(oops, repost, with easier to follow links!)
(second time. I keep forgetting POT!)
Here's what *I'm* curious about.
Without being very authoritative, various google searches for:
'watts G4' and
'watts G3'
It speaks of the G4(non mobile) as sucking up 20+ watts as high power. A fast G3 sucks something something like 4 to 5 watts.
Soooo... Is this hype, or are the PowerPC chips *really* that cool, in comparison? And why are we settling for such power sucking PCs? Are we just that cheap? Or that greedy? In terms of ecological effects (heating and noise), PCs are fine room warmers... but still, that's a side effect we can engineer out, can't we?
I'm sooo tempted to buy an Apple. It would seem powerful *enough*(of course, not the most powerful), and featured, enough, what with Firewire, USB, ethernet and modems, and cool enough, what with Airport antennas, some systems with CD-R and DVD-R, gigabit, etc...
I guess Mac OS X will seal my doom, what with the strength and stability of BSD, the slickness of Aqua, and display pdf...
(oops, repost, with easier to follow links!)
Here's what *I'm* curious about.
Without being very authoritative, various google searches for:
<a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=watts+g4"> 'watts G4'</a>
and
<a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=watts+g3"> 'watts G3'</a>
It speaks of the G4(non mobile) as sucking up <a href="http://macweb.macol.net/~PowerMacG4Central/" >20+ watts</a> as high power. A fast G3 sucks something something like <a href="http://macweek.zdnet.com/2000/06/04/0606newp pcchips.html">4 to 5 watts.</a>
Soooo... Is this hype, or are the PowerPC chips *really* that cool, in comparison? And why are we settling for such power sucking PCs? Are we just that cheap? Or that greedy? In terms of ecological effects (heating and noise), PCs are fine room warmers... but still, that's a side effect we can engineer out, can't we?
I'm sooo tempted to buy an Apple. It would seem powerful *enough*(of course, not the most powerful), and featured, enough, what with Firewire, USB, ethernet and modems, and cool enough, what with Airport antennas, some systems with CD-R and DVD-R, gigabit, etc...
I guess Mac OS X will seal my doom, what with the strength and stability of BSD, the slickness of Aqua, and display pdf...
Without being very authoritative, various google searches for <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=watts+g4"> 'watts G4'</a> and <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=watts+g3"> 'watts G3'</a>
It speaks of the G4(non mobile) as sucking up <a href="http://macweb.macol.net/~PowerMacG4Central/" >20+ watts</a> as high power. A fast G3 sucks something something like <a href="http://macweek.zdnet.com/2000/06/04/0606newp pcchips.html">4 to 5 watts.</a>
Soooo... Is this hype, or are the PowerPC chips *really* that cool, in comparison? And why are we settling for such power sucking PCs? Are we just that cheap? Or that greedy? In terms of ecological effects (heating and noise), PCs are fine room warmers... but still, that's a side effect we can engineer out, can't we?
Anime is more removed from reality than film and television?
Like, say the Matrix, or Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, or on TV, Star Trek, or Teletubbies, or Power Rangers?
Anime is a medium, like any other.
About the only thing true you said in the first sentance was that it is drawn. *All* mediums are subjective!
You also say geeks like it more than other socio-cultural groups. What other groups would you be talking about? Aren't you actually defining geek by the correlation with anime?
I dunno, I sorta feel insulted by your second comment altogether. People, in general, are scared of reality, and tend to run away from it if given the chance, and do this in perfectly rational and reasonable manners. Some people become mass murderers, of course, but most people have dreams and goals and ambitions, all of which are technically fantasy and not one whit reality.
Is anime healthy? Is wrestling? Is fashionable clothing? Is participating in an online forum? Is being popular?
There is no 'we' in encouraging geeks to do anything. There is 'I', and then there is the collective side effects of a million 'I', but no 'we'. So to rephrase, You should surely be encouraging geeks to confront the world you think they are so afraid of.
Anime is a medium in which we can express the thoughts of our most creative individuals, no more or less than talk, music, books, pictures, art, movies, performance, dance, etc. It is no more or less removed from reality than, say, jazz dance, or interpretive ballet, or a Picasso. The danger or lack thereof has nothing to do with it's degree of separation from reality.
