Did you ever consider that the fault did not lie with the tool, but with the person using it?
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said it well: "Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but rather when there is nothing more to take away."
Your app probably could have been written better, even in VB. (I know because that is what I do for a living.)
Sure - Use it with my compliments! As for the 'proverb' - I live in Tokyo now and I know another gaijin who is teaching himself Japanese by memorizing the announcements on the train. He used to say them over and over to himself as he wrote code... He uses bits of them in conversation...
I only wish that this program was around when I was in school. Here is what I would have reported: When I was in HS, there was this group of kids that worry me still. Kind of anti-social kids who dressed oddly and kept a step out of the mainstream. I kind of knew one of these kids. Kind of likable, yet *different*. They all wore these little cross symbols around their necks. I asked about it and he told me that it was a symbol for some middle eastern guy who was murdered ritually and horribly using huge nails and a spear. Apparently this guy was nailed to this 'crucifix' and left to die while people mocked him. Sick. All these kids would meet in semi-secrecy and 'worship' this guy. Once a week, they would symbolically drink blood and eat flesh. Now the really scary part: They did this with the full consent and knowledge of their parents. I mean, it just didn't seem normal. (He even had the gall to invite me to join them while they chanted their incantations.) They used to talk very apocolyptically about 'The valley of the shadow of death' and 'Inheriting the Earth'. They were always talking about how great it was going to be after they were all dead. Apparently this guy with the nails was going to put them in some sort of paradise and torture the people who didn't believe. I mean, they really *believed* this stuff. That was it - either join them, or fry forever. (There was also some vague Anti-semitism in all of this, since the Jews had allegedly killed their 'saviour'.) These kids were not like the other kids in school. They listened to this weird rock music that I never heard on the radio or saw in the record stores. They did these weird gestures, touching their heads and shoulders *Right in class*, often before a test! As I found out, there is a network of these people, pretty much everywhere. The local 'lieutenants' in charge of organizing all of this are these kind of quiet unmarried guys who dress all in black and hang out in these scary gothic-looking buildings. Apparently they indoctronate new recruits shortly after birth, in some sort of ritual where the baby is held over a deep well of water and some of it is poured on the baby's head. Behind them is another of these cross symbols, but get this - this one has a statue of the semi-naked martyr, garishly bleeding and agonizing, with painted blood dripping from these spikes through his hands and feet. (Not to mention he has long hair and a beard. Kind of looks like one of those guys you see on the street, shuffling around and mumbling to himself...) I'm only scratching the surface of this group here. I'll bet Pinkerton would send out the van and round up these kids in a heartbeat...
(Please understand that I am not Anti-Christian. I am only trying to make a point.)
One of my favorite geek attractions over here is the holographic Buddhist (Shinto? I still can't tell the diff...) Shrine near Yurakucho station. It's on the ground floor of Hankyu Department Store and has a 2ft*2ft holographic religious image... There's even a little coffer for you to toss coins when you say your prayer. It's a short walk from Sony Plaza in Ginza, which is another Mecca of geekdom. You can walk through the building and see the prototypes of many of Sony's products, built with clear plastic cases, so you can see the innards. Akihabara is just too extreme to describe here - Let's just say that if they decide to film Neuromancer there, they won't have to change anything... Cheers, Jim in Tokyo
OK - I'm unclear on something... All of this talk about how DeCSS is not for making illegal copies of movies - it's for viewing DVD's on linux.
Thing is, All I've seen of the program is a Windows application and some Source Code done for MS Visual C++. (Not the development platform of choice for most linux users...)
If someone creates a DVD player for linux that doesn't prominently feature its copying abilities, it will look better in court. Just make a standard-looking player that doesn't feature any export capabilities.
Really, if the judge doesn't see a Big Red Button that says "Export Movie To Internet", it will be harder to convince him or her that the program is a hacker's tool for doing such.
Right now, the situation is more like a guy with an (undeserved) bad reputation being picked up with a bag of lockpicking tools in hand. Doesn't matter what he is doing, it looks suspicious.
If the aim of this really is to watch DVDs on linux, lets start with that, not by giving the script kiddies the means to copy rented DVDs to the school network.
