Nope... it proves my point. Instead of poisoning the ethanol with methanol, they poison it with 15% gasoline (probably because it's cheaper). Either way it prevents people from drinking it.
My point is that they won't make something that runs on pure ethanol because they can't sell pure ethanol - the dept. of Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms would take issue with that.
Simple, you can't drink methanol. If they made it run on ethanol, moonshine would have to be legalized. This is why, when you go to Home Depot to buy a gallon can of alcohol for cleaning or fuel, it's denatured (ethanol mixed with methanol to poison it). No, you can't run it on cheap vodka, whiskey, or any other kind of legally sold consumable alcohol, as there's far too many impurities - it would destroy the cell.
Now making it run on denatured alcohol would be ideal, since it is readily available and extremely inexpensive. I'm not sure it won't run on it, in fact it probably will.
Tried already, closest I came was this page which, unfortunately, lacked the necessary images for my card (GTS, not MX as I mis-stated above). Also tried emailing porotuner@yahoo.com, but it bounced.
Maybe someone else out there has a copy? (please post 'em!)
Maybe it's time to switch to a Radeon anyways... the severe instability of the NVidia drivers has left me using the open-source drivers (with no 3D/GL).
"I'm still working on a 3DFX Banshee here (voodoo 2.5) My only other cards are voodoo3's, and a card so old that its unsupported in linux(but not win98(!?))."
Not sure where you get your info, but Linux doesn't really support anything other than the basics (eg: VGA). I think you mean XFree86... and yes, the Voodoo3 is well supported (it uses the exact same driver as the Banshee, which I also own) and has been for a very long time (note the reference to 3.3.6).
Unfortunately, the link from the page you list (the one with the actual how-to info) is 404. Any idea of a mirror of this, most valuable, information?
I have a GeForce2MX that I've not considered being the problem... I thought it was my monitor. I've messed with the contrast and brightness an insane amount in an attempt to get it to look decent with no luck.
"...as a space shuttle replacement is looking less likely by the day."
So are we going back to the moon (and to Mars) or are we going to keep NASA's budget a nearly incalculable fraction of the defense department's?
It is plainly obvious to me the reason that Bush suddenly wants to get back to the moon (and eventually Mars): Commerce, big-business, the only thing he's interested in.
I'm afraid this will end up starting a war with China over who owns the moon and Mars. After all, we've abandoned the moon (31 years ago), so it's open for claim.
If they have the money for a Sun Ray farm, that would be the easiest to administer (for a Solaris admin). Once they're set up, that's it - done, zero maintenance (except creating accounts, which you could have just a set of guest accounts or something). They're well under $400 each, and Universities get a _nice_ discount. The only problem is you'd have to get yourself a Solaris box to run the Sun Ray Server software. Figure on a few hundred for a decent one on ebay.
The cheapest way to go would be the open source thin-client way. Linux. There are several Linux thin client solutions out there, just google for "linux thin client". For the server, you wouldn't need much, depending on how "thin" the thin clients are. You won't need a router, just a hub or switch (under $50), as you'll be using IP Masquerading on the server. You'll need to do it this way due to their connection - everyone will have to share a single IP.
So, basically... Solaris is easier for them to administer (after you leave), and Linux is cheaper. Linux could be just as easy for them to admin, _if_ you set it up properly, but this requires more work on your part (not sure what kind of time-frame you're dealing with). Sun Rays, in comparison, are as easy to hook up as a TV set (not kidding)!
Us: Have you worked with NIS? Him: -blank stare- Us: YP? Him: -blank stare- Us: "Yellow Pages" Him: Oh yeah! I know how to use the phone book!
I left the room as I couldn't hold back from laughing any more. The entire interview, before and after (I'm told), went that way.
No, I am NOT kidding... this was a guy who claimed extensive Solaris & SunOS experience, and we were the admin team for a 750 node all-Solaris/SunOS network at a major corporation.
I've screened resumes that listed 20 years of Solaris experience (back in '96-'97)... I was tempted to ask how he compensated for the temporal anomalies.
Sad part is, I've seen the same thing (too many times to count) on job postings! Ones that specifically state to not contact them unless you meet their minimum requirements.
