No think about it. 14 millimeters is 1.4 centimeters.
*slaps forehead*
Yeah, actually I did think of this possibility, but it wasn't logical to me that they would do this. It's like saying "Hey Joe, let's go for a 1000m jog", and Joe agrees thinking that's pretty easy. Little did Joe know he's actually going for 14k run.
Mmmm. I dunno, I guess it makes sense, probably better sense after you've been basically hanging around bigass microwaves all day.:)
Yeah, you know, something has me confused. I was looking at some of the millimeter wave radar stuff last night and I'm baffled, really (probably because I just don't understand what's going on). Most of the radars are listed at 75.something GHz and I read some papers on a model that a university was experimenting with, and its frequency topped out just over 100Ghz. Yet they called these devices millimeter wave, and those frequencies are in the centimeter range, not millimeter.
Maybe I'm just hung up on some terminology, I dunno... Maybe it's because I'm thinking of frequencies in a vacuum and the atmosphere somehow increases effective frequency? Then again, maybe it has something to do with how often they sample. I'm not sure, but I'm going to read up some more because I'm really confused at this point:)
But yeah, a 300GHz DSP would be something to behold... Here's your Cray, on this little frozen wafer! A Beowulf cluster of 300Ghz DSPs might be rated at several thermonuclear explosion simulations per hour! Teehee. Our flight sims could have realtime CFD physics! That sure would be fun... *drewl*
Totally, most of the problems could be mitigated by good security practices.
What about encrypting the whole workspace that the user works on? For example, take a VMWare image with a Windows or Linux environment and all the apps that the user needs to use for this sensitive information, put it on an encrypted virtual drive volume and there it is.
It dosen't seem that these computers are the target of people who want the data, or even know that it's there, they just want the hardware... But it would be a good idea to make it basically impossible for the casual or professional snoop to get at this data.
Interesting but I can not see much use in a 350ghz rf system. Talk about line of sight!
One word: Radar. I'm no RF engineer, but IIRC, a 300GHz signal has a wavelength of 1 millimeter, which would make it possible to detect radar reflective objects that size, in theory. That would have to be the holy grail of radar technology.
If one could resolve a signal that has millimeter or sub-millimeter resolution from a distance, it would be a breakthrough in military radar systems. It would make avionics not only be able to tell a fighter pilot exactly what kind of aircraft he was engaging, but also tell him what kind of ordinance the aircraft has mounted to external hardpoints, what the aircraft's attitude is, etc.
It could also be used to precisely detect incoming ordinance: imagine a mobile Phalanx type system that could detect the direction enemy fire was coming from, and possibly counter the effects of RPGs, missiles, and mortars!
A system that could react fast enough would be able to protect tanks from armor piercing missiles or DU rounds by shooting a projectile (or many) to intercept the incoming threat. Also, such a system mounted on a HMMWV could shoot RPGs down as they are in flight, or detect where enemy small arms fire is coming from and instantaneously direct fire to that location, and it might be able to detect firearms and other weapons concealed in the clothing of insurgent forces hiding in a crowd of non-combatants!
In addition, such technology would have civilian uses like supplanting screeners at airports, guidance of autonomous passenger vehicles, computer vision, it could be used for all kinds of applications.
When you figure out how to run a car on an inert gas, let me know.
I'll make us both rich.
Sure enough, I've got your solution! We'll just pressurize the shit out of our gas and make a pneumatic motor or turbine or whatever, and there's your car that runs on inert gas.
Now where's my millions of dollars?
(Personally I'd rather save my inert gas for welding but whatever floats your boat)
Yeah, that's great for WM and all, but I'm not talking about applications received when a new store opens. I can put the word out in the paper and various avenues that I'm hiring 5 people for my shop at a decent wage and get a thousand of people desperate for *A* job... However, fewer than ten of those people will be interested in hanging around long enough that they have learned enough to offset the cost of training them.
CostCo, on the other hand, makes the effort to keep their people around, and it shows. How many of those people looking for a Wal-Mart job will still be interested and willing when a position opens up a few months down the road? CostCo literally has a queue of people that want a CostCo job, and it always exists... Furthermore, most of the people in line already have jobs, and they're still willing to quit that one and go to CostCo and quite happily. I wouldn't be supprised to find out that many CostCo workers have previously worked at *Mart or Target or one of the other chains.
