Concidering we already have Star Wars - the Clone Wars do we really need another one? I doubt a "playful and irreverent tone" is what the fans want. I don't really want Yoda to start cracking wise about force.
As much as I think Seth is funny I do hope it won't be Robot Chicken - Star Wars episodes on steroids. Those little bits are very hit and miss and once a season is quite enough.
I agree entirely. I think the success of the Family Guy and Robot Chicken pieces has been related to their rarity, and that they weren't forced.
Trying to recreate that repeatedly seems like it would be pretty likely to fail. -Taylor
I take it that you believe "content" means "that which is contained".
"Content" means the substance or subject matter of a work. It cannot be copyrighted.
No, that isn't what I take it to mean, in this context - and I'm not sure why you would think that unless you're just trying to be an annoying pedant. If you were to google for the word "content", you'd find it has multiple definitions. The important one, here taken from dictionary.com is:
"substantive information or creative material viewed in contrast to its actual or potential manner of presentation: publishers, record companies, and other content providers; a flashy Web site, but without much content."
In the case of the article, the word content is being used just fine: "IsoHunt... has been ordered to remove the.torrent files for all infringing content"
In this case, the creative works of content creators are being freely shared on a website. Yes, we all know bittorrent files don't *contain* the *content* in question, but that isn't what the article is saying. Besides, it's not 2003 anymore - the whole "the torrent files don't contain anything copyrighted" argument doesn't really fly anymore as the laws have been changed accordingly... so I don't even see why you would have brought it up in the first place. -Taylor
Since IsoHunt is mainly a search engine of torrents, they could just crawl the.torrent hosts and instead of saving a local copy like they do now, they'll just provide a link to the host. I don't see how this will change things much.
I think they already do that. The laws are changing in response to people doing this, to the point where if you're trying to help people infringe, they will find a way.
There will always be a way to pirate, but i don't think that method will fly.
You mean media, or expression, or product. The content, if any, cannot be copyrighted. Also you don't mean infringing, you mean unlicensed, or pirated.
What? I'm pro-pirating, and I don't even know what you're talking about. It sounds like you're trying to make an unnecessary argument, which isn't likely to help anything...
... is about as likely to be won by the content holders as the 'War on Drugs' to be won by the Federal Govt.
The parallels are striking, starting with 'Just say no' / 'Don't copy that floppy', and then escalating internationally to ACTA.
As long as the demand for unauthorized content exists, supply will find its way.
Until consumers have a compelling reason to buy an authorized copy (iTunes is a great example of this), torrents or some other tech like.nzb will give the people what they want.
Interesting that your bring up iTunes. Last I checked (it's been a while) the videos on iTunes still had DRM (even though the music doesn't). As long as legitimate means of getting content still require DRM, I'll keep pirating it. I don't want my movie collection disappearing in 5 or 15 years when I've moved computers too many times, or some server gets taken offline, or the prevailing OS of today falls by the wayside.
I actually buy music now, because i know i can keep it forever.
Not sure if you meant itunes is an example of the right way or the wrong way, and i suppose its better than nothing, but i just felt I should add my sentiments - I don't see why they stopped using DRM for music but kept using it for video, and until thats gone, I don't be using it. -Taylor
Well, my daughters are readers but I figured it was because I instilled them with a love of books. From what I see on the internet with people using the verb "loose" when it's obvious they mean "lose", misusing apostrophes, mangling homophones (heres where they loose, there book's werent their) I figured reading books was out of fashion these days; everybody's on the internet reading crap other illiterates write.
Well, I'm proof that your theory doesn't hold then - or at least, I'm an exception. I hate people that can't spell, or use the wrong they're/their/there or lose/loose or say "alot", and I am not a reader. I just paid attention in English class. I rocked English class in high school (college English was too boring for me to care though... the teachers have no spirit!). I'm sure I make mistakes typing, but not the kind of mistakes you're talking about. -Taylor
Immediately after watching it I couldn't stop thinking about space travel.
I saw Cosmos when it first aired. Don't worry. You'll get over it.
