I've been waiting since the 1990s for an avatar that could hand files to others, and have those files appear on their desktops, even open (trusted users, etc) and collaborate on. You're right, voice is be necessary, too.
More than a decade late, Google underwhelms with this.
My employer would pay big bucks for being able to host virtual client meetings in a slick building, with the above features and intuitive gestures. If there is an active open source project working on virtual worlds, we'd like to know, too.
That's sort of like saying Indians don't really deserve India because it was the (imperialist) British who first brought up the idea of an India.
Puh-leeze. Reality disagrees. And right now that reality is that Israel has been occupying Palestinian territory for the better part of half a century, all the while feigning surprise at the rise of militancy against them.
I only had time to skim the page, but I could not find who their target audience is.
Teenage American kids?
Developing country schoolchildren?
Programmers?
I'd think the last, from the way they go on and on about the platform and the desktop and such. But then why distribute at SXSW? To bore people and make FOSS seem irrelavant to people at large?
I think the first page of their document should be their motivation and target audience, not what distro of Linux they think is cool.
If they're distributing at SXSW, I think they should have creative CC movies and music.
Absolutely. Get someone from the local Art Institute of $yourCity to look at your current glossy brochures and do it. Grahpic design is as far from programming as grahpics are from the mechanics of the printing press.
And yeah, she'll probably be a she:) That's the bonus, you'll get to work with a creative, and see how the other half live (gender- and professionally-wise). Then actually follow through with what she designs for you, don't just cringe at the large grahpics and crazy layout.
I mean... Does Homeland Security think that kids popping pills will somehow turn them into into Fundamentalist Terrorists? Even if there no evil intentions by DHS, this is at least very poor use of their resources.
You do not seem to understand how it works. The more domains we bring under our security apparatus, the more our resources grow. We know exactly what we're doing, so just stay at home and watch TV for our alert system.
I know when I was using a 15" PowerBook, it was barely possible to open it on a coach seat. This could really help.
Hey David, I think the reason it is hard to open 15" (and 13") screens in coach is the height of the screen, not the thickness of the laptop. I was really hoping for a smaller (subnotebook) form-factor, but instead we got the same as the MacBook, just a bit thinner.
There's plenty of space around the keyboard and screen that could be trimmed, but I guess they couldn't get that circuit board any smaller. Pity.
BTW, I think Time Capsule is as important as the Air announcement. Can't get anyone to back up. But since it's also a wireless hub, and Time Machine autoconnects, people will actually start backing up while barely meaning to.
...the web. In the bad old days, you needed to catch the eye of televison or the few print outlets. Today, there are thousands of websites and blogs which can be reached without congregating in a physical space. Add to that that most of these websites and blogs require daily fodder to publish, and are thus much easier to get published in.
There are plenty of problems with your suggestions.
The biggest is that burning food as fuel vastly increases demand, and hence the price, of food. It is already happening with corn. Which is why the ethanol lobby is growing stronger so quickly, as more farmers sign up. And as farmers switch from other crops to corn, those prices go up, too.
Which exposes the naivete of your argument: yes, farmers/could/ try to grow unproven algae in the desert, and have to build the attendant distribution systems to such remote places; or they could just use the land, roads and elevators they already have. What do you think they're going to do?
And despite your claim, most studies show that biofuels don't burn as cleanly as petrofuels (with current tech), and that there are indeed no clear answers to the carbon benefits. Wikipedia is not a bad place to start to look for these studies.
Who here honestly thinks tomorrow is going to be better than today? Who here honestly thinks their kids are going to live in a world better than we are?
The Indians do. And the Chinese do. Probably most of Asia.
Which is why those places are so exciting right now. I really think Western leaderships need to excite their peoples about the future. We made a lot of progress with that kind of excitement. But it probably requires more than just words, so it will be hard to do.
They were convinced during the cold "war" that these huge surveillance organisations were necessary for other soils. Now they have been convinced during this terror "war" that these organisations are necessary for their own soil. It's a slippery slope that was started down decades ago.
Once you can break the rights of one "bad guy", it's easy to paint anyone you want "bad".
The ACLU may not always be popular, but they have the big picture right. Too bad they have the word "American" in front of their name, instead of "World".
No, Start -> Shutdown will always be funny. One hundred years from now when someone compiles a list of the most idiotic software switches, Windows will be the flag-bearer. Time cannot dull the idiocy of that one.
Slashdot Mirror
I've been waiting since the 1990s for an avatar that could hand files to others, and have those files appear on their desktops, even open (trusted users, etc) and collaborate on. You're right, voice is be necessary, too.
More than a decade late, Google underwhelms with this.
My employer would pay big bucks for being able to host virtual client meetings in a slick building, with the above features and intuitive gestures. If there is an active open source project working on virtual worlds, we'd like to know, too.
Because, frankly, no one cares?
Actually, OJ was not proven guilty, and is thus innocent. Perhaps that was a case of "We can't believe he's innocent because he isn't one of 'us'".
That's sort of like saying Indians don't really deserve India because it was the (imperialist) British who first brought up the idea of an India.
