Reminds me of a my old mouse
on
Ant Farm PC
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· Score: 1
I had a Microsoft Optical wheel mouse that Ant got in to. For some reason even when the PC was off the red light at the back would glow and this must have provided the sort of warmth the ants were after. One day I turned the mouse over and wondered what this grey muck was on the inside of mouse (it's a translucent base). I opened the mouse up and here was this ring of Ant eggs spread perfectly around the LED, it must have been the point at which the temperature was just right!
If you can make it past the agro the previous post does have something of a point. It's the old chicken and egg scenario all over again. Why make games that appeal to both men and women when the vast majority of your audience is men and you can be more confident of attracting them with proven gameplay ideas (even if they are just the same old tits and arse)?
Somewhere this cycle will be broken but I can't imagine how. Perhaps it will require an external force, such as more female IT specialists before game companies start designing for them.
I do hope you get to read this, in response to your question "are you not asked for identification" the answer is a very simple - no, I am not asked for identification. I am asked what my name is and if I have already voted. I tell them my name and state that I have not already voted. My name gets marked off the list which is the list of all people eligible to vote for that electorate (geographical division).
I like this system, it means I don't have to participate in any other governmental system (such as the department of transport for a photo ID) or any other card issueing agent in order to be able to vote. I also like be able to take comfort that as far as voting is concerned my word is my bond, simply put - I am who I say I am.
I'm proud to vote and I'm glad it's compulsory. Having said that, America can maintain its government however it pleases, it's no skin off my nose.
Re:Why not a photovoltaic cell?
on
Solar Surgery
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· Score: 1
Probably because if you're using this at all your a woefully equipped butcher working in some dirt poor country somewhere on the wrong side of the world. If you're going to have any tools at all they'd better be cheap, portable and not need to be plugged in 'cause the only power station in town is a smoking ruin.
Actually you can get smooth power delivery from AC power, all the trains where I live (Queensland Australia) run on overhead AC power.
Basically the most efficient kind of electical motor is the birdcage type inductance motor, but they operate only at one speed which is a factor of the electical current frequency.
So the trains here rectify the AC overhead line to DC and then use a sophisticated variable inveror to generate a full range of AC frequencies, just dial in the frequency that corresponds to the speed you want the motors to run at.
In operation this system produces a really unique sound as the inverted AC ramps up and down.
In my humble opinion the thing that most annoys me about airconditioning is people who use it to compensate for the fact that they are over dressed. Sitting at work in a suit and tie might be uncomfortable on a 27C day but it's more than bearable in a t-shirt and jeans.
Instead people insist on wearing more than they need and then draining power from the grid to make up for their own insecurity.
Not to mention that every airconditioner just raises the outside temperature a tiny fraction. So you get this crazy cycle of air conditioners making the area warmer and so requiring more air conditioners!
1. So you don't think that a.gov agency would use any opportunity they can find to try and screw more money for their own little empire? Have you ever worked for the gov? Have you ever worked for any large organisation at all?
2. You see people who's lives are devestated by "drugs". And yet I see people who's lives are devestated by drug laws. How is putting someone in prison for hurting themselves supposed to be good for them? Or for their families? Oh but of course drugs are bad for you aren't they? And yet is the morphine they use at the hospital "bad" for you? No? Why not? Could it be that hospital grade drugs are just a little bit cleaner than the crap sold on the street in a totally unregulated market? What happened to alcohol when it was illegal - people sold crappy moonshine that made people blind. Yet today I can buy a bottle with confidence that it won't send me blind and I can see from the label exactly how strong it is. Why? Because it's legal and manufacturers have public liabilty. Get it straight in your head, drugs aren't exactly nutritionally rich but most of the damage you see is caused by impurities in the drugs caused because drugs are a black market item.