It's the amounts of energy and the sheer scales required that always unravels all the lofty plans. You hear about all these wild ideas, but when you start to look at the actual numbers involved (like 1000 kilometer lenses focusing city sized lasers on light sails bigger than the Earth), the hopelessness begins to settle in. That's why I always say if something out there *did* create the universe, it was a total asshole, and I'd love to punch it in the closest thing it has for a crotch.
Oh, but I'm just being a big old curmudgeon many will say. That newfangled physics will be along any day now to upend our view of the cosmos, and we'll be tossing Alcubierre drive ships out into the galaxy left and right! You betcha!
Sure, kids. Sure you will.
Oh, I'm well aware of the hopelessness... But I think I can still make a difference. To me, the biggest problem is still getting things into space. We can build battleship sized vehicles on earth, but sending anything like that into space is basically impossible with current technology. I don't think I'll ever be spending my weekends surfing on europa, and I'm not going to change my life for space travel, but I just am interested now - so that if the opportunity ever comes up where I find myself very wealthy (something i feel is a possibility), I'd like to fund research in lowering the cost of getting things into space by an order of magnitude or three. That seems like the most obvious first step mankind could take into space travel, and it seems like something we could do with current or near future technology. Maybe we'll have to wait for some kind of gravity drive engine to do it, but I'd like to spend some time looking into it. It could be that space ribbons would work if we could make the damn nanotube cables long enough, or something else - see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-rocket_spacelaunch
At the very least, I like being more educated on this stuff. -Taylor
>>That's fine. I knew I'd get people scoffing at my lack of reading - plenty of people do. I
Sorry if it came out negative. There's just so much good stuff out there in books, I've gone without TV for the last 10 years. Actually, I have TV now, but only because getting 50mpbs service from AT&T requires a bundled TV service.:/
Most people dislike books because they were forced to read them in school, and there's nothing worse than being made to read a book you hate (Wurthering Heights... eugh).
>>while reading I'll find myself thinking about other things still, and not really processing what I'm reading!
This is one of the best things! I keep a notepad handy and write down any random ideas I get while reading or listening to audiobooks in my car. Getting and processing new information is one of the best things to spur creativity, I've found.
Anyhow, as someone who reads things online but not in books, you sound like the opposite of me (I can read books in PDF, but it annoys me). Perhaps you're the target audience for a Kindle or Nook?
Its not that I dislike books - the biggest problem I have is knowing what books to read! I used to read a bit when I was younger - Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, Hitchhikers Guide, Discworld, I've read all those and enjoyed them, but then I just wasn't sure what to read next, so I kind of just stopped.
And I'm thinking about "other things" all the time, so when I'm reading, that just continues. It has nothing to do with what I'm reading though, and I'll find that I can read a few pages and then realize I don't even know what I read. That kind of defeats the purpose of reading.
Mostly I'm just working on so many things that I don't have much time to just sit down and read. I don't really watch TV much either - i put Cosmos on at work when I'm doing monotonous things mostly.
But I've hit a place where my brain is moving too quickly - to the point where I'm thinking about a million things at once, but not really getting anywhere - its just becoming a bunch of noise. So I'm taking a break from all my projects and figured it would be nice to read and relax.
I'm just not sure if I'll ever have the time it takes to really be a solid "reader" per se.
And I don't read PDFs of books, i read articled and datasheets on things. I'm learning about how MOSFETS work so I can build my own motor controller, and things like that. Its learning, but its not really "reading" in the normal sense.
Its not that I think I'm even right per se, I just haven't figured out when I would read normally. But hopefully this book will get me in the groove? Its hard to say with me. -Taylor
Damn kids, read a fucking book! At least it doesn't seem to have made you illiterate, like so many I see on the internet who don't know there from they're or lose from loose, or when and when not to use an apostrophe. Books, unlike the internet, have editors and proofreaders.
Look into Isaac Asimov. He didn't just write science fiction, he was called "the great educator" because of all the nonfiction books he wrote. Dr. Asimov was a real scientist, researching and teaching biochemistry at (iirc) Boston University. His writing is very readable, his explanations unconfusing. One of my favorite Asimov volumes is Asimov on Numbers, which is about mathematics, always my worst subject.
