All U.S. bills have serial numbers; I imagine Euro notes do as well. On U.S. bills, they're printed prominently in bright green type with nothing* behind them. Looks pretty OCR-friendly to me. You wouldn't even need any extra time -- a scanner-equipped ATM could scan each bill's serial number as it dispensed it.
RFID in cash should not be a primary target in the battle for privacy.
(* Well, actually, the newer-style U.S. $10 and up do have an image behind the serial number, and so do euro notes, but since the image is relatively faint, and is the same on each bill, it should be a minor hurdle. More troublesome would be old, worn-out bills.)
Wacom drivers have come with XFree86 since at least 3.3.2. I wasn't into Linux before then so I can't say how long they've been around. Wacom's new Intuos line requires a new module; the Wacom site contains this link. The driver there is for XF86 3.3.3.1; if it doesn't work for 3.3.2, here is a link to a (older) 3.3.2 version. Locate xf86Wacom.so on your system, back it up, and replace it with the downloaded file.
The following are the relevant sections of my XF86Config; modify as necessary.
The Core devices are not necessary unless you want your tablet to always control the mouse cursor. Including them causes a small problem if you want to use the tablet in a window instead of over the whole screen in that the tablet will move the mouse pointer and the in-window pointer at the same time.
You'll want to use GIMP 1.1 to try out the tablet. (GIMP 1.0 doesn't support XInput which is the driver system the tablet runs off of.) Especially relevant are the Ink tool and the "Input Devices" and "Device Status" dialogs.
If perchance you want to use the tablet in X without a mouse, download my Calcomp drivers (whether or not you have a Calcomp tablet); the README file explains how to do it.
I've written an UltraSlate driver for X; it's available at www.computersprache.net as source and as a 3.3.2 binary. I also wrote support into GPM; it's available in the current GPM distributions. The pressure support in the X driver probably doesn't work (at least I never got it to work) but it does allow absolute-mode movement... I may work on this as time allows. The README file should tell you pretty much all you need to know; if you have any questions email me (elpdragon@email.com).
As to tablets in general, in my opinion the Wacom tablets are of much better quality than Calcomp (I now have a Wacom Intuos 6"x8"), and they seem to have become the de facto standard tablet under Linux.
Couldn't you just decode it, then re-encode it with the lossy compression disabled? The original encoding will have removed all data that needed to be removed to get MP3-level compression, so the gain in file size should be negligible.
Code is not simply more precise than ordinary English. Code is precise enough, and written in such a way, that the virtual device it describes can be constructed without any person besides the writer ever reading it -- and that is the crucial difference between English instructions and code. If I give someone a piece of code, I am giving someone instructions to build a virtual device, but if that person has a compiler, I am also giving them the virtual device itself.
It's probably a little late to bring this up now, with over 200 comments, but here goes anyway.
I don't know where the "New Copyleft License" idea came from but this license is called the "Non-Consultant's License." As for my opinion... I don't quite trust the thing. The stewardship system has potential for a lot of confusion given a loose-knit set of developers. There are a few other things which have been said, so I won't repeat them... but the word "copyleft" is not under attack here.
Where do you find a donkey that small? Don't tell me they've found a pygmy gene.
ElpDragon.
GTK+ version... not likely, unfortunately...
on
MS Office for Linux
·
· Score: 1
I seriously doubt MS would use anything not developed by them to run Office.... they'll probably static-link everything, either that or dump a buncha proprietary libs all over the fs...
ElpDragon
Welcome to Microsoft OfffiSegmentation Fault (core
on
MS Office for Linux
·
· Score: 1
(Those are supposed to be firewalls.... no I don't know what firewalls really look like unless they're square with wires comin' out the back and that's not the kind I'm talking about.)
Anyway.... let's call truce and stop calling names.
Well... you gotta admit a car with automatic transmission is easier to drive than a manual or, say, a semi truck. Along the same lines, you gotta admit you can bluff your way through windows if you put half a mind to it or aren't scared stiff of the machine. Of course, if you start with something that makes you think in the first place, Windows is nothing.
It's in the comparative time it takes to load Netscape, of course! Silly us! (Just ignore the fact that Netscape can actually be taken out of memory....)
Personally I was under the impression that it was the other way around, that the one good thing about Windows software was that it looked good.
I will admit that, for instance, GIMP doesn't have as much out-of-the-box functionality as Photoshop... but that will correct itself, given time and the favor of the patent laws.
Window Maker, on the other hand, does look really sweet... and I like it better than Explorer. Wow. Best of both worlds!
