Only it turns out that water on Mars is an impossibility. Combining H2 with O is an entropic process, meaning it requires quite a bit of energy (specifically E = Lf*m where Lf is the heat of fusion of water).
Where do you get your information from? Sure there may not be enough energy for combustion of Hydrogen on Mars, but last time I checked there were a myriad of sources of water and energy. First a foremost the Oort Cloud and comet material, not to mention the fact that Mars was probably considerably more geologically active at one point and probably supported a considerably more dense atmosphere, which in turn would have allowed for more liquid water. But simply writing off life on Mars because of a misguided use on entropy, really makes me wonder if you are a Fundie or something looking for a way to deride extraterrestrial life in order to support your dogma based belief system.
I just realized I have actually been to this site before and they had a couple things I wanted to order (Saltwater items). But after reading this story I have NO INTENTION of EVER buying ANYTHING from these guys, PERIOD. On top of that I am going to tell all my other aquatic friends of this whole debacle (by refering them to the Salon article).
VOTE WITH YOUR DOLLARS, BOYCOTT THESE GUYS IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE WAY THEY DO BUISSNESS, IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRUELY GET THEM TO CHANGE!!!!
Hell, spread this story around, if I had any idea that a company I buy from MIGHT sue me if I say anything negative about them, I would simply NOT buy anything from them. Reguardless of the quality of the product I personally avoid people who run their buissnesses in this manner. I don' t know how other people would feel, but they have the right to know that this guy doesn't play fair or ethically, in my opinion.
Speaking as someone who used to do tech support for "suits" I have to say most of them are lucky they can work thier microwaves much less a PDA, most just carry them to look important and use them for nothing more then a rolodex, if that, most have the numbers written or printed in a notebook.
Other then the Outlook bit though it doesn't suck as a PDA. Take a look at the context of the article, it was written by a person who is PRO-WINCE and PRO-MS, and obviously fears/dislikes anything outside that realm. Just isn't MS friendly, which personally is a bonus in my opinion.
I purchased a dev model some months ago and other then the lack of a | on the keyboard (which any *nix shell user will find really annoying) I reall enjoy the device. I explected that the "mainstream" WINCE market wouldn't appreaciate the unit, but who cares, cause there is now a linux hackable StrongARM PDA for all the techheads.
Sorry hate to call BS on this one but I don't think Solaris on Sparc is headed towards the SGI grave. SGI stopped innovating for a while and hence lost market share. Sun has always continued to innovate and last time I checked they had the bulk of the high-end market and where growing.
I doubt Sun will go the way of SGI/DEC/DataGeneral as long as they continue innovating. Unlike Microsoft who really hasn't done any true innovation, they have simply plagerized ideas from a miriad of other companies and people and then simply leveraged their market share to make sure the orginators can't profit and dissapear.
What really bothers me about this whole thing is I have written both of my Senators and my Congressman and have heard NOTHING back. I haven't even received the usual form letter one gets when you write a politician. Guess it sorta tells you who the government listens too, and I don't mean the people they represent.
Well, it is a pain to let the cat in, cause like a 2 year old they want to go right back out again, so a kitty door is the best choice (also lets em crap outside with is better then cleaning a box).
On the application note, yes this is cool tech, it could be coupled with a security badge system and make installtions secure, since someone couldn't just take a badge and pretend to be someone else, could also speed up airports.
Is it really nessacary to clean ones keyboard out? I mean I can understand if you spilled something in it, or say had it in a very dirty location (but if that was the case get a sealed keyboard, or one of those keyboard comdom things). Personally I have an old IBM capacitve switch (clickity clack) keyboard that I haven't cleaned ever, still works great, though some of the letters have rubbed off. About the most I have EVER done is turn it upside down and shake out the large bits. The other issue with running keyboards through the dishwasher would be corrosion, even if it is dried completely one would have to worry about dilute mineral salts (hey BOFH term), especially if you have hard water. So again I ask, why do you need to have such a clean keyboard at home?
