Demon Internet actually has pretty good technical support. I've always got onto a real person within a few minutes (normally less than 1 minute), and though they only officially support PC/Mac, they'll try and help with anything.
Last time I was talking to them, it was because of problems connecting from my Ericsson R380 smart phone, and Zaurus PDA. About as unsupported a combination as you could get, but the guy on the end still tried his best to support me (as it turned out, we tracked it down to a problem with my phone, which still persists, which gives a good excuse to get a P800 to replace it).
I've been using the developer version for the last month or so, and it is quite a nice PDA. It plays MP3s and MPEGs (though MPEG playback is a bit slow - I'd say about half the fps of the iPAQ WinCE player). The voice recorder works through the headphones - one headphone (the left I think) becomes the microphone. Don't ask me how this works...
Screen is good. Keyboard isn't brilliant, but under some circumstances is a lot better than using the stylus. Handwriting recognition is fully configurable. I haven't had problems with the size of the stylus.
My biggest gripe is battery life - it's too short. Playing MP3s off an IBM microdrive only lasts ~80mins or so. Without the microdrive, it's longer, but it's only rated at 3.5hrs. It's not long enough to play MP3s to work, use it at work occasionally, then MP3s back home (I currently have a 3-4 hr commute each day).
The IR port is perfectly located on the left hand side (unlike the iPAQ, which has it on the top). This means I can stick the Zaurus and my mobile phone in my left hand (the phone has an IR port on the right), use the stylus with my right hand, and browse the web/download email while walking around (useful while waiting for a train).
Opera is nice, but the version I have doesn't have an option to switch off image download. The Opera on my Psion does, and this really speeds up web browsing. Tabbed browsing would also be nice. Lack of both of these means pages are slow to download, and you can't be reading another page while waiting for the next to download etc.
Stick a stylesheet line at the top of the XML file, and IE6 will render it correctly. Earlier versions of IE won't however, and I haven't come across any other browser that supports this.
With some suitable stylesheet defined in foo.xsl.
The following URL used to work with IE6, not sure whether it still does. Using Linux at the moment, so can't test it.
http://www.bifrost.demon.co.uk/xml/yags/armour.x ml
When I tried to buy a Dell with Linux on it earlier this year, I was told that it wasn't possible to buy Linux pre-installed. There were no options on the website (that I could find), and I spoke to two sales people at Dell, both of whome denied Dell sold Linux. They also refused to sell a machine without Windows.
They did say deleting Windows and installing Linux over the top myself was okay though. So I did. The Dell works fine with RH7.0.
First off, just to confuse things, RISC OS uses '.' as a path seperator. It also doesn't have the concept of a file extension - you have filetypes which are encoded into the directory data, and control what icon to use, and what to do when the file is run, edited or printed.
Anyway, a typical directory of applications will look like:
The '$' is the root directory, plus you can have multiple sprites files for different resolutions.
A simple virus could propagate by writing stuff into the !Boot file (!Boot and !Run were normally scripts), since it was always run as soon as the $.Apps directory (or wherever) was opened.
RISC OS has been doing something like this for ~15 years, and is one of the things I really like about it.
If a directory name starts with a '!', it's an application directory (this could have been done better, but it's not too bad). Inside is a file called !Boot, which is run when the directory is first 'seen' by the filer. This sets up filetypes and other info for auto-running the application if a document is run for instance.
There's a !Sprites file which provides icons for the application in the filer window. There's also a !Help file which gives info on the application.
Finally, there's a !Run file which is run if the application is doubleclicked.
This makes it very easy to keep multiple copies of the same application around. Installation consists of copying the app-directory onto your hard drive. Uninstall involves just deleting it.
Things can get more complicated if it starts using shared modules, but I never had problems with backwards compatibility with these.
I have OpenPGP set up at work, which plugs into Outlook very nicely. At home, I've got GPG which plugs into KMail in a similar way, and is fully compatible with OpenPGP.
I've got a PGP tool for my Psion 7, though this isn't as compatible, mostly in that I can't import/export private keys from the other two into the Psion version of PGP.
Two things though that I haven't figured out yet. The first, is should I use the same key for all my accounts, or different keys? The lack of private key import/export in Psion PGP sort of means I can't share a key here, which makes things somewhat complicated.
The other point, is just how sensible is it to put my public key on a web page? Am I being too paranoid to worry about a black hat changing that key and intercepting my emails?
I'm sure I wasn't this paranoid before reading Cryptonomicon...
Once I've figured all the above, all I need is a PGP tool for my r380 (smart phone), and I'll be secure...
