the routing software picks out a route that I do not like (maybe I would like to go around a town, even if it adds 10km to my 200km trip), I also sometimes notice better routes than I have known before. My parents rarely use maps, just string along multiple partial routes ("if I want to get from point A to point C which is close to point B, then I go to point B and figure out how to get to point C from there") - routing software sometimes suggests more efficient routes, for example, I once drove to my friend, who lived near an edge of a bigger city. If I went using the partial routes, I would have had to go trough half of the city, the software suggested I go around the city. Not only I avoided the majority of that city, the route length was the same (or even a few km shorter).
Once I have been there a couple of times, I can usually remember the route and drive without GPS. I still use GPS when driving on the highway so I don't miss the exit, but if the receiver was not working, I still could go to my destination.
I am terrible with direction though. If you tell me how to get to you, I probably will only remember some of the directions and even those would be out of order.
It seems that giving control of something so fundamental as knowing where you are going over to something as inherently unreliable as a computer is dangerous
Not really. I always look at the (digital) map before going, so I know whether the directions the computer is giving me make sense. Also, if it fails completely, I can still drive using the road signs and ask for directions, but it's less convenient than GPS.
and I think the same is true of the vital mechanical functions of a car such as acceleration, deceleration and steering.
Now here I agree with you. If the software that controls acceleration, brakes and steering fails, I could be in a lot of trouble (compared to the mild annoyance of failed GPS). Fortunately, my car is old enough (made in 1982) to not use computers. Mechanical linkages control the throttle, steering and brakes. The only computer mounted in my car is the one that controls the tape deck.
Cutting the brake lines can be effective, but only if the target needs to stop very fast (a moose runs out on the road etc). Otherwise you can downshift (if the car has a manual transmission) to brake with the engine and then turn the engine off to stop. At least it would greatly reduce the impact.
The more I read about new cars, the more I like my old car.
For example, the tape deck is connected to my car by a few wires - power, antenna, speakers. That's it. No configuration, nothing. If I want, I can take the tape deck out of my car, connect it to a 12V power supply and some speakers and listen to the music.
There are no computers in my car at all - no need to worry about software bugs or failing EPROMs, just check once in a while if all the linkages etc are not worn out or rusted.
Once an Intelligent life form evolves, and assuming that FTL is impossible it should take anywhere from 5 to 50 million years for that civilization to visit every star in the galaxy.
Assuming they want that. After all, humans only went to the moon and sent unmanned probes to other planets in the Solar system (and a few probes outside the Solar system). It may not be worth it for the aliens to visit other stars if FTL is impossible. If it takes multiple generations to go to that star and back then they probably would only do it if there was evidence of a habitable (to them) planet or other form of intelligent life. Evidence of intelligent life may be extremely difficult to get without going there.
So, it could very well be that the aliens just colonized their own star system and maybe the closest star system that has habitable planets and not bothering with the rest of the galaxy.
I think in case of my car, the gauge was cheaper. It is just a pressure gauge and an oil line coming from the engine. To have a light would require some sort of electronic pressure sensor and a relay (or a sensor big enough to handle the current going to the light). Well, or maybe the cost was similar so the manufacturer decided to put the gauge in.
What I would have also liked is an ammeter or at least a voltmeter to see the condition of the battery (charging/discharging and how fast).
It could now display low oil pressure stop car before you burn the engine up idiot.
My car just has an oil pressure gauge on the dashboard. And a coolant temperature gauge. And a fuel gauge. I don't see why a monitor is necessary to display oil pressure or some other parameter - just have a gauge. If the parameter is binary, then use a light to indicate that it's good/bad.
I respectfully disagree with them. I think safety is more important than convenience, and a supermarket car park is exactly the kind of place where driving out forwards is significantly safer than reversing.
The more likely problem with reversing into a parking space is that you have to pass the parking space to reverse into it. So, if the parking lot is almost full and there is a line of cars behind you, when you pass the spot, the guy behind you can just drive into it. Or, it could also be that the guy will be so close to you (since you know, being 10cm from the car in front means you will arrive to your destination a fraction of a second faster) that you won't be able to reverse without hitting him (and he, of course has no way to go because the guy behind him is just as close). So, almost full parking lot - front park. A bit emptier parking lot - reverse park.
