calbiterol

5614 - The first thing I did was put the CD-ROM as the first boot device. This went straight to GRUB every time, which annoyed me. So I disabled all but the CD-ROM. No go, threw the "No Bootable Devices" error. I am not sure whether or not my computer sees the CD-ROM (I'm working on checking that now; it's complicated) but I seem to remember trying to boot from a disk previously and being unable to do so (and my CD-ROM drive was definitely working then. But yes, it seems to be very unusual.

Yes, it can.

Something just occurred to me - I'll need to boot to a CD to reinstall Windows (duh), but I can't get the computer to boot to a CD (or at least not my windows one, which is definitely bootable).

It does respect existing partitions. I was heavily considering enabling the Windows boot loader to load Ubuntu (GRUB first, and then Ubuntu), which would save me the hassle with the CD's. There's a number of ways to do that. Any suggestions on how I might go about saving my current installation?

Any suggestions? Reinstall Windows?

Also, something a psychologist told me once: when you're feeling really down or really stressed, make faces at yourself in the mirror. Weird, wacky, and bizzare - make yourself smile. It's worked for me before.

That's what I tried. That didn't work. Even after disabling booting to anything but the CDROM, it still wouldn't boot - then it threw a "No bootable devices" error.

Okay, so about a week ago I was on my computer and it drastically slowed down. It was taking around 5 minutes to even open up Firefox. So I restart it - except it was taking so long to restart that I got frustrated, so I just manually turned off power. When I turned it back on and told it to load Windows (I have a partitioned hard drive with a SWAP partition, Windows on hd0, and Ubuntu Linux on hd1), it gave me the BSoD. It cited this error message: "UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME," specifically "STOP 0X000000ED (0X81B53C98, 0XC000009C, 0X00000000, 0X00000000." When I tried to load Windows in any form of safe mode (after a restart), it stopped loading at multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows\system32\drivers\mup.sys . Alphabetically, I believe NTFS.sys would be next. After a few days I managed to remember my Linux password and username combination and eventually gain access to the Windows partition. Ironically enough, I was able to back up (on another computer) all of my important Windows files and documents using Ubuntu Linux. I guess that's what I would call sticking it to the man. At any rate... I cannot boot to a CD (I'm creating the ultimate boot disk, but so far bootables haven't worked), and have no floppy drive. GRUB is my boot manager. HELP! Thanks much!

I paintball. As much as I joke about shooting little kids, it's a GREAT stress relief. Nobody dies but you still get to shoot the crap outta them. Great fun. Other than that, music is a huge stress reliever for me, as are my friends. And when I really need to pull my mind off of things, I will just go and run until I either can't keep running or I feel better. Oh, and driving at night is very stress-relieving, as well.

Despite the fact that I am not sure that I ever posted in P&R, I am saddened to hear of it's closure. Some of the most enlightening conversations I have had were on P&R and I think my world-view has been improved because of them (I am referring to my life in general, not just on this board). In this respect, I agree with Jim and the others. THAT BEING SAID, what Cap'n Refsmmat said about abskebabs's post, if it indeed is true and I interpreted it correctly, sounds just fine to me. What I mean to say is that if there was a permalink in place of the forum that redirected to the other location, including explicit rules and a whole slew of moderators, with the same objective manner as the other forums here, I don't think anything would be lost. It sounds like the same user base is being kept, too - in which case, what's the difference? It's just like moving a thread from one forum to another - the link remains in the previous forum, it doesn't just disappear off the face of the earth. That's my take on it, anyways. If we spirits have offended, think but this...: no harm was meant, and I understand the moderators' decision. Just my two cents.

I need to build / acquire (cheaply) a galvanometer or oscillioscope (preferrably oscillioscope) with a high sample rate with a USB connection. Any suggestions? More in depth description: I am doing an experiment that involves measuring the induced backspin in spherical projectiles. I have not (yet) calculated the velocity that the projectiles are travelling, but suffice to say the launcher packed enough punch in the low-power testing phase to put ~3" long dowel rods through half inch laminated high-density particle board. I plan to measure backspin by embedding spherical plastic projectiles with NIB magnets. These will be pre-aligned before firing so as to rotate along the correct axis. Immediately after the acceleration tube (barrel) there will be another tube for backspin analysis. There will be a wire coil on the bottom of this tube as well as on the top. This will allow me to calculate both the backspin of the projectile and the forward velocity.** The problem is that the projectile will be travelling EXTREMELY QUICKLY. This translates to a very, very brief time in the sensor tube, and on top of that, the rotation of the projectile could be very high - meaning that the galvanometer / oscilloscope would need to be extremely sensitive and have a very, very high sample rate (I would guess on the order of 1 microsecond). I need this to digitally output to my computer. Any suggestions? I've mulled over both a USB input using a microcontroller and using sound-analysis software and the microphone jack. **The magnets will be arranged in a ring around the projectile, so as to maintain both balance and ability to be detected. Each time either "end" of the projectile passes the top of the tube, a current will be induced (likewise with the bottom). The average of the current spikes on the top and on the bottom will provide me with the linear speed of the projectile. (I may be forgetting to divide by two here). This can then be used to find the backspin. It occurs to me that my logic with that explanation is slightly flawed. However, backspin will still be easily measure with that setup - in a far more straightforward way - simply by relating the number of spikes with the time. That's the (somewhat discordant) idea, anyway. Thanks much.

