What is the benefit of such a network? I've been planning to build an advertisement free network for public access and am not clear on how Google's concept improves the experience for anyone but them.
I drive my car to and from work every day. I couldn't live without it here in Dallas where everything is spread out so far. Oh, and I use the telephone to conduct business.
What kind of news is this? OMG, people are using more tools to perform daily functions. Oh noes!!!
Farmers have been using plows forever, does it mean they are addicted to technology? If so, who cares?
It looks to me like they are out of decent ideas to generate revenue and also want to give the impression that this service somehow is going to be around for that time period.
Face it, the current system will not last through leaps and bounds of technology that are coming. We are still in the stone age compared to what is ahead.
It would be better to take that money and buy ten years and invest the rest so it is actually doing something useful for you.
If you want to get soooooo detailed, then minus the fact that sensory perception has limitations, ultimately God is nothing and nothing is the greatest thing that exists.
To prove this we look at the nature of definition and existance, identifying -
"positive infinity" equals "negative infinity"
knowing that all roots have a bipolar opposite which defines what they are
"positive infinity" and "negative infinity" can be reduced and represented by "everything"
the bipolar opposite of "everything" which defines it is "nothing"
therefore
"nothing" is equal to "everything"
to conclude
at the exact time that "nothing" existed, "everything" had to exist to define "nothing"
0=0............
This means that God is more like nothing to most religions than being like the sum total of all things "positive". Usually God is the creator of all things etc etc for many folks. If so, they worship "nothing" as I do.
This is where the postmodern kicks in....Knowing that nothing is everywhere at all times and in essence, created "everything", the possibility that this which I know as "nothing" is far greater than I can comprehend. Therefore I worship (in a balanced modern and classical sense) BOTH in order,
"nothing" and the sum total of all which is "positive".
through a long analysis i wont get into here, the purpose of life is love as nothing else performs its function. without love, life would have no meaning.
I sent Robyn this email. I figured witty slander would be funny but not as helpful as trying to point misguided efforts in a reasonable direction. My brain is tired after a long day at work so it is no work of art but I didnt want to shy away from sending something that I feel somewhat strongly about.
Cheers, -BJ
Hi Robyn,
I read your article regarding Slashdot and/. user opinions regarding SCO.
It is quite obvious that there was little to report and therefore published what might be more sensational, yet almost completely insignificant findings.
If your dream in life is to do a great job as a reporter, I strongly encourage you to pursue significant truth as opposed to what appears to be propoganda-like article conjuration.
Based on the article tone, I would even guess you are friends with someone at SCO or have a common interest in attacking communities that disagree with the nature of SCO's IP "management".
If you are interested in reporting about "underground" technology, I can easily think of a dozen untouched subjects that could have a devestating impact on the security and reliability of the Internet. In exchange for a story that fairly reports the nature of Slashdot (not all good yet not all bad either), I will provide you with information that I am confident you will find desirable.
Google is one of the few companies that regularly and consistently produces USEFUL functions for the world on a large scale. No one competing for the same market segment even comes close at this time.
Unfortunately when companies IPO, that means that they lose control over company direction and quality. As soon as people have a vested interest in the company, the race to profitability is on. This hurts the development cycle and the processes which control the quality of product. Investors are very demanding and GREEDY. Greed always rears its ugly head and forces companies to release more quickly and with lower costs to attain the extreme profitability that is required by the public.
Sure if you buy in then you can get a cash cow and end up sitting pretty for a while. Just know that over time people always want more money faster than it is currently being earned. This results in unrealistic schemes to achieve such goals.
Some would argue that more money means better product, but I know first hand that more money means more greed and investors would rather have money than good product. This means more regular changes internally to keep up with good profitability ratings.
Fortunately others are starting to compete for this space as well and even if Google looses it's cool due to investor demands, others will be ready to seize opportunity for improvement. Too bad it likely won't be the same Google that we (everyone I know) love today.
-BJ
Try it out....Just ignore the Mac idiot encounters
on
iTunes for Windows Reviews
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I have used the Windows version of iTunes and wanted to compare the experience to the Mac method. I went to a handful of Mac sites that have user forums with comments about Quicktime/iTunes vs WMP and it really seems that objectivity has gone out the window for most of these folks. Specifically when users make comments like "windows media format is inferior to AAC and MP3", in order to rally the fellow lemmings to cry out against the terrible M$ product. Makes me not want to buy anything Mac platform tho I know better. No, not all Mac users are idiots. It's just that the ones that are seem to be extra annoying.
