I can certainly think of many applications for a fuel cell, if it's fairly mobile and can run off a propane tank. At Burning Man, for example, there are literally thousands of diesel and gasoline generators making noise and spitting out fumes every year; a small fuel cell running off a propane canister would be just the ticket for much cleaner "leave no trace" power.
Bad news is it's probably way too expensive to be mobile now. But in a few years...
And this is news? We've been hearing about, and experiencing the growth in temp and contract work in the real world (outside the Silicon Beltway) for at least ten years. What's new here?
That is exactly what happened to me. As long as I don't run the software, I can do whatever the fuck I want with it. Sorry,:::::::whoever you are, Wired or DC, too bad.
[T]he FCC should be concerned with citizen's rights.
True enough. But citizens need to be treated with respect as consumers and businesspeople. The argument that somehow we don't have the right to make choices about what we buy is a bad one that inevitably leads to bad products and service.
if you can't record what's broadcast, how can you prove that it ever was?
Seriously. Moderators, give this one an Insightful.
Just imagine if the political candidates (for example) Macrovisioned their ads, so nobody could record them and analyze them on the air! The free-speech implications are severe.
I guess the FCC wasn't interested in the interests of consumers. No surprise there, they're completely in the pockets of Hollywood, which takes Lieberman spankings and pays for them with millions in soft money.
But fuck it. I don't need a goddamn digital TV. I don't really need an analog one. This will just further push real creativity away from a medium that desperately needs to be replaced, and the indie film producers (think George Lucas in Love) will be the beneficiaries.
Damn, that would be nice. But will it work at 150 mph? I would think an 802.11 wireless LAN inside the train connected to a high-speed wireless pipe (type is left to the reader: 802.11 again? something else?) that gets picked up by a series of base stations along the route would be brilliant.
Also, you may be forced to sign terms and conditions prohibiting the release of your work:
To participate, just go to the website at www.hacksdmi.org after September
15, 2000 and read the public challenge agreement. If you agree to the terms,
you will have until at least October 7, 2000 to do your best.
Sounds pretty useless to me. If someone wanted to really hack it, the first step would be to use multiple layers of anonymity to get access to the code, and then get 2600 or the EFF to publish it. Forget any industry-sponsored contest.
Aw, who cares, SDMI is toast anyway. Do they really think they can get everyone to abandon MP3? If so, can I have some of what they're smoking?
If your main purpose is to attract new customers, but you also want to cover some of your costs, $5/flight x 50 people x 4 flights per day would probably make economic sense. Besides, would you pay any more than $5/flight for internet access?
Yes, I remember this from my Japan days. In my day (1992) they had big stacks of TDK tapes (conveniently labeled "For CD!") next to the cash register. As I recall the prices were pretty good.
I remember reading in the paper that the US Trade Representative (Carla Hills) wanted CD rental to be shut down as it was contra-copyright. No such luck, apparently.
Amtrak is great on certain (fast) corridors: NE Corridor, Chicago-Milwaukee, SF-Sacramento. The new Acela service from DC to Boston is quite nice, though they're not yet using the new cars.
Unfortunately, once you get off the modernized tracks, you're sharing older tracks with freight trains and may find yourself delayed significantly. They're getting much better, but for business travel it really depends.
In a move that the airlines (and the computer biz!) should emulate, they recently introduced an unconditional money-back guarantee. Pretty damn good.
As for cellphones on trains, this doesn't work so well on electric routes (notably the NE Corridor, DC-Boston). I think there's too much interference. Anyone working on always-on net access from trains (which would be so, so nice!) would need to solve this problem before it would work well.
A good intranet would enable empowerment of passengers to focus that air rage. If I could email or IM everyone on board and we could all agree to demand more pretzels or on-time service...
More seriously, I would be less enraged (as a frequent flier) if I could do productive things... or just click on pretty widgets to kill time.
I agree that free is the right choice. The vendors are of course approaching the PHBs that run the airlines and pitching them on incremental revenue, so there needs to be a lobbying effort by the users in favor of free and useful internet access.
It's also very important that the internet access be real internet access, not some "air traveler portal" piece of shit. Local caching may be fine for Yahoo et al. (perhaps one could install a mini Akamai server on the plane?) but if this is anything like those touch-screen terminals in the airports now, it's close to useless. We need:
- ethernet ports to plug into, with DHCP;
- full access to the net (slow speed is ok);
- non http/pop3 applications (telnet, ping, ipsec); and
- no mandatory home page or ads!
A fast intranet would be nice too, so people can AIM and/or Quake with each other.
If it's designed this way, it will be fabulous and make me switch airlines. I'd even pay $5/flight for it. But I'm not holding my breath.