I can personally speak to the stupidity of airline security. I travel frequently (weekly), and know the routine, take off all metal, put it in my bag, take my laptop out, let them run it all through the xray machine and go about my buissness. Well the Xray "technician", I use that term very loosely I think crackhead (from the looks of her) working the Xray system would be a more apt description, saw something odd (probably drug induced hallucinations) and Xray'd my laptop for about 5 minutes, then they had me turn it on and off and Xray'd it again. Suffice to say it destroyed the system. I don't get it, I am a white male in my early 20's, clean cut etc etc. I by no means fit any profile of a terrorist (which so far have all been Middle Eastern Men, ages 18-40). Oh well, airport security is not effective and will not do anything in the future other then annoy people, cause delays and destroy delicate equipment.
Sorry, but I think the statement that Gary Gygax is unknown, is sorta unfounded. Hell, Homer even met him on the Simpsons. Hello, I am Gary Gygax, I am.........(rolls D20)....... happy to meet you.
After reading through these replies I have seen a few that are striking similar in grammer, context and expression and also very very Pro-Microsoft. I won't name any names, but I wonder if there are some people on the take for Microsoft. It wouldn't be the first time they have used false tactics like this (can we say OS/2 and Linux, etc etc). Just upsets me that they have infiltrated Slashdot.
In my honest opinion I think Microsoft cheats, breaks the law and stifles technology for the sake of profit. The Justice Department has not really done anything other then give them a slap on the wrist so what are companies who want to play fairly left to do?
Until the TiVo ripping software is a little more advanced and doesn't desync the audio quite as frequently as I have seemed to experianced for the most part (or is it cause I only record in Basic?) a wireless card will be of little value.
My other concern is the TiVo's total lack of security, with my wired network card in my TiVo I can have it behind a firewall or direct linked to my system, wireless TiVo would let anyone and their brother into it.
Sorry have a degree in Biology not being a dick, but last time I checked those two eyepiece things we used to use for dissecting was called astereoscope. As for not knowing what I was talking about, last time I checked iridium was an EXTREMELY hard substance, and plating it with gold would help with corrosion. But you are right I by no means have a degree in archiving or whatever the proper field is, figured I would get something a wee bit more useful.
As for your response, other then simply nay-saying mine it really doesn't seem to offer much in the way of substance. Maybe you should go back to remedial socialization or have a nice time out in the corner.
Well at least if it was on microfilm that was chemically stable you could read it with a stereoscope or something. How about they just use something like microetching on gold plated iridium tablets, that should last quite a while.
They should have used microdots or long lived microfilm, or really anything other then electronic media. For longevity sadly uou need something tangible.
Why not break the servers down by story then, karma could still remain central, but may need to be calculated daily at a central location? Don't know, maybe karma and story moderation needs to be rethought? Seems that is one of the problems to breaking Slashdot into something more useable? Granted karma and story moderation as it stands is a HUGE part of the fun of Slashdot, but if that is a problem with making/. into something that will survive without charging out the wazoo then maybe it is a sacrifice that needs to be explored?
Don't get me wrong either, I understand that any change to any large scale service is a daunting task (being an IT Architect, for Sun Microsystems I have been involved in some damn huge remodels and builds from scratch etc), much less a total code reqrite. But I guess my take is if you want something to survive you need to work at it constantly, not just maintaining the current setup but evolving (damn that sounds like a load of crap, but hopefully it makes sense;) Just think the existing slashdot setup needs to be rethought, as it stands it doesn't seem to scale too well.
Slashdot Mirror
Only it turns out that water on Mars is an impossibility. Combining H2 with O is an entropic
process, meaning it requires quite a bit of energy (specifically E = Lf*m where Lf is the heat of fusion of
water).
