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User: COMON$

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  1. Re:Gyroscope on What is the Future of Wireless Power? · · Score: 1

    Ok that makes sense! Thanks for sticking with me and clarifying Math I understand, physics I understand, but conceptually my understanding of electromagnets is quite poor.

  2. Re:Gyroscope on What is the Future of Wireless Power? · · Score: 1
    hmmm interesting on the RF side.

    I dont think I am being clear enough with the magnetic concept or my understanding is too limited for this subject. Ok the best mechanical device I can think of off the top of my head is this:

    Device A consists of an electromagnetic apparatus that 'pulses' on and off at a rapid pace. Device B has a coil and magnet with a spring. Every time device A pulses it causes Device B to cycle generating X charge. Obviously the efficiency rating would be low if only one device were in range, but as the number of device B in the proximity of Device A increases, so would the efficiency rating. Unfortunately a device like this would play heck with older pacemakers. But I am sure people much smarter and well versed than me could find a similar reaction that wouldn't be as strenuous on the environment around them. Something like a gyroscope that only spun when in the presence of a certain frequency in the electromagnetic Spectrum.

  3. Re:Gyroscope on What is the Future of Wireless Power? · · Score: 1

    Yes I am aware of that phenomena, it powers my flashlight :) What I am asking though is if there could be an event in a location such as a magnetic field that pulsed or something that could be used to control the rhythm of the wires so that when you were in a location where this event occurred the device's "Charger" would be able to use it to create a current without actually passing anything harmful through the air.

  4. Gyroscope on What is the Future of Wireless Power? · · Score: 1

    Can someone explain if this is a matter of transferring electrons between two devices, eg the source and recipient of the energy? Wouldn't we be better off either A: improving batteries, or B playing with an source that creates an event that would cause a pendulum of sorts to charge a device?

  5. Re:Somewhere on $2500 Tata Nano Car Unveiled in India · · Score: 1
    You can't buy a used motorcycle of any size in the US for $2,500.

    Was this a typo? I live in the midwest and commonly see used motorcycles in good condition for around $1000-$2500. In fact I can get a pretty nice cycle for 3K. Of course maybe it is different in your neck of the woods.

  6. Re:Disgruntled sysadmins? on 2.5 Years in Jail for Planting 'Logic Bomb' · · Score: 1
    I agree with you wholeheartedly. I do think it is odd that in our profession so much power is given to individuals who are not chief officers and management wonders why we demand higher salaries. Alas this is the life of the engineer and why Dilbert is so horrifically funny to us.

    Unfortunately, these disgruntled people often seem to be the ones who have a set of skills tied to the system they are in currently. They weren't bright enough to keep a good skill base under them so finding a new job for them isn't an option. One of the reasons I chose Network Engineering/System Administration was that it was easy to find work and I wasn't tied to one language or type of system.

  7. Re:Obligatory on 2.5 Years in Jail for Planting 'Logic Bomb' · · Score: 1

    OK that made me laugh!

  8. Obligatory on 2.5 Years in Jail for Planting 'Logic Bomb' · · Score: 1
    WHOOOOOSH!

    Yes that was the sound of something going over your head.
    Let me explain since you seem to be new. The conversation you tried to start goes something like this:

    Person with a Grad degree: If you didn't go to grad school you are a hack.
    Person without Grad degree: Grad school is for people who cant hack it in the real world.
    Person with a Grad degree: People who go to grad school are more dedicated and have more sucess like _Insert obscenely long list of grad heroes here_.
    Person without Grad degree Oh yea well what about _Insert obcenely long list of non-grad heroes here_.
    And the conversation degrades from here until Godwin's Law is declared as that is the only end to the pissing match.

    The same conversation goes on with professionals with degrees and professionals without any degree, professionals with job related degrees and professionals without job related degrees. BTW I am a BS married to an MS going for her PHD. So we hear this conversation a lot.

  9. Re:Disgruntled sysadmins? on 2.5 Years in Jail for Planting 'Logic Bomb' · · Score: 1

    This is exactly why you try your hardest to keep your CIO happy, same with CFO or any other office that has the capability to singlehandedly destroy your business with little thought. As a sysadmin myself I can say that the majority of systems I have worked on could be taken down for weeks if a bad sysadmin were to get a hold of the system, or an CFO who slowly corrupts data. Sure there are offsite backups but guess who creates those? And there is paper but many businesses are doing away that medium, even if they were available it is nothing a good fire would fix on your way out the door. It comes down to hiring good ethical employees and keeping them happy, that is all that is going to save you.

