Alright, I wasn't that young - somewhere in high school - likely a sophmore or junior...
Anyhow, my friend and I did all sorts of weird stuff audio-wise - add outputs to things that didn't have them (hooked his TV speaker up to his stereo for pumpin' bass from the Sega Genesis!), built crazy inputs to stereos by gutting cassettes and using playback heads as inputs (basically rolling our own cassette input interfaces), etc.
One day, I got the idea that I wanted an amplified rubber band (!!!). I liked the sound a plucked rubber band made when you held it in your teeth and plucked it...
I took a piece of wood (a long strip, about 3 feet long, an inch wide, 1/4 inch thick), and glued a headphone speaker facing up about 3 inches from one end. On the other end of the wood strip I placed a small piece of wood dowel, and I placed a similar piece on the other end. I cut a rubber band in half, and stretched it over the dowels, so that the dowels just allowed it to hover and barely press on top of the speaker cone. I ran wires from the speaker into a line-input on an amplifier.
Let's just say that an amplified rubber band doesn't sound bad - but it doesn't sound great, either. I suppose had I built a resonance box or something, then mic'ed that, it would have been better (something to simulate the mouth as the box, in other words). But open air - bleh...
It was fun to do, though - and the last time I was at my parents house, there it still sat in my closet, waiting for another day to be dusted off, plugged in, and plucked again (well, after replacing the rubber band, of course)...
I think part of the problem in becoming overwhelmed by some choices may be lack of critical thinking skills, coupled with sheer laziness.
As an example, I was looking at 80/20's site. They bill themselves as a supplier of "the industrial erector set", selling all manner of parts and services to build just about anything out of extruded T-slotted aluminum.
They claim to be able to save you money as compared to traditional steel metal work, by using an example of a small table-like structure.
Now, I believe this claim when it comes to using their products for industrial fabrication, or whereever you are going to need to hire skilled labor to build the system, or you need the time savings. A quick look would lead you to believe that "well, I should go with 80/20 for everything - it is so much cheaper!" - but what if you are building something for your home? Is it still cheaper?
Take a look at that comparison page again - notice where the cost savings are?
That's right - it is all in the labor. Provided you already own and know how to use steel welding/machining equipment (ie, the basics - a cheap welder, safety equipment, various clamps, angle grinder/cutoff saw) - suddenly the 80/20 solution becomes much, MUCH more expensive. The 80/20 solution saves you money on time expenditures - but if you remove that from the equation for the steel side (home improvement project) - you quickly see that the steel version would only cost about $35.00, whereas the 80/20 solution would still cost over $130.00!
Likely, the end result of the steel table (provided the welds are good), while being heavier, would actually by much, MUCH stronger (probably could support a vehicle), whereas the aluminum - while of lighter weight, would be less durable under extreme stress (now, if the aluminum was welded, instead of bolted together - welds will almost always be stronger than other mechanical joints).
So, the steel version takes longer to build, but is stronger and much cheaper (3-4 times), whereas the 80/20 solutions looks better and takes less time to put together, but is likely less durable and cost much more to purchase.
Most people would look at all of it, and decide to spend the money to offset the time and headache of welding by using 80/20. Others would rather not be lazy, and instead build the more durable solution out of welded steel.
Please note that I am not critical of 80/20's product - the product seems to be a great solution for many problems where you need strength, light-weight, and cheap labor to assemble - perfect for very large or complex jobs. With that said, however, it is not a cost-effective solution for do-it-yourself one-off projects, unless you like throwing money at a problem and not doing any work (in which case, it is probably cheaper to buy a comparable pre-built product, instead)...
I don't know if it appeared in the demo or not, but I do remember that he originally intended the workstations to use two mice (one for each hand), a keyboard, and a set of pedals (for the feet, control or shift functions) to control the system.
I guess this stuff is so old, it is "new" again...
You make a good point, but the bad thing about consoles is that it costs so much to purchase development tools/hardware if you want to develop for them. This makes it pretty much impossible for anyone other than a large company to develop games for these systems. With the PC, while always being a moving target, at least the dev tools (and the hardware) are cheap. Not that any of this matters much anymore, as there seems to be fewer and fewer small team PC productions...
I wanted to post this to find out if anybody else has seen these.
I have in front of me something I found outside the door of my house. I have no clue how it got there.
It is a sticker, with a barcode on it. The number in the barcode reads "79797 97979" - obviously a repeating number, thus it isn't a real barcode (most likely). It still has the backing paper on it (thus, it wasn't ever used), and it looks like someone cut it out with scissors.
Looking on the oposite side of the barcode (ie, the backing side), I can see a reddish line around the outside edge - peeling away a corner reveals this "line" to be metallic in nature (looks like mylar or foil). There is also a metallic spiral (silver under the backing) that leads to the center of the label - whereupon is a larger red metallic square. The red silver traces also lead to that square. The center, where the square is, seems slightly thicker. There is a number "80" printed in the metallic silver next to the red square, between it and the spiral.