Totally... In addition to what you said, CostCo treats their employees so well that there are waiting lines to get a job in most areas, whereas there are usually no queues for jobs at Wal-Marts or Targets. I understand that they get good pay and decent benefits compared to most companies, and relative to other retail/wholesalers you wouldn't even think they were in the same business... Plus I've heard that they have a strict seniority system and with that comes vacation benefits and that sort of stuff.
Also, from what I hear, they have what is probably the most liberal return/warranty policy of any company on the planet, though I haven't had a need to exercise that feature.
I'm still cautious of huge "big box" retail chains, but on the whole, I'm pleased with CostCo. They seem to be non-evil and that's good enough for me. Plus, I can buy a5 gallon bucket of pickels without feeling guilty, and damnit, that's the way it should be.
I think the better solution would be to make the drive platters out of a thermite-cheddar composite. Once the mice eat the cheese we can then ignite the mice for maximum data security.
An electric Ariel Atom? Well, sure... You could get one of those to go that fast simply by raising a sail and letting a modest breeze do its work... And you wouldn't even need 500 lbs of batteries and 100 lbs of electric motor to do it!
It's already been done, too, and others have this guy beat by years, plus some were clever enough to construct their own platform! Google tZero. Frankly, I'd be far more impressed if he managed to tie a small diesel or gas engine into the powertrain to make the car a hybrid. Anyone can get a bunch of batteries, a motor and off the shelf EV controllers and pack them into a glorified go-kart. Wooptie do!
Yeah... Sure. They must be related to people who like having their genitals stuck in a bear trap? I mean, if you've had a bear trap clamped onto your balls for as long as you can remember, you might actually miss that bear trap if it fell off someday!
Maybe they aught to figure out a game system that dosen't require spending tens of hours grinding against the game to have get items, so that you can advance. It ends up being the only reason people play, they're addicted to items. It's not "fun". It's goddamned work that you have to pay for the privilege to do! It's stupid. Maybe it's against the rules, but I can hardly see why people blame them. Farming isn't the cause, it's the solution, to people who are willing to pay. They're regular entrepreneurs even if they are Chinese or Korean or whatever, and the only reason the problem exists is because there's demand. When it boils down to it these farmers are filling an economic niche that was created because of poor game design!
I was stuck on Diablo II, I hate to admit, and I spent hours running bosses for items and wasted untold hours so I could play my characters on the higher levels... It wasn't fun, it wasn't even a challenge. Playing with other somewhat mature players was the most fun thing about the game, and I thought that people who bought items were kinda lame. My mind is somewhat changed. If they want godly items, it's better to work at your job and plunk down a few bucks over paypal and enjoy the game in the first place rather than work to enjoy the game.
I've got an idea: they should try designing a game that requires skill above all else to progress to the higher ranks! This way, progression in the game is not limited to the cheesy virtual items they have, or limited to how much the players grind the game, but it is instead limited to how good the players truely are! It should be possible for an excellent level 40 player with mediocre items to rival a mediocre level 60 player pimped out with excellent items items!
1) Even if either party wanted to know how many warheads the other had, there is no provision that either should be olbigated to give a head count (get it, warhead! HAH!)
2)It dosen't count total warheads. Only "operationally deployed" warheads are counted. Either party could stockpile any number of warheads, if they weren't completely operational; whatever qualifies that term, I'm not sure... Maybe it means "warheads that are ready to fly, or be deployed relatively quickly"
Either way you cut it, this treaty is pretty much meaningless.
You live in Devner, don't you? Some moron geologists keep trying to tell us that the Denver Basin and other aquifers in the system will last 10000 years or so at our projected growth rate, and that we'll just have to drill really deep wells! And that explains why they won't let many farmers in the Denver basin area withdraw water to irrigate their crops...
I suspect that their projections might include such fun things as bird flu, California falling off the map, or thermonuclear war, or maybe even the possibility that The Pope will finally start endorsing birth control!
