However, the decompressor DOES depend on the filename numbering in order to work; it is part of the algorithm and those bytes should be charged against the decompressor size. Then Patrick loses.
Well, if Mike had specified anything other than "file size", I'd agree. But he said "file size". And the file size of what Patrick sent is less than the file size of the original file. Balls to directories taking up space, or more files meaning more space is taken up. File size is file size.
I don't believe that the intent was followed. However, as this challenge was "impossible" to begin with, I think that the $5K should go to Patrick for creativity. He met the letter of the challenge, which in this case should be good enough as the challenge as it was intended was "impossible".
http://www.spamgourmet.com is my choice, and it works. I never give out a real e-mail address anymore to anyone I don't know, and compared to my previous addresses I've had, I get virtually NO spam.
If the payphone dies because it is assumed everyone has a cell phone, it's a grave mistake.
First, not everyone has access to technology. Heck, some people can't afford to get phone lines into their own house! Taking away payphones will only hurt them.
Second, not everyone WANTS access to technology. I had a cell phone, and cancelled it about a year ago. Why? I didn't really need it. That $30/mo could go elsewhere, and I can just use a payphone for those infrequent calls I make from someplace other than my office or home.
Besides all that, you don't want to take away kids' hobby of checking payphones for returned quarters, do you?
I'd say the best start you could get on quantum computing would be to study just plain old computer engineering.
My reasoning is this: if you learn about quantum computing, that's what you'll know. However, if you know the very basics, the "first principles" of computer engineering, then you can apply it to quantum computing, or anything else that comes along.
Quantum computers are so far out right now that no undergrad course (IMNSHO) should even touch it, save for purely interest's sake. If you're really cranked about quantum computers, finish your comp eng degree, and get into a master's or Ph.D. doing quantum computer work. Then you'll actually be *developing* the quantum computer, instead of just learning where it's at right now, which will be A) useless, and B) outdated in 2 years.
Build yourself a foundation, and then you'll have something to launch yourself off into quantum computing with. Good luck!
...I would be very surprised (and disappointed) if we're still clinging to this hunk of iron one billion years from now. I'd say it's more likely we should worry about the Venusian colonists (you know, the dumb few who didn't want to live on Mars on in the asteroid belt).
Of course, there is no conceivable way anyone alive could imagine our technology in the year 1000002001. Maybe we won't have to move the Earth... we'll just turn down the sun!
Back in university, my roommate met up with someone on a co-op term. This guy was the drummer for a "band" - just a bunch of friends who got together and made a few (!!!) albums, consisting of original songs (plus one really bad cover) and various skits. The skits are what made the albums. A couple of these skits on _DAS; The Evolution of Puke_ featured what started out to be as a queasy restaurant chain patron (said chain will remain anonymous), who, due to queasiness, was only able to mumble, "Ska...."
In one of the skits, some happless conservatory judges start judging Performance Art, and call in a "Mr. Ska". I just liked the sound of it, and it's since stuck.
As an aside, it was only about 2 years later that I even realized that there was an entire genre of music called "ska", which I moderately enjoy.
If anyone has any info on the whereabouts of any of the members of Chill and the 4 Brother Fresh, please let me know!
And no-one, but no-one uses machinery unless it reduces staff numbers.
Hate to burst your bubble, but they're not using more machinery - they've just enabled teleoperation of the normal machinery that the mine has always been using. No reduced staff number.
They take a scoop - a very large machine with a big-ass scoop on the front - and add a shitload of hardware (and software - sadly, Windows-based I believe) to it, and thereby enable the operator to drive from the surface, instead of from within the machine in a dark, dusty, rocky, stagnant, hot atmophere.
Oh, and something more... by not using operators down in the mine for these machines, they don't have to take the 20 minute (one-way) elevator ride down to the machine, hike to it, and then work, hike back to the elevator, and back up to the surface. I'd guess they'd get an extra hour's work per shift out of every machine they do this to, and not at the worker's expense. They get their breaks and lunch, but the transit time between the operator and the machine is reduced thanks to teleoperation!
I have a real problem with this corporate propaganda - trying to tell us that it is a good thing that people will be put out of jobs?
