It used to be "they" (FAA?) complained that laptops were causing problems with the plane's communication/navigation gear. Now, you can use laptops while flying. But all of a sudden, what amounts to an overblown CD drive, causes problems? Is someone smoking crack?
So the question comes up: Can one listen to a CD in a portable CD player on a plane? If so, can one listen to the same CD in a laptop CD-ROM drive? What if you needed to read data off of a CD in the same CD-ROM drive?
Or is it just movies?
Can I play music, but not watch a VCD on the same laptop? Is it the MPAA that is blocking the DVDs on planes (ok, that is a little paranoid - and probably over-complicated)?
Still - I question why an electronic device like a CD-ROM drive is causing problems. If there are problems, then shouldn't the issue be that manufacturers should put better shielding on the drives and/or nav gear? And why would the laptop itself (the CPU, screen, floppy drive, hard drive - in essence, everything about the machine apart from the CD/DVD drive) emit less noise than the CD/DVD drive?
I once set up a Red Hat 5.2 system running XFree to display on TV via a VGA->TV converter I bought off of Ebay. The trick was that the VGA->TV converter needed a 640x480 display, @ 60Hz (IIRC), with a 15 Khz horizontal refresh (I think - it has been a long while). Anyhow, I managed to set up X to use this funky mode, and it displayed fine on the TV. Most cheap VGA->TV converters do this (because the hardware needed to convert other modes is more expensive - RAM for a frame buffer, then scan-conversion hardware, etc). I currently have in my Suse box a Hercules Voodoo Rush card I am hoping to get working like this.
Poke around on my website - I may have the file listed, or maybe a link (look for Tomi Engdahl's site - lot's of good info there).
Unfortunately, I forgot to save my xconfig settings when I removed RedHat (I kick myself everyday for doing this!)...
It wasn't really a neural net - not in the way we tend to think about it. It was something called a Perceptron - basically a very primitive (hey, it was a first step!) form of neural network, built (IIRC) out of real components (that is, each "neuron" was built from discrete parts). This was done in the late 50's - early 60's.
More on perceptrons can be found by doing a search on Google - look up "perceptron history", but here is a couple of links to get you started:
Back in the 40's - 50's people did have to upgrade their home wiring and fuse box to accomodate new-fangled electrical appliances at the time, that were using way more current than what previous appliances did. These appliances were:
Clothes Dryers Hot Water Heaters Dish Washers Air Conditioners
As well as the plethora of other small appliances coming out. Houses simply weren't wired to take the load.
However, I am sure before we see the need for such drastic measures for a computer, we will have a public outcry for better, more efficient software...
"He decided to go to the market." - The person {singular} went to the market (and we know the person is a male).
"They decided to go to the market." - A single person? Multiple people? Male? Female? What?
Now, one can say that it is unknown because the sentence is out of context, so to speak. However, even if I had provided context by preceding the sentence with "Nancy told her cousin to buy some bread.", the use of the word "they" would have only made less sense - because the word "they" indicates multiples, and not the singular "her cousin" of the previous sentence.
Believe me, I "get on" well in life - however, I will not pretend to be "less smart", just to make others feel better.
An SE is an external combustion engine, like a steam engine - however, it works on temperature differentials, not just on heat (ie, put a block of dry ice on the cool side, and leave the hot side at room temperature, and it would still run). Normally, heat is used in such engines, because cold is hard to come by (though I would tend to think such engines would work a bit better on a cold winter day in Maine, heating the hot side with a propane burner or similar).
Also it should be noted that typically (in a well designed SE), the working fluid is sealed in the unit, and never needs replacing. Helium is typically used for efficiency, as well as the fact that it is an inert (and thus, non-corrosive) gas.
You are also correct in stating that the efficiency is limited to how high a differential can be made, and the limits (and cost) for materials to make the engine to acheive this efficiency.
The only other comment I can make is that the quietness of the engine is a good thing in that the quieter it gets, the more efficient it is (because noise = energy waste). I am not saying that diesels or other engines shouldn't be used or investigated, or improved upon - it was just that the original poster's comment prompted me to think of a Stirling cycle engine...
