Comment Re:Mid-70's (Score 1) 632
IBM 1620 with punch cards in my case. Oak Ridge High School (Oak Ridge, TN) 1974-1977.
Comment Re:I don't believe it (Score 1) 118
Next thing you know, Hitatchi will make some kind of 'magic wand' security can wave
Hitachi does in fact make a 'magic wand', but I doubt that the security folks would be waving it at you
Comment Cray did this decades ago (Score 1) 230
Cray did this decades ago: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cray-2
Comment Technivorm Moccamaster or ECM Giotto - depends (Score 1) 584
Either drip coffee via a Technivorm Moccamaster (http://www.technivorm.com/) or espresso via an old ECM Giotto semi--commercial espresso machine (http://coffeegeek.com/reviews/commercial/ecm_giotto). Depends on my mood.
Comment FZ (Score 2) 64
Don't forget Frank Zappa, with 4 species and an asteroid [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_zappa#References_in_arts_and_sciences]
Comment Nice work (Score 1) 292
Nice work tracking that one down. It must have been very frustrating - what we used to call a "ring-tailed b1tch"
Comment Re:Politics and technology (Score 1) 266
One of my regrets is never seeing an SR-71 in the air
I worked at UCSD in the mid 80s; the building I worked in was pretty much directly west of the runways at NAS Miramar (now MCAS Miramar). In 1987 (1988?) the annual airshow there had an SR-71 come in for a visit. We watched it make a couple of lazy spirals as it came in for a landing at the base a day before the show. At the show it was shown in static display surrounded by armed Marines. Awesome aircraft.
Comment Re:Hypothetical Questions (Score 1) 416
Actually 120M is closer to 400 feet (393.7, to be exact). It would need to be deep to completely submerge it. To make it a reasonable wreck dive it would need to be in water deep enough that it posed no navigation hazard. Something the size of this ship would need very deep water to ensure that the shallowest part was, say, 20M from the surface. That would make the bottom somewhere near 135M (450 feet), assuming it sunk upright. From a technical diver's perspective this is beyond the reach of all but the most elite. Too bad, it would be an interesting wreck dive if sunk shallower than that.
Honeycomb To Require Dual-Core Processor 177
adeelarshad82 writes "According to managing director of Korean consumer electronics firm Enspert, Google's new Android Honeycomb tablet OS will require a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor to run properly. That means that many existing Android tablets will not be upgradeable to Honeycomb, as they lack the processor necessary to meet the spec. Currently, Nvidia's Tegra 2 platform is the only chipset in products on the market to include a Cortex-A9, although other manufacturers have said they're moving to the new processor architecture for 2011 products."
RIP, SunSolve 100
Kymermosst writes "Today marks the last day that SunSolve will be available. Oracle sent the final pre-deployment details today for the retirement of SunSolve and the transition to its replacement, My Oracle Support Release 5.2, which begins tomorrow. People who work with Sun's hardware and software have long used SunSolve as a central location for specifications, patches, and documentation."
Students Banned From Bringing Pencils To School 426
mernilio writes "According to UPI: 'A Massachusetts school district superintendent said a memo banning sixth graders from carrying pencils was written without district approval. North Brookfield School District interim Superintendent Gordon Noseworthy said Wendy Scott, one of two sixth-grade teachers at North Brookfield Elementary School, did not get approval from administrators before sending the memo to all sixth-grade parents, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported Thursday. The memo said students would no longer be allowed to bring writing implements to school. It said pencils would be provided for students in class and any students caught with pencils or pens after Nov. 15 would face disciplinary action for having materials 'to build weapons.'"
The Push For Colbert's "Restoring Truthiness" Rally 703
jamie writes "A grassroots campaign has begun to get Stephen Colbert to hold a rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to counter Glenn Beck's recent 'Restoring Honor' event. The would-be rally has been dubbed 'Restoring Truthiness' and was inspired by a recent post on Reddit, where a young woman wondered if the only way to point out the absurdity of the Tea Party's rally would be if Colbert mirrored it with his own Colbert Nation.'"
Cell Phone Interception At Def Con 95
ChrisPaget writes "I'm planning a pretty significant demonstration of GSM insecurity at Defcon next week, where I'll intercept and record cellular calls made by my attendees, live on-stage, no user-input required. As you can imagine, intercepting cellphones is a Very Big Deal in the eyes of the law; this blog post is an attempt to reassure everyone that their privacy is being taken seriously despite the nature of the demo. I'm not just making it up either — the EFF have helped significantly with the details."
Comment Re:It's wild (Score 2, Interesting) 169
If you have the "wreck bug" - go visit Truk Lagoon. Seriously some of the best diving I've ever done. While you can benefit from advanced training (mixed gas, wreck penetration/overhead environements) it's not necessary to enjoy the majority of the wrecks there. Many of them are completely encrusted with life and start at shallow enough depths that much can be seen even with a single 80. It's a long trip from most places (even here in Hawaii), but it's simply amazing wreck diving.
