Also, the only landers ever to return pictures from the surface of Venus were Soviet. See here. It's pretty amazing what was accomplished there, considering that surface temperatures are hot enough to melt lead. Venera 7 (1970) was also the first man-made craft to return signals from another planet.
Odd Todd has some good suggestions. I especially like Captain Todd's Mac 'n' Cheese surprise. He also has a book entitled "Hard Times, Soft Couch" with some good suggestions to get you through your period of unemployment. It's good. Not necessarily practical, but it'll provide a momentary distraction anyway.
Ah, but Perl supplies the undef() operator for just this reason: In the event that a structure may be circular, you can always explicitly blast it at the end of the scope.
Just because a language has some garbage collecting features doesn't mean you can live by poor coding standards (like not cleaning up after yourself). Besides, a full mark-and-sweep algorithm is quite an additional load on the processor. (one more reason why Java is slow.)
Hey, now, that's no fair. Just Friday I installed OpenBSD 2.8 on a 486/33 with a 200MB hard drive. I have also successfully installed Debian 2.0 on a 386/16 with 80 MB of hard drive, and 6 MB of ram. Some of the operating systems out there are still usable, and I can think of two ways right now on my home network in which I am using 486's. I've got an OpenBSD firewall setup (the aforementioned 33) and I've also got a webcam server running boa on a 486/133. Granted, I don't get gonzo amounts of hits (we're talking 5-10 hits per day on a busy day) but I use the firewall constantly on my 10 Mbps connection and I haven't seen any performance hit since the installation. I can even run an IDS on it without much trouble.
Whether or not a 486 is still useful really depends on what you intend to use it for. I find there are lots of uses, none of which are Beowulf clustering, mp3 encoding, playing DVD's, serving as windows NT domain controller (primary or backup), or serving out 100,000+ hits per day. Firewall, limited use web/e-mail/ftp server, sure. Just as long as you don't ask too much it will perform just fine.
For the record, I think that trying to install RedHat is, in fact, asking too much for a 486. Mandrake is all Pentium optimized, so just forget about it.
The slashdot blurb says "early 2001" for release date, but early 2001 has already come and mostly gone. The article itself says 2002. Seems like slashdot could use some editors.
I've found that pretty much mice of any sort irritate my wrists:)
The problem as I see it is not that there's a shortage of symmetrical trackballs but that there tend to be a lot nicer features on the right-hand only models. Take the Kensington TurboRing, for example. That seems like a really useful widget, but you can't get it on an ambidextrous model. Or a scroll wheel. I've only seen two ambidextrous trackballs with scroll wheels and both of those have the wheel in an inconvenient position (dead center, of course). If I had a wheel under one of my fingers, (like on the logitech right hand only models) it might be useful but when the wheel is centered directly under my palm it's not convenient enough to be useful.
And while I'm griping, pointer devices just aren't big enough. Even the so-called extra-big models still seem like puny little playthings under my 9-inch long (from wrist crease to middle fingertip) hands. I want a solid quartz ball the size of a grapefruit sitting in a huge ergo-freakin-nomic left handed slab of polished rosewood, dangit! And buttons! 10 HUGE buttons, two under each finger. And it should GLOW. Like with neon or something. Yeah. Like that.
A couple of years ago, I tried to cut off part of my right hand (okay, it was really an accident) and ended up with my right arm in a brace for several months. Since my work just happens to involve computers (whose doesn't these days?) I had to come up with some way to point. I tried mousing left-handed but since I normally write, throw, eat, etc with my right hand it was a complete failure. I couldn't (and still can't) control a mouse with my left hand. But, I learned to use an "ambidextrous" (as someone else said, equally uncomfortable for both hands) trackball with my left hand. Much, much better. In fact, I still prefer it to regular mousing because now that my hand is repaired I can type right-handed & still point with the remaining hand. I can play Half-Life just as well, if not better, becuase now my hands are naturally spread out with left hand on the 'ball and right hand on the keys.