Now, this thing has to be an RFID tag of some sort - although it may be a simple one. The strange thing is it appearing outside my door, overnight, in an unused condition - that, and by the appearances of the number (ie, repeating 79), that it is a test or demo tag.
Has anyone seen these before? Does anyone have any comments, etc?
What if you are unable to remove the tag without destroying the product? Did you know that there are already RFID tags embedded in the rubber of automobile (and other) tires? There is no way to remove them without damaging the tire (and likely there is no easy way to disable them - short of a custom built HERF device, targetted at the RFID tag, but then again, you don't know where they buried it in the tread or sidewall)...
First off, RFID tags use radio frequencies, as their name suggests, meaning that they can be read without needing line-of-sight (which in many cases can be a good thing to have, esp for inventory control), like a barcode needs. Furthermore, with a barcode, one can just deface it or slap a piece of tape over it, and it becomes "inoperable" (this can be a detriment for barcodes - how many times have you had to wait for a cashier to type in the barcode when it wouldn't scan because of one reason or another?) - you can't easily and quickly do this with RFID tags.
Secondly, RFID tags can be small - very small, and embedded into the product (between layers of cardboard, in the rubber of shoes - there are already RFID tags in most new tires made today) - removing them or disabling them will be either difficult or impossible after you have bought the product, unless you want to detroy the product.
Finally, barcodes are "open" - anyone can get the spec for a barcode, build a reader, and use them easily - no such thing is available (yet) for RFID tags. In fact, I would be willing to bet that they would only license the spec (like the DVD-CCA) to keep ordinary people from using the tags as they see fit (lots of neat applications could be made if you knew how the tags worked).
Your argument about the corporations sharing the codes/meanings/databases with the government is a moot point - in case you haven't noticed it, the government is the corporations, for all intents and purposes. Government has been bought out, and bows to the corporate machine, giving it whatever it wants or needs, while passing laws favorable to the corporations. Every once in a while a law passes that is favorable to the proles, but this is more so that the proles don't get wary and wise up, and start questioning what is really going on. The corporations are what is really controlling this planet - the governments currently exist only to keep the populace from knowing or understanding what is really going on - a security blanket to shield them from the truth.
Finally, you ignore the fact that if a person is wearing/holding enough RFID tags in various articles on their person, then a profile of them could be made fairly easily. Since those same numbers would be stored in a DB matching the products serial to who bought it (via credit card information, or a SpeedPass-like buying system), a name could be attached to that profile. As more data is collected, the person could be easily tracked from place to place, building up a roadmap of who he visits, who he talks with, etc. This data could be seen as useless, but data on those people would be built up as well - allowing the profiling of groups and possible "organizations" of people (then we get into network theory, 6 degrees, etc).
Lastly, part of the fear is the databases themselves with the personal data - which the individual has no access or control over. Pick up a copy of Database Nation sometime and read it. Then you will understand...
I got an email last night from him saying it was OK for me to scan and post the magazines. I plan on discussing it further with him, though. It isn't that I don't trust him, it is just that in our crazy world with weird IP issues ATM - well, I think I want to get a signed statement from him mailed to me before I actually do it.
Does anybody out there (still reading this, that is) think this is a good idea, or should I just go ahead and scan?
Regardless - this has turned out to be a *great* thing, I think (here's hoping that homebrew VR can make a comeback)...
As part of his Dymaxion "plan" (I dunno - the more I read about this guy, the more he seems like a "hippy" before his time), Buckminster Fuller came up with all sorts of radical and workable ideas and inventions (check out the "Fog Gun" - a shower for a family of four using only 1 pint of water!) - one of which was the idea for a "world electricity grid".
Basically, he took his Dymaxion world map projection (one of the only map projection systems to lay out all of the continents on a flat surface with little to no distortion, showing all the continents in true size/proportion/distance to each other), and layed out the major grid interconnects for world power onto it. The idea being that if the world was using one single power system (heh, a logistic problem in itself, what with differing voltages and frequencies), that fluxuations in consumption and use would be smoothed out worldwide because when half the world was at peak, the other half would not be, thus allowing everyone the benefit of everyone's resources - basically a large power sharing network.
Of course, as one reads more about Bucky's ideas and theories, one quickly realizes that what he puts forth is a complete system for living in harmony with the Earth, its resources, and all of the people on the planet - you can't just take portions of his ideas and use them, ignoring the rest. To do so would be folly and would insure that what you were trying to do would eventually fail...
1. Use cash. 2. Use fake info on member cards - or swap cards with others, or find "lost" cards outside the store (they litter the area!). 3. Don't use the same store all the time. 4. Use cash.
Don't even get me started on the RFID tags embedded in the tires of automobiles...
I don't understand how all of this happenned. While in theory having electronic voting machines could be a good thing, with all the trouble and accusations currently flying about, is it? What for?
All for the problem of "hanging chads" of mechanical punch card machines!
