I saw on the local news here in Detroit about this device and they were interviewing a user of the devise who vouches for its effectiveness in screening calls. So I guess they were effective but I do not have one and cannot vouch for it so YMMV.
------ Return the bells of Balangiga.
Modest HW
on
PVR For Linux
·
· Score: 2, Informative
From a description on the site:
PC Hardware
The PC hardware I have chosen to build the Video Disk Recorder consists of the following components:
Motherboard ASUS P5A BIOS version 1.009 HDD 37.5GB IBM DPTA353750 U-DMA-66 9ms (running with on-board EIDE controller, so I'm not using the full U-DMA-66 speed) AMD K6-II 450MHz 128 MB RAM simple VGA card (no X running on this system) Longshine LCS-8038TX network card (using the RTL8139) 3.5" floppy drive 3 Siemens PCI-DVB Sat (digital satellite receiver card)
Networks will be scared to death
on
PVR For Linux
·
· Score: 1
I wonder what the minimum hardware requirements for this machine will be? Looks like this can allow you to view your favorite tv programs at your own leisure in the not so distant future and probably free from commercials. The other day, I hear over the radio about a sports commentator complaining that you can view a baseball game in 20 minutes "minus the scratching and spitting, commercials, etc." which is a self-induced pain if your home team always looses. At least the duration is minimized and you only consume a bottle of beer so you cannot get DUI.
We are supposed to be a community of geeks and as such do not know a lot on the business side of things.
These businessmen should probably know a thing or two that we don't and have a business plan to make the outfit succesful. Like it or not, we cannot dictate what makes for a successful business since the net community has a bigger slice of "consumers" that will hungrily lap up anything it sees.
I am a fan of warcraft and owned WC2 and look forward to playing wc3 but with this, I think i'm going to have to pass this time and instead try out other similar games.
Blizzard/vivendi have all the rights to sue entities who they see as encroaching on their rights but this somehow is counterproductive as these are some of their customers and do not even gain monetarily from their endeavors but promote the use of the game.
In a previous company that I worked for almost 15 years, we were hired as fresh engineering graduates for an expansion program and provided training in management and technical concepts as project management, time and motion study, work simplification, operations research, etc. to prepare us in whatever roles we will be inclined to pursue in our careers.
After this comprehenisve two-year program, it was found that there were some people who wanted to work management and there were some who preferred technical. There was a problem because management track enables one to reach even a VP level while the technical one only reaches up to mid-management equivalent and they were not good managers. What was done was to create a separate track for techical people who could become the uber-geeks that was minimally managed but are the group of people who solves the company's technical problems, be they computers, processes, machinery, etc.
Re:I don't expect I'll ever sync a Zaurus to Outlo
on
Bad Review for the Zaurus
·
· Score: 0, Offtopic
This post gets a score of 1 while mine was modded down to -1. Great!
Oh well i'd better shut up or i'll get another -1.
Re:I don't expect I'll ever sync a Zaurus to Outlo
on
Bad Review for the Zaurus
·
· Score: 1, Offtopic
Its amazing what some people do with things that they are not designed for. Its also begs the question why manufacturers do not think through possible use and/or misuse of their products.
This will be one hell of a killer app. Not that it will displace office. No it won't in terms of capabilities. But it can be a good and economical replacement for MS Office where cost is a factor. Let's face it, not many users create documents that integrate spreadsheet and graphics so for a typical home user, this is a very economical alternative.
The main issues now would be how to market this product so that there is awareness for a buyer of this software. If I were part of the company's marketing department, I would mail several thousand copies to non-profit organizations that can fully use it without fear of being sent an "invitation" by using pirated software. Then they can use those as success stories of how their software helps in their day-to-day business.
For the average home user, the present size of hard disks available for his/her choosing is way too much for the needs. Who wants this thing - mostly the geeky types who want to show off their stuff to friends or maybe those that really want to squeeze performace from their systems and I suspect not too many.
How many people would want to make raid systems or install several hundred GB of storage when a 40 or 60 GB HD will do?
Heck i'm still using pentium 100 systems for a home firewall and its more than enough. How many really run their systems to the ground with games, databases, or simulation? Not much so this is the only market that will be looking at this new tech.
For servers though this might be compeling but if scsi keeps up, it will have a hard time breaking their superiority.
Most software projects are made by teams and as in any team activity, its the weakest and strongest links that will determine the success of the team.
Take any game like hockey or basketball, many teams have exceptional players but they don't win championships. Those that do play with teamwork on their minds that's why whey get to win.
