I agree. Some of these people need to get a life and stop worrying about how the folks behind Ubuntu, Canonical Ltd., may find a way to generate some cash. I understand they are working on a future release that has a GUI comparable to the Mackintosh OS X.
Since I do not have to spend my time and money developing an improved GUI for Linux I for one applaud any method that generates cash for those who do that work.
It is the same thinking from someone who immeidately says of the iPhone that they will never give Apple any money because it is a closed system and they can not run the software they choose on an iPhone. I don't have the time to write a specialty app that I can not live without. Yet I can go to the Apple app store and select from over 70,000 possible applications right now for the iPhone. How many of those can you fit in 16GB anyway? I have over 350 on my 3GS and the only way to launch most of the is to do a search in FINDER for the app since only half display on the iPhone Springboard! I have paid for a number of those apps and I do not begrudge Apple or the developer devoting his time to the iPhone. I am certainly not in sympathy with those who have nothing else to do but whine about the system. If you don't want access to 70,000 apps buy a Palm Pre and go write your own software.
If you do not like the actions of Canonical Ltd. go use another Linux distribution.
They denied me a new iPod Nano under warranty.
I lost mine in the dark and found it several days later laying in the street after it had been run over repeatedly. It still worked but the case was bent and the screen cracked. After I cleaned it up and took it to the Apple store they insisted that I had probably sat on it with it in my jeans pocket and that is what damaged the iPod. With righteous instigation I swore I did no such thing but they would not be swayed by my insistence. No new iPod under warranty.
They denied me a new iPhone 3G under warranty.
Recently when I dropped my iPhone 3G and shattered the screen they told me they wanted $200 to repair it - not covered by warranty.
I fixed them. I sold it to a young Jew who offered me $200 cash for the 3G as is. I instantly bought another new 3GS at AT&T with the cash. Apple and AT&T lost the revenue that old 3G should have brought in for being so hard nosed.
The 3GS is much nicer than the 3G so I feel it was a win win for me.
The iPhone already has stand alone maps a GPS program can download and use just like a TomTom, MIO, or Garmin. I am sure more will come if the demand is there.
I used to use a dedicated GPS for my owrk but now retired I saw no use for it and it was a magnet for urban thieves in metro Atlanta. My local police department says they even look for the telltale marks of someone having removed a GPS from the dash or window and then break in anyway looking for where you may have hidden it.
That is not a problem with my iPhone which is always with me ready to function as a GPS if I need it. One of the things I used the old GPS for was to keep track of the red light cameras and speed traps. Just a few hours ago I discovered that an app I had downloaded months ago has been dramatically updated to use the GPS chip not only to show where you are on the map but also it calls out in a loud voice the type an location of the next encounter you are about to have with law enforcement.
Effective immediately I am going to be using that one every day while driving. It is much better than what I had by careful programming of my 'talking gps' for the last two years. And this is just an incidental application on my iPhone that has great value even in retirement.
Since I always bought the latest and greatest GPS for the last eight years this is a major change in no longer bothering with a standalone GPS. I can see where the major GPS vendors mentioned in the above thread may be in future trouble.
One quick note, I also recently noticed the US military has ordered a bunch of these iPhones to use the tiny computer and dislay hardware to replace functions very expensive hardware now does for the troops. So far this experiment has been extremely successful in the short time it has been in place. Apple may eventually become a military contractor.
Why hasn't anyone else noticed that compared to the IE7 that FIREFOX with a dozen extensions is just plain BUTT UGLY SLOW. I like FIREFOX for a few web sites but as I learn more and more about some of the hidden improvments and the abilty to extend IE7 with custom features I have switched back to IE as the default browser. I also like the fact IE7 is FAST to start and fast to render pages.
You listed the very reason I would not encourage anyone of my friends or family to buy into Blu Ray. If they do they had been warned that the potential for a great lost when the player/recorder fails.
This similar to downloading software to your mobile phone only to lose it all when the phone is replaced for after a problem or an upgrade. You have to buy it all over again.
