While I did mean this as tongue-in-cheek, it's also true. Because of the facilities provided in nSync, and the very dynamic and reflective nature of the Newton's software system, you *can* indeed write Cocoa apps in NewtonScript.:)
As a part of nSync's cool plug-in archetecture, you have the ability to get at anything in the Newton's soup system, an object database in which all data on the Newton is stored. Not only can you get to any Newton data from Cocoa, you can also execute arbitrary NewonScript!
Meaning, with a little creativity, you could write NewtonScript Cocoa apps. Make the GUI using InterfaceBuilder, and make callbacks to the NewtonScript side for the logic. It's like having asyncronous multiprocessing! WOOT!
Of course it does. But just because it's a disgusting way for a business to be run doesn't mean it can't or doesn't happen. People get fired for not doing what their bosses say, especially for illegal or unethical things. Most people do what's requested of them because they want to keep their job. Money over ethics for CEO and employee alike.
I personally reccomend saying "no" when asked to do things that you find unsavory or outright illegal, but don't expect to get to keep your job. The parent->parent was right in saying "yes" if you want to keep your job.
Rifling through recently departed employees' email is more like what he meant. Not because you think you're ethical. Not to say you don't have a sense of ethics, you obviously do. They just seem to be a wee bit dubious. Reading through an ex-employee's email just be she is gone, with no other motivators? That's the loony part.
Keep this up in Slashdot and someone is going to punch your ticket for the CLUE TRAIN.
No offense, but you're the one who needs to get your ticket punched. Not because what you're saying is wrong, but because you've not yet learned that logic doesn't work on Slashdot. You cannot win. Macs will be for l0serZ until RMS is CEO, OS X is entirely open source, Mac hardware is given away for free, and OS X is a royal pain in the ass to use or has a look and feel that mimics like Windows 95, whichever comes first.
(yes, I'm an ex-Linux user who jumped ship when I discovered that there was a platform on which I could just get work done rather than reconfiguring my system every 20 minutes)
While both NeXTStep and MacOS X look great, their windowing systems come with a significant loss in features; in particular, they are not network transparent.
Not quite, buster.:)
Apple screwed up with it's Quartz/DisplayPDF display system by not providing display redirection over the network. According to what was said at WWDC conferences, they didn't think it was an important enough feature to go to all the work to implement. While I wish I had it, I tend to agree. Most users don't use it all that often, especially regular desktop Mac users. I know why it can be extremely useful, but most people don't need it, so Apple didn't bother.
However, since the first version NeXTSTEP, which relied on DisplayPostScript. Along with the other OSes in this lineage that used DPS- OpenStep, Rhapsody, and Mac OS X Server (up to 1.2), NeXTSTEP had network transparency. It worked just like it does in X11. On the machine on which the app will be displayed, you can check a box to allow such-and-such a host to connect to your DisplayPostScript server. Telnet to the machine. Run the app with "/Apps/RenderMan.app/RenderMan -NSHost 192.168.0.1"
This switch changed to "-NXHost" with OpenStep 4.0 and later. With it, you could run a full NeXTSTEP/OpenStep/Mac OS X Server 1.2 session on a Windows machine running OpenStep for Windows- Dock, Workspace.app and all.
Also, there was a little GUI app included with NeXTSTEP called "Open Sesame" that automated this, just had to enter in the relevant information and click OK.
Yup, just like that. Because NeXTSTEP used PostScript to display its windows, this feature was pretty straightforward to implement. You don't have to figure out how to encode the data for streaming. Apple could easily do it for OS X, but they decided to dick us in stead.
Re:so XFree86 = usage stattistics?
on
The End Of Minix?
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· Score: 2
You can just use xv to DISPLAY EVERY THUMBNAIL as the image loads. you know, like flashing them up on the screen in turn. or you can use a combination of jpeg (the utility) and jpegpsychic project, to get an rough idea of what the webpage would looklike if it was rendered in a complete web browser, with images and all.
The NeXTSTEP API is quite a bit different than Cocoa. They're both Objective-C, use MVC throughout, and share many of the same class names, but the API is a lot different.
OpenStep and Cocoa, however, are virtually the same thing. OpenStep was a big revision of the OS and the API.
