For improving power/CPU and size ratios, how about going to mini-ITX systems arranged on a decent 1U tray, with a central powersupply or some lucite fabricated 'rack' where they could be stacked vertically?
I have to think that Wikipedia would be _exactly_ something that Google could sponsor with its pending million$ or massive infrastructure..
Also, I notice that a bunch of entries are taken from public domain encyclopedia editions. An interesting feature would be to, say, allow 'shading' of citation sources, so that sections of text would have background colors based on a citation key... With the user's ability to filter out sources if they wish, or set a 'trust' level..
It's missing bluetooth, which is IMHO mandatory for cordless kybd/mouse sans dongle, and there's no camera.
However, it could be the perfect Linux PDA: full programmability and USB master integrated. Plug it into a USB hub with GPS receiver, HDD, etc, and you'd have a nifty car/bike PC..
Perhaps you could boost your phone's bluetooth and use SallingClicker...
Tivo works fine with broadband....
on
VoIP Questioned
·
· Score: 1
... even out of the box with appropriate USB ethernet/wifi widget if you get a new one with Tivo software v4+..
When I first got mine I had to leave it with my folks for a few days since I didn't have an analog line, but once the system got its update I brought it home and got it working. It's been great ever since, though the whipperschnappers these days got it easy with the free HMO and whatnot..
... Seriously, who takes usability into account when programming even desktop apps? Not nearly enough commercial app developers, let alone opensource developers.
There needs to be a bunch of aesthetes with free time who consider the woeful state of free desktop software usability a big itch, and who are ready to listen to the users instead of lecturing them on The Right Way Of Doing Things.
A phatbox solution (or other dedicated jukebox) is better because you don't want to install and remove it each time you use your car. If you are cheap then you can use your player for double duty, just don't call it better.
More functionality == better.
The iPod is not designed to be docked in that fashion and a phatbox can be installed completely hidden. I prefer not to see such kludgy addons anywhere near the dash of my car.
Glovebox? It's just a cable. Additioinally, the 3G ipod has a dock connector (actually called 'dock connector') that's explicitly designed for this sort of application, which is why I'm worried that 1G iPods will never get connected.
Nope, Phatbox is good in theory, but lacking a driver plugin for iTunes kills it for me: I don't want to kludge playlists and syncing, I want it to just work. And I want it to be firewire since both my Powerbook and Cube are USB1.1 only. LTIC Phatboxes were either USB2.0 or 5.25 IDE removable.
I'm going to be the first to break this to you - Linux is not for you. Keep it on your servers so you can have a free UNIX, but by no means use it as your desktop.
Because it doesn't work seamlessly with iTunes (as does iPod and some other portable players)? Because I already dropped a few Benjamins on my iPod already? Because I can't listen to a Phatbox on the subway? Because Phatbox can't play iTunes Music Store (or IIRC even unencrypted AAC)?
Frankly, I'd much prefer a changer interface for iPod, unfortunately it'd probably not support my first gen 10GB:(
The optimal arrangement would probably be a curved surface, so all points on the screen would be equidistant from the user, and all points on the screen would be directed right at the user.
Sounds like a fisheye projector of some sort to me...
Quality is only one consideration for the average person. Cost is a very important factor. As is convenience. Back then, laserdiscs didn't have either on its side.
Also, anamorphic video with 5.1 surround wasn't a baseline standard expectation with laserdisc. Discrete surround was an add-on for almost every laserdisc (via a coax RF adapter IIRC), while anamorphic video wasn't standardized in-set (you'd have to project with a separate anamorphic lens, and I don't know 10 laserdiscs that were anamorphic). It is with DVD. Early DVDs (especially 'Pulp Fiction' and 'The Abyss') suffered from letterboxing carried over from laserdisc transfers, while modern DVDs get new fresh 16x9 transfers.
Additionally, lots of newer films are either direct-from-digital (Pixar films, Shrek, etc) or are high-def transfers, so you'll get great picture today and the studio will be able to trade new hi-def lamps for old 480p.
Sorry, Laserdisc has gone the way of reel-to-reel, and the world has moved on. Luckily so far, DVD fans have been able to keep the pressure on studios for anamorphic 5.1 DVDs.
(though Warner still has to eat some shit for their horrible first Kubrick collection.. There was a period there when Warner went from DVD champion to DVD joke...)
The only game lately that I've been hankering to play (enough to add a dual-boot box to my Mac/XBox menagerie) is X2, the most recent (and best according to most reviews) iteration of the all-time classic Elite.
Has it occurred to anyone that supporting non-l337 g33kz using KDE as a primary desktop will be made more difficult just because it's impossible to keep track of all the dopey names for things?
