First it became a Dice-infested shithole. Next, the partisan hacks moved in. I've been here since before it was called Slashdot. Today I deleted my account. So long, and fuck you.
I love technology - just when it fits. I'm currently rewiring a 1992 boat with radar, a sonar suite that would put a Vietnam era destroyer to shame and a whole bunch of cool sensors. Just that the truck is a truck. And no, the new GMC 2500 frames look just like mine. I personally don't care if they have improved the engine. Mine works just peachy keen.
Of course, where I live we have 17 miles of roads, top speed of 45 mph, two stoplights (six bars, six churches). YMMV.
The story that I heard was that people were buying bulk fasteners (aircraft quality bolts are something else) and passing them off as new. That made about as much sense as ITAR regulations - really, how does one fashion a dangerous weapon from an old seat? Or a IBM PC with a 386 processor? Seems like they could have destroyed the 'dangerous' items and sold the rest.
Why would they care if you are 'speculatively accumulating waste'? It's waste. Doesn't it make sense to organize it so as to get the best economic yield?
In part it is because the level at which people are working has changed. One used to make a receiver, doorbell or whatnot out of discrete components. If you are into the 'maker' culture, you are putting together modules of various functional descriptions. I recently made a GoPro trigger using a PIC and an X-band radar module I found somewhere. Yeah, I could have figured out how to make the little radar gizmo in a month or so of screwing up PCB boards but I found it on E-bay for something like $20. That's the way it is. Not better or worse, just different.
But there is a lot of space between your basic surface mount components and BGA devices. I've done surface mount for several years - it's a bit of a PITA compared to real components with wires, but it's very doable. Now, this is for creating your own stuff, trying to repair new electronics is generally not worth the effort. You can look at the device, see if there is a wire hanging loose or other obvious flaw but trying to troubleshoot anything is frustrating and time consuming.
OTOH, you can get an X-band radar module for twenty dollars to hook up with a real computer the size of a credit card. Try that in the 1970's.
This. I've got a 15 year old GMC pickup truck. It's getting a little worn around the edges but it actually works fine. Bits fall off from time to time but it really has been pretty cheap on a per mile basis. Looking at the new trucks - they're close to $50K, basically the same truck in terms of engine and frame, have stupid electronic gizmos that I neither need nor want and really don't offer me much. Given the hassle of actually buying a truck, I've pretty much given up on the idea unless the thing drops into a ditch.
I believe Heinlein had a story were social misfits (people who wanted to think or drive for themselves, did drugs, didn't listen to their doctor, didn't bath on a regular basis and other social malformations) were herded onto reservations where they could keep their disgusting habits away from Right Thinking Folk.
It would probably have lots of dirt roads for you to play on...
Whatever your opinions on gun control are, we (the US) have managed to box ourselves into an unpleasant corner. There are way too many guns out there to have any effective method of restriction work. And way too many gun nuts.
It really is an ugly situation. Nobody is going to win here.
Or so you would like to think. Ever look at Little Snitch logs? Unless you spend a lot of time turning things off, OS X sure sends a lot of info back home to the Mothership.
Thanks for the Resolve link. Unfortunately, Affinity isn't Photoshop and likely would not be. Although I'm kinda annoyed at the 'Rental' model, in point of fact, pretty much all modern software is 'rented' - that is, unsupported in perpetuity. Sure, you can run CS6 on Mac - until Apple pulls another Apple and does something to make the older program fail on the newer OS. Windows is perhaps a bit better, but not by much.
Just depends. If you can afford to freeze your system in time, 'owning' your software may be the cheapest. Otherwise it's a tossup. I'm more annoyed with Adobe being Adobe - putting out crappy programs that are as unstable as an origami in a windstorm.
(No, don't talk about Open Source and recompiling the program to suite your needs. That's fine if you roll that way. I have other things to do.)