I'm 24 and grew up without a car seat in a Soviet car in Eastern Europe. I also started riding "shotgun" much earlier than it was allowed by law (IIRC you had to be 12 to be in the front seat) because being in the back seat would make me throw up. On the other hand I learned from early age to use seatbelts (you didn't have to do it in the back seat), to the point that riding in a car without the seatbelt just feels "wrong".
I don't really think there are SATA (not SAS) hard drives that can saturate SATA2, so not really a big deal.
Continued compatibility with SAS, including SAS 6 Gbit/s.
Since you can only connect a SATA drive to a SAS controller (not SAS drive to SATA controller), not a big deal if you are using a SATA controller.
Isochronous Native Command Queuing (NCQ) streaming command to enable isochronous quality of service data transfers for streaming digital content applications.
Kinda neat, though I don't know how useful in real life.
Improved power management capabilities.
Does not really matter for desktops - a hard drive does not use a lot of power compared to the rest of the PC.
A small low insertion force (LIF) connector for more compact 1.8-inch storage devices.
Does not matter for 3.5" desktop drives.
A connector designed to accommodate 7 mm optical disk drives for thinner and lighter notebooks.
Does not matter for desktops.
Alignment with the INCITS ATA8-ACS standard.
Whatever.
So, SATA3 is not really useful, or rather, it is not something that is worth replacing the motherboard if you have a motherboard with SATA2 and do not plan to use SSDs.
What if the cables for the left side brakes and the right side brakes are in backwards?
That's why the more complicated system is, the more ways it has for failure. No one would care if the hydraulic lines on my car were reversed (as long as they are intact), since the brake force is applied evenly.
Bad input/sensors is one possibility, but we can't discount software bugs even with good input. From what I understand (not a lot), airplane autopilots are easier than car ones (controlling the plane itself is harder, but you don't have to fly with other planes a 10 meters away from you), maybe this is why airplane autopilots are available for quite some time, while self-driving cars are still not on the market. So, more complex software == more places for bugs.
Also, giving control back to the pilot works in an airplane, but probably won't work in a car. If the car is self-driving, then the human operator will expect it to handle all situations, so he will relax (and his reaction times will be really long) or ever start reading a book/etc, since the car is, well, self-driving. A regular car forces me to be attentive all the time, since I am in control all the time, but if I was in a self driving car and a 2 hours into the journey the car say "you have the wheel", I probably won't be able to react as fast as I would be able if I was driving the car for those 2 hours.
Yes because the majority of car on the road now are electric and have LED lights.
The requirement to carry a first aid kit, fire extinguisher and warning triangle is quite old in my country. A few years ago they added the vest requirement. There is no requirement to have spare bulbs, but I have them anyway. After all, the bulb will most likely burn out just when I need to drive at night.
Also, if I had an electric car I would probably buy an extinguisher that can put the fire out, instead of the standard one that is only suitable for cars with internal combustion engines. I have an old gasoline/LPG car instead, so I carry the standard extinguisher.
In my country if they catch you driving without a license, you might have to pay up to 430EUR fine (minimal salary is ~230EUR/month, so 430 is a lot). This is if you never had a license. If you had one, but it was revoked then the fine is up to 720EUR. In both cases you may be arrested.
I don't really think that driving without a license is that common that cars should have a device to check the presence of the ID. If you get your license revoked you probably won't drive anyway because it can result in a big fine.
Well, you probably will read the traffic laws since they might be different from the ones in your country. Also, if you hire a car, it will most likely have the breathalyzer (as well as fire extinguisher, medkit and all the other items required by law).
Slashdot Mirror
Sure. Too bad I can't replace an operating system the way I can replace a CPU. Just plug the new one in and that's it - no need to reinstall all software, adjust all settings, remember what I did in the last 4 years, what settings I made. That is assuming all my programs are compatible with the newer version of Windows. If some aren't, I may have even more problems.
Oh, and 4 years ago it was XP32, XP64 or Vista. Too bad I didn't choose the 4th option - 2003.