Actually, the word "they" brings the connotation that the subset being referred to consists of more than one individual, whereas the words "he" or "she" do not.
In order to preserve the proper connotation, the proper answer would be to use the word "it", instead of "he" or "she". However, use of the word "it" brings on a set of other incongruities, most notably the reader of the sentence would not know whether the individual of the set being refered to was a human, a dog, or a box. In order to resolve such ambiguities, one must select either the word "he" or "she". Depending on the context the word is being used in, one (and only one) choice is appropriate. In the case where the context cannot resolve the ambiguity, the proper word to use is "he".
Or have we forgot English 101?
Actually, it would be great if there were a sexless pronoun in the english language, but unfortunately, there isn't. One can "break" the language syntax and use the word "they", however, as pointed out above, this can cause problems as well.
I say that we start acting like adults and get off this "politically correct" bandwagon - and start thinking!
Yesterday I was behind a Peterbuilt tractor (no trailer), and I was suprised by it's "get-up-and-go". Maybe the driver was an expert at the gears or something, but normally it sucks to be behind a rig. After this guy got to about fourth or fifth gear (hard to tell - I couldn't go by exaust - nothing was coming out of the stacks! - all I could tell by was the "lifting" of the frame from the axles), he was cruising!
If you could get people to wait five minutes after getting into their car before they could drive away, then practical low-emmision vehicles would probably already be here.
You are absolutely correct on all of your points - but on the above one, I wonder if you had in mind a Stirling Cycle engine (in addition to electric motors)?
Basically, an SC engine is a pure heat engine - it derives its power from the potential heat difference of two sources (ie, such an engine could run on the temperature difference between room-temperature air and a flame, as easily as between room-temperature air and an ice cube). In the past, SC engines haven't been very powerful or cheap to manufacture.
However, in recent times, they have - for use in quiet electric generators, for the most part. One of the other interesting things about an SC engine is the fact that if you turn it, the one side will get hot, and the other cool (think of this thing as a mechanical peltier device). In fact, they can get damn cold - for use as in refrigeration applications.
IIRC, one of the big three managed to make a drivable vehicle back in 50's or 60's that ran great, got excellent "gas" milage, acheived freeway speed - however, one had to wait 5-10 minutes for the engine to begin working after the key was turned "on".
SC engines are amazing devices that have been around for a long time. They are also extremely easy to build (generally the working fluid is helium, but it is possible to build one that uses ordinary air as the working medium)...
What if you took some oil - maybe some relatively thick oil (gear oil?) and mixed in some iron filings, or powder.
Would it be possible to set up a system similar to the "floating globe" thing (you know, where this metal sphere "floats" in the air - an electromagnet is controlled via a closed-loop feedback system measuring where the globe is vertically in relation to the electromagnet)?
I know it wouldn't be rigid (being a liquid and such), so that would possible cause problems - but say that could be overcome - would the force needed to keep it suspended be extreme (as in as big as the floating frog experiment)?
In any case you can see the whole thing starting; today's kids are definitely more cared-for and thus more carefully indoctrinated than they were 20 years ago.
I got a little more scared this past weekend.
My girlfriend and I had a family party - a gathering of family and friends, eating ice cream, cake, chips and dip - talking and such.
I got on the topic of the whole DVD thing, and I spoke of how I watched George Carlin on TV, talking about school uniforms today.
One of my GF's nieces was at the table, and said she liked the school uniforms - her dad was there as well (my GF's brother-in-law), and said he liked the idea of the uniforms because it cost him less as a parent.
You should have seen the look on their faces as I asked how the rest of the indoctrination program was coming along...
Actually, I will tell you: It was BLANK. Utterly and totally BLANK. Almost like I had said nothing (more likely I had said something that didn't fit into their internal worldview model). It disturbed me. Conversation hurridly switched to another topic - my GF told me to be quiet about the whole thing (DVD, MPAA, 2600, etc).
I steadfastly told her and those assembled I would not be quiet on such a topic - because the outcome of everything surrounding it would determine the way our lives would be lived in the near future.
I haven't seen SW:TPM - and I doubt I ever will. Fuck 'em. I don't need their crap ever again. I sure the hell won't see the next one.
