How many bloggers? At least 2 (Yon and Roggio(sp?))
A better question - how many reporters are currently embedded in Iraq? Answer - last I checked anyway - was ZERO - basically, all the reporters are in the Green Zone and report from there hotels
There are problems in the industry - trust me, I work for one of the networks, in IS, BUT my office is right across the hall from a multi award winning producer. I've seen good ideas die because of no legs (aka it wont get ratings) and because of budget. There are alos problems with bloggers. It's hard to run with controversial stuff that can ONLY be show say with math, or statistics, but bloggers (and magazines etc - print media) can run with this
In reality, the only part that really matters is the memory, the rest is a luxury. First thing you do, make sure you use g-10 glass boards and ceramic package chips. Next. You talk to your ME, and he calls say, Dow Corning to talk about potting compounds. Depending on different electrical, cooling, fire and other needs, they pick out a potting compund. Of the top of my head, it's probably be one of the glass bead filled compounds, as I can't see a memory chip, or a dozen needed serious cooling capability. At this point, your ME designs an enclosure and connector - probably some fairly bulky ampex type. The entire enclosure, with the memory inside is potted (don't forget to pull a vacuum to get the gas bubbles out) and the enclosure sealed - often a metal can soldered closed. Yhen that MIGHT go in another can - and then that goes inside the rest of the recorder, and it goes in it's own can
During all of this, he's been consulting with the guy who runs the environmental test lab, who probably has more experience in what really happens in the tests - what tends to fail, and what tends to work (in a flight data recorder, I'd be worried about the ingress/egress points of signals - ditto the "memory block") - connectors tend to shear. Moving parts are "bad" (hence the FAA wanting to get rid of magnetic tape, with it's motors etc)
Your environmental test guy then either takes the prototype/early production unit to his lab, and beats on it per the spec, or, more likelike for prototype acceptance testing, calls one of the dozen or so places around the country (such as http://www.daytontbrown.com/ Dayton T Brown or http://www.aeco.com/ American Environments (Both on Long Island due to the fact that there used to be 2 Airplane Mfgs here, plus a lot of electronics companies), and you have THEM do the testing for the spec. BTW Your test guy and your ME will probably work with your internal machine shop to build the mechanical test fixtures, and an the test guy will work with the EE and the prototype wiring shop to build the electrical test fixtures - so that all these fistures survive the testing environment
While it not "simple" or "every day", it IS almost routine. I probably used to put something through some sort of acceptance test 1-2 times/year (and tests could take weeks to months). Sometimes things don't work - and it's back to the ME/EE and saying "OK, here is what failed" - and why - and doing a re-design
I used to (15 years or so ago) be in charge of "Environmental testing" for a small Military contractor. It's really NOT that hard to keep electronics together in one piece. I NEVER saw a chip fail. I did see one or 2 ripped loose off the PWB (Circuit board). I've seen whole assemblies ripped loose and thrown across the room (why you make sure you are NOT down range of a "Naval lightweight shock" test)
But I've never seen a cip fail to the point that if you re-connected it into a circuit, it wouldn't work - well, yeah, I have - the whole unit under test caught on fire, and burned, but...
that IS true, but if Florida was not a swing state, the Embargo, which is much more of a politcal thing than anything meaningful at this point would be over.
That said, I always thought the way to bring DOWN the Castro Govt was TO trade with them. Let them see what they were missing. A lot of the DESIRE for the fall of the Warsau Pack was that places like Poland and East Germany could SEE what they were missing.
So, I'm NOT argueing the GOAL of the embargo, but the practical "there is a better way"
WAY back when, in either 1975 or 76, a friend and I discovered these 3 strange little booklets - known as D&D, and quickly discovered the "chainmail" combat system (yeah, this tells you how early it was)
Anyway, we started playing, with a few other friends, and within a year or 2, we had a very unusual D&D group - about 50% girls (I use girls because we were all under 18). My friend brought a girl that he knew since childhood, "M". "M" and I became friends, and in March 1980, we started dating. We've been together since. Took till 1988 till I married her, but..