Hello?? People aren't being put out of jobs. The machines still need mechanics (heck, even more than normal from what I've been told), and they still need operators - but the operators are on the SURFACE now, instead of 2 miles underground inside the machine.
So, what is your objection now? Humans retain their jobs... their jobs become safer and more efficient... they essentially get to play really expensive realtime videogames all day... Sorry, I must have missed where this MASSIVE crime wave was coming from.
Cheer up - you can always *volunteer* for Soylent Green.
In the case of child pornography, it's illegal to just have pictures of children doing sex acts. Whereas for murder, the act itself is illegal. Child pornography isn't an act or an event, it's pictures or video. So simulated/manufactured child porn is still pretty damned close to real child porn - it just happens to not involve real children.
The question should boil down to whether child porn laws are there to protect the children that are the subjects of pornography, or whether the laws are to protect those of us being exposed to it.
It also doesn't help when people use things
like Junkbuster to further eliminate any chance these companies have of making money.
As a Guidescope user, all I have to say is "Boo hoo, and so long" to such companies.
I don't think that just because someone paid to put a banner ad on a site I read that I have the obligation to look at it. When you record a TV show (on Tivo, or your VCR, or whatever) do you not skip the commercials? Do you change radio stations during the station/commercial breaks? Why should online ads be any different?
If someone wants to make money through ads, that's great, super, excellent. More power to them. But I feel no obligation to click through anything, ever.
The big problem is the attitude that the Internet is Free Content. For the most part, it's true. If you suddenly had to pay a monthly fee for/., would you? How much? $1? $3? $10? Problem is, people enjoy things until they no longer become free.
Either way, banners bug the shit out of me, and I'll avoid them, and whatever comes along to replace them, however I can and feel just dandy about it.
seems like a reasonable idea to me, but what happens if you leave your TV on? or watch some really bad show--can i get
my money back?
Sucks to be you. New paradigm, new rules. Some folks might do this accidently, but if this system ever saw the light of day, you just KNOW that there's be an auto-off feature after every show. So even if you started watching Wheel of Fortune and left the room, the TV would turn off once Pat's made his last lame-ass joke and said goodnight.
Part of the problem with current TV is that the only way we can say what we want is either get a Neilson box, or vote with our wallet. The latter is extremely crude: almost a binary proposition. (You like TV? Get cable. Don't? Cut your cable.) With a pay-per-show system, you get what you want, when you want, and for as long or as short as you want.
There really is way too much TV nowadays, and commercialism is going too far. I'd dearly love to see this happen, just get less exposure to the both of them.
This is getting silly. Obviously, it's time for a new TV paradigm.
We've been on the same one since TV started: stations/networks buy shows, broadcast them for free, and get revenue by selling commercial time during said shows. The more popular the show, the more they can charge for ad space (just look at the Superbowl).
Well, fuck it. Here's what I propose: EVERYONE gets a cable into their home. Zero monthly fee. Nada, zip. Don't turn the TV on and you never pay a penny. What happens instead? The cable provider instead acts like a library, but with user fees. You want to watch a show? You pay for it - say, $0.25 for a Simpsons rerun. Want as many Simpons episodes as you can handle? Buy a subscription for $3.00/month.
This will do a few things:
Instantly weed out the shitty shows that never get bought.
Eliminate the need for commercials, as you're paying directly for the show.
Reduce the amount of time us couch potatos waste in front of the boob tube. We'll be more conscious (espeicially if we get a runny tally of our monthly bill) of how much TV we watch, and what we watch. No more 3am informercial surfing.
To introduce new shows, they'd have to have a couple "free unlimited use" channels going, or otherwise we'd eventually end up watching nothing but news and reruns. Maybe those channels can have commercials, and you get a rebate for each 15 minutes of commercials you watch (or something like that).
Ah, TV that I control with my wallet. THAT would be great.
Yes, it was cheesy, but at the time, playing Doom (or Doom II) on my roommate's scortching fast Pentium 90 was just WICKED. The 4 of us would spend many, many hours in front of that screen in the dark, typing in the cheat codes and trying to make things go "Squish" with the rocket launcher.
