Domain: gizmodo.com
Stories and comments across the archive that link to gizmodo.com.
Comments · 2,482
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Re:Another article (English)
And another with a different viewpoint: http://gizmodo.com/393119/scientist-creates-cold-fusion-for-the-first-time-in-decades
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Re:Wheelbase issues
You are right as can be seen in the Gizmodo article
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Re:Stability concernsI'm deeply concerned about the unit's stability. Tri-wheeled ATCs have been banned in most jurisdiction due to their high center of gravity leading to tipping. This unit has an even higher center of gravity, and goes significantly faster than most ATCs would. ATCs mostly tip when braking while turning, due to the single wheel being forward. In this case the single wheel is rear and the driver is sitting almost on top of it. This would make the unit prone to tipping when turning while accelerating. You're seeing only the images where the vehicle is stationary. When in motion, it reconfigures.
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Here's better picture
Here is better picture that show's how bike transforms during ride:
http://gizmodo.com/photogallery/deusexmachina/1001615643 -
Re:This is worthlessan absolute max bitrate of 2Mb/s, and max resolution of 480p Netflix is planning HD streaming, and this box will support it. When Netflix gets HD streaming content, they'll update the box by firmware to support HD resolutions at higher bitrates of 4-6mbps, including 5.1 surround (everything is stereo now). The menus will also be upgraded to HD res, too. In the future, the Roku-branded box will be upgraded to accept non-Netflix content, too. Who is the target audience for this? it includes me, my friends, and my coworkers judging from the responses i've seen today.
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Re:I wonder what is inside...
According to a different review:
"Netflix is planning HD streaming, and this box will support it. When Netflix gets HD streaming content, they'll update the box by firmware to support HD resolutions at higher bitrates of 4-6mbps, including 5.1 surround" -
Re:I wonder what is inside...The Future Netflix is planning HD streaming, and this box will support it. When Netflix gets HD streaming content, they'll update the box by firmware to support HD resolutions at higher bitrates of 4-6mbps, including 5.1 surround (everything is stereo now). The menus will also be upgraded to HD res, too. In the future, the Roku-branded box will be upgraded to accept non-Netflix content, too. (And btw, the update on the Mac client situation is that they're just trying to sort out the DRM issues, or lack of a suitable system they can stream to Macs on.) http://gizmodo.com/389698/first-netflix-streaming-box-review-100-and-unlimited-downloads
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Re:Serial AND Parallel
I happen to have a small portable word processor which uses a serial cable and Xmodem to transfer files to the computer from 1200-19200 baud. (It does only have to send plaintext.) It's great for taking on the go, say, to jot notes in class without the teacher thinking you're surfing the web the whole time. After class, just play with HyperTerminal for a minute, copy the text into OpenOffice.org, and format as you please. A few minutes of your time is a small price to pay to make a free (rescued) word processor useful. Oh, and it has terminal software too -- I use either that or an Apple IIGS as an auxiliary control for my home server, which is invaluable when I screw up and lock up the rest of the system.
:PAnd I still demand a parallel port, because inkjet supplies cost more than blood, and I have an old dot-matrix with an ink ribbon that I use for my low-intensity printing needs. $5 for the printer and a dozen ribbons, so all I really pay for is the paper.
:) Believing in the value of old technology is one of the best ways to save money. -
Re:Why has it caught on now?
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Re:Make way for the console that will kill PC gami
what about the wonder swan sure it never made it anywhere but japan...
and one thing i hate, is the way 'Blu-ray' adoption rates "Don't Count PS3s, because they're console sales" even though every website I googled said 'PS3 is the best Blu-ray movie player, PS3 is the Only Blu-Ray Player to support BDJava, yada yada yada..'