I think not, I will not buy into in the first place.
Thou has not played with the iPod NANO. The PSP is a BRICK compared to the funtionality of this thing the size of a business card you would drop in your wallet! Not to mention the battery life of teh NANO compared to that clunky PSP.
Vic
I went to Circuit City last night to pick up a Nano with the $15 off coupon they have been passing out. They told me they sent their entire stock of 4 GB nanos back to Apple. I was hoping to pick up their extended warrenty so if the nano got scratched up or the price dropped I would get my money back.
CC must have wised up fast to the nano.
Microsoft focuses only on the software and makes far more money each year than Apple does. Why not become a world leading sofware vendor to grab Microsoft's pie?
ajc.com > Business
Comcast to go after BellSouth's turf
Voice and video: CEO says No. 1 cable provider will offer new range of phone services.
By ROBERT LUKE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/18/05
Comcast, aiming to grow at BellSouth's expense, says it plans to be a "quality phone company" with services unlike its competitors.
Philadelphia-based Comcast, the nation's No. 1 cable provider, will roll out its phone service in metro Atlanta this year.
But the service, based on a technology called Voice over Internet Protocol, won't be a copycat of BellSouth's, Brian Roberts, Comcast's chief executive, said in an interview.
"Our main goal is to quickly evolve the product to not just be voice, but to be [an integrated] communications product," said Roberts. He was in Atlanta to speak to Comcast employees and to the board of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.
That not only means offering features such as unified messaging -- where all messages, be it voice, e-mail or whatever, go into one in-box -- but video phone service as well.
"I was looking this week in our labs at the video phone product that we are going to offer over the Comcast digital voice platform, over the Comcast high-speed [Internet] platform, all within a year to 18 months," Roberts said.
Comcast, which has 700,000 customers in 12 metro Atlanta counties and Rome, will take its time to roll out the service, initially targeting those who subscribe to its high-speed Internet service.
Phone calls will be routed over Comcast's facilities, not over the public Internet. That will help to ensure quality of service, Roberts said. Emergency 911 service will be included, as well as directory assistance and backup power to enable phones to work in a power outage.
"All of that is needed to really try to take significant market share and to be a quality phone company," Roberts said. "We're going to take our time. We're not in a race. We think this is a good business for the next 50 years."
Roberts reckons that Comcast can achieve a 20 percent market penetration in phone service in five years. Its service will cost $39.95 a month for unlimited local and domestic long-distance calls.
Metro Atlanta is one of Comcast's top four markets, Roberts said. The others are Boston, Chicago and San Francisco.
"This is clearly the fastest-growing large market we have in terms of population and housing growth," Roberts said.
Comcast wants to extend its reach here.
"It's a high priority to grow in this area," said Roberts, without elaborating.
Comcast and Time Warner have bid for Adelphia Communications, which owns clusters of cable systems in some of North Georgia's fastest-growing counties, such as Cherokee and Bartow.
CompUSA Atlanta GA said they were dropping their PDA display when I was looking at MP3 players. They are going to feature cameras and MP3 players in the store area formally used by PDAs.
I find it difficult to see how so many intelligent people can get the story wrong. There is no hard disk or I-Pod like device.
It is simply an adaptor for the Roady2 that uses much less power than previous XM generation radios. There is even a picture of it on one of the XM radio fan sites. The Roady 2 clips into a slim case, which supplies battery power. It has a XM antenna. All this slips into your shirt pocket. You listen to the audio with a set of walkman type headphones.
Here is a link to the web pages with more about it
Applications for this would be XM radio while jogging or walking out of doors or in a metro area where there are terrestrial repeaters blasting the XM signal indoors. People who work out of doors in construction or similar jobs may find this useful for listening to decent radio all day long.
Since all major league baseball will be on XM radio starting next season one could see some fans listening to the games via XM while sitting in the stadium.
People involved in fishing or other water related activities may enjoy grabbing audio off the satellite instead of the local broadcast band.
I had to leave last night for an overnight trip so I didn't me to anser your question and leave a few tips.
