3 LXer: VirtualBox 7.1.2 Released, Here�s What�s New By www.linuxquestions.org Published On :: Sat, 28 Sep 2024 23:41:14 GMT Published at LXer: VirtualBox 7.1.2 brings multiple GUI updates, including new window layouts. Unattended installs are now removed cleanly. Read More...... Full Article Syndicated Linux News
3 LXer: VirtualBox 7.1.2 Released with 3D Acceleration Support for VMs Running on ARM Hosts By www.linuxquestions.org Published On :: Sun, 29 Sep 2024 02:36:01 GMT Published at LXer: Oracle released VirtualBox 7.1.2 as the first maintenance update to the latest VirtualBox 7.1 series of this powerful, free, open-source, and cross-platform virtualization... Full Article Syndicated Linux News
3 LXer: Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 W Enhanced RP2350 Microcontroller with Wireless Connectivity By www.linuxquestions.org Published On :: Sun, 29 Sep 2024 09:53:13 GMT Published at LXer: The Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 W is an upgraded version of the RP2350 microcontroller, offering more memory and wireless connectivity while keeping the compact form factor of the... Full Article Syndicated Linux News
3 LXer: (Updated) Radxa ROCK 2F: An Upcoming Compact 4K Computer with Rockchip RK3528A and Wi-Fi 6 By www.linuxquestions.org Published On :: Mon, 30 Sep 2024 01:30:24 GMT Published at LXer: The Radxa ROCK 2F is a small computing device designed for a wide range of uses, from development projects to multimedia setups. It�s packed with features, including multiple... Full Article Syndicated Linux News
3 LXer: Audacious: A Simple Open-Source Music Player That You Can't Ignore By www.linuxquestions.org Published On :: Mon, 30 Sep 2024 02:51:01 GMT Published at LXer: If you have been around for a longtime, you probably have seen how audio players have evolved over the years, some have stuck to the old 90s approach, some have gone for a more... Full Article Syndicated Linux News
3 LXer: Amarok 3.1.1 Promises Smoother Performance and UI Fixes By www.linuxquestions.org Published On :: Mon, 30 Sep 2024 05:20:19 GMT Published at LXer: Amarok 3.1.1, a free and open-source music player, has been released with enhanced toolbars, track editor fixes, and more. Read More...... Full Article Syndicated Linux News
3 Mailnag Can't Connect To IMAP or Yahoo Accounts By www.linuxquestions.org Published On :: Mon, 30 Sep 2024 09:49:09 GMT ---Quote--- $ Shutting down existing Mailnag process...OK INFO (2024-09-30 10:41:22): Successfully enabled plugin 'spamfilterplugin'. INFO (2024-09-30 10:41:22): Successfully enabled plugin... Full Article Linux - Software
3 LXer: 3 Best Free and Open Source Awk Static Site Generators By www.linuxquestions.org Published On :: Mon, 30 Sep 2024 10:30:43 GMT Published at LXer: There are lots of other advantages of running a full, static HTML website. We pick the finest Awk-based tools. Read More...... Full Article Syndicated Linux News
3 LXer: Radxa X4 review � An Intel N100 alternative to Raspberry Pi 5 tested with Ubuntu 24.04 By www.linuxquestions.org Published On :: Mon, 30 Sep 2024 11:30:25 GMT Published at LXer: We've already looked at the Radxa X4 kit featuring an Intel N100 SBC with a design similar to the Raspberry Pi 5 and accessories including a Radxa Power PD 30W power adapter, an... Full Article Syndicated Linux News
3 LXer: VirtualBox 7.1.2 Adds Support for 3D Acceleration in ARM VMs By www.linuxquestions.org Published On :: Mon, 30 Sep 2024 17:30:24 GMT Published at LXer: VirtualBox 7.1.2 is the first such point release since the VirtualBox 7.1 series debuted earlier this month. Naturally, it builds on that major release with a flurry of big... Full Article Syndicated Linux News
3 LXer: ESP32-Based Module with 3MP Camera and 9-Axis Sensor System By www.linuxquestions.org Published On :: Mon, 30 Sep 2024 22:20:10 GMT Published at LXer: The ATOMS3R Camera Kit M12 is a compact, programmable IoT controller featuring a 3-megapixel OV3660 camera for high-resolution image capture. Designed for IoT applications,... Full Article Syndicated Linux News
3 LXer: GNOME 47 brings back some customization options, but let's not go crazy By www.linuxquestions.org Published On :: Tue, 01 Oct 2024 05:12:01 GMT Published at LXer: The latest release of the de facto default desktop of most Linux distros brings some new features � but the GNOME 4x transition isn't done yet. GNOME 47 was released last week,... Full Article Syndicated Linux News
