The first statement, that they would not charge, would knock tivo down.
It hasn't yet - Replay has never charged for their service: it comes out of the box with a lifetime (of the unit) subscription to the service. This is also why Replays cost more than Tivo out of the box. However, when you add the price of a lifetime subscription to the Tivo price, the Replay starts looking pretty good.
My guess would be one that's got enough speed to be able record, play, send and recieve video all at once, while keeping cool enough that you don't <a> have to install a noisy annoying fan, or <b> melt the case.
If SonicBlue ever sends down an update that takes away functionality that is advertised (printed on the box, mentioned on their website, etc), then they would do this at their own peril.
If they do it at all, it will be because the court orders them to. You don't like it? Talk to the judge.
As a current Replay owner I was offered (via the wonderful "pause commercials") a deal where I could get one at $100 and not have to pay until May 2002. As much as I'm drooling over the 4000 series, I have serious reservations about paying for something that might be taken away later.
I've heard rumors of people who are still using 286's. If true, there may be some poor unfortunate soul using an 8088.
I'm not thinking of desktops here (gawd forbid), but something you can carry around in your pocket. A PDA that could run (or emulate) DOS would kick some, IMHO. Lots of old utilities and games and apps you can run, and be perfectly productive in. Now if I can just get some wireless 'net feed hooked into a modem simulator, I could run - OPUS BBS! Yeah! Call my PDA and upload some software!:)
Short shameful confession: My current PDA, an HP Jornada 720, is running a DOS emulator and old DOS apps. So there.
The water company, gas company, electic company all do it: they charge me according to what I use. Why can the cable ISPs do the same thing?
If my mom does a few e-mails and a little surfing per day, why should she have to pay the same as me, who's downloading hundreds of megs of porn, er <cough> I mean distros?
Sure, there's some baseline charge to pay for the infrastructure, but above and beyond that: charge us according to what we use!
I agree with you 100% - I've got multiple computers (all mine, all in my house) and a PDA that connect to the internet via 802.11. Evidently I'm a dirty-rotten scum-sucking rat bastard too, even though I rarely have more than one device on line at a time.
Although I don't understand exactly how NAT works, I thought part of the idea was the net on the other end couldn't tell you were doing it...?
Re:MS-DOS strings end with a '$'?
on
Lineo Frees CP/M
·
· Score: 1
In basic, you "type" a variable by adding magic chars at the end of it:
He's not talking about BASIC string variables, he's talking about OS system messages - they used dollar signs to mark the termination of the string, thusly:
Abort, Retry, Ignore?$
No, I have no idea why. I guess we'd need a ouija board to find out.
The few niches where a lightweight DOS kernel would still be useful have pretty much been filled by better alternatives.
But do those alternatives have the vast array of software available for them that DOS does?
If you've got a 386/20 class processor with a meg of RAM and an 80x25 text display you have a platform that will run a huge library of useful programs.
And I will continue to be crotchety until I get a version of SoundGlobs that'll run under Windows, dammit!
Around 1979, Steve Dompier released a short 8080 assembly program for the Imsai 8080 that played music on an AM radio by generating timed/tuned rf inteference (Article in Dr. Dobbs "Music of a Sort")
"Short" is relative when you're pounding the hex dump into the system RAM via the front-panel switches:)
From this site the basic concept goes back at least to 1975:
"The 4th meeting of the Homebrew Computer Club is held at the Peninsula School in Menlo Park. Steve Dompier plays the music "Fool on the Hill" and "Daisy" using the Altair and a radio."
So where do we mine the hydrogen from? Well, we don't, we get it (most likely) by running electricity through water and collecting the H2 off the cathode (if memory serves). But the key here is "electricty". Where does that come from?
Except that it could be argued that Microsoft (and the software industry in general) have changed the average user's mindset to believe that this is as good as computers get, and getting any better stability, inherent virus resistance and security and so forth isn't really possible.
"Change" would imply that the user had a previous mindset as to how computers should work, how stable they should be, etc. How many users do you think have experience with any operating system prior to some version of Windows? And how many of those with such experience came from DOS?
It's baby duck syndrome - Windows is the first thing the majority of users worked with (aside from DOS), and it does what they need, "good enough".
They broke the law. In a court of law they were found guilty. It never stops being their fault - they did it.
Kinda like Bill Clinton, huh?
The bottom line, in both cases: nobody cares, other than the lawyers and the judges - the public (except for a small minority) isn't interested (much less outraged), and isn't crying for blood. Therefore, nothing of consequence will happen, in either case.
Thus, Windows is doing everything that the majority of users need, and thus is doing a good job.
You are absofraginlutely right. I would say the vast majority of users couldn't give a coherent description of what an operating system is, or what it does. And why should they care? As long as they can get their work done, that's good enough. To them Windows is the computer, as much as the hard drive or the keyboard.
