Cliffs of Insanity applies to my workplace, I'll have to remember that one! (Nice reference to The Princess Bride, too.) I like Castle Aaarghh and Caerbannog.
I haven't noticed any loss in range or throughput yet on my Cisco/Linksys E3000 AP, but now I will be watching for it to happen. It is already a few years old and re-placed by newer models. I currently have it catching some air from the power supply fan on my computer, but that's not on 24/7.
I learned about keeping the center of pressure behind the center of gravity when I replaced the nose cone of a model rocket with a much lighter one, and shortened the main tube a bit (field repair after a lawn dart landing.) I thought it would fly better with the lighter airframe.
The two changes resulted in a hellishly unstable rocket... it went up about 10 feet and then started chasing its tail just like a dog, only faster and in mid-air. Everyone enjoyed it except for my mom, who was crouched behind an open car door directly beneath the errant missile.
Four engines in a cluster are going to be really tough to control. If there are slight variations in thrust between the engines, the craft will be highly unstable. Ignition will have to occur simultaneously for the rocket to have any chance at stability. Also, as you increase the distance between engines, balancing the thrust becomes a great deal more difficult.
My brother once built a Battlestar Galactica viper from scratch, using a cluster of one D and two C rocket engines, a few inches apart and all off-center. I built a high-amperage ignition system that managed to ignite all three engines at the same millisecond, and the rocket made a beautiful transition from vertical flight to horizontal flight while under full power from all three engines. It looked just like on TV, complete with loud WHOOSH. Scared the crap out of our high school football team as they were overflown by a 200 mile per hour viper at 100 feet. It wasn't too badly damaged when it got stopped by some trees, and we never flew it again. I guess that nowadays you could model this behavior on your computer before building it:-).
In China, the elites that own the banks, corporations, and land are the same elites that run the government and the military. They aren't going to be too interested in hurting themselves so drastically. Any leader crazy enough to try crashing the system is likely to suffer a sudden and drastic loss of health, and be quickly replaced.
What scares me is the total gutting of the American manufacturing sector as companies build factories in areas with slave labor... megacorps don't care what happens to any particular country. Race to the bottom, anyone?
I think this is a very useful new anti-spam tool, but as usual, it will have the possibility of false positives, which can be very damaging. And Spammers will adapt to this technology as well, reducing its effectiveness.
Zero-gravity is a place where function is certainly going to be more important than form.
On the other hand, one could combine the two, but that would require an awful lot of knowledge.
Shape and material may have some unusual constraints for safety and maneuverability reasons, but there's no reason why color, artistry, or useful features could not make a jumpsuit into something a lot cooler. If I were going into zero-gee I would need a special pocket just for barf bags. Maybe automatically recycle it so that I don't go into electrolyte imbalance.
I would like to see something built into the clothing that makes me exercise while doing normal work - with no gravity, muscles and bones degenerate rapidly.
I would appreciate smart thrusters built into the clothing that would perform station-keeping, so I could press on things without rebounding across the room.
This could be a really cool contest, worthy of Q department in her Majesty's Secret Service. Functionality with a flair.
More likely, the phone was getting into the sound card on the computer, which was pushing an audio signal through to the speakers. Remember that the line-level output from the sound card will still drive speakers (headphones are speakers too) at an audible level. It's the same sort of amplifier circuit as the powered speakers, only at a lower power level.
RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) is an insidious problem nowadays, due to the close proximity of poorly engineered electronics and "wireless" devices. ARRL puts out an excellent RFI handbook for treating even the most stubborn cases of RFI, but most computer jockeys won't be willing to apply the more effective means of RFI suppression.
In passing obviously unconstitutional law, haven't legislators committed perjury? In order to be "sworn in" they had to swear to defend the constitution.
"I don't have anything against Apple computers, they are pretty nifty. It's the users I can't stand."
Instead of paying tithes to the majority monopolist, MAC users pay even higher tithes to the minority monopolist in order to be "cool" and not have to learn any of that egg-headed computer stuff.
I prefer to invest a little effort in understanding my computer system, and try to support open source whenever possible... I happen to like free choice, and openness. And function over form.
Unfortunately, the masses don't think like engineers, they think like Homer Simpson.