I understand your views - maybe they will try to make it as hard as possible to break. But I have news for you:
They won't stop me from trying - even if I have to do it all alone in secret, I WILL DO IT. I will do everything in my power to break what they lock, in order to view what I want to view on MY TERMS. I have constitutionally protected fair-use rights under copyright law.
Or perhaps we should just go into the National Archives (or whereever), grab the original copy of the Constitution, and burn it on the front lawn of the White House - because it seems to mean less to people nowadays than the latest issue of Star magazine with Brittany Spears on the cover.
I know I am late on this thread, but I just sent in $65.00. I wish I had the funds to donate a lot more. I had to donate something - this is what I donated.
Let it be known that I will personally fight this MPAA/DVD and RIAA/MP3 thing, along with any other affronts to my rights, until the day I die.
Corporate America - you are wronging me - bad thing...
Why such a large dish? I am not a radio astronomer, so I am sure there is a good reason. I understand that it is a large parbolic reflector, and of course the bigger it is, the more it can gather. I also like the idea of the single arm mount (damn that thing is HUGE!)...
Why did they choose to build it this way, instead of a large array (such as done in NM)? Is it because errors or other anomalies are introduced into the data when the individual data streams are "combined" in an array - that might mask something or another?
Maybe if web sites used META tags (which my website is lacking in - need to put some in), then somehow set it up so that you had "regions" on the web (which may or may not be coupled in some manner with geographic regions) - maybe there could then be a hierarchy of web search servers - with each being able to be queried by a higher one on the tree (hard to describe - just imagine like a world search server, national search servers, state search servers, county search servers, city search servers - someone could search at any level, and each would pass on the search to others at lower level if needed).
Maybe a distributed net approach, where clients send back where they are going on the web to the city level (or whatever the lowest level is) search servers, who in turn trickle it up the tree (such an approach would be opt-in only, and maybe would allow for the ability to deny certain places the user is browsing to to be sent in - privacy concerns and all). Such a system would be able to rank sites by popularity as well...
Interesting concept when you start thinking about it...
I listened to the whole thing - man, it was funny! I love the song. I must admit, it definitely isn't a polished piece of music, but that gives it an extra "something" - I wouldn't ever re-release a polished version, if I were you...
BTW - Have you had anybody try to listen to the song, and reproduce the code as listened to, just to make sure they both matched (as near as possible - I am sure some people would do things a tad bit differently in certain areas of the song, style-wise)?
DVD's have a very short, finite lifespan. About 10 years or so
If this is true, then I truely fear for the future - if the DVD's have such a limited lifespan, and there are no ways to archive the data contained on the media (short of large terabyte sized systems), how are we to preserve our history, our information, our past?
Besides that, 10 years isn't that long - the disk is small enough and handy enough that it wouldn't make sense for me to purchase another copy (I could justify moving from tapes to CDs - and I held out for a long time - tapes wear and break, and CDs seemed more handy) - I would pissed if my DVD collection (say I purchased 100 disks, for around $2500 in total) was corrupt after only a measly 10 years - I have analog tapes that sound fine, much older than that (and my dad has reel tapes older still - as well as a ton of 78 rpm records).
The MPAA, RIAA, and any other four letter excuse for an organization can piss up a rope!
While I can't host it on Napster, may I place it on my personal homepage (not my website above - I am trying to keep my "politics" away from that)? I know the code it GPL'd, but your work is copyrighted - you have given permission to distribute - maybe a link back to your page. Wow... I guess I could do both, since you are giving permission implicitly by offering it on the net...
While I doubt a poverty stricken family here in the US would buy a 60 inch TV to hook up a free "state" inet appliance, sometimes I see things here that make me wonder...
I was once in line at the grocery store, the individual in front of me was using one of those "fancy" card-swipe "debit" style cards for WIC purchases (welfare approved items - they are using these card things, because welfare stamps are too obvious, and can be bought/sold on the black market). After I got done, I walked out of the store, and saw them putting their groceries away - into the standard "bumpin!" style low-rider truck with a big stereo.
Now, of course, his girlfriend was up front with the kid - the stereo on so loud it hurt my ears, and I was a good 50 ft away. However, it made me wonder - why is this guy on WIC? He has an excellent truck (I mean, the stereo and all the body work isn't free, is it?), he was wearing good clothes - yet he can't afford bread?
