Every time I go to the cinema there is some advert or other by FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft, a UK org) telling us how naughty copying is and how much trouble we'll be in if we try to record the film.
And every time there is a ripple of giggles. The more serious and ominous the warnings, the harder people laugh.
For better or worse, most people just don't think that copyright infringement is a serious crime. Most people acknowledge that it is "wrong", but probably regard it as no more serious than eating a penny sweet from the pick-and-mix. I am of the generation that grew up home taping (LPs, CD, Spectrum/C64 games), most of my friends don't see a little low level piracy as being a bad thing, in fact most would say they discovered new bands from friends tapes and ended up buying more (some would be lying, but not all).
The media world has got an uphill struggle before it convinces people that casual copyright infringement is anything like the serious crime they think it is.
"All sufficiently advanced technology is indestinguishable from a rigged demo"
I have seen lots of these sorts of videos showing robots walking around on a stage and playing silly games, but I have yet to actually see any perform the kinds of tasks that people claim they will be capable of "in just a few years from now". In fact I have seen few that perform anything like that kind of task.
To perform many of the tasks that people are suggesting for these things, we will need some serious improvements in general AI. We know how to program AIs to solve many specific problems, but the kind of self directed problem solving, combined with human interraction, in the real world is going to be really damn hard.
I really want to see this kind of thing work, and I'm gld to see people trying, but I'm sceptical that these guys can deliver what they promise in the timescales they suggest.
I wait to be surprised and delighted, but I'm not holding my breath.
So far half the high rated comments have been either, "hydrogen isn't a fuel, it's an energy store", or "huh, how will they survive without plastic/lubricants etc".
It's normally dangerous to generalise about/. contributors, but one thing that seems to be consistant is the over-riding negativity of the people here. People set noble aims (e.g. stop using oil) and all the armchair whingers can do is complain that it isn't a perfect solution, and it isn't here now; or in the case of anything Mac "I want it twice as powerful, free, and to have a time-machine built in, and it should run Linux". Some people just never seem to be satisfied.
Hydrogen --------- No, hydrogen is not a fuel. Yes it is a storage medium. But more importantly it is an energy *transmission* system. It allows you to generate energy in one place, and then use it somewhere else. Ideally we would just send electricity down the power lines and store it in batteries in our cars, but until someone makes some serious improvements in the energy density of batteries, that isn't going to happen, and hydrogen remains one of the best alternatives.
Yes you can use *dirty* methods of generation to generate the electricity you use to make the hydrogen, but at least you have the option of using clean methods where they are available. You can use what is appropriate. The Icelandics are using Geothermal, good for them. Until you take that step and move to using hydrogen, you don't have a choice over clean or dirty, you only have oil (for cars that is).
"Green" Generation ---------------- Another prime one for the "but I want it perfect and now, and with a pony" crowd. Every time someone mentions a method of power generation like wind, solar, or tidal, someone will go "but that won't work where I am so it's no good and we should just carry on using coal". I live in the UK, and lets face it, we are never going to get much of our power from the sun, but there is work going into building an increasing number of wind farms and experiments with tidal systems, because that is what we have. Most places have something they can use to generate power, the Icelandics are just lucky that they have so much. The Aussies have loads of sun, and Colorado (right state?) gets most of its power from hydro. You use what you have as the tech comes available.
Plastics ------ Stop being so unimaginative. There is absolutly no requirement to use oil in the production of construction materials. There are huge numbers of people and companies working on plant based alternatives. In fact the car industry has already started to use some of these for certain components. We can't produce all the materials we need yet, but we are getting better, and one by one the challanges are being overcome; science just tends to take a little while.
The point (yes, there really is a point) is that all these things move us gradually towards a (slightly) better world. They might not get us there right away, but it's one step closer, and if all the whingers on/. and crappy TV comment show got off their arses and did something we might get there a little quicker.
Another quick rant while I'm at it - Global Warming Everytime anything like this comes up on/., someone will go on about how there isn't really any evidence, and the climate was going to get warmer anyway. I don't need evidence for global warming, because I understand the theory. I don't need evidence for evolution because given my understanding of genetics, I cannot see how it can't be the case, evolution is the natural result of genetics and natural selection. Likewise, we know that CO2 and methane (the two major GHGs) cause a greenhouse effect. We know that without them the earth would be a lot colder, and that if we want to terraform Mars CO2 would be the first thing to put there. We also know that we are pumping out huge quantities of the stuff
...the one that is most resistant to sticky fingers marks.
