I've been using CRT monitors since 1993. I can stare at them all day long as the refresh rate is 75 Hz or higher. At 60 Hz, my eyes get tired out pretty quickly.
As for LCD monitors, I bought one years ago for home use and had to sell it off on Ebay months later when I realized it was giving me eye strain (the effect is noticeable after a few minutes... strain at the temples). For the next 7 years, I avoided LCD monitors when possible, eventually becoming the last person in a 100+ person office to use still CRTs (since I didn't want to give them up at work or home). Even kept using CRT TVs. My theory at the time was fluorescent back lighting was the culprit, since fluorescent lights gave me similar eye strain. To my horror, I got a LED backlit LCD monitor at work and still got the same headaches/eyestrain.
Then one day I realized I was looking at my cell phone screen all the time with zero eyestrain (HTC Incredible, original version as when first released). I was puzzled, until I read that this particular model uses AMOLED display, which is different than normal TFT displays, since the pixels themselves provide the brightness.
Next, I searched to find a test which could stimulate my eye strain pretty quickly. Behold, the test: http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/inversion.php This test creates eye straining flicker for me on regular LCD displays, but not on CRT and AMOLED displays. Hooray. Given this test, I've found some LCD laptop displays to be more bearable than others. For example, Apple Macbook Air (circa 2012) does pretty well on most of the Inversion Walk tests, but not all. My Dell Latitude E6430 (2013) does even better. So good, that I can use that laptop most of the day with its built in LCD screen. Hopefully I'll eventually find a LCD desktop monitor that does well with the Inversion Walk tests. In the meantime, I dream of color e-ink with fast response times, or an affordable AMOLED monitor.
On a side note: older compact fluorescent bulbs gave me similar eye strain. Seems the newest generation of bulbs are bearable, so hopefully I don't have to hoard 60 W incandescents if/when they are banned.
I was also hoping to find a software solution to lock USB ports for Windows XP Home Edition, but the closest thing I could find was this incorrect Microsoft knowledge base article: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb; en-us;823732 Windows XP Home Edition doesn't let you set ACL security on files, so their directions are incorrect. Furthermore, I tried the change to the USBSTOR registry key they mention, and it had no effect on my USB thumb drive.
I've heard about sys admins crazy gluing USB ports closed, but having a physical lock on the port instead seems a better idea. I found one company seeing a USB/lock and key set: http://www.lindy.com/us/productfolder/04/40454/ind ex.php http://www.lindy.com/us/catalog/07/01a/index.php but I don't have the impression that the key is unique, so what's stopping me from buying the product and unlocking someone else using the same product?
I left Sprint just a few months ago. Months before my contract had expired, they renewed it without my permission (thankfully they send confirmation by snail mail), and when I called to ask them why they did so, they claimed I actually had called them to renew it! I was able to get them to undo it. But the saga continues... months later when the contract expired, I switched to another cell phone company. What does Sprint do? They slap me with the $200 cancellation fee. Once again, I called their billing department and got it fixed, but that ensured I will never do business with them again if they keep trying to steal my money.
I made an anonymous gift giving wiki (very much like Secret Santa, but better) among my friends. See:
http://www.toastedalmonds.org/secretsanta
Makes cheating very hard to do (except for the main administrator). Its a challenging setup in terms of access-control lists. This is the second year in a row I've used this system, and it works very well. People can be cheap or as generous as they please.
I'm extremely sensitive to bright light. I've found that LCD screens are much too bright for me, even at their lowest brightness setting. Part of the problem is their fluorescent backlighting. Ditch the LCD and go back to CRT (with at least 75 Hz refresh setting), and your eyes should feel better.
