My only concern with plastic platters is heat stability. If the platters get hot enough, it's quite possible the heat will bake the magnetic patterns off the surface (try cooking a magnet). It's probably a good guess that plastic conducts heat poorly (unlike aluminum), so that might be a problem (expecially if you discover your power supply fan died).
Heh. Add beside "My hard drive crashed," "My hard drive melted" to the list of late homework excuses }}:-)
What ever happened to glass hard drives? They're supposed to be heat stable (and create a very smooth surface - less heat).
I work normal office hours, too. Start a 730, quit at 1600. I certainly am not paid enough to work "wierder" hours (that's the job of the on-call guy - he probably rakes it in). After finding out my OT work is paid regular time, I avoid OT.
>>2) Those speed-limit signs that read "100". You zip along...until you realize that's km/hr, not mph. >6) All those damn Canadian quarters that keep ending up as change in US stores. Can't use 'em for anything unless you go up to Canada, and can't use 'em for much *in* Canada, either. >4) The taxes. 5) The taxes.
A traffic light can speed up traffic throughput (!).
Reasoning:
Drivers don't monitor the distance between themselves and the car infront. They monitor speed. Front car slows down, they slow down, etc. This leads to: if one car brakes, the next will brake, etc. etc., leading to braking "waves". This most often happens near narrowing entrances (eg bridges, tunnels).
An arbitary stoplight placed a distance back from this narrowing can be used to stop the multiple brake waves into one larger brake-and-go (more fuel efficient, too, I guess) that gets stopped at other already present traffic lights before.
Oddly enough, throughput increased from 8000 cars/hr to 12,000 cars/hr.
This was a few years back when i heard it, so I can be completely off, too
I believe that the current AIBOs rely on a 8 meg Memory Stick, that contains the kernel, and various other goodies.
THe Aibo construction kit includes a memory stick reader, and a program that lets you create "programs" for Aibo, and put them on the memory stick.
Of course, this is totally from my viewing the Aibo web pages... not official.
Re:Hardware Modems Expensive?
on
LinModems?
·
· Score: 1
Try explaining to said would-be Linux user: "You'll have to buy a new modem to use Linux. It only costs $55."
Question is: Are they going to use Linux, since they have to buy another modem?
Remember that a few of the people moving to ("trying out") Linux probably used Windoze, and saying "Linux has great hardware support" will get the reply "But it won't work with my modem. That's not 'great' hardware support.".
You can convince someone to try Linux (from using windoze), but they won't stay if they need to purchase new peripherals because Linux won't work with them.
Yes, I won't buy a software modem. But there are those who do/have/came installed. Forcing those to buy a new modem to use Linux isn't the answer (they may buy *ANOTHER* winmodem, not knowing any better). Yes, none of us/.'ers will use a software modem. But if you want people to use Linux and embrace it (not just try it, finds they can't get on the net because of their modem, and tells all their like-minded friends to avoid it), then winmodems are a reality. Bad hardware abounds. If a certain POS hardware is installed in new computers, try to support it - "the masses" don't take kindly to "You'll have to buy a 'true' xxx [Modem|etc] to use Linux."
Remember, you don't want the next article on/. to be "Reporter installs Linux, finds it incompatible with all their hardware, and denounces Linux's hardware support". "The masses" will read the article, and denounce it blindly themselves [The apple 1984 ad comes to mind here...].
MWAVE isn't a software modem per-se. It's a DSP card, which needs software downloaded to it (MWaveOS?) to perform tasks involving the RJ11 port [answering machine, caller ID, modem, etc), and tasks involving the audio ADC/DAC (sound card).
It's basically a DSP with RJ11 ports that happen to be telephone friendly, and mini stereo jacks. The reason why the speed drops is because that DSP doesn't have enough processing power to handle sound and modem simultaneously. (Side note: running sound and modem simultaneously takes more processing time than either one alone-task switching overhead)
I have an MWave on this box, but resorted to an external modem and AWE32 card (I already have both, so might as well use them). Used MWave as another soundcard [single tasking, they're nice]. IRQ hell, though. Stopped when I ran NT full time (no drivers).
