Canon has a "Data Verification Kit" (DVK-E2) for law enforcement and related types that worry about tampering.
From DPReview's copy of Canon's press release, "The kit consists of a dedicated SM (secure mobile) card reader/writer and verification software. When the appropriate function (Personal Function 31) on the EOS-1D Mark II or EOS-1Ds is activated, a code based on the image contents is generated and appended to the image. When the image is viewed, the data verification software determines the code for the image and compares it with the attached code. If the image contents have been manipulated in any way, the codes will not match and the image cannot be verified as the original."
So it looks like, when you combine the EOS-1D/1Ds w/ the "Secure Mobile" card and put the camera in to a special data verification mode, it probably generates a MD5 or similar hash for each image that is generated.
This seems to be a fairly obvious way to defeat cries of tampering, although I have no idea how well this software/hardware has been pushed. Perhaps there is a hole somewhere? Hard to say. Hopefully Canon will release similar products for all of their higher-end (300D and up) cameras.
You WILL be interested by this: http://www.bass-station.net/index.php
Some guy took a big-ass 1980's-style ghetto blaster and fitted it with (stolen from Linuxjournal.com): a Via mini-ITX motherboard, wireless interface card hooked to an antenna, Debian (Woody) loaded onto a CompactFlash card, and a 120GB hard drive.
Here's the idea. He takes this ghetto blaster and rips out the internals. It's for show, only. Puts in some basic computer bits along with a 802.11b WiFi card. Runs a public AP. When people get a DHCP-assigned IP, they think: great!...And go to google or whatever. Instead, they are netcat-style redirected to a page telling them what's going on. Of course, the Bass Station plays streaming music and has a community bulletin board.
It's ideas like these that can bring back the "style" of BBS's. It's local by design. With a good 10 or 12 dB omni on a good location, people could probably pick your signal up from several blocks away.
When I was 10 years old...
on
Best BBS Memories?
·
· Score: 3, Informative
My parents gave me and my brother our first computer - an Atari 520ST fm computer with an Emerson 2400 baud modem. This was on advice from a coworker of my dad's who ran an Atari-based BBS.
From day one we were dialing up BBS's. I have since spent countless thousands (tens?) of hours downloading text files, images, programs, whatever. Posting on the boards, chatting with the SysOp if he (never a she) was around. Playing games like Tradewars 2002.
Sometime in late 1996 I got my first email account and internet access from a local ISP, Europa. Until then, though, the only online world I knew was that of the BBS.
BBS's were great but I'd never go back. The ol' internet is far more accessible and wide-reaching. BBS's just can't compete.
BTW: don't dis the Atari. We could go from a cold boot to being dialed up to the local BBS (Puddle City) in less than 60 seconds.
I've had a GPS receiver with mapping and one with out. My current GPS, the Garmin eTrex Summit has all the basic GPS features plus fine-grain elevation-related information.
I've found that I don't miss the mapping capabilities because now I simply plug the GPS via a serial cable into the available nine pin com port on my laptop. I use Streets and Trips from MS and USA PhotoMaps for down to 1 meter photo views. I plug the GPS in when I'm stumbling for wireless AP's, too.
I occasionally use the GPS while Geocaching and while snowshoe hiking. Again, both hobbies don't really need/make use of the maps. I simply set a waypoint for the car before I leave and, if necessary, I can use the backtrack function to find my way back. Otherwise, you just walk towards the waypoint you made.
MS's S&T is about $30, USAPhotoMaps is either free or there is a small donation requested. A Garmin eTrex Summit GPS is $180-190 (via froogle.google.com). Streets and Trips will outstrip the maps on the GPS by FAR, assuming you already have a laptop and won't have to suffer that additional expense.
Otherwise, the eTrex Legend has mapping capabilities and is $160 at Wal-Mart and has mapping capabilities. No need to spend the full $350! The eTrex line is nice, IMO. A friend of mine has the basic yellow eTrex and we've used it (and my Summit) on the water, in the cold (snow), heat, etc. They've both been banged around a bit and haven't suffered at all from our adventures.
Funny enough, that's exactly what I'm doing. A friend of mine has VERY rich friends who like to buy her stuff. She recently, jokingly, asked to "take requests". I instantly responded with "Canon 300D!" and she says she's working on it. Cross your fingers, eyes and toes!
Man, I'd kill for a 300D.:P I'd kill a LOT of people for a 10D.
One of the first DSLR's under $1k that's actually worth buying! It'll take EF (and a new type, EF-S) lenses so finally we photography geeks have a chance to get a sub-$1k DSLR. Except for the Sigma SD9 (with Foveon's X3 sensor), which was Sigma's first digital camera, the 300D is the only other decent camera in this class.
Intel "sells" two diff backup "plans" to their employees - the department pays. One, if I recall correctly, is to back up stuff to the network via some piece of client/server software. Select the files, folders, leave laptop or machine on at certain time.
