Suppose these raids continue, and each newspaper or magazine article continues to make similar quotes about "free software" being a problem, being an issue, being ILLEGAL...
Ordinary people read these articles, and begin to equate "free software" = ILLEGAL.
Therein lies the problem, because if "free software" = ILLEGAL, then doesn't it follow that "Free Software" = ILLEGAL as well (in the mind of the common man)? That is a scary, but interesting thought to contemplate, that of the manipulation of the masses through words, by the BSA (which may or may not be a front organization for Microsoft - anybody got data to back that assertation up?), with the goal to ultimately cause Linux and other Free Software to be viewed as illegal, with the intention of destroying the movement.
I love how they mention that a "patent is pending" - we all know given the ineptness of the USPTO, that they will get it, too!
Also, I love this little tidbit:
Foreverbright(TM) lights are built with patent pending circuitry to maximize efficiency of their LEDs. This revolutionary design concept eliminates
the use of traditional components that add to cost and generate heat. While details are proprietary, in essence the circuitry allows the LEDs to flash on and off with AC power.
Um, can you say "120VAC to 12VAC power transformer"? Good, I knew you could!
Actually, I suppose they in some way change the AC sine wave from the transformer (make it a 6VAC transformer) into some approximation of a square wave, then apply some form of DC offset voltage such that the waveform ran from 0-12VDC - but somehow I think that would be overkill...
First off, while I am certainly not the youngest on/. I know I am not the oldest - I am 28 years old!
As far as being a tree-hugger, while I certainly don't like the practices some companies do to the environment, I certainly do not wish to shut down the entire industrial sector and go live in the woods - I believe there can be a happy medium.
Finally, I fail to see how any of this has to do with my question?
I was sincerely curious as to how they pulled this off - and from what I have found out, it seems they have done it with an abandoned, possibly condemned building. I was originally figuring they either had a rich person who was a member of the CCC who owned an entire building for himself (hey, I have nothing against this - it would be that person's money to decide what they did with it), or they possibly used a building under construction.
The idea that they are using a building slated for destruction makes the most sense, though. However, I still find it amazing that they got the permission to do this from all relevant sources. Of course, as one person replied, I am sure with big hint of sarcasm (and perhaps irony), it is possible because Germany "is a free country". I understand this individual's meaning.
What he said and the fact that such a display would be nigh impossible to do here in the USA says something about our society - and that troubles me.
I don't mean the technical part (that part is relatively easy, from a hardware standpoint). I mean the legal/economic part?
Perhaps they got a grant for artistic reasons - but I tend to doubt that because they did it in four weeks.
The building seems to be pretty large - how did they:
a) Obtain an entire building for use for several months, and b) Were allowed to paint 144 windows, and c) Get the money to pay for bandwidth and electricity (somebody is paying it!), and d) Do all of this inside of four weeks
???
The building can't be vacant - though it kinda looks that way from the pictures. Still, somebody owns it, and has to pay electricity and other costs, and would thus have to pass that along to the CCC (unless they have a "rich" member of the CCC who owns the building, which is quite possible), right?
Furthermore, wouldn't there be permits and such for such large public displays that would have to be procurred from the city government? Maybe things are radically different over there, and such legal stuff is easy to obtain in a very short amount of time, or not needed at all.
Maybe I am misunderstanding what CCC is? What function do they perform (I don't think they are a hacker group, right? Wasn't that something called the Kaos Komputer Klub?). I am just curious how they managed to pull off such a large display without running into financial or legal issues.
I have thought about this, but I would be in kinda the same boat you are, but for a different reason:
The lower cost players (such as AIWA and Pioneer) can be nice, but you don't know what kind of CD mechanism they use (ie, who the manufacturer of it was) in order to get a similar mech from a CD-ROM or RW drive by the same manufacturer.
Plus, I would be willing to bet the manufacturers purposefully use different style connectors, cables, etc - to PREVENT this kind of thing occurring. That is just a gut feeling, though.
But you idea is sound. I am thinking one day just picking up a cheap unit off of Ebay, then futzing with it to see if I can get something rigged up. I am thinking a serial port selection interface, and a cheap IDE CD-RW drive on the back end.
However, I am thinking data CDs (ie, CD-ROMs), and more specifically, CD-Rs and CD-RWs - things you have burned yourself. Standard, off-the-shelf CD-ROMs (like games, etc) that you buy would still pass the test you proclaim. But when it comes to stuff you burned yourself, things get a bit more tricky.
It would be nice just to have something that could burn on the fly, and archive them - rather than burning the CD, which creates the backup, from whatever is on the hard drive (array or whatever).
I can see your point, but an all optical system would be nice as well...
50 LEDs seem like a lot, and whether there would be more or less heat with that many LEDs would probably be an issue...
But what if you made a "light box" of some type, that had the LEDs in the box, focused and/or collumnated via a lens arrangement, then fed the light to the projector via a light pipe or fiber optic bundle? Would such a contraption work?
Seems impractical, too me (and I thought the thing up), but interesting, all the same!
Instead of turning the bulb off, what if you turned the bulb "down" - via some sort of rheostat or more properly, a potentiometer in a variable voltage divider configuration.