3 LXer: AMD Ryzen 9000 Series Excited Linux Users The Most In Q3 By www.linuxquestions.org Published On :: Tue, 01 Oct 2024 14:11:45 GMT Published at LXer: With the third quarter drawing to a close, here's a look back at the most popular Linux/open-source related content for the quarter. This quarter there's been more than 730 news... Full Article Syndicated Linux News
3 LXer: Mozilla Firefox 131 Is Now Available for Download, Here�s What�s New By www.linuxquestions.org Published On :: Wed, 02 Oct 2024 03:31:11 GMT Published at LXer: Mozilla published today the final release of the Firefox 131 web browser, which is now available for download from the project�s download server ahead of the official release on... Full Article Syndicated Linux News
3 LXer: Germany's Sovereign Tech Fund throws cash at FreeBSD and Samba By www.linuxquestions.org Published On :: Wed, 02 Oct 2024 13:45:01 GMT Published at LXer: Germany's Sovereign Tech Fund (STF), which is backed by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, is funding open source work again. This time, the recipients... Full Article Syndicated Linux News
3 How to connect 3 x HDMI Monitors to Raspberry PI 5 (RPI5) ? By www.linuxquestions.org Published On :: Wed, 02 Oct 2024 14:35:58 GMT Hello, How to connect 3 x HDMI Monitors to Raspberry PI 5 (RPI5) ? The Machine ARM, Power Beast : PI 5: Raspberry Pi 5 B 8GB 4x2.4GHz, There are 3 monitors, that need a HDMI converter. ... Full Article Linux - Embedded & Single-board computer
3 LXer: Rspamd 3.10 Released with Enhanced MIME UTF8 Support By www.linuxquestions.org Published On :: Wed, 02 Oct 2024 14:54:02 GMT Published at LXer: Rspamd 3.10 spam filtering system brings enhanced MIME UTF8 support and negative score limits for improved email scanning. Read More...... Full Article Syndicated Linux News
3 LXer: Linux Candy: PyBonsai � generates procedural ASCII art trees By www.linuxquestions.org Published On :: Wed, 02 Oct 2024 16:12:01 GMT Published at LXer: PyBonsai is a Python script that generates procedural ASCII art trees in the comfort of your terminal. This is free and open source software. Read More...... Full Article Syndicated Linux News
3 LXer: Firefox 132 Enters Beta with Support for Blocking Third-Party Cookie Access By www.linuxquestions.org Published On :: Wed, 02 Oct 2024 18:33:01 GMT Published at LXer: With the Firefox 131 release rolling out today to all supported platforms, Mozilla promoted the next major version, Firefox 132, to the beta channel for public testing. Read... Full Article Syndicated Linux News
3 LXer: Linux 6.13 To Bring Big/Super Pages For The Raspberry Pi Graphics Driver - Better Performance By www.linuxquestions.org Published On :: Wed, 02 Oct 2024 21:03:01 GMT Published at LXer: While the Linux 6.12 merge window only ended this weekend and won't be out until November, already code is beginning to accumulate for DRM-Next of graphics driver improvements... Full Article Syndicated Linux News
3 Alors, fidèles ? By hesiem.over-blog.com Published On :: Thu, 01 Feb 2007 04:53:26 +0100 Pipo me relance sur la fidélité des chinoises dans cette note. C’est un bien vaste sujet que j’avais abordé avec beaucoup de légèreté dans la question sans réponse. Si vous souhaitez partager votre point de vue ou bien vos expériences, les commentaires... Full Article
3 Vive le Jambon et les pétards By hesiem.over-blog.com Published On :: Tue, 20 Feb 2007 17:08:04 +0100 Bonne année du huotui, ou plutôt du cochon. Pékin s’est vidé de sa substance… c’est désert et tout est très calme ici. Il suffit de se balader dans les rues pour s’en rendre compte. Sauf que… Ca pétarade de partout !!! C’était marrant les premières heures... Full Article
3 A voté By hesiem.over-blog.com Published On :: Sun, 22 Apr 2007 12:11:33 +0200 Voilà c’est fait. J’ai voté ! Pas mal de monde à l’ambassade ce matin, on sent même ici que tout le monde est mobilisé. Les affiches des candidats alignées dans la cour, Sarko au premier rang, pouvant laisser penser à un certain traitement de faveur…... Full Article
3 Les Miao une ethnie méconnue By hesiem.over-blog.com Published On :: Fri, 23 Nov 2007 15:15:00 +0100 Mon ami H (rien a voir avec Hesiem...) souhaite vous faire part d'un message : En ces périodes de mondialisation, les identités, les traditions se perdent c'est bien connu. Certaines cultures insoupçonnées sont vouées à disparition par négligence, par... Full Article
