You're basically correct about how SGI did the port... they created an IRIX to Linux VFS mapping layer, as described in the papers on this page:
XFS Talks and Papers.
All the console manufacturers sell the hardware at below cost - they don't bother trying to make money on the hardware. Instead, they make money on the licensing fees attached to the games - and given that Xbox games (in the UK, at least) cost around 45UKP (about 65USD), you can see how it can quickly add up...
It uses the Inmarsat network of geostationary satellites - there are four satellites that cover most of the globe, up to around 75 degress north and south.
Inmarsat terminals can be quite small: modern terminals are basically the size of a laptop PC, with a fold-out three panel antenna which you mount on the lid (e.g. Nera World Communicator). You generally tell the terminal your position on the globe, and it tells you which direction to point the antenna to see the satellite. It doesn't need to be pin point accurate, and you'll have a signal strength meter so you just wiggle the thing about until you get the best signal. I think the videophone has a 40cm folding antenna that you connect externally.
For data, your computer sees the satellite terminal as though it were an ISDN line, and you get up to 64kbps - hence the restrictions to the audio/video quality. The key thing about 7E's videophone is that all the kit you need is integrated into a single case, and it's been made simple enough for news field crews to use.
In fact there are loads of these MultiPhones around London, and the Internet access is completely free until the end of June. As a result, I rarely see one that is not being used!
More details on the phones here. Incidentally, the BT phones run QNX - they decided NT was not appropriate for a device that had to run continuously and reliably!
I can honestly say that the sportscaster
crap is kept to a minimum - but I'm guessing that that's because the English are not very good at it
Woah there! More likely the "sportscaster crap" is not present in the BBC programme because it is cheesy, pointless, unconvincing and a general waste of time!!!
Well, Sun, for example, sold 500 $1 million-plus refrigerator-sized E10000's last quarter alone. There are probably more people out there who want this kind of stuff than you might think...
both users and developers can handle the 2nd button
Not true for many of the users Apple is aiming at. Remember that there are probably millions of people who can't even use their VCR or microwave oven properly. If the mouse only has one button then you don't have to think about which button to press... you just press it! And as people have already said, two button mice are readily available and are supported by the OS.
The important thing, particularly for the iMac/iBook is that the machine is as simple to use as possible. Having one mouse button goes a long way towards helping achieve this.
Surely the thing that makes Slashdot valuable is its content, not the particular Perl scripts that generate the HTML? I would have thought that most of the people who read Slashdot could easily produce a site with similar functionality, but that's not the point. One of the biggest factors behind the "value" of a website like thisis the number of readers... and you get readers by having useful content. I think the fact that it might use some clever Perl is way down on most peoples' priorities list.
I think you're wrong about WIRED... after it changed hands it did appear to go on a diet for a few months... and that certainly put me off buying it.
Obviously Conde Nast had to try and discover what the market for the magazine was, and then work out how to sell advertising in it. This they appear to have done, because the last issue I bought was back up to a decent size... true there are a lot of ads, but that's how magazines make their money. It's a healthy sign if a magazine has lots of ads in it.
I think the content of WIRED is going to drift back to its old self... the article featuring close-ups of old computers that was in the last issue would not have appeared in the "thin" WIRED, and I doubt things like "InfoPorn" would have either. That they're doing this kind of stuff again is also a good sign.
Don't get me wrong... I'm no great WIRED supporter, and if they screw up then I stop reading, but they've obviously just been through a dodgy patch, and it would be a shame to see them disappear.
BYTE, on the other, was in a real state just before it left us, and it was almost a relief to see it put out of its misery!
Unfortunately, much of the BBC's "widescreen" output is in the 14:9 format (ie, thin black bars), which pleases no-one.
Not quite true. The digital versions of the BBC's channels (as available via satellite (Sky Digital) or through your TV aerial (onDigital)) are in full 16:9 widescreen. When the analogue BBC channels show a programme that was originally made in 16:9, they compromise and cut it down to 14:9, which cuts off some of the sides and gives you thin black bars.
but for real world work, it's only a good license if you don't mind handing all your work back to Sun
But it is good in the sense that if you want to use Solaris as your OS you surely are going to be more happy if you know that the source is out there and being scrutinized by many more people than some other commercial UNIX.
Personally, I've never used an Amiga box, but I've heard some very good things about Amiga, and I'd love to try it.
It's true that the original Amiga was an astonishingly good machine in its time, and indeed was the machine of choice for people who in the mid-90s would have been Linux geeks.
But the only thing the new Amiga, should it ever appear, will have in common with the original Amiga is its name, so you can't really hope to compare the two. Different companies, different designers, different world, etc.
Slashdot Mirror
Brushed Metal is for all "digital lifestyle" applications.
;-)
Yeah... the "Calculator" app is really the centrepiece of my "digital lifestyle", baby!
OBSERVATION: The "More Info" button in the About Finder window, which launches Apple System Profiler, is missing.
A small correction... the "More Info" button is actually in the "About this Mac" window, not the "About Finder" window.
You're basically correct about how SGI did the port... they created an IRIX to Linux VFS mapping layer, as described in the papers on this page: XFS Talks and Papers.
