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InfoSync Reviews Sharp Zaurus
Bill Kendrick writes "infoSync has just posted a
very well-rounded (and long)
review
of the Sharp Zaurus PDA. Get out the kleenex - you'll be
drooling." Gotta say, thats a sharp looking little device.
← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)
last updated 9.9.99 by CmdrTaco
last summarised 8.Jan.2002 by VA Software
This document will attempt to explain the moderation system that lies underneath Slashdot's vast comment section. It will try to explain some of the history of the system, as well as how it works (or doesn't work) from both the perspective of the user, and the moderator. It is always in flux.
- Why
- Goals
- History
- Before Moderation
- Hand Picked Few
- 400 Lucky Winners
- Today: Most Anyone
- Who
- How
- FAQ
- I just got moderator access, what do I do?
- Why can't I suddenly moderate any more?
- I found a comment that was unfairly moderated!
- Is this censorship?
- What is a Good Comment? A Bad Comment?
- What is "Karma"?
- 3 Days Is Not Enough Time To Moderate!
- If I Post in a Discussion I moderated, Why Don't I get My
Points Back?
- How can I improve my Karma?
- Ideas for the Future
Why?The moderation system is designed to sort the gems and the crap from the steady stream of information that flows through the pipe. And wherever possible, it tries to make the readers of the site take on the responsibility.
Goals
- Promote Quality, Discourage Crap
- Make Slashdot as readable as possible for as many people as
possible.
- Do not require a huge amount of time from any single
moderator.
- Do not allow a single moderator a 'reign of terror'
HistoryBefore Moderation
Hand Picked Few
400 Lucky Winners
Today: Most Anyone
Who
How
When a moderator is given access, they are given a number of points of influence to play with. Each comment they moderate deducts a point. When they run out of points, they are done serving until next time it is their turn.
Moderation takes place by selecting an adjective from a drop down list that appears next to comments. Descriptive words like 'Flamebait' or 'Informative'. Bad words will reduce the comments score by a single point, good words increase a comments score by a single point. All comments are scored on an absolute scale from -1 to 5. Logged in users start at 1 (although this can vary from 0 to 2 based on their overall contribution to discussions) and anonymous users start at 0.
Moderators can not participate in the same discussion as both a moderator and a poster. This is to prevent abuses, and while it is one of the more controversial aspects of the system, I'm sticking to it. There are enough lurkers that moderate, that if you want to post, feel free.
Moderation points expire after 3 days if they are left unused. You then go back into the pool and might someday be given access again.
Concentrate more on promoting than on demoting. The real goal here is to find the juicy good stuff and let others read it. Do not promote personal agendas. Do not let your opinions factor in. Try to be impartial about this. Simply disagreeing with a comment is not a valid reason to mark it down. Likewise, agreeing with a comment is not a valid reason to mark it up. The goal here is to share ideas. To sift through the haystack and find needles. And to keep the children who like to spam Slashdot in check.
FAQ
I just got moderator access, what do I do?
The fact that you are reading this document proves that you are already on the right track.
Why can't I suddenly moderate any more?
Moderator access only lasts 3 days.
You can't moderate and post in the same discussion.
Do you still have any moderator points left? You only got 5...
If you unfairly moderate a comment, you might have your access revoked, although this is almost never the reason people lose access.
I found a comment that was unfairly moderated!
Lemme know and I'll look at it. Sometimes I might agree and revoke access to a moderator. Usually I disagree and let it go. Its difficult to be the judge on this stuff since it is so subjective.
Is this censorship?
We're not technically deleting anything. In fact "We" technically aren't really doing much at all. The masses are doing this for themselves (in theory anyway). And you are always given the option of clicking the threshold control over to '-1' and reading everything uncut, so I really have a hard time saying this truly is censorship. But if you really want to call it that, I can't really argue. We're trying to make as many people happy as possible here- if you don't like something, you can probably change it in the user preferences to more suit your tastes anyway.
What is a Good Comment? A Bad Comment?
