Well I know everyone's going to shoot this one down but I personally see a huge amount of time, effort and expense wasted on my own company's systems to protect them from the "scourge of the internet" when, upon detailed inspection, there is no good reason that 95% of these boxes NEED connectivity. Before you go about inspecting the various methods of combating the madness (firewalls, routers, off the wall OS, tying up the PHB, etc.) ask yourself "do our critical systems need connectivity and if so, to what degree?"
Show me a pocket PC I can program to work as my
Bike computer
Multivoltage tester
Pedometer
with only 15$ in parts and I'll concede that palm is dead (and yes you can with just a few parts, a used serial cable and a soldering iron).
Similarly, in audio, a lot of people said that XLR and RCA jacks would be succeded by digital and optical feeds by now. Guess what? They haven't. They're reliable (read, microsoft had nothing to do with them) relatively low cost, support a flexibility of implementation, and more importantly have a massive catalogue of products that works with them (ever looked at the available software for a palm vs a PocketPC?)
I'm not saying that Pocket PC doesn't have it's place. But just like digital audio and optical feeds, it's a high end market that's so far seen much more limited penetration and will never be able to appeal on a pricepoint to those that are using a PDA as an organizer and general assistant (and not a mulitmedia wizbang toy not that I don't own one myself).
They give me all these new toys and they seriously only expect me to use it 30 minutes a day? I'm guessing I'm going to need a new battery pack for mine about every 6 months.
It was a Zenith (who knew they made laptops)
it had a blazing fast 8088 processor (yes I was too cheap to buy the 8086)
it ran DOS like a dream
it had an amazing 512kb ram
it even had a 4.5lb lead acid battery
most importantly? It had it's OS in solid state storage of some sort (CMOS or similar?) It flew down stairs, through baggage claims, twice to africa, out the back of a landrover at 70km/h and it still worked.
I mourned the day that I picked it up and realized that not even my lowly 8088 could survive idiots in UPS shipping and 4 hours of saltwater submersion. . .
I've found decent deals at all of the above. But ebay has to triumph them all if you've got patience and are willing to spend some time digging into it. Locally, if you're in a major city, check out the classifieds, local BBS, etc. Remember though, never be afraid to haggle, even with a store. I've gotten my price more often than not, and usually on a 1$=1Mhz basis. Remember though, a bargain is only a bargain if it does what you want it to do.
Now all we need to go with this is a firewire enabled stylus that reads what I write in the air and translates it to incorrectly spelled text and mislabled ToDo lists.
Now, far be it from me to quote regulations but I do seem to recall that consumer grade devices should not legaly interfere with other deviced (but still have to accept the interference of other devices) Class B & C vs. A? It's been a long time since that class so if I'm way off here someone correct me. But in any case, this seems like a class A FCC device (if it is even regulated which it should be) that's being used in an inappropriate (read illegal) manner/location/way. (similar to the violations we hear about with the wireless networks being "boosted" and causing local interference).
Good web design is not necessarily flashy or technically brilliant, it's easy to look at, easy to understand, and most importantly, easy to convey information with. Too often the websites I visit are cluttered with buttons, banners, and animations that distract from the purpose of the site itself. I'm not saying ditch them, I'm saying use them in moderation, where appropriate. Isn't that what good design in general (not just web) is about? The use of elements to convey information with a minimum of distraction from the central message.
Finally science has reached it's peak. A surefire way to get the beer guy's attention at your next baseball game. On a serious note, hasn't the pentagon being looking into ultrasound devices for crowd control and similar applications for a LONG time (say 20+ years?) I seem to recall a Discovery Channel special on that a while back.
General - Why we could make a devestating weapon out of that! Inventor - It's a tortilla maker. .. General - Why yes, but think of the scientific principles it displays! Inventor - It's a cast iron tortilla maker.. General - We need 800,000 by next week. How does 300$ per unit sound? Inventor - The Freedom Flattener 3000 will be operational by tomorrow General!
I remember c-rations. Growing up in the Alaska Bush anything that had a 5 year shelf life (or longer in the case of c-rations) was a staple. Mmm. . Sailor Boy Pilot Bread, C-rations, Tang. I remember the "canned crackers" and "canned um . . jellied hotdogs?" These things made Spam look like gourmet fare. The amazing technology of the "can inside the can." THANK THE GOOD LORD for regular air service and fresh produce.