I am just thinking of this because the other replyer mentioned the cycling (heating/cooling of the bulb leading the failure of the element via metal fatigue)...?
I got a six foot folding table (they make larger ones if you need it), put it in the middle of the room, and put my computers underneath it. That way, if I need to change connections, etc - I just go around to the back and fiddle with them. No more dragging machines out, etc.
To get power to the machines, I ran an extension cord along the ceiling, then down to the desk, and wrapped it with split loom tubing. Same for network connections, etc. You can also run the cords along the floor, and use those rubber floor cover thingies. Ideally, you would have a raised floor - I might do that next time.
So far, it has worked great for me, much better than the desk I had!
Look at it: A 200 disc audio CD changer that can be computer controlled through an easily accessible interface.
Now, why isn't that CD drive a CD-ROM, or better yet, a CD-RW drive? Who here wouldn't want to have approx 140 gig of optical R/W storage - cheaply?
There are larger changers available as well - 400 discs and more. They are cheap.
Oh, yeah - they do make "commercial" CD-ROM/RW jukeboxes - but instead of being $250.00 - they are $5-15K! WTF? It must be because it seems like a niche market.
I have a ton of CD-ROMs and CD-Rs that I would love to be able to load into a jukebox to use at a click of a mouse. I have even thought about what it would take to build my own jukebox, or possibly convert an existing cheapo jukebox.
I know some of you are thinking "Dude! Get a few 100 gig IDE drives and shut up!" - All I have to say to that is that you are forgetting that these hard drives can crash, and there is no cheap way to back up - while a CD will last a very long time - you don't have to worry about it much.
I just can't understand the large difference for something that would be cheap and easy to do for a manufacturer...
I realize this, but why go out of the way to name the spec, and publicize what it can do (ie, spend money on marketing the name of it), if it is only going to be used for your products?
Seems like a waste of money - I mean, as a business, would you proclaim:
"And our new widget utilises ConnectLinkX for superior interfacing"
And then not give out the spec, and make all of your products "ConnectLinkX" compatible (like that wouldn't be obvious to a consumer), then market the shit out of "ConnectLinkX" (ie, spend the money on marketing), or would you proclaim:
"Works with our other cool widgets"
And then put that on each box, maybe say it a bit, and save the money that would go to marketing.
I guess I can see your point, but consumers would have to be STUPID, STUPID, STUPID - not to realize the lockin!
It would be like buying a car that only uses "BrandX" gas - "Cool, where do I sign up?".
...is why a company called Advanced Digital Communications, is in the business of exploration and sonar equipment development (apparently, based on what googling I did)?
They have a ship (ships?) capable of deploying both side-scan sonar and UROVs - but they call themselves something that has nothing to do with _what_ they do...
To top it off, they are a Canadian (Toronto) based company, but are currently stationed in Havana, Cuba - and are "exploring" areas apparently "known" to be rich in sunken Spanish galleons, many of which went down with treasure (apparently to "test" their sonar devices). Furthermore, they are in some form of a "joint venture" with the Cuban government, namely Castro...
So, do you think when/if they bring up the gold (and/or get funding for this "lost city" venture), the next step will be the laying of redundant fiber links to Central America and Mexico, and the establishment of a real data vault/haven, ala Cryptonomicon?
I know it sounds stupid, but it couldn't hurt - since you have already come so far, explain it to them, and what you want to do - hell, they may want to help you for promotional reasons (you may want to mention this to them). Or, you may have to buy the spec (which may be cheap - or could be INSANELY expensive).
If they flat out won't help, then you have lost nothing. Go ahead and RE it...
I can't imagine that they won't help in some way - why create the interface and publicize it, if it is proprietary and only used by them anyway? I would think they have created it to allow third party manufacturers to interface to it (maybe find who those manufacturers are, and contact them as well).
Can "last mile" be done privately?
on
Why ADCo?
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· Score: 2
Here is what I am thinking:
The problem of last mile is two-fold: a) The monopoly held by power/telco/cable (and possibly water co) to get wires to your house, and b) The hassles involved for a "startup", or anybody else, to get rights to bury a new cable or conduit.
I wonder if there is a way around this - it would be ugly (very, VERY ugly), but could anyone prevent it?
Imagine stringing up a neighborhood, running the wire (most likely, fiber) between buildings, but not burying it, but by running it along the fence lines, and in some cases, hanging it free from the rooftops. Maybe in some cheap PVC painted to match the neighborhood, and to protect the cable. Each house would get a cheap interface, consisting of the fiber input and output, and a 10BaseT or 100BaseT connector (to go to the rest of the house) - kinda like a switch or hub of sorts.
For most neighborhoods (especially the ones with evil HAs), this could be done and would be hidden, and thus wouldn't bring on anyone's wrath. It would be crossing property lines, but hopefully the neighbors would get along well enough to be amiable about this. Some runs would have to go under the dirt (such as where gates are), but only in a small 3 inch depth PVC run, for about 3 feet. All the connections would have to terminate somewhere - ideally, all the residents would get together and buy one house to serve as the "terminus", and for that house get a T1 dropped and set up.
