Fungi like dark, warm, environments, no? What if a small fluorescent light were installed in the cases? Perhaps that would help keep the growth down. Or maybe an ultraviolet light? UV is sometimes used to sterilize drinking water and is known to alter the DNA of fungi, bacteria, viruses to keep them from reproducing. There's a chart of how much UV is required to kill certain organisms at http://users.erols.com/markricci/newpage1.htm.
Most computer manufacturers who sell large quantities to hospitals and other health-care facilities would probably be willing to install these. -----------------------
The only question I have is...
on
Flywheel UPS
·
· Score: 4
...how often do I have to change the hamster? -----------------------
For the convenience of slashdot readers, I have posted the entire text of the book about the evils of the DMCA below. Feel free to read it at your leisure.
Due to the DMCA, this portion of the post has been removed
I hope you enjoyed reading the book as much as I did. -----------------------
This is not a black-and-white issue. Viewing porn does not automatically scar you, any more than taking a drink of alcohol turns you into a drunk.
I do think that people who are into porn are more likely to, say, cheat on their wife. Not that everyone who looks at porn cheats, and not that people who do not look at porn do not cheat. But we are definitely affected by what we see, hear, read, etc. Porn is a powerful image, which reaches deep into what we are as humans. To say it has no effect is to deny reality. Usually this is a reaction to hysteria over video games, violence, porn, etc. Viewing sex, violence, whatever, will have an effect, but it does not determine the outcome, and there are even more powerful factors in a child's development. -----------------------
Microsoft tries everything possible to discourage the casual user from picking up Linux and installing it. Don't be surprised if they put up a page saying "Linux will ruin your WinXP installation"
Anyone serious enough to get a separate drive and swappable bays, etc. is not going to be foiled by this trick, but it's not meant for them. -----------------------
How would Jon Katz classify these guys?
on
When Aviaks Attack
·
· Score: 5
Are they jocks or geeks? It just doesn't make sense!!! -----------------------
Just reading the abuses, back-room deals, suppression of speech, greed, and the way money controls the laws in this world on this forum alone is too much. It's overload. Every ten minutes there's another one. It makes me all to aware that the only rights I have are ones that co-incide with corporate america's interests.
It reminds me how Presidnet Lincoln responded when he told about confederate spies in his government. He said:
"It was a majestic-looking tree, and apperently perfect in every part -- tall, straight, and of immense size -- the grand old sentinel of his forest hime. One morning, while at work in his garden, he saw a squirrel run up the tree into a hole and thought the tree might be hollow, He proceeded to examine it carefully and, much to his surprise, he found that the stately tree that he had valued for its beauty and grandeur to be the pride and protection of his little farm was hollow from top to bottom. Only a rim of solid wood remained, barely sufficient to support its weight. What was he to do? If he cut it down, it would do great damage with its great length and spreading branches. If he let it remain, his family was in constant danger. In a storm it might fall, or the wind might blow it down, and his house and children be crushed by it. What should he do? As he turned away, he said sadly, 'I wish I had never seen that squirrel.'"
Sometimes I wish I could just have my illusions back that at least some things are done fairly and justly, that someone with power cares about the rights of people who cannot reward him, that the tree isn't completely hollow. -----------------------
Actually, I paid about $50 for my FireWire cards. However, for about $100, you usually get better video editing software (a VE/LE/SE version of Media Studio Pro or Premiers or somthing like that) -- I already had what I needed, so I didn't spend the extra $, but to do everything that you'd want to with the PC, you'd want the better software. And if you're going with a higher-end mobo, the PC cost will go up. In the end it doesn't make much of a difference. -----------------------
This is not for someone who just likes to watch TV. This is going to be huge for all those Star Trek/Simpsons/South Park/SNL/Iron Chef/Anime/Sopranos/X-Files/whatever else uber-fans who always wanted to assemble their own collection of every episode. People will be able to have a stack of DVD's with every show, indexed, cataloged, and ready for the big sci-fi convention.