Next, how about some DVD authoring software? I read recently about an Open-Source alternative to Adobe Premier and Avid. If this software allowed people to create DVDs directly, it would be a useful application of the technology. Why not take that tack? Personally, I would love to use Linux to edit my movies (I use a mac now,) and be able to create DVDs that i can mail to my friends in the US. (For this much data, snailmail is a better transport method for the time being.)
It may be that I am missing part of the facts on the state of Linux DVD, but I can't get to LiViD from behind my firewall... Forgive me if this is the case. Thanks - Jim In Tokyo
Truth is, I rarely print -- I just lose paper. I would only consider printing something in color at a service bureau, where they have better printers than I could afford.
So how would they 'watermark'? I doubt they would actually try to change the paper in the process, or before the printing. (If this were practical, I'm sure they would have done something like this for the new 'big head' currency.(Not that the new currency is so secure - Microsoft license certs are WAY more secure.)) Most likely, they would insert some 'DNA' into the ink. A few years ago, I remember hearing a plan to insert a serial number into gunpowder: Tiny strands of colored plastic that used a system like that that is used on electrical resistors to display the resistance would be put into each batch of gunpowder. While not universally unique, it could help identify the store where a bullet was purchased and, with credit card records, a list of potential suspects in a crime. Add one long number to each color and you have a pretty identifiable watermark. Hell, putting one digit on golf balls has been pretty useful for decades...
So I guess they would code the ink. Anyone got any formulas for ink? Roll your own. For what they charge for ink, I'm surprised that this practice isn't already common. The reason you can buy a color printer for so cheap is that they charge so much for the ink cubes. Was it Gilette that said 'Give away the razor - charge for the blades...'? Whatever system they choose, I think the answer will not be to try to remove the watermark, rather to obfuscate it by inserting lots of your own 'reference numbers' in your printing. Kind of like covering the back of your car with your huge collection of out-of-state license plates. Could they effectively stop something like this?
While all of this is chilling and depressing, I doubt it will ever be an issue. Cheers, Jim in Tokyo
Just meant to say that MS has added a useful feature and Linux should do the same. The situation I described with their MCSE's has to be addressed if Linux is to keep their gains in the server market... Jim in Tokyo
"...This has been available in the fubar distro since 1978..." "I hacked together something that will do this for some time using a perl script and DR-Dos..." "...M$ is evil, Why doesn't the DoJ just shut them down?" Quit whining. There is too much work to be done. Add the features while maintaining backward compatability and this will cease to be an issue.
Something like DDNS sounds like a good thing. I don't care who implements it. Now when I say 'Implement' - I mean that if you take the setup disks for your favorite OS, install the OS using the defaults, it's set up for you. MS has simply chosen to do this. If Redhat has a brain, they will do the same. It should work without a second thought. When I dial my ISP, which is how most people encounter dynamic IP's, I have set my Win98 DNS settings to have my machine be sparky.gol.com. As I see it, I have dialed in and told them my username, so they know that I am sitting on a particular IP address. That address should have my hostname appended to it for the duration of my session. It is the fault of the software that my friends in the US can't find me by contacting sparky.gol.com. (I use ICQ so people can find my machine. It is the fault of the software that people can't do a simple "finger" command, unless I happen to be logged into a shell somewhere. I am not a SysAdmin. I am a windows programmer. Like many people, I ran a linux system for fun when I had the space for a second machine. People are looking at RedHat, because it is the most mainstream of the Linuces in the public's awareness. Now that RedHat is more of a commercial venture, they will need to address things like this, right out of the box. They are making strides because they are a usable server for windows clients. They will lose this market to Win2K if they are not as full-featured in this respect. Sorry, that's how it is. I would love to see linux on my computer at work. I wish I could just use StarOffice and forget about MSOffice. But it's not going to happen this year. I have work to do... MS has made an unspoken promise to thousands of people around the country - Become a MSCE and you will have a pretty good job. They don't care if you were selling stereos