Apparently, linux seems to have lost out on the gaming market (for now). Perhaps this is a perfect niche for GPL based software. Gaming companies hold onto their most current 3-d Engines pretty tightly as proprietary software... preventing the establishment of a standard 3-d Engine. Perhaps the linux community can bridge this gap and push towards a standardized 3-d engine and even reinvigorate the gaming potential of linux. This also means that game designers for linux could concentrate on content instead of "mechanics". At the same time, the appeal of the 3-d engine as a GUI interface would probably attract many new users if it is properly implemented.
You cannot deny the ability of physical space to affect the human psyche. Witness the affect that a cathedral has on worshipers. The Masons base their doctrine on the ability of an environment around an individual to powerfully shape his or her thought processes. The Chinese understand this idea through Feng Shui. Get on board folks. The ride is sure to be interesting.
No usability is not the issue. The approximation of a real-world environment is. Do you dream in 2-d? Probably not. Yet your brain finds utility for a 3-d representation of this particular information space. Binocular vision (3-d perception) empowered predators to kill, feast, and develop larger brains (lots of extra protein means more grey matter). These are the scientific facts. You may spurn the idea that a 3-d representation of your information space empowers you. But mother nature, as always, will have the last word in this argument.
Any 2-d representation can be mapped to 3-d space. Imagine that... I might have had a few topology courses. However, the immediacy of a 3-d experience cannot be mapped to a 2-d environment. You do the math.
Some pretty harse words there. Try a keyword search. Instant correlation... no one ever said that this sort of interface would mean that we need to abandon a text interface. Such a violent reaction to a simple and intuitive idea.... why?
I am a devoted KDE1.0 user. Primarily because it is stable, solid, and dependable. It is not feature rich... but it has enough functionality for me. I went for the first release of KDE2 and was met with a huge amount of disappointment and problems that plagued this buggy release. I understand that the ticking-box method (end-user testing... kaboom!!!) is a necessary component for the release of complex software...but I was looking to the KDE guys to "up the bar" with some real software engineering. Hold on to your code and THOROUGHLY test before you release it guys!!! As GI Joe might say if he were a programmer... "Coding is only half the battle." (actually testing is like 85 percent). Look to industries like medical informatics to benchmark. Coders in this field have NO ROOM for crappy software since people's lives hang in the balance over their code. One last plug for KDE... I am taking a software engineering course in college right now. Anyway... I teamed up with a partner to complete the assignments. We decided to implement GUIs for our code. I chose KDE... he chose Gnome. My interface is done and tested. He is still futzing with Gnome docs and test code. All hail kdevelop. I intend to do some coding using Gnome... but this is only for the benefit of perspective and balance. Still the KDE software coding facilities let me get to coding with lightning efficiency. Something that I will not soon forget. All this said... I think I will wait another 6 months before giving KDE2 another go (don't let me down again KDE).
What can IBM do right? 1. Beat the world chess champion with Deep Blue 2. Won five Nobel prizes
3. Built the fastest supercomputer on the free market (ASCI White) 4. Four US National Medals of Technology 5. Three National Medals of Science... etc. Not bad if you ask me.
Not to force this issue exclusively into the "American" arena... but let's face it... the American baby boomers are aging. And they have done the world a remarkable favor and not continued in the reproductive traditions of their fore bearers. This means they must look to other sources for wealth, stability, and prosperity in their golden years (i.e. not exclusively their progeny). Improved biotech will undoubtedly be one result of this fact. Another, will be advances in robotics that will enable the elderly more personal freedom and even the opportunity to become more significant wealth generators in their old age (through robotic telepresence). This of course could lead to businesses exclusively built using robotic workers. More realistically, this all probably just means that the Japanese will find a wonderful new vistas in robotic exports to the US and around the world.
I am surprised there is such a lack of progressive thought on this subject.
The question that keeps popping up is "What is the advantage of data visualization?"
Well, that depends on how the data is presented. Can a two-dimensional
graph more instantly convey information than a flat listing of numbers?
Of course it can. What happens when we view a three-dimensional graph?
We can discover even more relationships between data. Ithink
this same general principle applies to a three-dimensional interface for
a computer. As the authors of 3dsia point out... it will be possible
to provide visual cues as to how information reaches and is processed by
your computer. For example, metaphors for socket communication and
data flow can be displayed. Certainly this will improve aesthetics
but it will also convey new information to the user (Hey my email won't
go anywhere... but I can see that when it flies out toward the mail host
it is just hovering at its gate).
