It's not like they can identify the objects seen by this system. Unless given prior knowledge or a starting point (Person X was here at time Y), they're just unidentified reflections.
As it is, if they really want to track someone and obtain the same information this system could provide, it's a simple matter of sending up an AWACS plane. (Note: The comments in the article about a fixed system are WRONG. Powerful radars can be and have been put into airplanes) Yes, the new system is more convenient, but doesn't really provide THAT much information that could be used to invade privacy. Hell, carry around a mylar birthday balloon or two and all of a sudden you're an 18-wheeler as far as they're concerned. (I remember a few Slashdot articles ago there were links to the guy who tied 20-30 balloons to an armchair and took off - A few years later another guy repeated the incident and wrapped his tether lines in aluminum foil. He appeared to nearby radar systems to be as large as 4 stacked 747s. He would've looked even bigged if he'd used conductive balloons - One weather balloon can appear as large as a supertanker on radar if it's covered in a conductive material.)
As someone else pointed out, tracking of actual phones (Which can be linked to someone's identity) is "old hat". Already pretty good accuracy is possible (especially on CDMA networks due to properties of CDMA signals that make them very good for range estimation - CDMA signals and GPS "Gold codes" are VERY close relatives of each other.), and the next generation of phones (Some are already out) are E-911 capable, which adds GPS capability to the phone that is used for 911 calls.
Look around on Sourceforge - Probably 50% or more of the projects there never get off the ground.
I see the most likely open-source implementation coming from the guys developing XviD, since this new codec is an MPEG-4 variant, which means the XviD guys have a huge headstart.
The Xbox is in a form factor that's decent for an entertainment center. It's big as far as consoles go, but it's far smaller/more portable than your average PC.
There are PCs with such form factors, you say?
You'll be spending a lot more than $300 for a PC with the appropriate form factor. (The good Shuttle units are around $300 alone and that's without CPU, HDD, and DVD drive)
Normally it wouldn't help too much, but given the extremely low power consumption of these devices, even a small number of solar panels could provide quite a bit of run time for a minimal amount of charge time.
Cover 25% of the upper surface of the pictured glider with solar panels and you can probably spend only 30 minutes to charge the thing every few days, or better.
Maybe not quite... Rechargeables decay after a while...
It looks like at least some of these designs surface periodically for a GPS fix.
Why not stick a small solar cell on the upper surface? Given the power requirements it shouldn't take too long to recharge. It can probably even recharge a meter or two (or more depending on the water clarity) down from the surface.
Yup. The 70W bricks will work, although you can use the laptop OR charge your battery, not both at once with the new units. Also your laptop will be (I believe) forced to stay at 1.2 GHz.
Good DC/DC inverters are a *little* smaller than an AC/DC switching power supply, but not much smaller. Switching power supplies usually don't have a transformer, or if they do, have a much smaller transformer since transformers are more efficient at higher frequencies. So switching power supplies are pretty small too. See the 90W Dell power bricks for Inspiron 8200 laptops. The DC/DC version of said PS isn't much smaller, since DC/DC converters need a decent-sized inductor themselves.
http://www.med.unc.edu/~greena/back2palm/ has some good information.
I wouldn't necessarily reccommend going to a Palm proper, but a PalmOS device will be far more useful than an obscenely expensive, oversized, battery-gulping PocketPC device.
Compare and contrast: Audiovox Thera PocketPC-based smartphone - 24 hours standby Kyocera 6035 Smartphone - Over 6 days battery life including moderate talk time
The average PPC device is rated at less than a day or two of battery life with moderate usage, compared to a PalmOS device that can last well over a month with moderate usage on a pair of AAs.
For a non-phone solution, a Clie NR70 would be the way to go.
Maybe it was different before, but since Kyocera inherited Qualcomm's handset division, *every* post-Kyocera phone uses the same data connector. I'm quite happily using my 2035a's data cable with my 6035 Smartphone.
