for special applications. In space, it's the ideal rocket fuel, and in fuel cells for generating both electrical power and drinking water. On earth, hydrogen fuel cells might make sense in places where batteries don't fit. For example, there is a company that is working on small hydrogen fuel cells to power lap top computers. The power density of these promises to be better than Li-Ion batteries (and maybe even safer given Li-Ion batteries often catch fire).
We just need to keep in mind that hydrogen is NOT a power source. It is a fuel that needs to be manufactured, better yet, it is a battery that needs to be charged.
voting machine looks like it does today, touch screen for example. When the user presses the vote button the machine prints a ticket with the results. The ticket is a two part ticket just like the recepits you get at the store. The top copy goes into a lock box, the bottom copy is handed to the voter. Before handing in the ticket the voter examines the ticket to make sure it is correct. If in error the operator can cancel the vote on the machine and the voter makes corrections. If correct the operator finalizes the vote on the machine and places the ticket in the lock box. In the event of a recount the tickets in the lock box are used and compared against the machine tally. The lockbox ticket count would override the machine count results.
If you read the article you'd see that Swan's patent for his lamp differed from Edison's in one VERY important detail. His bulb used a LOW resistance carbon rod instead of Edison's HIGH resistance filament. This small detail made all the dirrerence in the world, Edison's lamp was a pratical device while his was a laboratory demo. Swan's lamp would NOT have been practical in commerical use for the same reason that carbon arc lamps were not useful indoors. They were short lived, high current devices.
This small difference between the two bulbs should have been enough for Edison to prevail in a patent court case, but Edison wisely decided to not waste money on the lawyers.
Are the new crop of game consoles High Def? I assume they are backward compatible with current (NTSC) tv sets, but do they also have a high def mode that looks better on the new sets? What about wide screen video, or are they just 4x3? Finally would anybody be crazy enough to hook up a game console to a Plasma TV (would this ruin the screen?). I'm sure LCD sets would not suffer any damage (aside from the extra use chewing hours off the life of the backlight bulb).
1: Engines of US made cars and trucks not as efficient as those in Europe. A: Our engines have more smog controls. 2: US cars have larger engines. A: We also have larger SUV's and trucks. Do we need them to haul stuff for our projects? Our houses are also larger than those in Europe. Our city's are usually not as crowded as yours so we do have more room and are spread out more.
Having said that..... I wish we'd bring back the gas-guzzler tax in spades. Make it a graduated tax starting at less than 30mpg highway and adding on as gas milage got worse. Below 20mpg highway and it would double or triple the cost of the car/truck. Have to be carefull about this though. Large vans used for car pooling should be treated different because when they are full the passanger mile per gallon is better than a car with only the driver. Diesel fueled vechiles should have to be judged on a higher mpg as they usually get higher mpg.
SUV's are useful, but to drive 20 miles each way a day to work by yourself in a Ford 'Explosion' SUV ought to be a capital crime.
Me? My 5 year old Accord gets about 30mph highway. Maybe I'll be replacing it with another Accord or a Civic when it expires. No hybrids though. A hybrid does NOT get much better highway milage than a stright gas car. (not worth the extra cost to buy and maintain) City driving it makes a big difference though.
OK, when WILL plasma tv's offer 1920i resolution? (LCD's have it now)
When will LCD's offer 10000:1 contrast ratio (IE: good blacks). Plasma has it now. When will LCD's be made in 50" screen sizes at prices under $2000-$2500 (can get a plasma in this size and price now).
I currently have a 40" direct view tube tv and will be looking to replace it with a HiDef in the near future. Translating the 4:3 aspect ratio to 16:9 means that to get a screen with the same height I want at least a 46" display. (42" would be a smaller screen). So today, I would buy a 50" plasma.
Plasma's only disadvantage today is lower resolution (720-768 vs 1020) and some reflective glare off the tube face (but this is no worse than my direct view tube tv). Burn-in is an over-rated problem today. LCD displays will fade over time too, and suffer bulb burn-out. You can burn-in picture tube displays too, and this is not a major problem. Until LCD's grow in size, shrink in price, and over-come the gap in contrast ratio there will be a market for plasma.
