Yes yes, this works. The other two posts are mildly correct as well. You can build your own cabinets, All you need are some latches, wood and the rack rails. which you can get at any musicians supply shop for alot cheaper than the prefab stuff AND, if you build in your own power supply you can also build fans into the sucker.
A year ago, I had the dubious pleasure of running the sound board for CBR. It was fun watching him set up the robots, talking to him about how he built them. Asking him how he programmed their actions etc ad nausuem.
Then, the music started. I put my earplugs in and tuned out the show.
Most people who showed up for the beginning of the show left after the first song. They were just there for the novelty of watching some dude dance around on stage with a bunch of robots playing backup for him.
The music? Well, all I can say is that it was as if Slayer, Metallica, The Ramones, Drop-kick Murphies and Strongbad got stuck in a blender together on high and were poured into funny shaped molds with about a gallon of Jell-O powder. The talkback was raucus, racist, sexist and obnoxious. Partly amusing, but then again, I was paid to be there.
After the show I asked the guy why he uses the robots. He told me that he used to be in a band with other people, and decided that he hated it. He couldn't control their actions, he couldn't control the way they played. Can we say control freak? Robots breed consistency. However, during the show one of the robots broke down.
On the geek end, he had 2 whole racks of computer equipment, micro-controllers, pneumatic pistons, a pneumatic compressor, keyboards, voice modulator built into a mask. Rather neat stuff all around.
Would I ever run sound for him again? Sure, if I had a paid monkey to run the board during the show. Would I love to help him in his shop? Yep, but he would never let anyone near his tools or his robots, they are like his little children.
Ahh well... rather entertaining. But I wouldn't pay money to see it.
First: Choice of plate terminators, angled is good! THG said it, they keep out dust, and in a home with kids this is a very good thing.
Second: finding cable runs is a very good thing. You can't go wrong if you choose where your cable is going very carefully. Just think, that 50' length of expensive Cat6 you just cut won't reach to the one place you need it, like the office upstairs where your Significant Other wants to place his/her computer because he/she likes the view. Also, stringing cable outside means that you could be letting in bugs (ants, termites, wasps and bees come to mind, all of which are detrimental to any home owner) and rodents (mice can easilly tear open a hole if they get a handhold).
Third: Neatness factor was a plus. Those nifty cable loops that they used to string the cable around the basement means no holes. Not boring holes in load-bearing joists and studs can save your bum if you are moving in say... a grand piano and your movers drop it right on that critical spot.
Mentioning some of the hardware used: great! I like seeing hardware mentioned. This means I can go out and look up honest-to-god reviews of it elsewhere if all the information isn't available on the first review I check. Also, pointing out the cable tester they used was important. When/if I decide to wire my own home I'll deffinitely look for a similar tool.
Cable versus DSL et al: another good point, find out who supplies what in your area and can you use it? Also, how much does it cost? Personally I would not have opted for DirecTV and just gone with cable all-around. But that was his choice.
I agree, overall this review could have used alot more meat in the "why'd we choose this bit of kit over that." department. However, as we all know the internet has an almost unlimited supply of information on any topic, just go look it up!
However, consulting with a contractor can be a very useful tool, even if you decide not to use the services of that contractor, they can provide you with useful information free of charge! If we all could do spot-on wiring of our houses the first time through we wouldn't need contractors for anything. On top of that, if you all missed it, the article mentioned that the writer and his family were prepairing to move in to a new home. As anyone who has moved in to a new home, and supervised its construction, knows that getting other people to do grunt work is a good thing.
Good question, I've wondered that too. The only "language" differentiations I look at are weather a "language" is Turing Complete. Ei: for web apps PHP is a language whereas HTML isn't.
Maybe the difference is in speed. A compiled language runs faster whereas a "script" is compiled on the fly.
"Go pieces, once placed on the board, cannot move
anymore. Chess pieces can still move from one place
to the other. This means that as more and more
Go pieces are placed on the board, there are less
and less positions the computer has to consider."
"Go requires the ability to look at patterns rather
than combinations. Sure, the Go board is larger
and the possible positions are greater but then there
are only three possible ``cells'' to consider: the first
player's stone, the second player's stone and an empty
cell. That should be easier to manage than the
job we are asking computer's nowadays to do: recognize
people from their faces. I believe computers can match
fingerprints easily today. Go should be a walk in the park."
Ok, I think you've got the right theory, however you missed a few items in your assesment of Go.
Randomness:
In the begining two-thirds of a game of Go most of the stone placements are "random". Yes some players attempt to mark out a territory but that can be self-defeating, reason being: when all the stones are played the game is over and the player with the largest total areas under his control wins. Sure, you're right that as the game progresses randomness drops. However, how does a computer deal with a human player who decides to give up on an area that is contested? And how will a computer decide when a contested area needs to be given up on?