  10. Re:meatspace on 2.5 Years in Jail for Planting 'Logic Bomb' · · Score: 1

    There was already a term for this a long time ago, they were called timebombs. Havent heard of one for a while though, not since the 90s. These were scripts that ran on a schedule that had to be updated by the disgruntled employee. If the script was not updated one day the script would go through and fubar the system. However Devs were the funny ones here. I guess it was just a matter of time before a sysadmin script kiddie did it.

  11. Re:Let's face it on 2.5 Years in Jail for Planting 'Logic Bomb' · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Some of the best sysadmins I know are ex-developers. The worst happen to be tinkerers who were in the right place at the right time who fit the aforementioned description. Its OK, cause as a sysadmin I make good money fixing networks that another sysadmin botched up.

    But I agree with you, I was a CS graduate that decided to head for the Network Engineering/Sys Admin field because the work was more interesting to me. Not saying that dev work isn't interesting, it is just not my cup o tea.

    Every once in a while I consider heading back to dev work when I get tired of everyone watching every thing I do and having an opinion on it. Devs seem to have the enigma feel in the departments I have worked in. No one really knows what they do on an hour by hour basis except for their peers, they get to test things before they are live and if they make a mistake it is just considered standard debugging. Whereas as a Sysadmin, if someone's e-mail gets routed to junk mail you get put on the most wanted list for months.

  12. Re:Let's face it on 2.5 Years in Jail for Planting 'Logic Bomb' · · Score: 1

    And all CS grad students are people who cannot hack the real world and want to postpone it for a few more years. This argument can go on and on. Who the hell modded you insightful for a post that is redundant at best?

  13. Re:Analogs on Cocaine Vaccine In the Works · · Score: 1

    Exactly, Education as in having parents show their kids how life works, how to respond to pressure. Education of the public through avenues such as the anti-tobacco campaigns and the responsible sex campaigns. These forms of education leave people with choice rather than regulation. However, as you put people tend to think that Education == Schooling which is why we are in the social mess we are in.

  14. Re:Analogs on Cocaine Vaccine In the Works · · Score: 1

    I wasnt talking about the employees. Rather the customers who harass said mimimum wage employees. Take some time and talk to your friends who work retail clothing stores, they will have more than enough stories for you.

  15. Re:Analogs on Cocaine Vaccine In the Works · · Score: 1

    I think it is only something that can be overcome by stability and education. Both of which this world has neglected in the home which, is where the selfishness and bitterness strikes hardest.

  16. Re:Analogs on Cocaine Vaccine In the Works · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Actually I came from a civ department. My neighbors being Computer Forensics and Latents. But that being said, it wasn't the cops that got me hammering on society. Because as you put it, we see the dredges of society run through there. What pushed me over the edge is my friends working retail at department stores. People, not even criminals, abusing any system they can get their hands on to save a couple bucks, verbally and physically. I know a lot of people who have spent jail time for possession that I would trust hands down over people who haven't.

    There are just people out there who don't care, they are extraordinarily selfish abusive people. I am not saying all Drug offenders are this way. I am just posting a note about the way society behaves as a whole.

  17. Re:Analogs on Cocaine Vaccine In the Works · · Score: 1
    ahhh an intelligent post! Wow don't see those on slashdot very often. I saw actual stats and bad to blink a couple times half expecting to see some kind of rant at the end. But your point is taken!

    I come from working in a Law enforcement field where at one time I had a pretty good outlook on humankind, afterwards have a very low expectation of society. I did say though that I would put a bet on it, not what was going to happen. I tend to think that there is a large sum of people out there who just dont have enough self respect to be responsible therefore no matter what is legalized they will find a way to get thrown back in the slammer not because they are inherently evil, but just because they like to ride the line.

    On a less ranting/more productive note, I would like to see a detailed analysis of that set of data such as how many drug offenses are misdemenors, what kind of drug offense, etc etc. My acquaintances that carry pot tend to carry amounts that will at most get them a weekend in a room and some community service. Of course each state is different.

  18. Re:Analogs on Cocaine Vaccine In the Works · · Score: 1
    Oh and one more thing:

    and the overcrowded prison system.

