The Shuttle's re-usability is alas a failing in disguise. It provided a golden excuse to keep manned spaceflight pinned back in the 70's/80's. Indeed if the Russians hadn't been so keen on space stations in the later days of the Soviet space programme, there would be no ISS today. (A good or a bad thing?!)
The problem behind space tech development in my view is that it's still tied to government funding. Besides the X-prize the only money spent on this still hideously expensive field is spent by governments... and their priorities are set by politics, not science.
Get a space race going, US vs China vs an oil rich Russia and we may see some action again. I like to think a Mars mission would become a possibility if China does indeed do a lunar landing for instance. There's nothing like an international pissing contest! It was that after all which landed Armstrong and Aldrin on the moon in 1969.
Private enterprise will eventually drive spaceflight, once we have made the leap out of the initial, chemical rocket age we've been in since the mid 20th century. And I agree that where a market needs a kick start, a subsidy could pay dividends in time. But the problems with that approach is that again, it needs political commitment, and the timeframe and the money involved may prove deeply incompatible with that.
Roll on the rise of a foreign opponent. The US needs challenged into action once again!
Ever tried FrontRow? (Sure it can work on a non-iMac if you have the patch!) Ever seen the way it zooms out away from the desktop while changing to the menu mode? (This looks even better if you hold down shift of course)
Apple clearly have virtual resolutions implemented to some extent... expose uses them too when you have your windows shrunk and moved to browse them all at once... so what this 12" PowerBook user wants to see in Leopard is virtual res coming to the whole desktop environment so we can res switch and have things mapped to our 1024x768 displays!
Of course, knowing Apple any such thing will be for new Macs only. But where there's a will, there's a patch...
Try this out - take a screenshot (shift+command+3) of the desktop on a higher res, on another Mac or with an external monitor. Then open the file on your 1024x768 display and see what it's like scaled down and antialiased. Sweet that's what! I'd love to be able to use that for real.
I do a fair bit of VNC with non-Macs via my PowerBook and know what you're talking about.
The Mighty Mouse I have sitting on my desk is a neat solution for the desktop. Now I'm hoping for (and expecting...) a similar sneaky design with the next PowerBook's trackpad button. One button, two click modes. Come on Apple, do it again!
Yes, the PowerBook is the number one reason for the Intel switch. And I like every Mac user out there am hoping for some seriously fast models in 2006.
The PowerBook is great all round with only the ageing processor and one-Apple-design-fits-all keyboard and mouse... which I find fine but I know not everyone can be expected to.
Certainly my old 867mhz PowerBook has done me proud so far and will continue to until I get my hands on something 64bit, ultra-light, solid state storage based and also made by Apple!
I'm using this PowerBook right now next to a big window of daylight... (12" model from 2003)
Another trick is to turn the backlight off entirely and read the screen in direct sunlight like a piece of paper... not practical most of the time but great for extending battery power when somewhere sunny on holiday!
But on this PowerBook I press Command+Control+Option+8 and it switches to negative colour mode! Perfect for low light levels when you just can't crank the white down low enough.
I seriously recommend a Mac for anyone with eyestrain. The OS has features like that and a competent zoom built in so that all programs support them, and they're available by keypresses.
A similar setup exists at last.fm where you build up a record of what you like by having your player app synch with the community server... then you can listen to their custom streamed radio and discover a lot of stuff which is all kept on record.
It's a good point though that a great many people will always prefer the "locked" client when given a choice of p2p programs. Napster > Morpheus > Kazaa > Limewire... how many users have gone that route? How many of them just didn't "get" bittorrent or any of the good and open systems?
I think this says more about user psychology than software and the future of legit filesharing.
Anytime I need an ISO I open Azureus and head straight off to to Fedora site or whichever one it is, to find the trackers. I expect it will be the same story decades from now, only with some other protocol replacing BT or perhaps (if the ***A reall get their way) something the like of Tor being involved even for us legit opensource people!
But then seriously, I expect the battle to be won for the good side. Trying to control the internet is like trying to eat soup with a fork.
Think of Fox with less taste, brains and progamming and you get the idea.
The Battlestar Galactica remake was shown on Sky here but I think was the work of the Sci-Fi channel more than anything, so don't get your hopes up about this show.
I have a horrible vision of something far worse than the latest series of Dr. Who....
- Intel frustrated at lack of product differentiation, so long as windows runs and stuff is fast why Intel over AMD, etc. - Intel pursued Apple, not the other way around - Apple eventually decide to talk, seeing as IBM were getting seriously tired of Jobs and Apple's demands / getting busy with MS, Sony and Nintendo - Intel just got themselves a neat Pony to show off their stuff and hope for some shiny Apple RDF PR to come back at them
Intel aren't exciting to many people, despite the work they (like all CPU manufacturers) pile into their chips and fabbing. They didn't have "it" as the marketers say, whereas Apple through years of doing their thing (love it or loathe it) do.
