I'm wiring up a smoke detector in my garage. Smoke detectors aren't often found in garages due to the false positives they sound off on - because of car exhausts. I have an Plug in Electric Hybrid, and this guy has a Tesla. Perfect for a Nest Protect. No exhaust to trigger false positives. Joseph Elwell.
Wood burning stoves and fireplaces are not the same thing.
That's why they have different names. Anonymous Coward to the rescue: points out two words spelled differently are different! Thanks for the insight, Joseph Elwell.
Currently home builders have little incentive to put an efficient stove into their buildings. At least in my neck of the woods. This is just a step in that direction: Efficient wood burning devices that pollute less. Joseph Elwell.
Perhaps everyone who needed Yahoo Groups to be different had already left.
In the groups I participate in, this is exactly what is happening. People are leaving. I can't imagine any successful business model that involves no new users, AND the current userbase shrinking.
By forcing current groups to change they didn't necessarily give them any new functionality that they wanted,
Inline attachments seems like a pretty big deal. You no longer have to mention, search the files for this picture that only relates to this post. This seems especially useful for email users (seemingly the core of users) - which I am not one of.
and might have taken away functionality that they did want.
Change is hard for a lot of people. Yahoo Groups, unfortunately is stuck running some really ancient "forum" software that really isn't designed to be a forum at all. It's designed to be an email list. I use Yahoo Groups daily, and it really needs to incorporate modern features. Neo brings a lot of basic forum features to Yahoo Groups, like inline attachments. The people asking for the old format back, change is hard, embrace it and move forward. Ask Yahoo to fix bugs you find in Neo, that will be much better for the community than to continue being stuck in the old ways. Joseph Elwell.
If you read the entire article, there's no proof that cops are going undercover. There's only proof that DIY show producers are paranoid. I'm more inclined to believe the latter. Joseph Elwell.
Is it really too much to ask to just go there? Ex-CIA agent has no money to fly, no license to kill, but plenty of time to kill; especially yours. Joseph Elwell.
In my county, usually their prior job titles are listed.
If you're "tough on crime" vote for the candidate who used to be a Prosecutor or District Attorney.
If you're for "fair trials" vote for the candidate who used to be a public defender.
Another way would be to say "tough on innocent victims", instead of "tough on crime". Or "weak on crime" instead of "fair trials", depending on which way you swing.;) Maybe someone else can come up with labels that aren't as emotional.
The rationale behind this rule is that former prosecutors and district attorneys were motivated by guilty sentences (whether the person is guilty or not), while former defenders were motivated by innocent sentences (also unrelated to guilt).
Does this rule work all the time? No, does it work some of the time, I have no clue. But it's one rule I use when electing judges now.
Can I login with my Over The Air Antenna information? Doh, I don't need a login to watch TV for free in my neighborhood.;) I pay 0$ for network TV, how do I convince Hulu that paying nothing for TV is actually legitimate? My guess, I can't. It's bad enough that, the paid, Hulu Plus has less content than Hulu Free. Now there will be no such thing as Hulu Free. Hulu is on a path to self destruction - and just like Netflix these changes are likely out of their control - i.e. the content providers are forcing these changes with licensing restrictions. Joseph Elwell.
I hate having to wear glasses just to watch something. More so, it looks and feels like a gimmick.
Can you imagine if you had to wear glasses every minute of your waking life? Those people with bad eyesight must think the whole world is a gimmick! Joseph Elwell.
Has he even tried this? I can't reliably login using the picture password setting, and I'm the one that set up the "password". I'm not convinced a video recording would suffice. I could, just as easily, video record your keyboard from a distance, but that's not going to net you my password very reliably either. Not unless you're a chicken pecker. Joseph Elwell.
Your confusion about which codec to use might be because the content you produce (just like anaglyph content) is a 2D video. A "Side by Side" video, as played in VLC, will just look like 2 2D images playing next to each other - because that's all it is. People use mkvmerge to take the left eye and right eye and composite them together, literally next to each other. Unfortunately I have not found a simple to use tool that will convert between 3D formats - only tools that will stream.