If the banks were liable for the losses, instead of the retailers, then you would see some high security applied to credit transactions. Of course, it might also make it a lot less convenient to buy stuff online, and you'd have to pay one or two state taxes on mail-order items.
LEDs are about to take over as the standard lighting in automobile headlights and flashlights. Their ruggedness and efficiency is pretty darn good compared to the alternatives. These quantum dots are a very interesting way of getting white light from blue or UV.
I've done the 5 watt LED conversion to a 2-D Maglight (also required converting to lithium batteries) as well as a simpler 1 watt drop-in bulb and reflector replacement for the 2-AA minimag. I think I will do the minimag conversion to another light or two. It is the best bang for the buck, and runs on commonly available AA cells, which cost about 20 cents each at CostCo for good alkalines. It retains the variable focus of the mini-maglite, a major plus. It is brighter, whiter, and the batteries work about 4x as long as they do with the original incandescent bulb.
LED-Replacement has a lot of drop-in replacements for various flashlight bulbs.
If you prefer to spend your money on a purpose-built LED flashlight, check out Amondotech for good deals on lights and batteries.
At Candlepower Forums you can find people who obsess over flashlights more than you or I do.
Flashlight Reviews is a great review site for various flashlights, including good definitions of the difference between lumens (overall output) and throw (how far away you can light stuff up.)
I'm just a flashaholic, and don't make any money from these companies.
This flare knocked out HF communications on the daylight side of the planet for some time. When the lower layer of the ionosphere (the D-layer) gets strongly ionized, radio signals are absorbed before they get to the upper layers. Look up the term "SID" - Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance.
If the coronal mass ejection had been directed at the Earth, we would probably have had an aurora. Then the power companies would be worrying about huge currents being induced in their transmission lines by the shifting geomagnetic field.
Solar flares send large X-ray and relativistic charged particle fluxes smashing into satellites. Geomagnetic storms spawned by CMEs can also pump up the number of high-energy protons that smack into satellites.
Yes, the public should be interested when giant solar flares and CMEs occur, they can disrupt commnications of many kinds.
I'm just an Old Fart Ham Radio Operator who will be able to reach outside the disaster zone after the next earthquake/hurricane/whatever.
Cheap used computer stuff - that is one of the benefits of living in Silicon Valley. At any given electronics swapmeet I can find some Matrox Millenniun cards with 2 to 12 megs of RAM, for around $2 each. They are great for making multi-head monitor setups. Quality 10/100 ethernet cards are also cheap (about $2) and plentiful... 3c905B and Intel pro 100.
Some Microsoft fanboy handed me an "overrated" mod point for mentioning that the blackhats are more of a threat than ever... perhaps because they mainly pose a threat to Microsoft, which is dependent upon security through obscurity.
Disabling other parasitic processes accomplishes several goals beneficial to the invading organism.
1) All available resources are made available to the invading worm.
2) The user is less likely to notice the infection due to poor performance of the system.
3) There is less opportunity for one of the other worms to interfere with the intended operation of the worm.
This is just another step in the evolution of viruses... just like in the biological world, initial versions tend to kill the host rapidly. As they evolve, they become better able to make use of the host without killing it off.
I remember my first briefcase, got it when I started up a small consulting business and needed a place for carrying a few floppies (later CDRoms), paperwork / day-planner, and tools.
When you dress in something nicer than a t-shirt and jeans, and carry a decent briefcase, suddenly you are a professional in the eyes of the client.
It's easy to spoil the illusion if you try, though.
Slashdot Mirror
Just like contesters in Ham Radio -- transmit wide, receive narrow.
Cliffs of Insanity applies to my workplace, I'll have to remember that one! (Nice reference to The Princess Bride, too.)
I like Castle Aaarghh and Caerbannog.
I haven't noticed any loss in range or throughput yet on my Cisco/Linksys E3000 AP, but now I will be watching for it to happen. It is already a few years old and re-placed by newer models. I currently have it catching some air from the power supply fan on my computer, but that's not on 24/7.
I learned about keeping the center of pressure behind the center of gravity when I replaced the nose cone of a model rocket with a much lighter one, and shortened the main tube a bit (field repair after a lawn dart landing.) I thought it would fly better with the lighter airframe.