True, true - there was also the issue of the thousands of african-american voters being denied thier right to vote in FL because of being dropped from the rolls (or something) - I don't want to make that sound like it was a minor thing (it wasn't), but that was caused by something outside the polling place - electronic machines wouldn't fix that fiasco.
No, it was all about hanging chads - those little dots of card that are punched out by the machine to mark when a candidate is selected, they didn't get fully punched out (thus, they "hung" in the card), so no one could be certain whether those were supposed to be holes, or not to mark the choice. So - why did this happen?
Well, there are two possibilities: 1) The holes weren't punched cleanly because the hole punches were dull, or 2) The holes weren't punched cleanly because the trays the chads were supposed to fall into were full, and thus the chads couldn't fall out.
Now, we all know that in a lot (all?) of the situations in FL were caused by number 2, and I am sure situation number 1 could also occur. Other than that, though, the machines (in general) work, right? I mean, it wasn't until 2000 that there was this major of a problem, right? Such machines had been in use for decades prior, correct? So, why did this occur?
I can only think of a few reasons, but the greatest reason seems to be laziness (and perhaps money, to a lesser extent). First off, the people who are supposed to be doing their jobs, and emptying the trays, FAILED TO DO SO! Furthermore, it was laziness on the part of engineers of the machines for NOT PROVIDING A DEEP ENOUGH TRAY. A ten gallon bin (instead of a tray) could have easily accommodated all of the users of each machine, without becoming clogged. Lastly, if the hole punch/anvils are replaced with new ones prior to the vote (make them easily replaceable, so that the machines wouldn't need recertification each time they are changed), that would close that issue.
Let the rest of the states use whatever method they feel best with (machine, vv electronic, butterfly ballots, scantron, etc) - and get on with it.
We are talking a very simple "upgrade" to existing equipment. Oh - and "fire" those damn lazy bastards who didn't empty their assigned trays!
Use something like the z-machine (zork) parser. You could start with simple verb-noun parsing, like the old text adventures. One thing about the "gating phrase" - as in ST:TNG, have the computer make a sound, signaling that is it ready for the command - that is a good UI feature, I think, for the voice interface...
Joe replied to me after I emailed him at the above address. He told me that he is wanting to republish PCVR, which is why he has the links up, but that he hasn't had time to convert them over to PDF. I sent an email with my interest, and I am hoping he will respond in kind, maybe I can help him get the project rolling, or something. I will post back here on what happens in the next few days...
Did some searching - found some more information, delved into a bunch of online public records databases. Have yet to find a reliable address or phone number, but I did find his personal website, which didn't exist before (last time I did any searches), so this is a good find. However, following links, etc - it seems like the site may be dead - I am hoping WHOIS will tell me something.
Hmm - looked up "gradecki.com" on google, led me here:
They look like a used parts/computer ebay seller. The site haad an ebay comment from Mr. Gradecki - apparently his ebay ID is cscientist (email of "joe@gradecki.com") - here's hoping my email to him gets answered.
His site, BTW, holds links to PDFs of the magazine - but the links go nowhere. I am hoping to find out more about this from him.
Have you ever tried tracking down an author or a publisher to obtain reprint rights? I have - and I have yet to be successful. I have been more successful in weeding out information from manufacturers of proprietary hardware (for hacking/mod purposes) than I have with finding authors/publishers.
My best example:
I have all of the back issues of PCVR magazine (a magazine put out from 1992-1994 relating to homebrew VR using the PC). I would like to republish and give away CDs or downloads of the articles, but to do so I either need to get each author's permission (then likely reset/retype/reformat the article), or contact the publisher. Both of these options have turned out to be dead ends:
First off, getting permission from each of the authors is nearly impossible: most authors didn't list contact information, the few that did either list compuserve or old AOL addresses, neither of which work anymore. The few that do list real email addresses, those addresses likely don't work either (its been 10+ years after all). To make matters worse, some of the articles were written by the publisher/editor himself!
To understand, the publisher/editor of the magazine started it literally in his home (likely in the kitchen or garage!) - the first few issues are photocopied and stapled. It was a real shoestring publication - more of a 'zine for VR than anything else. A great lot of the information presented in its pages has been lost to the community at large, which is a shame because it seems like every article about 3D this or that here on Slashdot, there are posts asking about how to buy or build an HMD for this FPS or whatnot, or other esoteric 3D hardware - and I would love to be able to point these people to the methods and devices already utilised, so that people don't need to reinvent the wheel (and hitting the same stumbling blocks that were already overcome). This is the information that I want to save.
However, I have been unable to contact the publisher: Joseph D. Gradecki. I won't go into any detail as to what I have done to try to locate him in the past (I have already posted that kind of information in long past articles). Let it suffice to say that he seems to have dropped off the face of the planet, or at least the internet. None of his last know address or phone number information checks out. His last publishers (he wrote a couple of more recent books in the late 90's) have no idea where he is (or if they do, they are not giving me any help, which is possible or likely). I don't have the money to hire a PI or anything.
