Punch cards? Punch cards?!? Young 'un, you don't know how lucky you were! In my day we had to memorise the blinking lights and then toggle the sequence back in after driving for 8 hours to reach the other computer! If we wanted fancy colours we had to wear coloured lenses while looking at the lights.
Considering that Cohen is keen to keep clean as he has a company to maintain and that the MPAA is obviosly ill-informed about what bit-torrent is and does this really is a zero impact announcement.
Still, it keeps Cohen in their good books (I'm not against someone making money!) and if it means the studios think they've made headway and so back off a bit it's a good thing all round.
So everyone just smile an nod, kay? Whatever you do, don't tell them most people now just burn copies of movies......oh..shii...!
Although the creation of a brand new dye type was a side-effect of the original aim (i.e a "light" dye that binds to a surfactant), I beleive that this side effect is a more significant discovery than the binding issue. But I agree that both are still outstanding acheivements.
As for the residue - if it's suitably inert then I doubt there would be any kind of an issue. An unstable organic compound is liable to break up and decompose pretty easily. The real question is what it'll decompose *into* - you don't want to end up with another CFC style compound here*. I'm assuming that since they're already going to market, the safety/toxicology aspect has been covered. Granted, it's a big assumption....
[* For those who don't know but actually care;) , CFCs are a problem becuase they are too stable. They don't decompose at all *until* they hit the upper atmosphere. At that point the high levels of UV breaks up the molecules and releases free fluorine atoms. They're the one's that go around kicking ozone in the teeth. So I'm refering to the dye having unforseen consequences, not specifically giving us more skin cancer.
Much as I hate to resist the tempation to bash a certain monopolist corporation....
Is it seriously Microsoft's fault that these crashes are occuring? Could it not be poor QA on the dev side? Of course if that were the case then is it due to poor QA in general or a lack of dev support...Which brings the circle back round to MS again....Oooh..Getting dizzy...
Considering the architecture in that little box o' tricks is way off of MS' normal experience (they've been an x86 house since NT4. And I'm deliberately ignoring Windows Mobile...), I wouldn't be suprised if the dev kits they supplied to the developers are less than perfect. This in turn would mean more bugs an instabilities will creep in hence these (oh so pleasing!) occurences.
Of course it's just speculation. I mean, I'm posting on Slashdot - you don't *really* expect me to research this, do you?;) But I wouldn't expect these crashes to be flaws in the actual console itself (harware or embedded OS) but more likely immaturity in the dev process and accompanying SDKs due to radical architecture change and the rush to release first. So later games are likely to be better in this resepect.
Maybe it's the subject line, maybe it's the dupe factor but it seems the real point is being missed here.
It's not the bubbles that are important. It's the *dye*.
A dye that will fade to nothing in air, or because of friction, or with plain water - anywhere, infact, other than in specific materials (i.e. the bubble solution), is fantastic! Anywhere where colour would be desired but has previously been avoided because of it's permanancy is now a target.
Yes, toys (ink grenades or coloured water gun fights anyone?) are the easiest applications to think of but I'm sure there are many more.
One I can think of (although I'd rather it never came to pass) is temporary signage or even (vomit) advertising. Some mobile printer just inks over whatever surface is available. After a set time, the print fades away. No more messy fly poster fragments or ripped posters.
Another that's just come to mind is the idea of exposure markings on air-tight or sterile products. Think medical syringes, dressings etc. Markings on these sealed products are made using one of these dye variants. It fades within 30 seconds or so. So if you get a approached by a nurse weilding a clear syringe you know it's been sitting around somewhere and can politely (or otherwise) ask for a fresh one.
What they have here is a completely new dye group - they have a scaffold they can tweak to get the exact properties (colour, fastness, fade speed etc.) they want. It's not gonna change the world but it's still an acomplishment.
OK, enough ranting - I guess I'm just quite taken with this idea. It seems like a mirror of what went into designing inkjet inks... Brings back fond memories of my student chemistry days too!
Interesting. Could this be an indication of things to come?
