Your getting close to the real problem of abandoning cash, I live in Ireland and many smaller businesses will not accept a bank card for transactions of less than 10 euro's due to the transaction fee's charged by the banks.
Trouble is a lot of the time you will make small transactions from your morning cup of coffee, buying a paper , a carton of milk and you can't always make the value of the transaction raise above 10. Then there are some transactions which cannot really be done other than in cash, such as taxi rides.
There has to be some sort of symbolic token which can be exchanged for goods and services, like um cash maybe. Of course you could have some sort of credit account or prepay system but then you can have your micro payment but either your customers have to prepay a minimum amount or your customers all owe you a small amount.
Google is one example if you run Google ads on a small website you need a good number of clicks on the ads before you can even go to Google to get your payment. So essentially you can end up hosting ads for free and Google gets its revenue from the advertisers as they are actually billed per click.
Even the phone company which bills by the second tends to have a minimum of a minute or a 5 cent charge which is largely covering transaction costs.
Money is here to stay even if most of us don't need to carry more than a few dollars/euro's/...
As a result of the British military being active in Afghanistan, there are attacks on The British general public e,g The tube train bombings. Doesn't it make more sense to actually target the people who sent the British Military to Afghanistan, rather than innocent civilians?
It's politicians that make the decisions that get people killed and maimed but don't really put themselves in danger. Politicians are reckless with peoples lives, while making sure they are living comfortably and safe.
Maybe being a bit less safe might make them think a little more.
The current UK government is doing some very unpopular things and it is going to get worse.
Back in the eighties it was possible to largely control what the media printed and laws were put in place to prevent people gathering together.
Now it is possible to set up forums, publish idea's find like minded people and report on current events, publish photographs and video's easily and the UK government can do damn all to stop it appearing and worse for them for the British public to read it, with no "spin" from them.
Obviously if the Government can choose to block sites they can disrupt organised opposition to their policies.
http://www.fbu.org.uk/newspress/pressrelease/2010/10_29a.php This is from the fire brigade union, just a short piece on how striking firemen helped private contractors when they couldn't use the equipment properly, and countering some of the smear campaign against them.
Would the government choose to block sites like this if they could?
One thing i'm curious about is the lack of communication by ex MP's what do they do when they have lost their seat? Do any of them continue to work for the communities they have previously been representing?
Banksy is quite well travelled e.g the West Bank. He has a great talent for producing funny and thought provoking work. Tongue in cheek, yes he does that, Do you really think he was aiming at south Korea with that intro or at Fox or Rupert Murdoch?
http://www.hmss.com/films/carver/ you might like to read this, in tomorrow never dies Elliot Carver , is often viewed as being based on Rupert Murdoch taken to an extreme. Banksy has started with the premise if Rupert Murdoch was an evil megalomaniac, determined to be as evil as possible how would he produce the Simpsons (if he could get away with it)?
The whole situation is actually pretty funny. Murdoch paid for Banksy to produce the intro , Fox executives thought great we are being cool and trendy having banksy do this intro, obviously no one really thinks the simpsons is produced like that.
and now we get the story well the show is outsourced but the Korean animators do live quite well by Korean standards and its not made in a sweatshop. Damage control?
Now as for Korean history, why would people in other countries be taught about that? You probably know nothing of British, Irish or Icelandic history either, no reason for you to know either. Even in the UK for example there is limited teaching of British history and the bad bits are hardly mentioned.
There is a massive disconnect between reality and how actual people live their lives. There are rich and poor all over the world. Come to any western country in any city and you will see that there are people getting by, people making millions, and people begging in the streets.
Apparently there are less homeless people on the streets in the centre of London these days due to the use of Asbo's - Londons getting cleaned up ready for the 2012 Olympics, my source a Lawyer representing some of these people.
You see just to live our own lives we have to largely ignore the plight of people in our own countries, let alone worry about people on the other side of the planet.
You know even the guys who go serve in places like Afghanistan and Iraq most had a choice of unemployment and poverty or joining up.
It's a messed up world we live in, and most of us are just doing the best we can.