The things that make this system special is the a)MPEG2 (DVD format) capture, and b) DVD-RW. Most inexpensive video capture is firewire these days, which has a high bitrate compared to MPEG2.
Of course you could put together a similar system yourself:
These guys are going to get scammed! After all, we all know that they aren't going into space, but are just going to be taken to a sound stage in Siberia. -----------------------
Is to create some kind of forum where people can share the "deal" they each got from IBM. If you go to your account rep and say, "I know so-and-so got the same hardware for $2000 less, give me that deal or else", most good account reps will find a way to get you that same deal.
Dynamic pricing is based on ignorance -- that you didn't know you could get a better deal. It is easily combatted with information. And becauase we're talking about large $ items here, not books and CD's, you can factor in the human element (i.e., the relationship between the customer and the company/account rep). -----------------------
To: dhyman@gracenote.com
Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2001 7:37 PM
Subject: About Suing Roxio
Dear Mr. Hyman -
I read your open letter regarding the lawsuit against Roxio, and I would like you to know that I am sad to see how you are digging in your heels over this.
The fact is, regardless of however much code Gracenote has developed, that the data was provided to CDDB by end-users who, for the most part, were contributing to other end-users. If CDDB had said, "help us build our database so we can get big enough to stop anyone else from doing it," you would have never ended up where you are now.
I do not dispute that you have every right to ask that developers who build connectivity to your servers be asked to pay a fee. What I do dispute is your right to try to force, by abuse of the law, anyone who would dare choose to not use your service to have no choice. And you may not realize this, but in the end, your war is against the users, those whom you are trying to deprive any choice in cd-databases.
Your behavior on this matter is wrong. Why is it that you do not respect the right of others to compete with you? Just because they are offering a free service does not mean that they have done something wrong. In your letter, you state that you provide quality service. I do not doubt that. If you are that much better than freedb, then you have nothing to fear.
I will switch my CD-ripping software to connect to freedb, and encourage everyone I know to do the same. Please discontinue this lawsuit. Give users a choice.
Gracenote provides fast, accurate and secure data delivery to end-users that is available around the world 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to more than 25 million unique users a month. We operate redundant systems in multiple locations to provide what we feel is the best-possible user experience, and that takes bandwidth, servers, database licenses, terabytes of storage, and an expert staff to keep it all running. Additionally, we provide multiple levels of support to our developers to help them offer the best possible applications. Thousands of developers understand and appreciate the value and quality of our service, and are willing to pay our modest licensing fees to support it."
How is Roxio causing a problem here? They aren't hijacking Gracenote's servers, they are just using data from elsewhere -- and, as Gracenote says it's not about the data. And all they are saying after that is that they give great service for their licensing fees. So? Just because they do a great job, everyone should be forced to use their service? -----------------------
Pioneer is releasing a consumer-level DVD-R this month. You can get it for about $800 once it's out.
The fact is, DVD-RAM is not taking off because, simply, it requires a ~$500 drive and is not compatible with DVD, and the average person does not need 5GB of removable storage.
miniDVD is a great idea -- DVD-quality MPEG2 video on a CD-R, but few DVD players are compatible. So even if you make that awesome miniDVD, chances are good that whomever you send it to can't play it in their DVD player (although any computer fast enough to decode the MPEG2 can).
VCD is a cool format (basically a special format of disc with MPEG1 video), and probably 2/3 of DVD players support it, but they are a pain to author, take a long time to encode, and quality is poor (VHS-quality at best).
SVCD is nice quality (not as good as DVD, but definitely better than VHS), but has far less compatibility than VCD in consumer DVD players. Then there's XVCD and XSVCD, a couple of esoteric formats that hardly work on any DVD players.
The final analysis: DVD-R is going to be big, not because it is necessarily the "best", but because it crosses over from computers to consumer electronics, has a large installed base of compatible hardware, and is suitable for a wide variety of tasks, which it will perform very well (data storage, video, etc). Just wait until the DVD-R MP3 players are out... -----------------------
What's the point, if you are going to give all the names worth having out to those who have trademarks on those names? If I have superhappyfun.com, then I get first dibs on superhappyfun.biz, superhappyfun.info. And given the way a lot of these things go, and the indications from ICANN, I could kick off anyone who registers them before me.
