This is insightful? Every single one of these concerns used to be considered obstacles to digital camera adoption, and we all know that those never took off.
Wake up! This is the future on it's way - howabout addressing the challenges instead of complaining about them like an crotchety old coot?
In my mind, the real killer next-generation interface technology will be a single standard/protocol that will combine all the best attributes of USB, Firewire, Bluetooth, and WiFi together into a sort of gestalt. We need this so we no longer need to build every new system with the currently necessary 4 different interfaces.
A single tech would save everyone money: the manufacturers, marketers, and users. It would also make our lives easier.
I see USBlueWiFiFire working seamlessly with or without wires, and scaling throughput accordingly, depending on distance, wire length/quality, etc. It has the best auto-discovery and auto-config attributes of BlueTooth and USB, the max speed matches that of FireWire 800, and it can create a seamless kind of area-mesh network, with multitudes of devices joining and extending the network.
I really like the idea, however much it might seem like a fantasy. I hope we have something like this within 10 or 20 years.
I don't know whether you anticipate much tripod use with your camera, but if so you should pay attention to whether a camera can change tapes while on a tripod. When I was looking for a camera, I found that most of the sub-$1000 models either loaded the tape from the bottom (which means that you have to take the camera off the tripod to change tapes, a real pain) or didn't have an external microphone jack.
I was looking for a camera for interviews, which is why tripod use and a mic jack were important to me. I eventually purchased a Panasonic Palmcorder PV-DC152 and was very satisfied.
As an alternative to the traditional big bulky laptop bag, I recommend Vasola cases sold by Semsons. This is a light, slim form-fitting neoprene case that is perfect for slipping a laptop into any other bag, like a backpack or briefcase, and provides extra impact protection and scratch prevention. We've used one for over a year for our Fujitsu Lifebook P, and we just ordered a new one for our new iBook.
As someone else mentioned, keeping the laptop in a backpack makes it a little less obvious to thieves as well. This case makes that practical and easy.
They're cheap too, ranging from $8 to $16, depending on the size. They were recommended to me by the good folks at leog.net, a site for Fujitsu P series enthusaists.
Re:Not the first time MORE has been on DVD...
on
Despairing of Pixar
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· Score: 1
True, but it's been out of print for a while now. Hence it can be tricky to find and quite a bit more expensive than buying directly from Mark Osborne. Plus, I'm sure more of the funds go directly to Mr. Osborne, so support an artist today!
On a personal note, this is an amazing film that has a lot of meaning for my wife and I. It had a significant positive impact on our relationship in the first stages. I'm going to order 4 or 5 copies to have for birthday gifts, etc.
"They could get a $100bn" stock market value, said one person involved.
"However, all the shares would end up with Aunt Agatha in Des Moines and Uncle Milt in Pittsburgh and there would be no real public market at all."
What the hell? This anonymous coward is a real elitist! Aren't private individuals exactly who comprise the "public"? The first four definitions of "public" from dictionary.com::
Of, concerning, or affecting the community or the people: the public good.
Maintained for or used by the people or community: a public park.
Capitalized in shares of stock that can be traded on the open market: a public company.
Participated in or attended by the people or community: "Opinions are formed in a process of open discussion and public debate" (Hannah Arendt)
The community or the people. Not the rich or the powerful or the corporate or corrupt.
This kind of attitude is indicative of a major cultural and societal problem: the idea that individuals are somehow not worthy, that they're dumb or inconsequential somehow. That only the interests and concerns of the rich, the powerful, the famous, or the corporate really matter.
Digital Photos are certainly now one of the top ten uses for family PCs.
I highly recommend using some Digiphoto Organization software, it's just leaps and bounds over storing photos as files in folders.
These packages help organize, view, and browse your digiphoto collection, then actually do something with the photos: format them for email, printing, web galleries, calendars, greeting cards, etc.
There are plenty of choices in Windows, but I don't know of any usable packages for Linux. Of course, for OSX there's iPhoto (free!)
My personal view on notebooks: weight matters. I've seen time and time again that people buy notebooks, planning to take them places, but end up leaving them at home/dorm because they're just too heavy and bulky.
When my wife needed a notebook for school, we eventually chose the Fujitsu Lifebook P2120 - 2.8 lbs without the optical drive, 3.4 lbs with it, and very small dimensions. We've found that its size has been very convenient, and encourages my wife to take it with her even if she might not even need it.
I don't want to get on a soapbox or anything, but there are more meaningful causes that people could contribute to. There are people out there who don't have enough to eat - why not help them out, instead of bailing out a "business" whose product simply doesn't attract enough customers.
If anyone could use some suggestions on how to help actual people, and do something meaningful, feel free to email me! avi at aviflax dot com.
Took a look at the site, looks like the lightest system they have is a hefty 6.16 lbs! I love the ones they describe as "7.5 lbs light." They even have a 15" system that's 12 pounds! Jeez! This is not the future of computing, people! The future is a 1 pound, 0.5" thin convertible tablet with a touchscreen, a stylus, and wireless!
