As a semi-pro composer, I'm definitely getting one of these. Hopefully battery life won't be too much of an issue, but even if it is, it's worth it. I can't think of the number of times I've had a really nice melody or beat and lost it because I didn't have some sort of a musical sketch pad to jot it down on.
Sadly, it's not out yet. Should be released this summer. I think that Casio and maybe Yamaha also have some PDA-style musical sketchpads, but since I already have a pilot, this is more appealing. Plus, the software looks really excellent.
Actually, the last time a solar storm this scale happened, in 1989 IIRC, people flying over the north pole (such as from northern Europe to the east coast of the USA) got something like 10,000 X-Rays worth of radiation. The van allen belts don't cover the areas around the magnetic poles.
I don't know if it's around anymore, but I got a really good start using logo. It's good for learning basic programming skills (loops, etc) as well as applied logic and geometry.
For those who aren't familiar with it, you basically have a cursor (called a Turtle) that draws a line behind it. There are commands to move the turtle, change the color of the line, in a friendly programming environment. I've seen everything from games to really wicked fractals done in Logo.
This was, admittedly, over ten years ago, on an Apple IIe. Anyone know if it still exists?
If you can block out advertisements, you are no longer paying. You are essentially stealing.
When I get my snail mail, the first thing I do is sort through it and dump all the glossy ads in the recycling bin. Same with the newspaper. This is my right-- that paper is being delivered to me, and as such is mine to do as I wish with.
Now, when I use a web browser, it's downloading files from a site onto my computer. Who's to say that those files once downloaded onto my computer aren't fair game for throwing in the trash, if I choose to do that.
In general, I've had problems with just about every PalmOS game that uses the buttons as an interface. They're just way too slow. If you compare the tactile response on a GameBoy pad versus the Pilot, you'll notice that you can get a lot better reaction times on the GB. Also, the layout of the buttons on the Pilot is truly dreadful for gaming; I can't even really play tetris.
What would be a welcome piece of hardware for people who are really serious about this would be a gamepad that plugs into the serial port. But at that point, you may as well just get a GameBoy.
I thought that there were already various libraries and systems to support ear poping sound on linux someting called ALSA or the like but I wouldn't know because my computer never has been able to say a word to me (I think it's mute)
Next time, read the article, OK? It was specifically said that (unlike ALSA) OpenAL would not be a part of the kernel or a module. You're saying, "Why do we need Mesa when there are already drivers for my VGA card?" OpenAL will provide functionality (3D audio) that doesn't currently exist in the sound drivers that it will sit on top of.
What the hell are you talking about?!? Virtually every high-rated comment in this thread is in a agreement with you. Where are the hypocritical/.ers that you're referring to (and please don't point to some -5 flamebait post).
You say that we "have an obligation to support Alex de Joode in his legal right to use the domain he registered." Well guess what? We are! Nobody's acting the way you think they are.
On the other hand, suppose you had strong-encrypted all of your email. You then become involved in a lawsuit in which it would be better to loose all of your email than to have it come out into the open. Simply overwrite your private key used to decrypt the email with zeros (and then pseudo-random number, and then zeros, etc.). You email has just turning into so much garbage on the disk, and there's nothing for you to refuse to turn over to the court.
In this culture, I figure people have the right to name themselves; if you feel like a
geek, you are one. But there are some clues: You are online a good part of the time. You feel a personal connection with technology, less its mechanics than its applications and consequences. You're a fan of The Simpsons and The Matrix. You saw Phantom Menace opening weekend despite the hype and despite Jar Jar. You are obsessive about pop culture, which is what you talk about with your friends or coworkers every Monday.
Gah! So when did being a fscking fanboy qualify people for geekdom? Damnit, first the 3l337 h4x0rs and CNN corrupted the good name of hack, now this dope is screwing up geekdom. Oh no! What shall I call myself now? In the imoral words of Da-glo Abortions, "ARGH FUCK KILL!"
Yeah, I think it's fairly ironic that a fairly accurate analysis of open source software development's issues with UIs for the general market is coming from Sendmail.org. Or maybe they just realize it more than most.
One interface triumph I would have to add to the second list is the newer version of linuxconf that comes with Mandrake 6.1 and above.
I agree; I was hoping to be able to vote for them. Furthermore, I don't really think that Apache or XFree86 are charities, so much as software development organizations. Not to say I don't appreciate them or their work; I do!
vim does indeed rule! I like the syntax highlighting, automatic C style indenting that recognises the beginning and end of {}s, and so forth. Now if only someone would port perl-style regexps to it.
Lets face it, no matter what window manager or GUI you're using, themes.org is always there to suck up more of your machines valuable RAM in a convenient and simply excellent manner! I nominate Themes.ORG!
OK, since there seems to be so much anti-religious flamebait out there, I thought I'd argue the other side. Disclaimer: I'm not a member of any organized religion.
