The hams who did the code part of the competition are NOT world record holders at all, but just regular amateur hams and are not professionals. They specifically limited their speed under 30 WPM. The world record is held by the late Ted MacElroy at 72 WPM in 1943, if I recall correctly. I'm only an occasional code operator and the speed they used is quite comfortable for me. I'd like to point out, too, that the hams send the entire text verbatim while the cell phone messagers used abreviations.
This same thing could have been accomplished using very rudimentary equipment for much less than the retail cost of a single cell phone. You would need a cheap "learner" key a 9 volt battery, a buzzer and the wire to connect to the other room. A straight key can be used easily to send code up into the low 20's words per minute.
I agree that the concept of the nail/finger method is impractical. Right off it would make things very difficult for those poor folks who bite their nails. I'd suggest some sort of two button arrangement simulating the automatic key paddles where one button makes a series of dots and the other a series of dashes.
I'd be quite glad to have a phone that responded to code commands. Some radio equipment has audible code output so you can get readings, such as frequency and so forth via code instead of requiring a display.
BTW, the code used in the test and on radio is actually the International code rather than the landline Morse that the telegraph in the US used. It's better suited to tones as opposed to the clicks and clacks of a telegraph sounder.
I've played with Lindows/Linspire since 4.0 and you are right about the older versions, but the newest one, 5.0, doesn't automatically run as root. The install creates a user account that is the default when you boot. Yes, you can still get to password protected root if you need to, but not automatically any more.
I installed it on an old P-III machine for one of my grown kids who had a spyware choked P-4 XP machine. It took 2 minutes of instruction as to what to click on to get the dialup going and the browser. I didn't hear any more about it from them, as in no tech-support calls, until I took the Windows box back to them and he and his wife didn't want to let go the older machine with Linspire.
but five minutes later they should have recognized the likelihood of unintended consequences and looked for a better solution, much as our fine lawmakers always do....oh, wait....
It was actually an FM radio band back before FM broadcasting got moved up to 88-108 MHz. Now it's part of the public service band, as in police, utility companies, forest rangers, etc.
As was pointed out above, most scanner radios will receive that frequency just fine.
My solution is called KVM.. I don't have any trouble finding older computers very inexpensively that run Linux just fine. I'm running SuSE 9.2 on a PIII-550 with 256 Megs of Ram and it works great. When I want to use the XP box to run Quickbooks, I just tap-tap on the num-lock and there's my XP window.
Actually, I go a bit further than that as I've got a 4 port KVM switch so I also have a similar box with Ubuntu 5.04 and a Celeron 900 with Xandros. All of these computers were given to me after a customer upgraded their office. So there's never a hassle when I want to change what distro I'm playing with.
I've dual booted boxes in the past and the only problems I've had with dual booting was with an XP install that got broken and the reinstall messed up the booting. No biggie.
in that order. You can make the numbers say anything with sufficient qualifications. Oh, and it's only in the US, not world-wide. Read the article carefully. It doesn't mean Linux adoption on a per user basis is slowing, as I read it, the growth rate of new companies using it is slowing. Hardly time to get out the black armbands..
but I'll admit that the speed maxes out around 20-25 wpm for skilled users with one so it would have made it a closer race. Remember, though, that the CE operators didn't use any abbreviations.
If a "Bug", which is a mechanical semi-automatic key that makes the dots automatically, is allowed, then 50 wpm is quite possible for a reasonably skilled operator. The record for sending and receiving is 72 wpm set in 1943 by the famous Ted MacElroy. That was with a bug as electronic keyers didn't exist then.
I definitely agree with parent that learning the code from a table and listening to the dots and dashes individually is a bummer. Learn the sound of the letters. Then, as others have observed, when you get to around 25-30 wpm and above, the recognition is at the word level. It's really pretty cool. I've been using code since 1958, but not as regularly as I used to.