But all the same, I heartily reccomend using Objective-C and Cocoa, especially above the other options presented: Java and C/Carbon.
Well, I do. But even if I had the money to buy a new iMac, I can't say I'd desire a new monitor to replace or supplement the 17" screen w/ a 1280x1024 (?) res- I'm fine with 1024x768 and can't say I've ever desired much more. Sure, it'd be nice, but for what I do and the way I work, it's fine. That said, I don't have problems working on a 480x320 screen. It's all about how well designed the apps are, and the apps I use work well in a small screen space.:P
Smaller is cooler, yes. But what use is a PC like this? It's small in size, but without the benefit that most computers that are small bring- mobility. The MicroPC provides portability, but in practice, not more than a laptop (with or without a head!). So why would one want to spend the extra money or suffer the limitations? The size of this thing could be kind of useful if it could be "converted" into a full laptop or desktop (with PCI, AGP slots and HD bays) ala the OQO or MCC. But it's not. It's not been designed to accept a battery and a small touchscreen-endowed display, to make it into a bulky mobile computer for when a full-speed computer is needed (there are situations when this could be needed). but nope- it's just a small version of a regular computer. Whoooop-de-doo!
Sure, given the choice, I'd rather have a small, out of the way computer rather than a big noisey PC desktop. Er, well, I have had that choice, and I went with the iBook.:P But given the choice between something even smaller for the same price and capabilities, I'd take the small one. But what the MiniPC worthwhile?
Why is it that Slashdot people and Wintel nerds often love these things, but rail against something like an iMac or eMac? A MicroPC has all the drawbacks of an all-in-one design and then some.- with the exception of a built-in monitor (on most [all?] iMacs and eMac models, the built-in can be bypassed or use as a second monitor).
There has to be folks out there on/. that are thinking "WOW! I must have one!" I'm interested in your opinion- what draws you too this? To look cool at LAN parties or to brag to those on IRC? I'm seriously curious- any insight would be great.
Heh. It's funny, because I was thinking the same thing, but didn't want to bother saying it, because it too would get marked a troll. Not that I'm particularly concerned about my karma, but I just see know reason to waste my typing time.:P it's sad, because you're right.
How is this flamebait? I mean this in all seriousness.
I imagine that no one has done it yet because most Linux users with PDAs either a) don't bother syncing or b) don't have something with WinCE. I have the knowledge to create such a beastie, but as one who doesn't need the functionality of it, I think it's fair to recieve compensation for the benefit of others.
Provided you have some network device for your PDA- be it a serial cable (for SLIP/PPP- not USB), ethernet or wireless would work, one could whip up a decent syncing solution in a couple days' time. Wouldn't do everything, but Calendar, Contacts and Todo would be pretty straightforward.
I wonder why no one else has done it yet. I have iPAQ hardware, but I don't use PocketPC for anything but a platform for running my own PDA environment, Dynapad.
I'm confident that I could hack something together using PocketC on the PDA and Perl on the desktop within a weekend. If anyone wants to sponsor me in this, I could do this. By sponsor, I mean for a price. Not a very high price. The person fronting the money can choose the license under which it lives - LGPL, closed-source commercial product or whatever. If there are any serious takers, email me and we can discuss what email app to support and cost, and so on.
It seems like a pretty poor trade- Linux sync functionality gained for the price of losing what you can do with the PocketPC and the hardware on which it runs. Why would anyone want to go and do something silly like that?
I know that I am not an average PDA user, but for me, the cost of a PDA is as or more justifiable as a desktop machine.
What do I do with my Newton 2000u? (and have tried to do with a iPAQ 3150 and Jornada 720)
Development: I do NewtonScript development directly on the Newon with or without a keyboard. For creating first class apps, just like you would with the desktop dev tools. You can even get a GUI builder. On WinCE machines, I worked on Dynapad- a full Smalltalk environment in 6 MB, including a full-blown IDE and a bunch of PDA applications all extensible and modifyable directly on the PDA itself. (in addition to the built-in WinCE apps!) Of course, this it what *I* do, but there are ways to program in Perl (with Tk!), BASIC (with GUI builders), PocketC, Java, Python, ISLISP, Scheme and many more- see the Dynapad link below for a list of self-hosted PDA coding environments.