MS disabled PAE in consumer version of Windows so that people would by the Server version. Otherwise it would be an option (that is disabled by default).
My motherboard is workstation-class so the rivers for it probably will work OK. The question is the soundcard (creative X-Fi) and video card (ATI Radeon) drivers.
Thank you for the link. I'll definitely try it (and buy some ECC REG DDR1 RAM). As for the third option - if people have done it then I'll try to find out how to do it without wrecking the system.
Too bad that "client" versions of 32bit Windows only allow up to 4GB address space.
And installing a new version of Windows is much worse than just using software that fits in the 4GB. Hell, I'd rather buy a DRAM SSD and put the pagefile on it than do a fresh install of Windows.
Too bad adding RAM for me would mean one of the following:
1) Installing a different version of windows (and having the PC not work right for weeks).
2) Buying a SATA (or PCIe) RAMdrive and putting the pagefile there to emulate having more RAM (costs more and is slower, but more convenient than #1).
3) Somehow transplanting files from Windows 2003 to make xp recognize more than $GB or RAM without actually installing 2003 or a 64bit version of Windows (costs less than #2 and is most convenient, but may not actually be possible).
That would be nice, but where I live there is no such service.
The injection system is cpu-controlled, and needs a stable voltage to work. Besides, the car is too heavy to push anyway.
While my car has an engine with a carburetor, it still needs the battery to operate the fuel line valves (the ones that select LPG or petrol). Still, it is quite possible that a battery can be too weak to turn the starter motor, but strong enough to supply the few amps to the valves (or in your case, the injection system).
Unless your car is a truck, being too heavy to push (what, 2000kg?) does not mean that push starting is not possible. It can still be possible to start the car if there are more people to push it or if it is on the top of a hill.
From what I read, they needed to connect an additional device to the car, which requires physical access. It is stated that the tested car has at least 5 wireless interfaces, but no attempt to take over the car using them was made.
Still, every time I read about something like this, I start liking my 1982 car even more. The only computer in it is the microcontroller of the tape deck. The tape deck is connected to the car only for power, speakers and antenna, so, if the tape deck can be taken over (I doubt it), the worst that the attacker could do is turn off the music.
The lack of ABS can be somewhat mitigated by driving slower if the road looks slippery (wet, snowy, iced over).
I also prefer manual transmission - one of the reasons is that it can be used to brake with the engine, in case the brakes fail. It also allows the car to be push started if the battery is too weak.
I have a modern tape deck (not a CD/MP3 player) and I use GPS when I need it.
Still, my 30 year old car is easy to understand and repair, so I too hope that I can continue driving it for many years. Since the car is modified to run on LPG, the fact that it is not as fuel efficient as newer cars is somewhat mitigated by the fact that LPG costs less than petrol.
That requires physical access. With physical access you can also cut the brake lines and the result will be almost the same (well, cut brake lines will be notices quite soon, where you could probably program the custom firmware to only disable the brakes if, say, the driver slams on them (to avoid hitting something)).
However, a lot of people on /. suggest that cars should be aware of each other, forming some kind of wireless network. If that ever happens, remote exploits may become reality, since the software will have bugs. Get a high gain antenna and you'll be able to crash cars without being near them.
And the dealers rip you off.
A 2003 Nissan Primera P12 (not mine) turned on the "check engine" light. As I am only familiar with my 1982 car (which is much different from the Nissan, there is no "check engine" light for one), the car was taken to the dealer. The dealer said that the timing chain is stretched (a common problem for these cars) and that it is cheaper to replace the whole engine. The cost: ~1500EUR. However, instead of paying it, we took the car to the mechanic that repairs the engine on my car when something breaks or the carburetor needs tuning or valves need adjustment. He found out that the crankshaft position sensor was broken, not the chain. Repair cost: ~180EUR, 150 of which was the cost of the sensor. Oh, and we had to pay 170EUR to the dealer for the diagnostic (which was wrong).
On the other hand, any mechanic who know how a carburetor works can repair my car, because most of the time problems will be simple - something bent, broken or worn out.
See... if I can do it, and I'm just a friggin' engineer, then it's not that hard.