> I would guess that nobody's tried to emulate a
> complete x86 PC on a non-x86 platform
There was (and still is) a software PC emulator
for RISC OS, which allowed you to run DOS and
MS Windows on an ARM processor. It was slow, but
it worked - mostly. Emulated the DOS disc as a
single file on the RISC OS file system.
RISC OS does precisely this. Earlier versions were entirely in ROM, newer versions are mostly in ROM. The OS is split into various modules (dozens of them), and if you need to upgrade (e.g. to fix a bug), it can dynamically load a newer version off disc into RAM.
Means boot-up is damn quick (very little is normally loaded off disc), and if you break your installation, you can still boot up and fix it, because there's a perfectly adequate OS (including GUI, text editor, drawing packages) in ROM.
Complete GUI based OS in 4MB of ROM, and perfectly happy to run heavy duty apps (web browsers, DTP) in less than 8MB of RAM.
Look at http://www.riscos.com/ - though the site seems to be down at the moment.
It is possible to get cable modem access in some parts of the UK. Okay, I was only getting around 16K/sec when I started downloading it this morning before I left for work, but I don't care because it doesn't cost me anything (well, other than the montly flat rate fee), and I'll be able to play it tonight when I get home.
Still got to finish the (120MB) Thief 2 demo though which I downloaded earlier this week...
I think NTL are still the only cable company providing cable modem support though (www.ntl.co.uk). Just noticed that they're also trialing ADSL.
It does compile (and run), and the Duke.Actor inherits the fields from the Unreal.Actor class. The purpose of the main() is to show that all the fields in Unreal.Actor can be accessed via the extended Duke.Actor class.
> To add a new variable to the actor class, you > wouldn't edit our code, you'd simply subclass > the entire engine, with a declaration like > "class DukeNukemEngine extends UnrealEngine". > Then you'd extend the DukeNukemEngine.Actor > class and add your new variable to the > subclass -- just the variable, no cutting and > pasting of other code.
Now, unless I'm missing something, the following Java 1.2 code does what he wants:
Unreal.java ----------- public class Unreal { String world = null;
public class Actor { int strength; int dexterity; int health; }
public class Walls { int x; int y; }
Unreal() { world = "Unreal World"; }
Unreal(String name) { world = name; } }
Duke.java --------- public class Duke extends Unreal {
public class Actor extends Unreal.Actor { int magic; }
I have little knowledge of American schools, so I don't know whether what's been described here on slashdot is the norm, or is restricted to certain schools. I know for sure though that I was definitely not 'one of the crowd' at school (I went to a grammar school - age 11-18 - not sure how that equates to the American high school, but I guess it's similar age range, and 'grammar' school just means we all passed an exam at the age of 11, so it's the brighter end of the spectrum, which sort of makes me really worry about those who failed that exam, but that's another story).
After the first few years of doing badly at sports, we learnt to sneak off to do roleplaying or computing (sport was officially compulsory). There were a few problems with the 'popular' sport obsessed idiots, but for the most part we had nothing to do with them, and they had nothing to do with us. Quite tame really. I'm aware of some schools were things could be bad, but for the most part, for the geeks/nerds I knew, it wasn't that bad. School was actually quite fun.
We definitely never had problems with any Scotsmen[1].
So, from my experience (and that's an important point), I'd say the problems that have been described here, seem to be much worse in America, than they are in the UK, though I'm pretty sure there's some bad schools in the UK.
[1] Jock = someone from Scotland. It took me a while to figure out what you yanks mean by the term, but I think I have it worked out now!
Slashdot Mirror
Well, if you get a P800, you can combine PDA and cell phone, while still staying at your Psion (well, Symbian at any rate).
It's just a real shame the P800 uses Sony memory sticks rather than the more standard CF cards.
Demon Internet actually has pretty good technical support. I've always got onto a real person within a few minutes (normally less than 1 minute), and though they only officially support PC/Mac, they'll try and help with anything.
Last time I was talking to them, it was because of problems connecting from my Ericsson R380 smart phone, and Zaurus PDA. About as unsupported a combination as you could get, but the guy on the end still tried his best to support me (as it turned out, we tracked it down to a problem with my phone, which still persists, which gives a good excuse to get a P800 to replace it).
I've been using the developer version for the last month or so, and it is quite a nice PDA. It plays MP3s and MPEGs (though MPEG playback is a bit slow - I'd say about half the fps of the iPAQ WinCE player). The voice recorder works through the headphones - one headphone (the left I think) becomes the microphone. Don't ask me how this works...