"That said, I would treat a Solaris system as BSDish, since it is a BSD derivative..."
Nope, sorry. SunOS 4.x.x (later renamed Solaris 1.x) was a BSD derivative. Solaris 2.x or just x (SunOS 5.x) is based on AT&T Unix with a bit of backward compatiblilty extras thrown in for people migrating from SunOS 4.x.x.
If you want to use the BSD-style ps in Solaris, you have to specify the path/usr/ucb/ps or it will run the SVR4 ps in/usr/bin/.
Having administered both for many years, I agree with the interview question... the person should definately be able to answer such a simple question if they claim extensive experience in both.
As I said in a post that got moderated "Troll", it could be worse, I think that $2.2M mark is about the budjet for the school systems for the entire state of Florida.
Now if you think this is a troll, you obviously know NOTHING of the Florida school systems - they are the worst in the country! I grew up in Michigan with excellent PUBLIC schools, the ones down here in Florida are an insult to this country's capabilities! I can give TONS of examples... most of which can be found with google.
Don't believe me? How about something from the research channel to back me up?
http://researchchannel.org/program/displayevent. as p?rid=1043
Florida was dead last when it came to the most BASIC questions of science: What causes the seasons?
So for the moderators who think this is a troll, think about if for a second - you should either find it informative, or humorous. Unless, of course, your a typical Florida moron who thinks he/she's actually well educated! (now that's funny!)
I signed up for AT&T's worldnet service many years ago over the phone with my credit card. Within 30 minutes I was online (was running Linux, so did everything by hand). Within that time period, my BRAND NEW account/email address had recieved SIX SPAM MESSAGES!
Since that time, they added a 2nd way to reach that account (1st was username@worldnet.att.net, 2nd is username@att.net), which IMMEDIATELY started recieving many dozens of SPAM per day. This is an UNUSED address that I've NEVER given out to ANYONE! The only good thing about the way they did that is I dump every single email that goes to the 2nd address straight to a "spam" folder. I still get tons on the 1st account, but no-where near as many (only about 30-50/day).
AT&T IS SCUM, there's NO WAY they're using this patent AGAINST the SPAMmers!
BellSouth is just as bad too. I used to have them, but dumped 'em years ago after they went (further) down the toilet. A friend uses them now... forced to by our current "administration" (scumbags in office) and their new law that kicked DirecTVDSL out of operation. He and his wife now get TONS of incredibly explicit, pornographic (and other sexual) SPAM at an unbelievable rate. THEY HAVE SMALL CHILDREN! (that don't need to increase their ejaculation by 600%, increase their penis-size (puberty will do that, in several years), etc.) Luckily, he's a geek like me and set up a SPAM filter at home on one of his Linux servers.
I can't believe how scummy companies get when they have enough money to buy our congresscritters!
The HipTop/Sidekick is definately cool, but don't plan to do much work via the ssh client. I just got my system update (so finally have access to the ssh client), and while nice in an emergency, the lag is beyond horrible (think 300 baud modem and an Apple ][).
I love this unit's user-interface... the wheel design is great for using it one-handed, but I'd really love to hear someone's experiences with the Nokia 9290 Communicator. The Nokia has a huge array of apps you can download and install yourself. The HipTop/Sidekick has only a tiny handful of apps that are provided by Danger. You can't install something from anyone else. Both units run Java, but you can't really do anything with it on the Sidekick... not even in the web browser! Also, the Nokia not only runs Java applets, it also runs Java in the browser, plus Flash, I think even MPEG4(video) and many other things the Sidekick can't do. The only drawback is it's large (but that can be a plus: 640x200 display!!), and it's damned near impossible to get in South Florida. By the time I finally found a guy willing to sell me one, I was already locked into my T-Mobile contract and was over the 30-day mark so couldn't return/change/cancel anything.
IM is great for a quick note that does not need archived info, like "hey, ready for lunch?", etc.
News has many features ideal for business, and better than IRC due to the ease of following a conversation after-the-fact.
With email, if you have a group of people discussing a topic, every single person gets a copy, and someone joining in later will have no way of knowing the previous conversation.
