Their time to production could be very short if their claims are true that the production process uses only a subset of the LCD process.
Hopefully its not the part that is really unreliable and time-consuming. Though now that I think about it, given their focus on PDAs rather than monitors, it probably is.
If I remember right, the hard part with LCDs is laying the 'stuff' on the glass right. Their site mentions that their stuff is built right on the glass substrate as well.
If they're quick to market and provide a low-power high-quality no-ghosting alternative to LCDs, they might be able to ignore the 'dead pixel' problem.
Unless the dead-pixel problem will be intensified for them since their 'elements' are much finer-grained than LCD pixels.
Ahh, speculation. Its what we're here for, I think.
As I understand it, the reason for sub-pixels isn't to avoid blowing the minds of video drivers, but to create better colors.
One difference between this and other display approaches, as other posters have pointed out, is that each 'element' must be set to a particular color AND intensity *during manufacture*.
In a CRT, you only have to choose the color, and can vary the intensity on the fly.
So, you need a group of pixels set at different colors in order to create the 'light purple' vs 'dark purple'.
This wasn't clear in the article, but I think its correct, based on what other posters are saying.
Its like you've got blackmail on the king. Do you immediately release it and laugh? No. Do you ask for $10M and split town? Heck no! Ask for 10M this week, attack helicopters the week after that, and a month later, when you own half the phillipines and have your own army and small navy, *then* you point and laugh, but only if you can't control yourself any longer.
If you've got something powerful under your control, the last thing you'd want to do is blow it up. Well, if you're crafty, that is.
One argument to this is that many hackers are in it for the 'glory' and bragging rights. That's true enough, but I'm not afraid of those people. I'm afraid of foreign governments.
Heck, I'm afraid of *our* government doing this. How much worse is it if Code Yellow is required by law to be part of your OS? Granted, I'm feeling paranoid today, but it doesn't seem to far to go to 'combat terrorism', or to 'fight child pornography'. Or consider China, who is already doing a great deal of work to control their citizens' internet access.
Speakeasy DSL, if its available, is a good provider. They "allow" and support Linux boxes, and even provide their own gaming servers.
I haven't checked on their P2P policies, but I'd be suprised if they're draconian.
No OS or software requirements, self-install is an option, and the tech people have been very friendly, available, and intelligent.
And, currently, they're giving away an XBOX or PS2 with new accounts. Granted, you have to buy the DSL bridge for about the same amount, so its more or less a rebate, but still.
If you sign up, tell 'em Kevin Klinemeier (userid Klinemeiers) in Seattle sent you.
-Zipwow
And to clarify: NO I am NOT a Speakeasy rep. I just like their services.
I don't think that its impossible that wireless "hubs" will get cheap enough that they're equivalent in cost and practicality to plain wires.
We think of wires as being 'free', but they're not. You have to wire up some kind of connector between the board and the "transmission device", be it wires or wireless or a carrier pigeon gate or whatever.
An especially good possibility is that the hubs will be practically required equipment. If, in this case, the hubs are multi-purpose, the wire-based connection will be an additional cost. Why pay more for wires when you've already bought wireless?
I guess the case I'm specifically thinking about is computer to keyboard/mouse/monitor/peripherals.
What wire-based communications can you think of that are not particularly suited to wireless?
Unless some kind of revolutionnary input method comes along first but I don't think that's going to happen.
I think you're right that consoles will have to be(and are) absorbing more PC features, but I'm wondering now if the keyboard will be necessary.
I know, I know, VOIP sucks, but how long will that last in the face of broadband adaptors and stronger console computing platforms?
I have assumed in saying that that the only use of a keyboard on a console is text input, but I think that's a safe thing to say. If controllers need to be more complex to mimic the versatility of the keyboard, then clearly they will (and have) grow that way.
A major thing to consider is the setting. Your keyboard and mouse works great at your desk, but its awkward at best in your living room on the couch.
