I agree with you on the perspective of "before its time". I also have a couple of Touchstreams and I use them extensively. I only use the tactile units when I game as the driver response time on the touchstreams are not optimal for gaming.
Cost was a barrier to adoption with the Fingerworks product I now use. I remember that when I bought my Touchstream LP keyboards that I paid over $250 (usd) a unit for them. Then again, they are VERY durable and extremely functional. Even with the company gone I have still be successful with them over the years.
On my touchstreams, the pads are split and rest on a metal stand to allow of ergo placements of hands. Very comfortable!
I disagree. It depends on how you represent finger positions in relation to the location on the GUI. Lots of methods to make that unobstructed and even 'submerged' until signaled to surface by a gesture or touch on the device. Also scrolling can be as simple as holding down a set of digits to the pad and moving around. This is how it works right now with the Touchstream input device I am using (yes it's multi-touch)
Actually you could use a chord to do this. Right or left hand is held down in a chord style placement upon the appropriate side of the pad and this will cause the mouse sensitivity to change while the chord is held. Moving the chord up or down can vary the sensitivity of motion as well.
My Touchstream detects multiple clicks. When I press down with to fingers on the left side pad it's a left click. When I press with three it's treated as a double click. When I press with index-middle-thumb combination it reads a right click... So detecting multiple simultaneous clicks and even secondary clicks while holding down some fingers is also discernable by resistive devices.
This is a nice revisit to the technology but even now I am using a multi-touch interface to type this comment. I was luck enough to be an early adopter and have a few of the now defunct FingerWorks LLP products. Notably my two TouchStream LPs and an iGesture pad. Unlike the displayed product my keyboard/mouse has two pads and is arranged in an ergonomic arrangement (see image: http://pcworld.in/uploads/images/pcworld/4915355_15.jpg).
There are some finger markers to let you find the home row by touch. I move the mouse with two fingers on the right side of the screen and control the cursor in applications with two fingers on the right. There are a number of programmed gestures that allow for a great deal of task automation in stead of multiple click and drags.
I love the device but it does have limitations. Response time is not so great for gaming as you have the Gesture interpreter layer to contend with. There is a game mode for the device but I've rarely used it. I still mis-type a lot but then the driver also helps and makes a lot of corrections automatically based on what word I am typing. In my case it's usually about 90% correct when it fixes my typos.
I loved the GUI interaction metaphors that the video describes. I hope that older versions of devices like the one I have will get grandfathered in to design considerations or even further development!
I'm an example of it. I've sat in all of the chairs in various IT Department sizes and I don't have my BS or BA in anything. Although I do still wish to pursue it as a personal goal and not so much as a career builder. I have obtained some certifications that I felt were worthwhile (CISSP and CISA) but haven't gone the pure vendor specific cert route.
Just to set the reality of my statement; I was the CTO and architect of the Shipyard in Philadelphia and held other V/C Level titles as well. In my current life 'phase' I chose to prioritize quality of life over bucks. Plus I like doing 'pure' engineering work and actually working with the technologies as much (if not more) than the management side of IT.
I agree with all of the points on this post. I also have a LOT of books that I've gathered since my teens and I know that I am just starting to phase them out as they take up too much space. Between my wife (who is a voracious reader of those 'romance novel' things) we must have over 1500 books. And those are just the leisure reading. If you add my tech library and my three daughters libraries to that it's just really insane.
I started using the first gen Sony PRS-500 a couple of years back and I've never looked back. I take all of the stuff that I find online that is really good reading and I just print them into BeBB/LRF format and I can have them to enjoy as often as I wish. This really brings a nice close to the circle that UUCP based mailing lists for writing that I started to read waaaaay back in the 300 baud modem days. Today there are so many alternative outlets for reading materials online (ie. Gutenberg Project) that the ability to 'publish' them in a portable format that is truly usable comes a lot closer to the promise that eBooks offer. Just recently I found out about the Baen Free Library and I've been a frequent visitor to that site and I get to try a whole bunch of authors I never had a chance to in the past with out have to shell out 5-7 bucks for the book. The ones I like, I usually pony up the 5-6 bucks for the sequels or other stories they write as I have confidence in the fact that I have read them once already and liked their style. This plus the fact that the Baen Books are DRM free really make it a nice source for materials.