3. Would I like a meth lab in the house next door? Not really. Would you like the Johnny Walker brewery in the house next door to you? Not really? Funny that. In a legalised regulated environment their wouldn't be back yard labs where explosions are common. Backyard labs are a product of the war on drugs, not the cause. Bigots like you keep using the unfortunate results of the war on drugs to wage even more war. Talk about simplistic, talk about cyclical. Talk about plain stupid.
4. What an insight, cigaretts are expensive and people still buy them. Their expensive (at least here is Australia) because they have the crap taxed out of them. Without tax they'd be about $1.50 a packet (in.au anyway). The.au gov makes billions of tabacco tax but zero off (currently illegal) drug taxes. Instead of making money on taxes they're spending money on a futile and self destructive war. Again, it's just plain stupid.
5. Addicts can't hold jobs? I held a fucking job every fucking day for the 5 years I used heroin and so did most of my friends. Why don't you try talking about something you have a clue about.
6. So now drug users are "damaged"? What kind of bigot are you. Have you forgotten that alcohol and tabacco are also drugs, just ones that are legal.
7. You're riled up? Have you any idea the kind of suffering narrow minded bigots like you cause?
Why try to stop people using drugs? You might as well try to hold back the tide. Yet still we try and still agencies like the DEA would like you to think it's feasible, if only they had more money because the bad guys have lots of money and that must be why we can't seem to beat them.
Ah shit, you know what? Just let it all burn. I give up.
I can tell you for absolute sure that one of the aircraft they describe as listing itself as the host in the captioning, the P-3 Orion is a fully crewed, big arse bird.
The Australian military operates these aircraft in long duration border (ocean) recon, where the typical crew is at least 8, working shifts and sleeping on board.
I don't know about the other aircraft they refer to.
God I wish I had mod points left, finally someone pointing out that although this may or may not be a big deal in the US that there are OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD who don't all think exactly the same way as the US and who have DIFFERENT PRIORITIES.
So for all the naysayers putting down the submitter might I suggest you look further afield for where this will have the greatest impact.
I'm guessing that you are not living in Australia. As someone who does live in Australia and was born here I can tell you that you are somewhat mistaken.
Yes we are an apathetic lot, particularly politically however I would argue that we are no less civic minded than the US. In fact, I'd argue that our political apathy is not all bad, it serves in part to protect us from populist laws and helps ensure that the masses don't ride roughshod over the (more vocal) minorities.
As for 1 in 6 Australians being on.gov.au money I don't know where you get that figure but we are supposed to be a socialist democracy.
I'm starting to ramble but basically my point is this, you're not (I assume) an Australian yet you are drawing broad negative conclusions about all (17 million) of us.
For reference, most Australians who have never been to the US assume that all Americans are loud, fat, self important, obnoxious fools. I know that assumption to be incorrect now, don't make the same mistake I once did.
Well actually if I read the article correctly it was not a judge that ordered this invasion but rather a magistrate. The smarts threshold for magistrates is significantly lower than for judges.
I'm pretty confident that the JUDGE will see the fatal flaws in this ruling and overturn it.
Still even if the bar is set a little lower for magistrates it doesn't excuse this sort of lunacy.
Well if you live in America get a big fucking gun and protect yourself and your family. This helpless victim mentality where only big brother can save you is the reason your cherished freedoms are being deep sixed.
Oh, and in case you didn't notice there is a small difference between violent crime and eavesdropping.
Here in Australia I had to pay for the cost of the install including a cable modem (which I needed) and a network card (which I didn't need). The Optus tech was very good but it was nothing I couldn't have done myself (and I have done since with system reinstalls).
What really peeved me though was that I had to really work hard to get the Optus guy to not install their custom browser and other software. He had to call head office and argue with them for several minutes before he finally got permission. Even then I had to sign off that I agreed that I didn't want their software and that I would take responsiblity for the results.
I know that/. readers are mostly technology smart but I'm sure that there would be enough tech savy people in most markets to make DIY installs a viable business option.
Perhaps you should consider more carefully the very information you reference. Allow me to quote: "than any other cause, except habitat destruction."
