Isn't it a bit soon to be trying to replace DVD? I mean VHS lasted for something like 20 years, DVD has managed about 6.
I remember pointing this out a long time ago, when DVDs first came out. HDTV was already well on its way when DVDs first arrived on the scene, but no support for HD was put into the DVD spec. If there was any forethought put into the DVD spec, then there would have been support for the higher resolution HDTVs. The problem, of course, was technology. A 12-cm disk at the time couldn't store the data for an HD video. This was before MPEG4 though, and theoretically, the creators could have assumed that some time in the future a better compression algorithm would make it possible to store an HD signal into a DVD size, and made it an option for the future.
What I think will happen though, is that studios will create hybrid-DVDs that will play in both current DVD players as a standard DVD, and have a separate layer that will only be visible to the High Definition player. This is already done in Blu-Ray which may be what is making it more appetizing to studios. They sell one movie, and it's compatible with standard and high definition players. It makes the new disks more like an extension to DVD.
If you have to have specialized software, you need to train teachers to use it, and purchase it in the first place (or pay someone to develop it). While computers seem great for the classroom, without an excellent software package, they're not much use.
Based on the price of mass-produced paperbacks no longer under copyright (classic novels and such), for $100, you could print at least 50 books. No matter if this laptop will allow internet access, I doubt its lifetime would be longer than a book. Also, while there are great websites out there, it is not better than the presentation of a well edited book--especially for the needs of education.
Don't you know how you make a NAND gate in silicone...
I don't think anyone knows how to make a NAND gate out of silicone. You must have an intense interest in electronic breast implants to think of a way.:-)
For those of you who are wondering what the cat thing is about, the following quote may shed some light on the subject:
The wireless telegraph is not difficult to understand. The ordinary telegraph is like a very long cat. You pull the tail in New York, and it meows in Los Angeles. The wireless is the same, only without the cat.
With the decline of the desktop, Apple has decided to release a new system called the iBook Nano. It has 8GB of flash memory 1 GB of SDRAM, wireless connectivity, and no hard-disk, CD or DVD drive at all. It runs a special version of Tiger that mounts iDrive storage over the web with it's included.mac account, where you can access Apple's software library for a small monthly fee. Also supported is the Mac mini as a wireless server for your software and music storage needs.
In other words, if you disagree, how can you prove to me that America has aggressivley maintained or improved liberties since the civil rights movement?
NASA's concept seems like a better implementation because the launch loop requires a much longer track and an evacuated launch tube. With this design, the launch track just gets it up to a high velocity, kicks in the rockets to go the rest of the way to orbit. It costs a little more per kg, but it's a lot more in the realm of feasibility.
Google isn't all that big of a company, many publishing companies are bigger than google in terms of number of employees and amount of revenue. Also, given that Google may have different expertise than a publisher, they could partner up with many web-search companies eager to compete with Google.
Guess I should have read the article first. They are changing the transistor fabrication process--not putting in larger gating transistors--to make the leakage current less. The new transistor process has 1/1000th the leakage, but switches at half the rate. Intel thinks it's a good compromise for low-power situations.
First, chip power can roughly be divided into two components:
1) Switching - When the transistor is going from high to low, or low to high
2) Leakage - When the transistor is "off" but still letting through a little current
Since CMOS was first put into play, two transistors per state have made things as low power as possible. The line between power and ground is controlled by two opposite mosfet trasistors, one that switches high, and the other that switches low. Since they are opposite, one of them is always "off" so that it doesn't allow current through.
*HOWEVER* even with at least one transistor off, a little current always gets through. This is called leakage. While larger transistors only let through a little current, smaller and smaller transistors became leakier and leakier. So while earlier processors had only a little power used for leakage, according to the intel report, this has risen to 50%.
But, you can still make those larger transistors, so you can still prevent the leakage, you just need to have them stop leakage current when you're sure that certain parts of the chip will be "off" for a while. Apparently, intel has found a way to use some architectural method to put these larger transistors in place to reduce leakage current to 1/1000th the amount it would be otherwise.
So now the power can be reduced by nearly the entire amount of the previous leakage current, or nearly the entire 50% that leakage was taking up. In all of this, you shouldn't lose any processing power, because the frequencies are all still very fast, and even though the larger transistors take more time to switch, these will not be the ones performing your actual calculations.
Not when "ensuring timely security patches" is the same thing as telling someone to purchase Windows Vista 3.1r6 from the local Best Buy ($199 after rebate).
These "smaller and more frequent" releases were formerly free bugfixes. Now they will be crap you have to pay for. I think we'll see things like the service pack issues where small fix #9 worked okay, but #8 and #10 had horrible issues.
There's a certain critical mass to operating systems that has to be reached in order for it to really "take off". But the main issue is, how homogenous is it for third party developers?