You don't have to get off my lawn if you have a book in your hand.
Not to keep feeding this subject, but I've got plenty of friends who read books. Its not like all young people avoid reading, I just personally am not much of a reader.
I don't know why I like this video as much as I do...
Haha, I was listening to that when I read your link! I have really taking a liking to this stuff. Here's the rest of the videos! http://symphonyofscience.com/ -Taylor
>>but damn if that isn't the *most* inspiring show about the universe I have ever seen! Immediately after watching it I couldn't stop thinking about space travel. I haven't read an actual book for about 8 years
No offense, but I think these two things might be correlated. Books are so much better than TV... I tried watching Cosmos on Netflix, and it's just not that good. Poor video quality, content is Sagan's trademarked breathy high level wankery, etc. There's a lot of better stuff out there these days. In books. I've been reading The Fabric of the Cosmos by Greene, Physics of the Impossible (by the same guy that does the show on Science, Kaiko), but I'd really recommend Physics for the Rest of Us by Jones. It sounds like a For Dummies book, but it actually digs pretty deep into the structure of reality and the philosophical implications of science.
Again, not meaning to be a dick - I just think that Sagan is vastly overrated, and couldn't imagine going 8 years without reading a book.
That's fine. I knew I'd get people scoffing at my lack of reading - plenty of people do. I'm a smart guy and it blows people away that I don't read books, but its just how I work. I read all kinds of other things - like learning about programming and electronics from the web. In the past year I've taught myself c# programming (yes, programmers, I'm sure you all know a better language and blah blah... it works for stuff i do with it - mainly GUIs for robot control) and PCB design. I already know machining and embedded programming, so I've got a really good core set of skills for robotics, which is my real passion. I prefer learning practical things mostly, which I do best hands-on. That means I don't read much, because normally I am just too busy working on things to sit down and read. And I do study a great deal of stuff online for these projects, so its not like I don't take in new info. Still, I find learning about astrophysics astonishing, and lately my brain has been on such overload from all my projects, its nice to be able to zone out and read a book - though even that is hard... while reading I'll find myself thinking about other things still, and not really processing what I'm reading!
So basically, reading is cool, and everyone who reads always tells me its better, and they're probably right, i wouldn't really argue against it, but I'm still perfectly happy not reading much. And i know you're not trying to be a dick, and I'm not either when I say "I know, I've heard it many times before". -Taylor
I just started watching Carl Sagan's Cosmos on Hulu. I'm 25 and was just a bit too young to watch it when it aired in the 80's, but damn if that isn't the *most* inspiring show about the universe I have ever seen! Immediately after watching it I couldn't stop thinking about space travel. I haven't read an actual book for about 8 years, and this weekend i bought "A Brief History of Time" to learn even more. I'm looking at getting a decent telescope too.
If you have any interest in this stuff, go watch Cosmos! It's all on Hulu and its free (if your country is allowed access).
"It swaps between EVDO Rev. A, WiMAX and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g on demand"
Does this apply to calls as well as data? If so it is even more awesome than I originally thought.
Well, android 2.1 and on (maybe earlier too?) does have the built-in capability to make calls with google voice, which would then be able to use the data connection.
I've got my Nexus One to use google voice only for voicemail and international calls. With the voicemail, it records the message, transcribes the voice to text, and can text or email you the text, or you can use the free google voice app to both see the text, click any phone numbers as links, and listen to the message a-la Visual Voicemail (by just clicking play, rather than having to dial voicemail).
The fact that it transcribes messages to text, and the fact that its all built-in to the OS (something like Settings>Call Settings> Voicemail) literally blew my mind.
Also, try to pack all that electronics into such a small package, including feedback cancellation (that really loud whine that older hearing aids were prone to produce) and and it has to be able to run on a single battery for at least a few hours at a time.
Add doctors fees for fitting, set-up and production of the ear piece which is (supposedly) moulded to fit your ear perfectly.
Headkase and Gription have good points as well. It all adds up.
Sounds an awful lot like what a $50 bluetooth headset does.
