It sucks to use Windows at work because I only have one reason to use it - because we have an in-house legacy VB app that I am the main developer for. If I had my way, I would recode the thing in something more modern (ideally, Java) and portable. But I don't make those budgeting decisions! Everything else I do (Java coding and compiling) is done via a terminal program on a Solaris box, plus a text editor and browser on the Doze side.
All of this, aside from the VB dev, could be done under Linux (or any other *nix). Perhaps someday I'll get there (been thinking about building a cheesy VB dev box, and moving to Linux for everything else).
At home, do I "screw around" with Linux? OF COURSE I DO! THAT IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN DOING WITH COMPUTERS FOR THE PAST 18 YEARS! THAT IS WHY I LOVE COMPUTERS! I AM NOT INTO COMPUTERS FOR THE MONEY!
As far as why I thought installing Mozilla was difficult - a lot of times installing software can be a pain under Linux - especially when you go the route I prefer - tarballs. Sometimes they compile, sometimes they don't. And half the time they don't come with easy to use "instructions" on where to put things and what to do (assuming./configure, make, make install - sometimes works, sometimes doesn't). Mozilla had great instructions, but most important of all (which most source distros of software seem to neglect to mention) was the "uninstall" procedure - just delete the directory! I thought that was excellent - actually, why couldn't all open source software be this easy? OK, I know that it isn't possible for everything, but there are so many packages out there that throw shit everywhere, that trying to cleanly uninstall them, if you ever have to, is a major pain - I try to avoid them, unless they seem to be exceptional.
Mandrake 8.1? Never tried it - currently I run SuSE 7.2 personal, over the top of a SuSE 6.4 pro version (kept my apache server, etc). I will always consider myself a Linux newbie - there is just too much to learn - but I am not new to Linux. I am definitely not new to the command line.
BTW - I have grown up - and realizes how much control some people and institutions want over MY PERSONAL LIFE. I feel that, as a free adult, and a citizen of the United States, that I have an inate right to CHOICE, and that I should exercise that right at all times, lest it be TAKEN AWAY FROM ME.
Go bother someone else, AC - you are not wanted here.
But something I agree with and have mentioned in various forums from time to time:
"Intelligent Life" (whatever that may imply) arises from self-organising, complex systems, formed of relatively (to the overall IL) unintelligent parts.
What do I (and really, those greater than me who have proposed this path of research) mean by this?
Simply that a neuron cannot know the brain, an ant cannot know the colony, a bee cannot know the hive, and a person cannot know the corporation.
These small parts cannot know in full the whole of the system of which they are a part. In a sense, right now - corporations may be entities that think and communicate outside and beyond the control and grasp of any human mind. The internet, with its myriad of nodes and servers, may be actually "alive" and "thinking" - yet we would never know it. Corporations connected together via the internet - a symbiotic relationship? Or something more? ???
It is something interesting to think about - whether it is true or not. We have almost no hope of knowing for certain whether it is true or not, much the same as a neuron cannot know itself, but a large collection - well, you know...
I have to say I am very impressed - I have been meaning to try it, never getting around to it - then saying "Well, maybe at 1.0". But, I kept hearing and reading good things about it, and so I decided, after seeing how simple the install was, to go ahead and give it a shot.
I love it - I suppose it will "compete" with my Netscape install now. I think I might install it on my Winders box at work (yeah, it sucks).
In October 2000, I helped set up a demo of a pulsejet engine given by Mark Pauline and Co (of SRL) - the demo was to show off the pulsejet, which was of a valveless design, and could thus run for a long period of time, and didn't have parts that would wear out (unlike typical pulsejet engines, which use a spring metal valve system).
Anyhow, this engine was loud - actually, that doesn't do justice to how loud the engine was - it was bone-shaking loud. When it was running, it was like your entire body - bones and tissue, all - was buzzing with its energy - which, it was!!!
Mark only ran the engine for a few minutes each time, when he was tuning it, or demoing it. He told us (the crew who was helping set up for the demo, which was meant to presage the Ultraviolence show in Phoenix, which never happened because the SFFD contacted the PFD, and...) a story about pulsejets, and why you never want to let one run for a long time, and be around it...
He said he worked on one engine a while back, and ran it for a long time, all the time making adjustments, etc - tuning the engine, basically. He said he ran it for 30 minutes to an hour, and then when he shut it down, he felt numb all over - something like having your entire body being "asleep" (imagine the prickly pins all over your body). He layed down to rest, thinking it was all temporary - eventually the prickly sensation went away - but what came afterward was much, MUCH worse - his nerves were hypersensitised.
Simply moving, or small noises, or puffs of air on his skin, would cause intense waves of pain. He said the condition lasted for a couple of days, then went away. Needless to say, he doesn't run his engines for long times any more.
I thought it was an interesting story. Could a vibrating game controller cause the same reaction? I doubt it, but they can't be good for you if left vibrating for long periods (and unless the motor was stuck on, why would that occur?)...
Is fiber expensive or cheap to run to the house? I think it could be VERY cheap - if they use plastic rather than glass fiber optic lines.
Think of that last 500-1000 feet - plastic fiber optic cable would be very cheap to install, and you would probably still get good bandwidth - no, you wouldn't be able to do a multi-mode, etc setup - but you don't need to - you only need a simple communication setup, and plastic fiber could give that.
I am thinking you could probably get 10-50 Mbps over a plastic line - more than enough for broadband and cable, plus phone service.
Am I missing something? I might be - this isn't an area I have any real expertise in - but it sounds like something that would work - what's to stop it?
I browsed through it briefly when KLAT2 was announced on/. - but didn't come across the PAPERS stuff.
That is a cool project - even cooler was WAPERS - parallel clustering using modified parallel port switchboxes and custom cables - cheap interconnect hardware, to say the least! Even PAPERS didn't look that hard to implement (basically the same kind of system, but using AND gates to tie everything together, resulting in a "safer" system less likely to burn out "non-compliant" ports) - plus you get cool blinking lights!
Hmm - here is an idea - imagine making a PAPERS interface on a "per-machine" basis that fits into a 5 1/4 inch bay (like a bay bus device) - basically, split up the PAPERS box, then build custom interconnect cables (might need two cables per box?) - a real nice custom high-speed interconnect.
I need to look further into this interconnect, and see how it fares against others - cool...
All it says is that if you distribute the binary, you must provide the source - it says nothing about how that source is to be provided (if it was cost effective, they could provide it as one long printout, or a huge deck of punch cards, or on paper tape), as long as it is made available.
You can charge for that source code, but only a fee that would cover the cost of distribution, etc (so, in theory, they could print it all out and give it to you that way, then charge you for paper, ink, electricity, management fees, and shipping and handling - and be legit according to the license - I think the wording is there to prevent "gouging").
Typically, the GPL wants the code to be "with" the binary - ie, distributed at the same time, preferable on the same media as the binary - and that is what we typically see.
But if a company only releases a CD of the binary, they have to give the end user a 3 year term, minimum, to request the source code if they so want it. What is interesting about this clause is that you could distribute a binary only system, and given the proper docs (ie, including copies of the GPL, etc), leave it up to the users, those who care, to ask for the source - instead of just handing it to them whether they want it or not. I am not sure, but I think there is a grain of a valid business method in that...
