Maybe, maybe not. Apple with the iPod have realised something that other manufacturers fail to grasp. People are fully prepared to pay more for something that looks good and has an easy to use interface. Tonnes of features and codecs isn't a high issue. For example, your majority user has never heard of FLAC or OGG, let alone want to use them.
Despite what Mac-zealots think, people aren't buying it because it's branded Apple - they're buying it because it looks and feels good.
All other manufacturers attempt to beat Apple on price - but by doing so they inevitably end up using inferior materials which means they come out with something that looks, and feels, cheap and nasty.
The closest thing I've seen to rival Apple is Toshiba's new HD based MP3 player. If it looks as good as Apple's then it will sell well - even if it is the same price.
I'm curious why you would choose an iPod over the iHP-120?
Cost doesn't really bother me. If I'm going to carry something around with me all day and every day then I want something small, light and looks good.
The major problem I have with the iHP is that it's really ugly. Also if it is anything like the SlimX - the control system will be a mess.
It's probably the most illogical argument for a iPod but I just don't like the look of it - and if i'm going to spend buttloads of money, I want it to look good.
Microsoft Windows and Office cost at least $140 in Vietnam -- way out of reach for most people, where the per capita annual income is roughly $420.
In other words, Windows and Office costs a third of your annual income. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis the per capital annual income of the US in 2002 was $30,832.
Therefore, Windows and Office would cost you a staggering $10,277. It is not surprising that piracy is rampant!
Also assuming Thailand has the same per capital annual income as Vietnam, then even when Microsoft reduced the price down to $40 it still would cost slightly a nasty $3,083 in the US.
How about the iRiver iHP-120? 20GB, and it can act like a storage device. ClubMac has 'em for $349. Seems particularily realistic to me.
The iHP product line is hard drive based, iFP is flash memory based. The tech specs don't tell you this, but if you wave your mouse over the products link you'll find it categorised there.
I have a SlimX CD/MP3 player and it's excellent, but I think i'd still pick an iPod over the iHP-120.
True, but they don't have a particulary realistic price (2 gig = $700, 4 gig = $1500).
It'll be a fair few years before the 1 gig one becomes a sensible price and many more before you can pick up a 4 gig one without remortaging your house...
But: Apple has had voice recognition built into the operating system for a *while* as part of their support for Assistive Devices and disabled users.
Bear in mind that this is Voice Recognition for a 400 mhz PocketPC handheld device and not some hulking great PowerMac with oddles of RAM and at least a Gigahertz processor.
It's not really that innovative--is it?
Maybe not, but still impressive given the limitation of your average PDA.
Okay, so I'm a new Mac user who is currently has a pro-Apple bias after replacing my Sony Vaio Linux laptop with a PowerBook. But: Apple has had voice recognition built into the operating system for a *while* as part of their support for Assistive Devices and disabled users.
Office 2000 had support for voice recognition. Although admitidally it wasn't part of the OS and I don't know whether or not this was before Apple.
There is absolutely no reason to launch an executable file from an email attachment. If you attach a non-executable document file to an email, sure, let the application that filetype is associated with open it up from within Outlook, but any attempt to execute an EXE/COM/BAT/PIF/SCR file should result in 'not allowed.'
So, they save the file onto their PC, double click on it and it does exactly the same as it would have done if you run it from Outlook.
Your solution is merely an irritation and does nothing to solve the underlying problem.
They mean smart as in so wonderfully secure that Napster script kiddie Fanning can reverse the password encryption with his new contact updater software?
He didn't reverse engineer it, he used a fake profile to get the contact information out without the security warning.
At least he had to jump through some hoops to get at it. With Pine all you need to do is parse a plain text file - it wouldn't surprise me if doing the same with Thunderbird or Evolution was also reasonably easy.
Plaxo contains a hack that mines your Outlook profile password so that it can retrieve your contacts unhindered.
So? I can access the contacts in Pine by just reading a plain text file. No hack required.
Having said all that, I like the idea of having my contacts kept updated. I thought about writing something that did a mass email to my contacts with their details asking them to correct anything that is wrong.
An electronic solution would be substantially more elegant but I'm wary of using Plaxo. Any suggestions? Or is this a case of hack my own?
Now contrast this with an open source business model:
1. Modify an open source software package to fit a niche market
2. Sell installations, manuals, customization service, and support to that market
3. Profit!
Unfortunately I haven't seen many Open Source businesses manage to achieve point 3.
I'm sure everyone can mention a few that have done so (Redhat and Cygwin spring to mind) but there are vastly more that have either fallen by the wayside or are resorting to begging for money (Mandrake?).
