Don't forget that one can get excellent free PVR software, too. In fact, I'm surprised that Make Mazazine didn't go this route -- far more the DIY style. I run GB-PVR (www.gbpvr.com), which can handle DivX, audio, etc. and has plugins for weather, cartoons, and is skinnable. It enables you to select free tv listing from zap2it which cover Canada and the USA, and also supports various XML listing feeds for elsewhere on the planet.
I also recommend checking out the Hauppage (www.hauppage.com) PVR-150 through PVR-350 series, as well as their MediaMVP box, which allows streaming your tv across ethernet to your television. I suspect you could create a very useable system with free software for well under $100. Just be warned that you'll chew through about 2GB per hour of HD space. The old 30GB drive that's serving as my PVR storage doesn't really cut it in the modern world!
Companies spend zillions of dollars/rupies/litas/euros making us want whatever they have to sell. I doubt that many people anywhere would lust after a cheap "simcar for people who can't afford real cars." No. We'd eagerly thumb through magazine reviews of machines we couldn't afford, and dream of the day we could bring a shiny, new "real" computer home.
In a way, the Simputer fiasco highlights the death of revolutionary progress. Remember the cool and affordable platforms from the past? (Amiga 500, Sinclair Spectrums, C-64s, anyone??) Compact, cheap, and most importantly -- interesting.
The Mac Mini is the closest thing to that buzz these days, but even the Mini plays things pretty safe. It seems that the evolution of computing has been replaced with mediocre cries for compatibility and (heaven forbid) the increasingly awkward albatross of backward compatibility.
I'm impressed that so many cities seem to get the idea of blanketing the metro area with wireless, but it also concerns me because the technology changes so quickly. Telephone and cable took decades to pervade the nation, and the technology progressed at a relatively slow rate compare to the proliferation of wireless 801.xxx standards that flood the market year after year.
Spending $20 Million to install wireless is great, but it'll reflect poorly if the system isn't completely overhauled every few years.
We always seem to forget that all of our cool new toys carry an enormous environmental cost. Anyone have any idea if indium phosphide and indium gallium arsenide are better or worse for the planet than current technologies?
Hmm. E-mu Systems released their first 8-bit sampler around 1980, as I recall - within months of the first crude Fairlight.
The classic Fairlight sound came from the Fairlight Series II (1982) and Series IIx (1983, with faster processor and factory-MIDI) defined the classsic "Fairlight" sound, not the Series III - so 16-bit is meaningless here.
The Series II used variable speed playback, rather than skipping samples in a wavetable to speed up/slow down the sound. When combined with some fantastic analog filters, the sound was something special, with a great low-end. The other part of the magic was "Page R" -- the realtime 8-track (single note) sequencer that allowed you to work with the Series II's lightpen in a pseudo-graphical environment (ASCII characters in a music sequencing grid).
By the time the Series III came out, E-mu had released several samplers including the Emulator I and II (both 8 bit, although the II used companding A/D-D/A converters to give a higer signal to noise). The Series III lost the coloured magic of the Series II sound by using increasingly perfect 16-bit recording, and it wasn't long before companies like Akai started making $5000 16-bit samplers that put Fairlight out of business.
Johnny Lee originally published detailed instructions for making the cheap Steadicam on the 'net well over a year ago. See http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/steadycam/ for details. Anyone with semi-reasonable googling skills can have this information without having to pay almost $15 to get it in a mag with pretty pictures.
I was a bit disappointed to see the article, actually -- when a "cool" new print mag recycles the Internet, you know the end of paper is nigh.
People have missed the point. This company is going to sell an iPod Shuffle knock-off in China. There's no way that it will be sold (for long) in Europe or North America -- just like knock-off Rolex watches.
Apple will have an extremely difficult time pursuing the manufacturer through the Chinese legal system. If they do manage to exert suitable pressure to get the company shut down, it may well be a year from now -- after all the money's been made.
Clever strategy in the Chinese "Wild West."
CBC was the first international network to license the new Dr. Who series - this was announced last October. The series starts on Tuesday April 5th, at 8pm in most time zones. I'm very impressed - that's only a few days behind the UK broadcast schedule. Its been so many years since I the heyday of Tom Baker - http://www.tombaker.tv/ - Let's hope the next 13 episodes are worth watching!