Why would anyone pay $400 for a Blu-ray stand alone when the PS3 is $400? and furthermore, $200 'BD-rom drives' aren't Blu-ray players even though you can buy plenty of HD movie playback software for M$ windows. $250 in 'upgrade' costs is a lot less than $400, especially if your PC is already hooked to you HDTV because you didn't want to pay $1400 for a crappy 30" PC monitor display when a 42" HDTV with PC in was $1000
anyways, consoles aren't all used to play games, and not all PCs come with a graphic card capable of playing a video game. http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/card-wars/intel-graphics-business-still-champ-but-nvidia-is-showing-rockys-pluck-257035.php at least 37% of the market have intel graphics and intel graphics don't even run 'aero' much less video games, and nvidia and AMD sell tons of graphic cards that don't play video games (any nvidia card below 'X,500' won't play modern games at any frame rate and ATI doesn't have a convenient scheme to determine which cards play games, but as intel has shown the lions share of the market is in cheap chipsets. but that's because something like 60% of the PC market is aimed at businesses most of which (graphic artists aside) want the cheapest chip available...
and then about 20% of the market are people who want 'internet capable' machines, with maybe 20% who want a multi use game capable machine, of those only 25% are serious gamers who will spend more than $200 on a graphic solution just to be able to play modern games at full frame rates (in less than HD resolution) and an even smaller set of those will buy $400+ for full HD capable graphic solutions rather than running on a PC monitor at a 'lower resolution' to get acceptable framerates...
personally, I've decided to go SLI/crossfire, and all told will spent almost 4 grand on my next gaming PC plus the TV set, and i should be able to run games for many years to come, without needing new graphic cards or a new PC... but I'm a serious gamer, and i spend thousands of hours playing games. and I expect my gaming rig to handle any game i throw at it for 4 years... if Full HD isn't the end of graphic card evolution...
(of course physics engines etc might some day go beyond a quad core CPU, and newer computer setups might save significant electric consumption)
but for at least the next 4 years I plan on being able to play anything i buy at the stores, when i build my next gaming rig. -
Re:I'm holding out
For a true 4-dimensional Rubiks Cube, one that incorporates Time. Of course solving it will be incredibly disappointing, since after you do solve one, it turns out that it was solved all along.
Here you go, it's already been invented: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/rubik.s-cube/the-idiots-cube-256889.php -
Gizmodo image says it all.
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THIS IS WHAT A BOTNET LOOKS LIKE:
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Awesome, but a little late on the post
This is Awesome, I Totally want one!! But It's been all over the tubes for Over a week now: http://gizmodo.com/386007/r2+d2-projector-in-action-video-verdict-a-must-have http://starwarsblog.starwars.com/index.php/2008/04/30/r2-d2-is-the-best-roomie-ever/ http://shop.starwars.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=1218818
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Other links with pictures.
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Re:A billion gigabytes?
I often find myself awed by just how much you can buy nowadays cheaply. I'm told that at Costco nowadays, you can buy a terabye of disk storage for about $250 CDN -- that's utterly mind-boggling to someone who remembers single-density, single-sided floppy drives.
I know what you mean. My first computer, back in the late 80's, had a "HUGE" 40MB hard drive. (Yes, MEGAbytes, not GIGAbytes for you youngsters out there.) I have a 1GB SD card sitting on my desk right now. That's more than 25 times the space of my first desktop computer and it can fit in my shirt pocket. And that's not even the biggest SD card out there. I often try to picture how high I would need to stack those old desktop computers to get the same storage space.
Awhile back, I saw this photo of an old 1GB hard drive compared with a 1GB SD card: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/changing-times/this-is-what-1gb-of-storage-looks-like-now-and-20-years-ago-302856.php
Imagine what the comparison photos will look like in 20 years! -
Re:That's why Open-Source fails on the desktop
When did I say that Apple makes touchscreen notebooks? "Multitouch" simply means that a touch-based input system (in the case of Apple notebooks the trackpad) has suport for you using more than one finger/stylus/whatever to make inputs. My Santa Rosa MacBook Pro uses the trackpad as a two-dimensional scroll wheel when I use two fingers - that would be the rudimentary approximation. The MacBook Air (and, as far as I know, newer MBPs) allows stuff like resizing windows by performing a pinching motion on the trackpad.
Before you tell me that "true multitouch requires a touchscreen": I'm certainly not the only one who considers this to be multitouch. -
What does victory look like?Actually Blu Ray hasn't been selling better since the death of HD DVD. They have a few theories but I think that for a lot of folks out there(like me) DVD is good enough. DVD is easy to backup,cheap, and with an upscaling player looks good enough on most folks sets. I have no way of backing this up, but I would guess that I'm fairly typical: I spent so much time waiting for a clear victor in this format war that by the time one appeared, I wasn't sure I even wanted one anymore. I mean, I'm sure I'll wind up with one at some point - when the price drops substantially (it hasn't yet) or when my 360 dies and the replacement comes out. But otherwise, I think I waited long enough that "okay, this is gonna be the format, honest" isn't enough of a justification to get me to buy one anymore.