I have an old Apex AT style switch - VGA, serial mouse, AT keyboard. 6 ports - bought it off a guy on Ebay for $50.00 (!!). I love it.
I am not sure what res it goes up to (high enough for my eyes, though). The serial mouse makes it a bit of a pain, because the mouse has to be a TRUE serial mouse - you can't hang a PS/2 mouse with an adaptor off the thing. Large, square, heavy gauge steel box - in a lovely beige powdercoat...
May not be the latest or greatest, but it was DAMN CHEAP - I dare you to find a 6 port switch anywhere for less than $50.00 (and don't point me to one of those "mechanical" switches - been there and done that, won't go back!)...
Let's take your proposition about Bob, Carol, Ted, and Alice, and have them all sharing a connection via wireless or Cat5...
Now, what do you think the cable co would do if each of them bought the broadband plan, and they ALL shared the aggregate bandwidth (ie, if three of the neighbors were asleep, and Bob decided he needed some high grade Pr0n - he could use the bandwidth of all four cable modems at one time) - of course, this brings up another issue: If the bandwidth is shared by several cable modems, what if all the neighbors simply paid, instead of each getting a cable modem?
Or - what if all the neighbors formed a coop or a corp ($300 or so), and bought one connection to host in the house, and use however they wanted - could this be done?
I know this is slightly rambling - but hearing about shit like this makes ME VERY ANGRY!!!
Sell me the pipe! Sell me the pipe! Sell me the pipe!
My wife's mother owns an old machine called "Wild Side", which dates from the early-70s (can't remember who made it, or exact date) - it still plays, but it needs some work (sometimes the ball gets stuck, etc). I am sure it uses ladder logic or some such for control.
After playing it a few times, I started thinking "pinball machines are simple in scope - most of it is a state machine, an inclined plane, and a ball - how hard would it be to build one?"
After thinking a little bit longer, I realized that it wouldn't exactly be easy to build one, and a little research showed it wouldn't be cheap to custom build one, and that it would take a lot of time, but that it was possible.
So, if you can't find or afford your fix, maybe it is time for the pinball hackers to start building the tables themselves. For a start, here is a site I found, but it hasn't been updated in a long while:
I know there are people out there who have built their own boards and systems - these people should take this site, and expand on it - create a true "build-it-yourself" site and FAQ for pinball table building.
Me? I don't have the room, money, or time to build a pinball table on my own. My restoration time will, someday, go into the refurbishment of a TOMY Atomic Pinball - arguably the smallest "true" pinball table ever made (ok, there may be another, but hey, it's TOMY!)...
I can't comment on the issues in Austrailia, but I believe I know why we complain about rates going up, service going down, etc. In so many words:
We are spoiled.
I can't remember exactly when real home-based "broadband" began to be rolled out here in America on a large scale basis, I think it was around 1996 or so - all that we had at that time was, at best, 56K modems - if you were lucky, and had a good clean line - most people had only 28.8-33.6, and thought it was great...
But then the rollout began, and people loved it - then the.com boom also picked up steam. "Cheap bandwidth and "flashy" sites for all!" became the cry of the day. A lot of people upgraded from relatively flakey modems, to broadband - and quickly found that always-on broadband changed how they used their computers, and how it affected their lives. Online shopping grew, getting news off the net was better than the TV, sometimes even for local coverage, and finding movie times became that much easier.
Broadband is fast and cheap - and that has become the meme of today. Now, most of us know that broadband is anything but cheap - try getting a T-1 to your house someday - hell, try to get ISDN (I remember a time between 56K modems and broadband where a lot of people were trying to get ISDN, and the articles being written up about the pain it was to do this)! But the everyday "joe" doesn't. He (and really, all of us) are spoiled by the speed and the price.
It wasn't an incremental change (like from 9600 baud modems to 14.4 to 28.8, etc - a jump from 56kbps to 1.5mbps, and higher in some cases) - and now we are going to be forced to go back to something a little more reasonable - slower "broadband", if you want it to stay at a reasonable price.
We need to realize something though - and this is something the cable companies and DSL providers don't want you to realize.
First off, these businesses should tier the service - and allow the consumer to pick and choose what they want. Say, start off with an always-on 56kbps up/down line - allow the consumer to tier the up/down ratio depending on what they want to use the line for - browsing, serving, or a combo (and let the consumer run servers, or VPN, or whatnot - people WANT THIS, although most think of it as P2P). For those doing more serving than browsing, charge an amount on the bandwidth used on the upstream side after a flat amount (say 3 gig a month or something), let them use as much downstream bandwidth as they can (ok, up to a certain point, of course), but do something different if they uploading data. But allow the user to serve this data - just make them pay for it.
This is similar in scope to a combo DSL and T-x service (and ISDN) work, on the billing side. DSL allows you (but not without a fine granualarity, from most providers) to change the tier of service depending on what you want to pay, and T-x/ISDN charges for bandwidth, etc used (also, they allow finer control on tiering).
Let the consumer choose his bandwidth needs (like he chooses his telephone needs), and let him use the line how he chooses (within reasonable limits, but don't stop him from running servers, etc completely). If this were to happen, the sting of going from "unlimited" bandwidth to whatever would be much less, I believe, because the user would see what he is gaining.
However, I don't believe this will ever occur, because the main broadband providers don't want the average joe to be able to serve content, as that would compete with their services (in whatever twisted sense they think of it).
Here in Phoenix, there was an initiative passed called Transit 2000. That link is now dead, but here is one that gives the information about it in more detail. Notice the cost. Notice where it is being put. I live here in Phoenix, and I honestly don't know where they plan on getting space along the roads and freeways they plan this thing to follow - it isn't there. That last site says construction is supposed to begin in 2003. I tend to doubt it. Likely the money will be pocketed by our "illustrious" government.
That is system picked. Want to see what we could have had, for far less money, had our government had more vision, and taken a chance on a proven inventor?
Read about SkyTran. I am sure there are a few drawbacks, but I would say the majority of them have been seen to by Mr. Malewicki. His reasoning is sound, and fully documented.
Unfortunately I won't get to see my tax dollars go toward this system...
I think things started to fall apart when it was revealed the the aliens DO exist.
Why?
Because up until that point, the show revolved around conspiracy theorys, and occult knowledge, and how they intertwined. Sure, the govt was involved - but it seemed like it was involved for some other reason - not because of aliens, but because of itself - something secret it was doing THEY didn't want US to know about. The show seemed to be dragging toward the idea that the "grey alien" theory was a scam, something the public in its mindlessness would believe - while the truth was far more sinister.
I liked it when they went "off on tagents" about wierd creatures, events or monsters, some that seem (or did) come straight from tabloid rumors. Others that have been in the collective conscience for a long time. It was a TV version acting out all of those "Unexplained Phenomenon" books you can find moldering in the corners of used book stores.
