The simplest answer just has to do with Human nature. Except in extreme cases, most people are proud of the country they were born in and will tolerate a lot from it. The cliche "home is where the heart is" sums it up pretty well - and for some people anywhere else just isn't home.
So what if we hear US-bashing from residents of other countries? That hopefully makes you feel equally as ill as when Americans bash immigrants. It all comes down to people having a lack of tolerance for other people, cultures and countries who aren't like themselves. No country has a monopoly on that problem.
I'm a native of California and the Bay Area, which seems to put me in the tiniest of minorities here in Silicon Valley, where most people are at least from out of state.;-) But my parents are naturalized US citizens (from Western Europe and South America) so having relatives overseas has helped provide exposure to and tolerance for different cultures than my own.
So, my suggestions... In cases of simple Slashdot comments, you can just ignore the bashing whichever direction it goes - it's going to happen and this forum allows them to state their opinions. But if you hear it in person, give 'em some peer pressure, "You ought to get out more often. Meet some people who aren't just like you." Hopefully they might learn something from the experience.
If they can't find people different from themselves in their home town, they surely can find them on the Internet. No excuses any more...
Open Source software and the Internet (which are dependent upon each other) make self-training like this possible. I think this is one way that Linux acts as an equalizer, making involvement in bigger projects available to younger people all the time.
Ten years ago, you'd have needed to be in a university to get the resources to tinker with that kind of project. Now it's in high school science projects. That's got to be progress...
I think this story is a fine example of what a benefit Open Source can be for Computer Science education.
I was also one of the 40-50 who attended. When I went this morning, I knew that one purpose of attending was just to let the DVD CCA know what they were getting themselves into.
When we discussed this at lunch, I realized there was more. For Andy Bunner, the one defendant who was able to attend on such short notice, we were a morale boost he really needed. And he was thanking people at lunch just for showing up.
Looking forward to the January 14 hearing on the permanent injunction, I think our support has strengthened EFF's credibility.
But did we have an effect on the judge's decision? In an ideal world, one would hope a judge should be 110% impartial to such influences. And Judge Elfving may have been that impartial. But if it's possible that we contributed in any way, then our presence added some power to EFF's well-researched presentation. After all, as several people there pointed out, there isn't usually much attendance for a hearing on a temporary restraining order!
So let's make sure to be there again on January 14 at 1:30PM.
Well, that's not all the news. I posted another article up a little higher on the list. I didn't put much in this one to avoid being redundant.
I don't know if there is a result yet. I had to return to the office after we broke for lunch. Things seemed upbeat for our side at lunch. EFF is getting credit for turning things in our favor so far.
Rest assured, someone will post it after the judge makes his decision on the temporary restraining order.
Hard copy of the DeCSS was printed and handed out to all present outside the courtroom before the hearing, including to one of the plaintiff's attorneys. The plaintiff attorney who got it had a big grin on his face when he realized what it was. It was hard to stop from laughing when they submitted their copy into evidence and then asked the court to have the "trade secret" sealed.:-)
The judge understood EFF's objections on ground that it's already all over the Net but agreed to have it sealed at least temporarily. Some people in the gallery thought that showed favoritism but I think it was the only decision he could make that wouldn't immediately result in an appeal by the DVD CCA. Judges try to be cautious about "reversible" decisions.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is putting together a legal team to defend the people named on the DVD CCA's proposed restraining order. Only one defendant was able to make it there on such short notice, Andy Bunner. EFF's lawyers represented him and made a good effort to look out for the interests of the other defendants too.
I was at the hearing this morning but I had to return to the office. It's possible that the judge may have issued his decision on the TRO by now but I'll hear the results online like the rest of you. The EFF made a much stronger-sounding case as far as I could tell - citing precedents and pointing out that it's an issue of reverse engineering and freedom of speech, not a trade secret case. (Of course, DVD CCA says it's entirely a trade secret issue and nothing else.) EFF also pointed out how the DVD CCA's claims were *all* hearsay with no first-person confirmations, which was not challenged (nor conceded) by DVD CCA.
At least on those grounds alone, I think there was not a sufficient case made for a temporary restraining order. But it's hard to know how a judge is going to think. People were sounding pretty upbeat when we went to lunch. Andy Bunner thanked the people who showed up for their support.
