for the lazy: it says that the oscilloscope pong game (called "Tennis programming") was developed by Willy Higinbotham (no typos there), a chainsmoker (unfiltered, no less!) in 1958, beating SpaceWar by nearly three years.
Actually, the reason I'm spoiled bandwidth-wise (as you seem to be implying by the Mom and Dad's basement remark) is because I've been using my college's OC-3 line for nine months (and, damn, I miss it!). Before that, for a year, I was shelling out $50 a month for RoadRunner (now, ALSO, AOL/TW, but it was no Mom-and-Pop then, either, for sure). It was nice to be able to just turn my computer on and have it be online, the way that Grandma and my little sister expect it to. I was simply referring to the interface and the lag and the rest of the crap I've put up with under AOL before.
Why doesn't someone buy out an old radio station, and deliver streaming mp3's through wireless networking, via shoutcast and the like (legal difficulties aside).
Seriously, though, with enough juice, couldn't a radio station deliver Internet access to a large area the way an Airport(TM) delivers network access to your living room?
This is the first and foremost reason why we need open standards on things like cell phones. If the companies that built these little gadgets that are supposed to do so much allowed the consumers to have their own personal say in what they WANT them to do, each person could define their service based on their needs, and could even program the devices (or hire the local geek) to do it their way.
XML and Java are incredibly usable by anyone who's willing to try, thanks to the fact that both are cross-platform and have been a long time in the making, and also thanks to the availability of freely distributable compilers/interpreters, and applications which use them for so many reasons that it would be ridiculous to even think about changing all of these things around to deal with anything new and proprietary and NOT FREE.
So Microsoft has to make these tools free.
The only way to let Microsoft know how completely pathetic this move is would be to ignore it entirely. I mean, seriously, how often do any of us need to see a Microsoft article on a fine site like Slashdot? Can't we cover more atrocities of human nature, more scientific studies, more juiced-up hardware and software?
While I'm ranting and raving, I'd like to talk about Americanism, and what it means to me. Being an American -- that is, being free to be me, to think and feel the way I want to think and feel, and not hurting anyone in the process, and being able to believe in what I know is true -- has always meant that I could be giving of myself no matter what. I'm a second-year Software Engineering student, and I dread the day that I have to work for someone who doesn't see the world exactly that way. I understand that people tend to fear not having enough money to afford a "normal" life: large TV, nice car, big house, big yard, spouse and kids optional. However, I believe that if you care enough about doing something, -- programming, writing, painting, running, dancing -- ANYTHING, and if you can try to understand other people as well, you'll not only survive, you'll find that the quality of life is better when you're open to other people. Imagine families sharing their dinner tables, their yards and their pools with their neighbors, and, with a little consideration, no one gets angry or frustrated. Maybe I believe too much in the phrase "property is theft", but I'd give every last cent in my pocket for the next person -- IF IT WOULD HELP THEM. That is, we have to stop throwing money at problems and notice the lives around us. If we're not willing to tend to a sick or dying person with our own heart and hands, who are we, really?
For those of you who think I'm getting off topic, I'd like to know what exactly Microsoft has done to change the world. Proprietary, closed code is not exactly the worst thing in the world, but if Microsoft wants to prove that open source doesn't work, why don't they set up a project of their own -- some small side job -- and employ the aide of folks like those of the Slashdot community to help them with it?
Open Source is "un-American" my ass. True Americans are brothers and sisters all the way, or nothing. Sharing responsibility and credit for a project that is reviewed by peers and experts, and can help beginners to learn about the way things work is not "the American way"? I lived close near four farms for 8 years of my life, and I've never seen that much BS.
I just read the Hitchhiker's series last year, after finding the first on the shelf of my mom's boyfriend. Immediately after finishing it, I hit up my local used bookstore for anything and everything they had by Adams. As a writer, a thinker and a satirist, he has enlightened me in the way I myself write, think, live and dream. I've told myself numerous times since reading his series that there has never before been a Douglas Adams, and there can never be another quite like him, though many will try (and who can blame them?).
His books made us look at the universe in a new light, bringing the cosmos closer and putting sanity in chaos. In death, he will once again cause us to look up in a much differed way.