Some really good film has a brightness ratio (that is, darkest black to brightest white) of approximately 1024:1.
When projected, the effective brightness ratio falls to about 128:1, and on TV the ratio is a much smaller 32:1.
I suspect that digital projection will not provide anywhere near the rich brighness gradient we have come to expect from film.
I somehow doubt that HD manufacturers have pre-announced all of their little secrets. That said, there comes a time with every technology when things mature - there are a limited number of bits you can fit into a finite space. My feeling is that solid state drives will be the next extremely big thing. 1GB flash memory is no longer a "big deal" and I suspect that with a few significant innovations, solid state might dominate. It would certainly reduce power and space requirements (I can just imagine Steve Jobs demoing the headless Mac Shuffle right now: Smaller than a stick of gum, except for the port adapter...)
Cripes. When one converts "£5 per album" into Canadian prices, that's about what we pay for a new release on CD from one of the more agressive chains. You're getting taken for a ride, friends!
There's only one solution to the labour abuse problems alluded to here. Unionize! Rise up against the textile mill owners who demand such unreasonable effort working with the new automated looms.
Wait. Wrong century. We've been here before, and we'll be here again. When worker supply outstrips demand, bad things happen. Once the husband and his compatriots rise up against EA, their jobs will simply be shipped off to somewhere cheap.
According to the US Department of Energy, the USA uses 40% of the annual world output of oil, 23% of the natural gas, and almost 23% of the coal.
And the US has only 4.6% of the world's population.
Kyoto or not, its time to buy smaller cars less often, take public transit, and carefully consider the effects of overconsumption. In the past three years, I've traded my SUV in on a Toyota Echo, taken the bus/train to work nearly every day, and started to buy gently used stuff on eBay.
It was actually pretty easy - And I was able to pack an extra $18,000 into the bank. I suppose I'm my own little "Mini Kyoto."
Of course, my behaviour is bad news for corporations like GM and many manufacturers - but its better for me.
Drop by a typical American fast food "restaurant" sometime and cast your gaze at the McSlaves behind the counter. As for corrupt government, I'll let Dick Cheney field questions about his relationship with Halliburton.
I'm getting scared. TVs, computers, LCD displays, mp3 players, and nearly every other kind of high tech device is made in China. Now they're leading the "new wave" into space.
Meanwhile in North America, we've perfected manufacture of the double bacon cheeseburger. Gulp.
Just what I need to model my next H-bom... uhh... umm.... I mean render my next feature film. I call it "Kaboom."
Re:I think 8 bit has more life left in it.
on
32-bit Processors, Cheap
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· Score: 2, Informative
D/A converters are almost free these days - 5 10-bit converters are quite common on 28 pin devices. Arguably, that pushes the cost to almost $2 a chip.:)
There are quite a few new chips in the PIC18 series that are appearing with 24K+ of flash, 1K of EEPROM, and hardware UARTS. Useful for lots and affordable.
I use Microchip processors extensively for work, and there's a heck of a lot that I can accomplish with their limited architecture -- my most recent design required less than 8K of flash memory and was mostly written in assembler. For low-end applications, 32-bit doesn't make sense, especially if its going to add $1 to the cost of manufacture. Given that small 8-bit MCUs can be purchased for well under $1 in large volume, I think there's a market for them.
The "long tail" as it applies to products.
on
The Long Tail
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· Score: 4, Interesting
I started a company that serves a relatively niche market. We make devices for computer musicians. Ten years ago, it would have been impossible -- the startup costs for creating relatively short run hardware at affordable prices were astronomical.
With today's technology, it is possible to profitably release a product that looks like it came from a "big player" in the industry, but is manufactured in batches of a few hundred, as orders permit. This gives us tremendous flexibility to create and customize new products based upon a central core.
My point? Its not just music and publishing that are being morphed by technology. Its also software -- think of all the shareware and open source projects that have dramatically changed the landscape of the software industry.
