Slashdot Mirror

Sometime I'll take another look at Squeak, which seems to be the anointed successor to Smalltalk. I have a friend who's been a total fanatic about Smalltalk for many years - it has affected his career in interesting ways. A few months ago he got me interested in its descendant Squeak, because of Alan Croquet 3D system written in Squeak. So far, I've just bounced off when I've tried to do anything with it. I've been doing procedural programming for a long time. I think it was Dykstra who said (approximately), "Anyone who is proficient in FORTRAN can quickly learn to write FORTRAN in any language." I may try again soonish, although it's not

This note speaks to my interest - IMHO the next, and most interesting, phase of UI design will be in the use of 3D to create not just usable but "amenable" user interfaces.

For me, that will have to wait until I can get a better machine, preferably one I can use with polarized 3D glasses!! :O) I managed to get Croquet running on my system, but it was so slow (I'm running at 650 MHz) that it was unusable, and I diskliked the little buttons around the edge. Tthey seemed counterintuitive to me, but of course I grew up in a different UI paradign so who am I to say.

One problem I didn't have time to figure out at the time was that Croquet's OpenGL driver setup was hardwired into the code, and didn't accept my OpenGL setup (I'm running DRI). But that's another story.

You're a troll, but I'll answer you anyway.

At last count, there were more than 50 million cellphones in India, and are growing at 2 million a month.
(From this source)

So, why did the Chinese develop a new compression standard? The reason is fascism, which is nationalism based on race. Consider the following.

1. Several years ago, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared that it would stop using English at press briefings for foreign journalists even though English is the universal language that the foreign ministries of most countries use to communicate with foreign journalists. The Chinese insisted that foreign journalists learn Mandarin as all future press briefings would be conducted in Mandarin..
2. The Chinese have repeatedly said, "We reject decadent Western capitalism. We accept only capitalism with Chinese characteristics."
3. Consider Taiwan. Until about 1990, the Chinese beat and slapped any Taiwanese student who spoke Taiwanese in class. About 15% of the Taiwanese population considers themselves Taiwanese. The other 85% considers themselves Chinese. (Imagine the justifiable outrage that good folks in the West would feel if students were slapped for speaking Spanish in schools in Florida.)

The only effective way for the West to combat Chinese fascism is to acknowledge it and to fight it. Currently, the United States of America (USA) has a policy of giving China an immigration quota of 60,000, which is divided evenly among Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China. We should immediately slash that quota down to 20,000, which is the allotment given to all other countries (like Canada, Japan, etc.) We should consider reducing that quota even further -- down to 10,000.

Still, since the Chinese claim that fascism is so wonderful, then there is no reason for them to flee from China to the USA. Therein, we can justify reducing the immigration quota to zero.

Last links are corrected here:
- How Emergic Freedom reduces cost (by 75%)

- Emergic Freedom White Paper (on Thin Client-Thick Server Computing)

- Emergic Freedom Q&A

- Rajesh Jain's blog (on Emerging Technologies, Enterprises and Markets)

- Emergic Vision (from Rajesh's blog)

Last links are corrected here:
- How Emergic Freedom reduces cost (by 75%)

- Emergic Freedom White Paper (on Thin Client-Thick Server Computing)

- Emergic Freedom Q&A

- Rajesh Jain's blog (on Emerging Technologies, Enterprises and Markets)

- Emergic Vision (from Rajesh's blog)

http://www.emergic.com/


# Provides a full suite of desktop applications, including email, browser, Office suite, instant messenger, calendar, contacts and more.
# Reduces desktop software costs, by eliminating the need for expensive proprietary software.
# Eliminates virus risk, since Linux is the underlying environment.

# Offers a Windows-like graphical desktop, for ease of use.
# Reads and writes MS-Office file formats (DOC, XLS and PPT files).
# Runs DOS applications, through a DOS emulator.
# Supports specialised Windows applications, through add-on software.

