It doesn't sound stupid. I watched the local University channel one day out of boredom and they were discussion how gene's are processed. I understood the PROCESS immediatly, the terminallogy, etc was new to me, and I must admit quickly forgotten. But the process itself made perfect sense. Meanwhile, the professor asks the class a question and they stared back blankly like the whole thing was beyond them. It probably was. They can memorize all the molecules, etc they want. But I doubt most of them can understand a process in the same manner as most programmers do. I think a mix of molecular biologist & computer programmer will be the scariest thing in the next 20 years...
Your anecdotal evidence is trumped by mine. I mean, between my girlfriend and myself we have a total of over 30 years computer experience, we are both capable of using CD-R burners, etc and yet she still bought a copy of Pink.
It's called 'More money than brains". If youhave enough money to buy this on a whiim, go ahead. Otherwise it's just wasting away in your savings account.
You only need 3 sat for position if altitude isn't taken into account. (My unit switches from 2D to 3D mode if a 4th satelite is aquired). 2D mode isn't as accurate, but is quite usable for a quick position fix.
A typical receiver will quickly locate itself -if- it has a recent almanac and is not significantly relocated since it was on last. (ie: it's best guess is close enough.).
The most extreem cases seem to be a few hours for units that have significantly out of date almanac and have been relocated significant distances. (my older Garmin suggests that a difference of 500 miles is enough to slow down initial acquisition. While I'm sure newer units are even better, this has held true for all uits I have personally seen. I've head descriptions of units being off for -years- and having run out of power (therefor no almanac) taking a few hours to aquire. Not a typical scenario. (As well, Garmin units can retrieve almanac data from another garmin unit and that will help them aquire in such circumstances, I'm sure others can as well).
I didn't say I was expecting anything different, but I wouldn't call it journalism.
Re:Don't :BUY A GARMIN, blindly, Here's Why...
on
GPS Receivers?
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
NMEA data is insufficient to increase accuracy. Nothing wrong with NMEA data for typical usage. I've used it for moving map displays, etc. But, to increase accuracy you need access to significanly more detailed information, which is not available from units other than Garmin for less than $1000+.
Kuro5hin might rank as journalism. Not very good journalism in my opinion... Slashdot on the other hand is seldom anything more than a news cutting service with the occasional editorial comment. (more often than not the editiorial comment is more ignorant than the trolls...).
BUY A GARMIN, Here's Why...
on
GPS Receivers?
·
· Score: 5, Informative
First, most GPS units, under favourable conditions will give very similar readings. Period. Doesn't matter if you buy a unit for $1000, or $50.
Without DGPS or WAAS you will not get readings with an accuracy of less than 5 meters more than about 60% of the time. (You could spend 5 years researching and understanding the statistics related to GPS units). Most units are specified to be within 15 meters 95% of the time. They do NOT accuratly tell you when they are NOT within that tolerance. They may give a confidence level of one type or another, but those again, are based on statistics and are not 100% accurate.
With DGPS you can have accuracies within the range you want if your in an area that can receive DGPS signals. A DGPS receiver will cost you a few hundred dollars, and the GPS you use has to be able to use DGPS information. (A DGPS capable GPS receiver will NOT pickup the DGPS signals, rather it needs an external receiver to get the signal, but it will process the data.) (You may find an exception to this, I expect it will be outside your price range by a wide margin).
WAAS might work for you, but then again, it might not. If you on the East, or West coast you will have a higher probability, but even then it has been rather spotty for many people and is really intended for aircraft (significantly above ground) usage. The satelites are too close to the horizon for most people and are blocked by ground clutter. Optimally WAAS should get you within 3 meters, but it might only increase the accuracy of the estimated error.
Note: Getting readings that indicate within a couple meters of each other for a period of days might get you an average location with a low margin of error, but again, it might still be WRONG. Some methods of determining location are known for being inaccurate but consistant. I understand ( but do not know the specifics) that Loran is known for this. In a specific location you can expect a VERY similar reading for the same spot in the future, even if the reading is off by a wide margin from reality it will be consistantly off at that location. GPS doesn't do this significantly. With the satelites moving at a high rate of speed and various objects reflecting the signal depending on the current location of the satelites the error will not necessarily be consistant from day to day, or hour to hour.
(On the other hand, the orbits do repeat and shift slightly over a period of 24hrs so a reading at 4 o'clock today will have similar satelite coverage tomorrow at 3:55, or 4:05 (not sure which off hand).
If you want more stable results try to aquire your data at night. A significant margin of error is introduced by the ionisphere and this is reduced at night.
All of the above is generic GPS information....