I work full time and make a decent salary - what is this guy doing that I'm not? Of course, the snide remark would be "Selling drugs, of course!" - but I see these kinds of people all the time - sometimes I see kids with the hopped up, great paint job and stereo Honda CRX - maybe 16 years old if they are a day - the car has to cost a ton of money (stereo and engine stuff) - did mommy and daddy pay for it (and if they did, are they legally insane)? Or what is this kid doing?
I try to put it outta my mind, but your comment brought it up.
In the end, I hopped into my Ford Ranger, and drove off...
Tucker working with FORD???? You have to be joking!
Do you know anything about the Tucker? If you did, you would know that 49 of the 50 originals are still in drivable condition! In other words, these are cars that are built to last. In addition the prototype still exists.
BTW, you do know that those nifty disk brakes on your car/truck were invented by Tucker? You also know that Tucker's head designer went on to design the Dynasoar for NASA - a forerunner to the Space Shuttle? Padded dashes?
The list of innovations Tucker developed could go on and on - most of them were "appropriated" after Tucker's company went under (due to the big three, like Ford)...
The world lost a little freedom the day Tucker's company was forced under...
It seems like the poster wanted something mainly for home use, for a large collection of media. I could see such a system set up for small libraries as well (non-profit, schools, other small libraries). For these uses, all the problems inherent in a large library management system probably go away.
I would love to see such a system - I have a large collection of books myself that I would love to catalog (I also have a ton of other media that I would love to catalog as well). Such a system would be worth looking into, if it existed. I actually started to design one for my home use, but never got further than data layouts and screen layouts (mainly due to the fact that such an application is, to me at least, while practical, not very sexy or exciting to keep me motivated)...
But here is a better one - take your idea, but put it on one of those credit card shaped/sized CD-R disks (they are like a 3 inch CD-R, but with straight "sides" - the ends are rounded, though). They only hold a 50-100 meg or so. They were originally designed as a "promo" style item - instead of exchanging business cards, you could exchange a whole ton of data (with business card info printed on one side, of course)...
Once upon a time (1990-91) there was a very innovative company called VPL, whose founder was a very bohemian-type dude name Jaron Lanier (I think I got that right). He developed what we consider today, the first "glove" interface. His original glove, according to legend (and fact, actually), was built by him on a kitchen table, so he could play air guitar with his C=64.
A company (VPL) was soon born - the glove was manufactured and sold, along with a few other virtual reality interface devices, including a body suit, and an HMD. The glove idea - well, that was just too unique - and thus, was patented.
When the bottom dropped out in the VR market in the mid-90's, VPL was one of the first to go (though, I think they may have been resurected in some fashion - I have seen a web site). However, the patent lives on. It is broad enough to cover almost any conceivable use for a glove/computer interface - in enough configurations of sensing apparatus (they used fiber optics in the commercial glove, but worked with Mattel on the PowerGlove, which used resistive strain gauges) - that no one has since been able to build a more cost effective glove.
In fact, about the only innovation I have seen in a while was a glove that used the touching of fingers and finger/palm to make gestures, which could then be interpreted (and actually, this seems like a much better way to go)...
My site has further info, if anyone cares to visit...
Slashdot Mirror
Why couldn't you watch a DVD on a plane?
It used to be "they" (FAA?) complained that laptops were causing problems with the plane's communication/navigation gear. Now, you can use laptops while flying. But all of a sudden, what amounts to an overblown CD drive, causes problems? Is someone smoking crack?
So the question comes up: Can one listen to a CD in a portable CD player on a plane? If so, can one listen to the same CD in a laptop CD-ROM drive? What if you needed to read data off of a CD in the same CD-ROM drive?
Or is it just movies?
Can I play music, but not watch a VCD on the same laptop? Is it the MPAA that is blocking the DVDs on planes (ok, that is a little paranoid - and probably over-complicated)?
