I haven't looked into all the hardware needed, but for me the the deal breaker on a diy DVR is the use of IR blasters. I would love to use a serial cable to control the cable box, but both Comcast and Verizon seem to have disabled that feature. I've even given thought to upgrading to a Series 3, so I can get a cablecard and do away with the IR blasters. So how does one setup a diy DVR to work with digital cable without the use of IR blasters?
I can understand that they want us to watch the ads, it's suppose to generate money for them. I also understand that they need to repeat the ad so that awareness of the brand gets stuck in my head. I don't want to watch the same frackin ad every single commerical break or worse twice in the same commerical break! With that said, I'm seriously looking at getting a series 3 TiVo for my FiOS cable so I can continue to fast forward through ads that don't interest me or have already seen. Honestly I will watch some ads. In fact, I backed a recording earlier today to watch one of those mac/pc ads cause I'm mac fanboy.
I think he's trying to push the internet into a bittorrent/usenet type of model. Instead of everyone grabbing a copy from the original server and eating up the bandwidth on the major backbones, we get the information from a more local server that have a cached copy. I believe from an ISP level, he's trying to reduce the WAN usage and keep things on the LAN. To an extent I think ISP are favoring this already, bittorrent is kinda frowned on, but they allow you download tv shows off the usenet server with a nzb file.
1. standardized operation for ALL applicatation.
2. cut and paste between ALL applications..
3. Applications must ALL be uniform in operation of common functions..
I agree these are very important items, but is the problem of the window manager or the applications? Is KDE a window manager or an desktop environment? If it is an environment, should it run legacy X11 apps or only KDE apps? To achive your first 2 goals I would think the later choice. Problem is I don't think that would fly in the open source/linux world. I just don't think the developer commnity will standardize on one desktop environment/framework to use for GUI applications. With Windows and Macs, regardless of which framework you use they are built on top of the framework that came from those companies. Thus most/all of your applications behave the same and work together. To an extent you need a benevolent dictator of linux GUI that can lay down the GUI law and say code to this framework/standard or your application is not supported. As I said, don't think that will fly. So we'll probably end up with a distribution(s) that pick the apps they support. Possibly creating application that some will say are a waste of time as they are just reinventing the wheel. While true, they are reinventing a wheel that conforms to their desktop environment. Enough rambling. Do you want legacy apps or a unified desktop environment?
I have to agree. My friend is a casual PC gamer and didn't own any consoles. He and his wife came over for dinner and we played some Wii bowling. She liked the Wii and mentioned that they might need one. Within 2 months, my friend got his hand on a Wii. That a sale from a person that wasn't really considering any of the next gen consoles.
The usage of IR blasters it not optimal. I know because I'm using it on my Series 2 TiVo with my cablebox. In general it is pretty good at changing the channels, there times when it does not change the channel correctly. Honestly, the IR blaster are making me give serious consideration to buy a Series 3 TiVo so I can use a cablecard. I think given an option, most people who use IR blasters would use an alternative method if available.
I use both Safari and Firefox at all times. The reason? gmail. It seemed like it was causing Safari to periodically grind to a halt. I think it has something to do with ajax and Safari's threading. So I use Firefox for gmail and a couple other pages I like to keep open and do most of my casual web browsing in Safari.
We're towards the edge of the Milky Way galaxy. If you were looking for colonies, wouldn't you go towards the center where there are more stars and possibly more inhabitable planets?
I would agree with the parent. Apple needs to make something along the lines of a mac mini pro.
Like the mac mini, there should be a mid range offering that doesn't have a display built into it. In fact, it should support dual monitors or that should be available with a video card upgrade. There should be 2 PCI express slots, 1 of which will be taken up by the video card. Also go back to using 3.5" HD for this unit (ship it with 7200 RPM drive, but design it to handle a 10K RPM drive), use a SATA interface, and have room to install a 2nd HD. As for optical drives, 2 bays would be nice, but I can live with 1 bay if space is a problem. At a minimum, 2 memory slots and possibly upto 4 slots. Performance and hardware specs should be in line with the 20" iMac, and be priced in the range of the 17" iMacs. Honestly, they could keep this model out of their store and only sell it online. I would consider buying one to replace my 2xG4 PowerMac.
