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User: mattr

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  1. Desktop should be an intelligent canvas on Ask Slashdot: Are Linux Desktop Users More Pragmatic Now Or Is It Inertia? · · Score: 2

    What you see is various software packages all reinventing what should only have to be done once, right.
    Various people have invented corkboard ideas, on the mac Stickies is post-it notes and Scrivener is a research and writing system with corkboard as part of it. I have seen various drag and drop style interfaces for drawing uml or configuring networking. One package I am involved in now has a canvas you can drag and drop nodes in a flowchart.
    Personally I had an idea for a tool that would draw on the desktop and define regions of it.
    Currently the desktops I have seen are just a blank screen that inevitably gets filled up with crap which then has to get put somewhere, or it is just a few shortcuts. The manu bar (on a mac), the trashcan and doc are the only actually functioning items.
    I would like to propose that the desktop should be an object oriented scriptable canvas with some intelligence, with storage, networking, layers, ability to transport them between instances and platforms, and something that actually helps you do your work. Smalltalk comes to mind. Anyway, my two cents. There is a lot of screen real estate but none of the operating systems actually do anything useful with it. The drawing tools that are out there in powerpoint, libreoffice or whatever are pitiful and unintuitive, so it takes a lot of work to make something useful and you don't use them in a meeting to illustrate something, you go to a whiteboard and scribble something illegible. Or you get out a big piece of paper. I'm saying a strong canvas with simple unbloated widgets in place of the desktop would be extremely useful as a standard computing component, instead of using the tons of little widgets that solve little bits of the problem.

  2. Turn up the drip, doctor! on Powering Phones, PCs Using Sugar · · Score: 1

    Looking forward to when I can stop buying all these temporary phone chargers in convenience stores and just set up an IV!
    And the computer I buy in 2020 will have an artificial circulatory system.

  3. Might be worth it on Google Buys Home Automation Company Nest · · Score: 1

    It sounds expensive but considering strategy it might be worth it.
    Without even studying it, the Nest could grow up to be way more than thermostats.. think about home and commercial security and surveillance perhaps like SECOM, a Japanese home security services company that has a base station in the wall near your front door. A Nest or Android style system would revolutionize it. Looking at the UK site they also have a GPS personal tracking device.. would be easy (for Google) to make an app that does this with an android phone.
    I'd see it more like their motorola purchase. With something that is generally accepted as an always-on home base station, but with more daily interaction than say your wifi router which is another always-on unit, now Google can start selling appliances that are always on and interacting with you no matter where you are.. maybe the Nest app will in the future have a button that lets you stream from your home media server to a nearby android-powered amp even? Or a button on your thermostat will switch to robot-managed home security that doesn't go off by accident and all the annoying things alarms do? I could see a ton of cheap sensors for everything from pipes to roof to smoke and infrared.. Anyway as a beachhead into the house it might be worth it.
    http://www.secom.plc.uk/
    http://www.secom.co.jp/english/personal.html

  4. Re:WTF? on New Home Automation? · · Score: 2

    It is less than 30 ft x 50 ft x (2 floors + 1 basement). That's not a giant house unless you are in the middle of the city.

  5. Interesting and useful for Slashdot on Bursting the Filter Bubble · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I only skimmed the paper briefly but it is interesting in that:
    - User clicks a wordcloud keyword/hashtag that draws lines from it to multiple florets (individual nacelle-like microflowers in a sunflower head), each of which represents a tweet in recent portion of a feed.
    - Repudiates the idea of filtering to meet viewer expectations so everyone can see the same content.
    - A cuteness factor (or what they say is "organic" being like a flower) apparently reduces gut reaction to tweets you do not agree with
    - Viewer is able to actively pick tweets to read. Presumably as the sunflower head image is mathematically generated and each floret's color could be tweaked to match a positive/negative sentiment score, allowing the user to pick only items that agree/disagree with them but to do so consciously.

    This last point would seem to be ideal and I'd like to see slashdot include something more than the slider ("read only above this score"), particularly for a topic that has over say 500 or 800 replies. How about a data visualization that shows all the posts/threads for an article and lets the user select based on where in this chart a post is? At the very list, something 2-dimensional not 1-dimensional.