So now when someone registers their.com name, they'll also register it in.biz and.info, and probably point those back to the.com. The only benefit is to line the pockets of registrars.
The whole point of new TLD's is to be able to have the same name used in different TLD's so that similarly/identically named organizations can have peaceful co-existence of their websites. The way they are going about this is defeating that, guaranteeing not much more than 2 identical copies of the.com database. -----------------------
Bitch all you want about the US and the NSA/CIA/FBI/DEA/Boy Scouts/whatever, but the fact is that you only have something to gripe about because the US is a lot more free than the USSR ever was, and most of what the KGB or any other Soviet government agency ever did is still secret (and will never be widely known). There is no Freedom of Information Act in Russia.
We did our space missions in front of the world. The USSR had the luxury of being able to show their successful missions only and no one ever heard about the failures. How many unnamed Russian astronauts perished in the space race? Probably this will never be known. The very fact that no one would know about "accidents" made astronauts a lot more expendable. -----------------------
Check out http://www.loc.gov/global/executive/fed.html for a list of executive branch agencies and their web sites. You'll see Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) nestled in between the National Mediation Board and the National Science Foundation. Basically, as prez, I own Amtrak and I can do whatever I want with it. If I want to give the DEA information about passengers, I can, 'cause it's all mine. If you don't want your information being shared with the DEA, then you shouldn't be so po' that you need to ride the train. -----------------------
Slashdot Mirror
Fungi like dark, warm, environments, no? What if a small fluorescent light were installed in the cases? Perhaps that would help keep the growth down. Or maybe an ultraviolet light? UV is sometimes used to sterilize drinking water and is known to alter the DNA of fungi, bacteria, viruses to keep them from reproducing. There's a chart of how much UV is required to kill certain organisms at http://users.erols.com/markricci/newpage1.htm.
Most computer manufacturers who sell large quantities to hospitals and other health-care facilities would probably be willing to install these.
-----------------------
...how often do I have to change the hamster?
-----------------------
Identification By Typingm l
Posted by CmdrTaco on Tuesday June 13, @12:31PM
http://slashdot.org/articles/00/06/13/1551221.sht
-----------------------
Not only that, but when 100GB IDE drives are cheap and plentiful, you can ditch the 20GB and plug in 100GB.
-----------------------
For the convenience of slashdot readers, I have posted the entire text of the book about the evils of the DMCA below. Feel free to read it at your leisure.
Due to the DMCA, this portion of the post has been removed
I hope you enjoyed reading the book as much as I did.
-----------------------
This is not a black-and-white issue. Viewing porn does not automatically scar you, any more than taking a drink of alcohol turns you into a drunk.
I do think that people who are into porn are more likely to, say, cheat on their wife. Not that everyone who looks at porn cheats, and not that people who do not look at porn do not cheat. But we are definitely affected by what we see, hear, read, etc. Porn is a powerful image, which reaches deep into what we are as humans. To say it has no effect is to deny reality. Usually this is a reaction to hysteria over video games, violence, porn, etc. Viewing sex, violence, whatever, will have an effect, but it does not determine the outcome, and there are even more powerful factors in a child's development.
-----------------------
...that the head chief advisor on Science and technology is a venture capitalist.
Kind of like the fox guarding the henhouse...
-----------------------
Microsoft tries everything possible to discourage the casual user from picking up Linux and installing it. Don't be surprised if they put up a page saying "Linux will ruin your WinXP installation"
Anyone serious enough to get a separate drive and swappable bays, etc. is not going to be foiled by this trick, but it's not meant for them.
-----------------------
Are they jocks or geeks? It just doesn't make sense!!!