Where do you get your information from? Sure there may not be enough energy for combustion of
Hydrogen on Mars, but last time I checked there were a myriad of sources of water and energy. First a
foremost the Oort Cloud and comet material, not to mention the fact that Mars was probably considerably
more geologically active at one point and probably supported a considerably more dense atmosphere,
which in turn would have allowed for more liquid water. But simply writing off life on Mars because of a
misguided use on entropy, really makes me wonder if you are a Fundie or something looking for a way to
deride extraterrestrial life in order to support your dogma based belief system.
My god, that is freaking totally AWESOME, and it operates at almost 1000feet too boot.
I just realized I have actually been to this site before and they had a couple things I wanted to order (Saltwater items). But after reading this story I have NO INTENTION of EVER buying ANYTHING from these guys, PERIOD. On top of that I am going to tell all my other aquatic friends of this whole debacle (by refering them to the Salon article).
VOTE WITH YOUR DOLLARS, BOYCOTT THESE GUYS IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE WAY THEY DO BUISSNESS, IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRUELY GET THEM TO CHANGE!!!!
No he will probably just sue all of us, Slashdot, Salon and anyone else who so much as farts.
Hell, spread this story around, if I had any idea that a company I buy from MIGHT sue me if I say anything negative about them, I would simply NOT buy anything from them. Reguardless of the quality of the product I personally avoid people who run their buissnesses in this manner. I don' t know how other people would feel, but they have the right to know that this guy doesn't play fair or ethically, in my opinion.
Fill us all in dude, could always use more tricks.
Duh, maybe I should read the manual. ;)
Speaking as someone who used to do tech support for "suits" I have to say most of them are lucky they can work thier microwaves much less a PDA, most just carry them to look important and use them for nothing more then a rolodex, if that, most have the numbers written or printed in a notebook.
Other then the Outlook bit though it doesn't suck as a PDA. Take a look at the context of the article, it was written by a person who is PRO-WINCE and PRO-MS, and obviously fears/dislikes anything outside that realm. Just isn't MS friendly, which personally is a bonus in my opinion.
I purchased a dev model some months ago and other then the lack of a | on the keyboard (which any *nix shell user will find really annoying) I reall enjoy the device. I explected that the "mainstream" WINCE market wouldn't appreaciate the unit, but who cares, cause there is now a linux hackable StrongARM PDA for all the techheads.
Sorry hate to call BS on this one but I don't think Solaris on Sparc is headed towards the SGI grave. SGI stopped innovating for a while and hence lost market share. Sun has always continued to innovate and last time I checked they had the bulk of the high-end market and where growing.
http://www.sun.com/smi/Press/sunflash/2002-02/sunf lash.20020225.2.html
I doubt Sun will go the way of SGI/DEC/DataGeneral as long as they continue innovating. Unlike Microsoft who really hasn't done any true innovation, they have simply plagerized ideas from a miriad of other companies and people and then simply leveraged their market share to make sure the orginators can't profit and dissapear.
My are from Texas, guess the Republicans don't give a rats ass about their constituants.
What really bothers me about this whole thing is I have written both of my Senators and my Congressman and have heard NOTHING back. I haven't even received the usual form letter one gets when you write a politician. Guess it sorta tells you who the government listens too, and I don't mean the people they represent.
Well, it is a pain to let the cat in, cause like a 2 year old they want to go right back out again, so a kitty door is the best choice (also lets em crap outside with is better then cleaning a box).
On the application note, yes this is cool tech, it could be coupled with a security badge system and make installtions secure, since someone couldn't just take a badge and pretend to be someone else, could also speed up airports.
Is it really nessacary to clean ones keyboard out? I mean I can understand if you spilled something in it, or say had it in a very dirty location (but if that was the case get a sealed keyboard, or one of those keyboard comdom things). Personally I have an old IBM capacitve switch (clickity clack) keyboard that I haven't cleaned ever, still works great, though some of the letters have rubbed off. About the most I have EVER done is turn it upside down and shake out the large bits. The other issue with running keyboards through the dishwasher would be corrosion, even if it is dried completely one would have to worry about dilute mineral salts (hey BOFH term), especially if you have hard water. So again I ask, why do you need to have such a clean keyboard at home?
