First of all, yes, some T-Mobile branded phones had their firmware modified by T-Mobile to prevent third party applications from accessing T-Mobile's data network. This has been going on for awhile, and really isn't news.
What T-Mobile has done recently, is a slow regional rollout of port blocking. You see, T-Mobile offers a $5.99 WAP access add-on, and a far more expensive "full internet access" add-on. What is happening is that people who bought unlocked/unbranded phones without T-Mobile's silly restrictions are finding that T-Mobile's $5.99 WAP plan just won't work any more for 3rd party apps which need unrestricted access to the Internet. The restrictions stopped just being in T-Mobile's phones. Now, as Verizon is so fond of saying, "It's the network."
There's quite a few threads about this started over at HowardForums, and it is very real. If you think you're sitting pretty because it hasn't happened to you yet, you've been warned. The only way you're safe is if you're already on one of T-Mobile's "full internet" plans (Blackberry, Sidekick, Phone-as-Modem, etc.).
There's quite a few angry T-Mobile users out there over this. Just because T-Mobile hasn't released an "official" word on the matter doesn't mean it hasn't happened. And yes, I do use T-Mobile and this restriction only just recently became active in the central Florida area. And also yes, I know T-Mobile isn't *just* in the US, but we're talking about T-Mobile's service in the US. So, if it's working for you over in Europe, that isn't very relevent, sorry.
Of course, you can easily prove that the story is true yourself. Ask a friend who lives in the areas where this has already taken effect, has T-Mobile and only pays for the $5.99 plan if he/she can still access anything with Opera Mini. I'll bet you $5.99, he/she can't.
...and some people are perfectly happy watching DVDs with the sound coming from a single 3" speaker in their television set. Luckily for the rest of us, the movie studios are thoughtful enough to include audio data that goes far beyond what "most" people are willing to tolerate, so those of us who paid for the DVD and a decent sound system don't feel like we're being ripped off! Apple, on the other hand, is being a bitrate nazi. Don't like 128kBit? No music for you!
If you can't hear the difference between the original redbook 44.1kHz 16-bit audio and 128kBit AAC, there's either something wrong with your speakers, your hearing, or both.
Prion-free cows have already been invented; they're called vegetables....which taste absolutely nothing like beef. What's the point of living longer if you're stuck eating rabbit food?
The only snag: you can't boot into the familiar GUI. (...) In any case, the code will boot up into single-user mode, which has a certain interest for Unix and command-line geeks, but isn't going to get Mac fans rushing off to buy cheap Dells instead of Apple machines.
So this doesn't mean it's time to download a newer version of a so-called "OSX86" distrobution, anyway. C'est la vie.
Let's be honest for a few minutes here - most online reviews are either so wordy you'd be saving time just watching the flick or they consist of some 12-year-old saying "OMG TiHz M0v13 iZ T3h SuX0r!!!!1". It's hardly compelling enough content to make a site worth a visit. I've also never really felt that what was lacking from my blog* (which no one reads anyway) was an RSS feed of someone else's favorite movies. I'm not one to toot Apple's horn, but they already have a peer review system, members' "favorite" lists, tube-clogging truckloads of trailers, and pretty soon (once they get all the licencing deals ironed out with the rest of the studios) the ability to purchase, download and watch any movie of your choice - all in one place.
Is the real story here that some 15-year-old put up a website, outside of MySpace?
* Perhaps that's what Web 2.0 is really about. Automatically sharing dynamic, user-generated content that never actually gets read.
Re:Combine this with 15min quick charge
on
USB Batteries
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
For the longevity of your batteries (ie, the reason you pay about 4x as much for rechargeables in the first place), you really should use an intelligent trickle-charger (around C/10) with an automatic pre-charging discharge.
