It take note at "I gather that MS consultants have been flown in from the US to clear up the mess."
Sure, Bill Gates won't do YOUR tech support, but having the real pros called in if you've screwed up and you're a big enough customer is probably something very appealing to governments looking for an OS.
Those kids want to go to college. At least they should.
I think there is a problem with the view that college is a place to go and study towards a degree in a field that interests you so you can get a good job and make lots of money. You don't have to know what you want to do with the rest of your life to go to college. It's a place where you explore that idea.
I've seen quite a few younger people go to school for a year but not return the next for the reason that they "had no idea what they wanted to do and were just wasting money". In all likelihood, they probably weren't getting much out of it, but that was due to their own attitudes. You can't go to college just waiting around for your future to hit you on the forehead.
So if you don't know what you want to do, go to college. If you don't think you have the money, you can find it. It will be worth it. If you DO know what you want to do, then, by all means, don't go to college if you don't need to. But try and think of college as a time to explore.
Way back when, Mail.com required me to check a box indicating that I had "parental consent" to sign up for my new account. I was 12, so by law it was indecent for me to have a cool @madscientist.com address. Oh well, I got around that one. And I remember it being VERY hard to push my year of birth back a bit so I would hit that 13 year threshold and be able to use the forum/chat service/whatever... just hit "back" and try again.
One time, by I believe Yahoo!, I was asked for a credit card number to make sure my parents were okay with me signing up for their service. That really was tough. I don't think I got around that.
But now all I'm faced with is the "IF YOU'RE NOT 18 PLEASE CLICK HERE" type of protection. That's the worst. I've found "ignoring the link", "clicking the 'I'm 18' button" and "looking at the pretty pictures on the same page" as methods of circumventing this protection.
Now, what's wrong with this picture? Me, for lying about my age? The websites, for allowing me to get around their "protection"? Or this law for attempting to block "harmful" things that pose no threat to my development as a person whatsoever? I vote #3.
Think of your lawnmower as a BattleBot. You've got a drive system (wheels) and a "weapon" (the blade). Okay, it's not the greatest analogy, but we're talking about components of the same caliber, and I know a little bit about this type of robotics.
Building your mower from scratch would be something fun and geeky and not *too* difficult if you know how to weld and such. If you take this route, consider using battery power for the drive train and a small engine for the blade.
I recommend electric power because it is easier to interface with a navigation computer and allows for easy reverse if you get stuck up against an obstacle. You could even use another electric motor for the blade. In any case, a good source of electric motors is NPC Robotics. They also have wheels you could use. I think a remote control system would be neat, even if you don't want to drive it around all the time. You could use it to guide the mower if it's "lost" or as an emergency shutoff from inside the house. A manual override feature would be cool to just drive it around for fun, too. Of course, this makes things expensive. But a neat way to do this would be to use an IFI RoboticsIsaac 16. This system includes a radio and transmitter plus a BASIC Stamp computer that is easily programmable and allows the reading of 4 analog inputs and 8 digital inputs (sensors on the mower). This would allow you to have, for example, an "RC startup" button inside your house that would remotely trigger the mower to begin running, then use the programming features for automated mowing. It could be both RC and autonomous, really. With that system, you could use a couple of Victor 883 speed controllers to regulate your drive motors. There's also a spin controller that would be perfect for your blade if that were electric powered. Otherwise, a simple gas engine with a servo on the carburetor throttle would suffice for control of that.
If you don't choose to go with this (very expensive but neat) RC setup, you could use a much simpler BASIC Stamp. This is the "brain" of the Isaac 16, but minus the radio and PWM signal drivers (for speed controllers, servos, etc.). They run a lot cheaper ($150 for a basic setup) and are still very easy to program (a modified BASIC syntax) but you would have to wire your own interfaces to speed controllers. This can be done, but I have no experience with it. In any case, the BASIC Stamp would allow you to connect various types of sensors that you could use to gather data and then modify your path accordingly. The Stamp is probably a better choice than a Mini-ITX or similar because it is cheap, not overkill:-P and has all the programming tools set up, ready to go, and designed almost specifically for robotic applications.
So check some of that out. I hope that helps if you're looking to build something from scratch.
Oh yeah, if you're concerned about powering an electrical system for long enough to mow your lawn, a few 12 volt lead-acid batteries of the type used in motorcycles or smaller car ones will likely suffice. I believe they can deliver around 14 Amp-hours or so.
The question needs to be asked as to whether or not these specifications are simply the expectation that Microsoft has for PCs at the time of Longhorn's release or actual recommended specifications for the OS required to make it run decently. If the first is true, they're just being optomistic and this is all FUD. It is possible that the average PC at the time of release will have all of the things listed, so maybe the comment was a sort of "think how great Longhorn systems will be" instead of a "don't try it with anything less." Additionally, these specs could be ideas on the way computers will be used with this OS. This does not mean that the OS itself will require such hardware, but in order to take full advantage of some of the features it offers (PVR, etc.), the average user will want this type of setup. I didn't see this point made very clearly anywhere else, but I think it is important so we don't misinterpret a harmless statement of optomism as one of hardware-munching madness.