First, you must subscribe to activate the xmDirect unit. This is an xmdecoder in a 'breakout box' designed to interface to car radios already built to add on XM. What the folks in Florida have done is provide a computer interface similar to the old XMPCR. You still need to provide an external six-volt power supply and a audio amplifier which can be your computer sound card and amplified speakers. xmDirect comes with an antenna for use on the car. These cost thirty dollars alone. xmDirect is on sale at Circuit City for $44 right now.
You will need the adapter from the guys in Florida which is another $45 and you will need to get their free SDK and write your own software or else you must buy TimeTrax 2.5 for another $30. This will allow you to rip satellite radio signals to your PC hard disk in MP3 format with name and composer automatically supplied by XM. This ability is what stunned RIAA especially after they have fought so hard to stop people from sharing their tunes via the internet. They would have no way of knowing who to sue next if geeks were grabbing the tunes right of the air which would be untraceable by their lawyers and snitches.
There is another outfit selling a competing product for $170 based on the xmDirect which includes all you need. Look at the xmFAN site for details.
Now XM charges you $10 for one decoder and $7 for each additional one for personal use.
TIP you can call customer service and deactivate one hardware unit and activate another without paying a fee. You must pay a ten dollar (or fifteen if you do it over the phone) activation fee for each new hardware item you have going at the same time. I have two Roadys so I can suspend one and activate the xmDirect hardware for no charge with a simple phone call, later I can switch back to two active Roadys and let the xmDirect go inactive.
But the xmDirect has a lot of potential in the car, not just the home which makes it a better value than the xmPCR. Use xmDirect connected to the computer to rip MP3s and then reinstall it in your car for live audio while you commute.
Vic
Ki4je
I just rechecked their website and Timetrx 2.5 now works with their product.
It is worth and additional $7 for another XM subscription.
I need one in the house anyway for my wife.
Vic
Slashdot Mirror
I agree. Some of these people need to get a life and stop worrying about how the folks behind Ubuntu, Canonical Ltd., may find a way to generate some cash. I understand they are working on a future release that has a GUI comparable to the Mackintosh OS X. Since I do not have to spend my time and money developing an improved GUI for Linux I for one applaud any method that generates cash for those who do that work. It is the same thinking from someone who immeidately says of the iPhone that they will never give Apple any money because it is a closed system and they can not run the software they choose on an iPhone. I don't have the time to write a specialty app that I can not live without. Yet I can go to the Apple app store and select from over 70,000 possible applications right now for the iPhone. How many of those can you fit in 16GB anyway? I have over 350 on my 3GS and the only way to launch most of the is to do a search in FINDER for the app since only half display on the iPhone Springboard! I have paid for a number of those apps and I do not begrudge Apple or the developer devoting his time to the iPhone. I am certainly not in sympathy with those who have nothing else to do but whine about the system. If you don't want access to 70,000 apps buy a Palm Pre and go write your own software. If you do not like the actions of Canonical Ltd. go use another Linux distribution.
They denied me a new iPod Nano under warranty. I lost mine in the dark and found it several days later laying in the street after it had been run over repeatedly. It still worked but the case was bent and the screen cracked. After I cleaned it up and took it to the Apple store they insisted that I had probably sat on it with it in my jeans pocket and that is what damaged the iPod. With righteous instigation I swore I did no such thing but they would not be swayed by my insistence. No new iPod under warranty. They denied me a new iPhone 3G under warranty. Recently when I dropped my iPhone 3G and shattered the screen they told me they wanted $200 to repair it - not covered by warranty. I fixed them. I sold it to a young Jew who offered me $200 cash for the 3G as is. I instantly bought another new 3GS at AT&T with the cash. Apple and AT&T lost the revenue that old 3G should have brought in for being so hard nosed. The 3GS is much nicer than the 3G so I feel it was a win win for me.
Burma Shave...
