Is it just me, or is this somewhat fishy? First, the company posts an almost billion-dollar loss on Friday then botches the BBM to iOS/Android rollout. And then once the share price is driven down to almost $8, sells itself for $9 / share.
That's a surprisingly good point about what makes good radio, and well taken. However, I'd like to offer a counterpoint, and a rebuttal. Ha, I said rebuttal.
What happens when the time of day is no longer important? The Internet is global. I'm someone who goes between GMT-8 and GMT+1 on a regular basis. That's 9 hours of difference. Should we all keep zulu time for our playlists?
And what if we don't want to hear the "segues" and actually just listen to the music? My understanding is that commercial radio requires the chit-chat so that people can't just record the music. I've always resented it and it is a big part of the reason I don't listen to broadcast radio.
Finally, about "spontaneity". Again going on my unlikely-to-be-exactly-correct understanding, but isn't commercial radio the exact opposite of spontaneous?
Personally, I don't care about who brings it to me, but since I've left university, I really appreciate services that let me try and then buy (or not - I'm a paid monthly streaming subscriber) rather than being out of the economy entirely. I spent more last year in my streaming subscription than I had in the previous 5 years on CDs.
Maybe this type of service isn't so bad after all.
A little background first: Panama uses the US Dollar but calls it the "Balboa". 1 Balboa = 1 Dollar and they look exactly the same because they are actually US dollar bills. Doing this has given Panama an economic stability unheard of in Latin America and contributes to the consistent annual 9% economic growth that the country enjoys, all while keeping inflation low.
A couple of years ago, Panama started to mint their own $1 coins. See here: http://www.thepanamanews.com/pn/v_17/issue_02/economy_12.html. Now granted, they can't be used outside Panama and were actually minted in Canada, but the "Martinellis" as the Panamanians call the coins, named after the president, have some significant advantages over dollar bills:
- In a country where dollar bills do not get replaced frequently and are usually filthy, Martinellis are clean and durable. - $1 in Panama can get a lot done for you: groceries bagged and carried to your car, a parking space from a "bien cuidado", and two of them will get you a taxi ride in the city. So dropping one or two coins is a convenient way to pay. - Martinellis represent money that stays inside Panama and can only be used to pay for goods in Panama, thus reducing capital outflow (but of course, not by much as there aren't that many in circulation)
However, this money is minted independently of the US, so it actually represents Panama's own currency. I'm not sure if this is good or bad though.
There is a company that already does exactly this - Good Technology. I investigated using it for our company and it seems to offer exactly what we would need to replace Blackberries with iPhones. But there are some problems that are preventing us from switching:
1. PIN to PIN messages. Unbelievably, these insecure messages are very popular with some users. No other platform supports them because they are the native protocol of the Blackberry. 2. BBM. WhatsApp is a good alternative but you have to convinced all your contacts to get it. 3. No integration of Good with the rest of iOS. So no Siri, calendar integration, etc. It lives in its own little box. Really not ideal.
So between the network effect (1,2) and lack of integration (3) some customers are not yet switching.
I can pick up my new 27" iMac at the Apple store and go get a copy of Windows to run on Boot Camp or VMWare, all without leaving the mall. I think Microsoft has this all figured out!
My first thought about what it would be like to be a user in this situation is that, upon seeing the "site blocked" message, I would simply go hunting around for a similar site - maybe MSNBC instead of CNN for example. It's the content I'm looking for after all - news in this case - that matters. I might have to Google around a bit to find that content of course and try a few alternative sites.
So wouldn't this approach actually increase the bandwidth usage?
As noble as the cause is, this approach doesn't seem very effective to me.
Personally, I have a PSP and, while I initially used it for games, I now use it almost exclusively as a video player. And in that capability, it's great.
I convert videos using the excellent and inexpensive PSPWare program, which takes a little bit of time but reduces the resolution to exactly the PSP's screen and lowers the filesize to about 140 MB per hour. That means with a 2 GB memory stick, you've got plenty to watch. The whole process can be automated as well.
On the battery life front, I've never understood the complaints about batteries. It lasts for about 6 hours at medium brightness and with a cheap USB-5V power adaptor, I charge it at the same time I sync it.
The one physical limitation is how to hold it, a common problem with all video players. I bought a Logitech case which folds backwards and holds the PSP so that it can sit on an airline tray table and be tilted properly.
With a nice pair of Bose noise-cancelling headsets, this thing is my constant companion on flights, because you can even watch it with a meal tray on your table. I often get people asking about it - it seems to particularly intrigue flight attendants.
