Well that, sir, is an egregious example of Amateur Philosophy(tm) if ever I saw one!
remember flopticals?
on
High Density CDs
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Floptical disks
were floppies that used an optical tracking mechanism to align the magnetic head with the floppy tracks to achieve increased track density.
A trick which, of course, wouldn't help with optical media to begin with, although didn't Bernoulli drives use magnetism to increase the CDROM track density?).
So, the "third-i" (or perhaps "app-switcher" would be a better name) button could trigger a dialog asking the user her skill level (easy or detailed), querying which optional features she is looking for, maybe providing some tutorial content - or displaying developer/vendor supplied summaries of what a particular app's strengths and distringuishing features are compared with its peers, etc... finally presenting her with a list of alternate applications to choose from for the task she has in mind. Sounds reasonable.
Summary example: user brings up Photoshop. She wonders what else on the system is availale to edit her digital photographs/jpeg images. Clicks the app-switcher button in top middle portion of frame. Dialog appears asking if she prefers Easy or Detailed (maybe this is part of her user-profile and doesn't always need to happen).
She identifies her self as 'detailed' and is presented with a list containing {GIMP, Photoshop} for instance (had she selected 'easy' there would have been additional, tutorial steps:^). She selects GIMP and Photoshop is halted, GIMP is brought up for each file that had been open, and so on. When she quits, a closing dialog asks if she would like to continue using the GIMP as her default Photograph/Image Editor app in future sessions. She clicks "yes".
Ditch 3 of the 4 programs that do the same thing. Seriously. Why do I need 4 CD-R burning programs?
in addition to common functionality, each program may have some unique feature or other which you might find useful or even necessary.
Just give me the one that works the best, that's *all I care about*
Only YOU can decide what works the best for YOU. Really.
What would be cool is if there were a standard default distro which only published one categorical app at a time in the GUI (as you said)- BUT STILL INCLUDED the other 3/4 as alternate or mod apps that could be switched to becoming the default app for that category using a little menu button in the top middle of the app's window-frame. Let's call it "the third-i button". {There, now nobody can patent it;^}
generally, it's not (provided you installed the other OS after installing your Windoze).
however some folks might not wish to.
perhaps they don't have the windows os handy. eg perhaps they built their own box; or the hard drive it came with went kaputt & and the assh*le oem didn't provide an install cd.
or maybe they just want to be ms-free (for any of the usual reasons)....
Hard disk drives currently store information at densities up to 70 billion bits (or gigabits) per square inch, with data stored as microscopic magnetic patterns arranged in circumferential tracks on a media. At extreme magnification, individual bits of data are revealed to be composed from grains of different sizes and shapes. The density at which information can be stored is restricted by how cleanly these patterns can be represented. Current production technology is limited by coarse granularity as well as the presence of some very small grains which spontaneously lose their memory - the superparamagnetic effect. These limitations will likely only allow for a possible tripling of storage capacity in the future. To significantly extend storage capacity, data patterns would ideally be recorded on orderly and uniform grains.
NanoMagnetics grows tiny magnetic grains within hollow protein spheres called "apoferritin", which are 10,000 times smaller than the diameter of human hair. The resulting nanoparticles are limited in size by the inner cavity of the spheres, producing highly uniform material which we call DataInk(TM). Importantly, DataInk(TM) is produced using mild and inexpensive chemical techniques.
The resulting particles can pack closely, like oranges on a grocery shelf. Films of DataInk(TM) are baked (or "annealed") to optimize their magnetic performance, and to also carbonize the protein spheres. What remains is an ordered assembly of uniform, magnetic grains. This type of media is ideal to expand the storage capacity of hard disk drives, as it is able to support smaller and smaller patterns. Using individual grains to represent bits of data, this protein-derived media could ultimately extend densities to between 5,000 and 10,000 Gbits/in2.
Current Status
Since our Series A round in 1999, NanoMagnetics has sustained a 1700% annual increase in areal density. At this rate, we will overtake industry's anticipated areal densities by Q3 2003. Leveraging on our compelling progress, NanoMagnetics will aim to qualify DataInk(TM)-enhanced media, then partner with one or more hard disk manufacturers for the next generation of drives. NanoMagnetics' phenomenal series of milestones and their dates are as follows:
August 1999 - 75 bpi or 0.002 Gbits/in2
August 2001 - 0.7 Gbit/in2
December 2001 - 2.2 Gbit/in2
June 2002 - 6.0 Gbit/in2
August 2002 - 12.1 Gbit/in2
The Company is currently preparing to scale up the manufacture of DataInk(TM) and is working with a number of key industry players.