How does 'kopete' relate to 'chat' or 'instant messaging'? How does 'Konqueror' relate to 'browsing the web'? How does 'Apollon' apply to p2p? How does 'K3b' apply to CD burning/ripping? KMail works. KControlCenter works. Easy for someone to figure out what it does by its name. That is what A NAME IS FOR. We're not dealing with hungarian notation here: The whole idea of a UI is that it needs to be completely descriptive at a glance, and anything that is counterintuitive or obscurantist needs to be fixed or replaced. Normals expect this, they don't think it a crutch, and they're not expected to know better (as developers who take issue with HN may argue other developers _are_ expected to).
At least Apple (and even M$ to a lesser extent) uses prosaic names like iPhoto, iChat, Mail, DVD Player, iCal, Address Book, which makes it easier for mortals to understand their metaphor (Safari being the most egregious exception). KDE ware names seem purposefully opaque, and if you want to make a dent in the GUI you either have to hope for great icons and forget the names, or you have to do more work than you should have to do.
I love KDE, I think anyone from 3 to 103 could use it comfortably, but I shudder to think about all the help calls I'd get from people just trying to find shit in the interface.. It took me an hour of googling to figure out what the hell Apollon was! Anything that can or should be in a base KDE release (or a bundle, like kdemultimedia or kdenetwork) should have a simple, descriptive name, even if it means stepping on the toes of obsolete projects or capricious developers.
(OTOH, maybe you don't give a damn about condemning your less technical friends and/or family to a life of M$ hell. Oh well.)
i absolutely loathe and detest anyone over the age of 15 who reads a harry potter book. that's so pathetic. i love how adults will try to justify it by saying, "but it's like 700 pages!"
Harry Potter is for people who haven't found Terry Pratchett yet.
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For improving power/CPU and size ratios, how about going to mini-ITX systems arranged on a decent 1U tray, with a central powersupply or some lucite fabricated 'rack' where they could be stacked vertically?
Kind of what blade servers do, but ghetto.
I have to think that Wikipedia would be _exactly_ something that Google could sponsor with its pending million$ or massive infrastructure..
Also, I notice that a bunch of entries are taken from public domain encyclopedia editions. An interesting feature would be to, say, allow 'shading' of citation sources, so that sections of text would have background colors based on a citation key... With the user's ability to filter out sources if they wish, or set a 'trust' level..
It's missing bluetooth, which is IMHO mandatory for cordless kybd/mouse sans dongle, and there's no camera.
However, it could be the perfect Linux PDA: full programmability and USB master integrated. Plug it into a USB hub with GPS receiver, HDD, etc, and you'd have a nifty car/bike PC..
... the formfactor feels a _lot_ like a good old IPC...
;)
Though I can't imagine UT2k4 onslaught on one of those golden oldies
Perhaps you could boost your phone's bluetooth and use SallingClicker...
... even out of the box with appropriate USB ethernet/wifi widget if you get a new one with Tivo software v4+..
When I first got mine I had to leave it with my folks for a few days since I didn't have an analog line, but once the system got its update I brought it home and got it working. It's been great ever since, though the whipperschnappers these days got it easy with the free HMO and whatnot..
... hmm, how obvious isn't this?
Maybe this is what Steveo is waiting for.. An easy rip-to-360x240 mechanism, preferably preserving menus and whatnot..
It'd be great for commuters and tech fetishistes..
... Seriously, who takes usability into account when programming even desktop apps? Not nearly enough commercial app developers, let alone opensource developers.
There needs to be a bunch of aesthetes with free time who consider the woeful state of free desktop software usability a big itch, and who are ready to listen to the users instead of lecturing them on The Right Way Of Doing Things.
Laser tag is to Paintball, what Paintball is to Airsoft.
IFF you live in a state where Airsoft is legal.
Thank God it doesn't. No iTunes is a big plus.
Not if you're an OSXer.
A phatbox solution (or other dedicated jukebox) is better because you don't want to install and remove it each time you use your car. If you are cheap then you can use your player for double duty, just don't call it better.
More functionality == better.
The iPod is not designed to be docked in that fashion and a phatbox can be installed completely hidden. I prefer not to see such kludgy addons anywhere near the dash of my car.
Glovebox? It's just a cable. Additioinally, the 3G ipod has a dock connector (actually called 'dock connector') that's explicitly designed for this sort of application, which is why I'm worried that 1G iPods will never get connected.
Nope, Phatbox is good in theory, but lacking a driver plugin for iTunes kills it for me: I don't want to kludge playlists and syncing, I want it to just work. And I want it to be firewire since both my Powerbook and Cube are USB1.1 only. LTIC Phatboxes were either USB2.0 or 5.25 IDE removable.
I'm going to be the first to break this to you - Linux is not for you. Keep it on your servers so you can have a free UNIX, but by no means use it as your desktop.
Thanks to you, M$ wins.
Good job there, sparky!
Aren't' ATI corporate Radeon drivers still closed-source like NVIDIA's?
;)
Aren't they also crap, as NVIDIA's aren't?
(I'll have to reemerge nvidia-kernel on 'Tue.. Hoping UT2004 goes faster
Oh, and mad props for pulling a 5 year old article! Who games in Rage anymore anyways? It definitely can't drive 1920x1200 (a must in UT2004)...
