What about the CareFree re-entry system? I am unaware of any spacecraft that has used this re-entry system in the past, NASA or otherwise. I thought it was qutie innovative.
I've also had a Toshiba E805 for nearly a year and love it. Wish it had Bluetooth like the IPAQ but the new E830 does. Toshiba doesn't seem to want to sell this in the US though and has made a statement to that effect publicly. I think this is a big mistake, as it is nearly the same as a E805 with a faster CPU and BT built in, new Intel graphics chip, and few other changes. I suspect there is some nasty stuff going on between M$, HP and Toshiba where HP says to M$ "We want to be the only ones selling this in the US", M$ says to Toshiba "Go away" because HP is so big. Just a guess but how many companies sell products worldwide EXCEPT the US, after they already got FCC certification.
Notice in the "Key Buying Points:
S-video, Composite and audio inputs,
Dual RF Inputs both HDTV compatible "
There is no digital inputs. The beauty of the Firewire/USB2.0 approach is that it's 100% digital.
Marc
I saw it last night, the story and acting stunk. The graphics were impressive if only for the sheer quantity of it. I felt like the green screen stuff was consistent with the art deco, 30's style that was trying to be presented.
The most inexcusable fopaw was when they chimed in at the end with Indiana Jones and Star Wars them music. It was an unmistakeable ripoff.
I have MobiTV right now, and I agree, the frame rate is stupid, maybe a frame every second at best. The audio is not bad but still choppy some times, but at least it buffers audio when it falls behind and you don't miss anything.
There's just not enough bandwidth for this. They should use multicast and reduce the number of channels. Really, do we need cartoons?
Marc
Back in the early days of computers there were no disks. Programs were entered by hand or by paper tape, or cards, directly to memory. Tape, and disk came along as a way to speed this, and provide intermediate storage for programs and data larger than memory.
This is rarely a problem anymore. I can't remember the last time I saw a program that used overlays. Databases routinely have 32 gigs or more memory, and store the entire tablespace in memory.
I really like the architecture of Palm, it's a totally 'in memory' system, you never have to load a program because it's always resident. There are other OSes such as Eros that only use disk as virtual memory, and programs and data are persistently in memory. Database performance is an order of magnitude better than current systems, due to the lack of intervening OS structures. This harkens back to the early days before disk, and I think are a sign of things to come.
The whole idea of a Disk Operating System is obsolete. The idea of talking directly to devices and having to manage disk structures is obsolete.
For some good information on this try http://www.eros-os.org/
Marc
No, not unless Microsoft bought TurboLinux and released it. Folks, this is a classic monopoly, there is no way to compete against it. If you start to make inroads they will either (1) buy you out and flush you, (2) lower the prices to the point where you cannot possibly compete, (3) intimidate their existing customers to think that there will be retaliatioins if they go with you.
Forgetaboudit, M$ won, get over it.
Try http://dpreview.com, they are the best resource around.
Marc
Re:Commute on a motorcycle? Bad idea.
on
Alternatives to Cars?
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Obviously you don't ride a motorcycle. I have been commuting in Houston on a motorcycle for many, many years without an incident. I take the MSF (Motorcycle Safety Class) about once a year, I ALWAYS ride with gear (full face helmet, gloves, Kevlar shirt or jacket and pants, and boots), and ride rain or shine, and let me tell you it rains a LOT here in Houston (30+ inches a year). I drive like I am invisible, plan as far ahead as I can, and I LOVE MY RIDE every day!
I'm getting 40+ mpg and had been commuting 60+ miles a day through downtown Houston, but one big advantage of a bike is it will get you on the HOV lane in major cities. If you are headed the same way as traffic wave to the folks in cars as you slide by them.
Total cost of ownership of a bike is much less than a car, you can get a fabulous bike (DON'T GET A HARLEY, you have been warned!) for under $8000 new, and add a rain suit, helmet and clothes (you can get very nice looking gear that you can wear to work without being obvious), maybe another $2000 to be generous. Don't skimp on a helmet, get the best you can.
Ride to Work day is July 17. http://www.ridetowork.org has info on it.
The added visibility and maneuverability along with good training can make you a safe rider for life, and if you are like me you won't drive a card unless you have to, like going out with the family, or shopping for something that REALLY won't fit in the bike. You'd be surprised at how much you can take on one.
Years ago I met Steve Roberts, a self proclaimed nomad, in Austin Texas. He was riding his recumbant bike literally slewn with solar panels, radios, a trailer with a satellite dish and computers. Here is his web page:
http://microship.com/bike/winnebiko2/retrospective.html
He wrote a book, mostly about his love afairs on his cross country trip, but also ended up working for Sun Microsystems in some sort of ad-hoc consultant position. He's gone on to making a high tech Winnebago and now ocean going canoes. Very strange person but also quite entertaining.