In this way, Linux needs to have a two-fold market change. One for pure market penetration, and another for cross compatibilty for third party developers to feel safe enough to develop for linux.
The funny thing is, Apple is a lot like Valve as far as showing what one can do with a technology. Id may have made the engine, but Valve made a full experience. Apple may come late to the game after so many others, but they bring customers a much fuller experience.
iMac mini server system media edition. Something with a built-in wireless AP, broadband connector, and separate dumb wireless set-top box to make your HDTV a terminal with wireless keyboard and mouse. Also include software to access the mini-server anywhere in the house, and as many laptops as necessary and there you go. The fully media-encompassed house.
Or better yet, iBook mini's that are ultra-thin, flash-storage only laptops designed to work primarily with a server, or host computer like the iMac mini.
I completely agree. However, part of the reason why students perk up is because of the interactive nature of computers. Anything that makes noise or is animated, seems like a game even if it's teaching math or spelling. The $$$ would be better spent elsewhere though.
The problem with technology is cost, troubleshooting, and control, but what are the solutions that technology will bring to the classroom? Technology does have the interactive nature to engage students, but in what? Computers, even on a 1-1 basis are too complex to deal with because of the software.
The ideal computer in the classroom would be cheap (maybe $100), as small as or smaller than a book, extremely rugged, completely under the control of the teacher, and have a built-in whiz-bang software package that focused on helping teachers teach. It could probably be done with embedded linux systems for the students with WiFi networking, and a teacher's laptop acting as a server. But this would require teachers *not* giving each student a computer, and eliminate most of the "bringing students into the 21st century" arguments for technology that teachers use today, since it won't be the same computers their parents use at work. Still, maybe it could happen.
Another problem is that with the advent of state testing to measure student and teacher performance, technology is pushed by the wayside.
You hit the nail on the head there. Most slashdotters are not dealing in reality that most teachers have to deal with. The bottom line in teaching is state-mandated curricula being taught for state-mandated standardized testing. If technology can't give teachers a significant boost in teaching to standards, then it's not worthwhile for the teacher to invest time and money into it.
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Based on the responses to this thread, I wouldn't be so hopeful.
Isn't it a bit soon to be trying to replace DVD? I mean VHS lasted for something like 20 years, DVD has managed about 6.
I remember pointing this out a long time ago, when DVDs first came out. HDTV was already well on its way when DVDs first arrived on the scene, but no support for HD was put into the DVD spec. If there was any forethought put into the DVD spec, then there would have been support for the higher resolution HDTVs. The problem, of course, was technology. A 12-cm disk at the time couldn't store the data for an HD video. This was before MPEG4 though, and theoretically, the creators could have assumed that some time in the future a better compression algorithm would make it possible to store an HD signal into a DVD size, and made it an option for the future.
What I think will happen though, is that studios will create hybrid-DVDs that will play in both current DVD players as a standard DVD, and have a separate layer that will only be visible to the High Definition player. This is already done in Blu-Ray which may be what is making it more appetizing to studios. They sell one movie, and it's compatible with standard and high definition players. It makes the new disks more like an extension to DVD.
Two hidden costs of this initiative:
1) Teacher training/materials
2) Software costs
If you have to have specialized software, you need to train teachers to use it, and purchase it in the first place (or pay someone to develop it). While computers seem great for the classroom, without an excellent software package, they're not much use.
Based on the price of mass-produced paperbacks no longer under copyright (classic novels and such), for $100, you could print at least 50 books. No matter if this laptop will allow internet access, I doubt its lifetime would be longer than a book. Also, while there are great websites out there, it is not better than the presentation of a well edited book--especially for the needs of education.
Don't you know how you make a NAND gate in silicone...
:-)
I don't think anyone knows how to make a NAND gate out of silicone. You must have an intense interest in electronic breast implants to think of a way.
For those of you who are wondering what the cat thing is about, the following quote may shed some light on the subject:
e ins148879.html
The wireless telegraph is not difficult to understand. The ordinary telegraph is like a very long cat. You pull the tail in New York, and it meows in Los Angeles. The wireless is the same, only without the cat.
- Albert Einstein
Source http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/albert
With the decline of the desktop, Apple has decided to release a new system called the iBook Nano. It has 8GB of flash memory 1 GB of SDRAM, wireless connectivity, and no hard-disk, CD or DVD drive at all. It runs a special version of Tiger that mounts iDrive storage over the web with it's included .mac account, where you can access Apple's software library for a small monthly fee. Also supported is the Mac mini as a wireless server for your software and music storage needs.
In other words, if you disagree, how can you prove to me that America has aggressivley maintained or improved liberties since the civil rights movement?
Well for one it struck down state laws against sodomy in 2003.
City governments granted islamic mosques to sound calls to prayer in 2004.
To be fair, income taxes is in the constitution now. The rest of course, are not.
I thought NASA was already funding this...
There it is.
