I made the same thing but better in 2001, but MUCH COOLER THAN THIS. It was a Lego Robotics "Dual-Diode Stairwalker", as I named it. It had 4 wheels, not six, about the same size as those in the mpeg. However, the school stair steps were twice as tall as that, so the middle of it would get stuck against the step half-way up. As well, going down the stairs was a very messy endeavor (remember, it was made of all Legos.) Yet, on those stairs in the video, it would have worked just fine.
However, the cool thing was this: The robot (monster-truck-like vehicle) had a light sensor in the front, and one in the back. I programmed it so that if you shone a flashlight on the back, it moved forward (i.e. 'pushing' it with the light). If you shone a flashlight on the forward of the truck, it went toward you (i.e. 'pulling' it with the light.) Much cooler than using wired or wireless radio. Oh, and when there was no light shining at either end, it would spin in place, about 1 rotation per 2 seconds. The light sensors were at 45 degrees so you could point the light at them standing up. Simply walk behind and shine the light at it, and it will move forward in a straight line. If you want it to turn to the left, either walk infront of it (causing it to lose the light and start spinning) and then when you're in position point the light at it as the front of it is coming into view and it will come toward you, thus following you. Or, you can push it along by walking to the spot *behind* where you want it to go, wait a second for the back to face you, and shine the light. It will notice and start moving away from you. That was pretty fun. It was great for the 10 minutes before I had to take it all apart, finally getting that (a final for a class) to work, to put the pieces of away. But, before that, after the teacher saw it, he had me 'drive' my lego dual-diode thing to the superintendent's office and show it around for 5 minutes. Heck, it was their money they were funding the class with. Man, I was the man.
"This is a great alternitive to expensive gaming routers on the market today."
Yes, this is exactly what the gaming world has been waiting for. The funny thing is that when somebody tries to create a product that is designed for USERS, they complain. However, when you design something so obscure out of your own whim that might never be used by anybody else, that is considered cool. Discuss.:)
Dude. Inkscape is the best piece of open source software I have ever seen. It is better than Photoshop for web site graphics. I followed your tutorials and created my commercial web site with it. 90% of the people commenting on it have not even used it. Inkscape is the best O.S. program and designed the way it should be--from the user perspective.
It is better than Firefox, Linux, and Thunderbird. Why? Because those are clones of software that already exist, so it's a waste of time to make those. No creativity there. As well, there's nothing to be creative about those software. However, with Inkscape, it doesn't try to clone anything. It simply tries to allow people free expression of their creativity, in the best graphics format ever, that you can s tretch and resize. Heck, the future Microsoft Vista will have these same types of graphics, and I bet Internet Explorer will go the same away again. What will firefox use to draw these things? That's right, they will probably integrate inkscape into it. What about a pdf replacement? That's right, inkscape can do that, too.
As of September 2004, more than 50% of US internet users have broadband (including DSL) at home. Same with Windows XP, and the resolution of 1024x768 and above. All three are now the most common things, thanks to 2004!
I don't think it's true to say that IBM "can get equally good work from Indian programmers." I don't think lack of quality American employees is what has caused them to switch, at all.[1] This is the part that is responsible: "for a third of the cost."
In fact, economically, it is quite viable for any company to at least test the waters with offshoring. Every single company. The simple reason is that if it doesn't work out, they can always rehire back in the United States. So, for the companies who offshore, it's a win-win. That's what you call business logic.
Businesses know that there is a good chance the Indian workers will actually be much worse than the United States workers. However, they know that at 1/3rd the cost, they are willing to take their chances with it for a year, just in case they are actually able to get 14,000 good employees.
[1] Similarly, when H1B's were coming to the US, the reason again was solely for the cost savings--not because there weren't equally good employees available in the United States.
If I was a troll I wouldn't have 5 mod points every week. You have to use your brain when reading what I say. I know the kinds of stuff I could post that would give me +5 insightful, or +5 funny. However, I choose to post my true feelings. When some douche mods it offtopic, it doesn't make me a troll.
