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User: blockparty

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  1. volunteer and interest groups on Open Source CD Lending For Public Libraries? · · Score: 1

    In some cases these (award winning) sites might be useful. volunteermatch and meetup Good Luck.

  2. Why not ? on Radio Credit Cards Move Closer · · Score: 1

    The Interstate highway systems in some states use an electronic pass like this except it's got a small lithium battery. You set up an account with them, (they ask for your personal info and keep it in their database) they give you the electronic pass, and you're set. You're supposed to mount it on your windsheild but I don't. I just leave it in the glove compartment and put it in an anti-static bag if I don't want it going off. Interestingly the exact same kind of anti-static bag used for PC boards. When I want to use it I just pull it out toss it up on the dash. If I travel with friends I sometimes pay for the toll by just bringing my pass with me. If their pass just happens to be in the car at the same time it gets charged too. If you have no money in your account you pass, but an orange "low account" light goes off at the toll station. Their's always a cop sitting there hehe. The pass has some kind of piezo buzzer inside of it - I'm told this is a very recent addition, the old ones did not have any kind of indicator. California has a pass.When I was in Kansas City the other day I noticed they have a k-pass (kansas) for the whole state of kansas. I took an old one apart that was from Oklahoma once and it was pretty thin! Not quite credit card thin but pretty good for 1996 technology. Do a google search for ELECTRONIC TOLL COLLECTION. My question is why don't they already have electronic credit cards in widespread use?

  3. hmm... on Wireless-Friendly Microwaves · · Score: 1
    Here's their research, or some of it anyway. Oh, also here.

    The US and UK came out with 10 centimeter radar in 1943 to sink U-boats. It turned the war around for us! God Bless you Magnetron.

    Anyway, that's more than 60 years ago. I've still not seen anything these guys have done that someone else should have already come up with by now.

    High frequency EM waves also travel around anything metal (skin effect), like sheet metal siding and power lines.

    Look at the headquarters for NORAD. It's deep inside a mountain. But if a nuclear weapon went off nearby and the mountain just had one metal pipe connecting the inside to the surface, then a wicked EM burst would shoot straight in there and fry all sorts of electronic devices, the ones that weren't radiation hardened anyway.

    This is why I'm sticking with the sheilding idea for now.

    Maybe these guys did more research than I've yet seen and they desrve more credit. In any case Lau, Gilgenbach, and Neculaes have some press so now they can get more grant money. Nice.
  4. Noise and Bands too close together. on Wireless-Friendly Microwaves · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Every microwave I've ever taken apart just has the series of control parts (timer, switches, fuse) and the magnetron\waveguide assembly part of which is a feedhorn pointed directly into the cooking cavity.That's all it is. The metal chassis of the microwave reflects or grounds out the RF. The problem is not only does a microwave operate very,very close to the 2.5 gig band just like 802.11 spec it also has a crummy "see thru" screen on the front with holes punched out just slightly smaller than 1 or 2 mm. Just small enought to keep wavelengths around 10-12 centimeters and below inside the box and anything above that escapes. The magnetron is noisy, it emmits spurious rf across the spectrum. The FDA has emission standards for the later model ovens. 5 mWatt/sq.CM at any point within 10 CM of cooker! Most new microwaves do a lot better than that. Solution: obviously make better sheilding inside the box, maybe a wire webbing. (I wonder what's up with pacemakers?)

  5. Re:no one will probably read it, but on IBM Moving Developer Jobs Overseas · · Score: 1

    I agree with what you're saying about managers. The very first thing I examine before I go to work for someone (especially long term) is "what is the managment like there?". All too often the engineers and technicians are left out of all the decision making - among other things. I remember years ago I would work in maintenance and repair and get blamed for things that 'malfunctioned' yet had nothing to do with my work. It's because the people I worked for knew nothing about the systems or anything else. The management of some places treat their employees like some kind of "raw material".

  6. good things will happen. on IBM Moving Developer Jobs Overseas · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Everyone is so fixated on IBM's plans they are overlooking a very,very important fact: Nearly a THIRD of this countries population was born before 1964. This means that over the next 20 years or so MILLIONS of people will begin to retire. All sorts of positions will open. The long term outlook for anyone in the tech feild in this country is very rosy.