As a long time fan of Enlightenment, I feel really sad about its current state. What happened? Why did development stall for this long? Was it just an issue of time, or is there more to the story? And what can we expect for the future?
I believe you are missing the point of this product. If I understand correctly, it is not meant to make you type faster, but rather type more comfortably. If it works, I think it will be a useful product, although I have a hard time imagining that anything will replace the keyboard as the main input device.
The keyboard's main advantage is its simplicity. All the keys are right there in front of you. No need for flipping it backwards or sideways looking for ways to input your text. Its main disadvantage is the impact on your wrist and back after prolonged use.
One main advantage for the AlphaGrip though is its integration of the keyboard with the mouse. This is cool and can save a lot of time and wrist pain. If you are like me, you don't use the mouse properly. To navigate the mouse ergonomically, only the shoulder and elbow are allowed to move. No wrist movement. No part of your hand touching the surface. Your whole arm should move as one entity. Most people, me included, anchor the bottom of their wrists against the surface, and move their wrists to navigate the mouse. This is wrong, and bad for the wrists.
I gradually developed my own touch typing system, I guess.
I never took any typing classes either. IRC and the Sierra adventure games taught me how to type very quickly using just 3-4 fingers in each hand (the right pinkie being reserved for the backspace). My brother used to log onto IRC through my account, and people used to instantly know it wasn't me just by his slower typing. The drawback to this was that I had to glance at the keyboard every now and then or else I would make way too many mistakes.
But one day, I stumbled upon a website (circa 1996, not too many websites back then) that taught typing. I was just starting to type in a report for one of my courses, so I decided to take my time and do it "properly". Ah.. how painful that was at the beginning! But, by the end of the 10-page report I was very comfortable with touch typing. And now, I can type very fast (never really timed myself) without looking at the keyboard and with barely any mistakes. I believe it was one of the best things I have done.
A while ago, we received an email at work announcing a "movie night" in the company's backyard. The movie was going to be projected on a big screen, there was free popcorn, and families were invited. A few minutes later, the whole company received a reply to that email from a new employee who apparently hit 'Reply All' instead of 'Forward'. The email was directed to a female friend of his, with the whole company on CC. The email said something like:
"Let's rub shoulders with [Company Name] commonfolk. There's going to be kids and $hit. Free popcorn though."
"As Spiderman, Pavitr leaps around rickshaws and scooters in Indian streets, while swinging from monuments such as the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal."
"Spiderman India interweaves the local customs, culture and mystery of modern India, with an eye to making Spiderman's mythology more relevant to this particular audience"
The key question is What does a pHD actually mean?
I'm not sure why you have that weird capitalization. PhD stands for Doctor of Philosophy, but I'm sure that wasn't your question:)
If pHD is meant to be a sign of knowledge in the subject then this shows i surely the counter example show this is not the case.
That is perfectly true. Unfortunately, I don't believe this guy is alone. During my time as a graduate student, I found out that many papers, written by rather well-known PhDs had results that I couldn't reproduce. First I thought it was me, afterall, who am I to question those people's results? After many unsuccessful attempts, I took it to my supervisor who said something like: "Oh, this person is known for his exaggeration in his results." Another PhD candidate at my university spent 11 years getting his degree. He was finally awarded a PhD, probably just to let him go somewhere else. His papers were a mess!!!
The sad part is that academia, like real life, really depends on who you know (unless you're an exceptional, and lucky person). Undeserving papers get published just because the head of the journal's comittee is the author's acquaintance. Alternatively, I have heard of several cases where papers didn't get published because the results they presented contradicted with the reviewer's own theories.
His thesis would have demanded more critical examination than a research paper. So i think it's fair to say that he earned that pHD
Yes and No. Many publications, unfortunately, aren't properly reviewed. Many reviewers don't even read the papers, and just randomly (more or less) give their recommendations. Once, in one of my papers, I made a rather grave mistake that would've been obvious to anyone remotely acquainted with the field (image registration and feature detection). Out of 4 reviewers, I got two excellent ones that recommended publication of the paper as is, and two pointed out the problem, among others. So, examination of PhD theses can be a real problem.
As to whether this guy deserves his degree, I would say he doesn't. Fabricating data does nothing to improve research. If anything, it hinders the progress of science. Would an accountant who fabricate numbers deserve to become CFO?
The BlackBerry does not meet my personal needs for a portable computing device.
I have a blackberry, and it is primarily a personal communication device. To that extent, it does its job pretty well.
I want a screen that's as close to paperback book size as possible, and either no built-in keyboard or a fold-over clamshell design with a good size built-in keyboard. Also, it has to connect to OS X and Linux, and not require purchase of Microsoft software. 802.11b and Bluetooth are also big pluses.