12 volts on usb fried every usb device i had connected and killed the mainboard maybe more on a desktop I had. (was a usb case for a laptop dvd drive. Design flaw was that it had a power connector commonly used for 12 volts.
Most of the world had no idea what was happening in the concentration camps except the Nazi military.
It wasn't public knowledge but certainly allied command became aware of what was happening, in Holland it was publicly known that jews were being rounded up and taken to camps (there was a strike because of it).
I think most people are aware of the meaning of ethnic cleansing, more recently in former Yugoslavia and a few more cases of institutionalised murder around the world.
Torture and murder happen, beatings occur carried out by police and military all over the world.
Earlier today there were 2 devices found on cargo planes bound for Chicago from Yemen that is real.
Does anyone honestly believe that polite interviewing of terrorists takes place with the alleged terrorist saying no comment?
Gitmo is a public embarrassment, but it is almost certainly needed and if closed would be replaced by somewhere less well known.
Sorry but even the "good guys" have to do nasty things in order to save lives.
I can't recommend a keyboard but I do know joint pain my Dr diagnosed me with carpal tunnel earlier in the year.
I discovered that Cod liver Oil capsules really help relieve joint pain. I didn't realise how effective it was till I stopped using it for a fortnight and my joint pain returned since then I have been pain free.
I've been recommending it to friends and it seems to be effective.
As treatments go it is cheap and worth trying a daily capsule for a month.
Unity isn't very nice for now, its been pulled in too early, just like pulse was. Thats typical of Ubuntu its always used its users as beta testers, which isn't that bad an idea as how else can they manage to test it on diverse PC's and platforms.
I really like Ubuntu although recently it seems to be pulling in directions I'm not sure I want to go down.
The netbook interface in Lucid is pretty good but what makes it better is Gnomeshell (just install it and see) alt f2 and type gnomeshell - replace now it still looks pretty much as before. Click in the top left corner and your "desktop" shrinks and an additional menu is added press the + in the corner of your shrunk desktop and no you have a 2nd desktop each application is clear to see (much nicer than the first few letters of an app on a taskbar). Click on the app and it goes to full size with the top menu bar showing. Drag apps from desktop to desktop in the shrunk view and they are scaled appropriately and easy to identify. Want to launch another application easy click on a desktop and your looking at the lucid menu system as before and can use one of the launch icons as before. Or alternatively use the gnomeshell to find other applications.
Ok it's not perfect some functionality is duplicated and gnomeshell sometimes crashes out leaving the netbook remix interface still running but you can relaunch gnomeshell if it does this (it is relatively rare and I havent seen it happen while i've been using my netbook).
Unity is nowhere near as good it is buggy and slow and hard to configure, it needs more than just auto hide. The premise that there is a shortage of vertical pixels as an excuse for unity is laughable. We read left to right and a webpage is best viewed wide to avoid horizontal scrolling. There are few websites where the vertical page actually fits the screen, any screen. you always end up scrolling up and down but with unity you can add scrolling left and right which is much worse.
Honestly Lucid netbook interface + gnomeshell is a terrific combination it looks and feels great and is very easy to use. So much so i find it preferable on bigger screens too. For newbies the organisation is clear and easy to launch what you need.
Maverick is the first version of Ubuntu I have chosen not to upgrade to and the 2 reasons I havent are Unity and choosing to kill the Lucid style interface (and the 2d version isn't the same).There are lots of interfaces for ubuntu, kubuntu, xubuntu and more so why kill the Lucid interface other than to force users to use Unity on netbooks.
Ubuntu seems to have a lot of new "developers" and they seem determined to make a mark on Ubuntu even if its more of a bruise than an enhancement. Apparently "Mark" likes Unity or I am sure there would be more vocal protests than mine.
Mind with 14% unemployment and Banks which invested in the usa's ponzi scheme. Ireland needs the cash badly.
If you were a non-european company looking to sell in Europe it makes perfect sense to pick Ireland as a base of operations, you will also find manufacturing tends to favour eastern Europe due to lower labour costs.
