I do a lot of mountain biking. I know there's some engineers who read/.
There are suspension forks which can be purchased for mountain bikes and some offer read suspension.
Assuming, the metal suspension fork is kept and a decent diameter bamboo tubing is used - would the bamboo have sufficient strength, durability and shock absorbing qualities to make a good mountain bike?
One way or another it would be interesting to try, that's for sure.
I often whistle or hum tunes while I play my iPod.
I don't want to run the risk of freely distributing the tunes, breaking the law and having them deleted to people who haven't purcahsed the songs. Please plug your ears when I walk buy. I will wear a shirt to advertise my presence encouraging everyone not to listen.
Society has always faulted programmers and engineers for making the world too complicated. Now the opportunity comes about to give every human thousands of IPs so every posession - wether convienient/practical or not - could have an IP address. This just leaves room to abuse w/ the system.
Who will regulate giving each washing machine, etc an IP? Why do this? Will it become more complex for the user to use said device?
I download some tunes from the Net but I purchase the CD's I like and the music I don't like gets deleted - and inevitably I'm glad I listened to it first since it was most disappointing. I've found a lot of artists I never knew about and liked the songs enough to buy the CD.
The music industry should try and promote new artists a bit more. I'm not suggesting it might curb all piracy but playing different tracks, promoting other artists people haven't heard might just tempt them to buy CDs. Makes sense doesn't it?
My suggestions to promote other artists (which might curb the downloading music trend):
1. Rotation on the radio stations blows. Stop hourly regualar rotation of the same 5 songs.
2. Some music stores have demo CD's that you can listen to in the stores. It would be nice if some were more open to sampling to more CDs.
3. Better promotion on labels' websites.
4. Finally, albums more than 2 years tend to jump by %25. Lower the premium, which has stopped me from buying some CDs - and people might not download older albums either.
It looks like most of the video shows in-game cinematics rendered by the games engine. I hope they actually show some game-play video to give a good idea of what the new UI and features are.
I liked DS 1 but, I also found it too repetitive. There was too much hacking and slashing. The "first" character in the game should have been built up a bit better as well as any others you hire. The fact he didn't have to survive until the end tells me the plot development wasn't well thought out.
>> To get the video to play try updating the codec or playing the video a few times. It didn't work at first and after a few tries, it downloaded the codec automatically from the MS server. I'm using WM player 6.x on Windows 2000 so you don't need WM Player 9.x
As computer gurus and nerds we know about Mozilla. A lot of people used to download Netscape when it was really the only "good" browser around.
Most home and corporate users will use IE since it's already there. Otherwise, it means "learning" to use a whole new program which is a big deal for them. I still see people using Netscape 4.x and IE 3.0 and 4.0 since they had it on their computers and could'nt care or don't know about the features in the new browser.
The only thing I see pushing Mozilla would be the banks for people using on-line banking. The security fetures in Mozila as well as the up-to date certificates might mean more people using Mozilla at home.
When record companies are losing money, why don't they act like 99.99% of corporate America: layoffs, trimming budgets, and boost revenue. If the current executives are unwilling, then its time shareholders and music buyers tell them otherwise.
They claim it costs $500,000 to make a new "hit" record (was in an AP story in the newspaper I read a few weeks ago). Some of the 500k included: bar and catering for the artists (others, I'm sure are helping themselves), lawyer fees, 500 hours in the studio @ $200/HR, and a lot of miscelaneous! I'm sure that the air they breathe while recording in the studio is also on the bill.
Spending that much making a record in the first place is foolish. Cut back. Same for paying radio stations to play songs. If a song is catchy, IMO, they'll have to play it for viewing.
Cut back on the spending already! Leave the cash for the artists who are *actually* doing the work.
The context of violent video can easily be mis-constrewed. For instance, Mario and Zelda are violent as it involves killing. Zelda is depicted w/ sword blows (the newer version illustrates it better) while Mario stomps heads. Its the amount of gore which should be questionned. Gore has arguably gotten much worse. Mortal Kombat, GTA, Postal, Doom (sorry J. Carmack if you're reading!!)..... as a series have depicted killing w/ more blood and gore as graphics have improved.