Here's how it works from a customer's (me) perspective: when I plug a USB stick in with a 3D mkv file I start the Media Play feature I browse to the movie I want and hit play I pause the movie I hit the 3D button on my remote control The TV asks me which format the movie is in, either "Side by Side" or "Top-Bottom", or "2D -> 3D" (which is for 2D content). I select the appropriate format, so far most content I've found is "Side by Side". I put my glasses on. I hit play (because I paused it before because turning on 3D takes a few moments). Done.
If there's a way to inform the TV that the content is 3D, I have not yet found it. Although, the manual mentions this feature:
"3D Auto View (Off / On): If 3D Auto View is set to On, a “Side-by-Side” format HDMI signal with one of the resolutions below is automatically switched to 3D. Here, correct 3D information must be sent from the Standard HDMI 3D Format.
If a 3D failure occurs due to a 3D information error, set 3D Auto View to Off and manually select a 3D Mode using the 3D button or corresponding menu.
Support resolution (16:9 only)
1280 x 720p 60 Hz
1920 x 1080i 60 Hz
1920 x 1080p 24 / 30 / 60 Hz"
I'd be more than happy to help you test out your video files. You can email me. My slashdot username and my yahoo email account share the same handle.
I have a friend with the Nvidia setup and he can view pretty much all the 3D content that I've found. I have to use stereoscopic player, outputting a signal to my TV, in order to view other formats than the 2 I listed. And of course, Stereoscopic player will convert pretty much any format to any other format (except anaglyph formats can only be a target, not an input format).
Here's some sample 3D content you can compare with: http://www.3dtv.at/Movies/Index_en.aspx One caveat, I haven't actually tested that content on my TV. Most of it probably works fine, although some might be too high a resolution to support using Media Play - but I can play those from my Mac outputting over HDMI (but that's more annoying than Media Play). Joseph Elwell.
I have one of the new 3D TVs. Like Nvidia's real3D, my Samsung LED based LCD TV can view various 3d formats natively (off a USB drive, or streamed over a dlna device). Including "Side by Side" and "Top & Bottom". Other 3d formats can be viewed as outputted from a computer like interlaced (field sequential), Line by Line, Vertical Strip and Checkerboard. There isn't a lot of content available for these Televisions, so with the right marketing you'd get a lot of interest from owners. Joseph Elwell.
"which were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995"
The UNESCO World Heritage Sites are a joke. Unesco itself made this very clear when they put out a press release denying involvement with the New 7 Wonders list. " Scientific criteria must be defined, the quality of candidates evaluated, and legislative and management frameworks set up. The relevant authorities must also demonstrate commitment to these frameworks as well as to permanently monitoring the state of conservation of sites. The task is one of technical conservation and political persuasion." Who wants to go visit sites that are determined by a bureaucratic process where political persuasion plays more of a role than wonder itself. http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=38482&UR L_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
And have you even been to 20% of the sites? Here's a choice site that wasn't worth going to even before it was removed from the list. An Oryx sanctuary. Here's one I was at recently, Brimstone Hill National Park in St. Kitts and Nevis - it's simply not worth basing a trip around (wheras all of the New 7 Wonders are worth basing a trip around), and it's my opinion that Brimstone isn't worth visiting, even if you're in the area for a few days. http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=38721&UR L_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brimstone_Hill
The problems with UNESCO's list are: 1. It is not ranked/organized, nor are there highlights. No one has enough resources to visit all of them. Or enough time to research all of them to determine if they're worth seeing. (There are currently 851 sites). 2. Political. Be reminded that UNESCO is an arm of the U.N. That means that there are many political influences that go into the nomination process. This means, among other things, that the site's owner must agree to UNESCO mandates. That means that many unique sites that choose not to accept UNESCO mandate aren't on the list. Some of the New 7 Wonders are not UNESCO World Heritage Sites: The Colosseum, and Christ the Redeemer. It should be noted that the Taj Mahal (completed in 1648) was not an UNESCO World Heritage site until 1983; until then I guess it wasn't very important.