I have a Fujitsu P-2110, purchased new directly from Fujitsu 6 months ago, and actually it does have a Firewire port. The tech specs for the newer model, the P-2120, confirm this.
My wife and I are very happy with our P, the lightness combined with the Wi-fi add so much freedom to our computing, and it's got an amazing LCD, a great optical drive. Our model isn't especially fast, but the P-2120 is supposedly quite a bit faster, with a higher clock speed Crusoe and a Radeon versus our Rage video chipset.
If you do want to look into the P series, there is a linux forum at leog.net that should be helpful. They also have a for sale forum where you might be able to find a P-2120 cheap. I've also seen them on Ebay.
However, I do think that if you buy a used Windows system, you're still paying the "Windows Tax", albeit a bit further removed. Honestly, I think if you buy a Mac you're also paying a "software tax", but at least it's not to Microsoft.
It might be worth noting that Andreessen's company, Opsware, sells software that "automates the complete lifecycle of managing servers and business applications." - essentially what he is pushing in this article. It's more than a little suspicious. That isn't to say that he doesn't truly believe what he's written; it's quite possible. But I would be more impressed if he was open about it; saying something like "... and that is why my company creates software that will help usher in this revolution..." His not mentioning it seems a little dishonest, its the kind of disclosure that really should be made.
When I first heard about Fatwallet giving in to the retailers I was very disappointed, and in fact it made me wonder if the general freedom-fighting spirit of the "internet community" was a long-lost relic of the past. (Does anyone actually track this as a trend?)
This news gives me some hope, and brightens my day! Give it to the man!
I was excited to order this PDA as a gift for someone, but after checking this morning, I'm not quite as excited. Although we can order it today, it won't ship until December 5th. Wonderful. Also, they're charging $99 for the keyboard. That seems kinda high to me!
So I'll be looking for something different. Anyone know where I can find recommendations for a PDA setup for taking notes in class?
You listed the Prius and the Insight, but not the newest hybrid on the market: the Civic.
I haven't driven any of these cars, but from what I've read it's the only hybrid that's actually a normal car that happens to be a hybrid, as opposed to a hybrid that's a car.
Slashdot Mirror
This is insightful? Every single one of these concerns used to be considered obstacles to digital camera adoption, and we all know that those never took off.
Wake up! This is the future on it's way - howabout addressing the challenges instead of complaining about them like an crotchety old coot?
This site mentions that some parts may be introduced in May 2003. There are also some 404 links.
Why is this considered news?
Also, for someone new to the site, the organization is lacking. I found myself frustrated and unable to find what I wanted.
In my mind, the real killer next-generation interface technology will be a single standard/protocol that will combine all the best attributes of USB, Firewire, Bluetooth, and WiFi together into a sort of gestalt. We need this so we no longer need to build every new system with the currently necessary 4 different interfaces.
A single tech would save everyone money: the manufacturers, marketers, and users. It would also make our lives easier.
I see USBlueWiFiFire working seamlessly with or without wires, and scaling throughput accordingly, depending on distance, wire length/quality, etc. It has the best auto-discovery and auto-config attributes of BlueTooth and USB, the max speed matches that of FireWire 800, and it can create a seamless kind of area-mesh network, with multitudes of devices joining and extending the network.
I really like the idea, however much it might seem like a fantasy. I hope we have something like this within 10 or 20 years.
I don't know whether you anticipate much tripod use with your camera, but if so you should pay attention to whether a camera can change tapes while on a tripod. When I was looking for a camera, I found that most of the sub-$1000 models either loaded the tape from the bottom (which means that you have to take the camera off the tripod to change tapes, a real pain) or didn't have an external microphone jack. I was looking for a camera for interviews, which is why tripod use and a mic jack were important to me. I eventually purchased a Panasonic Palmcorder PV-DC152 and was very satisfied.
As an alternative to the traditional big bulky laptop bag, I recommend Vasola cases sold by Semsons. This is a light, slim form-fitting neoprene case that is perfect for slipping a laptop into any other bag, like a backpack or briefcase, and provides extra impact protection and scratch prevention. We've used one for over a year for our Fujitsu Lifebook P, and we just ordered a new one for our new iBook.
As someone else mentioned, keeping the laptop in a backpack makes it a little less obvious to thieves as well. This case makes that practical and easy.
They're cheap too, ranging from $8 to $16, depending on the size. They were recommended to me by the good folks at leog.net, a site for Fujitsu P series enthusaists.
True, but it's been out of print for a while now. Hence it can be tricky to find and quite a bit more expensive than buying directly from Mark Osborne. Plus, I'm sure more of the funds go directly to Mr. Osborne, so support an artist today!
On a personal note, this is an amazing film that has a lot of meaning for my wife and I. It had a significant positive impact on our relationship in the first stages. I'm going to order 4 or 5 copies to have for birthday gifts, etc.
