OK, I haven't the patience to read ALL of the comments on this article, because many of you are posting complete crap.
First, this is NOT BS. It MAY really work (see below). Second, if this is over your head, go read MSNBC or shut up. Slashdot is techie oriented and you either enjoy, ignore, or go elsewhere.
Third, this has been done before. However, ILECs (big, bad old Bells and their similars) heard about this and decided that an alarm circuit was NOT the same as a dry pair - they started putting filters on them so people couldn't run them as T1 circuits. This is what I heard several years ago before DSL became popular - and this may not be entirely true. I heard this from a Bell guy and they routinely lie, out of habit. So Crigley is not inventing anything new here, but is merely popularizing it. And I see nothing wrong with that, except:
Fourth: On a mailing list I am on, this URL was posted. A Cisco Jock, with many years of ISP/NSP experience, said that anyone doing this could get into big trouble if this 'alarm circuit' was causing trouble as it was being used inappropriately, and could be socked with $10K in costs and lose the line. I noticed an anonymous coward posting something similar, above, I wonder if it was the same guy -- anyone with specifics please respond.
So, if in spite of all this, you want to proceed, let me give you more info (and enough rope to hang yourself with, perhaps): ILECs are required by tariffs to offer certain services at certain prices. Some of these, they don't want to offer but have to, if the customer asks. However, customer service representatives seem to be trained NOT to help you if you don't know EXACTLY what the OFFICIAL name of the service is. These are called "non-marketed services". You must know the proper name, which varies from state to state. For instance, most people don't know about call-forward-busy available in massachusetts for only $1/mo -- because it isn't marketed (also note that you have to pay a service charge each time you want to change the number forwarded too!). If you're really interested, go get a copy of the ILEC's tarriff from the appropriate state agency. I keep on meaning to, but have never got around to it.
If it wasn't for the caveats mentioned above, this would be a great idea. I have been playing with the radio based wireless stuff for a long time now (guerrilla.net) and I know that it's not reliable, high speed, and over a decent distance all at the same time (I'd say "pick two", but you might not even get 2 of 3!). But until we have addressed the issues mentioned above, this may not be a good idea.
Look for a future article on guerrilla.net on this, once we have sorted the facts out and investigated urban myths.
You know, this kind of shit really bugs me. But as long as WE know how to get rid of it, why do we really worry?
Joe consumer is stupid. This is just another tax on stupidity. Stupid people shouldn't have any money. This helps that. Also, such things plough more money back into the Internet economy, and keeps the smart people from having to work at walmart. So just use linux & netscape, and let all the IE people pay your bills. Really. Fuck 'em.
This isn't to say I like it, just saying it's worth picking your battles and the DMCA and the Drug War are far larger problems.
AH he is correct. I was going to post about the Epson, which I saw again after many years at the MIT flea, with it's microcasette drive.
I never owned an epson but did own both a model 100 and model 102, along with the acoustic coupled modem. I got a lot of wierd looks at phone booths in the mid 80s with it, especially considering how I looked (teenage punk). Which is probably not too wise considering what I was doing!
Over the years, both computers managed to get Stolen. Shucks.
oops, sorry about the blank post before. Anyhow, this whole HolyBible application just bugs me. I think the last thing these people need is a solar powered pulpit to espouse more "Birth Control Is Wrong" Bullshit in places where it is so well needed.
Flourescent lights hurt my eyes. How about LED lights? they've come a long way, baby. The most efficient, coolest, and longest lasting of all light sources (other than the sun) invented so far. The problem is their spectrum is limited, so getting nice, white light out of them has been difficult. But a lot has happened lately. There are already LED flashlights, expect to see more of them in the next few years.
Well Siemens is by far NOT the only quality manufacturer. There are many. If you look around, you'll see that the base cost of solar cells is about $4/Watt. You'll still need to add housing, cooling (cells work better in the cold), voltage control, storage, and distribution. These cost. But the largest cost is the cells themselves. Which are generally rated for 25 year life span.
Of course, if Net Metering were in full effect (see my post on Net Metering further down), our storage systems wouldn't need to be so large, which would save quite a bit of money.