Marc
There is a replica of Stonehenge and also two large Easter Island statues near Kerrville Texas, here is a web page: http://www.texastwisted.com/attr/stonehenge2/
Marc
Can you suggest one single example of a 1920p source? I know of no DVD, even commercial video camera, cable system, DBS, or even firewire that can properly feed one of these projectors. Some computer output can go that high, but as to video sources I doubt you will find anything at all that doesn't have to be upconverted.
Even DVDs in widescreen are at best 720p, and with a 1080i screen you are still doing an upconvert. My DirecTV does broadcast in 1080i but I think most of their content is DVD pre-upconverted to 1080i.
Marc
I've been using Pocket GPhone which comes on my Toshiba E805 for a few months now. You can check it out at http://www.vliusa.com/prof_personal/index.php
The version I am using is 3.0 which is much, much better than the 1.0 version that comes on the E805.
Works pretty well, with the typical pauses due to the network, and you do want to use it with a headset to prevent echoing, but the cool thing is they are hooked up to some sort of VoIP network and for $20 for 600 minutes you can make calls to virtually any phone. The rates for International calls are the best I have seen, anywhere. $0.05/min for most countries. You can use it for free for PDA-PDA (or even PC) calls for 60 days but then you have to pay them something to use their 'Buddy' service, but even then you can still make direct IP address based phone calls.
No affiliation, just a relatively satisfied user.
Marc
Now you know why Sun has been reluctant to release the Java specs to PD, as I would expect IBM to run all over Sun (ne: Netscape) and HP and Weblogic, all who want their Enterprise Server to become the standard. IBM is expected to win the battle, so Sun doesn't release the standards. In the end this is bad because it keeps chipping away at the portability of Java, and in the end you will have very different languages and programming environments.
XM Radio just started broadcasting about 25 channels of 24 hour Traffic. It's great, as my city is one of the ones covered. No affiliation, just a happy user.
You can do static routes to particular networks, but what you REALLY need is BGP routing to your two ISPs. Count on a router with AT LEAST 128 megs of memory to do this, and a high end CPU on the router to manage all the BGP tables. Even this will not give you load balancing, just best path routing.
Death of Tivo
on
TiVo Will Die
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Personally I think the death of TiVo will come when the public finds out about non-subscription encombered PVRs. =
Slashdot Mirror
What about the CareFree re-entry system? I am unaware of any spacecraft that has used this re-entry system in the past, NASA or otherwise. I thought it was qutie innovative.
I've also had a Toshiba E805 for nearly a year and love it. Wish it had Bluetooth like the IPAQ but the new E830 does. Toshiba doesn't seem to want to sell this in the US though and has made a statement to that effect publicly. I think this is a big mistake, as it is nearly the same as a E805 with a faster CPU and BT built in, new Intel graphics chip, and few other changes. I suspect there is some nasty stuff going on between M$, HP and Toshiba where HP says to M$ "We want to be the only ones selling this in the US", M$ says to Toshiba "Go away" because HP is so big. Just a guess but how many companies sell products worldwide EXCEPT the US, after they already got FCC certification.
Notice in the "Key Buying Points: S-video, Composite and audio inputs, Dual RF Inputs both HDTV compatible " There is no digital inputs. The beauty of the Firewire/USB2.0 approach is that it's 100% digital. Marc
I wonder if this ruling applies to DirecTV, Dish and VOOOM also? I know the Tivo HDTV unit has USB 2.0 but no firewire. Marc
I saw it last night, the story and acting stunk. The graphics were impressive if only for the sheer quantity of it. I felt like the green screen stuff was consistent with the art deco, 30's style that was trying to be presented. The most inexcusable fopaw was when they chimed in at the end with Indiana Jones and Star Wars them music. It was an unmistakeable ripoff.
Anyone notice the 9600 baud bit rate? Marc
I have MobiTV right now, and I agree, the frame rate is stupid, maybe a frame every second at best. The audio is not bad but still choppy some times, but at least it buffers audio when it falls behind and you don't miss anything. There's just not enough bandwidth for this. They should use multicast and reduce the number of channels. Really, do we need cartoons? Marc
Back in the early days of computers there were no disks. Programs were entered by hand or by paper tape, or cards, directly to memory. Tape, and disk came along as a way to speed this, and provide intermediate storage for programs and data larger than memory. This is rarely a problem anymore. I can't remember the last time I saw a program that used overlays. Databases routinely have 32 gigs or more memory, and store the entire tablespace in memory. I really like the architecture of Palm, it's a totally 'in memory' system, you never have to load a program because it's always resident. There are other OSes such as Eros that only use disk as virtual memory, and programs and data are persistently in memory. Database performance is an order of magnitude better than current systems, due to the lack of intervening OS structures. This harkens back to the early days before disk, and I think are a sign of things to come. The whole idea of a Disk Operating System is obsolete. The idea of talking directly to devices and having to manage disk structures is obsolete. For some good information on this try http://www.eros-os.org/ Marc
No, not unless Microsoft bought TurboLinux and released it. Folks, this is a classic monopoly, there is no way to compete against it. If you start to make inroads they will either (1) buy you out and flush you, (2) lower the prices to the point where you cannot possibly compete, (3) intimidate their existing customers to think that there will be retaliatioins if they go with you. Forgetaboudit, M$ won, get over it.