last week. They don't care if you went to college and spent four years playing RPG's on a vax. They 'tell' you that if you get certified, you will be able to afford a couple of kids and a decent car. Every couple of months, you will get a couple of CD's in the mail and you install a service pack. You'll get beta's of new software. Take a day or two and play around with the new software instead of working. As I see it, they are keeping their promise. Are these people going to give that up because the software doesn't comply with some RFC sitting in an obscure URL in Switzerland somewhere? Do these guys know what an RFC is? No. Now picture this: Joe MSCE in Maryland gets a call from his boss who is on travel in Atlanta. The boss can't print from his hotel. Joe tells the boss to connect to the internet and open NetMeeting. Joe uses NetMeeting to call the boss at bigboss.company.com and they share the document. Joe shows the boss how to print. Joe looks like a genius. Joe does not lose is job for "not keeping the printers running," at least in the boss's mind... Get the picture? Now realize that perhaps neither of them know that DDNS made this do-able. (*You* try to get your non-techie boss to run WinIPCFG and tell you his IP. Ten minute phone call at least...) This is how it works in the real world. These guys don't have the luxury of being able to appreciate elegant code. MS has made it easy for people to get into the game late and do well. I applaud them for that. Linux now has an opportunity to come into those same offices and show its stuff, probably by way of a couple of borrowed RedHat CD's and a spare Wintel machine. What will it do? Again, I say to you, borroring Dr. Clark's phrase: Boys, Be ambitious. (http://www.hokudai.ac.jp/bureau/socho/message-e.h tm ) Jim O'Connell Tokyo
I wonder if they are counting sales of 'Linux Japan' magazine. Every month, it comes out with a different distro on 2 CDs in the back of the magazine, for 1500yen. (~$12) I also see dozens of boxed versions on the shelves here. Also, I wouldn't assume that piracy rates here in Japan are the same as in the US. I hate to make statements about the culture as a group, but I can tell you that many Japanese people just will not do something if they know it is illegal. I haven't found anyone here who would rationalize such a thing as a 'victimless crime.' I don't know if many Japanese companies would embrace the ideals of open source and the copyleft concept, either. Jim in Tokyo
Re:You can have what you want today.
on
PDA+MP3 Player
·
· Score: 3
It's all already available... Right now I'm writing this on my Sony picturebook notebook on a very typable keyboard, listening to very decent streaming audio. I'm home, but I could be almost anywhere I can find a phone jack. (See below.) I often go downtown to a cafe with net access and plug in there for a few hours of work. I toss the computer into a small backpack,(It's 2.5 lbs.) put on my rollerblades and take off. Usually I listen to my Minidisc player. It weighs about 3 ounces and runs for 9 hours on a single AA. I have an older one that I record on, using an optical cable and a discman. When I'm in Tokyo, I often will open my laptop on top of one of the public phones, plug in to the analog data port, dial in and check my email and browse slashdot for a while. (I even did video conferencing with a guy in england from Shinjuku subway station, just to see if I could...) When I move there next week, I will have to wait about a month until the new Generation3 cellphones come out. They are supposed to do data at 200mbps. Some of them will have a built-in camera and color display and will send/receive 2fps.(With size and weight about the same as a snickers bar.) The Sony picturebook's screen is about letterbox format. When I find a portable DVDrom drive that is compatible, I'll be all set. You've probably guessed that I'm a bit of a gadget freak. Though I've never had a palm pilot, I've already given away my desktop, Newton, Cassiopeia, Pocketmail device, 2 pagers and 2 cellphones. If the RIO used compact flash, I would have probably bought one, but my digital camera uses CF as does my synthesizer and most other devices. MiniDisc is the best for music. They never skip, even when shaken really hard. I can put 144 minutes of mono (I like old jazz, which was usually done in mono.) or 74 minutes of Stereo that I cannot tell from the original CD. I buy the disks for 198yen , which is less than $2/ea. They re-record a million times and you can carry 5 of them easily in a pocket. Yes, I wish they did data, but they are still well worth their weight. I use a Nokia 6160 phone here in the states - it's phonebook is the pda-ish aplication that I've ever actually used for any length of time. You just have to type in a name for the number it saves when you get a call. I have it tell me when I get an email. It's also my pager. Well, I've gotten way off topic - I should wrap this up...