With news, all the data is stored centrally and only looked at by people who want to look at it (ie: not pushed to every machine in the list). With news, anyone coming into the conversation can very easily see the entire thread, so they'll be able to catch up and know what's going on in the conversation. News is also much easier to archive than email (if needed), since there's only one copy of each message (instead of dozens or hundreds with an email list). You can not only create per-department newsgroups, but break them down further into per-project groups, etc. (think about the newsgroup heirarchy). If you're not familiar with newsgroups, I suggest downloading a newsreader (NOT A WEB-BASED SYSTEM!) and explore for a few days. You'll soon understand how useful they can be (much moreso than a weblog/blog/lg/othername).
I've seen newsgroups used in an extremely large corporation (where I used to work) and it was extremely useful.
"The ice-like methane deposits can break off and become gaseous as they rise, creating bubbles at the surface."
Pretty pathetic that this "scientist" just rehashes a decades-old theory dealing with methyl-hydrate, without even calling it by name.
One cool thing about the program on Discovery that others have already mentioned, is that they show a chunk of the stuff that a guy pulled up from the bottom... he lit it while holding it in his hand!
I grew up taking things apart to see how they worked... just like my big brother, but unlike him - I put them back together (and they worked).
I was rebuilding motorcycles and building home-made go-karts (with motorcycle and snowmobile engines, lawn-tractor tires, etc.) as a young teen, and got hooked on computers the first time I saw one... ah, the number of nights I got such a small amount of sleep because I couldn't stop coding in assembly on my new (at the time) Apple//c!
Since then I've gotten much worse. My first car was my Grandma's '72 Duster with a slant-6. Rather than do the oh-so-common V8 swap, I decided to do the geek thing and hopped up the/6! I lost count of the number of times I had to pop the hood to prove to a GM V8 driver that I wasn't kidding about my powerplant! (after dusting him off hitting 2nd!)
I now drive a mildly modified (still undergoing the transformations) 2nd-gen RX-7 Turbo II, a 1976 Triumph TR7 (was a basket-case when I bought her), and am restoring a 1980 TR8 convertible. I'm also restoring a 1970 Kawasaki Mach III 500 (triple 2-stroker)... the model frequently refered to as "Satan's Chainsaw".
As for computers, I switched to Linux (completely) back in 1992 (tried FreeBSD a couple times) for my home systems, and became a SunOS/Solaris sysadmin back in '95. I only have 5 systems at home at the moment, but 4 of them are dual-processor (one's a notebook), and two are SPARCstations.
I'm also into electronics, and plan to megasquirt at least one, possibly all 3 of my cars.
I think I'd have to answer "YES!" to your question.
NTSC has 525 (or is it 575?) lines of resolution (since it's analog, horizontal is indeterminate).
Every USB "webcam" I've seen maxes out at 352x288 (at best). This is a limitation of the hardware itself, they use 352x288 1/4" CMOS imagers.
USB cameras interpolate to 640x480.
BrookTree cards can handle 640x480 streaming real-time (30 real frames per second). That data rate is impossible with USB(1).
The question was for motion capture. Forget the misleading labels on your webcam box, try and capture at 352x288 (the maximum hardware resolution) and see how many frames/second you actually get. The only time you'll get 30fps out of a USB camera is if you set the resolution to a tiny fraction of its already pathetic capabilities.
Slashdot Mirror
" denaturalized ethanol(that's made to taste like crap, like really really crap)."
I wouldn't know... I try to avoid drinking things that cause blindness and death.
Nope... it proves my point.
Instead of poisoning the ethanol with methanol, they poison it with 15% gasoline (probably because it's cheaper).
Either way it prevents people from drinking it.
My point is that they won't make something that runs on pure ethanol because they can't sell pure ethanol - the dept. of Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms would take issue with that.
Simple, you can't drink methanol.
If they made it run on ethanol, moonshine would have to be legalized.
This is why, when you go to Home Depot to buy a gallon can of alcohol for cleaning or fuel, it's denatured (ethanol mixed with methanol to poison it).
