This style of reporting is beyond annoying. I'd much rather have this story presented like it is "Using the microlensing technique first predicted by Albert Einstein in 1912, a team of astronomers have discovered a rocky planet about 5 times the mass of the earth some 25,000 light years away. It orbits a red dwarf....."
Personally I was more intriqued by Albert Einsteins' involvement than the idiotic claims of the planet being "Earth-like" but.....not.
Band which uses old computers/printers etc...
on
Scanjet Music
·
· Score: 2, Informative
The band treewave uses old computers, game consoles and an Epson LQ500 as their instruments. I find it amazing what they can do with old equipment like this.
I ran a web site off a Macintosh LC III for 2+ years before I grew tired of the sound eminating from its ancient hard disk. It ran (runs if I power it up again) Debian just fine, and even ran PHP. The Mac LC III has a 68030 CPU running at 25Mhz, 32Mb RAM (Maxed), and a 1Gb SCSI drive. It's always amazed me what Linux will run on...
True, this machine is VERY slow - but it was also a great machine for learning Linux on. If nothing else, that old computer you have lying around can serve this purpose alone. I suggest this is in fact a better way of learning Linux than simply booting up a Ubuntu live cd on a modern PC and poking around in the GUI.
- Old 128MB USB key
- A couple CD-RW's (no cases, I live on the edge)
- Half empty package of trident chewing gum
- 6' crossover ethernet cable
- Emergency LED blinky light (leftover from halloween 2003)
- Missing power brick (stays at home. I live on the edge)
- A printout of a favourite curry recipe
- My wallet (empty), rest I stuff in my jeans pockets
- Bottle of HP Sauce (plastic bottle - 400ml)
I just happened across this post as iTunes randomly picked Karl Bartos' remix of Little Computer People. Seeing that pic of the child on the LCD tombstone monitor while I'm listening to this...is freaking me out!
You have to know that it's only a matter of time before some yahoo creates a patch which will replace every mention of "Vista" with "Del Boca Vista" now!
It amazes me what criteria some people use when evaluating things like a keyboard. To me, layout and tactile feel is far more important than things like colour, extra keys or wireless capability (I'm at my desk, who cares if it's wired or not?).
I've had the benefit of working with IBM ThinkPads over the years, and it only wasn't until I recently moved to a new job where it became apparent to me how spoiled I had become with the ThinkPad's keyboard. Unsatisfied with the keyboard I was supplied with at work, I set out to replace it with something better. I tried numerous keyboards but nothing could match the ThinkPad keyboards feel. Then I discovered the IBM USB Keyboard with UltraNav and bought one the same day. It is by far the best keyboard I've ever used. The keys have little resistance, yet have a sharp 'click' to them without being noisy. The layout is near perfect, and it has a built in wrist rest. It's expensive as keyboards go, but it's worth every penny if you do any amount of typing.
First maps.google.com is amazing, it found my address immediately and I can search for local businesses in my area (Canada). The interface too is fantastic!
One thing I notice right away when plotting directions is that it's all designated in miles. This is logical as it's an American service, but if plotting directions from say a Canadian to an American destination, it'd be extremely easy for them to convert the mileage to kms north of the border, and miles to the south of it.
Perhaps this'll change once it goes to final release or when they release a.ca version.
Why not use Diesel-Electric as an alternative? By this I don't mean a hybrid solution as is currently being used by Honda & Toyota, but rather a miniaturized version of a diesel-electric locomotive. This being a small common-rail diesel engine connected directly to a generator. The transmission would be replaced with by an electric motor which would use electricity generated on demand to drive the wheels. This would solve the fuel storage issue present with hydrogen, replaced by diesel (more efficient than gasoline). The electricity would be generated on demand which wouldn't require bulky batteries or complex circuitry of current hybrid systems.
So what are the barriers preventing a setup like this from working? Is it simply more efficient to drive the wheels directly from the engine? Would the generator/electric motor add too much weight to the vehicle in order to achieve similar performance levels?
