Perhaps one of the most beautiful programs to come out of NPR, This American Life did a fantastic bit about how people of all backgrounds in Chicago reacted to former Mayor Harold Washington.
My father was on duty at the Northwestern Memorial Hospital ER when he came in on a stretcher; apparently, he was DOA, there was no obvious foul play. He'd been sick for years. Too bad, the guy really got things done. "Even though he was black." (Listen to the program.)
http://fwd.pulver.com/. There are OSS and closed-source clients, based on international standards, and it does the trick on any platform I've used. Truly it is "teh good stuff." And every now and then FWD enables their VOIP POTS gateway so you can make free calls to your relatives on July 4th weekend.
What provisions are there for low-power FM stations in Canada? I looked at the CRTC, but they're unlikely to tell me what the likelihood of actually obtaining a license would be.
Actually, in Pittsburgh, my old PNCBank branch (just across the busway from Shadyside, I can't remember the street address) had both a single-dollar dispenser, as well as a change cup. It was fed in the same way that I believe those automated change dispensers you sometimes see in banks and at ticket booths get fed - a single slide down which coins fall. I think the manufacturer was NCR, but I'm not sure.
It didn't ever seem to be filled up, but at least one ATM has been designed that could dispense change! I used to withdraw $19, just because I could put the 4 $1 and the $5 into the change machine for the washer and dryers.
The machine also could accept deposited checks WITHOUT AN ENVELOPE. It would scan the front of the check, show you an image and ask you if the scan was valid. If you deposited a check this way, it got into your account a full day faster than if it was in an envelope. I think it must have OCRed the text, as well as read the magnetic information from the bottom. Plus I imagine the workflow for the ATM operator was speedier. Of course, this all ran under OS/2 1.3, as I confirmed later. Ahh, Pittsburgh, land of the oddball ATMs.
Quit taking such a US-centric view of the market. Given the realities of the declining economy, and the increasing trend towards humanization of technology interfaces, perhaps a penguin is the right move after all.
Yusen, a subscription music service, had so many free channels that a while ago they had two channels for this purpose: one that played sounds of a busy Tokyo train station, and another that played the sounds of an office. Turn on Yusen loud enough at your mistress' home, call your wife, and your have your proverbial cover.
Then again, Yusen also had a channel of someone counting sheep. (I'm not making this up.) I think they got up to about 18,000 before the recording looped.
Don't forget -- if we move to this technology world-wide, we'll have mass-storage media that will probably survive an EMP. OK, the actual reader itself will be toast, but the media will survive.
I keep thinking: I want to record something about myself for future generations that will, in one form or another, survive. Right now my best bet for that is printing onto acid-free paper and having it bound, or doing microfiche. This potentially could solve that problem!
This was covered Ready to Ware in the October 2003 issue of IEEE Spectrum, now only available in the Google cache linked in this sentence.
It specifically covers "[a]n e-textile shirt from New York City-based Sensatex, Inc. [which] promises to put an end to SIDS by alerting parents the moment a baby stops breathing." Other bits of the article talk about the U.S. Navy's Wearable Motherboard project, and other smart fabrics capable of accomplishing the tasks of which you speak.
If your lab has a grant application coming up, it might be worth putting in for some of this stuff.
My alma mater uses the Library of Congress system for numbering its books. Sure, it's not quite as simple for children to understand (a letter code, followed by numbers, then more letters), and is copyrighted, but as far as I know it's royalty-free to use.
That's not what he's saying. If I understand him correctly, he's saying "Allow people to choose any sort of open source/standards system they choose." Hell, if MicroSoft chose to make all of Windows XP open source tomorrow, and all of the add-on libraries open source too, I don't think there'd be a question of what most government officials would have on their desktop. (As much as I'd prefer it be a *NIX...)
Point is, help educate at the same time as you are advocating. Advocate choice, advocate open source, advocate open standards and open implementations. Remind them that Linux and FreeBSD/NetBSD/OpenBSD give you those things, and that you trust they will be intelligent enough to make a good decision for themselves.
Us 31337 g33ks can't just go on saying "Listen to us! We know what's right!" Empower these individuals to think for themselves, then give them all of the information they need to make a valid decision. (Yes, even if they're Luddite politicans!) We don't know what's right for them any more than MicroSoft does . . . and it won't be until we collectively realize this that we'll be able to provide true intellectual advocacy, not just blind adherence.
The image of a slice of bacon shows different levels of T-ray transparency for lean and fatty areas. Since fat absorbs almost no T-rays, it looks white; meat absorbs roughly 25 times as many T-rays, so it looks dark.
