A quiet fan is a fan that doesn't run at all. A project I've been wanting to do for a long time is to create a thermostatically controlled circuit to turn my case fan on and off.
There's 2 ways I was considering. A simple Mechanical Bi-Metalic Thermostatic switch. Or a more elaborate method using thermistors in a circuit.
If I knew how, I'd use the existing Thermistors on my Celerons that would use software to determine when to send a signal to power up the case fan. (I' wouldn't dare try to power down my Processor Fans).
If any slashdotters have attempted a project like this, we'd like to hear from you.
Your comment is misleading. According to This Microsoft bulletin There is only a patch for the problem on the 5.1 browser. We can only assume that 5.5 will be fixed later.
Would you care to share your source that claims that there is a fix? You might earn some honest Karma if you can.
Also, would anyone like to comment on if/how this affects Solaris and Mac versions?
Back when Smart Planet was still ZDnet's "ZD University" or www.ZDU.com, I took a free interactive PERL class. I was very impressed, especially since it was free. I don't believe that any classes there are still free, but they were reasonalble priced. Unfortunately their prices have gone up. recently, but I will seriously consider taking more classes online some time in the future.
It would be great if there were more interactive sites for learning stuff because I think it's a great way to learn, (especially computer programming)
Another place that might be good (haven't tried it yet) is www.sosmath.com math website. It appears to be a free website where you can learn stuff like Trig, Calculus, and Diff. E.Q.
Great topic. I can't wait to see what others have to say.
Frankly, I think gangsta rap videos are more of a problem to young minds than video games. Kids know that games aren't real. Knowing that gangsta rap "artists" are just wannabe thugs is a little more difficult.
Taking away Guns or video games isn't going to solve any problems any better than getting rid of Napster will eliminate music pirating.
<Rant>
How many students are actually killed in school shootings?
Compare those numbers to the number of alcohol related deaths. Tobacco related deaths. Cancer related deaths, Even AIDS related deaths. I bet obesisty causes more deaths than school shootings. Anyway, you get the idea.
Aren't we putting our resources in the wrong areas? I despise the polititians that put all the emphasis on "the kids" as if it's more important to save one of their lives versus say 2 Tobacco related deaths, knowing that they'll get more votes for showing compassion for kids.
</Rant>
Sorry for sounding so heartless. I just get pissed off when people like politicians profit from the misery of others.
I've been fortunate enough to not experience the disappearing mouse pointer, but...
I have had my computer (windows 2k pro on dual 533 celerons) lock up because of CD-ROM problems. It doesn't lock up when I eject a disk, but it will completely lock up when I put a disk in.
It's not like I needed my CD-ROM though. I just grab files off the network, or use my Linux box to dump files to a removable hard drive & reboot the Windows box. A Major inconvienience, but it is a work-around.
As I stated earlier, I'll donate major Karma to the guy/gal that helps me fix this!
I can't tell you how PISSED off I get when I attempt to run the latest ATI all-in-wonder TV software and it BSOD's my system (windows 2000 pro on dual 533 celerons)
Or worse yet, when the whole damn box locks up when I put a disk in the CD-ROM drive.
If somebody can tell me what I need to do to fix either problem, I'll send them a shitload of Karma!
>Were you a 4.0 student? I doubt it by your comment.
Were you modded to +4 Karma? Doesn't look like it.
The truth is, the grandparent to this post was correct.
Not all 4.0 students are worth more to an employer than say a 3.0 student. In fact, I was damn near a 4.0 student when I graduated from college the first time arround, but was I better than my one of my friends with a 3.0 GPA? In all honesty, no I wasn't.
From my humble experience, 3.7 students (just to pick a number) actually perform better than 4.0 students because the 4.0's spend too much time on all the little details. The 3.7's seem to know what corners to cut, and can almost earn the same grades in just a fraction of the time. (law of diminishing returns). Now don't get me wrong, some students (especially computer folks) that devote their lives to their careers skew my observations because of an amazing ability to learn with little or no effort. I'm ignoring those folks for this discussion.