You can be careful with it, and take it in small doses, and not give it to your children.
No halogens, half my house is 25W flourescent, I don't do Christmas lights, my computers are off at night when I'm not home, etc.
So, what's my next step? I still have to face the stupid power problems. What else can I do? I'm planning on replacing my windows with double paned low E versions, upgrading my ventilation with a HRV unit sometime. I can go as low as I want, but if that means everyone else starts to use it instead, I want a solution that helps to loosely couple me from the rest of the problems. A 24 hour energy cache would be marvelous, but I'm not sure that can even be accomplished!
Say, a ultra efficient flywheel that charges up at night(anytime, really, but at night when power is supposedly cheapest) and store energy for the household for the coming day?
Say, store X kWh.
Then, if X+b kWh is used, the next day start storing X+ b/2 at night.
And so on, iteratively.
If only X-d kWh is used, then only store X-d the next night. (This actually does decrease!)
X
X(we only charge X-d, but d is already in the system)
X-d(we only used X-d, so X-2d is charged...)
Anyway, gives us 1 day protection, and as the systems get more efficient, we can lengthen the charge period to, say a week, or a month, or whatever.
And if we want to, we can connect this to banks of solar cells, etc?
But I might want it on a per user basis, and not as a community wide thing. Or a blend of the two. I don't like raw mob rule.
So I can assign points to people, akin to handicaps. To use a popular example, Sig11 automatically gets -3, -2, -1, 0, or +1, because I like his posts.
This gets modified by the moderation system, which is a per discussion ranking, and then is also modified by a global karma; Sig11 tends to have high Karma because a lot of people like him, respond to him, mod him up, or assign bonuses to him; a general -1, 0, or +1.
This may devolve into a popularity contest, unfortunately.
But if this is configurable (ignore global ranking, double global ranking, ignore local ranking, etc), it should be okay.
I for one don't want to listen to '-' no matter that sometimes he's a real treat, and sometimes he's a real pain. I just don't want to deal with it.
Allegedly, the electoral college system in the US voting scheme is supposed to allow for that;
Gaining the majority vote is not enough to win, you need to get the majority vote in several geographic areas, and thus force yourself to appeal to several demographics, and not just general mob rule.
Can something like that occur here?
Something like that happens, in the sense that supposedly anyone can moderate. If an even distribution of moderators exist, then the statistical model should represent the views of slashdot. Supposedly.
But then there are other problems; even I sometimes don't read at -1 or 0, because I want to avoid the trolls. I try to avoid modding up +2 or +3, unless they are *really* good, and concentrate on modding the +1s and the responses to +2 or +3, that provide good counterarguments.
Is that appropriate? I dunno, is there a moderator's training page to provide good behavior? That's the best I can do, for now.
Well, one thing I am slightly bothered by is that moderators shouldn't be the ones judging on or off topicness; interesting (as a personal interest), overrated (again, personal judgement), insightful (personal), etc.
I can trust a moderator to make judgements concerning themselves, but not for the judgement of the community.
Metamoderation is a way to determine if a person can moderate intelligently, hopefully.
I can't agree to your view that a +5 interesting doesn't get comments. A really powerful, interesting, insightful, whatever, comment, doesn't need to be provocative or controversial. It doesn't need to generate comments, though obviously it would be nice if it did; I always enjoy getting comments!
Regardless of the philosophical implacations of the GPL, you *can* sell software that you give the source away too.
You're a programmer; you sell your service to write code, for whoever will buy your program, whether it be a business, end user, or whatever.
As a personal preference, you have every right not to want to give away your source code. But there is a distinction between selling software and writing source.
Software has been tested, debugged, packaged, polished and marketed.
Source is just that, source, like the distinction between architectural blueprints and a house.
If a GPL based company actually wanted to buy your source, is that any less or more a transaction than buying the software? The intent of some people, as regards Open Source, is that when you buy the software, you can get access to the source, otherwise you're relegated to a 'service', of providing support and fixes and improvements to a program, where the purchaser cannot fix, modify, or tweak the code to their taste.