Patterns:
In Go there are only a few "true" patterns to worry about. The Line (easy to deal with if you know the rules). The Box (a way to control an area). And The Spiral, when a contested area "spirals" out of control. The Go game becomes a miniture Mandlebrodt set that can loop off into infinity, if we had infinite stones to play with on an infinitely large 2D surface. Past that, all "patterns" should be treated as forms with a tactical value. One method of playing Go is to work your opponent into a corner that he cannot leave, a pattern and strategy that he cannot give up or he loses (or thinks he'll lose), which in the end will make him lose.
The Stones:
The player actually has more than 3 states to consider with his game peices. For each of his solitary pieces there are 4 possible ways that it can be surrounded and taken. If there are pieces in contiguous strings or blocks the player must see how many sides are open to attack from an enemy. And if he happens to have a hole in the middle of his string (shape) or block, the player has to consider if that hole is large enough to allow an enemy to capture his pieces.
IMHO Go will be harder to program than chess. Even considering the exponentially decreasing randomness there is still that first random placement, and as we all know... there is no true random-number generator program yet devised.
I have seen this artist before, I've run across him numerous times on the covers of sci-fi novels and in sci-fi and sci-fa magazines. I think his work is just beautiful. His inspiration? Space and progress, best as I can understand it.
Unfortunately, this sort of art wouldn't fly in the "serious" art world. Not only is it tied to "main-stream" books and publications on space, but also to the sub-culture of Science Fiction genre writing. Ironically enough, the college that I attend looks down upon any person who does Genre Fiction. But I digress too much.
Favorite Rant: The Art World today, is confused. It is full of artists, critics, curators and gallery managers who scrabble after the false god of "Art Has A Message". Sure it does. But is the artist required to draw a sodding road map?!? I know my professors will want me to do so for my senior show.
Like I said before. Love the work! It's beautiful, expansive (both physically and temporally), and (dare I say?!? [dare! dare!]) pure(?). Would that artists of his calibre were more accepted in both the main-stream as forward thinking and artists-for-everyone. And in the art world as the master-artists they are, if only the art world could drop the pretentious BS that they have swallowed with their chocolate-covered strawberries and red wine at every art opening.
It is entirely too likely that sometime in the near future, and I'm not talking about 5000 years. I'm saying something like 250-500 years that some brave soul/s who is/are far more intelligent than we are will develope a sure-fire method of forever rendering nuclear waste inert. I certainly do pray for the day when this/these person/s present their solution and get their well-deserved reward... It may not even be that long, and if it's not too far off maybe we should give them a Nobel.
Unfortunately you may find that if such a remedy were attempted that there would be groups who got angered by the *placement* of the words in the pledge.
"What?!? You put a single diety before multiple deities?!?"
Knowing how much politicians like to bandy semantics I wouldn't be surprised if this did become an issue.
Nifty blurbs. I'd like to know what Bowden has to say in support of his claims, especially:
"the missile attack killed 50 to 70 clan elders and intellectuals, many of them moderates seeking to reach a peaceful settlement with the United Nations."
It seems a little strange that with all of the United State's vast control of a corner of the World's Intelligence Market that we wouldn't know about this meeting. September 11th aside, since the CIA and FBI both claim that they didn't know, or that they weren't aware that it was a real threat. I'd like to see what the NSA has to say, unless they got disbanded or some such.
On the flip side of things, this claim that the Somali war was based on US oil intrests (what isn't?) has merit in that there *are* useful oil possibilities in that area, but that's a speculation based on geography and the export products of nations surrounding Somalia.
Can I have an electric car that I charge from a nuklear power plant? *sarc*
Other students, but I said that already, Tech professionals, home users (friends outside of school), Academia outside of my own school, Business Professionals.
Anyway, I'm gonna add to my previous post because it's nearly pointless. At this point in time the largest group of PDA users that I have encountered, outside of Tech Professionals, is college students. At least 20 of my close friends use some form of PDA or another.
As well, in terms of communication and users who are more able to present their ideas to others, I have found that college students *are* (usually) the most eriudite.
If this project could be done again I would love to see it be given to a number of international learning institutions, and a specific professor. It would make a wonderful special project... ooooh course credit and a free PDA... drool
Wonderful idea! I wish I had thought of this myself.... wait... I did... damn pattent office *grumbles*
Can we get this for college students? pleeeeeeaasse? We could be good guinea pigs!
Or is there a law against testing technology on humans?
(btw, this is my first official post to/.)