Good Comments are insightful. You read them and are better off having read them. They add new information to a discussion. They are clear, hopefully well written, or maybe amusing. These are the gems we're looking for, and they deserve to be promoted.
Average Comments might be slightly offtopic, but still might be worth reading. They might be redundant. They might be a 'Me Too' article. They might say something painfully obvious. They don't detract from the discussion, but they don't necessarily significantly add to it. They are the comments that require the most attention from the moderators, and they also represent the bulk of the comments. (Score: 0-1)
Bad Comments are flamebait. Bad comments have nothing to do with the article they are attached to. They call someone names. They ridicule someone for having a different opinion without backing it up with anything more tangible than strong words. Bad comments are repeats of something said 15 times already making it quite apparent that the writer didn't read the previous comments. They use foul language. They are hard to read or just don't make any sense. They detract from the article they are attached to.
What is Karma?
3 Days Is Not Long Enough To Moderate!
On the contrary, I think its to long, although maybe I should change it to like "24 hours after you first are informed that you have moderator access". My reasoning is pretty simple: I don't want people to stockpile their points. I want people to use them or lose them. Otherwise people will hold on to their X points until a story comes on that they have a strong opinion in, and they will be tempted to moderate the discussion so as to sway things "their way". By expiring points quickly, moderators are encouraged to use them. Sometimes their points might expire unused, but thats ok: the system will just give points to someone else. r
Why Don't I get my points back after I post in a discussion I moderated?
How can I improve my Karma?
Ideas for the Future
This is a system in development.
---
http://slashdot.org/moderation.shtml
last updated 9.9.99 by CmdrTaco
last summarised 8.Jan.2002 by VA Software
This document will attempt to explain the moderation system that lies underneath Slashdot's vast comment section. It will try to explain some of the history of the system, as well as how it works (or doesn't work) from both the perspective of the user, and the moderator. It is always in flux.
- Why
- Goals
- History
- Before Moderation
- Hand Picked Few
- 400 Lucky Winners
- Today: Most Anyone
- Who
- How
- FAQ
- I just got moderator access, what do I do?
- Why can't I suddenly moderate any more?
- I found a comment that was unfairly moderated!
- Is this censorship?
- What is a Good Comment? A Bad Comment?
- What is "Karma"?
- 3 Days Is Not Enough Time To Moderate!
- If I Post in a Discussion I moderated, Why Don't I get My
Points Back?
- How can I improve my Karma?
- Ideas for the Future
Why?The moderation system is designed to sort the gems and the crap from the steady stream of information that flows through the pipe. And wherever possible, it tries to make the readers of the site take on the responsibility.
Goals
- Promote Quality, Discourage Crap
- Make Slashdot as readable as possible for as many people as
possible.
- Do not require a huge amount of time from any single
moderator.
- Do not allow a single moderator a 'reign of terror'
HistoryBefore Moderation
Hand Picked Few
400 Lucky Winners
Today: Most Anyone
Who
How
When a moderator is given access, they are given a number of points of influence to play with. Each comment they moderate deducts a point. When they run out of points, they are done serving until next time it is their turn.
Moderation takes place by selecting an adjective from a drop down list that appears next to comments. Descriptive words like 'Flamebait' or 'Informative'. Bad words will reduce the comments score by a single point, good words increase a comments score by a single point. All comments are scored on an absolute scale from -1 to 5. Logged in users start at 1 (although this can vary from 0 to 2 based on their overall contribution to discussions) and anonymous users start at 0.
Moderators can not participate in the same discussion as both a moderator and a poster. This is to prevent abuses, and while it is one of the more controversial aspects of the system, I'm sticking to it. There are enough lurkers that moderate, that if you want to post, feel free.
Moderation points expire after 3 days if they are left unused. You then go back into the pool and might someday be given access again.
Concentrate more on promoting than on demoting. The real goal here is to find the juicy good stuff and let others read it. Do not promote personal agendas. Do not let your opinions factor in. Try to be impartial about this. Simply disagreeing with a comment is not a valid reason to mark it down. Likewise, agreeing with a comment is not a valid reason to mark it up. The goal here is to share ideas. To sift through the haystack and find needles. And to keep the children who like to spam Slashdot in check.
