The article in the IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science itself is interesting and valid speculation with very good experimental discussion, and (in my opinion) provides a good explanation of the commonality of megalith features and petroglyph designs across prehistoric cultures worldwide. In it, he argues that all of the predominant petroglyph types can be viewed as observations of a persistant high-intensity plasma discharge in the upper atmosphere, visible simultaneously across several points on Earth. There is very good comparison between multiple representative petroglyphs, theory calculations and experimental observations of plasma structures that could have been visible resulting from an increase in the solar wind by an order of magnitude or so. However, this article says NOTHING about supernovae, and lots about preexising and accepted phenomena, so I'm not sure why it's presented as evidence.
On the other hand, I'm a QIP scientist, and not a plasma scientist, so if anyone with a plasma physics background can give a more rigorous discussion of the IEEE paper, I'd be very interested!
Everyone doesn't use winzip and winamp. Most people here in the University with shiny new laptops do use the default software loadout. On the rare occasion they need a zip - mostly anything they need is a self-extracting installer or uncompressed - they use XP native zip folders. For media, they DO use Media Player or itunes if they own an iPod or are into playlist sharing. The only major winamp users are the mp3 early adopeters (read old-timers), and even many of these were pushed off the Winamp platform due to the problems with Winamp3.
People see the computer as a tool, and don't often distinguish the software from the operating system. No other consumer device, and few other professional devices, maintain this distinction. Hence, the New P.C. factor very definitely is a factor, and this is why MS is keen to push Media Center and the like, and not keen on supporting older hardware because it derives New P.C. sales. Most people won't migrate old applications, only old data. The exception is migration of old devices, because poeple WILL install software bundled with their digital camera or scanner or whatnot, becuase they feel they need it to make it work. And even sometimes not this, because XP has quite a bit of native support for consumer peripherals. Hence, I now see people who used to use Canon's photo management software ZoomBrowser copying their Photo Albums folder into My Photos, and using XP's thumbnails, slideshows, print wizard and the like to manage their images.
The distinction between hardware, O.S. and application is not strong at the consumer level, and hence we DO see upgrade-displacement (which is why bundle agreements are attractive for software providers and I.S.P.s).
Ever since the user could action files directly with the mouse, rather than invoking a piece of software by mouse or C.L.I., the boundaries have blurred to the degree that the file is the data, and everything else is the single, albeit complex, tool that manipulates it.
Also, an a Limited-User account, with all the activex security turned up (this is my current WinXP account for day-to-day tasks) the Genuine Advantage Tool fails to run, and requests a) Administrator rights and b) that I set my ActiveX security to Medium/Low. It then accuses me of having failed the test, and of having a counterfeit copy of Windows. So, I predict more security problems as people who have taken sensible security precautions are forced to abandon them for this tool.
Of course, the London Underground is just that, underground. There's rarely mobile phone reception, so that makes that particular attack vector unlikely. Far more likely simple timer devices.
...and I spend a LOT of time in the machine shop working metal into precision components for my experiments. While the machines themselves are mostly 1950's, the techniques go way back - for example, lathe turning predates metalworking. And I find it incredibly satisfying!
from Mastercard's Newsroom | Global Press Releases
"Upon receiving notice from MasterCard, banks are able to take the appropriate steps to protect their cardholders from potential fraud. No highly sensitive information, such as social security numbers or dates of birth or the like, are stored on MasterCard cards. "
No idea how Mastercard could think that account details aren't classed as highly sensitive information - perhaps this is the reason for the lax security!
Yes, but with subscription fees for institutions what they are, even here at Oxford University, the Radcliffe Science Library does not carry electronic subscriptions for all specialist journals. To take a couple of examples, the journals "Applied Magnetic Resonance" and "Nanotechnology" are not available here, in paper or in electronic form. Back issues of several APS journals are not available past a certain point in time, due to subscription fees.
Bad idea - most people skim the first few lines of an article to decide its relevance. If it's even slightly incomprehensible, they won't get as far as the 'fix this' link.
