Morovac's system was conceptualized as a branching collection of autonomous feeler units which could do all kinds of fun stuff - fly, detatch, explore, record, come back, reassemble, disassemble into a million micro -sized units, go through air vents, reassemble on the other side, swim, etc.
I find it fascinating that on the nano-scale all fundamental engineering principles must be revisited. Basically, physics doesn't necessarily work the same way on the nano-scale!
It's a bit ironic that, in this world of massively accelerating computer development, we are going back to our roots in mechanical engineering to solve the problems of the future.
Anything titled "MOD THIS UP" should inherantly not be modded up, so says me, the quasi-philosopher engineer. So ha!
There is a difference between "pure" science and practical science. Both have their place. However, calling those that practice practical or applied sciences engineers exclusively and NOT scientists is a disservice.
American Heritage Dictionary calls a scientist, "A person having expert knowledge of one or more sciences, especially a natural or physical science." But perhaps semantics is not the correct fight here - rather it is perspective.
Some philosophers wouldn't like your characterization. Some philosophers speak out AGAINST science.
Sometimes, fringe engineers, in addition to implementing ideas, also invent things that are unique. There is a big difference between having some great though and actually working out how to make it work.
Saying that someone who invents, creates, experiments, and discovers is not a "true" scientist is doing them a disservice. Does that mean that anyone who works in a laboratory is not a true scientist? Anyone who does an experiment? Who uses the scientific method?
In other words, scientists are only those who sit around and think all day.
Those units are not nano-scale. There is a big difference. It's a lot easier to manipulate something on the macro level. Plus, those dye dots (made of a "secret" material) work by being polarized magnetically, not through any kind of spring action.
Oh yeah, AvantGo is my absolute savior. However, I really wish that I could have a larger, more readable screen. Don't get me wrong: The newest generation of Palms are incredibly readable and nice, but the screen is tiny and glare just kills it.
I'm waiting for the advancements in the field of bendable displays. There are a few projects, some with bendable LCDs and some using a fabric material embedded with magnetic dots and an electric grid that is used to maintain an image. Either would be awesome - a little scroll that i could roll out to read, and then retract and stick in my pocket!
It's sad but true - the technology does not yet exist so that people will justify reading books online. I mean, think about it - curling up with your laptop in your comfy armchair? The fac that King did well is not the issue - he is Stephen King after all. What is scary is the fact that, even though he is Stephen King, the best he could do was break even.
Until systems like the Rocket eBook come down in price, and until a wide base of content is available cheaply in a format that can be read by any eBook AND any computer with the correct software, this method of distribution will NOT catch on.
It is common practice when filing a law suit to include a number (usually ten or twenty-five, depending on preference) of Does, so that if you find more people to add to the suit, you simply claim them as one of the Does. The number 25 here means nothing in and of itself. For all we know, this might all be a single individual. Don't blow this out of context - Apple is attempting to use a suit to subpoena information about users who illegally posted secret material to the Internet. This is the same action any reasonably prudent company would take. At least to find out who did the leaking, so that they aren't trusted with any secrets in the future.
What a great story! Four paragraphs to explain that, no matter how quickly or slowly you open a candy bar, the same amount of sound comes from it. Like I didn't know it! Their advice: Just open it quickly and get it over with. Wow, these guys are GOOD!!!
Apple Developer Site: OpenDoc is a cross-platform technology that replaces conventional applications with user-assembled groups of software components. OpenDoc allows users to create virtually any kind of custom software solution. OpenDoc is not supported in Carbon.
A few years ago Apple released a framework called OpenDoc that allowed you to take a bunch of components and latch them together to make custom tools suited to your needs. It was much better than bloatware because you could choose the objects you needed and the OpenDoc wrappers would make it all work together through a common component architecture and custom APIs. This was an incredibly ambitious project, unfortunately killed because all of Apple's big software suppliers (read: M$, Adobe, Quark) hated the idea that all of their products would be obsolete.
Doing this on Linux has a lot of advantages, but it would be a huge amount of work, as most of the system isn't even remotely there. I encoruage people interested, though, to check out the old OpenDoc whitepapers and documentation.