Based on your information it could be argued that responsible cats should neuter their owners and keep them indoors on a leash.
When you can come to me with a straight face and tell me that you have put more into the environment than you have taken from it and that you've never hit an animal with your car then you can preach to me about keeping my cat on a leash.
I'm glad to have my little rodent desctructor around, she keeps the rats at bay.
I think you'll find that many IT people in education are presenting this to their purchasing committees as a 10 GB external firewire hard drive with special features not otherwise available on other (cheaper) drives.
In other news the point of academic pricing is not to always to provide a cheaper option for educational use but rather to hook people who might eventually have a high degree of purchasing power into your product before they get old and cynical (or young and cynical like me!)
It's the old drug dealer trick of "first times always free!"
Sorry Boiling Point but I think you missed the point (pardon the pun). If you buy a set top box how is it going to connect to your current generation TV? Via coaxial of course, now instead of plugging the coaxial into your tv plug it into your VCR/Tivo/Neural Implant.
Ultimately every attempt to control the copying of any media fails to grasp that at some point the media must be presented in a format that people can percieve and we have many generations of well developed technology for taking percievable media and encoding it for storage.
Sure you might loose some quality or some interactive elements but the basic content would still be there. It doesn't matter if it's TV, Video, DVD, CD or freakin' 8 track - if I can see or hear it so can my recording device.
What you're asking about is really one of the central premises of Quantum Physics. IANAP (I am not a physicist) but this dual nature of light as both matter and energy is part of the reason behind the demise of Newtonian Physics.
For instance you may have seen a "solar windmill" which is typically a small reflective windmill in a vacuum mounted on a pin head that rotates when exposed to light - in order for the light to move the windmill it must have mass, so it must be matter.
But then you can do the diffraction grating experiement which proves (via interference patterns) that light is an energy wave.
Freedb is compatible with CDDB version 1 whilst Gracenote now uses CDDB version 2. So if your application is new enough to use CDDB 2 it won't work with Freedb.
Of course Gracenote almost certainly did this on purpose.
Fsck them.
Fitting the wearable computer...
on
802.11b Space Suits
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· Score: 2, Interesting
I thought that a large portion of the development on wearable computing was in the area of flexible logic boards. Given such flexible system could be woven into the fabric of the suit this would seem a far superior opion that would not require space on the already heavily populated chest and back.
It might even add to the insulating properties of the suit.
You know, when I'm feeling cheerful I'm opposed to the war against the Afgan people, but then I hear of something like this and it reminds me that as long as were busy killing each other at least were not busy killing things that can't fight back.
To commit such crimes against any creature is immoral, but to commit the same crimes against a creature that cannot fight back is inhuman.
So go ahead Uncle Sam, bomb the snot out of some third world regeime, you have my whole hearted support... but if I ever find the bastard that cut that cat open I'll gut him and stick a fscking antenna up his butt.
You must do (or have done in the past) technical support. I challenge any one of the detractors to stand in the tech support shoes for a month and not come out either:
A. Suicidal
B. Psychotic
C. Deeply Cynical
I know I've gone for "C", but only because my proposal to allow me to euthanise any one who asks a stupid question got bounced by the committee.
People who think that somehow they have a right to ignorance of something so central to their lives as computing deserve what they get!
Did I remember to mention that I'm deeply cynical?
"No, you can't connect to X's computer unless it's turned on." (Actual quote, name changed to protect the ignorant)
Slashdot Mirror
I had a Microsoft Optical wheel mouse that Ant got in to. For some reason even when the PC was off the red light at the back would glow and this must have provided the sort of warmth the ants were after. One day I turned the mouse over and wondered what this grey muck was on the inside of mouse (it's a translucent base). I opened the mouse up and here was this ring of Ant eggs spread perfectly around the LED, it must have been the point at which the temperature was just right!
