I stopped using seti@home the day I put a UPS on my servers. With my Linux box, I'm sure the @home process uses more power than the idle task; I'm not sure about my XP box though. I suppose one option would be to have the UPS daemon disable the @home processes when power goes out.
I'm not sure about USB. Currently, there is a common protocol (OBD-II) for interfacing to the on-board computer; however there are at least 4 different phyical interfaces (Europe + Japan use ISO; GM, Ford, Chrysler each have their own). All cars built in the mid-90's or later have an OBD-II interface; look in your glove box, under your stearing column, some other accessable location.
To respond to your inquiry regarding the recent news of a potential interruption of Comcast @Home service due to the Excite @Home Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Reorganization proceedings, the following Frequently Asked Questions information has been created to address your concerns:
Q: What does a -temporary service disruption- mean?
A: If a temporary service disruption occurs, you would not be able to connect to the Internet through your Comcast cable modem, or send or receive new e-mail. You would still be able to read any @Home e-mail messages that you had already opened as they would have been automatically saved to your hard drive.
Q: Does this mean that I'm going to lose my service? For how long?
A: At this point in time, we only know of the possibility of a temporary service disruption. While we have no information as to how long such an interruption would last, please know that we are doing everything possible to prevent this from happening. We will continue to provide you with information updates through our Toll-Free Customer Information Hotline (1-888-433-6963), and our website, www.comcastonline.com/info.htm.
Q: How can I connect to the Internet if my service is interrupted?
A: We recommend that you take advantage of Comcast's Connection Backup Program to obtain free dial-up and e-mail service as a temporary alternative. This service requires that you have a phone modem. Visit www.comcastonline.com/info.htm today to sign up for service. Please note that NetZero provides this service and will offer customer support for it.
Q: What will happen to any e-mail sent to me if my service is interrupted?
A: We are hopeful that Excite@Home would store and hold your @Home e-mail until the service is restored. However, we cannot guarantee that this will happen as Excite@Home controls the e-mail servers.
If you would like to set up a temporary e-mail account, we recommend that you take advantage of Comcast's Connection Backup Program. This service requires that you have a phone modem. Visit www.comcastonline.com/info.htm to sign up for free dial-up and e-mail service as a temporary alternative. Please note that NetZero provides this service and will offer customer support.
Q: What will happen to my personal Web page?
A: As a safety precaution, you should always backup your personal Web page to a CD or hard drive. (see instructions below)
Q: What should I do with my Comcast cable modem?
A: If service is interrupted, you should leave your modem connected to your computer until service is restored. If you lease your modem from Comcast, we would automatically issue a credit for both service and equipment rental during any service interruption that results from the Bankruptcy Court's ruling.
Q: I pay $____ every month for this service. Will I be charged if the service is interrupted?
A: We will automatically issue a credit to your account for service and equipment rental during any service interruption that results from the Bankruptcy Court's ruling.
Q: Can I switch now to the Comcast-managed network that is mentioned in the e-mail?
A: We are diligently working to make this new service available as quickly as possible. We will provide you with more details of the timing as they become available.
Q: What should I be doing right now?
A: Some suggested steps include the following:
1. Back up your personal Web page.
2. Check your @Home e-mail daily. Opened messages will be saved automatically to your hard drive.
3. Take advantage of Comcast's Connection Backup Program.
Q: What should I do if there is a temporary service interruption?
A: Please consider taking the following steps:
1. Call the Comcast Toll-Free Customer Information Hotline at 1-888-433-6963 for regular status updates.
2. Connect to the Web through Comcast's Connection Backup Program and visit www.comcastonline.com/info.htm for Web updates.
Q: I purchased (or am considering purchasing) a self-install kit, and was planning on signing up for Comcast @Home service. Should I reconsider this now because of the Excite@Home situation?
A: This news should not negatively impact your decision to choose Comcast for your high-speed Internet service. Comcast is working closely with the management of Excite@Home and its other cable partners to prevent any service interruptions.
To Transfer Files from WebSpace to your hard drive using the File Manager:
1. Download the files from WebSpace to your computer by logging in to the WebSpace login page at http://home-members.excite.com/m_webspace/ and clicking File Manager, located at the top-right corner of the screen.
2. Select Transfer from the File Manager navigation bar. In the window that appears, select the files you want to transfer from your WebSpace account to your computer, and the location to which you want them transferred, then click Transfer.
3. A window appears telling you when your file has been downloaded.
4. Click OK to return to the File Manager page.
5. Once you are finished with File Manager, log out by clicking Logout on the navigation bar. If you do not log out, and you share a computer with other people in your household, they may have access to your files.
If there is anything else we can help you with, please contact us. Thank you for choosing Comcast.