Coating it with some form of latex and vulcanizing it isn't going to be the easiest process, not to mention the materials science knowhow needed to do it right.
There are other way methods of insulating wire. I had an old motorcycle,a MZ, which used a resistance wire in its generator and it had overheated and burnt the insulation. I unwound the resistance wire and coated it in nail varnish before rewinding it back on to its former and it worked fine.
It was a pretty horrible bike but everything was simple petrol/oil mix for fuel, splash lubrication for engine and gearbox even the engine covers could be removed with a pocket knife. No timing marks was best set up with an old rizla packet. I had a condenser go down, which regulates the spark. I just took it out of circuit and the bike was a bit rougher running but still good to 45 - 50 mph enough to get me home the last 25 miles.
The MZ was surprisingly popular with dispatch riders with the only real problem being replacing the main bearings which I think were a fairly standard roller bearing. It didn't even have a head gasket. It was designed for locations where there would be minimal tools and access to spares. It was never going to be a favourite motorcycle but you had to respect the simplicity and ruggedness of the design.
Modern solutions are nicely refined but if you want to recreate technology from scratch you have to be open to other possible solutions.
looks like running android apps natively was abandoned when it became clear there was too much missing from git. emulation and a virtual machine approach work...
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the obvious, most retail stores barely carry anything for OSX even when they carry Apple Pc's and laptops.
Buying through an Apple App store implies quality and some assurance that an app is trustworthy and that there is some kind of customer service if things don't work out, you might even be able to get a refund. That has appeal to customers.
The reality might be different but it does sound like a win for the customer. It might even lead to lower prices. Has to beat going to PC World and finding little to no software for the hardware they sold you.
Obviously if it did become a walled garden with no choice but the App store, it would be a negative for some developers and users.
Would an Apple App store extend to cover other operating systems? Interesting thought would Windows users prefer to buy software through Apple or Microsoft? Windows users already use iTunes.
Could there be licensed Apps for Ubuntu for example where currently patents and licensing issues mean some functionality cannot be released for free?
Maybe Google are more likely to bring the android market place to a wider audience rather than Apple
The above link is quite interesting for android developers and Ubuntu users and has potential for Android Apps on any platform maybe.
Interesting times ahead which ever tools people choose to use. Actually that is one thing which bugs me about this thread (many threads) dissolving into a mac v windows battle. It is common sense use the best* tool for the job in hand and the platform it runs on is largely immaterial.
*best is whatever suits your requirements that lets you achieve your objectives.
Actually Steve does raise a valid point. I am pretty certain my next phone will be an android phone but which one? luckily I am free to choose from a number of carriers but one things certain not all android phones are equal or available.
Which ones are worth getting and which should be avoided? I want to be able to update the roms be able to remove carrier bloat and install and possibly develop my own apps. I want a responsive interface and for it to be reliable.
I know most people will be happy if it just works and for them and any iPhone or any Android phone will be fine. I also don't mind waiting a while till May possibly but I'd like to have a short list of good/excellent android phones.
Thinking about it the fragmentation steve talks about only really matters to people seeking the features Apple is unwilling to offer anyway.
If you keep it locked down to friends only, facebook isn't too bad. You get to know some of whats going on and the messaging can be useful. It's kind of like email but without the stuff you delete without reading.
I've got family halfway round the world and its nice to be able to keep in touch. You will need a facebook filter on your email account just to delete the notifications facebook send continually. It's also very good for birthdays. oh and new slashdot stories get posted as they become live if you become a fan.
It doesn't really matter which software is best, if it does what is required of it without causing problems.
If a particular piece of software doesn't meet your requirements then simple don't use it.
Unfortunately its also a fact of life that most of us are being squeezed for cash in the current economic climate, taxes are rising and we have to make a few cuts here and there. It makes sense to consider the alternatives and see if they can work for you.
People are a bit more aware of open source than in days past. Firefox is pretty well known by ordinary computer users and thats helped raise awareness of alternatives. Google is offering lots of free software and people are aware of that too. Picassa isn't Photoshop or even the Gimp but its pretty easy to use and free and you get free space on the net to share your photo's. Photoshop doesn't do that.