  6. Misunderstood on Nathan Myhrvold's $500 Cookbook Now an $80 iPhone App · · Score: 1

    FYI I and probably almost no American absolutely cannot eat for example shiokara which is Japanese soupy squid entrails. I am totally with you. Not even in the realm of acceptability.

    But fish sauce, I don't know the process beyond that it is fermented anchovies, according to wikipedia. There are high quality and lesser quality brands. Basically, do you like Thai food? Then you like fish sauce. It's like soy sauce for them. Incidentally wiki says worcestershire sauce is related, also being fermented and having anchovies. So I think it is much ado about nothing. A very little fish sauce goes a long way, I am not expert but it is great for sauteing shrimp with some garlic and hot pepper, also the typical Thai dipping sauce uses it. FWIW I got roped into trying Surströmming (fish fermented in a can from Sweden) and though I found a way to eat a little basically thought I'd die at first. That kind of survival style fermenting which you have to be marooned in the north sea to eat is a different ball of wax. There is apparently a vast number of kinds of traditional fermented foods many of which are horrible but fish sauce, at least the kind you can get form high quality brands, is one of the great jewels of cuisine. I wouldn't put it on a hamburger, I don't think, but it is central to Thai cuisine which makes everything okay! A link I found discussing brands -- http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/379200
    and these:
    http://shesimmers.com/2012/07/thai-fish-sauce-taste-test.html
    http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/features/fishsauce1.html

  7. The wiki is cool on Artificial Blood Made In Romania · · Score: 1

    THe wikipedia article is intriguing, I never thought much about the different oxygen transport mechanisms out there (except that of lobsters).
    It appears that one kind of blood is 1/4 as effective as human blood but has much less affinity for carbon monoxide, others use cooperative bonding which boosts the oxygen transport capability I guess, also a microorganism was found with a similar substance but it includes sulfur, etc.!
    I was thinking what if astronauts or deep-sea living argonauts were running out of oxygen, they might choose to exchange their blood for one of these other types and it would be enough to get them through though maybe not enough energy for exciting EVAs..! Pretty neat. The story about the new dna biocomputer code being open sourced though was both neat to the awesometh power but also very scary.. having read blood music as another poster did and remembering what Bill Joy wrote ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_The_Future_Doesn't_Need_Us ). Welp the cat's out of the bag and I guess DHS worrying about explosives is just another quaint trivia item about the 2010s. Seems like we are on the crest of an accelerating wave of great inventions and hope they will be used well!

  8. Re:Why on Ars: Cross-Platform Malware Communicates With Sound · · Score: 1

    Subverted keyboard, submarined intentional vulnerability in OS waiting for the ultrasonic melody of death, thumb drive, ms office, etc.

  9. Here's the problem on Has Flow-Based Programming's Time Arrived? · · Score: 1

    Look, money is made by companies like Facebook which is why they have the natural language parsing graph engine (waves hands) which should be used for what the OP is talking about but instead is used to stalk each others' friends' drunk photos.
    If you are talking about "real programming" that is another ball of wax, but if you are talking about 98% of web apps, android apps, etc. there is already a full corpus and standard way of representing whatever is to be done. There only so many patterns.

    These patterns all have to be created line by line. The problem is there are too many patterns for anyone with the attention span of a non-programmer to use it. And also they haven't trained themselves to think comprehensively and in depth about an application. Something like salesforce.com is a big step toward locking in^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^hempowering businesses to build their own software, however if has lots of cracks and places it falls down. For one thing, a lot of it drives the user to developing in a certain way, whereas if there was an easy to use synchronous real time messaging system that did not require you to write apex (kinda like java scripting) it would be more useful to more people.