If you can make it past the agro the previous post does have something of a point. It's the old chicken and egg scenario all over again. Why make games that appeal to both men and women when the vast majority of your audience is men and you can be more confident of attracting them with proven gameplay ideas (even if they are just the same old tits and arse)?
Somewhere this cycle will be broken but I can't imagine how. Perhaps it will require an external force, such as more female IT specialists before game companies start designing for them.
Dhogaza,
I do hope you get to read this, in response to your question "are you not asked for identification" the answer is a very simple - no, I am not asked for identification. I am asked what my name is and if I have already voted. I tell them my name and state that I have not already voted. My name gets marked off the list which is the list of all people eligible to vote for that electorate (geographical division).
I like this system, it means I don't have to participate in any other governmental system (such as the department of transport for a photo ID) or any other card issueing agent in order to be able to vote. I also like be able to take comfort that as far as voting is concerned my word is my bond, simply put - I am who I say I am.
I'm proud to vote and I'm glad it's compulsory. Having said that, America can maintain its government however it pleases, it's no skin off my nose.
Probably because if you're using this at all your a woefully equipped butcher working in some dirt poor country somewhere on the wrong side of the world. If you're going to have any tools at all they'd better be cheap, portable and not need to be plugged in 'cause the only power station in town is a smoking ruin.
Actually you can get smooth power delivery from AC power, all the trains where I live (Queensland Australia) run on overhead AC power.
Basically the most efficient kind of electical motor is the birdcage type inductance motor, but they operate only at one speed which is a factor of the electical current frequency.
So the trains here rectify the AC overhead line to DC and then use a sophisticated variable inveror to generate a full range of AC frequencies, just dial in the frequency that corresponds to the speed you want the motors to run at.
In operation this system produces a really unique sound as the inverted AC ramps up and down.
Here's a URL for the ABC that should work.
2 002-15.htm
/. editors got their headline.
http://abc.net.au/news/australia/qld/metqld-30jul
It doesn't really say much that the UQ page hasn't already but at least it confirms where those
In my humble opinion the thing that most annoys me about airconditioning is people who use it to compensate for the fact that they are over dressed. Sitting at work in a suit and tie might be uncomfortable on a 27C day but it's more than bearable in a t-shirt and jeans.
Instead people insist on wearing more than they need and then draining power from the grid to make up for their own insecurity.
Not to mention that every airconditioner just raises the outside temperature a tiny fraction. So you get this crazy cycle of air conditioners making the area warmer and so requiring more air conditioners!
Catch 22 indeed.
Well you did say flame away....
.gov agency would use any opportunity they can find to try and screw more money for their own little empire? Have you ever worked for the gov? Have you ever worked for any large organisation at all?
.au anyway). The .au gov makes billions of tabacco tax but zero off (currently illegal) drug taxes. Instead of making money on taxes they're spending money on a futile and self destructive war. Again, it's just plain stupid.
Point by point:
1. So you don't think that a
2. You see people who's lives are devestated by "drugs". And yet I see people who's lives are devestated by drug laws. How is putting someone in prison for hurting themselves supposed to be good for them? Or for their families? Oh but of course drugs are bad for you aren't they? And yet is the morphine they use at the hospital "bad" for you? No? Why not? Could it be that hospital grade drugs are just a little bit cleaner than the crap sold on the street in a totally unregulated market? What happened to alcohol when it was illegal - people sold crappy moonshine that made people blind. Yet today I can buy a bottle with confidence that it won't send me blind and I can see from the label exactly how strong it is. Why? Because it's legal and manufacturers have public liabilty. Get it straight in your head, drugs aren't exactly nutritionally rich but most of the damage you see is caused by impurities in the drugs caused because drugs are a black market item.
3. Would I like a meth lab in the house next door? Not really. Would you like the Johnny Walker brewery in the house next door to you? Not really? Funny that. In a legalised regulated environment their wouldn't be back yard labs where explosions are common. Backyard labs are a product of the war on drugs, not the cause. Bigots like you keep using the unfortunate results of the war on drugs to wage even more war. Talk about simplistic, talk about cyclical. Talk about plain stupid.