Puh-leeze. Reality disagrees. And right now that reality is that Israel has been occupying Palestinian territory for the better part of half a century, all the while feigning surprise at the rise of militancy against them.
Only on Slashdot would an article ask if Windows can compete with Linux.
*Shakes head*
Get out of mom's basement once in a while, guys.
I only had time to skim the page, but I could not find who their target audience is.
Teenage American kids?
Developing country schoolchildren?
Programmers?
I'd think the last, from the way they go on and on about the platform and the desktop and such. But then why distribute at SXSW? To bore people and make FOSS seem irrelavant to people at large?
I think the first page of their document should be their motivation and target audience, not what distro of Linux they think is cool.
If they're distributing at SXSW, I think they should have creative CC movies and music.
Absolutely. Get someone from the local Art Institute of $yourCity to look at your current glossy brochures and do it. Grahpic design is as far from programming as grahpics are from the mechanics of the printing press.
:) That's the bonus, you'll get to work with a creative, and see how the other half live (gender- and professionally-wise). Then actually follow through with what she designs for you, don't just cringe at the large grahpics and crazy layout.
And yeah, she'll probably be a she
You do not seem to understand how it works. The more domains we bring under our security apparatus, the more our resources grow. We know exactly what we're doing, so just stay at home and watch TV for our alert system.
Replace "terror" with "shock and awe" when we do it.
There, all better now.
Hey David, I think the reason it is hard to open 15" (and 13") screens in coach is the height of the screen, not the thickness of the laptop. I was really hoping for a smaller (subnotebook) form-factor, but instead we got the same as the MacBook, just a bit thinner.
There's plenty of space around the keyboard and screen that could be trimmed, but I guess they couldn't get that circuit board any smaller. Pity.
Dude, where I live, $500,000 will barely get you a one bedroom apartment.
You're right about the target audience though. More like "needs to be thin to look cool in the coffeeshop" than "needs to work in coach in a plane".
God, I want one...
We may laugh, but my secretary just came up to me and asked if it comes in black, because she'd pay more for that...
All that's true, which just means you're not the target market for that machine. I think they want to sell you the Pro.
BTW, I think Time Capsule is as important as the Air announcement. Can't get anyone to back up. But since it's also a wireless hub, and Time Machine autoconnects, people will actually start backing up while barely meaning to.
How are they going to prevent accidental input on that gigantic trackpad?
That SSD one looks very sweet though.
...the web. In the bad old days, you needed to catch the eye of televison or the few print outlets. Today, there are thousands of websites and blogs which can be reached without congregating in a physical space. Add to that that most of these websites and blogs require daily fodder to publish, and are thus much easier to get published in.
The ways to get attention have changed with tech.
Because, of course, the rest of the world doesn't count. It's only worthwhile when it finally makes it to America and becomes known to you.
Wake up. The rest of the world is passing you by.
There are plenty of problems with your suggestions.
/could/ try to grow unproven algae in the desert, and have to build the attendant distribution systems to such remote places; or they could just use the land, roads and elevators they already have. What do you think they're going to do?
The biggest is that burning food as fuel vastly increases demand, and hence the price, of food. It is already happening with corn. Which is why the ethanol lobby is growing stronger so quickly, as more farmers sign up. And as farmers switch from other crops to corn, those prices go up, too.
Which exposes the naivete of your argument: yes, farmers
And despite your claim, most studies show that biofuels don't burn as cleanly as petrofuels (with current tech), and that there are indeed no clear answers to the carbon benefits. Wikipedia is not a bad place to start to look for these studies.
Yeah. And most comments are relieved the source hasn't been revealed. But it's too soon to say. The terms were secret.
If in a month we haven't heard about an Apple lawsuit against an ex-employee, then we'll be able to say.
The Indians do. And the Chinese do. Probably most of Asia.
Which is why those places are so exciting right now. I really think Western leaderships need to excite their peoples about the future. We made a lot of progress with that kind of excitement. But it probably requires more than just words, so it will be hard to do.
Um, no. The feds are in DC.
And most programming shops in the area are in Northern Virginia. The few that are left in Maryland will move to Virginia, too.
The only programming strength Maryland has is in Biotech, and there's no reason that can't move to Virginia, too.
They were convinced during the cold "war" that these huge surveillance organisations were necessary for other soils. Now they have been convinced during this terror "war" that these organisations are necessary for their own soil. It's a slippery slope that was started down decades ago.
Once you can break the rights of one "bad guy", it's easy to paint anyone you want "bad".
The ACLU may not always be popular, but they have the big picture right. Too bad they have the word "American" in front of their name, instead of "World".
Sorry for the silly questions:
Does it run a JVM of any sort? Any in the works?
Wikipedia just mentions Python, but with 256 MB, a JVM should be possible.
No, Start -> Shutdown will always be funny. One hundred years from now when someone compiles a list of the most idiotic software switches, Windows will be the flag-bearer. Time cannot dull the idiocy of that one.
Hmm... I should probably also say "bundling with hardware".