I have just such a system, a gig of RAM, Athlon 2600, and a nice quiet Samsung hard drive.
With an Antec Sonata case, and a Zalman flower cooler, I don't even need a CPU fan. The case's 120mm exhaust fan is right behind the CPU, and provides all the cooling needed.
I use an NVidia GeForce 5200 video card, which isn't a super 3D card, but it has the huge advantage that it's cooled with just a passive heat sink. And it played Warcraft 3 just fine, though Doom 3 is out of the question. I'm happy that it's quiet and doesn't heat up the area around my computer (i.e. where I am).
Working sub-4Gig hard drives are not hard to come by. In NIB condition? In lots of 50 or more?
They stopped making full-sized drives under 4 gig years ago. You might scrounge a couple, but to be useful for a real business you need a lot more, and worn-out old drives are going to be an immediate maintenance problem.
Bigger newer drives aren't going to be addressable by older BIOS chips.
Jon Acheson
Wow, the BBC is really.... uninformed.
on
Assault Weapons Ban
·
· Score: 2, Informative
The Clinton ban did not ban "assault weapons," unless you use the term to mean "anything I want to call an assault weapon." It SPECIFICALLY does not ban "AK-47, Kalashnikov and Uzi rifles."
In the US, automatic weapons are covered by the National Firearms Act of 1935, and can be owned by any citizen who can pass the background checks, demonstrate the ability to store them securely and pay the licensing fees. And then pay the exorbinant prices a machinegun commands on today's market, and pay for a private range membership to fire it at, and pay for all that ammo you would use up.
In practical terms, the Clinton ban's main effect was to limit civilian handguns to 10-round magazines. And even then, preban magazines are still widely available for many models of handguns, and law enforcement officers can buy whatever they want.
The high-strung liquid fuel engines also require hugely expensive overhauls at regular intervals.
Yeah, they need to be completely torn down and rebuilt between every launch because they run at over 100% of their rated operating capacity. Because the shuttle design wound up going way overweight.
The heat tiles require a lot of inspection and refurbishing between launches as well.
In short, the Shuttle is best described as "able to be rebuilt."
You forgot the fact that the PSP is also an inch thick, which pushes it squarely into "brick" territory. And the design doesn't even protect the screen.
I think Sony took one look at the DS at E3 and realized they were screwed. They seem to be doing a lot of cost-cutting and cancelling of unprofitable product lines lately. I think they're trying to cover up an expected loss on the PSP.
Firstly, mirrors woudn't do a damn thing. They would oxidize and stop being reflective almost instantly.
Spinning the missile also wouldn't do a damn thing, it's like spinning a volleyball to protect it from a rifle bullet.
To say nothing of the fact that both of these approaches would require building a whole new generation of missiles in order to implement them. Which is a win for the defense in this generation.
The rankings are PS2, GBA, and then GameCube and XBox tied for third.
I can't find worldwide statistics to link to, but I believe the numbers are PS2 70 million sold, GBA 20-30 million sold, and XBox and GameCube with around 10 million each.
The reason I have little respect for the UCS is their history of producing politically motivated bad research and calling it science.
Like their attacks on SDI in the 80's for instance, which were badly error-ridden. They calculated the number of satellites needed to target a massive Soviet missile barrage based on the line of sight to a single point on the globe, for instance, when the missiles in question were actually staged in an arc across the breadth of the Soviet Union. As a result, they estimated 2400 satellites were needed, when the number using the correct math was around 100.
Scientists can be as blind as anyone else, particularly outside their own field.
Well, I'm a longtime friend of Dee's, and if you think she's a dummy, it's just a reflection on your people skills.
I'm not saying she's a Torvalds or Carmack, but she's certainly intelligent and knowledgeable, and she's definitely a real, longtime Linux user. If she's having problems getting something to work, chances are I will too.
I thought the article was detailed, informative, and clear. I could follow exactly what she did and where she hit problems. I can clearly tell that Radeon support is still not there yet, for instance. Isn't that the point?