Older neighborhoods would be easier, because of lack of an HA.
One could say "do it with 802.11" - but this has the main problem of major up front cost (for each house) and interference (for a variety of reasons). The solution I propose could be done cheapest if you don't go with fiber, but instead use Cat5e and 100BaseT four port switches at each house. If you didn't want to go to the expense of getting a T1, if each (or most) houses have cable or DSL, then all houses could share the bandwidth in some manner, given the proper gateway/router/firewall system with proper load sharing software.
How would I go about setting this up?
First, I would go house to house, and ask each resident if the own a computer, and whether they would enjoy broadband. Ask them if the currently have DSL or cable, or if they use dialup. Ask each of them what the maximum they would be willing to pay for broadband, if they wanted it. Ask them if they would be willing to be part of a co-op for getting broadband. If they seem willing, share the idea with them.
Once you have asked enough people, calculate amounts - and if you are given a low enough amount from the calculations, go around and distribute flyers to each house. Make it a cooperative venture, where each resident is responsible for the wire from each side of his property line to his house, the switch, and the firewall/router (cost wise). Find out which residents are capable of set up and wiring (running conduit, etc), to help those who aren't. Offer a simple single disk install of linux for the router/firewall - and point out (or offer to build) these cheap boxes (think "yellow box linux" here). Or, depending on the setup, allow your standard el-cheapon linksys router/firewalls, etc.
I am certain this can be done - as long as all the neighbors cooperate. Can anyone point out issues in my reasoning? Are there laws or regulations preventing people from getting together to do such a thing (and if so - do these laws violate any rights)? What is stopping people from doing this?
I am surprised at this - I have never played EQ (in fact, the last FP game I ever played was the last KQ - I am not much of a game player), but I wonder if you could have "starved" to death - just like real life? In fact, if exposure and food (or lack thereof, I should say), were taken into account, a number of interesting possibilities could open up (imagine actually going to a tavern, having to sit down, and eat a meal, while discussing what to do next with fellow players). Anyhow, in your case you should die from lack of food and water, just like a real person stuck in a trench would be able to.
Furthermore, assuming another player could see you (or hear your cries for help), they should be able to throw a rope up/down to you, to help get you out, or something. Now, I know EQ probably doesn't allow this - but that is one of the things about these - dare I say it - virtual environments: Gaining insight about what happens in the real world, and how it would be solved in the real world, which would change the game somewhat. Sooner or later, you end up with a simulation of the real world (in theory, at least)...
This site says the CDTV was released in 1990. Not sure who is right, that was a while back. Anyhow, the specs on this machine was pretty impressive for the time:
Motorola 68000 7.14Mhz 16 Bit CPU 1 Meg Chip RAM A graphics coprocessor which could display full screen animations at up to 4096 colors Stereo 4 channel 14 Bit sound chip (the system could also play audio CDs) DMA Architecture (transfer data with no CPU usage) 1x CD-ROM drive VCR style case
When you think about it, Commodore basically released the first 16 bit CD-ROM based game console (with the exception that it was designed to look good with the rest of your AV components). A lot of upgrades and such were also available, both from Commodore and third parties (allowing everything from adding floppy and hard drives, a mouse and a keyboard, and more).
The CD32 was just as impressive, considering it was released in 1993:
Motorola 68020 14Mhz 32 Bit CPU 2 Meg Chip RAM 2X speed SCSI CD-ROM 16,000,000 colours Max Game console style case with top loading CD-ROM
It used the same style sound system as the CDTV and other Amigas. There was also an expansion slot, which was typically used for what was called the "FMV Card" - which essentially allowed you to watch CD-I and VCD movies through the console. The controllers were pretty slick too, from what I remember. So, here you have in 1993, Commodore releases the first 32 Bit CD-ROM based console with movie playing capabilities.
Of course, as we all know, both of these consoles (and Commodore itself) bombed.
I don't understand why, outside of poor marketing (or lack of would be the better way to put it). The same thing happenned to the Neo-Geo and the 3DO. The high price also managed to help on all of these platforms.
But what is the difference today? The marketing by Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft is much higher than what the other consoles did - but I do remember 3DO being marketed pretty hard, same with Neo-Geo. I remember playing a 3DO at Best Buy, next to "next best" offerrings from Sega and Nintendo.
The 3DO was pretty expensive, so were the Neo Geo and CD32. But why is it today super expensive consoles fly off the shelves (even in a recession!), but back then, in relatively good times - they didn't? Can someone explain that?
To top it off, why is it that consoles with way far advanced capabilities don't seem to sell, but ones with marginal capabilities over last year's model seem to sell easily (and really, the capabilities of the X-Box, etc - really aren't that great over last years offerings)?
It is like the market is offered a super sports car for $10,000 - but no one wants it. But when the features that were in it appear in a sedan five years later, selling for the same amount - everyone can't wait!
Actually, I bet the car market works like this too...
I once worked at a small "mom-and-pop" style development house. Our office was situated in a small complex, on the second floor. The first floor of the complex was unused. For a couple of years while I was there, for Christmas we would open up that bottom floor (it was used for storage by the company), and have the party there.
