Yeah the problem could have been serious if we all had our heads buried in the ground, but most of us, even the dumb ones have heard about this. In my town they even talked about it on Talk Radio. While I agree that there was some need for a warning/alert, I feel, because of the nature of the virus, there was TOO much hype.
Ever hear the weather service worry about issuing a warning when one was not needed? You do. Why do they worry about it? The answer is because when a warning REALLY needs to be issued and that F5 tornado IS on the ground, people may loose their life because they ignore the warning. They don't want to risk not issuing a warning, but if there's a possible severe storm heading our way, they want to make sure it's severe before issuing the warning (hence weather spotters, advancing NEXRAD and other things of this sort). If they just issued a warning for every cell that has a possiblity of being severe, then the poeple may dismiss a valid warning.
Why does this compare to the Code Red thing? If you hype the virus too much, if the attack is benign or doesn't happen, then when a real bad virus hits and spreads across the net, the people will ignore it and open the stupid attachment or not patch the computer. The media needs to start being responsible and until the media becomes less liberal and less concerned about getting ratings, we will have to live with over hypeness such as Y2K and the Code Red. And when the big one comes, because the media cried wolf so many times, the un-thinking populus will suffer. Also, there were people worrying about their PeeCee's at home when this thing has no danger to the common schlub running Windows 98 or ME. The worst that can happen to them is they have no access or slow access to the internet. The common schlub cares more about the price of gas on the corner then if his internet connection works. (I on the other hand would be freakin!;) )
I loved this machine. At the time, I felt there was nothing better out except maybe a Apple IIe or a IBM PC. We ran word processing and had the weirdest printer for it. It had a cylinder with all of the letters on it similar to the cylinder on a calculator with a printer. It would spin around and disc's containing the letter could go from one end of the paper to the other. All you could do with this printer was text. No Bullets or anything. My Dad used it until he got his first PC to do his resume. You had to save the resume to tape! At least the word processor was in cartridge form. I played a Return of the Jedi game on this one and typed in programs from Antic magazine (I saw there was a site somewhere on the net that had EVERY issue of Antic scanned). Oh I mentioned the tape, but I forgot to say it was a Model 1050. I also had a pen printer that could do Spyrographs on paper that was about 5 in wide with variable length (tear off the paper). We never got a Disk Drive for it because the drive cost more then the computer at that time! My dream machine at that time was the 1450XLD which I understand was never widely release by Atari (I hear only Atari employee's had them on their desks!). The XLD had a integrated Disk drive (maybe 2???). The carts loaded faster then anything anyway, so that's what sold the best. I also had a game called Pike's Peak (I think?) that came on tape and took a half an hour to load! I was usually interested in something else when it finally loaded (thank god for TV monitors....I sat there with the TV on and switched back every once and a while to see if the load had finished. Those were the days....
64 K of ram
1050 Tape Cassette Drive
Weird Assed printers....
and what I think STILL are the best Joysticks...ATARI joysticks took a licking and kept on ticking (until you broke the ring off....then just go buy the internal stick in the store, open it up and replace it).
I remember when I saw the Space War game in an arcade. It was cool even though it was not the best in the arcade. The arcade was one in Hersheypark (the big one not far from the Kissing Tower). All of the new games (new at the time) were the laser disc type stuff or similar. Ones like Firfox(LOVE that game), LockOn, Dragon's Lair, Space Ace (could never figure these ones out) and of course PacMan's and others. In the big, dank corner of the arcade they had Star Trek, Space War and Moon Lander. Space war intrigued me but I thought Moon Lander was the coolest because of the big throttle control they had on that thing. It was cooler then the controller FireFox and Star Wars used but much older. I never landed the lander but man did I plug quarters in it!
I will be able to visit this arcade in about two weeks. According to Hersheypark's website it's still there. Man I hope there are at least some of the old games there (I would LOVE to play Firefox but I here because of the cheap assed laser disc that was in it there may not be many working ones around).
I think MAME is a good thing and I would like to see some of teh manufacturers release the ROMS with no leagal issues attached so we can either download them, or pay a fee for a CD full of them. The arcade games of the past must be preserved and if they can't be preserved in the antique sense, we should at least preserve the code so they can be played on modern machines.
Um....glTron looks most like the original. ALso, it plain ROCKS!!!! EVEN the windows version is SWEET! When multiplayer becomes stable, oh this will be a SHAWEET network game. The AI cycles seem to go in big squares. I imagine that multiplayer games could be short and sweet. LAG could SERIOUSLY be a problem in this game tho as fast as it moves. THANK YOU! Now can you port this to PocketPC ( I need games and I am too cheap to pay for em....at least I admit it. And at least I don't pirate them )? I'd run Linux except I can't because I have no flashrom!:)
How does it handle syncing? If it can't hot sync, then it's all over...
