One of the problems with high-speed train travel in the US is that the rail beds are terrible and unsuitable (for the most part) for high-speed trains. New rail beds would have to be run to most major cities to facilitate fast trains.
I'm thinking that most people don't care and will need a pretty compelling reason to do so (care). For the majority of computer users over the last 15 years, computing has been a mostly negative experience, and unless you can convince them that reading your book will be very beneficial, you won't sell.
I think the internet is becoming sentient. That's the reason for the anomalous packets. I just know it. It's the beginning of the end. It's probably laughing at us trying to decode the new neural transmissions it is making in the form of malformed packets.
Let me edit this to make it actually make some sense:
"The New York Times (Free Blah-di-blah) is reporting that Epic Records, in an effort to prevent reviewers from creating mp3s or even playing the preview CD in anything they don't control, is now disseminating the new Pearl Jam and Tori Amos CDs inside Sony Walkman players that are glued shut. Oh yeah... the headphones are glued to the players too, to prevent any unauthorized output. A low-tech answer to a high-tech issue."
Face it. IRC is the universal home of Those Who Have No Hope Of Ever Having Sex.
and then: I'm just upset because my home channel, which has existed in one form or another since the previous bush administration, has been moving around from network to network lately trying to find one that doesn't get shut down constantly by angry users, or worse yet, angry ircops who are scriptkiddies themselves.
Now that's funny.
Seriously, don't characterize IRC users so broadly, it's plain dumb. I use IRC less than regularly, but when I do, as an oper, I talk to many people I've become friends with. We talk about bands, administration stuff, all kinds of things. Simply because I'm not in a bar somewhere spending $3.00 for a beer to shout incoherently over the din, doesn't mean I'm some un-laid, pimply kid with a load of narsty scripts.
dr_strang (well past voting age, thank you very much)
fdfnet
Rosewood is used almost exclusively for fingerboards on most acoustic and electric guitars and basses. (For those of your who are musically or visually challenged, the fingerboard is on the neck, with all the frets-think railroad ties) Soooo... my guess is... um, no, it's NOT an 'endangered species' of exotic wood. Mahogany, ebony, now that's a different story. I'm sure that the U.S. Customs Office has a list of woods banned for import, if you are really interested and want to maybe try and dig through a U.S. Government site for useful information. I sure don't have that much free time.:)
Rackmounts are going to be expensive, no matter what. Outside of the corporate computer industry, rackmounts are most commonly used by live sound & lighting production companies to mount amplifiers, effects, etc in sturdy cases to protect them. I know, I used to do it. So, the best place to find affordable rack-mount equipment is from the places that cater to the production industry, such as Middle Atlantic Products (among others).
One such solution is to buy a rack frame (by the way, a standard rack is 19" wide. and racks are measured in Units, 1U being approximately 1 3/4" tall, the average component size is 3U, like tape decks, amplifiers, etc.), get some flat rack pans, and simply place your ATX cases on the pans, you can fit 3 towers side-by side. With the frame, rails and pans, depending on the height you need, this will end up costing you (sans puters) about 100-200 bucks.
If you're cheap like me, you'll go to Sam's/Office Depot and buy a set of adjustable steel shelves and put all your crap on them, organize to your heart's content. I think they go for the outrageous price of $20, no additional equipment needed. I have 3 towers, 2 cable modems, a hi-fi system, printer, and other assorted crap (omniview) sitting on the shelves, flanked by two smallish computer desks. It's neat, organized, and impresses the hell out of your non-nerdish friends (although they will probably leave with the feeling that you are a mega-geek with way too much free time) without spending a small fortune on enterprise-class gear. I mean, we ARE talking about home stuff here.
That was really not my point, and you really had to try very hard to take it out of context to get that slant on it. Great job, smartypants.
I'm not saying that those people aren't guily of a pretty heinous crime, they ARE.
What I'm saying is this (analogically): If you leave the front door of your house open, people will most certainly eventually come into your house, and due to some people's lack of morals (or whatever you wish to call it), things will get stolen. If you have a house full of Picassos and Rembrandts, instead of a couple of ripped posters on the walls, be prepared to have bare walls.
