There was also a guy (nivenhbro) in the Ars Technica forums who conducted pretty crazy nuclear experiments at home. Apparently, he ended up irradiating himself. =/ People in the forum were split between giving him cautious engineering advice and flat out telling him to stop immediately. Finally, one guy apparently called the FBI on him.
Huge drama etc. This is the original thread (with gems like "I got that shit wrong. I am breeding plutonium 239. I got it messed up." and "I am laying off the x-rays for a while. I figured my latest dose to be about 50rem, so I am going to play it safe for a bit."), and this is a followup thread.
Hey, did you pass around an TAL recommendation before? That is, months ago? Someone on Slashdot did, and since then it's pretty much become to be my favorite podcast (and despite the name, it's easy to relate to as a European). Just wanted to say thank you to whoever it was.;)
No licensing fees for using the spectrum, I assume. Although, looking it up Wikipedia, I'm not sure. Apparently the devices are supposed to contact a central (FCC) server to inquire which channels are not reserved for TV. Not sure whether the FCC is charging anything or whether personal operation is free.
You should get a hold of Louis Theroux: Miami Mega Jail. Don't let the title put you off, Theroux (a Brit) often covers "tacky" topics, but does so in a very serious and insightful way. It's gonzo journalism.
Script started on Sat Apr 28 11:24:09 2001 vegard@gyversalen:~$/sbin/ifconfig tun0 tun0 Link encap:Point-to-Point Protocol
inet addr:10.0.3.2 P-t-P:10.0.3.1 Mask:255.255.255.255
UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST MTU:150 Metric:1
RX packets:1 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:2 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0
RX bytes:88 (88.0 b) TX bytes:168 (168.0 b)
vegard@gyversalen:~$ ping -i 900 10.0.3.1 PING 10.0.3.1 (10.0.3.1): 56 data bytes 64 bytes from 10.0.3.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=255 time=6165731.1 ms 64 bytes from 10.0.3.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=255 time=3211900.8 ms 64 bytes from 10.0.3.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=255 time=5124922.8 ms 64 bytes from 10.0.3.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=6388671.9 ms
The free market is a vague metaphor. Corporations and other financial interests are more concrete, and their influence on lawmaking is very real. Although I am not sure that their influence is to blame for a high incarceration rate.
It's hardly outrageous, though: Obviously the private prison system has a direct interest in it. Pharma doesn't directly profit from incarceration, but it does have an interest in harsh penalties on trading drugs that they don't control. Etc.
But clearly, there is a multitude of forces at work here. A culture of fear that encourages harsh sentences and incarceration over rehabilitation. A crazy divide between rich and poor and a bleak economic outlook. Poor education. Obviously some people will blame the free market (whatever they think that is) for many of these things, while others will do the opposite and demand an even free-er free market (whatever they think that is).
Kind of makes you wonder why people put up with this shit. If you think RMS' rhetoric is overblown, this could make you reconsider.
Re:Joe Sixpack isn't even using his 1080p right
on
Beyond HDTV
·
· Score: 1
Which CRT was that? You can use extremely high resolutions with most CRTs, but the effective maximum resolution/pixel density is limited by the display's dot pitch. You can run a higher resolution, but you're getting a smushed up picture, whether you see it or not. I'm not sure that the typical CRTs had a much higher pixel density than today's LCDs (e.g. 94 ppi for a Dell U2410); though I'd welcome being corrected if I'm wrong. I guess it might have been easier or cheaper to get specialty/high-end models with a high pixel density.
If you truly believe AGW exists, then being against using the known technology to reduce what you think is causing that AGW [is] disingenuous.
Hardly. You're silently asserting that nuclear power is the only known or realistically achievable technology to "solve" AGW. That is a matter of debate. Even assuming, for the moment, that you're right, it's still hardly disingenuous behavior, merely conflicted. If you think using nuclear power has dire consequences AND you think further emissions will have dire consequences AND nuclear power is the only way to reduce emssions, you're in a dilemma.
There's no big table of data somewhere that connects your MAC address to specific person.
I'm sure that's true for most MAC addresses, but I have to wonder if it isn't for a large minority. It's technically easy enough to do it for hardware supplied by the network provider (some routers, cell phones). And I'd assume in many cases companies like Appie also would have an easy time making the connection between a unique serial no and the devices MAC, if a piece of hardware is registered with them either explicitly or e.g. through an update application which sends out the devices serial no.