William Gibson understood the immediacy of a three-dimensional representation
of data and information... this is how humans interact with the real
world... not from a desk and papers (unless you are a bureaucrat).
This is a the most natural of interfaces that will make computers more
intimate and friendly for people. This is will have the effect of
broadening their use. Do you want to be a part of this or do you
want to scoff at the possibilities?
Mutation provides an opportunity to adapt to your environment. Usually, mutation is deleterious in organisms. However, sometimes mutation is beneficial and the organism finds a new niche and is very successful at exploiting this niche. Natural selection weeds out the negative mutations... just like every distro of Linux isn't going to make it. At least Linux is evolving and adapting to its environment. Funny that the ad didn't talk about the forces of Genetic Drift... where subgroups establish themselves outside of a larger population. This has the effect of eliminating alleles (all the different forms a particular gene may take) from a breeding population reducing diversity and probably survivability. I wonder if they are experiencing a nasty case of genetic drift which is reducing their talent base. Anyway, their is no way they are going to unseat SuSE in Germany... not after it has turned into a point of national pride.
Ok, before anyone jumps to any rash conclusions or gets into state of nastiness...the Gnome project is up the same mischief.....I wonder if this is really good for the linux X-windows environment? It seems to be the trend.
http://www.gnome.org:65348/gb/
On the plus side, contemporary Linux developers will garner some hard-core experience dealing with the wickedness that comes with churing out your own language. I have already taken Theory of Automata and Compiler Theory and found that more than a little challenging. I think it will be a good warm-up for something better.
I don't believe I refered that attributes of the Mac Case in any fashion. Furthermore, if the necessity to restrict knowledge is a precondition to the peaceful application of technology...then the power and freedom to ADAPT and EVOLVE the technology will be imparted to the few...the elite. Their determinations on how you should use the technology will overide your necessity to apply the technology. You are no longer in the driver's seat my friend. But hey, A**le has done a damn fine job of choosing the applications that are appropriate for you. And, I am sure you are quite happy with that (as everyone should be...you better be happy with it...that's what I thought you are quite content). However, it doesn't seem like it is an ideal that A**le thinks is worth clinging to. Why is that?
And I choose to believe that people are extremely adaptable and able to overcome all kinds of complexity. By this reasoning, how on earth can a challenge become disempowering? The disempowerment stems from the attitudes that individuals form about themselves when they face adversity. It is a path that they choose for themselves...and represents the opportunity for growth. If you are afraid of learning...you will always feel disempowered. Learning means exposing your weaknesses and trying to overcome them. If you view an individual as a finite deterministic machine that cannot grow...then yes, I agree that contemporary computers are disempowering. However, if you believe that folks have an massive ability to adapt and learn...then computer literacy represents enormous opportunity. I will never minimized that feature among human beings.
You have just made a lot of assumptions about my Mom. Why would you assume that she is not accomplished in the realm of '*N*X' or computing? Perhaps you are operating from ill-conceived opinions formed from a cultural bias. Maybe, just maybe, my Mom is a scientist and fully educated in the computing arts.
Ok, I wasn't trying to be a troll. I was merely trying to understand (for real) what the advantages were. I have dwelled in the sinuous world that is '*N*X' for a long time. I love it down here in Middle Earth. If you look at my post history, you would see that I believe that the computing revolution should be open to all. However, sometimes access to information and knowledge is a higher priority than "dumbing down" how that information is represented. When books first started to be common...the folks who could read and write were considered elite. Now they are considered average. Why can't we raise the bar in the realm of computing also. I think this will benefit everyone in the long run. No, I am not an elitist. I just believe in the unlimited potential that resides in everyone. My conclusion, from the replies that I have read is...this is a middle ground to bring everyone into the highly expressive, precise world of the command line. This is highly empowering as the success of '*N*X' can attest. I am sorry if posed questions that seemed antithetical to people's various religions...err I mean OS preferences.
I don't quite understand what all the hubbub about OS X is. What does OS X accomplish that cannot be sufficiently fullfilled by a solid BSD or Linux box? Ok, so it has the pretty GUI...However, I have seen some slick themes on http://www.themes.org that make the aqua GUI look average. Finally, why would I pay for OS X when I can get Linux and BSD for free? Somehow, I do not believe we will be seeing this open sourced anytime soon...so why is this so innovative?