While such a device would be uberly cool, it is too cumbersome for the average user. What exactly are you planning to use this device for? How often are you going to carry it? *How* are you going to carry it? I see almost no use for such a device on a day-to-day basis, but I never claimed to be a visionary.
I don't want a PDA phone because I want a PDA screen that would result in a phone that's way too large. I just don't get the whole PDA phone thing, in fact.
And, I don't see the whole *PDA* thing. I'm seriously curious as to what PDAs are used for in real life? I spend 8-10 hours a day at work where I sit in front of two PCs. Then, I spend most of the rest of my wake-up time at home, where I have two PCs. On weekends, I prefer to spend time with family and friends whom I don't get to spend too much time with otherwise. Why would I need a PDA for? The screen is too small for anything useful but browsing through contacts and shopping lists. The input mechanisms are too slow and sloppy.
PDAs have NO killer app. That is why manufacturers are scrambling to combine them with other devices in an effort to save the millions of dollars they spent on developing them. The most notable of those are cell phones and MP3 players. PDAs by themselves are useless (and yes.. I own a PDA, and have had two other PDAs before).
These two programs have almost nothing in common, except that you could probably use banner to create the art for this program.
That was my point. This program doesn't seem to be anything but a slightly sophisticated version of 'banner' that is able to intercept and send packets over a Cisco network. As I said before, nothing new...
On a slightly related note, Infinium Labs' website claims that their "Phantom Gaming Service" will debut at E3 in Los Angeles, May 12-14, 2004. That's now!
Anybody with more information? Did they actually show anything that works? I wonder what this "Service" is!
A large portion of the Egyptian population are actually Nubian (probably about 50% overall from what I could see with this figure tending towards 100% further south) and their physical features are more Sudanese.
And the last time I checked, Sudan was an Arabic country.
If Egyptians aren't Arabs, then Americans aren't American.
Perhaps it wasn't 17000 feet tall at the time. Simply because the earth currently has "deep" oceans and "high" mountains doesn't mean that it always did.
Apart from changes synthetically made by human civilization, the geography of Earth hasn't changed much in the past 5000 years. Mount Ararat was as big then as it is now.
Then go ahead.. wait tables.. in 5 years, you will still be waiting tables.. with the same salary or slightly better.. in 10 years you might actually get a $10k increase and be promoted to work at the bar. 15 more years and you might become the restaurant manager were you get to rub shoulders with the elite regulars. Then you actually might afford to buy your own house.
Why does the younger generation think that they should be worshipped because of their CS degrees? No offense to the OP, but CS graduates now are a dime a dozen. In India, a dime could even get you a few dozens. Just be thankful that you have a job. Once you work for a couple of years, you'll be able to better judge what your next move should be. And, if you want my advice, work hard, and try to distinguish yourself at work. Look for something useful, and do it well, better than anybody else. Be proactive and do more than you're asked to. I can't be more specific as it really depends on what kind of job you'll be doing. But, keep this in mind, and you will reap the benefits later.
As a side note, I once tried to calculate how much my barber makes a year. I was living in Montreal then, and making in the mid $80K CDN. The barber charged $20 per cut excluding tips, worked alone, and his place was always full. On a bad day, he would cut 20 heads at least, which gave him $400/day. He worked 6 days a week, which means 313 days a year. 313 * 400 = $125.2K/year minimum! I can only imagine what my wife's hair stylist (who charges > $35 for a normal cut) makes. The down-side is that it's a pretty boring job, from my point of view at least.
Aloni developed CoLinux along with several Japanese programmers...
It's amazing how all the glory is given to the Israeli, boasting how he's the genius of the group while the other "Japanese programmers" simply helped.
What's even more amazing is that most of the screenshots show Japanese text in the background, indicating that most of the work was done by these "Japanese programmers", while the Israeli is apparently piggybacking along for the ride.
Nothing new there. Just your typical western media bias.
Barring that, Intel could have simply browsed to AMD's web page and downloaded it themselves.
Doubtful. Intel probably started working on this way before AMD's documents became public, or else they would still be far behind. The most probable scenario is that they somehow acquired some of the early Athlon64 chips and reverse-engineered them.
what would keep Novell from doing the same (flush SuSE as SCO flushed Caldera), starting this whole nightmare over again.
They can't even if they wanted to. SCO's downfall will create a legal precedence that will only strengthen the GPL's legal footing. From then on, any GPLed code will undisputedly be recognized as so.
In the early days programmers [were] physicists, engineers, and math[e]maticians. Today programmers are just programmers.
You bring up an interesting point, that, IMHO, is only partly correct. In today's world, most programmers are simply programmers. These are the ones who chose to study computer science or engineering just because it is the current buzz word, and that it was the best way to make a quick buck during the internet boom. Recent polls show that the number of people enrolling in CS is diminishing. Good riddance, I say.
