I do like devices that are a combo of things. I personally don't want to carry my digital camera, PDA, iPod and cell phone in my pockets. But if there were a device that did it all well and elegantly, I'd snap it up immediately. I have a Treo 650 which I love for the most part. But I still can't seem to replace my iPod nor my digital camera with a phone.
And I mentioned elegantly above because I believe that most cell phone interfaces suck. They're ugly and non-intuitive. Palm's OS isn't bad, but I don't like their ala carte approach to things (no built-in MP3 player, inability to set an MP3 as a ringtone, etc.). I really do hope Apple comes out with a kick-ass cell phone.
I love My Yahoo! I also love my Gmail. I think this customized Google page is a great start but it's simply not there yet. Yes, the interface is nice simple Google, but I think in this day and age with RSS and broadband, it's a little too simple, boring and frankly not enough features for me. I do like how easy it is to customize though.
It really does feel to me like it's a start, and not ready for primetime. This is what a portal was 5 years ago.
I really do have high hopes for this though. It's Google. Yahoo! isn't shaking in its boots just yet.
Although I do think that the contest isn't responsible, I believe that hacking into a computer and writing a virus are two entirely different things.
The contest is not about being able to hack into a stock Mac connected to the Internet. It's about writing a self-propogating virus that can infect those stock Macs.
I agree with most people here that there's no way to run this contest responsibly. And isn't it inherently illegal???
1) 0.5%
2) 3%
3) 0%
4) 92.5%
5) 4%
Ballmer is such an ass. He probably doesn't even know that his 12 year-old kid probably has one of the biggest shares on Kazaa. Hah!
Believe me, I did use it properly. It was embedded in an 'if' statement and didn't work. Substituting the 'gotoAndPlay' statement for a 'trace' worked.
OK so for my job I recently had to do a very simple clickthrough for some UI design work. I would have used straight HTML but I also needed to approximate some fancy UI thing. So even simple 'goto' statements didn't work like they were supposed to. The Flash ActionScript language is one of the most assinine things I've ever encoutered.
Meanwhile, Flash. What is it good for? Absolutely nuthin'! Well OK, funny animations like This Land are great. But most of the time it hinders me getting to the information that I need or want. Car sites are a prime example. Just show me the pictures and let me get to the specs easily!
The Web is primarily a tool for information--Flash has not proven itself to be a good information tool.
I wonder if there's a person like Lieberfarb working behind the scenes to get all the major studios and computer makers and consumer electronics manufacturers to agree to the HD-DVD format?
If not, I surely don't want to see another format war like VHS vs. Betamax. The DVD+/-R war was bad enough too.
I can't respond to how platform games had already been established, but I think in terms of the richness--even in black & white--of the graphics was great. Looking at the screenshots from MobyGames doesn't do it justice. In 1986, on a black & white Mac screen, it looked brilliantly detailed.
I spent many all-nighters in my youth playing this game. Ahh, memories.
I don't have a BMW, but I had been seriously thinking about getting a Mini Cooper...
Anyway, I currently have a JVC head unit in my Jetta that has a front line IN jack. I've tried the iTrip and various cassete adapters and they've all sucked. But when I upgraded to the JVC it was fantastic! The sheer sound quality difference is phenomenal.
I can bet that this new BMW connector to the iPod will sound great!
My only wish was that it were even more integrated, like with a dock integrated into the stereo unit or something.
I keep hearing and reading all these news stories about how traditional 2D animation is dead, about how Disney is only doing CG animation from now on. I'm amazed at how ignorant these bean counters and suits are: it's not about the technique that produces these films, it's all about the story and the characters.
The animation in "The Lion King" isn't too different than what we saw in "Snow White" almost 60 years earlier. It was the story and the characters that made the movie (and the other Disney classics from the early 1990s) such a great hit and instant classic.
I think that Pixar should surprise everyone and come out with a traditional 2D cell movie and show just how brilliant their storytelling really is. That way the public and media will get over how computer animation alone will make blockbusters.
Yeah I kind of think the market is right again for something like this. The world is addicted to reality television.
I'm pretty sure that CBS' "Big Brother" TV show gets enough viewers to have it running 4 years in a row (BB5 is coming soon). I also believe that its online subscription service, where you can watch the Big Brother contestants 24/7 uncut/uncensored also gets enough subscribers to be profitable.