I think this new list it useful in the same way that any list is useful. It's a summary. In this case, it's a summary of the most iconic architectural wonders in the world.
And please, why does everyone mention the Eiffel tower? Have you people seen it? It's a radio tower. That might have been awe-inspiring in 1889, but today it's just a radio tower, you don't have these in your country? Where I'm from Radio towers (and for that matter gigantic power line towers) are hopefully far away from your home - because they're an eyesore. Just in case people still love the Eiffel tower, it will forever be a New 7 Wonders finalist.
"Any list of wonders that excludes Angkor Wat is a waste of time." I guess this statement means the New 7 Wonders list is not a waste of time, as Angkor was one of the 21 finalist. And "will remain Official New7Wonders Finalists". Joseph Elwell.
I just got a postcard from Stategicon the other day. They're under new management, and they have a great guest host this year: Reiner Knizia. I also haven't been to Strategicon is a long long time, but this new management might be on to something.
Any organized Gaming group is going to be perceived as competition. Let's hope that Protospiel West survives longer than GenCon West. Joseph Elwell.
Yes, you can keep using your screen name. This is limitation with AOL's service.
Anyways, you clearly didn't try this because @mac.com screennames that are not paid for do not allow encryption. I just tried it with my old @mac.com account. Yes I can log in, but I can't enable encryption - iChat says I'm still not allowed. Joseph Elwell.
I have a LinuxFund MBNA card. I noticed a few months ago that the website was down and there hadn't been any activity by LinuxFund in years.
So I called up MBNA and they assured me that no entity was receiving any money anymore from my purchases. And they offered to switch me over to a WorldPoints program instead (but I got to keep the penguin logo on my card and "Linux Fund" name anyways).
I figured the MBNA contact just didn't understand my questions/concern about the legitimacy (or even exisistence) of the Linux Fund. But I knew that I no longer wanted my "rewards" to go to, what I could only assume, was now "some dude trying to cash in on a failed business plan".
What do you do when someone steals your credit card and makes purchases?
Sheesh people. Do you need Slashdot readers to tell you how to dial 911 when there's a burglar in your house? Or how to call your credit card company to fight fraudulent charges?
Tomorrow on Ask Cliff (who apparently doesn't know much): "Do I need a computer to file my taxes?". I'll spoil the post and save millions of readers from the pain of having to read through the heartbreaking story: Go to the post office!
Try the Better Business Bureau - it *always* works for me when I have a problem with any business. Joseph Elwell.
The truth of the matter is *your* bank won't allow quicken to import your data. Intuit has to work deals with every bank and some banks refuse Mac support.
The reason is quite simple, and quite insidious. Banks don't want you to use financial tracking software, and especially they don't want you to use a third party's bill payment software. Because the banks want to sell you these things themselves. So, the banks use the Mac market as a test bed. They pull Mac support from Intuit - disallowing them to support automatic imports. The banks know that if they don't generate too many complaints from the small mac community (who are quite vocal) then they can pull PC support next. Which puts them in line to sell their own financial and bill payment software.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm wiring up a smoke detector in my garage. Smoke detectors aren't often found in garages due to the false positives they sound off on - because of car exhausts. I have an Plug in Electric Hybrid, and this guy has a Tesla. Perfect for a Nest Protect. No exhaust to trigger false positives.
Joseph Elwell.
Wood burning stoves and fireplaces are not the same thing.
That's why they have different names. Anonymous Coward to the rescue: points out two words spelled differently are different!
Thanks for the insight,
Joseph Elwell.
In other news, most fireplaces are inefficient anyways.
http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/heating-and-cooling/fireplace.htm
Currently home builders have little incentive to put an efficient stove into their buildings. At least in my neck of the woods. This is just a step in that direction: Efficient wood burning devices that pollute less.
Joseph Elwell.