Thats really the big issue for companies like Microsoft people are aware of free alternatives and are trying them and finding they work for them. Is Openoffice as fully featured as Microsoft office well not really, but does it do what most people want it to do, actually yes it does.
Are people bothering with email any more 500 million facebook users are sending updates and messages to each other via facebook. Can you blame them look at the garbage which is filling peoples inbox its mostly marketing and scams.
Microsoft is part of an older generation and it's going to fade away, makes you wonder why they even choose to slag of openoffice when google docs is probably a bigger threat. So yes Photoshop is better and easier to use than the Gimp but it doesn't really matter.
The real question to ask of any software is does it do what you need it to do in a relatively efficient manner.
Pick the tools that meet your requirements and your budget, it really is that simple.
You can probably find many cases where the Gimp does what you need it to and some where Photoshop is the only tool for the job. We make choices like this all the time in every area of our lives.
Is OpenOffice a viable alternative to Microsoft Office - sometimes it depends what you want to do with it.
It could be the case that the government is elected by the people for the people, including the ones that didn't vote for them. Government is also funded by taxation to provide services to its citizens all of them.
Yes your free to restrict access to your home under most circumstances, however you can't restrict a black Police officer from enforcing a warrant to search your home. Even if you don't like the colour of his skin. So no you don't have complete control.
Just to get back on topic, it isn't that unusual for a network to impose a blackout on a cable company when renegotiating contracts. Sky did it to Virgin media in the UK. a few years back. Some people will blame the cable company others realise that if the cable company is forced to pay more then they will too. The unusual thing was blocking hula and other innocent bystanders.
Fox isn't the only content provider and it may be that you might get a new channel featuring content originally provided via Fox.
It depends on what country you are in but for some false arrest can cost 1000's. Couple this with the fact that many different stores even libraries use the same kinds of tag and the detectors cannot tell the difference.
The detectors going off are not detecting a theft but usually just the presence of a tag quite possibly a tag from a completely different store.
So for store security the detectors are mostly a waste of time, its security theatre and it is up to the individual to cooperate with it or not. It is a big mistake for a security guard or staff member to stop someone on the basis of the detector because of the false positives.
However often store security is independent of the store a description of the individual may be passed on the radio to other guards and store detectives in other stores in the vicinity. Most shop lifters do not restrict themselves to one store and will visit several in a day and fore warned the security will be paying extra attention in the next store and maybe this time catch them in the act and be 100% sure when they go after the thief they are guilty they saw goods being taken and they were not ditched before the thief left the store.
Actually when it comes down to it a lot of the security work is keeping an eye on known thieves and making it difficult for them to steal something by being around while the thief is in the store. Too be quite frank catching people stealing is a joke. I remember one case of a thief who was using a bag specially lined with foil to hide the tag signal who took 600 worth of designer jeans was stopped arrested and in the end ordered to pay 20 in compensation to the store.
Making an arrest can be dangerous in itself as thieves can be armed or lash out, I remember one arrest where one of the guards came back into the store after being kicked in the family jewels. I imagine in other countries it can be worse.
It does vary a lot by country in Poland I have seen stores where you routinely check in your bags go through the tills and then the security guard goes through your bag checking off your purchases against your receipt.
Really what it comes down to is deterring the thieves and making them go elsewhere.
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Your getting close to the real problem of abandoning cash, I live in Ireland and many smaller businesses will not accept a bank card for transactions of less than 10 euro's due to the transaction fee's charged by the banks.
Trouble is a lot of the time you will make small transactions from your morning cup of coffee, buying a paper , a carton of milk and you can't always make the value of the transaction raise above 10. Then there are some transactions which cannot really be done other than in cash, such as taxi rides.
There has to be some sort of symbolic token which can be exchanged for goods and services, like um cash maybe.
Of course you could have some sort of credit account or prepay system but then you can have your micro payment but either your customers have to prepay a minimum amount or your customers all owe you a small amount.
Google is one example if you run Google ads on a small website you need a good number of clicks on the ads before you can even go to Google to get your payment. So essentially you can end up hosting ads for free and Google gets its revenue from the advertisers as they are actually billed per click.