There are only about 2-3 different power supply connectors, all variants of your standard barrel connectors (There's also power available on the data connector). The 2035a and almost all phones of its era have the same power supply, and then the 3035 and 6035 have a different power supply (common to the two of them).
But since the cables are Kyocera proprietary, they can still gouge you on the cables, while saving on manufacturing and design costs.:)
Almost no laptops run off of 12V. DC/DC converter (power brick) still needed.
The only reason they supply low-voltage DC rather than AC is because it happens to be a) Safer b) More readily available on an airplane. (I think quite a bit of the plane is 48V, but it's easier to step it down to 12 with a switching supply than to make a good AC inverter to give even a modified sine 120VAC, let alone a proper 120VAC sine.)
12V is chosen simply because it means that with a mere physical adapter automotive power supplies for laptops can do dual duty. (And with a physical adapter available at Rat Shack you can power anything powered by the cig lighter plug from airplane power)
In the US, it takes a LONG time for an engine to be type-certified.
As a result, except for jet engines, most engines in use in aircraft today are designs that are decades old. (Lycoming, Continental, etc.)
It's already bad enough that the FAA requires you to get your aircraft recertified on a plane-by-plane basis to use automotive gasoline, which doesn't necessarily require engine modifications.
Using alcohol in an aircraft *will* require engine modifications because alcohol is highly corrosive. (Take a look at automotive FFVs like the Dodge Spirit FFV - Anything that comes in contact with fuel in these vehicles is insanely expensive because it must be unusually corrosion-resistant to survive when alcohol is used as a fuel.)
Ethanol might be less of a problem than methanol, but considering that even simply using *unleaded gasoline* is a major certification hassle, alcohol is a LONG way away from being a fuel source for aviation in the USA.
I agree with him, if anything, the original post is the troll.
One of the biggest achievements to HDTV was achieving increased quality *IN THE SAME BANDWIDTH*
The only really solid specification throughout the development of HDTV was that it had to fit in the existing 6 MHz channel spacing.
I believe they extended this to allow multiple "standard definiton" channels per 6 MHz channel. Something like 4. So with digital techniques, broadcasters can use their spectrum four times more efficiently. (Either 4x the pixels, or 4x the content at "old" resolutions).
IBOC one-ups this by fitting CD-quality audio into what is currently *waste spectrum* in the current FM band. (All channels are taken, but the channels are widely spaced. IBOC fits quite nicely in the guard bands of each channel.)
That's probably your receiver. It most likely has an extra-wide IF passband/bad frontent filtering that is simply allowing the main carrier to pass.
In addition to the "guard band", the FM band has insanely wide channel spacing. Transmissions in the guard band that meet spec won't be noticed by your receiver, but if the main carrier itself is strong enough, it'll punch through your frontend filtering, no matter how clean its spectral purity is you'll be screwed. "Adjacent channel power", i.e. emissions on the next proper channel over, is basically not allowed for FM stations.
I assume by subcarrier you mean that it will be a signal that modulates the main FM carrier and is found as a sideband after demodulating the carrier. In this case, the answer is no. The digital signal is independently modulated from the FM carrier. (In fact, one upgrade path, although one that is potentially running afoul of FCC antenna siting regulations/licensing, is to transmit the digital signal on a seperate antenna from the analog signal.)
I think that that receivers will not be the problem with market penetration - We've seen from the pricing of Sirius, etc. units that it won't be TOO bad.
The barrier to adoption will be the broadcasters. It's going to be an EXPENSIVE upgrade for them.
http://www.ibiquity.com/navframe.html?03content.ht ml
I have to be careful not to say too much, since as their site is semi-Slashdotted, it's hard to say how much of this is public info and how much is "iBiquity proprietary" (I work at one of iBiquity's equipment partners, and have been working closely with some aspects of their system)
Basically, when the FCC allocated the current FM spectrum, they allowed for a LOT of channel spacing for special features in the analog sidebands and also to take into account inferior receivers/bad transmitters.
