Lessee, if you represent each base with an odd-parity number, then DNA seems to be doing parity checking? Perhaps another researcher will interpret each nucleotide as a physical representation of a large prime, and claim that DNA is actually RSA-encrypted.
Honestly, does anyone really think that the the "Publish or Perish" academic survival constraint has encouraged the evolution of better academics? Perhaps Slashdot's karma model should be extended to all of academia, with some large percentage of all available funding distributed accordingly.
"How's your ZPE-generator work coming, Roy?"
"It's been cancelled, Sigfried. The whole project got modded Offtopic! But everyone says your 10^1024-qubit computer is quite Insightful. What do you think your chances are of getting the Nobel for this one?"
"Excellent--mostly affected by moderation done to my papers."
That's an old urban legend that still keeps circulating because NASA naysayers want it to be true. I wonder how many legislators have been influenced by that story when (dis)approving funds for NASA programs?
"...his work led to speculation by some peers that he could one day be nominated for a Nobel Prize, a high honor."
Glad they specified that. Otherwise, I might have thought they were referring to some other Nobel prize, like maybe the Gertrude P. Nobel Prize in Experimental Cosmetology.
Uh, last time I checked two was the square root of four, not the square of four.
You're right, of course. I shouldn't try to write about mathematical functions more complex than addition after midnight. Within 24 hours after midnight, really.
You're absolutely correct. Every pro photographer I know (other than a couple of portraitists) has either completely switched or is heading in that direction. I should have typed "film-dominated pro markets," referring only to those groups still using film for whatever reason. Hope someone mods up your comment, it was a great one.
Uh... resolution does not "vary with the square of the pixel count." The pixel count is the total number of pixels, and therefore determines the resolution. It's not the number of pixels per side, or something, which is what you perhaps had in mind.
Actually, that turns out not to be the case. Resolution refers to the ability to resolve, and is generally defined as the maximum number of alternating black and white lines that can be clearly seen per unit distance in an image. Camera makers generally use the megapixel shorthand to give an indication of resolution, but you can generally assume that the pixels are arranged in an approximately 3x4 aspect ratio, and make your assumptions based on that. But regardless of that ratio, image resolution is limited by the spacing of the pixels in any linear direction.
It makes sense if you think about it: In order to double the resolution of an image (simply, to see the same amount of detail at twice the subject distance), you have to quadruple the sensor's total pixel count. All else being equal, images from a 4-megapixel camera will have twice the resolution (resolving ability) of a one-megapixel camera. Not as impressive for the brochure, but still a physical fact. Assuming a fixed aspect ratio, image resolution varies with the square of the pixel count, and that's just the way it goes.
You're referring to the xD-Picture Card, which was announced back in July. 128MB cards were supposed to be available this month, with 256MB cards coming out around Christmas and higher-capacity cards (eventually topping out at 8GB) in 2003 and beyond.
Personally, I'm waiting for Dr. Arroway's camera in the movie Contact: "...we have your personal recording unit. Normal, infrared and ultraviolet lenses. Digital microchip, good for thousands of hours of recording."
"The best news is that new products like this will push prices down on the 4-6MP cameras at the high end of the consumer level."
IMHO, they won't have a real impact on that market. Canon's excellent G2, a 4-megapixel camera, is currently selling at a street price of $600-$650. Others are in that same range, between $500 and $1000. Do you really think that someone considering the purchase of a $700 camera is going to be swayed by a $4000 camera with less than twice the resolution (noting that resolution varies with the square of the pixel count)? And remember, interchangeable lenses means they're extra, so the actual price difference is actually greater.
I'm really excited about these new cameras and sensors, and I think they're going to make a big impact in the film-dominated pro market, but to think they're going to generate price pressure on sub-$1000 cameras would be like Toyota dropping Camry prices to compete with the newest Lamborghini.
Seems to me the primary problem would be one of security. Say I follow my target around while pointing a highly directional 802.11 antenna at him--virtually guaranteeing that his phone will pick my hop every time he tries to connect. Does the fact that the target is establishing the connection to me obviate my need for a wiretap order to log all his packets?
----- On an unrelated note, your sig befuddles me as well: "(a deltic so please dont moan about spelling but the content)"
As nearly as I can tell, you've posted nearly 500 comments, but have never answered the immortal question: What's a "deltic?"
