2 hours of battery life, nearly the same as a PSP with a better screen and a lower price tag. And miles behind the Game Boy DS w/ play yan with the same size screen, and a much cheaper price tag. And the video iPod will be considerably more fragile. Sure more space but what not time to watch it!
It's SageTV for me. I built a tiny two tuner MiniATX box running Win2000 3 years ago and it has been running flawlessly since then. It pulls down listings for free off of my DSL network, automatically records series, switches the cable box via IR transceiver, plays back without a burp, and stores in standard MPEG-2 files (NO DRM) which record straight to DVD or compresses to PSP or GameBoy Play-Yan files. The IR learning system means that I can use a universal remote with the unit.
While the system isn't open source it is fantastic and a steal in terms of pricing. Also they are building linux versions for embedded boxen.
Protable video is fantastic when you travel by air or rail. I don't like my PSP for this purpose due to the expensive memory sticks and the fragility and cost of the unit, but the Game Boy is a completely different matter. Using a play yan I can get 5-6 hours on a 1GB SD card with excellent replay quality. For extended trips I use my DS for viewing, while for shorter periods I use the micro. In both cases the battery life is sufficent for transcontinental flights. While the screen is small (although it is effectively bigger than the monitors for inflight movies) the sharpness makes for excellent viewing. The no moving parts nature of the design makes the system nearly indestructable. In particular the micro is smaller than most mp3 players, allowing for convienient viewing without having to crack open your carry on.
Of course, the one problem associated with this technology is that it isn't an iPod. When Apple introduces an inferior product with an insane markup, Jobs will make the cover of all the magazines having invented protable video.
Oh, and for those folks who think head mounted displays are great for portable video, forget about it. Wearing a head mounted display with an image fixed to the heads frame of reference in a moving vehicle is a prescription for horrific motion sickness. Sony tried a head mounted display based video walkman system for commuters about 8 years back, total disaster.
Go to Lik-sang.com and get a play yan or a play yan micro cartridge. The cartridge is only slightly larger than the standard game cartridge but incorporates an SD flash socket and an additional headphone jack with added amplification and less distortion than the preexisting jack. It works with beautifully with the micro and the rest of the GBA series and beats the hell out of the movie player in terms of image quality and framerate not to mention size. Use the 3GP converter with the trancscoder files from the liksang forums. The screen is remarkably sharp and well suited to extended viewing. In fact I actually prefer the DS or micro to my PSP for video viewing due to cheap SD flash memory, insane battery life and near indestructability.
Um... that's econ 101 based on oversimplified models
In reality GM does make SUVs with atrocious mileage when minivan engines with identical performance but considerably better mileage and lower emissions. Why are the SUV engines so bad, they don't class as cars for federal regulations so GM can pass off crap engines at a huge profit margin.
In the same manner apple relies on brand recognition and the cell phone oglipoly to offer a woefully crippled product.
If we do have a perfect capitalist economy why would we have region codes on dvds?
Back in '91 I was developing holographic memory (quantum in fact) for my dissertation, and I relied on work done in the '70s. It's the technology of the future and it will stay that way!
Having both the PSP and a DS I agree completely. In particular I've got a Play Yan (imported via Lik-Sang), an I actually prefer to use use the DS for video playback, particularly w/ the firmware upgrade. While the screen is smaller, the DS is compact, much more rugged, and has a fantastic battery life. The Play Yan takes dirt cheap SD cards , and uses a very efficent MP4 compression (with the new firmware) which allows me to store 5+ hours of video on a single 1 GB card. On the other hand the PSP is more expensive (while the play yan jacks up the price of the total package, you make out on the cost of the SD cards) far more fragile, and 1 GB of MS Duo costs more than a DS! Finally, even if I did break down and buy a 1GB Memory Stick I wouldn't have the battery life to watch the contents. The PSP is a Jaguar overpriced, flashy, and not too practical, the DS is a VW, a little cramped but cheap, reliable and has great gas mileage.