3 Noël made in China By hesiem.over-blog.com Published On :: Thu, 06 Dec 2007 17:37:00 +0100 A pékin aussi on s’apprête à fêter Noël comme il se doit… avec ou sans le sourire. Hesiem, Pékin (Chine) Full Article
3 Comme coupé du monde By hesiem.over-blog.com Published On :: Sun, 16 Mar 2008 19:11:00 +0100 Voilà que les autorités chinoises ont coupe l’accès à Youtube. Allez savoir pourquoi ? Déjà que Dailymotion n’était plus accessible :( voilà qui n’arrange pas mes affaires. Pour ceux qui s’inquiètent de ne pas voir des mises à jour assez fréquentes sur... Full Article
3 Tombé du ciel By hesiem.over-blog.com Published On :: Sat, 16 Aug 2008 15:29:00 +0200 Il y a des jours comme ça ou la chance vous sourit… Quart de finale (foot) Italie – Belgique, bien entendu je n’avais pas acheté de billets. Mais avec un collègue on s’est dit qu’on allait tenter notre bonne chance. Nous voilà donc là, arpentant les alentours... Full Article
3 Großer Mafia-Prozess: Mehr als 40 Angeklagte stehen vor Gericht By archiv.c6-magazin.de Published On :: Am 5. November 2015 begann in der italienischen Hauptstadt ein großangelegter Prozess gegen die Mafia. Im Mittelpunkt steht Massimo Carminati, der im Dezember 2014 verhaftet worden war. Aus Sicherheitsgründen erscheint er nicht persönlich, sondern wird per Videoübertragung am Prozess teilnehmen. Die Angeklagten sollen Bestechungsgelder bezahlt haben, um staatliche Aufträge bei ... Full Article
3 Free Pascal 3.0 "Pestering Peacock" veröffentlicht: Viele neue Funktionen im größten Update seit 10 Jahren By archiv.c6-magazin.de Published On :: Am 25. November 2015 wurde der verbreitete Free Pascal - Compiler (FPC) in der aktualisierten Version 3.0 (Pestering Peacock) veröffentlicht. Die Vielzahl der Neuerungen hat die Entwickler zum ersten großen Versionssprung seit 10 Jahren bewogen. Version 2.0 war 2005 eingeführt worden, die letzte Hauptversion war 2.6 aus dem Jahre 2012. Version ... Full Article
3 GNU Gatekeeper 5.3 released By blog.gnugk.org Published On :: Fri, 26 Jul 2019 14:18:00 +0000 I have just released GNU Gatekeeper version 5.3.You can download it from https://www.gnugk.org/h323download.htmlThis release has a number of new features as well as some important bugfixes.Whats new ? LRQ loop detection to optimize calls flows between multiple neighbor gatekeepers This new feature has the potential to significantly reduce the load on all gatekeepers and prevent "LRQ storms". new routing policy to set call destinations by querying HTTP or REST servers, see [Routing::Http] much improved support for SNMP important bug fix for TLS encryption of signaling channels important bug fixes for H.460.18 NAT traversal (for H.245 tunneling and for multi-homed servers) performance optimization: this version can handle 5-10% more proxied calls on the same hardware performance optimization: re-authenticate lightweight, additive registrations only when new aliases differ. This significantly reduces the load on password databases. Enjoy!Full change log:- BUGFIX(ProxyChannel.cxx) don't send H.245 address to tunneling H.460.18 endpoint, breaks call when H.245 multiplexing- performance optimization: 5% faster UDP handling- changed default: [SNMP] Implementation=PTlib- remove unfinished Windows-SNMP implementation, use PTLib-SNMP on Windows- support SET and GET-NEXT in PTLib-SNMP- support SNMP sysUpTime when running as standalone agent- BUGFIX(configure.in) LARGE_FDSET defaults to off- new SNMP OID 1.3.6.1.4.1.27938.11.1.9 to query total bandwidth allocated to ongoing calls- BUGFIX(ProxyChannel.cxx) fix hangup when making many TLS calls quickly one after another- BUGFIX(RasSrv.cxx) don't require H.460.22 parameters in ARQs- BUGFIX(ProxyChannel.cxx) fix TLS without LARGE_FDSET- BUGFIX(ProxyChannel.cxx) don't send H.460.22 priority field in SCI- BUGFIX(gkauth.cxx) free memory from cached and expired passwords- re-authenticate lightweight, additive registrations only when new aliases differ- remove switch [Proxy]DisableRTPQueueing, always disabled now- new routing policy: http with config section [Routing::Http]- BUGFIX(ProxyChannel.cxx) fix H.460.18 on multi-homed servers (SCI comes from the correct IP now)- new switch to disable SNMP traps [SNMP] EnableTraps=0- BUGFIX(ProxyChannel.cxx) don't throw SNMP trap on H.245 connection errors (causes crash under load with Net-SNMP)- BUGFIX(snmp.cxx) shutdown GnuGk when SNMP agent can't be started- BUGFIX(snmp.cxx) protect NetSNMP library calls with mutex- changed default: ForwardResponse now defaults to 1 in [RasSrv::LRQFeatures] and [Neighbor::...]- new feature: loop detection for LRQs [RasSrv::LRQFeatures] LoopDetection=1- BUGFIX(Neighbor.cxx) some settings in [RasSrv::LRQFeatures] were ignored if not set in [Neighbor::...] Full Article bugfix features h.460 nat traversal. keep-alive release snmp tls
