So you're telling me that they also need differently-shaped processors, pci wireless cards, ram sticks, gpu's, usb ports, etc? These are all components with a fixed size and they manage to get them to fit into their design. I'm sure that if a few thoughtfully designed, standardized battery shapes and sizes were mandated, they'd find a nice way to make em fit by adjusting things like speakers, keyboards, motherboard, heatsink/pipes, fans and the like.
Why does everyone want the netbook to do everything and the kitchen sink? I used to own an HP Jornada 320LX (tiny "Palmtop" PC, MIPS, no internet. Few apps). I was in highschool. Ran on two AA batteries which lasted weeks, and I was able to carry the thing in my pocket. Even had a decent keyboard. Could do assignments and type notes anywhere, play little games to pass some time, etc. It was of great utility and because of the great battery life, always available and convenient. A $100 ARM netbook with at least 6 hours battery and the ability to do all that AND to surf the web and watch video and play music... ssh into my main computer and stream things/vnc? DO WANT. NOW.
And, as technology progresses, the argument that it is 'innefficient' becomes more and more moot because the bandwidth required becomes more and more nominal in relation to availability.
Doesn't IPV6 also have broadcast capability built-in, making live-streaming type applications (TV) drastically more efficient?
I honestly havent figured out my view on the sexes completely, but I do agree somewhat with your basic premise. It would seem that in the US, the more we moved towards the idea that women should persue their own lives, make their own careers, etc, and that men do the same, the worse we get at having families and raising kids.
I don't care *who* stays home and takes care of the kids, the household, cooks, w/e, or how such tasks are divided, but *somebody's* got to do it.
But today's society seems to focus so much more on the individual, and on the *things* people have, so two-income families are extremely common, meanwhile the kids aren't getting personal attention, the house is a mess, everyone eats crappy food and gets fat, the divorce rate is higher, etc.
So, ya, I'd agree that traditional gender roles likely worked better in many ways. I'm hopeful that there is a compromise though.
The improvement we need in this area (are you listening Firefox people) is a way to group tabs the way I can group layers in Photoshop so that I can deal with the whole group (collapse, expand, move) together.
Perhaps not *quite* what you want, but try Tree Style Tabs.
I find them incredibly useful, especially when browsing slashdot.
I think the key feature they are omitting in this article is the ability to *group* apps into different tabbed windows. So that the task bar is used to select the group of apps, then the tab to select the individual app.
Yes , you can blame the user but ultimately these are supposed to be simple to use gadgets for people who have more important (to them) things in their life to worry about than application access permissions they probably don't even understand.
Sorry, but these are not simple gadgets any more so than a motor vehicle is a 'simple gadget'. ANY complex computing and/or net-connected device deserves as much respect in use as driving a motor vehicle on the highway.
There is a minimum amount of understanding required to safely operate a motor vehicle, and there is considerable potential harm that can come to oneself or to others in both scenarios.
If people don't take the time to learn about the device and it's proper and safe operation, they deserve to have some problems happen.
If they wanted a simple device that there's little danger that they screw it up, they would have bought a simple phone, not a 'smartphone'.
So you can't really blame users for treating a gadget thats marketed as simple to use in a simple way.
Sure I can. Again, most cars are fairly simple to operate, but there are still safety procedures and driving practices and laws to learn until one can correctly and safely operate one.
There is no excuse for intentional ignorance. RTFM!:)
Days late and in response to an AC, but I agree that there are some drugs that are illegal but not life-wrecking to many people. But there are definitely many drugs that pretty much only ruin people's lives. I also agree that it is not strictly a moral problem requiring punishment. However, in the sense that society often ends up needing to care for, clean up after, and pay for the medical problems of people who absolutely could have avoided the issue entirely, it does become something we need to prevent. Making certain drugs illegal is the most efficient method in terms of cost and effectiveness.
Gutenberg invented his press in 1436. Copyright was invented in Venice in 1486, a mere 50 years later. So no, people have not been writing books without copyright for as long as there's been books. Again, that doesn't address the point.
WTF? There are books dating back to 2400 B.C. and probably before that. Just because they were hand-written doesn't mean they're not books.
Comparing the effects of widespread piracy of music and movies on a population and the effect of hard drugs is ridiculous. Lots of media is absolutely terrible and may be said to "rot your brain", but many, many of the kinds of drugs that are illegal really ruin people's lives and make them completely unemployable and a drain on the world.
I'm sure most of the population will get behind a law against life-wrecking hard drugs, but I can't see them rallying to stop piracy as hard. The negative side effects just aren't as deadly.
I agree. I've never understood the IDE haters. I don't do much GUI programming, but when I do, I usually find that using a GUI to place GUI components can be easier at times, depending on the language and toolkit, but often times you get simpler, cleaner and easier to debug code if you just make it yourself.
