There is an Astronomy project called Ultracam that uses special CCDs to capture astronomical events at highspeed. Interestingly the computer interface that they use for the special CCDs uses Linux.
I am sure that you can get an idea of what is involved from Ultracam and use it in other real world applications (patents not withstanding).
Re:Lifetime Warranty?
on
VisionTek Folds
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· Score: 3, Funny
You are not going to get warranty service in your lifetime.
Re:How serious is this article?
on
First Man To Mars?
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· Score: 5, Insightful
At first thought this might seem to be a concern. But remember, these were ashes that had come from a fire. On top of that, read the story carefully to see that the ashes were mixed with an epoxy, then sealed in a metal cube. I seriously doubt that there is even a remote chance of stray bacteria being there.
They are not only fragile, but over time they absorb moisture from the air/surroundings and lose their sparkle. And as you said, they are prone to breakage because they are very soft. Any gemstone would be a better choice than an opal.
Here is a couple of companies dealing in "synthetic" diamonds.
Gemesis (This was the company talked about in the PBS Nova show -- one of the best Novas IMHO)
Lucent Diamonds (The FAQ on this site is a very interesting read).
Here is a BBC show covering the same topic though somewhat dated.
Even though these might be considered "fake" diamonds, chemically they are the same. The reason they "phosphoresce" is that the growing pattern is different between the synthestic and natural diamonds.
Ultimately, as Nova pointed out, when synthetics overcome this last "hurdle" of difference it will come down to branding, and you already are seeing DeBeers doing that heavily on TV.
Its not surprising that the synthetic diamond makers are countering by calling their stones "cultured".
Expect to see this heat up as synthetics increase. The synthetic diamond makers are going to make a powerful arguement that their stones are more "ecologically and politically correct". They don't require strip mining the earth or are "blood diamonds" coming from some third-world country used to finance a war or slave labor.
Debeers is arguing that it is like buying a fake painting, not really a masterwork of nature, but by man's hand. It is an interesting thought exercize. Many natural gemstones are now heat and chemically treated to improve color before they are sold. So in a sense they have a "fake color". But yet they still find a ready market.
I expect the same will happen for synthetic diamonds. I for one think it will be a good thing, as DeBeers has been creating artificial scarcity and thus higher prices from their monopoly position. That is another story in itself.
Yes, I was really disappointed by/. also on this. I think mental health is an important topic and deserves discussion. I think it would have brought to light ways that we can help and encourage those around us who are suffering from deppression.
But as it stands, it looks like a slashdot cover-up to avoid discussing the uncomfortable.
Rather than send back the software why don't you install a $30 IDE CDROM? They can coexist peacefully with SCSI in most systems.
The chair belongs in the Smithsoniam
on
Trek Prop Collecting
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· Score: 5, Insightful
The chair really belongs in a museum. It would really be a shame if some private collector snatched it up somewhere and put it in his rec room to never see the light of day again.
The problem that I have talking with elected representatives is that when you mention "DMCA" is that if their eyes aren't glassed over the end up rolling them. It's such a low priority for them that they won't bother giving it any thought.
I have thought about using the G450 agp dual head with another PCI video card for a triple head with windows NT. Has anyone tried this, and how well does it work?
glad I wasn't the only one that caught that. It went something like "If NaN stops then the blender source will be released under a free license." The only thing is that I think that was before they became a company, and they may have changed it:(
Hey thats a great idea. For a small center that might be pratical as there are a lot of characters in the Star Trek Universe. You have TOS, Next Generation, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise to draw from. Even though some numerical schemes discussed in the above posts are more pratical, I would still want to use Trek names somehow.
I was wondering that myself. I had heard that the plans for the Saturn V were lost. But that seems to be mostly an urban legend. You can get the full story on the Saturn V plans here (warning: pop ups).
Agreed. And don't you think that things are never going to change?? It's going to be the same thing over and over, as they grind legitimate businesses into the ground. Recently, they were trying to pull the same stunt with imaging software, trying to hardwire their own photo services into XP. Only after Kodak started to get congress involved did Microsoft back down.
