My brother recently (a couple of months ago) put together his Nitro RS/4, and the thing is pretty damn fast. We started with a couple of Micro RS/4 kits (the 1/18th scale), battery powered all wheel drive cars. The micros are fun but your batteries start dying right away and you only have peak performance for a short while. Of course, a 6 cell pack makes for some fun. My uncle actually got us turned on to these, and his 1/18th scale micro with a nice engine and a one-way front diff. (dare I list the rest of the mods??)... well, he gets the little car up over 45mph. I will leave his big 1/8th scale cars out of this.
My brother has been wanting to strap a camera on his Nitro, and has been looking for a good way to do it. I recommended against hooking the Canon GL-2 to the top. I jokingly suggested an X10, but am surprised, not to see it done, but to see it on the front page of/. Kick ass! These cars are a riot, and there are lots of cool hacks. You can get different bodies for the cars (not too expensive), and painting them is half the fun for me (I am not as good at making them fast, so I make them look cool). I would recommend checking out the HPI site, and check out the forum. There is quite a community surrounding these cars. There are even races for the micros here in Ann Arbor that I know of.
I work for a market leading virtual prototyping company (actually we were bought by a simulation software company recently) that has a huge presence in the automobile industry. A lot of production design work is done in the software, and I know the company race teams use the software to prototype concepts for their race machines, but I wouldn't want to spend the money to use it for myself.
I also happen to drive a well modified Volkswagen GTI, and though I have entertained the thought of modeling my ride in AD^H^Hmy company's software, I prefer the 'do it and see if it works' approach. There is a lot of community out there, especially on the internet, and they can help you find what works, organize gatherings, and generally make the process more fun. Of course, if you want a sub-ten second car, and you have a large checkbook, and you want to learn a complex software system, then....
But what the hell do I know... I am in IT. Oops. My bad.
"Linux is a variant on the 30-year-old open source Unix operating system, which is generally held to be almost indestructible and by far the most reliable core for computer systems for whom crashing is not an option."
Unix is open source? This comment seems to give Open Source Software quite a history.
I haven't had the opportunity to bail out of work to catch it yet, but I am curious as to how well they set themselves up for sequels. Before the X-Men movie even came out, it was known that there would be a couple more flicks. Have they done the same with the real Marvel flagship character? I would hope so. Marvel (thanks to Joe Quesada) has been very successful in the past year, and I can't see them not capitalizing on the Spidey franchise.
For that matter, has anyone heard anything from Raimi or any of the cast regarding sequels?
Ok, what am I doing asking about the next movies?! I haven't even seen this one!
This topic is of great interest to me, as I am currently examining how I can put together a system that meets certain needs, yet is small and portable. I typically prefer building my own systems and want to stay in the PC environment (no Macs here!). There does not seem to be a lot of offerings like the Shuttle sv24.
The Sound Blaster Extigy seems to be a step in this direction, allowing you to connect your soundcard in via USB. I have been hoping for a movement in that direction.
Do you think other companies are going to follow suit and make more external components? We have seen a minor explosion in usb and firewire hard disks. But moving components outside the case might not be the best evolutionary step.
I play a strat through a Mesa Dual-Rectifier Trem-o-verb, and get a pretty sweet tube tone. That's great and all, but what a b!tch to lug around. I recently picked up a Digitech GNX2 effects processor, and I can plug straight into that and patch that into the PA, and don't even need an amp. It has a bunch of amp models built in, as well as several effects. To be honest, the thing is damn complicated, and doesn't work well with the Mesa for sure. It is very convenient for band practices. Throw my new Samson AF-1 wireless into the mix, and I am fully digital and wireless... how do you like that? All for about $750-800, too.
Of course, those toys can't compete with the great tone I get out of that Rectifier. Even with an American Standard Strat.
As far as my take on ethernet on the guitar, I bet musicians will take advantage of either this, or something a lot like it. There are people who would like to cut down on the amount of gear you have to haul to a gig.
"A European convention to be signed on Friday aims to unite countries in the fight against computer criminals, who have moved on from ``innocent'' hacking to fraud, embezzlement and life-threatening felonies."
This little quote from the article on yahoo illustrates another misconception... that "innocent" hackers are the one moving into fraud etc. Innocent hackers are still innocent hackers. Criminals that perpetrate these crimes intended to be criminals from the outset. The people (jerks) committing these so-called life-threatening felonies most likely never were innocent, or even hackers.