Reporters were present from EE Times, Wired, KCBS Radio (SF) and probably others. About 40 geeks were present, many/most of whom undoubtedly wouldn't even be up at 8AM much less arriving in downtown SJ if it weren't this important.
I confirmed 200@30. Got nothing from E*Trade. My boss and his wife each confirmed 200@30 and got nothing from them either. We're still waiting to hear from a co-worker.
This is interesting - I've been withholding judgement on E*Trade since I knew this is under heavy demand and even random picks would be slim. But if we keep hearing that nobody got anything from them, it begins to cast doubts even among those of us who gave them the benefit of the doubt.
> And now the real question. Is your insurance policy...
You're obviously well-meaning but a question like that is probably too personal and none of our business to be asking of our Slashdot hosts at a time like this. I can only imagine what a hassle it must be for Jeff... and I hope I never have to go through something like that. Let's stick to wishing him well but not trying to pry too deep, OK?
The Experimental Rocket Propulsion Society (ERPS) of Silicon Valley has been planning some similar distributed environments for flight simulations of its amateur rocket designs ever since it was announced that SETI@Home didn't have enough work for all the cycles offered to them. We expect a much smaller audience of people who will volunteer to help us but it should still be better than entirely running them on our own machines.
I think that regardless of the stature (and price) of the college or university you attend, you can make a big difference in your knowledge the subject by your own personal projects while at school. Be a geek - do technical stuff just to learn from it, and you don't have to wait for college to start on that. So pick as good a Computer Science school as you can afford and plan to continue to pursue programming as a hobby anyway while at school. That way you'll make yourself stand out from the crowd when you interview for entry-level software engineering jobs.
As a rule of thumb to start with, universities which have their Computer Science program under the same school or department as Engineering are preferable over ones which associate it with their Math department.
Make sure the Computer Science program you attend has a curriculum with sufficiently difficult classes in
several programming languages
algorithms and data structures
operating systems
advanced classes in your choice of several areas of empahsis:
systems design
databases
mathematics
business
Why look for difficult classes? Because employers generally find out how tough the curriculum of a given school is from performance of previous grads. They go back again to recruit at schools they got good people from. Though you can't predict how the hiring scenario will be the year you'll graduate, this stacks the deck in your favor. (So long as the Internet continues to fuel the economy, I think you'll find smooth sailing in the job market.)
I got my BSCS (1988) and MSCS (1991) at California State University, Chico. As a northern California native who does not come from a wealthy background, I had to focus on state schools in my search for a college to go to.
Fortunately, you can get a good education from a state university. But you have to check how well-funded the Computer Science program is and the quality of its curriculum. At least for the 23-campus CSU system, one university can be world class in a few majors and mediocre in everything else at the campus. California's UC system is better funded (and therefore better at more subjects per campus) but more expensive. What you want to know is whether they're good in Computer Science. Depending on where you live, some of these comparisons will hopefully be helpful in what to look for.
I was lucky that the nearest CSU campus (CSU Chico) to where I went to high school had a good curriculum and reputation in Computer Science, not to mention that their MSCS program is available via satellite across North America. And I run into CSU Chico grads all over the industry now.
One hint that VA probably paid attention to the RHAT IPO problems was that VA did not use E*Trade as an underwriter for their IPO. Not to come down too hard on E*Trade, RHAT's IPO was the first time anyone had tried such a thing. But this looks like an explicit show of disapproval with E*Trade's performance.
I think a bigger hint that VA wants to improve on the RHAT IPO experience was comments by VA employees and managers at SVLUG meetings. They said they wanted to do better and asked for suggestions back in August. Undoubtedly, they will have learned from some problems and they'll encounter new ones in whatever different approach they take. So it should be interesting to watch.
The stock ticker symbol is a first-come first-served namespace similar to domain names. AT&T's ticker symbol is "T", which stands for "telephone", and is a bigger example of a company which has done the same thing.
Prior to the announcement I would also have guessed VA-something as a more intuitive symbole for VA Linux Systems. Now it's obvious they want the symbol to convey an association with Linux. They could also have been trying to avoid confusion with another company that has the ticker symbol VAL. But since the LNUX symbol wasn't already taken, they can do that.
> It's just that GPS would be far easier, cheaper, and more accurate.
Not true. Until this past May, it was believed by professional rocket scientists that a rocket has too much acceleration to re-acquire GPS satellites while in flight. At least that's what they were saying in public.