But, you still have the good programmers, who program because they love it irrespective of their profession. Those are the ones who stand out among the crowd, like Linus Torvalds or Richard Stallman.
It might seem that back in the old days, programmers were better than today's. The truth is simply that there are many more programmers today that it's getting harder to filter out the good from the bad. Unfortunately.
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As a long time fan of Enlightenment, I feel really sad about its current state. What happened? Why did development stall for this long? Was it just an issue of time, or is there more to the story? And what can we expect for the future?
Knowing Microsoft, this standard will change its name 4 times before it is officially released, and twice thereafter.
Let me guess: Fry's?
The keyboard's main advantage is its simplicity. All the keys are right there in front of you. No need for flipping it backwards or sideways looking for ways to input your text. Its main disadvantage is the impact on your wrist and back after prolonged use.
One main advantage for the AlphaGrip though is its integration of the keyboard with the mouse. This is cool and can save a lot of time and wrist pain. If you are like me, you don't use the mouse properly. To navigate the mouse ergonomically, only the shoulder and elbow are allowed to move. No wrist movement. No part of your hand touching the surface. Your whole arm should move as one entity. Most people, me included, anchor the bottom of their wrists against the surface, and move their wrists to navigate the mouse. This is wrong, and bad for the wrists.
I never took any typing classes either. IRC and the Sierra adventure games taught me how to type very quickly using just 3-4 fingers in each hand (the right pinkie being reserved for the backspace). My brother used to log onto IRC through my account, and people used to instantly know it wasn't me just by his slower typing. The drawback to this was that I had to glance at the keyboard every now and then or else I would make way too many mistakes.
But one day, I stumbled upon a website (circa 1996, not too many websites back then) that taught typing. I was just starting to type in a report for one of my courses, so I decided to take my time and do it "properly". Ah .. how painful that was at the beginning! But, by the end of the 10-page report I was very comfortable with touch typing. And now, I can type very fast (never really timed myself) without looking at the keyboard and with barely any mistakes. I believe it was one of the best things I have done.
"Let's rub shoulders with [Company Name] commonfolk. There's going to be kids and $hit. Free popcorn though."
That guy got some nastry replies!
"As Spiderman, Pavitr leaps around rickshaws and scooters in Indian streets, while swinging from monuments such as the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal."
"Spiderman India interweaves the local customs, culture and mystery of modern India, with an eye to making Spiderman's mythology more relevant to this particular audience"
I'm not sure why you have that weird capitalization. PhD stands for Doctor of Philosophy, but I'm sure that wasn't your question
If pHD is meant to be a sign of knowledge in the subject then this shows i surely
the counter example show this is not the case.
That is perfectly true. Unfortunately, I don't believe this guy is alone. During my time as a graduate student, I found out that many papers, written by rather well-known PhDs had results that I couldn't reproduce. First I thought it was me, afterall, who am I to question those people's results? After many unsuccessful attempts, I took it to my supervisor who said something like: "Oh, this person is known for his exaggeration in his results." Another PhD candidate at my university spent 11 years getting his degree. He was finally awarded a PhD, probably just to let him go somewhere else. His papers were a mess!!!
The sad part is that academia, like real life, really depends on who you know (unless you're an exceptional, and lucky person). Undeserving papers get published just because the head of the journal's comittee is the author's acquaintance. Alternatively, I have heard of several cases where papers didn't get published because the results they presented contradicted with the reviewer's own theories.
His thesis would have demanded more critical examination than a research paper. So i think it's fair to say that he earned that pHD
Yes and No. Many publications, unfortunately, aren't properly reviewed. Many reviewers don't even read the papers, and just randomly (more or less) give their recommendations. Once, in one of my papers, I made a rather grave mistake that would've been obvious to anyone remotely acquainted with the field (image registration and feature detection). Out of 4 reviewers, I got two excellent ones that recommended publication of the paper as is, and two pointed out the problem, among others. So, examination of PhD theses can be a real problem.
As to whether this guy deserves his degree, I would say he doesn't. Fabricating data does nothing to improve research. If anything, it hinders the progress of science. Would an accountant who fabricate numbers deserve to become CFO?
And if everything else fails, you can always fire up Emacs and split the screen however you want.
I have a blackberry, and it is primarily a personal communication device. To that extent, it does its job pretty well.
I want a screen that's as close to paperback book size as possible, and either no built-in keyboard or a fold-over clamshell design with a good size built-in keyboard. Also, it has to connect to OS X and Linux, and not require purchase of Microsoft software. 802.11b and Bluetooth are also big pluses.
