I used to work down the hall from Spaceball (Technologies? I forget the full name), in Lowell MA. They had a product called the Spaceball which was a sphere mounted on a base, that you could twist around any of the three axes, and push in the direction of any of the three axes..
So it didn't actually twist much - it sensed your desire to rotate it (the ball stayed in pretty much the same position).. And it didn't move much in either direction either, but it knew when you were lifting it, or pushing it left, or pulling it back, etc.
Anyway, those are your six dimensions.. rotate x,y,z, translate x,y,z.
They made some game controller of it later, but the original was used in high-end cadcam applications etc. Cool device!
Got a pointing device you want to plug? Post it on slashdot! The other day was the horse, now this, next maybe another virtual keyboard projected on the table via lasers..
That's a pretty weak attempt.. The incongruity between what's expected and what actually occurs is the contradition you're lacking.. It's a coincidence that he happened to read an article on wireless connections right after using one.. but that's not a contradiction (even though you tried to force it to be).
People misusing the word ironic is a pet peeve of mine. If I then used it incorrectly (after having corrected many people for using it wrong in the past), then THAT might be ironic.
Back a few jobs ago a friend of mine found out about some contest for the messiest apartment. She lent me her digital camera, told me to take pictures of each room, and that she should get half of the winnings.
Anyway, I couldn't show her one of the pics, this picture of my kitchen, because I realized at the last second that it showed her copy of the Star Wars Christmas Special (visible on the floor), and I wasn't ready to give it back.:)
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The relationship between TiVo Inc. (TIVO) and DirecTV Group Inc. (DTV) is going strong and there is no talk of changing it, Chief Executive Officer Michael Ramsay said Wednesday.
ADVERTISEMENT "The reality is, we have a great commercial relationship" with DirecTV, Ramsay he told those attending a media conference in New York sponsored by Deutsche Bank, which was webcast.
Ramsey emphasized that TiVo has gotten strong support from DirecTV, and that the enthusiasm has not waned despite recent events.
DirecTV Vice Chairman Eddy Hartenstein stepped down from TiVo's board of directors last week after only eight months. Then, DirecTV confirmed it sold its 4% stake in TiVo on Tuesday.
A 4% stake is not significant for a company like News Corp. (NWS), he said. News Corp., run by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, took over control of DirecTV late last year by buying a 34% stake. News Corp., Ramsay added, is clearly in the process of cleaning up the balance sheet and making some treasury-related transactions.
Ramsay also defended Hartenstein's resignation from the board, saying "he just didn't have time to do it."
Regarding speculation that DirecTV might be positioning News Corp.-owned NDS (NNDS) to replace TiVo, Ramsay said, "We're it right now," adding that the relationship won't change "for as long as I can see."
DirecTV is planning on rolling out some new set-top boxes later this year. The boxes, made by Thomson (TMS), will incorporate TiVo technology.
In the meantime, TiVo is seeking a deal with a cable operator as well as more clout for its standalone product.
TiVo is "very focused" on a cable deal but has not yet secured an "appropriate relationship" and is not ready to announce anything imminently, he said.
"I don't really want to build expectations that a cable relationship is do or die. It's important, but we're not saying that it's around the corner," he said.
To beef up its retail appeal, TiVo dropped the price of its service to $12.95 Wednesday and also lowered the purchase price on TiVo units to $129. The company also added features allowing customers to move music and pictures between their PCs and TiVo unit. This fall, the company will also launch a product that will let users transfer a movie from TiVo to a PC or DVD burner.
By Ellen Sheng, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5863; ellen.sheng@dowjones.com
One almost has to wonder if some brilliant yet lazy executive proposed:
"Hey.. let's not work too hard this year.. Don't try too hard to find good talent, and don't go crazy promoting what we currently have. Sure we'll all pay in the short term, but we'll get what we want - a report of lost CD sales.. We'll benefit from whatever corrective measures are taken, and then we can sit back and make more in the long run without trying so hard to find quality work, because we'll have more rights on the music and stronger copyright laws."
(Cue the "you give them too much credit" replies.:) )
Umm, we had really good handwriting recognition back in 1992.. Printed or cursive.. The Newton was amazing - had it been a bit smaller and not been abandoned, we'd still have it.
People found that they'd trade that for the PalmPilot's Graffiti interface, where they learned NEW ways to write (rather than training the Newton how THEY wrote).
If it comes again, it won't be new. Better, obviously, because of increased processing power. But not new.
Flies through windows? So could the redeemer in UT
on
Microdrone Spy Planes
·
· Score: 1
One of the coolest weapons in Unreal Tournament was called the Redeemer. It was huge - took up half the screen when you were holding it.. When you fired it with the secondary trigger, it launched (like a missle), except you'd see through the camera mounted on the nosecone.. and you could steer it..
