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User: Psyko

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  1. Time to go to france... on Cashless Society · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Looks like it's time to grab the ole' smart card encoder and head over the pond... Has anyone even taken a look at the security on this?

    Smartcard reader/writers have been available to the general public for quite a few years now (The Eltron 310 does full color card printing, mag encoding, bar codes and smart card encoding in one box for $3k), and you can find schematics on how to build your own all over the place.

  2. Re:Wouldn't this reduce compatability? on Pentium-M Notebook Put To The Test · · Score: 1

    That's the catch, I have a notebook that I'm pretty happy with (it's a p3-850, couple years old), but it never was/will be be my primary machine.
    I used to use it when I'd go out to customer sites or if I needed to bring it somewhere else to do something, but now most of the time it sits next to my couch so I can look something up if I'm watching tv, so it's off roughly 99% of the time I'm home (It is also the only node on my wireless network).

  3. Re:Wouldn't this reduce compatability? on Pentium-M Notebook Put To The Test · · Score: 1

    And your notebook now, when you want to upgrade the video or the cpu you just pop a new one in right?

    It'll at least have pcmcia/mini-pci support for other nic's and whatnot so it's not much different from the closed notebook architecture we're stuck with now anyway.

  4. Tax Proposal. on Where Should Space Exploration Go From Here? · · Score: 1

    This discussion has been brought up before, (the opt-in tax option) and I still think it would be a good idea. I don't think that you could justify all of your tax dollars to go to space related R&D but you should definitely be able to push a fixed percentage and/or a portion of your refund into this type of fund.

    Does Nasa currently have any facilities set up to accept donations??

  5. Just a note to remember the servicemen as well. on Space Shuttle Columbia Breaks Up Over Texas · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Not to play down this immence tragedy, but while you are praying for everyone aboard the shuttle, don't forget about the servicemen that have recently been lost in military operations abroad. Both of these professions are highly dangerous and come with great risks, but when a squad of US troops is lost it only makes the front page for a few minutes.

    Life == Life.

  6. Ease Off! It's the Nvidia Release... on Why VHS Was Better Than Betamax · · Score: 1

    Hey guys, calm down, this is the Nvidia release of this story, couple days late, with a 5% faster read time!

  7. They should talk to the Marines... on U.S. Air Force Developing Microwave Weapon · · Score: 1

    The air force should really talk to the Marines about this, there already is a base weapon designed for this.

    A former jarhead/co-worker of mine was part of the group that was testing new weapons technology back during the gulf war. What they were doing was pointing microwave 'guns' at enemy troops to raise their body temperatures (a squad can only move as fast as it's slowest unit) causing fatigue and disabling soldiers. I had a moral issue about this because you can't really get medical treatment for say an arm or leg that is medium/well done. Cooking people on the battlefield is pretty scary. The weapon went into regular production a year or two ago (I don't remember what it was called or who was producing it) and it reminded me of some of the 'field test stories' I had heard.

    I guess if they just made a higher energy version of the same weapon it would probably have the same type of effect on electrical equipment as an EMP type device.

  8. I think I read this before... on EA As The Next Disney · · Score: 1

    I remember reading this before I'm not sure if it was here or not, but it said that currently EA sells something like 2 out of 4 games sold in the us currently...

  9. Where's the mac people now? on eBay Customers Targetted by Credit Card Scam · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Hrm, seems like the friendly mac people will have their hands full now that it's widespread... Maybe we should let cnn know that the mac users can track down their fiend and get them intel and stuff.

    http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/12/1 2/ 2113222&mode=thread&tid=107

  10. Re:2nd time is a charm on Reviving Ricochet: Better Than WiFi? · · Score: 1

    Use El Toro, 92610... We're neighbors...

  11. Money Laundering & Illegal transactions? on Project Entropia's Universe Solidifies · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This thing almost sounds like a good way to launder money or move it between shady sources...

    "In the new universe, real-world money can be used for virtual-world or real-world transactions (patent pending)."

    They're even going to patent real world transactions!

