While this is true in theory, in practice it isn't. There isn't an equivalent to iTunes for PVR for the Mac. There are some opensource Linux projects that have been ported. But in terms of UI they suck. (At least based upon what I've read and seen) You could in theory use iMovie and pipe the video through your camcorder. But that loses most of what makes a PVR cool - i.e. easy timed recording.
There also is limited *good* hardware for the Mac. Yes there is EyeTV and I know some people love that. Personally I'm not sure I like it as much as a stand alone PVR. I came close to buying one but didn't.
This really is a place Apple could clean everyones clock with. Especially if they had a HDTV version.
A lot of porting is done by Apple employees. Just not necessary at Apple's request. This limits how much support Apple has to provide for these opensource projects and also limits their liability if something goes wrong.
Quoting from the opendarwin page, "many OpenDarwin members are either Apple employees or Darwin Committers, who have an active interest in merging technologies from OpenDarwin.org into Darwin and Mac OS X releases.
With OpenDarwin, project members have greater latitude in producing incremental updates or interim releases of Darwin. The mission of the OpenDarwin project is to innovate and explore new technologies while still remaining relevant, through its informal connection to www.opensource.apple.com, to the mainstream computing environments that Apple provides. It complements Apple's infrastructure by allowing increased participation by the community."
As to the choice of BSD or GNU standard tools, that's a bit of a personal preference. However since Darwin is based on BSD (with a lot of FreeBSD of late) rather than Linux it shouldn't be surprising that it retains its tools. That is more in keeping with its BSD roots.
As I mentioned elsewhere if you are savvy enough to recognize the difference in the tools you ought to be savvy enough to build the GNU versions of the tools.
Those who are able to recognize the difference between GNU versions of the BSD utilities are savvy enough to install the GNU utilities or Fink. If you don't like Fink check out Darwinports which is a different approach to the issue. It sounds more like what you want. A lot of us prefer having all the custom source code in/sw rather than replacing the standard BSD stuff from Apple so that we have access to both.
The Indian alignment was certainly understandable given past events before there even was a United States. Britain was always better to the Indians than Americans. (Which isn't to justify their views which were hardly modern) Still the Pontiac rebellion was largely due to the Indians getting upset when Americans violated the colonization rules the British setup. Britain had always been aligned with many tribes during the French - English wars and also thereafter. That's not to say Canada was a saint, mind you. But they were never as bad as the history of abuse the Americans had.
Of course I think Canadian do put the war of 1812 higher than it deserved. It wasn't until I moved from Canada that I started learning that the Americans did better in battles other than the battle of New Orleans. I'd been taught in Canada that was the only battle the Americans won - after the war was technically over. The reality was far more complex but is overlooked or unknown by most Canadians. Not that this is a bad thing, of course. The Plains of Abraham never were good for American troops during the war of 1812 or the earlier invasion during the American revolution.
Actually the middle east strongly wishes to sell the US processed oil but the US has strongly sought to avoid this. (Well more US companies since they get money from all those refineries across the nation). Some have even criticized US policy towards the middle east in this regard. i.e. there is a double standard relative to Canada.
Certainly the tar sands do require expensive processing to get even the oil out. But that is a slightly different situation from the more common oil wells that also dot Alberta. Further the tar sands, despite increasing technology, still require fairly high prices to be cost effective. But you made that point. I'd just say that oil that isn't cost effective to sell really isn't a oil supply.
I personally think that by the time the tar sands could compete with Saudi or Iraqi oil the US will have largely shifted to hydrogen for transportation and alternative energy for initial production (to refine the hydrogen).
I've not lived in Canada for some time. However I was under the assumption that Ontario and Alberta were the few "positive provinces." The Atlantic provinces and Quebec were drains (i.e. more money is transferred to them than is collected)
I think the reason Albertans get upset is because there is less Provincial control and there is a constant appeasement of Quebec. (i.e. how many Prime Ministers have had ridings in Quebec or are French?)
I'd agree that Alberta often goes to extremes. There is a strong movement in the province that reminds me of radical Republicans in the US. (I've even met Albertans who feared the UN and "black helicopters.") There is a distinct difference in culture. I don't think this is the majority of Alberta anymore than I think the majority of Quebecois are "Francaphone above all else" radicals.
Still, I am fairly sympathetic to Albertan concerns. It does seem, especailly since Trudeau, that Canada has become more an more federalized without the checks and balances that offset the "will of the majority." So local people have less say at times. This allows some, such as Nova Scotia (my own original home) to really take advantage of the rest of the country. I can understand Alberta, with its different culture, getting upset at this. I can even understand Quebec getting upset. The difference is that Quebec is often given more autonomy than the other provinces seem to be.
