I think the word processor it includes is also better than the revo one (built in spell checker). The series 5 has 8 meg of memory and a 16mhz CPU (more than enough for word processing) and the 5mx has 16meg of RAM and a 33mhz CPU. They still fetch quite a high price on ebay when compared to Palm and WinCE machines of similar specs.
The Revo and Series 5 had hinge problems (as noted by another poster), such that the cables connecting the screen to the motherboard eventually wore out, and the fix was basically to buy a new one (I know, I ran through both models). I eventually bought a Diamond Mako, which is actually a rebadged Revo Plus (larger RAM, better hinge). The Mako came with the US spellchecker on the CD (that and some Diamond wallpapers were the only extras added).
If you buy a Psion used, I would strongly suggest a Series 5mx or Revo Plus/Diamond Mako. They fixed the hinge problems in those models.
I was going to say the exact same thing (good thing I read the comments first), but I have two things to add.
There are twocompanies (first for North America, the second for elsewhere), that will provide service for the Psion handhelds (your biggest concern will be batteries for the Revo/Mako models). So the fact that these machines are 5+ years old shouldn't be a real problem.
If you do decide to go the Psion route, go for the 5mx or the Revo Plus (also sold as the Diamond Mako in the US). These were incremental upgrades to the originals that had solutions for some hinge problems the first versions had. I got bit by both hinge problems (Series 5 and original Revo), and I ended up with a Diamond Mako. One of the best purchases I ever made. If I have a choice (I probably won't), EPOC/Symbian handhelds with a keyboard will be the only handhelds I will ever buy. I keep hearing rumors that Nokia may be releasing an upgraded Revo-style handheld (NOT a cell phone), but I think I'm just grasping at straws there.
I don't believe that Nintendo had a custom drive per se, just a smaller disk enclosure and no DVD-decryption chips. The copy protection employed (if I recall correctly) was not to spin the drive backwards, but to read the data backwards (that is, outer rim of the disk to the inside by the spindle).
The reason GC drives never die is that they were built by Matsushita (Panasonic in the US), and IMHO, you can't get better-built electronics from anyone else. You can tell it was built by Matsushita because it has the push-button spindle release, and because Matsushita built a DVD-capable version of the GC called the Q (released in Japan only).
"I go to a convenience store and use my Star Trek Replication Device to copy a can of Diet Coke, without taking away the existing Diet Coke. I like it so much that the next day, I replicate a case. I tell my friend that I like Diet Coke, and he replicates his own case. Now none of us buy Diet Coke, and they go bankrupt. Noone will bother inventing new soft drinks anymore, since there's no profit to be made."
You've taken the StarTrek replicator argument a little too far, and you're missing a key point of real-world economics. No matter how easy it is to download a show it still costs you something. As the article points out, as long as the cost of getting everything free is just high enough, revenues still increase. To wit:
Someone gives me a can of Diet Coke (or a TV show), and I really like it. I like it so much, in fact that I decide I want to drink (watch) it all the time. I look into getting it for free, by making my own at home (downloading all the episodes), but I decide that it is easier in the long run to buy it at the store (watch it when it comes on), and I do so. Diet Coke sales (show viewership) increase, and everyone is happy.
There are two key points in that story. The first is that if you expose a large number of people to a new thing, you are likely to increase consumption by finding those people who didn't know about your product, but like it. In fact, companies do this all the time. Everytime there is a new cola variety or gum brand, marketers flood big events and college campuses, giving away free samples with the hope that people will like what they've tried, go buy it, and tell their friends. Premium cable channels do it as well, by offering "Free Weekends" packed with programming that will encourage viewers to subscribe to that channel.
The second point is the Someone. In the case of new colas, etc., that someone is the company (or marketing company), enticing you to try something new, but only giving away a set amount of the free stuff. With TV shows via bittorrent, that someone is giving away as much as they can, but despite that, word of mouth has driven people to watch the shows via cable, which increases their revenue, because the cost of getting it for free is just a little too high for most.
The fact of the matter is that downloading shows and software takes time, effort, computer hardware, and some technical know-how, making the cost of getting the shows greater than just watching it when it comes on. While I don't agree with the sue-happy tactics of the MPAA/RIAA, their lawsuits are ensuring that the cost of obtaining the shows/music is still just a little higher than buying it at the store. Sure it would be easier (and, I believe, more effective) to lower the cost of the cable TV or music CDs, but that affects their bottom-line directly, and they really don't like that.
I've noticed this as well. It's due to the way the engine is designed, in fact, in older cars (I mean OLDER) the 'sweet spot' for milage was 55 MPH, due to the lower Federal speed-limit at the time.
Another thing that I've found interesting is the effect of aerodynamics on milage. I used to routinely drive 100 miles back and forth from Louisville to Cincinnati (hilly country along the river there), and at first, I drove with the AC off and with the windows rolled down. I found out on one trip, however, that the windows down changed the aerodynamics of the car so much that I got BETTER gas milage with the AC ON. Color me surprised. From there on out (in the summer at least), I cruised in the comfort of the AC.
As a note, those who drive pick-ups should keep the lift-gate CLOSED when driving (especially at highway speeds), as it decreases the drag on the truck, giving you better milage overall
If Nintendo provides a free "server listing" for all registered games, it won't cost them much in server hardware / bandwidth, since the real meat (actual game servers and really fat pipes for them) will be taken care of elsewhere. They have very little to lose with this model. It really will depend on what the game publishers decide to do with it... dedicated servers, allow any console to act as a server... etc...