MTV's "The Real World" has been running 13 years and sees no signs of stopping. Shows like the "Newlyweds" and "The Osbournes" are also hits.
So a soap opera-like web-based reality "show" should do just fine.
Yeah but I kinda think that the Monster Garage one is cooler. Well, at least the guy tries really hard to make it work. TechTV article Kerry McLean's Monocycles
I think you touch upon the main issue: most (not all) open source / free software tends to be written from a developer's point of view and not a user's. i.e. "Compile your own software and make sure you've pre-installed all the dependencies" or "RTFM."
This attitude extends beyond installation and into the interface. I'm a daily Photoshop user and must agree that GIMP is different and isn't intuitive....But then again, since I'm so used to the way Photoshop does things, anything non-Photoshop-like will be unintuitive.
I think the thing that TiVo has going for it above all else is its GUI--its ease of use. That's what's missing in many modern day electronics. How could we have expected the public--who can't even program a VCR--to be able to operate a DVR that can do much much more than a standard VCR? TiVo has done an excellent job at making a great UI.
That's why I think that the clones from cable companies (and the Dish Network) and ReplayTV are bad for the DVR space in general because their interfaces suck. I suppose the flip side of this is that TiVo won't rest on its laurels and will continue to improve upon its interface.
And on another note: yeah they have to fix their pricing scheme. Everytime I evangelize the wonders of TiVo to someone, they get all excited and then are scared away by the price.
I might be dating myself here but I remember the days in the mid- to late '80s of dial-up BBSes (bulletin board systems). Since there was no Internet at the time the BBS was the place for people to build communities online. Some large ones had racks of modems and phone lines coming in. But many were small boards with maybe four lines at the most.
As you might expect there were dating boards, just plain social boards, and of course porn boards. But the most exclusive ones were the pirate BBSes--also known as "elite" boards. You had to know a current member or the sysop to get access. And then you had to contribute by uploading software that you might have access to.
In these early days it seemed like many software developers used elite BBSes as free beta test groups. Those who downloaded the software (often taking hours even on the superfast Telebits and USRs) would test it and post any bugs, feature-requests, etc. There was even a super-elite board that I heard about based in Alaska where only the big name developers were allowed.
It was from that experience years ago where I think that some software piracy can/should be acceptable. What high school student can afford the $650 for Photoshop? But a pirated copy can train this student for work in the future, and the company that s/he will work for will provide a legitimate copy. Businesses is where most developers (with the exception of games obviously) make their money.
Well although it's not exactly open, there are other AIM compatible clients to use, including Apple's iChat AV. Yes it may be simplistic and probably not for power users, but it's great for the masses. Glad to see that iChat's audio/video chat capabilities were incorporated into AOL's client.
Clearly, the 'War on Copyright Violation' is following the successful strategy used for the War on Drugs, with significant resources of technology and police time mobilised to send violators to jail for a long time.
I don't necessarily think that this can compare with the War on Drugs. This MPAA "War" doesn't seem to rely on the police other than for arresting and prosecuting those ratted out by private sector employees (probably subidized/rewarded by the MPAA). Meanwhile the War on Drugs is ineffectively spending millions of taxpayer dollars patrolling the borders, criminalizing users of soft drugs and not really solving the root causes of Drugs and Drug Abuse in America.
I was in Hong Kong for business recently and noticed that everyone (well about 75% of the population) was wearing earphones attached to either cellphones, flash-based MP3 players, or cellphones playing MP3s. I think there really is a huge market for combining things that people want into small packages. Just look at how ubiquitous camera phones are becoming.
Hopefully the new N-Gage will be more successful.
Slashdot Mirror
I do like devices that are a combo of things. I personally don't want to carry my digital camera, PDA, iPod and cell phone in my pockets. But if there were a device that did it all well and elegantly, I'd snap it up immediately. I have a Treo 650 which I love for the most part. But I still can't seem to replace my iPod nor my digital camera with a phone.
And I mentioned elegantly above because I believe that most cell phone interfaces suck. They're ugly and non-intuitive. Palm's OS isn't bad, but I don't like their ala carte approach to things (no built-in MP3 player, inability to set an MP3 as a ringtone, etc.). I really do hope Apple comes out with a kick-ass cell phone.