And I think that's a pretty decent description for Windows: "Good enough". Who knew all you needed was "good enough" to score that major buttload of cash?
I didn't ask what pays you, I asked what prints your paycheck. Because if I were a betting man I'd bet there's some COBOL code involved in that process.
As nasty as COBOL may be (and believe me, you couldn't pay me enough to code in it), it drives the engines of industry and finance.
Ok, nostalgia. I'll buy that, I guess, but still...
I was having a huge amount of fun a couple weeks ago hacking a 6502.
You can actually do interesting and useful stuff with a 6502. With a 4004 you can build a traffic light controller. Once you emulate it, what are you going to do with it other than watch the bits in the registers change?
Oh well, different strokes for different folks. Don't mind me, I'm just crotchety today.
I recall the 6502 instruction set as being mingy when compared to the Z80 (for instance); I regarded that as a handicap at the time (this was 1981 or so) but it was probably a good thing for a beginning assembly hobbyist to cut his teeth on.
This is true. The 6502 was a competitor to Intel's 8080. The latter was much more powerful (and the later Z80 by Zilog was like an 8080 on steroids), but the former was cheaper... IIRC something like $400 for the 8080 and $250 for the 6502 (and these are mid-70s dollars). Also the support circuitry for the 6502 was simpler, further reducing cost.
Pardon if I got some facts wrong, age and alcohol have taken a good number of brain cells:)
Should be easily synthesizable though. Opencores doesn't have one, but if someone can synthesize an ARM core, surely someone somewhere has synthesized the 4004.
Pardon me for asking the obvious question, but, err - why would you want to? Is there some killer app for the 4004 that I'm not aware of? Somebody did a four-bit version of Wumpus or something?
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The first statement, that they would not charge, would knock tivo down.
It hasn't yet - Replay has never charged for their service: it comes out of the box with a lifetime (of the unit) subscription to the service. This is also why Replays cost more than Tivo out of the box. However, when you add the price of a lifetime subscription to the Tivo price, the Replay starts looking pretty good.
Ya... exactly which hard drive costs over $1,000?
:-)
My guess would be one that's got enough speed to be able record, play, send and recieve video all at once, while keeping cool enough that you don't <a> have to install a noisy annoying fan, or <b> melt the case.
Just my guess
If SonicBlue ever sends down an update that takes away functionality that is advertised (printed on the box, mentioned on their website, etc), then they would do this at their own peril.
If they do it at all, it will be because the court orders them to. You don't like it? Talk to the judge.
As a current Replay owner I was offered (via the wonderful "pause commercials") a deal where I could get one at $100 and not have to pay until May 2002. As much as I'm drooling over the 4000 series, I have serious reservations about paying for something that might be taken away later.
God, how I want one though...
I've heard rumors of people who are still using 286's. If true, there may be some poor unfortunate soul using an 8088.
:)
I'm not thinking of desktops here (gawd forbid), but something you can carry around in your pocket. A PDA that could run (or emulate) DOS would kick some, IMHO. Lots of old utilities and games and apps you can run, and be perfectly productive in. Now if I can just get some wireless 'net feed hooked into a modem simulator, I could run - OPUS BBS! Yeah! Call my PDA and upload some software!
Short shameful confession: My current PDA, an HP Jornada 720, is running a DOS emulator and old DOS apps. So there.
Is any of that "vast array" of software still available?
:)
Sure! Go to Google and type in "shareware"
The water company, gas company, electic company all do it: they charge me according to what I use. Why can the cable ISPs do the same thing?
If my mom does a few e-mails and a little surfing per day, why should she have to pay the same as me, who's downloading hundreds of megs of porn, er <cough> I mean distros?
Sure, there's some baseline charge to pay for the infrastructure, but above and beyond that: charge us according to what we use!
I agree with you 100% - I've got multiple computers (all mine, all in my house) and a PDA that connect to the internet via 802.11. Evidently I'm a dirty-rotten scum-sucking rat bastard too, even though I rarely have more than one device on line at a time.
Although I don't understand exactly how NAT works, I thought part of the idea was the net on the other end couldn't tell you were doing it...?
In basic, you "type" a variable by adding magic chars at the end of it:
He's not talking about BASIC string variables, he's talking about OS system messages - they used dollar signs to mark the termination of the string, thusly:
Abort, Retry, Ignore?$
No, I have no idea why. I guess we'd need a ouija board to find out.
Then what is this CP/M that I had z80 assembler source to ? :)
A newer version, obviously. CP/M was originally written for the 8080, such as the IMSAI or the Altair - before Zilog introduced the Z80.
The few niches where a lightweight DOS kernel would still be useful have pretty much been filled by better alternatives.
But do those alternatives have the vast array of software available for them that DOS does?