Fact is that with digital technology, if you don't have the ability to integrate your various softwares and devices because people are trying to force usage of only their product, everyone loses except for a minority of users.
Seeing as I can digitally play any file and capture it to disk in any format I like, there is nothing that can be done to prevent this. NOTHING. Their business model is for the interim as is most of the corporate world. Always has to change because they cant continually cash in for long periods of time without constant adjustments.
iTunes for Windows has a handful of great interface elements and functions. It satisfies most users desires who are looking to purchase music online for whatever reason (I personally don't buy anything that I can't inspect if I haven't heard it before, and no I dont want just snippets because people have a knack for making potentially great songs suck). I personally think it is great and good progress for the online community is being made by enabling normal common people to easily interact in a way that most can relate to. If I didn't have a completely digital sound system and multiple audio busses to let me do nearly anything I want (minus native program functions that do it for me), I might feel limited but probably it is more a state of mind than a state of being.
I highly recommend that if you are frequently online with a high speed connect, want easy to access media on your Windows or Mac system (to save in.ogg format on your Linux box of course), try out iTunes and see why it is the trendy thing to do. You won't find a great variety of competitors to choose from if you don't want to go the iTunes route. Until there are significant AND popular alternatives, it's likely to be an enjoyable experience for the majority of users.
(Disclaimer: Poster just woke up from a late party night hence the long format and is not in flame proof mode.)
The music industry is trying to copy protect something that isn't really physical. Information can be stored anywhere there is matter and when they sell you that information you must be able to listen to it. As long as we can listen to the music they sell, there is no way to copy protect it from duplication. It's all spin and hype so they can get a harder grip on their market. The sad thing is that I think some of them truly believe what they are saying. My these people are slow.
I'm an ex Microsoft IIS/SiteServer/FPSE engineer and used to train Microsoft staff on these products. While FPSE on Unix has a fairly unusual implementation, they can easily be configured to work on Apache or IIS in most situations. I personally handled over 7,000 calls on FPSE alone and was unable to resolve four of them. If the product was truly broken, I wouldn't have had such results. RTR does a good job (they port FPSE to all desired platforms). I personally think that *AssPort on unix is good because you can configure systems to report false imformation easily and I don't think Microsoft has the capacity to handle the implementation and security required. IF they put passport on a unix box, it will likely blow up which will be reported to the world. They may be able to handle initial development but if you ever have a serious issue, you will likely be directed to RTR heh. For the same reason SharePoint on Unix was dropped after over a year of development, Microsoft is likely not equipped to handle the support and problem resolution needed to keep this product alive.
How about NOT forcing people to watch repeating information that is not healthy.
It would be prime to see networks (non-profit too) that produce quality drama, comedy, educational, and reality programming and have people VOTE on what they want to watch. In order to VOTE, you would have to watch commercials that provide support for the programs. Commercials are unsolicited spam in video format. Using an email registration system and an onscreen voting system, they could doubly spam the hell out of everyone. Maybe force you to find a word in the email to renew your ability to vote or something that requires interaction.
I haven't time to list most of the ideas I have and I don't really see what the dilemma is.
How about making commercials so interesting that people DON'T want to skip them? Anyone ever think about giving people stuff they want along with the crap they are trying to force feed you? Fine art, MUSIC VIDEOS, hot babes, educational information, etc. There is lots people want to see and lots that people find helpful. I rarely find such content in commercials. No wonder people want to skip them.
Writing pages for just IE means you will be compatible with most people browsing. This seems to be "good enough" in these days of quick software releases without proper testing (or any testing at all frequently).
Flash is a cool technology but is still limited in many ways. Those using only Flash will end up with large downloads when incorporating other technologies and unusual methods. Even so, it is one of the best content delivery systems to date. Flash with sql is a decent combination in my book.
We should really take a look at the original concepts of browser detection and alternate views (especially with so many PDA's and web enabled phones). Most people don't want to spend the time and money on these things as they are out to profit, which in most cases is at your expense. Such people will utilize IE and ignore other technologies.
People that are making profit at your expense suck. It's hard to think of a company that isn't doing this which is why I don't see a solution on the horizon in the next year or two.
I quit buying music by anyone who I didn't have significant personal interest in and also write my own. It's much better when you can write what you want to hear instead of waiting for someone else to do it (Which may or may not happen).