Re:This sounds cool, but are they overselling it?
on
Broadband Blimps
·
· Score: 1
Just noticed the bit about Wi-fi area being only 75 miles radius.
Funny how that is hidden in the specs at the bottom and the "area the size of Texas" bit is in the main sections:->
This sounds cool, but are they overselling it?
on
Broadband Blimps
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
Our subscribers will be able to sit in their home on a laptop computer while connected to the Internet at high-speed. If they need to go to the office or across town, they simply close the laptop and take off. When they get to their destination, they open their laptop and they are still on the Internet. If they need to travel to another city, they simply take their laptop with them and when they get to where they are going, they open their laptop again and they are still connected.
And
clear line-of-site to approximately 300,000 square miles
Now a rough calculation puts its radius of coverage at about 300miles
radius = sqrt( Area / Pi )
r = sqrt (300,000 / 3.14)
r = sqrt (95541)
r = 309miles
So the distance between a device and this airship is at least 300miles.
With that kind of range, is it realistic to have the gear in a laptop/cellphone?
Would it not kill the battery? I get shorter battery life just using wi-fi.
Would you need some kind of directional arial?
I'm sure they have thought of all this, but it does feel like they might be over-hyping the usefulness.
Bangers : Slang for sausages. Presumably because they split when you cook them (if you forget to prick them first). These are not the same a weiners, or hotdogs which tend to be made from much more highly processed 'meat'. British sausages are not smoked, or kept in jars of brine, and are normally burnt to a cinder.
Mash : Mashed potatos.
So, bangers and mash is sausages and mashed potatos.
I guessed that bit, hence "If WK and SS-1 (SS-2?) were scaled up, is there any reason why...".
Something that struck me, while watching the video feed on the BBC, was just how small both White Knight and SpaceShipOne were. SS-1 can't be more that 10-12 foot high when you see it with people. There seems to be a lot of room to scale up both craft (they are *Scaled* composites afterall:-> ), although I'm sure there are many other challanges.
Lots of people have been asking about how SC can take SS-1 and turn it into something that can get people into LEO and beyond.
One option is that perhaps they won't, and they will go back to the drawing board to come up with a totally new design. That doesn't seem right to me; Bert is a smart guy, and they have put a lot of resources and time into this, would they just throw it away.
My thought is that they will scale things up and add another stage.
In essence, what Burt has done is design a rocket where each stage is designed to suite it's part of the flight, and then return in one piece. At the moment they have a stage to get high in the atmosphere, and a stage to get into space, why not add a new stage to get you to LEO and beyond.
If WK and SS-1 (SS-2?) were scaled up, is there any reason why a third stage couldn't piggy-back on SS-1 to 100km and then detach and boost into LEO. Both the previous stages would then land and wait for the return of the orbiter. Each would have it's own crew (or perhaps a really good auto-pilot).
Basically you end up with the advantages of a multi-stage rocket (or the shuttle) but with completely reusable stages.
Have I completely missed something? Would the seperation at 100km be too difficult? Would there be too much mass for it to be feasible?
Paul
p.s. Well done to everyone at Scaled. An amazing achievement, no matter what the "but I want a pony!" crowd might say. This has been one small step in the right direction, on a long journey.
Well, from this article at the Reg (the one linked to in the article has been removed from their front page)...
The Euro prices will be maintained when Apple launches a pan-European store to cater for the continents other nations. Jobs promised it would open by "October", and will initially be offered only in English. Jobs offered no comment on the launch of Canadian or Japanese stores.
So it is probably a combination of having to bash out licencing issues with the companies, and logistical issues to do with roll-out, marketing, billing etc.
Either way, looks like they will get there in the end. Although it looks like you are screwed if you are Canadian.
My sister was diagnosed as schitzo-affective, a combination of schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder (manic depression), about ten years ago.