As for games, I bought four of them but then basically gave up. I keep the Namco classics UMD in the drive but rarely play it. The problem with the PSP (its fatal flaw for gaming) is that it has really lousy ergonomics. The little nubbin thing is useless as an analog controller (and there is only one of them - why?), the shoulder buttons are not very easy to use and if you have large hands like I do, you get cramps from using it too long. I enjoyed Lumines for a while, got annoyed with GTA LCS without the 2nd analog controller, and have actually forgotten what the other game was.
It seems to do several web-related functions as well, but it always runs out of memory or seems to be straining that little processor quite hard, so I've never used these much. I could possibly see using it with my Slingbox but that's not Sony's way.
With all that said, do I feel like I wasted my money? No. It's a darn fine video player and I will be happy to use it that way until it breaks. I've logged many hours watching it that way and fully expect to log many more.
BlackBerry Connect's big problem was that there was no concept of a hardware ID - a 'PIN' in BlackBerry terms. PIN-to-PIN messaging is popular because it is fast, reasonably secure (doesn't use the Internet) and shows when the receiver gets the message. BB Connect didn't support it and I suspect that's part of the poor uptake of the service.
If this doesn't either then I see no reason to use it instead of the push messaging on Windows Mobile, particularly with the overhead of the BB JVM running inside another VM...
I like the idea, and it makes for a smooth site, but is Flash really required for this? Couldn't it be done another way?
Another thought: I imagine that clicking is easier to manage than careful mouse manipulation for people with disabilities. By having to steer the mouse so precisely, it might make the site even harder for them.
Nevertheless, I like the idea. It made me think about UI a bit, something that I haven't done in a while.
Interesting point, because this must be an inherently insecure device - probably the MOST insecure that could possibly be created as it must contain BOTH the private and public keys in order to create these "3x3" files. No matter how obfuscated the code is, these keys are both in there and surely will be extracted, and the whole Zune DRM trust chain will disintegrate.
Oh, and how are us MacBook Pro users going to use the "inflight power" with our monster 85 watt power supplies that don't work on ANY airline?
No toothpaste, no pocket knives, now no laptop. I'm really getting sick of the air travel nazis. It's making the "won't you think of the children" bunch look sane.
I called Apple, they did a few hocus-pocus troubleshooting moves (like unplugging the power cord, taking the battery out then pressing the power button) on the phone, forwarded me to a senior technical specialist who said it's a candidate, and then sent me a box to ship it back today. They claim I'll have it back early next week with a new mobo in it. Easy peasy.
Incidentally, the specialist said that the new mobo is going to be not completely quiet, but a lot better.
Now, I'm wondering if they'll put a 1.83 GHz chip in it like I had before or whether they start at 2.0 GHz like the new models do... here's hoping.
HDTV is certainly possible with the older Minis as well. I have used with great success DisplayConfigX to "add in" 1280x720 resolutions to my PPC Mini. I have it hooked up to a Panasonic PT-AE700U and it's great.
But this is clearly the Mini that Apple should have released in the first place. The remote and digital audio out were the two most annoying problems with creating my home theatre Mac Mini. The remote was relatively easy, just use a keyspan remote. But the digital audio is an unsolvable problem due to the lack of Mac-compatible 5.1 solutions.
Bottom line; even for this PPC user this is a great upgrade. Good news is that PPC minis are still great Internet surfing devices with a cheap monitor and keyboard/mouse attached so my old one won't go 'spare'.
That's funny, my Pioneer HDTV box (not DVR) from Time Warner powers off every so often as well. New box didn't seem to replace it. Must be something with their cable system.
FYI, the Pioneer box DOES have DVI (HDCP) and SVideo output enabled. I use the S-video as input for my Beyond TV PVR and get decent, non-HDTV, results.
No, it won't. Bluetooth defines 'profiles' of what devices are capable of, and this one is only capable of being used as a mobile phone headset. That also means that Bluetooth cannot be used to sync this device.
Slashdot Mirror
Don't you mean "cat and mouse"?
Oh, right. Got it.
Aren't they called string theorists?
How do they prove that this source code is actually what was compiled?
Is it just me, or is this somewhat fishy? First, the company posts an almost billion-dollar loss on Friday then botches the BBM to iOS/Android rollout. And then once the share price is driven down to almost $8, sells itself for $9 / share.
And of course there is this: http://www.thestar.com/business/2013/08/16/blackberry_ceo_thorsten_heins_could_get_556_million_if_ousted_after_sale.html
That's a surprisingly good point about what makes good radio, and well taken. However, I'd like to offer a counterpoint, and a rebuttal. Ha, I said rebuttal.
