Slashdot Mirror


User: klipsch_gmx

klipsch_gmx's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
82
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 82

  1. Re:Remix on BBC Opens TV Listings For Remix · · Score: 0

    How the fuck is that insightful?

  2. Re:Hacking the RAZR V3? on Hacking the Motorola v265 · · Score: 0

    I work there and I know the protocols.

  3. Re:Hacking the RAZR V3? on Hacking the Motorola v265 · · Score: 0

    Anyone know of any attempts to access the contents of a RAZR V3 phone on Linux?I could do it, it's possible. Are you interested? How much would you pay?

  4. Re:Yeah... on Viacom Launches Podcast-Only Radio Station · · Score: 0

    Slashdot's open source... "no WC3 conformity by someone who's so accepting of open source"

    I think you meant "W3C", but thanks for playing.

    At least they don't block the w3c validator any more.

  5. Probably could do this much cheaper, except.. on Using Diamonds to Create Unhackable Code · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Diamond is one of the most common gemstones in the world. It would have virtually no value if a) DeBeers hadn't pulled the greatest marketing spinjob in history convincing people today that diamond rings are a centuries old wedding tradition, not a decades old one and b) they didn't warehouse them.

    DeBeers has warehouses of bins, floor to ceiling of diamonds they keep off the market to artificially inflate their value. By controlling access to virtually all the mines that are econimical to exploit, they ensure competitors with access to diamond deposits will not flood the market with cheap ones.

    You see, nowadays, when you want to facet a gemstone into the shapes most people have come to expect in jewelry, one has to use abrasives to put the faces in the stone. Usually Silicon Carbide grit (9.5 hardness, usually for softer stones) or diamond (10 hardness, for harder stuff) on a spinning disk to grind into the stone. But this doesn't work for all gemstones, notably diamond. Trying to facet a diamond with diamond grit on a lap (the disk) will just cut gouges into your lap. They are not cheap.

    So diamonds still have to be done the hard way: roughly shaping the stone by cleaving, then using 2 diamonds, one of poor quality, to rub the faces into the good diamond. If this stuff can be synthesized in different grits (particle sizes) for fairly cheap, then it can be used to facet diamonds with machinery rather than by hand. Much of a diamonds (and most other stones) value is actually from the labor put into faceting it. This is especially so for smaller stones. How cheap? Well, currently lapidaries are paying for synthetic diamond grit...

  6. A challenging read from a remarkable talent on Iron Council · · Score: 3, Informative

    First off, for those of you new to China Mieville, I would recommend that you begin with "Perdido Street Station" (or "King Rat"), followed up by "The Scar", and only then tackle "Iron Council". While the three books don't form a trilogy in the traditional sense, they nonetheless draw on shared themes and a common setting and history. As such, while "Iron Council" can certainly be read and appreciated by a newcomer to Mieville's writing, there are numerous small references and commonalities that will be missed.

    Fans of Mieville, however, will find in "Iron Council" perhaps his most nuanced and sophisticated writing to date. As usual, the author defies genres, and has produced what would best be described (if one was forced to use labels) as a gothic-western-political-thriller. At the same time, he continues to subvert traditional fantasy elements as well as co-opting elements from other traditions and grounding them in his reality. However, Mieville has also tackled a more challenging structural approach in this novel, as he uses three different voices and two time periods that, while connected by plot threads are separated by decades. Furthermore, the chronologically earlier section comes 130 pages into the book, which in the hands of a less gifted writer would be horribly jarring, but which Mieville pulls of with style.

    The primary story (which is elaborated upon by the flashback) is set some twenty years after the events of Perdido Street Station, and finds New Crobuzon at war with distant Tesh, with discontent at home mounting as the casualties mount and the economy falters. It is a time of turmoil and political dissent bordering on civil war; as options are weighed, one man, Judah Low, goes in search of a near mythical construct whose time may be at hand, Iron Council. To say more would risk severe spoilers, but the real joy of "Iron Council" is that the plot is served so deftly by the underlying themes, and vice versa.

    And those themes are legion, the most obvious one being New Crobuzon's war with Tesh as a parallel with the Iraq war. Likewise, there are economic factors that are akin to the bursting of the .com bubble of the late 1990's. However, Mieville has made it abundantly clear in numerous interviews that he has no interest in spreading his political views (he is a Socialist who has run for Parliament) through his writing, and that holds true here. Rather, these elements serve to ground the story in a believable reality, which allows the reader to accept at face value the fantastic elements. Moreover, even as he subverts everything that is a "norm" of fantasy, Mieville also casts his own views in a realisitic light. For example, the political activists (with whom he obviously sympathizes) frequently make capricious, even brutal decisions, and display very un-liberal traits such as disdain for homosexuals.

