Maybe I'm way off base, but I didn't think that clicking a mouse was really a huge cause of RSI... it seems like such a small motion.
I suppose some people might find this software to be more comfortable, but as someone who moves around on their mouse and keyboard really quickly (People watching me use my computer tend to get confused and ask how the hell I have any idea what I'm doing), I doubt this would really help me that much.
But hey, there's a lot of people out there, with a lot of different computer habits, and I wouldn't be suprised to learn that some people found this really useful... but it just doesn't sound very appealing to me at all.
Well, no, of course it's not an actual computer, and it really wouldn't be useful to build a computer out of dominoes. Of course it's kind of pointless, tons of neat things are fairly pointless.
But there is something very useful about little demonstrations like this. If you've already got a good grasp of basic computing concepts, it's kind of a big yawn, but for kids who are just learning about a computer's innards, it's simple examples like this that can generate "AHA!" moments. Most people out there haven't the slightest clue what happens inside their computer. To them it might as well be magic.
With a good teacher, and some simple examples like this (or another good one would be the 4 bit water adder that was posted here a little while ago) can really help these concepts become easier to understand.
Sure there's a lot of DRM free music available, I don't think many people will be suprised to hear that.
The problem is, music isn't a commodity like, say, gasoline. If I have an issue with the way gas is being sold by many companies, and there's plenty available that's being sold the way I like it, no problem, I just get the gas from the sources I respect.
Music isn't simply music. Most people aren't simply interested in obtaining massive amounts of music, they want specific music. They want the music they like. Now, there are a lot of people who prefer looking for new, independant music almost exclusively. They're lucky, lots of independant musicians are releasing their music DRM free. Sometimes entirely free (as in beer). They aren't everyone though. Most people probably get more popular stuff from major labels. I listen to a pretty wide variety of music. So while some of the stuff I'm interested in comes from independant artists who release their music without DRM, I also want to obtain stuff that's released by the big corporations who are really, really, really nervous that I might illegally copy their recordings.
Popular music is called "popular" for a reason. Lots of people want to listen to it. I should mention I'm using the term "popular music" in its broadest sense. Not just Britney Spears and the Pussycat Dolls, I'm referring to any music produced by widely recognized musicians. This includes plenty of rock, folk, country, hip hop, classical, blues, r&b. Oh, and, of course, not just recent recordings by living musicians, but all the popular stuff recorded over the years.
The vast majority of popular music is released by RIAA-connected major labels, who are, of course, the primary purveyors of DRM. I'm not denying the fact that there's probably as much quality music available out there from independant artists, but people don't tend to want music until they've heard it and enjoyed it. Popular music has a clear advantage there.
I think the internet has become a great way for musicians to promote their work, but it still lacks a bit for musicians. People still seem to pay more attention to music they hear on TV or the radio. The internet has been a great way for people like bloggers to become successful, but with music you have to go a little further out of your way to take it in.
There have been a number of artists that have successfully promoted themselves with MySpace (and perhaps a few other services), but for the most part, downloading and listening to music requires a few extra steps over reading an article, and people are less likely to go out of their way to try new things unless they have a reason to be interested. Part of the problem is likely the massive amount of available media. If you want to listen to internet radio, you have literally thousands of options, and the listeners get divided amongst the different stations. The online broadcasts of independant music provide such an enormous variety of material that its more difficult for artists to gain widespread popularity. Sure it happens to some extent, but TV and radio still have a much greater ability to give an artist enormous popularity.
Personally, I think it would be wonderful to see this create a much more varied music industry. Instead of having a smaller number of extremely succesful and wealthy artists, it would be nice to see a greater number and variety of artists, who were all able to make a reasonable living. The problem is that people want to idolize musicians. It seems unlikely that we'll see teenagers in particular completely abandon having rock star idols.
Anyways, I'm getting way off track. My point was basically that while it's nice having DRM free music available, unless I can get whatever music I'd like to listen to, DRM free, it's still a huge problem. People aren't going to hear this news and say "Hey! I didn't realize that! Now I don't have to buy my favorite artist's music, instead I can get this DRM free stuff that I'm completely unfamiliar with!".
If they had made the images different widths, the picture would be completely different. None of the "images" you see in here are beyond anything I'd expect from random chance.
Sure it's kind of neat to look at our entire DNA sequence laid out like that, but keep in mind that just because you can kind of make out your dead grandmother's face in one of the pictures only shows that you have a normal human brain.
Well, come on, that's a bit silly. To be honest, I haven't heard of the guy either, but claiming that the people who are familiar with the guy, are because they're not real hardcore gamers, and just a member of the unwashed masses seems a bit like saying "Well, *I* haven't heard of him, and I'm a smart, educated gamer, therefore the people who do know about this guy must be a bunch of n00b idiots."
You haven't heard of him! You know nothing about his audience, so making a negative generalization about them seems pretty damn juvenile if you ask me.
I haven't heard of him, so my assumption is that if people are saying he's well respected, then maybe he's actually an intelligent, reasonable guy. I don't know for sure, maybe he is full of crap, but I'm not going to get insulted and start claiming that the people who are familiar with him are a bunch of jerks and idiots.
*Some* people might find this advantageous.
"Oh, all you guys are still able to work? Lucky. My terminal has been reduced to a paperweight. I'm forced to go home, have a beer, and relax. How irritating."