We should stand up and say something to our legislators, but realistically nothing will be done. I have tried to contact my "congresswoman" on several occasions to no avail. The only thing most politicians seem to care about are their careers. Sorry to the decent politicos for the generalization.
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My brother recently (a couple of months ago) put together his Nitro RS/4, and the thing is pretty damn fast. We started with a couple of Micro RS/4 kits (the 1/18th scale), battery powered all wheel drive cars. The micros are fun but your batteries start dying right away and you only have peak performance for a short while. Of course, a 6 cell pack makes for some fun. My uncle actually got us turned on to these, and his 1/18th scale micro with a nice engine and a one-way front diff. (dare I list the rest of the mods??)... well, he gets the little car up over 45mph. I will leave his big 1/8th scale cars out of this.
My brother has been wanting to strap a camera on his Nitro, and has been looking for a good way to do it. I recommended against hooking the Canon GL-2 to the top. I jokingly suggested an X10, but am surprised, not to see it done, but to see it on the front page of
I better shut up now! -J
I work for a market leading virtual prototyping company (actually we were bought by a simulation software company recently) that has a huge presence in the automobile industry. A lot of production design work is done in the software, and I know the company race teams use the software to prototype concepts for their race machines, but I wouldn't want to spend the money to use it for myself.
I also happen to drive a well modified Volkswagen GTI, and though I have entertained the thought of modeling my ride in AD^H^Hmy company's software, I prefer the 'do it and see if it works' approach. There is a lot of community out there, especially on the internet, and they can help you find what works, organize gatherings, and generally make the process more fun. Of course, if you want a sub-ten second car, and you have a large checkbook, and you want to learn a complex software system, then....
But what the hell do I know... I am in IT. Oops. My bad.
"Linux is a variant on the 30-year-old open source Unix operating system, which is generally held to be almost indestructible and by far the most reliable core for computer systems for whom crashing is not an option."
Unix is open source? This comment seems to give Open Source Software quite a history.
J
I haven't had the opportunity to bail out of work to catch it yet, but I am curious as to how well they set themselves up for sequels. Before the X-Men movie even came out, it was known that there would be a couple more flicks. Have they done the same with the real Marvel flagship character? I would hope so. Marvel (thanks to Joe Quesada) has been very successful in the past year, and I can't see them not capitalizing on the Spidey franchise.
For that matter, has anyone heard anything from Raimi or any of the cast regarding sequels?
Ok, what am I doing asking about the next movies?! I haven't even seen this one!
J - Snoogans!
This topic is of great interest to me, as I am currently examining how I can put together a system that meets certain needs, yet is small and portable. I typically prefer building my own systems and want to stay in the PC environment (no Macs here!). There does not seem to be a lot of offerings like the Shuttle sv24.
The Sound Blaster Extigy seems to be a step in this direction, allowing you to connect your soundcard in via USB. I have been hoping for a movement in that direction.
Do you think other companies are going to follow suit and make more external components? We have seen a minor explosion in usb and firewire hard disks. But moving components outside the case might not be the best evolutionary step.
I play a strat through a Mesa Dual-Rectifier Trem-o-verb, and get a pretty sweet tube tone. That's great and all, but what a b!tch to lug around. I recently picked up a Digitech GNX2 effects processor, and I can plug straight into that and patch that into the PA, and don't even need an amp. It has a bunch of amp models built in, as well as several effects. To be honest, the thing is damn complicated, and doesn't work well with the Mesa for sure. It is very convenient for band practices. Throw my new Samson AF-1 wireless into the mix, and I am fully digital and wireless... how do you like that? All for about $750-800, too.
Of course, those toys can't compete with the great tone I get out of that Rectifier. Even with an American Standard Strat.
As far as my take on ethernet on the guitar, I bet musicians will take advantage of either this, or something a lot like it. There are people who would like to cut down on the amount of gear you have to haul to a gig.
J
"A European convention to be signed on Friday aims to unite countries in the fight against computer criminals, who have moved on from ``innocent'' hacking to fraud, embezzlement and life-threatening felonies."
This little quote from the article on yahoo illustrates another misconception... that "innocent" hackers are the one moving into fraud etc. Innocent hackers are still innocent hackers. Criminals that perpetrate these crimes intended to be criminals from the outset. The people (jerks) committing these so-called life-threatening felonies most likely never were innocent, or even hackers.
We should stand up and say something to our legislators, but realistically nothing will be done. I have tried to contact my "congresswoman" on several occasions to no avail. The only thing most politicians seem to care about are their careers. Sorry to the decent politicos for the generalization.
J