Ads cost millions. Where are you going to get the money for these ads? The fashion industry will have more money and will be able to get more ads (though I don't get how the fashion industry can stay in business if all the clothes are designed only for concentration camp prisoners, that is, they don't fit the majority of the market - normal women)
Eating well and exercising won't make you as thin as a concentration camp prisoner, which is the "ideal" all the models try to achieve.
You almost described me.
I use GPS to go somewhere where I hasn't been before (or only a couple times and the route is complicated). Usually, before going there, I plan the route on my PC, because sometimes the routing software picks out a route that I do not like (maybe I would like to go around a town, even if it adds 10km to my 200km trip), I also sometimes notice better routes than I have known before. My parents rarely use maps, just string along multiple partial routes ("if I want to get from point A to point C which is close to point B, then I go to point B and figure out how to get to point C from there") - routing software sometimes suggests more efficient routes, for example, I once drove to my friend, who lived near an edge of a bigger city. If I went using the partial routes, I would have had to go trough half of the city, the software suggested I go around the city. Not only I avoided the majority of that city, the route length was the same (or even a few km shorter).
Once I have been there a couple of times, I can usually remember the route and drive without GPS. I still use GPS when driving on the highway so I don't miss the exit, but if the receiver was not working, I still could go to my destination.
I am terrible with direction though. If you tell me how to get to you, I probably will only remember some of the directions and even those would be out of order.
It seems that giving control of something so fundamental as knowing where you are going over to something as inherently unreliable as a computer is dangerous
Not really. I always look at the (digital) map before going, so I know whether the directions the computer is giving me make sense. Also, if it fails completely, I can still drive using the road signs and ask for directions, but it's less convenient than GPS.
and I think the same is true of the vital mechanical functions of a car such as acceleration, deceleration and steering.
Now here I agree with you. If the software that controls acceleration, brakes and steering fails, I could be in a lot of trouble (compared to the mild annoyance of failed GPS). Fortunately, my car is old enough (made in 1982) to not use computers. Mechanical linkages control the throttle, steering and brakes. The only computer mounted in my car is the one that controls the tape deck.
Cutting the brake lines can be effective, but only if the target needs to stop very fast (a moose runs out on the road etc). Otherwise you can downshift (if the car has a manual transmission) to brake with the engine and then turn the engine off to stop. At least it would greatly reduce the impact.
The more I read about new cars, the more I like my old car.
For example, the tape deck is connected to my car by a few wires - power, antenna, speakers. That's it. No configuration, nothing. If I want, I can take the tape deck out of my car, connect it to a 12V power supply and some speakers and listen to the music.
There are no computers in my car at all - no need to worry about software bugs or failing EPROMs, just check once in a while if all the linkages etc are not worn out or rusted.
Once an Intelligent life form evolves, and assuming that FTL is impossible it should take anywhere from 5 to 50 million years for that civilization to visit every star in the galaxy.
Assuming they want that. After all, humans only went to the moon and sent unmanned probes to other planets in the Solar system (and a few probes outside the Solar system). It may not be worth it for the aliens to visit other stars if FTL is impossible. If it takes multiple generations to go to that star and back then they probably would only do it if there was evidence of a habitable (to them) planet or other form of intelligent life. Evidence of intelligent life may be extremely difficult to get without going there.
So, it could very well be that the aliens just colonized their own star system and maybe the closest star system that has habitable planets and not bothering with the rest of the galaxy.
I think in case of my car, the gauge was cheaper. It is just a pressure gauge and an oil line coming from the engine. To have a light would require some sort of electronic pressure sensor and a relay (or a sensor big enough to handle the current going to the light). Well, or maybe the cost was similar so the manufacturer decided to put the gauge in.
What I would have also liked is an ammeter or at least a voltmeter to see the condition of the battery (charging/discharging and how fast).
It could now display low oil pressure stop car before you burn the engine up idiot.
My car just has an oil pressure gauge on the dashboard. And a coolant temperature gauge. And a fuel gauge.
I don't see why a monitor is necessary to display oil pressure or some other parameter - just have a gauge. If the parameter is binary, then use a light to indicate that it's good/bad.
I respectfully disagree with them. I think safety is more important than convenience, and a supermarket car park is exactly the kind of place where driving out forwards is significantly safer than reversing.