Again, something to mimic the abilities of communication (VOIP or similar) and precise selection (a gyroscope in the controller? I dunno) will certainly come to exist, I just think it will be different than a keyboard/mouse.
I think it's a good analogy. Keep in mind that these people are competing with you for resources in the world. Often the situation exists that there are more people than 'spawn' and the one able to do the most damage gets the rights to the treasure.
Add to that the *very* limited resource of housing space, especially as exists on the newest server. Then the analogy becomes exactly correct. You're moving through the line to get a housing spot (by earning gold), when all of a sudden the producers allow someone to buy their way forward, possibly ahead of you. Now, when you get there, there may not be any houses left.
In the end, it's the player who has had the best stats the longest that gets the best treasure, and hence can buy the first/best housing.
Actually, you should read up on some of the details of the technology. The people who make these scanners have seen Demolition Man too.
The iris scanner (not retina, last I heard retina scanning required something to come in *contact* with your eye) I read about several years ago checked for the telltale signs of a heartbeat in your eye. Apparently the blood vessels and the whole eye expands and contracts slightly with each beat. It also checked that the eye was 3-dimensional (and not a video or picture). It sounded pretty good, at least above the level of most street muggers.
Surveilling all us non-criminals just because we can is like looking for your car keys under the streetlight because it's easier to search there than back between the lights where you dropped them.
Perfect, exactly right. And a good soundbyte. Did you come up with that one? Its really good, I'm going to remember it and use it.
I'm confused by your concerns on the palm, and how they differ from developing Java applications on any other platform. You say
"If the device was inherently able to run Java, and I could just send out JAR files,"
Okay, that would be nice, but your PC doesn't inherently run Java either.
Then you continue to say
"But if for any application I want to make I have to include a whole lot of junk that is just going to confuse them, that stinks."
Again, this is *exactly* like installing a Java application for your PC customer. You need the VM first. Well-made installations for Java programs install the VM right along with everything else, and in fact, don't even have to 'confuse' the user by mentioning Java. This makes your comment of
"Imagine the subliminal message that's sent out when you say 'In order to run my 100k program you need to download and install this 5 meg program.'"
Equally as confusing. Is there something I'm missing about installing Palm applications that doesn't allow you to install the VM at the same time?
I thought your question of "Why would Palm care" a good one,though. The only answer I can come up with is more languages supported == more developers == more applications == more versatility for their product.:/
Population of Switzerland: 7,283,274
[source: CIA World Factbook http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ sz.html#People]
Population of USA: 286,445,937
[source: US Census Bureau http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/popclock]
That's roughly 40 times the amount of people. 7 million people voting on a lot of issues may make some sense (this is why many states have similar setups). Nearly a quarter of a TRILLION people voting on issues makes things a mess.
The larger the vote, the longer it takes to hold it, the more it costs, and the less well informed people are. Especially as you multiply it by many votes.
Representative governments (republics) can work, and when they do work, they work more efficiently.
Make the big ticket items nodrop (can't be dropped or given to another character). Want the Slothful Sword of Everslaying? get it yourself, or not at all. Poof, item farmers get day jobs.
One must consider the side effects. Poof, all concept of trading items goes away. All the interaction from,"hey, I got a vorpal sword of ogre thumping, I'd trade it for a zoopa club of unicorn thwacking" being gone makes the game much less fun. Nevermind the lootsplit issues. Why did the mage get the club, and the warrior get the wand? So you code around that, maybe. But what if you don't have defined classes? Its not a solution.
As for character trading, why not have a "master" account that is tied to your credit card number?
Bzzzt. Try again. You're going to have to have some way of changing address, name, and credit card number. Unless you're going to tell people that when they change credit cards, move, or get married that they have to start their characters over...
This is a harder problem than you give it credit for.
I think the point here is to play with other people using the same device.
Have you seen the cycling game in the arcade? I forget the name of it, its basically a stationary bike with a flightstick attached to it. The point of the game is to fly a "course" popping baloons along the way. Its a simple pretty non-competitive game designed especially for the pedal and stick setup. I enjoyed it at least.
