I was lucky when I signed up for AT&T Broadband, I got free installation. That makes a huge cost difference, and even makes up for the fact that I rent their cable modem. However, the good thing about renting is that eventually, I'm going to want to upgrade my connection, maybe to satellite (if it becomes cheaper and faster), fiber to the home (they're offering that in Lansing, MI, which is only about fifty miles away from me), or something else even faster when it comes out (powerline networking, possibly?). I don't know when, but when I do upgrade, I'd hate to have a $200 cable modem sitting around, which probably will not be worth a dime.
Look at it this way: If you buy a cable modem, it costs you approximately $200 (with taxes) on the spot, and saves you $3 a month for as long as you have the connection. In roughly five and a half years (66 2/3 months), it will pay for itself. Do you see yourself staying with AT&T Broadband service for five and a half years? If not, then rent, it will save you money. If yes, then buy, it will save you money. For me, I couldn't see the benefit of buying even when it saved $10 a month, that's 20 months I have to keep the service to get my money back! What if I want to switch to DSL when it becomes available (which it just did, about two months ago)?
we need to take a minute to figure out why it doesn't work. Or maybe, instead of that, look at recognition that does work.
I, for one, am pretty much 99.99% correct when it comes to making positive recognition of those people around me that I see often. People I haven't seen in a few years, I have more trouble identifying. Why? Because people's faces change. Facial hair, glasses (or removal of them), makeup, etc. can throw a lot of people off. Can this technology compensate for that?
I personally think that these cameras need to look at people the way we do, with two eyes. What do we get when we look at the world with two eyes? Depth perception. We can see objects in three dimensions, because we see it from two angles at once. If facial recognition computers were able to take in two separate data streams, like two cameras a foot apart, it would be possible to create at three-dimensional image of that person's face. And though it would require more computing power, it is much easier to make a positive match using three-dimensional data as opposed to two. Ever seen a perfect frontal view photograph of a person's face? Can you tell how long their nose is when you're looking at it? Isn't the length of a person's nose a significant facial feature? (Oh, and I know, if you see a person from the side, you see that, but these cameras are always only getting one angle, so they're always throwing out a lot of data. If you see a person's face from the side, you are not seeing how wide their face is, and so on.)
They might want to speak to the unemployment office. I hear they have some experience getting things to start working again after they've been resting for a year.
...and if you grew up playing the Macintosh version at school because you didn't have a PC at home, you knew it wasn't FUNDS, but instead PORNTIPSGUZZARDO, then repeatedly typing ARDO to fill your city's pockets:o).
Yes, but the point of this article is to detour people from this way of thinking. The fact is, while digital copies may make things easier, it's no more or less illegal than analog copies, which is what the writer calls the "analog myth." I can remember getting most of my home music by borrowing other people's cassette tapes (audio, not VHS) and copying them. A friend of mine had two VCR's, and every night he would rent a few movies and make copies, and sell them for a few bucks to friends (just enough to get more blank tapes, no profit involved).
The fact is, digital pirating is likely just as difficult, just as widespread, and just as damaging as analog pirating. Actually, many cam rips (when someone sits in a theater with a camera and records the whole movie) are analog to begin with, then later converted to a digital format, and additionally put through some lossy compression schemes to bring it down below 700Mb to be put up on servers.
"It's much more of a danger to the Music Industry, and they have a right to protect themselves."
Actually, this article is about the Movie Industry, not music, I see you didn't take time to read it. And yes, they have the right to protect themselves, but suing KaZaA, Morpheus, iMesh, Napster, and so on for allowing this to take place is like suing UPS for allowing people to send drugs illegally through the mail. The fact is, they SHOULDN'T know what's inside the files that are being swapped, just as much as UPS shouldn't know what's inside a package they deliver.
And, forcing companies to create hardware that won't allow you to make illegal copies is stupid, too. That's like making Xerox put something in their copiers that won't allow people to make photocopies of of pages out of copyrighted books without permission (which is illegal, too). How does a DVD player know that the DVD you're playing in it is being copied to another DVD, and how does the DVD burner (in the case of copying DVD's) tell that the incoming signal is copyrighted material, not the owner's home movie of his son building a sandcastle?
The fact is, if something is being done illegally, the MPAA needs to go for the people who are committing a crime using these devices, not the people who make the devices.
Saying you're trying to fix all the holes in IE is like saying you mean to turn a sieve into a bowl.
Seriously, it seems they are finally turning around and trying to make their products more reliable. They've come a long way since Win95 (or WinME...::shudder::).
Most decent flat-panel monitors have a handle in the back (my 17" IBM does). Combined, it would make a very good LAN gaming machine. However, if you're using a CRT monitor, I recommend a GearGrip-CRT Monitor Carrier.