Since there was no walls, etc inside, and a concrete floor - damn near anything could be done. We set up a dart board, food, etc - but the fun thing we would play was this funky little R/C car game.
At one time, these cars were made as a kit of four cars, but I would imagine enterprising geeks could build their own system. Essentially, each car was controlled by a person, goals were set up, and boundries were set, and there was a ball - the goal? Get the ball into a goal, and score a point. The cars ate batteries like popcorn, but simply buying a ton of batteries would keep everything going for a long time.
Today, I don't know if you can get cars, but you can get the cheap and cheesy retail "battlebots" sold at places like Walgreen's - these are radio controlled (or IR) that could be had fun with, too...
Anyhow, this is a great way to get a party going, or at least a good way to have fun!
Some of my most fond memories of "work parties" were xmas parties that did this game. Beware, though - while it can work with larger crowds, typically things fall apart after about 30-40 people. Plus it can get REAL boring with a ton of people, just due to the number of switches (oh, yeah - limit the number of times a gift can be stolen to about 3-4 times, otherwise the exchange can go on nearly forever!)...
Some interesting gifts I have seen:
1. Old programmer box - complete with 70's style desk fan, LED HP programmer's calculator, old code printout (on greenbar, of course), etc. 2. Box of "helpful" items for help desk people (aspirin, earplugs, alcohol, etc) 3. A red "government" (anyway, the sticker said "Property of US Govt" on it) security phone, complete with trailing PBX wires
Of the three (and there were more), number 3 was most interesting - never did find out who brought that one.
I once managed to snag a most useful item (at least for the summer): An ice cream machine. However, this was no ordinary ice cream maker: this one was special. It works by putting the ice cream mixture inside the mixing cannister, then you sit the whole thing in the freezer, and the motor stirs the mixture, while simultaneously circulating the cold air around the cannister, gradually freezing it. When it gets to a certain consistancy, the paddle stops (simply because the motor can't provide any more torque), and you can remove the ice cream and eat it (at that point, it is like homemade soft serve), or put it in another container to freeze it solid (like regular ice cream). Yum!
I remember seeing that...
on
Dreamhack 2001
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· Score: 2
But why doesn't NT complain? I remember NT would complain of such things (I remember trying to run DOOM on an NT box one time - gave me an error about trying to access the hardware directly). This switch, as you point out, is done via a BIOS interrupt - so why doesn't NT complain? Did MS change something to allow better handling of this?
Yesterday I got a letter from Cox (for Cox@Home) stating they were raising my bill by $5.00 - normally, I wouldn't have cared - I know what they are providing, they don't hassle me too much about attempting to stay "static" (IP wise) while they "roll out" DHCP (hey, for some reason my FreeSCO hangs when set to use DHCP - it boots, and sits waiting for some DHCP message it never gets - anybody else run FreeSCO and know about this?). But during the wait to see if I would be dropped, it was kinda hilarious.
Friday, I took precautions - I first pinged and got every "important" IP for sites I visit a lot (mostly/. and Fark, with a few other odd ducks thrown in), in prep for editing a hosts file. Then, I set up DNS caching on my FreeSCO box (I should have done this long ago), a visited a lot of other sites. Then, I posted pleas on a couple of message lists I am on for DNS servers, and got responses. Then I waited...
Well, everything still seems good - but that could be my DNS cache - let me google a funky site now...
Seems OK - googled for "harpoon fish", hit a site called "asianartresource" in Hong Kong - loaded up fine (hell, faster than some local online stores).
I am on Cox@Home, as I noted before - so, things are OK here in Phoenix, as of 1:00pm AZ time Sunday.
As a "just-in-case" - anyone know if it is possible to "hand modify" FreeSCO's init files to have it point to more than two DNS servers (so I can type in these extra ones posted everywhere, as a just in case)?
My thoughts exactly - it runs fast, lean and most amazing of all, switches into and out of graphics mode (direct hardware hitting, even!) without causing NT to gripe! I am still trying to figure that out (hey, l33t ASM coder I am not).
I look at the code and the demo from time to time, just to say to myself "This guy can do this - I can be as good!" - as a way of reminding myself to be a better coder, in whatever language I am writing in...
Yeah! It is the ASM code is pretty straightforward, to a good extent - some of the stuff is familiar to me from coding I have done in x86. You can see that he (they?) is using the FPU heavily - but that is too be expected (not likely to create the demo AND fixed point routines in 256 bytes).
Slashdot Mirror
And should be modded up for it:
Suppose these raids continue, and each newspaper or magazine article continues to make similar quotes about "free software" being a problem, being an issue, being ILLEGAL...
Ordinary people read these articles, and begin to equate "free software" = ILLEGAL.
Therein lies the problem, because if "free software" = ILLEGAL, then doesn't it follow that "Free Software" = ILLEGAL as well (in the mind of the common man)? That is a scary, but interesting thought to contemplate, that of the manipulation of the masses through words, by the BSA (which may or may not be a front organization for Microsoft - anybody got data to back that assertation up?), with the goal to ultimately cause Linux and other Free Software to be viewed as illegal, with the intention of destroying the movement.