Will this finally inspire most lethargic, overweight privacy-paranoid geeks to get off their asses and exercise?
Easy. 2.4GHz is getting VERY VERY busy. Plus, at least in the US, you're limited on the amount of power you can pump out. Perhaps on the higher band in Australia, you don't have that restriction, meaning you can push the bits farther in space...
Seriously, though... you've really got to stop adding your own personal bias so forcefully to your content. Take a hint from real journalists. If you're partial, be subtle about it.
Actually, I completely disagree. It's the blatant prejudice that is easy to spot! When bias seeps into journalism at a much lower level, it can be harder to detect, and more insidious in its influence. FUD was always about this -- just putting enough concern in people's minds that they start to doubt things. But if I can look at an article like this and judge how Taco feels about this stuff (MS, Nintendo are vaporware), I can get a sense of what the biased Linux community might feel. I can then play that off the M$ apologists, the Nintendo freaks, the PS2 junkies, and the PC gamers....
Just a thought. Keep the bias open and obvious, please. It's what makes/. so useful to me.
I wonder if anyone has spoken to Digidesign about supporting their Pro Tools hardware. You can pick up older Pro Tools III hardware I/O for a good price these days (compared with the latest Pro Tools/24 stuff), and while they are PCI cards "designed for the Mac," I don't believe that there's anything specific to the hardware itself that would prevent x86-based Linux drivers from being written for them (even for LinuxPPC! My prayers are with you, Jason!) Then again, I could be wrong...
I'd be willing to work on this project, as I've found out that I may not be able to bring my G3 Mac with me to my new abode for space considerations, but I still want to have my Pro Tools audio setup....
I submitted this as a "Ask Slashdot" feature, but it didn't get posted. Since Dogma got mentioned here, I figured I'd ask away.
/.ers and opensourcers tend to lean towards Libertarian beliefs, usually believe in the gift culture -- but what do they believe in a spiritual and/or religious vein? Dogma got me thinking about my own personal spirituality, which is what I believe Kevin Smith wanted to happen. Are/.ers in general a spiritual group of people? Do you believe in the potential for human experience to extend beyond one's own self, into that of the collective unconscious, or even of God(dess)? Do you even believe in a God(dess)? Do you hold any religious beliefs as well?
Yesterday on NPR's Fresh Air, Terry Gross interviewed Kevin Smith. (You'll eventually be able to listen to the show in RealAudio format here in 28.8 or ISDN bitrates.) In one of his responses, Kevin roughly said: "I'm hoping to reintroduce spirituality to a whole generation of people whose last experience with religion [ed: and/or spirituality] was when their parents stopped dragging them to church." So -- the question goes out -- have you explored your spiritual and/or religious side since you were a child? What was the end result?
BTW, I distinguish between spirituality and religion. Spirituality is a personal set of beliefs which deal with metaphysics, the nature of the world around you, Gods and/or Goddesses (or the distinct lack thereof), and your interaction with those individuals and forces. Religion is an extension of humanity to bring together multiple people who have, roughly, the same spiritual beliefs, and generally imposes a further set of man-made rules (dare I say dogma?) on its practitioners.
I don't think the author of this exam is insinuating that you're not helping the world because you don't dedicate your resources to third-world issues. I think he's trying to get those who have become enthralled by the opportunities that technology provides to think "outside of the box."
If he were, as you say, claiming that you're an evil person for moving technology forward, then what would his motivation be for giving this course? Why would he spend a semester teaching some college students about escrow agents and strong encryption? Clearly, he finds these technologies interesting -- but he knows that most don't consider the practical applications of that technology outside of their own lifestyles.
You shouldn't feel guilty because you use technology. But it's important to think about how your technology can be used to help people who don't lead a lifestyle identical to your own, even just as an intellectual exercise. I think that Mr. Stiegler's exam intended just the opposite -- that you should feel proud that you're helping advance a technology that some day might help that Korean woman feed her starving daughter, and that (Goddess forbid!) you might actually think about that image once or twice while coding your next GPL project.
...and get the Sony. As the guy says, it can be found cheap (I got it for $125), and if you get over the spelling error on the LCD (mine says "Sound Feild" instead of "Sound Field"), it's a great remote.
I especially like the fact that the batteries for the backlight are separate from the batteries for the remote memory...that's just intelligent design.
The real crux of the legality of this lawsuit is whether or not AOL's service, and their webpages, are a public accommodation. Per the text of the ADA, any group which provides a public accommodation must enable access to the handicapped. This is obvious when you have a movie theatre or stadium -- ramps for wheelchairs, accessible bathroom stalls, and braille on elevator controls all make sense.