I also used digital data communication via ham radio back in the 60s. I had a model 15 teletype machine (5-bit Baudot code) with a tube type modem connected to my transmitter and receiver. Lots of fun.:-)
I have a personal site and from about 1994 when I first put it online until around 1999, I would upload my bookmark page from Netscape. It was already html so it was easy to do without any reformatting at all. I found it pretty handy and so did my friends.
1. As many people have already pointed out sharing movies online is not theft, it's copyright infringement.
2. BitTorrent didn't do it. Some person did it. Put the blame where it belongs.
3. A lot of the magic has gone out of the movies due to high boxoffice prices, unbelievable concession stand prices and last, but definitely not least, lame movies. None of that loss is due to any file sharing of any kind.
4. Besides, why would I forgo the experience of seeing something like Star Wars, as I did this afternoon, on the BIG screen, as opposed to watching it in lower resolution on a small screen?
I am getting that 150 Linux servers had the same downtime as 26 NT servers, giving Linux a factor of 5.77 advantage over NT on a per server basis. Sounds about right to me.
I first tried Opera back in the 2.x days and didn't like it as compared to Netscape of the same vintage, but kept checking back from time to time. When it got to the 4.x's I started using it a bit and by the 5.x's I started using it as my main browser. I've never paid a penny in cash for it and, admittedly, seldom click on an ad link.
I also use FF, Mozilla, Konqueror and, under duress, IE. It depends on what I'm doing with it. The main feature that keeps me coming back to Opera is the ability to reload the previous session on starting up.
Any time you have energy storage, there's the potential for this sort of thing and modern batteries store a LOT of energy in a small volume.
Waaay back in the early 70's I worked as an Engineer in the Texas Instruments Calculator division. We purposefully tested calculators to destruction to see what sort of trouble people could cause by doing stupid things. One thing we learned early on was that it was stupid of **us** to use the standard 3.5 mm jacks for chargers if the jack was connected directly to the batteries because you can short then during normal insertion. This was brought home to us graphically when that scenario happened on a desk model scientific calculator that had NiCad C-cells! Nobody was hurt but the calculator was destroyed internally. This led to the use of the barrell type connectors you see nowadays for power connections. Another design thing we did was to use small gage wire to connect the batteries so that the wire would "fuse" before other "bad stuff" happened.
Back to the destructive testing.. We tried using the wrong chargers, including those from various other manufacturers and escalated on up to applying 120 VAC to the charging terminals. We also, where the batteries were in an externally accessible holder, tried other similar sized batteries, alkaline and carbon-zinc dry cells. All testing was done inside a sturdy wooden enclosure. The worst-case situations sounded like someone had fired a 12 gauge shot-gun in there. In that case, where 120 Vac was applied to carbon-zinc cells, the carbon rods had gone through the side of the plastic calculator case.
It's clear to me that people can mess up most anything. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.". I'm in agreement.
My concern is that the server is offline and it's not just technocrat, it seems to be all his sites at that location. Doing a rewrite of a script usually doesn't require a shutdown.
Anyway, I'm enjoying participation over on technocrat and hope it's back up soon. You now know how to reach me if you want.
At one time I worked for an electric utility and it was a definite consideration there in dealing with the old transformers. So no, I didn't get into the oil. I'm not a union employee anyway and can't mess with the hardware or I'd get in big trouble. I can design it, oversee installations, oversee troubleshooting and program the controllers (in assembly language), but can't pick up a screwdriver on a job site. This old oil is a problem the owner will have to deal with at some point. It's really interesting to see some of the old well-built gear that still works well as long as it's maintained.
To at least make a journal entry here because people know you from here.. In the meantime, I could set up an interim "technocrat" forum over at one of my sites here and you could direct folks over there. You can reach me by e-mail through a form there, if you want. I'm guessing he had a server HW problem.
