Organisms that don't need external water
on
Helicopter In Space
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· Score: 1
To partly answer your challenge, there are a few organisms on earth that can survive without water: the only one I can think of offhand is a type of desert mouse (can't quite recall the name at the moment).
It survives primarily off of the H2O it gets from cellular respiration. Of course, this would require a good supply of oxygen, but it does get one thinking.
I second the parent post. Oftentimes I've searched successfully for Tuva music. That's Mongolian (I think) throat singing. Not exactly top 40, but cool nonetheless.
I can't rememberwhere I saw it, but I remember hearing something a while back confirming that Xybernaut (a company which holds most of the patents on wearable computers) has an NDA with Transmeta.
Though it's still under heavy development, ClanLib (http://clanlib.org) is fairly groovy for making games. It's LGPL'd and can be used as both a low-level and high-level game development library. I've used it in making my game ClanMecha (http://clanmecha.sourceforge.net), and find it to be quite satisfactory.
You've never seen OOG?!? He's one of the coolest posters on slash! Though he USES ALL CAPS, he's still one of the most insightful posters I've seen. Though the above posts (and this one) may be completely offtopic, please don't judge OOG badly. The caveman's my hero!
Perhaps it would be interesting for a bunch of us programmers to get together and make a really "Incorrect" game based on the recent shootings, just to piss people off. It could be something like a really messed up 'Postal,' except GPLed.
Heck, I'm surprised there aren't any MODs out for any of the first person shooters based on these events.
My high school's going to be attending a similar contest (on a smaller scale, of course) at Stetson University, in Florida. Hopefully, I'll be placed on the team. Does anybody with experience with these sorts of contests have any tips for us? Information on how best to coordinate a team, reference books to bring, documents to read before hand, etc.?
The main hurdle I see is that fact that only one workstation is available for the entire team, which is definitely awkward.
It'd help to know just what sort of project it is that you're working on.
Though I wouldn't use it myself, I just thought of an idea for a OSS (non-free) game: in-game advertising! It'd be kind of neat (and profitable) to, say, have a gigantic Pepsi logo in the middle of a multiplayer arena. Or would it?
Believe me, they work wonders. The main thing you have to keep in mind is how smart the admins at your school are. If you can subvertly install Linux without being noticed and/or traced, go for it.
You might even be able to pull it off when the teacher's in the room. If you can't, wait until a sub comes in --- then just pop in the CDs and repartition away.
It may sound drastic, but sometimes that's what's required. The trick is to make it so that even if you are "caught," the administration can't touch you. It all depends on how the rules at your school are worded exactly.
Do what you need to first, and then feign ignorance later. (^o^)
Though the Linux presence at our school is pretty small, I think we're getting somewhere. We've semi-covertly got Slack loaded on some Pentium III's in the computer lab we hold our meetings in, and use them to process Seti@home chunks. Check out the page for the computers at http://irc.web-docs.net/seti/ and http://irc.web-docs.net/seti/complist.html .
It's amazing how interested people get in these computers. Students wondering what Linux is like can come over and oogle at the boxes. Some of my teachers have even been interested in seeing the computers themselves, just to find out more about Linux.
Also, our high school's entire yearbook network is dependent on a Linux appletalk server our vice president has got running in there. In fact, the school is training a freshman to use Linux so that they'll be able to keep things going when he leaves.
To give credit where it's due, the vice president of the club, brtb, has done a lot more for Linux at our school than I have. He frequents slashdot, and has probably made a post somewhere in this discussion. He'll probably be president next year (after I graduate), so things are looking good for the club.
Oh, and Brendan: my apolgies if I've said anything I should've kept to myself. (^o^)
when Mulder woke up after being "absorbed" into the system, took off the Xybernaut headset, and recklessly tossed the unit into the air? Sweet Lucca, I hope that was a dummy unit.
I can't believe that guy that was the head of the company was freaking out about the game not being perfect. Personally, if I had a computer like that capable of manipulating the laws of physics (chopping of heads, hands, what have you), I'd think it'd be worth quite a bit more than some semi-realistic Wolfenstein rip-off.
And the financial folks were calmed just by seeing the FBI signature? Generally I'd think that'd have the opposite effect.