What happens when the time of day is no longer important? The Internet is global. I'm someone who goes between GMT-8 and GMT+1 on a regular basis. That's 9 hours of difference. Should we all keep zulu time for our playlists?
And what if we don't want to hear the "segues" and actually just listen to the music? My understanding is that commercial radio requires the chit-chat so that people can't just record the music. I've always resented it and it is a big part of the reason I don't listen to broadcast radio.
Finally, about "spontaneity". Again going on my unlikely-to-be-exactly-correct understanding, but isn't commercial radio the exact opposite of spontaneous?
Personally, I don't care about who brings it to me, but since I've left university, I really appreciate services that let me try and then buy (or not - I'm a paid monthly streaming subscriber) rather than being out of the economy entirely. I spent more last year in my streaming subscription than I had in the previous 5 years on CDs.
Maybe this type of service isn't so bad after all.
Just my opinion.
A little background first: Panama uses the US Dollar but calls it the "Balboa". 1 Balboa = 1 Dollar and they look exactly the same because they are actually US dollar bills. Doing this has given Panama an economic stability unheard of in Latin America and contributes to the consistent annual 9% economic growth that the country enjoys, all while keeping inflation low.
A couple of years ago, Panama started to mint their own $1 coins. See here: http://www.thepanamanews.com/pn/v_17/issue_02/economy_12.html. Now granted, they can't be used outside Panama and were actually minted in Canada, but the "Martinellis" as the Panamanians call the coins, named after the president, have some significant advantages over dollar bills:
- In a country where dollar bills do not get replaced frequently and are usually filthy, Martinellis are clean and durable.
- $1 in Panama can get a lot done for you: groceries bagged and carried to your car, a parking space from a "bien cuidado", and two of them will get you a taxi ride in the city. So dropping one or two coins is a convenient way to pay.
- Martinellis represent money that stays inside Panama and can only be used to pay for goods in Panama, thus reducing capital outflow (but of course, not by much as there aren't that many in circulation)
However, this money is minted independently of the US, so it actually represents Panama's own currency. I'm not sure if this is good or bad though.
... you just have to be a developer under NDA to read them. There are lots of changes and improvements but it's still beta software.
There is a company that already does exactly this - Good Technology. I investigated using it for our company and it seems to offer exactly what we would need to replace Blackberries with iPhones. But there are some problems that are preventing us from switching:
1. PIN to PIN messages. Unbelievably, these insecure messages are very popular with some users. No other platform supports them because they are the native protocol of the Blackberry.
2. BBM. WhatsApp is a good alternative but you have to convinced all your contacts to get it.
3. No integration of Good with the rest of iOS. So no Siri, calendar integration, etc. It lives in its own little box. Really not ideal.
So between the network effect (1,2) and lack of integration (3) some customers are not yet switching.
Is it not possible to make the cell sites closer together? Or would this require actual capital investment on the side of the carriers?
This is truly hilarious... http://thestallmandialogues.com/
I can pick up my new 27" iMac at the Apple store and go get a copy of Windows to run on Boot Camp or VMWare, all without leaving the mall. I think Microsoft has this all figured out!
http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/09/04/2012220/The-Register-Hacked
Test run?
My first thought about what it would be like to be a user in this situation is that, upon seeing the "site blocked" message, I would simply go hunting around for a similar site - maybe MSNBC instead of CNN for example. It's the content I'm looking for after all - news in this case - that matters. I might have to Google around a bit to find that content of course and try a few alternative sites. So wouldn't this approach actually increase the bandwidth usage? As noble as the cause is, this approach doesn't seem very effective to me.
It's hard to believe this kind of stuff, really. Can you imagine a parallel in any other industry where the company is so against its own customers?
Regulation doesn't work. Bring on proper competition.
Personally, I have a PSP and, while I initially used it for games, I now use it almost exclusively as a video player. And in that capability, it's great.
I convert videos using the excellent and inexpensive PSPWare program, which takes a little bit of time but reduces the resolution to exactly the PSP's screen and lowers the filesize to about 140 MB per hour. That means with a 2 GB memory stick, you've got plenty to watch. The whole process can be automated as well.
On the battery life front, I've never understood the complaints about batteries. It lasts for about 6 hours at medium brightness and with a cheap USB-5V power adaptor, I charge it at the same time I sync it.