Jim O'Connell ICQ5213098 http://www.wirefarm.com/index.html
Would be pretty funny if some guy pops in a porno on a long flight, forgets where he is and gets carried away...:-) Anyway... I tried a couple pairs of these a few weeks ago in Tokyo. One was a Sony and I don't remember the other brand. I was ready to buy until I tried them. They were OK, but not fantastic. I didn't buy either. Probably wasn't this model, but the whole effect was probably similar.
Wait till you have to uninstall...(Hee hee.) I once had to use Norton Anti-Virus to get all of the references to NTLoader off the system. Of course, now I know better. Never again. Jim
I cannot believe this moron's arrogance. Before you forgive him, look at his statement: "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet." How can he possibly be doing anything but lying? What a tool this guy is... I hope he gets the public mocking that he deserves for this idiotic statement. I'd like to hear what *exactly* he thinks he did. What protocols he thinks he wrote, (or even suggested,) what funding he personally approved that resulted in anything - c'mon, mr. VP, show us a single line of code - anything! All he did was raise public awareness for something that never happened - the "Information Superhighway". (God, I hate that term.) Meanwhile, Tim Berners-Lee cobbed together some existing protocols and made the net useful to a much wider range of people. That didn't even happen in the US, let alone under Gore's influence.
Umm... Wouldn't the glass be at risk of shattering at certain frequencies? (eek.) I think, if this technology is real, that it could be used quite effectively for noise-cancellation. Interesting idea. If the sound is really any good, it could be used to lower manufacturing costs quite a bit; Many speakers already sound better than I can hear, I just can't justify paying the prices asked for them. But if you could retrofit a house or apartment in a noisy area with windows that would reduce invasive noise levels, I'll go buy a cheap house out near the airport...
Slashdot Mirror
Did you ever consider that the fault did not lie with the tool, but with the person using it?
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said it well:
"Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but rather when there is nothing more to take away."
Your app probably could have been written better, even in VB. (I know because that is what I do for a living.)
Jim In Tokyo
Sure - Use it with my compliments!
As for the 'proverb' - I live in Tokyo now and I know another gaijin who is teaching himself Japanese by memorizing the announcements on the train. He used to say them over and over to himself as he wrote code...
He uses bits of them in conversation...
require grain_of_salt;
$tongue_in_cheek = true;
I only wish that this program was around when I was in school. Here is what I would have reported:
When I was in HS, there was this group of kids that worry me still. Kind of anti-social kids who dressed oddly and kept a step out of the mainstream. I kind of knew one of these kids. Kind of likable, yet *different*. They all wore these little cross symbols around their necks. I asked about it and he told me that it was a symbol for some middle eastern guy who was murdered ritually and horribly using huge nails and a spear. Apparently this guy was nailed to this 'crucifix' and left to die while people mocked him. Sick. All these kids would meet in semi-secrecy and 'worship' this guy. Once a week, they would symbolically drink blood and eat flesh. Now the really scary part: They did this with the full consent and knowledge of their parents. I mean, it just didn't seem normal. (He even had the gall to invite me to join them while they chanted their incantations.) They used to talk very apocolyptically about 'The valley of the shadow of death' and 'Inheriting the Earth'. They were always talking about how great it was going to be after they were all dead. Apparently this guy with the nails was going to put them in some sort of paradise and torture the people who didn't believe. I mean, they really *believed* this stuff. That was it - either join them, or fry forever. (There was also some vague Anti-semitism in all of this, since the Jews had allegedly killed their 'saviour'.)
These kids were not like the other kids in school. They listened to this weird rock music that I never heard on the radio or saw in the record stores. They did these weird gestures, touching their heads and shoulders *Right in class*, often before a test! As I found out, there is a network of these people, pretty much everywhere. The local 'lieutenants' in charge of organizing all of this are these kind of quiet unmarried guys who dress all in black and hang out in these scary gothic-looking buildings. Apparently they indoctronate new recruits shortly after birth, in some sort of ritual where the baby is held over a deep well of water and some of it is poured on the baby's head. Behind them is another of these cross symbols, but get this - this one has a statue of the semi-naked martyr, garishly bleeding and agonizing, with painted blood dripping from these spikes through his hands and feet. (Not to mention he has long hair and a beard. Kind of looks like one of those guys you see on the street, shuffling around and mumbling to himself...)