At one point in my Doom days, I had been playing it for many hours a day for the past week. Suddenly one night, when I was trying to get to sleep, the instant I closed my eyes all I saw were various Doom levels, either real, made-up, or both, and I was playing them. For days after that point, if I even closed my eyes for a second, I would be in another Doom level, lobbing all sorts of artillery at various heinous creatures coming after me. It wouldn't stop.
Eventually, I stopped playing for a while, and my shut-eye time once again went dark. But Doom was very addictive. It paved the way for Duke Nukem, Quake, and all the billions of other FPS games out there. Hail to the King, baby.
Hear, hear! I'm with you all the way. I'm a new (town)homeowner myself, and believe it or not, I think I'm the ONLY one on the crescent to have a human-powered mower. It's the only mower that makes sense with a townhouse!
First off, I don't have acres of grass. And I'll be losing grass eventually to gardens, so I'll have even less to mow.
Secondly, I'm in a middle unit, which means the "side" of my house is the side of my next-door-neighbour's house as well. I can't just wheel a mower around the side, I have to go through the gravel laneway and through my garage. That would really SUCK with a Briggs and Straton.
And of course, I really, REALLY like the fact that when I mow the lawn, I'm not spewing out pollutants, spilling gas, or leaking oil. (Well, I may be emitting gas, but that has nothing to do with mowing.) And as a HUGE bonus, I don't wake up the entire neighbourhoor, or let them even know I'm out there. I wish the dude down the street with the horrendously gnashy-sounding electric mower would take a page from the book of Reel Mowers. Eeek.
Is it just me, or has anyone else wondered why a gagged/censored Woody Allen is being used for Your Rights Online? Sure, it might NOT be Woody Allen, but you can't say it doesn't look like him!
What you ask may be impossible, or at the very least, very difficult. (If you manage to do it, you will be a very, very, fithly rich person.) However, I believe there is something you *can* do to at least help your techies out.
I've had it myself, and seen many friends deal with it: Scope Creep. In a nutshell (for those who haven't heard of it before), it's when the Customer initially wants A, and signs the contract for that. But then they want an extra feature here, another bit of flexibility there, and before you know it, you're on the hook for A++, not jus A anymore. This leads to broken deadlines, late nights, caffeine, gaming, and kernel mods, among other things.
What you have to do is lay out VERY SPECIFICALLY what the customer wants, and make sure your techies and the customer are talking the same language, or are at least on the same page. If there is any other feature to be added, the contract is modified, along with the timelines and whatever else needs to be. This effectively keeps EVERYONE in the loop, and forces the customer to realize that this "extra little feature" is actually a major technical undertaking and not just "adding a button on this part here".
From that, you should be able to fairly accurately get a first draft of a timeline up and going without having to pad it for extras. (There's the added benefit of KNOWING that the customer will want to add something, which means that if you've screwed up a timeline, you just have to wait, and it'll disappear underneath the new, improved timeline!):)
Nobody has guaranteed your lights won't go out (well, maybe your local power provider). Nowhere in your Constitution does it say that you have the right to turn on as many lights as you want. You have the right to puruse happiness, but do you REALLY believe that should be at all expenses?
Power is not free - especially in the environmental sense. And you know what? Those pollutants that are the byproduct of your precious power go everywhere. And you don't have the right to pollute MY backyard.
But instead of being snippy and berating your skewed viewpoint, I'll offer some constructive suggestions:
Keep your freezer full. When your refridgerator freezer is as full as it can be, it's much more efficient. And 30% of all your household energy goes to your fridge. So stock it up and keep it that way. Even just having bags of ice to use up the empty space will help.
Get energy-efficient bulbs, timers, and motion sensors. There are easy, fairly inexpensive ways to reduce the amount of energy your lights consume. Try it.
Power off. Your computer (unless running a webserver or something like that) doesn't need to stay on 24-7. Yes, heat cycling is what kills it, but are you really going to keep it for 5 years?? No, you're going to upgrade anyways, so a few extra hundred heat cycles isn't going to hurt you.
