One of the chief difficulties in developing the technology comes from the environment where computer chips live. Heat and vibration in this environment can cause chips to get out of the precise alignment needed for proximity communication. Sun is currently tinkering with different techniques and different packages to prevent, or correct, these effects.
Ah nice, sounds like a good method for building one board to get something working, but if you end up building something really nifty, and what to show a few prototypes around, or sell a few to others online, being able to print off 100 boards could be quite handy.
I disagree with the common comparison of Software to Civil Engineering and Standards Bodies.
Data Structures would be a better analogy, which Standards Bodies have done a really good job declaring. So in 200 years time you'll still be able to read the DVD data format (assuming the media is still good), even though the software that plays it will likely be different.
Software is more like mechanical engineering, where things do break and improvements keep being found. You wouldn't for example use a 1960's car engine in a car today, even though the basic principle is the same. No ones asks why they didn't get it right 40 years ago and aren't still using the same design.
Unfortunately, what would often be considered an early prototype in engineering, is often released as v1.0 -- the cause of which is a long post all unto itself.
PS. It's only updates/refreshes data when it has too to save on bandwidth/server load, so don't be too surprised if it displays an error message if you try and do something with a file someone else has already moved.
ourbrisbane.com's webmail supports all the nifty features, ie. multi-select, drag'n'drop, preview pane, automatic mail checking, realtime search ala iTunes, right-click menus, shortcut-keys, export to zip, etc etc, its free and fully compatible with Mozilla.
It uses horde for the message viewing, and the addressbook but the rest I wrote. ourbrisbane.com even agreed to release it back to horde as opensource, but no-one on the list even got back to me...
Mono beta 2 now includes a Java VM. "allows Java and.NET code to run side-by-side. It contains the latest release of IKVM.
Sun's Java Class Libraries are very nice and full featured, if Java was open-sourced, I'd see Mono and Java merging together quite nicely. Write in whichever language is most comfortable, and call whichever API does the job the best.
I see this as a good solution for Sun which is seeing developers leaving for.NET, turn to them and say, you can still use Java.
Funny part: Person A: I can't view the website properly on my machine - the fonts are all wrong, Person B, told me it was because I had a 21" monitor. (They believed this to be a valid explaination too).
Scary part: Person A = Head of IT Department at University Person B = My Boss - In charge of university website development team.
It would be interesting if someone could offer some insight into what Windows provides that Linux doesn't in the realm of public kiosks.
Driver support.
I worked on a POS touchscreen system, and Windows was used simply because of all the touchscreens they looked at (IBM, LG, etc) only came with windows drivers -- if you know of a touchscreen that Linux supports (ie. includes a Linux screen calibration app) let me know.
Very nice diagram and it'll continue to grow with other interesting projects such as Tao which adds OpenGL, OpenAL, SDL, etc as your opensource alternative to DirectX.
Hopefully those that still view C# as microsoft lock-in, will see that C# is an open (ECMA approved) language, and Mono is doing a great job of supporting it. The choice (and any potential lock-in) is really in what APIs you use, which is no different from a C++ programmer choosing between DirectX or OpenGL.
true, but the idea of discreet little logic components that serve a specific purpose is nice. Research prototypes tend to be large, but couple this with research in say, a
modified ink-jet printer and its starts to show some real potential.
People could then design individual little components, or put together already designed components to create larger devices (and glue/staple on any more advanced components that aren't able to be printed).
I believe this is how opensource will spread into hardware.
Was at the Brisbane show and the IBM guy sidestepped the 'So why can't I walk into a store and buy a IBM laptop with RedHat pre-installed' question pretty well. Basically stated something along the lines of - it was something they were watching but they weren't ready to provide support for mom and pop just yet, but that you could order it pre-installed if you bought in bulk...
Sounds like Novell may be gearing up to provide that support.
then she must have downloaded them from Kazaa or (less likely) ripped them from her CD with the exact same encoder, bitrate and options
less likely? I use my computer as my stereo, and transfer my music from CD to it. To do this I just pop in the CD, it looks up the name for me, and I press one button to encode the albumn. bitrate... options... all default.
Now if Kazaa has a copy of the exact same song, with the exact same title and the exact same MD5 sum, Is it really that obvious that I must have downloaded it from them.