This is exactly why I don't have an iPaq (well not the only reason!) and if I did I would not have flashed Linux on to it. Having apps that run on it is one thing but the whole idea behind handhelds is synching and I have seen no mention of this on ANY Linux handheld website. So far all I have seen was is it possible to run Linux on blah blah blah. What use is it if it can't synch???? Also if developing synch software, don't forget we'd like to sync with Windows too (well, gotta have a calendar running in Background sometimes when your handheld is outta juice....and your playing Windows games..;) ). Also we all can't afford wireless access, so an avantgo client would be great too. If none of this is in Pocket Linux or the Linux DA stuff, I have NO interest. Avantgo and synching a calendar are far more important then my handheld running Linux.
We are working on it, but it has been slow going as we are working through a backlog of iPaq upgrades currently.
Notice that both on the web site and in this e-mail it says nothing about it NOT being possible, just that they don't have it figured out....yet. Apparently they have a sudden surge of iPaq 64 MB
upgrades...can't imagine why!:) Oh and his price ain't all that bad when you consider what they want for a 64 MB stock one (yes they do make a iPaq with 64 MB now. Not sure what the model number is.....too early in the morning....no coffee yet...). Remember dis ain't like stickin a stick of RAM in a PC. He is most likely working on surface mount chips and has to unsolder the old memory chip then solder in the new.....not an easy task and it's one I 'd pay to have done for me since I have trouble soldering Huge DIP IC's!
I showed someone at work who was thinking about getting a MP3 player my Casio EM-500 (yeah I know...no Linux...yet...but is there any real apps yet or synching apps? Is ther Pocket Streets?...nope) and she saw it and said she'd rather have something like that then a strict MP3 Player and I agree with her. We all know the BEST MP3 Player is a Computer, be it a Pocket sized one or a full blown laptop or desktop. I know that MP3/WMA/OGG only players have a CPU, but nothing can rival a PDA screen for sorting the playlist (try sorting 6 GB worth of MP3 on the Nomad's little display!). MP3 and wireless are THE reasons there's a need for a handheld of the power of PocketPC's. Palm better do something dang quick if they want to catch up as far as I am concerned. People want 32K colors and plenty of storage on these for playing MP3's, videos, games, and picture slideshows (one of my main reason's for having one..I hate destroying wallet pics that I pay lots of bucks for by carrying them in my wallet).
I checked out the m505 and the only thing I can say about it is that the screen SUCKS! Worst of all, they have no multimedia! I don't want to plugin a MP3 player....the processor should be able to handle playing them not acting as a mere display for a player like the Handspring ones.
I am saving up for one of these uber cool Toshiba ones so I can relegate my EM-500 to the wife;). 1GB of storage plus GPS, Modem, Wireless Ethernet, Bluetooth and what ever else CF or SD/IO devices can do. BTW, I have a SD card for my EM-500 and I love it! I run most everything on it because there's only 16 MB onboard the EM-500 until Times2Tech can pefect the 32 MB upgrade (they are backlogged upgrading iPaq's to 64 MB!...check em out here. Also check out the review of this upgrade here. Anyway, I DROOL when I think about this machine and what else is to come! Pocket computers won't replace computers, but they will end up being FAR more common then the PC ever was. Now, when is someone going to design one that looks like a PADD on Star Trek!:)
Microsoft's Transcriber will do real handwriting recognition. Of course, it can only handle as much as you can write on that at once....if you can squeeze a whole sentence on it, your's lucky...but it works. You can use cursive or printing. It's not loaded by default, but it's on the CD that comes with Pocket PC's. It's not bad. I prefer character recognition because I seem to move faster, and my handwiriting fills the screen too quickly. I move faster with Character Recognition, and Microsoft's character recognition is a ton more natural then Graffiti.
Re:mySQL.com and mySQL.org......
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MySQL & Nusphere
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Trademark??? Trademark??? Where have they filed for this?? Can anyone produce a document that proves the filed for Trademark??? I find literally HUNDREDS of reference's to MySQL without the [tm] (or a trademark symbol) on the web site. In fact, I only see that they just started using this style when they started complaining about the dot org. I looked on most every page by the way. This whole thing is stupid and can be nullified in two ways. Either web site can get another name and rename their stuff. The dot org should be the one to do it, but the AB folks could get a major PR move if they did it. Besides, the words My and SQL are just about common words as far as I am concerned. Just like Illustrator huh? Also there are alot of cooler names out there for a database!
Re:mySQL.com and mySQL.org......