And besides - my primary computer is a laptop, and I just don't have enough space to rip high def to my laptop willy-nilly. (See also, reasons why I don't want a 22 megapixel camera.) -
Re:Add-on or built in?
Actually Blu Ray hasn't been selling better since the death of HD DVD. They have a few theories but I think that for a lot of folks out there(like me) DVD is good enough. DVD is easy to backup,cheap, and with an upscaling player looks good enough on most folks sets. There are also a ton of SDTV sets out there and it will be a long time before they are all replaced. Let's face it,it just isn't as big a deal for most folks. With VHS the tapes were clunky, got eaten by the machine, looked crappier everytime you played them,etc. But my 10 year old DVDs look and play just fine on the 1024x768 monitor I use for entertainment. But that is my 02c,YMMV.
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Re:If only...
here you go... shredding scissors... who needs electronics...
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Well
Reliability - http://gizmodo.com/369294/20-percent-of-ssd-notebooks-failingNope
Speed - Nope
Tell me again what the whole point was -
Re:Time for Apple to cede some control?
The psystar is a *noisy* pc,
Back that up. Just because it's a PC, doesn't mean automatically it's noisy. So far, there aren't any reviews or measurements made that I've seen so far.
How about the video on Gizmodo showing one in operation?
Sure it's not a scientific measurement of noise, but the fan whirr is definitely noticable. The Dell workstation on my desk at work is quieter, as is my Mac Pro (think - the real noise comes from the hard drives, not fans, and that's the standard seeking noises when they're busy.).
Heck, I think you can get some whitebox PCs that are quieter. -
Re:Time for Apple to cede some control? Nope.They won't do it because of two and a half fundamental reasons:
1. MSOffice
2. Profit Margins
3. History as Computer Maker
If Apple put MacOS onto other machines, MS would pull support for MSOffice on MacOS in a New York Nanosecond. That would seriously batter Apple computer sales, because many of us (myself included) are forced by our employers to use MSOffice. Yes, OpenOffice is a lovely thing, but our IT dept and management doesn't give a flying fuck about OpenOffice, and never will. It's an MS shop and that's that. They don't care what COMPUTER you use - so I have a MacBookPro - but the software for our daily interactions Must Be MS. (sigh - I know, I know)...
So, That's Reason #1 (with a gun to the head) why Apple won't open up.
2. Apple makes Serious Bank on their high end machines (desktop or laptop) and opening up would blow those margins to the wind because if you're so up on a high end machine, you could probably build something to rival today's fire breathing dragon at a substantially lower cost than what HP and certainly Apple would charge you.
Also, Apple depends on that margin, as it allows them to use that money to seed other projects, some few of which might pan out (iPod, iTMS) and some more that won't do so well (AirTunes, AppleTV) some that seriously Tank (20th Anniversay Mac) and some that leave expensive craters in the ground (Pippin, Newton, The Cube). Without the margins Apple pulls from their high-end gear, none of those ventures would have happened, and while Pippin was a fucking disaster, the iPod is anything but.
So, they're not going to cannibalise their bovine cash dispenser.
3. History as a computer company. They are known first as a computer company, that happens to make totally hip consumer items. This will change over time, as computers slowly fade into the woodwork, but until then, their flagship product is MacOS - it's the one thing that ties all their products together, and it is intimately tied to their vision as a computer company.
So, for all those reason (and I am sure, many more) Apple will not open up their OS. It would be suicide.
RS
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Worst bloodsuckers
Please don't buy the native ink, they are just scamming people with them.
* The software embedded in HP printer cardridges causes them to expire after a set of amount of time, forcing comsumers to purchase new ink, even if it's not run out yet. This prevents users from refilling their cardridges. (HP Ink costs more than human blood) by the way.
* They enforce "region coding" restrictions that prevent cardridges purchased in one region from operating with printers purchased in another. This "feature" is intended to support regional market segmentation and price discrimination.
