GSM terminals exist today, albeit more expensive to operate. I see merchants use them all the time at various large scale events where it is not practical to bring in a mass of phone lines for 1-2 days.
Personally, I'd be more interested in seeing terminals move to IP based (with appropriate client and server SSL certificates). There is no reason to keep using analog modems other than the weak excuse of not being snoopable. The devices should of course be locked down. No remote IP based management; ssl or ipsec (with appropriate certificate checks on BOTH sides); and a strict local host firewall that drops all packets other than the minimum needed (enough to support the outbound session + related traffic, and arp). For bonus points, require keypad intervention to allow ARP to work - then statically cache the arp address. The main headache involved with all this is how to update client/server certificates (which is not insignificant).
SYDNEY: A 45-year Australian trial is the best evidence yet that could seeding - the practice of artificially inducing clouds to make rain - really works.
Since the mid-20th century scientists have attempted to produce rain by dispersing chemical substances into the clouds and stimulating precipitation. However, until now, there has been little concrete scientific evidence that cloud seeding is effective.
"This is the first time that an independent analysis of cloud seeding data over several decades has shown a statistically significant increase in rainfall," said Steven Siems, a meteorologist from Monash University in Melbourne and leader of the study.
Significant finding
The Monash team, in conjunction with renewable energy firm Hydro Tasmania, analysed monthly rainfall patterns over the hydroelectric catchment area between May and October from 1960 until 2005.
As they detailed in the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology the analysis revealed higher levels of rain in the parts of the catchment where the rain making technique was used than in those where it was not.
"A number of independent statistical tests showed a consistent increase of at least five per cent in monthly rainfall over the catchment area," said Siems.
For the could seeding technique, the researchers select clouds using specialist weather radar technology that allows them to see all the tiny processes that take place within them.
Once clouds for seeding are chosen, minute particles of a silver compound are dusted into them by light aircraft to stimulate rain formation.
Super-cooled water
Anthony Morrison, a climatologist at Monash and co-author of the study, explained that these silver particles cause super-cooled water in the clouds to freeze. As these particular clouds are so high in the atmosphere that they are below freezing point, the frozen drops recruit water and get heavier causing them to fall from the clouds as rain.
However, the researchers caution that the result may be due to the unique clouds in this part of Tasmania and would be difficult to reproduce elsewhere.
"Clouds over the Southern Ocean are different to any other clouds", Siems told Cosmos Online. "They are really loaded with super cool liquid water." Just as important, he said, is the remoteness of the location: "the air in the Southern Ocean is exceptionally clean with virtually no pollution."
And the researchers are still at a loss to precisely explain how the technique was successful.
"They're really not comparable to clouds that have been seeded anywhere else in the world," said Morrison. "Further field measurements of cloud microphysics over the region are needed to provide a physical basis for these statistical results."
Despite the caveats, other experts are excited by the results.
"At long last there is scientific backup for the [cloud seeding] hypothesis that has been suggested over the years," commented Roger Stone, director of the Australian Centre for Sustainable Catchments at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba.
However, while the study is a breakthrough, he noted that cloud seeding does not work in all locations and specific techniques have to be developed for each region.
"For example, in Queensland the conditions are highly different. It has to be the right time and exactly the right cloud for it to work," he said. "The key is to get a very good weather radar."
Let it snow
Paul Johnson, a spokesperson from Snowy Hydro, who are conducting similar experiments to artificial induce snowfall in Victoria's Snowy Mountains, said the results were promising. "It's another indicator that supports our preliminary data and backs up what the experts said in the beginning. That we would see an increase in snow."
If you have another mac in the USA, enable remote ssh logins into it. (Or really, any server that accepts ssh, but since you fell for the Steve Jobs Reality Distortion Field, I'll assume you're on a mac, and you know others with macs in the USA).
In terminal,
ssh -D 1080 example.com
In network preferences,
Configure your network settings to use a socks proxy on 127.0.0.1:1080
Now, Safari and iTunes both will be browsing *via* example.com, working around any geolocation features Apple and other companies may be using. This setting is principally only honored by Apple apps; it won't affect Firefox for example (though you can configure Firefox to use a socks proxy).
I didn't buy a Kindle to save money. The fact that books are cheaper help make it easier to make the decision to buy the Kindle, but.. the primary reason I bought it was convenience. Anywhere I go, I have a library of books to read; they remember where in the book I am (no dropping the book); the font size is variable (my late night reading font is bigger than mid-day); and lastly, the built in modem.
Sure, I can carry a dead tree book or two at the most, but they start to get annoying to have anything more than that. And, late night, reading dead trees is hard on my eyes.
I've done this in the past. In 1997, I posted a single message containing only ":q" in the body to 19 (not 20!) newsgroups. Within a few hours, the first spam started rolling in. My smtp filter would automaticallly blacklist any sender+ip combo that sent mail to this bait address. This was very very effective for many years. A few years ago, I finally stopped using this method, as the use of using zombies made this practice no longer effective.
