In addition to the curvature of the earth (yes, magnified by the wide-angle lens), check out the shuttle-cocking of the wings in mentioned picture.
You can read more about how they are using this high drag approach for their re-entry in their FAQ.
GREAT job Scaled Folks - next stop is 100 Kilometers up!;-)
While it seems the cost of using "classic" analog phone lines would make doing this type of soliciting cost prohibitive, I wonder if they are using VoIP to make the call, and therefore dramatically reducing their costs, thereby making it cost effective and also being outside the US/FCC control... mostly.
I agree with another poster that ultimatelly these guys want to sell you something, and it is that company that should (also!) get busted big-time.
These guys are in the same sewer as Email spammers - too bad we can't just have the Hulk drop on 'em!;-)
First, I've futzed around with MozDex for a little while, so congrats on having Slashdot "find" you and getting the word out.
What I have found REALLY interesting about MozDex is the "explain" button which I assume provides some insights into why MozDex decided to rank that web URL as whatever... but the information as currently presented isn't understandable and/or explained.
For instance, I was interested where a Google Compute web page came up and was actually quite surprised that a MozDex Search shows it as #1. So I click on the explain button and I get a page with a buncha numbers... but nowhere on this page (or anywhere on the MozDex site) can I find an explanation for what they heck they mean.
Since your claim-to-fame is open source/search, I think adding information on the internal algorithms would help you out. Keep up the good work - interesting stuff!;-)
alek
P.S. Minor typo in the Corporate Info link from your FAQ
Trying to "restrict" sudo access via ! commands is dumb - there are too many shell escapes, etc. At some point, you MUST trust your admins, so just give 'em sudo=ALL. Having said that, I would setup syslogging to a central loghosts, and have some sort of audit process so if someone does an "su root" or a "sudo csh" (or futzs with the syslog configuration), then you beat 'em over the head with a baseball bat!;-)
Ohhhh... you say can't do the later... then you are basically screwed, since if you don't have management support for this, you'll never succeed unless all of your admins realize having logging/accountability/etc. of root-type actions is a darn good thing for everyone - those type of folks work hard to make SURE whatever they do is logged... whereas there always seems to be at least one admin who thinks they are above this stuff - some eventually learn, some don't.
BTW, note the loghosts (plural) above... you should have this allready in place for general security purposes... and NO admin should have access to all of the loghost machines - i.e. this allows you to deal with renegade Sysadmins who cover try to cover their tracks... or worse yet, someone who tries to "frame" another Sysadmin.
sudoscript was allready mentioned as a nice compliment to sudo, and the sudo tools are also handy for some auditing features.
As a long-time Slashdot (mostly) lurker, I'm impressed - Cmdr Taco and the Slashdot Editors seem to get so much crap from people for this or that - kudo's for taking the high road!
Having written the above, it would still be hilarious if you guys took the #1 spot for the nigritude ultramarine keyphrase... and you had NOT signed up for the contest. There seems to be a ton of "snake oil" in the SEO business, and would be interesting to see what all those hotshot SEO guru's would say about that!;-)
As outlined in my first response, it would be a crackup for Timothy/Slashdot to go for it - I should have changed the subject on my reply so others would see the significance of the author - enoucourage him to toss his hat into the ring!;-)
Timothy,
Yea, in hindsight, good idea leaving my "disclaimer" note in there - thanx.
If I were you, I'd go for it! Remember you have to do a few things per the contest rules per the link above, but in case you are wondering, I have ZERO issues with you taking the credit and walking off with the prize(s) if you win - after all, it is YOUR web site!;-) You have a good chance of taking it - unless someone gets a link from a Page Rank 100 page - after my article submission, I realized this is a pretty funny link that I forgot to add.
I would totally mod-up your post, but I'm a schmuck... so hopefully someone else will for you (although obviousely you can do so yourself) as I bet a buncha Slashdott'ers would also say go for it!
alek
P.S. Actually Timothy, if you do win, can I ask a favor and get a couple hours heads-up if you guys Slashdot my Christmas Lights again? I'd like to warn the neighbors before the lights go beserko, and also monitor things when the deluge hits - X10 is a bit squirrly, so even with some multi-threading, I'm going to be pushing it with the 1 (versus 5) second throttle this year... and it's hard to test this. BTW, if you haven't tried it, you might get a chuckle out of the Javascript pop-ups if you click from Slashdot on my Christmas Webcam link.
