I'm working on a free version of a Linux-lookalike for AT-386 computers. It has finally reached the stage where it's even usable (though may not be depending on what you want), and I am willing to put out the sources for wider distribution. It is just version 0.02 (+1 (very small) patch already), but I've successfully run bash/gcc/gnu-make/gnu-sed/compress etc under it.
Panasonic likes to play well with others and are one of the foremost of Japanese companies that freely licenses their patents and technologies. But they are also deadly competitive and do not take kindly to serious encroachment of market share by 'partners'.
And that's exactly what Nintendo did by releasing a chrome GameCube. Nintendo set out to capitalize on the Q's popularity by creating a less-costly, feature-lacking clone of the Q and undercut Panasonic's market.
Throw into the mix that Panasonic is more interested in making PVR's now with their Diga line of hard disk recorder/DVD players and it was just a matter of time before Matsushita began seeing better opportunities elsewhere.
Nintendo now has to survive on its own without the benefit of a large hardware powerhouse like Matsushita driving GameCube sales. In a sense, Nintendo killed the Q and now will have to deal with their own bad management.
Requiring the blueprints for a building is important insofar as it is necessary to remodel the building in the future.
However, most operating systems do not require alteration at any level below the distributor. Users are actively discouraged from changing their systems. Changing the system means possibly breaking compatibility with other systems which leads to headaches down the road as the forks diverge.
OTOH, software is always in a state of flux. Government software is always being updated, and as long as the underlying OS doesn't change serious portings of the software do not need to take place. In the case of end-user software, it is important that the government have the software source code in hand so as to be able to contract out to companies as necessary to update it.
But OS software is different, in that it is less likely that a change needs to be made for the purposes of government work. COTS is the name of the game, and as long as the systems are standardized to some degree things are hunky dory. There is no need for source code in the case of an OS.
If you are away from home for any length of time, ask your neighbor or a family member to stop in once in a while, especially on cold days to make sure that your house is still in good order. Bribe them with cookies and beer, then when you return from your trip give them an exotic trinket from the place you visited.
Also, keep in mind that 60 degrees farenheit is pretty far from freezing and that the inside of your house is unlikely to reach the temperatures required to freeze the pipes *inside* your home.
I saw a 3D video display at the CEATEC conference back a few months ago here in Tokyo. Several makers were showing them off, but they really weren't anything to write home about. I guess it was cool enough that they were able to display a 3 dimensional object or scene with only 2 dimensions, but it's hard to see what the practical use of something like that would be outside of "You're my only hope" type messaging.
Likewise, 3 dimensional computer desktops are not going to be taking over the world anytime soon. It is hard enough teaching people to use the mouse correctly in two dimesions. Trying to wrap people's heads around a 3 dimensional workspace looks to be virtually impossible.
The WTC attacks happened over two years ago, and while it may have been a very large shock to those whose lives were directly touched by the tragedy, there seems to have been a swing towards not mentioning the attack at all in anything but the most rose colored speech.
A bad thing happened and we are all trying to 'get over it'. However, I fail to see how a game based on a propeller plane flying around a big city in any way defames those who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks.
There is a time to be somber and thoughtful, but there is also a time to realize that not everything revolves around you and your personal tragedies.
There are lots of alternatives to crypt, but none that are as simple and straightforward to use as it. What is needed is an unbreakable crypto scheme that is simple to use.
Large corporations are really the only places where you'd find enough capital to experiment with cutting edge technology. Some examples of these are Microsoft with MS Research, HP with HP Research, AT&T with Bell Labs, Xerox with PARC. These guys are doing what you want to be doing, driving the technology into the future.
While there have been significant gains in innovation that have come out of OSS, the movement largely remains a follower rather than leader of technology, choosing to re-implement already-existing technology for the sake of software freedom.
Small companies these days do not find it so easy to get financial backing for their ideas (which are usually cutting edge stuff), so the days of Yahoo!, Amazon, and other current mainstream companies who were once just gleams in their creators' eyes but grew to enormous proportions are long gone.
What there ought to be is some sort of environment where developers can use a simple markup language to describe a GUI and have some easy to use hooks back to a server machine which could run some code and generate reports to be delivered back to the GUI.
If there were only some software to fill that gap...
Sometimes I wish the U.S. government wasn't spending so much trying to build up the military and instead redirect those funds to building up the national infrastructure.
It especially pangs me when I read about things like this where the British government is spending lots of excess government funds on sound-proofing people's homes.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm working on a free version of a
Linux-lookalike for AT-386 computers. It has finally reached the stage where it's even usable (though may not be depending on what you want), and I am willing to put out the sources for wider distribution. It is just version 0.02 (+1 (very small) patch already), but I've successfully run bash/gcc/gnu-make/gnu-sed/compress etc under it.
Because we all need the new features..
Prices come down on earlier models which are just as good as the new ones.
Save some money, buy the last generation chips instead of the latest and greatest.
Panasonic likes to play well with others and are one of the foremost of Japanese companies that freely licenses their patents and technologies. But they are also deadly competitive and do not take kindly to serious encroachment of market share by 'partners'.