Or maybe I am just overly paranoid, hmm...?
I love how they mention that a "patent is pending" - we all know given the ineptness of the USPTO, that they will get it, too!
Also, I love this little tidbit:
Foreverbright(TM) lights are built with patent pending circuitry to maximize efficiency of their LEDs. This revolutionary design concept eliminates
the use of traditional components that add to cost and generate heat. While details are proprietary, in essence the circuitry allows the LEDs to flash on and off with AC power.
Um, can you say "120VAC to 12VAC power transformer"? Good, I knew you could!
Actually, I suppose they in some way change the AC sine wave from the transformer (make it a 6VAC transformer) into some approximation of a square wave, then apply some form of DC offset voltage such that the waveform ran from 0-12VDC - but somehow I think that would be overkill...
I have to ask you "WTF are you talking about?"
/. I know I am not the oldest - I am 28 years old!
First off, while I am certainly not the youngest on
As far as being a tree-hugger, while I certainly don't like the practices some companies do to the environment, I certainly do not wish to shut down the entire industrial sector and go live in the woods - I believe there can be a happy medium.
Finally, I fail to see how any of this has to do with my question?
I was sincerely curious as to how they pulled this off - and from what I have found out, it seems they have done it with an abandoned, possibly condemned building. I was originally figuring they either had a rich person who was a member of the CCC who owned an entire building for himself (hey, I have nothing against this - it would be that person's money to decide what they did with it), or they possibly used a building under construction.
The idea that they are using a building slated for destruction makes the most sense, though. However, I still find it amazing that they got the permission to do this from all relevant sources. Of course, as one person replied, I am sure with big hint of sarcasm (and perhaps irony), it is possible because Germany "is a free country". I understand this individual's meaning.
What he said and the fact that such a display would be nigh impossible to do here in the USA says something about our society - and that troubles me.
If that is the case, then it answers the questions, most surely! But then, it begs another question, all the same:
How did they get permission (ie, from the owner and the city, not to mention any insurance company) to use what is essentially a "condemmed" building?
Unless things really are VERY lax over there - such use would have a snowball's chance of happening here in the USA!
BTW, do you have any links where they (the CCC) discuss this aspect?
I know I did - but past that I can't remember anything about it (what issue, etc) - early 90's is all I can remember.
But yes - it was a real article...
...I have to ask it again:
How are they really able to do this?
I don't mean the technical part (that part is relatively easy, from a hardware standpoint). I mean the legal/economic part?
Perhaps they got a grant for artistic reasons - but I tend to doubt that because they did it in four weeks.
The building seems to be pretty large - how did they:
a) Obtain an entire building for use for several months, and
b) Were allowed to paint 144 windows, and
c) Get the money to pay for bandwidth and electricity (somebody is paying it!), and
d) Do all of this inside of four weeks
???
The building can't be vacant - though it kinda looks that way from the pictures. Still, somebody owns it, and has to pay electricity and other costs, and would thus have to pass that along to the CCC (unless they have a "rich" member of the CCC who owns the building, which is quite possible), right?
Furthermore, wouldn't there be permits and such for such large public displays that would have to be procurred from the city government? Maybe things are radically different over there, and such legal stuff is easy to obtain in a very short amount of time, or not needed at all.
Maybe I am misunderstanding what CCC is? What function do they perform (I don't think they are a hacker group, right? Wasn't that something called the Kaos Komputer Klub?). I am just curious how they managed to pull off such a large display without running into financial or legal issues.
I have thought about this, but I would be in kinda the same boat you are, but for a different reason:
/.
The lower cost players (such as AIWA and Pioneer) can be nice, but you don't know what kind of CD mechanism they use (ie, who the manufacturer of it was) in order to get a similar mech from a CD-ROM or RW drive by the same manufacturer.
Plus, I would be willing to bet the manufacturers purposefully use different style connectors, cables, etc - to PREVENT this kind of thing occurring. That is just a gut feeling, though.
But you idea is sound. I am thinking one day just picking up a cheap unit off of Ebay, then futzing with it to see if I can get something rigged up. I am thinking a serial port selection interface, and a cheap IDE CD-RW drive on the back end.
If I ever do it, I will be sure to post to
;)
Isn't the CD the backup?
You have a point, which is valid for music CDs.
However, I am thinking data CDs (ie, CD-ROMs), and more specifically, CD-Rs and CD-RWs - things you have burned yourself. Standard, off-the-shelf CD-ROMs (like games, etc) that you buy would still pass the test you proclaim. But when it comes to stuff you burned yourself, things get a bit more tricky.
It would be nice just to have something that could burn on the fly, and archive them - rather than burning the CD, which creates the backup, from whatever is on the hard drive (array or whatever).
I can see your point, but an all optical system would be nice as well...
50 LEDs seem like a lot, and whether there would be more or less heat with that many LEDs would probably be an issue...
But what if you made a "light box" of some type, that had the LEDs in the box, focused and/or collumnated via a lens arrangement, then fed the light to the projector via a light pipe or fiber optic bundle? Would such a contraption work?
