This guy ranks right under Fred Phelps in my book. If this guy was hit by a bus tomorrow, lived, only to get run over by a truck three seconds later, who would cry for him?
I work with retired employees of a large defense contractor that builds fighter jets. They told me some good stories about TEMPEST work. They were fond of driving around buildings in a van full of radio gear to make sure no RF signals got out of the buildings. Picking up the signals from CRT monitors was entertaining supposedly.
This is neat and all, but Mercedes did it almost 30 years ago with a lot less technology. They made a variant of the exotic C111 using a modified version of their 617 series 3.0L inline-5 cylinder turbocharged engine to get up to 325km/h. If I'm not mistaken, that is the car JCB has beaten.
I wouldn't call JCB's record making that big a deal over the C111. Mercedes had a car that could do _laps_. It appears as if the JCB won't even make it out of earshot before it runs out of fuel. Also, Mercedes engineers didn't have hundreds of thousands of dollars of simulation software that JCB had. Their website shows UGS as a partner. I have a few seats of NX4, Teamcenter 10, SolidEdge 19, and Femap. It's not cheap. JCB's engine is over 4 liters displacement. Mercedes' was 3. Not to mention, JCB needs TWO of their engines to accomplish this task. JCB's engine was derived from backhoes, whereas the Mercedes engine was derived from production cars. Heck, I've got a couple of those engines. I don't think the Dieselmax could beat a C111 with only one engine.
Yes, what JCB has done is pretty cool, and I think they deserve credit for making a record breaker. However, I don't think that a whole lot of actual engineering progress was made in the development of their Dieselmax.
I work for a university spinoff company, and operate all over the place, from remote USAF bomb ranges to KU's campus. I have a UTStarcom PPC6700. It does EVERYTHING. 420MHz Intel PXA270, 128MB memory, 1GB miniSD, EV-DO (~2.5Mbps on Sprint around Lawrence, KS and Kansas City), 802.11b, Bluetooth, 1.3MP camera, WinMo 5. I have loaded a full featured media player (TCPMP) for DivX movies, PocketPutty and Terminal Services Client to manage the office network when I'm away, and AgileMessenger for multiprotocol IMming. The phone integrates seamlessly with Contacts, and that all syncs up to Outlook at the office. Its a serious gadget and it helps me get work done a lot faster. It's damn near a laptop replacement.
Today the voters here in Kansas showed the world that they aren't a bunch of redneck idiots. What people should find most impressive is that Western (read: very rural) Kansas voters elected a moderate, pro-science candidate. As someone who has lived in Kansas for five years, I was shocked to hear that. If I'm not mistaken, that Bacon guy represents the district including Johnson County, which is populated mostly by nouveau riche neocons that honestly think they are upper class.
I think the people of this state are tired of being laughed at and are finally starting to move for change.
Kansas is a great place for innovations in science and engineering, it needs to stay that way.
Especially considering I had a guy with the handle "islam_soldier" trying to take down my company's airplane design website for a couple days. A couple months ago, an Iranian holy institute DOS'd us for five days. I got involved with three nice local FBI agents. I work for a tiny aerospace engineering company, considering the amount of hacking in the name of religion I get, I can't imagine what companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin put up with.
I co-authored a proposal last year to do the same thing with 802.11 on 100-300lb UAVs. For cheap, multipurpose UAVs, a short range wireless connections for some components isn't a bad idea. A good example would be to increase the modularity of devices that you can put on your UAV; IR cam, TV cam, targeting laser, flight data recorder, the list goes on. If Bush makes the order for more UAV patrols along the Mexican border, we will need to manufacture more UAVs. A simple interconnect will keep costs down and ease troubleshooting. There's a lot more people familiar with WiFi than 1553 bus, and WiFi is much cheaper and lighter than 1553 equipment. If you make the wireless connection solely used for features and nothing flight-critical, I don't see a problem using it on recon drones.
On real aircraft, most mission-critical systems have dual-redundancy and flight-critical systems have triple redundancy. That means, that if you have a fighter jet with electrohydrostatic control surface actuators, there are at least three actuators that are as far apart from each other as possible, each capable of sufficient deflection of the control surface to permit flight, and there are three signal cables, one running to each actuator, again, as far from each other as possible. You're likely to have dual or triple redundant computers also. The point is that there should not be a single point of failure that can lead to total loss of the aircraft. For a modern American fighter/attack aircraft, the probability of a kill in an engagement (P_K|E) could be between.01 and.1. So, if you get shot at, you have between a 90 and 99% chance of surviving. There are plenty of instances where an aircraft is engaged in battle and not destroyed. You can have significant damage, but redundancy can save your life.