At the time she was diagnosed I was about 16-17, doing exams, growing up, and being a general teenage boy; she was in the middle of a PhD in physics so was at the other end of the country most of the time. As a result, I only saw here at holidays, and even then I was busy revising and stuff, but I still realised that something wasn't right (I knew she was i'll, but she had also been diagnosed as epileptic around the same time so everything kind of blurred). The most striking thing is that the personality can change quite dramatically, there were times when she seemed like a genuinly different person. This can be as a result of the medication, and the disease.
I personally found this quite hard to deal with, it is very strange seeing someone you thought you knew turn into someone else. I'm not trying to scare you, but it is something that you may need to be prepared for.
As pointed out by another poster, it will take a long time for the doctors to figure out medication levels; mental illness of all kinds is very person specific, there are no drugs or treatments that work for everyone. Electric shock treatment is considered barbaric and horrific by some, while others report that it worked miracles. There are a wide array of anti-psychotics out there, and even the anti-side-effect meds can have a big effect. It is all about finding the balance, and that takes time.
The most important thing that you, and the rest of your family can do is be honest and open. My family are not that close, we don't really talk about personal stuff much, and that caused problems, not just for my sister, but also for me. Remember, mental illness in the family can be quite stressfull, and can affect you. You can only help your sister if you look after yourself. Be open and honest, talk to each other. It is important that you create a supportive environment where there is no stigma, and no secrets about what is going on.
You will need to find a balance between providing support for your sister, and smothering her. She will have to live with her mental illness for the rest of her life, and the best you can do is help her adapt to that reality, and provide support and help when and where she needs it. While medication will help, ultimatly it is down to the individual.
To give you some hope, my sister is now married, has just had a baby, and is starting a part-time course in medical physics. Up untill last year she had held down a high stress job and performed brilliantly, unfortunatly the firm laid off a large proportion of its workforce, closing down her division in the process. She is stable and living life to the full because she took control of her illness, became pro-active in dealing with the doctors (being a born scientist helps:-> ) and took an active role in monitoring and controlling her condition. Doctors can prescribe her drugs, but she is the only one who can tell them if they are working.
So, don't dispair, keep it real, keep it normal (when she is stable she needs to be in the real world), and keep supporting her. Most importantly, be prepared to just be there and be someone to talk to, or go to when she needs help.
Feel free to e-mail me if you need someone to let off steam.
Sorry for rambling, I don't have time to make it more concise.
Paul
What is the difference between "Computer Engineering" and "Computer Science" in the US, and any thoughts on why is accounts for a difference in starting salary?
Paul
That has to rank as one of the worst ways to deliver a moview trailer, full-stop.
I'm on a corperate network with a nice fat pipe, but I have to play the 100k version, the 300k version plays about 5 seconds, stops, plays the next five, stops, etc. The client doesn't seem to be able to cache properly. Even with flash's cache turned right up.
Just give us a damned MPEG or Quicktime file!
I bet this is mostly done to prevent copying. When will people realise that this just stops your advert from being seen by the most people. Normlly when a trailer comes out on the Apple site, one of us donwloads it and shares it with our mates, cos it's quicker. That's good advertising. This is like saying "no, you can only see adverts for Coke if you go to a special Coke store". It's not like it is the full movie, it is just a trailer, the first rule of advertising is make sure as many people see it as possible.
This is a research robot. It is for *experimenting*. Saying "what's the point" just because it is tethered is just lacking in imagination.
Epson have not created this so they can test out battery technology, but to experiment with the problems of robots that operate in three dimensions. This is about solving the problems of navigation and control, not power supply, that's a job for Duracell.
Not everything has to have an immediate use, commercial or otherwise, to be worthy of existance. To get from here to there, you have to got to all the places in between.
Have we become a population with such a short attention span that we can no longer appreciate the value of long-term research? Far too much research is being scuppered these days because people keep asking "but what's the use of it", and "can we make a profit". Can't we just appreciate it for it's coolness and leave them too it.
Perhaps I'm a pessimist, but I think that if this attitude continues to grow, we will ultimatly be screwed by a lack of blue-sky research.
None of the things touted in the article as problems with these services are an issue for most people.
No e-mail account - Well most people I know don't use the account of their provider, most have webmail accounts instead, because they can access them at university/work, and they can keep them if they move ISP.
