I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Phantom devices. They would work better than any of the devices mentioned in the article, and actually provide force-feedback. I've never used one, but I presume that if you let go of it, it probably could stay in the same position you left it in, so that wouldn't be an issue like it would with the other devices. The site also has 3D CAD applications that use it, and an SDK.
Normally I use my iPod without really looking at it: while driving (car or bicycle) or without getting it out of my coat pocket (to avoid getting too much attention of thugs).
There's an iPod Jacket specially designed with controls on the sleeve, so you don't have to pull it out of your jacket to access the controls. And if you use it while driving, well then you can get an Alpine system or a BMW that works with it! Ofcourse, with the money you'd be spending, you could simply hire a live band to follow you around.
I know they were trying to come up with a catchy slogan, but it can also be interpreted as "Try Out blinkx And You'll Never Miss It" because you'll never use it again.
Away from/. land, this is done by a creature called a "wife".
However, you can't integrate "wife" with the search engine because you do not want "wife" to know all your search results for porn. And doesn't "wife" classify as spyware? "Wife" takes your credit card and banking details and does more damage than the Russian Mafia could with that information.
A search for "google" only brings up pages on *.google.*, and google.com is near the end.
Yes, that is because, like the article says, "it uses artificial intelligence". They have programmed it to intelligently keep you away from their competitors.
This can easily be wiped out by companies like Microsoft and Apple anyway. In Apple's case, all they would need to do is link Spotlight with Sherlock with some simple plugin.
The reason Google can compete is that it isn't an application that you have to download. Anything that is a downloadable application will be easily snuffed by major software companies like those that make instant messaging apps like Microsoft, AOL, Yahoo, and Apple.
Unfortunately, I doubt the funding is out there to adopt this technology to disabled persons uses, much less actually get it to them
If it is a haptic device, then it should only be a matter of programming to adapt it for disabled people. There are people who would adopt technology for disabled use out there anyway, who will program for free.
Not until MS finds a way to tie XBox 2 to Windows will they be able to "take" Sony. Maybe if they can force users to activate Windows via the XBox?
Actually, you make an interesting point there. Microsoft has normally used it's monopoly in one market to expand it's market share in another. This usually involved tying it in with Windows. However, they have traditionally stayed away from hardware manufacturing in the case of Windows boxes and Pocket PC devices, with the exception of things like keyboards and mice, because they rely on the PC hardware industry. But since they make the Xbox, they can't tie it in with Windows because this may put them in competition with the hardware manufacturers they rely on. Despite the Xbox's reliance on the PC hardware standard, they can never allow it to actually become a PC. If they do, other hardware manufacturers may jump ship and use other operating systems. They can only use their Windows monopoly to support the Xbox financially, but have to keep their software business model and hardware manufacturing separate.
Besides, it's not in their track record to do it that way.
Not in their track record? This is a company that even has a tactic of hiring so many lawyers that their competitors can't hire any. They are behind campaign contributions, charities, think tanks, and advocacy groups- funding a lawsuit is definitely not implausible for them.
It's silly, but yes, if a blind person wants to go to the movies we let them.
It doesn't have to be the blind person going to see the movie. Take the example of a blind person working as someone's secretary, and the boss asks them to make some bookings; "Can you get me some tickets for... oh nevermind, I'll have someone else do it". Or a blind person booking tickets for their family or friends. Not allowing blind people access to sites prevents them from participating as a member of a group. It isolates them from society. This kind of inacessibility affects their ability to perform in the workplace doing something as simple as a desk job, or in the home as a parent taking care of a family.
The original site only allowed access to people using Internet Explorer and Windows and was in breach of the Disability Discrimination Act.
Despite predictions when his site first went up that the lawyers' letters would arrive immediately Odeon Cinema initially welcomed the site - as did many disabled people who could access the site for the first time.
But this all changed with the arrival of an email from Luke Vetere, marketing director at Odeon
Brilliant marketing. Piss off and lock out a demographic. And there's nothing better to improve a company's image than screwing over disabled people and breaking the law. Odeon is really getting its money's worth hiring this moron.