Given the quote "The small size of strangelets means the blast is only big enough to have a very localised effect and humans are unlikely to be harmed."
Shouldn't we instead say "the strangelets are unlikely to be harmed?"
This reminds me of an experiment back in the 1900's when a man shoved a candle into the barrel of a gun and shot it at a wooden plank. The candle was completely unharmed. Given the softness of wax, it should've smashed down into a pancake, but it didn't change shape in the slightest. It did, however, go completely through the plank, breaking it in half. I would think that if one of these strangelets hit a human being, it would definitely kill them, but not harm the strangelet at all.
But then again, given the chances of one actually hitting a human being on the earth, maybe the original quote is more appropriate.
This definitely will not hold up in court. This is the legal equivalent of breaking warranty seals on personal computers. It violates the warranty, plain and simple.
In the case of software EULA's, though, it is a violation of the DMCA. Perhaps a more legal gesture would be to use a free equivalent of that software? For instance, drop Microsoft Office for StarOffice (or your favorite Linux office-type product). Oh, and tell everyone you know about how cool it is, and how much better it is than the M$ version.
My friend has a SGI 20" CRT monitor he bought on ebay real cheap. The lowest res it supports is 1280x1024, which is a pity, because he can't play Diablo II anymore except in a window, and when he's booting up his machine, he can't see anything but a blur.
His solution? He bought a two-port monitor selector, and hooked up his old 15" CRT as well, and just keeps it on the floor next to his desk for when he needs it for command-line stuff.
However, the specs of this LCD show it goes down to 640x480 in portrait mode, which is cool by me.
And if anyone feels like balking at the sub-80hz refresh rates, try finding something higher in an LCD screen. Mine is a 17" IBM LCD, and only goes to 1280x1024 at 70Hz.
Last I heard NASA was making serious plans for a space elevator (slashdot story) using nanotubes. That may have to seriously reconsider this if it means tourists with cameras or solar flares can bring the whole thing toppling down.
I wonder what kind of shielding or heat-dissipation they would need for a 22,000 mile long cable of nanotubes? Might be more effor than it's worth after all.
What I get a kick out of with these Kazaa/Gator stories is how everyone suddenly forgets to pretend they're full-time Linux users...;-)
Actually, I think full-time linux users are rather uncommon, even in the slashdot crowd. Most people that go to work and use computers are faced with some incarna^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hversion of Windows. At home? We probably run a Linux/BSD box, a Windows box, and maybe even an OS X box, to get a nice variety (nobody but a geek would be proud that they have a computer for any program run in any language made for any operating system). The smarter ones run Windows in a virtual machine in Linux. Those who can't afford more than one machine, or need Windows to game, multi-boot between linux, win98, bsd, win2k, or maybe even (shudder) winxp.
You also have to remember there are millions of readers on slashdot everyday. The "full-time Linux users" out there probably don't care to post on the stories about spyware in Windows. However, those that use KaZaA Lite at work (not naming names... I wouldn't want anyone at my company to get fired for it, especially not ME), are interested in the "Kazaa/Gator" stories, and will post on them.
However, this does bring me back to an original idea that I had for a server room. The room will be entirely empty, with large square tiles on the floor. Each tile will have information on the hardware that is below it (server name, switches, routers, etc). And, each will have a latch of some sort. Then, you unlock the latch, and pull up, and a large storage bin below slides up on spring-loaded rails, and locks into place. Then, you service the parts that need working on (swapping tapes, changing bad hdds), and slide it back down. All of the hardware will be sub-ground-level, which will make for much easier cooling, and a lot less cluttered environment.
These Ice Cubes from IBM would make a helpful addition to this idea, except you could only have probably two or three servers to a tile, attached one on top of the other. And there would be no side-to-side connections.
Slashdot Mirror
I was lucky when I signed up for AT&T Broadband, I got free installation. That makes a huge cost difference, and even makes up for the fact that I rent their cable modem. However, the good thing about renting is that eventually, I'm going to want to upgrade my connection, maybe to satellite (if it becomes cheaper and faster), fiber to the home (they're offering that in Lansing, MI, which is only about fifty miles away from me), or something else even faster when it comes out (powerline networking, possibly?). I don't know when, but when I do upgrade, I'd hate to have a $200 cable modem sitting around, which probably will not be worth a dime.
Look at it this way: If you buy a cable modem, it costs you approximately $200 (with taxes) on the spot, and saves you $3 a month for as long as you have the connection. In roughly five and a half years (66 2/3 months), it will pay for itself. Do you see yourself staying with AT&T Broadband service for five and a half years? If not, then rent, it will save you money. If yes, then buy, it will save you money. For me, I couldn't see the benefit of buying even when it saved $10 a month, that's 20 months I have to keep the service to get my money back! What if I want to switch to DSL when it becomes available (which it just did, about two months ago)?
