Drew, I'm still not sure what you mean. Do you mean for example two internal and two external Ethernet interfaces, or different types of Ethernet connections (RJ45, Coax, AUI, etc)? Or something else completely? The firewalls that I listed have 5 Ethernet interfaces, one being for the external network (cable, DSL, etc), and the rest for the internal network, typically with at least one that can be set for DMZ.
There was a story here on slashdot a few months ago about an alternative to jewel cases, where people discussed all kinds of options for CD/DVD storage. I found this particular comment to be the most useful for really large scale CD/DVD storage. It seems simple, effective, and practical. Also check the other comments on that story for other ideas, but I think this is really the best solution for you based on what you said:
I wasn't clear enough in my original post. Yes, I was referring to having heard artists say that the existing Windows version of Xara extreme (X?) was better than illustrator and freehand. I heard this months ago before the open source version was even announced. Being that you are the second post pointing this out, I figured I would clarify it. Thanks.
I haven't used Xara extreme yet, but I have seen artists say that it's better than Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand (which is what this software competes with) in terms of performance, (some?) features, and ease of use. Sounds like a great new software in Linux' arsenal.
Hey you may be right in an ideal world/environment, but the truth is that for someone to get into that fight they have to really be willing to fight, and be prepared for the consequences of it. Most people are not ready and willing to do that.
I didn't really ask him (I will next time I see him), but the feeling that I get is that because it's a religious thing, it's a very touchy subject. You can imagine that some of these kids are probably trained (or at least their parents would claim afterwards) that they were victims of religious persecution, etc. and perhaps even try to get the media involved. One thing is for sure - it's not an enjoyable situation.
There's a low-intensity battle raging in schools right now, with many students actively fighting the teaching of evolution. I have a friend who is a biology teacher in public school (I don't recall if it's high-school or junior high), and he's been thinking about asking to teach a different subject because the hostility of some kids to evolution is becoming too much.
He says it's a daily occurrence now for kids in his class to wear confrontational religious t-shirts to class, pray during his lectures, close their books and turn their backs to him, ask him to go to church with them and be saved, etc. You can imagine that this is a very touchy subject for him to have to deal with.
The religious fanatic parents of these kids are turning them into mini religious militants. Hearing my friend tell it, it sounds very bad - something like a cancer that's pervading the schools, almost an insurgency. And this is not in some small rural town - he teaches in Phoenix, AZ (granted, it's a somewhat conservative place, but it's the sixth largest city in the US!).
I just get weird vibes of Madrasahs and Taliban when I hear this stuff.
Can you name one format of internet/streaming video that doesn't require a 3rd-party plug-in for most OSs? There isn't one. As a matter of fact I've read statements that say that Flash is the #1 video playing plugin on the internet in terms of market penetration and installed base, with something like 97%.
All the cutting edge video streaming sites are now using Flash because of the installed base, and because it's got the best video compression / fast streaming at the moment, as well as being the most flexible/controllable format, what with the skinning and programming that you can put into the interface.
If you're running a website with streaming video, there's no good reason to go with anything else other than Flash, unless you want to give your visitors the ability to easily download and keep copies of your videos.
Dude, I agree with most of what you say, and you were really on a roll there until you talked about the iTunes clones' "extortion".
I imagine you're talking about things like Yahoo Music/Napster/Rhapsody/etc that offer $5/month unlimited music service? If so, I just don't get the extortion comment. I'm not on any of those yet, but am seriously thinking of joining Yahoo music unlimited, because I think it actually offers an added service on top of what itunes offers. You can still buy individual songs permanently (well, as permanently as on itunes becuase of DRM) that cannot be remotely rendered useless, but they ALSO offer the ability to temporarily download all the full-length songs you want. To me that's an incredible opportunity to discover new music and really make sure you like it before you plop down the 79 cents (also cheaper than itunes) to buy it "permanently". Not to mention that if you're the type that likes to listen to latest RIAA drivel "hits" and then dump them after a few months anyway, this could save you a lot of money because you wouldn't have to buy them to start with.
Yeah, that sounds like a good concise version of what is going on, but maybe I would say "used by the Wiimote to determine its own location (height, distance, and angle, but not rotation) in relation to the sensor bar."
Thanks for the Anandtech article - it cleared a lot of things up. So it sounds like both IGN and Anandtech are kind of mixing up their terminology a little. I think calling the bar a sensor bar is a misnomer, since it sounds like it's just emitting an infrared field, and the sensors are actually on the remote. I like how someone called it a "locator bar" instead.
I would love to see what that infrared field looks like. When I get one of these I'll have to fire up my video camera and see what it sees, since it registers infrared light.
I think your last statement could be a more accurate description of what is going on than the way I described it. But some part of the controller's functionality is definitely based on infrared (or some other kind of light signal, though the black windows on the remote and on the sensor bar have an infrared vibe to them).
