I've checked on the power consumption of these things... A few motors, a couple heating coils, and you're done. It's basically a 3-dimensional "thing" printer, that has a couple warm bits. About as much power consumption as your printer plus one toaster, really.
I'm not sure about the first question, but the answer to the second question is easy: Google.
They're paying you to develop ideas, they may be your ideas, but you're using company time and resources to create them (ie: you're being paid to generate the ideas AND they're financing the initial development effort), so the ideas are their property.
I'm sure someone can come up with some philosophical way around this, but if it ever went to court, the case would prolly be over pretty quick.
~D
Re:I've had this in my office for years
on
Sunlight in a Tube
·
· Score: 1
Next thing you're going to do is tell me you've come up with a simple and cheap solution for my new SOTA wind-powered fresh-air cross-ventalation device.
Yes, the Airport Express, which can be used as a base station from Mac or Windows machines, and whose audio streaming capability was crippled by the manufacturer, which requires a previously unavailable $20 3rd party hack to work the way I'd want it to. That one.
It's not that I don't like apple products. I like their design, their interface, and in many cases, their technology.
The problem is that they specifically hobble their equipment so that it doesn't work well with others. It's not that I'm trolling, I'm just frustrated that they put out interesting things, but then cripple them to the point that I don't want to buy them anymore.
That's just it eactly... They developed it, they designed it, and they get to choose how it's used... I acknowledge that. I just think their decision on how it's used is a boneheaded one.
Apple COULD make products that interoperate with other devices/applications easily, but they don't. Thus, they don't get my (and a lot of other peoples') business. It's frustrating because they have a lot of things that have the kinds of features I want, but keep giving me reasons not to buy.
The problem is that I ~have~ downloaded iTunes in the past, and I didn't like it. Apple's software, like their hardware, has many design decisions that are for the benefit of Apple, not me as an end consumer. Even Quicktime is invasive (why the hell do they have that load on startup???).
Audio players are free these days... Winamp, musicmatch, microsoft, apple... Hell, I've even written my own. The fact that they've locked out their hardware so that only ~their~ free music player will work with it is incentive enough for me to steer clear.
I don't get it... With such a cool device, why would they limit its use to just iTunes? I'm sorry, but I don't like iTunes... I don't like some of the moves Apple's been making with their software locking people into their platform. I'm not interested in buying their overpriced hardware... A simple wifi device to let be broadcast my music wherever? Yeah, I might be interested in that... But it requires iTunes, so there's one more thing that I'm not going to buy from apple.
With a 3rd party hack, I could buy the device, use it how I'd want to, and then ~hope~ they don't start producing versions with firmware that will prevent me from using the device the way I want to. I think I'll just save my money and look for an alternative.
I just want to use the devices in a flexible way. Why do I have to be submitted to all your beurocratic overhead garbage that goes with it?
If I buy a Chevy vehicle, I want it to work with any gasoline that's been refined properly. I don't want to buy Chevy gasoline, or gasoline from an "approved Chevy distributor". Same goes for my music... If I buy something that plays music, I just want it to play my goddamned music... Not music from store A, or through service B.
I honestly didn't think this crap was that hard to grasp. Until things change, Apple ain't seeing a dime from me.
That actually leads to what could be an interesting problem with the technology...
It showed the new fancy ipod on, and the standard one off... right? Well, how do we know the new one was on? It could have been off, and just storing the last image on the screen. This could be a real problem for some technologies... IE: Think the computer was on, but it's really just frozen... moving the mouse around, etc.
Yes, there are ways around that of course (Make the last screen say "Your computer is now off"), but since they're using this new display technology with existing devices, for a while it may cause some confusion.
At the same time, it's clear that in a move like this MS already has too much power, and bending to their will would give them more. Will the politicians look at the facts, and fight the good fight?
If it were in the US, that'd be a no-brainer question, but in Denmark, there's hope.;)
Amen to that...
When I was in graduate school, and learning about things like genetic algorithms, or implementing a distributed file system, I needed operational tools now. I had to design and implement some pretty hardcore software in a matter of weeks. This is the kind of case where any/all help that my tools can provide is welcome, as I tended to be more focused on design. However, if the proper implementation tools are not redily available and usable, they might as well not exist at all.
We will impose our elitist totolitarian regime on you because of the Children! Won't you think of the children? (Thud) How about now? (Whap) Now? Good!
Huh... Imagine that. Go around beating the crap out of smaller countries because you can, and sooner or later they'll ~really~ start posessing the means of defending themselves.