I agree with what you say. In your situation, dual booting makes good sense. Using VMWare might make good sense, too, depending on what you need Windows for. But you illustrate that you're not really entrenched with Windows in the first place, and that you're comfortable with Linux/Windows. For someone trying to get into Linux for the first time, and 90% of their time will be spent with Windows, It's gonna really suck to try to learn Linux while dual booting.
That's a really good point... Moving a couple computers could be a daunting task for the archetypal skinny computer nerd, or conversely, for the stereotypical lardass geek! I kid, I kid! All kidding aside, having a good laptop would be a bonus for students in that situation, where I think space would be of similar concern.
Also, in my experience, most students are so far over their head with debt that another few bucks is hardly a concern, and the rest have families so rich that they don't have to worry about anything.
Personally, I highly suggest that it's not a good idea for your average linux newbie to go about trying to dual boot with Windows. You can go to a used computer store in any metro area and pickup a secondhand machine that will most likely be 100% compatible with Linux for less than $150, and it will still be more than powerful enough for anybody interested in Linux to screw around with, and actually do useful stuff with it, too... Heck, if said linux newbie is experienced with building computers for his gaming habit, then he's likely got nearly everthing he needs to build a whole 'nother box to mess with. Furthermore it's not like Linux or X11 or the shells that run on top of those bits can tolerate older and slower computers with less memory and less storage than Windows, now is it? For example, I have everything I need to build a decent machine that would do well with linux just laying around including an 800Mhz Duron with motherboard and 512MB RAM, a Geforce2 GTX and a 40 GB drive, 17" monitor, and an old CD drive. The only thing I'm missing is a case with a cheap power supply, and I can get that at MicroCenter or CompUSA for $40.
The bonus is:
1) He still has his Windows machine to fall back on in case he needs to go and read documentation when he biffs his linux installation, play games, or do other windows specific stuff without having to shut down and start up and shut down and etc. 2) There is no need to fret about screwing up everthing on his Windows machine because there's no need to format or partition or anything. 3) He can experiment with using a network to make his two computers get along and do stuff that he just couldn't do before, and learn tons about both operating systems in the process.
With the crap most geeks keep around another computer could be had or built for little to nothing... It's stupid to dual boot unless you're trapped on Antartica where you can't get a few measly parts in the time available (?), or you're so desperately poor that $50 means the difference between having a roof over your head or not.
Heh, thanks for the reply. Yeah, most of what I "know" about how hard the stuff is to machine I've heard through other people, including some professional machinists that I respect. They were probably working with some alloy, and I do understand they're more of a bitch than CP Ti, which would explain a little bit.
My personal experience with machining it (besides drilling holes for rivets) is limited to the time that I grabbed a piece of titanium barstock, mistaking it for stainless, and then proceeded to try drilling a 3/4" hole in it. The bandsaw cut it alright, but it didn't occour to me that I was drilling titanium until I burnt up my drill bit, and then I removed the piece from the vise only to realize that it's quite a bit lighter than my normal stockpile of stainless! It was probably a chunk of some hard ass alloy like you describe... But the chips shure were pretty!
Anyway, if I ever happen upon a good deal on Ti sheet, I'm gonna build a computer case out if it so that it kinda' looks like some crazy high polish aircraft part... It'll be in the shape of a section of wing or a fuel tank or something!:)
It's hard to imagine that it actually machines easier than some aluminum, but I'll have to experiment when I get my lathe fixed--or finally pony up for a mill.
I've always wondered how brittle the sheetmetal on the SR-71 is after getting so hot in the upper atmosphere. I would think that would be a hell of a problem, and it's an amazing thing that they figured it all out so long ago.
PS, what brand of frying pans are those?! I want! I want!
Oh, the colors are beautiful, I can't disagree. I've seen paintings from the 70s that apparently used an electrified brush that acted as anode, and the technique would build an oxide layer on the surface of the Ti. The really cool thing was that by varying the thickness of the oxide layer, any color from white to yellow to blue to dark brown could be achieved because of the way light plays with titanium oxide... And there were no other compounds but Titanium and Titanium Oxide used for the whole painting! I've always been impressed with that stuff.