Of course, easiest of all would be to register the relationship between customer and MAC when they buy the device. We're not there yet for MAC addresses for general NICs, but we're getting there -- or depending on where you live, we are already there -- for mobile phone networking hardware, ie. the IMEI/IMSI being tied to the (initial) customer.
The SFW version is not half as funny, though. Due to the lack of creative expletives ("shitcock"), but even more so since the original is just graphically very good.
Mandatory data retention is a current issue in Europe, too. There's a EU directive that requires member countries to implement data retention laws. It's one the biggest public issues in German telecommunication politics (way bigger than net neutrality, for example) and one of the biggest public issues in the overall field of privacy.
Giving people tools that make it easier to keep private things from being seen by prospective employers, parents, the world at large is a good thing. However, the centralized nature still means that Google gets to see everything -- as well as anybody else Google lets in on it.
To be more accurate, that blurb says that your account balance is not covered by the AGDL deposit insurance, which insures your deposits against an insolvency of the holding institution. If my real bank went bust today, I'd get the money on my account back from a central insurer. Doesn't work the same way for PayPal.
I've had both an iPod (mini) and other players. My current Sony's sound quality is superior (that's why I bought it), but the clickwheel iPod are almost perfect in terms of usability.
Getting music on them isn't all that difficult since they're well supported by many media players. I never used iTunes. FWIW, I think newbies are fairly happy with iTunes.
Many players these days don't have removable batteries; almost none of the nice ones do. Players that take AAA batteries suffer from poor battery runtime, so you better have replacement batteries with you. On the other hand, most players with built-in, non-replaceable batteries run a LONG time these days: 20, 30, 40 hours at a time. That's long enough for a fairly long vacation away from a USB port. FWIW, I replaced the built-in battery in my iPod mini, it's about a 10 minute job (but I imagine it's more difficult for the current iPods).
All the important controls (play/pause, forward/back, volume) are within easy reach on an iPod. The menu interface isn't much different from other players. The iPods also come with a lot of little niceties. For instance, my current Sony doesn't pause playing when I yank the headphone cord. It also doesn't have a timer for shutdown (wtf). That's stuff I didn't even think to check because I figured everyone could do it.
Okay, now the big one: the clickwheel fucking ROCKS. Holding a button to scroll faster is TERRIBLE. Isn't that blindingly obvious? Ever had to move the mouse cursor using a keyboard? The wheel is, basically, an analogue control. It's hugely superior for both controlling volume and skipping to a position in a DJ set or audiobook. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to skip to the middle of a one hour lecture with a button-based player.
If I see insulting replies by a store/developer in a comments section, that's pretty revealing in itself: I'm probably not going to do business with them. This dev actually sounds as if he wants to work with customers to work out any incompatibilities and problems, to the point of refunding people without being asked to do so. In fact, that's one of the things Amazon doesn't easily let him do.
I agree that the app should test for device compatibility and offer a way out (as a nerd, I'd prefer a way to force start the app despite the incompatibility). However, that doesn't make his argument less compelling.
Back when I still used Windows, Acrobat Reader was an absurdly large app and by far the slowest PDF reader I knew over all platforms. It always struck me as absurd that Apple and Linux users had built-in, capable, lightweight PDF viewers while most Windows users used that bloated POS. Maybe acroread is better these days, but I kind of doubt it.
That sounds horrible. Pedestrian over-/underpasses are incredibly obnoxious. They take a long time and effort to navigate, particularly for cyclists (though I'm not sure why they wouldn't just use the road), and even more so for elderly or disabled people. Underpasses are often dark and occasionally serve as outdoor toilets. They're also very expensive. For extremely busy roads, an over-/underpass can be a useful addition to a regular crossing. In most cases, it would just make me jaywalk -- which, admittedly, doesn't take much.
On-demand pedestrian traffic lights can work for fast roads with a low number of pedestrians. I don't think zebra crossings at roundabouts are scary, either, but then I don't think cars need to approach a roundabout at 50, much less 70 kph. If it were up to me, 30 kph would be the general speed limit within cities, anyway.
Slashdot Mirror
There was also a guy (nivenhbro) in the Ars Technica forums who conducted pretty crazy nuclear experiments at home. Apparently, he ended up irradiating himself. =/ People in the forum were split between giving him cautious engineering advice and flat out telling him to stop immediately. Finally, one guy apparently called the FBI on him.
Huge drama etc. This is the original thread (with gems like "I got that shit wrong. I am breeding plutonium 239. I got it messed up." and "I am laying off the x-rays for a while. I figured my latest dose to be about 50rem, so I am going to play it safe for a bit."), and this is a followup thread.