This is what I know:
You've claimed here to have written a Space Invaders clone on your ARM-based Acorn when you were 15, which sets an upper limit of 30 on your current age--so I'd wager senility isn't an issue.
From this post I'd assume that you were admitted to Bournebouth University--so basic literacy probably isn't an obstacle either.
Several have tried--and failed--to get you to explain this condition:
I wonder why countries like USA worry about CO2 emission and do not sign the related treaty, i.e. Kyoto protocol...
Probably for the same reason that I support a number of good causes, but haven't signed a contract with United Way to do so. For that matter, it's probably for the same reason we declared independence in the first place.
If that doesn't make sense to you, how about this: I'll send you my address, and you can mail me US$100 each month. I'll make sure that at least 70% of it goes toward environmental improvement. What, you won't do it? What are you, an anti-environmentalist? Oh, you're going to go it alone, eh? What are you, an anti-globalist?
And why are we even worried about CO2 when Dihydrogen Monoxide is everywhere?
Call me an alarmist, but...
on
eSuds
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
...I've seen The Silence of the Lambs a few times, and the "machine availability" option bothers me. I can easily envision some sicko sitting at his PC at 3AM, surfing the all the laundromats around the local university, searching for one with just one dryer running.
Hopefully, there'll be video surveillance (did I just say that?), with a closed-circuit recorded feed and signs indicating constant monitoring. Also, adjusting the web interface to display simply that at least n machines are available might negate just that sort of abuse.
Here's the latest press release from the CONTOUR people, which can be found here:
CONTOUR: Latest News
August 16, 2002 -- 1 p.m. (EDT)
Search for CONTOUR Continues
Mission operators continue to listen for a signal from CONTOUR.
Using its 34-meter antennas, NASA's Deep Space Network stations are scanning the spacecraft's expected path beyond Earth's orbit, attempting to pick up radio signals from CONTOUR's transmitters. The CONTOUR team is also awaiting feedback from several NASA-sponsored and other optical and radar sites that have been searching the skies for signs of the spacecraft.
CONTOUR's STAR 30 solid-propellant rocket motor was programmed to ignite at 4:49 a.m. EDT on Aug 15, boosting the spacecraft out of an Earth parking orbit and onto a trajectory to encounter two comets over the next four years. The spacecraft was too low for DSN antennas to track it during the burn - about 140 miles (225 kilometers) above the Indian Ocean - and the CONTOUR mission operations team at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory expected to regain contact about 45 minutes later to confirm the burn. No signal was received, and the team has been working through plans to find the craft along the predicted trajectories for a successful burn.
CONTOUR's onboard computer was carrying a command that, starting at 6 a.m. EDT today, would have turned the spacecraft and pointed another of its four antennas toward Earth. So far, however, no signal has been received.
CONTOUR, a Discovery-class mission to explore the nucleus of comets, was built and managed by the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md., for NASA. Additional information about CONTOUR is available on the Internet at: http://www.contour2002.org.
...from the google cache, reformatted to Slashdot posting specs:
The MCC, or "mobile computer core," is a totally new PC architecture
centered around a processor, internal battery, data storage and
computer software applications. An additional power supply, display,
communications and input/output connectors are accessories that
you choose based on your individual preferences and work environment.
The core consists the Crusoe processor by Transmeta, 10 GB hard
disk and 256 MB Ram all contained within 3x5x3/4smaller
than a typical PDA. Low power consumption makes it ideal for portable
applications, and no fan is required. It will automatically identify
and adapt its system, power management, thermal, software and user
interface behavior, depending on the attached accessory.
Use it to run Windows 2000, WindowsXP, or Linux operating systems.
Use it in multiple configurationsdesktop, laptop, handheld,
tablet, or wearable. Above all, use it to simplify your life, save
time and improve your access.
It's getting easier to imagine a Beowulf cluster of NASA's. Perhaps someday all research of this type will be conducted by consortia of interested (and vested) parties, sharing expertise, resources and data. Sort of an open-source space program?
Q: What would happen if you had an entire planet made out of bread?
"We've just landed here on what cap troopers are calling the 'Big Bun' with the 6th Mobile Infantry Division. It's an ugly planet, a bread planet, a planet hostile to life as we know it...AAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHH!!!"
