I looked at the time and energy involved(and I work on embedded linux for a living!), including the power-draw of the devices I'd end up building, and decided it just wasn't worth it.
You started your reply with a character attack. What more can I say? Now you're putting words in my mouth. Oy vey.
"Well, feel free to go build yourself a HTPC if you want. I looked at the time and energy involved(and I work on embedded linux for a living!), including the power-draw of the devices I'd end up building, and decided it just wasn't worth it."
That's what I said. Which is not consistent with "YOU said that putting together an HTPC was energy and time consuming. You declared HTPCs to be inadequate do to YOUR incompetence."
I didn't say you are an asocial prick, but you sure do sound like one.
According to this page(http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2387602,00.asp), an STB draws around 50W. The one on my desk right now draws 35W max. That's on par with a low-end Atom(not something I have 'lying around'), or about half of a normal PC.
The Roku 2 XS I got my mom draws 2W while decoding HD video. The Synology NAS in my closet draws around 12W. The extra code/hardware in my TV probably draws an extra Watt or two.
> You are either in denial, or a pretty poor engineer. and you sound like an asocial prick.
Who's comparing your 'off the shelf' PC with your old set-top box? I'm comparing the meager power draw of a dedicated device(Roku, my Synology NAS, the pre-existing electronics in my TV, etc...) to your 'off the shelf' PC.
I'd also bet that my MTBF is significantly greater, given the near lack of moving parts.
Also, how is your XBMC going to handle Netflix and other pay-content? I see XBMC supports it, but only on Windows? Why would I want to run Windows on my network? I respect the decision to avoid commercial media(or even pirate it), but I don't, so I need a way to provide that.
Well, feel free to go build yourself a HTPC if you want. I looked at the time and energy involved(and I work on embedded linux for a living!), including the power-draw of the devices I'd end up building, and decided it just wasn't worth it.
The end of/.? That happened a looooong time ago buddy./. hasn't been the same since... 2003? I come here because/. is a decent aggregator, but the quality of the participants is so bad I rarely read the comments. Comments were insightful and the trolls were hilarious. Now? Trite snark, fanboyism, anti-fanboyism... not much worth reading in the comments these days.
I just changed my mom's living room experience with a Roku box. I got her the extra fancy one that can play Angry Birds for $99, along with a year of netflix. I have to pay for a Hulu account for work, so I'll be setting her up with that, too. She's nearly 70 and didn't have a problem figuring it out.
I've got a Samsung TV loaded with apps. Netflix, Vudu(not with Ultraviolet, so the stuff I buy isn't tied to a company), Hulu, etc... Using my Synology NAS and my Android phone, I can even remotely playback media through the TV using my phone as a remote.
The cable company may lose a few more customers, but it won't be because of Apple.
This is similar to the system I'm currently in the process of implementing. Two Seagate ST2000DL003's from NewEgg(bought 72 hours apart thanks to the stupid quotas) in a Synology DS-212. Raid 1 to handle disk errors since the speed is acceptible.
Instead of timed backups I'm using manual backups to an external USB drive. I thought about periodic backups, but I want to keep myself in the loop so I only backup when I know things are in a consistent state. Once the backup is complete, the external USB enclosure goes into a fireproof safe.
One thing I ran into when moving files from my iMac to the NAS - Snow Leopard apparently doesn't run periodic disc checks and it fails to notify you when files have I/O errors. I lost a few mp3s because of that. Even worse - after doing a disk repair the files continued to have I/O errors. Shouldn't they have been fixed - deleted or truncated, I don't care - during the disk repair?
I tried using calc the other day to deal with a table of hex values. The built-in hex2dec() function couldn't handle a leading '0x'! I tried working around it with a custom function written in basic and ran into endless problems dealing with the poorly documented API/language.
The word processor is fine for basic work, but for spreadsheets I'll stick with the copy of MS-Office provided by my employer.
I always wondered why the cartels don't do that at border crossings... they've got tons of pot, why not make an extract and spray it on cars as they're waiting in line to cross?
I don't want apps, cameras, gps, etc. Just give me a cheap 10" wifi tablet with a browser and a pdf reader so I can view PDFs while I code. Anyone aware of such a device?
It sounds like a great idea - let's admit that private information about an individual is property of that individual. They have the right to sell it - or in my case to *not* sell it.
Want to charge me for gmail instead? Ok, sign me up. Just don't data-mine it or sell it to a third-party. The same goes for facebook - I'd gladly sign back up if I was allowed to be the customer.
I think the point everyone is missing is that credit cards are already utterly insecure. If you haven't been a victim yet you've just been lucky - there are a lot of CC's out there and only so many theives.
The only way to fix it is to block CC companies from writing-off fraud losses while preventing them from passing them onto the consumer. Right now, they perform a cursory 'investigation' only for the purposes of justifying the write-off, effectively passing the costs back onto consumers(taxpayers).
