Odd... That was supposed to be "Reference" but reverence works as well.
This story seems inspired by Asimov's "Jokester", in which a humor "Grand Master" is attempting to find the source of humor by feeding Multivac a curated set of jokes. I won't spoil the ending, but let's just say the mice need a new maze at the end.
Every time that landfill gets mentioned somewhere, I feel kinda bad. Am I the only person on Earth that actually sort-of liked E.T. on Atari? Yes, it was maddening at times and yes it wasn't a very good licensed game, but if you were decently careful it wasn't total garbage.
To me, Pac-Man was a much graver sin because how low are expectations already? Vector-maze, pixel dots and 5 sprites. How hard could it be? Quite, apparently. Would love to see what some of the legends at Activision could do with 4k and some art assets...
I think what Artraze meant is that they *may* be citing VLC because somewhere in its code, it contains infringing material. Maybe an error message of "Hodor hodor hodor*". Still poor form and possibly even fair-use exempt, but that's not stopped these nutters before.
* I don't have HBO nor do I watch any of their paywalled content. If Hodor isn't part of that canon, please don't send me an invite to Red Wedding II.
What about the part where she tried circuits of her own design (quoth the article) before settling on the off-the-shelf Peltier thief?
As a parent involved in about 7 science fairs between two kids, let me tell you - I'd be ecstatic if either of mine actually designed and tested anything on their own. Most of their projects were of the "hypothesis - test something - record and analyze - validate/refute hypothesis" type where they did work but not a lot of creation. They picked some interesting topics to be sure, but nothing tangible came out, only data and conclusions.
You don't think there are possible efficiencies in the Peltier/Seebeck circuit? Or more thermally-conductive metals/materials that would help with moving heat around? Or options for storing current on board for use later?
If this device was working at 100% efficiency, then yes, it's pretty much a dead end. But is it?
Agreed on MSM - and that was after two links from barely-modified copies of the original to GET to the MSM. And I second the "invention" observation as well.
We do need a new, commonly-understood and accepted word for engineering something new out of existing (or closely related to existing) tech. Maybe... "engineered"? Someone call the CBC! ^^
I don't usually do this, but I'm feeling contrary this week. The linked article covered the fact she's been doing science fairs for years and for this one, tried some designs of her own before settling on an of-the-shelf piece. It's implied but not stated in the source that she's personally invested and not just going through motions.
Also, what's the point of doing one with a battery? We *have* those already! Her idea would be great in a pinch if the longevity could be fixed. Which Google prize money or venture capital would allow. Am I missing something?
I saw commentary about Peltier versus Seebeck before I wrote the summary. The CBC will have to explain their position. In any case, what I read, and it goes without saying that IANAEE, is that Peltier and Seebeck are reversible from a strictly technical point of view based on how the differential is handled. I think?
I'm open to being educated in this regard, if you so feel the need.
In any case, I thought it was an interesting article and I hope that, should she get funding, the issues with maximum output and cost can be solved with more engineering or economies of scale. But seriously, she's 15, been competing in fairs since 6 (IIRC) and has done something way cooler than the typical fair fare!
Submitter here. According to the CBC write-up (and not covered in the TWO copy-pasta articles I had to wade through to GET to something that looked like original source!) she tried some custom designs, then found one online and bought the design.
The article does not go into specifics of the transaction, so while she may still be legally on the hook, it can't be inferred from the info given.
Dang. Posting to correct accidental downmod. Was aiming for Insightful and missed. Seriously Slashdot, why do I have to lose 5 mods because you can't leave the dropdown active?
It was just a cam, but it was paired with software that did the motion recognition (usually poorly unless you had floodlights in the room). EyeToy compatible games touted motion control with just the EyeToy and your living room. Pity it was so bad at actually detecting accurate motion. I tried mine with DDR and with the EyeToy sampler disc and I failed to get any real accuracy out of it. Then again, I paid a whopping $10 for the EyeToy yoga bundle on clearance.
I wound up using it as my Skype cam as I didn't have any other webcams and I didn't really want to sink more money into hardware I used rarely.
