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GeekNights 080616 - Tech News Roundup

AprecheApreche
edited June 2008 in GeekNights
Tonight on GeekNights, it's a tech news roundup! The iPhone 3g is in the house. Bacteria evolve before our eyes. Open source development tools kick ass. Get Firefox 3 on Tuesday the 17th. Green plugs also kick ass. Email return receipts are silly. Metered Internet might be in the future.

Scott's Thing - Best of 2600
Rym's Thing - Fake News
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Comments

  • AprecheApreche
    If I missed a news link, let me know.
  • DkongDkong
    FYI, that "send someone out to hole 1, then the next group to hole 3" idea is already quasi-implemented at most golf courses. Though I don't think it's quite hole skipping like that. It's just that they'll send some groups out to the back 9 and some groups out to the front 9.

    My dad's a big golfer, that's how I know all this BS...if you guys were wondering.
  • AprecheApreche
    FYI, that "send someone out to hole 1, then the next group to hole 3" idea is already quasi-implemented at most golf courses. Though I don't think it's quite hole skipping like that. It's just that they'll send some groups out to the back 9 and some groups out to the front 9.
    Yeah, I know that. I'm talking about completely redesigning the course to make play fast and easy.
  • Linkigi(Link-ee-jee)Linkigi(Link-ee-jee)
    A Michigan State fan, eh? Well, I may as well start a flame war then.
    *ahem*

    Hail! To the victors valiant,
    Hail! To the conquering heroes,
    Hail! Hail! To Michigan, the leaders and the best!

    Hail! To the victors valiant,
    Hail! To the conquering heroes,
    Hail! Hail! TO Michigan, the champions of the West!

    GO BLUE!
  • JayJay
    The evolution news is epic. Finally I have something to point too directly to say "That is what evolution is. Observed, undeniable." I know the counter argument is going to be its a big leap from bacteria to monkey. But its a god of the margins, and things like this add a whole lot of ink to the book.
  • GreatTeacherMacRossGreatTeacherMacRoss
    Our Internet is tiered already, which I found out yesterday from a cable repair guy. I found out that what they're doing is making higher speeds available to commercial users, and essentially leaving residential connectivity as-is. I have no problem with this, actually, since he also said that future plans included increasing speeds on all three levels each time a faster type is introduced. For example, when the next fastest type of cable connectivity is activated, the commercial tier gets that, and what the commercial tier had gets bumped down automatically to the consumer level. They also divided the consumer levels so that there would be less traffic on each node. All in all, not a bad thing.

    But the pay-for-bits thing is absolute bullshit, especially for gamers. Gaming online works so differently from just downloading information, and I agree with Leo on TWiT when he said Devorak was totally wrong and that the providers are greedily rubbing their hands together in an attempt to make money off of semantics and bullshit.
  • RymRym
    edited June 2008
    The pay-for-bits thing is absolute bullshit, especially for gamers.
    The pay-per-gallon of water thing is absolute bullshit, especially for swimmers. The pay-per-kilowatt hour thing is bullshit, especially for solderers and hobbyists.

    ^_~

    The only reason this is going on is that what you want - unlimited bandwidth - is not possible at the prices you're currently willing to pay. It never was. The only reason you could even get what you have now was that the majority of the other people on your ISP weren't using what they paid for.

    Old ladies are subsidizing your connection. Old ladies were once the majority. They're quickly becoming the minority, and the links can't keep up.
    Post edited by Rym on
  • RymRym
    A Michigan State fan, eh? Well, I may as well start a flame war then.
    Sorry to disappoint, but I'm only a fan of the school, not of their... "teams." ^_~
  • ......
    Concerning the search for a word/phrase concerning nails and the evolving bacteria. I think we can say it's Simon's Drill that pierced the heavens.
  • JayJay
    Concerning the search for a word/phrase concerning nails and the evolving bacteria. I think we can say it's Simon's Drill that pierced the heavens.
    ...why didnt I think of that. GG sir.
  • TaselTasel
    edited June 2008
    Just a note on ipod cases...
    • Metal cases are terrible for an ipod/iphone. They end up being dented and end up causing more damage in catastrophic failure than a (hard) plastic case would. Saw this a bunch of times at the Genius bar. Not pretty.
    • Probably the most rough and touch cases for the iPods that I saw and recommended back in the day are the Ottercase (waterproof) and the Marware Sportsuit Convertible (soft/hardish case) The Marware case is very versatile and with it's "hard" cover and armband options can withstand most bumps, bruises and the occasional tree. Unfortunately for iPhone/iPod Touch, the ottercase fails for protection (unlike it's iPod brethren that's completely covered) due to it's touch screen, however it's waterproof.
    There's tons and ton's of other iPhone related stuff. Might make another thread to combine it all.

