It really depends on what IBM means when they say "almost all cars will have essentially the same mechanical systems."
On a basic level, that's been true for several decades: all cars consist of a metal/plastic/fiberglass body on a frame, powered by an internal combustion engine, with hydraulic braking and transmission systems.
Take a car with electronic steering control, electronic braking control, electronic suspension control, and tie it all together with an adaptable vehicle stability program, and you can change the dynamics of the car competely by changing settings in the conrol software.
That's true, but only to a point. You still have to deal with the physical realities of the unsprung mass, primary suspension frequency, aerodynamics, etc. You can adjust the dynamic behaviors through software by varying the damping (through EM or hydraulic means), etc, but only through a specific range of values. Automobiles that are marketed for different purposes (sports car, light truck, sedan) will still need certain mechanical differences so they can perform optimally for their chosen market segment.
Apple demanded $1.2 billion from Microsoft for alleged patent infringements...
The negotiations that resulted led to a strategic agreement between the two companies in August 1997, one part of which called for Microsoft to invest $150 million in Apple and for Apple to install Microsoft's Internet Explorer as the default Web browser for its customers... As part of his videotaped deposition, however, Microsoft Chairman and CEO Bill Gates testified repeatedly that his primary goal was to resolve the patent issues with Apple and obtain a patent cross license.
Dead-flat? I really doubt it, then again PC mag made the call, not Audio-Media, Post or Mix...
I agree that a lot of computer magazines don't know audio, but getting ruler-flat frequency response (when driving low-voltage loads) has been pretty easy for a long time - this isn't 1975.
Of course flat response isn't the whole story - linearity, distortion, jitter (or WOW/Flutter for analog people), cause lots of problems, and this is where some of the sonic differences arise. There may also be problems in driving low-impedance loads.
As an example, the on-board audio for my 5-year old Powerbook G3/Pismo is ruler flat down to 10 Hz or so, as measured by professional sound measurement equipment (which in turn has been calibrated by a NIST-traceable cal lab). This ain't rocket science
Wow... I know./'ers usually can't be bothered to read the linked article, but you would at least hope they would read the Posting. (here's a hint: "... and no screen." )
Well, this rant is rather irrelevant as well since the defendant signed no agreement, he just got it through a friend.
From TFA:
I was then informed that it was possible to obtain a "free online ADC account". I figured that there couldn't be any harm in signing up for one, so I did.
He got the seed through ADC - when he joined ADC, he was bound by its terms and conditions. Specifically:
Some companies view a buggy leak as an opportunity to generate free buzz about the final product
Brent Simmons (a well known and respected Mac developer) released a "buggy" version of NetNewsWire 2.0, presumably to "generate free buzz about the final product."
What did he get for his trouble? How about being publically berated because a clueless user didn't know the definition of "beta."
As another poster put it, "you don't get to decide Apple's strategy for them." You're not the one that's going to have to deal with complaints from clueless users that don't understand why the pre-release version of Tiger has borked their mission-critical data.
A better example would be Apple's AAPL, which is an open source license that is neither free nor compatible with the GPL.
I appreciate the point you're trying to make, but FYI, the APSL (AAPL is Apple's ticker symbol) was revised, and is now considered to be a free (but GPL-incompatible) open-source license.
This is a free software license, incompatible with the GNU GPL. We recommend that you not use this license for new software that you write, but it is ok to use and improve the software released under this license. More explanation is available
I have found that the handwriting works great if and only if you use cursive handwriting.
Agreed.
One neat thing that MS is doing with tablets involves integration between Smart phones and tablets, since they are logical complements of each other.
As pointed out in the discussion in your link, everything described in that video is possible today on Mac OS X using Sailing Clicker. I'd be surprised if there wasn't equivalent Windows software.
I recently bought a Tablet PC off eBay (Compaq TC1000) for use in a data acquisition system. I can see how the Tablet PC might be useful for certain vertical applications (like my own), but IMHO it's not a very good platform for general computing.
Suprisingly, the handwriting recognition is not that bad (with SP2). The biggest problem I've found is that the OS is simply XP with a few "tablet" features bolted on. The Tablet PC really needs an interface developed from the ground up to make use of the pen-based interface.