TheDullBlade et al., thanks for the advice. I'm currently trying to fatten/build myself up a little bit, as I'm expecting to move up north to go to college in a few months. I wouldn't want to freeze now, would I?
Seriously though, I don't think it's an anorexia thing with me (I hope this isn't denial). I think it's probably a mix of having a high metabolism and not getting hungry often. I'm trying to force myself to both eat and exercise more.
I am a little worried though with my periodic coding frenzies. For example, over this last winter holiday I went on a 2 week coding spree where I was in a rush to get ClanMecha (my coding project) in a state ready to ship off to the college's I'm applying to, and ate even less than usual. I ended up dropping from my previous 116 to my current fluctuation between 113 and 114.
Needless to say, I'm trying to make sure I don't forget to eat like that again.
Pity too, as it seems the d/l's completely stalled. Every once in a while I get a little burst, but at this rate, it'll take me more than a few hours to get.
I'm probably an example of a coder who isn't dieting, but still weighs too little; you have no idea how many girls have told me they wish they had my hourglass figure. I figure there's something wrong in my stomach/brain/connection to my brain, as I never quite seem to eat as much as I should. I've got a feeling I'm going to be subsisting on this "Dilberito" thing in college. 'Course, since it doesn't have 100% of -everything-, I might have to eat two a day. Joy.
Xybernaut reportedly has a more affordable consumer model (MA V) due in the third quarter of this year. It likely won't be -cheap-, but at least less than the current $5000-$8000. Personally, I'm going to be waiting until this comes out before I buy one myself (planning to use it as my primary college computer (^o^).
Groovy thing is, some rumors say that the new model will be using Crusoe (Xybernaut has an NDA with Transmeta).
BTW, the reason the price is currently up so high on the MA IV is that Xybernaut primarily sells to large firms or the government, who really don't care about the price, but rather the return they receive.
Re:Greetings from VA Linux / Andover.net!
on
Linus Interview
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· Score: 1
The message is definitely offtopic, but is it authentic? I checked and this is the only message the user "VA Linux Systems" has posted in the past few weeks.
If my memory serves me correctly, a blowhole is in all likelihood an adapted nasal passage. It started out in the front, like in most other mammals, but over time it gradually moved upwards.
Concerning mutations, there were undoubtedly some mutations which caused the blowhole to be placed either a little bit higher, or a little bit lower, than in the parent. The thing about air-breathing sea denizens is that they have to come up for air from time to time, even when chasing prey. If a blowhole is too low, a dolphin would have to raise its head up above the water more in order to gasp in some air; if its higher, a dolphin loses less speed when chasing after fish. A dolphin which catches fish has a greater tendency to survive than a dolphin which loses its prey whenever it has to stop for air; thus, natural selection tends to favor dolphins with higher blowholes.
Mutations also tend to cause small changes: a one or two centimeter shift in the position of a blowhole is -much- more likely than a mutation which would radically alter the respiratory system and cause a nasal passage to appear on a dolphin's tail (as you mentioned in your post).
Oh, and I'm posting this from lynx, so forgive me if the formatting of my post is crap.
This reminds me: what happened to the supposed segment on DeCSS on ABC WorldNews? I've been watching it every day for the past week (perhaps what they intended), and haven't seen a thing!
for Congressman John Mica last summer (gave me credit for scholarships and the like). Whenever somebody phoned in to us or sent us a letter, we would summarize the letter, with the constituent's name and address, in an e-mail to the Congressman's Washington office. I also believe that direct e-mails could be sent up to the Washington office.
Transmeta. This, of course, should mean some pretty spicy freshness for wearable PCs. I'm not certain, but I think they're currently using a 200 pentium in there; replacing that with a 700 Crusoe should speed it up a good bit and use less power. Might even cost less.
And yes, I just purchased stock in Xybernaut (XYBR).
Question though: does the display system of a Xybernaut system (which beams into your eye) use less power than a regular LCD?
I -need- to acces this, and I'm at school right now. Is there any way to access IRC using some sort of non-download IRC client? Any sort of mirrors or the like (the main stream's down!).
Is it possible for him to keep them from using "Linux" in their company name (and thus stop their quasi-bunk IPO)? If it is, is it proper for him to do so?
