Comment Make ink cartridges from home? Messy... (Score 1) 477
Doesn't HP make inkjet cartridges? Who would want to work from home making those things. Got to be messy work...
Comment rss feeds -- that's all I use - alternatives? (Score 1) 329
I mostly have various rss feeds on my iGoogle home page. Very, very useful to quickly see what's happening on pages I pay attention to.
(Like, Slashdot, of course.)
I don't use many of the other gadgets/toys. Well, Weather Underground, Woot watcher, Google Finance are useful, but I could live without them.
Are there alternative sites that provide a similar function?
Comment Re:let's compare it to MIT's 1869 entrance exam (Score 2) 741
http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/exam/
English | Geometry | Algebra | Arithmetic
No Latin or Greek...
Comment Sun.com Will NOT Disappear After June 1 (Corrected (Score 1) 183
http://blogs.sun.com/OTNGarage/entry/sun_com_will_disappear_after
"A few days ago I wrote:
The www.sun.com site will be decommissioned on June 1 of this year.
In the comments I went on to say that I doubted there would be 1:1 redirects.
I was wrong. (Don't tell my wife I'm capable of saying that!) The www.sun.com domain will NOT be decommissioned or sold on June 1 of this year. Rather, sun.com URLs will redirect to oracle.com URLs, with 1:1 redirects where possible.
Most of the content that was on BigAdmin, OpenSolaris.com, and some sections of SDN has already been migrated to the System Admin and Developer Community of the Oracle Technology Network (OTN).
Our engineering team is working on a solution for the Hardware Compatibility List. I'll let you know where it ends up and in what form as soon as I know.
If you find content on those legacy sites that you'd like to ensure we make available on OTN, please let me know.
- Rick"
Submission + - Comcast charges fee to Level 3 for Netflix traffic (washingtonpost.com)
2centplain writes: Is this the first of many network neutrality disputes we're likely to see soon?
Washington Post, Nov 29, 2010
"Level 3 accuses Comcast of unfairly using its clout as the dominant U.S. cable provider"
By Cecilia Kang
"An online networking company that carries video feeds for Netflix has accused cable giant Comcast of demanding unfair fees to provide that video to home subscribers, raising questions about Comcast’s power to control consumers’ access to the Internet.
Level 3, a Colorado-based Internet company whose main client is the video giant Netflix, on Monday said Comcast’s action amounts to setting up a “toll booth” on the Internet.
The issue arises as federal regulators consider Comcast’s proposed purchase of a controlling interest in NBC-Universal, which rivals have said will give the cable company too much power over both programming and the means to distribute it.
This action by Comcast threatens the open Internet and is a clear abuse of the dominant control that Comcast exerts in broadband access markets as the nation’s largest cable provider,” Level 3’s chief legal officer, Thomas Stortz, said in a news release.
Comcast disputed Level 3’s claims, saying its demand for fees is unrelated to the content that Level 3 wants delivered to consumers.
“Comcast offered Level 3 the same terms it offers to Level 3’s content delivery network competitors for the same traffic,” Joe Waz, Comcast’s senior vice president for external affairs, said in a statement. “But Level 3 is trying to undercut its . . . competitors by claiming it’s entitled to be treated differently and trying to force Comcast to give Level 3 unlimited and highly imbalanced traffic and shift all the cost onto Comcast and its customers.”" ...
Washington Post, Nov 29, 2010
"Level 3 accuses Comcast of unfairly using its clout as the dominant U.S. cable provider"
By Cecilia Kang
"An online networking company that carries video feeds for Netflix has accused cable giant Comcast of demanding unfair fees to provide that video to home subscribers, raising questions about Comcast’s power to control consumers’ access to the Internet.
Level 3, a Colorado-based Internet company whose main client is the video giant Netflix, on Monday said Comcast’s action amounts to setting up a “toll booth” on the Internet.
The issue arises as federal regulators consider Comcast’s proposed purchase of a controlling interest in NBC-Universal, which rivals have said will give the cable company too much power over both programming and the means to distribute it.