    However, as I said, these groundings are mere jumping off points for a much more intriguing exploration, for at its heart "Iron Council" is an exploration of change/history. The groundwork for this is laid in Judah's ability to create golems, which Mieville describes as an intervention, a decision to change the un-living to living. Once the reader recognizes this metaphor, Mieville's intent becomes clear as he considers industry, politics and war (among other things) as interventions into the status quo, as forces for change. In so doing, Mieville quite rightly takes a long view of history in which right and wrong become blurred by the law of unintended consequences. There is a symmetry in his world, almost karmic in its nature, in which actions in the past rebound in unexpected ways in the present. The driving force of history for Mieville is the individual, but as such, he recognizes the fundamental instability this introduces into his novel. People change, there motivations change, and as such, tipping points can never be quite predicted, and will often radically diverge from the expected path.

  7. Re:Gates Request.. on Gates Calls for Increase in Tech Labor Supply · · Score: 0

    but nobody blinks an eye at letting in millions of workers (mostly from Mexico) to get paid $3.00/hour washing dishes and pay no tax because they're here illegally or because their incomes are very low, despite consuming tax dollars in the form of health and education costs for their families?

    It's all about inflation, man. Cheap labor slows the pace of inflation.

  8. Dumbass Slashbot falls for troll, film at 11 on Judge: Schools Don't Have to Help Music Industry · · Score: -1

    What about when you've only been accused. Innocent until proven guilty, or something like that? (US) Think before you post, Poindexter!

    Umm, even if you're convicted, you have rights. A whole lot of them. Just ask Martha Stewart.

  9. Fingerprints don't work well, maybe this is better on To Pay With Your Credit Card, Please Speak Up · · Score: 0

    Problems with fingerprint scanners are legendary, especially when your fingerprint is so easy to collect, glasses, ATM's, a handshake. There was a study not long ago on Slashdot that showed that about 90% of fingerprint scanners can be fooled by things like gelatine.

    And you think the retailers would want to buy a big expensive foolproof machine for every shop in the world or just something cheap that can read a fingerprint?

    It was hard enough moving them over to what we in the UK call Chip-and-PIN where we've done away (or are going to do away) with signatures and use a four digit code. That's been years in the making and still not completely functional. I can still say "Oh, I haven't been sent a number for that card yet" and they let you sign for the transaction, much like previously.

    I'm not sure that a voice recognition system would be best. No, I still say the best system for things like credit cards etc. is to have some sort of graphical. When you swipe the card, the owners picture appears for verification (sent direct from the credit card company, maybe chosen from a few random photographs from different angles, clothing etc.) Much more big brother, I know.

    If the person in front of you does not look like the owner, you refuse the transaction. Put this on top of things like Chip-and-PIN and signatures and you've got it made. Only an CC company insider could realistically beat it and then they would be accountable (I would hope that every account created had a traceback history for which staff member created it, one that is unwriteable after creation.).

    If the retailer tries to run a stolen credit card through to make a few fake transactions, and presses Yes to ID the photo, there's always the Chip-and-PIN to fall back on that he must know. But it means you can't stroll in just any shop with a stolen credit card and take someone else's money.

  10. Thank the gov't in the first place on More Freedom for DVD Players? · · Score: 0

    "Look at some DVDs. You already can't skip some commercials on those"

    Actually when the studios first started putting trailers and stuff before the movies on dvd's they fixed it so you couldn't get around them. Especially the warning pages. But every new dvd I've rented over the past few months has allowed me to hit chapter forward to skip past them. Even the FBI warnings. It shows up but chapter forward decreases the time you have to sit there watching. You still can't just hit menu sometimes to jump past the trailers but you can skip them. Obviously not ideal but better than it used to be.

    Hopefully this new law will alleviate some of the problems in this area.

  11. Read this book last year for Sun cert....my $0.02: on Rapid J2EE Development · · Score: -1, Troll

    This book has a lot of great material in it. The author really shows his experience in the subject matter. The content is excellent. The author provides a good survey of the technologies and approaches for rapid development in the J2EE arena. He touches on all areas that should be of interest to a reader, from design through testing. He illustrates the different phases of rapid development by going into several technologies in depth, and he also lists or otherwise mentions other available technologies. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to get started with developing J2EE applications.