It was amateur rocket experimenters (from JP Aerospace of Sacramento, California) who proved that GPS in-flight re-acquisition could be done, during a high-altitude test launch at the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada on May 23, 1999. They were attempting to get the first amateur rocket to an altitude considered space, 50 miles or 264,000 feet. Though that wasn't achieved, they did make these accomplishments:
the first-ever FAA Space Launch Permit for an amateur rocket
a new amateur rocketry altitude record
proved that GPS can be used for navigation by a rocket
I was there to help with the launch and recovery operation. I'm not officially a member of the JPA organization but was there representing another amateur rocketry organization. We usually encourage each other to push the envelope.
See also CNN's coverage of the JPA launch, though they didn't mention the GPS accomplishment because it's probably too obscure a fact for their audience.
A correction for the background info for this Slashdot article... the statement in the intro is incorrect when it says the Space Frontier Foundation is "mostly aerospace companies".
I haven't attended any SFF conferences (such as the one wrapping up today in Los Angeles) but from what I hear from people who have, the organization is mostly individuals, who may be space activists, aerospace engineers, entrepreneurs, amaeteur rocketry enthusiasts (including competitors for SFF's CATS Prize), and just about anyone else who wants to push beyond today's status quo. Of aerospace companies represented, startups trying to develop new ideas seem to be much bigger SFF participants than the big military-industrial-complex companies.
Most of my contact with people who participate with SFF is from my participation in an amateur rocketry project which is competing for SFF's CATS Prize.
To me it seems both a surprise and a good sign that NASA's Goldin even agreed to speak at the SFF conference.
Actually, Paramount's Great America theme park in Santa Clara, California is the real center of the Internet (tm).:-) It's located right smack in the middle between the Cisco, 3com and Bay/Nortel.
Or, alternatively, for those looking for a real "capitol", the PacBell NAP (part of MAE West) is coincidentally on the same plot of land in downtown San Jose where the first capitol of California was 150 years ago. (Next time you're in SJ, look for the ring of palm trees around the historical marker between the Fairmont Hotel and Fairmont Office complex.)
Anyway, with the distributed nature of the Net, it's inevitable that lots of places will try to make their own criteria where they're the most important place on the Net. They're welcome to do so because, in their hype process, they'll buy more communications gear from Silicon Valley companies. (And that's good for my stock options.:-)
I personally think that the proportion of net.geeks in the population is the criteria that most people miss when they try to claim they've imitated Silicon Valley. It's taken all of this century to build up Silicon Valley to what it is. The technoculture here is just plain different.
> "are the packet and voice repeaters still up [...]?"
No, they powered down all but the most critical systems before they left Mir.
Their plans are to send another crew up later to prepare to de-orbit the station. Actually, they still hold out hope of finding funding to resume operation of the station. But they've got to do that before the next time the computer crashes, since no one's on board to reset it now. Otherwise, there won't be attitude control needed to dock with it, and won't be any way to pick where it burns up and impacts the Earth.
Take a look at the Phase 3D amateur radio satellite, which AMSAT is preparing for launch. The on-board experiment from Hams at AMSAT Japan is a camera and Ham Radio video transmitter. It wouldn't be that tough for Hams around the world to arrange to auto-post snapshots on a web site when P3D is in the sky above them.
Though P3D may be new to many Slashdot readers, Amateur Radio ("Ham Radio") operators around the world have been working on it for years. AMSAT reports that the satellite just passed the vibration and spin tests and the next step is to get it to the launch site, where it will fly as a secondary payload on a rocket with a commercial satellite to launch. It's something like the 33rd Amateur Radio satellite (not counting the Ham Radio stations on Mir and the Space Shuttles.) The launch date has not been announced yet - should be late thie year or early next year.
Once P3D is up, all you need is a Ham Radio license and you can transmit to talk to people on it. Even the entry level licenses with no Morse Code requirements will do. For info on getting a US Amateur Radio license, check out the American Radio Relay League or an Amateur Radio club in your area.
Re: Yes, you can fly an aircraft without GPS!
on
GPS Rollover Tonight
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· Score: 1
Navigation of an aircraft can use any of a number of methods. If the GPS on board an aircraft goes out for the EoW rollover, these other methods are still available to the pilot, who will continue to fly the plane without GPS...
Follow landmarks on an aviation map. (Ever heard the saying "I follow roads?" That's not what IFR stands for.:-)
Fly a compass heading with a wind correction angle.