FAQ
I just got moderator access, what do I do?
The fact that you are reading this document proves that you are already on the right track.
Why can't I suddenly moderate any more?
Moderator access only lasts 3 days.
You can't moderate and post in the same discussion.
Do you still have any moderator points left? You only got 5...
If you unfairly moderate a comment, you might have your access revoked, although this is almost never the reason people lose access.
I found a comment that was unfairly moderated!
Lemme know and I'll look at it. Sometimes I might agree and revoke access to a moderator. Usually I disagree and let it go. Its difficult to be the judge on this stuff since it is so subjective.
Is this censorship?
We're not technically deleting anything. In fact "We" technically aren't really doing much at all. The masses are doing this for themselves (in theory anyway). And you are always given the option of clicking the threshold control over to '-1' and reading everything uncut, so I really have a hard time saying this truly is censorship. But if you really want to call it that, I can't really argue. We're trying to make as many people happy as possible here- if you don't like something, you can probably change it in the user preferences to more suit your tastes anyway.
What is a Good Comment? A Bad Comment?
Good Comments are insightful. You read them and are better off having read them. They add new information to a discussion. They are clear, hopefully well written, or maybe amusing. These are the gems we're looking for, and they deserve to be promoted.
Average Comments might be slightly offtopic, but still might be worth reading. They might be redundant. They might be a 'Me Too' article. They might say something painfully obvious. They don't detract from the discussion, but they don't necessarily significantly add to it. They are the comments that require the most attention from the moderators, and they also represent the bulk of the comments. (Score: 0-1)
Bad Comments are flamebait. Bad comments have nothing to do with the article they are attached to. They call someone names. They ridicule someone for having a different opinion without backing it up with anything more tangible than strong words. Bad comments are repeats of something said 15 times already making it quite apparent that the writer didn't read the previous comments. They use foul language. They are hard to read or just don't make any sense. They detract from the article they are attached to.
What is Karma?
3 Days Is Not Long Enough To Moderate!
On the contrary, I think its to long, although maybe I should change it to like "24 hours after you first are informed that you have moderator access". My reasoning is pretty simple: I don't want people to stockpile their points. I want people to use them or lose them. Otherwise people will hold on to their X points until a story comes on that they have a strong opinion in, and they will be tempted to moderate the discussion so as to sway things "their way". By expiring points quickly, moderators are encouraged to use them. Sometimes their points might expire unused, but thats ok: the system will just give points to someone else. r
Why Don't I get my points back after I post in a discussion I moderated?
How can I improve my Karma?
Ideas for the Future
This is a system in development.
---
http://slashdot.org/moderation.shtml
godforbid you try entering from the front door. What the hell was I thinking.
Thanks for the crowbar.
-- Knowing too much can get you killed, but knowing who knows too much can make you rich.
This site's already slashdotted, and there are fewer than 10 comments.:
<psa>Clearly, too many admins of dynamic sites don't know about squid which can act as an 'httpd accelerator', meaning you don't have to go to database for every single request.</psa>
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
out the kleenex - you'll be drooling.
no, you'll be jerking
click here!