Conversely, you can do the opposite - tell people to install somthing, and then follow it up with a lengthy and detailed explanation of why. Response after reading a few lines of a detailed explanation is 'OK, OK, just install the damn thing'. This, but the way, is the technique used by both malware authors and Microsoft-alikes to slip unpleasant T&C's past the average user.
Well, here at Oxford, if we want to use this stuff we have to go by the MSDS, given here.
It states:
Safety (MSDS) data for N,N-diethyl-N-toluamide
"Toxicology
Toxic if swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through the skin. May cause systemic effects. Experimental reproductive effects. Mutagenic data. May cause CNS disturbances.
Toxicity data
SKN-HMN TDLO 35 mg kg-1
ORL-WMN LDLO 950 mg kg-1
ORL-MAN LDLO 679 mg kg-1
ORL-RAT LD50 1950 mg kg-1
SKN-RBT LD50 3180 mg kg-1"
Furthermore
"Personal protection: Safety glasses, gloves, adequate ventilation."
So, the "...are believed by some" tag is entirely valid...
The former. Using the radio telescopes bypassed the Cassini uplink, which was not listening. So we got (on Earth) the signal intended for the Cassini probe, by listening *very very hard*. The experiments, on the lander, were working and transmitting fine.
The article isn't quite correct. A fuller description would take a while to type, so I summarise:
Two redundant radio channels were used to get data from the lander to the orbiter, which relays the data to earth. The signal for the orbiter to start listening on the high-sensitivity channel, channel A, was never given. The data was transmitted redundantly on both channels, except for images and the output of the Doppler wind speed experiment. Fortunately, all was not lost, as scientists donated radio telescope time around the earth to search directly for the A signal, despite it not being relayed via the orbiter. Thanks to this increase in sensitivity, the data acquired was good enough to fulfill all objectives of all experiments.
So everyone can relax and get one with the analysis...
...can really spoil your conclusions. Examine Figure 1 in the article. Log-log graph, with a two-kinked trendline. The article uses this figure to justify the statement that
"Around the beginning of 2003, you'll note a disturbing sharp turn in the previous trend toward ever-faster CPU clock speeds."
However, these trendlines are meaningless; they are plainly wrong. For a start, all the data points are to one side of the trendline. That's a bit glaring, even if you're not a statistician. More interestingly, if you just consider the points, rather than the trendlines, you'll find a single trendline, linear in log-log space, that fits the data, up to the present day. It has a similar gradient to the supposed 1980-1994 trendline. During the 1995-2005 period the points were clustered slightly above this line, but the effect is that of a big technological push - like a region of compressed time on the graph, just what you'd expect with the amount of money pushed into the industry about this time. Otherwise, pseudo-Moore's Law is on track.
Now, in the development labs, there's another story. Exponential growth is already hitting up against a wall, and we must turn to QIP technologies to sort that out.
"all I see is the manufacturer lowering the maximum specs to any tests"
Fine, then it'll be too expensive for it's performance point, or the price will be dropped too. In the first case, the manufacturer loses out, in the second case you gain. Doesn't worry me!
You are mistaken. The final image is the 'equivalent' photoshop filter, and it's showing what a poor job it does in contrast to the third image, a good image, from the multiflash.
...I urge others to do the same. If we, the consumers, keep on permitting u-turns by companies, and cheerfully accepting them, it will only encourage this culture of mendacity that is more prevalent each day in this world.
Slashdot Mirror
The article in the IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science itself is interesting and valid speculation with very good experimental discussion, and (in my opinion) provides a good explanation of the commonality of megalith features and petroglyph designs across prehistoric cultures worldwide. In it, he argues that all of the predominant petroglyph types can be viewed as observations of a persistant high-intensity plasma discharge in the upper atmosphere, visible simultaneously across several points on Earth. There is very good comparison between multiple representative petroglyphs, theory calculations and experimental observations of plasma structures that could have been visible resulting from an increase in the solar wind by an order of magnitude or so. However, this article says NOTHING about supernovae, and lots about preexising and accepted phenomena, so I'm not sure why it's presented as evidence.