A post a while back in boing boing (http://www.boingboing.net/2003/07/27/wifi_is_too_ expensiv.html) noted that the added cost of administering and accounting for a pay wifi site ($30) versus a free site ($6) made the profit very difficult. In comparison a free site was cheap enough to easily make a net profit from the increased traffic it drew.
Everthing has an element of risk. But in this case the empirical odds of total destruction are 56:1, better that russian roulette but only by an order of magnitude. If the use of the shuttle is justified for the specific task by all means do so. But if a Russian space capsule is up to the task use that. If heavy lift is what is needed, a big unmanned launch vehicle should be used.
At present, the primary justification for shuttle missions is to justify the shuttle. Only a fraction of the time and effort on board the ISS is spent on anything but maintaining the ISS and determining the effects of extended stays in space by the crew.
The best thing that advocates of the space program especially the manned space program can do is realize that the Shuttle!=The Space Progam.
We have to admit that the Shuttle was the lowball approach to implementing a reusable manned spacecraft using mid-70's technology. The design was full of horrible compromises and hopelessly oversold. We have three left, and no more will be built.
Secondly, with the current constraint of flights to ISS the Shuttle has no commercial or military importance.
If we want a space program to compete with China and India much less Russia, we need to make the replacement of the Shuttle a first priority, using a variety of vehicles, most unmanned, some manned. The technologies must be innovative and practical. NASA must focus on directly relating thse new vehicles to tangible applications for the public.
The public wants desparately to support the space program, they love Space Ship 1, the Mars Rovers, GPS and Satellite TV. But when faced with nothing but incredibly dangerous commutes to low earth orbit, their support wanes to nothing.
Let's see, 2 million copies of a limited highly proprietary language which is a developmental dead end (remember.NET will not be the basis for Longhorn). All those VB script kiddies will most certianly ease the skill shortage in basic CS research.
The donation just happens to lock the users into the donor's OS and development system. What a surprise!
In the same spirit I donate an infinite number of copies of Python, an infinite number of copies of PERL, an infinite number of copies of GCC and an infinite number of copies of Linux for anybody to download!
This really screams for a small Slax or Knoppix distro in write protected flash, which incorporates a hard reset with data retention (i.e. disable all added executables, retain data), coupled with removable hard drives (if the system is too beserk pull hard drive, put in new drive, reboot)
While GPS works everywhere, the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) is only useful for the Continental US. WAAS units will work elsewere but they will only have the resolution of standard GPS. If you need better than standard C/A code accuracy use Carrier Differential (CDGPS) mapping using two Garmin recievers and a copy of GRINGO (http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/iessg/gringo/).
The Garmin Rhino units w/ integrated FRS Walkie Talkie units are vaery rugged and may be handy for survey. Additionally, to quote the Operation Iraqi Freedom PEO Soldier Lessons Learned report:
Commercial GPS: As is widely known, many soldiers purchase their own GPS systems rather than use the PLGR. The Rhino was provided to the 82d as part of the rapid fielding initiative. Overall, soldiers were very appreciative of this addition to their MTOE. The Rhino was a vast improvement over the PLGR because of the weight, volume, power consumption and performance - the Rhino consistently acquired satellites faster than the PLGR. However, the soldiers stated they did not use the communications capabilities of the Rhino, at least not extensively, because it was not secure and consumed batteries too quickly in this mode.
If it survives the front lines in Iraq, West Africa should be a cake walk.
So much of American education is split across two cultures: one technical, one literate. There is little impetus to take courses in writing for the technically inclined, but in the same manner, a considerable proportion of culturally inclined individuals are technically illiterate. It's far more embarassing to be found ignorant of Shakespeare than C or multivariable calculus. This lack of diversity in education is actually much more severe with Physics majors ignorant of EE and Chemists who cannot program.