The iPhone already has stand alone maps a GPS program can download and use just like a TomTom, MIO, or Garmin. I am sure more will come if the demand is there. I used to use a dedicated GPS for my owrk but now retired I saw no use for it and it was a magnet for urban thieves in metro Atlanta. My local police department says they even look for the telltale marks of someone having removed a GPS from the dash or window and then break in anyway looking for where you may have hidden it. That is not a problem with my iPhone which is always with me ready to function as a GPS if I need it. One of the things I used the old GPS for was to keep track of the red light cameras and speed traps. Just a few hours ago I discovered that an app I had downloaded months ago has been dramatically updated to use the GPS chip not only to show where you are on the map but also it calls out in a loud voice the type an location of the next encounter you are about to have with law enforcement. Effective immediately I am going to be using that one every day while driving. It is much better than what I had by careful programming of my 'talking gps' for the last two years. And this is just an incidental application on my iPhone that has great value even in retirement. Since I always bought the latest and greatest GPS for the last eight years this is a major change in no longer bothering with a standalone GPS. I can see where the major GPS vendors mentioned in the above thread may be in future trouble. One quick note, I also recently noticed the US military has ordered a bunch of these iPhones to use the tiny computer and dislay hardware to replace functions very expensive hardware now does for the troops. So far this experiment has been extremely successful in the short time it has been in place. Apple may eventually become a military contractor.
I don't see FPS being that fun with out a buttons. A RTS / TBS may work good but not MMO / FPS / driving games.
heroes of might and magic type games should work fine.
They put touch sensitive virtual buttons at some spot on the screen. It works for me.
Why hasn't anyone else noticed that compared to the IE7 that FIREFOX with a dozen extensions is just plain BUTT UGLY SLOW. I like FIREFOX for a few web sites but as I learn more and more about some of the hidden improvments and the abilty to extend IE7 with custom features I have switched back to IE as the default browser. I also like the fact IE7 is FAST to start and fast to render pages.
You listed the very reason I would not encourage anyone of my friends or family to buy into Blu Ray. If they do they had been warned that the potential for a great lost when the player/recorder fails.
This similar to downloading software to your mobile phone only to lose it all when the phone is replaced for after a problem or an upgrade. You have to buy it all over again.
I think not, I will not buy into in the first place.
Thou has not played with the iPod NANO. The PSP is a BRICK compared to the funtionality of this thing the size of a business card you would drop in your wallet! Not to mention the battery life of teh NANO compared to that clunky PSP. Vic
I went to Circuit City last night to pick up a Nano with the $15 off coupon they have been passing out. They told me they sent their entire stock of 4 GB nanos back to Apple. I was hoping to pick up their extended warrenty so if the nano got scratched up or the price dropped I would get my money back. CC must have wised up fast to the nano.
Microsoft focuses only on the software and makes far more money each year than Apple does. Why not become a world leading sofware vendor to grab Microsoft's pie?
Voice and video: CEO says No. 1 cable provider will offer new range of phone services.
By ROBERT LUKE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/18/05
Comcast, aiming to grow at BellSouth's expense, says it plans to be a "quality phone company" with services unlike its competitors.
Philadelphia-based Comcast, the nation's No. 1 cable provider, will roll out its phone service in metro Atlanta this year.
But the service, based on a technology called Voice over Internet Protocol, won't be a copycat of BellSouth's, Brian Roberts, Comcast's chief executive, said in an interview.
"Our main goal is to quickly evolve the product to not just be voice, but to be [an integrated] communications product," said Roberts. He was in Atlanta to speak to Comcast employees and to the board of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.
That not only means offering features such as unified messaging -- where all messages, be it voice, e-mail or whatever, go into one in-box -- but video phone service as well.
"I was looking this week in our labs at the video phone product that we are going to offer over the Comcast digital voice platform, over the Comcast high-speed [Internet] platform, all within a year to 18 months," Roberts said.
Comcast, which has 700,000 customers in 12 metro Atlanta counties and Rome, will take its time to roll out the service, initially targeting those who subscribe to its high-speed Internet service.
