I recommend This site on Time Management, an online workshop called "Learning Time", put together by my university. There are a few rough edges, but some of the information is absolutely top-notch. This won't help you with the motivation per se (which is often my biggest problem), but it does provide some good strategies for managing your time if you can get motivated.
I haven't used a Tablet PC myself, although I've played around with them a little. My guess, however, is that they would present a pretty good alternative. The only catch would come with the use of scientific symbols (theta, sigma et all). Either they are hand-drawn in which case you might as well have just taken paper notes (for the amount that those symbols come into play in many math science and engineering classes), or else you'd have to type them, which returns us to the original problem.
My feeling overall is that the right software would make this a seamless process. Somethin like a word processor, but with a palette of commonly-used symbols at the side, and that allows one to quickly switch between typing, drawing freehand, entering symbols, and drawing with assistance (ie: the computer makes your lines straight and your circles circular instead of straight freehand.
I used to use a laptop in class, but found it ultimately more trouble than it was worth. It worked fine for the English elective (waste of time) or the History of Science courses I took, but not for my core Math & Science classes.
Basically, by the time you copy out a diagram or complex formula, it will take you so long (especially if you have to switch to Symbol to make half the characters), that it's simply not worth it.
Now, some profs distribute their lectures in PDFs/Word Documents/HTML files, which makes it much easier, but then many students just download the lecture notes and skip class, which professors tend to hate.
I think a great solution would be for all students to have wireless laptops, and have the prof stream the lecture to students as he goes. That way, there's an incentive to go to class still, and laptops become a worthwile tool.
I'm thinking along the lines of a custom program that feeds one page at a time into a PDF or something.
Alternately, documents with blanks spots to be filled in during the lecture can also work.
Or, finally, something like the Mimio would also be very cool.
When there are international pricing differences, why is it everyone assumes it's Apple's fault?
If I read it correctly, the parent post wasn't complaining about pricing differences, but rather pricing change differences.
He was stating that Apple had dropped the price on the PowerBooks in the US and not Canada. In this case, unless the tarifs have changed, a price drop should occur in both countries, since the border charges etc are constant, and the price of the product itself dropped.
Now, as he pointed out later (after you'd replied), Apple did drop prices for the Canadian versions, too.
Then there's the airport security version: Officer: Did you let this guy on the plane? Security Guy: Yes Officer: Did you check his ID? Security: No. Hey, aren't I supposed to get a phone call. And, BTW, where am I? Officer: No. And Guantanamo Bay.
Would I be correct in assuming that it is the QuickTime codec that is used in iTunes? I can't imagine Apple would go to the trouble of writing two different codecs.
Let's see now, they have people in front of plain white backgrounds singing (semi-badly) to songs they downloaded while listening to said songs on what is obviously a hard-drive-based music player.
Hmmmmm.... wonder where they got the inspiration for such ads.
In some cases, capitalist competition really works!
As for the speed, I've used both and found the two comparable, with Rogers a little faster. Bell (as all DSLs) varies depending on where you are in relation to the phone switching station. Rogers (as in all Cable internet) varies depending on how many people in your vicinity are actively using a cable internet connection.
If this thing has the same security problems as that other MS, just think, it could be open to viruses. What happens when a dancebot gets a virus and starts malfunctioning?
All of a sudden, your dance date hits the drink table, starts pouring booze down her robot-throat and signing "girls just wanna have fun" at the top of her lungs... er, speaker.
That's not totally true. Apple previously (including the "beleagured" days) sold a much wider variety of hardware.
Remember, Apple used to sell its own Monitors, printers, scanners, digital cameras, PDAs, external hard drives, external CD drives and more.
What they're really done is move out of the over-populated peripherals markets (such as scanners and printers, which they didn't manufacture anyway, the printers were just rebranded Canons or HPs) and focus on key innovative hardware (the iPod), and software (iLife, the Studio Pros et all).
A good move, methinks.
Re:CDBurners not the end for high-capacity Zip dri
on
DVD Burner Round-up
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Actually, I think Zip disks (and superDisks etc) are going away/gone already because they were too much of a middle step. They were bigger than floppies, but smaller than CDs, and yet the price of 100MB disks never dropped below about $10US each. This meant that they were not disposable the way $0.50 floppies are, and yet don't have the capacity of a CD.
That is why I picked up the Sony DRU500XUL which reads and burns DVD +/- R-RW. No matter what the standard settles on, I can already do it.