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MySQL & Nusphere
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On the contrary. I did read those links. All I see is a bunch of petty bickering over a name. I thought everyone on here was above that stuff? I guess not. Sounds alot like the KIllustrator/Illustrator issue with Adobe. I guess when they are both GPL projects that makes it a crime huh?? While I agree that there should be a clearer definition between the two (name change for one maybe), I don't believe that the dot org folks have done ANYTHING wrong(except still using the MySQL name...MAYBE). I am all for making things less confusing, but this is just petty bickering that is not good for the OSS movement. Also, may I remind y'all that there's a product from a company in Redmond called SQL server....they have EVERY right to bicker about names according to your views on the issue (Little OSS project steals name of big commercial product....film at 11!). Maybe the MySQL AB folks should look at including some of their code instead of dismissing it (like some kernel folks have been accused of doing.....but at least they tell ya WHY!). Elitism is something OSS doesn't need either. We should all try to cooperate instead of them just dismissing something (or someone) entirely.
I don't see what the friggin big deal is about all of this. It looks, to me, that the.org folks were guys that created new stuff for MySQL and tried to get it added to the official stuff but they could not, so they forked!!! The.com folks (MySQL AB) got pissed even though they released all of there stuff under the GPL and LGPL. Too freakin bad. That's the whole idea of gpl'd code. If the community thinks your moving in the wrong direction, they can always make a fork. What would be nicer is if they renamed the fork to something else as it's been done with several other things. Of course I may be totally wrong, but that's how I see it.
Yes, but with possible exception of Think Geek, how much MONEY does Slashdot really get from you buying that T-shirt? I bet not that much. They'd get more if Slashdot actually sold the shirt, or if Think Geek (being owned by VA as well) would give Slashdot x amount of dollars per shirt. I am sure something like that may happen, but we sure don't know about it. Other wise I'd have at least one Slashdot shirt and hat.
You can pay on Kuro5hin to get rid of the ads. You can still read a add filled Kuro5hin free.
Personally, I have no problem clicking on a banner add or two if it's made unobtrusive (The frickin X10 pop under is pissing me off!!). The common Joe thinks they are already paying for the internet when they pay Road Runner or AOL. The notion that they'd have to pay a website too to get what they used to get free is well I don't need to tell you what they would think. What they would do is either stick to AOL content, or go to another free web source, or ditch the net all together and a vast amount of the content out there will dry up because there will be noone left to read it...that's paying for it or not paying for it. What I do think that websites should do is keep with the ads, and then sell stuff too. I know Taco would not like it, but just think of all us idiots who would by Slashdot this and Slashdot that. Then some schmoe on the street would see you wearing the hat and you'd explain to him the website and then they go there and click on a banner and so on and so on. The reason banners hand ultimately failed is the web sites have forgotten that it's important to have good content to drive the traffic to it. All of this address is important and all of the superficial stuff is immaterial. If it's not worth reading, noone would pay or click on the ad banners. We already know slashdot has content. Also, when ever anything is posted to slashdot, that drives traffic (as those poor web servers wheeze and pant). I wonder if it's possble to slashdot slashdot???:) Anyway, noone would pay for something that sucks. Micropayments suck. I would rather see something like Kuro5hin. I would surely PAY to keep ads off of Weather.com and quite a few other websites. (but not Slashdot or Kuro5hin).
My thing is I don't try to nitpick anything fiction because it's fiction gosh darn it!:) It doesn't HAVE to be correct in physics with me, it just has to be entertaining! I DO expect when they say one thing, to not turn around and negate it the next episode (this was done CONSTANTLY in Star Trek). Also, the Cylons being as bad shooters as they were is probably because it takes real people to do it better. Machines can't do everything better then us especially since we humans act in unpredictable way sometimes. The best thing about Battlestar Galactica was the unique universe they created. The Vipers were just plain cool looking, and the Cylons were too. The shuttles were kind of dorky looking, and the Battlestars, well, they were good looking, but I'd have to agree that the attacks it was dealt never looked serious enough to create the damage they had. I don't complain much about BG because I remember TV show effects SUCKED then. As long as what they bring out looks a whole lot better then the original (but with some Homage payed in looks....kind of like they way they brought trek back), they story lines aren't contrived, and the leave the freaking power ranger like team thing out of it (Team Knight Rider anyone....BLECH!) it will do well. TV is really without any good sci-fi stuff (unless you count the X-filish type of sci-fi which there's plenty o dat crap on sci-fi) now. Voyager bit the big one and I ain't holding my breath for Enterprise to do better. One word to UPN....get the show on at the SAME time everyweek on every affiliate. Make that a requirement! That's the main problem (other then show suckage) that had with Voyager..I never could keep track of when the dratted thing was on (no I don't own a Tivo yet and I don't want one until I can get one with AT LEAST 100 Gigs!). I just hope with all of this Sci-Fi stuff coming out this fall that we FINALLY get something worth watching (b5 was just too freaking confusing for me....I hate serial shows because I don't have time to watch the thing every freaking week). Good luck to Enterprise, the new BG and others including the return of Michael Knight (just promise me David Hasselhoff won't sing and I will watch the show...oh and make KITT BLACK BLACK BLACK!!:))
Our problem has never been the lines, it's been the hardware...mebbe a CSU/DSU would die or one of the T's routers would die. We also have two providers (our network folks have 4 t's and the telecom folks have some too as well as a OC-3....two different providers). Also, there's a cost savings too. This may change soon though as we go client server and need the ability to stream video, as well as pump pretty web pages to students registering and paying fees from home.
