Actually, it outputs both current and light. The light just happens to be a byproduct of the electron-hole recombination in the material. I do believe that the two outputs will be either the same or opposite depending on transistor type (pnp or npn) so you really don't get anything out of the transistor that you weren't getting already, you just get it in a different format. I'm sure, however, that someone more creative than myself will find some cool use for this.
You're extremely unlikely to see this type of technology in a microprocessor, at least in it's current BJT form. Most if not all microprocessors use MOS-type transistors because they're much easier to fabricate. BJTs are usually used in electronic amplifiers, though either can be used in either scenario depending on how the circuit is set up.
Shorthand is decidedly different from the quick writing (as you've described). Shorthand was not really used to shorten written conversation but as a stopgap measure to accurately take dictation. There are several variants on both, as briefly covered here.
In brief, though, most shorthand systems do not look anything like longhand. They're phonetically based and each stroke generally represents a consonant sound. The consonants are then embellished with vowel digraphs because most words can be constructed with only consonants (same principle used in many spellcheck systems).
The idea is to be able to get all the details quickly and then to transcribe your notes to make a full reproduction of the original. To this end, most systems (gregg, teeline, quickwriting) are not capable of reproducing the full longhand vocabulary and are more or less used for transcribing exclusively. Almost every system was designed to be used by reporters, secretaries, clerks, and others who could be educated in the system. None that I know of were designed to make writing easier (the Korean system is, but that's not really a shorthand system).
Shorthand writing systems were obsoleted in practice by the stenography machines used in courtrooms today. I believe the machines operate under the same principle, but I haven't looked into it. The rise of electronic typewriters and computers, which allowed extremely fast typing has risen to somewhat fill the role shorthand played in secretarial work. Journalism schools rarely teach shorthand any more and they usually teach the Gregg system.
Someone without training would be completely unable to read shorthand. It looks absolutely foreign.
For Tolkien fans, the Tengwar system (flowing script used for decoration in the LOTR books) works similarly to many shorthand systems. It can be used to represent quite a few languages, including English.
Why write this? I am fascinated by writing systems, particularly neat looking ones. I've wanted my own secret writing system since childhood but never was motivated/creative enough to invent my own. I've taken up Pitman Shorthand (which can serve as a full writing systm) as an acceptable substitute. With only a few thousand writers in the world, and most of them over 60 at that, it's secret enough for me.
Moreover, he didn't mention any of the innovative games in the genre. Battlezone and Homeworld both took the genre in different directions. Sure, the core of the game is the same but both are decidedly different than the games he mentions.
I haven't bought a RTS since TA (well, I bought Kingdoms, but that was to support the development of TA2, which never happened). I consider the game to be the peak of the genre, with everything else just rehashing paper/rock/scissors. I read in an interview that Chris Taylor was doing an RTS after he finished Dungeon Siege. That was a bit over a year ago, so does anybody know what Gas Powered Games is up to?
First, why ask/.? Wouldn't this be better posed to a group that knows something about graphic design? IANAGD (graphic designer), but I'm currently studying digital design and reading books on the subject. The following is basically lifted from > type < for the internet and other digital media by Veruschka Gotz and the Web Style Guide.
The problem with graphic designers used to working with paper is that the lower resolution of the screen severely reduces the legibility of fonts. You basically have to take off one or two points to get a paper-equivalent font size. Since the wife's employer KNOWS that the elderly tend to buy his wine, it behooves her to 1. obey the desires of the client and 2. design for the audience.
I would think a nice 12pt sans or a 14pt serif would do for the body copy. Be sure to keep the lines short and up the leading (css2 property: line-height) to at least 120% and possibly up the letter spacing (letter-spacing). The resulting text takes up a lot of screen space but is considerably easier to read.
MathCad is standard for the ECE department lab classes at GaTech because the prof loves it. It's got the best equation editor I've ever used and it's a well made piece of software. The downside is that it costs a fortune for the full version.
I would have loved that feature for Mozilla 0.93, but it just doesn't seem necessary any more. I've never had Phoenix crash unless I was developing and extension. I've been using it since 0.2 in October.
New window performance is definitely noticeable. Startup can be faster, but otherwise they're about the same speedwise. I actually run Fb with mozilla mail because I have the RAM (256MB). So I wind up using more RAM than if I'd run mozilla, but I like the customizable toolbars and the extensions.
If you don't see what you're looking for, check the extension page at Firebird Help. Otherwise, ask in the Mozillazine Forums, which are linked in a dozen places.
The whole point of firebird is that different people want different things from their browsers. A web neophyte and a web developer will have different requirements. With the extension mechanism, the needs of both can be satisfied.
For example, my setup looks like this. The features shown there are a mix between built in mozilla features and extensions, several of which I've either created or tweaked.