Given your logic I'd suggest you pick up one of these and play with it for a while, then come back and post how much better the video quality is on these vs modern DVD's!
Agreed. This, combined with low bitrate files, proprietary codecs and/or DRM (in Apples' case) are but a few reasons why I don't buy music online. If I wanted the latest drivel, I'd just as soon go down to HMV and pick up the CD. Sure, the music itself is still crap - but at least it'd be uncompressed crap.
I too listen to a lot of 80's music. I've "archived" many of my own collection to lossless FLAC files and stored them on DVD+R's. That way I'm not locked into any particular lossy codec and can re-encode them to whatever suits my fancy relatively easily. That's how my collection of music makes its way into iTunes.
I typically go to used music stores and scour for used LP's & CD's to fill my collection. I often find what I'm looking for and it's typically much cheaper than what it would've cost me for the compressed online version. I rip/record - dump it to FLAC and MP3 files (whatever) and I'm done. Yes, it's more inconvenient but it's also MUCH more gratifying than clicking submit and having $0.99 added to my VISA bill.
The second and third instalment only served to destroy what could've been a great series (Episode 1 anyone?). Their production had absolutely nothing to do with making good movies but to solely capitalize on the franchise - as do so many other s(pr)equels.
If you already have the first movie on DVD, bully for you. If you don't, feel free to go purchase the first film - but don't feel obligated to contribute more money to crap which shouldn't have been made in the first place for the sake of filling an empty bit of shelf space! By doing so, you're only helping to validate this sort of thing!
FLAC has the advantage of being far more portable. If you're content to transcode to either AAC or MP3 using iTunes' own proprietary format then Apple Lossless may be good enough for you.
It's interesting how Apple has chosen to enable two lossless codecs into 4.5. On the one hand, you can use iTunes to import your CD's into it's own Apple (potentially proprietary) lossless format, or you can now import losslessly encoded (or not) WMA files which iTunes converts to AAC.
(Thinking aloud) Prior to reading about 4.5 this morning, I was encoding my CD collection into a FLAC archive. Using foobar2000 I could then encode my FLAC collection to just about any other format, including AAC. Up until iTunes 4.5 however, there was no direct method of importing losslessly encoded formats (other than wav files). Importing WMA vs FLAC now makes this process at least one step easier - Windows Media Player's WMA tagging is also extremely easy. Using foobar2000, one can also transcode WMA files into virtually any other format as well. WMA arguably has more overall support than FLAC - at least as far as portables are concerned. I'm not saying I'll switch away from FLAC, but it may be worth investigating.
I find it very odd how a new version of iTunes has me reconsidering WMA as an option for archiving my CD collection, especially as their own lossless codec was released on the same day.
a cheap(er) DVD based discman rather than a hard disk based unit with similar storage capabilities. I'd much rather store my music (MP3, AAC, whatever) on removable storage rather than having to spend time syncing/reloading a sealed unit. Removable storage inherently more flexible in that regard. It reminds me of the many "mixed tapes" I used to create only DVD's hold so much more. One didn't create a new mixed tape every time did one? (assuming a full ipod mini or other likewise device) Well...perhaps you did, those chromium dioxide tapes DID tend to get expensive after a while (sarcasm).
I wouldn't call your 14.4 modem terribly useful, but I'm in agreement with your comment regarding old systems. I myself run a website hosted on a Macintosh LC III (25 Mhz 68030) running Linux.
I recall being at an Apple seminar once where they had demo of a then preproduction version of MacOS X. The audience consisted of local Mac support techies as well as casual users. There were many glitches throughout the demo, and many explanations from the presenter as to why MacOS loaded so slowly etc etc. He used this time to explain to the audience that the MacOS kernel is based on Unix. I wasn't sure at the time how many people in the audience would grasp that concept, but it became painfully clear near the end of the presentation when he finished things off by opening up a terminal window. I looked around and saw nothing but stunned, confused looks on people's faces. The presenter followed by explaining how you could now use familiar unix applications like telnet and vi all within MacOS X. After then explaining to someones question regarding just what telnet and vi were, someone else followed with the question, "So...if someone on the Internet wanted to hack my computer, could they open up one of these 'terminals' and use 'telnet' to hack into my Mac?". Needless to say the presentation ended late that day, and I got the impression most of the audience left feeling rather uncertain about what just happened.