The latest generation of Sony readers (PRS-505) is a nice progression for me. Faster page turn times with more on board space is a nice plus. My wife now has my older PRS-500 and the seemingly endless stream of Paper Romance books has stopped! As prices drop on subsequent models I am sure that I will also move my kids over to that style of reading as well.
No matter what one thought of his works, we should remember that what was posted was about the passing of a man that has touched thousands of souls. Whether for good or ill, the fact that he has reached so many deserves some measure of consideration and respect. If nothing else but to contrast our own passing in this journey, we could hope that our own foosteps will leave behind a fragment of the memory that this soul has done.
To the detractors I say, perhaps if you would look upon yourself and wonder what those you have touched would utter at your own passing, perhaps some charity and kindness would not be un-deserved.
The v1.5 gen readers are now out but in limited supply. I am interested in the Sony Reader product but they're hard to find around and the +$300 price is still a big lump to swallow. One real saving grace is that I can now pack a lot more reference material in an easily searchable format without having to power up my notebook. Or even as a side reference without stealing screen space on my notebook or desktop.
I'm just now going through my collect pile of trade paperbacks and I have over 500+ of them. I'm finally going to sell them off to a used bookstore to save space. Well almost all of them. The really good ones are going to stay...
This is my question as well. I'm not sure just what they're going to make... Also have they made a new flexible conductor/logic unit (as referenced by 'circuit' in the article) based on plastic? Or are they merely putting the copper traces on plastic instead of traditional PCB? I wonder who makes the eInk displays now? I know the Sony is using them for their new readers but I am not sure where manufacturing is happening.
The whole idea of censoring the net (or anything else for that matter) is useless. Instead, how about focusing on how the child is raised and making the parents more culpable for their kids. After all, isn't that what a parent is supposed to be about?
First off; I work in a role where I run a Tech Services organization that services both small and large enterprise so gauge my response as such.
Your question shows me that you're primarily technical and not so much on the business end of things. You talk of service functions and not necessarily the back-office issues that will accompany your growth. While I understand your position and viewpoint, I must stress that in order to sustain what you build, aside from the tech, you MUST address back office and operations issues.
Large enterprise usually has demands in terms of service and account maintenance. In order to remain viable you must not only understand the people that you will interact with on a technical level but the business stakeholders as well. If your company's costs show up as a line item on a budget with out any mindshare from decision makers, you will find that ultimate service doesn't matter.
Sad but true. I've see many other companies maintain accounts by diligent relationship management. They're tech service personnel aren't sterling but the way they handle preception is. (how sad/pathetic is that)
Some of the advice on the methods give so far are also good. One more suggestion is that if you embark on learning these things, you must also attempt to USE them internally so that you can understand them at in multiple ways. Incident Management for example; Take a look at a ticketing system like Request Tracker. Stand it up and use it to manage service requests. Then dive into the SQL and write some queries and views that can be used for billing support. Then improve the classifications used on the tickets to give better customer guidance. That one step offers you both technical service delivery benefits and also back-office operations support.
Well, I should stop giving away the crown jewels. G'Luck on your efforts!
Bravo! I agree with the idea but as most of the others moaning about cost in this issue, it will, of course necessitate additional costs. If you really want to look at root cause on this and effect change then this should be something that is ingrained into our children in the early education years (mid to HS).
Actually it goes one level deeper. It's not just the access to the information but the ability to properly classify and then enforce document controls. If you think in terms of the old paper methods, there were entire sub-organizations dedicated to the publication of information and its maintenance and management. When everything started to go digital, those roles and processes seemed to have been lost in the translation. Factor in the constantly decreasing cost of storage and we see the glut of 'stuff' that exists in storage silos all over the place.
Granted that Gov and Mil are usually better at classifying their information but the access vectors to this information has changed. We no longer have to walk into a public building and sign in to get paper (although a digital simulacrum pervades) it's posted and made readily available. This is in the 'finished' incarnation of the document. How about the 'in progress' work? Which is one of the locuses of the issue at hand. People taking work out of their office environments into the 'wild'.
I HATE to say it but this is where DRM would be useful. Tied to roles and responsibility defined (hopefully) in a rational directory, document destruction could be automated. That leads me to another research question; Does TPM have a handshake with DRM?
