The real issue was I had/have a hearing disorder that makes it very difficult for me to zero in on specific sounds and tune others out.
Is there a name for this disorder? I often feel that I might have a mild form of this disorder myself: while my hearing is actually very good in a quiet environment, I often have trouble listening to people in noisy rooms, to the extent that it is almost impossible for me to have a normal conversation in a crowded bar. So I'd be glad if you can point me to some information on this disorder. Did you receive any treatment? Did it work for you?
If you want to reply, you can do that either here on Slashdot, or email me: kxv1970 AT yahoo DOT com
Tanj! I feel like I've suddenly been teleported into a different universe... here's a proposal that would simultaneously support Open Source and hurt Microsoft, while pushing the idea of Open Standards... and the whole idea gets ripped apart by the Slashdot Crowd??? Am I on the wrong website? In a parallel universe? Or are Slashdot readers capable of Unbiased Thinking after all?
In any case, my tried-and-true simplistic worldview is shattered. And I haven't had my mid-afternoon coffee yet...
The ARMY also seems to fit the computer model using the same criteria. Does that make it a computer?
Absolutely! Say you want to factorize a 128-bit integer. This is a NP hard problem, so it's a real challenge! Say you have an army of a million soldiers. Here's how we solve the problem by massively parallel computing, as easy as pie: divide all possible prime factors into one million groups, one group for each soldier. That leaves about - uhm - 100 trillion numbers per soldier. Say a soldier can do one factorization per minute (hey, there must be some country with an intelligent army). Then we can expect to have the problem solved in - uhm - 200 million years??? Oh well, never mind...
I'm sure there's SOME use for a computational ARMY! YESSIR!!!
Re:*THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP*
on
42-Volt Autos
·
· Score: 1
People should be required to take a hearing test, not just an eye test, for their driver's licence. Then this problem would quickly solve itself... as soon as all these people with 3000 watt stereo systems in their cars are deaf!
Wouldn't this also increase the risk of accidents at gas stations? 42 Volts are more likely to cause a violent stray spark than 12 Volts... and what if little Timmy decides to plug the car refrigerator into the 110V outlet just at the time a heavy load of gasoline fumes comes wafting in through the window?
How did the older Replay units manage to automatically skip commercials? Off the top of my head, I can think only of two solutions: 1) the broadcaster identifies the beginning and end of commercials with a hidden signal; or 2) the unit is preprogrammed with start and end times of commercial breaks.
Regarding case 1, why would the broadcaster do that? Since they are interested in everyone watching the commercials, they would hurt themselves by broadcasting such a signal.
In case 2, the broadcaster could simply circumvent the automatic skipping mechanism by semi-randomly shifting the commercial times, or by varying the length of commercial breaks.
Probably it's case 3, namely the one I didn't think of. Is anyone in the know?
notice it's hotter than anywhere on, around, or inside the sun
I would assume that the magnetic fields that accompany solar storms are much stronger than earth's magnetic field. Hence ions trapped in the solar fields would attain temperatures much hotter than 14 million Kelvin. Therefore your statement can't be quite true.
Is it an error with the slashdot posting system or is it an error by the writer.
IIRC I posted the story with "Graphics" as the topic. However, "AMD" is the first topic in the list so I strongly suspect an oversight by the editor (not to be blasphemous or anything...)
If I drink just a single cup of coffee (or a can of Mountain Dew, or...) after 5pm, I will probably stay up until sunrise (or roll around in bed, trying unsuccessfully to fall asleep). My girlfriend, on the other hand, usually falls asleep before her head hits the pillow, right after downing an extra large, extra strong cup of coffee.
Those curved lines you are experiencing are not an artifact of your lens. They are the inevitable result of living in a 3-D world. They occur because you are mapping straight 3-D lines onto a curved picture plane.
Your statement is certainly true for ultra-wide angle lenses (below 24mm focal length, 35mm equivalent). A moderate wide-angle lens (24-35mm, 35mm equivalent) of good quality should not show any significant distortions, according to this article. I am actually more interested in the range above 35mm, so maybe the term "wide angle" is not entirely correct...
Key thing is, buy cameras according to the optical reputation of the brand, not the electronics/digital reputation. 99% of the time things will work out better that way.