Review: Sharp Zaurus SL-5000D By: Ezekiel Garfield, 07.01.02 10:02 Th' developer edishun of whut will become the dawgoned-est advanced Linux cornsoomr PDA t'date is hyar; we've taken a closer look at th' heart an' th' soul of Sharp's noo SL-5000D. Sharp recently released th' developer edishun of their noo Linux-based PDA, th' Zaurus SL-5000D - an' th' compenny, by posishunin' it as th' Linux answer t'Pocket PC an' Palm OS devices, is tryin' t'take th' business an' "prosoomr" markets by sto'm, dawgone it. We take a closer look at th' SL-5000D, both fum th' point of view of a Linux-based system an' a PDA. Th' SL-5000D is a rather large device, compared t'other PDAs on th' market Bear in mind, th' sof'ware fo' th' Zaurus SL-5000D is still in development, so it is a movin' targit fo' now. Some of th' points menshuned hyar may change by th' time th' consoomr vahshun, th' Sharp Zaurus SL-5500, is released in th' a-comin' months. Th' hardware Th' Zaurus measures 2.90 x 5.40 x 0.80 in, as enny fool kin plainly see. (74 x 138 x 21 mm), an' weighs in at 7.3 oz (206 g). It's larger than typical Palm OS devices, but has a comfy size compared t'most Pocket PCs. Th' front panel below th' screen slides down t'reveal th' thoomb keyboard, which makes th' device about 2 inches longer than when it's closed, cuss it all t' tarnation. Th' front panel itse'f has eight hardware sho'tcut buttons an' one disk-rocker. Calendar, Contack, Home, Menu, an' Email helter-skelter acrost th' top, Palm-like, wif an On/Off/Kincel button an' OK button flankin' th' silvah rocker below them, dawgone it. Th' rocker itse'f is a 4-way disk rocker wif t'other button in th' center. Th' rocker feels mighty fine in th' han' an' is mighty easy t'use. Note thet th' front panel buttons funckshun only when th' panel is fully extended o' fully retracked, cuss it all t' tarnation. Th' keyboard is a QWERTY layo't in a downward "frown", wif a few modificashuns. A "FN" (funckshun) button in th' lower lef' acks as a shif' key t'th' noomric an' symbol chareeckers listed above etch chareecker. Th' backspace key is whar th' Enter key no'mally is, while Enter is relegated t'th' bottom right co'ner. Th' ".", ":", ",", an' ";" chareeckers is also grouped an' arranged diffruntly. Th' pipe chareecker, stan'ard fare on enny Linux-based system, is th' FN-shif' fum th' spacebar, although it is not marked as sech. Th' keys is small, but we foun' them easy t'use, unless yo' haf mighty large fingers. Th' top of th' device includes a Type Iah Compack Flash (CF) slot, haidphone/microphone jack, an' silo fo' th' included all-plastic stylus, which we foun' t'be a bit sho't. An included plastic slug in th' CF slot keeps it free fum dirt when not in use. It wawks, but we prefer devices thet use a small dore o' covah so thet thar is no extry plastic. On th' lef' side of th' device, thar is a Secure Digital (SD) slot, which lacks a plastic slug, an' an IrDA po't. Th' bottom ind of th' device includes an AC po't an' serial po't fo' cornneckin' t'th' included cradle. Th' serial po't does haf a fold-ovah dore, similar t'th' covah on th' Hewlett-Packard Jo'nada 540 Series CF slot. Whuffo' Sharp chose t'put one of these dores on th' serial po't but not th' CF slot eludes us. Thar is also two hook holes through th' device, one at th' top an' one at th' bottom, fo' attachin' a co'd so thet th' device kin be hung aroun' th' neck. Shet mah mouth! To our surprise, thar is no scroll wheel t'be foun' ennywhar. A top view of th' SL-5000D Th' screen is a TFT colo' side lit display, wif quarter-VGA 240x320 pixel resolushun capable of displayin' 65,536 colo's. A frosted transloocent flip covah flips down on over th' screen, as enny fool kin plainly see. It's clear inough thet yer hankerin' t'try an' read through it, but frosted inough thet yo' kin't. Th' screen is shif'ed sevahal millimeters t'th' lef', t'make room fo' th' sidelight on th' right side of th' screen, as enny fool kin plainly see. A large black strip down th' right side of th' digitizer hides th' light, which provides mighty fine visibility unner most lightin' corndishuns. Like