No newsgroups - Well, usenet has become very unimportant to most people I know, and those that do use it (such as myself) will probably use Google-Groups instead.
No web space - Seriously, how many people are bothered about that? Yes, a lot of people might cobble together a quick web page, but it is still too complex for most. Besides with all the services providing free web space (even if it does have adverts) who needs space from their access provider.
Many people end up with all these things, which they are paying for but never use, because quite often the free services are better (and you don't lose them when you move ISP).
The only real negative points about these services is the dial up modem speed, but then for many, many people, that is plenty fast enough.
Looks to me like these services have worked out what it is that people really want, a connection to the internet at a price they can afford. There are enough free services on the web to make up for what is missing, so why pay for it.
Yes I know that having fast always on is nice (I'm on a 1meg cable connection) but for many who don't need to use the internet in the same way as I do, dial up is fine.
Which part of "self luminous" is causing you problems? Or did you not actually read the submission, let alone the article.
The above links both point to "e-paper" type systems, which are monochrome, and require an external light source. These are great for a lot of applications, but I wouldn't want a laptop display built out of one.
OLEDs and their ilk will produce their own light, and opperate with many colours at high speeds.
Essentially it is horse-for-courses. E-ink is great for certain applications where power is critical (watches, cell-phones, even e-newspapers) and where update speeds are not critical (I beleive they are all 'mechanical' in some way), but OLEDs and similar will be necessary if you want full colour rapidly moving images. To equate the two technologies is to be somewhat disingenuous.
Slashdot Mirror
No laser cannons. Fewer legs than an AIBO. Lame
Looks like all that time making rockets out of washing-up-liquid bottles as a kid wasn't such a waste of time!
I'm off to send my CV to NASA... now where are my crayons?
Thanks, that was what I was failing to get at.
It's just one of those days
Paul
... but they want US to provide THEM with the infrastructure to do it.
That's like a supermarket selling you oranges, but making you pick them up from the supplier yourself.
At least with iTunes I know that some of the price of a track goes towards maintaining servers, bandwidth etc.
If this service is not significantly cheaper than iTunes and the other centralised services then they are taking the piss.
But then who am I kidding, of course it won't be.
Paul
I think you read more into my post than I intended. Non of it was my view, just my observations on how other people see the issue.
Paul
Every time I go to the cinema there is some advert or other by FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft, a UK org) telling us how naughty copying is and how much trouble we'll be in if we try to record the film.
And every time there is a ripple of giggles. The more serious and ominous the warnings, the harder people laugh.
For better or worse, most people just don't think that copyright infringement is a serious crime. Most people acknowledge that it is "wrong", but probably regard it as no more serious than eating a penny sweet from the pick-and-mix. I am of the generation that grew up home taping (LPs, CD, Spectrum/C64 games), most of my friends don't see a little low level piracy as being a bad thing, in fact most would say they discovered new bands from friends tapes and ended up buying more (some would be lying, but not all).
The media world has got an uphill struggle before it convinces people that casual copyright infringement is anything like the serious crime they think it is.
Paul
Remember...
"All sufficiently advanced technology is indestinguishable from a rigged demo"
I have seen lots of these sorts of videos showing robots walking around on a stage and playing silly games, but I have yet to actually see any perform the kinds of tasks that people claim they will be capable of "in just a few years from now". In fact I have seen few that perform anything like that kind of task.
To perform many of the tasks that people are suggesting for these things, we will need some serious improvements in general AI. We know how to program AIs to solve many specific problems, but the kind of self directed problem solving, combined with human interraction, in the real world is going to be really damn hard.
I really want to see this kind of thing work, and I'm gld to see people trying, but I'm sceptical that these guys can deliver what they promise in the timescales they suggest.
I wait to be surprised and delighted, but I'm not holding my breath.
Doh! That should have read "No, hydrogen is not an energy source". I also agree with everything else you said. Spot on.
Sometimes I really wonder about /.
/. contributors, but one thing that seems to be consistant is the over-riding negativity of the people here. People set noble aims (e.g. stop using oil) and all the armchair whingers can do is complain that it isn't a perfect solution, and it isn't here now; or in the case of anything Mac "I want it twice as powerful, free, and to have a time-machine built in, and it should run Linux". Some people just never seem to be satisfied.