I'm only scratching the surface of this group here. I'll bet Pinkerton would send out the van and round up these kids in a heartbeat...
(Please understand that I am not Anti-Christian. I am only trying to make a point.)
One of my favorite geek attractions over here is the holographic Buddhist (Shinto? I still can't tell the diff...) Shrine near Yurakucho station. It's on the ground floor of Hankyu Department Store and has a 2ft*2ft holographic religious image...
There's even a little coffer for you to toss coins when you say your prayer.
It's a short walk from Sony Plaza in Ginza, which is another Mecca of geekdom. You can walk through the building and see the prototypes of many of Sony's products, built with clear plastic cases, so you can see the innards.
Akihabara is just too extreme to describe here - Let's just say that if they decide to film Neuromancer there, they won't have to change anything...
Cheers,
Jim in Tokyo
OK - I'm unclear on something... All of this talk about how DeCSS is not for making illegal copies of movies - it's for viewing DVD's on linux.
Thing is, All I've seen of the program is a Windows application and some Source Code done for MS Visual C++. (Not the development platform of choice for most linux users...)
If someone creates a DVD player for linux that doesn't prominently feature its copying abilities, it will look better in court. Just make a standard-looking player that doesn't feature any export capabilities.
Really, if the judge doesn't see a Big Red Button that says "Export Movie To Internet", it will be harder to convince him or her that the program is a hacker's tool for doing such.
Right now, the situation is more like a guy with an (undeserved) bad reputation being picked up with a bag of lockpicking tools in hand. Doesn't matter what he is doing, it looks suspicious.
If the aim of this really is to watch DVDs on linux, lets start with that, not by giving the script kiddies the means to copy rented DVDs to the school network.
Next, how about some DVD authoring software? I read recently about an Open-Source alternative to Adobe Premier and Avid. If this software allowed people to create DVDs directly, it would be a useful application of the technology. Why not take that tack? Personally, I would love to use Linux to edit my movies (I use a mac now,) and be able to create DVDs that i can mail to my friends in the US. (For this much data, snailmail is a better transport method for the time being.)
It may be that I am missing part of the facts on the state of Linux DVD, but I can't get to LiViD from behind my firewall... Forgive me if this is the case.
Thanks -
Jim In Tokyo
Truth is, I rarely print -- I just lose paper.
I would only consider printing something in color at a service bureau, where they have better printers than I could afford.
So how would they 'watermark'? I doubt they would actually try to change the paper in the process, or before the printing. (If this were practical, I'm sure they would have done something like this for the new 'big head' currency.(Not that the new currency is so secure - Microsoft license certs are WAY more secure.))
Most likely, they would insert some 'DNA' into the ink. A few years ago, I remember hearing a plan to insert a serial number into gunpowder: Tiny strands of colored plastic that used a system like that that is used on electrical resistors to display the resistance would be put into each batch of gunpowder. While not universally unique, it could help identify the store where a bullet was purchased and, with credit card records, a list of potential suspects in a crime.
Add one long number to each color and you have a pretty identifiable watermark. Hell, putting one digit on golf balls has been pretty useful for decades...
So I guess they would code the ink. Anyone got any formulas for ink? Roll your own. For what they charge for ink, I'm surprised that this practice isn't already common. The reason you can buy a color printer for so cheap is that they charge so much for the ink cubes. Was it Gilette that said 'Give away the razor - charge for the blades...'?
Whatever system they choose, I think the answer will not be to try to remove the watermark, rather to obfuscate it by inserting lots of your own 'reference numbers' in your printing. Kind of like covering the back of your car with your huge collection of out-of-state license plates. Could they effectively stop something like this?
While all of this is chilling and depressing, I doubt it will ever be an issue.
Cheers,
Jim in Tokyo
:-)g
Just meant to say that MS has added a useful feature and Linux should do the same.
The situation I described with their MCSE's has to be addressed if Linux is to keep their gains in the server market...