I think a Unix for MacOS publication would be useful for those migrating to Apple from some (any) other platform. For casual Mac users? No way is this going to be of any use to them. If they were so inclined, they'd already have some experience on another OS by now.
If that's the case, here's a tip for the Microsoft folks already starting work on a CLI browser. Sorry kids Lynx has you beat, but I hear they're looking for some investments!
No? My 25Mhz Macintosh LC III is enough to host a webserver running Linux & Apache. It even runs PHP. The 20Mhz PPC CPU used in the rovers is most likely quite a bit faster than the 68030 in the LC III.
I too have this very keyboard, and have had it now for about 6 months. The keyboard I was really after, was a desktop style IBM thinkpad keyboard. The "fashion" keyboard was as close to this as I could find. My first impressions of this keyboard were very favourable. The feedback is a little heavier than I'd like, but overall decent. One thing I should note about this keyboard is its tendancy to stick. I've never had problems with IBM scissor style keyboards on various thinkpads over the years, but I've already had to clean & attempt to lubricate the fashion keyboard several times lately in an attempt to keep it from sticking. If it persists, I may be forced to spend the $$$ for an IBM UltraNav keyboard.
Slashdot Mirror
This style of reporting is beyond annoying. I'd much rather have this story presented like it is "Using the microlensing technique first predicted by Albert Einstein in 1912, a team of astronomers have discovered a rocky planet about 5 times the mass of the earth some 25,000 light years away. It orbits a red dwarf....." Personally I was more intriqued by Albert Einsteins' involvement than the idiotic claims of the planet being "Earth-like" but.....not.
The band treewave uses old computers, game consoles and an Epson LQ500 as their instruments. I find it amazing what they can do with old equipment like this.
I ran a web site off a Macintosh LC III for 2+ years before I grew tired of the sound eminating from its ancient hard disk. It ran (runs if I power it up again) Debian just fine, and even ran PHP. The Mac LC III has a 68030 CPU running at 25Mhz, 32Mb RAM (Maxed), and a 1Gb SCSI drive. It's always amazed me what Linux will run on...
True, this machine is VERY slow - but it was also a great machine for learning Linux on. If nothing else, that old computer you have lying around can serve this purpose alone. I suggest this is in fact a better way of learning Linux than simply booting up a Ubuntu live cd on a modern PC and poking around in the GUI.
- Old 128MB USB key
- A couple CD-RW's (no cases, I live on the edge)
- Half empty package of trident chewing gum
- 6' crossover ethernet cable
- Emergency LED blinky light (leftover from halloween 2003)
- Missing power brick (stays at home. I live on the edge)
- A printout of a favourite curry recipe
- My wallet (empty), rest I stuff in my jeans pockets
- Bottle of HP Sauce (plastic bottle - 400ml)
I just happened across this post as iTunes randomly picked Karl Bartos' remix of Little Computer People. Seeing that pic of the child on the LCD tombstone monitor while I'm listening to this...is freaking me out!
You have to know that it's only a matter of time before some yahoo creates a patch which will replace every mention of "Vista" with "Del Boca Vista" now!
It amazes me what criteria some people use when evaluating things like a keyboard. To me, layout and tactile feel is far more important than things like colour, extra keys or wireless capability (I'm at my desk, who cares if it's wired or not?).
I've had the benefit of working with IBM ThinkPads over the years, and it only wasn't until I recently moved to a new job where it became apparent to me how spoiled I had become with the ThinkPad's keyboard. Unsatisfied with the keyboard I was supplied with at work, I set out to replace it with something better. I tried numerous keyboards but nothing could match the ThinkPad keyboards feel. Then I discovered the IBM USB Keyboard with UltraNav and bought one the same day. It is by far the best keyboard I've ever used. The keys have little resistance, yet have a sharp 'click' to them without being noisy. The layout is near perfect, and it has a built in wrist rest. It's expensive as keyboards go, but it's worth every penny if you do any amount of typing.