On the other hand, I'm a QIP scientist, and not a plasma scientist, so if anyone with a plasma physics background can give a more rigorous discussion of the IEEE paper, I'd be very interested!
Everyone doesn't use winzip and winamp. Most people here in the University with shiny new laptops do use the default software loadout. On the rare occasion they need a zip - mostly anything they need is a self-extracting installer or uncompressed - they use XP native zip folders. For media, they DO use Media Player or itunes if they own an iPod or are into playlist sharing. The only major winamp users are the mp3 early adopeters (read old-timers), and even many of these were pushed off the Winamp platform due to the problems with Winamp3.
People see the computer as a tool, and don't often distinguish the software from the operating system. No other consumer device, and few other professional devices, maintain this distinction. Hence, the New P.C. factor very definitely is a factor, and this is why MS is keen to push Media Center and the like, and not keen on supporting older hardware because it derives New P.C. sales. Most people won't migrate old applications, only old data. The exception is migration of old devices, because poeple WILL install software bundled with their digital camera or scanner or whatnot, becuase they feel they need it to make it work. And even sometimes not this, because XP has quite a bit of native support for consumer peripherals. Hence, I now see people who used to use Canon's photo management software ZoomBrowser copying their Photo Albums folder into My Photos, and using XP's thumbnails, slideshows, print wizard and the like to manage their images.
The distinction between hardware, O.S. and application is not strong at the consumer level, and hence we DO see upgrade-displacement (which is why bundle agreements are attractive for software providers and I.S.P.s).
Ever since the user could action files directly with the mouse, rather than invoking a piece of software by mouse or C.L.I., the boundaries have blurred to the degree that the file is the data, and everything else is the single, albeit complex, tool that manipulates it.
If Citizen ID card makes you shudder, what about ID Card or perhaps Entitlement Card? They'll be reality in the UK in a few years, if our lords and masters get their way...
Also, an a Limited-User account, with all the activex security turned up (this is my current WinXP account for day-to-day tasks) the Genuine Advantage Tool fails to run, and requests a) Administrator rights and b) that I set my ActiveX security to Medium/Low. It then accuses me of having failed the test, and of having a counterfeit copy of Windows. So, I predict more security problems as people who have taken sensible security precautions are forced to abandon them for this tool.
Of course, the London Underground is just that, underground. There's rarely mobile phone reception, so that makes that particular attack vector unlikely. Far more likely simple timer devices.
But of course, the Web came out of CERN.
...and I spend a LOT of time in the machine shop working metal into precision components for my experiments. While the machines themselves are mostly 1950's, the techniques go way back - for example, lathe turning predates metalworking. And I find it incredibly satisfying!
from Mastercard's Newsroom | Global Press Releases "Upon receiving notice from MasterCard, banks are able to take the appropriate steps to protect their cardholders from potential fraud. No highly sensitive information, such as social security numbers or dates of birth or the like, are stored on MasterCard cards. "
No idea how Mastercard could think that account details aren't classed as highly sensitive information - perhaps this is the reason for the lax security!
I thought we'd already establised the MM (Mac Mini) as the SE (Slashdot Equivalent) Unit of Volume?
Autoupdate also STILL doesn't play nice with non-Administrator (read non-root) users in WinXp
Yes, but with subscription fees for institutions what they are, even here at Oxford University, the Radcliffe Science Library does not carry electronic subscriptions for all specialist journals. To take a couple of examples, the journals "Applied Magnetic Resonance" and "Nanotechnology" are not available here, in paper or in electronic form. Back issues of several APS journals are not available past a certain point in time, due to subscription fees.
Bad idea - most people skim the first few lines of an article to decide its relevance. If it's even slightly incomprehensible, they won't get as far as the 'fix this' link.