This doesn't exonerate the thieves by any means, it simply exposes what is the darker underbelly of human nature. It is the online company's DUTY to make sure that their client's confidential information stays that way.
I was not commenting on the thieves' guilt or innocence, in fact, you'd have to be pretty fucking confused to think that they are not guilty of malicious network intrusion, not to mention extortion. So do us all a favor, konstant, and get off your ethical high horse. No one said they were innocent.
Unfortunately, as long as companies keep storing customer's/client's valuable information in insecure places with insecure software, there will always be some cr/hacker that will find a way to nab it. Even more unfortunately, the media will skew and distort this to the point where the spoonfed masses won't see the real point (which is that better security is needed at these online companies). Such is life.
May your holiday season be filled with happiness, family and love. May your socks never develop holes in the back part commonly known as the heel, and may your computer chair never become as uncomfortable as mine has. (Ow, ow, ow... SANTA, HELP!!!)
Seriously, besides the copyright infringement that I hope Hallmark doesn't notice (or I'm in a world of hurtin), I want to wish all of you slashdotters a very Merry Christmas... don't forget your Y2K vows (never underestimate stupid people) and remain calm and happy.
I agree wholeheartedly that this type of pre-publishing forum is not only valid, but needed. With the rampant inaccuracy and irresponsibility of mainstream media nowadays, it is refreshing to see this. I noticed that in the original article, some slashdotters bashed the entire process as being just as bad as a lack of research, because the credibility of the information-purveyors could not be ascertained. What a crock! The pre-publishing presentation of an in-depth, complicated article to an open forum of people who (for the most part) have more insight into the topic than the writer probably has is truly an ideal solution. The only problem I can foresee (other than the writer not checking his new sources of info) is the issue of 'scooping'. If a periodical goes through this process, there is a chance that another entity could scoop their story, since it is in essence 'Open-Sourced'. And since most published media is driven by profit, this is definitely an issue.
I bet the lawyers at Weiss are kicking themselves in the ass. Imagine how much money they stood to make on the lawsuit. ESPECIALLY if they had both sides paying. Woo. Thank god for the Bar Association. Otherwise, the same law firm _would be_ on both sides of the lawsuit, raking the cash in.... that's THEIR only interest.
NASA is completely unable to get funding to initiate (or follow through) on this sort of project, period. TYhe only way this could _ever_ happen is if it was privately funded. The key is to make it exciting and sexy enough so that people will want to dump TONS of money into it... As a private venture, it cannot be as bloated and as costly as previous government space projects, or it will surely fail.
I will wait to see how this works out, this is definitely something to watch. Also, I wouldn't be surprised to see competitors spring up if this thing looks like it will actually fly (in a financial sense, that is).
Picture it: A far-off shot of the moon base, cuts to a close up of one of the satellite dishes. "Drink Coke", emblazoned vividly on the dish, competes with the "Reebok" emblem on the side of the lunar rover sitting next to it.
> What you're implying here is that "trolls" are intrinsically bad, and that moderators really know what a troll is.
A troll is an off-topic post/comment designed to generate off-topic responses by being outrageous, idiotic or just plain silly... It's not all that complicated. Trolls are bad in that they direct focus away from the topic at hand. For example, you and some friends are having an in-depth discussion about the merits of the new dev kernel, and someone else you know strolls up and says "Hey I heard that new Windows 2000 can run circles around Linux,AND its more secure! ha-ha!". Now, whether or not what he said is interesting or insightful or WHATEVER, it was off-topic, and directs the focus away from the topic at hand. In a verbal discussion, this may not be such a bad thing, but when something like this is posted in a directed forum, such as Slashdot, it is not only irrelevant, but wastes people's time by making them slog through a bunch of silly off-topic posts, not only the original troll, but the flurry of indignant responses it usually receives. In closing, trolls ARE bad, especially in a focus-oriented forum.
my 2 cents. Hey! There's no cent key. What's up with that? (troll)
As if this planet doesn't appear stupid enough from outer space, beaming insipid talk shows and inane sitcoms out into space, now we'll start spamming the whole bleeping galaxy. We might as well broadcast "STAY AWAY" 24 hours a day. I'm getting a vivid mental image of a dog on a leash, barking constantly until he goes hoarse and is drooling all over himself...