With a completely wireless aircraft, there can be no redundancy. In an attack using directed energy weapons (i.e directional jamming) the P_K|E would rise sharply. The inherent single point of failure would prevent all communications from taking place, which would eventually lead to loss of the aircraft. I've done flight testing with a Yamaha RMax UAV, and the only thing wireless on it is its data downlink to a ground station, which is not flight-critical.
For those of you who are afraid of this technology ending up on passenger aircraft, you can relax, its not going to happen. The FAA is extremely anal when it comes to safety, and you can be sure the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) would throw a fit about the risks involved. The AOPA has been quite vocal in it's opposition to UAV flight activities, and this "fly-by-wireless" is only going to give the AOPA more ammunition to fight UAVs with.
Left cargo pocket: Sprint HTC PPC6600 (Windows Mobile 2003 SE, 128M RAM, 64M ROM, 16M Flash, 512M SD, 256M/802.11b SDIO, MS Terminal Services Client, putty, and its a phone) Right cargo pocket: Backup cheapo Samsung generic cell phone Bag 1: Dell Inspiron 7500 (P3-750) dual booting Win2k and Linux with Cisco Aironet 352 802.11 DS card, Toshiba Portege 2000 (P3-750) on WinXP Bag 2: IBM Thinkpad 380XD (P233MMX) on Debian with Cisco Aironet 352 802.11 DS card Right ear: Motorola HS-850 bluetooth headset associated with the PPC6600.
...make it! Thats what one of my friends who recently worked for Cessna did. He was a flight test engineer and would have stretches of time when he would have nothing to do. Textron (Cessna's parent company) had their IT people remove games from workstations. However, his computer did have VB installed on it, so he made Minesweeper. When he finished that, he made Solitaire. When he finished that, he quit and came to work with me instead.
Call me a disillusioned engineer. I see very little point in completing my degree. I look around at the people I have to compete against and wonder how they can actually be graduating. Ask a college student how to spell the word "lose" or what the purpose of anti-lock brakes is and see what you get.
I have a strong background in computer engineering, with additional knowledge of advanced mathematics and aerospace systems design. My professional responsibilities allow me to interact with distinguished professors, high-ranking military officials, and aerospace industry experts. These people have no reason to think less of me because I can stand up, converse with them, take action, and give results commensurate with that of a graduate. None of these people have ever asked what my prior qualifications are because there is no need to question them. Honestly though, I don't know how many of them realize I don't have that little piece of paper that says "this guy knows stuff," nor do I know what kind of reaction there would be upon informing one of them of this fact.
As someone who has worked hard academically and professionally, let me say this to those responsible for hiring in the companies I want to work for: stop concentrating your hiring on degrees earned and start looking more at what someone can actually do.
I'm proud (and lucky) to have caught a girl with an MS degree in engineering and an affinity for FORTRAN programs. She also gets carded going to R-rated movies. I'm not letting this one go anytime soon.
I live, attend school, and work in lovely Lawrence, Kansas. I've been all over the state, and no other city has the allure and mindset of Lawrence. This is the most tolerant, free-thinking, and progressive city in the state. If you have any doubts of that, you should read up on your civil war history. There are people other than rednecks in this state. Keep in mind that Helium was discovered here 100 years ago this week. Lynx, everyone's favorite text-based web browser was born here (read your man page). I could go on for quite a while.
The attack on Professor Mirecki is heartbreaking. Violence in the name of God is disgusting. I think that the rift between members of academia and radcial Christians is growing. We are becoming the society that as a nation, we most actively despise: a society driven by radical religious fundamentalists who have misinterpreted the tenets of the locally dominant religion.
Kansas has always been a little weird. Nobody can debate that. However, Lawrence has been proud to stand out from the rest of the state and see things more thoughtfully. This most recent regression has hurt what Lawrence has always stood for: freedom. Freedom to live, freedom to express one's ideas, freedom to explore the unknown, and the freedom to stand up for those things.