My thoughts exactly. Nintendo knows that if they set up their network correctly, it will funnel people into buying more games, not act as a revenue stream itself (which is what MS seems to want).
I would really be surprised if Nintendo did not handle all billing for the individual game companies as well, instead of having four or five different charges show up on someone's card every month. Their network would also allow them to automate Club Nintendo styled promotions where you accumulate points based on the games you buy (i.e., stick the disk in = get points). I'll bet they would even set something up with (hell, maybe even encourage) other game publishers too (e.g., Club Capcom or the like).
The other thing you can probably count on with any Nintendo online service is Nintendo Power articles. That magazine (read: ad-rag) is probably responsible for more console game sales than all the others combined (total history, of course).
I'm also not sure what kind of accuracy you get on the x(t) and v(t) by integrating off of the a(t) the acceleremeter gives (haven't had a chance to play with one yet). You'd have lots of oscillations in the a(t) due to the oars cycling, right?
You can integrate a(t) once to get v(t) and twice to get x(t), but I wouldn't recommend it. I've tried it (not with a boat) and it just plain doesn't work very well. At all. Period. Even with very high quality accelerometers and a very high acquisition rate, you don't get very good results for v(t) and x(t). The numerical integration tends to amplify any noise you might have picked up, and it makes the results well-nigh worthless (this also tends to happen the other way, when you measure x(t) and take the first and second derivative).
Your best bet is to pick the data you want, and use a sensor specifically designed to measure that data. Since you're not necessarily using this for scientific use (i.e., publication), I think a GPS unit would likely be your best bet, combining all the best of low-cost with ease of use. The data won't show all of the little impulse accelerations that happen when the oars hit the water, but I gather that you're not interested in that.
If you were interested in acceleration data that fine, it would be relatively straight-forward to hook up all the necessary components, but it'll cost you (ruggedized laptop + data acquisition card + sensors = $10,000). Once you have that setup, though, it would be a neat trick to measure the force applied by each rower, and then get on the case of the slackers... OK, I've got to stop before I write a grant to do this.
If you really want to get this far into it, though, I'd talk to your local Mechanical Engineering department, and see if they have any students willing to work on this problem. The department likely has all the resources necessary to fully wire everything up, and the expertise necessary to do it right.
I used to work in the computer lab at a community college. I couldn't stand all those stupid textbooks (they don't really deserve to be called that, BTW) that "taught" the student in terms of step-by-step click at the mouse coordinates kind of lessons. Nobody actually learned anything about computers.
I used to teach computer skills at a college level (Intro to Computer-Aided Engineering), and we didn't bother with a textbook for that reason. What we did was present them with a finished product, some useful tips (e.g., Need to change font color? Look under Format...), and then turned the students loose. It was my job to assist as they worked, and generally make sure that everyone was on track. If they had questions, I would generally say something like, "I don't know, but let's see if we can find it." The fact that I, the authority figure, also had to look for things really drove home that using software is just remembering simple rules, not remembering how to do everything in every program. I even got a nomination for the department's 'Teacher of the Year' award (not that I was elligible, being a TA and all) from someone in that class.
Of course, as we got into more complicated software packages, I had to teach them the basics of programming, Finite Element Analysis, and drafting as well, but by that time, most of the students had picked up on the fact that if they looked, they would find it.
This is actually the best time to own an Xbox, PS2, or Gamecube. They're cheap - they'll probably drop again this fall to compete - and the software is now top-notch.
It's always this way at the end of a console cycle. I've been through a few now, and by far the best times I had gaming were at the tail end of the Super Nintendo era. I got the console mid-way through the cycle, and there were enough SNES consoles around such that Blockbuster rented the games for it. On numerous occasions, I would walk into a Blockbuster and pick up a used game for $10-$15 (I think $20 was my limit) that I got no end of enjoyment out of.
The one game that I played the bejeezus out of (and, coincedently, the only retro game I really want a remake of) was UniRacers. Man, was that game fun.
Of course, sometimes it's Mom and Dad that WANT them to be there, not the student. In that case, it takes a couple of years (in any city decently-sized enough to have more than one private school), before the students get the boot into the lower tier.
Computers are here, learn to use them or learn to wield a hammer.
I do not believe that this is quite the issue at hand.
The problem arises from educators (and parents, for that matter) that view computer proficiency as a panacea for shortcomings in the three Rs (they still have those, don't they?).
First, a little background. I am currently working on my Ph.D. in a town by the name of New Orleans. To make a little extra scratch, I tutor high-school students on the side, primarily in the sciences and maths. As a function of my expertise, I tend to only work with students whose parents are well-off. These students tend to attend the private (and very expensive) high-schools that require each student to own a laptop. The students do not even strictly need the tutoring, except Mom and Dad are hell-bent on getting them into Tulane (state schools are anathema)
This, in and of itself, is not the problem. The problem is that the schools, in an effort to justify the expense, encourage, and sometimes require, the teachers to use the laptops in every aspect of the student's education. This includes note-taking, textbooks on CD, 'math exploration', and computer labs (for the sciences). How does it work out, you ask? Well, personally, I think it works out very poorly . Note-taking devolves into solitare and IMing their significant other, CD textbooks crack after about 2 uses (and God help you if you want to make a backup copy) and cost as much as a paper edition (if not more), 'math exploration' is basically rote copying of the commands the teacher puts on the board and saying "oooh, look at the pretty pictures," and computer lab sessions are no better than following the pictures in a book.
By leaning too heavily on the crutch provided by the computer, the students learn virtually nothing (not even all of the basic computer skills). The tutoring I provide is generally nothing more than patient explanation of the material. These students need nothing more than an instructor who knows how to cater to his or her audience.