To those flaming me about my knowledge of networks/computers....No, I don't know everything about computers or the networking hardware, but can you ADMIT you don't? I know alot, but I sure as heck don't know everything. At least I can admit I don't know it all. In my mind it makes me a better person too! (As I always like to learn!:)
Anyway, Cisco, you did a good job! I only wish HALF of the manufacturer support lines were as good as you!
I can only say one word: WOW! Pretty kewl! I am sure glad we have Cisco hardware now!:) We used to be a IBM only shop, even for switches! But Cisco bought IBM's networking out, so we are switching to cisco. We still have a big IBM switch left, but they are swapping it out for a gigabit switch. We're going to be 100 MB to the desktop, with a gigabit backbone. Not sure what we are going to do with the T-1's (we have 4 T-1's...some ask why don't you go with a OC-3? 4 T-1's are probably cheaper and provide redundancy...nuff said).
They have the Palm VII's now at 200 bucks! I am thinking about getting one of those. Be interesting if you can hack the wireless to work with other services....And since it's a Palm III style device, there are plenty of accessories.
Also, the Agenda people seem like they are heading in the right direction. Someone brought up a good point about the iPaq (not good enough, to me, to not buy one) in that you still pay a M$ tax on the device even when planning on loading Linux. If you wanted to look at a pure zealot's handheld, I think the Agenda would be better. I know there's no color, yet, but it runs Linux, you can flash new kernel's to it as well as software. Only thing that I never have seen about agenda is if it sync's with either evolution or some other Linux PIM app. I see that they have sync software for Linux, but they don't say what it syncs with. Be nice if you could use the same palm support with the agenda since if you can use the same software to transfer it, it would work with every Linux pim that already works with Palm.
Hmm....if 10 years ago Linus said hmm....you know Windows isn't that bad and I can use it until I can afford that UNIX box, Besides there's already 10 other OS's out there...then we would not have Linux right now. That's what frustrates me sometimes about people on here.....why do this when blah blah blah exists. Well, because they think they might have a chance! If Linus thought the way you say that the AMIGA folks should, well....you know. Same goes for GNOME. They could have said, well KDE is nice, and we don't care that qt isn't free (as in speech)...so let's not make GNOME. I dunno about you, but I am GLAD these folks poured code out of their brains for us and if the AMIGA folks have something good, the market will tell them. Good luck to them! It looks good to me!
Keep in mind, my grandfather was not the ONLY amateur radio operator. Also, if you had seen the, I believe it was a Dateline episode that this was first brought out on, the story of the person claiming to get cancer form their cell phone was completely lame. Like I said, he wasn't the only ham radio operator. Back in his day, there were hundreds of active amateur radio operators. The were all using 100 W PLUS on HF. Also, millions of hams use the 1.2 GHz band available to them, as well as other microwave frequencies (well, now there may not be millions, but I digress). You get more microwaves standing out in the open then you do from your cell phone. Here's some links to cancer studies done with cellphones:
Ok, there's LOT's of studies going on, and most of them are highly political in my opinion.
Most of them also seem to ignore the fact that RF is RF. Changing what "mode" it's in isn't going to change the physical nature of the signal. All digital cell phones do is use a a/d convertor to convert your voice to a digital form, then it's serialized into a form that can be transmitted on a antenna. This usually means somewhere it get's translated to audio that sounds a little like a modem.
Also, RF has been around since BEFORE we were. Sure, humans have only been pumping out RF for about 80 years, but the earth, the planets and the sun ALL produced some form of RF or EM radiation. We are exposed to it everyday.