Well, unless the standard is settled on something different. Kind of like the 56K modem battle. There were modems (IIRC) that supported both Flex and X2, but if they weren't upgradeable to V.90 (and later V.92) then they were useless once the standard was settled on, because it was decided on a neutral third standard.
I can see the same thing happening to DVD writers; the companies eventually settling on DVD/RW instead of DVD+RW, DVD-RW or DVD-RAM
The money is there ready to be spent on artists who supply what people want.
While I agree this is in general true, it isn't true of many demographics. I was at a party recently, where we were watching a Music TV station, and somebody commented that they couldn't remember the last time they'd paid for music. Yet this person had a full library of tracks.
Now, before the flames start, let me make myself clear: I think the RIAA has overstepped and has treated the majority of their users unfairly. I think DRM and crippled CDs are a blasphemy, and I do pay for the overwhelming majority of my music. I don't think music listeners are inherently thieves, and I think good, legitimate services (likes the iTunes Music Store) will do very well, because they will let people avoid "casual piracy".
That being said, though, I think we do have to remember that some people use Kazaa et all in lieu of purchasing music. While the RIAA has gone too far in many respects, they do have a point. There are a lot of people out there who pirate music instead of buying any.
This is not the only situation where a few bad apples ruins a good thing for the rest of us!
Last summer, NASA was granted a patent on lifter technology
Does this mean all US citizens can now use it? Since NASA develops its things with public money I seem to recall that they become available to everyone.
Hell yes! That space shuttle they let me use has really cut down my commute time!
My guess (IANAAE, where AE=Adobe Employee) is that Final Cut Express was muc more of a competitive threat than Final Cut Pro. The difference in price (I think about $300) between FCP and Premiere makes them non-competitors (as do the differing feature sets-think HD editing etc).
Final Cut Express however, matches many of the features, and is only $299), so I'm guessing it's more of a threat to Premiere.
But that's not the same as tweaking performance for a new processor that they've never seen yet.
Well, the PowerMac G5s ahve only been out for a few days, but a lot has been known about the processor for awhile. Ars Technica has done 2 articles on it already (here and here), and I don't think it's a stretch to assume that Apple and IBM let Adobe in on much of the structure for the 970 so they could produce an optimized version of PhotoShop in time for the WWDC bake-off.
And yes, I realise that Adobe optimizes PhotoShop for the Pentium series as well, I was just pointing out that their optimization for the G3/G4/G5 processors makes it a better choice for speed demos than arbitrary benchmarks.
As for programming, vim may run the same, but compilation varies. IANAHCP (where HCP=hard-core programmer), so I'm not sure what the mix of integer vs FP operations is in compilation, so I don't know how much the speed will vary between a P4 (better INT scores) and a G5 (better FP scores).
The reality of benchmarks is that they are almost completely useless.
Even if you could make all variables identical on each computer (RAM, HD, compiler speed etc), it's going to whip out some arbitrary number that is larger or smaller than your competitor. But that number is based on the set of operations defined in the benchmarking tool
In daily use, your mix of operations will vary. It may be similar to the benchmark's set, it may not be.
If you do a ton of database and 3D rendering, your FP speed is going to be much more important than your integer scores, as opposed to a person who does a lot of programming.
Why do you think Apple always does Photoshop tests in their introduction presentations?
Because Photoshop has been highly optimized for the G3/G4/G5
and
Because so many people who use Macs rely on Photoshop that it represents a much more accurate use of many of their users' daily activities.
These are the same reasons they show movie compressions, audio programs etc.
For many Mac users, these are more important than arbitrary benchmarks.
At least M$ does a few service packs for free before they ask for more money with a new OS.
Er, Mac OS X 10.2 has had 6 of them so far, from 10.2.1 to 10.2.6. That's not counting the Developer Tools updates (and M$ certainly doesn't give a world-class developer environment away for free with the OS).
not to mention the numerous security updates, which is basically what most service packs are anyway
Re:Ugh! Another $129 x 2 Machines!
on
Jaguar is Over
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
That family license is an awesome idea. I wish I could buy PC software that way (what little proprietary stuff I use, anyway). One purchase covers the whole fam. With multi-computer households becoming incresingly common, how long until this becomes standard?
Sadly, probably a while yet. Apple's family license basically works on the honour system. There are no serial numbers or anything like that. It's to keep honest people honest, just like the quasi-DRM on the Apple Music Store.
Sadly, though, very few software companies are willing to put that faith in people.
This is the machine that I have been waiting for (and have been putting off upgrading my G4/450).
