I think a necessary addition to this robotic scheme would be a small camera that could verify that the pills are indeed the correct pills.
Facial recognition systems do exist - it shouldn't be terrible difficult to have a small camera and computer that can make sure that the pills being dispensed look like the correct pills. This idea would of course just be another failsafe in the system - it wouldn't make the system infallible.
If your drug is supposed to be a little green square pill, the camera could just verify that the pills being dispensed match this description so that your fate doesnt rest in a bar code and a college-intern assistant.
I'm not trying to sound anti-technology here, but can you name any computerized system with 100% uptime and 0% error rate?
While the DEC/Compaq/HP Himalaya with the non-stop kernel comes damn close, it's certainly priced out of reach for your typical drug store.
I think the solution would be to augment a human pharmacist with computerized/robotic equiptment to do his job more efficiently - but I think replacing the pharmacist all together is a mistake.
I'm using a Compaq fp700 which is DVI only. It has a great picture and is good for gaming (IMHO).
The only drawbacks to it for me are the crappy monitor stand that is integrated, and the fact that it only does 1024x768 (I have some software that will not even run in less than 1280x1024).
The reason I picked this monitor is that it was DVI and it was dirt cheap. I paid $149 for it. They go for between $150 and $200 on ebay.
Does anyone here remember AT motherboards? Nothing integrates except the keyboard controller?
Add a card for your parallel port. Add another to get two serial ports. Add another for your bus mouse, another for your sound card, and another for your video card - if you are lucky, your mobo supported the VLB bus for your video card and/or ide controllers.
Ah, those were the days... But back to the real world:
Most integrated components can be BIOS disabled. Either that or just don't load the drivers for them. Seems simple enough.
This is not at all like saying "Some people are saying something that I don't like".
This is like some people are coming into my home uninvited, and hanging advertising posters on the walls. I'm tired of taking down these posters, so how do I prevent these strangers from coming into my home?
And the answer is to put a lock on the door. i.e. a firewall.
I know my eyes start to sting and water when I'm looking at 60hz. Even 70 or 75 is noticibly below the 85hz that I'm used to. I cant say that I can easily make out the difference between 85hz and 95hz, so 85 seems like a comfortable sweet spot. Most every monitor made within the past 5 years or so should be able to support 85hz at the most common home-user resolutions. It seems like bad OS design to have the drivers default to 60hz.
This certainly isn't the first integration of PC and TV in a consumer product. I own a SliMP3 and the Qcast Tuner software for PS2.
I wonder how long it will be before these types of devices which play media files from your PC onto your TV/stereo system are considered "mainstream".?
I think that the more of these enabling (sorry to use that cheesy buzword) media technologies there are, the better. I doubt however that the MPAA and RIAA share that view. They're bound to step in with heavy handed tactics sooner or later. Just look at how they responded to DeCSS - software which allows consumers to watch DVD's on platforms that they do not control. Seems like this is right up their litigation alley.
I think it's extremely cool that they found 200 year old perishable goods like leather and potatos preserved by the mud.
In think it would be even cooler if there was a similar project in europe or the middle east - places that have way more history than the US.
The oldest ships you'll find in the Hudson are going to be ~2 hundred years old. Imagine finding a shipwreck in the mediteranean, red sea, black sea, or caspian sea thats ~2 thousand years old!!
California IS a crappy state, but the midwest??? Give me a break... I'd rather live in Soviet Russia than in the great white-trash wastelands of the US midwest.
I'm not familar with the consumer IDE raid stuff although I've worked quite a bit with Compaq SmartArray controllers.
Infact, I have a Compaq Smart array SCSI RAID controller in both my PC's at home (desktop and server). They're available on ebay for very nice prices and are well supported by Linux.
The reason I mention it, is that I can pull all the disks out from one machine and pop them into the other - I don't even have to keep them in the same order! - and the controller is able to read the array configuration data from the disks and the logical volume(s) are immediately accessible. It's pretty sweet.
If it's just your RAID controller that's failed, try putting the disks into another machine with the same type of controller, or try replacing the controller. I'm not making any promises, but if it's a decent controller it should read the saved config data from the disks and make your logical volume available.
Have you tried the manufacturers tech support line? I'm sure they've delt with this situation before. I'm not trying to be a wiseass, but sometimes contacting the manufacturer is going to get you in touch with the folks who are most knowlegable about the product.
