"A flexible magnetic disk is housed inside a cavity created between the top and bottom layers of the card."
"A window is provided on the bottom and a shutter that slides between the layers of the card, backs this window sealing the disk enclosure. An external mechanism (in the StorReader) can actuate this shutter opening the window and providing access to the recording disk."
Is it just me, or is this sounding very familiar? I think I have a couple hundred things around my room that fit this description.
Don't get me wrong though, having a 100 meg floppy the the size of a credit card would be great. If it can stand up to daily use and carrying, with the potential of scaling, then I may well seriously consider getting one when they appear locally.
Just watch you don't put in in your eelskin wallet! (Yes, I know that was solved already.)
My biggest selling point was essentially the density of information that I can get on a palm. I can have all of my classes and appointments for the rest of the year, all of my phone numbers, most of my class notes typed on the Stowaway (best $150 CDN I ever spent, now I just need to learn a good equation set so I can type my calculus notes to), full dictionary and prescription reference, and a game to kill time. To have all of this with me in dead tree format would require another backpack, but instead I can just slip it in to my pocket.
And I know that it's not just the wow factor of having all of this with me. Two weeks ago, my backlight died, probably due to condensation from the regatta I was at. On a Visor Prism this is devastating, because you can't see anything without it. I call Handspring, and for $25 I have a brand new one at my door in four days. Yay customer support! I had everything on my computer, as I'm quite happy to sync when I get home every day, but those four days without my palm were surprisingly difficult. I grabbed a little notebook to scribble everything into until I got my palm back to life, but I didn't have any of the references that I would normally consult several times a day.
So yes, some of us are using our palms.
I'm working my way up to that...
on
Go Go Gadget Minisaw
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· Score: 4, Informative
As an active student who's far to busy, I found that I tend to need an odd range of things constantly. After killing several blazers and doing a weekend shuffle to get everything out of my school uniform into normal clothing, I gave in and got a 3/4 length fishing vest.
The thing is surprisingly comfortable, and it holds everything I need. If you were to catch me during the day, on hand I'll have:
Handspring Visor Stowaway Keyboard for above Wallet Half dozen other assorted copy cards, ect. Pens, pencils, fountain pen... Keys Multi-tool (Leatherman Wave) Electrical Tape A spare roll of film or two Link cable for TI-83+ Assorted blank paper, old paper and forms Spare AA batteries Maglight Pager
One really nice thing about the 3/4 length is that it doesn't hinder movement or sitting like the full length vests do, and hides nicely under a blazer or fleece vest for less obtrusive ware.
I would happily recommend the Simms Mesh Vest to anyone who wanted to keep stuff on hand. It's lasted me two years of consistant (12/7) usege with minimal wear and no problems. You should be able to find it at a local outdoors or fishing shop.
Actually, I've gotten to the point that I can't sleep without a fan going. It's amazing how a couple of years with the computer on 24/7 will condition you.
Last summer I managed to throughly FUBAR my machine trying to upgrade it, of course. I went to bed and couldn't sleep. After realizing, I get up, turned on the machine and let it hang so I could get to sleep.
As a current high school student, I can say from experience that doing algebrea and graphing with grafiti sucks. I've played with the PowerOne Graphing calculator, and mathmatically it's as powerful as my TI-83+, but it's way faster to type in equations on a dedicated keypad DESIGNED FOR MATHMATICAL ENTRY than it is to either write it in or try to find the little popup menu on a 160x160 screen that has the sine function.
If PDAs are going to replace the calculaor, then they're going to have to be bigger to emulate the interface like those found on the Texas Instruments stuff. Closer to PADDs really..
Constantly ghosting drives when people screw up there machines is only going to be a make work project. If you've got a network drive for them to use, and you don't want them to be mucking with the machine anyways, why let them?
Deep Freeze will stop them for you. Lets the users do whatever they want to the HD, but once the machine is rebooted, back to a clean state. So anything saved that was on the local disk ain't there anymore, except what should be. As a benifit, this will render you virus free too, as it can't do anything.
This one got installed at my school last year. It certainly was a nasty shock for the people that were used to saving gobs of stuff on the hard drives and coming back to the same machines. Some most entertaining cries of dispair as they sat down at the machine they were using yesterday and went looking for their files. But they did quickly switch to using the network to save everything...
I'm not sure whether the book is out of print or not, but the text is availible on my website for anyone interested in reading it. I do this for convienience only, as an avid book fan. If it is still in print, go pick up a copy. At worst, check if there is a copy in your local library. As much as I enjoy reading on my visor, it's still not quite the same as a paperback. (Nice and small in comparison though. Great for trips!)