If these huge companies were interested in releasing quality, NOT quantity, they would find that quality turns into quantity very quickly due to high demand. I have to search very hard to find things that I like. The biggest problem is getting to preview discs when you have never heard what is on them. Stores frequently do not let you preview just anything. Especially Virgin where you can only listen to preselected items. Only those who pay to have items available to listen to can be previewed. Everyone else is a gamble in which the odds are about as fair as Vegas casinos.
No wonder no one wants to pay for 10 songs where only 3 of them are worth listening to (Which are usually co/fully-produced by someone not in the band!).
And what about music video theft? They are a quick download for just a few minutes length. Oh yeah, we don't buy music videos anyhow because they suck even worse than the crappy song they go with!
I personally download songs to preview them and also download movies to preview them. Rarely do you find a CD on which every song is well produced and is unique. I'd be broke if there were more. If movies are high quality, I go buy the DVD and if it's very good I go to the theater and also buy the dvd. Lord of the Rings, AOTC, Gladiator, etc. The movie side is good but rarely is there a soundtrack that is worth listening to by itself. If there were, I'd buy them too!
This is a section of music called electronic ambient. Such as ambient sounds from mixers and other electronic devices. Microphones submerged in water, ultra sensitive microphones sealed in sound insulated boxes with seemingly non-existant sounds amplified so you can hear them, mixers dropped in water with the output recorded and amplified so you can hear it, mixers surrounded by magnets that revolve at oscillating rates and amplified, etc. I'm surprised that this has gotten so much buzz. Why weren't you people interested in this many years ago? Gimp news if you ask me. Seeing how news indicates new IMO.
I don't know exactly how long sonograms have been around but with them we take reflected sound information and build an image. Go to
http://www.seeingwithsound.com/eyebrows.htm
and see a more useful application of this technology.
In this case, Richard James took a Mac only program and "read" the image which generated output to simulate sonography. Take the noise file it outputs and mix into your song. Not a very difficult, time consuming, or new idea.
I suppose it's no wonder that this thread isn't very long as this is an old idea.
After looking at the article, it doesn't look like this model is much different.
I've been researching the handheld market very heavily in the past few weeks and there are not many good choices. All of the decent choices are NOT Palm OS or Linux.:(
I REALLY wanted a Zaurus 5500 because it has way more potential than any other unit I've seen. Unfortunately there is a significant lack of software that provides desktop functionality. Mail support is kinda weak and there of course is no terminal server client for us that have to manage both Windows and Linux servers. File compatibility is also weak on ALL handhelds that I have seen. This is one of the most important issues, especially in an office environment where you want to get work done and not have to convert to a non-standard (in most offices anyhow) format such as rtf instead of doc. None of them support embedding of images and objects yet but with the next round of PocketPC software, we will have support for this as well.
Until new hardware is released, PocketPC 2002 has the most useful features and the most commercial developer support. I don't have time to code apps myself as I already work 70+ hour weeks and can't spare anymore personal time.
There are only 2 handhelds that had features vs. cost that are acceptable.
Compaq 3870 (the one with INTEGRATED bluetooth) Casio Casseopia E-200 Sharp Zaurus 5500
The Compaq is best because you don't have to use a slot to access the Internet from your unit. This alone is worth the purchase. No other unit has the same features, screen quality, and support (such as closing apps without having to "end task") in one unit.
The Casio is best for cost vs features if you don't want bluetooth. As I don't want to permanently use a slot for wireless connection (that could be used for memory etc), this won't work for me.
The Sharp feels the best, has a great display, a very helpful keyboard, and some very good apps. If they had included support to write and read ms office/pocket office documents, I would buy this one even without bluetooth. No bluetooth, no native file support, no Zaurus for me.
No matter which you choose, wireless is the ONLY way to use these things effectively (unless you are boring and don't use the Internet and network extensively like everyone I know does). To use wireless effectively, you MUST use a service such as LoudPC. Without it, you are severly limited.
Palm OS is crippled in comparison and the hardware can't handle the fun stuff that the 64mb PocketPC's can. Maybe a Clie for the kids would be fine, but it is not a professional worktool.