4. What an insight, cigaretts are expensive and people still buy them. Their expensive (at least here is Australia) because they have the crap taxed out of them. Without tax they'd be about $1.50 a packet (in
5. Addicts can't hold jobs? I held a fucking job every fucking day for the 5 years I used heroin and so did most of my friends. Why don't you try talking about something you have a clue about.
6. So now drug users are "damaged"? What kind of bigot are you. Have you forgotten that alcohol and tabacco are also drugs, just ones that are legal.
7. You're riled up? Have you any idea the kind of suffering narrow minded bigots like you cause?
Why try to stop people using drugs? You might as well try to hold back the tide. Yet still we try and still agencies like the DEA would like you to think it's feasible, if only they had more money because the bad guys have lots of money and that must be why we can't seem to beat them.
Ah shit, you know what? Just let it all burn. I give up.
(from the article)
"it's just a game"
Well if it's just a fucking game then why bother fucking cheating you worthless shit eater. People like you make me despair for humanity.
Did I mention that online cheating really annoys me?
I can tell you for absolute sure that one of the aircraft they describe as listing itself as the host in the captioning, the P-3 Orion is a fully crewed, big arse bird.
The Australian military operates these aircraft in long duration border (ocean) recon, where the typical crew is at least 8, working shifts and sleeping on board.
I don't know about the other aircraft they refer to.
God I wish I had mod points left, finally someone pointing out that although this may or may not be a big deal in the US that there are OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD who don't all think exactly the same way as the US and who have DIFFERENT PRIORITIES.
So for all the naysayers putting down the submitter might I suggest you look further afield for where this will have the greatest impact.
I'm guessing that you are not living in Australia. As someone who does live in Australia and was born here I can tell you that you are somewhat mistaken.
.gov.au money I don't know where you get that figure but we are supposed to be a socialist democracy.
Yes we are an apathetic lot, particularly politically however I would argue that we are no less civic minded than the US. In fact, I'd argue that our political apathy is not all bad, it serves in part to protect us from populist laws and helps ensure that the masses don't ride roughshod over the (more vocal) minorities.
As for 1 in 6 Australians being on
I'm starting to ramble but basically my point is this, you're not (I assume) an Australian yet you are drawing broad negative conclusions about all (17 million) of us.
For reference, most Australians who have never been to the US assume that all Americans are loud, fat, self important, obnoxious fools. I know that assumption to be incorrect now, don't make the same mistake I once did.
Well actually if I read the article correctly it was not a judge that ordered this invasion but rather a magistrate. The smarts threshold for magistrates is significantly lower than for judges.
I'm pretty confident that the JUDGE will see the fatal flaws in this ruling and overturn it.
Still even if the bar is set a little lower for magistrates it doesn't excuse this sort of lunacy.
Well if you live in America get a big fucking gun and protect yourself and your family. This helpless victim mentality where only big brother can save you is the reason your cherished freedoms are being deep sixed.
Oh, and in case you didn't notice there is a small difference between violent crime and eavesdropping.
Here in Australia I had to pay for the cost of the install including a cable modem (which I needed) and a network card (which I didn't need). The Optus tech was very good but it was nothing I couldn't have done myself (and I have done since with system reinstalls).
/. readers are mostly technology smart but I'm sure that there would be enough tech savy people in most markets to make DIY installs a viable business option.
What really peeved me though was that I had to really work hard to get the Optus guy to not install their custom browser and other software. He had to call head office and argue with them for several minutes before he finally got permission. Even then I had to sign off that I agreed that I didn't want their software and that I would take responsiblity for the results.
I know that
Speaking as one of those deigned to play the role of "software police" in my workplace I'd say that the RIAA can kiss my arse.
To me the problem here seems to be as much that some halfwit thought he could make a few bucks by dobbing in his (probably former) employer.
