Slashdot Mirror


User: _merlin

_merlin's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
1,467
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 1,467

  1. Re:Amunition for Apple? on Palm's webOS Root Image Leaks Out · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Doesn't work the same way at all. iTunes produces an XML file detailing the contents of its library. The Blackberry (and, incidentally, Nokia) synchronisation software reads this file. You need to install a separate application from the handset vendor and use it to synchronise your music (iTunes is blissfully unaware of your Blackberry/Nokia). The Pre is a different kettle of fish - it masquerades as an iPod so iTunes will handle the synchronisation with no additional software.

  2. Re:It doesn't work that way on Palm's webOS Root Image Leaks Out · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yeah, but with the US CDMA networks (and, incidentally KDDI in Japan, the Korean CDMA networks and the recently-decommissioned Australian CDMA network), the subscriber identifier is hardcoded into the handset, and the home network identifier is stored in the handset, but can usually be changed. With GSM/UMTS, the equivalents of both pieces of information (IMSI and home network) are stored in a removable SIM card (in Europe, it's mandatory for it to be replaceable, but I've heard that some devices on T-Mobile USA like automated weather stations have it soldered onto the board).

    So to switch networks with a GSM/UMTS handset, you need to "unlock" the handset (tell it to accept a SIM card with a different home network to the one that it's "locked" to) and then swap in a new SIM, and it should all be good, provided the handset can tune the frequencies you need.

    But with a CDMA handset, you need to "unlock" the phone (convincing it to allow you to change the home network identifier), and change the home network identifier. That's the easy part. You now need to get the subscriber identifier out of the handset and convince the new carrier to register it for you. They're usually very reluctant to do this - they want to sell you a locked-down handset with their customised firmware.

    So while technically incorrect - you actually can switch networks with a CDMA handset - his point still stands - it's practically impossible due to the pigheaded attitude prevalent at the carriers.

  3. Re:Ouch on One-Tweet Wonders · · Score: 1

    No, you should curl up and die. You're going to one day, anyway. It's a nasty experience, so you may as well get it out of the way as soon as possible.

  4. Re:Social Stuff on One-Tweet Wonders · · Score: 3, Funny

    Thank you for proving that the stereotype of the antisocial geek is spot on. Now I have even less chance of getting laid.

  5. Re:That's supposed to be a good idea? on California To Move To Online Textbooks · · Score: 1

    Only at the college level does the student own the book ... the license to the book should stay with the school.

    Really? I here we buy textbooks and then resell them if they aren't of the consumable variety.

    One more thing, if the book is online, and several states go for the same idea, you could have a truely open textbook standard that could impact the entire nation, allowing every school district in the US the same materials.

    Nooooo! Variety and choice are good things! One consistent set of materials for everyone will provide one consistent set of flaws for everyone! It would also be very difficult to propose alternatives when "everyone else uses it".

  6. Re:That's supposed to be a good idea? on California To Move To Online Textbooks · · Score: 1

    The margin is the perfect place to put cross-reference information. You know, that "see also" that refers to the other book (among other things).

  7. That's supposed to be a good idea? on California To Move To Online Textbooks · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So how do you take the approved textbook into a restricted-text exam? How do you make notes in the margin? Are you supposed to print out relevant parts and bring them to use in class? When you're finished with it, can you re-sell it if you don't need it? What if you want to keep it? Have you bought it, or does the license stay with the school? I'd still rather stick with paper textbooks. It's great to have access to online reference material, but that's not what a textbook is for.

  8. Re:Anyone have words about the browsing on Palm Pre Is Out, Time For Discussion · · Score: 5, Informative

    That's somewhat ironic, considering what a big stink there was when the announced "iPhone SDK" was, "write a Web app for Safari." Of course, Apple eventually came out with a real SDK (as Palm plans to as well), but it's kinda weird we've come full circle on this.