The more likely problem with reversing into a parking space is that you have to pass the parking space to reverse into it. So, if the parking lot is almost full and there is a line of cars behind you, when you pass the spot, the guy behind you can just drive into it. Or, it could also be that the guy will be so close to you (since you know, being 10cm from the car in front means you will arrive to your destination a fraction of a second faster) that you won't be able to reverse without hitting him (and he, of course has no way to go because the guy behind him is just as close). So, almost full parking lot - front park. A bit emptier parking lot - reverse park.
I'm 24 and grew up without a car seat in a Soviet car in Eastern Europe. I also started riding "shotgun" much earlier than it was allowed by law (IIRC you had to be 12 to be in the front seat) because being in the back seat would make me throw up. On the other hand I learned from early age to use seatbelts (you didn't have to do it in the back seat), to the point that riding in a car without the seatbelt just feels "wrong".
6 Gbit/s for scalable performance
I don't really think there are SATA (not SAS) hard drives that can saturate SATA2, so not really a big deal.
Continued compatibility with SAS, including SAS 6 Gbit/s.
Since you can only connect a SATA drive to a SAS controller (not SAS drive to SATA controller), not a big deal if you are using a SATA controller.
Isochronous Native Command Queuing (NCQ) streaming command to enable isochronous quality of service data transfers for streaming digital content applications.
Kinda neat, though I don't know how useful in real life.
Improved power management capabilities.
Does not really matter for desktops - a hard drive does not use a lot of power compared to the rest of the PC.
A small low insertion force (LIF) connector for more compact 1.8-inch storage devices.
Does not matter for 3.5" desktop drives.
A connector designed to accommodate 7 mm optical disk drives for thinner and lighter notebooks.
Does not matter for desktops.
Alignment with the INCITS ATA8-ACS standard.
Whatever.
So, SATA3 is not really useful, or rather, it is not something that is worth replacing the motherboard if you have a motherboard with SATA2 and do not plan to use SSDs.
What if the cables for the left side brakes and the right side brakes are in backwards?
That's why the more complicated system is, the more ways it has for failure. No one would care if the hydraulic lines on my car were reversed (as long as they are intact), since the brake force is applied evenly.
Bad input/sensors is one possibility, but we can't discount software bugs even with good input. From what I understand (not a lot), airplane autopilots are easier than car ones (controlling the plane itself is harder, but you don't have to fly with other planes a 10 meters away from you), maybe this is why airplane autopilots are available for quite some time, while self-driving cars are still not on the market. So, more complex software == more places for bugs.
Also, giving control back to the pilot works in an airplane, but probably won't work in a car. If the car is self-driving, then the human operator will expect it to handle all situations, so he will relax (and his reaction times will be really long) or ever start reading a book/etc, since the car is, well, self-driving. A regular car forces me to be attentive all the time, since I am in control all the time, but if I was in a self driving car and a 2 hours into the journey the car say "you have the wheel", I probably won't be able to react as fast as I would be able if I was driving the car for those 2 hours.
Yes because the majority of car on the road now are electric and have LED lights.
The requirement to carry a first aid kit, fire extinguisher and warning triangle is quite old in my country. A few years ago they added the vest requirement. There is no requirement to have spare bulbs, but I have them anyway. After all, the bulb will most likely burn out just when I need to drive at night.
Also, if I had an electric car I would probably buy an extinguisher that can put the fire out, instead of the standard one that is only suitable for cars with internal combustion engines. I have an old gasoline/LPG car instead, so I carry the standard extinguisher.
In my country if they catch you driving without a license, you might have to pay up to 430EUR fine (minimal salary is ~230EUR/month, so 430 is a lot). This is if you never had a license. If you had one, but it was revoked then the fine is up to 720EUR. In both cases you may be arrested.
I don't really think that driving without a license is that common that cars should have a device to check the presence of the ID. If you get your license revoked you probably won't drive anyway because it can result in a big fine.
Well, you probably will read the traffic laws since they might be different from the ones in your country. Also, if you hire a car, it will most likely have the breathalyzer (as well as fire extinguisher, medkit and all the other items required by law).