Still, there are a few things I would like to have seen different, that I think are a step back from my Sawtooth:
1) Only one outward-facing drive. My Sawtooth can only have one optical and one 3.5" (A now-nearly-useless Zip drive for me), but the last generation of G4s had those dual optical drive bays. Given how cheap standard IDE CR burners etc are, it would be great to have that upgradeability option. In my quest to convert my friends, this has been a sticking point for many of them (most have at least two optical drives). Externals work, yes, but are much more expensive, and take up much more space.
2) Two hard drive bays. Even my Sawtooth has room for four internal hard drives. Again, IDE hard drives are cheap (Serial ATA not as much, but still....) and not everyone wants to pay a $100 premium for an external firewire box, just to do a drive upgrade. In many cases, that doubles the price of the bare drive. There are PC cases out there (ugly ones, natch) which give six front-facing bays and as many hard-drive bays.
3) The G4s were notoriously easy to access. The one side just flipped down and BAM! there was your whole motherboard. While the side of the G5 may be easy to remove, you still have to cram your hands into that tiny space to reach anything. Having everything fold out was a great innovation that I'm sad to see go.
4) The handles look OK in my opinion but are fairly thin metal. I can't imagine these things not hurting your hands if you're carrying a G5 around. I know you don't move a tower case that much, but if you're going to bother putting on handles, at least put on comfy ones.
5) As others have said, it would be nice to see a 128MB graphics card in the high end. But that's a minor quibble, really.
6) No reset button on the front. I know OS X crashes quite rarely, but sometimes this thing comes in handy. And it's a lot easier and more intuitive than holding the power button.
That said, I think these are fabulous machines, and will do Apple proud. Aside from the obvious blazing speed, a few other touches I liked: 1) front-mounted USB & firewire. Finally!
2) Optical digital audio ports. Also finally! Crossing my fingers that this means there's a 5.1-enabled DVD player app en route.
3) I think the cooling system is a stroke of genius. Nine fans sounds like a lot, but it gives much more custom air circulation patterns.
4) Eight RAM slots! I will likely never need 8 gigs of RAM (at least not before the Power Mac G7 in 2008:), but having that many slots allows you to upgrade at your desired rate. ie: you are less likely to have to pull out chips to make room for new ones. My G4's slots are all full right now, so if I wanted to add RAM, I'd have to ditch one chip.
All my whining aside, this is a great machine! Now if only I had some money...
Slashdot Mirror
I think I got some spam about a website featuring some "amateur television"....
Man, that filename looks familiar.... I'm pretty sure most of my software comes that way!
For all you lawyers reading this, yes that was a joke!
Evidently, I can get passwords to all hot XXX lesbian lolita harcore bukkake sites for FREE! Man, this google hacking rulez!
I haven't used a Tablet PC myself, although I've played around with them a little. My guess, however, is that they would present a pretty good alternative. The only catch would come with the use of scientific symbols (theta, sigma et all). Either they are hand-drawn in which case you might as well have just taken paper notes (for the amount that those symbols come into play in many math science and engineering classes), or else you'd have to type them, which returns us to the original problem.
My feeling overall is that the right software would make this a seamless process. Somethin like a word processor, but with a palette of commonly-used symbols at the side, and that allows one to quickly switch between typing, drawing freehand, entering symbols, and drawing with assistance (ie: the computer makes your lines straight and your circles circular instead of straight freehand.
I used to use a laptop in class, but found it ultimately more trouble than it was worth. It worked fine for the English elective (waste of time) or the History of Science courses I took, but not for my core Math & Science classes.
Basically, by the time you copy out a diagram or complex formula, it will take you so long (especially if you have to switch to Symbol to make half the characters), that it's simply not worth it.
Now, some profs distribute their lectures in PDFs/Word Documents/HTML files, which makes it much easier, but then many students just download the lecture notes and skip class, which professors tend to hate.
I think a great solution would be for all students to have wireless laptops, and have the prof stream the lecture to students as he goes. That way, there's an incentive to go to class still, and laptops become a worthwile tool.
I'm thinking along the lines of a custom program that feeds one page at a time into a PDF or something.
Alternately, documents with blanks spots to be filled in during the lecture can also work.
Or, finally, something like the Mimio would also be very cool.
If I read it correctly, the parent post wasn't complaining about pricing differences, but rather pricing change differences.
He was stating that Apple had dropped the price on the PowerBooks in the US and not Canada. In this case, unless the tarifs have changed, a price drop should occur in both countries, since the border charges etc are constant, and the price of the product itself dropped.
