Tor would be a good candidate for being outlawed by an overbearing government. I don't know much about it, but i can bet legal online anonymity will go if things keep going the way they are...
-Taylor
We don't need mind reading to determine where you're looking... just a webcam and some good software. Also, there are programs that make windows (if that's your thing) change focus just by hovering the mouse over a window, so if you had the webcam track your eyes and control the mouse, you could do it with readily avaliable software and hardware today.
-Taylor
Not necessarily... If there truly are key areas that only deal with actually thinking about a noun, they should be unaffected by other brain processes like emotion, etc. One may be off daydreaming about that summer when they "experimented" with the neighbor boy in college, but the actual word "rainbow" is still sitting somewhere in his mind.;)
I would, however, be inclined to believe that our brains are more complex than just having "areas" that have "activity" when certain things happen. Until we can map out each neuron in our brain and read its state, i don't think we're going to ever be able to fully read someone's mind... thank god.
-Taylor
... but it certainly is rediculous...
OMG a small flash drive! Umm.. Smaller flash drives of the same or larger capacity already exist... Why the hell is that on here? People complain about things being not news all the time if they're not interesting enough, but this literally is not news for nerds, in the sense that we are all already aware that small flash drives exist, it is not terribly cheap by comparison to other small flash drives, and it has no seemingly special features. It is also not "stuff that matters". I don't complain about things not being news normally (or maybe ever on this site?) but this is just plain ridiculous, please never, ever, post things like this, it dilutes the value of the other articles on your site.
-Taylor
It means that you have to fill the paper cassette of the printer with paper of the "letter" size. Haha, well played my friend, well played, i love the kind of humor that involves pretending like you think people are serious when they themselves are joking... No one EVER gets it but i think its hilarious...:)
-Taylor
Umm, guys? Can we be a bit more professional in the article and not include flame-inducing comments like "It seems like the Windows team have switched their focus for inspiration from Mac OS X to the iPhone OS."?
The whole MS sucks, or Apple sucks, or MS is copying apple, etc thing is really annoying for us non-fanboys, and the least you can do is let some annoying commenter make those references, it's really annoying to see it IN the article...
-Taylor
If you're asking about lag for gaming - i tethered my old ATT Tilt on my home computer, shared the internet connection with my xbox, and played Halo 3 for a few hours one night when my Comcast went out. I had less lag than i do with Comcast.
Though since we're on the topic, i used to have verizon, and i had the XV6700. My friend had an 8525 with ATT and we'd always compare broadband speed with a test from DSL Reports browsed to on the phone (he always said VZW sucks so i always had to prove him wrong). We did this all over the city, basically every time we went out to dinner for a couple of months, and i beat him nearly every time, usually by 50% or more. It was pretty impressive. I switched to ATT because the phone selection is way better, but I had way more 3G coverage with Verizon and if i ever buy a laptop with 3G (which i may do soon), i'm going with either sprint or VZW. I am a big fan of EVDO, having used both (on my phone at least).
-Taylor
...When exactly did it become the responsibility of the state to come look for me when I am lost?...
I dunno... when the state got Helicopters with body heat cameras, satellite imagery, surveillance camera access, and highly skilled and trained people whose job is rescuing people all day long (like firefighters, etc).
100 years ago, the best the state could do is run around and shout out the person's name, so there wasn't much advantage over just having your friends do it. Today there is a HUGE advantage to having the state help. Did you seriously not think of that? Do YOUR friends have helicopters? Mine don't.
I hate it when people ask rhetorical questions in an attempt to sound like they have a really good point, when really the facts just blew past them.
-Taylor
This means Apple is trying to patent the use of scrolling gestures for IM displays in chronological order.
So... what's your point? Further explaining a frivolous patent doesn't change the fact that it's frivolous. Doesn't what you described fall into the category of "Obvious"? If it were my patent system, i'd call that obvious and unpatentable.
You insinuate that most posters take their position because they don't know what they're talking about, but you shouldn't be so quick to assume that, because it looks like they may actually have been right, this patent is lame.
-Taylor
Really? Makes sense to me- you're reducing the field of view, so you move your fingers inwards (your fingers representing the field of view). The opposite sounds awkward to me.
Then again, I think the entire deal is a little silly- just add a scroll wheel. Pinching to zoom out makes sense when you see it (i know, i looked at my friend's iPhone), but luckily i know why and can explain too. Imagine an image with points A and B spaced evenly from top to bottom. Put one finger on A, and one Finger on B, and spread your fingers apart. If spreading your fingers zooms out (and at the right rate), your fingers stay on points A and B, which feels natural, like the points are "stuck" to your finger. Put another way, imagine "holding" A with one finger, while "Grabbing" onto B with another finger, and then pulling B downward. If they were pennies on a desk, they'd go farther apart, which is the same as what would happen if you would zoom into the AB image.
This makes more sense when a DISPLAY is multitouch, rather than just a trackpad, because on the display you can see the stuff "stick" under your finger.
I think they mean first commercial laptop SOLD with XP installed... and even then, i don't think generic drivers exist, so i would bet the macbook air with XP installed wouldn't actually take advantage of the multitouch.
