Last time I was in Britain, I made some comment to a cousin of mine about their wide-format TV and all the shows that are shown in that format. She responded "Yeah, we just go that last year, we're so far behind North America". Boy was she surprised to hear that we're still years away from that change over here!
And of course the fact that PAL is higher resolution that NTSC, and we realize how little has changed in this past 50 years. Why exactly has it taken North America so long to change to a better format? I'd imagine the HDTV change will happen almost overnight, much like the DVD revolution, but it sure took a while for the quality of TV to step up a notch.
Now if they could only do something about what's actually ON the tube.... or, um.. the flat panel?
It's true that gaming is nearing some sort of revolution in the way the industry works. Games now are SO complex, and require such ridiculous development time that they have to be stupidly successful for any profit to be made. In order to find that success, even more money is poured into marketing.
I paid $75 for Sonic the Hedgehog, but I also paid $75 for Railroad Tyocoon 3. I am damn sure that RRT took an order of magnitude more money to develop, and this is only going to continue.
What's really interesting is what's happening in the handheld sector. Game Boy Advance is making a killing, and games on cellphones are everywhere. These games are much simpler to develop as far as I understand, and more and more people are playing them. Simpler is often better... When the industry moved full steam ahead into 3D, I don't think it was realized how much of a challenge it would be to continue to make games look bigger and better while selling them for the same price.
Ok, I was going to let this one go but I just can't. First of all, I understand completely what you're saying. In terms of efficiency everyone speaking the same language would be fantastic. No misunderstandings, no confusion.
A people doesn't lose its cultural identify by losing their language? Well maybe not completely, but it sure as hell plays a big role. Quebec is a great example! English speakers in Montreal are changing the way business is conducted, they're changing the types of movies that are shown in the theatre, changing the restaurant chains and stores. Many things that were traditionally en francais are now in English, which waters down the variety.
I know this may sound a bit drastic, but imagine a world where we all spoke the same language, had the same color hair, were the same height, and had the same opinions. Not too much fun.
Thank you for proving my point for me. Blogs aren't part of the mass media, they're part of a more traditional trading of stories approach to information. Why is the slashdot crowd so hostile to bloggers? I don't get it.
English is all over the world, and other languages are fast losing ground (Chinese of course is ahead of even English). This means that many languages will very likely die out within the next 50 to 100 years. I can think of a number of First Nations languages that are barely spoken anymore. This kind of technology is exactly what is needed to stop this trend. If we can effectively communicate using auto-translators, then the need for (as an example) South Korean children to learn English (at the expense of other education) will be drastically reduced. Sure it's expensive now and only works with a few languages, but it's early in the technology.
In downtown Montreal I hear about 5 different languages going to the grocery store and back. That's not at all unusual. I'd be very happy if it stayed that way, because it's a helluva lot more interesting than the alternative...
Oh please get off your high horse. I know exactly what you're saying, these things are pretty self-indulgent but so is posting on/. for the most part. Blogs are entertainment for many people, and there's a good reason for it. Blogs are free to read, often have discussions associated with them, and touch on subjects that mass media just don't bother with (because they are trivial in a world sense). Personally I'd like to see this "fad" become a norm. People sharing stories and information is not a common thing these days! We all get our information from "trusted" media sources, and then talk about it the next day. What's so wrong with deciding what we think is important, posting it on our own blog, and generating our own discussion on it?
And as far as your comment on the simplicity of the scripting required, that's just snobbery. I'll bet your design and scripting skills are miles further ahead than those of most bloggers, but so what? How is that relevant?
There is vapidity everywhere these days from TV, to movies, to music, even to the bloody news! Something as simple and community oriented as a blog does not deserve to be passed off as insignificant and vapid. The content is not necessarily as important as the medium. Blogs are part of our modern oral tradition, and from a sociological standpoint they're extremely relevant and important media.