Still, despite long searches, I have been completely unable to find any trackballs which are designed to fit the left hand. I would certainly buy one for the comfort factor alone, as even though an ambidextrous 'ball is more comfortable than a mouse, an ergonomically shaped trackball would be just that much better.
Has anyone else seen left-handed trackballs? I've never, and I've looked extensively. I'm pretty near to just making my own and giving up on the whole pointer industry. Links will definately be appreciated.
Hey, if it's good enough for the Hilton, it's good enough for me. If you want high-quality brew, the French Press wins for me every time. But you can't brew 40 cups in a french press without developing bicep cramps.
Cruise the local Goodwills and thrift stores looking for the Party Perk. Big steel canister deal, with a glass tube on the front so you can tell when it's done. I've seen them selling for sub $15. New, you can pick one up for around $50. See This link for something similar. Makes average industrial grade coffee, around 40 cups at a time, and brews the whole load in around 15-20 minutes. West Bend is the recommended variety, although Delonghi makes a classier 60 cup model for around $130. Keeps the coffee sealed in and warm for a long time so it doesn't get icky. A little stale after 4-6 hours but if you drink as much coffee as you say you do, you'll have no problems keeping it drained. If you can pick up two, you can keep a hot spare while the other brews.
I see these things around the local thrift stores pretty often. Cheap. Mass quantities. Passable quality of brew. Gotta love that.
umm..err... under (most)BSD(s), I believe the command is "make world".
Just be prepared to wait a long, long time for that.
Not dead, just niched beyond recognition
on
Is MiniDisc Dead?
·
· Score: 1
I own an RZ-50 and love it. But when I use it, I get a lot of funny looks, and a lot of people say "hey, what's that thing, some kind of mp3 player?"
For reference, this is in the middle od the U.S., around Indiana, where the ape-descended inhabitants are so amazingly technologically primitive that they still think digital watches are a neat idea.
I like the media. It's durable, and you can fit several in a pocket with no troubles. I often use my recorder to bootleg concerts at local venues (and sometimes it gives me a chance to talk with the artists, too.) Nothing beats it for quality, ease of use, and recording time. And if I could have stored data on it, well...
Anyway, I cast my vote as Not Dead. Probably very close, but Not Dead.
RedHat drops support for Sparc; millions switch to Debian!
On i386, alpha, arm, m68k, PowerPC, sparc, and even Sparc64, Debian is still the breakfast of champions. Once you get past dselect, that is. But they're working on it! That's what apt is for.
There's TopGun SSH, the secure shell client; ptelnet, a telnet client and vt220 serial terminal, and Palmscape, the palm web browser.
Google searches for any of those, possibly including "palmos", will return the appropriate
URLs. I use ptelnet on a regular basis for configuring routers and whatever else you need to plug a serial terminal into.
Debian's core package set consists only of packages that are under the GPL or have licenses which are compatible with the GPL. This is done so they can say "Okay, all of Debian is GPL or equivalent." There also exists a (surprisingly large) collection of pacakges which do not comply with the GPL and as such are distributed under the "non-free" and "contrib" package collections. XV is part of the non-free collection, and I use that fairly often. At this point the only way that the KDE/Qt/TrollTech license mess can be worked out, as I understand it, is for Debian to only distribute KDE as source code because of a clash between the two licenses.
I don't think there's anything stopping them from distributing it all in the non-free section, although I'd have to look at the license again.
Purpure, Purple field chief sable, A black bar at the top of the crest. bend azure A diagonal bar (bend) from top left to bottom right in blue. molet or A star of cadencey (indicating that the third son of the family carries the shield) in gold. (a molet is usually a five-pointed star, though) at middle chief At the top of the shield, in the center. square or at sinister chief A square, in gold, at the top left of the shield (as seen by the person carrying the shield.) arrowheads argent dexter and sinister Arrowhead insignia in silver on both left and right sides.
See? Not that hard. (Not that correct, either). Some info can be found at this link, provided it isn't mangled by the slashdot daemons.
