Assuming I would want to wear an ugly huge watch (that's a personal opinion of couse) that's called "Fossil" and is MSN-enabled (uuh), I have a problem with such small devices that have an internal battery.
From the specs page: POWER REQUIREMENTS : AC power adapter (100V-240V), DC output (4V-9V), Lithium-ion rechargeable battery (internal).
BATTERY LIFE : 4-5 days (based on average use of 30 minutes per day with no backlight or IR)
Right, so in real life, if I was to use the thing normally, with backlight at night and syncing with my desktop with IR, I'd say I'd probably have to charge it up every 2 or 3 days. Given that a real-life Li-Ion batteries have a typical life of 300 recharge cycles (yes, you can get more out of them, but you have to be *very* careful when you charge and for how long, which isn't always practical in a consumer device), especially since it's probably a super-small fragile battery, that means the battery will have to be changed after 2.5 years of use at most.
Do I want to see the face of the watch repairman when I bring him the Fossil for a battery change? Do I want to see the bill when I have to send the watch back to Fossil for a battery replacement? No.
So, no PDA watch for me. Nosiree...
Are they reinventing the wheel ?
on
Eclipse in Action
·
· Score: 5, Funny
From the Eclipse page:
Welcome to eclipse.org Eclipse is a kind of universal tool platform - an open extensible IDE for anything and nothing in particular.
A California judge on Friday gave preliminary approval to a landmark settlement under which Microsoft will pay $1.1 billion to settle a class-action suit that claimed it overcharged consumers for Windows.
Isn't it great when you're so rich you can break the law, then simply reimburse the people you scammed when, sometimes, they notice and react ? How many people got ripped off and never got their money back because they didn't have the time or energy to fight back big bad Microsoft ?
Did the hordes of people who wanted to buy bare computers but couldn't find any, and had a Windows license forced down their throats, get their money back yet ?
Is the next step wireless access in the cabin, and loud cell phone chatter in the skies over the mid-west?
So you're worried about those goddamned cellphone ringing in the plane, and people shouting in the phones like mad starving dogs in front of a sausage shop eh ? Well, worry no more, it will not happen : remember, there already is a phone service on most commercial airliners, but how many times in you life have you seen someone use it ?
That's right, at 3 bucks a minute, cellphones might be allowed onboard flights but they won't be used anymore than those seat phones are. Nosiree...
There are two main disk series, A (13 disks) and X (11 disks).
In a not-so-distant future, Linux distros will also come on 13 disks. Only not on floppy disks. That's how much GNU/Linux has evolved since the early days...
Triangulation traditionally relies on measuring distance through signal strengths and so is limited to an outdoor environment, where the signal loss per kilometer can be predicted with much greater accuracy than in an indoor environment.
Where did you get that ?
Triangulation works by being in 2 or 3 different locations, determining what direction the signal comes from with a directional antenna at each location, then drawing the lines on a map and see where they intersect. It'a called triangulation because it draws a triangle on the map. It has nothing to do with signal stength.
Completely hassle free -- no more booting up your notebook to find a WiFi signal
Instantly detects WiFi networks with the press of a button
Three lights indicate signal strength
Messrs Kensington, could you make a version that
1) doesn't require me to push a button to detect WiFi networks (i.e. works continuously) 2) has a connector for an external antenna and an optional car lighter plug to power it 3) has a 4th led to indicate if the network uses encryption or not ?
I believe such a device would sell very much better. Thank you.
The recording industry is finding new ways to market their products to offset losses incurred by music piracy. CNN's Jim Boulden reports.
They should get into the ISP business, and charge more than regular ISPs for the promise that they won't ever sue their users for pirating music. Threats of litigation is a real business asset for a big lobbying maffia-like organisation such as the RIAA, they really should exploit it...
Can somebody come up with a practical idea that informs the public of the evils of RIAA and the true virtues and benefits of P2P and why RIAA must be stopped in their campaign to destroy the technology.
It would be more constructive if someone devised a new model that would allow both immediate distribution of music, like P2P provides, and the artists to be paid as well.
The core problem with the RIAA is not really that they are greedy and heavy-handed, the real problem is that they are the promoter of a dying kind of business, that of distributing music on a physical media. Their entire model is based on 1 medium == 1 copy of the material on the CD. That model has been overturned by the internet, and they struggle like a drowning man to save the old system.
