Slashdot Mirror

Less than 24 hours ago, the readers of Slashdot launched a competition to find an editing algorithm that performs better than the official "editors" of the site. The competition requires entrants to build their comment systems based on the results of over 9,000 historical submissions. Entrants then test their algorithms by predicting the results of the next 7,809 dup^H^H^Hstories. Already three teams have managed to create systems that make more accurate predictions than the official /. approach. It's not a surprise that Timothy has been outdone -- after all, he was invented half a century ago before English had been standardized. However, it is no big surprise that Slashdot has been bettered done so quickly! The winner: Texas Instruments!

To me, it looks like some kind of possessed version of my old Speak-N-Spell.

Is it me or do the colors come close to a Speak and Spell?

See? Prior art.

I've seen this pen in use for about nine months. (A friend works at LeapFrog, and I sometimes stopped by to pick her up after work.) And I have to say: It's pretty freaking cool. A few points:

* It doesn't compete (as some commenters have said) with Palm devices or general-purpose computers. Its real competitors are those "toy" computers, electronic learning tools... that is, LeapFrog's other products! It's more a grandchild of the Speak 'n' Spell than the Apple II.

* As a product, it's kind of hard to "get" until demo'd... and then you get it immediately. If I were running the company's PR department I'd launch an aggressive journalist demo program. I did something similar with Globalstar satellite phones as a client... yeah, the company tanked, but we scored some GREAT press in the targeted marine sector. It's a similar product at base: a new, untested solution in a well-established market.

* IMHO, the real application for Fly is outside children's education. For example: Real Estate appraisers and construction pros could draw a room's layout on ordinary-feeling paper and get back square footage, price per square foot, materials needed, etc.

* I can't wait for it to be hacked. Slashdotters, your kids don't need Fly: YOU do.

The best time is when they outgrow their http://www.speaknspell.co.uk/ and get the MCSE 5 days later.

although XP came quite a way in making things look better

Hey, I have fond memories of Fisher Price products from my youth as well. But when I sit down at a computer, I don't want flashbacks to using a Speak n Spell (unless I run it as an emulator (Yeah, I know, TI made it, not Fisher Price, but you get the idea).

It really, truly horrifies me that people actually like XP's interface. As the first thing I (and every single competant computer user I know, without exception, N>40) do when setting up an XP box, I disable the themes service. Poof, no more craptastic prettified round window edges taking up valuable screen real-estate.

is the speak n' spell which was, of course, designed for 5 year olds entering one word every 15 seconds or so. This thing is retarded...