Re:Don't make me open my Courier
on
LinModems?
·
· Score: 1
Couriers have *TWO* processors on them.
There's an 80186 that handles the "non-RT" critical stuff (i.e., RS232 interface, [compression?], AT command interpretation, flash memory, etc), and a DSP chip that handles the telephone work (basically, creating/analyzing the signal, and translating said signal into bits).
There's a hidden "easter egg" (as always) in the courier that gives credit (as well as chip IDs) to the various hardware/software programmers.
Oh, one other thing: I read somewhere (possibly/.) that certain WinModems (the *real* winmodems, I believe) actually have a DSP chip - just the controller (AT commands, RS232, etc) was offloaded onto the host processor, making it a signal analysis card...
Me? I use an external modem (heh. No such thing as a external [Win|Lin|etc]modem yet). More costly, but nicer, IMHO (those blinky lights!:-) and knowing if my comp is screwed, or the connection [great for modem games: my friend has a bad line, so it's nice to know if the "lag" is caused by modem retrain {MR light goes off} or block errors {ARQ/FAX light goes off}).
Correction: Not windows only. Windows 3.1/9x only. I run NT (have to), and it doesn't work on that, and there *will be* no drivers for said printer under NT.
big PITA to have to use the 9x laptop to print (not that the quality's any good, and the printout smudges, damn inkjets).
I still use them. I remember a few years ago someone from ID actually spammed a number of ID customers (ooh, bad, spam customers on the same ISP as yourself), and did a poor job of it too (50+K email, 2 k body, 47.9K To:/CC: lines...).
I looked at all those addresses, and it seems they were spammed by email names (i.e., people with email addresses starting with a would get everyone's address starting with a...).
No idea how they got hold of my ISP email address (I rarely use it). But within a day, I got a email from the administrator saying "we're sorry. We're taking action against the spammer immediately". Within a week there was "Spam Avoidance Tips" sent via email and on the web pages.
>>Diseases are nature's way of thinning out the weak. >In 30-50 years, we can make a population completely dependant upon us for survival. All because of a little humanitarian effort.
Already happens at home... the welfare population that grow up on welfare and become new welfare recipients.
Actually, if you look at all the movies Hollywood seems to release, they're mostly all based on the same few plot lines. I suspect they use a book called "Standardized Hollywood Plots" to make the next movie.
Seems most movies now are just glorified ads with sfx and little more (movie advertising, the most subtle of ads. Except for james bond films, which have glaringly obvious ads...)
>>Another thing that persistently cracks me up about windows - the login. Press ESCape and, gee, you're in Windows.
Yeah, but I've tried it, and depending on which one you get (you can have two login screens show), they are:
1) Login to the network - and setup mounted drives etc.
2) "login" to windoze. It's to find your password file so if you needed any 'special' logins (i.e., Dialup networking), it lets you check "save password".
Yes, you're in windoze. But it can be a pain if you've lost network access (I hate rebooting 95 machines... either I have to supply my own login to get the machine to fileshare, or use administrator, or guess last password used).
If you want really cheap, get a Pro (still possible to get new cheap). Has TCP/IP, mail client, etc. If you don't read too many books/look at too many images, the 1 meg of RAM is more than sufficient. I'd say they're around ~$100 new if you shop around.
If you're considering adding a book or two, get a PalmIII. Basically 2 megs of RAM with a nicer formfactor. Probably $200 if you look around.
On my palmIIIx, I have 900k free, with 45+ apps (games, etc), taking only 1 meg. The other 2 megs or so is filled with books.
With the exception of a few, most Palm apps are 50K in size. You can find used Palms very cheaply, too, AFAIK.
Well, if you're like me, and probably quite a few out there are, you tend to fidget (tap feet, shake body here and there, etc). I read somewhere that a day's worth of fidgeting expends the same amount of energy as 20 minutes worth of walking or something like that.