Seriously, though, wouldn't its moon be a huge pat of butter?
...indicate that, assuming the Moon's orbital momentum were bled off at some reasonable (!) rate, that it would spend sufficient time within its Roche limit (5.5*2.42/3.34 = ~4 earth radii) to be torn to bits and redistributed into a massive, chunky ring. Once that transformation was accomplished, the Earth's surface would rapidly restabilize; since the ring would have a somewhat evenly distributed mass, its major tidal effect would be to increase Earth's equatorial bulge.
Of course, the large number of collisions in NEO among kilometer-and-greater-diameter objects would result in many thousands of catastrophic KT-magnitude impacts, meaning that any current life on earth would be kaput without a primary lunar impact ever occurring.
Mr. Bailey answered this question well, but seemed to believe that this kind of event was impossible. I'd suggest running an N-body simulation in which a small, massive object such as a black hole passes near the Earth-Moon system, in such a way as to impart a differential acceleration to the two bodies. It's easy to find (by trial and error, if need be) the appropriate criteria for a fly-by that would drop the Moon right in our laps, with little or no lateral motion. I'd guess that this was probably the kind of impact that the questioner envisioned.
Here's my suggestion: Have the FBI, or even some more reputable organization, run a full-bore background check on them, followed by total surveillance for some period of time from 30 days to life, depending on the seriousness of the violation.
Then post the results, complete with photos and video clips, on a website for the duration of the sentence.
I see that privacyviolators.com is available, as is publicstockade.com.
It appears to me that the mouse still has left-right buttons, but they're in the underside of the mouse body, so you have to tilt the entire body to activate a button by pressing the appropriate corner harder against the desk. Cool, but like the man said, you lose some fine control and quick response time.
Great OS, but Palm's platforms are lagging...
on
Palm OS 5.0 Preview
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
I've been using Palm devices since 2/16/99, when I finagled a 50% discount on a Palm III at Staples (and subsequently helped others do the same). Since then I've owned a IIIxe, a Vx, an m500 and an m505, and have been pleased with all of them except the m505. Poor illumination killed it for me, though spending so many years at the same resolution should have done it.
I went out this weekend and upgraded to the Sony Clié 615, and I've never been happier. 16MB RAM, 320x320x16 resolution, continuously variable brightness control, Memory Stick slot (with a flickering drive light beside it!), polyphonic sound, and one absolutely thrilled user.
The OS is flashable, so I expect I'll upgrade to 5.0 when the time comes, but I've seen the future of Palm hardware, and it ain't at Palm Computing.
Discussion Topic 1: Palm OS 5.0 supports display resolutions "from 160x160 pixels to multiples of 160x160 pixels." That takes in my 320x320 display, but it raises an interesting point: What is the ideal aspect ratio of a handheld device? Pocket PC and others use quarter-VGA, while Palm devices use this square format (which on a Clié provides 33% more pixels than QVGA). Any opinions on which display format is more ergonomic for a handheld, or for a desktop for that matter?
Discussion Topic 1½: I have nearly three hundred ebooks sitting on my 128MB Memory Stick right now, with room for another couple hundred, and I love reading from my Clié. My question is this: why would anyone buy a dedicated ebook reader, unless it were simply too cheap to turn down?
"I have people calling me, crying to me that they're in pain all the time, asking me where they can live," Firstenberg said. "I tell them we're trying to save Mendocino as a refuge."
What I want to know is, why are these people using telephones? Cry to him in a letter! On unbleached, natural paper, of course, using squid ink.
Just go to Preferences and under Exclude Stories from the Homepage, select the Topic Porn. Oh, wait, there's no such topic...
Then again, considering the level of dialog in most of the discussions, I suppose limiting the vulgarity at the story level would be moot, something akin to locking the case of a Windows XP box.
The drives contain more than 17,000 files. Though all of them are related to al-Qa'ida in some way, many are humdrum and dull. Others are not. The interesting files tend to be protected by sophisticated passwords or are encrypted, and the Journal is still working to decode them. One file, in particular, took five days to crack, using several computers. The reporters gained access to it on Sunday.
It's amazing to me that these savvy WSJ reporters would admit to circumventing security measures in Windows 2000 in order to access these files! Don't they know that anything they say can and will be used against them in a court of flaws?
