The only voice recognition command I need is: when I yell "DAMMIT!!!" at the top of my lungs, I want the OS to gracefully recover from a blue screen of death and automatically save the term paper I've spent ALL NIGHT writing.
(yeah, I know I'm supposed to save often, but you can't tell me it hasn't happened to you, too.)
>>makes it possible to reconfigure computer designs without the cost of making finished chips
Dear Bill,
There are two other ways to "make it possible to reconfigure computer designs without the cost of making finished chips" 1) buy the finished chips from someone else 2) use FPGAs if the design must change on-the-fly or after delivery to customer.
Right you are. The problem is with the attacker, not the web.
This has happened before, and not infrequently, and demonstrates that it's not the Internet at fault. Pharaceutical companies in the UK reguarly brief their employees not to wear their company ID badge off-campus, and to not leave identifying items on or about their vehicles, and coached not to leave personal information on the internet (e.g. full name) if using a company email address, for fear that the animal-rights crazies will damage person or property.
Another case -- what about the MMO game "bounty hunters" which hunt down player-killers? now THAT'S a real case of internet Web-Rage!
Finally, how many people get stiffed by a seller on a "Popular Web Auction Site" and decide to go pick up their goods/refund "in person..." occasionally with a few friends along just for fun?
Right. Even more, 'cause I'm sure as hell not buying that stuff. Honestly, the idea of a big mouthful of meat containing cells with fragile DNA strands is less than appetizing.
Look, if a farmer can't accomplish a fairly simple task such as getting his cows to occasionally fuck and make more, then he probably shouldn't be playing with genetic engineering. Just sayin'
My suspicion is that the problem is due to the (over) stimulation of the visual centers in very young children. Have you noticed how incredibly brief the duration of one camera shot is in modern TV? Barely 5 seconds. SECONDS! The point-of-view is constantly shifting from one camera to another, and it's common with children's programming to have a hand-held camera that bobs and sways in order to keep the show "interesting" and increase concentration. Add to that the visual effects and zoom/fades/transitions plus all the audio crap and it's a miracle any child emerges with his brain intact.
Go watch a classic episode of I Love Lucy or The Honeymooner's or The Twilight Zone. It's not uncommon for one camera shot to last four minutes. And at that point in time (I'm thinking 1960s and earlier) it was common to listen to dramas on the radio -- Green Lantern, Lone Ranger, The Strangler, etc. -- so the listener was actively involved in building mental imagery. Kids who have been raised on a steady diet of modern tv don't have the patience for old-fashioned TV or stories (or, for that matter, conversations requiring well-developed listening skills)... it's too "boring." (IMO, their brains aren't well adapted to concentrate for that period of time and they find it tiring and/or difficult.)
I say fertilizer. Tens of millions of $$'s worth of food and agri-supplies are sent to North Korea as "humanitarian aid" each year. It's clear they're not using it to grow food for their own, starving population.
According to the (Quaker) Friends Committee on National Legislation (http://www.fcnl.org/issues/item.php?item_id=226&i ssue_id=34)
In 1995 North Korea made its first public appeal for aid. A 1998 survey found 62 percent of children under the age of seven chronically malnourished and sixteen percent acutely malnourished. An estimated 200,000 to two million people died in the famine. Massive international assistance of both food and fertilizer has greatly improved food security. Most of the humanitarian aid is distributed by the UN World Food Programme (WFP). The U.S. has responded generously to WFP appeals for North Korea, and in most years has made the largest contribution.
So it appears the NKs, rather than use the fertilizer we give them to feed their starving populace, would rather blow it up as a bluff to demonstrate the ineffectiveness of the United Nations and create instability, and power shifts in the region.
So, in other words there's a technology to make existing infrastructure MUCH more efficient. Don't hold your breath waiting for it. DSL is owned by whom? The monopoly telephone companies, and with the recent court rulings that say they don't HAVE to sublease it is not likely there will be 1:1 competition in the near future. My guess is that the phone companies will see this as an excuse to raise prices, due to perceived value*, rather than to provide improved performance that competes with cable at a similar, or lower price.
*Just as CDs cost less to manufacture than cassette tapes, but until recently sold for more $$, such as it will be with "extreme DSL" (or whatever they call this service).
The reason the payload has to be built to withstand X,000 G's is because at some point or another, it is going to go off the track and run into a wall of air at very high speed.
The shockwave produced by an object moving 23 times the speed of sound suddenly encountering atmosphere would disintigrate it. Unless the track is in a sealed vaccuum, it's going to encounter aerodynamic resistance throughout. And unless this microsatellite acceleates very (VERY!) quickly, the thermal transferrance will turn it into a nice, shiny little reverse-meterorite.