    It looks like they will offer insurance, you can transfer your credits back to USD, pk'ers can't steal your credit card in the game. The base exchange rate is 10 eBux = 1 USD.

  12. SS51G - SiS Chipset. on Review of the New Shuttle XPC Chassis · · Score: 2, Interesting

    These machines are actually really cool, I had my doubts but I picked up a Shuttle SS51g (SiS chipset, not intel) about 2 weeks ago. Currently I've got the following in it:

    P4 2.24G
    512MB PC2700 ddr
    Radeon 9700Pro AGP
    2x Maxtor 80G 7200rpm ATA/133
    1 Teac 48x burner

    Under normal working conditions (99F cpu, 110F drives) the heat pipe and single fan (+power supply fan) seem pretty adequate. The only time I notice the heat start to spike up is when I'm really pounding the drives and when I'm gaming, (CPU at about 109-111F, and drives about 120-130F). I think the majority of the heat build up is because there is only about a 1/4" gap between the 2 hard drives and there is no real airflow between them, also the fan on the Radeon only has about 3/8" clearance from the outside aluminum wall of the case.

    I'm going to cut a blowhole in the case over the GPU fan and I might cut a small intake slot on the front of the case to allow some airflow across the disks, although I'm hesitant because I don't want to damage the aesthetic of the case.

    From a performance perspective I've been really impressed (I replaced a Dell P330 workstation with this machine). The integrated perephrial set leaves little to be desired (I'd like an spdif coaxial digial out from the integrated audio for the old reciever I'm using with it, but that's it) 6x USB ports eliminated my need for a usb hub. The integrated ATA133 controllers provide throughput approaching what I was seeing from a PERC3/dc with 2-10K rpm U3 160 disks (no raid) that were in the P330 (even with 128MB cache). Memory performance and overall system is also right on target. I primarily built this as a game box, (running WinXP :( ) and 3D mark 2001se pulls over 13k 3dmarks at 1024x768x32, with 210+ fps on the low detail benchmarks. Overall I think this is a great chassis & MB combo. Like I said, the only real issue is when you cram it full it starts to get a little warm.

  13. So. Cal. on UUNET/WorldCom Backbone Diffiiculties · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I've been seeing odd intermittent packet loss across sprint and worldcom all day. I started checking itr and saw 25% average packetloss across north america, with about 20% of the routers they monitor passing 0% traffic and turned on CNN... Figured something had to be happening...

  14. Re:How is this news - Still too much work. on The Ultimate Universal Remote Control · · Score: 0

    I have one of the phillip's universal uber remotes, the only problem with it that once you get past the standard stuff, you pretty much have to create a custom UI, including all of the graphics and scripting for button/menu functions... I don't have the time or ambition to build a website for myself and I'm going to devote a manweek to making this thing do what I need it to do? I don't see the average person going through the effort.

    The other main problem with these types of remotes is that there's no real buttons (I did do a basic UI for it last year). When you're laying on the couch watching tv, the last thing you really want to do is grab a pda, hit the backlight, and find the button on a touch screen.

    With normal programmable remotes (I switched from the Phillips to an a standard programmable onkyo when I bought a new reciever) you end up learning the layout without even noticing and can find the buttons to do the tasks you want without looking at it, in the dark, with someone laying on you, etc. etc.

    BTW, if anyone wants to buy my phillips pronto (DP1000 I think), I have all the original Docs, Packaging, the base unit, rechargable battery pack, charger, serial cable and the software to do the UI junk for it... Shoot me a mail, it's only got about 20 hours on it... I should probably put it up on eBay...

  15. DVHS killer? on One Terabyte On a 12-inch^H^H^H^Hcm Disk · · Score: 0

    Hopefully this will be accepted as a viable solution to DVHS... I know I don't want to go back to tape even if it is digital for movies... Just have to get the product done, pricing reasonable and all of the turds at MPAA and RIAA onboard with this one...

  16. Troll Bait... on Lego Trebuchet · · Score: 0

    This thing is so slashdotted right now, it's even got an official error for it:

    Server Error in '/' Application.

