Slashdot Mirror


User: daves

daves's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
146
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 146

  1. Re:Since dust can be a problem on More on BTX Motherboards · · Score: 1

    why not a air filtration system ?

    Dust is never really a problem, until you put in a filtration system.

    Do you want a filter maintenance schedule on your stereo?

  2. Re:Shouldn't keyfob USB help here instead? on PGP Universal - Usable Email Security? · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I guess the problem is keeping randome machines from snagging a copy, though, since the same machine you plug the fob in to can also snag your keystrokes and thus your passphrase.

    That's why you put the crypto engine on the keyfob. The keys would never be exposed to the sending PC.

  3. Standard already exists on PGP Universal - Usable Email Security? · · Score: 2, Redundant

    This looks like it doesn't accomplish significantly more than the existing SMTP option STARTTLS.

  4. Oh Brother on Haunted Houses Explained: Infrasound · · Score: 1

    So we should replace the New Age Drivel with Geek Drivel?

  5. You know the world has changed... on JavaScript and DHTML Cookbook · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... when a 500 page book is described as "compact".

  6. Cheap SOBs on Top University Rankings for 2004 Released · · Score: 2, Funny

    500,000 readers, and nobody pays the Premium Subscription rate to be able to post the whole list.

  7. I saw a prototype of a pulse detonation engine... on Pulse Detonation Engines: The Future of Aviation · · Score: 2, Interesting

    At the Dayton Air Show. It was mounted on a small UAV-sized plane. It consisted of a standard block from a 4 cylinder car engine with the bottom half, including crankshaft and pistons, removed. Each cylinder had a four foot or so exhaust pipe welded to the bottom of it, pointing to the rear. It ran like a normal engine, but exhausted the explosions directly, instead of pushing on the pistons.

    The weird part - a whole other engine was needed to run the valve cams.

    They were pitching it as a cheap, reliable replacement for things like disposable UAVs and cruise missiles, in the short term.

    It sure looked loud.

  8. Re:The Gwydion Dylan experience on Community Involvement for an Open Source Project? · · Score: 1

    Google is your friend

    Yes it is.

    http://www.lyricsdepot.com/simon-garfunkel/a-simpl e-desultory-philippic.html (From "Bridge over Troubled Water")

  9. Re:The Gwydion Dylan experience on Community Involvement for an Open Source Project? · · Score: 1

    Do you wanna know the first thing I thought of when I read the name? Bob Dylan. I then thought "old" almost instinctually.

    My Dad thought it meant Dylan Thomas.

    Whoever he is.

  10. It should use fake money on Pentagon Lets You Bid on Terrorism? · · Score: 1

    Give everyone who registers $1M "egobucks" to trade. From that point on, your balance is an objective, comparable measure of your value as a pundit.

    Using real money pollutes the results. It raises questions about whether the market is causing the results that it is predicting, and allows the market to be moved by those with goals other than making money.

  11. The Air and Space Museum on A Geek's Tour Of North America? · · Score: 1

    In the main hall. The Wright Flier, Spirit of St Louis, the Gossamer Condor, Voyager, Apollo 11, and a moon rock, all in one room.

    It gave me goose bumps.

  12. Re:They broke the mold for new technology on Robots Without a Cause · · Score: 1

    You know what I hate? Words like "Monetized."

    Oh yeah!?

    Well... you've got an annoying six-line signature.

    So there!

  13. They broke the mold for new technology on Robots Without a Cause · · Score: 4, Funny

    All new technology is first monetized in the sex industry. Sony just messed up in coming out with a toy dog first.

  14. Re:Queue the whiners on Interview Responses From BitTorrent's Bram Cohen · · Score: 1

    IIRC, the original development was paid for on a contract. He had all his bills paid at first.

  15. Re:Great, but.. on Book-Digitizing Robots · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ... or until someone donates one to Project Gutenberg.

  16. You can't fool me on Martian 'Happy Face' Crater · · Score: 3, Funny

    That's a crop circle!

  17. Can't resist on Chimps Belong in Human Genus? · · Score: 5, Funny

    Humans are the only living species in genus homo, currently.

    If we are the only species, that would make us "homo genus".

  18. I was there on AIBO Robot Dog Soccer Competition · · Score: 3, Insightful

    My son and I went out for the day on Sunday to see what was up. The Aibos were a hoot to watch, but nothing to write home about in terms of playing soccer. They had trouble keeping track of themselves and the ball at the same time.

    According to the lead researcher (the lady in the left in the picture), the dogs communicate with each other on their position and the location of the ball. You could see some cooperation in their actions, but not much. They would sometimes spend some time deciding who would go for the ball, but I never saw anything like a coordinated pass on a breakaway.

    They don't yet track the opposing players, and got too easily hung up on obstructions, like the corner of the goal. A dribbling player would stop every couple of steps, look around to check the location of the corner posts, and lose the ball.

    In terms of soccer play, the smaller, wheeled league was much more impressive. The single camera gave the team a comprehensive view of the field, ball, and opposing players. Every robot had an arrangement of colored dots on top to identify the player and it's position. The players were fast (probably a 1-2 second dash from one end of the field to the other), and were effective at dribbling (with a spinning bar that spun the golf ball toward the robot) and shooting (with a kick bar).

    There was not a lot of depth to the competition. The 3rd-4th place consolation game consisted of a whole lot of nothing going on. Hopefully, more schools will get involved for future research.

  19. Re:That is the sound of inevitability.... on California Senate Approves Net Tax Bill · · Score: 1

    On top of that, look at GW Bush, who has presided over the largest increase in the federal budget - in terms of dollars and percents - in history. Even if you exclude costs related to 9/11 this is true.

    Interesting claim. Big news if true. Got backup?

  20. Why the sarcasm? on Shuttle Politics · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The Challenger exploded on STS-51L. The subsequent investigation predicted catastrophic failure, on average, every 58 flights (IIRC). Current stats show about the same rate.

    It sounds to me like Rep. Barton is on the money concerning shuttle reliability.

  21. Re:Get a Mac on High Density CDs · · Score: 2, Funny

    So now I can record 2x the data on a CD-R but I still can't have filenames longer than 64 characters. :)

    - Why not? Don't you have a Macintosh? :-)

    Remember that you can put some of the information inside the file.

  22. I wonder on Microsoft Shared Source -- With a Twist · · Score: 1

    Would this be considered a viral license, to be avoided by all responsible businesses?

  23. They've got it backwards on U.S. May Reduce Non-Military GPS Accuracy · · Score: 1

    In the last Gulf War, they turned off SA so that the commercial units all of the soldiers had bought would know where the minefields were.

    ...or was it Bosnia?

  24. How do we find the next one? on Local Root Hole in Linux Kernels · · Score: 1

    I wonder how well smatch/stanford checker could check for similar conditions.

  25. Corroboration on Forty Percent of All Email is Spam · · Score: 1

    To those who suspect the messenger, the numbers match my company's experience. The scary part is that spam traffic continues to double every six months.