I'm the founder of the Videogame Music Archive, one of the largest online midi archives. We have a FAQ page which has an entry addressing this issue. For your reading pleasure:
A remix is any song that is intentionally altered to sound dramatically different than the original. An example of a remix would be the theme to Super Mario Bros. redone into a Death Metal/Techno song. Usually a remix involves changing notes, inserting new music in the middle (Or music from another game), or a major change in style. Music redone to take advantage of the MIDI format, such as a song from the original Final Fantasy sequenced to be played by a full orchestra, probably wouldn't be considered a remix, as long as the song itself remains intact (But rather would be considered an "Arrangement").
We'll accept well done remixes. It is entirely up to us to decide what is a well done remix. It must be musically coherent and flow well, and it must be more than a simple changing of instruments and addition of a drum beat. The ZHQ Zelda Dance Remix is a good example of the type of file we're likely to accept (Although that particular song is one we will not accept, so please, STOP UPLOADING IT!).
To reiterate, since people don't seem to grasp the concept, adding a drum beat, changing an instrument, and slapping a lame title (As in "TiWanaKu TapF00t Remix") on it DOES NOT MAKE A REMIX. Don't send us garbage like that. Got it? Furthermore, the word "Intentional" in the first sentence is an important one. The dramatically different sound cannot be a result of your musical incompetence. If you have to call a song a "Remix" to justify the criminal action you've taken against the melody, then your file is not welcome here. Come back when you can tell the difference between a C# and a G.
If you care to discuss this topic further, check out the VGMusic Forum.
Freedom is the ability to do something without the fear of punishment.
For example, my ability to practise Judiasm in the US without fear of persecution typifies "freedom of religion" in the idealistic sense. But a more devout Jew is not necessilary free in a total sense. Employers might not allow days off for Jewish Holidays, or even more important Friday night/Saturdays for the sabbath. Someone may be ridiculed by a co-worker for wearing a kippah. Of course a more devout Jew (which I'm not) could work for a different employer, and only deal with people who accept the way he dresses. (Doesn't this sound familiar... RMS would say you shouldn't work for an employer who makes your write proprietary software.)
The point here is freedom is not something that one person has, but rather is a state of mind between two or more people. If you are accidentially stuck alone on an island, freedom has no meaning. You may not have the *ability* to leave the island, but freedom itself has no context since you are not dealing with other people.
Now taking the island concept further: if you live on an isolated (from the rest of the world) island with friends and family, you could copy / modify / distribute software all you want if its mutually agreed that that's okay. Many people have considered their personal and other friend's/family's computers to be such an island. With the internet though, you are in full contact at all times with people / government / etc. who are set on punishing for such acts.
So keep in mind, you can fight for freedom all you want from a legalistic / systematic / technical / software-based way, but ultimately, freedom is a mutal agreement between people. Whenever someone is out there who is willing to punish you in some extent for what you are doing, you have a noticable reduction in your freedom. Of course, if value your freedom, you then must fight for it.
The obsession to endow software with the concept of freedom is thus misleading. People have freedom, software does not. So GPL-licensed software is *freedom-enabling* software (to a certain extent). Its using copyright law to prevent other people from punishing you.
So as we look towards a revised GPL 3.0, we should really keep in mind separate ideas of "freedom" and "ability". We need the ability to have source code availible in order to modify/understand software many years down the line (even after threat of copyright expires). Just as we need the freedom to create software without the threat of punishment by frivolous software patents.
When looking at the GPL, thus imagine it in two ways: 1) If I isolated, what abilities does the GPL ensure I still have? (access to source code, ability to modify, ability to copy, etc.) 2) As I deal with other people, what punishments am I trying to prevent? (copyright hoops to jump thru, ridiculous licensing restrictions, patent lawsuits)
I propose promoting the term "General Public Licensed Software" (abbreviated GPL Software when possible).
Runner up: "free domain software" 1) People are familiar with the related, but not identical term of "public domain" 2) "free domain" sounds close to "freedom", or "freedom in"
Another: Syndicated Software (very business-like)
If you can't beat 'em, use their names.
on
Examining Bittorrent
·
· Score: 2, Funny
Make a music sharing program called RIAA, and a video sharing program MPAA.
