Not a problem to save a pdf file into 2 GB. In fact, the average size of the papers I read is usually - let me see - 1.7 MB. The problem is that I need a huge collection of papers to do my work. I don't read them like one would a novel, I just scan for the data, the formula, the experiment results by colleagues around the world - if the experiment is relevant I'll read about the setup and the experimental vehicle. Rarely do I read one from beginning to end. And actually I never read the motivation at the beginning. We all know *why* we are doing this, the motivation is just to keep the form. 30% of the papers I download turn out to be useless. This way, a 2 GB SD card is filled pretty fast. It *could* be done, definitely, but you can see how a little 80 GB HD would do me more good.
NiCD: get on with the times, NiCD is passé - NiMH are a replacement that will work with present NiCD chargers pretty well. NiCD are a ticking bomb because they will, sooner or later, release their acidic content into your beloved gadget. And, for heaven's sake, don't just throw them away. Cadmium is extremely poisonous. BTW, I really hate batteries because of their limited lifespan and their various dangers. I'm waiting for supercaps to be more ubiquitous. Already now they work in some low-consumption devices.
As I was saying in reply to another person (less flaming than you), I would use it almost exclusively to read scientific papers in.pdf format. They are rich in pictures and diagrams. Some of them ARE pictures (older scanned documents - they are still important in material science).
Longevity of batteries is not only related to recharge cycles. There are self-diffusional processes, but I won't enter into the thermodynamics of it. Not even sure you'd be bothered to read, as you seem so self-righteous.
I am a cyclist and my NiMH batteries have to sustain the Finnish winter, severe changes in thermal and humidity conditions, as well as a relatively high current consumption. I have 16 between AA and AAA batteries used in various lamps, camera, MP3 players. Oh yeah, and in my analog-modeling synth (that's +3 NiMH batteries) and yet I have never ever had them leak. In fact, the major difference between NiMH and NiCD is that NiMH don't leak, while NiCD sometimes do.
Conclusion: you are probably talking about NiCD batteries.
I like crappy AAA batteries, because a NiMH AAA battery costs next to nothing, and can be bought at any time in any country in the world. If a proprietary battery dies on me, I'm screwed.
FAir enough. But to be honest, even 2 GB is a bit small. I would read mostly scientific articles in.pdf files, and there'd be many of them. 2 GB is not enough, and I don't like swapping SD cards. I know it may sound like a small inconvenience, but for the price I want to be pampered a bit. Can you blame me?
I liked it a lot, until I realized it has only 64MB of storage (probably Flash RAM). Not good enough, not bloody good enough. Also, a big plus would have been using generic AAA batteries, so I can replace them when it finally dies.
"-Explain to me how you do this with paper books?"
Here in Finland we have these things called photocopy machine.
By the way: I love my collection of antique science books - some are as old as 200 yrs, and more. Guess they survived the test of time even without backups? Heck, even backups on CD or DVD won't last that long, seeing the diffusion and oxidation effects of the substrates, even if protected from UV and temperature gradients.
Mine won't be a useful answer, just a comment: when I read stories like this, I have this funny mental image of BSA suits being chased away with a shotgun. That thought is strangely comforting to me.
If you look at the Office Live Documents website, you'll see they use icons that resemble those of Microsoft Office.
They are, I think, doing this on purpose, hoping for the publicity from being sued by MS. They are probably gambling on the fact that the money they might lose would be less than what an equivalent marketing campaign would buy them. Besides, they might pull back and "oblige" before it's too late, complying to MS' demand to change their name. By then, everybody + dog will know about the service.
If this is what they try to achieve, the idea is, basically, brilliant.
Please look at the Office Live Doc website and count the similarities with MS Office you see. There's even a logo that looks like the MS Office logo!
I know I would be thrilled if the eReader had a larger screen. I read a TON of scientific papers - at least one or two per day (preparing a document review) - and boy would I love to read it on epaper rather than on my monitor.
I've heard of that patent. If true, that's good stuff. yeah, the energy density is not quite like with gasoline, but the advantages compared to battteries are gigantic.
Almost too good to be true.
By the way, the other tech that I had some hope for, at least in the past, was freewheels. I still think the're better than batteries, but the supercap *should* be a winner overall, by a large margin. I wouldn't dismiss the freewheel guys completely, though, they have been progressing and achieving high energy densities with carbon-fibre freewheels.