Greylisting is currently the most effective means I'm using right now for spam control; but I'm sure that'll change over the next few years too.
I currently use a freebsd mfs based spool, with a cron job that backs it up for recovery purposes. (Yes, this leaves a bit of a window for loss. Sue me.) The performance gains, especially running a mailing list, are very noticable.
This device looks pretty tasty - it'll survive reboots and short power outages, and OS crashes, and whatnot. Even a 1 gig dedicated ram-based spool would be pretty darn good. This would be limited to SATA speeds, but.. no latency, and survivability have me seriously considering this.
The problem wtih this solution is that legitimate mail from new contacts never reaches you - because it was a machine that sent it in the first place. Bill notifications and software registration keys etc would all fall victim to this, as you will often not know ahead of time what to whitelist. The greylisting approach seems *safer* in this regard than the challenge/response systems like port995.
.. Toll free numbers. Yes, I pay for incoming calls. But I generally pay $5 a month in usage. In return, the people I want to have my number, have one that will Always Just Friggen Work. I can change toll free providers and take my numbers (plural - one for home, one for cell) with me. I can move (houses, cell carriers) and just have the toll free provider repoint the toll free numbers.
Oh, and stupid bonus, the inlaws no longer call collect, they call the toll free #, which is several orders of magnitude cheaper. Paying for them to talk to my wife is a small price to pay compared to when the inlaws lived in town...
For *long* calls I have people call me back at whatever direct number I happen to be sitting near (both for cost reasons, and for call clarity), or I call them back since my long distance on the cellular is part of the plan.
Just remember this does come down to tanstaafl. I've had my portability for years; I've been paying for it. Now ya'll are forcing *everyone* to have the "benefits" (including the carriers tacking on another charge because they CAN) of portability.
Slashdot Mirror
Fewer deliveries, fewer vehicle miles.
GSM terminals exist today, albeit more expensive to operate. I see merchants use them all the time at various large scale events where it is not practical to bring in a mass of phone lines for 1-2 days.
Personally, I'd be more interested in seeing terminals move to IP based (with appropriate client and server SSL certificates). There is no reason to keep using analog modems other than the weak excuse of not being snoopable. The devices should of course be locked down. No remote IP based management; ssl or ipsec (with appropriate certificate checks on BOTH sides); and a strict local host firewall that drops all packets other than the minimum needed (enough to support the outbound session + related traffic, and arp). For bonus points, require keypad intervention to allow ARP to work - then statically cache the arp address. The main headache involved with all this is how to update client/server certificates (which is not insignificant).
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/2514/major-study-proves-cloud-seeding-effective
SYDNEY: A 45-year Australian trial is the best evidence yet that could seeding - the practice of artificially inducing clouds to make rain - really works.
Since the mid-20th century scientists have attempted to produce rain by dispersing chemical substances into the clouds and stimulating precipitation. However, until now, there has been little concrete scientific evidence that cloud seeding is effective.
"This is the first time that an independent analysis of cloud seeding data over several decades has shown a statistically significant increase in rainfall," said Steven Siems, a meteorologist from Monash University in Melbourne and leader of the study.
Significant finding
The Monash team, in conjunction with renewable energy firm Hydro Tasmania, analysed monthly rainfall patterns over the hydroelectric catchment area between May and October from 1960 until 2005.
As they detailed in the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology the analysis revealed higher levels of rain in the parts of the catchment where the rain making technique was used than in those where it was not.
"A number of independent statistical tests showed a consistent increase of at least five per cent in monthly rainfall over the catchment area," said Siems.
For the could seeding technique, the researchers select clouds using specialist weather radar technology that allows them to see all the tiny processes that take place within them.
Once clouds for seeding are chosen, minute particles of a silver compound are dusted into them by light aircraft to stimulate rain formation.
Super-cooled water
Anthony Morrison, a climatologist at Monash and co-author of the study, explained that these silver particles cause super-cooled water in the clouds to freeze. As these particular clouds are so high in the atmosphere that they are below freezing point, the frozen drops recruit water and get heavier causing them to fall from the clouds as rain.
However, the researchers caution that the result may be due to the unique clouds in this part of Tasmania and would be difficult to reproduce elsewhere.
"Clouds over the Southern Ocean are different to any other clouds", Siems told Cosmos Online. "They are really loaded with super cool liquid water." Just as important, he said, is the remoteness of the location: "the air in the Southern Ocean is exceptionally clean with virtually no pollution."
And the researchers are still at a loss to precisely explain how the technique was successful.
"They're really not comparable to clouds that have been seeded anywhere else in the world," said Morrison. "Further field measurements of cloud microphysics over the region are needed to provide a physical basis for these statistical results."