I think it's a perfectly good idea that the scientists talk with various religious authorities before continuing. People are arguing that they didn't do that before they invented the nuclear bomb, therefore why should they ask now. I've got to wonder; if the world's religious authorities had been involved in the decision to build nuclear weapons, would Mutually Assured Destruction have ever become our primary foreign policy?
Another reason why it's a good idea: the injection of a new and different set of ideas into any experiment will generally benefit that experiment (note: this is a generalization and there are of course exceptions). Anyone who says that religious authorities have nothing to contribute to this work have never argued philosophy with a rabbi;-).
I've been using various distros for about three years now, and I've been using Unix systems for longer than that. I'm currently a successful Unix systems administrator. I've tried at least two or three times to get a Debian install up and running, and I simply can't figure out dselect. Has it been replaced by apt-* now, or is there some other package maintainance tool?
I'd really like to start using Debian, because from what I've heard, its at top-notch distibution for advanced uses, but I just can't wrap my brain around that fscking package tool.
Oh wait, last time I checked TEXT was VISUAL. You can not FEEL the web, you can not HEAR it, or Taste it, or smell it. You can SEE it, or someone/thing can see it and translate it into sound for you. But it is inherently visual.
Last time I checked, the web was a bunch of electrons going over some wires. You can't SEE, HEAR, TASTE, SMELL or TOUCH those electrons. Oh sure, you can get some software to translate it into text or sound or braille, but it's inherently electrons.
Heh. I had this fileserver running NT 4.0 SP3 one time, with five 9GB drives running as a volume set (makes them look like a single volume, but it isn't RAID). So when we ran out of space, I added a sixth drive to the set and rebooted. It shut down happily and went into NT's happy happy blue screen of fsck^H^H^H^Hchkdsk. About ten minutes later, chkdsk had incremented to 1%. Of the first stage.
All in all, that particular reboot took over eighteen hours. Beat that.
Having had to take apart and upgrade a few Dimensions, I feel pretty confident saying that they're not for the hardware-savvy crowd. They seem like they're actually designed to be difficult to take apart, let alone removing/replacing the hard drives.
I dunno, I would much rather have an Optiplex. One button and the case opens, PCI bus is on a removable riser, just a really nice box.
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As a semi-pro composer, I'm definitely getting one of these. Hopefully battery life won't be too much of an issue, but even if it is, it's worth it. I can't think of the number of times I've had a really nice melody or beat and lost it because I didn't have some sort of a musical sketch pad to jot it down on.
Sadly, it's not out yet. Should be released this summer. I think that Casio and maybe Yamaha also have some PDA-style musical sketchpads, but since I already have a pilot, this is more appealing. Plus, the software looks really excellent.
Actually, the last time a solar storm this scale happened, in 1989 IIRC, people flying over the north pole (such as from northern Europe to the east coast of the USA) got something like 10,000 X-Rays worth of radiation. The van allen belts don't cover the areas around the magnetic poles.
Disclaimer: IANAAP (I Am Not An Astrophysicist)
I don't know if it's around anymore, but I got a really good start using logo. It's good for learning basic programming skills (loops, etc) as well as applied logic and geometry.
For those who aren't familiar with it, you basically have a cursor (called a Turtle) that draws a line behind it. There are commands to move the turtle, change the color of the line, in a friendly programming environment. I've seen everything from games to really wicked fractals done in Logo.
This was, admittedly, over ten years ago, on an Apple IIe. Anyone know if it still exists?
--Alex
If you can block out advertisements, you are no longer paying. You are essentially stealing.
When I get my snail mail, the first thing I do is sort through it and dump all the glossy ads in the recycling bin. Same with the newspaper. This is my right-- that paper is being delivered to me, and as such is mine to do as I wish with.
Now, when I use a web browser, it's downloading files from a site onto my computer. Who's to say that those files once downloaded onto my computer aren't fair game for throwing in the trash, if I choose to do that.
I think these two scenarios are very comparable.
In general, I've had problems with just about every PalmOS game that uses the buttons as an interface. They're just way too slow. If you compare the tactile response on a GameBoy pad versus the Pilot, you'll notice that you can get a lot better reaction times on the GB. Also, the layout of the buttons on the Pilot is truly dreadful for gaming; I can't even really play tetris.
What would be a welcome piece of hardware for people who are really serious about this would be a gamepad that plugs into the serial port. But at that point, you may as well just get a GameBoy.
You forgot:
- Revolves around Hemos
- 1 0wN 7h3 un1v3r53!!!
What's really ironic is that none of those things are good examples of irony. They're just bummers.
I thought that there were already various libraries and systems to support ear poping sound on linux someting called ALSA or the like but I wouldn't know because my computer never has been able to say a word to me (I think it's mute)
Next time, read the article, OK? It was specifically said that (unlike ALSA) OpenAL would not be a part of the kernel or a module. You're saying, "Why do we need Mesa when there are already drivers for my VGA card?" OpenAL will provide functionality (3D audio) that doesn't currently exist in the sound drivers that it will sit on top of.