Still - I question why an electronic device like a CD-ROM drive is causing problems. If there are problems, then shouldn't the issue be that manufacturers should put better shielding on the drives and/or nav gear? And why would the laptop itself (the CPU, screen, floppy drive, hard drive - in essence, everything about the machine apart from the CD/DVD drive) emit less noise than the CD/DVD drive?
I support the EFF - do you?
But not with a BookPC...
I once set up a Red Hat 5.2 system running XFree to display on TV via a VGA->TV converter I bought off of Ebay. The trick was that the VGA->TV converter needed a 640x480 display, @ 60Hz (IIRC), with a 15 Khz horizontal refresh (I think - it has been a long while). Anyhow, I managed to set up X to use this funky mode, and it displayed fine on the TV. Most cheap VGA->TV converters do this (because the hardware needed to convert other modes is more expensive - RAM for a frame buffer, then scan-conversion hardware, etc). I currently have in my Suse box a Hercules Voodoo Rush card I am hoping to get working like this.
Poke around on my website - I may have the file listed, or maybe a link (look for Tomi Engdahl's site - lot's of good info there).
Unfortunately, I forgot to save my xconfig settings when I removed RedHat (I kick myself everyday for doing this!)...
I support the EFF - do you?
It wasn't really a neural net - not in the way we tend to think about it. It was something called a Perceptron - basically a very primitive (hey, it was a first step!) form of neural network, built (IIRC) out of real components (that is, each "neuron" was built from discrete parts). This was done in the late 50's - early 60's.
n .html
More on perceptrons can be found by doing a search on Google - look up "perceptron history", but here is a couple of links to get you started:
http://www.neurocomputing.org/history.htm
http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/Perceptrons.Estebo
I support the EFF - do you?
Back in the 40's - 50's people did have to upgrade their home wiring and fuse box to accomodate new-fangled electrical appliances at the time, that were using way more current than what previous appliances did. These appliances were:
Clothes Dryers
Hot Water Heaters
Dish Washers
Air Conditioners
As well as the plethora of other small appliances coming out. Houses simply weren't wired to take the load.
However, I am sure before we see the need for such drastic measures for a computer, we will have a public outcry for better, more efficient software...
I support the EFF - do you?
Pardon me for remembering high school english!
A simple example should set the course straight:
"He decided to go to the market." - The person {singular} went to the market (and we know the person is a male).
"They decided to go to the market." - A single person? Multiple people? Male? Female? What?
Now, one can say that it is unknown because the sentence is out of context, so to speak. However, even if I had provided context by preceding the sentence with "Nancy told her cousin to buy some bread.", the use of the word "they" would have only made less sense - because the word "they" indicates multiples, and not the singular "her cousin" of the previous sentence.
Believe me, I "get on" well in life - however, I will not pretend to be "less smart", just to make others feel better.
I support the EFF - do you?
An SE is an external combustion engine, like a steam engine - however, it works on temperature differentials, not just on heat (ie, put a block of dry ice on the cool side, and leave the hot side at room temperature, and it would still run). Normally, heat is used in such engines, because cold is hard to come by (though I would tend to think such engines would work a bit better on a cold winter day in Maine, heating the hot side with a propane burner or similar).
Also it should be noted that typically (in a well designed SE), the working fluid is sealed in the unit, and never needs replacing. Helium is typically used for efficiency, as well as the fact that it is an inert (and thus, non-corrosive) gas.
You are also correct in stating that the efficiency is limited to how high a differential can be made, and the limits (and cost) for materials to make the engine to acheive this efficiency.
The only other comment I can make is that the quietness of the engine is a good thing in that the quieter it gets, the more efficient it is (because noise = energy waste). I am not saying that diesels or other engines shouldn't be used or investigated, or improved upon - it was just that the original poster's comment prompted me to think of a Stirling cycle engine...
I support the EFF - do you?
Actually, the word "they" brings the connotation that the subset being referred to consists of more than one individual, whereas the words "he" or "she" do not.
In order to preserve the proper connotation, the proper answer would be to use the word "it", instead of "he" or "she". However, use of the word "it" brings on a set of other incongruities, most notably the reader of the sentence would not know whether the individual of the set being refered to was a human, a dog, or a box. In order to resolve such ambiguities, one must select either the word "he" or "she". Depending on the context the word is being used in, one (and only one) choice is appropriate. In the case where the context cannot resolve the ambiguity, the proper word to use is "he".
