No, you're missing the point. The software is "open", but that doesn't mean that you'll be allowed to do anything with it. Just because its Linux doesn't mean that you're going to have shell access or be able to get at the root of the filesystem to do or change anything. Producers of these linux phones aren't going to let you mess around with it, so they're going to prevent you from doing anything "cool".
It's gonna bring the price down, no question. Lots of proprietary software in those little handheld phones.
I don't see a price savings at all. In fact, at least initially, these phones will (and do) cost more than a "normal" phone. The primary reason is that it just takes bigger hardware (faster processors, more memory, etc.) to run linux and to run it well. Current phones with their simple user interfaces and rudimentary operating systems don't need a lot of horsepower.
And yes, there is quite a bit of proprietary software running around in cellphones, but large parts of the software have been around for years and are very stable. Of course, as everyone who works in a consumer electronics business knows, software is free (that is, its not always necessarily figured well into the "cost" of a product).
Wonder if he can do the opposite with my...uhum...private parts?
Interesting idea... So, the article claims that it takes 100 kiloamps of current to shrink a coin.
So, let's just assume that the process is reversible and by finding a way to enlarge a small coin, you would actually be generating large amounts of current, okay?
Now, let's throw your genitals into the mix. We'll take your small, unused organ and hook it up to the power grid. Then, we'll order some penis enlargement pills and feed them to you in mass quantities. Step 3: profit from selling the energy back to the power company!
I think that Slashdot should put up some Freenet mirrors
Yes, that's a fantasic idea. Then, it would take me all weekend to finally have those pictures of shrunken coins appear in my browser. Thank God for Freenet!
As far as I can tell (since I've never been), there is only
one reason to go to Cambodia, and let me tell
you, it has nothing to do with checking your email
while you're spending time in
Svay Pak...
This is also my biggest gripe about GnuCash. I tried building it a year or more ago (probably a few years ago, actually), and there were just SO many dependencies that it became a huge cluster to try to get working.
Now, don't get me wrong, I like building stuff from source as much as the next Slashdotter, but these guys just use way too many external libraries.
There current
"Software Requirements" page lists these dependencies (some or all of which may be required):
Gtk+, Gnome, Glade -- I have no problem with these as they're pretty much standard issue now
Guile -- This is a complete bitch to build and install, in my experience. I understand the need for scripting in an application like this, but why not pick a good language like Perl:)
G-wrap, slib -- some more Scheme stuff that just seems like crap they needed because they were too lazy to write some of their own code
GtkHTML -- do you really need a HTML parser in an accounting program? Why not just use Mozilla to display your HTML?
libghttp -- same thing here. HTTP isn't THAT complicated, especially for what they're using it for. Write it yourself and save us a download.
Gnome XML -- No one NEEDS to save their accounting data in some XML file format? What's wrong with the standard Quicken format that everyone is used to or even a nice, simple text file that I can munge with vi?
Okay, I'm done complaining now.
I've actually been using Moneydance for the last few months to manage my finances. I know that it is Satan's accounting program, being written in Java and all, but you have to admit that its quite easy to download and install, especially if all you're interested in is balancing your checkbook a couple of times a year.
"We felt that because of bandwidth issues and, more importantly, the amount of information provided on the fourth disc, it would be redundant to include a director's commentary track on the title discs," Ward said.
Personally, I couldn't care less about the stupid director's commentary. I would much rather see them spend their bandwidth on less-compressed video and audio streams.
You must work for an interesting place. When my boss tells me, "We need a program that does foo." and I write said program, I am legally obligated to NOT release the source code for it. It doesn't matter that I would release it just to prevent other people from having to reinvent the wheel. The code that I write at work is owned by the company that I work for and needs to stay at work.
I work for a large American company that, among other things, designs mobile phones. I write a lot of tools that are specific to this line of work and are really only useful to help me and my coworkers get our jobs done faster. If I were to fill out the right set of paperwork, I would probably be able to release this code to the world, but no one would care.
Of course, there is also the code that I write that goes into the mobile phones that I work on. There is no set of paperwork that I could file that would let the company say that I could release this code, but yet, I'm sure that there are more than a few people that would be interested in seeing it.