Yeah but you could use tidal action... Sure, it limits the rate of clean water, but it's free.
Hell, if you had a cistern below sea-level then gravity would do the work for you - you'd only expend energy to pump up the water. Humans are used to that, so it's really like having free groundwater.
15 year S/W guy here. S/W is a great field and it's been good to me. Let me say this though - there will come a time in the next 50 years where we see peak S/W employment.
It is only a matter of time before automation, abstraction, artificial intelligence, code reuse and standardization reduce the need for humans to employ specialized or arcane knowledge to instruct computers.
My advice to young S/W guys(or anyone young for that matter): Assume you'll be switching to a lower paying job in 20 years. Save your money, invest it wisely, don't buy the latest thing, etc.
The difference between England and the USA seems to be that in England they arrest you as soon as you show intent, while in the USA they have FBI informants coax the guy along until he passes the 'thoughtcrime' stage.
As an American, I think it was wrong to arrest the guy. They should have monitored the guy and given him a chance to change course. Apparently they're not aware humans are capable of that in England. Meh, like I needed *another* reason to stay out of England...
In the US, if he had attempted to go through with it(purchasing weapons is usually where they get them), he'd probably be going to jail for a loooong time. In Britain, they grabbed him before he really did anything and gave him a light sentence - assuring he'll be back on the streets and even more isolated/pissed-off. Given that it's England, the guy probably doesn't have many rights so he'll be under surveillance for the rest of his life. Regardless, I think what the English did was counter-productive.
Haha... I just posted this in the other apple story, but it seems even more appropriate here. Hope you got some modpoints, mactards...
----------------
Hahahahaha... fuck you apple fanboys. You know, it's been sad to watch otherwise smart folks bend over to suck Cupertino's cock. Some of us knew all along that Jobs would be even worse than Gates if he only had the chance.
Apple, as a company, reminds me of some hipster asshole who steals his ideas from some unheard-of artist, and then gets pissed when people start copying him in return.
Hey - what was Apple's position on SOPA/PIPA anyway? Hmm.. seems like they were strangely silent. Good thing you signed up for their walled garden. I hope they're still around in 25 years when you want to reference that iTextbook that can't be viewed on any other manufacturer's device.
Hahahahaha... fuck you apple fanboys. You know, it's been sad to watch otherwise smart folks bend over to suck Cupertino's cock. Some of us knew all along that Jobs would be even worse than Gates if he only had the chance.
Apple, as a company, reminds me of some hipster asshole who steals his ideas from some unheard-of artist, and then gets pissed when people start copying him in return.
Hey - what was Apple's position on SOPA/PIPA anyway? Hmm.. seems like they were strangely silent. Good thing you signed up for their walled garden. I hope they're still around in 25 years when you want to reference that iTextbook that can't be viewed on any other manufacturer's device.
Sorry sci-fi fans, but there don't seem to be any compelling reasons for sending humans into space. Providing an earth-like environment is extremely expensive. Humans mess-up, have emotional break-downs, get sick, and they can't eat their own poop for very long.
Let the drones go forth, and work on making sentient machines.
I'll second the request. What I've generally found is that there is a gulf between the things taught in a standard calc I/II class and what is needed to understand most books on Fourier transforms. I've got a few books on FTs, but damn if I can understand them.
It's a lot more complicated than that. In each party you have different groups coming together - like monacle-wearing big-bussiness types teaming up with social conservatives in the GOP, or big labor teaming up with environmentalists in the DP. Sometimes one group may even believe things which conflict with the party's platform, but a key issue forces them back to the table - like religious types who like the social policies of the DP but stick with the GOP because of abortion, or blue collar workers who like the social conservatism or 'tough on crime' stance of the GOP.
In all cases, both parties are manipulated and controlled by politicians. Some have entered politics for noble causes, some for personal gain, and some for a feeling of importance or entitlement.
Both parties seem to favor some form of big business nowadays - possibly because big business is how things get done in America. Big business manufactures the products, hires the workers, and organizes us into something that has increased our standard of living(while having many, many obvious negative effects - I'm not getting into that).
A plant based diet can provide everything but B12(http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/105/25/e197.full), which can be obtained by eating certain bacteria.
I'm not advocating anyone try it, just correcting an inaccuracy.
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I looked at the time and energy involved(and I work on embedded linux for a living!), including the power-draw of the devices I'd end up building, and decided it just wasn't worth it.
We can keep going, I've got all day.
You need to go back and read it again.
"including the power-draw of the devices I'd end up building"
wait, what did I say?
"including the power-draw of the devices I'd end up building"
Hmm... I wonder what that means? It could be.. some kind of code? I'm not sure.
