THIS. There is a wide field of knowledge and study involving juror selection. Lawyers from all sides get to ask questions of the jury and get some number of exclusions by default. Samsung should have found the techies and patent holders in the jury pool and used their exclusions to kick them out. But they didn't; someone messed up.
Are you kidding me? Do you think the average (even above-average) user wants to go through PAGES and PAGES of radio buttons? Rounded vs. sharp corners? Why not allow them to determine just HOW round? Now we've gone from radio buttons to sliders everywhere.
Seriously, customize EVERYTHING? You can do that in Linux - look at how well that worked out for the consumer.
The only thing that comes close to an eInk eReader that can handle PDFs well is the Kindle DX ($380). Do not go with a smaller format reader and think you can convert PDF articles to ePub. It turns out really badly - unreadable.
Back when eReaders were the big new thing, many companies were going to come out with a large format reader. PlasticLogic was going to come out with their Que reader, but it was delayed multiple times and cost something like $600. It was dealt a quick and merciful death.
The only sensible options today are the Kindle DX or a tablet. I read plenty of journal articles on my Honeycomb tablet, and it's really not that bad. Certainly not bad enough for me to drop $400 on a dedicated paper-reading device.
Holy crap, look at all that clutter! Icons everywhere!
Not only that, but none of the icons have text in case someone forgets what one of the thousand icons means.
What the heck is up with that 3-D mouse? Is Mozilla supposed to invent that?
Isn't this just a fancier way to copy-paste a link over Skype and initiate a voice chat with them?
This can't possibly just be a Mozilla project. You'd need a whole new OS!
Radial menus may work sometimes, but four unlabeled cloverleaves with 5 tiny unlabeled dots that don't reveal their function unless you hover over them?
The only worthwhile thing there is turning numbers into graphs. So Mozilla just needs to merge with OpenOffice or something.
If you are on 802.11b and are happy with the speed it provides, then stay with what you have. If you're unhappy with it, upgrade to 802.11g. If you are are unhappy with 802.11g, well, tough luck: as someone else already mentioned, 802.11n isn't coming out until 2008. Start punching holes in the wall and running some Ethernet cable!
My take on all of this is that people still want an iPod. If they want bigger than a 4 GB player to store their music, then they will go with a full-size iPod. Before, you got 20 GB or 60 GB and no video. Now, for the same price, you get 30 or 60 GB AND video. You pay the same price and you get more features. I agree with people who say "Who will use video on the iPod?" But when you realize that the iPod is a music player FIRST and a video player is an added bonus, it makes more sense. If you want a high capacity music player, then you want an iPod - everyone wants an iPod; they're cool. But then the video playing is just an added bonus. If you want a high capacity video player, then you'd get something else.
Yes, the Mac mini is a small form factor, and that's part of what makes it so appealing. However, the specs are all far from top-of-the-line: an older processor, 256 MB RAM, 40 GB HD, etc. etc. This all helps keeps the cost down. Trying to build something specifications-equivalent in a PC involves buying a low-end processor and a small motherboard to match (not to mention the other components), and I don't know if it can be done. The integration that Apple can pull together with its hardware enables low-end but tightly integrated computers such as the Mac mini to exist. The componentization of the PC world does not lend itself to a build-it-yourself Mac mini equivalent.
Functionally, there is little difference except that is certainly slower than running it natively. Where the big problem lies is that Mac users (and I'm one of them) expect coherence and integration in their UI. A Mac version of OpenOffice that runs using X11 will not provide this. Also, think of anyone who's switched over from Windows with a sour taste in their mouth - they want to avoid Microsoft at all costs, including MS Office. They've heard great things about OpenOffice, but when they go to try it, it's slow and kludgy. Not a very good impression at all.
Well this is good news! Anything to keep CPUs cooler as they heat up - especially the AMDs, which have always run hotter. Seems like everyone's paying more attention to these kinds of issues. Of course, I'm waiting for AMD to include some kind of liquid-cooling device IN the CPU package. Or maybe a jug of liquid nitrogen...
Ummm.. don't we already have something for that called Bluetooth? Hrm.