You've purchased a bunch of items that are being sent all over the place after you press the order button.
For each destination: if the items for that destination are available, then you ship them out.
For the items not available for shipment right away, you put them on hold until all the items that you are waiting for are available, and this is your shipment #2.
That is the explanation of the patent quoted above.
30 cents each? Why not just give them out for free? I'm sure that will work. The customers will appreciate the generocity and respect the things for all the great benefits like scanning each advertisement in each magazine you read each week.
The problem with MD5 is that it is possible that two files will have the same MD5, but highly unlikely. Instead of worrying about this, we should worry about our kids.
"That doesn't mean overall Linux use is slowing. The survey only shows that a smaller number of companies not using Linux plan to try the software than in previous surveys. Most analysts expect Linux use to grow at the companies that have already rolled it out -- and do so at a healthy rate. And analysts say Linux is picking up steam outside North America, which the Cowen survey doesn't cover."
Even a negative report about Linux instantly becomes a positive one on Slashdot.:)
The biggest limiting factor of Linux growth in the workplace is actually simple. After your computer has been immobolized by 188 pieces of spyware (by SpyBot's count), the extra Linux partition confuses the system restore CDs from Dell and Compaq that you try to boot with.
Google won by having a simple interface, growing at the right pace (technological backend), and a search engine completely different than what the search engine optimizing people were used to. They were used to meta-tag optimizing, which worked on all of the big portals in the late 90's. Google tried a simple method of checking how many links a site had. That's all they did, and got investors, even a Yahoo! owner.
In 2005, the search engine optimization business must be at its peak. Not only that, but they all focus on Google--not on a variety of sites like they had to before (Yahoo!, AltaVista, etc.) This causes a lot of garbage to appear in search results. It doesn't happen on purpose, people work hard to insert garbage into Google (like they did into Yahoo! and AV.)
What Yahoo! and AV has to do is invent a NEW algorithm that works that is completely different than how Google does it (Instead of trying to match what Google is doing.) Doing the opposite is how Google beat Yahoo search. See, now that all optimization techniques are targeted at Google's algorithms and tendencies, any big search engine that comes up with a different algorithm with good results, will be able to sustain those good results for at least a year. That's because SEO people will focus on Google since that's where all the knowledge and investment in gaining that knowledge has been. Until a year later, when a press release comes out that Z search has 60% marketshare and Google 20%, people will not even realize how big Z is.
That is how simple it is. Search is not about finding a good way to categorize web sites and retrieve them to a query. Search is about battling search engine optimizers that will come out when you are big and popular.
People would not mind imprecise results or viewing the second page of results, if all of them were relevant, non-garbage pages. But, once a popular site turns to crap, and people hear of an alternative, they will dump Google at an instant. Yet, as Google will lose visitors, the numbers of people targetting them with SEO (search engine optimization) will increase, since nobody will realize Google is losing visitors for a long time after Google starts losing visitors. This will cause a non-ending spiral of Google getting more crap in the next year, and less current users using it.
In 1 year, a search engine could have the majority of the users using it, while the SEO people could continue to optimize for Google.
When they realize another search engine is being used more, people will drop their AdWords accounts instantly. The reason being is that AdWords, according to studies, are driven by SEO experts, and not business people. It turns out that business people do not have the experience in creating good AdWords ads and keywords, and 60% or something have failed many times to get any results, and have given up. Therefore, the AdWords market is driven by Search Engine Marketers, and once they realize another search engine has more market share, they will switch to it, and their clients will follow, drying up AdWords income for Google as well.
The only realistic product Google has is the stuff they sell to companies, which I don't think they are even being challenged in by Yahoo! and MSN.
I think the value of Google is their business of selling search hardware to companies, since that is what they have made money doing in the beginning, and since it probably works very well because the valid results don't have to compete with garbage results.
In conclusion, creating spin offs or clones of Google that use the same technology will be affected by all the tips and tricks that SEO users use against Google. On the other hand, creating a search engine that works on completely different principles could mean that good search results would be sustainable for at least a year, not affected by tricks against Google that happen to affect this search engine, before the SEM's figure anything out.