My brother (Jon Keegan) wrote an Unreal Tournament level with big open windows, long hallways, and wide corners. I remember there was nothing quite like running through a door, turning the corner, and seeing a huge missle flying toward you inside a hallway.:)
When I was there, they had an xbox out playing Halo. I played Halo with this kid for like 30 minutes before his mom came over and told him they had to go.
Thought it was pretty cool seeing a room that had everything from Halo to Space War together.:)
I had the 16K RAM pack too.. Every time you hit a key, there was a huge chance you'd cause the power adapter to get jostled and lose your entire program.:o My keyboard overlay didn't make that any easier.
As has been mentioned in other threads, you could also put your own machine-code in a REM statement, then cause it to be called from the next command..
I remember when SLOW mode on the ZX-81 finally let you NOT have the screen go black for a whole second after each calculation or keypress.. Suddenly I could make an "*" move around the screen in a circle and not have to blink to imagine the motion.:)
I remember my first computer vividly - a Sinclair ZX-80. I bought the upgrade kit to make it into a ZX-81 (which consisted of a new internal chip and a membrane keyboard overlay that had to sit on top of the original, unbelievably making the membrane keyboard even worse.
When I heard that Sinclair was teaming up with Timex to sell the ZX-81 with a new name (and a double the memory - upping it to a whopping 2K) I remember thinking it could make computers more popular..:)
Don't forget, lots of nostalgia like this is discussed by many in the BBS Documentary that's in the works.
Ahh, the good 'ol days.. Imagine a typical slashdot post loading at 300 baud? Eugh..
Nah, the coolest tech gift has still got to be a TiVo to hack.
The problem is, TiVo is such a cool toy that your gift will go unhacked as he/she enjoys the joy of TiVo. So to remind them what they can do, be sure to get them a copy of Hacking TiVo.:)
Of course if you don't want to go giving a gift that large, you can always just give the book.:)
Slashdot Mirror
I used to work down the hall from Spaceball (Technologies? I forget the full name), in Lowell MA. They had a product called the Spaceball which was a sphere mounted on a base, that you could twist around any of the three axes, and push in the direction of any of the three axes..
So it didn't actually twist much - it sensed your desire to rotate it (the ball stayed in pretty much the same position).. And it didn't move much in either direction either, but it knew when you were lifting it, or pushing it left, or pulling it back, etc.
Anyway, those are your six dimensions.. rotate x,y,z, translate x,y,z.
They made some game controller of it later, but the original was used in high-end cadcam applications etc. Cool device!
Nope, you have a sense of humor (I remember).. These ads just sucked.
The Birthday/Proposal Story
Of course, Theatre of Magic is a Bally machine, amd they're already gone. :(
Got a pointing device you want to plug? Post it on slashdot! The other day was the horse, now this, next maybe another virtual keyboard projected on the table via lasers..
People misusing the word ironic is a pet peeve of mine. If I then used it incorrectly (after having corrected many people for using it wrong in the past), then THAT might be ironic.
Sorry.
How is it for irony? It's horrible. That's not irony. Irony requires a contradiction..
Ghandi punching someone in the face to get past them to get to a peace accord would be ironic. This isn't - sorry.
Back a few jobs ago a friend of mine found out about some contest for the messiest apartment. She lent me her digital camera, told me to take pictures of each room, and that she should get half of the winnings.
:)
I entered, and didn't win (I think it was fixed.. how could I not win? (pics))
Anyway, I couldn't show her one of the pics, this picture of my kitchen, because I realized at the last second that it showed her copy of the Star Wars Christmas Special (visible on the floor), and I wasn't ready to give it back.
http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/040609/15/3kxkz.html
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The relationship between TiVo Inc. (TIVO) and DirecTV Group Inc. (DTV) is going strong and there is no talk of changing it, Chief Executive Officer Michael Ramsay said Wednesday.
ADVERTISEMENT
"The reality is, we have a great commercial relationship" with DirecTV, Ramsay he told those attending a media conference in New York sponsored by Deutsche Bank, which was webcast.
Ramsey emphasized that TiVo has gotten strong support from DirecTV, and that the enthusiasm has not waned despite recent events.
DirecTV Vice Chairman Eddy Hartenstein stepped down from TiVo's board of directors last week after only eight months. Then, DirecTV confirmed it sold its 4% stake in TiVo on Tuesday.
A 4% stake is not significant for a company like News Corp. (NWS), he said. News Corp., run by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, took over control of DirecTV late last year by buying a 34% stake. News Corp., Ramsay added, is clearly in the process of cleaning up the balance sheet and making some treasury-related transactions.
Ramsay also defended Hartenstein's resignation from the board, saying "he just didn't have time to do it."