Perhaps everyone who needed Yahoo Groups to be different had already left.
In the groups I participate in, this is exactly what is happening. People are leaving. I can't imagine any successful business model that involves no new users, AND the current userbase shrinking.
By forcing current groups to change they didn't necessarily give them any new functionality that they wanted,
Inline attachments seems like a pretty big deal. You no longer have to mention, search the files for this picture that only relates to this post. This seems especially useful for email users (seemingly the core of users) - which I am not one of.
and might have taken away functionality that they did want.
There are only 2 features listed as having been removed. Everything else is implied to be bugs, I suppose that is the definition of "might", it might be a bug, it might be a feature removed.
http://yahoogroupedia.pbworks.com/w/page/68466246/Yahoo%20Groups%20Neo#MissingFeatures
Joseph Elwell.
Change is hard for a lot of people. Yahoo Groups, unfortunately is stuck running some really ancient "forum" software that really isn't designed to be a forum at all. It's designed to be an email list. I use Yahoo Groups daily, and it really needs to incorporate modern features. Neo brings a lot of basic forum features to Yahoo Groups, like inline attachments. The people asking for the old format back, change is hard, embrace it and move forward. Ask Yahoo to fix bugs you find in Neo, that will be much better for the community than to continue being stuck in the old ways.
Joseph Elwell.
Why not just move? Sea barriers is literally pushing the problem around. That solves nothing.
Joseph Elwell.
If you read the entire article, there's no proof that cops are going undercover. There's only proof that DIY show producers are paranoid. I'm more inclined to believe the latter.
Joseph Elwell.
Is it really too much to ask to just go there? Ex-CIA agent has no money to fly, no license to kill, but plenty of time to kill; especially yours.
Joseph Elwell.
That is the oldest jail cell trick in the book. I'm glad it still works.
Joseph Elwell.
Here's a good tip a friend of mine gave me.
In my county, usually their prior job titles are listed.
If you're "tough on crime" vote for the candidate who used to be a Prosecutor or District Attorney.
If you're for "fair trials" vote for the candidate who used to be a public defender.
Another way would be to say "tough on innocent victims", instead of "tough on crime". Or "weak on crime" instead of "fair trials", depending on which way you swing. ;) Maybe someone else can come up with labels that aren't as emotional.
The rationale behind this rule is that former prosecutors and district attorneys were motivated by guilty sentences (whether the person is guilty or not), while former defenders were motivated by innocent sentences (also unrelated to guilt).
Does this rule work all the time? No, does it work some of the time, I have no clue. But it's one rule I use when electing judges now.
Joseph Elwell.
TomTom has excellent customer service. Google has none, and can lead to numerous deaths:
http://www.npr.org/2011/07/26/137646147/the-gps-a-fatally-misleading-travel-companion
OpenStreetMap suffers for the same reason, customer service is self serve. That's actually a step above Google.
Joseph Elwell.
Can I login with my Over The Air Antenna information? Doh, I don't need a login to watch TV for free in my neighborhood. ;) I pay 0$ for network TV, how do I convince Hulu that paying nothing for TV is actually legitimate? My guess, I can't. It's bad enough that, the paid, Hulu Plus has less content than Hulu Free. Now there will be no such thing as Hulu Free. Hulu is on a path to self destruction - and just like Netflix these changes are likely out of their control - i.e. the content providers are forcing these changes with licensing restrictions.
Joseph Elwell.
I hate having to wear glasses just to watch something. More so, it looks and feels like a gimmick.
Can you imagine if you had to wear glasses every minute of your waking life? Those people with bad eyesight must think the whole world is a gimmick!
Joseph Elwell.
Has he even tried this? I can't reliably login using the picture password setting, and I'm the one that set up the "password". I'm not convinced a video recording would suffice. I could, just as easily, video record your keyboard from a distance, but that's not going to net you my password very reliably either. Not unless you're a chicken pecker.
Joseph Elwell.
Sell it for monies!