Our government has acted like a bully for a long time, especially recently. We can only push so many people around before they start pushing back.
Are you kidding? He's dressed in the most formal attire available. Beastie's running around topless with tennis shoes on. Hardly proper business attire.;)
Dude, 90% of the processor power IS only used when playing a game. I have my system monitor open, and as I type this on my development computer, I'm at a steady 8 to 11 percent. 5% of that (half my CPU load) is running the flash animation on the top of this page.
CPUs today are bored 90% of the time. Doing word processing and stuff, your CPU use is probably below 10%. The sluggishness has almost NOTHING to do with CPU speed. The big thing is load times, which is correlated to disk usage. RAM really is virtually unlimited, and the only time I've hit the limitations of my CPU are when I'm doing things like writing programs to breed multimedia files.
If you're talking about lack of responsiveness, you sound like you don't need a faster processor... it sounds like you need a 1Ghz machine with 256 MB of decent RAM and a 10,000 RPM SATA drive. 512 MB of RAM if you surf with multiple windows and work with spreadsheets at the same time. Swear to god, that'll knock most of your lack of response time to near nothing.
Many maps do not, but some maps do. In this case, Google's competition does. So, if you're in downtown Baltimore, where there are a ~lot~ of one-way streets, which map would you prefer to use?
Ever heard the phrase "Form follows function"? Beauty is all well and good, but if the drop shadow makes the street name harder to read on the map, I don't want it. Ultimately a map is a reference tool, and I don't care how pretty it is if I can't use it effectively.
They apparently traded a cleaner look for less information. There's no markings for one-way streets... That'll be a real problem in some jurisdictions.
Slashdot Mirror
Amen to this... This is the technique I use as well.
/\ (A) with shift still down
Also, the hardest password was still a word at one point... just garbled to the point it's not recognizable, even with common replacements.
You could take Toast and make: 83O?|stea
83: Ascii for T
O: The letter O
?|:
s: The letter s
tea: tea (t)
Then, just remembering Toast is usually enough to remember the actual key sequence.
The only problem is that some sites don't let you use special characters in your password. Why the hell this is, I don't know.
~D
This is covered on their website. The stuff you have to add includes:
Self-tapping screws
Optical sensor
Motors
Brass bushings
CPUs
Lubricant
All-in-all a pretty small list, if you think about it.
~D
I've checked on the power consumption of these things... A few motors, a couple heating coils, and you're done. It's basically a 3-dimensional "thing" printer, that has a couple warm bits. About as much power consumption as your printer plus one toaster, really.
~D
I'm not sure about the first question, but the answer to the second question is easy: Google.
They're paying you to develop ideas, they may be your ideas, but you're using company time and resources to create them (ie: you're being paid to generate the ideas AND they're financing the initial development effort), so the ideas are their property.
I'm sure someone can come up with some philosophical way around this, but if it ever went to court, the case would prolly be over pretty quick.
~D
Next thing you're going to do is tell me you've come up with a simple and cheap solution for my new SOTA wind-powered fresh-air cross-ventalation device.
You dreamkiller.
~D
Can we get an executive summary about what PassMe is supposed to do, for those of us who have no idea what this is really all about?
Thanks,
~D
Yes, the Airport Express, which can be used as a base station from Mac or Windows machines, and whose audio streaming capability was crippled by the manufacturer, which requires a previously unavailable $20 3rd party hack to work the way I'd want it to. That one.
~D
It's not that I don't like apple products. I like their design, their interface, and in many cases, their technology.
The problem is that they specifically hobble their equipment so that it doesn't work well with others. It's not that I'm trolling, I'm just frustrated that they put out interesting things, but then cripple them to the point that I don't want to buy them anymore.
~D
Actually... You switched the subject. We're not talking about iPods, we're talking about AirPort express, remember?
~D
That's just it eactly... They developed it, they designed it, and they get to choose how it's used... I acknowledge that. I just think their decision on how it's used is a boneheaded one.
Apple COULD make products that interoperate with other devices/applications easily, but they don't. Thus, they don't get my (and a lot of other peoples') business. It's frustrating because they have a lot of things that have the kinds of features I want, but keep giving me reasons not to buy.
~D
The problem is that I ~have~ downloaded iTunes in the past, and I didn't like it. Apple's software, like their hardware, has many design decisions that are for the benefit of Apple, not me as an end consumer. Even Quicktime is invasive (why the hell do they have that load on startup???).
Audio players are free these days... Winamp, musicmatch, microsoft, apple... Hell, I've even written my own. The fact that they've locked out their hardware so that only ~their~ free music player will work with it is incentive enough for me to steer clear.