Thanks Gary, Without you, I probably would have my wonderful wife and 2 kids. Too bad you couldn't roll the save on the dice this time
I can't, because I'm not licensed to - and in NYC, I don't fit the qualifications for a carry permit (carry large summs of money at night, or have certain threats against me, etc). In NYC, for all intents, if you are a mere mortal, you CAN'T get a carry permit
No other reason - in a state in the REAL USA, I would be able to
Way back when (say 1979 or 1980) when I was in High School, I took a forensic evidence internship at John Jay college in NYC. Intereesting class with LOTS of stories, but I can still remember one evening in the lab, when it got hot, and most of the guys in the class took off their sports jackets (I had never really thought about WHY everyone wore a sports jacket to class). About 3/4s of the class were police officers furthering their education, and they were all carrying under their jackets. I think there were about 3 of us in the room who were NOT visibly carrying a firearm that night. Me? Because I can't - the other 2, who knows.
So I think you'll find that a lot of the forensic "geeks" out there are/were actual patrol officers at one time
I was talking what it takes to get a LEGAL firearm in NYC. It MUCH harder to buy legal than Illegal - heck, almost noplace (including Long Island) registers rifles/shotguns - you go there, buy, and stay out of trouble
Guns? Legal? NYC? Air rifles/Pistols (aka BB or Pellet guns) - totally illegal Rifles/Shotguns? If they are not an Assault Weapon (anything over 5 rounds) - Go get fingerprinted, and then pay $300 every 3 years - and have to subit paperwork for each one you own or transfer Pistols? Unless you are connected, forget about a carry permit. For a home/business permit? Apply (but make NO mistakes in your paperwork - our you will be denied) wait 9 months (although the law says they can't take more than 6) go for your interview, and still probably get denied. If you do get a permit, it's more expensive than the rifle/shotgun permit...
There are install GUIDELINES, and the system cross checks for out of tolerance data - they have an idea what they can expect in an area. For instance, the next CWOP station in my area is about 5 miles southeast of me - and I have another 7 miles Northeast - if my station shows a temp difference of say 5 degs from them, either there is afront coming through (so - do I match the data to the staions to my NW and SW?) or, more likely, my station has a problem
So far, I do OK on Temp and Humidity - I KNOW I have windspeed and direction problems, but then again, that turns out to be an area where MOST CWOP stations have problems - finding a large clear, low area with no obstructions is hard (low as in, they want ground wind, NOT wind at altitude, so your station is supposed to be less than 30 ft up, and something like 300 yds from any obstructions - uh huh)
Rain is another one that is hard to get exactly right, but you can gte close (my rain gage is on my desk behind me - I had no time to climb and put it up this fall) - a proper rain gage is at ground level, and 8" in diameter - most automated gages are smaller, and tend to be up with the rest of the station - this means that wind gusts is squalls can affect your rain readings, but it's going to be better than nothing
Having talked to the local weather forcasters (and been in their office) - they definately do look at the madis data - and they get to know which of their local stations tend to be sited well, and maintained (like the folks who will drop by their office and ask for advise). Heck, before the local forecaster changed, I regularly would get say 3:00am phone calls from the weather office "Charlie, can you go outside and get me a snow reading?"