I wonder if Junis' email is on either of these? Oh, wait, never mind, they aren't Commodore drives.
What with all the Internet kiosks and all. Jamie's input alone will make this a hypercool event. Plus, everything that goes over the Lounge's sound system is streamed live to the Internet. Does that include CodeCon, I wonder?
Still, it's too bad it couldn't have been held in JWZ's old Tent of Doom (essentially a cubicle wrapped in 500' of camo netting to ward off the ST:TNG theme of the Netscape office decor). I know it's ancient history now, but his TOD page was an inspiration to cubicle-dwellers everywhere, when it was up. Like the once-bright promise of Netscape, it will be missed.
I notice the banner of this site says "News for Nerds"...
Excuse me—you've been a registered Slashdot member for over two years, and you're only now noticing the motto?
The Eden project has been around for a couple of years and is actually a very successful tourist attraction in the UK.
We know; those of us who hadn't already heard of it read yesterday's Wired article, to which this story provides a link.
Just because it's the first time *you* heard about it doesn't make it news.
Actually, that's precisely what makes it news. Just because someone in Cornwall lives next door to the thing doesn't mean it isn't newsworthy to the rest of the world. Also, figures to be released this month will probably include the Eden Project as one of the UK's top five tourist spots. That's news to you as well.
To sum up, pipe down. If you're reading news selected primarily for an audience in another country, you have to accept that it won't be tailored for you. Just be proud that your countrymen's accomplishments are being recognized.
<flame intensity="20%">
Besides, if I lived in a country where two of the top five attractions were a greenhouse and a wax museum, I'd be grateful for any attention we could get. </flame>
Slashdot Mirror
Lessee, if you represent each base with an odd-parity number, then DNA seems to be doing parity checking? Perhaps another researcher will interpret each nucleotide as a physical representation of a large prime, and claim that DNA is actually RSA-encrypted.
Honestly, does anyone really think that the the "Publish or Perish" academic survival constraint has encouraged the evolution of better academics? Perhaps Slashdot's karma model should be extended to all of academia, with some large percentage of all available funding distributed accordingly.
"How's your ZPE-generator work coming, Roy?"
"It's been cancelled, Sigfried. The whole project got modded Offtopic! But everyone says your 10^1024-qubit computer is quite Insightful. What do you think your chances are of getting the Nobel for this one?"
"Excellent--mostly affected by moderation done to my papers."
That's an old urban legend that still keeps circulating because NASA naysayers want it to be true. I wonder how many legislators have been influenced by that story when (dis)approving funds for NASA programs?
"...his work led to speculation by some peers that he could one day be nominated for a Nobel Prize, a high honor."
Glad they specified that. Otherwise, I might have thought they were referring to some other Nobel prize, like maybe the Gertrude P. Nobel Prize in Experimental Cosmetology.
Uh, last time I checked two was the square root of four, not the square of four.
You're right, of course. I shouldn't try to write about mathematical functions more complex than addition after midnight. Within 24 hours after midnight, really.
You're absolutely correct. Every pro photographer I know (other than a couple of portraitists) has either completely switched or is heading in that direction. I should have typed "film-dominated pro markets," referring only to those groups still using film for whatever reason. Hope someone mods up your comment, it was a great one.
Uh... resolution does not "vary with the square of the pixel count." The pixel count is the total number of pixels, and therefore determines the resolution. It's not the number of pixels per side, or something, which is what you perhaps had in mind.
Actually, that turns out not to be the case. Resolution refers to the ability to resolve, and is generally defined as the maximum number of alternating black and white lines that can be clearly seen per unit distance in an image. Camera makers generally use the megapixel shorthand to give an indication of resolution, but you can generally assume that the pixels are arranged in an approximately 3x4 aspect ratio, and make your assumptions based on that. But regardless of that ratio, image resolution is limited by the spacing of the pixels in any linear direction.
It makes sense if you think about it: In order to double the resolution of an image (simply, to see the same amount of detail at twice the subject distance), you have to quadruple the sensor's total pixel count. All else being equal, images from a 4-megapixel camera will have twice the resolution (resolving ability) of a one-megapixel camera. Not as impressive for the brochure, but still a physical fact. Assuming a fixed aspect ratio, image resolution varies with the square of the pixel count, and that's just the way it goes.