This is one case where having up-to-date information about where the publisher or author was would help. Furthermore, if there was a small burden to keep the copyright up (like a small fee to be paid, as suggested), I have no doubt that most or all of the authors of these articles would have let them lapse into public-domain long ago...
Over the years, since 1993 or so, I have played with VR and its associated hardware (from a homebrew/garage-level standpoint). In the past few years, I have taken a very laid back approach, not really doing much with VR (other than purchasing old hardware as it appears on the used/surplus market). Why is this?
I have given it a lot of thought, and came to the realization that for the vast majority of tasks that computers are used for, those tasks are inherently two dimensional. These are tasks which are done quicker and easier with a computer, but could be done (albeit slower and more complicated) with paper/pen/pencil. Maybe some scissors and tape as well.
The problem (not really a problem, per se, more of an obstacle in the course to a 3D "desktop") is that what computers do is process information and symbols, both of which have a long history through human progress as 2D representations. From stone cave drawings, to Summerian clay tablets, to papyrus, to paper and ink - information (and the manipulation of that information) has been expressed using two-dimensional interfaces. It is absurd to try to manipulate it otherwise, because it doesn't lend itself to do so.
This is why the WIMP metaphor is so powerful, because it expresses the closest method of paper for computer-aided manipulation of 2D information and symbols. I could also argue that the current file system metaphor of hiearchical folders and documents extends the WIMP ideal.
So, where does this leave 3D?
I have tried to give this great thought. As a programmer, I have always wondered "What is the killer application for VR?". Imagining a 3D desktop didn't make sense, at least with today's HMDs (I was thinking of a fully immersive environment). The limits of resolution and field of view makes presenting 2D information in an HMD a painful thing to actually use. Maybe if the resolution could be bumped up enough where we could simulate a monitor in the 3D world...
A 3D desktop is not where it is at - but surely there are applications where using 3D provides a more intuitive interface than 2D? Some of these applications are being explored and used today, from reporting engines that render information in a 3D manner to see trends and whatnot easier than looking at numbers, to the ever venerable simulation systems used to train pilots (and other operators - IIRC, CAT has a bulldozer simulator), to entertainment uses (re: any FPS out there).
In a similar manner, studies and research being done with augmented reality seem to suggest that 3D interfaces/overlays are most useful when manipulating and interacting in real-world environments. These forms of interfaces seek to provide the information processing power of the computer to allow our everyday world become more intelligent. I can envision a whole slew of applications for this technology (as well as a whole slew of bad uses, such is life).
Unless our use and implementation of language shifts (ie, a three dimensional idea of language, or something even more radical), I do not see a 3D desktop ever coming to light that is truely useful. All attempts will likely feel like trying to manipulate a fork while wearing oven mitts...
There is always a choice - if there weren't any non-smoking restaurants/bars, why didn't one of the non-smokers (since they are the majority, right - 75%?) open one up (if it was needed so bad in an area that had such people to serve, they would supposedly make a killing, huh - wouldn't that be prudent business sense)? Worse case scenario, they could have simply done without, and cooked, eaten, and entertained at home - rather than giving money to those places that allowed it?
They had a choice, but rather than take it, they decided that they would rather push their "outrage" and "morals" upon the smokers, since they were in the minority.
Just wait, alcohol very well might be next (and yeah, just because it was tried and failed miserably before, you think it won't be tried again?)...
I think you mean PICK - "the original write-once, run anywhere" virtual machine!!!
Ok, maybe not that grand, but damn near - did you know that there were PICK CPU's? That is, PICK BASIC, when compiled, compiled down to a form of assembler that ran on a PICK virtual machine, just like a JVM. Well, just the same, there were a few companies that created hardware implementations of that virtual machine as a CPU - to run the compiled code at much faster speeds (just like you have the more limited Java CPUs - the few that exist).
But, all was not to be - like Java, CPU technology leapt ahead of of these real implementations, and PICK to this day continues to be run in "emulation" fashion (though it is termed a variety of different things - D3, Multi-Value, etc)...
I kinda realized that when I posted it (that the force would be radial, instead of spherical) - which is why I suggested the spherical alluminium shell, though that would end up with a hourglass shape in the end.
I would think it would be possible to make a nearly spherical field - maybe using three coils orthogonally opposed? Or maybe using more than three coils?
As far as the energy required, I also realized that it would be a huge amount, perhaps more than the resulting diamond (if it worked, that is), would be worth. Heck, the cost of the capacitors and building(s) to house them would likely be a major limiting factor. Also note that I was thinking of this size (very huge) in regards to the starting size of the carbon sphere (1cm) - leading to a much smaller potential chunk of "diamond", if it worked...
I like to use Ebay for those times to find what I like to think of as "high-value" junk - those tech or other items that, 10 years ago, were ultra-high dollar devices, but now can be obtained ultra-cheap (comparitively).