Submitting this type of information should not be a requirement for living. Here you must travel long distances to do basic tasks. Without 24/7 affordable public transportation, there is no equivalent so you basically cannot perform life tasks during off hours. This means on a daily basis and not outrageous pricing such as taxi cabs which aren't feasible for the masses anyhow. Either we require data from all U.S. citizens worldwide, or we make it on a volunteer basis. It is unfair to require driving people in particular regions to live like 1984 while the others maintain their individual privacy. Video scanning in particular is too easy to abuse. You don't see fingerprint scanners built into door handles yet facial image scanners (video cameras connected to computers) have been used in many public locations recently. This means that at any time you could be tracked and logged. Such information is of the type private investigators and others use for monetary or personal gain. Humans run these systems and humans have a long history of abusing great power. This power is too great for most humans to use and those that would are always subject to making mistakes and the chaos factor. Accidental or unintended leaking of this data en mass could be a serious catastrophe. The list of things I could do to you if I had access to this information is too long to even begin here. Sort of like a mini FBI database, but with pictures and information on basically everyone (most people drive with proper licenses).
In short, don't create something you can't control out of fear or inadequacy. Spend time on a proper solution that treats people fairly and doesn't jeopardize their quality of living.
I went to the Nintendo Game Cube event in Dallas last night. It was composed of many large panasonic hdtv units and quite a few games. Free beer, free food. Not too bad.
After playing many of the available games and talking with a few folks, I was ready to go after an hour or two.
There was no game that was highly impressive, tho StarFox was very nice. The Star Wars game was good for the concept, but an old concept.
Units are tiny and very attractive. No VGA out so even on the HDTV set, due to their large size and the close viewing distance, you easily saw many pixel size induced problems.
With all of the disco lights and jazz/electronic music, it was very flashy and quite fun!
I've now concretely determined (imo) that the X Box is a noticably better unit. Now it's just a matter of price and popularity.
Today's youth in environments that can afford modern technology have actually seen more during the short period of their lives than ever before.
People wonder why this inspires some to be "anti-social"?
What would you think as an innocent taking a first look at the many facets of our society?
They aren't legally allowed to work or even be out after 11pm in many areas of the US. Is it a surprise that they feel isolated and aren't interested in supporting a system that doesn't support them?
The solution is not taking away information. The solution will only arrive if adults start thinking less about how they can increase their bank account and more about how they can provide adults of tomorrow more avenues for self expression. If children feel that they are useful in society, then they may start participating in a positive way. With more single parents with full time jobs and higher divorce rates, it is the communities responsibility to speak out for those who do not have rights to do so themselves.
Support teen rights and say "no" to curfew laws which harm the innocent and are ineffective at reducing drug use and gang participation in urban areas. 1st ammendment rights to assembly and speech are not protected under these laws as curfewed teens are not allowed to assemble during certain times. Speak or be squelched!
Honestly for simple, remotely accessible, and end user friendly document management, I would recommend using SharePoint.
Downside is it won't run on Apache which sux (Only IIS), but if you take a look at the features, it will likely have what you need and more.
I didn't catch the number of documents you are attempting to organize, so if you need batch processing then it'll likely require some simple VB scripting.
I've got a copy of the release version, which ships with Office XP, and will install on a private site on one of my Internet servers if you want to take it for a spin.
Before changes jobs, I was the Lead Beta Engineer at MS for this product (Used to be Office Web Server before the fancy name). It can export lists to excel files with the click of a button and can easily be modified to add features or remove features you don't want. It's all HTML/ASP and works as an "Out of the box" solution in many cases. If you are keeping previous versions of documents and want them listed in archive fashion, some SQL queries must be modified or added.
If it's more involved than what SharePoint is capable of, I would recommend a custom built app from an ASP or outsourced developer (Keeps things on schedule and prohibits unnecessary updates).
Email me ben@optisonic.net if you want a demo, need more info, etc.
Regards,
Ben
I teach web development classes to lots of women. I find that they easily get frustrated with software in a short period of time. I believe this is a result of women primarily deriving their logic from emotions and men primarily deriving their emotions from logic. As computers have a great lack of emotional content and interfaces, women find them cold. As a result they do not have much interest in working with a device that doesn't give them a good feeling more than they have to. Guys get great feelings from working with computers after they make a major accomplishment such as writing and compiling your first C program. It's quite true that there are exceptions to this but I find this typically describes the general population wordwide. Maybe we should write a female interface that comes closer to giving a pleasant experience. Out of the box, no OS I've ever seen even comes close. It would likely have to talk to the user and have them fill out a questionaire as part of the installation/setup process. Then we'd need girls to troubleshoot/develop it as being a guy it would be a terrible experience having to fix something like this. We'd have an excuse as to why we couldn't fix our girlfriends computers too!