Tune in a "non-directional beacon" (NDB) radio transmitter and use direction-finding equipment in the aircraft to measure the relative direction from the plane to it. (It's old but it still works.) These transmitters are on the maps.
Tune in a "VHF Omnidirectional Range" (VOR) radio transmitter and use a VOR receiver in the plane to measure the compass direction from the station to the plane. (Almost every US aircraft has at least one VOR receiver.) These transmitters are on the maps too.
Receive signals from LORAN ("Long Range navigation") transmitters. This is as good as GPS when the upper-atmospheric conditions are good to bounce the signals long distances to you. (It propagates like a shortwave or HF Ham Radio.)
Ask for vectors (headings to fly from your current position) from air traffic control.
In other words... If the GPS fails, the pilot will keep flying the plane just like before there was GPS (which wasn't that long ago.) At the very worst, someone somewhere might get lost and land at the nearest/wrong airport.
If you want to know more about this, stop by your nearest General Aviation airport and ask a flight instructor. Depending on the airport, they can probably arrange to take you on an inexpensive introductory flight or flying lesson, just so you can see what it's like to fly an airplane. Some people get hooked after one time taking the controls...
Stocks themselves are mostly unpredictable, especially in the short term. And IPOs are much more so. Anyone who says what they think it will do, still doesn't know.
In general, it's a hyped-up IPO so most hunches seem to be that it'll go up a lot just after it opens and then it's anyone's guess from there. But if you throw money into a volatile investment like an IPO, be prepared that it might not do well, just in case. Don't do IPOs if you can't consider and plan for that possibility.
Of course, we all wish them the best. After all, it's the first Linux-based IPO.
Robert Hart has been the manager of Red Hat's office in Mountain View (CA) for a few months. He's been to a few SVLUG meetings before and since, but it's obviously easier for him now that he lives in the area.
He was also one of the panelists on SVLUG's July 14, 1998 "Future of Linux" panel at the Santa Clara Convention Center. (Hard to believe it's already been a year!)
That would be a great view. But they'd go the other direction.:-)
Most orbital launches are eastbound because you get up to 1000mph for free just from the Earth's rotation. You'd only go a different direction if you need to put a satellite in a specific orbit (i.e. often so it can observe higher latitudes than the launch point is located at.)
Schedule delays can be expected
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NASA's X-37
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· Score: 1
In most previous X-planes, they've been testing primarily one new technology per plane. The X-33 selection process was muddied by politics and now they're re-learning why they used to do that. They bit off more technology than they can easily chew... aerospike engine, large internal fuel tanks, large-scale lifting body, and tests applicable toward a future single-stage to orbit reuasable launcher. None of these things have been done before.
Expect delays. Unless NASA cuts off the funding, don't lose hope that they'll get X-33 off the ground eventually and learn something from it. But also don't forget there are other reusable launcher developments in the industry...
Besides the observation that VA wouldn't want to buy a slower-moving company, VA just moved out of the Shoreline @ 101 neighborhood near SGI, where Microsoft is building their new campus. So there goes the neighborhood...:-)
VA moved to a 4x larger building in Sunnyvale which was being vacated by Boca Research. It's next to the Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space site, where there will obviously be lots more big buildings to occupy as Lockheed shrinks.;-)
Yahoo "got it right" because they just took it verbatim from PRNewswire's copy of VA's press release.:-)
VA Research changed its name to VA Linux Systems at the same time as their acquisition of Linux Hardware Solutions. Go back in the press releases - you'll find it there.
The article mentioned statistics from the US Census Bureau. In that case, I'm guessing they break it up the same way... "San Francisco" on their list would mean San Francisco and San Mateo Counties (the Peninsula); "San Jose" means Santa Clara County (South Bay, Silicon Valley); and "Oakland" means Alameda County (East Bay). Those seem to match their 1.5 million population numbers for SF and SJ.
At first when I saw SF was #1, I thought, "Groan. They must have lumped San Jose in as part of San Francisco again." (It's mildly annoying considering San Jose is the bigger city but far and away lesser known of the two. People outside the area seem to always call the whole Bay Area "San Francisco", even though SF is really just the 6x8-mile city at the tip of the peninsula.) But I see they did separate them after all - their criteria was weighted in favor of the (rather nebulous) hosts per capita figure. I can believe that SF's financial district and the peninsula cities could dominate that. So at least they had an explanation for how their numbers turned out that way. San Jose was highest in the categories you'd expect for Silicon Valley... users accessing the Net from work and.com domains per thousand licensed businesses.