:-).
The two changes resulted in a hellishly unstable rocket... it went up about 10 feet and then started chasing its tail just like a dog, only faster and in mid-air. Everyone enjoyed it except for my mom, who was crouched behind an open car door directly beneath the errant missile.
Four engines in a cluster are going to be really tough to control. If there are slight variations in thrust between the engines, the craft will be highly unstable. Ignition will have to occur simultaneously for the rocket to have any chance at stability. Also, as you increase the distance between engines, balancing the thrust becomes a great deal more difficult.
My brother once built a Battlestar Galactica viper from scratch, using a cluster of one D and two C rocket engines, a few inches apart and all off-center. I built a high-amperage ignition system that managed to ignite all three engines at the same millisecond, and the rocket made a beautiful transition from vertical flight to horizontal flight while under full power from all three engines. It looked just like on TV, complete with loud WHOOSH. Scared the crap out of our high school football team as they were overflown by a 200 mile per hour viper at 100 feet. It wasn't too badly damaged when it got stopped by some trees, and we never flew it again. I guess that nowadays you could model this behavior on your computer before building it
In China, the elites that own the banks, corporations, and land are the same elites that run the government and the military. They aren't going to be too interested in hurting themselves so drastically. Any leader crazy enough to try crashing the system is likely to suffer a sudden and drastic loss of health, and be quickly replaced.
What scares me is the total gutting of the American manufacturing sector as companies build factories in areas with slave labor... megacorps don't care what happens to any particular country. Race to the bottom, anyone?
Kim Jong Il is a Goauld!
Better send in SG-1.
I think this is a very useful new anti-spam tool, but as usual, it will have the possibility of false positives, which can be very damaging. And Spammers will adapt to this technology as well, reducing its effectiveness.
Nooo! Red is bad! Remember what happens to the poor redshirt security guy in Star Trek!
"Captain! I see something!"
[Alien disintegrator beam hits redshirt guy]
Zero-gravity is a place where function is certainly going to be more important than form.
On the other hand, one could combine the two, but that would require an awful lot of knowledge.
Shape and material may have some unusual constraints for safety and maneuverability reasons, but there's no reason why color, artistry, or useful features could not make a jumpsuit into something a lot cooler. If I were going into zero-gee I would need a special pocket just for barf bags. Maybe automatically recycle it so that I don't go into electrolyte imbalance.
I would like to see something built into the clothing that makes me exercise while doing normal work - with no gravity, muscles and bones degenerate rapidly.
I would appreciate smart thrusters built into the clothing that would perform station-keeping, so I could press on things without rebounding across the room.
This could be a really cool contest, worthy of Q department in her Majesty's Secret Service. Functionality with a flair.
Maybe I should go to work for NASA.
The Hungry Admin
While I do enjoy listening to Homer Simpson having a conversation with his brain, that sort of thing is out of place in a movie like Blade Runner.
Homer (thinking): "Okay, brain, I don't like you and you don't like me. Let's just take this exam so I can get back to killing you with beer."
Homer's brain: "It's a DEAL!"
More likely, the phone was getting into the sound card on the computer, which was pushing an audio signal through to the speakers. Remember that the line-level output from the sound card will still drive speakers (headphones are speakers too) at an audible level. It's the same sort of amplifier circuit as the powered speakers, only at a lower power level.
RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) is an insidious problem nowadays, due to the close proximity of poorly engineered electronics and "wireless" devices. ARRL puts out an excellent RFI handbook for treating even the most stubborn cases of RFI, but most computer jockeys won't be willing to apply the more effective means of RFI suppression.
In passing obviously unconstitutional law, haven't legislators committed perjury? In order to be "sworn in" they had to swear to defend the constitution.
I don't know who said it first, but here goes:
"I don't have anything against Apple computers, they are pretty nifty. It's the users I can't stand."
Instead of paying tithes to the majority monopolist, MAC users pay even higher tithes to the minority monopolist in order to be "cool" and not have to learn any of that egg-headed computer stuff.
I prefer to invest a little effort in understanding my computer system, and try to support open source whenever possible... I happen to like free choice, and openness. And function over form.
Unfortunately, the masses don't think like engineers, they think like Homer Simpson.