"an acronym for Non-Uniform Memory Access. As its name implies, it describes a class of multiprocessors where the memory latency to different sections of memory are visible to the programmer or operating system, and the placement of pages are controlled by software. This is in contrast to shared memory systems where the memory latency is uniform or appears to be uniform....may be further subdivided into subtypes. For example, local/remote and local/global/remote architectures. Local/remote machines have two types of memory: local (fast) and remote (slow). Local/global/remote machines add one more type of memory, global, which is between the local and remote memories in speed."
at least in unix, one has to be superuser to trash the system.
also, ever heard of a zeroize button (prevents unfriendly regimes from capturing military technology)?
finally, some people aren't allowed to f@#$ up. (otherwise they get sued for malpractice, court-martialled, etc). resistance against f@#$ing up in certain ways can be increased through practice and following procedures.
reminds of when a stupid, frigging engineering dept requirment said i had to learn to program in f@#$ran 77 (yea - line numbers, common blocks, sphaghetti) on a crappy old vax with a gigantic, faulty hard disk. no, modula 2 just wouldn't do.
hated every second. filesystem sucked. dcl syntax sucked. networking sucked. felt like it had been designed by robots. hated it! hated it!! hated it!!! yes siree!!!!
Maybe the silly wording of the announcement is making it sound as if Moneydance were being released under the "general public license" (GPL) as a lot of software titles released for Linux (and discussed on Slashdot) tend to be.
Also, when announcing a commercial product - one normally also announces the asking price - eg
Ummm... As the reviewer points out, Cg is more or less equivalent to gpu-vendor-neutral HLSL for Direct3D - which belies your comment about Nvidia trying to dominate the market with a language.
However, one might say that MS and Nvidia are doing so together...
wouldn't the cdrom manufacturers say "we licensed the cdrom format from sony/philips - so what - go sue yourself"?
maybe the stupid frigging music companies should have thought about making an exclusive deal with philips back in the early 80's limiting the use of the cd to music alone. probably could have but were too shortsighted / cheap.
certain bg-fan-bios (eg 'the microsoft way' by randall e. stoss) like to point out repeatedly, that cdrom technology didn't really have any commercial/consumer potential until the early 1990's when a certain mr bill gates started having multimedia visions and his company microsoft began selling a product called encarta.
in fact, this is more or less cited as evidence that microsoft did in fact innovate something(!).
people generally neither expect nor want their hardware "for free."
for system software upgrades OTOH, one should be able to look up the diffs in the code base, make some patches, and recompile the frigging OS oneself without having to pay anyone for your own time and effort (HEY - THIS IS FREE QA FOR THE SYSTEM VENDOR).
if however, you require pre-compiled binaries on media, fancy install scripts, etc then you should have probably have to pay something or someone.
Slashdot Mirror
--TRR
Floptical disks were floppies that used an optical tracking mechanism to align the magnetic head with the floppy tracks to achieve increased track density.
A trick which, of course, wouldn't help with optical media to begin with, although didn't Bernoulli drives use magnetism to increase the CDROM track density?).So, the "third-i" (or perhaps "app-switcher" would be a better name) button could trigger a dialog asking the user her skill level (easy or detailed), querying which optional features she is looking for, maybe providing some tutorial content - or displaying developer/vendor supplied summaries of what a particular app's strengths and distringuishing features are compared with its peers, etc... finally presenting her with a list of alternate applications to choose from for the task she has in mind. Sounds reasonable.
Summary example: user brings up Photoshop. She wonders what else on the system is availale to edit her digital photographs/jpeg images. Clicks the app-switcher button in top middle portion of frame. Dialog appears asking if she prefers Easy or Detailed (maybe this is part of her user-profile and doesn't always need to happen). She identifies her self as 'detailed' and is presented with a list containing {GIMP, Photoshop} for instance (had she selected 'easy' there would have been additional, tutorial steps :^). She selects GIMP and Photoshop is halted, GIMP is brought up for each file that had been open, and so on. When she quits, a closing dialog asks if she would like to continue using the GIMP as her default Photograph/Image Editor app in future sessions. She clicks "yes".
What would be cool is if there were a standard default distro which only published one categorical app at a time in the GUI (as you said)- BUT STILL INCLUDED the other 3/4 as alternate or mod apps that could be switched to becoming the default app for that category using a little menu button in the top middle of the app's window-frame. Let's call it "the third-i button". {There, now nobody can patent it ;^}
--TRR
generally, it's not (provided you installed the other OS after installing your Windoze).
however some folks might not wish to.
perhaps they don't have the windows os handy. eg perhaps they built their own box; or the hard drive it came with went kaputt & and the assh*le oem didn't provide an install cd.
or maybe they just want to be ms-free (for any of the usual reasons)....
--TRR
read about the "x86 port of OS X" here. (well, the "OS" portion of "OS X" anyways - BSD licensing ok?)
--TRR--TRR
.... someone will come up with an appealing alias or acronym for ogg (how does "OV7" sound?) which the masses can chew on.
--TRRAgreed. Here's what the company's website says:
Technology Overview
Hard disk drives currently store information at densities up to 70 billion bits (or gigabits) per square inch, with data stored as microscopic magnetic patterns arranged in circumferential tracks on a media. At extreme magnification, individual bits of data are revealed to be composed from grains of different sizes and shapes. The density at which information can be stored is restricted by how cleanly these patterns can be represented. Current production technology is limited by coarse granularity as well as the presence of some very small grains which spontaneously lose their memory - the superparamagnetic effect. These limitations will likely only allow for a possible tripling of storage capacity in the future. To significantly extend storage capacity, data patterns would ideally be recorded on orderly and uniform grains.