This action by Comcast threatens the open Internet and is a clear abuse of the dominant control that Comcast exerts in broadband access markets as the nation’s largest cable provider,” Level 3’s chief legal officer, Thomas Stortz, said in a news release.
Comcast disputed Level 3’s claims, saying its demand for fees is unrelated to the content that Level 3 wants delivered to consumers.
“Comcast offered Level 3 the same terms it offers to Level 3’s content delivery network competitors for the same traffic,” Joe Waz, Comcast’s senior vice president for external affairs, said in a statement. “But Level 3 is trying to undercut its . . . competitors by claiming it’s entitled to be treated differently and trying to force Comcast to give Level 3 unlimited and highly imbalanced traffic and shift all the cost onto Comcast and its customers.”"
Comment Tin Foil Hats for Cars? (Score 1) 926
Great opportunity to manufacture and sell giant tin foil hats for cars.
Comment $40 million exit strategy (Score 1) 326
How many Slashdot readers would change places with Hurd at this time?
How could any of us ever get to quit a job and walk away with $40M?
Comment Re:Dental hygiene (Score 1) 842
I prefer using a WaterPik "water flosser" (used to be called "oral irrigator"). It has a plug -- way higher geek factor than dental floss.
http://www.waterpik.com/oral-health
Comment Another level of the Tower of Babel is constructed (Score 1) 302
As far as I know, all keyboards around the world can type ASCII characters.
(Does "A" really mean "American" any more? It's the base character set for all things computer-ish.)
Comment Re:Sparrow food (Score 1) 98
Passover seders usually have an abundance of food.
But, of course, not bread, but matzo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matzo
Comment How Things Work Seminar (Score 1) 256
Start off with the instructor doing a few short, hands-on presentation on how some thing works.
Simple, well-known household things that one can take apart, observe, and understand.
toaster, desklamp, computer mouse, speaker, ...
Then, ask the students to think of one thing they want to talk about. Let them bring the items into the classroom with lab time to take them apart, guided by the instructor, and other students. They can choose junk in their basement or garage, or buy something cheap from a second-hand store. Or even from the local recycling center. Need basic tools, multimeters (inexpensive from Harbor Freight -- good enough for this class), etc Provide some basic instructions on safety and tool usage.
They might even figure out how to fix something.
Then, for the rest of the couse, each student does their presentation. (They also "accidentally" learn some presentation skills.)
The best way to learn is to teach!
Years ago, I participated in a "How Things Work" seminar at MIT just like this. Great stuff!
Comment Radio Schlock? (Score 1) 629
"Radio Schlock" might better describe the current version of this retailer. Junky, overpriced electronics, staffed by clerks with mediocre knowledge.
Comment Mouse issues (Score 1) 823
"For old people, it is difficult to click button on mouse but do not move it."
It took me a while to notice this when my mom uses her computer. I had been supporting her remotely using VNC, and couldn't figure out why her windows were resized to be small. When I visited her in person, I saw that she was trying to close a window, but when she click the mouse button, she also move the mouse over to a border, held the mouse down, and ended up reszing the window.
Solution:
- configure larger window decorations (scroll bars, close buttons.)
- configure larger window borders.
Submission + - Smart parking spaces in San Francisco
2centplain writes: The New York Times reports:
Can't Find a Parking Spot? Check Smartphone
This fall, San Francisco will test 6,000 of its 24,000 metered parking spaces in the nation's most ambitious trial of a wireless sensor network that will announce which of the spaces are free at any moment. Drivers will be alerted to empty parking places either by displays on street signs, or by looking at maps on screens of their smartphones. They may even be able to pay for parking by cellphone, and add to the parking meter from their phones without returning to the car.
Any guesses on the when this will be hacked?
Like, "reserving" an empty spot by convincing a sensor that a car is actually parked there.
Of course, in San Francisco, this will be for naught, since spaces don't stay empty for any longer.
Or, perhaps using the wireless mesh network for some other purpose?
