I don't disagree with a thing that you have said, however, in most places interfering with the police for any reason is a HUGE no no. If you are in a country where human rights are a concern, you had better tread carefully when breaking their toys.
Aside - Toppoint appears to be a Chinese manufacturer, according what turned up on google.
Ok, so you've got a hard drive that was a part of a criminial investigation on your hands. And you are trying to get the data off it, which, while fun, sure, is interfering with said criminal investigation.
So then you go and post on Slashdot about how best to hack the hardware you have in hand.
I think you have bigger probems than the technical ones you are facing. Get a lawyer.
The U2 wasn't around for 50 years when it was discovered. YOu may be thinking of the SR-71, which was around for maybe 25 years before they started talking about it in public.
Take note: I'm a klutz who destroyed my Sharp Zaurus Wizard by dropping it from the whopping height of 18" onto a carpeted (but not padded) concrete floor. I've broken my nose by both walking and swimming into walls.
I've had both a Handspring Visor Deluxe and a Sony Clie PEG-NR70V. I have NEVER damaged them by walking into table edges, dropping them etc.
Also, because I keep so much important info in my PDA, I'm always mindful of where it is, so when I get home it goes directly in the cradle as I empty my pockets for the day.
It's not a matter of the price of the unit, it's what I keep in there that makes it so valuable to me. These things are pretty durable to start with, especially the Clie with it's metal shell.
Here..
"It looks like high contrast items are needed for the tracking system to work optimally, but a combination of sonar overlayed with ccds and IR would likely make that less of an issue. It appears that vison is done through a video camera that tracks the moving object, and in turn controls the arm. Also, interesting reflex action with the thumb serving to close the hand once contact is made.
Hmm, as I watch more of the videos I'm less and less impressed, It looks like the handler is actually all but feeding the objects to the arm, not unlike teaching a kid to catch a ball by placing it in their hands. That's a shame really." (Edited for spelling)
I think you left something important out of your equation. Time. As I once discovered after leaving a pot of tomato sauce on without stirring for a while, time is a vital part of cooking. Why was it left out of the equation, Is it planned for inclusion in a follow up? Not pithy enough? Just curious.
I read about this product from time to time, and I never hear any ill effects. it's just screaming "Too good to be true" to me, and I cannot seem to find anyone who has anything bad to say about it. I think I'll look it up on Google.
Modafinil, Provigil or Alertec is associated with the following side effects - headache, nausea, anxiety, increased blood pressure and heart rate, insomnia. Modafinil, Provigil or Alertec must be taken early in the day to avoid sleep disturbances. Also: Modafinil, Provigil or Alertec is able to decrease the effectiveness of oral contraceptives because it increases the metabolism of oral contraceptive hormones by the liver. An adjustment in oral contraceptive therapy may be required. (Anything that interacts with the liver or effects it's metablolism enough to be on a warning concerns me greatly -RG) [virtualdrugstore.com]
here.
Basically build a satellite that beams down microwave radiation (yeah, yeah, through the ozone layer...heating up the atmosphere) to ground based stations that are set up tp collect it.
The Doctors having the PDR springboard on their Handspring Visors.
The below available via a CD that I can get from the office:
My records available in PDF format
My X rays avaiable in PDF format as well
On line scheduling, not so much for me, but for the receptionist who can then tell at a glance when the Doctor is free, saving him/her time and reducing my time on hold.
Bill tracking on line, so that I can sort out what has been coverd by my plan and what I can write off at the end of the year
Heinlein is an obvious target; Disch provides a good serving on this author's long march from Radical Socialist to Radical Libertarian.
Heinlein didn't neccesarily agree with the views he was showing in his books, he was just exploring different ideas.
from here: http://www.jerrypournelle.com/mail/mail81.html Scroll down to the section on Talin and Starship Troopers
I am tempted to give Larry Niven's answer to the chap who wrote to complain about the attitudes of one of the characters in Niven's "How the Heroes Die." Larry wrote: "We in the writing profession have a technical term for people who believe that the authors believe everything their characters believe. We call them 'idiots'. None of my best friends are idiots. Merry Christmas."
Hmmm... near the end of the article it mentions using a different tech for near shore generation. I wonder if you could convert a drilling platform into a massive float/piston driven turbine rig... have a wind farm as well for local energy/backups all driving a flywheel that stores the energy, then beam it off site via microwaves.
The platforms are already out there, and the sea can get much more choppy (20' swells during a storm are not uncommon IIRC) so there is some potential for massive storage/transfer.