I love My Yahoo! I also love my Gmail. I think this customized Google page is a great start but it's simply not there yet. Yes, the interface is nice simple Google, but I think in this day and age with RSS and broadband, it's a little too simple, boring and frankly not enough features for me. I do like how easy it is to customize though.
It really does feel to me like it's a start, and not ready for primetime. This is what a portal was 5 years ago.
I really do have high hopes for this though. It's Google. Yahoo! isn't shaking in its boots just yet.
Although I do think that the contest isn't responsible, I believe that hacking into a computer and writing a virus are two entirely different things.
The contest is not about being able to hack into a stock Mac connected to the Internet. It's about writing a self-propogating virus that can infect those stock Macs.
I agree with most people here that there's no way to run this contest responsibly. And isn't it inherently illegal???
1) 0.5% 2) 3% 3) 0% 4) 92.5% 5) 4% Ballmer is such an ass. He probably doesn't even know that his 12 year-old kid probably has one of the biggest shares on Kazaa. Hah!
Believe me, I did use it properly. It was embedded in an 'if' statement and didn't work. Substituting the 'gotoAndPlay' statement for a 'trace' worked.
It was stupid I tell you!
OK so for my job I recently had to do a very simple clickthrough for some UI design work. I would have used straight HTML but I also needed to approximate some fancy UI thing. So even simple 'goto' statements didn't work like they were supposed to. The Flash ActionScript language is one of the most assinine things I've ever encoutered.
Meanwhile, Flash. What is it good for? Absolutely nuthin'! Well OK, funny animations like This Land are great. But most of the time it hinders me getting to the information that I need or want. Car sites are a prime example. Just show me the pictures and let me get to the specs easily!
The Web is primarily a tool for information--Flash has not proven itself to be a good information tool.
Keep your iPod. Spend $100 instead to buy a retro, clunky, bright yellow Walkman!
http://www.retropod.com/
I wonder if there's a person like Lieberfarb working behind the scenes to get all the major studios and computer makers and consumer electronics manufacturers to agree to the HD-DVD format?
If not, I surely don't want to see another format war like VHS vs. Betamax. The DVD+/-R war was bad enough too.
Here's a link to a screenshot I was able to find: http://apple-x.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=New s&file=article&sid=680
Look all the way towards the bottom 3/4 of the article. It contains screenshots of other notable Mac games as well.
I can't respond to how platform games had already been established, but I think in terms of the richness--even in black & white--of the graphics was great. Looking at the screenshots from MobyGames doesn't do it justice. In 1986, on a black & white Mac screen, it looked brilliantly detailed.
I spent many all-nighters in my youth playing this game. Ahh, memories.
Ah! One step closer to finding those green-blooded Vulcans!
If you want to avoid more deaths of American soldiers in Iraq (845 so far and counting), then I suggest you don't vote for Bush in November.
I don't have a BMW, but I had been seriously thinking about getting a Mini Cooper...
Anyway, I currently have a JVC head unit in my Jetta that has a front line IN jack. I've tried the iTrip and various cassete adapters and they've all sucked. But when I upgraded to the JVC it was fantastic! The sheer sound quality difference is phenomenal.
I can bet that this new BMW connector to the iPod will sound great!
My only wish was that it were even more integrated, like with a dock integrated into the stereo unit or something.
There are many people who need the web to meet others.Geeks in fact...
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.06/dating. html
One guy who's trying to have people post their attributes on their websites and then searchable via Google.
Another guy who's developing a P2P XML-based dating network.
One guy who uses an AIM sniffer to send IMs to hotties.
And this last guy who hacks sites like Friendster to uncover security vulnerabilities.
I keep hearing and reading all these news stories about how traditional 2D animation is dead, about how Disney is only doing CG animation from now on. I'm amazed at how ignorant these bean counters and suits are: it's not about the technique that produces these films, it's all about the story and the characters.
The animation in "The Lion King" isn't too different than what we saw in "Snow White" almost 60 years earlier. It was the story and the characters that made the movie (and the other Disney classics from the early 1990s) such a great hit and instant classic.