The features they list are pretty pedestrian, but since it's pretty easy to create extensions, a lot of interesting functionality is being created. I believe that the creativity of extension makers will be a key source of innovation for web browsers and the ideas that are currently in development will be listed as key features of mozilla in the future.
Finally, I personally would keep using firebird even if IE or Opera duplicated the functionality of everything in Fb including the extensions. Why? If I want to have a new feature in Fb, I sit down and hack it out. If a feature is almost right, I dive into the source and tweak it. Mozilla interface code is really easy to hack and that is very valuable to me and something that Opera lacks.
I wonder if they stole it from their female grad student and then married her to keep her quiet, allowing them to be among those selected for the second rondezvous with the extraterrestrial....
Use Jesse Ruderman's test styles bookmarklet. It's about the coolest thing ever. If you combine it with a custom keyword and the the DOM Inspector and you can debug any CSS problems in no time.
I'm a Computer Engineering student, so I don't deal with CS theory too much, but my understainding is that a FSM is a conceptual machine that exists in several behaviors or states. When a specific input is given the machine moves from one state to another. A traditional (and simple) example is a stop light which moves (here in the US) from green to yellow to red and then back to green. The input that causes state to switch is a given amount of time passing, the timer isn't part of the FSM but it's output is.
That's my understanding anyway. My first idea when reading this problem was to have a soldier as a FSM with N+1 states (a state for each soldier but not the last, a quiescent state, and a fire state) the first soldier recieves the instruction from the general (to the left) and gets set to state N-1, the next second the soldier to the right sees he's in N-1 and gets in state N-2. All the N-1 states if recieving no input move n-- for all inputs checking every second, the 1 state (last state in the N chain) decrements to fire. This is essentially a counter and the last guy will get the fire state immediately, all will hit the fire state at the same time. It's done in N seconds (not 2N-2) so obviously my understanding of FSMs isn't in line with the version being used here.
The tech is a phased array antenna, there was a good article about using it with 802.11 (notice there is no b) in the IEEE spectrum a while ago.
Consider it a sort of software antenna, you have a series of antenna that you can bias towards a particular direction. You then listen for incoming signals and use a processor to calculate environmental multipath (RF signals bouncing off buildings, etc.) and then fire off your signal so that the main signal and multipath reflections arrive at the reciever at the same time. Instant gain.
I'm skeptical on the reported max range but they should get a good amount. If you're sitting in the middle of a parabolic dish and so is your target, sure I expect that kind of increase in range, but in the real world...
Take the class, break the curve and insist everybody else is stupid for not knowing it. At least, that's how it works here at GaTech, MIT might be different.
Prices and links to Monarch Computers. I was quite surprised with the prices, I thought they'd be in the $125-$150 range. I my dual AMD shopping at Monarch (built a dual MP 1600+ on a tyan tiger mobo in december for a friend), you can hit pricewatch for price comparison, but I've found Monarch to be fairly representative.
As you can see, there are quite a few motherboards on the market, you can get reviews of most of them off http://www.amdmb.com . Of all of them, I recommend the cheapest Tiger with the older 760 chipset. I know that reviewers have gotten both non-MP athlons and durons to run on the system. I'm not sure if current XP processors will work, there was talk three months ago about AMD thinking about locking out the SMP capabilities out of the XPs, but they did not do this with older versions. The main difference between the XPs and the MPs is that the MPs are certified for SMP operation, if you want a cheap and powerful server (which appears to be your goal) then you probably don't care that your chips are uncertified. The newer 760-MPX chipset (last I heard) still has isses with the southbridge's USB 2.0 and most motherboards ship with an add-in card. I can't recommend it because I'm not sure if the chipset checks for MPs or not.
If it's battery life you want, you can always double up on the batteries or get a nicer battery. My Remanufactured Gateway 9550 gets 4hrs (tested) and I've installed (and currently run) RedHat without problems. If you have time to spare (to wait for the right computer at the right price), then just hit the gateway remanufactured site every so often and see what they got. I've always been pleased with Apple hardware, just tossing out other options.
The laptop itself was $1100 a month and a half ago, 933 p3, 15" screen 1024x768 native, 256MB RAM, 30Gb HDD, DVD, ethernet. You can get a pair of wireless cards and another battery and still be under $1400.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, it outputs both current and light. The light just happens to be a byproduct of the electron-hole recombination in the material. I do believe that the two outputs will be either the same or opposite depending on transistor type (pnp or npn) so you really don't get anything out of the transistor that you weren't getting already, you just get it in a different format. I'm sure, however, that someone more creative than myself will find some cool use for this.
You're extremely unlikely to see this type of technology in a microprocessor, at least in it's current BJT form. Most if not all microprocessors use MOS-type transistors because they're much easier to fabricate. BJTs are usually used in electronic amplifiers, though either can be used in either scenario depending on how the circuit is set up.
