...guys like me who score a hail-damaged loaded WRX for $21,500. Yes, it's an automatic, but I do mainly city driving anyway, and when we go to the bar and I have a few too many, it's nice to be able to hand the keys to my wife. *smile*
As far as the car-modding, the most I could manage was putting a carbon fiber hood on my WRX...not gonna mess with anything _under_ that hood...
JoeK
Balancing at top speed?
on
This is IT?
·
· Score: 1
OK, I have just one question...
I understand how the Segway uses force to balance. If you lean forward, it balances you out by accelerating forward. Nifty. Same goes for going backwards. If I am wrong on this, let me know, but I don't see how else the device can counteract leaning forces...
So, how does it compensate for leaning forward if it is already going at top speed? They say it is impossible to topple, but by leaning forward once the thing is moving at (constant) top speed, how would it not tilt forward until falling over? It could no longer speed up the base to keep up with the forward over-balance...
Same would go for going backwards once you were going backward at top speed and yet continued to lean back.
I am not saying that I would do this, or that with a bit of skill the thing can't be really safe (and *cool*), I just wonder about these "unfallible" claims?
In your book, under the picture of your second wife you simply have the caption "Lulabelle" (might have the wrong spelling...don't have the book handy). Is this a nickname for her?
Oh, and how did you get the scar on your chin? Am I high? Did you ever answer that question in your book?
Quote from article:
"We believe in total empowerment of the user to decide what content they want to look at," Sanford said. "Everybody tends to focus on the negative side of this like we're going to expose (users) to a lot of bad content... I think we're going to expose people to a lot of good content."
Well, see? They are only going to link to "good" content, so I guess that is that, eh? Why didn't they just say they were for sure only going to do the "right" and "good" thing so that we could stop worrying. Phew.
For a good example of a development tool that uses command line and GUI together, check out MS Visual Foxpro. All commands can run from the command window as single-line or multi-line blocks. I find myself rarely needing to even use the menu, and being able to scroll back to a previous command is lightning fast.
Yet the Command Window can be replaced with menus/dialogs if one wishes. I know some developers who never use the Command Window.
Finally, the Command Window is a great learning tool. You can fire up any object or data session and do all kinds of experimenting without having to build a project or executable to do it. Python (or any command-line interpreter) is basically the same thing.
Fox's Command Window is one reason I loathe developing in any other tool right now...
How much is the actual annual subscription going to cost? I signed up for the trial period, and like the free gifts being given out if I decide to stay with the paid subscription, but I have been having a hard time finding out what the actual cost will be?
I found it interesting that there was no mention of QNX in the article, as wouldn't it be a fairly good example (albeit, not open-source) of a microkernel where every other function is a module? I have heard nothing but good things about QNX, and running their 1.44 floppy demo was a hoot.
...and don't forget that online play on the DC is really coming of age with NFL2K1 and Quake 3 hitting the shelves. You can even use your own ISP (I have played for a total of about 4-5 hours on Q3A, with maybe 5% of that time being a bit laggy or having connection probs...)
Online play is a key differentiator, and the DC looks like it will have about a 9-12 month advance on the competition in this area.
Sounds like a Dreamcast is in order! You don't need DVD, you want something cheap (DC is $149), and you want online games TODAY using your own ISP. That spells Dreamcast. I had never played Quake III Arena until two days ago when I placed the GD-ROM in the DC, turned it on, chose "Internet Game" and was being fragged in a matter of minutes (using my own ISP).
Also, since the DC has been out for a while, some of the older, killer titles like Crazy Taxi and Soul Calibur are down to $19.99.
One item that wasn't emphasized all that much in the article is Internet play (and playability in general).
I don't really care about Moore's Law cubed if the games are no fun to play. I own a Dreamcast right now and am having a great time -- and I haven't even gotten into the online play yet.
The article noted that Japan will get online play on the PS2 early next year, and then North America will follow in about a year. That strikes me as _way_ too long. That means that if you buy a Dreamcast today, you will have around a year-and-a-half to play games like Quake III online before the PS2 even gets going on it. ALl of the buzz I hear at this point if about how much fun it is to play NFL2K1 and Quake online, and if Sega can keep the network working, they will be the only online-console game in town for more than a year (at least in the US). I see that as being a huge advantage, moreso than fancy graphics.
SegaNet has already signed up 100,000 folks since September 7th, and that is with only one primary online game (NFL2K1) out. Granted, they have heavily promoted the network with DC price-drops and a 50-hours-free trial, but that is a fairly strong opening that will only get stronger once more folks buy Quake 3 and NBA2K1 (November) and Unreal Tourney (Q1 2001) are released.