You're overlooking the fact that if the batteries survive those 4 cycles, you've broken even and everything after that is gravy. I've got one of the Ray-O-Vac 15 minute chargers as well. The batteries have paid for themselves and then some, with no signs of slowing down. And when they do crap out, another four pack is about $15 retail - roughly the same price as a four pack of Energizer's single-use lithium AA cells.
Let's face it, a 15 minute charger can bring a set of batteries back from the dead in less time than it takes to drive to the store and buy new single-use batteries. Telling anyone they should avoid this technology because it *may* reduce the cell's lifetime is being penny wise, pound foolish.
As a father of 5 children, I counsel my kids that it's usually their fault when they are the victims. They are responsible for themselves and their own well being, and they are the ones who suffer when they don't ensure this.
You were obviously not bullied as a kid. Most "bullying" takes the form of social ostracism. You should be so lucky that none of your kids turn out to be homosexual, perhaps. Of course, I bet if that happened to be the case, you don't seem like the kind of parent who'd be accepting of a gay child.
Service valves? You list "manifold gauge set" down at the bottom so I don't know what you're talking about here.
Yeah, service valves, as in the things you attach the manifold gauge set to. They come in handy like that.
Bullshit. You really think that's what's in those window AC units? They use aluminum, same as probably every car you've ever driven.
You're thinking of the fins on the condenser and evaporator. The lines have always been, and continue to be, made from copper. And unless you plan to channel the refrigerant through an ion containment field, you're going to want copper lines between the indoor and outdoor sections.
You flare the tubing and use some compression fittings. $10 for the flaring tool. Jack diddly shit for the fittings.
Would this be tubing which you said isn't needed? Assuming you're eating some crow, you try flaring the lines with a $10 flaring tool (let alone a $10 budget) and let me know when you get sick of replacing the refrigerant that keeps leaking out. A good flaring tool starts at about $50, FYI.
Maybe, maybe not. Lots of them use R-134a. R-134a is practically free.
Only if you're shoplifting it from Pep Boys.
Don't need this for anything. No idea where you got this idea. For heating the copper that you don't need, maybe?
Even if you planned on using flare fittings, you'd still have to install those service valves on the "outdoor" section. Good intentions will only get you so far, you'll still need that torch.
$50 or less, look around.
A proper manifold gauge set starts at about $90, even at eBay prices. Might be able to swing a beat up old used one that leaks like a sieve for $50.
If you have a compressor you can get a compressor-driven vacuum pump for less than $50.
Venturi vacuum pumps pull a very poor vacuum. There's a reason real HVAC techs carry around multi-stage oil-filled pumps that cost significantly more. Also, if you don't have that air compressor...
$100 will buy you a dinky little window AC unit.
...which has one dual-shaft motor driving both the interior and exterior fans. You can't simply pull it apart and call it a mini-split. When all is said and done, you'd be better off buying a mini-split wholesale from eBay, mounting it yourself and paying a real HVAC tech to do the final-start up. You'd actually end up with something that works properly, is quiet and has a reasonable wife/girlfriend approval factor.
you can just go to a car AC place and give it to them
...they'll tell you they don't mess with window units. All but the largest units are charged and sealed at the factory and most auto shops have never even seen the piercing service valves required to recover the refrigerant. Your average joe trying to do this kind of mod would be releasing the refrigerant with a pipe cutter. In which case, I sincerely hope it's R-134a.
Why not just open up the AC unit, and stick the condenser outside, and the evaporator inside, with a fan on each?
Sure, why not. After you've torn apart a window unit, pissed off the EPA by letting the R-22 escape (because you're not going to buy the proper recovery equipment, right?) and bought several tools and supplies including: service valves, refrigerant grade copper lines, fittings, R-22, an oxy-acetylene torch, a manifold gauge set and a vacuum pump, you can easily build (and pay just as much for) what would basically amount to being a ghettofied mini-split system.
That "arcing capacitors cause plasma TV recall" article got posted again too. I'm still trying to decide if it's the capacitor manufacturers or Slashdot who have worse quality control. At least Slashdot doesn't burst into flames when it fails... Err...