The questions for the future are will Intel really get some cred through their Apple dealings, and how long until an AMD Mac?
Apple are taking a monumental risk in switching architectures - namely hacked OSX. It will probably pay off, simply comapared to what crap IBM and Freescale might be having them on next year and '07. (Think portables) And I think Intel are viewing this as more than a mere numbers deal in return. Apple could be their route to a new kind of image and stardom, or some nonesense like that! Preferential treatment towards Apple will not surprise me. Remember they talked this deal through Steve Jobs, and if he went for any less, count me shocked!:D
My own PowerBook 12" is the best notebook I've ever owned or used - but I'd love something smaller. The 15 and 17" PowerBooks are all fine and well for their audience, but I'm personally with Mies van der Rohe on Less is More.
Macs are great for all that stuff too, and widely liked by those trying them for the first time. But the one group of average Windows people hard to switch is those who like their games on a desktop instead of from a console where they should be!!
Anyone know what the comparative difficulty involved in making spyware like this is between Win and Mac?
I presume it's possible to make a Mac Warden - but it would probably involve a system password prompt (like people wouldn't fall for that). Software installation gets the privileges it needs...
But for the time being here's to betting there's no Mac version. And surely Mac WoW has a few cracks and trainers of its own, right?
In that case a good sound witness for the Sony trial!
Mind, if I were on Sony's multi million dollar defense team, I'd use the longevity and depth of this guy's Windows use to try to prove his insanity.;-)
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The Shuttle's re-usability is alas a failing in disguise. It provided a golden excuse to keep manned spaceflight pinned back in the 70's/80's. Indeed if the Russians hadn't been so keen on space stations in the later days of the Soviet space programme, there would be no ISS today. (A good or a bad thing?!)
... and their priorities are set by politics, not science.
The problem behind space tech development in my view is that it's still tied to government funding. Besides the X-prize the only money spent on this still hideously expensive field is spent by governments
Get a space race going, US vs China vs an oil rich Russia and we may see some action again. I like to think a Mars mission would become a possibility if China does indeed do a lunar landing for instance. There's nothing like an international pissing contest! It was that after all which landed Armstrong and Aldrin on the moon in 1969.
Private enterprise will eventually drive spaceflight, once we have made the leap out of the initial, chemical rocket age we've been in since the mid 20th century. And I agree that where a market needs a kick start, a subsidy could pay dividends in time. But the problems with that approach is that again, it needs political commitment, and the timeframe and the money involved may prove deeply incompatible with that.
Roll on the rise of a foreign opponent. The US needs challenged into action once again!
I know a good torrent if you want it!
I've been hearing about things going that direction too. To which I add "PRE-ORDER FOR OS X 10.5, HEY APPLE I GOT YOUR MONEY RIGHT HERE!!!"
Yeah, that's Windows. Could Firefox even protect it in an ideal world?
*The Mac user sits smugly*
Same here and I find it better than Adblock on Firefox on Windows.
. php
Very effective little extension, I must pay for it sometime!
Here for those interested:
http://culater.net/software/PithHelmet/PithHelmet
Ever tried FrontRow?
... expose uses them too when you have your windows shrunk and moved to browse them all at once ... so what this 12" PowerBook user wants to see in Leopard is virtual res coming to the whole desktop environment so we can res switch and have things mapped to our 1024x768 displays!
(Sure it can work on a non-iMac if you have the patch!)
Ever seen the way it zooms out away from the desktop while changing to the menu mode?
(This looks even better if you hold down shift of course)
Apple clearly have virtual resolutions implemented to some extent
Of course, knowing Apple any such thing will be for new Macs only. But where there's a will, there's a patch...
Try this out - take a screenshot (shift+command+3) of the desktop on a higher res, on another Mac or with an external monitor. Then open the file on your 1024x768 display and see what it's like scaled down and antialiased. Sweet that's what! I'd love to be able to use that for real.
I do a fair bit of VNC with non-Macs via my PowerBook and know what you're talking about.
The Mighty Mouse I have sitting on my desk is a neat solution for the desktop. Now I'm hoping for (and expecting...) a similar sneaky design with the next PowerBook's trackpad button. One button, two click modes. Come on Apple, do it again!
Yes, the PowerBook is the number one reason for the Intel switch. And I like every Mac user out there am hoping for some seriously fast models in 2006.
... which I find fine but I know not everyone can be expected to.
The PowerBook is great all round with only the ageing processor and one-Apple-design-fits-all keyboard and mouse
Certainly my old 867mhz PowerBook has done me proud so far and will continue to until I get my hands on something 64bit, ultra-light, solid state storage based and also made by Apple!
I'm using this PowerBook right now next to a big window of daylight ... (12" model from 2003)
... not practical most of the time but great for extending battery power when somewhere sunny on holiday!