Seems impractical, too me (and I thought the thing up), but interesting, all the same!
Instead of turning the bulb off, what if you turned the bulb "down" - via some sort of rheostat or more properly, a potentiometer in a variable voltage divider configuration.
I am just thinking of this because the other replyer mentioned the cycling (heating/cooling of the bulb leading the failure of the element via metal fatigue)...?
Would this solution be better or worse?
My solution?
I got a six foot folding table (they make larger ones if you need it), put it in the middle of the room, and put my computers underneath it. That way, if I need to change connections, etc - I just go around to the back and fiddle with them. No more dragging machines out, etc.
To get power to the machines, I ran an extension cord along the ceiling, then down to the desk, and wrapped it with split loom tubing. Same for network connections, etc. You can also run the cords along the floor, and use those rubber floor cover thingies. Ideally, you would have a raised floor - I might do that next time.
So far, it has worked great for me, much better than the desk I had!
What do I mean?
Look at it: A 200 disc audio CD changer that can be computer controlled through an easily accessible interface.
Now, why isn't that CD drive a CD-ROM, or better yet, a CD-RW drive? Who here wouldn't want to have approx 140 gig of optical R/W storage - cheaply?
There are larger changers available as well - 400 discs and more. They are cheap.
Oh, yeah - they do make "commercial" CD-ROM/RW jukeboxes - but instead of being $250.00 - they are $5-15K! WTF? It must be because it seems like a niche market.
I have a ton of CD-ROMs and CD-Rs that I would love to be able to load into a jukebox to use at a click of a mouse. I have even thought about what it would take to build my own jukebox, or possibly convert an existing cheapo jukebox.
I know some of you are thinking "Dude! Get a few 100 gig IDE drives and shut up!" - All I have to say to that is that you are forgetting that these hard drives can crash, and there is no cheap way to back up - while a CD will last a very long time - you don't have to worry about it much.
I just can't understand the large difference for something that would be cheap and easy to do for a manufacturer...
I realize this, but why go out of the way to name the spec, and publicize what it can do (ie, spend money on marketing the name of it), if it is only going to be used for your products?
Seems like a waste of money - I mean, as a business, would you proclaim:
"And our new widget utilises ConnectLinkX for superior interfacing"
And then not give out the spec, and make all of your products "ConnectLinkX" compatible (like that wouldn't be obvious to a consumer), then market the shit out of "ConnectLinkX" (ie, spend the money on marketing), or would you proclaim:
"Works with our other cool widgets"
And then put that on each box, maybe say it a bit, and save the money that would go to marketing.
I guess I can see your point, but consumers would have to be STUPID, STUPID, STUPID - not to realize the lockin!
It would be like buying a car that only uses "BrandX" gas - "Cool, where do I sign up?".
Maybe consumers are that dumb...
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucapwas/scope20m.html: //www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucapwas/video.htmlo c.ic.ac.uk/~ih/doc/adc_dac/. uk/~ih/doc/adc_dac/deck/4chan 8bitadc.ascd ac/deck/8chan 12bitadc.asc_ dac/adc11/a c/dcfg/. html#pcme asuring
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http://www.epanorama.net/links/measuring
Have fun...
...is why a company called Advanced Digital Communications, is in the business of exploration and sonar equipment development (apparently, based on what googling I did)?
They have a ship (ships?) capable of deploying both side-scan sonar and UROVs - but they call themselves something that has nothing to do with _what_ they do...
To top it off, they are a Canadian (Toronto) based company, but are currently stationed in Havana, Cuba - and are "exploring" areas apparently "known" to be rich in sunken Spanish galleons, many of which went down with treasure (apparently to "test" their sonar devices). Furthermore, they are in some form of a "joint venture" with the Cuban government, namely Castro...
So, do you think when/if they bring up the gold (and/or get funding for this "lost city" venture), the next step will be the laying of redundant fiber links to Central America and Mexico, and the establishment of a real data vault/haven, ala Cryptonomicon?
I don't think it is gold they are after...
...contacting Alpine?
I know it sounds stupid, but it couldn't hurt - since you have already come so far, explain it to them, and what you want to do - hell, they may want to help you for promotional reasons (you may want to mention this to them). Or, you may have to buy the spec (which may be cheap - or could be INSANELY expensive).
If they flat out won't help, then you have lost nothing. Go ahead and RE it...
I can't imagine that they won't help in some way - why create the interface and publicize it, if it is proprietary and only used by them anyway? I would think they have created it to allow third party manufacturers to interface to it (maybe find who those manufacturers are, and contact them as well).
Here is what I am thinking:
The problem of last mile is two-fold: a) The monopoly held by power/telco/cable (and possibly water co) to get wires to your house, and b) The hassles involved for a "startup", or anybody else, to get rights to bury a new cable or conduit.
I wonder if there is a way around this - it would be ugly (very, VERY ugly), but could anyone prevent it?
Imagine stringing up a neighborhood, running the wire (most likely, fiber) between buildings, but not burying it, but by running it along the fence lines, and in some cases, hanging it free from the rooftops. Maybe in some cheap PVC painted to match the neighborhood, and to protect the cable. Each house would get a cheap interface, consisting of the fiber input and output, and a 10BaseT or 100BaseT connector (to go to the rest of the house) - kinda like a switch or hub of sorts.