The other is basically a backpack-style drive. I saw more of the former than the latter. Can't recall how they were utilizing network drives - if people usually put all their stuff up on a network drive or not. I think they were, but it's been awhile. Intel seemed pretty good about backups, but determined users can always screw themselves.
I can tell you that Intel's IT department, from my break-fix perspective, could NOT. Now, if it was Craig Barrett's laptop, I'm sure they still could NOT but they would ship it off right quick to some place that could.
Keep in mind that Intel's break-fix help desk was no more skilled or well-versed in hardware or software than the helpdesk at your run of the mill large corporation. Sad but true.
As I said in a different comment, I have an IBM T20 that supports this drive-locking feature. The drive will prompt me up to three times before rebooting the machine. It will not, however, permanently lock the drive.
IBM may have chosen not to enable the "lock forever after X attempts" or perhaps it takes several reboots worth of attempts - I don't know.
Personally, I've always felt this was a rather nice feature. I haven't heard of any back doors so, if there are any, they are either just available to a select few people or they don't exist (probably the former). Either way, it's another layer of security.
My T20 has this drive locking feature and I've been told the same thing - do NOT forget the password or you can toss the drive. When I worked at Intel drives occasionally got tossed when people forgot their HD passwords. They did not attempt a recovery of any sort.
I *think* the 600-series IBM laptops also supported this feature, although I wouldn't swear to it.
Many years ago I had the rubber/plastic band on my Casio Data Bank watch break. I decided not to get a new band and, instead, wondered how hardy the watch might be.
The Data Bank line is "water resistant" so I figured I'd try to kill it by putting it in a plastic cup filled with water and left in the freezer portion of a refrigerator over night. I forgot about it and, about a week later, saw it sitting in the little block of ice I'd made.
After busting the watch out the display was dim but still fully functional. All functions of the watch still worked.
BTW...If you're paying USD$400/mo for electricity...and you're not hosting a beowulf cluster of about 50 boxes...why don't you consider solar power? Certainly, in your situation, it will pay off a lot faster than it would where I live (Oregon).
I know this is not the response you were looking for, but given the situation, I think it is reasonable. You can switch to solar AND bitch about the high price of electricity.:)
That's why you get an old laptop. I bought an IBM 600-series for $50. P2/233 w/ 96MB of RAM and a 6GB HD. One Senao 2511 200mw card ($90 retail, $65 ebay) and a $50 8.5 dBi omni from hyperlinktech.com and you've got an extremely powerful access point. Oh, and I suppose you'll also need an N-type connector ($1.50) and a N-to-MMCX cable, $20-30.
I'm going to do this exact setup, so my cost for equipment will be $50 + 65 + $50 + 30 (cable). $195 plus my time which will be paid back later by how valuable the experience has been.
Between the senao and the 8.5 dBi omni, you're covering at least a full city block if not two. For another $10 you can go to 10.5 dBi and cover 2-3 blocks. I know this to be the case because a local kid in the personaltelcoproject(.net) did just that. A friend about a third of a mile away, through houses, trees, etc. gets all of his internet access through this helpful PTP member.
You can NOT do that with your standard Circuit City off-the-shelf AP. Maybe if you pick up a Senao AP that has an option for external antennas.
So could go and spend $260 to buy yourself a really good Senao access point (http://store.yahoo.com/miradexpress/enelaplonran1.html), but hey...that's getting a bit expensive. Besides, it's really hard to find Senao access points anyway.
The reason I didn't suggest the A70 was because I don't like how it feels. Too small, too light.
However, the A20, 40, 60 and A70 (all the ones I've ever touched/played with) all have a 100% manual mode. IE, you are welcome to screw up your picture as much (or as little) as you want. Set the film sensitivity (ISO), speed, f-stop, etc. You can even shoot in b&w.
I do, however, agree with you on the Coolpix selection. I think it's a stupid name for a camera, but they're good cameras. However, your 3100 is not THAT much better than the A40/A70. Compare on dpreview.com. Still, either camera (imo) would be pretty good for a backpacking trip.
BTW, a guy I know has the 5700 and loves it. He picked his up for about $800-850 I believe.
Don't get me wrong - I agree completely on this point. My personal ratio is about 10:1. That is, 10 "ehhhh" pictures to one that I deem "good enough" or occasionally great.
The cost of film and developing makes this practice all but impossible for the normal person. If you're a geek with cash and you feel like blowing it on film, well, go ahead.
The problem with stuff that is "just about ready to come out" is that you never know the quality or durability of something that has just come out. Going with an established product, especially when your friend will be away from civilization for considerable stretches of time, is what I recommend.
While buying a lot of CF cards is not a great solution, it doesn't have to be too expensive. 10 256MB Sandisk CF cards will run you approx $650. That would store approximately 3500-4000 images - based on how I use my Canon Powershot A40 camera in "Fine" (medium lossy) format.