    The real solution is to have some kind of (hand waving) artificial intelligence built in, which would let you describe the kind of system you want built with prose and back of napkin drawings. Imagine an interative process in which a businessperson is describing to a system engineer what he wants, and "take care of all the obvious stuff as appropriate". Anyway, the salesforce and facebook approach has a managed web service / application engine / full stack infrastructure that self-augments itself over time and a community-driven open source version of this based on open repositories for example would be cool. This would release developers from having to reimplement the same kind of thing over and over. Some of this idea was visible in the beginning with catalyst perl app framework and perhaps in Moose object framework (not AI but resembling English

    Unfortunately the development priorities of a facebook or a salesforce tend to target high school kids and marketers respectively, and profit-making above all, so you get something really powerful that nevertheless is not necessarily aligned with your goals. Anyway, the term "dataflow programming" is a bit old. I think the new term that will encompass it and much more will be NLP (natural language processing) programming or automated design perhaps autoflow for short.

  10. A new law on Nvidia Removed Linux Driver Feature For Feature Parity With Windows · · Score: 4, Interesting

    For any people with free time, how about starting a PAC to get a new law passed that would require hardware manufacturers to provide full specifications of their products to consumers in a standardized format? It could be used not only for open source developers (rights of the consumer to use purchased gear as he or she sees fit) but also could be used to guarantee and verify all provided functions and that there aren't any additional spyware functions included. Conceivably it could be used in a software / firmware binary verification program too.

  11. Re: Didn't blow up, would buy again on Owner of Battery Fire Tesla Vehicle: Car 'Performed Very Well, Will Buy Again' · · Score: 3, Informative

    What a stupid post. It is no-brainers like you that shut down the government to make a point.
    Listen, probably anyone who buys a Tesla also invests in companies including Tesla, because they like it and believe in it.
    The best electric car in the world.
    If you read the blog post, you can see that even though an L shaped piece of metal levered up and punctured quarter inch armor (which ordinary cars don't even have), the engineering design worked perfectly, flame was compartmentalized and directed downward, no flame entered the passenger compartment, and total combustible power was 1% of an ordinary car. Even after being punctured, instead of exploding the vehicle told the driver to get off the road and exit the vehicle. That's a smart car! And the company dealt with him very professionally too.
    In the end, you are just a FUD-monger subhuman and your posts are not worth the electricity it takes to read your drivel and I ask you politely to get off slashdot and crawl back into your asshole. The rest of us want to work hard, do a good job, and make enough money to buy one one day.
    Incidentally although I have not invested in Tesla and don't even have a car I have gotten in one and had a salesman give me a test drive.
    The car is fricking awesome. It was built by an awesome businessman who took his money and built yet another one or two awesome things with that. This story is so high in the stratosphere above your grimy imaginings I don't expect you to understand, I just hate the idea of your poison leaching out of your septic tank into the wide world.

  12. Really anonymous? on Facebook and Cisco Offer Check-In Service For Free Wifi · · Score: 1

    Not anonymous if you are the only person that day perhaps

  13. Why print the javascript... on CERN Launches Line Mode Browser Emulator · · Score: 1

    I think all that javascript is a bit annoying. And probably just providing a gateway to lynx and tin would be surprising enough to people?
    q: "I'm not a quitter"

  14. No nanotubes on my skull thanks on New Headphones Generate Sound With Carbon Nanotubes · · Score: 1

    Personally I would rather keep cheap Chinese knockoff headphones full of nanotubes away from my brain. How do you know the pounding of a bass beat is not actually injecting nanotubes through the fabric and eventually migrating them with vibration into your brain? Even if there is "no chance of danger" (as if anyone has actually packaged nanotubes in an energetic, electromagnetically pumped environment near the human body) I would just not feel like it is something safe to have around. Imagine someone came up with an anti-smog filter for your nostrils that works based on "nano-packaged asbestos fibers" which have "no chance of being ingested"? If nano isn't critical and in a highly safety engineered package far from me (or at least something biologically created that I have a chance of breaking down), I don't want it.

  15. Re:Redundant keys on Bill Gates Acknowledges Ctrl+Alt+Del Was a Mistake · · Score: 1

    I found it very useful as the only toggleable key, in an art exhibit.

  16. A model that works - Smashwords on Google May Replace Cookies With Unique AdIDs · · Score: 1

    I found a new sequel to a series I had read.

    Google led me to Smashwords. I read some free, then bought
    unencumbered epub,pdb,mobi,txt. Credit card or paypal.

