To sum up what you cheap "penny wise, pound foolish" (as the Brits state so nicely) folks still need to learn:
1) You can build houses on sand foundations. Heck, sand is considered "firm" and "stable" over here. We're building 150m (492ft) high-rises on a peat bog. (Granted, all the extra engineering will cost ya)
2) Your love for "cardboard 'n matchstick" houses are a bit misplaced in some areas. Build somthing more "climate proof" instead! (And while you're at it, upgrade the utilities to that same weatherproof level) (Granted, it will cost ya)
3) There's not much wrong with livin' below sea level, except that there's absolutely no room for complacency. That's the real Dutch lesson to be learned: As soon as complacency creeps in, you don't need to ask "whether", but rather ask "when" the flood comes! (Granted, being vigilant will cost ya)
So why are there still people willingly living in 'risky' areas? Well, maybe, just maybe there are just too many strategic and economic advantages to certain locations... And that you'll lose them, if you move them... Or something...
It all boils down to paying for all "local disadvantages" up front or paying the ultimate price afterwards.
Just my (heavily biased) EUR 0.02 (typing this from a steel and concrete monolith, built on a 18m (59ft) deep foundation @ 6.4m (21ft) below sea level)
Here in the UK, ringtones are big business. Same here, at the other side of the channel...
Kids (mainly) subscribe to ringtone "clubs" that allow them to download the latest chart hits...
But much of this is felled by the fact that you can't get a ringtone into your phone in any other way (i.e. sent by SMS, WAP push). Newsflash: You can! But... You'll have to buy a compatible 'data cable' and get some suitable software. Add some fiddling (the cable->phone connection is usually NOT designed for 'easy access') plus the inevitable learning curve that comes with new progams and that's IMHO too much to ask for today's spoiled brat.
So you can USB your (home-made-)mp3-ringtone to your handset already, but most kids won't bother and rather pay up to have the latest cheesy chart-hit-ringtone on their phone, just like everyone else. The 'ringtone mongers' have nothing to fear.
Beside the point -- signing only verifies who it's from.
Or not... (Signature obtained using a stolen identity, anyone?)
Pretty small step for someone with malicious intent...
Too bad there's a lot of software that cannot function unless you are running with administrative rights. And then there are the 'Run as' options to save the day...
If my information is correct - Which isn't... Why not just cut out the middle man and go direct to electric power? (...) Electric energy could go directly from a Nuclear/Solar/Wind plant into a battery/capacitor bank
Hint: Batteries are grossly inefficient beasts.
It takes shitloads of energy to produce one, they have an extremely short lifespan and need to be processed at the end, since they're full of heavy metals and cautic chemicals.
During this short lifespan, they have a pathetic power/weight ratio and an effeciency (1.6 joule in = 1 joule out) but I just don't understand why so little research on batteries - They're an inherently inefficient design. Get over it. Lots of effort required with meagre returns here... and electric motor technology - It's a pretty mature technology now. The real problem is the electric suppy, here!
Until the supply of free Pentium I class laptops and desktops dry up or the sources for dirt cheap xterminals dry up
By that time, the Pentium II class boxen are about te become doorstops... Or some older microITX boards start to fill the gap.... Or some geeks start hackin' up their own boards using thin client-on-a-chip solutions like the SC2200, SiS550 etc...
Re:Solving the wrong problem:Therory vs. practice
on
Need... More... Power...
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· Score: 1, Insightful
Reality-corrected version
The average geek who got picked on by everyone in high school is suddenly going to realize that in college, the stigma is gone, and finally come out of his or her shell... but only to realize (after wasting years of desperate searching) that the damage is done, most people already have a life and won't care about yours! Completely disillusioned, the average geek returns to his trusty place behind the keyboard.
plus.... Flash memory won't retain data for more than 10 years (in theory!! From experience: even worse!)
After all, it's just a few nanocoulombs of charge trapped in silicon oxyde (floating gate MOSFET). Try mask ROMs instead;-)
I've actually made such application, which tries to emulate different reverse-engineered commercial appliances(!).
But... it's a serious drain on the batteries (the speaker's impedance is frequency-dependant). And eh... don't expect miracles, its effectiveness is worse than 'non-toxic' bug spray!