10,000 images is, in my opinion, somewhat unlikely to occur. Sure, you can take 10,000 pictures. But 9,000 of them are probably going to suck. Maybe just 8,000. Thus the bane and beauty of a digital camera. You can instantly review a picture or simply review the whole lot later, on your down time. Backpacking should have it's share of down time, unless he's pushing pretty hard.
Additionally, CF cards are very, very hardy. My 64MB Sandisk CF card spent 30 minutes at the bottom of a river when I dropped my camera. The card - and pictures - were perfectly ok after recovery.
Your friend will also want to pick up some hearty rechargable batteries - I suggest the new PowerEX 2000mAh NiMH batteries in conjunction with the Maha C401FS rapid, 100-minute charger. Your friend may also want to consider picking up a flexible solar panel to charge stuff while "on the road".
Lastly, camera-wise, I personally recommend the Canon Powershot A40. It can be had for about $200 now. It is "just" a 2 megapixel camera. However, the output is very nice for consumer level camera.
I don't know about everywhere else, but the coders where I work (Liberty Northwest, who's parent company is Liberty Mutual - both big insurance companies) are all pretty goddamn old. Even the people who do web stuff (relatively "new" technology) are at least 30+. I don't think I've ever seen a coder under 30 here.
Of course, a lot of it has to do with the type of company you want/are working for. LNW/LM has lots of old but fairly stable hardware in use. I see lots of COBOL books on shelves, litterally. There's no place for flashy people with their flashy coding - at least not in this insurance building. The management seems to like their coders old, experienced and on the crotchety side.
Note: I'm a young, brash contractor that was brought in for a Win95(!) to Win2k migration project six months ago. So my views are somewhat biased, though not any more than anyone else's I suspect.
I won't claim to be an expert in how ethanol or methanol is produced. But consider this:
If ethanol can be produced from organically grown (no pesticides) crops and refined using a somewhat or mostly environmentally process...how is that worse than methanol, which is not produced using any of these more enivronmentally friendly methods?
The bonus of "growing" ethanol is that this is yet another way for money to stay in the local economy. More stuff for beleagured farmers to do. Not that I'm all about "welfare" for farmers, but if we can have them doing more work, while being efficient and green AND not sending money to some foreign power who views the US with distain or outright hated, then...yeah, lets go for it.
We are NOT subsidized, not in my opinion. No one is giving us money. We've lobbied no one.
That is not to say that we aren't seeking outside funding. Specifically, small and medium sized grants will be our focus during the next year or so. And yes, we will probably start talking to the state ASAP. Road taxes are important, so I don't see the state giving us a tax break as too big a deal. I'd like us to reduce costs elsewhere first.
BTW... It takes a LOT of waste vegetable oil (wvo) to get people where they're going. 24 million gallons of wvo (what UK's ASDA's donut shops produce per year) would supply approximately 80,000 TDI owners who drive 13,000 miles (each) per year.
In case you didn't know, 24 million gallons of wvo is a hell of a lot of oil. I don't think there's enough wvo to supply all the diesel owners out there, even though they are statistically a small percentage of the US population. That being said, it'd be a better use of wvo than dumping it in a landfill or in dog food.
According to the US EPA (http://www.epa.gov/otaq/consumer/fuels/altfuels/b iodiesel.pdf) Biodiesel compared to regular diesel:
- 50% reduction in carbon monoxide output
- 70% reduction in particulate (black smoke) output
- 40% reduction in total hydrocarbon (THC) output
- 100% reduction in sulfate emissions
- 9% increase in nitrogen oxide
- 0% change in methane emissions
I was incorrect in an earlier post. Federal and state taxes combine for $0.45/gallon. So if we're selling B100 for $1.50/gallon, our users will end up paying about 22 or 23 cents a gallon extra in taxes (once a year, for reasons I won't get into here). The total cost is, with state taxes, Approx $1.72/3 per gallon.
The cost of diesel here ranges between 1.65-1.85/gallon, so we're still competitive. And that's on an extremely small scale, volunteer operation. As we ramp up we'll reduce costs.
As a side note, a local B100 retailer (Albina fuels, a largish provider here in Oregon) charges $3/gallon for B100 in a 55 gallon barrel (delivered, no cost). They're the only B100 commercial provider in town, though, so they can charge whatever they want. And the $3/gallon is without taxes, either!
Here's some other benefits you (or others) may not have realized:
- Diesel comes from oil, which is safely underground until we dig it up and throw the carbon excess into the air (so to speak). Biodiesel, OTH, is created from carbon already in the cycle. Thus, no "extra" carbon is being put into the system.
- In another post, you mentioned farmers and how they will love (or already do love) biodiesel. Damn straight. Biodiesel can be produced from just about any vegetable oil, which means it can be produced just about anywhere crops can be grown. That means...locally produced fuel. Profits and money stays local.