Slashdot Mirror
What is the benefit of such a network? I've been planning to build an advertisement free network for public access and am not clear on how Google's concept improves the experience for anyone but them.
I drive my car to and from work every day. I couldn't live without it here in Dallas where everything is spread out so far. Oh, and I use the telephone to conduct business.
What kind of news is this? OMG, people are using more tools to perform daily functions. Oh noes!!!
Farmers have been using plows forever, does it mean they are addicted to technology? If so, who cares?
I'll post a pic if I can find one to show just how geeky you need to look if you want to do this yourself. :P
It looks to me like they are out of decent ideas to generate revenue and also want to give the impression that this service somehow is going to be around for that time period.
Face it, the current system will not last through leaps and bounds of technology that are coming. We are still in the stone age compared to what is ahead.
It would be better to take that money and buy ten years and invest the rest so it is actually doing something useful for you.
Best,
BJ
If you want to get soooooo detailed, then minus the fact that sensory perception has limitations, ultimately God is nothing and nothing is the greatest thing that exists.
............
To prove this we look at the nature of definition and existance, identifying -
"positive infinity" equals "negative infinity"
knowing that all roots have a bipolar opposite which defines what they are
"positive infinity" and "negative infinity" can be reduced and represented by "everything"
the bipolar opposite of "everything" which defines it is "nothing"
therefore
"nothing" is equal to "everything"
to conclude
at the exact time that "nothing" existed, "everything" had to exist to define "nothing"
0=0
This means that God is more like nothing to most religions than being like the sum total of all things "positive". Usually God is the creator of all things etc etc for many folks. If so, they worship "nothing" as I do.
This is where the postmodern kicks in....Knowing that nothing is everywhere at all times and in essence, created "everything", the possibility that this which I know as "nothing" is far greater than I can comprehend. Therefore I worship (in a balanced modern and classical sense) BOTH in order,
"nothing" and the sum total of all which is "positive".
through a long analysis i wont get into here, the purpose of life is love as nothing else performs its function. without love, life would have no meaning.
cheers,
ben
I sent Robyn this email. I figured witty slander would be funny but not as helpful as trying to point misguided efforts in a reasonable direction. My brain is tired after a long day at work so it is no work of art but I didnt want to shy away from sending something that I feel somewhat strongly about.
/. user opinions regarding SCO.
Cheers,
-BJ
Hi Robyn,
I read your article regarding Slashdot and
It is quite obvious that there was little to report and therefore published what might be more sensational, yet almost completely insignificant findings.
If your dream in life is to do a great job as a reporter, I strongly encourage you to pursue significant truth as opposed to what appears to be propoganda-like article conjuration.
Based on the article tone, I would even guess you are friends with someone at SCO or have a common interest in attacking communities that disagree with the nature of SCO's IP "management".
If you are interested in reporting about "underground" technology, I can easily think of a dozen untouched subjects that could have a devestating impact on the security and reliability of the Internet. In exchange for a story that fairly reports the nature of Slashdot (not all good yet not all bad either), I will provide you with information that I am confident you will find desirable.
Kindest,
-BJ
Google is one of the few companies that regularly and consistently produces USEFUL functions for the world on a large scale. No one competing for the same market segment even comes close at this time.
Unfortunately when companies IPO, that means that they lose control over company direction and quality. As soon as people have a vested interest in the company, the race to profitability is on. This hurts the development cycle and the processes which control the quality of product. Investors are very demanding and GREEDY. Greed always rears its ugly head and forces companies to release more quickly and with lower costs to attain the extreme profitability that is required by the public.
Sure if you buy in then you can get a cash cow and end up sitting pretty for a while. Just know that over time people always want more money faster than it is currently being earned. This results in unrealistic schemes to achieve such goals.
Some would argue that more money means better product, but I know first hand that more money means more greed and investors would rather have money than good product. This means more regular changes internally to keep up with good profitability ratings.
Fortunately others are starting to compete for this space as well and even if Google looses it's cool due to investor demands, others will be ready to seize opportunity for improvement. Too bad it likely won't be the same Google that we (everyone I know) love today.
-BJ
I have used the Windows version of iTunes and wanted to compare the experience to the Mac method. I went to a handful of Mac sites that have user forums with comments about Quicktime/iTunes vs WMP and it really seems that objectivity has gone out the window for most of these folks. Specifically when users make comments like "windows media format is inferior to AAC and MP3", in order to rally the fellow lemmings to cry out against the terrible M$ product. Makes me not want to buy anything Mac platform tho I know better. No, not all Mac users are idiots. It's just that the ones that are seem to be extra annoying.
