My first computer was an Apple ][+ clone. I bought the bare circuit board (the only documentation was silkscreened onto the board), took my overtime in parts from the electronics firm I worked for (one of the engineers supplied EPROMS:-) and populated the thing. 48k memory, woohoo! Built a decoder for the surplus keyboard I had, built a power supply, wired the video output into the contrast control (I think) of my parents' colour TV, it worked perfectly. Then my parents came home from Florida early, "Um, son, what have you done to the television?".
I went on to build a 16k memory expansion ("Why do you want all that memory?" I got asked), a disk controller (had a pair of 8" floppies for a while), all kinds of stuff.
The point of winning awards, at least from (I think) Rob Sawyer's view in an interview/article some while back, is that the author makes more money because the work will stay in print longer.
And I believe that it was in Playgrounds of the Mind that Larry Niven who argued that SF wasn't a ghetto; it cost the people in it a substantial amount of money to belong (reduced sales), it's tough to get into (have to know your science), and some other stuff. Therefore it was a high-end country club...
We have a LJ4V bought to do tabloid-sized stuff. The only problem with it is that there are no toner cartridges any more. HP quit making them, and the new-old-stock ones all have internal parts that have lost their plasticizers and cause everything to print grey. Sad...
I occasionally do sound reinforcement for a non-profit arts-promoting organization. I used to play music before events, just to fill the dead air. Gave me an excuse to buy interesting CDs to play that fit with the events. After an event a while back, the organization got a nastygram from Re:Sound, telling them that per Tarriff 5 they must pay a *percentage of the gate* for events where recorded sound was used.
The result? No music is being played before events. No CDs being bought. No musicians being hired to play pre-show tunes. Lose all around.
I figure that if I can make all telemarketers hate their jobs, they'll end up doing other things besides being paid to annoy me. Nobody forces anyone to take a job that causes people to hate them.
For example, I do a bit of multitrack digital recording. The mouse clicks can be a distraction when you're trying to get an artist to focus on the *song*, not the recording of the song.
I have yet to find a way to use the keyboard to select a point in a recording where one wishes to punch in...
The oldest hardware I use currently is my trusty Zenith ZVM-133 portable. 1 whole Meg of memory, 10MB hard disk, pop-up 3.5" 720kB floppy. White on blue screen at 80 chars x 25 lines, decent keyboard, and it's got a built-in handle.
My dad, however, has a Franklin Ace 500 (an Apple//c clone) at his mobile home in Florida that he uses to play games on, and an Apple ][+ clone (that I built around 1980) at the cottage.
I'm not an analog purist; I love my CDs and my digital recording stuff and all that.
But a change in the interaction between an inductive load (a pickup) and an amplification circuit will change the nature of the sound. Alembic, for example, mounted a preamp right at the end of the pickup coils because the impedance added by wires changed the sound away from their idea of the proper sound.
If you ship something from the US to Canada by UPS, the Canadian recipient must pay GST and PST, and any applicable duties. This is okay according to Canadian law. The recipient must also pay a brokerage fee, which is around $35 plus tax. There are often UPS delivery fees, *even if the shipper paid it all in advance*.
As well, paying extra for 2nd Day delivery is a waste of money; it doesn't count across the border. And trying to have something held for pickup at UPS's out-of-the-way pickup points is a nightmare -- it takes 48 hours for a delivery order to get changed.
Trying to complain is comical. The call taker takes the information, and promises that someone will call back. The call is returned by a person who will not leave their name or phone number on an answering machine, and who calls from a blocked number ("So that we don't get all kinds of calls directly from people trying to complain" -- sheesh!).
Moral of the story? If it's a hurry, use FedEx (upfront cost is higher than UPS, total cost is lower). Otherwise, use US/Canada Post.
Every time. If the CD doesn't work, return it to the place of purchase and exchange it for another one of the same thing.
Lather, Rinse, Repeat, until you
...at 45. I suspect, though I can't prove it, that I was one of the first kids in Canada to play with LEGO. My father worked in the Valuation division of Canada Customs, and sometimes got to bring home samples that they were done with. I well remember this big flat box that had these bricks inside, and building all sorts of stuff based on the drawings on the box.
I just recently bought a 16-liter pail 2/3 full of LEGO at a garage sale. My sweetie and I have had loads of fun with it, as have a bunch of our friends and neighbours, and the teenaged kids of some of the aforementioned friends. We've built all kindsa stuff, taken it apart to build other things, and generally had a blast. No motors, no batteries, no instructions, just hours of fun. Add in a big pot of tea and some fresh chocolate chip cookies, and there's no better way to spend time with friends of all ages.
I'm going to have to add to this assortment, I think. It's just a shame that the bulk LEGO seems to be limited to bags of 25 of one piece. I want to build furniture out of LEGO, and computer cases, and stuff. C'mon, bags of 100, or 1000, priced appropriately; that's what we really need to make things out of LEGO.
I do find it fascinating, however, that so many people built things and then actively worked to destroy their (or others') creations. Maybe that's what's wrong with this world....
Patents, yes you have to agressively protect them, or lose them.
No, patents are patents. You can choose to not protect them, protect them vigorously, only chase certain offenders, or even wait ten years and then go after infringers (can you say GIF?).
Trademarks, on the other hand, must be vigorously protected.
Slashdot Mirror
My first computer was an Apple ][+ clone. I bought the bare circuit board (the only documentation was silkscreened onto the board), took my overtime in parts from the electronics firm I worked for (one of the engineers supplied EPROMS :-) and populated the thing. 48k memory, woohoo! Built a decoder for the surplus keyboard I had, built a power supply, wired the video output into the contrast control (I think) of my parents' colour TV, it worked perfectly. Then my parents came home from Florida early, "Um, son, what have you done to the television?".