From your comment, I sense that you probably are a 4.0 student, but resent the fact that others that don't work as hard as you can say stuff like that. I know it sucks, but working_hard != sucess either. Just like having a 4.0 GPA helps, it's no guarantee. Lighten up with your judgement of others, try to stay open minded, and you will likely encounter success as well. Best of luck to you my friend.
....But what about Mechanical stuff?
Suppose I go out and invent the next seatbelt?
Yeah, you can argue all you want that some company should be allowed to have exclusive rights to selling their product, but if a technology (such as my seatbelt example) exists that would be of great use to society, What's a financially challenged inventor supposed to do ?
I mean, what's the motivation for a Mechanical Engineer to shell out $10,000 for a panent that he has no plans to make any money on? Is a patent even necessary? Can't we just publish this stuff as "prior art"?
I caught a small news bit on the radio a couple days ago about a charter jet that will fly people out to the area where it is expected to land in the ocean.
Better have some bucks though.
It's gonna cost like $5000 per ticket.
For that price, you can be damn sure that I'd be requesting a window seat!
>Growing cereals to feed them to cows is stupid in effeciency terms
It's also expensive,
That's why farmers AVOID paying for feed whenever possible. For Example, my Uncle raises feeder calves down South where feeding them is almost free. Cattle graze off the fast growing grass. After they grow big enough, its actually profitable to ship them up north to Michigan where there is a stronger market for cattle.
By the way, How expensive is Seaweed? Is it harvested right from the ocean? Do they need to build special aquariums? Sounds expensive to harvest to me, but I could be wrong.
Maybe that's why beef is more easily accessable in Michigan than seaweed. ;-)
How does windows assign drive letters to these drives? My "cold swap" pullout IDE drives require a reboot (in win 9x/nt/2k ) so the drive letters can be assigned. Even worse, the drive letters change on my Primary Master drive when I add/remove my secondary Slave drive.
FYI, Linux doesn't require a reboot as long as a hard drive was detected on bootup. And obviously drive letters & Mount points are not a problem.
Does windows require some add on software for Firewire Drives? Or will it simply just add a drive letter for each partition.
IMHO, Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols should open his eyes. Only two distributions left?
Not even a mention of my favorite desktop distribution.
What about special distributions?
Heck, there's so many niche markets that even Redhat has almost a dozen different versions.
and that list doesn't include the Cheapbytes , or Embedded versions.
Don't get me wrong, Redhat makes a great distribution, but do you really expect them to fit every market niche?
Re:another thing to consider....
on
Low-Bandwidth X
·
· Score: 1
I'm glad you said something.
I thought that the Gimp (or any graphic intensive app) would have been a good example, but apparently I assumed wrong (again). I would have mentioned a high end Mechanical Engineering Software like I-DEAS but I didn't think many slashdotters would know what I was talking about.
In my own Experience, running I-DEAS can be Incredibly slow over a remote host, and that's even with a limited set of video drivers. The speed sucks, but It's nice to know that it can still be done if you're in a pinch.
Sorry,
But many of your points (but not all) are flawed.
My BSME Thesis project was a city transit bus fuel economy study, so I think I know what I'm talking about. Big diesel engines are the most fuel efficient engines on the road (best power to fuel consumption ratio). Yes, of course big engines spew more pollution than small ones, but what you're not taking into account is the pollution per person. There's a reason why 40 people can fit on a bus.
To make your comparison fair, compare the pollution created by a single bus with 30-40 average commuter vehicles.
All powertrains are a comprimise. In the USA, our EPA doesn't like the particulate matter pollution created by Diesel engines, while in Europe, Governments don't mind a little particulate matter because they feel that NOx and HCs are bigger problems.
The idea that electric vehicles can be bigger polluters is no hoax. If coal is burned to power the generators that charge car batteries, you can be sure that it would be a problem in countries that don't have stringent air quality standards. In Europe, the situation is much more complicated, because you could be pulling power off of the grid from any country at a given time. Maybe your electric car is being powered by Windmills in Holland, Nuclear Power Plants in France, or Coal burning plants in Italy.
The bottom line is ALL powertrains are polluters if you count the pollution created during the manufacturing process, disposal, or daily operation.