Thought I'd try to clarify a few things... hope it helps.
We aren't asking that the Windows source code be released as you seem to imply with your reference to the open-source movement. We are merely asking that the full and complete programmers' interface be available to everyone -- which is documentation, not code.
For a simplistic example, take a car. The owner's manual describes how to take care of all aspects of the car. The owner's manual to the Microsoft Car, however, happens to omit the section on changing the oil, which means you have to take your car to a Microsoft Certified Service Station when your oil is running low.
Sure, in a real car, you can guess. Look for the dipstick, look for the screw-on cap that smells like oil when you take it off. But for a programmer, there's no dipstick, there's no cap, and there's no oil smell... unless you have the source code, or unless you're very, VERY good and have several weeks of time on your hands. So you have to rely on the documentation... which is, in this case, missing a good number of things.
Given the full documentation of the Win32 API, though, it is easily possible to write an operating system which runs all Windows programs. I suspect this is why Microsoft keeps large pieces of it secret.
....there are countless numbers of people who use its direct descendant, the Talking Shifty-Eyed Paper Clip. Oh, wait! That's because they forced it on the hapless Word user! BAHAHAHAHAHA!
Personally I would take the first option. The only value money has for me is that it provides food, shelter, a decently upgraded computer, and most importantly, a way to gain knowledge. Spending money gets boring after a few weeks. Learning never does... and neither does the warm fuzzy feeling.
Slashdot Mirror
Cash is already trackable: http://www.wheresgeorge.com.
All U.S. bills have serial numbers; I imagine Euro notes do as well. On U.S. bills, they're printed prominently in bright green type with nothing* behind them. Looks pretty OCR-friendly to me. You wouldn't even need any extra time -- a scanner-equipped ATM could scan each bill's serial number as it dispensed it.
RFID in cash should not be a primary target in the battle for privacy.
(* Well, actually, the newer-style U.S. $10 and up do have an image behind the serial number, and so do euro notes, but since the image is relatively faint, and is the same on each bill, it should be a minor hurdle. More troublesome would be old, worn-out bills.)
hem.... allow the PRE tag. Sorry... :)
Darnit, wrong HTML tag.... let's try that XF86Config info again:
Section "Module"Load "xf86Wacom.so"
EndSection
Section "XInput"
SubSection "WacomStylus"
Port "/dev/ttyS0"
DeviceName "Wacom"
Mode Absolute
EndSubSection
SubSection "WacomStylus"
Port "/dev/ttyS0"
DeviceName "WacomCore"
AlwaysCore
Mode Absolute
EndSubSection
SubSection "WacomEraser"
Port "/dev/ttyS0"
DeviceName
"WacomEraser"
Mode Absolute
EndSubSection
SubSection "WacomEraser"
Port "/dev/ttyS0"
DeviceName "WacomEraserCore"
Mode Absolute
AlwaysCore
EndSubSection
EndSection
BTW, Rob, would it be possible to allow the tag?
ElpDragon.
Wacom drivers have come with XFree86 since at least 3.3.2. I wasn't into Linux before then so I can't say how long they've been around. Wacom's new Intuos line requires a new module; the Wacom site contains this link. The driver there is for XF86 3.3.3.1; if it doesn't work for 3.3.2, here is a link to a (older) 3.3.2 version. Locate xf86Wacom.so on your system, back it up, and replace it with the downloaded file.
The following are the relevant sections of my XF86Config; modify as necessary.
The Core devices are not necessary unless you want your tablet to always control the mouse cursor. Including them causes a small problem if you want to use the tablet in a window instead of over the whole screen in that the tablet will move the mouse pointer and the in-window pointer at the same time.
You'll want to use GIMP 1.1 to try out the tablet. (GIMP 1.0 doesn't support XInput which is the driver system the tablet runs off of.) Especially relevant are the Ink tool and the "Input Devices" and "Device Status" dialogs.
If perchance you want to use the tablet in X without a mouse, download my Calcomp drivers (whether or not you have a Calcomp tablet); the README file explains how to do it.
ElpDragon.
I've written an UltraSlate driver for X; it's available at www.computersprache.net as source and as a 3.3.2 binary. I also wrote support into GPM; it's available in the current GPM distributions. The pressure support in the X driver probably doesn't work (at least I never got it to work) but it does allow absolute-mode movement... I may work on this as time allows. The README file should tell you pretty much all you need to know; if you have any questions email me (elpdragon@email.com).