NanoMagnetics grows tiny magnetic grains within hollow protein spheres called "apoferritin", which are 10,000 times smaller than the diameter of human hair. The resulting nanoparticles are limited in size by the inner cavity of the spheres, producing highly uniform material which we call DataInk(TM). Importantly, DataInk(TM) is produced using mild and inexpensive chemical techniques.
The resulting particles can pack closely, like oranges on a grocery shelf. Films of DataInk(TM) are baked (or "annealed") to optimize their magnetic performance, and to also carbonize the protein spheres. What remains is an ordered assembly of uniform, magnetic grains. This type of media is ideal to expand the storage capacity of hard disk drives, as it is able to support smaller and smaller patterns. Using individual grains to represent bits of data, this protein-derived media could ultimately extend densities to between 5,000 and 10,000 Gbits/in2.
Current Status Since our Series A round in 1999, NanoMagnetics has sustained a 1700% annual increase in areal density. At this rate, we will overtake industry's anticipated areal densities by Q3 2003. Leveraging on our compelling progress, NanoMagnetics will aim to qualify DataInk(TM)-enhanced media, then partner with one or more hard disk manufacturers for the next generation of drives. NanoMagnetics' phenomenal series of milestones and their dates are as follows:
August 1999 - 75 bpi or 0.002 Gbits/in2 August 2001 - 0.7 Gbit/in2 December 2001 - 2.2 Gbit/in2 June 2002 - 6.0 Gbit/in2 August 2002 - 12.1 Gbit/in2The Company is currently preparing to scale up the manufacture of DataInk(TM) and is working with a number of key industry players.
This article defines NUMA as
which seems to cover all of this.(article doesn't seem to mention any)
my guess list...
mp3/file sharing?
java?
web-browsers?
perl?
inter-networking?
bulletin boards?
spread-sheets?
tex/word-processors?
basic?
unix?
databases?
video-games?
linkers?
debuggers?
compilers?
assemblers?
ballistic modelling?
decryption?
--TRR?--TRR?--TRR?--TRR?--TRR?--TRR?--TRR?--TRR?-- TRR?--TRR?--TRR?--TRR?--TRR?--TRR!
at least in unix, one has to be superuser to trash the system.
also, ever heard of a zeroize button (prevents unfriendly regimes from capturing military technology)?
finally, some people aren't allowed to f@#$ up. (otherwise they get sued for malpractice, court-martialled, etc). resistance against f@#$ing up in certain ways can be increased through practice and following procedures.
Ken Thompson invented Unix so that he could continue playing spacewar.
reminds of when a stupid, frigging engineering dept requirment said i had to learn to program in f@#$ran 77 (yea - line numbers, common blocks, sphaghetti) on a crappy old vax with a gigantic, faulty hard disk. no, modula 2 just wouldn't do.
hated every second. filesystem sucked. dcl syntax sucked. networking sucked. felt like it had been designed by robots. hated it! hated it!! hated it!!! yes siree!!!!
i guess sockets were bsd's way of saying "screw you" to at&t :}
ms-walls?
Maybe the silly wording of the announcement is making it sound as if Moneydance were being released under the "general public license" (GPL) as a lot of software titles released for Linux (and discussed on Slashdot) tend to be.
Also, when announcing a commercial product - one normally also announces the asking price - eg
or something to that effect.Ummm... As the reviewer points out, Cg is more or less equivalent to gpu-vendor-neutral HLSL for Direct3D - which belies your comment about Nvidia trying to dominate the market with a language.
However, one might say that MS and Nvidia are doing so together...
--TRR
You can also add some real-time Operating Systems {QNX, VxWorks, pSOS, Lynx, eCOS, ThreadX, etc} to your list.
Hmmm, since they've moved to Utah and thus are no longer based in Santa Cruz, I would guess that the 'SC' in 'SCO' must for 'Smoking Crack'.
--TRR
What does sculptor Auguste Rodin (pronounced Ro-dahn, if you aren't up on your French) have in common with Rodan (pronounced like it's spelled), the giant pterodactyl?
--TRR
mozilla != godzilla, rodin != rodan
wouldn't the cdrom manufacturers say "we licensed the cdrom format from sony/philips - so what - go sue yourself"?
maybe the stupid frigging music companies should have thought about making an exclusive deal with philips back in the early 80's limiting the use of the cd to music alone. probably could have but were too shortsighted / cheap.
certain bg-fan-bios (eg 'the microsoft way' by randall e. stoss) like to point out repeatedly, that cdrom technology didn't really have any commercial/consumer potential until the early 1990's when a certain mr bill gates started having multimedia visions and his company microsoft began selling a product called encarta.
in fact, this is more or less cited as evidence that microsoft did in fact innovate something(!).
so now, who should the RIAA be suing???
--TRR
Hmmm... I wonder what the side of effects of this would be.
--TRR
I generally prefer Consoles anyway - because even if a games doesn't work right (xbox-007), it can still be useful (hacks around drm features).
--TRR
(also a fan of cheesy 2d stuff - yay frozen crystal!)