Yes, OSX is slow, but...
on
Is Mac OS X Slow?
·
· Score: 4, Informative
As a designer, I have been using Macs full time since 1991. Currently, I am running OSX 10.1.5 on a 500Mhz G4 Powerbook with 384Meg RAM and 20gig hard drive. Am using Photoshop 7, Illustrator 10 and other latest versions of OSX native apps and they are much slower in launching and feel sluggish over their OS9 counterparts. OS9 was 'snappy' and the less complex window borders and smaller typefaces provided more screen / desktop real estate. Not only that, but the file / directory dialogs are a pain and the lack of smart window re-sizing/tiling like MS Windows means constant manual window re-sizing. OSX breaks several GUI guidelines that OS9 adhered to. The hype concerning OSX is only justified because of Apple's wise decision to base it on Unix, meaning it is stable and geek friendly. Apps do quit once in a while, but unless OS9 under classic mode goes weird, you never need re-start. Anyway, I think people are praising the wrong creation from Apple. What justifies buying a Mac over all else are apps such as iPhoto, iTunes, iMovie etc that are a pleasure to use and totally invaluable on a daily basis. But it's not OSX that makes them great (iTunes was identical under OS9 from an operational angle), it's the people friendly design and functionality.
Remember, these comments on OSX all based on 10.1.5, not 10.2 (Jaguar.)
LCDs may cost more than CRTs, but they are far lighter, use less power and the gap between the edges would be much less. You could salvage LCDs from old laptops.
The GM HiWire vehicle offers an even more environmentally friendly solution. They have mentioned it could go into production within 10 years, so why are Toyota even talking gasoline? Greedy special interests (hence possible war in Iraq) have got to be completely eliminated so humankind can finally unleash it's true potential and not be constrained by the visionless far right. Best way is for people to start boycotting gasoline powered cars altogether from about 2006. Vote with your pockets.
In the early 1990s, I built an airborne gaming and video synthesizer controller based on the keypad equipped Atari Jaguar controller. I used mercury switches at the time and it worked like a dream. And guess what? We called it "Rock and Scroll". Compaq not the first with their Itsi / Itzi device, we were. That said, this new airborne mouse is a nice shape.
The Ghia principle (that the Earth is a living being that responds and adapts to protect itself as any other 'living / sentient' being) would lead one to believe that an ice age would be used to deter global warming - effectvely the host is scratching itself because the parasites are tickling.
The above is of course very controversial if not offensive to some in the scientific community - however, I recall being taught at school that the past ice age - which also arrived very quickly - was also triggered by a rise in the Earth's ambient temperature. Global weather patterns are hard to predict, so only time will tell. The best solution is to assume the worst and try and switch to alternative transport mediums (such as http://www.onumber.net/gmautonomy ) that help us move away from reliance on the resources that contribute to global warming. Simple really.
Single sign on - Branding and other issues...
on
Passport vs. Plan 9
·
· Score: 1
Being that we were the first in the world to conceive of the concept back in 1992 (www.onumber.net), we have done much research into all this, and here are the conclusions, some obvious:
1. Mistrust between competing businesses and organizations means that few entities will ever put their faith in a commercial entity that 'owns' a central database, unless it is government regulated, and even that will concern some.
2. Single sign ons work well for branded entities, such as MSN, AOL/ICQ, Yahoo and our own forthcoming services. Why? Because consumers tend to either like or dislike the way particular companies design their products (or services). There are those who always buy Volvo or BMW or Nike. I for one prefer Yahoo over all other portals for their good design and lack of spam. The mistrust covered in 1 (above) mean that mixing your brands with one sign on is unlikely to happen.
3. New smart browsers, such as Netscape 7 (Mozilla) already remember all your passwords, so unless you switch to a different device, much loging on is done for you.
4. Multiple logins does have one advantage that if you do accidentally give your login and password away, at least it may only provide access to one or two particular services or bank accounts - no everything.
5. In an ideal world, the single signon would be great. We originally planned for oNumber to become THE global signon, but we (O'WONDER) know it won't happen and so it will be purely used to access our own forthcoming services and we don't pretend otherwise. Members can de-activate their accounts on demand if they ever feel their privacy is being violated.
5. Once more frightening thought: With video cameras popping up everywhere (in particular in the UK), be assured that as part of the "war against terrorism", many people (perhaps you reading this) are already in some secret database with your photo and preferred web site surfing habits, newsgroup postings, Slashdot postings etc all logged against your details, just in case you do start to dialog in such a way as to arous the suspicion of the authorities, whoever they may be. Whither Revolution?