Slashdot Mirror
So what if we hear US-bashing from residents of other countries? That hopefully makes you feel equally as ill as when Americans bash immigrants. It all comes down to people having a lack of tolerance for other people, cultures and countries who aren't like themselves. No country has a monopoly on that problem.
I'm a native of California and the Bay Area, which seems to put me in the tiniest of minorities here in Silicon Valley, where most people are at least from out of state. ;-) But my parents are naturalized US citizens (from Western Europe and South America) so having relatives overseas has helped provide exposure to and tolerance for different cultures than my own.
So, my suggestions... In cases of simple Slashdot comments, you can just ignore the bashing whichever direction it goes - it's going to happen and this forum allows them to state their opinions. But if you hear it in person, give 'em some peer pressure, "You ought to get out more often. Meet some people who aren't just like you." Hopefully they might learn something from the experience.
If they can't find people different from themselves in their home town, they surely can find them on the Internet. No excuses any more...
Ten years ago, you'd have needed to be in a university to get the resources to tinker with that kind of project. Now it's in high school science projects. That's got to be progress...
I think this story is a fine example of what a benefit Open Source can be for Computer Science education.
When we discussed this at lunch, I realized there was more. For Andy Bunner, the one defendant who was able to attend on such short notice, we were a morale boost he really needed. And he was thanking people at lunch just for showing up.
Looking forward to the January 14 hearing on the permanent injunction, I think our support has strengthened EFF's credibility.
But did we have an effect on the judge's decision? In an ideal world, one would hope a judge should be 110% impartial to such influences. And Judge Elfving may have been that impartial. But if it's possible that we contributed in any way, then our presence added some power to EFF's well-researched presentation. After all, as several people there pointed out, there isn't usually much attendance for a hearing on a temporary restraining order!
So let's make sure to be there again on January 14 at 1:30PM.
I don't know if there is a result yet. I had to return to the office after we broke for lunch. Things seemed upbeat for our side at lunch. EFF is getting credit for turning things in our favor so far.
Rest assured, someone will post it after the judge makes his decision on the temporary restraining order.
The judge understood EFF's objections on ground that it's already all over the Net but agreed to have it sealed at least temporarily. Some people in the gallery thought that showed favoritism but I think it was the only decision he could make that wouldn't immediately result in an appeal by the DVD CCA. Judges try to be cautious about "reversible" decisions.
I was at the hearing this morning but I had to return to the office. It's possible that the judge may have issued his decision on the TRO by now but I'll hear the results online like the rest of you. The EFF made a much stronger-sounding case as far as I could tell - citing precedents and pointing out that it's an issue of reverse engineering and freedom of speech, not a trade secret case. (Of course, DVD CCA says it's entirely a trade secret issue and nothing else.) EFF also pointed out how the DVD CCA's claims were *all* hearsay with no first-person confirmations, which was not challenged (nor conceded) by DVD CCA.
At least on those grounds alone, I think there was not a sufficient case made for a temporary restraining order. But it's hard to know how a judge is going to think. People were sounding pretty upbeat when we went to lunch. Andy Bunner thanked the people who showed up for their support.
Reporters were present from EE Times, Wired, KCBS Radio (SF) and probably others. About 40 geeks were present, many/most of whom undoubtedly wouldn't even be up at 8AM much less arriving in downtown SJ if it weren't this important.
This is interesting - I've been withholding judgement on E*Trade since I knew this is under heavy demand and even random picks would be slim. But if we keep hearing that nobody got anything from them, it begins to cast doubts even among those of us who gave them the benefit of the doubt.
You're obviously well-meaning but a question like that is probably too personal and none of our business to be asking of our Slashdot hosts at a time like this. I can only imagine what a hassle it must be for Jeff... and I hope I never have to go through something like that. Let's stick to wishing him well but not trying to pry too deep, OK?
As a rule of thumb to start with, universities which have their Computer Science program under the same school or department as Engineering are preferable over ones which associate it with their Math department.