As to tablets in general, in my opinion the Wacom tablets are of much better quality than Calcomp (I now have a Wacom Intuos 6"x8"), and they seem to have become the de facto standard tablet under Linux.
ElpDragon.
'Course... in Space Invaders there's no end; they eventually overwhelm you by sheer number... :)
Couldn't you just decode it, then re-encode it with the lossy compression disabled? The original encoding will have removed all data that needed to be removed to get MP3-level compression, so the gain in file size should be negligible.
ElpDragon.
Actually he said that he was comparing results with the NT box, which was tuned to the max. Nice results!
ElpDragon.
Code is not simply more precise than ordinary English. Code is precise enough, and written in such a way, that the virtual device it describes can be constructed without any person besides the writer ever reading it -- and that is the crucial difference between English instructions and code. If I give someone a piece of code, I am giving someone instructions to build a virtual device, but if that person has a compiler, I am also giving them the virtual device itself.
ElpDragon.
It's probably a little late to bring this up now, with over 200 comments, but here goes anyway.
I don't know where the "New Copyleft License" idea came from but this license is called the "Non-Consultant's License." As for my opinion... I don't quite trust the thing. The stewardship system has potential for a lot of confusion given a loose-knit set of developers. There are a few other things which have been said, so I won't repeat them... but the word "copyleft" is not under attack here.
ElpDragon.
Where do you find a donkey that small? Don't tell me they've found a pygmy gene.
ElpDragon.
I seriously doubt MS would use anything not developed by them to run Office.... they'll probably static-link everything, either that or dump a buncha proprietary libs all over the fs...
ElpDragon
'Cause they're run by suits, not hackers ;-)
ElpDragon.
...this flame war has gone quite far enough.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
(Those are supposed to be firewalls.... no I don't know what firewalls really look like unless they're square with wires comin' out the back and that's not the kind I'm talking about.)
Anyway.... let's call truce and stop calling names.
ElpDragon.
Well... you gotta admit a car with automatic transmission is easier to drive than a manual or, say, a semi truck. Along the same lines, you gotta admit you can bluff your way through windows if you put half a mind to it or aren't scared stiff of the machine. Of course, if you start with something that makes you think in the first place, Windows is nothing.
ElpDragon.
It's in the comparative time it takes to load Netscape, of course! Silly us! (Just ignore the fact that Netscape can actually be taken out of memory....)
ElpDragon.
'Twould be nice.... too bad MS doesn't have $300 trillion. It could probably manage $1000 for everyone....
ElpDragon.
Personally I was under the impression that it was the other way around, that the one good thing about Windows software was that it looked good.
I will admit that, for instance, GIMP doesn't have as much out-of-the-box functionality as Photoshop... but that will correct itself, given time and the favor of the patent laws.
Window Maker, on the other hand, does look really sweet... and I like it better than Explorer. Wow. Best of both worlds!
ElpDragon.
Thought I'd try to clarify a few things... hope it helps.
We aren't asking that the Windows source code be released as you seem to imply with your reference to the open-source movement. We are merely asking that the full and complete programmers' interface be available to everyone -- which is documentation, not code.
For a simplistic example, take a car. The owner's manual describes how to take care of all aspects of the car. The owner's manual to the Microsoft Car, however, happens to omit the section on changing the oil, which means you have to take your car to a Microsoft Certified Service Station when your oil is running low.
Sure, in a real car, you can guess. Look for the dipstick, look for the screw-on cap that smells like oil when you take it off. But for a programmer, there's no dipstick, there's no cap, and there's no oil smell... unless you have the source code, or unless you're very, VERY good and have several weeks of time on your hands. So you have to rely on the documentation... which is, in this case, missing a good number of things.
Given the full documentation of the Win32 API, though, it is easily possible to write an operating system which runs all Windows programs. I suspect this is why Microsoft keeps large pieces of it secret.
ElpDragon.
....there are countless numbers of people who use its direct descendant, the Talking Shifty-Eyed Paper Clip. Oh, wait! That's because they forced it on the hapless Word user! BAHAHAHAHAHA!
OK, Elp, get a hold of yourself...
ElpDragon
"Bobbitt" comes to mind. ;-)
ElpDragon.
Personally I would take the first option. The only value money has for me is that it provides food, shelter, a decently upgraded computer, and most importantly, a way to gain knowledge. Spending money gets boring after a few weeks. Learning never does... and neither does the warm fuzzy feeling.
I pity the ones who check the greedy bastard box.
ElpDragon.