You sound like me! Bought a 60-gig back-compat PS3 at launch and killed it in 2009 or so with excessive Final Fantasy XI and GT Prologue usage. Had to pay $150 for a replacement. Then the Linux removal, PSN mega-hack/outage and other shenanigans. Then in December, the replacement PS3 died.
By this time, I'm hearing about the potential for restricting used/rental games, new DRM schemes, and general "we'll make what we want and you'll buy it regardless of quality" mindsets. It's really put me off console gaming overall. Here it is 3 months on, and even with a small stack of Christmas gift games I *really* want to try, I haven't bothered buying a new PS3.
I've finally moved FFXI off the PS2 onto a laptop so there's the end of my PS2 gaming. My son's Vita and its infuriating memory card activation system means I won't buy one of those, unless they go bargain bin and I don't have a suitable portable gaming solution by then.
Oh well, that's more money in the budget for other entertainment...
When Joe Kittinger jumped for Excelsior in the '50s and '60s, he was testing the feasibilty high-altitude escape systems. He succeeded, and in the process, set some very impressive and rather durable records. Stratos was a not-very-subtle ad-funded stunt show. There's real science being done but I have little doubt that it's ultimately in service to the sponsor (also Austrian).
Whether or not Red Bull spent two years and who knows how much, why isn't this still one of the coolest things to happen in some time? Watching him stand there with the curvature of Earth below him is one of those things that makes me jealous. And there are some things being tested - newer versions of the high-alt suits and maybe more.
However, I'm a little annoyed about people thinking that now astronauts and such can use suits like Felix's to escape bad situations in space. Felix jumped more or less straight down with almost no lateral velocity. Someone BASE-jumping from ISS may pull some staggering free-fall numbers (greater height for 9.8 (m/s)^2) but those won't likely compare to the 11,000 mph they're already moving parallel with the surface just to maintain orbit. Toasty!
Your comment reminds me of "The Feeling of Power" by Isaac Asimov. Except there it was the computers what were too large and, once sufficiently capable, people that were installed to effect gains in miniaturization and computing efficiency!
He's* posting what he hopes is a valid, interesting point of view with what I can only imagine is technically accurate (or at least materially so) background.
Clearly, the use of the wrong word "your" for "you're" is something that can be easily corrected, and learned from. But just as clearly, communication of ideas is unimpeded in this case, and if a minor grammar oopsie is enough to lead you to discard his whole viewpoint, then you must discard a LOT (not alot) of viewpoints, especially those voiced by non-native English speakers or those that focus more on formulating ideas and connections and not the rules of grammar.
Am I alone in not using ATMs? I prolly wouldn't know if a skimmer had been installed because I almost never visit ATMs. I mean, in any given year I can count on one hand the number of ATM withfrawals and checks written on one, maybe two hands. I stopped carrying cash years ago and if I truly need some, most of the time a POS cashout is closer than the bank, and doesn't charge a fee.
To be fair, I *do* use the ATM whenever I need to deposit checks, which is rarely enough. All that said, if I saw mysterious ATM usage on the bank website, I could almost certainly refute it with my non-history.
I would too, although ours does quite a bit more than just provide materials. But honestly? Do you think these people can cut deals that make sense rather than cling to the Old Ways? I'd love to see libraries have the choice of economical ebook usage combined with print media where desired, though how that split would happen is beyond me.
I wish I had thought of this earlier... I worked for our library system for 2 years, and many times, when a new bestseller was coming, they'd order a metric ton of them, spread them around the 20 branches and people would still wait in many cases. And then, two months later when the fuss had died down, they'd have to surplus 70% of them... A good marriage of print and e-media would be to buy each branch 2 copies and provide the balance of demand in e-form, and come up with some incentive to use the ebook over print. Some people would demand print and deal with it but many I think would take either equally. Or for those who have a great relationship with an e-reader, maybe they'd eschew print entirely.
Slashdot Mirror
Odd... That was supposed to be "Reference" but reverence works as well.
This story seems inspired by Asimov's "Jokester", in which a humor "Grand Master" is attempting to find the source of humor by feeding Multivac a curated set of jokes. I won't spoil the ending, but let's just say the mice need a new maze at the end.
