I'd rather have one of these:
http://www.mbed.org/
I've been using these for personal projects and various tasks at work, and they've been a dream to work with, especially coming from the world of closed-source, proprietary PIC microcontrollers and the expensive compilers they require to get a decent high-level language working.
Having recently installed several more Linux boxes at work and home after being away from Linux for awhile, I am once again reminded how elegant and efficient the Linux OS really is.
It was actually a fun project to install, configure, and add packages to these machines. Unlike installing a new Windows box where I need to reboot at least 3 times in order for it to pull down all the required updates, this was refreshing and reaffirmed my appreciation of the Linux OS.
Linux isn't going away any time soon, sorry.
This isn't a "secret"... it's been in the iPhone (and iPod for that matter) for quite a long time. This same serial port is how 3rd party docks and cables control the device from the outside:
http://www.adriangame.co.uk/ipod-acc-pro.html
I disagree. Look at images #3 and #4. The WebP versions are clearly sharper and more detailed than their JPEG counterparts.
Other than that, the rest of the images are so close it's difficult to tell which is better.
For a 39% size reduction, I think WebP has a clear advantage over JPEG. Some questions remaining are a) will companies actually adopt WebP and popularize it, or will it die a quiet death, and b) how CPU and memory-intensive is the algorithm to implement compared to JPEG, especially in mobile devices with limited resources and CPU power?
If you try the google search engine in Chrome right now, the RT search is working, and it's awesome!!!
I tried FF3.5 and IE8 and they still show the old "static" search ATM.
I've done a lot of scripting for Windows in Python lately and I must say it's been a pure joy.
There'a a TON of APIs and it's very easy to whip up something powerful quickly.
You should be able to find an easy way to talk to the LAN printers (via sockets, etc.) and sending email from Python is also a breeze.
"Looking at the facts, we can see it is Apple and not Adobe that is responsible for a lot the the problems Steve likes to blame Apple for. "
Say that again?
I checked out Gray Powell's MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/graypowell) page linked from another article and it showed his name as "Gray" with last login date as 4/20/2010. Then a few minutes later I refreshed and it showed his name as simply "g" and the last login date reverted to 4/19/2010.
Is MySpace freaking out over the huge torrent of traffic that must be hitting this guy's page, or is something else going on here?
I was in this exact same situation (I've been unemployed/self-employed twice) and chose to go with a Blue Shield PPO.
If you choose the right deductible, it can be fairly affordable but still cover your family in the event of a tragedy. Plus with a PPO you can usually choose your own doctors and the meds are WAY cheaper than going without insurance. We had no billing issues or fights with them whatsoever when we had our 2 kids, and they seem pretty fair in paying their claims.
No affiliation to Blue Shield, just a happy customer.
It does open up some security concerns when an A/V utility is advised to "skip over" certain files.
A malware writer could easily exploit this and simply mask their executable "payload" with one of the "non scannable" file extensions to avoid detection.
Malware could easily modify the registry to make one of these "non executable" extensions open with the windows shell, causing them to become executable even without the.EXE extension.
This would only work, however, if the resident portion of the malware was able to evade detection.
The key word here is _multi_. Most existing touch screen technologies only allow for a SINGLE point of contact for touch detection. The sensor embedded in the iPhone allows for multiple points of contact, thus allowing things like resizing of images by "pinching", etc. Traditional touchscreens aren't capable of doing this as they only emit a single X/Y coordinate for each touch.
Plus I've yet to see a touch screen application that lets you browse by swiping your finger. Usually you have to zero in on a scrollbar or other handle, then drag [with limited success] to move the control. From the videos, Apple must have perfected this so you can swipe or flick your finger to scroll. Other devices don't do this.
I used this recently for running test cases against Python code, and it worked great! I placed some DB population code in my setUp() method so you can run the test from any dir and it works -- no DB server needed!
It works like MS Access (file-based) but supports most of the SQL92 standard.
"(3) materially falsifies header information in multiple commercial electronic mail messages..."
Isn't this referring to "bulk" type email (AKA SPAM) where the same message is falsified and sent to MULTIPLE recipients?