My Daughter (5th Grade) was recently assigned a research paper - on New Mexico (we live in NY)
We had her use a mix of information. Let's face it - there are things that will be a lot MORE accurate on the internet (OK folks - Who is the Gov, the 2 Senators, and 2 Reps from NM? I'll trust the New Mexico Secretary of State's web site for that one a lot more than say, a 5 year old book)
My Daughter did use 4-5 books for historical information on the founding of the state, and some of the historical figures in the state
One interesting one - had a LOT of problem finding - and found ONLY online - HOW did New Mexico get it's nickname? (Hint the SoS's web site in the FAQ)
go get/build a headphone amp - the bottom end (say a CMOY) won't cost you much, and drasticlly improves the sound of most sound cards and MP3 players - the amp built into your computer really can't drive much of a load. It's not what the designers of your laptop were really worrying about
I seem to remember needing little things like a squadron of choppers, and a fleet of ships in the intended splashdown area. These days, we don't have spare aircraft carriers with their support ships hanging around - we've mothballed a lot of them
Back in the 1970s, before my Dad retired, he had a beeper (not numeric display - just beep - aka call the office. Also, he would sometimes get called, or was "on call"
If you were "on call", you got 1/2 pay for your on call time, and if you got called, it was your normal straight time or double time on Sunday - it's just that you were expected to be able to be in the truck, on the way to the call within 30 minutes, and you had to be within 30 miles of the office
If you were NOT "on call", there was a 3 hour minimum from the second the beeper went off, at 1.5x except Sundays, which was at double time
BTW - all that was in the Union Contract. Dad rarely got beepes/called, as he was Sr Man, paid "above scale" because he really knew what he was doing. They saved him for the "tough jobs" even during the week
"Perfomance isn't the same" - Yep, that's because they are trying to keep 4-5 year old laptops running, compared to say, 1-2 year old upgraded desktops
So they are busy bitching that laptops with a PIII 600 or say a Pentium M 1.6 with 500 meg of ram doesn't run as fast as that Core2Duo with 2 gig on their desktop...
Answer - upgrade your laptops once in a while dudes
Voting can be over rated. As I said in a previous post, around here - let's look at the elections for Judge. You'll have 3-4 spots open, and you'll have the EXACT same number of candidates as there are spots - and they are on all lines.
This year - DA - 1 candidate on all 3 lines
Borough President. Whoever the Dems run has been elected EVERY SINGLE TIME, since the office was created about 100 years ago - Oh, and for that one, there is usually only ONE candidate in the Primary too - and if the party only puts up one candidate, they actually don't have to HOLD a primary. Aka the person is selected in the back room
What can we do about this? Not much - check out NY election law. NY is known in political junkie circles as being about the hardest place to get a candidate on the ballot. You MUST have either the Dems or Reps backing you (Just read the rules on ballot signatures - 1 duplicate on the page - whole page thrown out - staple in the wrong spot - whole package throw out. A Rep signs a Dem signature page (or the other way around) - page thrown out. Now, you could get the law changed, by getting enough people elected who want to change it, but as everyone who gets elected knows how to game that system, there is no way they will change it
That said, I go vote, in every election, even Primaries
Here in NYC, it depends - are we talking City Council election? State Assembly? Mayor? Gov? State Senate? US Assembly? US Senate? President? Queens Borough President? NYC Judge?
I've listed them in what I think in MY district would be in descending order of Value. President is almost worthless, except in the Democratic Primary. Frankly, except with RARE occasions, NY State will go Blue. Mayor? - now that one is interesting - what we really had with Bloomberg was a Dem who bought a spot on the Republican ticket, to get around the NYC Machine.
As for NYC Judges - they are usually N spots open, and N candidates - aka there is no election, except in theory
Most Persidential election days - I'd sell my Judge votes for 1/2 cup of cold coffee. Most years, I'd sell my Presidential vote for a warm cup of coffee - the rest of the votes - you can't have them. In fact, for a LONG time, I was a registered Dem, so I could have SOME say in who gets elected (Queens Borough President - the Dem has won the election EVERY time - for over 100 year)
I work for one of the TV networks - what is interesting is they don't even TRY to claim stuff done off hours. I was told that they learned that lesson a long time ago. See, dealing with TV writers (yeah, the folks that are on strike right now), and others - too many folks are working on their own "killer script" or "great American Novel" etc, and that they basically ad to give up trying to claim that stuff. In fact many writers work for more than one company at a time. They treat IP for software developers the same way
SLAPP - Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation
Basically, when someone sues just to shut you up/intimidate you, KNOWING they are going to lose if it goes to court. The school district using deep pockets to prevent her from publishing a blocg about a public entity (protected speach) basically would fall under this.
Many states now have anti-SLAPP laws - allows the person being sued to counter sue
Slashdot Mirror
How many bloggers? At least 2 (Yon and Roggio(sp?))