Then follow-up and make an overall sharing program called CopyRight.
Man, you're so wrong. The tracker only hosts the.torrent files, if that!
Actually, the tracker has to have the full file available to be the initial seed. So even if there are enough seeds later, I'd say there is a good argument that the person running the tracker is responsible for the initial distribution and subject to the greatest liability.
Pipe the text output from a chatbot to a text-to-speech program.
Then, use a speech recognition software package to listen to the audio and see how well it picks up the words.
If you are good, you can have two computers, both with talking and listening capability. See what kind of conversation they have. Perhaps it will mimic the conservation of two people with poor hearing.
I go crazy when strange drivers in front of me don't pull far enough up to actual go on top of the loop sensors. This is something that should be taught to all drivers.
This is a sad state of affairs when a "do-gooder" claims that spoofed e-mail has come from my website. So I have to go to 150 different lists, argue with each of them that my site is not a spam sender?
I've had to deal with "do-gooder" situations too often. Blacklists are a cop-out ("A failure to fulfill a commitment or responsibility or to face a difficulty squarely") by ISPs. They are passing their cost of providing e-mail to their customers onto me.
I'd highly recommend a dual-degree (CS and some other major) or switch to another major and get a CS minor.
Computer skills coupled with a degree in another field puts in great shape for getting a first job.
My background is Chemical Engineering undergrad degree. My strong computer skills (Perl, VBA, and the arcane FORTRAN) are what put me over the top in getting hired at an environmental consulting firm (I run air pollution dispersion models, which consequently require tons of data processing of meteorological data. Fun stuff, especially with all the mapping in GIS I get to do!)
Out of my amigos who were CS majors, one works for a car dealership (some computer work, but not his dream job), another joined the Navy because the job market was so bad in his area.
I'd recommend Eletrical Engineering (my university had a combined Eletrical and CS degree) or Chemical Engineering which is also very computer intensive in many of its subfields.
Its not a live-CD, but rather an emulated virtual PC (via QEMU and DamnSmallLinux ISO image) that can run off the hard drive or better yet a USB thumbdrive. It can work with Windows or Linux.
I've tested it on my hard drive and its pretty impressive. It got me to testing QEMU with other live-CD ISO images...
I'd have to disagree with the Television Meteorologist listing.
In New England, most local television news weather forecasts are overseen and reported on air by actual meteorologists, unlike other parts of the country that have untrained "weathermen" (like southern california). In smaller TV markets, or weather is much more stable, or even on radio, you might as well read off government supplied weather forecasts.
They are well paid for TV. (however if you are not on TV, meteorologists get shafted in terms of pay, unless they work as consultants -- usually environmental consultants dealing with air quality issues.)
Also, those guys are instant celebrities around these parts.
Snow predictions are one of the harder predictions to make. These guys basically have to choose between various computer model predictions, and sometime they are far off.
However, my recommendation is don't trust a forecast longer than 24 hours in advance.
Slashdot Mirror
I've been using CRT monitors since 1993. I can stare at them all day long as the refresh rate is 75 Hz or higher. At 60 Hz, my eyes get tired out pretty quickly.
As for LCD monitors, I bought one years ago for home use and had to sell it off on Ebay months later when I realized it was giving me eye strain (the effect is noticeable after a few minutes... strain at the temples). For the next 7 years, I avoided LCD monitors when possible, eventually becoming the last person in a 100+ person office to use still CRTs (since I didn't want to give them up at work or home). Even kept using CRT TVs. My theory at the time was fluorescent back lighting was the culprit, since fluorescent lights gave me similar eye strain. To my horror, I got a LED backlit LCD monitor at work and still got the same headaches/eyestrain.
Then one day I realized I was looking at my cell phone screen all the time with zero eyestrain (HTC Incredible, original version as when first released). I was puzzled, until I read that this particular model uses AMOLED display, which is different than normal TFT displays, since the pixels themselves provide the brightness.