IDE's, imho, are great at making debugging and coding more efficient. In case-sensitive languages, and while using multiple libraries, or even my own code, things like auto-completion, tooltip hints, and even function signature hinting go a long way towards avoiding time wasted sifting through documentation.
Sometimes the little conveniences add up to a lot of time and stress saved.
If everybody is making minimum wage with no benefits whatsoever, who can afford services?
Just had a weird thought, maybe i'm way off. If the economy was largely services, then the prices would have to come down so that people could afford them. The end result is basically a trade of services of things that people would have done themselves. Which degenerates into a form of "communism" in which people perform tasks they are able to do for others and in turn receive the result of tasks performed by others. Expand the idea of a service to include manufacturing items for other people and you've got a service economy.
Hmm, this sounds like how things are now. weird.
Maybe we need less us-vs-them and need to instead look at us as a global population.
I work fixing computer issues for students at a University. Believe me I've seen toolbars. I've seen machines that, although not heavily infected in the virus/spyware sense, had enough toolbars to fill half the vertical space of the screen (IE of course). We're talking 6 or 7 toolbars. And people simply put up with it because they don't know any better. Amazing.
Well, imagine how much internet bandwidth will be available in the existing cable tv infrastructure once ALL broadcast channels go away, and PPV and etc.
For the next several years I went about my business, including getting my tag updated annually, and even being pulled over a few times, with nary a word about this from any of the tag office clerks, police, or anyone else.
I would have sued the state for the last N years of tag-renewal fees as well as inconvenience of having to be involved in legal issues due to the state's neglect to inform you that you were attempting to renew a suspended license, and instead fraudulently accepted your money anyway.
Or at the very least I would have contacted the local news and informed them about the corrupt judge.
The real issue here is that building infrastructure like this requires such a huge amount of capital that it's a natural monopoly.
I hear this a lot about comms companies. Just suggesting- Why can't we privatize some of the infrastructure? If you want internet or cable tv to your home, you pay for the "Last Mile" to the local gov-owned comms building. From there, whichever company you wish to pay for whatever services gets to connect to your pipe.
I dunno, but there's gotta be a better way. Maybe neighborhoods should start stringing fiber between the homes themselves and create their own networks.
Yes, if you have a manual, I forgot that case since most cars are auto in the US. In my car, I'd have to shift into "2" or "1" (which, depending on speed, could be bad) to get any real slowdown. However, many auto trans cars only have P, R, D, and N.
If i understood your prior post correctly, it did handle the unexpected reboot quite gracefully, you were still able to continue it without too much trouble. I've never heard of anyone successfully continuing a Windows install after a reboot/power loss in the middle.
To be fair, if your throttle sticks open while driving, neutral and brake is definitely the right thing to do, but you'd also better kill the engine before the high revs cause damage (assuming no rev limiter, and even then you shouldn't be hitting the limiter if avoidable)
Over-revving the engine can also cause expensive damage.
What's strange about it? It's a HYBRID. With electronic throttle control. There is no point in starting and revving the engine in neutral to it. It is a pure waste of fuel and wear on the starter. Neutral in such a vehicle should basically disable the pedal.
Unless of course they are leaving a traditional behavior in place so people are used to it, and as a diagnostic tool.
The muscle memory of (hand)writing notes (which are not necessarily verbatum copies of the presentation) is an excellant aid to learning.
Maybe if you're trying to memorize facts, but what is the utility in this day with google and reference books at your fingertips. I find the thing that's most important, especially in a math class, is the concepts and understanding them, as well as simply being familiar enough with equations to understand when to apply them and how.
If I am too busy trying to copy down everything the teacher explains, I can't focus on the important things. That's why for most classes, I don't even bother with taking notes. I have the book in most cases for reference.
What is really needed is for classes such as mathematics and sciences is to have guided exercise. Everyone works in pairs or groups to solve problems and APPLY the knowledge immediately after the teacher imparts it, with the teacher present to go to for assistance when things haven't "clicked" yet.
As a fifth year student (Admittedly not a stellar one, but thats a personal issue) I'd recommend focusing on the concepts, and don't worry about writing everything down. Practice will get you much farther than your notes ever will.
Slashdot Mirror
So you're telling me that they also need differently-shaped processors, pci wireless cards, ram sticks, gpu's, usb ports, etc? These are all components with a fixed size and they manage to get them to fit into their design. I'm sure that if a few thoughtfully designed, standardized battery shapes and sizes were mandated, they'd find a nice way to make em fit by adjusting things like speakers, keyboards, motherboard, heatsink/pipes, fans and the like.