No, you can't run it on cheap vodka, whiskey, or any other kind of legally sold consumable alcohol, as there's far too many impurities - it would destroy the cell.
Now making it run on denatured alcohol would be ideal, since it is readily available and extremely inexpensive. I'm not sure it won't run on it, in fact it probably will.
Tried already, closest I came was this page which, unfortunately, lacked the necessary images for my card (GTS, not MX as I mis-stated above). Also tried emailing porotuner@yahoo.com, but it bounced.
Maybe someone else out there has a copy? (please post 'em!)
Maybe it's time to switch to a Radeon anyways... the severe instability of the NVidia drivers has left me using the open-source drivers (with no 3D/GL).
"I'm still working on a 3DFX Banshee here (voodoo 2.5) My only other cards are voodoo3's, and a card so old that its unsupported in linux(but not win98(!?))."
Not sure where you get your info, but Linux doesn't really support anything other than the basics (eg: VGA).
I think you mean XFree86... and yes, the Voodoo3 is well supported (it uses the exact same driver as the Banshee, which I also own) and has been for a very long time (note the reference to 3.3.6).
Unfortunately, the link from the page you list (the one with the actual how-to info) is 404.
Any idea of a mirror of this, most valuable, information?
I have a GeForce2MX that I've not considered being the problem... I thought it was my monitor. I've messed with the contrast and brightness an insane amount in an attempt to get it to look decent with no luck.
Thanks!
When is titanium going to come down in price anyways? (been over 2 years now)
We need to be using new alloys for things like this instead of cell-phones!
Structural fatigue is a common fear for the shuttle and can be eliminated!
"...as a space shuttle replacement is looking less likely by the day."
So are we going back to the moon (and to Mars) or are we going to keep NASA's budget a nearly incalculable fraction of the defense department's?
It is plainly obvious to me the reason that Bush suddenly wants to get back to the moon (and eventually Mars): Commerce, big-business, the only thing he's interested in.
I'm afraid this will end up starting a war with China over who owns the moon and Mars. After all, we've abandoned the moon (31 years ago), so it's open for claim.
It all depends on what you have to work with.
If they have the money for a Sun Ray farm, that would be the easiest to administer (for a Solaris admin). Once they're set up, that's it - done, zero maintenance (except creating accounts, which you could have just a set of guest accounts or something). They're well under $400 each, and Universities get a _nice_ discount. The only problem is you'd have to get yourself a Solaris box to run the Sun Ray Server software. Figure on a few hundred for a decent one on ebay.
The cheapest way to go would be the open source thin-client way. Linux. There are several Linux thin client solutions out there, just google for "linux thin client". For the server, you wouldn't need much, depending on how "thin" the thin clients are. You won't need a router, just a hub or switch (under $50), as you'll be using IP Masquerading on the server. You'll need to do it this way due to their connection - everyone will have to share a single IP.
So, basically... Solaris is easier for them to administer (after you leave), and Linux is cheaper. Linux could be just as easy for them to admin, _if_ you set it up properly, but this requires more work on your part (not sure what kind of time-frame you're dealing with). Sun Rays, in comparison, are as easy to hook up as a TV set (not kidding)!
Us: Have you worked with NIS?
Him: -blank stare-
Us: YP?
Him: -blank stare-
Us: "Yellow Pages"
Him: Oh yeah! I know how to use the phone book!
I left the room as I couldn't hold back from laughing any more. The entire interview, before and after (I'm told), went that way.
No, I am NOT kidding... this was a guy who claimed extensive Solaris & SunOS experience, and we were the admin team for a 750 node all-Solaris/SunOS network at a major corporation.
I've screened resumes that listed 20 years of Solaris experience (back in '96-'97)... I was tempted to ask how he compensated for the temporal anomalies.
Sad part is, I've seen the same thing (too many times to count) on job postings! Ones that specifically state to not contact them unless you meet their minimum requirements.
"That said, I would treat a Solaris system as BSDish, since it is a BSD derivative..."
/usr/ucb/ps or it will run the SVR4 ps in /usr/bin/.
Nope, sorry.
SunOS 4.x.x (later renamed Solaris 1.x) was a BSD derivative.