Nokia may have a point, however, with the advent of high speed wireless technology, we (mankind), may finally have a way to create an ad-hoc global network (using Mesh concepts) without the need for the middleman. I find it sad that some of our technologies (such as computer graphics) are way ahead, while others (such as high speed networks) are hindered by politics and greed. Let's have a free global network paid for by taxes and then just pay for the hardware. Sounds like something else: Roads. And it works. Nokia: You will get to sell more phones. (Just as long as they are 802.11 compliant of course!)
If AntiGrav is developed, then why do we need to build craft at all? Just strap on an AntiGrav Jetpack, and zip around. Of course, if you plan to fly high, a nice and warm Flight Suite would be the essential dress sense to avoid turning to ice at 30,000 feet.
And another point, people keep saying that no engines will be required. OK, we get lift, but we still need forward propulsion!
e.Digital have got to be mad. The similarities between their device and the iPod show complete lack of vision: a) Position of screen and controls. b) Circular layout of controls. c) User interface design. d) Actual shape of device. (Less of an issue.) If Apple have registered the design, they will have a good case against e.Digital. The spec of the device is good, and hopefully Apple will add a radio and recording to the next iPod(s).
I think most are missing the point. What he wants is to automate the process of scanning the prints and negatives. Good news is O'WONDER is developing such a system for launch within a few years. It will automate the process and allow you to assign keywords and the like to each image too. Color adjustment will also be done to ensure an accurate match. As regards storage, the best bet is on a hard drive, not a CD or DVD because they can decay or get scratched. In addition, there will be a time when removable media will become obsolete and high speed networks are used to exchange and archive data. (For some of us, this is already the case.) I have all my music on a hard drive - not any removable media. As long as I keep moving my music to a medium that can be connected to my latest computer, I have no worries!
You know, I am amazed that this Segway has received ANY attention at all. The only redeaming qualities are it's outstanding engineering and industrial design. But that is all. Here are the flaws:
1) Has no benefits at all over walking. Something the Popular Science review by a postman hints at.
2) Walking is far better for your health. And in a country that is rampant with overweight people this is only going to make things worse.
3) One can walk as far as Segway after being fueled a well filled roll or sandwich and a litre of water.
4) It will be a difficult to recycle due to use of plastics and batteries. Bad for the environment.
5) A push scooter is far more economical and more compact.
6) A bicycle is far faster, with the only disadvantage it is slower and more complex to mount and dismount than a Segway.
All in all this is yet another example of unjustified hype being used to market something that when you stand back and think about it is pointless, except to the gullible. The inventor's other creations are far more important and justify the hype they received.
I'll end on a positive note: If it went about twice as fast and had a range of 30-40 miles or so it would make sense as an alternative to the car for trips where walking or biking may not be practical.
I disagree. 1) The main threat to 802.11 will be 3G (and 4G) once they arrive, just as the mobile phone has pretty much killed off most public phones. 2) Where I believe there is a market, until 3 & 4G mature, is in coffee shops. Yes, I know they already exist in techie communities, but I have spent whole days in coffee shops in San Francisco, and paid for several coffees, sandwiches and cookies. If more people visit such places because they want to work away from their office or home office, it will bring in business for the coffee shops and cover their DSL line that's wired to the 802.11 base station, such as Apple Airport or other. This could open up markets anywhere there are a lot of business people, not just techies. And even if people do not want to buy a coffee or cookie, as per...
ZA Spot Restaurant 371 11th St. (between Harrison & Folsom) SF, CA 94103 USA
(Formerly the Red Roaster Room at another location in San Francisco)
...customers can always pay a few dollars just to sit down on sofa with laptop and warm the knees.
Whatever, wireless will be THE largest industry this planet has ever known 3-4 years from now. Bigger than cocain and the auto industry put together. (Unless of course it is proven beyond a doubt that we're all having our DNA scrambled by anything from Bluetooth to Ultra Wide Band and everything in between.) Now that would be a major bummer!
Forgetting all the politics, pricing and pro and con Microsoft talk, I got to play Halo for a few hours in a store in London the other day, and no matter what one thinks of MS or the other consoles that were also on display, Gamecube and PS2 included of course, here are my comments:
a) The graphics are near perfect, with NO jaggies
b) There was NO slowdown
c) Most importantly, the physics and sense of realism was outstanding and intelligent, including the way the vehicle you move around in responds if it hits something or you drive it off a cliff. It was like a radio controlled car!
d) Attention to detail, such as looking up close at artifacts and items left by dead enemies. I know PC games do all this, but at the new price, the graphics this machine generates are a bargain.