/. and crappy TV comment show got off their arses and did something we might get there a little quicker.
/., someone will go on about how there isn't really any evidence, and the climate was going to get warmer anyway. I don't need evidence for global warming, because I understand the theory. I don't need evidence for evolution because given my understanding of genetics, I cannot see how it can't be the case, evolution is the natural result of genetics and natural selection. Likewise, we know that CO2 and methane (the two major GHGs) cause a greenhouse effect. We know that without them the earth would be a lot colder, and that if we want to terraform Mars CO2 would be the first thing to put there. We also know that we are pumping out huge quantities of the stuff
So far half the high rated comments have been either, "hydrogen isn't a fuel, it's an energy store", or "huh, how will they survive without plastic/lubricants etc".
It's normally dangerous to generalise about
Hydrogen
---------
No, hydrogen is not a fuel. Yes it is a storage medium. But more importantly it is an energy *transmission* system. It allows you to generate energy in one place, and then use it somewhere else. Ideally we would just send electricity down the power lines and store it in batteries in our cars, but until someone makes some serious improvements in the energy density of batteries, that isn't going to happen, and hydrogen remains one of the best alternatives.
Yes you can use *dirty* methods of generation to generate the electricity you use to make the hydrogen, but at least you have the option of using clean methods where they are available. You can use what is appropriate. The Icelandics are using Geothermal, good for them. Until you take that step and move to using hydrogen, you don't have a choice over clean or dirty, you only have oil (for cars that is).
"Green" Generation
----------------
Another prime one for the "but I want it perfect and now, and with a pony" crowd. Every time someone mentions a method of power generation like wind, solar, or tidal, someone will go "but that won't work where I am so it's no good and we should just carry on using coal". I live in the UK, and lets face it, we are never going to get much of our power from the sun, but there is work going into building an increasing number of wind farms and experiments with tidal systems, because that is what we have. Most places have something they can use to generate power, the Icelandics are just lucky that they have so much. The Aussies have loads of sun, and Colorado (right state?) gets most of its power from hydro. You use what you have as the tech comes available.
Plastics
------
Stop being so unimaginative. There is absolutly no requirement to use oil in the production of construction materials. There are huge numbers of people and companies working on plant based alternatives. In fact the car industry has already started to use some of these for certain components. We can't produce all the materials we need yet, but we are getting better, and one by one the challanges are being overcome; science just tends to take a little while.
The point (yes, there really is a point) is that all these things move us gradually towards a (slightly) better world. They might not get us there right away, but it's one step closer, and if all the whingers on
Another quick rant while I'm at it - Global Warming
Everytime anything like this comes up on
...the one that is most resistant to sticky fingers marks.
Just noticed the bit about Wi-fi area being only 75 miles radius.
:->
Funny how that is hidden in the specs at the bottom and the "area the size of Texas" bit is in the main sections
Our subscribers will be able to sit in their home on a laptop computer while connected to the Internet at high-speed. If they need to go to the office or across town, they simply close the laptop and take off. When they get to their destination, they open their laptop and they are still on the Internet. If they need to travel to another city, they simply take their laptop with them and when they get to where they are going, they open their laptop again and they are still connected.
And
clear line-of-site to approximately 300,000 square miles
Now a rough calculation puts its radius of coverage at about 300miles
radius = sqrt( Area / Pi )
r = sqrt (300,000 / 3.14)
r = sqrt (95541)
r = 309miles
So the distance between a device and this airship is at least 300miles.
With that kind of range, is it realistic to have the gear in a laptop/cellphone?
Would it not kill the battery? I get shorter battery life just using wi-fi.
Would you need some kind of directional arial?
I'm sure they have thought of all this, but it does feel like they might be over-hyping the usefulness.
Indeed. Totally agree.
You mean apart from 'my' British accent, and the British accent of everyone I know?
Bangers : Slang for sausages. Presumably because they split when you cook them (if you forget to prick them first). These are not the same a weiners, or hotdogs which tend to be made from much more highly processed 'meat'. British sausages are not smoked, or kept in jars of brine, and are normally burnt to a cinder.