Solaris 2.x or just x (SunOS 5.x) is based on AT&T Unix with a bit of backward compatiblilty extras thrown in for people migrating from SunOS 4.x.x.
If you want to use the BSD-style ps in Solaris, you have to specify the path
Having administered both for many years, I agree with the interview question... the person should definately be able to answer such a simple question if they claim extensive experience in both.
As I said in a post that got moderated "Troll", it could be worse, I think that $2.2M mark is about the budjet for the school systems for the entire state of Florida.
. as p?rid=1043
Now if you think this is a troll, you obviously know NOTHING of the Florida school systems - they are the worst in the country! I grew up in Michigan with excellent PUBLIC schools, the ones down here in Florida are an insult to this country's capabilities! I can give TONS of examples... most of which can be found with google.
Don't believe me? How about something from the research channel to back me up?
http://researchchannel.org/program/displayevent
Florida was dead last when it came to the most BASIC questions of science: What causes the seasons?
So for the moderators who think this is a troll, think about if for a second - you should either find it informative, or humorous. Unless, of course, your a typical Florida moron who thinks he/she's actually well educated! (now that's funny!)
I think that $2.2M mark is about the budjet for the school systems for the entire state of FloriDUH.
I signed up for AT&T's worldnet service many years ago over the phone with my credit card.
Within 30 minutes I was online (was running Linux, so did everything by hand).
Within that time period, my BRAND NEW account/email address had recieved SIX SPAM MESSAGES!
Since that time, they added a 2nd way to reach that account (1st was username@worldnet.att.net, 2nd is username@att.net), which IMMEDIATELY started recieving many dozens of SPAM per day.
This is an UNUSED address that I've NEVER given out to ANYONE!
The only good thing about the way they did that is I dump every single email that goes to the 2nd address straight to a "spam" folder. I still get tons on the 1st account, but no-where near as many (only about 30-50/day).
AT&T IS SCUM, there's NO WAY they're using this patent AGAINST the SPAMmers!
BellSouth is just as bad too. I used to have them, but dumped 'em years ago after they went (further) down the toilet.
A friend uses them now... forced to by our current "administration" (scumbags in office) and their new law that kicked DirecTVDSL out of operation.
He and his wife now get TONS of incredibly explicit, pornographic (and other sexual) SPAM at an unbelievable rate.
THEY HAVE SMALL CHILDREN! (that don't need to increase their ejaculation by 600%, increase their penis-size (puberty will do that, in several years), etc.)
Luckily, he's a geek like me and set up a SPAM filter at home on one of his Linux servers.
I can't believe how scummy companies get when they have enough money to buy our congresscritters!
The HipTop/Sidekick is definately cool, but don't plan to do much work via the ssh client. I just got my system update (so finally have access to the ssh client), and while nice in an emergency, the lag is beyond horrible (think 300 baud modem and an Apple ][).
I love this unit's user-interface... the wheel design is great for using it one-handed, but I'd really love to hear someone's experiences with the Nokia 9290 Communicator. The Nokia has a huge array of apps you can download and install yourself. The HipTop/Sidekick has only a tiny handful of apps that are provided by Danger. You can't install something from anyone else. Both units run Java, but you can't really do anything with it on the Sidekick... not even in the web browser! Also, the Nokia not only runs Java applets, it also runs Java in the browser, plus Flash, I think even MPEG4(video) and many other things the Sidekick can't do. The only drawback is it's large (but that can be a plus: 640x200 display!!), and it's damned near impossible to get in South Florida. By the time I finally found a guy willing to sell me one, I was already locked into my T-Mobile contract and was over the 30-day mark so couldn't return/change/cancel anything.
IM is great for a quick note that does not need archived info, like "hey, ready for lunch?", etc.
News has many features ideal for business, and better than IRC due to the ease of following a conversation after-the-fact.
With email, if you have a group of people discussing a topic, every single person gets a copy, and someone joining in later will have no way of knowing the previous conversation.
With news, all the data is stored centrally and only looked at by people who want to look at it (ie: not pushed to every machine in the list).
With news, anyone coming into the conversation can very easily see the entire thread, so they'll be able to catch up and know what's going on in the conversation.