By your logic, me admitting that, "No, I encoded this file from my CD", would imply that I must have been the one to place it on Kazza... because what are the odds that someone choose the exact same encoder, bitrate, options and even named it the same name.
spices vary too much depending on how old or dry they are, how finely ground, etc. So any heavily spiced recipe (like Indian food) that says, 1 teaspoon of this, 2 tablespoons of that will always miss the mark.
Had a family friend who was an excellent Indian cook and she always cooked with just a handful of this and a pinch of that, no a bit more... (munching on raw chilles the whole time)
The trick is to cook to taste, which means knowing what spice adds what flavor. Trouble is spices taste different cooked to what they do dry, so if you really want to know, cook a base (slight bland) curry, divide it up, then overload one spice to each one (and let it simmer in). Taste and experiment...
(If you just want to taste a single spice by itself fry it in a little bit of butter first to get it to release its flavour)
The engine appears to be a DC brushless motor... so...
only the outer rim spins, not the main motor (look at the diagram).
having no drive train or axel would remove more kinetic energy and weight than that added by the magnets.
force from the engine would stop immediately as soon as current was removed. A reverse current could even be applied to add resistance (not that you'd need to as disc breaks are more than capable at stopping the tire -- stop it too quickly and you just skid).
having your engine weight low and near your contact points is a good thing, better than having it higher and 'pulling' the car forward and over your tires.
DC brushless motors (perment magnets on the spinning part) are extremely tough as they don't have internal moving parts or contact points to worry about - the only thing moving is the tire (and hub).
GM also has a nice skateboard-like base design which shows promise (keeps all the weight low). The main issue to overcome is battery weight and storage capacity -- something fuelcells (and better methods of storing hydrogen) are working towards. Getting everything else in place for that doesn't hurt though.
This applies to all human work, not just computers.
well the original intent for copyright - books, research papers, etc, allowed you to read them but protected the author from direct copying. So just reading the source shouldn't really be copyright infringement -- theft or possession of stolen property/trade secrets maybe -- but copyright infringement only should apply if it's reused. That said, I wouldn't want to be the person trying to argue that in court.
I think the project which'll worry about this the most is WINE -- it's making great strides on its own but how can the maintainers ensure that code submitted doesn't breach copyright if they can't read the copyrighted material to check?
Which reminds me -- the Kill Bill anime flashback was pretty cool - anyone know which animation house was used? (I'm guessing it wasn't Disney, though it'd be funny if it was)
Quick! - what's the FBI's number -- I found them in my very own company! -- I always knew the graphics department were up to no good -- dressing above their income in those european clothes - and insisting on only using Macs - and I've seen them, caught them! making websites!
I'd tell the server guys but they use Linux so you can't trust them not to 0wn your box... In-fact they could be watching what I'm typing right now... AHHH... one's walking over this way...
[good - I hid under my desk and he seems to have gone away... I think I'll make a break for it]
If this message gets through the web of proxies set to trap and stop my messages... send help..
Here's a question to ponder though... Everybody know's who directed Kill Bill. Everybody and their freaking dog knows who directed the LOTR trilogy. How many of you honestly know who directed "Finding Nemo" and don't have to look it up on IMDB? Be honest now!
I admit I had no idea (the answer is Andrew Stanton(story) & Lee Unkrich but I had to look it up)-- but poll a crowd of people and the answer will be 'Pixar'... not the director but that answer will still win.
How many people know (and care) who the distributor for Kill Bill is?
The names Pixar and Tarantino respectively draw the audiences and get the pay dirt - so they hold the power - the rest are all become negotiable contracts.
Ah this reminds me of a company I used to work for which paid a consulting group for an online study (survey and analysis) to gauge what our audience was. This gave us a nice set of statistics and pretty report which really just told us the demographics of people with the time and inclination to fill out long online survey forms and devulge personal information for the chance to win a small prize. No telling marketing that ofcourse.
Slashdot Mirror
One of the chief difficulties in developing the technology comes from the environment where computer chips live. Heat and vibration in this environment can cause chips to get out of the precise alignment needed for proximity communication. Sun is currently tinkering with different techniques and different packages to prevent, or correct, these effects.