-----------------------
It reminds me how Presidnet Lincoln responded when he told about confederate spies in his government. He said:
Sometimes I wish I could just have my illusions back that at least some things are done fairly and justly, that someone with power cares about the rights of people who cannot reward him, that the tree isn't completely hollow.
-----------------------
Actually, I paid about $50 for my FireWire cards. However, for about $100, you usually get better video editing software (a VE/LE/SE version of Media Studio Pro or Premiers or somthing like that) -- I already had what I needed, so I didn't spend the extra $, but to do everything that you'd want to with the PC, you'd want the better software. And if you're going with a higher-end mobo, the PC cost will go up. In the end it doesn't make much of a difference.
-----------------------
...at Aim toothpaste! Those leeches have been getting rich off AOL's trademarked name for a long time now!
AIM THIS!
-----------------------
The things that make this system special is the a)MPEG2 (DVD format) capture, and b) DVD-RW. Most inexpensive video capture is firewire these days, which has a high bitrate compared to MPEG2.
Of course you could put together a similar system yourself:
computer ~$800 (PIII, 1+GHz, 256 MB)
MPEG2 Capture ~$250
FireWire ~$100
80GB External Firewire HD ~$350
DVD-RW ~800
Total:$2300
So it's not really much cheaper for DIY, though you could probably save a hundred or two on the PC if you really tried.
-----------------------
And exactly how many dishes can you make out of Tribbles?
-----------------------
Hmm, I don't know...shared source...sounds pretty un-American...
-----------------------
These guys are going to get scammed! After all, we all know that they aren't going into space, but are just going to be taken to a sound stage in Siberia.
-----------------------
Is to create some kind of forum where people can share the "deal" they each got from IBM. If you go to your account rep and say, "I know so-and-so got the same hardware for $2000 less, give me that deal or else", most good account reps will find a way to get you that same deal.
Dynamic pricing is based on ignorance -- that you didn't know you could get a better deal. It is easily combatted with information. And becauase we're talking about large $ items here, not books and CD's, you can factor in the human element (i.e., the relationship between the customer and the company/account rep).
-----------------------
I think Dale Earnhardt's pit crew is available...
-----------------------
To: dhyman@gracenote.com
Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2001 7:37 PM
Subject: About Suing Roxio
Dear Mr. Hyman -
I read your open letter regarding the lawsuit against Roxio, and I would like you to know that I am sad to see how you are digging in your heels over this.
The fact is, regardless of however much code Gracenote has developed, that the data was provided to CDDB by end-users who, for the most part, were contributing to other end-users. If CDDB had said, "help us build our database so we can get big enough to stop anyone else from doing it," you would have never ended up where you are now.
I do not dispute that you have every right to ask that developers who build connectivity to your servers be asked to pay a fee. What I do dispute is your right to try to force, by abuse of the law, anyone who would dare choose to not use your service to have no choice. And you may not realize this, but in the end, your war is against the users, those whom you are trying to deprive any choice in cd-databases.
Your behavior on this matter is wrong. Why is it that you do not respect the right of others to compete with you? Just because they are offering a free service does not mean that they have done something wrong. In your letter, you state that you provide quality service. I do not doubt that. If you are that much better than freedb, then you have nothing to fear.
I will switch my CD-ripping software to connect to freedb, and encourage everyone I know to do the same. Please discontinue this lawsuit. Give users a choice.
Thank you
-----------------------
"It's not just data, it's a service
Gracenote provides fast, accurate and secure data delivery to end-users that is available around the world 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to more than 25 million unique users a month. We operate redundant systems in multiple locations to provide what we feel is the best-possible user experience, and that takes bandwidth, servers, database licenses, terabytes of storage, and an expert staff to keep it all running. Additionally, we provide multiple levels of support to our developers to help them offer the best possible applications. Thousands of developers understand and appreciate the value and quality of our service, and are willing to pay our modest licensing fees to support it."
How is Roxio causing a problem here? They aren't hijacking Gracenote's servers, they are just using data from elsewhere -- and, as Gracenote says it's not about the data. And all they are saying after that is that they give great service for their licensing fees. So? Just because they do a great job, everyone should be forced to use their service?