HEY... my submission actually got accepted - that's a first!;-)
As alluded in the "Note to Slashdot Editors" (thought they would prune that), I first want to emphasize I have NO relationships with the folks running this content - I just think it is hilarious, although it will certainly provide some insights into how Google works, and we'll see all sorts of whacky things from the SEO pro's - again, I am not one of 'em.
Second, I hadn't thought about Slashdot ranking 1st for the contest as some have suggested - now that would be a crackup! Unfortunately, Slashdot won't allow you to place in IMG tag in a post (a requirement of the contest is a small image on the page), plus I'm not a member of the SearchGuild, so I'm not elgible... maybe Cmdr Taco or Timothy need an iPod and/or 17" LCD - go for it!;-)
Third, you know the folk at Google have gotten wind of this contest, and if I were them, I'd put a link on the main page to their own nigritude ultramarine page. I.e. Google should NOT tinker with their algorithms, but with a link from their PR10 main page, that certainly should shoot 'em up in the rankings. I gotta wonder if the pre-IPO Google would do this - we'll see with the "new" Google;-)
Fourth, I appreciate some of the comments from folks about my Christmas Lights and the Christmas Webcam with webcontrol (yes, you can turn the lights ON and OFF via the web) which actually been on Slashdot before - in fact, you can read my Slashdot Effect Analysis from last year. I assure you it should be MUCH more interesting this year, as due to some multi-threaded optimizations, I think I'll be able to reduce the throttle from minimum 5-second updates to 1-second updates. I'm going to have to be REALLY NICE to my neighbors, 'cause it will be quite the flickering light show in December/2004... although I usually fire it up for a test-run in October as part of my Halloween Decorations and Lights.
alek
P.S. One thing slight off-topic is the Google Compute project which I thought I mention to those Slashdotters with idle CPU time that want to help the Stanford Folding@Home project - this really is a good cause.
Semi-related - other stuff in the sky
on
Spot the Space Station
·
· Score: 4, Informative
I realize not related to the space station, but still looking up in the sky at night, the most obvious thing is the moon... and we just had a lunar eclipse, although it was not visible to folks in America. For anyone interested, I shot a few nifty pictures of the November 8th, 2003 lunar eclipse and I even have some cool Aurora Boealis pictures from 10 days earlier when it got as far down South as Colorado.
I don't disagree with you - yep, the Slashdot crowd has very little affect on those types of decisions, but ideally, someone at those companies SHOULD have been thinking about some of these bad decisions - so yes, it's good that Mossberg "stopped 'em", but I think the market would have eventually self-corrected 'em... but darn shame Microsoft and Intuit couldn't figure the DUHHHH out for themselves.
I still think an "Average Joe" with half a brain (who happens to be the WSJ technology editor) could have done the same thing - by point is Mossberg is not some amazing reviewer/sage/writer, but more that he has a nice perch to write from and it IS good that he looks out for the average consumer.
I've subscribed to the Wall Street Journal since the mid-80's, so have read his columns since they started in 1991. They aren't bad - definately written from the non-geek point of view (which is the right target audiance), but they just have never seemed that difficult to me.
I.e. get some new devices, play around with them, and write the obvious stuff about them. The article talks about how he "stopped" Smart Tags and Turbo Tax licensing... but I'd argue "DUHHHH"... everyone agreed these were bad ideas... but if the WSJ writes about, then I guess it must be true! And his comments on the user interfaces aren't exactly rocket science. Note that since he is such as "name", he gets amazingly early access to stuff, and folks I know in "bizness" say he has a HUGE influence.
It has seemed in the last few years that his assistants are mentioned more often in the columns, which leads me to wonder if he has scaled back his workload/reviewing/writing and just coasting on his name/column.
I.e. I'm not sure that whoever is the technology editor at the WSJ makes that much difference - as long as they are reasonably competent in their reviews/writings, they will be well read.