Because it doesn't work seamlessly with iTunes (as does iPod and some other portable players)? Because I already dropped a few Benjamins on my iPod already? Because I can't listen to a Phatbox on the subway? Because Phatbox can't play iTunes Music Store (or IIRC even unencrypted AAC)?
:(
Frankly, I'd much prefer a changer interface for iPod, unfortunately it'd probably not support my first gen 10GB
Outside of Manhattan, you could just go find someplace else to live. Yay capitalism!
Manhattan OTOH is hell for both renters _and_ landlords.. Boo WWII emergency rent control!
(Less'n you can pay $4k/mo for 2br... Or move to the outer boroughs like any rational techie would since broadband became available..)
16:9 is OK for watching movies, I guess, but when I'm writing code, it's VERTICAL SPACE that's at a premium, not horizontal space.
;)
Not a scheme programmer then?
The optimal arrangement would probably be a curved surface, so all points on the screen would be equidistant from the user, and all points on the screen would be directed right at the user.
Sounds like a fisheye projector of some sort to me...
Quality is only one consideration for the average person. Cost is a very important factor. As is convenience. Back then, laserdiscs didn't have either on its side.
Also, anamorphic video with 5.1 surround wasn't a baseline standard expectation with laserdisc. Discrete surround was an add-on for almost every laserdisc (via a coax RF adapter IIRC), while anamorphic video wasn't standardized in-set (you'd have to project with a separate anamorphic lens, and I don't know 10 laserdiscs that were anamorphic). It is with DVD. Early DVDs (especially 'Pulp Fiction' and 'The Abyss') suffered from letterboxing carried over from laserdisc transfers, while modern DVDs get new fresh 16x9 transfers.
Additionally, lots of newer films are either direct-from-digital (Pixar films, Shrek, etc) or are high-def transfers, so you'll get great picture today and the studio will be able to trade new hi-def lamps for old 480p.
Sorry, Laserdisc has gone the way of reel-to-reel, and the world has moved on. Luckily so far, DVD fans have been able to keep the pressure on studios for anamorphic 5.1 DVDs.
(though Warner still has to eat some shit for their horrible first Kubrick collection.. There was a period there when Warner went from DVD champion to DVD joke...)
Seriously, I can't get OTA broadcast TV without breaking my lease and possibly a local ordinance: I live in a trough among steep hills.
:(
Too bad I can't get HD over firewire from my cable box
The only game lately that I've been hankering to play (enough to add a dual-boot box to my Mac/XBox menagerie) is X2, the most recent (and best according to most reviews) iteration of the all-time classic Elite.
Is it supported yet? In multiplayer?
Has it occurred to anyone that supporting non-l337 g33kz using KDE as a primary desktop will be made more difficult just because it's impossible to keep track of all the dopey names for things?
How does 'kopete' relate to 'chat' or 'instant messaging'? How does 'Konqueror' relate to 'browsing the web'? How does 'Apollon' apply to p2p? How does 'K3b' apply to CD burning/ripping? KMail works. KControlCenter works. Easy for someone to figure out what it does by its name. That is what A NAME IS FOR. We're not dealing with hungarian notation here: The whole idea of a UI is that it needs to be completely descriptive at a glance, and anything that is counterintuitive or obscurantist needs to be fixed or replaced. Normals expect this, they don't think it a crutch, and they're not expected to know better (as developers who take issue with HN may argue other developers _are_ expected to).
At least Apple (and even M$ to a lesser extent) uses prosaic names like iPhoto, iChat, Mail, DVD Player, iCal, Address Book, which makes it easier for mortals to understand their metaphor (Safari being the most egregious exception). KDE ware names seem purposefully opaque, and if you want to make a dent in the GUI you either have to hope for great icons and forget the names, or you have to do more work than you should have to do.
I love KDE, I think anyone from 3 to 103 could use it comfortably, but I shudder to think about all the help calls I'd get from people just trying to find shit in the interface.. It took me an hour of googling to figure out what the hell Apollon was! Anything that can or should be in a base KDE release (or a bundle, like kdemultimedia or kdenetwork) should have a simple, descriptive name, even if it means stepping on the toes of obsolete projects or capricious developers.
(OTOH, maybe you don't give a damn about condemning your less technical friends and/or family to a life of M$ hell. Oh well.)
...
W))T!!!!
You think _that's_ spooky.. Try this...
(I found a copy when I was at IBM and gave it to my OS/2 nut brother awhile back..)
Methinks someone's been playing too much Unreal Tournament....
i absolutely loathe and detest anyone over the age of 15 who reads a harry potter book. that's so pathetic. i love how adults will try to justify it by saying, "but it's like 700 pages!"
Harry Potter is for people who haven't found Terry Pratchett yet.
If you're running your firewall on Solaris, hook up a speaker and run snoop -a...
;)
(Though frankly I'd prefer a WOPR filter