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I agree with you on the perspective of "before its time". I also have a couple of Touchstreams and I use them extensively. I only use the tactile units when I game as the driver response time on the touchstreams are not optimal for gaming.
Cost was a barrier to adoption with the Fingerworks product I now use. I remember that when I bought my Touchstream LP keyboards that I paid over $250 (usd) a unit for them. Then again, they are VERY durable and extremely functional. Even with the company gone I have still be successful with them over the years.
On my touchstreams, the pads are split and rest on a metal stand to allow of ergo placements of hands. Very comfortable!
I disagree. It depends on how you represent finger positions in relation to the location on the GUI. Lots of methods to make that unobstructed and even 'submerged' until signaled to surface by a gesture or touch on the device. Also scrolling can be as simple as holding down a set of digits to the pad and moving around. This is how it works right now with the Touchstream input device I am using (yes it's multi-touch)
Actually you could use a chord to do this. Right or left hand is held down in a chord style placement upon the appropriate side of the pad and this will cause the mouse sensitivity to change while the chord is held. Moving the chord up or down can vary the sensitivity of motion as well.
My Touchstream detects multiple clicks. When I press down with to fingers on the left side pad it's a left click. When I press with three it's treated as a double click. When I press with index-middle-thumb combination it reads a right click... So detecting multiple simultaneous clicks and even secondary clicks while holding down some fingers is also discernable by resistive devices.
This is a nice revisit to the technology but even now I am using a multi-touch interface to type this comment. I was luck enough to be an early adopter and have a few of the now defunct FingerWorks LLP products. Notably my two TouchStream LPs and an iGesture pad. Unlike the displayed product my keyboard/mouse has two pads and is arranged in an ergonomic arrangement (see image: http://pcworld.in/uploads/images/pcworld/4915355_15.jpg).
There are some finger markers to let you find the home row by touch. I move the mouse with two fingers on the right side of the screen and control the cursor in applications with two fingers on the right. There are a number of programmed gestures that allow for a great deal of task automation in stead of multiple click and drags.
I love the device but it does have limitations. Response time is not so great for gaming as you have the Gesture interpreter layer to contend with. There is a game mode for the device but I've rarely used it. I still mis-type a lot but then the driver also helps and makes a lot of corrections automatically based on what word I am typing. In my case it's usually about 90% correct when it fixes my typos.
I loved the GUI interaction metaphors that the video describes. I hope that older versions of devices like the one I have will get grandfathered in to design considerations or even further development!
I'm an example of it. I've sat in all of the chairs in various IT Department sizes and I don't have my BS or BA in anything. Although I do still wish to pursue it as a personal goal and not so much as a career builder. I have obtained some certifications that I felt were worthwhile (CISSP and CISA) but haven't gone the pure vendor specific cert route.
Just to set the reality of my statement; I was the CTO and architect of the Shipyard in Philadelphia and held other V/C Level titles as well. In my current life 'phase' I chose to prioritize quality of life over bucks. Plus I like doing 'pure' engineering work and actually working with the technologies as much (if not more) than the management side of IT.
* claps *
I agree with all of the points on this post. I also have a LOT of books that I've gathered since my teens and I know that I am just starting to phase them out as they take up too much space. Between my wife (who is a voracious reader of those 'romance novel' things) we must have over 1500 books. And those are just the leisure reading. If you add my tech library and my three daughters libraries to that it's just really insane.
I started using the first gen Sony PRS-500 a couple of years back and I've never looked back. I take all of the stuff that I find online that is really good reading and I just print them into BeBB/LRF format and I can have them to enjoy as often as I wish. This really brings a nice close to the circle that UUCP based mailing lists for writing that I started to read waaaaay back in the 300 baud modem days. Today there are so many alternative outlets for reading materials online (ie. Gutenberg Project) that the ability to 'publish' them in a portable format that is truly usable comes a lot closer to the promise that eBooks offer. Just recently I found out about the Baen Free Library and I've been a frequent visitor to that site and I get to try a whole bunch of authors I never had a chance to in the past with out have to shell out 5-7 bucks for the book. The ones I like, I usually pony up the 5-6 bucks for the sequels or other stories they write as I have confidence in the fact that I have read them once already and liked their style. This plus the fact that the Baen Books are DRM free really make it a nice source for materials.