News is also much easier to archive than email (if needed), since there's only one copy of each message (instead of dozens or hundreds with an email list).
You can not only create per-department newsgroups, but break them down further into per-project groups, etc. (think about the newsgroup heirarchy).
If you're not familiar with newsgroups, I suggest downloading a newsreader (NOT A WEB-BASED SYSTEM!) and explore for a few days.
You'll soon understand how useful they can be
(much moreso than a weblog/blog/lg/othername).
I've seen newsgroups used in an extremely large corporation (where I used to work) and it was extremely useful.
"The ice-like methane deposits can break off and become gaseous as they rise, creating bubbles at the surface."
Pretty pathetic that this "scientist" just rehashes a decades-old theory dealing with methyl-hydrate, without even calling it by name.
One cool thing about the program on Discovery that others have already mentioned, is that they show a chunk of the stuff that a guy pulled up from the bottom... he lit it while holding it in his hand!
Flaming snowballs are cool!
(literally!)
I've been both for as long as I can remember...
I grew up taking things apart to see how they worked... just like my big brother, but unlike him - I put them back together (and they worked).
I was rebuilding motorcycles and building home-made go-karts (with motorcycle and snowmobile engines, lawn-tractor tires, etc.) as a young teen, and got hooked on computers the first time I saw one... ah, the number of nights I got such a small amount of sleep because I couldn't stop coding in assembly on my new (at the time) Apple
Since then I've gotten much worse.
My first car was my Grandma's '72 Duster with a slant-6.
Rather than do the oh-so-common V8 swap, I decided to do the geek thing and hopped up the
I lost count of the number of times I had to pop the hood to prove to a GM V8 driver that I wasn't kidding about my powerplant! (after dusting him off hitting 2nd!)
I now drive a mildly modified (still undergoing the transformations) 2nd-gen RX-7 Turbo II, a 1976 Triumph TR7 (was a basket-case when I bought her), and am restoring a 1980 TR8 convertible.
I'm also restoring a 1970 Kawasaki Mach III 500 (triple 2-stroker)... the model frequently refered to as "Satan's Chainsaw".
As for computers, I switched to Linux (completely) back in 1992 (tried FreeBSD a couple times) for my home systems, and became a SunOS/Solaris sysadmin back in '95. I only have 5 systems at home at the moment, but 4 of them are dual-processor (one's a notebook), and two are SPARCstations.
I'm also into electronics, and plan to megasquirt at least one, possibly all 3 of my cars.
I think I'd have to answer "YES!" to your question.
You're still at Verizon in Tampa (well, Temple Terrace anyways)?
Too funny... I am SO glad I escaped from that nightmare!
Ack... I spoke too soon.
The ibot2 uses a CMOS sensor (not a CCD), which means it is horrible in low light conditions.
Hey, and it has experimental Linux support.
Very cool! Thanks!
(the comment about speed was due to the fact that the topic of the Ask Slashdot question, and of my posting, was motion capture)
I'm curious which USB webcam can do 640x480 at a reasonable frame rate, even if it does use hardware compression, that works with Linux.
Please let me know, as I know a few people who'd love to get one.
Brand and model please?
Please give examples of these magical webcams that can do 640x480 at 30fps over USB1.
We should use this wonderful technology to get a few orders of magnatude higher throughput over all serial data lines!
You're not going to convince anyone that you can do real-time video at any reasonable resolution with USB1.
NTSC has 525 (or is it 575?) lines of resolution
(since it's analog, horizontal is indeterminate).
Every USB "webcam" I've seen maxes out at 352x288 (at best).
This is a limitation of the hardware itself, they use 352x288 1/4" CMOS imagers.
USB cameras interpolate to 640x480.
BrookTree cards can handle 640x480 streaming real-time (30 real frames per second).
That data rate is impossible with USB(1).
The question was for motion capture.
Forget the misleading labels on your webcam box, try and capture at 352x288 (the maximum hardware resolution) and see how many frames/second you actually get.
The only time you'll get 30fps out of a USB camera is if you set the resolution to a tiny fraction of its already pathetic capabilities.