Slashdot Mirror
To partly answer your challenge, there are a few organisms on earth that can survive without water: the only one I can think of offhand is a type of desert mouse (can't quite recall the name at the moment).
It survives primarily off of the H2O it gets from cellular respiration. Of course, this would require a good supply of oxygen, but it does get one thinking.
I second the parent post. Oftentimes I've searched successfully for Tuva music. That's Mongolian (I think) throat singing. Not exactly top 40, but cool nonetheless.
I can't rememberwhere I saw it, but I remember hearing something a while back confirming that Xybernaut (a company which holds most of the patents on wearable computers) has an NDA with Transmeta.
Though it's still under heavy development, ClanLib (http://clanlib.org) is fairly groovy for making games. It's LGPL'd and can be used as both a low-level and high-level game development library. I've used it in making my game ClanMecha (http://clanmecha.sourceforge.net), and find it to be quite satisfactory.
You've never seen OOG?!? He's one of the coolest posters on slash! Though he USES ALL CAPS, he's still one of the most insightful posters I've seen. Though the above posts (and this one) may be completely offtopic, please don't judge OOG badly. The caveman's my hero!
Perhaps it would be interesting for a bunch of us programmers to get together and make a really "Incorrect" game based on the recent shootings, just to piss people off. It could be something like a really messed up 'Postal,' except GPLed.
Heck, I'm surprised there aren't any MODs out for any of the first person shooters based on these events.
Hi all,
My high school's going to be attending a similar contest (on a smaller scale, of course) at Stetson University, in Florida. Hopefully, I'll be placed on the team. Does anybody with experience with these sorts of contests have any tips for us? Information on how best to coordinate a team, reference books to bring, documents to read before hand, etc.?
The main hurdle I see is that fact that only one workstation is available for the entire team, which is definitely awkward.
It'd help to know just what sort of project it is that you're working on.
Though I wouldn't use it myself, I just thought of an idea for a OSS (non-free) game: in-game advertising! It'd be kind of neat (and profitable) to, say, have a gigantic Pepsi logo in the middle of a multiplayer arena. Or would it?
Believe me, they work wonders. The main thing you have to keep in mind is how smart the admins at your school are. If you can subvertly install Linux without being noticed and/or traced, go for it.
You might even be able to pull it off when the teacher's in the room. If you can't, wait until a sub comes in --- then just pop in the CDs and repartition away.
It may sound drastic, but sometimes that's what's required. The trick is to make it so that even if you are "caught," the administration can't touch you. It all depends on how the rules at your school are worded exactly.
Do what you need to first, and then feign ignorance later. (^o^)
Though the Linux presence at our school is pretty small, I think we're getting somewhere. We've semi-covertly got Slack loaded on some Pentium III's in the computer lab we hold our meetings in, and use them to process Seti@home chunks. Check out the page for the computers at http://irc.web-docs.net/seti/ and http://irc.web-docs.net/seti/complist.html .
It's amazing how interested people get in these computers. Students wondering what Linux is like can come over and oogle at the boxes. Some of my teachers have even been interested in seeing the computers themselves, just to find out more about Linux.
Also, our high school's entire yearbook network is dependent on a Linux appletalk server our vice president has got running in there. In fact, the school is training a freshman to use Linux so that they'll be able to keep things going when he leaves.
To give credit where it's due, the vice president of the club, brtb, has done a lot more for Linux at our school than I have. He frequents slashdot, and has probably made a post somewhere in this discussion. He'll probably be president next year (after I graduate), so things are looking good for the club.
Oh, and Brendan: my apolgies if I've said anything I should've kept to myself. (^o^)
when Mulder woke up after being "absorbed" into the system, took off the Xybernaut headset, and recklessly tossed the unit into the air? Sweet Lucca, I hope that was a dummy unit.
I can't believe that guy that was the head of the company was freaking out about the game not being perfect. Personally, if I had a computer like that capable of manipulating the laws of physics (chopping of heads, hands, what have you), I'd think it'd be worth quite a bit more than some semi-realistic Wolfenstein rip-off.
And the financial folks were calmed just by seeing the FBI signature? Generally I'd think that'd have the opposite effect.
TheDullBlade et al., thanks for the advice. I'm currently trying to fatten/build myself up a little bit, as I'm expecting to move up north to go to college in a few months. I wouldn't want to freeze now, would I?