Next, I searched to find a test which could stimulate my eye strain pretty quickly. Behold, the test: http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/inversion.php
This test creates eye straining flicker for me on regular LCD displays, but not on CRT and AMOLED displays. Hooray. Given this test, I've found some LCD laptop displays to be more bearable than others. For example, Apple Macbook Air (circa 2012) does pretty well on most of the Inversion Walk tests, but not all. My Dell Latitude E6430 (2013) does even better. So good, that I can use that laptop most of the day with its built in LCD screen. Hopefully I'll eventually find a LCD desktop monitor that does well with the Inversion Walk tests. In the meantime, I dream of color e-ink with fast response times, or an affordable AMOLED monitor.
On a side note: older compact fluorescent bulbs gave me similar eye strain. Seems the newest generation of bulbs are bearable, so hopefully I don't have to hoard 60 W incandescents if/when they are banned.
Qtweb is a good lightweight choice for older computers.
http://www.qtweb.net/
See also other browser choices at:
http://alternativeto.net/software/qtweb/
For persistent GUI sessions, I generally use nx/nxserver/freenx:
http://freenx.berlios.de/
For console sessions, nothing beats "screen". I use the command "screen -m -R" to create and/or reconnect to an existing session.
I used to like VNC, but I got tired of how difficult it was to set up. On Windows boxes, I stick to Remote Desktop Connection.
I was also hoping to find a software solution to lock USB ports for Windows XP Home Edition, but the closest thing I could find was this incorrect Microsoft knowledge base article:; en-us;823732
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb
Windows XP Home Edition doesn't let you set ACL security on files, so their directions are incorrect. Furthermore, I tried the change to the USBSTOR registry key they mention, and it had no effect on my USB thumb drive.
I've heard about sys admins crazy gluing USB ports closed, but having a physical lock on the port instead seems a better idea. I found one company seeing a USB/lock and key set:d ex.php
http://www.lindy.com/us/productfolder/04/40454/in
http://www.lindy.com/us/catalog/07/01a/index.php
but I don't have the impression that the key is unique, so what's stopping me from buying the product and unlocking someone else using the same product?
I left Sprint just a few months ago. Months before my contract had expired, they renewed it without my permission (thankfully they send confirmation by snail mail), and when I called to ask them why they did so, they claimed I actually had called them to renew it! I was able to get them to undo it. But the saga continues... months later when the contract expired, I switched to another cell phone company. What does Sprint do? They slap me with the $200 cancellation fee. Once again, I called their billing department and got it fixed, but that ensured I will never do business with them again if they keep trying to steal my money.
I made an anonymous gift giving wiki (very much like Secret Santa, but better) among my friends. See: http://www.toastedalmonds.org/secretsanta Makes cheating very hard to do (except for the main administrator). Its a challenging setup in terms of access-control lists. This is the second year in a row I've used this system, and it works very well. People can be cheap or as generous as they please.
I'm extremely sensitive to bright light. I've found that LCD screens are much too bright for me, even at their lowest brightness setting. Part of the problem is their fluorescent backlighting. Ditch the LCD and go back to CRT (with at least 75 Hz refresh setting), and your eyes should feel better.
I'm the founder of the Videogame Music Archive, one of the largest online midi archives. We have a FAQ page which has an entry addressing this issue. For your reading pleasure:
"What is a remix? What is this site's policy on them?"
A remix is any song that is intentionally altered to sound dramatically different than the original. An example of a remix would be the theme to Super Mario Bros. redone into a Death Metal/Techno song. Usually a remix involves changing notes, inserting new music in the middle (Or music from another game), or a major change in style. Music redone to take advantage of the MIDI format, such as a song from the original Final Fantasy sequenced to be played by a full orchestra, probably wouldn't be considered a remix, as long as the song itself remains intact (But rather would be considered an "Arrangement").
