Gargon the Rat - Slashdot User

Comment Re:Best Data Storage Method (Score 1) 212

by Gargon the Rat on Monday January 28, 2013 @04:19PM (#42718997) Attached to: How Do You Backup Your Data?

RAID in itself is not a backup strategy. However, a RAID server is a very nice and cost effective place to put automatic backups.

I have a stack of data tapes on my shelf. They are not a backup strategy, because all they do is sit on the shelf. Where is that tape drive anyway?

Comment How many hard drives? (Score 1) 212

by Gargon the Rat on Monday January 28, 2013 @04:09PM (#42718901) Attached to: How Do You Backup Your Data?

I'm getting a little crazy in my old age. Everything I do is in git repositories on the lab server (2 drives RAID1), on the lab backup server (8 drives RAID5, rsync nightly), on my workstation (2 drives RAID1), on my home workstation (2 drives RAID1), and on my home backup drive (rsync nightly).

Comment Re:Defense vs offense (Score 2) 381

by Gargon the Rat on Thursday December 06, 2012 @05:34PM (#42208785) Attached to: When I see gov't CCTV cameras, I think:

My line of thought would be along the lines of big sunglasses and a fake beard.

I have a beard and wear sunglasses outside ... I never get away with anything.

Comment Re:wait a sec... (Score 1) 488

by Gargon the Rat on Tuesday June 19, 2012 @02:33PM (#40373439) Attached to: U.S. Students Struggle With Reasoning Skills

Easy. Use fertilizers 2, 4, 6, and 8. Find the one that performed best, and put the two fertilizers on either side of it on the next to trays. Either that one, of one of the last two will be the best.

This only works if the performance is convex.

If the test creators didn't specify that in some way, then there's a problem with the test.

The report does not contain the string "fertilizer" so it's a bit hard to tell what the question said.

Lego Robot Solves Bigger and Harder Rubik's Cubes 63

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday April 28, 2010 @09:51PM from the version-2.0 dept.

kkleiner writes "It was only two months ago that we saw Mike Dobson's Cube Stormer Lego robot that could solve any 3x3 Rubik's cube in less than 12 seconds. You would think that there was only one person in the world crazy enough and talented enough to pull this off, but now we have found someone else that is just as amazing. The latest Rubik's cube-solving Lego monstrosity is called the MultiCuber, and although it's constructed out of nothing but Mindstorms components and a laptop, it can solve 2×2, 3×3, 4×4, and 5×5 cubes all in the same build! As if that weren't enough, a larger version solves the dreaded 6×6 Rubik's. We discovered the MultiCuber when its creator, David Gilday (IAssemble), wrote us an email to brag about its puzzle-solving might. Consider us impressed, sir."

Patent Markings May Spell Trouble For Activision 82

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday February 23, 2010 @07:41AM from the almost-rocket-docket dept.

eldavojohn writes "If you pick up your copy of Guitar Hero and read the literature, you'll notice it says 'patent pending' and cites a number of patents. A group alleges no such patent pends nor are some of the patents applicable. If a judge finds Activision guilty of misleading the public in this manner, they could become liable for up to $500 per product sold under false patent marking. The patents in question seem to be legitimately Guitar Hero-oriented, and little is to be found about the mysterious group. The final piece of the puzzle puts the filing in Texas Northern District Court, which might be close enough to Texas Eastern District Court to write this off as a new kind of 'false patent marking troll' targeting big fish with deep coffers."

AMD Launches New Processor Socket Despite Poor Economy 215

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 09, 2009 @06:03PM from the damn-the-torpedoes-full-speed-ahead dept.

arcticstoat writes to tell us that despite a poor economic climate, AMD is moving forward with a new processor socket launch, although they are trying to make it as upgrade-friendly as possible. "As you probably already know from the AM3 motherboards that have already been announced, AM3 is AMD's first foray into DDR3 memory support. As Phenom CPUs have integrated memory controllers, it's more accurate to say that it's the new range of Phenom II CPUs (see below) that are DDR3-compatible. However, the new DDR3-compatible Phenom II range is also compatible with DDR2 memory. As the new CPUs and the new AM3 socket are pin-compatible with the current AM2+ socket, you can put a new AM3-compatible CPU into an existing AM2+ motherboard. This means that you can upgrade your CPU now without needing to change your motherboard or buy pricey new DDR3 memory."

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