    I think the book does a good job of presenting a set of processes and technologies that enable rapid development. The author skillfully presents a collection of tools, technologies and processes that facilitate rapid development of J2EE applications. I see this book as a valuable addition to any company bookshelf, especially given its broad application across the software lifecycle. It's also quite amazing that a Google search does not reveal any existing publications with this title. This book should neatly fill that hole.

    If you ever needed to put some polish to your J2EE development understanding or would like to move into the role of Senior J2EE Developer, then this is the book for you. The author covers everything you need to take you from design to coding to build process. Along the way he introduces some new valuable 'leading-edge' technologies. All this will leave you with good capabilities to tackle most J2EE projects confidently.

  12. Lacking in key areas, but LSB is a good step on Why Aren't More Distros Becoming LSB Certified? · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yes Linux is better in how it handles hardware(ONE reboot AFTER install is complete is all I ever seem to have to do with a linux install, windows has at least 2 for JUST the os, leet alone dirvers, updates, etc.). But it's lacking in several other areas that would scare developers away.

    What exactly is the purpose of the LSB spec these days? When I last worried about it, I was under the impression it was so that ISV's could distribute software packages in such a way that they would work and integrate well on a variety of distributions, and nothing more. That is, it wasn't about providing consistent functionality across distributions in general, or about standardising things for standardisation's sake. The "Purpose" section in the LSB spec doesn't seem to clarify this for me, but rather describes what the LSB is composed of, rather than why it's composed that way.

    The big one is will it run out of the box, right now the way compatability between distros and even versions of the same distro work the odds are against it. The would probably have to ship a game with a spare cd containing all the variations on the binaries needed just to work on most of the mainstream distros.

    And as much as I laud and love the way Linux distros install in one go without reboot hell, and deal well with hardware changes, Games need good vidcard drivers and that requires getting ati and nvidia on board with optimized linux drivers Though this last point is somthing of a chicken/egg problem as is the next point.

    Linus still does not have installed user base to make porting a worthwile effort for many game/app developers.

    The concept behind the LSB was a good one and a step in the right direction even if the implementation had its detractors.

  13. luminocity = longhorn in linux? on Next Generation X11 · · Score: -1, Troll

    There is a language being developed codenamed cairo ( mayb final name too ) to be used in Linux. its a GTK fork. and its special feature is ability to use opengl rendered screens in place of bitmaps for window drawing. A product is already being developed using this called luminocity.

    I dont know much of it and havent even used it yet, but it looks like something sitting on top of gnome and giving eye-candy to user. I know that the next version of windows is known to use Direct3D to draw windows . so mayb luminocity will beat microsoft's in giving the end-users 3D rendered enviorment to work. (ofcourse i know sun's glass. but to me its vapourware and i HATE sun's linux or whatever it is).

    Below is a flash video converted by me from mpeg found here. Also, you might visit http://codemills.com/blog/wp-images/TransparentWin dows.swf.

  14. Seems like it's closer to SecondLife's approach on Sony Online To Sell Virtual Property · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The makers of Second Life have taken a very unique approach to player rights with in the game.

    In Second life, the content player create, is owned by the player and not the company .This is totally against the grain of most online games where the company owns it all.

    Additionally, they have started tying in real currency to the in game currency. I know this not unique, as Project Entropia does the same thing.

    I personally hope this is the way games will go--giving ownership of virtual property to the players and allowing them to use it, sell it, convert for real $$$. I find these environments more enjoyable and rewarding that environments like Everquest, where Sony pretty much owns you.

  15. precision * diversity = accuracy on GMail Getting RSS Aggregation Feature? · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Inaccuracy from a single online news source is OK, when you cross-reference it with other sources. The Web offers a cheap, workable way to do this that print/broadcast media don't: aggregation.

    Especially with so much news (in print/broadcast as well as bits/interactive) produced by parallel distribution workflows, headlines, stories, angles and agendas all take a resonance that's unnerving across multiple newsracks, but manageable in an RSS aggregator. See not only the contrasts in reporting/story, but the uncomfortably synthetic similarities of "manufactured news" that agrees too much, especially across "independent" sources.

    Wall Street has used these techniques (and techs) for years. Multiple data sources are compared/contrasted for "data quality assurance". Long after the "single point of failure" is left behind, more textured info, weighted perspectives, prediction/accuracy performance grades and simply emergent patterns in the grapevine all add to the usability of the data, with enveloping context environements abounding.