For example, I recently bid and won an auction for a Virtuality Visette 2 HMD, with a Polhemus 6DOF tracker board. I got it for around $300.00. I knew it wasn't a scam, because the picture showed the device, and it was definitely a pic of an owned device, not a marketing pic or anything. Not many people even own those HMDs, even fewer are selling them. The transaction went very smooth, and I got a nice HMD. Several emails to various people at Polhemus and Arcadia VR later netted me more information about the devices I had purchased - cool!
I have done this with other HMDs and VR devices, as well as other strange "high-dollar" or unique "junk". I see people selling industrial robots, and other stuff of that nature - and they aren't scams. As you noted, if it is considered "junk", it typically isn't a scam (even if the "junk" is going for a few hundred dollars)...
1. Form a dense carbon sphere. Form a dual halve alluminum sphere whose halves smoothly mate together. The sphere is actually a shell, with very thick walls, which surrounds the carbon sphere. For instance, a 3cm outer shell, 1cm thick wall, leaving a 1cm diameter inner sphere for the carbon. Pins hold the sides together.
2. Suspend this sphere in the middle of a very large version of the work coil as described on the site. The machine is also large - maybe building size capacitors, etc.
Slashdot Mirror
Anyhow, my friend and I did all sorts of weird stuff audio-wise - add outputs to things that didn't have them (hooked his TV speaker up to his stereo for pumpin' bass from the Sega Genesis!), built crazy inputs to stereos by gutting cassettes and using playback heads as inputs (basically rolling our own cassette input interfaces), etc.
One day, I got the idea that I wanted an amplified rubber band (!!!). I liked the sound a plucked rubber band made when you held it in your teeth and plucked it...
I took a piece of wood (a long strip, about 3 feet long, an inch wide, 1/4 inch thick), and glued a headphone speaker facing up about 3 inches from one end. On the other end of the wood strip I placed a small piece of wood dowel, and I placed a similar piece on the other end. I cut a rubber band in half, and stretched it over the dowels, so that the dowels just allowed it to hover and barely press on top of the speaker cone. I ran wires from the speaker into a line-input on an amplifier.
Let's just say that an amplified rubber band doesn't sound bad - but it doesn't sound great, either. I suppose had I built a resonance box or something, then mic'ed that, it would have been better (something to simulate the mouth as the box, in other words). But open air - bleh...
It was fun to do, though - and the last time I was at my parents house, there it still sat in my closet, waiting for another day to be dusted off, plugged in, and plucked again (well, after replacing the rubber band, of course)...
As an example, I was looking at 80/20's site. They bill themselves as a supplier of "the industrial erector set", selling all manner of parts and services to build just about anything out of extruded T-slotted aluminum.
They claim to be able to save you money as compared to traditional steel metal work, by using an example of a small table-like structure.
Now, I believe this claim when it comes to using their products for industrial fabrication, or whereever you are going to need to hire skilled labor to build the system, or you need the time savings. A quick look would lead you to believe that "well, I should go with 80/20 for everything - it is so much cheaper!" - but what if you are building something for your home? Is it still cheaper?
Take a look at that comparison page again - notice where the cost savings are?
That's right - it is all in the labor. Provided you already own and know how to use steel welding/machining equipment (ie, the basics - a cheap welder, safety equipment, various clamps, angle grinder/cutoff saw) - suddenly the 80/20 solution becomes much, MUCH more expensive. The 80/20 solution saves you money on time expenditures - but if you remove that from the equation for the steel side (home improvement project) - you quickly see that the steel version would only cost about $35.00, whereas the 80/20 solution would still cost over $130.00!
Likely, the end result of the steel table (provided the welds are good), while being heavier, would actually by much, MUCH stronger (probably could support a vehicle), whereas the aluminum - while of lighter weight, would be less durable under extreme stress (now, if the aluminum was welded, instead of bolted together - welds will almost always be stronger than other mechanical joints).
So, the steel version takes longer to build, but is stronger and much cheaper (3-4 times), whereas the 80/20 solutions looks better and takes less time to put together, but is likely less durable and cost much more to purchase.
Most people would look at all of it, and decide to spend the money to offset the time and headache of welding by using 80/20. Others would rather not be lazy, and instead build the more durable solution out of welded steel.
Please note that I am not critical of 80/20's product - the product seems to be a great solution for many problems where you need strength, light-weight, and cheap labor to assemble - perfect for very large or complex jobs. With that said, however, it is not a cost-effective solution for do-it-yourself one-off projects, unless you like throwing money at a problem and not doing any work (in which case, it is probably cheaper to buy a comparable pre-built product, instead)...
I don't know if it appeared in the demo or not, but I do remember that he originally intended the workstations to use two mice (one for each hand), a keyboard, and a set of pedals (for the feet, control or shift functions) to control the system.
I guess this stuff is so old, it is "new" again...
You make a good point, but the bad thing about consoles is that it costs so much to purchase development tools/hardware if you want to develop for them. This makes it pretty much impossible for anyone other than a large company to develop games for these systems. With the PC, while always being a moving target, at least the dev tools (and the hardware) are cheap. Not that any of this matters much anymore, as there seems to be fewer and fewer small team PC productions...