I read it somewhere that it used both bluetooth and infrared but I don't recall where that was (probably bits and pieces from various sources), and they didn't really give implementation details. We can infer some things though, given the locator bar, and the fact that at least some of the first hand impressions from E3 mentioned the "pointer" functionality not working if the little black window at the front of the remote wasn't facing the general direction of the locator bar and TV, i.e. if you hold the remote backwards.
I read the wiki article you linked and it also mentions something about this: "The controller features an optical sensor, allowing it to determine where it is pointing. This can cause some detection problems when bright or fluorescent lights are in the area, requiring the controller be calibrated to the sensor bar (see below). This is presumably because the controller uses the LEDs in the bar as a reference point." There's more about it in the "sensing" section in that wiki article.
That FPS games just flat out suck to play on consoles because of the controllers, while the Wii looks set to change that with its new controller. So the 360 and the PS3 can have their deluge of beautiful looking HDTV FPS games that you can't play for more than 15 minutes because they're uncontrollable. I'll stick to the beautiful looking standard definition FPS games that are a blast to play and super immersive that come out on the Wii.
I'm not planning to get an HDTV any time soon anyway, and I've played PS2 and xbox 360 games on my friend's HDTV and, sorry to say this, but the 360 games don't even look twice as good as the PS2. They look maybe 50% better, if I'm generous.
From what I understand, the infrared is going to give the "pointer/mouse" capability (communicating with the locator bar that you set up under the TV), with bluetooth handling everything else (buttons, gyroscope, accelerometer, etc).
I just wanted to mention that anyone can try this for cheap. IKEA has a desk called the Jerker (the post above about surfing for pr0n while standing makes this name even funnier) is $129, has a metal frame, and a desktop that can be adjusted for either a sitting or standing position. Interesting that they say the desktop goes up to 47 1/4" - I wonder if that's a mistake, because the mounting holes go all the way to the top of the frame (see the larger picture). I'll have to check the manual for mine to see if they really say that.
I have this desk and love it - I think it's the most versatile and sturdy desk you can buy for the money. They come in different colors, and you can get all kinds of accessories for it - swivel monitor shelves, an extention to add another shelf at the top, side magazine and cd/dvd racks, side PC mounting shelves. It's an all around super geek desk. Even if the standing up thing doesn't work out, you will still end up with a pretty sweet desk.
Finally, I wanted to add one more famous person that works standing up: Walter Murch, one of the more well-known film and sound editors working today.
We'll be having rave parties 24x7 then. Cue the Matrix soundrack. Where are the hot chicks in post-apocalyptic skimpy outfits? I see these scientists have started using their recreational drugs even before the raves have started!
Just wanted to clear this up. The deadline that you're referring to for OTA TV transmissions isn't for them to convert to HDTV, but just to convert from analog broadcasts to digital ones. They are allocated a part of the digital spectrum, but can either broadcast one HDTV channel, or I believe 4 or more standard definition digital channels, which appears to be the route most smaller broadcasters are taking (hey, 4x the commercials!).
All that would be required would be a new receiver box. I've heard that they are even considering subsidizing these receivers for everyone, since the sooner they can complete this conversion, the sooner they can auction off the current analog TV spectrum for billions upon billions of dollars.
You can see how they can twist their accountant's arms with those figures, especially when you consider that they would shift much less units in that first -$200 year, than in each of the subsequent 10 years of +$50 due to slow early adoption rates.
I read this tip somewhere on the net and tried it out. I liked it, but do yourself a favor and get an anti-burst model as it's just a few bucks more than a burstable model. I had the latter type and when my cat decided to jump up on my lap I ended up flat on my ass with a twisted knee. Another thing about it is that if anyone else would be using it, the ball would have to be the proper size for them too (they come in about three sizes, according to your height).
I did a quick search on the net for info to point you to, but I ended up finding an article recommending against it. I would still try it to see what you think, because I think the article is exaggerating the whole "instability" angle. They also have ads for what look like super expensive ergonomic chairs, so I wonder if there's any connection there. Anyway, it appears that that website also has an ergonomics forum, so you may want to ask the same question there.
The University of California system is a step above the California State University system, and costs more, but it is still very much a state school system (regardless of if they are run like a private one) and costs nowhere near what a private school does:
University of Michigan is the same from what I can tell.
Here are the state resident fees for some schools:
Cal State Chico full-time semester: $1398.00 ($2796/yr) UC Berkeley semester: $3,716.95 ($7434/yr) University of Michigan semester: around $5,000 (~$10,000/yr) Stanford QUARTER regardless of state residence: $10,998 ($32994/yr)
I haven't seen it myself, but I understand that ESPN has done something similar (reduced the game to a smaller square and did something like a picture-in-picture for the ad) this year for the MLS (Major League Soccer) broadcasts.