For example: As we all know, Windows uses the second mouse button for contextual menus - some of these menus are not easily accessible (or accessible at all!) using left-clicks. Left clicks and left double-clicks can be done by tapping the pen, but right-clicking is done (on my machine at least) by holding the pen to the screen for a few seconds. This is pretty kludgey; the contextual menu pops up at unwanted times, like when I'm trying to drag-and-drop icons, or maybe when I'm thinking for a moment and I'm letting the pen rest on the screen.
That's one example, but their are others. Like I said, the handwriting recognition isn't too bad, but it's awkward for entering things like URLS (despite some helpful tools such as ".com" buttons). My model is "convertible" tablet, and I find that 90% of the time I'm using it in laptop mode.
Yes, Apple used to be very unfriendly to open source
I agree with the general thrust of your post, but when has Apple been "unfriendly" to open source? Yes there was the FSF boycott, but that was because the FSF was angry at Apple over the Microsoft "look & feel" lawsuit rather than a specific issue with open source.
Apple was collaborating with open source software advocates years before open source was 'cool' (in the mainstream sense). I know the pre-Open Firmware bootloaders weren't easy to deal with, but hackers have gotten NetBSD and Linux running on several 68k era Macs without any grief from Apple.
iTMS is only a good deal if you're comparing it to the latest $18 Britney Spears CD from WalMart.
iTMS is also a good deal if you only care about one song!. Yeah, if I want the whole album, I'd rather pay the $10 at a retail outlet to get lossless audio, liner notes, etc, but if I only want 1 track, $0.99 + instant gratification is very attractive.
The OJ jury didn't believe overwelming forensics and set him free.
In the OJ case, it wasn't about believing the forensics, it was about believing whether or not the forensics were tampered with. It's not like the LAPD (at the time) was the most honest of police forces.
This is a customer, purchasing an item in good faith, and not being happy with the purchase, wanting to return it for a refund, as you are entitled to do, both under the law and the store's return policy. (emphasis added).
A consumer does not have an automatic right to return an item in all jurisdictions unless the store permits it, or unless there is a problem with the item (broken, not the right item, etc). A Google search supports this - for example:
"In West Virginia, there is generally no right to cancel or rescind a purchase made by a consumer from a retailer absent some defect. "
"If you buy something at a store and later change your mind, you may not be able to return the merchandise because the store's advertised return policy is generally binding. "
...etc. There are jurisditions where you do have a right to a refund (Broward County) for instance) but it's not necessarily true everywhere. You still have to read the fine print.
Under laws governing credit cards in the U.S., you are entitled to a refund for merchandise you have a problem with if it is $50 or more and in your home state (or within 100 miles of your billing address) OR is a store-issed charge card.
You can dispute charges for unsatisfactory goods or services. To do so, you must:
have made the purchase in your home state or within 100 miles of your current billing address. The charge must be for more than $50. (These limitations don't apply if the seller also is the card issuer or if a special business relationship exists between the seller and the card issuer.) and,
first make a good faith effort to resolve the dispute with the seller. No special procedures are required to do so.
So the question is: does "I already have a similar item" count as 'unsatisfactory goods or services'? It would be interesting to see some case law or examples of exercising one's rights under this type of situation.
In my case, because the vendor provided services as advertised (even though I thought it would be free because I didn't read all of the fine print), I had no recourse.
Maybe even easier is to not shop at the store and tell them the reason why.
All credit card companies offer cardholder protections, including refunding your money if you have a problem with the merchant.
The cardholder protection doesn't apply to all circumstances - I once had a credit card turn down my request for a refund. The reason, in essence, was that it was my responsibility to read the fine print and know what I was getting into (it was a situation where a "free" service wasn't really free).
If there was something wrong with your purchase (it was broken for instance) and the store refused to take it back, the credit card issuer would likely refund your money. However, given the situation in the article (woman realizes she already owned a similar item), you're probably out of luck.
The need to "break in" headphones is nothing but a legend.
I tried to point this out once before, and got moderated down for my trouble.
It's not like the headphones (or speakers) are manufactured and shipped without ever being tested! The drivers are often custom manufactured for speaker & headphone makers by OEMs in Asia (and some in the US). Before the OEM ships the drivers to the manufacturer, the units are tested to make sure the driver meets the custom specs! 99% of the time, this testing will be enough to provide adequate break-in.
If you don't believe me, maybe this will convince you. You can find similar statements fron Ken Kantor and John Dunlavy if you look hard enough.