Besides that, connect any Creative Laughs card to real (audiophile grade) amp & speakers and weep! I would only recommend it as a relatively cheap 'PCI->SP/DIF bridge' for a real DAC
'cause your $2000 PC uses the same cheapass 32.768kHz x-tal for timekeeping as your $5 wristwatch... ...Which is horribly temperature sensitive, which is fine in a wristwatch (where your body keeps it at a constant temperature), but completely useless inside your PC case (power on/off, variations in system load and ambient temperature and nowhere near body temperature...)
Just forget about it and use a (s)ntp client or buy a {gps|radioclock} receiver or even better: Hack up your own receiver hard- and software (like I did) Ok, it looks horribly home-made (the active antenna housing used to be a mints container;-) , but it's still accurate within 20msec. (building costs: $12)!
At least you can use it to roll up your PDA in.:)
That's exactly how they demonstrated it by wrapping Palm® V with it... (And the keys have the right 'touch' too, BTW.)
"slashdot hackers have discovered that one can pick up the phone in ones house and listen in on the conversation."
Guess what... you don't even need to pick up the phone!
Injecting a strong HF signal (100..1300 kHz) into the phoneline will bridge the hook contacts... Add a slightly modified AM radio and you can use almost any (inactive!)phone as eavesdropping device!!!
actually, Krups did manufacture such toaster some years ago. (and it used the IR light from the heating element for this (why use another illumination source, if it's already there?!?)) Indeed, its pricetag killed it...
Slashdot Mirror
To sum up what you cheap "penny wise, pound foolish" (as the Brits state so nicely) folks still need to learn:
1) You can build houses on sand foundations. Heck, sand is considered "firm" and "stable" over here. We're building 150m (492ft) high-rises on a peat bog. (Granted, all the extra engineering will cost ya)
2) Your love for "cardboard 'n matchstick" houses are a bit misplaced in some areas. Build somthing more "climate proof" instead! (And while you're at it, upgrade the utilities to that same weatherproof level) (Granted, it will cost ya)
3) There's not much wrong with livin' below sea level, except that there's absolutely no room for complacency. That's the real Dutch lesson to be learned: As soon as complacency creeps in, you don't need to ask "whether", but rather ask "when" the flood comes! (Granted, being vigilant will cost ya)
So why are there still people willingly living in 'risky' areas? Well, maybe, just maybe there are just too many strategic and economic advantages to certain locations... And that you'll lose them, if you move them... Or something...
It all boils down to paying for all "local disadvantages" up front or paying the ultimate price afterwards.
Just my (heavily biased) EUR 0.02 (typing this from a steel and concrete monolith, built on a 18m (59ft) deep foundation @ 6.4m (21ft) below sea level)
%cat pirated_content.tar >/dev/tcp/my.friends.hostname/some_random_port (...he's listening on with another stupid single command line)
Here in the UK, ringtones are big business. Same here, at the other side of the channel...
Kids (mainly) subscribe to ringtone "clubs" that allow them to download the latest chart hits...
But much of this is felled by the fact that you can't get a ringtone into your phone in any other way (i.e. sent by SMS, WAP push).
Newsflash: You can! But... You'll have to buy a compatible 'data cable' and get some suitable software.
Add some fiddling (the cable->phone connection is usually NOT designed for 'easy access') plus the inevitable learning curve that comes with new progams and that's IMHO too much to ask for today's spoiled brat.
So you can USB your (home-made-)mp3-ringtone to your handset already, but most kids won't bother and rather pay up to have the latest cheesy chart-hit-ringtone on their phone, just like everyone else. The 'ringtone mongers' have nothing to fear.
Beside the point -- signing only verifies who it's from.
Or not... (Signature obtained using a stolen identity, anyone?) Pretty small step for someone with malicious intent...
Too bad there's a lot of software that cannot function unless you are running with administrative rights.
And then there are the 'Run as' options to save the day...
Nah, they'll just host it at the Delft university and let the taxpayer bleed for an extra gigbit pipe >:-)
Web
Who said there's no innovation?
If my information is correct - Which isn't...