Its economies of scale, and demand. The electronics just *don't* cost that much.
My Jawbone headset has all kinds of fancy noise cancelling built into it, and it was only $75 on sale.
It would need better batteries to last longer, but that's why hearing aids use high density non-rechargeable batteries. At least, my friend's cochlear does. Since the batteries are disposable, they shouldn't even affect the cost of the unit in the first place - batteries not included and all. -Taylor
Whether he feels bad about it or not there should be a severe punishment for this level of recklessness, negligence and stupidity.
Exactly. Using that judgment, every person who recklessly drives and kills someone should be let off the hook because "they feel horrible about it." The same analogy can be used for any other situation where someone feels remorse for their actions.
I'm not sure, but I feel like that has happened before. I know of a speed racing incident where a kid killed his own mom when he was racing on their street, and I believe they let him off pretty easily, comparatively. Sometimes the event really is punishment enough. I could be wrong about the case, but I think it happens.
I do think this case with the baby needs to be looked at very thoroughly though. At the very least, this guy needs to have his right to own a gun taken away. You just *don't* leave a loaded gun *anywhere* and forget about it. Least of all when you have a kid! -Taylor
Amusing, however app repositories arent confined to open source, Apple do it (At least for the IPhone), Nintendo do it, google do it, Sony do it. No reason Microsoft couldnt do it.
Funny--my Firefox updates when I start it up, my Flash and Java and Adobe Reader update essentially on their own, and Windows updates when I shut it down...Steam updates on its own...Trillian and uTorrent give me a button to push to update them...I'm pretty much a power user, but I've never been prompted to update something that was remotely confusing. As long as things that need updating have an easy button to push to do it for you, I'm happy--extra bonus points if there's a checkbox in the installer to choose between "update automatically" and "prompt annoyingly when an update is available"
Yeah, i really don't see the issue here. The article makes it seem like the act of "patching" involves *any* work at all, but I generally just need to click "ok" unless its set to automatic. I never really have to do anything. I don't see it as "the user has to patch the machine", I see it as "the machine patches itself" every few days, which doesn't sound nearly as bad.
Which is why I don't like push-button ignition. If my car ever goes into hyperdrive because of a stuck throttle, I take comfort in knowing I still have a kill switch, and I grew up driving tractors and cars without power steering or power-assist braking, so I can cope.
How can I trust that that push-button ignition will still shut off the car? I know it's conceivable that even a key-start ignition might turn all ignition control over to an ECM, but who's done that?
How can you trust that your key will shut off the car? Surely modern cars don't have any real connection to the engine ignition system. I know my starter wasn't directly hooked up to the key when I had a Saturn Sky - no matter how long you held the key in the start position, the car would just try to start until it succeeded, and then stop. I ran out of gas one time and noticed that after I stopped trying to start it, it kept trying for a few seconds, and then found that if I just blipped it to start, it didn't matter - it tried till it decided it wouldn't work. I also found that it won't try to start it if its running - something older cars would let you do, which screws up the starter.
So i would imagine that most new cars use the ignition switch to tell the ECU to power off the car - in other words, you're probably already at the mercy of some code to turn off the car. -Taylor
Slashdot Mirror
Concidering we already have Star Wars - the Clone Wars do we really need another one? I doubt a "playful and irreverent tone" is what the fans want. I don't really want Yoda to start cracking wise about force.
As much as I think Seth is funny I do hope it won't be Robot Chicken - Star Wars episodes on steroids. Those little bits are very hit and miss and once a season is quite enough.
I agree entirely. I think the success of the Family Guy and Robot Chicken pieces has been related to their rarity, and that they weren't forced.
Trying to recreate that repeatedly seems like it would be pretty likely to fail.
-Taylor
I have watched it whit my son on Discovery Kids or some of those child channels.
It was an animated Star Wars
The article mentions that there have been others. This is going to be a sitcom, which is probably worse than anything before it.
Its a Trap!
I take it that you believe "content" means "that which is contained".
"Content" means the substance or subject matter of a work. It cannot be copyrighted.
