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  1. Upgrades needed. on FAA Mandates Major Aircraft "Black Box" Upgrade · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I must first qualify this post by saying that I work at the L3 Aviation Recorders facility that builds all the black boxes. What people dont realize is that we dont just build the flight recorders, but every flight recorder has to come back to this facility to be taken apart and read too. You don't even know how many *old, old* flight recorders come in all the time from retired aircraft or downed aircraft, whatever. Some of the flight recorders out there in the wild are way way behind the new stuff that we're putting in aircraft being built now.

  2. Re:It sounds so easy but on FAA Mandates Major Aircraft "Black Box" Upgrade · · Score: 4, Informative

    I happen to work at the L3 Communications facility that builds the flight recorders in Sarasota, Fl. Trust me, there's a lot more to a flight recorder than just an ipod in a big orange case. As is, a black box weights 25lbs or more easily. Do you know what kind of force it has to be able to withstand and come out unscathed? Second of all, its not just a storage medium. It contains tons of instruments that actually measure certain parameters about the flight too.

  3. Re:I like beige boxes on Sexy Intel Computer Design Worth Big Bucks · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I don't know...

    I've been an IT guy for a while, and have worked on many a' Dell in my day. I just got a new Mac Pro at work though, and I've never seen any machine built as nicely. you have to crack one open yourself to believe it.

    if you think the build quality of a mac pro == the build quality of a GX620, you have issues.

  4. Re:Flaimbait this is on Business 2.0 Says 'Boycott Vista' · · Score: 1

    I want the latest AND the greatest. And whether people like it or not, when Vista comes out, it will be both.

    Don't worry about it then, because Leopard will be out before you know it.

  5. Re:Only mean spirited if you are reading between l on New "Get a Mac" TV ads · · Score: 1

    By the way, to help out your brother, head on over to ifixit.com . They've got step-by-step guides to take apart every apple laptop in history. Plus, they've got printable 'screw guide' pages that you can tape the screws down to, that way you know exactly how it goes back together.

    As long as its not a 12" powerbook, its not a huge deal to take them apart (considering the problem with the bent case around the power jack, i know its an aluminum model already). I've actually done exactly what your brother was talking about, only a hammer isn't needed. you can bend it back with your fingers.

  6. Re:External drives on New Apple Bootcamp Released · · Score: 1

    Crap. Sorry about the formatting guys, in my mac-evangelistic frenzy I must have forgotten about the breaks...

  7. Re:External drives on New Apple Bootcamp Released · · Score: 1

    You've got it mixed up. Boot Camp allows you to boot your Mac from a Windows installation natively. Therefore, its hardware dependant, just like a windows installation on regular windows pc. Transplanting one to the other won't work because of the driver differences between the two macs (assuming their not identical macs) Parallels (or some other virtualization) is what you're thinking of. *Virtual machines* can be trasplanted, but not Boot Camp installations of Windows. Interesting to note however, that Mac OSX installations have been fully 'transplantable' for a while. in other words, i could clone the hard drive from a G3 iBook to a quad G5 tower, and it'll boot just fine. No drivers to re-install or any of that stuff like you'd have in Windows. Our corporate network is mostly Mac here, and we routinely do this instead of having to jump through the hoops of Ghost and all the driver/authentication stuff on Windows.

  8. Yeah, its us. on 3-D Software for 'Virtual Surgery' · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yeah, this already does exist. Because we make it. www.meti.com

    We have a laproscopic surgery simulator for a mere $40k that will totally blow your mind. You can learn to stitch, tie knots, remove gall bladders, the works.

  9. Re:DUDE!!!! on Fan-created Star Wars Spinoff in The Works · · Score: 1

    Sorry to break it to you, but you're not in a star wars movie... You're in a fan-film. Welcome to several years ago.

  10. Re:Titanium - Scratch Resisitant?? on Insights Into the Future of the Laptop · · Score: 1

    Sorry, you're incorrect on this one. Not only have i owned both, but I'm the network administrator for a large corporation that happens to be 60% Mac. In fact, I've got 13 scrapped TiBooks right here in our IT office that have broken screen hinges (which is by far the most common failure on that design). I'm positive that I've personally taken apart more TiBooks than most slashdot readers have ever seen in person. Enough so that I know just by the model number which exact rev it is, and therefore which optical drive is inside, etc.

    The bottom casing of the TiBooks is silver colored plastic. If you dont believe me, take one apart yourself.

  11. Re:Titanium - Scratch Resisitant?? on Insights Into the Future of the Laptop · · Score: 4, Informative

    The problem is that not all of the TiBook was actually Ti. Only the casing of the screen is actually Ti, and the whole bottom casing is just silver-colored plastic. The white frame that goes around the edge of the machine is some other kind of metal thats painted white. All these painted surfaces scratch off and look beat up, whereas the AlBook is actuallly silver.

  12. Missed opportunity? on The Hybrid Scooter · · Score: 1

    $570 billion? Who cares? When you consider that we didn't have any of that money in the first place (deficit in the trillions).

    It's not a situation of "Too bad we wasted all our money on Thing A, because now we don't have the cash we need for Thing B".

    We never had the money for the war on terror. If we really want to change to an alternative fuel source, we'll just do it. When you're that far in the hole, whats another couple hundred billion?

  13. Dreamcast VS PS2 - Not the same thing... on Nvidia CEO Talks Next-Gen Consoles · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "360-DVD vs PS3-Blu-ray battle to the Dreamcast-CD vs PS2-DVD battle"

    Eh, I'm not so sure about this. First of all, the Dreamcast didn't use a CD-ROM. It was a proprietary 'GD-ROM' that was actually a higher capacity disk (at least 1GB, i don't remember the details). The point wasn't that the dreamcast's media wasn't big enough to hold the content the developers were looking to put out, it was just that the machine didn't play DVD movies.