After all, what was Apple's first OpenDoc application? CyberDog the web browser, of course!:-)
Yeah, and there is this thing called "net congestion." I've never had the problems you complain about. My Slashdot pages always load in less than 20 seconds. Not fast sometimes, but not that incredibly slow. And hey, these are pretty big files being downloaded!
You make a good point, considering the US gov't.'s penchant for using the same identifying information over and over again. And of course, if you get a job at the post office, you can find a person. But then, you can already find a person by name and approx. location. If we have some kind of coded combination of letters and numbers, kinda like a license plate or something (customs cost extra!;-) it would be a more anonymous and safe system than we have now for delivery. instead of telling the potential stalker your complete address, you can simply give them an identifier code to add to their package. The code will include some kind of region coding so that they will know how much to pay, but beyond that only the USPS computers can know where the package is going! Or maybe USPS isn't the right co. to implement this. Perhaps a seperate package delivery service, like one of the smaller parcel delivery players, should implement this to differentiate themselves.
Very good point there, in that subpoenas can only be delivered by mail if it is through the USPS, and then even if they lose it it is still considered delivered, as the USPS is a trusted courier in the eyes of the law. Now just wait for them to start mass-subpoena-ing people through e-mails and then you getting in trouble for not checking your usps.gov e-mail. After all, it's still a "trusted source!"
USPS is a seperate company that is given substantial government support, but is allowed to compete however it wants. I would call it a monopoly, except that the independents have been nipping at it's heels for a while now. However, leveraging it's publically funded government databases to do anything besides deliver mail seems pretty bad too me, and probably illegal.
Okay, the e-mail thing is just plain stupid, all it does is forward, so what's the point? The really COOL part, however, is what they decided NOT to do: Allow you to link an e-mail address to a street address! Instead of telling someone where you live, they can send you letters, packages, whatever, addressed to your_name@usps.gov, and then they will deliver the actual meatspace package to your real address. Awesome! No more worrying about who you give your info too online, and who's hands it might fall into. Just give them your @usps.gov username, and you're set.
Why NOT do this? I mean, I don't see why it has to be tied to an e-mail address, but just being able to have "alias" addresses through identifier names in their database.
Uh...buddy? Good friend? Stop your apple bashing, all of you! Just because someone, even Yahoo, reports an Apple RUMOR does not mean it's true. I mean, think about it. Now that you've thought about the likelihood that they're gonna destroy all of their keyboards and use a super-inefficient handwriting system instead, and realized that it is basically nil, you can stop this senseless Apple bashing. Thanks.
The practical application of this all is far superior networking between buildings/floors/offices in a college campus or business. Being able to eliminate most of the drawbacks of fiber means better bandwidth throughout enterprises, at lower costs. However, before this can become practical, we will need some powerful optical switches that are actually cheap.
Damn, just when I was getting excited. Oh well, at least Qwest, ATT, etc. will be able to experience the savings, and pass it on to customers. Yeah, right...
Actually, for work environments it would be a lot easier (and quicker) to have Win NT's roving desktops. Any computer you log into is customized with all of your stuff. NT's Zero Administration Kit (ZAK) does this very powerfully and for free.
Don't hate me because I mention M$!!! It's just that they are everywhere in business...
The issue of "it isn't popular, so let's not use it" is VERY important when it comes to media. Why do you think EVERYONE has a floppy drive (well, with the exception of the new Macs)? Standards in things like storage, protocols, etc. are necessary. Zip never became a standard, but they did sell several million more drives than Imation, so it seems they are more entrenched.
You are correct, there is no reason why NOT to have Linux-on-SuperDisk, except that I wonder about the usefulness of it, especially due to the rarity of SuperDisk drives.
It doesn't give very much info, but I think the concensus at the time was that the original Zip 100/Parallel was 15x a floppy, and the 3M LS120 (Later SuperDisk) was only 6x - 8x
I don't think the Net is the death of creavity, or even of creativity-for-hire. But it does threaten the demise of the top-heavy, soul-crushing pyramid-scheme-like distribution networks that have heretofore dominated music, the movies, and books.