Turn your monitor off. It sucks up the most power of your system anyways, so turn it off if you're away from your desk. Especially if you leave your box on all the time.
Ditch your CRT and get a flatscreen. Consumes WAY less power, take up less real estate, easier on your eyes, way cooler... nuff said.
Buy window blinds. Believe it or not, blinds can make a HUGE difference in heating/cooling a house. With them, they keep out extra light and energy, so you don't have to cool your house as much. In cold areas (like where I am) they actually act as another insulation layer, keeping more heat inside your room. Home Depot has some paper temporary blinds for about $6 that will do the trick for windows you don't look out all the time. Otherwise mini blinds are cheap too.
Buy some carpet, or slippers. Don't crank your thermostat if your feet are cold - heating the air won't warm up your floor (or toes) much anyway.
Have more sex. All the lights out, and you're generating your own heat. Need I say more?
They can also be found if you search for "birth ball". Among many other things, they're apparently quite popular with midwives and Doulas for labour (birthing) assistance.
The one my wife has is a 75cm ball, and they are available from 45cm all the way up to 85cm in 10cm increments. We got ours through a local pharmacy/medical supply store. Check the box to see which size fits your body frame.
The reasoning behind using one of these balls along the same lines as those backless kneeling-type chairs: it forces you to sit upright. But as an added bonus, because it's a ball, it also forces you to put your feet out in front of you and flat on the floor. (You can try balancing with one leg, but I didn't fare very well. YMMV.)
Warning: wear pants, or buy a ball cover. The type of plastic ours is made with seems to really like leg hair. Ouch.
Yes, yes, he's an athiest and he said "Thank God". Big, freaking, hairy deal. It's just a common phrase that happens to roll off the tongue better than "Thank goodness" does. Stop having a cow, it's not big deal.
For those who still insist on making a big deal out of it, perhaps instead of truly being an athiest, he's actually an agnostic. He's not sure, but perhaps there's a "God" up there to thank... Or maybe he was Christian, became disenchanted, and old habits die hard?
It's really amazing... people have the chance to pick who is going to run their country, but they get razzle-dazzled by the smallest, insignificant mistakes and irregularities. They're human - try seeing them that way.
"We rely on the ISP's security [for the security of the Carnivore
box]."
Is it just me, or does that statment just give you instant wood?
Based on current ISP security and the willingness of 31337 h4xx0rz to plunder whatever and whenever they can, I'm willing to bet that at some point in the not-too-distant future we're going to hear of a Carnivore box being 0wn3d. I can just see it now:
Earlier today the FBI put out a warrant for its own arrest for a series of "distributed denial of service" attacks on major e-commerce websites earlier this week. Said one FBI source, "It appears as though we the FBI have been performing these attacks from our controversial Carnivore monitoring stations, set up around the country for legitimate purposes. Go figure, huh?"
Beyond the Kuiper Belt is yet another conglomeration of chunks of rock and dust called the Oort Cloud. This also surrounds
our solar system and may actually protect us from some of the things that could zip into the system and strike another planet or
disrupt things.
If the Oort cloud is, in fact, thick or dense enough to stop such objects (or at least deflect them), then what about Voyager? How is it getting through, on a prayer?
If Voyager CAN get through easily enough, what's to say that something else Earthward-bound couldn't too?
As some other poster mentioned, power density is a real problem here. A compressed gas just doesn't have a lot of energy stored in it compared to liquids or solids.
If you want an air-powered car, I think they guys at TriTec Power have a better solution with their power unit that can be adapted for just about any vehicle. It doesn't run on air per se, but it can run on any expanding gas. Steam (made by combusting diesel, gas, hydrogen, whatever), compressed air, liquid nitrogen... anything. Just imagine how much farther you could go with a tank of liquid nitrogen in your trunk expanding. I don't know the figures for N2, but for our old friend H20, it expands by a factor of 1700 times going from liquid to gas. That's nearly 6x what you'd get compressing a gas to 300 atmospheres.
For the record, assuming their claims of 200km per "tank" and 130km/h, I'd be right there getting one if they came here. Just think how damned quiet it could be. Yeah.