In college, we discovered a security hole in
some set-uid script that the idiot admins were
using. The "exploit" that was used to obtain
root access on the machine was a script we called
pts, which stood for "pack the spew."
Don't ask me why we called it this -- I have no
idea.
The funny thing was that we didn't use our power
for evil. All we ever did was kill runaway processes, fix unsecure directory permissions
(e.g., they had/usr/spool/mail at 0777), and
shit like that.
Wasn't overmining of the moon the reason that it was
destroyed in that horrible movie,
The
Time Machine? We had better be careful if we want to keep that thing around.
Then again, the
"moon" might not even be mine worthy...
Well, maybe not, but it would be cool. Just hook
up your (satellite/cable/antenna) directly to a
really fast A/D converter and use GNU Radio tools
to demodulate/decode/decrypt as many channels of
TV as you want and save it right to your disk. Unfortunately, this would require
an obscenely fast A/D converter and more
processing power than you would want to imagine
(hmm... I wonder if a Beowulf cluster...).
Yeah, this seems pretty consistent. This is basically why I still have to carry around this honking huge 2-way pager -- SMS just isn't reliable enough. On top of this, if your SMS message does actually reach its destination there can sometimes be quite a delay. The 2-way paging service delivers messages almost immediately. Oh yeah, and typing text on a phone keypad sucks...
Yahoo! gathers these same search statistics
on a weekly basis. You can check it out
here. They've
also compiled the total 2002 results
here.
Of course, their results aren't really much
different from everyone elses.
You make it sound like surfing with the browswer
on your phone is a fun activity. I don't know about
you, but I cringe every time I fire that thing up.
Its slow as hell, and there's no good pr0n! The
only thing that I've found it useful for is stock
quotes, weather info, and movie listings -- and
that stuff only takes seconds to look up. Its
worthless for serious surfing.
Its funny that this was posted now. I'm a software engineer for Motorola. We just had "Motocoder" day this week. They had a bunch of presentations about how "the customer" can develop BREW and J2ME apps for our phones.
I didn't go because I hate Java and I'm not really a fan of the T720 either. I'd rather that you went out and bought my product -- a
C33x from Cingular or T-Mobile. It doesn't have J2ME yet, though. But, that's one of the reasons it isn't
so expensive...
Anyway, if you were interested, you could check
out Motorola's official
information about developing apps.
Slashdot Mirror
You went to far on that one... you had me at "pr0n".
No, you're missing the point. The software is "open", but that doesn't mean that you'll be allowed to do anything with it. Just because its Linux doesn't mean that you're going to have shell access or be able to get at the root of the filesystem to do or change anything. Producers of these linux phones aren't going to let you mess around with it, so they're going to prevent you from doing anything "cool".
I don't see a price savings at all. In fact, at least initially, these phones will (and do) cost more than a "normal" phone. The primary reason is that it just takes bigger hardware (faster processors, more memory, etc.) to run linux and to run it well. Current phones with their simple user interfaces and rudimentary operating systems don't need a lot of horsepower.
And yes, there is quite a bit of proprietary software running around in cellphones, but large parts of the software have been around for years and are very stable. Of course, as everyone who works in a consumer electronics business knows, software is free (that is, its not always necessarily figured well into the "cost" of a product).
Interesting idea... So, the article claims that it takes 100 kiloamps of current to shrink a coin. So, let's just assume that the process is reversible and by finding a way to enlarge a small coin, you would actually be generating large amounts of current, okay?
Now, let's throw your genitals into the mix. We'll take your small, unused organ and hook it up to the power grid. Then, we'll order some penis enlargement pills and feed them to you in mass quantities. Step 3: profit from selling the energy back to the power company!
Yes, that's a fantasic idea. Then, it would take me all weekend to finally have those pictures of shrunken coins appear in my browser. Thank God for Freenet!
Let's all just pray that DeBeers isn't getting any ideas about our own favorite star after reading this article.
They don't call them SUPs for nothing, you know... That's "Sport Utility Penis".