I imagine that, construction complexities aside, building this accelelator at extremely high altitude would give the advantage of lower density air.
Precisely. From the video (http://youtube.com/watch?v=3tlqvdAaQNE): "What we ended up doing was creating a guided performance interface that allows an ACTOR to, essentially, puppeteer Quasi, live. And if the actor talks, his voice is pitch-shifted and changed in real time and comes out of Quasi sounding like a 12-year-old robot voice." (timemark @ 3:13)
I'll tell you precisely why -- the new slashdot code! It used to be that one would select the moderation out of a list, scroll down to the bottom of the screen and hit "moderate" which would apply the moderations.
NOW, the instant you select the moderation from a list, it is applied. If you click the down arrow to expand the list and attempt to use the scroll wheel to move through the list, Slashcode it will "grab" whatever's highlighted in the list as your selection and apply it.
It's caused me to screw up moderating more than once recently. So to "undo" my moderations I have to post something in the thread. [b/c you can't post and moderate a discussion]
>>Wouldn't it be nice to be able to do away with the cd player, dvd player, and vcr (used mostly as a poor man's TiVO) sitting in my entertainment center and just have one box that connects to my primary workstation?
Yes, until the moment comes when 1) you want to surf the web/hack some code/write a paper and 2) your wife/kids/friends/etc. want to watch a movie or listen to music. (Here's a little tip from a married guy... #2 wins, every time).
Besides, I'm not sure that a fragile laptop is appropriate for a living room environment where it might come in contact with children. Here, the idea of a 'disposable' $49 component is preferrable.
And for those persons affected, how much will they spend on antivirus software or tech service to remove the problems? A bunch. Think of how many people simply choose to buy a new system when their old one suddenly "wears out" (e.g. slows down due to virus/spyware infestation). Everybody's happy but the poor sap who owns the infected computer.
The people most likely to be harmed are those who are the least likely to know what to do about it. What a shame.
>>If you get your HD from digi cable or dish (which 90% of HDTV owners do) >Only 90%? Seems more likely to be 100%.
The other 10% is Over The Air (e.g. Antenna). If you're after the highest possible quality, this is what you want. OTA HD broadcasts are usually of higher quality than cable or dish. It sounds counterintuitive, but it's true -- The cable/sat company (re)compresses the signal, introducing visual artifacts. In effect, you're getting a second-generation copy.
Slashdot Mirror
Funny, I've never seen "imprisoned" spelled with a slash.
The only voice recognition command I need is:
when I yell "DAMMIT!!!" at the top of my lungs, I want the OS to gracefully recover from a blue screen of death and automatically save the term paper I've spent ALL NIGHT writing.
(yeah, I know I'm supposed to save often, but you can't tell me it hasn't happened to you, too.)
>>makes it possible to reconfigure computer designs without the cost of making finished chips
Dear Bill,
There are two other ways to "make it possible to reconfigure computer designs without the cost of making finished chips"
1) buy the finished chips from someone else
2) use FPGAs if the design must change on-the-fly or after delivery to customer.
On the other hand, that's what software is for.
You're welcome.
--
Jon
Right you are. The problem is with the attacker, not the web.
This has happened before, and not infrequently, and demonstrates that it's not the Internet at fault. Pharaceutical companies in the UK reguarly brief their employees not to wear their company ID badge off-campus, and to not leave identifying items on or about their vehicles, and coached not to leave personal information on the internet (e.g. full name) if using a company email address, for fear that the animal-rights crazies will damage person or property.
Another case -- what about the MMO game "bounty hunters" which hunt down player-killers? now THAT'S a real case of internet Web-Rage!
Finally, how many people get stiffed by a seller on a "Popular Web Auction Site" and decide to go pick up their goods/refund "in person..." occasionally with a few friends along just for fun?
>>what happens when a nations cattle supply is wiped out overnight?
What happens? Bush gets the blame. Next question, please.
So these two cannibals are eating a clown when one turns to the other and asks "does this taste funny to you?"
/. a week ago, but it was just too good an opportunity to pass up!)
(Sorry... I just told this joke on
>>more supply of the products I use
Right. Even more, 'cause I'm sure as hell not buying that stuff. Honestly, the idea of a big mouthful of meat containing cells with fragile DNA strands is less than appetizing.