Slashdot Mirror
Well, if Mike had specified anything other than "file size", I'd agree. But he said "file size". And the file size of what Patrick sent is less than the file size of the original file. Balls to directories taking up space, or more files meaning more space is taken up. File size is file size.
I don't believe that the intent was followed. However, as this challenge was "impossible" to begin with, I think that the $5K should go to Patrick for creativity. He met the letter of the challenge, which in this case should be good enough as the challenge as it was intended was "impossible".
Mr. Ska
I slit a sheet
A sheet I slit
There is a heaven on earth...
Mr. Ska
I slit a sheet
A sheet I slit
First, not everyone has access to technology. Heck, some people can't afford to get phone lines into their own house! Taking away payphones will only hurt them.
Second, not everyone WANTS access to technology. I had a cell phone, and cancelled it about a year ago. Why? I didn't really need it. That $30/mo could go elsewhere, and I can just use a payphone for those infrequent calls I make from someplace other than my office or home.
Besides all that, you don't want to take away kids' hobby of checking payphones for returned quarters, do you?
Mr. Ska
I slit a sheet
A sheet I slit
I think a good Irish wake would be in order. Mir's already green, what with all the various fungi that's infecting it...
Mr. Ska
I slit a sheet
A sheet I slit
My reasoning is this: if you learn about quantum computing, that's what you'll know. However, if you know the very basics, the "first principles" of computer engineering, then you can apply it to quantum computing, or anything else that comes along.
Quantum computers are so far out right now that no undergrad course (IMNSHO) should even touch it, save for purely interest's sake. If you're really cranked about quantum computers, finish your comp eng degree, and get into a master's or Ph.D. doing quantum computer work. Then you'll actually be *developing* the quantum computer, instead of just learning where it's at right now, which will be A) useless, and B) outdated in 2 years.
Build yourself a foundation, and then you'll have something to launch yourself off into quantum computing with. Good luck!
Mr. Ska
I slit a sheet
A sheet I slit
Of course, there is no conceivable way anyone alive could imagine our technology in the year 1000002001. Maybe we won't have to move the Earth... we'll just turn down the sun!
Mr. Ska
I slit a sheet
A sheet I slit
In one of the skits, some happless conservatory judges start judging Performance Art, and call in a "Mr. Ska". I just liked the sound of it, and it's since stuck.
As an aside, it was only about 2 years later that I even realized that there was an entire genre of music called "ska", which I moderately enjoy.
If anyone has any info on the whereabouts of any of the members of Chill and the 4 Brother Fresh, please let me know!
Mr. Ska
I slit a sheet
A sheet I slit
Hate to burst your bubble, but they're not using more machinery - they've just enabled teleoperation of the normal machinery that the mine has always been using. No reduced staff number.
They take a scoop - a very large machine with a big-ass scoop on the front - and add a shitload of hardware (and software - sadly, Windows-based I believe) to it, and thereby enable the operator to drive from the surface, instead of from within the machine in a dark, dusty, rocky, stagnant, hot atmophere.
Oh, and something more... by not using operators down in the mine for these machines, they don't have to take the 20 minute (one-way) elevator ride down to the machine, hike to it, and then work, hike back to the elevator, and back up to the surface. I'd guess they'd get an extra hour's work per shift out of every machine they do this to, and not at the worker's expense. They get their breaks and lunch, but the transit time between the operator and the machine is reduced thanks to teleoperation!
Mr. Ska
I slit a sheet
A sheet I slit
Hello?? People aren't being put out of jobs. The machines still need mechanics (heck, even more than normal from what I've been told), and they still need operators - but the operators are on the SURFACE now, instead of 2 miles underground inside the machine.
So, what is your objection now? Humans retain their jobs... their jobs become safer and more efficient... they essentially get to play really expensive realtime videogames all day... Sorry, I must have missed where this MASSIVE crime wave was coming from.
Cheer up - you can always *volunteer* for Soylent Green.
Mr. Ska
I slit a sheet
A sheet I slit
The question should boil down to whether child porn laws are there to protect the children that are the subjects of pornography, or whether the laws are to protect those of us being exposed to it.
Either way, it's about as appealing as goatse.cx.