While I believe that computers have a place in education, they are currently being overused (it's the old 'if you have a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail' problem). I feel that part of the problem is discipline (or lack thereof) on the part of the students, but misapplication of a useful tool isn't helping. Most of the posts I've seen thusfar state that they often whiled away the time in boring classes with other pursuits, as did I (for me, it was origami), but I bet they got caught and corrected every now and then. It's a helluva lot more difficult to police a room full of computers, and frankly, in high school you don't have the self-discipline to know when you should but the calculator down and pay attention. As much as teachers hate playing baby-sitter, as a public speaker you also have to realize when you're losing your audience. When all your students have the glazed monitor-eyes, it's really hard to tell when you've lost them.
As suggested in the original post, it may take awhile before computer use in the classroom really has some effects, but the current usage is exceptionally detrimental to the current batches of Guinea Pigs in schools today (how else are new educational methods tested?).
To end on a humorous note, a little anecdote. One student I was tutoring was put through a summer 'Math Refresher' by her Mother, care of yours truly. Apparently her grades were not 'good enough' and Mom was concerned that there would be problems the next year. The student was not interested, and getting her to do any work was like pulling teeth. One day, she told me that she had been banned from using her computer to take notes because she had been caught IMing her boyfriend in class. I told her mother later that I believed that mandatory computer use in the class was having a detrimental effect on her daughter and, in my opinion, most students. As I ranted on, the mother's face turned into a grimace, and she began to of
Well, I'll tell you why I tend to be language specific when investigating these things.
I'm a mechanical engineer. I can invest the time necessary to brush up on my C/Java/Python to use and implement a specific library, but it is often not the best use of my time.
I'd way rather find a library that works in the environment with which I am most comfortable (VB, if you're interested) and spend my time using it, instead of spending the time figuring out how to use something else.
For me, software is a tool to use, not what I do. By way of analogy, I'd way rather find a metric wrench in the toolbox (or buy one if necessary) than have my whole device remachined to use only US bolts.
I've seen lots of comments regarding the programming language, etc. to use, but none that address the fact that you will be teaching these kids (likely their first exposure) about software engineering.
If you have the stage to yourself for a period of time, make sure your demo is interesting, but not too distracting. Ask the kids what kind of changes they might make, and implement the quick ones (keep a couple of quick changes in mind and suggest one-number changes in the code if the kids keep asking you to write Halo). Keep moving, keep showing, and keep asking. Frankly, watching someone write code can be like watching grass grow, and keeping the kids involved needs to be your primary motiviation.
Engineering is about problem solving, so make sure you get the point across that what you are showing them is one of basic tools that can be used to solve problems. Tell them that with some practice, they can make the computer do whatever they want, then show them a more complex example. Gorillaz for QBasic was mentioned; that's a good one, especially if you can hack together a demo mode to run while you talk. Show them, that with enough practice, they can change the banana or gorilla color (ask them for a color, then type in the color code and re-run it). At the very end of your talk, show a screenshot or describe a situation when programming was used to solve problems (I'd suggest describing both a trivial and complex problem, if you have the time).
If, however, you are going to have a booth, I'd try to hack up a little spirograph-like demo. When the kids come up, let them type in some new numbers, and let them run the program to look at the results. DO NOT set up spinner buttons and drop downs, that's just using a program and they know how to do that. Show them how to tell the computer what to do. They don't like black on white? Show them where to change the colors and let them type. If it breaks, that's OK, just show them how to fix it, and tell them that you break software all the time (it helps if they know that you are fallible as well, and it's not just them). If you equate learning the rules of programming with, for example, learning the rules of phonics (they do still teach that, right?), they'll get a better idea of why they can't just jump right in, and why things break. Have a couple of printouts or things on hand that show them the engineering side of things, not just the programming (you are a software engineer, right).
The key elements in this are to keep them interested and keep them actively involved. Five minutes can be an eternity to a first-grader, so keep it interesting. Be prepared to move on if you see that you are losing your audience, lest you become the least-favorite presenter (behind even the accountant).
I needed to do this when I upgraded from an old Win98 desktop to my current WInXP laptop. The best solution (cost wise) that I found was a USB to USB bridge cable.
I purchased an IOgear Smartlink cable. I had to use USB 1.1 due to OS and hardware inadequacies, but there may be a USB 2.0 option (though I don't see it on the IOgear site). The connection software is pretty crummy-looking, but it works, and their site claims that it supports Macs as well Windows (although I have not used it on a Mac). Since it's USB 1.1, it is as slow as molassass for entire-drive transfers, and you may prefer a different method.
Another option I looked into was an ethernet crossover cable, which, I believe swaps two of the wires over the course of the cable run. This was available at RadioShack (and I am sure other places). I decided not to go down this route, and it sounds like a no go for you as well, but I'm including it for the sake of completeness.
The third thing that might work is an external harddrive. I didn't use one because of the expense, but it may be worth it if you don't want to wait while your files transfer via USB. If you're doing smallish (less than 1GB) transfers, a thumb-drive may be the easiest way to do this.
It is VERY important that you do not try a straight USB to USB connection without the bridge cable. I understand that it can fry the USB ports on the machines. If you look at the image of the Smartlink cable on the page linked above, you'll see a bulge in the middle of the cable. That's the USB 'slave' that allows both computers to act as masters when doing the file transfer. FireWire may be a different story though, as you may just be able to plug it right in (no guarantees, though).
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't ARM Intel's competitor?