Or have we forgot English 101?
Actually, it would be great if there were a sexless pronoun in the english language, but unfortunately, there isn't. One can "break" the language syntax and use the word "they", however, as pointed out above, this can cause problems as well.
I say that we start acting like adults and get off this "politically correct" bandwagon - and start thinking!
I support the EFF - do you?
Not anymore, to be sure...
Yesterday I was behind a Peterbuilt tractor (no trailer), and I was suprised by it's "get-up-and-go". Maybe the driver was an expert at the gears or something, but normally it sucks to be behind a rig. After this guy got to about fourth or fifth gear (hard to tell - I couldn't go by exaust - nothing was coming out of the stacks! - all I could tell by was the "lifting" of the frame from the axles), he was cruising!
I support the EFF - do you?
If you could get people to wait five minutes after getting into their car before they could drive away, then practical low-emmision vehicles would probably already be here.
You are absolutely correct on all of your points - but on the above one, I wonder if you had in mind a Stirling Cycle engine (in addition to electric motors)?
Basically, an SC engine is a pure heat engine - it derives its power from the potential heat difference of two sources (ie, such an engine could run on the temperature difference between room-temperature air and a flame, as easily as between room-temperature air and an ice cube). In the past, SC engines haven't been very powerful or cheap to manufacture.
However, in recent times, they have - for use in quiet electric generators, for the most part. One of the other interesting things about an SC engine is the fact that if you turn it, the one side will get hot, and the other cool (think of this thing as a mechanical peltier device). In fact, they can get damn cold - for use as in refrigeration applications.
IIRC, one of the big three managed to make a drivable vehicle back in 50's or 60's that ran great, got excellent "gas" milage, acheived freeway speed - however, one had to wait 5-10 minutes for the engine to begin working after the key was turned "on".
SC engines are amazing devices that have been around for a long time. They are also extremely easy to build (generally the working fluid is helium, but it is possible to build one that uses ordinary air as the working medium)...
I support the EFF - do you?
Pretty neat and all - kinda got me to thinking...
What if you took some oil - maybe some relatively thick oil (gear oil?) and mixed in some iron filings, or powder.
Would it be possible to set up a system similar to the "floating globe" thing (you know, where this metal sphere "floats" in the air - an electromagnet is controlled via a closed-loop feedback system measuring where the globe is vertically in relation to the electromagnet)?
I know it wouldn't be rigid (being a liquid and such), so that would possible cause problems - but say that could be overcome - would the force needed to keep it suspended be extreme (as in as big as the floating frog experiment)?
Just some crazy thoughts...
I support the EFF - do you?
In any case you can see the whole thing starting; today's kids are definitely more cared-for and thus more carefully indoctrinated than they were 20 years ago.
I got a little more scared this past weekend.
My girlfriend and I had a family party - a gathering of family and friends, eating ice cream, cake, chips and dip - talking and such.
I got on the topic of the whole DVD thing, and I spoke of how I watched George Carlin on TV, talking about school uniforms today.
One of my GF's nieces was at the table, and said she liked the school uniforms - her dad was there as well (my GF's brother-in-law), and said he liked the idea of the uniforms because it cost him less as a parent.
You should have seen the look on their faces as I asked how the rest of the indoctrination program was coming along...
Actually, I will tell you: It was BLANK. Utterly and totally BLANK. Almost like I had said nothing (more likely I had said something that didn't fit into their internal worldview model). It disturbed me. Conversation hurridly switched to another topic - my GF told me to be quiet about the whole thing (DVD, MPAA, 2600, etc).
I steadfastly told her and those assembled I would not be quiet on such a topic - because the outcome of everything surrounding it would determine the way our lives would be lived in the near future.
I don't think I made any friends that day.
I support the EFF - do you?
What makes me disappointed is that no matter what we do, I doubt we even have a chance against hollywood. They are too powerful!
Bullshit! We do so have the power - more than most would believe:
They are producers - we are consumers.
How about we go somewhere else for our lunch, or better yet - perhaps we should make our own sandwiches ourselves, like good adults?
