I have one -- and boy I wish I held on to my money.
The firmware is very, very buggy. Go to riovolution.com and check out the karma board. People are having problems galore. In fact, having a unit that works reliably is incredible luck. The firmware problems are:
1. Karma spontaneously reboots during various tasks, usually song upload via the network. Anything you've uploaded in that session goes poof. I've had to do one album at a time, though the java client has a "upload this directory" feature. Going back and hunting which uploaded and which didn't kinda sucks. 2. When it doesn't reboot, it also likes to randomly hang during song upload. Only hardware reset convinces it to go out of that state. Any song you've been uploaded when it hung gets lost, but the client doesn't know this, so you end up missing random songs from your collection. 3. Sometimes, during song playback, it will randomly stop and go back to the beginning of the track. 4. Higher-bitrate MP3s sometimes started skipping and pausing for me, like it was having trouble filling up the playback buffer. Then it would freeze, requiring an on/off or a reset. 5. No gapless playback for non-mp3 tracks. Sucks to be you if you like oakenfold and ripped all your stuff to oggs. You'll have nice 2-second pauses between each track. 6. Flac will quickly drain your battery, as Karma doesn't have a very large flash buffer, and it ends up constantly spinning up and spinning down the hard drive.
I've had all of these problems, and I'm not alone, as the message boards show. And, to top it off, 3 weeks into usage, after I've finally sort of gotten used to all of its quirks, it completely died -- from the sound of it, the hdd went South. Rio's support is horrible: I've had a ticket open for over a week and a half, and though the customer service drone took down my serial number, order number, etc, I've not heard from anyone since, and I've sent repeated emails. I'll be calling tomorrow, and boy, am I going to be unhappy.
So, there you have it. If I were you, I'd wait at least half a year before I would buy a Rio Karma, otherwise invest in a nice toupee -- you'll be tearing out your hair in handfuls.
Yes, I'm a little bitter, as I've been really waiting on an ogg-compatible, linux-friendly player for a loooong time now, and ended up paying $400 for a lemon instead (there is a reason prices on it dropped so dramatically after it's been first released).
On the eve of the New Year 2000, an old programmer went out of his house to go to a party, but was run over by a bus before he could get there. His vision went dark, but then he saw wonderful white light and people in white clothes leaning over him. "Where am I?" he said. As soon as he spoke, everyone started cheering and congratulating each-other. "What is going on?" he said, amidst the brouhaha. "You see, this is many thousands of years after your time," told him one man in a white labcoat. "The medicine has made huge advancements, and now we are able to revive people who have died millenia ago." "Wow," said the old programmer, "this is really great. But why me?" "Well, you see, this is the year 9999 -- we are facing the Y10K problem, and your resume said that you know COBOL..."
"But do not worry," he added, "the well-being of our troops sent to perform this mission is our primary concern. They will land on the Sun at night, so as to avoid getting burned."
Red Hat Linux 9 was the last in the line. Instead of being "Red Hat Linux 10" it's going to be "Fedora Linux 1[.0]" when it's released within the next few weeks/months.
Re:document support is only half the problem
on
Review: Sun StarOffice 7
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
As much as I'd love to use SO (or, insert other non-MS product here), the unfortunate reality is most business applications my company uses (and our clients as well) that sit on the desktop require Office. It simply isn't enough to say "This can open & save Word / Excel / etc. documents." A true replacement needs to support MS plugins, VBA (ugh, but sorry, its needed), and so on before we can even consider it.
I don't think it's fair to expect product developers to implement something like "MS plugins and VBA" compatibility. It is not their fault you have effectively vendor-locked yourselves into Microsoft to the point where migration to other products is impossible or extremely prohibitive in terms of cost.
There's a saying that goes: "A smart person will find a way out of a difficult situation; a wise person won't get into it in the first place."
I've always found it curious that it is considered morally wrong to discriminate against someone based on their race, gender, or sexual preference, but perfectly fine based on their place of origin. In fact, there are entire government agencies in place whose sole purpose is to discriminate against non-citizens.
People don't exactly get to choose where they get born or grow up, you know.
(Yes, I am a foreigner in the US, and yes, I'm just a tad bitter.)
The scientists admit that they have no idea how this [taking large pre-built components and delivering them 300 mln km away] can be achieved. However, they are certain that once the station starts operating, all future inhabitants of Mars will have plenty of electrical power for many years to come.
One thing I don't understand is why everybody wants to change resolution on-the-fly. Do you change your resolution every hour or something? Everybody I know just set their resolution *once* and never look back again.