Just do the math.
Yes, but you're forgetting, "Bq--at77w373jih7xepx7om7p6zx7oq" cannot be trademarked, because it is a common word, like "door" and "window."
we need to take a minute to figure out why it doesn't work. Or maybe, instead of that, look at recognition that does work.
I, for one, am pretty much 99.99% correct when it comes to making positive recognition of those people around me that I see often. People I haven't seen in a few years, I have more trouble identifying. Why? Because people's faces change. Facial hair, glasses (or removal of them), makeup, etc. can throw a lot of people off. Can this technology compensate for that?
I personally think that these cameras need to look at people the way we do, with two eyes. What do we get when we look at the world with two eyes? Depth perception. We can see objects in three dimensions, because we see it from two angles at once. If facial recognition computers were able to take in two separate data streams, like two cameras a foot apart, it would be possible to create at three-dimensional image of that person's face. And though it would require more computing power, it is much easier to make a positive match using three-dimensional data as opposed to two. Ever seen a perfect frontal view photograph of a person's face? Can you tell how long their nose is when you're looking at it? Isn't the length of a person's nose a significant facial feature? (Oh, and I know, if you see a person from the side, you see that, but these cameras are always only getting one angle, so they're always throwing out a lot of data. If you see a person's face from the side, you are not seeing how wide their face is, and so on.)
They might want to speak to the unemployment office. I hear they have some experience getting things to start working again after they've been resting for a year.
simcity2000 - first played this on mac.. it had a monster of a cheat code but i never memorised it...
:o).
You must be referring to PORNTIPSGUZZARDO
...and if you grew up playing the Macintosh version at school because you didn't have a PC at home, you knew it wasn't FUNDS, but instead PORNTIPSGUZZARDO, then repeatedly typing ARDO to fill your city's pockets :o).
"...attempt to jump on the anti-trust complainants bandwagon..."
Well, it could have been worse, he could have blamed it on the terrorists.
I recommend Opera. File -> Preferences -> Windows -> Pop-up Windows (set to refuse).
What's cool about this is it's the default setting.
Yes, but the point of this article is to detour people from this way of thinking. The fact is, while digital copies may make things easier, it's no more or less illegal than analog copies, which is what the writer calls the "analog myth." I can remember getting most of my home music by borrowing other people's cassette tapes (audio, not VHS) and copying them. A friend of mine had two VCR's, and every night he would rent a few movies and make copies, and sell them for a few bucks to friends (just enough to get more blank tapes, no profit involved).
The fact is, digital pirating is likely just as difficult, just as widespread, and just as damaging as analog pirating. Actually, many cam rips (when someone sits in a theater with a camera and records the whole movie) are analog to begin with, then later converted to a digital format, and additionally put through some lossy compression schemes to bring it down below 700Mb to be put up on servers.
"It's much more of a danger to the Music Industry, and they have a right to protect themselves."
Actually, this article is about the Movie Industry, not music, I see you didn't take time to read it. And yes, they have the right to protect themselves, but suing KaZaA, Morpheus, iMesh, Napster, and so on for allowing this to take place is like suing UPS for allowing people to send drugs illegally through the mail. The fact is, they SHOULDN'T know what's inside the files that are being swapped, just as much as UPS shouldn't know what's inside a package they deliver.
And, forcing companies to create hardware that won't allow you to make illegal copies is stupid, too. That's like making Xerox put something in their copiers that won't allow people to make photocopies of of pages out of copyrighted books without permission (which is illegal, too). How does a DVD player know that the DVD you're playing in it is being copied to another DVD, and how does the DVD burner (in the case of copying DVD's) tell that the incoming signal is copyrighted material, not the owner's home movie of his son building a sandcastle?
The fact is, if something is being done illegally, the MPAA needs to go for the people who are committing a crime using these devices, not the people who make the devices.
Saying you're trying to fix all the holes in IE is like saying you mean to turn a sieve into a bowl.
::shudder::).
Seriously, it seems they are finally turning around and trying to make their products more reliable. They've come a long way since Win95 (or WinME...
Most decent flat-panel monitors have a handle in the back (my 17" IBM does). Combined, it would make a very good LAN gaming machine. However, if you're using a CRT monitor, I recommend a GearGrip-CRT Monitor Carrier.
Your data's on Candid Camera (tm)!
Given the quote "The small size of strangelets means the blast is only big enough to have a very localised effect and humans are unlikely to be harmed."