A better question - how many reporters are currently embedded in Iraq? Answer - last I checked anyway - was ZERO - basically, all the reporters are in the Green Zone and report from there hotels
There are problems in the industry - trust me, I work for one of the networks, in IS, BUT my office is right across the hall from a multi award winning producer. I've seen good ideas die because of no legs (aka it wont get ratings) and because of budget. There are alos problems with bloggers. It's hard to run with controversial stuff that can ONLY be show say with math, or statistics, but bloggers (and magazines etc - print media) can run with this
Sounds like they need ullage rockets for the astronauts.... grin
In reality, the only part that really matters is the memory, the rest is a luxury. First thing you do, make sure you use g-10 glass boards and ceramic package chips. Next. You talk to your ME, and he calls say, Dow Corning to talk about potting compounds. Depending on different electrical, cooling, fire and other needs, they pick out a potting compund. Of the top of my head, it's probably be one of the glass bead filled compounds, as I can't see a memory chip, or a dozen needed serious cooling capability. At this point, your ME designs an enclosure and connector - probably some fairly bulky ampex type. The entire enclosure, with the memory inside is potted (don't forget to pull a vacuum to get the gas bubbles out) and the enclosure sealed - often a metal can soldered closed. Yhen that MIGHT go in another can - and then that goes inside the rest of the recorder, and it goes in it's own can
During all of this, he's been consulting with the guy who runs the environmental test lab, who probably has more experience in what really happens in the tests - what tends to fail, and what tends to work (in a flight data recorder, I'd be worried about the ingress/egress points of signals - ditto the "memory block") - connectors tend to shear. Moving parts are "bad" (hence the FAA wanting to get rid of magnetic tape, with it's motors etc)
Your environmental test guy then either takes the prototype/early production unit to his lab, and beats on it per the spec, or, more likelike for prototype acceptance testing, calls one of the dozen or so places around the country (such as http://www.daytontbrown.com/ Dayton T Brown or http://www.aeco.com/ American Environments (Both on Long Island due to the fact that there used to be 2 Airplane Mfgs here, plus a lot of electronics companies), and you have THEM do the testing for the spec. BTW Your test guy and your ME will probably work with your internal machine shop to build the mechanical test fixtures, and an the test guy will work with the EE and the prototype wiring shop to build the electrical test fixtures - so that all these fistures survive the testing environment
While it not "simple" or "every day", it IS almost routine. I probably used to put something through some sort of acceptance test 1-2 times/year (and tests could take weeks to months). Sometimes things don't work - and it's back to the ME/EE and saying "OK, here is what failed" - and why - and doing a re-design
You don't even have to go that far - honest
I used to (15 years or so ago) be in charge of "Environmental testing" for a small Military contractor. It's really NOT that hard to keep electronics together in one piece. I NEVER saw a chip fail. I did see one or 2 ripped loose off the PWB (Circuit board). I've seen whole assemblies ripped loose and thrown across the room (why you make sure you are NOT down range of a "Naval lightweight shock" test)
But I've never seen a cip fail to the point that if you re-connected it into a circuit, it wouldn't work - well, yeah, I have - the whole unit under test caught on fire, and burned, but...
that IS true, but if Florida was not a swing state, the Embargo, which is much more of a politcal thing than anything meaningful at this point would be over.
That said, I always thought the way to bring DOWN the Castro Govt was TO trade with them. Let them see what they were missing. A lot of the DESIRE for the fall of the Warsau Pack was that places like Poland and East Germany could SEE what they were missing.
So, I'm NOT argueing the GOAL of the embargo, but the practical "there is a better way"
The whole Cuban embargo thing has totally to do with Florida being a swing state. Been that way since the 1970s.
You know what the 3 standards stand for, right?
NTSC = Never Twice the Same Color
SECAM = System Essentially Contrary to American Method
PAL = Perfection At Last
WAY back when, in either 1975 or 76, a friend and I discovered these 3 strange little booklets - known as D&D, and quickly discovered the "chainmail" combat system (yeah, this tells you how early it was)
Anyway, we started playing, with a few other friends, and within a year or 2, we had a very unusual D&D group - about 50% girls (I use girls because we were all under 18). My friend brought a girl that he knew since childhood, "M". "M" and I became friends, and in March 1980, we started dating. We've been together since. Took till 1988 till I married her, but..