It's not revolutionary enough to impress Bezos and Jobs.
It doesn't have GPS
It doesn't have the ability to communicate with other TurboScooters
It doesn't have a palm device for information gathering and realy
It does have a tracking module, to allow for caravans and auto navigation
It doesn't have the physical hooks to allow daisychaining of scooters together.
Re:What IT Is And Isn't
on
What is 'IT'?
·
· Score: 2
Yeah, I read up on his wheelchair; it makes me think it'll be an electrical scooter/cart.
What would be neat is if it had GPS and maps, maybe via built in Palm type device.
Also, the ability to daisy chain and form caravans (and thus the statement about planning cities around it, campuses, etc)
Especially if it could track painted guides, as well as allow for clean electrical power, as well as communicating with each other, and maybe even running off an inductive power source!
Fits inside a duffel bag and a couple cardboard boxes (I'd guess moving boxes)
Can be assembled quickly with hex wrenches and a screwdriver...
That makes me think of a pair of rollerblades, or one of those scooter thingies!
2 models, the metro and the pro; Just those naming conventions make me think of rollerblades or scooters, too, with the metro being an economical version, and the pro with additional bells and whistles...
And the invention will "profoundly affect our environment and the way people live worldwide. It will be an alternative to products that are dirty, expensive, sometimes dangerous and often frustrating, especially for people in the cities."
It sounds like he's describing something both economical and ecological, as an alternative to... cars? Buses?
I'm thinking... electrical scooters or rollerblades, that can be chained together, like links!
Say, something like a shopping cart sized device, allowing one to sit or stand, with safe and clean electrical power, allowing one to move at, say, 10mph for 25 or 35 miles?
Able to link and chain, to create caravans...
It'll confound people because it isn't quite a car, nor a sidewalk friendly device...
And it'll be definitely fun!
Also, it could have an additional contact strip, to draw power, inductively, from embedded power strips!
The logical union of cheapest and most established?
SCSI is not the cheapest; By far, SCSI drives and devices usually have a pretty hefty premium, whereas currently a Firewire drive is marginally more expensive than the IDE drives.
And stop being so silly; as to your firewire mouse, how about SCSI mice? Or SCSI washer/driers?
A firewire interface card is about $100 now; how is that terribly more expensive than SCSI?
As per USB, it is definitely more established, but I thought I said USB2? Which is a new update to the USB spec? Hello?
SCSI is more established, I don't disagree, but it's more expensive.
USB2 doesn't quite exist yet, so it is far from established...
I agree that, philosophically at least, more error correction should exist to handle more data. There's plenty of info and science around error correction, so I'm not too worried about that.
Your problems with accuracy can be handled in manifold ways; multiple lasers (3, ostensibly) to handle the burn accuracy. Read accuracy would probably be no different than what you described, using 12.5% intensity deltas between values, instead of 50% intensity values.
There's no reason to slow down the burn to increase accuracy; just use better receptors, and higher tolerance devices. That technique seems to work fine for Intel, which keeps cranking out faster and faster CPUs with better and better processes and technique!
So IDE doesn't cut it? That's why there is... SCSI, Firewire, SerialATA and USB2. My preference is for Firewire to take the lead, as it is the cheapest and most established of the 4 listed technologies...
So, given that we can get around all those technical difficulties... Why can't we see a faster read and burn rate?
So would you only like one OS provider, for greater interoperability (at cost of service, performance, and capability), or one phone service provider, or one ISP, or one music provider, etc?
The price of competition, incompatibility, is balanced by the value of competition, which is each of the 5 standards trying to outdo each other, on the ground of price, performance, capability, reliability, useability, etc.
If there were only 1 standard, why would you think we'd get any improvement or innovation? The same forces that would bring about 1 standard *should* also force the system to never ever change or improve; the minute someone comes up with a better idea, you'd have 2 competing incompatbile systems, and the problem starts again!
I dunno, it seems likely that once word of mouth spreads ("Hey, my JVC/Panasonic/RCA DTV doesn't record Star Trek: Mysteries!") they won't be able to sell very well, whereas any old analogue TVs would still sell like hotcakes...