As an engineer (who prefers a *nix environment) using a Windows desktop machine most of the day...I've found XP significantly faster than NT4.0 thus far. However, I can't comment on the Win2K comparison. I also thought highly enough of it to install at home for the wife and kids. Putting aside all of the MS-bashing, I think XP is pretty darn good.
You make it sound like IBM was lucky to have their design cloned. You should note, however, that Apple actively litigated against any one and every one that tried to clone the Mac design (specifically the ROM that contained the foundation for their GUI methods). You would have had lots of Apple clones, and thus competetive hardware prices, if only Apple had allowed the work to take place.
By the way, I owned one of the first 100 Macs ever sold. I really like Macs. Apple just made some bad business decisions which allowed Gates to grab the market.
How do you punish some one who wants death?
on
A New Kind of War
·
· Score: 1
I say give 'em what the least expect. What if, instead of 'sending them quickly to paradise', we keep them in great health (under lock and key, of course), but make them watch 'The Sound of Music' or something 24 hours a day for the rest of their lives? Maybe that would scare them.
Giving them more opportunities to die in combat almost sounds like an incentive for them to fight.
Many readers are taking pot shots at the SBR technology used with MP3Pro. However, the comments are along the lines of 'it must sound horrible, becuase they throw away all everything over 10K'.
The folks making these statement obviously don't understand that existing compression schemes already make good use of 'throwing away' lots of info...but that's the entire idea of a perceptual audio codec, isn't it...
I've worked with and have conducted many listening tests with SBR-based CODECs, and personally I think it works great for many types of audio, including music.
If you really want 'perfect' audio, however, you should stay away from lossy compression to start with...(and, of course, you need to use LP's, tube amps, etc.)
I first realized they (i.e., Comcast Cablevision in MD) could do this when my wife had a phone conversation with one of their service reps that went something like:
[Rep]: Maam, please tune to channel 3
[Wife]: I am on 3
[Rep]: No...you're on 5
I returned the digital cable box the next day. (This was a year or so ago.)
This has me thinking about a game called MissionImpossible on the C64 that included an impressive bit of voice synth running on some pretty modest hardware.
If I remember it correctly...it said, "Stay a while...Stay Forever!"
Imagine that I inform you, right now, that you are a clone (not to mention a half-height one). How does it make you feel?
The opinions in this seem to assume that clones wouldn't mind accepting a lower role than other humans. But in the end, they'd want to feel unique and special just like each of us.
I've never heard of a wise person doing something just because he can...
besides fulfilling a/.'ers personal dream of collecting their favorite music for free. Consider
music via low bitrate wireless (e.g., cellular)
audio storage on appliances without mass storage (e.g., handheld device)
tivo-like capability for small radios
increasing the quality (there's much room for improvement) of existing 'standards' like 128kbps streams
Smarter folks than I can certainly dream up even more. I suppose I shouldn't be suprised that many/.'ers think every one should spend their lives behind a screen+mouse+keyboard. But I think we could do a better job here of thinking outside the box.
I've been waiting and waiting for the press to make mention of this. I've not been the most politically active citizen, but in light of recent events, I'm convinced we need new legislation which quantifies the conditions under which the vote is legitimate.
My thought is that states that have no clear winner (i.e. margin of victory greater than margin of error) should be forced to split their electoral votes. In other words, FL (not to mention New Mexico and a couple others) would have each given 1/2 of their votes to Bush and the other half to Gore.
(By the way, by my math, this would have given Bush a 271 to 167 victory).
Mike
What I'd really like to see is 'Linux for Bullies' or 'Linux for Egotistical Anarchists'. Heck, go ahead and target all degenerate, self-depricating market segments.
We may not be dummies, but we want our books too!
Re:Oh, that explains it...
on
ICANN Meetings
·
· Score: 1
"...the morning of Sunday, Nov. 12, same location, so you don't have work as an excuse to miss it!"
More than half of your fellow Americans could give you an excellent reason to miss a Sunday morning meeting. Out of curiosity, have we ever had a poll here to determine the demographic makeup of/.?
If you vote, and your candidate loses, the post-election anyalysis conducted by each party may well result in more or less $ being thrown at your state/district in future elections. All votes make a difference.
If you want to throw stones at our process, consider that the majority of eligable voters sat on their butt yesterday. No amount of process or procedure can fix an individual's lack of effort.
Slashdot Mirror
That's how I've always seen it used...
Why did Dean use this name. Any chance it's just a lead-in (segway) to some other invention? What else is the self-righting technology useful for?
I stopped using seti@home the day I put a UPS on my servers. With my Linux box, I'm sure the @home process uses more power than the idle task; I'm not sure about my XP box though. I suppose one option would be to have the UPS daemon disable the @home processes when power goes out.