On top of this, a disproportionate numer of technical people have dislexia, Aspergers syndrome , ADHD or other learning disabilities (myself included). Due to the inability of the educational system to handle such problems, such indiviuals have to compensate by a combination of focusing on their strenghts and using self taught remedies to their problems.
Personally I watch anime on a daily basis, the vast majority of which I have bought through the standard licenced outlets. I do have a good number of "bootleg" disks but when the dubbed copies come out, I buy the legal disks as well (unless the show really sucked). I don't do fansub, but I'm seriously tempted so as to see the latest shows. I would happly subscribe to a legal fansub service in a heartbeat so as to get new/obscure shows faster.
Why do I watch anime? The diversity of the shows as well as the high level of plotting. I can watch a complex science fiction epic one day and a late Edo period drama the next. Frankly, the good anime titles completely blow away US television for the level of plotting and characterization. Short of B5 or Buffy US TV simply can't do multi-episode multiple story arcs. Having just finished off the first season of "Magical Knights Rayearth" I was astounded at how a kiddie series could incorporate such a complex plotline, killer ending and strong characterization. Also, anime is one of the rare sources of Xena/Buffy strong female protagonists .
I would suspect that a large proportion of Sith lords are already present in the current administration.
Re:The future of Podcasting here?
on
P2P and TV
·
· Score: 1
Basically, this is the model that original video animation (OVA or OAV) takes for anime. The results are often excellent. It limits liability and bootstraps funding
I guess Apple won't be getting much market share out of Linux. Hmm, free as in beer and speech OS, runs on anything that moves, or fancy overpriced OS which runs on overpriced hardware and DRMed up the tush?
Having read the excellent link on the Rise and Fall of Disney Animation I came away even more doubtful that Disney is salvagable although not for all of the reasons note in the article.
First off, Studio Ghibli does not operate in a vaccum, a broad variety of styles and methods ranging from classical 2d to pure 3d exist with differing implementations for each studio. As a result each studio can learn from the other's output.
Second, rather than being a debased form, in anime the television series and the straight to video OAVs can fuction as either a farm team for features or a counterpoint allowing various time scales for exposition (the Tenchi franchise is an excellent example of this). If studios here could use OAV releases to bootstrap funding for animation, many more creative projects could get off the ground. Instead Disney uses direct to video as a dumping ground.
Finally, despite the protestations of the author of "Rise and Fall" it is possible to have a message and a great deal of political correctness while telling a ripping yarn in the process. The majority of anime stories are intensely pro-family while having a considerably more diverse collection of protaganists as well as considerably more nuanced antagonists as well.
It's not the style, it's the story and the plot. Anime is a runaway hit because it does not condescend to the audience, nor does it hit the "reset" button at every episode, nor does it employ 2 dimensional heros and villians. Shows like B5 and Buffy that follow these features of anime succeed without the overt sylistic elements of anime.
Thats a good rallying cry: Better than Trigun or DBZ. Which is essentially our best is better than their worst! There is no denying Aladdin and Lilo are masterworks, they are also the style Disney is abandoning. The problem is that Disney isn't using them as the standard for their work. In terms of fluidity of animation in anime, check out the flight sequence in Kiki or some of Oshi's work ("Beautiful Dreamer", or "The Tragedy of L" from the original Patlabor OVA's). Also check out the first scene of the first episode of Inuyasha which easily surpasses any action sequence live or animated done by an American filmmaker in the past decade. As for the ocasionally choppy animation in some good series, I'd contend that "You're under Arrest the Motion Picture" is easily better than anything Disney has put out since Lilo.
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2 hours of battery life, nearly the same as a PSP with a better screen and a lower price tag. And miles behind the Game Boy DS w/ play yan with the same size screen, and a much cheaper price tag. And the video iPod will be considerably more fragile. Sure more space but what not time to watch it!
Huh?