For most neighborhoods (especially the ones with evil HAs), this could be done and would be hidden, and thus wouldn't bring on anyone's wrath. It would be crossing property lines, but hopefully the neighbors would get along well enough to be amiable about this. Some runs would have to go under the dirt (such as where gates are), but only in a small 3 inch depth PVC run, for about 3 feet. All the connections would have to terminate somewhere - ideally, all the residents would get together and buy one house to serve as the "terminus", and for that house get a T1 dropped and set up.
Older neighborhoods would be easier, because of lack of an HA.
One could say "do it with 802.11" - but this has the main problem of major up front cost (for each house) and interference (for a variety of reasons). The solution I propose could be done cheapest if you don't go with fiber, but instead use Cat5e and 100BaseT four port switches at each house. If you didn't want to go to the expense of getting a T1, if each (or most) houses have cable or DSL, then all houses could share the bandwidth in some manner, given the proper gateway/router/firewall system with proper load sharing software.
How would I go about setting this up?
First, I would go house to house, and ask each resident if the own a computer, and whether they would enjoy broadband. Ask them if the currently have DSL or cable, or if they use dialup. Ask each of them what the maximum they would be willing to pay for broadband, if they wanted it. Ask them if they would be willing to be part of a co-op for getting broadband. If they seem willing, share the idea with them.
Once you have asked enough people, calculate amounts - and if you are given a low enough amount from the calculations, go around and distribute flyers to each house. Make it a cooperative venture, where each resident is responsible for the wire from each side of his property line to his house, the switch, and the firewall/router (cost wise). Find out which residents are capable of set up and wiring (running conduit, etc), to help those who aren't. Offer a simple single disk install of linux for the router/firewall - and point out (or offer to build) these cheap boxes (think "yellow box linux" here). Or, depending on the setup, allow your standard el-cheapon linksys router/firewalls, etc.
I am certain this can be done - as long as all the neighbors cooperate. Can anyone point out issues in my reasoning? Are there laws or regulations preventing people from getting together to do such a thing (and if so - do these laws violate any rights)? What is stopping people from doing this?
I am surprised at this - I have never played EQ (in fact, the last FP game I ever played was the last KQ - I am not much of a game player), but I wonder if you could have "starved" to death - just like real life? In fact, if exposure and food (or lack thereof, I should say), were taken into account, a number of interesting possibilities could open up (imagine actually going to a tavern, having to sit down, and eat a meal, while discussing what to do next with fellow players). Anyhow, in your case you should die from lack of food and water, just like a real person stuck in a trench would be able to.
Furthermore, assuming another player could see you (or hear your cries for help), they should be able to throw a rope up/down to you, to help get you out, or something. Now, I know EQ probably doesn't allow this - but that is one of the things about these - dare I say it - virtual environments: Gaining insight about what happens in the real world, and how it would be solved in the real world, which would change the game somewhat. Sooner or later, you end up with a simulation of the real world (in theory, at least)...
Here is a good site about the CDTV and CD32.
This site says the CDTV was released in 1990. Not sure who is right, that was a while back. Anyhow, the specs on this machine was pretty impressive for the time:
Motorola 68000 7.14Mhz 16 Bit CPU
1 Meg Chip RAM
A graphics coprocessor which could display full screen animations at up to 4096 colors
Stereo 4 channel 14 Bit sound chip (the system could also play audio CDs)
DMA Architecture (transfer data with no CPU usage)
1x CD-ROM drive
VCR style case
When you think about it, Commodore basically released the first 16 bit CD-ROM based game console (with the exception that it was designed to look good with the rest of your AV components). A lot of upgrades and such were also available, both from Commodore and third parties (allowing everything from adding floppy and hard drives, a mouse and a keyboard, and more).
The CD32 was just as impressive, considering it was released in 1993:
Motorola 68020 14Mhz 32 Bit CPU
2 Meg Chip RAM
2X speed SCSI CD-ROM
16,000,000 colours Max
Game console style case with top loading CD-ROM
It used the same style sound system as the CDTV and other Amigas. There was also an expansion slot, which was typically used for what was called the "FMV Card" - which essentially allowed you to watch CD-I and VCD movies through the console. The controllers were pretty slick too, from what I remember. So, here you have in 1993, Commodore releases the first 32 Bit CD-ROM based console with movie playing capabilities.
Of course, as we all know, both of these consoles (and Commodore itself) bombed.
I don't understand why, outside of poor marketing (or lack of would be the better way to put it). The same thing happenned to the Neo-Geo and the 3DO. The high price also managed to help on all of these platforms.
But what is the difference today? The marketing by Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft is much higher than what the other consoles did - but I do remember 3DO being marketed pretty hard, same with Neo-Geo. I remember playing a 3DO at Best Buy, next to "next best" offerrings from Sega and Nintendo.
The 3DO was pretty expensive, so were the Neo Geo and CD32. But why is it today super expensive consoles fly off the shelves (even in a recession!), but back then, in relatively good times - they didn't? Can someone explain that?