They're talking about 2029 as the earliest launch date with a flyby perhaps a year earlier. All of this, of course, depends on funding. Which doesn't seem like such a bright spot:
n September, Russia’s Federal Space Agency Roscosmos announced that it will send a lander, Luna 25, to the Moon's south pole in 2024. After touchdown, the lander will investigate the lunar surface for future lunar bases. The Luna 25 mission was initially proposed in 1997 and has since suffered a number of delays, but it seems that with Europe's aid the mission could finally get the jump-start it needs. Construction of the spacecraft has already begun.
So, they are trying to send an unmanned probe to the moon that was supposed to be launched 18 years ago in another nine years. And you thought NASA has budget problems.
And they want to send a whole metric shit ton of equipment - six booster loads full. From a scientific point of view it sounds great. But it doesn't sound particularly realistic.
That and what do you do if the patient is having an allergic reaction? Wait a month?
At best you're going to see 'smart patches' - something that you can apply to the skin that might have a month's worth of medication (like some birth control patches now) and later on, devices that can control the distribution of the bug. Besides, the gut transit time is 24 hour or so, it would have to attach itself to the gut wall somehow. Whatcouldpossiblygowrong?
All of the Sturm und Drang aside, these sorts of devices are probably OK for much of their intended use - getting some pics of the the teenage lowlife that trashes your apartment looking for something to fence. These people are not even going to unplug the phone or power. They're going to grab and run.
No, it won't protect your million dollar stamp collection from the Ukrainian mafia boss who has been salivating about some particular bit of old paper. It's not designed for that. Of course, adding some real security would not be all that hard and we should hammer these idjits, but get a grip. This is about the same level of protection that a typical alarm company offers you.
Slashdot Mirror
Nice. Firesign Theatre.
Is paranoia and misogyny all that Slashdot has to offer these days?
Nope. We got spelling errors. Grammar issues. Non sequitors and logical fallacies up the wazoo.
Not to mention ad hominen attacks.
We're quite well rounded, actually.
I thought the Andromeda Strain wasn't a documentary.
First it became a Dice-infested shithole. Next, the partisan hacks moved in. I've been here since before it was called Slashdot. Today I deleted my account. So long, and fuck you.
You deleted the AC account?
Oh, thank you! You're my hero!
You or the gun?
On second thought, don't answer that.
I love technology - just when it fits. I'm currently rewiring a 1992 boat with radar, a sonar suite that would put a Vietnam era destroyer to shame and a whole bunch of cool sensors. Just that the truck is a truck. And no, the new GMC 2500 frames look just like mine. I personally don't care if they have improved the engine. Mine works just peachy keen.
Of course, where I live we have 17 miles of roads, top speed of 45 mph, two stoplights (six bars, six churches). YMMV.
My beard is hardly ironic. I ready Cryptononmicron years ago. Just finished Seven Eves though.
The story that I heard was that people were buying bulk fasteners (aircraft quality bolts are something else) and passing them off as new. That made about as much sense as ITAR regulations - really, how does one fashion a dangerous weapon from an old seat? Or a IBM PC with a 386 processor? Seems like they could have destroyed the 'dangerous' items and sold the rest.
Fucking Boeing Bean Counters.
Why would they care if you are 'speculatively accumulating waste'? It's waste. Doesn't it make sense to organize it so as to get the best economic yield?
Or is this California?
In part it is because the level at which people are working has changed. One used to make a receiver, doorbell or whatnot out of discrete components. If you are into the 'maker' culture, you are putting together modules of various functional descriptions. I recently made a GoPro trigger using a PIC and an X-band radar module I found somewhere. Yeah, I could have figured out how to make the little radar gizmo in a month or so of screwing up PCB boards but I found it on E-bay for something like $20. That's the way it is. Not better or worse, just different.
Christ, I remember them from the '90's. Impressed that they are still around.
But there is a lot of space between your basic surface mount components and BGA devices. I've done surface mount for several years - it's a bit of a PITA compared to real components with wires, but it's very doable. Now, this is for creating your own stuff, trying to repair new electronics is generally not worth the effort. You can look at the device, see if there is a wire hanging loose or other obvious flaw but trying to troubleshoot anything is frustrating and time consuming.