- You may pay more per gallon, but diesels are capable of great efficiency in terms of MPG. VW's euro-only Lupo supposedly gets 90MPG. The Jetta TDI's over here will do 45-50 MPG (average). What does your car get, in terms of MPG?
I won't pretend that biodiesel is the answer to all our prayers. It's not. I believe that "fuel cells" and such will, eventually, be the fuel of the future. Until then...you can pick up a used diesel vehicle and burn B100. You'll be making a difference NOW, not in 10+ years.
Great comment! I wish I had the numbers on how much, in taxes, you pay to subsidize the low diesel/gas prices that we in America (I'll assume you're an American) have.
The biodiesel we'll be producing is not subsidized in any way, shape or form by the US government. The true cost of our biodiesel is (approx) $1.50/gallon to produce and sell and be self-sustaining.
That is without fed tax, BTW. The feds (IRS) have rescinded any federal tax on biodiesel. Our members (co-op members) pay state taxes, though, about $0.45/gallon.
Irregardless, I hope that 5-10% of the population converts over to diesel and starts using biodiesel. The enusing funding issues for our highways would be more than worth the fact that we'd be drastically lowering all the crap that goes into the air, water and land. We'd be supporting our local economy. Closing a carbon use loop. There's so many positives - too many to list here. I'll fight every step of the way, if need be, to see biodiesel everywhere. It is, as one of our bumper stickers says, a "fuel with a future".
I'm on the board of directors for the GoBiodiesel Cooperative in Portland, Oregon.
We have priced out what it costs to produce biodiesel (as a cooperative). It costs us approximately $1/gallon in pure supplies (plus electricity) to produce biodiesel. We're just starting (first test batch last weekend!) but are well aware of the costs. We're using methanol right now but would like to switch to the more expensive but more enviro-friendly ethanol. We'll see what happens on that front. Oh, and once we're done producing test batches with lye we will be switching over to...sodium methoxide (???). I can't recall what it will be, to be honest.
We will need to recoup the costs of the processor, the building it's located in, etc. Plus, we'd like to pay volunteers a small amount for their time.
We plan on selling biodiesel for approximately USD$1.25-$1.50.
If you're interested, visit the GoBiodiesel Cooperative web site and learn more about what we're doing.
When I was working at various Intel (Hillsboro, OR) campuses six months ago, this is exactly what they were doing.
Several of the newer buildings (Ronler Acres site, Jones Farm site) had AP's mounted upside-down above the cube farms every 30m or so. And occasionally in hallways near conference rooms.
It was a pretty nice setup. I always wished that I had a wireless card when I worked there, since I visited different campuses all the time and hated plugging in (or trying to find a place to plug in) at every cube I was at.
BTW: Intel's security is pretty tight. By default they let people be administrators on their own machines. But the firewall doesn't trust outside or inside traffic (even SSH is blocked!) so it works out pretty well. The firewall was a smart type, I guess, because trying to set up sshd on port 80 or 443 didn't work either. It was HTTP/S, email or forget it. That's why I setup modssl, then installed a secure proxy and started using Horde/IMP.:)
Of course, their *physical* security kinda sucked. Anyone can walk up to the back of the Amberglen AG4 warehouse (loading entrance). No card swipe. If you stole someone's Intel badge and just vaguely flashed it at the warehouse manager, he'd let ya walk right in. Right inside is the receiving area for all the shit Intel is donating to STRUT (student-run recycling). Lots of goodies, like older Xeon processors (and 4-way mobo's!) and other stuff came through while I was working there.
The rest of the campuses are basically ok. Some of them are installing revolving doors that only let one person in at a time (I tried to shadow someone once). But most are security guards checking badges OR having you walk through a badge-checker/revolving door. Course, there are no cameras that verify your face is the one on the card, and the guards don't normally look when a badge-checker is in place. A stolen ID would get you a long way.
Straight from Bennett Hasselton at Peacefire.org: http://www.peacefire.org/circumventor/simple-circu mventor-instructions.html
Unfortunately, OpenSA is Windows-only and isn't really very open-source friendly. Some of the source code is available for older versions. CGIProxy, the "other half" of Peacefire.org's firewall-bustin' solution, is a perl program and thus "open source", but the licensing is somewhat muddled: http://www.jmarshall.com/tools/cgiproxy/faq.html#q 9
The good news is that if you already have a web server doing SSL, just drop the CGIProxy software into a dir and have at it. I happen to use it and it works fine.
Does anyone know of a true open source, gpl-licensed alternative to OpenSA/CGIProxy. The requirements are: it be relatively easy to setup/install/use. Oh, and secure, too. And yes, I am aware of the "Security, Features or Ease-of-use - pick any two" quip, but I still want to hear what people think about this question.
Slashdot Mirror
Thanks for sharing the existance of this program - my day is now much less boring.