And as for being in bliss because you're surrounded with attractive members of the sex you're interested in, I don't buy it. Just because they're good looking doesn't make me less self concious about being overweight and out of shape. The gym isn't always the best solution.
You do have a good point about the knee strain, however. I'd much rather see a system described by another poster where you use your own bike.
While you seem to agree that the recent bill is too broad, you go on to make several false points.
"Simply because people are in government doesn't mean they are immune to knee-jerk"
Immune, no. Irresponsible for doing it? Yes.
Next, you say that if we immediately assume that the government is out to get us, why not overthrow it? ALL governments (and their powers) deserve to be treated with suspicion and caution. Its a part of being a democracy that we must be vigilant in this way. Perhaps the current government and officials will not abuse the laws, but remember that we'll be passing these new abilities forward, and we can only assume that they'll be used in every way that the law allows. Which includes some bad ways.
You make a point about key-escrow systems, but then you claim that "there are intelligent people in the government who do indeed realize these things". Why, then, if key-escrow is patently absurd and ineffective against the very groups it targets, WHY is OUR GOVERNMENT proposing it?
Finally, you claim that if all communications can't be constantly monitored, then there is no reason for concern, hence no infringements of your rights. So if I only listen to every third phone call, I'm not invading your privacy?
Another example: If only 30% of Americans have their online communications intercepted (without a warrant, which is/should be illegal) and 1% of those people are harassed because of it, that's 819,000 people harassed. Even if 90% of those people are decided to be criminals, that's 81,000 innocent people harassed. (273,000,000 *.3 *.01 *.1)
AND, if you assume (as you did earlier) that the terrorists targeted by this operation are using non-escrowed strong encryption, you won't capture them by listening to internet communications anyway.
The solutions of mass internet snooping and key escrow do not achieve their goals. They however, do present a very large risk of misuse. It is for these reasons that they should be rejected, and strongly rejected.
Does anyone remember the beginnings of InstantDB and the Enhydra project? When I originally picked it up, the buzz (and the statements on their webpages) was that its not Open Source yet, but "it will be Real Soon Now (tm)".
After embedding it in my application, I needed to make a couple of changes and went to look for the source, and there was no more talk of 'open source' but rather 'Low deployment license fees'.
Is this somehow related to the J2EE problem (how? its just a SQL db)? Was there another announcement I missed? Or did Lutris excercise their legally allowable but ethically questionable right to say "Its not open source now, we need $$, this is now a product."?
If its the latter, then it makes one wonder how hard they negotiated with Sun.
Exactly. And as I said, I believe its acceptable to pressure Afghanistan militarily to release or let us apprehend Osama bin Laden.
I don't htink its acceptable to bomb his last known location while giving Afghanistan no chance to change their position, or a declaration of war.
We're in a position of power over Afghanistan, as our government is in a position of power over us. Its easier to burn down the house of the murder suspect, but our laws and our way of life dictates that we risk our own safety to arrest and try the criminal.
Its better that innocent people die trying to do justice, than innocent and guilty die together in the continuation of injustice.
We must show in our response that we have not been reduced to a barbary, and that even after this kind of an attack, we still hold to our principles.
As for those saying that we need not extend the rights of justice and due process to those who are not American citizens, consider:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights..."
Notice that there isn't a distiction claiming these rights for only Americans. If we truly believe that our laws and our freedoms are the way that civilization should conduct itself, then we must conduct ourselves in the very same way in this and every circumstance.
In the same way, justice provides the means for most of the actions we wish to pursue. Once indicted, I believe its reasonable to use the armed forces to bring the culprits to justice.
Bringing those responsible to court, trying, and sentencing them as according to the laws of justice and civilization, will truly be a victory over the fearmongering of terrorism.
Slashdot Mirror
Don't all these arguments apply equally well to email? As evidenced by the original article?
-Zipwow
"ha-ha!"