I support the EFF - do you?
Maybe so, but...
I haven't seen SW:TPM - and I doubt I ever will. Fuck 'em. I don't need their crap ever again. I sure the hell won't see the next one.
I understand your views - maybe they will try to make it as hard as possible to break. But I have news for you:
They won't stop me from trying - even if I have to do it all alone in secret, I WILL DO IT. I will do everything in my power to break what they lock, in order to view what I want to view on MY TERMS. I have constitutionally protected fair-use rights under copyright law.
Or perhaps we should just go into the National Archives (or whereever), grab the original copy of the Constitution, and burn it on the front lawn of the White House - because it seems to mean less to people nowadays than the latest issue of Star magazine with Brittany Spears on the cover.
Bastards.
I support the EFF - do you?
I know I am late on this thread, but I just sent in $65.00. I wish I had the funds to donate a lot more. I had to donate something - this is what I donated.
Let it be known that I will personally fight this MPAA/DVD and RIAA/MP3 thing, along with any other affronts to my rights, until the day I die.
Corporate America - you are wronging me - bad thing...
I support the EFF - do you?
Why such a large dish? I am not a radio astronomer, so I am sure there is a good reason. I understand that it is a large parbolic reflector, and of course the bigger it is, the more it can gather. I also like the idea of the single arm mount (damn that thing is HUGE!)...
Why did they choose to build it this way, instead of a large array (such as done in NM)? Is it because errors or other anomalies are introduced into the data when the individual data streams are "combined" in an array - that might mask something or another?
Please, someone - enlighten me!
I support the EFF - do you?
Maybe if web sites used META tags (which my website is lacking in - need to put some in), then somehow set it up so that you had "regions" on the web (which may or may not be coupled in some manner with geographic regions) - maybe there could then be a hierarchy of web search servers - with each being able to be queried by a higher one on the tree (hard to describe - just imagine like a world search server, national search servers, state search servers, county search servers, city search servers - someone could search at any level, and each would pass on the search to others at lower level if needed).
Maybe a distributed net approach, where clients send back where they are going on the web to the city level (or whatever the lowest level is) search servers, who in turn trickle it up the tree (such an approach would be opt-in only, and maybe would allow for the ability to deny certain places the user is browsing to to be sent in - privacy concerns and all). Such a system would be able to rank sites by popularity as well...
Interesting concept when you start thinking about it...
I support the EFF - do you?
Until it becomes the only thing...
Seems like this is the trap so many companies and other organizations are falling into - seeing only the bottom line, to hell with their customers...
I support the EFF - do you?
I listened to the whole thing - man, it was funny! I love the song. I must admit, it definitely isn't a polished piece of music, but that gives it an extra "something" - I wouldn't ever re-release a polished version, if I were you...
BTW - Have you had anybody try to listen to the song, and reproduce the code as listened to, just to make sure they both matched (as near as possible - I am sure some people would do things a tad bit differently in certain areas of the song, style-wise)?
I support the EFF - do you?
DVD's have a very short, finite lifespan. About 10 years or so
If this is true, then I truely fear for the future - if the DVD's have such a limited lifespan, and there are no ways to archive the data contained on the media (short of large terabyte sized systems), how are we to preserve our history, our information, our past?
Besides that, 10 years isn't that long - the disk is small enough and handy enough that it wouldn't make sense for me to purchase another copy (I could justify moving from tapes to CDs - and I held out for a long time - tapes wear and break, and CDs seemed more handy) - I would pissed if my DVD collection (say I purchased 100 disks, for around $2500 in total) was corrupt after only a measly 10 years - I have analog tapes that sound fine, much older than that (and my dad has reel tapes older still - as well as a ton of 78 rpm records).
The MPAA, RIAA, and any other four letter excuse for an organization can piss up a rope!
I support the EFF - do you?
Thank you!
While I can't host it on Napster, may I place it on my personal homepage (not my website above - I am trying to keep my "politics" away from that)? I know the code it GPL'd, but your work is copyrighted - you have given permission to distribute - maybe a link back to your page. Wow... I guess I could do both, since you are giving permission implicitly by offering it on the net...
Once again, thank you! More chaffe - yay!