If the government really cared about getting alternative energy in use here in the US, they'd enforce net metering laws. What this means is: you hook up your [wind|solar|thermonuclear] electrical source to the grid, and when you put electricity back into the grid you get credit for it. Simple enough. With older technology, all that was required was a device to make sure that your current was in phase with the grid, and your meter would run 'backwards'. Now with the new, electronic meters, doing so would make you PAY for the electricity you put into the grid! This is absurd. In many states there are LAWS that REQUIRE the utilities to implement net metering, but they are being blatantly ignored. If you want more info, read Home Power Magazine, which has really good info, all in an archive for FREE! (but hey, subscribe, send them some money, it's a worthy cause).
In case anyone is interested, there is a VLF "free band" at 160-190 kHz in the US. Though output is restricted to 1 watt, and there are limits on antenna length which greatly limit the effective range, communications from hawaii to california have been achieved. Over land, contacts of over 1000 miles have been made with 1900 miles being the record.
I noticed I have a slight dust allergy, so I went and spend $50 on an air cleaner from Sears. It works great! Now, I just wish they'd combine an air cleaner and a humidifier into the same unit.
THere's lot's more than fungus to worry about. Dust mites, pollen, soot, insects alive & dead - all can be bad for you.
I also read somewhere than there's a fair amount of radioactivity in common dust. I have yet to take a geiger counter to my dust filter or vacuum cleaner bag, but if anyone has a counter, I'd be interested in hearing the results it they did.
Goddard launched from Auburn, MA just outside of Worcester. If you are driving on the Mass. Pike, and know just where to look, you can see the stop, which has a monument.
After being stung by the press with their nasty dismissal of his first experiments, he was secretive for the rest of his life. I wonder if the denizens of slashdot would have treated him any better.
Re:Invention without Ethics
on
Paper Phones
·
· Score: 1
Incredibly cheap e-books which will dissolve after the first reading. Hacking the book so it doesn't self destruct will be against the DMCA. Just what we need.
Re:I liked the inventor's rationale...
on
Paper Phones
·
· Score: 1
Yup...she's also working on paper laptops. I have a feeling this will be a little more difficult....But I am sure Microsoft would love it!
A friend of mine used to work at a development place. These things use normal film. Also, they use two AA batteries which usually have plenty of charge left. She gave me a whole pile of good batteries out of these things. Better than throwing them away. Now, we need to find a use for the rest of these....(note...I dunno about these polaroid gadgets...)
Re:Found it... sort of.
on
Paper Phones
·
· Score: 1
Chump. Everyone knows that 'Cracker' is a derogatory term for white people. And a 'Hacker' is someone who makes furniture with an axe.
Since I pretty much listen to nothing from teh major labels, hwo about they actually pay record companies by how much stuff of their artists is downloaded? Also, what % goes to the users? it had better be pretty high.
CanSat should not be called a satellite by any stretch of the imagination. What they are doing is interesting, but not really any more so than the balloon experiments people have been doing for years.
If you are REALLY going to launch a satellite, why are you worried about US laws? You want to do it from some place near the equator anyhow (This is why the ESA uses Kourou, rather than some European site). Do it from a ship, and don't worry about US law.
SlashSat would be a waste. If you are interested in getting something interesting into space, hook up with an existing group. This stuff isn't easy. You can't "let the compiler do the debuggin" like all of you programmers are used to.
With AO-40 hobbling along, AMSAT (ham radio satellite group) will have to do some real soul-searching about their future. That thing was so expensive, and now it doesn't work. Personally, I'd like to see more, smaller satellites. I'd also suggest a limited lifetime, in order to keep too much junk from accumulating in orbit.
I'd like to have a group of LEO ham satellites in orbit, that any any time at least one will be available. There should be voice & data operation, but with more of a concentration on data as time goes by. New modes & methods should be developed for medium-speed (9600-19200 kbps), high reliability, low cost digital modes.
The loss or impairment of a single satellite shouldn't have the affect that the dead AO-40 does, now.
Slashdot Mirror
OK, I haven't the patience to read ALL of the comments on this article, because many of you are posting complete crap.