Another trick is to turn the backlight off entirely and read the screen in direct sunlight like a piece of paper
Hear hear! Until then, I use negative colour mode when white gets too bright.
I have the same thing with white on black...
But on this PowerBook I press Command+Control+Option+8 and it switches to negative colour mode! Perfect for low light levels when you just can't crank the white down low enough.
I seriously recommend a Mac for anyone with eyestrain. The OS has features like that and a competent zoom built in so that all programs support them, and they're available by keypresses.
A similar setup exists at last.fm where you build up a record of what you like by having your player app synch with the community server ... then you can listen to their custom streamed radio and discover a lot of stuff which is all kept on record.
(Apparently they're upgrading their hardware today...)
http://www.last.fm/
Granted, the streams are mostly well known stuff but there is some content on there so indy I've met the artists online accidentally!
Limewire sucked and has always sucked.
... how many users have gone that route? How many of them just didn't "get" bittorrent or any of the good and open systems?
It's a good point though that a great many people will always prefer the "locked" client when given a choice of p2p programs. Napster > Morpheus > Kazaa > Limewire
I think this says more about user psychology than software and the future of legit filesharing.
Anytime I need an ISO I open Azureus and head straight off to to Fedora site or whichever one it is, to find the trackers. I expect it will be the same story decades from now, only with some other protocol replacing BT or perhaps (if the ***A reall get their way) something the like of Tor being involved even for us legit opensource people!
But then seriously, I expect the battle to be won for the good side. Trying to control the internet is like trying to eat soup with a fork.
There are opensource / unofficial ways into the Fasttrack network.
A friend of mine still likes the Kazaa functionality, but uses a Mac and this:
http://gottsilla.net/poisoned.php
Poisoned is a Mac frontend to:
giFT 0.11.8.1
Gnutella 0.0.10
OpenFT 0.2.1.5
Fasttrack 0.8.5
Ares 0.2.1
Seems to work sweet. Though I far prefer the tracker / torrent model myself.
Small makes impractical? Sure, that's what motivated me getting an iPod nano...
Or downloading music "from" websites for free, courtesy of BitTorrent
Damn, it's the best transmission system full stop, for the fully legal use I put it to as well! *cough*
Sky One is our version of Fox.
Think of Fox with less taste, brains and progamming and you get the idea.
The Battlestar Galactica remake was shown on Sky here but I think was the work of the Sci-Fi channel more than anything, so don't get your hopes up about this show.
I have a horrible vision of something far worse than the latest series of Dr. Who....
As long as Lucy Liu is still as sweet... (people getting them in the wrong order around here!)
Yup, gotta love general relativity. It has its reputation for good reason!
There is an argument that goes:
:D
- Intel frustrated at lack of product differentiation, so long as windows runs and stuff is fast why Intel over AMD, etc.
- Intel pursued Apple, not the other way around
- Apple eventually decide to talk, seeing as IBM were getting seriously tired of Jobs and Apple's demands / getting busy with MS, Sony and Nintendo
- Intel just got themselves a neat Pony to show off their stuff and hope for some shiny Apple RDF PR to come back at them
Intel aren't exciting to many people, despite the work they (like all CPU manufacturers) pile into their chips and fabbing. They didn't have "it" as the marketers say, whereas Apple through years of doing their thing (love it or loathe it) do.
The questions for the future are will Intel really get some cred through their Apple dealings, and how long until an AMD Mac?
Apple are taking a monumental risk in switching architectures - namely hacked OSX. It will probably pay off, simply comapared to what crap IBM and Freescale might be having them on next year and '07. (Think portables) And I think Intel are viewing this as more than a mere numbers deal in return. Apple could be their route to a new kind of image and stardom, or some nonesense like that! Preferential treatment towards Apple will not surprise me. Remember they talked this deal through Steve Jobs, and if he went for any less, count me shocked!
Touche!
My own PowerBook 12" is the best notebook I've ever owned or used - but I'd love something smaller. The 15 and 17" PowerBooks are all fine and well for their audience, but I'm personally with Mies van der Rohe on Less is More.
Gamers.........
Macs are great for all that stuff too, and widely liked by those trying them for the first time. But the one group of average Windows people hard to switch is those who like their games on a desktop instead of from a console where they should be!!
Bingo.
Anyone know what the comparative difficulty involved in making spyware like this is between Win and Mac?
I presume it's possible to make a Mac Warden - but it would probably involve a system password prompt (like people wouldn't fall for that). Software installation gets the privileges it needs...
But for the time being here's to betting there's no Mac version. And surely Mac WoW has a few cracks and trainers of its own, right?
Step 1. Get pissed off with illegal file sharing
Step 2. Make the legal alternative poisonous to loyal customer's hardware
Step 3. PROFIT!
Neat.
;-)
In that case a good sound witness for the Sony trial!
Mind, if I were on Sony's multi million dollar defense team, I'd use the longevity and depth of this guy's Windows use to try to prove his insanity.