No, that isn't what I take it to mean, in this context - and I'm not sure why you would think that unless you're just trying to be an annoying pedant. If you were to google for the word "content", you'd find it has multiple definitions. The important one, here taken from dictionary.com is:
"substantive information or creative material viewed in contrast to its actual or potential manner of presentation: publishers, record companies, and other content providers; a flashy Web site, but without much content."
In the case of the article, the word content is being used just fine: .torrent files for all infringing content"
"IsoHunt... has been ordered to remove the
In this case, the creative works of content creators are being freely shared on a website. Yes, we all know bittorrent files don't *contain* the *content* in question, but that isn't what the article is saying. Besides, it's not 2003 anymore - the whole "the torrent files don't contain anything copyrighted" argument doesn't really fly anymore as the laws have been changed accordingly... so I don't even see why you would have brought it up in the first place.
-Taylor
Since IsoHunt is mainly a search engine of torrents, they could just crawl the .torrent hosts and instead of saving a local copy like they do now, they'll just provide a link to the host. I don't see how this will change things much.
I think they already do that. The laws are changing in response to people doing this, to the point where if you're trying to help people infringe, they will find a way.
There will always be a way to pirate, but i don't think that method will fly.
You mean media, or expression, or product. The content, if any, cannot be copyrighted. Also you don't mean infringing, you mean unlicensed, or pirated.
What? I'm pro-pirating, and I don't even know what you're talking about. It sounds like you're trying to make an unnecessary argument, which isn't likely to help anything...
Or else, wtf are you trying to say?
-Taylor
... is about as likely to be won by the content holders as the 'War on Drugs' to be won by the Federal Govt.
The parallels are striking, starting with 'Just say no' / 'Don't copy that floppy', and then escalating internationally to ACTA.
As long as the demand for unauthorized content exists, supply will find its way.
Until consumers have a compelling reason to buy an authorized copy (iTunes is a great example of this), torrents or some other tech like .nzb will give the people what they want.
Interesting that your bring up iTunes. Last I checked (it's been a while) the videos on iTunes still had DRM (even though the music doesn't). As long as legitimate means of getting content still require DRM, I'll keep pirating it. I don't want my movie collection disappearing in 5 or 15 years when I've moved computers too many times, or some server gets taken offline, or the prevailing OS of today falls by the wayside.
I actually buy music now, because i know i can keep it forever.
Not sure if you meant itunes is an example of the right way or the wrong way, and i suppose its better than nothing, but i just felt I should add my sentiments - I don't see why they stopped using DRM for music but kept using it for video, and until thats gone, I don't be using it.
-Taylor
Well, my daughters are readers but I figured it was because I instilled them with a love of books. From what I see on the internet with people using the verb "loose" when it's obvious they mean "lose", misusing apostrophes, mangling homophones (heres where they loose, there book's werent their) I figured reading books was out of fashion these days; everybody's on the internet reading crap other illiterates write.
Well, I'm proof that your theory doesn't hold then - or at least, I'm an exception. I hate people that can't spell, or use the wrong they're/their/there or lose/loose or say "alot", and I am not a reader. I just paid attention in English class. I rocked English class in high school (college English was too boring for me to care though... the teachers have no spirit!). I'm sure I make mistakes typing, but not the kind of mistakes you're talking about.
-Taylor
Immediately after watching it I couldn't stop thinking about space travel.
I saw Cosmos when it first aired. Don't worry. You'll get over it.
It's the amounts of energy and the sheer scales required that always unravels all the lofty plans. You hear about all these wild ideas, but when you start to look at the actual numbers involved (like 1000 kilometer lenses focusing city sized lasers on light sails bigger than the Earth), the hopelessness begins to settle in. That's why I always say if something out there *did* create the universe, it was a total asshole, and I'd love to punch it in the closest thing it has for a crotch.
Oh, but I'm just being a big old curmudgeon many will say. That newfangled physics will be along any day now to upend our view of the cosmos, and we'll be tossing Alcubierre drive ships out into the galaxy left and right! You betcha!
Sure, kids. Sure you will.