    It's not quite the same as the original iPhone situation. With the iPhone, you were supposed to write a "web 2.0" style application that ran off your web site in the browser. With the Pre, the applications are packaged and run from the handset's memory. That means they work without connectivity, and their use doesn't consume your data allowance. Palm also provides a comprehensive set of JavaScript APIs for building WebOS applications, while iPhone web applications had nothing over regular web applications. But the biggest difference is that with the Pre, you're on equal footing with Palm's developers - all of Palm's applications are written with the same HTML/CSS/JavaScript toolkit as third-party applications; with the iPhone, Apple applications were always built with Cocoa, so third-party developers were at a disadvantage.

  9. Re:Better sound chip on Nintendo Announces New Mario Bros, Mario Galaxy, Metroid · · Score: 1

    The thing most people fail to realise is that the GameBoy was the only handheld that was "good enough" in every area. It had good enough sound, good enough graphics, good enough multiplayer, good enough ergonomics, good enough battery life and cheap enough games.

    The Lynx had better graphics (colour) and ergonomics (flip for left-handed use), but lost out badly in battery life and price.

  10. One runs on Solaris, one runs on BSD on When VMware Performance Fails, Try BSD Jails · · Score: 4, Interesting

    FreeBSD Jails are the same thing as Solais Zones, just on FreeBSD. Since FreeBSD is about evil daemons, they need an evil-sounding marketing name for it. More seriously, they probably just didn't want to bring on the wrath of lawyers for trademark infringement.

  11. Re:First Post on PlayStation-Based Mobile Handset a Possibility · · Score: 1

    I want a portable device that can handle everything because it means less to carry around.

    You mean a device that can handle everything that you specifically want, as other things would be useless bloat, right? Would you like the device to be bigger and more power-hungry because it contained an electronic compass, hybrid GPS/INS, pedometer, altimeter, and LED projector? I bet you think at least one of those things is a useless feature that you'd never use, but there's at least one person who wants it.

    If battery life becomes a serious problem, they will simply make better batteries or more power efficient hardware.

    The evidence is against you here. Feature-packed handsets have poor battery life. There's a limit to battery energy density that comes from the chemistry involved. They're unwilling to simply use bigger batteries, as people don't want bulkier devices.

    The trouble is, it's all about compromise. You don't want the big, vibrant screen of a camera or game console in a phone because of size/power consumption. You don't want the multi-element lens of a camera in a phone because of size and fragility. You don't want game console controls on a phone because they're impractical for actually using it as a phone. You're better off just deciding which devices you're likely to need and carrying them.

  12. Re:First Post on PlayStation-Based Mobile Handset a Possibility · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Under 30, had a mobile phone for over a decade, was an early adopter of UMTS 3G (I had one of those huge first-generation NEC UMTS/GSM hybrid phones). I use my phone as a phone, and occasionally take a picture with it if I haven't got my camera with me. I occasionally use web/email on it, too, or use it as an HSDPA modem if I need the 'net on the go.

    But I can see my phone is crap as a camera, web browser, game system, etc. The screen is too small to be a decent web browser or game system, the controls are designed for dialing a phone and navigating simple menus - not typing or playing games (which are at odds with each other, anyway). It's one of those Nokias with a Karl Zeiss lens on the camera, but it's still crap compared to my Casio compact camera (which itself isn't much bigger than the phone). Playing games or using the camera drains the battery. It's best to use it as a phone.

    I have two Nintendo DS Lites, and I can say the DS is a good game system. The screens are bright and clear, the battery life is acceptable, and the controls are good for jabbing at with your thumbs. It would be horrible as a phone, though. The controls would be all wrong, it wouldn't fit in my pocket, etc. Jamming a phone into my compact camera would be a similarly bad idea.

    It's cool to have additional functionality in a phone that can be used in a pinch when you don't have the real thing (games when I don't have the DS, camera when I don't have the Casio, web browser when I don't have a computer), but it should be designed primarily as a phone, or its usefulness as a phone will suffer, and trying to jam a phone into other devices would be a similar failure.

  13. Re:First Post on PlayStation-Based Mobile Handset a Possibility · · Score: 2, Informative

    Yeah, when will they realise that people don't want combo phone/other gadget devices? You want your phone the be light and have good battery life. Combining it with other devices makes it bigger and heavier, and using the other functionality drains the battery. You want your phone with you all the time, too, and the ergonomic characteristics that are desirable for a phone aren't suitable for other gadgets (and vice versa). Just look at the N-Gage for an example of why it's a bad idea.