:->
Mash : Mashed potatos.
So, bangers and mash is sausages and mashed potatos.
Mmmmmmmmmm. I suddenly feel very hungry...
I guessed that bit, hence "If WK and SS-1 (SS-2?) were scaled up, is there any reason why...".
:-> ), although I'm sure there are many other challanges.
Something that struck me, while watching the video feed on the BBC, was just how small both White Knight and SpaceShipOne were. SS-1 can't be more that 10-12 foot high when you see it with people. There seems to be a lot of room to scale up both craft (they are *Scaled* composites afterall
Lots of people have been asking about how SC can take SS-1 and turn it into something that can get people into LEO and beyond.
One option is that perhaps they won't, and they will go back to the drawing board to come up with a totally new design. That doesn't seem right to me; Bert is a smart guy, and they have put a lot of resources and time into this, would they just throw it away.
My thought is that they will scale things up and add another stage.
In essence, what Burt has done is design a rocket where each stage is designed to suite it's part of the flight, and then return in one piece. At the moment they have a stage to get high in the atmosphere, and a stage to get into space, why not add a new stage to get you to LEO and beyond.
If WK and SS-1 (SS-2?) were scaled up, is there any reason why a third stage couldn't piggy-back on SS-1 to 100km and then detach and boost into LEO. Both the previous stages would then land and wait for the return of the orbiter. Each would have it's own crew (or perhaps a really good auto-pilot).
Basically you end up with the advantages of a multi-stage rocket (or the shuttle) but with completely reusable stages.
Have I completely missed something? Would the seperation at 100km be too difficult? Would there be too much mass for it to be feasible?
Paul
p.s. Well done to everyone at Scaled. An amazing achievement, no matter what the "but I want a pony!" crowd might say. This has been one small step in the right direction, on a long journey.
Well, from this article at the Reg (the one linked to in the article has been removed from their front page)...
The Euro prices will be maintained when Apple launches a pan-European store to cater for the continents other nations. Jobs promised it would open by "October", and will initially be offered only in English. Jobs offered no comment on the launch of Canadian or Japanese stores.
So it is probably a combination of having to bash out licencing issues with the companies, and logistical issues to do with roll-out, marketing, billing etc.
Either way, looks like they will get there in the end. Although it looks like you are screwed if you are Canadian.
My sister was diagnosed as schitzo-affective, a combination of schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder (manic depression), about ten years ago.
:-> ) and took an active role in monitoring and controlling her condition. Doctors can prescribe her drugs, but she is the only one who can tell them if they are working.
At the time she was diagnosed I was about 16-17, doing exams, growing up, and being a general teenage boy; she was in the middle of a PhD in physics so was at the other end of the country most of the time. As a result, I only saw here at holidays, and even then I was busy revising and stuff, but I still realised that something wasn't right (I knew she was i'll, but she had also been diagnosed as epileptic around the same time so everything kind of blurred). The most striking thing is that the personality can change quite dramatically, there were times when she seemed like a genuinly different person. This can be as a result of the medication, and the disease.
I personally found this quite hard to deal with, it is very strange seeing someone you thought you knew turn into someone else. I'm not trying to scare you, but it is something that you may need to be prepared for.
As pointed out by another poster, it will take a long time for the doctors to figure out medication levels; mental illness of all kinds is very person specific, there are no drugs or treatments that work for everyone. Electric shock treatment is considered barbaric and horrific by some, while others report that it worked miracles. There are a wide array of anti-psychotics out there, and even the anti-side-effect meds can have a big effect. It is all about finding the balance, and that takes time.
The most important thing that you, and the rest of your family can do is be honest and open. My family are not that close, we don't really talk about personal stuff much, and that caused problems, not just for my sister, but also for me. Remember, mental illness in the family can be quite stressfull, and can affect you. You can only help your sister if you look after yourself. Be open and honest, talk to each other. It is important that you create a supportive environment where there is no stigma, and no secrets about what is going on.
You will need to find a balance between providing support for your sister, and smothering her. She will have to live with her mental illness for the rest of her life, and the best you can do is help her adapt to that reality, and provide support and help when and where she needs it. While medication will help, ultimatly it is down to the individual.