Modern transmitters can now output a much cleaner spectrum. Specifically, the FCC allocated a "guard band" around each FM channel, where an ideal FM station shouldn't have emissions but is allowed to "spill over". The guard band power can only be 1/100 of the power of the main band, but thanks to the SNR advantages of digital modulation, a digital signal needs only around 1/100 the power of an FM signal for the same range.
So IBOC can allow an FM signal and a digital signal to coexist on the *same* channel. A cleaned-up FM signal in the main band, and a digital signal in the "guard bands".
An eventual upgrade path is an all-digital signal, replacing the FM portion with a digital signal for greater bandwidth. This is a while off, due to the compatibility issues and also due to technical issues.
Exercise can be wonderful stress relief. Even "nonviolent" exercise can blow off lots of stress.
I think my least stressful/most healthy semester in college was the one when I went ice skating 1-2 times/weekend and sometimes on Wednesdays after lunch too. (I didn't have the time to do so in other semesters, mainly due to changes in the ice rink's public skating schedule - Leading to a nasty positive feedback cycle)
Not hockey (I do use hockey skates, but just to *move*, not to go around and check people into the boards.:), just skating around in circles, sometimes pushing myself to the limits of how fast I could go without losing control. Good adrenaline rush, good exercise.
As much as one might hate exercise, there is probably SOMETHING out there you'll enjoy. For me, it's ice skating and skiing. (Don't ask me to do anything else - I'll refuse or get bored/frustrated very quickly.)
Unfortunately since I've graduated I'm temporarily back home. There are two skating rinks 10 minutes from my house that used to have evening/weekend public skating. Now, it's only early afternoon on weekdays.:( I miss skating. (Needless to say, I've gained weight since then. I may take up rollerblading, but the fact that I live on a mountain could be a problem here.)
Most likely, if the student actually had the knowledge to set up a directory for sharing on the dorm network, it was INTENTIONALLY left without a password. On my dorm network freshman year, it was pretty obvious from the contents of shared directories (MP3s, video clips - No pirate movies, DivX didn't exist yet, but stuff like badday.mpg) that these were INTENDED to be public-readable within the dorm.
The one exception was that by the end of the year, many people locked it down by IP (If they could) so that people couldn't connect from outside (This was the era of Scour), or else password-protected the content, and had a public README saying, for example, "The password for this share is the name of the dormitory I am in".
The "unlocked door" analogy doesn't hold because while you can forget to lock a door (Actually, depending on the lock, this can be hard, as "locked" is the default on many modern locks, i.e. you can open it from the inside while it's locked but not from the outside. I'd say it's FAR easier to lock yourself out than it is to accidentally leave the door unlocked.), Windows *DEFAULTS TO NO SHARING* - In fact, on a default Win9x box, you have to intentionally add the MS service.
Also, you have to *specifically* choose to make it world-readable without a password.
Given the fact that it takes *intentional effort* to create a Windows SMB share without a password for read access, it can be assumed that SMB shares without a password are intentionally public. (WLANs are a different story, since unWEPed APs are factory default behavior. If WEP was default behavior, then one could safely assume that unWEPed APs were intentionally public)
Slashdot Mirror
It's not like they can identify the objects seen by this system. Unless given prior knowledge or a starting point (Person X was here at time Y), they're just unidentified reflections.
As it is, if they really want to track someone and obtain the same information this system could provide, it's a simple matter of sending up an AWACS plane. (Note: The comments in the article about a fixed system are WRONG. Powerful radars can be and have been put into airplanes) Yes, the new system is more convenient, but doesn't really provide THAT much information that could be used to invade privacy. Hell, carry around a mylar birthday balloon or two and all of a sudden you're an 18-wheeler as far as they're concerned. (I remember a few Slashdot articles ago there were links to the guy who tied 20-30 balloons to an armchair and took off - A few years later another guy repeated the incident and wrapped his tether lines in aluminum foil. He appeared to nearby radar systems to be as large as 4 stacked 747s. He would've looked even bigged if he'd used conductive balloons - One weather balloon can appear as large as a supertanker on radar if it's covered in a conductive material.)