.ogg format on your Linux box of course), try out iTunes and see why it is the trendy thing to do. You won't find a great variety of competitors to choose from if you don't want to go the iTunes route. Until there are significant AND popular alternatives, it's likely to be an enjoyable experience for the majority of users.
Fact is that with digital technology, if you don't have the ability to integrate your various softwares and devices because people are trying to force usage of only their product, everyone loses except for a minority of users.
Seeing as I can digitally play any file and capture it to disk in any format I like, there is nothing that can be done to prevent this. NOTHING. Their business model is for the interim as is most of the corporate world. Always has to change because they cant continually cash in for long periods of time without constant adjustments.
iTunes for Windows has a handful of great interface elements and functions. It satisfies most users desires who are looking to purchase music online for whatever reason (I personally don't buy anything that I can't inspect if I haven't heard it before, and no I dont want just snippets because people have a knack for making potentially great songs suck). I personally think it is great and good progress for the online community is being made by enabling normal common people to easily interact in a way that most can relate to. If I didn't have a completely digital sound system and multiple audio busses to let me do nearly anything I want (minus native program functions that do it for me), I might feel limited but probably it is more a state of mind than a state of being.
I highly recommend that if you are frequently online with a high speed connect, want easy to access media on your Windows or Mac system (to save in
(Disclaimer: Poster just woke up from a late party night hence the long format and is not in flame proof mode.)
The music industry is trying to copy protect something that isn't really physical. Information can be stored anywhere there is matter and when they sell you that information you must be able to listen to it. As long as we can listen to the music they sell, there is no way to copy protect it from duplication. It's all spin and hype so they can get a harder grip on their market. The sad thing is that I think some of them truly believe what they are saying. My these people are slow.
I'm an ex Microsoft IIS/SiteServer/FPSE engineer and used to train Microsoft staff on these products. While FPSE on Unix has a fairly unusual implementation, they can easily be configured to work on Apache or IIS in most situations. I personally handled over 7,000 calls on FPSE alone and was unable to resolve four of them. If the product was truly broken, I wouldn't have had such results. RTR does a good job (they port FPSE to all desired platforms). I personally think that *AssPort on unix is good because you can configure systems to report false imformation easily and I don't think Microsoft has the capacity to handle the implementation and security required. IF they put passport on a unix box, it will likely blow up which will be reported to the world. They may be able to handle initial development but if you ever have a serious issue, you will likely be directed to RTR heh. For the same reason SharePoint on Unix was dropped after over a year of development, Microsoft is likely not equipped to handle the support and problem resolution needed to keep this product alive.
How about NOT forcing people to watch repeating information that is not healthy.
It would be prime to see networks (non-profit too) that produce quality drama, comedy, educational, and reality programming and have people VOTE on what they want to watch. In order to VOTE, you would have to watch commercials that provide support for the programs. Commercials are unsolicited spam in video format. Using an email registration system and an onscreen voting system, they could doubly spam the hell out of everyone. Maybe force you to find a word in the email to renew your ability to vote or something that requires interaction.
I haven't time to list most of the ideas I have and I don't really see what the dilemma is.
How about making commercials so interesting that people DON'T want to skip them? Anyone ever think about giving people stuff they want along with the crap they are trying to force feed you? Fine art, MUSIC VIDEOS, hot babes, educational information, etc. There is lots people want to see and lots that people find helpful. I rarely find such content in commercials. No wonder people want to skip them.
bj@ossf.org
Writing pages for just IE means you will be compatible with most people browsing. This seems to be "good enough" in these days of quick software releases without proper testing (or any testing at all frequently).
Flash is a cool technology but is still limited in many ways. Those using only Flash will end up with large downloads when incorporating other technologies and unusual methods. Even so, it is one of the best content delivery systems to date. Flash with sql is a decent combination in my book.
We should really take a look at the original concepts of browser detection and alternate views (especially with so many PDA's and web enabled phones). Most people don't want to spend the time and money on these things as they are out to profit, which in most cases is at your expense. Such people will utilize IE and ignore other technologies.
People that are making profit at your expense suck. It's hard to think of a company that isn't doing this which is why I don't see a solution on the horizon in the next year or two.
I quit buying music by anyone who I didn't have significant personal interest in and also write my own. It's much better when you can write what you want to hear instead of waiting for someone else to do it (Which may or may not happen).