3 Howto block H.323 spam calls with fail2ban By blog.gnugk.org Published On :: Mon, 12 Aug 2019 10:22:00 +0000 When you run the GNU Gatekeeper, you can block spam calls from the well known bots ("MERA RU", "SimpleOPAL" etc.) eg. using a small LUA script in your config. But that alone doesn't stop the load on the server, because often these bots keep on making calls. Fail2ban to the rescue! With this filter definition in /etc/fail2ban/filter.d/gnugk.conf you can check fro rejected calls: [Definition]failregex = Dropping call CRV=[0-9]+ from <HOST>:[0-9]+ due to Setup authentication failureignoreregex = And then you can add this jail definition to /etc/fail2ban/jail.local to block the IP: [gnugk]enabled = truelogpath = /var/log/gnugk.logfilter = gnugkbantime = 6000maxretry = 2action = iptables[name=GnuGk, port=1720, protocol=tcp] Voila! Full Article gnugk h.323 monitoring security spam
3 H.323: IPv4 to IPv6 migration By blog.gnugk.org Published On :: Tue, 19 Jan 2021 09:00:00 +0000 Many networks are migrating from IPv4 to IPv6. What can you do if still have H.323 endpoints that only support IPv4 ?The GNU Gatekeeper can translate IPv4 into IPv6 calls and vice versa. You can use one GnuGk to IPv6 enable all of your existing IPv4 endpoints. All you have to do is enable IPv6 in your configuration and GnuGk will automatically detect the connection type of your endpoints and convert the call.All it takes is one switch in your config: [Gatekeeper::Main] EnableIPv6=1 Full Article gnugk ipv4 ipv6 migration
3 New releases of H323Plus and PTLib By blog.gnugk.org Published On :: Tue, 02 Feb 2021 10:58:00 +0000 H323Plus 1.27.2 and PTLib 2.10.9.4 have been released.Changes in H323Plus:- support for Alpine Linux for smaller container images- crash fixed on invalid RTCP packets- memory leaks fixed- GetCrytoMasterKey() restored that got lost in 1.27.1- better support for cross-compiling- various updates for newer compilers- some smaller bug fixeshttps://www.h323plus.org/source/ Changes in PTLib:- support for Alpine Linux- better support for cross-compiling- various smaller bug fixeshttps://github.com/willamowius/ptlib/releases Full Article announcements bugfix h323plus ptlib release
3 GNU Gatekeeper 5.13 released By blog.gnugk.org Published On :: Sat, 19 Oct 2024 14:14:00 +0000 GNU Gatekeeper version 5.13 has been released.Download: https://www.gnugk.org/h323download.htmlThis is a bug fix release with a no new features added. It fixes an issue with the RTP port detection and 2 other minor issues. Full Article announcements bugfix gnugk release
3 Build a 3D Printed Ukulele By www.robotthoughts.com Published On :: Sat, 06 Oct 2018 03:03:31 +0000 I’ve recently been looking at building instruments using a 3D printer. I’ve been playing the guitar for over 40 years but most of the builds for 3D printed guitars seemed a little daunting as a place to start. I found a couple of 3D printed ukuleles that looked like quicker one day builds. I finally […] The post Build a 3D Printed Ukulele first appeared on robotthoughts. Full Article How To's
3 Mitchell Heisman's "Suicide Note" By iconoplex.co.uk Published On :: Sun, 28 Aug 2011 10:00:06 +0100 In a couple of weeks time, it will be the first anniversary of a 35-year old intellectual killing himself on the steps of a church on the Harvard campus. I discovered Mitchell Heisman’s “Suicide Note” via a concise article on responses to the story. I’ve been reading “Suicide Note” since I found the article, on and off. Mitchell might have benefitted from an editor, but there is no doubt the work is philosophically an opus par excellence. Nihilism is not my thing - I do not agree with his core philosophy that life is entirely without meaning - but the way he gets there, and some of the ideas he presents are wonderful. There are things to take away from it all that will likely resonate with me for the rest of my life - as works by all good philosophers have. To this day, Wikipedia have repressed information about him based on a subjective rules that don’t recognise that the guy’s work is actually worth reading. I expect in due course academics will start to cite him, and that situation will change.Out there is a growing movement to recognise him. There have already been calls from some - perhaps over-excited - individuals for him to be award a Nobel Prize in literature posthumously. I wouldn’t go that far, but I would encourage those who can deal with it to consider his work. Full Article