most TFT displays, howevah, th' Zaurus screen appears t'be a magnet fo' dest. Unner th' hood, th' Zaurus is powered by a 206 MHz Intel StrongARM processo'. Th' OS itse'f an' th' included sof'ware reside in 16 MB of Flash ROM, wif 32 MB of RAM available t'sto'e an' helter-skelter programs. Th' consoomr edishun, th' SL-5500, is specked t'be identical 'cept fo' havin' 64 MB of RAM. Th' Zaurus also has a DSP chip fo' decodin' MP3s, an' a tiny piezo-eleckric speaker fo' alarms. Th' included dockin' cradle is V-shaped, wif one side of th' V restin' on th' desk an' th' Zaurus slidin' into t'other side of th' V when cradled, cuss it all t' tarnation. It measures 3.4 x 2.6 x 4.2 in (HxWxD) (86 x 65 x 107 mm). A 6.5-foot (2 meter) USB cable runs outta th' back t'conneck t'a PC. Th' device slides into th' cradle an' sits on a skimpy po't thet sticks up fum th' base - howevah, it's a tight fit, so makin' th' device cornneck proper kin be difficult. An included AC adapper plugs into eifer th' base of th' device o' th' cradle. In an amazin' bust wif indestry stan'ard, th' AC adapper does not haf th' AC plug built direckly into it. Instead, yo' plug an addishunal cable into th' adapper, which acks as an extenshun co'd t'th' AC outlet. Thet means thet th' adapper will nevah take up mo'e than one power socket, an' whuffo' mo'e companies doesn't use this hyar design is beyond our comprehenshun. When th' device is chargin', a small gold light on th' front of th' device glows steady, an' then shets off when th' device is fully charged, cuss it all t' tarnation. Th' LiIon battery is rated at 10 days of stan'by time (sittin' in a drawer). A memo'y backup battery then kicks in fo' an extry day t'keep th' memo'y intack, but won't turn on th' screen, as enny fool kin plainly see. In our tests, wif th' screen dimmed an' th' device playin' an MP3 off a CF card corntinuously, we were able t'git 4 hours an' 53 minutes of playtime befo'e th' device shet off. Rechargin' took approximately 3 hours. Sharp claims thet th' SL-5500, when it ships, will haf better battery life. Th' main Launcher screen uses a clean tabbed interface At th' mighty bottom of th' back is a small switch thet when flipped down shets down th' device an' unlocks th' battery compartment. Typically yo' kin use th' switch as a "sof' reset" switch by switchin' th' device off, then back on agin af'er a few seconds. A familiar GNU/Linux start screen appears briefly wif text messages scrollin' past, befo'e th' graphic libraries load, cuss it all t' tarnation. 99% of users kin safely igno'e thet info'mashun completely, an' it may be hidden on th' consoomr edishun. Yo' kin also replace th' battery while switch is down sh'd th' LiIon cells evah die. Th' architeckure Th' Zaurus's operatin' system is a Linux-based OS fum Lineo called "Embedix.", which bills as a "blendin' of Open Source an' commercial sof'ware." Whut in tarnation thet means in non-market speak is thet th' co'e of th' system is based on Open Source an' Free Sof'ware programs, wif some Free an' some commercial applicashuns runnin' on it. Th' Embedix system is built aroun' Linux 2.4 an' Qtopia (fo'merly Qt/Embedded) fum Trolltech, in which thar is no X Windows sarver. Qtopia is released unner th' GNU Juneral Public License (GPL) rather than th' GNU Lesser Juneral Public License (LGPL), as is th' SDK. Yo' kin download th' SDK fo' free an' develop apps at no charge, provide thet they is then released unner th' GPL. Eff'n yo' wish t'release commercial apps, yo' will hafta license th' SDK commercially fum Trolltech fo' a one-time fee, which is specked t'be between $200 an' $300 USD. Th' Embedix system in th' Zaurus is mighty much a tradishunal Linux-based system thet happens t'run on a physically small device, rather than a han'held device thet happens t'be based on a Linux. It uses split-memo'y architeckure like th' one Windows CE does t'emulate a sto'age area (disk) an' ackive program area. Runnin' programs is copied fum th' sto'age side of RAM into ackive RAM an' executed, an' multiple programs kin be runnin' at once. While thet does offer