Even the phone company which bills by the second tends to have a minimum of a minute or a 5 cent charge which is largely covering transaction costs.
Money is here to stay even if most of us don't need to carry more than a few dollars/euro's/ ...
try google maps and get directions from japan to china check instruction 43
I'd have thought Porn was closer to news. Some people might be willing to pay for the times online but most will just find a free alternative.
Maybe to hear it for the first time.
As a result of the British military being active in Afghanistan, there are attacks on The British general public e,g The tube train bombings. Doesn't it make more sense to actually target the people who sent the British Military to Afghanistan, rather than innocent civilians?
It's politicians that make the decisions that get people killed and maimed but don't really put themselves in danger. Politicians are reckless with peoples lives, while making sure they are living comfortably and safe.
Maybe being a bit less safe might make them think a little more.
Actually in British law if you procure the services of someone to carry out a murder you are also guilty of murder.
for some reason the phrase "who will rid me of this meddlesome priest" comes to mind.
More on topic, why should an MP not face the same dangers that they have created for the general population?
The current UK government is doing some very unpopular things and it is going to get worse.
Back in the eighties it was possible to largely control what the media printed and laws were put in place to prevent people gathering together.
Now it is possible to set up forums, publish idea's find like minded people and report on current events, publish photographs and video's easily and the UK government can do damn all to stop it appearing and worse for them for the British public to read it, with no "spin" from them.
Obviously if the Government can choose to block sites they can disrupt organised opposition to their policies.
http://www.fbu.org.uk/newspress/pressrelease/2010/10_29a.php This is from the fire brigade union, just a short piece on how striking firemen helped private contractors when they couldn't use the equipment properly, and countering some of the smear campaign against them.
Would the government choose to block sites like this if they could?
One thing i'm curious about is the lack of communication by ex MP's what do they do when they have lost their seat? Do any of them continue to work for the communities they have previously been representing?
Banksy is quite well travelled e.g the West Bank. He has a great talent for producing funny and thought provoking work. Tongue in cheek, yes he does that, Do you really think he was aiming at south Korea with that intro or at Fox or Rupert Murdoch?
http://www.hmss.com/films/carver/ you might like to read this, in tomorrow never dies Elliot Carver , is often viewed as being based on Rupert Murdoch taken to an extreme. Banksy has started with the premise if Rupert Murdoch was an evil megalomaniac, determined to be as evil as possible how would he produce the Simpsons (if he could get away with it)?
The whole situation is actually pretty funny. Murdoch paid for Banksy to produce the intro , Fox executives thought great we are being cool and trendy having banksy do this intro, obviously no one really thinks the simpsons is produced like that.
The show gets broadcast and there is a bit of a panic as the realisation comes that people do think Murdochs evil empire works that way. Clips get pulled from youtube according to http://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/819130/Banksy-produces-seething-social-commentary-on-The-Simpsons
and now we get the story well the show is outsourced but the Korean animators do live quite well by Korean standards and its not made in a sweatshop. Damage control?
Now as for Korean history, why would people in other countries be taught about that? You probably know nothing of British, Irish or Icelandic history either, no reason for you to know either. Even in the UK for example there is limited teaching of British history and the bad bits are hardly mentioned.
There is a massive disconnect between reality and how actual people live their lives. There are rich and poor all over the world. Come to any western country in any city and you will see that there are people getting by, people making millions, and people begging in the streets.
Apparently there are less homeless people on the streets in the centre of London these days due to the use of Asbo's - Londons getting cleaned up ready for the 2012 Olympics, my source a Lawyer representing some of these people.
You see just to live our own lives we have to largely ignore the plight of people in our own countries, let alone worry about people on the other side of the planet.
You know even the guys who go serve in places like Afghanistan and Iraq most had a choice of unemployment and poverty or joining up.
It's a messed up world we live in, and most of us are just doing the best we can.
12 volts on usb fried every usb device i had connected and killed the mainboard maybe more on a desktop I had.