To give you some hope, my sister is now married, has just had a baby, and is starting a part-time course in medical physics. Up untill last year she had held down a high stress job and performed brilliantly, unfortunatly the firm laid off a large proportion of its workforce, closing down her division in the process. She is stable and living life to the full because she took control of her illness, became pro-active in dealing with the doctors (being a born scientist helps
So, don't dispair, keep it real, keep it normal (when she is stable she needs to be in the real world), and keep supporting her. Most importantly, be prepared to just be there and be someone to talk to, or go to when she needs help. Feel free to e-mail me if you need someone to let off steam. Sorry for rambling, I don't have time to make it more concise. Paul
What is the difference between "Computer Engineering" and "Computer Science" in the US, and any thoughts on why is accounts for a difference in starting salary? Paul
That has to rank as one of the worst ways to deliver a moview trailer, full-stop.
I'm on a corperate network with a nice fat pipe, but I have to play the 100k version, the 300k version plays about 5 seconds, stops, plays the next five, stops, etc. The client doesn't seem to be able to cache properly. Even with flash's cache turned right up.
Just give us a damned MPEG or Quicktime file!
I bet this is mostly done to prevent copying. When will people realise that this just stops your advert from being seen by the most people. Normlly when a trailer comes out on the Apple site, one of us donwloads it and shares it with our mates, cos it's quicker. That's good advertising. This is like saying "no, you can only see adverts for Coke if you go to a special Coke store". It's not like it is the full movie, it is just a trailer, the first rule of advertising is make sure as many people see it as possible.
Bah, bloody suites.
I hope someone manages to extract it.
Tooting is a place in London.
This is a research robot. It is for *experimenting*. Saying "what's the point" just because it is tethered is just lacking in imagination.
Epson have not created this so they can test out battery technology, but to experiment with the problems of robots that operate in three dimensions. This is about solving the problems of navigation and control, not power supply, that's a job for Duracell.
Not everything has to have an immediate use, commercial or otherwise, to be worthy of existance. To get from here to there, you have to got to all the places in between.
Have we become a population with such a short attention span that we can no longer appreciate the value of long-term research? Far too much research is being scuppered these days because people keep asking "but what's the use of it", and "can we make a profit". Can't we just appreciate it for it's coolness and leave them too it.
Perhaps I'm a pessimist, but I think that if this attitude continues to grow, we will ultimatly be screwed by a lack of blue-sky research.
Paul
None of the things touted in the article as problems with these services are an issue for most people.
No e-mail account - Well most people I know don't use the account of their provider, most have webmail accounts instead, because they can access them at university/work, and they can keep them if they move ISP.
No newsgroups - Well, usenet has become very unimportant to most people I know, and those that do use it (such as myself) will probably use Google-Groups instead.
No web space - Seriously, how many people are bothered about that? Yes, a lot of people might cobble together a quick web page, but it is still too complex for most. Besides with all the services providing free web space (even if it does have adverts) who needs space from their access provider.
Many people end up with all these things, which they are paying for but never use, because quite often the free services are better (and you don't lose them when you move ISP).
The only real negative points about these services is the dial up modem speed, but then for many, many people, that is plenty fast enough.
Looks to me like these services have worked out what it is that people really want, a connection to the internet at a price they can afford. There are enough free services on the web to make up for what is missing, so why pay for it.
Yes I know that having fast always on is nice (I'm on a 1meg cable connection) but for many who don't need to use the internet in the same way as I do, dial up is fine.
Paul
Which part of "self luminous" is causing you problems? Or did you not actually read the submission, let alone the article.
The above links both point to "e-paper" type systems, which are monochrome, and require an external light source. These are great for a lot of applications, but I wouldn't want a laptop display built out of one.
OLEDs and their ilk will produce their own light, and opperate with many colours at high speeds.
Essentially it is horse-for-courses. E-ink is great for certain applications where power is critical (watches, cell-phones, even e-newspapers) and where update speeds are not critical (I beleive they are all 'mechanical' in some way), but OLEDs and similar will be necessary if you want full colour rapidly moving images. To equate the two technologies is to be somewhat disingenuous.
A random googled OLED link.
Paul