Having said all of the above, he has an column read by millions in the WSJ... where all I have is my personal web page!;-)
FYI FWIW: This type of event has been around for a long-time here in Boulder, Colorado. It was originally scheduled for last weekend, but the weather was marginal - should be a pretty glorious sunny 70+ degree day for this weekend though. You can read more about it at the Boulder Kinetics Webpage.
If you want to go overboard (like I did!;-), then automate your Christmas lights... and just for grins, add a webcam... and then add the ability to control 'em via the web... and then allow any surfer to do it... and then get Slashdot'ed to test that it is all working properly!;-)
Roger that recommendation on Analog - works good for me - and was helpful in doing an analysis of the Slashdot Effect on Christmas Lights which includes actual output from Analog that you might find interesting.
Slashdot Mirror
GREAT job Scaled Folks - next stop is 100 Kilometers up! ;-)
P.S. While they are up there, can you take some more some pictures of my house! ;-)
I agree with another poster that ultimatelly these guys want to sell you something, and it is that company that should (also!) get busted big-time. These guys are in the same sewer as Email spammers - too bad we can't just have the Hulk drop on 'em! ;-)
What I have found REALLY interesting about MozDex is the "explain" button which I assume provides some insights into why MozDex decided to rank that web URL as whatever ... but the information as currently presented isn't understandable and/or explained.
For instance, I was interested where a Google Compute web page came up and was actually quite surprised that a MozDex Search shows it as #1. So I click on the explain button and I get a page with a buncha numbers ... but nowhere on this page (or anywhere on the MozDex site) can I find an explanation for what they heck they mean.
Since your claim-to-fame is open source/search, I think adding information on the internal algorithms would help you out. Keep up the good work - interesting stuff! ;-)
alek
P.S. Minor typo in the Corporate Info link from your FAQ
Trying to "restrict" sudo access via ! commands is dumb - there are too many shell escapes, etc. At some point, you MUST trust your admins, so just give 'em sudo=ALL. Having said that, I would setup syslogging to a central loghosts, and have some sort of audit process so if someone does an "su root" or a "sudo csh" (or futzs with the syslog configuration), then you beat 'em over the head with a baseball bat! ;-)
Ohhhh ... you say can't do the later ... then you are basically screwed, since if you don't have management support for this, you'll never succeed unless all of your admins realize having logging/accountability/etc. of root-type actions is a darn good thing for everyone - those type of folks work hard to make SURE whatever they do is logged ... whereas there always seems to be at least one admin who thinks they are above this stuff - some eventually learn, some don't.
BTW, note the loghosts (plural) above ... you should have this allready in place for general security purposes ... and NO admin should have access to all of the loghost machines - i.e. this allows you to deal with renegade Sysadmins who cover try to cover their tracks ... or worse yet, someone who tries to "frame" another Sysadmin.
sudoscript was allready mentioned as a nice compliment to sudo, and the sudo tools are also handy for some auditing features.
alek
Having written the above, it would still be hilarious if you guys took the #1 spot for the nigritude ultramarine keyphrase ... and you had NOT signed up for the contest. There seems to be a ton of "snake oil" in the SEO business, and would be interesting to see what all those hotshot SEO guru's would say about that! ;-)
Good luck and Best Wishes,
alek
As outlined in my first response, it would be a crackup for Timothy/Slashdot to go for it - I should have changed the subject on my reply so others would see the significance of the author - enoucourage him to toss his hat into the ring! ;-)
If I were you, I'd go for it! Remember you have to do a few things per the contest rules per the link above, but in case you are wondering, I have ZERO issues with you taking the credit and walking off with the prize(s) if you win - after all, it is YOUR web site! ;-) You have a good chance of taking it - unless someone gets a link from a Page Rank 100 page - after my article submission, I realized this is a pretty funny link that I forgot to add.
I would totally mod-up your post, but I'm a schmuck ... so hopefully someone else will for you (although obviousely you can do so yourself) as I bet a buncha Slashdott'ers would also say go for it!
alek
P.S. Actually Timothy, if you do win, can I ask a favor and get a couple hours heads-up if you guys Slashdot my Christmas Lights again? I'd like to warn the neighbors before the lights go beserko, and also monitor things when the deluge hits - X10 is a bit squirrly, so even with some multi-threading, I'm going to be pushing it with the 1 (versus 5) second throttle this year ... and it's hard to test this. BTW, if you haven't tried it, you might get a chuckle out of the Javascript pop-ups if you click from Slashdot on my Christmas Webcam link.