We cannot allow these information-bearing devices to become too accessible to the common-folk! These things will ensure the proliferation of knowledge to the common peasant who is simply incapable of interpreting knowledge for himself or herself. Such a profusion of knowledge in society will mean that power shifts from the elite to the mere commoners. Of which technology do I speak? Books....after the invention of the Gutenberg printing press. Well, we can all see the disasterous effects that books have had on the education of mere commoners!
This little passion play has been played...I think we all know the results. Now you can make an informed decision on whether to further an elitist agenda or enable another revolution of knowledge and period of enlightenment.
Dear Mr. Katz, I am writing in response to the article you published on Slashdot titled "Planet Gattaca: God-Technology:-Building-the-Perfect-Human dept." After reading the article I was left with the sense that you have no understanding or appreciation of Icelandic character and had done little no research on Icelandic genome mapping. The mere title itself which includes, "God-Technology:-Building-the-Perfect-Human dept," smacks of sensationalism. I came away from your article with the sense that you had stigmatized the Icelandic people for their role in efforts to map the human genome. This is particularly evident when you say, "...and hope there is some rational discussion somewhere before the corporate lawsuits and patent issues are resolved, and the first genetic research lab starts peddling perfect, cheerful Icelandic babies around the world." Mr. Katz, research your topic thoroughly before you write such inflammatory material. As we speak, Iceland is in the throes of a national debate over this very issue. I quote an article from Anthropology Today, October 1999. "Understandably, Icelanders have been even more attentive. There have been some 700 newspaper articles in the press, 150 television programs, a series of town meetings and endless discussion and debate both within the Parliament and in the shopping centers, cafes and dinner tables of Iceland. Our institutes at Berkeley and Reykjavík have jointly established a web site -- http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/biotech/iceland/ -- where media material and public documents relating to the mapping of the Icelandic human genome are made available and on which a reflective and informed discussion about it can take place." http://www.decode.is/greinar/anthro.htm You, Mr. Katz, are a discredit to individuals in your "profession." You completely abandoned the rules of scientific journalism that demand accuracy and integrity. In the process you have stigmatized an entire nation of people and charged their complicity in "a plot to clone the perfect human." I demand a retraction of your article and at very least an apology to the Icelandic people who are well aware of moral impact of this activity and are very concerned about its consequences. I can recall a few instances in history where individuals were stigmatized because of their ethic origins and I find it hard to believe that you would play party to the same sort of nonsense.
Slashdot Mirror
Thanks for the link!!! Good stuff.
Apparently, linux seems to have lost out on the gaming market (for now). Perhaps this is a perfect niche for GPL based software. Gaming companies hold onto their most current 3-d Engines pretty tightly as proprietary software ... preventing the establishment of a standard 3-d Engine. Perhaps the linux community can bridge this gap and push towards a standardized 3-d engine and even reinvigorate the gaming potential of linux. This also means that game designers for linux could concentrate on content instead of "mechanics". At the same time, the appeal of the 3-d engine as a GUI interface would probably attract many new users if it is properly implemented.
You cannot deny the ability of physical space to affect the human psyche. Witness the affect that a cathedral has on worshipers. The Masons base their doctrine on the ability of an environment around an individual to powerfully shape his or her thought processes. The Chinese understand this idea through Feng Shui. Get on board folks. The ride is sure to be interesting.
No usability is not the issue. The approximation of a real-world environment is. Do you dream in 2-d? Probably not. Yet your brain finds utility for a 3-d representation of this particular information space. Binocular vision (3-d perception) empowered predators to kill, feast, and develop larger brains (lots of extra protein means more grey matter). These are the scientific facts. You may spurn the idea that a 3-d representation of your information space empowers you. But mother nature, as always, will have the last word in this argument.
Any 2-d representation can be mapped to 3-d space. Imagine that ... I might have had a few topology courses. However, the immediacy of a 3-d experience cannot be mapped to a 2-d environment. You do the math.
Some pretty harse words there. Try a keyword search. Instant correlation ... no one ever said that this sort of interface would mean that we need to abandon a text interface. Such a violent reaction to a simple and intuitive idea .... why?
I concede on this point. Still, I know the technology is out there now. I just want to see it made available to the masses.