Well, you can - but you'll find it extremely difficult to persuade an air hostess that "flight mode" means that the phone part isn't on.
I've seen someone argue the toss with an air hostess about it. Eventually he agreed to turn it off and keep it off through-out the entire flight when she requested security come and eject him from the aeroplane.
Specifically, the feature invokes Microsoft Internet Explorer, even if the user has selected a different web browser as their default browser.
Outlook and MSN Messenger "suffer" the same problem too.
It is a simple case of them explicitly calling iexplore.exe with the URL rather than the URL with the "open" action and letting the operating system handle with the appropriately registered application.
This will naturally attract negative attention, simply because they are posting flamebait. They may not know it, but that's what it is.
Flamebait is the art of deliberately posting something inflamatory. If they "may not know it", then they aren't posting flamebait.
Quite often on Slashdot people's opinion gets mistaken for flamebait or trolling, however this is not surprising when you consider that Slashdot's voting system tends to encourage "group think".
People sometimes need to set their threshold a little lower to hear the intelligent (yet overlooked) comments.
Linux zealots are obsessed with making better software, helping people and making the world a better place
As much as I'd like to believe you, there are a large number of people who could be classed as zealots and aren't obsessed with any of the things you list above (try browsing with a threshold at -1 for starters, then move onto some newsgroups).
As with everything, there is always the vocal minority which spoil it for everyone else.
Is it really fair to call it technological regression? There's more to flight than raw speed.
Indeed. Here in the UK there is a massive market for cheap flights. We don't generally care about how long it takes to get from A to B (and we don't mind going via C and D) especially when, if we book early enough, we can get it for less than 10 pounds (about $15).
I know several people going skiing in February to Austria and the flight is costing them 35 pounds. It would have been only 7 pounds if they'd booked a fortnight earlier.
Article is/. but one thing worthy of note is that the copy protection on Gamecube also involves spinning the CD the wrong way round. To make a Linux distro you are going to need a very special CD burner
Not quite. Rather than writing data to the discs normally from the inside to the outside of the disc, Nintendo does it vice-versa and write the data to the disks from the outside in. Therefore the data is written to (and read from) the disk backwards. But the disk itself spins the normal way around.
First, a question: What's up with all this "Ctrl C" and Ctrl V" copy/paste stuff? In almost all Linux programs, when I want to copy a block of text (or a graphic or whatever) I just highlight the original,
(emphasis mine)
The problem here is that "almost all" isn't good enough.
At least in the Windows world, Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V work on "all" applications - none of this "almost" stuff.
Well, I run SpamAssassin 2.6 with Bayes algorithms on and I've found that the spam which contains a bunch of random words, one link and/or picture slips through completely.
As of yet, I've never managed to get it to sucessfully identify those as spam.
Short of installing something else, anyone got any suggestions? Configuration maybe?
I've tried a lot of media player programs for Windows: WinAmp2, WinAmp3, Real, RealOne, Windows Media Player, Musicmatch Jukebox, and for iPod use, MMJ, Ephpod, XPlay.
Try Anapod. Not sure if it is what you want or whether it is any good (as I haven't used it), however people do seem to rave about it.
Slashdot Mirror
Maybe, maybe not. Apple with the iPod have realised something that other manufacturers fail to grasp. People are fully prepared to pay more for something that looks good and has an easy to use interface. Tonnes of features and codecs isn't a high issue. For example, your majority user has never heard of FLAC or OGG, let alone want to use them.
Despite what Mac-zealots think, people aren't buying it because it's branded Apple - they're buying it because it looks and feels good.
All other manufacturers attempt to beat Apple on price - but by doing so they inevitably end up using inferior materials which means they come out with something that looks, and feels, cheap and nasty.
The closest thing I've seen to rival Apple is Toshiba's new HD based MP3 player. If it looks as good as Apple's then it will sell well - even if it is the same price.
Cost doesn't really bother me. If I'm going to carry something around with me all day and every day then I want something small, light and looks good.
The major problem I have with the iHP is that it's really ugly. Also if it is anything like the SlimX - the control system will be a mess.
It's probably the most illogical argument for a iPod but I just don't like the look of it - and if i'm going to spend buttloads of money, I want it to look good.
In other words, Windows and Office costs a third of your annual income. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis the per capital annual income of the US in 2002 was $30,832.
Therefore, Windows and Office would cost you a staggering $10,277. It is not surprising that piracy is rampant!
Also assuming Thailand has the same per capital annual income as Vietnam, then even when Microsoft reduced the price down to $40 it still would cost slightly a nasty $3,083 in the US.
The iHP product line is hard drive based, iFP is flash memory based. The tech specs don't tell you this, but if you wave your mouse over the products link you'll find it categorised there.