We'll accept well done remixes. It is entirely up to us to decide what is a well done remix. It must be musically coherent and flow well, and it must be more than a simple changing of instruments and addition of a drum beat. The ZHQ Zelda Dance Remix is a good example of the type of file we're likely to accept (Although that particular song is one we will not accept, so please, STOP UPLOADING IT!).
To reiterate, since people don't seem to grasp the concept, adding a drum beat, changing an instrument, and slapping a lame title (As in "TiWanaKu TapF00t Remix") on it DOES NOT MAKE A REMIX. Don't send us garbage like that. Got it? Furthermore, the word "Intentional" in the first sentence is an important one. The dramatically different sound cannot be a result of your musical incompetence. If you have to call a song a "Remix" to justify the criminal action you've taken against the melody, then your file is not welcome here. Come back when you can tell the difference between a C# and a G.
If you care to discuss this topic further, check out the VGMusic Forum.
Freedom is the ability to do something without the fear of punishment.
For example, my ability to practise Judiasm in the US without fear of persecution typifies "freedom of religion" in the idealistic sense. But a more devout Jew is not necessilary free in a total sense. Employers might not allow days off for Jewish Holidays, or even more important Friday night/Saturdays for the sabbath. Someone may be ridiculed by a co-worker for wearing a kippah. Of course a more devout Jew (which I'm not) could work for a different employer, and only deal with people who accept the way he dresses. (Doesn't this sound familiar... RMS would say you shouldn't work for an employer who makes your write proprietary software.)
The point here is freedom is not something that one person has, but rather is a state of mind between two or more people. If you are accidentially stuck alone on an island, freedom has no meaning. You may not have the *ability* to leave the island, but freedom itself has no context since you are not dealing with other people.
Now taking the island concept further: if you live on an isolated (from the rest of the world) island with friends and family, you could copy / modify / distribute software all you want if its mutually agreed that that's okay. Many people have considered their personal and other friend's/family's computers to be such an island. With the internet though, you are in full contact at all times with people / government / etc. who are set on punishing for such acts.
So keep in mind, you can fight for freedom all you want from a legalistic / systematic / technical / software-based way, but ultimately, freedom is a mutal agreement between people. Whenever someone is out there who is willing to punish you in some extent for what you are doing, you have a noticable reduction in your freedom. Of course, if value your freedom, you then must fight for it.
The obsession to endow software with the concept of freedom is thus misleading. People have freedom, software does not. So GPL-licensed software is *freedom-enabling* software (to a certain extent). Its using copyright law to prevent other people from punishing you.
So as we look towards a revised GPL 3.0, we should really keep in mind separate ideas of "freedom" and "ability". We need the ability to have source code availible in order to modify/understand software many years down the line (even after threat of copyright expires). Just as we need the freedom to create software without the threat of punishment by frivolous software patents.
When looking at the GPL, thus imagine it in two ways:
1) If I isolated, what abilities does the GPL ensure I still have? (access to source code, ability to modify, ability to copy, etc.)
2) As I deal with other people, what punishments am I trying to prevent? (copyright hoops to jump thru, ridiculous licensing restrictions, patent lawsuits)
Some current Stage 5 situation: (FOSS community begins to slowly but inexorably erode the technical lead held by the commercial offerings)
WS_FTP --> Filezilla
Winzip --> 7-zip
I'd be interested in seeing what factors it takes to push the above into Stage 6 (FOSS version dominates).
I propose promoting the term "General Public Licensed Software" (abbreviated GPL Software when possible).
Runner up: "free domain software"
1) People are familiar with the related, but not identical term of "public domain"
2) "free domain" sounds close to "freedom", or "freedom in"
Another:
Syndicated Software (very business-like)
Make a music sharing program called RIAA, and a video sharing program MPAA.
Then follow-up and make an overall sharing program called CopyRight.
I had a similar complaint about FireFox when I first started using it. But I found these two solutions:
1) Use "Control-K"
or
2) Use "Control-L" and then "Tab"
I prefer to use the second method.