From a quick search on Amazon, interestingly enough, Mortal Kombat the movie is rated PG-13 while the video game is Mature (17 or older). Why the difference? Afterall, if you've watched the movie, "Finish him" -- "Fatality" and all the other notions which made the game "bad" appear in the movie.
Just like all rock and roll is about Sex, Drugs and Rebellion, people listening to Elvis, the Beatles etc haven't generally become drug addicts and criminals as the media and parents believed. Same w/ violent video games. There are those that follow the norm and those that fall out of it.
If nothing else, the amount of weapons, the hitlist etc, all goes to show the mental state of the teens. It proves nothing about violent video games.
I don't see why people are even debating this so early on. Come August, when home and commercial users get their hands on these systems, I'm sure we'll see more than enough benchmarks: Photoshop, 3d animation programs, Quake and other games from so many sources our heads will be spinning. We can then all witness which system comes out on top overall.
I'm a university student. I'm looking to replace Windows and I like that OSX is 'Nix based. I'm seriosly considering buying a MAC now (I was waiting for the announcement before making a descision). I don't think Linux will replace the desktop for:
1) The X font management sucks. I write a lot of essays and need access to fonts for some papers.
2) DLL hell. I use Gnome and KDE sometimes. Mostly I try to use a few of the programs from each. GNU cash, KWORD.... which requires a lot of libraries == unnessary bloat, slowness and confusion when source compiling.
3) Commercial software. Say what you will of Open Source software. There are times when I want/need access to commercial software. Photoshop, Word, etc are all available for the OSX not for Linux. It will be a long time before this happens.
4) Hardware support. Mac have - albeit - limited hardware choice compared to Windows. But, getting hardware to work w/ Linux or FreeBSD means recompiling, getting newer kernels. I don't mind doing it but see it as a waste of time.
5) Better integration. GUI apps are much better integrated in OSX than in X.
6) Appearance. OS X just looks good. Gnome, KDE make me want to puke. Toolbars, message prompts, etc, are all different to name a few.
Will Linux/BSD rival OSX in a year? NO. Will it be widely adopted? No. Will the MAC be widely adopted? Probably a bit more.
Huh? They will be priced at the "You Have To Be KIDDING me!" price point. Trust me.
Me: "I'd like to buy the new Power Mac G5" Sales Rep: "Sure. That will be $$$$$$$." Me: "You want how much??????" Me: "You Have To Be KIDDING me!!!!!!!"
I really don't see a need of burning out everyone and wasting people's lives like this to "try and make a living". Is this mentality of working 12/7 or 12+ hour days just a mentality of corporate "North America"?
It would seem to me that several European countries have imposed maximum work hours (Germany is 40 hours I believe) which are strictly imposed by the gov't. Any company in defiance is fined and the employees compensated.
If you look at much of the African nations and other poor countries, you see that they're only steadily declining in use of CFCs. A majority of the industrial equipment they are using is old, often unsafe and certainly inefficient.
If they were to adopt the hydrogen economy - which they will have to at some point, then what's to say that their quality control in manufacture of the engine parts etc. will prevent unnecessary leakage? Though I have to agree 10 to 20 percent seems way too high, their economy surely won't be able to buy the newest, safest and most ecological hydrogen technology.
I should hope that they decide on another design soon enough and start building a replacement for the space craft. Its a huge project but w/ all the time/effort/money put into the space project they cannot and should not halt it.
Don't walk out w/o money 6 months' savings account. It would be foolish and the job market as it is, makes it hard to find employment. As some people pointed out earlier, your work colleagues may turn out to be your worst enemy when you try to walk/protest.
I suggest writing a carefull (read: diplomatic) letter listing your demands and why you need them met (i.e. long hours & no compensation cannot continue). Do not write an e-mail - they are easily deleted from computers and servers.
Other reasons: 1) It makes a paper record. By sending carbon copies to your manager all the way to the CEO they will have to acknowledge that the issue was brought up and how it was approached.
2) Paper is always good for the courts - if it has to go that far either for wrongful dismissal suit and/or to get unpaid monies after being fired.