OTOH, you can get an X-band radar module for twenty dollars to hook up with a real computer the size of a credit card. Try that in the 1970's.
This. I've got a 15 year old GMC pickup truck. It's getting a little worn around the edges but it actually works fine. Bits fall off from time to time but it really has been pretty cheap on a per mile basis. Looking at the new trucks - they're close to $50K, basically the same truck in terms of engine and frame, have stupid electronic gizmos that I neither need nor want and really don't offer me much. Given the hassle of actually buying a truck, I've pretty much given up on the idea unless the thing drops into a ditch.
So I can spend all my 'extra' money on my boats!
I believe Heinlein had a story were social misfits (people who wanted to think or drive for themselves, did drugs, didn't listen to their doctor, didn't bath on a regular basis and other social malformations) were herded onto reservations where they could keep their disgusting habits away from Right Thinking Folk.
It would probably have lots of dirt roads for you to play on...
Whatever your opinions on gun control are, we (the US) have managed to box ourselves into an unpleasant corner. There are way too many guns out there to have any effective method of restriction work. And way too many gun nuts.
It really is an ugly situation. Nobody is going to win here.
Except the loonies and terrorists.
Or so you would like to think. Ever look at Little Snitch logs? Unless you spend a lot of time turning things off, OS X sure sends a lot of info back home to the Mothership.
I'm not dead yet!
I feel happy!
I think I'll go for a walk.
Thanks for the Resolve link. Unfortunately, Affinity isn't Photoshop and likely would not be. Although I'm kinda annoyed at the 'Rental' model, in point of fact, pretty much all modern software is 'rented' - that is, unsupported in perpetuity. Sure, you can run CS6 on Mac - until Apple pulls another Apple and does something to make the older program fail on the newer OS. Windows is perhaps a bit better, but not by much.
Just depends. If you can afford to freeze your system in time, 'owning' your software may be the cheapest. Otherwise it's a tossup. I'm more annoyed with Adobe being Adobe - putting out crappy programs that are as unstable as an origami in a windstorm.
(No, don't talk about Open Source and recompiling the program to suite your needs. That's fine if you roll that way. I have other things to do.)
But Putin could ride it! Kennedy never did anything like that.
OTOH, if we do elect Donald Trump as president, it might be an excellent idea to emulate.
They're talking about 2029 as the earliest launch date with a flyby perhaps a year earlier. All of this, of course, depends on funding. Which doesn't seem like such a bright spot:
n September, Russia’s Federal Space Agency Roscosmos announced that it will send a lander, Luna 25, to the Moon's south pole in 2024. After touchdown, the lander will investigate the lunar surface for future lunar bases. The Luna 25 mission was initially proposed in 1997 and has since suffered a number of delays, but it seems that with Europe's aid the mission could finally get the jump-start it needs. Construction of the spacecraft has already begun.
So, they are trying to send an unmanned probe to the moon that was supposed to be launched 18 years ago in another nine years. And you thought NASA has budget problems.
And they want to send a whole metric shit ton of equipment - six booster loads full. From a scientific point of view it sounds great. But it doesn't sound particularly realistic.
Think of the children!
You must be new here.
That and what do you do if the patient is having an allergic reaction? Wait a month?
At best you're going to see 'smart patches' - something that you can apply to the skin that might have a month's worth of medication (like some birth control patches now) and later on, devices that can control the distribution of the bug. Besides, the gut transit time is 24 hour or so, it would have to attach itself to the gut wall somehow. Whatcouldpossiblygowrong?
Or learned how to code in real HTML.
All of the Sturm und Drang aside, these sorts of devices are probably OK for much of their intended use - getting some pics of the the teenage lowlife that trashes your apartment looking for something to fence. These people are not even going to unplug the phone or power. They're going to grab and run.
No, it won't protect your million dollar stamp collection from the Ukrainian mafia boss who has been salivating about some particular bit of old paper. It's not designed for that. Of course, adding some real security would not be all that hard and we should hammer these idjits, but get a grip. This is about the same level of protection that a typical alarm company offers you.
Some, not all that much.