True. Large numbers are much easier to remember when they're grouped together up to four digits at a time, as I recall. That's why lots of phone, social security, etc. numbers are organized that way.
I had the exact same idea yesterday while talking to a friend. I dismissed it because I'd probably be jailed for DMCA violation (copying a buffer overflow mechanism), "damages" (down time for server restarts), and being a "hacker".;-)
...but only to a point. I really like Farscape and Lexx, but they still have some little annoyances. The last season of Lexx (Fire & Water) was a little too dragged out. Maybe it'll make more sense as this season explores the plot more.
My only annoyance with Farscape is that they seem to kill off a major character every other episode and then bring him/her back before long. It's not as annoying as it was when they did the wassup-style screaming of the person's name, though. I think they've killed everyone but a few of the main characters at least once now.
I've had similar problems, but when I looked in my IE plugins directory, I noticed the quicktime plugins follow the Netscape plugin API. So I just copied one of those over, and it worked fine.
Find e-mail addresses of people at the offending company and subscribe them to their own service. Surely they would like to take advantage of the wonderful spam they offer!
I'm also developing something similar. I'd use PalmAMP, except it doesn't work with my Visor's USB interface (not to mention their site's been dead for quite some time).
Also, the software design I have in mind for selecting things mostly uses the hardware buttons (so I don't have to take my eyes off the road) and the screen interface is more like the Nomad Jukebox in that it's hierarchical and categorized by artist, album, and song, or by playlist.
They've had cases to shape watermelon and other plants on the consumer market for quite some time in novelty catalogs. The ones I saw (I think they were in Things You Never Knew Existed were for pumpkins) allowed them to grow into strange faces.
Actually coming up with a practical use for it seems pretty cool--rectangular objects do stack and store much more nicely. I do admit, though, it would be rather strange to see a pyramid of these things stacked up at the grocery store.
Well, that's just it. They do give people false hopes. They've made lots of promises and bailed out on them, disappointing a lot of the fans in the process. Many of the requests I've heard people make of them really aren't that absurd, but have fallen upon deaf ears. Hell, they already get bombareded with e-mail from people who don't read or care about their policies.
It just seems like such a copout... They rule the Star Wars story with an iron fist--many people I've known have gotten cease-and-desist orders from them for making add-ons. While they're certainly within their rights to control their intellectual property, it's very discouraging when they try to control something that's obviously become larger than just a story. It's part of our culture now, and like any popular myth, it has a tendency to expand.
George Lucas himself has applauded several groups that create parodies or derivative short films based on Star Wars. Why can't they extend the same courtesy to gamers who just want to have fun?
Good luck. LucasArts doesn't care about what people want; they even have a strict policy to throw out any sort of communications that contain ideas for their games. See subsection 4 of their terms of use.
They've been petitioned countless times, to no avail...and their attempts to show that they listen to their customers turned out to be nothing but back-patting sessions for themselves.
So...wait...if eight times six is 42, then what is 49?
I'm going to miss Douglas Adams. I've always admired his unique style of writing; the hitchhiker's guide books are the most entertaining I've ever read. So long, Mr. Adams, and thanks for all the laughs.
Read the article. It says a traditional pulley system isn't viable, but a maglev-style elevator might work (and could even generate electricity as the thing slows down).
The gesturing feature in B&W is very cool, IMHO. I haven't tried it with a trackball, but I've seen it work with a mouse and pretty well with a touchpad.
I was fascinated by the gestural interface on the shuttles in Earth: Final Conflict. In many ways it seems to be a very intuitive and natural way to control things. It would be interesting to have a gesture recognition device that would allow us to use our actual hand (or hands) to make gestures without cumbersome things like gloves. It would, of course, have additional advantages: people who know sign language could even use a sophisticated system to type.
In the meantime, I'll settle for the traditional way of giving people the finger.;-)
Nothing we have can see extrasolar planets. The planets that have been detected thus far (AFAIK) have all been roughly the size of Jupiter or larger, and were detected indirectly by looking at the motion of the parent star. The gravitational pull between the star and its satellites causes the star to "wobble" from our perspective. That is, of course, only if the system's axis is mostly perpendicular to our viewpoint. If it's parallel, a doppler shift measurement can be used.
So while the Keck Interferometer may not provide an actual look at a planet, the increased clarity *should* allow us to detect the smaller wobbling caused by smaller orbiting masses (they estimate Earth-sized). At least, that's my interpretation of all of this.
Slashdot Mirror
But it's already a free service, and in theaters you get to choose what movie you want to see.
The line was actually "Neptune and back in six minutes." so it's twice as fast...though I do agree, the travel time does appear to have been fudged.