I have in front of me something I found outside the door of my house. I have no clue how it got there.
It is a sticker, with a barcode on it. The number in the barcode reads "79797 97979" - obviously a repeating number, thus it isn't a real barcode (most likely). It still has the backing paper on it (thus, it wasn't ever used), and it looks like someone cut it out with scissors.
Looking on the oposite side of the barcode (ie, the backing side), I can see a reddish line around the outside edge - peeling away a corner reveals this "line" to be metallic in nature (looks like mylar or foil). There is also a metallic spiral (silver under the backing) that leads to the center of the label - whereupon is a larger red metallic square. The red silver traces also lead to that square. The center, where the square is, seems slightly thicker. There is a number "80" printed in the metallic silver next to the red square, between it and the spiral.
Now, this thing has to be an RFID tag of some sort - although it may be a simple one. The strange thing is it appearing outside my door, overnight, in an unused condition - that, and by the appearances of the number (ie, repeating 79), that it is a test or demo tag.
Has anyone seen these before? Does anyone have any comments, etc?
What if you are unable to remove the tag without destroying the product? Did you know that there are already RFID tags embedded in the rubber of automobile (and other) tires? There is no way to remove them without damaging the tire (and likely there is no easy way to disable them - short of a custom built HERF device, targetted at the RFID tag, but then again, you don't know where they buried it in the tread or sidewall)...
First off, RFID tags use radio frequencies, as their name suggests, meaning that they can be read without needing line-of-sight (which in many cases can be a good thing to have, esp for inventory control), like a barcode needs. Furthermore, with a barcode, one can just deface it or slap a piece of tape over it, and it becomes "inoperable" (this can be a detriment for barcodes - how many times have you had to wait for a cashier to type in the barcode when it wouldn't scan because of one reason or another?) - you can't easily and quickly do this with RFID tags.
Secondly, RFID tags can be small - very small, and embedded into the product (between layers of cardboard, in the rubber of shoes - there are already RFID tags in most new tires made today) - removing them or disabling them will be either difficult or impossible after you have bought the product, unless you want to detroy the product.
Finally, barcodes are "open" - anyone can get the spec for a barcode, build a reader, and use them easily - no such thing is available (yet) for RFID tags. In fact, I would be willing to bet that they would only license the spec (like the DVD-CCA) to keep ordinary people from using the tags as they see fit (lots of neat applications could be made if you knew how the tags worked).
Your argument about the corporations sharing the codes/meanings/databases with the government is a moot point - in case you haven't noticed it, the government is the corporations, for all intents and purposes. Government has been bought out, and bows to the corporate machine, giving it whatever it wants or needs, while passing laws favorable to the corporations. Every once in a while a law passes that is favorable to the proles, but this is more so that the proles don't get wary and wise up, and start questioning what is really going on. The corporations are what is really controlling this planet - the governments currently exist only to keep the populace from knowing or understanding what is really going on - a security blanket to shield them from the truth.
Finally, you ignore the fact that if a person is wearing/holding enough RFID tags in various articles on their person, then a profile of them could be made fairly easily. Since those same numbers would be stored in a DB matching the products serial to who bought it (via credit card information, or a SpeedPass-like buying system), a name could be attached to that profile. As more data is collected, the person could be easily tracked from place to place, building up a roadmap of who he visits, who he talks with, etc. This data could be seen as useless, but data on those people would be built up as well - allowing the profiling of groups and possible "organizations" of people (then we get into network theory, 6 degrees, etc).
Lastly, part of the fear is the databases themselves with the personal data - which the individual has no access or control over. Pick up a copy of Database Nation sometime and read it. Then you will understand...
Other than the "compiled" part - Perl or Python would seem to fit the bill...
Does anybody out there (still reading this, that is) think this is a good idea, or should I just go ahead and scan?
Regardless - this has turned out to be a *great* thing, I think (here's hoping that homebrew VR can make a comeback)...
AirFiber
Basically, he took his Dymaxion world map projection (one of the only map projection systems to lay out all of the continents on a flat surface with little to no distortion, showing all the continents in true size/proportion/distance to each other), and layed out the major grid interconnects for world power onto it. The idea being that if the world was using one single power system (heh, a logistic problem in itself, what with differing voltages and frequencies), that fluxuations in consumption and use would be smoothed out worldwide because when half the world was at peak, the other half would not be, thus allowing everyone the benefit of everyone's resources - basically a large power sharing network.
Of course, as one reads more about Bucky's ideas and theories, one quickly realizes that what he puts forth is a complete system for living in harmony with the Earth, its resources, and all of the people on the planet - you can't just take portions of his ideas and use them, ignoring the rest. To do so would be folly and would insure that what you were trying to do would eventually fail...
1. Use cash.
2. Use fake info on member cards - or swap cards with others, or find "lost" cards outside the store (they litter the area!).
3. Don't use the same store all the time.
4. Use cash.
Don't even get me started on the RFID tags embedded in the tires of automobiles...