Phone calls will be routed over Comcast's facilities, not over the public Internet. That will help to ensure quality of service, Roberts said. Emergency 911 service will be included, as well as directory assistance and backup power to enable phones to work in a power outage.
"All of that is needed to really try to take significant market share and to be a quality phone company," Roberts said. "We're going to take our time. We're not in a race. We think this is a good business for the next 50 years."
Roberts reckons that Comcast can achieve a 20 percent market penetration in phone service in five years. Its service will cost $39.95 a month for unlimited local and domestic long-distance calls.
Metro Atlanta is one of Comcast's top four markets, Roberts said. The others are Boston, Chicago and San Francisco.
"This is clearly the fastest-growing large market we have in terms of population and housing growth," Roberts said.
Comcast wants to extend its reach here.
"It's a high priority to grow in this area," said Roberts, without elaborating.
Comcast and Time Warner have bid for Adelphia Communications, which owns clusters of cable systems in some of North Georgia's fastest-growing counties, such as Cherokee and Bartow.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/business/0305/18bi zcomcast.html
The German pound is always heavier because the German butcher has his thumb on the scale.
CompUSA Atlanta GA said they were dropping their PDA display when I was looking at MP3 players. They are going to feature cameras and MP3 players in the store area formally used by PDAs.
It is simply an adaptor for the Roady2 that uses much less power than previous XM generation radios. There is even a picture of it on one of the XM radio fan sites. The Roady 2 clips into a slim case, which supplies battery power. It has a XM antenna. All this slips into your shirt pocket. You listen to the audio with a set of walkman type headphones.
Here is a link to the web pages with more about it
http://www.xm411.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=3164
Here is a link to a photo of the device partially open
http://file.xm411.com/images/roady/Roadyport04.JPG
Applications for this would be XM radio while jogging or walking out of doors or in a metro area where there are terrestrial repeaters blasting the XM signal indoors. People who work out of doors in construction or similar jobs may find this useful for listening to decent radio all day long.
Since all major league baseball will be on XM radio starting next season one could see some fans listening to the games via XM while sitting in the stadium.
People involved in fishing or other water related activities may enjoy grabbing audio off the satellite instead of the local broadcast band.
End of story.
I had to leave last night for an overnight trip so I didn't me to anser your question and leave a few tips. First, you must subscribe to activate the xmDirect unit. This is an xmdecoder in a 'breakout box' designed to interface to car radios already built to add on XM. What the folks in Florida have done is provide a computer interface similar to the old XMPCR. You still need to provide an external six-volt power supply and a audio amplifier which can be your computer sound card and amplified speakers. xmDirect comes with an antenna for use on the car. These cost thirty dollars alone. xmDirect is on sale at Circuit City for $44 right now. You will need the adapter from the guys in Florida which is another $45 and you will need to get their free SDK and write your own software or else you must buy TimeTrax 2.5 for another $30. This will allow you to rip satellite radio signals to your PC hard disk in MP3 format with name and composer automatically supplied by XM. This ability is what stunned RIAA especially after they have fought so hard to stop people from sharing their tunes via the internet. They would have no way of knowing who to sue next if geeks were grabbing the tunes right of the air which would be untraceable by their lawyers and snitches. There is another outfit selling a competing product for $170 based on the xmDirect which includes all you need. Look at the xmFAN site for details. Now XM charges you $10 for one decoder and $7 for each additional one for personal use. TIP you can call customer service and deactivate one hardware unit and activate another without paying a fee. You must pay a ten dollar (or fifteen if you do it over the phone) activation fee for each new hardware item you have going at the same time. I have two Roadys so I can suspend one and activate the xmDirect hardware for no charge with a simple phone call, later I can switch back to two active Roadys and let the xmDirect go inactive. But the xmDirect has a lot of potential in the car, not just the home which makes it a better value than the xmPCR. Use xmDirect connected to the computer to rip MP3s and then reinstall it in your car for live audio while you commute. Vic Ki4je
I just rechecked their website and Timetrx 2.5 now works with their product. It is worth and additional $7 for another XM subscription. I need one in the house anyway for my wife. Vic