Well, suppose the eyepiece were mounted on the head or face somehow. Sure, a helmet would be ridiculous, but perhaps a model that flipped down like snap-on sunglasses, or even something mounted on a baseball cap or visor would do the trick. That would be great because an earpiece/microphone wouldn't be too hard to implement, or even provide as an "accessory" (for those of us who don't immediately NEED it to be a cell phone/MP3 player ; ). Don't forget, also, the recent stories on retinal displays, and the not-as-recent developments with tiny LCD eyepieces.
Of course, this raises a few questions:
How much storage/power do you think we could fit in something that was worn continuously? Would solar power (or, more likely, solar-rechargable batteries) be a viable power source?
With all the talk of wearable computers and transistors that can be implemented in clothing, I don't see any of this as being a far stretch from what's already being developed.
I mean, seriously, that's the only way open source is going to make the leap from being viewed as basically kid stuff to actually being accepted as a means of doing business. We have to have intelligent (read: overly committed, personable, friendly) coders to figure out how these changes might be made by someone who was willing and able. That doesn't mean, however, that you have to support every hack some kid makes to your code, but if ANOTHER coder used your stuff and wanted to implement something of his/her own, you should be able to foresee it. Of course, this only applies to a business model of OS programming, and it only applies if you WANT to provide support, but that's the only way to do it, as far as I see.
called OpenUniverse over at SourceForge.
Really nice graphics, rendered in OpenGL, great interface, support for fullscreen, and originally developed for use with GeForce (which means it looks great on my comp. ; )
That's interesting. I played with my school's Hero-1 robot and the programming was all in Hex, via a keypad (0-F, of COURSE!) on the top of the machine. I can do THAT, and I've always been able to do BASIC, and I picked up HTML easily (completely out of context, I know), PLUS I learn actual verbal languages easily, but for some reason I suck at Java for my CS lab, and I can't comprehend the kernel code, or get started in Linux programming. Go fig.
Slashdot Mirror
I found a story about this here:
http://www.pong-story.com/thefirst.htm
for the lazy: it says that the oscilloscope pong game (called "Tennis programming") was developed by Willy Higinbotham (no typos there), a chainsmoker (unfiltered, no less!) in 1958, beating SpaceWar by nearly three years.
Lots of good tech info on the page, though.
How about depressing para-techno bands?
Actually, the reason I'm spoiled bandwidth-wise (as you seem to be implying by the Mom and Dad's basement remark) is because I've been using my college's OC-3 line for nine months (and, damn, I miss it!). Before that, for a year, I was shelling out $50 a month for RoadRunner (now, ALSO, AOL/TW, but it was no Mom-and-Pop then, either, for sure). It was nice to be able to just turn my computer on and have it be online, the way that Grandma and my little sister expect it to. I was simply referring to the interface and the lag and the rest of the crap I've put up with under AOL before.
Why doesn't someone buy out an old radio station, and deliver streaming mp3's through wireless networking, via shoutcast and the like (legal difficulties aside). Seriously, though, with enough juice, couldn't a radio station deliver Internet access to a large area the way an Airport(TM) delivers network access to your living room?
This is the first and foremost reason why we need open standards on things like cell phones. If the companies that built these little gadgets that are supposed to do so much allowed the consumers to have their own personal say in what they WANT them to do, each person could define their service based on their needs, and could even program the devices (or hire the local geek) to do it their way.
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/librar y/l-tip-prompt/
XML and Java are incredibly usable by anyone who's willing to try, thanks to the fact that both are cross-platform and have been a long time in the making, and also thanks to the availability of freely distributable compilers/interpreters, and applications which use them for so many reasons that it would be ridiculous to even think about changing all of these things around to deal with anything new and proprietary and NOT FREE.
So Microsoft has to make these tools free.
The only way to let Microsoft know how completely pathetic this move is would be to ignore it entirely. I mean, seriously, how often do any of us need to see a Microsoft article on a fine site like Slashdot? Can't we cover more atrocities of human nature, more scientific studies, more juiced-up hardware and software?