My first thought upon seeing the picture of it was, "where are the tweeters?"
Frequency response: 53Hz to 16kHz ± 3 dB (From Apple's "Tech Specs")
16kHz? Absymal. It's not Hi-Fi - I've seen ghetto blasters with better specs. For what Apple's charging, you could buy a Chinese-made tube amp from eBay and still have enough money left over to buy a pair of speakers with better specs.
There once was a moderator from slash who had a whole lot of crack in his stash he smoked up his crack forgot how to hack and threw his iMac in the trash
If only we could just heal Slashdot's DUPE problem
on
Spacecraft, Heal Thyself
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
The other solution is already in place in Home Depot and grocery stores -- the self checkout. You can't buy an item without weighing it. I believe Best Buy and Circuit City are already starting to work on incorporating scale barcode scanners that weigh the item when they scan it.
You do realize those scales almost never work properly. I shop at Home Depot all the time and they're always pressing the override while it displays "checking item weight". Course, anyone trying to scam a store deserves what they get if they're using self check-out, because those lanes are watched extra closely.
Nothing like a geocities page to get those conspiracy theory juices flowing. Microwave-heated water is bad science, but for reasons of efficiency; not tinfoil hats and black helicopters.
Biography Patrick Ross works for The Progress & Freedom Foundation, a think tank based in Washington, D.C., and its Center for the Study of Digital Property. Earlier this week, the Progress & Freedom Foundation filed a brief with the Supreme Court supporting the RIAA and MPAA in their legal fight against file-swapping software companies Grokster and StreamCast Networks.
Slashdot Mirror
First of all, yes, some T-Mobile branded phones had their firmware modified by T-Mobile to prevent third party applications from accessing T-Mobile's data network. This has been going on for awhile, and really isn't news.
What T-Mobile has done recently, is a slow regional rollout of port blocking. You see, T-Mobile offers a $5.99 WAP access add-on, and a far more expensive "full internet access" add-on. What is happening is that people who bought unlocked/unbranded phones without T-Mobile's silly restrictions are finding that T-Mobile's $5.99 WAP plan just won't work any more for 3rd party apps which need unrestricted access to the Internet. The restrictions stopped just being in T-Mobile's phones. Now, as Verizon is so fond of saying, "It's the network."
There's quite a few threads about this started over at HowardForums, and it is very real. If you think you're sitting pretty because it hasn't happened to you yet, you've been warned. The only way you're safe is if you're already on one of T-Mobile's "full internet" plans (Blackberry, Sidekick, Phone-as-Modem, etc.).
There's quite a few angry T-Mobile users out there over this. Just because T-Mobile hasn't released an "official" word on the matter doesn't mean it hasn't happened. And yes, I do use T-Mobile and this restriction only just recently became active in the central Florida area. And also yes, I know T-Mobile isn't *just* in the US, but we're talking about T-Mobile's service in the US. So, if it's working for you over in Europe, that isn't very relevent, sorry.
Of course, you can easily prove that the story is true yourself. Ask a friend who lives in the areas where this has already taken effect, has T-Mobile and only pays for the $5.99 plan if he/she can still access anything with Opera Mini. I'll bet you $5.99, he/she can't.
If you can't hear the difference between the original redbook 44.1kHz 16-bit audio and 128kBit AAC, there's either something wrong with your speakers, your hearing, or both.
Prion-free cows have already been invented; they're called vegetables. ...which taste absolutely nothing like beef. What's the point of living longer if you're stuck eating rabbit food?
From TFA:
The only snag: you can't boot into the familiar GUI. (...) In any case, the code will boot up into single-user mode, which has a certain interest for Unix and command-line geeks, but isn't going to get Mac fans rushing off to buy cheap Dells instead of Apple machines.
So this doesn't mean it's time to download a newer version of a so-called "OSX86" distrobution, anyway. C'est la vie.