As someone else pointed out, tracking of actual phones (Which can be linked to someone's identity) is "old hat". Already pretty good accuracy is possible (especially on CDMA networks due to properties of CDMA signals that make them very good for range estimation - CDMA signals and GPS "Gold codes" are VERY close relatives of each other.), and the next generation of phones (Some are already out) are E-911 capable, which adds GPS capability to the phone that is used for 911 calls.
Project status is pre-alpha, no files yet.
Look around on Sourceforge - Probably 50% or more of the projects there never get off the ground.
I see the most likely open-source implementation coming from the guys developing XviD, since this new codec is an MPEG-4 variant, which means the XviD guys have a huge headstart.
I just assumed that was implied. Esp. now that that "It's getting hot in here" song plays every 10 seconds on the radio...
Form factor
The Xbox is in a form factor that's decent for an entertainment center. It's big as far as consoles go, but it's far smaller/more portable than your average PC.
There are PCs with such form factors, you say?
You'll be spending a lot more than $300 for a PC with the appropriate form factor. (The good Shuttle units are around $300 alone and that's without CPU, HDD, and DVD drive)
You seem to imply that due to patent issues MPEG4 was DOA.
DivX anyone? The original DivX codec was just a hacked MS MPEG-4 codec that removed a few recording restriction flags.
Normally it wouldn't help too much, but given the extremely low power consumption of these devices, even a small number of solar panels could provide quite a bit of run time for a minimal amount of charge time.
Cover 25% of the upper surface of the pictured glider with solar panels and you can probably spend only 30 minutes to charge the thing every few days, or better.
Maybe not quite... Rechargeables decay after a while...
It looks like at least some of these designs surface periodically for a GPS fix.
Why not stick a small solar cell on the upper surface? Given the power requirements it shouldn't take too long to recharge. It can probably even recharge a meter or two (or more depending on the water clarity) down from the surface.
Yup. The 70W bricks will work, although you can use the laptop OR charge your battery, not both at once with the new units. Also your laptop will be (I believe) forced to stay at 1.2 GHz.
I was indeed referring to airline power.
Good DC/DC inverters are a *little* smaller than an AC/DC switching power supply, but not much smaller. Switching power supplies usually don't have a transformer, or if they do, have a much smaller transformer since transformers are more efficient at higher frequencies. So switching power supplies are pretty small too. See the 90W Dell power bricks for Inspiron 8200 laptops. The DC/DC version of said PS isn't much smaller, since DC/DC converters need a decent-sized inductor themselves.
A better screen?
A more reliable OS?
http://www.med.unc.edu/~greena/back2palm/ has some good information.
I wouldn't necessarily reccommend going to a Palm proper, but a PalmOS device will be far more useful than an obscenely expensive, oversized, battery-gulping PocketPC device.
Compare and contrast:
Audiovox Thera PocketPC-based smartphone - 24 hours standby
Kyocera 6035 Smartphone - Over 6 days battery life including moderate talk time
The average PPC device is rated at less than a day or two of battery life with moderate usage, compared to a PalmOS device that can last well over a month with moderate usage on a pair of AAs.
For a non-phone solution, a Clie NR70 would be the way to go.
Maybe it was different before, but since Kyocera inherited Qualcomm's handset division, *every* post-Kyocera phone uses the same data connector. I'm quite happily using my 2035a's data cable with my 6035 Smartphone.
:)
There are only about 2-3 different power supply connectors, all variants of your standard barrel connectors (There's also power available on the data connector). The 2035a and almost all phones of its era have the same power supply, and then the 3035 and 6035 have a different power supply (common to the two of them).