One last link describes brain cancer and the fact that noone knows WHAT causes it yet. My point is, scientists too often will point to new technology as the cause of something that just might be a cyclical thing in nature that can not be explained. Why do some people get cancer when they follow the American Cancer Society diet and exercise regimen and have no risk factors (family history of, working in a risky environment..etc.)? Noone knows. Noone will ever know the entire story on this one. All I do know is noone has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt either way. I will assume, for my use, that it doesn't cause it for now mainly because there are more studies refuting the link then studies with HARD evidence proving the link. I also fully believe once this has been studied more, that more people will come to believe as I have. I and many others await those studies. Also, this givesme one less thing to worry about, which helps my stress level!:)
Cell Phones do not cause brain tumors. It's been scientifically proven, but most of us know that. My grandfather worked with EM (RF or whatever) emissions for all of his life and he didn't get cancer. The levels of RF he was using (and I too as a ham) are many times higher then a puny Nokia phone. Those typically only have abut 1-2 watts out, but no more then 5 watts. I use a 5 Watt handheld radio daily and a 25 watt base (with the antenna inside even...damn antenna restrictions) regularly with no ill effects. If that ain't proof I dunno what is. Those "shields" as seen on TV just plain don't work as intended and neither does the other goofy thing that goes with it, the internal antenna dohicky. Sure parasitic elements can help redirect your signal in a certain direction, but boost your reception? Doubtful. Even if, when in transmit mode which on a cell phone is pretty steady, the gain you'd get from those parasitic elements would be minimal.
I just check the link and actually this is more then just a cable, it's wireless too. Hmm....may be worth the trip to get this thing (imagining reversing the link for wireless MP3 playing on my stereo!).
Cheap X-terminal (with broadband adapter, keyboard and mouse).
Linux Booting games....(just modify the startup scripts to load the game).
PERFECT Xmame machine
Cheap webserver (with no logging...no wait you can nfs mount a/var directory for that even!)
Custom disk with MP3's on it too to use XMMS to play MP3(or you can just use the Dreamcast MP3 player.)
My point is this is a cool machine and it only costs 100 bucks, and you most likely already have a TV to plug it in for the display. What else could you ask for?? I am waiting for when they do this to the PS/2!:)
More like these could act as terminals. With the ethernet adapter, the keyboard, and mouse they could make a smallish distro just for doing X. These could be the cheap xterminals we are looking for.
Slashdot Mirror
Ever hear the weather service worry about issuing a warning when one was not needed? You do. Why do they worry about it? The answer is because when a warning REALLY needs to be issued and that F5 tornado IS on the ground, people may loose their life because they ignore the warning. They don't want to risk not issuing a warning, but if there's a possible severe storm heading our way, they want to make sure it's severe before issuing the warning (hence weather spotters, advancing NEXRAD and other things of this sort). If they just issued a warning for every cell that has a possiblity of being severe, then the poeple may dismiss a valid warning.
Why does this compare to the Code Red thing? If you hype the virus too much, if the attack is benign or doesn't happen, then when a real bad virus hits and spreads across the net, the people will ignore it and open the stupid attachment or not patch the computer. The media needs to start being responsible and until the media becomes less liberal and less concerned about getting ratings, we will have to live with over hypeness such as Y2K and the Code Red. And when the big one comes, because the media cried wolf so many times, the un-thinking populus will suffer. Also, there were people worrying about their PeeCee's at home when this thing has no danger to the common schlub running Windows 98 or ME. The worst that can happen to them is they have no access or slow access to the internet. The common schlub cares more about the price of gas on the corner then if his internet connection works. (I on the other hand would be freakin! ;) )
64 K of ram
1050 Tape Cassette Drive
Weird Assed printers....
and what I think STILL are the best Joysticks...ATARI joysticks took a licking and kept on ticking (until you broke the ring off....then just go buy the internal stick in the store, open it up and replace it).
I will be able to visit this arcade in about two weeks. According to Hersheypark's website it's still there. Man I hope there are at least some of the old games there (I would LOVE to play Firefox but I here because of the cheap assed laser disc that was in it there may not be many working ones around).
I think MAME is a good thing and I would like to see some of teh manufacturers release the ROMS with no leagal issues attached so we can either download them, or pay a fee for a CD full of them. The arcade games of the past must be preserved and if they can't be preserved in the antique sense, we should at least preserve the code so they can be played on modern machines.
Um....glTron looks most like the original. ALso, it plain ROCKS!!!! EVEN the windows version is SWEET! When multiplayer becomes stable, oh this will be a SHAWEET network game. The AI cycles seem to go in big squares. I imagine that multiplayer games could be short and sweet. LAG could SERIOUSLY be a problem in this game tho as fast as it moves. THANK YOU! Now can you port this to PocketPC ( I need games and I am too cheap to pay for em....at least I admit it. And at least I don't pirate them )? I'd run Linux except I can't because I have no flashrom! :)
How does it handle syncing? If it can't hot sync, then it's all over...