Not always true. Reputable companies sometimes throw cheap stuff at you, too. The camera in question here is a Pentax Optio S, and Pentax certainly has a good reputation in optics (maybe not as good as Nikon, but certainly good enough). The problem with the Optio S is its "revolutionary sliding lens design", which makes the camera as thin as a deck of cards. However, as in world politics, revolutions often introduce a whole new set of problems...
VIPS looks very interesting, but I couldn't find any tools for applying distortions to a picture, except for rather trivial ones such as scaling and rotating. Am I missing something? Are the convolution tools more powerful than I think they are?
Distortion for wide angle shots always occurs for any wide angle shot
True. However, my film SLR has no noticeable distortion at 35mm. With my pocket digital, the issue is clearly the inferior lens, and not the fundamental limitations you're mentioning.
You'll probably want a better lens anyway for doing any sort of quality photography.
I'm well aware that it's impossible to get high-quality pictures from an ultra-compact camera. I chose this particular camera, however, because it's easy to carry around in a shirt pocket. When an unexpected opportunity for a good shot arises, it will be there, while my film SLR will be lying at home.
What I'm looking for is therefore a compromise: Acceptable image quality with a small form factor. And I think an ultra-compact digital combined with some software-based distortion removal might just do the job. Well, thanks for all the suggestions so far!
For the curious: The camera I'm talking about is a Pentax Optio S.
if you show up as "Out of Area" or "Unknown Caller", there is not possibly anything that we have to talk about
Unfortunately it doesn't work that well for people with friends and/or relatives in foreign countries. When I get a call from Europe, it just shows up as "unknown caller" and I have no idea whether it's a friend or a telemarketer. I wish they would at least provide the country of origin...
Distance and time standards are already defined in this way, from the speed of light and the frequency of a two-state cesium transition in the microwave region.
Hence we also have a standard for energy: Energy is planck's constant times frequency, therefore the fundamental unit of energy is planck's constant divided by the unit of time. Furthermore, energy is mass times speed of light squared, hence we can define the fundamental unit of mass as the unit of energy divided by c squared. To summarize: m = h / ( t c^2 ).
It's amazing how Frank Herbert managed to create such a strange and yet coherent world. The first book is one of my all-time favorites. The sequels are a hard read, but still very interesting.
Arthur C. Clarke: Rendezvous with Rama
Must-read for all fans of hard Science Fiction. Clarke writes as if he was among the crew that encountered a giant, seemingly deserted, alien spaceship. His attention to scientific details, and his witty humor make this a fascinating read. The sequels (co-authored with Gentry Lee) are written in a different style, much more character-based, and some people seem not to like them very much (I personally think they're brilliant).
Robert A. Heinlein: Stranger in a Strange Land
The book's language is a bit outdated, but it's still a brilliant and oftentimes hilarious book. The story is about an earthling raised by martians, who is now returning to earth.
Douglas Adams: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Simply one of the most hilarious books ever written. Be prepared to ROTFLYAO while reading it.
Arthur C. Clarke: Childhood's End
Besides Rama my favorite Arthur C. Clarke book.
Larry Niven: Ringworld
I'm reading it right now, and I'm halfway through. Niven writes like a cross between Arthur C. Clarke and Douglas Adams. Very entertaining read.
Prize question: Which book is my signature taken from?
I was surfing the web using my new Stereo 3D Video System, and one of those cursed pop-ups smashed right into my face and injured my eyeball! If that's not traumatic, I don't know what is! This ain't no f***ing joke, man!
How long [b]efore we geek geeks trying to reverse engineer this jacket to help them attract members of the opposite sex ?
Easy. Just construct a jacket that builds up a charge of the opposite sign as the "No-Contact Jacket." The result is instant attraction of female individuals wearing this type of jacket (okay, okay, strictly speaking it's a retarded interaction, but for females moving significantly slower than the speed of light we can treat it as instantaneous.) Don't ask me what's going to happen upon contact, though. Instant vaporization in a flash of energy? Probably it's more mundane, in that both parties need to buy a new jacket. But you can be sure to have a truly electrifying experience...
Somehow, traditional culture has perverted this ideology with the deification of the Buddha
Very true. People tend to transform religious ideas into worshipping cults, or into institutions that claim to have sole authority on moral issues. But you can nevertheless search for the true value of a religion on your own, or with like-minded people. This of course applies to all religions, not just to Buddhism.