Whatever your current thoughts are about Professor Mirecki, the criminals who attacked him, or the course he was trying to teach, you should probably get your news from sources a little closer to the action. The Lawrence Journal-World has covered this quite thoroughly and has some very interesting blog posts from a wide variety of bloggers (myself included) discussing the articles. I recommend it if you want to get a better view of the scenario.
Plenty of stupid things have taken place in Kansas this year. Let's work to fix the problems that we have caused here and try to move forward.
There is an awful lot of Kansas bashing going on here. While it is warranted in my opinion, I think you all should be aware of what Kansas has given to science and engineering. - Clyde Tombaugh, who grew up in Kansas, discovered Pluto. He actually got into some amusing arguments with the administration while he was in the Physics and Astronomy department at KU, but later went on to graduate from KU. - Helium was discovered in Kansas by Hamilton P. Cady and shown to be abundant, not a rare element found only in the sun as was earlier thought. - Two astronauts hail from Kansas. NASA maintains an office at KU and assists students researching in the aerospace field. - Your favorite text based web browser, lynx, was developed at KU. Michael Grobe, an organizer of the project, still works at the university. - Boeing, Bombardier/Learjet, Raytheon/Beechcraft, and Cessna all have made significant contributions to the aerospace industry through their accomplishments in Kansas. Learjet, Beechcraft, and Cessna are all originally Kansas companies. - Every American commercial passenger aircraft had some design or manufacturing work done in Kansas. - The world's fastest commercial airplane, the Cessna Citation X, is manufactured in Kansas. - Garmin, a world leader in GPS technology, is based in Olathe, Kansas, a Johnson County suburb of Kansas City.
These are just a few items that I thought up off the top of my head. My background is in engineering physics, digital electronic systems, and aircraft design, so that is what I am most aware of. I live in the wonderful city of Lawrence, Kansas, and work for one of the world's foremost aircraft design companies. It makes me sad to see what is happening to this state. Before you condemn Kansas, remember what positive things it has given the world.
Nah, four of the six wacko board members are up for reelection. They are from western Kansas, and that is pretty much what you get from that part of the state.
The board will never go completely nutjob, there is the KBOE district that includes Topeka and Lawrence that will never turn.
Not all of us are nuts. Strangely enough, Kansas does affect the world. Until very recently, every Boeing passenger plane had its components manufactured in Wichita. Also, Cessna and Raytheon aircraft are built here. Garmin GPS equipment is designed and built in Kansas. The first American helicopter was built in Goodland, Kansas. Helium was discovered in Lawrence, Kansas. The planet Pluto was discovered in Kansas. So, unbeknownst to many, this "first of the rectangle states" has had a significant contribution to science, its just that many choose to ignore it.
Dual core way before Intel and AMD. So I guess that means that my SparcStation 10 with two dual-core MBus modules 0wnz0rs everyone who claims to be an "early adopter" when they buy dual-core Intel/AMD chips.
So what if the clock speed is only 55MHz for the SS10?:)
There is much more than just a spark of interest in science and technology in Kansas. However, if you go out to the western part of the state, you might be inclined to disagree. I think you should check out the University of Kansas School of Engineering and the Information and Telecommunication Technology Center to get a better idea of what scientific activities are taking place in Kansas. There is much more going on than many people think.
The Cosmosphere is one of my favorite museums. For the midwest, there is no better air and space museum. Aerospace technology and innovation is huge in Kansas, but there are a lot of people around here that can't go the the Smithsonian in DC or the EAA museum in Wisconsin. I would be very disheartened to learn that the allegations against Mr. Ary are true. The collection at the Cosmosphere is fantastic, and I hope there isn't any other fallout from this.
At Georgia Tech, wireless access points are already banned from rooms.
The same is true at the University of Kansas. Also, students cannot connect to the campus network without registering their MAC address with the university and completing a security check involving the forced installation of antivirus software.
KU explicitly bans the use of any NAT devices or wireless AP's, citing network security issues. If you are caught, your network connection can (and usually will) be terminated. If they catch you, you can't deny it either, since they have your MAC address.
If something bad happens to your computer (i.e.: virus DoS'ing something) as a result of noncompliance with security procedures, the university will fine you, and not reactivate your port until you pay the fine and complete the security process.