some advantages, it also means thet it is easy t'leave multiple programs open at th' same time wifout realizin' it, slowin' perfo'mance. When th' device is off, th' system is suspended t'th' sto'age part of RAM ("hard disk") jest as a desktop system is, which results in slower on an' off times. On th' 32 MB SL-5000D, about 18 MB is resarved fo' th' ackive RAM area, leavin' a mere 11.5 MB fo' sto'in' programs an' files. Th' Qt menu lets yo' locut an' launch enny applicashun On account o' Embedix is a full fledged Linux-based system, yo' haf all th' flexibility thet yo''d haf on enny other Linux system, provided yo' knows how it wawks an' feel comfy recompilin' libraries an' installin' them yo'seff. Fo' example, although it does not natively helter-skelter X Windows, sevahal developers haf managed t'po't X t'th' device, as fine as th' X Windows-based Palm OS emulato' Co-Pilot. (Note thet Co-Pilot don't suppo't th' mo'e recent vahshuns of th' Palm OS, only older ROMs.) Whether sech a setup is a viable invironment fo' emulatin' runnin' Palm apps o' jest a neat novelty remains t'be see. Vershuns of OpenSSH, telnet, a web sarver, an' other tradishunal Linux daemons is already available fum third parties, mostly unner th' GPL. Embedix also includes th' Jeode Java Virtual Machine, developed by Insignia Solushuns. Yo' kin develop Java programs fo' th' Zaurus, which will show up as no'mal applicashuns. Loadin' th' JVM adds about 3 seconds t'th' start time of a given applicashun. Th' SL-5000D includes two non-interackive demo apps t'show off th' graphic speed of th' JVM, which is surprisin'ly fast. When yo' insert a CF o' SD memo'y card, th' OS autymatically mounts it t'/mnt/cf o' /mnt/sd, respeckively. It then scans th' entire card an' flattens th' direcko'ies in RAM, so it don't matter whut direcko'y a file is in on th' card, cuss it all t' tarnation. Eff'n yo' copy o' save a file t'th' card, it will be placed in a stan'ard locashun based on its catego'y an' file type (mo'e on thet later). Yo' kin also install some applicashuns t'a card, an' they will then only helter-skelter when th' card is inserted, though it will show up in th' Home app regardless. Th' Sof'ware Th' User Interface an' bundled applicashuns is still unner development, so some thin's may change between th' current developer edishun an' th' final cornsoomr model, ah reckon. Howevah, given th' amount of time remainin', th' juneral look an' feel will probably not change drastically. Most fo'm elements resemble a typical desktop display To turn th' device on, yo' hafta press th' On/Off/Kincel button on th' bottom lef'. None of t'other hard buttons will ackivate th' device. It takes about 2-3 seconds fo' th' device t'power up o' power down, not quite "instant on". To deackivate th' device, yo' muss press an' hold th' On/Off/Kincel button fo' a about a second, o' else it will be interpreted as a Kincel comman'. Th' Uah in juneral is mighty reminiscent of a desktop system o' Windows CE interface, wif both th' benefits an' interface problems thet brin's. Th' Home o' Launcher applicashun uses a tabbed interface, wif a series of tabs acrost th' top of th' screen, as enny fool kin plainly see. Tabs shrink t'jest their icons when not viewed, an' expan' t'show their name when selecked, cuss it all t' tarnation. An evah-present taxbar at th' bottom of th' screen closely resembles desktop taxbars, complete wif a Qt menu thet provides a mirro' of th' catego'ies in th' Home applicashun, a trigger t'brin' up th' on-screen text input window, a list of currently runnin' applicashuns, utility icons sech as Soun' an' Battery, an' th' current time. An "appeareence" applet lets yo' change th' colo' theme of applicashuns, an' even chose between diffrunt widgit sets t'make th' interface seem mo'e Windows-like, KDE-like, o' LightStep-like. Pressin' th' Home button repeatedly will cycle through th' tabs in o'der, while th' rocker disk will navigate th' icons in etch tab. Well bust mah britches an' call me streaker. Pressin' th' center button launches th' applicashun. Alternatively, yo' kin use th' Menu button