Toejam and Earl Theme Song
Your two favorite funky space aliens sure got to jam with some fine funk in their video game. Video game music cannot be truly experienced without giving this game a play.
I'd say government intervention of this kind sure is rather "leftist" if we're speaking in modern-day Democrat vs. Republican terms.
Yes, our friend Teddy was a great trustbuster, but it's hard to call any of the politicians of his time conservative, even those that were "Republicans". When you had 20 immigrants sleeping in a single room apartment and Big Oil holding a stranglehold on an increasingly essential item (much more essential than cable TV), it was hard to find a soul who could gain enough support to be elected president that *didn't* think extreme change was needed.
Jackson's Republicans != Lincoln's Republicans != Roosevelt's Republicans != Bush's Republicans when we're talking "left/right" or "liberal/conservative".
As for McCain... well, when many are calling the Democratic candidate too "conservative", centrists sure look a whole lot more "left", especially with policies like this one.
The government should make sure I can pick and choose which MLB teams play eachother, too, since that's a legal monopoly and I have not control otherwise. Or maybe I could survive without cable, like I have my entire life.
I think I realized this a while ago. Last year, as a high school freshman, I wrote this and turned it in as a rather insignificant essay for my English class. What I say is just repetition of many of the comments above, but I think its important that people see that some students feel the same way. I do, and have since more than a year before this article was up on Slashdot. I realize now how terribly-written my essay is which makes it even more curious that the comments I recieved from the teacher were not on the quality of my paper, but rather a half-page rant firing back at the viewpoint I tried to express. Her tone was along the lines of "Do you really think we don't need computers in school? What about the poor kids who can't afford them at their homes?"
My point: It all comes back to the excessive use of technology. I couldn't write a decent essay because I was distracted by IMing and trying to create a pleasing piece for my website while my teacher didn't care about my writing enough to actually try and understand my point since she was busy playing Flash games on her 17" LCD panel.
I should also note that it is interesting to me how a group such as Slashdot readers who understand tech on such a deep level are some of the biggest critics of its widespread use in public schools. Maybe we understand it as more than a wonderful cure-all to our learning needs.
Slashdot Mirror
It take note at "I gather that MS consultants have been flown in from the US to clear up the mess."
Sure, Bill Gates won't do YOUR tech support, but having the real pros called in if you've screwed up and you're a big enough customer is probably something very appealing to governments looking for an OS.
Those kids want to go to college. At least they should.
I think there is a problem with the view that college is a place to go and study towards a degree in a field that interests you so you can get a good job and make lots of money. You don't have to know what you want to do with the rest of your life to go to college. It's a place where you explore that idea.
I've seen quite a few younger people go to school for a year but not return the next for the reason that they "had no idea what they wanted to do and were just wasting money". In all likelihood, they probably weren't getting much out of it, but that was due to their own attitudes. You can't go to college just waiting around for your future to hit you on the forehead.
So if you don't know what you want to do, go to college. If you don't think you have the money, you can find it. It will be worth it. If you DO know what you want to do, then, by all means, don't go to college if you don't need to. But try and think of college as a time to explore.
But that's only half as cheap!
Way back when, Mail.com required me to check a box indicating that I had "parental consent" to sign up for my new account. I was 12, so by law it was indecent for me to have a cool @madscientist.com address. Oh well, I got around that one. And I remember it being VERY hard to push my year of birth back a bit so I would hit that 13 year threshold and be able to use the forum/chat service/whatever... just hit "back" and try again.
One time, by I believe Yahoo!, I was asked for a credit card number to make sure my parents were okay with me signing up for their service. That really was tough. I don't think I got around that.
But now all I'm faced with is the "IF YOU'RE NOT 18 PLEASE CLICK HERE" type of protection. That's the worst. I've found "ignoring the link", "clicking the 'I'm 18' button" and "looking at the pretty pictures on the same page" as methods of circumventing this protection.
Now, what's wrong with this picture? Me, for lying about my age? The websites, for allowing me to get around their "protection"? Or this law for attempting to block "harmful" things that pose no threat to my development as a person whatsoever? I vote #3.
Clause 8.
Think of your lawnmower as a BattleBot. You've got a drive system (wheels) and a "weapon" (the blade). Okay, it's not the greatest analogy, but we're talking about components of the same caliber, and I know a little bit about this type of robotics.
:-P and has all the programming tools set up, ready to go, and designed almost specifically for robotic applications.