I had a Pentium 200 with 64MB RAM running NT4 with an uptime of 230 days before someone who didn't understand how to use a fusebox pushed the wrong button and knocked out my circuit. The box runs great with AIM, IE6, an ftp daemon, Photoshop 5, Starcraft, and an X server so I can access my real computer. It makes a good footrest too.
My dual AthlonMP 1200 has a 32MB TNT2 and a pair of SLI'd 12MB Voodoo2 cards. Runs Unreal Tournament great. And runs a webserver. And runs seti@home. And does lots of various other things. Whenever I ask it to do something, it does it, and it does a good job. I'm not sure you realize that the release of newer hardware doesn't necessarily obsolete older hardware. You don't NEED a 3.0GHz P4 to run Windows XP for example, but you can...you can do it just as well on a machine clocked at half that. Granted it won't be ideal, but its not going to be slow by any means. Are these machines properly configured? If not, yeah, they'll run like crap. You need to do to one of the following things if you think a P4 1.7 isn't "all that great:" 1) Make the machine run correctly. 2) Look at what the rest of the world considers to be a good computer. 3) Realize that these are your employers computers, not yours, so you shouldn't complain. 4) Stop listening to the little purple gorilla that claims to be your buddy.
Now, I'm gonna go play with my Sparc IPC or Apollo DN300 just out of principle.
US Gov't on Linux
on
Linux in 2004?
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· Score: 5, Insightful
The NSA has their own spiffy modified linux kernel which is actually pretty nice. I haven't had any problems with it. Interesting how they won't say if they actually use it internally or not. With budgets the way they are I don't doubt that there will be some significant moves toward putting linux on the desktop of government officials in the near future. In fact, I bet there are lots of folks in the FBI computer crimes division that would be pretty happy to see that happen.
Of course there's overlap. The mindsets are also related. Yeah, I agree that the watercooled, overclocked celeron guy running winxp probably also has a honda civic with a 5" wide tailpipe. Then I think about people like me, and many other slashdot readers. We strive for understanding and embrace that which is ahead of its time and with great potential.
Sixteen years after I got my first computer and started learning about cars, I look at my computer and car now and laugh. I have a dual AthlonMP 1.2, 512MB RAM, with a heavily customized linux kernel in a regular beige box as my main machine. It's noisy as hell with those huge fans (these original chips get hot) and its a huge case because its all the mobo would fit in. People look at it and laugh, and then they watch what I can do and they quiet down really quick.
The car? A 1973 Mercedes-Benz 450SL that I have restored, European model, only American conversion is the speedo and odometer. 30 years old and its got power windows, power locks, power trunk lock, power gas cap lock, electronic fuel injection, 4-wheel disc brakes, and lastly, a 320hp V8. I've seen new cars that don't have all that technology in them. "Haha, is your car even going to make it the 600 miles to school?" my cousin once chided. I told her we were going to find some open road. The Benz hit 60 in 6 seconds and made it over 140 before I let off the gas. Her Mercury Cougar posed no threat.
The geeks that many of us open source users are understand the technology we use and understand that we aren't perfect. Programs crash, kernels panic, we dig through debugger output and memory dumps, figure it out and fix it. The engine of the car isn't producing the power it should and the missing puff of exhaust from the tailpipe can be felt, we find the misfiring cylinder, figure out whats going on, and then fix it. Pretty similar don't you think? But I guess now I can't hide my geekdom behind my gearheadedness.
I have an IBM PS/2 Model 30 286 (Intel 10MHz) with an Intel 80287XL mathcoprocessor that I use for word-processing and keeping track of loaned out computers and parts at my parent's house. Its got a 20MB HD, 1.44MB floppy and 1MB of RAM.
For controlling my shortwave radio, I have an IBM PS/2 Model 30, 4.77MHz OKI 8086, 640K RAM, 720K floppy, 10MB HD. Spits out some weird IBM error at boot, but everything works fine, even though the case is actually beginning to rust. Is that a VGA connector on the back? No kids, its called MCGA. Lets move on.
A SparcStation IPC (40MHz I think, 24MB RAM, 2.1GB HD) is my nifty X terminal at home (big sun monitors are cheap) and my Sun 3/80 (25MHz 68030 with 68112) still plugs along but I have no use for it.