I remember hearing about a Zen koan, which basically said: "If you meet Buddha on the way, kill him." I guess it means that you cannot succeed if you just follow in somebody's footsteps, but only if you find the way yourself.
I'm sorry to be the one to bring this up, but if your wife is suggesting you buy a vibrator, I think you might have a, ahem, bigger problem than slacking off at work.
You've probably never been married to the same person for half of your life.
If any work now has solely been release to the public in an encrypted form, then if anyone has copied/clipped/fair-use used the item, then the corporation can always go after the individual; therefore, copyright is completely irrelavent since encryption is enforced forever.
Not really. If I could make a bit-for-bit copy of a DVD and sell it, I would have violated the copyright, but not the decryption ban. Therefore copyright is still relevant. Or am I missing something? Besides, not all media can conveniently be distributed in an encrypted format, e.g. newspapers.
On a different note, doesn't my DVD player necessarily decrypt the data when it displays the picture on the screen? Are all DVD players therefore illegal? Or am I missing something else, too?
Slashdot Mirror
Is there a name for this disorder? I often feel that I might have a mild form of this disorder myself: while my hearing is actually very good in a quiet environment, I often have trouble listening to people in noisy rooms, to the extent that it is almost impossible for me to have a normal conversation in a crowded bar. So I'd be glad if you can point me to some information on this disorder. Did you receive any treatment? Did it work for you?
If you want to reply, you can do that either here on Slashdot, or email me: kxv1970 AT yahoo DOT com
TIA
Kavau
In any case, my tried-and-true simplistic worldview is shattered. And I haven't had my mid-afternoon coffee yet...
Absolutely! Say you want to factorize a 128-bit integer. This is a NP hard problem, so it's a real challenge! Say you have an army of a million soldiers. Here's how we solve the problem by massively parallel computing, as easy as pie: divide all possible prime factors into one million groups, one group for each soldier. That leaves about - uhm - 100 trillion numbers per soldier. Say a soldier can do one factorization per minute (hey, there must be some country with an intelligent army). Then we can expect to have the problem solved in - uhm - 200 million years??? Oh well, never mind...
I'm sure there's SOME use for a computational ARMY! YESSIR!!!
People should be required to take a hearing test, not just an eye test, for their driver's licence. Then this problem would quickly solve itself... as soon as all these people with 3000 watt stereo systems in their cars are deaf!
Wouldn't this also increase the risk of accidents at gas stations? 42 Volts are more likely to cause a violent stray spark than 12 Volts... and what if little Timmy decides to plug the car refrigerator into the 110V outlet just at the time a heavy load of gasoline fumes comes wafting in through the window?
There are always people who are going to complain. The question is, would they complain less if a nuclear power plant was built in their backyard?
Regarding case 1, why would the broadcaster do that? Since they are interested in everyone watching the commercials, they would hurt themselves by broadcasting such a signal.
In case 2, the broadcaster could simply circumvent the automatic skipping mechanism by semi-randomly shifting the commercial times, or by varying the length of commercial breaks.
Probably it's case 3, namely the one I didn't think of. Is anyone in the know?
I would assume that the magnetic fields that accompany solar storms are much stronger than earth's magnetic field. Hence ions trapped in the solar fields would attain temperatures much hotter than 14 million Kelvin. Therefore your statement can't be quite true.
Ah, I just love to nitpick!
IIRC I posted the story with "Graphics" as the topic. However, "AMD" is the first topic in the list so I strongly suspect an oversight by the editor (not to be blasphemous or anything...)
Are some people naturally immune to caffeine?
Your statement is certainly true for ultra-wide angle lenses (below 24mm focal length, 35mm equivalent). A moderate wide-angle lens (24-35mm, 35mm equivalent) of good quality should not show any significant distortions, according to this article. I am actually more interested in the range above 35mm, so maybe the term "wide angle" is not entirely correct...
Not always true. Reputable companies sometimes throw cheap stuff at you, too. The camera in question here is a Pentax Optio S, and Pentax certainly has a good reputation in optics (maybe not as good as Nikon, but certainly good enough). The problem with the Optio S is its "revolutionary sliding lens design", which makes the camera as thin as a deck of cards. However, as in world politics, revolutions often introduce a whole new set of problems...
VIPS looks very interesting, but I couldn't find any tools for applying distortions to a picture, except for rather trivial ones such as scaling and rotating. Am I missing something? Are the convolution tools more powerful than I think they are?
