As with many military innovations, it will be interesting to see the future of computerized limbs when they reach the civilian population. I've met a few people with prosthetics, and devices like this would certainly help them. Despite views on war, this can only help.
This is a nifty gadget, but it really isn't functional. VoIP is fine for home use, but at this point there's no reason to choose a portable VoIP phone over a cell phone. There simply isn't a large enough network of WiFi connections yet, not to mention the fact that many of them are personal networks. I'm sure the owners of said networks do not want random passersby using up their bandwidth. If anyone wants one of these toys, fine, but I'm sticking with my cell phone. I can actually make calls without reliance on an internet connection with it.
While we're working on cleaning things up, maybe the Slashdotters can contribute by taking showers. Use stick deodorant, of course, we don't want to deplete the ozone layer.
Each style is appropriate in its own place.
For normal "one-to-one" email, top-posting is quite appropriate. The most recent information is the most relevant, and should be at the top where it's immediately available without having to scroll down. It's sometimes useful to keep the discussion history in the email (especially if it is ever CC'ed to an extra person who hasn't seen the rest of the thread), but generally, there is no confusion as to which "branch" of the discussion you are replying.
For "many-to-many" forums, such as news groups, mail list discussions and web forums, trimming and bottom-posting (or middle-posting) is the way to go. There are usually several threads active at a time, and threads can be forked and broken and carried on for weeks and months. It is very rare that a reply will be in response to every point that the parent made. In these cases, it's essential to give some reference so the reader knows what part of the discussion your comments apply to. Thus, a terse, trimmed "reference" quote is suitable.
The two styles are the difference between:
"These are my comments. (And by the way, this is the preceeding conversation, in case you forgot what we were discussing)"...and...
"Somebody said this; to which I would like to add the following comments".
Most people will never post to a newsgroup or discussion board. They will live safe and secure in their top-posting world. It is only when they take a step into our world that there is an issue, and they need a quick and painless heads-up that different rules apply when posting to a multi-user discussion, and that they'd better learn to trim and bottom post if they want to stay:P
Slashdot Mirror
As with many military innovations, it will be interesting to see the future of computerized limbs when they reach the civilian population. I've met a few people with prosthetics, and devices like this would certainly help them. Despite views on war, this can only help.
This is a nifty gadget, but it really isn't functional. VoIP is fine for home use, but at this point there's no reason to choose a portable VoIP phone over a cell phone. There simply isn't a large enough network of WiFi connections yet, not to mention the fact that many of them are personal networks. I'm sure the owners of said networks do not want random passersby using up their bandwidth. If anyone wants one of these toys, fine, but I'm sticking with my cell phone. I can actually make calls without reliance on an internet connection with it.
While we're working on cleaning things up, maybe the Slashdotters can contribute by taking showers. Use stick deodorant, of course, we don't want to deplete the ozone layer.
Actually, that's a pretty shitty comparison too. Paint.NET is a raster drawing tool, while Inkscape is vector-based.
Of course, in America, the correct answer is: "I will give you each $20 if you tell me the correct path to the village of honesty."
You really should have kept the message-ids instead of Google Groups links...
If it's willing, it isn't slavery, moron...