So we can now harness the raw power of sporting events?(Save the planet, do the wave!) Great! Or the Queen Mum and her littleratcheting wrist action... The Pope! Think of the energy we ocould get form the Pope! never mind all the flag waving done here in the US during this last election... So much wasted energy...
All the existing sources of global warming are just an appetizer for this one.
Roof top communicaiton lazers will cause even more ground level heating of the atmosphere. Between this, low level ozone, CFC's released from refrigerants, styrofoam, methane from cows and pigs, cell phones, and microwave towers, it's no wonder we have had unprecidented heat through the 90's. It'll be weven worse in the oughts.
This has been your whacko conspiracy theory for the day. Please resume your normal paranoia.
I mean, c'mon, if people who already ahve a predisposition for violence are more aggresive after playing a violent video game, then surely they will be even more aroused after playing an actual game where all their senses and their bodies are used.
So, therefore, the football, wrestling, lacrosse, field hockey, basketball, etc teams should all be banned from our high schools. Medicate the kids, lots of valium and prozac for everyone, and nothing but scenes of pastoral splendor on the television for all to enjoy.
We should all be passive drones, with no passiosn, no individuality, and no opinion other than what we are given by the News. Don't blink too often, act depressed, or get too excited, or you will be medicated down with the rest of us.
...is that Metallica used to have a special area set aside on their live tours where people could bring their recording devices (nothing professional, mind you) and TAPE THE ENTIRE CONCERT for FREE
Of course, back then it was so that people cood actually hear their concerts who might never get the chance, kinda like the Cliff 'em All tape they put together from fan footage of their early shows...
But I guess now that they have kids and wives (and ex wives) and stuff, the millions they are making is no longer enough to keep them warm at night... never mind that Kill 'em All is $16.00 at Sam Goody, Garage Days Re-Re-Re--visited is something like $20.00, they are just not able to make ends meet on their meager budgets... sniffle, whine, cry.
It's almost enough to make me miss Guns & Roses...
I understand the hardware issues fine, the file type issue is the problem (to me.) We live in a time where you can buy a decent server for your home that will cost you around $1000. Since this is the government, even if the server costs $100,000 or more, it is still within their ludicrous budget. As a result, funding the hardware upgrades is less of an issue for them.
I am more concerned with having to continually re-scan in older and continually decaying books because of file format changes. by going SGML, you can have all your formatting however you want it, for the forseeable future. While an ascii file would give you the raw info, you would lose the formatting capabilites, and more importantly the possiblities for linking between documents that would make this effort worthwhile.
Imagine being able to see the documents that are in the footnotes of the book you are reading at the click of your mouse, how cool would that be?
But it can be. Put the texts into SGML so that they can later be transferred to HTML, XML, or whatever the flavor of the decade is for ML's as long as they are a derivative of SGML. By setting a standard that is a parent of the more common ones used today, you can then insure long term viability for the data. By having redundant servers that are mirrors of the main one in (presumably) DC, you can help maintain stability both in terms of handling load and error correction. If you really want to go nuts with this, put one inside NORAD, just in case. Lastly, you could make it so that the servers can only be accesed from servers in public libraries, and asssign/fund local scanning of documents so that you have a distributed effort that is staffed by volunteers. Additionaly, youwuold ahve a service node in most towns and or high schools and colleges.
Rather than actually dong something about the state of the internet, providing a means to get information out there to people who could
never
get to the LOC another way, we're going to bury our heads in the sand, and act in an admittedly political, divisive manner. Instead of taking up what could be the single greatest (hyper)linked library of information based on copyright expired publications, and any additional texts that publishers would want added, we're going to bury our heads in the sand and instead scan some baseball cards and maps...
The mobo can be had for 95$ (try pricewatch), a processor for about the same, then you need a hd ($50-150 depending), ram ($50-100), case (?), network card ($5-50) etc... Total of $350-$650 you might as well buy the dealie they are selling and save on the labor/headaches of building and troubleshooting your own.
Throw on a twiddler one handed keyboard, one of those one eye mini LCD screens, some lithium ion batteries (it has a DC in, so you'd have to wire something up...) put it all in a backpack (My X-Over would work great, as it has a section for a laptop and cables) and voom, instant gargoyle. Alternately, rig up a utility belt with Eastpack camera/gear belt packs (around $10-$20 each from Sports Authority), and the above equipment. Add in a web cam (on the opposite side from the display, so that it balances out the weight.) Lets not forget some sort of a cell phone connection for internet access, and again, instant gargoyle. Someone with some free cash want to make one?