First, this is NOT BS. It MAY really work (see below). Second, if this is over your head, go read MSNBC or shut up. Slashdot is techie oriented and you either enjoy, ignore, or go elsewhere.
Third, this has been done before. However, ILECs (big, bad old Bells and their similars) heard about this and decided that an alarm circuit was NOT the same as a dry pair - they started putting filters on them so people couldn't run them as T1 circuits. This is what I heard several years ago before DSL became popular - and this may not be entirely true. I heard this from a Bell guy and they routinely lie, out of habit. So Crigley is not inventing anything new here, but is merely popularizing it. And I see nothing wrong with that, except:
Fourth: On a mailing list I am on, this URL was posted. A Cisco Jock, with many years of ISP/NSP experience, said that anyone doing this could get into big trouble if this 'alarm circuit' was causing trouble as it was being used inappropriately, and could be socked with $10K in costs and lose the line. I noticed an anonymous coward posting something similar, above, I wonder if it was the same guy -- anyone with specifics please respond.
So, if in spite of all this, you want to proceed, let me give you more info (and enough rope to hang yourself with, perhaps): ILECs are required by tariffs to offer certain services at certain prices. Some of these, they don't want to offer but have to, if the customer asks. However, customer service representatives seem to be trained NOT to help you if you don't know EXACTLY what the OFFICIAL name of the service is. These are called "non-marketed services". You must know the proper name, which varies from state to state. For instance, most people don't know about call-forward-busy available in massachusetts for only $1/mo -- because it isn't marketed (also note that you have to pay a service charge each time you want to change the number forwarded too!). If you're really interested, go get a copy of the ILEC's tarriff from the appropriate state agency. I keep on meaning to, but have never got around to it.
If it wasn't for the caveats mentioned above, this would be a great idea. I have been playing with the radio based wireless stuff for a long time now (guerrilla.net) and I know that it's not reliable, high speed, and over a decent distance all at the same time (I'd say "pick two", but you might not even get 2 of 3!). But until we have addressed the issues mentioned above, this may not be a good idea.
Look for a future article on guerrilla.net on this, once we have sorted the facts out and investigated urban myths.
ho ho ho ...monolithic kernel vs. HURD...Torvalds and Tannenbaum fought this war already, check your history. It's obvious that Tannenbaum LOST.
You know, this kind of shit really bugs me. But as long as WE know how to get rid of it, why do we really worry?
Joe consumer is stupid. This is just another tax on stupidity. Stupid people shouldn't have any money. This helps that. Also, such things plough more money back into the Internet economy, and keeps the smart people from having to work at walmart. So just use linux & netscape, and let all the IE people pay your bills. Really. Fuck 'em.
This isn't to say I like it, just saying it's worth picking your battles and the DMCA and the Drug War are far larger problems.
AH he is correct. I was going to post about the Epson, which I saw again after many years at the MIT flea, with it's microcasette drive. I never owned an epson but did own both a model 100 and model 102, along with the acoustic coupled modem. I got a lot of wierd looks at phone booths in the mid 80s with it, especially considering how I looked (teenage punk). Which is probably not too wise considering what I was doing! Over the years, both computers managed to get Stolen. Shucks.
oops, sorry about the blank post before. Anyhow, this whole HolyBible application just bugs me. I think the last thing these people need is a solar powered pulpit to espouse more "Birth Control Is Wrong" Bullshit in places where it is so well needed.
"This is for when the radio is broken and crackles like uranium orchids."
It's actually a line from a poem, but think of the story that could follow.
Center of Mass? Worcester area?
Flourescent lights hurt my eyes. How about LED lights? they've come a long way, baby. The most efficient, coolest, and longest lasting of all light sources (other than the sun) invented so far. The problem is their spectrum is limited, so getting nice, white light out of them has been difficult. But a lot has happened lately. There are already LED flashlights, expect to see more of them in the next few years.
Well Siemens is by far NOT the only quality manufacturer. There are many. If you look around, you'll see that the base cost of solar cells is about $4/Watt. You'll still need to add housing, cooling (cells work better in the cold), voltage control, storage, and distribution. These cost. But the largest cost is the cells themselves. Which are generally rated for 25 year life span.