All for the problem of "hanging chads" of mechanical punch card machines!
True, true - there was also the issue of the thousands of african-american voters being denied thier right to vote in FL because of being dropped from the rolls (or something) - I don't want to make that sound like it was a minor thing (it wasn't), but that was caused by something outside the polling place - electronic machines wouldn't fix that fiasco.
No, it was all about hanging chads - those little dots of card that are punched out by the machine to mark when a candidate is selected, they didn't get fully punched out (thus, they "hung" in the card), so no one could be certain whether those were supposed to be holes, or not to mark the choice. So - why did this happen?
Well, there are two possibilities: 1) The holes weren't punched cleanly because the hole punches were dull, or 2) The holes weren't punched cleanly because the trays the chads were supposed to fall into were full, and thus the chads couldn't fall out.
Now, we all know that in a lot (all?) of the situations in FL were caused by number 2, and I am sure situation number 1 could also occur. Other than that, though, the machines (in general) work, right? I mean, it wasn't until 2000 that there was this major of a problem, right? Such machines had been in use for decades prior, correct? So, why did this occur?
I can only think of a few reasons, but the greatest reason seems to be laziness (and perhaps money, to a lesser extent). First off, the people who are supposed to be doing their jobs, and emptying the trays, FAILED TO DO SO! Furthermore, it was laziness on the part of engineers of the machines for NOT PROVIDING A DEEP ENOUGH TRAY. A ten gallon bin (instead of a tray) could have easily accommodated all of the users of each machine, without becoming clogged. Lastly, if the hole punch/anvils are replaced with new ones prior to the vote (make them easily replaceable, so that the machines wouldn't need recertification each time they are changed), that would close that issue.
Let the rest of the states use whatever method they feel best with (machine, vv electronic, butterfly ballots, scantron, etc) - and get on with it.
We are talking a very simple "upgrade" to existing equipment. Oh - and "fire" those damn lazy bastards who didn't empty their assigned trays!
...damn gnomes...
Use something like the z-machine (zork) parser. You could start with simple verb-noun parsing, like the old text adventures. One thing about the "gating phrase" - as in ST:TNG, have the computer make a sound, signaling that is it ready for the command - that is a good UI feature, I think, for the voice interface...
Joe replied to me after I emailed him at the above address. He told me that he is wanting to republish PCVR, which is why he has the links up, but that he hasn't had time to convert them over to PDF. I sent an email with my interest, and I am hoping he will respond in kind, maybe I can help him get the project rolling, or something. I will post back here on what happens in the next few days...
Hmm - looked up "gradecki.com" on google, led me here:
Cummings and Associates
They look like a used parts/computer ebay seller. The site haad an ebay comment from Mr. Gradecki - apparently his ebay ID is cscientist (email of "joe@gradecki.com") - here's hoping my email to him gets answered.
His site, BTW, holds links to PDFs of the magazine - but the links go nowhere. I am hoping to find out more about this from him.
Looks like today I may have gotten closer...
My best example:
I have all of the back issues of PCVR magazine (a magazine put out from 1992-1994 relating to homebrew VR using the PC). I would like to republish and give away CDs or downloads of the articles, but to do so I either need to get each author's permission (then likely reset/retype/reformat the article), or contact the publisher. Both of these options have turned out to be dead ends:
First off, getting permission from each of the authors is nearly impossible: most authors didn't list contact information, the few that did either list compuserve or old AOL addresses, neither of which work anymore. The few that do list real email addresses, those addresses likely don't work either (its been 10+ years after all). To make matters worse, some of the articles were written by the publisher/editor himself!
To understand, the publisher/editor of the magazine started it literally in his home (likely in the kitchen or garage!) - the first few issues are photocopied and stapled. It was a real shoestring publication - more of a 'zine for VR than anything else. A great lot of the information presented in its pages has been lost to the community at large, which is a shame because it seems like every article about 3D this or that here on Slashdot, there are posts asking about how to buy or build an HMD for this FPS or whatnot, or other esoteric 3D hardware - and I would love to be able to point these people to the methods and devices already utilised, so that people don't need to reinvent the wheel (and hitting the same stumbling blocks that were already overcome). This is the information that I want to save.
However, I have been unable to contact the publisher: Joseph D. Gradecki. I won't go into any detail as to what I have done to try to locate him in the past (I have already posted that kind of information in long past articles). Let it suffice to say that he seems to have dropped off the face of the planet, or at least the internet. None of his last know address or phone number information checks out. His last publishers (he wrote a couple of more recent books in the late 90's) have no idea where he is (or if they do, they are not giving me any help, which is possible or likely). I don't have the money to hire a PI or anything.
This is one case where having up-to-date information about where the publisher or author was would help. Furthermore, if there was a small burden to keep the copyright up (like a small fee to be paid, as suggested), I have no doubt that most or all of the authors of these articles would have let them lapse into public-domain long ago...
Over the years, since 1993 or so, I have played with VR and its associated hardware (from a homebrew/garage-level standpoint). In the past few years, I have taken a very laid back approach, not really doing much with VR (other than purchasing old hardware as it appears on the used/surplus market). Why is this?