I think the parent of your post meant that with a design document, you would actually know what your goal is, and when you have completed it. Otherwise, without such a document, you keep wading in software adding feature after feature just because it's open source and there is no goal set.
How do I boot Windows 98 into Safe Mode? I have LILO bootloader loading and it has 3 options - Linux, failsafe, and Windows. If I try to press the F8 key to get Windows to safe mode, it doesn't work. What is the easiest way to get Windows to boot into safe mode if I am using LILO that came with Mandrake Linux?
(I don't know any better place to ask this question than fellow slashdot members)
$60 a year for music? I bet that this will encourage the prices of WMA players to drop, and hackers cracking the WMA format. By June 2005, we will have unlimited mp3's for $60 a year. Maybe somebody will create a file sharing network that will decrease the price even further.
Every single business would go for the $80,000 propriety package. Firstly, businesses buy from other businesses, not from college students programming in their spare time, none of who want to have responsibility and their ass on the line. Secondly, no business cares that 12 people 'could' pool their resources together a year from now. They care about what WILL happen, and put that into a license and buy from a company whose whole job it is to support the product. Thirdly, businesses expect tech support and future existence. Fourth, a company with employees sure shows more dedication to the product than a sourceforge archive. Finally, no business does things for the lower cost, they do things for the best impact for the business at that time. I think you're confusing capitalism, with the the idea that govenment agencies are required to take the contractor with the lowest bid. Businesses do not operate on such a stupid premise.
Once again, an article just for the sake of filling up space.
He suggests this hasn't been the case for many years and goes on to claim that of the top 25 core developers, more than 90% of them are fully employed with some of the largest technology companies in the world.
Yes, it makes the article more interesting to read. But it doesn't prove nor should be used to draw any conclusions. In other news, 90% of the top 25 swimmers, are very good and experienced swimmers. Swimming is not a hobby.
Number one, those people are already employed full-time, so they ARE doing a hobby.
Number two, if the top 25 people who contribute are doing a hobby part-time, and they're the top 25 people, then what does that say for the rest of the contributors to Linux? There are probably thousands of them.
This seems to actually DEFINE that Linux is coded by hobbyists. I don't know where they think this proves otherwise (that it's a MYTH.)
Dumping Microsoft will mean poor students in poor districts will not have access to computers with Microsoft Windows and Word, while students in rich districts will have access to both Windows and Linux products. There is nothing wrong with Microsoft's products for educational use (like creating a document and printing it.) The answer is to write a simple federal law that allows educational institutions to take over IP using emminent domain. Kind of like towns can already do with this with somebody's land to build a high school. Kind of like a trademark that is overused (like escalator), becoming a common household word and losing its registration. Or, a patent expiring after X number of years. Why not introduce a law that makes all software free to all educational institutions? Then people could move past the bickering over trying to get Linux popular, and just use Windows. And, this would make Microsoft look like it's actually HELPING society, because new features developed in Office for business and personal users would be available instantly for free to the educational users. This way, real research could be done.
The solution is not to replace Microsoft, which would set us back some time. The solution is to force all software companies to work with society, and force them to give free licenses to universities. In return, the companies would get a tax writeoff. If you think this is ridiculous, this is ALREADY HAPPENING! College students pirate popular programs, and companies write off the lost sales as if they actually truly lost a sale (as if every pirate would have bought their program if it wasn't available for free.)
That's lame.... If you don't care about them one way or the other, then why spend nights patrolling rooftops of all the buildings, and not allow them to show their 'stupidity' when they try? That's what I don't understand.
Slashdot Mirror
I still fail to see how this story relates to Google. Slashdot must be slipping. :)
I made the same thing but better in 2001, but MUCH COOLER THAN THIS. It was a Lego Robotics "Dual-Diode Stairwalker", as I named it. It had 4 wheels, not six, about the same size as those in the mpeg. However, the school stair steps were twice as tall as that, so the middle of it would get stuck against the step half-way up. As well, going down the stairs was a very messy endeavor (remember, it was made of all Legos.) Yet, on those stairs in the video, it would have worked just fine.