Sort of. ARM designs and licenses processor architectures to manufacturers, specifically, the processor cores, around which a manufacturer adds the cache, etc., needed for the specific application. From the "ARM Corporate Background" PDF on their website:
When ARM pioneered the concept of openly-licensable IP for the development of 32-bit RISC microprocessor-based SoCs in the early 1990s, it changed the dynamics of the semiconductor industry forever. By licensing, rather than manufacturing and selling its chip technology, the Company established a new business model that has redefined the way microprocessors are designed, produced and sold.
I believe that the Intel PXA-series processors found in many Pocket PCs are derived from the StrongARM design that DEC (I believe) co-developed with ARM. Then, after a few subsequent buyouts (DEC -> Compaq -> Intel), Intel ended up with a very successful architecture that they did not (initially) develop.
So, while they compete at the architecture level, Intel is more interested (perhaps to their detriment) in selling a lot of silicon, while ARM sells ideas. ARM makes money by thinking in its ivory tower, Intel (and Samsung and Toshiba, and IBM) makes money by bringing that thinking down to the filthy masses.
I appreciate your optimism here, but even Metroid Prime had load times. Even though they were few and far between, there were instances where I shot a door and had to wait 2-5 seconds for it to open before I could continue into the next section. During that period, I could hear the laser head on my 'Cube moving back and forth pretty fast loading data.
I've seen this pause in Metroid Prime as well, and it generally happens when I run through a large room quickly (generally towards the end of the game) or if I take a path that seems a little wierd. I think it has more to do with the code/programmers 'predicting' where I'm running to, and guessing wrong, than it does the streaming of the data off the disk.
Additionally, I've noticed that the GameCube seems rather heat-sensitive. If I've been sitting for a long session, the laser sounds from the drive seem to increase. This happened a lot when I had a card-backing from some Animal Crossing e-Cards propped next to my GC. Once I removed the card (and freed up the airflow to the machine), I noticed that load-times dropped, and the drive was much less noisy.
My car won't start at times. It just refused to start for 5 minutes up to half an hour. This happens completely at random (it seems), and it has happened about 10 times the last three years.
Keep in mind, these sorts of things don't happen just because of software.
My wife had an '87 Toyota Corolla that would do this after a longish drive with a short stop (drive to store + in store for 5 minutes = no start). The problem was that the starter was too close to the exhaust manifold, and the starter housing would expand due to the heat. Since the starter did not have time to cool and shrink, the motor rotor would sieze up, and the car wouldn't start. The fix was to bang on the side of the starter with a wrench a couple of times to free up the rotor, or wait for the starter to cool.
The moral of the story is not that software itself is bad in cars, an untested design is. Keep in mind that we have over 100 years of car mechanical design under our belts, with many people knowing that you should avoid certain part placements, etc., but only because these things have happened to someone in the past. Car software will undergo similar growing pains, but since it's a lot cheaper to fix (flash the board) in all effected cars than mechanical problems (install a less thermally sensitive starter), less Q&A time is put into the software.
There's also the issue of more mature machine design processes (mechanical engineering is almost 200 years old) than software design processes (about 50 years), but that is an issue for another post.
Have you considered ballons? It's a much smaller effort, cleaning them up is relatively straight forward. The volume of the ballons is much more compact in pre-joke form (and probably cheaper). If he makes the mistake of poping the ballons, he'll be finding leftover ballon parts a year from now.
You can even add to the "future pain" quotient, if you want to humiliate him further.
Allow me explain: for a friend of mine's wedding, it was my job, as a groomsman, to decorate his car so that everyone would know that he had just been married. In addition to the standard shoe-polish writing on the windows trick, we parked his car right by the door, turned the vents on high, and turned the car off. I then funneled wedding-themed confetti into the vents. When he turned the car on, he and his wife were blasted in the face by said confetti. Over a year later, when he was cleaning the car to sell it, he still found confetti all over the place.
I imagine that if you use opaque balloons (so he can't see inside) and fill some (or all, if money is no object) of them with confetti (use the plastic cut-out shape kind), that as your friend pops the balloons to get rid of them, that confetti is going to get everywhere.
If you go to the third page of photos, they have two shots of Samsung's entries (X25 and X50). I have the Gateway-branded version of an older model of these (X20, I believe), and I can tell you, it's pretty nice. Slim and light, bright screen, and with enough oomph to get the job done.
Of the models shown, the Samsungs take the cake.
Re:It was actually a fairly reasonable letter unti
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This is why I am glad that there are publications like "Consumer Reports." All revenue comes from subscribers, and there are no ads that may 'influence' the results of the test. Of course, "Consumer Reports" generally only focuses on big-ticket items like cars and refrigerators, but when you think about it, $50 bucks wasted on a game is no biggie when compared to the purchase of a $20,000 lemon.
An entertainment journal set up like this might be cool, but it might be difficult to convince people to invest $30-$40 bucks a year to save the odd $50 wasted on a truly unplayable game.
And FF crystal chronicles was not a final fantasy game in the slightest.... It was a total cash in attempt.
A cash-in, yes, but not just to get money out of GameCube owners. The previous Nintendo president dictated to Square that if they wanted to develop for the GBA (which they really, really did) they would have to also develop for the GC, and include GC to GBA connectivity. I believe that Nintendo even fronted some of the development money for Crystal Chronicles via a jointly owned (Square and Nintendo) dev studio.
The current Nintedo administration has realized that the connectivity aspect is a dead horse, and has stopped beating it. Personally, I'm waiting for the rumored DS Crystal Chronicles to see if it requires other players (as the GC version more or less did), as I do not have gamer friends interested in long play sessions.