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0401/04012903canondvk e2.asp
Canon has a "Data Verification Kit" (DVK-E2) for law enforcement and related types that worry about tampering.
From DPReview's copy of Canon's press release, "The kit consists of a dedicated SM (secure mobile) card reader/writer and verification software. When the appropriate function (Personal Function 31) on the EOS-1D Mark II or EOS-1Ds is activated, a code based on the image contents is generated and appended to the image. When the image is viewed, the data verification software determines the code for the image and compares it with the attached code. If the image contents have been manipulated in any way, the codes will not match and the image cannot be verified as the original."
So it looks like, when you combine the EOS-1D/1Ds w/ the "Secure Mobile" card and put the camera in to a special data verification mode, it probably generates a MD5 or similar hash for each image that is generated.
This seems to be a fairly obvious way to defeat cries of tampering, although I have no idea how well this software/hardware has been pushed. Perhaps there is a hole somewhere? Hard to say. Hopefully Canon will release similar products for all of their higher-end (300D and up) cameras.
You WILL be interested by this: http://www.bass-station.net/index.php
...And go to google or whatever. Instead, they are netcat-style redirected to a page telling them what's going on. Of course, the Bass Station plays streaming music and has a community bulletin board.
Some guy took a big-ass 1980's-style ghetto blaster and fitted it with (stolen from Linuxjournal.com): a Via mini-ITX motherboard, wireless interface card hooked to an antenna, Debian (Woody) loaded onto a CompactFlash card, and a 120GB hard drive.
Here's the idea. He takes this ghetto blaster and rips out the internals. It's for show, only. Puts in some basic computer bits along with a 802.11b WiFi card. Runs a public AP. When people get a DHCP-assigned IP, they think: great!
It's ideas like these that can bring back the "style" of BBS's. It's local by design. With a good 10 or 12 dB omni on a good location, people could probably pick your signal up from several blocks away.
My parents gave me and my brother our first computer - an Atari 520ST fm computer with an Emerson 2400 baud modem. This was on advice from a coworker of my dad's who ran an Atari-based BBS.
From day one we were dialing up BBS's. I have since spent countless thousands (tens?) of hours downloading text files, images, programs, whatever. Posting on the boards, chatting with the SysOp if he (never a she) was around. Playing games like Tradewars 2002.
Sometime in late 1996 I got my first email account and internet access from a local ISP, Europa. Until then, though, the only online world I knew was that of the BBS.
BBS's were great but I'd never go back. The ol' internet is far more accessible and wide-reaching. BBS's just can't compete.
BTW: don't dis the Atari. We could go from a cold boot to being dialed up to the local BBS (Puddle City) in less than 60 seconds.
I've had a GPS receiver with mapping and one with out. My current GPS, the Garmin eTrex Summit has all the basic GPS features plus fine-grain elevation-related information.
I've found that I don't miss the mapping capabilities because now I simply plug the GPS via a serial cable into the available nine pin com port on my laptop. I use Streets and Trips from MS and USA PhotoMaps for down to 1 meter photo views. I plug the GPS in when I'm stumbling for wireless AP's, too.
I occasionally use the GPS while Geocaching and while snowshoe hiking. Again, both hobbies don't really need/make use of the maps. I simply set a waypoint for the car before I leave and, if necessary, I can use the backtrack function to find my way back. Otherwise, you just walk towards the waypoint you made.
MS's S&T is about $30, USAPhotoMaps is either free or there is a small donation requested. A Garmin eTrex Summit GPS is $180-190 (via froogle.google.com). Streets and Trips will outstrip the maps on the GPS by FAR, assuming you already have a laptop and won't have to suffer that additional expense.
Otherwise, the eTrex Legend has mapping capabilities and is $160 at Wal-Mart and has mapping capabilities. No need to spend the full $350! The eTrex line is nice, IMO. A friend of mine has the basic yellow eTrex and we've used it (and my Summit) on the water, in the cold (snow), heat, etc. They've both been banged around a bit and haven't suffered at all from our adventures.
Funny enough, that's exactly what I'm doing. A friend of mine has VERY rich friends who like to buy her stuff. She recently, jokingly, asked to "take requests". I instantly responded with "Canon 300D!" and she says she's working on it. Cross your fingers, eyes and toes!
:P I'd kill a LOT of people for a 10D.
Man, I'd kill for a 300D.
One of the first DSLR's under $1k that's actually worth buying! It'll take EF (and a new type, EF-S) lenses so finally we photography geeks have a chance to get a sub-$1k DSLR. Except for the Sigma SD9 (with Foveon's X3 sensor), which was Sigma's first digital camera, the 300D is the only other decent camera in this class.
I've been *really* good this year, I swear.
Intel "sells" two diff backup "plans" to their employees - the department pays. One, if I recall correctly, is to back up stuff to the network via some piece of client/server software. Select the files, folders, leave laptop or machine on at certain time.