Why they went away from this concept is beyond me. If they had stuck with it - perhaps elements from the funky things in our REAL world could have been worked in (like that giant strange shaped squid recently, among other recently discovered "mysteries") - maybe explained in a manner that sounds plausible, at least in the X-Files universe.
The other thing that needed to be made clear was Scully's relationship with Mulder (I know, most fans would be disappointed, but hey) - that tension kept the show good, but at some point it had to give - maybe it did in recent seasons, but I haven't watched since they brought in Robery Patrick (is that his name) in lieu of Duchovney (sp?)...
I am putting this idea out for two reasons - to get people thinking, and also to act as a sort of "prior art" for patent reasons (not really sure it would count, though).
Ok, so they are wondering how to power this thing, while keeping it small, right? Well, that little Sarcos blurb got me thinking:
Sarcos's suit will incorporate a separate, hydrogen- or petroleum-fired piston at every joint, an approach that aims to avoid the losses that plague distributed-power systems.
...and here is what I came up with:
You know those pneumatic contraction muscles that exist out there (I think there is also a hydraulic version as well)? They use something akin to a mesh, sorta like a "chinese handcuffs" weave, and a bladder inside that when filled with air (or hydraulic fluid), causes the weave to shorten, contracting the muscle - let me see if I can find a link... Ah, here we are:
Notice the simple construction (hell, it is a construction article!) - some flexible tubing, braided sheathing, and a little simple work, and you can build these yourself!
Ok - now for the unique part (or, at least I think it is unique - I may be wrong, my idea may already be patented or something - I haven't checked - if you know, post here!):
These things use pumps, right? They need something to expand the bladder. Well, typically pneumatic or hydraulic pressure is used - which is all fine and well, except for an exoskeleton app, that power supply tends to be huge. So, let's shrink it!
Instead of generating pressure using a motor power ed compressor - why not generate it using an engine?! How, you may ask? Look at this:
These engines have been around for a while - I have an old Popular Mechanics from 1950 that shows one on the front cover in the use of driving a large freight truck. Essentially, instead of using explosions to drive pistons that turn crankshafts and gears - the movement of the pistons is harnessed directly to pump a working fluid - in most cases hydraulic fluid, I would imagine air could be pumped as well.
Such a power plant could be built small and relatively light weight (I would say lighter in weight and as powerful as a backpack leaf blower engine). Lines could be ran from the engine to the air or hydraulic muscles at the joints.
Now, you may say - why not use regular hydraulic/pneumatic cylinders instead of these "muscles"? This seems to be Sarco's approach, as far as I can tell. Maybe, maybe not. Glad you asked. I wanted to present another power alternative...
Remember that engine - what are we doing: Exploding a fuel in a container causing it to expand greatly, producing power. That power is transmitted in some way to where it is needed - in conventional machines via gears and shafts, in our recently designed exoskeleton via hydraulic/pneumatic lines. But what if you used that exploding gas to drive the muscles? You could hook the lines directly to the combustion chamber, and route the gasses to the muscles - but think outside the box...
Run the fuel lines to the muscles - add an injector at one end, a spark plug at the other, and some kind of exhaust valve system. Make the muscle out of some braided titanium or something (the bladder was just there to keep the working fluid in one place - it isn't a needed device for these muscles - it is the braid that when it expands radially, it contracts laterally) to resist the heat of the explosions. Use a PWM format to "pulse" the explosions in the muscle to vary its "strength". Add some kind of heat dumping system to keep it from overheating.
At that point, the muscles ARE the power source, and the backpack contains control electronics and the fuel tank, etc - ignition coils and such could be built into the spark plug assembly, and the thing becomes a complete fuel/electric machine.
Does any of this sound "do-able"? Does it seem sound reasoning? Is anybody researching this direction? Would anybody be willing to give me a grant to try this out? Sarcos, want to hire me?
Seriously - other than the titanium braid, most of this could be easily fabricated in a home shop! Stick with steel braid and an external combustion chamber, and you could easily do this in a home shop! Maybe I SHOULD DO IT? What do you think? Hmmm...???
...and while it seems to help a bit, it doesn't seem like the ultimate solution.
I have this feeling, that if all of the geeks who are against this "stood up" and said "ENOUGH!", it would only be a whisper amongst shouts of the mob of ignorance and apathy that surrounds us.
It is super, ultra simple to interface your own custom electronics to the ISA bus or hang them off the parallel port. It is also cheap.
The PCI bus is *hard* to design for, simply because of the speed at which it operates necessitates a quality design from the get-go - you can't just hack a circuit and drop it in, and expect it to work. I have no problem with making it look good, but for most fun things, function overrides form, so to speak.
The only saving factors in all of this have been USB interface chips (which makes it easier to interface to USB ports), and "bigger" microcontrollers (like PICs and BASIC Stamps, among others), which allow you to do a lot of hardware hacking, but in a much smaller and easy to use package.
Of course, I know I am "tilting at windmills" - the ISA bus, serial and parallel ports will be doomed in the end...
From the tone of this article, it seems like they want to "up the stakes" and make you buy a copy of a movie PER SET or "rendering device" - ie, DVD player, etc (or at least have the ability to).
It also sounds like they want to limit (ie, take away) the ability to have a central video source and switchboxes, etc that distribute the signal to one or more TVs (this can be done pretty cheaply and easily today - at one time, it was high end audio/video only - and in some cases, still is I imagine - there probably exist multi-drive multi-DVD changers out there, which can sit in a "media closet", with TVs and special transmitter/ remote systems to allow selection of different movies on different sets - it sounds like they want to gut this market as well!).
You know something? I think the "consumer" (I hate that word) is out of the loop - it isn't "what the consumer wants" that drives these corporate behemoths toward profits - it is "they will take this, and like it" - and stupidly, the majority of the sheeple do!!! WTF?!
I am sick of it! SICK OF IT ALL! Damn it, I want what I want - not what they want - f--- that!
When will all of this end? How long has this been going on? At least since 1995 or 1996 - I am tired of this - I want it over! Give us a corporate controlled totalitarian police state with full surveilance and lock down for all sheeple OR MOVE THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY!!!!
I can't begin to really express the way I feel. I know a lot of you feel the same way - SO WHY AREN'T WE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT? WHY DO WE JUST SIT HERE AND COMPLAIN? IS THERE ANYTHING WE CAN _DO_?
I swear - this is like some bad dream. Outside, the sun is shining, life goes on, most people are in ignorant bliss - how I wish I could join them. How I wish I could go and buy a DVD player, a pile of DVDs, and not feel a twinge of guilt. I can't do that. I have expressed here before how I feel I am doing a disservice by owning a 19 inch monitor with a SONY Trinitron tube - simply because it is made by SONY. I am tired.
Tired.
I suppose I will fight on, though, however I can...
What do the new models run (price range)? Is it one of those "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" deals? What is the used market like?
I was under the impression that the unimogs weren't in production anymore, and it was one of those "WWII relic" items, requiring not a lot of money to get one, but a lot to get one back into running condition (ie, parts not made anymore, need to get custom parts crafted, etc). Thanks for enlightening me.