The selection of a powertrain is a complicated comprimise between performance, drivability, noise/NVH (you had a valid point), complexity, various pollutions, profit, logistics, and sale price. Fuel Cells, Flywheels, ultra capacitors, and batteries could prove to be the next big-big thing, but unfortunately each needs to improve it's performance/cost ratio.
Your rant shows you care, but unfortunately the world isn't that simple.
Get one of those "linux TVs" from Yesterdays Slashdot article and use it as a way to run your network apps on a huge monitor. If network latency wasn't a problem, you'd have a sweet monitor to play games on.
another thing to consider....
on
Low-Bandwidth X
·
· Score: 2
Unfortunately, the desktop is not the only thing that needs to be lightweight. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to run the GIMP over a 28.8 connection.
Don't get me wrong though...
I'd be more than happy to have a lighter desktop available.
Besides, a lighter desktop would likely run better on local machines as well.
Maybe I'm missing something very obvious here,
So I'll ask, What would you do differently?
I'm no expert, but IMHO,
Joe Consumer will likely pick the linux
television over the windows version just due
to the fact that it's going to be roughly $100 less. If they plan on hiding the OS from the consumer anyway, what difference does it make besides the price?
It's difficult to shave off $100 worth of hardware,
but it's a lot easier to shave off $100 worth of licence agreements.
I've got an old 31 inch Gateway Destination PC also running at 800x600. Not exactly the perfect monitor for doing elaborate CAD work, but it works great with a wireless keyboard/mouse for websurfing on a couch across the room. it's huge.75 (or something like that) dot pitch is very noticable up close, but it's good enough that I can read e-mail from across the room.
I wish these guys the best of luck with their new product. Gateway apparently had trouble selling their Destination computers because I don't think consumers were ready back in early 1997. But now with DVD players, broadband access, cheap hardware, and better software, I think the time for a product like this has finally come.
Slashdot Mirror
A quiet fan is a fan that doesn't run at all. A project I've been wanting to do for a long time is to create a thermostatically controlled circuit to turn my case fan on and off.
There's 2 ways I was considering. A simple Mechanical Bi-Metalic Thermostatic switch. Or a more elaborate method using thermistors in a circuit.
If I knew how, I'd use the existing Thermistors on my Celerons that would use software to determine when to send a signal to power up the case fan. (I' wouldn't dare try to power down my Processor Fans).
If any slashdotters have attempted a project like this, we'd like to hear from you.
....Wouldn't it be cheaper to just fake a trip to the moon? Graphic artists are a relative bargain now-a-days with photoshop technology.
Your comment is misleading. According to This Microsoft bulletin There is only a patch for the problem on the 5.1 browser. We can only assume that 5.5 will be fixed later.
Would you care to share your source that claims that there is a fix? You might earn some honest Karma if you can.
Also, would anyone like to comment on if/how this affects Solaris and Mac versions?
Back when Smart Planet was still ZDnet's "ZD University" or www.ZDU.com, I took a free interactive PERL class. I was very impressed, especially since it was free. I don't believe that any classes there are still free, but they were reasonalble priced. Unfortunately their prices have gone up. recently, but I will seriously consider taking more classes online some time in the future.
It would be great if there were more interactive sites for learning stuff because I think it's a great way to learn, (especially computer programming)
Another place that might be good (haven't tried it yet) is www.sosmath.com math website. It appears to be a free website where you can learn stuff like Trig, Calculus, and Diff. E.Q.
Great topic. I can't wait to see what others have to say.
I agree.
Frankly, I think gangsta rap videos are more of a problem to young minds than video games. Kids know that games aren't real. Knowing that gangsta rap "artists" are just wannabe thugs is a little more difficult.
Taking away Guns or video games isn't going to solve any problems any better than getting rid of Napster will eliminate music pirating.
Okay, so much for having any karma.
<Rant>
How many students are actually killed in school shootings?
Compare those numbers to the number of alcohol related deaths. Tobacco related deaths. Cancer related deaths, Even AIDS related deaths. I bet obesisty causes more deaths than school shootings. Anyway, you get the idea.
Aren't we putting our resources in the wrong areas? I despise the polititians that put all the emphasis on "the kids" as if it's more important to save one of their lives versus say 2 Tobacco related deaths, knowing that they'll get more votes for showing compassion for kids.