I mention all this because what counts is that if a product is compelling enough, people will save up and buy it. This happened with the Palm Pilot. Sales were slow initially as people tried to understand it. But once word of mouth spreads and bank accounts fill up, sales will begin. A price cut too early on can frighten the consumer (who does NOT read/.) into thinking that the product is on the way out, meaning the end of a future supply of games. After all, no matter how good Halo is, once the mission is complete, one wants more!
BTW, the graphics on Gamecube Waveracer were jaggy, althought the water effects are very releastic. Star Wars is ok, but reminded me of a 1980s game, a little distant and on rails in a way. No jaggies though. Oh, and the controller on the Gamecube is the best I have ever used. Lovely big FIRE button. Xbox controller too large. We need compromise! (PS3?)
With a future version of oNumbet.net, we'll provide innovative permission marketing features that give control over the release of your information back to the rightful owner, YOU.
Version 1 is up right now, and acts as an advanced online address book that's free of advertising, hence it's fee based. Most importantly though, we're very concerned about privacy, and have no plans to sell out to another corporation that may infringe our privacy guidelines.
It's new. And there are 10 billion possible oNumbers, as we allow leading zeros to be chosen for fun. (1 to 10 digits length.) We'll add some fun features later. Agree, it needs to do something when one types in an unused oNumber.
Who is you? The reason it is extinct is because AOL while initially enthusiastic with what we were doing (we still have their e-mails), had a change of heart and asked us (via a lawyer) to switch off. We respected their request, after all, it was their database - and in view of the popularity of our service, their loss. Hence, we're doing our own thing. What did you do for O'WONDER? Drop an e-mail to crew@owonder.com (include your name!) and we'll continue the dialog away from/.
b) It's $29 to join - nothing else to pay. As we add more features (for users, not anyone else), the fee will rise, but we'll probably introduce a subsription system for those that join later.
c) We don't plan to run on MS for ever. Be happy!
d) When you join, and use credit card, we use Worldpay, who handle Amazon, so we have faith.
e) As regards internal security, we have a few tricks, but I'm not in engineering (I'm the GUI guy) so I don't know, but will find out for another posting. One important point, we do NOT collect anything than sensitive. THE most sensitive items of information are Resume, Home street address, and date of birth.
True. What I should have said was the world-wide web as discovered by the mainstream media and entrepreneurs. I am aware that it all started with Arpanet in the 1960s in fact. Brilliant invention.
That's why there is the guest list system. You can 'lock' any item (including any or all parts of your street address AND your current location) so that information is ONLY shown to guests, who would normally be family, close friends etc. We came up with the idea in 1992 (before the net actually!) and have put MUCH thought into the privacy aspects. It's not perfect, but we're adding (future) features that will also allow authenticated messaging (as ICQ was suppose to do, but doesn't seem that secure). Of course, there is nothing to stop someone from stealing our servers, but a) We don't allow you to store anything that personal, such as medical info or credit card details as yet, and b) I hate to say it, but most if not ALL of the info you can enter into our system can be obtained pretty easily through other methods from simply following someone, accessing government records, yellow pages. IE, putting little bits of information together to get the whole lot.
Incidentally, we have some code that makes it hard to guess a person's password to and a few other tricks to deter hackers. That said, nothing is perfect. oNumber.net is voluntary and it's up to you!
Slashdot Mirror
Remember, these comments on OSX all based on 10.1.5, not 10.2 (Jaguar.)
LCDs may cost more than CRTs, but they are far lighter, use less power and the gap between the edges would be much less. You could salvage LCDs from old laptops.
See the GM AUTOnomy.
Agreed. See my posting just before yours. Also see our permanent Autonomy SPACECARD at GoNumber.net/gmautonomy
The GM HiWire vehicle offers an even more environmentally friendly solution. They have mentioned it could go into production within 10 years, so why are Toyota even talking gasoline? Greedy special interests (hence possible war in Iraq) have got to be completely eliminated so humankind can finally unleash it's true potential and not be constrained by the visionless far right. Best way is for people to start boycotting gasoline powered cars altogether from about 2006. Vote with your pockets.