Why does everyone want the netbook to do everything and the kitchen sink? I used to own an HP Jornada 320LX (tiny "Palmtop" PC, MIPS, no internet. Few apps). I was in highschool. Ran on two AA batteries which lasted weeks, and I was able to carry the thing in my pocket. Even had a decent keyboard. Could do assignments and type notes anywhere, play little games to pass some time, etc. It was of great utility and because of the great battery life, always available and convenient. A $100 ARM netbook with at least 6 hours battery and the ability to do all that AND to surf the web and watch video and play music... ssh into my main computer and stream things/vnc? DO WANT. NOW.
And, as technology progresses, the argument that it is 'innefficient' becomes more and more moot because the bandwidth required becomes more and more nominal in relation to availability.
Doesn't IPV6 also have broadcast capability built-in, making live-streaming type applications (TV) drastically more efficient?
Obviously, the problem this device has is that at $490 it's far too expensive ($200-$300 would probably be a more practical price point)
You're joking, right? 400-500 is one semester's worth of books at my college.
Yep. Time for a new patch, er edition. Make the graphs that were Red, Blue, and the graphs that were Blue, Red.
Now, fix a few typos... good.
Now, let's re-arrange the homework problems a bit to force the students to upgrade...
Ah, that's right, change the edition number for the book cover.
Great! All Done.
That's basically the story behind Stewart's Calculus 5e -> 6. I happened to fall in the middle of it from one year to the next. Big freakin' ripoff.
I honestly havent figured out my view on the sexes completely, but I do agree somewhat with your basic premise. It would seem that in the US, the more we moved towards the idea that women should persue their own lives, make their own careers, etc, and that men do the same, the worse we get at having families and raising kids.
I don't care *who* stays home and takes care of the kids, the household, cooks, w/e, or how such tasks are divided, but *somebody's* got to do it.
But today's society seems to focus so much more on the individual, and on the *things* people have, so two-income families are extremely common, meanwhile the kids aren't getting personal attention, the house is a mess, everyone eats crappy food and gets fat, the divorce rate is higher, etc.
So, ya, I'd agree that traditional gender roles likely worked better in many ways. I'm hopeful that there is a compromise though.
The improvement we need in this area (are you listening Firefox people) is a way to group tabs the way I can group layers in Photoshop so that I can deal with the whole group (collapse, expand, move) together.
Perhaps not *quite* what you want, but try Tree Style Tabs.
I find them incredibly useful, especially when browsing slashdot.
I think the key feature they are omitting in this article is the ability to *group* apps into different tabbed windows. So that the task bar is used to select the group of apps, then the tab to select the individual app.
So you mean like workspaces/virtual desktops?
Yes , you can blame the user but ultimately these are supposed to be simple to use gadgets for people who have more important (to them) things in their life to worry about than application access permissions they probably don't even understand.
Sorry, but these are not simple gadgets any more so than a motor vehicle is a 'simple gadget'. ANY complex computing and/or net-connected device deserves as much respect in use as driving a motor vehicle on the highway.
There is a minimum amount of understanding required to safely operate a motor vehicle, and there is considerable potential harm that can come to oneself or to others in both scenarios.
If people don't take the time to learn about the device and it's proper and safe operation, they deserve to have some problems happen.
If they wanted a simple device that there's little danger that they screw it up, they would have bought a simple phone, not a 'smartphone'.
So you can't really blame users for treating a gadget thats marketed as simple to use in a simple way.
Sure I can. Again, most cars are fairly simple to operate, but there are still safety procedures and driving practices and laws to learn until one can correctly and safely operate one.
:)
There is no excuse for intentional ignorance. RTFM!
Days late and in response to an AC, but I agree that there are some drugs that are illegal but not life-wrecking to many people. But there are definitely many drugs that pretty much only ruin people's lives. I also agree that it is not strictly a moral problem requiring punishment. However, in the sense that society often ends up needing to care for, clean up after, and pay for the medical problems of people who absolutely could have avoided the issue entirely, it does become something we need to prevent. Making certain drugs illegal is the most efficient method in terms of cost and effectiveness.
No, but I'd assume it means that Nintendo will replace you're game for free should any harm come to it.
Next time your game is scratched or cart dies, I'd demand this.
Gutenberg invented his press in 1436. Copyright was invented in Venice in 1486, a mere 50 years later. So no, people have not been writing books without copyright for as long as there's been books. Again, that doesn't address the point.
WTF? There are books dating back to 2400 B.C. and probably before that. Just because they were hand-written doesn't mean they're not books.
Comparing the effects of widespread piracy of music and movies on a population and the effect of hard drugs is ridiculous. Lots of media is absolutely terrible and may be said to "rot your brain", but many, many of the kinds of drugs that are illegal really ruin people's lives and make them completely unemployable and a drain on the world.