From the Bluetooth SIG Mission Statement: Develop, publish and promote the preferred short-range wireless specification for connecting mobile products...
So I just bought a Creative Nomad Zen Xtra (what a long time!) from the store a couple of days ago, and you know something? I returned it. I'm a PC user and a fairly faithful one at that, but I love iTunes. For me, it's entirely in the rating system. I can create a playlist that has only songs that I rate highly, and it's amazing. Too bad I can't sync those playlists to my Nomad. I have to use their crappy software, which I hated. Apple releasing iTunes for Windows is "first hit's free" mentality - you get a taste of how good to iPod software is, and suddenly you have to have an iPod. It's awful. And I'm buying one. Unless Dell's bundled software is as good as iTunes (and it's MusicMatch, which means it can't be anywhere near as good), then I won't even think twice about it.
This little doo-dad doesn't actually sound like it's a PVR - streaming content off your computer is great, but it never says anything about getting TV onto your hard drive.
If you already have a PlayStation2 (that doubles as a DVD player), why spend $250 on more hardware when you can use this: QCast Tuner? It'll record TV onto your computer's hard drive and pull media off of it, too. All you need is the Sony Network Adapter... wireless network option is up to you.
No, I don't work for BroadQ, but I do own it and it's a great product. Who needs to spend more cash on extra hardware?
802.11b runs in the 2.4 GHz band and is interrupted by 2.4 GHz phones, microwaves, and various other devices. This thing runs at 900 MHz, and there are most definitely more 900 MHz phones out there to interrupt this signal. For small groups, maybe this'll work. But unless everyone is going to go back to a corded phone or upgrade their phones to 2.4 GHz, this won't work very well. Cheap, sure, but reliable and effective? Probably not.
Just as an addendum, we didn't pay for the DSL modem - it was included as well. So we didn't pay anything extra to hook up DSL in our house. Our new computer came with an Ethernet card, but those are also dirt cheap. In general, the switch to DSL was a great deal.
My family used to use AOL at the rate of $23.95 a month, plus any phone charges that we incurred. When signing my apartment up for Ameritech DSL, they had a special going on - for one year, the price would be $30/month! For $7 more a month, we'd get a free DSL modem, free install, etc. etc. What an amazing deal! I don't know why Ameritech didn't advertise it more, but any family who has a teenage son or daughter that can install DSL can easily be stolen away from AOL - AOL simply can't charge as much as it does for what little it gives.
Sony's new PS3 may have some digital media capabilities, but no one's quite sure. But it would seem to make sense considering that there are rumors all over that the MS XBox 2 is going to serve as a hub for digital family entertainment. Course, that's running the XBox OS (or Linux depending on the hack). And now Intel is coming out with something that's running Linux? Intel and Microsoft are usually in bed together, and suddenly they're releasing competing products and Intel's is even running Linux? People are fleeing Microsoft in droves... maybe their tactics are coming around to bite them in the butt? At first it was "Game Console Wars," and now it's "Digital Media Center Wars." Let's sit back and watch.
Cool! This remind anyone of Back to the Future Part II where they go to 2015? We'd be a few years ahead, possibly! But where else are we going to find 1.21 gigawatts of power? It can't be done... unless I can get that flux capacitor off of eBay!
What about DOS? DOS was pretty simple... it sure as hell wasn't pretty, it sure as hell wasn't gimmicky. And who wants to "double click on Explorer" when all they had to do was type in "dir"? That's simple shorthand... give me my immersive 3D computing environment, thank you very much!
I'm a CS major at a University, and, in a lot of classes, coding is supposed to be done alone. However, a lot of groups form naturally to help each other, no matter how illegal this all is - it's a matter of friendship and survival. If mandatory groups were assigned, friends would still get together, but that whole group would benefit. Is this wrong and immoral? Quite possibly, but so is downloading MP3s.
As a sidenote, my Computer Architecture professor says "Feel free to work in groups of 2 or 3, but if you can't do the work on your own, you're screwed for the exam."
And my CS Theory professor says we can only meet in groups but "cannot walk away with anything written on paper." That's like telling a 2 year old "Be sure not to play with that fun-looking toy!" - it'll never fly.