Now, the reason I suggested GARMIN, GARMIN GPS units support a mode which allows you to extract data required for RINEX processing. The programs which extract this data are using undocumented functions but they do work. (see: This website) RINEX data can be post-processed and combined with external data (freely available after a delay of a few days generally) which can be used to get very accurate results. I believe the estimated accuracy for a GARMIN unit with RINEX based post processing is about 1/2 meter.
The program to collect the RINEX processable data can be run on a laptop or PocketPC connected to almost any Garmin GPS (from the older GPS12, to the newer etrex)
The helicopters aren't 20 years old, they are a heck of a lot older than that. But our government jets are being replaced after only 17 years of service.
I hate to argue it, spammers can go to hell and all, but that $7,000 might have included the cost of technicians trying tofigure out why the email wasn't making it to it's destination and working out a solution, as well as the time necessary to reconfigure machines.
Never mind whatever his ISP charges for IP address.
There was a case in Canada where an individual attempted to break into a shopping mall, broke his leg and won. (LocatioN: Surry, B.C., Aproximatly 1988, 'Surry Place Mall'.). Sorry, no further details.
If you get caught committing an otherwise dumb crime you'll find yourself in more trouble if you carry lockpick set, or similar.
Your not going to be searched out of the blue, but if you get searched for some other reason you will NEED an explanation. 'Just cuz' isn't an explanation.
I'm beginning to think I should start trading stock for a living. Every time I buy stock it drops in value. I figure maybe I should try to Sell-Short and then buy some. (not enough to cover it, but enough to cause the price to drop...).
Or, maybe I should just invest heavily in Microsoft.
Here in Winnipeg the cable company (Shaw) has been quite good, but I am aware of somebody getting booted off the service. I guess downloading 80 GIGABYTES in a month was overkill.
I know a number of people that have downloaded multiple gigabytes in a month, but until I heard the specifics of this case I didn't realize people were that stupid.
Slashdot Mirror
It doesn't sound stupid. I watched the local University channel one day out of boredom and they were discussion how gene's are processed. I understood the PROCESS immediatly, the terminallogy, etc was new to me, and I must admit quickly forgotten. But the process itself made perfect sense. Meanwhile, the professor asks the class a question and they stared back blankly like the whole thing was beyond them. It probably was. They can memorize all the molecules, etc they want. But I doubt most of them can understand a process in the same manner as most programmers do. I think a mix of molecular biologist & computer programmer will be the scariest thing in the next 20 years...
p2p has ment point to point, person to person and peer to peer at various points in time.
typical computer oriented acronym, several, valid definitions.
Your anecdotal evidence is trumped by mine. I mean, between my girlfriend and myself we have a total of over 30 years computer experience, we are both capable of using CD-R burners, etc and yet she still bought a copy of Pink.
If you get attached by a bear in Kanaskis you likely won't be able to use your cell phone anyway. Even if you live to tell about it.
How much can I get for the string "The middle east is made of glass"
It's called 'More money than brains". If youhave enough money to buy this on a whiim, go ahead. Otherwise it's just wasting away in your savings account.
You only need 3 sat for position if altitude isn't taken into account. (My unit switches from 2D to 3D mode if a 4th satelite is aquired). 2D mode isn't as accurate, but is quite usable for a quick position fix.
A typical receiver will quickly locate itself -if- it has a recent almanac and is not significantly relocated since it was on last. (ie: it's best guess is close enough.).
The most extreem cases seem to be a few hours for units that have significantly out of date almanac and have been relocated significant distances. (my older Garmin suggests that a difference of 500 miles is enough to slow down initial acquisition. While I'm sure newer units are even better, this has held true for all uits I have personally seen. I've head descriptions of units being off for -years- and having run out of power (therefor no almanac) taking a few hours to aquire. Not a typical scenario. (As well, Garmin units can retrieve almanac data from another garmin unit and that will help them aquire in such circumstances, I'm sure others can as well).
I didn't say I was expecting anything different, but I wouldn't call it journalism.
NMEA data is insufficient to increase accuracy.
Nothing wrong with NMEA data for typical usage. I've used it for moving map displays, etc. But, to increase accuracy you need access to significanly more detailed information, which is not available from units other than Garmin for less than $1000+.
NMEA data is not the same as RINEX.
Kuro5hin might rank as journalism. Not very good journalism in my opinion... Slashdot on the other hand is seldom anything more than a news cutting service with the occasional editorial comment. (more often than not the editiorial comment is more ignorant than the trolls...).