The reality is that the RIAA will disappear eventually, the only question is how much damage they will do before they die. The other question is this : it's all well and good that music can be distributed digitally, and that the RIAA is on the go, but nobody has come up with a good distribution model that would allow the artists to be paid without the RIAA. As long as someone doesn't find a solution to that problem, the RIAA will continue to survive, annoy the living hell out of everybody, listeners and artists alike, and P2P users will continue to be thieves (yes they are, for most artists).
The key is a new distribution/paying scheme. There is some breakthrough to be done in that area. When people can download a piece of music immediately and the artist get paid the second later in a totally reliable, trustworthy and non-big-brotherish fashion, the middle-man RIAA will disappear naturally and in no time flat.
From the article: THE RIAA is one of the most evil organizations on the planet. [.....]. If you want a good start, go to Slashdot, and do a search for RIAA.
Charlie Demerjian is obviously a junior journalist...
Foremost amongst them was Eric Eldred, a bookmonger from Massachusetts who wished to continue providing free texts to his Web site's visitors. He eventually brought suit against the federal government, and the Supreme Court heard his case, Eldred v. Ashcroft
Update: Mr. Eldred, according to his family, has not been heard of for some time. It has been rumored that Mr. Eldred may have had contacts with the "free internet texts", a free information dissident group, considered a dangerous hacker organization, and therefore very likely to be in connection with international terrorist groups.
Is this as bad a deal as it appears? Notice that the guy voluntarily signed - in order for him todo that, they had to offer something that he felt was worth signing
How about "they offer the artist a chance to not have his career shot by reducing his radio air time, making sure they promote other artists better, or making him sign insane contracts ?" Is that worth signing for ? I doubt very much the record industry has genuinely something to offer that artists want to sign for. I'm even quite sure they don't even even have to say "or else" after saying "sign this" to an artist for the artist to comply.
In the '30s, there was a guy in Chicago who offered such "services" to local businesses.
You may be right, they may do it to look good, or they may also do it to free bandwidth for their ever-increasing patches and to make.NET a viable product proposition, like I believe. But whatever the reason, I'm only saying they're doing it for a purpose, and people should cross-read declarations made by big corporation reps to find the motive behind their actions.
I don't know for you, but I make GPL software, I give it away for free and therefore I give time and money to the community, partly to pursue a certain idea of the computer industry I desire.
In a way, it's just like people who run the Seti@Home client : they don't do it just "to get a free screensaver" like that Microsoft guy narrowly thinks, they also do it because they want to feel part of a greater, more noble effort than just getting rich quick.
When was the last time Microsoft gave anything open-source or for free that didn't serve one of their short, medium or long term plans ? I mean, it's okay, they're there to make money and they admit it, there's nothing wrong with this goal as long as they try to achieve it morally and legally, but why should it be the same for everybody ?
Microsoft and IBM tout web services as a new computing model - Internet-scale distributed computing. They observe that the current Internet is designed for people interacting with computers. Traffic on the future Internet will be dominated by computer-to-computer interactions.
And that explains why Microsoft has suddenly declared war on spam : they have to free bandwidth for their own.NET message passing. Remember folks, Microsoft never does anything without a reason, and certainly never does anything for the good of anybody else but themselves.
I live and work in NYC and, frankly, I'm about a million times more afraid of terrorists, drug dealers and the like than I am of our own government.
Fear is irrational isn't it ?
You should be a million times more afraid of getting your throat cut in NY, or being run over by a car, or getting a pollution-related lung cancer than dying as a result of terrorist actions.
The project's centerpiece is groundbreaking computer software that is capable of automatically identifying vehicles by size, color, shape and license tag, or drivers and passengers by face.
Did you recognize that guy with round sunglasses who just went by on his bicycle ? well, that software didn't either...
Slashdot Mirror
Assuming I would want to wear an ugly huge watch (that's a personal opinion of couse) that's called "Fossil" and is MSN-enabled (uuh), I have a problem with such small devices that have an internal battery.
:
...
From the specs page
POWER REQUIREMENTS : AC power adapter (100V-240V), DC output (4V-9V), Lithium-ion rechargeable battery (internal).
BATTERY LIFE : 4-5 days (based on average use of 30 minutes per day with no backlight or IR)
Right, so in real life, if I was to use the thing normally, with backlight at night and syncing with my desktop with IR, I'd say I'd probably have to charge it up every 2 or 3 days. Given that a real-life Li-Ion batteries have a typical life of 300 recharge cycles (yes, you can get more out of them, but you have to be *very* careful when you charge and for how long, which isn't always practical in a consumer device), especially since it's probably a super-small fragile battery, that means the battery will have to be changed after 2.5 years of use at most.
