Lately I've been using Cordys for building applications using SOAP. Extensive use is made of open source components like OpenLDAP, DHTML, and so on. It's mostly done in Java. Currently its only available on IIS, but they are about to release a version that will work with Apache on Linux.
The biggest advantage that Cordys gave us, is that it has several "application connectors" that make it a breeze to access data in old propietary ERP systems like Baan and SAP.
Playlist: Sure it doesn't have substring searching... but the neo has pretty good browsing. Its simple to expand/collapse the tree, queue songs for playing, etc. As long as the directory tree is structured by Genre->Artist->Album->Title of course, or something similiar. I use it everyday, and I'm not complaining. In fact, I'm telling others about this unit, even though I don't work for SSI or any other audio equipment manufacturer/distributor/reseller/retailer/install er.
Amp: ok, the built in amp sucks. But most poeple in this class have separate amps already anyways.
Fitting in the dash: it does fit in the dash. It's a little deep, so most people don't though. Personally, I connect my unit into the aux imput on my CD deck. This gives the ability to play normal CDs, have an FM/AM radio included, 3d bass, sub woofer control, etc. I have the unit mounted in the trunk, and use the remote LCD control. I could fasten this to the dash using the supplied velcro straps, but I prefer to just hide it under my seat when not in use, and just hold it in my hand or rest it on the passenger seat while listening.
Eq: it has a simple equalizer (Rock/Classic/User/etc), but nothing full scale like the empeg or a decent CD-based unit has. Then again, somebody who is in the class probably has an external hardware equalizer anyways ($50 CDN).
If the price difference was closer, I may have more seriously considered getting the empeg... its probably got more features and upgradability due to running Linux. For 2-3x the price, I don't need fancy graphics and vi...:-)
If I really wanted the higher class... I'd want the 10" LCD for full-screen visualations, the top emu10k1 based soundcard, a 1000+ Mhz processor, wh00p ass video card, 10/100 Mbps NIC, wireless LAN, GPS, voice activation, touchscreen, da works. But no... I just want a jukebox, and the neo gives that for a decent price.
It appears that you are using the empeg all the time... I'm using the neo all the time, so there is no point in arguing...:-)
1. The Neo 35 is a third of the price of the empeg
2. Sure the Neo35 doesn't have fancy graphics... but I drive with my eyes on the road, not on the head unit. The fancy visualizations mean squat, its the sound dude... (The neo has awesome playlist features as well, btw)
3. The Neo35 does have a built in amp (40x4 AFAIK)
4. Why do I NEED linux on it? That's what my server/workstations are for.
As far as bang goes, the Neo35, available from carplayer.com or SSI America has more for the buck.
I recently purchased the Neo 35 MP3 player from carplayer.com. Its also available from the manufacturer, but I didn't realize that until AFTER I received the unit.
For about $800 CDN, I received a very complete and well thought package, including:
- the head unit
- with a 30 Gig drive
- remote LCD on a nice long serial cable
- docking bays for the car and PC
- IR remote (don't use it much though)
- RCA/antennae (sp) cables
- extra velcro straps, IDE/power cables, etc
- Music Match (~$20 value, but for Windows so I don't use it)
- carrying case for head unit
You can also get the Home Stereo docking bay, which is appealing to those with nice surround sound home stereos...
Since I already had a good CD deck (top Panasonic unit from '99), I had the Neo 35 mounted in the trunk instead of in the dash. This means I can still listen to AM/FM/CDs using the Panasonic deck, and switch to AUX IN and use the Remote LCD to control the jukebox. The only issue I currently need to resolve, is that I'm getting some feedback coming through the speakers while switched to AUX IN. By feedback, I mean I can hear a high-pitched whine of the engine as I accelerate and decelerate. It appears that I need to get a ground loop isolater and/or better RCAs.
What others have done, is plug this jukebox into the Kenwood or Aiwa decks... so that you have all your own MP3 cds on the 20-80 gig drive, but can still play CDR/CDRW/MP3 cds from your friends or that you have already.
To copy files onto it and otherwise manage the contents, I just slide it into the the PC docking bay, power it on, run "mount/car" as user, and use Konqueror (or cp, whatever hits the mood) to manipulate the directory structure. To remove it, I just umount/car, hdparm -Y/dev/hda (my main HD is SCSI), power it off, and slide it out. No rebooting required.