I believe as long as the email clearly identifies itself as coming from a legitimate "opt-in" service, and there is a way to "opt-out" embedded in the email via link or other means, then there shouldn't be any legal issues. Then again I'm not a lawyer!:P
Real-world usage
on
Ajax in Action
·
· Score: 2, Informative
I am a developer for a huge PHP/SQL project and we are creating our 2nd generation system using AJAX. As a server/client developer this technology is allowing us to create a much better user experience.
I agree that AJAX has its downfalls ("back button" breaking, JavaScript usage, etc.) but most of these issues are present in "web sites" not "web applications". With a real Web Application, you have more control over the user in terms of requirements, etc. than a public web page.
To get around state change issues, we designed the system to load initial state values on page-load, then update page elements dynamically with AJAX. This cuts down on travel time to/from the server, and if the user hits the "Refresh" button, the state isn't broken.
It would be nice to cover the aspects mentioned in the previous replies, but having some instruction on how to get started with OSS (SourceForge, using CVS, etc.) would also be helpful.
From the abstract: "The present invention discloses a wireless LAN, a peer-to-peer wireless LAN, a wireless transceiver and a method of transmitting data, all of which are capable of operating at frequencies in excess of 10 GHz and in multipath transmission environments. "
Current WLAN hardware operates in the 2.4-5.0GHz range, so shouldn't it be exempt?
I used to code web applications in ColdFusion and switched to PHP a few years ago back when Version 3 was the latest. I have to say that I enjoy programming in a high-level language like PHP much better than CF. With CF all language constructs, etc are encapsulated in HTML-like tags.
I honestly got tired of using < and > all the time while coding and found PHP to be refreshingly similar to C++ and JavaScript.
In any language, it's a good practice to build an abstract DB layer anyway, even if the language doesn't support it natively. This way you can swap out the underlying DB more easily as your needs and those of your customers change.
Sure, CF has some nice DB support but it costs a lot more and is less portable than PHP. Plus PHP is open-source while CF is built on a proprietary scripting engine. Also, it sounds like with PDO you get the best of both worlds - native DB abstraction and an open source scripting engine.
I went to Best Buy to purchase a digital camera and the "sales kid" said that the battery it comes with was junk and would only last 10 minutes. I bought it anyway and of course it lasted a lot longer than that.
Another time I was helping a client purchase a laptop and another sales guy claimed that everytime you charge the battery it loses 3% of it's life! [so after 33 charges it would be useless?] (brackets mine)
I am amazed at how many people don't understand how audio compression works.
First of all, "ripping" referrs to copying the contents from a digital source (such as a CD) into a file format such as WAV. Such files are exact (usually) copies of the original source material and are uncompressed.
When you rip music from a CD "to an MP3" the original (lossless, uncompressed) copy gets converted to MP3 format (lossy, compressed) and the original, uncompressed audio gets lost (unless you archive your original.WAV files)
Even if you convert an MP3 back into a.WAV file, the.WAV file is now tainted and contains all the artifacts (defects) that came from compressing it to MP3. Converting an MP3 to a WAV cannot bring back information that was lost during the original compression. It's not like ZIPping files up and then simply unzipping them again; this is because ZIP is a lossless compression format.
If you were to uncompress an MP3 into a WAV again, and then re-encode this wav into another format, say OGG or WMA, you would end up with a file that contains compression artifacts from both compression methods. As others have said, this sounds horrible at best.
In order to do this right, you would have to again take the source material (CD, etc) and rip an exact, uncompressed copy. You would then need to compress this into the OGG format.
In other words, you need to re-rip and re-encode all your original music to OGG.
Well, OGG Vorbis/MP3 Players... I don't think they're talking about *replacing* the MP3 decoder with an OGG Vorbis decoder, but rather encouraging hardware manufacturers to consider adding support for OGG.
Besides, there are already players that play both MP3 and WMA. OGG is just another format from a hardware standpoint.
Slashdot Mirror
I'd rather have one of these: http://www.mbed.org/ I've been using these for personal projects and various tasks at work, and they've been a dream to work with, especially coming from the world of closed-source, proprietary PIC microcontrollers and the expensive compilers they require to get a decent high-level language working.
