"for example by looking for symmetric traffic on your internet line"
I use a cable line for internet not DSL...
And number's arent stored in the system, only area codes.
A Telco cant take away your service just for being on the phone line alot.
And in the event that I am wrong and they can disable your service. I can still sign up for an alternative provider...we now have choice for local phone service since the 1996 Telco Act...right?
Do you want to hook up a regular cordless phone base station to your computer and use the accompanying cordless phone to dial out to skype users?
I think the best you can do in this situation is have one of the phones that supports something like an intercom.
Then use skype to call some one, and have your modem forward the audio down the phone cord to the base station and then through the air to your cordless.
Im thinking that this isnt actually possible though. Because I'm not sure if phones can work like that. It is the equivalent of taking 2phones and wiring them together directly. Stand in 2 rooms and see if you can talk to each other.
If this is possible then I think what you want is also possible.
well most computers still come with modems. And the ability to screen based on the caller having his modem hooked up also would provide an incentive.
But your paypal idea could easily be worked into the equation. but in order for it to be a good deal it would need to be like $0.001/min
and I think there would be enough users in each area code who decided to go for free that the paypal people would nver get used.
Most people barely use their telephones, so you would only need a few skype users (10 pretty good uptime, 100 infinite up time) in each area code with their modem's hooked up to provide a good chance of their being a modem available at all times.
And in the end the idea is basically just a gimmick. No guaruntees are made, its just a cool little way to get around paying long distance.
Someone mentioned that free world dial up already has this ability but since it is controled by that company and not the users, and that company (from the admittedly little that I know about them) seems to not have a business model eventually they will switch to a pay service like all the others.
The paypal idea should work really well in places that do charge pre minute. In that case there will be no incentive to do a free modem and everyone will set up paypal accounts and it wont be hard to beat the crappy rates of most phone companies.
yeah...I thought of that. I think the client program that everyone runs could easily make sure that the phone number is in their area code and wont have any charges.
You could put a list of the area codes that you can call for free to into the computer and it is pretty easy to make sure only those area codes are used.
I guess it was short sighted of me to think that everyone had free local call...sucks to not be in the US. Companies know that we wont pay for anything by the minute.....except cell phones... and even then you get a block of minutes for a set price before per minute pricing kicks in.
Even if this feature was only limited to the US that is still a large demographic that could make use of the feature.
um... I can transmit voice over my phone line with my modem by simply using the microphone on my computer. I have done this before, even my old compaq from...1996 had this capability in it's 33.6 modem.
What am I missing here? Instead of having the modem use the mic input it could use an audio signal that your computer took off the internet.
Help me to understand the issue you raised. If it turns out this idea sucks as, well it was worth a shot anyways:-)
well obviously some encryption could be used until the last possible second before offloading it to the modem.
If that turns out not to be possible, you wouldnt use this for a call that required privacy. If that is the case it sounds like paying long distance would be worth it for the privacy that you want. therefore you wouldnt even be in the market for this use.
Not that I dont have my own gripes about acrobat, mainly the fact that it takes forever to load up the full version or even just the plugin. And I have an Athlon XP 3200+!
Even longer since I switched to Firefox, though that might just be my imaginatin.
I was thinking about this the earlier today, and since it is relevant to this story I thought I would post it.
Currently Skype is a computer to computer only program, but I have an idea to make it somewhat better.
At signup each user should put in his local calling area/country codes whatever they all are.
Then each user has the option of donating his phone line by hooking up his modem to the phone cord.
Whenever someone wants to call a phone number they could try Skype, or a similar program, and the Skype network would then go search for any available modems in that area code. If there is one then your call would be sent over the net to that computer, and out on his modem.
Now obviously this is a pretty generous donation on the part of the users. There fore there would have to be controls given to the user such as only allow people to call through your line if they are sharing their line. And there needs to be a polite "get off my phone I need it" button for when a Skype user is using your phone and you need it. Something like a message interrupting the call saying "the host modem owner want to use his phone line, please end your call in 30 seconds or it will be disconnected for you."
And if there are no modems available in the area code you wish, you will get a message telling you so.