Let's be honest for a few minutes here - most online reviews are either so wordy you'd be saving time just watching the flick or they consist of some 12-year-old saying "OMG TiHz M0v13 iZ T3h SuX0r!!!!1". It's hardly compelling enough content to make a site worth a visit. I've also never really felt that what was lacking from my blog* (which no one reads anyway) was an RSS feed of someone else's favorite movies. I'm not one to toot Apple's horn, but they already have a peer review system, members' "favorite" lists, tube-clogging truckloads of trailers, and pretty soon (once they get all the licencing deals ironed out with the rest of the studios) the ability to purchase, download and watch any movie of your choice - all in one place.
Is the real story here that some 15-year-old put up a website, outside of MySpace?
* Perhaps that's what Web 2.0 is really about. Automatically sharing dynamic, user-generated content that never actually gets read.
For the longevity of your batteries (ie, the reason you pay about 4x as much for rechargeables in the first place), you really should use an intelligent trickle-charger (around C/10) with an automatic pre-charging discharge.
You're overlooking the fact that if the batteries survive those 4 cycles, you've broken even and everything after that is gravy. I've got one of the Ray-O-Vac 15 minute chargers as well. The batteries have paid for themselves and then some, with no signs of slowing down. And when they do crap out, another four pack is about $15 retail - roughly the same price as a four pack of Energizer's single-use lithium AA cells.
Let's face it, a 15 minute charger can bring a set of batteries back from the dead in less time than it takes to drive to the store and buy new single-use batteries. Telling anyone they should avoid this technology because it *may* reduce the cell's lifetime is being penny wise, pound foolish.
As a father of 5 children, I counsel my kids that it's usually their fault when they are the victims. They are responsible for themselves and their own well being, and they are the ones who suffer when they don't ensure this.
You were obviously not bullied as a kid. Most "bullying" takes the form of social ostracism. You should be so lucky that none of your kids turn out to be homosexual, perhaps. Of course, I bet if that happened to be the case, you don't seem like the kind of parent who'd be accepting of a gay child.
Looks like the moderators have a hardon for modding down juvenile humor. So here's more:
"Heh heh heh, Butthead, aren't particles like those things in the bottom of the toaster?"
"No assmunch, those are dead bugs."
"Oh yeah, heh heh heh."
...stopping the proliferation of nuclear weapons by creating a massive stockpile?
"I'm sure that in 2006, disposable realtime MPEG4 encoders are available in every corner drugstore, but in 1996, that kind of processing power is a little hard to come by."
Service valves? You list "manifold gauge set" down at the bottom so I don't know what you're talking about here.
...which has one dual-shaft motor driving both the interior and exterior fans. You can't simply pull it apart and call it a mini-split. When all is said and done, you'd be better off buying a mini-split wholesale from eBay, mounting it yourself and paying a real HVAC tech to do the final-start up. You'd actually end up with something that works properly, is quiet and has a reasonable wife/girlfriend approval factor.
...they'll tell you they don't mess with window units. All but the largest units are charged and sealed at the factory and most auto shops have never even seen the piercing service valves required to recover the refrigerant. Your average joe trying to do this kind of mod would be releasing the refrigerant with a pipe cutter. In which case, I sincerely hope it's R-134a.
Yeah, service valves, as in the things you attach the manifold gauge set to. They come in handy like that.
Bullshit. You really think that's what's in those window AC units? They use aluminum, same as probably every car you've ever driven.
You're thinking of the fins on the condenser and evaporator. The lines have always been, and continue to be, made from copper. And unless you plan to channel the refrigerant through an ion containment field, you're going to want copper lines between the indoor and outdoor sections.
You flare the tubing and use some compression fittings. $10 for the flaring tool. Jack diddly shit for the fittings.
Would this be tubing which you said isn't needed? Assuming you're eating some crow, you try flaring the lines with a $10 flaring tool (let alone a $10 budget) and let me know when you get sick of replacing the refrigerant that keeps leaking out. A good flaring tool starts at about $50, FYI.