The sony ebook reader has one great advantage over the kindle: it reads.pdf files directly, and you don't have to pay Amazon for the privilege to have the.pdf file converted to the Amazon DRMed ebook format. This is a crucial difference.
That said, I would need a device with larger screen than either the kindle or the Sony gadget.
Supercap energy storage has manyh benefits over battery: no memory effect, possible to charge very quickly without energy loss and a practically infinite lifetime.
I never said it's a reference. It was more meant as a kind of reminder. But enjoy your indignant rampage with your flamethrower. It is, after all, your *heart* slashdot, too.
this is utterly ridicolous. Compare reading from the iPhone's tiny display to reading from a laptop's screen. I would summarize the former as torture and the latter as mildly functional. Now compare both to reading from paper... ah yes, now there's a ginormous quantum leap in ergonomy isn't it? If the Amazon e-paper gadged delivers on its promise, the iPhone will just never be considered a device for reading books.
Now, I know there are people with vastly better eyesight than me. Still, I would hope that they, too, aprecciate ergonomy of reading long texts.
Well, if you mean you are a man, then you do have breasts. And furthermore, even you could have breast cancer, albeit less likely than women. I thik there was an episode of "Oz" where a mobster got breast cancer, and tried to keep it secret.
You are most welcome. And your motivation for studying electrical engineering is the most noble and honest. Make sure you don't lose your enthusiasm and don't get attracted to short-term financial gains vs. what you REALLY like. In the long run, by doing what you like with pleasure and interest, you'll go far. And you know, after 50 years the money one makes is little consolation if he/she didn't enjoy his/her life. Simply, be always consistent with who you are and what you really want to do - not what "society" or "the others" expect from you. Fudge that.
Are you a young student (as in, fresh from high school) or are you a returnee - like myself, returning to studies as part of a career change (correction, actually)?
Slashdot Mirror
Oddly enough, this is at least somewhat informative.
..pass the popcorn: let's enjoy the show!
Hey Alexx, do you by any chance use JAWS? What is your opinion on tactile interfaces (like the one with 32 Braille characters in one row)?
Not a problem to save a pdf file into 2 GB. In fact, the average size of the papers I read is usually - let me see - 1.7 MB. The problem is that I need a huge collection of papers to do my work. I don't read them like one would a novel, I just scan for the data, the formula, the experiment results by colleagues around the world - if the experiment is relevant I'll read about the setup and the experimental vehicle. Rarely do I read one from beginning to end. And actually I never read the motivation at the beginning. We all know *why* we are doing this, the motivation is just to keep the form. 30% of the papers I download turn out to be useless. This way, a 2 GB SD card is filled pretty fast. It *could* be done, definitely, but you can see how a little 80 GB HD would do me more good.
NiCD: get on with the times, NiCD is passé - NiMH are a replacement that will work with present NiCD chargers pretty well. NiCD are a ticking bomb because they will, sooner or later, release their acidic content into your beloved gadget. And, for heaven's sake, don't just throw them away. Cadmium is extremely poisonous. BTW, I really hate batteries because of their limited lifespan and their various dangers. I'm waiting for supercaps to be more ubiquitous. Already now they work in some low-consumption devices.
As I was saying in reply to another person (less flaming than you), I would use it almost exclusively to read scientific papers in .pdf format. They are rich in pictures and diagrams. Some of them ARE pictures (older scanned documents - they are still important in material science).
Longevity of batteries is not only related to recharge cycles. There are self-diffusional processes, but I won't enter into the thermodynamics of it. Not even sure you'd be bothered to read, as you seem so self-righteous.
I am a cyclist and my NiMH batteries have to sustain the Finnish winter, severe changes in thermal and humidity conditions, as well as a relatively high current consumption. I have 16 between AA and AAA batteries used in various lamps, camera, MP3 players. Oh yeah, and in my analog-modeling synth (that's +3 NiMH batteries) and yet I have never ever had them leak. In fact, the major difference between NiMH and NiCD is that NiMH don't leak, while NiCD sometimes do.
Conclusion: you are probably talking about NiCD batteries.
The purpose of the OLPC project in Nigeria is not to make a profit, but, basically, charity. OLPC is selling them at a loss there.
I feel this 1st class douchebaggery.
I like crappy AAA batteries, because a NiMH AAA battery costs next to nothing, and can be bought at any time in any country in the world. If a proprietary battery dies on me, I'm screwed.