In summary, titanium is kept in limited used in industry because it's hard to weld, not because it's expensive.
Just wanted to add to all of the great stuff you said by also pointing out that titanium is also a pain to work with in pretty much every other way. It's tough to machine, it's also a bitch to use as sheet metal--it's springy and not as malleable as steel or aluminum at room temperature. You've often got to heat it signifigantly if you need to make tight bends... Plus, all of that is compounded by the alloys of titanium which are even harder to use and form than the pure stuff.
Just as an iustration, welding titantium in a normal atmosphere will cause it to become brittle. You need an inert atmosphere (e.g. argon) at the weld point and on the cooling joint to protect it.
You're right, you need a good supply of argon to keep hot titanium from forming oxides or nitrides with atmospheric gas. It's an amazing thing, nearly *all* of the non-aviation titanium welds I've seen were not done right, and they have either an amber tint (not good) or a blue tint (really not good), and often a little rainbow of colors somewhere inbetween. The one exception I've noted is the race car industry. They actually do it right, and lives depend on it, so it's a good thing. The aftermarket parts for cars though? Holy shit, that stuff is ALWAYS FUBAR, and if it were to serve a purpose like strut bars for race/street cars, I imagine they'd crack if they were actually used for a few good hours. The funny thing is that I'm sure they think those colors are pretty!
are unlocking gay bdsm material preexistant(although locked) in the Windows OS.
And the functional difference is what again?
I might be thinking about hacking some jerk's head off with an axe while I reluctantly feign a smile and shake hands with him but that dosen't change the fact that the only thing that happened was a handshake.
So what if MS incorporated gay porno into some file hiden in a dark and dank corner of their OS? First you'd have to find out where it was and understand what was going on and then you might have to go to some extraordinary effort to extract that porno. It's entirely possible, if not likely, that a gay fellatio scene is hidden in the help documents to Microsoft Word, or even in this very comment! Furthermore, how would you know that I didn't put it there on purpose, and how would I know that my subconcious put it there without my knowledge?!
You know, I'm confident that with a little time and the right program it would be possible to extract a video of the goatse man right from the binaries of Windows Vista... But does that mean that MS wanted you to experience the power that is goatse? NO. Would that hypothetical goatse video have been put there intentionally? Probably not, but who's to say? Does it really matter how or why it's there? I think not. The only thing that matters is that MS didn't intend to regular users to see a video of a man playing with his giant gaping asshole.
It's just like this game. They didn't intend for people to see that part of the game, and the users had to go to extraordinary lengths (relative to the knowledge and ability of most computer users) to download, extract and install that mod, and then get to the part of the game where the player would experience that hidden content.
p.s. the first one to extract a gay fellatio video from this comment wins a cookie!
, from a worm perspective the only factor that "saves" non-NT based Windows versions is a complete and utter lack of functionality. Worms generally target functional systems, and 98SE users seldom ran SQL Servers or Exchange boxes or network services,
And since users didn't run those services it can be assumed that they didn't need them in the first place. That situation is a hundred thousand times better than having a bunch of useless services install and run by default.
If simplicity can be considered a design feature then these OSs are better than modern OSs in at least that respect.
Precisely. Until they figure out wireless power or at least let us have mini nuclear reactors to power our laptops with (the far preferable option, imo) we'll still need wires for power, making wireless communication a useless trinket, just like it is now. Personally, I've almost grown to like tripping over power adapters when I try to take my woman to a coffee shop. NOT.
And when they let us have mini nuclear reactors for our laptops, I'll be happy to chain a few dozen together to make a pretty quick nuclear powered electric hybrid car so that I can fly up mountians with my women, again elmiminating any interest in wireless communications that I ever pretended I had...
Mmmm... Nuclear electric hybrid car... Now if it were an open loop system like an old train, I could also make latte macchiatos on the move.. Wouldn't that be cool! That and I could have a train whistle tied to my horn! WooooWooooo! Move your ass! WOOOOOOOO! Trying to go somewhere with this drought might be a bitch, though.
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No think about it. 14 millimeters is 1.4 centimeters.