Communication:Email, IRC, web browsing, ssh/telnet. XML-RPC and SOAP clients for those like me who have various services for my own away-from-home use.
PIM Stuff Assumed, of course.:) I take all of my college lecture notes using real HWR (not Graffiti). And the drawings within the notes. Unlike paper, I can easily distribute copies of the notes, index and search them. Great for studying on a test- when I'm wondering about something, I can just tap "Find-" no wasting time paging through textbooks and paper notes.
And a lot more. But that includes most of what I do on a computer. Any computer, PDA or desktop or notebook. Also, I listen to mp3s on both PDA and desktop. If I can get Squeak working on the Newton (I will be porting it soon!), I will seriously consider whether or not it's worth it for me to keep my iBook 500 and OpenBSD P5 machine.
For the most part, you need much more expensive units to do this.
No, you don't. You could spend $100 on a Zire, with about as much power as a Ti-89 calculator.:P Or, you could spend $150 or so for a new (harder to find new now though!) iPAQ 3150/3135, with a 16 MB ROM, 16 MB RAM, 206 MHz StrongARM, and the CompactFlash sleeve. A real computer running a real OS, at least compared to the PalmOS. You could even put Linux on it if you wanted to impress your LUG. Or you could install QNX.
You can get used Newton MessagePad 2100s for less than $100 now a days, a 162 MHz StrongARM, 5 MB RAM, a luxurious 480x320 screen, good battery life and a lot of useful apps. 2 PCMCIA slots used for PCMCIA flash cards, ethernet, modems, 802.11b, or ATA/CompactFlash memory. Yes, you can use one of those 10 GB Toshiba PCMCIA drives in a Newton.
Why wouldn't it be cheaper to build a system that has NO features but is just an infastructure for plugged in addons?
Pervasive modularity comes at a fairly steep price. It's almost always cheaper to build something a Zire than a the Chipslice. The Chipslice is exactly this modular system you speak of, at least what I imagine you mean. Of course, it's not been released to anyone anywhere yet, but it does exist. It has old Palm-like hardware, unfortunately. Perhaps they'll ugprade the spec to something fast and ARM based by the time they release it, if they ever do. It runs Linux, which is a weakness at this moment, but at least it runs PicoGUI, which is an awesome display system that is fast and works on very little resources.
Myself, I prefer a monochrome display quite a bit over a color.
For a few years, I used a Newton 2000u, a kick ass machine. For variousreasons, I sold my rad Newton setup and bought an iPAQ 3150 (darned cheap, at $150 with a CF sleeve!). The 3100 line is B&W. I was a bit weary of getting an iPAQ, because from the reviews of the 36xx and talking with friends, as the battery life of the color iPAQs is horrible. 3 hours. Or less. That's appaling. Luckily, the B&W iPAQ gets a good 20 hours of battery life, by virtue of its very readable monochrome screen.
But... one of the things that really bothered me about the iPAQ is the fact that the screen is tiny. So I sold the iPAQ and got a Jornada 720, hoping that the twice-as-large 640x240 screen would help ease the pain of leaving the Newton. And it does, a little, as long as you're inside a room with no natural light coming in. If you're outside, it's unreadable. As a biologist who has a fetish for doing quick analysis in the field as the data is entered, it makes the Jornada 720 worthless for too much of what I need it for.
Of course, there are some PDAs with reflective screens that can be read outside. The iPAQ 3600 series, for example. However, you still have the horrible battery life. Do most modern PocketPCs (PPC2k2) and color Palm OS devices have a similar reflective screen? Or do most have the unreadable ones?
Color sells to consumers though. They want flasher units rather than useful ones. It's a fact of life, but it still blows.:P Color screens just aren't practical for me. I imagine that most color PalmOS units get slightly better battery life than the PPC color units, but you're still stuck with the PalmOS and all of it's limitations. Yeah, I know, POS 5- but it ain't out yet, so it's not part of the picture.
I guess if you're the kind of person that likes to stay inside and watch TV, your PDA tethered to the wall with an AC adapter and the windows shut, color screens would be fine.