Do I want to see the face of the watch repairman when I bring him the Fossil for a battery change? Do I want to see the bill when I have to send the watch back to Fossil for a battery replacement? No.
So, no PDA watch for me. Nosiree
From the Eclipse page :
Welcome to eclipse.org
Eclipse is a kind of universal tool platform - an open extensible IDE for anything and nothing in particular.
It's an EMACS clone then ?
most geeks (like me, and perhaps you) that don't want to buy Windows know enough about computers to put one together from parts.
...
Can you put together a laptop ? I can't
And if some laptops on the market today come without OS, or with *nix/Linux preloaded, it's rather new and it wasn't the case for a long time.
A California judge on Friday gave preliminary approval to a landmark settlement under which Microsoft will pay $1.1 billion to settle a class-action suit that claimed it overcharged consumers for Windows.
Isn't it great when you're so rich you can break the law, then simply reimburse the people you scammed when, sometimes, they notice and react ? How many people got ripped off and never got their money back because they didn't have the time or energy to fight back big bad Microsoft ?
Did the hordes of people who wanted to buy bare computers but couldn't find any, and had a Windows license forced down their throats, get their money back yet ?
Is the next step wireless access in the cabin, and loud cell phone chatter in the skies over the mid-west?
...
So you're worried about those goddamned cellphone ringing in the plane, and people shouting in the phones like mad starving dogs in front of a sausage shop eh ? Well, worry no more, it will not happen : remember, there already is a phone service on most commercial airliners, but how many times in you life have you seen someone use it ?
That's right, at 3 bucks a minute, cellphones might be allowed onboard flights but they won't be used anymore than those seat phones are. Nosiree
just go this website and enter your SS# and credit card info for verification.
...
So basically, all loyal Microsoft users who happen to not be American citizens or residents are told that they just don't matter
From the initial Slackware release announcement :
...
There are two main disk series, A (13 disks) and X (11 disks).
In a not-so-distant future, Linux distros will also come on 13 disks. Only not on floppy disks. That's how much GNU/Linux has evolved since the early days
Triangulation traditionally relies on measuring distance through signal strengths and so is limited to an outdoor environment, where the signal loss per kilometer can be predicted with much greater accuracy than in an indoor environment.
Where did you get that ?
Triangulation works by being in 2 or 3 different locations, determining what direction the signal comes from with a directional antenna at each location, then drawing the lines on a map and see where they intersect. It'a called triangulation because it draws a triangle on the map. It has nothing to do with signal stength.
The only WiFi detector on the market today
Completely hassle free -- no more booting up your notebook to find a WiFi signal
Instantly detects WiFi networks with the press of a button
Three lights indicate signal strength
Messrs Kensington, could you make a version that
1) doesn't require me to push a button to detect WiFi networks (i.e. works continuously)
2) has a connector for an external antenna and an optional car lighter plug to power it
3) has a 4th led to indicate if the network uses encryption or not ?
I believe such a device would sell very much better. Thank you.
Please Taco and co., please!, will you ever think about making Anonymous Cowards unable to post ?
*sigh*
The recording industry is finding new ways to market their products to offset losses incurred by music piracy. CNN's Jim Boulden reports.
...
They should get into the ISP business, and charge more than regular ISPs for the promise that they won't ever sue their users for pirating music. Threats of litigation is a real business asset for a big lobbying maffia-like organisation such as the RIAA, they really should exploit it
Can somebody come up with a practical idea that informs the public of the evils of RIAA and the true virtues and benefits of P2P and why RIAA must be stopped in their campaign to destroy the technology.
It would be more constructive if someone devised a new model that would allow both immediate distribution of music, like P2P provides, and the artists to be paid as well.
The core problem with the RIAA is not really that they are greedy and heavy-handed, the real problem is that they are the promoter of a dying kind of business, that of distributing music on a physical media. Their entire model is based on 1 medium == 1 copy of the material on the CD. That model has been overturned by the internet, and they struggle like a drowning man to save the old system.
The reality is that the RIAA will disappear eventually, the only question is how much damage they will do before they die. The other question is this : it's all well and good that music can be distributed digitally, and that the RIAA is on the go, but nobody has come up with a good distribution model that would allow the artists to be paid without the RIAA. As long as someone doesn't find a solution to that problem, the RIAA will continue to survive, annoy the living hell out of everybody, listeners and artists alike, and P2P users will continue to be thieves (yes they are, for most artists).
