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Comment: Easy (Score 1) 531

by RichiH (#46387243) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: What Software Can You Not Live Without?

This is my mantra:

vi /etc/apt/sources.list # switch to testing/unstable and add contrib & non-free
apt-get update
apt-get dist-upgrade
apt-get install vcsh mr vim zsh screen openssh-server # the most important bits & pieces
vcsh clone /mr.vcsh # clone the repo containing location info of my configuration repos
cd .config/mr/config.d
ln -s ../available.d/{what,i,need} . # enable whatever repos for code & config which I need on that machine
mr -j 5 up # automagically clone, checkout, whatever ALL the things

Comment: That design is crap (Score 1) 172

by RichiH (#45681711) Attached to: Open Source Beehives Designed To Help Save Honeybee Colonies

Sorry, but it's crap:

* Uses plywood instead of wood that's naturally resistant to water and insects, line white pine (pinus strobus)
* That build wastes a huge sheet of wood instead of starting with small pieces. That's a waste
* Need for CNC
* Insanely complex build
* Angled roof, resulting in bad support for the hive
* No room to extend the hive to harvest honey
* No immediately obvious way to access the hive from below
** No way to check on bees to see if they are all right
** No way to deploy stuff that kills varroa destructor

There's a German non-profit called Bienenkiste.de (literally "bee box"). It's a simply, sturdy design that went through over a decade of improvements and incorporates feedback from professionals. Honey yield is 1/2-1/3 of that what the same hive would get with traditional hives, but they are a lot less work and the bees are in a more natural state. This means that the bees are so relaxed, I can do all my work on the hive without smoke or protective equipment.

http://www.bienenkiste.de/doku/bauanleitung/ for instructions. Translate into English, the pictures and videos should be largely self-explanatory.

Comment: Re:So let me get this straight... (Score 1) 195

by RichiH (#39100705) Attached to: LightSquared Hires Lawyers To Prep For GPS Battle


* LightSquared gets an assignment of free spectrum
* LightSquared invests tons of money
* The GPS industry has been violating FCC rules by not filtering out non-GPS spectrum _as they are required to_ on all devices. Independent tests say 75% are not FCC-compliant
* The FCC performs tests with models chosen from said 75%
* The FCC states that the risk is too large and destroys LightSquared's business model, assets and tells them they are not allowed to use their spectrum.

Now, I do get the safety aspect. This is valid.

In my opinion, the willful neglect by the GPS manufacturers requires them to fix it at own cost. It does _not_ make if OK for the FCC to destroy LightSquared. As much as I disagree with the sue-happy stance in the USA, this is a valid way to recoup their losses.

Comment: Re:So people really have this much time and money? (Score 1) 377

by RichiH (#38501954) Attached to: Anti-Whaling Group Using Drones To Find Whalers

> As for aiming... yes, it is trivial. The Mariana Trench is very big, and GPS quite precise.


> > > There is no possibility of anyone getting it back,
> > Correct. No one ever went down there. Especially not robots.
> Three times in total


> Not much down there. Just lots and lots of water, and very little life.

You don't know that. Touching down stirred up loads of silt so people couldn't see anything.

> Water that takes a very long time to circulate to the surface.

That is true.

> It's a perfect disposal site. Deposit-only, no withdrawals. Cheap. The only place that might get contaminated is a vast expanse of uninhabited nothing.

Based on our current knowledge and even then it's not even close to an undisputed fact.
As we have vast amounts of experience dealing with time frames that are several times longer than even the farthest reaches recorded history, this one is a no-brainer.

What is your take on faster-than-light travel and endless energy? We could use some help there, as well.


by RichiH (#38501594) Attached to: Anti-Whaling Group Using Drones To Find Whalers


No risk of an accident at sea; storms never happen. Aiming is trivial, as well.

> There is no possibility of anyone getting it back,


> and if it ever comes back up naturally it'll be long after safe decay.

Again, correct. The only natural way for it to come up is by the boxes growing feet and walking to shore. No other way. And no contamination of whatever is down there, either.



I just have one question: Are you being sarcastic and why did people mod you insightful instead of funny?

Comment: Re:Multi-step plan (Score 1) 499

by RichiH (#37564194) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Best Long-Term Video/Picture Storage?

btrfs is simply not there, yet.

My off-site git-annex machine uses zfs-fuse with RAIDZ2 and copies=2.

Just because I can reasonably assume that one location is safe does not mean that I can't use a tool to manage and verify all copies automagically ;)
Especially since my laptop does not have any checksumming FS but I still need to use it to make copies while on the road.

This is an unauthorized cybernetic announcement.