:)
*slaps forehead*
Yeah, actually I did think of this possibility, but it wasn't logical to me that they would do this. It's like saying "Hey Joe, let's go for a 1000m jog", and Joe agrees thinking that's pretty easy. Little did Joe know he's actually going for 14k run.
Mmmm. I dunno, I guess it makes sense, probably better sense after you've been basically hanging around bigass microwaves all day.
Yeah, you know, something has me confused. I was looking at some of the millimeter wave radar stuff last night and I'm baffled, really (probably because I just don't understand what's going on). Most of the radars are listed at 75.something GHz and I read some papers on a model that a university was experimenting with, and its frequency topped out just over 100Ghz. Yet they called these devices millimeter wave, and those frequencies are in the centimeter range, not millimeter.
:)
Maybe I'm just hung up on some terminology, I dunno... Maybe it's because I'm thinking of frequencies in a vacuum and the atmosphere somehow increases effective frequency? Then again, maybe it has something to do with how often they sample. I'm not sure, but I'm going to read up some more because I'm really confused at this point
But yeah, a 300GHz DSP would be something to behold... Here's your Cray, on this little frozen wafer! A Beowulf cluster of 300Ghz DSPs might be rated at several thermonuclear explosion simulations per hour! Teehee. Our flight sims could have realtime CFD physics! That sure would be fun... *drewl*
Totally, most of the problems could be mitigated by good security practices.
What about encrypting the whole workspace that the user works on? For example, take a VMWare image with a Windows or Linux environment and all the apps that the user needs to use for this sensitive information, put it on an encrypted virtual drive volume and there it is.
It dosen't seem that these computers are the target of people who want the data, or even know that it's there, they just want the hardware... But it would be a good idea to make it basically impossible for the casual or professional snoop to get at this data.
Interesting but I can not see much use in a 350ghz rf system. Talk about line of sight!
One word: Radar. I'm no RF engineer, but IIRC, a 300GHz signal has a wavelength of 1 millimeter, which would make it possible to detect radar reflective objects that size, in theory. That would have to be the holy grail of radar technology.
If one could resolve a signal that has millimeter or sub-millimeter resolution from a distance, it would be a breakthrough in military radar systems. It would make avionics not only be able to tell a fighter pilot exactly what kind of aircraft he was engaging, but also tell him what kind of ordinance the aircraft has mounted to external hardpoints, what the aircraft's attitude is, etc.
It could also be used to precisely detect incoming ordinance: imagine a mobile Phalanx type system that could detect the direction enemy fire was coming from, and possibly counter the effects of RPGs, missiles, and mortars!
A system that could react fast enough would be able to protect tanks from armor piercing missiles or DU rounds by shooting a projectile (or many) to intercept the incoming threat. Also, such a system mounted on a HMMWV could shoot RPGs down as they are in flight, or detect where enemy small arms fire is coming from and instantaneously direct fire to that location, and it might be able to detect firearms and other weapons concealed in the clothing of insurgent forces hiding in a crowd of non-combatants!
In addition, such technology would have civilian uses like supplanting screeners at airports, guidance of autonomous passenger vehicles, computer vision, it could be used for all kinds of applications.
When you figure out how to run a car on an inert gas, let me know.
I'll make us both rich.
Sure enough, I've got your solution! We'll just pressurize the shit out of our gas and make a pneumatic motor or turbine or whatever, and there's your car that runs on inert gas.
Now where's my millions of dollars?
(Personally I'd rather save my inert gas for welding but whatever floats your boat)
Yeah, that's great for WM and all, but I'm not talking about applications received when a new store opens. I can put the word out in the paper and various avenues that I'm hiring 5 people for my shop at a decent wage and get a thousand of people desperate for *A* job... However, fewer than ten of those people will be interested in hanging around long enough that they have learned enough to offset the cost of training them.
CostCo, on the other hand, makes the effort to keep their people around, and it shows. How many of those people looking for a Wal-Mart job will still be interested and willing when a position opens up a few months down the road? CostCo literally has a queue of people that want a CostCo job, and it always exists... Furthermore, most of the people in line already have jobs, and they're still willing to quit that one and go to CostCo and quite happily. I wouldn't be supprised to find out that many CostCo workers have previously worked at *Mart or Target or one of the other chains.