As far as I can tell (since I've never been), there is only one reason to go to Cambodia, and let me tell you, it has nothing to do with checking your email while you're spending time in Svay Pak...
I just tried running the software on a random sampling of Slashdot posts. Guess what? Everyone will be getting F's...
Now, don't get me wrong, I like building stuff from source as much as the next Slashdotter, but these guys just use way too many external libraries.
There current "Software Requirements" page lists these dependencies (some or all of which may be required):
- Gtk+, Gnome, Glade -- I have no problem with these as they're pretty much standard issue now
- Guile -- This is a complete bitch to build and install, in my experience. I understand the need for scripting in an application like this, but why not pick a good language like Perl
:)
- G-wrap, slib -- some more Scheme stuff that just seems like crap they needed because they were too lazy to write some of their own code
- GtkHTML -- do you really need a HTML parser in an accounting program? Why not just use Mozilla to display your HTML?
- libghttp -- same thing here. HTTP isn't THAT complicated, especially for what they're using it for. Write it yourself and save us a download.
- Gnome XML -- No one NEEDS to save their accounting data in some XML file format? What's wrong with the standard Quicken format that everyone is used to or even a nice, simple text file that I can munge with vi?
Okay, I'm done complaining now.I've actually been using Moneydance for the last few months to manage my finances. I know that it is Satan's accounting program, being written in Java and all, but you have to admit that its quite easy to download and install, especially if all you're interested in is balancing your checkbook a couple of times a year.
Personally, I couldn't care less about the stupid director's commentary. I would much rather see them spend their bandwidth on less-compressed video and audio streams.
I work for a large American company that, among other things, designs mobile phones. I write a lot of tools that are specific to this line of work and are really only useful to help me and my coworkers get our jobs done faster. If I were to fill out the right set of paperwork, I would probably be able to release this code to the world, but no one would care.
Of course, there is also the code that I write that goes into the mobile phones that I work on. There is no set of paperwork that I could file that would let the company say that I could release this code, but yet, I'm sure that there are more than a few people that would be interested in seeing it.
I don't know about you, I'm not planning on knocking up who ever this is using Perl... and its probably not going to take me 20 minutes, either!
Don't ask me why we called it this -- I have no idea.
The funny thing was that we didn't use our power for evil. All we ever did was kill runaway processes, fix unsecure directory permissions (e.g., they had /usr/spool/mail at 0777), and
shit like that.
Then again, the "moon" might not even be mine worthy...
Well, maybe not, but it would be cool. Just hook up your (satellite/cable/antenna) directly to a really fast A/D converter and use GNU Radio tools to demodulate/decode/decrypt as many channels of TV as you want and save it right to your disk. Unfortunately, this would require an obscenely fast A/D converter and more processing power than you would want to imagine (hmm... I wonder if a Beowulf cluster...).
For the uninitiated, read about GNU Radio here.
Yeah, this seems pretty consistent. This is basically why I still have to carry around this honking huge 2-way pager -- SMS just isn't reliable enough. On top of this, if your SMS message does actually reach its destination there can sometimes be quite a delay. The 2-way paging service delivers messages almost immediately. Oh yeah, and typing text on a phone keypad sucks...
Yahoo! gathers these same search statistics on a weekly basis. You can check it out here. They've also compiled the total 2002 results here. Of course, their results aren't really much different from everyone elses.
browse the web, as long as you want!
You make it sound like surfing with the browswer on your phone is a fun activity. I don't know about you, but I cringe every time I fire that thing up. Its slow as hell, and there's no good pr0n! The only thing that I've found it useful for is stock quotes, weather info, and movie listings -- and that stuff only takes seconds to look up. Its worthless for serious surfing.
Its funny that this was posted now. I'm a software engineer for Motorola. We just had "Motocoder" day this week. They had a bunch of presentations about how "the customer" can develop BREW and J2ME apps for our phones.
I didn't go because I hate Java and I'm not really a fan of the T720 either. I'd rather that you went out and bought my product -- a C33x from Cingular or T-Mobile. It doesn't have J2ME yet, though. But, that's one of the reasons it isn't so expensive...
Anyway, if you were interested, you could check out Motorola's official information about developing apps.