Slashdot Mirror
I don't disagree with a thing that you have said, however, in most places interfering with the police for any reason is a HUGE no no. If you are in a country where human rights are a concern, you had better tread carefully when breaking their toys.
Aside - Toppoint appears to be a Chinese manufacturer, according what turned up on google.
Ok, so you've got a hard drive that was a part of a criminial investigation on your hands. And you are trying to get the data off it, which, while fun, sure, is interfering with said criminal investigation.
So then you go and post on Slashdot about how best to hack the hardware you have in hand.
I think you have bigger probems than the technical ones you are facing. Get a lawyer.
IIRC, Burning the zombies in The Return of the Living Dead just made more zombies... this may not be the best option.
Attempt at humor: Failed.
What's my brain made out of? Oh yeah, Fat. Let's mess with that, shall we?
The U2 wasn't around for 50 years when it was discovered. YOu may be thinking of the SR-71, which was around for maybe 25 years before they started talking about it in public.
Take note: I'm a klutz who destroyed my Sharp Zaurus Wizard by dropping it from the whopping height of 18" onto a carpeted (but not padded) concrete floor. I've broken my nose by both walking and swimming into walls.
I've had both a Handspring Visor Deluxe and a Sony Clie PEG-NR70V. I have NEVER damaged them by walking into table edges, dropping them etc.
Also, because I keep so much important info in my PDA, I'm always mindful of where it is, so when I get home it goes directly in the cradle as I empty my pockets for the day.
It's not a matter of the price of the unit, it's what I keep in there that makes it so valuable to me. These things are pretty durable to start with, especially the Clie with it's metal shell.
Here.. "It looks like high contrast items are needed for the tracking system to work optimally, but a combination of sonar overlayed with ccds and IR would likely make that less of an issue. It appears that vison is done through a video camera that tracks the moving object, and in turn controls the arm. Also, interesting reflex action with the thumb serving to close the hand once contact is made. Hmm, as I watch more of the videos I'm less and less impressed, It looks like the handler is actually all but feeding the objects to the arm, not unlike teaching a kid to catch a ball by placing it in their hands. That's a shame really." (Edited for spelling)
Sony didn't invent the CD, Phillips did.
I think you left something important out of your equation. Time. As I once discovered after leaving a pot of tomato sauce on without stirring for a while, time is a vital part of cooking. Why was it left out of the equation, Is it planned for inclusion in a follow up? Not pithy enough? Just curious.
I read about this product from time to time, and I never hear any ill effects. it's just screaming "Too good to be true" to me, and I cannot seem to find anyone who has anything bad to say about it. I think I'll look it up on Google.
Side effects (in the order Googlegave them to me):
Also: Modafinil, Provigil or Alertec is able to decrease the effectiveness of oral contraceptives because it increases the metabolism of oral contraceptive hormones by the liver. An adjustment in oral contraceptive therapy may be required. (Anything that interacts with the liver or effects it's metablolism enough to be on a warning concerns me greatly -RG)
[virtualdrugstore.com]
here. Basically build a satellite that beams down microwave radiation (yeah, yeah, through the ozone layer...heating up the atmosphere) to ground based stations that are set up tp collect it.
The amount of scum on your skin, or on the shower curtain?
The Doctors having the PDR springboard on their Handspring Visors.
The below available via a CD that I can get from the office:
My records available in PDF format
My X rays avaiable in PDF format as well
On line scheduling, not so much for me, but for the receptionist who can then tell at a glance when the Doctor is free, saving him/her time and reducing my time on hold.
Bill tracking on line, so that I can sort out what has been coverd by my plan and what I can write off at the end of the year
Heinlein didn't neccesarily agree with the views he was showing in his books, he was just exploring different ideas.
from here: http://www.jerrypournelle.com/mail/mail81.html
Scroll down to the section on Talin and Starship Troopers
I am tempted to give Larry Niven's answer to the chap who wrote to complain about the attitudes of one of the characters in Niven's "How the Heroes Die." Larry wrote: "We in the writing profession have a technical term for people who believe that the authors believe everything their characters believe. We call them 'idiots'. None of my best friends are idiots. Merry Christmas."
Hmmm... near the end of the article it mentions using a different tech for near shore generation. I wonder if you could convert a drilling platform into a massive float/piston driven turbine rig... have a wind farm as well for local energy/backups all driving a flywheel that stores the energy, then beam it off site via microwaves.