The community or the people. Not the rich or the powerful or the corporate or corrupt.
This kind of attitude is indicative of a major cultural and societal problem: the idea that individuals are somehow not worthy, that they're dumb or inconsequential somehow. That only the interests and concerns of the rich, the powerful, the famous, or the corporate really matter.
This makes me sad and angry.
Digital Photos are certainly now one of the top ten uses for family PCs.
I highly recommend using some Digiphoto Organization software, it's just leaps and bounds over storing photos as files in folders.
These packages help organize, view, and browse your digiphoto collection, then actually do something with the photos: format them for email, printing, web galleries, calendars, greeting cards, etc.
There are plenty of choices in Windows, but I don't know of any usable packages for Linux. Of course, for OSX there's iPhoto (free!)
I've been using Photoshop Album since it was released in February, and I've been very happy with it. Version 2 was released on Monday, and there's now a free Starter Edition - so there's no excuse not to try it!
Some other digital photo management software:
For my dream system, I'd add:
- a 2.52 Terabyte Xserve RAID for $10,999
- a Fibre Channel PCI card for $500.
- and the 30GB iPod, just for good measure.
and the grand subtotal is: $24.729.90I can think of some pretty cool uses for 3TB of storage (besides porn, of course).
My personal view on notebooks: weight matters. I've seen time and time again that people buy notebooks, planning to take them places, but end up leaving them at home/dorm because they're just too heavy and bulky.
When my wife needed a notebook for school, we eventually chose the Fujitsu Lifebook P2120 - 2.8 lbs without the optical drive, 3.4 lbs with it, and very small dimensions. We've found that its size has been very convenient, and encourages my wife to take it with her even if she might not even need it.
I don't want to get on a soapbox or anything, but there are more meaningful causes that people could contribute to. There are people out there who don't have enough to eat - why not help them out, instead of bailing out a "business" whose product simply doesn't attract enough customers.
If anyone could use some suggestions on how to help actual people, and do something meaningful, feel free to email me! avi at aviflax dot com.
Took a look at the site, looks like the lightest system they have is a hefty 6.16 lbs! I love the ones they describe as "7.5 lbs light." They even have a 15" system that's 12 pounds! Jeez! This is not the future of computing, people! The future is a 1 pound, 0.5" thin convertible tablet with a touchscreen, a stylus, and wireless!
I have a Fujitsu P-2110, purchased new directly from Fujitsu 6 months ago, and actually it does have a Firewire port. The tech specs for the newer model, the P-2120, confirm this.
My wife and I are very happy with our P, the lightness combined with the Wi-fi add so much freedom to our computing, and it's got an amazing LCD, a great optical drive. Our model isn't especially fast, but the P-2120 is supposedly quite a bit faster, with a higher clock speed Crusoe and a Radeon versus our Rage video chipset.
If you do want to look into the P series, there is a linux forum at leog.net that should be helpful. They also have a for sale forum where you might be able to find a P-2120 cheap. I've also seen them on Ebay.
However, I do think that if you buy a used Windows system, you're still paying the "Windows Tax", albeit a bit further removed. Honestly, I think if you buy a Mac you're also paying a "software tax", but at least it's not to Microsoft.
I haven't seen this phone before, it seems to be getting closer to the "convergence" ideal - it's a single, pocketable device that is a:
All it needs now is voice recognition, a fast processor, and tons of storage, and it can do all those things better and be a video camera too.
It might be worth noting that Andreessen's company, Opsware, sells software that "automates the complete lifecycle of managing servers and business applications." - essentially what he is pushing in this article. It's more than a little suspicious. That isn't to say that he doesn't truly believe what he's written; it's quite possible. But I would be more impressed if he was open about it; saying something like "... and that is why my company creates software that will help usher in this revolution..." His not mentioning it seems a little dishonest, its the kind of disclosure that really should be made.
When I first heard about Fatwallet giving in to the retailers I was very disappointed, and in fact it made me wonder if the general freedom-fighting spirit of the "internet community" was a long-lost relic of the past. (Does anyone actually track this as a trend?)
This news gives me some hope, and brightens my day! Give it to the man!
I was excited to order this PDA as a gift for someone, but after checking this morning, I'm not quite as excited. Although we can order it today, it won't ship until December 5th. Wonderful. Also, they're charging $99 for the keyboard. That seems kinda high to me!
So I'll be looking for something different. Anyone know where I can find recommendations for a PDA setup for taking notes in class?
Can we get a URL? I don't see it on their website.
The EPA has a list of vehicles by how "green" they are.
It looks like Ford has a 100% electric Ranger and Toyota has an electic RAV-4.
You listed the Prius and the Insight, but not the newest hybrid on the market: the Civic.
I haven't driven any of these cars, but from what I've read it's the only hybrid that's actually a normal car that happens to be a hybrid, as opposed to a hybrid that's a car.