cswiii - Slashdot User

Comment Re:Missed the whole USR Courier saga (Score 1) 249

by cswiii on Sunday December 27, 2009 @06:38PM (#30566200) Attached to: A Brief History of Modems

I had one "24/96" faxmodem that could connect v.42/mnp... but only when I used the Cheyenne Faxmodem software, or whatever it was, to dialin to the BBSes I called. It was the damnedest thing, I mucked with every init string, did every bit of research I could on the thing (in the pre-Google days), but could never get compression to work with any of my comm programs. So when I was just browsing forums or door games, I'd use my comm program of choice... but when I wanted to transfer files, I'd dialin with the faxmodem software for that extra 15-20 bps.

Huh. Surprised no one brought up term programs. I seem to remember using... something... I forget what, before a friend introduced me to QModem. And QModem lasted me a long time, until Telix. A lot of people liked Telix, or perhaps still do. I always liked Commo, which was scriptable/macro-able to the nth degree... or Terminate!, which had all the bells and whistles.... and a lot of weird history behind it, iirc.

Comment Re:I wanna watch Sin-duh-weh-wuh (Score 1) 685

by cswiii on Monday June 22, 2009 @11:36AM (#28423033) Attached to: Blu-ray Adoption Soft, More Still Own HD DVD

It is unlikely that you have children under the age of ten. They like to watch the same animated film over and over.

This. And having now seen Cars about a half dozen times in 1080i on our DVR, and then nearly that many times more in 1080p since we decided we might as well buy the BR, it's becoming worth it to us. Animated films are turning out to be the best candidates for Blu Ray anyway. If the kid gets to watch what he wants, and I don't have to suffer through horribly pixelated SD stuff on the kid channels (Noggin, et al), it's win-win.

Comment Re:I work in he rental industry (Score 1) 685

by cswiii on Monday June 22, 2009 @11:21AM (#28422817) Attached to: Blu-ray Adoption Soft, More Still Own HD DVD

You may find this website useful in determining whether or not your screen resolution and viewing distance can/should be adjusted to affect any discernible difference.

http://www.carltonbale.com/home-theater/home-theater-calculator/

Submission + - Earthlink reduces investment in Helio

Submitted by

cswiii

on Sunday September 23, 2007 @11:39PM

cswiii writes: "According to this story at PC World, Earthlink is looking to reduce or end any future investment in Helio, a US-marketed MVNO product in joint-venture with SK Telecom, voicing concern with its financial expenditures. Other reports indicate SK continues to have high hopes for the services, but given the demise of Helio's other competitors, or would-be competitors such as ESPN Mobile and Amp'd, only time will tell."

Submission + - AT&T Wi-Fi to existing broadband customers (newsobserver.com)

Submitted by cswiii on Tuesday July 03, 2007 @09:17AM

cswiii writes: According to this story, AT&T will begin making its wi-fi hotspots freely available to some existing broadband customers. Noting that some customers have also reported lower DSL costs following the Bell South/AT&T merger, is this unlikely fit of altruism by Ma Bell a trend that will continue?

Submission + - Duke Fellow on GPLv3 and the SoftwarePatent Menace (ibiblio.org)

Submitted by

andy_from_nc

on Wednesday June 27, 2007 @01:23AM

andy_from_nc writes: "Recently the Triange Linux Users' Group (which meets at the Raleigh, NC Red Hat HQ on NCSU campus) hosted Sapna Kuma speaking on GPLv3 and more particularly about the Microsoft Patent menace. The videos are now up on iBiblio in both MP4 and OGM (OGG for video). I've also posted links to torrents and will update with mirrors on here.

The talk raised some important issues and raises a call to action for the entire "FLOSS" community on battling the Microsoft menace of patents. The video is okay (the other camera failed) and the audio is decent with captions of the key questions."

Verisign Retains .com Control Until 2012 92

Posted by kdawson on Monday December 04, 2006 @03:39PM from the same-as-the-old-boss dept.

Several readers wrote to note that the U.S. Department of Commerce, in a controversial deal, has extended Verisign's control of the .com domain. Verisign got the right to raise prices in four of the six years of the contract, by up to 7% each time. From the article: "Verisign has control of .com and .net locked up for the next several years, but there will still be a modicum of oversight. [Commerce] retains final approval over any price hikes, and has said that any subsequent renewal of the contract will occur 'only if it concludes that the approval will serve the public interest in the continued security and stability of the Internet domain name system... and the provision of registry services at reasonable prices, terms and conditions.'"

Submission + - Blood Protein used to Split Water

Submitted by

brian0918

on Friday December 01, 2006 @03:00PM

brian0918 writes: "The Imperial College in London is reporting that genetically-engineered blood protein can be used to split water into oxygen and hydrogen. From the article: 'Scientists have combined two molecules that occur naturally in blood to engineer a molecular complex that uses solar energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. This molecular complex can use energy from the sun to create hydrogen gas, providing an alternative to electrolysis, the method typically used to split water into its constituent parts. The breakthrough may pave the way for the development of novel ways of creating hydrogen gas for use as fuel in the future.' The abstract can be viewed for free from the Journal of the American Chemical Society."

Pyramid Stones Were Poured, Not Quarried 445

Posted by Zonk on Friday December 01, 2006 @02:57PM from the that-was-really-far-up-the-tech-tree dept.

brian0918 writes "Times Online is reporting that French and American researchers have discovered that the stones on the higher levels of the great pyramids of Egypt were built with concrete. From the article: 'Until recently it was hard for geologists to distinguish between natural limestone and the kind that would have been made by reconstituting liquefied lime.' They found 'traces of a rapid chemical reaction which did not allow natural crystallization. The reaction would be inexplicable if the stones were quarried, but perfectly comprehensible if one accepts that they were cast like concrete.'"

Submission + - Origin of Quake3's Fast InvSqrt()

Submitted by

geo

on Friday December 01, 2006 @01:24PM

geo writes: "Beyond3D.com's Ryszard Sommefeldt dons his seersucker hunting jacket and meerschaum pipe to take on his secret identity as graphics code sleuth extraordinaire. In today's thrilling installment, the origins of one of the more famous snippets of graphics code in recent years is under the microscope — Quake3's Fast InvSqrt(), which has been known to cause strong geeks to go wobbly in the knees while contemplating its simple beauty and power. Enter the puzzle palace here."

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