If you have over a 100 gnome desktops in your department, you don't want to field "can you please change my resolution" requests from your users, trust me.
Re:not sure how easy this would be...
on
Sign Language Out Loud
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I wonder if it would make more sense for them to concentrate on Signed English instead of ASL. It's pushed strongly in schools these days anyway, and it follows the precise grammar and structure of spoken English, vs. ASL, which has its own grammar and relies heavily on facial expressions and spatial relations.
Many educators feel that ASL creates many problems for young children, who grow up signing in ASL grammar, and then go to school where they effectively have to re-learn their language in order to be able to read and write. If in English the phrase is "My father gave me these books yesterday" the ASL speaker would sign "My father (point at some position, usually to the right) give (from the position where previously pointed towards oneself) book book past day (point to where your spatial "father" is again)".
Signed English was designed to compensate for this, though the end result is that signing in SE is rather more tedious, as one has to sign out all a-an-the's, prefixes, and suffixes. Among the benefits, though, is that is't much easier to talk and sign in SE than in ASL, since you don't have to concentrate on translating from one grammar to another. This is particularly useful for teachers who have a class of both deaf and hearing children.
Yes, IAASET (I am a Special Education Teacher.:)).
You misunderstood my point. All programs, including montessori, hands-on science, etc, are very good programs, but they are not the be-all, end-all that will "help us turn the education system around." The education system is doing just fine with the programs that already exist, it's the society in general that can use some turning around.
When I say they "failed" I mean they failed in the eyes of people that thought these programs were some kind of a panacea that would somehow alleviate all woes the world of education in the US (and largely globally) is facing today.
A traveling salesman selling farming equipment once came across a large, rather unkempt field located near a shabby-looking farmhouse with a few lopsided barns strewn around it. He turned his truck around and drove along the narrow dirt road until he was near the front porch of the house, where he stopped. An aging, dishevelled-looking farmer, prostrated in his unpainted gray rocking chair, was eyeing him lazily as he got out of his vehicle and offered his greetings.
"Sir," said the salesman. "I have with me the literature and the know-how of many qualified farming experts, that can teach you how in just a few short years and with almost no initial investment you can turn your farm around and start harvesting the crops that would make you rich beyond your wildest dreams. Would you like to learn how you can improve your business and start making a profit?"
The farmer looked at him with no change of expression, then raised his hand and took the makeshift wooden toothpick that he was chewing out of his mouth.
"Son," he said, "Don't you think I already know how I can improve my business?"...
You can throw all kinds of technology at both kids and teachers, but unless the former are motivated to teach, and the latter are motivated to learn, it will fail just like all other educational programs have failed -- be it hands-on science, montessori, three-Rs, and whatever else the smart people with EdD degrees care to come up with.
Education starts at home and at the very core of the society. If the society discourages doing well at school, berates dedicated learners, and offers subtle indoctrination that one doesn't have to be smart or even hard-working to do well in life... well, then whatever insight is obtained in the course of this experiment will be lost on the generation Afternoon Disney Channel.
Oh really? Not the doctor's I know. I have friends who are physicians who hate the business side. Medicare pays next to nothing and they have to cram more patients in a 10-12 hour day to pay the bills.
Oh, I wasn't talking about the US. I was talking about Canada, sorry. Public healthcare is just like any other insurance-based healthcare, except the insurance company is the government. I don't see how the doctors would be any better off being pressured by HMOs. In fact, they are not.
Same with public education -- take a look at most cities and you will see that the quality of public education is generally poor.
In fact, I have a teaching degree, and I can tell you that the teachers working in public schools are generally better off than those working in many private schools -- mostly because of benefits they get through NEA lobbying. The quality of public education is poor not because there is something wrong with the schools or educational programs, but because the society in the US discourages the very notion of being educated. Those who want to get educated -- do. If a child doesn't want to learn (because every tv channel feeds them the "you don't have to know stuff to succeed" or because they are constantly receiving disparaging comments from peers about their studies), there is NOTHING one can do to make that child do well in school. Even the most brilliant teachers will fail if the child is not motivated to study.
BTW, do you happen to have kids?
No, I've decided not to spawn. If there is something this world doesn't need, it's more children.
Your 95% of the world would rather have clean water, access to healthcare, and freedom from tyrannical leadership, something that OSS can't provide.
Clean water, healthcare, and freedom comes through education, which in turn requires access to technology. If the latter is too expensive, there will be no former.