But since the cables are Kyocera proprietary, they can still gouge you on the cables, while saving on manufacturing and design costs.
I don't think so.
Almost no laptops run off of 12V. DC/DC converter (power brick) still needed.
The only reason they supply low-voltage DC rather than AC is because it happens to be
a) Safer
b) More readily available on an airplane. (I think quite a bit of the plane is 48V, but it's easier to step it down to 12 with a switching supply than to make a good AC inverter to give even a modified sine 120VAC, let alone a proper 120VAC sine.)
12V is chosen simply because it means that with a mere physical adapter automotive power supplies for laptops can do dual duty. (And with a physical adapter available at Rat Shack you can power anything powered by the cig lighter plug from airplane power)
Linux kernel source - memcpy() anyone?
(On MMX machines, the wider 64-bit MMX registers are used for memcpy() rather than the 32-bit standard integer registers)
This has been in the kernel for a few years now and anything that uses memcpy() benefits from it. Move along now.
In the US, it takes a LONG time for an engine to be type-certified.
As a result, except for jet engines, most engines in use in aircraft today are designs that are decades old. (Lycoming, Continental, etc.)
It's already bad enough that the FAA requires you to get your aircraft recertified on a plane-by-plane basis to use automotive gasoline, which doesn't necessarily require engine modifications.
Using alcohol in an aircraft *will* require engine modifications because alcohol is highly corrosive. (Take a look at automotive FFVs like the Dodge Spirit FFV - Anything that comes in contact with fuel in these vehicles is insanely expensive because it must be unusually corrosion-resistant to survive when alcohol is used as a fuel.)
Ethanol might be less of a problem than methanol, but considering that even simply using *unleaded gasoline* is a major certification hassle, alcohol is a LONG way away from being a fuel source for aviation in the USA.
Such a thing would be a pretty quick road to FCC license revocation...
XM/Sirius address completely different markets.
XM/Sirius provide consistent radio channels anywhere in the country.
IBOC provides digital capability for local content.
The total guard band power for IBOC is approximately 1/100 of the analog FM carrier power for the same range covered.
So not only is it more efficient spectrum-wise, it's more efficient RF power wise.
I agree with him, if anything, the original post is the troll.
One of the biggest achievements to HDTV was achieving increased quality *IN THE SAME BANDWIDTH*
The only really solid specification throughout the development of HDTV was that it had to fit in the existing 6 MHz channel spacing.
I believe they extended this to allow multiple "standard definiton" channels per 6 MHz channel. Something like 4. So with digital techniques, broadcasters can use their spectrum four times more efficiently. (Either 4x the pixels, or 4x the content at "old" resolutions).
IBOC one-ups this by fitting CD-quality audio into what is currently *waste spectrum* in the current FM band. (All channels are taken, but the channels are widely spaced. IBOC fits quite nicely in the guard bands of each channel.)
That's probably your receiver. It most likely has an extra-wide IF passband/bad frontent filtering that is simply allowing the main carrier to pass.
In addition to the "guard band", the FM band has insanely wide channel spacing. Transmissions in the guard band that meet spec won't be noticed by your receiver, but if the main carrier itself is strong enough, it'll punch through your frontend filtering, no matter how clean its spectral purity is you'll be screwed. "Adjacent channel power", i.e. emissions on the next proper channel over, is basically not allowed for FM stations.
As to the first question:
I assume by subcarrier you mean that it will be a signal that modulates the main FM carrier and is found as a sideband after demodulating the carrier. In this case, the answer is no. The digital signal is independently modulated from the FM carrier. (In fact, one upgrade path, although one that is potentially running afoul of FCC antenna siting regulations/licensing, is to transmit the digital signal on a seperate antenna from the analog signal.)
As to the second question: I don't know.
Wasn't planning on saying anything, but this jives with what I've heard.
