I'm really disappointed by this. I've been holding off on a new PDA, but I don't think I'll be getting this one.
The good:
Built-in WiFi (with web browser)
Nice screen
4 GB drive
Nice photo viewing
Multimedia features (although I doubt I'll use them)
The bad:
inadequate cache RAM (read the review that was linked to [and is probably now Slashdotted]). There is now a noticeable lag when starting applications. Thrashing the drive will probably impare battery life as well.
Still running PalmOS 5. C'mon, where's the innovation? What did they do with BeOS?
No camera
Personally, I'm glad it's not part of a phone. I want a seperate phone and PDA. I carry a thumbdrive in my pocket for toting files, which is very convenient because I don't have to mess with cables if I need to transfer files to another PC. If it's done well, I suppose the ability to carry along, edit, and then synch MS Word, etc., files could be handy. The music features aren't something I'll use. I'll stick with my iPod (which has way more than 4 GB of songs on it). Now an iPod with better PDA features--there's something I'd like to see.
But that's the whole point. Authors don't do it--for the end user the result is the same whatever the reason. Part of the reason authors aren't better about installers is because there are no standards in Linux for where files ought to be. So an installer that works for SuSE won't work on Red Hat, etc. That's where Windows, Mac OS X, and even the *BSDs have a clear advantage over Linux--a much better defined system of what files go where./K
Overall a fair review. But at least 2 of the "Cons" aren't really things that Griffin can control. The fact that there is no program listing for radio isn't the fault of the product, nor is the fact that when a Mac is asleep, it's asleep and things don't happen./K
Unlike software, where the cost of development is relatively low, testing new drugs is a VERY expensive proposition. People can argue endlessly about the "how much is too much" question, but there has to be some mechanism to pay for drug development costs. To expect companies to simply recover their manufacturing costs is unreasonable./K
>> Bad news for Apple fanatics but good news for all the crazy slashdotters who want an iPod but feel dirty using Apple's DRM: the labels are getting together and insisting that online stores standardize their DRM methods.
Um, how is this good news? Apple's DRM is actually fairly innocuous in practice. I don't feel the least bit dirty using it. Do you honestly believe that something foisted on us by the labels will be more end-user friendly and less proprietary?/K
Some balance will have to be struck. If the UN actually enforced this (unlikely--has the UN enforced anything lately?), then that would be kiss of death for space development. Why run the risks if you had to give away all the proceeds?
If you'd spent some of the time you spent looking up the components and looked up "irregardless" directly, you see that it means the same thing as "regardless". Just like "inflammable" means the same thing as "flammable."
AIAAD (Actually, I am a doctor). In fact, my specialty is Infectious Diseases.
By 1888 vaccination against smallpox using cowpox or vaccinia virus was a common practice, as opposed to "variolization" (inoculation with actual smallpox virus, aka variola virus), since the former was so much safer. This is touched on only briefly in the Washington Post article. So even if there is viable virus in the scab, it may not be smallpox. For reference see the first part of
this chapter.
I agree, this is typical "straw-man" type of article. I'll bet if a knowledgable user configured Win XP for someone, and then locked it down so that they COULD NOT INSTALL ANY NEW SOFTWARE, then XP would be just as free of tech suppoort needs. From the story he was the one who had to install new softare, since this is notoriously difficult in Linux. If all you need to do is surf the web and edit text files, then it really doesn't matter what OS you're using--they'll all work fine. >K
Fine--everything "just worked" for the hardware you happened to have. Doesn't mean a lot for the guy who runs into a problem.
The inconsistency between desktops, and the lack of a reasonably consistent way to install software (without dependency hell) is keeping Linux from being truly ready for the home desktop. And the parent poster is right--KDE on SuSE 9 is a lot clunkier in appearance than Win 2000. Having just intalled SuSE 9 I can't see how you can possibly say "...the difference between Windows and Linux on the desktop is so small it`s almost irrelevant." Clearly you're willing to settle for what Linux gives you. A lot of it is the little things--cut and paste not working correctly, trying to change the icon for a non-KDE program (Mozilla) on the toolbar (rather than use the default, generic "gear" icon), PilotLink not wanting to work (the daemon kept shutting down--finally I could link, but only at the slowest serial speed. KOrganizer [or PilotLink--doesn't really matter except that it happened) then screwed up a bunch of "repeat" appointments. The reality is that more and more "just works" on Windows nowadays--certainly moreso than Linux.