A few years ago, this kind of action would look ridiculous. Why stop someone from copying a show when it won't rerun again for another year (or more)? But now that entire seasons worth of series (like Buffy, 24, Simpsons, the list never ends) are available, they can continue to make profits long after a show is cancelled.
I do understand what they're trying to do. My problem is with the fact that there have been researchers the world over working on carbon nano-tubes for years, using different methods and achieving different results.
I suppose the patent process will distinguish what is what, but is a carbon nanotube a carbon nanotube, no matter what process was used to produce it? What I'm saying is, does the patent apply to the end result or the process itself?
I just don't want to see such a valuable invention huddled away in a proprietary corner.
Greedy, greedy, greedy. Take some responsibility, take a hit for the future, realize that you're part of the world too. Carbon nanotubes have the potential to be everywhere, from space elevators to shoe laces to medical devices. NEC should step back and work on a plan that would allow their technology to be used by other companies, but the credit can still go to NEC. Money ain't everything.
Sorry for the disjointed rant, but this is a very annoying announcement.
Yes, I did RTFA. I'm no scientist, but I've taken enough chemistry to know that what comes out must equal what goes in. What is this solvent? What is it made out of, and where is it produced? Isn't there a very good chance that a liquid this useful would be rare and/or toxic and dangerous? I have no idea, and the article doesn't address it.
We all have a right to be skeptical about an energy source that proposes to produce energy out of an otherwise non-reactive substance. Either way, the science of collapsing bubbles sounds pretty neat and could probably be used in far more fields than just energy production.
Direct your passions...
on
See Spot Surf
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
Everyone seems to be passionate about one thing or another, for many/. readers it's open source software, criticizing George Lucas, or karma whoring. For these people it's their dogs. Whenever I see someone who is so obsessed with a subject as to be considered disturbed, it makes me depressed. At first. Why don't you find beauty and inspiration in nature I think, or the arts? Get a hobby!
But wait, you have one already...
These people may have "nothing better to do with their time" or are "lonely and sad" but the fact is that everyone is passionate about one thing or another. If we all enjoyed the same interests then this world would be a very boring place, and there wouldn't be the advances in science and technology that there have been. So don't bash the hobby-freaks too much, as you're probably one too. Freak is in the eye of the beholder, as it were.
Has the evolution of technology in the workplace (computer, internet, email, etc...), which is suppose to make your job easier, made it any less stressful?
Er... that's a tough one. It does get stressful having to pretend I'm not reading/. all day long. Work? What me worry?
Mod me as you will, and I do realize it was meant to be funny, but I expect a bit more from/. than portions of news postings in all caps. Leave it to the reader to decide what's important and what's not. All caps automatically annoy me, and have done since I can remember.
I'm sure a number of you will remember the friendly fire incident in Afghanistan about two years ago. An American pilot dropped a bomb on a live-fire Canadian training exercise. I'm not going to say anything about whether he should've been charged, but the fact is he and his co-pilot were on some kind of uppers. Apparently this is relatively common in the Air Force to keep pilots awake during long night missions. Whether this was a factor in the mistake, I don't know.
But it certainly raises questions. Soliders may be able to go 5 days without food and still operate, but there will always be side effects, subtle or obvious, to messing with human biology. I would NOT trust someone to drive a tank, or man a patriot missle battery, who hadn't eaten, and that applies even more if he's been on drugs for that purpose!
Keep it simple. Spend money on peace-keeper training and foreign-aid, not super-soldiers. As always, just because we can, doesn't mean we should.
Cases like this boggle the mind. Now all they had to do was change their name to something (albeit strange) catchy, and they get even more free publicity. Windows on the other hand, continues to foster its bully image and ends up really not accomplishing too much at all.
This is very good news. I already use ethanol blend gasoline in my car. Although it is a bit more expensive, it burns cleaner and (obviously) uses less fossil fuels to produce. There was a saying in the mining engineering department at university: If it can't be grown, it's gotta be mined. If we can move more and more toward the growing, then we're finally truly moving toward a renewable energy economy.