    I would place a heavy bet on the prison system being just as full if we legalized all drugs...some people are just leeches and will find some other way to earn a dishonest living.
  19. Re:Analogs on Cocaine Vaccine In the Works · · Score: 1

    If we cut out the crime aspect of drugs, we'd save a TON of money in tax dollars each year supporting DEA, and the overcrowded prison system. We could concentrate a small portion of that money to help programs for addicts. Heck, like liquor...why not tax legal pot sales?

    I understand your point but this is nto necessarily the case. Check out gambling for instance, it comes into a state and generates a ton of revenu, however over the long term it costs more to regulate the crime from the fallout of the newly found gambling habits than the tax dollar increase. There is a lot of information on this subject, google it.

    Remember prohibition on alcohol in the US? It prompted the rise of the gangs/mafia. Once it was over, well, I certainly don't see many people doing gangland violence over booze these days. Alcohol is just a drug like the others currently banned.

    Well now either you are new to the debate or just ignorant, I will assume the former. While some of the drugs have similar or lesser effects, many have much much more dire consequences on society. Some would argue that we would be better off with Marijuana being legal and banning alcohol due to the high non-user mortality rate caused by alcoholism. see stats here: http://tinyurl.com/yrsmrk

    Long story short, you have to judge each drug and its side effects one by one. Now if there was just an independent agency to decide and educate the public...

    Don't get me wrong, I hate the over regulation of pretty much every single asset in this country but there are a lot of aspects where the gov't is in the right to regulate, and just as many where they are wrong. I tend to personally draw the line between things that are self destructive and things that infringe on my wellbeing and the wellbeing of the people I am responsible for.

    BTW this is the standard response to any pro/anti drug regulation debate.

  20. Re:Or D on Cocaine Vaccine In the Works · · Score: 1

    Considering the cash flow of drug overlords you would think that D would definately not be the case. Unless of course said politicians are opting for option E) wherein the restricted drug flow is enabling them to jack up prices....

  21. Re:Good summary of criticism on PC Mag Slams Cheap Wal-Mart Linux Desktop · · Score: 1
    sorry for the late reply, was enjoying my holidays ;)

    The dell outlet I was referring to was the online one. No it doesnt come with Ubuntu pre-installed but for the geek wanting their parents to use Linux they could wipe and re-install pretty quick. Also given Dell's track record I would say that they are not far behind slapping their own variant on a cheap box.

  22. Re:What did they expect? on PC Mag Slams Cheap Wal-Mart Linux Desktop · · Score: 1
    It depends on how you look at it, most of the PCs in the outlet are returns because either it came with the wrong options or was a scratch and dent. Easily comparable since the PCs are readily available to the public, sold from a respectable vendor, and are priced very closely. Find any other vendor that even comes close, hell even ebay, for a cheap PC for mom and pop and I will tip my hat to you.

    That is what the $200 PC is attempting to do, but they made their margins rather large and in the attempt cut their hardware and software to do it. Whereas you have larger companies like dell who, are on the track of getting $200 PCs for a smaller margin - larger quantity and soon will come with the choice of windows or *nix.

    But if you get nit picky, the cheapest non outlet dell is $349 and gets you a 3 year warranty to help ol mom and pop out.

  23. Re:Good summary of criticism on PC Mag Slams Cheap Wal-Mart Linux Desktop · · Score: 1
    As I said in my Other post, Dell sells PCs in their outlet for $200ish far far greater and gaming worthy than this one.

    I am suprised in this discussion that the majority of readers here seem to be unaware of this.

  24. Re:What did they expect? on PC Mag Slams Cheap Wal-Mart Linux Desktop · · Score: 1
    I actually ended up purchasing it for a client, here is the breakdown for 3 day shipping.

    Sub-Total : $209.00

    Shipping : $29.99

    Tax : $16.72

    Order Total : $255.71

    Considering the hardware jump for only $40 more(Shipping + $9 price difference) over the wallmart PC I would say it is worth it.

    Just check dell outlet for pricing, they move pretty fast.

  25. Re:What did they expect? on PC Mag Slams Cheap Wal-Mart Linux Desktop · · Score: 2, Interesting
    I beg to differ. I have seen PCs go for sub $200 on dell outlet before. Hell of a PC to throw Cent or Ubuntu on if you can catch them. However you have to beat the E-Bay junkies staring at the list all day long.

    Heck right now pulling up the dell outlet I see a PC for $209 with 1GB memory, 250GB Hard Drive, X2 proc, CDRW/DVD and a year warranty, and yes windows vista.