Or *monitors* hooked up to digital converters, to TiVO like devices, with the ability to record, stream, and copy, will become all the rage.
I mean, there's no reason for Sony to not sell a 30" monitor and a $40 DTV adaptor for the PC/monitor, right?
Unless these guys are pressuring and targeting folks like ATI and Pinnacle, etc, PCs should still have the capability to recieve channels and view TV...
Maybe I have my info wrong, but the ADC is a littl e more than just power, DVI, and USB; the monitors hooked up to them (LCD and the like) actually use the USB port to transmit calibration data, IIRC, though you'll have to scroll down to the bottom of the PDF linked in order to get an inkling of some of this capability...
Still deciding what to get; the iBook, all cute and cuddly like, the PowerBook, all serious and stoic, or the G4 Cube, suave and classy.
In terms of performance, PCs seem to be fast enough that faster just doesn't matter. Why would I need a 1.5GHz system? I'm running on a 500MHz system, and plan to be running it for another few years yet. Heck, even 800MHz would seem to last for at least 5 years, given my track record with my last computer.
Still, I'll probably think a 500MHz Apple sucks, right? I dunno, I don't have enough experience with the G3/G4 to say; do they age particularly better than a x86?
On the other hand, I am enamored with Apple's drive for innovation.
The USB IO adoption
The Firewire IO adoption
The use of Airport and wireless networking
Mac OSX (in the near future), and Unix stability, without the ugliness of Linux!
Well, Linux isn't quite ugly, it's damn functional, but sorta a pain to set up. Win2k is such a breeze to use.
Then there's the quiet fanless iMacs and G4 cubes.
There's the firewireness of the iBooks and Powerbooks.
Optical Mice. Everywhere
*Really* nice LCD screens.
Other hardware coolness I'm looking forward to; More snazzy designs!
A Newton2!
Wireless PCs; at least, as much as possible...
OS X!
Pervasive computing!
Inclusion of mic and USB cam with *all* computers!
Instant Messaging type usability in the OS
Other random cool stuff...
Still, they aren't dead yet, and they're still doing okay...
Maybe I'll regret writing this post in a few months, when I have my Apple. I'll post and let everyone know!
Episode One, for example, if you need a movie with glimpses of the metaphysical, about good and evil, of being balanced and true...
The fight scenes among the Bamboo were a little too much for me.
Uninspired dialogue? Give an example of inspired dialogue, please. This is very traditional, classic, and even a little cliched; but it was never expected to be anything else.
Acting? I got the very strong impression that Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun Fat had a very restrained, repressed attraction that neither would allow to emerge. I also found that Ang Lee's exuberant recklessness very real. A teenager with her first car, almost.
Plot was random? I guess that's what you saw.
We saw the story of an Empress Palpatine man hater, and her young disciple. The young disciple wants to push herself and her world, being greater than the master. She sees an opportunity to escape her destiny when she meets Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun Fat, but in doing so destroys the lives of everyone she loves.
Her lover is the one that gives her the first inkling of what living outside the system may be like. Perhaps you were put off by the extra long flashback sequence around her comb?
Slashdot Mirror
Being facetious, but isn't this why ESR is so pissed off?
It's GNU that we've fallen in love with, that everyone keeps calling Linux, that happens to be so powerful and wonderful.
Emacs, GCC, gmake, etc...
Geek dating!
What are you talking about? I have a natural +1 bonus that I like to flaunt.
I actually do say useful things, generally. It's not like my 3 identical posts got modded up 3 times...
Geek dating!
(oops, repost, with easier to follow links!)
(second time. I keep forgetting POT!)
Here's what *I'm* curious about.
Without being very authoritative, various google searches for:
'watts G4'
and
'watts G3'
It speaks of the G4(non mobile) as sucking up 20+ watts as high power. A fast G3 sucks something something like 4 to 5 watts.