Slashdot Mirror
Yes yes, this works. The other two posts are mildly correct as well. You can build your own cabinets, All you need are some latches, wood and the rack rails. which you can get at any musicians supply shop for alot cheaper than the prefab stuff AND, if you build in your own power supply you can also build fans into the sucker.
A year ago, I had the dubious pleasure of running the sound board for CBR. It was fun watching him set up the robots, talking to him about how he built them. Asking him how he programmed their actions etc ad nausuem. Then, the music started. I put my earplugs in and tuned out the show. Most people who showed up for the beginning of the show left after the first song. They were just there for the novelty of watching some dude dance around on stage with a bunch of robots playing backup for him. The music? Well, all I can say is that it was as if Slayer, Metallica, The Ramones, Drop-kick Murphies and Strongbad got stuck in a blender together on high and were poured into funny shaped molds with about a gallon of Jell-O powder. The talkback was raucus, racist, sexist and obnoxious. Partly amusing, but then again, I was paid to be there. After the show I asked the guy why he uses the robots. He told me that he used to be in a band with other people, and decided that he hated it. He couldn't control their actions, he couldn't control the way they played. Can we say control freak? Robots breed consistency. However, during the show one of the robots broke down. On the geek end, he had 2 whole racks of computer equipment, micro-controllers, pneumatic pistons, a pneumatic compressor, keyboards, voice modulator built into a mask. Rather neat stuff all around. Would I ever run sound for him again? Sure, if I had a paid monkey to run the board during the show. Would I love to help him in his shop? Yep, but he would never let anyone near his tools or his robots, they are like his little children. Ahh well... rather entertaining. But I wouldn't pay money to see it.
First: Choice of plate terminators, angled is good! THG said it, they keep out dust, and in a home with kids this is a very good thing.
Second: finding cable runs is a very good thing. You can't go wrong if you choose where your cable is going very carefully. Just think, that 50' length of expensive Cat6 you just cut won't reach to the one place you need it, like the office upstairs where your Significant Other wants to place his/her computer because he/she likes the view. Also, stringing cable outside means that you could be letting in bugs (ants, termites, wasps and bees come to mind, all of which are detrimental to any home owner) and rodents (mice can easilly tear open a hole if they get a handhold).
Third: Neatness factor was a plus. Those nifty cable loops that they used to string the cable around the basement means no holes. Not boring holes in load-bearing joists and studs can save your bum if you are moving in say... a grand piano and your movers drop it right on that critical spot.
Mentioning some of the hardware used: great! I like seeing hardware mentioned. This means I can go out and look up honest-to-god reviews of it elsewhere if all the information isn't available on the first review I check. Also, pointing out the cable tester they used was important. When/if I decide to wire my own home I'll deffinitely look for a similar tool.
Cable versus DSL et al: another good point, find out who supplies what in your area and can you use it? Also, how much does it cost? Personally I would not have opted for DirecTV and just gone with cable all-around. But that was his choice.
I agree, overall this review could have used alot more meat in the "why'd we choose this bit of kit over that." department. However, as we all know the internet has an almost unlimited supply of information on any topic, just go look it up!
However, consulting with a contractor can be a very useful tool, even if you decide not to use the services of that contractor, they can provide you with useful information free of charge! If we all could do spot-on wiring of our houses the first time through we wouldn't need contractors for anything. On top of that, if you all missed it, the article mentioned that the writer and his family were prepairing to move in to a new home. As anyone who has moved in to a new home, and supervised its construction, knows that getting other people to do grunt work is a good thing.
Good question, I've wondered that too. The only "language" differentiations I look at are weather a "language" is Turing Complete. Ei: for web apps PHP is a language whereas HTML isn't. Maybe the difference is in speed. A compiled language runs faster whereas a "script" is compiled on the fly.
"Go pieces, once placed on the board, cannot move anymore. Chess pieces can still move from one place to the other. This means that as more and more Go pieces are placed on the board, there are less and less positions the computer has to consider."
"Go requires the ability to look at patterns rather than combinations. Sure, the Go board is larger and the possible positions are greater but then there are only three possible ``cells'' to consider: the first player's stone, the second player's stone and an empty cell. That should be easier to manage than the job we are asking computer's nowadays to do: recognize people from their faces. I believe computers can match fingerprints easily today. Go should be a walk in the park."
Ok, I think you've got the right theory, however you missed a few items in your assesment of Go.