I would love to own one of these trucks, but my budget isn't huge - however, it looks like this dealer (Unimog USA) is near me (relatively) in Goodyear, AZ - so I might have to check them out!
This would be OK with me if it weren't for one fact:
Some shows you will NEVER be able to buy on VHS or DVD - EVER.
Thus, the only way to watch them again in the future is to keep an archive. It is like out-of-print books, except at least with such a thing there is a physical copy, whereas there isn't with a broadcasted show (OK, maybe if you had a real fast starship that could race ahead of the signal in space, then flip around and intercept it - maybe you could get it that way).
Here is a good and recent example: Fox's Millennium.
You will most likely NEVER see any of the episodes come out on a VHS tape or DVD - yeah, say it is syndicated, but so are the old episodes of X-Files, and some of those ARE available on VHS (and DVD?). However, it is unlikely you will EVER get the entire X-Files series on tape or DVD, in order, etc - to watch again - thus the need for archiving.
Another (but older, and not as good) example was the series (ABC?) called "Covington Cross" - not the best show by any stretch, but still an OK show to watch - yet, where can I buy the VHS tape or DVD of the few episodes that exist? Huh? NOWHERE!
Archives are a way of preserving this stuff - how often do you hear about a "lost movie" or photographs being found in a back room of some dusty/moldy warehouse 75-100 years after they were made - and then of course the long, arduous and EXPENSIVE task of restoration that has to be done to view them again? What about things like those early audio-record based "video" recordings of Nipkow disk transmissions - those could have easily been thrown out as "noise", if anybody had a record player to play them with at all!
Archives prevent this loss, so that such information may be preserved for future generations. We do this with books already (LOC), but the only audio and video that goes into the LOC are the bits the studios let out (ie, the published works - not the broadcasted one-hit-wonder works).
Oh, one other series I would love to get in a collection - but I can't: The A-Team
Definitely not designed with networking in mind (for all I know is probably because it wasn't designed or built recently)...
Can you run the cable on the outside? In other words, out a wall up the side, over the top, and down the other side and through the wall? Are there any conduits to allow this?
Given your situation, it truely does look like wireless is the only option...
Yes - current kills - not many milliamps of current are needed directly across the heart to stop it. However...
While I am not sure of the insulative breakdown voltage of skin, I know that it is possible to "feel" lower voltages, but typically they are "switched" or "fluctuating" voltages (like the phone ringer voltage - 50 volts (?) I think). Now, if you can feel that (probably due to less resistance due to sweat and other factors), I would think 48 volts from a battery bank could possibly be felt.
But, it would depend on the battery bank, of course - a bank of hearing aid cells could generate 48 volts, but at such a low current rating there wouldn't be any issue. Now, replace those cells with 12 volt deep-cycle marine batteries - and it is a MUCH different story. Such a bank could easily allow for a hundred or more amps - which could fry you.
As for "it grabbing you and not letting go" - because it is DC, and not AC (which crosses a "0" voltage threshhold per half cycle), your muscles will "clinch" up, not allowing you to let go of the source - I would imagine it would feel like a very bad muscle cramp - given enough current, I would think it might even tear the muscles (maybe, if they didn't cook first). Not a pretty thing to think about.
So, in conclusion - I agree with your statement that "current kills", not voltage. However, it is more complicated than that, because of the difference in breakdown voltage of an insulator (in this case, skin), the current needed to help that along, sweating, etc...
The only reason I can think of is because you live in an apartment - but this isn't a reason at all!
I say this because of my years of apartment living. Given a bit of work, it is possible to route a wire anywhere, and make it look good. The easiest way is to run it next to the baseboards, just underneath the carpet, along the walls. Where you have to go through a wall, drill the holes, and poke the cable through. You might also be able to pry back the baseboards, and install in the crack between the drywall and flooring. Nail the baseboards back, and repaint.
Spackling compound and plaster are your friends. Get a sample of paint (or ask you landlord) and have it colormatched - buy a gallon or two (the latter if you are really ambitious). I remember installing a desk into a walk-in closet - because there was no good joists to hang the desktop from (really crappy closet design), I had to glue and nail the load bearing members to the paint/drywall in the closet. Of course, when I moved, I had to remove these "shelves" - and ripped the paint down to the drywall and beyond (ie, the cardboard - ack!). A bit of spackle, some colormatched paint, and a bit of artfully crinkled paper (to match the "texture") - and I got my deposit back no prob (it looked good, believe me - but just in case, I slightly unscrewed the light, etc to deter close looking).
Various manufacturers also make baseboard-style conduit in various colors - and they can be painted as well. Typically, they are used to run phone or electrical circuits - but they can be used for just about anything, including network cable, etc. You can find them at most big home centers (Home Depot, Lowes, etc). They aren't too cheap for long runs, but they look better than PVC pipe (which could be used in a pinch, I suppose - painted a neutral off-white color, and laid along the baseboards - wouldn't look too bad). These conduits aren't a new idea, BTW - in the "olde-days", phone and electric wiring used to be run in a similar manner in wooden conduits - many times the conduits would be disguised as baseboards, ceiling cornices, and chair rails - so there is another idea (for network cabling only - not sure if it would match code, though - check into it if you care).
If you aren't in an apartment - I appologize. But if you aren't, then where are you living that is preventing such a cable run? If it is your own house, there shouldn't be a problem - same for a condo or townhome. I am really curious...
I was going to suggest the same thing (parallax) - in fact, there are quite a few RS-232 to wireless solutions out there for all types of microcontroller systems. So, while one can't buy such dongles off the shelf, one could build them.
Heh, if you can make them quickly and easily enough, there might be a small business opportunity there (maybe via a Nuts and Volts ad - check out all of the small business robotic kit companies that exist!)...
Want to read something fun...?
on
Monsanto and PCBs
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· Score: 3, Interesting
In a similar vein, though I haven't read it, there is a book called Emergence...
You are hitting on something fundamental - the idea of complex systems, composed of a myriad of simpler, interchangable "units", being "alive", and sometimes "intelligent" (possibly in ways individual human being fail to understand - it is akin to the neuron vs. brain idea, or cell vs. body, or bee vs. hive). The complex system can be anything - groups, societies, corporations - but they all seem to have similar forms of emergent behavior, and some of this behavior can even be considered "intelligent".
What is even more curious, IMO, is that it seems like most of the time, this behavior, when it manifests itself in corporations, tends to degenerate into psychopathism, when they hit a certain number of units (people in the corporation). Individually, the people themselves may not be, probably aren't - in any way evil, or psychopathic - but the sum total of the corporation, when looking at "its" actions, seems to be...
I tend to wonder, if we follow this to an extreme conclusion - whether such entities can become "infected" with a "disease" - a "virus" in some manner - and further, what form would that "virus" or "disease" take...?
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It sucks to use Windows at work because I only have one reason to use it - because we have an in-house legacy VB app that I am the main developer for. If I had my way, I would recode the thing in something more modern (ideally, Java) and portable. But I don't make those budgeting decisions! Everything else I do (Java coding and compiling) is done via a terminal program on a Solaris box, plus a text editor and browser on the Doze side.