Free C compilers can be found at download.com. Go to Developer Tools -> Tools and Editors -> Compilers and Interpreters. Then, search for "C" in "Compilers and Interpreters" (it's all a function of the search thing), filter the licenses to "Free", and there you have it.

Get an AP test study book. I highly recommend Barron's How to Prepare for the AP Calculus BC Exam. And yes, it's possible to teach yourself and do well. I taught myself pretty much everything I ever learned in physics and got a 4 on both the E&M and Mechanics C tests.

One of the ideas behind quantum computing is that each q-bit can be in every possible state at once. This means that a quantum computer could, in theory, do multiple, similar calculations at once. It's like dual processors times a bunch. To compare to a binary system (note: qbits are not binary), it would be like each bit was both 1 and 0 at the same time, allowing for the excecution of thousands of iterations of a program in the same time it would take to excecute one iteration on a normal computer. If I remember correctly, that is.

And that is why I decided not to do wrestling. Call it preserving genetic integrity, if you will. This is probably the funniest thread I have ever read on this forum. Golf clap to all involved, especially in the insulting!

YT, something that often helps me when learning from overly verbose texts is to copy down every piece of important detail in my own words, including formulae. Sometimes I will even copy down formulae to a different area - this works especially well if you need a reference guide. If your book has problems in it and an answer key, I would highly suggest muddling through a problem or two and trying to arrive at the right answer. Even if you do not intuitively grasp the material after getting problems correct, it is a huge step in the right direction, and I find that rereading the section after doing so makes it infinitely more understandable. Calbit

I agree with Bettina. It's art. Extremely impressive, at that.

Well, that is misleading, because (in the US) both the number who support evolution and the number who oppose it have decreased, so more and more are unsure. There are any number of possible reasons for this, many that would be impossible to prove without a specific demographic breakdown of the poll, which is not available because the demographic info was not acquired in the first place (IIRC).

Oo, sounds like fun! Well, before the medical bills, it'd be cheaper than contacts!

Well, (s)he said not contacts, so... But you can get contacts for those who do not need prescriptions. They are used in theatrical productions all the time. But blue with a brown streak? Weird, but cool. I didn't make it very clear in my first post - I wasn't denying that people have different colors in their eyes, I was saying that I don't think there's a way of acquiring that trait after birth, short of contacts.

I have to disagree. Only .7% of Americans are Jehovah's Witnesses. There is no scale from 0 to 100 on this, it's a "yes," a "no," or an "I'm not sure." Statistically speaking, that .7% would hardly make a difference. I would be very interested to see this poll expanded into the Middle East, Africa, and Asia (particularly Communist and ex-Communist nations). It would be curious to see if the US collectively supports evolution less than, say, Saudi Arabia (I doubt it, but you never know). I would also be intrigued by a poll in the US only that asked creationists if they would accept evolution if evolution was endorsed or accepted by their church. I can't say I was surprised by the result, though. What was surprising to me was that they polled Cyprus.

I don't believe so. IIRC, it's a genetic defect. I am not by any means qualified to talk about medical matters, as my medical "training" does not extend beyond first aid and CPR, but I don't see any reason why you could have two different colored eyes, if not born that way. I suppose surgery, perhaps, but I doubt that as well. So, long story short, I don't think so, but I am not qualified to give an answer either way.

I guess that's what experimentation is for, now isn't it? I'll have to get back to you about that when I start trying things out.

Makes sense. Was the Rb liquid beforehand (about 37 C IIRC)? AAH! The lightbulb just turned on. You halve the energy, not the wavelength. Doh. Thanks much, I think that will suffice! The lasers can be perpendicular to each other, correct? In other words, are there limits in orientation?

Wait, you saw this in rubidium GAS? That must have been one HOT vapor cell, rubidium's boiling point is 688 C / 961 K. That's right about aluminum's melting point! I still don't think I get the math. How did you get 195 nm for hydrogen? Is that for a single source? If so, I think it makes sense. However, it isn't that I thought I would need two sources, it's that I want to have two sources. I'm still not sure of the math though, so could you explain it one more time for someone who's probably in over his head? Thanks again, Calbit