The latest generation of Sony readers (PRS-505) is a nice progression for me. Faster page turn times with more on board space is a nice plus. My wife now has my older PRS-500 and the seemingly endless stream of Paper Romance books has stopped! As prices drop on subsequent models I am sure that I will also move my kids over to that style of reading as well.
No matter what one thought of his works, we should remember that what was posted was about the passing of a man that has touched thousands of souls. Whether for good or ill, the fact that he has reached so many deserves some measure of consideration and respect. If nothing else but to contrast our own passing in this journey, we could hope that our own foosteps will leave behind a fragment of the memory that this soul has done.
To the detractors I say, perhaps if you would look upon yourself and wonder what those you have touched would utter at your own passing, perhaps some charity and kindness would not be un-deserved.
The v1.5 gen readers are now out but in limited supply. I am interested in the Sony Reader product but they're hard to find around and the +$300 price is still a big lump to swallow. One real saving grace is that I can now pack a lot more reference material in an easily searchable format without having to power up my notebook. Or even as a side reference without stealing screen space on my notebook or desktop.
I'm just now going through my collect pile of trade paperbacks and I have over 500+ of them. I'm finally going to sell them off to a used bookstore to save space. Well almost all of them. The really good ones are going to stay...
This is my question as well. I'm not sure just what they're going to make... Also have they made a new flexible conductor/logic unit (as referenced by 'circuit' in the article) based on plastic? Or are they merely putting the copper traces on plastic instead of traditional PCB? I wonder who makes the eInk displays now? I know the Sony is using them for their new readers but I am not sure where manufacturing is happening.
The whole idea of censoring the net (or anything else for that matter) is useless. Instead, how about focusing on how the child is raised and making the parents more culpable for their kids. After all, isn't that what a parent is supposed to be about?
First off; I work in a role where I run a Tech Services organization that services both small and large enterprise so gauge my response as such.
Your question shows me that you're primarily technical and not so much on the business end of things. You talk of service functions and not necessarily the back-office issues that will accompany your growth. While I understand your position and viewpoint, I must stress that in order to sustain what you build, aside from the tech, you MUST address back office and operations issues.
Large enterprise usually has demands in terms of service and account maintenance. In order to remain viable you must not only understand the people that you will interact with on a technical level but the business stakeholders as well. If your company's costs show up as a line item on a budget with out any mindshare from decision makers, you will find that ultimate service doesn't matter.
Sad but true. I've see many other companies maintain accounts by diligent relationship management. They're tech service personnel aren't sterling but the way they handle preception is. (how sad/pathetic is that)
Some of the advice on the methods give so far are also good. One more suggestion is that if you embark on learning these things, you must also attempt to USE them internally so that you can understand them at in multiple ways. Incident Management for example; Take a look at a ticketing system like Request Tracker. Stand it up and use it to manage service requests. Then dive into the SQL and write some queries and views that can be used for billing support. Then improve the classifications used on the tickets to give better customer guidance. That one step offers you both technical service delivery benefits and also back-office operations support.
Well, I should stop giving away the crown jewels. G'Luck on your efforts!
The pyro would be the big finale!
Bravo! I agree with the idea but as most of the others moaning about cost in this issue, it will, of course necessitate additional costs. If you really want to look at root cause on this and effect change then this should be something that is ingrained into our children in the early education years (mid to HS).
Actually it goes one level deeper. It's not just the access to the information but the ability to properly classify and then enforce document controls. If you think in terms of the old paper methods, there were entire sub-organizations dedicated to the publication of information and its maintenance and management. When everything started to go digital, those roles and processes seemed to have been lost in the translation. Factor in the constantly decreasing cost of storage and we see the glut of 'stuff' that exists in storage silos all over the place. Granted that Gov and Mil are usually better at classifying their information but the access vectors to this information has changed. We no longer have to walk into a public building and sign in to get paper (although a digital simulacrum pervades) it's posted and made readily available. This is in the 'finished' incarnation of the document. How about the 'in progress' work? Which is one of the locuses of the issue at hand. People taking work out of their office environments into the 'wild'. I HATE to say it but this is where DRM would be useful. Tied to roles and responsibility defined (hopefully) in a rational directory, document destruction could be automated. That leads me to another research question; Does TPM have a handshake with DRM?