It's as if microsoft thinks that they are "better" than the law, and that they know best when it comes to computers. It really is their way or the highway. The arrogance is amazing. At what point are they going to admit that they were wrong?? That's what should determine the harshness of the measures.
It makes you wonder what kind of bitchslap that microsoft needs to bring it to it's knees. Unfortunately, I think unlikely that this current court action is going to provide what is needed. No matter what the court decides, it really will be "business as usual".
I am a satisfied customer of paypal too. I've had no problem with the various small transactions that I've had with them.
But after after visiting paypalsucks.com and the other websites and reading some of the stories a definite pattern emerges.
It is clear that paypal has a lot of problems, and I would be stupid to trust them with my money knowing what I now know. You would be too. The question is what are you willing to risk?? Also, they _are not_ a bank - so if anything does go wrong, you're out of luck. There is no FDIC - so if they were to file chapter 11 you would never see your money.
I will look for other services for direct pay. I'm sure that with paypals impending demise alternatives will arise to fill the gap.
Also, many _real_ banks are implementing online banking. You should see if any local banks in your area are online and see what services they offer. With a real bank you have FDIC insurance.
Read the Terms Of Service before you join up with anything.
The size of the telescope, the lenses used in the objective, atmospheric conditions, the different filters used, the CCD cameras used, the length of the exposure time, all play a huge factor in how the picture looks.
Because there are so many different variables involved, it's common to see variations like this. The galaxies do not "go dim".
Slashdot Mirror
There is an Astronomy project called Ultracam that uses special CCDs to capture astronomical events at highspeed.
Interestingly the computer interface that they use for the special CCDs uses Linux.
I am sure that you can get an idea of what is involved from Ultracam and use it in other real world applications (patents not withstanding).
how it works here
You are not going to get warranty service in your lifetime.
At first thought this might seem to be a concern. But remember, these were ashes that had come from a fire. On top of that, read the story carefully to see that the ashes were mixed with an epoxy, then sealed in a metal cube. I seriously doubt that there is even a remote chance of stray bacteria being there.
They are not only fragile, but over time they absorb moisture from the air/surroundings and lose their sparkle. And as you said, they are prone to breakage because they are very soft. Any gemstone would be a better choice than an opal.
Here is a couple of companies dealing in "synthetic" diamonds.
Gemesis (This was the company talked about in the PBS Nova show -- one of the best Novas IMHO)
Lucent Diamonds (The FAQ on this site is a very interesting read).
Here is a BBC show covering the same topic though somewhat dated.
Even though these might be considered "fake" diamonds, chemically they are the same. The reason they "phosphoresce" is that the growing pattern is different between the synthestic and natural diamonds.
Ultimately, as Nova pointed out, when synthetics overcome this last "hurdle" of difference it will come down to branding, and you already are seeing DeBeers doing that heavily on TV.
Its not surprising that the synthetic diamond makers are countering by calling their stones "cultured".
Expect to see this heat up as synthetics increase. The synthetic diamond makers are going to make a powerful arguement that their stones are more "ecologically and politically correct". They don't require strip mining the earth or are "blood diamonds" coming from some third-world country used to finance a war or slave labor.
Debeers is arguing that it is like buying a fake painting, not really a masterwork of nature, but by man's hand. It is an interesting thought exercize. Many natural gemstones are now heat and chemically treated to improve color before they are sold. So in a sense they have a "fake color". But yet they still find a ready market.
I expect the same will happen for synthetic diamonds. I for one think it will be a good thing, as DeBeers has been creating artificial scarcity and thus higher prices from their monopoly position. That is another story in itself.
Yes, I was really disappointed by /. also on this. I think mental health is an important topic and deserves discussion. I think it would have brought to light ways that we can help and encourage those around us who are suffering from deppression.
But as it stands, it looks like a slashdot cover-up to avoid discussing the uncomfortable.
the little sticker you put on the back of your cell phone to increase range. Isn't that an emerging wireless technology???
how can it help you get a date???