However, the cool thing was this: The robot (monster-truck-like vehicle) had a light sensor in the front, and one in the back. I programmed it so that if you shone a flashlight on the back, it moved forward (i.e. 'pushing' it with the light). If you shone a flashlight on the forward of the truck, it went toward you (i.e. 'pulling' it with the light.) Much cooler than using wired or wireless radio. Oh, and when there was no light shining at either end, it would spin in place, about 1 rotation per 2 seconds. The light sensors were at 45 degrees so you could point the light at them standing up. Simply walk behind and shine the light at it, and it will move forward in a straight line. If you want it to turn to the left, either walk infront of it (causing it to lose the light and start spinning) and then when you're in position point the light at it as the front of it is coming into view and it will come toward you, thus following you. Or, you can push it along by walking to the spot *behind* where you want it to go, wait a second for the back to face you, and shine the light. It will notice and start moving away from you. That was pretty fun. It was great for the 10 minutes before I had to take it all apart, finally getting that (a final for a class) to work, to put the pieces of away. But, before that, after the teacher saw it, he had me 'drive' my lego dual-diode thing to the superintendent's office and show it around for 5 minutes. Heck, it was their money they were funding the class with. Man, I was the man.
"This is a great alternitive to expensive gaming routers on the market today."
:)
Yes, this is exactly what the gaming world has been waiting for. The funny thing is that when somebody tries to create a product that is designed for USERS, they complain. However, when you design something so obscure out of your own whim that might never be used by anybody else, that is considered cool. Discuss.
Now, get back to work, Michael! Yes, YOU!
Dude. Inkscape is the best piece of open source software I have ever seen. It is better than Photoshop for web site graphics. I followed your tutorials and created my commercial web site with it. 90% of the people commenting on it have not even used it. Inkscape is the best O.S. program and designed the way it should be--from the user perspective.
It is better than Firefox, Linux, and Thunderbird. Why? Because those are clones of software that already exist, so it's a waste of time to make those. No creativity there. As well, there's nothing to be creative about those software. However, with Inkscape, it doesn't try to clone anything. It simply tries to allow people free expression of their creativity, in the best graphics format ever, that you can s tretch and resize. Heck, the future Microsoft Vista will have these same types of graphics, and I bet Internet Explorer will go the same away again. What will firefox use to draw these things? That's right, they will probably integrate inkscape into it. What about a pdf replacement? That's right, inkscape can do that, too.
As of September 2004, more than 50% of US internet users have broadband (including DSL) at home. Same with Windows XP, and the resolution of 1024x768 and above. All three are now the most common things, thanks to 2004!
I don't think it's true to say that IBM "can get equally good work from Indian programmers." I don't think lack of quality American employees is what has caused them to switch, at all.[1] This is the part that is responsible: "for a third of the cost."
In fact, economically, it is quite viable for any company to at least test the waters with offshoring. Every single company. The simple reason is that if it doesn't work out, they can always rehire back in the United States. So, for the companies who offshore, it's a win-win. That's what you call business logic.
Businesses know that there is a good chance the Indian workers will actually be much worse than the United States workers. However, they know that at 1/3rd the cost, they are willing to take their chances with it for a year, just in case they are actually able to get 14,000 good employees.
[1] Similarly, when H1B's were coming to the US, the reason again was solely for the cost savings--not because there weren't equally good employees available in the United States.
If I was a troll I wouldn't have 5 mod points every week. You have to use your brain when reading what I say. I know the kinds of stuff I could post that would give me +5 insightful, or +5 funny. However, I choose to post my true feelings. When some douche mods it offtopic, it doesn't make me a troll.
You've purchased a bunch of items that are being sent all over the place after you press the order button.
For each destination: if the items for that destination are available, then you ship them out.
For the items not available for shipment right away, you put them on hold until all the items that you are waiting for are available, and this is your shipment #2.