I'd recommend supporting JETS.
Its a memorable experience for high school students.
Its basically a test-based competition with a group of students work together to solve different problems/questions.
Introduces students to engineering in a very fun way. Plus anything that results in a day off from school is awesome.
Man, you're so wrong. The tracker only hosts the .torrent files, if that!
Actually, the tracker has to have the full file available to be the initial seed. So even if there are enough seeds later, I'd say there is a good argument that the person running the tracker is responsible for the initial distribution and subject to the greatest liability.
IANAL, just the paranoid founder of the world's largest video game music archive.
Proposed Experiment for Bored Hackers:
Pipe the text output from a chatbot to a text-to-speech program.
Then, use a speech recognition software package to listen to the audio and see how well it picks up the words.
If you are good, you can have two computers, both with talking and listening capability. See what kind of conversation they have. Perhaps it will mimic the conservation of two people with poor hearing.
Insipration for the above experiment: What Happens When Chat Bots Talk to Each Other
Yes, its usually induction:
Howstuffworks: How does a traffic light detect that a car has pulled up and is waiting for the light to change?
Connecticut has these in many intersections.
I go crazy when strange drivers in front of me don't pull far enough up to actual go on top of the loop sensors. This is something that should be taught to all drivers.
I love slashdot.
"With over 150 public blocklists out there"
This is a sad state of affairs when a "do-gooder" claims that spoofed e-mail has come from my website. So I have to go to 150 different lists, argue with each of them that my site is not a spam sender?
I've had to deal with "do-gooder" situations too often. Blacklists are a cop-out ("A failure to fulfill a commitment or responsibility or to face a difficulty squarely") by ISPs. They are passing their cost of providing e-mail to their customers onto me.
An Analytical Look at Spam
I prefer having a portable linux distro that works on windows and linux. See PVPM
Then again, if you are a tech who needs to download files directly to the comptuer you are servicing, PortableFireFox is probably the better bet.
I'd highly recommend a dual-degree (CS and some other major) or switch to another major and get a CS minor.
Computer skills coupled with a degree in another field puts in great shape for getting a first job.
My background is Chemical Engineering undergrad degree. My strong computer skills (Perl, VBA, and the arcane FORTRAN) are what put me over the top in getting hired at an environmental consulting firm (I run air pollution dispersion models, which consequently require tons of data processing of meteorological data. Fun stuff, especially with all the mapping in GIS I get to do!)
Out of my amigos who were CS majors, one works for a car dealership (some computer work, but not his dream job), another joined the Navy because the job market was so bad in his area.
I'd recommend Eletrical Engineering (my university had a combined Eletrical and CS degree) or Chemical Engineering which is also very computer intensive in many of its subfields.
Whatever you do, don't do a CS major only.
Shameless plug of my website:
An alternative to SPC files are MIDI file recreations of the music. Its interesting to see how close they can get to the real sound.
I'd recommend Metropipe's PVPM
Its not a live-CD, but rather an emulated virtual PC (via QEMU and DamnSmallLinux ISO image) that can run off the hard drive or better yet a USB thumbdrive. It can work with Windows or Linux.
I've tested it on my hard drive and its pretty impressive. It got me to testing QEMU with other live-CD ISO images...
I'd have to disagree with the Television Meteorologist listing.
In New England, most local television news weather forecasts are overseen and reported on air by actual meteorologists, unlike other parts of the country that have untrained "weathermen" (like southern california). In smaller TV markets, or weather is much more stable, or even on radio, you might as well read off government supplied weather forecasts.
They are well paid for TV. (however if you are not on TV, meteorologists get shafted in terms of pay, unless they work as consultants -- usually environmental consultants dealing with air quality issues.)
Also, those guys are instant celebrities around these parts.
Snow predictions are one of the harder predictions to make. These guys basically have to choose between various computer model predictions, and sometime they are far off.
However, my recommendation is don't trust a forecast longer than 24 hours in advance.