However, when I need to be portable, I have my trusty Panasonic Sr. Partner (4.77MHz 8086, 512K RAM, 1.2MB floppy, 20MB HD) with builtin thermal printer; or if I need to be portable and have communications abilities I will turn to the Compaq Portable III (Intel 80286 12MHz, 1MB RAM, 1.2MB floppy, 40MB HD, orange plasma screen, 2400bps modem, Windows 3.0)
Call me nostalgic, call me nuts, call me what you will, but the hardware doesn't fail. And, if it ever does, it might be fixable...that model 30 286 has some stuff wirewrapped to it. On the other hand, my dual AthlonMP has had its motherboard replaced three times and has had a cpu fail. I should bring a 386 down to school and use it as my main machine for a while just to see what ResNet will do to me.
Slashdot Mirror
Will no one rid humanity of this meddlesome jerk?
This guy ranks right under Fred Phelps in my book. If this guy was hit by a bus tomorrow, lived, only to get run over by a truck three seconds later, who would cry for him?
I work with retired employees of a large defense contractor that builds fighter jets. They told me some good stories about TEMPEST work. They were fond of driving around buildings in a van full of radio gear to make sure no RF signals got out of the buildings. Picking up the signals from CRT monitors was entertaining supposedly.
This is neat and all, but Mercedes did it almost 30 years ago with a lot less technology. They made a variant of the exotic C111 using a modified version of their 617 series 3.0L inline-5 cylinder turbocharged engine to get up to 325km/h. If I'm not mistaken, that is the car JCB has beaten.
I wouldn't call JCB's record making that big a deal over the C111. Mercedes had a car that could do _laps_. It appears as if the JCB won't even make it out of earshot before it runs out of fuel. Also, Mercedes engineers didn't have hundreds of thousands of dollars of simulation software that JCB had. Their website shows UGS as a partner. I have a few seats of NX4, Teamcenter 10, SolidEdge 19, and Femap. It's not cheap. JCB's engine is over 4 liters displacement. Mercedes' was 3. Not to mention, JCB needs TWO of their engines to accomplish this task. JCB's engine was derived from backhoes, whereas the Mercedes engine was derived from production cars. Heck, I've got a couple of those engines. I don't think the Dieselmax could beat a C111 with only one engine.
Yes, what JCB has done is pretty cool, and I think they deserve credit for making a record breaker. However, I don't think that a whole lot of actual engineering progress was made in the development of their Dieselmax.
I work for a university spinoff company, and operate all over the place, from remote USAF bomb ranges to KU's campus. I have a UTStarcom PPC6700. It does EVERYTHING. 420MHz Intel PXA270, 128MB memory, 1GB miniSD, EV-DO (~2.5Mbps on Sprint around Lawrence, KS and Kansas City), 802.11b, Bluetooth, 1.3MP camera, WinMo 5. I have loaded a full featured media player (TCPMP) for DivX movies, PocketPutty and Terminal Services Client to manage the office network when I'm away, and AgileMessenger for multiprotocol IMming. The phone integrates seamlessly with Contacts, and that all syncs up to Outlook at the office. Its a serious gadget and it helps me get work done a lot faster. It's damn near a laptop replacement.
Today the voters here in Kansas showed the world that they aren't a bunch of redneck idiots. What people should find most impressive is that Western (read: very rural) Kansas voters elected a moderate, pro-science candidate. As someone who has lived in Kansas for five years, I was shocked to hear that. If I'm not mistaken, that Bacon guy represents the district including Johnson County, which is populated mostly by nouveau riche neocons that honestly think they are upper class.
I think the people of this state are tired of being laughed at and are finally starting to move for change.
Kansas is a great place for innovations in science and engineering, it needs to stay that way.
...in Lawrence, Kansas. Lawrence Freenet is operational and giving the local mega-media broadband company a run for their money.
Especially considering I had a guy with the handle "islam_soldier" trying to take down my company's airplane design website for a couple days. A couple months ago, an Iranian holy institute DOS'd us for five days. I got involved with three nice local FBI agents. I work for a tiny aerospace engineering company, considering the amount of hacking in the name of religion I get, I can't imagine what companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin put up with.