One should say that there were a few more events around the 1812 war than you suggest. Further Canada was basically a "drop zone" to get rid of incompetent generals so as to not affect the real war back in Europe with France. America was partially being opportunistic. Further, according to some, a lot of the war was due to opportunistic businessmen on both sides of the border. As soon as they started losing money instead of winning it the war ended. (OK, somewhat biased from reading a rather noted Canadian history of the war)
In either case once the war with France was over the US knew it had to be careful. That lasted until after the civil war when some hawks suggested just finishing things by invading Canada. It was doubtful it would ever have happened, but that worry was one of the reasons Canada got partial independence in 1867.
At what point are the hard drives big enough? I know a lot of this has to do with software. With iTunes I can select playlists that I'd want to listen to so easily that 10 gig is more than enough. I have 20 gig of tunes, but rarely want all of it.
I know someone will say they have 30 gig of tunes and want all of it all the time. This to me is simple geek nonsense. You can't listen to that much in a reasonable fashion. Further needing it all probably says more about poor software and hardware than anything else. (IMO)
I use my iPod in my car and at the gym and at work. (To drown out my co-worker's Rush Limbaugh at times) I honestly can't imagine *why* you need more than perhaps 20 gig. I honestly can't.
If you are using it as a portable hard drive then, OK. I can understand. But the reason I like the iPod is that while it functions as a small hard drive for a few files, it is primarily a *player*.
You miss my point. Wine *emulates* Windows calls. In effect it is most of Windows emulated. Now this emulation is presumably kept in source code. Could that source code be recompiled for PPC with the actual program code of the program or game being interpreted (or compiled with a JIT compiler)? In this way the time that the code spends in WindowsAPI calls is not emulated and runs full speed.
In theory this is faster that VPC or related emulators since a large number of calls are native. If you are familiar with it, this is similar to what happened with the 68k -> PPC transition. A lot of older 68k programs called MacOS APIs and most of those APIs were native PPC.
Big question, how hard would it be to recompile WineX for OSX? Yes I know you'd have to combine it with Bosche or more preferrably a JIT x86 -> PPC compiler. I'm just curious if WineX itself is written in C or if there is x86 assembly in there. Are there "big endian" issues?
Regarding keyboards, while the ADB keyboard was excellent as were the original Mac128 through Mac+ keyboards, I found all Mac keyboards up to last year rather poor. The keyboard was smaller than normal on all the iMacs and was missing a few keys. The keyboard that came with my PowerMac was vastly improved, but I still went and got a MS Keyboard to go with my MS Mouse.
I don't particularly like the Apple mice. Well, let me correct that. I *love* the mouse and think it one of the best, but demand a mouse with a second button and a scroll wheel.
Regarding the original article, if Apple came out with a mouse like their current optical but with an iPod like track wheel and second button then I'd be in heaven.
I have to ask - what kind of job were you applying for where as part of the interview they asked about why manhole covers were round? Further what kind of job interviewer would be unhappy when you answered that not all manhole covers are round.
Just to clarify my question a little more. (It wasn't intended as a funny retort nor a troll, just a sincere question) While Win2K and the like offered many services, it also seemed like Perl, Python and the like *weren't* services. While running those under various Unixes isn't a problem unless accessing some application that requires a window manager, I wonder if the same is true under Windows.
Does anyone know?
That the basic services are "faceless" I already knew. However many people run quite a bit in addition to those faceless applications.
Also do the remote administration tools (which I've never used, given the nature of my prior IT job) still implicitly require a GUI running natively? (Once again, sincere question - although clearly MS could work a way to avoid that)
Most particulary, even if you didn't *need* the GUI, why remove it? It doesn't hurt anything. I typically have XWindows on all Linux boxes I run, even if I almost always administer them via ssh. It is for that "just in case" and that sometimes webflow requires some software that uses X11. (Although I'm sure were I to look into it such software could be installed without it - but typically the hassle isn't worth it)
If I recall the last Slashdot discussion of small form computers for A/V systems, they were all powerful enough as MP-3 players but not really up to the task of being a general video player/recorder.
I expect this to get appealed to the supreme court as well. It seems tied to privacy in such a way that I have a hard time seeing it *not* ending up there. The bigger issue is what other work on privacy in the supreme court will happen between now and then? The current sodomy law case seems bound to set some precedence on how the court views privacy.
If you had a memory stick or the like to buffer data then I'm not sure the HD would need to be accessed as much either. Just burst it down every now and then.
You are right about laptop drives. They are fragile. But most people I know with iPods handle them roughly, jog with them, drop them, and so forth with no real problem.
Now you can say that this is because they likely weren't writing when dropped. True. But I think that HDs are becoming more reliable and that if you have a removable HD, this is less of an issue. (i.e. bad HD? Just swap it) See my discussion down a few posts for a few other ideas. I rather like the idea of storage being USB2 or Firewire HDs.