Aren't there certain shapes that these printers couldn't manufacture? Since it prints from the "bottom up" so to speak, how would it create somthing that has a piece hanging from the top. In other words, how do you start printing an item that essentially "appears" when sliced from the bottom? Yes, I know you could print it upside-down, but what if there is something sticking out of top and bottom? All sides? Imagine printing a hollow sphere that had spikes sticking into the center (but not quite reaching it)...
Good point.
But I would like to point out the write-up over at BYTE.com which states:
With this release, Microsoft tried to bid bye-bye to MS-DOS. It's not gone, of course. Windows ME still boots like 95/98, which is to say it loads DOS and puts the GUI on top of it. But Microsoft has tried to get rid of any access to DOS. You can't boot to DOS by hitting F8 on start-up and you can't quit and restart in MS-DOS mode. Doing this is just annoying, considering that some of us know how to type and actually prefer using a DOS prompt for some actions.
It is a nice article by Andy Patrizio, and can be found at:
http://www.byte.com/column/BYT20000801S0006.
He doesn't seem to care for ME very much...
JoeK
True, but it is still a silly comparison to take the number of highly stressed people in one group and compare it to the "no stress" folks in another group. Why not give us the stat on old folks who are moderately or highly stressed, so that we can accurately compare it to the 7 of 10 in the 18-35 group?
I would have to say I mostly agree. I tend to be more optimistic and think that if people could get fair value (picking songs for cheaper prices, cheaper albums in general), piracy would plummet. Sure, there are always going to be true free-loaders, but those folks will _always_ find a way to steal what they want. Yes, these folks should be punished when it is possible (hence, I see your point that this is a good spot for Metallica to strike back). But if Metallica truly wants to fight piracy, setting the example of cheaper, secure, online distribution would possibly be a more powerful step.
Actually, they might be pursuing that for all I know, so I suppose I shouldn't be so quick to blame them before doing a bit more research.
(saw your correction...yes, they just own the master tapes and the music publishing, not the label AFAIK).
I would agree that Metallica has the interesting stance of having complete control (read: ownership) over their musical content, but I would see this as a power that could be used for so much more than simply suing Napster.
If Metallica owns their own content, they can choose a direction. They could embrace Internet distribution, etc. Now, I know they shouldn't embrace piracy, but surely they can do better than simply suing a tool that is being used inappropriately. Is Metallica pushing for more secure digital standards? Alternative means of secure downloads? If so, then great. If not, then they are just as bad as the entire recording industry trying to quell any new-and-improved means of music distribution. I guess maybe they want to hold on to charging 16 bucks a CD just like the rest of the industry? Sad.
Slashdot Mirror
...guys like me who score a hail-damaged loaded WRX for $21,500. Yes, it's an automatic, but I do mainly city driving anyway, and when we go to the bar and I have a few too many, it's nice to be able to hand the keys to my wife. *smile*
As far as the car-modding, the most I could manage was putting a carbon fiber hood on my WRX...not gonna mess with anything _under_ that hood...
JoeK
OK, I have just one question...
I understand how the Segway uses force to balance. If you lean forward, it balances you out by accelerating forward. Nifty. Same goes for going backwards. If I am wrong on this, let me know, but I don't see how else the device can counteract leaning forces...
So, how does it compensate for leaning forward if it is already going at top speed? They say it is impossible to topple, but by leaning forward once the thing is moving at (constant) top speed, how would it not tilt forward until falling over? It could no longer speed up the base to keep up with the forward over-balance...
Same would go for going backwards once you were going backward at top speed and yet continued to lean back.
I am not saying that I would do this, or that with a bit of skill the thing can't be really safe (and *cool*), I just wonder about these "unfallible" claims?
JoeK
In your book, under the picture of your second wife you simply have the caption "Lulabelle" (might have the wrong spelling...don't have the book handy). Is this a nickname for her?
Oh, and how did you get the scar on your chin? Am I high? Did you ever answer that question in your book?
Thanks!
JoeK
Quote from article: "We believe in total empowerment of the user to decide what content they want to look at," Sanford said. "Everybody tends to focus on the negative side of this like we're going to expose (users) to a lot of bad content ... I think we're going to expose people to a lot of good content."
Well, see? They are only going to link to "good" content, so I guess that is that, eh? Why didn't they just say they were for sure only going to do the "right" and "good" thing so that we could stop worrying. Phew.
For a good example of a development tool that uses command line and GUI together, check out MS Visual Foxpro. All commands can run from the command window as single-line or multi-line blocks. I find myself rarely needing to even use the menu, and being able to scroll back to a previous command is lightning fast.
Yet the Command Window can be replaced with menus/dialogs if one wishes. I know some developers who never use the Command Window.