Open source and free software has decimated any barriers to entry for software professionals. This is having the effect that anybody can write code, which is often of much lower quality. Now that there is no incentive to pay for any software, the software that is available will decrease in quality over time until everyone will have to write all of their own code out of necessity. Serious high-quality developers want to be paid, and when they can't make money, they will find something else to do (and maybe work on code in their "spare time").
Public healthcare doesn't mean there aren't any private doctors left. In fact, they are doing quite well. Same with public education -- there are quite a few private schools that somehow manage to make ends meet.
Where have the vast majority of innovations occurred in the recent past? OSes (Linux is *not* innovation), programming languages, hardware, networking, etc. China? India? Europe? Nope. America, my friend. We built the field and now we are giving it away without a care.
Yes, but I'm wondering how many of these innovations were developed by, or with direct help of first-generation immigrants. After all, the US has gained its dominating position in the field of technology by importing the brains (or rather letting them flow freely) from all over the world.
Why can't you think of the entire world, not of your 5% of the population corner? Don't you realize how much good free/cheap technology can do for the remaining 95%, who are otherwise completely locked out of your precious game plan?
I think people are confusing these machines with systems you would have at your house. The main benefit would be to companys that do not want workers using their machines for non work related issues.
I would sincerely hope that they use something other than a CD-ROM.
Ring.
"Molly hey, can you send me that data from accounting?"
"Sure, Pete, hold on a sec... Hang on, my CD-ROM is spinning up. Almost there... Ok."
"Great, can you take a look at the spreadsheet with me so we can go over the numbers?"
"Sure... Hold on..."
"..."
"Hello? You still there?"
"Yeah, hold on, it's still trying to start the app..."
Random seeks on CD-ROMs are pretty abysmal, not to mention that they generate a lot of noise when running at 52x, and constant spinning up, when the interface freezes mid-sentence, and then spinning down in a second or two will drive you up the wall after a day's work.
No, for a decent ROM-station you need something other than conventional CDs -- something that doesn't have moveable parts and that has fast random access.
"hard to quit when you have mouths to feed, etc."? It's downright irresponsible in this economy.
I think people often do not realize that a family is far more than food on the table. You work 80 hours a week, your wife never sees you, your children grow up disrespecting you because you are never around... And when you are, all you do is complain about how much your boss makes you work.
Being a husband and being a father are responsibilities far greater than being a source-o-plenty. What are you going to do when you find out that your teenage daughter doesn't want to talk to you, and your wife is having an affair? Throw money at them? Call them ingrates?
Slashdot Mirror
I have one -- and boy I wish I held on to my money.
The firmware is very, very buggy. Go to riovolution.com and check out the karma board. People are having problems galore. In fact, having a unit that works reliably is incredible luck. The firmware problems are:
1. Karma spontaneously reboots during various tasks, usually song upload via the network. Anything you've uploaded in that session goes poof. I've had to do one album at a time, though the java client has a "upload this directory" feature. Going back and hunting which uploaded and which didn't kinda sucks.
2. When it doesn't reboot, it also likes to randomly hang during song upload. Only hardware reset convinces it to go out of that state. Any song you've been uploaded when it hung gets lost, but the client doesn't know this, so you end up missing random songs from your collection.
3. Sometimes, during song playback, it will randomly stop and go back to the beginning of the track.
4. Higher-bitrate MP3s sometimes started skipping and pausing for me, like it was having trouble filling up the playback buffer. Then it would freeze, requiring an on/off or a reset.
5. No gapless playback for non-mp3 tracks. Sucks to be you if you like oakenfold and ripped all your stuff to oggs. You'll have nice 2-second pauses between each track.
6. Flac will quickly drain your battery, as Karma doesn't have a very large flash buffer, and it ends up constantly spinning up and spinning down the hard drive.
I've had all of these problems, and I'm not alone, as the message boards show. And, to top it off, 3 weeks into usage, after I've finally sort of gotten used to all of its quirks, it completely died -- from the sound of it, the hdd went South. Rio's support is horrible: I've had a ticket open for over a week and a half, and though the customer service drone took down my serial number, order number, etc, I've not heard from anyone since, and I've sent repeated emails. I'll be calling tomorrow, and boy, am I going to be unhappy.
So, there you have it. If I were you, I'd wait at least half a year before I would buy a Rio Karma, otherwise invest in a nice toupee -- you'll be tearing out your hair in handfuls.