Soooo... Is this hype, or are the PowerPC chips *really* that cool, in comparison? And why are we settling for such power sucking PCs? Are we just that cheap? Or that greedy? In terms of ecological effects (heating and noise), PCs are fine room warmers... but still, that's a side effect we can engineer out, can't we?
I'm sooo tempted to buy an Apple. It would seem powerful *enough*(of course, not the most powerful), and featured, enough, what with Firewire, USB, ethernet and modems, and cool enough, what with Airport antennas, some systems with CD-R and DVD-R, gigabit, etc...
I guess Mac OS X will seal my doom, what with the strength and stability of BSD, the slickness of Aqua, and display pdf...
Geek dating!
(oops, repost, with easier to follow links!)
" >20+ watts</a> as high power. A fast G3 sucks something something like <a href="http://macweek.zdnet.com/2000/06/04/0606newp pcchips.html">4 to 5 watts.</a>
Here's what *I'm* curious about.
Without being very authoritative, various google searches for:
<a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=watts+g4"> 'watts G4'</a>
and
<a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=watts+g3"> 'watts G3'</a>
It speaks of the G4(non mobile) as sucking up <a href="http://macweb.macol.net/~PowerMacG4Central/
Soooo... Is this hype, or are the PowerPC chips *really* that cool, in comparison? And why are we settling for such power sucking PCs? Are we just that cheap? Or that greedy? In terms of ecological effects (heating and noise), PCs are fine room warmers... but still, that's a side effect we can engineer out, can't we?
I'm sooo tempted to buy an Apple. It would seem powerful *enough*(of course, not the most powerful), and featured, enough, what with Firewire, USB, ethernet and modems, and cool enough, what with Airport antennas, some systems with CD-R and DVD-R, gigabit, etc...
I guess Mac OS X will seal my doom, what with the strength and stability of BSD, the slickness of Aqua, and display pdf...
Geek dating!
Here's what *I'm* curious about.
" >20+ watts</a> as high power. A fast G3 sucks something something like <a href="http://macweek.zdnet.com/2000/06/04/0606newp pcchips.html">4 to 5 watts.</a>
Without being very authoritative, various google searches for <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=watts+g4"> 'watts G4'</a> and <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=watts+g3"> 'watts G3'</a>
It speaks of the G4(non mobile) as sucking up <a href="http://macweb.macol.net/~PowerMacG4Central/
Soooo... Is this hype, or are the PowerPC chips *really* that cool, in comparison? And why are we settling for such power sucking PCs? Are we just that cheap? Or that greedy? In terms of ecological effects (heating and noise), PCs are fine room warmers... but still, that's a side effect we can engineer out, can't we?
Geek dating!
of the world in 100 years?
Will it be Steve Jobs? I hear he has personality issues...
Bill Gates? His corporation seems to heavy handed, for my tastes...
Linus Torvalds? Steve Wozniak? ESR?
Geek dating!
Anime is more removed from reality than film and television?
Like, say the Matrix, or Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, or on TV, Star Trek, or Teletubbies, or Power Rangers?
Anime is a medium, like any other.
About the only thing true you said in the first sentance was that it is drawn. *All* mediums are subjective!
You also say geeks like it more than other socio-cultural groups. What other groups would you be talking about? Aren't you actually defining geek by the correlation with anime?
I dunno, I sorta feel insulted by your second comment altogether. People, in general, are scared of reality, and tend to run away from it if given the chance, and do this in perfectly rational and reasonable manners. Some people become mass murderers, of course, but most people have dreams and goals and ambitions, all of which are technically fantasy and not one whit reality.
Is anime healthy? Is wrestling? Is fashionable clothing? Is participating in an online forum? Is being popular?
There is no 'we' in encouraging geeks to do anything. There is 'I', and then there is the collective side effects of a million 'I', but no 'we'. So to rephrase, You should surely be encouraging geeks to confront the world you think they are so afraid of.
Anime is a medium in which we can express the thoughts of our most creative individuals, no more or less than talk, music, books, pictures, art, movies, performance, dance, etc. It is no more or less removed from reality than, say, jazz dance, or interpretive ballet, or a Picasso. The danger or lack thereof has nothing to do with it's degree of separation from reality.