Despite the caveats, other experts are excited by the results.
"At long last there is scientific backup for the [cloud seeding] hypothesis that has been suggested over the years," commented Roger Stone, director of the Australian Centre for Sustainable Catchments at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba.
However, while the study is a breakthrough, he noted that cloud seeding does not work in all locations and specific techniques have to be developed for each region.
"For example, in Queensland the conditions are highly different. It has to be the right time and exactly the right cloud for it to work," he said. "The key is to get a very good weather radar."
Let it snow
Paul Johnson, a spokesperson from Snowy Hydro, who are conducting similar experiments to artificial induce snowfall in Victoria's Snowy Mountains, said the results were promising. "It's another indicator that supports our preliminary data and backs up what the experts said in the beginning. That we would see an increase in snow."
Because of the unusual nature of
If you have another mac in the USA, enable remote ssh logins into it. (Or really, any server that accepts ssh, but since you fell for the Steve Jobs Reality Distortion Field, I'll assume you're on a mac, and you know others with macs in the USA).
In terminal,
ssh -D 1080 example.com
In network preferences,
Configure your network settings to use a socks proxy on 127.0.0.1:1080
Now, Safari and iTunes both will be browsing *via* example.com, working around any geolocation features Apple and other companies may be using. This setting is principally only honored by Apple apps; it won't affect Firefox for example (though you can configure Firefox to use a socks proxy).
I didn't buy a Kindle to save money. The fact that books are cheaper help make it easier to make the decision to buy the Kindle, but.. the primary reason I bought it was convenience. Anywhere I go, I have a library of books to read; they remember where in the book I am (no dropping the book); the font size is variable (my late night reading font is bigger than mid-day); and lastly, the built in modem.
Sure, I can carry a dead tree book or two at the most, but they start to get annoying to have anything more than that. And, late night, reading dead trees is hard on my eyes.
I don't get the lesser sentence for cooperating
I suspect the main reason is to provide closure for the family.
>I don't use VIM (I use JOE)
At least! I found the only other JOE user out there.
hugs and ^k^x
I've done this in the past. In 1997, I posted a single message containing only ":q" in the body to 19 (not 20!) newsgroups. Within a few hours, the first spam started rolling in. My smtp filter would automaticallly blacklist any sender+ip combo that sent mail to this bait address. This was very very effective for many years. A few years ago, I finally stopped using this method, as the use of using zombies made this practice no longer effective.
Greylisting is currently the most effective means I'm using right now for spam control; but I'm sure that'll change over the next few years too.
After all, the first landing was staged in Nevada. Might as well repeat that phenomenal success!
CND is indeed the abbreviation.
That's pronounced C, eh, N, eh, D, eh.
I currently use a freebsd mfs based spool, with a cron job that backs it up for recovery purposes. (Yes, this leaves a bit of a window for loss. Sue me.) The performance gains, especially running a mailing list, are very noticable.
This device looks pretty tasty - it'll survive reboots and short power outages, and OS crashes, and whatnot. Even a 1 gig dedicated ram-based spool would be pretty darn good. This would be limited to SATA speeds, but.. no latency, and survivability have me seriously considering this.
The best thing about vi, and knowing a bit about vi, is that you can use it to edit the makefile for joe2.8 ..
as to the other comments about joe working on any unix: even better, yes, I have ran joe on dos, OS/2, and (gasp) windows.
joe is a minimal but simple editor. with the ability to, er, outsource, things like sorting, grepping, etc blocks of text to external programs.
when I feel particularly obtuse, and want to compete with vi people for ugly ugly command strings, I break out the ^k/ perl -pi -e '....' goodies..
The problem wtih this solution is that legitimate mail from new contacts never reaches you - because it was a machine that sent it in the first place. Bill notifications and software registration keys etc would all fall victim to this, as you will often not know ahead of time what to whitelist. The greylisting approach seems *safer* in this regard than the challenge/response systems like port995.
.. Toll free numbers. Yes, I pay for incoming calls.
But I generally pay $5 a month in usage. In return, the people I want to have my number, have one that will Always Just Friggen Work. I can change toll free providers and take my numbers (plural - one for home, one for cell) with me. I can move (houses, cell carriers) and just have the toll free provider repoint the toll free numbers.
Oh, and stupid bonus, the inlaws no longer call collect, they call the toll free #, which is several orders of magnitude cheaper. Paying for them to talk to my wife is a small price to pay compared to when the inlaws lived in town...
For *long* calls I have people call me back at whatever direct number I happen to be sitting near (both for cost reasons, and for call clarity), or I call them back since my long distance on the cellular is part of the plan.
Just remember this does come down to tanstaafl. I've had my portability for years; I've been paying for it. Now ya'll are forcing *everyone* to have the "benefits" (including the carriers tacking on another charge because they CAN) of portability.