Of course, if Net Metering were in full effect (see my post on Net Metering further down), our storage systems wouldn't need to be so large, which would save quite a bit of money.
If the government really cared about getting alternative energy in use here in the US, they'd enforce net metering laws. What this means is: you hook up your [wind|solar|thermonuclear] electrical source to the grid, and when you put electricity back into the grid you get credit for it. Simple enough. With older technology, all that was required was a device to make sure that your current was in phase with the grid, and your meter would run 'backwards'. Now with the new, electronic meters, doing so would make you PAY for the electricity you put into the grid! This is absurd. In many states there are LAWS that REQUIRE the utilities to implement net metering, but they are being blatantly ignored. If you want more info, read Home Power Magazine, which has really good info, all in an archive for FREE! (but hey, subscribe, send them some money, it's a worthy cause).
I doubt this. Cite who, when, where, etc.
What the fuck is this "must wait 20 seconds" shit. what a load of crap.
Yes, I am returning. I will be fighting aliens who want to corrupt the earth with bad grammer (All your base are belong to us)
for more info
I noticed I have a slight dust allergy, so I went and spend $50 on an air cleaner from Sears. It works great! Now, I just wish they'd combine an air cleaner and a humidifier into the same unit. THere's lot's more than fungus to worry about. Dust mites, pollen, soot, insects alive & dead - all can be bad for you. I also read somewhere than there's a fair amount of radioactivity in common dust. I have yet to take a geiger counter to my dust filter or vacuum cleaner bag, but if anyone has a counter, I'd be interested in hearing the results it they did.
Stupid, old news.
802.11 is insecure, but this is well known.
Goddard launched from Auburn, MA just outside of Worcester. If you are driving on the Mass. Pike, and know just where to look, you can see the stop, which has a monument.
After being stung by the press with their nasty dismissal of his first experiments, he was secretive for the rest of his life. I wonder if the denizens of slashdot would have treated him any better.
Incredibly cheap e-books which will dissolve after the first reading. Hacking the book so it doesn't self destruct will be against the DMCA. Just what we need.
Yup...she's also working on paper laptops. I have a feeling this will be a little more difficult....But I am sure Microsoft would love it!
A friend of mine used to work at a development place. These things use normal film. Also, they use two AA batteries which usually have plenty of charge left. She gave me a whole pile of good batteries out of these things. Better than throwing them away. Now, we need to find a use for the rest of these....(note...I dunno about these polaroid gadgets...)
Chump. Everyone knows that 'Cracker' is a derogatory term for white people. And a 'Hacker' is someone who makes furniture with an axe.
Since I pretty much listen to nothing from teh major labels, hwo about they actually pay record companies by how much stuff of their artists is downloaded? Also, what % goes to the users? it had better be pretty high.
Its in goddamned MARLBORO, which is closer to WORCESTER. How the hell would I get there without a car? CRAP.
wlandump
prismdump
next time do some research before asking a question.
CanSat should not be called a satellite by any stretch of the imagination. What they are doing is interesting, but not really any more so than the balloon experiments people have been doing for years.
If you are REALLY going to launch a satellite, why are you worried about US laws? You want to do it from some place near the equator anyhow (This is why the ESA uses Kourou, rather than some European site). Do it from a ship, and don't worry about US law.
SlashSat would be a waste. If you are interested in getting something interesting into space, hook up with an existing group. This stuff isn't easy. You can't "let the compiler do the debuggin" like all of you programmers are used to.
With AO-40 hobbling along, AMSAT (ham radio satellite group) will have to do some real soul-searching about their future. That thing was so expensive, and now it doesn't work. Personally, I'd like to see more, smaller satellites. I'd also suggest a limited lifetime, in order to keep too much junk from accumulating in orbit.
I'd like to have a group of LEO ham satellites in orbit, that any any time at least one will be available. There should be voice & data operation, but with more of a concentration on data as time goes by. New modes & methods should be developed for medium-speed (9600-19200 kbps), high reliability, low cost digital modes.
The loss or impairment of a single satellite shouldn't have the affect that the dead AO-40 does, now.
The database needs to indicate FHSS, DHSS, or Other (fill in other). Also, some notation of the system's range would be nice.