I'm not sure about USB. Currently, there is a common protocol (OBD-II) for interfacing to the on-board computer; however there are at least 4 different phyical interfaces (Europe + Japan use ISO; GM, Ford, Chrysler each have their own). All cars built in the mid-90's or later have an OBD-II interface; look in your glove box, under your stearing column, some other accessable location.
US DAB effort is based around IBOC. See www.ibiquity.com.
Do we have passwords protecting portions of our national treasures as well?
Dear Mike,
Thank you for your message.
To respond to your inquiry regarding the recent news of a potential interruption of Comcast @Home service due to the Excite @Home Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Reorganization proceedings, the following Frequently Asked Questions information has been created to address your concerns:
Q: What does a -temporary service disruption- mean?
A: If a temporary service disruption occurs, you would not be able to connect to the Internet through your Comcast cable modem, or send or receive new e-mail. You would still be able to read any @Home e-mail messages that you had already opened as they would have been automatically saved to your hard drive.
Q: Does this mean that I'm going to lose my service? For how long?
A: At this point in time, we only know of the possibility of a temporary service disruption. While we have no information as to how long such an interruption would last, please know that we are doing everything possible to prevent this from happening. We will continue to provide you with information updates through our Toll-Free Customer Information Hotline (1-888-433-6963), and our website, www.comcastonline.com/info.htm.
Q: How can I connect to the Internet if my service is interrupted?
A: We recommend that you take advantage of Comcast's Connection Backup Program to obtain free dial-up and e-mail service as a temporary alternative. This service requires that you have a phone modem. Visit www.comcastonline.com/info.htm today to sign up for service. Please note that NetZero provides this service and will offer customer support for it.
Q: What will happen to any e-mail sent to me if my service is interrupted?
A: We are hopeful that Excite@Home would store and hold your @Home e-mail until the service is restored. However, we cannot guarantee that this will happen as Excite@Home controls the e-mail servers.
If you would like to set up a temporary e-mail account, we recommend that you take advantage of Comcast's Connection Backup Program. This service requires that you have a phone modem. Visit www.comcastonline.com/info.htm to sign up for free dial-up and e-mail service as a temporary alternative. Please note that NetZero provides this service and will offer customer support.
Q: What will happen to my personal Web page?
A: As a safety precaution, you should always backup your personal Web page to a CD or hard drive. (see instructions below)
Q: What should I do with my Comcast cable modem?
A: If service is interrupted, you should leave your modem connected to your computer until service is restored. If you lease your modem from Comcast, we would automatically issue a credit for both service and equipment rental during any service interruption that results from the Bankruptcy Court's ruling.
Q: I pay $____ every month for this service. Will I be charged if the service is interrupted?
A: We will automatically issue a credit to your account for service and equipment rental during any service interruption that results from the Bankruptcy Court's ruling.
Q: Can I switch now to the Comcast-managed network that is mentioned in the e-mail?
A: We are diligently working to make this new service available as quickly as possible. We will provide you with more details of the timing as they become available.
Q: What should I be doing right now?
A: Some suggested steps include the following:
1. Back up your personal Web page.
2. Check your @Home e-mail daily. Opened messages will be saved automatically to your hard drive.
3. Take advantage of Comcast's Connection Backup Program.
Q: What should I do if there is a temporary service interruption?
A: Please consider taking the following steps:
1. Call the Comcast Toll-Free Customer Information Hotline at 1-888-433-6963 for regular status updates.
2. Connect to the Web through Comcast's Connection Backup Program and visit www.comcastonline.com/info.htm for Web updates.
Q: I purchased (or am considering purchasing) a self-install kit, and was planning on signing up for Comcast @Home service. Should I reconsider this now because of the Excite@Home situation?
A: This news should not negatively impact your decision to choose Comcast for your high-speed Internet service. Comcast is working closely with the management of Excite@Home and its other cable partners to prevent any service interruptions.
To Transfer Files from WebSpace to your hard drive using the File Manager:
1. Download the files from WebSpace to your computer by logging in to the WebSpace login page at http://home-members.excite.com/m_webspace/ and clicking File Manager, located at the top-right corner of the screen.
2. Select Transfer from the File Manager navigation bar. In the window that appears, select the files you want to transfer from your WebSpace account to your computer, and the location to which you want them transferred, then click Transfer.
3. A window appears telling you when your file has been downloaded.
4. Click OK to return to the File Manager page.
5. Once you are finished with File Manager, log out by clicking Logout on the navigation bar. If you do not log out, and you share a computer with other people in your household, they may have access to your files.
If there is anything else we can help you with, please contact us. Thank you for choosing Comcast.