Totally... In addition to what you said, CostCo treats their employees so well that there are waiting lines to get a job in most areas, whereas there are usually no queues for jobs at Wal-Marts or Targets. I understand that they get good pay and decent benefits compared to most companies, and relative to other retail/wholesalers you wouldn't even think they were in the same business... Plus I've heard that they have a strict seniority system and with that comes vacation benefits and that sort of stuff.
Also, from what I hear, they have what is probably the most liberal return/warranty policy of any company on the planet, though I haven't had a need to exercise that feature.
I'm still cautious of huge "big box" retail chains, but on the whole, I'm pleased with CostCo. They seem to be non-evil and that's good enough for me. Plus, I can buy a5 gallon bucket of pickels without feeling guilty, and damnit, that's the way it should be.
I think the better solution would be to make the drive platters out of a thermite-cheddar composite. Once the mice eat the cheese we can then ignite the mice for maximum data security.
An electric Ariel Atom? Well, sure... You could get one of those to go that fast simply by raising a sail and letting a modest breeze do its work... And you wouldn't even need 500 lbs of batteries and 100 lbs of electric motor to do it!
It's already been done, too, and others have this guy beat by years, plus some were clever enough to construct their own platform! Google tZero. Frankly, I'd be far more impressed if he managed to tie a small diesel or gas engine into the powertrain to make the car a hybrid. Anyone can get a bunch of batteries, a motor and off the shelf EV controllers and pack them into a glorified go-kart. Wooptie do!
Some people LIKE grinding.
Yeah... Sure. They must be related to people who like having their genitals stuck in a bear trap? I mean, if you've had a bear trap clamped onto your balls for as long as you can remember, you might actually miss that bear trap if it fell off someday!
Maybe they aught to figure out a game system that dosen't require spending tens of hours grinding against the game to have get items, so that you can advance. It ends up being the only reason people play, they're addicted to items. It's not "fun". It's goddamned work that you have to pay for the privilege to do! It's stupid. Maybe it's against the rules, but I can hardly see why people blame them. Farming isn't the cause, it's the solution, to people who are willing to pay. They're regular entrepreneurs even if they are Chinese or Korean or whatever, and the only reason the problem exists is because there's demand. When it boils down to it these farmers are filling an economic niche that was created because of poor game design!
I was stuck on Diablo II, I hate to admit, and I spent hours running bosses for items and wasted untold hours so I could play my characters on the higher levels... It wasn't fun, it wasn't even a challenge. Playing with other somewhat mature players was the most fun thing about the game, and I thought that people who bought items were kinda lame. My mind is somewhat changed. If they want godly items, it's better to work at your job and plunk down a few bucks over paypal and enjoy the game in the first place rather than work to enjoy the game.
I've got an idea: they should try designing a game that requires skill above all else to progress to the higher ranks! This way, progression in the game is not limited to the cheesy virtual items they have, or limited to how much the players grind the game, but it is instead limited to how good the players truely are! It should be possible for an excellent level 40 player with mediocre items to rival a mediocre level 60 player pimped out with excellent items items!
Did you read what you linked to?
1) Even if either party wanted to know how many warheads the other had, there is no provision that either should be olbigated to give a head count (get it, warhead! HAH!)
2)It dosen't count total warheads. Only "operationally deployed" warheads are counted. Either party could stockpile any number of warheads, if they weren't completely operational; whatever qualifies that term, I'm not sure... Maybe it means "warheads that are ready to fly, or be deployed relatively quickly"
Either way you cut it, this treaty is pretty much meaningless.
You live in Devner, don't you? Some moron geologists keep trying to tell us that the Denver Basin and other aquifers in the system will last 10000 years or so at our projected growth rate, and that we'll just have to drill really deep wells! And that explains why they won't let many farmers in the Denver basin area withdraw water to irrigate their crops...
I suspect that their projections might include such fun things as bird flu, California falling off the map, or thermonuclear war, or maybe even the possibility that The Pope will finally start endorsing birth control!