Seems almost to be a patent of Gamespy? Did nVidia buy them?
I can personally speak to the stupidity of airline security. I travel frequently (weekly), and know the routine, take off all metal, put it in my bag, take my laptop out, let them run it all through the xray machine and go about my buissness. Well the Xray "technician", I use that term very loosely I think crackhead (from the looks of her) working the Xray system would be a more apt description, saw something odd (probably drug induced hallucinations) and Xray'd my laptop for about 5 minutes, then they had me turn it on and off and Xray'd it again. Suffice to say it destroyed the system. I don't get it, I am a white male in my early 20's, clean cut etc etc. I by no means fit any profile of a terrorist (which so far have all been Middle Eastern Men, ages 18-40). Oh well, airport security is not effective and will not do anything in the future other then annoy people, cause delays and destroy delicate equipment.
Sorry, but I think the statement that Gary Gygax is unknown, is sorta unfounded. Hell, Homer even met him on the Simpsons.
Hello, I am Gary Gygax, I am.........(rolls D20)....... happy to meet you.
After reading through these replies I have seen a few that are striking similar in grammer, context and expression and also very very Pro-Microsoft. I won't name any names, but I wonder if there are some people on the take for Microsoft. It wouldn't be the first time they have used false tactics like this (can we say OS/2 and Linux, etc etc). Just upsets me that they have infiltrated Slashdot.
In my honest opinion I think Microsoft cheats, breaks the law and stifles technology for the sake of profit. The Justice Department has not really done anything other then give them a slap on the wrist so what are companies who want to play fairly left to do?
Until the TiVo ripping software is a little more advanced and doesn't desync the audio quite as frequently as I have seemed to experianced for the most part (or is it cause I only record in Basic?) a wireless card will be of little value.
My other concern is the TiVo's total lack of security, with my wired network card in my TiVo I can have it behind a firewall or direct linked to my system, wireless TiVo would let anyone and their brother into it.
Ok, so how about an iridium/platinum alloy, should be more ductile.
Sorry have a degree in Biology not being a dick, but last time I checked those two eyepiece things we used to use for dissecting was called astereoscope. As for not knowing what I was talking about, last time I checked iridium was an EXTREMELY hard substance, and plating it with gold would help with corrosion. But you are right I by no means have a degree in archiving or whatever the proper field is, figured I would get something a wee bit more useful.
As for your response, other then simply nay-saying mine it really doesn't seem to offer much in the way of substance. Maybe you should go back to remedial socialization or have a nice time out in the corner.
Well at least if it was on microfilm that was chemically stable you could read it with a stereoscope or something. How about they just use something like microetching on gold plated iridium tablets, that should last quite a while.
They should have used microdots or long lived microfilm, or really anything other then electronic media. For longevity sadly uou need something tangible.
Why not break the servers down by story then, karma could still remain central, but may need to be calculated daily at a central location? Don't know, maybe karma and story moderation needs to be rethought? Seems that is one of the problems to breaking Slashdot into something more useable? Granted karma and story moderation as it stands is a HUGE part of the fun of Slashdot, but if that is a problem with making /. into something that will survive without charging out the wazoo then maybe it is a sacrifice that needs to be explored?
;) Just think the existing slashdot setup needs to be rethought, as it stands it doesn't seem to scale too well.
Don't get me wrong either, I understand that any change to any large scale service is a daunting task (being an IT Architect, for Sun Microsystems I have been involved in some damn huge remodels and builds from scratch etc), much less a total code reqrite. But I guess my take is if you want something to survive you need to work at it constantly, not just maintaining the current setup but evolving (damn that sounds like a load of crap, but hopefully it makes sense