Without DGPS or WAAS you will not get readings with an accuracy of less than 5 meters more than about 60% of the time. (You could spend 5 years researching and understanding the statistics related to GPS units). Most units are specified to be within 15 meters 95% of the time. They do NOT accuratly tell you when they are NOT within that tolerance. They may give a confidence level of one type or another, but those again, are based on statistics and are not 100% accurate.
With DGPS you can have accuracies within the range you want if your in an area that can receive DGPS signals. A DGPS receiver will cost you a few hundred dollars, and the GPS you use has to be able to use DGPS information. (A DGPS capable GPS receiver will NOT pickup the DGPS signals, rather it needs an external receiver to get the signal, but it will process the data.) (You may find an exception to this, I expect it will be outside your price range by a wide margin).
WAAS might work for you, but then again, it might not. If you on the East, or West coast you will have a higher probability, but even then it has been rather spotty for many people and is really intended for aircraft (significantly above ground) usage. The satelites are too close to the horizon for most people and are blocked by ground clutter. Optimally WAAS should get you within 3 meters, but it might only increase the accuracy of the estimated error.
Note: Getting readings that indicate within a couple meters of each other for a period of days might get you an average location with a low margin of error, but again, it might still be WRONG. Some methods of determining location are known for being inaccurate but consistant. I understand ( but do not know the specifics) that Loran is known for this. In a specific location you can expect a VERY similar reading for the same spot in the future, even if the reading is off by a wide margin from reality it will be consistantly off at that location. GPS doesn't do this significantly. With the satelites moving at a high rate of speed and various objects reflecting the signal depending on the current location of the satelites the error will not necessarily be consistant from day to day, or hour to hour.
(On the other hand, the orbits do repeat and shift slightly over a period of 24hrs so a reading at 4 o'clock today will have similar satelite coverage tomorrow at 3:55, or 4:05 (not sure which off hand).
If you want more stable results try to aquire your data at night. A significant margin of error is introduced by the ionisphere and this is reduced at night.
All of the above is generic GPS information....
Now, the reason I suggested GARMIN, GARMIN GPS units support a mode which allows you to extract data required for RINEX processing. The programs which extract this data are using undocumented functions but they do work. (see: This website) RINEX data can be post-processed and combined with external data (freely available after a delay of a few days generally) which can be used to get very accurate results. I believe the estimated accuracy for a GARMIN unit with RINEX based post processing is about 1/2 meter.
The program to collect the RINEX processable data can be run on a laptop or PocketPC connected to almost any Garmin GPS (from the older GPS12, to the newer etrex)
The helicopters aren't 20 years old, they are a heck of a lot older than that. But our government jets are being replaced after only 17 years of service.
And now, instead of having a cell phone your neighbor would have a hard time listing in on, EVERYBODY can listen in on it as much as they want.
By the way, the government won that round.
I take it you never go to the beach then?
In Dos 5 you couldn't send more than 32megabytes to \dev\null, it would crash.
An ex-coworker of mine deleted the parent directory while in a subdirectory of said-parent. (under a version of SCO).
Boom.
System stayed running for about 5 seconds and then crashed hard. couldn't duplicate the problem.
Nope. Had to have happened before 1991 as I was living there at the time.
I noticed. Right after I hit submit.
I hate to argue it, spammers can go to hell and all, but that $7,000 might have included the cost of technicians trying tofigure out why the email wasn't making it to it's destination and working out a solution, as well as the time necessary to reconfigure machines.
Never mind whatever his ISP charges for IP address.
There was a case in Canada where an individual attempted to break into a shopping mall, broke his leg and won. (LocatioN: Surry, B.C., Aproximatly 1988, 'Surry Place Mall'.). Sorry, no further details.
He lost on appeal though.
Canada is the most significant trade partner for the United States. period. End Of discussion.
Actually, you want us (Canada) to invade.
Think about it, better beer, lower drinking age, etc.
Unfortunatly we have been unable to get the Canadian Geese to carry any significant payloads when they fly south.
If you get caught committing an otherwise dumb crime you'll find yourself in more trouble if you carry lockpick set, or similar.
Your not going to be searched out of the blue, but if you get searched for some other reason you will NEED an explanation. 'Just cuz' isn't an explanation.
I'm beginning to think I should start trading stock for a living. Every time I buy stock it drops in value. I figure maybe I should try to Sell-Short and then buy some. (not enough to cover it, but enough to cause the price to drop...).
Or, maybe I should just invest heavily in Microsoft.
Here in Winnipeg the cable company (Shaw) has been quite good, but I am aware of somebody getting booted off the service. I guess downloading 80 GIGABYTES in a month was overkill.
I know a number of people that have downloaded multiple gigabytes in a month, but until I heard the specifics of this case I didn't realize people were that stupid.