(was a usb case for a laptop dvd drive. Design flaw was that it had a power connector commonly used for 12 volts.
good luck trying 12volts on your USB ports.
Most of the world had no idea what was happening in the concentration camps except the Nazi military.
It wasn't public knowledge but certainly allied command became aware of what was happening, in Holland it was publicly known that jews were being rounded up and taken to camps (there was a strike because of it).
I think most people are aware of the meaning of ethnic cleansing, more recently in former Yugoslavia and a few more cases of institutionalised murder around the world.
Torture and murder happen, beatings occur carried out by police and military all over the world.
Earlier today there were 2 devices found on cargo planes bound for Chicago from Yemen that is real.
Does anyone honestly believe that polite interviewing of terrorists takes place with the alleged terrorist saying no comment?
Gitmo is a public embarrassment, but it is almost certainly needed and if closed would be replaced by somewhere less well known.
Sorry but even the "good guys" have to do nasty things in order to save lives.
Switching to a country that doesn't recognise the patents does nothing to help you when your products are impounded on entry to a country which does.
I can't recommend a keyboard but I do know joint pain my Dr diagnosed me with carpal tunnel earlier in the year.
I discovered that Cod liver Oil capsules really help relieve joint pain. I didn't realise how effective it was till I stopped using it for a fortnight and my joint pain returned since then I have been pain free.
I've been recommending it to friends and it seems to be effective.
As treatments go it is cheap and worth trying a daily capsule for a month.
Unity isn't very nice for now, its been pulled in too early, just like pulse was. Thats typical of Ubuntu its always used its users as beta testers, which isn't that bad an idea as how else can they manage to test it on diverse PC's and platforms.
I really like Ubuntu although recently it seems to be pulling in directions I'm not sure I want to go down.
The netbook interface in Lucid is pretty good but what makes it better is Gnomeshell (just install it and see)
alt f2 and type gnomeshell - replace now it still looks pretty much as before. Click in the top left corner and your "desktop" shrinks and an additional menu is added press the + in the corner of your shrunk desktop and no you have a 2nd desktop each application is clear to see (much nicer than the first few letters of an app on a taskbar). Click on the app and it goes to full size with the top menu bar showing. Drag apps from desktop to desktop in the shrunk view and they are scaled appropriately and easy to identify. Want to launch another application easy click on a desktop and your looking at the lucid menu system as before and can use one of the launch icons as before. Or alternatively use the gnomeshell to find other applications.
Ok it's not perfect some functionality is duplicated and gnomeshell sometimes crashes out leaving the netbook remix interface still running but you can relaunch gnomeshell if it does this (it is relatively rare and I havent seen it happen while i've been using my netbook).
Unity is nowhere near as good it is buggy and slow and hard to configure, it needs more than just auto hide.
The premise that there is a shortage of vertical pixels as an excuse for unity is laughable. We read left to right and a webpage is best viewed wide to avoid horizontal scrolling. There are few websites where the vertical page actually fits the screen, any screen. you always end up scrolling up and down but with unity you can add scrolling left and right which is much worse.
Honestly Lucid netbook interface + gnomeshell is a terrific combination it looks and feels great and is very easy to use. So much so i find it preferable on bigger screens too. For newbies the organisation is clear and easy to launch what you need.
Maverick is the first version of Ubuntu I have chosen not to upgrade to and the 2 reasons I havent are Unity and choosing to kill the Lucid style interface (and the 2d version isn't the same).There are lots of interfaces for ubuntu, kubuntu, xubuntu and more so why kill the Lucid interface other than to force users to use Unity on netbooks.
Ubuntu seems to have a lot of new "developers" and they seem determined to make a mark on Ubuntu even if its more of a bruise than an enhancement. Apparently "Mark" likes Unity or I am sure there would be more vocal protests than mine.
and apple and vmware and ...
Mind with 14% unemployment and Banks which invested in the usa's ponzi scheme. Ireland needs the cash badly.
If you were a non-european company looking to sell in Europe it makes perfect sense to pick Ireland as a base of operations, you will also find manufacturing tends to favour eastern Europe due to lower labour costs.