Seriously though, I don't think it's an anorexia thing with me (I hope this isn't denial). I think it's probably a mix of having a high metabolism and not getting hungry often. I'm trying to force myself to both eat and exercise more.
I am a little worried though with my periodic coding frenzies. For example, over this last winter holiday I went on a 2 week coding spree where I was in a rush to get ClanMecha (my coding project) in a state ready to ship off to the college's I'm applying to, and ate even less than usual. I ended up dropping from my previous 116 to my current fluctuation between 113 and 114.
Needless to say, I'm trying to make sure I don't forget to eat like that again.
Pity too, as it seems the d/l's completely stalled. Every once in a while I get a little burst, but at this rate, it'll take me more than a few hours to get.
This is about the last portion of the comment.
I'm probably an example of a coder who isn't dieting, but still weighs too little; you have no idea how many girls have told me they wish they had my hourglass figure. I figure there's something wrong in my stomach/brain/connection to my brain, as I never quite seem to eat as much as I should. I've got a feeling I'm going to be subsisting on this "Dilberito" thing in college. 'Course, since it doesn't have 100% of -everything-, I might have to eat two a day. Joy.
Xybernaut reportedly has a more affordable consumer model (MA V) due in the third quarter of this year. It likely won't be -cheap-, but at least less than the current $5000-$8000. Personally, I'm going to be waiting until this comes out before I buy one myself (planning to use it as my primary college computer (^o^).
Groovy thing is, some rumors say that the new model will be using Crusoe (Xybernaut has an NDA with Transmeta).
BTW, the reason the price is currently up so high on the MA IV is that Xybernaut primarily sells to large firms or the government, who really don't care about the price, but rather the return they receive.
The message is definitely offtopic, but is it authentic? I checked and this is the only message the user "VA Linux Systems" has posted in the past few weeks.
Freaky, eh?
I suppose that certainly beats using a radio to call down the Mothership.
If my memory serves me correctly, a blowhole is in all likelihood an adapted nasal passage. It started out in the front, like in most other mammals, but over time it gradually moved upwards.
Concerning mutations, there were undoubtedly some mutations which caused the blowhole to be placed either a little bit higher, or a little bit lower, than in the parent. The thing about air-breathing sea denizens is that they have to come up for air from time to time, even when chasing prey. If a blowhole is too low, a dolphin would have to raise its head up above the water more in order to gasp in some air; if its higher, a dolphin loses less speed when chasing after fish. A dolphin which catches fish has a greater tendency to survive than a dolphin which loses its prey whenever it has to stop for air; thus, natural selection tends to favor dolphins with higher blowholes.
Mutations also tend to cause small changes: a one or two centimeter shift in the position of a blowhole is -much- more likely than a mutation which would radically alter the respiratory system and cause a nasal passage to appear on a dolphin's tail (as you mentioned in your post).
Oh, and I'm posting this from lynx, so forgive me if the formatting of my post is crap.
This reminds me: what happened to the supposed segment on DeCSS on ABC WorldNews? I've been watching it every day for the past week (perhaps what they intended), and haven't seen a thing!
Perhaps the ABC-Disney connection silenced it?
for Congressman John Mica last summer (gave me credit for scholarships and the like). Whenever somebody phoned in to us or sent us a letter, we would summarize the letter, with the constituent's name and address, in an e-mail to the Congressman's Washington office. I also believe that direct e-mails could be sent up to the Washington office.
If it is, that'd probably create a bit of a scheduling conflict for those on EST. Ack!
Transmeta. This, of course, should mean some pretty spicy freshness for wearable PCs. I'm not certain, but I think they're currently using a 200 pentium in there; replacing that with a 700 Crusoe should speed it up a good bit and use less power. Might even cost less.
And yes, I just purchased stock in Xybernaut (XYBR).
Question though: does the display system of a Xybernaut system (which beams into your eye) use less power than a regular LCD?
I -need- to acces this, and I'm at school right now. Is there any way to access IRC using some sort of non-download IRC client? Any sort of mirrors or the like (the main stream's down!).
Is it possible for him to keep them from using "Linux" in their company name (and thus stop their quasi-bunk IPO)? If it is, is it proper for him to do so?