That is the explanation of the patent quoted above.
30 cents each? Why not just give them out for free? I'm sure that will work. The customers will appreciate the generocity and respect the things for all the great benefits like scanning each advertisement in each magazine you read each week.
The problem with MD5 is that it is possible that two files will have the same MD5, but highly unlikely. Instead of worrying about this, we should worry about our kids.
This should be modded up +5. The Google duo also wanted Google to sponsor space launches back in 2000, and their CEO had to talk them out of it.
"That doesn't mean overall Linux use is slowing. The survey only shows that a smaller number of companies not using Linux plan to try the software than in previous surveys. Most analysts expect Linux use to grow at the companies that have already rolled it out -- and do so at a healthy rate. And analysts say Linux is picking up steam outside North America, which the Cowen survey doesn't cover."
:)
Even a negative report about Linux instantly becomes a positive one on Slashdot.
The biggest limiting factor of Linux growth in the workplace is actually simple. After your computer has been immobolized by 188 pieces of spyware (by SpyBot's count), the extra Linux partition confuses the system restore CDs from Dell and Compaq that you try to boot with.
Porting JFS to Linux had zero commercial potential in itself, but has not only made IBM a recognized name,
/. is a riot! :)
This is where I stopped reading.
Google won by having a simple interface, growing at the right pace (technological backend), and a search engine completely different than what the search engine optimizing people were used to. They were used to meta-tag optimizing, which worked on all of the big portals in the late 90's. Google tried a simple method of checking how many links a site had. That's all they did, and got investors, even a Yahoo! owner.
In 2005, the search engine optimization business must be at its peak. Not only that, but they all focus on Google--not on a variety of sites like they had to before (Yahoo!, AltaVista, etc.) This causes a lot of garbage to appear in search results. It doesn't happen on purpose, people work hard to insert garbage into Google (like they did into Yahoo! and AV.)
What Yahoo! and AV has to do is invent a NEW algorithm that works that is completely different than how Google does it (Instead of trying to match what Google is doing.) Doing the opposite is how Google beat Yahoo search. See, now that all optimization techniques are targeted at Google's algorithms and tendencies, any big search engine that comes up with a different algorithm with good results, will be able to sustain those good results for at least a year. That's because SEO people will focus on Google since that's where all the knowledge and investment in gaining that knowledge has been. Until a year later, when a press release comes out that Z search has 60% marketshare and Google 20%, people will not even realize how big Z is.
That is how simple it is. Search is not about finding a good way to categorize web sites and retrieve them to a query. Search is about battling search engine optimizers that will come out when you are big and popular.
People would not mind imprecise results or viewing the second page of results, if all of them were relevant, non-garbage pages. But, once a popular site turns to crap, and people hear of an alternative, they will dump Google at an instant. Yet, as Google will lose visitors, the numbers of people targetting them with SEO (search engine optimization) will increase, since nobody will realize Google is losing visitors for a long time after Google starts losing visitors. This will cause a non-ending spiral of Google getting more crap in the next year, and less current users using it.
In 1 year, a search engine could have the majority of the users using it, while the SEO people could continue to optimize for Google.
When they realize another search engine is being used more, people will drop their AdWords accounts instantly. The reason being is that AdWords, according to studies, are driven by SEO experts, and not business people. It turns out that business people do not have the experience in creating good AdWords ads and keywords, and 60% or something have failed many times to get any results, and have given up. Therefore, the AdWords market is driven by Search Engine Marketers, and once they realize another search engine has more market share, they will switch to it, and their clients will follow, drying up AdWords income for Google as well.
The only realistic product Google has is the stuff they sell to companies, which I don't think they are even being challenged in by Yahoo! and MSN.
I think the value of Google is their business of selling search hardware to companies, since that is what they have made money doing in the beginning, and since it probably works very well because the valid results don't have to compete with garbage results.
