Elite was fab, even if the early ones had wireframe graphics; there was a nice backstory, lots of grinding, choices about combat versus commercial ways to make money. Man, I wasted a lot of time on those games.
I use a PDA (HTC X7500) which is also a phone. It has a 5 inch screen, runs Win Mobile 6.1 and is effectively a small laptop (e.g. Word, Excel, internet) and as it is always on basically doesn't have a boot time.
It syncs with my PC via USB, so downloading my notes onto the main PC is a snap. The phone part is a bit crap, and I look like an idiot holding this brick up to my ear, but that aside I couldn't live without it, and it is ideal for that sort of very quick / brief notetaking that you describe.
They may have shot themselves it the foot on this one. Dunno about the US, but here in the UK we have strict rules about product placement, particularly in programs aimed at children. Now that they've made all these products real, would they be banned from showing them in the show, in the same way thay they cannot show real beers / colas / etc ?
Instead of "first practical car that increases mileage five-fold" read that as "increase mileage two-fold". We already get 50mpg, you insensitive USians.
I've used Wikis recently as a personal notetaker, to jot down things that otherwise I'd forget. Especially at work, setting up a local webserver/installing software is a pain, so I don't need a web based Wiki, and indeed I don't need the collaborative features, just the ability to link topics very easily and write easily.
The one I currently use is WikiPad a Windows-only app which doesn't use/need a webserver. It just allows me to add free form notes very quickly without structure, but automagically adds Wiki style links when I use CamelCase words in the text. Very lightweight. The only thing I miss about it is the ability to add Wysiwyg style formatting, it's all Courier fixed font stuff. But it's saved me loads of time not having to scribble things down on my paper pad.
I've also used Perspective, a proper Windows based Wysiwyg Wiki, but again installing on a work box can be a pain, so I ususally come back to WikiPad.
I think MS entering a market does indeed lower the price point - because *all* competition will lower prices and/or increase quality.
But this misses the point - if the XXX billion dollars of software investment and the XXX thousand MS programmers actually worked for other competitors, the pricing/quality "advantages" we now have would be far better than the MS solution/products we have now. The investment that MS has sucked up would have provided a better product(s) than MS has produced.
So yes, competition is good - but open (i.e. non monopoly) competition is even better.
I am currently pondering taking the MOUS Excel 2003 exam (to help pad out the CV), so I bought the MS Excel Step-by-Step book as a learning aid. One thing I quickly realised is how little Excel I actually know, and I thought I was pretty knowledgeable - I really do only know about 10% of what it can do, although I am a local expert in my office.
What does this have to do with OOo ? Well, I like OOo, and use it on my Mandrake/KDE box at home. For future features/direction, I'd suggest that rather than adding in yet another additional funky feature that less than 1% of people will ever find/use, I'd ensure rock solid filters to import/export from MS Office. I still find OOo's ability to handle complex MS Word docs poor (tables, inline graphics, etc) and this is an issue preventing me completely moving across to Ooo. Some things are great - PDF creation, for example, is a killer feature for me. But rock solid MS Office import/export would be sooooo useful.
And yes, I do appreciate that it is difficult, given the lack of open specs from MS, and the fact that the format themselves is such a messy PITA.
I'll pass on this opportunity. Don't get me wrong, I'll see the movie as soon as it comes out, but too much of the surpise element of Matrix 2 was ruined by watching the trailers and the various "making of..." shows on the TV.
It meant that when I saw the movie, too much of it was already known to me, so that some scenes (esp. the car chase scene) didn't have a gee-whizz element to it. That said, the playground brawl scene with lots of Agent Smith's was still a shock.
I'll pass and hope to be surprised/pleased at the movie theatre, rather than at home watching "the making of matrix 3" style programmes.
My original parent post was a joke, rather than a troll, but hey ho.
I happen to be a Brit living in Britain, and whilst my original post was an attempt at humour, I felt there is an irony about it, as if we're not living in a fascist state, then it is not one I agree with that often. My own opposition (and that of most of my compatriots) didn't stop my democratically elected leadership going to war against a country that hasn't attacked us, for reasons that it may hold maybe 1% of the WMD that we hold (gotta luv those nukes that don't count as WMD, when they are ours). Ignore the fact that Saddam was/is a bastard, because for many years he was our bastard (funded by our nice democratically elected leadership).
The fact that Amnesty and so on started here shows for me that the people are good, but the system is flawed. I have faith in us, but not necessarily our leaders.
This will quickly be abused, much like other rating systems like Amazon's book reviews. Anything worthwhile will ultimately be abused, you can be sure of that.
I can see a two-tier society of the future where you have the "official" class of people who (not only being owned by MS, the government, RIAA, whoever you want to pick on this week) are willing to submit to having this sort of personal DRM so that law enforcement and other agencies know where they are; and also an underclass of people who refuse this "treatment", and as such as denied access to various funky services, perhaps only getting the most basic of social services.
Submit to the chip, join The Club - or live on the outside. Very scary.