* Laser toner is a cheap black powder. You can buy a refill for about $4.99. Opening the toner equipment for a refill can be tricky, in the case of Lexmark they made it impossible. A new toner costs ~$100. After third party toners that allowed refills showed up, lexmark added a layer of encryption and authentication to the modules. When SCC started selling reverse engineered refillable cardridges Lexmark sued them, they invoked the DMCA to ban them from selling the product. Litigation lasted 19 months and SCC products were off the market during that period.
* http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/peripherals/hp-ink-costs-more-than-human-blood-booze-212444.php -
Blackberry A.K. (Apple Killer)
RIM will be coming out with a phone they are calling the Apple Killer. It looks very similar to the iPhone.
I am waiting for the Apple i -
But what about the Internet...There's also the idea of a self-healing Internet based on common knowledge. It's rather simple and can help also on Windows based computers:
if (condition)
where condition can be for example
{
reset()
}LED ~= green
orscreen == blue
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Re:It was a dumb concept
I'd still have to call it the iProduct.
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Re:Apple will ditch intel
GE also makes the excellent Minigun. Ideal for home defense, hunting and mowing down hordes of zombies in a last stand.
I read that when Bush went to London, the English Secret Service were somewhat concerned that one of the SUVs that accompanies the Presidential limousine carried a minigun in case the Prez got into a Black Hawk down type situation with protesters.
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/protecting-w/presidential-suv-machine-gun-pops-up-fills-the-air-with-lead-290181.php -
BYOK (bring your own keyboard)
They have vending machines that let you make purchases with your cell phone. Maybe web terminals, debit PIN terminals and ATMs could be made to work the same way. You can't trust somebody else's keyboard/keypad, but hopefully you can trust your own cell phone not to have a keylogger installed.
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Lenovo is simply refreshing laptop line
Lenovo could just be purging it's current stock of Thinkpad laptops. According to this posting on Gizmodo, Lenovo is expected to release a refresh to the Thinkpad T series (T62) on June 3, 2008.
The above info in conjunction with the popularity of widescreen laptops could just mean that they purged the standard aspect ratio laptops before the widescreen models -
Re:Lenovo Hardware is Unreliable Junk
Your experience seems to be an outlier compared to most of the quality comments I've read about Lenovo Thinkpads vs. IBM Thinkpads. As I understand it, the same engineers who designed Thinkpads for IBM now work for Lenovo. Thinkpads are built in the same factories as they were when IBM owned the brand. Brand management is the same group who used to work for IBM. Basically, the only thing that's changed is the ID badges of the people who design, manage & build Thinkpads.
I have a T60p that I love, but will most likely be upgrading to one of the new Intel Montevina based Thinkpad "W" (workstation) models being reported by Gizmodo. -
Of course
This is not the first time the American robotic army has attacked its own troops...
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He should have also...
...threatened to go into the business of selling clothes hangars real cheap to compete with Monster Cables.
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Re:Monster cable has been taking advantage...
Obviously with digital any cable is as good as another.
That's not true. On higher frequencies (like 1080p DVI), a cheaper cable will distort the signal so much that error correction cannot fix it. Besides, error correction is meant for random, infrequent problems. It should never be used for generally poor transmission.
This page will explain it. -
When I was more naive
I purchased some Monster Cables for my home theater. Now the damn connectors are coming off my speaker wires. I took them apart to find out that connectors are held on by a shoddy crimp job. For what they cost they could at least solder them. The rubber shielding is even starting to deteriorate. Not worth the money.
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Re:Not smart
I recently read a wire news piece about an LA gang that got busted with a rocket launcher.......
linky -
Which robot would you prefer?Now which one would you like to be shot by?
This: http://gizmodo.com/assets/resources/2008/04/swordsss.jpg
Or this: http://img45.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp01fo1i-9024/loc72/39069_Summer-G001_122_72lo.jpg http://www.sexygirlsdepot.com/wp-content/assets/2008/03/summer-glau-7.png
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Re:I don't want cell phones on planes.
And that is different then those gabby older women who talk really loud and screechingly laugh even louder?
I think the really annoying part for most people is that they can't eavesdrop on both ends of the conversation....
Funny Larry David clip: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/clips/how-to-deal-with-obnoxious-bluetooth-headset-talkers-321179.php -
Re:tell the difference?