Regarding speculation that DirecTV might be positioning News Corp.-owned NDS (NNDS) to replace TiVo, Ramsay said, "We're it right now," adding that the relationship won't change "for as long as I can see."
DirecTV is planning on rolling out some new set-top boxes later this year. The boxes, made by Thomson (TMS), will incorporate TiVo technology.
In the meantime, TiVo is seeking a deal with a cable operator as well as more clout for its standalone product.
TiVo is "very focused" on a cable deal but has not yet secured an "appropriate relationship" and is not ready to announce anything imminently, he said.
"I don't really want to build expectations that a cable relationship is do or die. It's important, but we're not saying that it's around the corner," he said.
To beef up its retail appeal, TiVo dropped the price of its service to $12.95 Wednesday and also lowered the purchase price on TiVo units to $129. The company also added features allowing customers to move music and pictures between their PCs and TiVo unit. This fall, the company will also launch a product that will let users transfer a movie from TiVo to a PC or DVD burner.
By Ellen Sheng, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5863; ellen.sheng@dowjones.com
Along those lines, I plan to include hidden $100 bills in some copies of Hacking TiVo that ship from Amazon..... :)
One almost has to wonder if some brilliant yet lazy executive proposed:
:) )
"Hey.. let's not work too hard this year.. Don't try too hard to find good talent, and don't go crazy promoting what we currently have. Sure we'll all pay in the short term, but we'll get what we want - a report of lost CD sales.. We'll benefit from whatever corrective measures are taken, and then we can sit back and make more in the long run without trying so hard to find quality work, because we'll have more rights on the music and stronger copyright laws."
(Cue the "you give them too much credit" replies.
Umm, we had really good handwriting recognition back in 1992.. Printed or cursive.. The Newton was amazing - had it been a bit smaller and not been abandoned, we'd still have it.
People found that they'd trade that for the PalmPilot's Graffiti interface, where they learned NEW ways to write (rather than training the Newton how THEY wrote).
If it comes again, it won't be new. Better, obviously, because of increased processing power. But not new.
One of the coolest weapons in Unreal Tournament was called the Redeemer. It was huge - took up half the screen when you were holding it.. When you fired it with the secondary trigger, it launched (like a missle), except you'd see through the camera mounted on the nosecone.. and you could steer it..
:)
My brother (Jon Keegan) wrote an Unreal Tournament level with big open windows, long hallways, and wide corners. I remember there was nothing quite like running through a door, turning the corner, and seeing a huge missle flying toward you inside a hallway.
Seems like a good place for a plug. :)
Hacking TiVo: The Expansion, Enhancement, and Development Starter Kit, available for $20.99 at amazon.com.
When I was there, they had an xbox out playing Halo. I played Halo with this kid for like 30 minutes before his mom came over and told him they had to go.
:)
Thought it was pretty cool seeing a room that had everything from Halo to Space War together.
I use remote X applications all the time. And I also use VNC.
Aren't all Lunar and Mars rocks now property of Halliburton?
Wow.. I know we all sit in front of computers a lot, but I never thought any of us would get so used to it that we volunteered to give up our legs! :)
Didn't anyone see From The Earth To The Moon?
"Yeah.. we would never, ever do that."
I had the 16K RAM pack too.. Every time you hit a key, there was a huge chance you'd cause the power adapter to get jostled and lose your entire program. :o My keyboard overlay didn't make that any easier.
:)
As has been mentioned in other threads, you could also put your own machine-code in a REM statement, then cause it to be called from the next command..
I remember when SLOW mode on the ZX-81 finally let you NOT have the screen go black for a whole second after each calculation or keypress.. Suddenly I could make an "*" move around the screen in a circle and not have to blink to imagine the motion.
When I heard that Sinclair was teaming up with Timex to sell the ZX-81 with a new name (and a double the memory - upping it to a whopping 2K) I remember thinking it could make computers more popular.. :)
Don't forget, lots of nostalgia like this is discussed by many in the BBS Documentary that's in the works.
Ahh, the good 'ol days.. Imagine a typical slashdot post loading at 300 baud? Eugh..
Yes.
Of course, the book:
Hacking TiVo: The Expansion, Enhancement, and Development Starter Kit
It's been covered on slashdot many times so I'm sure people will remember, but there is a BBS Documentary in the works.
The history of such revolutions should be documented for future generations to learn from.
Nah, the coolest tech gift has still got to be a TiVo to hack.
:)
:)
The problem is, TiVo is such a cool toy that your gift will go unhacked as he/she enjoys the joy of TiVo. So to remind them what they can do, be sure to get them a copy of Hacking TiVo.
Of course if you don't want to go giving a gift that large, you can always just give the book.
Even so, there's still plenty of time to enjoy the current TiVo models. Go out, buy one, get your copy of Hacking TiVo , and have some fun. :)