Sun haven't been particularly enthusiastic about open source in the past. Most of the time they give the impressiosn of not really knowing what to do with it - like a kid with a really great new toy only they don't know how to use it. Take OO.o for example and the older funky licensing. They seemed to suffer from some weird love-hate dichotomy.
Sun used to be real big, well, I mean "bigger" - but really lost their way. Now we have Open Solaris, re-licensed OO.o, the funky new Niagra uber-processor (can't wait to see if^H^Hhow it works) and now what appears to be a very cool corporate offering of a OSS database - and a commitment to commit all modifications back to the project as well.
Did someone at Sun suffer from one of those wossnames...epithany thingies?
Not wanting to sound harsh but Linux is not nessecarily "Intended for the masses". There is no one Linux OS - everyone is free to patch together they're own collection of tools and utilities and make their own distro. This freedom is what leads to all these conflicting package systems - Distro A might be using teh linux kernel but have a completely different setup to DIsto B. The source code might need to be compiled differenmtly or customised, or there might be some kind of custom configuration manager that keeps track of installed software ( I won't say regis..regi..I won't say it!). But then that's both teh joy and pain of open, free and fully customiseable software.
Over time, groups tend to converge on a particular system since it's proven to work and work well (no point re-inventing the wheel!). And so over time we see particular package systems become popular and more featured (RPB and DEB for example).
But for now, if you aren't prepared to get to grips with the command line or just don't have the time (or someone that you can blackmail into doing your bidding!), then don't use Linux. Come back later!
Anyway, just to stay on topic, the ideal behind a set of standards is to avoid the kind of problems you described. To give a broad set of rules and guidelines so that however custom your particular tool or utility is, it will work with all the standard programs your phone might have (text messaging etc) and present a common user interface. Whether this standard will acheieve that is another issue!
Yes, all you need to od to get your new LiPs phone up and running is manually edit your hosts.conf with your 52 digit personal PIN and then PGP encode it and symlink it to blah blah blah.....
Just kidding! Actually this had me worrying for a bit until the magic words
"open standards created by industry groups" appeared. It would be all to easy to take existing linux code and kludge it together with a pile of proprietary, closed/patented kernel hacks or libraries so that you end up with something nearly as closed as Pocket PC. Sure, it'd support more open standards and such but it wouldn't really be any kind of gain for Linux as a whole.
It will be interesting to see if this pans out - most companies like their little secrets to ensure that they're the only ones with "groovy new feature X" on their products.
Still, as long as I can actually make *phone calls* I wouldn't be too bothered I guess.
Or perhaps a little corporate waring. After all, Sony and Apple aren't exactly seeing eye-to-eye right now, are they? No Sony|BMG music for the latest iTune web stores (Japan and Australia).
Call me paranoid (or any other names...), but I wouldn't be suprised if this animosity was a key point in deciding that it was worth the effort of DRM'ing OS X as well as Windows machines.
--"Oh noes! My CD is not working with teh iTunes!" I love it when big corporations get along so well...
IE View: Still can't escape that good 'ol ActiveX from time to time. Plus of course IE only sites. I probably use this the most actually due to the number of MS downloads I have to make while working.
googlebar: Why not....:)
Autofill: Like IE View, a time saver. So many sites need me to register or fill in details.
Web Developer: So I can better investigate at the naff CSS and JavaScripting on dodgy sites and laugh....My own sites included!
View formatted source: See above!
fireFTP: Haven't used it to be honset. No need...
infoRSS: Gotta have some kind of RSS client running! Need my daily real world dosage!
infoRSS and IE View are the only two I would have to have. Of course, IE view is missing from my Linux box...;)
Another point to bare in mind would be the prevalence of MMOs and the like. Those of us (no..not me...honest!) who are harcore players are already playing - to the point where we either do not have the time or inclination to play anything else! No room for growth there!
Of course, what with the DS wireless stuff and all this could soon change.....
Slashdot Mirror
Plus it then works with lego technic!
PC on wheels! PC on Wheeeeeeellllls! Whheeeeeeee!