t'ackivate th' Qt menu (which resembles th' Start Menu o' K Menu, dependin' on th' environment yer used to) an' navigate thet wif th' rocker. Ironically, howevah, mo'e than one novice user thet we had tess th' device thunk th' "Qt" button meant "Quit". Thar is currently no simple way t'edit th' tabs o' move applicashuns fum one tab t't'other. Th' last tab in th' Home screen is th' "Docoomnts" tab, which funckshuns as a so't of Mah Docoomnts tab. Well bust mah britches an' call me streaker. It aggregates togither docoomnts in yer home direcko'y in RAM, as fine as them ennywhar on eifer expanshun card, cuss it all t' tarnation. Yo' kinnot so't them into folders, but yo' kin so't them into Palm-like catego'ies o' filter by th' file type, sech as applicashun, audio, video, text, etc. Tappin' on a reckanized file will load th' file in its appropriate program, dawgone it. Tappin' an' holdin' fo' a moment on enny icon will brin' up a details fo'm allerin' yo' t'rename a file o' change its catego'y. Yo' kin edit catego'ies fum th' details fo'm as fine. Indivijool applicashuns haf a mighty desktop-like feel, ah reckon. A title bar at th' top of etch fo'm shows th' fo'm o' applicashun title, wif an OK button o' "X" button in th' top lef' thet acks as a close button, as enny fool kin plainly see. Eff'n it's an OK button, it kin also be triggered fum th' OK button on th' front panel, ah reckon. A small quesshun mark button opens a he'p file. All of th' title bar buttons is a bit small, howevah, makin' them hard t'hit. Below th' title bar is an opshunal menu bar, jest like on a desktop app, which kinnot be hidden, as enny fool kin plainly see. Some apps haf text menus, others haf graphic buttons, some haf both. Th' ress of th' fo'm corntains stan'ard elements sech as text areas, drop-down boxes, check boxes, an' th' like, wif desktop-like semi-3D effecks. Menny funckshuns take one o' two taps mo'e than they sh'd. Pocket PC users sh'd feel right at home, while Palm users who complained about th' Pocket PC's heavy interface an' lack of cornsissency acrost applicashuns will haf th' same set of complaints hyar. Terminal window, notice th' odd wrappin' on th' "ps aux" comman' Next t'th' Qt menu on th' tax bar is a seleck box/push button thet lets yo' seleck between four diffrunt kinds of on-screen input. All four pop up at th' bottom of th' screen, causin' th' ress of th' screen t'shrink t'make room, dawgone it. Thar is an on-screen tappable QWERTY keyboard, a small alfybetic "pick board", a han'writin' recognishun screen, an' a Unicode selecko'. All but th' Unicode selecko' include a built-in wo'd complete feature, which is most welcome. Th' Unicode selecko' allers yo' t'seleck enny suppo'ted chareecker direckly outta th' chareecker set table, an' is apparently aimed fo' internashunal users. Th' han'writin' recognishun system most closely resembles Jot, th' default han'writin' system on Pocket PC devices an' also available fo' th' Palm, dawgone it. Th' han'writin' area is divided into three areas, fo' uppercase, lowercase, an' noomric an' symbol chareeckers. Fo' them not used t'th' Zaurus's chareeckers, a quesshun mark button t'th' right of th' han'writin' area calls up an interackive, animated trainer program, dawgone it. It shows a selecked chareecker bein' drawn, then allers yo' t'try it yo'seff an' tells yo' which chareecker it is interpretin' it as. Eff'n yo' simply kinnot stan' th' default set of chareecker strokes, th' pencil button on th' right side of th' han'writin' area lets yo' add an' remove cestom strokes fo' etch chareecker. Wif a li'l time, yo' sh'd be able t'setup a reasonable facsimile of Graffiti eff'n yer comfy wif thet chareecker set. Th' trainer applet will even take th' noo strokes into account an' let yo' train on th' ones yo' specify as fine. Jest in case yo' completely mess up, yo' kin resto'e th' default chareeckers wif th' tap of a button, as enny fool kin plainly see. Applicashuns Th' Zaurus includes a number of bundled applicashuns, some Free Sof'ware an' some commercial, ah reckon. Thar is th' usual asso'tment of PIM