For a second there, I thought it was an obscure Planet of the Apes reference...
jc
Apple should have spun off MacOS long ago...
on
Palm OS Spinoff
·
· Score: 1
This (IMO) is a great move for Palm. A move Apple should have made with MacOS before Windows got so entrenched in the market.
It's a little known fact that a skunkworks Apple project known as Star Trek succeeded in porting MacOS to run on an x86 system. Instead of embracing it, Apple management killed off the project fearing it would have a detrimental impact on Apple hardware sales.
If MacOS had been spun off into a seperate entity, they would have had no such restrictions on their behaviour, and x86 MacOS would have been released. A far superior product to Windows at that time. The world might have looked a lot different if the Star Trek project had not been killed.
By spinning off PalmOS into a seperate company which doesn't care who it sells licences to, Palm will end up encouraging other players to create devices that run PalmOS, because they know that the Palm hardware arm no longer has an "inside advantage" over them. It will also likely speed ports of PalmOS to other platforms, increasing market acceptance of the Palm platform.
I see nothing wrong with paying Yahoo a subscription fee for the services they provide.
they have a decent privacy policy
their servers are rarely down
their online services integrate well with my Palm Pilot
I think companies like Yahoo will always have basic free services, but I can see them rapidly moving towards subscription based "power user" services, which a certain class of customer (like myself) will be more than willing to pay for.
And I think Harlan is wrong. Reading from a book is still infinitely more pleasurable (and portable, and durable) than reading off a computer screen. He has nothing to worry about.
Have you heard of "In the beginning there was the Command Line" by Neal Stephenson?
Full text available electronically at:
http://www.cryptonomicon.com
Also available in soothing book format for only $8 at Amazon:
If I want to curl up with a book and read it, I'm either getting a copy from the library or buying it. Since I like Neal Stephenson, I bought a copy of the book.
Speaking of which, what is effectively happening is Ellison's work is being added to an informal electronic library. If he's going to bitch about this, then why isn't he up in arms about libraries giving away his material for free?
From the Merriam Webster web site (god bless their souls):
Main Entry: 1referee
Pronunciation: "re-f&-'rE
Function: noun
Date: 1621 1: one to whom a thing is referred: as a: a person to whom a legal matter is referred for investigation and report or for settlement b: a person who reviews a paper and especially a technical paper and recommends that it should or should not be published cchiefly British: REFERENCE 4a 2: a sports official usually having final authority in administering a game
So some idiot judge doesn't even have the common sense to look it up in the dictionary. You cannot trademark common things like this. Before you know it, someone will try to get trademarks on individual letters!
The Flanders Fields quote is accurate. Over the years, "blow" got changed to "grow". I blame filthy minded 10 year olds giggling at Remembrance Day assemblies. "Heh heh, she said 'blow'. Heh heh."
BTW, last time I checked Factory Direct on College St. in Toronto, you could get a spindle of 100 CD-R's for $40.
Personally, I don't give a rats ass about media levies. What is far more dangerous is all this talk about building hardware copy protection right into the burners and disk drives. Now that is frightening.
Some of the most successful chip makers in the world do not own a single fab. They simply outsource their manufacturing to a foundry. C'mon people, haven't you heard of PMC-Sierra?
I also don't agree with the complaint about chips being too complicated for a self educated "hacker" to design. You can break chips down into functional units that are easy to understand, and create them using a high-level design language. The interesting part is that some self-educated kid might actually find a better way of doing something than the industry "standard".
I'm afraid that while this strategy will
bolster short term profits, it will ultimately
hasten the worldwide move away from Microsoft
products.
There are lots of "casual" users of M$ products
who use their stuff because it is essentially
"free". We also end up learning so much about
it that we end up using it professionally, where
microsoft makes the vast majority of their revenues.
Without these free "learning" copies, I will be
far more motivated to go out and start using
stuff that _is_ free, and completely abandon the
increasingly bloated and expensive platforms that M$ pushes out their doors.
M$ didn't learn a thing from Java. It's a fun language to program in, but more importantly, it's completely free and well supported. Anyone can go out and download a few manuals and a JDK and learn the language absolutely free of charge. We eventually grow up and start using it professionally, in contexts where Sun can actually make money of us (by selling enterprise class hardware, software, and consulting services).
I've already got one foot out the door, and when this becomes official, I will be gone. Stupid stupid stupid.
