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User: Chagrin

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  1. Re:Been There, Done That on Telemetry Made Simple: Rocket Phone Home · · Score: 1
    How do you get the readouts on airspeed/altitude/etc. to send to the phone? You stick a GPS in there too?

    That's gotta be like a 1 pound payload. Something tells me that "amateur" is a bit of a misnomer :)

  2. Re:It has to be said... on Mac G3 + Shop Vac = Shop Mac · · Score: 5

    You must be living in a vacuum to think something like that. Macs like these clean house.

  3. Re:But the cynic says... on Slashback: Franklin, Head-Mounting, Timing · · Score: 1
    From http://www.nara.gov/education/cc/whitney.html:
    • But patenting an invention and making a profit from it are two different things. After considering possible options, Whitney and his business partner, Phineas Miller, opted to produce as many gins as possible, install them throughout Georgia and the South, and charge farmers a fee for doing the ginning for them. Their charge was two-fifths of the profit -- paid to them in cotton itself.
    Whereas you claim Franklin tried to appear "noble", it seems that Whitney did his best to appear "ignoble": Whitney's price for the use of his invention is a little more than excessive, wouldn't you think?

    You need a better apples-to-apples comparison before you try to defame Franklin for his choices in not patenting his stove. Whitney did lose his rights to his patent due to problems with patent law at that time; perhaps if he had been a bit more gracious in his marketing of the invention he would have fared better!

  4. Re:Who cares? Artist conception a new thing? on XBox Screenshot Flim-Flammery? · · Score: 1

    Where's the apology?

  5. I don't understand what makes you nervous on Why Are SSL Certificates So Expensive? · · Score: 1
    • Except as expressly stated in an agreement between you and Verisign, all content, services, products and software provided on this web site are provided "as is" without warranty of any kind
    What? Me worry?
  6. Re:Rails on Hydrogen Powered Cars · · Score: 1

    I would think that fusing the rail would be a lot cheaper than using two 20 pound cast iron plates and the associated bolts. There must be a better reason as to why fused rails aren't used.

  7. Re:Hindenberg on Hydrogen Powered Cars · · Score: 1
    • They weld railroad tracks by putting a thermite crucible above the join and letting the resulting molten iron pour down into a form wrapped around the rail. It melts the ends of the rail and fuses the whole thing into a single piece
    I live near many different railroad lines and have never seen this done (or a fused rail). All the lines I've seen use large metal bars on each side bolted into the rail. Does make you think that a thermite weld would be a helluva lot cheaper though.
  8. Re:Hydrogen is Safe on Hydrogen Powered Cars · · Score: 1

    And here I was hoping for interesting newscasts whenever a car accident occurred :(

  9. Re:This sucks! I've had it! on The RIAA Doesn't Like Paying Lyricists · · Score: 1
    • I can't even begin to count how many indie bands have benefited from my cash because I heard them on Napster. Why can't the RIAA see it the same way?
    Actually, I think the do see it the same way.
  10. Re:goddard in astro pic of the day on 75 Years Ago, Goddard Launchs Space Age · · Score: 1

    Interesting that the rockets he is so famously pictured next to were complete flops. For example, his first liquid-fueled rocket flew 40 feet high, but also 184 feet to the side. A propane tank thrown into a fire could probably go farther (and with just as much direction and stability!)

  11. Re:Looks like a system ready for abuse on Fiddler on the RUF · · Score: 1

    Yes, I still have faith in the human race :). I'm just stating that damage to the rails is quite possible and the design should reflect that steps were taken to prevent that. I'm not convinced it has.

  12. Re:Damn, now that's a nice one! on Do it Yourself 1U Half-Width Server · · Score: 1

    Yeah, but space is already too limited to throw in another ISA card. Putting the serial console into the BIOS is really the way things should be done.

  13. Re:Rack mount power supplies on Do it Yourself 1U Half-Width Server · · Score: 1

    I thought about that sort of thing too -- it'd be a lot nicer to mount a seperate power supply box and then feed those cables. You'd also be able to introduce a lot of benefit in the form of redundant power supply / multiple outlets, etc.