Punch cards? Punch cards?!? Young 'un, you don't know how lucky you were! In my day we had to memorise the blinking lights and then toggle the sequence back in after driving for 8 hours to reach the other computer! If we wanted fancy colours we had to wear coloured lenses while looking at the lights.
Of course, the epilepsy didn't help much...
Considering that Cohen is keen to keep clean as he has a company to maintain and that the MPAA is obviosly ill-informed about what bit-torrent is and does this really is a zero impact announcement.
...oh..shii...!
Still, it keeps Cohen in their good books (I'm not against someone making money!) and if it means the studios think they've made headway and so back off a bit it's a good thing all round.
So everyone just smile an nod, kay? Whatever you do, don't tell them most people now just burn copies of movies...
"True" and "True"
;) , CFCs are a problem becuase they are too stable. They don't decompose at all *until* they hit the upper atmosphere. At that point the high levels of UV breaks up the molecules and releases free fluorine atoms. They're the one's that go around kicking ozone in the teeth. So I'm refering to the dye having unforseen consequences, not specifically giving us more skin cancer.
Although the creation of a brand new dye type was a side-effect of the original aim (i.e a "light" dye that binds to a surfactant), I beleive that this side effect is a more significant discovery than the binding issue. But I agree that both are still outstanding acheivements.
As for the residue - if it's suitably inert then I doubt there would be any kind of an issue. An unstable organic compound is liable to break up and decompose pretty easily. The real question is what it'll decompose *into* - you don't want to end up with another CFC style compound here*. I'm assuming that since they're already going to market, the safety/toxicology aspect has been covered. Granted, it's a big assumption....
[* For those who don't know but actually care
OK. I'll stop now...]
Much as I hate to resist the tempation to bash a certain monopolist corporation....
;) But I wouldn't expect these crashes to be flaws in the actual console itself (harware or embedded OS) but more likely immaturity in the dev process and accompanying SDKs due to radical architecture change and the rush to release first. So later games are likely to be better in this resepect.
Is it seriously Microsoft's fault that these crashes are occuring? Could it not be poor QA on the dev side? Of course if that were the case then is it due to poor QA in general or a lack of dev support...Which brings the circle back round to MS again....Oooh..Getting dizzy...
Considering the architecture in that little box o' tricks is way off of MS' normal experience (they've been an x86 house since NT4. And I'm deliberately ignoring Windows Mobile...), I wouldn't be suprised if the dev kits they supplied to the developers are less than perfect. This in turn would mean more bugs an instabilities will creep in hence these (oh so pleasing!) occurences.
Of course it's just speculation. I mean, I'm posting on Slashdot - you don't *really* expect me to research this, do you?
Still not gonna buy one though......
Maybe it's the subject line, maybe it's the dupe factor but it seems the real point is being missed here.
It's not the bubbles that are important.
It's the *dye*.
A dye that will fade to nothing in air, or because of friction, or with plain water - anywhere, infact, other than in specific materials (i.e. the bubble solution), is fantastic! Anywhere where colour would be desired but has previously been avoided because of it's permanancy is now a target.
Yes, toys (ink grenades or coloured water gun fights anyone?) are the easiest applications to think of but I'm sure there are many more.
One I can think of (although I'd rather it never came to pass) is temporary signage or even (vomit) advertising. Some mobile printer just inks over whatever surface is available. After a set time, the print fades away. No more messy fly poster fragments or ripped posters.
Another that's just come to mind is the idea of exposure markings on air-tight or sterile products. Think medical syringes, dressings etc. Markings on these sealed products are made using one of these dye variants. It fades within 30 seconds or so. So if you get a approached by a nurse weilding a clear syringe you know it's been sitting around somewhere and can politely (or otherwise) ask for a fresh one.
What they have here is a completely new dye group - they have a scaffold they can tweak to get the exact properties (colour, fastness, fade speed etc.) they want. It's not gonna change the world but it's still an acomplishment.
OK, enough ranting - I guess I'm just quite taken with this idea. It seems like a mirror of what went into designing inkjet inks... Brings back fond memories of my student chemistry days too!