I clicked through to the TechExtreme article on DSL vs. Cable, and found some pretty inaccurate DSL info there:
http://www.techextreme.com/hardware/guides/dvc/
1. In Toronto, where I live, downstream DSL rates top out at around 1000 Kbps, while I generally get around 100 Kbps upstream. I think this 1/10 aysymettrical ratio is fairly common.
2. The cost of this service is $30/month plus $10/month to rent the modem. I also got a cheap ethernet card thrown in for $10. These figures are in CANADIAN dollars. Which means that I'm paying around $25-30 bucks a month for DSL. The article states that users get 300 - 700 Kbps, and that they pay between $40 and $100/month. Is this true. In what geographical location do people get this badly screwed?
Offtopic, but what going to be the next wave? Everyone is hyper about DSL and Cable now, which probably means there's some killer technology around the corner that will eat them both for breakfast.
(a) made no sense at all. If you've got fusion, why bother with the humans? Still, it made for some neato scenes (the pods, and the fetus farms were pretty mindblowing).
(b) Go see the movie again. There are multiple instances of Trinity trying to communicate her feelings to the "...not so bright..." Neo.
Did anyone notice that once Trinity made her connection with him, she was able to communicate directly with him without the use of a telephone?
(c) Good point. And why just 3 agents? Why not 3000 agents, or maybe 3,000,000? Was there some sort of architectural limit to their matrix that only allowed 3 agents to wander around in it?
(d) Why don't the machines simply slaughter anyone who 'wakes up' from the matrix? That nurse robot nearly strangled Keanu when it was disconnecting him from the matrix. After watching that scene, an Austin Powers line popped into my head:
Agreed on the whole 'love' schtick. The Fifth Element had a similar cheesy ending. And don't even get me started on the ending of Cruel Intentions, which completely wruined an otherwise wickedly evil movie.
Does anyone know what artist is responsible for the music playing on Keanu's headphones in his first scene? The song is not on the soundtrack. Is it the Sneaker Pimps?
Slashdot Mirror
Bartender: "you want some more"?
It's from the Fifth Element.
For a second there, I thought it was an obscure
Planet of the Apes reference...
jc
This (IMO) is a great move for Palm. A move Apple should have made with MacOS before Windows got so entrenched in the market.
It's a little known fact that a skunkworks Apple project known as Star Trek succeeded in porting MacOS to run on an x86 system. Instead of embracing it, Apple management killed off the project fearing it would have a detrimental impact on Apple hardware sales.
If MacOS had been spun off into a seperate entity, they would have had no such restrictions on their behaviour, and x86 MacOS would have been released. A far superior product to Windows at that time. The world might have looked a lot different if the Star Trek project had not been killed.
By spinning off PalmOS into a seperate company which doesn't care who it sells licences to, Palm will end up encouraging other players to create devices that run PalmOS, because they know that the Palm hardware arm no longer has an "inside advantage" over them. It will also likely speed ports of PalmOS to other platforms, increasing market acceptance of the Palm platform.
Regards,
jc
Well, you've hit the nail on the head there haven't you?
Don't visit your local police state ever again.
Want to go on vacation? Go to Europe. Go to Mexico. Go to Cuba. But don't go to the USA.
Wanna host a conference? Do it in Europe. Do it in Asia. Hell, do it in Canada, where the long arm of the US cannot reach you.
jc
How the hell will they fingerprint everything from all their users? I don't think they have enough bandwidth...
jc
I think companies like Yahoo will always have basic free services, but I can see them rapidly moving towards subscription based "power user" services, which a certain class of customer (like myself) will be more than willing to pay for.
Regards,
jc
And I think Harlan is wrong. Reading from a book is still infinitely more pleasurable (and portable, and durable) than reading off a computer screen. He has nothing to worry about.
3 1/ qid=984025534/sr=1-5/ref=sc_b_5/104-7762809-876790 4
Have you heard of "In the beginning there was the Command Line" by Neal Stephenson?
Full text available electronically at:
http://www.cryptonomicon.com
Also available in soothing book format for only $8 at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/03808159
If I want to curl up with a book and read it, I'm either getting a copy from the library or buying it. Since I like Neal Stephenson, I bought a copy of the book.
Speaking of which, what is effectively happening is Ellison's work is being added to an informal electronic library. If he's going to bitch about this, then why isn't he up in arms about libraries giving away his material for free?