Those GM Hywire commercials are pretty to look at, but don't make it clear to the general public how difficult energy-wise it is to actually produce hydrogen. I hope more research funds get pumped into this kind of technology so we can move toward a hydrogen future at a meanginful pace.
Not entirely on-topic, but I'd like this to be heard...
I've never had more trouble with any internet/TV company in my life. Horrible customer service, no explanations for outages, outrageous rates. I had to hire a lawyer to get out of a $900 cable TV bill. Not only did I never sign up for cable TV, I don't even own a TV!
But with the way the market works here in Canada (I don't know about the states or elsewhere) there is only one cable provider in each of the major urban centers. So, so much for healthy competition. I'm not at all surprised that Videotron will simply hand over IPs/names to the CRIA, it saves them paperwork and hassles, and fits in with their total disregard for customer service and respect that they've made themselves known for in Montreal.
Maybe these guys should just start hard rock bands: MyDoom, DoomJuice, DeadHat... It's like when I worked at LaserQuest and had to listen to all the stupid ideas kids had for their codenames.
What's next, ThunderCat? MrDoom? Anyone smart enough to write a virus this effective must be more imaginative than this!
For the grant application system I manage, I have to officially recommend using IE 5.0 or above to all users. And my response to Mac users who don't use IE? I have to tell them "we're working on it". But when I'm using/testing the system myself, I use nothing other than Mozilla Firebird.
When will the bigwhigs realize that open-source does not necessarily mean risky, dangerous, or taboo in some way?
Slashdot Mirror
Last time I was in Britain, I made some comment to a cousin of mine about their wide-format TV and all the shows that are shown in that format. She responded "Yeah, we just go that last year, we're so far behind North America". Boy was she surprised to hear that we're still years away from that change over here!
And of course the fact that PAL is higher resolution that NTSC, and we realize how little has changed in this past 50 years. Why exactly has it taken North America so long to change to a better format? I'd imagine the HDTV change will happen almost overnight, much like the DVD revolution, but it sure took a while for the quality of TV to step up a notch.
Now if they could only do something about what's actually ON the tube.... or, um.. the flat panel?
It's true that gaming is nearing some sort of revolution in the way the industry works. Games now are SO complex, and require such ridiculous development time that they have to be stupidly successful for any profit to be made. In order to find that success, even more money is poured into marketing.
I paid $75 for Sonic the Hedgehog, but I also paid $75 for Railroad Tyocoon 3. I am damn sure that RRT took an order of magnitude more money to develop, and this is only going to continue.
What's really interesting is what's happening in the handheld sector. Game Boy Advance is making a killing, and games on cellphones are everywhere. These games are much simpler to develop as far as I understand, and more and more people are playing them. Simpler is often better... When the industry moved full steam ahead into 3D, I don't think it was realized how much of a challenge it would be to continue to make games look bigger and better while selling them for the same price.
Ok, I was going to let this one go but I just can't. First of all, I understand completely what you're saying. In terms of efficiency everyone speaking the same language would be fantastic. No misunderstandings, no confusion.
A people doesn't lose its cultural identify by losing their language? Well maybe not completely, but it sure as hell plays a big role. Quebec is a great example! English speakers in Montreal are changing the way business is conducted, they're changing the types of movies that are shown in the theatre, changing the restaurant chains and stores. Many things that were traditionally en francais are now in English, which waters down the variety.
I know this may sound a bit drastic, but imagine a world where we all spoke the same language, had the same color hair, were the same height, and had the same opinions. Not too much fun.
I say no to efficiency at the cost of variety.
Where's the 20/20 story?
Thank you for proving my point for me. Blogs aren't part of the mass media, they're part of a more traditional trading of stories approach to information. Why is the slashdot crowd so hostile to bloggers? I don't get it.