Slashdot Mirror
Well I know everyone's going to shoot this one down but I personally see a huge amount of time, effort and expense wasted on my own company's systems to protect them from the "scourge of the internet" when, upon detailed inspection, there is no good reason that 95% of these boxes NEED connectivity. Before you go about inspecting the various methods of combating the madness (firewalls, routers, off the wall OS, tying up the PHB, etc.) ask yourself "do our critical systems need connectivity and if so, to what degree?"
Show me a pocket PC I can program to work as my Bike computer Multivoltage tester Pedometer with only 15$ in parts and I'll concede that palm is dead (and yes you can with just a few parts, a used serial cable and a soldering iron). Similarly, in audio, a lot of people said that XLR and RCA jacks would be succeded by digital and optical feeds by now. Guess what? They haven't. They're reliable (read, microsoft had nothing to do with them) relatively low cost, support a flexibility of implementation, and more importantly have a massive catalogue of products that works with them (ever looked at the available software for a palm vs a PocketPC?) I'm not saying that Pocket PC doesn't have it's place. But just like digital audio and optical feeds, it's a high end market that's so far seen much more limited penetration and will never be able to appeal on a pricepoint to those that are using a PDA as an organizer and general assistant (and not a mulitmedia wizbang toy not that I don't own one myself).
They give me all these new toys and they seriously only expect me to use it 30 minutes a day? I'm guessing I'm going to need a new battery pack for mine about every 6 months.
It was a Zenith (who knew they made laptops) it had a blazing fast 8088 processor (yes I was too cheap to buy the 8086) it ran DOS like a dream it had an amazing 512kb ram it even had a 4.5lb lead acid battery most importantly? It had it's OS in solid state storage of some sort (CMOS or similar?) It flew down stairs, through baggage claims, twice to africa, out the back of a landrover at 70km/h and it still worked. I mourned the day that I picked it up and realized that not even my lowly 8088 could survive idiots in UPS shipping and 4 hours of saltwater submersion. . .
I've found decent deals at all of the above. But ebay has to triumph them all if you've got patience and are willing to spend some time digging into it. Locally, if you're in a major city, check out the classifieds, local BBS, etc. Remember though, never be afraid to haggle, even with a store. I've gotten my price more often than not, and usually on a 1$=1Mhz basis. Remember though, a bargain is only a bargain if it does what you want it to do.
Now all we need to go with this is a firewire enabled stylus that reads what I write in the air and translates it to incorrectly spelled text and mislabled ToDo lists.
Now, far be it from me to quote regulations but I do seem to recall that consumer grade devices should not legaly interfere with other deviced (but still have to accept the interference of other devices) Class B & C vs. A? It's been a long time since that class so if I'm way off here someone correct me. But in any case, this seems like a class A FCC device (if it is even regulated which it should be) that's being used in an inappropriate (read illegal) manner/location/way. (similar to the violations we hear about with the wireless networks being "boosted" and causing local interference).
I want my Mr. Fusion!
hopefully they'll come out with a clear casemod for it. . .
Good web design is not necessarily flashy or technically brilliant, it's easy to look at, easy to understand, and most importantly, easy to convey information with. Too often the websites I visit are cluttered with buttons, banners, and animations that distract from the purpose of the site itself. I'm not saying ditch them, I'm saying use them in moderation, where appropriate. Isn't that what good design in general (not just web) is about? The use of elements to convey information with a minimum of distraction from the central message.
Finally science has reached it's peak. A surefire way to get the beer guy's attention at your next baseball game. On a serious note, hasn't the pentagon being looking into ultrasound devices for crowd control and similar applications for a LONG time (say 20+ years?) I seem to recall a Discovery Channel special on that a while back.
. .
General - Why we could make a devestating weapon out of that!
Inventor - It's a tortilla maker. .
General - Why yes, but think of the scientific principles it displays!
Inventor - It's a cast iron tortilla maker.
General - We need 800,000 by next week. How does 300$ per unit sound?
Inventor - The Freedom Flattener 3000 will be operational by tomorrow General!
I remember c-rations. Growing up in the Alaska Bush anything that had a 5 year shelf life (or longer in the case of c-rations) was a staple. Mmm. . Sailor Boy Pilot Bread, C-rations, Tang. I remember the "canned crackers" and "canned um . . jellied hotdogs?" These things made Spam look like gourmet fare. The amazing technology of the "can inside the can." THANK THE GOOD LORD for regular air service and fresh produce.