  14. Looks like a system ready for abuse on Fiddler on the RUF · · Score: 1

    When you look at this picture, imagine what would happen if users were lax in replacing their break pads.

  15. Re:Write, not email, your Congressman on UCITA Fight Comes to Texas · · Score: 1
    I've previously sent e-mail to two senators and a representative in my state (Iowa) regarding the DMCA and had fair success:
    • Senator Charles Grassley (R) sent a two-page snail-mail directly responding to my specific complaints.
    • Senator Tom Harkin (D) sent an e-mail reply stating that the DMCA had to be passed in order to comply with the WTO and ignored my specific complaints.
    • Representative Jim Nussle sent a snail mail demonstrating his complete lack of understanding of the DMCA and the consequences of his actions
    Basically, DO SOMETHING; the results are not that bad!
  16. Re:Contrary viewpoint on UCITA Fight Comes to Texas · · Score: 1
    The problem comes when the "legal obligations" become so prevalent that you really have no choice but to put up with them. You can't dismiss it with a simple "don't take it": that's like suggesting that if you don't like CSS or the DMCA, never buy a DVD. You just wind up "putting up with it".

    I don't want to put up with it.

  17. Those PR440FX motherboards they used... on Booting Linux In Three Seconds · · Score: 1
    The ironic part of that writeup was that they used a large chunk of the BIOS memory previously used for an on-screen graphic for the code for their BIOS. Tends to show you how these BIOS-writers prioritize things - so good to hear that open source will help improve the BIOS situation.

    I actually purchased two (one went bad) of the PR440FX motherboards like the ones they used. The strange thing is, my BIOS version on bootup is 1.00.01.DI0.T*. It was an auctioned factory pull from a Gateway 2000 computer. Wouldn't I feel like a sucker buying from directly from them?

    * Intel docs that support this claim

  18. Re:Where do you get that much helium from? on NASA Launches Largest Single-Cell Balloon · · Score: 1
    I'm fully aware that there's no chemical reaction. I didn't know if it was extracted from the air or what.

    Excuuuuuuse meeeeee.

  19. Re:Where do you get that much helium from? on NASA Launches Largest Single-Cell Balloon · · Score: 1

    I remember a rumor that there was a huge helium storage facility in Texas ("just in case" zeppelins become important war machines) - some kind of pork barrel politics. That still true?

  20. Where do you get that much helium from? on NASA Launches Largest Single-Cell Balloon · · Score: 1

    I just gotta wonder where you get that much helium from. With that much helium needed, they must've needed to create an entire facility just to produce it. Imagine the power requirements to do something like that!

  21. Yup you're right. on Fibre Channel For The Masses · · Score: 1

    Nothing like free advertising now, is there?

  22. Should we block Bess? on Legal Action Against Censorware? · · Score: 1

    I've seen in the logs of many of my sites visits from censorware companies like Bess... would there be any wisdom in blocking them?

  23. Re:Isn't guided payload illegal? on PicoSats And CanSats And NEAR, Oh My · · Score: 2

    Special licensing is required when launching rockets with the higher engine ratings. I'm sure that guidance systems are also allowable through those licenses.

  24. Amateurs have done better than 15K feet on PicoSats And CanSats And NEAR, Oh My · · Score: 3
    JP Aerospace was able to launch a payload to 72,000 feet using a combination baloon/rocket system ("rockoon"). They're hoping for 120,000 feet later this month (launch on the 24th/25th!).

    Also interesting, appears that even John Carmack has donated to the cause :)

    (Good luck JP!)

  25. Re:Non-Zero sum game on Slashback: Antennae, Play, Book Larnin' · · Score: 1
    • Wealth is not energy, and is easily created and destroyed. If I take fruit, flour, and other ingredients, and make a pie, I can sell that pie for more than the cost of my ingredients. The difference between what I paid for the ingredients and what I get for the finished pie is, roughly, the value of the time I spent making it.
    And equal to your cost of eating the pie. Zero sum.
    • What if we make our pies, and nobody is hungry, so we can't sell them? Where did that value go?
    The value is diminished. You've zeroed out the extra value.

    ...but the pies you do sell still get eaten.

    Yeah, it's a bit of a troll, but you still have holes in your argument. Just meant to keep you thinking :)