    EDIT: Went looking for the links (and added them in above). In addition to the Ottercase now not really having the entire hard cover, it looks like Marware got rid of the hard flip top cover for the iPhone as well. That detachable cover is what made it stand out among the ipod cases.
    Post edited by Tasel on
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    That fake story bit was brilliant!
  • CHOIS CHOIS CHOISCHOIS CHOIS CHOIS
    The iPhone comes with a dock.
  • AprecheApreche
    The iPhone comes with a dock.
    Sweet.
  • AndrewAndrew
    Can anyone recommend a good waterproof iPod case and ear phones? One of the main reasons I stopped swimming is that it's so boring going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth... When you do around two thousand meters a work out that's a lot of laps! I need something that won't interfere with my strokes though...
  • AprecheApreche
    Can anyone recommend a good waterproof iPod case and ear phones? One of the main reasons I stopped swimming is that it's so boring going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth... When you do around two thousand meters a work out that's a lot of laps! I need something that won't interfere with my strokes though...
    If you could get some waterproof bluetooth headphones, that would do the trick. No interfering with the strokes, and you could leave the player on the side of the pool. The problem is that iPods don't support A2DP, not even the iPhone. There are many people not buying the new iPhone because of the lack of A2DP.
  • TaselTasel
    edited June 2008
    For swimming h2oaudio might have some that meet your needs. They make waterproof cases and earphones that work with the iPods.
    Post edited by Tasel on
  • AprecheApreche
    For swimmingh2oaudiomight have some that meet your needs. They make waterproof cases and earphones that work with the iPods.
    Yeah, their shuffle products look good. So obvious, using a shuffle for sports.
  • AndrewAndrew
    For swimmingh2oaudiomight have some that meet your needs. They make waterproof cases and earphones that work with the iPods.
    Yeah, their shuffle products look good. So obvious, using a shuffle for sports.
    Looking at their headset product with the earphones and case, I wonder how heavy that is an how well it stays on. I don't this thing flying off when I do flip turns.
  • Rolf SoldaatRolf Soldaat
    I accidentally downloaded firefox 3 before 17:00 gmt, so I had to convince my parents to get it too.
  • Li_AkahiLi_Akahi
    edited June 2008
    When is Firefox 3 available? I am currently running the beta right now.Never mind.
    Post edited by Li_Akahi on
  • Conan-SanConan-San
    edited June 2008
    I downloaded FireFox 3. Tell me, is having bold text in Wikipedia and the synopsis in Google search results normal?

    Also, The isp companies better be offering everything up to and including amazing acts of oral sexual pleasure for to getting people to come around to the idea of an Internet utility bill.
    Certainly know that's what It'll take for me.

    I do realise it's unrealistic to expect unlimited, but is it unrealistic for truth in advertisement?
    Post edited by Conan-San on
  • jei-senseijei-sensei
    Your talk about e-mail receipts reminded me of a news story from Japan that I saw recently. Got to love email addiction and paranoia about someone not reading your emails and not sending emails back. The story is written up on my blog here.
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    Firefox 3.... everything seems smaller yet bolder. I'm sure I'll be used to it by tomorrow.
  • NeitoNeito
    2600 is still around, but I haven't picked up an issue in over a year.
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    Did anyone else have a floppy disc for the Amiga called Jolly Roger's Cookbook?
  • beefturkeybeefturkey
    edited June 2008
    In Australia and New Zealand there is no such thing as real unlimited internet. It's pay for a limit e.g. 10Gbs for $50, if you go over that then either the isp limit the speeds down to dial up (free) or charge like 10 cents per mb for the excess. We did have like unlimited for like a year before it was dropped because it wasn't real unlimited (there was a really stupid fair use policy where they had the right to disconnect you and limit your speed whenever the isp wanted if you had downloaded more then 700mb a day) and it was stupid slow. The best deal currently avaliable is like a connection and service fee of $30 then it's 1/10 of a cent for each mb you use upto like 50Gb. The major telecomunication company here of telstra and telecom have basically a monopoly as they put in place all of the infustructure so its their prices and plans or nothing. Lastly there is infact only one major communication line through the ocean which the cable run that all of New Zealand and Australia share (excluding satilite). When there was the earthquake between the coast of Bali and Sir lanka (2005) it broke that line and we had no net connect to the US for like a week.
    Post edited by beefturkey on
  • lackofcheeselackofcheese
    edited June 2008
    Yeah, some of what you say is true, beefturkey, but not entirely. There are some plans that are true unlimited, but mostly they come from dodgy ISPs the names of which you would otherwise never hear. If you want to know anything about Internet in Australia, go to whirlpool.net.au.

    Personally, I'm on a plan that gets me a total of 40GB during peak hours and 110GB during off-peak hours for $70 Australian per month. Also, I am out of contract and am freely able to switch up and down to other plans. My computer stays on almost 24/7 and torrents are scheduled to go really fast only during off-peak hours, for the most part. This is pretty much the best you can do if you want as much download as you can get for a reasonable price in Australia. The plan you mention is interesting (I guess you're in NZ), but for me my $70 for 150GB is better than $30 + $1/GB. If there was a plan that was closer to $10 + $0.7/GB, I'd consider that instead.

    Also, while the "last mile" is owned pretty much exclusively by Telstra, from the DSLAM onwards the ISPs in Australia have a lot more they can do. Plus, since the current rate they have to pay Telstra to use the high-speed part of the phone lines is only $2.50 per month, competition can really arise. Please see my post in the Internet Caps thread for a bit more info (I spent a fair amount of effort on that). Perhaps continue the discussion there if you desire, it is more focused.
    Post edited by lackofcheese on
  • Li_AkahiLi_Akahi
    Bacteriaevolve before our eyes.
    Your drill is a drill that will pierce the heavens!
  • Lord MoonstoneLord Moonstone
    I'd like to make it clear that indeed the iPhone CAN download podcasts easily and efficiently; however this requires jailbreaking. There is little to no risk in jailbreaking an iPhone, since you can use Factory Restore in iTunes, which will unbrick it if anything happens.
    I have done this to my iPod Touch, and there is an application called MobileCast. This application lets you enter an RSS, and download the media files from it and has its own built-in player aside from the "Music" app that comes with the iPhone. As long as you have a Wi-Fi connection, you can download any file. I haven't sync'd my iPod Touch since I first got it, and I'm not looking back.
    Another "spiffy" thing is the method of getting these applications. Once you jailbreak, there is an app called "Installer" that is found on your menu. This functions like Synaptic Package Manager in Ubuntu in that you can sort applications and install them directly from an internet connection.
    I cannot recommend an iPhone enough if you listen to podcasts, and with this new price drop, now there's no reason not to.
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