Well, I've known Dee for well over a decade, and she's quite computer literate.
I thought the article was helpful: if I was considering running Cedaga on Fedora Core 2, it would tell me what I needed to know. Namely, Radeon cards aren't well supported, and expect to get your hands dirty.
It's an afternoon saved, from my point of view.
Lsatly, your "ghostwriter" comments are so much sexist crap. And you really are a coward for not signing your name.
Because I know Dee, she's a smart person and this kind of review is exactly the kind of thing I like to see.
The lesson: Fedora core 2 and Cedaga don't play well together. And here's why, with every step along the way. Clear, detailed, and with some personality to it, even.
I don't have infinite amounts of time to screw around with half-baked code that doesn't get the job done. If I'm going to plan out a Linux machine, I want to know, does this work, right out of the box, or does it require minor tweaking, or does it require sacrificing a chicken in the light of the full moon?
This article told me exactly what I needed to know.
I have just finished the second DVD of the set (pilot + 6 episodes). I have not watched Firefly before this......and I am still confused over the backstory! I understand that the core is richer than the rim, and that some sort of galactic feudal manorialism is in place, but some stuff still seems odd. When do they start explaining this stuff?
Short answer: they don't. They wanted a space western, so they threw a lot of things together, and IMHO some of them make no sense, like the antebellum Southern aristocracy that's there in some of the episodes.
I get the sense that there's a complete history behind "companions", but without an explanation it's hard to reconcile prostitutes being revered members of the upper class. Is this religious or something?
It's a western. She's the Hooker with a Heart of Gold. I really think that's as deep as it went.
The horses don't bother me though. These ARE the boondocks of space, and frontier worlds. A frontier mining world's population isn't enough to support a domestic auto industry, but anyone can raise horses on forty acres. I also like the firearms. Who says chemically propelled slugs aren't the pinnacle of personal firearm technology?
I think it should have looked a lot more like the third world today than Little House on the Prairie, though. But yes, this really didn't bother me.
Overall, if they had waited a year and thought the whole thing through a little more, I think the show could have been a success.
And the point is, Microsoft is still losing money on every XBox they sell, and it's not going to get better for them. They are stuck buying PC parts that don't follow the same price curve as console electronics. For instance, hard drives don't get cheaper, they get bigger, and after a couple years, any given model of hard drive is out of production.
Because of this, Microsoft has to get the XBox 2 out as soon as possible to stem their losses.
The other console manufacturers, from all indications, are still making money on their consoles, so they are not under the same pressure to put out the next generation.
As for compatibility, that will most likely be secondary to "not losing money" in the design of the new XBox.
When I'm travelling with family and we're all in the car together, it's better to use headphones. Keeps the noise to myself. The rest of the time, I just use the speaker.
It seems pretty clear that the DS will have the right combination of price, battery and decent games to be successful. Nintendo has that down cold. And the form factor is a good one. (Though, does it have a headphone jack?)
Those variables are still up in the air for the PSP, though. If it's more than $300, less than 10 hours, or has nothing to offer but more of the same from the PS1 and PS2, it will be dead on arrival. Also, the PSP is kind of a brick: it's nearly an inch thick. And the design doesn't protect the screen.
As for playing back movies and MP3s, without recordable PSP disks, that dog won't hunt.
Honestly, I think Sony took one look at the DS at E3 and said "It's good. We're so screwed." That's why they're cutting costs elsewhere like in the handhelds division.
Take him out and drive with him, several times a week for an hour or so at a time. The best places are large, empty parking lots. Take it slow, and work on the basics like starting and stopping, parking, parallel parking, and learning where the boundaries of your car are.
This will be worth ten million videogames to the both of you.
Slashdot Mirror
I have just such a system, a gig of RAM, Athlon 2600, and a nice quiet Samsung hard drive.
With an Antec Sonata case, and a Zalman flower cooler, I don't even need a CPU fan. The case's 120mm exhaust fan is right behind the CPU, and provides all the cooling needed.