I agree with what you say. In your situation, dual booting makes good sense. Using VMWare might make good sense, too, depending on what you need Windows for. But you illustrate that you're not really entrenched with Windows in the first place, and that you're comfortable with Linux/Windows. For someone trying to get into Linux for the first time, and 90% of their time will be spent with Windows, It's gonna really suck to try to learn Linux while dual booting.
That's a really good point... Moving a couple computers could be a daunting task for the archetypal skinny computer nerd, or conversely, for the stereotypical lardass geek! I kid, I kid! All kidding aside, having a good laptop would be a bonus for students in that situation, where I think space would be of similar concern.
Also, in my experience, most students are so far over their head with debt that another few bucks is hardly a concern, and the rest have families so rich that they don't have to worry about anything.
Personally, I highly suggest that it's not a good idea for your average linux newbie to go about trying to dual boot with Windows. You can go to a used computer store in any metro area and pickup a secondhand machine that will most likely be 100% compatible with Linux for less than $150, and it will still be more than powerful enough for anybody interested in Linux to screw around with, and actually do useful stuff with it, too... Heck, if said linux newbie is experienced with building computers for his gaming habit, then he's likely got nearly everthing he needs to build a whole 'nother box to mess with. Furthermore it's not like Linux or X11 or the shells that run on top of those bits can tolerate older and slower computers with less memory and less storage than Windows, now is it? For example, I have everything I need to build a decent machine that would do well with linux just laying around including an 800Mhz Duron with motherboard and 512MB RAM, a Geforce2 GTX and a 40 GB drive, 17" monitor, and an old CD drive. The only thing I'm missing is a case with a cheap power supply, and I can get that at MicroCenter or CompUSA for $40.
The bonus is:
1) He still has his Windows machine to fall back on in case he needs to go and read documentation when he biffs his linux installation, play games, or do other windows specific stuff without having to shut down and start up and shut down and etc.
2) There is no need to fret about screwing up everthing on his Windows machine because there's no need to format or partition or anything.
3) He can experiment with using a network to make his two computers get along and do stuff that he just couldn't do before, and learn tons about both operating systems in the process.
With the crap most geeks keep around another computer could be had or built for little to nothing... It's stupid to dual boot unless you're trapped on Antartica where you can't get a few measly parts in the time available (?), or you're so desperately poor that $50 means the difference between having a roof over your head or not.
Heh, thanks for the reply. Yeah, most of what I "know" about how hard the stuff is to machine I've heard through other people, including some professional machinists that I respect. They were probably working with some alloy, and I do understand they're more of a bitch than CP Ti, which would explain a little bit.
:)
My personal experience with machining it (besides drilling holes for rivets) is limited to the time that I grabbed a piece of titanium barstock, mistaking it for stainless, and then proceeded to try drilling a 3/4" hole in it. The bandsaw cut it alright, but it didn't occour to me that I was drilling titanium until I burnt up my drill bit, and then I removed the piece from the vise only to realize that it's quite a bit lighter than my normal stockpile of stainless! It was probably a chunk of some hard ass alloy like you describe... But the chips shure were pretty!
Anyway, if I ever happen upon a good deal on Ti sheet, I'm gonna build a computer case out if it so that it kinda' looks like some crazy high polish aircraft part... It'll be in the shape of a section of wing or a fuel tank or something!
It's hard to imagine that it actually machines easier than some aluminum, but I'll have to experiment when I get my lathe fixed--or finally pony up for a mill.
I've always wondered how brittle the sheetmetal on the SR-71 is after getting so hot in the upper atmosphere. I would think that would be a hell of a problem, and it's an amazing thing that they figured it all out so long ago.
PS, what brand of frying pans are those?! I want! I want!
Oh, the colors are beautiful, I can't disagree. I've seen paintings from the 70s that apparently used an electrified brush that acted as anode, and the technique would build an oxide layer on the surface of the Ti. The really cool thing was that by varying the thickness of the oxide layer, any color from white to yellow to blue to dark brown could be achieved because of the way light plays with titanium oxide... And there were no other compounds but Titanium and Titanium Oxide used for the whole painting! I've always been impressed with that stuff.