</Rant>
Sorry for sounding so heartless. I just get pissed off when people like politicians profit from the misery of others.
I've been fortunate enough to not experience the disappearing mouse pointer, but...
I have had my computer (windows 2k pro on dual 533 celerons) lock up because of CD-ROM problems. It doesn't lock up when I eject a disk, but it will completely lock up when I put a disk in.
It's not like I needed my CD-ROM though. I just grab files off the network, or use my Linux box to dump files to a removable hard drive & reboot the Windows box. A Major inconvienience, but it is a work-around.
As I stated earlier, I'll donate major Karma to the guy/gal that helps me fix this!
Great point man!
I can't tell you how PISSED off I get when I attempt to run the latest ATI all-in-wonder TV software and it BSOD's my system (windows 2000 pro on dual 533 celerons)
Or worse yet, when the whole damn box locks up when I put a disk in the CD-ROM drive.
If somebody can tell me what I need to do to fix either problem, I'll send them a shitload of Karma!
>They also mention something about AMD's first 64bit processor called the ClawHammer which will come out in early 2001 at 2ghz"
Gee, I must have missed that one!
>Were you a 4.0 student? I doubt it by your comment.
Were you modded to +4 Karma? Doesn't look like it.
The truth is, the grandparent to this post was correct. Not all 4.0 students are worth more to an employer than say a 3.0 student. In fact, I was damn near a 4.0 student when I graduated from college the first time arround, but was I better than my one of my friends with a 3.0 GPA? In all honesty, no I wasn't.
From my humble experience, 3.7 students (just to pick a number) actually perform better than 4.0 students because the 4.0's spend too much time on all the little details. The 3.7's seem to know what corners to cut, and can almost earn the same grades in just a fraction of the time. (law of diminishing returns). Now don't get me wrong, some students (especially computer folks) that devote their lives to their careers skew my observations because of an amazing ability to learn with little or no effort. I'm ignoring those folks for this discussion.
From your comment, I sense that you probably are a 4.0 student, but resent the fact that others that don't work as hard as you can say stuff like that. I know it sucks, but working_hard != sucess either. Just like having a 4.0 GPA helps, it's no guarantee. Lighten up with your judgement of others, try to stay open minded, and you will likely encounter success as well. Best of luck to you my friend.
Don't you just love having Karma to burn?
Suppose I go out and invent the next seatbelt?
Yeah, you can argue all you want that some company should be allowed to have exclusive rights to selling their product, but if a technology (such as my seatbelt example) exists that would be of great use to society, What's a financially challenged inventor supposed to do ?
I mean, what's the motivation for a Mechanical Engineer to shell out $10,000 for a panent that he has no plans to make any money on?
Is a patent even necessary? Can't we just publish this stuff as "prior art"?
Comments welcome.
Add a "net2phone" or similar feature for easy Phone Pranks
I caught a small news bit on the radio a couple days ago about a charter jet that will fly people out to the area where it is expected to land in the ocean.
Better have some bucks though.
It's gonna cost like $5000 per ticket.
For that price, you can be damn sure that I'd be requesting a window seat!
Dear Santa.....
>Growing cereals to feed them to cows is stupid in effeciency terms
;-)
It's also expensive,
That's why farmers AVOID paying for feed whenever possible. For Example, my Uncle raises feeder calves down South where feeding them is almost free. Cattle graze off the fast growing grass. After they grow big enough, its actually profitable to ship them up north to Michigan where there is a stronger market for cattle.
By the way, How expensive is Seaweed? Is it harvested right from the ocean? Do they need to build special aquariums? Sounds expensive to harvest to me, but I could be wrong. Maybe that's why beef is more easily accessable in Michigan than seaweed.
Okay...
Slightly off topic
How does windows assign drive letters to these drives? My "cold swap" pullout IDE drives require a reboot (in win 9x/nt/2k ) so the drive letters can be assigned. Even worse, the drive letters change on my Primary Master drive when I add/remove my secondary Slave drive.
FYI, Linux doesn't require a reboot as long as a hard drive was detected on bootup. And obviously drive letters & Mount points are not a problem.
