Where's a big box of TRS-80 Model 100's when you need them?
Of course, I know that it's not practical to dig up a bunch of these. The idea of building something using an Arduino (or similar), a cheap 40x2 character LCD display (or similar), and a regular computer keyboard is probably the most practical. It'll run on batteries, and you can teach the students about electronics and recycling (old keyboards) while building these things.
The main problem is that people use "Act like an ass" as an excuse for using anonymity (or is it the other way around?). Of course, one person's "Act like an ass" is another person's "Saying what needs to be said". There is probably no good democratic way to resolve many of these cases one way or the other. (Ie, having a lot of people being offended doesn't necessarily justify exposing a poster's identity.)
Agree with parent. I've read several books on my iPhone (using Stanza) and several on my Android phone (using Moon+ Reader). I have no issues with the screen size or type. It's very handy to just pull out my phone and read when I'm on the bus or subway. Or when I'm cooking something, I'll usually set the timer on the phone and then fire up the reader app while waiting. And it's very easy to read while lying down and holding it above/beside me, which is in contrast to what I've found with larger readers: they become uncomfortable to hold up after a while.
Please mod parent up. This is not a hypothetical issue: there have been issues with getting 911/emergency dialing to work on some phones with custom ROMs. Certain models of the first generation Samsung Galaxy had this problem.
I was going to question the idea of improving the living conditions for the world's poorest without also requiring them to take more responsibility for living sustainably.
However, I see that the Gates Foundation is also a big promoter of family planning, so I'll cut them some slack.
In any case, it's always important to keep in mind the big picture when solving the world's problems.
I'm jumping in here to point out some possible loose ends: - What other medium can realistically hold a couple dozen terabytes of data? (Thousands of DVDs probably isn't viable.) - The original poster didn't say what kind of backups he needed: long term (cold storage), available (warm), or online (hot).
But presumably, hard drives that are turned off and put away have a different MTBF than ones that are running constantly. - In any case, the point that any single backup can fail (spectacularly) should be well taken.
I second this. While actually having to perform calculus might be a rarity in daily life, understanding concepts like the rate of change and integration often come in handy when solving problems. Heck, just knowing the difference between a linear function and an exponential one should be important to anyone who thinks about using a credit card or saving money.
While I agree that The Windup Girl is very dark, I'd also highly recommend it. Imagine an earth devastated by genetically modified organisms, wars, and energy resource depletion. This is the story of Bangkok's attempt to survive independent of the biotech corporations that brought about the chaos and have since made other countries dependent upon them for subsistence. Several threads are interwoven, including that of the genetically engineered sex toy. It's interesting to see the combination of past and future technologies constrained by resource limitations. It's also a good story.
As a kid, I disliked the TRS-80 mostly because it looked so awfully ugly! On the one hand, it was neat that they fit the basic unit into a compact form factor. On the other, the black & gray color scheme and the partly-rounded, partly-squared corners seemed to suggest an utter lack of care for aesthetic principles. And then, of course, you had to have the expansion unit to really get anywhere, negating the advantage of the small form factor.
I can't think of another computer from that era that looked more repulsive. And I did scour the Byte & Creative Computing magazines back then to see all that I could.
The first few American Office episodes, where they were essentially copies of the British ones, were not as good as the British ones. However, once they found their own groove, it really picked up.
All shoes (and feet) print under the right conditions. However, they tend to print the same boring image each time. It would be quite an interesting project to make some shoes that printed different images under more ordinary conditions.
Their video acceleration hardware has DRM built into it. The reason they can't release the specs is most likely because their lawyers said not to, for fear of breaking some DRM-related legal contract(s).
It's not constantly sucking. There was an article on this system, I believe on Wired, a while back. Locally deposited trash goes into local holding area. It is emptied out as needed by periodic transfer (sucking) to a main collection point.
Slashdot Mirror
Where's a big box of TRS-80 Model 100's when you need them?
Of course, I know that it's not practical to dig up a bunch of these. The idea of building something using an Arduino (or similar), a cheap 40x2 character LCD display (or similar), and a regular computer keyboard is probably the most practical. It'll run on batteries, and you can teach the students about electronics and recycling (old keyboards) while building these things.
And some situations demand clarity.
The main problem is that people use "Act like an ass" as an excuse for using anonymity (or is it the other way around?).
Of course, one person's "Act like an ass" is another person's "Saying what needs to be said".
There is probably no good democratic way to resolve many of these cases one way or the other.
(Ie, having a lot of people being offended doesn't necessarily justify exposing a poster's identity.)