If you've got a 386/20 class processor with a meg of RAM and an 80x25 text display you have a platform that will run a huge library of useful programs.
And I will continue to be crotchety until I get a version of SoundGlobs that'll run under Windows, dammit!
We've got another little OS that kicks the shit out of DR-DOS and CP/M... It's called Linux.
Y'all let us know when you've got it ported to a 64k 8088, mmmkay?
Around 1979, Steve Dompier released a short 8080 assembly program for the Imsai 8080 that played music on an AM radio by generating timed/tuned rf inteference (Article in Dr. Dobbs "Music of a Sort")
:)
"Short" is relative when you're pounding the hex dump into the system RAM via the front-panel switches
From this site the basic concept goes back at least to 1975:
"The 4th meeting of the Homebrew Computer Club is held at the Peninsula School in Menlo Park. Steve Dompier plays the music "Fool on the Hill" and "Daisy" using the Altair and a radio."
Last time I looked water was not a pollutant.
So where do we mine the hydrogen from? Well, we don't, we get it (most likely) by running electricity through water and collecting the H2 off the cathode (if memory serves). But the key here is "electricty". Where does that come from?
Oh, burning coal, or fission, maybe...
Except that it could be argued that Microsoft (and the software industry in general) have changed the average user's mindset to believe that this is as good as computers get, and getting any better stability, inherent virus resistance and security and so forth isn't really possible.
"Change" would imply that the user had a previous mindset as to how computers should work, how stable they should be, etc. How many users do you think have experience with any operating system prior to some version of Windows? And how many of those with such experience came from DOS?
It's baby duck syndrome - Windows is the first thing the majority of users worked with (aside from DOS), and it does what they need, "good enough".
They broke the law. In a court of law they were found guilty. It never stops being their fault - they did it.
Kinda like Bill Clinton, huh?
The bottom line, in both cases: nobody cares, other than the lawyers and the judges - the public (except for a small minority) isn't interested (much less outraged), and isn't crying for blood. Therefore, nothing of consequence will happen, in either case.
Thus, Windows is doing everything that the majority of users need, and thus is doing a good job.
You are absofraginlutely right. I would say the vast majority of users couldn't give a coherent description of what an operating system is, or what it does. And why should they care? As long as they can get their work done, that's good enough. To them Windows is the computer, as much as the hard drive or the keyboard.
And I think that's a pretty decent description for Windows: "Good enough". Who knew all you needed was "good enough" to score that major buttload of cash?
Well, Bill Gates, evidently...
I didn't ask what pays you, I asked what prints your paycheck. Because if I were a betting man I'd bet there's some COBOL code involved in that process.
As nasty as COBOL may be (and believe me, you couldn't pay me enough to code in it), it drives the engines of industry and finance.
So it's all COBOL and EDI. Yuk
What prints your paycheck?
...and requires 20 times less electricity than a fluorescent light does, Jabbour said.
So to read your newspaper I need a battery.
BFD.
Are we celebrating the wrong date?
According to this Google cache of an Intel page, the introduction date was 15-Nov-1971.
My Dad had put me on a train to New York to expand my teenage horizons. I returned with 4004 and 8008 data sheets and some chip samples
They gave you free chips? Geez, I thought those things were expensive!
Ok, nostalgia. I'll buy that, I guess, but still...
I was having a huge amount of fun a couple weeks ago hacking a 6502.
You can actually do interesting and useful stuff with a 6502. With a 4004 you can build a traffic light controller. Once you emulate it, what are you going to do with it other than watch the bits in the registers change?
Oh well, different strokes for different folks. Don't mind me, I'm just crotchety today.
I recall the 6502 instruction set as being mingy when compared to the Z80 (for instance); I regarded that as a handicap at the time (this was 1981 or so) but it was probably a good thing for a beginning assembly hobbyist to cut his teeth on.
:)
This is true. The 6502 was a competitor to Intel's 8080. The latter was much more powerful (and the later Z80 by Zilog was like an 8080 on steroids), but the former was cheaper... IIRC something like $400 for the 8080 and $250 for the 6502 (and these are mid-70s dollars). Also the support circuitry for the 6502 was simpler, further reducing cost.
Pardon if I got some facts wrong, age and alcohol have taken a good number of brain cells
Should be easily synthesizable though. Opencores doesn't have one, but if someone can synthesize an ARM core, surely someone somewhere has synthesized the 4004.
Pardon me for asking the obvious question, but, err - why would you want to? Is there some killer app for the 4004 that I'm not aware of? Somebody did a four-bit version of Wumpus or something?
HAS ANYONE PORTED LINUX TO IT YET?
4 bit data registers, 640 bytes (yes, bytes) of addressable memory - I think I can safely say "no".
<obligatory_MS_bash>
But I hear Win 3.11 is coming along nicely. Thrashes like a bitch, though.
</obligatory_MS_bash>