I didn't voice an opinion on the topic, I merely stated that it was covered in the article.
The article says they're testing it with cologne and other products with alcohol in them and none have triggered a false alarm yet.
True. Large numbers are much easier to remember when they're grouped together up to four digits at a time, as I recall. That's why lots of phone, social security, etc. numbers are organized that way.
I had the exact same idea yesterday while talking to a friend. I dismissed it because I'd probably be jailed for DMCA violation (copying a buffer overflow mechanism), "damages" (down time for server restarts), and being a "hacker". ;-)
...but only to a point. I really like Farscape and Lexx, but they still have some little annoyances. The last season of Lexx (Fire & Water) was a little too dragged out. Maybe it'll make more sense as this season explores the plot more.
My only annoyance with Farscape is that they seem to kill off a major character every other episode and then bring him/her back before long. It's not as annoying as it was when they did the wassup-style screaming of the person's name, though. I think they've killed everyone but a few of the main characters at least once now.
I've had similar problems, but when I looked in my IE plugins directory, I noticed the quicktime plugins follow the Netscape plugin API. So I just copied one of those over, and it worked fine.
Yeah, not to mention all of the computers driving it. A 40-node Linux cluster for the finished one? Geez...how about another computer lab instead? ;-)
Find e-mail addresses of people at the offending company and subscribe them to their own service. Surely they would like to take advantage of the wonderful spam they offer!
You don't think of rotting corpses when you hear the words already? =)
I'm also developing something similar. I'd use PalmAMP, except it doesn't work with my Visor's USB interface (not to mention their site's been dead for quite some time).
Also, the software design I have in mind for selecting things mostly uses the hardware buttons (so I don't have to take my eyes off the road) and the screen interface is more like the Nomad Jukebox in that it's hierarchical and categorized by artist, album, and song, or by playlist.
I think it would be funny if they got Dean Stockwell to be the chief engineer.
;-)
It'd be like Space Quest V... the captain walks into engineering and he's kicking away at the console to fix it.
OK, maybe not.
PayPal does something like that, as I recall.
Kellogg's lawyers are going to have a field day.
Actually coming up with a practical use for it seems pretty cool--rectangular objects do stack and store much more nicely. I do admit, though, it would be rather strange to see a pyramid of these things stacked up at the grocery store.
"Any ass can publish on the internet."
It just seems like such a copout... They rule the Star Wars story with an iron fist--many people I've known have gotten cease-and-desist orders from them for making add-ons. While they're certainly within their rights to control their intellectual property, it's very discouraging when they try to control something that's obviously become larger than just a story. It's part of our culture now, and like any popular myth, it has a tendency to expand.
George Lucas himself has applauded several groups that create parodies or derivative short films based on Star Wars. Why can't they extend the same courtesy to gamers who just want to have fun?
They've been petitioned countless times, to no avail...and their attempts to show that they listen to their customers turned out to be nothing but back-patting sessions for themselves.
And if I sound bitter, it's because I am. +)
Frell, never try to work with numbers after staying up all night... Nine times six. =p
So...wait...if eight times six is 42, then what is 49?
I'm going to miss Douglas Adams. I've always admired his unique style of writing; the hitchhiker's guide books are the most entertaining I've ever read. So long, Mr. Adams, and thanks for all the laughs.
Read the article. It says a traditional pulley system isn't viable, but a maglev-style elevator might work (and could even generate electricity as the thing slows down).
The gesturing feature in B&W is very cool, IMHO. I haven't tried it with a trackball, but I've seen it work with a mouse and pretty well with a touchpad.
;-)
I was fascinated by the gestural interface on the shuttles in Earth: Final Conflict. In many ways it seems to be a very intuitive and natural way to control things. It would be interesting to have a gesture recognition device that would allow us to use our actual hand (or hands) to make gestures without cumbersome things like gloves. It would, of course, have additional advantages: people who know sign language could even use a sophisticated system to type.
In the meantime, I'll settle for the traditional way of giving people the finger.
Microsoft didn't even make the first version of DirectX. They bought it from a small company which has now turned into WildTangent.
I'm no professional, but...
Nothing we have can see extrasolar planets. The planets that have been detected thus far (AFAIK) have all been roughly the size of Jupiter or larger, and were detected indirectly by looking at the motion of the parent star. The gravitational pull between the star and its satellites causes the star to "wobble" from our perspective. That is, of course, only if the system's axis is mostly perpendicular to our viewpoint. If it's parallel, a doppler shift measurement can be used.
So while the Keck Interferometer may not provide an actual look at a planet, the increased clarity *should* allow us to detect the smaller wobbling caused by smaller orbiting masses (they estimate Earth-sized). At least, that's my interpretation of all of this.