Here here! This is the crux of the argument. Massive corporations have taken over enterprises because it pays to be big. They have been able to control a market place and charge high prices through schemes that would be illegal if only they didn't control so much of the government (through campaign contributions, lobbying, etc.). The RIAA, the MPAA, and the publishing houses have locked up the content world into a feedback loop where their most prominent and profitable content creators get to keep publishing, and the little guys never get heard.
The net is the great equalizer in that it allows content creators and consumers to connect directly. I fully anticipate within this year a new content site just for texts, similar to MP3.com for independent music and Atom Filmz (and others) for independent videos and shorts.
You know why authors love to be able to publish hardcovers? Because, on a US$20 hardcover, they are able to make $1 in profit. That's right, the AUTHOR GETS ONE BUCK FOR EACH BOOK. On a paperback they get only a few cents. This system is so top heavy and bueracratic that the content creator is given nothing for his/her efforts. Being able to directly reach the consumer means much lower prices, and much higher profits for the actual author. Innovations like the eBooks will make publishing obsolete.
What is important is some kind of promotion mechanism so that authors get noticed. Book reviews are good, but they are always too few too late, thanks to the incredible number of printed works on the market. Something like Amazon.com's review system needs to be implemented on an independent site, complete with their form of karma (the "Top 1000 reviewers"), and accessibility to all.
This is where content is headed. The rest of these gizmos and innovations are just gravy on top.
And finally, he thought, a future to look forward to among the drivel
The LS120 drive is very slow, even more so than a Zip drive. And Zips are 250 MB. I just wonder, the SuperDisk drive never really caught on, and very few people use them. Is this really very useful. Why not focus some effort on running it off of a Zip drive, or creating some kind of nice CD distro that has a bazillion drivers and lets you save everything automatically to another drive? Eh? Make it easy for the user!
Make a Linux Distro that can boot from a CD, and defaults to a Zip or something else for saving. Let you install apps on the zip, and use some scripts to load everything from there.
But then again...why are any of these ideas useful? Whose gonna run Linux off a zip or LS120 anyway? Why?
Slashdot Mirror
Morovac's system was conceptualized as a branching collection of autonomous feeler units which could do all kinds of fun stuff - fly, detatch, explore, record, come back, reassemble, disassemble into a million micro -sized units, go through air vents, reassemble on the other side, swim, etc.
I don't know how many people took him seriously.
I find it fascinating that on the nano-scale all fundamental engineering principles must be revisited. Basically, physics doesn't necessarily work the same way on the nano-scale!
It's a bit ironic that, in this world of massively accelerating computer development, we are going back to our roots in mechanical engineering to solve the problems of the future.
Anything titled "MOD THIS UP" should inherantly not be modded up, so says me, the quasi-philosopher engineer. So ha!
There is a difference between "pure" science and practical science. Both have their place. However, calling those that practice practical or applied sciences engineers exclusively and NOT scientists is a disservice.
American Heritage Dictionary calls a scientist, "A person having expert knowledge of one or more sciences, especially a natural or physical science." But perhaps semantics is not the correct fight here - rather it is perspective.
Some philosophers wouldn't like your characterization. Some philosophers speak out AGAINST science.
Sometimes, fringe engineers, in addition to implementing ideas, also invent things that are unique. There is a big difference between having some great though and actually working out how to make it work.
Saying that someone who invents, creates, experiments, and discovers is not a "true" scientist is doing them a disservice. Does that mean that anyone who works in a laboratory is not a true scientist? Anyone who does an experiment? Who uses the scientific method?
In other words, scientists are only those who sit around and think all day.
Hmm.
Those units are not nano-scale. There is a big difference. It's a lot easier to manipulate something on the macro level. Plus, those dye dots (made of a "secret" material) work by being polarized magnetically, not through any kind of spring action.
I'm waiting for the advancements in the field of bendable displays. There are a few projects, some with bendable LCDs and some using a fabric material embedded with magnetic dots and an electric grid that is used to maintain an image. Either would be awesome - a little scroll that i could roll out to read, and then retract and stick in my pocket!