In the early 1990s, I built an airborne gaming and video synthesizer controller based on the keypad equipped Atari Jaguar controller. I used mercury switches at the time and it worked like a dream. And guess what? We called it "Rock and Scroll". Compaq not the first with their Itsi / Itzi device, we were. That said, this new airborne mouse is a nice shape.
The above is of course very controversial if not offensive to some in the scientific community - however, I recall being taught at school that the past ice age - which also arrived very quickly - was also triggered by a rise in the Earth's ambient temperature. Global weather patterns are hard to predict, so only time will tell. The best solution is to assume the worst and try and switch to alternative transport mediums (such as http://www.onumber.net/gmautonomy ) that help us move away from reliance on the resources that contribute to global warming. Simple really.
1. Mistrust between competing businesses and organizations means that few entities will ever put their faith in a commercial entity that 'owns' a central database, unless it is government regulated, and even that will concern some.
2. Single sign ons work well for branded entities, such as MSN, AOL/ICQ, Yahoo and our own forthcoming services. Why? Because consumers tend to either like or dislike the way particular companies design their products (or services). There are those who always buy Volvo or BMW or Nike. I for one prefer Yahoo over all other portals for their good design and lack of spam. The mistrust covered in 1 (above) mean that mixing your brands with one sign on is unlikely to happen.
3. New smart browsers, such as Netscape 7 (Mozilla) already remember all your passwords, so unless you switch to a different device, much loging on is done for you.
4. Multiple logins does have one advantage that if you do accidentally give your login and password away, at least it may only provide access to one or two particular services or bank accounts - no everything.
5. In an ideal world, the single signon would be great. We originally planned for oNumber to become THE global signon, but we (O'WONDER) know it won't happen and so it will be purely used to access our own forthcoming services and we don't pretend otherwise. Members can de-activate their accounts on demand if they ever feel their privacy is being violated.
5. Once more frightening thought: With video cameras popping up everywhere (in particular in the UK), be assured that as part of the "war against terrorism", many people (perhaps you reading this) are already in some secret database with your photo and preferred web site surfing habits, newsgroup postings, Slashdot postings etc all logged against your details, just in case you do start to dialog in such a way as to arous the suspicion of the authorities, whoever they may be. Whither Revolution?
Nokia may have a point, however, with the advent of high speed wireless technology, we (mankind), may finally have a way to create an ad-hoc global network (using Mesh concepts) without the need for the middleman. I find it sad that some of our technologies (such as computer graphics) are way ahead, while others (such as high speed networks) are hindered by politics and greed. Let's have a free global network paid for by taxes and then just pay for the hardware. Sounds like something else: Roads. And it works. Nokia: You will get to sell more phones. (Just as long as they are 802.11 compliant of course!)
And another point, people keep saying that no engines will be required. OK, we get lift, but we still need forward propulsion!
e.Digital have got to be mad. The similarities between their device and the iPod show complete lack of vision: a) Position of screen and controls. b) Circular layout of controls. c) User interface design. d) Actual shape of device. (Less of an issue.) If Apple have registered the design, they will have a good case against e.Digital. The spec of the device is good, and hopefully Apple will add a radio and recording to the next iPod(s).
I think most are missing the point. What he wants is to automate the process of scanning the prints and negatives. Good news is O'WONDER is developing such a system for launch within a few years. It will automate the process and allow you to assign keywords and the like to each image too. Color adjustment will also be done to ensure an accurate match. As regards storage, the best bet is on a hard drive, not a CD or DVD because they can decay or get scratched. In addition, there will be a time when removable media will become obsolete and high speed networks are used to exchange and archive data. (For some of us, this is already the case.) I have all my music on a hard drive - not any removable media. As long as I keep moving my music to a medium that can be connected to my latest computer, I have no worries!
MarsHydro. Tongue in cheek today, water in mouth tomorrow?
1) Has no benefits at all over walking. Something the Popular Science review by a postman hints at.
2) Walking is far better for your health. And in a country that is rampant with overweight people this is only going to make things worse.
3) One can walk as far as Segway after being fueled a well filled roll or sandwich and a litre of water.
4) It will be a difficult to recycle due to use of plastics and batteries. Bad for the environment.
5) A push scooter is far more economical and more compact.
6) A bicycle is far faster, with the only disadvantage it is slower and more complex to mount and dismount than a Segway.
All in all this is yet another example of unjustified hype being used to market something that when you stand back and think about it is pointless, except to the gullible. The inventor's other creations are far more important and justify the hype they received.
I'll end on a positive note: If it went about twice as fast and had a range of 30-40 miles or so it would make sense as an alternative to the car for trips where walking or biking may not be practical.