I co-authored a proposal last year to do the same thing with 802.11 on 100-300lb UAVs. For cheap, multipurpose UAVs, a short range wireless connections for some components isn't a bad idea. A good example would be to increase the modularity of devices that you can put on your UAV; IR cam, TV cam, targeting laser, flight data recorder, the list goes on. If Bush makes the order for more UAV patrols along the Mexican border, we will need to manufacture more UAVs. A simple interconnect will keep costs down and ease troubleshooting. There's a lot more people familiar with WiFi than 1553 bus, and WiFi is much cheaper and lighter than 1553 equipment. If you make the wireless connection solely used for features and nothing flight-critical, I don't see a problem using it on recon drones.
.01 and .1. So, if you get shot at, you have between a 90 and 99% chance of surviving. There are plenty of instances where an aircraft is engaged in battle and not destroyed. You can have significant damage, but redundancy can save your life.
On real aircraft, most mission-critical systems have dual-redundancy and flight-critical systems have triple redundancy. That means, that if you have a fighter jet with electrohydrostatic control surface actuators, there are at least three actuators that are as far apart from each other as possible, each capable of sufficient deflection of the control surface to permit flight, and there are three signal cables, one running to each actuator, again, as far from each other as possible. You're likely to have dual or triple redundant computers also. The point is that there should not be a single point of failure that can lead to total loss of the aircraft. For a modern American fighter/attack aircraft, the probability of a kill in an engagement (P_K|E) could be between
With a completely wireless aircraft, there can be no redundancy. In an attack using directed energy weapons (i.e directional jamming) the P_K|E would rise sharply. The inherent single point of failure would prevent all communications from taking place, which would eventually lead to loss of the aircraft. I've done flight testing with a Yamaha RMax UAV, and the only thing wireless on it is its data downlink to a ground station, which is not flight-critical.
For those of you who are afraid of this technology ending up on passenger aircraft, you can relax, its not going to happen. The FAA is extremely anal when it comes to safety, and you can be sure the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) would throw a fit about the risks involved. The AOPA has been quite vocal in it's opposition to UAV flight activities, and this "fly-by-wireless" is only going to give the AOPA more ammunition to fight UAVs with.
Left cargo pocket: Sprint HTC PPC6600 (Windows Mobile 2003 SE, 128M RAM, 64M ROM, 16M Flash, 512M SD, 256M/802.11b SDIO, MS Terminal Services Client, putty, and its a phone)
Right cargo pocket: Backup cheapo Samsung generic cell phone
Bag 1: Dell Inspiron 7500 (P3-750) dual booting Win2k and Linux with Cisco Aironet 352 802.11 DS card, Toshiba Portege 2000 (P3-750) on WinXP
Bag 2: IBM Thinkpad 380XD (P233MMX) on Debian with Cisco Aironet 352 802.11 DS card
Right ear: Motorola HS-850 bluetooth headset associated with the PPC6600.
Good to go.
...make it! Thats what one of my friends who recently worked for Cessna did. He was a flight test engineer and would have stretches of time when he would have nothing to do. Textron (Cessna's parent company) had their IT people remove games from workstations. However, his computer did have VB installed on it, so he made Minesweeper. When he finished that, he made Solitaire. When he finished that, he quit and came to work with me instead.
Call me a disillusioned engineer. I see very little point in completing my degree. I look around at the people I have to compete against and wonder how they can actually be graduating. Ask a college student how to spell the word "lose" or what the purpose of anti-lock brakes is and see what you get.
I have a strong background in computer engineering, with additional knowledge of advanced mathematics and aerospace systems design. My professional responsibilities allow me to interact with distinguished professors, high-ranking military officials, and aerospace industry experts. These people have no reason to think less of me because I can stand up, converse with them, take action, and give results commensurate with that of a graduate. None of these people have ever asked what my prior qualifications are because there is no need to question them. Honestly though, I don't know how many of them realize I don't have that little piece of paper that says "this guy knows stuff," nor do I know what kind of reaction there would be upon informing one of them of this fact.
As someone who has worked hard academically and professionally, let me say this to those responsible for hiring in the companies I want to work for: stop concentrating your hiring on degrees earned and start looking more at what someone can actually do.
I'm proud (and lucky) to have caught a girl with an MS degree in engineering and an affinity for FORTRAN programs. She also gets carded going to R-rated movies. I'm not letting this one go anytime soon.