Why not just cut out the middle man and go direct to electric power? (...) Electric energy could go directly from a Nuclear/Solar/Wind plant into a battery/capacitor bank
Hint: Batteries are grossly inefficient beasts.
It takes shitloads of energy to produce one, they have an extremely short lifespan and need to be processed at the end, since they're full of heavy metals and cautic chemicals.
During this short lifespan, they have a pathetic power/weight ratio and an effeciency (1.6 joule in = 1 joule out)
but I just don't understand why so little research on batteries - They're an inherently inefficient design. Get over it. Lots of effort required with meagre returns here...
and electric motor technology - It's a pretty mature technology now. The real problem is the electric suppy, here!
...until some idiot paints the arrow upside down...
Check: ADXL311, epoxy glue, incense, dead chicken, bronze amulet, rabbit paw. Vade retro, Edwardus, vade retro
Until the supply of free Pentium I class laptops and desktops dry up or the sources for dirt cheap xterminals dry up
By that time, the Pentium II class boxen are about te become doorstops... Or some older microITX boards start to fill the gap.... Or some geeks start hackin' up their own boards using thin client-on-a-chip solutions like the SC2200, SiS550 etc...
Reality-corrected version ... but only to realize (after wasting years of desperate searching) that the damage is done, most people already have a life and won't care about yours! Completely disillusioned, the average geek returns to his trusty place behind the keyboard.
The average geek who got picked on by everyone in high school is suddenly going to realize that in college, the stigma is gone, and finally come out of his or her shell
Real voting machines have a 'blank vote' button for that purpose...
I don't work for them... Just a user
plus.... Flash memory won't retain data for more than 10 years (in theory!! From experience: even worse!) ;-)
After all, it's just a few nanocoulombs of charge trapped in silicon oxyde (floating gate MOSFET). Try mask ROMs instead
I've actually made such application, which tries to emulate different reverse-engineered commercial appliances(!).
But... it's a serious drain on the batteries (the speaker's impedance is frequency-dependant). And eh... don't expect miracles, its effectiveness is worse than 'non-toxic' bug spray!
Besides that, connect any Creative Laughs card to real (audiophile grade) amp & speakers and weep! I would only recommend it as a relatively cheap 'PCI->SP/DIF bridge' for a real DAC
'cause your $2000 PC uses the same cheapass 32.768kHz x-tal for timekeeping as your $5 wristwatch...
...Which is horribly temperature sensitive, which is fine in a wristwatch (where your body keeps it at a constant temperature), but completely useless inside your PC case (power on/off, variations in system load and ambient temperature and nowhere near body temperature...)
Just forget about it and use a (s)ntp client or buy a {gps|radioclock} receiver or even better: ;-) , but it's still accurate within 20msec. (building costs: $12)!
Hack up your own receiver hard- and software (like I did) Ok, it looks horribly home-made (the active antenna housing used to be a mints container
At least you can use it to roll up your PDA in. :)
That's exactly how they demonstrated it by wrapping Palm® V with it... (And the keys have the right 'touch' too, BTW.)
"slashdot hackers have discovered that one can pick up the phone in ones house and listen in on the conversation."
Guess what... you don't even need to pick up the phone!
Injecting a strong HF signal (100..1300 kHz) into the phoneline will bridge the hook contacts... Add a slightly modified AM radio and you can use almost any (inactive!)phone as eavesdropping device!!!
I>Been there, saw a commercial version...
All KPN Telecom (animated) ads, all the time(!)
Why does this remind me of 'Southpark: Bigger, longer, uncut' ???
(While playing 'Blame Canada' @ 90dB)
I sincerely hope that I don't loose my computer's 'cooling device', since that's the same air I breathe :-D
(No fans, no heatsinks, just convection)
The ONLY reason why I don't use Ogg:
There's still NO decent m68k CODEC for Ogg, while there ARE great m68k mp3 CODECs...
'nuff said...
I still haven't seen Ogg CODECs written in optimized m68k assembly... (so kill me :)
There are good m68k MP3 CODECs... go figure...
actually, Krups did manufacture such toaster some years ago. (and it used the IR light from the heating element for this (why use another illumination source, if it's already there?!?))
Indeed, its pricetag killed it...
Nope, but this one comes close!