The most important person in tech over the next decade or two is someone few of us have ever met. He or she will start (or has started) the company that will lead the next revolution in computing. Perhaps it will focus on atomic computing, perhaps it will be optical. Few of us realize its significance, and fewer still could guess how it will change the face of technology. Bill Gates, Linus, and Mr. Jobs are interesting, but they are the hallmark of *today's* state of the art.:)
Lets be realistic. This thing is really cool, and I'd love to have one. But I'm not about to shell out $1900 on it. I suspect most others will react the same way, with a "cool, but..." response. It begs the question: "DIDN'T ANYONE DO ANY MARKET RESEARCH ON PRICE POINT?" I suspect that it wouldn't be terribly positive. Now, if the price was $999 things might be different. It might become my favourite travelling toy. As it is, I'd rather have a Blackberry or Palm for those times I leave my real machine behind.
We, as geeks, have to realize that very little of what we create has a long shelf life -- 20 years from now, just imagine the mess as a "wireless" city band-aids and duct tapes layers of new wireless technology ontop of the ancient 802.11z network that seemed such a great idea in 2004. Think back 20 years - the Commodore 64, IBM PC at a steaming 4MHz, and the Amiga. And modems at 300bps.:)
Instead of a huge rickshaw-like contraption, perhaps a standard bicycle might be the answer? There are many available for less than $1600. This looks like a solution looking for a problem to solve.:)
Slashdot Mirror
I also recommend checking out the Hauppage (www.hauppage.com) PVR-150 through PVR-350 series, as well as their MediaMVP box, which allows streaming your tv across ethernet to your television. I suspect you could create a very useable system with free software for well under $100. Just be warned that you'll chew through about 2GB per hour of HD space. The old 30GB drive that's serving as my PVR storage doesn't really cut it in the modern world!
In a way, the Simputer fiasco highlights the death of revolutionary progress. Remember the cool and affordable platforms from the past? (Amiga 500, Sinclair Spectrums, C-64s, anyone??) Compact, cheap, and most importantly -- interesting.
The Mac Mini is the closest thing to that buzz these days, but even the Mini plays things pretty safe. It seems that the evolution of computing has been replaced with mediocre cries for compatibility and (heaven forbid) the increasingly awkward albatross of backward compatibility.
Spending $20 Million to install wireless is great, but it'll reflect poorly if the system isn't completely overhauled every few years.
We always seem to forget that all of our cool new toys carry an enormous environmental cost. Anyone have any idea if indium phosphide and indium gallium arsenide are better or worse for the planet than current technologies?
The classic Fairlight sound came from the Fairlight Series II (1982) and Series IIx (1983, with faster processor and factory-MIDI) defined the classsic "Fairlight" sound, not the Series III - so 16-bit is meaningless here. The Series II used variable speed playback, rather than skipping samples in a wavetable to speed up/slow down the sound. When combined with some fantastic analog filters, the sound was something special, with a great low-end. The other part of the magic was "Page R" -- the realtime 8-track (single note) sequencer that allowed you to work with the Series II's lightpen in a pseudo-graphical environment (ASCII characters in a music sequencing grid).
By the time the Series III came out, E-mu had released several samplers including the Emulator I and II (both 8 bit, although the II used companding A/D-D/A converters to give a higer signal to noise). The Series III lost the coloured magic of the Series II sound by using increasingly perfect 16-bit recording, and it wasn't long before companies like Akai started making $5000 16-bit samplers that put Fairlight out of business.
I was a bit disappointed to see the article, actually -- when a "cool" new print mag recycles the Internet, you know the end of paper is nigh.
People have missed the point. This company is going to sell an iPod Shuffle knock-off in China. There's no way that it will be sold (for long) in Europe or North America -- just like knock-off Rolex watches. Apple will have an extremely difficult time pursuing the manufacturer through the Chinese legal system. If they do manage to exert suitable pressure to get the company shut down, it may well be a year from now -- after all the money's been made. Clever strategy in the Chinese "Wild West."
CBC was the first international network to license the new Dr. Who series - this was announced last October. The series starts on Tuesday April 5th, at 8pm in most time zones. I'm very impressed - that's only a few days behind the UK broadcast schedule. Its been so many years since I the heyday of Tom Baker - http://www.tombaker.tv/ - Let's hope the next 13 episodes are worth watching!
I suspect that digital projection will not provide anywhere near the rich brighness gradient we have come to expect from film.