As for my use of coat hangers, I was referring to this little test. Hardly scientific I know, and I would certainly never argue that a coat hanger makes any kind of optimal transfer medium, but it certainly goes to show how silly the cabling business really is.
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Blu-ray player sales
I went looking for some numbers about the sales of Blu-ray players and found this from January where sales went up from 15,257 units to 21,770 units. The first number was pre-Warner announcing their support.
And some UK retailer has reported that sales are up 600%. Regardless I won't be buying a Blu-ray player any time soon. -
Re:Or Unix or Mac ...
The mac software isn't 'non-existent' http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/27/pwn-2-own-over-macbook-air-gets-seized-in-2-minutes-flat/
and as i recall, the winner of the 'vista' machine was quoted as saying "this is a couple hours away from being a Linux or OSX exploit" that was a vulnerability in adobe software, that adobe knew about before pwn-to-own http://gizmodo.com/376585/adobe-knew-of-vista-pwn-2-own-hack-all-along
Now, Ubuntu doesn't come with adobe by default, but people Will Install the Adobe crap to see the dancing bunnies, as per the dancing bunnies problem. so don't say it's purely a diversionary tactic When HACKERS HAD THE SOFTWARE AT PWN TO OWN to hack apple, and thought it would take a couple hours to port the adobe vulnerability that took the Vista machine to Linux. -
Two NES phones that you can't get in the USA -
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/nes-slider/gionee-nes-phone-lets-you-stomp-goombas-on-the-go-268486.php
http://www.gadgets-weblog.com/50226711/lenovo_phone_sports_nes_emulator.php
Why, oh why can't I get these in the US? I would love a phone that is a *good* NES emulator.
Anyone know the best routes to get this stuff in the US? -
Re:In brief
Same with some links and a few extra comments (in []):
Panasonic Viera P905i ([A phone with 854 x 480 display] Think of it as the world's smallest "big-screen" TV)
Raon Everun UMPC (Ultra-mobile PC - a micro laptop)
Samsung 'Soul' SGH U900 [another phone]
NEC ValueStar W (Vista Media Centre that's extra quiet)
Toshiba ApriPoko Robot ([only a prototype?] This 11-inch-tall robot--which looks like the love child of a bird Pokemon and the Pillsbury Doughboy--is actually a voice-activated remote control)
Sony VAIO G2 [Google translation (super-light laptop with all the normal features)
Fujitsu F705i [thin waterproof cell phone]
Aigo USB Dongle (HD receiver [very small -- e.g., for laptops])
NEC LUI (LUI stands for "Life with Ubiquitous Integrated Solutions - basically a combination of media server and PDA or laptop)
Face Bank (Wave a coin in front of the bank's eyes (actually light sensors), and it opens wide to swallow your loose change. Afterward, it looks so pleased that you half expect it to emit a contented belch [okay -- this thing is REALLY weird]) -
Re:oblig
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Re:Tech just isn't here yet...
1) Route sound around with cat5. Seriously. It transmits signals up to 100mhz, so audio frequencies are a cinch. I don't know though if you need differential drivers at each end or not.
2) Get a decent RF remote control (eg. the Gyration one) or RF keyboard, and make those keystrokes control your music apps via AutoHotkey. This is the DIY route, but AutoHotkey is fast, light, and can do almost everything.
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Re:Real Stories???
...that couldn't possibly be April 1, could it? Not when people have been talking about it since mid February.
http://google.com/search?q=Samsung+MBP-100
This Iljin company has been talking about their projectors since mid April of last year (so while this might be vaporware, it's not a prank.
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/cellphones/iljin-display-develops-coin+sized-laser-projector-module-167323.php
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BitTorrent Plugin Detects ISPs Raping Your Torrent
Interestingly, this news comes almost at the same time Azureus develops a plug-in to detect ISPs that cripple your torrents transfers:
http://gizmodo.com/372442/bittorrent-plugin-detects-isps-raping-your-torrents
Of course, a peaceful solution such as this agreement is always preferred, as it enlightens more and more people about the true nature of BitTorrent, and opens up the doors for more and more ISPs to do The Right Thing (tm). -
Gizmodo did it better.
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Re:Lay off the weed, man!
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Re:No luckA girlfriend? Proof positive that he's not a regular
/. reader. Well, he could be this guy.
Man, he's been dumped by his own robot girlfriend!