It's not a strict heraldic charge; you're not allowed to put a bend azure on a field purpure like that. And it's very atypical to see a chief of different color from the bend (and uncommon to have both chief and bend). Also, the shape is atypical.
I'm not an expert, but I'll give a try based on what little I know. Someone who knows this stuff a lot better than me is sure to come along and correct it. Here goes anyway.
Purpure, chief sable, bend azure, molet or at middle chief, square or at sinister chief, arrowheads argent dexter and sinister.
Note, molet is a cadency specifying the third son of the family, but it is usually a 5 pointed star. So possibly, replace "molet" with "star of David". And this isn't really my forte anyway. Oh well. It's a start.
As bourbon goes, I recommend Old Fitzgerald. Reasonably priced, but easily as complex and subtle as Maker's Mark. Good stuff. Lots of subtle undertones, and a hint of oak.
Oh yeah, and Guinness. I like alternating between the two. Bourbon, stout, bourbon, stout.. repeat until unconscious. I guess some of us just have stronger stomachs than others. Just keep away from those god-awful sweet mixed drinks and you'll be fine.
Gee, he sounded really positive about it. Seems like the answer's clear: Go the Xanim route. Release GPL'd (or some other open-source licensed) drivers and apps but keep the CSS closed and only distribute it as a compiled object.
Since the unruly among us have come up with a way to brute-force CSS, it shouldn't be hard to plug in a non-proprietary (and clean roomed) brute hack for the pure of source, or just use the shared object for the faint of heart.
Okay, I've seen a lot of "techno" responses, but it doesn't seem like anyone's mentioned FSOL (the Future Sound of London).
Imagine, if you will, the basic principles of classical compositition applied to an "orchestra" of organic/ambient/trance/electronica sounds, with a tremendous variety of different feels from one piece to the next. FSOL is not typical techno. The music is intelligent, complex, and intense.
Great stuff. High on my list of favorites. (right up there with Clapton, Gustav Holst, Aaron Copland, Blues Traveler, Rush, They Might Be Giants, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, and Wagner)
Slashdot Mirror
Also, the only landers ever to return pictures from the surface of Venus were Soviet. See here. It's pretty amazing what was accomplished there, considering that surface temperatures are hot enough to melt lead. Venera 7 (1970) was also the first man-made craft to return signals from another planet.
Odd Todd has some good suggestions. I especially like Captain Todd's Mac 'n' Cheese surprise. He also has a book entitled "Hard Times, Soft Couch" with some good suggestions to get you through your period of unemployment. It's good. Not necessarily practical, but it'll provide a momentary distraction anyway.
This will.
That is all.
Just because a language has some garbage collecting features doesn't mean you can live by poor coding standards (like not cleaning up after yourself). Besides, a full mark-and-sweep algorithm is quite an additional load on the processor. (one more reason why Java is slow.)
Whether or not a 486 is still useful really depends on what you intend to use it for. I find there are lots of uses, none of which are Beowulf clustering, mp3 encoding, playing DVD's, serving as windows NT domain controller (primary or backup), or serving out 100,000+ hits per day. Firewall, limited use web/e-mail/ftp server, sure. Just as long as you don't ask too much it will perform just fine.
For the record, I think that trying to install RedHat is, in fact, asking too much for a 486. Mandrake is all Pentium optimized, so just forget about it.
Just another Old Hardware fiend,
leapfrog
The problem as I see it is not that there's a shortage of symmetrical trackballs but that there tend to be a lot nicer features on the right-hand only models. Take the Kensington TurboRing, for example. That seems like a really useful widget, but you can't get it on an ambidextrous model. Or a scroll wheel. I've only seen two ambidextrous trackballs with scroll wheels and both of those have the wheel in an inconvenient position (dead center, of course). If I had a wheel under one of my fingers, (like on the logitech right hand only models) it might be useful but when the wheel is centered directly under my palm it's not convenient enough to be useful.