In conclusion, creating spin offs or clones of Google that use the same technology will be affected by all the tips and tricks that SEO users use against Google. On the other hand, creating a search engine that works on completely different principles could mean that good search results would be sustainable for at least a year, not affected by tricks against Google that happen to affect this search engine, before the SEM's figure anything out.
NOT if I hold on to a copy of WSTFP_LE and Putty for 50 years, it won't!
I think the parent of your post meant that with a design document, you would actually know what your goal is, and when you have completed it. Otherwise, without such a document, you keep wading in software adding feature after feature just because it's open source and there is no goal set.
I'll try it right now. So instead of enter, I press F8?
How do I boot Windows 98 into Safe Mode? I have LILO bootloader loading and it has 3 options - Linux, failsafe, and Windows. If I try to press the F8 key to get Windows to safe mode, it doesn't work. What is the easiest way to get Windows to boot into safe mode if I am using LILO that came with Mandrake Linux?
(I don't know any better place to ask this question than fellow slashdot members)
Thanks!
Also known as insider marketing ;)
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-FDuiCSg4eqinB8z.GGJ 7TmAz?p=89
$60 a year for music? I bet that this will encourage the prices of WMA players to drop, and hackers cracking the WMA format. By June 2005, we will have unlimited mp3's for $60 a year. Maybe somebody will create a file sharing network that will decrease the price even further.
Every single business would go for the $80,000 propriety package. Firstly, businesses buy from other businesses, not from college students programming in their spare time, none of who want to have responsibility and their ass on the line. Secondly, no business cares that 12 people 'could' pool their resources together a year from now. They care about what WILL happen, and put that into a license and buy from a company whose whole job it is to support the product. Thirdly, businesses expect tech support and future existence. Fourth, a company with employees sure shows more dedication to the product than a sourceforge archive. Finally, no business does things for the lower cost, they do things for the best impact for the business at that time. I think you're confusing capitalism, with the the idea that govenment agencies are required to take the contractor with the lowest bid. Businesses do not operate on such a stupid premise.
Once again, an article just for the sake of filling up space.
He suggests this hasn't been the case for many years and goes on to claim that of the top 25 core developers, more than 90% of them are fully employed with some of the largest technology companies in the world.
Yes, it makes the article more interesting to read. But it doesn't prove nor should be used to draw any conclusions. In other news, 90% of the top 25 swimmers, are very good and experienced swimmers. Swimming is not a hobby.
Number one, those people are already employed full-time, so they ARE doing a hobby.
Number two, if the top 25 people who contribute are doing a hobby part-time, and they're the top 25 people, then what does that say for the rest of the contributors to Linux? There are probably thousands of them.
This seems to actually DEFINE that Linux is coded by hobbyists. I don't know where they think this proves otherwise (that it's a MYTH.)
Dumping Microsoft will mean poor students in poor districts will not have access to computers with Microsoft Windows and Word, while students in rich districts will have access to both Windows and Linux products. There is nothing wrong with Microsoft's products for educational use (like creating a document and printing it.) The answer is to write a simple federal law that allows educational institutions to take over IP using emminent domain. Kind of like towns can already do with this with somebody's land to build a high school. Kind of like a trademark that is overused (like escalator), becoming a common household word and losing its registration. Or, a patent expiring after X number of years. Why not introduce a law that makes all software free to all educational institutions? Then people could move past the bickering over trying to get Linux popular, and just use Windows. And, this would make Microsoft look like it's actually HELPING society, because new features developed in Office for business and personal users would be available instantly for free to the educational users. This way, real research could be done.
The solution is not to replace Microsoft, which would set us back some time. The solution is to force all software companies to work with society, and force them to give free licenses to universities. In return, the companies would get a tax writeoff. If you think this is ridiculous, this is ALREADY HAPPENING! College students pirate popular programs, and companies write off the lost sales as if they actually truly lost a sale (as if every pirate would have bought their program if it wasn't available for free.)
That's lame.... If you don't care about them one way or the other, then why spend nights patrolling rooftops of all the buildings, and not allow them to show their 'stupidity' when they try? That's what I don't understand.