I support the EFF - do you?
But not too far off the mark...
While I doubt a poverty stricken family here in the US would buy a 60 inch TV to hook up a free "state" inet appliance, sometimes I see things here that make me wonder...
I was once in line at the grocery store, the individual in front of me was using one of those "fancy" card-swipe "debit" style cards for WIC purchases (welfare approved items - they are using these card things, because welfare stamps are too obvious, and can be bought/sold on the black market). After I got done, I walked out of the store, and saw them putting their groceries away - into the standard "bumpin!" style low-rider truck with a big stereo.
Now, of course, his girlfriend was up front with the kid - the stereo on so loud it hurt my ears, and I was a good 50 ft away. However, it made me wonder - why is this guy on WIC? He has an excellent truck (I mean, the stereo and all the body work isn't free, is it?), he was wearing good clothes - yet he can't afford bread?
I work full time and make a decent salary - what is this guy doing that I'm not? Of course, the snide remark would be "Selling drugs, of course!" - but I see these kinds of people all the time - sometimes I see kids with the hopped up, great paint job and stereo Honda CRX - maybe 16 years old if they are a day - the car has to cost a ton of money (stereo and engine stuff) - did mommy and daddy pay for it (and if they did, are they legally insane)? Or what is this kid doing?
I try to put it outta my mind, but your comment brought it up.
In the end, I hopped into my Ford Ranger, and drove off...
I support the EFF - do you?
Tucker working with FORD???? You have to be joking!
Do you know anything about the Tucker? If you did, you would know that 49 of the 50 originals are still in drivable condition! In other words, these are cars that are built to last. In addition the prototype still exists.
BTW, you do know that those nifty disk brakes on your car/truck were invented by Tucker? You also know that Tucker's head designer went on to design the Dynasoar for NASA - a forerunner to the Space Shuttle? Padded dashes?
The list of innovations Tucker developed could go on and on - most of them were "appropriated" after Tucker's company went under (due to the big three, like Ford)...
The world lost a little freedom the day Tucker's company was forced under...
I support the EFF - do you?
It seems like the poster wanted something mainly for home use, for a large collection of media. I could see such a system set up for small libraries as well (non-profit, schools, other small libraries). For these uses, all the problems inherent in a large library management system probably go away.
I would love to see such a system - I have a large collection of books myself that I would love to catalog (I also have a ton of other media that I would love to catalog as well). Such a system would be worth looking into, if it existed. I actually started to design one for my home use, but never got further than data layouts and screen layouts (mainly due to the fact that such an application is, to me at least, while practical, not very sexy or exciting to keep me motivated)...
I support the EFF - do you?
But here is a better one - take your idea, but put it on one of those credit card shaped/sized CD-R disks (they are like a 3 inch CD-R, but with straight "sides" - the ends are rounded, though). They only hold a 50-100 meg or so. They were originally designed as a "promo" style item - instead of exchanging business cards, you could exchange a whole ton of data (with business card info printed on one side, of course)...
I support the EFF - do you?
Once upon a time (1990-91) there was a very innovative company called VPL, whose founder was a very bohemian-type dude name Jaron Lanier (I think I got that right). He developed what we consider today, the first "glove" interface. His original glove, according to legend (and fact, actually), was built by him on a kitchen table, so he could play air guitar with his C=64.
A company (VPL) was soon born - the glove was manufactured and sold, along with a few other virtual reality interface devices, including a body suit, and an HMD. The glove idea - well, that was just too unique - and thus, was patented.
When the bottom dropped out in the VR market in the mid-90's, VPL was one of the first to go (though, I think they may have been resurected in some fashion - I have seen a web site). However, the patent lives on. It is broad enough to cover almost any conceivable use for a glove/computer interface - in enough configurations of sensing apparatus (they used fiber optics in the commercial glove, but worked with Mattel on the PowerGlove, which used resistive strain gauges) - that no one has since been able to build a more cost effective glove.
In fact, about the only innovation I have seen in a while was a glove that used the touching of fingers and finger/palm to make gestures, which could then be interpreted (and actually, this seems like a much better way to go)...
My site has further info, if anyone cares to visit...
I support the EFF - do you?