    They forgot the . after the / though...

  17. Back in the day... on Gamespy Installer Spreads Nimda · · Score: 0

    This kind of thing has been happening for years without any recource from the companies that sent out the virus's. I remember a couple of years back when IBM was doing their big ebusiness security marketing campaign, the RS6000 configurator tool had a virus in it for like 4 builds in a row.

    The first time I came across it I put calls into IBMLink (that's where you download the app from), and the Rs6000 software support center and still nothing was done about it. 3 releases (about 5 months) later the virus was not included in the build anymore.

  18. There already are wireless firewalls... on Low-Tech Cell Phone Blocking · · Score: 0

    Why didn't they take a look at the market space first? There are quite a few cell phone active jammers already available, mostly for securing corporate areas against surveillance devices and the like. The most popular seems to be C-Guard , and they're not that expensive either.
    All it does is throw white noise on the cell phone carrier frequencies out of a directional antenna to cover a specific area. It's got to be cheaper than repanneling the entire facility. Sure you get a recurring power cost, but a small low power radio transmitter dosen't use that much power to begin with.

  19. Re:Tutle beach on The State of PC Audio · · Score: 0

    I have a few different cards in this class, including a turtle beach santa cruz. The only thing I have ever had problems with on this card is the selectable input/output port. I usually leave it as either a digital output running to a DD decoder but sometimes I use it as an extra input. Because of that the port is now shot, when you change the speaker settings it automatically changes the input to an output and dosent seem to have anything to block the input signal when it does switch... So now my digital out/input port produces alot of static and scratchy noises as an output and I have to replace it (probably with an audigy because I've had no problems with that card yet).

  20. Why... on IMSAI Series Two · · Score: 0

    This goes back to the old questsion, just because you can do it, should you? I mean damn. Are these guys going to start rolling out Vic-20's with ide/scsi on them next? Some people are impressed with Das Blinkenlightes & switches, but I could go buy a commercial emulator, a big power supply, some relays a mounting board and about 10k LED's for alot less than they want for this POS, and I'd even have money left over for a buncha switches.

  21. Gotta Admit on Hacking the Highways · · Score: 0

    This guy's a genius, not only does he pay taxes to get this kind of stuff done in the first place, he decides to take the time to make the sinage from scratch and blow probably 30+ manhours in his actual construction and documentation processes. Then tries to sell it as art, even though it's a non-original work that he specifically copied from existing sources and then tries to capitalize on it afterwards...

  22. I'm not even going to read the comments on this... on Smart Cameras To Predict Crimes · · Score: 0, Redundant

    This is exactly the next step from biometric id in drivers licenses that was posted up here last week, and this still scares the hell out of me. Enabling law enforcement to further track, surveil and police it's own citizens in an automated manner when most of the systems users are computer illiterate is frightening at best. But as usual if I bothered to read the posts, I'm sure it'd mostly be:
    1. If you don't like it you must be a criminal
    2. It doesn't effect me.
    3. You don't have the right to do anything. Everything in life is a privilege, and you can only do it because your government allows you to.

    It's pretty bad with the people that actually develop these types of technology solutions (I.E. people like us) because it's a cool project/idea don't foresee the impact that these systems will have on their own personal freedoms in the future.

  23. Internet Escrow Services... on A Matter Of Trust? · · Score: 1

    Another way around this would be to have the company issue the transaction through an internet escrow service like escrow.com or the like. They will act as a neutral third party and make sure that everyone involved in the transaction gets what they were expecting for an extra 1 or 2% of the item cost.

  24. Global Domain Name Registering?!? on Who is the Best Registrar? · · Score: 1

    I didint get a chance to scan all of the comments you guys threw out there yet but I doubt this one has been touched yet. In order to register a domain with all of the individual countries out there, like domain.com, then domain.com.jp, domain.jp, domain.com.de, domain.de, etc. etc. to cover every contry, is there anybody who's found an easier method than contacting the individual registrar's listed for each country? Isint there a way to globally register a name with every domain registry on earth?