I look at all the people, including me, who would like a side scroller with outstanding graphics - which could be done quite easily, and I don't see it happening.
Spider Man 2 for the Nintendo DS is exactly this; a 3D sidescroller that is apparently one of the best (looking and playing) launch games for the system.
I was reading a developer interview on IGN, and they said they had to use 3D for the models since they wouldn't have had enough space on the cartridges for all the animation frames if they hadn't.
Photoshop Elements has many of the features found in Photoshop and would be very useable for graphics work. They have added even more in version 3 which was just released and its [sic] far from just an "end-user photo manipulation" application.
Funny thing about Elements; it has some things that PhotoShop doesn't. The one item, in particular, that I'm thinking of is automagic photo-stitching (i.e., for merging two or more photos into one panoramic view). A couple of friends of mine work in a tissue-culture lab, and one of the things they have to do frequently is stitch together a bunch of images of a histology section into one image for analysis. The lab bought a copy of Elements (in addition to the copies of the full-blown version they already owned) solely to stitch these images together. You load a stack of images and wham, Elements figures out which piece goes where based on the edges of each image. It works great on a 3x3 grid of images (and only a little less great on a 4x4 grid).
The Church is still taking the line that birth control, specifically condoms, is useless for preventing the spread of STDs, which is demonstrably not true.
One of the problems I have with some Church teachings is that they tend to be very ideallistic. Ideally, abstinence is the best way to prevent the spread of STDs. Practically, it doesn't work quite so well.
I highly doubt that African missionaries feed the locals lies about the efficacy of condoms, especially Vatican-sanctioned lies. I do expect that some of the missionaries skip the condom discussion, and when they do (combined with local customs and culture), it can do a grave disservice to the local population. Especially when there is such a large local problem with AIDS.
I'm a devout Roman Catholic (could you tell from my previous post?), but sometimes the ideallism gets to me. Fortunately, priests at the local level are often more of a practical bent (specifically the Jesuits).
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The Revo and Series 5 had hinge problems (as noted by another poster), such that the cables connecting the screen to the motherboard eventually wore out, and the fix was basically to buy a new one (I know, I ran through both models). I eventually bought a Diamond Mako, which is actually a rebadged Revo Plus (larger RAM, better hinge). The Mako came with the US spellchecker on the CD (that and some Diamond wallpapers were the only extras added).
If you buy a Psion used, I would strongly suggest a Series 5mx or Revo Plus/Diamond Mako. They fixed the hinge problems in those models.
There are two companies (first for North America, the second for elsewhere), that will provide service for the Psion handhelds (your biggest concern will be batteries for the Revo/Mako models). So the fact that these machines are 5+ years old shouldn't be a real problem.
If you do decide to go the Psion route, go for the 5mx or the Revo Plus (also sold as the Diamond Mako in the US). These were incremental upgrades to the originals that had solutions for some hinge problems the first versions had. I got bit by both hinge problems (Series 5 and original Revo), and I ended up with a Diamond Mako. One of the best purchases I ever made. If I have a choice (I probably won't), EPOC/Symbian handhelds with a keyboard will be the only handhelds I will ever buy. I keep hearing rumors that Nokia may be releasing an upgraded Revo-style handheld (NOT a cell phone), but I think I'm just grasping at straws there.
I don't believe that Nintendo had a custom drive per se, just a smaller disk enclosure and no DVD-decryption chips. The copy protection employed (if I recall correctly) was not to spin the drive backwards, but to read the data backwards (that is, outer rim of the disk to the inside by the spindle).
The reason GC drives never die is that they were built by Matsushita (Panasonic in the US), and IMHO, you can't get better-built electronics from anyone else. You can tell it was built by Matsushita because it has the push-button spindle release, and because Matsushita built a DVD-capable version of the GC called the Q (released in Japan only).
You've taken the StarTrek replicator argument a little too far, and you're missing a key point of real-world economics. No matter how easy it is to download a show it still costs you something. As the article points out, as long as the cost of getting everything free is just high enough, revenues still increase. To wit:
Someone gives me a can of Diet Coke (or a TV show), and I really like it. I like it so much, in fact that I decide I want to drink (watch) it all the time. I look into getting it for free, by making my own at home (downloading all the episodes), but I decide that it is easier in the long run to buy it at the store (watch it when it comes on), and I do so. Diet Coke sales (show viewership) increase, and everyone is happy.
There are two key points in that story. The first is that if you expose a large number of people to a new thing, you are likely to increase consumption by finding those people who didn't know about your product, but like it. In fact, companies do this all the time. Everytime there is a new cola variety or gum brand, marketers flood big events and college campuses, giving away free samples with the hope that people will like what they've tried, go buy it, and tell their friends. Premium cable channels do it as well, by offering "Free Weekends" packed with programming that will encourage viewers to subscribe to that channel.
The second point is the Someone. In the case of new colas, etc., that someone is the company (or marketing company), enticing you to try something new, but only giving away a set amount of the free stuff. With TV shows via bittorrent, that someone is giving away as much as they can, but despite that, word of mouth has driven people to watch the shows via cable, which increases their revenue, because the cost of getting it for free is just a little too high for most.
The fact of the matter is that downloading shows and software takes time, effort, computer hardware, and some technical know-how, making the cost of getting the shows greater than just watching it when it comes on. While I don't agree with the sue-happy tactics of the MPAA/RIAA, their lawsuits are ensuring that the cost of obtaining the shows/music is still just a little higher than buying it at the store. Sure it would be easier (and, I believe, more effective) to lower the cost of the cable TV or music CDs, but that affects their bottom-line directly, and they really don't like that.