- Randomness:
In the begining two-thirds of a game of Go most of the stone placements are "random". Yes some players attempt to mark out a territory but that can be self-defeating, reason being: when all the stones are played the game is over and the player with the largest total areas under his control wins. Sure, you're right that as the game progresses randomness drops. However, how does a computer deal with a human player who decides to give up on an area that is contested? And how will a computer decide when a contested area needs to be given up on?- Patterns:
In Go there are only a few "true" patterns to worry about. The Line (easy to deal with if you know the rules). The Box (a way to control an area). And The Spiral, when a contested area "spirals" out of control. The Go game becomes a miniture Mandlebrodt set that can loop off into infinity, if we had infinite stones to play with on an infinitely large 2D surface. Past that, all "patterns" should be treated as forms with a tactical value. One method of playing Go is to work your opponent into a corner that he cannot leave, a pattern and strategy that he cannot give up or he loses (or thinks he'll lose), which in the end will make him lose.- The Stones:
The player actually has more than 3 states to consider with his game peices. For each of his solitary pieces there are 4 possible ways that it can be surrounded and taken. If there are pieces in contiguous strings or blocks the player must see how many sides are open to attack from an enemy. And if he happens to have a hole in the middle of his string (shape) or block, the player has to consider if that hole is large enough to allow an enemy to capture his pieces.IMHO Go will be harder to program than chess. Even considering the exponentially decreasing randomness there is still that first random placement, and as we all know... there is no true random-number generator program yet devised.
I have seen this artist before, I've run across him numerous times on the covers of sci-fi novels and in sci-fi and sci-fa magazines. I think his work is just beautiful. His inspiration? Space and progress, best as I can understand it.
Unfortunately, this sort of art wouldn't fly in the "serious" art world. Not only is it tied to "main-stream" books and publications on space, but also to the sub-culture of Science Fiction genre writing. Ironically enough, the college that I attend looks down upon any person who does Genre Fiction. But I digress too much.
Favorite Rant: The Art World today, is confused. It is full of artists, critics, curators and gallery managers who scrabble after the false god of "Art Has A Message". Sure it does. But is the artist required to draw a sodding road map?!? I know my professors will want me to do so for my senior show.
Like I said before. Love the work! It's beautiful, expansive (both physically and temporally), and (dare I say?!? [dare! dare!]) pure(?). Would that artists of his calibre were more accepted in both the main-stream as forward thinking and artists-for-everyone. And in the art world as the master-artists they are, if only the art world could drop the pretentious BS that they have swallowed with their chocolate-covered strawberries and red wine at every art opening.
It is entirely too likely that sometime in the near future, and I'm not talking about 5000 years. I'm saying something like 250-500 years that some brave soul/s who is/are far more intelligent than we are will develope a sure-fire method of forever rendering nuclear waste inert. I certainly do pray for the day when this/these person/s present their solution and get their well-deserved reward... It may not even be that long, and if it's not too far off maybe we should give them a Nobel.
Unfortunately you may find that if such a remedy were attempted that there would be groups who got angered by the *placement* of the words in the pledge. "What?!? You put a single diety before multiple deities?!?" Knowing how much politicians like to bandy semantics I wouldn't be surprised if this did become an issue.
Nifty blurbs. I'd like to know what Bowden has to say in support of his claims, especially:
"the missile attack killed 50 to 70 clan elders and intellectuals, many of them moderates seeking to reach a peaceful settlement with the United Nations."
It seems a little strange that with all of the United State's vast control of a corner of the World's Intelligence Market that we wouldn't know about this meeting. September 11th aside, since the CIA and FBI both claim that they didn't know, or that they weren't aware that it was a real threat. I'd like to see what the NSA has to say, unless they got disbanded or some such.
On the flip side of things, this claim that the Somali war was based on US oil intrests (what isn't?) has merit in that there *are* useful oil possibilities in that area, but that's a speculation based on geography and the export products of nations surrounding Somalia.
Can I have an electric car that I charge from a nuklear power plant? *sarc*
Well, the short list:
Other students, but I said that already, Tech professionals, home users (friends outside of school), Academia outside of my own school, Business Professionals.
That's the short list.
Anyway, I'm gonna add to my previous post because it's nearly pointless. At this point in time the largest group of PDA users that I have encountered, outside of Tech Professionals, is college students. At least 20 of my close friends use some form of PDA or another. As well, in terms of communication and users who are more able to present their ideas to others, I have found that college students *are* (usually) the most eriudite. If this project could be done again I would love to see it be given to a number of international learning institutions, and a specific professor. It would make a wonderful special project... ooooh course credit and a free PDA... drool
Wonderful idea! I wish I had thought of this myself.... wait... I did... damn pattent office *grumbles* Can we get this for college students? pleeeeeeaasse? We could be good guinea pigs! Or is there a law against testing technology on humans? (btw, this is my first official post to /.)