./configure, make, make install - sometimes works, sometimes doesn't). Mozilla had great instructions, but most important of all (which most source distros of software seem to neglect to mention) was the "uninstall" procedure - just delete the directory! I thought that was excellent - actually, why couldn't all open source software be this easy? OK, I know that it isn't possible for everything, but there are so many packages out there that throw shit everywhere, that trying to cleanly uninstall them, if you ever have to, is a major pain - I try to avoid them, unless they seem to be exceptional.
All of this, aside from the VB dev, could be done under Linux (or any other *nix). Perhaps someday I'll get there (been thinking about building a cheesy VB dev box, and moving to Linux for everything else).
At home, do I "screw around" with Linux? OF COURSE I DO! THAT IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN DOING WITH COMPUTERS FOR THE PAST 18 YEARS! THAT IS WHY I LOVE COMPUTERS! I AM NOT INTO COMPUTERS FOR THE MONEY!
As far as why I thought installing Mozilla was difficult - a lot of times installing software can be a pain under Linux - especially when you go the route I prefer - tarballs. Sometimes they compile, sometimes they don't. And half the time they don't come with easy to use "instructions" on where to put things and what to do (assuming
Mandrake 8.1? Never tried it - currently I run SuSE 7.2 personal, over the top of a SuSE 6.4 pro version (kept my apache server, etc). I will always consider myself a Linux newbie - there is just too much to learn - but I am not new to Linux. I am definitely not new to the command line.
BTW - I have grown up - and realizes how much control some people and institutions want over MY PERSONAL LIFE. I feel that, as a free adult, and a citizen of the United States, that I have an inate right to CHOICE, and that I should exercise that right at all times, lest it be TAKEN AWAY FROM ME.
Go bother someone else, AC - you are not wanted here.
But something I agree with and have mentioned in various forums from time to time:
"Intelligent Life" (whatever that may imply) arises from self-organising, complex systems, formed of relatively (to the overall IL) unintelligent parts.
What do I (and really, those greater than me who have proposed this path of research) mean by this?
Simply that a neuron cannot know the brain, an ant cannot know the colony, a bee cannot know the hive, and a person cannot know the corporation.
These small parts cannot know in full the whole of the system of which they are a part. In a sense, right now - corporations may be entities that think and communicate outside and beyond the control and grasp of any human mind. The internet, with its myriad of nodes and servers, may be actually "alive" and "thinking" - yet we would never know it. Corporations connected together via the internet - a symbiotic relationship? Or something more? ???
It is something interesting to think about - whether it is true or not. We have almost no hope of knowing for certain whether it is true or not, much the same as a neuron cannot know itself, but a large collection - well, you know...
Think about it - then wonder...
I have to say I am very impressed - I have been meaning to try it, never getting around to it - then saying "Well, maybe at 1.0". But, I kept hearing and reading good things about it, and so I decided, after seeing how simple the install was, to go ahead and give it a shot.
I love it - I suppose it will "compete" with my Netscape install now. I think I might install it on my Winders box at work (yeah, it sucks).
Wow - a new set of fun!
How bad? Let me tell a small story...
In October 2000, I helped set up a demo of a pulsejet engine given by Mark Pauline and Co (of SRL) - the demo was to show off the pulsejet, which was of a valveless design, and could thus run for a long period of time, and didn't have parts that would wear out (unlike typical pulsejet engines, which use a spring metal valve system).
Anyhow, this engine was loud - actually, that doesn't do justice to how loud the engine was - it was bone-shaking loud. When it was running, it was like your entire body - bones and tissue, all - was buzzing with its energy - which, it was!!!
Mark only ran the engine for a few minutes each time, when he was tuning it, or demoing it. He told us (the crew who was helping set up for the demo, which was meant to presage the Ultraviolence show in Phoenix, which never happened because the SFFD contacted the PFD, and...) a story about pulsejets, and why you never want to let one run for a long time, and be around it...
He said he worked on one engine a while back, and ran it for a long time, all the time making adjustments, etc - tuning the engine, basically. He said he ran it for 30 minutes to an hour, and then when he shut it down, he felt numb all over - something like having your entire body being "asleep" (imagine the prickly pins all over your body). He layed down to rest, thinking it was all temporary - eventually the prickly sensation went away - but what came afterward was much, MUCH worse - his nerves were hypersensitised.
Simply moving, or small noises, or puffs of air on his skin, would cause intense waves of pain. He said the condition lasted for a couple of days, then went away. Needless to say, he doesn't run his engines for long times any more.
I thought it was an interesting story. Could a vibrating game controller cause the same reaction? I doubt it, but they can't be good for you if left vibrating for long periods (and unless the motor was stuck on, why would that occur?)...
Still...
Is fiber expensive or cheap to run to the house? I think it could be VERY cheap - if they use plastic rather than glass fiber optic lines.
Think of that last 500-1000 feet - plastic fiber optic cable would be very cheap to install, and you would probably still get good bandwidth - no, you wouldn't be able to do a multi-mode, etc setup - but you don't need to - you only need a simple communication setup, and plastic fiber could give that.
I am thinking you could probably get 10-50 Mbps over a plastic line - more than enough for broadband and cable, plus phone service.
Am I missing something? I might be - this isn't an area I have any real expertise in - but it sounds like something that would work - what's to stop it?
I browsed through it briefly when KLAT2 was announced on /. - but didn't come across the PAPERS stuff.
That is a cool project - even cooler was WAPERS - parallel clustering using modified parallel port switchboxes and custom cables - cheap interconnect hardware, to say the least! Even PAPERS didn't look that hard to implement (basically the same kind of system, but using AND gates to tie everything together, resulting in a "safer" system less likely to burn out "non-compliant" ports) - plus you get cool blinking lights!
Hmm - here is an idea - imagine making a PAPERS interface on a "per-machine" basis that fits into a 5 1/4 inch bay (like a bay bus device) - basically, split up the PAPERS box, then build custom interconnect cables (might need two cables per box?) - a real nice custom high-speed interconnect.
I need to look further into this interconnect, and see how it fares against others - cool...
All it says is that if you distribute the binary, you must provide the source - it says nothing about how that source is to be provided (if it was cost effective, they could provide it as one long printout, or a huge deck of punch cards, or on paper tape), as long as it is made available.
You can charge for that source code, but only a fee that would cover the cost of distribution, etc (so, in theory, they could print it all out and give it to you that way, then charge you for paper, ink, electricity, management fees, and shipping and handling - and be legit according to the license - I think the wording is there to prevent "gouging").
Typically, the GPL wants the code to be "with" the binary - ie, distributed at the same time, preferable on the same media as the binary - and that is what we typically see.
But if a company only releases a CD of the binary, they have to give the end user a 3 year term, minimum, to request the source code if they so want it. What is interesting about this clause is that you could distribute a binary only system, and given the proper docs (ie, including copies of the GPL, etc), leave it up to the users, those who care, to ask for the source - instead of just handing it to them whether they want it or not. I am not sure, but I think there is a grain of a valid business method in that...