# Reduces desktop hardware costs, via re-use of existing PCs or purchase of new, low-cost computers.
# Enhances performance of older hardware, due to server-based computing and storage.
# Eliminates desktop hardware upgrades, since all computing is on the server.

# Centralises Administration, via the server through a web-based front-end.
# Simplifies software upgrades, since only the server needs to be updated.
# Allows sharing of computers, with privacy of data for each user.

Emergic Freedom - Thin Client Desktop

Minimum Requirements
Any Pentium-class CPU. Hard disk and CD-ROM not needed. Only needs 16 MB RAM, 100 Mbps Network Card, Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor. Indicative Market Price: Rs 7,000+ (USD 140)

Applications
Email Client, Calendar, Tasks, Contacts, Web Browser, Office Productivity Suite (including Word Processor, Spreadsheet and Presentation applications), Instant Messaging, Image Editor / Viewer, PDF Reader, File Manager, Printing, Network Neighbourhood, Calculator, Games, Local Peripheral and Multimedia Support [Screen Shots]

Emergic Freedom - Thick Server OS

Recommended Configuration (for 40 users)
1 GHz Dual CPU, 1.5 GB RAM, Two 80 GB hard disks, 100 Mbps Network Card. Indicative Market Price: Rs 70,000+ (USD 1,400)

Applications
File Server, Print Server, Software RAID (disk mirroring), User Management, Client / Desktop Management, DOS Emulator, Windows Application Support (optional)

Also See:
- How Emergic Freedom reduces cost (by 75%)

- Emergic Freedom White Paper (on Thin Client-Thick Server Computing)

- Emergic Freedom Q&A

- Rajesh Jain's blog (on Emerging Technologies, Enterprises and Markets)

- Emergic Vision (from Rajesh's blog)

http://www.emergic.com/


# Provides a full suite of desktop applications, including email, browser, Office suite, instant messenger, calendar, contacts and more.
# Reduces desktop software costs, by eliminating the need for expensive proprietary software.
# Eliminates virus risk, since Linux is the underlying environment.

# Offers a Windows-like graphical desktop, for ease of use.
# Reads and writes MS-Office file formats (DOC, XLS and PPT files).
# Runs DOS applications, through a DOS emulator.
# Supports specialised Windows applications, through add-on software.

# Reduces desktop hardware costs, via re-use of existing PCs or purchase of new, low-cost computers.
# Enhances performance of older hardware, due to server-based computing and storage.
# Eliminates desktop hardware upgrades, since all computing is on the server.

# Centralises Administration, via the server through a web-based front-end.
# Simplifies software upgrades, since only the server needs to be updated.
# Allows sharing of computers, with privacy of data for each user.

Emergic Freedom - Thin Client Desktop

Minimum Requirements
Any Pentium-class CPU. Hard disk and CD-ROM not needed. Only needs 16 MB RAM, 100 Mbps Network Card, Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor. Indicative Market Price: Rs 7,000+ (USD 140)

Applications
Email Client, Calendar, Tasks, Contacts, Web Browser, Office Productivity Suite (including Word Processor, Spreadsheet and Presentation applications), Instant Messaging, Image Editor / Viewer, PDF Reader, File Manager, Printing, Network Neighbourhood, Calculator, Games, Local Peripheral and Multimedia Support [Screen Shots]

Emergic Freedom - Thick Server OS

Recommended Configuration (for 40 users)
1 GHz Dual CPU, 1.5 GB RAM, Two 80 GB hard disks, 100 Mbps Network Card. Indicative Market Price: Rs 70,000+ (USD 1,400)

Applications
File Server, Print Server, Software RAID (disk mirroring), User Management, Client / Desktop Management, DOS Emulator, Windows Application Support (optional)

Also See:
- How Emergic Freedom reduces cost (by 75%)

- Emergic Freedom White Paper (on Thin Client-Thick Server Computing)

- Emergic Freedom Q&A

- Rajesh Jain's blog (on Emerging Technologies, Enterprises and Markets)

- Emergic Vision (from Rajesh's blog)