The other is basically a backpack-style drive. I saw more of the former than the latter. Can't recall how they were utilizing network drives - if people usually put all their stuff up on a network drive or not. I think they were, but it's been awhile. Intel seemed pretty good about backups, but determined users can always screw themselves.
I can tell you that Intel's IT department, from my break-fix perspective, could NOT. Now, if it was Craig Barrett's laptop, I'm sure they still could NOT but they would ship it off right quick to some place that could.
Keep in mind that Intel's break-fix help desk was no more skilled or well-versed in hardware or software than the helpdesk at your run of the mill large corporation. Sad but true.
As I said in a different comment, I have an IBM T20 that supports this drive-locking feature. The drive will prompt me up to three times before rebooting the machine. It will not, however, permanently lock the drive.
IBM may have chosen not to enable the "lock forever after X attempts" or perhaps it takes several reboots worth of attempts - I don't know.
Personally, I've always felt this was a rather nice feature. I haven't heard of any back doors so, if there are any, they are either just available to a select few people or they don't exist (probably the former). Either way, it's another layer of security.
My T20 has this drive locking feature and I've been told the same thing - do NOT forget the password or you can toss the drive. When I worked at Intel drives occasionally got tossed when people forgot their HD passwords. They did not attempt a recovery of any sort.
I *think* the 600-series IBM laptops also supported this feature, although I wouldn't swear to it.
Many years ago I had the rubber/plastic band on my Casio Data Bank watch break. I decided not to get a new band and, instead, wondered how hardy the watch might be.
The Data Bank line is "water resistant" so I figured I'd try to kill it by putting it in a plastic cup filled with water and left in the freezer portion of a refrigerator over night. I forgot about it and, about a week later, saw it sitting in the little block of ice I'd made.
After busting the watch out the display was dim but still fully functional. All functions of the watch still worked.
BTW ...If you're paying USD$400/mo for electricity ...and you're not hosting a beowulf cluster of about 50 boxes ...why don't you consider solar power? Certainly, in your situation, it will pay off a lot faster than it would where I live (Oregon).
:)
I know this is not the response you were looking for, but given the situation, I think it is reasonable. You can switch to solar AND bitch about the high price of electricity.
That's why you get an old laptop. I bought an IBM 600-series for $50. P2/233 w/ 96MB of RAM and a 6GB HD. One Senao 2511 200mw card ($90 retail, $65 ebay) and a $50 8.5 dBi omni from hyperlinktech.com and you've got an extremely powerful access point. Oh, and I suppose you'll also need an N-type connector ($1.50) and a N-to-MMCX cable, $20-30.
1 .html), but hey ...that's getting a bit expensive. Besides, it's really hard to find Senao access points anyway.
I'm going to do this exact setup, so my cost for equipment will be $50 + 65 + $50 + 30 (cable). $195 plus my time which will be paid back later by how valuable the experience has been.
Between the senao and the 8.5 dBi omni, you're covering at least a full city block if not two. For another $10 you can go to 10.5 dBi and cover 2-3 blocks. I know this to be the case because a local kid in the personaltelcoproject(.net) did just that. A friend about a third of a mile away, through houses, trees, etc. gets all of his internet access through this helpful PTP member.
You can NOT do that with your standard Circuit City off-the-shelf AP. Maybe if you pick up a Senao AP that has an option for external antennas.
So could go and spend $260 to buy yourself a really good Senao access point (http://store.yahoo.com/miradexpress/enelaplonran
The reason I didn't suggest the A70 was because I don't like how it feels. Too small, too light.
However, the A20, 40, 60 and A70 (all the ones I've ever touched/played with) all have a 100% manual mode. IE, you are welcome to screw up your picture as much (or as little) as you want. Set the film sensitivity (ISO), speed, f-stop, etc. You can even shoot in b&w.
I do, however, agree with you on the Coolpix selection. I think it's a stupid name for a camera, but they're good cameras. However, your 3100 is not THAT much better than the A40/A70. Compare on dpreview.com. Still, either camera (imo) would be pretty good for a backpacking trip.
BTW, a guy I know has the 5700 and loves it. He picked his up for about $800-850 I believe.
Don't get me wrong - I agree completely on this point. My personal ratio is about 10:1. That is, 10 "ehhhh" pictures to one that I deem "good enough" or occasionally great.
The cost of film and developing makes this practice all but impossible for the normal person. If you're a geek with cash and you feel like blowing it on film, well, go ahead.
The problem with stuff that is "just about ready to come out" is that you never know the quality or durability of something that has just come out. Going with an established product, especially when your friend will be away from civilization for considerable stretches of time, is what I recommend.
While buying a lot of CF cards is not a great solution, it doesn't have to be too expensive. 10 256MB Sandisk CF cards will run you approx $650. That would store approximately 3500-4000 images - based on how I use my Canon Powershot A40 camera in "Fine" (medium lossy) format.