Linux may be great for a button-downed corporate desktop, but it isn't for home use. >K
Re:I still don't get cryptomoncomonmon
on
Quicksilver
·
· Score: 3, Funny
Aw, c'mon. The vignettes on eating Cap'n Crunch and the aphrodisiacal effects of granny-grade furniture are pure genius. Clearly Stephenson has far too many ideas to fit them all into the real flow of the narrative, so he takes the odd sidetrack. I like that--I enjoy these diversions immensely and hope he doesn't stop.
Check here or here for books that maybe more your speed.
RTFA. On the link you posted coercion is clearly called a crime. The point of that ruling is that coercion is different than extortion, so federal laws aimed at extortion are not applicable. >K
Agreed. Recently installed SuSE 7.3. Installation went fine. Tried to reconfigure X using Sax2--it kept freezing. Tried to use info in the O'Reilly book "Running Linux" to configure X from the console. That is until I found that the location of the xfree86.config file could be in any of a number of places. And actually there were such files in MOST of the directories mentioned. I couldn't figure out which xfree86.config was the one actually used. It sounds stupid, but I ended up reinstalling just to reconfigure X.
This is a real catch-22 for Linux as well. If you install Red Hat or SuSE, most decisions are made for you as well. It has to be that way. You can't make an intelligent decision on how to set things up until you've used the system, and if you can't use the system until you've set things up...
Better to have someone who knows what he's doing and who's thought about it (I'm not saying that that's what always happens) decide on the defaults than having a newbie make random choices just to get the d**n thing running.
Observation the first
You state: "There has got to be a better way to motivate people to create information than offering them control over it." I'd be happy to hear whatever system you have to propose. Seems to me it is hard to motivate someone without providing a means of sustenance for self and family. This typically means money, which implies value, which implies scarcity, etc.
Observation the second
I've never figured out how the "information wants to be free" crowd also tends to be very privacy/crypto oriented and keep a straight face. Next time someone tells you very sincerely that "information wants to be free," agree with him enthusiastically, and suggest he start by posting his e-mail address, log-in usernames and passwords, and credit card/bank account numbers on the Internet. This is information, after all, and doesn't he want it to be free? Check for the person's response. Clearly such people too believe that only SOME information should be free. It's in defining what constitutes "SOME" that defines the difference between people. Don't let them fool you into thinking otherwise.
RH 7.2 $59.95 (? CDs, ? manuals 30 days web based installation support)
RH 7.2 Pro $199.95 ( 7+ CDs, ? manuals, 60 days web based installation support)
SuSE 7.3 Personal $49.95 (3 CDs, 3 manuals, 60 days installation support)
SuSE 7.3 Pro $79.95 (7 CDs, 1 DVD, 7 manuals, 90 days installation support)
I graduated 17 years ago from the University of Dallas
www.udallas.edu, where they have an extensive Core Curriculum. Literature, history, philosophy, politics, art, foreign languages--I still use all of that stuff, at least as much as the chemistry, biology and math I studied. Most importantly, they taught me how to think critically. This is what makes college more than a glorified trade school, or should anyway.
It is "... a slap in the face of all those people who are trying to convince the world that the GPL is a viable license even for businesses." in the sense that the voyage of Magellen was a slap in the face of all those trying to convince the world that the world was flat.
The GPL may be an OK model for software a company develops internally to support their primary business. But I think this (among other examples) proves that it's a lousy model for a company who's primary business is selling software.
>K
>>>Surely the obvious matter that enough eyes checking something will make it a good source.