Screen is good. Keyboard isn't brilliant, but under some circumstances is a lot better than using the stylus. Handwriting recognition is fully configurable. I haven't had problems with the size of the stylus.
My biggest gripe is battery life - it's too short. Playing MP3s off an IBM microdrive only lasts ~80mins or so. Without the microdrive, it's longer, but it's only rated at 3.5hrs. It's not long enough to play MP3s to work, use it at work occasionally, then MP3s back home (I currently have a 3-4 hr commute each day).
The IR port is perfectly located on the left hand side (unlike the iPAQ, which has it on the top). This means I can stick the Zaurus and my mobile phone in my left hand (the phone has an IR port on the right), use the stylus with my right hand, and browse the web/download email while walking around (useful while waiting for a train).
Opera is nice, but the version I have doesn't have an option to switch off image download. The Opera on my Psion does, and this really speeds up web browsing. Tabbed browsing would also be nice. Lack of both of these means pages are slow to download, and you can't be reading another page while waiting for the next to download etc.
Despite the odd downside, I like it.
Stick a stylesheet line at the top of the XML file, and IE6 will render it correctly. Earlier versions of IE won't however, and I haven't come across any other browser that supports this.
x ml
e.g.:
<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<?xml-stylesheet href="foo.xsl" type="text/xsl"?>
<greeting>
<say>Hello World</say>
</greeting>
With some suitable stylesheet defined in foo.xsl.
The following URL used to work with IE6, not sure whether it still does. Using Linux at the moment, so can't test it.
http://www.bifrost.demon.co.uk/xml/yags/armour.
When I tried to buy a Dell with Linux on it earlier this year, I was told that it wasn't possible to buy Linux pre-installed. There were no options on the website (that I could find), and I spoke to two sales people at Dell, both of whome denied Dell sold Linux. They also refused to sell a machine without Windows.
They did say deleting Windows and installing Linux over the top myself was okay though. So I did. The Dell works fine with RH7.0.
First off, just to confuse things, RISC OS uses '.' as a path seperator. It also doesn't have the concept of a file extension - you have filetypes which are encoded into the directory data, and control what icon to use, and what to do when the file is run, edited or printed.
s kt op.gif
Anyway, a typical directory of applications will look like:
$.Apps.!MyApp.!Boot
$.Apps.!MyApp.!Sprites
$.Apps.!MyApp.!Sprites22
$.Apps.!MyApp.!Run
$.Apps.!OtherApp.!Sprites
$.Apps.!OtherApp.!Run
$.Apps.!Otherapp.datafile
The '$' is the root directory, plus you can have multiple sprites files for different resolutions.
A simple virus could propagate by writing stuff into the !Boot file (!Boot and !Run were normally scripts), since it was always run as soon as the $.Apps directory (or wherever) was opened.
There's a screenshot at:
http://www.bifrost.demon.co.uk/comp/graphics/de
More info at http://www.riscos.com/
It was good for its time.
RISC OS has been doing something like this for ~15 years, and is one of the things I really like about it.
If a directory name starts with a '!', it's an application directory (this could have been done better, but it's not too bad). Inside is a file called !Boot, which is run when the directory is first 'seen' by the filer. This sets up filetypes and other info for auto-running the application if a document is run for instance.
There's a !Sprites file which provides icons for the application in the filer window. There's also a !Help file which gives info on the application.
Finally, there's a !Run file which is run if the application is doubleclicked.
This makes it very easy to keep multiple copies of the same application around. Installation consists of copying the app-directory onto your hard drive. Uninstall involves just deleting it.
Things can get more complicated if it starts using shared modules, but I never had problems with backwards compatibility with these.
I have OpenPGP set up at work, which plugs into Outlook very nicely. At home, I've got GPG which plugs into KMail in a similar way, and is fully compatible with OpenPGP.
I've got a PGP tool for my Psion 7, though this isn't as compatible, mostly in that I can't import/export private keys from the other two into the Psion version of PGP.
Two things though that I haven't figured out yet. The first, is should I use the same key for all my accounts, or different keys? The lack of private key import/export in Psion PGP sort of means I can't share a key here, which makes things somewhat complicated.
The other point, is just how sensible is it to put my public key on a web page? Am I being too paranoid to worry about a black hat changing that key and intercepting my emails?
I'm sure I wasn't this paranoid before reading Cryptonomicon...
Once I've figured all the above, all I need is a PGP tool for my r380 (smart phone), and I'll be secure...