10,000 images is, in my opinion, somewhat unlikely to occur. Sure, you can take 10,000 pictures. But 9,000 of them are probably going to suck. Maybe just 8,000. Thus the bane and beauty of a digital camera. You can instantly review a picture or simply review the whole lot later, on your down time. Backpacking should have it's share of down time, unless he's pushing pretty hard.
Additionally, CF cards are very, very hardy. My 64MB Sandisk CF card spent 30 minutes at the bottom of a river when I dropped my camera. The card - and pictures - were perfectly ok after recovery.
Your friend will also want to pick up some hearty rechargable batteries - I suggest the new PowerEX 2000mAh NiMH batteries in conjunction with the Maha C401FS rapid, 100-minute charger. Your friend may also want to consider picking up a flexible solar panel to charge stuff while "on the road".
Lastly, camera-wise, I personally recommend the Canon Powershot A40. It can be had for about $200 now. It is "just" a 2 megapixel camera. However, the output is very nice for consumer level camera.
I don't know about everywhere else, but the coders where I work (Liberty Northwest, who's parent company is Liberty Mutual - both big insurance companies) are all pretty goddamn old. Even the people who do web stuff (relatively "new" technology) are at least 30+. I don't think I've ever seen a coder under 30 here.
Of course, a lot of it has to do with the type of company you want/are working for. LNW/LM has lots of old but fairly stable hardware in use. I see lots of COBOL books on shelves, litterally. There's no place for flashy people with their flashy coding - at least not in this insurance building. The management seems to like their coders old, experienced and on the crotchety side.
Note: I'm a young, brash contractor that was brought in for a Win95(!) to Win2k migration project six months ago. So my views are somewhat biased, though not any more than anyone else's I suspect.
I won't claim to be an expert in how ethanol or methanol is produced. But consider this:
...how is that worse than methanol, which is not produced using any of these more enivronmentally friendly methods?
...yeah, lets go for it.
If ethanol can be produced from organically grown (no pesticides) crops and refined using a somewhat or mostly environmentally process
The bonus of "growing" ethanol is that this is yet another way for money to stay in the local economy. More stuff for beleagured farmers to do. Not that I'm all about "welfare" for farmers, but if we can have them doing more work, while being efficient and green AND not sending money to some foreign power who views the US with distain or outright hated, then
We are NOT subsidized, not in my opinion. No one is giving us money. We've lobbied no one.
That is not to say that we aren't seeking outside funding. Specifically, small and medium sized grants will be our focus during the next year or so. And yes, we will probably start talking to the state ASAP. Road taxes are important, so I don't see the state giving us a tax break as too big a deal. I'd like us to reduce costs elsewhere first.
BTW... It takes a LOT of waste vegetable oil (wvo) to get people where they're going. 24 million gallons of wvo (what UK's ASDA's donut shops produce per year) would supply approximately 80,000 TDI owners who drive 13,000 miles (each) per year.
In case you didn't know, 24 million gallons of wvo is a hell of a lot of oil. I don't think there's enough wvo to supply all the diesel owners out there, even though they are statistically a small percentage of the US population. That being said, it'd be a better use of wvo than dumping it in a landfill or in dog food.
According to the US EPA (http://www.epa.gov/otaq/consumer/fuels/altfuels/b iodiesel.pdf) Biodiesel compared to regular diesel:
...locally produced fuel. Profits and money stays local.
...you can pick up a used diesel vehicle and burn B100. You'll be making a difference NOW, not in 10+ years.
- 50% reduction in carbon monoxide output
- 70% reduction in particulate (black smoke) output
- 40% reduction in total hydrocarbon (THC) output
- 100% reduction in sulfate emissions
- 9% increase in nitrogen oxide
- 0% change in methane emissions
I was incorrect in an earlier post. Federal and state taxes combine for $0.45/gallon. So if we're selling B100 for $1.50/gallon, our users will end up paying about 22 or 23 cents a gallon extra in taxes (once a year, for reasons I won't get into here). The total cost is, with state taxes, Approx $1.72/3 per gallon.
The cost of diesel here ranges between 1.65-1.85/gallon, so we're still competitive. And that's on an extremely small scale, volunteer operation. As we ramp up we'll reduce costs.
As a side note, a local B100 retailer (Albina fuels, a largish provider here in Oregon) charges $3/gallon for B100 in a 55 gallon barrel (delivered, no cost). They're the only B100 commercial provider in town, though, so they can charge whatever they want. And the $3/gallon is without taxes, either!
Here's some other benefits you (or others) may not have realized:
- Diesel comes from oil, which is safely underground until we dig it up and throw the carbon excess into the air (so to speak). Biodiesel, OTH, is created from carbon already in the cycle. Thus, no "extra" carbon is being put into the system.