Per Wikipedia, the Thai WTF is called the baht. Cheers!
Ah, that's what I should have used! Couldn't think of a good way to pronouncify that. You get a cookie. Flavor?
Phil Collins reportedly uses "sudo su su sudio" for his root calls...
OT: Do you pronounce it BAY-null, or baa-NAUL?
Every time that landfill gets mentioned somewhere, I feel kinda bad. Am I the only person on Earth that actually sort-of liked E.T. on Atari? Yes, it was maddening at times and yes it wasn't a very good licensed game, but if you were decently careful it wasn't total garbage.
To me, Pac-Man was a much graver sin because how low are expectations already? Vector-maze, pixel dots and 5 sprites. How hard could it be? Quite, apparently. Would love to see what some of the legends at Activision could do with 4k and some art assets...
I think what Artraze meant is that they *may* be citing VLC because somewhere in its code, it contains infringing material. Maybe an error message of "Hodor hodor hodor*". Still poor form and possibly even fair-use exempt, but that's not stopped these nutters before.
* I don't have HBO nor do I watch any of their paywalled content. If Hodor isn't part of that canon, please don't send me an invite to Red Wedding II.
What about the part where she tried circuits of her own design (quoth the article) before settling on the off-the-shelf Peltier thief?
As a parent involved in about 7 science fairs between two kids, let me tell you - I'd be ecstatic if either of mine actually designed and tested anything on their own. Most of their projects were of the "hypothesis - test something - record and analyze - validate/refute hypothesis" type where they did work but not a lot of creation. They picked some interesting topics to be sure, but nothing tangible came out, only data and conclusions.
You don't think there are possible efficiencies in the Peltier/Seebeck circuit? Or more thermally-conductive metals/materials that would help with moving heat around? Or options for storing current on board for use later?
If this device was working at 100% efficiency, then yes, it's pretty much a dead end. But is it?
Agreed on MSM - and that was after two links from barely-modified copies of the original to GET to the MSM. And I second the "invention" observation as well.
We do need a new, commonly-understood and accepted word for engineering something new out of existing (or closely related to existing) tech. Maybe... "engineered"? Someone call the CBC! ^^
I don't usually do this, but I'm feeling contrary this week. The linked article covered the fact she's been doing science fairs for years and for this one, tried some designs of her own before settling on an of-the-shelf piece. It's implied but not stated in the source that she's personally invested and not just going through motions.
Also, what's the point of doing one with a battery? We *have* those already! Her idea would be great in a pinch if the longevity could be fixed. Which Google prize money or venture capital would allow. Am I missing something?
I saw commentary about Peltier versus Seebeck before I wrote the summary. The CBC will have to explain their position. In any case, what I read, and it goes without saying that IANAEE, is that Peltier and Seebeck are reversible from a strictly technical point of view based on how the differential is handled. I think?
I'm open to being educated in this regard, if you so feel the need.
In any case, I thought it was an interesting article and I hope that, should she get funding, the issues with maximum output and cost can be solved with more engineering or economies of scale. But seriously, she's 15, been competing in fairs since 6 (IIRC) and has done something way cooler than the typical fair fare!
Submitter here. According to the CBC write-up (and not covered in the TWO copy-pasta articles I had to wade through to GET to something that looked like original source!) she tried some custom designs, then found one online and bought the design.
The article does not go into specifics of the transaction, so while she may still be legally on the hook, it can't be inferred from the info given.
Dang. Posting to correct accidental downmod. Was aiming for Insightful and missed. Seriously Slashdot, why do I have to lose 5 mods because you can't leave the dropdown active?
It was just a cam, but it was paired with software that did the motion recognition (usually poorly unless you had floodlights in the room). EyeToy compatible games touted motion control with just the EyeToy and your living room. Pity it was so bad at actually detecting accurate motion. I tried mine with DDR and with the EyeToy sampler disc and I failed to get any real accuracy out of it. Then again, I paid a whopping $10 for the EyeToy yoga bundle on clearance.