You're referring to the xD-Picture Card, which was announced back in July. 128MB cards were supposed to be available this month, with 256MB cards coming out around Christmas and higher-capacity cards (eventually topping out at 8GB) in 2003 and beyond.
Personally, I'm waiting for Dr. Arroway's camera in the movie Contact:
"...we have your personal recording unit. Normal, infrared and ultraviolet lenses. Digital microchip, good for thousands of hours of recording."
Maybe that will be Nikon's response!
"The best news is that new products like this will push prices down on the 4-6MP cameras at the high end of the consumer level."
IMHO, they won't have a real impact on that market. Canon's excellent G2, a 4-megapixel camera, is currently selling at a street price of $600-$650. Others are in that same range, between $500 and $1000. Do you really think that someone considering the purchase of a $700 camera is going to be swayed by a $4000 camera with less than twice the resolution (noting that resolution varies with the square of the pixel count)? And remember, interchangeable lenses means they're extra, so the actual price difference is actually greater.
I'm really excited about these new cameras and sensors, and I think they're going to make a big impact in the film-dominated pro market, but to think they're going to generate price pressure on sub-$1000 cameras would be like Toyota dropping Camry prices to compete with the newest Lamborghini.
-----
On an unrelated note, your sig befuddles me as well:
"(a deltic so please dont moan about spelling but the content)"
As nearly as I can tell, you've posted nearly 500 comments, but have never answered the immortal question: What's a "deltic?"
This is what I know:
- You've claimed here to have written a Space Invaders clone on your ARM-based Acorn when you were 15, which sets an upper limit of 30 on your current age--so I'd wager senility isn't an issue.
- From this post I'd assume that you were admitted to Bournebouth University--so basic literacy probably isn't an obstacle either.
- Several have tried--and failed--to get you to explain this condition:
But I have to admit, the question consumes me. Mister Jones, could you enlighten us, please?- What's a "deltic"?
by smartfart on Mon Sep 23, '02 10:43 AM
- OT: Deltic?
by Anonymous Coward on Wed May 29, '02 11:43 AM
- "Deltic" = "Doesn't Like Spellcheckers"
:-)
by billstewart on Thu Apr 11, '02 09:27 PM
- what the f*** is "a deltic"?
by Anonymous Coward on Tue Aug 14, '01 04:10 PM
- Re:What's a deltic?
by KlomDark on Tue Nov 14, '00 06:43 PM
--So you're either either not reading the replies to your posts (in which case this question is moot), or you're none too eager to discuss deltism.attached to Being Wireless: Viral Telecommunications posted on Mon Sep 23, '02 07:47 AM
attached to Intel Itanium 2 Benchmarks posted on Wed May 29, '02 08:01 AM
attached to AMD Targets Web Pad & PDA Processor Market posted on Tue Apr 09, '02 02:28 PM
Re:what the f*** is "a deltic"? by Head Lice on Wed Aug 15, '01 06:03 AM
attached to Best "Visual Studio" Alternative On Linux posted on Mon Aug 13, '01 04:14 PM
Re:What's a deltic? by KlomDark on Sun Nov 26, '00 06:26 PM
Re:What's a deltic? by Donut2099 on Tue Nov 14, '00 09:01 PM
attached to 3dfx Drops Video Card Division posted on Tue Nov 14, '00 08:56 PM
I wonder why countries like USA worry about CO2 emission and do not sign the related treaty, i.e. Kyoto protocol...
Probably for the same reason that I support a number of good causes, but haven't signed a contract with United Way to do so. For that matter, it's probably for the same reason we declared independence in the first place.
If that doesn't make sense to you, how about this: I'll send you my address, and you can mail me US$100 each month. I'll make sure that at least 70% of it goes toward environmental improvement. What, you won't do it? What are you, an anti-environmentalist? Oh, you're going to go it alone, eh? What are you, an anti-globalist?
And why are we even worried about CO2 when Dihydrogen Monoxide is everywhere?
...I've seen The Silence of the Lambs a few times, and the "machine availability" option bothers me. I can easily envision some sicko sitting at his PC at 3AM, surfing the all the laundromats around the local university, searching for one with just one dryer running.
Hopefully, there'll be video surveillance (did I just say that?), with a closed-circuit recorded feed and signs indicating constant monitoring. Also, adjusting the web interface to display simply that at least n machines are available might negate just that sort of abuse.