I think that Pixar should surprise everyone and come out with a traditional 2D cell movie and show just how brilliant their storytelling really is. That way the public and media will get over how computer animation alone will make blockbusters.
Yeah I kind of think the market is right again for something like this. The world is addicted to reality television.
I'm pretty sure that CBS' "Big Brother" TV show gets enough viewers to have it running 4 years in a row (BB5 is coming soon). I also believe that its online subscription service, where you can watch the Big Brother contestants 24/7 uncut/uncensored also gets enough subscribers to be profitable.
MTV's "The Real World" has been running 13 years and sees no signs of stopping. Shows like the "Newlyweds" and "The Osbournes" are also hits.
So a soap opera-like web-based reality "show" should do just fine.
Steve likes mammals.
Yeah but I kinda think that the Monster Garage one is cooler. Well, at least the guy tries really hard to make it work.
TechTV article
Kerry McLean's Monocycles
I think you touch upon the main issue: most (not all) open source / free software tends to be written from a developer's point of view and not a user's. i.e. "Compile your own software and make sure you've pre-installed all the dependencies" or "RTFM."
...But then again, since I'm so used to the way Photoshop does things, anything non-Photoshop-like will be unintuitive.
This attitude extends beyond installation and into the interface. I'm a daily Photoshop user and must agree that GIMP is different and isn't intuitive.
My favorite Google features:
i ntl/xx-klingon/m er/
http://labs.google.com/
http://www.google.com/
http://www.google.com/intl/xx-el
I think the thing that TiVo has going for it above all else is its GUI--its ease of use. That's what's missing in many modern day electronics. How could we have expected the public--who can't even program a VCR--to be able to operate a DVR that can do much much more than a standard VCR? TiVo has done an excellent job at making a great UI.
That's why I think that the clones from cable companies (and the Dish Network) and ReplayTV are bad for the DVR space in general because their interfaces suck. I suppose the flip side of this is that TiVo won't rest on its laurels and will continue to improve upon its interface.
And on another note: yeah they have to fix their pricing scheme. Everytime I evangelize the wonders of TiVo to someone, they get all excited and then are scared away by the price.
I might be dating myself here but I remember the days in the mid- to late '80s of dial-up BBSes (bulletin board systems). Since there was no Internet at the time the BBS was the place for people to build communities online. Some large ones had racks of modems and phone lines coming in. But many were small boards with maybe four lines at the most.
As you might expect there were dating boards, just plain social boards, and of course porn boards. But the most exclusive ones were the pirate BBSes--also known as "elite" boards. You had to know a current member or the sysop to get access. And then you had to contribute by uploading software that you might have access to.
In these early days it seemed like many software developers used elite BBSes as free beta test groups. Those who downloaded the software (often taking hours even on the superfast Telebits and USRs) would test it and post any bugs, feature-requests, etc. There was even a super-elite board that I heard about based in Alaska where only the big name developers were allowed.
It was from that experience years ago where I think that some software piracy can/should be acceptable. What high school student can afford the $650 for Photoshop? But a pirated copy can train this student for work in the future, and the company that s/he will work for will provide a legitimate copy. Businesses is where most developers (with the exception of games obviously) make their money.
Well although it's not exactly open, there are other AIM compatible clients to use, including Apple's iChat AV. Yes it may be simplistic and probably not for power users, but it's great for the masses. Glad to see that iChat's audio/video chat capabilities were incorporated into AOL's client.
Clearly, the 'War on Copyright Violation' is following the successful strategy used for the War on Drugs, with significant resources of technology and police time mobilised to send violators to jail for a long time.
I don't necessarily think that this can compare with the War on Drugs. This MPAA "War" doesn't seem to rely on the police other than for arresting and prosecuting those ratted out by private sector employees (probably subidized/rewarded by the MPAA). Meanwhile the War on Drugs is ineffectively spending millions of taxpayer dollars patrolling the borders, criminalizing users of soft drugs and not really solving the root causes of Drugs and Drug Abuse in America.
I was in Hong Kong for business recently and noticed that everyone (well about 75% of the population) was wearing earphones attached to either cellphones, flash-based MP3 players, or cellphones playing MP3s. I think there really is a huge market for combining things that people want into small packages. Just look at how ubiquitous camera phones are becoming. Hopefully the new N-Gage will be more successful.