Oh, I'm well aware of the hopelessness... But I think I can still make a difference. To me, the biggest problem is still getting things into space. We can build battleship sized vehicles on earth, but sending anything like that into space is basically impossible with current technology. I don't think I'll ever be spending my weekends surfing on europa, and I'm not going to change my life for space travel, but I just am interested now - so that if the opportunity ever comes up where I find myself very wealthy (something i feel is a possibility), I'd like to fund research in lowering the cost of getting things into space by an order of magnitude or three. That seems like the most obvious first step mankind could take into space travel, and it seems like something we could do with current or near future technology. Maybe we'll have to wait for some kind of gravity drive engine to do it, but I'd like to spend some time looking into it. It could be that space ribbons would work if we could make the damn nanotube cables long enough, or something else - see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-rocket_spacelaunch
At the very least, I like being more educated on this stuff.
-Taylor
>>That's fine. I knew I'd get people scoffing at my lack of reading - plenty of people do. I
Sorry if it came out negative. There's just so much good stuff out there in books, I've gone without TV for the last 10 years. Actually, I have TV now, but only because getting 50mpbs service from AT&T requires a bundled TV service. :/
Most people dislike books because they were forced to read them in school, and there's nothing worse than being made to read a book you hate (Wurthering Heights... eugh).
>>while reading I'll find myself thinking about other things still, and not really processing what I'm reading!
This is one of the best things! I keep a notepad handy and write down any random ideas I get while reading or listening to audiobooks in my car. Getting and processing new information is one of the best things to spur creativity, I've found.
Anyhow, as someone who reads things online but not in books, you sound like the opposite of me (I can read books in PDF, but it annoys me). Perhaps you're the target audience for a Kindle or Nook?
Anyhow, if you're interested in getting into fiction, you might be interested in reading Warbreaker online, by one of my favorite authors (he made the whole thing available online for free as he wrote it):
http://www.brandonsanderson.com/library/catalog/Warbreaker_Full-Books/
Its not that I dislike books - the biggest problem I have is knowing what books to read! I used to read a bit when I was younger - Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, Hitchhikers Guide, Discworld, I've read all those and enjoyed them, but then I just wasn't sure what to read next, so I kind of just stopped.
And I'm thinking about "other things" all the time, so when I'm reading, that just continues. It has nothing to do with what I'm reading though, and I'll find that I can read a few pages and then realize I don't even know what I read. That kind of defeats the purpose of reading.
Mostly I'm just working on so many things that I don't have much time to just sit down and read. I don't really watch TV much either - i put Cosmos on at work when I'm doing monotonous things mostly.
But I've hit a place where my brain is moving too quickly - to the point where I'm thinking about a million things at once, but not really getting anywhere - its just becoming a bunch of noise. So I'm taking a break from all my projects and figured it would be nice to read and relax.
I'm just not sure if I'll ever have the time it takes to really be a solid "reader" per se.
And I don't read PDFs of books, i read articled and datasheets on things. I'm learning about how MOSFETS work so I can build my own motor controller, and things like that. Its learning, but its not really "reading" in the normal sense.
Its not that I think I'm even right per se, I just haven't figured out when I would read normally. But hopefully this book will get me in the groove? Its hard to say with me.
-Taylor
Some of Sagan's books are quite inspiring too. Pale Blue Dot and Demon Haunted World are 2 of his best.
Yeah, i think I'd like to read pale blue dot next!
-Taylor
I haven't read an actual book for about 8 years
Damn kids, read a fucking book! At least it doesn't seem to have made you illiterate, like so many I see on the internet who don't know there from they're or lose from loose, or when and when not to use an apostrophe. Books, unlike the internet, have editors and proofreaders.
Look into Isaac Asimov. He didn't just write science fiction, he was called "the great educator" because of all the nonfiction books he wrote. Dr. Asimov was a real scientist, researching and teaching biochemistry at (iirc) Boston University. His writing is very readable, his explanations unconfusing. One of my favorite Asimov volumes is Asimov on Numbers, which is about mathematics, always my worst subject.
You don't have to get off my lawn if you have a book in your hand.