Yes, these are useful. USAir also has these. UAL only has them in first class on 777 and renovated aircraft.
Despite their general availability for some years, UAL chose not to put them in coach. Typical behavior of the world's largest, and crappiest, airline. So I have limited expectations that web access will be any good, at least on UAL.
I found it Insightful! But I'm not a moderator yet.
Seriously, this is a good question. Many of us are, have been, or will be in a position to work with people overseas. So this is good knowledge to acquire - exactly what Ask Slashdot is about.
I'm told by friends who've used DHL that they are very good at getting through difficult customs situations. I think they're pretty damn expensive, but it may be worth it.
Definitely. This would also have significant applications in the industrial market (Webvan uses Palm based hardware, for example) so it would certainly sell. Bring 'em on.
Slashdot Mirror
Bad news is it's probably way too expensive to be mobile now. But in a few years...
sulli
Maybe I should sell it on ebay. I'll throw away the cd, so no EULA issues will be involved.
sulli
sulli
Yeah, I know, gotta get linux. Working on it.
sulli
sulli
sulli
True enough. But citizens need to be treated with respect as consumers and businesspeople. The argument that somehow we don't have the right to make choices about what we buy is a bad one that inevitably leads to bad products and service.
Seriously. Moderators, give this one an Insightful.
Just imagine if the political candidates (for example) Macrovisioned their ads, so nobody could record them and analyze them on the air! The free-speech implications are severe.
But my old analog VCR still works. So there.
sulli
But fuck it. I don't need a goddamn digital TV. I don't really need an analog one. This will just further push real creativity away from a medium that desperately needs to be replaced, and the indie film producers (think George Lucas in Love) will be the beneficiaries.
sulli
Someone go do this. You'll make a ton of money.
sulli
To participate, just go to the website at www.hacksdmi.org after September 15, 2000 and read the public challenge agreement. If you agree to the terms, you will have until at least October 7, 2000 to do your best.
Sounds pretty useless to me. If someone wanted to really hack it, the first step would be to use multiple layers of anonymity to get access to the code, and then get 2600 or the EFF to publish it. Forget any industry-sponsored contest.
Aw, who cares, SDMI is toast anyway. Do they really think they can get everyone to abandon MP3? If so, can I have some of what they're smoking?
sulli
That's really interesting. You should make sure it's on the CMU professor's gallery.
If your main purpose is to attract new customers, but you also want to cover some of your costs, $5/flight x 50 people x 4 flights per day would probably make economic sense. Besides, would you pay any more than $5/flight for internet access?
I remember reading in the paper that the US Trade Representative (Carla Hills) wanted CD rental to be shut down as it was contra-copyright. No such luck, apparently.
sulli
Well, I made sure to pick fuckedcompany.com as one of my companies. Did you?
Unfortunately, once you get off the modernized tracks, you're sharing older tracks with freight trains and may find yourself delayed significantly. They're getting much better, but for business travel it really depends.
In a move that the airlines (and the computer biz!) should emulate, they recently introduced an unconditional money-back guarantee. Pretty damn good.
As for cellphones on trains, this doesn't work so well on electric routes (notably the NE Corridor, DC-Boston). I think there's too much interference. Anyone working on always-on net access from trains (which would be so, so nice!) would need to solve this problem before it would work well.
sulli
More seriously, I would be less enraged (as a frequent flier) if I could do productive things ... or just click on pretty widgets to kill time.
sulli
It's also very important that the internet access be real internet access, not some "air traveler portal" piece of shit. Local caching may be fine for Yahoo et al. (perhaps one could install a mini Akamai server on the plane?) but if this is anything like those touch-screen terminals in the airports now, it's close to useless. We need:
- ethernet ports to plug into, with DHCP;
- full access to the net (slow speed is ok);
- non http/pop3 applications (telnet, ping, ipsec); and
- no mandatory home page or ads!
A fast intranet would be nice too, so people can AIM and/or Quake with each other.
If it's designed this way, it will be fabulous and make me switch airlines. I'd even pay $5/flight for it. But I'm not holding my breath.
sulli
Despite their general availability for some years, UAL chose not to put them in coach. Typical behavior of the world's largest, and crappiest, airline. So I have limited expectations that web access will be any good, at least on UAL.
sulli
It would prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that such policies are unmitigated crap. Which would be helpful.
Seriously, this is a good question. Many of us are, have been, or will be in a position to work with people overseas. So this is good knowledge to acquire - exactly what Ask Slashdot is about.
sulli
sulli
The link said: "The parameter is incorrect." Try this.
you have WinCE.
sulli