Technology catch-all thread

[Y2HH]

I can agree with that.

 

As for the multi-touch screen you mentioned earlier, that technology was purchased by Apple from a company called FingerWorks, along with all their patents, the entire company, and the founders were hired to work for Apple. It's not like they stole it from the dufus at Microsoft.

 

So tell me this...since you are obviously far more knowledgeable about this industry than me...if I come up with something like "slide to unlock", how difficult would it be for someone at say, HTC, to figure that out once he saw how it worked on my device?

 

Not hard.

 

With touchscreens it depends on the type, ie, resistive vs capacitive. At that point, all you have to do is see the idea and then program the competing device to accept input in that method, and that specific action would point to code that says "unlock", or whatever the case may be. It's a generalized idea in that it's all going to point to unlock code, however, the patentable part of this is the why/how you implemented it.

 

The real question isn't really in the code, that's easy to replicate...it's in the WHY did they implement it in the way they did?

 

Swiping from left to right, instead of say down to up is where the genius of the patent lies. Because, if you stick your phone in your pocket with the screen on, your leg is capacitive and could potentially unlock it if implemented with a up/down method. Because you don't put your phone in your pocket horizontally in practice, the horizontal swipe is what makes the idea/implementation smart/unique.

 

Actually coding the response to the command it is the simple part, why you would want to implement it in the way Apple did is where the true engineering/thought comes in.

[vandy125]

This is absolutely ridiculous! How does Apple get a patent on switching between applications while on a phone call?

 

Maybe someone can show me an explanation how this makes any sense at all.

Apple App-Switch Patent

[Balta1701]

Google has been granted patents now on a variety of methods for transitioning between a normal automobile driver and an automatic driving system, for things that are at best years away from ever coming to practical deployment.

[Balta1701]

Does anyone know how good of a job a Nook does at reading pdf files? (for example, if one loaded a scientific paper with images in color, would it be able to display the paper and interpret the images into grayscale if you didn't have the color version?)

[StrangeSox]

Does anyone know how good of a job a Nook does at reading pdf files? (for example, if one loaded a scientific paper with images in color, would it be able to display the paper and interpret the images into grayscale if you didn't have the color version?)

I can give it a try if you would like. I haven't tried with color pdfs, but it works fine with internet sites.

[Y2HH]

PDF, another proprietary format that needs to die a swift and painful death.

 

f*** Adobe for ever inventing that s*** and conning people into thinking it's a good idea. Adobe needs to stay away from anything that's not video/audio/photographic based software. Buggy garbage code just like Flash and one of the main things (along with Flash again) that opens your computer(s) to most backdoors, security exploits, etc.

[Balta1701]

I can give it a try if you would like. I haven't tried with color pdfs, but it works fine with internet sites.

If you could that's be great. If you need a file to test, pm me your email. I have hundreds.

 

Might be getting one for Xmas, but it's worthless to me if I can't use it to read journal papers, and I can't try it out easily on my own.

[StrangeSox]

Get my email?

[Balta1701]

Yes, thanks!

[BigSqwert]

Get a hotel room.

[StrangeSox]

: jealous:

 

[Swingandalongonetoleft]

PDF, another proprietary format that needs to die a swift and painful death.

 

f*** Adobe for ever inventing that s*** and conning people into thinking it's a good idea. Adobe needs to stay away from anything that's not video/audio/photographic based software. Buggy garbage code just like Flash and one of the main things (along with Flash again) that opens your computer(s) to most backdoors, security exploits, etc.

 

If .pdf went anywhere, I would curl up into a ball and weep like a child. Not that I'm particularly fond of it, but it makes my work so much easier.

[iamshack]

Anyone going to get a Nest thermostat?

 

Company was created by the lead designer of the iPod...looks really neat...apparently it "learns" from your usage adjusts to help save you money.

 

Pricey at $249. Currently sold out. Available on ebay at about $400.

 

Nest

[Balta1701]

Anyone going to get a Nest thermostat?

 

Company was created by the lead designer of the iPod...looks really neat...apparently it "learns" from your usage adjusts to help save you money.

 

Pricey at $249. Currently sold out. Available on ebay at about $400.

 

Nest

Seems like a useful item if you're in the group where you have a thermostat you can install but you never bother programming it. That said, wouldn't pay the ebay price for that sort of thing, sure to be more available in a few months.

[iamshack]

Seems like a useful item if you're in the group where you have a thermostat you can install but you never bother programming it. That said, wouldn't pay the ebay price for that sort of thing, sure to be more available in a few months.