The chips would enable the wearer to be found anywhere inside Mexico, in the event of an assault or kidnapping, said Macedo.
And kidnapping is a huge problem here. From 1992 to 2002, Mexico saw some 15,000 kidnappings, second only to war-torn Colombia, according to the Inter-American Development Bank.
Crime fighting is a dangerous business in Mexico, where police are notoriously corrupt and where political figures and investigative journalists sometimes risk assassination.
If the authorities, such as the police, are notoriously corrupt and the chips would enable the wearer to be found anywhere inside Mexico, how can this provide security against kidnapping? I'd think it would make it easier for a criminal organisation to find where the government official is through corrupt contacts, and kidnap them! They would be vulnerable to political rivals in the government as well.
This isn't going to prevent them from being kidnapped, but would make it much easier. And all the kidnappers would need to do is stick the official in a Faraday cage to prevent them from being tracked. The kidnappers would have to lock them up in a room anyway. Couldn't a car trunk be easily converted into a Faraday cage? And what about simply using a magnet, electric shock, or dismemberment to disable the chip?
So not only would the official be more vulnerable to kidnapping, but the kidnapping process would have to involve more confinement and torture to circumvent the chip. Brilliant. However, it would make it easier to find the body after the official is murdered.
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I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Phantom devices. They would work better than any of the devices mentioned in the article, and actually provide force-feedback. I've never used one, but I presume that if you let go of it, it probably could stay in the same position you left it in, so that wouldn't be an issue like it would with the other devices. The site also has 3D CAD applications that use it, and an SDK.
Like Nelson said it many times
"Ha Ha"
Plan E: Call Oprah.
Isn't it "limpbizkit" and not "Limp Bizkit"?
Normally I use my iPod without really looking at it: while driving (car or bicycle) or without getting it out of my coat pocket (to avoid getting too much attention of thugs).
There's an iPod Jacket specially designed with controls on the sleeve, so you don't have to pull it out of your jacket to access the controls. And if you use it while driving, well then you can get an Alpine system or a BMW that works with it! Ofcourse, with the money you'd be spending, you could simply hire a live band to follow you around.
Boy, sometimes it's as if logic just escapes them.
Which is clearly evident in their programming logic.
blinkx And You'll Never Miss It.
I know they were trying to come up with a catchy slogan, but it can also be interpreted as "Try Out blinkx And You'll Never Miss It" because you'll never use it again.
Away from /. land, this is done by a creature called a "wife".
However, you can't integrate "wife" with the search engine because you do not want "wife" to know all your search results for porn. And doesn't "wife" classify as spyware? "Wife" takes your credit card and banking details and does more damage than the Russian Mafia could with that information.
A search for "google" only brings up pages on *.google.*, and google.com is near the end.
Yes, that is because, like the article says, "it uses artificial intelligence". They have programmed it to intelligently keep you away from their competitors.
this functionality has existed on OSX for several years now
I'm on OS X. Is there some app or Sherlock plugin you download for this? Do you have a link?
the e-mail part of blinkx only works with outlook (express) and eudora.
Not to mention that it doesn't work on Linux or the Mac, or with any browsers other than Internet Explorer.For some reason the words "search companion" always make me cringe.
You mean like "Trusted Computing"?
This can easily be wiped out by companies like Microsoft and Apple anyway. In Apple's case, all they would need to do is link Spotlight with Sherlock with some simple plugin.
The reason Google can compete is that it isn't an application that you have to download. Anything that is a downloadable application will be easily snuffed by major software companies like those that make instant messaging apps like Microsoft, AOL, Yahoo, and Apple.
But if you really want to impress me, make one that can search my house, my pockets, and my kids' rooms for my keys and wallet
They have those already. They're called burglars... oh, you meant you wanted something to search for your keys and wallet and return them to you.