FAir enough. But to be honest, even 2 GB is a bit small. I would read mostly scientific articles in .pdf files, and there'd be many of them. 2 GB is not enough, and I don't like swapping SD cards. I know it may sound like a small inconvenience, but for the price I want to be pampered a bit. Can you blame me?
I liked it a lot, until I realized it has only 64MB of storage (probably Flash RAM). Not good enough, not bloody good enough.
Also, a big plus would have been using generic AAA batteries, so I can replace them when it finally dies.
"-Explain to me how you do this with paper books?"
Here in Finland we have these things called photocopy machine.
By the way: I love my collection of antique science books - some are as old as 200 yrs, and more. Guess they survived the test of time even without backups? Heck, even backups on CD or DVD won't last that long, seeing the diffusion and oxidation effects of the substrates, even if protected from UV and temperature gradients.
Srsly, books rock.
Of course...
The man with three buttocks
Looks a bit.. funny Or maybe it's just my dirty fantasy.
Mine won't be a useful answer, just a comment: when I read stories like this, I have this funny mental image of BSA suits being chased away with a shotgun. That thought is strangely comforting to me.
It's so old, we should actually revisit the "case" and see how he's been doing sans MS products. Anyone wanna contact them?
If you look at the Office Live Documents website, you'll see they use icons that resemble those of Microsoft Office.
They are, I think, doing this on purpose, hoping for the publicity from being sued by MS. They are probably gambling on the fact that the money they might lose would be less than what an equivalent marketing campaign would buy them. Besides, they might pull back and "oblige" before it's too late, complying to MS' demand to change their name. By then, everybody + dog will know about the service.
If this is what they try to achieve, the idea is, basically, brilliant.
Please look at the Office Live Doc website and count the similarities with MS Office you see. There's even a logo that looks like the MS Office logo!
Not much content? How about a trillion .pdf files?
I know I would be thrilled if the eReader had a larger screen. I read a TON of scientific papers - at least one or two per day (preparing a document review) - and boy would I love to read it on epaper rather than on my monitor.
I've heard of that patent. If true, that's good stuff. yeah, the energy density is not quite like with gasoline, but the advantages compared to battteries are gigantic.
Almost too good to be true.
By the way, the other tech that I had some hope for, at least in the past, was freewheels. I still think the're better than batteries, but the supercap *should* be a winner overall, by a large margin. I wouldn't dismiss the freewheel guys completely, though, they have been progressing and achieving high energy densities with carbon-fibre freewheels.
It's interesting times, what can I say.
The sony ebook reader has one great advantage over the kindle: it reads .pdf files directly, and you don't have to pay Amazon for the privilege to have the .pdf file converted to the Amazon DRMed ebook format. This is a crucial difference.
That said, I would need a device with larger screen than either the kindle or the Sony gadget.
Supercap energy storage has manyh benefits over battery: no memory effect, possible to charge very quickly without energy loss and a practically infinite lifetime.
And best of all, supercaps exist - today!
I never said it's a reference. It was more meant as a kind of reminder. But enjoy your indignant rampage with your flamethrower. It is, after all, your *heart* slashdot, too.
this is utterly ridicolous. Compare reading from the iPhone's tiny display to reading from a laptop's screen. I would summarize the former as torture and the latter as mildly functional.
Now compare both to reading from paper... ah yes, now there's a ginormous quantum leap in ergonomy isn't it? If the Amazon e-paper gadged delivers on its promise, the iPhone will just never be considered a device for reading books.
Now, I know there are people with vastly better eyesight than me. Still, I would hope that they, too, aprecciate ergonomy of reading long texts.
Well, if you mean you are a man, then you do have breasts. And furthermore, even you could have breast cancer, albeit less likely than women. I thik there was an episode of "Oz" where a mobster got breast cancer, and tried to keep it secret.
I know one such webmaster. It's called Lotus Notes, and I hate its guts.
You are most welcome. And your motivation for studying electrical engineering is the most noble and honest. Make sure you don't lose your enthusiasm and don't get attracted to short-term financial gains vs. what you REALLY like. In the long run, by doing what you like with pleasure and interest, you'll go far. And you know, after 50 years the money one makes is little consolation if he/she didn't enjoy his/her life. Simply, be always consistent with who you are and what you really want to do - not what "society" or "the others" expect from you. Fudge that.
Are you a young student (as in, fresh from high school) or are you a returnee - like myself, returning to studies as part of a career change (correction, actually)?