Although he certainly makes some excellent arguments and I agree with much of what he says - I never said I agree with everything Rush has to say.
I listen to him just as you or I read/. comments... There's informative and insightful stuff that I agree with - and there's also stupid blather that I disagree with.
Well sure, I'm certain most of the/. crowd is fully capable of these things, plus firewall and proxy configuration to block the offending packets.
The real problem here is the general public who doesn't know any better, and even worse - doesn't care.
In itself, knowing what CD tracks you listen to is obviously not a serious threat as far as privacy invasion goes but...
Knowing what CD tracks you listen to and when, what groceries you buy and when, and videos you rent and when, who you call and when, where you go and when, and the list goes on and on. The sum of these things is just a bit too much information for corporate america to be keeping detailed track of.
Perhaps you know how to disable most of these tracking systems, do you really want these big corporations watching the every move of your grandmother - who unlike you, doesnt know any better?
I got nothing from my company for the holidays except a pink slip. They probably needed to give the damn CEO a few extra million as a holiday bonus. I'm so glad that the loss of my job could help in reaching that goal.
1. Adelphia recently declared bankruptcy. Their CEO was the Number 1 CEO in the whole US for taking insider loans. Above Tyco, Enron, or Worldcom. The crooked bastard took an insider "loan" for OVER a quarter BILLION dollars. His reason for the loan was "Unspecified personal business".
2. Their service sucks. I'm on the phone with their help desk at least once a month because the internet connection is down. Their tech support people are a bunch of brain-dead bozos reading from an "if: then" style troubleshooting manual - plus, it usually takes 45 minutes or more of waiting on hold to get through to a real human. Definitely some of the worst customer service in the industry.
3. They are not complying, or planning to comply with the federal regulation passed in October that prevents cable providers from forcing customer to purchase service "bundles" to get a particular channel. The regulation states that a cable provider must provide, upon the customers request, the premium channels they ask for in an a-la-carte style manner.
As an example, if I wanted to get the HBO channel at my house, Adelphia requires my to "upgrade" to their digital cable service for an additional $9.95 a month, plus $7/mo per TV (I have 3) plus pay $25.99 a month for the HBO bundle. Do the math - that equals a additional $57 per month just to get one premium channel. This practice is strictly forbidden by the recently passed legislation.
And to top it off, the lying bastards told me that they don't have the technology to provide a single premium channel (no bundles) to a home, and that they don't have the technology to send certain premium channels to their analog cable subscribers - that they must "upgrade" to digital cable. The reason that they are lying bastards is that I have a friend who used to get just HBO (w/o a bundle) to his analog cable home (back when they offered this option). He canceled that channel but they never turned it off for him. Right now today he gets a single premium HBO channel to his analog cable home.
My advice is to avoid this sleezy bunch at all costs - unless you like paying out the nose to support their insider lending (Yes, I know GWB thankfully just passed legislation making corporate insider loans illegal.) habbits and unfair business practices.
The original Ghost in the Shell was probably one of my favorite anime movies, period. The art, the soundtrack, the story were all masterfully created. The producer is going to have a tough time topping it! I sure hope they pull it off well though, as I'd be the first in line to see it.
Maybe if we're lucky we'll get to see it in the theater here in the US. I'd hate to have to fly all the way to Japan to see it in a real theater!;-)
I don't have ANY broadband internet options in my area, and no telco or cable company has plans to offer it either. And I live 45 mins from Washington DC. Very Sad.
Last time I looked into Satellite broadband internet, you had to have a special card installed in your Windows or Mac machine. Thats right - no Linux support.
Not sure if DirecTV offered a Linux compatible satellite internet solution, but I think I would have noticed it if they did.
It certainly is frustrating conducting internet business at 56k...
I certainly hope that authors in the future don't recieve royalties for public library readers.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be anti-copyright here, Authors should definitely recieve royalties - just not from a public library that my tax dollars went to fund.
India I hope has more sense than to buy into this obvious MS ploy. I'm not trying to sound like a typical anti-microsoft/.er, but this reeks of Microsoft's typical weasely business practice.