First maps.google.com is amazing, it found my address immediately and I can search for local businesses in my area (Canada). The interface too is fantastic!
.ca version.
One thing I notice right away when plotting directions is that it's all designated in miles. This is logical as it's an American service, but if plotting directions from say a Canadian to an American destination, it'd be extremely easy for them to convert the mileage to kms north of the border, and miles to the south of it.
Perhaps this'll change once it goes to final release or when they release a
Try looking in a non U.S. centric dictionary.
Why not use Diesel-Electric as an alternative? By this I don't mean a hybrid solution as is currently being used by Honda & Toyota, but rather a miniaturized version of a diesel-electric locomotive. This being a small common-rail diesel engine connected directly to a generator. The transmission would be replaced with by an electric motor which would use electricity generated on demand to drive the wheels. This would solve the fuel storage issue present with hydrogen, replaced by diesel (more efficient than gasoline). The electricity would be generated on demand which wouldn't require bulky batteries or complex circuitry of current hybrid systems.
So what are the barriers preventing a setup like this from working? Is it simply more efficient to drive the wheels directly from the engine? Would the generator/electric motor add too much weight to the vehicle in order to achieve similar performance levels?
Agreed! This project should be renamed if for nothing else than to help bolster more pleasant mental imagry for those unaware of this project.
Re: Video on records.
They did, they're called VideoDiscs CED Magic - The RCA SelectaVision VideoDisc Web Site
Given your logic I'd suggest you pick up one of these and play with it for a while, then come back and post how much better the video quality is on these vs modern DVD's!
Agreed. This, combined with low bitrate files, proprietary codecs and/or DRM (in Apples' case) are but a few reasons why I don't buy music online. If I wanted the latest drivel, I'd just as soon go down to HMV and pick up the CD. Sure, the music itself is still crap - but at least it'd be uncompressed crap.
I too listen to a lot of 80's music. I've "archived" many of my own collection to lossless FLAC files and stored them on DVD+R's. That way I'm not locked into any particular lossy codec and can re-encode them to whatever suits my fancy relatively easily. That's how my collection of music makes its way into iTunes.
I typically go to used music stores and scour for used LP's & CD's to fill my collection. I often find what I'm looking for and it's typically much cheaper than what it would've cost me for the compressed online version. I rip/record - dump it to FLAC and MP3 files (whatever) and I'm done. Yes, it's more inconvenient but it's also MUCH more gratifying than clicking submit and having $0.99 added to my VISA bill.
The second and third instalment only served to destroy what could've been a great series (Episode 1 anyone?). Their production had absolutely nothing to do with making good movies but to solely capitalize on the franchise - as do so many other s(pr)equels.
If you already have the first movie on DVD, bully for you. If you don't, feel free to go purchase the first film - but don't feel obligated to contribute more money to crap which shouldn't have been made in the first place for the sake of filling an empty bit of shelf space! By doing so, you're only helping to validate this sort of thing!
FLAC has the advantage of being far more portable. If you're content to transcode to either AAC or MP3 using iTunes' own proprietary format then Apple Lossless may be good enough for you.
It's interesting how Apple has chosen to enable two lossless codecs into 4.5. On the one hand, you can use iTunes to import your CD's into it's own Apple (potentially proprietary) lossless format, or you can now import losslessly encoded (or not) WMA files which iTunes converts to AAC.