Not to keep feeding this subject, but I've got plenty of friends who read books. Its not like all young people avoid reading, I just personally am not much of a reader.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSgiXGELjbc
I don't know why I like this video as much as I do...
Haha, I was listening to that when I read your link!
I have really taking a liking to this stuff.
Here's the rest of the videos!
http://symphonyofscience.com/
-Taylor
>>but damn if that isn't the *most* inspiring show about the universe I have ever seen! Immediately after watching it I couldn't stop thinking about space travel. I haven't read an actual book for about 8 years
No offense, but I think these two things might be correlated. Books are so much better than TV... I tried watching Cosmos on Netflix, and it's just not that good. Poor video quality, content is Sagan's trademarked breathy high level wankery, etc. There's a lot of better stuff out there these days. In books. I've been reading The Fabric of the Cosmos by Greene, Physics of the Impossible (by the same guy that does the show on Science, Kaiko), but I'd really recommend Physics for the Rest of Us by Jones. It sounds like a For Dummies book, but it actually digs pretty deep into the structure of reality and the philosophical implications of science.
Again, not meaning to be a dick - I just think that Sagan is vastly overrated, and couldn't imagine going 8 years without reading a book.
That's fine. I knew I'd get people scoffing at my lack of reading - plenty of people do. I'm a smart guy and it blows people away that I don't read books, but its just how I work. I read all kinds of other things - like learning about programming and electronics from the web. In the past year I've taught myself c# programming (yes, programmers, I'm sure you all know a better language and blah blah... it works for stuff i do with it - mainly GUIs for robot control) and PCB design. I already know machining and embedded programming, so I've got a really good core set of skills for robotics, which is my real passion. I prefer learning practical things mostly, which I do best hands-on. That means I don't read much, because normally I am just too busy working on things to sit down and read. And I do study a great deal of stuff online for these projects, so its not like I don't take in new info. Still, I find learning about astrophysics astonishing, and lately my brain has been on such overload from all my projects, its nice to be able to zone out and read a book - though even that is hard... while reading I'll find myself thinking about other things still, and not really processing what I'm reading!
So basically, reading is cool, and everyone who reads always tells me its better, and they're probably right, i wouldn't really argue against it, but I'm still perfectly happy not reading much. And i know you're not trying to be a dick, and I'm not either when I say "I know, I've heard it many times before".
-Taylor
I just started watching Carl Sagan's Cosmos on Hulu. I'm 25 and was just a bit too young to watch it when it aired in the 80's, but damn if that isn't the *most* inspiring show about the universe I have ever seen! Immediately after watching it I couldn't stop thinking about space travel. I haven't read an actual book for about 8 years, and this weekend i bought "A Brief History of Time" to learn even more. I'm looking at getting a decent telescope too.
If you have any interest in this stuff, go watch Cosmos! It's all on Hulu and its free (if your country is allowed access).
Really, so inspiring its crazy!
-Taylor
"It swaps between EVDO Rev. A, WiMAX and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g on demand"
Does this apply to calls as well as data? If so it is even more awesome than I originally thought.
Well, android 2.1 and on (maybe earlier too?) does have the built-in capability to make calls with google voice, which would then be able to use the data connection.
I've got my Nexus One to use google voice only for voicemail and international calls. With the voicemail, it records the message, transcribes the voice to text, and can text or email you the text, or you can use the free google voice app to both see the text, click any phone numbers as links, and listen to the message a-la Visual Voicemail (by just clicking play, rather than having to dial voicemail).
The fact that it transcribes messages to text, and the fact that its all built-in to the OS (something like Settings>Call Settings> Voicemail) literally blew my mind.
Android is seriously getting amazing.
-Taylor
What lack of vision. Just put the girlfriend in the teleporter. Then put her and the copy in the teleporter again. Everybody wins. ?
The girlfriend? You mean her hot friend. 4 times. Then just, uh, "destroy" the evidence when you're done, and no one knows!
-Taylor
My bluetooth headset does.
Also, try to pack all that electronics into such a small package, including feedback cancellation (that really loud whine that older hearing aids were prone to produce) and and it has to be able to run on a single battery for at least a few hours at a time.