Unfortunately, I doubt the funding is out there to adopt this technology to disabled persons uses, much less actually get it to them
If it is a haptic device, then it should only be a matter of programming to adapt it for disabled people. There are people who would adopt technology for disabled use out there anyway, who will program for free.
Ever hear of Prozac? Try it out. Just remember it is a pill and not a suppository.
Not until MS finds a way to tie XBox 2 to Windows will they be able to "take" Sony. Maybe if they can force users to activate Windows via the XBox?
Actually, you make an interesting point there. Microsoft has normally used it's monopoly in one market to expand it's market share in another. This usually involved tying it in with Windows. However, they have traditionally stayed away from hardware manufacturing in the case of Windows boxes and Pocket PC devices, with the exception of things like keyboards and mice, because they rely on the PC hardware industry. But since they make the Xbox, they can't tie it in with Windows because this may put them in competition with the hardware manufacturers they rely on. Despite the Xbox's reliance on the PC hardware standard, they can never allow it to actually become a PC. If they do, other hardware manufacturers may jump ship and use other operating systems. They can only use their Windows monopoly to support the Xbox financially, but have to keep their software business model and hardware manufacturing separate.
Besides, it's not in their track record to do it that way.
Not in their track record? This is a company that even has a tactic of hiring so many lawyers that their competitors can't hire any. They are behind campaign contributions, charities, think tanks, and advocacy groups- funding a lawsuit is definitely not implausible for them.
Just in case that doesn't make sense to anyone... in Japan!
Could a certain Redmond-based company behind the SCO lawsuits be behind this as well, just to screw with Linux any way they can?
And since Odeon insists that people use Internet Explorer, they're helping the Russian Mafia get personal information and credit card numbers ;)
It doesn't have to be the blind person going to see the movie. Take the example of a blind person working as someone's secretary, and the boss asks them to make some bookings; "Can you get me some tickets for... oh nevermind, I'll have someone else do it". Or a blind person booking tickets for their family or friends. Not allowing blind people access to sites prevents them from participating as a member of a group. It isolates them from society. This kind of inacessibility affects their ability to perform in the workplace doing something as simple as a desk job, or in the home as a parent taking care of a family.
The original site only allowed access to people using Internet Explorer and Windows and was in breach of the Disability Discrimination Act.
Despite predictions when his site first went up that the lawyers' letters would arrive immediately Odeon Cinema initially welcomed the site - as did many disabled people who could access the site for the first time.
But this all changed with the arrival of an email from Luke Vetere, marketing director at Odeon
Brilliant marketing. Piss off and lock out a demographic. And there's nothing better to improve a company's image than screwing over disabled people and breaking the law. Odeon is really getting its money's worth hiring this moron.
The chips would enable the wearer to be found anywhere inside Mexico, in the event of an assault or kidnapping, said Macedo.
And kidnapping is a huge problem here. From 1992 to 2002, Mexico saw some 15,000 kidnappings, second only to war-torn Colombia, according to the Inter-American Development Bank.
Crime fighting is a dangerous business in Mexico, where police are notoriously corrupt and where political figures and investigative journalists sometimes risk assassination.
If the authorities, such as the police, are notoriously corrupt and the chips would enable the wearer to be found anywhere inside Mexico, how can this provide security against kidnapping? I'd think it would make it easier for a criminal organisation to find where the government official is through corrupt contacts, and kidnap them! They would be vulnerable to political rivals in the government as well.
This isn't going to prevent them from being kidnapped, but would make it much easier. And all the kidnappers would need to do is stick the official in a Faraday cage to prevent them from being tracked. The kidnappers would have to lock them up in a room anyway. Couldn't a car trunk be easily converted into a Faraday cage? And what about simply using a magnet, electric shock, or dismemberment to disable the chip?
So not only would the official be more vulnerable to kidnapping, but the kidnapping process would have to involve more confinement and torture to circumvent the chip. Brilliant. However, it would make it easier to find the body after the official is murdered.
That would require a mod chip.