As alluded in the "Note to Slashdot Editors" (thought they would prune that), I first want to emphasize I have NO relationships with the folks running this content - I just think it is hilarious, although it will certainly provide some insights into how Google works, and we'll see all sorts of whacky things from the SEO pro's - again, I am not one of 'em.
Second, I hadn't thought about Slashdot ranking 1st for the contest as some have suggested - now that would be a crackup! Unfortunately, Slashdot won't allow you to place in IMG tag in a post (a requirement of the contest is a small image on the page), plus I'm not a member of the SearchGuild, so I'm not elgible ... maybe Cmdr Taco or Timothy need an iPod and/or 17" LCD - go for it! ;-)
Third, you know the folk at Google have gotten wind of this contest, and if I were them, I'd put a link on the main page to their own nigritude ultramarine page. I.e. Google should NOT tinker with their algorithms, but with a link from their PR10 main page, that certainly should shoot 'em up in the rankings. I gotta wonder if the pre-IPO Google would do this - we'll see with the "new" Google ;-)
Fourth, I appreciate some of the comments from folks about my Christmas Lights and the Christmas Webcam with webcontrol (yes, you can turn the lights ON and OFF via the web) which actually been on Slashdot before - in fact, you can read my Slashdot Effect Analysis from last year. I assure you it should be MUCH more interesting this year, as due to some multi-threaded optimizations, I think I'll be able to reduce the throttle from minimum 5-second updates to 1-second updates. I'm going to have to be REALLY NICE to my neighbors, 'cause it will be quite the flickering light show in December/2004 ... although I usually fire it up for a test-run in October as part of my Halloween Decorations and Lights.
alek
P.S. One thing slight off-topic is the Google Compute project which I thought I mention to those Slashdotters with idle CPU time that want to help the Stanford Folding@Home project - this really is a good cause.
Another cool thing is Iridium Flares which are bright flashes of reflected sunlight from the Iridium satellite solar panels for 5-20 seconds - here is an excellent writeup about those including how to predict 'em!
I don't disagree with you - yep, the Slashdot crowd has very little affect on those types of decisions, but ideally, someone at those companies SHOULD have been thinking about some of these bad decisions - so yes, it's good that Mossberg "stopped 'em", but I think the market would have eventually self-corrected 'em ... but darn shame Microsoft and Intuit couldn't figure the DUHHHH out for themselves.
I still think an "Average Joe" with half a brain (who happens to be the WSJ technology editor) could have done the same thing - by point is Mossberg is not some amazing reviewer/sage/writer, but more that he has a nice perch to write from and it IS good that he looks out for the average consumer.
I.e. get some new devices, play around with them, and write the obvious stuff about them. The article talks about how he "stopped" Smart Tags and Turbo Tax licensing ... but I'd argue "DUHHHH" ... everyone agreed these were bad ideas ... but if the WSJ writes about, then I guess it must be true! And his comments on the user interfaces aren't exactly rocket science. Note that since he is such as "name", he gets amazingly early access to stuff, and folks I know in "bizness" say he has a HUGE influence.
It has seemed in the last few years that his assistants are mentioned more often in the columns, which leads me to wonder if he has scaled back his workload/reviewing/writing and just coasting on his name/column.
I.e. I'm not sure that whoever is the technology editor at the WSJ makes that much difference - as long as they are reasonably competent in their reviews/writings, they will be well read.
Having said all of the above, he has an column read by millions in the WSJ ... where all I have is my personal web page! ;-)
Should be a lot more fun than watching my grass grow! ;-)
If you want to see some pretty darn cool pictures of MY house, check out these satellite photo's of my house.
Read all about the Christmas Lights which also includes an analysis of the Slashdot Effect on Christmas Lights.
Roger that recommendation on Analog - works good for me - and was helpful in doing an analysis of the Slashdot Effect on Christmas Lights which includes actual output from Analog that you might find interesting.