Nah, soon, you won't be able to skip them, what with the new-fangled 'blipverts'* they're working on. In fact, you won't even want to skip them.
* Side-effects include desire to purchase everything shown, and occasional, mild, brain-exploding.
I've noticed this as well. It's due to the way the engine is designed, in fact, in older cars (I mean OLDER) the 'sweet spot' for milage was 55 MPH, due to the lower Federal speed-limit at the time.
Another thing that I've found interesting is the effect of aerodynamics on milage. I used to routinely drive 100 miles back and forth from Louisville to Cincinnati (hilly country along the river there), and at first, I drove with the AC off and with the windows rolled down. I found out on one trip, however, that the windows down changed the aerodynamics of the car so much that I got BETTER gas milage with the AC ON. Color me surprised. From there on out (in the summer at least), I cruised in the comfort of the AC.
As a note, those who drive pick-ups should keep the lift-gate CLOSED when driving (especially at highway speeds), as it decreases the drag on the truck, giving you better milage overall
My thoughts exactly. Nintendo knows that if they set up their network correctly, it will funnel people into buying more games, not act as a revenue stream itself (which is what MS seems to want).
I would really be surprised if Nintendo did not handle all billing for the individual game companies as well, instead of having four or five different charges show up on someone's card every month. Their network would also allow them to automate Club Nintendo styled promotions where you accumulate points based on the games you buy (i.e., stick the disk in = get points). I'll bet they would even set something up with (hell, maybe even encourage) other game publishers too (e.g., Club Capcom or the like).
The other thing you can probably count on with any Nintendo online service is Nintendo Power articles. That magazine (read: ad-rag) is probably responsible for more console game sales than all the others combined (total history, of course).
You can integrate a(t) once to get v(t) and twice to get x(t), but I wouldn't recommend it. I've tried it (not with a boat) and it just plain doesn't work very well. At all. Period. Even with very high quality accelerometers and a very high acquisition rate, you don't get very good results for v(t) and x(t). The numerical integration tends to amplify any noise you might have picked up, and it makes the results well-nigh worthless (this also tends to happen the other way, when you measure x(t) and take the first and second derivative).
Your best bet is to pick the data you want, and use a sensor specifically designed to measure that data. Since you're not necessarily using this for scientific use (i.e., publication), I think a GPS unit would likely be your best bet, combining all the best of low-cost with ease of use. The data won't show all of the little impulse accelerations that happen when the oars hit the water, but I gather that you're not interested in that.
If you were interested in acceleration data that fine, it would be relatively straight-forward to hook up all the necessary components, but it'll cost you (ruggedized laptop + data acquisition card + sensors = $10,000). Once you have that setup, though, it would be a neat trick to measure the force applied by each rower, and then get on the case of the slackers... OK, I've got to stop before I write a grant to do this.
If you really want to get this far into it, though, I'd talk to your local Mechanical Engineering department, and see if they have any students willing to work on this problem. The department likely has all the resources necessary to fully wire everything up, and the expertise necessary to do it right.
I used to teach computer skills at a college level (Intro to Computer-Aided Engineering), and we didn't bother with a textbook for that reason. What we did was present them with a finished product, some useful tips (e.g., Need to change font color? Look under Format...), and then turned the students loose. It was my job to assist as they worked, and generally make sure that everyone was on track. If they had questions, I would generally say something like, "I don't know, but let's see if we can find it." The fact that I, the authority figure, also had to look for things really drove home that using software is just remembering simple rules, not remembering how to do everything in every program. I even got a nomination for the department's 'Teacher of the Year' award (not that I was elligible, being a TA and all) from someone in that class.
Of course, as we got into more complicated software packages, I had to teach them the basics of programming, Finite Element Analysis, and drafting as well, but by that time, most of the students had picked up on the fact that if they looked, they would find it.
It's always this way at the end of a console cycle. I've been through a few now, and by far the best times I had gaming were at the tail end of the Super Nintendo era. I got the console mid-way through the cycle, and there were enough SNES consoles around such that Blockbuster rented the games for it. On numerous occasions, I would walk into a Blockbuster and pick up a used game for $10-$15 (I think $20 was my limit) that I got no end of enjoyment out of.
The one game that I played the bejeezus out of (and, coincedently, the only retro game I really want a remake of) was UniRacers. Man, was that game fun.
We do. It's called private and public.
Of course, sometimes it's Mom and Dad that WANT them to be there, not the student. In that case, it takes a couple of years (in any city decently-sized enough to have more than one private school), before the students get the boot into the lower tier.
I do not believe that this is quite the issue at hand.
The problem arises from educators (and parents, for that matter) that view computer proficiency as a panacea for shortcomings in the three Rs (they still have those, don't they?).
First, a little background. I am currently working on my Ph.D. in a town by the name of New Orleans. To make a little extra scratch, I tutor high-school students on the side, primarily in the sciences and maths. As a function of my expertise, I tend to only work with students whose parents are well-off. These students tend to attend the private (and very expensive) high-schools that require each student to own a laptop. The students do not even strictly need the tutoring, except Mom and Dad are hell-bent on getting them into Tulane (state schools are anathema)
This, in and of itself, is not the problem. The problem is that the schools, in an effort to justify the expense, encourage, and sometimes require, the teachers to use the laptops in every aspect of the student's education. This includes note-taking, textbooks on CD, 'math exploration', and computer labs (for the sciences). How does it work out, you ask? Well, personally, I think it works out very poorly . Note-taking devolves into solitare and IMing their significant other, CD textbooks crack after about 2 uses (and God help you if you want to make a backup copy) and cost as much as a paper edition (if not more), 'math exploration' is basically rote copying of the commands the teacher puts on the board and saying "oooh, look at the pretty pictures," and computer lab sessions are no better than following the pictures in a book.