Shouldn't we instead say "the strangelets are unlikely to be harmed?"
This reminds me of an experiment back in the 1900's when a man shoved a candle into the barrel of a gun and shot it at a wooden plank. The candle was completely unharmed. Given the softness of wax, it should've smashed down into a pancake, but it didn't change shape in the slightest. It did, however, go completely through the plank, breaking it in half. I would think that if one of these strangelets hit a human being, it would definitely kill them, but not harm the strangelet at all.
But then again, given the chances of one actually hitting a human being on the earth, maybe the original quote is more appropriate.
Well, you have to admit, rats would be much less disturbing than, say, cockroaches.
Even worse than that, they could make a remote-controlled Furby.
This definitely will not hold up in court. This is the legal equivalent of breaking warranty seals on personal computers. It violates the warranty, plain and simple.
In the case of software EULA's, though, it is a violation of the DMCA. Perhaps a more legal gesture would be to use a free equivalent of that software? For instance, drop Microsoft Office for StarOffice (or your favorite Linux office-type product). Oh, and tell everyone you know about how cool it is, and how much better it is than the M$ version.
You should not fight back. Resistance is futile.
My friend has a SGI 20" CRT monitor he bought on ebay real cheap. The lowest res it supports is 1280x1024, which is a pity, because he can't play Diablo II anymore except in a window, and when he's booting up his machine, he can't see anything but a blur.
His solution? He bought a two-port monitor selector, and hooked up his old 15" CRT as well, and just keeps it on the floor next to his desk for when he needs it for command-line stuff.
However, the specs of this LCD show it goes down to 640x480 in portrait mode, which is cool by me.
And if anyone feels like balking at the sub-80hz refresh rates, try finding something higher in an LCD screen. Mine is a 17" IBM LCD, and only goes to 1280x1024 at 70Hz.
Hey, it could've been Steve Wozniak!
now what the hell am I going to say to get this sucker!!!!
Just buy it. Trust me, it's easier to get forgiveness than permission.
He lives in a state where there are towns in which it is ILLEGAL to buy alcohol on a Sunday.
I live in Michigan. There are towns here that are completely dry. No alcohol at all. It depends on the town, not the state.
Actually, this is quite a story. Here's a quote that might interest you:
"Because it's the only carbon material that exhibits this ignition property."
Carbon doesn't normally do this. In the right circumstances, it is flammable, sure, but never explosive.
Last I heard NASA was making serious plans for a space elevator (slashdot story) using nanotubes. That may have to seriously reconsider this if it means tourists with cameras or solar flares can bring the whole thing toppling down.
I wonder what kind of shielding or heat-dissipation they would need for a 22,000 mile long cable of nanotubes? Might be more effor than it's worth after all.
What I get a kick out of with these Kazaa/Gator stories is how everyone suddenly forgets to pretend they're full-time Linux users... ;-)
Actually, I think full-time linux users are rather uncommon, even in the slashdot crowd. Most people that go to work and use computers are faced with some incarna^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hversion of Windows. At home? We probably run a Linux/BSD box, a Windows box, and maybe even an OS X box, to get a nice variety (nobody but a geek would be proud that they have a computer for any program run in any language made for any operating system). The smarter ones run Windows in a virtual machine in Linux. Those who can't afford more than one machine, or need Windows to game, multi-boot between linux, win98, bsd, win2k, or maybe even (shudder) winxp.
You also have to remember there are millions of readers on slashdot everyday. The "full-time Linux users" out there probably don't care to post on the stories about spyware in Windows. However, those that use KaZaA Lite at work (not naming names... I wouldn't want anyone at my company to get fired for it, especially not ME), are interested in the "Kazaa/Gator" stories, and will post on them.
Actually, it would piss me off. I wouldn't be able to read anything, because the cursor would keep getting in the way!
And let me guess, blink the left eye for a left click, and vice versa? Imagine the look on people's faces while doing a drag and drop!!
I have to say, I wish I'd thought of it first.
However, this does bring me back to an original idea that I had for a server room. The room will be entirely empty, with large square tiles on the floor. Each tile will have information on the hardware that is below it (server name, switches, routers, etc). And, each will have a latch of some sort. Then, you unlock the latch, and pull up, and a large storage bin below slides up on spring-loaded rails, and locks into place. Then, you service the parts that need working on (swapping tapes, changing bad hdds), and slide it back down. All of the hardware will be sub-ground-level, which will make for much easier cooling, and a lot less cluttered environment.
These Ice Cubes from IBM would make a helpful addition to this idea, except you could only have probably two or three servers to a tile, attached one on top of the other. And there would be no side-to-side connections.
Eh, it was an idea.