I use an NVidia GeForce 5200 video card, which isn't a super 3D card, but it has the huge advantage that it's cooled with just a passive heat sink. And it played Warcraft 3 just fine, though Doom 3 is out of the question. I'm happy that it's quiet and doesn't heat up the area around my computer (i.e. where I am).
Jon Acheson
The release mentions playing DVDs, so yes, I would say it does.
Yeah, because pissing off Walter Jon Williams would have been a much better idea...
Jon Acheson
Working sub-4Gig hard drives are not hard to come by.
In NIB condition? In lots of 50 or more?
They stopped making full-sized drives under 4 gig years ago. You might scrounge a couple, but to be useful for a real business you need a lot more, and worn-out old drives are going to be an immediate maintenance problem.
Bigger newer drives aren't going to be addressable by older BIOS chips.
Jon Acheson
The Clinton ban did not ban "assault weapons," unless you use the term to mean "anything I want to call an assault weapon." It SPECIFICALLY does not ban "AK-47, Kalashnikov and Uzi rifles."
In the US, automatic weapons are covered by the National Firearms Act of 1935, and can be owned by any citizen who can pass the background checks, demonstrate the ability to store them securely and pay the licensing fees. And then pay the exorbinant prices a machinegun commands on today's market, and pay for a private range membership to fire it at, and pay for all that ammo you would use up.
In practical terms, the Clinton ban's main effect was to limit civilian handguns to 10-round magazines. And even then, preban magazines are still widely available for many models of handguns, and law enforcement officers can buy whatever they want.
Jon Acheson
Yeah, they need to be completely torn down and rebuilt between every launch because they run at over 100% of their rated operating capacity. Because the shuttle design wound up going way overweight.
The heat tiles require a lot of inspection and refurbishing between launches as well.
In short, the Shuttle is best described as "able to be rebuilt."
Jon Acheson
Glad you're OK now!
Jon Acheson
Something that will record directly to a CD?
I had read somewhere that these were good to use for such a purpose, but that was a few years ago.
It's going to be bigger than a flash-based player, sure, but the convenience of winding up with a CD would be worth it.
Jon Acheson
You forgot the fact that the PSP is also an inch thick, which pushes it squarely into "brick" territory. And the design doesn't even protect the screen.
I think Sony took one look at the DS at E3 and realized they were screwed. They seem to be doing a lot of cost-cutting and cancelling of unprofitable product lines lately. I think they're trying to cover up an expected loss on the PSP.
All IMHO, of course.
Jon Acheson
Firstly, mirrors woudn't do a damn thing. They would oxidize and stop being reflective almost instantly.
Spinning the missile also wouldn't do a damn thing, it's like spinning a volleyball to protect it from a rifle bullet.
To say nothing of the fact that both of these approaches would require building a whole new generation of missiles in order to implement them. Which is a win for the defense in this generation.
Jon Acheson
The rankings are PS2, GBA, and then GameCube and XBox tied for third.
I can't find worldwide statistics to link to, but I believe the numbers are PS2 70 million sold, GBA 20-30 million sold, and XBox and GameCube with around 10 million each.
Jon Acheson
And, to a lesser extent, Tivo.
Jon Acheson
The reason I have little respect for the UCS is their history of producing politically motivated bad research and calling it science.
Like their attacks on SDI in the 80's for instance, which were badly error-ridden. They calculated the number of satellites needed to target a massive Soviet missile barrage based on the line of sight to a single point on the globe, for instance, when the missiles in question were actually staged in an arc across the breadth of the Soviet Union. As a result, they estimated 2400 satellites were needed, when the number using the correct math was around 100.
Scientists can be as blind as anyone else, particularly outside their own field.
Jon Acheson
Because the Union of Concerned Scientists is right up there with the Clown College in my book.
Jon Acheson
Seraphim's opinion wasn't in any way a comment on the article, it was a cheap shot against Dee's intelligence. And he's wrong about that.
Jon Acheson
To win the X-Prize, you have to do two flights within a 14 day period.