Does windows require some add on software for Firewire Drives? Or will it simply just add a drive letter for each partition.
Anybody care to share their 2¢?
IMHO, Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols should open his eyes.
Only two distributions left?
Not even a mention of my favorite desktop distribution.
What about special distributions?
Heck, there's so many niche markets that even Redhat has almost a dozen different versions. and that list doesn't include the Cheapbytes , or Embedded versions.
Don't get me wrong, Redhat makes a great distribution, but do you really expect them to fit every market niche?
I'm glad you said something.
I thought that the Gimp (or any graphic intensive app) would have been a good example, but apparently I assumed wrong (again). I would have mentioned a high end Mechanical Engineering Software like I-DEAS but I didn't think many slashdotters would know what I was talking about.
In my own Experience, running I-DEAS can be Incredibly slow over a remote host, and that's even with a limited set of video drivers. The speed sucks, but It's nice to know that it can still be done if you're in a pinch.
Sorry,
But many of your points (but not all) are flawed.
My BSME Thesis project was a city transit bus fuel economy study, so I think I know what I'm talking about. Big diesel engines are the most fuel efficient engines on the road (best power to fuel consumption ratio). Yes, of course big engines spew more pollution than small ones, but what you're not taking into account is the pollution per person. There's a reason why 40 people can fit on a bus.
To make your comparison fair, compare the pollution created by a single bus with 30-40 average commuter vehicles.
All powertrains are a comprimise. In the USA, our EPA doesn't like the particulate matter pollution created by Diesel engines, while in Europe, Governments don't mind a little particulate matter because they feel that NOx and HCs are bigger problems.
The idea that electric vehicles can be bigger polluters is no hoax. If coal is burned to power the generators that charge car batteries, you can be sure that it would be a problem in countries that don't have stringent air quality standards. In Europe, the situation is much more complicated, because you could be pulling power off of the grid from any country at a given time. Maybe your electric car is being powered by Windmills in Holland, Nuclear Power Plants in France, or Coal burning plants in Italy.
The bottom line is ALL powertrains are polluters if you count the pollution created during the manufacturing process, disposal, or daily operation.
The selection of a powertrain is a complicated comprimise between performance, drivability, noise/NVH (you had a valid point), complexity, various pollutions, profit, logistics, and sale price. Fuel Cells, Flywheels, ultra capacitors, and batteries could prove to be the next big-big thing, but unfortunately each needs to improve it's performance/cost ratio.
Your rant shows you care, but unfortunately the world isn't that simple.
read the article again.
This is not a TV
It's a monitor with Television hardware.
There's a huge difference!
Get one of those "linux TVs" from Yesterdays Slashdot article and use it as a way to run your network apps on a huge monitor. If network latency wasn't a problem, you'd have a sweet monitor to play games on.
Unfortunately, the desktop is not the only thing that needs to be lightweight. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to run the GIMP over a 28.8 connection.
Don't get me wrong though...
I'd be more than happy to have a lighter desktop available.
Besides, a lighter desktop would likely run better on local machines as well.
Maybe I'm missing something very obvious here,
So I'll ask, What would you do differently?
I'm no expert, but IMHO, Joe Consumer will likely pick the linux television over the windows version just due to the fact that it's going to be roughly $100 less. If they plan on hiding the OS from the consumer anyway, what difference does it make besides the price?
It's difficult to shave off $100 worth of hardware,
but it's a lot easier to shave off $100 worth of licence agreements.
I've got an old 31 inch Gateway Destination PC also running at 800x600. Not exactly the perfect monitor for doing elaborate CAD work, but it works great with a wireless keyboard/mouse for websurfing on a couch across the room. it's huge .75 (or something like that) dot pitch is very noticable up close, but it's good enough that I can read e-mail from across the room.
I wish these guys the best of luck with their new product. Gateway apparently had trouble selling their Destination computers because I don't think consumers were ready back in early 1997. But now with DVD players, broadband access, cheap hardware, and better software, I think the time for a product like this has finally come.
No chips here:
Just an old Ford Ranger that keeps up with Corvettes
(when I finish college, I'm aiming for vipers)