-Taylor
Ehh, unless you're doing lots of web browsing, which is mostly scrolling and clicking. I know you can use the arrow keys and such, but really, that just sucks. I use keyboard shortcuts left and right, and i use the keyboard more than most (us nerds not included) but some things are better left to other input devices.
-Taylor
I thought the Dell Latitude XT supported multi-touch? It does, but last i heard the actual drivers that did anything interesting weren't ready yet, so it's possible that the Eee PC is just the first multitouch XP laptop that actually does something useful with multitouch. And this is all ignoring the fact that XP can be installed on a macbook air, because really, since it doesn't come with it, it kinda doesn't count in this sense. And again, the drivers probably aren't there.
-Taylor
it is backwards. i wonder if the poster made a mistake, or if the Eee PC is just weird? pinching to zoom out feels natural on the iphone... i feel like the opposite would be odd.
-Taylor
nothing defeats the keyboard for easy and speed of input. Unless you're not typing...
There are lots of ways to define the word "input".
You're using a mouse aren't you? Clearly it beats the keyboard some of the time... Similarly, track pads are better than keyboards for mousing around, and multitouch track pads are better still, i can imagine.
Remember, this is Slashdot, you have to be painfully specific and accurate or someone will call you out.
-Taylor
Damn, 3 comments and no one mentioned anything about the phrase "vertical stroking motion". I'm impressed.
I kinda wanted to wait and see how long it would be before someone else mentioned it, but it've screwed that up now...
-Taylor
This is "your opinion". What is right and wrong will always be a subjective and philosophical definition. Laws are made when a majority who are elected, hold the same philosophical beliefs create and vote for them. If you don't like the laws, participate in the voting and hope your candidate of choice wins. That is what society is. That's why he suggests not using the terms "right and wrong", which are subjective, when the terms "legal and illegal" are much more accurate and less subjective...
-Taylor
Someone made this comparison in an older post and i think it is key to making people see the point: gambling machines are required by law to go through a very stringent and thorough set of checks, including source code examination, in order to be certified for use. Why we don't do the EXACT same thing with voting machines is ABSOLUTELY beyond me. It makes perfect sense and it is insane that we don't.
-Taylor
Yeah, i was gonna bring that up. When this software can solve that Captcha, i'll be blown away. I think that honestly, that's the kind of direction captcha's need to go (though something a bit more... professional). Sometimes i can't even read the letters on captcha's these days (and no, i'm not a computer), but i can always tell the difference between a good looking girl and some unattractive girls (or guys).
-Taylor
OMFG, are you kidding me? Most things are less important than cancer research, but if everyone subscribed to your line of thinking, no one would be solving ANY other problems... there'd be no more cancer, but everything else would suck. Do you really think that is a good idea? Besides, people working to reduce light pollution likely don't have the skills to cure cancer (biology, chemistry), so your point doesn't even make sense.
I know you were just joking, but if you're going to make fun of people, you might try to avoid sounding like an idiot in the process, or in the end you'll be the one looking bad, not them. And better yet, why not just stop making fun of people who are trying to make a good point?
-Taylor
True enough, but then, if you need to have malicious intent, don't other anti-hacking laws cover this?
I can imagine that if merely connecting is a violation, anyone with a chip on their shoulder could press charges. Sure, the government won't butt in automatically, but if someone complains, and it's technically illegal, don't they have to investigate? Seems like a waste of resources, especially considering that the real problem is people not securing their networks. I'd rather fix problems with education than more legislation.
-Taylor
Slashdot Mirror
Tor would be a good candidate for being outlawed by an overbearing government. I don't know much about it, but i can bet legal online anonymity will go if things keep going the way they are... -Taylor
We don't need mind reading to determine where you're looking... just a webcam and some good software. Also, there are programs that make windows (if that's your thing) change focus just by hovering the mouse over a window, so if you had the webcam track your eyes and control the mouse, you could do it with readily avaliable software and hardware today. -Taylor
Not necessarily... If there truly are key areas that only deal with actually thinking about a noun, they should be unaffected by other brain processes like emotion, etc. One may be off daydreaming about that summer when they "experimented" with the neighbor boy in college, but the actual word "rainbow" is still sitting somewhere in his mind. ;)
I would, however, be inclined to believe that our brains are more complex than just having "areas" that have "activity" when certain things happen. Until we can map out each neuron in our brain and read its state, i don't think we're going to ever be able to fully read someone's mind... thank god. -Taylor
Agreed. check out the Kingmax Super Stick http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/B000H6J8B4/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_0?ie=UTF8&index=0 that appears to be smaller, and a 4GB model is only $13! -Taylor
... but it certainly is rediculous... OMG a small flash drive! Umm.. Smaller flash drives of the same or larger capacity already exist... Why the hell is that on here? People complain about things being not news all the time if they're not interesting enough, but this literally is not news for nerds, in the sense that we are all already aware that small flash drives exist, it is not terribly cheap by comparison to other small flash drives, and it has no seemingly special features. It is also not "stuff that matters". I don't complain about things not being news normally (or maybe ever on this site?) but this is just plain ridiculous, please never, ever, post things like this, it dilutes the value of the other articles on your site. -Taylor
Umm, guys? Can we be a bit more professional in the article and not include flame-inducing comments like "It seems like the Windows team have switched their focus for inspiration from Mac OS X to the iPhone OS."? The whole MS sucks, or Apple sucks, or MS is copying apple, etc thing is really annoying for us non-fanboys, and the least you can do is let some annoying commenter make those references, it's really annoying to see it IN the article... -Taylor
If you're asking about lag for gaming - i tethered my old ATT Tilt on my home computer, shared the internet connection with my xbox, and played Halo 3 for a few hours one night when my Comcast went out. I had less lag than i do with Comcast.