    Devoured it and next day bought 3 more.
    Now have a library in Smashwords, reviewed one.
    I think there might be a coupon for reviewers.

    Google should:
    Buy a bank.
    Beat visa and paypal out on the net.

    Get a percentage for introduction.
    Stop the ads, or offer no ads but another1% margin.

    Integrate better with all common pos systems,
    or sell own. Show recommendations and shop specials in search results.

    Develop NFC style payment with value added such as 0 to 5 star rating and review app on phone.
    You get better price if you review.

  17. Re:Interactions between 4D and 3D on Study: Our 3D Universe Could Have Originated From a 4D Black Hole · · Score: 1

    Like a quasar?

  18. Awesome non-news on The Greatest Keyboard Shortcut Ever · · Score: 1

    Well it blew my mind for 15 seconds. But then I remembered I just use Chrome's History menu, last time was yesterday I think.

  19. We should send feedback on Request to Falsify Data Published In Chemistry Journal · · Score: 1

    Obviously there is nothing criminal going on, just a conspiracy by a stupid editor. Make up = do. If he wrote manufacture I might wonder but still it isn't proof.
    I have an idea, must not be the first to have it though.
    When slashdot and other sites (like boingboing) get news stories from syndicators of syndicators etc. in the normal idiotic trickle-down blog syndication and altruistic submitters tree and the article upon intelligent reading is obvious drivel, the end consumers (the conglomeration of all slashdot readers who have read it) should be able to push back in the reverse direction along this tree that it is stupid.
    Something like a message, "300 readers of slashdot.org think this article is stupid. Your cred dropped to 50%."
    Finally something worthy to vote about!

  20. Re:Who the f*** is he? on Ingy döt Net Tells How Acmeism Bridges Gaps in the Software World (Video) · · Score: 1

    He is a cool guy with a good heart, who has done some very memorable Perl community presentations. I saw one or two of them some years ago and enjoyed meeting him very much at the time. He has like 150 perl modules to his name.

  21. Re:General implications on Muon Neutrino To Electron Neutrino Oscillation Conclusively Shown · · Score: 1

    Can any useful deflection (lensing) of neutrinos be accomplished with anything less than a black hole?
    I came across articles about stars and the CMB as lensing possibilities.
    I am wondering if the Earth itself or a lead lens could have any effect at all.

  22. Invalidate enclosure patent? on 3D Printers Shown To Emit Potentially Harmful Nanosized Particles · · Score: 1

    Above poster suggests study should have included mitigation effect of enclosures.
    It would be interesting if an OSHA, CDC or other regulation/law could require enclosures, and invalidate the patent some company IIRC holds on them for public health reasons.

  23. Deep sim on MIT Uses Machine Learning Algorithm To Make TCP Twice As Fast · · Score: 1

    Looks interesting. Would be more interesting if possible to model incomplete rollout and rollout at not just endpoints, IPv6 rollout is another rational/superrational mix, and instead we've got ubiquitous NAT instead, right?
        The mention of inability to do an upload during Skype.. is that true?
        Conceivably a whole-network deep simulation could be updated based on real traffic patterns providing suggestions for network upgrades / additional cross connects, so enduser requirements could drive network buildout not carrier profits. That's cool.
          Not sure if the plan is to bake this into hardware and then allow download new firmware as the network evolves, or have some safe code repository that is compiled at endpoints. I can predict a shitstorm over that..

  24. They will never see it coming on UCSD Lecturer Releases Geotagging Application For "Dangerous Guns and Owners" · · Score: 1

    The police would be the people most interested in using such a database.
    It will mean that if police ever have a reason to visit a tagged property they will be far more likely to use overwhelming force at the slightest provocation.
    Since the gun owner will not know he or she is tagged, they will not even know they should tone it down.
    This app is going to get someone hurt.

  25. Re:Education in India on Hacker Exposes Evidence of Widespread Grade Tampering In India · · Score: 1

    Interesting. I learned 6502 watching a friend coding with pencil and paper too. He wrote a polyphonic multi keypress synthesizer, and asteroids (2d and 3d) and robotron. Apple ][. Very luckily I got one myself but 6502 always seemed more elegant on paper.