-----------------------
OK, a little information:
Pioneer is releasing a consumer-level DVD-R this month. You can get it for about $800 once it's out.
The fact is, DVD-RAM is not taking off because, simply, it requires a ~$500 drive and is not compatible with DVD, and the average person does not need 5GB of removable storage.
miniDVD is a great idea -- DVD-quality MPEG2 video on a CD-R, but few DVD players are compatible. So even if you make that awesome miniDVD, chances are good that whomever you send it to can't play it in their DVD player (although any computer fast enough to decode the MPEG2 can).
VCD is a cool format (basically a special format of disc with MPEG1 video), and probably 2/3 of DVD players support it, but they are a pain to author, take a long time to encode, and quality is poor (VHS-quality at best).
SVCD is nice quality (not as good as DVD, but definitely better than VHS), but has far less compatibility than VCD in consumer DVD players. Then there's XVCD and XSVCD, a couple of esoteric formats that hardly work on any DVD players.
The final analysis: DVD-R is going to be big, not because it is necessarily the "best", but because it crosses over from computers to consumer electronics, has a large installed base of compatible hardware, and is suitable for a wide variety of tasks, which it will perform very well (data storage, video, etc). Just wait until the DVD-R MP3 players are out...
-----------------------
What's the point, if you are going to give all the names worth having out to those who have trademarks on those names? If I have superhappyfun.com, then I get first dibs on superhappyfun.biz, superhappyfun.info. And given the way a lot of these things go, and the indications from ICANN, I could kick off anyone who registers them before me.
.com name, they'll also register it in .biz and .info, and probably point those back to the .com. The only benefit is to line the pockets of registrars.
.com database.
So now when someone registers their
The whole point of new TLD's is to be able to have the same name used in different TLD's so that similarly/identically named organizations can have peaceful co-existence of their websites. The way they are going about this is defeating that, guaranteeing not much more than 2 identical copies of the
-----------------------
<PANEL>
</PANEL>
<CHARLIE_BROWN ACTION="RUNNING"></CHARLIE_BROWN>
<LUCY ACTION="HOLDING_FOOTBALL"></LUCY>
<PANEL>
<CHARLIE_BROWN ACTION="RUNNING"><THINKING_BUBBLE TEXT="I'm going to kick it this time!"></THINKING BUBBLE></CHARLIE_BROWN>
<LUCY ACTION="HOLDING_FOOTBALL"><GRIN STYLE="MISCHEVIOUS"></GRIN></LUCY>
</PANEL>
<PANEL>
<CHARLIE_BROWN ACTION="FALLING"><SCREAM TEXT="WAUUUGGHH!!!"></CHARLIE_BROWN>
<LUCY ACTION="YANKING_FOOTBALL"></LUCY>
</PANEL>
</STRIP>
Well, if that ain't funny, I don't know what is...
-----------------------
Bitch all you want about the US and the NSA/CIA/FBI/DEA/Boy Scouts/whatever, but the fact is that you only have something to gripe about because the US is a lot more free than the USSR ever was, and most of what the KGB or any other Soviet government agency ever did is still secret (and will never be widely known). There is no Freedom of Information Act in Russia.
We did our space missions in front of the world. The USSR had the luxury of being able to show their successful missions only and no one ever heard about the failures. How many unnamed Russian astronauts perished in the space race? Probably this will never be known. The very fact that no one would know about "accidents" made astronauts a lot more expendable.
-----------------------
Check out http://www.loc.gov/global/executive/fed.html for a list of executive branch agencies and their web sites. You'll see Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) nestled in between the National Mediation Board and the National Science Foundation. Basically, as prez, I own Amtrak and I can do whatever I want with it. If I want to give the DEA information about passengers, I can, 'cause it's all mine. If you don't want your information being shared with the DEA, then you shouldn't be so po' that you need to ride the train.
-----------------------