The playlist is really nice as well... Since it has a four line display, its really easy to see where you are in your directory structure. Just remember to organize by Genre->Artist->Album->Song.
$800 CDN may seem like a lot more then a $4-500 Aiwa or Kenwood unit... but remember that it does have a 30 Gig drive, which you can use as a backup drive in your system. It's also really simple to move between your car and PC, so you can use it as your/mp3 store as well, freeing up space on your existing partitions.
To upgrade the firmware in the unit, all you have to do is copy the update (neo45.bin or whatever) to the root of the drive, and powerup the unit while holding in the P(rogram) button.
Just remember to scandisk (or dosfsck) the drive once in a while. The system gets pretty finicky about problems with the file system, even when Win2k/Linux can see/mount it just fine.
Overall, I give it two thumbs up, and highly recommend it to anyone else. This may not be the prettiest unit, but it definetly makes it up in functionality and ease of use.
What about the other embeded languages? HTML::Embperl (perl.apache.org/embperl) can do exactly what PHP does, except you have the power of perl (such as all the modules on CPAN) at your hands...
Last year I went, and had no big problem getting in. I was 16, and my friend, 17, was around 5 feet tall, and he got in as well. We had several free passes, and my dad (president of some company) registered us onsite, he said that 'the without us the company couldn't run. Little lies don't matter:) This year I did the samething with another friend, and they asked no questions. The other friend's dad got a free pass (the actual card) in the mail, and he had no problem. I'd suggest not to come dressed as a 12-year-old geek. I didn't see anyone else who looked less than 20, though. I think one of the reasons for the age limit is that 3 or 4 years ago, 90% of the high school population in the Vancouver to Chilliwack Area went, so they had to stop it somehow. This year's show was a lot smaller than last years, only 90% of the upper floor was filled, wheras last year both floor were packed. I wonder what it will be like next year (size of Comdex/size of Linux-related booths?? Wim.
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Lately I've been using Cordys for building applications using SOAP. Extensive use is made of open source components like OpenLDAP, DHTML, and so on. It's mostly done in Java. Currently its only available on IIS, but they are about to release a version that will work with Apache on Linux.
The biggest advantage that Cordys gave us, is that it has several "application connectors" that make it a breeze to access data in old propietary ERP systems like Baan and SAP.
Playlist: Sure it doesn't have substring searching... but the neo has pretty good browsing. Its simple to expand/collapse the tree, queue songs for playing, etc. As long as the directory tree is structured by Genre->Artist->Album->Title of course, or something similiar. I use it everyday, and I'm not complaining. In fact, I'm telling others about this unit, even though I don't work for SSI or any other audio equipment manufacturer/distributor/reseller/retailer/install er.
:-)
:-)
Amp: ok, the built in amp sucks. But most poeple in this class have separate amps already anyways.
Fitting in the dash: it does fit in the dash. It's a little deep, so most people don't though. Personally, I connect my unit into the aux imput on my CD deck. This gives the ability to play normal CDs, have an FM/AM radio included, 3d bass, sub woofer control, etc. I have the unit mounted in the trunk, and use the remote LCD control. I could fasten this to the dash using the supplied velcro straps, but I prefer to just hide it under my seat when not in use, and just hold it in my hand or rest it on the passenger seat while listening.
Eq: it has a simple equalizer (Rock/Classic/User/etc), but nothing full scale like the empeg or a decent CD-based unit has. Then again, somebody who is in the class probably has an external hardware equalizer anyways ($50 CDN).
If the price difference was closer, I may have more seriously considered getting the empeg... its probably got more features and upgradability due to running Linux. For 2-3x the price, I don't need fancy graphics and vi...
If I really wanted the higher class... I'd want the 10" LCD for full-screen visualations, the top emu10k1 based soundcard, a 1000+ Mhz processor, wh00p ass video card, 10/100 Mbps NIC, wireless LAN, GPS, voice activation, touchscreen, da works. But no... I just want a jukebox, and the neo gives that for a decent price.
It appears that you are using the empeg all the time... I'm using the neo all the time, so there is no point in arguing...