AMEN, brother. I know what it's like. As an underpaid systems 'technician' who does as much admin work as the actual sysadmins with the title and the paycheck, I can tell you that this scenario plays itself out more often than a wrong order at the McDonalds drive-thru.
Looks like pretty antiquated hardware on the PC side, I saw a PPro processor and the interface uses ISA slots. On the movs, the reactions looked lagged, coulda been the mov format though. You need some serious processing power to handle true fuzzy logic, maybe a hardware upgrade is in order?:)
I wonder if they have implemented a 'familiarity' algorithm in the robot, one that uses recognition technology to "remember" facial and structural contexts, so that Cynthia could conceivably be perceived as a 'mother figure', whereas another unfamiliar person in the field of view could possibly cause a negative reaction without any overstimulation. Maybe that's next.
I remember seeing on some cheesy PC tv show there were some programs floating about that used facial recognition with a camera to verify identity, maybe this could be incorporated in the experiment to make the robot's reactions more 'human'.
As far as a cheap place to live, Charleston, South Carolina is pretty cheap. We have @home, Knology for cable internet, and Bellsouth should be rolling out DSL by October. T-1s are pretty much the same price everywhere, but you can maybe share one with someone else. The only drawback is the nearest backbones are in Jacksonville, FL, Atlanta GA, and somewhere in Tennessee.
Slashdot Mirror
One of the problems with high-speed train travel in the US is that the rail beds are terrible and unsuitable (for the most part) for high-speed trains. New rail beds would have to be run to most major cities to facilitate fast trains.
That's exactly what I was thinking of.
until I see a body. Just a little too convenient. /where the hell's my tinfoil hat?
Isn't the camera traffic limited to known IP addresses/MAC addresses? Just lock it down to only accept traffic from those...
The Chinese decrying censorship... didn't see that one coming.
I'm thinking that most people don't care and will need a pretty compelling reason to do so (care). For the majority of computer users over the last 15 years, computing has been a mostly negative experience, and unless you can convince them that reading your book will be very beneficial, you won't sell.
I think the internet is becoming sentient. That's the reason for the anomalous packets. I just know it. It's the beginning of the end. It's probably laughing at us trying to decode the new neural transmissions it is making in the form of malformed packets.
Let me edit this to make it actually make some sense :
... the headphones are glued to the players too, to prevent any unauthorized output. A low-tech answer to a high-tech issue."
"The New York Times (Free Blah-di-blah) is reporting that Epic Records, in an effort to prevent reviewers from creating mp3s or even playing the preview CD in anything they don't control, is now disseminating the new Pearl Jam and Tori Amos CDs inside Sony Walkman players that are glued shut. Oh yeah
Speaking of irony:
Face it. IRC is the universal home of Those Who Have No Hope Of Ever Having Sex.
and then:
I'm just upset because my home channel, which has existed in one form or another since the previous bush administration, has been moving around from network to network lately trying to find one that doesn't get shut down constantly by angry users, or worse yet, angry ircops who are scriptkiddies themselves.
Now that's funny.
Seriously, don't characterize IRC users so broadly, it's plain dumb. I use IRC less than regularly, but when I do, as an oper, I talk to many people I've become friends with. We talk about bands, administration stuff, all kinds of things. Simply because I'm not in a bar somewhere spending $3.00 for a beer to shout incoherently over the din, doesn't mean I'm some un-laid, pimply kid with a load of narsty scripts.
