The story I heard was that the local equivalent of the FCC came in and shut the Tesla generators down.
More than likely it was a group of Amateur Radio operators that came by and threatened (on behalf of the FCC). Hams are the most sensitive to detect interference of that kind, and will track it down to find the source. My handheld transceiver can transmit on 4 different bands spanning over 400 MHz, so that is a big swath of the RF spectrum I would notice interference on.
As a side story, my grandfather and I communicate simplex on a 2 meter frequency, and noticed interference from time to time. The actual frequency of this interference changed over time - it could change a few kilohertz over an hour or so. We finally tracked down the source of the problem - a TV antenna signal booster (one of those where the booster is mounted externally on the antenna) a couple miles away from either of us. We determined that the frequency would change based on the temperature of the booster. So when the sun would go down the temperature would drop and the frequency would shift.
Back on topic, I would think it would be extremely easy to interfere with remote entry systems used by cars. Considering only a small watch battery powers the transmitter, which doesn't even have an antenna, the power they transmit at would have to be extremely small.
The parent should be modded Funny. Keeping the source code from being distributed is completely different from the security of the product the source code produces. Even lawyers cannot make Windows a secure OS.
Some of the best scientists, theorists and mathematicians in history had very abnormal social skills. The various physical properties that provide genius in one area very often lead to an imbalance resulting in a deficit in other mental skills. Autism (idiot savant) is the extreme example.
I'm certainly not trying to make the case that any of the individuals involved in this do not have social or political skills, but saying that they are for some reason the ultimate authority to make apolitical assessments is absurd. Of course they have an agenda of some kind, and it may well not be for the Greater Good of Humanity.
IANAL, and am just thinking out loud, but couldn't those that have been singled out by the RIAA claim some sort of discrimination? More specifically, there are hundreds of thousands of people the RIAA could pursue for sharing music. What is the chance of convincing a court to force the RIAA to attempt to identify and prosecute every single user of Kazaa that distribute RIAA music?
Not only would it cost the RIAA a fortune (as well as create logistical impossibilities), but as soon as the children of a few politicians, celebrities, executives, etc, are fingered by the RIAA we would see some fireworks fly.
All a spammer has to do is send spam on the behalf of companies that are not their customers and there would be no way to know which merchants should be prosecuted. Spammers muddy the water as much as possible - that is their entire means of survival.
That makes absolutely no sense at all. So reducing the price by a whopping 5% makes them "affordable"? If they are reducing the price by more than 5% then it is cheaper per cigarette to buy the 19 pack instead of the 20 pack, so the 20 pack would go out of favor.
It would be more shrewd for them to sell a 20 pack that is subdivided into 4 mini-packs. That way a group of friends could all pitch in to by 20 cigarettes, and then they could divvy out the mini-packs of 5.
What does patching have to do with this? A patch to not allow idiots to receive attachments? There's nothing here that needs patching besides stupidity.
On another note, I noticed a distinctive feel to these emails that targets system administrators and the tech savvy. Text like "message contains Unicode characters", server errors, etc, at least made me somewhat curious at first (although seeing a.scr in the zip was a dead giveaway).
Now that would actually encourage people to mix and match character sets just to create multicolored text in the address bar.
I don't know that is a good thing.
This homograph issue will open up a whole new can of worms. Companies will have to protect their IP (domain names) from even further abuse, in addition to the existing recent homonym IP cases.
(BTW, searching Slashdot for mikerowesoft, mikerowesoft.com, etc, returns no hits. Odd.)
Microsoft got it right with Pocket PC 2000. PPC 2002 was just a minor upgrade.
I do agree that just because you have a 640x480 display (with touchscreen in place of a mouse) does not mean that the standard windowing GUI paradigm (Mac, Windows, X, etc) is appropriate.
Further, unless widgets and the like can be scaled up (ie 2x) then it would be next to impossible to even tap on them. Imagine a toolbar with 8 buttons in a row, each 2mm in width. I don't think even a perfectly aligned touchscreen can resolve input at that resolution - you wouldn't even be able to see the button for the end of the stylus.