If these huge companies were interested in releasing quality, NOT quantity, they would find that quality turns into quantity very quickly due to high demand. I have to search very hard to find things that I like. The biggest problem is getting to preview discs when you have never heard what is on them. Stores frequently do not let you preview just anything. Especially Virgin where you can only listen to preselected items. Only those who pay to have items available to listen to can be previewed. Everyone else is a gamble in which the odds are about as fair as Vegas casinos.
No wonder no one wants to pay for 10 songs where only 3 of them are worth listening to (Which are usually co/fully-produced by someone not in the band!).
And what about music video theft? They are a quick download for just a few minutes length. Oh yeah, we don't buy music videos anyhow because they suck even worse than the crappy song they go with!
I personally download songs to preview them and also download movies to preview them. Rarely do you find a CD on which every song is well produced and is unique. I'd be broke if there were more. If movies are high quality, I go buy the DVD and if it's very good I go to the theater and also buy the dvd. Lord of the Rings, AOTC, Gladiator, etc. The movie side is good but rarely is there a soundtrack that is worth listening to by itself. If there were, I'd buy them too!
This is a section of music called electronic ambient. Such as ambient sounds from mixers and other electronic devices. Microphones submerged in water, ultra sensitive microphones sealed in sound insulated boxes with seemingly non-existant sounds amplified so you can hear them, mixers dropped in water with the output recorded and amplified so you can hear it, mixers surrounded by magnets that revolve at oscillating rates and amplified, etc. I'm surprised that this has gotten so much buzz. Why weren't you people interested in this many years ago? Gimp news if you ask me. Seeing how news indicates new IMO.
I don't know exactly how long sonograms have been around but with them we take reflected sound information and build an image. Go to
http://www.seeingwithsound.com/eyebrows.htm
and see a more useful application of this technology.
In this case, Richard James took a Mac only program and "read" the image which generated output to simulate sonography. Take the noise file it outputs and mix into your song. Not a very difficult, time consuming, or new idea.
I suppose it's no wonder that this thread isn't very long as this is an old idea.
After looking at the article, it doesn't look like this model is much different.
:(
I've been researching the handheld market very heavily in the past few weeks and there are not many good choices. All of the decent choices are NOT Palm OS or Linux.
I REALLY wanted a Zaurus 5500 because it has way more potential than any other unit I've seen. Unfortunately there is a significant lack of software that provides desktop functionality. Mail support is kinda weak and there of course is no terminal server client for us that have to manage both Windows and Linux servers. File compatibility is also weak on ALL handhelds that I have seen. This is one of the most important issues, especially in an office environment where you want to get work done and not have to convert to a non-standard (in most offices anyhow) format such as rtf instead of doc. None of them support embedding of images and objects yet but with the next round of PocketPC software, we will have support for this as well.
Until new hardware is released, PocketPC 2002 has the most useful features and the most commercial developer support. I don't have time to code apps myself as I already work 70+ hour weeks and can't spare anymore personal time.
There are only 2 handhelds that had features vs. cost that are acceptable.
Compaq 3870 (the one with INTEGRATED bluetooth)
Casio Casseopia E-200
Sharp Zaurus 5500
The Compaq is best because you don't have to use a slot to access the Internet from your unit. This alone is worth the purchase. No other unit has the same features, screen quality, and support (such as closing apps without having to "end task") in one unit.
The Casio is best for cost vs features if you don't want bluetooth. As I don't want to permanently use a slot for wireless connection (that could be used for memory etc), this won't work for me.
The Sharp feels the best, has a great display, a very helpful keyboard, and some very good apps. If they had included support to write and read ms office/pocket office documents, I would buy this one even without bluetooth. No bluetooth, no native file support, no Zaurus for me.
No matter which you choose, wireless is the ONLY way to use these things effectively (unless you are boring and don't use the Internet and network extensively like everyone I know does). To use wireless effectively, you MUST use a service such as LoudPC. Without it, you are severly limited.