  14. Re:I Hope They Get Anti-Piracy to Work This Time on Windows 7 Anti-Piracy Plans · · Score: 1

    iWork maybe, but not OS X. All the discs are the same, and you don't have to enter a license key. How is it supposed to know they came from the same disc? I think you're thinking of MS Office for Mac - it pulls that stunt.

  15. Re:I really wish BSD would take off. on FreeBSD 7.2 Released · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Linux fanboys twist everything into personal attack. You need to understand what an immature bunch they are. As to whether the devilettes were interesting, I think a significant proportion of /. readers just don't see the female form that often, and therefore found the pictures educational.

  16. Re:Jails on FreeBSD 7.2 Released · · Score: 4, Informative

    FreeBSD Jails are a kind of light-weight server partitioning scheme, in the same vein as Solaris Zones.

  17. Re:I really wish BSD would take off. on FreeBSD 7.2 Released · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    At least the BSD-user chicks are hotter than their Linux-loving counterparts.

  18. Re:wouldn't mind on The In-House Decency Patrol At Facebook · · Score: 1

    What are you smoking? She's not hot at all!

  19. Re:6502 and 680x0 both! on Microchips That Shook the World · · Score: 3, Interesting

    LOL, I must be an insane maniac, as I like programming in PPC assembler (SPARC, too, FWIW). I get to do a bit of assembly language at work for synchronisation primitives and such, but never whole applications any more. I miss being able to use more assembler.

  20. Re:I'm being pedantic but on Old-School Coding Techniques You May Not Miss · · Score: 1

    It's real-time in that the data has to be processed and passed on within a reasonable time window, otherwise automated trading systems screw up. It's not like, say Photoshop, where it doesn't really matter how long it takes as long as it isn't so long that the user gets really pissed off.

  21. Re:True story on Old-School Coding Techniques You May Not Miss · · Score: 3, Insightful

    LOL, I used to believe that, but I can now reliably make SunPRO, GCC and MSVC miscompile things. SunPRO has a bug where it always considers children of friends to be friends. SunPRO occasionally constructs locals when an exception should have caused flow control to leave the block earlier. GCC insists on copying temporaries passed by const reference. SunPRO outright crashes when you try templating on a member function pointer type. MSVC incorrectly mangles names of symbols in anonymous namespaces contained within other namespaces. GCC won't find global operators inside a namespace that contains operators, even for completely unrelated types. Giving GCC the same specific register constraint for an input and output of an inline assembly block will cause miscompilation - you need to use numeric constraints. People say that I only find this stuff because I'm digging around in the dark corners of the language where no-one else goes. It still sucks to be tearing my hair out over it, though.

  22. Re:Some, not all... on Old-School Coding Techniques You May Not Miss · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You mustn't do any real-time processing with any serious volumes of data. I do market data systems for my day job. All the microseconds I can save add up. Yesterday, I knocked several seconds off the time required to do an initial load by getting rid of some redundant copying that was going on. Today I improved the response latency for certain market events by changing the data type used for a key in a map. You might not need to understand when you're doing typical desktop applications, but you'll have to be content being a hack. The real software engineers will always have to understand.

  23. But it teaches you to be careful on Old-School Coding Techniques You May Not Miss · · Score: 1

    I got my start on System 7, and I'm grateful for it. You see, with a fixed size heap and no memory protection, you learned to be very, very careful about memory leaks and corruption, because your program could do very bad things if you weren't. I'm a better developer for it.

  24. Re:Lots of countries have this on South Africa Rolls Out Biometric Passports · · Score: 2, Insightful

    That's about implanted RFID chips causing cancer, which sounds quite plausible - putting a foreign object in your body usually isn't a good idea. There's no evidence to suggest that an RFID chip in your passport has any effect on you (except for psychological implications).

  25. Re:Free market will kill it on Obama Proposes High-Speed Rail System For the US · · Score: 1

    The shinkansen lines (I know that's a tautology - "new trunk line lines") were built by the government and then sold off, as were the TGV lines in France. Do your research properly before opening your mouth.