Though since we're on the topic, i used to have verizon, and i had the XV6700. My friend had an 8525 with ATT and we'd always compare broadband speed with a test from DSL Reports browsed to on the phone (he always said VZW sucks so i always had to prove him wrong). We did this all over the city, basically every time we went out to dinner for a couple of months, and i beat him nearly every time, usually by 50% or more. It was pretty impressive. I switched to ATT because the phone selection is way better, but I had way more 3G coverage with Verizon and if i ever buy a laptop with 3G (which i may do soon), i'm going with either sprint or VZW. I am a big fan of EVDO, having used both (on my phone at least). -Taylor
I dunno... when the state got Helicopters with body heat cameras, satellite imagery, surveillance camera access, and highly skilled and trained people whose job is rescuing people all day long (like firefighters, etc).
100 years ago, the best the state could do is run around and shout out the person's name, so there wasn't much advantage over just having your friends do it. Today there is a HUGE advantage to having the state help. Did you seriously not think of that? Do YOUR friends have helicopters? Mine don't.
I hate it when people ask rhetorical questions in an attempt to sound like they have a really good point, when really the facts just blew past them.
-Taylor
So... what's your point? Further explaining a frivolous patent doesn't change the fact that it's frivolous. Doesn't what you described fall into the category of "Obvious"? If it were my patent system, i'd call that obvious and unpatentable.
You insinuate that most posters take their position because they don't know what they're talking about, but you shouldn't be so quick to assume that, because it looks like they may actually have been right, this patent is lame.
-Taylor
This makes more sense when a DISPLAY is multitouch, rather than just a trackpad, because on the display you can see the stuff "stick" under your finger.
It's all pretty intuitive tho.
-Taylor
I think they mean first commercial laptop SOLD with XP installed... and even then, i don't think generic drivers exist, so i would bet the macbook air with XP installed wouldn't actually take advantage of the multitouch. -Taylor
Ehh, unless you're doing lots of web browsing, which is mostly scrolling and clicking. I know you can use the arrow keys and such, but really, that just sucks. I use keyboard shortcuts left and right, and i use the keyboard more than most (us nerds not included) but some things are better left to other input devices. -Taylor
it is backwards. i wonder if the poster made a mistake, or if the Eee PC is just weird? pinching to zoom out feels natural on the iphone... i feel like the opposite would be odd. -Taylor
Damn, 3 comments and no one mentioned anything about the phrase "vertical stroking motion". I'm impressed. I kinda wanted to wait and see how long it would be before someone else mentioned it, but it've screwed that up now... -Taylor
-Taylor
Someone made this comparison in an older post and i think it is key to making people see the point: gambling machines are required by law to go through a very stringent and thorough set of checks, including source code examination, in order to be certified for use. Why we don't do the EXACT same thing with voting machines is ABSOLUTELY beyond me. It makes perfect sense and it is insane that we don't. -Taylor
It's a 1.0 Man! ;)
-Taylor
Yeah, i was gonna bring that up. When this software can solve that Captcha, i'll be blown away. I think that honestly, that's the kind of direction captcha's need to go (though something a bit more... professional). Sometimes i can't even read the letters on captcha's these days (and no, i'm not a computer), but i can always tell the difference between a good looking girl and some unattractive girls (or guys). -Taylor
In Soviet Russia, XP license pays for YOU! -Taylor
Hah! I'd mod you hilarious if i could. -Taylor
OMFG, are you kidding me? Most things are less important than cancer research, but if everyone subscribed to your line of thinking, no one would be solving ANY other problems... there'd be no more cancer, but everything else would suck. Do you really think that is a good idea? Besides, people working to reduce light pollution likely don't have the skills to cure cancer (biology, chemistry), so your point doesn't even make sense. I know you were just joking, but if you're going to make fun of people, you might try to avoid sounding like an idiot in the process, or in the end you'll be the one looking bad, not them. And better yet, why not just stop making fun of people who are trying to make a good point? -Taylor
True enough, but then, if you need to have malicious intent, don't other anti-hacking laws cover this? I can imagine that if merely connecting is a violation, anyone with a chip on their shoulder could press charges. Sure, the government won't butt in automatically, but if someone complains, and it's technically illegal, don't they have to investigate? Seems like a waste of resources, especially considering that the real problem is people not securing their networks. I'd rather fix problems with education than more legislation. -Taylor