Palm OS is crippled in comparison and the hardware can't handle the fun stuff that the 64mb PocketPC's can. Maybe a Clie for the kids would be fine, but it is not a professional worktool.
my 2p
-bj
Submitting this type of information should not be a requirement for living. Here you must travel long distances to do basic tasks. Without 24/7 affordable public transportation, there is no equivalent so you basically cannot perform life tasks during off hours. This means on a daily basis and not outrageous pricing such as taxi cabs which aren't feasible for the masses anyhow. Either we require data from all U.S. citizens worldwide, or we make it on a volunteer basis. It is unfair to require driving people in particular regions to live like 1984 while the others maintain their individual privacy. Video scanning in particular is too easy to abuse. You don't see fingerprint scanners built into door handles yet facial image scanners (video cameras connected to computers) have been used in many public locations recently. This means that at any time you could be tracked and logged. Such information is of the type private investigators and others use for monetary or personal gain. Humans run these systems and humans have a long history of abusing great power. This power is too great for most humans to use and those that would are always subject to making mistakes and the chaos factor. Accidental or unintended leaking of this data en mass could be a serious catastrophe. The list of things I could do to you if I had access to this information is too long to even begin here. Sort of like a mini FBI database, but with pictures and information on basically everyone (most people drive with proper licenses).
In short, don't create something you can't control out of fear or inadequacy. Spend time on a proper solution that treats people fairly and doesn't jeopardize their quality of living.
I went to the Nintendo Game Cube event in Dallas last night. It was composed of many large panasonic hdtv units and quite a few games. Free beer, free food. Not too bad.
After playing many of the available games and talking with a few folks, I was ready to go after an hour or two.
There was no game that was highly impressive, tho StarFox was very nice. The Star Wars game was good for the concept, but an old concept.
Units are tiny and very attractive. No VGA out so even on the HDTV set, due to their large size and the close viewing distance, you easily saw many pixel size induced problems.
With all of the disco lights and jazz/electronic music, it was very flashy and quite fun!
I've now concretely determined (imo) that the X Box is a noticably better unit. Now it's just a matter of price and popularity.
Today's youth in environments that can afford modern technology have actually seen more during the short period of their lives than ever before. People wonder why this inspires some to be "anti-social"? What would you think as an innocent taking a first look at the many facets of our society? They aren't legally allowed to work or even be out after 11pm in many areas of the US. Is it a surprise that they feel isolated and aren't interested in supporting a system that doesn't support them? The solution is not taking away information. The solution will only arrive if adults start thinking less about how they can increase their bank account and more about how they can provide adults of tomorrow more avenues for self expression. If children feel that they are useful in society, then they may start participating in a positive way. With more single parents with full time jobs and higher divorce rates, it is the communities responsibility to speak out for those who do not have rights to do so themselves. Support teen rights and say "no" to curfew laws which harm the innocent and are ineffective at reducing drug use and gang participation in urban areas. 1st ammendment rights to assembly and speech are not protected under these laws as curfewed teens are not allowed to assemble during certain times. Speak or be squelched!
Honestly for simple, remotely accessible, and end user friendly document management, I would recommend using SharePoint. Downside is it won't run on Apache which sux (Only IIS), but if you take a look at the features, it will likely have what you need and more. I didn't catch the number of documents you are attempting to organize, so if you need batch processing then it'll likely require some simple VB scripting. I've got a copy of the release version, which ships with Office XP, and will install on a private site on one of my Internet servers if you want to take it for a spin. Before changes jobs, I was the Lead Beta Engineer at MS for this product (Used to be Office Web Server before the fancy name). It can export lists to excel files with the click of a button and can easily be modified to add features or remove features you don't want. It's all HTML/ASP and works as an "Out of the box" solution in many cases. If you are keeping previous versions of documents and want them listed in archive fashion, some SQL queries must be modified or added. If it's more involved than what SharePoint is capable of, I would recommend a custom built app from an ASP or outsourced developer (Keeps things on schedule and prohibits unnecessary updates). Email me ben@optisonic.net if you want a demo, need more info, etc. Regards, Ben
I teach web development classes to lots of women. I find that they easily get frustrated with software in a short period of time. I believe this is a result of women primarily deriving their logic from emotions and men primarily deriving their emotions from logic. As computers have a great lack of emotional content and interfaces, women find them cold. As a result they do not have much interest in working with a device that doesn't give them a good feeling more than they have to. Guys get great feelings from working with computers after they make a major accomplishment such as writing and compiling your first C program. It's quite true that there are exceptions to this but I find this typically describes the general population wordwide. Maybe we should write a female interface that comes closer to giving a pleasant experience. Out of the box, no OS I've ever seen even comes close. It would likely have to talk to the user and have them fill out a questionaire as part of the installation/setup process. Then we'd need girls to troubleshoot/develop it as being a guy it would be a terrible experience having to fix something like this. We'd have an excuse as to why we couldn't fix our girlfriends computers too!