I think this is would be a nice way of getting around long distance even to people who don't own a computer and/or use Skype.
Are there any technical problems with routing audio info taken from the internet into the modem in the computer without the host having to listen to it over his speakers?
Check it out on www.brankrate.com for virtual bank's money market accounts.
Unlike PayPal they are FDIC insured and the interest rate is 2.15% compared to PayPal's 1%
THIS IS A REAL BANK.
While it doesn't provide the money transfer features that PayPal does, its better safe haven for your money. And still nice and accessible from the internet.
I'm not sure if you can hook up virtualbank to paypal like you can other bank accounts, but it seems feasible.
Hello?!?! I didnt hide it, I read the whole topic, saw this guy's question, and later on some one had a post that seemd to answer his question, So I copied the whole post including its current score (which was a ZERO at the time not plus 5) and everything else Instead of making a link to it.
I wasnt trying to rack up karma or anything, just connecting someone who had a question to some one who had an answer.
Also if you are in it for the money market fund rate which used to be awsome at 5% now it is hovering at 1% check out www.virtualbank.com a real FDIC insured bank with a 2.15% interest money market acount.
Well, I used the suspend to disk mode of Win XP (hibernate) all the time since my computer is rather loud, and it saves power.
I do this mainly because it is much faster than a shut down + startup. And also because I will have many programs open and I just want to pause what I'm doing and come back later.
Unfortunately this leads me to avoid shutting down at all in order to keep browser windows open mostly. Though I saw a post about a plugin for firefox to save just the tabs to disk, instead of me having to book mark them all.
Website on this topic (Score:0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 09, @01:57AM (#9098550) General-purpose computation using graphics hardware has been a significant topic of study for the last few years. Pointers to a lot of papers and discussion on the subject are available at: www.gpgpu.org [gpgpu.org]
Dont go to a private college. Check out the top schools for CE,EE, and CS many of them are state schools. Mine, The University of Texas @ Austin being one of them.
my tuition and living costs are closer to 10-15k than 40k a year.
Yeah I noticed that if I dont metamoderate religously im more likly to get mod points..which seems contrary to what they tell you, I get them atleast once a week these days
How do you get past "good" karma?
Just wondering, does anyone know how succesful WTO complaints are?
I know the US got slapped on the wrist for steel tariffs, but it sounds like China does this stuff all the time, and I never hear of any disciplinary actions taken by the WTO.
"Imagine having a computer using PCI Express and whacking a gfx card in each slot - renderfarm-in-a-box!"
"The future is indeed exciting."
Well that WOULD be awsome, but we all know that no motherboard maker will have the guts to produce a board with more than one 16x(or is it 32x?) I would be surprised if we ever see more than one or two 8x slots. (has any board ever had more than 1 agp slot to have 2 real graphics cards running a dual monitor set up. or 3 for that 120 degree look in fps games)
I would say only count the last vote, to allow for mind changes on election day, or possible mind changes after absentee ballots have been mailed in. (ballots sometimes change between those 2 times)
Oh and iPhoto and iTunes are SOOOO original. right along with eMachines, eBusiness, i-(insert random thing that used to have nothing to do with the internet)
Whats the point of whining about ripping off a name when the name being ripped off wasn't original in the first place??????
Come on, some mac addict just wanted to complain about the next big thing stealing the look and feel of Apple. Though in certain fonts I(i), 1(the number), and l (L) almost look exactly the same, but not the lowercase 'i'.
Slashdot Mirror
"for example by looking for symmetric traffic on your internet line"
I use a cable line for internet not DSL...
And number's arent stored in the system, only area codes.
A Telco cant take away your service just for being on the phone line alot.
And in the event that I am wrong and they can disable your service. I can still sign up for an alternative provider...we now have choice for local phone service since the 1996 Telco Act...right?
I'm confused.
Do you want to hook up a regular cordless phone base station to your computer and use the accompanying cordless phone to dial out to skype users?
I think the best you can do in this situation is have one of the phones that supports something like an intercom.