I expected MIT at number one... not below the top 25
Speaking as an MIT grad (MechE '95) if my experience is any indication, I'm not too shocked.
I recently spent some time in the Barker Engineering Library to perform some research. I had my laptop with me, so I fired up my Wi-Fi to see if there was an accessible network. Sure enough, there was. Like most open networks I've used at airports & hotels, you have to register with the service.
However, unlike other networks I've used, you have to wait 5 to 10 minutes for the network to let you on! I'm sure (or at least I hope) the wait is security-related, but I was disappointed that the experience wasn't seamless.
[A few other posters mentioned that MIT (in contrast to RPI) is geared more to pure science than applied science & engineering. I'm thinking this belief might be skewed by the press coverage that MIT gets. MIT teaches theory to set the stage, but I can assure you that there is a lot of hands-on instruction and real-world applications, especially in the engineering classes.]
Does Apple offer indemnification over its potential violation of software patents and/or copyrights?
Does Apple really need to? They have a cross-licensing agreement with Microsoft, they distribute GPL'd software with source, and they've shown a willingness to license even questionable patents.
My guess would be that if Apple were found to have infringed on someone's (legitimate) patent, they would just pay-up.
Of course I'm sure someone will point out a counter example;)
Telemarketers demand your time in a more immediate fashion, and with some of them able to stay on the line until you've held the switch hook down for 10 seconds, they are far more capable of interfering with other communications than junk mail does with other correspondence. (emphasis mine)
This reminds me of a story: a couple of years ago, I was having a problem with my left ear - my hearing was screwed-up and my balance was way off. The doctor's couldn't figure out what was wrong, so finally one neurosurgeon speculated that it could be a brain tumor. I had a head CT, and the doctor told me that he would call me the next day with the results
Of course once the doctor mentioned tumor, I was terrified. I sat by the phone on the following day waiting for the doctor's call. The phone rings, and I pick up.
"Hello there, do you have a subscription to xxxx newspaper"?
I politely respond that I'm not interested in a subscription and that I need to keep the line clear because I'm expecting a call from a doctor. "Ohh that's too bad" was the response. Then "well we have the following special, blah blah blah."
At that point I hung up, but to this day I'm still shocked that the caller didn't have the decency to cut short her spiel. Oh well.
If the telemarketers aren't going to respect my need to keep the line free, I'm glad the government will force them to do it.
(Lucky for my that it wasn't a tumor, I have "atypical Meniere's Disease.")
1. If the system ever does become mandatory, you'll see a major increase in stolen traffic signs. Highway departments already have enough trouble trying to replace missing/damaged signage.
2. If it's in our cars, it wil be in the cars of our elected officials. We already know that our officials don't like to drive the speed limit. This system will put more heat on them.
Slashdot Mirror
According to Bruce Horn: "Smalltalk had a three-button mouse and pop-up menus, in contrast to the Mac's menu bar and one-button mouse."
It really depends on what IBM means when they say "almost all cars will have essentially the same mechanical systems."
On a basic level, that's been true for several decades: all cars consist of a metal/plastic/fiberglass body on a frame, powered by an internal combustion engine, with hydraulic braking and transmission systems.
Take a car with electronic steering control, electronic braking control, electronic suspension control, and tie it all together with an adaptable vehicle stability program, and you can change the dynamics of the car competely by changing settings in the conrol software.That's true, but only to a point. You still have to deal with the physical realities of the unsprung mass, primary suspension frequency, aerodynamics, etc. You can adjust the dynamic behaviors through software by varying the damping (through EM or hydraulic means), etc, but only through a specific range of values. Automobiles that are marketed for different purposes (sports car, light truck, sedan) will still need certain mechanical differences so they can perform optimally for their chosen market segment.
Sigh... we've been through this before
Apple demanded $1.2 billion from Microsoft for alleged patent infringements...
The negotiations that resulted led to a strategic agreement between the two companies in August 1997, one part of which called for Microsoft to invest $150 million in Apple and for Apple to install Microsoft's Internet Explorer as the default Web browser for its customers... As part of his videotaped deposition, however, Microsoft Chairman and CEO Bill Gates testified repeatedly that his primary goal was to resolve the patent issues with Apple and obtain a patent cross license.
Straight from the horse's mouth.
I agree that a lot of computer magazines don't know audio, but getting ruler-flat frequency response (when driving low-voltage loads) has been pretty easy for a long time - this isn't 1975.