I have an old Apex AT style switch - VGA, serial mouse, AT keyboard. 6 ports - bought it off a guy on Ebay for $50.00 (!!). I love it.
I am not sure what res it goes up to (high enough for my eyes, though). The serial mouse makes it a bit of a pain, because the mouse has to be a TRUE serial mouse - you can't hang a PS/2 mouse with an adaptor off the thing. Large, square, heavy gauge steel box - in a lovely beige powdercoat...
May not be the latest or greatest, but it was DAMN CHEAP - I dare you to find a 6 port switch anywhere for less than $50.00 (and don't point me to one of those "mechanical" switches - been there and done that, won't go back!)...
Let's take your proposition about Bob, Carol, Ted, and Alice, and have them all sharing a connection via wireless or Cat5...
Now, what do you think the cable co would do if each of them bought the broadband plan, and they ALL shared the aggregate bandwidth (ie, if three of the neighbors were asleep, and Bob decided he needed some high grade Pr0n - he could use the bandwidth of all four cable modems at one time) - of course, this brings up another issue: If the bandwidth is shared by several cable modems, what if all the neighbors simply paid, instead of each getting a cable modem?
Or - what if all the neighbors formed a coop or a corp ($300 or so), and bought one connection to host in the house, and use however they wanted - could this be done?
I know this is slightly rambling - but hearing about shit like this makes ME VERY ANGRY!!!
Sell me the pipe! Sell me the pipe! Sell me the pipe!
Ok, I'll calm down now...
My wife's mother owns an old machine called "Wild Side", which dates from the early-70s (can't remember who made it, or exact date) - it still plays, but it needs some work (sometimes the ball gets stuck, etc). I am sure it uses ladder logic or some such for control.
After playing it a few times, I started thinking "pinball machines are simple in scope - most of it is a state machine, an inclined plane, and a ball - how hard would it be to build one?"
After thinking a little bit longer, I realized that it wouldn't exactly be easy to build one, and a little research showed it wouldn't be cheap to custom build one, and that it would take a lot of time, but that it was possible.
So, if you can't find or afford your fix, maybe it is time for the pinball hackers to start building the tables themselves. For a start, here is a site I found, but it hasn't been updated in a long while:
Pin-It-Yourself Project
I know there are people out there who have built their own boards and systems - these people should take this site, and expand on it - create a true "build-it-yourself" site and FAQ for pinball table building.
Me? I don't have the room, money, or time to build a pinball table on my own. My restoration time will, someday, go into the refurbishment of a TOMY Atomic Pinball - arguably the smallest "true" pinball table ever made (ok, there may be another, but hey, it's TOMY!)...
I can't comment on the issues in Austrailia, but I believe I know why we complain about rates going up, service going down, etc. In so many words:
.com boom also picked up steam. "Cheap bandwidth and "flashy" sites for all!" became the cry of the day. A lot of people upgraded from relatively flakey modems, to broadband - and quickly found that always-on broadband changed how they used their computers, and how it affected their lives. Online shopping grew, getting news off the net was better than the TV, sometimes even for local coverage, and finding movie times became that much easier.
We are spoiled.
I can't remember exactly when real home-based "broadband" began to be rolled out here in America on a large scale basis, I think it was around 1996 or so - all that we had at that time was, at best, 56K modems - if you were lucky, and had a good clean line - most people had only 28.8-33.6, and thought it was great...
But then the rollout began, and people loved it - then the
Broadband is fast and cheap - and that has become the meme of today. Now, most of us know that broadband is anything but cheap - try getting a T-1 to your house someday - hell, try to get ISDN (I remember a time between 56K modems and broadband where a lot of people were trying to get ISDN, and the articles being written up about the pain it was to do this)! But the everyday "joe" doesn't. He (and really, all of us) are spoiled by the speed and the price.
It wasn't an incremental change (like from 9600 baud modems to 14.4 to 28.8, etc - a jump from 56kbps to 1.5mbps, and higher in some cases) - and now we are going to be forced to go back to something a little more reasonable - slower "broadband", if you want it to stay at a reasonable price.
We need to realize something though - and this is something the cable companies and DSL providers don't want you to realize.
First off, these businesses should tier the service - and allow the consumer to pick and choose what they want. Say, start off with an always-on 56kbps up/down line - allow the consumer to tier the up/down ratio depending on what they want to use the line for - browsing, serving, or a combo (and let the consumer run servers, or VPN, or whatnot - people WANT THIS, although most think of it as P2P). For those doing more serving than browsing, charge an amount on the bandwidth used on the upstream side after a flat amount (say 3 gig a month or something), let them use as much downstream bandwidth as they can (ok, up to a certain point, of course), but do something different if they uploading data. But allow the user to serve this data - just make them pay for it.
This is similar in scope to a combo DSL and T-x service (and ISDN) work, on the billing side. DSL allows you (but not without a fine granualarity, from most providers) to change the tier of service depending on what you want to pay, and T-x/ISDN charges for bandwidth, etc used (also, they allow finer control on tiering).
Let the consumer choose his bandwidth needs (like he chooses his telephone needs), and let him use the line how he chooses (within reasonable limits, but don't stop him from running servers, etc completely). If this were to happen, the sting of going from "unlimited" bandwidth to whatever would be much less, I believe, because the user would see what he is gaining.
However, I don't believe this will ever occur, because the main broadband providers don't want the average joe to be able to serve content, as that would compete with their services (in whatever twisted sense they think of it).
Here in Phoenix, there was an initiative passed called Transit 2000. That link is now dead, but here is one that gives the information about it in more detail. Notice the cost. Notice where it is being put. I live here in Phoenix, and I honestly don't know where they plan on getting space along the roads and freeways they plan this thing to follow - it isn't there. That last site says construction is supposed to begin in 2003. I tend to doubt it. Likely the money will be pocketed by our "illustrious" government.
That is system picked. Want to see what we could have had, for far less money, had our government had more vision, and taken a chance on a proven inventor?
The SkyTran System
This is a system invented by Douglas J. Malewicki, an independent inventor.
Read about SkyTran. I am sure there are a few drawbacks, but I would say the majority of them have been seen to by Mr. Malewicki. His reasoning is sound, and fully documented.
Unfortunately I won't get to see my tax dollars go toward this system...
I think things started to fall apart when it was revealed the the aliens DO exist.
Why?
Because up until that point, the show revolved around conspiracy theorys, and occult knowledge, and how they intertwined. Sure, the govt was involved - but it seemed like it was involved for some other reason - not because of aliens, but because of itself - something secret it was doing THEY didn't want US to know about. The show seemed to be dragging toward the idea that the "grey alien" theory was a scam, something the public in its mindlessness would believe - while the truth was far more sinister.
I liked it when they went "off on tagents" about wierd creatures, events or monsters, some that seem (or did) come straight from tabloid rumors. Others that have been in the collective conscience for a long time. It was a TV version acting out all of those "Unexplained Phenomenon" books you can find moldering in the corners of used book stores.
Why they went away from this concept is beyond me. If they had stuck with it - perhaps elements from the funky things in our REAL world could have been worked in (like that giant strange shaped squid recently, among other recently discovered "mysteries") - maybe explained in a manner that sounds plausible, at least in the X-Files universe.