Hey, did you pass around an TAL recommendation before? That is, months ago? Someone on Slashdot did, and since then it's pretty much become to be my favorite podcast (and despite the name, it's easy to relate to as a European). Just wanted to say thank you to whoever it was. ;)
No licensing fees for using the spectrum, I assume. Although, looking it up Wikipedia, I'm not sure. Apparently the devices are supposed to contact a central (FCC) server to inquire which channels are not reserved for TV. Not sure whether the FCC is charging anything or whether personal operation is free.
You should get a hold of Louis Theroux: Miami Mega Jail. Don't let the title put you off, Theroux (a Brit) often covers "tacky" topics, but does so in a very serious and insightful way. It's gonzo journalism.
Script started on Sat Apr 28 11:24:09 2001 /sbin/ifconfig tun0
vegard@gyversalen:~$
tun0 Link encap:Point-to-Point Protocol
inet addr:10.0.3.2 P-t-P:10.0.3.1 Mask:255.255.255.255
UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST MTU:150 Metric:1
RX packets:1 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:2 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0
RX bytes:88 (88.0 b) TX bytes:168 (168.0 b)
vegard@gyversalen:~$ ping -i 900 10.0.3.1
PING 10.0.3.1 (10.0.3.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 10.0.3.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=255 time=6165731.1 ms
64 bytes from 10.0.3.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=255 time=3211900.8 ms
64 bytes from 10.0.3.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=255 time=5124922.8 ms
64 bytes from 10.0.3.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=6388671.9 ms
--- 10.0.3.1 ping statistics ---
9 packets transmitted, 4 packets received, 55% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 3211900.8/5222806.6/6388671.9 ms
vegard@gyversalen:~$ exit
Script done on Sat Apr 28 14:14:28 2001
Awesome.
The free market is a vague metaphor. Corporations and other financial interests are more concrete, and their influence on lawmaking is very real. Although I am not sure that their influence is to blame for a high incarceration rate.
It's hardly outrageous, though: Obviously the private prison system has a direct interest in it. Pharma doesn't directly profit from incarceration, but it does have an interest in harsh penalties on trading drugs that they don't control. Etc.
But clearly, there is a multitude of forces at work here. A culture of fear that encourages harsh sentences and incarceration over rehabilitation. A crazy divide between rich and poor and a bleak economic outlook. Poor education. Obviously some people will blame the free market (whatever they think that is) for many of these things, while others will do the opposite and demand an even free-er free market (whatever they think that is).
Kind of makes you wonder why people put up with this shit. If you think RMS' rhetoric is overblown, this could make you reconsider.
Which CRT was that? You can use extremely high resolutions with most CRTs, but the effective maximum resolution/pixel density is limited by the display's dot pitch. You can run a higher resolution, but you're getting a smushed up picture, whether you see it or not. I'm not sure that the typical CRTs had a much higher pixel density than today's LCDs (e.g. 94 ppi for a Dell U2410); though I'd welcome being corrected if I'm wrong. I guess it might have been easier or cheaper to get specialty/high-end models with a high pixel density.
If you truly believe AGW exists, then being against using the known technology to reduce what you think is causing that AGW [is] disingenuous.
Hardly. You're silently asserting that nuclear power is the only known or realistically achievable technology to "solve" AGW. That is a matter of debate. Even assuming, for the moment, that you're right, it's still hardly disingenuous behavior, merely conflicted. If you think using nuclear power has dire consequences AND you think further emissions will have dire consequences AND nuclear power is the only way to reduce emssions, you're in a dilemma.
Pretty much the same could be said for computer games in general.
Though it's gotten a lot better the past years due to bottom-up innovation.
I didn't have to check, I memorized all 5.5E17 valid 8.3 filenames.
Though apparently character values 0x80 to 0xFF were also valid; I didn't memorize those because, really, who uses them?
Cue a gazillion posts by depressed old farts noticing that they are, in fact, old farts.
Hey, I know they're just VB developers, but it's still not cool to talk about them as if they're objects that you can just scrap.
There's no big table of data somewhere that connects your MAC address to specific person.
I'm sure that's true for most MAC addresses, but I have to wonder if it isn't for a large minority. It's technically easy enough to do it for hardware supplied by the network provider (some routers, cell phones). And I'd assume in many cases companies like Appie also would have an easy time making the connection between a unique serial no and the devices MAC, if a piece of hardware is registered with them either explicitly or e.g. through an update application which sends out the devices serial no.