Slashdot Mirror
THIS. There is a wide field of knowledge and study involving juror selection. Lawyers from all sides get to ask questions of the jury and get some number of exclusions by default. Samsung should have found the techies and patent holders in the jury pool and used their exclusions to kick them out. But they didn't; someone messed up.
(disclaimer: IANAL)
Are you kidding me? Do you think the average (even above-average) user wants to go through PAGES and PAGES of radio buttons? Rounded vs. sharp corners? Why not allow them to determine just HOW round? Now we've gone from radio buttons to sliders everywhere.
Seriously, customize EVERYTHING? You can do that in Linux - look at how well that worked out for the consumer.
The only thing that comes close to an eInk eReader that can handle PDFs well is the Kindle DX ($380). Do not go with a smaller format reader and think you can convert PDF articles to ePub. It turns out really badly - unreadable.
Back when eReaders were the big new thing, many companies were going to come out with a large format reader. PlasticLogic was going to come out with their Que reader, but it was delayed multiple times and cost something like $600. It was dealt a quick and merciful death.
The only sensible options today are the Kindle DX or a tablet. I read plenty of journal articles on my Honeycomb tablet, and it's really not that bad. Certainly not bad enough for me to drop $400 on a dedicated paper-reading device.
So? Will that make them any less stupid, unemployed, or poor? At we can all know why.
If you are on 802.11b and are happy with the speed it provides, then stay with what you have. If you're unhappy with it, upgrade to 802.11g.
If you are are unhappy with 802.11g, well, tough luck: as someone else already mentioned, 802.11n isn't coming out until 2008. Start punching holes in the wall and running some Ethernet cable!
Problem solved.
My take on all of this is that people still want an iPod. If they want bigger than a 4 GB player to store their music, then they will go with a full-size iPod. Before, you got 20 GB or 60 GB and no video. Now, for the same price, you get 30 or 60 GB AND video. You pay the same price and you get more features. I agree with people who say "Who will use video on the iPod?" But when you realize that the iPod is a music player FIRST and a video player is an added bonus, it makes more sense. If you want a high capacity music player, then you want an iPod - everyone wants an iPod; they're cool. But then the video playing is just an added bonus. If you want a high capacity video player, then you'd get something else.
Yes, the Mac mini is a small form factor, and that's part of what makes it so appealing. However, the specs are all far from top-of-the-line: an older processor, 256 MB RAM, 40 GB HD, etc. etc. This all helps keeps the cost down. Trying to build something specifications-equivalent in a PC involves buying a low-end processor and a small motherboard to match (not to mention the other components), and I don't know if it can be done. The integration that Apple can pull together with its hardware enables low-end but tightly integrated computers such as the Mac mini to exist. The componentization of the PC world does not lend itself to a build-it-yourself Mac mini equivalent.
Functionally, there is little difference except that is certainly slower than running it natively. Where the big problem lies is that Mac users (and I'm one of them) expect coherence and integration in their UI. A Mac version of OpenOffice that runs using X11 will not provide this.
Also, think of anyone who's switched over from Windows with a sour taste in their mouth - they want to avoid Microsoft at all costs, including MS Office. They've heard great things about OpenOffice, but when they go to try it, it's slow and kludgy. Not a very good impression at all.
Well this is good news! Anything to keep CPUs cooler as they heat up - especially the AMDs, which have always run hotter. Seems like everyone's paying more attention to these kinds of issues. Of course, I'm waiting for AMD to include some kind of liquid-cooling device IN the CPU package. Or maybe a jug of liquid nitrogen...
Just as an aside, this research won an Ig Noble award in 2000.
Read about it here.
One of the authors is at the school that I graduated from. In Psychology. Oh yeah, I'm proud.
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Ummm.. don't we already have something for that called Bluetooth? Hrm.
From the Bluetooth SIG Mission Statement:
Develop, publish and promote the preferred short-range wireless specification for connecting mobile products...
So I just bought a Creative Nomad Zen Xtra (what a long time!) from the store a couple of days ago, and you know something? I returned it. I'm a PC user and a fairly faithful one at that, but I love iTunes. For me, it's entirely in the rating system. I can create a playlist that has only songs that I rate highly, and it's amazing.