Blaming marketing or second-rate programmers is not the way to go it should be a team effort wo win because not many games are played solo like tennis or golf. Even those games require seconds that provide valuable support to the player.
Re:I'm not against IP laws, but...
on
Patent Nonsense
·
· Score: 1
The high cost of drugs is not due to the investment costs. I saw an investigation on one of the TV networks that the cost was basically due to the HUGE profits taken by the drug companies and the marketing costs-junikets for doctors, salesmen, etc. I tend to agree with this as I come from a third-world country and I am always wondering why many drugs are at least five times as much here in the US than in the country where I came from for exactly the same product. And there, it already costs an arm and a leg for the ordinary Joe, and don't tell me that they sell them at a loss because that would be contrary to their corporate goals.
I can only say its corporate greed because they have to pay fat bonuses to their executives and big returns to their stockholders as well. It somehow goes back to the people who invest in them which could be your or my retirement fund. Who gets to be blamed then?
In the not so distant future, this concept will be at the forefront of corporate values for a company to succeed because people will be more aware of the effects of waste and pollution to the environment. For those companies that create a lot of waste without creating systems to properly deactivate or recycle the waste it will be corporate suicide.
Unlike the AOL software that will be modifying only a portion of the system, Linux is a complete overhaul and most "sheeps" err users will not be able to navigate the complex interface that is Linux. Add to that the probability of a failed install due to their experience with Windows software installations and its not a very viable option anymore.
Make the Linux interface very similar to windows and there might be a possibility but until then it will not happen.
I'm all for this for as long as the cable tv and internet access charges are reasonable and not jacked up unnecessarily. A bigger entity is supposed to have the benefit of volume thus spreading costs but somehow this is tempered against efficiency which is its Achiles heel.
Slashdot Mirror
I vote that Amazon should be included here since the net is more commericalized now, and they patented the "one-click" way of e-commercerce.
I suggest he should put up a survey and include "Cowboy Neal" among the choices.
I would certainly believe that technical excellence does not equate to "making money".
Microsfot made it to the top in 2000-2010? I wonder what they were doing?
The put an audio file since I would think that blind people can still hear.
-----
Return the bells of Balangiga
At first glance this might be a good idea but this will be resource burden on your system.
Not a good way to stop spammers.
------
Return the bells of Balangiga
I saw on the local news here in Detroit about this device and they were interviewing a user of the devise who vouches for its effectiveness in screening calls. So I guess they were effective but I do not have one and cannot vouch for it so YMMV.
------
Return the bells of Balangiga.
From a description on the site:
PC Hardware
The PC hardware I have chosen to build the Video Disk Recorder consists of the following components:
Motherboard ASUS P5A
BIOS version 1.009
HDD 37.5GB IBM DPTA353750 U-DMA-66 9ms (running with on-board EIDE
controller, so I'm not using the full U-DMA-66 speed)
AMD K6-II 450MHz
128 MB RAM
simple VGA card (no X running on this system)
Longshine LCS-8038TX network card (using the RTL8139)
3.5" floppy drive
3 Siemens PCI-DVB Sat (digital satellite receiver card)
I wonder what the minimum hardware requirements for this machine will be? Looks like this can allow you to view your favorite tv programs at your own leisure in the not so distant future and probably free from commercials. The other day, I hear over the radio about a sports commentator complaining that you can view a baseball game in 20 minutes "minus the scratching and spitting, commercials, etc." which is a self-induced pain if your home team always looses. At least the duration is minimized and you only consume a bottle of beer so you cannot get DUI.
We are supposed to be a community of geeks and as such do not know a lot on the business side of things.
These businessmen should probably know a thing or two that we don't and have a business plan to make the outfit succesful. Like it or not, we cannot dictate what makes for a successful business since the net community has a bigger slice of "consumers" that will hungrily lap up anything it sees.
I am a fan of warcraft and owned WC2 and look forward to playing wc3 but with this, I think i'm going to have to pass this time and instead try out other similar games.
Blizzard/vivendi have all the rights to sue entities who they see as encroaching on their rights but this somehow is counterproductive as these are some of their customers and do not even gain monetarily from their endeavors but promote the use of the game.
In a previous company that I worked for almost 15 years, we were hired as fresh engineering graduates for an expansion program and provided training in management and technical concepts as project management, time and motion study, work simplification, operations research, etc. to prepare us in whatever roles we will be inclined to pursue in our careers.
