The menu bar for each window was discussed by Tog.
Basically, having the menu bar at the top of the screen makes it infinitely tall, becuase you can flick the mouse to the top of the screen and click a menu. It makes a *very* noticable increase in accuracy and speed, especially for expert users.
The application vs. window issue is something that you get used to pretty quickly. If you use a mac for more than a day or so it seems pretty natural. With a modern OS with modern virtual memory, it doesn't really matter if you leave it open anyway. It actually can be a pretty nice feature, especially on a system like OS X where some apps still take quite a while to start up.
My grandma's house used to have this, in Adams, MA. I think it went away like 10 years ago though. They still just tell other people 4 digit phone numbers though.
Not a problem, becuase the RFIDs are unique numbers. Each candy bar would have a different number, and the store would know which ones were on the shelves and which ones had been sold already.
Just pick up a USB extension cable, and leave it plugged in to the back of your machine. You also could get a USB hub and put it on your desktop.
Twostep
Japan has a sort-of tivo
on
PVRs Down Under?
·
· Score: 3, Informative
Sony licensed the TiVo software, and has something sort of like TiVo but without the guide data in Japan. I think it is basically a little more than a digital VCR, which is too bad. I think the main problem with overseas markets is the guide data (what is on all the different channels), which can be difficult to get right (as anyone with a TiVo or Replay knows)
It runs for quite a while. I don't really know how long it would last, cause I always have other equipment running at the same time (GPS, Depthsounder, knotmeter, etc), and I have 2 deep-cycle batteries.
It didn't use up the entire charge on one battery running all that for about 24 hours though, so it does run for a long time.
Nearly all boats out there have some method for charging though, and lots of people use all sorts of crazy things. Solar, wind and water are becoming more and more popular. My boat, which is a sailboat, doesn't have any of that fancy stuff, and the only way I can charge my batteries is by running the inboard diesel engine.
I used an older Sony Viao laptop (I think it is like a Pentium 150 or 200), and threw a bit more RAM in it. I then went out and picked up a universal 12V adapter, which can not only power the laptop but will charge cellphones and all sorts of things.
If the laptop is cheap enough, having it die doesn't matter as much.
The only other tip I would offer is to try to avoid a touchpad, as the one on my Viao really doesn't like wet hands. I would go for one of those nipple things or maybe a trackball (do they still even ship with those anymore?)
There is some real nice PC navigation software, like Visual Navigation Suite, which hasn't crashed on me once and supports just about all the electronic chart formats out there right now.
You might want to check out rec.boats.electronics, as they have a bunch of useful information there as well.
There is a lot more inf on this at MP3Car.com, the user sites are a bit out of date, but the forum is excelent.
Also, it looks like Q-PC sells premade car computers, though I haven't seen any info about one.
I am building a car computer myself, that will completely replace my radio with a 8.4" touchscreen, running a custom program that does Radio, MP3's, DVD and GPS navigation.
It is $100 per person that will be seeing the source code. The Torque engine also has a very powerful scripting language, so not everyone on a team would need the source code access.
Torque also runs on Windows, Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X. Garage games has a great community, and the improvements are coming fast and furious.
GG also just released a demo of their community produced game, Realm Wars. You can check it out here
Apparently they said at the press conference that they have the ability to put 2 tuners in the new TiVo's, bu that they aren't planning on manufacturing 2 tuner TiVo's quite yet.
Also, with one tuner you can watch one thing and record something else, you just have to watch something that has already been recorded. If you set up your TiVo in a certain way (with coax cable) you can even watch something live while TiVo records something else (equivalent to using a splitter).
That "black-box" is available. Check this out. The whole rant is sort of flawed, because there is actually a standard for car diagnostic interfaces, called ODB-2. I had a link to the documentation, but can't find it right now.
What are all the whiners going to do? It wouldn't be Dune without cries of, "The movie was better!"
On a more serious note, I wonder how well the rest of the books will translate. I thought they were a lot less "action-packed" than the first book, which is saying a lot.
If you are an AT&T customer that used to have mediaone/roadrunner, you aren't going to get shut down. AT&T sent me some snail mail about possibly loosing the "Excite@Home homepage" which is what they want to make your default homepage when they install. I can't say I care at all...
I work for a company that had outsourced all the technical aspects of our products to a consulting company. I was hired to help bring the software in-house, after the company was not too pleased with the large numbers of bugs in the software. When we finally starting working with the software, we found out that it was filled with all sorts of hacks, poorly documented, and some of the code had even been copied and pasted from magazines and sample code found on the web. The code was not well documented, buggy and was nearly impossible to add new features to. That was almost a year ago, and since then, we have basically rewritten all the code they wrote for us.
Can anyone reccomend a USB switch? The should be cheap, as USB is hot-pluggable and all.
I would like to control both my new Mac G4/450 and my P2/400 with a USB Keyboard and mouse. Anyone done any cross-platform USB stuff? If I use a Mac keyboard, does the PC see the command key as the control key (keeping the key locations the same), or do I have to relearn which is which?
Slashdot Mirror
The menu bar for each window was discussed by Tog.
Basically, having the menu bar at the top of the screen makes it infinitely tall, becuase you can flick the mouse to the top of the screen and click a menu. It makes a *very* noticable increase in accuracy and speed, especially for expert users.
The application vs. window issue is something that you get used to pretty quickly. If you use a mac for more than a day or so it seems pretty natural. With a modern OS with modern virtual memory, it doesn't really matter if you leave it open anyway. It actually can be a pretty nice feature, especially on a system like OS X where some apps still take quite a while to start up.