Well mine is programmable, but it's not adjustable via the internet or my phone. And I have programmed it, but that's kind of like gettting you half-way there...I'm always overriding the programmed temps, based on changing habits or activities...what you really need is something you can adjust all the time, constantly, easily, without being at the house.

 

Considering the heat we have here, it would be a great thing to have more control when I am not at home...

[Balta1701]

Well mine is programmable, but it's not adjustable via the internet or my phone. And I have programmed it, but that's kind of like gettting you half-way there...I'm always overriding the programmed temps, based on changing habits or activities...what you really need is something you can adjust all the time, constantly, easily, without being at the house.

 

Considering the heat we have here, it would be a great thing to have more control when I am not at home...

Is this the only thermostat that is adjustable via internet/phone?

[iamshack]

Is this the only thermostat that is adjustable via internet/phone?

I am sure if it is, it wouldn't be for long...I know my company has one that has been installed in thousands of homes but they are waiting on the software still...the so-called "smart meter"

[Balta1701]

Verizon customers who make single payments by phone or online will be charged a $2 fee per payment starting January 15. The new fee is intended to offset the cost of processing these payments.

 

“The fee will help allow us to continue to support these single bill payment options in these channels,” Verizon said in a statement to Mashable.

 

Other Verizon payment options such as electronic check, AutoPay and payment kiosks are still free.

 

Customer representatives for Sprint and AT&T said that those companies charge no similar additional fee for paying by phone or online. The AT&T representative said there is, however, a fee for paying a bill through a customer service representative by phone.

Link

[bmags]

When I first heard this i thought it was saying any payments you made on your phone verizon would take a $2 cut. But now that I know it's just for paying your phone bill...then I don't care.

[iamshack]

Link

So the alternative is authorizing them to direct debit your account?

[Balta1701]

I kinda hope this does happen...because it'd make it darn near impossible to pass the bill, and it'd be an incredible sight to behold.

It was Google co-founder Sergey Brin who warned that the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act "would put us on a par with the most oppressive nations in the world." Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, Twitter co-founders Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone, and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman argue that the bills give the Feds unacceptable "power to censor the Web."

 

But these companies have yet to roll out the heavy artillery.

 

When the home pages of Google.com, Amazon.com, Facebook.com, and their Internet allies simultaneously turn black with anti-censorship warnings that ask users to contact politicians about a vote in the U.S. Congress the next day on SOPA, you'll know they're finally serious.

 

True, it would be the political equivalent of a nuclear option--possibly drawing retributions from the the influential politicos backing SOPA and Protect IP--but one that could nevertheless be launched in 2012.

 

"There have been some serious discussions about that," says Markham Erickson, who heads the NetCoalition trade association that counts Google, Amazon.com, eBay, and Yahoo as members. "It has never happened before." (See CNET's SOPA FAQ.)

[Balta1701]

So the alternative is authorizing them to direct debit your account?

Or the alternative is "6 hours of bad publicity".

The people (and government) have spoken and Verizon has listened -- and issued a press release. The carrier has officially backed off of the "single payment fee" that drew almost universal ire amongst subscribers and nabbed the attention of the FCC. Says Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead, "we believe the best path forward is to encourage customers to take advantage of the best and most efficient options, eliminating the need to institute the fee at this time." Looks like the company's gonna have get a couple of bucks from you another way. No word yet on whether the FCC plans to investigate Sprint's similar long-standing fee. Official statement after the break.

[Y2HH]

If .pdf went anywhere, I would curl up into a ball and weep like a child. Not that I'm particularly fond of it, but it makes my work so much easier.

 

There are superior alternatives, ones that don't fill your computer/network with backdoors/security holes, etc. Flash and Acrobat are bug ridden virus havens that hackers rely on 99% of the time in order to hack anyone.

[Whitewashed in '05]

There are superior alternatives, ones that don't fill your computer/network with backdoors/security holes, etc. Flash and Acrobat are bug ridden virus havens that hackers rely on 99% of the time in order to hack anyone.

Every time I look up there's another Adobe Reader update or Flash update. I actually stopped using Adobe Reader and use a different program to read PDFs. It's so bloated as well.

[Balta1701]

Every time I look up there's another Adobe Reader update or Flash update. I actually stopped using Adobe Reader and use a different program to read PDFs. It's so bloated as well.

Unfortunately, the pdf format is now so ingrained in the sciences it's going to be really hard to replace it, at least in my life. Most journals have spent 5+ years digitizing their archives, some of them going back 100+ years, and they've put them direclty into pdf format because everyone used it.