I think that can be sort of assumed.
I think that that receivers will not be the problem with market penetration - We've seen from the pricing of Sirius, etc. units that it won't be TOO bad.
The barrier to adoption will be the broadcasters. It's going to be an EXPENSIVE upgrade for them.
http://www.ibiquity.com/navframe.html?03content.ht ml
I have to be careful not to say too much, since as their site is semi-Slashdotted, it's hard to say how much of this is public info and how much is "iBiquity proprietary" (I work at one of iBiquity's equipment partners, and have been working closely with some aspects of their system)
Basically, when the FCC allocated the current FM spectrum, they allowed for a LOT of channel spacing for special features in the analog sidebands and also to take into account inferior receivers/bad transmitters.
Modern transmitters can now output a much cleaner spectrum. Specifically, the FCC allocated a "guard band" around each FM channel, where an ideal FM station shouldn't have emissions but is allowed to "spill over". The guard band power can only be 1/100 of the power of the main band, but thanks to the SNR advantages of digital modulation, a digital signal needs only around 1/100 the power of an FM signal for the same range.
So IBOC can allow an FM signal and a digital signal to coexist on the *same* channel. A cleaned-up FM signal in the main band, and a digital signal in the "guard bands".
An eventual upgrade path is an all-digital signal, replacing the FM portion with a digital signal for greater bandwidth. This is a while off, due to the compatibility issues and also due to technical issues.
Exercise can be wonderful stress relief. Even "nonviolent" exercise can blow off lots of stress.
:), just skating around in circles, sometimes pushing myself to the limits of how fast I could go without losing control. Good adrenaline rush, good exercise.
:( I miss skating. (Needless to say, I've gained weight since then. I may take up rollerblading, but the fact that I live on a mountain could be a problem here.)
I think my least stressful/most healthy semester in college was the one when I went ice skating 1-2 times/weekend and sometimes on Wednesdays after lunch too. (I didn't have the time to do so in other semesters, mainly due to changes in the ice rink's public skating schedule - Leading to a nasty positive feedback cycle)
Not hockey (I do use hockey skates, but just to *move*, not to go around and check people into the boards.
As much as one might hate exercise, there is probably SOMETHING out there you'll enjoy. For me, it's ice skating and skiing. (Don't ask me to do anything else - I'll refuse or get bored/frustrated very quickly.)
Unfortunately since I've graduated I'm temporarily back home. There are two skating rinks 10 minutes from my house that used to have evening/weekend public skating. Now, it's only early afternoon on weekdays.
Most likely, if the student actually had the knowledge to set up a directory for sharing on the dorm network, it was INTENTIONALLY left without a password. On my dorm network freshman year, it was pretty obvious from the contents of shared directories (MP3s, video clips - No pirate movies, DivX didn't exist yet, but stuff like badday.mpg) that these were INTENDED to be public-readable within the dorm.
The one exception was that by the end of the year, many people locked it down by IP (If they could) so that people couldn't connect from outside (This was the era of Scour), or else password-protected the content, and had a public README saying, for example, "The password for this share is the name of the dormitory I am in".
The "unlocked door" analogy doesn't hold because while you can forget to lock a door (Actually, depending on the lock, this can be hard, as "locked" is the default on many modern locks, i.e. you can open it from the inside while it's locked but not from the outside. I'd say it's FAR easier to lock yourself out than it is to accidentally leave the door unlocked.), Windows *DEFAULTS TO NO SHARING* - In fact, on a default Win9x box, you have to intentionally add the MS service.
Also, you have to *specifically* choose to make it world-readable without a password.
Given the fact that it takes *intentional effort* to create a Windows SMB share without a password for read access, it can be assumed that SMB shares without a password are intentionally public. (WLANs are a different story, since unWEPed APs are factory default behavior. If WEP was default behavior, then one could safely assume that unWEPed APs were intentionally public)