ZA Spot Restaurant
371 11th St. (between Harrison & Folsom)
SF, CA 94103
USA
(Formerly the Red Roaster Room at another location in San Francisco)
...customers can always pay a few dollars just to sit down on sofa with laptop and warm the knees.
Whatever, wireless will be THE largest industry this planet has ever known 3-4 years from now. Bigger than cocain and the auto industry put together. (Unless of course it is proven beyond a doubt that we're all having our DNA scrambled by anything from Bluetooth to Ultra Wide Band and everything in between.) Now that would be a major bummer!
a) The graphics are near perfect, with NO jaggies
b) There was NO slowdown
c) Most importantly, the physics and sense of realism was outstanding and intelligent, including the way the vehicle you move around in responds if it hits something or you drive it off a cliff. It was like a radio controlled car! d) Attention to detail, such as looking up close at artifacts and items left by dead enemies. I know PC games do all this, but at the new price, the graphics this machine generates are a bargain.
I mention all this because what counts is that if a product is compelling enough, people will save up and buy it. This happened with the Palm Pilot. Sales were slow initially as people tried to understand it. But once word of mouth spreads and bank accounts fill up, sales will begin. A price cut too early on can frighten the consumer (who does NOT read /.) into thinking that the product is on the way out, meaning the end of a future supply of games. After all, no matter how good Halo is, once the mission is complete, one wants more!
BTW, the graphics on Gamecube Waveracer were jaggy, althought the water effects are very releastic. Star Wars is ok, but reminded me of a 1980s game, a little distant and on rails in a way. No jaggies though. Oh, and the controller on the Gamecube is the best I have ever used. Lovely big FIRE button. Xbox controller too large. We need compromise! (PS3?)
This is why it's vital that any such system is controlled solely by the people in the database. Hence, oNumber.net, which you maintain yourself.
Version 1 is up right now, and acts as an advanced online address book that's free of advertising, hence it's fee based. Most importantly though, we're very concerned about privacy, and have no plans to sell out to another corporation that may infringe our privacy guidelines.
It's new. And there are 10 billion possible oNumbers, as we allow leading zeros to be chosen for fun. (1 to 10 digits length.) We'll add some fun features later. Agree, it needs to do something when one types in an unused oNumber.
Check out http://www.onumber.net. (I'm too tired to insert the html. Sorry!)
Who is you? The reason it is extinct is because AOL while initially enthusiastic with what we were doing (we still have their e-mails), had a change of heart and asked us (via a lawyer) to switch off. We respected their request, after all, it was their database - and in view of the popularity of our service, their loss. Hence, we're doing our own thing. What did you do for O'WONDER? Drop an e-mail to crew@owonder.com (include your name!) and we'll continue the dialog away from /.
b) It's $29 to join - nothing else to pay. As we add more features (for users, not anyone else), the fee will rise, but we'll probably introduce a subsription system for those that join later.
c) We don't plan to run on MS for ever. Be happy!
d) When you join, and use credit card, we use Worldpay, who handle Amazon, so we have faith.
e) As regards internal security, we have a few tricks, but I'm not in engineering (I'm the GUI guy) so I don't know, but will find out for another posting. One important point, we do NOT collect anything than sensitive. THE most sensitive items of information are Resume, Home street address, and date of birth.
True. What I should have said was the world-wide web as discovered by the mainstream media and entrepreneurs. I am aware that it all started with Arpanet in the 1960s in fact. Brilliant invention.
That's why there is the guest list system. You can 'lock' any item (including any or all parts of your street address AND your current location) so that information is ONLY shown to guests, who would normally be family, close friends etc. We came up with the idea in 1992 (before the net actually!) and have put MUCH thought into the privacy aspects. It's not perfect, but we're adding (future) features that will also allow authenticated messaging (as ICQ was suppose to do, but doesn't seem that secure). Of course, there is nothing to stop someone from stealing our servers, but a) We don't allow you to store anything that personal, such as medical info or credit card details as yet, and b) I hate to say it, but most if not ALL of the info you can enter into our system can be obtained pretty easily through other methods from simply following someone, accessing government records, yellow pages. IE, putting little bits of information together to get the whole lot.
Incidentally, we have some code that makes it hard to guess a person's password to and a few other tricks to deter hackers. That said, nothing is perfect. oNumber.net is voluntary and it's up to you!
Oops, I forgot to mention that oNumber.net IS built using Oracle.