Then use skype to call some one, and have your modem forward the audio down the phone cord to the base station and then through the air to your cordless.
Im thinking that this isnt actually possible though. Because I'm not sure if phones can work like that. It is the equivalent of taking 2phones and wiring them together directly. Stand in 2 rooms and see if you can talk to each other.
If this is possible then I think what you want is also possible.
well most computers still come with modems. And the ability to screen based on the caller having his modem hooked up also would provide an incentive.
But your paypal idea could easily be worked into the equation. but in order for it to be a good deal it would need to be like $0.001/min
and I think there would be enough users in each area code who decided to go for free that the paypal people would nver get used.
Most people barely use their telephones, so you would only need a few skype users (10 pretty good uptime, 100 infinite up time) in each area code with their modem's hooked up to provide a good chance of their being a modem available at all times.
And in the end the idea is basically just a gimmick. No guaruntees are made, its just a cool little way to get around paying long distance.
Someone mentioned that free world dial up already has this ability but since it is controled by that company and not the users, and that company (from the admittedly little that I know about them) seems to not have a business model eventually they will switch to a pay service like all the others.
The paypal idea should work really well in places that do charge pre minute. In that case there will be no incentive to do a free modem and everyone will set up paypal accounts and it wont be hard to beat the crappy rates of most phone companies.
No, don't attempt to trust the guy at all.
Only use the FREE service if
A) you are not a privacy freak
or
B) your call doesn't require privacy
yeah...I thought of that. I think the client program that everyone runs could easily make sure that the phone number is in their area code and wont have any charges.
You could put a list of the area codes that you can call for free to into the computer and it is pretty easy to make sure only those area codes are used.
I guess it was short sighted of me to think that everyone had free local call...sucks to not be in the US. Companies know that we wont pay for anything by the minute.....except cell phones... and even then you get a block of minutes for a set price before per minute pricing kicks in.
Even if this feature was only limited to the US that is still a large demographic that could make use of the feature.
Oh ok, I thought maybe there was another reason that I wasn't aware of.
On this point I agree with you, infact my computer did lock up for more than a few seconds when I opened that pdf.
Is that adobe's fault or what? Seems like they have a knack for bloatware...
um... I can transmit voice over my phone line with my modem by simply using the microphone on my computer. I have done this before, even my old compaq from...1996 had this capability in it's 33.6 modem.
:-)
What am I missing here? Instead of having the modem use the mic input it could use an audio signal that your computer took off the internet.
Help me to understand the issue you raised. If it turns out this idea sucks as, well it was worth a shot anyways
well obviously some encryption could be used until the last possible second before offloading it to the modem.
If that turns out not to be possible, you wouldnt use this for a call that required privacy. If that is the case it sounds like paying long distance would be worth it for the privacy that you want. therefore you wouldnt even be in the market for this use.
may I ask why?
Not that I dont have my own gripes about acrobat, mainly the fact that it takes forever to load up the full version or even just the plugin. And I have an Athlon XP 3200+!
Even longer since I switched to Firefox, though that might just be my imaginatin.
I was thinking about this the earlier today, and since it is relevant to this story I thought I would post it.
Currently Skype is a computer to computer only program, but I have an idea to make it somewhat better.
At signup each user should put in his local calling area/country codes whatever they all are.
Then each user has the option of donating his phone line by hooking up his modem to the phone cord.
Whenever someone wants to call a phone number they could try Skype, or a similar program, and the Skype network would then go search for any available modems in that area code. If there is one then your call would be sent over the net to that computer, and out on his modem.
Now obviously this is a pretty generous donation on the part of the users. There fore there would have to be controls given to the user such as only allow people to call through your line if they are sharing their line. And there needs to be a polite "get off my phone I need it" button for when a Skype user is using your phone and you need it. Something like a message interrupting the call saying "the host modem owner want to use his phone line, please end your call in 30 seconds or it will be disconnected for you."
And if there are no modems available in the area code you wish, you will get a message telling you so.
I think this is would be a nice way of getting around long distance even to people who don't own a computer and/or use Skype.