My problem with this "trust government" idea is that at the heart of it governments are not some separate life form, they are full of human beings - fallible, corruptable human beings, full of the same human failings that effect everyone. And they make mistakes and steal stuff and get put under pressure like the rest of us. And *that* is why there should not be the central control and power that governments want - sure, they typically don't intend to abuse, but like any system it is only as strong as its weakest link, which will be the most fallible human being in the entire system.
Perhaps these types of experiments are best relegated to little known, deserted islands far away from the reaches of civilization (or perhaps regulation)
Slashdot Mirror
Fenty.
Elite was fab, even if the early ones had wireframe graphics; there was a nice backstory, lots of grinding, choices about combat versus commercial ways to make money. Man, I wasted a lot of time on those games.
It syncs with my PC via USB, so downloading my notes onto the main PC is a snap. The phone part is a bit crap, and I look like an idiot holding this brick up to my ear, but that aside I couldn't live without it, and it is ideal for that sort of very quick / brief notetaking that you describe.
They may have shot themselves it the foot on this one. Dunno about the US, but here in the UK we have strict rules about product placement, particularly in programs aimed at children. Now that they've made all these products real, would they be banned from showing them in the show, in the same way thay they cannot show real beers / colas / etc ?
Instead of "first practical car that increases mileage five-fold" read that as "increase mileage two-fold". We already get 50mpg, you insensitive USians.
The one I currently use is WikiPad a Windows-only app which doesn't use/need a webserver. It just allows me to add free form notes very quickly without structure, but automagically adds Wiki style links when I use CamelCase words in the text. Very lightweight. The only thing I miss about it is the ability to add Wysiwyg style formatting, it's all Courier fixed font stuff. But it's saved me loads of time not having to scribble things down on my paper pad.
I've also used Perspective, a proper Windows based Wysiwyg Wiki, but again installing on a work box can be a pain, so I ususally come back to WikiPad.
Just to correct the submitter, we are called Welsh not Welch. Just like people from Scotland are Scots, not Scotch (which is a type of booze).
Sheesh.
Bear in mind that 1 pound roughly equals 2 US dollars these days, hence that Pentium-III 500mhz comes out at around $2500. Sweet.
Also bear in mind that this store is still active and trading, just that their site is soooooooooo out of date.
But this misses the point - if the XXX billion dollars of software investment and the XXX thousand MS programmers actually worked for other competitors, the pricing/quality "advantages" we now have would be far better than the MS solution/products we have now. The investment that MS has sucked up would have provided a better product(s) than MS has produced.
So yes, competition is good - but open (i.e. non monopoly) competition is even better.
Iain.
What does this have to do with OOo ? Well, I like OOo, and use it on my Mandrake/KDE box at home. For future features/direction, I'd suggest that rather than adding in yet another additional funky feature that less than 1% of people will ever find/use, I'd ensure rock solid filters to import/export from MS Office. I still find OOo's ability to handle complex MS Word docs poor (tables, inline graphics, etc) and this is an issue preventing me completely moving across to Ooo. Some things are great - PDF creation, for example, is a killer feature for me. But rock solid MS Office import/export would be sooooo useful.
And yes, I do appreciate that it is difficult, given the lack of open specs from MS, and the fact that the format themselves is such a messy PITA.
Iain.
...why couldn't the bastard just buy 55 laptops instead ?
It meant that when I saw the movie, too much of it was already known to me, so that some scenes (esp. the car chase scene) didn't have a gee-whizz element to it. That said, the playground brawl scene with lots of Agent Smith's was still a shock.
I'll pass and hope to be surprised/pleased at the movie theatre, rather than at home watching "the making of matrix 3" style programmes.
I happen to be a Brit living in Britain, and whilst my original post was an attempt at humour, I felt there is an irony about it, as if we're not living in a fascist state, then it is not one I agree with that often. My own opposition (and that of most of my compatriots) didn't stop my democratically elected leadership going to war against a country that hasn't attacked us, for reasons that it may hold maybe 1% of the WMD that we hold (gotta luv those nukes that don't count as WMD, when they are ours). Ignore the fact that Saddam was/is a bastard, because for many years he was our bastard (funded by our nice democratically elected leadership).
The fact that Amnesty and so on started here shows for me that the people are good, but the system is flawed. I have faith in us, but not necessarily our leaders.
There is no justice, just us.
Maybe they would be stressed at living in a fascist country that forces them to take lie detector tests for everything.
This will quickly be abused, much like other rating systems like Amazon's book reviews. Anything worthwhile will ultimately be abused, you can be sure of that.
Finally, "Stuff that matters" is true for once.
Errm, dude - you *did* see it !
Submit to the chip, join The Club - or live on the outside. Very scary.
*sigh*
Am I still allowed to sing (off key) to a song in the shower, without owning the original cd ?
And that is what frightens/concerns me.
...where they have insanely high real estate prices, then you'll realise why everything has to be fold up and space efficient. Also looks pretty neat.
A grammar checker ?
What - like Australia ?