To top it off, why is it that consoles with way far advanced capabilities don't seem to sell, but ones with marginal capabilities over last year's model seem to sell easily (and really, the capabilities of the X-Box, etc - really aren't that great over last years offerings)?
It is like the market is offered a super sports car for $10,000 - but no one wants it. But when the features that were in it appear in a sedan five years later, selling for the same amount - everyone can't wait!
Actually, I bet the car market works like this too...
I once worked at a small "mom-and-pop" style development house. Our office was situated in a small complex, on the second floor. The first floor of the complex was unused. For a couple of years while I was there, for Christmas we would open up that bottom floor (it was used for storage by the company), and have the party there.
Since there was no walls, etc inside, and a concrete floor - damn near anything could be done. We set up a dart board, food, etc - but the fun thing we would play was this funky little R/C car game.
At one time, these cars were made as a kit of four cars, but I would imagine enterprising geeks could build their own system. Essentially, each car was controlled by a person, goals were set up, and boundries were set, and there was a ball - the goal? Get the ball into a goal, and score a point. The cars ate batteries like popcorn, but simply buying a ton of batteries would keep everything going for a long time.
Today, I don't know if you can get cars, but you can get the cheap and cheesy retail "battlebots" sold at places like Walgreen's - these are radio controlled (or IR) that could be had fun with, too...
Not sure why...
Anyhow, this is a great way to get a party going, or at least a good way to have fun!
Some of my most fond memories of "work parties" were xmas parties that did this game. Beware, though - while it can work with larger crowds, typically things fall apart after about 30-40 people. Plus it can get REAL boring with a ton of people, just due to the number of switches (oh, yeah - limit the number of times a gift can be stolen to about 3-4 times, otherwise the exchange can go on nearly forever!)...
Some interesting gifts I have seen:
1. Old programmer box - complete with 70's style desk fan, LED HP programmer's calculator, old code printout (on greenbar, of course), etc.
2. Box of "helpful" items for help desk people (aspirin, earplugs, alcohol, etc)
3. A red "government" (anyway, the sticker said "Property of US Govt" on it) security phone, complete with trailing PBX wires
Of the three (and there were more), number 3 was most interesting - never did find out who brought that one.
I once managed to snag a most useful item (at least for the summer): An ice cream machine. However, this was no ordinary ice cream maker: this one was special. It works by putting the ice cream mixture inside the mixing cannister, then you sit the whole thing in the freezer, and the motor stirs the mixture, while simultaneously circulating the cold air around the cannister, gradually freezing it. When it gets to a certain consistancy, the paddle stops (simply because the motor can't provide any more torque), and you can remove the ice cream and eat it (at that point, it is like homemade soft serve), or put it in another container to freeze it solid (like regular ice cream). Yum!
But why doesn't NT complain? I remember NT would complain of such things (I remember trying to run DOOM on an NT box one time - gave me an error about trying to access the hardware directly). This switch, as you point out, is done via a BIOS interrupt - so why doesn't NT complain? Did MS change something to allow better handling of this?
Yesterday I got a letter from Cox (for Cox@Home) stating they were raising my bill by $5.00 - normally, I wouldn't have cared - I know what they are providing, they don't hassle me too much about attempting to stay "static" (IP wise) while they "roll out" DHCP (hey, for some reason my FreeSCO hangs when set to use DHCP - it boots, and sits waiting for some DHCP message it never gets - anybody else run FreeSCO and know about this?). But during the wait to see if I would be dropped, it was kinda hilarious.
/. and Fark, with a few other odd ducks thrown in), in prep for editing a hosts file. Then, I set up DNS caching on my FreeSCO box (I should have done this long ago), a visited a lot of other sites. Then, I posted pleas on a couple of message lists I am on for DNS servers, and got responses. Then I waited...
Friday, I took precautions - I first pinged and got every "important" IP for sites I visit a lot (mostly
Well, everything still seems good - but that could be my DNS cache - let me google a funky site now...
Seems OK - googled for "harpoon fish", hit a site called "asianartresource" in Hong Kong - loaded up fine (hell, faster than some local online stores).
I am on Cox@Home, as I noted before - so, things are OK here in Phoenix, as of 1:00pm AZ time Sunday.
As a "just-in-case" - anyone know if it is possible to "hand modify" FreeSCO's init files to have it point to more than two DNS servers (so I can type in these extra ones posted everywhere, as a just in case)?
My thoughts exactly - it runs fast, lean and most amazing of all, switches into and out of graphics mode (direct hardware hitting, even!) without causing NT to gripe! I am still trying to figure that out (hey, l33t ASM coder I am not).
I look at the code and the demo from time to time, just to say to myself "This guy can do this - I can be as good!" - as a way of reminding myself to be a better coder, in whatever language I am writing in...
Yeah! It is the ASM code is pretty straightforward, to a good extent - some of the stuff is familiar to me from coding I have done in x86. You can see that he (they?) is using the FPU heavily - but that is too be expected (not likely to create the demo AND fixed point routines in 256 bytes).