My Samsung TV can read every codec I've given it. You can grab the manual here:
http://www.samsung.com/us/support/downloads/UN40C7000WFXZA
Page 40 lists the available codec support.
Page 20 explains how the 3D feature works.
Your confusion about which codec to use might be because the content you produce (just like anaglyph content) is a 2D video. A "Side by Side" video, as played in VLC, will just look like 2 2D images playing next to each other - because that's all it is. People use mkvmerge to take the left eye and right eye and composite them together, literally next to each other. Unfortunately I have not found a simple to use tool that will convert between 3D formats - only tools that will stream.
Here's how it works from a customer's (me) perspective:
when I plug a USB stick in with a 3D mkv file
I start the Media Play feature
I browse to the movie I want and hit play
I pause the movie
I hit the 3D button on my remote control
The TV asks me which format the movie is in, either "Side by Side" or "Top-Bottom", or "2D -> 3D" (which is for 2D content).
I select the appropriate format, so far most content I've found is "Side by Side".
I put my glasses on.
I hit play (because I paused it before because turning on 3D takes a few moments).
Done.
If there's a way to inform the TV that the content is 3D, I have not yet found it. Although, the manual mentions this feature:
"3D Auto View (Off / On): If 3D Auto View is set to On, a “Side-by-Side” format HDMI signal with one of the resolutions below is automatically switched to 3D. Here, correct 3D information must be sent from the Standard HDMI 3D Format.
If a 3D failure occurs due to a 3D information error, set 3D Auto View to Off and manually select a 3D Mode using the 3D button or corresponding menu.
Support resolution (16:9 only)
1280 x 720p 60 Hz
1920 x 1080i 60 Hz
1920 x 1080p 24 / 30 / 60 Hz"
I'd be more than happy to help you test out your video files. You can email me. My slashdot username and my yahoo email account share the same handle.
I have a friend with the Nvidia setup and he can view pretty much all the 3D content that I've found. I have to use stereoscopic player, outputting a signal to my TV, in order to view other formats than the 2 I listed. And of course, Stereoscopic player will convert pretty much any format to any other format (except anaglyph formats can only be a target, not an input format).
Here's some sample 3D content you can compare with:
http://www.3dtv.at/Movies/Index_en.aspx
One caveat, I haven't actually tested that content on my TV. Most of it probably works fine, although some might be too high a resolution to support using Media Play - but I can play those from my Mac outputting over HDMI (but that's more annoying than Media Play).
Joseph Elwell.
I have one of the new 3D TVs. Like Nvidia's real3D, my Samsung LED based LCD TV can view various 3d formats natively (off a USB drive, or streamed over a dlna device). Including "Side by Side" and "Top & Bottom". Other 3d formats can be viewed as outputted from a computer like interlaced (field sequential), Line by Line, Vertical Strip and Checkerboard. There isn't a lot of content available for these Televisions, so with the right marketing you'd get a lot of interest from owners.
Joseph Elwell.
"which were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995"
R L_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
R L_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
The UNESCO World Heritage Sites are a joke. Unesco itself made this very clear when they put out a press release denying involvement with the New 7 Wonders list. " Scientific criteria must be defined, the quality of candidates evaluated, and legislative and management frameworks set up. The relevant authorities must also demonstrate commitment to these frameworks as well as to permanently monitoring the state of conservation of sites. The task is one of technical conservation and political persuasion." Who wants to go visit sites that are determined by a bureaucratic process where political persuasion plays more of a role than wonder itself.
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=38482&U
And have you even been to 20% of the sites? Here's a choice site that wasn't worth going to even before it was removed from the list. An Oryx sanctuary. Here's one I was at recently, Brimstone Hill National Park in St. Kitts and Nevis - it's simply not worth basing a trip around (wheras all of the New 7 Wonders are worth basing a trip around), and it's my opinion that Brimstone isn't worth visiting, even if you're in the area for a few days.
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=38721&U
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brimstone_Hill
The problems with UNESCO's list are:
1. It is not ranked/organized, nor are there highlights. No one has enough resources to visit all of them. Or enough time to research all of them to determine if they're worth seeing. (There are currently 851 sites).