Make sure the Computer Science program you attend has a curriculum with sufficiently difficult classes in
- several programming languages
- algorithms and data structures
- operating systems
- advanced classes in your choice of several areas of empahsis:
- systems design
- databases
- mathematics
- business
Why look for difficult classes? Because employers generally find out how tough the curriculum of a given school is from performance of previous grads. They go back again to recruit at schools they got good people from. Though you can't predict how the hiring scenario will be the year you'll graduate, this stacks the deck in your favor. (So long as the Internet continues to fuel the economy, I think you'll find smooth sailing in the job market.)I got my BSCS (1988) and MSCS (1991) at California State University, Chico. As a northern California native who does not come from a wealthy background, I had to focus on state schools in my search for a college to go to.
Fortunately, you can get a good education from a state university. But you have to check how well-funded the Computer Science program is and the quality of its curriculum. At least for the 23-campus CSU system, one university can be world class in a few majors and mediocre in everything else at the campus. California's UC system is better funded (and therefore better at more subjects per campus) but more expensive. What you want to know is whether they're good in Computer Science. Depending on where you live, some of these comparisons will hopefully be helpful in what to look for.
I was lucky that the nearest CSU campus (CSU Chico) to where I went to high school had a good curriculum and reputation in Computer Science, not to mention that their MSCS program is available via satellite across North America. And I run into CSU Chico grads all over the industry now.
I think a bigger hint that VA wants to improve on the RHAT IPO experience was comments by VA employees and managers at SVLUG meetings. They said they wanted to do better and asked for suggestions back in August. Undoubtedly, they will have learned from some problems and they'll encounter new ones in whatever different approach they take. So it should be interesting to watch.
Prior to the announcement I would also have guessed VA-something as a more intuitive symbole for VA Linux Systems. Now it's obvious they want the symbol to convey an association with Linux. They could also have been trying to avoid confusion with another company that has the ticker symbol VAL. But since the LNUX symbol wasn't already taken, they can do that.
Not true. Until this past May, it was believed by professional rocket scientists that a rocket has too much acceleration to re-acquire GPS satellites while in flight. At least that's what they were saying in public.
It was amateur rocket experimenters (from JP Aerospace of Sacramento, California) who proved that GPS in-flight re-acquisition could be done, during a high-altitude test launch at the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada on May 23, 1999. They were attempting to get the first amateur rocket to an altitude considered space, 50 miles or 264,000 feet. Though that wasn't achieved, they did make these accomplishments:
I was there to help with the launch and recovery operation. I'm not officially a member of the JPA organization but was there representing another amateur rocketry organization. We usually encourage each other to push the envelope.
See also CNN's coverage of the JPA launch, though they didn't mention the GPS accomplishment because it's probably too obscure a fact for their audience.
I haven't attended any SFF conferences (such as the one wrapping up today in Los Angeles) but from what I hear from people who have, the organization is mostly individuals, who may be space activists, aerospace engineers, entrepreneurs, amaeteur rocketry enthusiasts (including competitors for SFF's CATS Prize), and just about anyone else who wants to push beyond today's status quo. Of aerospace companies represented, startups trying to develop new ideas seem to be much bigger SFF participants than the big military-industrial-complex companies.
Most of my contact with people who participate with SFF is from my participation in an amateur rocketry project which is competing for SFF's CATS Prize.
To me it seems both a surprise and a good sign that NASA's Goldin even agreed to speak at the SFF conference.
Or, alternatively, for those looking for a real "capitol", the PacBell NAP (part of MAE West) is coincidentally on the same plot of land in downtown San Jose where the first capitol of California was 150 years ago. (Next time you're in SJ, look for the ring of palm trees around the historical marker between the Fairmont Hotel and Fairmont Office complex.)
Anyway, with the distributed nature of the Net, it's inevitable that lots of places will try to make their own criteria where they're the most important place on the Net. They're welcome to do so because, in their hype process, they'll buy more communications gear from Silicon Valley companies. (And that's good for my stock options. :-)
I personally think that the proportion of net.geeks in the population is the criteria that most people miss when they try to claim they've imitated Silicon Valley. It's taken all of this century to build up Silicon Valley to what it is. The technoculture here is just plain different.
No, they powered down all but the most critical systems before they left Mir.
Their plans are to send another crew up later to prepare to de-orbit the station. Actually, they still hold out hope of finding funding to resume operation of the station. But they've got to do that before the next time the computer crashes, since no one's on board to reset it now. Otherwise, there won't be attitude control needed to dock with it, and won't be any way to pick where it burns up and impacts the Earth.