So a pedal to exploit the natural tendency of foot tapping (more of a generalized leg up-down piston motion, actually), sounds like a great idea.
"Stop shaking the floor!" "But, the floor shaking is what's powering the computer right now!" >G.
Currently, they only last a few hours at most on one set of batteries. Which is rather inconvenient, even trying to extend the life by turning it on/off repeatedly.
While they're great for shots directly to the computer, they need to last a lot longer before I could consider one to replace my 35mm camera.
Hmm. Go on a tour, and bring lots and lots of batteries (or a few sets of rechargables and a charger...). Or just bring a 35mm camera and some film.
Right now, digicams won't replace 35mm's until this one little flaw in an otherwise great product is fixed.
Some parts of the world (probably includes a few European countries), probably have (to north americans) insane regulations. I'll have to bet something like "Intentionally injecting signals into the power lines is banned" is in the law books somewhere. At least I believe X10 works because of signals over power lines...
>>I like your suggestion for a wall recptical that screws into the wall.>The wall controls on velcro can probably be forgiven since they target retrofiting to an existing house. It would be nice if they made an equivilant unit that mounts in the wall for those who want to do right though.
if it's X10 compatible, I've seen X10 modules that really do replace a wall receptacle (module selection on the front, using one of those rectangular-holed faceplates). Same with wall switches, too, I believe.
I've not checked out the firecracker site, but I've thought about ordering more than one kit just to get extra modules (cheaper?).
Definitely high. With M$ offering lots of money to places in SE Asia (Hong Kong also signed a deal with M$, and I believe Singapore did, too), it's quite likely that those computers also ran NT [and basically, everything was done using some M$ product or another].
More or less, how to get to a porn site quickly: Take a popular site, yahoo, amazon.com, slashdot, gamefaqs, etc. Make a common misspelling. Eg. If the domain ends in an 's', drop the s. If the domain makes sense with an 's' (but doesn't have one), add it. (book.com -> books.com). If the domain is really a subdomain (as was altavista before digital/compaq bought altavista.com), drop the in-between '.'. Or just do a plain misspelling.
Boom. instant porn site that probably gets lots of traffic easily (I've made my fair share of typos). Of course, *maintaining* those visitors is another thing.
Quick! Buy all the domains! I'm about to get a domain! [not telling which;-)]
Obviously you haven't heard of WGet. It performs similar functions to WebWhacker, etc. Open source, with a win32 version available. Lets you spoof a version reply if necessary. Get it at your favorite GNU tool website.
Interesting point in marketing... [marketing hyperbole is quoted] If you are marketing something faster than average, find the slowest of the average and base your product on it. Thus, the "modem" in question could possibly be a 2400 modem...
So, my 56K modem can be advertised as "up to" 24x as fast as "before". (Which is devious, yes, deceptive, probably not, since "up to" means "Yeah you *CAN* get it, but not damn likely")
Unfortunately, we're surrounded with this hyperbole, like 17.2 GB HD (GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes, technically correct), 17" monitor (-.75" of nonusable area around), 1600x1200 resolution (interpolated), 1000 watts (peak). This goes for benchmarks, too. It's takes a lot of brains to cut through the (deviously true) marketing hype nowadays.
Oh, as if it matters, I'm using a 56K modem (high speed (cheap) pipes are either @home [yuk. Always been *SLOWER* than dialup during peak times, according to several users] or ADSL [something I cannot quite afford ATM]).
Slashdot Mirror
My only concern with plastic platters is heat stability. If the platters get hot enough, it's quite possible the heat will bake the magnetic patterns off the surface (try cooking a magnet). It's probably a good guess that plastic conducts heat poorly (unlike aluminum), so that might be a problem (expecially if you discover your power supply fan died).