3) By writing the letter first, you don't have to rely on having your colleagues to physically approach the boss or manager with you. Have them sign the letter. If they refuse, destroying the letter is easy. By signing, you have physical proof the they are backing you up rather. They won't have a chance of chickening out if you approach the management instead.
I don't believe in "on-line" classroom education. Instead you should consider the opportunities the Internet offers you: an MBA from Harvard University; and by offering to help a desperate diplomat in a 3rd world country (usually Nigeria) you can get millions of dollars: enough working captial to start a medium size business.
If you happen to get the money and the degree quickly, please update here. Many people have been kind enough to help out the diplomat, I hear, but are still waiting for checks to arrive.;)
I'd like to build a smaller and quieter PC with 2 HDDs ie like the mini-PC cases out today. It would be nice if in the next few years they find a way to fit 40 or 60 GB on smaller HDDs which would fit in consumer PCs. The SATA connector pins might in some way help.
I know there are some limits here but remember no more than 10 years ago we'd buy a $500 200 MB 5"1/4 HDD and think it was a bargain. The data density on the platters and the access speed is increasing phenonmenolly.
The trend seems to be catching on with notetaking on Palm pilots with keyboards - at least in the humanities. I studied in CS for a while and anyone who was "typing" or "using" a computer in a lecture were those with laptops. In social sciences - which I'm majoring in now - there are several students in each lecture typing away they the Palm pilots.
I'm rather convinced this will help me out so I am buying a keyboard for my Palm as well. For the most part, I plan to use it solely to take notes from books in the library and take notes for writing papers not for in-lecture use.
While Apple has always charged a premium for its products. Quite understandably too since its the only way to pay for support, R&D, OS design, etc.
However, Apple has not really lowered the cost of the chips to match their "age". The G4s are almost the same price - per CPU - as they were when they first came out to market several years ago. The bleeding edge Intel and AMD processors start @ about $500 - $600 and drop to almost half in 6 months. New bus speeds, memory, etc come out ever year or so. Apple - with still inflated costs - has DDR 266 Ram and a 200 Mhz FSB.
With new processors coming out this year, I might forsee and be able to budget a new computer - which I plan on buying anyways - next summer with a Power 4 in it. I'm on an Windows/FreeBSD box right now but OSX is too appealing. Any OSX lag should be gone. Yea!
My idea for a "perfect" urban and sub-urabn living space would be to have higher density living spaces - smaller houses would be a start - with less "backyard" space. However, every few blocks would have greenspace to share with a bigger park not too far away.
I would also eliminate as much as possible the notion of the driveway and make people walk a bit farther to their cars. One big parking lot for everyone. It makes for more enjoyable greenspace. Yes, this does make moving almost impossible so someone has to figure that one out.
Mass transit would be easily accessible - light rail for instance - reasonably close to the living space.
The major problem here though, IMO, is that strip malls and convienice stores are robbing small businesses of their chance to make money. Small businesses would be forced to moved within the cities and not stay in the suburbs. Where I live in the suburbs strip-malls with Business Depots, large electronics chains etc, where I'd rather shop at local businesses - and I have to go well out of my way.
I'd like to see Id port Doom 3 to Linux. Quake 3 showed that - at least - Linux might be a legitimate gaming platform. Loki showed that it was possible to port many Windows games to Linux. Why not carry this over to Doom 3. This should prove that Linux can compete with Windows.
During a recent visit to my doctor, he was telling me there are little machines now that need only one sample of blood to diagnose over 20 genetic conditions. They're in testing phases right now, although, if I recall some hospitals in the US and Canada are probably using them in "clinical trials". Can someone here find a link?
Chemicals reacting to certain stands in DNA can apparently diagnose you in under 30 seconds for diabetes, MS and a whole bunch of other things. Impressive!
Next time I make a visit to the doctor, the computer will be telling me humans used to practice medicine...;)
Slashdot Mirror
I do a lot of mountain biking. I know there's some engineers who read /.
There are suspension forks which can be purchased for mountain bikes and some offer read suspension.
Assuming, the metal suspension fork is kept and a decent diameter bamboo tubing is used - would the bamboo have sufficient strength, durability and shock absorbing qualities to make a good mountain bike?
One way or another it would be interesting to try, that's for sure.