It depends on what you're doing with these subjects, how you're integrating them. I'm double majoring in Biology and Computational Math (was doing CS, but I'd rather have a little more math and a little less hardware!) towards the end of doing grad work in mathematical and computational ecology, specifically in wetlands (or perhaps lakes). How to describe your studies depends on how you pull it together.:)
Exceptions and templates would be great for doing wxWin work only in C++, but for creating bindings to other languages (which typically look for C-like calling conventions) they'd add a lot of headaches.
I don't see any reason why they may not eventually port to PalmOS. POS 4.x and most of the platforms on which it runs are more or less jokes for something like this- Python+wxWin, a high-level language caling a pretty big, abstracted library. Maybe in POS 5 or some dot-rev we'll see non-trivial apps ported to POS.
Slashdot Mirror
Can't you buy full-text prints of patents from that site, though? Which would infringe on the patent.
While I did mean this as tongue-in-cheek, it's also true. Because of the facilities provided in nSync, and the very dynamic and reflective nature of the Newton's software system, you *can* indeed write Cocoa apps in NewtonScript. :)
Now you can write Cocoa apps in NewtonScript!
As a part of nSync's cool plug-in archetecture, you have the ability to get at anything in the Newton's soup system, an object database in which all data on the Newton is stored. Not only can you get to any Newton data from Cocoa, you can also execute arbitrary NewonScript!
Meaning, with a little creativity, you could write NewtonScript Cocoa apps. Make the GUI using InterfaceBuilder, and make callbacks to the NewtonScript side for the logic. It's like having asyncronous multiprocessing! WOOT!
Sound familiar?
Of course it does. But just because it's a disgusting way for a business to be run doesn't mean it can't or doesn't happen. People get fired for not doing what their bosses say, especially for illegal or unethical things. Most people do what's requested of them because they want to keep their job. Money over ethics for CEO and employee alike.
I personally reccomend saying "no" when asked to do things that you find unsavory or outright illegal, but don't expect to get to keep your job. The parent->parent was right in saying "yes" if you want to keep your job.
Rifling through recently departed employees' email is more like what he meant. Not because you think you're ethical. Not to say you don't have a sense of ethics, you obviously do. They just seem to be a wee bit dubious. Reading through an ex-employee's email just be she is gone, with no other motivators? That's the loony part.
Why wouldn't he get a major slashdotting? After all, the link posted was to Geocities, where you get your bandwidth maxed out purty quick.
Sounds like fun!
Keep this up in Slashdot and someone is going to punch your ticket for the CLUE TRAIN.
No offense, but you're the one who needs to get your ticket punched. Not because what you're saying is wrong, but because you've not yet learned that logic doesn't work on Slashdot. You cannot win. Macs will be for l0serZ until RMS is CEO, OS X is entirely open source, Mac hardware is given away for free, and OS X is a royal pain in the ass to use or has a look and feel that mimics like Windows 95, whichever comes first.
(yes, I'm an ex-Linux user who jumped ship when I discovered that there was a platform on which I could just get work done rather than reconfiguring my system every 20 minutes)
What are mouse buttons with that?
Why? Because both X and MDA are drugs that induce love as well as something to do for an entire afternoon? ;P
While both NeXTStep and MacOS X look great, their windowing systems come with a significant loss in features; in particular, they are not network transparent.
:)
Not quite, buster.
Apple screwed up with it's Quartz/DisplayPDF display system by not providing display redirection over the network. According to what was said at WWDC conferences, they didn't think it was an important enough feature to go to all the work to implement. While I wish I had it, I tend to agree. Most users don't use it all that often, especially regular desktop Mac users. I know why it can be extremely useful, but most people don't need it, so Apple didn't bother.
However, since the first version NeXTSTEP, which relied on DisplayPostScript. Along with the other OSes in this lineage that used DPS- OpenStep, Rhapsody, and Mac OS X Server (up to 1.2), NeXTSTEP had network transparency. It worked just like it does in X11. On the machine on which the app will be displayed, you can check a box to allow such-and-such a host to connect to your DisplayPostScript server. Telnet to the machine. Run the app with "/Apps/RenderMan.app/RenderMan -NSHost 192.168.0.1"
This switch changed to "-NXHost" with OpenStep 4.0 and later. With it, you could run a full NeXTSTEP/OpenStep/Mac OS X Server 1.2 session on a Windows machine running OpenStep for Windows- Dock, Workspace.app and all.
