For the last year, I've been using the SGI 1600SW 17.4" widescreen. It's not perfect, but it's not far from perfection either. My only complaint is that it uses a nonstandard digital video interface, and the #9 TTR-4 video card that works with it is not well supported.
Why do I love it so much?
No eyestrain, ever.
Four easily-readable xterms/rxvt's/etc. on the screen at once. 1600x1024 is a wonderful resolution.
Ok, I admit, it makes my co-workers jealous.:)
I have an expensive Mitsubishi 22" flat CRT at home, and even though it supports similar resolutions, it isn't nearly as useful. I have to run a much lower resolution than the monitor supports to keep the text sharp, even with top-of-the-line cables and video cards. And what a desk hog!
I can't wait until 24" panels become affordable...
Before all of you start to post "who cares" and slam NetBEUI as an outdated protocol (it is), let me point something out:
A lot of people would like to be able to boot diskless DOS/Win95/Win98 boxes from a Linux server. There isn't a functional way to do that using TCP/IP. Yeah, there are some DOS IP stacks but using them prevents IP from working once Windows boots up.
Currently the only real way to handle it is using Netware shares. But now it should be possible to do it with NetBEUI instead... a preferable solution for booting a Microsoft OS (call it evil if you want.) At home, this will let me run my Windows box without a hard drive just by hanging it off my Linux machine.
Heck, this would be useful if only to recover a crashed Windows box without a rescue disk.:)
NetBEUI is not dead yet!
Kinesis is the worst keyboard I've ever used
on
Ergonomic Keyboards
·
· Score: 4
A lot of people obviously love the Kinesis keyboard, but I'm one of the ones that hates it. The finger motions required to use it are very different from standard keyboarding motions -- very slight side-side and up-down motions -- and they aggrivated my tendinitis much more than any traditional keyboard did. The Kinesis keyboard is also very awkward to use on a desk due to the high profile, and the lap tray is heavy and takes some getting used to.
Bottom line -- it's a very unique keyboard and has a lot of dedicated users, but it isn't for everyone and it has a high price tag and learning curve. And they lied about their money back guarantee. After I tried to return mine, I got hit with a very hefty restocking fee.
Personally, I would love to see a speech recognition product that lets me type with noises. Forget word/phrase recognition! It should be possible to make audio character recognition much more accurate. To me, this would be the real hand-saver. Open source, anyone?
I bought a TiVo several months ago. It was one of the first units to ship with the 1.1 software release. It was a great device, albeit a little buggy. Later I asked them to put me on their beta program, which recently ended with the 1.2.1 release. The unit is now rock solid and a complete joy to use.
TiVo has completely changed the way we watch TV. If I had to, I'd give up my DVD player & VCR to own one of these things. Think about it: whenever you turn on the tube, there is always something you want to watch. And you can skip the commercials.
By the way, I'm told that TiVo will hit Best Buy shelves this week, and Circuit City and independent retailers will get them in a few more weeks.
I had the exact same problem. I bought a 10-channel Midiman mixer from my local MARS store for $100. It's about the size of a VHS tape, and it works very well.
Channels 7+8 and 9+10 are stereo pairs with 1/8" phono jacks (i.e. what you have on your soundcard.) These channel pairs do not have pan or gain controls. They are designed to hook up to sound cards, where the PC controls pan/gain.
Channels 1-6 have pan (left/right) and gain controls.
There are master left/right gain controls.
Outputs: Two 1/8" stereo jacks & Two RCA jacks
LEDs: Left/right signal, Left/right clipping
Midiman has a web site but I haven't checked it out yet.
We've been using RS/6000's at work for years. They are ludicriously overpriced machines. Now we're buying PC-based linux boxen. You just can't beat the bang for the buck, and even better, we don't have to deal with IBM -- possibly one of the most annoying organizations we've had the displeasure of doing business with. We can't even open a box and install/swap a peripheral without voiding our maintenance agreements! To me, one of the best things about Linux is that it makes the commercial Unices (and expensive proprietary hardware) unnecessary for most applications. Show me an RS/6000 with a bang/buck ratio similar to a Dell PowerEdge, and I might care.
Speech recognition is a holy grail to many people like myself. I may be able to type 120+ WPM, but what good does that do when my hands hurt like hell the minute they touch a keyboard. That's the price we pay for years of constant computer use -- about 18 years in my case. I'd rather type, but it's getting too difficult. Anything that might save my career and my hobby is a godsend, even if it isn't open-source.