After this comprehenisve two-year program, it was found that there were some people who wanted to work management and there were some who preferred technical. There was a problem because management track enables one to reach even a VP level while the technical one only reaches up to mid-management equivalent and they were not good managers. What was done was to create a separate track for techical people who could become the uber-geeks that was minimally managed but are the group of people who solves the company's technical problems, be they computers, processes, machinery, etc.
This post gets a score of 1 while mine was modded down to -1. Great!
Oh well i'd better shut up or i'll get another -1.
Its amazing what some people do with things that they are not designed for. Its also begs the question why manufacturers do not think through possible use and/or misuse of their products.
This will be one hell of a killer app. Not that it will displace office. No it won't in terms of capabilities. But it can be a good and economical replacement for MS Office where cost is a factor. Let's face it, not many users create documents that integrate spreadsheet and graphics so for a typical home user, this is a very economical alternative.
The main issues now would be how to market this product so that there is awareness for a buyer of this software. If I were part of the company's marketing department, I would mail several thousand copies to non-profit organizations that can fully use it without fear of being sent an "invitation" by using pirated software. Then they can use those as success stories of how their software helps in their day-to-day business.
May I volunteer to be the father and do I get to choose who will be the mother?
Who gets to choose if it will be a baby boy or a girl? Who are going to change diapers? Can I get a nanny that I can occasionally play around with?
Ah, that's a lot of tough choices.
Yeah - just like all those lawsuits against car manufacturers resulted in them all going out of business!
No, not really but it would make cars more expensive due to the more comprehensive testing involved.
For the average home user, the present size of hard disks available for his/her choosing is way too much for the needs. Who wants this thing - mostly the geeky types who want to show off their stuff to friends or maybe those that really want to squeeze performace from their systems and I suspect not too many.
How many people would want to make raid systems or install several hundred GB of storage when a 40 or 60 GB HD will do?
Heck i'm still using pentium 100 systems for a home firewall and its more than enough. How many really run their systems to the ground with games, databases, or simulation? Not much so this is the only market that will be looking at this new tech.
For servers though this might be compeling but if scsi keeps up, it will have a hard time breaking their superiority.
Most software projects are made by teams and as in any team activity, its the weakest and strongest links that will determine the success of the team.
Take any game like hockey or basketball, many teams have exceptional players but they don't win championships. Those that do play with teamwork on their minds that's why whey get to win.
Blaming marketing or second-rate programmers is not the way to go it should be a team effort wo win because not many games are played solo like tennis or golf. Even those games require seconds that provide valuable support to the player.
The high cost of drugs is not due to the investment costs. I saw an investigation on one of the TV networks that the cost was basically due to the HUGE profits taken by the drug companies and the marketing costs-junikets for doctors, salesmen, etc. I tend to agree with this as I come from a third-world country and I am always wondering why many drugs are at least five times as much here in the US than in the country where I came from for exactly the same product. And there, it already costs an arm and a leg for the ordinary Joe, and don't tell me that they sell them at a loss because that would be contrary to their corporate goals.
I can only say its corporate greed because they have to pay fat bonuses to their executives and big returns to their stockholders as well. It somehow goes back to the people who invest in them which could be your or my retirement fund. Who gets to be blamed then?
Since i'm one this machine is not for me.
And then there's the issue of only 32 MB RAM. Come on, a lot of the geeks here would want to have more than that i'm sure.
Its pretty much a novelty if I get one maybe to impress the ladies but not much work can be done here.
I agree and it makes me uneasy how powerful entities can do this through euphemisms that can fool the ignorant but not the wise.
;)
I guess they are only taking advantage of the saying...
You can fool all of the people some of the time...
Some of the people all of the time..
But not all of the people all of the time...
Two out of three is not a bad rate of return.
In the not so distant future, this concept will be at the forefront of corporate values for a company to succeed because people will be more aware of the effects of waste and pollution to the environment. For those companies that create a lot of waste without creating systems to properly deactivate or recycle the waste it will be corporate suicide.
Unlike the AOL software that will be modifying only a portion of the system, Linux is a complete overhaul and most "sheeps" err users will not be able to navigate the complex interface that is Linux. Add to that the probability of a failed install due to their experience with Windows software installations and its not a very viable option anymore.
Make the Linux interface very similar to windows and there might be a possibility but until then it will not happen.
www.aoltimewarnercnnattcomcastnbcabccbscisco.com
I'm all for this for as long as the cable tv and internet access charges are reasonable and not jacked up unnecessarily. A bigger entity is supposed to have the benefit of volume thus spreading costs but somehow this is tempered against efficiency which is its Achiles heel.