All the console manufacturers sell the hardware at below cost - they don't bother trying to make money on the hardware. Instead, they make money on the licensing fees attached to the games - and given that Xbox games (in the UK, at least) cost around 45UKP (about 65USD), you can see how it can quickly add up...
The BBC's John Simpson in Afghanistan is currently using two of these 7E videophones hooked together, to get an aggregate 128kbps bandwidth.
Inmarsat terminals can be quite small: modern terminals are basically the size of a laptop PC, with a fold-out three panel antenna which you mount on the lid (e.g. Nera World Communicator). You generally tell the terminal your position on the globe, and it tells you which direction to point the antenna to see the satellite. It doesn't need to be pin point accurate, and you'll have a signal strength meter so you just wiggle the thing about until you get the best signal. I think the videophone has a 40cm folding antenna that you connect externally.
For data, your computer sees the satellite terminal as though it were an ISDN line, and you get up to 64kbps - hence the restrictions to the audio/video quality. The key thing about 7E's videophone is that all the kit you need is integrated into a single case, and it's been made simple enough for news field crews to use.
In fact there are loads of these MultiPhones around London, and the Internet access is completely free until the end of June. As a result, I rarely see one that is not being used!
More details on the phones here. Incidentally, the BT phones run QNX - they decided NT was not appropriate for a device that had to run continuously and reliably!
crap is kept to a minimum - but I'm guessing that that's because the English are not very good at it
Woah there! More likely the "sportscaster crap" is not present in the BBC programme because it is cheesy, pointless, unconvincing and a general waste of time!!!
Hah!
You might not be rated as a troll if perhaps you explained a little bit about why you think "Swing is still a horrible pile of crap"... so?
Has anyone considered that these designs may be for the Japanese market only? They do look a bit "Hello Kitty"...
Not all of Sony's stuff is for all markets - they don't sell their desktop VAIO machines in the UK, for example, just the laptops.
Hmm... well if you install *everything* in the beta version you eat up about 2GB of space... it came on two CD's...
But, as you say, you don't have to install everything.
Well, Sun, for example, sold 500 $1 million-plus refrigerator-sized E10000's last quarter alone. There are probably more people out there who want this kind of stuff than you might think...
both users and developers can handle the 2nd button
Not true for many of the users Apple is aiming at. Remember that there are probably millions of people who can't even use their VCR or microwave oven properly. If the mouse only has one button then you don't have to think about which button to press... you just press it! And as people have already said, two button mice are readily available and are supported by the OS.
The important thing, particularly for the iMac/iBook is that the machine is as simple to use as possible. Having one mouse button goes a long way towards helping achieve this.
The kernel and other bits (called Darwin) are Open Source. See Apple's site for details.
Surely the thing that makes Slashdot valuable is its content, not the particular Perl scripts that generate the HTML? I would have thought that most of the people who read Slashdot could easily produce a site with similar functionality, but that's not the point. One of the biggest factors behind the "value" of a website like thisis the number of readers... and you get readers by having useful content. I think the fact that it might use some clever Perl is way down on most peoples' priorities list.
Obviously Conde Nast had to try and discover what the market for the magazine was, and then work out how to sell advertising in it. This they appear to have done, because the last issue I bought was back up to a decent size... true there are a lot of ads, but that's how magazines make their money. It's a healthy sign if a magazine has lots of ads in it.
I think the content of WIRED is going to drift back to its old self... the article featuring close-ups of old computers that was in the last issue would not have appeared in the "thin" WIRED, and I doubt things like "InfoPorn" would have either. That they're doing this kind of stuff again is also a good sign.
Don't get me wrong... I'm no great WIRED supporter, and if they screw up then I stop reading, but they've obviously just been through a dodgy patch, and it would be a shame to see them disappear.
BYTE, on the other, was in a real state just before it left us, and it was almost a relief to see it put out of its misery!
Umm, but no-one in the UK transmits PAL Plus.
Except for Channel 4, of course.
Unfortunately, much of the BBC's "widescreen" output is in the 14:9 format (ie, thin black bars), which pleases no-one.
:-(
Not quite true. The digital versions of the BBC's channels (as available via satellite (Sky Digital) or through your TV aerial (onDigital)) are in full 16:9 widescreen. When the analogue BBC channels show a programme that was originally made in 16:9, they compromise and cut it down to 14:9, which cuts off some of the sides and gives you thin black bars.
Still waiting for digital cable TV, though...
But it is good in the sense that if you want to use Solaris as your OS you surely are going to be more happy if you know that the source is out there and being scrutinized by many more people than some other commercial UNIX.
Personally, I've never used an Amiga box, but I've heard some very good things about Amiga, and I'd love to try it.
It's true that the original Amiga was an astonishingly good machine in its time, and indeed was the machine of choice for people who in the mid-90s would have been Linux geeks.
But the only thing the new Amiga, should it ever appear, will have in common with the original Amiga is its name, so you can't really hope to compare the two. Different companies, different designers, different world, etc.
You're forgetting their supposedly very exciting non-Intel CPU.