In summary, titanium is kept in limited used in industry because it's hard to weld, not because it's expensive.
Just wanted to add to all of the great stuff you said by also pointing out that titanium is also a pain to work with in pretty much every other way. It's tough to machine, it's also a bitch to use as sheet metal--it's springy and not as malleable as steel or aluminum at room temperature. You've often got to heat it signifigantly if you need to make tight bends... Plus, all of that is compounded by the alloys of titanium which are even harder to use and form than the pure stuff.
Just as an iustration, welding titantium in a normal atmosphere will cause it to become brittle. You need an inert atmosphere (e.g. argon) at the weld point and on the cooling joint to protect it.
You're right, you need a good supply of argon to keep hot titanium from forming oxides or nitrides with atmospheric gas. It's an amazing thing, nearly *all* of the non-aviation titanium welds I've seen were not done right, and they have either an amber tint (not good) or a blue tint (really not good), and often a little rainbow of colors somewhere inbetween. The one exception I've noted is the race car industry. They actually do it right, and lives depend on it, so it's a good thing. The aftermarket parts for cars though? Holy shit, that stuff is ALWAYS FUBAR, and if it were to serve a purpose like strut bars for race/street cars, I imagine they'd crack if they were actually used for a few good hours. The funny thing is that I'm sure they think those colors are pretty!
Anyway...
are unlocking gay bdsm material preexistant(although locked) in the Windows OS.
And the functional difference is what again?
I might be thinking about hacking some jerk's head off with an axe while I reluctantly feign a smile and shake hands with him but that dosen't change the fact that the only thing that happened was a handshake.
So what if MS incorporated gay porno into some file hiden in a dark and dank corner of their OS? First you'd have to find out where it was and understand what was going on and then you might have to go to some extraordinary effort to extract that porno. It's entirely possible, if not likely, that a gay fellatio scene is hidden in the help documents to Microsoft Word, or even in this very comment! Furthermore, how would you know that I didn't put it there on purpose, and how would I know that my subconcious put it there without my knowledge?!
You know, I'm confident that with a little time and the right program it would be possible to extract a video of the goatse man right from the binaries of Windows Vista... But does that mean that MS wanted you to experience the power that is goatse? NO. Would that hypothetical goatse video have been put there intentionally? Probably not, but who's to say? Does it really matter how or why it's there? I think not. The only thing that matters is that MS didn't intend to regular users to see a video of a man playing with his giant gaping asshole.
It's just like this game. They didn't intend for people to see that part of the game, and the users had to go to extraordinary lengths (relative to the knowledge and ability of most computer users) to download, extract and install that mod, and then get to the part of the game where the player would experience that hidden content.
p.s. the first one to extract a gay fellatio video from this comment wins a cookie!
, from a worm perspective the only factor that "saves" non-NT based Windows versions is a complete and utter lack of functionality. Worms generally target functional systems, and 98SE users seldom ran SQL Servers or Exchange boxes or network services,
And since users didn't run those services it can be assumed that they didn't need them in the first place. That situation is a hundred thousand times better than having a bunch of useless services install and run by default.
If simplicity can be considered a design feature then these OSs are better than modern OSs in at least that respect.
Hmmm! To use my laptop you'll need asbestos trousers!
Who cares about wireless!
Precisely. Until they figure out wireless power or at least let us have mini nuclear reactors to power our laptops with (the far preferable option, imo) we'll still need wires for power, making wireless communication a useless trinket, just like it is now. Personally, I've almost grown to like tripping over power adapters when I try to take my woman to a coffee shop. NOT.
And when they let us have mini nuclear reactors for our laptops, I'll be happy to chain a few dozen together to make a pretty quick nuclear powered electric hybrid car so that I can fly up mountians with my women, again elmiminating any interest in wireless communications that I ever pretended I had...
Mmmm... Nuclear electric hybrid car... Now if it were an open loop system like an old train, I could also make latte macchiatos on the move.. Wouldn't that be cool! That and I could have a train whistle tied to my horn! WooooWooooo! Move your ass! WOOOOOOOO! Trying to go somewhere with this drought might be a bitch, though.
*looks around*