Comment was made that you can get busted for having kiddie porn on your hard disk. Well consider this, what IS kiddie porn?
Have you seen some of those new commericals on tv that are computer generated? Some of them look like they have live actors, until you look closer. Computer generated graphics are now able to replace live actors (remember the movie 'looker'?) Soon there will be computer generated kiddie porn (and adult porn for that matter) that will pass for the real thing! How could this be a crime (no children would be harmed in the making of computer generated kiddie porn). Sure, who ever wants this stuff is a pervert, but a criminal? Something to think about.
REALLY? I've been fooled by some cheap videos that were recorded in 4 or 6 hour mode (to save tape?). Only the 2hr mode will interchange 100% between machines. If you try to interchange in 4 or 6hr mode between machines, especially different makes the picture usually rolls or tears (looks like crap anyway).
The article stated that as a PRE-RECORDED medium VHS is dead. While specialty videos will be available on VHS for some time, main stream releases from the major studios are now ONLY available on DVD. DVD players could be made a bit more friendly. If the machines were slot loading instead of tray loading they would be more child usuable. If the disks were in caddies (like some kinds of DVD-RAM machines) AND slot loaded the experience would be just like VHS. The problem is that the caddies add to the cost of the media, though they could be an after market add on as the disks ARE removable from the caddies.
DVD-R (includes +R, RW, and RAM) machines need a way to go. My Toshiba dvdr recorder just stopped working with dvd-r disks, though it will still accept dvd-ram and dvd-rw. It always took like a minute to load a disk (WTF!). Guess I'm going to replace it, probably with one of Panasonic's machines that include a hard disk. (best of both worlds).
Interesting to see that straight DVD recorders are now becoming a bit rare, most new machines include a VHS recorder built in! Guess we are expected to back up our VHS tapes to DVD because soon we won't be able to buy replacement VCR's?
Another point, VHS-C camcorders are STILL in production. Blank VHS tapes will probably be available for at least another 5-10 years.
If dual format players and burners come out, and prices fall to current DVD price levels both formats will survive. Look what happened to dvd players and later on dvd computer burner drives. Even if HD video content is available on line there will be a market for discs. Some people want to collect their video, not just watch it a few times. The former group currently BUYS their dvd's, the latter rents them. Blockbuster will be the one on life support when HD video download on demand becomes available. Also HD-dvd and Bluray will become the next computer back up medium when the -R and -RW versions become cheaply available.
If Sony is so stupid as to put such a clause in their licensing for BluRay, then they deserve to have their format go the way of Betamax. The ONLY way that there will be a winner in this war is if consumers DON'T have to make a choice. Otherwise most of us will sit on the sidelines until the market decides which format is the way to go, and by THAT time BOTH will have failed.
I must agree with them on the topic of knowledge base. There ARE more M$ trained people available than for Linux. They may have an easier time getting support and they probably won't have to train anybody using the computers. (What software is running on the computers in your kid's school?)
They are wrong about security, open source does not mean their computers are open to attack (wonder who put THAT idea in their heads?)
MS doesn't need to develop a shim. There already IS a very good open source shim out there they can extend for their own use. It's called WINE. (And they already got to see it from their Corel deal).
Is the record retail business going bust due to filesharing? Maybe, but there are other forces at work here.... You may be loosing business to the likes of Amazon.com, Ebay, and other non-brick and mortar retail outlets that are undercutting your price. Also there are LEGAL download sites (such as itunes) that offer customers the choice to buy just the cuts they want, not the entire CD. Face it, your method of business is going the way of the dinosaur. File sharing may be part of the problem, but by many accounts it is a small percentage. Blacklist the pirates? Maybe a good idea, but good luck! Why don't you modify your business plan to include internet sales? Get a fraging website for crying out loud! If you don't join 'em you won't beat 'em!
Unless the access point is actually connected to a true "hub" (rather than a switch) I don't think you can see all the network traffic that isn't actually addressed to the connection that the packet sniffer is attached to.
At least I've tried this while debugging software. I had to hunt around for an old style "hub" as opposed to a "switching hub" to connect together all the computers under test to or I couldn't see any network traffic not addressed to the computer running the sniffer. I'm not sure how this applies to wireless hubs however.