Thanks Gary, Without you, I probably would have my wonderful wife and 2 kids. Too bad you couldn't roll the save on the dice this time
I can't, because I'm not licensed to - and in NYC, I don't fit the qualifications for a carry permit (carry large summs of money at night, or have certain threats against me, etc). In NYC, for all intents, if you are a mere mortal, you CAN'T get a carry permit
No other reason - in a state in the REAL USA, I would be able to
RE The geeks with guns.
Way back when (say 1979 or 1980) when I was in High School, I took a forensic evidence internship at John Jay college in NYC. Intereesting class with LOTS of stories, but I can still remember one evening in the lab, when it got hot, and most of the guys in the class took off their sports jackets (I had never really thought about WHY everyone wore a sports jacket to class). About 3/4s of the class were police officers furthering their education, and they were all carrying under their jackets. I think there were about 3 of us in the room who were NOT visibly carrying a firearm that night. Me? Because I can't - the other 2, who knows.
So I think you'll find that a lot of the forensic "geeks" out there are/were actual patrol officers at one time
I was talking what it takes to get a LEGAL firearm in NYC. It MUCH harder to buy legal than Illegal - heck, almost noplace (including Long Island) registers rifles/shotguns - you go there, buy, and stay out of trouble
Guns? Legal? NYC?
Air rifles/Pistols (aka BB or Pellet guns) - totally illegal
Rifles/Shotguns? If they are not an Assault Weapon (anything over 5 rounds) - Go get fingerprinted, and then pay $300 every 3 years - and have to subit paperwork for each one you own or transfer
Pistols? Unless you are connected, forget about a carry permit. For a home/business permit? Apply (but make NO mistakes in your paperwork - our you will be denied) wait 9 months (although the law says they can't take more than 6) go for your interview, and still probably get denied. If you do get a permit, it's more expensive than the rifle/shotgun permit...
There are install GUIDELINES, and the system cross checks for out of tolerance data - they have an idea what they can expect in an area. For instance, the next CWOP station in my area is about 5 miles southeast of me - and I have another 7 miles Northeast - if my station shows a temp difference of say 5 degs from them, either there is afront coming through (so - do I match the data to the staions to my NW and SW?) or, more likely, my station has a problem
So far, I do OK on Temp and Humidity - I KNOW I have windspeed and direction problems, but then again, that turns out to be an area where MOST CWOP stations have problems - finding a large clear, low area with no obstructions is hard (low as in, they want ground wind, NOT wind at altitude, so your station is supposed to be less than 30 ft up, and something like 300 yds from any obstructions - uh huh)
Rain is another one that is hard to get exactly right, but you can gte close (my rain gage is on my desk behind me - I had no time to climb and put it up this fall) - a proper rain gage is at ground level, and 8" in diameter - most automated gages are smaller, and tend to be up with the rest of the station - this means that wind gusts is squalls can affect your rain readings, but it's going to be better than nothing
Having talked to the local weather forcasters (and been in their office) - they definately do look at the madis data - and they get to know which of their local stations tend to be sited well, and maintained (like the folks who will drop by their office and ask for advise). Heck, before the local forecaster changed, I regularly would get say 3:00am phone calls from the weather office "Charlie, can you go outside and get me a snow reading?"
My Daughter (5th Grade) was recently assigned a research paper - on New Mexico (we live in NY)
We had her use a mix of information. Let's face it - there are things that will be a lot MORE accurate on the internet (OK folks - Who is the Gov, the 2 Senators, and 2 Reps from NM? I'll trust the New Mexico Secretary of State's web site for that one a lot more than say, a 5 year old book)
My Daughter did use 4-5 books for historical information on the founding of the state, and some of the historical figures in the state
One interesting one - had a LOT of problem finding - and found ONLY online - HOW did New Mexico get it's nickname? (Hint the SoS's web site in the FAQ)
go get/build a headphone amp - the bottom end (say a CMOY) won't cost you much, and drasticlly improves the sound of most sound cards and MP3 players - the amp built into your computer really can't drive much of a load. It's not what the designers of your laptop were really worrying about
I seem to remember needing little things like a squadron of choppers, and a fleet of ships in the intended splashdown area. These days, we don't have spare aircraft carriers with their support ships hanging around - we've mothballed a lot of them
Offense almost always leads. Defense is a reaction. "the ain't a oyster that a starfish can't drill"
Bizzzt
The treaties that kept "No-code" off the HF bands went away 4-5 years back, and last year, the USA dropped code for ALL license classes.