This hits it on the head.
Almost anybody can drive a car. That doesn't mean that anybody can be a good race car driver.
Wow. How soon until the story in "The Speed of Dark" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_of_Dark ) becomes real life?
Kind of similar to the method used to tear a phonebook in half. It's easy when you're only starting to tear one page at a time.
Agree with parent. I've read several books on my iPhone (using Stanza) and several on my Android phone (using Moon+ Reader). I have no issues with the screen size or type. It's very handy to just pull out my phone and read when I'm on the bus or subway. Or when I'm cooking something, I'll usually set the timer on the phone and then fire up the reader app while waiting. And it's very easy to read while lying down and holding it above/beside me, which is in contrast to what I've found with larger readers: they become uncomfortable to hold up after a while.
> Now we will see how well MAD works when someone stops bluffing
Just what I was thinking!
"Shall we play a game?"
"Love to. How about Global Thermonuclear War?"
Let's see how this one works out.
What if a hacker added a hidden denial-of-service attack function to a ROM that was widely downloaded?
How can you be sure that no one has?
Please mod parent up. This is not a hypothetical issue: there have been issues with getting 911/emergency dialing to work on some phones with custom ROMs. Certain models of the first generation Samsung Galaxy had this problem.
Most wifi stations allow for more than 1 antenna.
No? Just wondering. Thanks.
Like everything, it's a matter of balance: greed vs. ethics.
Problem is, one tends to dominate the other.
I was going to question the idea of improving the living conditions for the world's poorest without also requiring them to take more responsibility for living sustainably.
However, I see that the Gates Foundation is also a big promoter of family planning, so I'll cut them some slack.
In any case, it's always important to keep in mind the big picture when solving the world's problems.
I'm jumping in here to point out some possible loose ends:
- What other medium can realistically hold a couple dozen terabytes of data? (Thousands of DVDs probably isn't viable.)
- The original poster didn't say what kind of backups he needed: long term (cold storage), available (warm), or online (hot).
But presumably, hard drives that are turned off and put away have a different MTBF than ones that are running constantly.
- In any case, the point that any single backup can fail (spectacularly) should be well taken.
I second this. While actually having to perform calculus might be a rarity in daily life, understanding concepts like the rate of change and integration often come in handy when solving problems. Heck, just knowing the difference between a linear function and an exponential one should be important to anyone who thinks about using a credit card or saving money.
Is this much more than the tech behind stitching together multiple photos into a panoramic picture?
While I agree that The Windup Girl is very dark, I'd also highly recommend it. Imagine an earth devastated by genetically modified organisms, wars, and energy resource depletion. This is the story of Bangkok's attempt to survive independent of the biotech corporations that brought about the chaos and have since made other countries dependent upon them for subsistence. Several threads are interwoven, including that of the genetically engineered sex toy. It's interesting to see the combination of past and future technologies constrained by resource limitations. It's also a good story.
> But there's a vast difference between "inspired by" and "copied".
I think, if anything, history shows that there's a big grey area between "inspired by" and "copied".
In a way, it's kind of amusing how we attempt to draw a line between these things and say that one of them is good and another should be illegal.
All because we can't quite figure out some foolproof way (that we can all agree upon) to reward people who create or invent things.
As a kid, I disliked the TRS-80 mostly because it looked so awfully ugly! On the one hand, it was neat that they fit the basic unit into a compact form factor. On the other, the black & gray color scheme and the partly-rounded, partly-squared corners seemed to suggest an utter lack of care for aesthetic principles. And then, of course, you had to have the expansion unit to really get anywhere, negating the advantage of the small form factor.
I can't think of another computer from that era that looked more repulsive. And I did scour the Byte & Creative Computing magazines back then to see all that I could.
The first few American Office episodes, where they were essentially copies of the British ones, were not as good as the British ones. However, once they found their own groove, it really picked up.
All shoes (and feet) print under the right conditions. However, they tend to print the same boring image each time.
It would be quite an interesting project to make some shoes that printed different images under more ordinary conditions.
> Packing your slightly-moistened phone into a baggie of steaming hot cooked rice WILL NOT HELP.
It might help it taste better.
Their video acceleration hardware has DRM built into it. The reason they can't release the specs is most likely because their lawyers said not to, for fear of breaking some DRM-related legal contract(s).
Of course, there would still be the problem of getting the horse to drink...
It's not constantly sucking. There was an article on this system, I believe on Wired, a while back. Locally deposited trash goes into local holding area. It is emptied out as needed by periodic transfer (sucking) to a main collection point.