I have a SlimX CD/MP3 player and it's excellent, but I think i'd still pick an iPod over the iHP-120.
True, but they don't have a particulary realistic price (2 gig = $700, 4 gig = $1500).
It'll be a fair few years before the 1 gig one becomes a sensible price and many more before you can pick up a 4 gig one without remortaging your house ...
Bear in mind that this is Voice Recognition for a 400 mhz PocketPC handheld device and not some hulking great PowerMac with oddles of RAM and at least a Gigahertz processor.
It's not really that innovative--is it?
Maybe not, but still impressive given the limitation of your average PDA.
Office 2000 had support for voice recognition. Although admitidally it wasn't part of the OS and I don't know whether or not this was before Apple.
So, they save the file onto their PC, double click on it and it does exactly the same as it would have done if you run it from Outlook.
Your solution is merely an irritation and does nothing to solve the underlying problem.
He didn't reverse engineer it, he used a fake profile to get the contact information out without the security warning.
At least he had to jump through some hoops to get at it. With Pine all you need to do is parse a plain text file - it wouldn't surprise me if doing the same with Thunderbird or Evolution was also reasonably easy.
So? I can access the contacts in Pine by just reading a plain text file. No hack required.
Having said all that, I like the idea of having my contacts kept updated. I thought about writing something that did a mass email to my contacts with their details asking them to correct anything that is wrong.
An electronic solution would be substantially more elegant but I'm wary of using Plaxo. Any suggestions? Or is this a case of hack my own?
1. Modify an open source software package to fit a niche market
2. Sell installations, manuals, customization service, and support to that market
3. Profit!
Unfortunately I haven't seen many Open Source businesses manage to achieve point 3.
I'm sure everyone can mention a few that have done so (Redhat and Cygwin spring to mind) but there are vastly more that have either fallen by the wayside or are resorting to begging for money (Mandrake?).
Open Source is great, but it too isn't perfect ...
I logged in, picked up a sword, said hello to someone who wandered by (who ignored me). Went north and was killed by a wizard.
Total playing time: 7 minutes.
Funnily enough, I never bothered going back again.
Because the article infers that, on Windows, you would have to pay $10 to get your CD's converted to MP3.
Or get CDex for free.
Not patches but W2K SP1 broken my external modem (claimed the line was busy even though it hadn't attempted to open the line).
W2K SP2 disabled the right click menu option within explorer. When you right clicked on a folder or drive you didn't get anything.
Haven't tried SP4 yet as SP3 worked just fine.
ps. Am I the only one getting occasional 500 internal server errors from Slashdot?
I've seen someone argue the toss with an air hostess about it. Eventually he agreed to turn it off and keep it off through-out the entire flight when she requested security come and eject him from the aeroplane.
(No it wasn't airborne before you ask ...)
Outlook and MSN Messenger "suffer" the same problem too.
It is a simple case of them explicitly calling iexplore.exe with the URL rather than the URL with the "open" action and letting the operating system handle with the appropriately registered application.
Flamebait is the art of deliberately posting something inflamatory. If they "may not know it", then they aren't posting flamebait.
Quite often on Slashdot people's opinion gets mistaken for flamebait or trolling, however this is not surprising when you consider that Slashdot's voting system tends to encourage "group think".
People sometimes need to set their threshold a little lower to hear the intelligent (yet overlooked) comments.
As much as I'd like to believe you, there are a large number of people who could be classed as zealots and aren't obsessed with any of the things you list above (try browsing with a threshold at -1 for starters, then move onto some newsgroups).
As with everything, there is always the vocal minority which spoil it for everyone else.
Just because you don't agree with someones opinion doesn't necessarily make it flamebait.
Indeed. Here in the UK there is a massive market for cheap flights. We don't generally care about how long it takes to get from A to B (and we don't mind going via C and D) especially when, if we book early enough, we can get it for less than 10 pounds (about $15).
I know several people going skiing in February to Austria and the flight is costing them 35 pounds. It would have been only 7 pounds if they'd booked a fortnight earlier.
Not quite. Rather than writing data to the discs normally from the inside to the outside of the disc, Nintendo does it vice-versa and write the data to the disks from the outside in. Therefore the data is written to (and read from) the disk backwards. But the disk itself spins the normal way around.
(emphasis mine)
The problem here is that "almost all" isn't good enough.
At least in the Windows world, Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V work on "all" applications - none of this "almost" stuff.
As of yet, I've never managed to get it to sucessfully identify those as spam.
Short of installing something else, anyone got any suggestions? Configuration maybe?
Try Anapod. Not sure if it is what you want or whether it is any good (as I haven't used it), however people do seem to rave about it.