English is all over the world, and other languages are fast losing ground (Chinese of course is ahead of even English). This means that many languages will very likely die out within the next 50 to 100 years. I can think of a number of First Nations languages that are barely spoken anymore. This kind of technology is exactly what is needed to stop this trend. If we can effectively communicate using auto-translators, then the need for (as an example) South Korean children to learn English (at the expense of other education) will be drastically reduced. Sure it's expensive now and only works with a few languages, but it's early in the technology.
In downtown Montreal I hear about 5 different languages going to the grocery store and back. That's not at all unusual. I'd be very happy if it stayed that way, because it's a helluva lot more interesting than the alternative...
Oh please get off your high horse. I know exactly what you're saying, these things are pretty self-indulgent but so is posting on /. for the most part. Blogs are entertainment for many people, and there's a good reason for it. Blogs are free to read, often have discussions associated with them, and touch on subjects that mass media just don't bother with (because they are trivial in a world sense). Personally I'd like to see this "fad" become a norm. People sharing stories and information is not a common thing these days! We all get our information from "trusted" media sources, and then talk about it the next day. What's so wrong with deciding what we think is important, posting it on our own blog, and generating our own discussion on it?
And as far as your comment on the simplicity of the scripting required, that's just snobbery. I'll bet your design and scripting skills are miles further ahead than those of most bloggers, but so what? How is that relevant?
There is vapidity everywhere these days from TV, to movies, to music, even to the bloody news! Something as simple and community oriented as a blog does not deserve to be passed off as insignificant and vapid. The content is not necessarily as important as the medium. Blogs are part of our modern oral tradition, and from a sociological standpoint they're extremely relevant and important media.
A few years ago, this kind of action would look ridiculous. Why stop someone from copying a show when it won't rerun again for another year (or more)? But now that entire seasons worth of series (like Buffy, 24, Simpsons, the list never ends) are available, they can continue to make profits long after a show is cancelled.
So... I can use this to pick up aliens and throw them out airlocks right? Right? No?!
I do understand what they're trying to do. My problem is with the fact that there have been researchers the world over working on carbon nano-tubes for years, using different methods and achieving different results.
I suppose the patent process will distinguish what is what, but is a carbon nanotube a carbon nanotube, no matter what process was used to produce it? What I'm saying is, does the patent apply to the end result or the process itself?
I just don't want to see such a valuable invention huddled away in a proprietary corner.
Greedy, greedy, greedy. Take some responsibility, take a hit for the future, realize that you're part of the world too. Carbon nanotubes have the potential to be everywhere, from space elevators to shoe laces to medical devices. NEC should step back and work on a plan that would allow their technology to be used by other companies, but the credit can still go to NEC. Money ain't everything.
Sorry for the disjointed rant, but this is a very annoying announcement.
Yes, I did RTFA. I'm no scientist, but I've taken enough chemistry to know that what comes out must equal what goes in. What is this solvent? What is it made out of, and where is it produced? Isn't there a very good chance that a liquid this useful would be rare and/or toxic and dangerous? I have no idea, and the article doesn't address it.
We all have a right to be skeptical about an energy source that proposes to produce energy out of an otherwise non-reactive substance. Either way, the science of collapsing bubbles sounds pretty neat and could probably be used in far more fields than just energy production.
Everyone seems to be passionate about one thing or another, for many /. readers it's open source software, criticizing George Lucas, or karma whoring. For these people it's their dogs. Whenever I see someone who is so obsessed with a subject as to be considered disturbed, it makes me depressed. At first. Why don't you find beauty and inspiration in nature I think, or the arts? Get a hobby!
But wait, you have one already...
These people may have "nothing better to do with their time" or are "lonely and sad" but the fact is that everyone is passionate about one thing or another. If we all enjoyed the same interests then this world would be a very boring place, and there wouldn't be the advances in science and technology that there have been. So don't bash the hobby-freaks too much, as you're probably one too. Freak is in the eye of the beholder, as it were.
Has the evolution of technology in the workplace (computer, internet, email, etc...), which is suppose to make your job easier, made it any less stressful?