It's SageTV for me. I built a tiny two tuner MiniATX box running Win2000 3 years ago and it has been running flawlessly since then. It pulls down listings for free off of my DSL network, automatically records series, switches the cable box via IR transceiver, plays back without a burp, and stores in standard MPEG-2 files (NO DRM) which record straight to DVD or compresses to PSP or GameBoy Play-Yan files. The IR learning system means that I can use a universal remote with the unit.
While the system isn't open source it is fantastic and a steal in terms of pricing. Also they are building linux versions for embedded boxen.
Protable video is fantastic when you travel by air or rail. I don't like my PSP for this purpose due to the expensive memory sticks and the fragility and cost of the unit, but the Game Boy is a completely different matter. Using a play yan I can get 5-6 hours on a 1GB SD card with excellent replay quality. For extended trips I use my DS for viewing, while for shorter periods I use the micro. In both cases the battery life is sufficent for transcontinental flights. While the screen is small (although it is effectively bigger than the monitors for inflight movies) the sharpness makes for excellent viewing. The no moving parts nature of the design makes the system nearly indestructable. In particular the micro is smaller than most mp3 players, allowing for convienient viewing without having to crack open your carry on.
Of course, the one problem associated with this technology is that it isn't an iPod. When Apple introduces an inferior product with an insane markup, Jobs will make the cover of all the magazines having invented protable video.
Oh, and for those folks who think head mounted displays are great for portable video, forget about it. Wearing a head mounted display with an image fixed to the heads frame of reference in a moving vehicle is a prescription for horrific motion sickness. Sony tried a head mounted display based video walkman system for commuters about 8 years back, total disaster.
Go to Lik-sang.com and get a play yan or a play yan micro cartridge. The cartridge is only slightly larger than the standard game cartridge but incorporates an SD flash socket and an additional headphone jack with added amplification and less distortion than the preexisting jack. It works with beautifully with the micro and the rest of the GBA series and beats the hell out of the movie player in terms of image quality and framerate not to mention size. Use the 3GP converter with the trancscoder files from the liksang forums. The screen is remarkably sharp and well suited to extended viewing. In fact I actually prefer the DS or micro to my PSP for video viewing due to cheap SD flash memory, insane battery life and near indestructability.
It also does a great job with MP3s.
Um... that's econ 101 based on oversimplified models
In reality GM does make SUVs with atrocious mileage when minivan engines with identical performance but considerably better mileage and lower emissions. Why are the SUV engines so bad, they don't class as cars for federal regulations so GM can pass off crap engines at a huge profit margin.
In the same manner apple relies on brand recognition and the cell phone oglipoly to offer a woefully crippled product.
If we do have a perfect capitalist economy why would we have region codes on dvds?
Back in '91 I was developing holographic memory (quantum in fact) for my dissertation, and I relied on work done in the '70s. It's the technology of the future and it will stay that way!
Having both the PSP and a DS I agree completely. In particular I've got a Play Yan (imported via Lik-Sang), an I actually prefer to use use the DS for video playback, particularly w/ the firmware upgrade. While the screen is smaller, the DS is compact, much more rugged, and has a fantastic battery life. The Play Yan takes dirt cheap SD cards , and uses a very efficent MP4 compression (with the new firmware) which allows me to store 5+ hours of video on a single 1 GB card. On the other hand the PSP is more expensive (while the play yan jacks up the price of the total package, you make out on the cost of the SD cards) far more fragile, and 1 GB of MS Duo costs more than a DS! Finally, even if I did break down and buy a 1GB Memory Stick I wouldn't have the battery life to watch the contents.
The PSP is a Jaguar overpriced, flashy, and not too practical, the DS is a VW, a little cramped but cheap, reliable and has great gas mileage.
Planetes has dead on physics and barely extrapolates any new technology:e .php?id=2654
e .php?id=771
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anim
While we are at it the President could popularize Virgin Fleet:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anim
to popularize their recruitment and abstenence programs:
"If you hold out you can use your virgin energy and fly planes and do cool stuff in the navy!"