Rather than send back the software why don't you install a $30 IDE CDROM? They can coexist peacefully with SCSI in most systems.
The chair really belongs in a museum. It would really be a shame if some private collector snatched it up somewhere and put it in his rec room to never see the light of day again.
You know what they say --
A ship poorly built is a raft
an airplane poorly built is a cart
a rocket poorly built is a bomb.
If Shogi is too complicated for you to learn, there is the other far east variant called kung fu chess. Where the martial arts meets with chess.
The problem that I have talking with elected representatives is that when you mention "DMCA" is that if their eyes aren't glassed over the end up rolling them. It's such a low priority for them that they won't bother giving it any thought.
I have thought about using the G450 agp dual head with another PCI video card for a triple head with windows NT. Has anyone tried this, and how well does it work?
glad I wasn't the only one that caught that. It went something like "If NaN stops then the blender source will be released under a free license." The only thing is that I think that was before they became a company, and they may have changed it :(
Hey thats a great idea. For a small center that might be pratical as there are a lot of characters in the Star Trek Universe. You have TOS, Next Generation, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise to draw from. Even though some numerical schemes discussed in the above posts are more pratical, I would still want to use Trek names somehow.
I was wondering that myself. I had heard that the plans for the Saturn V were lost. But that seems to be mostly an urban legend. You can get the full story on the Saturn V plans here (warning: pop ups).
Agreed. And don't you think that things are never going to change?? It's going to be the same thing over and over, as they grind legitimate businesses into the ground. Recently, they were trying to pull the same stunt with imaging software, trying to hardwire their own photo services into XP. Only after Kodak started to get congress involved did Microsoft back down.
It's as if microsoft thinks that they are "better" than the law, and that they know best when it comes to computers. It really is their way or the highway. The arrogance is amazing. At what point are they going to admit that they were wrong?? That's what should determine the harshness of the measures.
It makes you wonder what kind of bitchslap that microsoft needs to bring it to it's knees. Unfortunately, I think unlikely that this current court action is going to provide what is needed. No matter what the court decides, it really will be "business as usual".
Rather than Microsoft pulling windows off the market they could open source it and let the community fix the problems. :-))
You know, it's really great that paypal can take care of their "big" customers such as yourself and OSDN.
But what about the countless "small" customers such as myself - is it "screw them - they don't matter anyway??" I think it is.
Slashdot using paypal is a great excuse to not subscribe, especially when their are half a dozen other alternatives out there.
Slashdot should have taken a stand on this, especially when abuse by paypal is so blatant.
I am a satisfied customer of paypal too. I've had no problem with the various small transactions that I've had with them.
But after after visiting paypalsucks.com and the other websites and reading some of the stories a definite pattern emerges.
It is clear that paypal has a lot of problems, and I would be stupid to trust them with my money knowing what I now know. You would be too. The question is what are you willing to risk?? Also, they _are not_ a bank - so if anything does go wrong, you're out of luck. There is no FDIC - so if they were to file chapter 11 you would never see your money.
I will look for other services for direct pay. I'm sure that with paypals impending demise alternatives will arise to fill the gap.
Here's a couple;
https://secure.ikobo.com/
http://www.upspayment.com/
http://banking.yahoo.com/
Also, many _real_ banks are implementing online banking. You should see if any local banks in your area are online and see what services they offer. With a real bank you have FDIC insurance.
Read the Terms Of Service before you join up with anything.
The size of the telescope, the lenses used in the objective, atmospheric conditions, the different filters used, the CCD cameras used, the length of the exposure time, all play a huge factor in how the picture looks.
Because there are so many different variables involved, it's common to see variations like this. The galaxies do not "go dim".
More on M74 here.
If a hypernova were close enough to earth the gamma-ray burst could blow away our atmosphere. You can read more about it here.
This promises to be one of the brightest supernova in a long time. I hope they point the hubble torwards it.
There is an excellent site that will track the progress of this supernova here
Space.com has an article about hypernova here. More detail about hypernova mechanics are here and here
If they can catch a Gamma-Ray Burst with this object, then this will be a pretty big deal.