Add doctors fees for fitting, set-up and production of the ear piece which is (supposedly) moulded to fit your ear perfectly.
Headkase and Gription have good points as well. It all adds up.
Sounds an awful lot like what a $50 bluetooth headset does.
Its economies of scale, and demand. The electronics just *don't* cost that much.
My Jawbone headset has all kinds of fancy noise cancelling built into it, and it was only $75 on sale.
It would need better batteries to last longer, but that's why hearing aids use high density non-rechargeable batteries. At least, my friend's cochlear does. Since the batteries are disposable, they shouldn't even affect the cost of the unit in the first place - batteries not included and all.
-Taylor
Whether he feels bad about it or not there should be a severe punishment for this level of recklessness, negligence and stupidity.
Exactly. Using that judgment, every person who recklessly drives and kills someone should be let off the hook because "they feel horrible about it." The same analogy can be used for any other situation where someone feels remorse for their actions.
I'm not sure, but I feel like that has happened before. I know of a speed racing incident where a kid killed his own mom when he was racing on their street, and I believe they let him off pretty easily, comparatively. Sometimes the event really is punishment enough. I could be wrong about the case, but I think it happens.
I do think this case with the baby needs to be looked at very thoroughly though. At the very least, this guy needs to have his right to own a gun taken away. You just *don't* leave a loaded gun *anywhere* and forget about it. Least of all when you have a kid!
-Taylor
Did you try Googling it *without* the word malware?
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=%22PDF+Suite%22&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=&fp=1
I'm pretty sure he meant "Nothing claiming it was malware turned up."
Not just that he was unable to find the software's source.
Amusing, however app repositories arent confined to open source, Apple do it (At least for the IPhone), Nintendo do it, google do it, Sony do it. No reason Microsoft couldnt do it.
Holy bungling of plural/singular verbs Batman!
"Google *does* it".
Funny--my Firefox updates when I start it up, my Flash and Java and Adobe Reader update essentially on their own, and Windows updates when I shut it down...Steam updates on its own...Trillian and uTorrent give me a button to push to update them...I'm pretty much a power user, but I've never been prompted to update something that was remotely confusing. As long as things that need updating have an easy button to push to do it for you, I'm happy--extra bonus points if there's a checkbox in the installer to choose between "update automatically" and "prompt annoyingly when an update is available"
Yeah, i really don't see the issue here. The article makes it seem like the act of "patching" involves *any* work at all, but I generally just need to click "ok" unless its set to automatic. I never really have to do anything. I don't see it as "the user has to patch the machine", I see it as "the machine patches itself" every few days, which doesn't sound nearly as bad.
Seems like the article is just FUD.
-Taylor
Push-button ignition can be turned off by holding down the button (kind of like with a computer)...
... and waiting for the software interrupt to get picked up by the CPU, which may be in a hung state.
I'm pretty sure that if the ECU is hung, the engine won't be able to operate at all. Spark timing and all that stuff is controlled by the ECU.
-Taylor
Which is why I don't like push-button ignition. If my car ever goes into hyperdrive because of a stuck throttle, I take comfort in knowing I still have a kill switch, and I grew up driving tractors and cars without power steering or power-assist braking, so I can cope.
How can I trust that that push-button ignition will still shut off the car? I know it's conceivable that even a key-start ignition might turn all ignition control over to an ECM, but who's done that?
How can you trust that your key will shut off the car? Surely modern cars don't have any real connection to the engine ignition system. I know my starter wasn't directly hooked up to the key when I had a Saturn Sky - no matter how long you held the key in the start position, the car would just try to start until it succeeded, and then stop. I ran out of gas one time and noticed that after I stopped trying to start it, it kept trying for a few seconds, and then found that if I just blipped it to start, it didn't matter - it tried till it decided it wouldn't work.
I also found that it won't try to start it if its running - something older cars would let you do, which screws up the starter.
So i would imagine that most new cars use the ignition switch to tell the ECU to power off the car - in other words, you're probably already at the mercy of some code to turn off the car.
-Taylor