My HMO doesn't give a damn about my problems... Anyone have the download URL for this program?
Bah. I'll take open source over binary drivers any day. And witness what happened to nVidia after they were pressured to release non-obfuscated source: They did it. They recognize Linux as an important OS to support, and realize that most Linux users aren't happy with binary drivers of obfuscated source.
Even ATI has finally released specs for their TV tuners.
Linux is gaining the critical mass necessary to pressure companies into supporting open source. If we accept binary-only drivers, what incentive will they/ever/ have to release source? And when XFree86 9.5 comes out and their driver breaks, or they decide it's obsolete and won't support it... what can you do?
Coincidentally, I believe XFree86 4.0 will have a modular driver architecture that separates the video drivers from the X Server. I believe the code was donated by the MetroX folks. That will hopefully lessen the burden on driver writers and spur more commercial driver development for X.
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Why do I love it so much?
I have an expensive Mitsubishi 22" flat CRT at home, and even though it supports similar resolutions, it isn't nearly as useful. I have to run a much lower resolution than the monitor supports to keep the text sharp, even with top-of-the-line cables and video cards. And what a desk hog!
I can't wait until 24" panels become affordable...
A lot of people would like to be able to boot diskless DOS/Win95/Win98 boxes from a Linux server. There isn't a functional way to do that using TCP/IP. Yeah, there are some DOS IP stacks but using them prevents IP from working once Windows boots up.
Currently the only real way to handle it is using Netware shares. But now it should be possible to do it with NetBEUI instead... a preferable solution for booting a Microsoft OS (call it evil if you want.) At home, this will let me run my Windows box without a hard drive just by hanging it off my Linux machine.
Heck, this would be useful if only to recover a crashed Windows box without a rescue disk. :)
NetBEUI is not dead yet!
Bottom line -- it's a very unique keyboard and has a lot of dedicated users, but it isn't for everyone and it has a high price tag and learning curve. And they lied about their money back guarantee. After I tried to return mine, I got hit with a very hefty restocking fee.
Personally, I would love to see a speech recognition product that lets me type with noises. Forget word/phrase recognition! It should be possible to make audio character recognition much more accurate. To me, this would be the real hand-saver. Open source, anyone?
TiVo has completely changed the way we watch TV. If I had to, I'd give up my DVD player & VCR to own one of these things. Think about it: whenever you turn on the tube, there is always something you want to watch. And you can skip the commercials.
By the way, I'm told that TiVo will hit Best Buy shelves this week, and Circuit City and independent retailers will get them in a few more weeks.
And it runs Linux!
Configuration:
Midiman has a web site but I haven't checked it out yet.
Hope this helps,
Jeff
We've been using RS/6000's at work for years. They are ludicriously overpriced machines. Now we're buying PC-based linux boxen. You just can't beat the bang for the buck, and even better, we don't have to deal with IBM -- possibly one of the most annoying organizations we've had the displeasure of doing business with. We can't even open a box and install/swap a peripheral without voiding our maintenance agreements! To me, one of the best things about Linux is that it makes the commercial Unices (and expensive proprietary hardware) unnecessary for most applications. Show me an RS/6000 with a bang/buck ratio similar to a Dell PowerEdge, and I might care.
Speech recognition is a holy grail to many people
like myself. I may be able to type 120+ WPM, but what
good does that do when my hands hurt like hell the minute
they touch a keyboard. That's the price we pay for
years of constant computer use -- about 18 years in
my case. I'd rather type, but it's getting too difficult. Anything that might
save my career and my hobby is a godsend, even if it isn't open-source.
My HMO doesn't give a damn about my problems... Anyone have the download URL for this program?
Bah. I'll take open source over binary drivers any day. And witness what happened to nVidia after they were pressured to release non-obfuscated source: They did it. They recognize Linux as an important OS to support, and realize that most Linux users aren't happy with binary drivers of obfuscated source.
/ever/ have to release source? And when XFree86 9.5 comes out and their driver breaks, or they decide it's obsolete and won't support it... what can you do?
Even ATI has finally released specs for their TV tuners.
Linux is gaining the critical mass necessary to pressure companies into supporting open source. If we accept binary-only drivers, what incentive will they
Coincidentally, I believe XFree86 4.0 will have a modular driver architecture that separates the video drivers from the X Server. I believe the code was donated by the MetroX folks. That will hopefully lessen the burden on driver writers and spur more commercial driver development for X.