Melaney
Comcast
E-mail Response Specialist
I found it here:d =1 006319398
...http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail.php3?fi
As an engineer (who prefers a *nix environment) using a Windows desktop machine most of the day...I've found XP significantly faster than NT4.0 thus far. However, I can't comment on the Win2K comparison. I also thought highly enough of it to install at home for the wife and kids. Putting aside all of the MS-bashing, I think XP is pretty darn good.
You make it sound like IBM was lucky to have their design cloned. You should note, however, that Apple actively litigated against any one and every one that tried to clone the Mac design (specifically the ROM that contained the foundation for their GUI methods). You would have had lots of Apple clones, and thus competetive hardware prices, if only Apple had allowed the work to take place.
By the way, I owned one of the first 100 Macs ever sold. I really like Macs. Apple just made some bad business decisions which allowed Gates to grab the market.
I say give 'em what the least expect. What if, instead of 'sending them quickly to paradise', we keep them in great health (under lock and key, of course), but make them watch 'The Sound of Music' or something 24 hours a day for the rest of their lives? Maybe that would scare them.
Giving them more opportunities to die in combat almost sounds like an incentive for them to fight.
The MPEG4 design includes the ability to convey facial descriptors (FAPs) that can be used to render facial experessions.
m l
/. text entry box...There shouldn't be a space between the 'm' and 'l'.)
You can see an abstract at: http://www.mpeg4.engr.scu.edu/abstracts/ab1301.ht
(The URL seems to be broken because it extends beyond the column width of the
Many readers are taking pot shots at the SBR technology used with MP3Pro. However, the comments are along the lines of 'it must sound horrible, becuase they throw away all everything over 10K'.
The folks making these statement obviously don't understand that existing compression schemes already make good use of 'throwing away' lots of info...but that's the entire idea of a perceptual audio codec, isn't it...
I've worked with and have conducted many listening tests with SBR-based CODECs, and personally I think it works great for many types of audio, including music.
If you really want 'perfect' audio, however, you should stay away from lossy compression to start with...(and, of course, you need to use LP's, tube amps, etc.)
I first realized they (i.e., Comcast Cablevision in MD) could do this when my wife had a phone conversation with one of their service reps that went something like:
[Rep]: Maam, please tune to channel 3
[Wife]: I am on 3
[Rep]: No...you're on 5
I returned the digital cable box the next day. (This was a year or so ago.)
This has me thinking about a game called MissionImpossible on the C64 that included an impressive bit of voice synth running on some pretty modest hardware.
If I remember it correctly...it said, "Stay a while...Stay Forever!"
Imagine that I inform you, right now, that you are a clone (not to mention a half-height one). How does it make you feel?
The opinions in this seem to assume that clones wouldn't mind accepting a lower role than other humans. But in the end, they'd want to feel unique and special just like each of us.
I've never heard of a wise person doing something just because he can...
'Virtual Immortality' makes a bit a little bit more sense...
- music via low bitrate wireless (e.g., cellular)
- audio storage on appliances without mass storage (e.g., handheld device)
- tivo-like capability for small radios
- increasing the quality (there's much room for improvement) of existing 'standards' like 128kbps streams
Smarter folks than I can certainly dream up even more. I suppose I shouldn't be suprised that manyJust my $.02,
Mike
I've been waiting and waiting for the press to make mention of this. I've not been the most politically active citizen, but in light of recent events, I'm convinced we need new legislation which quantifies the conditions under which the vote is legitimate.
My thought is that states that have no clear winner (i.e. margin of victory greater than margin of error) should be forced to split their electoral votes. In other words, FL (not to mention New Mexico and a couple others) would have each given 1/2 of their votes to Bush and the other half to Gore.
(By the way, by my math, this would have given Bush a 271 to 167 victory). Mike
I've been using Mr. Greenspun's trusty uptime robot for over a year. Sends and e-mail out whenver one of my critical servers doesn't respond.
What I'd really like to see is 'Linux for Bullies' or 'Linux for Egotistical Anarchists'. Heck, go ahead and target all degenerate, self-depricating market segments.
We may not be dummies, but we want our books too!
Touche...
"...the morning of Sunday, Nov. 12, same location, so you don't have work as an excuse to miss it!"
/.?
More than half of your fellow Americans could give you an excellent reason to miss a Sunday morning meeting. Out of curiosity, have we ever had a poll here to determine the demographic makeup of
Score=2 for this tripe?
If you vote, and your candidate loses, the post-election anyalysis conducted by each party may well result in more or less $ being thrown at your state/district in future elections. All votes make a difference. If you want to throw stones at our process, consider that the majority of eligable voters sat on their butt yesterday. No amount of process or procedure can fix an individual's lack of effort.