Look, if a farmer can't accomplish a fairly simple task such as getting his cows to occasionally fuck and make more, then he probably shouldn't be playing with genetic engineering. Just sayin'
My suspicion is that the problem is due to the (over) stimulation of the visual centers in very young children. Have you noticed how incredibly brief the duration of one camera shot is in modern TV? Barely 5 seconds. SECONDS! The point-of-view is constantly shifting from one camera to another, and it's common with children's programming to have a hand-held camera that bobs and sways in order to keep the show "interesting" and increase concentration. Add to that the visual effects and zoom/fades/transitions plus all the audio crap and it's a miracle any child emerges with his brain intact.
Go watch a classic episode of I Love Lucy or The Honeymooner's or The Twilight Zone. It's not uncommon for one camera shot to last four minutes. And at that point in time (I'm thinking 1960s and earlier) it was common to listen to dramas on the radio -- Green Lantern, Lone Ranger, The Strangler, etc. -- so the listener was actively involved in building mental imagery. Kids who have been raised on a steady diet of modern tv don't have the patience for old-fashioned TV or stories (or, for that matter, conversations requiring well-developed listening skills)... it's too "boring." (IMO, their brains aren't well adapted to concentrate for that period of time and they find it tiring and/or difficult.)
Cool it, AC. The guy was just making a funny. There's no need to be a jerk.
So, in other words there's a technology to make existing infrastructure MUCH more efficient. Don't hold your breath waiting for it. DSL is owned by whom? The monopoly telephone companies, and with the recent court rulings that say they don't HAVE to sublease it is not likely there will be 1:1 competition in the near future. My guess is that the phone companies will see this as an excuse to raise prices, due to perceived value*, rather than to provide improved performance that competes with cable at a similar, or lower price.
*Just as CDs cost less to manufacture than cassette tapes, but until recently sold for more $$, such as it will be with "extreme DSL" (or whatever they call this service).
First LOL of the day. Well done!
Since we're on the OT thread of taste...
So two cannibals are eating a clown when one says to the other, "Does this taste funny to you?"
Precisely. From the video (http://youtube.com/watch?v=3tlqvdAaQNE):
"What we ended up doing was creating a guided performance interface that allows an ACTOR to, essentially, puppeteer Quasi, live. And if the actor talks, his voice is pitch-shifted and changed in real time and comes out of Quasi sounding like a 12-year-old robot voice." (timemark @ 3:13)
IOW, nothing to see here. Move along.
>>What's next "Super-Duper" "Magnum" "mega-uber"
>Sounds like a new type of condom rather than type of HDTV.
Remember, this is slashdot. "Nano" is probably more appropriate.
I'll tell you precisely why -- the new slashdot code! It used to be that one would select the moderation out of a list, scroll down to the bottom of the screen and hit "moderate" which would apply the moderations.
NOW, the instant you select the moderation from a list, it is applied. If you click the down arrow to expand the list and attempt to use the scroll wheel to move through the list, Slashcode it will "grab" whatever's highlighted in the list as your selection and apply it.
It's caused me to screw up moderating more than once recently. So to "undo" my moderations I have to post something in the thread. [b/c you can't post and moderate a discussion]
>>Wouldn't it be nice to be able to do away with the cd player, dvd player, and vcr (used mostly as a poor man's TiVO) sitting in my entertainment center and just have one box that connects to my primary workstation?
Yes, until the moment comes when 1) you want to surf the web/hack some code/write a paper and 2) your wife/kids/friends/etc. want to watch a movie or listen to music.
(Here's a little tip from a married guy... #2 wins, every time).
Besides, I'm not sure that a fragile laptop is appropriate for a living room environment where it might come in contact with children. Here, the idea of a 'disposable' $49 component is preferrable.
#5 idiots who buy shit from spammers.
I know it's only tangentally related, but I couldn't resist the temptation to hop on board the hate train.
And for those persons affected, how much will they spend on antivirus software or tech service to remove the problems? A bunch. Think of how many people simply choose to buy a new system when their old one suddenly "wears out" (e.g. slows down due to virus/spyware infestation). Everybody's happy but the poor sap who owns the infected computer.
The people most likely to be harmed are those who are the least likely to know what to do about it. What a shame.
>>I'm getting times of roughly 0.135ms... that's 135 micro-seconds. How in the hell is there any way to improve that?
Oh, I dunno... maybe responding in 134 microseconds or less?
>>If you get your HD from digi cable or dish (which 90% of HDTV owners do)
>Only 90%? Seems more likely to be 100%.
The other 10% is Over The Air (e.g. Antenna). If you're after the highest possible quality, this is what you want. OTA HD broadcasts are usually of higher quality than cable or dish. It sounds counterintuitive, but it's true -- The cable/sat company (re)compresses the signal, introducing visual artifacts. In effect, you're getting a second-generation copy.
Where are moderation points when I need 'em? This was the best post of the day, AC!!