Twostep
DC-DC Power supplies:
The best one is Opus Solutions
Another good one is Keypower
You can find a lot more info at MP3Car.com, and especially at the forums there.
Twostep
My grandma's house used to have this, in Adams, MA. I think it went away like 10 years ago though. They still just tell other people 4 digit phone numbers though.
Twostep
Not a problem, becuase the RFIDs are unique numbers. Each candy bar would have a different number, and the store would know which ones were on the shelves and which ones had been sold already.
Twostep
Just pick up a USB extension cable, and leave it plugged in to the back of your machine. You also could get a USB hub and put it on your desktop.
Twostep
Sony licensed the TiVo software, and has something sort of like TiVo but without the guide data in Japan. I think it is basically a little more than a digital VCR, which is too bad. I think the main problem with overseas markets is the guide data (what is on all the different channels), which can be difficult to get right (as anyone with a TiVo or Replay knows)
Twostep
It runs for quite a while. I don't really know how long it would last, cause I always have other equipment running at the same time (GPS, Depthsounder, knotmeter, etc), and I have 2 deep-cycle batteries.
It didn't use up the entire charge on one battery running all that for about 24 hours though, so it does run for a long time.
Nearly all boats out there have some method for charging though, and lots of people use all sorts of crazy things. Solar, wind and water are becoming more and more popular. My boat, which is a sailboat, doesn't have any of that fancy stuff, and the only way I can charge my batteries is by running the inboard diesel engine.
Twostep
I used an older Sony Viao laptop (I think it is like a Pentium 150 or 200), and threw a bit more RAM in it. I then went out and picked up a universal 12V adapter, which can not only power the laptop but will charge cellphones and all sorts of things.
If the laptop is cheap enough, having it die doesn't matter as much.
The only other tip I would offer is to try to avoid a touchpad, as the one on my Viao really doesn't like wet hands. I would go for one of those nipple things or maybe a trackball (do they still even ship with those anymore?)
There is some real nice PC navigation software, like Visual Navigation Suite, which hasn't crashed on me once and supports just about all the electronic chart formats out there right now.
You might want to check out rec.boats.electronics, as they have a bunch of useful information there as well.
Twostep
There is a lot more inf on this at MP3Car.com, the user sites are a bit out of date, but the forum is excelent.
Also, it looks like Q-PC sells premade car computers, though I haven't seen any info about one.
I am building a car computer myself, that will completely replace my radio with a 8.4" touchscreen, running a custom program that does Radio, MP3's, DVD and GPS navigation.
Twostep
How much do they charge though? They don't seem to allow you to buy online...
Twostep
It is $100 per person that will be seeing the source code. The Torque engine also has a very powerful scripting language, so not everyone on a team would need the source code access.
Torque also runs on Windows, Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X. Garage games has a great community, and the improvements are coming fast and furious.
GG also just released a demo of their community produced game, Realm Wars. You can check it out here
Twostep
Wow, great! Forever war was a really good book. I also liked the sort of seqel, Forever Peace.
It is good to see Sci-Fi find and exploit their niche. Network TV will not be willing to risk making miniseries out of hard core sci-fi.
Twostep
Apparently they said at the press conference that they have the ability to put 2 tuners in the new TiVo's, bu that they aren't planning on manufacturing 2 tuner TiVo's quite yet.
Also, with one tuner you can watch one thing and record something else, you just have to watch something that has already been recorded. If you set up your TiVo in a certain way (with coax cable) you can even watch something live while TiVo records something else (equivalent to using a splitter).
Twostep
If you are so concerned, TiVo allows you to opt out of the data collection.
Personally, I like that they collect what I watch. Maybe that will mean that the shows I watch don't get cancelled...
Twostep
That "black-box" is available. Check this out. The whole rant is sort of flawed, because there is actually a standard for car diagnostic interfaces, called ODB-2. I had a link to the documentation, but can't find it right now.
Twostep
What are all the whiners going to do? It wouldn't be Dune without cries of, "The movie was better!"
On a more serious note, I wonder how well the rest of the books will translate. I thought they were a lot less "action-packed" than the first book, which is saying a lot.
Twostep
If you are an AT&T customer that used to have mediaone/roadrunner, you aren't going to get shut down. AT&T sent me some snail mail about possibly loosing the "Excite@Home homepage" which is what they want to make your default homepage when they install. I can't say I care at all...
Twostep
I work for a company that had outsourced all the technical aspects of our products to a consulting company. I was hired to help bring the software in-house, after the company was not too pleased with the large numbers of bugs in the software. When we finally starting working with the software, we found out that it was filled with all sorts of hacks, poorly documented, and some of the code had even been copied and pasted from magazines and sample code found on the web. The code was not well documented, buggy and was nearly impossible to add new features to. That was almost a year ago, and since then, we have basically rewritten all the code they wrote for us.
In-house is always the way to go, IMHO.
Twostep
Tribes 2 is coming for Linux. Dynamix is doing simultaneous PC/Mac/Linux development.
Twostep
Can anyone reccomend a USB switch? The should be cheap, as USB is hot-pluggable and all.
I would like to control both my new Mac G4/450 and my P2/400 with a USB Keyboard and mouse. Anyone done any cross-platform USB stuff? If I use a Mac keyboard, does the PC see the command key as the control key (keeping the key locations the same), or do I have to relearn which is which?
Thanks,
TwoStep
True geeks build their own parts.
Anything that doesn't require a soldering iron sucks.
Josh
I think that this is a great idea.
Although, there should be an option for users to see AC posts, but not the default.
Thsi might create (make worse?) the problem of throwaway accounts, but we should give it a shot