What the hell are you talking about?!? Virtually every high-rated comment in this thread is in a agreement with you. Where are the hypocritical /.ers that you're referring to (and please don't point to some -5 flamebait post).
You say that we "have an obligation to support Alex de Joode in his legal right to use the domain he registered." Well guess what? We are! Nobody's acting the way you think they are.
On the other hand, suppose you had strong-encrypted all of your email. You then become involved in a lawsuit in which it would be better to loose all of your email than to have it come out into the open. Simply overwrite your private key used to decrypt the email with zeros (and then pseudo-random number, and then zeros, etc.). You email has just turning into so much garbage on the disk, and there's nothing for you to refuse to turn over to the court.
Gah! So when did being a fscking fanboy qualify people for geekdom? Damnit, first the 3l337 h4x0rs and CNN corrupted the good name of hack, now this dope is screwing up geekdom. Oh no! What shall I call myself now? In the imoral words of Da-glo Abortions, "ARGH FUCK KILL!"
Yeah, I think it's fairly ironic that a fairly accurate analysis of open source software development's issues with UIs for the general market is coming from Sendmail.org. Or maybe they just realize it more than most.
One interface triumph I would have to add to the second list is the newer version of linuxconf that comes with Mandrake 6.1 and above.
Good idea. Here's mine! Now I'd better go join the EFF. I noticed that their site is /.ed, though.
--Alex
Ahh, why the heck not.
I agree; I was hoping to be able to vote for them. Furthermore, I don't really think that Apache or XFree86 are charities, so much as software development organizations. Not to say I don't appreciate them or their work; I do!
I nominate Richard M. Stallman for best dressed, because it's not the clothes that make the man.
And who were those people who patented streaming media sales? I nominate them.
--Alex
I heartily agree! The keyboard nivana that is vim can't be matched by any other console app that I know of.
Vi renders at least a quarter of the keys on a 104-key keyboard no longer necessary;
Vi can be considered therapy for RSI;
Vi users have been clinically demonstrated to become 700% more productive using less(1).
--Alex
vim does indeed rule! I like the syntax highlighting, automatic C style indenting that recognises the beginning and end of {}s, and so forth. Now if only someone would port perl-style regexps to it.
--Alex
Lets face it, no matter what window manager or GUI you're using, themes.org is always there to suck up more of your machines valuable RAM in a convenient and simply excellent manner! I nominate Themes.ORG!
OK, since there seems to be so much anti-religious flamebait out there, I thought I'd argue the other side. Disclaimer: I'm not a member of any organized religion.
;-).
I think it's a perfectly good idea that the scientists talk with various religious authorities before continuing. People are arguing that they didn't do that before they invented the nuclear bomb, therefore why should they ask now. I've got to wonder; if the world's religious authorities had been involved in the decision to build nuclear weapons, would Mutually Assured Destruction have ever become our primary foreign policy?
Another reason why it's a good idea: the injection of a new and different set of ideas into any experiment will generally benefit that experiment (note: this is a generalization and there are of course exceptions). Anyone who says that religious authorities have nothing to contribute to this work have never argued philosophy with a rabbi
Just my $0.02
--Alex
I've been using various distros for about three years now, and I've been using Unix systems for longer than that. I'm currently a successful Unix systems administrator. I've tried at least two or three times to get a Debian install up and running, and I simply can't figure out dselect. Has it been replaced by apt-* now, or is there some other package maintainance tool?
I'd really like to start using Debian, because from what I've heard, its at top-notch distibution for advanced uses, but I just can't wrap my brain around that fscking package tool.
--Alex
OK, I just know that I've got prior art.
--algae
Oh wait, last time I checked TEXT was VISUAL. You can not FEEL the web, you can not HEAR it, or Taste it, or smell it. You can SEE it, or someone/thing can see it and translate it into sound for you. But it is inherently visual.
Last time I checked, the web was a bunch of electrons going over some wires. You can't SEE, HEAR, TASTE, SMELL or TOUCH those electrons. Oh sure, you can get some software to translate it into text or sound or braille, but it's inherently electrons.
:-P
Heh. I had this fileserver running NT 4.0 SP3 one time, with five 9GB drives running as a volume set (makes them look like a single volume, but it isn't RAID). So when we ran out of space, I added a sixth drive to the set and rebooted. It shut down happily and went into NT's happy happy blue screen of fsck^H^H^H^Hchkdsk. About ten minutes later, chkdsk had incremented to 1%. Of the first stage.
All in all, that particular reboot took over eighteen hours. Beat that.
Having had to take apart and upgrade a few Dimensions, I feel pretty confident saying that they're not for the hardware-savvy crowd. They seem like they're actually designed to be difficult to take apart, let alone removing/replacing the hard drives.
I dunno, I would much rather have an Optiplex. One button and the case opens, PCI bus is on a removable riser, just a really nice box.