You can be careful with it, and take it in small doses, and not give it to your children.
Geek dating!
I'm already doing that, thank you very much!
No halogens, half my house is 25W flourescent, I don't do Christmas lights, my computers are off at night when I'm not home, etc.
So, what's my next step? I still have to face the stupid power problems. What else can I do? I'm planning on replacing my windows with double paned low E versions, upgrading my ventilation with a HRV unit sometime. I can go as low as I want, but if that means everyone else starts to use it instead, I want a solution that helps to loosely couple me from the rest of the problems. A 24 hour energy cache would be marvelous, but I'm not sure that can even be accomplished!
So, what other suggestions do you have?
Geek dating!
Well... my obvious thought was that cars do it...
And, well, this kind of resource wasn't available for 'decades', ultra efficient flywheels.
IIRC, it was Roseman Motors, or someone similar, doing research on ultra high speed ultra efficient flywheels?
You are a dork. Oh well.
Geek dating!
Can a energy cache be built and maintained?
Say, a ultra efficient flywheel that charges up at night(anytime, really, but at night when power is supposedly cheapest) and store energy for the household for the coming day?
Say, store X kWh.
Then, if X+b kWh is used, the next day start storing X+ b/2 at night.
And so on, iteratively.
If only X-d kWh is used, then only store X-d the next night. (This actually does decrease!)
X
X(we only charge X-d, but d is already in the system)
X-d(we only used X-d, so X-2d is charged...)
Anyway, gives us 1 day protection, and as the systems get more efficient, we can lengthen the charge period to, say a week, or a month, or whatever.
And if we want to, we can connect this to banks of solar cells, etc?
Geek dating!
I like the idea of assigning points to people;
But I might want it on a per user basis, and not as a community wide thing. Or a blend of the two. I don't like raw mob rule.
So I can assign points to people, akin to handicaps. To use a popular example, Sig11 automatically gets -3, -2, -1, 0, or +1, because I like his posts.
This gets modified by the moderation system, which is a per discussion ranking, and then is also modified by a global karma; Sig11 tends to have high Karma because a lot of people like him, respond to him, mod him up, or assign bonuses to him; a general -1, 0, or +1.
This may devolve into a popularity contest, unfortunately.
But if this is configurable (ignore global ranking, double global ranking, ignore local ranking, etc), it should be okay.
I for one don't want to listen to '-' no matter that sometimes he's a real treat, and sometimes he's a real pain. I just don't want to deal with it.
I dunno, maybe it's a bad idea...
Geek dating!
Then how to promote diversity?
Allegedly, the electoral college system in the US voting scheme is supposed to allow for that;
Gaining the majority vote is not enough to win, you need to get the majority vote in several geographic areas, and thus force yourself to appeal to several demographics, and not just general mob rule.
Can something like that occur here?
Something like that happens, in the sense that supposedly anyone can moderate. If an even distribution of moderators exist, then the statistical model should represent the views of slashdot. Supposedly.
But then there are other problems; even I sometimes don't read at -1 or 0, because I want to avoid the trolls. I try to avoid modding up +2 or +3, unless they are *really* good, and concentrate on modding the +1s and the responses to +2 or +3, that provide good counterarguments.
Is that appropriate? I dunno, is there a moderator's training page to provide good behavior? That's the best I can do, for now.
Geek dating!
Well, one thing I am slightly bothered by is that moderators shouldn't be the ones judging on or off topicness; interesting (as a personal interest), overrated (again, personal judgement), insightful (personal), etc.
I can trust a moderator to make judgements concerning themselves, but not for the judgement of the community.
Metamoderation is a way to determine if a person can moderate intelligently, hopefully.
I can't agree to your view that a +5 interesting doesn't get comments. A really powerful, interesting, insightful, whatever, comment, doesn't need to be provocative or controversial. It doesn't need to generate comments, though obviously it would be nice if it did; I always enjoy getting comments!
Geek dating!
Regardless of the philosophical implacations of the GPL, you *can* sell software that you give the source away too.
You're a programmer; you sell your service to write code, for whoever will buy your program, whether it be a business, end user, or whatever.