Shorthand is decidedly different from the quick writing (as you've described). Shorthand was not really used to shorten written conversation but as a stopgap measure to accurately take dictation. There are several variants on both, as briefly covered here.
In brief, though, most shorthand systems do not look anything like longhand. They're phonetically based and each stroke generally represents a consonant sound. The consonants are then embellished with vowel digraphs because most words can be constructed with only consonants (same principle used in many spellcheck systems).
The idea is to be able to get all the details quickly and then to transcribe your notes to make a full reproduction of the original. To this end, most systems (gregg, teeline, quickwriting) are not capable of reproducing the full longhand vocabulary and are more or less used for transcribing exclusively. Almost every system was designed to be used by reporters, secretaries, clerks, and others who could be educated in the system. None that I know of were designed to make writing easier (the Korean system is, but that's not really a shorthand system).
Shorthand writing systems were obsoleted in practice by the stenography machines used in courtrooms today. I believe the machines operate under the same principle, but I haven't looked into it. The rise of electronic typewriters and computers, which allowed extremely fast typing has risen to somewhat fill the role shorthand played in secretarial work. Journalism schools rarely teach shorthand any more and they usually teach the Gregg system.
Someone without training would be completely unable to read shorthand. It looks absolutely foreign.
For Tolkien fans, the Tengwar system (flowing script used for decoration in the LOTR books) works similarly to many shorthand systems. It can be used to represent quite a few languages, including English.
Why write this? I am fascinated by writing systems, particularly neat looking ones. I've wanted my own secret writing system since childhood but never was motivated/creative enough to invent my own. I've taken up Pitman Shorthand (which can serve as a full writing systm) as an acceptable substitute. With only a few thousand writers in the world, and most of them over 60 at that, it's secret enough for me.
Moreover, he didn't mention any of the innovative games in the genre. Battlezone and Homeworld both took the genre in different directions. Sure, the core of the game is the same but both are decidedly different than the games he mentions.
I haven't bought a RTS since TA (well, I bought Kingdoms, but that was to support the development of TA2, which never happened). I consider the game to be the peak of the genre, with everything else just rehashing paper/rock/scissors. I read in an interview that Chris Taylor was doing an RTS after he finished Dungeon Siege. That was a bit over a year ago, so does anybody know what Gas Powered Games is up to?
What's up with that?
First, why ask /.? Wouldn't this be better posed to a group that knows something about graphic design? IANAGD (graphic designer), but I'm currently studying digital design and reading books on the subject. The following is basically lifted from > type < for the internet and other digital media by Veruschka Gotz and the Web Style Guide.
The problem with graphic designers used to working with paper is that the lower resolution of the screen severely reduces the legibility of fonts. You basically have to take off one or two points to get a paper-equivalent font size. Since the wife's employer KNOWS that the elderly tend to buy his wine, it behooves her to 1. obey the desires of the client and 2. design for the audience.
I would think a nice 12pt sans or a 14pt serif would do for the body copy. Be sure to keep the lines short and up the leading (css2 property: line-height) to at least 120% and possibly up the letter spacing (letter-spacing). The resulting text takes up a lot of screen space but is considerably easier to read.
MathCad is standard for the ECE department lab classes at GaTech because the prof loves it. It's got the best equation editor I've ever used and it's a well made piece of software. The downside is that it costs a fortune for the full version.
I would have loved that feature for Mozilla 0.93, but it just doesn't seem necessary any more. I've never had Phoenix crash unless I was developing and extension. I've been using it since 0.2 in October.
All In One Gestures: Works well enough IMHO
New window performance is definitely noticeable. Startup can be faster, but otherwise they're about the same speedwise. I actually run Fb with mozilla mail because I have the RAM (256MB). So I wind up using more RAM than if I'd run mozilla, but I like the customizable toolbars and the extensions.
If you don't see what you're looking for, check the extension page at Firebird Help. Otherwise, ask in the Mozillazine Forums, which are linked in a dozen places.
The whole point of firebird is that different people want different things from their browsers. A web neophyte and a web developer will have different requirements. With the extension mechanism, the needs of both can be satisfied.
For example, my setup looks like this. The features shown there are a mix between built in mozilla features and extensions, several of which I've either created or tweaked.
The features they list are pretty pedestrian, but since it's pretty easy to create extensions, a lot of interesting functionality is being created. I believe that the creativity of extension makers will be a key source of innovation for web browsers and the ideas that are currently in development will be listed as key features of mozilla in the future.
Finally, I personally would keep using firebird even if IE or Opera duplicated the functionality of everything in Fb including the extensions. Why? If I want to have a new feature in Fb, I sit down and hack it out. If a feature is almost right, I dive into the source and tweak it. Mozilla interface code is really easy to hack and that is very valuable to me and something that Opera lacks.