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Maybe I'm way off base, but I didn't think that clicking a mouse was really a huge cause of RSI... it seems like such a small motion.
I suppose some people might find this software to be more comfortable, but as someone who moves around on their mouse and keyboard really quickly (People watching me use my computer tend to get confused and ask how the hell I have any idea what I'm doing), I doubt this would really help me that much.
But hey, there's a lot of people out there, with a lot of different computer habits, and I wouldn't be suprised to learn that some people found this really useful... but it just doesn't sound very appealing to me at all.
Well, no, of course it's not an actual computer, and it really wouldn't be useful to build a computer out of dominoes. Of course it's kind of pointless, tons of neat things are fairly pointless. But there is something very useful about little demonstrations like this. If you've already got a good grasp of basic computing concepts, it's kind of a big yawn, but for kids who are just learning about a computer's innards, it's simple examples like this that can generate "AHA!" moments. Most people out there haven't the slightest clue what happens inside their computer. To them it might as well be magic. With a good teacher, and some simple examples like this (or another good one would be the 4 bit water adder that was posted here a little while ago) can really help these concepts become easier to understand.
Sure there's a lot of DRM free music available, I don't think many people will be suprised to hear that. The problem is, music isn't a commodity like, say, gasoline. If I have an issue with the way gas is being sold by many companies, and there's plenty available that's being sold the way I like it, no problem, I just get the gas from the sources I respect. Music isn't simply music. Most people aren't simply interested in obtaining massive amounts of music, they want specific music. They want the music they like. Now, there are a lot of people who prefer looking for new, independant music almost exclusively. They're lucky, lots of independant musicians are releasing their music DRM free. Sometimes entirely free (as in beer). They aren't everyone though. Most people probably get more popular stuff from major labels. I listen to a pretty wide variety of music. So while some of the stuff I'm interested in comes from independant artists who release their music without DRM, I also want to obtain stuff that's released by the big corporations who are really, really, really nervous that I might illegally copy their recordings. Popular music is called "popular" for a reason. Lots of people want to listen to it. I should mention I'm using the term "popular music" in its broadest sense. Not just Britney Spears and the Pussycat Dolls, I'm referring to any music produced by widely recognized musicians. This includes plenty of rock, folk, country, hip hop, classical, blues, r&b. Oh, and, of course, not just recent recordings by living musicians, but all the popular stuff recorded over the years. The vast majority of popular music is released by RIAA-connected major labels, who are, of course, the primary purveyors of DRM. I'm not denying the fact that there's probably as much quality music available out there from independant artists, but people don't tend to want music until they've heard it and enjoyed it. Popular music has a clear advantage there. I think the internet has become a great way for musicians to promote their work, but it still lacks a bit for musicians. People still seem to pay more attention to music they hear on TV or the radio. The internet has been a great way for people like bloggers to become successful, but with music you have to go a little further out of your way to take it in. There have been a number of artists that have successfully promoted themselves with MySpace (and perhaps a few other services), but for the most part, downloading and listening to music requires a few extra steps over reading an article, and people are less likely to go out of their way to try new things unless they have a reason to be interested. Part of the problem is likely the massive amount of available media. If you want to listen to internet radio, you have literally thousands of options, and the listeners get divided amongst the different stations. The online broadcasts of independant music provide such an enormous variety of material that its more difficult for artists to gain widespread popularity. Sure it happens to some extent, but TV and radio still have a much greater ability to give an artist enormous popularity. Personally, I think it would be wonderful to see this create a much more varied music industry. Instead of having a smaller number of extremely succesful and wealthy artists, it would be nice to see a greater number and variety of artists, who were all able to make a reasonable living. The problem is that people want to idolize musicians. It seems unlikely that we'll see teenagers in particular completely abandon having rock star idols. Anyways, I'm getting way off track. My point was basically that while it's nice having DRM free music available, unless I can get whatever music I'd like to listen to, DRM free, it's still a huge problem. People aren't going to hear this news and say "Hey! I didn't realize that! Now I don't have to buy my favorite artist's music, instead I can get this DRM free stuff that I'm completely unfamiliar with!".
If they had made the images different widths, the picture would be completely different. None of the "images" you see in here are beyond anything I'd expect from random chance. Sure it's kind of neat to look at our entire DNA sequence laid out like that, but keep in mind that just because you can kind of make out your dead grandmother's face in one of the pictures only shows that you have a normal human brain.
Well, come on, that's a bit silly. To be honest, I haven't heard of the guy either, but claiming that the people who are familiar with the guy, are because they're not real hardcore gamers, and just a member of the unwashed masses seems a bit like saying "Well, *I* haven't heard of him, and I'm a smart, educated gamer, therefore the people who do know about this guy must be a bunch of n00b idiots." You haven't heard of him! You know nothing about his audience, so making a negative generalization about them seems pretty damn juvenile if you ask me. I haven't heard of him, so my assumption is that if people are saying he's well respected, then maybe he's actually an intelligent, reasonable guy. I don't know for sure, maybe he is full of crap, but I'm not going to get insulted and start claiming that the people who are familiar with him are a bunch of jerks and idiots.
*Some* people might find this advantageous. "Oh, all you guys are still able to work? Lucky. My terminal has been reduced to a paperweight. I'm forced to go home, have a beer, and relax. How irritating."