Are there any technical problems with routing audio info taken from the internet into the modem in the computer without the host having to listen to it over his speakers?
What do you guys think?
www.virtualbank.com
Check it out on www.brankrate.com for virtual bank's money market accounts.
Unlike PayPal they are FDIC insured and the interest rate is 2.15% compared to PayPal's 1%
THIS IS A REAL BANK.
While it doesn't provide the money transfer features that PayPal does, its better safe haven for your money. And still nice and accessible from the internet.
I'm not sure if you can hook up virtualbank to paypal like you can other bank accounts, but it seems feasible.
Hello?!?! I didnt hide it, I read the whole topic, saw this guy's question, and later on some one had a post that seemd to answer his question, So I copied the whole post including its current score (which was a ZERO at the time not plus 5) and everything else Instead of making a link to it.
I wasnt trying to rack up karma or anything, just connecting someone who had a question to some one who had an answer.
even worse than a sequence of tunes; the patent could say "varying tones used in a certain order to invoke an emotional response"
:)
I just patented a ton of music
www.paypalsuck.com
Check it out, there are lots of complaints.
Also if you are in it for the money market fund rate which used to be awsome at 5% now it is hovering at 1% check out www.virtualbank.com a real FDIC insured bank with a 2.15% interest money market acount.
www.bankrate.com is where I found them.
Well, I used the suspend to disk mode of Win XP (hibernate) all the time since my computer is rather loud, and it saves power.
I do this mainly because it is much faster than a shut down + startup. And also because I will have many programs open and I just want to pause what I'm doing and come back later.
Unfortunately this leads me to avoid shutting down at all in order to keep browser windows open mostly. Though I saw a post about a plugin for firefox to save just the tabs to disk, instead of me having to book mark them all.
some one else posted this...
www.gpgpu.org
Website on this topic (Score:0)
by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 09, @01:57AM (#9098550)
General-purpose computation using graphics hardware has been a significant topic of study for the last few years. Pointers to a lot of papers and discussion on the subject are available at: www.gpgpu.org [gpgpu.org]
Dont go to a private college. Check out the top schools for CE,EE, and CS many of them are state schools. Mine, The University of Texas @ Austin being one of them.
my tuition and living costs are closer to 10-15k than 40k a year.
Yeah I noticed that if I dont metamoderate religously im more likly to get mod points..which seems contrary to what they tell you, I get them atleast once a week these days
How do you get past "good" karma?
Just wondering, does anyone know how succesful WTO complaints are?
I know the US got slapped on the wrist for steel tariffs, but it sounds like China does this stuff all the time, and I never hear of any disciplinary actions taken by the WTO.
because there is no clause in the GPL that says
"If you use this, you owe me your soul and all possible profits made from the use of this product"
It actually says quite the opposite and encourages companies to try to profit from it.
"Imagine having a computer using PCI Express and whacking a gfx card in each slot - renderfarm-in-a-box!"
"The future is indeed exciting."
Well that WOULD be awsome, but we all know that no motherboard maker will have the guts to produce a board with more than one 16x(or is it 32x?) I would be surprised if we ever see more than one or two 8x slots. (has any board ever had more than 1 agp slot to have 2 real graphics cards running a dual monitor set up. or 3 for that 120 degree look in fps games)
But I sure do hope I am wrong and you are right!
I would say only count the last vote, to allow for mind changes on election day, or possible mind changes after absentee ballots have been mailed in. (ballots sometimes change between those 2 times)
"from the not-much-loriginatility dept."
Oh and iPhoto and iTunes are SOOOO original. right along with eMachines, eBusiness, i-(insert random thing that used to have nothing to do with the internet)
Whats the point of whining about ripping off a name when the name being ripped off wasn't original in the first place??????
Come on, some mac addict just wanted to complain about the next big thing stealing the look and feel of Apple. Though in certain fonts I(i), 1(the number), and l (L) almost look exactly the same, but not the lowercase 'i'.
if it is any consolidation I figured you meant negative, and not huge positive.
Good BttF joke
Half billion here, half billion there... Microsoft can afford it, and all those people were whining about the EU fine....