- In another post, you mentioned farmers and how they will love (or already do love) biodiesel. Damn straight. Biodiesel can be produced from just about any vegetable oil, which means it can be produced just about anywhere crops can be grown. That means
- You may pay more per gallon, but diesels are capable of great efficiency in terms of MPG. VW's euro-only Lupo supposedly gets 90MPG. The Jetta TDI's over here will do 45-50 MPG (average). What does your car get, in terms of MPG?
I won't pretend that biodiesel is the answer to all our prayers. It's not. I believe that "fuel cells" and such will, eventually, be the fuel of the future. Until then
Great comment! I wish I had the numbers on how much, in taxes, you pay to subsidize the low diesel/gas prices that we in America (I'll assume you're an American) have.
The biodiesel we'll be producing is not subsidized in any way, shape or form by the US government. The true cost of our biodiesel is (approx) $1.50/gallon to produce and sell and be self-sustaining.
That is without fed tax, BTW. The feds (IRS) have rescinded any federal tax on biodiesel. Our members (co-op members) pay state taxes, though, about $0.45/gallon.
Irregardless, I hope that 5-10% of the population converts over to diesel and starts using biodiesel. The enusing funding issues for our highways would be more than worth the fact that we'd be drastically lowering all the crap that goes into the air, water and land. We'd be supporting our local economy. Closing a carbon use loop. There's so many positives - too many to list here. I'll fight every step of the way, if need be, to see biodiesel everywhere. It is, as one of our bumper stickers says, a "fuel with a future".
I'm on the board of directors for the GoBiodiesel Cooperative in Portland, Oregon.
...sodium methoxide (???). I can't recall what it will be, to be honest.
We have priced out what it costs to produce biodiesel (as a cooperative). It costs us approximately $1/gallon in pure supplies (plus electricity) to produce biodiesel. We're just starting (first test batch last weekend!) but are well aware of the costs. We're using methanol right now but would like to switch to the more expensive but more enviro-friendly ethanol. We'll see what happens on that front. Oh, and once we're done producing test batches with lye we will be switching over to
We will need to recoup the costs of the processor, the building it's located in, etc. Plus, we'd like to pay volunteers a small amount for their time.
We plan on selling biodiesel for approximately USD$1.25-$1.50.
If you're interested, visit the GoBiodiesel Cooperative web site and learn more about what we're doing.
When I was working at various Intel (Hillsboro, OR) campuses six months ago, this is exactly what they were doing.
:)
Several of the newer buildings (Ronler Acres site, Jones Farm site) had AP's mounted upside-down above the cube farms every 30m or so. And occasionally in hallways near conference rooms.
It was a pretty nice setup. I always wished that I had a wireless card when I worked there, since I visited different campuses all the time and hated plugging in (or trying to find a place to plug in) at every cube I was at.
BTW: Intel's security is pretty tight. By default they let people be administrators on their own machines. But the firewall doesn't trust outside or inside traffic (even SSH is blocked!) so it works out pretty well. The firewall was a smart type, I guess, because trying to set up sshd on port 80 or 443 didn't work either. It was HTTP/S, email or forget it. That's why I setup modssl, then installed a secure proxy and started using Horde/IMP.
Of course, their *physical* security kinda sucked. Anyone can walk up to the back of the Amberglen AG4 warehouse (loading entrance). No card swipe. If you stole someone's Intel badge and just vaguely flashed it at the warehouse manager, he'd let ya walk right in. Right inside is the receiving area for all the shit Intel is donating to STRUT (student-run recycling). Lots of goodies, like older Xeon processors (and 4-way mobo's!) and other stuff came through while I was working there.
The rest of the campuses are basically ok. Some of them are installing revolving doors that only let one person in at a time (I tried to shadow someone once). But most are security guards checking badges OR having you walk through a badge-checker/revolving door. Course, there are no cameras that verify your face is the one on the card, and the guards don't normally look when a badge-checker is in place. A stolen ID would get you a long way.
Have fun, kids!
Straight from Bennett Hasselton at Peacefire.org: http://www.peacefire.org/circumventor/simple-circu mventor-instructions.html
q 9
Unfortunately, OpenSA is Windows-only and isn't really very open-source friendly. Some of the source code is available for older versions. CGIProxy, the "other half" of Peacefire.org's firewall-bustin' solution, is a perl program and thus "open source", but the licensing is somewhat muddled: http://www.jmarshall.com/tools/cgiproxy/faq.html#
The good news is that if you already have a web server doing SSL, just drop the CGIProxy software into a dir and have at it. I happen to use it and it works fine.
Does anyone know of a true open source, gpl-licensed alternative to OpenSA/CGIProxy. The requirements are: it be relatively easy to setup/install/use. Oh, and secure, too. And yes, I am aware of the "Security, Features or Ease-of-use - pick any two" quip, but I still want to hear what people think about this question.