50983629
submission
toygeek writes:
If you've been in IT long enough, you're bound to have heard the phrase "Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon filled with backup tapes." These days moving data has become so much easier; We've surpassed baud rates and are into Gbps fiber on the backbones, and even in some homes. So, what's the modern equivalent to this, and what does it take to make the OC fiber connections cringe? Follow along as we theoretically stuff MicroSD cards into Chevy Suburban and see what happens, and take sneakernet to a whole new level.
50977321
submission
toygeek writes:
If you've been in IT long enough, you're bound to hear the phrase "never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon filled with backup tapes." Its a great sentiment and surely, moving data around is easier now than it was when that phrase was coined. But how well does it scale? Follow along as we cram a Chevy Suburban with MicroSD cards for a theoretical update on this old saying, and see how it holds up against modern technology.
50720053
submission
toygeek writes:
I've been reading Slashdot for over 10 years, and this year decided to start writing more on my blog. I tested the waters by submitting my articles to Slashdot (for me, the ultimate peer review) and managed to make the front page, not just once but twice. Its something I'd never expected to achieve. What's it like to be on the other side of the Slashdot front page, to so speak? What does it to do website stats? Do you get flame broiled in the comments? Does Cowboy Neal's digital ghost call you to personally congratulate you? Read on to find out."
50585409
submission
toygeek writes:
I've been reading Slashdot for over 10 years, and this year decided to start writing more on my blog. I tested the waters by submitting my articles to Slashdot (for me, the ultimate peer review) and managed to make the front page, not just once but twice. Its something I'd never expected to achieve. What's it like to be on the other side of the Slashdot front page, to so speak? What does it to do website stats? Do you get flame broiled in the comments? Does Cowboy Neal call you to personally congratulate you? Read on to find out.
50546995
submission
toygeek writes:
I've been reading Slashdot for many years and have been fortunate enough to have had articles featured on the front page a couple of times. I always wondered what it would be like. It has happened not just once, but twice now, I wanted to share the other side of the experience with my fellow Slashdotters. My small article covers what my website statistics look like (the Slashdot effect) and the social aspects too. I hope you enjoy reading it!
50520521
submission
toygeek writes:
I've been reading Slashdot for many years and have been fortunate enough to have had articles featured on the front page a couple of times. I always wondered what it would be like, and now that it has happened twice, I wanted to share the other side of the experience with my fellow Slashdotters. My small article covers what my website statistics look like (the Slashdot effect) and the social aspects too. I hope you enjoy reading it!
49640665
submission
toygeek writes:
Many of us wonder what it would be like to work from home in the IT world. Well, I've been doing it for the last 2 years and I wrote an article on my blog about it and want to share it with like minded folks. Its not blog spam, I promise. Its a real article written by a real slashdotter, me! Please check it out.
49543861
submission
toygeek writes:
Some companies have small corporate offices with a few desks and some basic staff, and the balance of their staff works from home. I have worked for two companies that have home-sourced their staffing. I wish to take you through my journey in working from home in the IT world and share some facts that I've accumulated along the way.
45920253
submission
toygeek writes:
For years I've heard rumors and seen articles online that discuss the interference that can be caused by microwave ovens. It goes like this: Using your microwave oven can disrupt your WiFi because they use very close frequencies. Because of this, it is advisable to place your WiFi equipment at least 10 feet (3m) from your microwave oven. But is there a specific reason this happens, is it real, and can it be fixed? Today, I found out and managed to diagnose and solve the problem, showing that it is very real. The fix might be outside the scope of the average folk, however.
43132573
submission
toygeek writes:
Which is cheaper: Running a server from home, or renting a VPS (Virtual Private Server)? We're trying to pinch pennies where we can, and my son Derrick suggested upgrading an extra PC we have and running his Minecraft server at home. Would it save enough money to be worth it? I wanted to share with the results of my analysis with my Slashdot brethren.
37689001
submission
toygeek writes:
How much robot can you get for a hundred bucks? Not much: $100 is about a quarter of a Roomba. A quarter of a cheap Roomba. Or, you can spend it on an open source education robot from Switzerland that will help your kids to learn how to do things besides not vacuuming the floor.
36924445
submission
toygeek writes:
Babies, as you may have noticed if you own one, like to get into all sorts of mischief, and studies show that exploring and interacting with the world is important for cognitive development. Babies who can't move around as well may not develop at the same rate as babies who can, which is why researchers from Ithaca College in New York are working on a way to fuse babies with robots to give mobility to all babies, even those with conditions that may delay independent mobility, like Down syndrome, spina bifida, or cerebral palsy.
36804079
submission
toygeek writes:
Before Curiosity, before Opportunity, before Spirit, and before Sojourner, the very first robot to land on Mars was this little guy, way back in December of 1971. Called PrOP-M, the rover was part of the Soviet Union's Mars-3 mission, which had the potential to deploy the first ever mobile scientific instruments onto the Martian surface. Article also contains Russian video on early rovers.
35830999
submission
toygeek writes:
In an effort to give various robots more control during free-fall and navigation of severe obstacles, researchers have studied how agama lizards use their tails to retain or correct orientation during leaps and jumps. They've applied the research to both hexapod and wheeled robots, and the results are both astounding, and outstanding!
29323553
submission
toygeek writes:
I've been using Google Docs, Picasa, Gmail, Blogspot, and probably a couple of other Google services that I'm forgetting, for some years now. I also use Facebook. With privacy and ownership of my own data being a rising concern for me, I'd like to in-source all of my online data. I have a CentOS VPS already, and a domain, and am well versed in running servers etc, having extensive experience in the web hosting business in years past. I'd like to host my own online documents, pictures, blog, etc. I don't know what is available for software anymore as I've been out of the loop for some time. If there is one unified way to do that, I'd love it. I don't mind running separate applications for each service such as Wordpress, Coppermine Photo Gallery, but I don't know which is best anymore. Of course, I'd like to stick to FOSS software that can run on a typical LAMP stack. As for email, I'm stuck with Gmail for the foreseeable future, so I'll address that another time.