Slashdot Mirror
Actaully, at that point, I think it's called chemistry.
Most definately much closer to a floppy. From StarCard Technology Page:
"A flexible magnetic disk is housed inside a cavity created between the top and bottom layers of the card."
"A window is provided on the bottom and a shutter that slides between the layers of the card, backs this window sealing the disk enclosure. An external mechanism (in the StorReader) can actuate this shutter opening the window and providing access to the recording disk."
Is it just me, or is this sounding very familiar? I think I have a couple hundred things around my room that fit this description.
Don't get me wrong though, having a 100 meg floppy the the size of a credit card would be great. If it can stand up to daily use and carrying, with the potential of scaling, then I may well seriously consider getting one when they appear locally.
Just watch you don't put in in your eelskin wallet!
(Yes, I know that was solved already.)
My biggest selling point was essentially the density of information that I can get on a palm. I can have all of my classes and appointments for the rest of the year, all of my phone numbers, most of my class notes typed on the Stowaway (best $150 CDN I ever spent, now I just need to learn a good equation set so I can type my calculus notes to), full dictionary and prescription reference, and a game to kill time. To have all of this with me in dead tree format would require another backpack, but instead I can just slip it in to my pocket.
And I know that it's not just the wow factor of having all of this with me. Two weeks ago, my backlight died, probably due to condensation from the regatta I was at. On a Visor Prism this is devastating, because you can't see anything without it. I call Handspring, and for $25 I have a brand new one at my door in four days. Yay customer support! I had everything on my computer, as I'm quite happy to sync when I get home every day, but those four days without my palm were surprisingly difficult. I grabbed a little notebook to scribble everything into until I got my palm back to life, but I didn't have any of the references that I would normally consult several times a day.
So yes, some of us are using our palms.
As an active student who's far to busy, I found that I tend to need an odd range of things constantly. After killing several blazers and doing a weekend shuffle to get everything out of my school uniform into normal clothing, I gave in and got a 3/4 length fishing vest.
The thing is surprisingly comfortable, and it holds everything I need. If you were to catch me during the day, on hand I'll have:
Handspring Visor
Stowaway Keyboard for above
Wallet
Half dozen other assorted copy cards, ect.
Pens, pencils, fountain pen...
Keys
Multi-tool (Leatherman Wave)
Electrical Tape
A spare roll of film or two
Link cable for TI-83+
Assorted blank paper, old paper and forms
Spare AA batteries
Maglight
Pager
One really nice thing about the 3/4 length is that it doesn't hinder movement or sitting like the full length vests do, and hides nicely under a blazer or fleece vest for less obtrusive ware.
I would happily recommend the Simms Mesh Vest to anyone who wanted to keep stuff on hand. It's lasted me two years of consistant (12/7) usege with minimal wear and no problems. You should be able to find it at a local outdoors or fishing shop.
Evan
Actually, I've gotten to the point that I can't sleep without a fan going. It's amazing how a couple of years with the computer on 24/7 will condition you.
Last summer I managed to throughly FUBAR my machine trying to upgrade it, of course. I went to bed and couldn't sleep. After realizing, I get up, turned on the machine and let it hang so I could get to sleep.
Sorta scary actually...
As a current high school student, I can say from experience that doing algebrea and graphing with grafiti sucks. I've played with the PowerOne Graphing calculator, and mathmatically it's as powerful as my TI-83+, but it's way faster to type in equations on a dedicated keypad DESIGNED FOR MATHMATICAL ENTRY than it is to either write it in or try to find the little popup menu on a 160x160 screen that has the sine function.
If PDAs are going to replace the calculaor, then they're going to have to be bigger to emulate the interface like those found on the Texas Instruments stuff. Closer to PADDs really..
Constantly ghosting drives when people screw up there machines is only going to be a make work project. If you've got a network drive for them to use, and you don't want them to be mucking with the machine anyways, why let them?
Deep Freeze will stop them for you. Lets the users do whatever they want to the HD, but once the machine is rebooted, back to a clean state. So anything saved that was on the local disk ain't there anymore, except what should be. As a benifit, this will render you virus free too, as it can't do anything.
This one got installed at my school last year. It certainly was a nasty shock for the people that were used to saving gobs of stuff on the hard drives and coming back to the same machines. Some most entertaining cries of dispair as they sat down at the machine they were using yesterday and went looking for their files. But they did quickly switch to using the network to save everything...
http://www.ewillms.f2s.com