I can understand and agree that the OLPC shouldn't focus on selling these things commerically in the US. That being said, I also think that they should consider a partnership with someone who is willing to sell and support them. They should charge about 3x the cost of hardware. 1/3 to cover the cost of the hardware, 1/3 goes to OLPC and the final 1/3 goes to reseller for customer support. Granted the things are supposed to be rugged, but when it breaks people will want an RMA# to send it back for repairs. OLPC doesn't want to, nor should it, incur the cost of providing customer support for these laptops. They should partner with someone who is willing to incur that cost to make a profit.
I have to agree with the parent. While the iPhone looks nice, I'm not sure it's for me. Now an iPod with OS X. the new interface/controls and 30GB of space could make me want to upgrade my iPod. They can drop the 2MP camera, but keep the wireless networking.
Statements like this are why I waffle on outsourcing. From my prospective, outsourcing can be good if the company has their shit together and can write a good detailed specification. My father was working on a SAP implementation for DuPont. They spent a couple years working out their specs and requiring the to meet DuPont's established coding standards. I think they will get a decent product from their outsourcing. While I don't think my company would benefit from outsourcing. We're a small company with a handfull of developers. Our specs are vague emails and some loose requirements from meetings. We don't have have coding standards and the answer to the question is cheap and fast. Improvements are made to the code because I see what pain my coworkings are going through. I usually get the changes out that week, if not that day. An outsourced programmer will code to the spec, even if the spec isn't what the company really wants. That's the company's fault not the programmers. They need to know what they know and realize that not everyone knows that. Enough Rambling. Buyer beware.
Re:We don't need any steenkin' new paradigms...
on
GUIs Get a Makeover
·
· Score: 1
The program I use the most with this problem is Tora. It seems that the clipboard and selection are merged into one for that app.
Re:We don't need any steenkin' new paradigms...
on
GUIs Get a Makeover
·
· Score: 1
Whatever your choice of OS, Windows and OS X tend to encourage/force developers into their appearance. Anyone who deviates from that appearance will most likely see their application fail on that platform. Unix GUIs seem to be the complete opposite. With open source so tied to unix, we seem to have to many solutions for the same problem, visual presentation. I always pick the clipboard as my favorite example. There must be at least 3 different clipboards for my desktop. I end up having to jump through hoops to get text pasted from one application to another. Granted this doesn't always happen to me, but it's not a rare case either. Unfortunately, I don't see this problem getting resolved for linux anytime soon. Because of it's open source nature you can't steer/force a developer to code to a certain appearance/spec/api to make the apps more unified as would be the case with Windows or OS X. They will choose what they want/know. Granted some distributions are trying to standardize on one desktop over another, but the user will install some "killer" or "must have" app that throws a wrench in the unified desktop. The linux GUI world needs a benovlent dictator (a Linus T. type) to set the direction for the linux desktop. Problem is I don't think many will listen/follow that person.
So the new weapon for terrorist would be to use steganography on pr0n sites. That way all your traffic would put you in the pr0n addict bucket instead of suspected terrorist.
With the single layer DVD and dual layer HD-DVD, this hybrid format would give users the backwards compatibility that made the PS2 a success. If they can convince the movie industry to burn both a SD DVD and a HD-DVD on the same media, I think the consumer may start to favor HD-DVD. In a year or so, the consumer may look at his/her movie collection and realize they have a decent ammount of HD-DVD movies. They would probaly push them towards getting a HD-DVD player.
Honestly I think that "console fanboy" and "someone who likes video games" have merged into the same group. I think the cost of being a "pc fanboy" to play the lastest games have driven the "someone who likes video games" into playing consoles by default. In general the cost of a new video card is the price of the console. Of course Sony and Microsoft are hurting the metric I used to shift into a "console fanboy" category with the prices of their latest consoles. I do think that playing some games on the PC is better than the console, but I can't/won't justify the cost to have a computer that can play those games.
I was a semi-early adopter of the iPod as I've used macs for a long time. The main reason I bought a new iPod last year? I burned the optical laser out of the cd player in my car. It refused to read any CD. The Honda dealership wanted $1000 bucks to replace the OEM unit. Screw that! I went a bought a new head unit, iPod adapter and new iPod for that much money. The only reason I bought a new iPod was the fact that my then current iPod had the older firewire connector. I won't rule out buying a new iPod, but I don't see it happening anytime soon.
