In the interests of fairness, I am deeply involved with the following website, so my views are obviously bias! Consider the interface at: www.mindports.com Basically, it is used to organize an arbitrary set of categories and sub-categories and sub-sub-categories etc. Each segment contains a brief text label. Once selected, a segment may expose an interface, perform an action etc. After reviewing the article, it occurs to me that we could place commands (or options) through-out a set of these categorical trees. The same command would appear "everywhere" it might reasonably be searched for by folks with different points of view and experience. The interface would allow folks to "find" their command rapidly no matter where it was placed. If we included a text search capability, we would also support die hard CLI lovers. What do you think? Cheers, Bruce.

Respectfully: I understand the idea you are getting at. It would be wonderful if computer scientists learned programming so they could see how things actually work. My problem with this theory is that it is absurd to think that anyone would learn anything "real" about programming by completing a couple of courses in university. As I recall one of my courses, we were to use the semester to build an ant colony simulation. By semester's end we were not even close to this goal. That inconvenient fact was not even mentioned as a potential problem in the "real world". I remember thinking that this type of approach explained a great deal of what was then (and to a large extent) still is wrong with the software industry. I promise I'm not a troll. I love programming etc., it's just that I was ruined for life because my first job was working for a consulting shop were we had to deliver working software on time and on budget. I was very young and green (I hadn't even returned to university to complete my degree yet) and have always believed as a consequence of my time there that software design should meet these criteria as much as possible. Cheers, Bruce.

Just kidding of course, but this reminds me of vampires :)

On a more serious note, what about some kind of sunscreen?

Cheers,
Bruce.

Now that sounds even better (since the membrane is currently used with gas).

Even though my response (especially since it involves a fairly thick fluid - not a gas) and yours may not be applicable at the moment, I think they both suggest distant goals that would change the world as we know it.

Cheers, Bruce.

I don't know why, but the first thing that came to my mind is that perhaps this could be used in an artificial heart. No moving parts (the valves anyway) and precise low power way to block and allow blood flow. Hmm...

Thank for this info!

It will be interesting to see if anything changes now that Apple has entered the fray.

Given what you have experienced, I suspect that video calling may never really gain traction. I find it interesting that folks who are happy to chat face to face find it uncomfortable to chat with one another "visually" using technology.

I have some personal experience with video calling. Many years ago I purchased a number of units to be used in conjunction with television sets. I gave them to family members so we could all keep in contact. Let's just say that this went over like a lead balloon. Everyone tried to use the system, but if anything went wrong, there was no attempt to get stuff working again. Clearly, the ability to make video calls just wasn't compelling.

Cheers
Bruce.

I had forgotten about UMTS 3G videocalling because (as far as I know) it never made it over to this side of the pond.

Has it "taken hold" where it is available? If so, has it lead (as far as you know) to folks purchasing videocalling equipped handsets for their family members?

TIA!
Bruce.

When I saw the demonstration of Facetime I could not help but think that I finally had a good reason to purchase an iPhone for my wife!! Secretly we'd all like our significant other to have an iPhone. Of course (being sensible) they don't "need" one.

Now we can buy them one!

Seriously, I think that this implementation of video calling has some major advantages over others:
1. You have the device with you all the time and it is ready to go with no preamble.
Other solutions (like Skype) require special equipment (a computer with video capabilities) and tie you down while you use them.
2. Having the second camera to show people what you see is actually pretty neat.
3. As with all things Apple, I suspect they have found the magic combination of physical hardware and targeted software that will make using their video phone a delight.

First of all, thanx for your reply! I think it raises some excellent issues.

I just want to clarify that I have not used jailbreaking to change carriers or avoid payments etc., I have only done so to allow me to use the device which I paid for in the way I wish to use it.

I have also been able to enjoy freedoms with the phone (like copy and paste) that were only introduced by Apple much later in the product cycle.

I hope this clarifies my position. I don't really understand why I should be required to purchase some other hardware (which would not otherwise be my choice) in order to use the device as I wish.

In the rest of our lives, when we buy something "real" like a house or car etc., we own it and are free (within the law) to change it, add to it, etc.

Are a small set of Apple's devices immune to this? If Apple is special, why do these limits not apply to MacBooks for example?

Cheers
Bruce.