I am a devoted KDE1.0 user. Primarily because it is stable, solid, and dependable. It is not feature rich ... but it has enough functionality for me. I went for the first release of KDE2 and was met with a huge amount of disappointment and problems that plagued this buggy release. I understand that the ticking-box method (end-user testing ... kaboom!!!) is a necessary component for the release of complex software...but I was looking to the KDE guys to "up the bar" with some real software engineering. Hold on to your code and THOROUGHLY test before you release it guys!!! As GI Joe might say if he were a programmer ... "Coding is only half the battle." (actually testing is like 85 percent). Look to industries like medical informatics to benchmark. Coders in this field have NO ROOM for crappy software since people's lives hang in the balance over their code. One last plug for KDE ... I am taking a software engineering course in college right now. Anyway ... I teamed up with a partner to complete the assignments. We decided to implement GUIs for our code. I chose KDE ... he chose Gnome. My interface is done and tested. He is still futzing with Gnome docs and test code. All hail kdevelop. I intend to do some coding using Gnome ... but this is only for the benefit of perspective and balance. Still the KDE software coding facilities let me get to coding with lightning efficiency. Something that I will not soon forget. All this said ... I think I will wait another 6 months before giving KDE2 another go (don't let me down again KDE).
What can IBM do right? 1. Beat the world chess champion with Deep Blue 2. Won five Nobel prizes 3. Built the fastest supercomputer on the free market (ASCI White) 4. Four US National Medals of Technology 5. Three National Medals of Science ... etc. Not bad if you ask me.
Not to force this issue exclusively into the "American" arena ... but let's face it ... the American baby boomers are aging. And they have done the world a remarkable favor and not continued in the reproductive traditions of their fore bearers. This means they must look to other sources for wealth, stability, and prosperity in their golden years (i.e. not exclusively their progeny). Improved biotech will undoubtedly be one result of this fact. Another, will be advances in robotics that will enable the elderly more personal freedom and even the opportunity to become more significant wealth generators in their old age (through robotic telepresence). This of course could lead to businesses exclusively built using robotic workers. More realistically, this all probably just means that the Japanese will find a wonderful new vistas in robotic exports to the US and around the world.
William Gibson understood the immediacy of a three-dimensional representation of data and information ... this is how humans interact with the real
world ... not from a desk and papers (unless you are a bureaucrat).
This is a the most natural of interfaces that will make computers more
intimate and friendly for people. This is will have the effect of
broadening their use. Do you want to be a part of this or do you
want to scoff at the possibilities?
Mutation provides an opportunity to adapt to your environment. Usually, mutation is deleterious in organisms. However, sometimes mutation is beneficial and the organism finds a new niche and is very successful at exploiting this niche. Natural selection weeds out the negative mutations ... just like every distro of Linux isn't going to make it. At least Linux is evolving and adapting to its environment. Funny that the ad didn't talk about the forces of Genetic Drift ... where subgroups establish themselves outside of a larger population. This has the effect of eliminating alleles (all the different forms a particular gene may take) from a breeding population reducing diversity and probably survivability. I wonder if they are experiencing a nasty case of genetic drift which is reducing their talent base. Anyway, their is no way they are going to unseat SuSE in Germany ... not after it has turned into a point of national pride.
Oppp, one other comment, notice that the GNOME folks have addressed the virus issue in the link above. Its worth looking at.
Ok, before anyone jumps to any rash conclusions or gets into state of nastiness...the Gnome project is up the same mischief.....I wonder if this is really good for the linux X-windows environment? It seems to be the trend.
http://www.gnome.org:65348/gb/
On the plus side, contemporary Linux developers will garner some hard-core experience dealing with the wickedness that comes with churing out your own language. I have already taken Theory of Automata and Compiler Theory and found that more than a little challenging. I think it will be a good warm-up for something better.
I don't believe I refered that attributes of the Mac Case in any fashion. Furthermore, if the necessity to restrict knowledge is a precondition to the peaceful application of technology...then the power and freedom to ADAPT and EVOLVE the technology will be imparted to the few...the elite. Their determinations on how you should use the technology will overide your necessity to apply the technology. You are no longer in the driver's seat my friend. But hey, A**le has done a damn fine job of choosing the applications that are appropriate for you. And, I am sure you are quite happy with that (as everyone should be...you better be happy with it...that's what I thought you are quite content). However, it doesn't seem like it is an ideal that A**le thinks is worth clinging to. Why is that?