What guarantee does India have that when Windows 2004 comes out, it won't be a total re-write of the code that Microsoft doesnt want to share? Then their investment in MS code today will be useless tomorrow. Not to mention the myriad of overbearing restrictions that MS is bound to place on the use of their code.
If India wants to excel in the software development field, I think it's in their best interest to go with an Open solution e.g. Linux or some flavor of BSD. This is what will benefit them the most in the long run.
Don't forget that modern America is a throw away economy.
By that I mean consumers value newness over excellence. People would rather buy item "X" every year, or every 2 years for some new whiz-bang feature - and then throw it away. People dont want something that lasts for ever.
If a company designs product "X" so well that it will last for 50 years, it will be sold or thrown out after just a few years - even if it working flawlessly! People just like new stuff - too much.
When I say "people", I'm refering to the general populous. I'm sure there are other/.ers who also value quality over newness.
As an example, I have a 1984 Audi 4000 quattro. Even by today's standards it is an advanced car. It has all wheel drive, 4 wheel disc brakes, and 4 wheel independant suspension. Most new cars don't have a suspension and drivetrain this advanced. Anyways, this car has 238k miles on it - and it runs perfectly: doesn't burn or leak a drop of oil, starts on the first try, revvs silky smooth. The point is, people don't look at this car and realize that is an amazing feat of quality engineering. They just see a yucky old car. They think to themselves, "Why the hell would anyone want to drive such an old car???"
Claiming that using Linux invalidates your warranty is like claiming that installing OpenOffice invalidates your warranty.
It's just software
Does the packaging of the product clearly state that you may not install any software other than what is supplied? Probably not. That would be silly. Linux is just another piece of software that you chose to use instead of Windows.
Just as if I chose to use Netscape instead of Internet Explorer. They cannot void your warranty for that. It's the same thing.
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I think a necessary addition to this robotic scheme would be a small camera that could verify that the pills are indeed the correct pills.
Facial recognition systems do exist - it shouldn't be terrible difficult to have a small camera and computer that can make sure that the pills being dispensed look like the correct pills. This idea would of course just be another failsafe in the system - it wouldn't make the system infallible.
If your drug is supposed to be a little green square pill, the camera could just verify that the pills being dispensed match this description so that your fate doesnt rest in a bar code and a college-intern assistant.
How so?
I'm not trying to sound anti-technology here, but can you name any computerized system with 100% uptime and 0% error rate?
While the DEC/Compaq/HP Himalaya with the non-stop kernel comes damn close, it's certainly priced out of reach for your typical drug store.
I think the solution would be to augment a human pharmacist with computerized/robotic equiptment to do his job more efficiently - but I think replacing the pharmacist all together is a mistake.
Just my 2 cents.
the robot accidently refills grandpa's heart medication with viagra?
I already did. Except I'm still trying to figure out how to plug it into my Firewire card. It just doesn't seem to fit ;-)
I'm using a Compaq fp700 which is DVI only. It has a great picture and is good for gaming (IMHO).
The only drawbacks to it for me are the crappy monitor stand that is integrated, and the fact that it only does 1024x768 (I have some software that will not even run in less than 1280x1024).
The reason I picked this monitor is that it was DVI and it was dirt cheap. I paid $149 for it. They go for between $150 and $200 on ebay.
Good luck!
Does anyone here remember AT motherboards? Nothing integrates except the keyboard controller?
Add a card for your parallel port. Add another to get two serial ports. Add another for your bus mouse, another for your sound card, and another for your video card - if you are lucky, your mobo supported the VLB bus for your video card and/or ide controllers.
Ah, those were the days... But back to the real world:
Most integrated components can be BIOS disabled. Either that or just don't load the drivers for them. Seems simple enough.
This is not at all like saying "Some people are saying something that I don't like".
This is like some people are coming into my home uninvited, and hanging advertising posters on the walls. I'm tired of taking down these posters, so how do I prevent these strangers from coming into my home?
And the answer is to put a lock on the door. i.e. a firewall.
Do you honestly believe a man hole cover is in orbit? Come on fella, use some common sense here.
I'm sure his definition of space junk is "human manufactured parts or materials which are currently orbiting the earth".
I'm fairly certain that you must be in orbit if you think that DNA is "space junk". Sheesh.