As a personal preference, you have every right not to want to give away your source code. But there is a distinction between selling software and writing source.
Software has been tested, debugged, packaged, polished and marketed.
Source is just that, source, like the distinction between architectural blueprints and a house.
If a GPL based company actually wanted to buy your source, is that any less or more a transaction than buying the software? The intent of some people, as regards Open Source, is that when you buy the software, you can get access to the source, otherwise you're relegated to a 'service', of providing support and fixes and improvements to a program, where the purchaser cannot fix, modify, or tweak the code to their taste.
That's just one view, at least.
Geek dating!
It's not revolutionary enough to impress Bezos and Jobs.
It doesn't have GPS
It doesn't have the ability to communicate with other TurboScooters
It doesn't have a palm device for information gathering and realy
It does have a tracking module, to allow for caravans and auto navigation
It doesn't have the physical hooks to allow daisychaining of scooters together.
Geek dating!
I rollerblade; around a *lot* of places, rollerblades are banned, restricted, or prohibited.
Hovercraft is just a little too... sci-fi for my tastes.
Electric go-karts with GPS and auto-navigation and caravan-ing, seems a smarter and cooler idea, myself.
Geek dating!
Yeah, I read up on his wheelchair; it makes me think it'll be an electrical scooter/cart.
What would be neat is if it had GPS and maps, maybe via built in Palm type device.
Also, the ability to daisy chain and form caravans (and thus the statement about planning cities around it, campuses, etc)
Especially if it could track painted guides, as well as allow for clean electrical power, as well as communicating with each other, and maybe even running off an inductive power source!
Geek dating!
Fits inside a duffel bag and a couple cardboard boxes (I'd guess moving boxes)
Can be assembled quickly with hex wrenches and a screwdriver...
That makes me think of a pair of rollerblades, or one of those scooter thingies!
2 models, the metro and the pro; Just those naming conventions make me think of rollerblades or scooters, too, with the metro being an economical version, and the pro with additional bells and whistles...
And the invention will "profoundly affect our environment and the way people live worldwide. It will be an alternative to products that are dirty, expensive, sometimes dangerous and often frustrating, especially for people in the cities."
It sounds like he's describing something both economical and ecological, as an alternative to... cars? Buses?
I'm thinking... electrical scooters or rollerblades, that can be chained together, like links!
Say, something like a shopping cart sized device, allowing one to sit or stand, with safe and clean electrical power, allowing one to move at, say, 10mph for 25 or 35 miles?
Able to link and chain, to create caravans...
It'll confound people because it isn't quite a car, nor a sidewalk friendly device...
And it'll be definitely fun!
Also, it could have an additional contact strip, to draw power, inductively, from embedded power strips!
Geek dating!
I said cheapest *and* most established.
The logical union of cheapest and most established?
SCSI is not the cheapest; By far, SCSI drives and devices usually have a pretty hefty premium, whereas currently a Firewire drive is marginally more expensive than the IDE drives.
And stop being so silly; as to your firewire mouse, how about SCSI mice? Or SCSI washer/driers?
A firewire interface card is about $100 now; how is that terribly more expensive than SCSI?
As per USB, it is definitely more established, but I thought I said USB2? Which is a new update to the USB spec? Hello?
SCSI is more established, I don't disagree, but it's more expensive.
USB2 doesn't quite exist yet, so it is far from established...
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I agree that, philosophically at least, more error correction should exist to handle more data. There's plenty of info and science around error correction, so I'm not too worried about that.
Your problems with accuracy can be handled in manifold ways; multiple lasers (3, ostensibly) to handle the burn accuracy. Read accuracy would probably be no different than what you described, using 12.5% intensity deltas between values, instead of 50% intensity values.
There's no reason to slow down the burn to increase accuracy; just use better receptors, and higher tolerance devices. That technique seems to work fine for Intel, which keeps cranking out faster and faster CPUs with better and better processes and technique!
So IDE doesn't cut it? That's why there is... SCSI, Firewire, SerialATA and USB2. My preference is for Firewire to take the lead, as it is the cheapest and most established of the 4 listed technologies...