Jim in Tokyo
"...This has been available in the fubar distro since 1978..." "I hacked together something that will do this for some time using a perl script and DR-Dos..." "...M$ is evil, Why doesn't the DoJ just shut them down?"
h tm )
Quit whining. There is too much work to be done. Add the features while maintaining backward compatability and this will cease to be an issue.
Something like DDNS sounds like a good thing. I don't care who implements it. Now when I say 'Implement' - I mean that if you take the setup disks for your favorite OS, install the OS using the defaults, it's set up for you. MS has simply chosen to do this. If Redhat has a brain, they will do the same. It should work without a second thought.
When I dial my ISP, which is how most people encounter dynamic IP's, I have set my Win98 DNS settings to have my machine be sparky.gol.com.
As I see it, I have dialed in and told them my username, so they know that I am sitting on a particular IP address. That address should have my hostname appended to it for the duration of my session.
It is the fault of the software that my friends in the US can't find me by contacting sparky.gol.com. (I use ICQ so people can find my machine. It is the fault of the software that people can't do a simple "finger" command, unless I happen to be logged into a shell somewhere.
I am not a SysAdmin. I am a windows programmer. Like many people, I ran a linux system for fun when I had the space for a second machine.
People are looking at RedHat, because it is the most mainstream of the Linuces in the public's awareness. Now that RedHat is more of a commercial venture, they will need to address things like this, right out of the box. They are making strides because they are a usable server for windows clients. They will lose this market to Win2K if they are not as full-featured in this respect. Sorry, that's how it is. I would love to see linux on my computer at work. I wish I could just use StarOffice and forget about MSOffice. But it's not going to happen this year. I have work to do...
MS has made an unspoken promise to thousands of people around the country - Become a MSCE and you will have a pretty good job. They don't care if you were selling stereos last week. They don't care if you went to college and spent four years playing RPG's on a vax. They 'tell' you that if you get certified, you will be able to afford a couple of kids and a decent car. Every couple of months, you will get a couple of CD's in the mail and you install a service pack. You'll get beta's of new software. Take a day or two and play around with the new software instead of working. As I see it, they are keeping their promise. Are these people going to give that up because the software doesn't comply with some RFC sitting in an obscure URL in Switzerland somewhere? Do these guys know what an RFC is? No. Now picture this: Joe MSCE in Maryland gets a call from his boss who is on travel in Atlanta. The boss can't print from his hotel. Joe tells the boss to connect to the internet and open NetMeeting. Joe uses NetMeeting to call the boss at bigboss.company.com and they share the document. Joe shows the boss how to print. Joe looks like a genius. Joe does not lose is job for "not keeping the printers running," at least in the boss's mind... Get the picture? Now realize that perhaps neither of them know that DDNS made this do-able. (*You* try to get your non-techie boss to run WinIPCFG and tell you his IP. Ten minute phone call at least...) This is how it works in the real world. These guys don't have the luxury of being able to appreciate elegant code. MS has made it easy for people to get into the game late and do well. I applaud them for that. Linux now has an opportunity to come into those same offices and show its stuff, probably by way of a couple of borrowed RedHat CD's and a spare Wintel machine. What will it do? Again, I say to you, borroring Dr. Clark's phrase: Boys, Be ambitious. (http://www.hokudai.ac.jp/bureau/socho/message-e.
Jim O'Connell
Tokyo
My 2.5 lb Sony Vaio does firewire quite nicely - as we speak, it is pulling video off my Digital Video camera.
Snooty people annoy me.
I did hear that China had officially standardized on Windows98... They bought a copy.
I wonder if they are counting sales of 'Linux Japan' magazine. Every month, it comes out with a different distro on 2 CDs in the back of the magazine, for 1500yen. (~$12) I also see dozens of boxed versions on the shelves here.
Also, I wouldn't assume that piracy rates here in Japan are the same as in the US. I hate to make statements about the culture as a group, but I can tell you that many Japanese people just will not do something if they know it is illegal. I haven't found anyone here who would rationalize such a thing as a 'victimless crime.'
I don't know if many Japanese companies would embrace the ideals of open source and the copyleft concept, either.
Jim in Tokyo
It's all already available...