The other thing that needed to be made clear was Scully's relationship with Mulder (I know, most fans would be disappointed, but hey) - that tension kept the show good, but at some point it had to give - maybe it did in recent seasons, but I haven't watched since they brought in Robery Patrick (is that his name) in lieu of Duchovney (sp?)...
I don't know - it could have been so much more...
Ok, maybe not - but I got your attention, right?
Anyhow, here is a couple of great sites for those of you interested in geodesic dome construction:
Geodesics at the Monkey House
Geo Tech Systems, Inc.
Have fun!
I am putting this idea out for two reasons - to get people thinking, and also to act as a sort of "prior art" for patent reasons (not really sure it would count, though).
Ok, so they are wondering how to power this thing, while keeping it small, right? Well, that little Sarcos blurb got me thinking:
Sarcos's suit will incorporate a separate, hydrogen- or petroleum-fired piston at every joint, an approach that aims to avoid the losses that plague distributed-power systems.
...and here is what I came up with:
You know those pneumatic contraction muscles that exist out there (I think there is also a hydraulic version as well)? They use something akin to a mesh, sorta like a "chinese handcuffs" weave, and a bladder inside that when filled with air (or hydraulic fluid), causes the weave to shorten, contracting the muscle - let me see if I can find a link... Ah, here we are:
McKibben Artificial Muscles
Notice the simple construction (hell, it is a construction article!) - some flexible tubing, braided sheathing, and a little simple work, and you can build these yourself!
Ok - now for the unique part (or, at least I think it is unique - I may be wrong, my idea may already be patented or something - I haven't checked - if you know, post here!):
These things use pumps, right? They need something to expand the bladder. Well, typically pneumatic or hydraulic pressure is used - which is all fine and well, except for an exoskeleton app, that power supply tends to be huge. So, let's shrink it!
Instead of generating pressure using a motor power ed compressor - why not generate it using an engine?! How, you may ask? Look at this:
Pulse Two - Performance of a Hydraulic Free Piston Engine
These engines have been around for a while - I have an old Popular Mechanics from 1950 that shows one on the front cover in the use of driving a large freight truck. Essentially, instead of using explosions to drive pistons that turn crankshafts and gears - the movement of the pistons is harnessed directly to pump a working fluid - in most cases hydraulic fluid, I would imagine air could be pumped as well.
Such a power plant could be built small and relatively light weight (I would say lighter in weight and as powerful as a backpack leaf blower engine). Lines could be ran from the engine to the air or hydraulic muscles at the joints.
Now, you may say - why not use regular hydraulic/pneumatic cylinders instead of these "muscles"? This seems to be Sarco's approach, as far as I can tell. Maybe, maybe not. Glad you asked. I wanted to present another power alternative...
Remember that engine - what are we doing: Exploding a fuel in a container causing it to expand greatly, producing power. That power is transmitted in some way to where it is needed - in conventional machines via gears and shafts, in our recently designed exoskeleton via hydraulic/pneumatic lines. But what if you used that exploding gas to drive the muscles? You could hook the lines directly to the combustion chamber, and route the gasses to the muscles - but think outside the box...
Run the fuel lines to the muscles - add an injector at one end, a spark plug at the other, and some kind of exhaust valve system. Make the muscle out of some braided titanium or something (the bladder was just there to keep the working fluid in one place - it isn't a needed device for these muscles - it is the braid that when it expands radially, it contracts laterally) to resist the heat of the explosions. Use a PWM format to "pulse" the explosions in the muscle to vary its "strength". Add some kind of heat dumping system to keep it from overheating.
At that point, the muscles ARE the power source, and the backpack contains control electronics and the fuel tank, etc - ignition coils and such could be built into the spark plug assembly, and the thing becomes a complete fuel/electric machine.
Does any of this sound "do-able"? Does it seem sound reasoning? Is anybody researching this direction? Would anybody be willing to give me a grant to try this out? Sarcos, want to hire me?
Seriously - other than the titanium braid, most of this could be easily fabricated in a home shop! Stick with steel braid and an external combustion chamber, and you could easily do this in a home shop! Maybe I SHOULD DO IT? What do you think? Hmmm...???
...and while it seems to help a bit, it doesn't seem like the ultimate solution.
I have this feeling, that if all of the geeks who are against this "stood up" and said "ENOUGH!", it would only be a whisper amongst shouts of the mob of ignorance and apathy that surrounds us.
Depressing to say the least.
Why?
Easy interfacing.
It is super, ultra simple to interface your own custom electronics to the ISA bus or hang them off the parallel port. It is also cheap.
The PCI bus is *hard* to design for, simply because of the speed at which it operates necessitates a quality design from the get-go - you can't just hack a circuit and drop it in, and expect it to work. I have no problem with making it look good, but for most fun things, function overrides form, so to speak.
The only saving factors in all of this have been USB interface chips (which makes it easier to interface to USB ports), and "bigger" microcontrollers (like PICs and BASIC Stamps, among others), which allow you to do a lot of hardware hacking, but in a much smaller and easy to use package.
Of course, I know I am "tilting at windmills" - the ISA bus, serial and parallel ports will be doomed in the end...
From the tone of this article, it seems like they want to "up the stakes" and make you buy a copy of a movie PER SET or "rendering device" - ie, DVD player, etc (or at least have the ability to).
It also sounds like they want to limit (ie, take away) the ability to have a central video source and switchboxes, etc that distribute the signal to one or more TVs (this can be done pretty cheaply and easily today - at one time, it was high end audio/video only - and in some cases, still is I imagine - there probably exist multi-drive multi-DVD changers out there, which can sit in a "media closet", with TVs and special transmitter/ remote systems to allow selection of different movies on different sets - it sounds like they want to gut this market as well!).
You know something? I think the "consumer" (I hate that word) is out of the loop - it isn't "what the consumer wants" that drives these corporate behemoths toward profits - it is "they will take this, and like it" - and stupidly, the majority of the sheeple do!!! WTF?!
I am sick of it! SICK OF IT ALL! Damn it, I want what I want - not what they want - f--- that!
When will all of this end? How long has this been going on? At least since 1995 or 1996 - I am tired of this - I want it over! Give us a corporate controlled totalitarian police state with full surveilance and lock down for all sheeple OR MOVE THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY!!!!
I can't begin to really express the way I feel. I know a lot of you feel the same way - SO WHY AREN'T WE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT? WHY DO WE JUST SIT HERE AND COMPLAIN? IS THERE ANYTHING WE CAN _DO_?
I swear - this is like some bad dream. Outside, the sun is shining, life goes on, most people are in ignorant bliss - how I wish I could join them. How I wish I could go and buy a DVD player, a pile of DVDs, and not feel a twinge of guilt. I can't do that. I have expressed here before how I feel I am doing a disservice by owning a 19 inch monitor with a SONY Trinitron tube - simply because it is made by SONY. I am tired.
Tired.
I suppose I will fight on, though, however I can...