I went on to build a 16k memory expansion ("Why do you want all that memory?" I got asked), a disk controller (had a pair of 8" floppies for a while), all kinds of stuff.
The point of winning awards, at least from (I think) Rob Sawyer's view in an interview/article some while back, is that the author makes more money because the work will stay in print longer.
And I believe that it was in Playgrounds of the Mind that Larry Niven who argued that SF wasn't a ghetto; it cost the people in it a substantial amount of money to belong (reduced sales), it's tough to get into (have to know your science), and some other stuff. Therefore it was a high-end country club...
We have a LJ4V bought to do tabloid-sized stuff. The only problem with it is that there are no toner cartridges any more. HP quit making them, and the new-old-stock ones all have internal parts that have lost their plasticizers and cause everything to print grey. Sad...
So, what would be the optimal gravity for sweet-potato fries?
Only the residue left? So you could add it to water and turn it into wine?
He got attention for similar stuff in 2002 http://it.slashdot.org/story/02/03/14/2051228/airport-security-vs-cyborg-steve-mann Indications are that he uses this stuff for augmentation of reality, not for regular day-to-day life.
I occasionally do sound reinforcement for a non-profit arts-promoting organization. I used to play music before events, just to fill the dead air. Gave me an excuse to buy interesting CDs to play that fit with the events. After an event a while back, the organization got a nastygram from Re:Sound, telling them that per Tarriff 5 they must pay a *percentage of the gate* for events where recorded sound was used.
The result? No music is being played before events. No CDs being bought. No musicians being hired to play pre-show tunes. Lose all around.
... it's probably a really good thing they didn't look at it under ultraviolet light.
I figure that if I can make all telemarketers hate their jobs, they'll end up doing other things besides being paid to annoy me. Nobody forces anyone to take a job that causes people to hate them.
Open your desktop environment's accessibility control panel ... and turn on Mouse Keys.
Thanks, I'll give it a shot as soon as my caffeine hits.
Dave O'Heare
For example, I do a bit of multitrack digital recording. The mouse clicks can be a distraction when you're trying to get an artist to focus on the *song*, not the recording of the song.
I have yet to find a way to use the keyboard to select a point in a recording where one wishes to punch in...
Dave O'Heare
The oldest hardware I use currently is my trusty Zenith ZVM-133 portable. 1 whole Meg of memory, 10MB hard disk, pop-up 3.5" 720kB floppy. White on blue screen at 80 chars x 25 lines, decent keyboard, and it's got a built-in handle.
//c clone) at his mobile home in Florida that he uses to play games on, and an Apple ][+ clone (that I built around 1980) at the cottage.
My dad, however, has a Franklin Ace 500 (an Apple
Dang, I miss Sammy Lightfoot....
o'bunny
I'm not an analog purist; I love my CDs and my digital recording stuff and all that.
But a change in the interaction between an inductive load (a pickup) and an amplification circuit will change the nature of the sound. Alembic, for example, mounted a preamp right at the end of the pickup coils because the impedance added by wires changed the sound away from their idea of the proper sound.
I'm *never home on Hallowe'en. It's my dad's birthday, and my parents' wedding anniversary.
I think that explains a LOT about my family.
o'bunny
Slashdotted already. Wow.
If you ship something from the US to Canada by UPS, the Canadian recipient must pay GST and PST, and any applicable duties. This is okay according to Canadian law. The recipient must also pay a brokerage fee, which is around $35 plus tax. There are often UPS delivery fees, *even if the shipper paid it all in advance*.
As well, paying extra for 2nd Day delivery is a waste of money; it doesn't count across the border. And trying to have something held for pickup at UPS's out-of-the-way pickup points is a nightmare -- it takes 48 hours for a delivery order to get changed.
Trying to complain is comical. The call taker takes the information, and promises that someone will call back. The call is returned by a person who will not leave their name or phone number on an answering machine, and who calls from a blocked number ("So that we don't get all kinds of calls directly from people trying to complain" -- sheesh!).
Moral of the story? If it's a hurry, use FedEx (upfront cost is higher than UPS, total cost is lower). Otherwise, use US/Canada Post.
First post? Really???
Don'd forget sbarrium (Sb), AKA antimony
...at 45. I suspect, though I can't prove it, that I was one of the first kids in Canada to play with LEGO. My father worked in the Valuation division of Canada Customs, and sometimes got to bring home samples that they were done with. I well remember this big flat box that had these bricks inside, and building all sorts of stuff based on the drawings on the box.
I just recently bought a 16-liter pail 2/3 full of LEGO at a garage sale. My sweetie and I have had loads of fun with it, as have a bunch of our friends and neighbours, and the teenaged kids of some of the aforementioned friends. We've built all kindsa stuff, taken it apart to build other things, and generally had a blast. No motors, no batteries, no instructions, just hours of fun. Add in a big pot of tea and some fresh chocolate chip cookies, and there's no better way to spend time with friends of all ages.
I'm going to have to add to this assortment, I think. It's just a shame that the bulk LEGO seems to be limited to bags of 25 of one piece. I want to build furniture out of LEGO, and computer cases, and stuff. C'mon, bags of 100, or 1000, priced appropriately; that's what we really need to make things out of LEGO.
I do find it fascinating, however, that so many people built things and then actively worked to destroy their (or others') creations. Maybe that's what's wrong with this world....
No, patents are patents. You can choose to not protect them, protect them vigorously, only chase certain offenders, or even wait ten years and then go after infringers (can you say GIF?).
Trademarks, on the other hand, must be vigorously protected.