Interesting. Could this be an indication of things to come?
Sun haven't been particularly enthusiastic about open source in the past. Most of the time they give the impressiosn of not really knowing what to do with it - like a kid with a really great new toy only they don't know how to use it. Take OO.o for example and the older funky licensing. They seemed to suffer from some weird love-hate dichotomy.
Sun used to be real big, well, I mean "bigger" - but really lost their way. Now we have Open Solaris, re-licensed OO.o, the funky new Niagra uber-processor (can't wait to see if^H^Hhow it works) and now what appears to be a very cool corporate offering of a OSS database - and a commitment to commit all modifications back to the project as well.
Did someone at Sun suffer from one of those wossnames...epithany thingies?
Not wanting to sound harsh but Linux is not nessecarily "Intended for the masses". There is no one Linux OS - everyone is free to patch together they're own collection of tools and utilities and make their own distro. This freedom is what leads to all these conflicting package systems - Distro A might be using teh linux kernel but have a completely different setup to DIsto B. The source code might need to be compiled differenmtly or customised, or there might be some kind of custom configuration manager that keeps track of installed software ( I won't say regis..regi..I won't say it!). But then that's both teh joy and pain of open, free and fully customiseable software.
Over time, groups tend to converge on a particular system since it's proven to work and work well (no point re-inventing the wheel!). And so over time we see particular package systems become popular and more featured (RPB and DEB for example).
But for now, if you aren't prepared to get to grips with the command line or just don't have the time (or someone that you can blackmail into doing your bidding!), then don't use Linux. Come back later!
Anyway, just to stay on topic, the ideal behind a set of standards is to avoid the kind of problems you described. To give a broad set of rules and guidelines so that however custom your particular tool or utility is, it will work with all the standard programs your phone might have (text messaging etc) and present a common user interface.
Whether this standard will acheieve that is another issue!
Yes, all you need to od to get your new LiPs phone up and running is manually edit your hosts.conf with your 52 digit personal PIN and then PGP encode it and symlink it to blah blah blah.....
Just kidding! Actually this had me worrying for a bit until the magic words
"open standards created by industry groups"
appeared. It would be all to easy to take existing linux code and kludge it together with a pile of proprietary, closed/patented kernel hacks or libraries so that you end up with something nearly as closed as Pocket PC. Sure, it'd support more open standards and such but it wouldn't really be any kind of gain for Linux as a whole.
It will be interesting to see if this pans out - most companies like their little secrets to ensure that they're the only ones with "groovy new feature X" on their products.
Still, as long as I can actually make *phone calls* I wouldn't be too bothered I guess.
Or perhaps a little corporate waring.
After all, Sony and Apple aren't exactly seeing eye-to-eye right now, are they? No Sony|BMG music for the latest iTune web stores (Japan and Australia).
Call me paranoid (or any other names...), but I wouldn't be suprised if this animosity was a key point in deciding that it was worth the effort of DRM'ing OS X as well as Windows machines.
--"Oh noes! My CD is not working with teh iTunes!"
I love it when big corporations get along so well...
On my Windows/Work machines:
:)
;)
IE View: Still can't escape that good 'ol ActiveX from time to time. Plus of course IE only sites. I probably use this the most actually due to the number of MS downloads I have to make while working.
googlebar: Why not....
Autofill: Like IE View, a time saver. So many sites need me to register or fill in details.
Web Developer: So I can better investigate at the naff CSS and JavaScripting on dodgy sites and laugh....My own sites included!
View formatted source: See above!
fireFTP: Haven't used it to be honset. No need...
infoRSS: Gotta have some kind of RSS client running! Need my daily real world dosage!
infoRSS and IE View are the only two I would have to have. Of course, IE view is missing from my Linux box...
True.
Another point to bare in mind would be the prevalence of MMOs and the like. Those of us (no..not me...honest!) who are harcore players are already playing - to the point where we either do not have the time or inclination to play anything else! No room for growth there!
Of course, what with the DS wireless stuff and all this could soon change.....