The ipod doesn't have all the features, (am/fm radio would be nice, maybe even an HD am/fm radio) but they are generally reliable gizmos that do what they should. Battery life could be better, but I think part of the problem here is how the user treats it. Letting LiIon batteries discharge too low for too long (too often) can kill them.
What I dislike about the ipod is how often Apple has discontinued a model in favor of a new one (adding features but dropping others). The ipod mini is IMHO about the right size and shape. Also it's built like a tank. The nano is too small, (the screen is a myopics nightmare) and it scratches very easily. If only they had added a color screen to the mini and substituted flash memory for the mini-disk but kept the same size and metal case.
Dropping support for firewire was another thing. I can understand this though, since when the first ipod's came out USB 2.0 was not yet there so firewire was needed. Today though there isn't much difference in speed between USB and Firewire (480 vs 400 mbs).
Question: Can you still charge the new ipods via a firewire connection? With the firewire 12v supply the ipod charges faster than with usb's 5v supply. I think the pinout of the ipod docking connector still supports the 12v power supply.
The new ipod shuffle is TOO small. (why don't they put the damn thing on a ring to wear on your hand, or maybe on a stick pin to wear as a tie tack or a cufflink?)
does anybody have a link to what the US TV channel frequency allocation will look like when the dust settles?
Obsoleting NTSC completly has one major drawback. No longer will battery operated sets be of any use. So come the next major hurricane, earthquate, etc. TV will be USELESS for emergency communication. The law should mandate that the broadcasters in a disaster area (if they can still get on the air) switch back to analog during a disaster so people can get the news over battery operated TV's. It also means that ALL digital TV's would still have to have analog tuners for the same reason.
Slashdot Mirror
for special applications. In space, it's the ideal rocket fuel, and in fuel cells
for generating both electrical power and drinking water. On earth, hydrogen fuel
cells might make sense in places where batteries don't fit. For example, there is
a company that is working on small hydrogen fuel cells to power lap top computers.
The power density of these promises to be better than Li-Ion batteries (and maybe
even safer given Li-Ion batteries often catch fire).
We just need to keep in mind that hydrogen is NOT a power source. It is a fuel that
needs to be manufactured, better yet, it is a battery that needs to be charged.
Sounds like they violated the rico act.
voting machine looks like it does today, touch screen for example.
When the user presses the vote button the machine prints a ticket with the results.
The ticket is a two part ticket just like the recepits you get at the store.
The top copy goes into a lock box, the bottom copy is handed to the voter.
Before handing in the ticket the voter examines the ticket to make sure it is correct.
If in error the operator can cancel the vote on the machine and the voter makes corrections.
If correct the operator finalizes the vote on the machine and places the ticket in the
lock box. In the event of a recount the tickets in the lock box are used and compared
against the machine tally. The lockbox ticket count would override the machine count results.
Bookpool.com has it even cheaper! ($35.50)i rewalls&x=59&y=15
http://www.bookpool.com/ss?qs=Configuring+IPCop+F
If you read the article you'd see that Swan's patent for his lamp differed from
Edison's in one VERY important detail. His bulb used a LOW resistance carbon rod
instead of Edison's HIGH resistance filament. This small detail made all the dirrerence
in the world, Edison's lamp was a pratical device while his was a laboratory demo.
Swan's lamp would NOT have been practical in commerical use for the same reason
that carbon arc lamps were not useful indoors. They were short lived, high current
devices.
This small difference between the two bulbs should have been enough for Edison to prevail
in a patent court case, but Edison wisely decided to not waste money on the lawyers.
Are the new crop of game consoles High Def? I assume they are
backward compatible with current (NTSC) tv sets, but do they also have
a high def mode that looks better on the new sets? What about wide screen
video, or are they just 4x3? Finally would anybody be crazy enough to hook
up a game console to a Plasma TV (would this ruin the screen?). I'm sure
LCD sets would not suffer any damage (aside from the extra use chewing hours
off the life of the backlight bulb).
1: Engines of US made cars and trucks not as efficient as those in Europe.
A: Our engines have more smog controls.
2: US cars have larger engines.
A: We also have larger SUV's and trucks. Do we need them to haul stuff for our projects?
