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Comment Re:A really big tip on progressives after 20 years (Score 1) 464

by dec3 (#48719567) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Are Progressive Glasses a Mistake For Computer Users?

I have been using progressives for 15+ years simply because I kept forgetting to bring both sets of glasses (distance and reading) with me ... it was just a hassle. That's not to say that getting used to progressives was easy ... I had some really nasty headaches for several weeks. But now that I am used to them, I cannot imagine going back.

I 100% agree with both tips 2 and 3. As for Tip 2 - I always use Aviator frames so that I get a reasonable amount of vertical glass space.

Tip 3 is indeed the really big deal ... I have experienced opticians that want to waste the majority of the vertical space and place the normal vision spot way too low. if your optician refuses to work with you to set the spot properly - get another optician.
Censorship

"Terrorist" Lyrics Land High Schooler In Jail 573

Posted by timothy from the now-for-aesthetic-offenses-maybe dept.
An anonymous reader writes "A Methusen, Mass. high schooler, who goes by the rapper name 'Cammy Dee' has been arrested after posting lyrics that police felt were 'communicating terrorist threats.' This wouldn't be the first time rap lyrics were investigated, but if formally charged for 'communicating terrorist threats' this would a set a chilling low bar for terrorist investigations."
Technology

Festo's Drone Dragonfly Takes To the Air 45

Posted by samzenpus from the little-flyer dept.
yyzmcleod writes "Building on the work of last year's bionic creation, the Smart Bird, Festo announced that it will literally launch its latest creation, the BionicOpter, at Hannover Messe in April. With a wingspan of 63 cm and weighing in at 175 grams, the robotic dragonfly mimics all forms of flight as its natural counterpart, including hover, glide and maneuvering in all directions. This is made possible, the company says, by the BionicOpter's ability to move each of its four wings independently, as well as control their amplitude, frequency and angle of attack. Including its actuated head and body, the robot exhibits 13 degrees of freedom, which allows it to rapidly accelerate, decelerate, turn and fly backwards."

Comment Re:Free Hardware (Score 4, Informative) 380

by dec3 (#42871443) Attached to: Home Server Or VPS? One Family's Math

Price of electricity clearly depends upon where you live. I recently moved to Ohio (from California) and find that $0.0649/kW-hr is a pretty normal price (depending upon who you selected as an energy provider and when you locked in your rate, etc., etc.)

I know from a California point of view, 0.066/kW-hr might seem really cheap, but California has its own problems when it comes to power.
Sci-Fi

Michael Crichton Dead At 66 388

Posted by samzenpus from the velociraptors-confirm-it dept.
Many readers have submitted stories about the death of Michael Crichton. The 66-year-old author of Jurassic Park and The Andromeda Strain died unexpectedly Tuesday "after a courageous and private battle against cancer," a press release said. In addition to writing, he also directed such sci-fi classics as Westworld and Runaway. Crichton was married five times and had one child.
The Military

US Army To Push X-Files Tech Development 139

Posted by samzenpus from the the-truth-is-out-there dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The US Army is ramping up the development of technology right out of the X-Files; 'making science fiction into reality' as Dr. John Parmentola — Director of their Research and Laboratory Management — puts it. The list of things currently in the works is amazing: regenerating body parts on 'nano-scaffolding,' telepathy through electronic impulses in the scalp, and self-aware virtual photorealistic soldiers that can be deployed in the battlefield through 'quantum ghost imaging.' To test these they want to use them into a massively multiplayer online games like World of Warcraft or Eve online."

Comment Re:21+ - We don't believe you. (Score 1) 1306

by dec3 (#6565708) Attached to: Number of OS's You've Used for at Least One Hour?
How about a little bit of history (DEC Centric):

PDP-8: PS/8, OS/8, and TSS/8 (old timesharing system with 4K 12-bit words for each user)

PDP-11: RT-11, RSX-11, MUMPS, and IAS

DECsystem-10/20: TOPS-10, Tenex, and TOPS-20

And don't forget some of the more popular "real-time" OS'es: vxWorks, LynxOS,
Integrity, and eCOS

Hell, if I count all Un*x varients as one OS and all DOS/Windows varients as one OS I still get more than 21!

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As a computer, I find your faith in technology amusing.

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