So if the chinese govenment forces enough people to endorse a particular article on the virtues of the Chinese state, it must be true, right?
Besides, where's the motivation to correct crap? Linux / Open Source Software works because for the most part the programmers are making something they themselves use--there's payback. You don't see a lot of Open Source replacements for Jump Start Preschool--not high on the priority list for most hackers. Likewise, if I'm the leading expert on Bali, I don't need a wikipedia article on Bali--I'm unlikely to bother wasting my time correcting all the errors posted by the istant "experts" who took a one week vacation there once.
You spoke the truth and got flamed for it--big surprise.
I installed Linux 5 years ago, ran it for about 6 months, then decided it was more trouble than it was worth. I CAN get Linux to work (and have done so to prove it), but I have better things to do with my time. See Al Steven's columns in the last two Dr. Dobbs Journals--instead of DLL hell there is dependency hell. And don't even get me started on the scattered configuration files, multiple incompatible help systems, etc. Like Mac zealots, Linux zealots do more harm than good by denying that real problems exist. Anecdotes about someones granny running Linux are useless--these computers have been configured basically as set top boxes--no one ever said granny cares what her OS is. But for a working person who has to obtain software to do what I need, configure it, run it, etc., Linux is currently not viable. And I've heard that good desktop software is **almost here** for the past 5 years, and it still hasn't quite made it... .
I'm sure Linux is a great server OS. And for college students with more time than money it might make sense. I'd love to see it become a viable desktop alternative, but Linux just isn't there yet.
This guy complains about purported lack of evidence of the benefits of OOP. Then he comes up with statements like these (emphasis mine).
"There are also a few studies that show that even non-OOP COBOL projects can achieve the same famous "code reuse" and flexibility" goals that OOP lays claim to if managed properly. (Sorry, we accidentally lost the references.)"
"The problem is that building generic abstract modules (intended for reuse in later projects) requires roughly three times the effort as a project-dedicated (regular) module. Although no references will be given here, this figure is fairly widely accepted in the industry."
Slashdot Mirror
I'm really disappointed by this. I've been holding off on a new PDA, but I don't think I'll be getting this one.
The good:
The bad:
Personally, I'm glad it's not part of a phone. I want a seperate phone and PDA. I carry a thumbdrive in my pocket for toting files, which is very convenient because I don't have to mess with cables if I need to transfer files to another PC. If it's done well, I suppose the ability to carry along, edit, and then synch MS Word, etc., files could be handy. The music features aren't something I'll use. I'll stick with my iPod (which has way more than 4 GB of songs on it). Now an iPod with better PDA features--there's something I'd like to see.
/K
That's one of Pournelle's laws--when something goes wrong, check the cables. /K
But that's the whole point. Authors don't do it--for the end user the result is the same whatever the reason. Part of the reason authors aren't better about installers is because there are no standards in Linux for where files ought to be. So an installer that works for SuSE won't work on Red Hat, etc. That's where Windows, Mac OS X, and even the *BSDs have a clear advantage over Linux--a much better defined system of what files go where. /K
Overall a fair review. But at least 2 of the "Cons" aren't really things that Griffin can control. The fact that there is no program listing for radio isn't the fault of the product, nor is the fact that when a Mac is asleep, it's asleep and things don't happen. /K
Unlike software, where the cost of development is relatively low, testing new drugs is a VERY expensive proposition. People can argue endlessly about the "how much is too much" question, but there has to be some mechanism to pay for drug development costs. To expect companies to simply recover their manufacturing costs is unreasonable. /K
>> Bad news for Apple fanatics but good news for all the crazy slashdotters who want an iPod but feel dirty using Apple's DRM: the labels are getting together and insisting that online stores standardize their DRM methods.
/K
Um, how is this good news? Apple's DRM is actually fairly innocuous in practice. I don't feel the least bit dirty using it. Do you honestly believe that something foisted on us by the labels will be more end-user friendly and less proprietary?