    ...Of course, if you still just believe everything you read, at least you'll be too confused by the diversity to do anything that gets in the way of the rest of us clever enough to put the picture together.

  16. Believe it or not, not the first... on Microsoft to Release a Thin-Client Windows XP · · Score: 1

    Microsoft Corp.'s newly released operating system designed to power small computing devices has found a home in a new slim computer terminal, or thin client, from Wyse Technology Inc.

    The terminal was unveiled Wednesday in conjunction with Microsoft's release of its Windows XP operating system for embedded devices. Wyse said it expects to be the first hardware maker to offer a thin client device with XP installed. The company said it will begin shipping its new machine, commonly used to run cash registers and bar-code scanning applications, in the first quarter of 2002.

    Full article from November 2001.

  17. What is ThinStation? on Microsoft to Release a Thin-Client Windows XP · · Score: 3, Informative

    Thinstation is a thin client Linux distribution that makes a PC a full-featured thin client supporting all major connectivity protocols: Citrix ICA, MS Windows terminal services (RDP), Tarantella, X, telnet, tn5250, VMS term and SSH.

    No special configuration of the application servers is needed to use Thinstation!

    Thinstation can be booted from network (e.g. diskless) using Etherboot/PXE or from a local floppy/CD/HD/flash-disk. The thin client configuration can be centralized to simplify management. Thinstation supports client-side storage (floppy/HD/CD/USB) and printers (LPT/USB). Prebuilt images and a Live CD are available too!

    Mozilla Firefox and lighter browsers are supported as client-side browsers.

  18. Want to know how? Just ask M$ on Users as Innovators - Why Open Source Works · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Microsoft has helped the Open source revolution happen.

    Look at the UI. Look at the applications. The basic look and feel hasn't changed significantly since 1995. Almost every new technology "innovation" has been either bought or copied (poorly) by Microsoft.

    OSS' growth has been more viral, more grassroots, more innovative than the top-down "we know better than you" approach that Microsoft has successfully imposed on its users in the last 5 years. It is with this suppression of innovation that Microsoft has directly spawned and contributed to the open-source revolution!

    On another note, after 10 years on Wintel, I switched to Macintosh recently. After 5 minutes inside of OSX, I experienced more innovation and creativity than I had on Windows for as long as I can recall.

    Thank-you Microsoft for helping me switch to truly useable applications.

  19. Microsoft helping open source on Users as Innovators - Why Open Source Works · · Score: 0, Redundant

    (and we'll probably have to keep saying it for another three years)

    The innovators have spoken, and they like what they saw.

    Now the volume will pick up, as more people take notice, and the ease-of-learning continues to grow in leaps and bounds...as businesses start deploying Linux on the workstation for cost competitive advantage and security competitive advantage, there will be more demand of open-source integration -- and more open-source programming jobs.

    Then come the hordes that are the mainstream users and late adopters. Oh how I hope the Linux community is actually ready for this.

  20. We said this years ago on Users as Innovators - Why Open Source Works · · Score: 1

    (and we'll probably have to keep saying it for another three years)

    The innovators have spoken, and they like what they saw.

    Now the volume will pick up, as more people take notice, and the ease-of-learning continues to grow in leaps and bounds. As businesses start deploying Linux on the workstation for cost competitive advantage and security competitive advantage, there will be more demand of open-source integration - and more open-source programming jobs.

    Then come the hordes that are the mainstream users and late adopters. Oh how I hope the Linux community is actually ready for this.

  21. Re:Safe = We want our money early on MS: Beta Software Good Enough for Production Use · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    since when does the stock being flat mean that the profits are on decline?

    Since..ever?

    The price of a stock is a valuation of future growth. If profits are thought to be flat or declining, so will the stock price. This book will give you more details. Highly recommended.

  22. Re:Quiet around here on Linux to Replace Solaris at Duke · · Score: 0, Troll

    Why do you post so fucking much?

  23. Join the jihad today! on IPTV Revolution Put on Hold · · Score: -1, Troll

    Read about Slashdot editor injustices here.

  24. Re:A sword that cuts both ways on Should You Trust MAPS? · · Score: 1

    These sorts of lists are GREAT for greylisting -- increase your spamassasin score by a few points, or something like that.

    That is not what greylisting is.

  25. Re:Hmm... on Sun's Schwartz Attacks GPL · · Score: 1

    No, IP is not needed to pull nations up. It would be nice,

    I wacky-parsed that as "it would be rice," ...