The attack on Professor Mirecki is heartbreaking. Violence in the name of God is disgusting. I think that the rift between members of academia and radcial Christians is growing. We are becoming the society that as a nation, we most actively despise: a society driven by radical religious fundamentalists who have misinterpreted the tenets of the locally dominant religion.
Kansas has always been a little weird. Nobody can debate that. However, Lawrence has been proud to stand out from the rest of the state and see things more thoughtfully. This most recent regression has hurt what Lawrence has always stood for: freedom. Freedom to live, freedom to express one's ideas, freedom to explore the unknown, and the freedom to stand up for those things.
Whatever your current thoughts are about Professor Mirecki, the criminals who attacked him, or the course he was trying to teach, you should probably get your news from sources a little closer to the action. The Lawrence Journal-World has covered this quite thoroughly and has some very interesting blog posts from a wide variety of bloggers (myself included) discussing the articles. I recommend it if you want to get a better view of the scenario.
Plenty of stupid things have taken place in Kansas this year. Let's work to fix the problems that we have caused here and try to move forward.
Nick M.
Research Assistant
Kansas NASA EPSCoR
There is an awful lot of Kansas bashing going on here. While it is warranted in my opinion, I think you all should be aware of what Kansas has given to science and engineering.
- Clyde Tombaugh, who grew up in Kansas, discovered Pluto. He actually got into some amusing arguments with the administration while he was in the Physics and Astronomy department at KU, but later went on to graduate from KU.
- Helium was discovered in Kansas by Hamilton P. Cady and shown to be abundant, not a rare element found only in the sun as was earlier thought.
- Two astronauts hail from Kansas. NASA maintains an office at KU and assists students researching in the aerospace field.
- Your favorite text based web browser, lynx, was developed at KU. Michael Grobe, an organizer of the project, still works at the university.
- Boeing, Bombardier/Learjet, Raytheon/Beechcraft, and Cessna all have made significant contributions to the aerospace industry through their accomplishments in Kansas. Learjet, Beechcraft, and Cessna are all originally Kansas companies.
- Every American commercial passenger aircraft had some design or manufacturing work done in Kansas.
- The world's fastest commercial airplane, the Cessna Citation X, is manufactured in Kansas.
- Garmin, a world leader in GPS technology, is based in Olathe, Kansas, a Johnson County suburb of Kansas City.
These are just a few items that I thought up off the top of my head. My background is in engineering physics, digital electronic systems, and aircraft design, so that is what I am most aware of. I live in the wonderful city of Lawrence, Kansas, and work for one of the world's foremost aircraft design companies. It makes me sad to see what is happening to this state. Before you condemn Kansas, remember what positive things it has given the world.
Nah, four of the six wacko board members are up for reelection. They are from western Kansas, and that is pretty much what you get from that part of the state.
The board will never go completely nutjob, there is the KBOE district that includes Topeka and Lawrence that will never turn.
Not all of us are nuts. Strangely enough, Kansas does affect the world. Until very recently, every Boeing passenger plane had its components manufactured in Wichita. Also, Cessna and Raytheon aircraft are built here. Garmin GPS equipment is designed and built in Kansas. The first American helicopter was built in Goodland, Kansas. Helium was discovered in Lawrence, Kansas. The planet Pluto was discovered in Kansas. So, unbeknownst to many, this "first of the rectangle states" has had a significant contribution to science, its just that many choose to ignore it.
Dual core way before Intel and AMD. So I guess that means that my SparcStation 10 with two dual-core MBus modules 0wnz0rs everyone who claims to be an "early adopter" when they buy dual-core Intel/AMD chips.
So what if the clock speed is only 55MHz for the SS10? :)
There is much more than just a spark of interest in science and technology in Kansas. However, if you go out to the western part of the state, you might be inclined to disagree. I think you should check out the University of Kansas School of Engineering and the Information and Telecommunication Technology Center to get a better idea of what scientific activities are taking place in Kansas. There is much more going on than many people think.
The Cosmosphere is one of my favorite museums. For the midwest, there is no better air and space museum. Aerospace technology and innovation is huge in Kansas, but there are a lot of people around here that can't go the the Smithsonian in DC or the EAA museum in Wisconsin. I would be very disheartened to learn that the allegations against Mr. Ary are true. The collection at the Cosmosphere is fantastic, and I hope there isn't any other fallout from this.