Here's the latest press release from the CONTOUR people, which can be found here:
CONTOUR: Latest News
August 16, 2002 -- 1 p.m. (EDT)
Search for CONTOUR Continues
Mission operators continue to listen for a signal from CONTOUR.
Using its 34-meter antennas, NASA's Deep Space Network stations are scanning the spacecraft's expected path beyond Earth's orbit, attempting to pick up radio signals from CONTOUR's transmitters. The CONTOUR team is also awaiting feedback from several NASA-sponsored and other optical and radar sites that have been searching the skies for signs of the spacecraft.
CONTOUR's STAR 30 solid-propellant rocket motor was programmed to ignite at 4:49 a.m. EDT on Aug 15, boosting the spacecraft out of an Earth parking orbit and onto a trajectory to encounter two comets over the next four years. The spacecraft was too low for DSN antennas to track it during the burn - about 140 miles (225 kilometers) above the Indian Ocean - and the CONTOUR mission operations team at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory expected to regain contact about 45 minutes later to confirm the burn. No signal was received, and the team has been working through plans to find the craft along the predicted trajectories for a successful burn.
CONTOUR's onboard computer was carrying a command that, starting at 6 a.m. EDT today, would have turned the spacecraft and pointed another of its four antennas toward Earth. So far, however, no signal has been received.
CONTOUR, a Discovery-class mission to explore the nucleus of comets, was built and managed by the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md., for NASA. Additional information about CONTOUR is available on the Internet at: http://www.contour2002.org.
The MCC, or "mobile computer core," is a totally new PC architecture centered around a processor, internal battery, data storage and computer software applications. An additional power supply, display, communications and input/output connectors are accessories that you choose based on your individual preferences and work environment.
The core consists the Crusoe processor by Transmeta, 10 GB hard disk and 256 MB Ram all contained within 3x5x3/4smaller than a typical PDA. Low power consumption makes it ideal for portable applications, and no fan is required. It will automatically identify and adapt its system, power management, thermal, software and user interface behavior, depending on the attached accessory.
Use it to run Windows 2000, WindowsXP, or Linux operating systems. Use it in multiple configurationsdesktop, laptop, handheld, tablet, or wearable. Above all, use it to simplify your life, save time and improve your access.
MCC Specifications:
It's getting easier to imagine a Beowulf cluster of NASA's. Perhaps someday all research of this type will be conducted by consortia of interested (and vested) parties, sharing expertise, resources and data. Sort of an open-source space program?
Q: What would happen if you had an entire planet made out of bread?
"We've just landed here on what cap troopers are calling the 'Big Bun' with the 6th Mobile Infantry Division. It's an ugly planet, a bread planet, a planet hostile to life as we know it...AAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHH!!!"
Seriously, though, wouldn't its moon be a huge pat of butter?
...indicate that, assuming the Moon's orbital momentum were bled off at some reasonable (!) rate, that it would spend sufficient time within its Roche limit (5.5*2.42/3.34 = ~4 earth radii) to be torn to bits and redistributed into a massive, chunky ring. Once that transformation was accomplished, the Earth's surface would rapidly restabilize; since the ring would have a somewhat evenly distributed mass, its major tidal effect would be to increase Earth's equatorial bulge.
Of course, the large number of collisions in NEO among kilometer-and-greater-diameter objects would result in many thousands of catastrophic KT-magnitude impacts, meaning that any current life on earth would be kaput without a primary lunar impact ever occurring.
Mr. Bailey answered this question well, but seemed to believe that this kind of event was impossible. I'd suggest running an N-body simulation in which a small, massive object such as a black hole passes near the Earth-Moon system, in such a way as to impart a differential acceleration to the two bodies. It's easy to find (by trial and error, if need be) the appropriate criteria for a fly-by that would drop the Moon right in our laps, with little or no lateral motion. I'd guess that this was probably the kind of impact that the questioner envisioned.
Remind anyone else of the climactic scene of When Worlds Collide?
Here's my suggestion: Have the FBI, or even some more reputable organization, run a full-bore background check on them, followed by total surveillance for some period of time from 30 days to life, depending on the seriousness of the violation.
Then post the results, complete with photos and video clips, on a website for the duration of the sentence.
I see that privacyviolators.com is available, as is publicstockade.com.