I'm quite sure that the RIAA (like the BSA) is doing everything it can to foster a culture of informing.
That's right kids, dob in your parents, workmates and friends for fun and profit!
Dear FFFish,
Perhaps you should consider more carefully the very information you reference. Allow me to quote: "than any other cause, except habitat destruction."
Based on your information it could be argued that responsible cats should neuter their owners and keep them indoors on a leash.
When you can come to me with a straight face and tell me that you have put more into the environment than you have taken from it and that you've never hit an animal with your car then you can preach to me about keeping my cat on a leash.
I'm glad to have my little rodent desctructor around, she keeps the rats at bay.
I think you'll find that many IT people in education are presenting this to their purchasing committees as a 10 GB external firewire hard drive with special features not otherwise available on other (cheaper) drives.
In other news the point of academic pricing is not to always to provide a cheaper option for educational use but rather to hook people who might eventually have a high degree of purchasing power into your product before they get old and cynical (or young and cynical like me!)
It's the old drug dealer trick of "first times always free!"
Actually I think KjetilK was pointing out that as a person trekking across the land meeting penguins would be preferable to meeting Polar Bears.
It depends on how you read it a bit.
Sorry Boiling Point but I think you missed the point (pardon the pun). If you buy a set top box how is it going to connect to your current generation TV? Via coaxial of course, now instead of plugging the coaxial into your tv plug it into your VCR/Tivo/Neural Implant.
Ultimately every attempt to control the copying of any media fails to grasp that at some point the media must be presented in a format that people can percieve and we have many generations of well developed technology for taking percievable media and encoding it for storage.
Sure you might loose some quality or some interactive elements but the basic content would still be there. It doesn't matter if it's TV, Video, DVD, CD or freakin' 8 track - if I can see or hear it so can my recording device.
What you're asking about is really one of the central premises of Quantum Physics. IANAP (I am not a physicist) but this dual nature of light as both matter and energy is part of the reason behind the demise of Newtonian Physics.
For instance you may have seen a "solar windmill" which is typically a small reflective windmill in a vacuum mounted on a pin head that rotates when exposed to light - in order for the light to move the windmill it must have mass, so it must be matter.
But then you can do the diffraction grating experiement which proves (via interference patterns) that light is an energy wave.
Confusing stuff.
Answer: Sort of
Freedb is compatible with CDDB version 1 whilst Gracenote now uses CDDB version 2. So if your application is new enough to use CDDB 2 it won't work with Freedb.
Of course Gracenote almost certainly did this on purpose.
Fsck them.
I thought that a large portion of the development on wearable computing was in the area of flexible logic boards. Given such flexible system could be woven into the fabric of the suit this would seem a far superior opion that would not require space on the already heavily populated chest and back.
It might even add to the insulating properties of the suit.
And for my comedy points...
does the space suit play mp3s?
You know, when I'm feeling cheerful I'm opposed to the war against the Afgan people, but then I hear of something like this and it reminds me that as long as were busy killing each other at least were not busy killing things that can't fight back.
To commit such crimes against any creature is immoral, but to commit the same crimes against a creature that cannot fight back is inhuman.
So go ahead Uncle Sam, bomb the snot out of some third world regeime, you have my whole hearted support... but if I ever find the bastard that cut that cat open I'll gut him and stick a fscking antenna up his butt.
Go ahead, moderate me.
You must do (or have done in the past) technical support. I challenge any one of the detractors to stand in the tech support shoes for a month and not come out either:
A. Suicidal
B. Psychotic
C. Deeply Cynical
I know I've gone for "C", but only because my proposal to allow me to euthanise any one who asks a stupid question got bounced by the committee.
People who think that somehow they have a right to ignorance of something so central to their lives as computing deserve what they get!
Did I remember to mention that I'm deeply cynical?
"No, you can't connect to X's computer unless it's turned on." (Actual quote, name changed to protect the ignorant)