By leaning too heavily on the crutch provided by the computer, the students learn virtually nothing (not even all of the basic computer skills). The tutoring I provide is generally nothing more than patient explanation of the material. These students need nothing more than an instructor who knows how to cater to his or her audience.
While I believe that computers have a place in education, they are currently being overused (it's the old 'if you have a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail' problem). I feel that part of the problem is discipline (or lack thereof) on the part of the students, but misapplication of a useful tool isn't helping. Most of the posts I've seen thusfar state that they often whiled away the time in boring classes with other pursuits, as did I (for me, it was origami), but I bet they got caught and corrected every now and then. It's a helluva lot more difficult to police a room full of computers, and frankly, in high school you don't have the self-discipline to know when you should but the calculator down and pay attention. As much as teachers hate playing baby-sitter, as a public speaker you also have to realize when you're losing your audience. When all your students have the glazed monitor-eyes, it's really hard to tell when you've lost them.
As suggested in the original post, it may take awhile before computer use in the classroom really has some effects, but the current usage is exceptionally detrimental to the current batches of Guinea Pigs in schools today (how else are new educational methods tested?).
To end on a humorous note, a little anecdote. One student I was tutoring was put through a summer 'Math Refresher' by her Mother, care of yours truly. Apparently her grades were not 'good enough' and Mom was concerned that there would be problems the next year. The student was not interested, and getting her to do any work was like pulling teeth. One day, she told me that she had been banned from using her computer to take notes because she had been caught IMing her boyfriend in class. I told her mother later that I believed that mandatory computer use in the class was having a detrimental effect on her daughter and, in my opinion, most students. As I ranted on, the mother's face turned into a grimace, and she began to of
I'm a mechanical engineer. I can invest the time necessary to brush up on my C/Java/Python to use and implement a specific library, but it is often not the best use of my time.
I'd way rather find a library that works in the environment with which I am most comfortable (VB, if you're interested) and spend my time using it, instead of spending the time figuring out how to use something else.
For me, software is a tool to use, not what I do. By way of analogy, I'd way rather find a metric wrench in the toolbox (or buy one if necessary) than have my whole device remachined to use only US bolts.
I've seen lots of comments regarding the programming language, etc. to use, but none that address the fact that you will be teaching these kids (likely their first exposure) about software engineering.
If you have the stage to yourself for a period of time, make sure your demo is interesting, but not too distracting. Ask the kids what kind of changes they might make, and implement the quick ones (keep a couple of quick changes in mind and suggest one-number changes in the code if the kids keep asking you to write Halo). Keep moving, keep showing, and keep asking. Frankly, watching someone write code can be like watching grass grow, and keeping the kids involved needs to be your primary motiviation.
Engineering is about problem solving, so make sure you get the point across that what you are showing them is one of basic tools that can be used to solve problems. Tell them that with some practice, they can make the computer do whatever they want, then show them a more complex example. Gorillaz for QBasic was mentioned; that's a good one, especially if you can hack together a demo mode to run while you talk. Show them, that with enough practice, they can change the banana or gorilla color (ask them for a color, then type in the color code and re-run it). At the very end of your talk, show a screenshot or describe a situation when programming was used to solve problems (I'd suggest describing both a trivial and complex problem, if you have the time).
If, however, you are going to have a booth, I'd try to hack up a little spirograph-like demo. When the kids come up, let them type in some new numbers, and let them run the program to look at the results. DO NOT set up spinner buttons and drop downs, that's just using a program and they know how to do that. Show them how to tell the computer what to do. They don't like black on white? Show them where to change the colors and let them type. If it breaks, that's OK, just show them how to fix it, and tell them that you break software all the time (it helps if they know that you are fallible as well, and it's not just them). If you equate learning the rules of programming with, for example, learning the rules of phonics (they do still teach that, right?), they'll get a better idea of why they can't just jump right in, and why things break. Have a couple of printouts or things on hand that show them the engineering side of things, not just the programming (you are a software engineer, right).
The key elements in this are to keep them interested and keep them actively involved. Five minutes can be an eternity to a first-grader, so keep it interesting. Be prepared to move on if you see that you are losing your audience, lest you become the least-favorite presenter (behind even the accountant).
I purchased an IOgear Smartlink cable. I had to use USB 1.1 due to OS and hardware inadequacies, but there may be a USB 2.0 option (though I don't see it on the IOgear site). The connection software is pretty crummy-looking, but it works, and their site claims that it supports Macs as well Windows (although I have not used it on a Mac). Since it's USB 1.1, it is as slow as molassass for entire-drive transfers, and you may prefer a different method.
Another option I looked into was an ethernet crossover cable, which, I believe swaps two of the wires over the course of the cable run. This was available at RadioShack (and I am sure other places). I decided not to go down this route, and it sounds like a no go for you as well, but I'm including it for the sake of completeness.
The third thing that might work is an external harddrive. I didn't use one because of the expense, but it may be worth it if you don't want to wait while your files transfer via USB. If you're doing smallish (less than 1GB) transfers, a thumb-drive may be the easiest way to do this.
It is VERY important that you do not try a straight USB to USB connection without the bridge cable. I understand that it can fry the USB ports on the machines. If you look at the image of the Smartlink cable on the page linked above, you'll see a bulge in the middle of the cable. That's the USB 'slave' that allows both computers to act as masters when doing the file transfer. FireWire may be a different story though, as you may just be able to plug it right in (no guarantees, though).