I wound up using it as my Skype cam as I didn't have any other webcams and I didn't really want to sink more money into hardware I used rarely.
obFuturama: [FRY] But that's not why people watch TV. Clever things make people feel stupid, and unexpected things make them feel scared.
See? Even Fry knew why we're stuck with these things, and he's a thousand years in the future!
By this time, I'm hearing about the potential for restricting used/rental games, new DRM schemes, and general "we'll make what we want and you'll buy it regardless of quality" mindsets. It's really put me off console gaming overall. Here it is 3 months on, and even with a small stack of Christmas gift games I *really* want to try, I haven't bothered buying a new PS3.
I've finally moved FFXI off the PS2 onto a laptop so there's the end of my PS2 gaming. My son's Vita and its infuriating memory card activation system means I won't buy one of those, unless they go bargain bin and I don't have a suitable portable gaming solution by then.
Oh well, that's more money in the budget for other entertainment...
Ugh. Posting to undo mod. Aimed for Insightful and missed by /that/ much...
I hope its name isn't Daniel.
When Joe Kittinger jumped for Excelsior in the '50s and '60s, he was testing the feasibilty high-altitude escape systems. He succeeded, and in the process, set some very impressive and rather durable records. Stratos was a not-very-subtle ad-funded stunt show. There's real science being done but I have little doubt that it's ultimately in service to the sponsor (also Austrian).
Whether or not Red Bull spent two years and who knows how much, why isn't this still one of the coolest things to happen in some time? Watching him stand there with the curvature of Earth below him is one of those things that makes me jealous. And there are some things being tested - newer versions of the high-alt suits and maybe more.
However, I'm a little annoyed about people thinking that now astronauts and such can use suits like Felix's to escape bad situations in space. Felix jumped more or less straight down with almost no lateral velocity. Someone BASE-jumping from ISS may pull some staggering free-fall numbers (greater height for 9.8 (m/s)^2) but those won't likely compare to the 11,000 mph they're already moving parallel with the surface just to maintain orbit. Toasty!
Your comment reminds me of "The Feeling of Power" by Isaac Asimov. Except there it was the computers what were too large and, once sufficiently capable, people that were installed to effect gains in miniaturization and computing efficiency!
He's* posting what he hopes is a valid, interesting point of view with what I can only imagine is technically accurate (or at least materially so) background.
Clearly, the use of the wrong word "your" for "you're" is something that can be easily corrected, and learned from. But just as clearly, communication of ideas is unimpeded in this case, and if a minor grammar oopsie is enough to lead you to discard his whole viewpoint, then you must discard a LOT (not alot) of viewpoints, especially those voiced by non-native English speakers or those that focus more on formulating ideas and connections and not the rules of grammar.
*Dunno which pronoun to use for you, Nyder ^^
Am I alone in not using ATMs? I prolly wouldn't know if a skimmer had been installed because I almost never visit ATMs. I mean, in any given year I can count on one hand the number of ATM withfrawals and checks written on one, maybe two hands. I stopped carrying cash years ago and if I truly need some, most of the time a POS cashout is closer than the bank, and doesn't charge a fee.
To be fair, I *do* use the ATM whenever I need to deposit checks, which is rarely enough. All that said, if I saw mysterious ATM usage on the bank website, I could almost certainly refute it with my non-history.
I would too, although ours does quite a bit more than just provide materials. But honestly? Do you think these people can cut deals that make sense rather than cling to the Old Ways? I'd love to see libraries have the choice of economical ebook usage combined with print media where desired, though how that split would happen is beyond me.
I wish I had thought of this earlier... I worked for our library system for 2 years, and many times, when a new bestseller was coming, they'd order a metric ton of them, spread them around the 20 branches and people would still wait in many cases. And then, two months later when the fuss had died down, they'd have to surplus 70% of them... A good marriage of print and e-media would be to buy each branch 2 copies and provide the balance of demand in e-form, and come up with some incentive to use the ebook over print. Some people would demand print and deal with it but many I think would take either equally. Or for those who have a great relationship with an e-reader, maybe they'd eschew print entirely.
I still don't understand bitcoins yet... But yes, a used market must continue to exist!