And while I'm griping, pointer devices just aren't big enough. Even the so-called extra-big models still seem like puny little playthings under my 9-inch long (from wrist crease to middle fingertip) hands. I want a solid quartz ball the size of a grapefruit sitting in a huge ergo-freakin-nomic left handed slab of polished rosewood, dangit! And buttons! 10 HUGE buttons, two under each finger. And it should GLOW. Like with neon or something. Yeah. Like that.
END RANT.
Still, despite long searches, I have been completely unable to find any trackballs which are designed to fit the left hand. I would certainly buy one for the comfort factor alone, as even though an ambidextrous 'ball is more comfortable than a mouse, an ergonomically shaped trackball would be just that much better.
Has anyone else seen left-handed trackballs? I've never, and I've looked extensively. I'm pretty near to just making my own and giving up on the whole pointer industry. Links will definately be appreciated.
I see these things around the local thrift stores pretty often. Cheap. Mass quantities. Passable quality of brew. Gotta love that.
Just be prepared to wait a long, long time for that.
I like the media. It's durable, and you can fit several in a pocket with no troubles. I often use my recorder to bootleg concerts at local venues (and sometimes it gives me a chance to talk with the artists, too.) Nothing beats it for quality, ease of use, and recording time. And if I could have stored data on it, well...
Anyway, I cast my vote as Not Dead. Probably very close, but Not Dead.
RedHat drops support for Sparc; millions switch to Debian!
On i386, alpha, arm, m68k, PowerPC, sparc, and even Sparc64, Debian is still the breakfast of champions. Once you get past dselect, that is. But they're working on it! That's what apt is for.
Google searches for any of those, possibly including "palmos", will return the appropriate URLs. I use ptelnet on a regular basis for configuring routers and whatever else you need to plug a serial terminal into.
Hope this helps!
I don't think there's anything stopping them from distributing it all in the non-free section, although I'd have to look at the license again.
Leapfrog (yet another Debian user)
Hmmm.. Seems like it would fit the spirit of the project.
Purple field
chief sable,
A black bar at the top of the crest.
bend azure
A diagonal bar (bend) from top left to bottom right in blue.
molet or
A star of cadencey (indicating that the third son of the family carries the shield) in gold. (a molet is usually a five-pointed star, though)
at middle chief
At the top of the shield, in the center.
square or at sinister chief
A square, in gold, at the top left of the shield (as seen by the person carrying the shield.)
arrowheads argent dexter and sinister
Arrowhead insignia in silver on both left and right sides.
See? Not that hard. (Not that correct, either). Some info can be found at this link, provided it isn't mangled by the slashdot daemons.
I'm not an expert, but I'll give a try based on what little I know. Someone who knows this stuff a lot better than me is sure to come along and correct it. Here goes anyway.
Purpure, chief sable, bend azure, molet or at middle chief, square or at sinister chief, arrowheads argent dexter and sinister.
Note, molet is a cadency specifying the third son of the family, but it is usually a 5 pointed star. So possibly, replace "molet" with "star of David". And this isn't really my forte anyway. Oh well. It's a start.
Oh yeah, and Guinness. I like alternating between the two. Bourbon, stout, bourbon, stout.. repeat until unconscious. I guess some of us just have stronger stomachs than others. Just keep away from those god-awful sweet mixed drinks and you'll be fine.
Leapfrog
Sorry, couldn't help myself.
Hey, I bet Perl could do that!
One of these days, I gotta start reworking tkweb. Of course, everyone knows that Perl can do anything.
Leapfrog
Since the unruly among us have come up with a way to brute-force CSS, it shouldn't be hard to plug in a non-proprietary (and clean roomed) brute hack for the pure of source, or just use the shared object for the faint of heart.
Imagine, if you will, the basic principles of classical compositition applied to an "orchestra" of organic/ambient/trance/electronica sounds, with a tremendous variety of different feels from one piece to the next. FSOL is not typical techno. The music is intelligent, complex, and intense.
Great stuff. High on my list of favorites. (right up there with Clapton, Gustav Holst, Aaron Copland, Blues Traveler, Rush, They Might Be Giants, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, and Wagner)
Leapfrog