-Zipwow
Their time to production could be very short if their claims are true that the production process uses only a subset of the LCD process.
Hopefully its not the part that is really unreliable and time-consuming. Though now that I think about it, given their focus on PDAs rather than monitors, it probably is.
If I remember right, the hard part with LCDs is laying the 'stuff' on the glass right. Their site mentions that their stuff is built right on the glass substrate as well.
If they're quick to market and provide a low-power high-quality no-ghosting alternative to LCDs, they might be able to ignore the 'dead pixel' problem.
Unless the dead-pixel problem will be intensified for them since their 'elements' are much finer-grained than LCD pixels.
Ahh, speculation. Its what we're here for, I think.
-Zipwow
As I understand it, the reason for sub-pixels isn't to avoid blowing the minds of video drivers, but to create better colors.
One difference between this and other display approaches, as other posters have pointed out, is that each 'element' must be set to a particular color AND intensity *during manufacture*.
In a CRT, you only have to choose the color, and can vary the intensity on the fly.
So, you need a group of pixels set at different colors in order to create the 'light purple' vs 'dark purple'.
This wasn't clear in the article, but I think its correct, based on what other posters are saying.
-Zipwow
Its like you've got blackmail on the king. Do you immediately release it and laugh? No. Do you ask for $10M and split town? Heck no! Ask for 10M this week, attack helicopters the week after that, and a month later, when you own half the phillipines and have your own army and small navy, *then* you point and laugh, but only if you can't control yourself any longer.
If you've got something powerful under your control, the last thing you'd want to do is blow it up. Well, if you're crafty, that is.
One argument to this is that many hackers are in it for the 'glory' and bragging rights. That's true enough, but I'm not afraid of those people. I'm afraid of foreign governments.
Heck, I'm afraid of *our* government doing this. How much worse is it if Code Yellow is required by law to be part of your OS? Granted, I'm feeling paranoid today, but it doesn't seem to far to go to 'combat terrorism', or to 'fight child pornography'. Or consider China, who is already doing a great deal of work to control their citizens' internet access.
$.02
-Zipwow
Speakeasy DSL, if its available, is a good provider. They "allow" and support Linux boxes, and even provide their own gaming servers.
I haven't checked on their P2P policies, but I'd be suprised if they're draconian.
No OS or software requirements, self-install is an option, and the tech people have been very friendly, available, and intelligent.
And, currently, they're giving away an XBOX or PS2 with new accounts. Granted, you have to buy the DSL bridge for about the same amount, so its more or less a rebate, but still.
If you sign up, tell 'em Kevin Klinemeier (userid Klinemeiers) in Seattle sent you.
-Zipwow
And to clarify: NO I am NOT a Speakeasy rep. I just like their services.
I believe its gold pressed latinum.
-Zipwow
I don't think that its impossible that wireless "hubs" will get cheap enough that they're equivalent in cost and practicality to plain wires.
We think of wires as being 'free', but they're not. You have to wire up some kind of connector between the board and the "transmission device", be it wires or wireless or a carrier pigeon gate or whatever.
An especially good possibility is that the hubs will be practically required equipment. If, in this case, the hubs are multi-purpose, the wire-based connection will be an additional cost. Why pay more for wires when you've already bought wireless?
I guess the case I'm specifically thinking about is computer to keyboard/mouse/monitor/peripherals.
What wire-based communications can you think of that are not particularly suited to wireless?
$.02
-Zipwow
I know, I know, VOIP sucks, but how long will that last in the face of broadband adaptors and stronger console computing platforms?
I have assumed in saying that that the only use of a keyboard on a console is text input, but I think that's a safe thing to say. If controllers need to be more complex to mimic the versatility of the keyboard, then clearly they will (and have) grow that way.
A major thing to consider is the setting. Your keyboard and mouse works great at your desk, but its awkward at best in your living room on the couch.
Again, something to mimic the abilities of communication (VOIP or similar) and precise selection (a gyroscope in the controller? I dunno) will certainly come to exist, I just think it will be different than a keyboard/mouse.