~D
I don't get it... With such a cool device, why would they limit its use to just iTunes? I'm sorry, but I don't like iTunes... I don't like some of the moves Apple's been making with their software locking people into their platform. I'm not interested in buying their overpriced hardware... A simple wifi device to let be broadcast my music wherever? Yeah, I might be interested in that... But it requires iTunes, so there's one more thing that I'm not going to buy from apple.
With a 3rd party hack, I could buy the device, use it how I'd want to, and then ~hope~ they don't start producing versions with firmware that will prevent me from using the device the way I want to. I think I'll just save my money and look for an alternative.
I just want to use the devices in a flexible way. Why do I have to be submitted to all your beurocratic overhead garbage that goes with it?
If I buy a Chevy vehicle, I want it to work with any gasoline that's been refined properly. I don't want to buy Chevy gasoline, or gasoline from an "approved Chevy distributor". Same goes for my music... If I buy something that plays music, I just want it to play my goddamned music... Not music from store A, or through service B.
I honestly didn't think this crap was that hard to grasp. Until things change, Apple ain't seeing a dime from me.
~D
Godda...
Oh, screw it.
~D
That actually leads to what could be an interesting problem with the technology...
It showed the new fancy ipod on, and the standard one off... right? Well, how do we know the new one was on? It could have been off, and just storing the last image on the screen. This could be a real problem for some technologies... IE: Think the computer was on, but it's really just frozen... moving the mouse around, etc.
Yes, there are ways around that of course (Make the last screen say "Your computer is now off"), but since they're using this new display technology with existing devices, for a while it may cause some confusion.
~D
At the same time, it's clear that in a move like this MS already has too much power, and bending to their will would give them more. Will the politicians look at the facts, and fight the good fight?
;)
If it were in the US, that'd be a no-brainer question, but in Denmark, there's hope.
~D
Amen to that...
When I was in graduate school, and learning about things like genetic algorithms, or implementing a distributed file system, I needed operational tools now. I had to design and implement some pretty hardcore software in a matter of weeks. This is the kind of case where any/all help that my tools can provide is welcome, as I tended to be more focused on design. However, if the proper implementation tools are not redily available and usable, they might as well not exist at all.
~D
We will impose our elitist totolitarian regime on you because of the Children! Won't you think of the children? (Thud) How about now? (Whap) Now? Good!
~D
Huh... Imagine that. Go around beating the crap out of smaller countries because you can, and sooner or later they'll ~really~ start posessing the means of defending themselves.
Our government has acted like a bully for a long time, especially recently. We can only push so many people around before they start pushing back.
You get what you give.
~D
Are you kidding? He's dressed in the most formal attire available. Beastie's running around topless with tennis shoes on. Hardly proper business attire. ;)
~D
But then I'll loose the .5 FPS in DOOM III, which will mean I won't be able to p0wnz on n3wbz anymore. ;)
~D
Dude, 90% of the processor power IS only used when playing a game. I have my system monitor open, and as I type this on my development computer, I'm at a steady 8 to 11 percent. 5% of that (half my CPU load) is running the flash animation on the top of this page.
CPUs today are bored 90% of the time. Doing word processing and stuff, your CPU use is probably below 10%. The sluggishness has almost NOTHING to do with CPU speed. The big thing is load times, which is correlated to disk usage. RAM really is virtually unlimited, and the only time I've hit the limitations of my CPU are when I'm doing things like writing programs to breed multimedia files.
If you're talking about lack of responsiveness, you sound like you don't need a faster processor... it sounds like you need a 1Ghz machine with 256 MB of decent RAM and a 10,000 RPM SATA drive. 512 MB of RAM if you surf with multiple windows and work with spreadsheets at the same time. Swear to god, that'll knock most of your lack of response time to near nothing.
~D
Many maps do not, but some maps do. In this case, Google's competition does. So, if you're in downtown Baltimore, where there are a ~lot~ of one-way streets, which map would you prefer to use?
~D
Ever heard the phrase "Form follows function"? Beauty is all well and good, but if the drop shadow makes the street name harder to read on the map, I don't want it. Ultimately a map is a reference tool, and I don't care how pretty it is if I can't use it effectively.
~D
They apparently traded a cleaner look for less information. There's no markings for one-way streets... That'll be a real problem in some jurisdictions.
~D
Excuse me? Drop shadows are one of the touted features? MORE crap on a map that I don't NEED is an advantage??
It burns! IT BURNS!
~D