Of course flat response isn't the whole story - linearity, distortion, jitter (or WOW/Flutter for analog people), cause lots of problems, and this is where some of the sonic differences arise. There may also be problems in driving low-impedance loads.
As an example, the on-board audio for my 5-year old Powerbook G3/Pismo is ruler flat down to 10 Hz or so, as measured by professional sound measurement equipment (which in turn has been calibrated by a NIST-traceable cal lab). This ain't rocket science
$0.00
Does the iPod Shuffle have a screen?Wow... I know ./'ers usually can't be bothered to read the linked article, but you would at least hope they would read the Posting. (here's a hint: "... and no screen." )
From TFA:
He got the seed through ADC - when he joined ADC, he was bound by its terms and conditions. Specifically:
I would say that the previous post was right on point.
Brent Simmons (a well known and respected Mac developer) released a "buggy" version of NetNewsWire 2.0, presumably to "generate free buzz about the final product."
What did he get for his trouble? How about being publically berated because a clueless user didn't know the definition of "beta."
As another poster put it, "you don't get to decide Apple's strategy for them." You're not the one that's going to have to deal with complaints from clueless users that don't understand why the pre-release version of Tiger has borked their mission-critical data.
I appreciate the point you're trying to make, but FYI, the APSL (AAPL is Apple's ticker symbol) was revised, and is now considered to be a free (but GPL-incompatible) open-source license.
From your link:
Apple Public Source License (APSL), version 2
This is a free software license, incompatible with the GNU GPL. We recommend that you not use this license for new software that you write, but it is ok to use and improve the software released under this license. More explanation is available
That's all well and good, but you still haven't answered the OP's question: what is GrangeBand?
This problem has been solved already: use the blog interface to generate a reg-free link.
The other benefit of using this link generator is that (in theory) the link will never expire
Or at least add an "action menu" (like in Panther's Finder) to enable one-click access to contextual items.
The button on my TC1000 pen seems to only left-click, even though the pen button is configured for right-click in the "Tablet and Pen Settings" CP.
Oh well
Agreed.
One neat thing that MS is doing with tablets involves integration between Smart phones and tablets, since they are logical complements of each other.As pointed out in the discussion in your link, everything described in that video is possible today on Mac OS X using Sailing Clicker. I'd be surprised if there wasn't equivalent Windows software.
I recently bought a Tablet PC off eBay (Compaq TC1000) for use in a data acquisition system. I can see how the Tablet PC might be useful for certain vertical applications (like my own), but IMHO it's not a very good platform for general computing.
Suprisingly, the handwriting recognition is not that bad (with SP2). The biggest problem I've found is that the OS is simply XP with a few "tablet" features bolted on. The Tablet PC really needs an interface developed from the ground up to make use of the pen-based interface.
For example: As we all know, Windows uses the second mouse button for contextual menus - some of these menus are not easily accessible (or accessible at all!) using left-clicks. Left clicks and left double-clicks can be done by tapping the pen, but right-clicking is done (on my machine at least) by holding the pen to the screen for a few seconds. This is pretty kludgey; the contextual menu pops up at unwanted times, like when I'm trying to drag-and-drop icons, or maybe when I'm thinking for a moment and I'm letting the pen rest on the screen.
That's one example, but their are others. Like I said, the handwriting recognition isn't too bad, but it's awkward for entering things like URLS (despite some helpful tools such as ".com" buttons). My model is "convertible" tablet, and I find that 90% of the time I'm using it in laptop mode.
YMMV
It's been done before
I agree with the general thrust of your post, but when has Apple been "unfriendly" to open source? Yes there was the FSF boycott, but that was because the FSF was angry at Apple over the Microsoft "look & feel" lawsuit rather than a specific issue with open source.
Apple was collaborating with open source software advocates years before open source was 'cool' (in the mainstream sense). I know the pre-Open Firmware bootloaders weren't easy to deal with, but hackers have gotten NetBSD and Linux running on several 68k era Macs without any grief from Apple.
iTMS is also a good deal if you only care about one song!. Yeah, if I want the whole album, I'd rather pay the $10 at a retail outlet to get lossless audio, liner notes, etc, but if I only want 1 track, $0.99 + instant gratification is very attractive.
