Seriously, given how easy it is to get to the car's ECM, the lack of security, availability of information, and the technology, it is not surprising. A half-decent coder could probably put together the software that runs adequately on a raspberry pi, let alone a laptop -- and it would be much less conspicuous.
A cheap and quick solution to keep the dust out would be to use a pantyhose on the keyboard -- does not reduce usability much and keeps most of the dust / sand particles out.
--
Not all that funny.
Actually, it does constitute willful interference if you are trying to tune a radio while transmitting a continuous carrier signal.
There are a number of good reasons why public agencies hesitate to upgrade. First, there are so many of them (agencies and radio systems) around. Yes, the systems are antiquated, and easy to listen or interject into, but given the many millions that are deployed out there, you will incur a huge cost for replacing the existing system. This is complicated by the fact that you often have to use a different frequency band altogether, which could require the use of new base stations, cabling, antennas, etc. If the frequencies are too far apart, you also have to replan your network to account for the gains from technology (channel planning, capacity considerations, network planning, other services you may want to add, etc.) and the losses from possibly moving to a higher frequency.
Second, you cannot compromise public safety during the transition period. This not only applies to the agency that is doing the upgrading, but also to all the others who rely on that agency to provide services. Finally, you have to contend with the chaos during the transition period, when you either have two, probably incompatible, systems in operation. There is also the problem of finding available spectrum and relocating existing users from that band you want to move into (This happened when cellular services were introduced in the US in early 90's and the existing terrestrial microwave links had to be relocated from the 2GHz band to the 6 GHz band).
Yes, many public systems live in the stone age, but it is not because they like living there. There are often very few paths available to modernize cleanly and efficiently without spending a lot of time and money and not risking public safety.
I use XP, Windows 7, and linux daily. I have to say that Windows 7 offers better usability than the other two. Having skipped Vista entirely, I won't miss it, but am thankful for the criticism it took to make Windows 7 better.
It has been mentioned before, but my vote goes to learning spoken Mandarin Chinese. I am fluent in four languages and speak a smattering of couple of others, but in my work as engineer and sometimes part of vendor qualifications/vendor audit teams/ a little Chinese goes a long way.
I learned Chinese and Spanish while commuting to work (45 min each way) with Pimsleur. You learn by listening and repeating phrases and it does not require you to be sitting at a computer.
I am surprised that CCleaner has not been mentioned so far, to clean the crap off your computer. It even removes all the trialware that the PCs typically come with - including Norton.
Bluetooth is finding a niche in many applications in the autotive industry. Imagine... You get into the car, the Bluetooth phone is recognized by the sound system, and you use the car's speakers for your handsfree operation.
Similar scenario, your car recognizes the phone you carry and automacically adjusts the seats, mirrors, temperature, favorite radio stations, etc.,... all without doing anything except getting in.
As many have pointed out, Bob Frankston's understanding of the purpose of Bluetooth's is flawed, and so is his analysis.
Nokia is a big supporter of Linux, and have shown commitment. Their wireless PCMCIA cards (almost impossible to find, and overpriced) come with linux drivers and source code that was developed in-house.
According to the Center for Media Education, American kids watch, on average, 28 hours of TV per week.
I cannot quote the source, but the number is only slightly less (20-24 hours) for adults who watch TV.
In my prior employments, the lab notebooks were considered the property of the company. However, no one ever asked me to return them when I left.
The problem of consolidating the team's lab notebooks into actual documentation remains. The collection of lab notebooks might be useful to a historian, but is no substitute for formalized documentation.
Any idea when the MediaTerminal will be available in the US? I recall that Nokia's MediaTerminal also won the "Best of Category" in Video in 2001.
The feature list for Moxi sounds pretty similar to that of the MediaTerminal. The MediaTerminal is based on linux on a Celeron according to the technical specs here.
Slashdot Mirror
Seriously, given how easy it is to get to the car's ECM, the lack of security, availability of information, and the technology, it is not surprising. A half-decent coder could probably put together the software that runs adequately on a raspberry pi, let alone a laptop -- and it would be much less conspicuous.
"The system almost doubles the number of flights that can be tracked and displayed to controllers."
Can the air traffic controllers sort them out on the display in real time?
A cheap and quick solution to keep the dust out would be to use a pantyhose on the keyboard -- does not reduce usability much and keeps most of the dust / sand particles out. --
Not all that funny. Actually, it does constitute willful interference if you are trying to tune a radio while transmitting a continuous carrier signal.
There are a number of good reasons why public agencies hesitate to upgrade. First, there are so many of them (agencies and radio systems) around. Yes, the systems are antiquated, and easy to listen or interject into, but given the many millions that are deployed out there, you will incur a huge cost for replacing the existing system. This is complicated by the fact that you often have to use a different frequency band altogether, which could require the use of new base stations, cabling, antennas, etc. If the frequencies are too far apart, you also have to replan your network to account for the gains from technology (channel planning, capacity considerations, network planning, other services you may want to add, etc.) and the losses from possibly moving to a higher frequency.
Second, you cannot compromise public safety during the transition period. This not only applies to the agency that is doing the upgrading, but also to all the others who rely on that agency to provide services. Finally, you have to contend with the chaos during the transition period, when you either have two, probably incompatible, systems in operation. There is also the problem of finding available spectrum and relocating existing users from that band you want to move into (This happened when cellular services were introduced in the US in early 90's and the existing terrestrial microwave links had to be relocated from the 2GHz band to the 6 GHz band).
Yes, many public systems live in the stone age, but it is not because they like living there. There are often very few paths available to modernize cleanly and efficiently without spending a lot of time and money and not risking public safety.
I use XP, Windows 7, and linux daily. I have to say that Windows 7 offers better usability than the other two. Having skipped Vista entirely, I won't miss it, but am thankful for the criticism it took to make Windows 7 better.
It has been mentioned before, but my vote goes to learning spoken Mandarin Chinese. I am fluent in four languages and speak a smattering of couple of others, but in my work as engineer and sometimes part of vendor qualifications/vendor audit teams/ a little Chinese goes a long way.
I learned Chinese and Spanish while commuting to work (45 min each way) with Pimsleur. You learn by listening and repeating phrases and it does not require you to be sitting at a computer.
xnok
I am surprised that CCleaner has not been mentioned so far, to clean the crap off your computer. It even removes all the trialware that the PCs typically come with - including Norton.
There is a far more interesting and relevant article on the New Order site Google: A Hacker's Best Friend. xnok
Similar scenario, your car recognizes the phone you carry and automacically adjusts the seats, mirrors, temperature, favorite radio stations, etc., ... all without doing anything except getting in.
As many have pointed out, Bob Frankston's understanding of the purpose of Bluetooth's is flawed, and so is his analysis.
Nokia is a big supporter of Linux, and have shown commitment. Their wireless PCMCIA cards (almost impossible to find, and overpriced) come with linux drivers and source code that was developed in-house.
first?
first first post...
According to the Center for Media Education, American kids watch, on average, 28 hours of TV per week.
I cannot quote the source, but the number is only slightly less (20-24 hours) for adults who watch TV.
The problem of consolidating the team's lab notebooks into actual documentation remains. The collection of lab notebooks might be useful to a historian, but is no substitute for formalized documentation.
Any idea when the MediaTerminal will be available in the US? I recall that Nokia's MediaTerminal also won the "Best of Category" in Video in 2001. The feature list for Moxi sounds pretty similar to that of the MediaTerminal. The MediaTerminal is based on linux on a Celeron according to the technical specs here.