It's an important detail, because it means the vehicles have to be reusable with minimal refitting.
The Space Shuttle could never win the X-Prize, even if it were flying and qualified for the contest, because its turnaround time is too long.
Jon Acheson
Well, I'm a longtime friend of Dee's, and if you think she's a dummy, it's just a reflection on your people skills.
I'm not saying she's a Torvalds or Carmack, but she's certainly intelligent and knowledgeable, and she's definitely a real, longtime Linux user. If she's having problems getting something to work, chances are I will too.
I thought the article was detailed, informative, and clear. I could follow exactly what she did and where she hit problems. I can clearly tell that Radeon support is still not there yet, for instance. Isn't that the point?
Jon Acheson
Well, I've known Dee for well over a decade, and she's quite computer literate.
I thought the article was helpful: if I was considering running Cedaga on Fedora Core 2, it would tell me what I needed to know. Namely, Radeon cards aren't well supported, and expect to get your hands dirty.
It's an afternoon saved, from my point of view.
Lsatly, your "ghostwriter" comments are so much sexist crap. And you really are a coward for not signing your name.
Jon Acheson
Because I know Dee, she's a smart person and this kind of review is exactly the kind of thing I like to see.
The lesson: Fedora core 2 and Cedaga don't play well together. And here's why, with every step along the way. Clear, detailed, and with some personality to it, even.
I don't have infinite amounts of time to screw around with half-baked code that doesn't get the job done. If I'm going to plan out a Linux machine, I want to know, does this work, right out of the box, or does it require minor tweaking, or does it require sacrificing a chicken in the light of the full moon?
This article told me exactly what I needed to know.
Jon Acheson
When the aforementioned five-year-old is climbing around on top of a filing cabinet playing Spider-Man, is anywhere really safe?
The real issue is, what supposedly responsible person was letting him do this?
Jon Acheson
Short answer: they don't. They wanted a space western, so they threw a lot of things together, and IMHO some of them make no sense, like the antebellum Southern aristocracy that's there in some of the episodes.
It's a western. She's the Hooker with a Heart of Gold. I really think that's as deep as it went.
I think it should have looked a lot more like the third world today than Little House on the Prairie, though. But yes, this really didn't bother me.
Overall, if they had waited a year and thought the whole thing through a little more, I think the show could have been a success.
Jon Acheson
And the point is, Microsoft is still losing money on every XBox they sell, and it's not going to get better for them. They are stuck buying PC parts that don't follow the same price curve as console electronics. For instance, hard drives don't get cheaper, they get bigger, and after a couple years, any given model of hard drive is out of production.
Because of this, Microsoft has to get the XBox 2 out as soon as possible to stem their losses.
The other console manufacturers, from all indications, are still making money on their consoles, so they are not under the same pressure to put out the next generation.
As for compatibility, that will most likely be secondary to "not losing money" in the design of the new XBox.
Jon Acheson
When I'm travelling with family and we're all in the car together, it's better to use headphones. Keeps the noise to myself. The rest of the time, I just use the speaker.
Jon Acheson
It seems pretty clear that the DS will have the right combination of price, battery and decent games to be successful. Nintendo has that down cold. And the form factor is a good one. (Though, does it have a headphone jack?)
Those variables are still up in the air for the PSP, though. If it's more than $300, less than 10 hours, or has nothing to offer but more of the same from the PS1 and PS2, it will be dead on arrival. Also, the PSP is kind of a brick: it's nearly an inch thick. And the design doesn't protect the screen.
As for playing back movies and MP3s, without recordable PSP disks, that dog won't hunt.
Honestly, I think Sony took one look at the DS at E3 and said "It's good. We're so screwed." That's why they're cutting costs elsewhere like in the handhelds division.
Jon Acheson
Take him out and drive with him, several times a week for an hour or so at a time. The best places are large, empty parking lots. Take it slow, and work on the basics like starting and stopping, parking, parallel parking, and learning where the boundaries of your car are.
This will be worth ten million videogames to the both of you.
Jon Acheson