    The 360 can play DVD movies just like the PS2 and PS3. It just can't play *BluRay* movies. The catch is, we're yet to find out whether people are even going to even care about that or not (format wars, HDTV requirement, DRM, etc).

    Back then, one system had functionality that the other lacked, and that added functionality happened to be something that was important to alot of consumers. That being said, it surely wasn't the lack of DVD video functionality that broke SEGA.

    We won't be seeing *games* that push the limits of each system's storage capacity for some time. Not to mention, most buyers buy the system that has the games they want to play. The only exception to that is a parent who doesn't care either way, so they'll more than likely opt for the cheaper (360/wii) or more kid-friendly (wii) of the bunch.

  14. Heh... on Microsoft Acquires Winternals and Sysinternals · · Score: 1

    Heh. I wonder if they'll still keep the BSOD screensaver around on the website now?

  15. Far from 'insightful' on The Future of Apple's Pro Desktop Line · · Score: 1

    I forgot to mention... can we not mod the parent 'insightful'?

    He just definitively informed us that real creative professionals are waiting for the intel powermac to use garageband, and that using Final Cut Pro is the norm with recording musicians.

  16. Re:Let's rescue the term "creative pro" on The Future of Apple's Pro Desktop Line · · Score: 1

    ProTools is in fact a universal binary now.

    The 7.1 update is where intel mac support comes into play. Of course, the upgrade is only free if you're running 7.0 already. Its a $75 upgrade from 6.x to 7.0 though.

    And yes, sound pros are not using garageband. And please, ableton and logic aren't exactly mainstays either... Logic is somewhat of a niche. ProTools is the industry standard, like it or not. And if you're talking about a runner-up, I'd say Cubase is way more widely used than Logic, especially now that Presonus has ganged up with them.

  17. Re:CS isn't all about debugging programs on Robots Coming to Intro Computer Science Classes · · Score: 1

    As far as the programming languages go, in CSC, they now start the first two basic classes with regular old C (gcc and pico) and then they go object oriented after that. They've dropped java altogether from what I gather. We had an awesome java instructer (props to Dr Gwee), but he left and I think they just didn't get anyone to replace him.

    Until recently, it used to be several classes of C, and then the required electives you choose from were all the different object oriented languages. That way you had a really strong base in C and Assembly before you started OO.

    Now in ISDS (the business college 'IT' curriculum, basically the CSC dropouts), they start with VB.NET, then have one class on basic (read: basic) html, then they're done with technical stuff. From then on out, its business classes about how technology empowers business...

  18. Re:CS isn't all about debugging programs on Robots Coming to Intro Computer Science Classes · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Yep. I'm really the last of the "real" CS students from LSU. Midway through my time in college, they started changing the classes over. Its more software development than anything else. Except starting out with .NET is not great in my opinion

    They got rid of all the architecture classes, especially the good one where you learn about *how* memory works, threading, processor scheduling, all that stuff. They also got rid of the OS class. I mean, they still have an OS class, but its now a touchy-feely class where you don't actually *learn* anything. I feel bad for the kids who are going through right behind me...

    We used to have a mandatory class on assembly too. Granted, its somewhat useless as a programming language in real life, but it still helps teach alot about what's going on at the low, low level.

  19. Re:Yawn... on Technology Rewriting the Rules of Business · · Score: 2, Insightful

    See, i disagree. If you got into IT for creativity, you should have looked into marketing. IT is about standards, best practices, and things 'just working' for your customers (ie the company's internal people). Yes, there are places where creativity is good, but no more than any other 'office job' at the same company.

    Lets see, i need a fool-proof disaster recovery scheme. Best practices or art? I choose best practices. File server? Yep, best practicies. Email? Exchange, please.

    Like i said, there is room for creativity, but only here and there. IT is not alchemy by any stretch.

  20. Re:Hell yes - the military uses something like thi on Gold and Helium Combine for Needle-Free Injections · · Score: 1

    You're right. My mother has a scar something fierce on her arm from getting one years and years ago.

  21. 1 out of 6 squishy so far on MacBook Users Fix Trackpad Problem with Origami Paper · · Score: 2, Interesting

    In case anyone cares, I'm a network admin for a place thats mostly all mac. I've ordered 6 of the new Macbooks so far (5 white, 1 black). The most recent white one that we recieved is definitely 'squishy'. You have to move your whole hand to really bare down and push the button.

  22. From 11 to 451... on New Top500 List Released at Supercomputing '06 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Dang, when our SuperMike was built (Lousiana State University), we were 11th on the list. A quick look now and we're at 451.

    I feel old... ;0)

  23. Re:Someone needs to.. on Is Distributed Computing Being Distributed Badly? · · Score: 1

    Nah, I'm still holding out for OMGPonies@HOME...

  24. Re:A real answer on What Do Geek Squad Technicians Actually Do? · · Score: 1

    I understand where you're going with your Formula 1 pit crew analogy, but the reason people are upset is because that analogy isn't entirely true. Jiffy lube may be a ripoff, but when you leave jiffy lube, you can bet your @$$ that your oil is changed, and its done correctly (they didn't try to tell you your engine is hosed).

  25. Re:how many times..... on Blu-Ray Launch Expected Next Week · · Score: 1

    Wasn't Digital8 or whatever (camcorder standard) by sony too?