3 Thank God that's over (2011) By iconoplex.co.uk Published On :: Sat, 31 Dec 2011 12:37:36 +0000 Presuming I do not choke on a pretzel, drown in a gin and tonic or get run over by a minicab driver hurtling around the streets of Manchester in order to maximise his double fare revenues, I should see out 2011 in the next few hours. Thank the invisible big man in the sky who probably isn’t there for that. This year, I was hospitalised, my girlfriend broke her arm and spent 2 weeks waiting for surgery in hospital, and I missed almost every single deadline and objective I set for myself. To say it has been an emotional, miserable year would be an understatement. Given the year before it we lost my grandmother to cancer and my business went under, it would be hard to call it my “worst year ever” but it’s dialled quite high on that scale. Some silver linings though: I now have a job at a startup I love working with people whose company I enjoy and my probable financial situation 5 years from now looks very good indeed. Having more time at home with the girlfriend has been great, and it seems I’ve given up smoking again (I’ll consider myself truly a non-smoker sometime in February if I get there without another cig).I don’t do “resolutions” normally, but I do have a few objectives: I need to get my weight down. I’m finally prepared to do something about it. I want to create more, so will aim to not go more than two or three consecutive days without working on something creative in 2012. It could be writing (here, for example), it could be code for a personal project, or it could be something I’ve never really tried before (music? art? Don’t know yet). I basically want to spend less time reading/consuming and more time doing stuff. David Tate provides excellent inspiration if you want to consider doing the same. I’ll try to document as much of that as possible here. I’m going to try and shift from always being behind/late for almost everything going on in my life, to being early. I don’t know how I’m going to do this, but I suspect if I can pull it off, I’ll be calmer and happier as a result. And that’s all I’m aiming for in 2012: get healthier, lose some weight, create more, stop being late. They’re objectives, not resolutions, so can’t be broken. If I slip up, I’ll just crack on. I really hope it’s enough to make 2012 better than 2011 and 2010. I’m overdue for a good year. Full Article 2011 2012 resolutions objectives diet weight puncutality creativity
3 Don't get too excited... By iconoplex.co.uk Published On :: Mon, 06 Aug 2012 18:57:09 +0100 … but it seems like what one reader described as “Britain’s patchiest blog”, which you are now reading, is about to be resurrected. 140 characters isn’t enough, and there is plenty I want to say that seems odd in the confines of a closed social network like Facebook or Google+ Interestingly today I was reminded how little importance the “What?” I write and “How?” I write is compared to the “Why?” Full Article
3 How I delayed at least 25,000 people's journey to work this morning By iconoplex.co.uk Published On :: Wed, 08 Aug 2012 14:50:41 +0100 This is not an exciting story, despite the title. But it’s true. And it happens to dozens of people every day, and is the reason why getting to work in London can sometimes take so long. First, let me explain that this is not a story of me causing a fire alarm to go off, for anti-terrorist police to close a station for half an hour, or some dramatic incident that has left TfL seeking an ASBO against me. This is a story that starts with a strap of a backpack. This strap, in fact: This morning I caught a tube from Baron’s Court on the District Line heading East. Normally I change at South Kensington for a Circle Line to Moorgate, or hop off at Mansion House and walk up to the office through the City. This morning I had decided to stay on the District line until Blackfriars, and change there for a Circle line. It’s a man’s perogative, etc. The tube this morning was very busy. During the Olympics it has on the whole been very quiet, but this morning it was the normal 