Yes, I'm a little bitter, as I've been really waiting on an ogg-compatible, linux-friendly player for a loooong time now, and ended up paying $400 for a lemon instead (there is a reason prices on it dropped so dramatically after it's been first released).
Sigh.
Well, you could, arguably, write something in C#.
On the eve of the New Year 2000, an old programmer went out of his house to go to a party, but was run over by a bus before he could get there. His vision went dark, but then he saw wonderful white light and people in white clothes leaning over him.
"Where am I?" he said.
As soon as he spoke, everyone started cheering and congratulating each-other.
"What is going on?" he said, amidst the brouhaha.
"You see, this is many thousands of years after your time," told him one man in a white labcoat. "The medicine has made huge advancements, and now we are able to revive people who have died millenia ago."
"Wow," said the old programmer, "this is really great. But why me?"
"Well, you see, this is the year 9999 -- we are facing the Y10K problem, and your resume said that you know COBOL..."
Bittorrent Link
Alternatively:i so.torrent
btdownloadcurses.py --max_upload_rate 350 --url http://torrent.dulug.duke.edu/yarrow-binary-i386-
A few installation screenshots
"But do not worry," he added, "the well-being of our troops sent to perform this mission is our primary concern. They will land on the Sun at night, so as to avoid getting burned."
I think I smell a corollary to the Godwin's Law.
Those in the know disagree.
As explained here
Tux Catchup.
Red Hat Linux 9 was the last in the line. Instead of being "Red Hat Linux 10" it's going to be "Fedora Linux 1[.0]" when it's released within the next few weeks/months.
I don't think it's fair to expect product developers to implement something like "MS plugins and VBA" compatibility. It is not their fault you have effectively vendor-locked yourselves into Microsoft to the point where migration to other products is impossible or extremely prohibitive in terms of cost.
There's a saying that goes: "A smart person will find a way out of a difficult situation; a wise person won't get into it in the first place."
You are not the latter.
Mannequin Skywalker
I've always found it curious that it is considered morally wrong to discriminate against someone based on their race, gender, or sexual preference, but perfectly fine based on their place of origin. In fact, there are entire government agencies in place whose sole purpose is to discriminate against non-citizens.
People don't exactly get to choose where they get born or grow up, you know.
(Yes, I am a foreigner in the US, and yes, I'm just a tad bitter.)
There is a Russian version of the article, in which there is this paragraph (in my translation):
The scientists admit that they have no idea how this [taking large pre-built components and delivering them 300 mln km away] can be achieved. However, they are certain that once the station starts operating, all future inhabitants of Mars will have plenty of electrical power for many years to come.
Now THIS is what I call vaporware. :)
One thing I don't understand is why everybody wants to change resolution on-the-fly. Do you change your resolution every hour or something? Everybody I know just set their resolution *once* and never look back again.
If you have over a 100 gnome desktops in your department, you don't want to field "can you please change my resolution" requests from your users, trust me.
I wonder if it would make more sense for them to concentrate on Signed English instead of ASL. It's pushed strongly in schools these days anyway, and it follows the precise grammar and structure of spoken English, vs. ASL, which has its own grammar and relies heavily on facial expressions and spatial relations.
:)).
Many educators feel that ASL creates many problems for young children, who grow up signing in ASL grammar, and then go to school where they effectively have to re-learn their language in order to be able to read and write. If in English the phrase is "My father gave me these books yesterday" the ASL speaker would sign "My father (point at some position, usually to the right) give (from the position where previously pointed towards oneself) book book past day (point to where your spatial "father" is again)".
Signed English was designed to compensate for this, though the end result is that signing in SE is rather more tedious, as one has to sign out all a-an-the's, prefixes, and suffixes. Among the benefits, though, is that is't much easier to talk and sign in SE than in ASL, since you don't have to concentrate on translating from one grammar to another. This is particularly useful for teachers who have a class of both deaf and hearing children.
Yes, IAASET (I am a Special Education Teacher.
You misunderstood my point. All programs, including montessori, hands-on science, etc, are very good programs, but they are not the be-all, end-all that will "help us turn the education system around." The education system is doing just fine with the programs that already exist, it's the society in general that can use some turning around.
When I say they "failed" I mean they failed in the eyes of people that thought these programs were some kind of a panacea that would somehow alleviate all woes the world of education in the US (and largely globally) is facing today.