Have fun designing an HTPC solution that burns less than 25W and doesn't run Windows. You can't? You must be lazy or a bad engineer.
You started your reply with a character attack. What more can I say? Now you're putting words in my mouth. Oy vey.
"Well, feel free to go build yourself a HTPC if you want. I looked at the time and energy involved(and I work on embedded linux for a living!), including the power-draw of the devices I'd end up building, and decided it just wasn't worth it."
That's what I said. Which is not consistent with "YOU said that putting together an HTPC was energy and time consuming. You declared HTPCs to be inadequate do to YOUR incompetence."
I didn't say you are an asocial prick, but you sure do sound like one.
According to this page(http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2387602,00.asp), an STB draws around 50W. The one on my desk right now draws 35W max. That's on par with a low-end Atom(not something I have 'lying around'), or about half of a normal PC.
The Roku 2 XS I got my mom draws 2W while decoding HD video. The Synology NAS in my closet draws around 12W. The extra code/hardware in my TV probably draws an extra Watt or two.
> You are either in denial, or a pretty poor engineer.
and you sound like an asocial prick.
Who's comparing your 'off the shelf' PC with your old set-top box? I'm comparing the meager power draw of a dedicated device(Roku, my Synology NAS, the pre-existing electronics in my TV, etc...) to your 'off the shelf' PC.
I'd also bet that my MTBF is significantly greater, given the near lack of moving parts.
Also, how is your XBMC going to handle Netflix and other pay-content? I see XBMC supports it, but only on Windows? Why would I want to run Windows on my network? I respect the decision to avoid commercial media(or even pirate it), but I don't, so I need a way to provide that.
Well, feel free to go build yourself a HTPC if you want. I looked at the time and energy involved(and I work on embedded linux for a living!), including the power-draw of the devices I'd end up building, and decided it just wasn't worth it.
The end of /.? That happened a looooong time ago buddy. /. hasn't been the same since... 2003? I come here because /. is a decent aggregator, but the quality of the participants is so bad I rarely read the comments. Comments were insightful and the trolls were hilarious. Now? Trite snark, fanboyism, anti-fanboyism... not much worth reading in the comments these days.
I just changed my mom's living room experience with a Roku box. I got her the extra fancy one that can play Angry Birds for $99, along with a year of netflix. I have to pay for a Hulu account for work, so I'll be setting her up with that, too. She's nearly 70 and didn't have a problem figuring it out.
I've got a Samsung TV loaded with apps. Netflix, Vudu(not with Ultraviolet, so the stuff I buy isn't tied to a company), Hulu, etc... Using my Synology NAS and my Android phone, I can even remotely playback media through the TV using my phone as a remote.
The cable company may lose a few more customers, but it won't be because of Apple.
This is similar to the system I'm currently in the process of implementing. Two Seagate ST2000DL003's from NewEgg(bought 72 hours apart thanks to the stupid quotas) in a Synology DS-212. Raid 1 to handle disk errors since the speed is acceptible.
Instead of timed backups I'm using manual backups to an external USB drive. I thought about periodic backups, but I want to keep myself in the loop so I only backup when I know things are in a consistent state. Once the backup is complete, the external USB enclosure goes into a fireproof safe.
One thing I ran into when moving files from my iMac to the NAS - Snow Leopard apparently doesn't run periodic disc checks and it fails to notify you when files have I/O errors. I lost a few mp3s because of that. Even worse - after doing a disk repair the files continued to have I/O errors. Shouldn't they have been fixed - deleted or truncated, I don't care - during the disk repair?
I tried using calc the other day to deal with a table of hex values. The built-in hex2dec() function couldn't handle a leading '0x'! I tried working around it with a custom function written in basic and ran into endless problems dealing with the poorly documented API/language.
The word processor is fine for basic work, but for spreadsheets I'll stick with the copy of MS-Office provided by my employer.
Well, here in California we pump water uphill at night and let it go down during the day.
I always wondered why the cartels don't do that at border crossings... they've got tons of pot, why not make an extract and spray it on cars as they're waiting in line to cross?
I don't want apps, cameras, gps, etc. Just give me a cheap 10" wifi tablet with a browser and a pdf reader so I can view PDFs while I code. Anyone aware of such a device?
It sounds like a great idea - let's admit that private information about an individual is property of that individual. They have the right to sell it - or in my case to *not* sell it.
Want to charge me for gmail instead? Ok, sign me up. Just don't data-mine it or sell it to a third-party. The same goes for facebook - I'd gladly sign back up if I was allowed to be the customer.
I think it's a reference to the complementary buffet...
I think the point everyone is missing is that credit cards are already utterly insecure. If you haven't been a victim yet you've just been lucky - there are a lot of CC's out there and only so many theives.