What's really being fought here, and don't let the lawyers trick you into thinking otherwise, is whether or not the web is a foray of a private organization into the public eye. If the courts agree that it is so, and award this case to the prosecution, expect to see MUCH more regulation of website content.
For instance, if mailing lists are public accommodations, for instance, then they must be held up to the rigorous free speech standards of the First Amendment. Owners of the mailing lists will be responsible for activities that take place on them -- and will have to buy mailing list insurance (!!!) And yes, if websites are public accommodations, then they will have to comply with the ADA...which means all good websites and mailing lists will move offshore to more liberal servers.
Slashdot Mirror
Perhaps one of the most beautiful programs to come out of NPR, This American Life did a fantastic bit about how people of all backgrounds in Chicago reacted to former Mayor Harold Washington.
h tml
Read & listen to the program at http://www.thislife.org/pages/descriptions/97/84.
My father was on duty at the Northwestern Memorial Hospital ER when he came in on a stretcher; apparently, he was DOA, there was no obvious foul play. He'd been sick for years. Too bad, the guy really got things done. "Even though he was black." (Listen to the program.)
http://fwd.pulver.com/. There are OSS and closed-source clients, based on international standards, and it does the trick on any platform I've used. Truly it is "teh good stuff." And every now and then FWD enables their VOIP POTS gateway so you can make free calls to your relatives on July 4th weekend.
What provisions are there for low-power FM stations in Canada? I looked at the CRTC, but they're unlikely to tell me what the likelihood of actually obtaining a license would be.
Your best bet is a fantastic little program called Media Player Classic v6.4.8.2 by Gabest, which I first discovered as part of the K-Lite Mega Codec Pack.
All the cleanliness of WMP6, and even more functionality than WMP9! And yes, it's GPLed.
Actually, in Pittsburgh, my old PNCBank branch (just across the busway from Shadyside, I can't remember the street address) had both a single-dollar dispenser, as well as a change cup. It was fed in the same way that I believe those automated change dispensers you sometimes see in banks and at ticket booths get fed - a single slide down which coins fall. I think the manufacturer was NCR, but I'm not sure.
It didn't ever seem to be filled up, but at least one ATM has been designed that could dispense change! I used to withdraw $19, just because I could put the 4 $1 and the $5 into the change machine for the washer and dryers.
The machine also could accept deposited checks WITHOUT AN ENVELOPE. It would scan the front of the check, show you an image and ask you if the scan was valid. If you deposited a check this way, it got into your account a full day faster than if it was in an envelope. I think it must have OCRed the text, as well as read the magnetic information from the bottom. Plus I imagine the workflow for the ATM operator was speedier. Of course, this all ran under OS/2 1.3, as I confirmed later.
Ahh, Pittsburgh, land of the oddball ATMs.
Funny, small but cute characters don't seem to be a problem in Japan.
Quit taking such a US-centric view of the market. Given the realities of the declining economy, and the increasing trend towards humanization of technology interfaces, perhaps a penguin is the right move after all.
Yusen, a subscription music service, had so many free channels that a while ago they had two channels for this purpose: one that played sounds of a busy Tokyo train station, and another that played the sounds of an office. Turn on Yusen loud enough at your mistress' home, call your wife, and your have your proverbial cover.
Then again, Yusen also had a channel of someone counting sheep. (I'm not making this up.) I think they got up to about 18,000 before the recording looped.
- Those who won't/can't buy your program, but donate in other ways - (z) ...such as dance nude for the camera? :D
Interesting that the "MPEG Player for Linux" version of the download is 8-10x larger than the RP version, and 1-2x larger than the QT version...
Don't forget -- if we move to this technology world-wide, we'll have mass-storage media that will probably survive an EMP. OK, the actual reader itself will be toast, but the media will survive.
I keep thinking: I want to record something about myself for future generations that will, in one form or another, survive. Right now my best bet for that is printing onto acid-free paper and having it bound, or doing microfiche. This potentially could solve that problem!
Fortunately for the Open Source community, the leaders from IBM, EFF, and the like aren't resorting to ad hominem attacks.
Just because SCO Unix stinks doesn't mean they don't have the right to sue, if some contract has been violated.
The correct argument here is -- they have shown no conclusive proof of contract violation on IBM's part. It's time for them to "put up or shut up."
This was covered Ready to Ware in the October 2003 issue of IEEE Spectrum, now only available in the Google cache linked in this sentence.
It specifically covers "[a]n e-textile shirt from New York City-based Sensatex, Inc. [which] promises to put an end to SIDS by alerting parents the moment a baby stops breathing." Other bits of the article talk about the U.S. Navy's Wearable Motherboard project, and other smart fabrics capable of accomplishing the tasks of which you speak.