The key is a new distribution/paying scheme. There is some breakthrough to be done in that area. When people can download a piece of music immediately and the artist get paid the second later in a totally reliable, trustworthy and non-big-brotherish fashion, the middle-man RIAA will disappear naturally and in no time flat.
From the article :
...
THE RIAA is one of the most evil organizations on the planet. [.....]. If you want a good start, go to Slashdot, and do a search for RIAA.
Charlie Demerjian is obviously a junior journalist
Foremost amongst them was Eric Eldred, a bookmonger from Massachusetts who wished to continue providing free texts to his Web site's visitors. He eventually brought suit against the federal government, and the Supreme Court heard his case, Eldred v. Ashcroft
Update: Mr. Eldred, according to his family, has not been heard of for some time. It has been rumored that Mr. Eldred may have had contacts with the "free internet texts", a free information dissident group, considered a dangerous hacker organization, and therefore very likely to be in connection with international terrorist groups.
LXG is based on a comic book entitled The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen
I say this acronym doesn't have a LEG to stand on.
Is this as bad a deal as it appears? Notice that the guy voluntarily signed - in order for him todo that, they had to offer something that he felt was worth signing
How about "they offer the artist a chance to not have his career shot by reducing his radio air time, making sure they promote other artists better, or making him sign insane contracts ?" Is that worth signing for ? I doubt very much the record industry has genuinely something to offer that artists want to sign for. I'm even quite sure they don't even even have to say "or else" after saying "sign this" to an artist for the artist to comply.
In the '30s, there was a guy in Chicago who offered such "services" to local businesses.
[FOOT IN MOUTH]
Ooops, Tera- Giga- Mega- blooper.
Yes, I meant 3.3GB per dollar
[/FOOT IN MOUTH]
I have a nagging suspicion this is a troll
.NET a viable product proposition, like I believe. But whatever the reason, I'm only saying they're doing it for a purpose, and people should cross-read declarations made by big corporation reps to find the motive behind their actions.
FYI, I never troll.
You may be right, they may do it to look good, or they may also do it to free bandwidth for their ever-increasing patches and to make
And how is this different from you or I act?
I don't know for you, but I make GPL software, I give it away for free and therefore I give time and money to the community, partly to pursue a certain idea of the computer industry I desire.
In a way, it's just like people who run the Seti@Home client : they don't do it just "to get a free screensaver" like that Microsoft guy narrowly thinks, they also do it because they want to feel part of a greater, more noble effort than just getting rich quick.
When was the last time Microsoft gave anything open-source or for free that didn't serve one of their short, medium or long term plans ? I mean, it's okay, they're there to make money and they admit it, there's nothing wrong with this goal as long as they try to achieve it morally and legally, but why should it be the same for everybody ?
From the article :
...
1 Mbps WAN link $100/month
From this we conclude that one dollar equates to:
$1=
1 GB sent over the WAN
Oh yeah ? 1 Mpbs for a month == 2678400Gb per month == 334800GB per month. 334800GB / 100 == 3.348TB
From this I conclude that one dollar equates to 3.348 terabytes sent over the WAN.
Gosh that was scary. I can restart xMule now
Microsoft and IBM tout web services as a new computing model - Internet-scale distributed computing.
.NET message passing. Remember folks, Microsoft never does anything without a reason, and certainly never does anything for the good of anybody else but themselves.
They observe that the current Internet is designed for people interacting with computers. Traffic on the future Internet will be dominated by computer-to-computer interactions.
And that explains why Microsoft has suddenly declared war on spam : they have to free bandwidth for their own
After recently hearing a few different versions of RMS's legendary Free Software Song, I decided to do my own version, considerably heavier
...
So what did you do ? a Microsoft Windows song ? that'd be heavy
I live and work in NYC and, frankly, I'm about a million times more afraid of terrorists, drug dealers and the like than I am of our own government.
Fear is irrational isn't it ?
You should be a million times more afraid of getting your throat cut in NY, or being run over by a car, or getting a pollution-related lung cancer than dying as a result of terrorist actions.
The project's centerpiece is groundbreaking computer software that is capable of automatically identifying vehicles by size, color, shape and license tag, or drivers and passengers by face.
...
Did you recognize that guy with round sunglasses who just went by on his bicycle ? well, that software didn't either
the future of manned space travel should be left to wealthy adventurers.
...) while they're away.
...
I volunteer to take care of their personal belongings (wallet, car keys,
I've got nice insulation foam to sell NASA, to keep the millionaires warm up there in space