Solution
Ah nice, sounds like a good method for building one board to get something working, but if you end up building something really nifty, and what to show a few prototypes around, or sell a few to others online, being able to print off 100 boards could be quite handy.
I disagree with the common comparison of Software to Civil Engineering and Standards Bodies.
Data Structures would be a better analogy, which Standards Bodies have done a really good job declaring. So in 200 years time you'll still be able to read the DVD data format (assuming the media is still good), even though the software that plays it will likely be different.
Software is more like mechanical engineering, where things do break and improvements keep being found. You wouldn't for example use a 1960's car engine in a car today, even though the basic principle is the same. No ones asks why they didn't get it right 40 years ago and aren't still using the same design.
Unfortunately, what would often be considered an early prototype in engineering, is often released as v1.0 -- the cause of which is a long post all unto itself.
try
username: trialaccount
password: password
PS. It's only updates/refreshes data when it has too to save on bandwidth/server load, so don't be too surprised if it displays an error message if you try and do something with a file someone else has already moved.
ourbrisbane.com's webmail supports all the nifty features, ie. multi-select, drag'n'drop, preview pane, automatic mail checking, realtime search ala iTunes, right-click menus, shortcut-keys, export to zip, etc etc, its free and fully compatible with Mozilla.
It uses horde for the message viewing, and the addressbook but the rest I wrote. ourbrisbane.com even agreed to release it back to horde as opensource, but no-one on the list even got back to me...
Poetry didn't disappear, they just became song lyrics.
Mono beta 2 now includes a Java VM. "allows Java and .NET code to run side-by-side. It contains the latest release of IKVM.
.NET, turn to them and say, you can still use Java.
Sun's Java Class Libraries are very nice and full featured, if Java was open-sourced, I'd see Mono and Java merging together quite nicely. Write in whichever language is most comfortable, and call whichever API does the job the best.
I see this as a good solution for Sun which is seeing developers leaving for
Funny part:
Person A: I can't view the website properly on my machine - the fonts are all wrong, Person B, told me it was because I had a 21" monitor. (They believed this to be a valid explaination too).
Scary part:
Person A = Head of IT Department at University
Person B = My Boss - In charge of university website development team.
It would be interesting if someone could offer some insight into what Windows provides that Linux doesn't in the realm of public kiosks.
Driver support.
I worked on a POS touchscreen system, and Windows was used simply because of all the touchscreens they looked at (IBM, LG, etc) only came with windows drivers -- if you know of a touchscreen that Linux supports (ie. includes a Linux screen calibration app) let me know.
Very nice diagram and it'll continue to grow with other interesting projects such as Tao which adds OpenGL, OpenAL, SDL, etc as your opensource alternative to DirectX.
Hopefully those that still view C# as microsoft lock-in, will see that C# is an open (ECMA approved) language, and Mono is doing a great job of supporting it. The choice (and any potential lock-in) is really in what APIs you use, which is no different from a C++ programmer choosing between DirectX or OpenGL.
Now all I need is a Death Star so I can have these running around the corridors.
true, but the idea of discreet little logic components that serve a specific purpose is nice. Research prototypes tend to be large, but couple this with research in say, a modified ink-jet printer and its starts to show some real potential.
People could then design individual little components, or put together already designed components to create larger devices (and glue/staple on any more advanced components that aren't able to be printed).
I believe this is how opensource will spread into hardware.
same... I m1 - m6 jumps you to different points (I think m4 puts you inside the room)
This shouldn't surprise anyone
I wonder how the guys currently on the IBM & HP sponsored Redhat World Tour will field this one... Anyone going to one of the remaining shows?
Was at the Brisbane show and the IBM guy sidestepped the 'So why can't I walk into a store and buy a IBM laptop with RedHat pre-installed' question pretty well. Basically stated something along the lines of - it was something they were watching but they weren't ready to provide support for mom and pop just yet, but that you could order it pre-installed if you bought in bulk...
Sounds like Novell may be gearing up to provide that support.
then she must have downloaded them from Kazaa or (less likely) ripped them from her CD with the exact same encoder, bitrate and options
less likely? I use my computer as my stereo, and transfer my music from CD to it. To do this I just pop in the CD, it looks up the name for me, and I press one button to encode the albumn.
bitrate... options... all default.