All of those are good points... but:
1. The Neo 35 is a third of the price of the empeg
2. Sure the Neo35 doesn't have fancy graphics... but I drive with my eyes on the road, not on the head unit. The fancy visualizations mean squat, its the sound dude... (The neo has awesome playlist features as well, btw)
3. The Neo35 does have a built in amp (40x4 AFAIK)
4. Why do I NEED linux on it? That's what my server/workstations are for.
As far as bang goes, the Neo35, available from carplayer.com or SSI America has more for the buck.
I recently purchased the Neo 35 MP3 player from carplayer.com. Its also available from the manufacturer, but I didn't realize that until AFTER I received the unit.
/car" as user, and use Konqueror (or cp, whatever hits the mood) to manipulate the directory structure. To remove it, I just umount /car, hdparm -Y /dev/hda (my main HD is SCSI), power it off, and slide it out. No rebooting required.
/mp3 store as well, freeing up space on your existing partitions.
For about $800 CDN, I received a very complete and well thought package, including:
- the head unit
- with a 30 Gig drive
- remote LCD on a nice long serial cable
- docking bays for the car and PC
- IR remote (don't use it much though)
- RCA/antennae (sp) cables
- extra velcro straps, IDE/power cables, etc
- Music Match (~$20 value, but for Windows so I don't use it)
- carrying case for head unit
You can also get the Home Stereo docking bay, which is appealing to those with nice surround sound home stereos...
Since I already had a good CD deck (top Panasonic unit from '99), I had the Neo 35 mounted in the trunk instead of in the dash. This means I can still listen to AM/FM/CDs using the Panasonic deck, and switch to AUX IN and use the Remote LCD to control the jukebox. The only issue I currently need to resolve, is that I'm getting some feedback coming through the speakers while switched to AUX IN. By feedback, I mean I can hear a high-pitched whine of the engine as I accelerate and decelerate. It appears that I need to get a ground loop isolater and/or better RCAs.
What others have done, is plug this jukebox into the Kenwood or Aiwa decks... so that you have all your own MP3 cds on the 20-80 gig drive, but can still play CDR/CDRW/MP3 cds from your friends or that you have already.
To copy files onto it and otherwise manage the contents, I just slide it into the the PC docking bay, power it on, run "mount
The playlist is really nice as well... Since it has a four line display, its really easy to see where you are in your directory structure. Just remember to organize by Genre->Artist->Album->Song.
$800 CDN may seem like a lot more then a $4-500 Aiwa or Kenwood unit... but remember that it does have a 30 Gig drive, which you can use as a backup drive in your system. It's also really simple to move between your car and PC, so you can use it as your
To upgrade the firmware in the unit, all you have to do is copy the update (neo45.bin or whatever) to the root of the drive, and powerup the unit while holding in the P(rogram) button.
Just remember to scandisk (or dosfsck) the drive once in a while. The system gets pretty finicky about problems with the file system, even when Win2k/Linux can see/mount it just fine.
Overall, I give it two thumbs up, and highly recommend it to anyone else. This may not be the prettiest unit, but it definetly makes it up in functionality and ease of use.
What about the other embeded languages? HTML::Embperl (perl.apache.org/embperl) can do exactly what PHP does, except you have the power of perl (such as all the modules on CPAN) at your hands...
I ran into this as well. Just fire up dselect, and install all the libstdc++* packages, and you should be fine.
Last year I went, and had no big problem getting in. I was 16, and my friend, 17, was around 5 feet tall, and he got in as well. We had several free passes, and my dad (president of some company) registered us onsite, he said that 'the without us the company couldn't run. Little lies don't matter :) This year I did the samething with another friend, and they asked no questions. The other friend's dad got a free pass (the actual card) in the mail, and he had no problem. I'd suggest not to come dressed as a 12-year-old geek. I didn't see anyone else who looked less than 20, though. I think one of the reasons for the age limit is that 3 or 4 years ago, 90% of the high school population in the Vancouver to Chilliwack Area went, so they had to stop it somehow. This year's show was a lot smaller than last years, only 90% of the upper floor was filled, wheras last year both floor were packed. I wonder what it will be like next year (size of Comdex/size of Linux-related booths?? Wim.