The advantage of a pocket-sized camera is that it fits in a shirt pocket. Nuff said.
True. However, my film SLR has no noticeable distortion at 35mm. With my pocket digital, the issue is clearly the inferior lens, and not the fundamental limitations you're mentioning.
You'll probably want a better lens anyway for doing any sort of quality photography.
I'm well aware that it's impossible to get high-quality pictures from an ultra-compact camera. I chose this particular camera, however, because it's easy to carry around in a shirt pocket. When an unexpected opportunity for a good shot arises, it will be there, while my film SLR will be lying at home.
What I'm looking for is therefore a compromise: Acceptable image quality with a small form factor. And I think an ultra-compact digital combined with some software-based distortion removal might just do the job. Well, thanks for all the suggestions so far!
For the curious: The camera I'm talking about is a Pentax Optio S.
Unfortunately it doesn't work that well for people with friends and/or relatives in foreign countries. When I get a call from Europe, it just shows up as "unknown caller" and I have no idea whether it's a friend or a telemarketer. I wish they would at least provide the country of origin...
Nope. Since you are desperate enough to try to meet people online, you probably don't have much use for Viagra.
That's right. Steve Ballmer even interrupted his ski vacation in switzerland for a last-minute attempt to "save" Munich from Open Source.
Hence we also have a standard for energy: Energy is planck's constant times frequency, therefore the fundamental unit of energy is planck's constant divided by the unit of time. Furthermore, energy is mass times speed of light squared, hence we can define the fundamental unit of mass as the unit of energy divided by c squared. To summarize: m = h / ( t c^2 ).
So what's all the fuss about?
It's amazing how Frank Herbert managed to create such a strange and yet coherent world. The first book is one of my all-time favorites. The sequels are a hard read, but still very interesting.
Arthur C. Clarke: Rendezvous with Rama
Must-read for all fans of hard Science Fiction. Clarke writes as if he was among the crew that encountered a giant, seemingly deserted, alien spaceship. His attention to scientific details, and his witty humor make this a fascinating read. The sequels (co-authored with Gentry Lee) are written in a different style, much more character-based, and some people seem not to like them very much (I personally think they're brilliant).
Robert A. Heinlein: Stranger in a Strange Land
The book's language is a bit outdated, but it's still a brilliant and oftentimes hilarious book. The story is about an earthling raised by martians, who is now returning to earth.
Douglas Adams: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Simply one of the most hilarious books ever written. Be prepared to ROTFLYAO while reading it.
Arthur C. Clarke: Childhood's End
Besides Rama my favorite Arthur C. Clarke book.
Larry Niven: Ringworld
I'm reading it right now, and I'm halfway through. Niven writes like a cross between Arthur C. Clarke and Douglas Adams. Very entertaining read.
Prize question: Which book is my signature taken from?
I was surfing the web using my new Stereo 3D Video System, and one of those cursed pop-ups smashed right into my face and injured my eyeball! If that's not traumatic, I don't know what is! This ain't no f***ing joke, man!
Easy. Just construct a jacket that builds up a charge of the opposite sign as the "No-Contact Jacket." The result is instant attraction of female individuals wearing this type of jacket (okay, okay, strictly speaking it's a retarded interaction, but for females moving significantly slower than the speed of light we can treat it as instantaneous.) Don't ask me what's going to happen upon contact, though. Instant vaporization in a flash of energy? Probably it's more mundane, in that both parties need to buy a new jacket. But you can be sure to have a truly electrifying experience...
Very true. People tend to transform religious ideas into worshipping cults, or into institutions that claim to have sole authority on moral issues. But you can nevertheless search for the true value of a religion on your own, or with like-minded people. This of course applies to all religions, not just to Buddhism.
I remember hearing about a Zen koan, which basically said: "If you meet Buddha on the way, kill him." I guess it means that you cannot succeed if you just follow in somebody's footsteps, but only if you find the way yourself.
You've probably never been married to the same person for half of your life.
Not really. If I could make a bit-for-bit copy of a DVD and sell it, I would have violated the copyright, but not the decryption ban. Therefore copyright is still relevant. Or am I missing something? Besides, not all media can conveniently be distributed in an encrypted format, e.g. newspapers.
On a different note, doesn't my DVD player necessarily decrypt the data when it displays the picture on the screen? Are all DVD players therefore illegal? Or am I missing something else, too?