Heh. Add beside "My hard drive crashed," "My hard drive melted" to the list of late homework excuses }}:-)
What ever happened to glass hard drives? They're supposed to be heat stable (and create a very smooth surface - less heat).
I work normal office hours, too. Start a 730, quit at 1600. I certainly am not paid enough to work "wierder" hours (that's the job of the on-call guy - he probably rakes it in). After finding out my OT work is paid regular time, I avoid OT.
LOL! (Am Canadian, in Vancouver).
That should've been moderated up. It's great.
>>2) Those speed-limit signs that read "100". You zip along...until you realize that's km/hr, not mph. >6) All those damn Canadian quarters that keep ending up as change in US stores. Can't use 'em for anything unless you go up to Canada, and can't use 'em for much *in* Canada, either. >4) The taxes.
5) The taxes.
Missed a few. Make #8, 9, 10 as "The taxes" too.
Was told of this perplexing oddity:
A traffic light can speed up traffic throughput (!).
Reasoning:
Drivers don't monitor the distance between themselves and the car infront. They monitor speed. Front car slows down, they slow down, etc. This leads to: if one car brakes, the next will brake, etc. etc., leading to braking "waves". This most often happens near narrowing entrances (eg bridges, tunnels).
An arbitary stoplight placed a distance back from this narrowing can be used to stop the multiple brake waves into one larger brake-and-go (more fuel efficient, too, I guess) that gets stopped at other already present traffic lights before.
Oddly enough, throughput increased from 8000 cars/hr to 12,000 cars/hr.
This was a few years back when i heard it, so I can be completely off, too
I believe that the current AIBOs rely on a 8 meg Memory Stick, that contains the kernel, and various other goodies.
THe Aibo construction kit includes a memory stick reader, and a program that lets you create "programs" for Aibo, and put them on the memory stick.
Of course, this is totally from my viewing the Aibo web pages... not official.
Try explaining to said would-be Linux user: "You'll have to buy a new modem to use Linux. It only costs $55."
/.'ers will use a software modem. But if you want people to use Linux and embrace it (not just try it, finds they can't get on the net because of their modem, and tells all their like-minded friends to avoid it), then winmodems are a reality. Bad hardware abounds. If a certain POS hardware is installed in new computers, try to support it - "the masses" don't take kindly to "You'll have to buy a 'true' xxx [Modem|etc] to use Linux."
/. to be "Reporter installs Linux, finds it incompatible with all their hardware, and denounces Linux's hardware support". "The masses" will read the article, and denounce it blindly themselves [The apple 1984 ad comes to mind here...].
Question is: Are they going to use Linux, since they have to buy another modem?
Remember that a few of the people moving to ("trying out") Linux probably used Windoze, and saying "Linux has great hardware support" will get the reply "But it won't work with my modem. That's not 'great' hardware support.".
You can convince someone to try Linux (from using windoze), but they won't stay if they need to purchase new peripherals because Linux won't work with them.
Yes, I won't buy a software modem. But there are those who do/have/came installed. Forcing those to buy a new modem to use Linux isn't the answer (they may buy *ANOTHER* winmodem, not knowing any better). Yes, none of us
Remember, you don't want the next article on
MWAVE isn't a software modem per-se. It's a DSP card, which needs software downloaded to it (MWaveOS?) to perform tasks involving the RJ11 port [answering machine, caller ID, modem, etc), and tasks involving the audio ADC/DAC (sound card).
It's basically a DSP with RJ11 ports that happen to be telephone friendly, and mini stereo jacks. The reason why the speed drops is because that DSP doesn't have enough processing power to handle sound and modem simultaneously. (Side note: running sound and modem simultaneously takes more processing time than either one alone-task switching overhead)
I have an MWave on this box, but resorted to an external modem and AWE32 card (I already have both, so might as well use them). Used MWave as another soundcard [single tasking, they're nice]. IRQ hell, though. Stopped when I ran NT full time (no drivers).
Couriers have *TWO* processors on them.