I often whistle or hum tunes while I play my iPod.
I don't want to run the risk of freely distributing the tunes, breaking the law and having them deleted to people who haven't purcahsed the songs. Please plug your ears when I walk buy. I will wear a shirt to advertise my presence encouraging everyone not to listen.
Have to agree.
Society has always faulted programmers and engineers for making the world too complicated. Now the opportunity comes about to give every human thousands of IPs so every posession - wether convienient/practical or not - could have an IP address. This just leaves room to abuse w/ the system.
Who will regulate giving each washing machine, etc an IP? Why do this? Will it become more complex for the user to use said device?
Razorbaldes.com -- Order on-line and we promise we won't need your picture to process the order.
--
Ok, so it points to Amazon. Oh, well.
I download some tunes from the Net but I purchase the CD's I like and the music I don't like gets deleted - and inevitably I'm glad I listened to it first since it was most disappointing. I've found a lot of artists I never knew about and liked the songs enough to buy the CD.
The music industry should try and promote new artists a bit more. I'm not suggesting it might curb all piracy but playing different tracks, promoting other artists people haven't heard might just tempt them to buy CDs. Makes sense doesn't it?
My suggestions to promote other artists (which might curb the downloading music trend):
1. Rotation on the radio stations blows. Stop hourly regualar rotation of the same 5 songs.
2. Some music stores have demo CD's that you can listen to in the stores. It would be nice if some were more open to sampling to more CDs.
3. Better promotion on labels' websites.
4. Finally, albums more than 2 years tend to jump by %25. Lower the premium, which has stopped me from buying some CDs - and people might not download older albums either.
It looks like most of the video shows in-game cinematics rendered by the games engine. I hope they actually show some game-play video to give a good idea of what the new UI and features are.
I liked DS 1 but, I also found it too repetitive. There was too much hacking and slashing. The "first" character in the game should have been built up a bit better as well as any others you hire. The fact he didn't have to survive until the end tells me the plot development wasn't well thought out.
>> To get the video to play try updating the codec or playing the video a few times. It didn't work at first and after a few tries, it downloaded the codec automatically from the MS server. I'm using WM player 6.x on Windows 2000 so you don't need WM Player 9.x
I don't see this happening.
As computer gurus and nerds we know about Mozilla. A lot of people used to download Netscape when it was really the only "good" browser around.
Most home and corporate users will use IE since it's already there. Otherwise, it means "learning" to use a whole new program which is a big deal for them. I still see people using Netscape 4.x and IE 3.0 and 4.0 since they had it on their computers and could'nt care or don't know about the features in the new browser.
The only thing I see pushing Mozilla would be the banks for people using on-line banking. The security fetures in Mozila as well as the up-to date certificates might mean more people using Mozilla at home.
I remember reading that a new kernel configuration utility/script (ie "make menuconfig") were to be in place for 2.6 .
Has it been merged in yet and/or if not will it be in an AC kernel? If not for 2.6, will it be in a future 2.x kernel or will it be in 3.0?
When record companies are losing money, why don't they act like 99.99% of corporate America: layoffs, trimming budgets, and boost revenue. If the current executives are unwilling, then its time shareholders and music buyers tell them otherwise.
They claim it costs $500,000 to make a new "hit" record (was in an AP story in the newspaper I read a few weeks ago). Some of the 500k included: bar and catering for the artists (others, I'm sure are helping themselves), lawyer fees, 500 hours in the studio @ $200/HR, and a lot of miscelaneous! I'm sure that the air they breathe while recording in the studio is also on the bill.
Spending that much making a record in the first place is foolish. Cut back. Same for paying radio stations to play songs. If a song is catchy, IMO, they'll have to play it for viewing.
Cut back on the spending already! Leave the cash for the artists who are *actually* doing the work.
The context of violent video can easily be mis-constrewed. For instance, Mario and Zelda are violent as it involves killing. Zelda is depicted w/ sword blows (the newer version illustrates it better) while Mario stomps heads. Its the amount of gore which should be questionned. Gore has arguably gotten much worse. Mortal Kombat, GTA, Postal, Doom (sorry J. Carmack if you're reading!!)..... as a series have depicted killing w/ more blood and gore as graphics have improved.