-Zipwow
Better yet:
If a cellular tower disguised as a tree falls in the middle of a deserted forest, does it still provide service?
-Zipwow
I think it's a good analogy. Keep in mind that these people are competing with you for resources in the world. Often the situation exists that there are more people than 'spawn' and the one able to do the most damage gets the rights to the treasure.
Add to that the *very* limited resource of housing space, especially as exists on the newest server. Then the analogy becomes exactly correct. You're moving through the line to get a housing spot (by earning gold), when all of a sudden the producers allow someone to buy their way forward, possibly ahead of you. Now, when you get there, there may not be any houses left.
In the end, it's the player who has had the best stats the longest that gets the best treasure, and hence can buy the first/best housing.
-Zipwow
Actually, you should read up on some of the details of the technology. The people who make these scanners have seen Demolition Man too.
The iris scanner (not retina, last I heard retina scanning required something to come in *contact* with your eye) I read about several years ago checked for the telltale signs of a heartbeat in your eye. Apparently the blood vessels and the whole eye expands and contracts slightly with each beat. It also checked that the eye was 3-dimensional (and not a video or picture). It sounded pretty good, at least above the level of most street muggers.
Zipwow
Perfect, exactly right. And a good soundbyte. Did you come up with that one? Its really good, I'm going to remember it and use it.
-Zipwow
I think the original poster wanted opinions from Slashdot, rather than opinions and data from the web. Its that whole sense of community...
$.02
Zipwow
This is the single best analogy I've seen in this case.
The free thing *can* be as good as the for-pay thing, but often is not.
If you want to be sure you get a good version of the free thing, you have to do a lot of looking around, and even then your locations change.
The for-pay thing isn't really that expensive, and guarantees quality.
The free thing can be dangerous (lead, virii).
The for-pay thing is quite safe.
I like! Bravo!
Zipwow
Okay, that would be nice, but your PC doesn't inherently run Java either.
Then you continue to say
Again, this is *exactly* like installing a Java application for your PC customer. You need the VM first. Well-made installations for Java programs install the VM right along with everything else, and in fact, don't even have to 'confuse' the user by mentioning Java. This makes your comment of
Equally as confusing. Is there something I'm missing about installing Palm applications that doesn't allow you to install the VM at the same time?
I thought your question of "Why would Palm care" a good one,though. The only answer I can come up with is more languages supported == more developers == more applications == more versatility for their product.
$.02
Zipwow
Consider:
/ sz.html#People]
Population of Switzerland: 7,283,274
[source: CIA World Factbook http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos
Population of USA: 286,445,937
[source: US Census Bureau http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/popclock]
That's roughly 40 times the amount of people. 7 million people voting on a lot of issues may make some sense (this is why many states have similar setups). Nearly a quarter of a TRILLION people voting on issues makes things a mess.
The larger the vote, the longer it takes to hold it, the more it costs, and the less well informed people are. Especially as you multiply it by many votes.
Representative governments (republics) can work, and when they do work, they work more efficiently.
$.02
Zipwow
One must consider the side effects. Poof, all concept of trading items goes away. All the interaction from
Bzzzt. Try again. You're going to have to have some way of changing address, name, and credit card number. Unless you're going to tell people that when they change credit cards, move, or get married that they have to start their characters over...
This is a harder problem than you give it credit for.
Zipwow
Perhaps you need to settle down.
Calling people a "jackass" for missing some details while trying to be helpful isn't really called for here.
How about, "I don't think this is correct.." or maybe, even just the facts?
I don't have a problem with correcting people, just try not to be a jackass yourself about it.
I think the point here is to play with other people using the same device.
Have you seen the cycling game in the arcade? I forget the name of it, its basically a stationary bike with a flightstick attached to it. The point of the game is to fly a "course" popping baloons along the way. Its a simple pretty non-competitive game designed especially for the pedal and stick setup. I enjoyed it at least.