Conversely, you can do the opposite - tell people to install somthing, and then follow it up with a lengthy and detailed explanation of why. Response after reading a few lines of a detailed explanation is 'OK, OK, just install the damn thing'. This, but the way, is the technique used by both malware authors and Microsoft-alikes to slip unpleasant T&C's past the average user.
According to Yahoo, this has been rejected, and was an inaccurate statement without full authorisation by Yahoo Australia.
Already exists: search.msn.com
Well, here at Oxford, if we want to use this stuff we have to go by the MSDS, given here. It states: Safety (MSDS) data for N,N-diethyl-N-toluamide "Toxicology Toxic if swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through the skin. May cause systemic effects. Experimental reproductive effects. Mutagenic data. May cause CNS disturbances. Toxicity data SKN-HMN TDLO 35 mg kg-1 ORL-WMN LDLO 950 mg kg-1 ORL-MAN LDLO 679 mg kg-1 ORL-RAT LD50 1950 mg kg-1 SKN-RBT LD50 3180 mg kg-1" Furthermore "Personal protection: Safety glasses, gloves, adequate ventilation."
So, the "...are believed by some" tag is entirely valid...
The former. Using the radio telescopes bypassed the Cassini uplink, which was not listening. So we got (on Earth) the signal intended for the Cassini probe, by listening *very very hard*. The experiments, on the lander, were working and transmitting fine.
Theis was automatic; preprogrammed anyway. Unfortunately, soneone left out the critical command in the script that was executed.
The article isn't quite correct. A fuller description would take a while to type, so I summarise:
Two redundant radio channels were used to get data from the lander to the orbiter, which relays the data to earth. The signal for the orbiter to start listening on the high-sensitivity channel, channel A, was never given. The data was transmitted redundantly on both channels, except for images and the output of the Doppler wind speed experiment. Fortunately, all was not lost, as scientists donated radio telescope time around the earth to search directly for the A signal, despite it not being relayed via the orbiter. Thanks to this increase in sensitivity, the data acquired was good enough to fulfill all objectives of all experiments.
So everyone can relax and get one with the analysis...
...can really spoil your conclusions. Examine Figure 1 in the article. Log-log graph, with a two-kinked trendline. The article uses this figure to justify the statement that
"Around the beginning of 2003, you'll note a disturbing sharp turn in the previous trend toward ever-faster CPU clock speeds."
However, these trendlines are meaningless; they are plainly wrong. For a start, all the data points are to one side of the trendline. That's a bit glaring, even if you're not a statistician. More interestingly, if you just consider the points, rather than the trendlines, you'll find a single trendline, linear in log-log space, that fits the data, up to the present day. It has a similar gradient to the supposed 1980-1994 trendline. During the 1995-2005 period the points were clustered slightly above this line, but the effect is that of a big technological push - like a region of compressed time on the graph, just what you'd expect with the amount of money pushed into the industry about this time. Otherwise, pseudo-Moore's Law is on track. Now, in the development labs, there's another story. Exponential growth is already hitting up against a wall, and we must turn to QIP technologies to sort that out.
"all I see is the manufacturer lowering the maximum specs to any tests"
Fine, then it'll be too expensive for it's performance point, or the price will be dropped too. In the first case, the manufacturer loses out, in the second case you gain. Doesn't worry me!
You are mistaken. The final image is the 'equivalent' photoshop filter, and it's showing what a poor job it does in contrast to the third image, a good image, from the multiflash.
...I urge others to do the same. If we, the consumers, keep on permitting u-turns by companies, and cheerfully accepting them, it will only encourage this culture of mendacity that is more prevalent each day in this world.
I find your signature ironic. Do these also emit an international distress frequency?
Yes, but not a plasma. See the other article. The TV's a Flat Tube 20". I can find one for about a hundred quid round here.
Oh, and his parents bought it for him.
See the other article.
a) It's not a plasma, it's at 20" Flat Tube TV (I can get an equivalent one for around GBP100)
b) It was bought for him by his parents.