As a Windows CE developer since 1997 I still see areas that need substantial improvement with the Pocket PC gui, however they have certainly made vast improvement from their first palm-sized OS (Windows CE 2.11). That is a rant for a different thread.:)
Trying to put 2 and 2 together, it sounds like the file system on the flash storage was corrupted by software. That could prevent the system from properly accessing the drive, prompting an endless cycle of reboots.
Two things about that bothers me.
Why would the OS / driver allow software to corrupt the filesystem?
If the system can function without the flash memory ("cripple mode"), then why couldn't the system properly identify (or at least report) the failure, instead of going into an endless loop of reboots?
Finally, if it were a software problem, shouldn't they be able to play back the exact sequence of commands to a duplicate machine at JPL and reproduce the problem?
Cell phones have several things going against them:
Allows others to obtrude into your life (being called direct, or people near you being called)
Large recurring expense, especially when you go over your allotted minutes.
One more thing to keep track of (keeping it charged, etc)
The stigmata of causing tumors (something in the back of most people's minds, or temporal region near the ear, to be more precise).
A few months ago we went over our minutes and wracked up a $250 bill. We decided to disconnect our service. Besides a few minor occasions when it would have been a convenience, we have found we can survive without a cell phone quite well. I am an amateur radio operator, as well as an active member of the local rescue squad, so I have other (better) methods of communication in the case of an emergency.
Let assume for one moment that these copies aren't being leaked by a single individual. According to the article:
The studios then sent screeners to thousands of other awards voters, including groups such as the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Screen Actors Guild and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which presents the Golden Globes.
So it's not absurd to think there may be a pair of buddies that both received a copy, and want to distribute them. So all they have to do is rip both their copies, and then do a frame-by-frame (via software, of course) comparison of the two versions. Any method used to uniquely identify the copies should be readily visible. Now all they need do is tamper with it slightly. Say there is a stray frame inserted at a certain point in the film. If they simply move that frame to some other place in the movie then they have shifted the blame to someone else, which in this case could be an obscure 70 year old actor.
...but if you were privy to the techniques they used to encode the scripts, wouldn't the other actors have that knowledge too? If so then the script could be modified to make it appear that it came from some other source.
With the ISS serving practically no purpose, and the shuttle fleet's reevaluation after Columbia was destroyed, there is no better time than now to redirect NASA and give them a real goal. This gives NASA an excuse to stop funding the ISS money pit and mothball the shuttles.
If the resources spent on those two projects could be diverted to a singular goal, such as sending people to Mars, then we should have the ability to accomplish it.
Oh, and this leads me to another thought. One way trips to mars. One way as in a volunteer(s) that go to Mars, explore, and when resources run out they die. Step back and take a look at our planet. It is covered with several BILLION creatures with the capability to do amazing things. MILLIONS of us die a year under the most trivial and wasteful circumstances. Sending a few of our kind to explore a whole new world (literally) at the cost of their "premature" deaths is an extremely trivial thing in that light - if the rest of us could stomach it as individuals.
I see the same problem with Windows Explorer, which began sometime yesterday. There is a 5-10 second delay when right-clicking on a file in File Explorer.
First, it's ridiculous that such a widely used certificate was allowed to expire.
Second, it's even more ridiculous that right clicking on a file in File Explorer requires a certificate.
So what is the fix for this (besides switching to linux)?
Now it could only be topped if our President (or the next one) would announce a manned mission to mars challenge, similar to the one issued by Kennedy to go to the moon in the 60s.
That could only be done if we (USA) were driven by competition. We won't be sending anyone to Mars until China has almost caught up to us technologically and has committed their full resources to sending a communist to mars.
Slashdot Mirror
The story I heard was that the local equivalent of the FCC came in and shut the Tesla generators down.
More than likely it was a group of Amateur Radio operators that came by and threatened (on behalf of the FCC). Hams are the most sensitive to detect interference of that kind, and will track it down to find the source. My handheld transceiver can transmit on 4 different bands spanning over 400 MHz, so that is a big swath of the RF spectrum I would notice interference on.