8:15-8:45am peak time crush. I was stood right next to the door at the very front of the train, crushed in by about 20 other souls attempting to share the exact same square foot I was stood on. At Victoria, as is often the way for the District Line, a lot of hustling and bustling went on as people fought their way out to the platform, and others tried to struggle onto the train. After around a minute, the doors closed. Except for the one next to me. Looking down, it was jammed on my bag strap. Swearing, I attempted to free it. It was jammed solid because the hydraulic pressure of the door was pushing against it, but not with sufficient force for the door to close. The guy next to me tried to help. The guy on the platform waiting for the next train also tried to help. Neither of us could free it. Moving it simply led to the door moving along a bit, keeping the strap jammed. Then the sound of hydraulics releasing was heard, all the doors on the train went to open, and the driver climbed out of the cab. The release of pressure had allowed me to unjam the strap, and recover it into the train. The driver confirmed we were all fine, climbed back into the cab, closed the doors, and off we went. I apologised to those around me for delaying their journey, even though the total delay was perhaps 60-90 seconds. Then realised everybody else on the train was delayed, too. Then a thought about queuing theory and a little knowledge about how loaded that line is with train traffic at that time of the morning hit me: I had delayed tens of thousands of people. Let me explain how I worked this out. The District Line is composed of rather large gauge trains. I estimate that conservatively, each train is capable of shifting 2,000 people during peak times. There were certainly at least 2,000 people on my train this morning. Yes, they are only 6 carriages each, but each is certainly capable of holding nearly 350 people, and frequently does. I’m prepared to revise my numbers down if shown evidence. In addition, the District Line platforms are not just used by the District Line. They’re also used by the Circle line between Gloucester Road and Tower Hill. A glance at any “passenger information display” on a platform along this part of the network during rush hour will tell you the mean time between trains is 1 minute. There are close to 60 trains an hour going along that piece of track during rush hour. Because my train was delayed for over a minute, this must have caused the train behind it to be given a red signal. This in turn would have caused the train behind that to be given a red signal, and so on. This buffer effect would be dampened beyond Gloucester Road going West, because the Circle and District lines diverge, giving more time for the red signals to switch to green, meaning scheduled trains would not have to stop in an unscheduled manner. However, there would have been at least - I think - 5 trains affected by this delay in addition to my own. So we’re now up to 12,000 people in total delayed by my bag strap jamming a door. It gets worse. I changed at Blackfriars to a Circle line train. I got off the train I had delayed, waited 60 seconds on the platform and got on the Circle line train immediately following it, obviously now delayed. Cautiously making sure my bag was far from any doors, I boarded aware this train was now at least 2 minutes late against schedule. Satisfied at the figure I had come up with of around 12,000 delayed passengers, I had assumed I had done no more damage, until we got to Aldgate. The tube system has a tendency to expect passengers always want to be moving all of the time. Any delay of more than a minute or two at a station is always explained via an announcement. As we sat at Aldgate, the driver announced we were being “regulated” by a red signal. Looking out of the window, I could see an East-bound Metropolitan line train crossing our tracks to head across to East London. That’s when it hit me. We were “out of position”. The train was a couple of minutes late, and so the guys running the switching had decided to give priority to the Metropolitan Line train, and we were held for approximately 4-5 minutes. Whilst this part of the Circle line between Aldgate and Tower Hill was not as busy as the District/Circle line Tower Hill back West, a 4 minute delay was enough to ensure that the train behind us was going to be red signalled waiting for us to clear the platform. That would