While such a device would be uberly cool, it is too cumbersome for the average user. What exactly are you planning to use this device for? How often are you going to carry it? *How* are you going to carry it? I see almost no use for such a device on a day-to-day basis, but I never claimed to be a visionary.
I don't want a PDA phone because I want a PDA screen that would result in a phone that's way too large. I just don't get the whole PDA phone thing, in fact.
And, I don't see the whole *PDA* thing. I'm seriously curious as to what PDAs are used for in real life? I spend 8-10 hours a day at work where I sit in front of two PCs. Then, I spend most of the rest of my wake-up time at home, where I have two PCs. On weekends, I prefer to spend time with family and friends whom I don't get to spend too much time with otherwise. Why would I need a PDA for? The screen is too small for anything useful but browsing through contacts and shopping lists. The input mechanisms are too slow and sloppy.
PDAs have NO killer app. That is why manufacturers are scrambling to combine them with other devices in an effort to save the millions of dollars they spent on developing them. The most notable of those are cell phones and MP3 players. PDAs by themselves are useless (and yes .. I own a PDA, and have had two other PDAs before).
You seem to be new around here :)
Someone who probably understood what I meant.
These two programs have almost nothing in common, except that you could probably use banner to create the art for this program.
That was my point. This program doesn't seem to be anything but a slightly sophisticated version of 'banner' that is able to intercept and send packets over a Cisco network. As I said before, nothing new ...
How is this different from 'banner'?
Anybody with more information? Did they actually show anything that works? I wonder what this "Service" is!
And the last time I checked, Sudan was an Arabic country.
If Egyptians aren't Arabs, then Americans aren't American.
You are assuming people in biblical times had a sense of humour. Judging from the Bible, they don't!
Apart from changes synthetically made by human civilization, the geography of Earth hasn't changed much in the past 5000 years. Mount Ararat was as big then as it is now.
No it is not. Can you point the exact verse where it says so?
Some people believe it is the resting place of the Ark just because it is very hard to look for it there, and they have failed to find it elsewhere.
Then go ahead .. wait tables .. in 5 years, you will still be waiting tables .. with the same salary or slightly better .. in 10 years you might actually get a $10k increase and be promoted to work at the bar. 15 more years and you might become the restaurant manager were you get to rub shoulders with the elite regulars. Then you actually might afford to buy your own house.
Why does the younger generation think that they should be worshipped because of their CS degrees? No offense to the OP, but CS graduates now are a dime a dozen. In India, a dime could even get you a few dozens. Just be thankful that you have a job. Once you work for a couple of years, you'll be able to better judge what your next move should be. And, if you want my advice, work hard, and try to distinguish yourself at work. Look for something useful, and do it well, better than anybody else. Be proactive and do more than you're asked to. I can't be more specific as it really depends on what kind of job you'll be doing. But, keep this in mind, and you will reap the benefits later.
As a side note, I once tried to calculate how much my barber makes a year. I was living in Montreal then, and making in the mid $80K CDN. The barber charged $20 per cut excluding tips, worked alone, and his place was always full. On a bad day, he would cut 20 heads at least, which gave him $400/day. He worked 6 days a week, which means 313 days a year. 313 * 400 = $125.2K/year minimum! I can only imagine what my wife's hair stylist (who charges > $35 for a normal cut) makes. The down-side is that it's a pretty boring job, from my point of view at least.
It's amazing how all the glory is given to the Israeli, boasting how he's the genius of the group while the other "Japanese programmers" simply helped.
What's even more amazing is that most of the screenshots show Japanese text in the background, indicating that most of the work was done by these "Japanese programmers", while the Israeli is apparently piggybacking along for the ride.
Nothing new there. Just your typical western media bias.
Doubtful. Intel probably started working on this way before AMD's documents became public, or else they would still be far behind. The most probable scenario is that they somehow acquired some of the early Athlon64 chips and reverse-engineered them.
Any idea what prompted them to reveal this backdoor? Did somebody hack it?
They can't even if they wanted to. SCO's downfall will create a legal precedence that will only strengthen the GPL's legal footing. From then on, any GPLed code will undisputedly be recognized as so.
You bring up an interesting point, that, IMHO, is only partly correct. In today's world, most programmers are simply programmers. These are the ones who chose to study computer science or engineering just because it is the current buzz word, and that it was the best way to make a quick buck during the internet boom. Recent polls show that the number of people enrolling in CS is diminishing. Good riddance, I say.
But, you still have the good programmers, who program because they love it irrespective of their profession. Those are the ones who stand out among the crowd, like Linus Torvalds or Richard Stallman.
It might seem that back in the old days, programmers were better than today's. The truth is simply that there are many more programmers today that it's getting harder to filter out the good from the bad. Unfortunately.
This should be expected since this is precisely the age group that is willing to go out with the average 20-year old slashdot geek.