Having recently installed several more Linux boxes at work and home after being away from Linux for awhile, I am once again reminded how elegant and efficient the Linux OS really is. It was actually a fun project to install, configure, and add packages to these machines. Unlike installing a new Windows box where I need to reboot at least 3 times in order for it to pull down all the required updates, this was refreshing and reaffirmed my appreciation of the Linux OS. Linux isn't going away any time soon, sorry.
This isn't a "secret"... it's been in the iPhone (and iPod for that matter) for quite a long time. This same serial port is how 3rd party docks and cables control the device from the outside: http://www.adriangame.co.uk/ipod-acc-pro.html
I disagree. Look at images #3 and #4. The WebP versions are clearly sharper and more detailed than their JPEG counterparts. Other than that, the rest of the images are so close it's difficult to tell which is better. For a 39% size reduction, I think WebP has a clear advantage over JPEG. Some questions remaining are a) will companies actually adopt WebP and popularize it, or will it die a quiet death, and b) how CPU and memory-intensive is the algorithm to implement compared to JPEG, especially in mobile devices with limited resources and CPU power?
If you try the google search engine in Chrome right now, the RT search is working, and it's awesome!!! I tried FF3.5 and IE8 and they still show the old "static" search ATM.
I've done a lot of scripting for Windows in Python lately and I must say it's been a pure joy. There'a a TON of APIs and it's very easy to whip up something powerful quickly. You should be able to find an easy way to talk to the LAN printers (via sockets, etc.) and sending email from Python is also a breeze.
"Looking at the facts, we can see it is Apple and not Adobe that is responsible for a lot the the problems Steve likes to blame Apple for. " Say that again?
I checked out Gray Powell's MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/graypowell) page linked from another article and it showed his name as "Gray" with last login date as 4/20/2010. Then a few minutes later I refreshed and it showed his name as simply "g" and the last login date reverted to 4/19/2010. Is MySpace freaking out over the huge torrent of traffic that must be hitting this guy's page, or is something else going on here?
I was in this exact same situation (I've been unemployed/self-employed twice) and chose to go with a Blue Shield PPO.
If you choose the right deductible, it can be fairly affordable but still cover your family in the event of a tragedy. Plus with a PPO you can usually choose your own doctors and the meds are WAY cheaper than going without insurance. We had no billing issues or fights with them whatsoever when we had our 2 kids, and they seem pretty fair in paying their claims.
No affiliation to Blue Shield, just a happy customer.
It does open up some security concerns when an A/V utility is advised to "skip over" certain files. A malware writer could easily exploit this and simply mask their executable "payload" with one of the "non scannable" file extensions to avoid detection. Malware could easily modify the registry to make one of these "non executable" extensions open with the windows shell, causing them to become executable even without the .EXE extension.
This would only work, however, if the resident portion of the malware was able to evade detection.
Flash logo shown in browser as "inline multimedia content":
http://www.informationweek.com/galleries/showImage.jhtml?galleryID=297&imageID=33&articleID=202103424
Video recording capability and camera timer:
http://www.informationweek.com/galleries/showImage.jhtml?galleryID=297&imageID=10&articleID=202103424
Strange skunk-like hand hitting touchscreen:
http://www.informationweek.com/galleries/showImage.jhtml?galleryID=297&imageID=42&articleID=202103424
Tell me about it -- all new "Windows Vista" machines have Dual core CPUs and 2GB+ RAM.
Compare the Vista requirements with these for OS-X Leopard (I'm not a Mac user but admire Apple's products):
http://www.apple.com/macosx/techspecs/
512MB RAM and 867MHz CPU. That sounds more like a real world number considering the advances in OS/Application technology since the 486 days.
They're called "Mice Rockets"...
The key word here is _multi_. Most existing touch screen technologies only allow for a SINGLE point of contact for touch detection. The sensor embedded in the iPhone allows for multiple points of contact, thus allowing things like resizing of images by "pinching", etc. Traditional touchscreens aren't capable of doing this as they only emit a single X/Y coordinate for each touch.
Plus I've yet to see a touch screen application that lets you browse by swiping your finger. Usually you have to zero in on a scrollbar or other handle, then drag [with limited success] to move the control. From the videos, Apple must have perfected this so you can swipe or flick your finger to scroll. Other devices don't do this.
I used this recently for running test cases against Python code, and it worked great! I placed some DB population code in my setUp() method so you can run the test from any dir and it works -- no DB server needed!