(Thinking aloud) Prior to reading about 4.5 this morning, I was encoding my CD collection into a FLAC archive. Using foobar2000 I could then encode my FLAC collection to just about any other format, including AAC. Up until iTunes 4.5 however, there was no direct method of importing losslessly encoded formats (other than wav files). Importing WMA vs FLAC now makes this process at least one step easier - Windows Media Player's WMA tagging is also extremely easy. Using foobar2000, one can also transcode WMA files into virtually any other format as well. WMA arguably has more overall support than FLAC - at least as far as portables are concerned. I'm not saying I'll switch away from FLAC, but it may be worth investigating.
I find it very odd how a new version of iTunes has me reconsidering WMA as an option for archiving my CD collection, especially as their own lossless codec was released on the same day.
a cheap(er) DVD based discman rather than a hard disk based unit with similar storage capabilities. I'd much rather store my music (MP3, AAC, whatever) on removable storage rather than having to spend time syncing/reloading a sealed unit. Removable storage inherently more flexible in that regard. It reminds me of the many "mixed tapes" I used to create only DVD's hold so much more. One didn't create a new mixed tape every time did one? (assuming a full ipod mini or other likewise device) Well...perhaps you did, those chromium dioxide tapes DID tend to get expensive after a while (sarcasm).
I wouldn't call your 14.4 modem terribly useful, but I'm in agreement with your comment regarding old systems. I myself run a website hosted on a Macintosh LC III (25 Mhz 68030) running Linux.
www.32bitwonder.org
I recall being at an Apple seminar once where they had demo of a then preproduction version of MacOS X. The audience consisted of local Mac support techies as well as casual users. There were many glitches throughout the demo, and many explanations from the presenter as to why MacOS loaded so slowly etc etc. He used this time to explain to the audience that the MacOS kernel is based on Unix. I wasn't sure at the time how many people in the audience would grasp that concept, but it became painfully clear near the end of the presentation when he finished things off by opening up a terminal window. I looked around and saw nothing but stunned, confused looks on people's faces. The presenter followed by explaining how you could now use familiar unix applications like telnet and vi all within MacOS X. After then explaining to someones question regarding just what telnet and vi were, someone else followed with the question, "So...if someone on the Internet wanted to hack my computer, could they open up one of these 'terminals' and use 'telnet' to hack into my Mac?". Needless to say the presentation ended late that day, and I got the impression most of the audience left feeling rather uncertain about what just happened.
I think a Unix for MacOS publication would be useful for those migrating to Apple from some (any) other platform. For casual Mac users? No way is this going to be of any use to them. If they were so inclined, they'd already have some experience on another OS by now.
We're charging our battery
And now we're full of energy
We are the robots
We're functioning automatik
And we are dancing mechanik
We are the robots
Ja tvoi sluga (=I'm your slave)
Ja tvoi Rabotnik robotnik (=I'm your worker)
We are programmed just to do
anything you want us to
we are the robots
We're functioning automatic
and we are dancing mechanic
we are the robots
Ja tvoi sluga (=I'm your slave)
Ja tvoi Rabotnik robotnik (=I'm your worker)
We are the robots
Kraftwerk - 1978
If that's the case, here's a tip for the Microsoft folks already starting work on a CLI browser. Sorry kids Lynx has you beat, but I hear they're looking for some investments!
32bitwonder.org
No? My 25Mhz Macintosh LC III is enough to host a webserver running Linux & Apache. It even runs PHP. The 20Mhz PPC CPU used in the rovers is most likely quite a bit faster than the 68030 in the LC III.
...and being a nobody, everyone knows that Debian will run on virtually anything too. Don't believe me? Check my site! www.32bitwonder.org
I too have this very keyboard, and have had it now for about 6 months. The keyboard I was really after, was a desktop style IBM thinkpad keyboard. The "fashion" keyboard was as close to this as I could find. My first impressions of this keyboard were very favourable. The feedback is a little heavier than I'd like, but overall decent. One thing I should note about this keyboard is its tendancy to stick. I've never had problems with IBM scissor style keyboards on various thinkpads over the years, but I've already had to clean & attempt to lubricate the fashion keyboard several times lately in an attempt to keep it from sticking. If it persists, I may be forced to spend the $$$ for an IBM UltraNav keyboard.