I'm an elevator Engineer. This reminds me of a very old residential elevator controller I saw recently that was installed in 1917 and still had all the original equipment in good working order. The controller was in a cast iron tub with all the relays mounted to the lid and suspended in transformer oil. There was a hoist in the ceiling to enable lifting the lid for access to the relays. It would cost a fortune to build something like that today, but it certainly was durable.
Let's get the double layer ones at a reasonable price before we go crazy on this new one. I'm still seeing around $4 apiece for the doubles buying them online in bulk.
Back in 1999 I had problems with the Rockwell modem in a new HP Pavilion desktop that I bought. The modem would dial and connect but could not maintain even a 28.8 connection on the admittedly noisy POTS line that I have in this older neighborhood. Every other computer in the house, including a Toshiba PII laptop had no trouble connecting and staying connected for hours. I went to the HP discussion forums for my model and posted questions. I called tech support and got a the news that it was a fine modem and that it was my phone line in spite of telling them that all other modems worked fine. I saw a post from someone else that had the same problem...and the next day it was gone. I posted my comments outlining the situation above and my message disappeared by the next day.
I wrote to the CEO, whoever that was before Carly, and pointed out the situation and mentioned that I run a discussion forum site of my own that gets around 75,000 visits a month and that my next step was to post a serious discussion about the modem and how I was treated on the HP forum. I mailed from Illinois on a Thursday. On Tuesday I got a call from a staffer at the CEOs office telling me that if I'd go buy whatever kind of modem I wanted and fax them the receipt, they cut a check for that amount and mail it the same day. I went and bought a US Robotics USB modem, the latest greatest, for some $239.00. I faxed the receipt, didn't even open the plastic wrap on the modem and returned it. By this time I'd already bought a Zoom external for $99 anyway. I got the check in 3 days and have lived happily ever after.
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The hams who did the code part of the competition are NOT world record holders at all, but just regular amateur hams and are not professionals. They specifically limited their speed under 30 WPM. The world record is held by the late Ted MacElroy at 72 WPM in 1943, if I recall correctly. I'm only an occasional code operator and the speed they used is quite comfortable for me. I'd like to point out, too, that the hams send the entire text verbatim while the cell phone messagers used abreviations.
This same thing could have been accomplished using very rudimentary equipment for much less than the retail cost of a single cell phone. You would need a cheap "learner" key a 9 volt battery, a buzzer and the wire to connect to the other room. A straight key can be used easily to send code up into the low 20's words per minute.
I agree that the concept of the nail/finger method is impractical. Right off it would make things very difficult for those poor folks who bite their nails. I'd suggest some sort of two button arrangement simulating the automatic key paddles where one button makes a series of dots and the other a series of dashes.
I'd be quite glad to have a phone that responded to code commands. Some radio equipment has audible code output so you can get readings, such as frequency and so forth via code instead of requiring a display.
BTW, the code used in the test and on radio is actually the International code rather than the landline Morse that the telegraph in the US used. It's better suited to tones as opposed to the clicks and clacks of a telegraph sounder.
I worked in the TI Corporate Research Lab.. A very nice quiet gentleman. Someone you'd like.
R.I.P. Jack Kilby.
I've played with Lindows/Linspire since 4.0 and you are right about the older versions, but the newest one, 5.0, doesn't automatically run as root. The install creates a user account that is the default when you boot. Yes, you can still get to password protected root if you need to, but not automatically any more.
I installed it on an old P-III machine for one of my grown kids who had a spyware choked P-4 XP machine. It took 2 minutes of instruction as to what to click on to get the dialup going and the browser. I didn't hear any more about it from them, as in no tech-support calls, until I took the Windows box back to them and he and his wife didn't want to let go the older machine with Linspire.
but five minutes later they should have recognized the likelihood of unintended consequences and looked for a better solution, much as our fine lawmakers always do....oh, wait....
It was actually an FM radio band back before FM broadcasting got moved up to 88-108 MHz. Now it's part of the public service band, as in police, utility companies, forest rangers, etc.
As was pointed out above, most scanner radios will receive that frequency just fine.