NASA's concept seems like a better implementation because the launch loop requires a much longer track and an evacuated launch tube. With this design, the launch track just gets it up to a high velocity, kicks in the rockets to go the rest of the way to orbit. It costs a little more per kg, but it's a lot more in the realm of feasibility.
Do hand-cranked can-openers apply to this?
Google isn't all that big of a company, many publishing companies are bigger than google in terms of number of employees and amount of revenue. Also, given that Google may have different expertise than a publisher, they could partner up with many web-search companies eager to compete with Google.
I would update, but I already switched to Opera when they made it free.
Guess I should have read the article first. They are changing the transistor fabrication process--not putting in larger gating transistors--to make the leakage current less. The new transistor process has 1/1000th the leakage, but switches at half the rate. Intel thinks it's a good compromise for low-power situations.
Okay, a little chip power management 101.
First, chip power can roughly be divided into two components:
1) Switching - When the transistor is going from high to low, or low to high
2) Leakage - When the transistor is "off" but still letting through a little current
Since CMOS was first put into play, two transistors per state have made things as low power as possible. The line between power and ground is controlled by two opposite mosfet trasistors, one that switches high, and the other that switches low. Since they are opposite, one of them is always "off" so that it doesn't allow current through.
*HOWEVER* even with at least one transistor off, a little current always gets through. This is called leakage. While larger transistors only let through a little current, smaller and smaller transistors became leakier and leakier. So while earlier processors had only a little power used for leakage, according to the intel report, this has risen to 50%.
But, you can still make those larger transistors, so you can still prevent the leakage, you just need to have them stop leakage current when you're sure that certain parts of the chip will be "off" for a while. Apparently, intel has found a way to use some architectural method to put these larger transistors in place to reduce leakage current to 1/1000th the amount it would be otherwise.
So now the power can be reduced by nearly the entire amount of the previous leakage current, or nearly the entire 50% that leakage was taking up. In all of this, you shouldn't lose any processing power, because the frequencies are all still very fast, and even though the larger transistors take more time to switch, these will not be the ones performing your actual calculations.
Many Democrat Slashdotters are just hoping for a different version of "selected not elected" for the '04 election.
00' - selected by SCotUS
04' - selected by Diebold
Yeah, but they better give users a more compelling reason to update than a find utility and some desktop widgets.
Not when "ensuring timely security patches" is the same thing as telling someone to purchase Windows Vista 3.1r6 from the local Best Buy ($199 after rebate).
No, you didn't have to *pay* for service packs.
These "smaller and more frequent" releases were formerly free bugfixes. Now they will be crap you have to pay for. I think we'll see things like the service pack issues where small fix #9 worked okay, but #8 and #10 had horrible issues.
There's a certain critical mass to operating systems that has to be reached in order for it to really "take off". But the main issue is, how homogenous is it for third party developers?
In this way, Linux needs to have a two-fold market change. One for pure market penetration, and another for cross compatibilty for third party developers to feel safe enough to develop for linux.
The funny thing is, Apple is a lot like Valve as far as showing what one can do with a technology. Id may have made the engine, but Valve made a full experience. Apple may come late to the game after so many others, but they bring customers a much fuller experience.
iMac mini server system media edition. Something with a built-in wireless AP, broadband connector, and separate dumb wireless set-top box to make your HDTV a terminal with wireless keyboard and mouse. Also include software to access the mini-server anywhere in the house, and as many laptops as necessary and there you go. The fully media-encompassed house.
Or better yet, iBook mini's that are ultra-thin, flash-storage only laptops designed to work primarily with a server, or host computer like the iMac mini.
I completely agree. However, part of the reason why students perk up is because of the interactive nature of computers. Anything that makes noise or is animated, seems like a game even if it's teaching math or spelling. The $$$ would be better spent elsewhere though.
The problem with technology is cost, troubleshooting, and control, but what are the solutions that technology will bring to the classroom? Technology does have the interactive nature to engage students, but in what? Computers, even on a 1-1 basis are too complex to deal with because of the software.
The ideal computer in the classroom would be cheap (maybe $100), as small as or smaller than a book, extremely rugged, completely under the control of the teacher, and have a built-in whiz-bang software package that focused on helping teachers teach. It could probably be done with embedded linux systems for the students with WiFi networking, and a teacher's laptop acting as a server. But this would require teachers *not* giving each student a computer, and eliminate most of the "bringing students into the 21st century" arguments for technology that teachers use today, since it won't be the same computers their parents use at work. Still, maybe it could happen.
Another problem is that with the advent of state testing to measure student and teacher performance, technology is pushed by the wayside.
You hit the nail on the head there. Most slashdotters are not dealing in reality that most teachers have to deal with. The bottom line in teaching is state-mandated curricula being taught for state-mandated standardized testing. If technology can't give teachers a significant boost in teaching to standards, then it's not worthwhile for the teacher to invest time and money into it.