The only way to fix it is to block CC companies from writing-off fraud losses while preventing them from passing them onto the consumer. Right now, they perform a cursory 'investigation' only for the purposes of justifying the write-off, effectively passing the costs back onto consumers(taxpayers).
Yeah but you could use tidal action... Sure, it limits the rate of clean water, but it's free.
Hell, if you had a cistern below sea-level then gravity would do the work for you - you'd only expend energy to pump up the water. Humans are used to that, so it's really like having free groundwater.
15 year S/W guy here. S/W is a great field and it's been good to me. Let me say this though - there will come a time in the next 50 years where we see peak S/W employment.
It is only a matter of time before automation, abstraction, artificial intelligence, code reuse and standardization reduce the need for humans to employ specialized or arcane knowledge to instruct computers.
My advice to young S/W guys(or anyone young for that matter): Assume you'll be switching to a lower paying job in 20 years. Save your money, invest it wisely, don't buy the latest thing, etc.
The difference between England and the USA seems to be that in England they arrest you as soon as you show intent, while in the USA they have FBI informants coax the guy along until he passes the 'thoughtcrime' stage.
As an American, I think it was wrong to arrest the guy. They should have monitored the guy and given him a chance to change course. Apparently they're not aware humans are capable of that in England. Meh, like I needed *another* reason to stay out of England...
In the US, if he had attempted to go through with it(purchasing weapons is usually where they get them), he'd probably be going to jail for a loooong time. In Britain, they grabbed him before he really did anything and gave him a light sentence - assuring he'll be back on the streets and even more isolated/pissed-off. Given that it's England, the guy probably doesn't have many rights so he'll be under surveillance for the rest of his life. Regardless, I think what the English did was counter-productive.
Haha... I just posted this in the other apple story, but it seems even more appropriate here. Hope you got some modpoints, mactards...
----------------
Hahahahaha... fuck you apple fanboys. You know, it's been sad to watch otherwise smart folks bend over to suck Cupertino's cock. Some of us knew all along that Jobs would be even worse than Gates if he only had the chance.
Apple, as a company, reminds me of some hipster asshole who steals his ideas from some unheard-of artist, and then gets pissed when people start copying him in return.
Hey - what was Apple's position on SOPA/PIPA anyway? Hmm.. seems like they were strangely silent. Good thing you signed up for their walled garden. I hope they're still around in 25 years when you want to reference that iTextbook that can't be viewed on any other manufacturer's device.
Hahahahaha... fuck you apple fanboys. You know, it's been sad to watch otherwise smart folks bend over to suck Cupertino's cock. Some of us knew all along that Jobs would be even worse than Gates if he only had the chance.
Apple, as a company, reminds me of some hipster asshole who steals his ideas from some unheard-of artist, and then gets pissed when people start copying him in return.
Hey - what was Apple's position on SOPA/PIPA anyway? Hmm.. seems like they were strangely silent. Good thing you signed up for their walled garden. I hope they're still around in 25 years when you want to reference that iTextbook that can't be viewed on any other manufacturer's device.
This.
Sorry sci-fi fans, but there don't seem to be any compelling reasons for sending humans into space. Providing an earth-like environment is extremely expensive. Humans mess-up, have emotional break-downs, get sick, and they can't eat their own poop for very long.
Let the drones go forth, and work on making sentient machines.
I'll second the request. What I've generally found is that there is a gulf between the things taught in a standard calc I/II class and what is needed to understand most books on Fourier transforms. I've got a few books on FTs, but damn if I can understand them.
I believe the same thing is happening to Nevada. It's what causes the "horst and graben" faulting and the north-south mountain chains.
Nice try nutjob but makeup, hoodies, IR dazzlers, facial hair, glasses, etc. can all be used to trick the system.
You'd think someone on /. would realize that by giving more power to machines, you give more power to the few people who understand those machines.
It's a lot more complicated than that. In each party you have different groups coming together - like monacle-wearing big-bussiness types teaming up with social conservatives in the GOP, or big labor teaming up with environmentalists in the DP. Sometimes one group may even believe things which conflict with the party's platform, but a key issue forces them back to the table - like religious types who like the social policies of the DP but stick with the GOP because of abortion, or blue collar workers who like the social conservatism or 'tough on crime' stance of the GOP.
In all cases, both parties are manipulated and controlled by politicians. Some have entered politics for noble causes, some for personal gain, and some for a feeling of importance or entitlement.
Both parties seem to favor some form of big business nowadays - possibly because big business is how things get done in America. Big business manufactures the products, hires the workers, and organizes us into something that has increased our standard of living(while having many, many obvious negative effects - I'm not getting into that).
A plant based diet can provide everything but B12(http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/105/25/e197.full), which can be obtained by eating certain bacteria.
I'm not advocating anyone try it, just correcting an inaccuracy.