Part of the problem is, I suspect, space. A 40 Gig HD isn't big enough if you tape a lot. That's why I suspect they went with the memory cards. It allows them to be removed ala tape. With a fixed laptop harddrive you need to download the data fairly regularly.
The iPod solution is really your solution. You have a laptop or computer nearby you download to. Alternatively the hard drives are removable. Right now that's not really economical. But if you have a firewire800 port you could realistically just plug in hard drives. In a sense you have a small hard drive for software and buffering on the camera and then a removable firewire hard drive for everything else.
To use the data you just carry it over to your PC and plug it in. (Probably want dual USB2 and Firewire for this, since Firewire hasn't been embraced as much in the PC world)
This scenario offers a lot over traditional methods. It recognizes the place of PCs and provides a removable storage solution usable on *all* PCs.
I don't quite understand why the hard drive is kludgy. The DV tapes for my camcorder are only slightly smaller than my iPod.
It would seem to me that a camcorder following the iPod model with a Firewire800 port would be fantastic. For one you could probably download your videos much more efficiently than present DV methods. (I hate fastforwarding in iMovie)
Perhaps the Avid solution was kludgy (although I saw no discussion of why in the link to it). But that likely was due to it using hardware from 5-6 years ago. Existing hard drives and communication ports seem to aliviate a lot of problems.
If there was an iPod equivalent to a camcorder I think that would be great. The "solid state" idea is a great one over tape. But it seems likely to be overly expensive and kludgy relative to a full hard drive.
I agree. A startup script with RSync is fairly easy to write. Even with a computer in "sleep" mode you could have a script with an icon on the dock.
To the person with all the data (most of us). By home directories I assume that they don't mean you have to share *all* your data. (i.e. mp3's)
I couldn't tell if it supports HDTV though. There are several HDTV feeds out now and several PCI HDTV capture/play cards. It seems like a nice intermediate step towards full HDTV. I get a multimedia computer which plays/records HDTV either to a monitor capable of the resolution or to a TV where some card downscales it.
After downloading episodes of 24, Alias, and Smallville which were in HDTV format I really am a believer in it. Fantastic looking, even on my 17" monitor.
Unfortunately the software with the PCI cards I've seen aren't that great and are Windows only. (Sadly none are yet available for my Mac)
Slashdot Mirror
There also is limited *good* hardware for the Mac. Yes there is EyeTV and I know some people love that. Personally I'm not sure I like it as much as a stand alone PVR. I came close to buying one but didn't.
This really is a place Apple could clean everyones clock with. Especially if they had a HDTV version.
As to the choice of BSD or GNU standard tools, that's a bit of a personal preference. However since Darwin is based on BSD (with a lot of FreeBSD of late) rather than Linux it shouldn't be surprising that it retains its tools. That is more in keeping with its BSD roots.
As I mentioned elsewhere if you are savvy enough to recognize the difference in the tools you ought to be savvy enough to build the GNU versions of the tools.
DarwinPorts
The easy answer to the question is that it is unauthorized access when they don't give a damn or can't do anything about it.
Of course I think Canadian do put the war of 1812 higher than it deserved. It wasn't until I moved from Canada that I started learning that the Americans did better in battles other than the battle of New Orleans. I'd been taught in Canada that was the only battle the Americans won - after the war was technically over. The reality was far more complex but is overlooked or unknown by most Canadians. Not that this is a bad thing, of course. The Plains of Abraham never were good for American troops during the war of 1812 or the earlier invasion during the American revolution.
Certainly the tar sands do require expensive processing to get even the oil out. But that is a slightly different situation from the more common oil wells that also dot Alberta. Further the tar sands, despite increasing technology, still require fairly high prices to be cost effective. But you made that point. I'd just say that oil that isn't cost effective to sell really isn't a oil supply.
I personally think that by the time the tar sands could compete with Saudi or Iraqi oil the US will have largely shifted to hydrogen for transportation and alternative energy for initial production (to refine the hydrogen).
I think the reason Albertans get upset is because there is less Provincial control and there is a constant appeasement of Quebec. (i.e. how many Prime Ministers have had ridings in Quebec or are French?)
I'd agree that Alberta often goes to extremes. There is a strong movement in the province that reminds me of radical Republicans in the US. (I've even met Albertans who feared the UN and "black helicopters.") There is a distinct difference in culture. I don't think this is the majority of Alberta anymore than I think the majority of Quebecois are "Francaphone above all else" radicals.
Still, I am fairly sympathetic to Albertan concerns. It does seem, especailly since Trudeau, that Canada has become more an more federalized without the checks and balances that offset the "will of the majority." So local people have less say at times. This allows some, such as Nova Scotia (my own original home) to really take advantage of the rest of the country. I can understand Alberta, with its different culture, getting upset at this. I can even understand Quebec getting upset. The difference is that Quebec is often given more autonomy than the other provinces seem to be.