You don't get rich by spending 300 million dollars instead of just greasing the skids with 10 or 20 million and letting taxes do the rest for you...
If the banks were liable for the losses, instead of the retailers, then you would see some high security applied to credit transactions. Of course, it might also make it a lot less convenient to buy stuff online, and you'd have to pay one or two state taxes on mail-order items.
LEDs are about to take over as the standard lighting in automobile headlights and flashlights. Their ruggedness and efficiency is pretty darn good compared to the alternatives. These quantum dots are a very interesting way of getting white light from blue or UV.
I've done the 5 watt LED conversion to a 2-D Maglight (also required converting to lithium batteries) as well as a simpler 1 watt drop-in bulb and reflector replacement for the 2-AA minimag. I think I will do the minimag conversion to another light or two. It is the best bang for the buck, and runs on commonly available AA cells, which cost about 20 cents each at CostCo for good alkalines. It retains the variable focus of the mini-maglite, a major plus. It is brighter, whiter, and the batteries work about 4x as long as they do with the original incandescent bulb.
LED-Replacement has a lot of drop-in replacements for various flashlight bulbs.
If you prefer to spend your money on a purpose-built LED flashlight, check out Amondotech for good deals on lights and batteries.
At Candlepower Forums you can find people who obsess over flashlights more than you or I do.
Flashlight Reviews is a great review site for various flashlights, including good definitions of the difference between lumens (overall output) and throw (how far away you can light stuff up.)
I'm just a flashaholic, and don't make any money from these companies.
This means that we are quite a bit closer to the Bolo envisioned by Keith Laumer. Of course, we are nowhere near the Mark XXX CSR.
As it has been throughout history, the next war will be completely different, and yet the same.
This flare knocked out HF communications on the daylight side of the planet for some time. When the lower layer of the ionosphere (the D-layer) gets strongly ionized, radio signals are absorbed before they get to the upper layers. Look up the term "SID" - Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance.
If the coronal mass ejection had been directed at the Earth, we would probably have had an aurora. Then the power companies would be worrying about huge currents being induced in their transmission lines by the shifting geomagnetic field.
Solar flares send large X-ray and relativistic charged particle fluxes smashing into satellites. Geomagnetic storms spawned by CMEs can also pump up the number of high-energy protons that smack into satellites.
Yes, the public should be interested when giant solar flares and CMEs occur, they can disrupt commnications of many kinds.
I'm just an Old Fart Ham Radio Operator who will be able to reach outside the disaster zone after the next earthquake/hurricane/whatever.
Cheap used computer stuff - that is one of the benefits of living in Silicon Valley. At any given electronics swapmeet I can find some Matrox Millenniun cards with 2 to 12 megs of RAM, for around $2 each. They are great for making multi-head monitor setups. Quality 10/100 ethernet cards are also cheap (about $2) and plentiful... 3c905B and Intel pro 100.
But rent is RIDICULOUS.
Some Microsoft fanboy handed me an "overrated" mod point for mentioning that the blackhats are more of a threat than ever... perhaps because they mainly pose a threat to Microsoft, which is dependent upon security through obscurity.
The blackhats managed to release their exploits less than 4 days after the announcement of the vulnerability. Yikes!
Disabling other parasitic processes accomplishes several goals beneficial to the invading organism.
1) All available resources are made available to the invading worm.
2) The user is less likely to notice the infection due to poor performance of the system.
3) There is less opportunity for one of the other worms to interfere with the intended operation of the worm.
This is just another step in the evolution of viruses... just like in the biological world, initial versions tend to kill the host rapidly. As they evolve, they become better able to make use of the host without killing it off.
"Does this make me look fat?"
If Jar Jar becomes even a Jedi trainee in Episdoe 3, then we will get to see Darth Vader hunt him down and KILL him!
YESsss!
The crusts are where the best flavor is.
What's he got in his briefcase?
Lunch, of course!
I remember my first briefcase, got it when I started up a small consulting business and needed a place for carrying a few floppies (later CDRoms), paperwork / day-planner, and tools.
When you dress in something nicer than a t-shirt and jeans, and carry a decent briefcase, suddenly you are a professional in the eyes of the client.
It's easy to spoil the illusion if you try, though.