While I'm ranting and raving, I'd like to talk about Americanism, and what it means to me. Being an American -- that is, being free to be me, to think and feel the way I want to think and feel, and not hurting anyone in the process, and being able to believe in what I know is true -- has always meant that I could be giving of myself no matter what. I'm a second-year Software Engineering student, and I dread the day that I have to work for someone who doesn't see the world exactly that way. I understand that people tend to fear not having enough money to afford a "normal" life: large TV, nice car, big house, big yard, spouse and kids optional. However, I believe that if you care enough about doing something, -- programming, writing, painting, running, dancing -- ANYTHING, and if you can try to understand other people as well, you'll not only survive, you'll find that the quality of life is better when you're open to other people. Imagine families sharing their dinner tables, their yards and their pools with their neighbors, and, with a little consideration, no one gets angry or frustrated. Maybe I believe too much in the phrase "property is theft", but I'd give every last cent in my pocket for the next person -- IF IT WOULD HELP THEM. That is, we have to stop throwing money at problems and notice the lives around us. If we're not willing to tend to a sick or dying person with our own heart and hands, who are we, really?
For those of you who think I'm getting off topic, I'd like to know what exactly Microsoft has done to change the world. Proprietary, closed code is not exactly the worst thing in the world, but if Microsoft wants to prove that open source doesn't work, why don't they set up a project of their own -- some small side job -- and employ the aide of folks like those of the Slashdot community to help them with it?
Open Source is "un-American" my ass. True Americans are brothers and sisters all the way, or nothing. Sharing responsibility and credit for a project that is reviewed by peers and experts, and can help beginners to learn about the way things work is not "the American way"? I lived close near four farms for 8 years of my life, and I've never seen that much BS.
Thank you.
I just read the Hitchhiker's series last year, after finding the first on the shelf of my mom's boyfriend. Immediately after finishing it, I hit up my local used bookstore for anything and everything they had by Adams. As a writer, a thinker and a satirist, he has enlightened me in the way I myself write, think, live and dream. I've told myself numerous times since reading his series that there has never before been a Douglas Adams, and there can never be another quite like him, though many will try (and who can blame them?). His books made us look at the universe in a new light, bringing the cosmos closer and putting sanity in chaos. In death, he will once again cause us to look up in a much differed way.
Well, suppose the eyepiece were mounted on the head or face somehow. Sure, a helmet would be ridiculous, but perhaps a model that flipped down like snap-on sunglasses, or even something mounted on a baseball cap or visor would do the trick. That would be great because an earpiece/microphone wouldn't be too hard to implement, or even provide as an "accessory" (for those of us who don't immediately NEED it to be a cell phone/MP3 player ; ). Don't forget, also, the recent stories on retinal displays, and the not-as-recent developments with tiny LCD eyepieces.
Of course, this raises a few questions:
How much storage/power do you think we could fit in something that was worn continuously? Would solar power (or, more likely, solar-rechargable batteries) be a viable power source?
With all the talk of wearable computers and transistors that can be implemented in clothing, I don't see any of this as being a far stretch from what's already being developed.
I mean, seriously, that's the only way open source is going to make the leap from being viewed as basically kid stuff to actually being accepted as a means of doing business. We have to have intelligent (read: overly committed, personable, friendly) coders to figure out how these changes might be made by someone who was willing and able. That doesn't mean, however, that you have to support every hack some kid makes to your code, but if ANOTHER coder used your stuff and wanted to implement something of his/her own, you should be able to foresee it. Of course, this only applies to a business model of OS programming, and it only applies if you WANT to provide support, but that's the only way to do it, as far as I see.
called OpenUniverse over at SourceForge. Really nice graphics, rendered in OpenGL, great interface, support for fullscreen, and originally developed for use with GeForce (which means it looks great on my comp. ; )
That's interesting. I played with my school's Hero-1 robot and the programming was all in Hex, via a keypad (0-F, of COURSE!) on the top of the machine. I can do THAT, and I've always been able to do BASIC, and I picked up HTML easily (completely out of context, I know), PLUS I learn actual verbal languages easily, but for some reason I suck at Java for my CS lab, and I can't comprehend the kernel code, or get started in Linux programming. Go fig.
It's like Blair Witch for geeks.
Please, dear LORD, let it have the GeForce driver and WORK!!! There is no way I'll EVER be able to compile the server from the CVS rep.