Our houses are also larger than those in Europe. Our city's are usually not as crowded as yours
so we do have more room and are spread out more.
Having said that.....
I wish we'd bring back the gas-guzzler tax in spades. Make it a graduated tax starting at
less than 30mpg highway and adding on as gas milage got worse. Below 20mpg highway and it would
double or triple the cost of the car/truck. Have to be carefull about this though. Large vans used for car pooling should be treated different because when they are full the passanger mile per gallon is better than a car with only the driver. Diesel fueled vechiles should have to
be judged on a higher mpg as they usually get higher mpg.
SUV's are useful, but to drive 20 miles each way a day to work by yourself in a Ford 'Explosion'
SUV ought to be a capital crime.
Me? My 5 year old Accord gets about 30mph highway. Maybe I'll be replacing it with another
Accord or a Civic when it expires. No hybrids though. A hybrid does NOT get much better highway milage than a stright gas car. (not worth the extra cost to buy and maintain) City driving it makes a big difference though.
Nuff said!
OK, when WILL plasma tv's offer 1920i resolution? (LCD's have it now)
When will LCD's offer 10000:1 contrast ratio (IE: good blacks). Plasma has it now.
When will LCD's be made in 50" screen sizes at prices under $2000-$2500 (can get a plasma in this size
and price now).
I currently have a 40" direct view tube tv and will be looking to replace it with a HiDef in the
near future. Translating the 4:3 aspect ratio to 16:9 means that to get a screen with the same height
I want at least a 46" display. (42" would be a smaller screen). So today, I would buy a 50" plasma.
Plasma's only disadvantage today is lower resolution (720-768 vs 1020) and some reflective glare off the
tube face (but this is no worse than my direct view tube tv). Burn-in is an over-rated problem today.
LCD displays will fade over time too, and suffer bulb burn-out. You can burn-in picture tube displays too, and
this is not a major problem. Until LCD's grow in size, shrink in price, and over-come the gap in contrast
ratio there will be a market for plasma.
Comment was made that you can get busted for having kiddie porn on your hard disk.
Well consider this, what IS kiddie porn?
Have you seen some of those new commericals on tv that are computer generated? Some of
them look like they have live actors, until you look closer. Computer generated graphics
are now able to replace live actors (remember the movie 'looker'?) Soon there will be
computer generated kiddie porn (and adult porn for that matter) that will pass for the
real thing! How could this be a crime (no children would be harmed in the making of
computer generated kiddie porn). Sure, who ever wants this stuff is a pervert, but a
criminal? Something to think about.
If Apophis is a threat, send SG-1
I NEVER had a bad rental tape.
REALLY? I've been fooled by some cheap videos that were recorded in
4 or 6 hour mode (to save tape?). Only the 2hr mode will interchange 100% between machines.
If you try to interchange in 4 or 6hr mode between machines, especially different makes the
picture usually rolls or tears (looks like crap anyway).
The article stated that as a PRE-RECORDED medium VHS is dead. While specialty videos will be available on VHS for some time, main stream releases from the major studios are now ONLY available on DVD. DVD players could be made a bit more friendly. If the machines were slot loading instead of tray loading they would be more child usuable. If the disks were in caddies (like some kinds of DVD-RAM machines) AND slot loaded the experience would be just like VHS. The problem is that the caddies add to the cost of the media, though they could be an after market add on as the disks ARE removable from the caddies.
DVD-R (includes +R, RW, and RAM) machines need a way to go. My Toshiba dvdr recorder just stopped working with dvd-r disks, though it will still accept dvd-ram and dvd-rw. It always took like a minute to load a disk (WTF!). Guess I'm going to replace it, probably with one of Panasonic's machines that include a hard disk. (best of both worlds).
Interesting to see that straight DVD recorders are now becoming a bit rare, most new machines include a VHS recorder built in! Guess we are expected to back up our VHS tapes to DVD because soon we won't be able to buy replacement VCR's?
Another point, VHS-C camcorders are STILL in production. Blank VHS tapes will probably be available for at least another 5-10 years.
If dual format players and burners come out, and prices fall to current DVD price levels both formats will survive. Look what happened to dvd players and later on dvd computer burner drives.