Just get another server, you can get a P4 2.8 for like $200 nowadays. Move your mail off your web server, and let mail run at it's own pace.
Try http://dpreview.com, they are the best resource around. Marc
Obviously you don't ride a motorcycle. I have been commuting in Houston on a motorcycle for many, many years without an incident. I take the MSF (Motorcycle Safety Class) about once a year, I ALWAYS ride with gear (full face helmet, gloves, Kevlar shirt or jacket and pants, and boots), and ride rain or shine, and let me tell you it rains a LOT here in Houston (30+ inches a year). I drive like I am invisible, plan as far ahead as I can, and I LOVE MY RIDE every day! I'm getting 40+ mpg and had been commuting 60+ miles a day through downtown Houston, but one big advantage of a bike is it will get you on the HOV lane in major cities. If you are headed the same way as traffic wave to the folks in cars as you slide by them. Total cost of ownership of a bike is much less than a car, you can get a fabulous bike (DON'T GET A HARLEY, you have been warned!) for under $8000 new, and add a rain suit, helmet and clothes (you can get very nice looking gear that you can wear to work without being obvious), maybe another $2000 to be generous. Don't skimp on a helmet, get the best you can. Ride to Work day is July 17. http://www.ridetowork.org has info on it. The added visibility and maneuverability along with good training can make you a safe rider for life, and if you are like me you won't drive a card unless you have to, like going out with the family, or shopping for something that REALLY won't fit in the bike. You'd be surprised at how much you can take on one.
Two words, lightning rod.
Years ago I met Steve Roberts, a self proclaimed nomad, in Austin Texas. He was riding his recumbant bike literally slewn with solar panels, radios, a trailer with a satellite dish and computers. Here is his web page: http://microship.com/bike/winnebiko2/retrospective .html
He wrote a book, mostly about his love afairs on his cross country trip, but also ended up working for Sun Microsystems in some sort of ad-hoc consultant position. He's gone on to making a high tech Winnebago and now ocean going canoes. Very strange person but also quite entertaining.
Marc
There is a replica of Stonehenge and also two large Easter Island statues near Kerrville Texas, here is a web page: http://www.texastwisted.com/attr/stonehenge2/ Marc
Can you suggest one single example of a 1920p source? I know of no DVD, even commercial video camera, cable system, DBS, or even firewire that can properly feed one of these projectors. Some computer output can go that high, but as to video sources I doubt you will find anything at all that doesn't have to be upconverted. Even DVDs in widescreen are at best 720p, and with a 1080i screen you are still doing an upconvert. My DirecTV does broadcast in 1080i but I think most of their content is DVD pre-upconverted to 1080i. Marc
Well, there's always Microsoft's much touted voice interface system. Productivity might dip a bit though.
After the last disasterous presidential election in Florida would you trust your government to a system that can be hacked this easily? Not me.
I've been using Pocket GPhone which comes on my Toshiba E805 for a few months now. You can check it out at http://www.vliusa.com/prof_personal/index.php The version I am using is 3.0 which is much, much better than the 1.0 version that comes on the E805. Works pretty well, with the typical pauses due to the network, and you do want to use it with a headset to prevent echoing, but the cool thing is they are hooked up to some sort of VoIP network and for $20 for 600 minutes you can make calls to virtually any phone. The rates for International calls are the best I have seen, anywhere. $0.05/min for most countries. You can use it for free for PDA-PDA (or even PC) calls for 60 days but then you have to pay them something to use their 'Buddy' service, but even then you can still make direct IP address based phone calls. No affiliation, just a relatively satisfied user. Marc
Now you know why Sun has been reluctant to release the Java specs to PD, as I would expect IBM to run all over Sun (ne: Netscape) and HP and Weblogic, all who want their Enterprise Server to become the standard. IBM is expected to win the battle, so Sun doesn't release the standards. In the end this is bad because it keeps chipping away at the portability of Java, and in the end you will have very different languages and programming environments.
XM Radio just started broadcasting about 25 channels of 24 hour Traffic. It's great, as my city is one of the ones covered. No affiliation, just a happy user.
You can do static routes to particular networks, but what you REALLY need is BGP routing to your two ISPs. Count on a router with AT LEAST 128 megs of memory to do this, and a high end CPU on the router to manage all the BGP tables. Even this will not give you load balancing, just best path routing.
Personally I think the death of TiVo will come when the public finds out about non-subscription encombered PVRs. =
I doubt the FTC would allow a merger of two of the largest ISPs. I could see Earthlink snapping them up though.
Very impressive text to speech technology, but I didn't see much in the way of a demo on the site given.