There was a paper some years ago about building the file system in such a manner that smaller files were placed on an SSD ( 1 MB) and large files were placed on a harddisk. At that time, SSDs were a lot smaller than today though.

Generally, it can make sense to discriminate your files because they don't all have the same space and access characteristics. Maybe 100 files is taking up 90% of the space compared to the other 9900 files. Maybe it's similar for the access pattern.

Still, for the idea to fly, you need to a robust algorithm and it needs to be clever about the strengths of the hardware. For instance, SSDs aren't so hot at random writes, sadly. Less than 0.1 msec write time would be neat for an ACID database.

I did some quick googling to be sure, but it's not even SecuROM. Just a plain ol' DVD check.

$72? Where are you getting that figure from? Are you outside the US and have ugly exchange rates or something?

Also, there is the standard edition that is $10 cheaper:
http://www.impulsedriven.com/masseffect2

Ah yes, because watching graphics through a couple Mb/s video stream is just like the real thing.

Yeah, and I use that (or similar) in all my PHP stuff. It's still a bit of a hack. Not as bad as most, but something that really should be just in the language.

They need to double the price, and market it to triathletes. We seem to love having all kinds of data, and a powertap hub is like crack. Once you start getting wattage, you are lost to the world. Imagine what this would do....

Actually, step one is they have to agree it's really a bug. Could be somebody's warped idea of a feature, you know.

You must be kidding. You think your iPad is going to last 30 years?
I acutally have a 12 year old computer. It still works, but I am on power supply 4, motherboard 2, LAN card 3 (one upgrade was for speed), HDD 4 (ony one partial failure) and who knows what CD drive, probably 14. I realize you wont have moving parts in your iPad, but that thing will have a hard time lasting 5 years, without being dropped, or just failing. Are you sure you can change the battery? Is the DRM for your games still going to work? And is the NAND going to last 30 years?

Looking at the board game boxes I have, I doubt a rock could take that much abuse combined over 30 years.

And considering the number of iPods that don't make it 5 years, I am certain that I can count on both hands the total number of iPads that are still usable after 30 years use.

It's not quite that simple either. People have 12 babies because they assume that the majority of them are going to die before the age of 5. However, if you lower the infant mortality rate and the expectation of infant mortality, you actually reduce the number of children born because you can reasonably assume you'll be able to raise each child to adulthood. At least, that's what they argue in this recent TED talk http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jane_chen_a_warm_embrace_that_saves_lives.html

Tons of comments here about how it's a waste to use a $500 computer to play a simple board game... And rightly so, I'd say. It seems like a real stretch, looking for a defense of the iPad. But... if you ignore the cost issue and look beyond traditional board games I think this is an interesting idea.

Basically - you could play a "board-game" style game on just about any kind of computer - but some are better than others. If I play chess or scrabble with someone next to me, using my phone as the game board, then we pretty much have to switch back and forth - meaning that when one person is taking their turn, it's difficult for other people to think about theirs. A game console like the Wii or PS3 also works, but these tend to be fixed in location, which isn't ideal - plus everyone's focus is directed toward the single monitor, it diffuses the social aspect a bit, I think. A tablet-style machine like this presents a very tactile experience - a game board that's easy to gather around (as long as the display has a good viewing angle range), turn, move, etc. as necessary. In terms of how the interaction works, it is uniquely capable of presenting a game in the same way as a board game is presented.

Where this could be really neat, I think, is in terms of how this could potentially lead to different kinds of board-game-style games... Things that still work kind of like board games but take advantage of the computer's involvement, too. It'd be interesting to see how that could play out.

Since we're making wish lists, Multi-task(as an option at least) Multi-touch(IMO it makes navigating much easier) Long battery life(iPad length would be fine) Some standard ports, video out, usb, headphones,mic, hd out would be nice but not needed Open OS

DSMI is a library for building midi apps on the Nintendo DS and the iPhone, and also a server for win/linux/osx machines to swap data with the apps over the network. Also supports the newly-emerging OSC. There are already a few apps for the iPhone, so getting them running on the iPad (worst. name. ever.) should be trivial. It's pretty much the only reason I want one.

Numbered DIRECTIONS are different than numbered QUESTIONS.

So in conclusion, numbering (like slashdot comments) is either considered in context OR you're doing it wrong.

Nope. Very misleading headline and cardboard under a projector.

Cause increased carbon sequestration by bombarding the Earth with radiation! This also has the beneficial side-effect putting an eventual end to homocentric global warming.

I suspect that the family in question is no longer orthodox. I have repeatedly heard similar stories, in which people are happy to be members of ultra-conservative religious communities and espouse their intolerant philosophy, until the intolerance is inevitably turned upon them.