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Comment Re:Could this save power? (Score 1) 346

You can set your print serving pc to boot on network signal. Then just send it an ARP packet & pause while it boots before printing. If your power supply is old enuf you can plug the printer into the monitor power plug on it, and you're golden. You can also use an addressable power strip to control both. I use an old X10 home automation module for my printer.

Comment Re:Lunar sunshine and lunar soil (Score 5, Informative) 111

The biggest problem with the soil is that it's sharp. There's no weathering on the moon; the "soil" is dust and grit with very sharp points and edges. The plants would be enduring constant irritation and injury.

Of course, you could sift the dust through a concentrated beam of sunlight and melt it into little spheroids. That would still be cheaper than grinding or importing something softer. The point is, you'd have to process your lunar resource of choice somehow; you can't use it "straight up."

Comment Re:Here's a match.. (Score 1) 344

The database you describe used to be called Pick. I worked full-time on pick from 1986 to 1990. It was written in the late '60's by the army and was WAY fantastically advanced for its time. I've seen an office with 12 people, 4 printers, and a streaming tape backup all running simultaneously on a 286 with fine performance and response times. Their "mulridimensional" database was amazingly flexible.
I really love this bit: Since computers weren't so great in 1969, they wrote a kernel that just emulates a better computer, then they wrote the actual OS on that virtual machine. When RISC became popular in the '80', the virtual processor in the pick machine was so close to the real RISC chips that pick was the first OS ported to the new IBM RISC servers, even before any IBM OS's like AIX.
I Love PICK. There's many variations these days (PICK, UniData, Universe, Ultimate, PICK OA, R83, R9, Advanced PICK, D3, MvEnterprise, Prime Information, Revelation, Mentor, jBase, Sequoia), many of whom started in the '70's. And Yes, I think Pick-like databases can run rings around any other db. They aren't just a db that runs on some OS; Pick IS the OS (tho it can be a guest too) IBM actually came to Pick first for an OS for the original PC, but its requirements were too much for the hardware, so Bill Gates won out. The owner of Pick actually laughed at the IBM guys; I'll bet he choked on that memory quite a few times.
Check out Pick - it really is what you describe and a LOT more.

Comment The College is not the problem (Score 1) 1088

The Party system is the problem. I'm all for using party affiliation for elections. But they need to be banned from government. Right now 90% of the resources any polititian has are spent trying to tear down the "other half" of our government. This is schezophrenic idiocy. Senators and congress(wo)men should sit and vote according to what state they are from, NOT according to who their political affiliates are.
Nowhere does the constitution give power to the parties, yet they run the whole country now. Each party performs multiple treasonous acts every year, yet they get away with it all the time. Stop the IDIOCY!

Comment Don't sweat it (Score 2, Informative) 684

A major contributer to memory loss is the stress of worrying about it. Expect it to work when needed, and it's more likely to do so.
That being said, do a crossword puzzle every day. Take DHA (from an algal source NOT fish oil). Eat brewer's yeast; it has every B vitamin known, plus lots of DNA and RNA. Eat eggs (choline), and beets (they provide a chemical group that the rest of your body will use and leave the choline for making acetylcholine.)
Exercise your brain - it really does respond just like muscle tissue does; it will grow and become more vigorous.
Don't take large doses of B vitamins, just take some. Your food will provide a variable amount on top of the minimum, and that variation will enhance your brain's use of what's available.
Most of all; if you expect some function to fail, you will stop using it so much, it will atrophy from lack of use, and you'll have a self-fulfilling prophesy. Just as you expect to get better at what you do with practice, expect your body's cells to get better at what they do with practice. They will, if you let them.

Software

Submission + - Pervasive Gaming is virtually real (sciencedaily.com)

spaceman375 writes: FTA:
[Pervasive games intertwine] "game play with peoples' everyday lives. Armed with their mobile phone or another portable device, participants can take part in treasure hunts for virtual objects in the real world, find new ways to explore and experience a city, arrange blind dates, act out role-playing scenarios or wage virtual battles with opponents via SMS messages."
      The article has more ideas and details. I've envisioned this sort of virtual overlay game in a warehouse or theme park setting, but these guys want to play in the whole world. Sounds fun to me, but will there be enough players for long-term success?

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