be enough for the train behind that to be stopped. And that would be enough for the train behind that to be stopped, which would probably be on the shared part of the network. That would be enough to cascade across the whole part of that line back to Gloucester Road, causing delays to perhaps 12 trains in total. By now the numbers per carriage were down a little as we were close to the end of peak, but there was probably at least 1,000 people per train out there. Rounding up for the few more probably still around the Victoria area, and we’re up to 25,000 people. There’s obviously some fudging here - people boarding trains at the “correct time” for them, did not realise the train they were getting was in fact the one after the one they had expected, and they did not suffer any delay. But I also suspect that this effect wasn’t dampened until after the peak ended at around 9:30am, and there were people who boarded their trains at 8:30am or before still out there (it can take 60 minutes easily to get from the “end” of a line into central London), whose journey had taken at least a few minutes longer than normal. I doubt many noticed. I doubt anybody cares. But it did make me think about how queueing theory applies to real world problems, and how when TfL moan about people keeping coats, bags and belongings clear of the doors, or jamming the doors to squeeze on rather than wait 6 more minutes for the next train, that they might have a point. If you cause a train to be delayed, you are not simply inconveniencing the dozen or so people glaring at you in your vicinity. Or the people on the rest of the train who would glare at you if they could. But in fact, you have a cascade effect down the rest of the network. Tens of thousands of people delayed, because you didn’t want to wait 5 minutes. Or because you didn’t keep an eye on your belongings near the door. I’ll certainly be more careful in future. The next time I’m sat waiting for a signal to clear or am told that we are “being regulated”, I’ll wonder about whose bag or foot was to blame, and how the numbers of people flowing through London make butterflies flapping their wings on the network capable of huge cascading effects on transport infrastructure. Full Article
3 "That's not a proper sport!" Oh yeah? By iconoplex.co.uk Published On :: Fri, 10 Aug 2012 12:45:00 +0100 A couple of lovely people I know have suggested that some of the Olympic disciplines are not “proper sports”. This sentiment is one frequently echoed by compatriots of losers, stand-up comedians and miserable bastards the World over. It has now seeped into the social consciousness and zeitgeist to the extent that many people mistakenly think “sports” are one thing - typified by physical endurance, stamina, or skill - and “games” are things anybody can do really, probably whilst having a pint at the same time. Let’s put to one side that “the Olympics” are actually called “the Olympic Games” (or in French, “Jeux olympiques”), and just assume the “point” of the Olympics is to promote “sporting disciplines”. Why do I feel certain that every single one of the Olympic disciplines is worthy of the name “sport”? Even archery, which I reckon I could have a good bash at it with the right kit despite being a perfect example of how bad Guinness can be for your waistline, or boxing which is standing around and punching people when they didn’t even borrow that DVD off you in the first place. Yes, I’d even include dressage where the horse is the one actually doing the moving about, whilst the “competitor” sits atop in a fine hat looking more English than a teapot in a red phone box (even when the competitor is French, which must be embarrassing for them). All of these can be - and in the context of the Olympics, most definitely are - sports. To explain, let’s just focus on what makes something nothing more than “a game”. Any activity can be made into a game. All you need is a way to keep score and some rules to make sure the scores actually mean something. Staring at a wall: how long for without looking away? Making a cup of tea: judges could taste-test quality, or there could be speed trials. Having a nice sit down and a biscuit: how few crumbs can be counted on your lap afterwards? Most games are obviously a bit more involved and preferably prefer people either getting naked or putting things onto a spring-loaded donkey (or both!), but the point is I could make a game out of writing