The same is true at the University of Kansas. Also, students cannot connect to the campus network without registering their MAC address with the university and completing a security check involving the forced installation of antivirus software.
KU explicitly bans the use of any NAT devices or wireless AP's, citing network security issues. If you are caught, your network connection can (and usually will) be terminated. If they catch you, you can't deny it either, since they have your MAC address.
If something bad happens to your computer (i.e.: virus DoS'ing something) as a result of noncompliance with security procedures, the university will fine you, and not reactivate your port until you pay the fine and complete the security process.
So glad I don't live in student housing anymore.
My dual AthlonMP 1200 has a 32MB TNT2 and a pair of SLI'd 12MB Voodoo2 cards. Runs Unreal Tournament great. And runs a webserver. And runs seti@home. And does lots of various other things. Whenever I ask it to do something, it does it, and it does a good job. I'm not sure you realize that the release of newer hardware doesn't necessarily obsolete older hardware. You don't NEED a 3.0GHz P4 to run Windows XP for example, but you can...you can do it just as well on a machine clocked at half that. Granted it won't be ideal, but its not going to be slow by any means. Are these machines properly configured? If not, yeah, they'll run like crap. You need to do to one of the following things if you think a P4 1.7 isn't "all that great:"
1) Make the machine run correctly.
2) Look at what the rest of the world considers to be a good computer.
3) Realize that these are your employers computers, not yours, so you shouldn't complain.
4) Stop listening to the little purple gorilla that claims to be your buddy.
Now, I'm gonna go play with my Sparc IPC or Apollo DN300 just out of principle.
Sixteen years after I got my first computer and started learning about cars, I look at my computer and car now and laugh. I have a dual AthlonMP 1.2, 512MB RAM, with a heavily customized linux kernel in a regular beige box as my main machine. It's noisy as hell with those huge fans (these original chips get hot) and its a huge case because its all the mobo would fit in. People look at it and laugh, and then they watch what I can do and they quiet down really quick. The car? A 1973 Mercedes-Benz 450SL that I have restored, European model, only American conversion is the speedo and odometer. 30 years old and its got power windows, power locks, power trunk lock, power gas cap lock, electronic fuel injection, 4-wheel disc brakes, and lastly, a 320hp V8. I've seen new cars that don't have all that technology in them. "Haha, is your car even going to make it the 600 miles to school?" my cousin once chided. I told her we were going to find some open road. The Benz hit 60 in 6 seconds and made it over 140 before I let off the gas. Her Mercury Cougar posed no threat.
The geeks that many of us open source users are understand the technology we use and understand that we aren't perfect. Programs crash, kernels panic, we dig through debugger output and memory dumps, figure it out and fix it. The engine of the car isn't producing the power it should and the missing puff of exhaust from the tailpipe can be felt, we find the misfiring cylinder, figure out whats going on, and then fix it. Pretty similar don't you think? But I guess now I can't hide my geekdom behind my gearheadedness.
For controlling my shortwave radio, I have an IBM PS/2 Model 30, 4.77MHz OKI 8086, 640K RAM, 720K floppy, 10MB HD. Spits out some weird IBM error at boot, but everything works fine, even though the case is actually beginning to rust. Is that a VGA connector on the back? No kids, its called MCGA. Lets move on.
A SparcStation IPC (40MHz I think, 24MB RAM, 2.1GB HD) is my nifty X terminal at home (big sun monitors are cheap) and my Sun 3/80 (25MHz 68030 with 68112) still plugs along but I have no use for it.
However, when I need to be portable, I have my trusty Panasonic Sr. Partner (4.77MHz 8086, 512K RAM, 1.2MB floppy, 20MB HD) with builtin thermal printer; or if I need to be portable and have communications abilities I will turn to the Compaq Portable III (Intel 80286 12MHz, 1MB RAM, 1.2MB floppy, 40MB HD, orange plasma screen, 2400bps modem, Windows 3.0)
Call me nostalgic, call me nuts, call me what you will, but the hardware doesn't fail. And, if it ever does, it might be fixable...that model 30 286 has some stuff wirewrapped to it. On the other hand, my dual AthlonMP has had its motherboard replaced three times and has had a cpu fail. I should bring a 386 down to school and use it as my main machine for a while just to see what ResNet will do to me.