2. Political. Be reminded that UNESCO is an arm of the U.N. That means that there are many political influences that go into the nomination process. This means, among other things, that the site's owner must agree to UNESCO mandates. That means that many unique sites that choose not to accept UNESCO mandate aren't on the list. Some of the New 7 Wonders are not UNESCO World Heritage Sites: The Colosseum, and Christ the Redeemer. It should be noted that the Taj Mahal (completed in 1648) was not an UNESCO World Heritage site until 1983; until then I guess it wasn't very important.
I think this new list it useful in the same way that any list is useful. It's a summary. In this case, it's a summary of the most iconic architectural wonders in the world.
And please, why does everyone mention the Eiffel tower? Have you people seen it? It's a radio tower. That might have been awe-inspiring in 1889, but today it's just a radio tower, you don't have these in your country? Where I'm from Radio towers (and for that matter gigantic power line towers) are hopefully far away from your home - because they're an eyesore. Just in case people still love the Eiffel tower, it will forever be a New 7 Wonders finalist.
"Any list of wonders that excludes Angkor Wat is a waste of time." I guess this statement means the New 7 Wonders list is not a waste of time, as Angkor was one of the 21 finalist. And "will remain Official New7Wonders Finalists".
Joseph Elwell.
I just got a postcard from Stategicon the other day. They're under new management, and they have a great guest host this year: Reiner Knizia. I also haven't been to Strategicon is a long long time, but this new management might be on to something.
Any organized Gaming group is going to be perceived as competition. Let's hope that Protospiel West survives longer than GenCon West.
Joseph Elwell.
The competition is thick:
http://www.protospielwest.com/
http://www.strategicon.net/
Joseph Elwell.
You should take your game/idea to ProtoSpeil :
http://www.protospielwest.com/
The hosts and speakers will discuss how the process of publishing a game works.
Joseph Elwell.
Yes, you can keep using your screen name. This is limitation with AOL's service.
Anyways, you clearly didn't try this because @mac.com screennames that are not paid for do not allow encryption. I just tried it with my old @mac.com account. Yes I can log in, but I can't enable encryption - iChat says I'm still not allowed.
Joseph Elwell.
I have a LinuxFund MBNA card. I noticed a few months ago that the website was down and there hadn't been any activity by LinuxFund in years.
So I called up MBNA and they assured me that no entity was receiving any money anymore from my purchases. And they offered to switch me over to a WorldPoints program instead (but I got to keep the penguin logo on my card and "Linux Fund" name anyways).
I figured the MBNA contact just didn't understand my questions/concern about the legitimacy (or even exisistence) of the Linux Fund. But I knew that I no longer wanted my "rewards" to go to, what I could only assume, was now "some dude trying to cash in on a failed business plan".
Joseph Elwell.
What do you do when someone steals your credit card and makes purchases?
Sheesh people. Do you need Slashdot readers to tell you how to dial 911 when there's a burglar in your house? Or how to call your credit card company to fight fraudulent charges?
Tomorrow on Ask Cliff (who apparently doesn't know much): "Do I need a computer to file my taxes?". I'll spoil the post and save millions of readers from the pain of having to read through the heartbreaking story: Go to the post office!
Try the Better Business Bureau - it *always* works for me when I have a problem with any business.
Joseph Elwell.
The truth of the matter is *your* bank won't allow quicken to import your data. Intuit has to work deals with every bank and some banks refuse Mac support.
The reason is quite simple, and quite insidious. Banks don't want you to use financial tracking software, and especially they don't want you to use a third party's bill payment software. Because the banks want to sell you these things themselves. So, the banks use the Mac market as a test bed. They pull Mac support from Intuit - disallowing them to support automatic imports. The banks know that if they don't generate too many complaints from the small mac community (who are quite vocal) then they can pull PC support next. Which puts them in line to sell their own financial and bill payment software.
Joseph Elwell.