Mr. Ska
I slit a sheet
A sheet I slit
As a Guidescope user, all I have to say is "Boo hoo, and so long" to such companies.
I don't think that just because someone paid to put a banner ad on a site I read that I have the obligation to look at it. When you record a TV show (on Tivo, or your VCR, or whatever) do you not skip the commercials? Do you change radio stations during the station/commercial breaks? Why should online ads be any different?
If someone wants to make money through ads, that's great, super, excellent. More power to them. But I feel no obligation to click through anything, ever.
The big problem is the attitude that the Internet is Free Content. For the most part, it's true. If you suddenly had to pay a monthly fee for /., would you? How much? $1? $3? $10? Problem is, people enjoy things until they no longer become free.
Either way, banners bug the shit out of me, and I'll avoid them, and whatever comes along to replace them, however I can and feel just dandy about it.
Sucks to be you. New paradigm, new rules. Some folks might do this accidently, but if this system ever saw the light of day, you just KNOW that there's be an auto-off feature after every show. So even if you started watching Wheel of Fortune and left the room, the TV would turn off once Pat's made his last lame-ass joke and said goodnight.
Part of the problem with current TV is that the only way we can say what we want is either get a Neilson box, or vote with our wallet. The latter is extremely crude: almost a binary proposition. (You like TV? Get cable. Don't? Cut your cable.) With a pay-per-show system, you get what you want, when you want, and for as long or as short as you want.
There really is way too much TV nowadays, and commercialism is going too far. I'd dearly love to see this happen, just get less exposure to the both of them.
We've been on the same one since TV started: stations/networks buy shows, broadcast them for free, and get revenue by selling commercial time during said shows. The more popular the show, the more they can charge for ad space (just look at the Superbowl).
Well, fuck it. Here's what I propose: EVERYONE gets a cable into their home. Zero monthly fee. Nada, zip. Don't turn the TV on and you never pay a penny. What happens instead? The cable provider instead acts like a library, but with user fees. You want to watch a show? You pay for it - say, $0.25 for a Simpsons rerun. Want as many Simpons episodes as you can handle? Buy a subscription for $3.00/month.
This will do a few things:
- Instantly weed out the shitty shows that never get bought.
- Eliminate the need for commercials, as you're paying directly for the show.
- Reduce the amount of time us couch potatos waste in front of the boob tube. We'll be more conscious (espeicially if we get a runny tally of our monthly bill) of how much TV we watch, and what we watch. No more 3am informercial surfing.
To introduce new shows, they'd have to have a couple "free unlimited use" channels going, or otherwise we'd eventually end up watching nothing but news and reruns. Maybe those channels can have commercials, and you get a rebate for each 15 minutes of commercials you watch (or something like that).Ah, TV that I control with my wallet. THAT would be great.
At one point in my Doom days, I had been playing it for many hours a day for the past week. Suddenly one night, when I was trying to get to sleep, the instant I closed my eyes all I saw were various Doom levels, either real, made-up, or both, and I was playing them. For days after that point, if I even closed my eyes for a second, I would be in another Doom level, lobbing all sorts of artillery at various heinous creatures coming after me. It wouldn't stop.
Eventually, I stopped playing for a while, and my shut-eye time once again went dark. But Doom was very addictive. It paved the way for Duke Nukem, Quake, and all the billions of other FPS games out there. Hail to the King, baby.
First off, I don't have acres of grass. And I'll be losing grass eventually to gardens, so I'll have even less to mow.
Secondly, I'm in a middle unit, which means the "side" of my house is the side of my next-door-neighbour's house as well. I can't just wheel a mower around the side, I have to go through the gravel laneway and through my garage. That would really SUCK with a Briggs and Straton.
And of course, I really, REALLY like the fact that when I mow the lawn, I'm not spewing out pollutants, spilling gas, or leaking oil. (Well, I may be emitting gas, but that has nothing to do with mowing.) And as a HUGE bonus, I don't wake up the entire neighbourhoor, or let them even know I'm out there. I wish the dude down the street with the horrendously gnashy-sounding electric mower would take a page from the book of Reel Mowers. Eeek.