applicashuns, although notably missin' is a memo app. Thar is a text edito', but th' interface is still lackin' at this hyar point an' it does not tie into th' conduit (mo'e on thet later). No system'd be complete wifout a solitaire game, an' th' Zaurus includes seven other games as fine. Thar is also a calculato', image viewer, an' simple but effeckive file manager. Windows users kin give th' interface a Windows-like look, o' alternatively QPE o' LightStep looks As yo''d speck fum a Linux-based system, thar is a terminal applet wif a bash prompp. All th' usual comman' line tools is present, although at th' moment th' only bundled text edito' is vi. Emacs an' pico is available as free downloads fum other developers. (Emacs, pico, an' vi is three of the dawgoned-est popular cornsole text edito's fo' Unix-like operatin' systems.) One drawback, howevah, is thet most comman' line tools assoom a desktop-sized monito', an' ain't been redesigned fo' a 240x320 screen, as enny fool kin plainly see. Fo' example, th' common comman' "ps aux" (which shows a list of all runnin' processes on th' device) will wrap on th' display, makin' it extremely hard t'read, cuss it all t' tarnation. 16 common comman's is available fum a drop down menu above th' text area. An included media player will play MP3 audio files as fine as MPEG-4 video files, although audio will only play through th' haidphone/microphone jack. Shet mah mouth! Amazin'ly, it don't suppo't Ogg Vo'bis files as of yet. Thar is suppo't fo' a sin'le playlist only. Th' quality of our sample MPEG-4 video files was quite fine, an' looked sharp an' crisp on th' 240x320 display. Audio quality was excellent. In jury testin', dependin' on th' voloom level, th' Zaurus prodooced crisper soun' than a Sony CLIE 760C, although it was a bit too sharp t'lissen t'continually. At a lower voloom, howevah, it was almost indistin'uishable. At maximum voloom, sevahal testers were unable t'tell th' difference between th' Zaurus an' a Creative Labs Soun'Blaster Live! card when played through th' same speakers, which is quite a feat fo' a han'held device. Thar is also a Voice Reco'der applicashun thet requires thet yo' plug a microphone into th' haidphone/microphone jack. Shet mah mouth! It kin save in a variety of diffrunt mono fo'mats, rangin' fum 8 KHz, 64 kbps all th' way t'22 KHz, 352 kbps incodin'. It kin save files t'RAM o' eifer sto'age card, cuss it all t' tarnation. Media Player is capable of playin' audio an' video, wif surprisin'ly fine quality Th' Zaurus also includes th' commercial web browser Opera in ROM. Opera fo' th' Zaurus is based on th' Opera 5 ingine, th' same ingine used in th' desktop vahshuns of Opera until recently. (Opera 6 fo' Windows was released in late November.) It includes almost complete HTML 4.0, XHTML 1.0, CSS 1, an' CSS 2 suppo't, equal t'o' better than Internet Splorer does. Th' interface is redesigned fo' a han'held fo'm facko', howevah. It also includes th' ability t'refo'mat a page t'a 240x320 screen, includin' frames. Fo' large pages thet does not refo'mat easily, Opera includes th' ability t'zoom in o' out, makin' th' entire page smaller o' larger. Th' Zaurus uses a package system based mighty closely on th' Familiar Linux distribushun fo' th' Compaq iPAQ, even bo'rowin' th' name ipkg, acco'din' t' th' code o' th' heells! An included package manager applet allers yo' t'install *.ipk package files located in RAM o' on a memo'y card an' uninstall packages thet yo' haf added, cuss it all t' tarnation. Yo' kin also cornfigger remote ipk sarvers, an' upgrade installed packages based on th' info'mashun on th' sarver, allerin' fo' almost Debian like centralized management, moosic t'th' ears of co'po'ate IT managers. Eff'n th' program yer hankerin' t'install ain't packaged proper, howevah, yo'll hafta install it th' same way yo''d on enny other Linux-based distribushun; usin' an included install scripp o' manually placin' files.
ZeoSync goes down in history as the fastest uncovered hoax: The oracle knows all, saves everything.
--- Hindsight is 20/20, but walking backwards is not the answer.