Coating it with some form of latex and vulcanizing it isn't going to be the easiest process, not to mention the materials science knowhow needed to do it right.
I guess you have never seen paper covered wire? Long obsolete of course for domestic wiring but still used in some applications http://www.superioressex.com/chinese.aspx?id=5120
There are other way methods of insulating wire. I had an old motorcycle ,a MZ, which used a resistance wire in its generator and it had overheated and burnt the insulation. I unwound the resistance wire and coated it in nail varnish before rewinding it back on to its former and it worked fine.
It was a pretty horrible bike but everything was simple petrol/oil mix for fuel, splash lubrication for engine and gearbox even the engine covers could be removed with a pocket knife. No timing marks was best set up with an old rizla packet. I had a condenser go down, which regulates the spark. I just took it out of circuit and the bike was a bit rougher running but still good to 45 - 50 mph enough to get me home the last 25 miles.
The MZ was surprisingly popular with dispatch riders with the only real problem being replacing the main bearings which I think were a fairly standard roller bearing. It didn't even have a head gasket. It was designed for locations where there would be minimal tools and access to spares. It was never going to be a favourite motorcycle but you had to respect the simplicity and ruggedness of the design.
Modern solutions are nicely refined but if you want to recreate technology from scratch you have to be open to other possible solutions.
unfortunately android is free and not open
http://mjfrey.blogspot.com/
looks like running android apps natively was abandoned when it became clear there was too much missing from git. emulation and a virtual machine approach work...
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the obvious, most retail stores barely carry anything for OSX even when they carry Apple Pc's and laptops.
Buying through an Apple App store implies quality and some assurance that an app is trustworthy and that there is some kind of customer service if things don't work out, you might even be able to get a refund. That has appeal to customers.
The reality might be different but it does sound like a win for the customer. It might even lead to lower prices. Has to beat going to PC World and finding little to no software for the hardware they sold you.
Obviously if it did become a walled garden with no choice but the App store, it would be a negative for some developers and users.
Would an Apple App store extend to cover other operating systems? Interesting thought would Windows users prefer to buy software through Apple or Microsoft?
Windows users already use iTunes.
Could there be licensed Apps for Ubuntu for example where currently patents and licensing issues mean some functionality cannot be released for free?
Maybe Google are more likely to bring the android market place to a wider audience rather than Apple
perhaps http://phandroid.com/2009/05/27/what-if-ubuntu-could-run-android-applications-it-can/
The above link is quite interesting for android developers and Ubuntu users and has potential for Android Apps on any platform maybe.
Interesting times ahead which ever tools people choose to use. Actually that is one thing which bugs me about this thread (many threads) dissolving into a mac v windows battle. It is common sense use the best* tool for the job in hand and the platform it runs on is largely immaterial.
*best is whatever suits your requirements that lets you achieve your objectives.
The official update is out now and overwriting the ppa version on my system as I type.
Actually Steve does raise a valid point. I am pretty certain my next phone will be an android phone but which one?
luckily I am free to choose from a number of carriers but one things certain not all android phones are equal or available.
Which ones are worth getting and which should be avoided? I want to be able to update the roms be able to remove carrier bloat and install and possibly develop my own apps. I want a responsive interface and for it to be reliable.
I know most people will be happy if it just works and for them and any iPhone or any Android phone will be fine.
I also don't mind waiting a while till May possibly but I'd like to have a short list of good/excellent android phones.
Thinking about it the fragmentation steve talks about only really matters to people seeking the features Apple is unwilling to offer anyway.
Usually that is the case but
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/sun-java6/+bug/659937
The current version appears to be vulnerable. you can manually update or use the ppa
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:duh/sun-java6
and then the usual update upgrade
when the official packaging comes out it should overwrite the ppa version.
If you keep it locked down to friends only, facebook isn't too bad. You get to know some of whats going on and the messaging can be useful. It's kind of like email but without the stuff you delete without reading.
I've got family halfway round the world and its nice to be able to keep in touch. You will need a facebook filter on your email account just to delete the notifications facebook send continually. It's also very good for birthdays. oh and new slashdot stories get posted as they become live if you become a fan.