I have given it a lot of thought, and came to the realization that for the vast majority of tasks that computers are used for, those tasks are inherently two dimensional. These are tasks which are done quicker and easier with a computer, but could be done (albeit slower and more complicated) with paper/pen/pencil. Maybe some scissors and tape as well.
The problem (not really a problem, per se, more of an obstacle in the course to a 3D "desktop") is that what computers do is process information and symbols, both of which have a long history through human progress as 2D representations. From stone cave drawings, to Summerian clay tablets, to papyrus, to paper and ink - information (and the manipulation of that information) has been expressed using two-dimensional interfaces. It is absurd to try to manipulate it otherwise, because it doesn't lend itself to do so.
This is why the WIMP metaphor is so powerful, because it expresses the closest method of paper for computer-aided manipulation of 2D information and symbols. I could also argue that the current file system metaphor of hiearchical folders and documents extends the WIMP ideal.
So, where does this leave 3D?
I have tried to give this great thought. As a programmer, I have always wondered "What is the killer application for VR?". Imagining a 3D desktop didn't make sense, at least with today's HMDs (I was thinking of a fully immersive environment). The limits of resolution and field of view makes presenting 2D information in an HMD a painful thing to actually use. Maybe if the resolution could be bumped up enough where we could simulate a monitor in the 3D world...
A 3D desktop is not where it is at - but surely there are applications where using 3D provides a more intuitive interface than 2D? Some of these applications are being explored and used today, from reporting engines that render information in a 3D manner to see trends and whatnot easier than looking at numbers, to the ever venerable simulation systems used to train pilots (and other operators - IIRC, CAT has a bulldozer simulator), to entertainment uses (re: any FPS out there).
In a similar manner, studies and research being done with augmented reality seem to suggest that 3D interfaces/overlays are most useful when manipulating and interacting in real-world environments. These forms of interfaces seek to provide the information processing power of the computer to allow our everyday world become more intelligent. I can envision a whole slew of applications for this technology (as well as a whole slew of bad uses, such is life).
Unless our use and implementation of language shifts (ie, a three dimensional idea of language, or something even more radical), I do not see a 3D desktop ever coming to light that is truely useful. All attempts will likely feel like trying to manipulate a fork while wearing oven mitts...
Disclosure...
They had a choice, but rather than take it, they decided that they would rather push their "outrage" and "morals" upon the smokers, since they were in the minority.
Just wait, alcohol very well might be next (and yeah, just because it was tried and failed miserably before, you think it won't be tried again?)...
Ok, maybe not that grand, but damn near - did you know that there were PICK CPU's? That is, PICK BASIC, when compiled, compiled down to a form of assembler that ran on a PICK virtual machine, just like a JVM. Well, just the same, there were a few companies that created hardware implementations of that virtual machine as a CPU - to run the compiled code at much faster speeds (just like you have the more limited Java CPUs - the few that exist).
But, all was not to be - like Java, CPU technology leapt ahead of of these real implementations, and PICK to this day continues to be run in "emulation" fashion (though it is termed a variety of different things - D3, Multi-Value, etc)...
Crazy history PICK has...
I would think it would be possible to make a nearly spherical field - maybe using three coils orthogonally opposed? Or maybe using more than three coils?
As far as the energy required, I also realized that it would be a huge amount, perhaps more than the resulting diamond (if it worked, that is), would be worth. Heck, the cost of the capacitors and building(s) to house them would likely be a major limiting factor. Also note that I was thinking of this size (very huge) in regards to the starting size of the carbon sphere (1cm) - leading to a much smaller potential chunk of "diamond", if it worked...
For example, I recently bid and won an auction for a Virtuality Visette 2 HMD, with a Polhemus 6DOF tracker board. I got it for around $300.00. I knew it wasn't a scam, because the picture showed the device, and it was definitely a pic of an owned device, not a marketing pic or anything. Not many people even own those HMDs, even fewer are selling them. The transaction went very smooth, and I got a nice HMD. Several emails to various people at Polhemus and Arcadia VR later netted me more information about the devices I had purchased - cool!
I have done this with other HMDs and VR devices, as well as other strange "high-dollar" or unique "junk". I see people selling industrial robots, and other stuff of that nature - and they aren't scams. As you noted, if it is considered "junk", it typically isn't a scam (even if the "junk" is going for a few hundred dollars)...
1. Form a dense carbon sphere. Form a dual halve alluminum sphere whose halves smoothly mate together. The sphere is actually a shell, with very thick walls, which surrounds the carbon sphere. For instance, a 3cm outer shell, 1cm thick wall, leaving a 1cm diameter inner sphere for the carbon. Pins hold the sides together.
2. Suspend this sphere in the middle of a very large version of the work coil as described on the site. The machine is also large - maybe building size capacitors, etc.
3. Charge the puppy up and fire it...
Could you end up with a diamond? Who knows...