Until systems like the Rocket eBook come down in price, and until a wide base of content is available cheaply in a format that can be read by any eBook AND any computer with the correct software, this method of distribution will NOT catch on.
Sorry Mr. King, but you're moving too fast.
The show was filmed several months ago - it would be impossible to change the ending.
It is common practice when filing a law suit to include a number (usually ten or twenty-five, depending on preference) of Does, so that if you find more people to add to the suit, you simply claim them as one of the Does. The number 25 here means nothing in and of itself. For all we know, this might all be a single individual. Don't blow this out of context - Apple is attempting to use a suit to subpoena information about users who illegally posted secret material to the Internet. This is the same action any reasonably prudent company would take. At least to find out who did the leaking, so that they aren't trusted with any secrets in the future.
What a great story! Four paragraphs to explain that, no matter how quickly or slowly you open a candy bar, the same amount of sound comes from it. Like I didn't know it! Their advice: Just open it quickly and get it over with. Wow, these guys are GOOD!!!
Yes, perhaps someone forgot that AP stories expire after one week... Definetally saving up this quickie for a while.
Homepage Programmers Guide
Class Reference
And, finally, a petition to add OpenDoc functionality to Java.
Enjoy!
Some of us realize that there are other reasons for net slowness besides MS. I mean, backhoes probably cause more damage in the short term, etc.
A few years ago Apple released a framework called OpenDoc that allowed you to take a bunch of components and latch them together to make custom tools suited to your needs. It was much better than bloatware because you could choose the objects you needed and the OpenDoc wrappers would make it all work together through a common component architecture and custom APIs. This was an incredibly ambitious project, unfortunately killed because all of Apple's big software suppliers (read: M$, Adobe, Quark) hated the idea that all of their products would be obsolete.
:-)
Doing this on Linux has a lot of advantages, but it would be a huge amount of work, as most of the system isn't even remotely there. I encoruage people interested, though, to check out the old OpenDoc whitepapers and documentation.
After all, what was Apple's first OpenDoc application? CyberDog the web browser, of course!
Yeah, and there is this thing called "net congestion." I've never had the problems you complain about. My Slashdot pages always load in less than 20 seconds. Not fast sometimes, but not that incredibly slow. And hey, these are pretty big files being downloaded!
You make a good point, considering the US gov't.'s penchant for using the same identifying information over and over again. And of course, if you get a job at the post office, you can find a person. But then, you can already find a person by name and approx. location. If we have some kind of coded combination of letters and numbers, kinda like a license plate or something (customs cost extra! ;-) it would be a more anonymous and safe system than we have now for delivery. instead of telling the potential stalker your complete address, you can simply give them an identifier code to add to their package. The code will include some kind of region coding so that they will know how much to pay, but beyond that only the USPS computers can know where the package is going! Or maybe USPS isn't the right co. to implement this. Perhaps a seperate package delivery service, like one of the smaller parcel delivery players, should implement this to differentiate themselves.
Very good point there, in that subpoenas can only be delivered by mail if it is through the USPS, and then even if they lose it it is still considered delivered, as the USPS is a trusted courier in the eyes of the law. Now just wait for them to start mass-subpoena-ing people through e-mails and then you getting in trouble for not checking your usps.gov e-mail. After all, it's still a "trusted source!"
USPS is a seperate company that is given substantial government support, but is allowed to compete however it wants. I would call it a monopoly, except that the independents have been nipping at it's heels for a while now. However, leveraging it's publically funded government databases to do anything besides deliver mail seems pretty bad too me, and probably illegal.
Okay, the e-mail thing is just plain stupid, all it does is forward, so what's the point? The really COOL part, however, is what they decided NOT to do: Allow you to link an e-mail address to a street address! Instead of telling someone where you live, they can send you letters, packages, whatever, addressed to your_name@usps.gov, and then they will deliver the actual meatspace package to your real address. Awesome! No more worrying about who you give your info too online, and who's hands it might fall into. Just give them your @usps.gov username, and you're set.