I'm sure most of the population will get behind a law against life-wrecking hard drugs, but I can't see them rallying to stop piracy as hard. The negative side effects just aren't as deadly.
I agree. I've never understood the IDE haters. I don't do much GUI programming, but when I do, I usually find that using a GUI to place GUI components can be easier at times, depending on the language and toolkit, but often times you get simpler, cleaner and easier to debug code if you just make it yourself.
IDE's, imho, are great at making debugging and coding more efficient. In case-sensitive languages, and while using multiple libraries, or even my own code, things like auto-completion, tooltip hints, and even function signature hinting go a long way towards avoiding time wasted sifting through documentation.
Sometimes the little conveniences add up to a lot of time and stress saved.
If everybody is making minimum wage with no benefits whatsoever, who can afford services?
Just had a weird thought, maybe i'm way off. If the economy was largely services, then the prices would have to come down so that people could afford them. The end result is basically a trade of services of things that people would have done themselves. Which degenerates into a form of "communism" in which people perform tasks they are able to do for others and in turn receive the result of tasks performed by others. Expand the idea of a service to include manufacturing items for other people and you've got a service economy.
Hmm, this sounds like how things are now. weird.
Maybe we need less us-vs-them and need to instead look at us as a global population.
When your Hadrons Collide.... I will EAT THE PLANET!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFWdY6wDMrk
I work fixing computer issues for students at a University. Believe me I've seen toolbars. I've seen machines that, although not heavily infected in the virus/spyware sense, had enough toolbars to fill half the vertical space of the screen (IE of course). We're talking 6 or 7 toolbars. And people simply put up with it because they don't know any better. Amazing.
Well, imagine how much internet bandwidth will be available in the existing cable tv infrastructure once ALL broadcast channels go away, and PPV and etc.
For the next several years I went about my business, including getting my tag updated annually, and even being pulled over a few times, with nary a word about this from any of the tag office clerks, police, or anyone else.
I would have sued the state for the last N years of tag-renewal fees as well as inconvenience of having to be involved in legal issues due to the state's neglect to inform you that you were attempting to renew a suspended license, and instead fraudulently accepted your money anyway.
Or at the very least I would have contacted the local news and informed them about the corrupt judge.
The real issue here is that building infrastructure like this requires such a huge amount of capital that it's a natural monopoly.
I hear this a lot about comms companies. Just suggesting- Why can't we privatize some of the infrastructure? If you want internet or cable tv to your home, you pay for the "Last Mile" to the local gov-owned comms building. From there, whichever company you wish to pay for whatever services gets to connect to your pipe.
I dunno, but there's gotta be a better way. Maybe neighborhoods should start stringing fiber between the homes themselves and create their own networks.
Yes, if you have a manual, I forgot that case since most cars are auto in the US. In my car, I'd have to shift into "2" or "1" (which, depending on speed, could be bad) to get any real slowdown. However, many auto trans cars only have P, R, D, and N.
If i understood your prior post correctly, it did handle the unexpected reboot quite gracefully, you were still able to continue it without too much trouble. I've never heard of anyone successfully continuing a Windows install after a reboot/power loss in the middle.
To be fair, if your throttle sticks open while driving, neutral and brake is definitely the right thing to do, but you'd also better kill the engine before the high revs cause damage (assuming no rev limiter, and even then you shouldn't be hitting the limiter if avoidable)
Over-revving the engine can also cause expensive damage.
What's strange about it? It's a HYBRID. With electronic throttle control. There is no point in starting and revving the engine in neutral to it. It is a pure waste of fuel and wear on the starter. Neutral in such a vehicle should basically disable the pedal.
Unless of course they are leaving a traditional behavior in place so people are used to it, and as a diagnostic tool.
The muscle memory of (hand)writing notes (which are not necessarily verbatum copies of the presentation) is an excellant aid to learning.
Maybe if you're trying to memorize facts, but what is the utility in this day with google and reference books at your fingertips. I find the thing that's most important, especially in a math class, is the concepts and understanding them, as well as simply being familiar enough with equations to understand when to apply them and how.
If I am too busy trying to copy down everything the teacher explains, I can't focus on the important things. That's why for most classes, I don't even bother with taking notes. I have the book in most cases for reference.
What is really needed is for classes such as mathematics and sciences is to have guided exercise. Everyone works in pairs or groups to solve problems and APPLY the knowledge immediately after the teacher imparts it, with the teacher present to go to for assistance when things haven't "clicked" yet.
As a fifth year student (Admittedly not a stellar one, but thats a personal issue) I'd recommend focusing on the concepts, and don't worry about writing everything down. Practice will get you much farther than your notes ever will.