Some balance will have to be struck. If the UN actually enforced this (unlikely--has the UN enforced anything lately?), then that would be kiss of death for space development. Why run the risks if you had to give away all the proceeds?
If you'd spent some of the time you spent looking up the components and looked up "irregardless" directly, you see that it means the same thing as "regardless". Just like "inflammable" means the same thing as "flammable."
English--tricky language that.
>K
AIAAD (Actually, I am a doctor). In fact, my specialty is Infectious Diseases.
By 1888 vaccination against smallpox using cowpox or vaccinia virus was a common practice, as opposed to "variolization" (inoculation with actual smallpox virus, aka variola virus), since the former was so much safer. This is touched on only briefly in the Washington Post article. So even if there is viable virus in the scab, it may not be smallpox. For reference see the first part of this chapter.
>K
I agree, this is typical "straw-man" type of article. I'll bet if a knowledgable user configured Win XP for someone, and then locked it down so that they COULD NOT INSTALL ANY NEW SOFTWARE, then XP would be just as free of tech suppoort needs. From the story he was the one who had to install new softare, since this is notoriously difficult in Linux. If all you need to do is surf the web and edit text files, then it really doesn't matter what OS you're using--they'll all work fine.
>K
http://www.tragerusa.com/index.htm
They have inserts with hard shells.
Fine--everything "just worked" for the hardware you happened to have. Doesn't mean a lot for the guy who runs into a problem.
The inconsistency between desktops, and the lack of a reasonably consistent way to install software (without dependency hell) is keeping Linux from being truly ready for the home desktop. And the parent poster is right--KDE on SuSE 9 is a lot clunkier in appearance than Win 2000. Having just intalled SuSE 9 I can't see how you can possibly say "...the difference between Windows and Linux on the desktop is so small it`s almost irrelevant." Clearly you're willing to settle for what Linux gives you. A lot of it is the little things--cut and paste not working correctly, trying to change the icon for a non-KDE program (Mozilla) on the toolbar (rather than use the default, generic "gear" icon), PilotLink not wanting to work (the daemon kept shutting down--finally I could link, but only at the slowest serial speed. KOrganizer [or PilotLink--doesn't really matter except that it happened) then screwed up a bunch of "repeat" appointments. The reality is that more and more "just works" on Windows nowadays--certainly moreso than Linux.
Linux may be great for a button-downed corporate desktop, but it isn't for home use.
>K
Aw, c'mon. The vignettes on eating Cap'n Crunch and the aphrodisiacal effects of granny-grade furniture are pure genius. Clearly Stephenson has far too many ideas to fit them all into the real flow of the narrative, so he takes the odd sidetrack. I like that--I enjoy these diversions immensely and hope he doesn't stop.
Check here or here for books that maybe more your speed.
>K
RTFA. On the link you posted coercion is clearly called a crime. The point of that ruling is that coercion is different than extortion, so federal laws aimed at extortion are not applicable.
>K
I have maybe 4000 books at home...I just keep reading the ones that I have over and over and over.
At one book a day that would take about 11 years. Or do you just look at the pictures?
Agreed. Recently installed SuSE 7.3. Installation went fine. Tried to reconfigure X using Sax2--it kept freezing. Tried to use info in the O'Reilly book "Running Linux" to configure X from the console. That is until I found that the location of the xfree86.config file could be in any of a number of places. And actually there were such files in MOST of the directories mentioned. I couldn't figure out which xfree86.config was the one actually used. It sounds stupid, but I ended up reinstalling just to reconfigure X.
This is a real catch-22 for Linux as well. If you install Red Hat or SuSE, most decisions are made for you as well. It has to be that way. You can't make an intelligent decision on how to set things up until you've used the system, and if you can't use the system until you've set things up...
Better to have someone who knows what he's doing and who's thought about it (I'm not saying that that's what always happens) decide on the defaults than having a newbie make random choices just to get the d**n thing running.
Observation the first
You state: "There has got to be a better way to motivate people to create information than offering them control over it." I'd be happy to hear whatever system you have to propose. Seems to me it is hard to motivate someone without providing a means of sustenance for self and family. This typically means money, which implies value, which implies scarcity, etc.