And that's exactly what Nintendo did by releasing a chrome GameCube. Nintendo set out to capitalize on the Q's popularity by creating a less-costly, feature-lacking clone of the Q and undercut Panasonic's market.
Throw into the mix that Panasonic is more interested in making PVR's now with their Diga line of hard disk recorder/DVD players and it was just a matter of time before Matsushita began seeing better opportunities elsewhere.
Nintendo now has to survive on its own without the benefit of a large hardware powerhouse like Matsushita driving GameCube sales. In a sense, Nintendo killed the Q and now will have to deal with their own bad management.
Just about any electronics store or office supply store has these electronic dictionaires lined up out in front.
If only those embryos had even a couple synaptic responses that it could use to tap out in Morse code whether it agreed to be used in such research.
They are more reactionary than anything, opposing change at all turns.
You could call them anti-activists and it would make more sense.
I come from Visconsin,
I verk in da factory dere;
Ven I valk down da street,
All da people I meet,
Dey say, "Hello, vot's your name?"
And I say...
My name is John Johanson
I come from Visconsin,...
Take your money out
Put your money in and you shake it all about
Go to the pokey for gambling online.
That's what it's all about.
Define maintenance.
I'm sure you'll find that Redmond will have no trouble satisfying this clause.
Requiring the blueprints for a building is important insofar as it is necessary to remodel the building in the future.
However, most operating systems do not require alteration at any level below the distributor. Users are actively discouraged from changing their systems. Changing the system means possibly breaking compatibility with other systems which leads to headaches down the road as the forks diverge.
OTOH, software is always in a state of flux. Government software is always being updated, and as long as the underlying OS doesn't change serious portings of the software do not need to take place. In the case of end-user software, it is important that the government have the software source code in hand so as to be able to contract out to companies as necessary to update it.
But OS software is different, in that it is less likely that a change needs to be made for the purposes of government work. COTS is the name of the game, and as long as the systems are standardized to some degree things are hunky dory. There is no need for source code in the case of an OS.
I can only pretend to be excited for a few seconds at a time.
Yay!
I'm spent.
Wouldn't a law making spam illegal and punishable offense be more effective?
If you are away from home for any length of time, ask your neighbor or a family member to stop in once in a while, especially on cold days to make sure that your house is still in good order. Bribe them with cookies and beer, then when you return from your trip give them an exotic trinket from the place you visited.
Also, keep in mind that 60 degrees farenheit is pretty far from freezing and that the inside of your house is unlikely to reach the temperatures required to freeze the pipes *inside* your home.
I saw a 3D video display at the CEATEC conference back a few months ago here in Tokyo. Several makers were showing them off, but they really weren't anything to write home about. I guess it was cool enough that they were able to display a 3 dimensional object or scene with only 2 dimensions, but it's hard to see what the practical use of something like that would be outside of "You're my only hope" type messaging.
Likewise, 3 dimensional computer desktops are not going to be taking over the world anytime soon. It is hard enough teaching people to use the mouse correctly in two dimesions. Trying to wrap people's heads around a 3 dimensional workspace looks to be virtually impossible.
The WTC attacks happened over two years ago, and while it may have been a very large shock to those whose lives were directly touched by the tragedy, there seems to have been a swing towards not mentioning the attack at all in anything but the most rose colored speech.
A bad thing happened and we are all trying to 'get over it'. However, I fail to see how a game based on a propeller plane flying around a big city in any way defames those who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks.
There is a time to be somber and thoughtful, but there is also a time to realize that not everything revolves around you and your personal tragedies.
People complain about X a lot, but when it's all boiled down there really isn't much to complain about. X is a great windowing system.
What's the roadmap from here for these open core processors? Is there one?
There are lots of alternatives to crypt, but none that are as simple and straightforward to use as it. What is needed is an unbreakable crypto scheme that is simple to use.
Large corporations are really the only places where you'd find enough capital to experiment with cutting edge technology. Some examples of these are Microsoft with MS Research, HP with HP Research, AT&T with Bell Labs, Xerox with PARC. These guys are doing what you want to be doing, driving the technology into the future.
While there have been significant gains in innovation that have come out of OSS, the movement largely remains a follower rather than leader of technology, choosing to re-implement already-existing technology for the sake of software freedom.
Small companies these days do not find it so easy to get financial backing for their ideas (which are usually cutting edge stuff), so the days of Yahoo!, Amazon, and other current mainstream companies who were once just gleams in their creators' eyes but grew to enormous proportions are long gone.
What there ought to be is some sort of environment where developers can use a simple markup language to describe a GUI and have some easy to use hooks back to a server machine which could run some code and generate reports to be delivered back to the GUI.
If there were only some software to fill that gap...
After we get signal, you ask?
Main screen turn on, of course.
Sometimes I wish the U.S. government wasn't spending so much trying to build up the military and instead redirect those funds to building up the national infrastructure.
It especially pangs me when I read about things like this where the British government is spending lots of excess government funds on sound-proofing people's homes.
I have discovered a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition and have encoded it here in Whitespace.
It looks just like some scenes from The Core.
I'm really amazed how Science Fiction is able to shape and mold our understanding of real science.