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I haven't looked into all the hardware needed, but for me the the deal breaker on a diy DVR is the use of IR blasters. I would love to use a serial cable to control the cable box, but both Comcast and Verizon seem to have disabled that feature. I've even given thought to upgrading to a Series 3, so I can get a cablecard and do away with the IR blasters. So how does one setup a diy DVR to work with digital cable without the use of IR blasters?
I can understand that they want us to watch the ads, it's suppose to generate money for them. I also understand that they need to repeat the ad so that awareness of the brand gets stuck in my head. I don't want to watch the same frackin ad every single commerical break or worse twice in the same commerical break! With that said, I'm seriously looking at getting a series 3 TiVo for my FiOS cable so I can continue to fast forward through ads that don't interest me or have already seen. Honestly I will watch some ads. In fact, I backed a recording earlier today to watch one of those mac/pc ads cause I'm mac fanboy.
I think he's trying to push the internet into a bittorrent/usenet type of model. Instead of everyone grabbing a copy from the original server and eating up the bandwidth on the major backbones, we get the information from a more local server that have a cached copy. I believe from an ISP level, he's trying to reduce the WAN usage and keep things on the LAN. To an extent I think ISP are favoring this already, bittorrent is kinda frowned on, but they allow you download tv shows off the usenet server with a nzb file.
I agree these are very important items, but is the problem of the window manager or the applications? Is KDE a window manager or an desktop environment? If it is an environment, should it run legacy X11 apps or only KDE apps? To achive your first 2 goals I would think the later choice. Problem is I don't think that would fly in the open source/linux world. I just don't think the developer commnity will standardize on one desktop environment/framework to use for GUI applications. With Windows and Macs, regardless of which framework you use they are built on top of the framework that came from those companies. Thus most/all of your applications behave the same and work together. To an extent you need a benevolent dictator of linux GUI that can lay down the GUI law and say code to this framework/standard or your application is not supported. As I said, don't think that will fly. So we'll probably end up with a distribution(s) that pick the apps they support. Possibly creating application that some will say are a waste of time as they are just reinventing the wheel. While true, they are reinventing a wheel that conforms to their desktop environment. Enough rambling. Do you want legacy apps or a unified desktop environment?
I have to agree. My friend is a casual PC gamer and didn't own any consoles. He and his wife came over for dinner and we played some Wii bowling. She liked the Wii and mentioned that they might need one. Within 2 months, my friend got his hand on a Wii. That a sale from a person that wasn't really considering any of the next gen consoles.
Or you could get 5 glasses of Milk for $199. But most people just go for the free refills on the one glass for $129.
The usage of IR blasters it not optimal. I know because I'm using it on my Series 2 TiVo with my cablebox. In general it is pretty good at changing the channels, there times when it does not change the channel correctly. Honestly, the IR blaster are making me give serious consideration to buy a Series 3 TiVo so I can use a cablecard. I think given an option, most people who use IR blasters would use an alternative method if available.
I use both Safari and Firefox at all times. The reason? gmail. It seemed like it was causing Safari to periodically grind to a halt. I think it has something to do with ajax and Safari's threading. So I use Firefox for gmail and a couple other pages I like to keep open and do most of my casual web browsing in Safari.
I bought a Wii! ;-)
We're towards the edge of the Milky Way galaxy. If you were looking for colonies, wouldn't you go towards the center where there are more stars and possibly more inhabitable planets?
I would agree with the parent. Apple needs to make something along the lines of a mac mini pro. Like the mac mini, there should be a mid range offering that doesn't have a display built into it. In fact, it should support dual monitors or that should be available with a video card upgrade. There should be 2 PCI express slots, 1 of which will be taken up by the video card. Also go back to using 3.5" HD for this unit (ship it with 7200 RPM drive, but design it to handle a 10K RPM drive), use a SATA interface, and have room to install a 2nd HD. As for optical drives, 2 bays would be nice, but I can live with 1 bay if space is a problem. At a minimum, 2 memory slots and possibly upto 4 slots. Performance and hardware specs should be in line with the 20" iMac, and be priced in the range of the 17" iMacs. Honestly, they could keep this model out of their store and only sell it online. I would consider buying one to replace my 2xG4 PowerMac.