It works like MS Access (file-based) but supports most of the SQL92 standard.
http://sqlite.org/
"(3) materially falsifies header information in multiple commercial electronic mail messages..."
:P
Isn't this referring to "bulk" type email (AKA SPAM) where the same message is falsified and sent to MULTIPLE recipients?
I believe as long as the email clearly identifies itself as coming from a legitimate "opt-in" service, and there is a way to "opt-out" embedded in the email via link or other means, then there shouldn't be any legal issues. Then again I'm not a lawyer!
I agree that AJAX has its downfalls ("back button" breaking, JavaScript usage, etc.) but most of these issues are present in "web sites" not "web applications". With a real Web Application, you have more control over the user in terms of requirements, etc. than a public web page.
To get around state change issues, we designed the system to load initial state values on page-load, then update page elements dynamically with AJAX. This cuts down on travel time to/from the server, and if the user hits the "Refresh" button, the state isn't broken.
It would be nice to cover the aspects mentioned in the previous replies, but having some instruction on how to get started with OSS (SourceForge, using CVS, etc.) would also be helpful.
From the abstract: "The present invention discloses a wireless LAN, a peer-to-peer wireless LAN, a wireless transceiver and a method of transmitting data, all of which are capable of operating at frequencies in excess of 10 GHz and in multipath transmission environments. " Current WLAN hardware operates in the 2.4-5.0GHz range, so shouldn't it be exempt?
I used to code web applications in ColdFusion and switched to PHP a few years ago back when Version 3 was the latest. I have to say that I enjoy programming in a high-level language like PHP much better than CF. With CF all language constructs, etc are encapsulated in HTML-like tags.
I honestly got tired of using < and > all the time while coding and found PHP to be refreshingly similar to C++ and JavaScript.
In any language, it's a good practice to build an abstract DB layer anyway, even if the language doesn't support it natively. This way you can swap out the underlying DB more easily as your needs and those of your customers change.
Sure, CF has some nice DB support but it costs a lot more and is less portable than PHP. Plus PHP is open-source while CF is built on a proprietary scripting engine. Also, it sounds like with PDO you get the best of both worlds - native DB abstraction and an open source scripting engine.
"...with amazing super powers", like what, levitation? I get tired of holding my cell between my shoulder and ear, so that would be a nice feature! :P
I went to Best Buy to purchase a digital camera and the "sales kid" said that the battery it comes with was junk and would only last 10 minutes. I bought it anyway and of course it lasted a lot longer than that.
Another time I was helping a client purchase a laptop and another sales guy claimed that everytime you charge the battery it loses 3% of it's life! [so after 33 charges it would be useless?] (brackets mine)
Did you catch this:
;)
"Audio device (44.1MHz 16bit little-endian)"
44.1MHz audio? What kind of processor are they using in this thing, anyway?
44.1kHz sounds more likely...
First of all, "ripping" referrs to copying the contents from a digital source (such as a CD) into a file format such as WAV. Such files are exact (usually) copies of the original source material and are uncompressed.
When you rip music from a CD "to an MP3" the original (lossless, uncompressed) copy gets converted to MP3 format (lossy, compressed) and the original, uncompressed audio gets lost (unless you archive your original .WAV files)
Even if you convert an MP3 back into a .WAV file, the .WAV file is now tainted and contains all the artifacts (defects) that came from compressing it to MP3. Converting an MP3 to a WAV cannot bring back information that was lost during the original compression. It's not like ZIPping files up and then simply unzipping them again; this is because ZIP is a lossless compression format.
If you were to uncompress an MP3 into a WAV again, and then re-encode this wav into another format, say OGG or WMA, you would end up with a file that contains compression artifacts from both compression methods. As others have said, this sounds horrible at best.
In order to do this right, you would have to again take the source material (CD, etc) and rip an exact, uncompressed copy. You would then need to compress this into the OGG format.
In other words, you need to re-rip and re-encode all your original music to OGG.
Well, OGG Vorbis/MP3 Players... I don't think they're talking about *replacing* the MP3 decoder with an OGG Vorbis decoder, but rather encouraging hardware manufacturers to consider adding support for OGG. Besides, there are already players that play both MP3 and WMA. OGG is just another format from a hardware standpoint.