Even if HD video content is available on line there will be a market for discs. Some people want to collect their video, not just watch it a few times. The former group currently BUYS their dvd's, the latter rents them. Blockbuster will be the one on life support when HD video download on demand becomes available. Also HD-dvd and Bluray will become the next computer back up medium when the -R and -RW versions become cheaply available.
If Sony is so stupid as to put such a clause in their licensing for BluRay, then they
deserve to have their format go the way of Betamax. The ONLY way that there will be
a winner in this war is if consumers DON'T have to make a choice. Otherwise most of us
will sit on the sidelines until the market decides which format is the way to go, and by
THAT time BOTH will have failed.
I must agree with them on the topic of knowledge base. There ARE more M$
trained people available than for Linux. They may have an easier time getting
support and they probably won't have to train anybody using the computers.
(What software is running on the computers in your kid's school?)
They are wrong about security, open source does not mean their computers
are open to attack (wonder who put THAT idea in their heads?)
"Peace in our time" or something like that.
MS doesn't need to develop a shim. There already IS a very good open source
shim out there they can extend for their own use.
It's called WINE. (And they already got to see it from their Corel deal).
Is the record retail business going bust due to filesharing?
Maybe, but there are other forces at work here....
You may be loosing business to the likes of Amazon.com, Ebay, and other non-brick and mortar
retail outlets that are undercutting your price. Also there are LEGAL download sites
(such as itunes) that offer customers the choice to buy just the cuts they want, not the entire
CD. Face it, your method of business is going the way of the dinosaur. File sharing may be
part of the problem, but by many accounts it is a small percentage.
Blacklist the pirates? Maybe a good idea, but good luck!
Why don't you modify your business plan to include internet sales? Get a fraging website
for crying out loud! If you don't join 'em you won't beat 'em!
Unless the access point is actually connected to a true "hub" (rather than a switch)
I don't think you can see all the network traffic that isn't actually addressed
to the connection that the packet sniffer is attached to.
At least I've tried this while debugging software. I had to hunt around for
an old style "hub" as opposed to a "switching hub" to connect together all the computers
under test to or I couldn't see any network traffic not addressed to the computer
running the sniffer. I'm not sure how this applies to wireless hubs however.
The 'skin' of the Zune was a 'rubberized' material that had a smooth seductive feel to it.
Yeah, I remember reading somewhere that Microsoft contracted out to the RealDoll company for that part.
No the skin is made by Trojan (it's a scumbag).
The ipod doesn't have all the features, (am/fm radio would be nice,
maybe even an HD am/fm radio) but they are generally reliable gizmos
that do what they should. Battery life could be better, but I think
part of the problem here is how the user treats it. Letting LiIon batteries
discharge too low for too long (too often) can kill them.
What I dislike about the ipod is how often Apple has discontinued a model
in favor of a new one (adding features but dropping others). The ipod mini
is IMHO about the right size and shape. Also it's built like a tank. The
nano is too small, (the screen is a myopics nightmare) and it scratches
very easily. If only they had added a color screen to the mini and substituted
flash memory for the mini-disk but kept the same size and metal case.
Dropping support for firewire was another thing. I can understand this though,
since when the first ipod's came out USB 2.0 was not yet there so firewire was
needed. Today though there isn't much difference in speed between USB and Firewire
(480 vs 400 mbs).
Question: Can you still charge the new ipods via a firewire
connection? With the firewire 12v supply the ipod charges faster than with usb's
5v supply. I think the pinout of the ipod docking connector still supports the
12v power supply.
The new ipod shuffle is TOO small. (why don't they put the damn thing on a ring
to wear on your hand, or maybe on a stick pin to wear as a tie tack or a cufflink?)
does anybody have a link to what the US TV channel frequency allocation
will look like when the dust settles?
Obsoleting NTSC completly has one major drawback. No longer will
battery operated sets be of any use. So come the next major hurricane,
earthquate, etc. TV will be USELESS for emergency communication. The law
should mandate that the broadcasters in a disaster area (if they can
still get on the air) switch back to analog during a disaster so people can
get the news over battery operated TV's. It also means that ALL digital TV's
would still have to have analog tuners for the same reason.
Then there is the "Juice"
(O.J. Simpson)
Rename the file system to "Kimble".