In the OJ case, it wasn't about believing the forensics, it was about believing whether or not the forensics were tampered with. It's not like the LAPD (at the time) was the most honest of police forces.
A consumer does not have an automatic right to return an item in all jurisdictions unless the store permits it, or unless there is a problem with the item (broken, not the right item, etc). A Google search supports this - for example:
...etc. There are jurisditions where you do have a right to a refund (Broward County) for instance) but it's not necessarily true everywhere. You still have to read the fine print.
Under laws governing credit cards in the U.S., you are entitled to a refund for merchandise you have a problem with if it is $50 or more and in your home state (or within 100 miles of your billing address) OR is a store-issed charge card.From the FTC:
So the question is: does "I already have a similar item" count as 'unsatisfactory goods or services'? It would be interesting to see some case law or examples of exercising one's rights under this type of situation.
In my case, because the vendor provided services as advertised (even though I thought it would be free because I didn't read all of the fine print), I had no recourse.
Maybe even easier is to not shop at the store and tell them the reason why.Agreed
The cardholder protection doesn't apply to all circumstances - I once had a credit card turn down my request for a refund. The reason, in essence, was that it was my responsibility to read the fine print and know what I was getting into (it was a situation where a "free" service wasn't really free).
If there was something wrong with your purchase (it was broken for instance) and the store refused to take it back, the credit card issuer would likely refund your money. However, given the situation in the article (woman realizes she already owned a similar item), you're probably out of luck.
I tried to point this out once before, and got moderated down for my trouble.
It's not like the headphones (or speakers) are manufactured and shipped without ever being tested! The drivers are often custom manufactured for speaker & headphone makers by OEMs in Asia (and some in the US). Before the OEM ships the drivers to the manufacturer, the units are tested to make sure the driver meets the custom specs! 99% of the time, this testing will be enough to provide adequate break-in.
If you don't believe me, maybe this will convince you. You can find similar statements fron Ken Kantor and John Dunlavy if you look hard enough.
Speaking as an MIT grad (MechE '95) if my experience is any indication, I'm not too shocked.
I recently spent some time in the Barker Engineering Library to perform some research. I had my laptop with me, so I fired up my Wi-Fi to see if there was an accessible network. Sure enough, there was. Like most open networks I've used at airports & hotels, you have to register with the service.
However, unlike other networks I've used, you have to wait 5 to 10 minutes for the network to let you on! I'm sure (or at least I hope) the wait is security-related, but I was disappointed that the experience wasn't seamless.
[A few other posters mentioned that MIT (in contrast to RPI) is geared more to pure science than applied science & engineering. I'm thinking this belief might be skewed by the press coverage that MIT gets. MIT teaches theory to set the stage, but I can assure you that there is a lot of hands-on instruction and real-world applications, especially in the engineering classes.]
Does Apple really need to? They have a cross-licensing agreement with Microsoft, they distribute GPL'd software with source, and they've shown a willingness to license even questionable patents.
My guess would be that if Apple were found to have infringed on someone's (legitimate) patent, they would just pay-up.
Of course I'm sure someone will point out a counter example ;)
This reminds me of a story: a couple of years ago, I was having a problem with my left ear - my hearing was screwed-up and my balance was way off. The doctor's couldn't figure out what was wrong, so finally one neurosurgeon speculated that it could be a brain tumor. I had a head CT, and the doctor told me that he would call me the next day with the results
Of course once the doctor mentioned tumor, I was terrified. I sat by the phone on the following day waiting for the doctor's call. The phone rings, and I pick up.
"Hello there, do you have a subscription to xxxx newspaper"?
I politely respond that I'm not interested in a subscription and that I need to keep the line clear because I'm expecting a call from a doctor. "Ohh that's too bad" was the response. Then "well we have the following special, blah blah blah."
At that point I hung up, but to this day I'm still shocked that the caller didn't have the decency to cut short her spiel. Oh well.
If the telemarketers aren't going to respect my need to keep the line free, I'm glad the government will force them to do it.
(Lucky for my that it wasn't a tumor, I have "atypical Meniere's Disease.")
No way does this system ever become mandatory:
1. If the system ever does become mandatory, you'll see a major increase in stolen traffic signs. Highway departments already have enough trouble trying to replace missing/damaged signage.
2. If it's in our cars, it wil be in the cars of our elected officials. We already know that our officials don't like to drive the speed limit. This system will put more heat on them.