Though P3D may be new to many Slashdot readers, Amateur Radio ("Ham Radio") operators around the world have been working on it for years. AMSAT reports that the satellite just passed the vibration and spin tests and the next step is to get it to the launch site, where it will fly as a secondary payload on a rocket with a commercial satellite to launch. It's something like the 33rd Amateur Radio satellite (not counting the Ham Radio stations on Mir and the Space Shuttles.) The launch date has not been announced yet - should be late thie year or early next year.
Once P3D is up, all you need is a Ham Radio license and you can transmit to talk to people on it. Even the entry level licenses with no Morse Code requirements will do. For info on getting a US Amateur Radio license, check out the American Radio Relay League or an Amateur Radio club in your area.
- Follow landmarks on an aviation map. (Ever heard the saying "I follow roads?" That's not what IFR stands for.
:-) - Fly a compass heading with a wind correction angle.
- Tune in a "non-directional beacon" (NDB) radio transmitter and use direction-finding equipment in the aircraft to measure the relative direction from the plane to it. (It's old but it still works.) These transmitters are on the maps.
- Tune in a "VHF Omnidirectional Range" (VOR) radio transmitter and use a VOR receiver in the plane to measure the compass direction from the station to the plane. (Almost every US aircraft has at least one VOR receiver.) These transmitters are on the maps too.
- Receive signals from LORAN ("Long Range navigation") transmitters. This is as good as GPS when the upper-atmospheric conditions are good to bounce the signals long distances to you. (It propagates like a shortwave or HF Ham Radio.)
- Ask for vectors (headings to fly from your current position) from air traffic control.
In other words... If the GPS fails, the pilot will keep flying the plane just like before there was GPS (which wasn't that long ago.) At the very worst, someone somewhere might get lost and land at the nearest/wrong airport.If you want to know more about this, stop by your nearest General Aviation airport and ask a flight instructor. Depending on the airport, they can probably arrange to take you on an inexpensive introductory flight or flying lesson, just so you can see what it's like to fly an airplane. Some people get hooked after one time taking the controls...
(Yes, I'm a Private Pilot.)
In general, it's a hyped-up IPO so most hunches seem to be that it'll go up a lot just after it opens and then it's anyone's guess from there. But if you throw money into a volatile investment like an IPO, be prepared that it might not do well, just in case. Don't do IPOs if you can't consider and plan for that possibility.
Of course, we all wish them the best. After all, it's the first Linux-based IPO.
He was also one of the panelists on SVLUG's July 14, 1998 "Future of Linux" panel at the Santa Clara Convention Center. (Hard to believe it's already been a year!)
Most orbital launches are eastbound because you get up to 1000mph for free just from the Earth's rotation. You'd only go a different direction if you need to put a satellite in a specific orbit (i.e. often so it can observe higher latitudes than the launch point is located at.)
Expect delays. Unless NASA cuts off the funding, don't lose hope that they'll get X-33 off the ground eventually and learn something from it. But also don't forget there are other reusable launcher developments in the industry...
- Rotary Rocket Company
- Kelly Space & Technology
- Kistler Aerospace
- Pioneer Rocketplane
And even a few ambitious projects by amateurs (non-government, funded out-of-pocket)...VA moved to a 4x larger building in Sunnyvale which was being vacated by Boca Research. It's next to the Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space site, where there will obviously be lots more big buildings to occupy as Lockheed shrinks. ;-)
VA Research changed its name to VA Linux Systems at the same time as their acquisition of Linux Hardware Solutions. Go back in the press releases - you'll find it there.
At first when I saw SF was #1, I thought, "Groan. They must have lumped San Jose in as part of San Francisco again." (It's mildly annoying considering San Jose is the bigger city but far and away lesser known of the two. People outside the area seem to always call the whole Bay Area "San Francisco", even though SF is really just the 6x8-mile city at the tip of the peninsula.) But I see they did separate them after all - their criteria was weighted in favor of the (rather nebulous) hosts per capita figure. I can believe that SF's financial district and the peninsula cities could dominate that. So at least they had an explanation for how their numbers turned out that way. San Jose was highest in the categories you'd expect for Silicon Valley... users accessing the Net from work and .com domains per thousand licensed businesses.
FYI... for more info, here are the pages for San Jose, San Francisco and the Assoc of Bay Area Governments (ABAG).