The one physical limitation is how to hold it, a common problem with all video players. I bought a Logitech case which folds backwards and holds the PSP so that it can sit on an airline tray table and be tilted properly.
With a nice pair of Bose noise-cancelling headsets, this thing is my constant companion on flights, because you can even watch it with a meal tray on your table. I often get people asking about it - it seems to particularly intrigue flight attendants.
As for games, I bought four of them but then basically gave up. I keep the Namco classics UMD in the drive but rarely play it. The problem with the PSP (its fatal flaw for gaming) is that it has really lousy ergonomics. The little nubbin thing is useless as an analog controller (and there is only one of them - why?), the shoulder buttons are not very easy to use and if you have large hands like I do, you get cramps from using it too long. I enjoyed Lumines for a while, got annoyed with GTA LCS without the 2nd analog controller, and have actually forgotten what the other game was.
It seems to do several web-related functions as well, but it always runs out of memory or seems to be straining that little processor quite hard, so I've never used these much. I could possibly see using it with my Slingbox but that's not Sony's way.
With all that said, do I feel like I wasted my money? No. It's a darn fine video player and I will be happy to use it that way until it breaks. I've logged many hours watching it that way and fully expect to log many more.
BlackBerry Connect's big problem was that there was no concept of a hardware ID - a 'PIN' in BlackBerry terms. PIN-to-PIN messaging is popular because it is fast, reasonably secure (doesn't use the Internet) and shows when the receiver gets the message. BB Connect didn't support it and I suspect that's part of the poor uptake of the service. If this doesn't either then I see no reason to use it instead of the push messaging on Windows Mobile, particularly with the overhead of the BB JVM running inside another VM...
I like the idea, and it makes for a smooth site, but is Flash really required for this? Couldn't it be done another way?
Another thought: I imagine that clicking is easier to manage than careful mouse manipulation for people with disabilities. By having to steer the mouse so precisely, it might make the site even harder for them.
Nevertheless, I like the idea. It made me think about UI a bit, something that I haven't done in a while.
Interesting point, because this must be an inherently insecure device - probably the MOST insecure that could possibly be created as it must contain BOTH the private and public keys in order to create these "3x3" files. No matter how obfuscated the code is, these keys are both in there and surely will be extracted, and the whole Zune DRM trust chain will disintegrate.
So where does this Opera browser get downloaded to? Flash memory - or do you burn a CD?
Unless I'm wrong and the Wii has a hard drive, but I don't think it does, right?
Oh, and how are us MacBook Pro users going to use the "inflight power" with our monster 85 watt power supplies that don't work on ANY airline?
No toothpaste, no pocket knives, now no laptop. I'm really getting sick of the air travel nazis. It's making the "won't you think of the children" bunch look sane.
Just got my MacBook Pro back and - the whining is still there. It's not as noticeable and is well within the "tolerable" level, but it isn't gone.
I called Apple, they did a few hocus-pocus troubleshooting moves (like unplugging the power cord, taking the battery out then pressing the power button) on the phone, forwarded me to a senior technical specialist who said it's a candidate, and then sent me a box to ship it back today. They claim I'll have it back early next week with a new mobo in it. Easy peasy.
Incidentally, the specialist said that the new mobo is going to be not completely quiet, but a lot better.
Now, I'm wondering if they'll put a 1.83 GHz chip in it like I had before or whether they start at 2.0 GHz like the new models do... here's hoping.
HDTV is certainly possible with the older Minis as well. I have used with great success DisplayConfigX to "add in" 1280x720 resolutions to my PPC Mini. I have it hooked up to a Panasonic PT-AE700U and it's great.
But this is clearly the Mini that Apple should have released in the first place. The remote and digital audio out were the two most annoying problems with creating my home theatre Mac Mini. The remote was relatively easy, just use a keyspan remote. But the digital audio is an unsolvable problem due to the lack of Mac-compatible 5.1 solutions.
Bottom line; even for this PPC user this is a great upgrade. Good news is that PPC minis are still great Internet surfing devices with a cheap monitor and keyboard/mouse attached so my old one won't go 'spare'.
That's funny, my Pioneer HDTV box (not DVR) from Time Warner powers off every so often as well. New box didn't seem to replace it. Must be something with their cable system. FYI, the Pioneer box DOES have DVI (HDCP) and SVideo output enabled. I use the S-video as input for my Beyond TV PVR and get decent, non-HDTV, results.
No, it won't. Bluetooth defines 'profiles' of what devices are capable of, and this one is only capable of being used as a mobile phone headset. That also means that Bluetooth cannot be used to sync this device.