Now, as he pointed out later (after you'd replied), Apple did drop prices for the Canadian versions, too.
It should also be noted that the last time Apple cut PowerBook prices, they actually dropped the Canadian prices more than the American, so I guess it all works out in the end.
Then there's the airport security version:
Officer: Did you let this guy on the plane?
Security Guy: Yes
Officer: Did you check his ID?
Security: No. Hey, aren't I supposed to get a phone call. And, BTW, where am I?
Officer: No. And Guantanamo Bay.
Would I be correct in assuming that it is the QuickTime codec that is used in iTunes? I can't imagine Apple would go to the trouble of writing two different codecs.
Have you seen their ads?
Let's see now, they have people in front of plain white backgrounds singing (semi-badly) to songs they downloaded while listening to said songs on what is obviously a hard-drive-based music player.
Hmmmmm.... wonder where they got the inspiration for such ads.
Such originality!
Bell removed their bandwidth cap a few months ago. See This page for details. My guess is that they were getting killed by Rogers.
Ironically, Rogers was thinking of implementing a bandwidth cap, but In response to Bell eliminating their cap, they backed down.
In some cases, capitalist competition really works!
As for the speed, I've used both and found the two comparable, with Rogers a little faster. Bell (as all DSLs) varies depending on where you are in relation to the phone switching station. Rogers (as in all Cable internet) varies depending on how many people in your vicinity are actively using a cable internet connection.
The MSDanceR?
If this thing has the same security problems as that other MS, just think, it could be open to viruses. What happens when a dancebot gets a virus and starts malfunctioning?
All of a sudden, your dance date hits the drink table, starts pouring booze down her robot-throat and signing "girls just wanna have fun" at the top of her lungs... er, speaker.
Remember, Apple used to sell its own Monitors, printers, scanners, digital cameras, PDAs, external hard drives, external CD drives and more.
What they're really done is move out of the over-populated peripherals markets (such as scanners and printers, which they didn't manufacture anyway, the printers were just rebranded Canons or HPs) and focus on key innovative hardware (the iPod), and software (iLife, the Studio Pros et all).
A good move, methinks.
Actually, I think Zip disks (and superDisks etc) are going away/gone already because they were too much of a middle step. They were bigger than floppies, but smaller than CDs, and yet the price of 100MB disks never dropped below about $10US each. This meant that they were not disposable the way $0.50 floppies are, and yet don't have the capacity of a CD.
Well, unless the standard is settled on something different. Kind of like the 56K modem battle. There were modems (IIRC) that supported both Flex and X2, but if they weren't upgradeable to V.90 (and later V.92) then they were useless once the standard was settled on, because it was decided on a neutral third standard.
I can see the same thing happening to DVD writers; the companies eventually settling on DVD/RW instead of DVD+RW, DVD-RW or DVD-RAM
While I agree this is in general true, it isn't true of many demographics. I was at a party recently, where we were watching a Music TV station, and somebody commented that they couldn't remember the last time they'd paid for music. Yet this person had a full library of tracks.
Now, before the flames start, let me make myself clear: I think the RIAA has overstepped and has treated the majority of their users unfairly. I think DRM and crippled CDs are a blasphemy, and I do pay for the overwhelming majority of my music. I don't think music listeners are inherently thieves, and I think good, legitimate services (likes the iTunes Music Store) will do very well, because they will let people avoid "casual piracy".
That being said, though, I think we do have to remember that some people use Kazaa et all in lieu of purchasing music. While the RIAA has gone too far in many respects, they do have a point. There are a lot of people out there who pirate music instead of buying any.
This is not the only situation where a few bad apples ruins a good thing for the rest of us!
I am Jack's total lack of giving a crap.
Does this mean all US citizens can now use it? Since NASA develops its things with public money I seem to recall that they become available to everyone.
Hell yes! That space shuttle they let me use has really cut down my commute time!
My guess (IANAAE, where AE=Adobe Employee) is that Final Cut Express was muc more of a competitive threat than Final Cut Pro. The difference in price (I think about $300) between FCP and Premiere makes them non-competitors (as do the differing feature sets-think HD editing etc).
Final Cut Express however, matches many of the features, and is only $299), so I'm guessing it's more of a threat to Premiere.
Sure, he eventually classifies the bug as a happenstance-increasing feature, jacks up the price 10%, and ships it.
Hell, if anyone ever complains, just tell them to wait for a service pack!