This is exactly why I don't have an iPaq (well not the only reason!) and if I did I would not have flashed Linux on to it. Having apps that run on it is one thing but the whole idea behind handhelds is synching and I have seen no mention of this on ANY Linux handheld website. So far all I have seen was is it possible to run Linux on blah blah blah. What use is it if it can't synch???? Also if developing synch software, don't forget we'd like to sync with Windows too (well, gotta have a calendar running in Background sometimes when your handheld is outta juice....and your playing Windows games..;) ). Also we all can't afford wireless access, so an avantgo client would be great too. If none of this is in Pocket Linux or the Linux DA stuff, I have NO interest. Avantgo and synching a calendar are far more important then my handheld running Linux.
We are working on it, but it has been slow going as we are working through a backlog of iPaq upgrades currently.
Notice that both on the web site and in this e-mail it says nothing about it NOT being possible, just that they don't have it figured out....yet. Apparently they have a sudden surge of iPaq 64 MB upgrades...can't imagine why! :) Oh and his price ain't all that bad when you consider what they want for a 64 MB stock one (yes they do make a iPaq with 64 MB now. Not sure what the model number is.....too early in the morning....no coffee yet...). Remember dis ain't like stickin a stick of RAM in a PC. He is most likely working on surface mount chips and has to unsolder the old memory chip then solder in the new.....not an easy task and it's one I 'd pay to have done for me since I have trouble soldering Huge DIP IC's!
I checked out the m505 and the only thing I can say about it is that the screen SUCKS! Worst of all, they have no multimedia! I don't want to plugin a MP3 player....the processor should be able to handle playing them not acting as a mere display for a player like the Handspring ones.
I am saving up for one of these uber cool Toshiba ones so I can relegate my EM-500 to the wife ;). 1GB of storage plus GPS, Modem, Wireless Ethernet, Bluetooth and what ever else CF or SD/IO devices can do. BTW, I have a SD card for my EM-500 and I love it! I run most everything on it because there's only 16 MB onboard the EM-500 until Times2Tech can pefect the 32 MB upgrade (they are backlogged upgrading iPaq's to 64 MB!...check em out here. Also check out the review of this upgrade here. Anyway, I DROOL when I think about this machine and what else is to come! Pocket computers won't replace computers, but they will end up being FAR more common then the PC ever was. Now, when is someone going to design one that looks like a PADD on Star Trek! :)
Microsoft's Transcriber will do real handwriting recognition. Of course, it can only handle as much as you can write on that at once....if you can squeeze a whole sentence on it, your's lucky...but it works. You can use cursive or printing. It's not loaded by default, but it's on the CD that comes with Pocket PC's. It's not bad. I prefer character recognition because I seem to move faster, and my handwiriting fills the screen too quickly. I move faster with Character Recognition, and Microsoft's character recognition is a ton more natural then Graffiti.
Trademark??? Trademark??? Where have they filed for this?? Can anyone produce a document that proves the filed for Trademark??? I find literally HUNDREDS of reference's to MySQL without the [tm] (or a trademark symbol) on the web site. In fact, I only see that they just started using this style when they started complaining about the dot org. I looked on most every page by the way. This whole thing is stupid and can be nullified in two ways. Either web site can get another name and rename their stuff. The dot org should be the one to do it, but the AB folks could get a major PR move if they did it. Besides, the words My and SQL are just about common words as far as I am concerned. Just like Illustrator huh? Also there are alot of cooler names out there for a database!
On the contrary. I did read those links. All I see is a bunch of petty bickering over a name. I thought everyone on here was above that stuff? I guess not. Sounds alot like the KIllustrator/Illustrator issue with Adobe. I guess when they are both GPL projects that makes it a crime huh?? While I agree that there should be a clearer definition between the two (name change for one maybe), I don't believe that the dot org folks have done ANYTHING wrong(except still using the MySQL name...MAYBE). I am all for making things less confusing, but this is just petty bickering that is not good for the OSS movement. Also, may I remind y'all that there's a product from a company in Redmond called SQL server....they have EVERY right to bicker about names according to your views on the issue (Little OSS project steals name of big commercial product....film at 11!). Maybe the MySQL AB folks should look at including some of their code instead of dismissing it (like some kernel folks have been accused of doing.....but at least they tell ya WHY!). Elitism is something OSS doesn't need either. We should all try to cooperate instead of them just dismissing something (or someone) entirely.
I don't see what the friggin big deal is about all of this. It looks, to me, that the .org folks were guys that created new stuff for MySQL and tried to get it added to the official stuff but they could not, so they forked!!! The .com folks (MySQL AB) got pissed even though they released all of there stuff under the GPL and LGPL. Too freakin bad. That's the whole idea of gpl'd code. If the community thinks your moving in the wrong direction, they can always make a fork. What would be nicer is if they renamed the fork to something else as it's been done with several other things. Of course I may be totally wrong, but that's how I see it.