My solution is called KVM.. I don't have any trouble finding older computers very inexpensively that run Linux just fine. I'm running SuSE 9.2 on a PIII-550 with 256 Megs of Ram and it works great. When I want to use the XP box to run Quickbooks, I just tap-tap on the num-lock and there's my XP window.
Actually, I go a bit further than that as I've got a 4 port KVM switch so I also have a similar box with Ubuntu 5.04 and a Celeron 900 with Xandros. All of these computers were given to me after a customer upgraded their office. So there's never a hassle when I want to change what distro I'm playing with.
I've dual booted boxes in the past and the only problems I've had with dual booting was with an XP install that got broken and the reinstall messed up the booting. No biggie.
Appreciate the clarification. Guess I didn't read it carefully enough..
in that order. You can make the numbers say anything with sufficient qualifications. Oh, and it's only in the US, not world-wide. Read the article carefully. It doesn't mean Linux adoption on a per user basis is slowing, as I read it, the growth rate of new companies using it is slowing. Hardly time to get out the black armbands..
but I'll admit that the speed maxes out around 20-25 wpm for skilled users with one so it would have made it a closer race. Remember, though, that the CE operators didn't use any abbreviations.
:-)
If a "Bug", which is a mechanical semi-automatic key that makes the dots automatically, is allowed, then 50 wpm is quite possible for a reasonably skilled operator. The record for sending and receiving is 72 wpm set in 1943 by the famous Ted MacElroy. That was with a bug as electronic keyers didn't exist then.
I definitely agree with parent that learning the code from a table and listening to the dots and dashes individually is a bummer. Learn the sound of the letters. Then, as others have observed, when you get to around 25-30 wpm and above, the recognition is at the word level. It's really pretty cool. I've been using code since 1958, but not as regularly as I used to.
I also used digital data communication via ham radio back in the 60s. I had a model 15 teletype machine (5-bit Baudot code) with a tube type modem connected to my transmitter and receiver. Lots of fun.
Not a lot of choices, but they have Knoppix CD's, and a Fedora DVD as well as FreeDOS. http://computerdeli.com/
I have a personal site and from about 1994 when I first put it online until around 1999, I would upload my bookmark page from Netscape. It was already html so it was easy to do without any reformatting at all. I found it pretty handy and so did my friends.
without magic is the MPAA's lame announcement.
Summary:
1. As many people have already pointed out sharing movies online is not theft, it's copyright infringement.
2. BitTorrent didn't do it. Some person did it. Put the blame where it belongs.
3. A lot of the magic has gone out of the movies due to high boxoffice prices, unbelievable concession stand prices and last, but definitely not least, lame movies. None of that loss is due to any file sharing of any kind.
4. Besides, why would I forgo the experience of seeing something like Star Wars, as I did this afternoon, on the BIG screen, as opposed to watching it in lower resolution on a small screen?
I am getting that 150 Linux servers had the same downtime as 26 NT servers, giving Linux a factor of 5.77 advantage over NT on a per server basis. Sounds about right to me.
I first tried Opera back in the 2.x days and didn't like it as compared to Netscape of the same vintage, but kept checking back from time to time. When it got to the 4.x's I started using it a bit and by the 5.x's I started using it as my main browser. I've never paid a penny in cash for it and, admittedly, seldom click on an ad link.
I also use FF, Mozilla, Konqueror and, under duress, IE. It depends on what I'm doing with it. The main feature that keeps me coming back to Opera is the ability to reload the previous session on starting up.
thought "Enterprise" meant NCC-1701 ?
Any time you have energy storage, there's the potential for this sort of thing and modern batteries store a LOT of energy in a small volume.