Observation the second
I've never figured out how the "information wants to be free" crowd also tends to be very privacy/crypto oriented and keep a straight face. Next time someone tells you very sincerely that "information wants to be free," agree with him enthusiastically, and suggest he start by posting his e-mail address, log-in usernames and passwords, and credit card/bank account numbers on the Internet. This is information, after all, and doesn't he want it to be free? Check for the person's response. Clearly such people too believe that only SOME information should be free. It's in defining what constitutes "SOME" that defines the difference between people. Don't let them fool you into thinking otherwise.
>K
RH 7.2 $59.95 (? CDs, ? manuals 30 days web based installation support)
RH 7.2 Pro $199.95 ( 7+ CDs, ? manuals, 60 days web based installation support)
SuSE 7.3 Personal $49.95 (3 CDs, 3 manuals, 60 days installation support)
SuSE 7.3 Pro $79.95 (7 CDs, 1 DVD, 7 manuals, 90 days installation support)
I graduated 17 years ago from the University of Dallas
www.udallas.edu, where they have an extensive Core Curriculum. Literature, history, philosophy, politics, art, foreign languages--I still use all of that stuff, at least as much as the chemistry, biology and math I studied. Most importantly, they taught me how to think critically. This is what makes college more than a glorified trade school, or should anyway.
It is "... a slap in the face of all those people who are trying to convince the world that the GPL is a viable license even for businesses." in the sense that the voyage of Magellen was a slap in the face of all those trying to convince the world that the world was flat.
The GPL may be an OK model for software a company develops internally to support their primary business. But I think this (among other examples) proves that it's a lousy model for a company who's primary business is selling software.
>K
>>>Surely the obvious matter that enough eyes checking something will make it a good source.
So if the chinese govenment forces enough people to endorse a particular article on the virtues of the Chinese state, it must be true, right?
Besides, where's the motivation to correct crap? Linux / Open Source Software works because for the most part the programmers are making something they themselves use--there's payback. You don't see a lot of Open Source replacements for Jump Start Preschool--not high on the priority list for most hackers. Likewise, if I'm the leading expert on Bali, I don't need a wikipedia article on Bali--I'm unlikely to bother wasting my time correcting all the errors posted by the istant "experts" who took a one week vacation there once.
>K
You spoke the truth and got flamed for it--big surprise.
I installed Linux 5 years ago, ran it for about 6 months, then decided it was more trouble than it was worth. I CAN get Linux to work (and have done so to prove it), but I have better things to do with my time. See Al Steven's columns in the last two Dr. Dobbs Journals--instead of DLL hell there is dependency hell. And don't even get me started on the scattered configuration files, multiple incompatible help systems, etc. Like Mac zealots, Linux zealots do more harm than good by denying that real problems exist. Anecdotes about someones granny running Linux are useless--these computers have been configured basically as set top boxes--no one ever said granny cares what her OS is. But for a working person who has to obtain software to do what I need, configure it, run it, etc., Linux is currently not viable. And I've heard that good desktop software is **almost here** for the past 5 years, and it still hasn't quite made it... .
I'm sure Linux is a great server OS. And for college students with more time than money it might make sense. I'd love to see it become a viable desktop alternative, but Linux just isn't there yet.
>K
Sure, it could be bad grammer, but it be an apt use of litotes for effect. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
>K
This guy complains about purported lack of evidence of the benefits of OOP. Then he comes up with statements like these (emphasis mine).
"There are also a few studies that show that even non-OOP COBOL projects can achieve the same famous "code reuse" and flexibility" goals that OOP lays claim to if managed properly. (Sorry, we accidentally lost the references.)"
"The problem is that building generic abstract modules (intended for reuse in later projects) requires roughly three times the effort as a project-dedicated (regular) module. Although no references will be given here, this figure is fairly widely accepted in the industry."
What a hoot this guy is.
>K