/.) that certain WinModems (the *real* winmodems, I believe) actually have a DSP chip - just the controller (AT commands, RS232, etc) was offloaded onto the host processor, making it a signal analysis card...
:-) and knowing if my comp is screwed, or the connection [great for modem games: my friend has a bad line, so it's nice to know if the "lag" is caused by modem retrain {MR light goes off} or block errors {ARQ/FAX light goes off}).
There's an 80186 that handles the "non-RT" critical stuff (i.e., RS232 interface, [compression?], AT command interpretation, flash memory, etc), and a DSP chip that handles the telephone work (basically, creating/analyzing the signal, and translating said signal into bits).
There's a hidden "easter egg" (as always) in the courier that gives credit (as well as chip IDs) to the various hardware/software programmers.
Oh, one other thing: I read somewhere (possibly
Me? I use an external modem (heh. No such thing as a external [Win|Lin|etc]modem yet). More costly, but nicer, IMHO (those blinky lights!
Correction: Not windows only. Windows 3.1/9x only. I run NT (have to), and it doesn't work on that, and there *will be* no drivers for said printer under NT.
big PITA to have to use the 9x laptop to print (not that the quality's any good, and the printout smudges, damn inkjets).
I still use them. I remember a few years ago someone from ID actually spammed a number of ID customers (ooh, bad, spam customers on the same ISP as yourself), and did a poor job of it too (50+K email, 2 k body, 47.9K To:/CC: lines...).
I looked at all those addresses, and it seems they were spammed by email names (i.e., people with email addresses starting with a would get everyone's address starting with a...).
No idea how they got hold of my ISP email address (I rarely use it). But within a day, I got a email from the administrator saying "we're sorry. We're taking action against the spammer immediately". Within a week there was "Spam Avoidance Tips" sent via email and on the web pages.
>>Diseases are nature's way of thinning out the weak. >In 30-50 years, we can make a population completely dependant upon us for survival. All because of a little humanitarian effort.
Already happens at home... the welfare population that grow up on welfare and become new welfare recipients.
Actually, if you look at all the movies Hollywood seems to release, they're mostly all based on the same few plot lines. I suspect they use a book called "Standardized Hollywood Plots" to make the next movie.
Seems most movies now are just glorified ads with sfx and little more (movie advertising, the most subtle of ads. Except for james bond films, which have glaringly obvious ads...)
>>Another thing that persistently cracks me up about windows - the login. Press ESCape and, gee, you're in Windows.
Yeah, but I've tried it, and depending on which one you get (you can have two login screens show), they are:
1) Login to the network - and setup mounted drives etc.
2) "login" to windoze. It's to find your password file so if you needed any 'special' logins (i.e., Dialup networking), it lets you check "save password".
Yes, you're in windoze. But it can be a pain if you've lost network access (I hate rebooting 95 machines... either I have to supply my own login to get the machine to fileshare, or use administrator, or guess last password used).
If you want really cheap, get a Pro (still possible to get new cheap). Has TCP/IP, mail client, etc. If you don't read too many books/look at too many images, the 1 meg of RAM is more than sufficient. I'd say they're around ~$100 new if you shop around.
If you're considering adding a book or two, get a PalmIII. Basically 2 megs of RAM with a nicer formfactor. Probably $200 if you look around.
On my palmIIIx, I have 900k free, with 45+ apps (games, etc), taking only 1 meg. The other 2 megs or so is filled with books.
With the exception of a few, most Palm apps are 50K in size. You can find used Palms very cheaply, too, AFAIK.
>>I wholely denounce this ball exploration! If God wanted us to have balls in space, (s)he would have put them there!
Heheheh. Great post! However, there are more or less "balls in space" already, just we tend to call them planets.
Queue up a bunch of stuff. When boss comes around, send them away. Start typing like mad. Boss thinks you work hard.
;-)
(In a dilbert-like company, of course, and there's lots of those around).