Sort of. ARM designs and licenses processor architectures to manufacturers, specifically, the processor cores, around which a manufacturer adds the cache, etc., needed for the specific application. From the "ARM Corporate Background" PDF on their website:
I believe that the Intel PXA-series processors found in many Pocket PCs are derived from the StrongARM design that DEC (I believe) co-developed with ARM. Then, after a few subsequent buyouts (DEC -> Compaq -> Intel), Intel ended up with a very successful architecture that they did not (initially) develop.So, while they compete at the architecture level, Intel is more interested (perhaps to their detriment) in selling a lot of silicon, while ARM sells ideas. ARM makes money by thinking in its ivory tower, Intel (and Samsung and Toshiba, and IBM) makes money by bringing that thinking down to the filthy masses.
Additionally, I've noticed that the GameCube seems rather heat-sensitive. If I've been sitting for a long session, the laser sounds from the drive seem to increase. This happened a lot when I had a card-backing from some Animal Crossing e-Cards propped next to my GC. Once I removed the card (and freed up the airflow to the machine), I noticed that load-times dropped, and the drive was much less noisy.
My wife had an '87 Toyota Corolla that would do this after a longish drive with a short stop (drive to store + in store for 5 minutes = no start). The problem was that the starter was too close to the exhaust manifold, and the starter housing would expand due to the heat. Since the starter did not have time to cool and shrink, the motor rotor would sieze up, and the car wouldn't start. The fix was to bang on the side of the starter with a wrench a couple of times to free up the rotor, or wait for the starter to cool.
The moral of the story is not that software itself is bad in cars, an untested design is. Keep in mind that we have over 100 years of car mechanical design under our belts, with many people knowing that you should avoid certain part placements, etc., but only because these things have happened to someone in the past. Car software will undergo similar growing pains, but since it's a lot cheaper to fix (flash the board) in all effected cars than mechanical problems (install a less thermally sensitive starter), less Q&A time is put into the software.
There's also the issue of more mature machine design processes (mechanical engineering is almost 200 years old) than software design processes (about 50 years), but that is an issue for another post.
Allow me explain: for a friend of mine's wedding, it was my job, as a groomsman, to decorate his car so that everyone would know that he had just been married. In addition to the standard shoe-polish writing on the windows trick, we parked his car right by the door, turned the vents on high, and turned the car off. I then funneled wedding-themed confetti into the vents. When he turned the car on, he and his wife were blasted in the face by said confetti. Over a year later, when he was cleaning the car to sell it, he still found confetti all over the place.
I imagine that if you use opaque balloons (so he can't see inside) and fill some (or all, if money is no object) of them with confetti (use the plastic cut-out shape kind), that as your friend pops the balloons to get rid of them, that confetti is going to get everywhere.
Big fun for all parites involved.
They're not ALL bad.
If you go to the third page of photos, they have two shots of Samsung's entries (X25 and X50). I have the Gateway-branded version of an older model of these (X20, I believe), and I can tell you, it's pretty nice. Slim and light, bright screen, and with enough oomph to get the job done.
Of the models shown, the Samsungs take the cake.
This is why I am glad that there are publications like "Consumer Reports." All revenue comes from subscribers, and there are no ads that may 'influence' the results of the test. Of course, "Consumer Reports" generally only focuses on big-ticket items like cars and refrigerators, but when you think about it, $50 bucks wasted on a game is no biggie when compared to the purchase of a $20,000 lemon.
An entertainment journal set up like this might be cool, but it might be difficult to convince people to invest $30-$40 bucks a year to save the odd $50 wasted on a truly unplayable game.
A cash-in, yes, but not just to get money out of GameCube owners. The previous Nintendo president dictated to Square that if they wanted to develop for the GBA (which they really, really did) they would have to also develop for the GC, and include GC to GBA connectivity. I believe that Nintendo even fronted some of the development money for Crystal Chronicles via a jointly owned (Square and Nintendo) dev studio.
The current Nintedo administration has realized that the connectivity aspect is a dead horse, and has stopped beating it. Personally, I'm waiting for the rumored DS Crystal Chronicles to see if it requires other players (as the GC version more or less did), as I do not have gamer friends interested in long play sessions.
Spider Man 2 for the Nintendo DS is exactly this; a 3D sidescroller that is apparently one of the best (looking and playing) launch games for the system.
I was reading a developer interview on IGN, and they said they had to use 3D for the models since they wouldn't have had enough space on the cartridges for all the animation frames if they hadn't.
Funny thing about Elements; it has some things that PhotoShop doesn't. The one item, in particular, that I'm thinking of is automagic photo-stitching (i.e., for merging two or more photos into one panoramic view). A couple of friends of mine work in a tissue-culture lab, and one of the things they have to do frequently is stitch together a bunch of images of a histology section into one image for analysis. The lab bought a copy of Elements (in addition to the copies of the full-blown version they already owned) solely to stitch these images together. You load a stack of images and wham, Elements figures out which piece goes where based on the edges of each image. It works great on a 3x3 grid of images (and only a little less great on a 4x4 grid).
I highly doubt that African missionaries feed the locals lies about the efficacy of condoms, especially Vatican-sanctioned lies. I do expect that some of the missionaries skip the condom discussion, and when they do (combined with local customs and culture), it can do a grave disservice to the local population. Especially when there is such a large local problem with AIDS.
I'm a devout Roman Catholic (could you tell from my previous post?), but sometimes the ideallism gets to me. Fortunately, priests at the local level are often more of a practical bent (specifically the Jesuits).