What do the new models run (price range)? Is it one of those "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" deals? What is the used market like?
I was under the impression that the unimogs weren't in production anymore, and it was one of those "WWII relic" items, requiring not a lot of money to get one, but a lot to get one back into running condition (ie, parts not made anymore, need to get custom parts crafted, etc). Thanks for enlightening me.
I would love to own one of these trucks, but my budget isn't huge - however, it looks like this dealer (Unimog USA) is near me (relatively) in Goodyear, AZ - so I might have to check them out!
This would be OK with me if it weren't for one fact:
Some shows you will NEVER be able to buy on VHS or DVD - EVER.
Thus, the only way to watch them again in the future is to keep an archive. It is like out-of-print books, except at least with such a thing there is a physical copy, whereas there isn't with a broadcasted show (OK, maybe if you had a real fast starship that could race ahead of the signal in space, then flip around and intercept it - maybe you could get it that way).
Here is a good and recent example: Fox's Millennium.
You will most likely NEVER see any of the episodes come out on a VHS tape or DVD - yeah, say it is syndicated, but so are the old episodes of X-Files, and some of those ARE available on VHS (and DVD?). However, it is unlikely you will EVER get the entire X-Files series on tape or DVD, in order, etc - to watch again - thus the need for archiving.
Another (but older, and not as good) example was the series (ABC?) called "Covington Cross" - not the best show by any stretch, but still an OK show to watch - yet, where can I buy the VHS tape or DVD of the few episodes that exist? Huh? NOWHERE!
Archives are a way of preserving this stuff - how often do you hear about a "lost movie" or photographs being found in a back room of some dusty/moldy warehouse 75-100 years after they were made - and then of course the long, arduous and EXPENSIVE task of restoration that has to be done to view them again? What about things like those early audio-record based "video" recordings of Nipkow disk transmissions - those could have easily been thrown out as "noise", if anybody had a record player to play them with at all!
Archives prevent this loss, so that such information may be preserved for future generations. We do this with books already (LOC), but the only audio and video that goes into the LOC are the bits the studios let out (ie, the published works - not the broadcasted one-hit-wonder works).
Oh, one other series I would love to get in a collection - but I can't: The A-Team
When? When?
...with something like this. :)
Definitely not designed with networking in mind (for all I know is probably because it wasn't designed or built recently)...
Can you run the cable on the outside? In other words, out a wall up the side, over the top, and down the other side and through the wall? Are there any conduits to allow this?
Given your situation, it truely does look like wireless is the only option...
Yes - current kills - not many milliamps of current are needed directly across the heart to stop it. However...
While I am not sure of the insulative breakdown voltage of skin, I know that it is possible to "feel" lower voltages, but typically they are "switched" or "fluctuating" voltages (like the phone ringer voltage - 50 volts (?) I think). Now, if you can feel that (probably due to less resistance due to sweat and other factors), I would think 48 volts from a battery bank could possibly be felt.
But, it would depend on the battery bank, of course - a bank of hearing aid cells could generate 48 volts, but at such a low current rating there wouldn't be any issue. Now, replace those cells with 12 volt deep-cycle marine batteries - and it is a MUCH different story. Such a bank could easily allow for a hundred or more amps - which could fry you.
As for "it grabbing you and not letting go" - because it is DC, and not AC (which crosses a "0" voltage threshhold per half cycle), your muscles will "clinch" up, not allowing you to let go of the source - I would imagine it would feel like a very bad muscle cramp - given enough current, I would think it might even tear the muscles (maybe, if they didn't cook first). Not a pretty thing to think about.
So, in conclusion - I agree with your statement that "current kills", not voltage. However, it is more complicated than that, because of the difference in breakdown voltage of an insulator (in this case, skin), the current needed to help that along, sweating, etc...
Why...?
The only reason I can think of is because you live in an apartment - but this isn't a reason at all!
I say this because of my years of apartment living. Given a bit of work, it is possible to route a wire anywhere, and make it look good. The easiest way is to run it next to the baseboards, just underneath the carpet, along the walls. Where you have to go through a wall, drill the holes, and poke the cable through. You might also be able to pry back the baseboards, and install in the crack between the drywall and flooring. Nail the baseboards back, and repaint.
Spackling compound and plaster are your friends. Get a sample of paint (or ask you landlord) and have it colormatched - buy a gallon or two (the latter if you are really ambitious). I remember installing a desk into a walk-in closet - because there was no good joists to hang the desktop from (really crappy closet design), I had to glue and nail the load bearing members to the paint/drywall in the closet. Of course, when I moved, I had to remove these "shelves" - and ripped the paint down to the drywall and beyond (ie, the cardboard - ack!). A bit of spackle, some colormatched paint, and a bit of artfully crinkled paper (to match the "texture") - and I got my deposit back no prob (it looked good, believe me - but just in case, I slightly unscrewed the light, etc to deter close looking).
Various manufacturers also make baseboard-style conduit in various colors - and they can be painted as well. Typically, they are used to run phone or electrical circuits - but they can be used for just about anything, including network cable, etc. You can find them at most big home centers (Home Depot, Lowes, etc). They aren't too cheap for long runs, but they look better than PVC pipe (which could be used in a pinch, I suppose - painted a neutral off-white color, and laid along the baseboards - wouldn't look too bad). These conduits aren't a new idea, BTW - in the "olde-days", phone and electric wiring used to be run in a similar manner in wooden conduits - many times the conduits would be disguised as baseboards, ceiling cornices, and chair rails - so there is another idea (for network cabling only - not sure if it would match code, though - check into it if you care).
If you aren't in an apartment - I appologize. But if you aren't, then where are you living that is preventing such a cable run? If it is your own house, there shouldn't be a problem - same for a condo or townhome. I am really curious...
I was going to suggest the same thing (parallax) - in fact, there are quite a few RS-232 to wireless solutions out there for all types of microcontroller systems. So, while one can't buy such dongles off the shelf, one could build them.
Heh, if you can make them quickly and easily enough, there might be a small business opportunity there (maybe via a Nuts and Volts ad - check out all of the small business robotic kit companies that exist!)...
Read Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems and the
Economic World.
In a similar vein, though I haven't read it, there is a book called Emergence...
You are hitting on something fundamental - the idea of complex systems, composed of a myriad of simpler, interchangable "units", being "alive", and sometimes "intelligent" (possibly in ways individual human being fail to understand - it is akin to the neuron vs. brain idea, or cell vs. body, or bee vs. hive). The complex system can be anything - groups, societies, corporations - but they all seem to have similar forms of emergent behavior, and some of this behavior can even be considered "intelligent".
What is even more curious, IMO, is that it seems like most of the time, this behavior, when it manifests itself in corporations, tends to degenerate into psychopathism, when they hit a certain number of units (people in the corporation). Individually, the people themselves may not be, probably aren't - in any way evil, or psychopathic - but the sum total of the corporation, when looking at "its" actions, seems to be...
I tend to wonder, if we follow this to an extreme conclusion - whether such entities can become "infected" with a "disease" - a "virus" in some manner - and further, what form would that "virus" or "disease" take...?