What about a nice picture of Mitnick instead?
I've had it myself, and seen many friends deal with it: Scope Creep. In a nutshell (for those who haven't heard of it before), it's when the Customer initially wants A, and signs the contract for that. But then they want an extra feature here, another bit of flexibility there, and before you know it, you're on the hook for A++, not jus A anymore. This leads to broken deadlines, late nights, caffeine, gaming, and kernel mods, among other things.
What you have to do is lay out VERY SPECIFICALLY what the customer wants, and make sure your techies and the customer are talking the same language, or are at least on the same page. If there is any other feature to be added, the contract is modified, along with the timelines and whatever else needs to be. This effectively keeps EVERYONE in the loop, and forces the customer to realize that this "extra little feature" is actually a major technical undertaking and not just "adding a button on this part here".
From that, you should be able to fairly accurately get a first draft of a timeline up and going without having to pad it for extras. (There's the added benefit of KNOWING that the customer will want to add something, which means that if you've screwed up a timeline, you just have to wait, and it'll disappear underneath the new, improved timeline!) :)
Good luck!
Power is not free - especially in the environmental sense. And you know what? Those pollutants that are the byproduct of your precious power go everywhere. And you don't have the right to pollute MY backyard.
But instead of being snippy and berating your skewed viewpoint, I'll offer some constructive suggestions:
It's a Haqua-ble interface. 1337 h4kkwarz unite!
Other than the fact that you've have to play 3 minutes into the future, while you wait for the light to bounce back from the moon.
Just play it off Mir instead. Maybe if you charge $5/game you can get enough to keep it in orbit...
The one my wife has is a 75cm ball, and they are available from 45cm all the way up to 85cm in 10cm increments. We got ours through a local pharmacy/medical supply store. Check the box to see which size fits your body frame.
The reasoning behind using one of these balls along the same lines as those backless kneeling-type chairs: it forces you to sit upright. But as an added bonus, because it's a ball, it also forces you to put your feet out in front of you and flat on the floor. (You can try balancing with one leg, but I didn't fare very well. YMMV.)
Warning: wear pants, or buy a ball cover. The type of plastic ours is made with seems to really like leg hair. Ouch.
For those who still insist on making a big deal out of it, perhaps instead of truly being an athiest, he's actually an agnostic. He's not sure, but perhaps there's a "God" up there to thank... Or maybe he was Christian, became disenchanted, and old habits die hard?
It's really amazing... people have the chance to pick who is going to run their country, but they get razzle-dazzled by the smallest, insignificant mistakes and irregularities. They're human - try seeing them that way.
Is it just me, or does that statment just give you instant wood?
Based on current ISP security and the willingness of 31337 h4xx0rz to plunder whatever and whenever they can, I'm willing to bet that at some point in the not-too-distant future we're going to hear of a Carnivore box being 0wn3d. I can just see it now:
Earlier today the FBI put out a warrant for its own arrest for a series of "distributed denial of service" attacks on major e-commerce websites earlier this week. Said one FBI source, "It appears as though we the FBI have been performing these attacks from our controversial Carnivore monitoring stations, set up around the country for legitimate purposes. Go figure, huh?"
If the Oort cloud is, in fact, thick or dense enough to stop such objects (or at least deflect them), then what about Voyager? How is it getting through, on a prayer?
If Voyager CAN get through easily enough, what's to say that something else Earthward-bound couldn't too?
If you want an air-powered car, I think they guys at TriTec Power have a better solution with their power unit that can be adapted for just about any vehicle. It doesn't run on air per se, but it can run on any expanding gas. Steam (made by combusting diesel, gas, hydrogen, whatever), compressed air, liquid nitrogen... anything. Just imagine how much farther you could go with a tank of liquid nitrogen in your trunk expanding. I don't know the figures for N2, but for our old friend H20, it expands by a factor of 1700 times going from liquid to gas. That's nearly 6x what you'd get compressing a gas to 300 atmospheres.
For the record, assuming their claims of 200km per "tank" and 130km/h, I'd be right there getting one if they came here. Just think how damned quiet it could be. Yeah.