So, given that we can get around all those technical difficulties... Why can't we see a faster read and burn rate?
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So would you only like one OS provider, for greater interoperability (at cost of service, performance, and capability), or one phone service provider, or one ISP, or one music provider, etc?
The price of competition, incompatibility, is balanced by the value of competition, which is each of the 5 standards trying to outdo each other, on the ground of price, performance, capability, reliability, useability, etc.
If there were only 1 standard, why would you think we'd get any improvement or innovation? The same forces that would bring about 1 standard *should* also force the system to never ever change or improve; the minute someone comes up with a better idea, you'd have 2 competing incompatbile systems, and the problem starts again!
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I dunno, it seems likely that once word of mouth spreads ("Hey, my JVC/Panasonic/RCA DTV doesn't record Star Trek: Mysteries!") they won't be able to sell very well, whereas any old analogue TVs would still sell like hotcakes...
Or *monitors* hooked up to digital converters, to TiVO like devices, with the ability to record, stream, and copy, will become all the rage.
I mean, there's no reason for Sony to not sell a 30" monitor and a $40 DTV adaptor for the PC/monitor, right?
Unless these guys are pressuring and targeting folks like ATI and Pinnacle, etc, PCs should still have the capability to recieve channels and view TV...
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Maybe I have my info wrong, but the ADC is a littl e more than just power, DVI, and USB; the monitors hooked up to them (LCD and the like) actually use the USB port to transmit calibration data, IIRC, though you'll have to scroll down to the bottom of the PDF linked in order to get an inkling of some of this capability...
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Still deciding what to get; the iBook, all cute and cuddly like, the PowerBook, all serious and stoic, or the G4 Cube, suave and classy.
In terms of performance, PCs seem to be fast enough that faster just doesn't matter. Why would I need a 1.5GHz system? I'm running on a 500MHz system, and plan to be running it for another few years yet. Heck, even 800MHz would seem to last for at least 5 years, given my track record with my last computer.
Still, I'll probably think a 500MHz Apple sucks, right? I dunno, I don't have enough experience with the G3/G4 to say; do they age particularly better than a x86?
On the other hand, I am enamored with Apple's drive for innovation.
The USB IO adoption
The Firewire IO adoption
The use of Airport and wireless networking
Mac OSX (in the near future), and Unix stability, without the ugliness of Linux!
Well, Linux isn't quite ugly, it's damn functional, but sorta a pain to set up. Win2k is such a breeze to use.
Then there's the quiet fanless iMacs and G4 cubes.
There's the firewireness of the iBooks and Powerbooks.
Optical Mice. Everywhere
*Really* nice LCD screens.
Other hardware coolness I'm looking forward to; More snazzy designs!
A Newton2!
Wireless PCs; at least, as much as possible...
OS X!
Pervasive computing!
Inclusion of mic and USB cam with *all* computers!
Instant Messaging type usability in the OS
Other random cool stuff...
Still, they aren't dead yet, and they're still doing okay...
Maybe I'll regret writing this post in a few months, when I have my Apple. I'll post and let everyone know!
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I've seen plenty of worse movies, myself.
Episode One, for example, if you need a movie with glimpses of the metaphysical, about good and evil, of being balanced and true...
The fight scenes among the Bamboo were a little too much for me.
Uninspired dialogue? Give an example of inspired dialogue, please. This is very traditional, classic, and even a little cliched; but it was never expected to be anything else.
Acting? I got the very strong impression that Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun Fat had a very restrained, repressed attraction that neither would allow to emerge. I also found that Ang Lee's exuberant recklessness very real. A teenager with her first car, almost.
Plot was random? I guess that's what you saw.
We saw the story of an Empress Palpatine man hater, and her young disciple. The young disciple wants to push herself and her world, being greater than the master. She sees an opportunity to escape her destiny when she meets Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun Fat, but in doing so destroys the lives of everyone she loves.
Her lover is the one that gives her the first inkling of what living outside the system may be like. Perhaps you were put off by the extra long flashback sequence around her comb?
Oh well. I'm glad I saw it, at least.
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