A post a while back in boing boing (http://www.boingboing.net/2003/07/27/wifi_is_too_ expensiv.html)
noted that the added cost of administering and accounting for a pay wifi site ($30) versus a free site ($6) made the profit very difficult. In comparison a free site was cheap enough to easily make a net profit from the increased traffic it drew.
So simply show then the money.
...Welcome our new perscom overlords! I'm putting in an advance order for the Chi model today.
Everthing has an element of risk. But in this case the empirical odds of total destruction are 56:1, better that russian roulette but only by an order of magnitude. If the use of the shuttle is justified for the specific task by all means do so. But if a Russian space capsule is up to the task use that. If heavy lift is what is needed, a big unmanned launch vehicle should be used.
0 4.easterbrook-fulltext.html
At present, the primary justification for shuttle missions is to justify the shuttle. Only a fraction of the time and effort on board the ISS is spent on anything but maintaining the ISS and determining the effects of extended stays in space by the crew.
Greg Easterbrook wrote and article in 1980 which is remarkably salient now: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/80
The best thing that advocates of the space program especially the manned space program can do is realize that the Shuttle!=The Space Progam.
We have to admit that the Shuttle was the lowball approach to implementing a reusable manned spacecraft using mid-70's technology. The design was full of horrible compromises and hopelessly oversold. We have three left, and no more will be built.
Secondly, with the current constraint of flights to ISS the Shuttle has no commercial or military importance.
If we want a space program to compete with China and India much less Russia, we need to make the replacement of the Shuttle a first priority, using a variety of vehicles, most unmanned, some manned. The technologies must be innovative and practical. NASA must focus on directly relating thse new vehicles to tangible applications for the public.
The public wants desparately to support the space program, they love Space Ship 1, the Mars Rovers, GPS and Satellite TV. But when faced with nothing but incredibly dangerous commutes to low earth orbit, their support wanes to nothing.
Let's see, 2 million copies of a limited highly proprietary language which is a developmental dead end (remember .NET will not be the basis for Longhorn). All those VB script kiddies will most certianly ease the skill shortage in basic CS research.
The donation just happens to lock the users into the donor's OS and development system. What a surprise!
In the same spirit I donate an infinite number of copies of Python, an infinite number of copies of PERL, an infinite number of copies of GCC and an infinite number of copies of Linux for anybody to download!
This really screams for a small Slax or Knoppix distro in write protected flash, which incorporates a hard reset with data retention (i.e. disable all added executables, retain data), coupled with removable hard drives (if the system is too beserk pull hard drive, put in new drive, reboot)
While GPS works everywhere, the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) is only useful for the Continental US. WAAS units will work elsewere but they will only have the resolution of standard GPS. If you need better than standard C/A code accuracy use Carrier Differential (CDGPS) mapping using two Garmin recievers and a copy of GRINGO (http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/iessg/gringo/).
The Garmin Rhino units w/ integrated FRS Walkie Talkie units are vaery rugged and may be handy for survey. Additionally, to quote the Operation Iraqi Freedom
PEO Soldier Lessons Learned report:
Commercial GPS: As is widely known, many soldiers purchase their own GPS systems rather than use the PLGR. The Rhino was provided to the 82d as part of the rapid fielding initiative. Overall, soldiers were very appreciative of this addition to their MTOE. The Rhino was a vast improvement over the PLGR because of the weight, volume, power consumption and performance - the Rhino consistently acquired satellites faster than the PLGR. However, the soldiers stated they did not use the communications capabilities of the Rhino, at least not extensively, because it was not secure and consumed batteries too quickly in this mode.
If it survives the front lines in Iraq, West Africa should be a cake walk.
In exchange, let's get universal broadband service via competitive ISPs and metropolitan WiFi utilities.