As a side story, my grandfather and I communicate simplex on a 2 meter frequency, and noticed interference from time to time. The actual frequency of this interference changed over time - it could change a few kilohertz over an hour or so. We finally tracked down the source of the problem - a TV antenna signal booster (one of those where the booster is mounted externally on the antenna) a couple miles away from either of us. We determined that the frequency would change based on the temperature of the booster. So when the sun would go down the temperature would drop and the frequency would shift.
Back on topic, I would think it would be extremely easy to interfere with remote entry systems used by cars. Considering only a small watch battery powers the transmitter, which doesn't even have an antenna, the power they transmit at would have to be extremely small.
Dan East
Hasn't anyone else noticed this?
The mars face has returned!
Dan East
The parent should be modded Funny. Keeping the source code from being distributed is completely different from the security of the product the source code produces. Even lawyers cannot make Windows a secure OS.
Dan East
Some of the best scientists, theorists and mathematicians in history had very abnormal social skills. The various physical properties that provide genius in one area very often lead to an imbalance resulting in a deficit in other mental skills. Autism (idiot savant) is the extreme example.
I'm certainly not trying to make the case that any of the individuals involved in this do not have social or political skills, but saying that they are for some reason the ultimate authority to make apolitical assessments is absurd. Of course they have an agenda of some kind, and it may well not be for the Greater Good of Humanity.
Dan East
IANAL, and am just thinking out loud, but couldn't those that have been singled out by the RIAA claim some sort of discrimination? More specifically, there are hundreds of thousands of people the RIAA could pursue for sharing music. What is the chance of convincing a court to force the RIAA to attempt to identify and prosecute every single user of Kazaa that distribute RIAA music?
Not only would it cost the RIAA a fortune (as well as create logistical impossibilities), but as soon as the children of a few politicians, celebrities, executives, etc, are fingered by the RIAA we would see some fireworks fly.
Dan East
All a spammer has to do is send spam on the behalf of companies that are not their customers and there would be no way to know which merchants should be prosecuted. Spammers muddy the water as much as possible - that is their entire means of survival.
Dan East
Maybe the application was written by Programmers, Software Developers or even Coders, and not [font="sparkling golden text"]Software Engineers[/font].
Dan East
That makes absolutely no sense at all. So reducing the price by a whopping 5% makes them "affordable"? If they are reducing the price by more than 5% then it is cheaper per cigarette to buy the 19 pack instead of the 20 pack, so the 20 pack would go out of favor.
It would be more shrewd for them to sell a 20 pack that is subdivided into 4 mini-packs. That way a group of friends could all pitch in to by 20 cigarettes, and then they could divvy out the mini-packs of 5.
Dan East
Geez, you microsofty, the correct term is guru meditation. This is an article about the Amiga you know.
Dan East
Just look at how many people work at the International Space Station.
Dan East
I assume the chips produced at the new plant would generate tax revenue too.
Dan East
What does patching have to do with this? A patch to not allow idiots to receive attachments? There's nothing here that needs patching besides stupidity.
.scr in the zip was a dead giveaway).
On another note, I noticed a distinctive feel to these emails that targets system administrators and the tech savvy. Text like "message contains Unicode characters", server errors, etc, at least made me somewhat curious at first (although seeing a
Dan East
I've you're using Firebird then you've got a preview feature for any hyperlink. It's called CTRL+CLICK.
Dan East
Now that would actually encourage people to mix and match character sets just to create multicolored text in the address bar.
I don't know that is a good thing.
This homograph issue will open up a whole new can of worms. Companies will have to protect their IP (domain names) from even further abuse, in addition to the existing recent homonym IP cases.
(BTW, searching Slashdot for mikerowesoft, mikerowesoft.com, etc, returns no hits. Odd.)
Dan East
is making me dizzy.
Com'on mods, give this post some nods.
Dan East
Microsoft got it right with Pocket PC 2000. PPC 2002 was just a minor upgrade.
:)
I do agree that just because you have a 640x480 display (with touchscreen in place of a mouse) does not mean that the standard windowing GUI paradigm (Mac, Windows, X, etc) is appropriate.