this very post if I wanted. Or even this sentence. (4 words, 0.6 seconds, 100 words/minute, if you’re interested). “Gamification” is a major social force in the web application industry right now, to the point where sitting in your office and pressing a button in an app on your phone can make you “Mayor”, which is why I don’t use FourSquare: I might become an annoying prat who asks for a third of a Londoner’s council tax to spend on bicycles and zip lines or whatever. Games are obviously more fun when there is a degree of competition, and therefore the scores must be fairly comparable. You and I might decide to play pooh-sticks for example, and we will have a grand old time as I crush you and claim glorious victory and then we’ll go and get an ice cream or something. The fun is in me beating you without “cheating”. Or you usurping me and claiming a surprise victory, perhaps (like that’s ever going to happen, you fool), all whilst not kicking me in the head as I sing “We are the Champions”, etc. This is a game: any activity at which there are some established rules allowing the participants to keep score, and where the point of the rules is to make different participants scores comparable with each other. Cheating isn’t just “naughty” - it stops it becoming a game, because the scores are no longer comparable. If I turned up to pooh-sticks with laser-guided remote-controlled precision sticks with outboard motors on them, I can’t claim a fair victory when you’ve just picked up that stick with a leaf on it next to that weird moss on that rock, no not that one, that one over there, no, there you moron… yes, the bent one! Providing the game is fair then, I would argue that any game can become a sport. How? Other people caring about the outcome. If whilst I am thrashing you at pooh-sticks, a small crowd appears and starts cheering one or the other of us on (hint: I’m very charismatic, they’ll be cheering for me mostly), then we have a sport. The number of people who care about the outcome or who want to have a go themselves determines how “sporting” it is. Once we start keeping World Records, or we meet regularly to do contest on a schedule we share with non-participants, and arrange ourselves into leagues, and perhaps start making money from the gullible fools who fawn in my pooh-stick abilities, then we have a moderately successful sport. Sport is, I think, simply any game, where non-participants care about or are interested in the scores and who wins. If the dressage, archery or boxing events at the Olympics, it’s pretty clear there were non-participants who cared about the outcome. In some cases, they really cared to the point where they flocked to Twitter, barely able to type through their blubbering tears about how wonderful and marvellous it is that somebody they’ve never met who happens to be considered by International Law to be a citizen of the same part of the World as them despite living 3,000 miles away, beat somebody who lives 300 miles away who they do not share such a close bond with due to them suffering the genetic disadvantage of being French. So, here’s my cut-out-and-keep guide: In both games and sports, people keep score somehow In both games and sports, rules ensure the scores of different participants are fairly comparable In games only the participants care about the comparison, in sports there are non-participants who also care If this still doesn’t make sense to you, think about what sports would become if nobody cared? Or even if the outcome wasn’t scored or measured? What exactly would those footballers be doing if nobody nobody cared about the score? What would the by doing if they didn’t bother keeping score? Just what is it that Usain Bolt would be proving by running really quickly if nobody was watching? Or some people were watching, but were not measuring how fast he was running? So the next time you hear somebody say “that’s not a real sport”, despite there being a clear loyal following of non-participants, maybe point out that it might be an activity whose outcome they don’t care about, so that can mean it’s not a sport to them. But to the participants and to their followers, and to the people around them, it is very much a sport. And what they’re saying is a smidge hurtful to all of them, even if it’s just pooh-sticks. So, you know, try not to say that. It makes you sound a little bit mean. Full Article
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