Maybe, maybe not. Lots of them use R-134a. R-134a is practically free.
Only if you're shoplifting it from Pep Boys.
Don't need this for anything. No idea where you got this idea. For heating the copper that you don't need, maybe?
Even if you planned on using flare fittings, you'd still have to install those service valves on the "outdoor" section. Good intentions will only get you so far, you'll still need that torch.
$50 or less, look around.
A proper manifold gauge set starts at about $90, even at eBay prices. Might be able to swing a beat up old used one that leaks like a sieve for $50.
If you have a compressor you can get a compressor-driven vacuum pump for less than $50.
Venturi vacuum pumps pull a very poor vacuum. There's a reason real HVAC techs carry around multi-stage oil-filled pumps that cost significantly more. Also, if you don't have that air compressor...
$100 will buy you a dinky little window AC unit.
you can just go to a car AC place and give it to them
Why not just open up the AC unit, and stick the condenser outside, and the evaporator inside, with a fan on each?
Sure, why not. After you've torn apart a window unit, pissed off the EPA by letting the R-22 escape (because you're not going to buy the proper recovery equipment, right?) and bought several tools and supplies including: service valves, refrigerant grade copper lines, fittings, R-22, an oxy-acetylene torch, a manifold gauge set and a vacuum pump, you can easily build (and pay just as much for) what would basically amount to being a ghettofied mini-split system.
n/t
...it could've been a dupe of a years-old story.
That "arcing capacitors cause plasma TV recall" article got posted again too. I'm still trying to decide if it's the capacitor manufacturers or Slashdot who have worse quality control. At least Slashdot doesn't burst into flames when it fails... Err...
Apple screwed the pooch on the iPod Hi-Fi.
My first thought upon seeing the picture of it was, "where are the tweeters?"
Frequency response: 53Hz to 16kHz ± 3 dB
(From Apple's "Tech Specs")
16kHz? Absymal. It's not Hi-Fi - I've seen ghetto blasters with better specs. For what Apple's charging, you could buy a Chinese-made tube amp from eBay and still have enough money left over to buy a pair of speakers with better specs.
There once was a moderator from slash
who had a whole lot of crack in his stash
he smoked up his crack
forgot how to hack
and threw his iMac in the trash
http://slashdot.org/science/01/02/15/041205.shtml
And my, what an old dupe it is!
Really wine has 5 basic flavorings: 1) rotten grape 2) alcohol 3) wooden barrel 4) cork 5) mold
I'm having this made into a bumper sticker. Thanks for the best laugh I've had all day!
But he immediately had to go see a man about an Xbox 360. ;-)
http://hymn-project.org/jhymndoc/
If you can't buy downloadable music online without DRM, piracy begins to look pretty appealing. Pay and be restricted, or pirate and play anywhere?
The other solution is already in place in Home Depot and grocery stores -- the self checkout. You can't buy an item without weighing it. I believe Best Buy and Circuit City are already starting to work on incorporating scale barcode scanners that weigh the item when they scan it.
You do realize those scales almost never work properly. I shop at Home Depot all the time and they're always pressing the override while it displays "checking item weight". Course, anyone trying to scam a store deserves what they get if they're using self check-out, because those lanes are watched extra closely.
Nothing like a geocities page to get those conspiracy theory juices flowing. Microwave-heated water is bad science, but for reasons of efficiency; not tinfoil hats and black helicopters.
Like a sellout, perhaps?
Biography
Patrick Ross works for The Progress & Freedom Foundation, a think tank based in Washington, D.C., and its Center for the Study of Digital Property. Earlier this week, the Progress & Freedom Foundation filed a brief with the Supreme Court supporting the RIAA and MPAA in their legal fight against file-swapping software companies Grokster and StreamCast Networks.
'nuff said.