Of course, easiest of all would be to register the relationship between customer and MAC when they buy the device. We're not there yet for MAC addresses for general NICs, but we're getting there -- or depending on where you live, we are already there -- for mobile phone networking hardware, ie. the IMEI/IMSI being tied to the (initial) customer.
The SFW version is not half as funny, though. Due to the lack of creative expletives ("shitcock"), but even more so since the original is just graphically very good.
Doesn't this description basically fit RedHat?
Unfortunately, lack of being recorded is not positive proof of one's existence.
The video's page at the Linux Foundation, also linked to prominently in the YouTube description: http://video.linux.com/video/2127
The author is "MicrosoftGermany". It's conceivable that it's a fake, but I doubt it.
Mandatory data retention is a current issue in Europe, too. There's a EU directive that requires member countries to implement data retention laws. It's one the biggest public issues in German telecommunication politics (way bigger than net neutrality, for example) and one of the biggest public issues in the overall field of privacy.
More info if anybody is interested: http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/content/view/46/42/lang,en/
And an article from the Irish Times titled "German evidence shows no justification for data retention": http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2011/0617/1224299068085.html
Giving people tools that make it easier to keep private things from being seen by prospective employers, parents, the world at large is a good thing. However, the centralized nature still means that Google gets to see everything -- as well as anybody else Google lets in on it.
To be more accurate, that blurb says that your account balance is not covered by the AGDL deposit insurance, which insures your deposits against an insolvency of the holding institution. If my real bank went bust today, I'd get the money on my account back from a central insurer. Doesn't work the same way for PayPal.
I've had both an iPod (mini) and other players. My current Sony's sound quality is superior (that's why I bought it), but the clickwheel iPod are almost perfect in terms of usability.
Getting music on them isn't all that difficult since they're well supported by many media players. I never used iTunes. FWIW, I think newbies are fairly happy with iTunes.
Many players these days don't have removable batteries; almost none of the nice ones do. Players that take AAA batteries suffer from poor battery runtime, so you better have replacement batteries with you. On the other hand, most players with built-in, non-replaceable batteries run a LONG time these days: 20, 30, 40 hours at a time. That's long enough for a fairly long vacation away from a USB port. FWIW, I replaced the built-in battery in my iPod mini, it's about a 10 minute job (but I imagine it's more difficult for the current iPods).
All the important controls (play/pause, forward/back, volume) are within easy reach on an iPod. The menu interface isn't much different from other players. The iPods also come with a lot of little niceties. For instance, my current Sony doesn't pause playing when I yank the headphone cord. It also doesn't have a timer for shutdown (wtf). That's stuff I didn't even think to check because I figured everyone could do it.
Okay, now the big one: the clickwheel fucking ROCKS. Holding a button to scroll faster is TERRIBLE. Isn't that blindingly obvious? Ever had to move the mouse cursor using a keyboard? The wheel is, basically, an analogue control. It's hugely superior for both controlling volume and skipping to a position in a DJ set or audiobook. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to skip to the middle of a one hour lecture with a button-based player.
If I see insulting replies by a store/developer in a comments section, that's pretty revealing in itself: I'm probably not going to do business with them. This dev actually sounds as if he wants to work with customers to work out any incompatibilities and problems, to the point of refunding people without being asked to do so. In fact, that's one of the things Amazon doesn't easily let him do.
I agree that the app should test for device compatibility and offer a way out (as a nerd, I'd prefer a way to force start the app despite the incompatibility). However, that doesn't make his argument less compelling.
Back when I still used Windows, Acrobat Reader was an absurdly large app and by far the slowest PDF reader I knew over all platforms. It always struck me as absurd that Apple and Linux users had built-in, capable, lightweight PDF viewers while most Windows users used that bloated POS. Maybe acroread is better these days, but I kind of doubt it.
That sounds horrible. Pedestrian over-/underpasses are incredibly obnoxious. They take a long time and effort to navigate, particularly for cyclists (though I'm not sure why they wouldn't just use the road), and even more so for elderly or disabled people. Underpasses are often dark and occasionally serve as outdoor toilets. They're also very expensive. For extremely busy roads, an over-/underpass can be a useful addition to a regular crossing. In most cases, it would just make me jaywalk -- which, admittedly, doesn't take much.
On-demand pedestrian traffic lights can work for fast roads with a low number of pedestrians. I don't think zebra crossings at roundabouts are scary, either, but then I don't think cars need to approach a roundabout at 50, much less 70 kph. If it were up to me, 30 kph would be the general speed limit within cities, anyway.