I wonder if they stole it from their female grad student and then married her to keep her quiet, allowing them to be among those selected for the second rondezvous with the extraterrestrial....
or not.
Use Jesse Ruderman's test styles bookmarklet. It's about the coolest thing ever. If you combine it with a custom keyword and the the DOM Inspector and you can debug any CSS problems in no time.
I'm a Computer Engineering student, so I don't deal with CS theory too much, but my understainding is that a FSM is a conceptual machine that exists in several behaviors or states. When a specific input is given the machine moves from one state to another. A traditional (and simple) example is a stop light which moves (here in the US) from green to yellow to red and then back to green. The input that causes state to switch is a given amount of time passing, the timer isn't part of the FSM but it's output is.
That's my understanding anyway. My first idea when reading this problem was to have a soldier as a FSM with N+1 states (a state for each soldier but not the last, a quiescent state, and a fire state) the first soldier recieves the instruction from the general (to the left) and gets set to state N-1, the next second the soldier to the right sees he's in N-1 and gets in state N-2. All the N-1 states if recieving no input move n-- for all inputs checking every second, the 1 state (last state in the N chain) decrements to fire. This is essentially a counter and the last guy will get the fire state immediately, all will hit the fire state at the same time. It's done in N seconds (not 2N-2) so obviously my understanding of FSMs isn't in line with the version being used here.
Actually, you can do the same thing in the gecko engine (or any other CSS compliant browser), it's just a stylesheet:
2 _10_20_glazblogarc.html#83455700
http://daniel.glazman.free.fr/weblog/archived/200
The tech is a phased array antenna, there was a good article about using it with 802.11 (notice there is no b) in the IEEE spectrum a while ago.
Consider it a sort of software antenna, you have a series of antenna that you can bias towards a particular direction. You then listen for incoming signals and use a processor to calculate environmental multipath (RF signals bouncing off buildings, etc.) and then fire off your signal so that the main signal and multipath reflections arrive at the reciever at the same time. Instant gain.
I'm skeptical on the reported max range but they should get a good amount. If you're sitting in the middle of a parabolic dish and so is your target, sure I expect that kind of increase in range, but in the real world...
>how do we go about proving it?
Take the class, break the curve and insist everybody else is stupid for not knowing it. At least, that's how it works here at GaTech, MIT might be different.
http://www.lemnet.qatlantis.com/mozilla/
w00t. I use the first one shown on that page.
http://uabar.mozdev.org
Asus A7M266-D AMD762 DDR (AMD Dual MP) -- $199
Gigabyte GA-7DPXDW AMD760 RAID DDR (AMD Dual MP) -- $250
MSI K7D Master MPX AMD762 DDR (AMD Dual MP) -- $205
Tyan K7 (S2462UNG) AMD760 SCSI DDR (AMD Dual MP) -- $409
Tyan (S2462NG) AMD760 REG DDR (AMD Dual MP) -- $305.00
...More Tyan Thunders, all over $300...
Tyan Tiger (S2466-4M) AMD760-MPX DDR (AMD Dual MP) -- $209.00
Tyan Tiger (S2460) AMD760 DDR (AMD Dual MP) -- $168.00
Prices and links to Monarch Computers. I was quite surprised with the prices, I thought they'd be in the $125-$150 range. I my dual AMD shopping at Monarch (built a dual MP 1600+ on a tyan tiger mobo in december for a friend), you can hit pricewatch for price comparison, but I've found Monarch to be fairly representative.
As you can see, there are quite a few motherboards on the market, you can get reviews of most of them off http://www.amdmb.com . Of all of them, I recommend the cheapest Tiger with the older 760 chipset. I know that reviewers have gotten both non-MP athlons and durons to run on the system. I'm not sure if current XP processors will work, there was talk three months ago about AMD thinking about locking out the SMP capabilities out of the XPs, but they did not do this with older versions. The main difference between the XPs and the MPs is that the MPs are certified for SMP operation, if you want a cheap and powerful server (which appears to be your goal) then you probably don't care that your chips are uncertified. The newer 760-MPX chipset (last I heard) still has isses with the southbridge's USB 2.0 and most motherboards ship with an add-in card. I can't recommend it because I'm not sure if the chipset checks for MPs or not.
Of course, YMMV.
If it's battery life you want, you can always double up on the batteries or get a nicer battery. My Remanufactured Gateway 9550 gets 4hrs (tested) and I've installed (and currently run) RedHat without problems. If you have time to spare (to wait for the right computer at the right price), then just hit the gateway remanufactured site every so often and see what they got. I've always been pleased with Apple hardware, just tossing out other options.
The laptop itself was $1100 a month and a half ago, 933 p3, 15" screen 1024x768 native, 256MB RAM, 30Gb HDD, DVD, ethernet. You can get a pair of wireless cards and another battery and still be under $1400.