Well, the PowerMac G5s ahve only been out for a few days, but a lot has been known about the processor for awhile. Ars Technica has done 2 articles on it already (here and here), and I don't think it's a stretch to assume that Apple and IBM let Adobe in on much of the structure for the 970 so they could produce an optimized version of PhotoShop in time for the WWDC bake-off.
And yes, I realise that Adobe optimizes PhotoShop for the Pentium series as well, I was just pointing out that their optimization for the G3/G4/G5 processors makes it a better choice for speed demos than arbitrary benchmarks.
As for programming, vim may run the same, but compilation varies. IANAHCP (where HCP=hard-core programmer), so I'm not sure what the mix of integer vs FP operations is in compilation, so I don't know how much the speed will vary between a P4 (better INT scores) and a G5 (better FP scores).
The reality of benchmarks is that they are almost completely useless.
Even if you could make all variables identical on each computer (RAM, HD, compiler speed etc), it's going to whip out some arbitrary number that is larger or smaller than your competitor. But that number is based on the set of operations defined in the benchmarking tool
In daily use, your mix of operations will vary. It may be similar to the benchmark's set, it may not be.
If you do a ton of database and 3D rendering, your FP speed is going to be much more important than your integer scores, as opposed to a person who does a lot of programming.
Why do you think Apple always does Photoshop tests in their introduction presentations?
and
These are the same reasons they show movie compressions, audio programs etc.
For many Mac users, these are more important than arbitrary benchmarks.
Er, Mac OS X 10.2 has had 6 of them so far, from 10.2.1 to 10.2.6. That's not counting the Developer Tools updates (and M$ certainly doesn't give a world-class developer environment away for free with the OS).
not to mention the numerous security updates, which is basically what most service packs are anyway
Sadly, probably a while yet. Apple's family license basically works on the honour system. There are no serial numbers or anything like that. It's to keep honest people honest, just like the quasi-DRM on the Apple Music Store.
Sadly, though, very few software companies are willing to put that faith in people.
This is the machine that I have been waiting for (and have been putting off upgrading my G4/450).
:), but having that many slots allows you to upgrade at your desired rate. ie: you are less likely to have to pull out chips to make room for new ones. My G4's slots are all full right now, so if I wanted to add RAM, I'd have to ditch one chip.
Still, there are a few things I would like to have seen different, that I think are a step back from my Sawtooth:
1) Only one outward-facing drive. My Sawtooth can only have one optical and one 3.5" (A now-nearly-useless Zip drive for me), but the last generation of G4s had those dual optical drive bays. Given how cheap standard IDE CR burners etc are, it would be great to have that upgradeability option. In my quest to convert my friends, this has been a sticking point for many of them (most have at least two optical drives). Externals work, yes, but are much more expensive, and take up much more space.
2) Two hard drive bays. Even my Sawtooth has room for four internal hard drives. Again, IDE hard drives are cheap (Serial ATA not as much, but still....) and not everyone wants to pay a $100 premium for an external firewire box, just to do a drive upgrade. In many cases, that doubles the price of the bare drive. There are PC cases out there (ugly ones, natch) which give six front-facing bays and as many hard-drive bays.
3) The G4s were notoriously easy to access. The one side just flipped down and BAM! there was your whole motherboard. While the side of the G5 may be easy to remove, you still have to cram your hands into that tiny space to reach anything. Having everything fold out was a great innovation that I'm sad to see go.
4) The handles look OK in my opinion but are fairly thin metal. I can't imagine these things not hurting your hands if you're carrying a G5 around. I know you don't move a tower case that much, but if you're going to bother putting on handles, at least put on comfy ones.
5) As others have said, it would be nice to see a 128MB graphics card in the high end. But that's a minor quibble, really.
6) No reset button on the front. I know OS X crashes quite rarely, but sometimes this thing comes in handy. And it's a lot easier and more intuitive than holding the power button.
That said, I think these are fabulous machines, and will do Apple proud. Aside from the obvious blazing speed, a few other touches I liked:
1) front-mounted USB & firewire. Finally!
2) Optical digital audio ports. Also finally! Crossing my fingers that this means there's a 5.1-enabled DVD player app en route.
3) I think the cooling system is a stroke of genius. Nine fans sounds like a lot, but it gives much more custom air circulation patterns.
4) Eight RAM slots! I will likely never need 8 gigs of RAM (at least not before the Power Mac G7 in 2008
All my whining aside, this is a great machine! Now if only I had some money...