Waaay back in the early 70's I worked as an Engineer in the Texas Instruments Calculator division. We purposefully tested calculators to destruction to see what sort of trouble people could cause by doing stupid things. One thing we learned early on was that it was stupid of **us** to use the standard 3.5 mm jacks for chargers if the jack was connected directly to the batteries because you can short then during normal insertion. This was brought home to us graphically when that scenario happened on a desk model scientific calculator that had NiCad C-cells! Nobody was hurt but the calculator was destroyed internally. This led to the use of the barrell type connectors you see nowadays for power connections. Another design thing we did was to use small gage wire to connect the batteries so that the wire would "fuse" before other "bad stuff" happened.
Back to the destructive testing.. We tried using the wrong chargers, including those from various other manufacturers and escalated on up to applying 120 VAC to the charging terminals. We also, where the batteries were in an externally accessible holder, tried other similar sized batteries, alkaline and carbon-zinc dry cells. All testing was done inside a sturdy wooden enclosure. The worst-case situations sounded like someone had fired a 12 gauge shot-gun in there. In that case, where 120 Vac was applied to carbon-zinc cells, the carbon rods had gone through the side of the plastic calculator case.
It's clear to me that people can mess up most anything. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.". I'm in agreement.
My concern is that the server is offline and it's not just technocrat, it seems to be all his sites at that location. Doing a rewrite of a script usually doesn't require a shutdown.
Anyway, I'm enjoying participation over on technocrat and hope it's back up soon. You now know how to reach me if you want.
At one time I worked for an electric utility and it was a definite consideration there in dealing with the old transformers. So no, I didn't get into the oil. I'm not a union employee anyway and can't mess with the hardware or I'd get in big trouble. I can design it, oversee installations, oversee troubleshooting and program the controllers (in assembly language), but can't pick up a screwdriver on a job site. This old oil is a problem the owner will have to deal with at some point. It's really interesting to see some of the old well-built gear that still works well as long as it's maintained.
To at least make a journal entry here because people know you from here.. In the meantime, I could set up an interim "technocrat" forum over at one of my sites here and you could direct folks over there. You can reach me by e-mail through a form there, if you want. I'm guessing he had a server HW problem.
I'm an elevator Engineer. This reminds me of a very old residential elevator controller I saw recently that was installed in 1917 and still had all the original equipment in good working order. The controller was in a cast iron tub with all the relays mounted to the lid and suspended in transformer oil. There was a hoist in the ceiling to enable lifting the lid for access to the relays. It would cost a fortune to build something like that today, but it certainly was durable.
What happened to technocrat.net?? That whole server seems to be offline including some of Bruce Perens other sites.
Let's get the double layer ones at a reasonable price before we go crazy on this new one. I'm still seeing around $4 apiece for the doubles buying them online in bulk.
Back in 1999 I had problems with the Rockwell modem in a new HP Pavilion desktop that I bought. The modem would dial and connect but could not maintain even a 28.8 connection on the admittedly noisy POTS line that I have in this older neighborhood. Every other computer in the house, including a Toshiba PII laptop had no trouble connecting and staying connected for hours. I went to the HP discussion forums for my model and posted questions. I called tech support and got a the news that it was a fine modem and that it was my phone line in spite of telling them that all other modems worked fine. I saw a post from someone else that had the same problem...and the next day it was gone. I posted my comments outlining the situation above and my message disappeared by the next day.
I wrote to the CEO, whoever that was before Carly, and pointed out the situation and mentioned that I run a discussion forum site of my own that gets around 75,000 visits a month and that my next step was to post a serious discussion about the modem and how I was treated on the HP forum. I mailed from Illinois on a Thursday. On Tuesday I got a call from a staffer at the CEOs office telling me that if I'd go buy whatever kind of modem I wanted and fax them the receipt, they cut a check for that amount and mail it the same day. I went and bought a US Robotics USB modem, the latest greatest, for some $239.00. I faxed the receipt, didn't even open the plastic wrap on the modem and returned it. By this time I'd already bought a Zoom external for $99 anyway. I got the check in 3 days and have lived happily ever after.
what a kick-ass piece of geek gear!!
overklokking their server.