And as for being in bliss because you're surrounded with attractive members of the sex you're interested in, I don't buy it. Just because they're good looking doesn't make me less self concious about being overweight and out of shape. The gym isn't always the best solution.
You do have a good point about the knee strain, however. I'd much rather see a system described by another poster where you use your own bike.
Zipwow
While you seem to agree that the recent bill is too broad, you go on to make several false points.
.3 * .01 *.1)
"Simply because people are in government doesn't mean they are immune to knee-jerk"
Immune, no. Irresponsible for doing it? Yes.
Next, you say that if we immediately assume that the government is out to get us, why not overthrow it? ALL governments (and their powers) deserve to be treated with suspicion and caution. Its a part of being a democracy that we must be vigilant in this way. Perhaps the current government and officials will not abuse the laws, but remember that we'll be passing these new abilities forward, and we can only assume that they'll be used in every way that the law allows. Which includes some bad ways.
You make a point about key-escrow systems, but then you claim that "there are intelligent people in the government who do indeed realize these things". Why, then, if key-escrow is patently absurd and ineffective against the very groups it targets, WHY is OUR GOVERNMENT proposing it?
Finally, you claim that if all communications can't be constantly monitored, then there is no reason for concern, hence no infringements of your rights. So if I only listen to every third phone call, I'm not invading your privacy?
Another example: If only 30% of Americans have their online communications intercepted (without a warrant, which is/should be illegal) and 1% of those people are harassed because of it, that's 819,000 people harassed. Even if 90% of those people are decided to be criminals, that's 81,000 innocent people harassed. (273,000,000 *
AND, if you assume (as you did earlier) that the terrorists targeted by this operation are using non-escrowed strong encryption, you won't capture them by listening to internet communications anyway.
The solutions of mass internet snooping and key escrow do not achieve their goals. They however, do present a very large risk of misuse. It is for these reasons that they should be rejected, and strongly rejected.
Zipwow
I replaced my usage of InstantDB with McKoi (http://www.mckoi.com/database) which is GPL'ed.
Zipwow
Does anyone remember the beginnings of InstantDB and the Enhydra project? When I originally picked it up, the buzz (and the statements on their webpages) was that its not Open Source yet, but "it will be Real Soon Now (tm)".
After embedding it in my application, I needed to make a couple of changes and went to look for the source, and there was no more talk of 'open source' but rather 'Low deployment license fees'.
Is this somehow related to the J2EE problem (how? its just a SQL db)? Was there another announcement I missed? Or did Lutris excercise their legally allowable but ethically questionable right to say "Its not open source now, we need $$, this is now a product."?
If its the latter, then it makes one wonder how hard they negotiated with Sun.
Zipwow
Exactly. And as I said, I believe its acceptable to pressure Afghanistan militarily to release or let us apprehend Osama bin Laden.
I don't htink its acceptable to bomb his last known location while giving Afghanistan no chance to change their position, or a declaration of war.
We're in a position of power over Afghanistan, as our government is in a position of power over us. Its easier to burn down the house of the murder suspect, but our laws and our way of life dictates that we risk our own safety to arrest and try the criminal.
Its better that innocent people die trying to do justice, than innocent and guilty die together in the continuation of injustice.
Zipwow
I agree completely.
We must show in our response that we have not been reduced to a barbary, and that even after this kind of an attack, we still hold to our principles.
As for those saying that we need not extend the rights of justice and due process to those who are not American citizens, consider:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights..."
Notice that there isn't a distiction claiming these rights for only Americans. If we truly believe that our laws and our freedoms are the way that civilization should conduct itself, then we must conduct ourselves in the very same way in this and every circumstance.
In the same way, justice provides the means for most of the actions we wish to pursue. Once indicted, I believe its reasonable to use the armed forces to bring the culprits to justice.
Bringing those responsible to court, trying, and sentencing them as according to the laws of justice and civilization, will truly be a victory over the fearmongering of terrorism.
Zipwow