It appears to me that the mouse still has left-right buttons, but they're in the underside of the mouse body, so you have to tilt the entire body to activate a button by pressing the appropriate corner harder against the desk. Cool, but like the man said, you lose some fine control and quick response time.
I've been using Palm devices since 2/16/99, when I finagled a 50% discount on a Palm III at Staples (and subsequently helped others do the same). Since then I've owned a IIIxe, a Vx, an m500 and an m505, and have been pleased with all of them except the m505. Poor illumination killed it for me, though spending so many years at the same resolution should have done it.
I went out this weekend and upgraded to the Sony Clié 615, and I've never been happier. 16MB RAM, 320x320x16 resolution, continuously variable brightness control, Memory Stick slot (with a flickering drive light beside it!), polyphonic sound, and one absolutely thrilled user.
The OS is flashable, so I expect I'll upgrade to 5.0 when the time comes, but I've seen the future of Palm hardware, and it ain't at Palm Computing.
Discussion Topic 1: Palm OS 5.0 supports display resolutions "from 160x160 pixels to multiples of 160x160 pixels." That takes in my 320x320 display, but it raises an interesting point: What is the ideal aspect ratio of a handheld device? Pocket PC and others use quarter-VGA, while Palm devices use this square format (which on a Clié provides 33% more pixels than QVGA). Any opinions on which display format is more ergonomic for a handheld, or for a desktop for that matter?
Discussion Topic 1½: I have nearly three hundred ebooks sitting on my 128MB Memory Stick right now, with room for another couple hundred, and I love reading from my Clié. My question is this: why would anyone buy a dedicated ebook reader, unless it were simply too cheap to turn down?
"I have people calling me, crying to me that they're in pain all the time, asking me where they can live," Firstenberg said. "I tell them we're trying to save Mendocino as a refuge."
What I want to know is, why are these people using telephones? Cry to him in a letter! On unbleached, natural paper, of course, using squid ink.
Just go to Preferences and under Exclude Stories from the Homepage, select the Topic Porn. Oh, wait, there's no such topic...
Then again, considering the level of dialog in most of the discussions, I suppose limiting the vulgarity at the story level would be moot, something akin to locking the case of a Windows XP box.
The drives contain more than 17,000 files. Though all of them are related to al-Qa'ida in some way, many are humdrum and dull. Others are not. The interesting files tend to be protected by sophisticated passwords or are encrypted, and the Journal is still working to decode them. One file, in particular, took five days to crack, using several computers. The reporters gained access to it on Sunday.
It's amazing to me that these savvy WSJ reporters would admit to circumventing security measures in Windows 2000 in order to access these files! Don't they know that anything they say can and will be used against them in a court of flaws?
I wonder if Junis' email is on either of these? Oh, wait, never mind, they aren't Commodore drives.
What with all the Internet kiosks and all. Jamie's input alone will make this a hypercool event. Plus, everything that goes over the Lounge's sound system is streamed live to the Internet. Does that include CodeCon, I wonder?
Still, it's too bad it couldn't have been held in JWZ's old Tent of Doom (essentially a cubicle wrapped in 500' of camo netting to ward off the ST:TNG theme of the Netscape office decor). I know it's ancient history now, but his TOD page was an inspiration to cubicle-dwellers everywhere, when it was up. Like the once-bright promise of Netscape, it will be missed.
I notice the banner of this site says "News for Nerds"...
Excuse me—you've been a registered Slashdot member for over two years, and you're only now noticing the motto?
The Eden project has been around for a couple of years and is actually a very successful tourist attraction in the UK.
We know; those of us who hadn't already heard of it read yesterday's Wired article, to which this story provides a link.
Just because it's the first time *you* heard about it doesn't make it news.
Actually, that's precisely what makes it news. Just because someone in Cornwall lives next door to the thing doesn't mean it isn't newsworthy to the rest of the world. Also, figures to be released this month will probably include the Eden Project as one of the UK's top five tourist spots. That's news to you as well.
To sum up, pipe down. If you're reading news selected primarily for an audience in another country, you have to accept that it won't be tailored for you. Just be proud that your countrymen's accomplishments are being recognized.
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Besides, if I lived in a country where two of the top five attractions were a greenhouse and a wax museum, I'd be grateful for any attention we could get.
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