dr_strang (well past voting age, thank you very much)
fdfnet
Rosewood is used almost exclusively for fingerboards on most acoustic and electric guitars and basses. (For those of your who are musically or visually challenged, the fingerboard is on the neck, with all the frets-think railroad ties) :)
Soooo... my guess is... um, no, it's NOT an 'endangered species' of exotic wood. Mahogany, ebony, now that's a different story. I'm sure that the U.S. Customs Office has a list of woods banned for import, if you are really interested and want to maybe try and dig through a U.S. Government site for useful information. I sure don't have that much free time.
doc
Errata:
I meant to say you could fit 2 servers side by side on a rack mount shelf/pan.
doc
Rackmounts are going to be expensive, no matter what. Outside of the corporate computer industry, rackmounts are most commonly used by live sound & lighting production companies to mount amplifiers, effects, etc in sturdy cases to protect them. I know, I used to do it. So, the best place to find affordable rack-mount equipment is from the places that cater to the production industry, such as Middle Atlantic Products (among others).
One such solution is to buy a rack frame (by the way, a standard rack is 19" wide. and racks are measured in Units, 1U being approximately 1 3/4" tall, the average component size is 3U, like tape decks, amplifiers, etc.), get some flat rack pans, and simply place your ATX cases on the pans, you can fit 3 towers side-by side.
With the frame, rails and pans, depending on the height you need, this will end up costing you (sans puters) about 100-200 bucks.
If you're cheap like me, you'll go to Sam's/Office Depot and buy a set of adjustable steel shelves and put all your crap on them, organize to your heart's content. I think they go for the outrageous price of $20, no additional equipment needed. I have 3 towers, 2 cable modems, a hi-fi system, printer, and other assorted crap (omniview) sitting on the shelves, flanked by two smallish computer desks. It's neat, organized, and impresses the hell out of your non-nerdish friends (although they will probably leave with the feeling that you are a mega-geek with way too much free time) without spending a small fortune on enterprise-class gear. I mean, we ARE talking about home stuff here.
doc
That was really not my point, and you really had to try very hard to take it out of context to get that slant on it. Great job, smartypants.
I'm not saying that those people aren't guily of a pretty heinous crime, they ARE.
What I'm saying is this (analogically): If you leave the front door of your house open, people will most certainly eventually come into your house, and due to some people's lack of morals (or whatever you wish to call it), things will get stolen. If you have a house full of Picassos and Rembrandts, instead of a couple of ripped posters on the walls, be prepared to have bare walls.
This doesn't exonerate the thieves by any means, it simply exposes what is the darker underbelly of human nature. It is the online company's DUTY to make sure that their client's confidential information stays that way.
I was not commenting on the thieves' guilt or innocence, in fact, you'd have to be pretty fucking confused to think that they are not guilty of malicious network intrusion, not to mention extortion. So do us all a favor, konstant, and get off your ethical high horse. No one said they were innocent.
duh.
dr_strang
Unfortunately, as long as companies keep storing customer's/client's valuable information in insecure places with insecure software, there will always be some cr/hacker that will find a way to nab it.
Even more unfortunately, the media will skew and distort this to the point where the spoonfed masses won't see the real point (which is that better security is needed at these online companies). Such is life.
May your holiday season be filled with happiness, family and love. May your socks never develop holes in the back part commonly known as the heel, and may your computer chair never become as uncomfortable as mine has. (Ow, ow, ow... SANTA, HELP!!!)
Seriously, besides the copyright infringement that I hope Hallmark doesn't notice (or I'm in a world of hurtin), I want to wish all of you slashdotters a very Merry Christmas... don't forget your Y2K vows (never underestimate stupid people) and remain calm and happy.
doc
I agree wholeheartedly that this type of pre-publishing forum is not only valid, but needed. With the rampant inaccuracy and irresponsibility of mainstream media nowadays, it is refreshing to see this. I noticed that in the original article, some slashdotters bashed the entire process as being just as bad as a lack of research, because the credibility of the information-purveyors could not be ascertained. What a crock! The pre-publishing presentation of an in-depth, complicated article to an open forum of people who (for the most part) have more insight into the topic than the writer probably has is truly an ideal solution.
