jguthrie - Slashdot User

Comment: Re:"Edge of Space" is 100 km (Score 4, Informative) 205

by jguthrie on Wednesday September 23 2009, @03:51PM (#29521663) Attached to: HD Video From The Edge of Space, On the Cheap

100Km is about 328,000 feet. That's why Space Ship One had a tail number of N328KF.

Also, the North Texas Balloon Team and the South Texas Balloon Project routinely (with launches approximately annually) send balloons with video cameras to altitudes in excess of 100,000 feet. Those are just the two balloon projects I'm familiar with. I am sure there are others because it's not particularly hard to do.

So, this is pure ho-hum to me. Let me know when they've done it a couple of dozen times.

Comment: Re:Loki Software? Yeah. (Score 1) 565

by jguthrie on Wednesday May 06 2009, @06:15PM (#27852995) Attached to: Debian Switching From Glibc To Eglibc

I could never do anything in Railroad Tycoon II except run out of money, but I was just running Civilization: Call to Power last night on my 64-bit Debian box last night, so what's all this noise about nothing working?

Comment: Re:Like the phonograph.... The what? (Score 1) 743

by jguthrie on Wednesday March 11 2009, @12:30PM (#27153627) Attached to: Young People Prefer "Sizzle Sounds" of MP3 Format

Now, if you don't like tasting the individual notes in your coffee and coffee is simply a source of caffeine, then Sanka's your beverage.

Ummm, Sanka is like the original decaffeinated coffee.

Computer Scientists Grow a Better Virtual Tree 0

Submitted by

Reservoir Hill

on Thursday January 10 2008, @10:14PM

Reservoir Hill writes "Stanford computer scientist Vladlen Koltun says the inability of casual computer users to build 3-D objects — you practically have to be a sculptor — is an anchor holding back the promise of virtual worlds and games. "There is a very, very tiny community of people around the world who are skilled at creating three-dimensional objects," Koltun said. "And they are the ones who do it all." Koltun and his team set out to prove that object construction can be sophisticated without being difficult, beginning with trees. Botanists have already cataloged and categorized the trees of the real world in great detail. Koltun's group has incorporated that data into a powerful mathematical engine that creates trees using about 100 different tree attributes, all of them almost infinitely variable. How thick is the trunk? How big the leaves? How are the limbs spaced? The result is a new, intuitive way for individual users to create unique trees by simply using a mouse to seamlessly navigate through the entire "space of trees," changing appearances by changing direction. A gallery of trees and the software to create your own is available for free download."

Digital TV Burnout 0

Submitted by mpthompson on Friday December 28 2007, @01:47AM

mpthompson writes "According to Embedded.com beyond the robust growth, glitzy new high-end displays and marketing frenzy lurks the dirty little secret of HDTV: An unsettling number of sets are returned to the retail outlets where they are purchased. Consumers are often wowed by the performance of HDTVs displaying slow-moving, brightly colored video on the showroom floor, but are disappointed by the performance of the set when they get it home. There are many factors at play, but consumer confusion over jargon laden HDTV technology seems to be the major culprit. Manufacturers also blame the compression technologies used by cable and satellite providers to jam as many channels into their bandwidth as possible for consumer dissatisfaction. Is Joe Six-Pack really ready for digital TV?"

Amiga OS 4.0 to run on BlueGene processors 2

Submitted by

Amigan

on Saturday December 22 2007, @12:28PM

Amigan writes "Recent announcements by Hyperion Entertainment concerning Amiga OS 4.0 seem to show promise that the OS will finally see the light of day. Included in the announcement is the ability to run the new OS on classic Amigas with a PowerPC add-on board. Also, a new hardware partner, A-Cube Systems has been introduced. This company is producing new hardware based on the ppc440 — the same processor used in IBM's top500 Blue Gene/L."

Minority climate change opponents not so minor? 0

Submitted by Sedennial on Friday December 21 2007, @02:26PM

Sedennial writes "Over 400 prominent scientists from more than two dozen countries recently voiced significant objections to major aspects of the so-called "consensus" on man-made global warming. These scientists, many of whom are current and former participants in the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), criticized the climate claims made by the UN IPCC and former Vice President Al Gore.

Minority Climate Change Report"

Social engineering: Are your ID badges showing?-> 0

Submitted by

SarahS

on Tuesday November 27 2007, @11:53AM

SarahS writes "Johnny Long (of Google Hacking fame, interviewed here) claims that the easiest way to "hack" into a company isn't with a computer — it's by putting on a fake ID badge and walking in the door like you mean it. If no one at your company is actually verifying badges, then too bad for you, the social engineer just got inside. In this excerpt on CSOonline.com from Long's book, No Tech Hacking, the author explains — with photo proof — why it's so easy for social engineers to create fake ID cards. "Traveling in tech circles, I've seen my share of lanyard clutter, but this nice lady took the prize for most neck-flair toted by a female. As I drew closer, I realized that her badge was decidedly governmental in appearance. ... As she continued chatting into the phone, I swung around to the other side of her and stepped in as close as I could without triggering her (admittedly impaired) stalker detection system. Less than a foot away from her, I snapped the photo below. This particular badge is issued to government employees stationed at the Pentagon. The Post-It note reminds her to "bring a copy of yesterday's all hands to DSS H.Q.'""
Link to Original Source

Is it Time to Start Ignoring Microsoft? -> 3

Submitted by

jammag

on Sunday November 18 2007, @09:21PM

jammag writes "It's time for GNU/Linux advocates to quit casting Microsoft as the Great Satan, opines Bruce Byfield, a leading GNU/Linux pundit. "Things were different ten years ago...Back then, the community was fragile," he writes. But now, FOSS thrives in data centers everywhere. However, "over the years, we've developed a culture of hate, where bashing Microsoft proves our membership in the club. We've come to count on this opposition as a central part of our identity." Give it up, Byfield writes: "If you value FOSS, there are aspects you should be promoting — not the taunts more suitable to a high school locker room.""
Link to Original Source

Ham Radio Operator Finds Cure For Cancer-> 5

Submitted by

CirReal

on Tuesday November 13 2007, @06:31PM

CirReal writes "John Kanzius, K3TUP, himself suffering from cancer with nine months to live, used nanotechnology and a radio transmitter to kill cancer cells. "Kanzius did not have a medical background, not even a bachelor's degree, but he knew radios. He had built and fixed them since he was a child, collecting transmitters, transceivers, antennas and amplifiers, earning an amateur radio operator license. Kanzius knew how to send radio wave signals around the world. If he could transmit them into cancer cells, he wondered, could he then direct the radio waves to destroy tumors, while leaving healthy cells intact?" Reseachers "recently killed 100% of cancer cells grown in the livers of rabbits, using Kanzius' method.""
Link to Original Source