The platforms are already out there, and the sea can get much more choppy (20' swells during a storm are not uncommon IIRC) so there is some potential for massive storage/transfer.
So we can now harness the raw power of sporting events?(Save the planet, do the wave!) Great! Or the Queen Mum and her littleratcheting wrist action... The Pope! Think of the energy we ocould get form the Pope! never mind all the flag waving done here in the US during this last election... So much wasted energy...
Roof top communicaiton lazers will cause even more ground level heating of the atmosphere. Between this, low level ozone, CFC's released from refrigerants, styrofoam, methane from cows and pigs, cell phones, and microwave towers, it's no wonder we have had unprecidented heat through the 90's. It'll be weven worse in the oughts.
This has been your whacko conspiracy theory for the day. Please resume your normal paranoia.
I mean, c'mon, if people who already ahve a predisposition for violence are more aggresive after playing a violent video game, then surely they will be even more aroused after playing an actual game where all their senses and their bodies are used.
So, therefore, the football, wrestling, lacrosse, field hockey, basketball, etc teams should all be banned from our high schools. Medicate the kids, lots of valium and prozac for everyone, and nothing but scenes of pastoral splendor on the television for all to enjoy.
We should all be passive drones, with no passiosn, no individuality, and no opinion other than what we are given by the News. Don't blink too often, act depressed, or get too excited, or you will be medicated down with the rest of us.
...is that Metallica used to have a special area set aside on their live tours where people could bring their recording devices (nothing professional, mind you) and TAPE THE ENTIRE CONCERT for FREE
Of course, back then it was so that people cood actually hear their concerts who might never get the chance, kinda like the Cliff 'em All tape they put together from fan footage of their early shows...
But I guess now that they have kids and wives (and ex wives) and stuff, the millions they are making is no longer enough to keep them warm at night... never mind that Kill 'em All is $16.00 at Sam Goody, Garage Days Re-Re-Re--visited is something like $20.00, they are just not able to make ends meet on their meager budgets... sniffle, whine, cry.
It's almost enough to make me miss Guns & Roses...
I understand the hardware issues fine, the file type issue is the problem (to me.) We live in a time where you can buy a decent server for your home that will cost you around $1000. Since this is the government, even if the server costs $100,000 or more, it is still within their ludicrous budget. As a result, funding the hardware upgrades is less of an issue for them.
I am more concerned with having to continually re-scan in older and continually decaying books because of file format changes. by going SGML, you can have all your formatting however you want it, for the forseeable future. While an ascii file would give you the raw info, you would lose the formatting capabilites, and more importantly the possiblities for linking between documents that would make this effort worthwhile.
Imagine being able to see the documents that are in the footnotes of the book you are reading at the click of your mouse, how cool would that be?
But it can be. Put the texts into SGML so that they can later be transferred to HTML, XML, or whatever the flavor of the decade is for ML's as long as they are a derivative of SGML. By setting a standard that is a parent of the more common ones used today, you can then insure long term viability for the data. By having redundant servers that are mirrors of the main one in (presumably) DC, you can help maintain stability both in terms of handling load and error correction. If you really want to go nuts with this, put one inside NORAD, just in case. Lastly, you could make it so that the servers can only be accesed from servers in public libraries, and asssign/fund local scanning of documents so that you have a distributed effort that is staffed by volunteers. Additionaly, youwuold ahve a service node in most towns and or high schools and colleges.
- never
get to the LOC another way, we're going to bury our heads in the sand, and act in an admittedly political, divisive manner. Instead of taking up what could be the single greatest (hyper)linked library of information based on copyright expired publications, and any additional texts that publishers would want added, we're going to bury our heads in the sand and instead scan some baseball cards and maps...The mobo can be had for 95$ (try pricewatch), a processor for about the same, then you need a hd ($50-150 depending), ram ($50-100), case (?), network card ($5-50) etc... Total of $350-$650 you might as well buy the dealie they are selling and save on the labor/headaches of building and troubleshooting your own.
Throw on a twiddler one handed keyboard, one of those one eye mini LCD screens, some lithium ion batteries (it has a DC in, so you'd have to wire something up...) put it all in a backpack (My X-Over would work great, as it has a section for a laptop and cables) and voom, instant gargoyle. Alternately, rig up a utility belt with Eastpack camera/gear belt packs (around $10-$20 each from Sports Authority), and the above equipment. Add in a web cam (on the opposite side from the display, so that it balances out the weight.) Lets not forget some sort of a cell phone connection for internet access, and again, instant gargoyle. Someone with some free cash want to make one?