Further, unless widgets and the like can be scaled up (ie 2x) then it would be next to impossible to even tap on them. Imagine a toolbar with 8 buttons in a row, each 2mm in width. I don't think even a perfectly aligned touchscreen can resolve input at that resolution - you wouldn't even be able to see the button for the end of the stylus.
As a Windows CE developer since 1997 I still see areas that need substantial improvement with the Pocket PC gui, however they have certainly made vast improvement from their first palm-sized OS (Windows CE 2.11). That is a rant for a different thread.
Dan East
Use PAM or some other non-stick cooking spray on your dish to help keep water / snow from sticking to it.
Dan East
...he should put up a standard TV antenna on a 100 foot tower, so he can pick up 2 channels full of static.
Oh, but wait, he could just stream real-time video or download DVDs off of his 56k dialup. Is that the alternative you are suggesting?
Geez, some people need to think before they get on their moral soapbox. Some other people need to think before they mod that crap up too.
Dan East
Trying to put 2 and 2 together, it sounds like the file system on the flash storage was corrupted by software. That could prevent the system from properly accessing the drive, prompting an endless cycle of reboots.
Two things about that bothers me.
Why would the OS / driver allow software to corrupt the filesystem?
If the system can function without the flash memory ("cripple mode"), then why couldn't the system properly identify (or at least report) the failure, instead of going into an endless loop of reboots?
Finally, if it were a software problem, shouldn't they be able to play back the exact sequence of commands to a duplicate machine at JPL and reproduce the problem?
Dan East
A few months ago we went over our minutes and wracked up a $250 bill. We decided to disconnect our service. Besides a few minor occasions when it would have been a convenience, we have found we can survive without a cell phone quite well. I am an amateur radio operator, as well as an active member of the local rescue squad, so I have other (better) methods of communication in the case of an emergency.
Dan East
Let assume for one moment that these copies aren't being leaked by a single individual. According to the article:
The studios then sent screeners to thousands of other awards voters, including groups such as the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Screen Actors Guild and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which presents the Golden Globes.
So it's not absurd to think there may be a pair of buddies that both received a copy, and want to distribute them. So all they have to do is rip both their copies, and then do a frame-by-frame (via software, of course) comparison of the two versions. Any method used to uniquely identify the copies should be readily visible. Now all they need do is tamper with it slightly. Say there is a stray frame inserted at a certain point in the film. If they simply move that frame to some other place in the movie then they have shifted the blame to someone else, which in this case could be an obscure 70 year old actor.
Dan East
...but if you were privy to the techniques they used to encode the scripts, wouldn't the other actors have that knowledge too? If so then the script could be modified to make it appear that it came from some other source.
Dan East
With the ISS serving practically no purpose, and the shuttle fleet's reevaluation after Columbia was destroyed, there is no better time than now to redirect NASA and give them a real goal. This gives NASA an excuse to stop funding the ISS money pit and mothball the shuttles.
If the resources spent on those two projects could be diverted to a singular goal, such as sending people to Mars, then we should have the ability to accomplish it.
Oh, and this leads me to another thought. One way trips to mars. One way as in a volunteer(s) that go to Mars, explore, and when resources run out they die. Step back and take a look at our planet. It is covered with several BILLION creatures with the capability to do amazing things. MILLIONS of us die a year under the most trivial and wasteful circumstances. Sending a few of our kind to explore a whole new world (literally) at the cost of their "premature" deaths is an extremely trivial thing in that light - if the rest of us could stomach it as individuals.
Dan East
I see the same problem with Windows Explorer, which began sometime yesterday. There is a 5-10 second delay when right-clicking on a file in File Explorer.
First, it's ridiculous that such a widely used certificate was allowed to expire.
Second, it's even more ridiculous that right clicking on a file in File Explorer requires a certificate.
So what is the fix for this (besides switching to linux)?
Dan East
Now it could only be topped if our President (or the next one) would announce a manned mission to mars challenge, similar to the one issued by Kennedy to go to the moon in the 60s.
That could only be done if we (USA) were driven by competition. We won't be sending anyone to Mars until China has almost caught up to us technologically and has committed their full resources to sending a communist to mars.
Dan East