I got a PC.
I found I could configure it endlessly. Tailor it perfectly. Oh, the Beauty!
My friends wanted to use their PCs. They got lost is a maze of configuration hell. Oh the Horror!

I got a MacBook.
*Gasp* I could barely configure it at all! The Horror!!
My friends didn't notice as they got down to Beautiful work.

I agree with everything Steve Jobs is trying to do with his devices. He lets us use them his way. Oh, and if we play ball they work! *Bonus*

I hate the constrains Steve Jobs puts on me!

Here's the secret... wait for it...
Steve knows (and I know he knows) that folks like me will ultimately thank him because:
1. Our friends don't have to constantly ask for our help to de-virus, un-malware, re-install the thing after they shoot themselves in the foot with it *Beauty!*
2. We just jailbreak the thing (the Horror and the Beauty) and now Steve (I bought the device) and I (I stepped out of the walled garden but won't blame Apple for any problems I have) are both happy.

Cheers,
Bruce.

I bet they're trying to figure out how to "thread the needle"?

On the one hand they need to ensure that no one thinks they take this lightly. On the other hand, they're likely sick of the negative press this incident has drawn.

I suggest that they opt for a public apology from Gizmodo as well as a large cash donation from Giz to a worthy charity.

Hmm...

Cheers,
Bruce.

The most essential difference between the iPad and the tablets PCs etc. that have come before is that Jobs and company have realized that the best way to sell the product is to take it out of the "computer" space. That way they don't have to compete with people's preconceived notions of what a computer is and what it should do. This isn't the first time they've done this. Think about it: the iPod wasn't sold as an MP3 player. It was sold as a way to carry all your music with you everywhere you went. Given the press at the time, it almost took an "I grock that" moment to recognize that the iPod was just a gussied up MP3 type player. Consider: the iPad is a "device" not a computer or a tablet. It lets the user download Apps, not run programs or even applications. It lets you consume content, not browse the web or even read. This is all just double speak, but recasting their product this way goes a long way to letting Apple frame the conversation in terms that they control. It also limits comparisons in customers' minds. Cheers, Bruce.

I have avoided responding to these types of posts for quite a while on the grounds that I am Canadian and no one appreciates it when a foreigner sticks their nose in where it does not belong. None the less, I feel like I just can't ignore this any more...

I spent some formative years in the US as a child and learned one thing above all that really stuck with me:
Government by the people for the people.

It would appear to me that the current Administration has utterly lost sight of this little idea. In addition, the Congress appears almost unwilling to exercise any form of government.

Now, in addition to all this, the federal government wants US citizens to carry "papers" (what else is an ID?) with them when they travel in their own country!

The terrorists had (and I'm sure could have again) these types of "papers". Even today various forms of ID (green cards, driver's licences) are available at major street corners if you have enough of your own papers (money).

It may be time for citizens to start staging civil protests.

Your representatives appear to be on an on-the-job holiday. Your Kin- er - *cough* President is named George and appears to have decided that he is a power unto himself (my favorite so far is the attempt to retroactively apply new laws). Your government has for years tortured foreign nationals and left them devoid of rights by dropping them onto a military base that isn't in the US.

Everytime one of these things is done, it is done in your name. Your fathers and mothers (along with those of folks in many other countries) died to ensure that nothing like this could ever happen in the US.

I was horrified and sorry when the Towers where attached, as were civilized people all over the earth. None the less, I doubt that those people are well served by having their country begin to resemble a government controlled armed camp! I imagine the only folks happy about this turn of events are those bastards in Al-Qaeda and their ilk.

Finally, perhaps I could and would remain silent were it not for the following:
1. I don't think any of the measures that have been taken or are being taken really heighten the individual security of US citizens.
2. I do think that many of the measures materially reduce your rights as free citizens. As these rights are removed so are your freedoms.
3. I think this kind of change and fear mongering could barely have been imagined in Al-Qaeda's fondest wet dreams.
4. I am terrified that by the time we all wake up from this nightmare it will be too late. The yolk will be firmly shacked around our necks.

Remember:
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

Write your congressmen or congresswoman. Write your state officials. Write the Whitehouse. It is your country and only you can let it slip away.

*GASP*
That was a damn sight more than I intended to say!