And I choose to believe that people are extremely adaptable and able to overcome all kinds of complexity. By this reasoning, how on earth can a challenge become disempowering? The disempowerment stems from the attitudes that individuals form about themselves when they face adversity. It is a path that they choose for themselves...and represents the opportunity for growth. If you are afraid of learning...you will always feel disempowered. Learning means exposing your weaknesses and trying to overcome them. If you view an individual as a finite deterministic machine that cannot grow...then yes, I agree that contemporary computers are disempowering. However, if you believe that folks have an massive ability to adapt and learn...then computer literacy represents enormous opportunity. I will never minimized that feature among human beings.
You have just made a lot of assumptions about my Mom. Why would you assume that she is not accomplished in the realm of '*N*X' or computing? Perhaps you are operating from ill-conceived opinions formed from a cultural bias. Maybe, just maybe, my Mom is a scientist and fully educated in the computing arts.
Ok, I wasn't trying to be a troll. I was merely trying to understand (for real) what the advantages were. I have dwelled in the sinuous world that is '*N*X' for a long time. I love it down here in Middle Earth. If you look at my post history, you would see that I believe that the computing revolution should be open to all. However, sometimes access to information and knowledge is a higher priority than "dumbing down" how that information is represented. When books first started to be common...the folks who could read and write were considered elite. Now they are considered average. Why can't we raise the bar in the realm of computing also. I think this will benefit everyone in the long run. No, I am not an elitist. I just believe in the unlimited potential that resides in everyone. My conclusion, from the replies that I have read is...this is a middle ground to bring everyone into the highly expressive, precise world of the command line. This is highly empowering as the success of '*N*X' can attest. I am sorry if posed questions that seemed antithetical to people's various religions...err I mean OS preferences.
I don't quite understand what all the hubbub about OS X is. What does OS X accomplish that cannot be sufficiently fullfilled by a solid BSD or Linux box? Ok, so it has the pretty GUI...However, I have seen some slick themes on http://www.themes.org that make the aqua GUI look average. Finally, why would I pay for OS X when I can get Linux and BSD for free? Somehow, I do not believe we will be seeing this open sourced anytime soon...so why is this so innovative?
We cannot allow these information-bearing devices to become too accessible to the common-folk! These things will ensure the proliferation of knowledge to the common peasant who is simply incapable of interpreting knowledge for himself or herself. Such a profusion of knowledge in society will mean that power shifts from the elite to the mere commoners. Of which technology do I speak? Books....after the invention of the Gutenberg printing press. Well, we can all see the disasterous effects that books have had on the education of mere commoners! This little passion play has been played...I think we all know the results. Now you can make an informed decision on whether to further an elitist agenda or enable another revolution of knowledge and period of enlightenment.
Dear Mr. Katz, I am writing in response to the article you published on Slashdot titled "Planet Gattaca: God-Technology:-Building-the-Perfect-Human dept." After reading the article I was left with the sense that you have no understanding or appreciation of Icelandic character and had done little no research on Icelandic genome mapping. The mere title itself which includes, "God-Technology:-Building-the-Perfect-Human dept," smacks of sensationalism. I came away from your article with the sense that you had stigmatized the Icelandic people for their role in efforts to map the human genome. This is particularly evident when you say, "...and hope there is some rational discussion somewhere before the corporate lawsuits and patent issues are resolved, and the first genetic research lab starts peddling perfect, cheerful Icelandic babies around the world." Mr. Katz, research your topic thoroughly before you write such inflammatory material. As we speak, Iceland is in the throes of a national debate over this very issue. I quote an article from Anthropology Today, October 1999. "Understandably, Icelanders have been even more attentive. There have been some 700 newspaper articles in the press, 150 television programs, a series of town meetings and endless discussion and debate both within the Parliament and in the shopping centers, cafes and dinner tables of Iceland. Our institutes at Berkeley and Reykjavík have jointly established a web site -- http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/biotech/iceland/ -- where media material and public documents relating to the mapping of the Icelandic human genome are made available and on which a reflective and informed discussion about it can take place." http://www.decode.is/greinar/anthro.htm You, Mr. Katz, are a discredit to individuals in your "profession." You completely abandoned the rules of scientific journalism that demand accuracy and integrity. In the process you have stigmatized an entire nation of people and charged their complicity in "a plot to clone the perfect human." I demand a retraction of your article and at very least an apology to the Icelandic people who are well aware of moral impact of this activity and are very concerned about its consequences. I can recall a few instances in history where individuals were stigmatized because of their ethic origins and I find it hard to believe that you would play party to the same sort of nonsense.