I know my eyes start to sting and water when I'm looking at 60hz. Even 70 or 75 is noticibly below the 85hz that I'm used to. I cant say that I can easily make out the difference between 85hz and 95hz, so 85 seems like a comfortable sweet spot. Most every monitor made within the past 5 years or so should be able to support 85hz at the most common home-user resolutions. It seems like bad OS design to have the drivers default to 60hz.
one-click web purchasing.
This is such a technological breakthrough that it deserves it's own patent. oh wait.
This certainly isn't the first integration of PC and TV in a consumer product. I own a SliMP3 and the Qcast Tuner software for PS2.
I wonder how long it will be before these types of devices which play media files from your PC onto your TV/stereo system are considered "mainstream".?
I think that the more of these enabling (sorry to use that cheesy buzword) media technologies there are, the better. I doubt however that the MPAA and RIAA share that view. They're bound to step in with heavy handed tactics sooner or later. Just look at how they responded to DeCSS - software which allows consumers to watch DVD's on platforms that they do not control. Seems like this is right up their litigation alley.
Just my two cents.
I think it's extremely cool that they found 200 year old perishable goods like leather and potatos preserved by the mud.
In think it would be even cooler if there was a similar project in europe or the middle east - places that have way more history than the US.
The oldest ships you'll find in the Hudson are going to be ~2 hundred years old. Imagine finding a shipwreck in the mediteranean, red sea, black sea, or caspian sea thats ~2 thousand years old!!
California IS a crappy state, but the midwest??? Give me a break... I'd rather live in Soviet Russia than in the great white-trash wastelands of the US midwest.
I'm not familar with the consumer IDE raid stuff although I've worked quite a bit with Compaq SmartArray controllers.
Infact, I have a Compaq Smart array SCSI RAID controller in both my PC's at home (desktop and server). They're available on ebay for very nice prices and are well supported by Linux.
The reason I mention it, is that I can pull all the disks out from one machine and pop them into the other - I don't even have to keep them in the same order! - and the controller is able to read the array configuration data from the disks and the logical volume(s) are immediately accessible. It's pretty sweet.
If it's just your RAID controller that's failed, try putting the disks into another machine with the same type of controller, or try replacing the controller. I'm not making any promises, but if it's a decent controller it should read the saved config data from the disks and make your logical volume available.
Have you tried the manufacturers tech support line? I'm sure they've delt with this situation before. I'm not trying to be a wiseass, but sometimes contacting the manufacturer is going to get you in touch with the folks who are most knowlegable about the product.
Although he certainly makes some excellent arguments and I agree with much of what he says - I never said I agree with everything Rush has to say.
/. comments... There's informative and insightful stuff that I agree with - and there's also stupid blather that I disagree with.
I listen to him just as you or I read
Well sure, I'm certain most of the /. crowd is fully capable of these things, plus firewall and proxy configuration to block the offending packets.
The real problem here is the general public who doesn't know any better, and even worse - doesn't care.
In itself, knowing what CD tracks you listen to is obviously not a serious threat as far as privacy invasion goes but...
Knowing what CD tracks you listen to and when, what groceries you buy and when, and videos you rent and when, who you call and when, where you go and when, and the list goes on and on. The sum of these things is just a bit too much information for corporate america to be keeping detailed track of.
Perhaps you know how to disable most of these tracking systems, do you really want these big corporations watching the every move of your grandmother - who unlike you, doesnt know any better?
I got nothing from my company for the holidays except a pink slip. They probably needed to give the damn CEO a few extra million as a holiday bonus. I'm so glad that the loss of my job could help in reaching that goal.
greedy fucks.
I wonder how much longer before the evil powers of this earth have human armies augmented and controlled by a similar mechanism...
Alow me to explain:
1. Adelphia recently declared bankruptcy. Their CEO was the Number 1 CEO in the whole US for taking insider loans. Above Tyco, Enron, or Worldcom. The crooked bastard took an insider "loan" for OVER a quarter BILLION dollars. His reason for the loan was "Unspecified personal business".
2. Their service sucks. I'm on the phone with their help desk at least once a month because the internet connection is down. Their tech support people are a bunch of brain-dead bozos reading from an "if: then" style troubleshooting manual - plus, it usually takes 45 minutes or more of waiting on hold to get through to a real human. Definitely some of the worst customer service in the industry.