Finally, the Command Window is a great learning tool. You can fire up any object or data session and do all kinds of experimenting without having to build a project or executable to do it. Python (or any command-line interpreter) is basically the same thing.
Fox's Command Window is one reason I loathe developing in any other tool right now...
How much is the actual annual subscription going to cost? I signed up for the trial period, and like the free gifts being given out if I decide to stay with the paid subscription, but I have been having a hard time finding out what the actual cost will be?
I found it interesting that there was no mention of QNX in the article, as wouldn't it be a fairly good example (albeit, not open-source) of a microkernel where every other function is a module? I have heard nothing but good things about QNX, and running their 1.44 floppy demo was a hoot.
JoeK
...and don't forget that online play on the DC is really coming of age with NFL2K1 and Quake 3 hitting the shelves. You can even use your own ISP (I have played for a total of about 4-5 hours on Q3A, with maybe 5% of that time being a bit laggy or having connection probs...)
Online play is a key differentiator, and the DC looks like it will have about a 9-12 month advance on the competition in this area.
JoeK
Sounds like a Dreamcast is in order! You don't need DVD, you want something cheap (DC is $149), and you want online games TODAY using your own ISP. That spells Dreamcast. I had never played Quake III Arena until two days ago when I placed the GD-ROM in the DC, turned it on, chose "Internet Game" and was being fragged in a matter of minutes (using my own ISP).
Also, since the DC has been out for a while, some of the older, killer titles like Crazy Taxi and Soul Calibur are down to $19.99.
Check it out!
JoeK
One item that wasn't emphasized all that much in the article is Internet play (and playability in general).
I don't really care about Moore's Law cubed if the games are no fun to play. I own a Dreamcast right now and am having a great time -- and I haven't even gotten into the online play yet.
The article noted that Japan will get online play on the PS2 early next year, and then North America will follow in about a year. That strikes me as _way_ too long. That means that if you buy a Dreamcast today, you will have around a year-and-a-half to play games like Quake III online before the PS2 even gets going on it. ALl of the buzz I hear at this point if about how much fun it is to play NFL2K1 and Quake online, and if Sega can keep the network working, they will be the only online-console game in town for more than a year (at least in the US). I see that as being a huge advantage, moreso than fancy graphics.
SegaNet has already signed up 100,000 folks since September 7th, and that is with only one primary online game (NFL2K1) out. Granted, they have heavily promoted the network with DC price-drops and a 50-hours-free trial, but that is a fairly strong opening that will only get stronger once more folks buy Quake 3 and NBA2K1 (November) and Unreal Tourney (Q1 2001) are released.
Aren't there certain shapes that these printers couldn't manufacture? Since it prints from the "bottom up" so to speak, how would it create somthing that has a piece hanging from the top. In other words, how do you start printing an item that essentially "appears" when sliced from the bottom? Yes, I know you could print it upside-down, but what if there is something sticking out of top and bottom? All sides? Imagine printing a hollow sphere that had spikes sticking into the center (but not quite reaching it)...
How is this accomplished using this process?
Thanks,
JoeK
True, but it is still a silly comparison to take the number of highly stressed people in one group and compare it to the "no stress" folks in another group. Why not give us the stat on old folks who are moderately or highly stressed, so that we can accurately compare it to the 7 of 10 in the 18-35 group?
I would have to say I mostly agree. I tend to be more optimistic and think that if people could get fair value (picking songs for cheaper prices, cheaper albums in general), piracy would plummet. Sure, there are always going to be true free-loaders, but those folks will _always_ find a way to steal what they want. Yes, these folks should be punished when it is possible (hence, I see your point that this is a good spot for Metallica to strike back). But if Metallica truly wants to fight piracy, setting the example of cheaper, secure, online distribution would possibly be a more powerful step.
Actually, they might be pursuing that for all I know, so I suppose I shouldn't be so quick to blame them before doing a bit more research.
JoeK
(saw your correction...yes, they just own the master tapes and the music publishing, not the label AFAIK).
I would agree that Metallica has the interesting stance of having complete control (read: ownership) over their musical content, but I would see this as a power that could be used for so much more than simply suing Napster.
If Metallica owns their own content, they can choose a direction. They could embrace Internet distribution, etc. Now, I know they shouldn't embrace piracy, but surely they can do better than simply suing a tool that is being used inappropriately. Is Metallica pushing for more secure digital standards? Alternative means of secure downloads? If so, then great. If not, then they are just as bad as the entire recording industry trying to quell any new-and-improved means of music distribution. I guess maybe they want to hold on to charging 16 bucks a CD just like the rest of the industry? Sad.
JoeK