Now if Kazaa has a copy of the exact same song, with the exact same title and the exact same MD5 sum, Is it really that obvious that I must have downloaded it from them.
By your logic, me admitting that, "No, I encoded this file from my CD", would imply that I must have been the one to place it on Kazza... because what are the odds that someone choose the exact same encoder, bitrate, options and even named it the same name.
spices vary too much depending on how old or dry they are, how finely ground, etc. So any heavily spiced recipe (like Indian food) that says, 1 teaspoon of this, 2 tablespoons of that will always miss the mark.
Had a family friend who was an excellent Indian cook and she always cooked with just a handful of this and a pinch of that, no a bit more... (munching on raw chilles the whole time)
The trick is to cook to taste, which means knowing what spice adds what flavor. Trouble is spices taste different cooked to what they do dry, so if you really want to know, cook a base (slight bland) curry, divide it up, then overload one spice to each one (and let it simmer in). Taste and experiment...
(If you just want to taste a single spice by itself fry it in a little bit of butter first to get it to release its flavour)
or you could just take any chili recipe and when it says, add one diced onion... don't
DC brushless motors (perment magnets on the spinning part) are extremely tough as they don't have internal moving parts or contact points to worry about - the only thing moving is the tire (and hub).
GM also has a nice skateboard-like base design which shows promise (keeps all the weight low). The main issue to overcome is battery weight and storage capacity -- something fuelcells (and better methods of storing hydrogen) are working towards. Getting everything else in place for that doesn't hurt though.
This applies to all human work, not just computers.
well the original intent for copyright - books, research papers, etc, allowed you to read them but protected the author from direct copying. So just reading the source shouldn't really be copyright infringement -- theft or possession of stolen property/trade secrets maybe -- but copyright infringement only should apply if it's reused. That said, I wouldn't want to be the person trying to argue that in court.
I think the project which'll worry about this the most is WINE -- it's making great strides on its own but how can the maintainers ensure that code submitted doesn't breach copyright if they can't read the copyrighted material to check?
uh, a lightbulb isn't AC -- its just a big, simple resistor that heats up and gives off light. It doesn't care which way the current flows through it.
*chuckles* Disney :)
Which reminds me -- the Kill Bill anime flashback was pretty cool - anyone know which animation house was used? (I'm guessing it wasn't Disney, though it'd be funny if it was)
Quick! - what's the FBI's number -- I found them in my very own company! -- I always knew the graphics department were up to no good -- dressing above their income in those european clothes - and insisting on only using Macs - and I've seen them, caught them! making websites!
I'd tell the server guys but they use Linux so you can't trust them not to 0wn your box...
In-fact they could be watching what I'm typing right now... AHHH... one's walking over this way...
[good - I hid under my desk and he seems to have gone away... I think I'll make a break for it]
If this message gets through the web of proxies set to trap and stop my messages... send help..
Here's a question to ponder though... Everybody know's who directed Kill Bill. Everybody and their freaking dog knows who directed the LOTR trilogy. How many of you honestly know who directed "Finding Nemo" and don't have to look it up on IMDB? Be honest now!
I admit I had no idea (the answer is Andrew Stanton(story) & Lee Unkrich but I had to look it up)-- but poll a crowd of people and the answer will be 'Pixar'... not the director but that answer will still win.
How many people know (and care) who the distributor for Kill Bill is?
The names Pixar and Tarantino respectively draw the audiences and get the pay dirt - so they hold the power - the rest are all become negotiable contracts.
I'd like to think that this is because what makes us 'us' is how we differ from the norm -- we therefore view these details as more private...
*steps away from unrealistic view of the world*
nah, just social conditioning and fear of embarrassment - I've seen gossip circles - you can't gossip about something that's 'normal'
Ah this reminds me of a company I used to work for which paid a consulting group for an online study (survey and analysis) to gauge what our audience was. This gave us a nice set of statistics and pretty report which really just told us the demographics of people with the time and inclination to fill out long online survey forms and devulge personal information for the chance to win a small prize. No telling marketing that ofcourse.