:-)
I mean, thats the point of the bill, universal service
So much of American education is split across two cultures: one technical, one literate. There is little impetus to take courses in writing for the technically inclined, but in the same manner, a considerable proportion of culturally inclined individuals are technically illiterate. It's far more embarassing to be found ignorant of Shakespeare than C or multivariable calculus. This lack of diversity in education is actually much more severe with Physics majors ignorant of EE and Chemists who cannot program.
On top of this, a disproportionate numer of technical people have dislexia, Aspergers syndrome , ADHD or other learning disabilities (myself included). Due to the inability of the educational system to handle such problems, such indiviuals have to compensate by a combination of focusing on their strenghts and using self taught remedies to their problems.
Personally I watch anime on a daily basis, the vast majority of which I have bought through the standard licenced outlets. I do have a good number of "bootleg" disks but when the dubbed copies come out, I buy the legal disks as well (unless the show really sucked). I don't do fansub, but I'm seriously tempted so as to see the latest shows. I would happly subscribe to a legal fansub service in a heartbeat so as to get new/obscure shows faster.
Why do I watch anime? The diversity of the shows as well as the high level of plotting. I can watch a complex science fiction epic one day and a late Edo period drama the next. Frankly, the good anime titles completely blow away US television for the level of plotting and characterization. Short of B5 or Buffy US TV simply can't do multi-episode multiple story arcs. Having just finished off the first season of "Magical Knights Rayearth" I was astounded at how a kiddie series could incorporate such a complex plotline, killer ending and strong characterization. Also, anime is one of the rare sources of Xena/Buffy strong female protagonists .
That's not how M$ works instead they are going to buy Claria and incorporate their API
I would suspect that a large proportion of Sith lords are already present in the current administration.
Basically, this is the model that original video animation (OVA or OAV) takes for anime. The results are often excellent. It limits liability and bootstraps funding
I guess Apple won't be getting much market share out of Linux. Hmm, free as in beer and speech OS, runs on anything that moves, or fancy overpriced OS which runs on overpriced hardware and DRMed up the tush?
Having read the excellent link on the Rise and Fall of Disney Animation I came away even more doubtful that Disney is salvagable although not for all of the reasons note in the article.
First off, Studio Ghibli does not operate in a vaccum, a broad variety of styles and methods ranging from classical 2d to pure 3d exist with differing implementations for each studio. As a result each studio can learn from the other's output.
Second, rather than being a debased form, in anime the television series and the straight to video OAVs can fuction as either a farm team for features or a counterpoint allowing various time scales for exposition (the Tenchi franchise is an excellent example of this). If studios here could use OAV releases to bootstrap funding for animation, many more creative projects could get off the ground. Instead Disney uses direct to video as a dumping ground.
Finally, despite the protestations of the author of "Rise and Fall" it is possible to have a message and a great deal of political correctness while telling a ripping yarn in the process. The majority of anime stories are intensely pro-family while having a considerably more diverse collection of protaganists as well as considerably more nuanced antagonists as well.
It's not the style, it's the story and the plot. Anime is a runaway hit because it does not condescend to the audience, nor does it hit the "reset" button at every episode, nor does it employ 2 dimensional heros and villians. Shows like B5 and Buffy that follow these features of anime succeed without the overt sylistic elements of anime.
Thats a good rallying cry: Better than Trigun or DBZ. Which is essentially our best is better than their worst!
There is no denying Aladdin and Lilo are masterworks, they are also the style Disney is abandoning. The problem is that Disney isn't using them as the standard for their work.
In terms of fluidity of animation in anime, check out the flight sequence in Kiki or some of Oshi's work ("Beautiful Dreamer", or "The Tragedy of L" from the original Patlabor OVA's). Also check out the first scene of the first episode of Inuyasha which easily surpasses any action sequence live or animated done by an American filmmaker in the past decade.
As for the ocasionally choppy animation in some good series, I'd contend that "You're under Arrest the Motion Picture" is easily better than anything Disney has put out since Lilo.
Once I can get the anatomically correct robotic framework debugged I'll have a really good approximation of the BuffyBot!