He's tilting at windmills if you ask me.
jc
From the Merriam Webster web site (god bless their souls):
Main Entry: 1referee : one to whom a thing is referred: as a : a person to whom a legal matter is referred for investigation and report or for settlement b : a person who reviews a paper and especially a technical paper and recommends that it should or should not be published c chiefly British : REFERENCE 4a : a sports official usually having final authority in administering a game
Pronunciation: "re-f&-'rE
Function: noun
Date: 1621
1
2
So some idiot judge doesn't even have the common sense to look it up in the dictionary. You cannot trademark common things like this. Before you know it, someone will try to get trademarks on individual letters!
Annoyedly,
jc
BTW, last time I checked Factory Direct on College St. in Toronto, you could get a spindle of 100 CD-R's for $40.
Personally, I don't give a rats ass about media levies. What is far more dangerous is all this talk about building hardware copy protection right into the burners and disk drives. Now that is frightening.
jc
Some of the most successful chip makers in the world do not own a single fab. They simply outsource their manufacturing to a foundry. C'mon people, haven't you heard of PMC-Sierra?
I also don't agree with the complaint about chips being too complicated for a self educated "hacker" to design. You can break chips down into functional units that are easy to understand, and create them using a high-level design language. The interesting part is that some self-educated kid might actually find a better way of doing something than the industry "standard".
jc
I'm afraid that while this strategy will
bolster short term profits, it will ultimately
hasten the worldwide move away from Microsoft
products.
There are lots of "casual" users of M$ products
who use their stuff because it is essentially
"free". We also end up learning so much about
it that we end up using it professionally, where
microsoft makes the vast majority of their revenues.
Without these free "learning" copies, I will be
far more motivated to go out and start using
stuff that _is_ free, and completely abandon the
increasingly bloated and expensive platforms that M$ pushes out their doors.
M$ didn't learn a thing from Java. It's a fun language to program in, but more importantly, it's completely free and well supported. Anyone can go out and download a few manuals and a JDK and learn the language absolutely free of charge. We eventually grow up and start using it professionally, in contexts where Sun can actually make money of us (by selling enterprise class hardware, software, and consulting services).
I've already got one foot out the door, and when this becomes official, I will be gone. Stupid stupid stupid.
jc
I clicked through to the TechExtreme article on DSL vs. Cable, and found some pretty inaccurate DSL info there:
http://www.techextreme.com/hardware/guides/dvc/
1. In Toronto, where I live, downstream DSL rates top out at around 1000 Kbps, while I generally get around 100 Kbps upstream. I think this 1/10 aysymettrical ratio is fairly common.
2. The cost of this service is $30/month plus $10/month to rent the modem. I also got a cheap ethernet card thrown in for $10. These figures are in CANADIAN dollars. Which means that I'm paying around $25-30 bucks a month for DSL. The article states that users get 300 - 700 Kbps, and that they pay between $40 and $100/month. Is this true. In what geographical location do people get this badly screwed?
Offtopic, but what going to be the next wave? Everyone is hyper about DSL and Cable now, which probably means there's some killer technology around the corner that will eat them both for breakfast.
Broadband Wireless anyone?
jc
(a) made no sense at all. If you've got fusion, why bother with the humans? Still, it made for some neato scenes (the pods, and the fetus farms were pretty mindblowing).
(b) Go see the movie again. There are multiple
instances of Trinity trying to communicate her
feelings to the "...not so bright..." Neo.
Did anyone notice that once Trinity made
her connection with him, she was able to
communicate directly with him without the
use of a telephone?
(c) Good point. And why just 3 agents? Why not 3000 agents, or maybe 3,000,000? Was there some sort of architectural limit to their matrix that only allowed 3 agents to wander around in it?
(d) Why don't the machines simply slaughter anyone who 'wakes up' from the matrix? That nurse robot nearly strangled Keanu when it was disconnecting him from the matrix. After watching that scene, an Austin Powers line popped into my head:
"Warm liquid goo phase complete."
jc
Agreed on the whole 'love' schtick. The Fifth Element had a similar cheesy ending. And don't even get me started on the ending of Cruel Intentions, which completely wruined an otherwise wickedly evil movie.
Does anyone know what artist is responsible for the music playing on Keanu's headphones in his first scene? The song is not on the soundtrack. Is it the Sneaker Pimps?