Just be careful with what information you share.
It doesn't really matter which software is best, if it does what is required of it without causing problems.
If a particular piece of software doesn't meet your requirements then simple don't use it.
Unfortunately its also a fact of life that most of us are being squeezed for cash in the current economic climate, taxes are rising and we have to make a few cuts here and there. It makes sense to consider the alternatives and see if they can work for you.
People are a bit more aware of open source than in days past. Firefox is pretty well known by ordinary computer users and thats helped raise awareness of alternatives. Google is offering lots of free software and people are aware of that too. Picassa isn't Photoshop or even the Gimp but its pretty easy to use and free and you get free space on the net to share your photo's. Photoshop doesn't do that.
Thats really the big issue for companies like Microsoft people are aware of free alternatives and are trying them and finding they work for them. Is Openoffice as fully featured as Microsoft office well not really, but does it do what most people want it to do, actually yes it does.
Are people bothering with email any more 500 million facebook users are sending updates and messages to each other via facebook. Can you blame them look at the garbage which is filling peoples inbox its mostly marketing and scams.
Microsoft is part of an older generation and it's going to fade away, makes you wonder why they even choose to slag of openoffice when google docs is probably a bigger threat. So yes Photoshop is better and easier to use than the Gimp but it doesn't really matter.
The real question to ask of any software is does it do what you need it to do in a relatively efficient manner.
Pick the tools that meet your requirements and your budget, it really is that simple.
You can probably find many cases where the Gimp does what you need it to and some where Photoshop is the only tool for the job. We make choices like this all the time in every area of our lives.
Is OpenOffice a viable alternative to Microsoft Office - sometimes it depends what you want to do with it.
It could be the case that the government is elected by the people for the people, including the ones that didn't vote for them. Government is also funded by taxation to provide services to its citizens all of them.
Yes your free to restrict access to your home under most circumstances, however you can't restrict a black Police officer from enforcing a warrant to search your home. Even if you don't like the colour of his skin.
So no you don't have complete control.
Just to get back on topic, it isn't that unusual for a network to impose a blackout on a cable company when renegotiating contracts. Sky did it to Virgin media in the UK. a few years back. Some people will blame the cable company others realise that if the cable company is forced to pay more then they will too. The unusual thing was blocking hula and other innocent bystanders.
Fox isn't the only content provider and it may be that you might get a new channel featuring content originally provided via Fox.
It depends on what country you are in but for some false arrest can cost 1000's. Couple this with the fact that many different stores even libraries use the same kinds of tag and the detectors cannot tell the difference.
The detectors going off are not detecting a theft but usually just the presence of a tag quite possibly a tag from a completely different store.
So for store security the detectors are mostly a waste of time, its security theatre and it is up to the individual to cooperate with it or not. It is a big mistake for a security guard or staff member to stop someone on the basis of the detector because of the false positives.
However often store security is independent of the store a description of the individual may be passed on the radio to other guards and store detectives in other stores in the vicinity. Most shop lifters do not restrict themselves to one store and will visit several in a day and fore warned the security will be paying extra attention in the next store and maybe this time catch them in the act and be 100% sure when they go after the thief they are guilty they saw goods being taken and they were not ditched before the thief left the store.
Actually when it comes down to it a lot of the security work is keeping an eye on known thieves and making it difficult for them to steal something by being around while the thief is in the store. Too be quite frank catching people stealing is a joke. I remember one case of a thief who was using a bag specially lined with foil to hide the tag signal who took 600 worth of designer jeans was stopped arrested and in the end ordered to pay 20 in compensation to the store.
Making an arrest can be dangerous in itself as thieves can be armed or lash out, I remember one arrest where one of the guards came back into the store after being kicked in the family jewels. I imagine in other countries it can be worse.
It does vary a lot by country in Poland I have seen stores where you routinely check in your bags go through the tills and then the security guard goes through your bag checking off your purchases against your receipt.
Really what it comes down to is deterring the thieves and making them go elsewhere.