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Comment: Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget (Score 1) 464

by Chatsubo (#40039369) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Wrist Watch For the Tech Minded

I agree with you that as a geek gadget watches don't do it as well as phones or PDA's.

But I don't see wristwatches as jewelery. I wear one, usually not a very fashionable or expensive one. I try to get something expensive enough to last. I've found cheaper ones break, rubber straps degrade over time, etc. So when looking for a timepiece I've got very utilitarian guidelines. Stuff like "the strap must be metal" because those last forever. It must be big enough to tell the time quickly but not be so huge as to be in the way - like the fashionable ones - stuff like that. Looking good does count but not as much as other attributes.... Which is why I'd call those the geek criteria for a watch.

I don't buy the (not your, the) "your phone is just as good as a watch" argument and to be blunt I'm a bit dumbfounded by it. Grappling around for a phone in my pocket and unlocking the screen, etc. just to see the time is actually a burden and a clumsy way to get the time.

Thus, I'd say use the unix philosophy: One tool to do one thing well: I'd get a normal everyday timepiece. The point is to be able to lift your arm and tell the time instantly. That's what it's for: glancing. The moment you spend more time than that on your watch with added fancy geekery, I'd say a smartphone is a better tool.

Comment: Re:Natural Clues (Score 4, Interesting) 103

by Chatsubo (#39708763) Attached to: Drugged Honeybees Do the Time Warp

My anecdote would be one time I nodded off for a nap, and woke to orange light outside my window, my watch indicating around 7 o'clock. I suddenly 'realized' I'd overslept and leapt from my bed in a frenzy trying to get ready for work, I rushed into the kitchen going "I'm late!"..... when my stunned S/O pointed out that it's "7 pee em" and my sense of time started to return, I had to completely re-orient myself. I looked down and foolishly realised I was already dressed, and she was making dinner, not breakfast.

I don't think we really are able to track time when asleep, we just assume when we wake up it must be morning because we've been doing it all our lives. At least, that's what happened to me that time.

Comment: Re:Quick Answer (Score 1) 195

by Chatsubo (#39534955) Attached to: Qualcomm Calls To 'Kill All Proprietary Drivers For Good'

H3D, no. But after fiddling I got the e-d + iz3d combo to work, only in interlaced mode, significantly slower than my card usually runs, looks not so pretty (because of interlacing obviously). Watched some SC2 cutscenes in 3D, does work and looks coolish. Not what I was used to in the past, but better than nothing. :)

Comment: Re:Quick Answer (Score 1) 195

by Chatsubo (#39520215) Attached to: Qualcomm Calls To 'Kill All Proprietary Drivers For Good'

Well I went home yday thinking maybe I should try again, see what's out there...

Downloaded the iz3d driver, and they've dropped support for shutter glasses completely. Hmkay, let's try interleaved.

Then ofc the glasses didn't activate, so I tried the e-d activator and that just made my CRT (the one I've always used) go black and not return until a hard reboot.

Then I downloaded a trial of tridef and found the trial doesn't include page-flipping, and same activation problem with anything else. So I can't even check if it works before I put down my money, and if it's anything like the iz3d driver, it won't.

I'll try this h3d thing but my hopes are low.

Comment: Re:Quick Answer (Score 5, Interesting) 195

by Chatsubo (#39514305) Attached to: Qualcomm Calls To 'Kill All Proprietary Drivers For Good'

An example that leaves a particular bad taste in my mouth...

I bought a set of LCD shutter-glasses years ago. I had an nVidia card that had driver support for them. I got these babies, got the special nVidia driver, and I was blown away.

But soon I needed to upgrade my gfx card, and found nVidia no longer supported shutter-glass stereo on any of their new shiny cards. Weird right? All you need is software trickery.... but wait, yes.... Suddenly 3D LCD panels come out and nVidia simultaneously releases drivers that support them. And next thing you know, they have their own shutter glasses that cost way, way more than the ones I'd bought years before.

And still, there's no support for my set. Support that already existed.

My opinion: This is why hardware companies care about drivers, it lets them wrangle money out of people who'd like support for their products.

Comment: Re:But... (Score 5, Interesting) 330

by Chatsubo (#39482219) Attached to: Drug Turns Immune System Against All Tumor Types

The way I understand it, is that our immune system usually waxes cells that have gone rogue, and we get 'cancer' all the time except those cells get killed quickly by our immune system.

However 'true' cancer has a mutation that prevents this from happening and this drug turns that mechanism on again, so things can work as usual.

In other words: normal cells should carry on as before.

(If I understand this correctly, IANAD)

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