Why NOT do this? I mean, I don't see why it has to be tied to an e-mail address, but just being able to have "alias" addresses through identifier names in their database.
Uh...buddy? Good friend? Stop your apple bashing, all of you! Just because someone, even Yahoo, reports an Apple RUMOR does not mean it's true. I mean, think about it. Now that you've thought about the likelihood that they're gonna destroy all of their keyboards and use a super-inefficient handwriting system instead, and realized that it is basically nil, you can stop this senseless Apple bashing. Thanks.
The practical application of this all is far superior networking between buildings/floors/offices in a college campus or business. Being able to eliminate most of the drawbacks of fiber means better bandwidth throughout enterprises, at lower costs. However, before this can become practical, we will need some powerful optical switches that are actually cheap.
Damn, just when I was getting excited. Oh well, at least Qwest, ATT, etc. will be able to experience the savings, and pass it on to customers. Yeah, right...
Actually, for work environments it would be a lot easier (and quicker) to have Win NT's roving desktops. Any computer you log into is customized with all of your stuff. NT's Zero Administration Kit (ZAK) does this very powerfully and for free.
Don't hate me because I mention M$!!! It's just that they are everywhere in business...
The issue of "it isn't popular, so let's not use it" is VERY important when it comes to media. Why do you think EVERYONE has a floppy drive (well, with the exception of the new Macs)? Standards in things like storage, protocols, etc. are necessary. Zip never became a standard, but they did sell several million more drives than Imation, so it seems they are more entrenched.
You are correct, there is no reason why NOT to have Linux-on-SuperDisk, except that I wonder about the usefulness of it, especially due to the rarity of SuperDisk drives.
SuperDisk is faster than floppy but slower than Zip. I remember reading several reviews, let's see if I can find one...
2 522362,00.html
Okay, here: http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/stories/trends/0,7607,
It doesn't give very much info, but I think the concensus at the time was that the original Zip 100/Parallel was 15x a floppy, and the 3M LS120 (Later SuperDisk) was only 6x - 8x
Here here! This is the crux of the argument. Massive corporations have taken over enterprises because it pays to be big. They have been able to control a market place and charge high prices through schemes that would be illegal if only they didn't control so much of the government (through campaign contributions, lobbying, etc.). The RIAA, the MPAA, and the publishing houses have locked up the content world into a feedback loop where their most prominent and profitable content creators get to keep publishing, and the little guys never get heard.
The net is the great equalizer in that it allows content creators and consumers to connect directly. I fully anticipate within this year a new content site just for texts, similar to MP3.com for independent music and Atom Filmz (and others) for independent videos and shorts.
You know why authors love to be able to publish hardcovers? Because, on a US$20 hardcover, they are able to make $1 in profit. That's right, the AUTHOR GETS ONE BUCK FOR EACH BOOK. On a paperback they get only a few cents. This system is so top heavy and bueracratic that the content creator is given nothing for his/her efforts. Being able to directly reach the consumer means much lower prices, and much higher profits for the actual author. Innovations like the eBooks will make publishing obsolete.
What is important is some kind of promotion mechanism so that authors get noticed. Book reviews are good, but they are always too few too late, thanks to the incredible number of printed works on the market. Something like Amazon.com's review system needs to be implemented on an independent site, complete with their form of karma (the "Top 1000 reviewers"), and accessibility to all.
This is where content is headed. The rest of these gizmos and innovations are just gravy on top.
And finally, he thought, a future to look forward to among the drivel
The LS120 drive is very slow, even more so than a Zip drive. And Zips are 250 MB. I just wonder, the SuperDisk drive never really caught on, and very few people use them. Is this really very useful. Why not focus some effort on running it off of a Zip drive, or creating some kind of nice CD distro that has a bazillion drivers and lets you save everything automatically to another drive? Eh? Make it easy for the user!
Make a Linux Distro that can boot from a CD, and defaults to a Zip or something else for saving. Let you install apps on the zip, and use some scripts to load everything from there.
But then again...why are any of these ideas useful? Whose gonna run Linux off a zip or LS120 anyway? Why?