If your lab has a grant application coming up, it might be worth putting in for some of this stuff.
My alma mater uses the Library of Congress system for numbering its books. Sure, it's not quite as simple for children to understand (a letter code, followed by numbers, then more letters), and is copyrighted, but as far as I know it's royalty-free to use.
That's not what he's saying. If I understand him correctly, he's saying "Allow people to choose any sort of open source/standards system they choose." Hell, if MicroSoft chose to make all of Windows XP open source tomorrow, and all of the add-on libraries open source too, I don't think there'd be a question of what most government officials would have on their desktop. (As much as I'd prefer it be a *NIX...)
Point is, help educate at the same time as you are advocating. Advocate choice, advocate open source, advocate open standards and open implementations. Remind them that Linux and FreeBSD/NetBSD/OpenBSD give you those things, and that you trust they will be intelligent enough to make a good decision for themselves.
Us 31337 g33ks can't just go on saying "Listen to us! We know what's right!" Empower these individuals to think for themselves, then give them all of the information they need to make a valid decision. (Yes, even if they're Luddite politicans!) We don't know what's right for them any more than MicroSoft does . . . and it won't be until we collectively realize this that we'll be able to provide true intellectual advocacy, not just blind adherence.
For more info, I'll simply refer the reader to any physiology textbook.
Or tell them to get a girlfriend, and have them learn to go and buy tampons or pads for her. Real life experience can't be beat, ya know.
*shakes her head and sighs*
Hey baby, I can accomodate your 8 inches right...
Um, never mind.
Double-check what you've posted already, guys, please...
Will this finally inspire most lethargic, overweight privacy-paranoid geeks to get off their asses and exercise?
Easy. 2.4GHz is getting VERY VERY busy. Plus, at least in the US, you're limited on the amount of power you can pump out. Perhaps on the higher band in Australia, you don't have that restriction, meaning you can push the bits farther in space...
Just a thought. Keep the bias open and obvious, please. It's what makes /. so useful to me.
I'd be willing to work on this project, as I've found out that I may not be able to bring my G3 Mac with me to my new abode for space considerations, but I still want to have my Pro Tools audio setup....
I submitted this as a "Ask Slashdot" feature, but it didn't get posted. Since Dogma got mentioned here, I figured I'd ask away.
Yesterday on NPR's Fresh Air, Terry Gross interviewed Kevin Smith. (You'll eventually be able to listen to the show in RealAudio format here in 28.8 or ISDN bitrates.) In one of his responses, Kevin roughly said: "I'm hoping to reintroduce spirituality to a whole generation of people whose last experience with religion [ed: and/or spirituality] was when their parents stopped dragging them to church." So -- the question goes out -- have you explored your spiritual and/or religious side since you were a child? What was the end result?
BTW, I distinguish between spirituality and religion. Spirituality is a personal set of beliefs which deal with metaphysics, the nature of the world around you, Gods and/or Goddesses (or the distinct lack thereof), and your interaction with those individuals and forces. Religion is an extension of humanity to bring together multiple people who have, roughly, the same spiritual beliefs, and generally imposes a further set of man-made rules (dare I say dogma?) on its practitioners.
If he were, as you say, claiming that you're an evil person for moving technology forward, then what would his motivation be for giving this course? Why would he spend a semester teaching some college students about escrow agents and strong encryption? Clearly, he finds these technologies interesting -- but he knows that most don't consider the practical applications of that technology outside of their own lifestyles.
You shouldn't feel guilty because you use technology. But it's important to think about how your technology can be used to help people who don't lead a lifestyle identical to your own, even just as an intellectual exercise. I think that Mr. Stiegler's exam intended just the opposite -- that you should feel proud that you're helping advance a technology that some day might help that Korean woman feed her starving daughter, and that (Goddess forbid!) you might actually think about that image once or twice while coding your next GPL project.
I especially like the fact that the batteries for the backlight are separate from the batteries for the remote memory...that's just intelligent design.
What's really being fought here, and don't let the lawyers trick you into thinking otherwise, is whether or not the web is a foray of a private organization into the public eye. If the courts agree that it is so, and award this case to the prosecution, expect to see MUCH more regulation of website content.
For instance, if mailing lists are public accommodations, for instance, then they must be held up to the rigorous free speech standards of the First Amendment. Owners of the mailing lists will be responsible for activities that take place on them -- and will have to buy mailing list insurance (!!!) And yes, if websites are public accommodations, then they will have to comply with the ADA...which means all good websites and mailing lists will move offshore to more liberal servers.
*sigh*. Isn't the 'net grand?