Serves as a good "boss-radar" too. Listen for the amount of incessant keyboard sounds. If it gets louder and faster, boss is coming
Well, if you're like me, and probably quite a few out there are, you tend to fidget (tap feet, shake body here and there, etc). I read somewhere that a day's worth of fidgeting expends the same amount of energy as 20 minutes worth of walking or something like that.
So a pedal to exploit the natural tendency of foot tapping (more of a generalized leg up-down piston motion, actually), sounds like a great idea.
"Stop shaking the floor!" "But, the floor shaking is what's powering the computer right now!" >G.
... because they don't last long enough.
Currently, they only last a few hours at most on one set of batteries. Which is rather inconvenient, even trying to extend the life by turning it on/off repeatedly.
While they're great for shots directly to the computer, they need to last a lot longer before I could consider one to replace my 35mm camera.
Hmm. Go on a tour, and bring lots and lots of batteries (or a few sets of rechargables and a charger...). Or just bring a 35mm camera and some film.
Right now, digicams won't replace 35mm's until this one little flaw in an otherwise great product is fixed.
Some parts of the world (probably includes a few European countries), probably have (to north americans) insane regulations. I'll have to bet something like "Intentionally injecting signals into the power lines is banned" is in the law books somewhere. At least I believe X10 works because of signals over power lines...
>>I like your suggestion for a wall recptical that screws into the wall.>The wall controls on velcro can probably be forgiven since they target retrofiting to an existing house. It would be nice if they made an equivilant unit that mounts in the wall for those who want to do right though.
if it's X10 compatible, I've seen X10 modules that really do replace a wall receptacle (module selection on the front, using one of those rectangular-holed faceplates). Same with wall switches, too, I believe.
I've not checked out the firecracker site, but I've thought about ordering more than one kit just to get extra modules (cheaper?).
Definitely high. With M$ offering lots of money to places in SE Asia (Hong Kong also signed a deal with M$, and I believe Singapore did, too), it's quite likely that those computers also ran NT [and basically, everything was done using some M$ product or another].
Something to consider.
... with porn sites.
;-)]
More or less, how to get to a porn site quickly:
Take a popular site, yahoo, amazon.com, slashdot, gamefaqs, etc.
Make a common misspelling. Eg. If the domain ends in an 's', drop the s. If the domain makes sense with an 's' (but doesn't have one), add it. (book.com -> books.com). If the domain is really a subdomain (as was altavista before digital/compaq bought altavista.com), drop the in-between '.'. Or just do a plain misspelling.
Boom. instant porn site that probably gets lots of traffic easily (I've made my fair share of typos). Of course, *maintaining* those visitors is another thing.
Quick! Buy all the domains! I'm about to get a domain! [not telling which
Obviously you haven't heard of WGet. It performs similar functions to WebWhacker, etc. Open source, with a win32 version available. Lets you spoof a version reply if necessary. Get it at your favorite GNU tool website.
Interesting point in marketing... [marketing hyperbole is quoted] If you are marketing something faster than average, find the slowest of the average and base your product on it. Thus, the "modem" in question could possibly be a 2400 modem...
.75" of nonusable area around), 1600x1200 resolution (interpolated), 1000 watts (peak). This goes for benchmarks, too. It's takes a lot of brains to cut through the (deviously true) marketing hype nowadays.
So, my 56K modem can be advertised as "up to" 24x as fast as "before". (Which is devious, yes, deceptive, probably not, since "up to" means "Yeah you *CAN* get it, but not damn likely")
Unfortunately, we're surrounded with this hyperbole, like 17.2 GB HD (GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes, technically correct), 17" monitor (-
Oh, as if it matters, I'm using a 56K modem (high speed (cheap) pipes are either @home [yuk. Always been *SLOWER* than dialup during peak times, according to several users] or ADSL [something I cannot quite afford ATM]).
>>Maybe some engineer will find an inexpensive way to put many heads over a platter.
I remember a few years ago, HP made a hard drive that had two independent sets of heads, one on each end. Supposedly for servers.