Also, there was a little GUI app included with NeXTSTEP called "Open Sesame" that automated this, just had to enter in the relevant information and click OK.
Yup, just like that. Because NeXTSTEP used PostScript to display its windows, this feature was pretty straightforward to implement. You don't have to figure out how to encode the data for streaming. Apple could easily do it for OS X, but they decided to dick us in stead.
You can just use xv to DISPLAY EVERY THUMBNAIL as the image loads. you know, like flashing them up on the screen in turn. or you can use a combination of jpeg (the utility) and jpegpsychic project, to get an rough idea of what the webpage would looklike if it was rendered in a complete web browser, with images and all.
The NeXTSTEP API is quite a bit different than Cocoa. They're both Objective-C, use MVC throughout, and share many of the same class names, but the API is a lot different.
OpenStep and Cocoa, however, are virtually the same thing. OpenStep was a big revision of the OS and the API.
But all the same, I heartily reccomend using Objective-C and Cocoa, especially above the other options presented: Java and C/Carbon.
Well, I do. But even if I had the money to buy a new iMac, I can't say I'd desire a new monitor to replace or supplement the 17" screen w/ a 1280x1024 (?) res- I'm fine with 1024x768 and can't say I've ever desired much more. Sure, it'd be nice, but for what I do and the way I work, it's fine. That said, I don't have problems working on a 480x320 screen. It's all about how well designed the apps are, and the apps I use work well in a small screen space. :P
Smaller is cooler, yes. But what use is a PC like this? It's small in size, but without the benefit that most computers that are small bring- mobility. The MicroPC provides portability, but in practice, not more than a laptop (with or without a head!). So why would one want to spend the extra money or suffer the limitations? The size of this thing could be kind of useful if it could be "converted" into a full laptop or desktop (with PCI, AGP slots and HD bays) ala the OQO or MCC. But it's not. It's not been designed to accept a battery and a small touchscreen-endowed display, to make it into a bulky mobile computer for when a full-speed computer is needed (there are situations when this could be needed). but nope- it's just a small version of a regular computer. Whoooop-de-doo!
:P But given the choice between something even smaller for the same price and capabilities, I'd take the small one. But what the MiniPC worthwhile?
/. that are thinking "WOW! I must have one!" I'm interested in your opinion- what draws you too this? To look cool at LAN parties or to brag to those on IRC? I'm seriously curious- any insight would be great.
Sure, given the choice, I'd rather have a small, out of the way computer rather than a big noisey PC desktop. Er, well, I have had that choice, and I went with the iBook.
Why is it that Slashdot people and Wintel nerds often love these things, but rail against something like an iMac or eMac? A MicroPC has all the drawbacks of an all-in-one design and then some.- with the exception of a built-in monitor (on most [all?] iMacs and eMac models, the built-in can be bypassed or use as a second monitor).
There has to be folks out there on
Heh. It's funny, because I was thinking the same thing, but didn't want to bother saying it, because it too would get marked a troll. Not that I'm particularly concerned about my karma, but I just see know reason to waste my typing time. :P it's sad, because you're right.
How is this flamebait? I mean this in all seriousness.
I imagine that no one has done it yet because most Linux users with PDAs either a) don't bother syncing or b) don't have something with WinCE. I have the knowledge to create such a beastie, but as one who doesn't need the functionality of it, I think it's fair to recieve compensation for the benefit of others.
Provided you have some network device for your PDA- be it a serial cable (for SLIP/PPP- not USB), ethernet or wireless would work, one could whip up a decent syncing solution in a couple days' time. Wouldn't do everything, but Calendar, Contacts and Todo would be pretty straightforward.
I wonder why no one else has done it yet. I have iPAQ hardware, but I don't use PocketPC for anything but a platform for running my own PDA environment, Dynapad.
I'm confident that I could hack something together using PocketC on the PDA and Perl on the desktop within a weekend. If anyone wants to sponsor me in this, I could do this. By sponsor, I mean for a price. Not a very high price. The person fronting the money can choose the license under which it lives - LGPL, closed-source commercial product or whatever. If there are any serious takers, email me and we can discuss what email app to support and cost, and so on.
It seems like a pretty poor trade- Linux sync functionality gained for the price of losing what you can do with the PocketPC and the hardware on which it runs. Why would anyone want to go and do something silly like that?