I can understand and agree that the OLPC shouldn't focus on selling these things commerically in the US. That being said, I also think that they should consider a partnership with someone who is willing to sell and support them. They should charge about 3x the cost of hardware. 1/3 to cover the cost of the hardware, 1/3 goes to OLPC and the final 1/3 goes to reseller for customer support. Granted the things are supposed to be rugged, but when it breaks people will want an RMA# to send it back for repairs. OLPC doesn't want to, nor should it, incur the cost of providing customer support for these laptops. They should partner with someone who is willing to incur that cost to make a profit.
Why do you need one? Are you planning on making a dup detector or a dup submitter?
I was expecting this to be some sort of Douglas Adams reference. Oh well. :(
I have to agree with the parent. While the iPhone looks nice, I'm not sure it's for me. Now an iPod with OS X. the new interface/controls and 30GB of space could make me want to upgrade my iPod. They can drop the 2MP camera, but keep the wireless networking.
Statements like this are why I waffle on outsourcing. From my prospective, outsourcing can be good if the company has their shit together and can write a good detailed specification. My father was working on a SAP implementation for DuPont. They spent a couple years working out their specs and requiring the to meet DuPont's established coding standards. I think they will get a decent product from their outsourcing. While I don't think my company would benefit from outsourcing. We're a small company with a handfull of developers. Our specs are vague emails and some loose requirements from meetings. We don't have have coding standards and the answer to the question is cheap and fast. Improvements are made to the code because I see what pain my coworkings are going through. I usually get the changes out that week, if not that day. An outsourced programmer will code to the spec, even if the spec isn't what the company really wants. That's the company's fault not the programmers. They need to know what they know and realize that not everyone knows that. Enough Rambling. Buyer beware.
So you're a fan of truthiness? You'd rather have truthy, not facty. >;-)
(I know it' the wrong show, but it's from a spin-off of the Daily Show.)
Not once but twice!
The program I use the most with this problem is Tora. It seems that the clipboard and selection are merged into one for that app.
Whatever your choice of OS, Windows and OS X tend to encourage/force developers into their appearance. Anyone who deviates from that appearance will most likely see their application fail on that platform. Unix GUIs seem to be the complete opposite. With open source so tied to unix, we seem to have to many solutions for the same problem, visual presentation. I always pick the clipboard as my favorite example. There must be at least 3 different clipboards for my desktop. I end up having to jump through hoops to get text pasted from one application to another. Granted this doesn't always happen to me, but it's not a rare case either. Unfortunately, I don't see this problem getting resolved for linux anytime soon. Because of it's open source nature you can't steer/force a developer to code to a certain appearance/spec/api to make the apps more unified as would be the case with Windows or OS X. They will choose what they want/know. Granted some distributions are trying to standardize on one desktop over another, but the user will install some "killer" or "must have" app that throws a wrench in the unified desktop. The linux GUI world needs a benovlent dictator (a Linus T. type) to set the direction for the linux desktop. Problem is I don't think many will listen/follow that person.
So the new weapon for terrorist would be to use steganography on pr0n sites. That way all your traffic would put you in the pr0n addict bucket instead of suspected terrorist.
where are my sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads!
With the single layer DVD and dual layer HD-DVD, this hybrid format would give users the backwards compatibility that made the PS2 a success. If they can convince the movie industry to burn both a SD DVD and a HD-DVD on the same media, I think the consumer may start to favor HD-DVD. In a year or so, the consumer may look at his/her movie collection and realize they have a decent ammount of HD-DVD movies. They would probaly push them towards getting a HD-DVD player.
Honestly I think that "console fanboy" and "someone who likes video games" have merged into the same group. I think the cost of being a "pc fanboy" to play the lastest games have driven the "someone who likes video games" into playing consoles by default. In general the cost of a new video card is the price of the console. Of course Sony and Microsoft are hurting the metric I used to shift into a "console fanboy" category with the prices of their latest consoles. I do think that playing some games on the PC is better than the console, but I can't/won't justify the cost to have a computer that can play those games.
I was a semi-early adopter of the iPod as I've used macs for a long time. The main reason I bought a new iPod last year? I burned the optical laser out of the cd player in my car. It refused to read any CD. The Honda dealership wanted $1000 bucks to replace the OEM unit. Screw that! I went a bought a new head unit, iPod adapter and new iPod for that much money. The only reason I bought a new iPod was the fact that my then current iPod had the older firewire connector. I won't rule out buying a new iPod, but I don't see it happening anytime soon.