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Comment Re:You know ... (Score 1) 213

by xantonin (#50145993) Attached to: Apple Watch Still Waiting On App Developers

And this got cemented when they were selling the gold plated "gee but I'm a rich asshole" version. I'm pretty sure I've never heard a single person who could finish the sentence "I want a smart watch because ..." with anything substantive.

Android or Apple, I don't see any value in splashing out for something which they still are hoping someone will create the thing which makes it useful.

I wanted a smart watch because I wanted to track my sleep more accurately without putting my phone next to the bed and have it get knocked over, or have it be confused when my girlfriend moves but not me. I also like being able to track my fitness, and check the time and my calendar without waking my phone up. I also enjoy getting authentication codes without needing to wake up my phone, or pull it out of my pocket (why does this simple task become so burdensome?)

I agree it's not necessity, but neither are smart phones. It's just a convenient extension. However, it is not a $550 worth convenience. And this is why I got a Pebble Time and not any other kind of Smartwatch. It is interesting to see the new things people come up with.

I'd say once the price point reaches $60-100 dollars it is more affordable to justify such basic conveniences.

Comment Pebble Time (Score 5, Interesting) 213

by xantonin (#50145613) Attached to: Apple Watch Still Waiting On App Developers

Meanwhile, my Pebble Time, which was recently released, has a ton of apps on it. And it lasts for 7 days, is 30m water proof, has an accelerometer for fitness or sleep tracking, and a microphone for text responding or other features. Oh, and a color display.

It connects to Android AND Apple devices. I can control music from it, read texts, check my calendar, and something else too, I can't quite remember, I think it has to do with a clock.. Oh well.

Why would I want an Apple Watch for more than twice the cost again?

Comment Shark Fishing from Piers (Score 2) 92

by xantonin (#50047537) Attached to: Scientists Look For Patterns In North Carolina Shark Attacks

I'm surprised no one looked into Shark fishing from piers and shores as a possible cause of the Shark attacks.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/shark...

There are many other articles. It makes sense to me. If you lure sharks closer to the shore by throwing dead meat in the ocean then yeah they are probably going to attack swimmers. This is why some districts ban this. It clearly locates their feeding area (or their perception of it) closer to where legs are dangling in the ocean.

Why do people make things complicated?

Submission + - Supreme Court justices hold stock in tech vendors, other firms (pcworld.com)

Submitted by xantonin
xantonin writes: "Chief Justice John Roberts owned up to US $750,000 in shares of Time Warner and its subsidiaries at the time the media giant filed a brief in ABC v. Aereo, which broadcasters won 6-3 last June, with Roberts in the majority. Aereo was a start-up offering TV service to subscribers through specialized antenna farms."

Submission + - Valve sells out of pre-orders for Steam hardware (arstechnica.co.uk)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Valve has announced that it has sold out of units for the initial "get it early" offer (with its expected delivery on October 16). Any orders placed from now on will instead be delivered weeks later on November 10.

Comment Not All Fats are Equal (Score 1) 244

by xantonin (#49984795) Attached to: High-Fat, High-Sugar Diet Can Lead To Cognitive Decline

This seems rather unfair. There has been a lot of research about some fats actually being good for you and trans fats are bad. Perhaps a new name needs to be given to fats since fats are ESSENTIAL to the diet for brain health, which would seem to contradict what this article is stating without further clarification.

Grain Brain is a good book on healthy fats and the impact of CARBS on brain health. Note that here Carbs is referenced as a whole, and not just sugars - seems backwards of this study which perhaps more accurately should be "High Trans Fat and Carbs can lead to cognitive decline" which is nothing new.

Submission + - Fusion reactor concept could be cheaper than coal (washington.edu)

Submitted by vinces99
vinces99 writes: Fusion energy almost sounds too good to be true – zero greenhouse gas emissions, no long-lived radioactive waste, a nearly unlimited fuel supply. Perhaps the biggest roadblock to adopting fusion energy is that the economics haven’t penciled out. Fusion power designs aren’t cheap enough to outperform systems that use fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas.