It does? Holy balls, batman! That does blow, many a goat mind you! Why is this machine even being sold for $99?!
What do I do with my Newton 2000u? (and have tried to do with a iPAQ 3150 and Jornada 720)
And a lot more. But that includes most of what I do on a computer. Any computer, PDA or desktop or notebook. Also, I listen to mp3s on both PDA and desktop. If I can get Squeak working on the Newton (I will be porting it soon!), I will seriously consider whether or not it's worth it for me to keep my iBook 500 and OpenBSD P5 machine.
For the most part, you need much more expensive units to do this.
No, you don't. You could spend $100 on a Zire, with about as much power as a Ti-89 calculator.
You can get used Newton MessagePad 2100s for less than $100 now a days, a 162 MHz StrongARM, 5 MB RAM, a luxurious 480x320 screen, good battery life and a lot of useful apps. 2 PCMCIA slots used for PCMCIA flash cards, ethernet, modems, 802.11b, or ATA/CompactFlash memory. Yes, you can use one of those 10 GB Toshiba PCMCIA drives in a Newton.
Why wouldn't it be cheaper to build a system that has NO features but is just an infastructure for plugged in addons?
Pervasive modularity comes at a fairly steep price. It's almost always cheaper to build something a Zire than a the Chipslice. The Chipslice is exactly this modular system you speak of, at least what I imagine you mean. Of course, it's not been released to anyone anywhere yet, but it does exist. It has old Palm-like hardware, unfortunately. Perhaps they'll ugprade the spec to something fast and ARM based by the time they release it, if they ever do. It runs Linux, which is a weakness at this moment, but at least it runs PicoGUI, which is an awesome display system that is fast and works on very little resources.
Myself, I prefer a monochrome display quite a bit over a color.
:P Color screens just aren't practical for me. I imagine that most color PalmOS units get slightly better battery life than the PPC color units, but you're still stuck with the PalmOS and all of it's limitations. Yeah, I know, POS 5- but it ain't out yet, so it's not part of the picture.
For a few years, I used a Newton 2000u, a kick ass machine. For various reasons, I sold my rad Newton setup and bought an iPAQ 3150 (darned cheap, at $150 with a CF sleeve!). The 3100 line is B&W. I was a bit weary of getting an iPAQ, because from the reviews of the 36xx and talking with friends, as the battery life of the color iPAQs is horrible. 3 hours. Or less. That's appaling. Luckily, the B&W iPAQ gets a good 20 hours of battery life, by virtue of its very readable monochrome screen.
But... one of the things that really bothered me about the iPAQ is the fact that the screen is tiny. So I sold the iPAQ and got a Jornada 720, hoping that the twice-as-large 640x240 screen would help ease the pain of leaving the Newton. And it does, a little, as long as you're inside a room with no natural light coming in. If you're outside, it's unreadable. As a biologist who has a fetish for doing quick analysis in the field as the data is entered, it makes the Jornada 720 worthless for too much of what I need it for.
Of course, there are some PDAs with reflective screens that can be read outside. The iPAQ 3600 series, for example. However, you still have the horrible battery life. Do most modern PocketPCs (PPC2k2) and color Palm OS devices have a similar reflective screen? Or do most have the unreadable ones?
Color sells to consumers though. They want flasher units rather than useful ones. It's a fact of life, but it still blows.
I guess if you're the kind of person that likes to stay inside and watch TV, your PDA tethered to the wall with an AC adapter and the windows shut, color screens would be fine.
It depends on what you're doing with these subjects, how you're integrating them. I'm double majoring in Biology and Computational Math (was doing CS, but I'd rather have a little more math and a little less hardware!) towards the end of doing grad work in mathematical and computational ecology, specifically in wetlands (or perhaps lakes). How to describe your studies depends on how you pull it together. :)
Exceptions and templates would be great for doing wxWin work only in C++, but for creating bindings to other languages (which typically look for C-like calling conventions) they'd add a lot of headaches.
I don't see any reason why they may not eventually port to PalmOS. POS 4.x and most of the platforms on which it runs are more or less jokes for something like this- Python+wxWin, a high-level language caling a pretty big, abstracted library. Maybe in POS 5 or some dot-rev we'll see non-trivial apps ported to POS.