3. They are not complying, or planning to comply with the federal regulation passed in October that prevents cable providers from forcing customer to purchase service "bundles" to get a particular channel. The regulation states that a cable provider must provide, upon the customers request, the premium channels they ask for in an a-la-carte style manner.
As an example, if I wanted to get the HBO channel at my house, Adelphia requires my to "upgrade" to their digital cable service for an additional $9.95 a month, plus $7/mo per TV (I have 3) plus pay $25.99 a month for the HBO bundle. Do the math - that equals a additional $57 per month just to get one premium channel. This practice is strictly forbidden by the recently passed legislation.
And to top it off, the lying bastards told me that they don't have the technology to provide a single premium channel (no bundles) to a home, and that they don't have the technology to send certain premium channels to their analog cable subscribers - that they must "upgrade" to digital cable. The reason that they are lying bastards is that I have a friend who used to get just HBO (w/o a bundle) to his analog cable home (back when they offered this option). He canceled that channel but they never turned it off for him. Right now today he gets a single premium HBO channel to his analog cable home.
My advice is to avoid this sleezy bunch at all costs - unless you like paying out the nose to support their insider lending (Yes, I know GWB thankfully just passed legislation making corporate insider loans illegal.) habbits and unfair business practices.
The original Ghost in the Shell was probably one of my favorite anime movies, period. The art, the soundtrack, the story were all masterfully created. The producer is going to have a tough time topping it! I sure hope they pull it off well though, as I'd be the first in line to see it.
;-)
Maybe if we're lucky we'll get to see it in the theater here in the US. I'd hate to have to fly all the way to Japan to see it in a real theater!
I don't have ANY broadband internet options in my area, and no telco or cable company has plans to offer it either. And I live 45 mins from Washington DC. Very Sad.
Last time I looked into Satellite broadband internet, you had to have a special card installed in your Windows or Mac machine. Thats right - no Linux support.
Not sure if DirecTV offered a Linux compatible satellite internet solution, but I think I would have noticed it if they did.
It certainly is frustrating conducting internet business at 56k...
I certainly hope that authors in the future don't recieve royalties for public library readers.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be anti-copyright here, Authors should definitely recieve royalties - just not from a public library that my tax dollars went to fund.
Just my 2 cents.
India I hope has more sense than to buy into this obvious MS ploy. I'm not trying to sound like a typical anti-microsoft /.er, but this reeks of Microsoft's typical weasely business practice.
What guarantee does India have that when Windows 2004 comes out, it won't be a total re-write of the code that Microsoft doesnt want to share? Then their investment in MS code today will be useless tomorrow. Not to mention the myriad of overbearing restrictions that MS is bound to place on the use of their code.
If India wants to excel in the software development field, I think it's in their best interest to go with an Open solution e.g. Linux or some flavor of BSD. This is what will benefit them the most in the long run.
Don't forget that modern America is a throw away economy.
/.ers who also value quality over newness.
By that I mean consumers value newness over excellence. People would rather buy item "X" every year, or every 2 years for some new whiz-bang feature - and then throw it away. People dont want something that lasts for ever.
If a company designs product "X" so well that it will last for 50 years, it will be sold or thrown out after just a few years - even if it working flawlessly! People just like new stuff - too much.
When I say "people", I'm refering to the general populous. I'm sure there are other
As an example, I have a 1984 Audi 4000 quattro. Even by today's standards it is an advanced car. It has all wheel drive, 4 wheel disc brakes, and 4 wheel independant suspension. Most new cars don't have a suspension and drivetrain this advanced. Anyways, this car has 238k miles on it - and it runs perfectly: doesn't burn or leak a drop of oil, starts on the first try, revvs silky smooth. The point is, people don't look at this car and realize that is an amazing feat of quality engineering. They just see a yucky old car. They think to themselves, "Why the hell would anyone want to drive such an old car???"
Newness over excellence. It's sad but true.
I agree, sue the bastards.
Claiming that using Linux invalidates your warranty is like claiming that installing OpenOffice invalidates your warranty.
It's just software Does the packaging of the product clearly state that you may not install any software other than what is supplied? Probably not. That would be silly. Linux is just another piece of software that you chose to use instead of Windows.
Just as if I chose to use Netscape instead of Internet Explorer. They cannot void your warranty for that. It's the same thing.