Too bad I can't sync those playlists to my Nomad. I have to use their crappy software, which I hated. Apple releasing iTunes for Windows is "first hit's free" mentality - you get a taste of how good to iPod software is, and suddenly you have to have an iPod. It's awful. And I'm buying one.
Unless Dell's bundled software is as good as iTunes (and it's MusicMatch, which means it can't be anywhere near as good), then I won't even think twice about it.
AT&T TO CUT WORKFORCE 120 PERCENT
Funny and brutally honest. Too bad they stopped putting out new stuff.
This little doo-dad doesn't actually sound like it's a PVR - streaming content off your computer is great, but it never says anything about getting TV onto your hard drive.
If you already have a PlayStation2 (that doubles as a DVD player), why spend $250 on more hardware when you can use this: QCast Tuner? It'll record TV onto your computer's hard drive and pull media off of it, too. All you need is the Sony Network Adapter... wireless network option is up to you.
No, I don't work for BroadQ, but I do own it and it's a great product. Who needs to spend more cash on extra hardware?
802.11b runs in the 2.4 GHz band and is interrupted by 2.4 GHz phones, microwaves, and various other devices. This thing runs at 900 MHz, and there are most definitely more 900 MHz phones out there to interrupt this signal. For small groups, maybe this'll work. But unless everyone is going to go back to a corded phone or upgrade their phones to 2.4 GHz, this won't work very well. Cheap, sure, but reliable and effective? Probably not.
Just as an addendum, we didn't pay for the DSL modem - it was included as well. So we didn't pay anything extra to hook up DSL in our house. Our new computer came with an Ethernet card, but those are also dirt cheap. In general, the switch to DSL was a great deal.
My family used to use AOL at the rate of $23.95 a month, plus any phone charges that we incurred. When signing my apartment up for Ameritech DSL, they had a special going on - for one year, the price would be $30/month! For $7 more a month, we'd get a free DSL modem, free install, etc. etc. What an amazing deal! I don't know why Ameritech didn't advertise it more, but any family who has a teenage son or daughter that can install DSL can easily be stolen away from AOL - AOL simply can't charge as much as it does for what little it gives.
So here's what we have so far:
Sony's new PS3 may have some digital media capabilities, but no one's quite sure. But it would seem to make sense considering that there are rumors all over that the MS XBox 2 is going to serve as a hub for digital family entertainment. Course, that's running the XBox OS (or Linux depending on the hack). And now Intel is coming out with something that's running Linux? Intel and Microsoft are usually in bed together, and suddenly they're releasing competing products and Intel's is even running Linux? People are fleeing Microsoft in droves... maybe their tactics are coming around to bite them in the butt? At first it was "Game Console Wars," and now it's "Digital Media Center Wars." Let's sit back and watch.
iWalk? Well, ok.... and once Apple releases the next version with a faster processor, will it be the iRun? the iJog?
Mr. Fusion from Back to the Future? We've come one step closer here! 2.21 gigawatts!!!
Cool! This remind anyone of Back to the Future Part II where they go to 2015? We'd be a few years ahead, possibly! But where else are we going to find 1.21 gigawatts of power? It can't be done... unless I can get that flux capacitor off of eBay!
What about DOS? DOS was pretty simple... it sure as hell wasn't pretty, it sure as hell wasn't gimmicky. And who wants to "double click on Explorer" when all they had to do was type in "dir"? That's simple shorthand... give me my immersive 3D computing environment, thank you very much!
I'm a CS major at a University, and, in a lot of classes, coding is supposed to be done alone. However, a lot of groups form naturally to help each other, no matter how illegal this all is - it's a matter of friendship and survival. If mandatory groups were assigned, friends would still get together, but that whole group would benefit. Is this wrong and immoral? Quite possibly, but so is downloading MP3s.
As a sidenote, my Computer Architecture professor says "Feel free to work in groups of 2 or 3, but if you can't do the work on your own, you're screwed for the exam."
And my CS Theory professor says we can only meet in groups but "cannot walk away with anything written on paper." That's like telling a 2 year old "Be sure not to play with that fun-looking toy!" - it'll never fly.