I somehow doubt that HD manufacturers have pre-announced all of their little secrets. That said, there comes a time with every technology when things mature - there are a limited number of bits you can fit into a finite space. My feeling is that solid state drives will be the next extremely big thing. 1GB flash memory is no longer a "big deal" and I suspect that with a few significant innovations, solid state might dominate. It would certainly reduce power and space requirements (I can just imagine Steve Jobs demoing the headless Mac Shuffle right now: Smaller than a stick of gum, except for the port adapter...)
Cripes. When one converts "£5 per album" into Canadian prices, that's about what we pay for a new release on CD from one of the more agressive chains. You're getting taken for a ride, friends!
It is no wonder he was turfed. Wow, what an angry, incoherent ramble.
Wait. Wrong century. We've been here before, and we'll be here again. When worker supply outstrips demand, bad things happen. Once the husband and his compatriots rise up against EA, their jobs will simply be shipped off to somewhere cheap.
And the US has only 4.6% of the world's population.
Kyoto or not, its time to buy smaller cars less often, take public transit, and carefully consider the effects of overconsumption. In the past three years, I've traded my SUV in on a Toyota Echo, taken the bus/train to work nearly every day, and started to buy gently used stuff on eBay.
It was actually pretty easy - And I was able to pack an extra $18,000 into the bank. I suppose I'm my own little "Mini Kyoto."
Of course, my behaviour is bad news for corporations like GM and many manufacturers - but its better for me.
Drop by a typical American fast food "restaurant" sometime and cast your gaze at the McSlaves behind the counter. As for corrupt government, I'll let Dick Cheney field questions about his relationship with Halliburton.
Meanwhile in North America, we've perfected manufacture of the double bacon cheeseburger. Gulp.
Just what I need to model my next H-bom... uhh... umm.... I mean render my next feature film. I call it "Kaboom."
There are quite a few new chips in the PIC18 series that are appearing with 24K+ of flash, 1K of EEPROM, and hardware UARTS. Useful for lots and affordable.
I use Microchip processors extensively for work, and there's a heck of a lot that I can accomplish with their limited architecture -- my most recent design required less than 8K of flash memory and was mostly written in assembler. For low-end applications, 32-bit doesn't make sense, especially if its going to add $1 to the cost of manufacture. Given that small 8-bit MCUs can be purchased for well under $1 in large volume, I think there's a market for them.
With today's technology, it is possible to profitably release a product that looks like it came from a "big player" in the industry, but is manufactured in batches of a few hundred, as orders permit. This gives us tremendous flexibility to create and customize new products based upon a central core.
My point? Its not just music and publishing that are being morphed by technology. Its also software -- think of all the shareware and open source projects that have dramatically changed the landscape of the software industry.
The most important person in tech over the next decade or two is someone few of us have ever met. He or she will start (or has started) the company that will lead the next revolution in computing. Perhaps it will focus on atomic computing, perhaps it will be optical. Few of us realize its significance, and fewer still could guess how it will change the face of technology. Bill Gates, Linus, and Mr. Jobs are interesting, but they are the hallmark of *today's* state of the art. :)
Lets be realistic. This thing is really cool, and I'd love to have one. But I'm not about to shell out $1900 on it. I suspect most others will react the same way, with a "cool, but..." response. It begs the question: "DIDN'T ANYONE DO ANY MARKET RESEARCH ON PRICE POINT?" I suspect that it wouldn't be terribly positive. Now, if the price was $999 things might be different. It might become my favourite travelling toy. As it is, I'd rather have a Blackberry or Palm for those times I leave my real machine behind.
We, as geeks, have to realize that very little of what we create has a long shelf life -- 20 years from now, just imagine the mess as a "wireless" city band-aids and duct tapes layers of new wireless technology ontop of the ancient 802.11z network that seemed such a great idea in 2004. Think back 20 years - the Commodore 64, IBM PC at a steaming 4MHz, and the Amiga. And modems at 300bps. :)
Instead of a huge rickshaw-like contraption, perhaps a standard bicycle might be the answer? There are many available for less than $1600. This looks like a solution looking for a problem to solve. :)
Hmm... I'm gonna take a really good look at these. Thanks for making me pay attention.