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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 30 declined, 8 accepted (38 total, 21.05% accepted)

Submission + - Surviving The Internet on Low Speed DSL (tidbitsfortechs.com)

toygeek writes: Earlier this year my family and I moved out into the woods, where high speed is simply not available. We traded in high speed for high latency, clean air and peace and quiet. We've made it work, and can even watch Netflix and Hulu while I'm off in another room working from home full time. Read along as I share some tips about how we've made it work, and the compromises we've had to make.

Submission + - Robotic Boat Hits 1000-Mile Mark in Transatlantic Crossing (ieee.org)

toygeek writes: “Scout,” a 4-meter-long autonomous boat built by a group of young DIYers, is attempting to cross the Atlantic Ocean. It is traveling from Rhode Island, where it launched on 24 August, to Spain, where all being well it will arrive in a few months’ time.

Scout has now gone about 1000 miles (1600 kilometers) of its planned 3700-mile (5900 kilometer) journey. Should it complete this voyage successfully, its passage will arguably belong in the history books.

Submission + - Never underestimate the bandwidth of a Suburban filled with MicroSD cards? (blogspot.com)

toygeek writes: If you've been in IT long enough, you're bound to have heard the phrase "Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon filled with backup tapes." These days moving data has become so much easier; We've surpassed baud rates and are into Gbps fiber on the backbones, and even in some homes. So, what's the modern equivalent to this, and what does it take to make the OC fiber connections cringe? Follow along as we theoretically stuff MicroSD cards into Chevy Suburban and see what happens, and take sneakernet to a whole new level.

Submission + - Experiences and Realities of an Homesourced IT worker (blogspot.com)

toygeek writes: Some companies have small corporate offices with a few desks and some basic staff, and the balance of their staff works from home. I have worked for two companies that have home-sourced their staffing. I wish to take you through my journey in working from home in the IT world and share some facts that I've accumulated along the way.
Hardware

Submission + - Home server or VPS? (blogspot.com)

toygeek writes: Which is cheaper: Running a server from home, or renting a VPS (Virtual Private Server)? We're trying to pinch pennies where we can, and my son Derrick suggested upgrading an extra PC we have and running his Minecraft server at home. Would it save enough money to be worth it? I wanted to share with the results of my analysis with my Slashdot brethren.
Robotics

Submission + - Weebots: Driveable Robots for Babies Who Need Them (ieee.org) 1

toygeek writes: Babies, as you may have noticed if you own one, like to get into all sorts of mischief, and studies show that exploring and interacting with the world is important for cognitive development. Babies who can't move around as well may not develop at the same rate as babies who can, which is why researchers from Ithaca College in New York are working on a way to fuse babies with robots to give mobility to all babies, even those with conditions that may delay independent mobility, like Down syndrome, spina bifida, or cerebral palsy.
Mars

Submission + - Meet the Very First Rover to Land on Mars (ieee.org)

toygeek writes: Before Curiosity, before Opportunity, before Spirit, and before Sojourner, the very first robot to land on Mars was this little guy, way back in December of 1971. Called PrOP-M, the rover was part of the Soviet Union's Mars-3 mission, which had the potential to deploy the first ever mobile scientific instruments onto the Martian surface. Article also contains Russian video on early rovers.
Robotics

Submission + - XRL Hexapod Robot Gets a Tail, Learns to Use It (ieee.org)

toygeek writes: In an effort to give various robots more control during free-fall and navigation of severe obstacles, researchers have studied how agama lizards use their tails to retain or correct orientation during leaps and jumps. They've applied the research to both hexapod and wheeled robots, and the results are both astounding, and outstanding!

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