I'm a "slow code" extra - and know of a few "no-code" extras
Back in the 1970s, before my Dad retired, he had a beeper (not numeric display - just beep - aka call the office. Also, he would sometimes get called, or was "on call"
If you were "on call", you got 1/2 pay for your on call time, and if you got called, it was your normal straight time or double time on Sunday - it's just that you were expected to be able to be in the truck, on the way to the call within 30 minutes, and you had to be within 30 miles of the office
If you were NOT "on call", there was a 3 hour minimum from the second the beeper went off, at 1.5x except Sundays, which was at double time
BTW - all that was in the Union Contract. Dad rarely got beepes/called, as he was Sr Man, paid "above scale" because he really knew what he was doing. They saved him for the "tough jobs" even during the week
"Perfomance isn't the same" - Yep, that's because they are trying to keep 4-5 year old laptops running, compared to say, 1-2 year old upgraded desktops
So they are busy bitching that laptops with a PIII 600 or say a Pentium M 1.6 with 500 meg of ram doesn't run as fast as that Core2Duo with 2 gig on their desktop...
Answer - upgrade your laptops once in a while dudes
Voting can be over rated. As I said in a previous post, around here - let's look at the elections for Judge. You'll have 3-4 spots open, and you'll have the EXACT same number of candidates as there are spots - and they are on all lines.
This year - DA - 1 candidate on all 3 lines
Borough President. Whoever the Dems run has been elected EVERY SINGLE TIME, since the office was created about 100 years ago - Oh, and for that one, there is usually only ONE candidate in the Primary too - and if the party only puts up one candidate, they actually don't have to HOLD a primary. Aka the person is selected in the back room
What can we do about this? Not much - check out NY election law. NY is known in political junkie circles as being about the hardest place to get a candidate on the ballot. You MUST have either the Dems or Reps backing you (Just read the rules on ballot signatures - 1 duplicate on the page - whole page thrown out - staple in the wrong spot - whole package throw out. A Rep signs a Dem signature page (or the other way around) - page thrown out. Now, you could get the law changed, by getting enough people elected who want to change it, but as everyone who gets elected knows how to game that system, there is no way they will change it
That said, I go vote, in every election, even Primaries
Here in NYC, it depends - are we talking City Council election? State Assembly? Mayor? Gov? State Senate? US Assembly? US Senate? President? Queens Borough President? NYC Judge?
I've listed them in what I think in MY district would be in descending order of Value. President is almost worthless, except in the Democratic Primary. Frankly, except with RARE occasions, NY State will go Blue. Mayor? - now that one is interesting - what we really had with Bloomberg was a Dem who bought a spot on the Republican ticket, to get around the NYC Machine.
As for NYC Judges - they are usually N spots open, and N candidates - aka there is no election, except in theory
Most Persidential election days - I'd sell my Judge votes for 1/2 cup of cold coffee. Most years, I'd sell my Presidential vote for a warm cup of coffee - the rest of the votes - you can't have them. In fact, for a LONG time, I was a registered Dem, so I could have SOME say in who gets elected (Queens Borough President - the Dem has won the election EVERY time - for over 100 year)
I work for one of the TV networks - what is interesting is they don't even TRY to claim stuff done off hours. I was told that they learned that lesson a long time ago. See, dealing with TV writers (yeah, the folks that are on strike right now), and others - too many folks are working on their own "killer script" or "great American Novel" etc, and that they basically ad to give up trying to claim that stuff. In fact many writers work for more than one company at a time. They treat IP for software developers the same way
SLAPP - Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation
Basically, when someone sues just to shut you up/intimidate you, KNOWING they are going to lose if it goes to court. The school district using deep pockets to prevent her from publishing a blocg about a public entity (protected speach) basically would fall under this.
Many states now have anti-SLAPP laws - allows the person being sued to counter sue
Does Texas have SLAPP laws?