In either case once the war with France was over the US knew it had to be careful. That lasted until after the civil war when some hawks suggested just finishing things by invading Canada. It was doubtful it would ever have happened, but that worry was one of the reasons Canada got partial independence in 1867.
The new iPods have the hardware to record and purportedly will have a microphone coming out in June.
I know someone will say they have 30 gig of tunes and want all of it all the time. This to me is simple geek nonsense. You can't listen to that much in a reasonable fashion. Further needing it all probably says more about poor software and hardware than anything else. (IMO)
I use my iPod in my car and at the gym and at work. (To drown out my co-worker's Rush Limbaugh at times) I honestly can't imagine *why* you need more than perhaps 20 gig. I honestly can't.
If you are using it as a portable hard drive then, OK. I can understand. But the reason I like the iPod is that while it functions as a small hard drive for a few files, it is primarily a *player*.
In theory this is faster that VPC or related emulators since a large number of calls are native. If you are familiar with it, this is similar to what happened with the 68k -> PPC transition. A lot of older 68k programs called MacOS APIs and most of those APIs were native PPC.
Big question, how hard would it be to recompile WineX for OSX? Yes I know you'd have to combine it with Bosche or more preferrably a JIT x86 -> PPC compiler. I'm just curious if WineX itself is written in C or if there is x86 assembly in there. Are there "big endian" issues?
I don't particularly like the Apple mice. Well, let me correct that. I *love* the mouse and think it one of the best, but demand a mouse with a second button and a scroll wheel.
Regarding the original article, if Apple came out with a mouse like their current optical but with an iPod like track wheel and second button then I'd be in heaven.
Does anyone know?
That the basic services are "faceless" I already knew. However many people run quite a bit in addition to those faceless applications.
Also do the remote administration tools (which I've never used, given the nature of my prior IT job) still implicitly require a GUI running natively? (Once again, sincere question - although clearly MS could work a way to avoid that)
Most particulary, even if you didn't *need* the GUI, why remove it? It doesn't hurt anything. I typically have XWindows on all Linux boxes I run, even if I almost always administer them via ssh. It is for that "just in case" and that sometimes webflow requires some software that uses X11. (Although I'm sure were I to look into it such software could be installed without it - but typically the hassle isn't worth it)
If I recall the last Slashdot discussion of small form computers for A/V systems, they were all powerful enough as MP-3 players but not really up to the task of being a general video player/recorder.
I expect this to get appealed to the supreme court as well. It seems tied to privacy in such a way that I have a hard time seeing it *not* ending up there. The bigger issue is what other work on privacy in the supreme court will happen between now and then? The current sodomy law case seems bound to set some precedence on how the court views privacy.
Even if the entire OS shipped with no GUI, how much of the software you want would work with it?
You are right about laptop drives. They are fragile. But most people I know with iPods handle them roughly, jog with them, drop them, and so forth with no real problem.
Now you can say that this is because they likely weren't writing when dropped. True. But I think that HDs are becoming more reliable and that if you have a removable HD, this is less of an issue. (i.e. bad HD? Just swap it) See my discussion down a few posts for a few other ideas. I rather like the idea of storage being USB2 or Firewire HDs.
The iPod solution is really your solution. You have a laptop or computer nearby you download to. Alternatively the hard drives are removable. Right now that's not really economical. But if you have a firewire800 port you could realistically just plug in hard drives. In a sense you have a small hard drive for software and buffering on the camera and then a removable firewire hard drive for everything else.
To use the data you just carry it over to your PC and plug it in. (Probably want dual USB2 and Firewire for this, since Firewire hasn't been embraced as much in the PC world)
This scenario offers a lot over traditional methods. It recognizes the place of PCs and provides a removable storage solution usable on *all* PCs.
It would seem to me that a camcorder following the iPod model with a Firewire800 port would be fantastic. For one you could probably download your videos much more efficiently than present DV methods. (I hate fastforwarding in iMovie)
Perhaps the Avid solution was kludgy (although I saw no discussion of why in the link to it). But that likely was due to it using hardware from 5-6 years ago. Existing hard drives and communication ports seem to aliviate a lot of problems.
If there was an iPod equivalent to a camcorder I think that would be great. The "solid state" idea is a great one over tape. But it seems likely to be overly expensive and kludgy relative to a full hard drive.
I agree. A startup script with RSync is fairly easy to write. Even with a computer in "sleep" mode you could have a script with an icon on the dock. To the person with all the data (most of us). By home directories I assume that they don't mean you have to share *all* your data. (i.e. mp3's)
The "polite" explanation
The background explanation.
HDTV PCI Cards
After downloading episodes of 24, Alias, and Smallville which were in HDTV format I really am a believer in it. Fantastic looking, even on my 17" monitor.
Unfortunately the software with the PCI cards I've seen aren't that great and are Windows only. (Sadly none are yet available for my Mac)