The only problem I can foresee (other than the writer not checking his new sources of info) is the issue of 'scooping'. If a periodical goes through this process, there is a chance that another entity could scoop their story, since it is in essence 'Open-Sourced'. And since most published media is driven by profit, this is definitely an issue.
I bet the lawyers at Weiss are kicking themselves in the ass. Imagine how much money they stood to make on the lawsuit. ESPECIALLY if they had both sides paying. Woo. Thank god for the Bar Association. Otherwise, the same law firm _would be_ on both sides of the lawsuit, raking the cash in.... that's THEIR only interest.
NASA is completely unable to get funding to initiate (or follow through) on this sort of project, period. TYhe only way this could _ever_ happen is if it was privately funded. The key is to make it exciting and sexy enough so that people will want to dump TONS of money into it... As a private venture, it cannot be as bloated and as costly as previous government space projects, or it will surely fail.
I will wait to see how this works out, this is definitely something to watch. Also, I wouldn't be surprised to see competitors spring up if this thing looks like it will actually fly (in a financial sense, that is).
Picture it: A far-off shot of the moon base, cuts to a close up of one of the satellite dishes. "Drink Coke", emblazoned vividly on the dish, competes with the "Reebok" emblem on the side of the lunar rover sitting next to it.
WOO!!
Ahh, it was The Man Who Sold the Moon. Duh.
Good story.
What was the name of that novel he wrote about this exact thing? "The Man Who Owned the Moon"?
> What you're implying here is that "trolls" are intrinsically bad, and that moderators really know what a troll is.
A troll is an off-topic post/comment designed to generate off-topic responses by being outrageous, idiotic or just plain silly... It's not all that complicated. Trolls are bad in that they direct focus away from the topic at hand. For example, you and some friends are having an in-depth discussion about the merits of the new dev kernel, and someone else you know strolls up and says "Hey I heard that new Windows 2000 can run circles around Linux,AND its more secure! ha-ha!". Now, whether or not what he said is interesting or insightful or WHATEVER, it was off-topic, and directs the focus away from the topic at hand. In a verbal discussion, this may not be such a bad thing, but when something like this is posted in a directed forum, such as Slashdot, it is not only irrelevant, but wastes people's time by making them slog through a bunch of silly off-topic posts, not only the original troll, but the flurry of indignant responses it usually receives. In closing, trolls ARE bad, especially in a focus-oriented forum.
my 2 cents. Hey! There's no cent key. What's up with that? (troll)
doc
As if this planet doesn't appear stupid enough from outer space, beaming insipid talk shows and inane sitcoms out into space, now we'll start spamming the whole bleeping galaxy. We might as well broadcast "STAY AWAY" 24 hours a day. I'm getting a vivid mental image of a dog on a leash, barking constantly until he goes hoarse and is drooling all over himself...
doc.
AMEN, brother. I know what it's like. As an underpaid systems 'technician' who does as much admin work as the actual sysadmins with the title and the paycheck, I can tell you that this scenario plays itself out more often than a wrong order at the McDonalds drive-thru.
Looks like pretty antiquated hardware on the PC side, I saw a PPro processor and the interface uses ISA slots. On the movs, the reactions looked lagged, coulda been the mov format though. You need some serious processing power to handle true fuzzy logic, maybe a hardware upgrade is in order? :)
I wonder if they have implemented a 'familiarity' algorithm in the robot, one that uses recognition technology to "remember" facial and structural contexts, so that Cynthia could conceivably be perceived as a 'mother figure', whereas another unfamiliar person in the field of view could possibly cause a negative reaction without any overstimulation. Maybe that's next.
I remember seeing on some cheesy PC tv show there were some programs floating about that used facial recognition with a camera to verify identity, maybe this could be incorporated in the experiment to make the robot's reactions more 'human'.
doc.
As far as a cheap place to live, Charleston, South Carolina is pretty cheap. We have @home, Knology for cable internet, and Bellsouth should be rolling out DSL by October. T-1s are pretty much the same price everywhere, but you can maybe share one with someone else. The only drawback is the nearest backbones are in Jacksonville, FL, Atlanta GA, and somewhere in Tennessee.
doc.