Yes, but with possible exception of Think Geek, how much MONEY does Slashdot really get from you buying that T-shirt? I bet not that much. They'd get more if Slashdot actually sold the shirt, or if Think Geek (being owned by VA as well) would give Slashdot x amount of dollars per shirt. I am sure something like that may happen, but we sure don't know about it. Other wise I'd have at least one Slashdot shirt and hat.
Personally, I have no problem clicking on a banner add or two if it's made unobtrusive (The frickin X10 pop under is pissing me off!!). The common Joe thinks they are already paying for the internet when they pay Road Runner or AOL. The notion that they'd have to pay a website too to get what they used to get free is well I don't need to tell you what they would think. What they would do is either stick to AOL content, or go to another free web source, or ditch the net all together and a vast amount of the content out there will dry up because there will be noone left to read it...that's paying for it or not paying for it. What I do think that websites should do is keep with the ads, and then sell stuff too. I know Taco would not like it, but just think of all us idiots who would by Slashdot this and Slashdot that. Then some schmoe on the street would see you wearing the hat and you'd explain to him the website and then they go there and click on a banner and so on and so on. The reason banners hand ultimately failed is the web sites have forgotten that it's important to have good content to drive the traffic to it. All of this address is important and all of the superficial stuff is immaterial. If it's not worth reading, noone would pay or click on the ad banners. We already know slashdot has content. Also, when ever anything is posted to slashdot, that drives traffic (as those poor web servers wheeze and pant). I wonder if it's possble to slashdot slashdot??? :) Anyway, noone would pay for something that sucks. Micropayments suck. I would rather see something like Kuro5hin. I would surely PAY to keep ads off of Weather.com and quite a few other websites. (but not Slashdot or Kuro5hin).
My thing is I don't try to nitpick anything fiction because it's fiction gosh darn it! :) It doesn't HAVE to be correct in physics with me, it just has to be entertaining! I DO expect when they say one thing, to not turn around and negate it the next episode (this was done CONSTANTLY in Star Trek). Also, the Cylons being as bad shooters as they were is probably because it takes real people to do it better. Machines can't do everything better then us especially since we humans act in unpredictable way sometimes. The best thing about Battlestar Galactica was the unique universe they created. The Vipers were just plain cool looking, and the Cylons were too. The shuttles were kind of dorky looking, and the Battlestars, well, they were good looking, but I'd have to agree that the attacks it was dealt never looked serious enough to create the damage they had. I don't complain much about BG because I remember TV show effects SUCKED then. As long as what they bring out looks a whole lot better then the original (but with some Homage payed in looks....kind of like they way they brought trek back), they story lines aren't contrived, and the leave the freaking power ranger like team thing out of it (Team Knight Rider anyone....BLECH!) it will do well. TV is really without any good sci-fi stuff (unless you count the X-filish type of sci-fi which there's plenty o dat crap on sci-fi) now. Voyager bit the big one and I ain't holding my breath for Enterprise to do better. One word to UPN....get the show on at the SAME time everyweek on every affiliate. Make that a requirement! That's the main problem (other then show suckage) that had with Voyager..I never could keep track of when the dratted thing was on (no I don't own a Tivo yet and I don't want one until I can get one with AT LEAST 100 Gigs!). I just hope with all of this Sci-Fi stuff coming out this fall that we FINALLY get something worth watching (b5 was just too freaking confusing for me....I hate serial shows because I don't have time to watch the thing every freaking week). Good luck to Enterprise, the new BG and others including the return of Michael Knight (just promise me David Hasselhoff won't sing and I will watch the show...oh and make KITT BLACK BLACK BLACK!! :))
Our problem has never been the lines, it's been the hardware...mebbe a CSU/DSU would die or one of the T's routers would die. We also have two providers (our network folks have 4 t's and the telecom folks have some too as well as a OC-3....two different providers). Also, there's a cost savings too. This may change soon though as we go client server and need the ability to stream video, as well as pump pretty web pages to students registering and paying fees from home.
To those flaming me about my knowledge of networks/computers....No, I don't know everything about computers or the networking hardware, but can you ADMIT you don't? I know alot, but I sure as heck don't know everything. At least I can admit I don't know it all. In my mind it makes me a better person too! (As I always like to learn! :)
Anyway, Cisco, you did a good job! I only wish HALF of the manufacturer support lines were as good as you!
I can only say one word: WOW! Pretty kewl! I am sure glad we have Cisco hardware now! :) We used to be a IBM only shop, even for switches! But Cisco bought IBM's networking out, so we are switching to cisco. We still have a big IBM switch left, but they are swapping it out for a gigabit switch. We're going to be 100 MB to the desktop, with a gigabit backbone. Not sure what we are going to do with the T-1's (we have 4 T-1's...some ask why don't you go with a OC-3? 4 T-1's are probably cheaper and provide redundancy...nuff said).