/. all day long. Work? What me worry?
Er... that's a tough one. It does get stressful having to pretend I'm not reading
Mod me as you will, and I do realize it was meant to be funny, but I expect a bit more from /. than portions of news postings in all caps. Leave it to the reader to decide what's important and what's not. All caps automatically annoy me, and have done since I can remember.
Thanks for your time.
I'm sure a number of you will remember the friendly fire incident in Afghanistan about two years ago. An American pilot dropped a bomb on a live-fire Canadian training exercise. I'm not going to say anything about whether he should've been charged, but the fact is he and his co-pilot were on some kind of uppers. Apparently this is relatively common in the Air Force to keep pilots awake during long night missions. Whether this was a factor in the mistake, I don't know.
But it certainly raises questions. Soliders may be able to go 5 days without food and still operate, but there will always be side effects, subtle or obvious, to messing with human biology. I would NOT trust someone to drive a tank, or man a patriot missle battery, who hadn't eaten, and that applies even more if he's been on drugs for that purpose!
Keep it simple. Spend money on peace-keeper training and foreign-aid, not super-soldiers. As always, just because we can, doesn't mean we should.
include fragments of insulation, labels and possibly important components
Labels? Like "Canadarm" or "U.S.A." ? Please don't tell me there's a Taco Bell billboard up there too!
Cases like this boggle the mind. Now all they had to do was change their name to something (albeit strange) catchy, and they get even more free publicity. Windows on the other hand, continues to foster its bully image and ends up really not accomplishing too much at all.
What a waste of everyone's time and money.
Seems to me this could be easily implemented to be an anti-counterfeit measure.
It's times like this I wish there was a "retract comment" button that I could click after doing some more research. Thanks for the heads-up.
This is very good news. I already use ethanol blend gasoline in my car. Although it is a bit more expensive, it burns cleaner and (obviously) uses less fossil fuels to produce. There was a saying in the mining engineering department at university: If it can't be grown, it's gotta be mined. If we can move more and more toward the growing, then we're finally truly moving toward a renewable energy economy.
Those GM Hywire commercials are pretty to look at, but don't make it clear to the general public how difficult energy-wise it is to actually produce hydrogen. I hope more research funds get pumped into this kind of technology so we can move toward a hydrogen future at a meanginful pace.
I'm confused. Mac and Linux can run games? What is this world coming to?!
Not entirely on-topic, but I'd like this to be heard...
I've never had more trouble with any internet/TV company in my life. Horrible customer service, no explanations for outages, outrageous rates. I had to hire a lawyer to get out of a $900 cable TV bill. Not only did I never sign up for cable TV, I don't even own a TV!
But with the way the market works here in Canada (I don't know about the states or elsewhere) there is only one cable provider in each of the major urban centers. So, so much for healthy competition. I'm not at all surprised that Videotron will simply hand over IPs/names to the CRIA, it saves them paperwork and hassles, and fits in with their total disregard for customer service and respect that they've made themselves known for in Montreal.
Maybe these guys should just start hard rock bands: MyDoom, DoomJuice, DeadHat... It's like when I worked at LaserQuest and had to listen to all the stupid ideas kids had for their codenames.
What's next, ThunderCat? MrDoom? Anyone smart enough to write a virus this effective must be more imaginative than this!
For the grant application system I manage, I have to officially recommend using IE 5.0 or above to all users. And my response to Mac users who don't use IE? I have to tell them "we're working on it". But when I'm using/testing the system myself, I use nothing other than Mozilla Firebird.
When will the bigwhigs realize that open-source does not necessarily mean risky, dangerous, or taboo in some way?
Another plus is that if my Brunton somehow goes tumbling down a cliff, it should still work
I tested this theory, unintentionally. I'm happy to report that it still works as good as new. What a gorgeous piece of equipment.
As for your other points, you're absolutely right. I would only carry this tool if I still had my 2 compasses and maps in my pack along with me.