A traveling salesman selling farming equipment once came across a large, rather unkempt field located near a shabby-looking farmhouse with a few lopsided barns strewn around it. He turned his truck around and drove along the narrow dirt road until he was near the front porch of the house, where he stopped. An aging, dishevelled-looking farmer, prostrated in his unpainted gray rocking chair, was eyeing him lazily as he got out of his vehicle and offered his greetings.
...
"Sir," said the salesman. "I have with me the literature and the know-how of many qualified farming experts, that can teach you how in just a few short years and with almost no initial investment you can turn your farm around and start harvesting the crops that would make you rich beyond your wildest dreams. Would you like to learn how you can improve your business and start making a profit?"
The farmer looked at him with no change of expression, then raised his hand and took the makeshift wooden toothpick that he was chewing out of his mouth.
"Son," he said, "Don't you think I already know how I can improve my business?"
You can throw all kinds of technology at both kids and teachers, but unless the former are motivated to teach, and the latter are motivated to learn, it will fail just like all other educational programs have failed -- be it hands-on science, montessori, three-Rs, and whatever else the smart people with EdD degrees care to come up with.
Education starts at home and at the very core of the society. If the society discourages doing well at school, berates dedicated learners, and offers subtle indoctrination that one doesn't have to be smart or even hard-working to do well in life... well, then whatever insight is obtained in the course of this experiment will be lost on the generation Afternoon Disney Channel.
I know this, for I am a teacher.
DHS warns about Windows.
:))
I see.
Did their solution involve duck tape and plastic sheeting?
(Though I must admit, after about 20 minutes the computers protected this way will be VERY secure.
Oh, I wasn't talking about the US. I was talking about Canada, sorry. Public healthcare is just like any other insurance-based healthcare, except the insurance company is the government. I don't see how the doctors would be any better off being pressured by HMOs. In fact, they are not.
In fact, I have a teaching degree, and I can tell you that the teachers working in public schools are generally better off than those working in many private schools -- mostly because of benefits they get through NEA lobbying. The quality of public education is poor not because there is something wrong with the schools or educational programs, but because the society in the US discourages the very notion of being educated. Those who want to get educated -- do. If a child doesn't want to learn (because every tv channel feeds them the "you don't have to know stuff to succeed" or because they are constantly receiving disparaging comments from peers about their studies), there is NOTHING one can do to make that child do well in school. Even the most brilliant teachers will fail if the child is not motivated to study.
No, I've decided not to spawn. If there is something this world doesn't need, it's more children.
Clean water, healthcare, and freedom comes through education, which in turn requires access to technology. If the latter is too expensive, there will be no former.
Public healthcare doesn't mean there aren't any private doctors left. In fact, they are doing quite well. Same with public education -- there are quite a few private schools that somehow manage to make ends meet.
Yes, but I'm wondering how many of these innovations were developed by, or with direct help of first-generation immigrants. After all, the US has gained its dominating position in the field of technology by importing the brains (or rather letting them flow freely) from all over the world.
Why can't you think of the entire world, not of your 5% of the population corner? Don't you realize how much good free/cheap technology can do for the remaining 95%, who are otherwise completely locked out of your precious game plan?
I would sincerely hope that they use something other than a CD-ROM.
Ring.
Random seeks on CD-ROMs are pretty abysmal, not to mention that they generate a lot of noise when running at 52x, and constant spinning up, when the interface freezes mid-sentence, and then spinning down in a second or two will drive you up the wall after a day's work."Molly hey, can you send me that data from accounting?"
"Sure, Pete, hold on a sec... Hang on, my CD-ROM is spinning up. Almost there... Ok."
"Great, can you take a look at the spreadsheet with me so we can go over the numbers?"
"Sure... Hold on..."
"..."
"Hello? You still there?"
"Yeah, hold on, it's still trying to start the app..."
No, for a decent ROM-station you need something other than conventional CDs -- something that doesn't have moveable parts and that has fast random access.
Kids, to those of you who just don't have enough reasons to be picked on and beaten up in middle school, we give you... THIS BAMBOO BICYCLE!
Complete with a detachable frame for easier caning.
That was Seth Vidal who is too lazy to get a /. account. :)
I think people often do not realize that a family is far more than food on the table. You work 80 hours a week, your wife never sees you, your children grow up disrespecting you because you are never around... And when you are, all you do is complain about how much your boss makes you work.
Being a husband and being a father are responsibilities far greater than being a source-o-plenty. What are you going to do when you find out that your teenage daughter doesn't want to talk to you, and your wife is having an affair? Throw money at them? Call them ingrates?
American Beauty, indeed.