Also, the Agenda people seem like they are heading in the right direction. Someone brought up a good point about the iPaq (not good enough, to me, to not buy one) in that you still pay a M$ tax on the device even when planning on loading Linux. If you wanted to look at a pure zealot's handheld, I think the Agenda would be better. I know there's no color, yet, but it runs Linux, you can flash new kernel's to it as well as software. Only thing that I never have seen about agenda is if it sync's with either evolution or some other Linux PIM app. I see that they have sync software for Linux, but they don't say what it syncs with. Be nice if you could use the same palm support with the agenda since if you can use the same software to transfer it, it would work with every Linux pim that already works with Palm.
Looks more like a GNOME panel to me. Now, how long do we have to wait for gtk and Sawfish themes! :)
Hmm....if 10 years ago Linus said hmm....you know Windows isn't that bad and I can use it until I can afford that UNIX box, Besides there's already 10 other OS's out there...then we would not have Linux right now. That's what frustrates me sometimes about people on here.....why do this when blah blah blah exists. Well, because they think they might have a chance! If Linus thought the way you say that the AMIGA folks should, well....you know. Same goes for GNOME. They could have said, well KDE is nice, and we don't care that qt isn't free (as in speech)...so let's not make GNOME. I dunno about you, but I am GLAD these folks poured code out of their brains for us and if the AMIGA folks have something good, the market will tell them. Good luck to them! It looks good to me!
MSNBC
More MSNBC
ZDnet
Cancerpage.com
More recent idg.net story supposedly proving the link
One relating to cell towers which mentions the phones
Ok, there's LOT's of studies going on, and most of them are highly political in my opinion.
Most of them also seem to ignore the fact that RF is RF. Changing what "mode" it's in isn't going to change the physical nature of the signal. All digital cell phones do is use a a/d convertor to convert your voice to a digital form, then it's serialized into a form that can be transmitted on a antenna. This usually means somewhere it get's translated to audio that sounds a little like a modem.
Also, RF has been around since BEFORE we were. Sure, humans have only been pumping out RF for about 80 years, but the earth, the planets and the sun ALL produced some form of RF or EM radiation. We are exposed to it everyday.
One last link describes brain cancer and the fact that noone knows WHAT causes it yet. My point is, scientists too often will point to new technology as the cause of something that just might be a cyclical thing in nature that can not be explained. Why do some people get cancer when they follow the American Cancer Society diet and exercise regimen and have no risk factors (family history of, working in a risky environment..etc.)? Noone knows. Noone will ever know the entire story on this one. All I do know is noone has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt either way. I will assume, for my use, that it doesn't cause it for now mainly because there are more studies refuting the link then studies with HARD evidence proving the link. I also fully believe once this has been studied more, that more people will come to believe as I have. I and many others await those studies. Also, this givesme one less thing to worry about, which helps my stress level! :)
Cell Phones do not cause brain tumors. It's been scientifically proven, but most of us know that. My grandfather worked with EM (RF or whatever) emissions for all of his life and he didn't get cancer. The levels of RF he was using (and I too as a ham) are many times higher then a puny Nokia phone. Those typically only have abut 1-2 watts out, but no more then 5 watts. I use a 5 Watt handheld radio daily and a 25 watt base (with the antenna inside even...damn antenna restrictions) regularly with no ill effects. If that ain't proof I dunno what is. Those "shields" as seen on TV just plain don't work as intended and neither does the other goofy thing that goes with it, the internal antenna dohicky. Sure parasitic elements can help redirect your signal in a certain direction, but boost your reception? Doubtful. Even if, when in transmit mode which on a cell phone is pretty steady, the gain you'd get from those parasitic elements would be minimal.
I just check the link and actually this is more then just a cable, it's wireless too. Hmm....may be worth the trip to get this thing (imagining reversing the link for wireless MP3 playing on my stereo!).
Cheap X-terminal (with broadband adapter, keyboard and mouse).
Linux Booting games....(just modify the startup scripts to load the game).
PERFECT Xmame machine
Cheap webserver (with no logging...no wait you can nfs mount a /var directory for that even!)
Custom disk with MP3's on it too to use XMMS to play MP3(or you can just use the Dreamcast MP3 player.)
My point is this is a cool machine and it only costs 100 bucks, and you most likely already have a TV to plug it in for the display. What else could you ask for?? I am waiting for when they do this to the PS/2! :)
More like these could act as terminals. With the ethernet adapter, the keyboard, and mouse they could make a smallish distro just for doing X. These could be the cheap xterminals we are looking for.