Building your mower from scratch would be something fun and geeky and not *too* difficult if you know how to weld and such. If you take this route, consider using battery power for the drive train and a small engine for the blade. I recommend electric power because it is easier to interface with a navigation computer and allows for easy reverse if you get stuck up against an obstacle. You could even use another electric motor for the blade. In any case, a good source of electric motors is NPC Robotics. They also have wheels you could use. I think a remote control system would be neat, even if you don't want to drive it around all the time. You could use it to guide the mower if it's "lost" or as an emergency shutoff from inside the house. A manual override feature would be cool to just drive it around for fun, too. Of course, this makes things expensive. But a neat way to do this would be to use an IFI Robotics Isaac 16. This system includes a radio and transmitter plus a BASIC Stamp computer that is easily programmable and allows the reading of 4 analog inputs and 8 digital inputs (sensors on the mower). This would allow you to have, for example, an "RC startup" button inside your house that would remotely trigger the mower to begin running, then use the programming features for automated mowing. It could be both RC and autonomous, really. With that system, you could use a couple of Victor 883 speed controllers to regulate your drive motors. There's also a spin controller that would be perfect for your blade if that were electric powered. Otherwise, a simple gas engine with a servo on the carburetor throttle would suffice for control of that.
If you don't choose to go with this (very expensive but neat) RC setup, you could use a much simpler BASIC Stamp. This is the "brain" of the Isaac 16, but minus the radio and PWM signal drivers (for speed controllers, servos, etc.). They run a lot cheaper ($150 for a basic setup) and are still very easy to program (a modified BASIC syntax) but you would have to wire your own interfaces to speed controllers. This can be done, but I have no experience with it. In any case, the BASIC Stamp would allow you to connect various types of sensors that you could use to gather data and then modify your path accordingly. The Stamp is probably a better choice than a Mini-ITX or similar because it is cheap, not overkill
So check some of that out. I hope that helps if you're looking to build something from scratch.
Oh yeah, if you're concerned about powering an electrical system for long enough to mow your lawn, a few 12 volt lead-acid batteries of the type used in motorcycles or smaller car ones will likely suffice. I believe they can deliver around 14 Amp-hours or so.
The question needs to be asked as to whether or not these specifications are simply the expectation that Microsoft has for PCs at the time of Longhorn's release or actual recommended specifications for the OS required to make it run decently. If the first is true, they're just being optomistic and this is all FUD. It is possible that the average PC at the time of release will have all of the things listed, so maybe the comment was a sort of "think how great Longhorn systems will be" instead of a "don't try it with anything less." Additionally, these specs could be ideas on the way computers will be used with this OS. This does not mean that the OS itself will require such hardware, but in order to take full advantage of some of the features it offers (PVR, etc.), the average user will want this type of setup. I didn't see this point made very clearly anywhere else, but I think it is important so we don't misinterpret a harmless statement of optomism as one of hardware-munching madness.
Toejam and Earl Theme Song
Your two favorite funky space aliens sure got to jam with some fine funk in their video game. Video game music cannot be truly experienced without giving this game a play.
I'd say government intervention of this kind sure is rather "leftist" if we're speaking in modern-day Democrat vs. Republican terms.
Yes, our friend Teddy was a great trustbuster, but it's hard to call any of the politicians of his time conservative, even those that were "Republicans". When you had 20 immigrants sleeping in a single room apartment and Big Oil holding a stranglehold on an increasingly essential item (much more essential than cable TV), it was hard to find a soul who could gain enough support to be elected president that *didn't* think extreme change was needed.
Jackson's Republicans != Lincoln's Republicans != Roosevelt's Republicans != Bush's Republicans when we're talking "left/right" or "liberal/conservative".
As for McCain... well, when many are calling the Democratic candidate too "conservative", centrists sure look a whole lot more "left", especially with policies like this one.
The government should make sure I can pick and choose which MLB teams play eachother, too, since that's a legal monopoly and I have not control otherwise. Or maybe I could survive without cable, like I have my entire life.
I think I realized this a while ago. Last year, as a high school freshman, I wrote this and turned it in as a rather insignificant essay for my English class. What I say is just repetition of many of the comments above, but I think its important that people see that some students feel the same way. I do, and have since more than a year before this article was up on Slashdot. I realize now how terribly-written my essay is which makes it even more curious that the comments I recieved from the teacher were not on the quality of my paper, but rather a half-page rant firing back at the viewpoint I tried to express. Her tone was along the lines of "Do you really think we don't need computers in school? What about the poor kids who can't afford them at their homes?"
My point: It all comes back to the excessive use of technology. I couldn't write a decent essay because I was distracted by IMing and trying to create a pleasing piece for my website while my teacher didn't care about my writing enough to actually try and understand my point since she was busy playing Flash games on her 17" LCD panel.
I should also note that it is interesting to me how a group such as Slashdot readers who understand tech on such a deep level are some of the biggest critics of its widespread use in public schools. Maybe we understand it as more than a wonderful cure-all to our learning needs.