Just got pointed here this morning, which has a good overview of reaction drive technology now and in the future. Seemed sort of relevant.
http://astp.msfc.nasa.gov/4thgen_main.htmlSee the link 'Really Advanced Propulsion Research' down side bar.
> I would guess that nobody's tried to emulate a
> complete x86 PC on a non-x86 platform
There was (and still is) a software PC emulator
for RISC OS, which allowed you to run DOS and
MS Windows on an ARM processor. It was slow, but
it worked - mostly. Emulated the DOS disc as a
single file on the RISC OS file system.
> [furby@furby office] $ cp /home/kitchen/beer.can /home/office/beer.can
:-)
cp?!? That could be useful...
RISC OS does precisely this. Earlier versions were entirely in ROM, newer versions are mostly in ROM. The OS is split into various modules (dozens of them), and if you need to upgrade (e.g. to fix a bug), it can dynamically load a newer version off disc into RAM.
i s.html
Means boot-up is damn quick (very little is normally loaded off disc), and if you break your installation, you can still boot up and fix it, because there's a perfectly adequate OS (including GUI, text editor, drawing packages) in ROM.
Complete GUI based OS in 4MB of ROM, and perfectly happy to run heavy duty apps (web browsers, DTP) in less than 8MB of RAM.
Look at http://www.riscos.com/ - though the site seems to be down at the moment.
Alternatively:
http://www.bifrost.demon.co.uk/comp/riscos/what
It is possible to get cable modem access in some parts of the UK. Okay, I was only getting around 16K/sec when I started downloading it this morning before I left for work, but I don't care because it doesn't cost me anything (well, other than the montly flat rate fee), and I'll be able to play it tonight when I get home.
Still got to finish the (120MB) Thief 2 demo though which I downloaded earlier this week...
I think NTL are still the only cable company providing cable modem support though (www.ntl.co.uk). Just noticed that they're also trialing ADSL.
It does compile (and run), and the Duke.Actor inherits the fields from the Unreal.Actor class. The purpose of the main() is to show that all the fields in Unreal.Actor can be accessed via the extended Duke.Actor class.
To quote his article:
> To add a new variable to the actor class, you
> wouldn't edit our code, you'd simply subclass
> the entire engine, with a declaration like
> "class DukeNukemEngine extends UnrealEngine".
> Then you'd extend the DukeNukemEngine.Actor
> class and add your new variable to the
> subclass -- just the variable, no cutting and
> pasting of other code.
Now, unless I'm missing something, the following
Java 1.2 code does what he wants:
Unreal.java
-----------
public class Unreal {
String world = null;
public class Actor {
int strength;
int dexterity;
int health;
}
public class Walls {
int x;
int y;
}
Unreal() {
world = "Unreal World";
}
Unreal(String name) {
world = name;
}
}
Duke.java
---------
public class Duke extends Unreal {
public class Actor extends Unreal.Actor {
int magic;
}
Actor myActor;
Duke(String name) {
world = "Duke "+name;
myActor = new Actor();
myActor.magic = 4;
myActor.strength = 6;
}
public static void
main(String args[]) {
Duke game = new Duke("Dead World");
System.out.println(game.world);
System.out.println(game.myActor.strength);
System.out.println(game.myActor.magic);
}
}
The Duke class has added a magic field to the
Actor subclass, and can use all of the fields
in the Unreal.Actor subclass as well.
Speaking from an English viewpoint...
I have little knowledge of American schools, so I don't know whether
what's been described here on slashdot is the norm, or is restricted to
certain schools. I know for sure though that I was definitely not
'one of the crowd' at school (I went to a grammar school - age 11-18 -
not sure how that equates to the American high school, but I guess it's
similar age range, and 'grammar' school just means we all passed an
exam at the age of 11, so it's the brighter end of the spectrum, which sort
of makes me really worry about those who failed that exam, but that's
another story).
After the first few years of doing badly at sports, we learnt to sneak off
to do roleplaying or computing (sport was officially compulsory). There
were a few problems with the 'popular' sport obsessed idiots, but for the
most part we had nothing to do with them, and they had nothing to do
with us. Quite tame really. I'm aware of some schools were things could
be bad, but for the most part, for the geeks/nerds I knew, it wasn't that
bad. School was actually quite fun.
We definitely never had problems with any Scotsmen[1].
So, from my experience (and that's an important point), I'd say the
problems that have been described here, seem to be much worse in
America, than they are in the UK, though I'm pretty sure there's some
bad schools in the UK.
[1] Jock = someone from Scotland. It took me a while to figure out
what you yanks mean by the term, but I think I have it worked out now!