From a quick search on Amazon, interestingly enough, Mortal Kombat the movie is rated PG-13 while the video game is Mature (17 or older). Why the difference? Afterall, if you've watched the movie, "Finish him" -- "Fatality" and all the other notions which made the game "bad" appear in the movie.
Just like all rock and roll is about Sex, Drugs and Rebellion, people listening to Elvis, the Beatles etc haven't generally become drug addicts and criminals as the media and parents believed. Same w/ violent video games. There are those that follow the norm and those that fall out of it.
If nothing else, the amount of weapons, the hitlist etc, all goes to show the mental state of the teens. It proves nothing about violent video games.
I don't see why people are even debating this so early on. Come August, when home and commercial users get their hands on these systems, I'm sure we'll see more than enough benchmarks: Photoshop, 3d animation programs, Quake and other games from so many sources our heads will be spinning. We can then all witness which system comes out on top overall.
I'm a university student. I'm looking to replace Windows and I like that OSX is 'Nix based. I'm seriosly considering buying a MAC now (I was waiting for the announcement before making a descision). I don't think Linux will replace the desktop for:
.... which requires a lot of libraries == unnessary bloat, slowness and confusion when source compiling.
1) The X font management sucks. I write a lot of essays and need access to fonts for some papers.
2) DLL hell. I use Gnome and KDE sometimes. Mostly I try to use a few of the programs from each. GNU cash, KWORD
3) Commercial software. Say what you will of Open Source software. There are times when I want/need access to commercial software. Photoshop, Word, etc are all available for the OSX not for Linux. It will be a long time before this happens.
4) Hardware support. Mac have - albeit - limited hardware choice compared to Windows. But, getting hardware to work w/ Linux or FreeBSD means recompiling, getting newer kernels. I don't mind doing it but see it as a waste of time.
5) Better integration. GUI apps are much better integrated in OSX than in X.
6) Appearance. OS X just looks good. Gnome, KDE make me want to puke. Toolbars, message prompts, etc, are all different to name a few.
Will Linux/BSD rival OSX in a year? NO. Will it be widely adopted? No. Will the MAC be widely adopted? Probably a bit more.
Huh? They will be priced at the "You Have To Be KIDDING me!" price point. Trust me.
Me: "I'd like to buy the new Power Mac G5"
Sales Rep: "Sure. That will be $$$$$$$."
Me: "You want how much??????"
Me: "You Have To Be KIDDING me!!!!!!!"
You see. Its not that hard to accomplish.
I really don't see a need of burning out everyone and wasting people's lives like this to "try and make a living". Is this mentality of working 12/7 or 12+ hour days just a mentality of corporate "North America"?
It would seem to me that several European countries have imposed maximum work hours (Germany is 40 hours I believe) which are strictly imposed by the gov't. Any company in defiance is fined and the employees compensated.
If you look at much of the African nations and other poor countries, you see that they're only steadily declining in use of CFCs. A majority of the industrial equipment they are using is old, often unsafe and certainly inefficient.
If they were to adopt the hydrogen economy - which they will have to at some point, then what's to say that their quality control in manufacture of the engine parts etc. will prevent unnecessary leakage? Though I have to agree 10 to 20 percent seems way too high, their economy surely won't be able to buy the newest, safest and most ecological hydrogen technology.
If something goes wrong? Merry Christmas!
[that was sarcasm not flamebait]
I should hope that they decide on another design soon enough and start building a replacement for the space craft. Its a huge project but w/ all the time/effort/money put into the space project they cannot and should not halt it.
Don't walk out w/o money 6 months' savings account. It would be foolish and the job market as it is, makes it hard to find employment.
As some people pointed out earlier, your work colleagues may turn out to be your worst enemy when you try to walk/protest.
I suggest writing a carefull (read: diplomatic) letter listing your demands and why you need them met (i.e. long hours & no compensation cannot continue). Do not write an e-mail - they are easily deleted from computers and servers.
Other reasons:
1) It makes a paper record. By sending carbon copies to your manager all the way to the CEO they will have to acknowledge that the issue was brought up and how it was approached.