Wait, your conclusion doesn't follow from your examples. You just gave all these comparisons of an MP3 player vs satellite radio, but nothing about FM vs satellite radio?
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Drew, I'm still not sure what you mean. Do you mean for example two internal and two external Ethernet interfaces, or different types of Ethernet connections (RJ45, Coax, AUI, etc)? Or something else completely? The firewalls that I listed have 5 Ethernet interfaces, one being for the external network (cable, DSL, etc), and the rest for the internal network, typically with at least one that can be set for DMZ.
Shenan
Large quantity CD/DVD storage solution
I thought you were replying to my original post, instead of the flamebait post that was hidden from view. Doh! New Slashdot design! Thanks again.
I wasn't clear enough in my original post. Yes, I was referring to having heard artists say that the existing Windows version of Xara extreme (X?) was better than illustrator and freehand. I heard this months ago before the open source version was even announced. Being that you are the second post pointing this out, I figured I would clarify it. Thanks.
I haven't used Xara extreme yet, but I have seen artists say that it's better than Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand (which is what this software competes with) in terms of performance, (some?) features, and ease of use. Sounds like a great new software in Linux' arsenal.
Hey you may be right in an ideal world/environment, but the truth is that for someone to get into that fight they have to really be willing to fight, and be prepared for the consequences of it. Most people are not ready and willing to do that.
I didn't really ask him (I will next time I see him), but the feeling that I get is that because it's a religious thing, it's a very touchy subject. You can imagine that some of these kids are probably trained (or at least their parents would claim afterwards) that they were victims of religious persecution, etc. and perhaps even try to get the media involved. One thing is for sure - it's not an enjoyable situation.
There's a low-intensity battle raging in schools right now, with many students actively fighting the teaching of evolution. I have a friend who is a biology teacher in public school (I don't recall if it's high-school or junior high), and he's been thinking about asking to teach a different subject because the hostility of some kids to evolution is becoming too much.
He says it's a daily occurrence now for kids in his class to wear confrontational religious t-shirts to class, pray during his lectures, close their books and turn their backs to him, ask him to go to church with them and be saved, etc. You can imagine that this is a very touchy subject for him to have to deal with.
The religious fanatic parents of these kids are turning them into mini religious militants. Hearing my friend tell it, it sounds very bad - something like a cancer that's pervading the schools, almost an insurgency. And this is not in some small rural town - he teaches in Phoenix, AZ (granted, it's a somewhat conservative place, but it's the sixth largest city in the US!).
I just get weird vibes of Madrasahs and Taliban when I hear this stuff.
Can you name one format of internet/streaming video that doesn't require a 3rd-party plug-in for most OSs? There isn't one. As a matter of fact I've read statements that say that Flash is the #1 video playing plugin on the internet in terms of market penetration and installed base, with something like 97%.
All the cutting edge video streaming sites are now using Flash because of the installed base, and because it's got the best video compression / fast streaming at the moment, as well as being the most flexible/controllable format, what with the skinning and programming that you can put into the interface.
If you're running a website with streaming video, there's no good reason to go with anything else other than Flash, unless you want to give your visitors the ability to easily download and keep copies of your videos.
Dude, I agree with most of what you say, and you were really on a roll there until you talked about the iTunes clones' "extortion".
I imagine you're talking about things like Yahoo Music/Napster/Rhapsody/etc that offer $5/month unlimited music service? If so, I just don't get the extortion comment. I'm not on any of those yet, but am seriously thinking of joining Yahoo music unlimited, because I think it actually offers an added service on top of what itunes offers. You can still buy individual songs permanently (well, as permanently as on itunes becuase of DRM) that cannot be remotely rendered useless, but they ALSO offer the ability to temporarily download all the full-length songs you want. To me that's an incredible opportunity to discover new music and really make sure you like it before you plop down the 79 cents (also cheaper than itunes) to buy it "permanently". Not to mention that if you're the type that likes to listen to latest RIAA drivel "hits" and then dump them after a few months anyway, this could save you a lot of money because you wouldn't have to buy them to start with.
Yeah, that sounds like a good concise version of what is going on, but maybe I would say "used by the Wiimote to determine its own location (height, distance, and angle, but not rotation) in relation to the sensor bar."
Thanks for the Anandtech article - it cleared a lot of things up. So it sounds like both IGN and Anandtech are kind of mixing up their terminology a little. I think calling the bar a sensor bar is a misnomer, since it sounds like it's just emitting an infrared field, and the sensors are actually on the remote. I like how someone called it a "locator bar" instead.
I would love to see what that infrared field looks like. When I get one of these I'll have to fire up my video camera and see what it sees, since it registers infrared light.