Right now I'm writing this on my Sony picturebook notebook on a very typable keyboard, listening to very decent streaming audio. I'm home, but I could be almost anywhere I can find a phone jack. (See below.)
I often go downtown to a cafe with net access and plug in there for a few hours of work. I toss the computer into a small backpack,(It's 2.5 lbs.) put on my rollerblades and take off. Usually I listen to my Minidisc player. It weighs about 3 ounces and runs for 9 hours on a single AA. I have an older one that I record on, using an optical cable and a discman.
When I'm in Tokyo, I often will open my laptop on top of one of the public phones, plug in to the analog data port, dial in and check my email and browse slashdot for a while. (I even did video conferencing with a guy in england from Shinjuku subway station, just to see if I could...) When I move there next week, I will have to wait about a month until the new Generation3 cellphones come out. They are supposed to do data at 200mbps. Some of them will have a built-in camera and color display and will send/receive 2fps.(With size and weight about the same as a snickers bar.)
The Sony picturebook's screen is about letterbox format. When I find a portable DVDrom drive that is compatible, I'll be all set.
You've probably guessed that I'm a bit of a gadget freak. Though I've never had a palm pilot, I've already given away my desktop, Newton, Cassiopeia, Pocketmail device, 2 pagers and 2 cellphones.
If the RIO used compact flash, I would have probably bought one, but my digital camera uses CF as does my synthesizer and most other devices.
MiniDisc is the best for music. They never skip, even when shaken really hard. I can put 144 minutes of mono (I like old jazz, which was usually done in mono.) or 74 minutes of Stereo that I cannot tell from the original CD. I buy the disks for 198yen , which is less than $2/ea. They re-record a million times and you can carry 5 of them easily in a pocket. Yes, I wish they did data, but they are still well worth their weight.
I use a Nokia 6160 phone here in the states - it's phonebook is the pda-ish aplication that I've ever actually used for any length of time. You just have to type in a name for the number it saves when you get a call. I have it tell me when I get an email. It's also my pager.
Well, I've gotten way off topic - I should wrap this up...
Jim O'Connell ICQ5213098
http://www.wirefarm.com/index.html
Would be pretty funny if some guy pops in a porno on a long flight, forgets where he is and gets carried away... :-)
Anyway...
I tried a couple pairs of these a few weeks ago in Tokyo. One was a Sony and I don't remember the other brand. I was ready to buy until I tried them. They were OK, but not fantastic. I didn't buy either. Probably wasn't this model, but the whole effect was probably similar.
I'm sorry, I'm a bit confused...
Is VisiGoth the GNU version of VisiCalc?
Jim
Wait till you have to uninstall...(Hee hee.) I once had to use Norton Anti-Virus to get all of the references to NTLoader off the system. Of course, now I know better. Never again. Jim
I don't know.... But I want one! Someone please post an URL where I can buy one. Soon.
You just have a dirty mind ;-)
Kind of gives you an idea of the mindset of the industry when they have an obsolete name like that.
I cannot believe this moron's arrogance.
Before you forgive him, look at his statement:
"During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."
How can he possibly be doing anything but lying?
What a tool this guy is...
I hope he gets the public mocking that he deserves for this idiotic statement.
I'd like to hear what *exactly* he thinks he did. What protocols he thinks he wrote, (or even suggested,) what funding he personally approved that resulted in anything - c'mon, mr. VP, show us a single line of code - anything!
All he did was raise public awareness for something that never happened - the "Information Superhighway". (God, I hate that term.) Meanwhile, Tim Berners-Lee cobbed together some existing protocols and made the net useful to a much wider range of people. That didn't even happen in the US, let alone under Gore's influence.
Umm...
Wouldn't the glass be at risk of shattering at certain frequencies? (eek.)
I think, if this technology is real, that it could be used quite effectively for noise-cancellation. Interesting idea. If the sound is really any good, it could be used to lower manufacturing costs quite a bit; Many speakers already sound better than I can hear, I just can't justify paying the prices asked for them.
But if you could retrofit a house or apartment in a noisy area with windows that would reduce invasive noise levels, I'll go buy a cheap house out near the airport...
Well, I'd like to see one become Packard-Hewlett and have them rename HPUX...