2) Paper is always good for the courts - if it has to go that far either for wrongful dismissal suit and/or to get unpaid monies after being fired.
3) By writing the letter first, you don't have to rely on having your colleagues to physically approach the boss or manager with you. Have them sign the letter. If they refuse, destroying the letter is easy. By signing, you have physical proof the they are backing you up rather. They won't have a chance of chickening out if you approach the management instead.
I don't believe in "on-line" classroom education. Instead you should consider the opportunities the Internet offers you: an MBA from Harvard University; and by offering to help a desperate diplomat in a 3rd world country (usually Nigeria) you can get millions of dollars: enough working captial to start a medium size business.
;)
If you happen to get the money and the degree quickly, please update here. Many people have been kind enough to help out the diplomat, I hear, but are still waiting for checks to arrive.
I'd like to build a smaller and quieter PC with 2 HDDs ie like the mini-PC cases out today. It would be nice if in the next few years they find a way to fit 40 or 60 GB on smaller HDDs which would fit in consumer PCs. The SATA connector pins might in some way help.
I know there are some limits here but remember no more than 10 years ago we'd buy a $500 200 MB 5"1/4 HDD and think it was a bargain. The data density on the platters and the access speed is increasing phenonmenolly.
The trend seems to be catching on with notetaking on Palm pilots with keyboards - at least in the humanities. I studied in CS for a while and anyone who was "typing" or "using" a computer in a lecture were those with laptops. In social sciences - which I'm majoring in now - there are several students in each lecture typing away they the Palm pilots.
I'm rather convinced this will help me out so I am buying a keyboard for my Palm as well. For the most part, I plan to use it solely to take notes from books in the library and take notes for writing papers not for in-lecture use.
While Apple has always charged a premium for its products. Quite understandably too since its the only way to pay for support, R&D, OS design, etc.
However, Apple has not really lowered the cost of the chips to match their "age". The G4s are almost the same price - per CPU - as they were when they first came out to market several years ago. The bleeding edge Intel and AMD processors start @ about $500 - $600 and drop to almost half in 6 months. New bus speeds, memory, etc come out ever year or so. Apple - with still inflated costs - has DDR 266 Ram and a 200 Mhz FSB.
With new processors coming out this year, I might forsee and be able to budget a new computer - which I plan on buying anyways - next summer with a Power 4 in it. I'm on an Windows/FreeBSD box right now but OSX is too appealing. Any OSX lag should be gone. Yea!
My idea for a "perfect" urban and sub-urabn living space would be to have higher density living spaces - smaller houses would be a start - with less "backyard" space. However, every few blocks would have greenspace to share with a bigger park not too far away.
I would also eliminate as much as possible the notion of the driveway and make people walk a bit farther to their cars. One big parking lot for everyone. It makes for more enjoyable greenspace. Yes, this does make moving almost impossible so someone has to figure that one out.
Mass transit would be easily accessible - light rail for instance - reasonably close to the living space.
The major problem here though, IMO, is that strip malls and convienice stores are robbing small businesses of their chance to make money. Small businesses would be forced to moved within the cities and not stay in the suburbs. Where I live in the suburbs strip-malls with Business Depots, large electronics chains etc, where I'd rather shop at local businesses - and I have to go well out of my way.
I'd like to see Id port Doom 3 to Linux. Quake 3 showed that - at least - Linux might be a legitimate gaming platform. Loki showed that it was possible to port many Windows games to Linux. Why not carry this over to Doom 3. This should prove that Linux can compete with Windows.
There seems to be a consensus the browser should be called "Phoenix". Rather than spell it out alphabetically why not use the L33T spelling such as:
Ph03NiXX
I think this is distinguishing enough that no confusion should occur.
During a recent visit to my doctor, he was telling me there are little machines now that need only one sample of blood to diagnose over 20 genetic conditions. They're in testing phases right now, although, if I recall some hospitals in the US and Canada are probably using them in "clinical trials". Can someone here find a link?
;)
Chemicals reacting to certain stands in DNA can apparently diagnose you in under 30 seconds for diabetes, MS and a whole bunch of other things. Impressive!
Next time I make a visit to the doctor, the computer will be telling me humans used to practice medicine...