I think your last statement could be a more accurate description of what is going on than the way I described it. But some part of the controller's functionality is definitely based on infrared (or some other kind of light signal, though the black windows on the remote and on the sensor bar have an infrared vibe to them).
I read it somewhere that it used both bluetooth and infrared but I don't recall where that was (probably bits and pieces from various sources), and they didn't really give implementation details. We can infer some things though, given the locator bar, and the fact that at least some of the first hand impressions from E3 mentioned the "pointer" functionality not working if the little black window at the front of the remote wasn't facing the general direction of the locator bar and TV, i.e. if you hold the remote backwards.
I read the wiki article you linked and it also mentions something about this: "The controller features an optical sensor, allowing it to determine where it is pointing. This can cause some detection problems when bright or fluorescent lights are in the area, requiring the controller be calibrated to the sensor bar (see below). This is presumably because the controller uses the LEDs in the bar as a reference point." There's more about it in the "sensing" section in that wiki article.
That FPS games just flat out suck to play on consoles because of the controllers, while the Wii looks set to change that with its new controller. So the 360 and the PS3 can have their deluge of beautiful looking HDTV FPS games that you can't play for more than 15 minutes because they're uncontrollable. I'll stick to the beautiful looking standard definition FPS games that are a blast to play and super immersive that come out on the Wii.
I'm not planning to get an HDTV any time soon anyway, and I've played PS2 and xbox 360 games on my friend's HDTV and, sorry to say this, but the 360 games don't even look twice as good as the PS2. They look maybe 50% better, if I'm generous.
From what I understand, the infrared is going to give the "pointer/mouse" capability (communicating with the locator bar that you set up under the TV), with bluetooth handling everything else (buttons, gyroscope, accelerometer, etc).
I have this desk and love it - I think it's the most versatile and sturdy desk you can buy for the money. They come in different colors, and you can get all kinds of accessories for it - swivel monitor shelves, an extention to add another shelf at the top, side magazine and cd/dvd racks, side PC mounting shelves. It's an all around super geek desk. Even if the standing up thing doesn't work out, you will still end up with a pretty sweet desk.
Finally, I wanted to add one more famous person that works standing up: Walter Murch, one of the more well-known film and sound editors working today.
Here. I'm thinking about getting one of these myself, and found these reviews helpful. A few are from people that suffer(ed?) from RSI.
Thanks for the link, but too bad the site is also blocked on my corporate network. :(
Bankrate.com keeps track of the highest yeld savings accounts in the country, along with many other rates, like mortgage, credit card, car loan, etc.
We'll be having rave parties 24x7 then. Cue the Matrix soundrack. Where are the hot chicks in post-apocalyptic skimpy outfits? I see these scientists have started using their recreational drugs even before the raves have started!
Just wanted to clear this up. The deadline that you're referring to for OTA TV transmissions isn't for them to convert to HDTV, but just to convert from analog broadcasts to digital ones. They are allocated a part of the digital spectrum, but can either broadcast one HDTV channel, or I believe 4 or more standard definition digital channels, which appears to be the route most smaller broadcasters are taking (hey, 4x the commercials!).
All that would be required would be a new receiver box. I've heard that they are even considering subsidizing these receivers for everyone, since the sooner they can complete this conversion, the sooner they can auction off the current analog TV spectrum for billions upon billions of dollars.
You can see how they can twist their accountant's arms with those figures, especially when you consider that they would shift much less units in that first -$200 year, than in each of the subsequent 10 years of +$50 due to slow early adoption rates.
I did a quick search on the net for info to point you to, but I ended up finding an article recommending against it. I would still try it to see what you think, because I think the article is exaggerating the whole "instability" angle. They also have ads for what look like super expensive ergonomic chairs, so I wonder if there's any connection there. Anyway, it appears that that website also has an ergonomics forum, so you may want to ask the same question there.
Sorry, but you are way off.
The University of California system is a step above the California State University system, and costs more, but it is still very much a state school system (regardless of if they are run like a private one) and costs nowhere near what a private school does:
University of Michigan is the same from what I can tell.
Here are the state resident fees for some schools:
Cal State Chico full-time semester: $1398.00 ($2796/yr)
UC Berkeley semester: $3,716.95 ($7434/yr)
University of Michigan semester: around $5,000 (~$10,000/yr)
Stanford QUARTER regardless of state residence: $10,998 ($32994/yr)
I haven't seen it myself, but I understand that ESPN has done something similar (reduced the game to a smaller square and did something like a picture-in-picture for the ad) this year for the MLS (Major League Soccer) broadcasts.
Wait, your conclusion doesn't follow from your examples. You just gave all these comparisons of an MP3 player vs satellite radio, but nothing about FM vs satellite radio?