University of Washington engineers hope to change that. They have designed a concept for a fusion reactor that, when scaled up to the size of a large electrical power plant, would rival costs for a new coal-fired plant with similar electrical output. The team published its reactor design and cost-analysis findings last spring and will present results Oct. 17 at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Fusion Energy Conference in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Submission + - U.S. Remains Top Country for Global Workers (dice.com)

Submitted by Nerval's Lobster
Nerval's Lobster writes: The Boston Consulting Group and The Network recently surveyed 200,000 people in 189 countries to figure out the global willingness to work abroad. Their conclusion? People will indeed set down professional roots in another country—although younger workers seem far more willing to expatriate than their older peers. Where do the majority of global workers want to head? The United States, which 42 percent of respondents listed as their top potential work destination, followed by the U.K. (37 percent), Canada (35 percent), Germany (33 percent), Switzerland (29 percent), and France (29 percent). But citizens in the United States seemed a bit more reluctant to return the favor—less than 50 percent said they either lived abroad or would consider doing so for work. That’s in sharp contrast to countries such as France, where a significant majority of citizens seemed willing to explore jobs in other nations. Of course, those who work in tech already know that globalization is a huge issue.

Submission + - The Greatest Keyboard Ever Made

Submitted by HughPickens.com
HughPickens.com writes: Adi Robertson writes at The Verge that next year, IBM's Model M keyboard turns 30 but to many people, it’s still the only keyboard worth using. Introduced in 1985 as part of the IBM 3161 terminal, the Model M was initially called the "IBM Enhanced Keyboard." A PC-compatible version appeared the following spring, and it officially became standard with the IBM Personal System / 2 in 1987. The layout of the Model M has been around so long that today it’s simply taken for granted but the keyboard’s descendents have jettisoned one of the Model M’s most iconic features — "buckling springs," designed to provide auditory and tactile feedback to the keyboard operator. "Model M owners sometimes ruefully post stories of spouses and coworkers who can’t stand the incessant chatter. But fans say the springs’ resistance and their audible "click" make it clear when a keypress is registered, reducing errors," writes Robertson. "Maybe more importantly, typing on the Model M is a special, tangible experience. Much like on a typewriter, the sharp click gives every letter a physical presence."

According to Robertson, the Model M is an artifact from a time when high-end computing was still the province of industry, not pleasure. But while today's manufacturers have long since abandoned the concept of durability and longevity, refurbished Model M's are still available from aficionados like Brandon Ermita, a Princeton University IT manager who recovers them from supply depots and recycling centers and sells them through his site, ClickyKeyboards. "For the very few that still appreciate the tactile feel of a typewriter-based computer keyboard and can still appreciate the simplicity of black letters on white keys, one can still seek out and own an original IBM model M keyboard — a little piece of early computing history," says Ermita. As one Reddit user recently commented, "Those bastards are the ORIGINAL gaming keyboards. No matter how much you abuse it, you’ll die before it does."

Submission + - What You Might Not Know About 'Getting Roofied' (nymag.com)

Submitted by Lasrick
Lasrick writes: Although based on anecdotal evidence, this article describes the rise in the number of people who report having been "roofied"--that is, having had a drug slipped into their drinks by bartenders, acquaintances, etc. Men are reporting the experience at increasing rates, and the drug of choice isn't necessarily rohypnol: Reported drugs include '...GHB (or “liquid Ecstasy”), Zolpidem (also known as Ambien), scopolamine, and a few lesser-known benzodiazepines, like temazepam or midazolam. It is probably no longer accurate to say “She was roofied” — but then “She was midazolamed” lacks a certain something.' Although sexual assault doesn't seem always to be the intent, it's a pretty appalling phenomenon.

Submission + - AMD Building New GPU Linux Kernel Driver To Unify With Catalyst Driver (phoronix.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: AMD is moving forward with their plans to develop a new open-source Linux driver model for their Radeon and FirePro graphics processors. Their unified Linux driver model is moving forward albeit slightly different compared to what was planned early this year as they're now developing a new "AMDGPU" kernel driver to power both the open and closed-source graphics components. This new driver model will also only apply to future generations of AMD GPUs, Catalyst is not being open-source but will be a self-contained user-space blob, and the DRM/libdrm/DDX components will be open-source and shared. This new model is more open-source friendly, places greater emphasis on their mainline kernel driver, and should help Catalyst support Mir and Wayland.

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